The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-19 00:00:00

STATE OF TURKEY.

The following liter, of recent of date, from Con-
stantinople, may le found interesting. It contains
extracts from a memorarrium or report adiresst.d
to the French Government by a person who has an
intimate personal knowledge of the places he de-
scribes, and who, for aught I know, may have been
employed there on a special mi,sion. The letter
in question is from a French source, which will
sufficiently account for the manner in which the
writer speaks of the important part France is called
on to play in the East :

" CONSTANTINOPLE, FEB. 9.
" Nothing but complaints against Lord Redcliffe among
the diplomatic corps! His impatient temper, his arrogant
tone, and his constant interference with the internal affairs
of Turkey ; the ascendant which he has acquired in the
councils of the empire, and which he abuses to such a de-
gree as to impose on the Sultan •the choice of his High-
ness's Ministers—all these things aggravate the against
him. The late war, we hear it said on all sides, was under-
taken with the object of relieving Turkey from the absorb-
ing pressure of Russia. The object was attained ; but has
Turkey, though delivered from the Muscovite yoke, there-
fore recovered her independence and her liberty of action ?
Has she not rather ch inged her protector and her tyrant ?
The position which Prince Mensehikoff aimed at occupying in
Constantinople, is it not the same now held by Lord Red-
cliffe ? Yes, it is indeed Lord Re,deliffe who reigns and go-
verns on the shores of the Bosphorus. It is through his in-
fluence that England has been enabled to turn to her own
profit the advantages acquired to Turkey by her admission
into tke European family, which was meant to be for the
advantage of all. We have only to look at what passes in
the States of the Sultan and in the Black Sea to be
convinced of the fact. For many months back England has
acted in that sea absolutely as if her intention was to esta-
blish herself there permanently, or at least to take possession
of it at a future period. All the bays, all the ports, every
corner and nook, have been visited and minutely inspected.
The British flag has appeared in every part successively of
the coasts of Asia Minor and Turkey in Europe, ou the sea-
board of Russia, and in the mouths of the Danube, and
wherever it floats, England seems as if she, and she alone,
were mistress.

" In the meantime Constantinople has undergone an
invasion of another kind. A crowd of English agents
has flocked hither, ardent and indefatigable in the demand
for concessions. Turkey -has been covered by them with
industrial and commercial establishments which place her
in complete dependence on Great Britain. The Turks are
accustomed to see English ships of war everywhere, English
shipbuilders and engineers, English capitalists and traders.
Whether from weakness or calculation, the .Turkish Govern-
ment
itself encourages this invasion of its territory, this
absorption of its material resources. From this to complete
submission there is but a step. Such is the languhge one
hears in this city among the diplomatic corps, and such
are the complaints frequently uttered. I have reason to
believe that they:have formed the subject of a collective note
addressed to certain Cabinets, and that they are the real
cause of the departure for Paris of the First Secretary of the
French Embassy. M. Thouvenel has, it is said, demanded
fresh instructions from his Government. God forbid that
I should undertake the defence of Lord Stratford do Red-
cliffe, or that I should attempt to justify his irrascible
ratter and his more than haughty manners, which suit
rather the minister of some Eastern despot than the repre-
sentative of a great nation like England. But, after all,
are we really justified in reproaching him with his exertions
to forward the interests of his country If those exertions
affect other parties, they are all the more bound to redouble
their efforts to establish their influence also. Nothing can
be more just. But, to speak frankly, France has taken no
part in the great enterprises which are destined to completely
change the face of Turkey, and from which she may obtain
immense advantages. Whe is in fault? Is it not to the
apathy of her children that she owes it rather than to the in-
trigues of Lord Stratford ? The French in general are
distinguished by a certain promptitude of mind and a
power of initiation, but execution is not their
strong point; in this they do not shine. They do not
possess the spirit of association, nor the boldness nor
1 speculative genius of the English. They who are
so brave, so brilliant in the field of battle, and who seem to
derive fresh energy from the ardour of combat, are soon
discouraged by the obstacles inherent in every great enter-
prise, and they no longer know how to advance. It is
amusing to hear the French talk about these things. Ac-
cording to them their failures are attributable to foreign
intrigues, and also to the want of support from their own
Government. The French Government is invariably
made responsible for every misfortune that occurs, and,
according to them they are never sufficiently pro-
tected. Tho Government does nothing to support
them against foreign competition, nothing to open
new marts to their trade ; in a word, nothing •f what it
ought to do. The French are, it appears, like the Pope,
infallible by their nature; every one is blamed for their
failures except themselves, who, in fairness, ought to bear
exclusively the blame. As for me, who have been an eye-
witness of these things, I can assure you that the French
Government is far from meriting these commonplace accu-
sations. On the contrary, it employs all its efforts to give
the greatest possible development to its marine and its com-
merce, to extend its relations and its influence on every
point of the globe; and nothing that can contribute to it
escapes its attention. You have heard, for instance, of the
French frigate the Sibylle going to Muscat and the Persian
Gulf. The Sibylle has orders to explore the whole of that
gulf, and after leaving she will proceed, it is said, to the Red
Sea. It appears that the Emperor intends to obtain from
the Shah of Persia the concessions of divers points on the
coasts of that Sovereign's States, and that negotiations have
been already opened on that subject with the Persian Am-
bassador. These points are Bunder-Abbas and Mohammerah.
Abbas, which is admirably situate to connect commercial
operations with the Isle of Bourbon, is under the domination
of the Imaum of Muscat. The Shah lets it to him at a yearly
rent ; it will therefore be easy for the French Government to
take his place on the same conditions.
As to Mohammerah, it is in a position possessing im-
portance of a far different kind. Lying at the entrance of
the Karun, which is navigable as far as Shuster, ono of
.the most flourishing spots of the empire, tho little town of
Mohammerah has drawn to itself all the advantages which
Busserah formerly enjoyed, and that to which it owes those
advantages is the application, unique in those countries, of
free trade, What would it not become if it were in the
hands of a great European nation ? It would be one of he

