L O N DO N : P RI N T E D B Y

S P O T I I SW O O D E AND CO N EAV S P RE ET S Q U A RE
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A N D P A RL I A M E N T ST R E E T
MEMO I RS O F TH E SANSONS

c5 m m Qfi r i h zfi é fi ni ng na h fi cm mm t s .

E D TED
I BY

H E N RY S A N S O N ,

L AT E E XE C U T I O N E R OF THE CO U R T OF j U ST I C E OF P A RI S .

[ JV TW O VOL UA/E S .
— VOL . 11.

3 01m m
C H A TTO A N D W D U S, P I C C A D I LLY

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 C O N TE N TS

T H E S E C O N D V O L U M E .

A N E XP I A T ORY M AS S

U
TH E L A R O E R I E C O N SP I RACY

C H A RLO TTE C O R D AY
U T NE
G S I
‘

TH E Q U EE N

TH E G I R O ND N S I

A D A M L U X — TH E D K E
. U OF O RL E A N S

D
MA AM E ROLA N D AN D B AI LLY
CH AR L ES N
H E R I SA S ON S D I A R N ’
Y
CH A R L ES N
H E R I SA S O N S D I AR N ’
Y ( co n t i n ued)

CH AR L ES H E N R I SA NS O N S DI AR ’
Y ( nt i n
co u ed )

TR I A L OF DA NT O N, C A M LL E I D ES M O UL I NS ,
W ES T
E RM A N N , E TC ,
ETC .

XXX I X . CH A RL ES N
H E R I SA S O N S D I AR N ’
Y (co n t i n u ed )

XL . CH AR L E S N
H E R I SA S O N NS ’
D I AR Y ( c o n t i nued )
 C ONTENTS OF TH E SE COND VOL U M E .

CH AR L E S N
H E R I SA S O N NS ’
DI AR Y (co n t i nued )

CH AR L ES N
H E R I SA S O N NS ’
D I AR Y ( c o n t i n ued )

M Y F A TH E R G O ES I N T TH E
O AR T LL E R Y
I .
—HIS MS .

A R RES T OF
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M Y FA TH E R AND G REA T U NC
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LE T
AF E R
TH E 9t h OF H
T ER M I D OR

XLV . TH E D EA TH OF RO B ES P I E RRE

X LV I . L ES U RQ U ES

X LV I I . M Y V O C AT I O N

X LV I I I . MY E D U CAT N IO

X LI X . M Y F I R S T EXE C UT N IO

L . LO U V EL

LI . M Y EXE C UT N S
IO

A PP EN DI X
 MEMOI RS OF THE SANSONS .

C HAPTE R X X V I I .

AN E XP I A TOR Y M A SS .

TH E death of L o u i s XV I profoundly disturbed Charles

.

H enri S anson I do not know w hether I h ave shown

.

this extraordinary m an i n su fficient relief Charles .

H enri was a true descendant O f his stoical grand mother .

H e had been i mbued with her ideas and pri nciples and ,

believed i n the leg iti macy of his profession and social

m ission ; H e regarded himself as i nvested with stern
and painful yet withal n ecessary functions This con
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v i c t i o n had given hi m enough strength and c ourage to

discharge d uties which I have every reason to believe

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clashed with his n atural disposition H i s sense of d uty .

had ho w ever been confirmed by forty years experience

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At times the cruelty of certain punish m ents as i n the ,

case of D amiens h ad slightly sh aken his strong faith

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but a sentim ent of obedience prevailed i n the end and ,

his scruples vanished before the certainty that th e judges _

were responsible for the sentences w hich he as their ,

blind i nstru ment carried out

, .

“I n such a theory h e could not but regard the

V OL I I
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2 M EM OI RS OF TH E S A NS ON S .

reprobation i n which his functions were held as a

prej udice O f the worst d escription : hence his petition s
to Parliament and th e N ational Assembly I m ay add .

that in the case of the latter tribunal my grandfather

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was s o dissatisfied with the argu m ents suggested against

his plea that he i m medi at ely wrote th e following lette r
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t o the m embers of the N ational Assembly

‘
Gentlemen F o r a long time the executioners of
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criminal j udgm ents have complained of the inj ustice of a

prej udice which p a rtly awards to the m the d isgrace of
the crimes which j ustice punishes through their i ns t r u
m entality They have hitherto suffered the humiliation
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and found su fficient consolation i n their consciences I t .

is now attempted to sanction this prej udice by d eclaring

them unfit to hold civil rights S uch is at least the i n
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tention expressed by the Abb é M aury in the S itting O f

the 2 3 r d of th e present month .

The Abbé M a u r y s motion has caused us considerabl e

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alarm and we are convinced that j ustice must b e d e

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i d of its executive strength if th e motion is carri ed

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p r v e .

‘
The e x ecutioner of Paris Charles H enri Sanson , ,

who hereby p r e s e nt s t o you his most respectful remon !~

s t r a nc e s declare s ( and all his co nf r é t es will follow his

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example) that h e will tender his resignation if y o u

declare that executioners are not ci tizens . .

‘
The petitioner trus t s that you will deign to examin e ‘

th e question with the attention i t deserves At a tim e .

wh en j ustice prevails you will not suffer it to b e over

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looke d .

( S igned ) S A N S O N ,

E x e c ut i o ne r Of c ri m i na l s ent en c e s i n t h e t o wn Of Pa ri s
’
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 AN EXPI A TOR Y 3

I said b efore that the Assem b ly gave no decision

respecting the petit i on prese nted b y the executioners .
.

The Assem b ly allowed th e d ecree to s t and as it had

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been previously worded ; t h us f le a vi ng the executioners -

to infer that t h ey h a d gai ned th eir p oint

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Th ey . .

were i n fact hencefort h t reat ed a s r c i t i z e ns ; and we

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have seen my grandfather and fa t h e r f i n t h e m eetings of

their sections a nd holdin g grades i n the N ational
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Gu ard .

S uch had b ee n up to th e d eath of th e King Charles

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Henri S anson s feelings concerning what h e styled th e
honour of his profession Th e blo od which flowed .
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freely under th e Convention altered his sentiments .

S eeing an edifice h e h ad been taught to respect falling-

h e began to doubt whether h e had a right to believe

in the scaffold after the overthrow of th e throne ;
whether the destruction O f royalty did not call for the
abolition of the office of exec utioner These doubts e s .

e c i a lly harassed hi m on th e ni ght that preceded th e

p
execution of the King H is state of mind can easily b e
.

i magined when it is re membered that he h ad sympathy

for Louis XV I .More tha n once h e thought of
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running away but thereby h e w oul d have exposed his

family to great d anger .

O n J anuary z 1 m y g r a n dfa t h e r wh o seld om left his

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home e x cept wh e n h e was obliged only spent a fe w

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moments with his wife and children H e cam e to s e e .

them after the execution and i t h e n hurri ed away and ,

returned after midnight My grand mother was b e .

coming very uneasy at his absence when Ch esneau wh o ,

B 2
4 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

’
w as s till l iving u nder Charles H enri S anson s roof told ,

her that his old friend had asked hi m the address of an

aged priest and t wo nuns he kne w and that he h ad pro ,

bably gone to s e e them My grandmother un derstood the .

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O bj ect O f such a visit She kne w her husband s religious
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feelings and guessed that in spite of the perils and di ffi

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c u lt i e s of the adventure he was in quest of a remedy fo r

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h i s troubled conscience .

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Charles H enri Sanson returned at t w o O clock i n
th e morning and before his friends had ti me to question
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hi m he s a id
Chesneau I have s een your p r o t eg es I t is bitterly
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cold Yo u must take som e provisions to them to

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morrow You will provide t hem w ith victuals every

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w eek But I d o not want you to s a y whence these

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provisions come I have seen two nuns who are very
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miserable my d ear Mary he added turning to my

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grandm other if you can give them som e clothing you

will do them a good turn and oblige m e
Charles H enri S anson reti red after giving the above
explanation of his absence O n the following day he .

rel ated to his w ife that he had fou nd in a miserabl e hut

of La V i llette a priest who had escaped from the
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massacres O f th e C armelites and two nuns who h ad ,

been driven aw ay fr om their convent ; that th e priest

had promised him that h e w ould celebrate a mass far ,

l ess for the repose of the so u l of the King than for the
peace of his ( Sanson s) conscience ’
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The secret Of this e x piato ry m ass was kept d uring

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the remai nder of m y grandfathe r s life ; but after h is
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I o l
 AN E XPI A TOR Y M ASS .
5

death my grandmother and my father believing that

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the an ecdote would redound t o his credit related it to ,

some of their fri ends I t cam e to th e knowledge of an.

illustrious write r Honoré d e Balzac who b egged my

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father to confirm its authenticity H is b ehest w as

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granted and w ith the help of the additional el ements

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furnished to hi m by my father he wrote the following ,

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moving a ccount
Towards th e end of the month of J anuary 17 9 3
an old lady was descending the inclin e which leads to
the S t Laurent Church i n the F aubourg S t M arti n
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I t was about eight O clock i n the evening S no w had .

fallen i n the morning s o that the sound of footsteps ,

could hardly be heard I t was very cold The streets . .

were lonely and th e natural fear inspired by the sil ence

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that prevailed was intensified b y the terror w hich at the ,

time was pervading th e whole of F rance The old

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l ady had m et no one H er weak sight was even unable .

to d etect i n the di stance by the light of th e lanterns a , ,

few loiterers scattered like shadows along the i mmense

thoroughfare She was fearlessly crossing this solitud e
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,

as if old age were a talisman which could preserve her

from any mishap .

After s h e h ad passed the Rue d es Morts s h e thought

sh e could detect the heavy and fi rm step of a man
behind her Th e idea that s h e was followed frightene d
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her and s h e stepped fo r ward more briskly S O as to

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re a ch a well lighted shop hoping then to d escry her

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Th i s a c c o unt h as b een r p ri nt
e ed i n th e e di t i o n o f Ba l z ac s
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co m pl e t e
wo rk s .
6 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

follower As soon as s h e reached the first ray of hori

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z o nt a l light which issued from the S hop s h e suddenly

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turned round a nd s a w a man w hose form S he could but

j ust d iscern through th e fog Th e indistinct vision w as .

enough She tottered under the terror where

with s h e was fille d s h e did not do u b t t h a t sh e
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had been followed rh y t h e stranger ever since s h e had -

l eft her abode The d esire to escape from her silent .

persecutor g a ve h e r s t r e ng t h and w ithout reasoning s h e

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went faster as i f s h e co ul d get out of the reach O f a m an

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who O bviously c ould e a s i ly k e e p u p w ith her A fter

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running for a few m inutes s h e r eached a pastrycook s '

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shop rushe d i nf a n d fe ll rather than s a t down on a

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ch air befor e the counter

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As s h e e nt e r e d, a y o u ng woman who was darning . .

lo o k e d u p Re cognising the Old fashioned shape of a

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v o le t s i lk cloak w hich covered th e o ld la dy § shoulders

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sh e h ast en e d to open a d ra w er as if to take out some

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thing she f was to remit to her The young woman s

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gesture and face b e t r a y e d a desi re to get rid of th e ‘

u nkn ow n as soon as possible as if s h e had been on e of

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those p ersons w ho m i t i s no p le a s u r e to meet Sh e

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made a gesture of i mpat ience on finding the drawer

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looking at th e lady s h e hurriedly ,

l e ft t h e c o u nt e r entered th e back S hop and called her

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h us b a n d w h o suddenly appeared
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Where h ave you put s h e asked with an air

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O f mystery d esignating the O ld lady by a glance

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She did not finish her query Although the pastry .

cook could only s e e th e l arge black silk cap adorned ,

 AN EXPI A TOR Y; M A SS .

with bows of violet ribbon he disappeared after 10 , ,

at his wife i n a manner whic h seemed to signify

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Do you think I a m stupid enough to leave it
y our counter
Astonished at the silence and stillness of the old lady ,

the woman returned to her ; and up o n lo o k i ng at her , ,

s h e was s e i i e d with compassion or rather with curiosit y ,

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Although the unkno w n i a dy s face was naturally ’

livid as t h a t o f a p e r s o n addicted to austere habits i t

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was easy to 15 6 ? that som e recent emotion had overcast

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i t w ith e x traordinary pallor H er head gear was s o con .

t r i ve d as to conceal her h air doubtless S ilvered by age ,

for the c le a nli ne s s o f her collar sho w ed that s h e did n o t

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wear powder Absence of any ornament gave her an

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appearance O f religious severity H er features w ere

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grave and proud I n former tim es the manners and

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h abits o f the upper class were so different from thos e

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belonging to other cl asses that it was easy to recognis e

a p e rson of birth The young wo man was therefore
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convinced that the unknown was a a l der/a n t and that ,

s h e formerly belonged to the C ourt .

Madam said s h e i nstinctively and with respect

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f orgetting that this appellation was prohi b ited .

But the ol d lady m ad e no answer H er eyes were .

fixed o n the panes of the S hop as if s h e s aw a frightful ,

apparition behind them .

‘
What is the matter with you citoyenne ? enquired ,

the m aster of the house reappearing an d calling the O ld ,

l ady s attention by h anding h er a small cardboard box

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wrapped in blue paper .

8 MEMOI R S OF TH E S A NS ON S .

N othing— nothing friends , ,

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sh e answered in a soft ,

voic e .

She looked up and thanked the pastrycook ; but on

perceiving th e red cap he wore s h e uttered a scream ,
.

You h ave b etrayed m e !

The young woman and her hus b an d answered with
a gesture of horror which brought a blush to the u m
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known lad y s countenance .

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Excuse m e s h e said with childish gentleness
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Then taking a louis from her pocket s h e presente d ,

i t to the p astrycook .

’
H ere i s the pric e you m entioned .

There is a kind of poverty which th e poor alone can

guess Th e pastrycook and his wife looked at each
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other pointing to the O ld woman and exchanged t h e

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same thought This louis was probably the last s h e

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had H er hands trembled when s h e offered it She

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looked at it intently b ut w ithout avarice F asting and

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hardship were as visibly imprinted on her features as fear

and ascetic habits I n her d ress could b e detected
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vestiges of splendour — worn ou t S ilk ; a clean although -

fad ed cloak ; carefully mended lace rags of opulenc e ,

.

The tradesman and his wi fe h esitating between pity and ,

love of gain began by all a ying their consciences in kind

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words .

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But citoyenne you seem very faint
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Wou ld mad am take som ething ? exclaimed t h e ’

wife interrupting her husband

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We have some excellent broth said the pastry ,
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 AN EXPI A TOR Y M A SS .
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I t is s o cold —Madam w a s p r o b a bly taken unwell

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when s h e came but you c a n r e m a i n here and warm

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yoursel f .

Encouraged by these kind expressio n s the lady ,

admitted that s h e had been followed by a man and was ,

afraid to return home alone .

Is that all ? Wait a moment citoyenne said th e ,

man with the red cap .

H e handed the louis to his wife and i mpelled by ,

the peculi ar gratitud e that fills a tradesman wh en h e

receives an exorbitant price for m erchandise of moderate “

value he retired put on his uniform of N ational Guards

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m an took u p his hat and his m usket and reappeared

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But his w ife had had tim e to re flect and reflection ,

d rove away her compassion F earful that her husband .

should m eddle with some mysterious and dangerou s

business s h e tried to pull hi m by his c oat tail but th e
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pastrycook had already offered to escort the Old lady

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Th e man who followed the lady is still lurk ing
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around the shop exclai med the young wom an
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I think he is candid ly answered the ol d l ady
, .

Perhaps h e is a s py ! There may b e som e con

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i
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! Don t go d k th e b aw y from her ’
s p ra c
y a n t a e o x a .

These words whispered i n th e pastrycook s ear by ’

his w ife d eprived hi m of the S light courage h e already

possessed .

’
I ll go and speak to him and get rid of hi m ,

directly ! cried the pastrycook rushing i nto th e street

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The old lady as passive as a child and quite bewil

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dered s a t dow n again

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I O MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

The honest tradesman soon returned H is fac e .

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w hich was naturally red and inflamed by the heat of

his oven had suddenly turned pale and h e was so
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terrified that his legs shook like those of a drunkard .

D O you want to get us guillotined you aristocrat he ,

shrieked furiously and with a thick utterance ,

Show u s .

your h eels— neve r come h ere again an d d on t expect ,

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that I ll ever fu r n i s h y o u with elements of conspiracy ~ .

And the pastrycook tried to g a i n p o s s e s s i o n of the

small box which t h e lady had thrust into one of her
,

pockets .

H ardly had the man s trembling hands touched h er

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c lo t h e s t h a n t h e unknown preferring t h e da ng e r s O f th e
x
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s treet , w ith G o d a s her only p r o t e c t i o n t o the loss of

u ,
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that which s h e had j ust purchased recovered th e activity ,

of her youth Sh e sprang to the door O pened it and

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disappeared to th e am azement o f her trembling a g

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g r e s s o rs .

The unknown walked on quickly but her momentary ,

vigour soon collapsed She could hear the s py wh o was .

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still following her and whose step cracked on the sno w ,

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which h e pressed down under his heavy feet S he was

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obliged to stop H e stopped also She dared neither to . .

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look at hi m nor to speak to him either out O f fear or of ,

inability to find word s Sh e then resumed her way with .

a slower step and h e slackened his progress s o as to

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remai n at a reasonabl e distance He seemed to b e the .

O ld woman s very sh adow Th e church clock was

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striking nine when the si len t couple passed again before

S t Laurent
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12 MEMOI RS OF TH E S A NS ON S .

door of th e solitary house turned the lock and di s a p

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p e a r e d with marvellous rapidity .

The man was still m otionless looking at the house , .

I t had the aspect of E the buildings which give s o miser

ab le a n appearance to the su b urbs of Paris I t looked s o .

d ilapidated that a gust of wind to al l appearance might

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have scattered it The b rown tiles of the roof covered

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with moss seemed ready to sink u nder th e weight of

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the snow Each landing had three windows s o rotten

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and antiqu ated that th e wind fr eely entered the rooms

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The general appearance of the old house was that of a

tower of which the elements were achieving the over
‘
throw A faint light could be seen thro u gh the three
.

upper windows and the remainder of th e house w as

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plunged in complete d arkness .

I t was not without effort that the O ld woman ascended

th e steep and b roken staircase along which ran a rop e
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i n lieu of balustrad e Sh e gave a ge ntle tap at the door

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of th e upper apartment and sat down in the ch air

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which an old man hastened to present to her .

H id e yourself— quick sai d s h e breathlessly for , ,

although w e d o not O ften go out ou r refuge is discovered

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and our steps are tracked .

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What is th e matter ? en quired another O ld w oman

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w h o was seated n ear th e fi re .

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The man who has been l urking about the house
’
for th e last few days followed m e this evening
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.

At these words the three i nhab itants of the garret

looked at each other with every token of profound
t error The O ld m an was the least agitated perhaps
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 AN EXPI A TOR Y M A SS . I 3

becaus e he was in greater peril than his female com

panions W h en a brave ma n la b ours und er a great
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misfortune or feels under the yoke of constant p e r s e c u

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tion he submits to i mpending d eath considering his days

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of respite as so many victories gained over fate .

The two w omen s looks were directed to w ard s the old

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man and showed that he was the only c ause of their fear
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.

‘
W h y should you not confid e i n God my sisters ?
,
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h e Said in a low but unctuous voice

, We sang H i s .
‘

praises amidst the cries uttered by the m urderers and

the murdered i n the Convent of C armelites I f it was .

H is will that I should be saved i t was d oub t less to ,

provide for m e a fate which I a m bound to acc ep t

.

w ithout a murmur God protects H is ministers and

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can act with them as H e likes You must think o f .

yourselves not of me , .
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N ay d o not say s o exclaimed the two O ld wom en

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I c onsidere d myself as d ead from the d ay on whic h

I l eft the Abbey O f Chelles cri ed th e on e O f th e two n un s ,
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w ho was sitting near the fire .

H ere i s th e H os t said the other handing to th e ’

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pri est the smal l bo x s h e had fou nd s o m uch trouble i n

procuri ng .

But S he cried I hear a step on the staircase

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At thes e w ords all th ree listened The nois e s ub .

sided .

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D o not be frighten ed said the priest if so me on e , ,
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tries to enter A person on whose fidelity we can

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reckon is preparing to cross the frontier and wi ll tak e ,

the l etters I have written to the D uke d e Lorges

I 4 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

and the Marquis d e B ethune i n which I beg them t o ,

think of the means of removing you from this horribl e

country— from d eath and misery which are our con ,

’
stant attendants .

Will you not come with us then

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asked the n uns ,

with a kind of despai r .

My place is among victims ! said the p r i e s t w i t h

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simplicity .

They remained S ilent eyeing their companion with ,

admiration .

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S ister M artha said he to the nun who had brough t
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the H ost the envoy I was speaking of is to answer F i a t

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vo lu n t a s to the word H os a n na 63 /

Som e on e is coming u p the stairs exclai med t h e

other nun opening a plac e O f concealment cleverly
,

built under the roo f .

This time i t was easy to h ear amidst profound ,

silence the steps of a man striking against pieces of hard

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mud which covered the stairs The priest hastil y entered .

a kind O f cupboard and the nun threw som e clothes over

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him .

You can close the c upboard n ow Sis ter Agatha

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said he in a low voic e

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H ardly was the priest out of si ght when three

raps at the door startled the two poor creatures They .

looked at each other without d aring to utter a word .

C onstru ing their silence i n his own way th e man who

‘

was knocking pushed O pen the door and suddenly a p

p e a r e d . The t w o nuns shudd ered when they recognised
the person w ho for t h e last fi ve o r Si x days had been
 AN EXPI A TOR Y M A SS . 15

l urking around the house They moved not and eyed .

,

hi m with uneasy cu ri osity i n the manner of s h y children

,

who silently observe stra ngers .

The man was of middle height and rather portly ;

but nothing i n his demeanour or i n his fac e i ndicated '
.

malignity lH e n either advanced n or spoke but ex

.
,

a m i n e d th e r oom Two straw mats str etched out on

.
.

the fl oor were t h e only couch of the nu ns

,
There .

was a tabl e i n t h e m iddle of the room Thereon .

was placed a b rass candlestick a few pl ates thre e , ,

knives and a r Ou nd loaf Th e fire was not of the

, .

brightest and a fe w piec es of wood heaped u p i n a

, ,

corner s h o w e d t h e pov erty of the inmates The walls

'

, .
,

which were painted o Ve r , betrayed the d ecrepi d stat e

of the roof for b r o w n i s h ls t a i n s showed that wate r
, fi
,

trickl ed do wn fro m above A r elic sa v ed probably fro m

.
‘

the sac k O f the Abb ey O f Chelles was deposited on th e

'

- -
,

mantelpiece The rem aind er of the furniture consisted

.

of three chairs two bo x es and an old chest Of drawers

, ,
, ; .

A door near the mantelpiece indi cated that there was

another room on th e sam e fl oor .

This en u m era t ion was made in a few seconds by the

‘

stranger who had appeared u nd er such sinister auspices . .

A feeling of compassion was visible on his countenance ,

and h e looked ben evolently upon the two women H e .

s eemed at least as embarras sed as they were and the p ause ,

which foll owed las t ed a full minute; A t le ng t h the vi s itor

'

perceived th e moral weakness a nd i nexperien ce of th e

poor creatures a nd he s ai d to t hem i n a vo i c e o f whic h
,

he tried to soften the tone :

I 6 MEM OI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

I d o not co me here as an enemy sisters I f som e ,

.

misfortune were to happen to you d o not attribute any ,

’
share of it to m e I have a favour to ask
. .

They remained silent .

—
If I annoy you i f I cause you any i nc o nve ni
‘

e nce — speak fearlessly I will reti re ; but know that I

,

am entirely devoted to you and that i f I can be of any ,

’
service you can employ m e without fear .

There w as such an accent O f truth i n these w ord s

that S ister Agatha who b elonged to the family of
,

B ethune and whose manners seemed to indicate that

,

in former d ays S he had known the gaiety of fé t e s and

breathed the atmosphere of the Court pointed to a ,

chair as if inviting the speaker to s i t down Th e n u

, .

known m anifested a ki n d of jo y not unmingled with

sadness when he understood the gesture ; and h e
,

waited until the two nuns themsel ves were seated before
h e accepted the i nvitation .

’
You have given shelter he resumed to a venerable , ,

priest who miraculously escaped from the m assacre of

,

’
the C armelites .

H os cz nncz nI exclai med S ister Agatha i nterrupting

‘
,

the stranger .

That i s not his nam e I think answered h e , ,

’
.

’
But s i r we h ave no priest here said Sister Martha
, , , ,

’
You should be more careful continued the ,

s tranger in a gentle tone ; and he stretched out his

,

hand and took up a breviary You d o not know Latin .

'

and
 AN EXPI A TOR Y M A SS . I 7

H e stopped for th e extraordinary emotion which

,

appeared on th e feat u res of the two nuns showed him

that he was going too far They trembled and their eyes .

were ful l of tears .

Be reassured said the unknown visitor with a frank

’

, ,

v oice I know th e nam e of you r guest and yours also

.
‘
.

F ive days ago I heard of you r distress and of y our devo ,

tion to th e venerab l e Abbé d e

H ush said Sister Agatha with candou r putting up , ,

a finger .

Yo u may percei v e sisters that if I had the horrible

, ,

i ntention of b etray ing you I m ig h t have done so ere ,

’
this .

H earing these words the priest emerged from his ,

hiding place and advanced towards the stranger

-
.

‘
I cannot b eli eve S ir said h e to him that you are
, ,
’
,

one of our persecutors and I d o not distrust you

.
, .

What d o you want 9

The priest s Si m ple m a nne r and the noble e x pression
’

of his features might have disarmed even assassins Th e .

mysterious individual who had given anim ation to this

scene of misery looked for a few moments at the group
formed b y these three beings and assuming a tone of , ,

confidenc e he spoke to the pri est i n the following terms

,

‘
F ather I cam e to b eseech you to s a y a m ass for
,

the repose of the soul of a person whose body— whose

b od y shall never be buried in hallowed ground
’
.

The priest shudd ered and the nuns not understand ,

ting y et what the stranger wanted r e m a i ne d w i t h out , ,

'

stretched necks in an attitud e of curiosity

, .

V OL . II . C
18 M E MOI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

’
The priest scanned the stranger s features Evident .

anxiety could be seen there and his looks were hum b le ,

and beseeching .

Well answered the priest return at midnight : I

’
, ,
‘

shall then b e ready to cele b rate the only funeral service

’
w e can o ffer in expiation of c rime .

The stranger sta r ted but a gentle and grave satis

-

faction overspread his features and after bowing respect , ,

’

fu lly to the O ld priest and to t h e n u ns h e disappeared ,

, ,

manifesting a kind of S ilent gratitud e which was under

stood by these generous souls .

The stranger returned two hours after and a fter , ,

’

discreetly kno cking at the door h e was introduced ,

by Mdlle d e Charost She led hi m to the second room

. .

on the same landing where everything was prepared ,

for th e ceremony .

Between two shafts the nuns had placed the old chest
o f drawers O f which the O ld fashioned shape w a s con
,
-

c e a le d by an altar covering of green moire A large

-

c rucifix of ebony and ivo r y attached to the yellow wall , ,

showed O ff the nudity O f the room and attracted the eyes .

F our small thin tapers which the sisters had fixed with
y ellow wax upon this improvised altar furnished a pale
and flickering light These tapers hardl y lighted the .

other parts O f the room but it mad e the holy o bj ects ,

discernible and there by looked like rays descending

,

from H eaven on this unadorned altar The floor was .

damp . The roof which steeply d escended on b oth

,

sides as is usual in garrets was cracked and an icy

, , ,

wind pen e trated through the openings N othing could .

20 ME MOI RS ‘

OF TH E SA NSON S
.

and as if his shadow was before them i n all its maj esty .

They celebrated an Obi t without the body of the defunct ,

.

U nder these tiles and disjointed rafters four Christians

w ere ab out to interced e with God for a King of F rance ,

and to go through t h e funeral service without his

co ffin I t was the purest of devotion s an astonishing
.
,

act of faithfulness accomplished without fear The .

whole Monarchy was there I n the prayer of a priest ,

and two poor women ; and perhaps the Revolution was

also represented by this man whose face betrayed too ,

much remorse not to make believe that he was actuated

b y b oundless repentance .

I n s t e a d o f pronouncing the Latin words z nt r o z bo cz a

' '
’

a ll u r e D ez & c the priest b y a divine inspi ration looked

’

, .
, , ,

at his three companions who represented Christian

F rance and said to them
,

Let us enter God s sanctuary ’

At these words u ttered with impressive softness

, ,

the stranger and the two nuns were seized with religious
awe . God could not ha v e appeared more maj estic
under the cupola of St Peter s at R ome than H e t h en .
’

appeared to these Christians in this re fuge of miser y .

The stranger s fer v our was S incere The sentiment

’
.

which united the prayers of these fou r s ervants o f God

and the King w a s u nanimous The hol y word s sounded .

like celestial m usi c When the P a t e r nos t er was said

.

’
tears came to the stranger s eyes To this pray er the .

pri est added And forgive the regicides as Louis XV I

, .

himsel f forgave them .

’

Th e two nuns s a w two large tears rolli ng down the

 AN EXPI A TOR Y M A SS . 21

’
stranger s manly cheeks The mass for the d ead was .

recited The D o m i no Sa lt/u m f cz c r eg ent sung in a low

.
,

voice moved these faithful Royalists They thought

, .

that the child King on whose behalf th ey were imploring

was in the hands O f his en emies .

When the service was terminated the priest mad e a ,

S ign to the two nuns who retired A S soon as he was , .

alone with the stranger he went up to him with a ,

gentl e and paternal air and said to him sadly : , ,

My s o n if you d ipped your hand s i n the b lood of

,

the King confid e in m e —there i s no fault that canno t

,

be forgiven b y a repentan ce SO sincere and s o touching

’
as yours .

’
At the pri est s first word s the stranger m ade a ,

movement indi cating terror ; b ut he regained his sel f

possession and looking calmly at the astonished e c c le s i
,

a s t iC
°

F ather,
’
‘
said he non e is m ore innocent of the ,
‘

crim e than I am .
’

I am boun d to b elieve you said the priest .

There was a pause d uring which he e x am ined h i s ,

penitent Then still believing him to be one of those

.
,

timorous mem b ers of the Convention who sacrificed a

’
royal head in order to preser v e their own he o b s er v ed ,

in a grave voic e : Rem ember m y s o n that i t is not ‘

, ,
’

enough not to ha v e ta k en part in this great crime to b e

a b solved Those who c o u ld de fe nd th e King and moved
‘

not a finger i n h i s d efence shall have a heavy accou nt ,

to answer for b efore the King of H eaven A hea v y .

account indeed add ed t h e priest shaking h i s head for

,
’

, ,
22 . ME M OI RS OF TH E SA N S ON S .

the y b ecame the unwilling accomplices of this horri b le

de e df
DO y ou
think enquired the stranger with astonish
’
, ,

ment that indire ct parti cipation will be punished

,
‘

I S then the soldier who attended the execution guilt y

,

Of a crime ?

The priest hesitated .

Happy at the em b arrassment in which he had

plunged this puritan o f royalty b y placing him b etween ,

the dogma o f passi v e O bedience Which a ccording to the ,

partisans of monarch y should predominate in the arm y , ,

and the equall y important dogma which consecrates the

respect due to the person of a King the stranger ,

hastened to construe this hesitation of the priest into a

favoura b le answer to the dou b ts which engrossed him .

H e then said not wishing to gi ve further time for

,

reflection to the venera b le jansenist

I cannot o ffer an ordinary fee for the funeral service
‘

you ha v e j ust cele b rated fo r the repose of the soul of the

An i n
’

King and for the quietude O f my conscience .

v alua b le boon can onl y b e returned by an equall y

in v alua b le offeri ng D eign to accept therefore this
.
, ,

gi ft O f a holy relic A da y S hall come when y ou will

.

understand its v alu e .

’

The stranger suiting the action to the word O ffered

, ,

the priest a very light and small b o x The priest took .

it i mpulsi v e ly as it were for the gra v it y of the man s

,
’

words and the respect with which h e held the bo x s u r

,
.

prised hi m very much .

They then returned to the room where the two nuns

 AN E XP I A TOR I AI A S S
’
. 23

were waiting for them You live i n a house said the

.
‘
,
’

stranger O f which the owner M u c i u s C oevo la the

,
‘
, ,

plasterer who li v es on the first floor i s famous in his , ,

section for his patriotism ; b u t he is secretl y atta c hed

,

to the Bourb ons F orm erl y he w a s one O f Prince d e

.

Conti s grooms and what he possesses he got from his

’

master I f you remain indoors y ou are sa fer here than

.
,

an y where else i n F rance D O not mo v e Pious people . .

will s e e to y ou r w ants and y ou c a n w ait for more ,

prosperous days w i t hout danger A y ear hence on .

,

J anuary 2 1 ( i n pronouncing these last w ord s he could

not restrain a shudder ) i f y ou select this m elanchol y
,
‘

shelter fo r y our a b od e I shall return and cele b rate with

,

y ou the e x piatory m a ss .
’

He b owed to the spee c hless inm ates O f the garret ,

cast a final loo k on the s y mptoms o f thei r po v ert y and ,

went awa y .

F o r the two innocent nuns such an ad v enture had ,

the interest o f a roman c e As soon as the y w ere a p .

prised o f the m y sterious prese nt mad e b y the un k nown

v isitor to the v enera b le a b b é the b o x w a s placed on the ,

ta b le and the three faces fee b l y lighted by the candle

, , ,

evinced uncontrolla b le curiosit y Mad emoiselle d e .

Charost O pened the b o x and found therein a rather ,

large poc k et hand k erchie f O f very fin e cam b ric

-

I t was .

soiled b y a few d rops of perspiration After loo k ing at .

it with scrupulous attention the y found a num b er o f ,

small d ark spots as i f the cam b ric had recei v ed splashes

, .

It i s b lood said the priest in a d eep v oice , .

The two sisters recoiled with horror from the relic .

24 ME M OI RS OF TH E SA NSON S .

Fo r . these simple creatures the mystery which surrounded

the stranger b ecam e unexplaina b le As for the priest .
,

he did not even attempt to clear it The three prison ers .

soon perceived that even in the d arkest days O f the ,

Reign of Terror a powerful hand was extend ed over ,

them At first they received wood and provisions ;

.

then the two nuns guessed that a woman was acting i n

unison with their prote ctor when they received linen ,

and garments whi ch ena b led them to walk out without

attracting attention b y the quaintness of the O ld
fashioned dresses the y had hitherto been compelled to
wear . At length M u c i u s Coe vo la gave them two cards
of c i vi s m l
They frequently received communications
.

concerning the safety of the priest and they found this ,

ad v ice SO opportune and well timed that they inferred -

that their correspond ent must b e fami liar with the

secrets O f the State I n spite of the famine which .

prevailed in Paris they found at the i r d oor rations o f,

white b r ead which were regularly brought by invisi b le

,

hands I n these circumstances the no b le inm ates of the

.

garret could not b u t b elieve their protector to be the

person w h o had caused the expiatory mass to b e cele
b r a t e d in th e night O f J anuary 2 1 17 9 3 H e there fore , .

b ecam e th e O bj ect of peculiar res p ect to these three

poor creatures who had no h Op e save in him and who
, , ,

l i v ed solel y through h i s agency Morning and evening .

the pious souls made wishes for his prosperity and s a l

vati on .

’
'

ca r t e a c c z w s m e
'

wa s a ki d
n of p s s p r t w i t h wh i c h
a o i t w a s i m po s
S p e ns e r g th e
du i n Re i gn o f Te rr o r — N ED
. . .
 AN E XPI A TOR Y MA SS . 25

Their gratitud e b eing as it were re k indled every

, , ,

day was n a t u r a lly a t t e nde d with a feeling of curiosity

, fi

which b ecame more and more in t ense The circu m .

stances that had accompanied the appearance of t h e

str anger formed the usual su bj ect of their conversations .

They mad e a thousand conj ectures and th e occupation ,

there by furnished to them was an additional b oon They .

were resolved not to allow hi m to S hirk their friendship

when he returned according to his promise to cele b rate ,

the melancholy anniversary of the death of Louis XV I .

The long expected evening cam e at last

-
.

At midnight the heav y step was heard again on th e

O ld wooden staircase The room had b een prepared for
.

his reception The altar was in its place This ti m e

. .
‘

the sisters hurried to the door b efore the stranger had

time to r each the top landing and lighted his way , .

M dlle d e Charost even d escend ed a few steps thus

.
,

sooner to ca t ch sight of her ben efactor .

‘
C ome said s h e in a moved and affectionate voice
,
’

, .

Come you are e x pected .

’

The m an raised his head threw a d ark look at the ,

nun and di d not answer She felt as if a dress of ice

, .

enveloped h e r and was S ilent The stranger enter ed

, .
,

and at his sigh t g ratitud e and curiosity e x pired i n every

heart H e was perhaps less cold taciturn and gloomy
.
, ,

than he had at first appeared to these b eings whose ,

e x alted sentiments yearn ed to launch into fri endship .

The three poor prisoners understood that this m an

wished to rem ai n a str anger to them an d the y s u b ,

m it t e d The priest thought h e d etected a faint smile

.
26 M EM OI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

’
on the stranger s face when he s a w the preparations that
had b een m ade for his reception H e h eard mass .
,

prayed and disappeared after answering by a few words

, ,

’
O f negative politeness to Mdlle d e Ch a r o s t s invitation
.

to share a small repast s h e had prepared .

The expiatory mass was m y steriously cele b rated in

the garret until pu b lic worship was r e esta b lished b y -

t h e F irst C onsul When the nuns and the a b b é could

.

reappear in the world without fear they s a w the un k nown ,

no more .

Th e U nk n own was as I said b efore Charles H enri

’

, ,

S anson my grandfather who sought by a pious cere

, , ,

m on y t O p a c i fy his trou b led conscience O ur famil y

,
'

watched o ve r t h e s e poor proscripts u ntil the end o f the

‘

Reign O f Terror and the a b b é a nd sisters n e v er knew

,

the nam e O f their protector for the se q uel of the story

re lated b y B alzac ( w h i c h I have omitted ) is not true and ,

was only written for the want s o f fiction .

The relic O ffered to the old pri est b y Cha rles S anson
was t h e hand k erchief the King held on reaching t h e
sca ffold H e had used it more than once on the way
.
,

from prison t o wipe the perspiration from his forehead

, ,

and a fe w d rops of b lood had stained it after the head .

had fallen Th e di fferent garments worn b y the u n

.

fortunate monarch a t the time O f his death were care full y

preserved by m y gran dfather ; H e was howe v er unable , ,

to withhold some articles from his assistants w h o as I , ,

w a s t old sold them fo r large su ms

, .

M y father asked for and o b tained the S hoes and the

28 M E MOI RS OF TH E S A NS ONS .

a ve ry fine engraving Of one of the last portraits o f

Louis XV an expression of surprise and emotion a p
.
,

p e a r e d on his countenanc e This engravin

.
g dated I 7 3
-

was d u e to D aulle one of the celeb rated engravers of

,
:

the time .

‘
I f you knew said he on what grounds I ask
,
’
,
‘

for these melancholy souvenirs perhaps you would no t ,

.

refuse to let me have them Let me inform you that

.

I belo ng by secret relationship to the family of the

, ,

royal victim I am the son of the King whose portrait

.

I ha v e b efore m e ; I am usually styled the Ab b é d e

Bourb on .
’

My father looked at the engraving and s a w that his ,

v i sitor b ore a wond er ful likeness to Louis XV The .

A bb e de Bourb on as he was called was one of the

, ,

i llegiti mate so ns o f this voluptuous monarch who were ,

indeed far too numerous to b e legall y recognised .

Secretl y protected by LOu i s XV I the young a b b é had .

,

b een ena b led to lead a semi pri nc ely life This pa

-
.

tronage had inspired d eep gratitude i n the Ab b é d e

Bourb on and his d esire to possess some remembran ce
O f his b eloved protector was b u t natural My father .

could not resist his entreati es and he ga v e hi m the shoes

,

w Hi c h the King had used last a n dTI ISTOlla r Buc kle

’

, He .

declined to accept any remuneration a nd considered ,

himself amply repaid b y the abbé s profuse thanks ’

.
 C HAPTE R X X V I I I .

TH E R O U E R/E C OA S P I RA C Y
'

[ A .

tribunal instituted on August 10 shortl y a fter ,

the King s death was replac ed b y the Re v olutionary

’

,
‘

Tribunal and the guillotine which fo r som e da y s had

’

, ,

remained bloodless was agai n in dail y demand The

, .

executions which took place then are not of su fficient

importance to b e record ed i n these memoirs ; and no
name worth mentioning occurs in m y n otes up to the
famous conspirac y of La Rou eri e w hi c h aim ed at ,

no thing less than the overth row of the R epu b lic .

The larger pg t i 9 n o f the no b ilit y had emi g r a ted;

_ _ _

F rance .These n o b lemen li v ed fa r from each other in

thei r castles and country seat s -

,
a n d watched with fear

p agsa inst t
cr h § R § V 9 1Ufi Q Q i SI S L

Curiously enough it was an o b scure ind i v idual who

,

undertook to b ring together all these elements whi ch

were hostile to the new r eg i m e and therewith to form ,

in the west of F rance a leagu e su fficientl y power fu l to

30 AI E M OI RS OF TH E S A NS ONS .

destroy the y oung Repu b lic This man s n ame was

.
’

Tu ffi n d e l a Roueri e .

H e was O ne of those b old and active individuals who

’

'

love adventure The beginning of h i s career was ve ry

.

romantic H e entered the army and after dist i ngu i shing

.
, ,

himself as an O fficer he b ecame a Trappist But such a

, .

man could no t be content with wearing the cassoc k he

left La Trappe and took part in the Americ an War o f
,

Independ ence .

O n his return to F ra nce he showed som e favour for

,

the new ideas that were then spreading like wildfire ;

the danger O f the King however excited his imagination
, , ,

and rekindled his lukewarm loyalty H e went to

’

'

C o b lentz and propos ed to the princes to go and fom en t

,

an insurrection in Brittany .

La Roueri e returned with a moderate su m of money

and with no help b eyond his own indomita b le will he
, ,

undertoo k to realise the plan he had d evised .

The record of his life would fill a volume during ,

the y ear he emplo y ed in org anising the con s piracy

which extended over the whole of Brittan y and which ,

b ut for th e d eath O f its originator would have b eco me

one Of the most gigantic ever recorded b y history H e .

was e v ery where and nowhere ; he wa s seen in J ersey ,

i n London in Co b lentz and a few days after his steps

, ,

were traced in the wilds of Brittany .

The plot was his own work H e confided h i s secret .

to no intermediary he himself visited the most hum b le

p artisans of royalty raised their
, courage and stimulated
’
,

their zeal H e showed them the Kin g s palace invaded

.
,
 TH E LA R OU E RI E CON S RT
RAC Y .
31

the royal family outraged the King s head co vered with

'

the red nightcap H e pro v e d to them the necessity o f

.

'

d e fending royalty b y arms I f age i nfi r m i t i e s or se x

.
, ,

p revented them from j oining the civil war he v ery ,

cleverly obtained a year of their income for the benefit

of the enterpr ise .

I n the month of August 17 9 2 th e nets O f the conspir acy

e x tended to all towns villages and hamlets in Brittany
, , ,

and La Roueri e was the only man who held the strings
'

o f the plot H is e x cessive prudence prevented the plot

.

from succeeding and sa v ed F rance from great danger

, .

The revolution O f August I O appalled La Rouerie .

U ntil then h e had waited for a favoura b le opportu nity .

The King was now a prisoner the Prussians were in ,

full retreat and he b egan to fear that the time was past
,

and th at it was too late .

Sorrow excitement and ab ove all th e extraordinary

, , , ,

fatigues he had end ured had ruined his health ; his

,
’

fr ame gave way and he sought

, shelter at Lamballe ;
b ut suspicious faces having been o b served around the
house where he was concealed he sought another ,

refuge after burying in the garden all th e papers h e

,

possessed ; and under the nam e of Gosselin h e claimed

, ,

the hospitality O f a B reton gentleman of the n eigh b our

hood M D e la m o t t e d e L a g uy o m e r a i s
, .

’
La Roueri e .

now felt that b e was dying H e revealed his real nam e .

to his host and did not O

,
o n c e a l t h e danger to which

his generous hospitali t y exposed him Although the .

local authorities had no knowledge of the extent Of the

conspiracy its existence was no secret to them
, Two .
 32 M E MOI RS OF TH E S A NSONS .

of La Rouer i e s agents Latouche and L a lli g a u d ,

Morillon had sold to Danton the s ecrets which h a d

,

been entrusted to them A reward h a d been offered .

for La Rouerie s apprehension The dying man stoic

’
.

ally indicated to his host th e precautions he was to

take in or der to con ceal his b od y and preven t it from
being identified and shortly afterward s he expired .

M d e L a g Uy o m e r a i s applied to a surgeon of St
. .

Servan name d L e m a s s o n with whom he was acquainted

, , .

’
The latter disfigured La Rouerie s corpse by numerous
incisions and in the following night the conspirator was
,

deposited in a neighbouring wood in a hole full o f quick ,

li m e .

U n fortunately for M d e L a g uy o m e r a i s there was a .

,

traitor among his servants a certain Ch e ft y denounced

him and the rem ains Of the proscript were discovered
, .

I t was ascertained that he had spent several days at

L am b all e at Md m e de la F a u c h a i s s house and a search
, .
’

in this lady s gard en led to the discove r y of the paper s

’

which La Roueri e had consigned to the earth La Rouerie .

had however d estroyed the list of his accomplic es

, , .

But M d e L a g uy o m e r a i s his family and his servan ts

.
, ,

th e surgeo n of St S ervan and a few Breton gentlemen

.
,

were arrested sent to Paris and arraigned b e fore the

, , ,

Revolutionary Tribunal .

The trial began on August 8 and l asted ten day s , .

The two sons of M de L a g u y o m e r a i s were discharged

.

M de L a g u y o m e r a i s himself and his wife M arie J eanne

.
, ,
-

M i c a u lt ; his b rother i n law Mathurin M i c a u lt d e - -

M i nv i lle ; Mdme de la F auchais ; the Abbé Th é b a u t

.
 TH E L A R OI/E RI E C ON S PI RA C Y .
33

de tutor of L a g uy o m e r a i s sons ; Anne d e

L a c h a ve n a i s ,
P o nt a vi s lat e o ffi c er in the Armagnac regiment ; Picot
,

de Moelan ; L o c q u e r d e Granville ; and Gurge de

F o nt é vi e u x were sentenced to d eath
,
and on August 1 8
they suffered thei r fate with the greatest courage .

S h ortly b efore the a b ove a ffair another remarkable

,

trial occurred The C onvention had sen t to the depart

.

ment of J ura two O f its mem b ers L eo na r d Bourdon ,

and Prost with the mission O f watching the operation o f

,

recruiting The two delegates had stopped at O rleans

.
,

where an attempt was made to murd er Bourdon The .

Con v ention indignant at the treatment O ffered to one

,

of its mem b ers called the municipality o f O rleans

,

b efore it O rleans was n oted for its l ukewarm republic

.

a ni s m ,
and the Government d eemed it necessary to
make an exampl e ; the m unicipal ity was su spend ed ,

and a nu m b er of n ational guards who had attacked

Bourdon were arreste d and brought before the R e vo lu
t i o na r y Tribunal F our wer e acquitted and nine were
.
,

sentenced to d eath .

My grandfather received F ouquier Ti nv i lle s inj un e -

’

tion to b e ready ; but public opinion Wa s s o strongly

b ent on clemency that Charles H enri S anson himself ,

who was rath er sceptical in such m atters did not think ,

the execution would ta k e place Petitions were pre .

sented to t h e C onvention in favour of the culprits b ut ,

n o notice of them was taken and the nine O rleanese

,

were led to th e scaffold They were no exception to the

.

rule and died with great firmness

,
.

V OL . II .
 C HA PTE R x x Ix .

C H A R L O TTE OO R D A Y .

ON J uly I 3 at the very moment when the corpses of

,

the nine O rleane s e w ere b eing taken to the cemetery of

La M adeleine another represent ative of the people was
,

m urd ered This w as Marat and the hand that d ealt

.
-

’
the death blow w as a woman s .

