The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-26 00:00:00

MURDER AT CHAMBERY.

(From the Private Correspondence of the Gazelle dcs

Tribuhatt,r.)
We have recourse to you for the purpose of making
public a horrible and successful attempt at murder
which was some time since made here, and to also ex-
pose the disgraceful impunity with which crime can be
committed in our unhappy country by certain classes
of society. Neither the voice of public opinion, nor
the long premeditation of the crime, and frightful cool-
ness with which it was committed, will arouse the Go-
vernment from its culpable apathy. We are deter-
mined at least, however, that through the columns of
the Gazette des Tribunaux the murderers shall be
branded with infamy.
M. Meugnier, the Mayor of the commune of Faisson,
a little village of La Tarentaise, between Albertville
and Montiers, was assassinated on 9.Bth August, 1838.
About nine o'clock in the evening, three individuals,
muffled up in white blouses, and having their heads en-
veloped in a species of black hood which completely
covered their faces, having holes through which to see,
presented themselves at the dwelling of M. Meugnier,
who had just retired to bed. The door was opened
by a domestic. The strangers asked to speak wth M.
I\leugnier. The servant took two of them to the bed-
room of her master, and the third remained at
the door. Two of them.were armed with knives, and
the third with a pistol. They demanded his money of M.
11Ieugnier, and he got up, opened his secretary, and took
out a pair of pistols and a case containing some silver
monies. One of the.aisassins said, " It is go'l that we
want, and you have some ; you shall tell us presently
I whether you prefer dying by the knife or the pistol."

M. Meagnler, boom-nib:2 alarmed, then apet►ad a draw&
and showed them some gold. At this moment Madame
Meugnier ran out of her chamber. One of the strangers
went and tried to quiet her ; and M. Meugnier, en-
deavouring to profit by the opportunity, rushed out of
the room, but he was iiutncdiate!y followed and brought
back into the chamber again, where the doors and
windows being closed his cries for help were stifled, and
his throat was cut by the assassins in the dark.
The murderers did not abandon their victim until
Madame Meunier enter«l the apartment with a light
and exposed to view the horrible deed of which they
had been guilty. They now fled, leaving the mangled
and convulsed corpse of the unfortunate gentleman on
the floor. It was evident that they were well acquainted
with the premises, for they entered by one door, and
quitted by another, without any light ; and it is believed
that robbery was not the actual motive of these villains
for the commission of their crime, for although they took
the silver away, they left the gold behind. As they
fled they threw their blouses and k nives into the river.
Public suspicion points to three priests residing in the
neighbourhood as the murderers of the unfortunate
Mayor, as their hatred towards him was well known.
As the Syndie of the Commune, Meugnier had shown
little tolerar.ce towards the vices of the priests. He
had reproached one of them with the death of a young
husband, who had committed suicide in coneequence of
discovering a liaison between his wife and this priest.
To another of them he had refused to return some letters
of an amorous description which he had written to a
young girl, and a third he had made restore au estate
of which he had taken unlawful possession.
It is said that they had sworn to take his life in re-
venge
for these acts, and an inhabitant of St. Gervais
had overheard them planning his death behind a hedge.
One of them had been moreover seen to buy two enor-
mous knives at Albertville.

Immediately after the murder the Tribunal of Mon-
tiers commenced an investigation into the affair, but it
was soon broken off. The Lieutenant of the Albertville
Gendarmes felt highly indignant that s 3 horrible a crime
should remain unpunished, and employed every means
to lead to its detection. He spoke out very plainly as
to the guilty parties, who, he went so far as to say,
were sheltered behind the altar ; and added, that if the
authority were given him to arrest the priests, the truth
should soon be made known. His statement led to the
appointment of a senatorial commission, but the very
day the commission proceeded to the place, the Lieute-
nant of Carabiniers, who was intrusted to take the "in-
struction," received an order to proceed elsewhere, asd
the Marcella! des Logis. who had not hesitated to point
to the guilty parties, also had his residence changed.
The servant even who opened the door to the assassins
declared that she recognised one of the Priests in ques-
tion. She was consequently sent off to France, and the
inquiry dropped.

