The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-18 00:00:00

IN THE MATTER OF THE WILL OF THE LATE EMPEROR

NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, DECEASED.

This was an application made on the part of the Lords
of the Treasury, that the original will and codicils of the
late Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte should be given out
of the registry at Doctors' Commons, where they were
now deposited, and delivered up to the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs, for the purpose of being trans-
mitted to the French Government.
The Queen's Advocate appeared for the Lords of the
Treasury, and said that the will in question, with seven
codicils, was proved in August, 1824, by Charles Tris-
tram Comte de Montholin, one of the executors, power
being reserved of making the like grant to Henry Gratian
Comte Bertrand, and Louis Marchand, the other execu-
tors, and the effects of the deceased were sworn to be under
the value of 6001. within the province of Canterbury.
The learned advocate submitted there had been several
instances in which wills had been delivered out of the
registry of the court for the purpose of being depo-
sited elsewhere, and referred to the will and codicils
of Mary Renton, widow which in the second session of
Easter term, on the 19th of May, 1791, were ordered to
be given up, that they might be deposited in the proper
office for registering wills in Edinburgh. The will and
codicil of Duncan Forbes, which on the 23d of Novem-
ber, 1792, were in like manner given up, in order that
they might be again deposited in the proper office in the
island of Grenada, where the original will and codicil
had formerly been proved and deposited ; and on
the 4th of July, 1839, tho codicil to the will of
Sir Herbert Taylor, which had been delivered up to be
recorded in the proper court, or with the legal authorities
in France. In support of the present application, thei
Comte de Montholin and the Comte Marchand, the sur-1
viving executors, had executed a proxy, consenting to the
will being delivered up as prayed • and an affidavit had
been made by Lord John Russell, the Foreign Secre-
tary, to the effect that an application had been made by
the French Government to her Majesty's Government
that the will in question should be delivered up, and that
her Majesty's Government considered it advisable, on
grounds of public policy, that the application should be
complied with. A further affidavit had been made by
Mr. John Allen Powell, of Lincoln's-inn, the solicitor
who had been employed to conduct certain affairs of the
deceased Emperor, and who deposed that he believed
all the personal estate belonging to the late Emperor in
this country had come into the hands of the executor to
be by him applied in pursuance of the clauses of the will.
The Court granted the application instantly,

THE RECENT BEQUEST TO THE QUEEN.
PHIPPS AND ANOTHER V. 000DRIDGE AND OTHERS.
The Queen's Advocate said in this case he had to
move the sentence in pcenum against the defendants.
The testator, John Camden Neild, Esq., made
the his wole
ill,
dated the 10th of August, 1848, bequeathing wh
of his personal property and estate (which is valued at
250,0001.) to her Majesty Queen Victoria, and appointed
the Hon. C. B. Phipps, the Keeper of her Majesty's
Privy Purse, Archdeacon Tatham, and James Stevens,
Esq., executors. On the death of Mr. Neild, the execu-
tors voluntarily brought in the will on the 3d of Novem-
ber, 1853, for probate, and prayed that it might be
proved in solemn form. The next of kin of the deceased
had been duly served with citation to appear, and evi-
dence had been given of the due execution of the will
and the testamentary capacity of the deceased, and ex-
pounded proxy. He now prayed the sentence of the
court, in pain the next of kin not appearing, and that
probate
decreed, and signed by the judges to
be delivered out.

EAST LANCASHIRE.—The half yearly meeting of tills
company took place on Wednesday at the Bury station.
The tabular statement in the report showed an increase
of nearly 11 per cent. on the gross receipts of the rail-
way, and an increase of nearly 13 per cent. of profit, as
compared with the corresponding period of 1851. The
directors recommended the declaration of a dividend of
three per cent., from a conviction that it had been
honestly earned in the half year, which was agreed to.