There lived at C aen a girl n a m e d M a r i e Anne Char '

-

d A
’

l t t d C rd ay r m o nt H er family b elonged to the

'

o e e o .

a r i st o c r a c y ga n d o ne o f her ancestors was one of; t h egreatest

nati ona l glories of F rance J acques F r a n go i s deCorday

'
’
‘

d A r m o nt her father was th e des c endant of M arie

’

, , ,

Corneille ; sister O f t h e a ut h o r o f jLe C i d M de Corday

‘ ’
’

, . : .

was poor ; his d augh t er Charlotte wa s a child when h er

mother died and these circu mstanc e s influenced her over
,

sensitive and enthusiastic nature She strongly sym.

a t h i s e d with the Revolution and it was in a fit of

p ,

revolutionary fanati cism that s h e determined to go to

Paris and k ill Marat whom s h e regarded as the worst
,

enemy of the new r eg i me .

She confided her intention to no one and secretly ,

left Caen for Paris on J uly 9 and arrived on the 1 1t h , .

 CH A RL OTTE . R
CO O A Y 35

On the following day s h e went to s e e D u p e r r e t a

, ,

mem b er o f the Con v ention for whom s h e had a letter

, .

H e promised to take her on th e following day to the

H ome O ffic e where s h e wished to solicit on behalf of
,

on e of her friends Mdlle d e F orbin O n the Saturd ay

, . .

b efore calling on D u pe r r e t at the appointed hour s h e ,

wrote a note to Marat asking for an interview

, .

Charlotte Corday then called on the minister i n her ,

protector s company ; but D u pe r r e t was not in favour

’

and he could not O b tain an audience H e accompanied .

Charlotte as far as the Palais Royal and left her When

-
.

sh e was alone s h e entered a cutler s shop and bought a ’

knife with an e b ony handle and then returned to h er

,

’
hotel expecting to find there Marat s answer
,
.

M arat was ill ; for som e ti me he had not attended

the sitting s of the Convention I t seems to have b een .

Charlotte Corday s original id ea to strik e him in the

’

very assembly O f which he was a memb er ; but his

indisposition necessitated a change in her plans Sh e .

’
called at M arat s house on the 1 3 th but was no t ,

admitted She returned in the evening and on he r

.
,

assurance that her business was of a pressing nat ure ,

s h e was at length ushered into M arat s pres enc e

’

Th e father Of the people as h e was styled was i n

,
’

his b ath A cloth had been thrown over the bath and
.
,

M arat was writing on a board which h e used as a desk, .

H e put a fe w questions to Charlotte who sudd e n ly ,

approached the bath leaning over M arat Sh e struck him

with her knife The blo w w a s d ealt with such forc e
.

that the weapon entered M arat s bosom up to the ’

D 2
36 JI E JI OI RS TH E
'
OF S A A S OA S
’
.

h a n dle . M arat u tte red a cr y a nd expire d almost in

s t a n t ly .

H is shri ek for help brought i n a commis sionn ai re

n amed La urent Bas s e a nd t wo femal e attendants , .

Charlott e C orday wa s standin g near t h e wi ndow and ,

did n ot t ry to es ca pe The commissionnai re s t ruck h er .

d o w n with a ch a ir ; s h e rose bu t Bas se knocked her ,

down a second ti m e and held her to the ground whil e , ,

t h e two att end a nts an d a sur e on were ca rryi ng M arat g

to h i s be d A number of nation al gu ards c am e up and

.
,

Ch arlotte C o rday wa s arrest ed .

Th e news w as soon kn o wn at l a rge and an immense ,

’
crowd asse mbled around M arat s dwelli n cl amouri ng g
,

for the ass ass i n s head I t was not d eem ed p r udent to

’
.

'
take Charlott e to pri s on un t il popular e fl e r ves c e n c e had
su bs id ed ; s h e wa s therefore in ca rcerated in M arat s ’

a pa rt m ent wh e r e G u e lla r d du M es nil a commiss ary of

, ,

poli c e qu es ti o ned her She answered all qu es tions wi th

,
.

a ca lmn es s a nd di g ni ty whi ch never fo r so o k her un til her

d ea th A few h o urs after she w as taken to t h e Pri son

.
,

'
d e I A b ba y e w here the m embe rs of t h e C om mi ttee of
,

Pub li c S afety i nterro ated h er several tim es g

.

Ch a rlott e a ppeared be fore th e R evolu t ionary Tri

b unal on J uly I 7 Sh e show e d grea t firmn ess d uring
. .

the tri al the res ult of whi ch of course w a s a foregone con

, . ,

cl usion A ft er th e j ury had given in a verdict of d eath

.
,

sh e as ked t h e genda rm es to take her t o her counsel ,

M Chauvea u d e la Gard e whom s h e heartily th ank e d

.
,

for h i s ser vices Charlott e Co r day w as then tra ns

.

ferred to h er c e ll whence s h e was soon to be le d to the

,
 CH A RL OTTE R
CO D A Y .
37

Place d e la Revo lut i o n A priest cam e forward but s h e .

,

firm ly although c o u r t e o u s ly de c li ne d his services .

She had hardly b een ten minutes in her c ell when a

painter who had commenced a sketch of her i n the
,

course of the trial entered and asked her permission to

,

finish it Charlotte readily acquiesced

. D uring the .

sitting which lasted an hou r a nd a hal f the unfortunate

, ,

creature conversed freely with the artist and she evinced ,

neither surprise nor fear when t h e door was again thrown

open to admit the clerks of the court and the execution er
,
.

My grandfather had brought the red shirt rese r ved for

parricides which Charlotte Corday was to wear on her
,

way to the guillotine .

I n a preceding chapter I stated that Charles H enri

S anson had during a period of the revolutionary crisis
, ,
w
k e t a diary not o nl of e x ecution s b u t also of h is
,

personal impressions This record only becam e regular .

M W

towards the end O f Brumaire 1 7 9 3 b u t my grandfather

M
W

wrote a Ci rcumstant i al account O f Charlotte Corday s ’

execution I give i t here in full

.

O n this da y Wednesday J uly 17 first year of the

, , ,

one and indivisi b le Repu b li c I executed Charlotte ,

C orday of C aen who m urd ered the patriot Marat

, , .

mem b er of the Convention .

’
O n Wednesday 17 th as above at ten O clock in th e
, , ,

morning I went to take th e orders of Citi zen F ou q uie r

,

Tinville C itizen F ouquier was b usy he sent word for

.

m e to wait M eanwh ile I went out and had som e

.
,

’
b rea k fast At one o clock in the afternoon a citizen
.

who had j ust left the Tribun al told m e that the girl was
38 M E M OI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

co n victed I mad e haste back and met Citizen F ouquier

.
,

i n th e witnesses room H e was quarrelling with Citizen

’
.

Montan e whom he charged with being too favoura b l e t o

,
’

the accused They entered a private room a n d r e m a i n e d

.
,

there an hou r and a hal f On re a ppearing Citizen.

,

“
F ouquier s a w me and said angrily What are you dall y ,

ing here fo r I answered that he had gi v en me n o orders .

C itizen F a b r i c i u s h a n de d m e a c op y O f the j udg ment ,

and we went to the Conciergerie together I spoke to .

Richard the gaoler and O bserved that his wi fe w a s pale

, ,

and frightened I enquired whether s h e was unwell She

. .

said W a i t a moment and perhaps your heart will fail

, ,

y ou too .Richard conducted us to the cell occupied by

’
.

the culprit C itizens Ti r r a s s e and Mon et th e clerks o f

.
,

the Tri b unal entered fi rst I rem ained on the threshold

, . .

I n the c ell were two persons a gend arm e and a citizen , ,

’
who was finishing Charlotte C orday s portrait S he was .

writing som ething on the b ack of a b ook She l ooked .

i n my direction and as k ed m e to wait When s h e had

,
.

fi nished Citizens Ti r r a s s e and Monet read out the j udg

,

m ent and m eanwhile Charlotte Corday folded the paper

,

on which s h e had wri tten and gave it to Citizen Monet ,

requesting him to hand it to Pont ecoulant the deputy , .

’
3
She then removed her chair to the m iddl e of t h

Since M d e l a Barre I had not seen courage equal to;

.

M p

ers We were in all s i x or se v en men whose p r o fe s

.
, , ,
40 M EMOI R S OF TH E S A A S ON S
’
.

the s t e ngth of human nerve happened D uring the two

r
.

hours I spent in her company I could detect no S ign o f

anger or indignation on her face She did not speak ; .

s h e looked not at those who insulted her b u t at the

, ,

citi zens who were at the windows The crowd was s o .

d ense that our cart advanced ver y slowly As she was .

M r : You find the way very long I ,

” “
fear N O matter s h e replied ,
we are sure to reach
the scaffold sooner or l ater I rose as we reached the
.

Place d e la R evo lut i o n and stood b efore her in order to

, ,

con ceal the sight of the scaffold from her ; b u t s h e

“
insisted on looking at the machine saying I have a , ,

”
right to b e c urious ; this is the first time I s e t e i '

I n stepping out of the cart I perceived that un k nown

,

indi v iduals h ad mingled with my assistants While I .

was requesting th e gendarmes t o clear the place ,

Charlo t te C orday nimbly ascend ed the steps of the

'

guillotine On reaching the platform F ermin one of my

.
, ,

men suddenly snatched away her neckerchief and s h e

, ,

stretched out on the weigh plan k o f her own accord-

.

Although I was not ready I thought it would b e ,

b ar b arous to prolong the poor girl s su fferings even fo r

’

a second and I mad e a S ign to F ermin who pulled the

, ,

rope I w a s still at th e foot of the scaffold when one

.

of those who had tri ed to m eddl e with a b usiness which

was not theirs a carpenter named Legros picked up
, ,

’
Charlotte C orday s head and showed it to the people .

Although I was used to this kind of thing I could ,

not help turning away I t was by the murmurs of the

.

c rowd that I b ecame aware that the rascal had struc k

 CH A RL O TTE R
CO D A Y 41

the head ; and I was afterwards told that t h e face

turned red as if resenting the i nsult When I went
,
.

hom e the prediction of Richard s wife was realised

,
’
.

“
As I was sitting down my wi fe said to me
,
What is,

—
the matter with you why are you s o pale

M y grandfather wrote to the papers contradict

,

ing the statement that the perpetrat or of th e outrage

‘

h e has j ust related was on e of his assistants .The

R e v olutionary Tri b unal ord ered Legros to b e arrested ,

and pu b licl y reprimanded him .

 42 M E M OI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

C HA PTE R Xx x .

C U S TI N E .

A F TE R the painful e x ecution of the preceding chapter

u
we again relapse i nto unimportant e x ecutions b u t the ,

w
“ J

”
q uantity
w h w
m akes up for t
O n J ul y 18 J oseph M a z e lli e r l ate O fficer i n the ,

caval ry regiment of Ro y al Piémont con v icted O f emigra ,

tion and condemned to d eath b y the Revolutionary

Tribunal was e x ecuted
,
.

O n the 19 th a working man J ean Pierre Pelletier was

, ,

s ent to the scaffold for endeavouring to pass a forged

assignat t c h he knew to b e spurious
,
.

O n the 20 t h 2 4t h and 2 st h three emigrants su ffered

, ,

these were Louis Charles d e M alherb e late infantry ,

o fficer ; J oseph F r a n go i s Coquard and F r a ngo i s Charl e s

,

C o q u e r e a u also o fficers
,
M alherbe was b arel y twent y
.

years O f age .

O n the 2 7 t h Riche Thomas S t M artin perished .

for the crime of forgery .

At this time the Tri b unal was modi fied i n a manner

The Committee O f Pu b lic S afet y divid ed it into two

sections and raised t o thirty the num b er of the j udges
, .
 C U S TI N E .
43

M ontan e the president o f the Tribunal had himself b een

, ,

arraigned b efore the second s ection for favouring Char

lotte Corday H e was however acquitted
.
, ,
.

F ro m the I s t to the 17 th of August th e two sections

sent to th e gui llotine Pierre Mau ri ce C o lli n e t d e l a
S alle So nville late li e t
-

with his me hews who h

,
w mng
ai e d j Charles J oseph . -

L e s c u y e r late general of th e Belgian cavalry convicted

, ,

of complicit y with D u m o ur i e z ; J ean —B aptiste To u r t i e r

f
,

a Ci a e vcm t ; Andre J onas a gendarme O f th e twenty

’ ’
-

the Kin g s d eath h e wanted to l ea v e his regim ent in

’

ord er not to s erve the Repu b lic ; and an emigrant

prie st ,
J ean J oseph S aunier
-
.

O n t h e 1 st h General C u s t i ne appeared b efore the

Tri b unal .

Repu b lican enthusiasm would not ad mit that th e

soldiers of li b erty could b e conquered otherwise than b y
treason This profound and sincere faith in the para
.

mount power of right was the element of the triumphs

of the Repu b lic an d the prin ciple O f its future grand eur
,
.

U nfortunatel y the generals of the F rench army were far

from sharing th e su b li me confid ence They were fo r .

the most part O ld O fficers who b elieved in nothing ,

b e y ond discipline tactics and regular battles and who

, , ,

smiled when they read the messages i n which the C o nv e n

tion decreed victory The result was that th e move .

m ent of retreat was followed b y an outburst O f popular

indignation and th e unl uc ky general was usually
,

charged with wilful neglect of duty .

44 M E M OI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

Du m o u r i e z
treason unfortunately j ustified this
’
s

national mistrust As to Cu s t i ne who com manded the

.
-

were r e
o r ganised H e was c hg g egl with treason and arraigned
.
,
’

b efore the Revolutionary Tri b unal .

Popular irritation was very great against him There .

c a n b e no dou b t that C u s t i n e was not faultless b u t his ,

last campaign had not been without glory While man .

oeu v r i ng on
,
the flanks O f the Prussian army which
D u m o u r i e z was O pposing he had c aptured Worms , ,

F r a nk e nt a l Regens b urg F ran k fort & c

. b u t he was with
, ,
.

reason charged with not having turned these advantages to

profit and there b y transformed the retreat of the Prussians
,

into a rout H e had allowed the enemy to recapture

.

F rankfort ; he had i nsu fficiently V i ctualled Regensburg ,

i n which K le b er was bravely holding out Such mistakes .

’
were m urderous to Kleber s military repute b u t they did ,

not deserve death The Tribunal rema i ned undecided

.

for some time for th e trial lasted not less than fourteen
,

days But Cu s t i n e w a s not liked and the then power ful

.
,

H eb ert was his mortal foe Cu s t i ne neverthel ess r e .

t a i n e d his presenc e of mind he e x plained his militar y

operatio n s and his counsel Tr e ns o n D uc o u dr a y spo k e
, , ,

e loquently in his fa v our .

Th e Tri b unal retired after these t w o S peeches an d ,

on returning gave a verdict of guilty on all counts .

C u s t i n e could not withhold an expression O f d espair

when sentence of d eath was passed H e recovered his .

s e p ossessi on h o we y e r a nd wrote
, ,
Q “ M . .
-

v /
 C U S TL VE ’
.

his son then a risoner at La F c e The e x ecution

,
.

was appointed to ta k e place on the following day ,

August 2 8 at twel v e At nin e O cloc k Charles H enri

’

.
,

’
S anson entered C us t ine s prison H e found hi m on his .

knees r a in with t h e A bb é Lothri nger m etropolitan

,
fi
,

vicar whose assistanc e he had as k e d fo r Th e priest

,
.

requested m y father to w ait outside for a fe w minute s .

Shortly after Gustine himself cam e t o fetch him

, .

C ustine s countenance was firm ; b u t it w a s eas y to

’

perceive that h e w a s la b ouring u n de r ne r vo u s prostration

m
.

H e as k ed that his hands should onl y b e ti ed at the

foot Of t h e sca ffold and his petition w a s granted
, .

H e wal k ed to the cart so rapi dly that the A bb é 1

Lothringer and the e x ecutioners had som e trou b le i n

keep i ng up with him Wh en the gloomy procession.

appeared i n the street there was as usual a loud clamour

, .

times These are th e v ery people w h o used to applaud

m y victories ! As the cries b ecame m ore vociferous he
’

added : This is the rewar d of my ser v ices l and the

‘ ’

name of D u m o u r i e z came to his lips Th e A b b é .

Lothringer b esought hi m to b e resigned Custine s .

’

ey es filled with tears and he b egan to read i n the pray er

,

book O ffered to hi m b y the pri est .

Th e s toicism d i b arlotte Corday had

was well remem b ered and the people dou b tless e x pected
M “
,
”

that the general of their arm y would e x hi b it a d isdain

46 M EM OI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

for dea t h still more superb The sight of a pale old .

man plunged in pray er , instead of what wa s expected ,

excited popular fury and cries and curses becam e ,

u niversal .

When the cart halted before the scaffold Cu s t i ne ,

t iI r n e d round not to see the instrument of death

,
H is .

features were so discomposed that m y g randfather

thought he was goin g to fa int ; th e priest was und er
the same impression fo r he b en
’ -

t towards the general s

’

ear and said to hi m in German : General tis only

,
‘
,
’

d eath whi ch y ou defied a hundred tim es Oh the battle

,

field and yet you w ere not then as you are now read y , ,

before your God The r a l s h o o k his head

’

39 99 8 315 g e n e .
,

‘
and then taking his confessor s hand : You are right ’

,
’

said he and yet I am sorry a Prussian c a nn

‘
b all did
,
ggdc
not d o the work H e then looked at the h nt fe w hich
.
’

glittered under the m id day s u n Whi le his hands were -

.

b eing tied he asked that he should b e allowed to hold

,

the pra y er b ook to th e last H e then ascended with a

-
.

firm step th e steps O f the scaffold and his head fell ,

under the knife into the b asket a few seconds after

, ,
.

’
t may be j ustifia b le to doubt C ustine s genius as a
general ; b ut i t i s impossi b le to deny him the first o f
military virtues courage ; his was prover b ial in the
,

F rench army And yet he d id not encounter d eath

.

with the cal m bravery which we found among ordinary

citizens whose profession and ha b its were qui t e peace
,

ful and even among women This phenomenon shows

, .

the di fference that e x ists between nervous excitement ,

which can make a he r o of a man and the manly forti ,

 M E M OI RS OF TH E S A N S OA’S .

strength was in Par i s The d ecree of J uly 2 8 descri b ing

.
,

as a crime the contempt showed by t h e Girondins for

the s o called national authority had declared them out
-

laws Peril could not induce G o r s a s to leave Paris for

.

three m onths he lived in hiding b u t he was at length ,

a rrested H e was taken b efore the Revolutionary

.

Tr i bunal and from thence to the Scaffol d

, .

G o r s a s was brave to the last Wh e n my gran dfather

.

s a w his former enemy he tried to avoid being seen b y

,

him but G o r s a s espied him at the foot of the scaffold ,

and cried to him in a loud voice

Why do you stand aside Citizen S anson ? Co me
,

and enj oy your triumph We thought we were o v er

.

throwing the Mo narchy : we have only founded your

’
reign .

My grandfather made no reply and looked down .

f M”
10
.
Indeed he was b eginning to have enough of h i s royalty .
FROM THE S TO RY O F MARI E ANTOI NETTE
- "
.

MARI E AN TOI N ETTE AND HER C HI LDREN

-
.
 C HAPTE R X XX I .

H OW EVER enthusiasti c a great m any people may be

r es p ecting the general resul ts of the Re vo lu t i o n I it seems ,

to m e i mpos sible to think w ithout som e e m o t i o n fo f

a Q u een w ho i n l ess than a year w as d eprived Of
h e r throne and liberty — o f a woman w idowed by the
e xecutioner s axe separated from her children and
’

, ,

t reated with revolting indignity When i n my young

.
,

d ays I used to accompany my father to the Conciergeri e

,

p
’
rison I never
,
passed before the unfortunate Q ueen s

c ell without feeling deeply moved When I looked a t

.

t h e bla ck and rusty door behind which M ari e Antoinette

had b e e n i m p r i s o ne d for two months I hastily walked ,

a way seeing i n m y mind s eye the awful tragedy W

’
,
'

hich .

had b e e n p ar t ly en a c t e d i n the g lo o m y p r i s o n
;
'

Afte r the d eath Of Lo uis XV I the roy al captive s of

.

the Te m ple h a d not been forgotten The hat re d of t h e .

‘

P arisians against the K ing was wholly political ; it was

aimed at the K ing not at the m an Against M ari e
,
.

Antoinette popular hatred was both political and per

sonal The Q ueen had found i m placabl e enemies not
.
,

V OL I I . . E
50 ME M OI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

only among th e Revolutionists who w ished to overthro w

the M onarchy b u t among her own cou rti ers and even in
, ,

the ranks of her own family N one could forgive h e r .

i ndependent mind h er elegant tastes her likin g fo r

, ,
'

amusements forb idden b y etiquette B y trad ucing h e r .

HE B! incri minating her acts her enemies had

_

EE EEE
’

, ,

rendered her odious to all other women The R e vo lu .

t i o n i s t s knew the Q ueen to be far m ore energetic than

L ouis XV I ; they understood that if some resistance w as

.

to be offered to their d esigns such resistance must c om e

,

fro m M ari e A n toinette and they gave her out as t h e

,

bitterest enem y of liberty They styled her the ghoul

.

of F rance and the accomplice of the foreigner U na

, .

m m i t y i n hostile feelings was the cause of unanimity i n

the calumnies wherewith the Q ueen was assailed On .

several occasions the name of the capti v e Q ueen was

pronounced i n the Convention and th en the viol ent ,

party of which H eb ert was lead er asked for the arraign

ment of the widow of Capet .

Public opinion was getting too strong for the Con

v e nt i o n
. ,
O n August 4 a d ecree sent h er b efore t h e
Revolutionary Tri b unal and on the 14th O f the sam e
,

m onth s h e was sentenced to d eath a fter a trial which i s ,

too well known for m e to recall the ci rcumstanc e s

which attended the melancholy affair I have occasion .

ally related at length the events of a criminal s caree r ’

’
which led to the exec utioner s i ntervention but only ,

w hen I might reasonably think that the reader was not

previously acqu ainted with them I n M arie Antoinette s . .
’

case my relation can only dwell upon th e time that

,
 TH E Q UEE N .
51

elapsed b etween h er condemnation and execution .

Charles H enri S anson did n ot leave us a complete

account of the Queen s d eath and the omission which I
’

cannot explain is very m uch to be regretted Th e

, .

fo llowin g r elation h owever I had from my father , wh o

, ,

had t h ched m anhood and w sisted m

M ERGE .

’
Charles H enri S anson was present at the Q ueen s
trial N o sooner was the verdict given than he tapped
.

a t the door of F ouquier Ti nvi lle s closet

’
F ouquier told
-
.

hi m to come i n and he found himself in the presence of

'

H erm an the president of the court Renaudin a j udge

, , , ,

N icolas also a j udge and F abricius Paris the clerk of the

, , ,

ui e r i

l es H enri S anson h aving respond ed that h i s

d uty was to await the decisions O f J ustice and not anti L ,
-

m ,
F abriciu s ,
the clerk mingl ed his merry j okes ,

’
w ith the public prosecutor s i nvectives Th e conversation .

was assu ming a disagreeabl e turn ; TO put an end to it ,

my grandfather asked for an ord er to procure a closed

c arriage simila r to that i n which the King had been
taken to th e guillotine This request thoroughl y e x
.

asperated F ouquier Ti nville h e answered that C harles

-

H enri himself deserv ed to perish on the scaffold for

daring to make such a suggestion and that a cart was ,

quite good enough for the Austri an But R enaudin .

observed t hat before taking any d ecision i t was d esirabl e

to consult the Com mittee of Public Safety or some of i t s ,

E 2
52 MEMOI RS OF TH E S A NS ONS .

members ; and aft er some discussion F ouquier acquiesced .

o u r r y a li a s Gram mont formerly an actor of the M on

, ,

t a ns i e r eat re had j ust entered H e undertook the

, .

errand and on returning said that h e had consulted

,

R obespierre and Collot but that ne i ther would give

,

an opinion on the matter on the ple a that F ouquier ,

had power t o act as h e thought fit I t was finally .

decided that the Q ueen should be taken to the sca ffold

i n a cart .

’
It wa s fi ve o clock i n the morning when my grand
father l eft the Tribunal All were asleep when he
.

entered his house H e m ade only a short appearance in

.

his bedroom and was walking out on tiptoe for fear of

, ,

w aking his wife when the latter who slept lightly called
, , ,

h i m to her bedsid e and on looking in his face s h e a t

, , ,

once guessed th e issue of the Q ueen s t rial She was s o ’

.

d eeply affected that Charles Henri had to call his s o n

to his assistance H e dared not let any one else s e e her
. .

H er tears were a crim e i n th e eyes of the man i n power

,
,

and most of his assistants tried to obliterate the dis

honour of thei r profession by the fervency of their
d emocrati c opinions .

This occurrence s o unmanned Charl es H enri S anson ,

that his son p repared to accompany him SO they went .

together to the Place d e la R evo lu t i o n to s e e that th e ,

scaffold w as in good order from thenc e they r e

paired to the Conciergerie w here they arri ved at ten ,

O clock The prison was already surrou n ded b y armed

’
4
.

m en My father and grandfather were j oined by citizen

.

E ustach e N appier one of the ushers of th e R e vo lu

,
54 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA N SONS .

Lothringer entere d th e roo m and asked her leave to

fidelity to the Republi c had already pro ffered h i s services

, ,

but they had been declined H is repeated request

.

visibly d ispleased th e Q u e en w ho however ans w ered

,

’
You can com e with m e if you l ike .

The co r t é ge i m mediately moved forward

’
Th e .

gendarmes preceded the queen by w hose sid e was the ,

abbé behind came the clerk the executioners and more

, , ,

gend a rmes
M
.

”
h r(
O n reaching the c o ur)t ari e Antoinette s a w the
,

cart s h e cam e to a sudd en halt and a strong feeling of ,

horror appeared on her features She however m astered .

, ,

her emotion and w a s helped u p by my grandfather

,

and his son The gates were slowly opened and th e

.
,

Q ueen of F ranc e appeared b efore the pe ople There was .

an i mmense clamou r of maledictions a torrent of curses , ,

and cries of D eath The crowd was so compact that the

cart c ould hardly move and the horse reared and backed
, .

There was so terri b le a moment of c onfusion that b oth

my grandfather and father rose and plac ed the m
selves b efore M arie Antoinette At two different poin t s
.

m en had broken through the rank of the escort and ,

i nstead of driving them back or trying to cal m popular

,

effer vescence th e gendarmes j oined i n their vocifera

,

tions Th e s o n of N ourry Gram mont who like his

.
-

, ,

father was an O fficer i n the army had the cowardi ce

, ,

to threaten the Q ueen s face with hi s clenched fist The

’
.

A b b e Lothringer pu shed him back and upbraided h i m ,

for his un worthy conduct .

 This scen e lasted two or three m inutes .

f ather often told d id Ma

dignified than s h e did then Grammont the father went
.
, ,

forward with a few horsemen and cleared the way .

F rom tim e to tim e c ries and curses partly subsided .

A few cries O f D ea t /t t o fl ee A uS t r i a n
‘
D ea l/z t o
M a da m e .Ve t o ” ros e from the c rowd ; but these ex
c la m a t i o n s becam e rarer and rarer .

M ari e Antoinette stood erect i n the cart ; th e Abb é

Lothringer was speaking to her but she d id not answer
, ,

and did not even seem to hear him When the Palais .

Egalité was passed s h e b egan to manifest som e u neasiness

, .

She looked at the numbers of the houses with more than

com monplace curiosity Th e. that

of the house h ad b een d esignated to Mari e

'

Antoinette and that was what s h e was lo o k i ng fo r She

,
r .

d iscovered it and then at a sign which she alon e under

,

s tood h avin g recognised th e priest she bent h er h ead

, ,

a smile came to her lips .

for a few moments the Q

contemplation her colour
bled and s h e w as h eard to m urm ur
,
 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NSON S
.

The sight of the scaffold recalled her to herself a nd ,

sh e prepared to descend M y grandfather and my .

father supported h er As s h e placed her foot on t h e

.

ground Charles H enri S anson who w a s bending toward s

, ,

h er said in her ear

,

H ave courage Madame ! ,

’

Th e Q ueen looked round , as if surprised to fi nd

W W W
he r t gdeath and answered ,

Thank you s i r thank you , ,

.
’

A few yards separated the cart from the guillotine .

M y father Off ered to continue to support her but s h e ,

d eclined saying ,

N o ; I am thank H eaven strong enough to wal k

‘
, ,

’
that short distanc e .

V ersailles .

H er arrival on the platform produced som e confusion .

The A bb e Lothringer who had followed her was going, ,

on with his usel ess exhortations My fath er thrust him .

asid e wishing to finish the execution without the loss of

,

Th e assistants took possession of Marie

While they were tying h e r down to t h e
 TH E Q U EE N

a nd t he knife cam e dow n upon the neck w ith a heavy

th ump .

S om e cries of Vi ne la R epubli g ue were heard around

the sca ffold and Gram mont ord ered Charles H enri to
,

show the h ead to t h e people O ne O f the assistants

.

plac ed i n a co ffi n of com mon woo

lim e in the c e m e t e of L a M adeleine
,
58 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .
“

C HAPTE R X XXI I .

T HE C TR ON D I N S .

’
A F TE R th e Q ueen s trial cam e that of th e inhab itants of
Armenti eres charged with conspiracy with th e enemy
, ,

w ith the purpose of betraying the town into their hands .

S i x prisoners were discharged : but Pi erre F r a n go i s

M a li ng i é formerly j ug e a o pa i x of Armenti eres Pelleri n
,
-
’
-

G uy J ouar m erchant ; J oseph D elattre merchant ; and

, ,

Paul F r a n go i s Clarisse hatter were sentenced to , ,

capital punishm ent and e x ec uted on the 2 7 t h of V e n

,

dé m ia i re .

O n the I s t of Brumaire ( O ctober 2 2) cam e the turn

o f Louis Armand P e r n o n m anager of the national pot,

t e r y charged with having corresponded with the re b els

,

o f Lyons and on the z u d that of Pierre H ippoly t e

'

P a s t o u r e l a priest
,
l
.

O n th e 5 th the Tribunal sent an emigré J acques ,

W
ine
t .
W
Pu b lic attention at th e time forsook the Place de l a
R evo lu t i o n engros s ed as it w as by a tri al of the highest
,

i mportance — that of th e Girondins .

This trial was as loudly asked for by the clubs and th e

C ommune as that of the Q ueen had been but the charge
 TH E GI R OND I NS .
59

a gainst the deputies arrested on account of thei r ,

moderate and j ust republic anism was di fficult to make ,

o ut. Those of t h e Girondins who had not taken to flight

h ad committed no reprehensible act I n this predica .

ment i t was resolved to consid er thei r O pinions as being

c ri minal and the ac c usation was drawn up
, F ouquier .

Tinvi lle received it on the 1 2t h of B ru maire and on th e ,

1 3 th the prisoners were t r ansferred from the Prison des

C armes to la C o n c i e r erie the last b altin lac e on the

,

w a to the scaffold
y .

The flight of P etion B a r b a r o ux G u a de t and a fe w

, , ,

o thers had left a gap i n th e ranks of the twenty

,

a rraigned deputies ; to complete th e figure consecrated

by the i nsurrection of J une 2 other deputies were ,

chosen among those who had sinc e then b een arrested ,

and twenty one prisoners who with G o r s a s (who had

-

been executed some time before ) made up the requisite

n umber appeared before the R evolutionary T r ibunal
, .

These were
J ean Pierre B r i s s o t aged 3 9 man Of letters and , ,

d eputy O f Eure e t Loire - -

.

Pierre V ictorin V e r g n i a u d aged 3 5 deputy of la , ,

Gironde .

Arnaud G e ns o nn é aged 3 5 deputy of l a Gironde, , .

C laude Romai n Loze D up e r r e t aged 46 deputy O f , ,

Bouches du R h On e
- -

J ean Louis Carra aged 50 man of letters and d eputy

, ,

o f S aone e t Loire - -
.

J ean F r a n go i s M artin Gardien aged 3 9 d eputy Of , ,

I ndre e t Loire
-
-
.
60 M EMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

Charles El eonore D ufr i c h e V a la z é aged 4 2 deputy , ,

o f O rne .

J ean D uprat aged 3 8 deputy of Bouches du Rh One

, ,
- -
.

Charl es Alexis B r u s la r d ( form erly M arquis de

Sillery) aged 5 7 deputy o f la S omm e
, , .

Charles F auchet aged 49 ( formerly a bishop ) deputy , ,

of Calvados .

J ean F r a n go i s D ucos aged 2 8 man of letters deputy , , ,

of la Giro nde .

M arie D avi d L a s o u r c e aged 3 9 d eputy O f Tarn , , , .

Benoit L e s t e r p t Beauvai s aged 43 deputy of H aute

-

, ,

V ienne .

Gaspard D u Chastel aged 2 7 deputy of D eux , ,

Sé vr e s .

Pierre M a i nvi e i lle aged ,

2 8, d eputy of Bouches -
du
R h On e .

J acques L a c a s e aged 4 2 deputy of l a Gironde

, , .

Pierre L e h a r dy aged 3 5 deputy of Morb ihan

, , .

J acques Boileau aged 4 1 d eputy of Yonne , , .

C harl es Louis A nt i b o u l aged 4 0 d eputy O f V a r , , .

Louis F r a ngo i s S ebasti n V i g ié aged 3 6 deputy o f , ,

M ayenne e t Loire - -
.

O n th e 3 r d O f B rum aire they appeared before t h e

Tri b unal F a b r i c i us th e cl erk of th e court read t h e
.
, ,

i ndictment in which it was attempted to show that the

,

accused had conspi red against th e unit y and indivisi

b i li t y of the Republic and th e safet y of the nation M os t .

of th e witnesses heard for the prosecution were thos e .

w ho had directed the revolutionary movement of Ma y

3 1 ,
and whose hostility to the Girondin s was m anifes t
 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

I n a col d voice h e asked that V a la z é s corpse shoul d ’

be placed i n one of t h e executioner s carts to b e burned ’

w ith the bodies of his accomplices after execution

‘ ’
.

W 8 t h of B rumaire that is to s a y fou r ,

before the actual condemnation of th e Girondins ,

n ier Tinville had directed the executioner to pro

-

for the emergency O f an extraordinary execution .

grandfather had therefore sought assistants By a .

ular contrast , which shows th e instinctive horror o f

masses for th e punishment which was then s o fr e
nt ly inflicted h e had the greatest di fficult y i n recru it
,

auxiliari es for the s ervice O f th e scaffold F ouquie r .

informed my grandfather that at least twelve assist

were necessary Charles H enri with the greates t
.
,

b le fo un d three men and as he was going in ques t

,
.

er man a pr o t eg e O f H ebert presented him s elf

, ,

’
and proposed to ac t as executioner s val et This indi .

v idu a l s garrulity and his g rim acing and sinister c o u nt e

’

n ance displeased Charles H enri S anson who refused ,

to engage him O ne of those who were present at t h e

.

i nterview assured my grandfather that the man was a

"

m ountebank who u nder the nam e of J acot performed

, , ,

on the Boulevard du Templ e and Charles H enri w a s ,

congratulating him self on havi ng got ri d of him when ,

F ouquier Tinville summoned him to his presenc e and

-

, ,

after charging hi m with neglect O f duty ord ered him to ,

ngage J acot .

O n th e following day l o t h Brumaire ( October

,

m y grandfather passed his auxiliari es i n review They .

consisted Of ten assistants properly speaking and fi ve , ,

 THE GI R OND I N S .
63

cart drivers w ith their carts H ebert s pr o t eg ew as present

, .
’

C harles H enri S anson thought h e perceived a red w a i s t a

coat under his c a r rn a gno le but he paid little at t entio n

,

’
to the circumstance At eight o clock in th e morning
.

he s e t out for th e C onciergerie with my fath er and s i x

assistants two more w ent to the Place d e la R évolution ,

and two r emained to take care of the carts ; J acot was

one of the latter A great m any soldiers alread y
.

surrounded the prison Two clerks of the Tribunal

.
,
.

N appier and Monet ( th e sam e who h ad attende d

Charlotte Corday to the scaffold ) h ad already arrived , ,

and were waiting for the executi oner i n th e porter s ’

lodge They repaired together to the Palais d e J ustice

.
,

where they took their final orders ; and then they

prepared to appear before th e unfortunate Gi rondi ns .

I t had been de c ided that preparations for the execution

shoul d take place i n the a r lo u r of the rison — a loft

scaffold When m y grandfather entered with his men

.

an d th e gendarmes the convicts were al r eady assem b led

,

there They formed several groups som e were pacing

.

the hal l oth ers form ed circles all of them spoke with
much ani mation like friends who were about to b e sepa
,

rated by a long voyage Brulard Sillery an d Bisho p

.
, ,

F auchet conversed i n a low voice i n a dark corner ;

,

M a i nvi e i lle was writing on his knees The corpse of V a la z é

.

had b een d eposited on three stools before th e window .

At the sight of th e sinister c o r t ege they uttered a r

,

confused exclamation an d some of them rush ed into

,
64 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

e ach other s arms and embraced N appier the clerk

’
.
, ,

c alled out the names of the convicts and at each nam e ,

o n e of the Gi rondins answered

“

Present ! and several

a dded a fe w words of i rony .

Present said V e r g ni a ud if our blood can cement ‘

l iberty We w elco m e you

" ’
.
,

I don t like long speeches ; I am no ad ept in th e

’

’
a rt O f outraging reas on an d j ustice cried D ucos s a r , ,

c a s t i c a lly quoting R obespierre s very w ords N appier ’

.

h aving roughly interrupted him he added w ith a burst , ,

O f laug h ter :
’
Well present w ithout phrases
‘
, , .

D up e r r e t i nstead of answe ring i mpeached the to w n

, ,

of Paris saying that its representat ive s were m urdering

,

the most devoted patriots B r i s s o t one of th e most dis.

,

t i ng u i s h e d Girondins was gloomy ; V e r g ni a u d spoke to

,

h i m for som e time with vehemen ce but all that could b e ,

h eard of wh at h e said were the often repeated words of

republic and liberty When the nominal appeal was
.

terminated all the convicts w ith equal enthusiasm cried

, , ,

Vi ve la R ep ué l i g ue ’
.

The sight of these m en whos e l ast cry was a g lo r i fi

,

c ation o f the Republic in th e nam e of which they were

bei ng sent to the guillotin e was awful and i mpressive , .

O ften has my father when h e w as giving m e the abo v e

,

d etails repeated that no execution ever moved hi m

,

more Th e toilet began during this prelimina r y prepa

.

ration the Girondins remained seren e and self possessed -

.

My grandfather and my father cut their hai r ; the assist

ants bound their hands They came forward without .

any affectation or bravado and continued to converse ,

.
 TH E GI ROND I NS .

A Duprat was about to sit down on the stool Main

'

s ,

v ieille approached holding th e l etter h e had bee n

,

writing H e handed it to his companion together with a

.
,

p e n ,
saying to my father :
:

You will allow us to d evote a fe w moments to our

f amily a ff airs I hope ,

D uprat then added a fe w word s t o the letter which ,

w a s addressed to a woman whom they both loved .

D ucos w as the last who unde r went t h e toilette and ,

i t w as my father who c ut his hair F o nfr é de his brother .

,
~

i n law stood b ehind him

-

,
D uring the operation a fe w.

h airs which were caught between the scissors w ere tor n

, ,

o ut . D ucos could not refrain from m a ki ng a movem ent ,

a nd while his hands were being tied h e said to my

f ather
I hope th e edge of your g u i llo t i ne i s S harper than
y ou r scissors
When all were ready my grandfather gave th e ,

s ignal for d eparture S ome of the gendarmes had

.

a lready descended the stairs which led to th e entrance

o f the prison The co nvicts pressed aroun d V e r g ni a ud

.
,

a nd seemed to wish to confer upon hi m th e honour O f

m arching first ; but V e r g ni a u d pointing to V a la z é s

’

body which two assis tants were placing o n a tressel

,

H e preceded us i n death said he in a grave voice ; h e

’

must S how us th e way .

’

Al l then stood back at his bidding an d th e corpse ,

was borne aw ay The Girondin s followed

. N appier .
,

t h e clerk O f the court h ad arranged that they should b e

,

laced i n the carts according to the order O f their name s

‘

p
V OL . II . F
66 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

i n the j udgment but the c onfusion which attended th e “

departure prevented the execution of a m easure which

might have d eprived som e of the Girondins OHM ,

last thoughts to a personal .

They entered the carts they preferred and ,

found themselves thus distributed : G e ns o nné C arra , , .

D u p e r r e t L a s o u r c e and D u c h é t e l in the first cart

, ,

B r i s s o t V e rg n i a u d D uc os Boyer F o nfr ed e an d V igi é

, , ,
-

in the second ; Gardi en M a i nvi e i lle D uprat F auchet

, , , ,

S illery and L a s o u r c e i n th e third ; A nt i b o ul Boileau

, , , ,

L e h a r dy and Beauvais i n the fourth

,
My grandfathe r
.

and my father w ere i n the first two carts and an ,

‘

as sistant i n each of th e other carts each of them held

the end of th e cord which communicated w ith the wrist s
of the convicts Contrary to what has been said by
.

som e hi storians there was no convi ct in th e fifth cart

, ,

which was reserved for the body of V a la z é .

The s k y was d ark and rainy ; a foggy atmosphere

covered th e town ; nevertheless an i mmense ,

filled the streets .M ore c u r i o si t L t h a n passion was

‘
.

displayed by the pfi bli c F e w were Conscious of th e

.

importance of the sacrifice which w as about to be m ade

but few also seemed to share th e violent sentiments .

expressed at the Clu b de s J acobins and i n th e Con

v e nt i o n . S ilence was e n e ra lly pr eser v ed on the way ;
b ut as usually occurred when illustrious victims were
,

S carcely had the carts reached the Q uai

d e la Conciergerie when my grand father became aware
that his ne w assistant J acot had taken O ff his ca r /nag
, ,
 TH E GI R OND I NS . 67

the
m
wretch had mounted th e horse of the cart entr us ted

t o hi m and wa s oin throu h a seri es of feats of e i

t a t i o n which he o nl i n t e r r u ted to addr ess t
'

th e
'

, _

crowd i ronical remarks r e la t i n t O t h e c o nvig tgs Charles ,

H enri im mediately d escended and end eavoured t o ,

d rive J acot away ; but th e crowd , and even the g e ne

f ather was obliged to return to his cart amidst w _

and hisses The cries of Vi ne i a R epu bli q ue ! were

.
’

f requently uttered on the w ay M a i nvi e i lle and D upra t

.

repeated with the c rowd : Vi ve la R ep u é l i gue ’ On

’
.

two or three oc casions only cam e forth the c ry : D eat h

t o t r a it o i s Th e Girondins heard it without anger ; b ut
'

a stentorian voice which cam e from the fou rth cart

, ,

exclai med : The R epublic ! You S hall n o t have it !

‘ ’

V e r g n i a u d behind wh om w as my father heard the ex

, ,

clamation and cried : D o not s a y that ; the R epubli c

,
‘

costs us d ear enough for us to carry away th e hope tha t

’
i t shall not be ove r thro w n .

W W V e r g ni a u d w a s

g rave and collected an d endeavoured

, to d ispel the

si nister presentim ents of B r i s s o t who seemed to thin k ,

that th e Republi c could not su rvive their d eath D ucos .

and Boyer F onfr ede conversed in a low voi ce my f ather

-

s a w tears on the cheeks O f th e latter The convi cts O f .

t h e other carts w ere not l ess dignified Twic e they .

struck Up the M a r s ei lla i s e D ucos who w as only.

,

twenty seven years old seemed to becom e more lively

-

a n d c a u stic a s the fatal moment w as drawin nea As

g r .

F 2
 M E AI OI RS OF TH E SA N SONS .

the carts reached the Place de la Revo lut i o n h e said , ,

l ooking at the guillotin e

What a pity it i s that the Convention did not d ecre e
the unity and i ndivisibility of ou r persons ! ’

After b eing plac ed i n a file b efore th e sca ffold ,

w o rows O f gendarm es the Girondins embraced , ,

h eard encouraging each other to d ie bravely ,

proach as they had liv ed Then they onc e

, .

i s e and the ,

he assistants having told hi m to b e

ck h e answered
,

Can t you wait a moment

’
I w ait also and yet I ,

’
i n a greater hurry than you are .

As the knife c am e down th e chorus of the convicts

,

Beauvais D u p e r r e t and L a c a s e followed

L e s t e r pt -

, , .

Charles H enri S anson was superintending the e x e c u

t ion [ F ermin th e head assistant w as pulling the rope
, , .

My father watched over th e removal of the bodies which ,

w ere thrown two by two into baskets prepared b ehind

, ,

t h e guillotine B Ut when s i x heads had fallen the

.
,

b askets and the weigh planks were s o saturated that

-

t h e contact of the blood must h ave been more horri b l e

than death itself to those who were to follow Charles .

H enri Sanson ordered the two assistants to throw pails

.

o f water over the plank and to sponge i t after each

,

e xecution .

The ranks of the convicts w ere beginning to thin .

 ME M OI RS ’
OF TH E SA NSONS .

Th e execution lasted forty three minutes t hat is a -

le more than two m inutes for each convict .

I n the e vening of the same d ay Charles H enri ,

S anson complained to F ouquier of the extraordinary

c ond uct O f H ebert s pr o t ejge in the hop e of getting rid of
’ ’

t h e r u ffi a n he argued that th e way to beget sympathy

for th e condemned was to insult prison ers as J aco t ,

had done ; F ouqu i er paid no attention to my grand

father s recri minations and asked hi m w hy h e di d not
’

with his o w n hand pull the rope whi ch communicate d

w ith the knife My grandfather replied that u nder the
.

former r e i m e it was t i o ne r
’

frightful accidents and thatL i i ILL W Q HL I L

w
w fl W

nly na tural th at h et
s pons ible i t was— on
, uldj fi L h Lmi fi lL
r fl
vd r fi

” fi

F ouquier Tinville appeared satisfied with these r e a

-

s ons ; but in sending m y grandfather away he told hi m tha t ,

h e should keep an eye upon him and added with a sig u i , ,

fi c a nt gesture that i f h e did not discharge his duties n o t

,

only as an experienc ed executioner but as a patriot ,he , ,

S anson might very well change parts and be executed

, ,

h imsel f .

The result of this conversation was that J acot w a s

m aintained as my grandfather s assistant and the man s ’ ’

es were repeated i n most important e x e c u

eat satisfaction of the mob .
 C HAPTE R XXX I I I .

A D A M L UX TH E D U RE ORLE A N S
’

.
-
OF .

F ROM the time of the d eath of the Girondins ex ec u tio n s ,

becam e more and more fre q uent th e real R eign of Terro r

bW O t a da
y passed without the guillotine bein g
used and my grandfath er and my father had s carc ely
,

b reathing time . Three executions took place on the 1 1th

«o f Brumaire and three more on the 1 2 t h
,
O n the 1 3 th the
.

R evolutionary Tribunal sent to the sca ffold

t
G o u g e s a woman famous for her talents and courage
, .

had hailed the Revolution with delight ; but pity soon

i nvad ed her heart an d in a fit of generous b oldness s h e
,

wrote to the Convention to ask leave to defend t h e

,

K ing She then attacked the revolutionary party with

.

s uch violence that the papers refused to a ccept any more

o f her contribution s an d she was obliged to u s e pl a

,
cards
a s a medium O f co m munication with the public F o r .

t hi s s h e was incarcerat ed for five months trie d and , ,

e xecuted .

On the 14 t h two convicts appeared on the guillotine .

One was a woman called M arie M adeleine Co nt e le t .

S h e had been foun d in possession of a letter i n whi c h t h e

C ommune and the C onvention were oken of con i
'

5
 7 2 M EM OI RS OF TH E SA N S ONS .

t e m p t u o u s ly This was enou g h to ensure a c o nde m na

lé
.

tion to d eath The other convict was Ad am Lu x sent

.
,
’

by the town of M ayen ce to solicit the annexation of h i s

native town to F rance Ad am Lu x was an enthusiasti c .

d reamer who j udged men in the simplicity O f his heart:

,

and w ith the sincerity of faith H e believed that uni .

versal regeneration woul d succeed t o the proclam ation

of th e principles of right and j ustice Adam L u x w as .

plunged i n deep and dark despair and was thinking o f ,

c om mitting sui cide when he s a w Charlotte Corday H e

,
. .

h ad sought in vain for liberty but the tenderness whic h ,

filled his mystic heart could not remain unquenched ; h e

gave hi mself to the pri estess as he h ad given himsel f
to the godd ess F ull of faith i n this extraordinary post
.

h umous love he o nly w i s h e d to j oin Charlotte in death

, ,

and h e lost no opportunity of i mpeaching and attack

i ng th e M o nt a g u e H e was soon arraigned before the Re
.

vo lu t i o na ry Tribunal N or was h e u nworthy of Charlotte

.