AN EXECUTION FOR MURDER

IN FRANCE.

(F-om the Gazette' des 1 ribunaux.)
No execution has taken place in the department of
Ariege for nearly ten years past. More than one crime
punishable by death has been committed within that
period, but extenuating circumstances having been ad-
mitted, the lives of the offenders were spared ; and this
fact appeared to make many people think that the
punishment of death was entirely abolished. An ex-
ample, however, became necessary, and this was given
At the last Assizes for the department of Ariege, by
two prisoners being sentenced to death. The indi-
viduals in queston were Alexis Rousse Janetis, for the
assassination of M. Bergasse, a rich landed proprietor
of Saurat ; and Jacques Desramond Besse, also for
murder.

The prisoners had in vain appealed against their
sentences, and preparations were made at Foix for the
execution of Janetis on the 14th, at Tarascon. This
created a good deal of excitement in the vicinity, and a
large assemblage took place on the 14th to witness the
death of the wretched man. At seven o'clock the Abbe
Boy, the Chaplain of the prison at Foix, was introduced
to the criminal. and told him that the time had nearly
arrived when he must die. He, however, manifested
no emotion on hearing this dreadful communication ;
and he was shortly afterwards taken into the chapel to
the confessional ; which religious ceremony he went
through in a cold and formal manner.

Alter it was over he requested that he might have
some breakfast. Some bread and meat were imme-
diately served to him, which he appeared to eat with great
pleasure. The hour arrived for his departure from the
prison for the place of execution before he had finished
his meal, which being intimated to him, be, by the per-
mission of the officer, coolly put the rest into his pocket,
to eat as he rode from Foix to Tarascon, which is a con-
siderable distance. He then deliberately walked down
the long and difficult path from the prison of Foix to
the Valais de Justice, where he entered a post-chaise,
accompanied by the chaplain, and the vehicle having
been surrounded by gendarmes, the cortege proceeded
on the road to Tarascon, after traversing the town of
Foix, which was crowded by a multitude anxious to ob-
tain a sight of the prisoner's face.
During the journey from Foix to Tarascon, which
occupied nearly two hours and a ball, Janetis listened
in mournful silence to the pious exhortations of his
confessor, and he only broke the long silence by reply-
ing in the affirmative to the question of the venerable
ecclesiastic whether he repented of his crimes ? But
when this question was repeated at subsequent inter-
vals, he replied, with a slight degree of impatience, that
be had said so before.

Oa his arrival at Tarascon be was given into the
hands of the executioners, who proceeded to the per-
formance of the last dread preparations. He then had
another religious conversation with the chaplain, after
which he decided upon making a full confession of the
crime for which he had been condemned to death,
adding that he should never have committed it if M.
Bergasse, with whom he had had a ruinous law-suit, had
given him a little.
The hour of death at length arrived, but the scaf-
fold was not quite ready, for, being erected on a slop-
ing ground, it was found necessary to strengthen it by
supports. During this horrible suspense, in what man-
, ner will it be supposed the criminal was occupied? He
coolly asked if he might be allowed to continue his
repast ; and having received an answer in the affirma-
tive, he deliberately drew from his pocket the frag-
ments of bread and meat which he had placed there
on quitting Foix, and continued eating them as if no-
thing that was passing in any way concerned him.
At length all was ready, and the culprit mounted
the scaffold with a firm step, accompanied by the Abbe
Boy. The minister of religion then signified that he
wished to address the assembled multitude, and, after a
few simple and touching exhortations on the awful
scene which he had come to witness, he told them
that the prisoner had requested him to declare his
confession in public, and seek for him the pardon of
Gud and of men. " Offer up a prayer," continued the
pi lest, " for the unhappy man who is about to expiate
his offence by his life." The Abbe then knelt down
with the culprit beside him, and, as if by some electric
influence, the whole assemblage at the same instant
knelt in prayer upon the earth. A few minutes more,
and Janetis had ceased to exist.

