The Daily State Journal

A case which is likely to call forth all the emotional resources of a French jury has recently occurred in Paris. It runs thus: A young man, having accepted a challenge from a noted duelist, goes home and tells his mother all about it. The good lady rushes off distracted to the house of the duelist, whom she finds practicing with a pistol in his garden, and, what is worse, hitting the mark every time. She implores his mercy, but is coldly repulsed by the marksman, who declares his intention to kill her son at the first shot. Thereupon, in her wrath and terror, the poor woman snatches up a pistol and shoots the duelist dead. The chances are that she will be acquitted, and, indeed, it is difficult to imagine any case which offers a more genuine extenuation.