Corday A fter th e act of accusation had b een read to

.
!

him h e said to F ouquier Tinville : I am a stranger t o

,
- '

your laws as well as to your crimes ; if I have deserved .

to peri s h it is n ot among the F rench that I shoul d

, .

'
’
s ufl e r When sentence was passed h e exclaim ed : At: ‘
.

l a s t I shall be free ! H e d ressed himself with muc h

’

c are to proceed to the g uillotine as if h Opi ng thati ,

’
Charlotte Corday s spirit w as waiting for hi m over t h e
’

H is femal e companion was executed fi rst .

w as the body removed when Adam Lux appeare d

and stretched himself out on the plank
W
,

“e e xclai mi ng At last ! ’
 A D A M L UX .
—TH E D UK E OF ORL EA NS .

O n the 1 st h another woman n a med M adeleine K 0 ,

w a s e x ecuted on the 16 th it was the turn of one of t

most famous initiators O f th e R evolution Louis Philip ,

J oseph d Or lé a ns I t was i n vain that this prince h

’
.
-

e xchanged h i s title for the significant nam e of E g a i i t e

’

that he had given to the R evolution a far more awful

guarantee by voting th e d eath of his k I n
he had not succeeded in obliterat i ng the
hi s birth and i mmense fortune J ustly hated by t h e .

R oyalists h e had soon embarrassed the R epublicans

, .

Th e Girondins would not believe that patriotism was th e

only reason for the d emocratic conversion of a p r i nc
the blood Ever since th e first m eeting of the
.

tion they had never ceased to treat hi m as a p

,

O n the other hand the M ontagne was aware

,

presence of a Bourbon in its ranks would estrange

i t all other revolutionary parties I t was therefore
. .

solved that h e should die D u m o u r i e z s treason

.
’

s eized upon as the b est opportunity for th e execution o f

'

this d esign Arrested April 7 Egalité was transferred

.
,

to Marseilles on the 1 2t h H e found the r e his two sons

.
,

the D ukes of Montpensier and Beauj olais who had als o ,

been arrested After an i ncarceration of s i x months i n

. .

the F ort S t J ean h e was l ed b ack to Paris on the 2 n d

.
,

o f Brum aire and imprisoned i n the Conciergeri e

, .

The d eath of this troublesom e accomplice was 5

evidently decid ed beforehand that F ouqui er Ti nvill e d i -

not even try to elabo rate an indi ctm ent and used t ,

w hi ch had been d rawn up against the Giro n dins ,

r elentless enemies o f Egalité When th e latter he

.
7 4 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

h
imself d escribed as a B r i s s o t i n when h e heard the,

c harge that he had attempted to place the D uke of York

o n the throne of F rance

«
.
h e interrupted th e reading
, ,

a nd exclaimed B ut sur el y this is a joke ! W hen the ’

p resident asked hi m if h e had any answer t o make h e ,

Said coldly that th e charges j ust uttered against hi m

‘

conflicted with each other and could not possibly be

,

u rged against him sinc e it was wel l known that h e had

,

c o n s t a nt l opposed the system and th e m easures of the

y
e

p arty h e w as accused of having fa voured .

H e was defended with m uch energy by Charl es

id el ; but as I said before his d eath had been con
, ,

s i de r e d indispensa b le and th e D uke of O rleans s p o p u

’

l a r i t y was not su fficient to make the j ury hesitate upon

a
.
m easure which the y deemed necessary The D uke .

h eard th e sentence w ithou t di splaying th e slightest

emotion and turning toward s A nt o nn e lle the foreman ,

o f the j ury w ho had once been one of his Close friends

, ,

he said
S ince you were determ ined to kill m e you should ,

h ave devised m ore pl ausibl e prete x ts than you have

ged for you will never persuade any on e that I a m
g uilty of the crim e for which you put m e to death ;
and you less than an y body else A nt o nne lle for you , ,

k now m e well . Since m y fate i s decided I re uest ou ,

n o t to
“

General Co us t a r d his ai d e de camp also a member o f

,
- -

t h e Conventio n was sentenced to d eath with him The

“

, .

T ribunal having granted the D uke s request Charl es ’

,
 — TH E DUK E R 75
‘

A D A M L Ux OF O L E A NS .

H enri S anson was se nt for and to hi m the clerk of th e

7 T ribunal handed an order of i mmediate execution w hich
,

i ncluded two other prisoners condemned on the preced

i ng d ay : J acques N icolas d e Laroque ex sub delegate ,
- -

o f Mortagne a n
t
d Pierre G o ndi e r stockbroker
, , .

I t was half past three o clock when my grandfather

-
’

received this order As h e was about to start with t h e

.

p risoners h e was to ld to wait an d a fifth victim w as

, ,

h anded over to him This was a w orkman n amed .

A n toi ne B ro usse .

The D uke of O rleans was pacing th e prison parlou r

w h en the executioner appeared H e was slightly pal e
‘

.
,

b ut other w ise showed no e motion My gran dfather

‘

i
t o o k o ff his hat as h e always did ; b u t the D uke paid
‘

z n o a t t e nt i o n to him O n being asked however whether

'

.
, ,

h e w ould allow his hair to be cut h e s a t down withou t ,

m ak i ng any remark At th at mo ment th e four other

.

v ictims were brought I n M d e Laroque entered first . .

h e was a fi ne O ld m an and his face was of noble

'

le ast A s one of the assistants was O ffering to cut his

.

h ai r he took o ff the wig which covered his bald head

, ,

D uke of O rleans who until th en had been sitting with

‘

h i s back turned having risen M d e Laroqu e recog

, ,
.

gn i s e d him and strong indignation

,
appeared on the old
m an s face as he exclaimed
’

I am no longer sorry to leave life since h e who has

b etrayed my country meets with condign punishment ;
b ut s i r I confess I am much humiliated at having to di e
, ,

o n the same scaffold as you

’
.
 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

The D uke did not answer and turned away ,

.

I t was four O clock i n t h e a fternoon wh en t h e

’

e left th e Conciergerie . Th e prince s s a ng f r o i d di d

’
c o r t ej
g
-

not forsake him ; b u t h is c ou rage essenti ally differed

from that dis played by the Girondins and so many othe r
victims ; his countenance e x pressed indi fference an d
d isgust The leader of the escort stopped b efo re t h e
.

E galité palace on the front of which were written t h e

,

word s national property The prince und erstood w h y

‘
.
’

the halt had b een made H e looked for a moment a t .

the abod e of his anc estors and then turned awa y ,

scorn fully .

M de Laroqu e was the first whose head fell H e

. .

bade farewell to all his comp anions except to the D uk e ,

of O rleans G o ndi e r cam e n e xt then C o us t a r d a nd

.
, ,

l astly Brousse .

Th e prince witnessed these execution s withou t

e motion H e appeared in his turn on the platform
.
,

shrugged his shoulders and looked with a proud and ,

haughty ai r at the people who were hissing him Afte r .

taking O ff his coat the assistants wished to divest hi m

,

of his boots but h e resisted and advanced towards t h e

, ,

plank saying : You are l osing time ; you can tak e

,
‘

them O ff at greater l eisure when I am d ead 1

.
’

1
r
F o t y ye a s l a t er r , Lo u i s Ph i li pp e, s o n o f Ega l i t é , w as pro cl a i m ed
K i ng o f t h e F e n chr .
78 M EMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

p e a c h m was mainly based on her connection with

e nt

the Girondins M adame R oland was resigned to h e r

.

fate but s h e could not without i ndignation listen to th e

, , ,

insults that wer e cast upon the memory of her friends , .

and s h e attempted to d efend them

’
I n what tim e and among what people d o w e live !
,

s h e exclaimed It i s not my business to speak of t h e

‘
.

men you have proscribed but I never believed that they ,

'

had evil intentions for they gave to this country m an y

,

proofs of their patriotism integrity and devotion If

‘

, , .

they were mistaken their error was virtuous th ey m ay

,

h ave been misl ed but they i ncurred no d ishonour I f i t

, .

w as a crime to wish for their safety I declare in th e fac e ,

of the worl d that I am a cri minal and that I j oyfully ,

~

share with them the honour of being persecuted by thei r

enemies I have ind eed known well the generous m e n
.
, ,

who were accused of h aving conspired against th ei r

country ; they were firm but humane R epublic an s the y
thought that good laws only could make the Republi c
popular with those w ho had no confidenc e i n d emocrati c
’
institutions .

The president O f th e Tribunal interrupted h er sayin g ,

that s h e could not b e allowed to praise traitors who had

b een righteously punished M adame Rolan d turned to .

wards the audience and protested against these w ords ;

but insulting clamours were the only response to thi s
a ppeal and hen ceforth M adame Roland was disdain
,

fully silent She was condemned to death When s h e

. .

h eard the sentence s h e said addressing the Tribunal i n

, , ,

a calm and sweet voice

 7 9 '

‘
You judge m e worthy of sharing the fate of t h e
great m e n you have murdered : I will try to S how on t h e
(

sc affold th e fortitud e they displayed .

’

Like the D uke of O rleans M adam e Roland w a s ,

.

executed immediately after her trial With her was .

S imon F r a n go i s Lamarch e ex manager of th e m a n u fa c

,
-

tory of a r s zlg na t s S he had very fine b lack hair a part

r
.
,

of which had to be cut at which s h e e x pressed som e

,

concern My grandfather tried to m ake

.

w ith all k

fearful torture Sh e seemed touch ed by his arguments

.
,

and paraphrasing a celebrated expression of Moli ere s ’

s h e said Smiling :,Strange that hum anity sho uld tak e

refuge in such an u nlikely person as you ! As her ,
’

black hair was falling s h e ros e with m uch vivac ity and
M
,

exclaimed : At l east leave me eno n h for ou to hol d

‘

54
up my h ea d and Sh ow it to the people if they wish 1,0 l
,

L am arche who was a b out to di e i n h er company

, ,

w as far from having h er sel f possession Mg dg m -

.

R oland s last act was one of profound abnegation a nd

’

charity s h e for o t her own fate only to think of her com

anion s s u ffe r i n 5 Sh e never c eased to le a n d
’
.

encourage him She affected gaiety which could not be

.

’
i n a m other s and a wife s h eart , but which s h e ho ped
’

mi ght lessen the horror and fear where h

w as filled N either the Q ueen nor the Girondins h a d '

.
so MEM OI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

t oLamarche th e S i ght of the guillotine d eprived hi m

,

o f the smal l amount of courage inspired by Madam e

Roland s words ; his face turned livid and an assistant

’

,
:

w a s obliged to help hi m up Madam e R oland looked .

at him with compassio n and sai d to hi m ,

I can only spare you the sight of blood ; go first ,

p oor man

c ut o r fixed the rank and file O f execution M adam e

‘

ason of her sex had been granted th e privi

,

l ege of dying first When s h e told my grand father that

.

s h e abandon ed to Lamarch e the favour of being struck

first he answered that i t was impossible ; that he had

,

d ifferent ord ers .

N O no replied M adam e Roland ; I am sure you

’

, ,

’
w ere not ord ered to refuse a woman s last request
’
.

Charles H enri S anson had not th e courage to per

s ist .L amarche was guillotined a nd M a da m e Roland ,
‘

'

s a w his head fall without a shudder She then advanced .

’
and gave herself up to my grandfather s assistants .

Well known victims continued to appear on the

-

s caffold The 2 1s t of Brumaire s a w the d eath df

.

a nother founder of the Republic — B ailly M .

s tances which reced ed and attended his execution were

s o horrible that som e historians hostile to the R e vo lu ,

t ion have grossly exaggerated the facts while Re pu b

, ,

m s have end eavoured to attenuate them

W
.

ri t of B ailly s death is I m ake bol d

’

to s a y the most accurate that has hitherto been written

,

J ean Sylvain Bailly was born i n Paris on S eptember

 B A I LL Y . 81

5I , 317 H e was the

1 s
. o n of ac
J q ues Baill y kee per o
f , _

t h e Kin g s paintin g5 and his ancestors were distinguished

’
,

a r tists H is first preferences were for literature but h e

.
,

"

forsook letters for science an d becam e one of the most ,

eminent astronomers O f the ti me Bailly was elected a .

d eputy for Paris in 17 8 9 and the N ational Ass embly

(
,

s elected him as president O n J uly 16 1 7 8 9 he was

.
, ,

appointed m ayor of Paris and his popularity w a s s o

g reat that h e accepted this perilous post with c onfidence ;
but h e was not lo ng i n d iscovering his mistake B eing .

s incerely constitutional h e assumed the responsibility

,

o f th e
W f which th e scen e was the
Champ d e la F édération I t is now pretty certain .

t hat although h e held himself responsi b le he had

,
’

no hand i n this sanguinary affair ; b Il t there was then

every reason to thi nk otherwis e and h e was on a ll ,

s ides d evoted to popular re v enge H e resigned h i s .

o ffice gave up public affairs and retired in the neigh

, ,

b o u r h o o d of N antes But i n that town as well as in

.
,

Paris h e was regarded as a traitor ; and as his position

,

was becoming more perilou s every day he wrote to a ,

f riend asking for a plac e of shelter

,
H is friend pre .

p ared one for hi m in the n eighbourhood of M elun .

Bailly left Brittany but fell into the hands of a detach

,

ment of the revolutionary army and was taken to Paris ,

.

H e appeared b efore the dread ed Tribunal on the 19 th of

Bru maire The m assacre o f the C ham d e Mars was
.

n o t the only charge brought against Bai lly he was also

accused of ha vin g e x cited the conquerors of L a Bastill e
’
against each other and of having favoured the King s
,

V OL . II . G
 MEMOI R S OF TH E S A N S ON S .

escape at V arennes The absurdity of this c o n e c t u r e

’

ws a glaring A considerable
. number of witnesses were
heard ; all went against Bailly and th e obvious resul t ,

w as a verdict of g uilty and Bailly was sentenced t o

'

d eath .

I have already stated that th e executioner used to call

every d ay on the publi c prosecutor to take his orders .

O n the 20 t h of Brumaire he was told by a clerk of t h e

court that no execution was to take plac e on that day ,

and he was dismissed W ithout b eing apprised of th e

special preparations of the morrow for poor Bailly s ’
.

execution I t was only at nine o clock on the m orning

.
’

o f the 2 15 t that Charles H enri was ordered to transfer

w g am
p d e Mars H e lost
time i n calling together his assistants s o that it w a s
som e .

past ten when h e proceeded to the Place d e l a Révolu

tion F o u u i e r Tinville had selected a s o t between
‘

-
.

the Altar of the Country and the Gros Caillou for t h e ’

-

s and went to the Conciergerie where h e arrive d

t r uc t i o ns ,

at hal f past eleven o clock A s he entered the prison

-
’
.

h e met H eb ert who bowed to hi m as h e passed Bailly

,
.

was immediately brought forward . I can assert that —

the people d id not take the initiative i n th e revolting

treatment h e met with before execution The tu rnkeys .

o f the Conciergeri e who often showed wanton b r ut a li t

,

i n their de a lin s with r i s o ne r s treated Bailly with more

-
M p i l
,
 B AYLL Y .

t ha n usual viole nce and this mad e my father think t

,

they were acting un der orders As B ailly was bend .

forward one of the men p ushed hi m violently

another turnkey wh o i n his turn hustled him
,

hands of another and s o on until th e u nfo r t u n

, ,

was bruised and out of breath B ault ; th e .

and N appier th e clerk of the Tribunal W

, ,

and looked on . Charles H enri having asked

why h e did not interfere the latter replied s h r ug g i n
, ,

his sho ulders

’
What can I do
‘ ?
‘

N appier laughed and nodded approval My grand .

fath er then thought of the i ndividual he had m et shor

before and supposed that H ebert had som ething to
,

w ith what w a s going on H e was not mistaken

.
,

B ault confessed to him afterwards that th e de p

p r oc u r e u r of th e Com mune had excited his subordinat e

against Bailly .

S eeing that th e unfortunate m an was helpless Charl e s ,

H enri t old his assistants to bind his hands The con .

d uct of th e turnkeys h ad i n no way disturbed t h e

equanimity of the illustrious s a vm z t H is firmness had .

peculiar good n ature about it H e answered the di s .

grac e ful j okes o f th e gaolers m erely by the words

You a re hurting m e .
’

’
When the e x ecutioner s assistants tore him away
from his tormenters he smiled and said ,

’
I am rather old for that kind of gam e .

When he w as pinioned my grandfather advised hi m ,

to allow his assistants to throw his coat over h i s

G 2
81 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

shoulders as the w eather w as chilly

, Are you afraid .
‘

that I should c atch a c old enquired Bailly .

’
I n his H istory of th e R evolution M Thiers asserts , .

that Bailly w as led to execution on foot : this assertion is

i naccurate The late mayor of Paris enj oyed the pri
.

persons cond emned to die ; h e was taken -

d in a cart Behind the cart a red fl a g was

.

When the cart appeared on the quay a storm of

hisses and groans greeted the prisoner and my grand ,

father perceived that t h e m o b w as c h i e fl y c o m o s e d of

' ‘

the Plac e de la R evol u tion

'

the worst of the lz a bz t ues ’

.

B ailly was seated ; h e was conversing w ith my grand

father with extraordinary tranquility H e spoke of every .

thing e x c e, M o n e d Ch arles H e nri

c oncerning the last moments of C us t i ne Charlotte

,

C orday and the Q ueen shortly after h e asked hi m what

,

his sal a r y w a s When the cart reached th e Champs

.

Elys ees an assistant cam e in great haste to speak to my

grandfather t h e carpenters had forgotten some of the
—

b eams which formed th e floor of th e sca ffold Charles

‘

H enri was obliged to return to th e Pl ace d e l a R évolu

'

’
tion and to plac e these b eams in the c onvict s cart
, .

The halt was not without per il ; Bailly stepped out of

the cart and twi ce th e crowd attempted to capture him
, .

At length th e co r t ege moved on again but the pieces of

f
,

wood which were now in the cart caused great i n c o n

v e n i e n c e to poor Bailly My grandfather asked hi m i f
.

M a fi a
 TH E S A NS ONS .

ailly W hen however this was see n

.
, ,

public i ndign ation ran high against the e x e c u

t i o n e r and Charles H enri was surrounded by a gang of
,

thirty individuals one of whom said to hi m that t h e

,

ground which had drunk the blood of mart y rs could not

b e stained by the blood of a rascal — that Bailly could
n o t b e executed in the Champ d e M ars My grand .

f ather answered that h e was bound to obey superio r

orders . O rders ! exclai med one of the men only t h e
’

W o u orders ! Charles ’
W
V O
’D
z/
H enri having called an o ffi cer of gendarm es to a s k his
advice a third individ ual e x claimed You c an proclai m
,

m artial l aw if you like ; you have the red flag and

B a i lly w i t h i n reach as for us we will erect the gui llotine
'

’
i n its proper place .

Loud applause followed this sally and a scene o f ,

i ndescri b abl e confusion ; ensued The gend armes h ad

.

d i spersed ; som e helped the people i n removing th e

guillotine My grandfather was separated from the u n
.

fortunate Bailly and h e had the greatest trouble to find

,

h i m aga i n . I t was then that reall y commenced th e

torture of th e poor ol d man By the mud which soiled
.

his shirt and face and by a wound on his fo r e h e a d i t

, ,
~

was easy to i nfe r t h a t h e had been str uck by these

' '

frenzi ed s avages M en and wom en were equally

.

ferocious — som e r aised t h eir clenched fists ove r an u n

fortunate man whos e hands were bound others tri ed to
,
‘

strike hi m with sticks over thei r n eighbours h eads ’

.

Bailly s face was still c alm but he was very pale ; as

’

soon as h e recognised Cha r les H enri S anson he called

 h im to his help poor Baill y s o nly friend was his
— ’

e x ecutioner As my gran dfather j oined him h e said :

.
,

’
Ah ! I hoped al l would b e over long ago .

O ne of th e assistants was sti ll b y th e prisoner s sid e ’

t h e other a ssistant had disappeared Two generous .

citizens Beaulieu and a gend arm e named L e b ido i s cam e

, , ,

t o my grandfather s assistance Beaulieu harangued the

’
.

mo b and to a certain d egree pacified it Perceiving that it

,
.

w a s dangerous to remain in the same place and wishin g ,

t o give som e satisfaction to the crowd he suggested that ,

Bailly should select himself t h e spot where the sca ffold

w a s to b e erected This suggestion was received with
.

e nthusiasm and Baill , y was forthwith led away Beau .

l ieu held one of his / arms Charles H enri S anson h eld ,

t h e other and th e gend arme and the rem aining assistants

,

c losely followed them This eve nt has given rise to the

.

i nvention which represents Bailly b eing led round the

A a
C hamp d e M ars carry ing the b oards o f t h e guillotine .

B ai lly was taken to th e e x trem ity of the Champ d e

M a rs near the river sid e where the scaffold was at las t
, ,

e rected A d rizzling rai n w a s falling ; Bailly s only ’ ‘

garment was his shirt which was torn and b arely , ,

‘

’
c o v ered his shoulders The unfortu nate man s te eth
.

c h a t t e r e d with cold
x

It was then that one of those who

.

pressed around hi m having said You tremble Bailly , ,

h e made the famous reply

’
My friend it is because I feel cold
, .

So many tortures had n o t impaired his cou rage bu t ,

h i s strength at length failed him his he ad fell b ack and , ,

h e almost fainted i n the executioner s arms m urmuring :

’

,
 MEM OI R S OF TH E SA NSON S .

‘
W at er ! water ! ’

— —
A man a monste r I should s a y actually th rew
liquid mud i n his face This outrage roused th e i ndi g
.

nation o f a few and there rose from th e m ultitud e a cry

,

of repro bation O ne of the spectators ran to the sca ffold

.

and brought b ack a b ottl e in which there was a small

’
quantity of w ine which he poured into Bailly s mouth
, .

The old m an recovered and with hi s beautifu l sm ile ,

said Thank y o u !
,
‘
Preparations for the executio n
w ere now completed and Bailly w as assisted up th e
,

Olg of th e scaffold Be quick sir finish m e ff

‘
g s t e p s .
; o ,

without d elay said he to my grandfather

,
’
But a .

formality had yet to be attended to : the sentence sai d

that the red fl ag w as to be b urnt by the exec utione r
before the late mayor of Paris The flag was so w e t
.

that much ti me passed before it could b e ignited .

e sto ry which sho w s the executioner burning t h e

’ ’
er Bailly s nose and th e victim s clothes catch
,

i ng fi re d eserves no credence w hatever

,
.

T
These pr e i m i na r i e s tried Bailly s power of resistance ’

a nd h e was about to faint a second time when m y

grandfather hurriedly pushed hi m towards th e w eigh

p lank . W hile h e w as strapping him h e kept on eu ,

c o u r a g i ng him . Charles H enri then rushed to th e rope ,.

and B ailly was heaving a deep sigh of relief when t h e

knife cam e down and severed his h ead .

O n th e 24t h Brumai re another m an who like Bailly

‘

, ,

h a d taken a brilliant part i n the first movements of the

R evolution Louis Pi erre M anuel passed away from thi s
, ,

l ife
. U nlike Bailly however h e was anything b u t
, ,
9 0 M E AI OI RS OF TH E S A N S OZVS .

C H APTER XXXV .

CH A RLE S H E N RI S A M ?01V S D I A R
’
Y .

B r um a i r e 26 —
Executed to day C itizen D e C ussy, of
-
.
,

C aen who had taken part in the conspiracy of the

,

federalist d eputies and with him Gilbert d e V oisin l ate

, ,

p resident of the ex parliament who -

having emigrated , , ,

w a s i mprudent enough to return to Paris D uring the .

t oilet some b ody s aid aloud that if Cussy who was an ,

a dept in coining gold an d silver mone y s was a b out to ,

b e guillotined it was a certain sign that th e Republic

,

w anted no other money than paper After these two .

c ame H ouch ard formerly general of the Army of th e

,

N orth who li k e an old soldier d id not trem b le

, , , .

B r um a i r e 2 7 —F orgers still give us plenty of work

. .

To d ay I led two of them to th e Place de la R evo lu t i o n

-
.

F orgery is a misfortun e which endangers the lives of

many innocent persons F o r g e r s are s o clever that it is
.

d i ffi cult to distinguish b a d from good paper and m any ,

people who have been deceived cannot resist the t e m pt a

t ion of inflicting upon others the l oss they have s us

t a i ne d This evening I m et in the Rue d e l a Ti x e r a n

.

d erie a gang of women who w ere going to the Commun e

 CH A RLE S H E N RI ’
S A A S ON S ’
DI AR Y 9 1

z
— they wore the red cap a large crowd followe d them ,

g iving cheers which were m uch like groans I followed .

t h e e x amp l e and walked behind the w omen for I

, ,

wanted to kn ow w hat they i n tended to complain o f .

Ha v ing m e t C it izen N i colas Leli evre h e took m e i nto ,

t h e H otel d e V ille Th e wom en also entered but neither

- -
.
,

thei r costum e nor thei r petition were to the taste o f

C itiz en Chaumette wh o spoke to them ve ry s e nsibly
, ,

a n d sent them back to their homes .

B r u m a i e 28
r —This morning we went to th e Con
.

c ie r g e r i e. As I was waiting in the prison parlour two ,

c itizens , w ho were about to b e interrogated passed ,

t hrough the room ; on e of these who I was told was ,

C itizen B o i s g uy o n a soldier approach ed m e and with

, , ,

g
; reat d emonstrations of politeness h e said to m e ,

I s it to the citi zen e x ecutioner I have the honou r of

s peaking ? I s not your sca ffold like a ball room c itize n -

, ,

a n d does not the knife like the violins begin operations , ,

i n s u c lf a way as not to leave time fo r two words ?

I gave an a ffirmative answer .

Then turni n g towards his companion he said to him

5 You s e e D upr e that I was right and that you acted
“

, , ,

y our part very badly We m ust a s k F ouquier Tinvill e -

to allow the citizen executioner to com e and superintend

r
our rehearsals .
’

The gendarmes led th em away b u t I heard them ,

l aughing . The speaker alluded to a p arody of capi t al

p unishment which h ad becom e the chief am usement of
t h e prisoners .
9 2 M EMOI RS OF TH E S A NS ON S .

Executed on this day a late deputy of the Con

s t i t u a n t e N icolas R emi Lesueur of Saint M enehould
, , ,

1
and an old soldier who had recruited for the enemy .

B r u m a i r e 29 — Two convicts D istar d e B e lle c o ur

.
, ,

o ffi c e r and C harles D uparc l ate employ e at th e Tuileries

, ,
’
.

N oth ing p arti cularly interesting .

The S ection d e l U n i t é to day Bru maire 3 0 to ok ’ ’

-

, ,

away the remnants of the superstition of th e A bb ey of St .

Germain d es Prés to the C onvention I saw the p r o c e s .

sion At th e head of it m arched a party of soldiers

.
,

then came men wearing sacer dotal vestments over thei r

clothes and between two files were wom en and girl s
,
.

d ressed i n white with tricolou r sashes ; lastly I s a w ,

h and barrows wherein were placed vases pyxes c andle

-

, ,

sticks gold and silver plates and a b o x of relics studde d

, , ,
.

with precious stones Th e proc ession was followed by

.

a band which played the tune of M a lb r o u k ( s i c) ’

.

Thi s booty it i s said is worth two millions

, ,
.

The Tribunal has given us a holiday such occasion s

a r e rare .

Fr im a z rg 1 W e went to take away poor C itizen

’

-
.

B o i s g uy o n who the other d ay had made fun of t h e

,

guillotin e When he was brought to me h e said

.

‘
You are i n earnest to day you will b e astonishe d -
.

’
to s e e how well I can play my part .

With hi m were Gire y D upr e B r i s s o t s accomplice ; -

,
’

he had had his hai r cut before being tried and had ,

a ppeared before the Tri b unal in proper toilet for t h e

F r a nc o i s P ri x ,
a li a s Sa i n t -
P ri x .
94 M E z l/ OI RS OF TH E SA N S ON S .

seventy t wo years old and the othe r seventy Bot h :

-

, .

died w ith courage .

' '

F r z m a z r e 6 — Yesterday the Tribunal tried th e i n

,

di vi du a ls accused of ha v ing given false evidence two o f

th e accused w ere acquitted ; the third C a r t e r a u D e s o r ,

m eau x w as condemned to death and executed to day

,
-
.

—B read is scarce in town on e must wait

’

Fmmaz
’

r g
7 ;
'

’
for hours before the bakers shops b efore on e c a n g e t ’

some The wom en crowd b efore the shops in t h e

.
.
.

evening and sometimes wait all night This sigh t

, .

should b e very distressing but our compatriots tur n ,

everything into fun This evening o v er five hundred. ,

p ersons were waiting before the baker in our street ;

although the weather was very chilly the y were singi ng ,

and laughing U nfortunately this gaiety i s frequentl y

.

attended with d isorder and m isconduct an d there are ,

husbands who complain To da y th e Tribunal sen t

.
-

t o d eath J ac ques E tienne M archand lieutenant o f

“

gendarmes ; General N icolas Pollier L a m a r li er e ; an d -

E tienne Al e x is J acques A ni s s o n formerly di rector of th e ,

n ational press .

Fr z m a z rg 9 —F ive h eads fell to day two were thos e

’ ’

of celebrated m en Barnave and D uport du Tertre wh o

, , ,

h ad been minister of j ustice I t i s s aid that Citizen .

D anton tried to save Barnave b ut with th e new law t h e ,

.

d enunciation of a child i s enough to forfeit a m an s life ’

a n d no earthly power could save him Yesterday I s a w .

Citizen F ouquier as he was entering court The e x e c u .

tion was appointed for to day b ut the sitting ended late -

, ,

a n d t h e w eather was so bad that it had to be put o ff t o s

 CH A RL ES H EN RI S A N S ON S D I A ’
RY .
»
95

the
’
next da y At eleven o clock Barn ave D uport
.
, , ,

Citizen B enoi t Grand el— sente n ced for writing Vi va [e

-
r

R io —
on an assignat Citizen V e r vi t c h and his s i s t e r w e r e ,

b rought in to b e cropped B arnave and D u Tertre wer e

.

very brave and quiet Th e form er cam e up to me h el d

.
,

out his h ands and said

,

B ind these hands which w ere the first to sign th e

,

d eclaration of th e rights of man !

When h e was ready and whi l e C itiz en ess V e r vi t c h
, ,

who Wa s in tears was being bound he went up t o

, ,

D uport and spoke to hi m with animatio n Two c arts . .

had been provid ed the late d eputi es entered on e with ,

m e ; the three other convicts occupied th e other c art ,

with H enri l
O n the way Barnave and D u Tertre wen t
. .

o n conversing they spok e of the Republi c and pre ,

tended that i t s fo rthcoming ruin would kill liberty ‘

alto g ether Many cries rose around the carts one m a n

.

said to Bar nave i n a ton e of mockery

,

S o young s o eloquent s o brave w hat a pity

, ,

And Barn ave answered very proudly : You are right ,

my friend
Citizeness V e rvi t c h was executed fi rst ; s h e w a s ~

carried to th e platform half d ead with fear H er brother .

:

followed her t h e n c a m e B enoit Grand el D uport D u

,
‘

, ,

Tertre and Barnave Th e latter looked at th e guillotin e

,
.

and exclaimed
And this i s my reward for the good I have done t o
m y country

Th e na rra t o r s
’
son .
9 6 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

F r im a ir e — I:b is
morning I had to take two cart
10.
’

d rivers from the Conciergerie to the Place d e la R évolu

tion . I had not as yesterday to deal with great
, ,

citizens but the quantity made up for quality for there

, ,

—
w ere five in one cart and four in th e other nine in all .

I n this nu mber I s a w a mother and a s o n We had to .

u s e violenc e to separate them When th e m o t h e r s a w .

‘

her child s hair falling her shrieks b ecam e so he artrend

’

i ng that we could hardly bear to hear them Sh e spoke .

to us saying that the Republic should b e content with

,

h e r head and that the young m an should be repri eved

, .

I t was too much for me H enri took charge of the first .

c art and I
,
went i n the other cart but on th e way , ,

d espite the noise I could hear th e w oman groaning

,

a nd weeping The convicts who w ere in my cart turned

.

a way not to see her

,
The women in the crowd wept
.
,

a nd many loudly expressed thei r pity O n th e Pl ace .

,

a nd although s h e was very faint s h e burst out again , .

The s o n kept on saying that he w as gl ad to d ie wit h his

m other . She suffered first and on the platform s h e to ld ,

m e I am sure he is t o be reprieved .
’

I think sh e had an idea that her s o n had be en

brought with her m erely to frighten her but that he was ,

n o t to be exec uted I thought it w as of no use to con

.

t r a di c t h er .

Frimair 11 e —Executed J ean V i nc e no t innkeeper ;

.
,

Pierre N icolas Aub ry schoolmaster and S ebastian ,

M a u du i t wine merchant
,
.

The prettiest woman i n Paris came forward to act as

o u r ne w d ivinity Reason I read i n a paper yester
— .
,
9 8 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

i n th e o ffices of th e Committee of Public S afety Thi s .

.

citizen had caused to be constructed in his room a wal l

w hich s o entire ly concealed the apartment in which th e
t wo ; br o t h e r s w ere concealed that it was n ext to i m ,

possible to fi nd the m But h e w a s fooli sh enough t o

'
“
‘

em plo y a n upholste rer who w as working in th e o ffi ces

'

of t h e Committ ee When he h eard B i lla u d A mar and

.
.
, ,

V o u la n d who spoke of nothi ng but d eath and m assacre ;

‘

th e upholsterer became frightened he thought h i s l ife .

was i n j eopardy and h e revealed th e secret to Amar , ,

who im m ediately directed t h e two brothers to b e

a rrested H alf a n hour after the gendarmes returne d
.
- -

wi t h Ra b a u t S aint E tienne and Tirasse R a b a u t was .

.

hand ed over to m e without more ado H e die d w ith . .

the greatest pluck .

F r i i i z a i r e I 7 — M ad ame D ubarry was sentenced to .

-

d eath last night and executed this morning We,

.
:

a rrived at the hall of j ustice punctually at nine b u t w e ,

’

had to wait as the convict w a s with Citizen D e ni z o t

.

, ,

j udge and C iti zen Royer who were taking do w n h e r

, ,

c onfession At ten o cloc k C itizens V a n de nyv e r W

. ho
’

,
.

w ere th ree in nu mber — the father and the two sons — all .

'

accomplic es of M adam e D ubarry and Citizen B o n n a rdo t ,

and J oseph B r u ni o t forgers w ere brought in While , ,

.
!

the a bo ve named were being arranged M a da m e f .

‘

D ub arry cam e i n ; her legs coul d hardl y carry her .

I t was some twenty years since I h ad s ee n he r a nd I ,

By ‘
a rr ang d e
’
th e e x e c ut i o n e r m e a ns t h a t h is vi c t i m s we re b ein g:
m a d r dy f t h
e ea or e s c a ffo ld . Th e e x pr es s io n is t o o r
c h a a c t e ri s t i c no t to »

be t r n l a t d l i t ra lly
a s e e .
—N . ED .
100 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

good citizen s do not let them kill me ! , N o one moved ’

,

but men and w omen hung thei r heads and silence pre ,

vailed at l ast ; I n ever s a w the peopl e in a more me rci

’
ful humour J acot s grimaces and taunts were of no avail
. .

D ubarry was s o faint that my s o n had to support her .

S he often spok e to m e begging for m ercy I was more , .

moved than any one for this u nfortunate woman r e ,

m ind ed m e of my young days of th e tim e when I knew ,

h er of her w orthy father

, . When s h e s a w th e
guillotine she becam e quite excited and struggled with ,

my assistants and tri ed to bite them Sh e was very .

strong and three minutes elapsed b efore they could

,

c arry her up to the platform Sh e was frightful to look .

a t and to th e very last second s h e struggl ed

,
The others .

were executed after her .

F i i m a i r e 18
f
To d ay we guillotined J ean Baptiste
.
- - -

N 0 61 deputy of Les V osges outlawed O n the way h e

, , .

spoke of M adam e D ubarry and asked m e if the knife ,

h ad been well cleaned b ecause it w o u ld be disgraceful ,

that a republican s b lood should mingl e with that of a ’

prostitute A forger of assignats was executed with

.

him . To d av C lavi ere ex minister stabbed himself in

-

,
-

h is cell .

F r i m a i r e 20 — Executed s i x publi c purveyors for

.

fraud .

Fr im z z i r e 2 1 — I t is no easy matter to get shoes now

.

a d ays
-
The Convention has d ecided that shoemakers
.

shall henceforth work for the defenders of the country

o nly Two convicts to day
.
-
.

F r i m a i r e 22 — Citizen Chaumette pu rsues women of

.
 CH A RL E S H ENRI S A JVS ON S ’
DI A R Y . 10 1

loose life with energy H e ought to begin by a llaying

.

public m isery which leads them into the life they lead
, .

To day w e had to deal with two of these women nam ed

-

C laire S evi n and Catheri ne Loriot .

F r i m a i r 23
e — Executed one of the great lords of th e
.

d efunct Monarchy th e c i a e wz m D uc da Ch atel et

, He -
’ ‘
.

did m ore harm to th e Monarchy than its most inveterate

e nemi es Th e King gave hi m the com mand of th e
.

F rench Guards i n lieu of Biron ; D u Ch atelet treated

,

them s o severely that h e facilitate d the w o rk of those

who were trying to d isaffect th e s oldiers H e was .

carri ed to th e prison parlou r for in the night h e had ,

attempted to d estroy himself : having neither knife nor

dagger h e tri ed to kill himself with a sharp piece of
,

glass b u t th e glass broke a nd only m ad e a slight

, ,

wound then thinking that he could die by losing all his

,

blood h e cut his b reast several tim es with the piece

,

which still remained i n his possession but h e only s u c ,

c e e de d i n w eakening hi mself s o that his legs could

not carry him N evertheless his heart was firm
. I , .

proposed i n the c art to bind his wounds and thereby ,

prevent th e blood from flowing but h e answered ,

N ever m ind it s only saving you work ’

H e recovered som e strength i n the Place d e la R evo

lut i o n and cried Vi ew 16 R o i I
,

Fr i m a i r e 25 Two m en F ran cois Xavier B r u ni a u

.
- -

an ex royalist magistrate ; and Pierre Charles J acques

-

P o u c h o n an em ig r é
’

.
,

F r i m a i r e 26 —The s e rvants of M ontmoren cy who

.
,

h a s emigrated were executed to da y

,
-
.
10 2 MEMOI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

Fr im a ir e 28 — , Executed to da y three priests an d -

two c i d e r/a n t s .

Fr ima ire C lub des J acobins continues its —The

31 .

purification I t h as excluded no b lemen and financiers ;

.

A nt o n n e lle and Dix A o fit t mem b ers of the j u ry ; Royer

l -

, ,

substitute of the prosecutor ; Barr ere D u b ois Cranc e ,

-

2
M ontant and many others m ust be i n a p r e di c a m e nt A
, .

J aco b in cer t ificate is now more val uable than all possi bl e
documents To da y as I was passing before Chrétien s
.
-
‘

,
’

c a fé I was hailed by Citizen Geo ffroy a j ournalist

,
I , .

think he must have b een very drunk for he treated m e ,

with familiarity and asked m e to drink with him , .

Ni vé s e 1 — ‘
I have begun th e month b y taking three
.

convi cts to the guillotine— a priest and two women .

These were J ulien d H e r vi lle priest and J esuit ; Mari e ’

Anne Poulain a nun ; and M argu erite Bernard Ann e , ,

’
Poulain s servant They lived together in a house of .

the F aubourg d Or lé a ns The priest said mass in one ’

.

of the rooms and several old women c am e every d ay to,

h ear it The loc al c ommittee had suspicions it sent a

.

woman to Citizeness Poulain who told the latter tha t; ,

s h e knew a priest was concealed i n the house and asked ,

that h e should call on her hus b and who was dying .

Di x A o fi t ,
-

j r ar o f t h e T
u ori b u n a l w a s i n re li t
y t h e M r q u i,L r oy ,
a , a s e

de M o n t fl a b e r t . A s h i t i t l e a nd na m e w e r e b n x i u t r p bl i c n e r
s o o o s o e u a a s,

h e ch a n ge d i t i nt o t h e d t e o f a gr e t r e p ubl i c n vi t o ry w h i c h h e t o o k a
a a a c ,
s

a na m e .

2
A ll t h es e
’
b l ng d t t h e a r i t o c r cy
r e vo lu t i o m z a i r er m r
o e or l ess e o e o s a .

B rr er e w s n o t o f n o bl e d e c e n t b ut h d m rr i d t h M r q ui s e d V i e u c
a a s ,
a a e e a e z a ,

wh e n m
os h a dd d t h i s t o d i s t i ngui s h h i m el f fr m t h e m e m b e rs f
e e a e o s o o

h i s fa m i ly b ea ri ng h i s n a m e .
10 4 MEMOI RS OF I
TH E SA NS ON S .

tians With the exception of Bourg who encourage d

.
,

his companions all were frightened It is curious that

, .

those whose life is the most tedious and plodding should

regret it m ore than others w ho h ave far more reason for '

c aring for it .

N i w s e 6 —Executed a dishonest baker N i cola s

’
.
,

Gornot of the R u e S t J acques All the c i t i z e ns o f his

, . .

section were around the scaffold and insulted him . .

With him Prevost Lacroi x captain i n th e navy a n d

, , ,

J ean M arie Allard curate of Bagneux , .

‘
N i vo s e 9 — D i e t r i c h t formerly mayor of Strasburg
.
, ,

was guillotined to day While I was binding hi m h e-

.

said
You have already guillotined man y good republi
‘

cans but none that w ere more d evoted to th e country

,

’
than I am .

H e was cal m and very pluc ky H e said more tha n .

once that his dying wish w as that Alsace should never b e

s eparated from F rance H e cried Vi ve la R epu bli q ue I .
’

on th e scaffold .

‘
N i w s e 10 — Last month at th e bidding of th e pro
.
,

s ecutor of the C ommune I had been ordered t o remove ,

the blood which oozed th rough the board s of the g ui llo

tin e A hol e had been mad e which had been covere d
.

with a trellis work But th e blood d ried too rapidly a nd

-
.

could not be absorbed by th e earth an d an u nbearabl e ,

smell came from the pi t Last night I di rected my .

’

a ssistants to dig deeper I t is sai d that Chabot m ember

.
,

o f the Convention who w as lately arrested poisoned

, ,

h i msel f but that his sufferings were s o great that h e

,
 DI A R Y 10 5;

d for help , a nd

e ies
di ed to
i t e n c e d yester

c e d e la R evo
.

.
r oom and w a s .

seeing m e h e ,

’
s t e rs !
"

n ich m ade h im

ay ; I am at

l
l tranquillity ,

i arrive i n the ;

v year to h i s

11 the w ay a

M AR I EA N T O I N ETT E .

;u lt e d S i nc e
r r
.

F
( om t h e po r t a it by Mm e L e B r un )
.
.

lde r w ith t h e
c onvi cts . I f all c ri ed and struggled as s h e did t h e ,

guillo t ine c ould not last .

N i w s e 12 ( I s t of J anuary in th e ol d style) m m
‘ ”

N i w s e 1 3 — Executed Charles M ari e Barré one of thos e

‘
.
,

w ho conspired against the unity of t h e R epublic Pierr e

’

Th e 1l t h o f N i vos e wa s t h e la st da y of t h e ye a r of th e o ld c a l enda ry.

 Wh en M
la r it y w a s i
s h e w o ul d i
tians With
. e r a o f vic e

XV s r e i g n
’

his c o m pa n i o
.
,

M a da m
those w h o s e l l o ve rs sa
to her as th
regret it more PI N E TT E .

ri e s b o we d
car i ng for I t ’
ish i s t Ko c h a r s ko , w h o , a c c o r di n
a rt
g
p r i nc e s s . Sh e de s
set t o w atch t h e u e e n i n t h e Co n

N i ?) 8 6 _
ct i o n o f P r i tc e d re m o e r
'

g a t B r us . I s h a n e ve f o g e ll r r
ld
.

c e i ve d a ll t h a t c o u

Gornot of the,
'

l
e s s t h a n t h e k i n dl i n

nt -
t h a t yo u h is wit h o u t do
‘

a ll t
t h o ug h o v e r w h e m e l d
w ere f
.

S GCt Il Wh en we w
o yo u c a r pr
i c e , a nd o f h i s t o o i ng u s .

With h i m P I Gn ‘ r o f no t h i n
g b u t o f a c e s a nd r r
g e a t t h a t i t wa s t h
Ve r
y m i e co m an
y xd
T! , p O n g e t t i ng ac we b k
r
.

an h o u I
J ean M arie A l
'

a nn o t
"
.

A 10 t h r r wa
N I T/0 96 9 s
o m
. .

the 6 m m
was guillotin e d h er { m .
‘

i nd h e n r
n
s ald
O

t h s h e us e d .

You h a ve\ 1C “
U S[ r l i n
'

1 :

Th e e ne

cans but ,
n o nct o t ! a i l m 11m ‘
t
m

nc e a t W a i lc
°

’ a r i s
than I am I fe r o n t h
.

r a
. .

p t r. e: a o

H e w as c a l fo e h Sh a n no r er e .

l f i ly M
'

n l
“
f
a l a m e nt h wh o
j 32
. ‘ i .

once that 1115 c r n m .

e
. wh e l m e d vx
'
,

1 he se; er t h a t i t wa s
separated fro m “ f v ; t
Th e i n e o n '
ar !m
e
? o
~

s s
'
t
r c

o n the scaffol d . e fus a l s t ue to me

o
.

la h l o u. n et pp r o a c h i m; I t
b r o ke
N i t/05 8 I O’
g u i lt le s s h a t ! m ,
r
A s B u ke i t t
he
h atl b C c ul a t o r s
.

e e n m a n u fa c t u r e d m y
s ecutor O f t h e a a l 0 110
I

b r f
'

d1e d e fo e t wa s fi n i s h e d,
.
'

the blood W h r l 1( u t a n d s o i t w a s
, e ft i n t h e

tin e A hol e had been mad e which had been covere d

.

with a trellis work B ut th e blood d ried too rapidly a nd

-

could not be absorbed by the earth and an u nbearabl e ,

smell came from the pi t Last night I di rected m y .

'

assistants to dig deeper I t i s sai d that Chabot member .

,

of the Convention who w as lately arrested poisoned , ,

hi msel f but that his su fferings were s o great that h e

,
 1 06 M E AI OI R S OF TH E SA NS ON S .

F ran cois d e F oller Charles Louis d e F averolle noble

, ,

m an ; Agath e J olivet a gentlewo m an and Pierre ,

J oachi m V a n C le m p u t priest , .

N i w s e 14
‘
— Three women and two men all belong
.
,

i ng to the no b ility were executed to d ay ,

-
.

N i t ri t e 1 5 —This morning I gave thirty sols for a

.

c opy of the V ieux Cordelier C amille D e s m o uli ns s

‘
,
’ ’

p aper I
. t is th e fifth number The num b er of cop i es .

i ssued was not equal to th e d emand H ebert has found .

a master and everybody wants to read th e trem endous

1
d ru b bing Camille D esmoulins gives him S ince s o good .

a patriot as D esmoulins has d ared to speak of clemency ,

e very fac e looks h appier It is pretty certain that D an .

’
‘

ton C amil le s fri end is behind him and that between

, , ,

them they will put down those who wish th e R epublic

t o be baptised on the guillotine every m orning .

M eanwhile executions continue To day we g u i llo .

-

t ined the s o n of C u s t i ne i t had been said yesterday

“

that he woul d be acquitted and his conviction has taken ,

everybod y by surprise After him C itizen L a de vi z e .

, ,

form erly knight of S t Louis w as put to death .

, .