most active and richest entrepols of the East, a new Ormuz,
which would soon supplant Bagdad and Bussorah. It is not

without reason that the French Goverumeut has turned its

attention to that quarter. Its attention was principally at-
tracted by a memorandum, or report, addressed to it by a
person who has traversed and profoundly studied Africa, and
in which are indicated the points which it will be most useful

to take and to occupy. here is au extract :
" The bay from Diego Sauriez to Madagascar, a port
near Jubb, Cape Guardafui, the entrance to the straits of
Babelmaudeb, and a creek in the Red Sea near Massonah,
in Abyssinia—such are the points which appear to me suit-
able to form the chain of our colonies in the western part
of the Indian Ocean. The taking possession of them would
not be attended with any great difficulty on the part of
the natives. It would admirably promote the plan of con-
necting our colony of Bourbon with the isthmus of Suez by
a line of steamers, The points indicated would furnish
coal, iron, timber for shipbuilding, and provisions in
abundance ; and they are, moreover, situate in a healthy
cAimate. The Bay of Diego-Sauriez, independently of the
advantages it offers to the extension of the French navy,
would secure our line of defence. If we consider the situa-
tion of the Isle of Bourbon, it will be seen how exposed is
that colony in its isolation. Bourbon, which is so distant
from our possessions in India, which are so trifling in them-
selves, is everywhere surrounded by the English possessions:
—Mauritius, the Cape, Mahe, and the Seychelles, and Port
Natal. Bourbon is alone and distant in the midst of these
seas, which are under Indo-Britannic domination. It
has not even a port to shelter our ships which go to
Port Louis for repairs in sight of the British flag. The
Treaties of ISI4 have reduced us to this humiliating ne-
cessity. It is urgent to remedy this state of things, and,
in the meantime, to insure to our colony resources to
make it respected, and at the same' time to our marine
a harbour of refuge, in which it may repair its da-
mages under the protection of French batteries. The
occupation of the Bay of Diego Sauriez would at once realise
those conditions. But this would not be the only one; for
that bay would become the entrepot of the trade of Western
Africa ; it would be the point for our ships to touch at and
take in provisions, and whither would come the Portuguese
and Dutch ships as well as the American whalers. Another
Singapore would arise in those places, which would be the
centre of a colony, the development of which would be faci-
litated by the divisions in the island, and the impatience of
the Suclavas under the Hova domination. The fertility of
the Malagash territory, the exuberant vegetation of the soil,
which produces all the tropical plants, the low price of
manual labour, the character of the inhabitants, would tri-
umph over all difficulties which the colonial system en-
counters elsewhere. If an objection be founded en our
unsuccessful attempts on the shores of Madagascar, it dis-
appears when we take into consideration the nature of the
place. It was, in fact, on the eastern
.side ef the island,
between the 13;y of Astogil and Port Dauphin that France
had her first establishments. Now the unhealthiness of these
coasts contrasts with the climates of northern regions, to
which all our naval medical men render the most satisfactory
testimony.
" With regard to the point which I have indicated at
the entrance of the Red Sea its advantages are not less evident.

