The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-05 00:00:00

HOMICIDE BY AN OFFICER,

The Military Tribunal of Paris on Tuesday tried
Lieutenant Fleury, of the 4th Regiment of Volti.
geurs of tha Guard, aged 28, on a charge of having
murdered, on the 18th August last, a married
woman named Petit, a clear-stancher, who had a
shop in the Passage de Cherbourg. The facts of
the case, as ascertained from the prisoner's confes-
sion and the evidence of numerous witnesses, mev.
be briefly stated as follows :—On the 10th Apr E.
the prisoner, when passing through the Passage de
Cherbourg, saw the woman Petit for the first time,
and at once conceived a strong passion for her. 11c)
returned in the evening with the intention of ob-
taining an interview. In this he succeeded, an i
was chagrined to learn that she was married an d
had a husband living, who was a painter by trade e
This discovery, however, did nut deter him, for he
saw her again on the following day, and she then
consented to visit him at his own lodgings. She
kept her word, and remained with him alone for
several hours. A day or two later the prisoner went
to the woman's shop, under the pretext of having
linen to wash, and was introduced to her husband.
From that time he spent all his leisure hours at tha
shop, often going in full uniform, and sometimes
stayed all night, sleeping on a bed made up on
purpose for him in the same room where the wife
and her husband slept. This continued for ttra
months, when the woman persuaded him to leav e
his lodging in the Rue de Vienne, and to partiallv
furnish an apartment which he had hired in the Rea)
St. Nicolas, and from which they afterwards re-
moved to the Rue Laborde. Here they led a very
gay life, frequently giving parties which were
attended by the prisoner's friends, accompanied by
their mistresses. On some of these occasions the
woman Petit excited the prisoner's jealousy by
her conduct towards the male visitors. This
was especially the case on the 9th August,
when a lieutenant named Giuganti and his
mistress was present. The prisoner was so much
offended on this occasion that ha even threatened
to cease all connection with her, and even wrote
to his father for money to enable him to settle,
his accounts with her. Unfortunately the money
was refused, and the prisoner's resolve to break with
his mistress was not carried into execution. On the
contrary, his infatuation became greater than ever,
and the woman irritated him more and more by
having rendezvous the object of which she refused
to explain. On the morning of the 18th she pro-
mised to be at home when he came, but was absent,
and he then learned from one of her washwomen,
that she was out with a gentleman. A few minutes
later he saw her alight from a hackney coach at the
end of the passage, and he received her with re-
proaches, which she answered in the most offensive
manner. She even told her workwoman that if
Behe (such was the nickname given to the prisoner
at the shop) were ever troublesome they must smack
his face and turn him out. Peace, however, was
restored by the arrival of a stranger, and the pri-
soner afterwards asked pardon fur the language he
had used, and said that he would come and take her
out for a walk in the evening. She replied that she
would not go with him, as she had an engagement
which she intended to keep, but would not say wick
whom. The prisoner then exclaimed—"I will take
care to prevent your going." He soon afterwards.
a
withdrew, but returned just
the four women who
evening. After his arrival, the
they smelt gun-
were ironing in the shop before eight in the
evening.
out to see if any boys
were letting off crackertsice
of what had been said.
went out to see if any boys
were letting off crackers fl the street. The prisoner
p o gun-
powder,
appearedder, andto
takeone onfothem
notice
a n Petit seeing Lieutenant
About 9 o'clock t
n you are, wont you come in and
How 1:!ro-
, did as she wished, and after-
passinghdebwefore the shop, caged him and,
o with him and theprisoner
to neatpsi,k
which she
to the latter's lodgings, refused, straying
ment
that she had an.Qngage
elsewhere. About ten
Petit sent one of her women. atter a man
the
woman
Wha had just passed the door. De a minute the rues-
turned and said that the gentleman asked tier tog
Seeger re man was
was going out at the back door, when the pia.
ailing for her mistress in the Rue d'Anjou. The
slwaotnteerrseized her by the hand to detain her. She re-
fused to stop, and he then discharged a pistol at her
head. The ball did not penetrate the skull but
stunned her, and, leaning on a table, she exclaimed
My sight is going. • • She had scarcely
uttered these words when the prisoner stabbed her
to the heart, and, rushing
out into the street, gave
himself up into the custody
of a sergent de villa.
Giuganti, who was present when the pistol was
fired,
mto u r
d
haerveerlohset
ran
ns
awaywits,
af on r
fast instead a
he
arresting the
could. All these facts were fully established by
the evidence given in court, and the only doubtful
points were whether the murder was premeditated,
and whether the
prisoner was insane at the time. A
great many Witnesses deposed that his family, both
on the father's and mother's side, were subject to in-
sanity. His two grandmothers had died raving mud,
and he has
tic asylum who fancies that she is the spouse of
a sister at the present moment in a lune-
Jesus Christ, and has been told so by an angel,. The
medical witnesses who gave evidence respecting the
prisoner's sanity all agreed that, whatever he might
have been at the moment of the crime, he has not
been mad since. The prisoner's counsel (M. Lau-
chaud) endeavoured to show that the disease here-
ditary in his client's family
might reasonably be
supposed to have been the cause of the crime. The
Tribana,, however, did not consider such to be
.t,4
case, for it declared the prisoner guilty of wln2llo
murder, and unanimously condemned hinettoo bo
years' hard labour, military degradation, and
under the surveillance of the police for

