The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-26 00:00:00

THE LATE DUEL IN FRANCE.

The Court of Assizes at Verr.:lilles was again
crowded on Monday by persons anxious to hear the
proceedings in the action brought by Mme. Dillon,

to recover damages from the Duke de GraMolll.•
Caderousse for the injury she has suffered through
the loss of her son in the recent duel. Owing to

several criminal 'causes standing before it on the

list, the trial did not come on till half-past eight in
the evening. M. Frederic Thomas was counsel for
the plaintiff, and M. Lachaud for the defendant.
The plaintiff demanded that the defendant should
be condemned to pay her a life annuity of
4,000 fr., with reversion to her sons Horace and
Frederick Dillon, both of whom are insane, so
long as their insanity shall continue. She also
demanded the sum of 5,000 fr. to cover the el'
penses of the funeral. If the defendant should
prefer to meet her demand by a singe payment in:.
stead of an annuity, she claimed a sum of 50,000 -
The plea put in by the defendant and his judicial
counsel or guardian, Count de Sparre, was to the
effect that the defendant had been acquitted by the
jury on the charge of homicide, that he was tto
offended party, and that those two facts greatly
diminished his civil responsibility. Then as to tUe
amount of damages demanded the plea averred that
no proof had been given as to how far Madam°
Dillon was dependent on her son's aid, but that the
defendant left it to the wisdom of the Court to fig
the amount of damages which would meet the jtl.6-
tice of the case. M. Frederic Thomas, after passog
in review the principal circumstances of the duel, de-
clared that his client would never have demanded cool'

pensation from the author of her son's death, if ttle
insufficiency of her own resources had not rendered
such a step absolutely necessary. He considers
that the damages demanded were but a reason'
able compensation for the loss his client hadsustained, as the late M. Dillon had received
400 f. a month from the proprietors of the Spar'
and was also correspondent of several English
journals, his income from all sources being froth
25,000 f. to 30,000 f. a year. The learned gen.
tleman concluded with an eloquent denunciation'
of the barbarous practice of duelling, and With
expressing the hope that the defendant would
find, in the payment of the compensation de'
manded, some relief from the remorse which h:
could not but feel at having deprived a widoveid
support.---I
of a son who was her sole support.-
Lachaud then addressed the court for the d:
fendant, and endeavoured to show that his client
had done all he could to avoid the duel, but in vain.
That fact having been fully proved by the late tripoi
and acknowledged by public minion, the quest°,
of damages was but of a secondary nature. It 'Pi
a principle laid down in the Code Napoleon the
whoever suffered injury by the act of another
entitled to compensation; but the application, WO
that principle was not absolute, unless the sufferer
had done everything in his liower to avoid the ac.,ii
dent, and he thought this was not the case v/I'd
the late M. Dillon. With regard to the derasT34
of 5,000 fr. for the expenses of the funeral'
thought the sum excessive ; as to the ane°lsl;
I
his client was in the hands of the Court. v
reply to questions from the President as to ,to
fortune of the defendant, M. Lachaud stated tL'i,
his client had passed a stormy youth, and cliseaa
pated a million of francs in a few years, which b
induccd his family to place him under the legal die
straint of a guardian is order to save the rest. be
client did not intend, however, to plead povertY r
was neither so rich nor so poor as he had been rePgr
sented. His present income was the interest o'.
million francs of his own, and of 1,800,000 fr.
herited from his brother, who had died on the- Oa,
to Brazil. The Procureur-Imperial next 5,.0
dressed the Court. He declared that the plaints
e,
entitled to compensation, but expressed his Ine,ri,
dulity as to the income of 25,000 f. or 30,000 f. atito
buted to the late M. Dillon. He also deemed
sum of 5,000 f. claimed for the expenses of the ftlP4,
ral, &c., to be too much. He thought 2,000f.ae1l
cient. As to the amount of the "damages claimed'
tea I))
ati
it was not extravagant; and were they grail ,00
the Court, such a decision would serve as a curve',
those evil passions which instigated men to diet
ling, and which he much regretted that the Verif,
of the jury had 'not condemned. As it was lle'`e
past ten when the Procureur-Imperial bat do``r;
the President stated that the judgment of the o°l3
would not be delivered until next day.

