The shock news of the moment is that Father de Villain has been gaoled and accused of attempted arson following a fire at Bishop Frere Jacques' large mansion in Le Marais. Returning from evensong, the Bishop was staggered to see the widows and orphans using buckets of water to put out the flames in the wood store by the kitchens. Fortunately, no lasting damage was done but later that evening it was revealed that de Villain had been apprehended leaving the area, with storm lantern in hand, by members of the City Watch. The Minister of State will judge de Villain at a trial in the first week of the new year and any witnesses should contact the office of the Commissioner of Public Safety immediately.

The stout efforts of Frere Jacques' staff ensured the mansion was ready for the Widows' and Orphans' "Peasant Aid" fund raiser at the end of the month with a slight lingering smell of smoke the only evidence of the previous week's conflagration. This news, however, seems to have been too much for Archbishop Oestminster who was taken seriously ill and appears unfit to carry on with his duties. Given that the Bishop had written asking for Pastor de Villain to be investigated only last month, it seems understandable that the Archbishop would want to remove himself from the public eye before the inevitable cries of "I told you so" (not that the Gazette would wish to be seen pre-judging this case - ed.).

In His Majesty's New Year's Honours List, Colonel Jean-Pierre Brisbois and Major Julien à Quse have both been granted the title of Viscount for their efforts in provincial and central government, respectively, with Frere Jacques receiving the deed to a country estate for his long period of service to the Church, and latterly in government as a minister without portfolio with assumed responsibility for charitable affairs.

At the other end of the social spectrum, two young hopefulls have caught the eye of the Gazette after their arrival in Paris. Henri du Vrai, the first son of a wealthy gentleman, made a quiet entrance, while Pierre Robierre, a strapping merchant's son, immediately sought a commission in the Picardy Musketeers and spent most of December studying hard at the Military Academy alongside Captain Louis Mazzini of the Dragoon Guards, after sampling the delights of the Theatre Royal.

Major Zola of the Cardinal's Guard managed to defeat two of his regimental enemies with the blade in quick succession before taking his battalion off to the frontier. In his encounter with Colonel Brisbois, commander of the King's Musketeers, he blocked and avoided the Colonel's initial attacks then slashed, but followed up with a poorly timed lunge allowing the Musketeer to riposte. Brisbois, however, failed to capitalise on this and was dropped by a powerful kick, whereupon he conceded. Rene Vaplus tried the same trick on Zola but failed to connect with his boot, and the gulf in expertise between the two soon became apparent as the musketeer's rapier repeatedly missed its target. He did though put up a spirited fight, striking a couple of times, and it wasn't until suffering his fifth wound that he offered his surrender. It appears that the junior officers of these regiments will be next up as de Cheval and N'Pneu are expected to cross swords soon after meeting at the theatre.

Major Inzebox of the Picardy Musketeers was reprimanded at his court martial after pleading guilty to the charge of breaching military discipline. The presiding officers included Lieutenant Colonels Ferrailleur and Le Petomane, with the latter continually nodding off only to mumble "not guilty" when shaken by the clerk of the court. While they respected the Major's intentions to deploy with haste to turn back the enemy they stressed the need for the chain of command to be kept fully informed of all proposed manouevres. Jacques found his membership of Hunters suspended as a result of this embarrassing affair. In the Guards Brigade, Henri Deschamps purchased the rank of Major in the Royal Foot Guards while recent recruits to the King's Musketeers, Rene Vaplus and Queue de Cheval, both gained advancement to Subaltern.

Despite a lack of the usual high profile publicity, Jacque Armand Dijon's latest offering at Theatre Royal was quite a success by all counts. Attendance on the opening night was good with Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini presenting a gift of a golden quill to Paris' favourite playwright. Regular theatre-goer Francois Ferrailleur was unable to make the opening night due to army commitments though he did take his seat in his usual box alongside April later on in the month. Alas, our (ex) arts correspondent Phil Estine is unable to bring a review of the play as he never made it out of the bar, after popping in for "a couple of cheeky ones" a few minutes before the curtain was due to go up. We do apologise to our readers and will not waste space with his critical assessment of the establishment's vegetable based beverages and salty bar snacks.

Lisa Bonita was lacking in festive spirit this December and showed Henri du Orleans just how fickle the fairer sex can be. As Henri faced a bit of a cash flow crisis, Lisa decided she wasn't being kept in the manner to which she was accustomed and prompltly walked out on him. Whether Eva Ready was harbouring such thoughts we will never know as Rene Vaplus made a pre-emptive strike and left her for Kristine Kochanski who came round to his way of thinking after a couple of weeks of persuasion. A similar strategy was pursued by Gestion Onyon who must feel he's moving up in the world as he took Norma to the theatre then called on a receptive Betty Bleu only a week later.

Before the events of the fire described above, the well known members of the clergy were busy tending their flock as usual. At the beginning of the month Frere Jacques and Laura were present at St Martin's to hear Roger de Villain trumpeting the steadfast virtues of cleanliness, holiness and next-to-Godliness. Curate Farceur told his congregation of the laudable efforts of Jacques Armand Dijon in bringing the arts to the masses, while Bishop Jacques gave a sermon "It is more blessed to give a lot than a little, and don't start about that damn widow's mite!" in which Jean Claude du Lac came in for some special praise for his generous charitable contributions.

As the first powdery snow of the Winter started to fall from the grey skies over Paris, seasoned adventurers Michel Grognard and Michel LaCroix made their way to the coast to embark on the ships making a daring voyage to the continent of Africa. While the potential gains from this venture are large this is indeed a risky venture with the everpresent dangers of heavy seas, brigands and unfriendly natives. The Gazette wishes a safe journey to all. Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Field Army (field ops)

Cavalry Division (field ops)

Horse Guards Brigade
Heavy Brigade

First Division (defence)

First Foot Brigade
Third Foot Brigade

Second Division (siege)

Frontier Regiments

Gascon Regt (frontier)    

2nd Btn CG    (GZ)

2nd Frontier Regt    (JLB)

Brittany Volunteer Regt    (AD, BT, DdN)

1st Btn RFG    (RdW)