Norwich bulletin., 1914-08-06
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF THE DUKE DE CHOi-
 SEUL-PRASLIN.

No bloodier or more inexcusable murder Is recorded in the pages of history than that of the duchess of Praslin by her husband. the duke of Choiseul-P -Prasiin. In measure 1t wAs one of the principal causes that led to the French revolution of 1S46. Every vice of the time was traced to the aristocracy. The people looked upon the nobility as the cause of all thelr trouble. They watched with suspicion every act of this class which tended to recklessness and immortality. Tie nation was in this state when the duke of Praslin murdered his wife. She was a woman of most excellent accom- pishments. The interest in the trial excited much attention in this coun- of the Praslin family left Paris short ly after the murder and took up a residence in New York.
 The old blood royal of France flowed in the veins of the Choiseul-Prasiil family The duke who brought dis grace upon the name was born in 1895, and at the age of 20 he married Fanny a daughter of Count Sebastiani. a dis tinguished French general The duke and duchess had by the union three sons and six daughters.
 For some years before the murder grave discord had arisen between the pair, One serious cause of quarrel was said to be the influence which the governess of his daughters, Middle. Deluzy- -Desportes, had gained over the duke. The duchess objected to the continuance of this lady in the family, and particularly complained of her es- tranging from her the affections of her daughters
 At last the governess was compelled to quit, but instead of leaving Paris she took up quarters near the Pras- lin home, where she was frequently visited by the duke.
 On Aug. IT, 1847, the Praslin family moved from it's country residence, where it had been spending the sum mer. to the Rue du F'auborg St. Hon. ore. After their arrival the duke and his three daughters went to visit the former governess and upon their re- turn the father retired to his room about 1 o'clock.
 The duchess was also out during the evening and returned to her home and went to her room about g: 30, She dts- missed her maid, Her body was dis covered the following morning near the chimney of her room pierced with about forty wounds, The news spread like wfld-f1re and all Paris was ex- cited An investigation was instantly begun, Everything proved that the duchess had attempted to escape from her assassin The first blow had been given while she was in bed. The mur- derer, necessarily covered with bio Jd, must have left traces of it on his way; and that stained way was found to be towards the apartment of her husband. Drops and marks of blood were visible from the door of the duchess cabinet to the door of the dukes bedroom.
 The duke made statement on Aug. IS in which he described how, having heard a noise in the duchess room, he went there and found her lying by the chimney covered with blood
 At the preliminary examination Charpentier. the dukes valet, and Mar gareueclerc, a domestic, gave damag- ing testimony against their mast sr. Then came the examination before the Chancellor Pasquier, president of ths chamber of peers. That official earn estly adjured the duke to relieve his mind by frank confession of the crime. They also examined most carefully Mdlle- Deluzy as to the re- lations between her and the children.
 When the chancellor asked her if she did not think her actions were most painful to the duchess she re- piled: Quite the reverse. I believe Mime. de Prashn was more occupied than about her children whom she scarcely saw, and whom she sent away, when their father was present, in or der to be alone with him. When he was no longer there she voluntarily kept herself at distance from the children in order that she might use sucn conduct .as a weapon against him In her reproannes touching his way of managing their household, She was no doubt jealous even of the attention her husband paid te their children"
 The court of peers, having secured sufficient evidence te hold the iitis- band. prepared the affair for trial In the chamber: Suddenly a report spread that the duke was Peisened-tiiat he was dying-that he was dead, Tine duke de PrasiiH expired in the Lu4efia- burg. whether he had been transferred in the darkRess of night te aveid the fury of the Populace. He teak pest on after he saw his plans defeated of hiding the murder,