The Sun.
London, England, 1829-12-08 00:00:00

MURDERS IN FRANCE.

At the Assize Court of the department of the
Ain, held at Bourg on the 20th and 21st of Novem-
ber last, a singular trial for parricide took place. A
lady, moving in the highest circles of French society,
rich, beautiful, and accomplished, was acccused of
having poisoned her father about seven years ago,
when he was only four-and-twenty years of age.
The motive assigned for the commission of this atro-
cious crime was a fear that she entertained of being
disinherited by her father for having formed a mar-
riage with a family which he disliked, and also an
apprehension that he was going to marry a woman
with whom he had long had a liaison. As the lady
did not appear to plead to the charge, she was tried
per• contunmee, and the following circumstances were
proved against her on her trial, which takes up no
less that► six columns of the Gazette des Tribunaux.

Bouvier Selazard had acquired a large fortune by
acting as an evoue or attorney at Bourg. lie had
an only daughter, Josephine, who, in the beginning
of September, 1822, married the Sieur A—, n man
of rank in that town. Josephine and her husband
resided at her father's house at Longchamps.
about two miles from Bourg, and it was proved, that
on the 7th of September, 1822, she had gone with
her husband from Longchamps to Bourg, for the
purpose of buying arsenic, as she said, to poison
rats. On her return she persuaded her father to
issue curds of invitation for a large dinner party on
the 16th of September, having previously fixed that
day for the day of his death. On the evening before it,
she ordered her father's cook, Marie Clare, to prepare
some boiled milk and bread for her father's breakfast
the next morning. This order was executed,andat eight
o'clock she took part of the boiled milk herself, and
ordered the rest to be get aside for her father in the
pantry. About an hour afterwards the cook found
her in the pantry, with a paper in her hands, but
took no particular notice of it at the time. At ten
o'clock, Bouvier, the father, who was then in excel-
lent health, called for his breakfast. The cook, be-
fore sending the boiled milk to her toaster, skimmed
off the cream or crust which had formed on the top
of it, and suspecting no harm, swallowed a part of
it. In a short time she was seized with violent
cholic and sickness, a circumstance which, she
swore, was noticed by Josephine at the time, who
asked her whether she had been tasting her father's
breakfast. This question struck the cook as very
extraordinary, especially when she learned that her
master was seized after breakfast in exactly the same
manner. His sickness was, however, far more vio-
lent than her's, and became every hour more and
more aggravated. Notwithstanding, this double ac-
cident, no steps were taken by Josephine to post-
pone the dinner party, although her father had be-
come so ill by the afternoon as to make it necessary
to call in a physician. it was proved that Jose•
phine would not allow any of the prescriptions or-
dered by the physician to be taken by her father;
and that a nurse, who had often attended the family,
tied received a good scolding from her because
she had administered a large quantity of milk to
him, in the hopes that it would allay his suffer-
trigs, as it had already allayed those of his cook,
Marie. Another suspicious circumstance was also
proved against Josephine. The physician desired
therein case Bouvier did not get better during the
night, he should be made acquainted with the fact
early the next morning. It appeared that though
Bouvier had passed the night in the greatest agonies,
Ills daughter did not send for the physician till after
twelve o'clock in the day; so that he did not artive
at Longchamps from Bourg till the afternoon. At
that time Bouvier was beyond the aid of medicine.
Sit tly afterwards he became delirous, and at ten
o'clock at night died, after strong convulsions, in
horrible torment. It was remarked at the time its
something stiange that Josephine returned with the
physician to Bourg, instead of remaining at Long-
champs to close the eyes of her expiring father;
and it now appears that she went to Bourg for the
sake of ransacking her father's coffers, and gaining
possession of his will and his other papers. During
her absence the nurse, who had to superintend
her father's funeral, observed wails of such a
nature on his breast and neck as excited her
suspicions that be had not been fairly dealt with,
tied,- in consequence, she suspended the prepara-
tions for his funeral two or three times, and was pre-
vented with difficulty from declaring her suspicions
to the police. In spite of all the precautions which
were taken by Josephine and her family, a rumour
got abroad that her father had been poisoned, and
latterly gained such prevalence that the body was
taken up and examined, after it had been deposited
seven years in the ground. " Strange to relate,"
says the French journalist, " corruption and time
had both spared the stomach of the deceased." Ir
was examined by several experienced chymists, who.
discovered arsenic in it ; but in very small quan-
tities. The cook, Marie, was then examined; and
iii consequence of a quarrel which had taken place
between her mistress and herself, was induced to
make the following disclosures. She said that a few
days after the death of Bouvier, she had a long con-
versation with her mistress, in which she told her
that she was well aware of every thing which she
had done. Her mistress, she said, promised in reply
to recompense her largely for all she had suffered,
provided that she said nothing of what she had seen,
and as a proof that she was in earnest gave her two
bills, one for 4,000 francs, the other for 2,000 francs,
payeble with interest at nine or ten years after date. II
As her master had left her a legacy of 4,000 francs,
payable without interest nye year:: after his death, it
was stipulated that she should not give up her claim
to her legacy on account of these two bills, but that
she should receive them simply as the price of her
continued silence. At the end of six years Jose-
phine conceived herself out of danger, and refused to
pay Marie her legacy of 4,000 francs. The latter,
in revenge, gave such information to the public, as
brought the matter under the notice of the tribunals.
As soon as the Cour Royale had determined to put
Josephine upon her trial, she lost all her former con-
fidence,and fled out of the jurisdiction of the French
courts. She was accordingly tried par conlumace,
On the acte 4.'accusation being offered to the Court.
M. DE GUERIzE, on behalf of the accused and her
children, moved that the trial be postponed for six
months, on the ground that a far trial could not then
be had, on account of the prejudice which prevailed
against her character in the public mind. After taking
several legal and technical objections to the indict-
ment, he contended that there was no corpus (Mica
in the ease for that experienced chymists at Lyons,