The Sun.
London, England, 1829-11-13 00:00:00

.NFANTICIDE BY A FRENCH PRIEST•

We have received from Louhans some horrible
details as to a crime of infanticide, in which a prie°
is implicated under distressing accusations : of
" The Priest S—, curate of the counnune
Bellevesvres, in the canton of Pievre, has just bee"
brought in custody to the prison of our town, se.'
cused of having put to death an infant, of which log
female servant was delivered clandestinely. Publijc
report has charged him for some time with having 14.,
a criminal connection with this girl, and to hiln'wF
imputed the state of pregnaucy in which she aPPe,ar
ed to be, when a scandalous scene gave a nevi 9e;
gree of probability to the suspicions that had bef°l/
been conceived. On the 16th ult. it was perceilliel
that the clergyman's servant was extremely :
P e
and had all the external appearance of a soma
lately delivered. This observation gave rise it°
much thinking in the commune, and next mornid
the following couplet was posted in the market'
place, which put every body in the secret
Ma Claudinette est accouchee
Vendredi dans la matinee."
On Friday, in the early morn,
My Claudinette's poor child was born.
"No sooner did the curate get a knowledge 01
this fact, than he mounted a chair, and exclaitNeel
against scandal and corruption. He complairt,
with bitterness that so little respect was,shown tv
wards a minister of the altar ; left the village
cretly, and went to the Procureur du to coin;
plain of defamation. That magistrate, wh° ha
b .en already informedof the facts, received him ire'd
l.
• Jolly, and merely replied that he would proceed to
charge
brought to examine the grounds of the ells%
brought against him. This answer disconcerted ts
complainant, who immediately returned home, cabers
to his great surprise, he found a party of the gs"
darmes installed in the parsonage-house. The Pr;
cureur du Roi arrived soon after, and proceeded!,
an examination. The delivery of the woman 07
at first denied, and afterwards confessed as a ifilej'
carriage. It being ascertained that the infant bs
been buried in the grave of a woman recently joter;
red, it was dug up, and declared by the faculty t
have been alive at the time of the birth. The r;
mains of a piece of cord round the neck, and a Or 1
corresponding to it, showed that the infant bil`j
been put to death by strangulation. The priegt,atilto
his servant were taken into custody to be broug",,whe
Louhans. After their departure, it became rt' •
that the rector had some time before writteneit
letter to an inhabitant of an adjacent villages t° Die
him to buy for him such drugs as would pro
clid
abortion. Drugs of this kind, in fact, were Nu of
in the parsonage house. All the circumstancesos,
this atrocious affair have having reached Lotiblthe
the indignation of the inhabitants was excited t°
highest pitch, especially as it was reported tbato,
authorities intended to suffer the rector to es Bet
A vast concourse in consequence went 'out tomo
the priest and his servant, and did not leave tisk
till they were safely lodged in prison, when tbe of,
fervescence that was excited subsided. Thilirot
fender is said to have been the most into's"
priest in the whole diocese. A remarkable Circa it
stance in the affair is, that he was the authors. ;jot
were, of his own ruin, in going to make a eomP
which turned against himself. He is said to 11 be
up his spirits in prison, under the vain hope t/il.llttbs
is not amenable to the civil authorities, and ts"ble
will get well out of what he calls ' a disagree'
affair. "—French Paper.