In point of fact the Strait of Babelmandeb may be henceforth
regarded as the principal port of the Indian Ocean. It is by
that tho trade of Europe must pass when it shall resume the
path of Suez. It is therefore of importance to maintain the
freedom of that passage, and not to allow the keys of it to fall
into the hands of England. Once posted at the mouth of the
Arabian Gulf, nothing can pass without our permission. We
may have the Gibraltar of the East, and we can, when we
please, obstruct the communications of England with her In-
dian colonies.
" As an entrepot the establishment now proposed would
attract to it the trade of Cboa, of the Adds, and of the
Gallas, which would descend by the llawash into the lake of
Houssa, and would then be little more than 72 leagues from
the sea.
" The investigations carried on in Abyssinia and all the in-
formation furnished by the natives, demonstrate that the
countries which approach the most southern sources of the
Nile, even to the Indian Sea, are extremely rich in tropical
products of every kind. There, at the foot of the Mountains
of the Moon, known, though imperfectly, for a long
time, is the real country of the plant which gives us
coffee. It is there of a larger size and a finer growth, and
its products ar superior to that of Yemen, which is so
famous. There, also, is produced the plant known as the
Kat, or Tchat, of which the leaves afford a tea which
may one day surpass that of China. Rice, indigo, cotton,
gums, spices, ivory, and dyeing woods abound, and supply
material of easy and lucrative exportation, and all these pro-
ducts may be acquired at a price much inferior to what th ey
cost in India.
All these districts, the ports of Djedda, Mekha, Ho--

deida, comprised in Yemen, contain moire than 20,000,600 of ' j
consumers, with whom we should have to apprehend no other
competition than that of the Arabs and the Bauians. At the I
present moment that trade produces a movement of more than
80,000,000, of which the articles manufactured in Europe
form the greatest part. Such a market would become ex- •
tremely valuable after the opening of the Isthmus of Suez.
4" It is then of the last importance to be beforehand with
other nations, and to occupy positions which may enable us
to maintain, with advantage and security, extensive com-
mercial relations. These positions would be of ex•reme im-
portance in the event of a war with England. They would
furnish us with means of action more pressing against the
Anglo-Indian Empire.'
" You will perceive, then, from the foregoing extracts of
the memorandum addressed to the French Government, that
it is doing its best to find out new openings for its
trade, that it neglects nothing that may develope and
extend its power, and to introduce its influence into re-
gions the most remote and the least visited iu our days. If
,• it does not tucceed as it deserves it is because it is badly
served by its people. The French are fond of home, they d'
not like to quit it, or to emigrate to a distance. Moreov
I they have not the spirit of enterpriso, the genius fQr epe ers
41116,.

tion and adventure—if I may use the word—which charac-
terises the British people, and which render the latter so
eminently suited for the establishment on their own soil as
abroAd, of the most collossal undertakings. The French
have many fine qualities, but they have not that; and in thq
want of it lies the secret of their discomfiture at Constan-
tinople."

PROBATE DUTY ON SCOTCH MARRIAGE

SETTLEMENTS.