N i w s e 16
‘
— To day we executed General Luckner
.
-

H e was seventy two years old an d quite broken by age ;

-

b u t h e was brave to th e last and died bravely , .

N i t /o s e I 7 — To day I led to th e guillotine three i n

‘
-
.

di vi du a ls of the sam e nam e and yet they were not r e ,

l ated to each other W ere they brought together by a .

m ere chance or was it a j oke of one of the sec retaries

,

I n th e n umb e rs ll de d t b o ve
a u o a ,
D e s m o ul i ns a t t a ck e d H e b e rt w i t h
'

e x t r o rd i na r y p o w e r a nd w i t — N
a ED . .
 CH A RL E S H E NR I S A N S ON ’
S DI A R Y . 10 7

o f the prosecution some of whom are young enough t o ,

l augh a t what is not funny at all ? Their names were

C amille Sapi S u s c h i Bologne formerly a marquis and , ,

a n o fficer in the army ; J ean Baptiste Bologne non -

com missioned Offi cer in th e F rench Guard s and N icolas

V incent Bologne formerly vicar of Bic etre ,
The c i .

d e r/a n t m arquis was seventy eight years of age With -

.

them M ari e Louise d e Camp wife of Gilbert G r a s s i n

“

, , ,

g entlem an .

— Executed J ean M a ndr i llo n late func

’
N m i r e 19 .
,

t i o n a r y of the executive power convicted of treason i n , ,

c omplicity with Brunswick and D u m o u r i e z ; Cl aud e

A ugustin I mbert member of the Convention guilty of , ,

h avi ng fabricated spurious passports ; and Catherin e

B e t h r i ng e r con v icted of treason
, .

N it /fir e 20 — M ari e Aimée Leroy w ife of J oseph ,

.

F a u c h e r and J oseph Girouar d printer

‘

.
, ,

N i vo s e 2 3
‘
— Ad ri en Lam o u r e t t e c o n s t i t ut i o n a l bisho p
. ,

of L yons was put to death to day H e showed th at he

,
-
.

d id not fear d eath H e was much i nsulted on the way

.

h e blessed th e people without showing any bitterness o r

r esentment People cried to him in alluding to his
.
,

s peech of J uly 17 9 2

‘
E mbrace C h a r lo t Lamourette ; com e embrac e
l
, ,

C harlot
Lamou rette turned to m e and said ,

‘
Yes I e mbrace i n thee humani ty ; however m ad
,

a nd furious it m ay b e i t i s always h umanity ,

.

C h rl t f C h rl
a o Th i s
,
’
nt r
or t i n f C h rl
a H nr i S ns n
es . co ac o o a es e a o
’
s

C h ri t i n n m
s a i t i ll g n r ll y
a e ppl i d t t h x u t i n r i n F r n
s s e e a a e o e e ec o e a ce .

w —N . ED .
10 8 MEMOI R S OF TH E S A NS ONS .

And i n effect he did embrace me j ust as he wa s

, , ,

about to be strapped to the weigh plank After h i m -

.

J ean J os eph D urand ex president of the revolutionary,

-

committee of M ontpellier was put to d eath , .

Ni m —‘
J ean Pi erre Th i ll d tradesman
r e 2 7 . e a r ,

Charles H ollier vicar of the constitutional church o f

,

Bordeaux ; and Pierre D u c o u r m a n lawyer w ere executed , ,

this morning I n the cart the three convicts sang a

.

song they had composed in prison Their singing ex .

cited the anger of th e p eopl e who thre w mu d i n thei r ,

faces F i r m n e s s does not mollify all citi zens but rathe r

.
,

irritates them as red irritates bulls Some convict s

, .

return th e taunts and then it is wors e I have already

, .

witnessed really disgraceful scenes Tirasse spoke o f .

the m atter to R enaudin asking that F ouquier shoul d ,

give ord ers to the gend armes and that J acot my assis , ,

tant should b e dismissed F ouquier answered that h e

, .

had no time to waste over such futilities R enaudi n

‘

h as promised to speak of th e m atter to Robespi erre .

N i t /dy e 29 This day has seen the condemnation a nd

.
-

execution of the n eph ew of a man wh o had m uch r easo n

to complain of the old r eg i m e— J ean V issec B aron de ,

L a t u de .

P lu vi é s e 2 .
— A year since to d ay we executed th e-

K ing T his morning my wife was s o pale and tire d

.
’

wh en s h e awoke that I guessed that h er sleep had b een

t roubled She knelt down to pray and I did the sam e
.
, .

I had to lead four to th e sca ffold t o d ay— J ea n -

Thibault labourer ; Marc E tienne Q u a t r e m er e m erchant ;

, ,

J ean Mari e d e l Ec lu s e lieutenant i n the navy

’

; a n d
,
:
 1 10 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

our country house is The thre e days I passed ther e

.

leave me no d esire to return to the plac e Th e wor d .

’
fraternity is inscribed on the m airie but it is n o t
’

‘ ‘

i nscribed on the hearts o f the i nh ab itants Whil e t h e .

“

poorest i n Paris s acrifice whatever they possess whil e ,

the most relentless sometimes behave w ith real gene

r o s it the inha b itants of the country only think of
“

, y
enri ching themsel v es The sale of th e national domains
.
,

far from satisfying them has only excited thei r cupidity

, .

The law awards death to monopolisers Were th e l aw .

carried out a guillotine should b e erected i n every

,

village ; for almost every peasant conceals his corn fo r ,

‘

fear of b eing compelled to take it to market and receiv e ,

assignats in paym ent There are it is tru e revolutionary

.
, ,

committees i n al most every village ; b u t the p easants

'

understand their own interests an d they n ever de nounce

,
.

each other . They form a secret association w hich ,

d efies the decrees of the C onvention and which is t h e ,

real cause of famin e The p atrioti c vigilance of t h e

.

sai d committees is only exercised at the expense o f

those who are rich enough to b e envied Thus several .

rich inhabitants of Coulommiers two of whom I know , ,

were brought to Paris j udged and executed to d ay

,
-

, .

u nder pretext of a conspirac y which n ever existed .

P lz w i é s e 16
.
-
The j urors of the Revolution ary Tri
b unal are not very scrupulous as t o whom they co ndem n ,

and on thei r sid e the prisoners care little for li fe N eve r .

were people more regardless of existence F orm erly .

,

w hen I used to enter a prison my appearance frightene d

,

the boldest : now among th e prisoners I m eet i n t h e

 CH A RLE S H E N R Y S A N S ON S D I A R Y ’
. 1 11

passa ges and parlour of the prison not one seems t o ,

think that to morrow perhaps I m ay c all for him Ther e

-

, , .

are som e who s mile wh en I app ear These smiles p ro .

duc e a singular effect upon m e E x peri ence has mad e.

m e callous and I can b ear the horror with which we

,

executioners are regard ed ; b u t to get acc ustomed t o

’
p eople who al most s a y Thank you when they are led
t o the guillotine is more d ifficult My hand could n o t
,
.

h ave remained fi rm if it had s till to carr y out such

sentences as th e former r eg i m e were wont to inflict .

J udges j urors prisoners seem a s i f they w ere taken wit h

, ,

a kind of deliri u m of death When shall all thi s end

.

A prisoner asked m e the other day : What could I d o

i n ord er to be guillotined im mediately ? Those w h o ’
,

m anifest such impatience perhaps are not th e pluckiest .

There are others who remain calm and cool as if the y ,

:

had yet a hundred years to live S uch was M o nt jo u r .

dain c omm ander of th e S t Lazare b attalion D uring '

.
, .

s ix weeks of i ncarceration i n the C onciergerie he did :

not betray the slightest sign of fear or sadness When .

»

h e was i nform ed th a t his ti m e was com e h e composed a ,

.

song H e was taken to th e scaffold with one Co u r

.
m

tonnet and b oth kept on j oking and laughing up to t h e

,

l ast minute .
 1
1 12 M E MOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

C HAPTER X XX V I .

CH A RLE S H E N R Y SA N S ON S.
’
D I A R Y— Q o nt i n u m
’
.

‘
P lz w z o s e To day we exec uted som e lad ies o f
'

17 .
-

q uality They sho

. w ed al most as m uch t ranquillity as
C itizen M o n t jo u r da i n Their nam es were : Mari e .

G ab riell e L e c h a p t widow of the M arquis d e R a s t i g na c

, ,

c onvi cted of having sent money to h er s o n who had ,

e migrated the c i d er/a nt M archion ess de M a r b oe u f con ,

vi c t e d of having a c c a p a r a t e d provisions ; and with h er

‘

J ean J oseph Payen farm er of Mad am e d e M a r

, b oe u f
a n d two forgers of assignats N icolas Arm and and J ean ,

Renaud O n th e way M ad am e d e M a r b oe u f exhorted

.

P ayen to die courageously She said to h i m .

After all my poor fellow it is j ust the same whethe r

, ,

’
w e die to day or twenty years later -
.

I f it is j ust the same answered Payen who was not

‘

,
’
,

a t all resigned to his fate I would rather die i n twenty ,

y ears .

P l w i — This‘
d ay Elisabeth Pauline Gand
z o s e 1 9 .
, ,

w ife of C ount d e L a u r a g u a i s Louis Pi erre Madam e d e

L a u r a g u a i s s steward ; Pi erre J oseph Petit constitutional
’

c urat e of M enil guilty of corresponding with the enemy

,
1 14 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

j ustic e Ro ns i n is to be th e head o f the govern ment ;

.

und er him i s to be a military tribunal c omposed of a ,

high j udge a prosecutor and four j udges A council

, , .
,

c alle d the Conseil Antiqu e is to take the place of t h e ,

C o nvention I n eed hardly s a y that very few peopl e

.

believe in this absurdity To day executed F ran coi s .

-

G e r b a ut m erchant and a deserter n amed G o s s e no t

, , .

Vef z z os e 6 —
J ean Jacques Do r t o m a n form erly general
’
.
, .

i n the Army of Italy ; Thomas de M a us s i o n a noble ,

m an ; J oseph Canel a hairdresser ; and Barbe S mith a , ,

woman were executed to d ay

,
-
.

Vent o s e 8 — ‘
Wood whi ch w as d ear enough las t
.
,

month is u napproachable now The cold is intense

, . .

A month ago planks of the guillotine were stolen thi s

morning on our way to the C onci ergeri e we found a
, , .

man stretched out on the pavement h e wanted to fetch

some water from the river had fallen on th e quay and , ,

had not th e strength to get up H e told us that h e had .

not eaten for two days We had three cart loads o f .

-

convicts to d ay fifteen i n all — men w om en nob lemen

-

, , , ,

priests and merchants

,
.

’
‘

t ds e 10 R obespierre is ill and t h e C o r de li e r s

.
-

have it all their own way Yesterday they d eclared .

that C itizens Cam ille Desmoulins a n d F abre d Eg la nt i ne ’

should be i mpeach ed : they also make the best of t h e

sufferings of the people which are great ; they ac cus e ,

the Convention and speak of doing again what was don e

on J une 2 W hat shall we b ecom e if they have the
.

b est of it ? Since the guillotine i s at th e order of t h e

 CH A RL ES H ENRI SA NS ON S ’
DI A R Y . 1 15

da y , its inventors are alw ays thinking of modifying it .

O ver t w enty suggestions to th at e ffect have bee n

presented to th e revolutionary com mittee but they w ere ,

s o absurd that only on e of these has b een reserved for

consideration Th e plan consists in a trap opening near

.

th e w eigh plank into whi ch th e b o dy falls a d evice which

-

, ,

prevents accum ulation on the gu illotine Citizen V o ula nd ;

,

of th e C onvention was present when th e e x perime nt was

,

m ad e I t did not succeed th e two bags of sand which

.
,

were used for the purpose h aving failed to enter th e

trap Citizen V o u la nd asked for my opinion I sai d
. .

that th e proposed alteration was full of danger ; that i f

the trap did not close better than it opened the e x e c u ,

t i o ne r s or the convi cts might fall through it with th e

Corpse s H e expressed his concurrence in thi s view

,
,

an d the proposed alteration was sh elve d .

W e guillotined five persons to day four m en and

— -

o n e w oman .

‘
Vent o s e 1 3 The R evoluti onary Tribunal s e ttles old
.
-

accounts w i th country citizens Two carts were sent t o .

the guillotine to day All the convicts w ere peasants

-
. .

A ve r y unfortunate accident happened O nly one con .

vict remained all his companions h aving been exec uted

,

before hi m ; as he was being strapped down my s o n ,

H enri wh o was attending to the baskets called me and

, ,

I went to him Larivi ere one of the assistants had for

.
, ,

gotten to r e raise the knife s o that when the weigh

-

plank w as lowered with the convi ct Laroqu e strapped

u pon i t h i s face struck the edge of the knife which was
, ,

12
 ME1”0[ RS OF TH E
’ '

6
11 SA NSONS .

b loody . H e uttered a terrible shriek I ran up lifted .

,

the weigh plank and hastened to raise the knife The

-

, .

convict trembled l ike a leaf The m o b hissed us and .

,

t hrew stori es at us I n the evening C itizen F ouquier

.

s everely reprimanded me I d eserved his b lame for I .

,

s hould have b een in my usu al plac e Citizen F ouquier .

saw I was very sorry and dismissed m e with more kind ,

ness than I expected Thirteen executions . .

Vent é s e 1 5 The Cordeliers proclaimed insurrection

.
-

in thei r sitting of yesterday I s e e no sy mptoms of .

emotion i n the streets ; gatherings are neither m ore

numerous nor more t urbulent than usual I f this goes .

o n the P ere D uch ene ( H eb ert ) may perhaps learn b y ex

,

i e what the sensations of the guillotine are O n

p e r e n c .

‘
t h e other hand th e people of the guillotine who are j ust
, ,

a s much the people of the Club des Cordeliers were i n ,

fl amed by the speeches they had heard N ever have .

convicts been m ore hooted than those of this morning

were C ries of Pitch th em into the river ! were h eard
.

for the first tim e The utmost consternation prevails .

throughout the prisons with th e exception of the C on ,

c i e rg e r i e for those who are prisoners have very littl e

,

hope whatever may occur The convicts of this morn

,
.

ing were a father and his two sons ; Guillaume Saint

S ouplet Anne M ichel and Anne Claude Saint Soupl et
, ,
-

aristocrats Three other convicts also suffered

. .

Ve nt os e
‘
Guillotined at three o clock in t h— ’

7 I . e ,

a fternoon C laud e Compart general inspector of th e

, ,

1
Th e r
na r a t o r m ea ns t h e us ua l a t t e nda nt s of e x e c ut i o ns .
1 18 MEM OI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

D eclaration of of M an should remain valid

'

t h e Ri g h t s

until the R epublic had exterminated h e r enemies .

They were listened to ; but no one stirred not eve n ,

Chaumette I t is said that Ro ns i n m ad e a scen e afte r

.

the s itting and tried to strike the pros ecutor of th e

,

Commune The fate of th e H é b e rt i s t s i s as good as

.

s ealed no w I t w as even rumoured this morning that

.

most of them had been arrested .

V nt e
e o s
‘
2 4
—R o n s i n V incent
. H ebert M o mo r o , , , ,

L a u m u r D u c r o q u e t and A nc a r d were arrested last

, ,

night The details of their conspiracy w ere frightful

. .

I t is said that they prop osed renewing the m a ssacres i n

S ep t ember .

V e n i o s e
‘
2 6 —W e h ad a terrible day s w ork to day
.
’
-
.

’
I n yesterd ay s sitting the Tribunal passed si x teen s e n ,

’
t e nc e s of death I was ready at two o clock yesterday ;
.

b ut Citizen F abri cius told m e that as i t w as raining fast , ,

i t w as more advisable to delay execution until th e next

morning This morning then I went to the Conciergeri e
.
, ,

w ith four carts All th e convicts w ere natives of the

.

'

d epartment of La N i evre who had taken part in an ,

insurrection The execution lasted thi rty two minut es

.
-
.

Ger m iz
i al I
trial of H ebert V.incent —Th e
and t h e , ,

other C ordeliers com menced this morning It i s said .

that it cannot but last several d ays This is a respite .

for m e at least Tw o m e n suffered to day O n returning

, .
-

from the Place de la Revo lut i o n Citizen F ouquier or dered ,

m e to remain i n permanency s o long as the trial of the

H é b e rt i s t s should last ; so I entere d the j ustice hall ,
 CH A RL ES H ENRI SA NS ON S DI A R Y
’
. 1 19

a nd heard what w as g oing on Twenty accused w ere

.

s eated i n a r o w H ebert w as very pale and could hardly

.
,

a ns w er when h e w as spoken to ; R o ns i n and M o m o r o

s eemed to defy t h e j udges The w ife of Q u é t i ne a u who

.
,

w a s executed th e other day is among the prisoners — no

,

o n e knows why R ivi ere told m e that during the first

.
,

d ays of their incarceration they quarrelled together

, It .

w as A na c h a r s i s C lo o t z w ho mad e them u nd erstand that

t hese d isputes were of no good When H ebert w as
.

brought into the prison those who had been arrested

,

b efore hi m jeered hi m but Ro ns i n d efended him and a ,

c ollision ensued between the latte r and a man named

C ollignon H ebert and his partisans no w turn their

.

backs upon their oth er companions Kock the banker .

, ,

i n w hos e house they used to feast w ill share their fate

, ,

H e said he would give a last dinner to his friends before

t heir death .

C ar m i na ! 3 — H enri took my plac e to day on th e

,
-

s caffold . I remained i n permanency i n the Tribunal ;

H ebert and V incent are much discouraged R o ns i n does .

n o t flinch and C lo o t z is sad but very cal m and dign ified

, .

H e has written a pa mphlet entitled The U niversal ,

‘

’
R epublic in which h e said that h e w as th e personal
,

e nemy of God H e also sai d that the world would j oin

.

F rance and adopt repu b lican institutio n s This pamphlet

,
'
.

h a s been used against hi m ; and R enaudin said to him

t hat it was only written to rend e r the coalition of crowned

h eads agai nst F rance plausible C lo o t z ans w ered

.

I cannot b e suspected of being a partisan of kings

i t w ould ind eed be extraordinary if a m a n who would
1 20 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

b e b urnt at R ome hanged i n England and quartere d

“

, ,

at V i enna w ere guillotined i n Paris

, .
’

C lo o t z I S a S i ncere m ad man who deserves a sho w e r

bath and nothing more And then the ways of t h e
, .

Tri b unal are s o singular that they excite interest o n ,

behalf of all those w ho appear before it whoever they ,

m ay be Thus I heard the President upbraiding Clo o t z

.

for being a born Prussian and for being rich th is is s o ,

u nj ust that i t v erges on stupidity The tri al will go on .

to morro w
-
.

C ar m i na ! 4 The execution took place to day Th e

.
- -
.

t rial was resumed at ten o clock this morning Presid en t ’

.

D umas mad e a terrible speech and the j urors retired t o ,

d eliberate .At about half past twelve they delivered -

thei r verdict N i neteen of the prisoners were se ntence d

.

to death one only Citizen L a b o u r r e a u medical student

, , ,

w as acquitted C itizeness J eanne Latreille w ife of t h e

.
,

l ate General Q u é t i ne a u declared s h e w as pregnant

, ,

and obtained a provisional reprieve The j udgmen t .

m ust have been w ritten beforehand for hardly half a n ,

-

hour after it was delivered criers were reading it aroun d

the Palace of J ustice Their execution was to be i mme
.

diate F ouquier said : Each s econd of their existence

.

’
becomes an out rage to the maj esty of the people I .

sent o ff som e m en to the Place de la R evo lu t i o n .

H enri hurried to the R ue F ran cois Miron where the cart s -

were ready H e returned w ith the sam e rapidity and a n

.
,
.

hou r and a half after the d eclaration of the verd ict th e

prisoners w ere brought for ward They were eighteen i n .

n umber — J acques R en é H ebert a man of letters a nd , ,

1 22 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NSONS .

t ake one of the carts back to my house H e hesitated .

,

a nd was about to speak ; but I looked i n the directio n

o f the gendarmes and h e reluctantly obeyed not ho w ,

e ver without making m e a gri mace w hich signified

,
Au ,

R o ns i n came forward first his mien was c al m

’
r ew i R .

a nd proud C lo o t z also was quite cool and i n no way

.
,

disturbed ; he continued his apostleship and preached ,

t o his companions asking them not to belie their princi

,

p les ,
assuring them that th e guillotine was th e ultim at e
e nd of thei r tribulation that t h e guillotine was the end
,

o f everything ; and begging them to give to the w orl d

the sight of a republi can d eath H i s voice was hardly .

a udi b le for the convicts continued to accuse each other

,
.

’
A s D escombes s lips w ere silently moving Clo o t z sup ,

posed that h e was praying and upbraided him for his ,

c owardice V i ncent was not s o bold as d uring the trial

. .

H ebert c ame in supported by two turnkeys ; he h a d

,

s carcely strength enough to raise his l egs H e was .

e legantly d ressed as was his wont with a w atch i n each

, ,

fob but his attire w as disordered ; his face w as as livid as

,

i f th e knife of t h e guillotine had already passed through

his neck he wept and d ro ps trickled down his forehead
,
.

S o much cowardic e was unpleasant to behold

. R o ns i n .

was highly i ndignant ; h e di d not look at his former

friend and said to M o m o r o : We staked our heads we
, ,

lost the game we must pay w ith courage and firmness

, .
’

The toilet began an d as I had s i x assistants it only

, ,

lasted a few minute s and th e signal for d eparture was

,

g iven There
. were s o many people outsid e that we
c ould hear the noise and murmur of the crowd We .
 CH A RLES H ENRI SA NS ON S ’
DI AR Y . 12J

e merged through th e cou rt of th e prison W hen the .

public sa w the eighteen convicts there was a tremendous

.
shout This ti m e every w indow was open and th ousand s
.

o f heads peered out What is rather curious is that the

.
,

rascals w ho usually escor t us and wh o used to be H ebert s ’

f riend s w ere the most violent against hi m to day The -

.

‘
P ere D uch ene w as particularly insulted ; but H ebert
’

h eeded not ; he was half dead w ith terror When w e .

p assed before D u p lay s house the crowd ’

cheered lustily , ,

a s if to thank R obespierre for ridd ing F rance of u n

p rincipled rascals like H ebert F ouquier ou t of com .

-
,

passion f o r Clo o t z h ad ord ered that h e shoul d b e

,

e xecuted first Clo o t z ho w ever refused he wished h e

.
, , ,

s aid to fortify himself i n his d isbelief i n second life and

, ,

u rge to th e last upon his companions to d o the same ;

a nd he added that the privilege given him w as on e w hich

o n e always had the right to decline Th ere was a dis .

p ute on the matter b ut the clerk told

,
me to let hi m h ave
his own w ay D esco mbes was guillotined first ; then
.

c am e M a z u e l Bourgeois Armand
,
Leclerc D ubuisson
, , , ,

D u c r o q u e t K ock A n c a r d P ereira D e s fi e ux L a u m u r
, , , , , ,

P r o ly V incent M o m o r o and R o ns i n who was extremely

, , , ,

c ou rageous When only Clo o t z an d H ebert rem ained

.
,

I told my assistants to take H ebert H e exclaimed i n .

a w eak voice : N ot yet ! Clo o t z h eard him and

’
,

r ushed forw ard c ryi ng : H urrah for t h e fraternity of

nations ! long live th e R epubli c of the w orld ! After ’

hi m H ebert was at length strapped down I believe h e

, .

f ainted away while this w as b eing done I m ade a sign .

t o Larivi ere w ho w as holding the rop e ; but either h e

,
124
. MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS
.

d id not s e e m e or h e wished to i n dulge the sang uinary

rage of the mob against th e P ere D uch ene for he did ,
’

n o t obey. I rushed for w ard took the rope out of h i s

,
.

hand and pulled it mysel f Enthusiastic cries of

, .

la R epu bli gue ! were ut t ered when H ebert s head d is

’ ’ ’

appeared i n th e basket .
126 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

the holy ark a nd if I supposed that R ob espierre think s

’
of arresting m e I would eat his heart , I think he i s .

m istaken .Th e only holy ark nowadays is t h e , ,

guillotine I t is as d i fficult for a tribune as for a king t o

.

kno w th e real sentiments of the people The peopl e .

admi res the great d emolishers but th eir admiration h a s ,

something of terror D anton speaks and act s like a .

man R obespi erre like a proph et : the empire shal l

,

always belong to prophets The man w ith the blu e .

1
coat has already his d evotees ; th e w ife of D es
morets my assistant recites prayers before a por
, ,

trait of R obespierre ; a good many w om en do as s h e

does H owever z ealous in the discharge of its function s
.

the Tri b unal m ay b e the prisons are nevertheless full t o,

overflowing To d ay we executed three nati ves of th e

.
-

department of Allier sentenced for speaking against t h e ,

Revolution Two w ere brothers the third was the s o n

.

of on e of them .

—
’

Ge r m i na l 6 To day w e led to the scaffold J ean

.
-
.

Louis G o u t h formerly constitutional bishop of Autu n

,

and m ember of th e C onstituent Assembly ; the t wo .

brothers B alleroy Charles Auguste and F ran coi s

Auguste ; the former w as a marquis and a lieutenant
general the second a marshal ; D eni s Jo i s e l servant o f
, ,

M onsieur the King s brother and Etienn e Th ery The

,
’

, .

l atter had usurped th e titl e of representative of t h e

people with the m ere obj ect of obtaining gratis a go od
,
'

d inner in an inn H is assumption has cost h i m h i s life

. .

C ar m i na ! 7 — I t is said everyw here that the Com

.

Ro b e p i rre
s e .
 CH A RL ES H ENRI SA N S ON S ’
DI A R Y . 127

are discussing the arrest o f D anton I n m y

m it t e es -

humble j udgm ent big dogs are preparing to bite for curs
, ,

bark too boldly V a la t e a terrorist is reported to have

.
, ,

said yesterday : Before a w eek D anton C amill e D es

‘
,

moulins a nd Philippeaux will b e arrested

, I f they .
’

are taken it will be their o w n fault for th e rumour i s

, ,

’
publi c But one c annot r u n away w hen one s name i s
.

D anton Execute d a m an and a w oman : C laude

.

M ari e L a m b e r t y e and H enri M oreau convicted of con ,

s pi r a cy .

Ger m i n a l —J ean
Baptist e P e u s s e le t form erly a
-
.
,

m onk J acques P e r n e t captain of d ragoons and general ,

i n th e service of Bavaria su ffered to d ay ,

-
.

C ar m i n a ! 9 Th e H eb e r t i s t s w ere sold by a m a n
.
-

n amed L a b o u r e a u H e called his form er friends rascals

.
,

and was d ischarged by th e R evolutionary Tribunal fo r

his pains The d ay before yesterday L a b o u r e a u w ent t o
.

th e meeting of the J acobins ; Legend re w ho presided , ,

compli mented hi m and congratulated the Tribunal on i t s

equ ity Poor C itizen Legendre you m ay get to know t o
.
,

your cost what this equity i s ! Executed J ean Baptist e -

Collignon printer J ean Baptiste Courtin a b bot of t h e

,
-

O rder of C luny N icol as J ean Ad am m onk ; Antoin e ,

M e ffr e monk L ouis F ra n

, cois Poire one of Talleyrand s ,
’

servants and J acqu es H a r i lle , m erchant .

C ar m i n a ! 1 1 — Citizens D anton Camille Desmoulins

.
, ,

Lac r oix and Phili ppeaux w ere arrested to day and

,
-

t aken to th e Luxembourg S even executions yesterday .

a n d to d ay-

C ar m i na ! 12 — Citizen Legen dre m ember of t h e

.
,
 1 28 M EMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

C onvention , has not been arrested with D anton as w a s ,

r umoured yesterday R ichard of the C onciergeri e has

.
, ,

r eceived orders to prepare N o 4 the cell formerly .

,

t enanted by H ebert and the other cells occupied by his

,

c ompanions . These preparations sho w that D anton an d

h i s friends will be transferred to the Conciergeri e this

e vening or to morrow at the latest and that their tri al w ill
-

take place immedi ately S uch prisoners are not easy to

.

k eep . To day we guillotined Euloge S chneider formerly

-

a priest who was prosecutor of the Revolutionary

,

Tribunal of S trasburg H e used openly to t urn th e .

fi —
T error to his p o t that is to say to the profit of his
r ,

v ices he went about Alsace with h i s tribunal his guil ,

l otine and my colleagu e of Strasburg obliging the i n

, ,

h abitants to illuminate their houses w hen h e passed ,

16 vying contributions passing capital sentences and i n

, ,

citing to plunder theft & c wherever he stopped O ne

, , .
, .

of his friends named Tu nc k w ishing to marry he ,

required t h e attendan ce of all th e girls of Barr and ,

allowed hi m to choose i n the lot and to complete his

k indness h e ord ered the executioner to c ollect money
,
.

a round the scaffo ld for the bride and bridegroom .

S oon after he felt a desire to establish himself also

, ,

a n d at one o clock in the morning he sent a peremptory

’

o rder to a citizen of Barr to bring hi m his daughter who ,

w a s young and handsome The unfortunate man d ared .

not refuse O n the following day he re turned to S tras

.

b urg with th e poor child i n a carriage d rawn by six ,

horses But Citizen S aint J ust had arrived during

.
-

h i s absen ce and Schneider was arrested on the

,
13 0 MEM OI RS OF -
TH E SA NS ONS .

C HAPTE R XXX V I I I .

TRI A L OF D A N TOI V, CA M I L L E D E SM O ULI N S,

’
C H A RLE S H EN RI S A N SON S notes contain no inform a
tion on the trial of the D antonists This trial however .
, ,

my grandfather must have followed with the greatest

interest I n som e parts of his diary it is e asy to detect
.
“

his conviction that the result of the struggl e bet w een

D anton and R ob espierre w ould b e to increase or dimi
ni sh the nu mber of c apital sentences d elivered by the
Revolutionary Tribunal N o wond er that h e should
.

have be e n i nterested i n this phase of th e history of the

Revolution My father told m e that Charles H enri was
.

present at almost eve r y sitting of the Revolutionary

Tribunal an d related to h i s fa mily all that he had seen
,

and heard I t i s perhaps owing to th e emotion which h e

.

felt then that the present gap i n his diary is to b e ascribed .

Th e D anton a ff air is however of such i mportance

, ,

that it may not be amiss to s a y a fe w words on i t b e fo r e

‘

w e r e c u r to Charles H enri S anson s diary

'
’
.

W hatever opinion may be held o f Danton one can

I

not but recognise that his overthrow was the great event
o f the revolutionary period U ntil then the Revolutio n
.
13 2 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

w o u ld belong to those who sh ould speak of clemency ;

a n d R o b espierr e no doubt wished to reserve this p o p u

la r i t y for himsel f D anton spoke of clem ency before

.

hi m that w as his only cri me .

D anton mad e no s how of resistance when he was

arrested As to C amille D esmoulins he opened his
.
,

w indo w and c alled for help against t y ranny when the

soldiers entered his room N o one answering his appeal .
,

h e resigned hi mself to his fate took som e books em , ,

b raced his young wife and his child and allowed him ,

s elf to b e led off Philippeaux and Lacroix were

.

a rrested w ithout any d i fficulty O n the d ay after thei r .

in carceration the four prisoners were permitted to wal k

i n th e courtyard wh ere the i nmates of the prison
,

met . Camille was d ark and s a d L acroix was di s ,

h eartened Philippeau x w as cal m and resigned D anton

, ,

w as j ust what he usually w as ch eerful and full of power ,

of repartee The news of the presence of these powerful

.

m en had s pread like wild fire in the prison and all ,

flocked to s e e them A few prisoners even forgot that

.

D anton and his friend s were amongst them for taking

u p their caus e and i nsulted th em A c i a eva nt said ’
-

, . .
,

pointing to Lacroix who was tal l and strong : H e,

’
would m ake a fi ne c oach man D anton smiled con .
'

t em p t uo us ly Somebody having enquired how he

.
,

D ant on could h ave been deceived by R obespierre he

, ,

answered that after all , he would rather b e guillotined

,

than guillotine To m Payn e was a prisoner in the

.

Luxembourg at the ti me ; D anton shook hands with

h i m saying in English
, , I am glad to meet you friend ; ,

what you have done for the happiness and liberty of

 TRI A L OF D A NTON, E TC .
33

our c ou ntry I h ave in vai n striven to d o for mine I

‘

y , .

have been less fortunate bu t n o guiltier than you, .

They no w send m e to the scaffold such i s my re w ard .

’

When the four prisoners received the act of i m

p e a c h m e n t d rawn up against them C amille Desmoulins ,

foamed with rage Philippeaux raised his hand s t o

,

heaven D anton laughed and rated C amille for his

,
'

want of callousness H e w ent up to Lacroix and asked

.

him : Well what do you think of this pretty docu

‘
,

ment I think we h ad better make ready to meet

‘

’
S a nson answered Lacroix
,
.

D anton was in hopes of moving the publi c on th e day

of tri al ; and his expectations were certainly not over
s anguine Th e report of his arrest and that of Camille
.

who was very popular h ad produ ced a sensation O n

, .

the 1 1t h an d 1 2t h m any persons w ere assembled near

the walls o f the Luxembourg and my father told m e ,

that they looked at the prison w ith astonishment as ,

i f they expected to s e e it crumble do wn like a n e w ,

’ ’
J ericho at D anton s bidding Camille s soul was more
,
.

tender and poetic al than D anton s H e thought of h i s ’

.

young and charming wife and of his baby s o n H i s , .

wife passed her d ays i n th e garden of the L u x e m a

bourg and h e tried to catch a glimpse of her thro u gh

,

the bars of th e prison window H e recovered his powers .

as a writer and began his last number of the V ieu x

,
‘

C ordelier his final de nu nc i a t i o n o f tyrants H e als o

,
’
.

wrote t o his wife a really magnificent letter which h a s ,

been reproduced by the historians of th e R evolution .

D anton and his friends were transferred t o th e Con

c i e r g e r i e on th e 1 3 th and w ere i mm ediately brough t
,
13 4 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

before th e R evolutionary Tribunal The j urors h a d

.

b een carefully chosen and it w as notorious that n ot on e

,

o f them was favourab l e to the prisoners F our other .

members of the Convention charged w ith malversation

, ,

w ere i nclud ed i n the charges Thes e were Chabot D e ,

launay B a z i r e and F abre d Eg la nt i ne Th e accusatio n

, ,
’
.

m ade out against th em w as n ever proved O ther pr i .

s o n e r s were tried at th e sam e time There w ere thi r tee n

.

in all ; but F ouquier d iscovered that som e had been for

gotten an d th e nu m b er w as raised to fifteen
,
.

The d ecision of the j ury was a foregon e conclusion ,

an d th e d ebates of th e trial h ave been s o often described

that there is but little n eed to relate them at l ength A ll .

'

t h e a c c us e d d isplayed stern bravery kno w ing w ell th e

,

fate that w as reserved for them But none equalled.

D anton in eloquence an d vehement denunciations of his

enemies H is attitude was superb and befo re him th e
.
,

j udges and j urors shrank back and trembled H is .

trem endous voice could be heard outside the court and ,

i t b ecame s o evident that the people would rise to d e

l iver him if he w ere allowed to continue that the Pr e ,

s i de nt of the cou rt ruled that th e prisoners should b e

removed from th e h all of j ustice w hile their fate was

b eing decided The w hole trial i n fact was a shameful
.
, ,

arody of j ustice ; a n d when a verdict of guilty was

p
b rought i n against all the accused with the exception
o f one no one for a m oment d oubted that D anton and
,

.
h i s friend s w ere th e victi ms of a cru el and relentless
. policy .

I now l eave my grandfather to speak for himsel f .

13 6 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

aw ay w ith tears in h i s eyes I w as not surprise d fo r .

,

I kne w hi m to be a great frien d of Danton s and his ’

,
.

pl uck pleased m e F ouquier Ti n ville who is a cousin .

-

o f D esmoulins had n ot the sam e scruples Lescot

, .

F leuri ot deputy prosecutor and two other functionaries

,
-

,
.

entere d the room Lescot asked m e whether m y c a r t s .

°

were ready I replied that they were H e then

’

.
. . .

ord ered m e to go down and wait which I did , .

I had been waiting for a consi derable tim e when a ,

g end arm e came to tell m e that I was wanted by F o u

q u i e r Tinville
-
I found a good. many persons i n his .

—
closet old V a di e r Amar C o ffi nh a l Arthus H erman , , , , ,

am ong oth ers Although F o u quier w as present I r e

.
,

c e i ve d the order of executio n fro m the hand s of Lescot .

He told m e that th e convicts had rebelled against th e

Tribunal ; that they w ould probably offer new resistance
t hat to pr event any mishap the y w ould be introduced
on e by one ; that I should h ave to seize them im me
°

di a t e ly and pinion them

, F leuriot added that i f t h e .

convicts attempted to excite the people on their wa y t o »

the scaffold I w as to go at a trot and make all haste

, , .

H e also recomm ended extrem e celerity in the executio n

i tself observing that t h e s o o ner the r u ffi a ns died t h e ‘ ’
‘

better After th i s a d iscussion arose as to the numbe r

.
,

of carts required I had ordered three out Lesco t . .

“

said that o ne w as su fficient and Co ffi nh a l observed tha t ,

onl y one sho u ld be used I objected to this and ob ; ,

.
,

t a i ne d t wo Ca r r i a g e s
‘

I t h en proce ed ed to the parlour which was full , o f?

 CH A RL ES H E NRI S A NS ON S ’
DI A R Y .
37

g endarmes and sol diers They form ed two thick ranks .

.

Half a n hour elapsed before on e of the convicts a p

- -

ear ed This was Chabot H e looked very ill H e

p . . .

was surprised at fi nding himself alone and m urmured ,

‘
Where are the oth ers ? H e Wa s pi nioned and h i s
-
’

hair was cut B a z i r e was th e n ext to appear Chabot

. .

rose and running up to hi m exclaimed with tears in

, , , , .

his eyes : My poor poor B a z i r e it was I w ho brough t , , .

’
you to this ! B a z i r e pressed hi m i n his arms witho ut ,

a word of r e proach .

Th e two F reys D elaunay m e m b e r o f the Conventio n

, , ,

th e Abb e d E s pa g na c and D i s de r i ks e n were led i n

’

after B a z i r e After thes e Phili p peaux Lac roix Wester

.
, , ,

mann and F abre d Eg la nt i ne Two turnkeys su pported

,
’
.

the latter who was ill D uring th e toil et F a b re sai d

, .
,

h e wish ed t o speak to F ou q uier O ne of my assistants .

called a clerk who said this was not possible Citizen

, .

F abre then became angry and cried You ought to b e ,

satisfied with m urdering m e and not steal my property ! ,

I publicly protest against th e infamy of the members o f

th e Tribunal who have stolen from m e a M S comedy
, .
,

which had nothing to d o with the trial Lacroix a nd .

’

Philippeaux w ere calm .

F abre w as still speaking when a nois e was h eard i n

the passage jW e recognised the voic e of Citizen D an
.
:

ton and there w as a d ead silence H is words cam e o u t

, .

like a torrent I distinctly h eard hi m s a y to the clerk

.
‘

w ho w anted to read out his j udgment : B e d— d and ‘

,

j ! ! h
’

y our udgment with you I won t listen to it W at a .

13 8 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

farce ! ’
H e thundered away and all seemed to recoi l ,

before him B ut when he s a w th e other convicts his

.
,

d emeanour altered completely H e assum ed a cold i n .

,

d i fferent air and calmly walked up to me

, H e sat .

d own and tore away his collar saying

,
D o you r d ut y, ,

C itizen S anson I cut his h air myself I t was thi ck

.
’
.

a n d hard like a m ane M eanwhil e he went on speaking

.

t o his friends : This is the b eginning of th e end ;

‘

’
t hey ll guillotine the representatives wholesal e Com .

m i t t e e s governed by a Co u t h o n w ithout legs and a -

Robespierre I f I could leave them mine they

.
,

might go on for som e ti m e But no ; F rance will .

a wake i n a cesspool before long Shortly after h e ex ,

c laimed : We h ave accomplished our task L et us go

‘
.

’
a nd sl eep .

Citizens H eraul t d e S echelles and C amille D e s m o u

lins w ere led i n n ex t The former gave no sign of emo .

t ion th e latter spoke of his wife an d child i n heartrend

i ng terms As soon as he s a w us he was seized with a
.
,

t remendous fit of rage H e rush ed u pon my assistants .

,

a n d stru gled w ith them like a giant All his clothes

g .

were torn i n th e scu ffl e F our men had to hold h i m .

d own on the chair H is friends tried to soothe h i m

.

"

F abre with soft wo rds D anton w ith a ton e of authority , .

T h e latter said : Leave these men alone ! What s t h e

’

us e of figh ting with the servants of the guillotine ?

T hey are only d oing t heir duty Do yours . .
’

At l ength everythin g w as rea dy D uc r a y headed .

t h e co r i é g e
‘
The m embers of th e Conventio n a nd
.

'

G eneral Westermann occupied the first cart i n wh i c h I

“

,
140 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ONS .

D anton was r ight : th ere was no h ope for t h em .

Th e escort w as surrounded by th e usual attendants o f .

the guillotine and th ey shouted so that it was impossibl e

,

for the publi c at large to h ear what the prisoners said .

Passing b efore a cafe w e s a w a citizen s eated on a ,

W i ndow sill who was drawing likenesses of th e prisoners

-

, .

The latter looked at him and m urmured : David

’

‘
, ,

D avid ! ’
D anton raised his voice and cried : Is tha t ,
‘

you valet ? Go and tel l your master ho w soldiers of

,

liberty can di e L acroix also spoke to hi m violently

.
’
.

D avid w ent on d rawing D oors windows and shutters .

, ,

were c losed i n D uplay s house ( W here R o b espierre lives)’

.

When the prisoners s a w the house they aim ed sarcas m ,

’
over sarcasm at its walls V ile hypocrite ! said F abre .
‘
.

The coward is hiding him sel f as h e hid on August ,

cried Lac roix D anton s vo i ce rose louder than a ny

.
’
.

H is face was purpl e and his eyes glistened like b urnin g,

coals ‘
You shall appear i n this cart i n your turn
.
,

R obespierre h e exclaimed and th e soul of D a nt o rn

,
’
,
‘

w ill howl w ith j oy !

Danton was the sam e to th e last : pas s ing withou t
transition from the m ost violent anger to the greates t
“

calmn ess at times brutal at others sarcastic and always , ,

fi rm As we c am e i n sight of th e scaffold his colou r

.

slightly altered Th e attention with whi ch I looked a t

.

h i m seem ed to d isplease hi m for h e elbowed m e roughly , ,

saying : H ave y o u no t a wife and chil dren I replie d

that I had H e then res um ed with impetuosity : So
‘

h ave I And I heard h i m ’

I w as thinkin g of them
. .
 CH A RL ES H EN R I S A N S ON S ’
DI A R Y 14 1

m urmur : My wife I shall not then see you again M y ,

c hild I shall not s e e you

,
B ut a few seconds a fter he
was himself again .

D elaunay Cha b ot B a z i r e the two F re y s G usman

, , , , ,

D i s de r i k s e n and D E s p a g n a c d ied first When C amille

’
.
,

D esmoulin s was on the platform h e as k ed m e to d o

h i m a last favou r which was t o ta k e a lock of his hair
,

a nd send it to his mother i n law H e then stepped to - -

w ards the weigh plan k without resistanc e F a b re La

-
.
,

c roix Westermann Philippeau x suffered ne x t Wester

, , .

m ann cried several ti mes Vi ew [a R ajaz /blz gne

'

H erault
,

d e S echelles c am e n ext and Danton with him although , ,

h e w as not called M y assistant had already seized

.

S echelles when Danton ad v anc ed to em b rac e hi m Bu t

, .

i t was too late D anton looked on while his friend was

.

b eing e x ecuted with such c oolness as does not b elong

,

t o man . N ot a muscle in his face moved H e seemed .

to defy not only the fear of death but d eath i tsel f , .

The weigh plank was hardly lowered when he advanced

-
.

I advised hi m to turn round while the b ody was b eing

r emoved . H e shrugged his shoulders contemptuously .

D o not forget to show my head to the mob they ha v e

n o t often seen one li k e it

When according to his last wish D anton s head was

, ,
’

hown there were cries of V i l c b ” but

'

s ,
va a ba l z g ne .

n o t many .

The cemetery of La M adeleine where are the Ki ng , ,

the Q ueen and the Girondins having b een closed the

, , ,

M a d a m e D a nt o n w a s e n c e i nt e w h e n h e r h u s ba n dw as
p ut to de ath .
 14 2 MEMOI R S OF TH E SA NS ON S .

fiftee n corpses of the D antonists w ere taken to t h e

s mall cemetery w hich has j ust been O pened near t h e

Barri ere M onceaux .

I w ent to the Palace of J ustice to take o rders for to ;

morrow M et D e s b o i s s e a ux and V i la t e two j uro rs

.
, .

Th ey wanted to know ho w D anton had di ed I relate d .

w hat I had seen I t is not astonishing he w as d r unk

.
,
’

exclaimed one of them I assured them that Danto n .

w a s not drunk at all upon which they called m e a traito r

and a blackguard and went away i n a passion , .

C ar m i na ! I 7 — I d id to d ay w h at Citizen D e s m o u
.

lins asked m e I got the address of his father a nd

.

mother i n law at his house in th e Ru e d e la C oméd ie

- -

, ,

and went to N o 17 Ru e de s Arcs O f course I d id not

. .

go up I sent for the servant w ithout telling her who I

.
,

w as and said th at being present at the execution o f

, ,

Citizen D esmoulins h e had asked m e to hand a ,

-

locket to th e mother of his wife I then d eparted .

but I soon heard steps behind The servant cam e up .

,

"
saying that C itizen D uplessis C amille D esmoulins ,

father i n law w ished to speak to m e I answered that :

- -

, .

I w as in a hurry and that I w ould return another d ay;

,

But at that moment C i t izen D uplessis himself cam e up .

I told him what I had s aid to th e girl H e answered . .

that I m ust have something more to s a y to him ; and h e

insisted s o much that I could not but follow h im He .

lived on the second floor We entered a richly furnishe d .

-

room H e showed m e a chai r and s a t d own H earin g

.
, .

th e cry of a child I turned round and s a w a cradle i n

,

the corner of th e apartment C itizen D uplessis r a n u p

'

.
:1
44 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

a p pear to morrow before the Tribunal with C itizen

-

C haumette and several others .

C ar m i na ! 2 3 To day we put to death C laud e

.
-

S o uc h o n formerly general i n the army of the Pyrenees

,
.

H e was a very brave m an and h e d ied c rying

, Vi va la
R ajfl z bh gna
’
 C HAPTE R X L .

CH A RLE S H E N RI SA N S ON S D I A R Y—’
c a nt i n u ad.

C ar m i na ! Th e trial of the w ife of Citizen D es

24 .
-

moulins was concluded to day H er d espair was intense

-
.

w hen s h e arrived at the Conciergerie I t w as at firs t .

thought that s h e was insane and some hoped that s h e ,

m ight be saved on account of her diseased mind B ut .

s h e recovered her wits during the trial and her fate was ,

s oon sealed With h er were tri ed a batch of r a wh i

.

t i o nna i r as among who m were Chaumette and Arthu r

,

D illon ex count and general of the Army of Ardennes

,
-

, ,

a nd H ebert s wife
’

When the last hour c ame Mad ame D esmoulins a p ,

p e a r e d d ressed in her best attire M adam e H e bert c ried .

much and Madam e D esmoulins tried to console her As

, .

s h e was stepping into the cart Dil lon approached her , .

She told him that she bitterly regretted being the cause
o f his d eath Dillon answered that it was not her fault
.
,

a nd he expressed his grief at the s a d fate of s o young

and s o charming a creature M adame D esmoulins .

interrupted him Look at m e s h e e x claimed and s a y

,
’
,
‘

whether my fac e is that of a w oman who needs consola

’
tion. My only w ish since Camille s death has been t o
, ,

V OL I I . . L
146 MEM OI RS OF TH E SA N S ONS .

j oin hi m ; thi s wish is no w about to be accomplish ed

.

I f I did not d etest those who have condemned m e ,

because they murdered the best and most honest of m en ,

”
I would bless them for the boon they no w confer on me .

