Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-09-04 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY MURDER.

TRIAL IN ALGERIA.

A trial, which, for the excitement it li-s created on the
Continent, the revelations which it has brought to light,
and the high rersonages it will affect, may take its place
among the most remarkable of the "ceuse,s celebres," has
just terminated before the Court of Assize at Oran, in
Algeria. Tne facts of the ease are these:—On the 12th of
September, 1856, nearly a twelvemonth since, a diligence
left Tlemcen for Orate In the coupe were the eye Ben
Abdallah and his secretary; in the interior, other passen-
gers, numbering five or six. They had scarcely lost sight
of the town, when two horsemen were observed foil rwine
the vehicle, and, as they proceeded, others joined in, arid
amongst them, persons on • foot. Presently, shots were
fired, which at fiest the postilion mistook for a respectful
salute in honour of the great personage he was conducting
to Oran ; the whistling sound of a bullet, however, which
whizzed by his ear, undeceiving him, he put spurs to his
horses. The diligence was. nevertheless, speeedily over-
taken, when a fearful scene of confusion took place, in
which the Aya Ben A.bdallah and a Mr. Vallette were
killed. dad the secretary received woun3s of which he died
the next day. The rest of the passengers effected 'Unit
e cape to a neighbourng village, were they obtained assist.
ance. The mystery now commences.. Who were these
ssassins, and what could have been their motive:? Were
they acting on their own accaunt, or . were they employed
by some person of influence and authority'? General
Beaufort, commanding the sub-division at Tlemcen, at
once reported the audacious crime to his superior, General
Montauban, who summoned to his presence Captain
Doineau, an officer of an-impetious temper, but of great
intelligence and talent, and chief of the bureau at Tlemcen.
The Captain prevaricated, and endeavoured to throw the
guilt of the murders upon a neighbouring tribe. The
General, however:, thought the culprits were to be looked
for nearer home. Whilst the General and his subordinate
were discussing the point, the widow of the slaughtered
Aye, who hal already lost f, ur husbands by violent means.
rushed oat into the streets in a frantic manner, with dishe-
velled loaks,and beating her bosom, d, flouncing the Aya Bel
Halj as the assassin. This, at'first, appeared impossible,
since he was reported to be confined to his bed from
illness. A French physician, however, being sent for,
declared his indisposition to be feigned, upon which the
suspected Aya fled to Moroece, but was persuaded to
return a month afterwards. He was then seized, together
with eighteen Arabs, upon whose representations the
authorities saw grounds for takine Captain Doineau into
custody. According to 'the statements of the Arabs,
Doineau had assembled them together, and bound them
by an oath to take the life of the Aya, an.i to observe the
most inviolable secresy. Oae of the most remarkable
features of the nial, however, is that which shows with
what facility an Arab will contradict himself, and unsweer
what he had just before stated. Of all the witnesses
brought for ward on the occasion, thereewere scarcely two
whose evidence could be relied on. "In your first
declaration," said the AdvOcate-General te a witness,
"yon lied, and you said it from fear of the Aya Bel Hadj.
Tell all the truth to day." Bel Hadj, himself an officer of
the Legion of Honour, and who has been nine years is the
French service, equally contradicted and perjured himself.
At one time he implicated Deineau, at another confessed
the crime his own ; on a teird occasion, when brought up
to confirm the testimony of a seperate witness, he pressed
his hands upon his breast, and in a voice of exquisite
sweetness, exclaimed, "Now that we are in the face of
death, shou:d we accuse the captain?" The motives
assigned to Daman for the perpetration of the atrocious
deed were jealousy of the influence of the Aya Ben
Abdallah, and an generated in some smuggling
transactions. As far as can be ascertained, it appears that
certain camels were seized from some Morrocco traders,
who are alleged to have violated the customs laws. These
Bel Hadj bought for a trifling sum, but, selling them at an
advanced price, divided the pi-cuts with Doineau. Another
suepiciOus circumstance is the powssion, on tee part of
the captain, of 38,500 f., for which he cannot satisfactorilly
account. Had the Aya Ben Abdallah been alive, it is
said he could have given the history, not only of these
francs, but also of many other similar peculations.
Revelations of a startling character were made on the trial
—startling, at least, to civilian ears. One witness, Si
Mohammed, deposed that Captain Doineau bad shot
v'ari'ous Arab without even the mockery of a trial, and
several cases were cited. In reply to these, the captain
simply alined that "he does not discuss the orders
of his chiefs ;" but General Beaufort, though trying to
shield a fellow-officer, cantot help admitting that more of
these " executions " had taken place than was warranted
by his orders. It was also attempted to be shown that
General Montauban had himself been putting money into
his pocket indirectly, and that there was a great deal
of mixed robbery arid murder going on in the different
provinces cf Algeria, in face that it was a system by which
a dishonest officer or an avaricious chef de bureau
could, if he were inclined, amass money without the
probability of detection. That General Montauban is in
some way implicated in the present transaciin seems
strongly to be believed. • Though he strenuously denies
the assertion that he ordered Major Chenzy to take a pair
of pistols to Captain Doineau, intimating that it would be
better for him to put an end to his life rather than
undergo the disgrace of a trial, which must result in
unpleasant revelations, there is every reason to believe
that the statement is true, and so impatient was he, that
he sent them immediately upon the arrest of the captain,
even before a first examination had taken place. Tne
result of the trial, notwithstanding the contradictory
evidt nee of the various witnesses, and the circumstantial
nature of that evidence, is, that Captain Doineau has
been condemned to death. Of the other prisoners, eight-
een in number, seventeen are sentenced to twenty year.'
hard labour. It is also reported, and we believe there
is truth in the report, that G:nerals Montauban and
Beaufort will be superseded, and Marilee' Bandon sent
for to consult upon the reorganisation of the Arab bureaux.
The facts which have come to light during this remarkable
trial furnish us with not a few data by which to draw a
comparison between the French and English systems
of colonization. If we cast back a 'glance over the
quarter of a century during which the French leave been
labouring to conquer, to consolidate, to colonise, and to
cultivate their African acquisition, and were we to enum-
erate the armies that have been consumed and the b:ood
that has been shed in its subjugation, what a picture
of misery and horror would be presented to ue ! How
many homes in France have been made desolate? how
many tents among the Arabs have been rendered tenant-
less ? And if we look again at the condition of this costly
colony,after so much life, toil and money has been spent upon
it, what is it? how does it repay the immense sums that have
been waved in purchasing it ? Few of the native tribes are
really friendly; and so dangerous is a settlement in the
country that it is with the greatest difficulty the Govern-
ment can persuade labourers and peasants to emigrate,
though the prizes they offer are large. Then if we
examine into the system of military rule maintained
there, what are the results ? "If the bushes could
speak," said oue of the witnesses et the late tri .1, " they
would tell the fate of many an unfortunate captive." It
is the curse of this colony that its armed proprietors think
little of taking the life of an Arab, and plundering where
an opportunity presents itself. The disease pervades all
ranks, from the private Zolave up to superiors, however
exalted; hence arises the solicitude and alarm of the com-
rades of Doineau, and the strenuous efforts to save him.
Compare our government of India, with all its
defects, or the maser in which we govern any
of our colonies, with the sword-and-bayonet rule
of the French in Algeria, and what A contrast
becomes !flanges ! We depend upon the justice, the equity,
the leniency of our government, and have therefore gone
on adding territory to territory with a very small- loss of
life, and a comparatively moderate outlay of treasure. In
Algeria, on the contrary, the sword is sorer sheathed ; the
population are not yet sebined; the hatred of the Arab is
not to be quenched, France may attempt to coloni. it,
bat she will never be equal to the task ; she may invite her
subjects to cross the Mediterranean, and establish them-
selves in its fortified cities, or in the rocky valleys with
which Algeria abounds ; do what she may, however, her
tenure there will never be anything else than that of a
military occupation.

