The Shreveport weekly news. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1861-1861, 1861-05-13
Selected Expressly for the Meas.
Remarkable Trial Of Murders,
From the Foreign Quarterly Re-
view, No. Wiz

refer ClautuuS SQeValllef, W nose am
iable qualities aud gentlemanly APP
pearance had obtained for him the
esteem of the citizens. 1t was his
native place, although he had long been
absent aud he was married to the
last of four wives, with whom he had
uniformly lived in contentment and
peace. One day child was stolen
in aneighbouring village by gen
teelly dressed man, who had enticed
the little victim with bon-bons and
caresses, till he caught him tip III
his arms, and fed with the prize, A
hot pursuit Immediately commenced,
and after great difficulty, the crimi-
nal was apprehended when, to the
astonishment of all Lyons, he was
discovered to be Peter Ciaudius
Chevallier, 'sous-chef' in the "be-
reau DIES finances" of the prefecture of
the Rhone. The sensation which
this circumstance excited was at first
that OF simple surprise but the eX-
PLANTATION he gave of his motives for
the crime caused the inhabitants of
Lyons to turn their eyes at last i'll
doubt upon the prisoner, He said he
had intended to console himself for
the loss Of child of his own, By
adopting the one he had stolen. Till
this moment neither his wife nor the
public had ever heard OF the loss of
his child, which they supposed to be
living in health with its nurse tai Vii
lieurbannes. How did this hereave-
INERT happen, aud why was it con
c.aled! He said he had been TO
Nilleurbannes to bring it home, but
fatigued, Intoxicated, unacquainted
with the country, and overtaken by
the night, he had wandered out Of his
way among thickets and prccipices,
and lost the child, whom he was
afraid to look for in the dark. These
circumstances OF his journey We're
physical impossibilities. He could
not have been tatigucd by so ordinary
Il walk, nor intoxicated after spen-
ding only twelve sous Embellishments.
nor overtaken by the night in so short
IL time, nor lead out of Il straight
road bordered by thick hedges, nor
lost among thickets and precipiccs in
a level country, where there was not
n thicket nor preciFic. TO be seen.
There seemed to be something so ex-
traordinarv and mysterious in this
affair, that at last people naturally
turned an inquiring and suspicious
look at the whole conduct OF the pris-
oner. Surmises even began to get
aiioat that he had no right to the
name by which he was known at Lv-
ons. 1t was one well known in the
city: and even if its poss6ssor had
been absent from hoyhood, there
surely might have been some person
70 recognise and welcome the wan
dering Ishmeal at his return. In
quiries produced discoveries, and it
was soon known that the name was
IN reality an assumed one; and the
true Chevallier, an officer IN the ar
my, confronted the accused person
The latter had fallen in at Flushing
with the papers of the other, an officer
in the same battalion of a regiment to
which he himself belonged. The
imposter's name was Leiievre he
had fabricated false leave of ab-
sence and deserted. Tracing his his
tory backward, step by step, it was
inquired under what circumstances
he had entered the service. He had
defrauded the Bank of France OF
$4,000 francs, and through the in.
terest of his family, which was re.
spectacle, his punishment had beer
committed to the species of honora
BILE transportation implied by enter
ing a colonial regiment. So far al
was satisfactory but there was still
hiatus left in the history. Som,
years had been leapt over in the in
restigation, few but important, crow
aed with events, pregnant with sus
-picion. This was the era in whicl
his home had been consecrated by
the presence OF his 3 wives success
lively, and lighted up by the smile,
Of a young and beautiful mistress
1t was to this period that the atten
ton of the inquirers was now di
rected. These ladies had all dice
of the same Observation-Disclosures il
the abdomen; and the majority q
that critical period in the life of
female, when nature prolongs the du
ration OF the human race by the per
Torrance of miracle in the hulnai
economy. The symptoms and cir
cumstances of the disease had bee
the same in all, and the aifectionat
attentions of the husband-lover equal
ly remarkable in each of the cases
AT the first appearance of approach
ing illness he took the beloved sui
ferer under his own care; no one wa
even to be present during til
nightly watches of his love and des
pair. When the moment Of dealt
arrived, he hung over the bed, re
piled to the last farewell of his de
parting companion, gazed into he
damp and pallid face, wrote dow
upon, his heart and memory the trs
.ces of the swift commissions whic