The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-16 00:00:00

CRIME IN FRANCE-

The Correctional Tribunal of Poitiers (Vient:e)
has just been occupied with the trial of a
band of pretended sorcerers, composed of a woman,
named Vignaud ; Pierre Vignaud, her husband ; Eugen•
Vignaud, his brother; and a relative of theirs named
Prevost, on a charge of swindling a widow named Cail-
lobon out of upwards of 3,000 f. The female prisoner
had, in 1861, undergone an imprisonment of 13 months for
similar practices. Soon after. her release she returned to
Poitiers, where she made the acquaintance of the prose-
cutrix, whom she persuaded that she (the prisoner) had
the power of discovering a quantity of gold which the
widow's husband had concealed in the house on
his return from Spain. Unfortunately, for the dupe,
she believed in the existence of this hidden treasure, for the
discovery of which she had before applied to different som-
nambulists, and she lent a willing ear to the promises made.
The woman Vignaud commenced her operations by taking
the widow about to different parts of the country, the latter
having, as a matter of course, to pay all the expenses.
Holes were also dug by Vignaud in several parts of the
house, and various incantations performed over them. Ira
a short time after, during the absence of the widow, and
when her granddaughter only was present, she removed
a stone from the back of the chimney and showed the
girl, without, however, allowing her to come close to it,
something having a yellowish appearance, which the
sorceress said was part of the treasure. The girl in delight
informed her grandmother of the fact, who unloosed her
purse-strings more than ever. Some time after the announce •
ment was made that the treasure had been found, and the
prisoners, accompanied by the widow, went to Angouleme,
carrying with them a box containing, according to the
account of the woman Vignaud, about 20 pounds weight of
gold. The object of the journey, all the expenses of which
as a matter of course were defrayed by the victim, was to
sell the precious metal. The police, however, having
heard of the arrival of persons with such a large sum,
fancied that a robbery ha•l been committed, and insisted on
having the box opened, when it was found to be filled with
pieces of old iron. Madame Caillebon then returned to
Poitiers, and gave information to the police. When before

he Court the evidence given by the prosecutrix was so clear

that the prisoners could not deny the facts, and were found
guilty and condemned, the woman Vignaud as the princi-
pal to eighteen months' imprisonment; her husband to four
WllZAlfsdiV6Uitt/2111fri.JviP.W.AP months each. The four
expenses.

An officer-de-sante, named Alltzard, was last week tried
by the Court of Assizes of the Hante-Loire on a charge of
attempting to murder a young man named Bonfils, residing
at Auun; Alit zard's servant, a young woman named
Mestre, was also charged as an accessory before
the fact. It appeared from the indictment that
the female prisoner entered Allczard's service in

the summer of 1863, and that an improper con-
nection was soon established between than. Among
the persons who visited Allezard was a young man
named Bonfils, whom the former soon begun to suspect of
an amour with his servant, and to prevent any communica-
tion between them he locked the girl in her chamber every
night, and sealed a strip of paper on her window, so that it
could not be opened without his knowledge, These precaue
tions, however, did not satisfy his jealousy. Under the
pretext that robbers were always prowling about his premises
during the night, he begged his neighbours to assist him in
w.tching, which they did for several nights without making
any discovery. Having thus paved the way for his design, he
advised his servant to give Bonfils a rendezvous in his stable
at II o'clock that night, under the pretence that she had
something important to communicate. Bonfils went at the
hour appoiated, and was just entering the stable, when
Allezard, who was watching at the window, fired at him
twice and wonnded him severely in the leg and thigh. The
wounded man's cries soon brought the neighbours to his
aid, and he explained ho had gone there to meet Allesard's
servant by her own appointment. She and her master were
according arrested. The girl at once confessed that she had
made an appointment to meet Bonfils, but that her master
had that night looked her up as usual. She protested that
she had no suspicion of what her master intended to do.
The evidence having clearly proved that the whole thing
was a plot devised by Allezard to get rid of his supposed
rival, the jury found him guilty of wilfully wounding, and
the Court oentenced him to four years' imprisonment, The
female was acquitted.
At the Court of Assizes of the Anbe a farm-servant, named
Malley, has just been tried on a charge of having at Mou-
lins, on the 25th March last, murdered his wife by throwing
her into the river Aube ; a married woman named Tonnelot,
with whom he had cohabited both before and after his mar-
riage, was also charged as an accomplice in the crime.
The woman Malley having disappeared on the 25th
March last, the prisoner, a man of very bad character, was
immediately suspected of having murdered her, and
several circumstances were soon discovered which left no
doubt of his guilt. Ho was accordingly arrested, and, after
vainly endeavouring to combat the evidence against him,
at last confessed that at the instigatinn of the woman Ton-
nelot, he had induced his wife to go with him to see some
friends at a neighbouring village, but that the woman
Tonnelot met them near the riv3r, and they then execu'ed
the design of drowning her. In consequence of this con-
fession the woman Tonnelot was arrested. The river was
dragged, and the body of Malley's wife was found near the
spot indicated by him. In court, the female prisoner de-
nied her guilt, and attempted to prove an alibi, but failed,
while several witnesses deposed that they had seen her
coming from the direction of the river shortly after the
time when the murder was committed. The jury found
both prisoners guilty, but with extenuating circumstances,
and the court accordingly condemned them to hard labour
for life.

