The Feuille d' Annonces, ...
The Times, 1824-07-29T00:00:00

The Feiiille d'Annonces, of Chaumont, department of the Haute-Mlarne, has the following account ofacase about to be tried there :-Jean Nicholas Pernot was remarked from his infancy for a singularity of character which acquired for him arnong his com- rades the name of a fool. i-is parents made his want of sense a pretext for his escaping the conscription, but they did not suc- ceed, and he served for a considerable time in the army. He re- turned to his family after the seconid restoration, and then married MaTie Guerelle, his father's servant, wbo was pregnant by him. Ile began immediately to display a strong disposition to jealousy, which only strengthened with time, and at length entirely mnastered him. He was often seen given up to his own thoughts, seeking solitude, and wandering about like a man pursued by some sharp and biting disease. Alwavs a prey to suspicion, heEaw a rival in every man who approached his house; and four or five times he changed the place of his abode to destrov the connexions he sup- poe.d his wife had formed. At length he fixed himself at Celsoz, where he worked as a shoemaker. His terrible passion then in- creased to an alarming height, and manifested itself in as terrible a manner. Tormented by the idea that his wife was always on the alert at night to forsake him for the arms of some rival, he was ac. custonied to place a knife' under his pilow, and threatened to cut lher throat if she attempted to escape. On September 2. 1823, he was seen to chase her with a razor in his harnd. On the 7th of the same month, cries being heard in his house, the neighbours hasten- ed thither, and came as he was seizing her by the throat, and res- cued her fiom the strangulation he was endeavouring to effect. His rage was not concentrated on one object alone, bat wvas directed also against his brothers, particularly against the youngest, whom he regarded as the father of the children his wif e had bome. He also iniagined that there existed a conspiracy in the parish against him, and every inhabitant was, to him, an enemy armed or his de- struction. On March 15, 18-24. Pernot,again resolving on vengeance, borrowed an axe from one of hlis neighbours, which his wife, terri- fied at the sight of, secretly conveyed away. Tnough disappointed, lie did.not give up his criminal project, and begged lis wife to come and warn herself, and take her supper in a chainber adjoin- ing thc kitchen; but she went into another apartment, and soon af- terwards returned into the kitehen for some linen she was to carry to the wash. Pernot was there waiting for her. As soon as she ap- peared, he jumped from his place of concealment, and struck her several times on the head with a hedge-bill, and wounded her there very severely, as well as on the arms and hands, in her endeavours to protect herself. Her cries again alarmed the neighbours, and again she was saved by their assistance. Pernot was then arrested, and when reproached with his crime, far from showing any symp. toms of reentance, he only regretted not havi accomplished his object. Uln being interrogated, lie acknowledged his crime, and justified iton account of his wife having reproached him with imno- tency, having behaved in a scandalous manner, and having both in. decently and criminally n,ade proposals to another man in his pre- sence. Hc added, that s,he tbreatened.him continually with sending for the gcndqr*m cv, and he was determined she should die as well as himself. le IS, therefore, to be tried for having premeditatedly at. tempted to muroer bist wife.teya- SUDDB N Joy.-CFrom a Corresponleut.1-Somemonths since, a young man named Crooke, employed as a day labourer oil tbe estate of a gentleman, near Croydon, was, by one of those sud- den sniles of the capricious goddess, translated from the very depth of poverty, to prospective wealth. The circumstances which conspired to bring about this extraordinary elevation were these :- The mother of Crooke was descended of a respectable family in Yorkshire, but having formed a connexion with our hero's fa- ther (then a servant to her brother), she was disowned by all her relatives, and by the most laborious pursuits the discarded couple were even often obliged to seek a maintenance After the death of the parents, many efforts were made to soften the bro- then's obduracy, but without effect; he knew of their distress, but never would be brought to alleviate them. The father and mo- ther died about three years ago, and though some persons inter- ested themselves for the youn ster, and endeavoured to effect a kintlly feeling in the bosom of his rich relative, the latter remained inflexible against the child also, desiring the subject should never be repeated.Theuncle was,it appears,aman notonlyofmorosetemper,but possessing verymanyecceatrictie., amongst which (notthe moatamia. ble) mightbenumbered, an extravant hatred ofthat sex whichotlier men venerate as the sweeteners of life. With such antipathies, it may be inferred that he never changed his condidon, and in this state of single blessedness he amassed money withoat a friend to share itioutwforts. As hisdissolution drew near, he bethought himself of his qng-pstranged nephew, the child of a sister he had once loved, as the most proper person to inherit his possessions, which a long *ife of active industry had rendered very considerable. He accord. ingly executed a will. whereby he made the nepDrew sole heir, and caused a letter to beimmediately forwarded in his name to a place where he was to be found. The young man, who, from the poverty of his parents, was brought up in complete ignorance, being unable to reaa, on the receipt of the epistle above-mentioned, took it to the 1and-steward to read for him, and when made fully sensible of its import, became insensible to every thing else but the rsospect of boundless wealth, and the effects vere such as led the persons around him toapprehend some violent act either against himself or othes. Thze paroxysm was succeetled by a fever which threatened his life. This also subsided; but a painful momento wnt left be- hind In the bereavement of the poor fellow's mental faculties. (iroir wa reiovd s ton fr te enefit of medical advice. Ini theintrimtheoldgenlemn ded itout seeing his nephewv, whio js nw sle egaee; ut,if epot betru, le i liely -to be again re. stance o a dist~t relatve of th deceaae uncee.in..