The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-16 00:00:00

WILLS.

The will and six codicils of Abel Smith, Esq.,
banker, of Lombard-street, and of Woodhall, Herts.,
was proved in the principal registry of the Court of
Probate, London, on the. 9th of April, by two of the
executors—namely, Abel Smith and Robert Smith,
Esqrs., the sons ; power reserved to Samuel George
Smith and Henry Smith, Esqrs., the brothers. The
personalty was sworn under £400,000. The will
is dated the 28th of June, 1848, and the sixth and
last codicil on the 14th of February, 1859. Mr.
Smith died on the 23d of the same month. The
documents are of considerable length. Mr. Smith
has bequeathed to his wife her jewellery and other
ornaments absolutely ; and the diamonds which
were his mother's he wishes to remain in the family
with the estates. He leaves her the furniture, linen,
books, china, and plate that she may select to the
amount of £l,OOO, with an immediate legacy of
£l,OOO, £2,000 a year, and residence, with carriage
and horses. He has bequeathed to each son a
legacy of £20,000. The entailed Hertfordshire
estates descend to the eldest son, who has be-
queathed to him all the other estates of his father
in that county, and the estates in London and Mid-
dlesex. Mr. Smith bequeaths to his son Robert his
estates in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, and
leaves to him all his share aed interest in the bank.
ing establishments. He has bequeathed to his
son Philip his estates in Buckinghamshire ; and to
his son Alfred his estates in the counties of Derby,
Stafford, and Leicester, with a sum of £lO,OOO.
Tp his- daughter Caroline, wife of Robert Han-
bury, jun., sq., M.P., and to his ether daughters,
each £30,000, but to his daughter Elizabeth
Frances £15,000 ; to each of his clerks a legacy
of £10; a legacy to each of his household, includ-
ing his steward and the governess; and to each
servant, male and female, gardeners, coachmen,
and farming labourers, according to' length of ser-
vice. To the Hertfordshire Infirmary he leaves
£lOO. The residue he leaves to his eldest son.

The will of William Pritchard, Esq., of Doctors'
Commons, and formerly of 22, Kensington-park-
gardens, but late of No. 5, The Cedars, Putney,
High Bailiff of Southwark, was proved in the prin-
cipal registry in London, on the sth of April, by
Ruth Ann Pritchard, widow, thc. relict and sole
executrix.. The personal property is sworn under
£7,000. The will is dated the sth August, 1853,
and is in the testator's handwriting, commencing
with an allusion to a deed of covenant entered into
with his son and partner, William Tarn Pritchard,
in the year 1848. He bequeaths two policies on
his life in the Mutual and one in the Law Life
Assurance Societies to trustees in trust to invest
the proceeds and bonuses on good security, and
the dividends or interest therefrom to be applied
by his executrix for the benefit and support of
herself and younger children; andupon her decease
one moiety of such principal sum so invested to be
given to his daughter Ellen, the wife of the Rev.
W. Calvert, and the other moiety to his daughter
Emily Sarah Pritchard, for their sole and separate
use ; and, on their dying without children, their
share to be divided equally among those of his ten
children surviving or their issue. The residue of
his estate, real and personal, he leaves to his wife,
at her discretion, for the maintenance and support
of herself and such of her children as may require
it.

The will of Francis Smedley, Esq., of 'Grove
Lodge, Regent's-park, Iligh Bailiff of Westminstcr;
.was proved in the principal T-registry. of London on
the 24th of March, by Francis :Sarah Smedley,
widow, the relict, and Francis Edward 'Smedley,
Esq., the son, the personalty sworn under £120,000.
He has bequeathed his residence, with the furni-
ture, plate, books, china, linen, carriages, horses,
stabling, &c., to his wife for life, with £1,500a year
a legacy of £lO,OOO, and £3OO for immediate use.
Leaves his niece, Menclla Bute Smedley, £250
a year; his' niece, Mrs. 'Hart, £l5O a year'; his
.Tiephew, Edward HUMC Smedley,-£1.50.a year ;
and Icgacies to his other nephews and nieces, and
to his two sisters abd his ,sister-in-law and a god-
son. The real estate and residue of his personal
estate he leaves to his son, Francis Edward Smed--
ley.—jllustrated Londo-n Netts. .

SWINDLING ,IN PARIS.

