The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-06 00:00:00

ROMANCE OF REAL LIFE.

kindly treated by a wealthy merchant. He soon
recovered his senses, but when he related his
history, all who heard it thought him as mad as

ever. He wrote to France, however, and was soon
joined by his son, and both of them were intro,
duced to Lady Esther Stanhope, who, being ad-

dieted to astrology, took a liking to them, because

she thought there was some mysterious connection
between her star and Loustaunau's. The young

man died two years before Lady Stanhope, and at

her death General Lonstaunan was received into a

French charitable establishment, where he remained
till his decease. His representatives are now in the
depth of poverty, and reclaim the deposit made by

their ancestor. The counsel for the defendants

admitted that the ruby had been intrusted to Lepine,
but declared that when estimated by competent

judges it was found to be worth only 6,000 f., at
which price it had been purchased as a present for

the Empress Josephine, and the proceeds had been

paid either to Loustaunau himself or his creditors.

Even had it not been so, the plaintiffs' claim could
not be maintained, as it was barred by the statute

of limitations. The tribunal took this view of the

case and rejected the plaintiffs' demand.—Galig.
nani's Messenger. .

A MISER'S CAREER.

The extraordinary circumstances connected with,
.he death of an old miser named Crepin, which
ook place on the 11th August, 1858, in Lyons,
are still undoubtedly fresh in the recollec-
tion of many of our readers. Crepin was an old
bonhotnnze, from whom nobody would have with-
held a penny in the streets if be had asked
for it, and who, if it had been offered, would
certainly not have refused it. Having retired
from business with about 100,000 f., which lie
bad accumulated in the space of a few years,
thanks to lucky and certain speculations of every
description, he raised that sum to a fortune con.
siderably exceeding a million. Bat the great source
of his riches was his sordid avarice, which even in•
duced him to tear down bills posted up on the streets
in order to write his receipts upon the back, in.
stead of making use of stamps, as the law exacts;
and yet these receipts represented the rent of sevee
ral houses which brought him in a decent income.
Dressed in a coat which a superb burnish of grease
and dirt rendered proof against all weathers, and
his head sheltered from sun and rain by a hat that
outlived the storm of the first revolution, one would
have taken him for a fugitive pauper. But every
one residing in his quarter knew that he was the
millionaire Crepin, possessing superb mansions is
the-hest quarters of Lyons, the rent of which
in _
~e
he
made his tenants pay nine months in advance, while
all were expelled—the clause was inserted thetl
agreement in every:case—who required any repairs
to be done. But the deity who caused the destruc-
tion of Troy also caused that ofi pere
rCrseupciene;edneodt
astrorunfegs, but ho gifted a cowr
r husband, and that woman
merit to induce Crepinin loosening his
tnoi nl
igr we owmi
tahn
her
t haPcnandr as
hre me.
ehenevoierunegst
hsu.,alsl
hyFe
nhmdaai
dnn
gar managed
ouwrs
seoev
ecompletely
idnit
doo
rndwoeti
rnd dti
eo
shho a
sict);
round her finger that in his will he made her his
ten the opening of the will, which macacdoemhpelrtew,
who
did millionaire. The indiscretion of an accomplice,
did not think himself sufficiently well paid, let the
public know the horrible crime committed upon the
personrofeded it.
the decall acd the turpitude which
Since the Dumollard case the
hadpublicpreceded
has not been so impressed by any judicial
drama, and it is the tribunal of Lyons which has
nthaemhoy, honour
of finally
whe
ife—(the
ltytrio
namely, the man Favreandnde nh
ng t
co
inheri-
tors of Old Crepin's great fortune)--the woman to
12 years', and the husband—a very old man—to
five years' hard labour, and the accomplice, Claude
Chozel, also to 12 years, After the trial the pro-
perty was of course sequestered. But on the day
the verdict was given the heirs of Crepin com-
menced proceedings in the civil court to have the
will revoked, and M. Pollaky is now conducting the
inquiries on their behalf as next of kin of old Crepin.
in England with a view to support these proceedings
in the Justieb Civil(' (Common Mess) which is about
d affairind old Crepin,
aCdreepbiny,
thbye
at oppgliive
ea
tiitosndr.ecnisdioendaornaiten the
legitimate heirs of the late Mr. Crepin against the
convict Fevre, according to the provisions of the
article 727 of the Code Napoleon, at the First
Chamber of the Tribunal Civile of Lyons,