She t h en bade fare w ell to D i llon Dillon was in the .

fi rst cart Madame Desmoulins i n the second with th e

, ,

G r ammont N o ur r y s Lacroix Lap alu Lassall e and

-

, , , ,

Madam e H ebe r t O n the way s h e talked with the last

.

two Citizens who w ere very young— Lapalu was twenty

,
- 2

s i x years of age and Lassalle twenty four

,
She spok e -
.

aily that s h e made them smil e more than once

so
g .

Thei r conversation w as troubled by the tears of Madam e

H ebert and by the two G r a m m o nt s wh o kept on
, ,
‘

quarrelling with each other The son charged the fathe r

.

w ith having caused h i s d eath I n his rage th e youn g

.

man called his father a r u ffi a n S ir said to him ;

’

M adame Desmoulins it is said that you insulted M ari e

,
‘

Antoinette on the way to the sc a ffold you should hav e

preserved some of your audacity for to She die d
without even turning pal e Dillon cried V i va la R o i
.

Grammont the elder wished to em b race his son but the ,

latter would not let him .

C ar m i n ! — This morning I sent some hair o f

a 2 5 .

M adame D esmoulins to her father and mother I gave .

the parcel to a Savoyard who did not know m e and ,

directed hi m to take it to M D uple ssis house for I did

.
’

not care about g oing there again To da y we e x ecuted .

-

a no b leman , J acques Antoine de la Barbi ere d e R e fl u e t ,

a nd three individuals of lesser importanc e .

C ar m i na ! 26 —
. Charles Mathias D a le nco n d e N eu
148 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

J eremie Baudot monk J acques Pierre Chalot curate o f

, ,

Marsal ; J ulien Deco ns c urate of N o u vi lla c Charles

,

Ti b a ult Acor H ippolyte M e r m i n Pierre Louis H enry

, , ,

a n d H ector Si m i l le tradesmen and labourers

, .

C m
ar i na ! 3 0 — Since D umas
. has su cceeded to Her
ma n as president of th e Tribunal trials take place i n ,

larger numbers a prodigy which was thought i mpossibl e

, .

S eventeen persons were sentenced to death yesterday ;

I executed them this morning This exec ution was one .

o f the most lamentable in which I ever took a part .

The women w ere i n a m aj ority S everal among these .

w omen had their children in the carts J acques J oseph .

Laborde banker ; Arthur Gustave Geneste banker ;

, ,

Pierre H aringue d e Guibeville no b leman late presid ent, ,

o f the parliament of Paris Marie H aringue de Bonnaire

Marie Charlotte d e Bonnaire M arie Louise d e Ch arras ,

o f Angoul eme F r a ngo i s M esnard d e Chouzy S ebastien

R ollat nobleman ; R en e R ollat o ffi cer Louis Georges
, ,

G o ug e no t ; Anne M arie de M esle wi fe of Marshal d e ,

M esle ; Ange M ichel de Bellecourt o fli c e r in the Russian

-

s ervice J eanne M arie N o g u es w ife of B ellecourt ,

M arguerite Anne G o uve l ; J ean R obin G u i b e vi lle s val et ,

’

a n d F ran ois M athieu F ayma servant of the younger

c ,

M adame d e Bonnaire — all convicted of conspiracy

a gainst liberty The sight w as a ffecting in the e x trem e
.
,

for the women c ried and moaned .

F lo r aa !
’
1 — The Tribunal has j udged i n the name of
.
,

Revolution those who used to j udge i n th e n am e of

,

J ustice and to day I led to the guillotine the sam e

,
-

m agistrates w hose sentences I w as w ont to carry out I .

 CH A RL E S H ENRI SA NSON S ’
DI A R Y . 149

had been much moved on seeing them leaving the

“

Tribunal to the nu m b e r o f twenty fi ve of the parliament

,
-

of Paris and provincial parliaments advancing in a file , ,

the presidents first and the others behind them grave , ,

and austere as if they had b een going to some ceremony .

When they were bro ught to the H all of the D ead and ,

when President Bochard d e S arron held out hi s hands

to m e I trembled and could not help showing con
, ,

s t e r na t i o n whereupon the presid ent said to m e

D o what the l aw orders Even an unj ust l aw i s a .

I n the cart and before th e guillotine they retained

, ,

th e sam e attitude : no tears or reproaches or clap trap , ,

-

bravery They d ied with t h e serene prid e of the old

.

Romans who waited for the Gauls

,
.

F lo r aa ! 2 —The J acobins have b een engrossed with

’

a mighty affair The tax collector of their secti on

.
-

thought that patriotism had nothing to do with the pay

ment of rent especially w hen this rent w as to go into
,

the coffers of the State h e therefore wrot eto t h e com

m i t t e e of the Club asking for what w as due to the n ation .

I ndignation was great at this audacity and C ollot ,

d H e r b o i s asked that t h e misdemeanant should b e sent

’

to the R evoluti onary Tribunal Th e times have then .

, ,

returned when great lords used to thro w thei r creditors

out of the w indows — w ith this d ifference that the windo w ,

is now a loop hole and is called a guillotine

-

,
Si x .

executions to day -

F lo r aa ! 3 Great citizens good and righteous men

.
-

, ,

no w appear u ninterruptedly on the g u illotine Those .

-
1 59 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

w ho go vern should und erstand that this daily butch ery

c annot but become hateful and d isgust the population , .

The fel lows wh o usually follow my carts ferocious a s ,

they are are getting milder and as to the good citizens

, , , ,

they n ow close their doors and w indows as soon as I

ap pear i n the street with the convicts who are to su ffer .

To day we had to d eal w ith C itizen L a m o i g no n d e

-

’
M alesherbes the King s former defender ; h e was
,

arrested at his country house w ith all his family -

, .

President de R o s a m b e a u execut ed the d ay before y este r

,

d ay w as his s o n i n law H is daughter and grand

,
- -
.

d aughter w ere ex ecuted w ith him to day After his -

.

arrest he was incarcerated in the Port Libre on arriving -

there he m et one of his former clerks who exclaimed : ,

‘
What ! you here s i r ? Yes my friend answered
,
’ ‘
, ,
’

M alesherbes smiling ; I am becoming a s c a m p i n my

,
'

’
old age and that i s why they put m e i n prison
, .

DE s pr em e ni l who w as s o famous i n the old parliament

’

of Paris was also among the convicts H e had recanted

, .

his republican opinions and h a d d efended royalty as ,

W armly as at first h e had attacked it

, ,
After Augu st .

1 0 h e was badly beaten and wounded by a party o f

i nsurgents who recognised him : P et h i o n having com e

to h i s help D E s p r em e ni l pointed to his wounds sayin g
,
’

‘
And I too M P et h i o n used to be the people s idol
, , .
,
’
.
’

M alesherbes was firm and even cheerful As I a p .

r o a c h e d him he w as winding u p his watch he con

p ;
t i nu e d to do s o s aying : O ne moment friend When ’
, , .

his hair w as cu t and his hands tied he asked m e t o

, ,

p u t his w ig on his head again not h e said b ecaus e , , ,

152 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

w ith t h e keys of the town the wives and daughter s o f

the burghers offer ed hi m wreaths of flo w ers they w ere
present at a ball given in the enemy s honour by t h e ’

royalist municipality and the w om en danced w ith t h e

,

Prussian o ffi cers The ringl eaders have been tried fo r

.

this crime by the R evolutionary Tribunal — thirty fou r

« -

male and female inhabitants have been sentenced t o

d eath The youth of three of the w omen i t was hoped
.

might save their lives but this attenuation of the i r crim e

,

was only admitted in favo u r of Claire Ta b o u i llo t a nd

Barbe H enry who w ere seventeen years of age ; thei r
,

sentence w as that they should b e shown on the guillotin e

for s i x hours . H ad to execute the thirty four culprits -

’
to day and a terrible day s work it was
-

,
.

F lo r aa ! 6 — This morning at ten o clock Clair e

’
.

Ta b o u i llo t and Barbe H en ry were shown on the guillotin e

on which their mothers a nd sisters w ere killed yest erday,
They were to remain there s i x hours but after an hou r ,

B arb e H en r y fainted Claire Ta b o u i llo t was so pal e

.

that everybody s a w s h e was abo ut to faint also Th e .

mob cried Enough ! S o H enri my s o n w ent to t h e

’
, ,

H ouse of Justice to inform F ouquier Tinville of what -

was t aking place N audin F o u q u i e r s substitute

.
,
’

o rd ered hi m to unti e the girls and send them to prison ,

whi ch w as don e at half past twelve -

At four o clock .
’

we executed M athieu Sc h w e ry e r bootmaker ; J acque s ,

Po m m e r age ,
hairdresser sentenced for singing anti
,

republican songs ; F ran cois Bonin printer w ho had , ,

c alled R obespierre a conspirator ; J ean F ran cois N o el ,

p o tter ; J eann e Elizabeth B e r t a ult N icolas Emm anue l ,

 CH A RL ES H ENRI SA NS ON S DI A R Y
’
15 3

J ean N icolas Lallema nd priest ; J ean C la ude

L e s c o ffi e r , ,

J acquot l awyer & c & c twelve in all

, , .
, .
-
.

F lor aa l 9 — To da y Citizen F ouquier behaved like a

’
-

m an When h e was compelled to sell his office as

.

barrister of the Ch atelet the Civil li eutenant A ug r a n d , ,

d A lle r a y was very kind to him F o u q u i e r remembered

’
.
,

’
it A ug r a nd d A lle r a y had been i mprisoned at Port
.

Libre ; he w as an inoffensive old m an and there w as ,

little chance of h i s being brough t up for j udgment U n .

fortunately his nam e was found by chance in a list o f , ,

dangerous prisoners F ouquier proved that he wished

.

to save him for he recom mended him to th e j urors bu t

,

A ug r a nd refused to b e let o ff With him were executed .

Aymond Charles F ran cois d e N i c o la f late president o f ’

the Grand C ouncil and thirty three other convicts most o f

,
-

w hom were noblemen and magistrates .

F lo r aa l 10 — G a m a i n the locksmith w ho denounc ed

’
.
, ,

Louis XV I has addressed a petition to the Convention

.
, ,

asking for a reward Th e Assembly h as granted the .

’
man s petition .

F ! r aa ! 1 1
o
’
— Stani slas d e L a ng a ne r i e ch evalier d e S t
.
, .

Louis co nvicted of having been on e of the K nights o f

,

the Dagger w as executed to day, I t is now a long -

tim e since we h ad only one convict to put to death and ,

the peopl e hardly took th e troubl e to look on Th e .

Tribunal to day acquitted fifteen persons S everal amon g

-
.

these lucky persons had according to provincial custom , ,

a dded th e name of M arat to thei r nam es Before di s .

c harging them D umas w ho presided m ade them a littl e , ,

1 54 MEMOI RS OF TH E
‘
SA NSONS .

s peech on the duties imposed by the patronage of t h e

;g reat citizen .

F ! o r aa ! 1 2 — W e execu t ed seven plebeian s and tw o

’
’

'

. .

n oblemen .

F ! o r aa ! 13
’
Denys Co r bi lle t uphols terer and lieu
.
-

, ,

t enant in the N ational Guard ; Pierre D i a c o n inspector

'

o f arms at the arsenal ; an d L eonc e P i t r a t curate of ,

L i ve m o nt suffered to day
,
-
.

Flo r aa l 14
’
— W e led to the P l ace de la R evolution
'

the o fficers and grenad iers of the battalion d es F illes ‘

S aint Thomas who alone on the l o t h of August

-

,
’
, ,

d efe n ded the King There w ere twelve of them . .

D en y s R epoux d e Chevagny suffered with them .

F lo r aa l
’
— To day the Convention issued a decree
I 7 .
-

b y wh i c h t h e general farmers are to b e tried by the

'

R evolutionary Tri b unal Citizen D upin a deputy has .

, ,

written the report against them The twenty millions .

g iven up by them to the nation cannot save them I fear , .

They were speaking at the H ouse of J ustice of the trial

o f Elizabeth sister of the K ing w hich i s soon to take
, ,

p lace . N ine executions yesterday ; twenty three to d a y - -

.

F ! o r aa ! 19 The trial of the general farmers was con

’
-
.

cluded to d ay -
F our were acquitted
.
— Sa nlo t D e la a g e ,

t h e younger B e lle fa i t and D elatante : all the others

, , ,

t w enty eight i n number w ere condemned to death and

-

, ,

e xecuted at two o clock this afternoon O ne of them

’
.
,

L avoisier was a great chemist H e asked for a delay

, .

o f a fortnight in order to achieve a discovery ; bu t his

b rief w as not acceded to M ost of th e convicts seemed .

 CH A RL ES H E ZVRI SA NS ON S ’
DI A R Y 15 5

t ohave no regret Papillo nd H a u t e vi lle said addressin g .

’

the mob : The only thing which annoys m e i s that I

‘

h ave su ch disrep utable h eirs

’
.

F ! o r aa ! 20 —Mad ame Elizabeth w as taken to the

’
.

Conciergerie this morning My s o n saw her s h e is h e .

,

t old me very wan and pale

, Sh e was read ing a pray e r .

b ook F o u q u i e r w i ll question her in th e course of the night

’

. .

F ! o r aa ! 2 2 —I was present during part of M adame

’
.

’
E lizab eth s trial D umas presided fi ft e n j urors were in
.

t h e box and L i m do n was prosec utor

,
An arm chair wa s .
-

g iven to th e King s sister a favour which surprised me , .

A thousand rumours were ci rculated concerning this s a d

a ffair . S om e people s a y that Robespierre visited
M adam e Elizab eth i n prison and hin t ed that s h e coul d ,

a ppear on the throne of her ancestors if s h e woul d

m arry him All this of course is absurd
. O thers s ay .
.

that he was strongly opposed to the trial I f one may .

j udge by D umas polite manners with the princess

’
there ,

i s som e likelihood of this being true Elizab eth answered .

a ll questions put to h er with much c alm and p re

'

s ence of mind She d enied the ch arges brought against

.

her I t was pretty certain that s h e would be condemned

.
,

a n d th e sentence of d eath passed by the cou rt surprised

'
n o one As a Conspiracy cannot but be concocted by
.

s evera l persons t w enty three prisoners were convicted

,
-

w ith t h e p r i n c e s s l
.

I l eft t h e H all of J ustice to prepare for the execution .

1
Th e gi ve n i n t h e o i gi nal t e xt o f t h e di a ry a r e i n t h e p res ent
na m e s r

c a s e a s i n m ny o t h e r p l c e s o m i t t ed
, a Th e y do n o t dd t o t h e i nt e re s t o f
a ,
. a

t h e e x e cut i o ne r 5 n o t e s a nd t h e s e n o m en c l a t ur es a r e o ft e
’
n t e d i o us —
N ED . . .
,
15 9 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

At four o clock D e s m o r e t s one of my assistants brough t

’
, , ,

’
me the order I w as about to enter Richard s room
.

when I s a w a lady who held up a handkerchief to he r

, \

eyes I recognised the princess and entered R ichard

.
,
.

told me that s h e conversed with his wife and w anted t o ,

know ho w th e Q ueen died While H enri and t h e .

assistants were preparing the other convicts Richard

‘ ’
,

at length tol d M adame Elizabeth that I was waiting .

’
Sh e b ad e farewell to R ichard s wife and followed hi m ,

to the special roo m reserved for w omen When I .

‘

entered s h e was already seated with her hair flowin g ,

over her shoulders Sh e w as praying w ith fervour . .

H er hai r was auburn very long and thick J ust before , .

I took h er hands to bind them s h e mad e the sign of th e ,

cross She di d not appear to m e as thin as H enri tol d

.

m e H er waist was rather thick like the King s a nd

.
,
’

her face very full The most apparent trace of i mprison

.

m ent w as her extreme pallor W hen I returned with .

h er to th e other c onvicts the latter bo w ed low to her , .

She spoke to the L o m eni e s but I could not catch h e r ,

words M adam e Elizabeth w as in the first cart with

.

the two L o m eni e s the bishop and th e late m inister

, ,
.

The bishop spoke to her of God and s h e listened with ,

d evotion .

As leader of th e conspiracy s h e was to be executed

last I had received very st ringent orders on that poin t
She remained i n th e midst of the gendarme s whilst her
c ompanions w ere being guillotined T w o of the convicts .
,

M ontmorin and Lhote cried Vi o a la R o i which greatly , ,

i nfuriated the mob The princess heede d not what wa s

.
15 8 MEMOI RS OF TH E SA NSONS .

C HAPTE R X LI .

—
CHA RLE S H E N R I SA N S OZV S D I A R Y c o nt i n naa
’ ‘
’
.

TH F . d ark s ky under w hich we live is beginning t o

clear up O n the 1 8 t h Rob espierre made a speech i n
.

which he was really eloquent proba b ly because he w a s ,

sincere After this speech the sam e d eputi es who had

.

cheered the abj uration of Gobel and the scenes which ,

took place in consequence have declared i n a d ecree , , ,

that the nation recognises the existence of a S uprem e

Being and th e immortality of the soul Many peopl e .

j oke about the Maker which the l aw now provid es ;

b ii t all those who su ffer are i n some d egree consoled by
that recognition Eight executions to d ay
.
-
.

F ! o r aa ! 2 3 —The hopes I expressed yesterday a r e

’
.

not yet to be realised To day I was ordered by C itize n

.
-

F ouquier to provide myself w ith additional assistants :

I t is said that th e prisoners are conspiring in the di fferent
prisons of Paris a nd that short w ork must b e m ad e o f
,

them I f they do conspire there is nothing astonishing

.
, .

I s e e constantly what takes place i n the C onciergerie ,

and I can pretty well guess wh at oc curs else where I n .

e very prison there are agents w hose sole mission it is t o

 CH A RL ES H ENRI SA NS ON S ’
DI A R Y . 15 9

m ake th e prisoners talk They tell them that they can

.

perhaps obtain thei r liberty ; and then when the u ns u s ,

p e c t i ng prisoners ans w er the s,py d enounces them I .

have engaged sixteen ne w assistants They are orga .

n i s i ng the service of the guillotine as if it were to las t

for ever Som e of my assistants m ust now remain i n

.

permanency at t h e Conci ergeri e The clerks of th e .

court w ill now go to t h e Pl ace d e l a R evolution i n tu rns .

Eight executions to day -

F ! or aa ! 24 — Exec uted Etienne M auger monk of t h e

’
.
,

Abbey of Caen F elix Gard e and F r a ngo i s Peton post

, ,

m en ; George S o u e n soldier J acques R ollet d A va ux

, ,
’

nobleman J ean Baptiste U b e le s ki & c — nine i n all

-

, . .

F! o r aa ! 2 5 — Executed Charles Auguste Prevos t

’

’
d A r li n c o u r general farmer father of the D A r li n c o u r
’

, ,

w h o w as guillotined on the 19th H e was seventy .

s ix years old Th e s a ns onlo i t as are more infuriated

‘
-
.

a gainst thos e wh o are said to h ave sophisticated thei r

tobacco than if they had turned thei r bread into stone .

They had no pity for the old m an Besid es it would b e .

,

i mprudent for any on e to show any sympathy for any

prisoner Th e nu mber of spies who usu ally escort u s
.

has been doubled since the inhabitants of the Ru e S t .

H on or e have taken to closing thei r doors and wi ndows

whenever a co r i ag a passes S even men and a woma n
’
.

s u ffered with D A r li nc o u r
’
.

F ! o r aa ! 26 — Pierre Alexandre J oseph Ch i a va r y cap

’
.
,

t ain i n the army ; Antoine B aptiste Tassin lawyer ; ,

E rnest M e y ni e r late d eputy ; Andr e F i s s a r d solicitor ;

, ,

H enri H enry clerk of the Tribunal of N e w a r de n M ar c

,
 160 I ME M OI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

Blass grocer all convicted of conspiracy against th e

, ,

s overeignty of the people and F r ed eric Bernard d rape r ,

at S ens were executed t o d ay

,
-
.

F ! o r aa ! 2 9 — The son of B o na r ee Corberon ex presi

.
-

,
-

d ent executed on the I s t of this month w as guillotined

, ,

.
t o day and with hi m t we lve other convi cts This morn
-

,
.

i ng I r eceived the visit of a maniac who asked m e to ,

look at a proj ected guillotine with three knives which

‘
,

h e had invented H e really amused m e H is pride and

. .

his hatred against aristocrats were really very co mical .

H is discovery h e said would consolidate the R epubli c

, ,
.

H e left m e and went to F ouq u ier Tinvill e

,
-
.

P r a i r i a ! 3 —L e fl o t a manager of the customs w as

.
, ,

b eheaded to day I n N iv ose last the w ife of a royalist

-

.
,

was w andering with her baby in the neighbourhood of

Tr eg ni e r suffering from cold and hunger and risking
, ,

s tarvation every day N o one cared to give her shelter

.
,

o r even a mouthful of bread A brave exciseman di d .

what others were afraid to d o : he concealed the woman

and her child in th e hollow of a rock and gave them ,

clothes straw and food

,
Good s entim ents are as
, .

contagious as bad ones The other excisemen r e .

marked the frequent disappearances of their comrade ,

and soon fo u nd out his secret They resolved to help .

the poor woman i n spite o f the l aws and d ecrees which

,

ordered them to be relentless agai nst royalists ; an d

one night s h e was sent on board an English ship off the
c oast . U nfortunately they did not hold thei r tongues ,

and their act of charity becam e known at large Th e .

captain wished to know who were the culprits but non e ,

1 62 M E M OI RS OF TH E S A I VS ON S .

that s h e was arrested She was searched and i n h e r

.
,

pockets were found two pistols and a dagger Thes e .

two crimes t o s o m e extent confirm th e rumours that

there I S an extensive conspiracy to murd er the princi pal
m embers of the Convention To d ay we e x ecuted J ean
.

B aptiste D urand public functionary ; F r a n go i s Paulin

, ,

teacher ; J ean Antoine Pascal li eutenant of gend armes ,

?

Th eodore d A u m o ng e vi lle lieutenant i n the army

’

Simon Tisserand footman of the late D uke du Ch atelet

,

J ean Baptiste Gautier & c

-

, .

P r a ir ia! 6 a m! 7 — The name of the girl who i ntended

.

to murder Robespierre is C ecile Renaud She is only

'

twenty years of age The Convention has issued a

.
.

bulletin concerning the health of C itizen Geffroy w h o ,

was wounded in the Collot affair The mart y rdom t o .

whic h R ob e spierre and Collot were e x pos e d excites th e

envy of m any of their colleagues V o u la n d am ong .
,

others alleges that a wo m an tri ed to murder him This

, .

woman is to a p pe a r t o d ay before th e Tribunal There

-
.

i s however every reason to b eli eve that she never con

, ,

t e m pla t e d the act in question Patriots attri b ute to the

.

English th e attempts against Robespi erre and Collot .

They charge them with inciting to th e d estruction o f

the mem b ers of the Convention The C onvention h a s .

j ust passed a d ecree which enacts that no English and

H anoverian soldiers shall be m ade prisoners What wil l .

the F rench soldiers do ?

P r a i r ia l 8 — The motions of the J acobins and th e

.

C onvention have an effect on the decisions o f the Tri

bunal To day out of twenty s i x prisoners only t wo
.
-
-
 CH A RL E S H E N RI S A NS ON S ’
DI A R Y . 16 3

w ere acquitted and we guillotined the others Among

, .

these w a s on e who ri chly d eserved death J ourdan .

,

surnamed Coupe t ete by th e inhabitants of A v ignon

-

had committed the most horri b le crimes H e acted as .

S chneider did and excited th e utmost terror i n and

.
,

around Avignon H e showed more bravery on the.

scaffold than S chneider Twenty three were guillotined .

-

after him .

P r a ir ia ! 9 The daggers of Citizeness C ecile Renaud

.
-

are now reduced to two small knives with which s h e ,

c ould have hurt no one except h erself H owever a s .

,

s h e said that s h e wanted to see a tyrant there is littl e ,

hope of saving her A great many arrests have been .

m ade Th e Conciergeri e receiv e d over fifty inmates to

.

d ay E xec uted fourteen peasants

. .

P r a i r ia! 11 — Twelve e x ecutions to d ay I am told

. .

that a few days ago D umas F ouquier Brochet Renaudin

, , , , ,

and others were dini ng at M eo t s an d that being elated ’

, ,

with wine they called M eo t up an d told him that he was

, ,

ab out to b e arrested and tried b y the Tribunal Poor .

M eo t went down h al f d ead with terror F ortunately .

B arr ere who sometimes dines at M eo t s ca rr e in Th e

,
’

, .

a ffrighted restaurateur threw hi mself at his feet and i m ,

l o r e d his protection As people were looking on Bar

p .
,

r ere told M eo t that the m en upstairs were only j oking ,

as indeed they were ; b u t i n the evening Dumas and

F ouquier were s um moned by the Com mittee of Pu b li c
S a fety and severely repri mand ed
,
.

P r a ir ial 1 2 — Thirteen convicts to d ay

.
-

P r a ir i l 3
a 1 — S ame nu m b er a s yesterday
. .

M 2
; 1 6 4 MEM OI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

P r a ir ia !Agents of the Committee of Publi c

14 .
-

S afety now mingle with those who follow our c arts to

the scaffold Every day the y d raw up a report of what
.

has taken place around the guillotine I f their accounts .

are truthful those who send them mu s t not b e sati sfied

,
.

The people are getting more and more disguste d with this
eternal butchery Ye sterda y I heard cries of E n o ug h !
.
‘ ’

and t od ay fo r the first tim e there was one solitary hiss .

Great preparations are taking place for the F esti val of th e

S upreme Being on the 2 0 t h ; the ceremony will take
~

p l a c e i n the
'

N ational Gard en and as the ao r z a

g a is to pass ,
‘

through the Place de la R ev olut ion I have received ,

o rders to remove the guillotine on the 19 th .

P r a i r z a ! I 6 — The aspect o f th e Conc i ergerie has

.

much altered of late When the R evolutionary Tri b unal .

began to sit it had the appearance of a camp : the

,

prisoners were animated ; the y walked a b out laughed , ,

sang and talked the greater num b er cared little f o r li fe

,
.

When on returning from the guillotine I used to tel l

, ,

o n e of the turnkeys what had taken place and when h e ,

t i a ns m i t t e d th e news to them I could hear them cheer ,

i ng those who h ad died pluckily and drin k ing l n honour

.

of those of their companions who were s e t free But .

s ince Danton s e x ecution the Conciergeri e looked what

’

i t used to be b e fo r e t h e Revolution the d arkest and

‘

gloomiest of prisons The fe v er is passed and now th e .

,

prisoners are mournful Ri v i ere showed me a m an .

named R o ug a ne whose fou r b rothers were guillotined

, ,

a n d who is to be tried to morrow — and be guillotined -

a lso n o doubt
,
This morning I executed the M arquis
.
166 I WE M OI RS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

’
twelve years four others w ere butchers boys ; there
,

are at least two w ho are not worth a rope to hang them ‘

with and yet there is not one who is not moved after
' '

a wholesale execution The public perceives nothing .

,

but often I s e e their legs tremble When everything .

i s finished and they only s e e corpses around them on

‘

the scaffold they look astonished and uneasy If such

,
.

i s thei r impression what must be that of the people ?

Lavalette formerly count and o fficer in the Guards
, ,

w a s executed to d ay H e w a s i mprisoned at La
.

Bourbe with his wife and was playing at battledore and

,

shuttlecock with her in th e courtyard when a turnkey

c ame up and ordered Lavalette to follow him W hat .
‘

for ? asked Lavalette

’
To go to the Tri b unal and
.
‘
,

from thence to the guillotine answered the brute Th e .

shock was s o sudden that Madame d e Lavalette lost her

senses With Lavalette were e x ec uted J oseph A b o u li n
.
,

l ieutenant in the dragoons ; J oseph To u r ni e r pries t ; ,

Theodore Delany and Patrick Roden Irishmen d e , ,

s e r t e r s ; J ean F o i r e t public s cribe ; Etienne F elix de

,

F orceville nobl eman ; William N ewton Englishman

, , ,

c olon e l i n the armies of the Republ ic M e r c i e n d A ub e ’

ville nobleman and j udge at Pithiviers ; Ant oinett e

, ,

J q
a c u e m o t laundress
, ; D o lp h i n e Elizabeth M archais ;
Emma M arguerite G u i lli e r & c — twenty in all , . .
 C H A PTE R X L I I .

CH ARLE S HE N RI SA N S OI V S
’
D I A R Y— co nt i n u ed
.

P r a ir ia l 21 —The festival of the S upreme Being took

. .

p lace yesterday F lowers

. were brought from miles
a roun d in honou r of the Divinity ; but the pontiff did

not pronounc e the words of clemency which w ere ex

p e c t e d We
. removed the scaffold and this gave som e ,

c redenc e to ru mours of amnesty The hideous cess .

p ool o f blood which lies unde r th e scaffold w as covered

w ith long an d strong planks Brilliant as the proceed
.

i ngs were the d ay was not exactly a success They

,
.

s a y th a t it was the festi v al of discord not of the Suprem e ,

Being I f Robespierre d id not clai m th e finest privi

.

l ege of royalty cl emency h e at least appropriated

, ,

its haughty formalities H e is accused of having mad e

.

t h e C onvention wait for him with having preceded the ,

r epresentatives as if to show that they were only a gang

,

o f i nferiors even the el egance of his dress and the pro

p ortions o f th e banquet which he held are criticised and ,

for some irrepressible republi can s these are u nm i s t a k

zable tokens of his royalist leanings .

P r a ir i l 2
a 2 — To d ay the Tribunal began the trial of
.
-

t h e suspected peopl e sent fro m the departments b y t h e

16 8 MEM OI RS OF TH E SA N S ONS .

representatives i n m i ss 1on Thirteen inhabitants of t h e

.

town of Corne appeared t his morning Ten were c o n .

de m n e d as were also three other prisoners

,
Execute d .

the whole o f them .

P r a ir ia l 25
.
— A t last th e brief of th e inhabitant s .

of the Rue St H onor e has been granted The d ay

. .

b efore yesterday as I was going to bed I was calle d t o

, ,

the H ouse of J ustice where Royer th e su b stitute

, , ,

ord ered me to clear t h e Place de la R evol ution of th e

sca ffold and to take it to the Place d e la Bastill e Th e
, .

carpenters w orked all night The publi c of this n e w .

quarter has no liki ng for e x ecutions for as soon as w e ,

appeared in the Rue St Antoine with three carts full

.
,

we were hissed and otherwise ill received The i n .

h ab itants of the Q uartier St Antoine are not s o timid .

as those of th e Place de la R evolu t ion and they made ,

no secret of their d isgust ; when the execution took

place almost eve r ybody h ad gone away The Com .

m i t t e e h ave determined not to rene w the e x peri ment ,

and under pretence that the Place d e la Bastille is too

good a pla ce for aristocratic blood the y have directed t h e ,

scaffold to b e transferred to the Place du Tr one So we .

passed another sleepless night We are now to send t h e .

corpses to the St Marguerite Cemetery

. .

P r a i r i a l 2 6 —Th e Revolutionary Tribunal has n o

.

sh ame . L ast month i t acquitted F r eteau councillor ,

of the parliam ent of Paris This indulgence proved .

d isagreeable to F ouquier Tinville b ut he soon foun d :

-

m eans to correct what i n his conviction could only b e

t h e result of a mistake H e declared that the affair w a s
.
17 9 ME M OI RS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

t he child ren w ere mine I replied that they were m y

.

nieces he congratulated m e on their beauty M ary .

m ad e a small nosegay and offered it to hi m he took i t

a nd stuck it in his buttonhol e H e then asked her name
.
,

s o he said as to remember her when the flowers should

, ,

fade
‘

. Th e poor child not only gave her Ch ristian b u t ,

added the oth er whereupon Robespi erre s face instantly

,
’

changed . H e said to me i n a dry and haughty v oic e .

You are I b owed F o r a few seconds h e was

.

t ho ughtful he was evidently strugglin g against a r e pu l

'

sion which he could not master A t length he b ent .

d own kissed the children ver y t enderly called his do g

, , ,

a nd went away without looking at me .

P r a i r i a l 28 A t present the prisons contain

.
-

prisoners but the gaols are being rapi dly emptied They
, .

have begun with Bic etre thirty seven inmates of which

,
-

were executed to day ; others are w aiting for trial

-

This selection of com mon criminals was premeditated

it i s hoped thus to extinguish all interest on behalf of
the political victims that are to follow on the guillotine .

The rumour is again spread that there is agitation

a mong prisoners We k n ow what that means Ho wi
. .

b eit this is what took pla ce at B i c é t r e : Two l o cksmiths

n amed Lucas and Ballin — both con v icted for theft had
—

p lanned an escape ; they received from withou t a

file with which they cut t h e iron bars of a window .

But they w ere imprudent enough to say to their com

p anions that t hey should be free on the m orrow and to ,

ropose to a man of the nam e of V o u la gn o s to e s cap e

p
w ith them V o u la g n o s was a s py he reported the pro
.
 CH A R L ES H E N RI S A N S ON
’
S DI A R Y . 17 1

j ect ed escape and the w h o le a ffa i r was disco v ered This

'

, .

ga v e rise to the ingen i ous i dea of i nventing a plot among

t h e prisoners o f Bic etre whereof th e obj ect was to ,

e scape i n order to mu rde r the m em b ers of the C o nve n

tion All the prisoners designated by the s py V o u la g no s

.
“

w ere tried and executed .

’
P r a i r i a l 2 9 — A terrible d ay s work !
. Th e guillotine
d evoured fi ft y four victi ms My strength is at an end and
-

.
,

I almost fainted away A caricature has been s h o w n t o .

m e i n which I am r epresented guillotining myself in the

.

m iddle of a heath covered with headless bodies an d

b odiless heads I do not boast of extraordinary squeam

.

i s h ne s s I h ave seen too m uch blo od in my life not to

b e callous I f what I feel is not pity it m ust b e a de
.
,

rangement o f my nerves Perhaps I am punished by.

the Almighty for my cowardly ob edienc e to mock

j ustice . F o r some time I have been troubled with
t e r r i b le vi s i o n s I am taken with fever as soon as I
'

enter the Conciergeri e ; it is like fire fl owing under my

s kin . A b stemiou s as I am it seems to m e as i f ,

I w ere into x icated — the people who are around me th e ,

f urniture the walls dance and whirl around m e and my

, , ,

e ars are full of str a nge noises I struggle against this .

f eeling b u t in vain
, My hand s trem b le and trem b le
.
,

s o that I have been compelled to give up cutting the

h air of the doomed prisoners They are before m e .

w eeping and pray ing and I cannot convinc e myself of ,

t h e reality of what is going on I lead them to d eath .

,

a nd I cannot believe that they are going to d ie I t is li k e .

a dream which I strive to dispel I follo wthe prepara .

17 2 ME MOI R S OF TH E SA N S ON S .

tions for the tragedy and I have no idea what is t o

,

occur next and I discharge my functions with t h e

,

mechanical regularity of an automaton Then comes .

.

the thump of the knife which reminds m e of t h e horribl e

reality I cannot hear it now w ithout a shudder A
. .

kind of rage then takes possession of me F orgetting that .

I ought to b lam e myself more than others I ab use the ,

gendarm es who sabre i n hand h ave escorted th e v ictims

, ,

I abuse the people who look on without raising a finge r

i n their defence I abuse the s u n which lightens all this .

At length I leave the sca ffold d isposed to weep a l , ,

though I cannot fi nd a tear N ever were thes e sensa

.

tions more v iol ent than to d ay Ladmiral and C ecile

.

Renau d were among the con v icts of to da y and the -

others were their s o c alled accomplices

‘

-
.

Since the 2 3 r d the C om mittee of Pu b lic Safety sends

l ists of death to the Tribunal The arrest of N audi n .

and A nt o nne lle two j urors who would not admit tha t
,

revolutionary right was above right of j ustic e shows ,

that this Tribunal is no m ore th an a sham While he .

preaches against i nd ulgence at th e J aco b ins Ro b espierre ,

n eve rtheless abstains from b eing present when these li st s

a r e being d rawn u that is to sa y that he shirks th e
p
-

odium s o as to be able to show that h e is guiltless o f

,

bloodshed Th e other m em b ers of the Committee a r e

.

aware of his tactics a nd the y gave as much i mportanc e

,

as they could to the trial o f the murderers o f Ro b es ‘

pierre thereb y tryi ng to s a p his reputation by callin g

,
’

a ttention to his omnipotency .

I n this affair they i ntro duced two women the S t ,

.
17 4 MEMOI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

1
ma x and the four Renau ds
,
An order came at th e las t
.

m oment directing all the c ulprits to b e arrayed i n t h e

sam e garment While the shirts were being fetched
.
,

little N icole Bou chard s a t down at her mistress s feet ’

and tried to console her She asked leave to be with .

her in th e same cart I really believed that i f s h e had

.

b egged for life more than one would have freed h er and
, ,

offered to take her pl ace Wh at we felt the p eopl e felt

.

also Th e c r o w d was very large owing to the propor

.
,

tions of the e x ecution The hundreds of gendarm e s

.

who escorted us and the cannon which followed in t h e

,

rear had induced all Parisia n s to come out F ive or s i x

, .

y oung and pretty wom en were in th e first cart a nd thei r ,

fate e x cited pity but when poor little N icol e Bouchard

was seen there was an e x plosion of i ndignation Cri e s .

of N o children rose num erous and loud I n t h e .

F aubourg St Antoine I could s e e the women weeping

. .

I was almost overpowered by this scen e I had looke d .

at N icol e Bouchard at the C onciergeri e and her e y es to , ,

my thinking seemed to s a y You will not kill m e

,
And
yet s h e is d ead now Sh e was the ninth When s h e
. .

passed be fore m e I had to struggle w

,
ith an inspirati on ,

which whispered in my ear : Smash up the guillotine ‘

,

and do not allow this child to die

M y assistants pushed her on towards the knife I .

t urned away my legs trem b led and I turned sick I t ,

.

was M artin who had charge of the execution H e sai d .

to m e
Th e e d h i r t w
1 r t h e ga r m e nt o f p rr i i de
s as a c s.
 CH A RL ES H E N R] S A N S ON S ’
DIA R Y . . 17 5

You a re u nwell . Go hom e and trust to m e for

, the

I did not answer and left the scaffold I was in a

,
.

fever and s o scared that at the corn er of the Rue S ai n t

,
~

onge when a woman stopped m e and begged I though t

, ,

the little girl was before m e This evening I thought I .

s a w spots of blood on the ta b lecloth as I w as sitti ng

down to dinner .

s r z a l 30 — N o ex ecutions to day Remained at

’ ’

-
. .

’
home and read the papers Robespierre s en e mies h ave
, .

found another weapon to strike hi m with There are .

som e distracted wom en who recite prayers in his honour .

I f they could only persuade the m asses that h e suffers

and encou rages this it would b e al l over with him a n d
,

that is j ust what V a di e r tried to d o in the sitting of th e

27 t h . A police o fficer employed b y the C ommittee h a s
found out an old woman who pretends to b e a prophete ss
‘

and who announces the advent of a n ew saviour Thi s .

s aviour is Robespierre V a di e r made the most of this .

d iscovery .

M es s i do r I — F rom th e I s t to the 4t h of M essido r

.

ninety —two convicts have b een put to death .

The dead are beginning to frighten the living Th e .

i nhab itants of the Montreuil section where we now sen d ,

the d ead bodies have complained They u rged tha t

, .

th e stench is horrible and that unless the small ceme , ,

t e r y of St M arg uerite be closed serious consequence s

.
,

cannot but ensue After m uch hesitation the Co m

"

m une has selected a n e w place for th e burial of the e x e

 17 6 M E M OI RS OF TH E S A N S ON S .

v
This i s the garden of the ol d convent of P i c p u s
c ut e d . .

The spot s e e m s t o be ill chosen the soil is composed of

p ure clay and it cannot a b
,
sorb what i d eposited in it s .

But thank H eaven ! this is no business of m ine M y

, .

task ends on th e sca ffold The Comm une pays fo r .

crows ( undertakers) who rec eive the bodies from m y

‘ ’
,

a ssistants and b ury them D e s m o r e t s my head assis .

,

tant goes with them Whatever is found in th e pockets

,
.

o f the convicts is taken to the C om m une ; the clothes ,

&c are sent to the charities To day the Tribunal

.
,
.
-

c ond emned a m an und e r rather curious circumstances .

His name was D oyen and he was a wood merchant , .

H e was wealthy an d parsim onious H is fortune was .

much envied b y his neigh b ours and h e was s o afraid of ,

getting into troubl e that for a whol e year he d id not

s peak H e lived alone and communicated by signs
.
,

with those h e h ad to deal with When he was aske d th e .

t ime he took out his watch and showed it to y o u with

,

o u t a word This singular reserve was taken for pride

.
,

and his enemies becam e legion O ne night th e Tree of .

L iberty planted i n the public square of the town i n

,

which h e lived was uprooted and as a matter of course

, , , ,

t h e crime was attributed to Citizen Doyen H is hous e .

was searched While the soldiers were searching the

.

fi rst floor a gendarme was about to take up a log o f

,

wood and throw it into th e grate when D oyen rushed ,

forward exclai ming : N ot this on e !

,
This excited
‘ ’

s uspicion An a x e was procured and when the log was

.
, ,

split a number of golden louis d ropped on th e floor

,
.

This circumstance settled his fate H e recovered hi s .

17 8 MEMOIR S OF I HE S A N S ON S .

N ot now They w eep trem b le and b e g for mercy

so .
, ,

We have had a fearful day The F au b o u r g St Antoin e . .

cannot forget i t My carts contained twenty thre e

.
-

women of di fferent ages and social standing Each turn .

of the wheel was marked by a s o b Their shr ieks wer e .

awful to hear The crowd dispersed an d we made our

.
,
“

way along deserted streets My men were more than .

usually da rk and sullen O ne of them said : They com .

»

pel us to disgrace the guillotine I was not left t o .

su ffer alone to day -

.

M es s i do r 8 — The other prisoners of Bic etre who

.
.

,
»

were compromised by V a la g no s d enunciation were ’

,

guillotined to day Among these was Os s e li n a deputy

-
.
,

of the N ational Assem b ly H e had given shelter to o ne .

Madame Charry an e m zlg n e in a country house situated

’
,
’

at Marly This generous d eed at first cost him his

.

liberty and afterw ards his life H e confided in a r u ffi a n

, . .

w hom h e believed to be his friend The man s a w .

Madam e Charry fell in love with her and threatene d

, ,

her with imm ediate arrest if s h e did not return his a ffe c
tion A s a m atter of course M adam e Charry refus ed ;
.
,

and on the following day s h e was arrested tried a nd , ,

executed .

As the law which punishes with d eath whoever shal l

shelter an enemy of the Republic w a s not yet passed ,

O s s e li n was sentenced to two years imprisonment a nd

’

sent to Bic etre where he was fain to mingl e with crimi

,

n a ls of the worst class H is former position and a b ov e

.
, ,

all his connection with Danton s party pointed him o ut

,
’

t o those who had th e mission to clear the prisons and ,

h e w as arraigned Os s e li n it appears resolved not t o

.
, ,
 CHA RLES HENRI SA N S ON ’
S DIA R Y . 17 9

a pp ear on the guillotine H e found a large nail in the

.

ceiling of his cell and struck himself three times with

,

i t ; but h e survived his wounds When we cam e to .

fetch Os s e li n the doctor of th e Conciergerie hu mour

o us ly observed that i t was useless to take him to the

scaffold as h e h ad but a few mom ents to live N ever

, .

t h e le s s we carri ed him away Poor O s s e li n called for

.

death and tore away his b andages The doctor who

,
.
,

accompanied u s told him that he need have no fear

, ,

that the guillotine was a long w a y o ff an d that h e ,

might possibly di e on the wa y ; and i n fact when we , ,

reached the Place du Tr on e O s s e li n was pal e and sti ff

, ,

and to all appearance dead I felt so sure of it that .

I told D e s m o r e t s to throw a blanket over the corpse ,

and leave it i n the cart ; b u t the doctor who was stil l ,

with us said that O s s e li n was stil l alive and that th e

, ,
’

sentence should therefore be carried out As I was .

h esitating h e said to m e : F ool if h e i s d ead of what

,
‘
, ,

consequence i s it wh ether h e reaches th e oth er world

w ith or without his head ? Think o f what might happen
t o us if he were still alive ! O s s e li n was carried to th e
’

weigh plank b ut not a m uscle moved when the knife

-

cam e d own and I am firmly persuad ed that we g u i llo

tined a corpse .

My grandfather s diary here comes to an end

’
He .

gives no warning of his intention to discontinue this

daily record of his bloody mission but I think I can ,

e x plai n this s udde nfic o n c lu s i o n H e was a strong and

.

c allo us m a n but few even among the hardest coul d

; , ,

N 2
'

I 8o MEMOIR S OF TH E S A NS ON S .

h ave resisted the work which the Revolutionary Tribunal

provided for him H is constitution gave wa y and hi s
.
,
' '

spirits also H e had a violent attack of delz r z z m z

.

t r e m e z z s after the execution of Robespierre s s o called

’
-

murderers Martin his brother who usuall y took h i s

.
, ,

p lace whenever there was occasion for doing s o per ,

c e i ve d that the old executioner was breaking down .

H e was pale agitated and uneas y The slightest noise

, , .

made him shudder and he avoided his relati v es H e n o

, .

longer related to his wife and children th e scenes in

which he acted the chief part ; an d his usual state o f
mind was a dark moodiness which he retained to his last ,

d ay This e a sily e x plains the interruption of his diary

. .

Th e reader may have noticed that his last notes are far
l ess precise and minute than the first portion of his i n
formation in the last d ays of Prairial he seldom m en
tions the names of victims .

Tru e it is that at the tim e the guillotine was co m

, ,

m er c i a lly organised and when its chie f functionary d id

,

no t score d own the names of th e guillotined one of ,

his assistants acted as his book keeper D e s m o r e t s -

.
,

whose name Charles H enri Sanson frequentl y mention s ,

and whose grandson is now executioner at Bordeau x ,

j oined the duties of clerk to that of chief assistant I .

have i n my hands a complete list d rawn u p by him of , ,

a ll the persons guillotined during the Revolution ; and

as the nu mber of the victims has b een unduly e x a g

gerated I have for the behoof of m y readers made a
, , ,

( é s z z m e of the executions that took place in Paris duri n g

’

the revolutionary period This r eim m e i s a ffi xed here

.
’
182 MEMOIRS OF THE SA NSONS .

C HAPTE R X LI I I .

M Y F A TH ER G OES INTO THE AR TILL ER Y . HI S

I M U ST now beg leave to return for a tim e to our family

affairs My father l eft m e a M S account of his services
. .

i n the artillery which I will presently give as a curious

, ,

i llustration of the i mportance the revolutionists proposed

to give to the functions of executioner This account .

contains som e i nteresting observations on the change of

opinions which had taken plac e in favour of the e x e c u
t i o ne r
. The Republic treated us better than th e
Monarchy it had too often recourse to our services not
to rew ard us for the trouble . We were no longer
"

shunned and despised ; representatives of the people ,

club orators celebrated s a fz s c z z lo t t eu fraternised with t h e

,
-

executioner . At one time there was a question of

devising a glorious name worthy of the grand eur of ou r
mission I t was very seriously proposed to call the
.

’
executioner the Avenger of the People to dress him i n ,

an imposing costume whereby all could identify him as

one of th e most important functionari es of t h e n a t i o n ‘
.

D avid the great p ainter called on my grandfather and

, ,

sho w ed hi m a d rawing of a costu me he had specially

 MY FA THER GO ES INTO TH E A R TILL ER Y . 83
1

d evised for him Charles H enri decl i ned the honour

.
,

.
a nd expressed a wish to dress j ust as other people d id .

But this was b ut one of th e slightest favours b e s t o ive d

»
o n my grand fath er ; the peop l e often cheered him on his

way to the scaffold and m any ran up to hi m after

,

e xecutions o ffe ring to drink with him and s o forth , .

I now leave the pen to my father w hose account ,

r equires no further introd uction

I t was on a S unda y of the month of O ctober I 7 9 3 ,

t h e call was b eing b eaten and citizens of ou r quarter

,

w ere hurrying to the usual place of meeting the St , .

Laurent Church . I went there mysel f After th e .

s itting ,as I was conversing w ith som e friends I was ,

a ccosted by a numerous party c omposed of working

,

men . O n e of the m en addressed m e i n the following

terms
Citizen H enri S anson we are the first party of th e
,

men who are to form the n ew company of gunners of

this section .
We are ab out to elect our o fficers and a s ,

we know you to be a good patriot we shall b e much ,

”
flattered if you will j oin us .