The Tribunal of Correctional Police, on Thursday
tried the Vicomte Beaumont-VassY; who is of
high family, and was formerly prefect of the de-
partment of the Aisne, on the charge of swindling.
On account of the social position of the' defendant,
the case excited great interest, but the facts of it
were very few, being simply that be had obtained
money and shares from a saltpetre c:,mpany on
pretext of bribing some public functionaries to
cause the War Department to purchase or use a
patent for extracting pure saltpetre without re-
fining it, which, it was alleged, possesses numerous
advantages over, and is cheaper than, the system
at present employed; and had appropriatell the
money and shares to his own use. One Sebille,
Belgian (who is now in custody on a charge of
forgery), who was interested in the patent, entered,
it appeared, into communication with Beaumont-
Vassy for the purpose of gettinr, the patent if
possible accepted by the War Department, and
after a while the latter wrote this letter to Se-
bille :—" My dear friend,—lt is indispensable that
you should write me a letter. On this subject I
think it useful to ask you, in the probable case in
which it may appear to me necessary to bribe some
functionaries, whether subaltern or other, in order
that they may present the affair in a favourable
light to their superiors, or promote its success—
whether your company will authorise me to dispose
of a small sum, the amount of which might be fixed
in .advance, and that amount to be in no case ex-
ceeded, for it may be a pure loss, and after all the
affair, instead of succeeding, as I hope it will, may
fail. Would a maximum of from 3,0001. to 4,0001.,
or simply of 3,000 f., appear too much ? Bear in
mind that it is possible the money may not be
needed, or that a few hundred francs may suffice ; but
we must provide for everything, and this sort of
thing is, it appears, very piquant—as is also the
giving of good dinners to the high functionaries of
the Ministry." After this letter had been read in
court,'" Do you admit that you wrote that letter ?"
asked the President " Yes, sir, but it was in con-
sequence of conversations I had with Sebille; it was
he who talked of bribery, and I could not do other-
wise." ." The letter does not appear to confirm
what you say." " Observe, sir, that I say if it be
necessary,' and I repeat that the letter was written
in consequence of previous conversations." " Whe-
ther it was or not, it speaks of bribery. I will now
have a second letter read." It runs thus :—" 14th
October, 1857. I have just taken the air of the
bureau, and my first impressions are very favour-
' able to our enterprise. I fell in with an old sea-wolf,
who not only told me what was to be done, but kindly
offered to do what would be most disagreeable both to
you and me—that is, act on certain personages, sub-
altern and high-placed, who it appears are indispen-
sable. He fixed a price for himself; and I consented to
it, though it is rather high. Decidedly I was rather
silly, but we learn as we get older. To-morrow
and the day after I shall see all the people neces-
sary to the success of the affair. You will under-
stand that I shall not touch the sensible cord until
I shall have some one to play the instrument. Two
important and influential men of the establishment
appeared .to me to toke into serious consideration
the developments I gave. Decidedly I have great
hopes, but I see that you are right, and that the
manner.of proceeding is that which you indicate to
me.. The sea wolf spoke to me of M. M. —,-of
whom we conversed. ,//g. to that man,' said he
cynically, he is a big tooth to pull out." We have
good tools,' said I with a laugh. (Keep all this to
yourself.) To-morrow I give a good dinner to
two aides de camp. In a word, everything seems
to me to be going on well. Send me as quickly as,
possible the 30,G00 arguments of which you spoke
yesterday," After the letter had been read,
the President said :—" You wrote that letter ?"
" Yes, sir." " You ask in it for what you
call 30,000 arguments ? " " Sebille had
indicated to me a person whose support might be
necessary, but who had nothing to do with the
Ministry." " What was his name ?" "I cannot
tell." " Everything should be public here. Did
you receive the 30,000 arguments ?" " I did, but
gave them back, because I believed that things
sometimes took' place in the manner indicated by
Sebille, that is to say, that certain liabilities were
necessary. But [ was mistaken, and lam happy
to say that no one was bribed in the Ministry of
War. I gave small portions of the sum to persons
who are not public functionaries, and restored the
rest." The prisoner then in answer to other ques-
tions, said that he had become chairman of the
Saltpetre Company, and
,in that capacity had sti-
pulated on having a " commission" o
made
a4Soo,tohoaot
but he pretended that he had only
sti-
pulation because, some officers of ortillery having
e
expressed but a poor opinion ofmtighieitiralile,natniodn
had feared that the company 'had
been anxious to be able to indemnify petty capi-
talists who might make investments in it. He also
admitted having received 50 paid up shares of
1,000 f., but denied that, as allege,d,they were given
him because he had pretended they were to be
employed in bribery ; they were, he said, a recom-
pense
questioned
aboutservices to
sumsthe company,
uf
500 0 He was
the company had received as cau-
tionol. and
places given to men named Delort
and
ailos,ooooqfu . which
f
the latter a hairdresser from Laon, the
ld Albert, nioney for
chief town of the Aisne; and he was obliged to
admit that to the former 21,000 f. and to the latter
the whole 10,000 f. were still owing, though the
company had.come to nothing, He also confessed
containing the expressions,
that some other letters