The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-10-19 00:00:00

FRENCH MORALITY.

The Paris papers of last week bring us the report of the
trial and the sentence of the now notorious Beauvallon.
We need not remind our readers that this man escaped a
capital conviction on the charge of murder, and that on
the recent trial of his accomplice for the perjury by which
such impunity had been secured, he rendered himself
again amenable to the law by returning with abundant
interest the false swearing which had been so serviceable
to himself. Nearly two months have elapsed since this
occurrence, and it having been ascertained in the interval,
by the preliminary inquiry which in France supersedes
the forms of our grand juries, that a sufficient case existed
for the prosecution, the prisoner on Friday was brought
to the bar of the Court of Assize to plead to the charge
against tiro. We cannot avoid observing the methods
by which, in France, a person moving in distinguished
literary society, and professing to correct and inform pub-
lic opinion, endeavours to exempt himself from an incul-
pation alleging that he had been swearing and suborning
false oaths in order to shield himself from the penalties of
murder.
The original charge against Beauvallon was to the effect
that he had laid a plot for involving a troublesome rival
in a duel, that he had taken a treacherous and deliberate
advantage of his inexperienced adversary in every parti-
cular, and that he had at last coolly and circumspectly
shot him through the brain with a pistol of which he
knew the exact capabilities, and which he had brought
hot to the field from that very morning's practice. On
this charge he was acquitted by the evidence of his se-
cond, D'Ecquevilley, who swore that Beauvallon had
never seen the pistols before. For this evidence D'Ee_
quevilley was tried as a perjurer in August last, and after
endeavouring to clear himself by challenging the witnesses
against him, and asserting that his family was ranked
among the noblesse of Franche Comte in the 17th cen-
tury, was righteously consigned to infamy for the remain-
der of his life. This judgment, therefore, decided that
the guilty foreknowledge of the weapons had been duly
proved. But, as Beauvallon on this occasion swore to
the contrary on behalf of his friend, even as his friend on
the former occasion had so sworn on behalf of him, he
himself now became liable to a similar charge, and the
same evidence which convicted the second is consequently
brought forward to convict his principal upon the self-
RAMC count, In due §uctenion , therefore, the several