‘
This r equest surprised m e very much At first I .

was strongly tempted to refuse ; but I did not care to

g i ve offence to my would b
-
e friends and I m ay as ,
w ell
confess that I was gratifie d at their politeness I mad e .

a few obj ections but th ey w ere soon overruled and I

, ,

y ielded with a good grace .

‘
My new companions forthwith took m e to the hall
w her e the election of o fficers was to take pla c e On e .

c a n imagine my surprise when on my arrival I found , ,

1 84 MEM OIR S OF THE SA N S ONS .

m yself elected by accl am ation president of the electoral

assembly before I knew precisely what I was about .

The vote for the rank of captain began and my surpris e ,

exceeded all bounds when I perceived that everybody

v oted for m e I was both flattered and m oved but
.
, ,

c onscious as I was of my inability to discharge func

tions of which I h ad not the slightest notion I a t t e m pt e d ,

to decline th e honour My modesty however w as of n o

.
, ,
.

avail and I w a s elected My uncle who was present

,
.
, ,

wa s mad e a s u b lieutenant an d one of my intimat e

-

friends was appointed sergea nt My friend w hos e .

,

name was Masson was besid e himself w ith j oy H e

,
.

was witty sensible and well educated We were o f the

, ,
-
.

same age a nd soon becam e very intimate ; h e came

,

’
to dine at my father s every S unday th e onl y day
— ’

on which my father could receive the few friends it i s

possi b le to have in our profession It w as after o n e .

of these dinners that the a dve nt u r e I have j ust relate d

h appened to us .

Masson was not of our section he lived in the I le

S aint Louis and he was i n fear that this circumstance
-

,
.

m ight prevent hi m from accepting his promotion But .

h e w a s soon reassured .

As for me I went to a s e r g e a nt of m y company who

,

h a d been a gunner and had some good notions o f

artillery ; the good man gave m e l essons and what h e ,

knew he very soon imparted to me B ut it was all very .

well to know how to obey the question w a s how could ,

I learn how to command ? B ut where there s a wil l ’

’
there s a w ay I took lessons from other friends of mine
.
,
 1 86 ME MOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS.

w as said that
It inhab itants of L a B ri e and o f
t h e neig h b ourhood o f Coulommi ers had taken to arms

a t the bidding of the priests and other eccl esi astics s u p ,

ported by the most influential persons of the locality .

When we arrived al l w as finished and the garrison of

'

C oulommiers that i s to s a y a compan y of the 16 th

, ,

c aval ry regiment s u fficed to quell th e great s editio n

, .

The effective force of this company was only of eighty;

four men ; b ut w hat was more curious th e captain and ,

t h e two lieutenants were away at the tim e of the risi ng ,

and it w as the s u b lieutenant a boy of fifteen wh o

-

, ,

advanced at the head of his small company and

charged the seditious gathering This b oldness was.

c rowned with success Th e affair took place between

.

Maupertui s and Coulommiers and as soon as th e ,

peasants found themselves charged by this fe ebl e

’

d etachment of cavalry they dispersed and took to flight

,

after firing a few shots which w ounded no one Th e .

chasseurs then surrounded the remaining insurgents and

led them b ack to C oulommiers where they shut them ,

up in a church the prison being too small to contai n

,

t hem .

When we arrived we were arrayed in ord er of battle

on the publi c place We loaded our pieces with grape
.

shot and threatened to discharge them into the church i f

.
any symptom of rebellion was shown by the prisoners .

This resolute attitud e intimidated the m ultitude and

‘
,

e xtinguished all fu rther thought of insurrection We .

had w ith u s 5 00 m en of infantry and a squad ron of

c a valry, which with ourselves and the garrison of C ou
,
 MY FA THER G O ES IN TO THE A R TILLER Y . 18 7

mad e up an e ff ective force of 8 0 0 or 90 0 men

l o m m ie rs , .

This force was more than enough to put down more i m

p ortant seditions The youthful
. lieutenant who had so
b ravely taken th e initiative of repression w as much con

g ratulated When
. excitement had subsided it was per ,

c e i ve d that w e were far too nu mero u s for the smal l town

o f C oulommiers s o ou r troops were sent i n d etach

m ents to neighbouring villages O ne detach ment went .

to Le F ert e Gaucher another to th e Abbey of F a r m o n

-

,
’

t i ere and a third to Rozay e n Brie

, I remained i n
- -
.

Coulom miers with my company and the remainder of

t h e troops We formed a staff composed of at least
.
,

t hi rty o fficers ; we t o o k o u r m eals together and th e

x
,

g reatest harmony prevailed amongst us I little thought .

t hat circumstances would eventually alter all this and ,

exclude us from social intercourse .

I discharged my functions with great zeal main

‘
,

t aining stringent discipline often dr illi ng m y company , ,

and t aking m uch pleasu re in military life We had no .

fu r ther t r o u b le w i t h the inhabitants of Coulommiers

'

Th e m aj ority i n the town was for u s i t w as only i n th e

c ountry that we were looked upon with hostility ; but

e ven this rural dislike soon d isappeared D uring th e .

s i x mon t h s we remained at Coulom miers we had non e

o f those grave c o nfl i c t s with the civil authorities which

-

elsewhere occurred between the military and civil powers .

N evertheless the R evol utionary Tri b unal of our town

,

w a s strangely composed Its president was a little

.

hunch b ack who was thoroughly i m b ued with the idea

,

o f his own importance This ridic ulous individual could

.
1 88 M E I WOI RS O F THE SANS ONS .

n either r ead nor write ; but this did n o t stop him from
ord ering that all letters sent and received b y the post
o ffi ce should be forwarded to him for scrutiny .

I was then i n frequent correspondence with my

family and a few friends in Paris s o that I was one o f
,

th e first victims of this little cari cature of a tyrant A .

l etter sent to m e was h anded over to him H e had th e .

i nsolence to open it b u t what will scarcely b e believed

i s that the hunchback and his clerks could not read it ,

and actually had the i mpud enc e to send for m e to know

what it contained I confess that I could hardly m aster
.

my indignation and i nstead of giving the mthe e x p la

,

n ation they asked for I told them i n unmeasured term s

,

what I thought of their conduct I threatened to write

.

to the Paris authorities on th e m atter and had the satis ,

faction to intimidate them sufficientl y to make them give

u p my l etter The hunchback moreo v er asked m e to
.
, ,

overlook the matter and apologised saying that it was

, ,

a mistake .

‘
I was glad that th e affai r went no further for the ,

letter was from my poor m other and contained on th e ,

v i cti ms of th e time expressions w hich might have a p

r e d treasonable to the ludicrous president of the

p e a .

Tri b unal.

I again had di fficulties with the Tribunal This tim e .

it was concerning two men of my compan y who had i n ,

fringed one o f the laws i n the m aking of which the local

,

revolutionists were s o prodigal We were then under

.

the empire of the law of m a x i m u m of which th e e ffect s

,
1 90 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

m ake people laugh at his expense This last reaso n .

effectually convi nced him and h e relu ctantly gave u p

,

his hopes of redress .

My stay at Coulommiers which lasted about s i x

‘
,

m onths was otherwi se a quiet and pleasant one I then

, .

r eceived orders to go to R ozay e n i B r i e a s temporary

-

commander with twenty fi ve artillerym en and thirty

,
-

soldiers commanded by a lieutenant u nder my orders

, , .

I stayed there three weeks u p to the tim e w hen I w a s

,

”
replaced by the Contrat S ocial com pany I th en r e .

turned to Paris where I was to be mixed up with an

,

affai r which made m e bitterly regret having accep t e d

m y rank .
’
 C H A P TE R X LI V .

A RRES T OF M Y F A TH ER A N D GREA T U NCL E A F TER

TH E OF TH E RM I D OR .

TH E affair to which my father all u des i n th e last lines o f

his M S was of a very grave kind and n early cost h i m
.
,
-

his life S ome years elapsed before h e wrote th e follow

.

i ng account of it
‘
After my expedition in Bri e I returned to Pari s
, ,

wh er e I h a d very little to d o b eyond the common

exigenc ies of military service I was d rilli ng my m en
.

and perfecting myself in my techni cal studies when I ,

w a s called upon to undertake a mission of which t h e ,

r esult was n early fatal to m e and to one of my nea r

relatives .

I t was on th e 9 t h of Thermidor Great anxiet y pre

.

v ail ed throughout all th e sections of th e capital for a ll

kind s of rumours concerning th e result of th e struggle i n
the C onvention were afloat I n ou r quarter we hurrie d
.

t o o ur usual place of meeting and I was listening to

,

w hat was going on when there cam e a m essage from t h e

,

C om mun e ordering m e to go to the Plac e d e Greve with

my company I hesitated a little and I deemed i t
.
,

p rud ent to take the advice of the m eeting The ans we r .

 1 92 MEMOIRS O F THE SANS ONS .

was that I was bound to obey since the order was ,

signed by the adj utant general I went even further -

. .

B ein g personall y acquainted with the members of th e

Local Committee I consulted them observing that I
, ,

s till considered myself as b elonging to the section in ,

s pite of the e x ceptional circumstances which placed m e

under the orders of superior o ffi cers who had no concern

i n our local affairs The mem b ers o f the Committee
.

praised me for my frankness b u t were all of opinion that ,

I should obey th e ord er I had received .

I therefore c alled my men together arranged my

‘
,

c annon into batteries and started for the H 0tel d e

,
-

V ille There we waited for orders Other companies

. .

a rrived and no one knew the reason of this display of

,

arms S ome said that the N ational Convention w as dis

.

solved and that a large number of its members h ad

,
.

m ade a conspiracy ; the others assu med that it was the

C om mune at the h ead of which w ere R obespierre Cou
, ,

t hon S aint j ust and H enriot general commander of th e

,
~
, ,

N ational Guard which was dissolved Publi c O pinion

, .

h esitated between these two versions When there i s .

d iscord between the di fferent authorities which constitute

p ublic power the o fficer whose mission i t i s to obey
, , ,

is much perple x ed At such a ti me of anarchy o flflc e r s

.
,

were exposed to become the blind instruments of som e

f action and this is j ust what happened to m e
,
.

We were still waiting for orders when a y o u ng man

‘
,

who wore the uniform of a superior o ffi cer came u p and , ,

ordered u s to report oursel v es to the Commune I i m .

m ediately obeyed and accompanied , by my uncle

,
— s ub
194 MEMOIRS OF THE SANS ONS .

compromised My uncle and I were committed for trial

.

b efore the R evolutionary Tri b unal for th e passive part

,

we had enacted d uring the d ay We were arrested ( as

.

also S ergeant M asson ) in the first days of F r u c t ido r .

The m ain charge ag ainst us wa s that we had signed a

presence sheet at the H 0tel de V ille O n this sheet
-
-
.
,

after our signatures an unknown hand had written

, ,

”
And have taken the oath . N ow we had taken no o ath
at all ; for had such a proposal b een made to us we ,

could not but have percei v ed the snare prepared for u s .

This false mention had therefore been written after ou r

d eparture . M any more citizens had been deceived i n
the sam e way .

We w ere sent to the C onciergerie The indictment

‘
.

m entioned th e nam es of forty on e accomplices i n c a r

-

c erated with us I was charg ed among other crimes

.
, ,

“ w ith having been seen i n divers groups exciting to

rebellion against the N ational Convention ; with having

h elped to free H enriot arrested by order of the
,

Committee of General Safety ; in having participated i n

the conspiracy of the Commune As m ay b e s een I
.
,

had good grounds for uneasiness ; for on e of these

charges w ith the preceding Tribunal would have b een
e nough to forfeit my life ; b u t this Tribun al had been

b roken up after the events of Thermidor 9 and the ,

s uperseding court was m ore moderate and indulgent .

We were tried on the 1 st h of F r u c t i do r N o witness

‘
.

could be found in corroborati on of the first charge As .

to the second C itizen D o b o u r t president of the Tri bunal

, , ,

h appened to be among those who w ere present when

A RRES T OF MV
. FA THER AND G REA T UNCLE -
. 19 5

H enriot was resc ued and he a ffi rmed that I had nothin g,

t o d o w ith it I could have brought twent y w itnesse s

.

t o th e effect that my company had not stirred d uring

the whole of the day As to the third charge it was .

,

t h e most serious since we had reall y signed the pre,

s ence sheet -
But our counsels s eeing that it was i m po s
.
,
~

s ible to den y the fact urged the question of i ntention , ,

a nd this steered us out of d anger .

‘
We were I should add admirably defended
, , .

M asson s cause was taken up by M B o u t r o n my uncle s

’ ’
.
,

by M Juli enne and mine by M Chauveau Lagarde

.
,
.
-
.

The latter who had d efended Marie Antoinette was

,
-

e specially eloquent After som e consideration the.

Tribunal acquitted us and this d ecision w as received ,

w ith cheers I confess that I felt m uch relieved

. I had .

p assed my days of c aptivity i n the very sam e cell where

M arie Antoinette had b een i mprisoned
-
I had slept on .

her bed and this circu mstance suggested to m e the i de a

,

o f appealing to M Chauveau Lagarde wh o had de .

-

f ended her .

When we were discharged I ran to a room in th e ,

Palais d e J ustice where I knew my father was waiting

f o r the issue of the trial I embraced him weeping with .
,

j y
o,
but I was surprised to find a cloud over his coun
t e na nc e Alas ! I had forgotten that out of forty o ne
.
-

prisoners forty had been acquitted b ut that the forty ,

fi r s t was to die on the scaffold on th e following day

’
.

ph l i L o nni e r C i vil C o m m i s s i o n e r of th e s e ct i o n of th e
J o se J u e n m e ,

H 6t el de
- -
V i ll
e, e x e c ut e d o n t h e 16t h f F uc t i do o r r .

0 2
196 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

This manuscript speaks for itself It shows us th e s o n

.

of the execution er of 17 9 3 threatened in his turn with t h e

paternal axe— a prisoner in the same cell as some of t h e
royal victim s of the Revolution and appearing in his
,
.

turn before t h e same Tribunal .

 C HAPTE R XLV .

TH E DE A TH OF R OB ESP IERRE .

R O B E SP I E R R E
’
l ease of po w er had nearly come to a n
S

e nd A reaction had set in and the dictator s e nemies ’

.
,

leagued together and began to plot his overthrow and

d eath H e h a d at first for enemies the friends of
'

Danton and Camille D esmoulins a few deputies of that ,

faction of the Convention that was called the P lat i ng and ,

t h e deputies he had personally at t acked for their con

'
d uct during t h eir missions H is pretensions to Spartan .

p urity his dogmatic , and a b solute way of speaking the ,

aut h orityhe had gained his very eminent qualities of ,

s tatesmanship as well as his ambition and his disdain

,

-
for th e prej udices of j ustice and humanity had e xcited ,

ani mosity and envy When almost all had a r ig h t t o

'

.
.

s uppose that not only their liberty but t heir lives wer e
'

i n danger all met on the common g round of rel entless

,

h ostility .

Ta lli e n was the bitterest of R obespierre s foes

’
He .

h a d two l i ves to d efend — his own and that of a woman ,

Th e r
c i c um s t a nt i a l a c c o un t o f th e e x e c ut i o n of Ro b e s p i e rre , Sa i n t
J u s t , a nd C o ut h o n i s as fu r ni d t o t h dit o r o f
sh e e e th e s e Me m o i r s by h is
fa t h e r , wh o h a d t h e m f ro m C h rl s H e n ri S n o n
a e a s .
198 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

he loved — M adame de F onten ay d aughter of C abarrus, ,

the banker arrested at R obespierre s bidding Th e

,
’
.

w hole of the M ontagne was united i n one commo n ~

thought— the overthro w of the triumvirs ; for when

Robespierre was spoken of C o ut h o n and S aint J us t
,
-

were always i nc lu de d i n the anathema At Ta lli e n s ’

‘

.
.

instigation the anti R o b e s p i e r r i s t coalition grew stronger

-

eve r y d ay ; but Robespi erre Wa s s o feared that no one :

yet attempted to attack him openly Th e storm did .

not burst for a lon g time and at certain moments it was

,
.

doubtful whether R obespierre s en emies would conquer

’

but wh en it did burst on th e 9 t h of Thermidor its fury ,

was s o irresistible that th e dictator w as swept away and ,

could not even s a y a word H is arrest and that o f

.
,

S aint J ust C o u t h o n and Lebas was d ecreed

-

, , , .

While th e Convention w as sealing the fate of its most

formidabl e members another strange scene Wa s taking
,

pl ace on th e w ay to th e guillotine F o r t y fi ve prisoners

.
-

h ad been condemned to death by the R evolutionary

Tribunal J ust as sentence was being passed the report
.
,
"

that R obespierre and his friends were about to b e

j udged in their turn reached the Tribunal There w a s .

immense excitement especially among the convicts who

, ,
.

hoped that thi s circumstance might save their lives .

C harles H enri Sanson who was superintending the toile t

,

of th e convicts was not less excited for h e felt that

, ,

things might go otherwise on the morrow H e there .

tore d etermined to try and gain ti me and fi n ally to ,

obtain the postponement of t h e execution for twenty

f our hours . H e suppo sed that the first thought of t h e
200 M E I WOI RS OF TH E SANS ON S .

and that w e have a chance of being executed i n you r

’
stead .

'
The poor fellow s intellect w as s o confu sed that h e
’

d id not seem to understand .

’
‘
Yes continued Charles H enri if I w ere in you r
, ,
‘

place and you l n m 1n e I don t know whether I could ,

’

resist the temptation of escaping .

’

Couter d e Boulot looked a t Charles H enri but did ,

not move ; but one of the women unders tood Charles

H enri s intention for s h e i m mediately addressed th e
’

c rowd
M ercy citizens we are not e ne m 1e s of th e peopl e
,

S ave us save us ! ,
’

This was a signal for a chorus of prayers sobs and , ,

.

m oans from the other carts M y grandfather s assistants .

’

w e r e a s moved as h e was and c ertainly would have

'

offered no resistanc e h ad some attempt been made to

remove the prisoners fr om their hands But the peopl e .

would not move ; vain expressions of compassion rose

from the thick m asses of heads but nothing more At , .

on e moment the pressu re was so great around the carts

’

that it w as i mpossible to advance Those who were .

nearer to the convicts and the executioner were how ,

ever seized with a strange panic An opening was

,
.

m ade and there was n o further prete x t for delaying the

,

executio n which d uly took place

,
.

O n his return hom e my grandfather found an order ,

of F o u q u i e r Ti nvi lle s to go to the Palais d e J ustice and

-
’

remain there all night .

The members of the Convention who had been

 TH E DEA TH OF R OB ESPIERRE . 20 1

.
rrested had for som e t i me been d etained in the o ffi c e
a
‘

of the Com mittee o f Public S afety and from thence they ,

had been taken to prison ; R obespierre the elder to the

-

L uxembourg S aint J ust to the Ecossais C o u t h o n to La

,
-

Bourbe Le bas to the house o f j ustice of the d epartment

, ,

a nd Robespierre the younger to La F orc e J ust as t hey .

w ere leaving the Tuileries H enriot the general i n chief , ,

- -

o f th e N ational Guar ds and his aides d e camp were ,

- -

brought in . 1

O n t h e o t h e r hand the C om mune was not i nactive ,

a nd was doing its utmost to save R obespierre and

s truggle with the Convention I t proclai med i nsu r r e c
.

tion and sent emissaries to all parts of Paris to call

,
.

t ogether the N ational Guard in order to overthro w the ,

C onvention . A part of the artillery o f the N ational -

G uard took R obespierre s part and proposed to attack

’

t h e Tuileries With their assistance C o ffi nh a l who was

.
,

looking for R obespierre broke into the o ffice o f the Com

,

m i t t e e found H e n r i o t and freed hi m

, ,
H enriot mounted .

a horse and resumed the command of th e N ational Guard

.

b u t instead of m arching on the Assembly h e galloped ,

o ff to the H 0tel de — -
V i lle there to t a ke the advic e o f
,

R obespierre who on his sid e had been freed by his

, , ,

f riends H e n r i o t s want of boldness in this circum

’
.

stance saved the Convention the members of which had ,

t i me to organise their own forces ; and while H enriot ,

R obespierre Saint —J ust Lebas C o u t h o n Ro b espierre

, , , ,

t h e y ounger Pa y an and D u mas were losing time in

, ,

b ootless d eliberation L eo n a r d Bourdon one o f the r e

, ,

r n t a t i v e s supported by a large num b er o f N ationa l

p e s e ,
20 2
‘

MEMOIRS OF TH E S ANS ONS .

Guards surrounded the H 0tel de V ill e and rushed int o

,
- -
’

the hall where Ro b espierre and his friends had taken

refuge There still remains considerable d oubt as t o
.

what th en took place This is the account given b y .

Barrere in hi s report of the l o t h of Thermidor Th e ‘

gu ilty ones were seized with terror when th e section s

—
entered th e H 0tel d e V ille Lebas blew his brains out
-
.
,

Co u t h o n wounded himself R obespierre the younger , .

j umped o ut of a window Robespierre th e elder a t ,

t empted to commit suicid e S aint J ust was captured .

-

’
D u mas sought shelter in a garret H enriot to ok to flight ,
.

H istory has distrusted B a r r er e s o fficial account for it i s ’

i n glari ng contradiction with th e account furnished to the

C onvention b y Léonard B 0urdon on the morning of t h e
l oth . H e i ntroduced a gend arme who he said had , ,

killed two of the conspirators with his own hand a n d ,

these conspirators h e takes care to designate by nam e

We found Ro b espierre th e elder armed with a dagger ,

which t h i s b r a ve gendarm e wrenched from his hand ; h e

'

a ls o struck C o u t h o n who was also armed

’
, .

To u lo ng e o n an ex member o f the C onstituen t:

,
-

Assembly who wr o te in 1 8 1 2 a ffirms that Ro b e s p i e r r e s ,

’
L

j aw was broken by a pistol shot There i s then every -

.
, ,

reason to think that Robespierre did not attempt t o

commit suicid e M Louis Blanc shows this very clearl y
.

i n the notes which follow the seventh chapter of t h e

tenth volum e of his H istory of the Revolutio n A c .
’

c ording to M Louis Blanc M é da l th e gendarm e m en

.
, ,

t i o ne d b y Léonard Bourdon entered the hall of the ,

H otel de V ill e lo ng before the l atter ; recognisin g

- -
 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ON S .

R obespierre the elder was placed on a hand barro w -

a nd carried to the Conventi on H e was deposited on a .

l arge table i n one of the rooms of the Committee of

Public S afety ; a nd there h e remained from t h ree to ,

e ight o clock A M , a prey to the sarcasms of those who

’

t w o days before trembled before him At last his wounds .

were dressed and h e was taken to the Conciergerie ,

where S aint J ust Co ut h o n Payan and the others had

-

, , ,

p receded him .

At five o clock A M the public prosecutor or dered my

’
. .

g randfather to erect the guillotine on the Place de Gr eve .

Charles H enri S anson had s carcely traversed the court

y ard o f the Palais when h e was recalled and told to
wait A message from the Committee of Public S afety
.

a ltered the first instructions given to F ouquie r ; the

Place de Gr eve which had at first been selected for the
,

e x ecuti on because of the hatred felt for Robespierre in

the neighbouring sections was abandoned and the final , ,

d ecision was that Robespierre should b e executed on

t h e Place de la R evo lut i o n As some d oubts remained.

as to the disposition of the inhabitants of the F aubourg

S aint Antoine Charles H enri was instructed to remove
-

,
.

t h e sca ffold to its new scene by a rounda b out route .

’
H e s e t out with his assistants at s i x o clock in the
morning ; neither h e nor his b rother therefore were
'

, ,

present when Ro b espierre and his companions arrived at

t h e Conciergerie b u t he was informed of w
,
hat t ook place
b y the turn k eys The sc affold was taken down and
.

transferred to the carts D uring this operation an i m

.
 TH E DEA TH OF R OB ESPIE RRE .

m ense crowd assembled in the Place du Tr one I n spit e .

of th e Ro be s p i e r r i s t tendencies of the F aubourg n o ,

hosti le feeling was manifested b ut as th e carts moved ,

away m ore than one cried : A good j ourney to y ou b u t ,

’
don t come back
’
A compact m ass i n which y oun g
.
,

people were in a maj ority escorted my grandfather and ,

his assistants and when they reached the Plac e d e la

,

R evo lu t i o n the escort was s o numerous that th e gen

darmes had great d i fficulty i n clearing the spot where
the sc affold was to b e erected This w as not done b e .

’
fore two o clock P M .

My grandfather and father had g o ne back to t h e

C onciergeri e at m id d ay There was as much excitement
-
.

i nsid e the prison as outside All the prisoners had been .

s o near d eath that they could hardly believe their senses .

A s I previously stated Robespierre had been brought b e

,

’
tween eight and nine o clock ; h e had been deposited on
the bed i n which Danton h ad slept one night H e di d .

n ot utter a single groan ; h e only spoke two or three

times and on account of his wounds h i s words wer e
, , ,

s carcely intelligible S om e linen and water were offered

.

to hi m ; h e washed his wounds and tried to sleep b u t ,

c ould not d o s o H e th en rose and asked for i nk a n d

. .

p aper but formal orders had been given and the turn
, ,

ke y refused with the evasiveness of language usual to h i s

profession R o b espierre mad e a gesture of anger and
.

threat but he immediately regained his sel f possession

,
-
.

Ro b espierre the younger who was badl y hurt was i n , ,

a neighbouring c ell C o u t h o n was in the head turnkey s ’

room ; and Saint J ust occupied a cell which in remem ;

-

,
2 06 I WE M OI RS OF TH E SANS ONS .

brance of the massacre of S eptember had b een called ,

the national slaughterhouse .

’

’
The Tribunal was to sit at t en o clock but an u ne x ,

p e c t e d di ffi culty arose According. to t h e law it was

n ecessary that the identity of the prisoners should b e

e stablished by two members of t h e Commune ; but as

a ll the members of the Commune were i mplicated i n

R obespi erre s conspiracy this formality could not be ac

’

complished F ouquier Tinville acquainted the Co nve n

.
-

tion w ith this di fficul ty ; the Assembly suggested that

t h e local committees should send delegates with the

o bj ect of identify ing the accused .

The Tribunal began to s i t at half past twelve S eil -

.

lein presided ; F ouquier Ti nville assisted by Li e ndo n his

-

, ,

s ubstitute ,
w as at his usual place R obespierre th e .

e lder was carried i n on a hand barro w his younger -

brother w as supported by two gendarmes ; two other

g endarmes carried C o u t h o n i n an arm chair After b eing -
.

d uly identified they were taken back to their cells and ,

t h e Tribunal continued to proceed against those who

w ere brought up after the ringleaders .

L i e ndo n F o u q u i e r s substitute h ad ordered that the

’

, ,

c ulprits should be prepared as they l eft the Tribunal in

’
,

’
o rder to save tim e At two o clock C harles H enri
.

S a nson his s o n his brother and t w o assistants entered

, , ,

’
R obespierre s cell H e was lying down his eyes fi x ed
.
,

o n the window facing his b ed H e did not move w hen

.

t hey entered nor di d he even look round

,
My father .

a sked hi m to get up ; his eye was still brilliant and

s eemed to ask Wh y Before an answ er was returne d
20 8 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

b unal ; Payan agent of the C ommune ; V ivier one o f

, ,

the j udges of the Tri b unal and presid ent o f t h e Ja c o b i ns ;

Lescot —F leuriot late m ay or o f Paris ; Simon the cob
, ,

b ler ( keeper of the son of Louis XV I ) and ten othe r

'

m uni cipal o fficers H enr iot had had an eye pulled out
.
'

'
i n the scu ffl e which attended hi s arrest h e wa s h orri b l e
to b ehold N othing could be more dismal than the co r
.

t og o as it d escended the staircase of th e C onciergeri e

r

two dyi ng m en and a crippl e were at the head o f it and ,

a corpse was in the rear Le b as bo dy followed Robes .

’

pierre as V a la z é s corpse had followed the Gi rondins

,
’
.

At half past four the carts appeared on the quay

-

N o crowd ever equalled that which was assembled to s e e

the last of Robespierre Most histori ans have related .

his sinister j ourney to the scaffold and I have little i n ,

formation to give beyond what has been already written .

The dram a was taking place around the e x ecutioners .

rather than with them in th e streets rather than in the ,

1
carts M a x imilian Robespi erre seated on some straw
.
,

which one of th e assistants had provided for him w a s ,

l eaning against the side of the cart in which h e was h i s .

face was swollen and livid The fi ercest cries the most .
,

vehem ent e x clamations left him undisturbed ; he kept his ,

e y es c losed during the whol e of the j ourney H is brother .

,

who had attempted suicide by j umping out of a wi ndow ,

was almost insensible Co u t h o n appeared astonished at .

th e rage o f the multitude and i njh i s eyes which were very , ,

soft and i ntelligent the utmost surprise could b e read ,

.

1
Not s t a ndi ng , a s M M i ch e l e t
. a ss e rt s th at h e wa s , i n h i s H i s t ory f
o

z e R e vo lu t i o n , v o l v i i
t/ . . p .
5 15 .
 TH E D E A TH OF R OB ES PIERRE . 209

W hen D umas ans wered to some p a s s i ng t a u nt My only ,

r e g ret is that I did not get all thes e b lackguards u i llo

g
C o u t h o n shook his head thoughtfully
’
t ined,
S aint .

J u st was th e only one who openly a ffronted the storm

and he did s o without anger b om b ast or weakness , , .

T h e firmness of his convictions probab ly elevated his

mind above t hese manifestations O nce only did h e
.

l ook down a woman near the cart was insulting Robes

p ierre ,
and charging hi m w ith the d eath of her daughter .

S aint Just smiled b itterly and h e w as heard to s a y as

-

, ,

i f speaking to himself : H er d aughter ! Perhaps s h e

’
would have sold her for twenty livres .

W h en the carts reached the house of the Duplay

f amily where Robespierre used to live the d rivers were
, ,

o b liged to stop Rings were formed around the carts

.
,

a n d the people d anced madly and furiously A child .

’
brought a pail of blood from a neighbouring butcher s ,

’
and the door and walls of Robespierre s abode were
s meared w ith it I t was useless for Charles H enri
.

S anson to order the gendarmes to clear the w ay ; the

g endarmes j oi ned the people and a d eplorable scene
followed This d isgusting m anifestation of feeling on
.

the part of the agents of authorit y had al w ays been

a llowed since the Q ueen s execution and there was no
’

h elp for it Robespierre opened his eyes and closed

.

them again when the cart cam e to a standstill but this ,

s u prem e i nsult left hi m as unmoved as before .

I t was a quarter past s i x o clock when the oo r t ojgo at

-
’

l ast reached the Place de la R evo lu t i o n The con v icts .

w ere remove d from the carts G o b e a u ex substitute of.

,
-

V OL . II . P
2 10 M EMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

th e public prosecutor and mem b er of the C ommune w a s ,

the first who suffered M a x imilian R obespierre stoo d .

leaning against on e of th e car ts his b ack turned to t h e ,

s caffold H i s b rother was held up by two gendarmes

.
,

his wound s not allowing hi m to stand without sup

p ort .C o u t h o n was in a chair specially provided fo r
him When Saint J ust s turn cam e h e embraced t h e
.
-
’

cripple and in p a s s i ng b e fo r e the Robespierres he pro

‘

n o u nc e d th e only word of F arewell ! H is voice b e ‘ ’

t r a y e d no emotion Robespierre the elder nodded i n

.

answer turned round and looked on while his friend was

, ,
:

being strapped to the weigh —plank Robespierre w a s .

th e tenth to appear on th e platform ; h e went up t h e

steps of the scaffold without an y assistance whatever .

H is dem eanour exhibited neither weakness nor assume d

b ravery ; his eye was cold and c alm Charles H enri .

told one of his men to take off the linen in which t h e

’
prisoner s fac e was wrapped ; the man di d as h e was
d irected and uncovered the broken j aw The pain m us t .

ha v e b een horri b l e for Robespi erre uttered a fearful cry

, .

The b lood trickled d own from the j aw and th e mouth

remained wide open H e was im medi atel y strapped
.

down and less than a minute after the knife fell Th e

, , , .

h ead was shown to the crowd j ust like Danton s and t h e ,

’

’
King s .

A natural wish to contradict whatever m ay b e of a .

natu re to cast undeserved discredit on my famil y i n ,

d uces m e here to add ress an o b servation to an eminen t

historian I n his H istory of the Revolution ( p 2 6 5
.
’
.
,

vo l M Louis Blanc says When R o b espierre w a s ‘

. .
2 12 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

C HAPTE R X LV I .

L E SU R OU E S .

A L TH OU G H it is i mpossi b le for me to m ention all th e

i nstances of capital punish ment that occurred in th e
course o f th e F ren ch Revolution I cannot pass to ,

another phasis of these M emoirs without dwelling o n _

one of the m any criminal cases of the period which i s ,

still and is likely to remain one o f the most notorious

, ,

c a us es oolé br es I allude to the L e s ur q u e s affai r

’
. .

At th e beginning of the year 4 of th e F rench

R epubli c considerab le terror prevailed in the provinces
i n consequenc e of the sinister d eeds of a l arge gang of
bandits who styled themsel v es the C/z a nfi onr s ( literall y
'

Almost every day th e news came o f the

c apture of some castle or farm attended with atrocio u s
,

scenes in which these formida b le malefactors surpassed

the cruelty of forme r j udicial tortures The name o f .

’
Chauffeurs was but too significant ; the gang had
chosen the locality of L a Beauce for the scene of their
operations and thei r least cru el crim e was murd er
, .

These r u ffi a n s w ith th e o bj ect of compelling their

,

v ictims to point out the spot where their proper t y was

c oncealed had invented an atrocious i nfl i c t i o n They

'

, .
 L E S UR Q UE S .
2 13

l ighted a large fire and brought the feet of the victim i n

contact with the flames until a confession was extorted .

The inhabitants of La B eauc e were s o terrified that they

dared not venture out of their houses even in broad
dayl ight .

J ust when outrages of this kind were being per

e t r a t e d with th e utmost audacity a report reached
p ,

Paris to the effect that the mail of Lyons had been

waylaid The cou rier and th e postilion had been found
.

i n a lifeless state at a short distance from each other ,

and the only clu e found near the scen e of th e murder

was a deserted horse and cart .

Th e polic e i mm ediately s e t to w ork Citizen Dau .

b anton j ustice o f the peace of the section o f the Po nt

,

N eu f was entrusted with the care of discovering th e

,

guilty parties A man of the name of C o u r r i o l w a s

.

arrested at Chateau Thi erry and he was found in pos

-

sessi on o f sums and letters which were eventually proved

to have been stolen from the mail Co u r r i o l was trans
.

ferred to Paris together with one of his friends n amed

,

G o li e r and a third individual n a m e d G u e s no who lived

, ,

in the same house as C o u r r i o l This tre b le capture

.
,

however threw b u t little light on the mystery Co u r r i o l

, .

alone was seriously compromised b u t nothing could b e

proved against G o li e r and G u e s no whose social position
,

and antecedents were above question G u e s n o was .

finally s e t at libert y H e was returning to the p r e fe c

.

ture of poli ce to as k for his passport when h e met one ,

of his compatriots of the nam e of L e s u r q u e s and forth ,

with he told him of the unpleasant position in which

2 14 MEMOIR S OF TH E S A N S ON S .

h e had b een placed H is story was not finishe d whe n

.

they reached the prefecture and G u e s no proposed to ,

L e s u r q u e s to come in with him and hear the end of his

account while his passport was being looked for .

S carcely however had L e s u r q u e s and his com

, ,

panion entered the ante chamber of M D a ub a nt o n s

-
. -
’

closet when they becam e aware that two of th e wit

nesses called on behalf of the prosecution in the M ail
affai r were looking at them with m ore than ordina r y
c uriosity. These w itnesses who were wom en thought
, ,

they identified G u e s n o and L e s u r q ue s as two of the

supposed murd erers whom they had seen at a short
,

d istanc e from th e place where the crime had been com

m it t ed and they hastened to inti mate the fact to
M D a u b a nt o n This magistrate was much perplexed
. .
,

for it appeared to him highly improbable that two

criminals would thus expose themselves to instant r e
cognition and rush into the lion s den L e s u r q u e s
,
’
.
,

especially had no reason whatever for coming to the

,

prefecture ; and as to G u e s no his presence was s u ffi ,

c i e n t ly j ustified .But the evidence of the two women

was s o positive that h e felt it his duty to arrest L e
surques and G u e s no .

The two pris o ners had great chances of escape in ,

s pite of the a ffirmations of the women s o long as the ,

case remained in the hands of M D a ub a nt o n ; but for .

,

unknown reasons the affair was sent for investigation

,

t o the c r 1m i n a l tribunal of M elun ; and the instructing

magistrate of this last court instead of i mitating the ,

prudence of his Parisian colleague and trying to di s

2 16 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANSONS .

Th is severity but too plainly indicated the result o f x

the trial The fifteen witnesses who certified an a li bi

.
,

were not b eli eved and the evidence of the two women,
,

together with that of five other doubt ful witnesses wa s ,

declared conclusive As for L e s u r q u e s h e did not for a

. .

moment cease to maintain his innoc ence .

As th e j urors were preparing to retire a woman wh o ,

had at first been arraigned M adel ein e Br eb an mistress

, ,

of Co u r r i o l b egged the j udge s leave to m ake an 1m

,
’
- 1

portant statement Sh e d eclared that out of the s i x

.

prisoners at the b a r her lo v er alone was guilt y and that ,

G u e s n o and L e s u r q u e s were the vi ctims of an extr a

ordinary and fatal rese mblance with two of the real
murd erers named V idal and D u b o s c The president .
,

whose duty it was to investigate this strange and capital

’
fact especially after the evidenc e of L e s u r q u e s wit
,

nesses d rily answered that the trial was closed and that
, ,

i t was too late to take evid ence ; and the Tribunal after ,

h earing the verdict of the j ury acquitted G u e s no and ,

Bruer condemned Pierre Thomas Richard to penal

,
-

servitude for twenty years and to public e x hibition fo r

’

s ix hours and passed sentence of d eath on Cp u r r i o l

, ,

L e s u r q u e s and D avi d Bernard

,
O n hearing his con.

de m n a t i o n L e s u r q u e s who had been firm and collected

, ,

throughou t the trial l ost his self possession an d raisin g

,
-

his hands to h eaven he e x claimed

‘
Th e crime whi ch i s imputed to m e is ind eed
atrocious and deserves death ; b u t if it is horri b le t o
m urd er on th e high road it is not less s o t o abuse t h e
l a w and convict an innocent m an A d ay will com e .
 L E S UR Q UES .
2 17

when my innocence will b e recognised and then may ,

m y blood fall upon th e j urors who have s o lightly con

v i c t e d m e and on the j udges who have influenced thei r
,

decision ! ’

S trange to s a y C o u r r i o l th e really guilty convict

, , ,

appeared but slightly preocc upied w ith his own fate .

When he was again i n the Conciergeri e h e thought onl y

of corroborating the d eclaration of M adeleine Br eban ,

his mistress and of saving the life of Bernard whom he

, ,

knew to b e but slightly guilty and of L e s u r q u e s whos e

, ,

innocence he was fully aware o f H e confirmed hi s .

mistress s evidence and denounced V idal and D ubos e

’

as the real perpetrators of t h e c r i m e adding that Made

'

leine Br eban who was free could assist th e j udicial

, ,

authorities i n th e apprehension of the culprits Two .

d ays after h e repeated his declaration at the same tim e ,

revealing th e names of other accomplices altogether u n

known .

Other witnesses asserted that during the trial ,

M ad elein e Br eban had spoken to them of L e s u r q u e s

i nnocence One of them said that he had seen the two
.

c ulprits confoun ded with L e s u r q u e s and G u e s no Thi s .

resemblance had been i ncreased as far as th e forme r ,

was concerned by D u b o s c putting on a fai r wig which

, ,

completed h i s resemblance to L e s u r q u e s The Tribuna l .

,

h owever refused to consider these new facts and t h e

, ,

e x ecution was a b out to take place when the barriste r

who had d efended L e s u r q u e s appealed to th e Directoir e
on behal f of his client P ublic opinion was strongly i n
.

favour of th e convict and this more than anything else, ,

2 18 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

i nduced t h e D i r e c t o i r e to d elay the execution Mean

'

while Co u r r i o l sent them the following letter

I s it then tru e that my crime is to provoke a do ub le
, ,

m urder ? Th e truthful declarations I have constantly

m ad e h ave not saved two innocent men Can I at least .

;hope that to ,
avenge their death y ou will give express
,

o rders for the apprehension of the four individuals I

have designated and who are my only accomplices

,

The truth will be discovered before long but before ,

t his th e innocent prisoners w ill perish

,
Th e i nno ce n t s
.

I repeat it and cannot help repeating to the last minute

,

o f m y life
’
.

Th e Directoire referred the affair to the Consei l d es

C inq cents
-
A committee was appointed and Count
.
,

S im eon was appointed reporter The choice was ill

.

a dvised C ount Si m eon was more engrossed by the

technicaliti es of the l aw than moved by a real sense of
justic e . H is long and decl amatory report went against
th e unhappy L e s u r q u e s whose fate was henceforth
,

s ealed .

L e s u r q u e s heard the fatal new s with the stoicis m

which had not for a single moment forsaken him H e b ad e .

f are w ell to his famil y sent a lock of his hair to each of

,

his children and prepared for d eath with the cooln ess
,

of an undisturb ed conscience O n the 9 t h of Brumaire .

,

y ear 5 ( Octo b er 3 0 my
,
grandfather and father
proceeded to the Conciergeri e and found the convicts in ,

t h e hall through which s o many had passed d uring the

,

Reign of Terror D avid B ernard was in a state of utter

.

p rostration ; C o u r r i o l on the contrary w as excited As

, , .
2 20 M E I WOI RS OF TH E SANS ONS .

Al l preparations were now concluded L e s u r q u e s o f .

,

his own choice was d ressed i n spotless wh ite s y m b ol o f

, ,

his in nocence H e was the first to take h i s place in t h e

.

cart Co u r r i o l followed him and Bernard who had , ,

fainted w a s deposited on the straw

,
Then began th e
.

m ost dismal and e x traordinary j ourney that ever was

mad e from th e Conciergeri e to the Place d e Gr eve -

L e Su r q u e s and Co u r r i o l stood i n front At every turn.

of the wheel C o u r r i o l exclaimed in a piercing voic e

,

I am guilty L e s u r q u e s i s innocent !
’

And for twent y minutes that is d uring the whol e

,

way to the guillotine h e perseveringl y repeated his awful

,

protest against j ustic e Th e crowd w a s horrified and

.
,

there were few who did not b elieve the murderer w h o

c on fessed his crim e but who proclaimed his companion s
,
’

i nnocence Co u r r i o l again repeated his words at th e

.

foot of the scaffold with e x traord inary energ y an d

vehemence and the thump of the knife but j ust covered
,

h i s suprem e shri ek
L e s u r q u e s is innocent
L e s u r q u e s did not utter a word H e looked at .

C o ur r i o l with a touching e x pression of gratitu de and ,

when his turn cam e h e advanced firml y s ay ing ,

’
M ay God forgive m y j udges as I forgive them !
Th e reh a b ilitation which the unfortunate L e s u r q u e s
hoped for is y et to come I t was in vain that his family
.

sought i t with th e most no b le and interesting constancy ;

vainly ha v e j ournalists writers and public opinion gener
, ,

ally s upported their efforts The j udicial authoritie s

.

h ave perseveringly refused to recognise this flagran t

 L E S U R Q UE S .
22 1

1
m iscarriage of j ustice And yet the innocence o f
.

L e s u r q u e s was amply d emonstrated a short time afte r

h i s execution : al l the real murderers of the courier of
“

Lyons designated by C o u r r i o l were captured ; D u b o s c

h imself whose fatal resem b lance to L e s u r q u e s was the
,

’
c ause of the latter s death was taken and tried D ub o s c , .

was a r u ffi a n of th e worst kind H e denied the crime .

,

d oubtless i n the hope of saving his life b u t his protesta

tions were of no avail ; he was e x ecuted j ust four years
a fter L e s u r q ue s Two years later a n other murderer
.
,

d esignated b y C o u r r i o l was taken and e x ecuted ; his

n ame was Roussy Before his death he made a full .

confession and entirely cleared L e s u r q u e s who had no ,

a cquaintance whatever with any of the murderers o f

the c ourier of Lyons .

Meanwhile the family of L e s u r q u e s were in the

—
h orrors of want and d espair their property was con
fi s c a t e d his wife and mother b e came m ad
,
The latter .

d ied in a lunatic asylum the former only recovered her

s enses some years after F ive and twenty years elapsed
.
- -

b efore any notice of the affaire L e s u r q u e s was taken

’

b y the State it was only under the R estoratio nthat the

i nd efatigable champions of the L e s u r q u e s family o b
t a i n e d a revision of th e sentenc e as fa r as material

i nterests w ere concerned The Minister of F inances at .

last recognised that th e confiscation of L e s u r q ue s pro ’

p erty was illegal and this property

,
was dul y restored
t o the children But with this the descendants of
.

It i s o nl y t wo y r s i nc e
e a s th e gr n d c h i ldre n f
a o L e s ur q ue s m a de
-

a n o t h e r i n e ffe c t u l
a t t em p t t o o b t
a a i n t h e r e vi s i n o f h i s t ri
o al —
. ED N
. .
2 22 MEMOIR S OF TH E SA NSONS .

L e s ur q u e s Were not satisfied

With a perseveranc e .

which can only b e compared to that shown by t h e

family of Lally To lle nda l they have appealed to j ustic e
-

under every successive Government ; but less fortunat e ,

than the s o n of the governor of F rench I ndia they are ,

still waiting for j ustice and th e F rench courts h ave not

‘

seen the last of them yet .

I h ave now e x hausted the d ocuments and notes left

by my ancestors and particularly by m y grandfathe r
,

and father There i s a gap in the information of th e

.

latter ; it may appear a serious o ne S i nce 1t e x tends over

nearly fifteen years but the omission for which o f
, , , .

course I am in no way re s ponsible is more apparent

, ,

than real Executions were not very frequent und er t h e

.

Consul ate and t h e Empi re and I cannot conscientiously ,

draw upon my i magi nation by putting together t h e

fragmentary i nform ation gathered from conversation
with my father on the executions of F ouquier Tinville
’

C a r r a i n Bab oeuf C a do u da l & c

, , My task i s now wholl y,
.

personal : I have to relate my own i mpressions a nd

what I have seen Th e impressions of an executione r
.

m ay seem to the reader almost as interesting as t h e

e v ents he has to chronicle this may be my e x cuse for
dilating upon my education and the circumstance s ,

which una v oidab ly led m e to em b race a professi o n

which although it had been that of nine generations o f
,

my ances t ors was none the less contrary to my taste s

,

and aspirations .
2 24 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

c o r ne r e d h at ,
his knee breeches and thin bladed sword
-

,
-

h e u sed to stop before the flowers he had reared himself ,

a n d he looked at t hem with som ething like tenderness .

O ne d a y I remember that h e exclaimed before a number

o f tulips of the finest red

H ow fresh how red they are ! I f they saw them

,

t hey would s a y that I water them with blood

Young as I was these words struck m e S ome days

, .

b e fore I had heard an ab surd vampire story which

h a d le ft a deep impression on my m ind Someho w or .

o ther the two ideas got together in my head and in the

, ,

e vening I could not help asking my mother as I Wa s ,

going to b e d
Mamma grandfather says he waters his flow ers with
,

b lood is it because he is a vampire ?

My mother started Be qui et H enri be quiet
.
, , ,
’

s h e said who told you those nasty things

I then rel ated to h er th e vampire story and what I
.

h a d heard in the garden She m ade m e promise not to

.

s a y anything more abo u t it The circu mstance passed .

away from my mind for a time I was reminded of i t .

l ater and then I understood what my grandfather

,

meant .