---
A SIGHT TO SEE! or the lateeTt hT most un-
ecimen of
English Taste in the Fine Art,
recently placed
fortunate specimen of street fountsivoi; a memorial of tho
at the south end of Bryanston-square;
late Mr. W. Pitt Bryne. It conibioe says the Athenceum,
design. Primarily it
with convbntionalised.
g unlucky enough, but as
or architectonic forms.
isnt ecvemerbyinchinagraicinteirtaisttiiocn;ff viciousatti re
1'..,/joj-jraposed and weak, not to say
presents strong reason for re-
downright ugly, the thaltpa thet it will not be suffered to
aethritaresolast-named forms are ill
monstrance, justifying
gi
at ar tdi
ev
ne
srock-work,b ut
nos ,e
ooun
tceed
~-E three semicircular steps,—a very ob-
remain. Upon a bwhi-a, because presenting a false feature at
cevollen.-
jestionable forte iita Po
the back,—is
pretlY
, ,„ /II suburban
the top of this rock-work 'is placed a large,
in such P'B,-p 'shell, serving as a basi for the . •
a fountain.
also jaillat'v" • s a sort of pedestal,
the shell rise
an unhappy com-
bination "iseubuprbilae:tfeaim-
Frl aof lines and mouldings. This bulges out at the
bina"
Rides from acomparatively el
oggests one of those oddly-shaped " ornaments" in vogue
about fifty years ago, and derived, at a painful distance,
from the outline of a lyre. Nothing could be more ill-
chosen than the details of the mouldings running up the
edges of this portion of the design; they are vulgar as welt
as poor. This strange pedestal sustains an urn, precise's-
like those in fashion for the tea-table in our mothers' time,
except that where the lid of the utensil would meet the body,
is a ring of mouldings, sustaining festoons, with the medal-
lions once considered appropriate to, those peculiarly unin-
teresting decorations, A puny lamp standard on each side,
but independent of the structure, completes a whole which
puts the Art-teaching of the day to shame, and fills the
()loft' ver witil astonishment. .

Tin IiOTTOMAN EMPIRE•

(Fro m 1164 : Paris Correspondent of the ltmes.)
CONSTANTINOPLE, Nov. 26.