(From the Daily News

The Lord Chancellor informed the House of
Lords, the other night, that he was in consultation
with the Lord-Advocate as to the mode in which a
will proved in England was to be deemed a good
will in any court in Scotland. If his lordship does
not succeed in coming to some agteeineut with the
Lord-Advocate on this point, he will certainly fail
in accomplishing one great object of any reform of
the Ecclesiastical Cour s. It is clear that, when a
will has once been proved to be the true will of a
deceased person, it ought, without further proof,
to be admit'ed as the true will in every court
throughout the British Empire. It may bethought
by some persons that such a law would confer no
great benefit upon the community, but this is cer-
tainly not so. lf, according to the law as it stands
at present, a man dies holding shares in the North-
Western Railway, in.the North-Eastern Railway,
and in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, he is
in a rad predicament. His w.ll must be proved in
London,• it must be proved at York, it mist be
proved in Scotland, or, a 3 the Scotch lawyers say,
Confirmation must be obtained in Scotland. Thus,
though there may beeno manner of dispute on the
question,. the same document must be proved to be
the genuine will of the deceased in throe different
places. The expense must be trebled—and all for
nothing, except in order that certain proctors may
derive a pecuniary benefit at the expense of other
people. This is obviously absurd—so absurd that
there are in fact clauses in some railway acts which
permit the shares of a deceased holder to be trane-
forted on a probate in any province being obtained.
As we have observed, it is essential that probate of
a will obtained once should be good over the whole
British empire.
As an illustration of the gross injus'ice which
may be 'perpetrated by the present law, we
beg the attention of our readers to a letter
which appears in another column, and which not
only admirably illustrates the hardship of thie di-
vided jurisdiction over Wills, but exhibits in a very
striking way the flexibility of Crown lawyers when
they are called upon to support their own opinii n
against the interests of the revenue. It seems that
in this case—and it is one which affects almost
every Scotchman, certainly every Scotchman who
has his marriage settlement drawn in the common
form—the Lord Advocate, after advising that uo
probate duty ought to be paid, recanted that
opinien and declared that it was a case which ought
to be tried in a court of law. And it seems to have
been in'imated, that if the case were tried and cl -
cided against the crown, it would be carried to the
House of Lords. If the persons interested in the
property of the deceased had been foolhardy enough
to contest the matter, they would have been com-
pelled to bring two actions one in Scotland,
another in Englandif-and then to have appealed in
each case to the House of Lords. Such a state of
things is surely a scandal upon our law, and we
trust that in the future debate upon the Testamen-
tary Jurisdiction Bill this case will not be forgotten.
For years it seems that the legacy duty on Scotch
settlements was illegally demanded by the Crown
officers and paid, until the House of Lords put a
stop to the claim • and it seems probable that un-
less some one has courage to carry a case to the
House of Lords with reference to Probate Duty,
the same illegal demand will be successfully made
upon the unfortunate wives and children of those
deceased husbands who have had the misfortune to
be married in Scotland, and to be afiliced by a
Scotch marriage settlement Probably Mr. Collier,
or some other practical law reformer, may succeed
in putting this. matter to rights.

The following is the letter above alluded to :

Sir,—The reform of the Ecclesiastical Courts is
once more b9fore the public, and the Chancellor has
gallantly undertaken again to mount the breach
from which ho bas been so often repulsed. That
these courts need reform seems to be universally
admitted. But perhaps you will allow me to state
the facts of a case which came within iy own expe-
rience, and which seems to show the injustice of
the present system as strongly as anything can. A
man died in England, having been married in Scot-
land. His marriage settlement was in the Scotch
form. According to this settlement, which was
drawn in the ordinary way, he bad reserved to
himself absolute power over his property during
his life, but after his death all the property of
which* he was possessed was given to his wife dur-
ing her life, and after her death it was to he
distributed as he might direct by his wilt amongst
his children. He made a will and divided Lis pi.o-
perty in certain proportions among his children.
This will it became necessary to prove. His pro-
perty was chiefly personalty, consisting of shares in
the funds and in various railway companies—some
in the province of Canterbury, some in the pro-
vince of York, and some in Scotland. The con-
sequence of this state of things was that the will
had to be proved .in three places—iu London, in
York, and in Scotland. There w ere, therefore, three
different min of business to be employed and three
different bills of costs. The accounts, which were

