The Sun.
London, England, 1862-07-31 00:00:00

A FRENCH ROMANCE.

1 The Court of Assizes ofSrine ttied on Satur-
clay a youeg man named Hai ven•, a deshrter from
:ti
acoh
named last, neavr
dtiti,
eeo
ttotireloo, t
the Belgian army, or, a charge of murdering, on the
Aubervilliets, a
10th th's,:bl.
youngw ith .tom he
cohabited. It appeared from the evidence that he
had been a sergesut in the BelL4ian service, and bad
embezzled funds belonging to his company amount-
ieg to about 300 f. Finding himself unable to con-
ceal this defalcation, he determined to desert, and
having been entrusted by an officer with four bank-
notes of 100 f. each to get change, be absconded
with thum, and the woman Vancolhen, with whom
he had become acquainted in a house of ill-tame,
accompanied him in his flight. Accordieg to the
prisoner's statement, which was supported to a cer-
tain extent by a letter written by the woman Van-
tche
othtewno fugitivestoa person
had
of
ahergr
eed
toproceed to Paris,
acquaintance at Brussetlss:
and there, after spending all their money, to com-
rnManu.cide together. 1 his project they determined
. ctaerhr,y
and oweeffnetc
to
oo
an I evening!ohe
o:ly
place
I,h
en oe
at the
th e 1 0
fortt h o
o ft
t
o
Aubervilliers for that
theperpooset;laws prisonerheardthe ball
from which
h
there
dischargedaeriteied at
pistol
ar w
the left eye and lodged in
h iowould
the brain. The prisoner, then, recording to his i
o
ecc mat, walked on a little farther, and attemptedvr
three times to shoot himself, but the pistol
not go off. He then returned to the woman, and at
the same moment some gendarmes from Auber-
villiers, who had been informed that a woman was
lying insensible in the road, came up, and to them
he pretended that he and the woman had been
attacked by two robbers, who had taken 300 f. from
them, and fired a pistol at his companion. The
woman was sent to the hospital Lariboisiere, where
she died a fortnight afterwards. On going to the
spot the next morning the gendarmes found a
double-barrelled pistol, oee 'carrel of which had
burst and the other was still loaded, and a close
examination of the ground led them to the belief
that the story of the robbery was false, as only the
footsteps of two persons could be found near the
spot. The prisoner was consequently then interro-
gated, and be then confessed that he and his mistress
had agreed to die together, and that he had dis-
charged the pistol at her, and afterwards tried to
kill himself, but in vain, as the pistol missed fire
three times. The woman when she first recovered
her senses at the hospital, told the same story about
the robbers, but three days later she gave a very
different account, saying that the prisoner fired at
her twice and then attempted to strangle her. She
said nothing
of any agreement to commit suicide
together, but that such a project had been enter-
tained was proved by her own letter written a day
or two Uefore the crime. The counsel for the de-
fence argued that suicide was not a crime in the eye
of the law, and that it wasadoubiful point whether
a man who assisted another in committing suicide
was guilty of murder. Merlin held that he was
not, and a judgment was given in that sense in
October, 1834 ; hut afterwards, in 1839, M. Dupin,
then Procureur Gullet-al, brought this question be-
tore the Curt of (;as-ation, wnich decided that the
above judgment was wrong in law, and siace then
Merlin's theory had been generally abandoned,
though many eminent juris consults still uphel I it.
As to the second contession of the woman Van-
cothen, the defendant's counsel maintained that it
was dictated by a spirit of vengeance. After
hearing the reply of the Advocate-General the jury
retired, and in less than half an hour returned into
court with a verdict of guilty of murder, but with-
out premeditation, and they also admitted extenu-
ating circumstances. The court accordingly con-
demned the prisoner to 10 years' hard labour.

ATTIMPTED MURDER BY A CLERGY-
MAN AT EXETER.

On Tuesday the inhabitants of the city of Exe-
ter, especially of the lower part of the city, were
thrown into the wildest state of alarm, in conse-
quence of the report that was citculated to the
effect that the Rev. George Henry Parminter had.
committed a most diabolical crime. It is with
satisfaction that we are enabled to correct this re-
port. We are still, however, called upon to narrate
a very sad story, though there has happily been
an absence of criminality.
For some time past the rev. gentleman, who is
the rector of the united parishes of St. John and
St. George, has been in a most melancholy state of
mind, owing to pecuniary d:fficulties, and of late
he has exhibited some ay tnpoonis of insanity. Early
on Tuesday morning, whilst suffering from a severe
attack of brain fever, the rev. gentleman, in the
absence ()f. Mrs. Parmintei, got out of bed, pos-
sesssed himself of a pocket knife, and then walked
to the nursery, where several of his children were
asleep, under the charge of the nursemaid. It would
seem that he very quietly walked to the bedside of
his only daughter, a little girl of about four or five
years of age, to whom he is devotedly attached, and
attempted to cut her throat, but only succeeded in
severing the skin of the neck sufficient to draw
blood. Mr. Parminter on his return to his own
room was met by his wife, to whom he said, "Poor
little Mary, I have done it." His wife immediately
rushed to the assistance of his child, who did not
seem the least frightened, and succeeded in atop-
ping the flowing of the blood before the medical
gentleman for whom she had sent had arrived.
l'ne fever was raging so high at the time that the
poor unfortunate gentleman seized a poker, but was
preven,ed by his suns from d Ang any mischief, acd
was ultimately induced to retire to his bed, where
he is now contineti, in the most prostrate state of
body as well as of wind. Tne little girl, we un-
derstand, is not much hurt. Mr Parminter has a
large family, who are now plunged into the deepest
sorrow. Mr. Parminter is stowly progressing.
Re was to have met the committee appointed
to take the necessary steps for repairing the parish
church this (Wednesday) evening. He has always.
been a west faithful and loving pastor, and his
kindness has been universally shown to his poorer
parishioners. Exeter, Tuesday, 10.15 p.m.—
bade
t under
dnge rc. a e
M or,.
b'
e albeen
intormed
the
-
that the rev gentleman attempted to strangle his
since writing the above, we
wife whilst she was sewing a button on his night
f
11 r Itu
shirt.
rlb'heertsi,i little
tlseu rggieru o girl,
Parminter is now in the charge of several men.
Up to this time he was somewnat calm,
having considerably abated. Du • the fever
rev, gentleman has been wildly exclaimingringthe day the
family to be brought to the bedside •
for his
parting blessing, and he has been to receive his
loud in his calls
tor his daughter, to whom
attached.— sateen /I, • he is most devotedly
°ming News.