The ma nie for constant changes in the Adminis-
tration wi hie h has been, to a certain extent, inhe-
rited by tl ie present Sultan from his predecessor,
and the sudden dismissal and disgrace of favourites
holding hi gh offices in the palace have been the
subject of such frequent comment that the periodi-
cal edicts c )f the Sultan removing a Minister or dis-
charging a Chamberlain have ceased to be inter-
preted into, any political meaning, and no longer
excite that emotion in the public mind which his
acts called f 'orth in the early days after his accession
to the thron e. For this reason, perhaps, the an-
nouncement that the all-powerful Sheik-ul.lslam
(Chief of the Faith) has been superseded will not be
received—in Europe, especially—with any particu-
lar interest ; and yet it may be said that of all the
important changes which have been effected under
the present .reign this one is, without doubt, the
most import, tut and the most significative.
Although I:).ie office of Sheik-ul-Islam is in theory
only equal in rank with that of Grand Vizier, yet iu
reality it ma; r be taken to represent, under the Sul-
tan, the Brea test power in the State. The high pa-
tronage whi(th it possesses, the means it affords of
influencing tte feelings and destinies of the people
in the remote st districts of the empire, the great
religious prei3tige which is attached to it, the facili-
ties, above all, which it gives to the holder for con-
stant and confidential intercourse with the Sove-
reign—all these things have combined from early
times to irreest this ecclesiastical and judicial office
With considerable pomp and almost unlimited power.
t has not unfrequently happened, therefore, that
the fanaticism of a Sheik-ul-Islam, which has been
a h, i,,reditary characteristic with every successive-oc-
cup sat of this office, has contributed always to re-
tard, and often to paralyse, the measures of reform
whiic e: have been introduced from time to time, and
neu tr alise any progressive tendency which may have
maxi Tested itself in the country. For many mouths
past .it was known that the now disgraced dignitary
adopted as a rule a systematic opposition to every
enligh toned measure emanating from the Sultan's
"Ministers. It was believed that his influence with
the Sultan was so great that all the combined
efforte of the Ministry would not be sufficient to
shake .:him from the high ground which he occupied.
.Many were the instances cited, on authority, of the
impediments which he opposed to any project sus-
pected of European origin, or of assimilation with
European usage. The consequence was that it not
only retarded the execution of many useful schemes,
bat :deo nipped in the bud others still more impor-
tant, the introduction of which was considered
hope less under the unconquerable difficulty. In no
lasts nce did this fanatical venom manifest itself
mere strongly than in the case of the concession for
the imperial Bank. Every argument was used
calcid ated to inspire distrust of the foreigners in-
teres tod in that important affair. The Sultan was
known to have wavered, bat fortunately gave way
to his own better instincts, and ratified the conven-
tion. Maddened by this defeat, the cif. its of the
Sheik-ul• Islam have since that time been directed
towards the overthrow of the Ministry who had
dared to thwart him. The great hold he had over
the Ulemah party was used to inspire that body
With suspicion against the Ministers, who were re-
presented as upholding the interests of the Giaours
ugainst those of the faithful, and of being little
!Owl of Giaours themselves.

If these pernicious influences had been allowed to
operate much longer there is no knowing to what
extent the feeling of the country would have been
affected. The immediate cause which led to his dis-
missal was, as I am informed on the best authority,
the allusion that was made in the reports accom-
panying the Budget of an intention to introduce
some reforms in the administration of the (Lurch
properties (Vaeorffs)—a subject often canvassed and
discussed, but never taken seriously in hand, on
account of the obstructions with which it was beset.
Again, his influence was o mpluyed to induce the
Sultan to reject the whole report, and rumours were
at tho time spread, not quite devoid of foundation,
that the position of the Ministry was very precari-
ous. Once more, however, the Sultan resisted these
evil counsels, and, wearied of this constant interfer-
ence--imbued, moreover, it is said, with the belief
that a progressive policy is compatible with some
of the traditions of the past—he shook off the yoke
under which he had bent himself for so long, and
proclaimed the overthrow of the Sheik-ul-Islam.
There is no doubt that the representations of the
Ministers, and especially of Fuad Pasha, contri-
buted, also, to bring about this change. It was a
bold measure to suggest, and much interest was
manifested as to how it would affect public opinion
among the old Mussulman party, and especially the
Ulemahs ; but a fall from power in this country is
always accompanied by isolation and the desertion
of old partisans ; and even fanaticism loses some of
its intensity in the face of official disgrace. As far
as e,..n be ascertained there is no reason to suppose
that the public mind will be in any way disturbed
by the energetic action of the Sultan.
The person now appointed to fill this high position
is Djelal-Z ide Hussam El-Din Effendi, a man of
not much note ; but he is reported to have moderate
views, and he is known, generally, to have adhered
to the policy of what, in this country, may be called
the " Liberal party."
It i 5 not improbable that under the new Sheik-
ul-ssiara
the vaco tuhe long-talked of measure of reform of
handlieg fa may
be brought forward. A proper
r
this question may be made to produce
important benefits to the Treasury by increasing
of those truistand also to the present administrators
that thEl'ea Whose management has been so de-
fectivetively unfruitful in ivaluable possessions are compara-
ntheir hands.
Simultaneousle
motiloftat withßey,
the dismissal of the Sheik-
ui_lslam,
etYi one of the Chamberlains,
and one of th most
e opponents.ofthe M inis-
try, wae dismeissed, 'With
a pension of 1,500 piastres
(.El4) a mouth.
In their efforts at e"3enture as to the cause of
the sudden dismissal of the Sheik-ul-Islam the pub-
lic have been startingall kinds 01 caizards on the
subject, the one most Cdr.culated being an assertion
that it arose from the isapprouation expressed to
the Sultan of his acceptance of
the invitation to
i
attend the proposed Congress in Paris.
This is what
really took piece on the
ArnbasSador: —T h
occasion of the audience
granted to the French arquis
of the
de Moustier made rather a long speech, enter
fully into the different parts autograph letterS
of which he was the bearer, and concluded by
ex-
pressing an earnest hope that the Sultan would
"
cept the invitation. The Sultan replied, in the moat
courteous been oofi
j
courteous terms, that if the invitation had
toivseizeda
private nature he would have immedia
acquaintance
of
the occasion to make the personal acquain
his Imperial ally, and would have availed himself
of that opportunity for visiting also other parts of
Europe; but that the proposal, as it stood, involved
interests of such magnitude that it was not for
Turkey, which had only lately been received into
the great European family, to be the first to express
an opinion ; that if other Sovereigns, his allies, ac-
cepted the basis of the proposal he certainly would
not be the last to give his adhesion ; but that, under
any circumstances, it appeared to him that the sub-
sects to be submitted to the Congress should be
clearly defined beforehand.