If those who deny the salutary effects of example had
witnessed this silent and sorrowful scene, they might
hare been able to comprehend the moral effect which
the extremity of the law, when accompanied by the sa-
cred offices of religion, is calculated to produce in the
minds of the populace.

EMIGRATION FRoill THE, CAPE

OF GOOD HOPE.

From the vicinity of the Kakaberg intelligence has
just been received that the well-known Field Cornet,
Van der Nest, has returned from the Emigrant camps
at Natalia, bringing a flourishing account of everything
there ; the consequence is, that every farmer around
that neighbourhood is preparing to emigrate, and the
great move is to be made in the months of August and
September next.
The greater part of the farmers of the Ghamtoos
River district are also about abandoning their native
homes and hearths. Piet Kemp, the Rensburghs, the
Kritsingers, and many more—men of the most influential
class, and carrying with them great wealth, and a consi-
derable body of relatives and retainers—will leave the
colony immediately to plunge into the dangerous wilds
of the interior, in preference to undergoing the continual
vexations of our present disorganized situation.
That the inhabitants of the irarnediate Kafir frontier
—the Kakaberg ard its vicinity—exposed to daily,
nightly, hourly annoyance by Kafir depredations should
leave the land of their birth, is not to be wondered at,
and it is lucky for them that such a safety-valve exists •
but here arc people, two hundred miles from the Kafir
boundary, deserting their homes en masse, because they
cannot secure permanent labour, and are exposed to all
the evils of licensed vagrancy, by a Government which
either has not the power or the will to protect them,
The migration (mania, as it has been ignorantly de-
nominated) extends further than even these limits ; the
inhabitants of Worcester and of the Drakenstein s, close
to Cape Town, contemplate emigration from their " vexed"
homes ; and a large body of those distant colonists are
seriously thinking of leaving the places of their own birth,
and the graves of their fathers, for the new Canaan.
se:pfalvihth truth, that the
It is stated
omfai
gl
delegates
1,
ne
tgasan
btdeasv let j
übo
eseatl
each
despatched
into the colony
aNan
tcheeddiff erent colonial
disttruarcietbsse,erienviting their fellow-countrymen to join the
new tricolor which floats freely at the Republic of
Natal ; and this call, it is to be feared, will be generally
responded to ; the more especially since the return of
the late Lieutenant• Governor, Captain Stockenstrom,
with such marks of distinction from the Home
ssubjects--how
j e e
tbw profoundly.l
Govern-
ment—proving
o how u
eit sympathizes with its wronged
ignorant
overwhelmingly it
isofth real
feel-
ings of the colonists—and howpowerful
is that irresponsible anti-coloni.al faction which can
pluck from the hands of s laiehsty tsltieeal ImperialGa
er
rhau ' s
scep-
tre, and rule the colonies
'raven Journal of July 2.

We are informed that Prince Albert ig likely
to have the command of the household troops at the next
vacancy, and that he will than resign the llth Hussars.

INVENT/40
reErthiAL Ttu: UNION.

7'o THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
- Dublin, Oct. 22, 1840.
" Iron may wake the Union binding as a law, but you
cannot make it obligatory on consc,'enee. It will be
obeyed as long as England is strong ; but resistance to
it will be in the abstract a duty ; ,andthe exhibition of
that resistance will be a mere question (of prudence."
above are not my words. They arc the words
of WILLIAM SAURIN, who was the cherished and ad-
mired organ of the Orange party in Ireland. He was
not punished for these words. He was rewarded for his
political principles. Ile was, for about twenty years,
the Tory Attorney-General for Ireland, and, in fact,
the principal instrument of Government during that
ti7ne. He was even offered the office of Lord Chief
Justice, which he refused ; and he was the political tutor
of Peel during his Irish Secretaryship.
I, in the most express terms, deny the esmvetenev
of Parliament hi pass tke Act of Union. I warn you.
do not dare to lay your hands on the Constitution. I
tell you that if; circumstanced as you are, you pass Ai.;
Act, IT WILL BE A NULLITY ; AND THAT NO MAN IN
IRELAND WILL BE BOUND TO OBEY IT. I make this
assertion deliberately. I repeat it, and call on any
man who hears me to take down my words." . . .
Yourselves you may extinguish, bat Parliament
you cannot extinguish. It is enthroned in the
hearts of the People ; it is enshrined in the sanc-
tuary of the Constitution ; it is immortal as the island
it protects. As well might thefrantic maniac hope that
the Act which destroys his miserable body should ex-
tinguish his eternal soul. Again, therefore, I warn
you, do not dare to lay your hands on the Constitu-
tion ; it is above your power."
These are not my words. They are the words of a
man, who, after he pronounced them, was made At.
torpey-General, first to the Whigs, and then to the
Tories, and then to the Whigs again. He was eleva-
ted to the office of Master of the Rolls in England,
He was neat appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Com-
mon Pleas in Ireland—and he is now Lord Chancellor
Plunket.