witnesses appeared to prove that Beauvallon had risen
early in the morning to practise at the target, that he had
called to inform persons of his intentions, that he had
deliberately gone through the exercise in the garden of
his second while his doomed victim was shivering in the
snow, and that the instrument was actually found black
and smoking from the discharge by the surgeon in attend-
ance. To all this Beauvallon replies simply by a contra-
diction, which carries, of course, the usual weight of such
affirmations from the mouth of such culprits. His grand
defence rests upon the demolition of the evidence ten-
dered by M. Meynard, which was mainly instrumental in
bringing the affair again before the public, and which
originated these two trials of the second and his principal.
The attack which is to destroy M. Meynard's credit and
restore Beauvallon's character is conducted as follows :
Beauvallon alleges that Meynard's entire testimony is
the invention of falsehood and the suggestion of spite,
arising from the fact that the latter had been defeated by
himself in a competition for the good graces of a certain
lady. in corroboration of this assertion, and as witnesses
to his own character, he adduces the only matter which,
beyond his own reiterations, he has hitherto employed in
the shape of proof throughout the trial. He produces in
court, with apparent reluctance, the private letters said to
be addressed by this very lady to himself, immediately
after that flight to Spain by which he had eluded the fine
imposed on him by law for the support of his victim's I
widow. So singularly do they insinuate facts in favour of
Beauvallon—his compulsory participation in the duel—
his distraction even after so blameless and inevitable a
homicide—and, as if by prophecy, the persecution to
which malice and envy would subsequently expose him,—
that a suspicion as to the pen from which they really pro-
ceeded could not possibly be repressed. " Was not this
letter written for your own defence " asked the Presi-
dent of the delinquent, observing that it had neither
postmark nor other proof of authenticity. The prisoner's
advocate adroitly demurred to such a question, which the
reader will perhaps answer for himself after perusing half-
a-dozen lines. " Believe me," says the writer, "it is not
necessary to have done people harm to be detested by,
them ; it is sufficient to be superior to them in every re-
spect. Do you believe, for example, that you will ever
be forgiven your success in the world, your position at
the head of- a widely-circulated journal, your book so
much applauded, and those honourable decorations which
you have obtained at the age of twenty-four ? Listen !
I tell you, that in less than three months you will pass—
you, so good, so upright—you, softness incarnate--for a
bully, with a hard heart and a pitiless hand." But, the
true force of the whole allegation will not be felt till the
reader arrives at the intimation that this lady, who admi-
nisters consolation, who deprecates treachery, who cheers
the spirit and confirms the piety of the exile, who so re-
joices at the intelligence that he is improving his " fine
qualities" by the example of a Spanish Ministry, and his
mind by the libraries of the Escurial, whose confidential
devotion is exposed, and whose secondhand praises are
repeated in order that the latent virtue of her beloved
correspondent may be made known to the world—is the
wife of another man !
That high sense of honour which murderers and adul-
terers never lose in France precludes, of course, the dis-
closure of the lady's name, and M. Beauvallon throws
himself with confidence on the delicacy of his countrymen
in relying upon the unattested letters of an anonymous
adultress for establishing his unsullied innocence and
clearing his clouded fame. We hope so bright an appre-
ciation of himself, and so just a calculation of his audi-
ence, as is shown by his selection of such a mouthpiece
to proclaim his merits, will not be lost in this country.
That they were not made without a little encouragement
may be gathered from the following fact. M. Granier de
Cassagnac, whose name figures with most equivocal credit
in this nefarious murder, who is the brother-in-law of the
assassin, and the owner of the famous pistols which were
lent for the deed,—who, at the late trial, endeavoured to
intimidate the witnesses by challenging a dangerous de-
ponent in the witness-room, and whose conduct was re-
buked in open court by the President, has so far retained
the favour and confidence of his former gossips in high
office that he has recently been despatched on a Govern-
ment mission to Rome, there to represent in some sort
the French nation, and advance French interests at that
pivot of Christian politics. With such countenance to his
friends and party, how hard it was of the Court of Assize
to sentence M. Beauvallon to eight years' imprisonment !

COURT AND FASHION.

It would appear, by a letter from the Home-office that
her Majesty has declined to receive any presents for the
future. A box, containing a gold bird, sent to the Queen
as a present for the Prince of Wales, has been returned to
the donor.

ACCIDENT TO THE PRINCE OF WALES AND THE PRIN-
CESS ALI CE.--A Lilliputian Java pony, not more than 27
inches in height, generally accompanies the royal family
during their rides in the Home-park. On Monday while
the Prince and Princess were taking their exercise, at-
tended by the grooms and one of their governesses, the
Java pony having displayed some curious antics, the Shet-
land ponies ridden by the prince and princess, started off
at full speed before the grooms had power to secure them,
each bolting across the park in a different direction. The
Prince of Wales fortunately retained his seat, showing
great skill in the management of his steed. The Princess
Royal, however, not having the same command overhers
was thrown from her seat, providentally alighting upon
the turf without sustaining the least injury.
The Duchess of Kent had a narrow escape on Monday
evening, her carriage being run into by a runaway horse
in a spring-cart, as it was turning into the Waterloo-gate
entrance to the Home-park, Windsor. The carriage was
so much injured that her Royal Highness was obliged to
proceed to the Castle in the brougham of Sir George
Cowper. who fortunately was passing at the time. The
cart belonged to Hamilton rams, Lsq., or wooasiae,
whose butler and wife, and the cook, were in it at the
time. They were thrown out into the road. The butler
was rendered insensible for two hours from the effects of
a severe wound on the side of his head. His wife, who
remains in a dangerous state, had the skin from the whole
of the left side of her face entirely torn off. The cook
who [was covered with blood when picked up, escaped
without much serious injury.