O ur position was more than prosperous ; in spite of

the losses we had incurred under the Monarchy through
t h e wretched state of the finances our fortune was con ,

s i de r a b le Chirurgery had always been a very prod u c

.
‘

t ive resource for our famil y I t is worth remarking that

.

a fter the suppression of the right of Aa vag e alluded to ,

i n the first part of this record up to the establishmen t ,

 M Y VO CA TION .
22 5

in F rance of a regular ad ministration our s alary w a s ,

often nomin al for it was frequentl y le ft unpaid It w a s

, .

only after the Revolution that we regularly received the

remuneration attached to our o ffice I t was mainl y o n .

thei r personal fortune that my ancestors subsisted .

H owbeit the property which eventually cam e down t o

my hands was more than su fficient to guarantee my
indep end ence and enable m e not to h ave recourse t o
,

the guillotine to earn my b read My family could then .

hope to see m e forsake the traditional o ffi ce withou t

appreh ension for my prospects I f my father whos e .
,

timid and good natured disposition was altogether u n

-

fitted for his profession had been unable to shirk it i t

, ,

was i n consequenc e of certai n circumstances which could

i n no way affect m e As I said before and as t h e
.
,

reader may have seen my grandfather had curiou s ,

notions before the R evolution on th e legitimacy of h i s

, ,

office and h e had brought up his son in th e idea that h e

,

shoul d take his place after his death Obedience w a s .

always the first of virtues in our family and my fathe r ,

had o b eyed his father b ut not however without internal

, , ,

struggles ; for I remember hearing my great uncle -

Charlemagne S anson s a y that more than once h e had

,

felt pity for his manifest distress in the executions which

’
they both witnessed H aving submitted to his father s
.

w ill h e however intended to educate m e after his own

,

fashion H e w as d eceived in his surmise and I will

.
,

presently explain how .

I had j ust completed my seventh year when my

grandfather d ied H e was very old and h i s last
.
,

V OL . 11
.
Q
2 26 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ON S .

moments were peaceful and free from su ffering H alf an .

hour before his d eath he called my father to his bedsid e .

’
H enri he said to him I am going awa y and I
, ,
‘
,

have to s a y to you a few parting words before I die I .

am aware that you never liked you r profession I think ,

however th at I l eave you a good example Believe me

,
.
,

l et us abid e by the station which fat e awarded to u s .

I t is of no use to hope that the w orl d w ill ever receive

you your origin can neither b e fo r g o t t e n n o r forgiven ‘

D o not take another occupation for yourself or your s o n .

I t would b e a d esertion from you r duty Th ere h a s not.

b e en a single instance i n ou r family of such desertion .

O ur family is certainly th e most ancient and importan t

”
i n th e profession but others have done as we have done .

F o r a long time I sincerely believed that we w ere very

u seful to society and that in no professio n were s elf
,

d enial and devotion shown more than in ours but I h ave ,

s een such singular events that my opinions are slightly

altered n o w S ome day we may b e suppressed j ust as
.
,

m any other things have been sup p ressed . U ntil then .

b e certain that no one has a right to blame or i nsult

you You are not responsible for the blood you shed
. .

D o not forget that the j udge who passes sentence is

’
more responsibl e than you are .

T h e old man s strange legacy sealed my destiny

’
.

I had then no notion of what all this meant But a .

few d ays after my grandfather s death I heard a conver

’

sation bet ween m y fat h e r and my m other the words of

.

which return to my memory so m uch d o they remin d

,

m e of my sacrificed existence .
2 28 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

C H A P TE R XLVI I I .

M Y ED U CA TION

A P A RT from the domestic loss I h ave related i n the

preceding chapter my childhood was happ y and peace
,

ful My grandmother outlived her husband and s h e

.
,

shared with my mother th e management of the house .

O ur life was retired b ut quiet and pleasant A very

, .

limited number of fri ends c ame to s e e u s on Sundays ,

b ut thei r nu mber grew thinner every d ay .

’
I m ust ask leave not to m ention my mother s maiden
nam e She belonged to a family that was not of our
.

pro fession and the members of this family might be

,

d ispleased if I revealed their relationship to me Even .

my grandchildren might thereby discover their origin ,

for they know neither my n ame nor what I h ave been .

I had a son b ut h e died and the nam e of S anson shall

,

therefore di e with m e S uch are t h e cruel consequences

.

of the reprobation whi ch attaches to our functions and ,

which haunts us even i n our retreat after we have been

fortunate enough to shake off th e yoke The Or a o i of
.
'

the Republic of V enice constantly w ore m asks and thus ,

concealed their identity This advantage i s denied us

. .

M y mother gave m e my first education I was then .

 ‘

MY ED UCA TION . 229

handed ov e r to the care of an old abbé who continued

’
m y mother s task My instructor was kind considerate
.
, ,

a nd clever ; and his death I considere d as a great mis

’
fortune The old man s demise caused much perplexity
.

to my parents They were fully aware of the necessity

.

of not interrupting my studies but on the other hand ,

“

they hesitated very m uc h ab out sending m e to school ,

where sho u
, ld my origi n b e di s c o ve r e d I could not b ut , ,

b e despised and cold should ered by my schoolfellows

-

’
I m ay add that my father s profession was not yet
known to m e ; and although it was intended that I
should follo w the s am e calling the secret had hithert o ,

been kept b ack fro m m e I t w as to my mother that I .

was ind ebted for th e continuation of my education .

My father had j ust sold the old farm of B rie Comte -

Robert ; my mother persuaded hi m to buy a country

house in the neighbourhood of Paris and close to one o f ,

th e rural colleges that are s o num erous i n th e suburbs

of th e capital B runoy was at last selected My father
. .

bought there a pretty villa and the purchase was mad e ,

u nder th e n am e of M de Lon g val I t was under t h e

. .

first name of my ancestors that I w ent to school .

The ti m e I spent at Brunoy was the most pleasan t

p eriod of my life I liked school
. and my schoolfellows ,

l iked m e But this h appy existence was not of long

.

d uration ; w 1nt e r obliged my family to return to Paris .

I h a d just compl eted my t w elfth year My studies .

w ere rather advan ced ; I had been taught music and

d rawing for which I had a nat u ral taste ; and m y
,

f ather knowing how pernicious i s the i nterruptio n o f

,
2 30 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

studies at a cri t ical age resolved to send m e to school

‘

i n Paris u nder m y r ea l na m e N ear our house was a .

'

large I nstitution which fo llo we d t h e classes of th e

‘ ’

Lycée Charlemagne My father called on M M ichel . .

,

the he d m aster and asked h i m if h e w ould a dmit m e

a ,

to his school M Michel was somewhat taken aback

. .
,

b ut after a moment of reflection h e resolutely accepted ,

observing however that it was preferabl e that I should

, ,

conceal my origin from my companions .

I then b ecam e a pupil of the I nstitution M ichel .

M y life was pretty nearly wh at i t had been at Brunoy .

E very day we went to the Lycée under th e superi ntend

enc e of a crusty u s h e r a nd the remainder of our tim e
,
.

was d evoted to preparation I was a day boy and I .

-

therefore enj oyed th e privileges o f hom e life O n .

S undays we used to go to Brunoy a place which I als o ,

s a w with pleasure .

At B runoy I had formed none of those j uvenile friend

ships which are s o com mon at school I t was otherw ise .

at th e Institution M ichel I becam e very friendl y with .

two or three schoolfellows of mine and especially with ,

T whose parents li k e mine lived i n the F aubourg

, ,

S aint D enis H e was also a d ay boy We used t o

-
.
-
.

leave school together i n th e evening and we swore ,

eterna l fri endship to each other T was stronge r .

t h an I was he often protected m e against bullies and ,

I never lost an opportunity of showing hi m my gratitude .

We were then the best friends i n the w orld the Damon ,

and P y thias of the I nstitution Michel On our way .

hom e i n the evening I used to leave T at his door ,

23 2 [M EMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

T looked at me intently as if trying t o g u e s s ,

my real tho u ghts he shrugged his shoulders and began

drawing something on one of the pieces of paper lying
.

on th e table .

N ow I don t intend to stand this I resumed

"
,
’

,
’
,

’
a ngry at his silence ; you must explain I don t want
‘
.

to be shunned and despised by my schoolfellows any

longer I s it because my father did not receive you
.

w ell when you came to s e e us ? I was sorrier than you

’
were But after all it was not my fault
. .

T looked at m e again and then w ent on d raw ,

Will you speak I ask again ? cried I a ngrily

,
’
, .

I nstead of answering h e held out to m e the draw ing

h e h ad j ust finished I t was a kind of estrade s u r
.
,

mounted by two beams a t th e top of which was a large ,

knife A man w as strapped to a plank between the

.

two b eams and another man stood by holding a rope

,
.

I t was a guillotine with the su fferer and the executioner

, .

U nder this terrible d raw ing T had w ritten in large

letters
T U U S P A TE R C A R N I F E X .

I h ad never seen the i nstrument of d eath but the ,

w ords e x plained the whole thing to m e I knew what .

c a r n if ex meant I uttered a shriek and ran away still

.
,

holding the paper which had j ust reveal ed to m e the

misfortune of my birth I ran out of school and did .

not stop until I w as before our door I rang violently .

,

rush ed towards my mother who had w itnessed my ,

 MY ED UCA TION .
23 3

entrance and fell fainting at her feet Th e whole

, .

house w as i n a n uproar My father was out and when

.
,

h e r etu rned h e asked m e th e cause of my agitation I .

told him of what h ad occurred and produced T , s

’

d rawing H e doubtless thought that the time had com e

.

for an explanation for he asked my mother and grand

,

mother to leave us alone H e then told m e what and

.

who he w as ; he acqu ainted m e with th e history of ou r

family, with the reasons that had induced fathers and
sons to follow the sam e repulsive profession H e also .

’
told m e of my grandfather s dying wish and took ,

advantage of what had occurred at school to show that I

w as bound to follo w in his steps and those of my a u ce s
tors I passed with him one of the most painful hours
.

of my life ; but I was young and submissive ; his reasons

were well put and forcible I had no alternative but to
sub mit and I submitted The fact that s o many mem
,
.

bers of my family had be en executioners impressed m e

m ore than anything else ; it seemed to me that to dis -

card them was i mpossible that my destiny w as traced

,

i n advance ; and I accepted it with grief but w ith r e

s ignation .

O n the followi n g d ay my father received the visit of

M M ichel who had questioned T
.
,
and discovered
the reason of my disappearan ce The worthy school .

master assured my father that he would prevent the

r ecurrenc e of such a mishap as h ad occurred to m e ;

that h e had scolded T and threatened with instant

e xpulsion whoever follo wed his example My father .

a sked me if I wished t o retu rn to scho o l I replie d .

234 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANSONS .

that I did no t as the instruction I had alrea dy acqui re d

,

w as more than su ffi cient for th e d uties reserved for me .

I n evertheless thanked M M ichel for his kindness . .

My father mad e n o obj ection and henceforth I enj oyed ,

th e fullest li b erty .

I occupied mysel f with perhaps more wisdom than

boys of my age usually do I remained in the morning .

with my mother and grand mother With the latte r .

only did I dare to speak of my future career with my

mother I never thought of al luding to the subj ect A s .

to my father I seldom saw hi m alone I went out in

, .

t h e afternoon either to loaf about or to attend the

l ectures of w ell known professors of th e S orbonne I t
-
.

was thus that I took the habit— which I have retained

t o this d ay— o f lo ng walks S ince my adventure with .

T I thought everybody i n the street recog nised m e .

This led m e to enter and l eave our house stealth il

y ,

enveloped in a large cloak and looking around uneasily

,
.

I t w as thus that after b eing gay and expansive I becam e

dark and tacitu rn .

I returned hom e at dinner tim e and no one ever ,

thought of asking m e where I had been and what I had

been about U p to the tim e when I acquired a strong
.

liking for th e drama I used to spend my evenings in

,

our d rawin g room with my parents and the few friend s

-

who occasionally cam e to s e e us N one of our assistants .

w ere ever received there ; the assistants li v

.
ed in a sepa
rate p art of the house
.
.

We had a large library composed of rare books a nd

M S S I foun d there the treasures of ancient and
.
. 23 6 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

h ersel f She was clever insinuating and free spoken

.
, ,
-

and s h e gained over m e an ascendency which neither

my father nor my moth er possessed She ma de m e .

f amiliar with every paradox calculated to drive away

m y insti n ctive horror for my future profession .

I said I b elieve that I acquired a taste for t h e

, ,

t heatre The tragedy was then i n favour Talma

‘

.
,
.

M dlle Georges and Mdlle D uc h e s no i s formed such a

.
,
.

trio as has rarely been equalled My liking fo r the .

p lay increased s o that I went there almost every night .

T here was then a rivalry between M dlle D u c h e s no i s .

and Mdlle Georges I b ecam e one of the ardent parti

.

s ans o f the latter M erope and S emiramis enchanted m e

.

when they appeared b efore m e under the features of

Georges U nfortunately the literat ure of the time w a s
.

n o t at the height of such artists as Talma Georges , ,

D u c h e s no i s and Mars O n my return home I w as only

, .

too glad to confide my impressions to my mother We .

even talked of the theatre at table and my father often ,

j oined in the conversation I w as surprised to find that .

h e w as as w ell acquainted w ith the daily occurrences of

the stage as I w a s Once I could not help saying .

F ather I am sure you go to the theatre yourself

’
.
,

W h y s h Ouldn t I H enri ? ’
he answered smiling ’
’

‘
, , .

’
I am n ot s o religious as these ladi es h e added point , ,

i ng to my mother and grand mother who never went to ,

t h e play .

Why shouldn t we go together ? I excl aimed ; ’ ’

w e s h ould enj oy ourselves far more .

’

My father tu rned grave and said ,

 MY ED UCA TI ON . 23 7

‘
N o H enri ; we ,
h a d better go separately Thi s .

does not prevent us from talking about plays but I had ,

'

rather y ou should go alon e and not b e seen in my

, ,

’
company .

I was m uch moved I t was obvious that m y fathe r .

was afraid of casting odiu m upon m e before m y time .

H is prudence w as extrem e ; we never went out together .

W hen ever we w ere compell ed to go i n each other s ’

company he ordered his carriage and no one could s e e ,

u s behind the blinds .

This quiet existence was interrupted by a s a d event .

O n O ctober 24 1 8 17 on e of the chambermaids found

, ,

my grand mother d ead in her bed She was i n her .

eighty fou rth year My father was m uch grieved at

-
.
3

this loss I also grieved over the loss of my grand

.

mother whom I had l earnt to love D uring mourning

, .

ti m e I was of course obliged to give up the amuse

m ents I used to i ndulge i n This gave m e a pretext .

for carrying out a plan I had mad e a long tim e before .

My readings had inspired m e with a wish to s e e Ital y ,

Germany Switzerland and H olland My mother did

, , .

not encourage me as s h e was loath to separate fro m ,

m e but my father readily gave his consent

,
You are .
‘

’
quite right H enri h e said nothing instructs s o much
, ,

as travelling Go and a pl easant j ourn ey to you

.
,

I left Paris two d ays after M eans of locomotion .

w ere of cours e far more primitive then than they a r e

, ,

no w H owever I successively visited i n a comparati v ely

.
,

short ti m e Italy Germ any Switzerland and Holland , , ,

.

I s a w R om e N aples and V enice and I was i mmensel y

, , ,
2 38 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ON S .

i mpressed by t h e artistic and natural b eauties w hich

passed before m e I di d not remain long i n Switze r
.

’
l and bu t I remained for nearly s i x months on the b anks
,

of the Rhine What struck m e the most d uring t h e

.

w hole of my voyage was I must confess Amsterdam

, , .

My r oving life was charming ; and I w as quite taken

a b ack when I found that it had lasted over a ye ar I t _
.

was w ith regret th at out of deference to my mother s

,
’

w ish I turned again homeward a nd made for Paris

, .

The reader may perhaps b e astonished at the eas y a nd

almost brilliant fashion of living of a family of e x ecutioners ;
b u t then it should not be forgotten that my father s for
’
.

t une not to speak of his emol um ents amounted to

, ,

nearly 2 0 000 l and that I was his only child

, .
, .

A year after my return I remarked in the restricted

, ,

c ircle of our acqu aintances a young girl whose eyes

, ,

were often fixed upon m e with a si ngular expression I .

f ancied she talked about m e to my moth er ; and mere

curiosity at first indu ced m e to remai n at hom e m ore
f requently than was my wont The young person used .
.

t o come with her family I m ade her acquaintance an d ,

I soon perceived that I w as in love with her This pas .

sion developed itse lf s o rapidly that I spoke about i t ,

to the young lady and asked her permission to seek her

,

h and — a permission which was duly given I had the .

courage to acquaint her with th e eventualities of the

future I frankly explained my position and did n o t
.
,

conceal from her the obligation under w hich I laboured

’
of being my fath er s succ essor One can imagin e my .

a greea b le surprise when I heard her approve of my i n

249 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

together but j ust amounted to fi ve and thirty y ears) but

,
- -

w e h ad no di fficulty i n overcoming his scruples .

A month after our m arriage was celebrated at Saint

,

Laurent Church and my young wife and I took posses

’
sion of a cosy apartment in my father s house which my ,

mother had furnished and prepared for us .

The recollections of my youth end here They con .

c lu de like n ovels by a marriage I t is no fault of m ine

’

, , .

"

if my story is not as stirring as fiction I t has at leas t

.

the advantage of being tru e .

 C HAPTE R X L I X .

M Y F I R S T EXE C U TION

TH E first year of my m arriage was cal m and peacea b l e .

I had every reason to b e h appy Thanks to the cares

.

of my good mother we had v e ry little to think of b e

,

yond our pleasures and comforts My young wife was

.

as cheerful and kind as s h e was pretty and our union,

promised to be one of undisturbe d harmony .

M y father made no allusion to m y promise to take

his o ffi c e b u t that promise was constantly in m y mind
it was the only thought that cloud ed m y happiness .

S ometimes I looked with sadness at my young partner ,

thinking that a tim e should come for h er to assum e i n

her turn the title of Madam e d e Paris The fulfilment
.

o f my pledge was even nearer at hand than I expected .

M y father w as taken ill in th e middle of the winter of

1 8 19 and he was lai d up for two months
,
H is constant
.

preoccupation during his illness w as a sentence of death

passed by the assize c ourt of the S ein e on a soldier of
the R oyal Guard Pierre Charles Rodolph e F o ula r d w h o
, ,

had m urdered two unfortunate women to steal a watch

,

and a pair of earrings F oulard was barely twenty years

.

V OL . II . R
2 42 MEMOIRS OF TH E SA NS ON S .

o age but his c ri me was s o atrocious that there was no

f ,

hope of a reprieve for him F oulard s case how ever

.
’

, ,

h ad still to pass before the Court of Revision ; but my

fa ther felt that his health wo uld not permit hi m to
superintend the e x ecutio n H e was thinking of appeal
.

i ng to one of his provinci al colleagues This was rather .

awkward as it was wel l known that I was to be my

'

father s successor and the j udici al authorities might well

’

i nqui re why I did not act as his substitute Since my .

marriage I had m ad e a point of following m y father i n

the few executions that had occurred but I had taken ,

n o active part i n them I may add that m y father s

.
’

part was hardl y m ore active than min e he had said th e

truth when he told m e that almost everything was done
by th e assistants and that the executioner only super
,

i ntended what his servants d id .

The tim e came for F o u la r d s execution it cam e ’

s ooner t h an my father expected s o that he was unable ,

’
to secure some one else s services H e was much better .
,

but certainly not well enough to resume his d uties and

m y conscience smote m e when he expressed his d eter

m ination to risk his h ealth perhaps his life and execute

, ,

F oulard I said to myself that since I must begin I

.
, ,

h ad better beg i n at once and I proposed to m y father to

,

take his place .

H e gladly acquiesced and gave m e all the nec essary

,

instructions he also pointed out two assistants on whose

zeal I could especially rely and finally I was assured
that my attendance at th e execution was little more
’
than a formality The assistants entered my father s
.
244 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

a ft erw ar ds acquired F oul ard s constern ation struck m e

.
’
.

Th e unfortunate b oy was under age ; had his father left

hi m the smallest s u m of mon ey h e could not h ave
t ouched it ; nevert h eless h e w as considered responsi b le .

This appeared to m e iniquitous th e more s o as I w as only ,

a year older than h e F oulard w as a tall and handsom e

.

fellow and his face betrayed no signs of the perversity

,

he h ad shown i n the perpetration of his horrible deed .

F auconnier my chief assistant s a w I was flurri ed ;

, ,
.

he cam e forward and told F oulard to s i t down Whe n .

the young man s hai r was cut we got into the cart : t h e
’

A bb e M ontés and F oulard were behind us and I stood i n ,

‘
front with my two assistants The almoner of the Con .

c i e r g e r i e doubtless perceived that I required encourage »

m ent and support as well as the man whose life I w a s

going to take for h e spoke to m e w ith much kindness
,

I s e e s i r that you are now attending to your father s

, ,
’

d uties S u ch m issions a s yours d emand no small amount

.

of courage We are invested with duties which in som e

.

degree are akin you represent th e j us t ice of m en I ,

represent the mercy of God You m ay b e assured o f .

my good disposition towards you an d of my readines s ,

to assist you w henever i t is in m y power .

’

I could not fi nd a single word to answer although I ,

felt intensely grateful to the Abbé Montés for his kind

ness . F oulard was taciturn b u t whe n we reached the ,

1
l
U nt i t h e n m y fa t h e r gr n d f t h e r h d o c up i e d a b k s e t b e s i d e
a nd a a a c ac a

t h e pr g d a fr nt pl c t t h c ulpri t I w t h e fi r t t o
i e s t , a nd a s s i n e o a e o e . as s

a lt e r t h i c us t o m
s M y o bj c t w as t o l e a ve t h e ulp i t w i t h h i l t fr i nd
. e
z
c r s as e ,

t h e pr i e s t I h o p e t h i s d o e s n o t p p e a r c h i ldi s h
. a I a c t e d wi t h t h e b es t
.

i nt ent i o n a nd I b e li e ve I a c t e d ri gh t ly
,
.
 MY FIRS T EXE C UTION 24 5

q uay he became very excited and cried out i n a l oud ,

v oic e
‘
F athers
and mothers ! behold th e cons equences of
’
neglect of one s child ren ! I am guilty but my parents
‘

a r e responsible for my c rime for they gave m e neither ,

’
advice nor ed ucation .

We reached the Plac e d e Gr eve The guillotin e .

raised her two red arms and the pal e rays of a winter ,

s u n were reflected by t h e p o li s h e d steel of the knife A . .

great m any people were looking on F o u la r d embraced .

the priest and looked round before ascending th e steps

, .

I n the first rank of the soldiers w h o surrounded th e

guillotine he s a w a sergeant of his company C om e .

’
to m e my ol d com rade h e cri ed to him and let
, , ,
‘

m e bid you farewell The old soldier did not hesitate ; .

’

he came forw ard and embrac ed the dying man F oulard .

was very excited H e s uddenly turned to me : Let m e

.

e mbrac e you too he said i f only to sho w that I forgive

’ ‘
, ,

e verybody This I confess gave m e a fearful blow I

.
’

, ,
.

stepped back I really think th at i f th e unfortunat e

.

man h ad embraced m e I could not have given t h e

sig nal for his d eath .

But even i n this I am mistaken this signal I did no t

give My assistants s a w my movem ent of retreat a nd
.

u nderstood the peril They pushed F oulard up t h e .

steps I n l ess ti m e than I take to write it h e w a s

.

strapped down and his head fell I looked stupidly a t .

the bloody scene I saw one of the assistants pushi ng

.

the h eadless trunk into a baske t while another w as ,

sponging the blood which had spurted on the sca ff ol d .

2 46 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

I w as seized with irresistible terror and I ran aw ay as

,

fast as my legs could carry me I wandered about.

town hardly knowing what I was about I though t .

people were following and hooting m e I t was only

.

w hen I found myself at N euilly that I recovered and ,

even then my conscience smote m e bitterly At last I .

mad e up my mind I had crossed the line there w as n o

.
,

help for it I h ad as i t were passed my examination o f

, ,

executioner and I could not return on my steps I

, .

w ent hom e sub dued i f not comforted and I found som e

, ,

relief i n the thought that the first step w as made and t h e ,

first bitterness had passed .

24 8 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

a rrested i mmediately ; h e said his nam e w as Pierre

L o uve l he w as a sadd ler by trad e
,
L o uve l confessed .

that his obj ect i n m urdering th e last scion of an illustri

ous family w as political ; he wan t ed h e said to e x t i n , ,

guish the race of the Bourbons for ever F at e went .

against him for s i x months after the D uchess de Berri

,

Wa s d elivered of a child who was to be the Comte de '

Cham b ord .

L o uve l w as an enthusiasti c repu b lican Hi s life wa s .

pure and honest but he Wa s a fanatic and for several

, ,

years h e brooded over his i ntended crime I t was soon .

discovered that h e had no accomplices and his trial w as ,

proceeded with L o uve l received w ith haughtiness his

.

a dvocates M M Archamb a ult and B onnet ; he requested

, .

them to s a y nothing that might be i n contradiction .

with his previous declara tions H e had committed his .

cri me alone h e said and h e had been prompted by

, ,

patriotism H e felt no regret ; he even intended had

.
,

h e escaped to murder th e other members of the ro y al

,

family . I might perhaps have s pared th e K ing he

, , ,
’

added because h e was the only member of the family

,
‘

w ho had not fought against F ran ce .

’

Th e trial began on Jun e 5 before the H ouse of Peers , .

I t only lasted two days S everal peers M M D esize .

, .
,

D e Lally To lle nda l and D e Montmorency question ed

-

, ,

L o uve l closely but no other facts than those he had

,

already given were elicited The issu e of the trial could .

not be doubtful ; before sentenc e was passed however , ,

L o uve l rose and read th e following statement :

I have no w to ans w er for a crim e which I com
‘
 L OU VEI . 249

m it t ed unaid ed I n dying I a m consoled by the thought

.

t hat I h ave dishonoured neither my country nor my

family I can onl y b e regarded as a F renchman r e

.

s olved to sacrifice himself in order to d estroy according ,

to my system a nu mber of the men who took up arms

,

a gainst his country But among the men who compose

.

the Governm ent there are som e as guilty as I am they

have d escribed cri mes as virtues Th e worst govern .

m ents in F rance have always punished traitors and in ,

s triking the D uke d e Berri I was discharging a sacred

d uty .

According to my system when the country is ,

t hreatened from th e o utsid e political parties should for

,

g e t party feeling -
and j oin h ands against the common
enemy Those who do not act thus are guilty
. In .

my opinion if th e B attle of Waterloo was s o fatal to

,

F rance it w as b ecause Brussels and Ghent were full of

,

F rench men who fomented treason i n the ranks of our

a rmy .

I n my opinion the d eat h of Louis XV I was n e c e s

, .

s ary becaus e he betrayed or wanted to betray F rance

, , ,

into the h ands of the ene my Th e Bourbons are eter .

n ally tainted w ith treason and they have no right to

,

r eign i n F ranc e ; they d eserve punishment and I have ,

’
been one of the instrum ents of national j usti ce .

After this declaration L o uve l w as taken back to the

C onciergeri e and the H ous e d eliberated S entence of
,
.

death was unanimously pronounced and the clerk of th e ,

H ouse was sent to c ommunic ate the s entence to L o uve l .

’
H e received the news una b ashed S o much the better . ,
2 50 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

h e said ; I am very glad to die A repri eve w oul d

‘
.

’
c ause m e more pain th an death itself H e sternly r e .

fused the assistance o f religion I don t want to g o t o .

’

’
paradise said he laughing ; I m ight meet there t h e
, ,
‘

D uke d E ng h i e n who fought against his c ountry and I

’
, ,

’
could never agree with him The Abbé Montés how .
,

ever obtained admittance to his ce ll and endeavoured t o

,

1
soften his heart .

As to us l ast actors of all these dismal dramas w e

, ,

received on June 6 in th e evening an order to take t h e , ,

culprit on the following morning and to behead hi m on

th e Place d e Gr eve I n deferenc e to this order my .
,

fath er and I went to the Conciergerie on the 7 t h a c c o m ,

p a n i e d by four assistants We found there a secon d .

order which deferred the exec ution until half past fi ve

,
-

o clock P M
’
We therefore waited until that tim e won
.
,

d ering at the cause of this delay The scaffold had .

b ee n of course erected on th e Gr eve and an immens e

, , ,

crowd gathered around it .

At half past five we went to L o uve l s cell but my

-
’

father suddenly remarked that no clerk was present an d ,

another quarter of an hour was los t i n fetching one A t

'

a quarter to s i x exactly we took possession of L o uve l ’

one of the assistants tied hi s hands while another w a s ,

1
C lpr i t
u re l i gi o us c ulpri t s o f c o urs e — h ve n d o ub t d e ri ve d b e n fi t
s— ,
a o e

a nd c o n o l t i o n fr o m t h e d vi c
s a o f t h e R m n C t h o li
a e pri e t wh i nv i o a a c s o ar

a bly a t t e nd e d t h em t o e x e c ut i o n B t i t m y h ve b e n s e en i n t h e c o ur s e
. u a a e

o f t h e a b o ve M m o i r t h a t s p i r i t ua l a d vi e r fo r c e d t h e i r
e s xh o rt t i o ns u p o ns s e a

c o nvi c t o f l l k i nd s w h e t h e r r e l i g i o u s o
s a ,
no t t h e r e by dd i ng a no t h e r t o r ,
a r

m e nt t o t h t o f i m p n d i ng d e a t h
a eTh i s m e rc i l e s s t e n d r o f c o n s o l a t i o n t o
. e

m e n w h o p e r s i s t e nt ly r e fu e t o h e ar i t c nno t b ut pp e r s c ru l a s i t i
s a a a a e s

d i gus t i ng — N ED
s . .
2 52 MEMOIRS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

But my friend you have but one last effort to mak e

, ,

t o go to heaven Com e b e h u mble .

,

I shal l go to heaven j ust as you w ill i f there is

‘
, ,

o ne Leave m e alone pray ; think of yourself not of

.
, ,

m e .

’
My d ear child I b eseech you insisted the abbé
‘
, , ,

t hink of the salvation of your soul ; s a y that you r e

’
pen t
’
Sir indignantly retorted L o uve l I have already
, ,

done a good m any thing s to please you you are step

f 1 ’

p ing b eyond the bounds o your duty .

H ardly had L o u ve l said these w ords than h e as

c e n de d the steps s o rapidly t h at th e assistants were
obliged to hold him back H e took hi s place unai ded .

on the fatal plank and at s i x o clock precisely L o uve l s

,
’ ’

h ead fell into the basket .

We took th e corpse to the cem etery of the Barri ere .

du M aine but we were afterwards ordered to dig it up

,

and bury i t i n another spot Th e secret of this ne w .

b urial remained unknown to all save to the executioner ,

and his assistants who on this occasion only acted as

, , ,

g ravediggers .

Th e h i gh l y i m p r p r di
o e s c us s i o n ra i s e d by t h e Abb é Mo nt é s at t h e fo o t
o f th e s c a ffo ld c o n fi rm s a pr ec e d i ng no t e .
—N E D
. .
 C HAPTE R LI .

M Y E X E C U TI OI VS .

ON Dec ember 6 1 8 20 th e scaffold w a s again erected o n

, ,

the Place d e Gr eve for a young m an Pierre Loui s ,

M artin who h ad m urdered his father H e w as led t o

, .

the scaffold with a black veil over his h ead and i n a c , ,

c o r da n c e with the penalty e di c t e d against parri cides his ,

fist was c ut off b efore h e was beheaded I t was the first .

tim e I s a w this kind of punishm ent The same sentenc e .

was executed on J uly 2 1 1 8 2 1 on a man named N icolas, ,

B o ut i lli e r who had mu rdered his mother

, .

O n August 1 1 in th e sam e year we were sent to

, ,

M elun to execute one Joseph G r a t u r e a u .

A gentleman s blood was shed on t h e sca ffold on

’

O ctober 19 Th e V iscount d e R u a u lt o ffic er on half

.
,

pay was sentenced to death for trying to murder General

,

D ujo n . H e died w ith great courage .

S ix days later it was the turn of a coachman named ,

J acques Louis H o us t e r sentenced for the murder of his

,

mistress .

O n J anuary 9 1 8 2 2 we executed another young man

, ,

under age J ules Louis Th eophile Guichet for the murde r

, ,

of a w oman .
 2 54 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

O n April following we went to V ersailles and exe

2

c u t e d Pierre Roux wine merchant and J acques A nt o m e

,
-

Lecourt a working man who had killed a man on the

, ,

r oad to Essonne Their obj ect was theft

. .

O n the 20 t h of the sam e month we had to go to

B eauvais for a double e x ecution ; that of Louis N icolas
M ahon upholsterer and Charles Mancheron labourer
, , , ,

convicted of having m urd ered a young man they hated .

The execution took place at mid day -

.

O n J uly 2 7 following we went again in the depart

m ent of Oise b u t this time o u r halti ng place was C o rn
,
-

p gi e n e The
. whole d epartment was i n a state of terr or
i n consequence of the large nu mber of fires which were
c onstantly taking place throughout the locality The .

j udicial authorities wished to m ake an exampl e A pork .

butcher named Louis Charlemagn e G o s s li n was found

, ,

guilt y of having s e t fire to twenty—two houses in a single

village H e was executed at twelve on the Plac e d e
.

l H Ot e l de V ill e at C ompi egne ; h e showed great cool

’
- -

ness and to the last protested that he was innocent

,
.

All pro v incial e x e cutions used to take place i n th e

public square at mi d da y i n presenc e of large crowds -
.

T h e custom of executing in the middl e of the day was

also b eing adopted in Paris Things have altered since .

then nowadays one executes at d awn before the prison

, ,

g
.
ate a m y sterious veil is cast as it were over the pro , ,

c e e di ng s as if the law were ashamed of what i t is d oing

, .
L AF A Y E T TE I N TH E N I F O R M O F A M A JO R G E N E R
U -

T H E C O N TI N E N T A L A R M Y — F R O
AL OF . M AN
E N G R AV I NG B Y .
J DE MARE .
 MY EXE C UTIONS . 9
55

I . T[t o f o u r S erg ea n t s f
o L a R ookelle .

O n S eptem b er 2 1 my father and I went to the Con

c i e r g e r i e on a very s a d errand Thi s time we had not .

to d eal with ordinary criminals prompted to crim e by

th e vilest passions ; our vi ctims in the present case , ,

were four un fortu nate young men victims of political ,

fanaticism and of the secret intrigues of a party which

tried to sap the throne of the Bourbons during the whol e
o f the Restoration I t i s not w ithin my province to
.

c a r bo na m s m — o f that secret association

'

g ive a history of
i mported from Italy which counted princes as well as
,

artisans in its ranks The society was composed o f.

‘

v en t a s o r small groups of c o nspirators wh o acted upon

, ,

d irections from a superior council Precautions were .

t aken to rend er the discovery of the society as a whole

a l most i mpossible . A b atch of well k nown men -

’
L afayette D upont M anuel V o y er d A r g e ns o n Ben
, , , ,

j amin Constan t F o y L a ffi t t e & c not content with th e

, , , .
,

a gitation they fomented in public assemblies and in the

press put th emselves at th e head of an a ctive permanent

,

c onspiracy the first effects of which were to b e fatal to

,

thei r obscure accomplices .

Th e arm y had never been attached to the restored

B ourbons ; the conspirators endeavoured to spread dis
a ffection among the soldiers I n one instance at least
.

they were successful A vent a w as formed in the 4 st h

.

l ine regiment . I n the 4 5 t h there w as a young sergeant

o f exalted views generous aspirations and great per
“

, ,
256 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

sonal advantages who had m uch influence over h i s

,

companions Bories ( such was his n am e ) was tall

.
,

handsom e and precociously eloquent he was a m an of

,

no ordinary cast and the e o na r i pitched upon hi m a s

,

a highly useful recruit Bori es was only too disposed

.

to enter i nto their views ; he organised a ven t a i n th e

4s t h
,
and gave several of his comrades th e dagger whic h
was th e symbol of th e secret associ ation .

I n spite of th e religious s ecrec y maintained by t h e

conspirators of the 4 5 t h the y were soon regarded with
,

suspicio n They were too young to conspire e ffectually ;

.

they d id not su fficiently conceal their feelings and thi s ,

was enough to awaken th e attention of thei r superiors .

At the tim e of a foiled attemp t of General Berton s at ’

S aum ur Bories was already arrested although he had

, ,

given no signal of insurrection B ut treason c ame in ; .

Goupi llon one of the youngest plotters revealed th e

, ,

secret of the ve n t a to the colon el of the regiment a ri d ,

on the sam e evening all those concerned in c a r bo na m s m

'

w ere arrested .

Almost every on e of them admitted their crime .

Bories alon e persisted in a system of flat d enial .

Promises no more than threats could induc e him to

speak out All the accused were transferred to Paris
. .

At th e Conciergeri e Bories resumed his leadership H e .

wished to take th e responsibility of the whole affair and

save his companions Ardent as h e was i n his demo
.

cratic faith he was also d esirous to prevent any dis

,
-

c o v e r y that might h ave proved damaging to his cause ;

and h e agreed with h i s fri ends that whatever migh t

25 8 MEMOIRS OF TH E S A N S OA S
’
.

These no b l e expressions did not produce the requi

site effect Bories Pommier R a o ulx and G o ub i n the
.
, , , ,

four sergeants of La Rochell e were sentenced to death , .

D ifferent penalties were inflicted upon th e other prison

ers Th e four young men listened with perfect calmnes s
.

to th e sentence which forfeited their lives Bories turned .

to his counsel ga v e him a j ewel and asked hi m to hand

, ,

i t over to a person whose add ress he gave him The .

s ecret of this message was onl y known l ater D urin g .

thi rty years since th e e x ecution of Bories and his com

panions I s a w a woman who at first was y oung and
,

then turned prematurely old going every morning to ,

th e Mont Parnasse cemetery ; s h e placed a flower on

Bories grave and then silently withdrew The poor
’
.

woman died a few years a g o She was Bori es sweet .

’

heart .

The four sergeants were transferred to Bic etre .

Three of them G o ub i n R a o ulx and Pommier had

, , , ,

appealed against th e d ecision of the C ou rt but when

they heard that Bori es had refused to avail himself o f -

this l ast c h a nc e o f sal v ation they followed his e x ampl e

'

and withdrew their appeal An attempt was made b y .

th e party to which the y b elonged to b ri b e th e governor

of Bic etre and ena b l e the prisoners to e s cape ; b u t th e
governor s u ncle — a
’
n —
unworthy priest betra y ed the
secret and there b y frustrated all other plans of the same
kind .

O n September 2 1 Bories and his companions were

taken to the Conciergeri e They one and all d eclined
.

the consolations of religion When they e rit e r e d th e .

LO U I S XV I I I .
, KI NG OF F RA NCE .
2 60 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

and then the youngest stepped fo r ward and gave him

self u p to us H e advanced on the platform with a n
.

u nfaltering step and while he was being strapped to th e

,

plank h e cried Vi ne la li be r t e
’

G o u b i n came ne x t and h e displayed as much forti

,

tude as R a o u lx H e also cried in a cl ear and firm

.

voice Vi ne la l i ber t e
’

Pommier was the third victim he uttered t h e sam e

c ry as his fri ends .

’
At last Bories turn cam e The sight of a treb l e .

execution had at last shaken the young sergeant s ’

stoicism and his eyes were full of tears ; but he r e

,

covered h is self possession on reaching the plat form

-

and looking at the crowd b elo w he said

Brothers if I am weeping i t is not for myself but for
, ,

my poor friends who have j ust been killed b efore m e .

To day you are silent but a time shall com e when yo u

-

w ill repeat my last cry of Vi ne la l i ber t e ’

H e was pushed towards th e plank a nd his head fell ,

into the basket Eight years after a conqu ering peopl e

.

e ntered the H Ot e l d e V ille and overthrew th e last of

- -

th e Bourbons to the dyi ng c ry of the four sergeants o f

,

La R ochelle .

II . Ca s t a i ng .

I t is th e executioner s fate to fall from political victims

’

to the most vu lgar criminals and vi ce ver s a B e fore , .

passing to the year 1 8 2 3 I have to mention two cases ,

not of execution but of exhibition on the scaffold

, .
2 62 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANSONS .

of his i n t imat e friends —

two brothers named Ballet
after inducing them to bequeath their property to thei r
friend and doctor C a s t a i ng w a s sentenced to d eath on
.

N ovember 19 and a little more than a fortnight after I

,

had to deal with him My father was w ith m e When . .

the culprit was b rought before us we wond ered how s o

black a soul coul d li e und er so prepossessing a nappear
’
ance C a s t a i ng s face was so ft and expressive ; his
.

features were striki n gly handsom e ; and his blue eyes

were void of any ferocious expression When he s a w .

u s h e shook a l ittl e and appeared afraid that we should

,

i n any way h urt him for h e said : Pra y do not harm ,

m e ; you ll kill m e ere long ; until then it is of no u s e

’

to m ake m e su ffer While his hair was b eing cut h e

.
’

exclai med allud i ng to his victims : Oh my poor

,
‘
,

friends what would you s a y if you s a w m e in thi s s a d

,

position ? I would have give n my life to save you an d ,

I am charged with you r d eath ! These words moved ’

m e ; I w a s young and i nexperienced and it seemed to ,

m e i mpossible that a m an could persist in a heinous

falsehood in th e face Of death I suppose h e noticed .

th e effect his words prod uced for j ust as F auconnier , ,

our chief assistant was proceeding to b ind his hands

, ,

h e turned to m e and sai d : Bind my hands s i r a n d d o , ,

not d raw th e cords too tight I acqui esced and he .

’

thanked m e O n the way to the Gr eve h e never ceas e d

.

’
protesting that he was innocent Th e A bbe M ontés .

listened to him with an y thing but a convinced air and ,

h e b esought him to relieve his conscienc e and confess

his guilt The sight of the s ca ffold made Ca s t a i ng
.
 MV EXE C UTI ONS .
2 63
.

s hudder ; the sinister aspect of the guillotine Obviously

caused him more terror than the idea of d eath H is .

fortitude vanished and o ur assistants had to carry him

,

up to the plat form H e fell on his knees and stretching

.
,

o u t his hands towards the A b bé Montés he cried in a

,

lamentab le voi ce : F orgiv e m e father ; I am guilty

‘
, .

’
Will God forgive m e ? The priest b lessed him and ,

m ade hi m kiss a crucifix As for m e I was astounded .

, .

c ame m e H enc eforth I was more sceptical when culprits

.

a ssured m e of their innocence .

III . B r o o/z et t i , D ag no n, P apa vo i ne , & c .

O n J anuary 24 1 8 24 I led a mo th er and her s o n to

, ,

th e guillotine A young working man o f the name of

.

L e c o u ffe m urd ered a n old woman kno w n by the nam e

o f M other J erom e with th e purpose of appropriating her
,

m oney I t was eventually discovered that the idea of

.

this horrible d eed belonged to the m urderer s mother ’

.

B oth were sentenced to d eath Their j ourney from th e .

C onciergeri e to the Gr eve was one of the most disgusting .

I ever s a w L e c o u ffe spoke to h l S mother with e x treme

.

v iolence of language and th e woman answered in the ,

s am e tone They insulted each other to th e last

. .

Three e x ecutions on April 2 0 of the same y ea r

O c h a r d R enaud and D elaporte were highwaymen who
, ,

e x celled in the art of waylaying stage coaches and killing -

t h e passengers if th ey refused to give up thei r m o ney

2 64 MEMOI R S OF TH E
. SANS ONS .

Th e scene of their exploits was the F orest o f Bondy ,

near Paris They w ere executed at four o clock in the ’

.

afternoon and died as fearlessly as if they had been i n

, .

nocent .

O n M ay 2 2 the scaffold was again erected for th e

execution of an Italian a n ative of R ome nam ed
, ,

Antonio B r o c h e t t i H e was i mpr i soned at Bic etre at

.

the time of the murder h e h aving been previ ously s e n

,

t e nc e d to hard l abour for life H e killed one of t h e

.

turnkeys with no other obj ect than putting an e nd to h i s

,

own li fe Li fe i n a prison or i n the hulks seemed t o

.

hi m a much more severe punish m ent than d eath H is .

wish was fulfilled ; he w a s cond emned to d eath and , .

executed on th e Place d e Gr eve five days after at fou r ,

o clock i n the afternoon

’
.

H e went to the scaffold with eagerness I woul d .

‘

rather die a thousand tim es than go to the hulks ! ’

h e exclaimed several tim es Since B r o c h e t t i s e x e c u

.
’

tion the severity displayed i n F rench pen i tentiarie s

h as increased ; and his example has been followed by
many .

After B r o c h e t t i I e x ecuted a gardener N icolas Robert ,

Dagro n This m an had poison ed his wife and his s o n

. .

’
H e was guillotined on J uly 1 F our O clock was then
.

the usual tim e for executions in Paris as mid day w a s ,

-

the ti m e appointed i n the provinces O n the sam e

.

evening we received th e visit of a woman who claimed

D a g r o n s body I complied with her wish
’
.

N o other executions took plac e i n Paris in the cours e

of the year 1 8 24 ; but I had to go to Beauvais on
‘

2 66 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

not then as advanced and lib eral as it

’

b ut s c i e nc e wa s
i s now . The plea of insanity was however urged by , ,

P a p a vo i n e s cou nsel M Paillet A slight acquaint a nce

’

, . .

’
with P a p a vo i n e s family induced this eminent barrister to
a ccept th e task of defending the child killer H e dis -
.

c harged i t with an eloquence which should have secured

a fa v oura b l e verdict but his theory appeared too novel

to the j ury ; and although the sam e plea was success
f ully urged on many su b sequent occasions P a p a vo i n e ,

was declared answerable and sentenced to death The .

j urors b elieved in his ruse and hypocrisy and they ,

not only brought i n a verdict of guilty but declared the ,

c rime to have been committed with p r e m edi t a t i o n I t is .

d i fficult to understand how such prem editation c ould

have existed for it was proved that P a pa vo i ne had no
,

knowledge of the persons h e chanced to meet i n the

wood of V in cennes .

The culprit was un moved by hi s sentence I appeal .

’
t o D ivine j ustice were his only words
,
.

D ivine j ustice was indeed his only h Op e for his a p

, , ,

p eal was dismissed and his family vainly

,
implored royal
clem ency P a p a vo i ne was executed on M arch 2 5 at
.
,

t wenty —fi ve minutes past four o clock H e went to death ’

.

i n a state of indi fference and apathy seemingly u n c o n ,

s cious of his fearful position The Abbé Montés was the .

only man who could bespeak his attention O n the .

w ay he turned tw ice to m e asking whether we had a

long way to go h e was anxiou s to s e e the end as soon
. as possi b le When we reached the scaffold he addressed
.

t h e a b bé i n the following terms

 M Y EXE C U TI ONS . 26 7

’
I d o not regret life he said ; ill as I was I found
,
‘
,

n o pleasure in it I do not even think o f my poor old

.

mother What smites my conscience i s the death of

.

those poor little children I was unfortunate enough to

’
s lay
.

’
The Abb e Montés congratulated him on his good
s enti ments . P a p a vo i n e knelt at the foot of the sca ffold ,

kissed the cru cifix and went up the steps supported by

,

t w o assistants Whil e th e weigh plank on which he was

.
-

s trapped was being lowered I d istinctly heard him s a , y

the following words
My God have mercy upon m e !
,
’

’
I touched my father s arm and we waited until his ,

l ast w ord to give the signal .

O pinions are sti ll divided on P a pa vo i ne som e per

s ist i n regarding him as a type of bestial ferocity w hile ,

th e maj ority agree i n thinking that he was a maniac .

I t seems impossibl e that h e could have d eliberately

killed for th e mere pleasure of killing Similar instances .

o f th e sam e kind of cri m e have occurred since and j uries ,

h ave taken a m erciful view of the case O n the whole I .

p referred e x ecuting P a p a v o i n e to being a member of,

the
j ury who found hi m guilty .

U lOa C/z
’
IV . A s s eli nea n a na .

After th e e x ecution of P a p a vo i ne we went to V e r

sailles on M ay 1 7 following for th e execution of a young ,

m a n of nineteen Gilbert Prunier native o f Poissy

, , ,

s entenced for m urder and rob b ery I t too k plac e on the .

2 68 [M EMOIRS OF TH E SA N S ONS .

