The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-28 00:00:00

CURIOUS CAM.

--

A case unexampled in French jurisprudence,
and which recalls to mind one recorded in Biblical
history—two women claiming to be mothers of the
same child—has just been submitted to the Civil
Tribunal. 'A female named Flouron called on at)
tribunal to declare her to be the mother of a boy
named Alexis, born in 1843, and now in a board-
ing-school in the Rue des Martyrs ; and in support
of her demand her advocate made a statement to
this effect :—ln 1832 this female, who was t len
fifteen years of age, and whose name was Perrino
Gervais, came to Paris, and having made the Etc-.
quaintance of 'a butcher named Dardelle, who was ,
considerably her elder, she entered his service es
cashier. After a while he seduced her, and in
1834 she gave birth to a child ; but the child did
not live.. Her connection with Dardelle having
continued, she on the 17th January, 1843, gave
birth to another child, who was registered as the
son of Dardelle and of Perrine Gervais, and who
was baptised as the son of M. and Mine. Dardelle.,
Irp to that time, and for a certain period after, •
Dardelle bad not allowed his famly to know any-
thing of his connection with Perrine Gervais; but '
she having attended him with great affection in
serious illness with which _he was afflicted, be an-
nounced his intention of marrying her, and made
his family receive her as his wife. In 1848 Dar-
delle made the acquaintance of a female named.
Palmyre Foulbceuf, and became smitten with her
charms. This female, who possessed great powers
of intrigue, and was well experienced in the ways
of the world, wormed herself into the confidence of
Dardelle, and succeeded, by calumnies adroitly dis-
seminated, in causing him to break off his connec-
tion with Perrine Gervais. The latter, however,
solemnly called on him to fulfil his promise to.
marry her, but he refused, and she, in consequence,
a few months after married one Flouron, who
had been in the service of Dardelle, and was a very
honest man. After her rupture with Dardelle,
which took place in 1848, that person refused to
allow the boy Alexis to visit her or to go out
with her; but he permitted her from time to
time to see him at his school. In 1853, Dardelle
married Palmyre Foulbceuf, who since his rupture'
with Perrine Gervais had lived with him as his
mistress, and on the 29th Nov., 1856, he died,
leaving a fortune of between 300,000 fr. and
500,000 fr. to his widow, with remainder to hits
son Alexis. On hearing of this, Madame Flouron
came forward as the mother of the boy ' • but 0
her great astonishment, Madame Dardelle affirmed
that it was she, and not Madame Flouron,
was the mother of the child. In proof of VII!
she produced the register of her marriage, in whzch
it was formally declared that " the boy All.,
registered, as the son of Perrine Gervais, was refill?,
the son of Palmyre Foulbceuf, that it was by coot
that he was so registered, and that she and ElaFi
delle his father, formally declared him to be thou
child, and meant tomake him legitimate." Madan!!
Flouron, knowing this declaration to be false,
sisted on being recognised as the mother of t 136
boy, but her pretensions were opposed by the Dar-
delle family, by Mme, Dardelle, and by a person
named de Sainte Croix, who had been appoint
guardian to the lad. She was, therefore, obligea
to bring an action to establish her right; and, in E11,1,:l;
port of it, she relied not only on the register of tro
boy's birth, but on the facts that he had writtea
numerous letters to her calling her his mother, ali
that he possessed such a strong likeness to her o
4o prove him to be her son ; her advocate, l:0°s
over, urged various technical reasons to show 040
her maternity could not be disputed. In ansvirer,la
all this, the following statement was made,
1842 ardelle was very intimate with M. and ATo
Foulbceuf, and as he was fifty years of age, t'ii.
allowed him to go out frequently with their date ebe
ter Palmyre, then only fifteen, thinking that
would treat her as a father ; but being a Teri 0
centiouvaian, he seduced her. BecOthing encie9o
she was ashamed to return home, and she vi',„aso
due time secretly delivered of a male child. '2-i,.`l„f
circumstance took place in Jan., 1843; and the
was the child Alexis; but to preserve her reP,l)37,
tier). he was registered as the son of Perrino t.eca
vais. She,. however, and not Perrine, 'watch
with the utmost tenderness over him, ace
when he was placed in a boarding school 4c,
alone visited him, ' and treated him as' an aft
tionate mother would do. Perrine Gervais bac
got into an intrigue with one of his men (Floon
whom she afterwards married), Dardelle concer,4
bitter hatred of her, and expelled her from 1:8
house. He then, after, a while, married Pablo
Foulboauf, and thereby repaired the wrong he ,
done by seducing her ; they at the same time, .r
was natural, recognised the boy Alexis as Ova
child, and declared him legitimate. In suP„P°;,
of this statement, it was argued that if 1,,e0
rine Gervais had really been the mother of
child, site would, on being expelled by '4:ci
father from his house, have certainly claircd
him ; and that after her expulsion she woo"
not, as she had done, have for years gist
herself no trouble about him, until she heP',
that he was entitled to a large property. It IT,
asserted likewise that the boy resembled MOW',
Dardelle, and not the other woman ;" that'll!
_o°;s
sidered the former as his mother, and had aii"
treated her as such • and that Dardelle himself
written letters to Madame Dardelle before hisul'or.
riage to her, in which he spoke of Alexis as
child." On various technical grounds; 'twice:, I
it was contended that Madame Flouron's Pret;f
sions were inadmissible. The public •proseo!Ao
said that in his opinion the tribunal ought to °leg
a searching investigation into all the cireumstagA
of the_birth of the child to be Made. Juclgra'
was in consequence postponed;