A FRENCH STUDENT CHARGED TO
MURDER.

-
The Court of Assizes of the Seine-et-Oise .75,
Saturday tried a young man of respectable farelo)
(a Corsican, and a relation of the Pozzo di Dergo:
named Pierre de Signorio, aged 24, a medical B"ea
dent, on a charge of murdering a coachman, Ittilote
Olivrot, at Enghien-les-Bains, on the 11th Peol
last. A young woman, named Bertin, aged i 9, *1;1
whom the female prisoner cob abited , was also cail;110
as an accomplice. Early in the morning °f oft
11th Sept. two men when going to their work
the
a man, in a sitting posture, leaning againr,s;
wall of a house in the Rue de l'Arrivee. v-ng big
preaching him, they found he was dead, and base
clothes were bloody they suspected he had foe
murdered, and immediately gave notice of t.""joeci
to the police. On examination, it was aseerttihest+
that the man had received two stabs in the e-004
one of which had penetrated the left lung' s ae
must have proved almost instantly fatal• il.rthe
marks of blood or of a struggle were found erbsets
spot, it was inferred that the deceased 1111' sited
murdered elsewhere, and afterwards deli°oo
there. The body was soon recognised as tha'lipi
coachman named Olivrot, who had been collc4,blolll
with the female prisoner some weeks prevle
but he had recently been discarded by her, te
'vers
way for a new lover, the male prisoner. rre
inquiry instituted it appears that the two Pris°o4
had gone to a ball on the preceding evening'
had there met the deceased, who was grea"Ttlieo
cited, and threatened to take vengeance on red
both. An hour or two after the prisoner 'lv-Ad
turned to the girl's lodgings the deceased ke(3-00
at the door, and demanded admittance, whielitcea
refused, and he then went away, but soon retu'doot.
with a large paving stone to beat in the self'
Meanwhile,
Signorio had risen and dressed Diw;010
and when the man forced an entrance, a etrl.2e;e4
ensued between them in which the prisoner recd e
several contusions about the head, and inflicts Tbe
wounds which caused his antagonist's destb:ho de'
evidence did not clearly show whether h' 0 10
ceased had walked to the place where:,
found, or had been carried there by "' 05"
prisoner. The medical man who made thet;
mortem examination could not undertake a the
that the deceased could not have walked P;
distance, but he thought it improbable.
le d
°hands, who defended the male prisoner, P reoce,
that the wounds were inflicted in self-de to if)
and adduced numerous facts and argun3eli 001
support of that conclusion. The Precureut-11131001°
abandoned the prosecution against the
fade
prisoner, but maintained the accusation fsaol'
the male prisoner. After the President
med up, the jury retired to deliberate, and oit'
minutes returned into court with a verdict 11,51clie
ting both prisoners, and they were immediateu
charged.
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made b
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soldiers
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categories, making a total reduction of about t 25,000 den f
Of
• :nner'
onto
METROPOLITAN BOARDS—'The Cornnuiss- i-,
the Metropolis Roads have given notice of apPlics,o Act'
Parliament in the ensuing session io repeal eerti'ir 010
with a view to provide that certain turnpike roads, ° i‘eir
of turnpike roads, situate in Westminster, Chelsa/ foo'
sington, Fulham, Hammersmith, HanoveMllW,,treet,
dington, Hampstead, Clerkenwell, Isliogton, 0105001
Shorediteb, Bethnal-green, Hackney, Stok Dresyl,, tol/6
and Hornsey shall, after a ,:ay fixed by the Be!,il cal-t, tl3°
maintained, repaired, lighted, watched, or waterecivicoo'
Commissioners of the Metropolis Roads, and sban hi tl'e
mon. highways, and as such shall be repaired, 80.)
respective parishes ih Which such nada are aituate.