Th
e fact is that the Turks view with ill suppressed
""siness _ a project which if carried out must open
IT qaestions regarding their own internal affairs,
which they
yoNseould much prefer should be left alone,
no
doubt that
be settled by themselves. There
:nand
be
ee
that it would be the signal for a
host of ambitious and unscrupulous agitators—Ser-
vians, Roumans, Montenegrins, &e.—to trump up
grievances against
suzerain power, and to cla-
mour for public gym
"oppressed nett
PaY in the cause of the so-
called:tatlities." France has
always, so to speak,
coquetted with these factions
in the East, and it is not surprising that the Turks
.
should look with apprehension
nsen a scheme so ob-
..
scare in its meaning and yet so
Wide in its applica-
tion.up between the
A misunderstanding has sprung
gentlemane ,
Porte and the person who is charged with
d'Affaires,
has of the Greek Legation here. This
it seems is not even accredited as Charge
has made application, through the Minister r
Foreign Afflirp, for an audience of the Sultan,°tro

present a letter from King George of Greece notify-
ing his elevation to the throne. The Turks have
taken a huff at this proceeding, declaring that it
Is a breach of etiquette, for that an au-Fence can
only be granted to an Envoy. They had them-
selves intended to send a special Ambassador to
Athens to congratulate the King in the name of the
Sultan, and they proposed selecting for that mission
a person in a high position. This intention must
now be abandoned, as they consider themselves
under a grievance, and they have notified to the
Greek agent that the Minister for Foreign Affairs
will take charge of the letter and present it to the'
Sultan, but that an audience will not be granted
under the circumstances under which it is solicited.
It would be a pity if at the very commencement of
the new reign in Greece, and through the ignorance
or susceptibility of officials, or perhaps only through
misapprehension, a hostile feeling shouid spring up
between Turkey and Greece, and embitter the re-
lations between these two countries..

A proposal has been submitted to the Turkish
Government by persons representing very consider-
able financial interests for the establishment in
Turkey of a Land Mortgage Bank (Credit Foncier).
As I close my letter the information is brought to
me in a trustworthy manner that a preliminary
convention has been signed at a special Council held
for that purpose. It will necessitate some altera-
tions in Turkish law to facilitate the transfer of
land, the principle of which is conceded, but will
have further to be worked out. In a country so
rich in its soil, and where the present rate of ad-
vances to agriculturists ranges between 40 and 60
onlyp e r
o management
importance
per cent., such a scheme with !)o
may be considered to be second
to the establishment of a national bank. The Im-
perialiu lend Bankit
every n not
assistanceonly approvesby the introduction of
the scheme, hut
some of its own elementsin the
proposed under-
taking.