The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-30 00:00:00

COURT OF ASSIZE OF LANDES.
(MONT DE rvIARSAN.)

(From the Gazette, de Tribuneaux.)
Jean Dauba was accused of the murder of his
father, and J&ln Duloe and Jean Fiton were also
charged, the former_ as an accomplice in the
murder, and the latter *as' having attempted a
voluntary homicide on an occasion previous to
murder. The Court was crowded to excess—
every one anxious to have a view of. the chief
criminal Dauba (who had already confessed all
the details of his horrible atrocity.) The crowd
by which he was surrounded—all acquainted
with his guilt—nor the avvful situation in which
he was placed, seemed to have any effect on
him. He appeared wholly unmoved., Some of
his answers to the questions put to him were
given in a' firm tone,,and even with some degree
of flippancy.
.This trial lasted four days, during which forty
witnesses were examined. The main facts, how-.
ever, may be given in a very narrow compass.
They were, to this effect appeared that
Dauba, the deceased, was possessed of two small
demesnes, distant about a quarter of' a league
from one another. One was called BacqUe, the
other Poncheton. .At Poncheton he generally
resided with his son, the accused, and his daugh-
ter-in-law, and' their children. The house at
Bacque was kept by- a woman nanitd Halibert,
between whom
.and.the deceased there had exist-
ed an imporper connexion. This, and the ex-
travagant and other, bad habits of the father, who
bore a very bad character in the neighbourhood,
were the cause_ of-daily biclerings between him
and his son, which were carried to such a height,
that on the father proposing to sell his remain-
ing property, the son openly avowed that he
would destroy him. it was proved that to one
person he offered 200 francs to purchase arsenic
to poison his father : and to another he offered
another sum if he would kill him. Dauba,
the father, used to go every day to the farm
at Bacque ; and when he did not pass the
night there he returned late in the evening. On
the 15th of Dec. last, on his return, a musket
was fired at him, and forty of the shot from it
struck him in the head. The wounds, however,
were only slight, and he recovered from the
effiFt of them in about a week. Of this attempt
the prisoner Fiton was suspected, as the agent
of the son, but nothing farther was heard of it.
in a few days an attempt of the sop, who lay
concealed behind some bushes by which the
father was to pass, was frustrated by the barking
of a little dog, which always attended him in his
walks. On that occasion the son admitted that
his father had a very narrow escape. On' the
night of the 31st of January, two. persons
who resided near the place heard, about eight
o'clock, the report of a gun, and, soon after,
a cry which they knew to be that of Dauba.
A violent struggle followed, in which they heard
several blows given ; after which 'silence ensued,
save when it was interrupted by the barking and
howling of a dog. Curious to know the cause
of this noise, they went to the house of Dauba,
Poncheton, but neither he nor the 'son were
there. It was further proved that soon after that, the
son entered the house of a neighbour. He was
pale, and trembled much. Having drank some
wine, he asked whether the man of the house
had not heard the report of a gun ; and being
answered in the negative, he said' he had, and he
was sure some person had killed his father. He
added, that no doubt they would all be called as
witnesses;and he begged the man to say that he
,had come into his house'that evening between
six .and seven o'clock. On the next day Uie
barking and howling of the dog lea to the dis-
covery of the body, which was found in a ditch,
near the spot from whence the report of the gun
proceeded; Several circumstances transpired
which threw suspicion on the son, and he was
arrested. He at first ,denied all knowledge of
the affair, but afterwards made a voluntary con-
fession of the whole. He said he had fired at

and wounded his father, but not having wounded
him mortally, he despatched }UM with repeated
blows of the musket, and of a pitchfork. After-
wards, however, he retracted part of this, and
admitted that he had killed his father, but not
with premeditation:
• On his trial, he repeated this, and said, that
on the evening in question, he was going towards
Bacque, when he met Jean Duloc, the other
prisoner, who told him he was waiting for his
father to kill him. To this he (prisoner) made
no answer, approving or disapproving, but moved
a few paces out of the way. His father soon
came up, and Duloc fired. The shot took but
a:slight effect, and the father cried • out that he
knew them ; and seeing his son, rushed on him,
and they seized each other by the hair, and while
thus struggling, Duloc used his musket' as a
club, and felled 'him the father to the ground.
W bile down, prisoner admitted that he gave
him several thrusts of an iron pitchfork, and-de-
spatched him. They then threw the body into
a ditch. He protested, however, that when he
came out he had no intention of killing his father.
The total want of all feeling with which he
entered before the Court into all the particulars
of this revolting detail, filled the auditors with
the utmost horror and disgust. The evidence
of other witnesses. went to disprove the guilt of
Duloc and Fiton, and they were acquitted.
Dauba was found guilty, and sentenced to death,
having his right hand first cut off.

FASIIIO:NABLE AN!) MISCELLANEOUS

WIND,SOII, JULY 29.—Yesterday the Queen
Of WURTEMBERG, accompanied by the Princess AUGUSTA,
left Frogmore, and proceeded to Surley-ball, to view the
young gentlemen of Eton College partake of the elegant
repast which had been provided for them after their grand
annual regatta. After the entertainment, the young gentle-
men took to their boats, and, accompanied by two bands
of music, returned to Windsor. In the evening there was
a very splendid display of fire-works.
On Saturday afternoon his MAJESTY, attend-
ed by the Lord Steward and Sir ANDREW BARNARD, as
the Groom in Waiting, left the Royal Lodge in Windsor
Park in his carriage and four, and proceeded to Windsor
Castle. Shortly after the arrival of the KING, the Marquis
Of LANSDOWNE had an audience of his MAJESTY, and
presented the Hon. HUGH PERCY, upon his being elected
to the see of Rochester. The Rev. Prelate afterwards
did homage before the KING, upon his election to the
Bishopric, in which ceremony he was assisted by the
Bishop of CHICHESTER, as Clerk of the Closet, and the
Marquis of Lartsootvwx, his MAJESTY'S principal Secretary
of State for the Home Department.

Lord CHARLES SOMERSET transacted busi
ness at the Colonial Office on Saturday.

Viscount DUDLEY left town on Saturday for
the seat of the Earl of ESSEX, Cashiobury Park, Watford,

Herts.

The Rev. J. H. SPARKE (son of the Bishop
of ELY) has been inducted to the valuable living of Levering-
ton, vacant by the resignation of the Bishop of St. David's.
The Rev. H. BARER, of the British Museum, has been in-
ducted to the valuable rectory of Streatham, vacant by the
coin of the Rev. J. 11, SPARKS.