The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-26 00:00:00

TRIAL OF BELABRE, THE SENTINEL.

The trial of Belabre, for shooting the man Fohr at the
gate of thre Tuileries, came on before the Second. Court
yesterday at eleven o'clock. On the table of the Court
were placed the musket of the prisoner, and the bullet by
which Fohr was killed, and which was much fllttened.
The regiAyar read Ahe act of accusation, imp 4
Belabre the crime of voluntary homicide while on ty as
a sentinel, and afterwards the deposition of Belabre, the
prisoner, which stated, that about half-past ten in the night
of the 14th inst., while on duty within the garden of the
Tuileries, a man came near him on the other side of the
railing in the street, and proposed to him to drink. On
his refusing the man used excessively abusive language, and
at length made signs as if he would attempt to climb over.
He desired him to go away five or six times, but the man
did not do as he was desired, and at length, on his attempt-
ing to scale the railings, believing him to be armed, he
fired. Corporal Aribaud, who had stationed Belabre, told
him he was to fire if any one attempted to climb over the
railing into the garden, which order he received from the
officer on duty at the guard-house in the Place des Py-
ramides.

Belabre was then called in, and interrogated by the Pre-
sident. He is a middle-sized man, with the complexion
and manners of a farmer's labourer, who had been much
exposed to the sun in the fields, and gave his answers in a
broad southern accent. He repeated almost verbatim the
facts stated in his previous examination, and persisted in
stating that the deceased made attempts to get over the
railing, and appeared to be armed. He did not call to any
other sentry, because there was none within hearing.
M. Bureau, a college tutor, declared that he was coming
along the Rue de Rivoli at the time of the accident ; be
heard the deceased using violent and exceedingly gross
language to the sentinel, and saw him make an attempt to
climb the rails.

Colonel Castres, Military Commandant of the Tuileries,
was examined as to the nature of the orders given to the
sentinels. The witness handed a copy of the order always
posted up at the Tuileries for the last seven years. He
stated that there vs ere no verbal orders for the sentinels.
His devotedness to the Royal family and the Revolution of
July was, he said, well known, but if his Majesty's person
were threatened, he would issue written and not verbal
orders, which might afterwards be disavowed or perverted.
Belabre, on being referred to by the President, stated
that he re-charged his musket, because he feared he might
be attacked by others..

Captain Dimay, Adjutant of the Tuileries, deposed that
he spoke to Belabre five minutes after the occurrence, and
found him quite convinced that he had done nothing but his
duty.

Aribaud, the corporal who posted BeLibre, on being
asked what orders he gave, said that the corporal at the
post of the Place des Pyramides delivered to him the order,
that if any one attempted to get over the rails into the gar-
den, the sentinels were to be told to repel them with the
bayonet, and in case of persistence, to fire upon him.
The Court retired at half-past two, and after a few mi-
nutes' absence returned into the Hall of Audience to de-
liver its sentence, which was read by the President to the
following effect :

On the first count, whether the prisoner is guilty of vo-
luntary homicide ?—No : by a majority of votes.
On the second count, whether he is guilty of involun-
tary homicide by imprudence ?—No : by a majority of five
votes to one.

The prisoner was therofore ordered to be set at liberty,
and sent back to his regiment to continue his service.
More than 1;200 persons were stationed outside the
Court during the trial, anxious to know its result.

COURT OF ASSIZES.
M. GISQUET V. THE EDITOR OF THE MESSAGER.
The Court of Assizes was yesterday crowded to excess,
in expectation of the trial of the indictment for libel laid
by M. Gisquet against M. Brindeau, editor of the Ares-
sager, being proceeded with. ,The cause was called on,
but M. Brindeau did not make his appearance, and in his
absence the Registrar proceeded to read the documents,
including the article complained of, which appeared in the
211essager of September 12, and the letter addressed to the
Message,. by M. Gisquet on the 15th of the same month,
with the the reflections of the journalists, which were con-
sidered to have fully established that M. Gisquet was the
person alluded to by the article of the 12th.
M. Plougoulm, Advocate-General, stated that the article
incriminated contained the offence of defamation beyond all
question. He stated his opinion that M. Gisquet, as a
public man, could not do otherwise than brave the proof
of the conduct imputed to him, and that the editor, by his
absence, had placed himself in a position which was not con-
sistent either with his own honour or that of the Press in
general. He said that the press was bound to denounce to
the public all delinquencies of any serious nature, taking
upon itself, at the same time, the responsibility of esta-
blishing the truth of its accusations. In this case, as M.
Brindeau made default, it was evident he was not i❑ pos-
session of the necessary proofs, and therefore the Advo-
cate-General called upon the Court to inflict the utmost
penalties of the law.

The Court, after an hour's deliberation, pronounced
judgment, de,claring the editor of the Messager guilty, by
default, of a defamatory libel upon M. Gisquet, both as a
private individual and a public functionary, and therefore
sentenced him to be imprisoned for twelve months, to pay a
fine of 3,000 francs, with all the cost of the prosecution,
and also ordered that all the Numbers of the Journal
which contained the incriminated article should be destroyed.
Loss OF THE AFRICAN PACKET.—Mr. Scott, English
Consul at Bordeaux, has addressed a letter to the editor of
the Courrier de Bordeaux, dated the 21st inst., which that
Journal publishes, and in which he states, that having reason to
suspect that the sailors of the African packet had abstracted
a part of the money which was on board the vessel, he re-
quested the Mayor to have them watched ; and when it
was discovered that the Spanish pilot was in possession
of 200 francs, and not 100 piasters as had been stated,
he (the Consul) placed the whole of them under the
surveillance of the Magistrate, in order to ascertain whe-
ther they had participated in the abstraction of the pias-
ters or gold in the box alluded to, which has never been
found. Mr. Scott adds, that it was not since, but before,
the arrest, that the body supposed to be that of the se-
cond mate was found, and that the handkerchief said to
have been bound round the feet was round one leg only,
and it appeared much more natural to suppose that it came
there from the cause attributed by the sailors than that it
bad been used to fasten a weight for the purpose of sinking
his body to the bottom of the sea. Upon the letter the
Courtier de Bordeaux observes, that although it may re-
lieve the men from the imputation as to the handkerchief
it still remains a mysterious occurrence that all the officers
of the vessel should have been washed overboard by one
wave, and that the letter does not and cannot contradict
the fact of money having been found about the -persons of
the pilot and the four surviving sailors. The other Bor-
deaux Journals state that the Procureur du Roi has re-
ferred the case to the examining Magistrate, and that the
inquiry is still going on.
THE KNIGHTS OF MALTA.—(From the Siee/e.)—
Letters from Italy and Germany announce the resurrec-
tion of an Order formerly celebrated, but which of late
existed but in the old recollections of history, notwith-
standing the survival of some old Knights and the crea-
tion of some new. We allude to the Knights of Malta
The protection of the Pope, and his zeal in favour of this
Order, have not been limited to the recent restitution of
the old Commanderies which it formerly possessed in the
Roman State. The Pontiff hopes to excite the sympa-
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