There is such a total ignorance in England of the
manner in which the Irish people think and feel upon
the subjects of the Union, and of a domestic Parlia-
ment, that I deem it a duty to give you the foregoing
specimens of the sentiments of the highest and rankest
Irish Tories ; and of the most elevated and talented of
the Irish Whigs.

In your paper of the .sth of September, you have ar-
raigned (aF you were fully entitled to do) my conduct
in seeking for the Repeal of the Union Statute ; and
you have entered into an argument to prove the utility
of that statute to Ireland. I thank you for arguing the
question. Your colleagues of the English press do not
condescend to argue the matter at all. On,. portion of
that press employs itself in calumniating me, vi:if3ing
ray motives, and falsifying my projects and plans.
Another portion of that press contents itself with un-
generous insinuations and with entreaties to spare the
W'aig Administration, and not to be the means of re-
storing the Tories to power ; ends which I certainly
have not in view ; and which my conduct I firmly be-
lieve, is calculated to prevent and not to facilitate.
But you, Sir, take the proper course. You come
out upon me with arguments—with reasoning—and,
although you mix up some incivilities with )our logic,
yet, upon the whole, yours is an effort to persuade and
to convince. Therefore, our mode of warfare has—
(for I can afford to forgive incivilities)—my warm and
decided approbation.

I wish I could give equal commendaCon to your
matter as I have done to your manner. I cannot, how-
ever, do so. For you really are as ignorant as any of
your Contemporaries of the Press of the real state of
the question. The grounds of your reasoning arc con-
sequently pure assumption. And tour persuasive
powers are thrown away in this country, because ever}-
body in Ireland perceives and knows the fallacy of your
opinions, and the unfounded nature of your statements.
You totally miatake all that relates to the efficiency of
the Irish Parlia•nent—to the mode in which the Union
was brought about—and to its effects upon the Irish
people. The first gross blunder—(pardon me for
using the word)—that you fall into, is the supposition
that there is a real Union between the two countries.
I do, indeed, think that you arc a man of candour, and
that you will, after some short reflection, admit that it
is a blunder to suppose that a real Union exists. There
is no such thing. I assert, positively, that there is no
real union between the countries.

Let us understand each other, and define the mean-
ing of our words. A Union does not mean the dead
letter of an Act of Parliament, or a set of words traced
upon parchment or printed upon paper. A Union be-
tween two countries means a complete political amal-
gamation, and a complete identification of the inhabi-
tants of both, in their rights, franchises, and privileges ;
in short, a perfect equality in the eye of the law, of all
the people of both nations. A Union means the con-
stituting of one nation by all the people of both countries.
Again, the word " Union," does not describe the
connection between master and slave ; bctreen so-
vertigo State and dependant province.
If there were a Union between Great Britain and
Ireland there would be no difference in rights, fran-
chises, and political power, between the inhabitants of
Cork and those of Kent ; between the people of Kerry
and those of Yorkshire ; of Mayo and of Norfolk.
Now, Sir, I ask you two questions. First, Do
you agree with me in my definition, or description of
what constitutes an actual, real Union ? 1 anticipate
that your answer is, (because it plainly ought to be)
in the a ffirmative.

