Installment 112 of 141Sign in to track your progress

XCI. La mère et le fils

XCI. Mother and Son

Marshal Bugeaud's leaked letter on Algeria, a Paris attempted-murder trial, and a French explorer's Red Sea journey dominate this issue.

  • Dispensary-boy François Sicre was sentenced to perpetual penal servitude after twice trying to shoot bookseller Germer-Baillière and his wife — both pistols misfired.
  • A gang of eight confidence tricksters who ran the vol à l'Américaine scheme across Paris were convicted, with ringleader André Prévost — six prior convictions — receiving five years' imprisonment and a 3,000-franc fine.
  • Marshal Bugeaud publicly denied that his confidential letter to the prefect of the Dordogne — leaked by an unnamed indiscreet party — accurately represented his views on the Algerian disaster at Djemaa-Ghazaouet.
  • The Ottoman Sultan issued a firman authorising construction of the first Protestant church in Jerusalem, within the grounds of the British consulate.
  • Berlin's Prussian High Court of Censorship banned Louis Blanc's Histoire de Dix Ans and two other French works from import or transit through Prussia in any language.
  • Explorer Charles Rochet d'Héricourt recounts how the Sherif of Mocha extorted a French double-barrelled gun from him, while a Turkish pasha at Jeddah threatened to tax royal gifts meant for the King of Shoa.
  • At Hodeidah, a Persian pilgrim nearly beaten to death by a mob was accused of starting a fire that destroyed 140 homes — by casting the evil eye on houses.
  • Actress Mademoiselle Déjazet is to give her farewell benefit at the Théâtre du Palais-Royal with a seven-item programme including songs, comedy, and a rare revival performed on that night only.