The Sun.
London, England, 1858-11-08 00:00:00

FRENCH MORALITY.

A very shocking case was yesterday submitted
o the Tribunal of Correctional Police. Some time
ago, the Procureur Imperial received a complaint
from a wealthy tradesman named Daud, 62, Rue
Menilmontant, to the effect that in June, 1657, he
and a female named Royer had entered into a con-
vention, by which the latter allowed her daughter,
a girl of seventeen, to become his dame de com-
pagnie for his whole life, on payment of 500 fr.
down, and on a promise that 6,000 fr. should be paid
after his death, but that the girl, after stopping
with him some time, had left him; he therefore
prayed that measures should be taken to make her,
and her mother, and a man named Marande who
lived with the mother, pay back to him the 500 f.
and various other sums which he had given them,
and restore the promise to pay the 6,000 f. ; also
that they should all be condemned as swindlers.
On investigation, it appeared that a regular agree-
ment to the effect stated had really been come to
between Baud, on the one hand, and the woman
Royer and the man Marande, on the other, and that
in virtue of it the girl had become the mistress of
Baud, though he is more than forty years her
senior. It further appeared that on the day on
which she was given up to him, to make his
neighbours believe that he was married, he gave a
grand wedding feast at a restaurant, followed by a
ball, and that at this feast and ball the girl ap-
peared in bridal attire, with a wreath of orange
blossoms on her held, and attended by brides-
maids, whilst her mother and the man Marande
acted as parents generally do on such occasions.
Not only were the 500 f. stipulated for duly paid,
and the promissory note for 6,000 fr. given, but the
man, in addition, after taking the girl to his house,
gave her a gold watch and chain, various articles
of clothing, and different sums of money, and he
also gave or paid for the woman Royer and Marande
sums of 50fr., 70fr., 175 fr., and 180 fr. After a while,
dcouplerefu
bs
fhoorwme Iro-
re
er ,
mt ho ins e lya s,
ta-nnda na
as aD
Daud eecda becamegehl
,aemi ot
,r
theou s
girl at length returned
home to her mother. On
the whole, Daud, according to his own account,
paid 2,690 fr. The
promissory note for 6,000 fr.,
which was seized was a singular document, as it
ran thus :—" I will pay after my death, to the order
of Mme. Royer, the sum of 6,000 fr. as a recompence
for Dille. Royer being my dame de compagnie during
the whole of my life. If my life only lasts a single
day, still the 6,000 fr. shall be legitimately due,
and in case I only keep Mlle. Royer a single day I
will pay the 6,000 fr. at once as a recompence for
her future prospects being probably compromised.".
On discovering these facts, the public prosecutor
took no notice of the complaint of Daud, but had
him, Marande, and the woman Royor arrested and
yesterday the three were brought to trial, the. last
two on the charge of what the law calls "ie_xclting
to the debauchery of a girl under age,' and Daub
as their accomplice. The girl was called as a wit-
the old
ness, and she stated how she was sold to
man, and described the pretended marriage feast;
also how, after staying with him a year, she had left
him. The reason she assigned for leaving him was
that he had tormented her with his jealousy, and
she did not appear to feel any humiliation at her
situation. The mother made no attempt to deny
who has lived with the woman
the charge; Marande,
30 years, though she has a husband alive, pretended
that, not being the girl's father, he was not respon-
sible ; Daud, whose conduct the president called
"ignoble,"
and inferno, s, said he thought there Was
nothing wrong in taking a mistress and paying
her. The tribunal condemned the woman Royer
to two years' imprisonment and 501. fine ; Marande
and Baud each to a year's imprisonment and the
same amount of fine ; the woran besides to ten and
each of the men to five years' interdiction of civil
sights.