My sccbnd question then is—Does such a Union
exist between Great Britain and Ireland ? I atn sure
you are too honest and too intelligent not to answer
at once—that no suck Union exists. And alter that
admission—what respect can I pay to a paper or parch-
ment Union ?

But as you have provoked this discussion, I am
sure you will permit me to show to those who are not
as candid as yourself, the various points upon which
the rights, franchises, and political power of the people
of Great Britain, data from those of the people of
Ireland,

For the greater clearness, we will take these points
numerically.
FIRSTLY .—TheEcclesiastical revenues of England be-
long to the Church of the majority of the English
people. In England the people are altogether free from
the obligation of supporting the Church of the minority
of the English people.

The Ecclesiastical revenues of Scotlar.d belong to the
Church of the majority of the Scottish pevlc. In
Scotland the people arc altogether free from the obliga-
tion of supporting the Church of the minority of the
Scottish people.
But in Ireland the Ecclesiastical State revenues,
belong by law to the Protestant Episcopalian Church ;
consisting of less than one-tenth of the entire popula-
tion. The people of Ireland alone, are compelled to
support the Church of a small minority of the popu-
lation !

Is this a Union? I ask you to answer me fairly and
honestly. You cannot affirm that it is a Union. Would
the people of England endure that the Church of a
small minority of the English people, say of the English
Catholics, should be endowed with all the ecclesiastical
State revenues of England? I say THEY WOULD
NOT! and they would be base slaves if they did !
Or, would the people of Scotland endure that the
Church of a small minority of the Scottish people
(say the Protestant Episcopalian Church) should be
endowed with all the Ecclesiastical State revenues of
Scotland.? I say THEY WOULD NOT! and they
would be base slaves if they did ! But I say more—
that when the question practically arose in Scotland,
the people of Scotland turned out upon the mountain
side, unsheathed their good broadswords, and resisted
to the death (and successfully resisted) that species of
despotism.

'this is a mode of resistance not calculated for the
present day. But the Irish are not such base slaves as
to ad,nit that there is a Union between countries in
which these essential disparities exist in the first and
most sacred of popular and religious rights.
The people of Ireland, therefore, have not the same
freedom of conscience that the people of England have.
Do you call that a Union % And yet the. Irish people
do not require that the ecclesiastical State revenues
shall be applied, as in England and Scotland, to the
Church of the majority. They know the debasement
of spiritual utility which the State gold necessarily in-
duces. They are for the voluntary principle. But
they defy you, or'anybody else, to allege that there is
a real Union so long as the present disparity continues
—and continues hopeless of relief.
SECONDLY.—There is no Union between the two
1 countries ; because the Irish people have not an equal
proportionate share in the representation with the
1 people of England or of Scotland.
two millions and a half. The people of Ireland
tor theirg
millions. The Scotch have 53 representatives Take Scotland first. The people oflaSncdotalarcrideiairiet
have but 105 for
two millions and a half. The Irish
land, with a population not amouonrei g
than one-half the
1 the population of Ireland, has
possessed by Ireland! If
their eight millions!!! That is. in ;?othertow(onridest.itn.cloot-f
number of representatives
Ireland,pess
for the 53 Members
there were a real Union,
e ore than 150. She has
of Scotland, ought to
Agaie_Englan,.., withu dile
adevof the
d populationffa ' on cf
''
.13 millions,
Ireland, with a population of
has
st
510055—sheis
8 millions, has but I.oa. . - thus England, with a popu-
lationth tof Ireland, ha
s
about to twice a
not approaching
number of Representatives! ! !
ded of the difference. There is there-
Ireland is defrauded representatives.d e'irr a
,
THIRDLY.—There is no real Union between the two
countries
• ; because, I repeat, Ireland was, and continues
be, defrauded of her adequate number of representa•
to
the, ; even taking that number on the basis on which
the calculations for united representation were made by
fore
Lord Castlereagh himself at the time of the Union.
His scale was formed upon the assumption, amongst
\other things, that the population of Ireland, was only
two-fifths, whereas in point of fact it was more than two-
thirds, of that of England. He underrated the eons-
parative imports, exports, and revenue.of Ireland.
,And
no
:rs five
ea i times Union.