THE NEW CARDINAL,--There is a rumour abrcad
hat one of the two cardinals' hats, rendered vacant by

ho death of Cardinal Savelli and Cardinal Bedini, will be

conferred upon the Right Rev. Monsignors Manning, D,D

Provost of Westminster, and that he will, as a prior step.

be raised to the office of a bishop. Tho right rev. doctor
was formerly archdeacon of the diocese of Chichester. He
was one of the most prominent of the High Church party,
and an earnest coadjutor of the Bishop of Oxford in his
Church work. The other cardinal's hat will, it is said, be
conferred upon a French bishop who is a close personal
friend of the Emperor.

TIGER AND BUFFALO FIGHTS IN JAVA.—As
no circus or arena of any kind is erected for the
fetes, several men, armed with long spears, form a ring
consisting of a vast concourse of eager spectators. The fight
between the tiger and the buffalo is always considered the
sensational scone of the day. The portable cage into which
the tiger has been driven is placed in the centre of the
ring, and that of his adversary exactly opposite, a ftw
paces apart. When the doors are opted, the tiger, if he
has lost heart by his long confinement, will immediately
make a rush towards the circle of spectators, seeking for
a gap through which ho may make his escape—a vain
attempt, for so formidable is the zone by which he is sur-
rounded, and so threatening are tho glittering spear heads,
that, with his tail between hie hind legs, he not unfre-
quently retreats to his artificial cover, out of which he
must again be driven in order to make him come to the
scratch. If, as is generally the case, he at last turns in des-
peration from the pointed barrier of spears, and encounters
the buffalo, infuriated by pain inflicted by the points of the
same weapons, the king of the jungle raises his head, waves
his tail from side to side like a cat ready to pounce on its
prey, and looks at his adversary as though the glare of his
fierce oyes were sufficient to inspire awe and dread. The
audience at this crisis becomes breathless with excitement.
From the Regent himself, to the little boy who gazes at the
scene seated on his father's shoulder, all are fascinated by

the same dread spectacle, and an ominous silence prevails.
The defiant roar of the tiger is responded to by the deep bel-
lowing of the buffalo, which shakes the surrounding
ground. The tiger, after stealthily advancing, stops to
watch the movements of his foe ; the buffalo, threatening
his adversary with his formidable horns, stands ready to
toss him in the air. But the cunning animal, by a kind of

instinct, seems to understand the danger to which he is
exposed, and crouching down, as though for a leap, while
his enemy ruches forward to fling him up, he leaps over his
head, and with the speed of lightning saddles himself all
fours on his back. Beyond the reach of danger from his op-
ponent's horns, ho now plants his teeth in the skin of the
unfortunate buffalo, whose groans of rage and anguish are
distinctly heard amid the loud shouts of the people. Should
the tiger not succeed in taking his leap at the right moment,
the buffalo throws him up into the air like a ball, and as he
falls, stands prepared to goad him to death. If the tiger
should come off victorious in the contest, he is carefully
kept and tended, to display his prowess in another gala.--
Life in face, by W. B. D' Almeida.
THE WHALE FISHING.—On Tuesday the steam-
ship Polynia, Capt. Gravill, arrived at Dundee from
the whale fishing. The Polynia comes home clean, after
an absence of about five months. She reached the
fishing ground in May, and continued to shift from ono
place to another up till two or three weeks ago, when she
cleared the ice. During the whole time one whale only was
sighted, and some very bad weather was experienced.
Capt. Gravill reports having seen the A ctiver of Peterhead,
which had no whales, but the oil of Grq seals. The Sir Colin
Campbell, of Peterhead, was also spoken by the Polynia,
and had at that time ono whale and about 3CO seals, which
would yield about 15 or 20 tuns of oil. The crew of the
Polynia caught 22 brown bears, some of which were of
considerable size. Two have been brought home alive, and
the others have been preserved for their hides. Captain
Gravill states that he scarcely ever saw worse weather, and
never during the many years he has gone to the whale fish
ing did ho move about so much and meet with so littlo sue-
cess,—Dundce Advertiser.
" France," says the Krcutz Zeitung of Berlin, "did
last month take some slight step for Denmark, but
only out of complaisance for England. The proceeding,
besides, had no omeial character, and cousisted only
charging in an unofficial manner the French amblssador at
Berlin to recotnwcnd moderation towards Denmark in the
conversations which he should have with Count de Eis•
mark and M. de Thiele. 'I he subsidiary demand of Earl
Itusssll that universal suffrage should be applied in Schles-
wig, has not been supported by the Cabinet of ale Tuileries

SECOND EDITION.

SUN OFFICE, HALF-PAST 4 O'CLOCK.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE_ This Day,

DONCASTER RACES—This DAY.
(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH,)

DON STAKES.

Beaver
King George
Coup d'Etat