somewhat complicated, had to be passed twic2.—
once in London, at Somerset-house, and again in
Edinburgh. The expense was therefore doubled,
and as a man of business had to lie employed
at York, an addition was made on that account,
This was b d enough, but it was not the worst.
For years the people of Scotland had been mulcted
of a considerable sum of money by being compelled
to pay legacy duty on money p..ssing under Scotch
marriage settlements ; but this was seme time ago
set right by a decision of the House of Loids.
Legacy duty is no longer ha; able. But probae
duty is still demanded, and is sill paid. The per-
sons interested in the case to wideh we now refer,
having obtained the oidniou of counsel, were satis-
fied thas, as legacy duty was not ',arable, probate
duty ought not to be peid ; or, at all events, if pro-
bate duty were paid in the first ii stance, the coun-
sel advised that it ought to be returned, on the
ground that the property was hound by the mar-
riage settlement—which is not a testamentary in-
strutnent, hut a deed inter vivos. In short the coun-
sel dec'ared that ti.e stipulation in the marriage
settlement amounted to a covenant, and therefore
that the sum to ba di‘tribmed under its provisions
amounted to a debt. This is, perhaps, too technical
for lay readers, but the point will be readily under-
stood by lawyers. This opini,,n was laid before the
officials. They were not satisfied. A cm) was laid
before two Scotch coumel—one of them being the
Lord Advocate Moncreiff. He gave it as his clear
opinion that probate duty ought to be returned.
This opinion was laid before the Government offi-
cials. What did they do ? They lain a case them-
selves before the same Lord Advocate Moncreiff
and the Solicitor-General Maitland. Will it be be-
lieved that the Lord Advocate recanted his opinion,
and declared that although the case in the House
of Lords seemed to support the view of the recal-
citrant subject, still that the case ought to be tried?
The Lord Advocate, however, upon being told
how hard it was that he should give two con-
tradictory opinions, and that the unfortunate
subject should be obliged to settle the law, de-
clare' that he had thought of recommending the
Government to pay all the legal expenses. The
officials at Somerset-house, however, s•Luck to the
written opinion of the Scotch law officers, and still
refused to return the probate duty. Interviews took
place between the patties interested and these
officials, but without success. They admitted that
it was a very hard case, and well they might, for in
order to obtain their right the persons interested in
the property would have had to take two proceed-
ings, one in England, another in Scotland, to try
the very same que,tion, and they would have had
to try two appeals to the House of Lords. Can
anything be more absurd ? Of course no man in
his senses would for 100/. undertake such a cam-
paign as this, although it is pretty clear that if the
case had been tried it must have been decided
against the Crown.
Nov here we have a case in which a poor man is
obligedto prove a will three times, and ti en to bring
two actions—which, according to the opinion of
the Crown, ought to succeed—and then to have two
appeals to the House of Lords. Nothing more is
necessary to show the absolute necessity of making
one probate of a will good over the United King-
dom ; and if the Lord Chancellor doss not come to
some such arrangement as this in his conference
with the Lord Advocate, his bill to reform the tes-
tamentary jurisdiction will be worse
of
ne auesesleessit.
If anything can add to the hardshipf h
may be found in the fact that even if the unfert, u-
,nate subject had succeeded in the House of Lords,
..and in all the inferior courts, he would have got
mao costs.

I hope, sir, that you will allow the simple facts
of a genuine case to be placed before the public—
especially as it nearly concerns almo-4 every married
'man in Scotland, or) at all events, his family alter
Ids death.

According to accounts from Rome, the next Con
:Ist.my is to be held on some day between the 15th_
,Ilcl 20th of March, and :,even French prelates will
preeobised at it. The bull for the installation
of the new Archbishops of Paris, Tours, and
Ntliplieizveet,hiotseispsrtealtaetd:aiitioFtarkaence in sufficient time_
kein wore Eater, possession of the=