The Sun.
London, England, 1829-06-25 00:00:00

Bellan, it appeared, had previously taught his
wife to form the letters of the alphabet, and then
had her combine them in. such a manner as to
form words, the meaning of which the woman
did not understand, in which she seemed to de-
clare her intention of committing suicide, on ac-
count of her husband having spent the money
she brought him. The proof of this point was
very strong, as copies of the letters, in the hand-
writing, of Bella), himself, were found in a heap
of rubbish. After her fall into the canal,
Madame Bellan was seriously ill ; and being
unable to give suck to her infant, it was put out
' to nurse at Belleville, for the purpose of being
weaned, and was there visited several times by
the mother. On the evening of August 9,
Bellan urged his wife to go and see the child.
She went, but never returned. On the follow-
ing day Bellan appeared greatly alarmed, and
went to Belleville to inquire after his wife.
Vassoux, a dairyman, at whose house the child
was at nurse, having heard that the body of a
woman, with the skull-bone broken, had been
found in one of the quarries, hinted the proba-
bility of its being Madame Bellan, in which
opinion the husband coincided. They pro-
ceeded to the spot where the body lay, and
found that the opinion expressed was correct.—
At the back part of the head was a deep wound,
which appeared to have been made bye hammer,
or some such instrument. At a short distance
from the quarry was a quantity of blood, and in
one place the ground appeared to have been
scratched with finger-nails, as if she had struggled
with her murderer. A piece of wood, that
seemed to be part of the handle of a hammer,
was also discovered. In the pocket of the vic-
tim were several letters of the tenour of those
above-mentioned directed to her relations. Upon
copies of these letters being found at Bellan's
house, he declared that having discovered his
wife's letters he had copied them through curio-
sity, and that-considering them of no importance,
he had thrown them aside, with the intention of
wrapping up his goods in them. Some of Bel-
lan's clothes found in his house were bespattered
with white mud like that round the quarries,
and in the mattress of a child's bed was dis-
covered a bloody shirt.
The prisoner, who is.in the 34th year of his
age, protested his innocence, declaring his affec-
tion for his wife.
The mother of the deceased deposed to the
incapacity of her daughter, and the impossibility
of the letters in question having been written by
her alone. The three coachmen deposed to the
declaration of the deceased, that she had been
thrown into the canal by her husband. Vassoux
and his wife bore testimony to the prisoner's having
recognised the body to be that of his wife when at
some distance from it. Two quarry-men stated,
that from the position in which they found the
body, it must have been dead before it was
thrown into the quarry. The head of the victim,
which had been preserved in a saline preparation,
was produced in Court. Dr. Marc, who had
been charged to examine it, deposed that the
fractures seemed to have been occasioned by a
blunt instrument, such as a hammer—but they
might have proceeded from the head striking
against projecting stones at the time of the fail
into the quarry. M. Oudard, an expert writer,
stated that the letterswcre in the hand-writing of
the deceased ; the writing betrayed a want of
skill, but he (witness) was of opinion that it
was a current writing, and that the words had
not been formed letter by letter.
The Advocate-General remarked, that in one
of the letters the deceased stated that she would
not go on Tuesday next to a notary's, relative to
the sale of some property, and that on this ac-
count she would commit suicide. The Tues-
day in question was June 24, even according to
the prisoner's avowal, and yet in the same letter'
the writer spoke of her child as being at Belle-
ville, whereas it was not sent there till July 10.
The Advocate-General asked the prisoner to
explain this contradiction, but received no an-
swer. The bloody shirt had been submitted to
a Commission of distinguished chemists, with a
view to ascertain whether the blood was that of
an animal or of a human being.
M. Bartle], principal of the chemical experi-
ments of the Faculty of Medicine, deposed,
that the Commission was unanimously of opinion
that the blood was not that or a hog, as declared
by the prisoner, but was human blood. They
had not, however, been able to distinguish whe-
ther it was that of a man or a woman.
The list of witnesses having been gone
through, the Advocate-General addressed the
Court in support of the prosecution, in a speech
which occupied three hours.
Aa able defence was made for the prisoner.
The Jury then retired, and after a long deli-
beration returned a verdict of Guilty.
The Court in consequence passed sentence of
Death on the prisoner.

A correspondent in Drogheda informs us that
on Wednesday moreing last a man, in the garb of a sailor,
about 35 years old, well looking, and a woman, his
on of having stolen three chil-
dren. h
The oldest im:icom-
panion, were apprehended in that town and brought befi.re
theilgistr3tes'en sw
child, a girl about 12 years old, with
strong Scotch dialect, stated that she was from Glasgow,
that she bad been inveigled by the man and woman, and
told ate should have employment at Newry. She further
stated.tlnt, at Belfast, they made her entice a little boy,
about seven years of age, with light blue eyes, short face,
and Pock-marked ; that when the party arrived at Newry
they did not stop, but took the children on towards Dublin.
_Newry Telegraph.