PARIS.

Southland Times, Issue 1260, 3 June 1870, Page 3

PARIS.

(from our own correspondent.) March 26, 1870. The High Court of Tours, with its Presidont and four assistant judges, the Crown prosecutor, and the 36 special jurors, with four told off to meet any possible contingency among the 36, was solemnly opened on Monday last to try Prince Pierre Napoleon for the killing of Victor Noir, a journalist, on the 10th January last, and attempting to kill his companion, Fonville. Wot only " the eyes of Europe," but of the "world, have been fixed on Tours this welk. ' It excludes all other topics, and absorbs every attention. It was an event that placed Paris twice on the edge of a 'revolution— first on the burial of the victim, when 200,000 persons followed the remaius to the grave, and a single word from. Eochefort would have brought them m collision with the massed 80,000 troops. Second, it was the occasion that supplied Eochefort with a theme in.-hia. journaljthe^fo^eJWae^incitingthe people to revolt and finish with the " Tarquin" family. The prisoner's rank and relationship with the Emperor, mixed very illogically the throne up with a vulgar but serious attack, and the Eepublican party accepting Noir as " one of ours," made the most of the body, and endeavored to shipwreck the newly-born Ollivier Ministry, pledged to reconcile the Empire with constitutional liberty. Such were the elements, passions, and ends of the drama, at which the world has assisted as spectators. The first act was at the prisoner's house at Auteuil, I outside Paris ; the last is'now being acted at Tours, but the curtain is not expected to fall before this afternoon. There was in the character of the accused much that was sensational. He was regarded j as leading the life of a brigand, tempered with the revenge of the Vendetta. His creed was, that there was only one GFod, and the Napoleons were his prophets. In his stormy history he bore a charmed I life. It was romantic also, for he married the peasant girl he seduced ; this Prince, who, in addition to relationship with the I modern Caesars, can boast of his ancesI tors being enrolled in the Havre $Or o£ Venice. It is difficult to know even at the present; hour if the 43,000 inhabitants of Tours regard the sittings of the High Court of Justice in their tranquil city as a greatness thrust upon them, or an insult. There is an Oriental or Boetian indifference about them which prevents them rising up to the occasion. Siacg Sunday last, when the crush of strangers and "big-wigs" arrived, the citizens and country folks gape in silence about the gaol, the Tribunal, the hotels, and the print shops. They enter the latter, examine the photographs of the Prince, his wife, the deceased Noir, and Eochefort, but finish by investing in a carte of Troppman ! The influx of strangers is verjr great, yet a place in the court is anything but a pleasure. It has been simply fitted up to 'put the greatest number of persons in the smallest possible space. While it snows outside, it is a tropical temperature within — suited to the boiling passions which surge there. The crowd, which stations itself outside under the portico, shows how little man wants here below to be made happy. The few hotels are full, to overflowing, and for 30 francs a day, one can receive " all the comforts of a home," by " snatching a fearful joy," in the shape of a bed on the coffee-room table, and "fighting for a good square meal as best you can. ; Th 6 representatives of the press number over 200, and include apparently all the dwellers beyond Mesopotamia. The accommodation for them in the court is excellent, facing the jury, and on a line with the dock. In the evening nearly all assemble at the table cFHote. There are no reserved seats here, nor in the " galleries" in the . court. All is iiarmony hall-— the flow of soul. It is only during "office hours" that the war paint is put on, and the hatchet dug up. The " Princess" and her two children occupy apartments in the same hotel as the gentlemen of the press. §he has also rented : rooms for her husband's counsel, and is ever present at their consultations. j The "Princess" is 34 years of age; tall, good-looking rather than handsome, shows "the smiles and sparkles of the speaking eye," has an affable smile, and impresses you as being a homely, sensible wife. She does not go into society, but nevertheless has a large circle of friends. Her two children, a boy aged 11, and a girl 13, are handsome. The Prince was almost a stranger at the Tuileries, and the circumstances of his marriage have prevented the recognition of his wife. Women who forget themselves for a moment may be pardoned, but society — except in G-eorge Sand's world — never rehabilitates them. The "Princess" receives much sympathy. She adores her husband, and he her, and she has great influence over his fiery Corsican nature. Every morning from eight to ten she spends in prison with him, advising him, and directing his valetto give all his cares to his master's toillette, a matter that weighs with a French jury. She never appears in court, but passes the day with her children and maids in the country. The court opens at eleven, and rises at I five. The first proceedings were confined t|6 reading the. decrees constituting the Tribunal, the last of its kind that France will witness, as its exceptional character is to be abolished. The impartiality of the judges is above suspicion ; the court and nation has no higher honors for them. A bell announces their entry into court. Their costume is a scarlet robe with lace trimmings, and their head dress consists of a Lilliputian black velvet mitre, which is removed on their taking their seats. The jurors are "all honorable men," selected from the most worthy of the members of the General Councils in the Empire by ballot. If the remuneration .of lOfr. a day does not attract them, the

