The Sun.
London, England, 1870-05-21 00:00:00

THE NICE ROMANCE.

Some few details have been given of a remarkable
double suicide which has just been committed at Nice.
Further particulars are to hand of the singular story.
On Sunday morning last some peasants found, in the
grounds of the Villa Teissere, in the Valley of
Montegat, near Nice, a young woman bleeding and in-
sensible. She was removed to the town, but expired be-
fore reaching it. From her statements and other informa-
tion it appear that she was the daughter of a bookseller,
and herself a brilliant pianiste, who during the winter
menthe resided at Nice. She there made.the acquaintance
of a man named Morplain, and a close intimacy was
formed between them, the man being 34 and the young
woman 30 years of age. The latter, Mdlle. de Hauterine,
became apprehensive that her father would discontinue the
allowance he had been accustomed to make, and Morplain
being without resources, they determined to put an end
to their anxieties by terminating their existence. Ac-
cording to the statement of the dying woman she left
Nice with her companion. "It was," said she, " our
last night. We took with us a phial of laudanum, a revol-
ver, and a swordstick. We chose this as the best spot for
our purpose. - We made a bed with our outer garments,
laid upon the moss. We slept till daybreak. We had pre-
pared everything, and at 7 o'clock came the adieu. -I had
taken off my whitepetticoat, which Morplain hung upon the
branches of a tree. We drank the laudanum. We '
suffered much but we could not die. Morplain said to
me I can bear this no 1 onger ; I shall blow
out my brains.' I cried out that I would not
be left alone with his corpse, and I said, 'Shot
me here,' pointing to the spot • where a gaping wound
in her breast was visible. I did not wish to be
disfigured, and I entreated him to aim there.
He fired point blank. The correspondent of the Gaulois
adds that the statement is verified by the facts
of the chemise being burnt, and the skin blackened by
the powder. " Morplain," added the dying woman, " shot
himself through the head? and you will find him lying
yonder. He feared a failure, and you will see that he yet
holds his poignard in his hand. I did not feel much hurt
at first, and I managed to walk hither, leaning upon the
case of the sword stick." The body of the man was dis-
covered in the position his unhappy companion had de-
scribed, and was removed to Nice, where a judicial in-
quiry was opened.

The third reading of the Irish Land Bill will be
moved in the House of Conunons on Monday week, the
30th inst. _

•
Measles and scarlatina (according to the Lancet)
have been very prevalent of late at Woolwich. The latter
disease is diminishing among the civil populationi, but a
few cases have recently appeared among the children of
the military.
The more the Medical fill is considered, and the
more it is amended the less do critics seem to think of it,
and the more necessary does it appear (remarks the Lan-
cet) for the profession to oppose it as an altogether unsetis-
factory and incomplete measure.
The Lancet says: We have seen a decision of the
Poor-law. Board in favour of the eligibility of ladies• as
,guardians,of the poor, and it is somewhat extraordinary
t iat they should refuse to re-affirm their apinion in so
important a case as that of Burdett Coutts.