CITY OF LONDON SCHOOL.—The following distiocti°s
have been gained at Cambridge by pupils of this.s°,,bfo.
during the present term :—Mr. J. R. Seeley, first in,
cellor's medallist, and bracketed senior classic; Mr,ty
Skelton, sixth wrangler ; Mr. J. H. Bridge, tsc,e'" ;
second wrangler ; Mr. S. J. Lidgett, thirty-third
ler. Five pupils of the City of London School I'l'o
taken their degrees at Cambridge during the pre
term, of whom four have been thus distinguished-
APOTHECARIES' HALL. —The following gent'''' of
passed their examination in the science and practicert,
medicine, and received certificates to practise, on 11,,htile,
day, March 26 :—John Tatham, Barton-on.Lonsuet,
Yorkshire ; William Brooks Poel, Canterbury, fits'
Herbert Sedgwick Barnes, Chelsea ; David Sb.,°„rd,
Skinner, Headcorn, Kent - George Fielding Blaou,'"na'
Meld, Wiltshire ; John 'Narbert Casanova, Loou're,"
Jarman Patrick, Kent ; Humphrey Purnell Blacko3°o
Salisbury ; William Edward Caird, Exeter; Sam;lir
Prall, Rochester; William Dresser, Coventry; 111,'",;
„,"
Thomas Carr, Newcastle -on - Tyne ; Charles Jl'`').
Devonshire, Hampton, Middlesex ; John Bridge
Newick, Sussex ; and Robert Leever, Army.
THE POST-OFFICE EMPLOYES AND THE FRANonIS-fl
The following circular notice, signed by Mr. Rosil°4",
Hill, has been personal), served upon each person e5l
ployed in the service of the Post-office, and a recet,
taken of the same :—" To all postmasters, sub-Pe,:r.
masters, postmasters' clerks, letter-carriers, let[d,
receivers, and others employed in the receitt,
collecting, or managing the revenues of the Post-001,
Interference in election of members of Parliament. ,1;1
a general election is about to take place, I am diree",t,
by the Postmaster-General to remind you that no 11,°h-et
master, clerk, letter-carrier, letter-receiver, or any °"70%
person employed in the receiving, collecting, or rosog,,c,
the revenues of the Post-office can either vote or r° m•
fere in any manner whatsoever at the election for foeid
bees of Parliament, under the severest penalties, 38
down in the acts of 9th Anne, cap. 10, sec. 44; and
Gen, 111., cap. 41, sec. 1, extracts from which are isfif
flexed ; and I am desired by his grace to state that
officer of the Post-office guilty of this offence vvihnb.
instantly dismissed the servic in addition to being ed
jected to the penalties inflicted by law."—Civil Seri
Gazette.
I'o
THE EAST INDIA CIVIL SERVlCE.—lntelligenve re,
been received at Bombay of the murder of Mr.H. yeS
the newly-appointed deputy-postmaster at Ahrnedn,f,
gur, supposed to have been committed by robbers. n,
dead body of the unfortunate man was 'found near a 1„,
lags about eight miles from Ahmeciclenpuagrgt:ntTohferSater:i
tariate at Bombay is, it is said, about to undergo „ever!
very important changes. The
Works is to be amalgamated with the Military del
n,
ltohnee
Omerit,
the andree
opnal aecneddati underon o
ft the
acontroljorp honfyree
commie
sioner of Rangoon, the Government of India have sae
tioned an increase to the establishment of the Protestso
Church at Rangovinfairtw•
ed Chief Commissary Storekeeper fect
CIVIL SEnviongd%t.
Cho fahsti hnbaee.eCnuTsathopepmol
e
Y--A vacancy has been caOlete
4:LILO:Mt: r .DFe.pGa tilos Read
in the Department of the Accountant General, Frad
Branch, Simierfiet-house, by the death of Mr. Thoto'i
Culliford Barrow, clerk of the first class. A vaci,e%
in the Storekeeper General's Department has been
retired on
01: the promotion of Mr. John Eahtb°ll
—ae atsCri leaPSnaednjr t Warehouse
second-class clerk, who has been appointed Stcrg
Receiver at Woolwich-yard, vice Mr. P. Aforgt
superannuation. Lieutenant J. Arkwrig-
has been appointed agent in charge of mails -,
contract steamers. General Post-office.—A vacs/
bas been caused in the Circulation Department, neo
4Letter Branch, by the retirement, on pension, of Ir,
Frederick Tillyard, Deputy-Controller. Customs--l%
Henry Miller 3,3 been promoted from second to Pro,
class clerk in the Examiner's office, London ; Mr. Angeti
tus C. Hail has been promoted from third to sec°e„
class clerk in the Examiner's office, London ; Mr. Gets'
Dudley has been promoted from fourth third-class °1e1.%
in the Examiner's office, London ; Mr. George, go
Nedham has been promoted from fifth to fourth o'!"'
clerk in the Examiner's office, London. East Indiee
Mr. C. K. Dove has been appointed to officiate as 17;r,
master-General' of Bengal during the absence of o
Bennett ; Mr. T. Garrett has been appointed to of50:0
as Deputy Postmaster-General in Ca'cutta in the rc7o4
of Mr. Dove ; Mr. A. R. Young has been appoino,
Secretary to the Government of Bengal, and Mr. F" the
Lushington has been appointe.l Junior Secretary to
Board of Revenue,—C4 &nice gazette.