possibility of beiog fined 10,000fr., and imprisoned for five years, with loss of civil and political rights, ensures their attendance. As neither side exercised a single " challenge," this is the best tribute to the impartiality of that jury, which represents the nation. A majority decides the verdict. There is no " looking up" of the jury pending the trial — the members of it retire after the day, like ordinary citizens, to their houses. The ladies, in spring toillettes, muster strong, and take a strange interest in examining the blood-stained clothes of the victim, the pistols, &a. The " reserved seats" are secured on the good old rule, the simple plan- — 11 That they should take who have the power, And they should keep who can.' ' All the witnesses connected with the trial are called by name, and remain till the roll isexhausted. Then they are marched out of court — the Montagues and the Capiilets into separate waiting-rodms — until again invited to " come and appear." The family of the deceased is represented by his mother, brother, and intended bride — a girl of 16 — all in deep mourning. The President, having taken hi 3 seat, orders the accused to be brought in, Prince Pierre enters, bows to the bench and the jury, shakes hands with his counsel, and nods familiarly to his friends. He is a man aged 54, slightly bald, his raven locks, elegantly arranged, commencing to turn grey. He is tall, very military-looking, head large, features coarse, but not brutal, eye penetrating and restless, a character easily carried away by passion — one of those rough good natures, dangerous to displease, but not disagreeable to know. He is very corpulent — not from any disproportion between bread and sack, but from that tendency which many Italians after a certain age have to fall into flesh. The jurors ought to note FalstafFs plea — the greater the flesh the greater the frailty. He is elegantly dressed — a black coat buttoned up to the chin, which shows off his corpulency, a white necktie, dark«blue military pantaloons and gold spurs, gloves, the most delicate shade of canary. He has a pocket-book, with scarlet and blue cover, and uses his gold pencil thoughtfully, rather than industriously. When a crime is committed in France, a magistrate is especially charged to legally draw up the history of the matter. He examines all parties concerned, and they sign their declaration. These " declarations " are furnished, the originals, to the President, and duplicates to the inculpated. The President examines directly, prisoner and witnesses, from the text of the declaration — the attitude of the witness, his non-deviation from < his declaration, being the tests of his credibility. There is no " brow-beating crossexamination " — the President generally exhausts the subject. Any question opposing counsel desires to put, is done, if relevant, by the Judge. As usual the witnesses are in general timid, become more so as the Judge bids them have courage— speak lower when begged to speak higher— and when invited to look at the jury, turn their regards in the opposite direction. The President, after a short allocution to the jury to lay aside all political feelings, directed the indictment to be read, and then called on the prisoner to stand up ; in the dock he was only guarded by a colonel of the gendarmerie. His history was not gone into, as is usual ; he was examined only as to the boxing of a deputy's ears in the Assembly in 1849. He detailed the history of the shooting of Noir, clearly, and as at first related. The Judge's examination was searching and impartial, and the accused's replies, calm, frank, and respectful. He made a favorable impression. The kernel of the trial is this : — The Prince asserts he shot Ndir after receiving a blow in the face, and seeing his companion, Fonville, getting ready his revolver, fired on him also. Fonville, the only living witness, asserts Noir did not strike the Prince. That the latter carried the effects of a blow in the cheek is attested by several witnesses, among whom are three doctors, who examined him a few hours after the event. Further evidence was produced, among others that of an Englishman, who heard Fonville say, that though his friend was killed, he had the satisfaction of having given a blow to the Prince. Evidence was further adduced to show that Noir and Fonville were violent men, and considered any manner of attacking a Bonaparte justifiable. Stress was laid on the fact that after being shot Noir rushed out of the Prince's house, having his hat on his head, proving he was guilty of disrespect in . remaining so covered during an~interview he solicited ; and consequently the want of politeness looked like studied insult. It was the Prince's habit always to carry a revolver for the last thirty years, but as all parties were armed, they sail in this respect in the same boat. The evidence of Fonville and his party — the " Eeds" or " Irreconcileables" — was not favorable to them. They were temoins a sensation — were very violent, theatrical, and offensive, and gave one an idea of what sort of men we should be under in case of a successful revolution. Paschal Q-roussett, who was the cause of sending his "witnesses" to the Prince, was so insulting that he had to be sent back to prison, where he is expiating his sentence for vitriolic articles against the Empire. In reply to the customary question of the Judge, "Was witness related to the accused ? Grousset replied, "He would not say, as the Prince's mother had so many lovers." The indignation of the court was very general at this outrage. Eocheforfc was brought from Paris to give evidence on the civil side. In fact, it was only part of the sensational arrangements of the defence. Eochefort's entrance created more curiosity than excitement. He really had no testimony to give, and what he had to say was given very creditably. The arch-conspirator seems to be "taming down" by his imprisonment, but is in delicate health. The trip to Tours will