'Mr. Macaulay has, it is said, given up the idea of con-
tinuing his "Hi;tory of England" down to a period wiihin
the memory of living men, as at first announced, and will
conclude it with the death of Queen Anne. •

LONGIVITY IN SCDTLAND. —The following remarkable'
cases of longevity are noteworthy. In Unst, Sutherland-
shire, three men and twe women died, last quarter, aged
respectively 83, 88, 89, 74 and 78 years of age. In
Clyne, in the same county, five persons died, aged 89, 88,
84, 79, and 70 respectively. In Boner, also in the same
county, two men died at the respective ages of 94 and 86,
the elder of whom remarked on the very morning of his
death that "he never remembered having even a sore
head." In Errol, Perthshire, the deaths of seven persons
are recorded, whose ages were respectively 92, 88, 74, 73,
72, 69, and 64. In Kirkaldy, eight persons died above
the age of 70, the eldest being 93, In LeuchaTs, Fife-
shire, the united ages of four persons who died amounted
to 338 years. In St. Aulnws, five persons died, whose
resp-edve ages were 95, 90, 87, 85, and 80 years. The
oldest person noted as having died daring the quarter (if
we except a statement in the report of the registrar of
Coldingbans, which is evidently a mistake, to the effect
that the average age of six persons dying in his district
1'24136) is a female at Slains, 'Aberdeenshire, who had
attained her 991layear.—Edinburgh_Dagy.Express.