AMERICAN IRON-CLADS.—In the engagement itt
three types of iron-dads were repre.
Monitors, with their laminated armour; the
ttieint h her sandwich armour of iron and wood ; and
theics9nehotah high sided Ironsides, with her solid plate. The Moni.„
the wase
tors received little damage, the Keokuk was pierced through
and through, as if it had been pasteboard, and the plates of
the Ironsides o
twicen i d e
the
shwe were
tcarnaceek
ofed .
the Thelronaides,lonitorsfrcln however,
fot
about
American paper.

- The Civil Tribunal of the Seine yesterday gave
judgment in an action brought by the heirs of Pierre
_ Loustaunau, formerly generalissimo of the armie aof
the Mahrattas in the East Indies, against the ,re-
presentatives of M. Lepine, jeweller to Napoleon 1.,
to recover the sum of 600,000 f., the value of a ruby
which General Loustaunau had intrusted for sale to
M, Lepine. The plaintiffs also demanded damages
to the amount of 200,000 f. In opening the case, the
counsel for the plaintiffs gave a long account of the
adventures of Pierre Loustaunau, who was a native
of a village at the foot of the Pyrenees, which he
left when quite a young man, in 1777, during i-ho
excitement caused by the American War of Inde-
pendence, with the intention of seeking his fortune
in America. Not being able, however, to find a
vessel fur that destination, he took his passage to
the East Indies, on board a ship carrying an envoy
from the King of France, charged to conclude, with
an East Indian pate ntAe, an offensive and defen-
sive allianc against the English, end landed at a.
port in the Mahratta territory, not far from Bom-
bay. The Emperor of the Mahrattas had just been
assassinated, and two princes disputed the throne,
one of whom was supported by the French and the
other by the English. Loustaunau immediately
determined to join the former, and obtained a let-
ter of recommendation from the French envoy. His
offered services were declined on account of his
youth. He then determined to serve as a volun-
teer, and in the course of the war he distinguished
himself so much as to be intrusted with the com-
mand of a detachment, at the head of which he
gained an advantage over the English, for which
the Prince rewarded him with a horse richly capa-
risoned and a sum of 5,000 rupees. He afterwards
obtained a high command, and greatly contributed
to the successful issue of an important battle, during
which he lost his left hand. He had a silver hand
made to replace it, and the very first time he ap-
peared at the head of his troops with this new
hand, an Indian priest, falling on his knees before
him, declared that the will of fate was accomplished,
for that an ancient prophecy had declared that the
Mahratta Empire would attain the highest degree
of power when its armies should be commanded by
a stranger from the far west with an invincible
silver hand. From that time Loustounau was re-
garded as the first subject in the empire, and became
generalissimo. He held that high post for 18 years,
during which be amassed immense riches. The love
of his native land, however, was still strong within
him, and he resolved to return home. He accord-
ingly transmitted his fortune, amounting to about
8,000,000 f., to France through a merchant of Chan-
dernagoe, and soon after took his departure receiv-
ing as a farewell gift from the prince the very ruby
for the recovery of which these proceedings were in-
stituted. On leaving India his good fortune aban-
doned him, for, after narrowly escaping shipwreck,
he arrived in France to find that his eight millions,
which had been converted into assignats, were then
worth only 220,000 f. With this remnant he bought
some ironworks near the Spanish frontier, but his
establishment was destroyed, in 1808, by Spanish
guerillas. He then came to Paris to sell his gems,
and intrusted the ruby in question to M. Lepine.
On his return to the Pyrenees, he was captured by
some Spanish partisans and detained for a long time
poedf thbye
sAwleidminiterinragnteoana,
faropmriswonheirchinhae saint alallstisleasnc(ai
Haandlanwdeads
ipna s sin
Syria,g a e sasnedl bound forbee
et htneeL eivnesua tn.e