do him good. He was very elegantly ' attired, and did create much sympathy for his position — a political prisoner, and a shattered popular idol. . . The belief is generally shared that the Prince was first struck by Noir, and being thus provoked, the gravamen of the charge is removed, and the sentence of the court will likely be three or five years imprisonments for in no case the ** code " will permit Frenchmen taking the law into their own hands. Thanks to the cooling down of political passions sincd the commission of the crime, and the revolting attacks in the v" Bed" press against the Prince — his chivalry to fight for the insults heaped' on' the Emperor, his wife and child — his desire to be judged by a common jury instead of a High Court, have brought back the popular justice to his side; i The trial will go down to posterity as one of the greatest causes celebres of modern times, which nearly upset a throne, And deranged, as a consequence, the politics of the world. At the Tuileries, this week has been observed as one of strict seclusion. The Emperor receives hourly telegrams of the trial, which he has directed to bo supplied to the various embassies. He cried bitterly when the crime took place— he may weep for joy at its very probable happy issue — of which I must leave the telegraph to give the latest intelligence.. I am sorry to add that the Prince gave way to an explosion of excitement against Noir's counsel for laughing at an old friend of the PrinceV who testified his -devotion warmly for the accused. Fonville cried from the body of the court that the Prince was a murderer and a wretch, and endeavored to strike him in the dock. Everyone was surprised, and Fonville was immediately put on his trial for this great scandal. I need scarcely apologize for the trial crowding out all other intelligence. In home politics the work of reforming the institutions goes bravely on, and promises to be a success. The Emperor has given a fresh proof of his conversion, by divesting the Senate of its incongruous prerogatives, which so displeased the majesty of the Lower House. This act consolidates the Napoleon dynasty, and secures the triumph of that liberty which is every man's right, and that order which is every man's interest. France seems to have resigned all intention of crossing the Pope in his desire to become a .DeoPontiff. So much the better. But the recall of the troops is still on the cards. Continental politics are stationary. In Spain, the Duke of Montpensier's star has not paled in administering to bis cousin the forced punishment for his inexcusable outrages. In Paris the dreadfully severe weather is the staple conversation after the Napoleon trial. . The vaccination of the population in the arms and legs, or both, passes unheeded, as well as the cry for cows with a " beautiful pock." We are in Lent, but in no penitential mood.. The theatres are making handsome receipts, and the artistes, with any kind of voice, a golden harvest in private concerts. But somehow the city is not gay. "We want warm sunshine, ana to be quits with the last vestige of revolution, in the case of Victor Noir. France has now a smiling, happy, prosperous future before her.