XXIX. La maison Morrel
XXIX. Morrel and Company
Louis-Philippe's return from England dominates this issue, alongside a morality scandal in Paris and Belgian tariff reforms.
- At the Portsmouth banquet, Sir Hercules Pakenham proposed a toast to Marshal Soult and the French army, calling the campaigns of Napoleon among 'the most brilliant pages of modern history' — met with applause from 250 English guests.
- Louis-Philippe told London's Lord Mayor he knew the City quarters 'as well as you do,' recognised the Recorder as a son of Lord Ellenborough, and donated 10,000 francs to the French Benevolent Society and 4,000 francs to the poor of Windsor.
- Brazil, having suppressed the Farrapos rebellion in Rio Grande do Sul, was actively arming warships and sending 500 troops to Montevideo, raising hopes that its intervention might end the long siege of the city by Oribe's forces.
- Belgium raised its duty on printed cotton fabrics from 103 to 325 francs per 100 kg, but granted France a one-year exemption, in a move expected to divert Manchester's trade to Rouen and Mulhouse.
- In the Passage Brady, a man stabbed a companion in the abdomen — intestines protruding — after the victim had unwisely jingled his coins in front of strangers; a woman saved the pursuit by slamming the arcade gate shut on the fleeing knifeman.
- A Paris morality trial linked to the murder of an Englishman named Ward ended with ten convictions; among the accused were a 53-year-old silk merchant, several boys aged 14–16, and a former chorister who had served a prominent preacher.
- A colonial delegate, Dejean de La Bâtie, argued that Mauritius's sugar output — 74 million pounds in 1842 but only 53 million in 1844 — proved emancipation a failure, predicting recovery would require 40,000 foreign workers for two consecutive years.
- Only one candidate among fourteen examined for English-language teaching posts in French secondary schools, a Mr. Witcomb, was judged 'equally versed in both languages' and praised for his feeling for English poetry.