’
ol d m arket square at twelve o clock O n O ctober 2 8 o f .
,

th e sam e y ear we e x ecuted on th e sam e square and at the

,

sam e hour one F ran cois M ercier sentenced to death fo r

, ,

attempted mu rder O ur presence w as required at Beau

.

vais on N ovem b er 5 for th e execution of an agri cultur a l

l a b ourer who had attempted to murd er his wife Thi s
, .

ti me the execution cam e off at half past t w o On -

.

D ecemb er 2 1 we reappeared on the Gr eve to execute a

m an n amed D enis Plessis who had poisoned on e of h i s ,

fellow workm en
-
.

I must b e g th e reader not to tire of this s a d and dry

list I have promised a history of the scaffold and I
.
,

wish it to be as complete as possible .

I n 18 2 6 there was only on e execution it is true that

two m en perished at a time V irgilio M alaguti an d .

Gaetano Rata Italians were sentenced to d eath fo r t h e

, ,

m urder of a m oney changer of the Palais Royal They -

.

were respectivel y aged twenty three and nineteen years -

.

W e executed them on t h e2 6 t h .

We inaugurated the year 18 2 7 by two e x ecutions at

V ersailles J ulien Chevreau who had m urd ered on t h e ,

high —road was beheaded on F ebruary 16 Th er ese D e s

,

places aged thirty s i x was sentenced to death for

,
-

poisoni ng and exec uted on M arch 1 3

, .

On the 2 15 t of the following month we went to Pro

vins ( S eine e t M arne) for a dou b le e x ecution An agri
- -

,
.

cultural lab ourer and his w ife Cyprien and Adelaide ,

N i n o n e t were neighbou rs of a rich widow of t h ename of

,

C o r p e da n ne who lived with her daughter N i no n e t and

,
.

h is wife did not hesitate to murder these two women i n ,

27 9 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

it was while attempting to pass off bills b elonging t o

Brouet that he was apprehended .

The publi c was surprised at the precocious perversity

of a b o y whose criminal career had commenc ed at the a g e
O f seventeen and reached its climax three years a fter ; and

to m e this perversit y appeared still more wonderful when

I s a w A s s e li n e a u for the first tim e H e was calm and
.

resigned when we took him at the Concierg erie H e .

e x pressed m uch grief not on his own account b ut b e

, ,

cause o f th e dishonour he had heaped upon his family .

O n the wa y to the Gr eve h e showed unlimited repent

ance and I w as profoundly mo v ed by the softness o f ’

h i s words and t h e e v ident sincerity of his anguish He .

embraced th e Abbé M ont é s and o ffered no resistance .

Ten da y s after we again erected the guillotine fo r

one Al exand re Buisso n aged twenty nine years who
,
-

had m urd ered and robbed O n J uly 18 at V ersai lles

.
, ,

we e x ecuted a native of Rambouillet nam ed Charles ,

Christopher H erv e sentenced for poisoning his daugh t er

, .

O n August 4 we likewise put to death J ean Baptiste -

E mery aged thirty eight years for attempting to poison

,
-

one of his friends .

H ere is another of the few murderers who are of a

nature to inspire interest i f n ot s y mpath y
, Honoré .

F ran cois U lb a c h was the mu rderer of Ai mée Millot ,

better known as the shepherdess of Ivry This affair w a s .

s o interesting that like the L e s u r q ue s business i t h a s

, ,

been d ramatised and put on th e stage. U lb a c h was an

orphan h e was employed by a wine m erchan t of the -

Barri ere F ontainebleau and he was remarkabl e for h i s

,
 M Y EXE C UTIONS . 2
7 1

zeal and good temper up to the time when he fell in love

with a young girl called Aimée Millot who was in t h e ,

se rvice of a lady in th e neigh b ourhood The girl used .

’
to take her mistress s goats to graze n ear the wine mer -

chant s s h Op The young people got to know each other

’
.
,

and a m utual a ffection sprung up b etween them This .

.

led U lba c h to neglect his duties so much that his maste r

at first rem onstrated and then discharged him ; in con
,

sequence of this the girl on the advice of her mistress , ,

tol d U lb a c h that they must part

'

The unfortunat e .

young man tried to change her mind but perceiving that ,

his argu ments were fruitlessly u rged h e dre w a knife and ,

stabbed her five times .

U lb a c h was twenty years of age and Aimée w a s ,

nineteen The poor girl died almost i mmediately A s to

. .

U lb a c h he gave himself up to the police seeking in e x ,

piat ion some consolation for a crime which he bitterly

regretted .

U lb a c h was arraigned before the assize court of the

S eine he d id not even take the tro u ble to defend him
self After a trial of a few hours he was sentenced to
.

d eath H e heard th e awful sentence without a word o f

.

regret and when th e president of the court informed him

,

that he had a d elay O f three day s to appeal against

capital punishm ent h e coldl y answered
,

’
I h ave no wish to appeal .

S uch was his intention but his counsel and the A bbé ,

M ontés persuaded him not to persist in his purpose .

H is appeal however was rej ected and on Septem b er 10

, , ,

’
h e w as given up to us I do not regret life he said ;
. ,
27 2 MEMOIRS OF TH E SA N SO N S .

‘
I was only a poor orphan and I h ave lost th e onl y,

’
person I wanted to be my wife He seemed to listen
.

with respect t o the words of the priest b u t his thoughts

were not altogether di v ested of the feelings of this earth ,

for he said to the A b b é M ontés Yes fath er I a m sorry , ,

I m urdered m y beloved since I lost her fo r ever b u t if I

,

fi n d her in hea v en do you think she will fo r g i ve m e

,

The unfortunate man thought more of the forgive

n ess of his victi m than of the j udgment of the Almighty .

S everal witnesses said that U lb a c h had had a foreboding

o f his death for when he began t o feel j ealous he sai d
,

o n several occasions I feel I shall di e on th e sc a ffold ’

.

O n another occasion hearing a public crier who sold a c

,

counts o f a recent e x ecution h e observed This is what

,

’
s hall soon be done for me and , i mitating the cri er s ’

voice he said
, Buy for a penny the sentenc e of
”
d eath and execution of Honoré F ran cois U lb a c h .

U lb a c h s e x ecution was the last th at occurred i n

’

18 27 . My ser v ices had been required eight times during

t h e year O ur o ffice was not a sinecure
. .

Co n t r af a t t o , R o ber t S a i n t Cla i r , B eno i t

’
V . a na .

It was at the beginning of th e year 1 8 2 8 that the

e xhibition of th e Abbé Joseph Contrafatto took place .

T his priest who was born at Piazza i n S icily was s e n

, , ,

t e n c e d by the assize court of Paris to hard labour for

l ife and to exhibition d uring an hour after being marked

, ,

o n the right shoulder with the letters T F H is crim e .

 MEMOIRS SANS ON S
“

27 4 OF TH E .

the other her mother Th e latter according to the la w .

,

of th e ti me was to su ffer the amputation of the fist

,

b efore execution F o r this complication of capital pun .

i s h m e nt my father had i nvented a contrivance by which

,
-

the fist was s o compressed that the pai n was consider

ably diminish ed Catherine Darcy ( the m urderess i n
'

question ) however uttered fearful shrieks when her fist

, ,

was cut ; her cries only subsided when the knife of t h e

guillotine came do w n upon h e r neck .

'

O n J une 1 3 1 8 2 9 we returned to the Place de , ,

Gr eve and executed a Belgian named Philippe F ran cois

,

D ebacker who h ad murdered his mistress and anothe r

,

wom an Thirteen days after we w ent again to V ers ailles

.
“

where we executed F ran cois B lo n dé carrier for murder , , .

O n August 5 Pi erre Augustin Billau pork b utcher , , ,

’
was executed This m an s cri me produced great sensa
.
_

'

tion in Paris : he a t t e m pt e d t o m u r de r h i s wife with a

' '

d evilish di s pla y o f cruelty The market w om en o f L a .

H alle hooted hi m on his way to the Gr eve O n J anuary .

27 ,
18 3 0 I exec u ted J ean Baptist e Gu erin J ean Loui s
,
-

B ardon and Louis C h a nde le t condemned for murder and

, ,

theft Then cam e André L e p a u

. vr e senten ced for t h e
murder of his uncle ( Fe b Eugen e Poteau for a t .
,

tempted murder ( F e b 2 6 ) J ean Pierre M artin for murde r .

,

in th e Bois d e Boulogne ( July This w a s the last

head that fell under the Restoration — the last also that
fel l on th e Place d e Greve A revol u tion swept away .

th e ol d monarchy and placed on t h e t h r o n e the s o n of a

'

m an executed by my grandfather the D uke d O r lé a ns .

,
’

better kno w n as Philippe E galité O ne of the e ffects o f .

 MY EXE C UTIONS .
A
d
7S

the revolution was th e transfer of the guillotine to th e

B arri ere S aint J acques -
.

N o execution took place i n Paris throughout the

year 18 3 1 I t was otherw ise i n other parts o f my j uris
.

diction The first O f the year occurred at V ersailles

.
,

an d the culprit was an accomplice of a man named

D a u m a s D upin w ho had robbed and murdered one M
-

, .

Prudhomm e and his w ife R obert S aint Clair such .

-

’
was the cri min al s name was an escaped convict H e , .

had s o ug h t s h e lt e r in Switzerland where h e was a pp r e ,

h ended and hand ed over t o the F rench authorities H is .

arrest was attend ed with rather cur ious circumstances .

Ro b ert Sain t C lai r was dining at a t a ble a no t e opposite

-
’ ’ ’

a distinguished writer who gave a great d eal of attention

to phren ology and physiognom y— sciences which were
‘

then i n fashion Th e writer in question was a very

.

a mia b le and amusing ca us e nr and he entertained thos e ,

w h o were at table by the novelt y of his obser v a

tions . Ro b ert S aint Clair alon e was incredulous and -

little disposed to like a science which ena b led the ad ept

to discover the secret instincts and leanings of other
persons fro m a m ere scrutiny of their features ‘

He .

shrugged his should ers an d e v en expressed i n an uncivil ,

way his d isgust for the theories of the speaker The .

l atter on his sid e began to observe the dissenter ; he

, ,

s eemed stru ck by som e id ea suggested by his scrutiny ,

and suddenly addressing S aint Clair -

’
‘
You seem to doubt the truth of what I s a y said ,

h e ; will you allow m e to g ive you a proof of what I

‘
’

said by telling you what your features indicate ?

T 2
27 6 MEMOIR S OF TH E SANS ONS .

’
‘
V ery
well answered Saint Clair though not with
,
-

o u t hesitation .

They show the cunning of the fox and the ferocity

’
o f the wolf .

The remark was anything but flattering S aint .

C lair started and as he had passed hi mself off as an

,

O fficer it was at first feared that h e would challenge the

bold physiognomist But nothing of the kind occurred .

S aint Clair did not move and remained silent u ntil the
-

end of the dinner H e was rising with the others when .

a num b er of gendarmes entered the room and asked the

travellers to e x hi b it their passports S aint Clair showed .
-

his and although it was quite en r é g le h e was identified

, , ,

arrested on the spot and shortly after sent back to ,

F rance I m ay add that h e died with courage

. .

I t was only on F ebruary 3 1 8 3 2 aft er an interrup , ,

tion of eighteen months that th e guillotine was again ,

required I t was erected not on the Place de Gr ev e

. . ,

but on the cross road of th e Barri ere Saint J acques -

.

The execution took plac e i n the morning at nine o clock ’

and the culprit was b rought straight from Bic etre in a

covered carriage The hideous cart had seen its time . .

'
O n J uly 1 3 18 3 2 I had to put to d eath a ve r y
, ,

young although very great criminal whose deeds had ,

created much sensatio n: N icolas Th eodore F r ed erie

Benoit son of a highl y respected j ustice of the peace i n
,

the Ard ennes who su ffered i n atonement of two murders

, ,
’

the second of which had been perpetrated in order to

conceal the first deed .

Young Benoit began by murd eri ng his mother after -

,
 M E AI OI RS OF TH E SA N S ON S ’

27 8 .

Benoit stoutly denied the overwhelming charges

brought against him he d isplayed throughout his
d efence no ordinary ab il i ty but h e had to deal with a
,

formid able opponent Th e i nha b itant o f V o ug i e r s who

.

had b een tried by mistake took up the civil prosecution ,

and entrusted M C haix d E s t Ange the celeb rated

.
’
-

barrister with the task of showing his i nnoc ence M

, . .

C h ai x j oined the publi c prosecutor in hi s denunciation

o f the prisoner and Benoit was sentenced to the death
,

of parricides that is with bare feet a shirt as h i s only

, ,

garm ent and a b lack v eil over his h e a df

,

When we reached the prison of Bic etre where the ,

unhappy young man was incarcerated we heard his

’

cries through th e walls of the cell when h e was informed

that d eath was at hand H e appeared i n the hall where
.
,

w e were waiting fo r him supported b y two w arders

, .

This w a s the first time I beheld such weakness before

d eath H e said nothing while my assistants were
.

cutting hi s hair b u t when they undressed him he uttered

,

frightful shri eks The only words of his I could under

.

stand were M erc y Pity ! I am innocent Do not

kill me H e tried to rise b u t could not The blac k vei l
, .

was spread over his head and we started for the guillotine
, .

Benoi t fainted several times on the way Whenever .

h e recovered he e x claimed in a piteous tone : M Chai x .

d E s t Ange has caused my death My poor mother

’
-
.
,

’
you know I am innocent ! The priest w ho suppor t ed
hi m d id not spare his encouragements but B enoit still ,

p ersisted i n saying he was innocent I t was only when .

h e s a w the guillotin e that h e knelt and confessed his -

 MY EXE C UTIONS . 27 9

guilt This confession I distinctly heard although i t

.
,

was only intended for the ears o f the priest and I was ,

relieved when it cam e out for I had followed the trial , ,

and i n my h umble j udgment Beno i t had been convicted

on proofs which appeared to m e anything b ut eo n c lu s w e .

B enoit was carried up to the platform for h e could ,

not b e i nduced to walk H e was insensibl e while my .

as sistants strapped hi m to the weigh plank -

.

O n reti ring my father (who usually accompanied m e

,

o n such occasions) said to m e that since the exec ution ,

of M adame D ubarry he had never seen an instanc e of

,

s uch weakness on the s caffold .

‘
R emark he added the powerlessness of capital
,
’

,
‘

punishment ; we have j ust e x ecuted a m a nwho had t h e

greatest fear of death Well the man was not twenty
.
,

O n e and yet he had already com mitted two murd ers

,
.

F ear of capital punishment did not d eter him

’
.

I was quite of his opinion My father shrugged his .

should ers and continued : F ear of death is a physica l

,
‘

s entiment which is linked with the instinct of conser

vation When a man is ill or i n great peril then h e
.
, ,

f ears death but never is h e deterred by the prospect of

,

d istant d eath ; and if the m an be a r u ffi a n the temptation

of crim e will get the better of whatever lurking a ppr e
’
h e n s i o n h e m ay have .

’
VI . L a oe na i I/ e, F i es oki , a nd A li Oa na .

Few executions took place i n 1 8 3 3 and 18 3 4 wa s ,

o ne of happy inaction I t was only on J uly 1 1 18 3 5

.
, ,
2 80 MEMOIRS OF TH E SA NS ONS .

th at w e received an order to put to d eath one J ean

Labord e an agricultural labourer sentenced for m urder ;
,

h e was executed at Melu n O n O ctober 24 a soldie r

.

named Roch B elard who had murdered one of h i s

,

friends passed through our hands ; and two celebrated

,

criminals L a c e na i r e and Avril were executed at t h e

, ,

b eginning of 18 3 6 .

L a c e n a i r e especially d eserved the name of lion o f ‘

crime which I ventured to g i ve to C a s t a i ng

’
N eve r .

before d id a murderer engross publi c attention to such a

d egree ; never before was a criminal b eheld with m ore
curiosity — I will even s a y with more enthusi asm Th e .

O bj ect of L a c e na i r e and his accomplice was theft a n d ,

the m eans murder To murder and rob t h e com mis

.

s i o n na i r e of a bank i n charge of bank notes was t h e -

chim era which he pursued with incredible pertinacity .

H e was not successful ; and several fruitless attempts

betrayed L a c e na i r e and his accomplices into the hands
of the police .

L a c e n a i r e displayed th e most extraordinary cynicism

and audacity I nstead of confessing that h e was led t o
’

commit his cri mes by his evil passions h e endeavoured ,

to explain them by h i s principles ; and he e x pressed

doctrines which were alike antagonisti c with morality
and good sense Gifted with eminent faculties he
.
,

clothed his shameless sophisms in brilliant language ;

and he was l istened to with indulgence ; his prose h i s ,

verses w ere read with avidity and h e became the

, .

hero of the day This I think was a mistake

.
, , Lace .

n aire m ade a pedestal of the scaffold and died with ,

2 82 MEMOIRS OF TH E SANS ONS .

who escorted him to the foot of the scaffold H e turne d .

to L a c e na i r e and cried in a strong voice

,

F arewell L a c e na i r e ; farewell my mate

, ,

A smile appeared on the lips of the oth er culprit .

The thump of the knife did not even make him start .

I n his turn he firmly went up the steps of the guillotine ,

a n d loo k ed intently at the c ro w d We though t h e was .

about to speak ; b ut h e held his tongue and stretched ,

o u t of his own accord on the plank ,which was stil l

’
dripping with Avri l s blood The knife c am e down and .
,

’
L a c e n a i r e s head fel l into the basket S om e new spapers .

o f the period pretended that there w as an interval of

twenty s econds and that th e knife stopped before i t

,

’
r eached L a c e n a i r e s neck This was altogether untru e
. .

This detail was probably invented for th e sake of e ffect .

N o extraordinary event occu rred while L a c e na i r e was

b eing guillotined I tried to con t radict the report of the
.

a bove invention b ut no paper would print my letter

,
.

A ll I can s a y is that the famous cr i m i nal w as remarkably

cool and resolute and that h e suffered no more than
,

Avril My acco u nt I know d iffers from the offi cial

.
, ,

o ne b u t I venture to assert that mine is correct

, .

F our wee k s later the guillotine w as again at work

the cr i minals were Fi e s c h i M orey and Pépin wh o had , , ,

a ttempted to murd er King Louis Philippe on J uly 2 8 .

F i e s c h i s attempt is well known : h e i nvented an infernal

’

m achine whi ch he discharg ed a s the King and his family

,

Were passing N on e of the royal personages were

.

wounded but forty persons fell und er Fi e s c h i s bullets ;

“

,
’
2 84 ME M OI RS
.
'

OF TH E S A N S ON S .

die for liberty and the extinction of infam ous monarchy .

’

H e d ied with out fear or bravado .

D a m n es B e li a r a S a lm o n, P
’
VII o nl m a nn,
’
.
, , F o nt , f r o .

There was no e x ecution i n Paris d uring the y ea r

18 3 9 The scaffold was only erected on F e b ruary 2 9
.
,

1 8 40 for a common and not particularly interestin g

,

cri minal O nl y two more instances of capital punish

.

m ent occurred in 1 84 0 and our first e x ecution in 1 84 1 ,

w a s on the person of one Marius D arm es sentenc e d fo r ,

fi ring a gun at K ing Louis Phi lippe Darm es was a .

m an of the sa me category as A li b a u d and he showed ,

i ndomitabl e energy d uring t h e whol e of his trial before

th e H ouse of Peers This was the third attempt on t h e
.

King s life ’
.

N o e x ecutions in
O n N ovem b er 6 1 8 43 at V ersailles e x ecution o f
, , ,

C lovis J oseph B eliard condemned to d eath for mu rder ,

.

O n N ovem b er 3 0 of th e sam e year execution of H enri ,

S almon for m urd ering a man name d S ec h e p i ne i n t h e

woo d of V incennes F o r som e ti me past I had m erely
.

appeared on the sca ffold and I l eft th e irksome d uties ,

of fetching the culprits & c to Piot my fi rst assistant ,

.
, ,
.

To my great surprise Piot came to m e say ing th at H enri

S al mon wished m e to superintend th e toilet i n person .

I of course gratified this wish When I asked S almon .

why he wished m e to atte nd hi m rather than any other ,

1
A fe w u ni m p o rt an t e x e c ut i o ns ar e om i t t ed i n t h e pr e r
s e n t ve s i o n of

S a ns o n
’
s M e m o i rs .
 MY EXE C UTIONS . 285

h e said that h e knew my family and hoped that I would ,

spare h i m as much as I could I was touched and did .

,

h i m all the good turns I could on the way to the guillotine .

The successor of S al mon on the guillotine was th e

notorious P o u lm a nn alias D urand alias Legrand whose
, , ,

h ideous c elebrity was almost equal to La c e na i r e s

’
.

P o u lm a nn was very i ntelligent ; and if he did make a

principle of mu rder an d ro bb ery h e at least possessed ,

g reater physical powers than L a c e na ir e H e was s en .

t e n c e d to death on J anuary 2 7 1 8 44 for the m urder O f

, ,

an old m an who kept a wine shop near N angis When

-

t h e hour of punishment cam e h e showed the most

e x traordinary courage H e was a confirmed materialist

.

a n d firmly b elieved in nihilism P o ulm a n n was par .

t ic u la r ly proud of h i s personal strength ; and as it w as

f eare d that h e would try and m ake a show of it before

dying I was requested to double the number of my
,

assistants Thes e apprehensions were groundless When

.
.

m y assistants advanced to bind his h ands P o ulm a nn ,

l ooked up angri ly and aske d whether it was the custom ;

’ ’
"
because if it is not he added I ll send you all tum
, ,
‘

’
b ling over in les s than a minute H e however submitted
.
, , .

H e would not allow th e Abbé Montés to accompany

h i m . When we reached th e scaffold P o ulm a nn looked
at it without a sh udder I s that all ? said he shrug
.
’

g ing his shoulders . O n reaching the platform P o u lm a nn

turned towards the assistants and exclaimed : I s a y ‘
,
’
you fellows won t you put a franc piec e in my pocke t
,

f o r the gravedigger ? I t is b itterly cold and the poor ,

f ello w must drink my h ealth

’
.
2 86 M E /WOI RS OF TH E S A NS ON S .

S uch were his last words .

O n O ctober 2 8 1 84 4 at V ersailles e x ecution o f

, , ,

Antoine Pont sente n ced to d eath for having poisoned

,

hi s wife and then murdered his mistress in the forest of

S enart The atrocity of this dou b le cri m e a b sorbed
.

pu b lic attention and the scaffold was s u r r o u n de d b y an

'

i mmense crowd who hooted th e culprit .

now I have done My notes end here M y

A nd . .

father died in 1 84 1 and from the time of h i s d eath I

,

became an i nactive spectator of ex ecutions I had .

executed over a hundred persons and I felt it was ,

enough for m e I remai ned ole n o m i ne e x ecutioner ;

.

Piot my first assistant was also my factotum and I

, , ,

m erely attended executions as a matter of form I n .

fact I retained m y functions but I had not the courage

,

to discharge them Long before my dismis sal in 184 7

.

I was e x pecting and hoping tha t the Government would

fulfil m y dearest Wish and enable m e to retire with ou t
breaki ng th e promise I had mad e to my father of never ‘

withdrawing of my own accord My dismissal did com e .

at last and while some fifty eager individuals were com

,

peting for the o ffice of executioner I greeted it as a

d eliverance .
 :2 88 A PPENDIX .

b eg inning wi t h t h e h e l m e t ; h i s hi e l d wa s brok en in t hr e e pi e c e s ;
s

the k ing a t a r m s poure d a b a s in o f hot wa ter on h i s h e a d a n d

- -

r ie s t s s a n g t h e s e rv i c e o f the d e a d d uring thi s i m pr e s s i v e c e re

p
m ony Th e j u dg e s c l a d in m ourni ng t h en we nt to c hu r c h
.
, , ,

whi t h e r t h e c ul pr it wa s b orne on a l i t ter A ft e r a D e P r o .

z s he wa s g i v e n u p to t h e r o ya l j u dg e to b e dea l t w ith b
f
’
’

a n a
y
H i g h ju s ti c e On s o m e o c c a sion s h e w as a ll owe d t o out
.

l i v e h i s in fa m y a s i n t h e c a s e o f C a p t a in Fr a ng e t a G a s c o n
, ,

g entl e m a n wh o h a d trea ch e rou s ly s urre n de r e d Fo n t a r o b i a to

,

t h e Spa ni a rd s H e wa s d e gra de d a t Lyons in 1 5 2 3 in t h e

.
,

m a nner I h a v e d e s c r i b e d a n d a ft er wa r d s s e t fre e,
.

Sub s e q u e n t ly d e gra da t i o n wa s a b a ndon e d b ec a u s e t h e ,

s en t en c e in i t s el f wa s und e r s t o o d t o i m ply t h e s t i g m a I t wa s .

r e s u m e d in 1 7 9 1 un de r t h e n a m e o f c i v i l d e g ra da t ion Th e .

c l a u s e wa s thus word e d : Th e c ul prit s ha ll b e le d t o t h e

‘

p u b l i c pl a c e where sit s t h e t ri b un a l t h a t p a s s e d s ente n c e u o n

, p
h im . Th e c l e r k o f t h e cou r t s h a ll ad dres s h i m in t h e s e wor ds
“ Yo ur c oun t ry h a s fo und you u i l ty o f an i n f m o u t t h
g a. s a c e

l a w a n d t h e c our t stri p you o f your t itl e o f Fr e n c h citiz e n .

C i vi l degr a da t ion i s s t i ll in force b ut it i s not coupl e d w i t h ,

c erem ony a n d m er ely c onsi s t s in the depr i v a t io no f c er ta in

,

righ t s m e ntioned in Ar tic l e 3 4 o f t h e Pena l Code H oweve r .

,

ac co r di ng to m a rtia l la w n o di s h o noura b l e s e ntence c a n b e

,

c a rri e d o u t wi t h out e ffe ct iv e deg ra da tion .

P ILL OR Y AN D CA R CAN ’

Pi ll ory su c c eede d ca r c a n whi c h wa s a do pted in 1 7 1 9 a nd, ,

o n ly di s a pp e a r ed a fe w yea r s a g o Th e p i ll ory wa s a kind o f .

p o s t or p i ll a r t o whi c h in t o k e n o f infa m y c ri m in a l s were

, ,

c h a ined I t wa s g e nera lly pl a c e d in a well k no wn s pot In -

. . .

P a r i s it wa s situa t ed n e ar t h e H all es I t c on s i s ted in a n .

o c t a gona l t owe r wi t h a gr ound fl oor and on ly one l a ndi ng , .

T h e cul prit wa s shown there d ur ing three consecuti ve m a rk e t

 APPENDIX . 2 89

d ays On ea c h da y he wa s t a k en round t h e pi ll ory every ha l f

.

hour s o th a t he sh oul d b e seen on a ll s ide s Thi s s pec ie s o f

, .

exh i b ition di ff ered a c c ording to town s 5 t h u s a t Orl ea n s wh e re , ,

fo r t h e fi rst t i m e t h e p i ll ory wa s u s e d it c o n s i s t e d in a wood e n ,

c a g e s i x fe e t hi gh and only t wo fe e t a n d a ha l f b r o a d in wh i c h
, , ,

t h e c u l prit wa s t hrust a nd ob l i g e d t o r em a in in a sta n din g

,

p o s ture T h e c.a g e re v o lv ed on a p i vot a n d t h e p eo pl e h a d ,

t h e ri ght to t urn it so a s t o s e e t h e pri s oner on a ll s i de s to hoot ,

h i m a n d t o t hr ow m ud in his fa c e
,
.

Th e Ca r r a ” wa s ra t he r a n a dj un c t t o t h e p i ll o ry t ha n a
n e w p uni s hm en t I t wa s a c i r c l e or i r on c oll a r whi c h t h e
.
, ,

exe c u t ioner r iv eted a round t h e c onvi c t s n e c k Th e c onv ict ’

.

wa s l ed forth on foot b oth h a nd s a t ta c hed b e h i n d t h e e x e c u

,

t i o n e r s c a r t or t ied b ehind h i s b a c k A t t h e pl a c e de s igna t e d

’
.
,

fo r t h e puni s h m ent wa s a p o s t t o wh i c h wa s l in k e d a l o ng ,

c h a in term in a ted b y a n i r on c o ll a r s i x in c h e s t hi c k whi c h h a d

, ,

a hi n g e Th e ne c k o f t h e c o nv i c t w a s e n c l o s e d i n t h i s c o ll a r
.

whi c h wa s th en l o c k e d w ith a pa dl o c k A pl a c a rd indi .

c a t i ng t h e cri m e o f the cu l prit w a s s o m e t i m e s s t u c k on h i s

b re a s t .

C ri m e s puni s ha b l e by the pi ll ory were b a nk ruptc y fo rg e ry , ,

b i ga m y fra ud c hea ting a t c a r ds r obb e ry o f fruit sa l e o f p r o

, , , ,

h i bi t e d b oo k s a nd b l a s phem y ,
U nder F r a n c is I a nd H e nr y
. .

I I t hi s l a s t cri m e wa s m e t b y s i x hour s o f c a rc a n
. Th e a ppli .

c a tion o f c ar c a n c ha n g ed b y dint o f t i m e a n d wh e n it di s a p ,

r e d fro m the F ren c h p en a l c ode it c o n s i s t e d in b ei n

g
p e a

a tta c h e d in pub l i c b y t h e nec k to a n iron co ll a r fo r t h e spa ce

o f a n hour .

A M ENDE H ON ORA B L E , E T C .

In . the lpon
uni
g s h m en t s in
li s tfl i'

c tof
e d in fo r m er d a y s ,

A m efl a e b af z or a b/e h e l d the l a s t pl a c e P e rh a p s t h i s r e vol t ing

’
.

p uni s h m e nt shou l d h a v e h a d a hi gher pl a c e b u t i t wa s i nt e nd e d ,

to t ou c h t h e m ind not the b ody I t wa s fre q uently a pr e

,
.

V OL . II . U
2 90 APPENDIX .

l i m in a ry s te p to a m or e s ev ere puni s hm ent Th e s ol e a c t o f .

a r a di ng a pr i s on e r in a c a rt t hrou gh t h e streets wa s h owev e r

p , ,

a puni s h m ent in fl i c ted u p o n p ett y t h ie v e s I n so m e c a s e s it .

w a s a l s o i nfl i c ted u pon nob l e m e n .

‘

A m ong oth e r m o r a l i nfl i c t i o n s s houl d b e m ention e d t h e a c t ,

r e s o r ted t o un de r t h e r ei g n o f St Loui s o f b r e a k i ng a k ni ght s

’
.
,

spu r s on a dungh i ll I n the m id dl e a g e s a hu sb a n d wh o

.

suffe red h i s wi fe t o be a t h i m wa s m a de to ride a b out t h e s t re e t s

o n a donk ey wi t h h i s h e a d towa rds t h e ta i l C utt i ng t h e t a b l e .

c l o t h b e for e whoev er h a d c o m m itt e d a n a c t o f c o wa rdi c e wa s

a noth e r u s a g e o f t h e s a m e k ind Thi s w a s done to W i ll i a m o f

.
‘

H a i na ut a t t h e K ing o f Fra nce s o wn ta b l e b e c a u s e he h a d

’

, ,

n o t a v e ng ed t h e m ur der o f h i s gra nd unc l e -

FL A GELLA T1ON
Flag eZ/a t z o n h a s b e e n
one o f the m o s t c r uel a nd hum i l i a ting
'

p uni s h m e nt s I t w a s a b o l i s he d in 1 7 8 9 b ut c ontinu e d in fo r c e
.
,

in t h e n a vy unti l t h e Pro v i s ion a l G ov ernm e nt o f 1 8 4 8 fi na lly

,

suppre s s ed it Corpora l puni s hm ent howev er i s sti ll in v ig our

.
, ,

in t h e hulk s .

M U TILA TI ON S .

Ther e i s i l e pa r t o f t h e b ody t ha t h a s not be e n

s c a r c e ly a s ng

subj e c t e d t o a s e pa ra t e a nd s p e c i a l tortur e : t h e eye s m ou t h , ,

tongue e a r s t e et h a r m s ha n ds fe et a n d h e a r t h a ve b e en s o
, , , , , ,

m a ny s ou r c e s o f s u ffe r i ng b y fi re a n d iron Bl in dnes s r e s orte d .

,

t o und e r t h e fi r s t t wo r a c e s o f Fr e nch k i ng s wa s in fl i c t e d b y ,

r in c e s u pon hi gh p ers o n a g e s who s e at t a c k s th e y fe a r e d b ut

p ,

who s e l i v e s t hey d a r e d not t a k e Bl indn e s s wa s a ppl i e d t o

.

B e r na r d K i ng o f I t a ly gra n ds o n o f Cha rl em a gn e ; a nd t h e
, ,

P a r l i a me nt o f Senl i s in 8 7 3 ordered t ha t t h e reb ell ious s o n o f

, ,

C h a rl e s t h e B a l d s h o u l d b e depr i ved o f h i s si ght .

292 A PPE N D I X
d Ar m agna c , C ount de N e m our s , ordered tha t h i s ch i l dren houl d
’
s

b e ta k e n to t h e B a s ti ll e a nd th a t th e i r t e e th s houl d b e extra c te d
, .

Th e a m puta tion o f the fi s t i s the for m o f m uti l a tion wh ich

h a s the l ong e st re si s ted t h e p r og re s s o f ci v i l i s a tion Th e .

C ode o f 1 7 9 1 a r t 4 en a c ted t ha t who e ve r sha ll b e c o n

,
.
,
‘

de m n e d to de a th fo r m urder or a rs on sha ll b e ta k en t o t h e ,

p l a c e o f exe c u tion c l a d in a r e d shi r t A p a rri c ide s h a ll

. h a v e

h i s hea d a n d fa c e c o vered wi t h a b l a c k c l o t h whi c h s h a ll only ,

b e ta k e n a wa y b efore exe c ution B ut t h e C o de o f 1 8 1 0

’
.

r eturned to t h e o l d l e g i s l a tion a n d d e c r e ed t h a t t h e fi st o f a
,

ar r ici de shou l d b e a m puta t e d I t w a s o n ly in 1 8 3 2 t h a t t hi s

p .

u sel e s s cr u e l ty wa s fi na lly s u ppr e s s e d .

Th e a m pu t a tion o f t h e fe et wa s a wholly m e di ae va l p uni s h

m ent . Th e l a st insta nce o f t h i s cru e l in fl i c t ion wa s un der the
reign o f St Louis . .

Another puni shm ent wh i c h m a y b e c l a s s ed in t h e c a te g o ry

o f m u t i l a t ion s wa s t h a t wh i c h c on s i s ted in b ra ndin g c on v i c t s
,

with a red hot iron I n o l der ti m es t h e c ul prit wa s b ra nd e d

-
.
,

with t h e fl ea r a e ly r’ - -

Afterwa r d s the l etter V i m p r e s s ed on

.
, ,

t h e shou l der o f thie v es wa s sub stitute d or t h e l e t ter s G AL

, ,

(g a lé r es
) w hen the y w ere se n t t o the hu lk s S oon a ft e r the .
,

l ett ers T F ( z r a va ux f o r ces ) took t h e pl a c e o f previou s m a rk s

‘
‘

This in fl iction wa s a b ol i s he d b y the la w o f Apri l 2 8 1 8 3 2 , .

P U N I SH M E N TS F O LL OW E D B Y D EATH .

C AP I TA L p uni s hm ent h as p re v a il e d in a ll l eg i s l a t io n in
Fra nce a s a l m o s t e v erywher e el s e a nd d ur i ng a l o ng p e r iod it
, ,

wa s coupl e d with a tr o c iou s su ff e ring s A n d m u r d e r or c o n .

-

s pi r a c y a g a in s t t h e Sta te w ere not the o nly c ri m e s p uni s h ed

,

with dea t h a m ong o t her cri m es in whi c h it wa s in fl i c t e d we re

p e cuni a ry e x a ctio n s co m m itted b y o fli c e r s o f t h e la w f r a udu l ent ,
 APPENDIX . 2 93

b a n kruptc y, fo rg ery om m i t te d by Sta t e offi ci a l s p ecul a tion

c
, ,

f a l se e v id e n c e houseb r e a k i ng a nd wayl a y ing s m ug gl ing fa l se

, , ,

m a rk s on j ewe ll ery t h e p ettie s t a cts o f theft s a cri l e ious

, g p r o ,

fa na t i o n du e ll i ng & c & c
, , I m a y a s well g i ve a s um m a ry o f
.
, .

the t o o nu m erous puni shm ents enta i l ing dea t h whi c h were in
p ra c ti c e fr o m a ncient t i m e to our d ays .

TH E CR OSS .

T/z e Cr os s wa s the
o s t ancient and cruel form o f ca pita l
m

p unish m ent I n Fr a n c e it wa s ra rely resor ted t o I n 1 1 2 7

. .

L oui s t h e B u lky o r der ed B e r t h o lde the m urderer o f C ha rl e s ,

the R ighte ous t o b e c ruci fi ed Cru c i fixion wa s al s o infl icte d

, .

a t di fferent t i m es on J e ws a nd heretics .

DE C A P ITA TI OI V .

is a l s o a puni s hm ent a s ol d a s t h e worl d It .

wa s pa r t icu l a rly c o m m o n under R i c hel ieu s ru l e Th e C a rdin a l

’
.

stru c k h a rd a t t h e nob i l ity a nd cause d a grea ter num b er o f

,

nob l e hea ds t o fa ll un de r t h e sword o f t h e la w t ha n h a d b e en

s a cri fi c e d sin c e t h e fir s t or i gin o f t h e Fr en c h m on a rc h y Th e .

adva n t a g e o f t hi s c a pita l execution r epo s ed in the execut ioner s ’

dexteri t y wh i c h unfor tuna tely c ou l d on ly b e a c q uired by

, , ,

p r a c t i c e .H i s tory a n d our fa m i ly r ecor ds cont a in fri ghtful

exa m pl es o f a wkwa r dne s s in deca pita tion by sword or axe .

I t i s well k nown t h a t D e Thou s hea d on ly fe ll at t h e el e v enth

’

b l ow a nd a si m i l ar event h a pp ened a t t h e exe c ution o f M a da m e

,

Ti q u e t .

H A NGING .

H a ng i ng wa s in fo rce a s well as deca pita tion Th e .

la tter wa s t h e exc l usive priv i l eg e of th e nob i l ity whi l e the fir st

,
294 A PPENDIX .

wa s infl icted upon cul pr its o f l ower sta tion I n certa in c a s e s .

,

howev er t h e r o pe wa s a wa r d e d to nob l e m en a l s o Th e gui llo

,
.

t ine r epl a c ed t h e g i bb et under t h e R evol u t ion .

TH E S TA K E .

Th e Sl a /
ee wa s a noth e r t ort ur e foll owe d by dea th infl icte d
in Fra nce as l a te as t h e s ev en t e e n t h c en t u ry .

Q UA P TE P I N G .

Q not er horri l e or d th in or r
’

h b f
wa s f f
‘
a a n er z ng m o ae a m e

days Da m iens wh o a t tem pted the l i fe o f Louis XV in 1 7 5 7

.
,
.
,

wa s the l a s t wh o pe ri she d b y it Q ua rter ing c onsi s t e d in t ying .

t h e c on v ict b y t h e a rm s a n d l e g s t o four hor s es whi c h wer e ,

t hen dri v en in di ff erent direction s u nti l t h e exe c ution wa s c o n

sum m a t e d Q ua rt eri ng wa s al m o s t exc l u s ive ly i nfl ic t e d on
.

regi c ide s H orr ibl e in itsel f it wa s prefa ced by o t h e r tor ture s

.
,

o f in g enious cr ue l ty .

Th e Wneel or ra c k , ,
other form o f
wa s as b a r b a rou s as a ny

c a p i t a l p uni s h m ent I t con s i s t e d in tyi ng t h e c ul prit on a

.

whe e l b re a k ing his l i m b s a nd l e a v ing h i m on t h e wh ee l unti l

, ,

he expire d B ut it o ft en ha ppen e d t ha t the j udg e s order e d by

.
,

a r ei enf nz n th a t he s h ou l d b e stra n g l e d b e fore his l i m b s w e r e

,

b r ok en .Th is p uni s hm e nt wa s m o s t fr e q u e n t in Fr a nce a nd ,

m a ny inno c ent m e n su ffe r e d b y it a m o ng o t h e rs t h e unfo r ,

t una t e C a l a s Th e wheel wa s a b o l i s h e d in 1 7 8 9
. .

At th e ori gin of th e M on a rc hy sorc e rers a nd witche s we re

,

s entenced to b e dr o wned .
‘

Phi l ippe Augu s te extended thi s

296 APPENDIX .

an d then l e tting h i m fa ll I n ( a le s eelz e he fe ll on de c k in t a le

.

lz z nnz de h e fe ll in t h e wa t e r
'

B efo r e a ll u ding t o t h e l a s t a nd only form o f c a pita l puni s h

m ent it i s wort h n o ti c i ng tha t t h e m idd l e a g e s pr o v i de d a
,

suprem e pro t e c t i o n a ga in s t dea t h e v e n a t the foot o f t h e s c a f

,

fo l d. Th e c ulp r it m i gh t i f he s uc c e e ded in s l i pp i ng t h r ough

,

t h e ha nd s o f h i s k e e p e r s se e k r efug e in a c hurc h a n d h i s
, ,

pers on wa s s a c re d s o l o ng a s he a b ided there Th e Chur c h .

wa s v ery j e a l o u s o f t h i s pri v i l e g e o f h o ly sa nctu a ry Th e .

cul pr it c ou l d b e s t i ll m ore e ffi c ien t ly pres erv e d i f a wo m a n

con s e nte d t o m a r ry h i m N u m er o u s exa m pl es o f this s upr em e
.

s a lva tion a r e q uote d by m edi aeva l hi s tori ans .

TH E G U ILL OTINE .

Th e Frenc h R ev o l utio n, wh ich m a de citizens e q ua l a ll

b efore the la w g a v e t h e m t h e s a m e pr i v i l eg e b e fore d e a th

,
.

On J a nu a ry 2 1 1 7 9 0 the fo ll owing decre e wa s pub l i s h e d

, ,

I n a ll ca s e s o f c a pi t a l s enten c e the p uni s hm e nt sh a ll a ffe c t a

,

singl e fo rm wha t e v e r m a y b e t h e na t ure o f t h e c ri m e : t h e

,

cri m i na l s ha ll b e d e c a pi t a te d a nd t h e exec ution sha ll t a k e

,

p l a ce b y m e a n s o f a s p e c
.
i a l a pp a ra tu s T hi s m a c hine .
’
w h i ch ,

wa s to b ear the n a m e n o t o f i t s in v entor bu t o f D o c t o r

, ,

G ui ll o t i n wh o h a d i m pro v e d i t wa s t h e g ui llot i ne
, ,
-

Th i s .

z e a l ou s c i t iz e n i m e ll e d b a hu m a n e s e n t i m ent w hi c h m e r e ly
,p y
a i m e d a t a b r i d in d i t t io n n d de ri v i n it o f m uc h o f i t s
g g e c a p a a p , g
phys i c a l s u ffe ri ng h a d only perfec ted a m a c h i ne k nown i n I ta ly
,

sin c e 1 5 0 7 u n de r t h e na m e o f nz a nna z a Wh en Doc tor G ui llo

'

tin pr opo s ed t h i s fo r m o f d e a t h to t h e Co ns ti t u e nt A s s e m bly ,

he wa s m u c h l a ugh e d a t ; b ut his suggestion wa s e ve ntu a lly

a dop t e d . Th e m a c h i n e wa s c ons t ruc te d in t h e fo ll o win g
m a n ner a n d it h a s b e e n b ut s l i gh t ly a l te red s ince : On a
‘

s c a ff o l d fro m sev e n t o ei ght fe et high t wo pa ra ll e l b a rs a r e

m a de fa s t a t one e nd t h eir top pa rt i s uni t ed by a stro ng c ros s
 APPEN DIX . 2 97

bar . thi ro b a r i s a dd e d a t h i c k i r o n r i ng i n wh i c h i s
To s c ss -

p a s s ed a r o p e w h i c h fix e s a n d r e t a in s a r a m Th i s i s p e r .

r m e d wi t h a s h a r
p e n d i c ul a r ly a
p a nd b r o a d bl a d e wh i c h g r a du ,

a lly b e c o m e s b ro a der o u a ll i t s s u r fa c e s o t h a t in s t e a d o f ,

stri king per pendi c ul a rly it s t r ik e s s i de wa ys s o t ha t t h e r e i s not

, ,

a n in c h o f the b l a de t ha t do e s not s erv e Th e r a m w e i gh s .

fro m sixty t o ei g h ty pound s a n d i t s we i gh t is do u bl e d wh en it ,

b eg in s to sl ide down I t i s e n c l o s e d in t h e groo v e o f t h e ba r s

.
.

A s pring m a k e s it fa s t to t h e l e ft b a r a ba n d o f iron de s c e n ds

a l o ng the outs ide o f th is s a m e b a r a n d t h e ha n dl e i s l oc k e d t o ,

a r ing wi t h a pa d l o c k s o t ha t no a c c ide nt i s po s s i bl e a nd t h e
, ,

we i gh t on ly fa ll s when t h e exe c u t ioner int e rfe re s To a w e igh .

p l a n k stron g str a p s a r e f a ste ne d b y w hic h t h e c ri m in a l i s ,

atta c hed u nd e r t h e a rm p i t s a n d o ver t h e l eg s so t h a t t h e bo dy ,

c a n n ot m o v e A s soon a s t h e w eigh pl a n k go e s do wn t h e
.
-

hea d being b etween t h e b a rs i s s u ppor te d b y a rounded cro s s

, ,

b a r the execu t ioner s a s s i s t a nts l ower a no t her ro und e d c ro s s

’
,

b a r the hea d b eing thu s g r oove d in a perfe c t circ l e wh i c h

, ,

p r e v ents it fro m m o v in g in a n y wa y Th i s pr e c a u t ion i s .

indi s p ensa b l e in r e ga rd to t h e terr ibl e in c on v e ni e nc e s o f fe a r

, .

Th e exe c u t ioner t h e n tou c he s t h e s pring Th e wh o l e a ffa i r i s .

done s o q ui c kly tha t on ly t h e t h u m p o f t h e bl a de wh e n i t

sl ides do wn in fo r m s t h e s p e c ta tor s t h a t t h e c ul pr it i s no l o nger
o f the l i v in g Th e h e a d fa ll s in t o a b a s k et full o f b r a n a nd t h e
.
,

b ody is p u s h ed in t o a nother wi c k er b a s k e t l i n e d wi t h v ery t h i c k

l ea ther .

A l t hou g h t h e g ui ll o ti ne wa s t h e co m m on in s trum ent o f

de a th a c co r di ng t o t h e la w h a ng ing wa s fre q ue nt ly r e s o r t e d to
, ,

du r ing t h e Rev o l ut ion A la l a nterne . wa s a we ll k no wn

‘ -

cry I t s igni fi ed ha nging fro m a gi bb et t o whi c h wa s a t ta c h ed

.

a l a nte rn F ou l on t h e C oun c i ll or o f Sta te wa s t h e fir s t wh o

.
, ,

suffe r ed in t h i s wa y 1
B ut the l a ntern wa s r a th er t h e i ns t r u
.

m ent o f su m m a ry j u s ti c e .

Th e A bb é M a u ry w a s o nc e p urs ue d by a m o b, wh o c ri e d ‘
A la
la nt e rne ! ’
D o yo u t h i n k yo u c a n s e e th e l r r fo p ut t i ng
c ea e r m e i n th e
2 98 APPENDIX .

J U DI C I AL OR D E AL S A N D TORTU R ES .

I N heir sea rc h fo r t h e t ru t h o ur a nc e stors o ft en tru s ted t o

t
h a za rd a nd soon p e r s ua de d t h e m s e lve s t h a t i t s dec re e s c a m e
'

fro m t h e D i v ini t y Th e duel or j udi ci a l co m ba t wa s in s t itute d

.

a t t h e t i m e o f t h e in v a s ion o f t h e b a r b a ri a n s Th e la w o f
'

B urgundy decre e d t h e duel when t h e pa rt i es wo u l d no t a b ide

b y t h e pri m i t i v e t e s t o f o a t h F e uda li s m ext ended j u di c i a l .

c om b a t ; wo m en c h i l dren a n d p rie s ts were b oun d to b ri ng

, ,

fo r t h a c h a m p ion t o s u s t a in t h e ir c a u s e b y a rm s Th e or d e a l .

wh i c h a t fir s t o nly c on s i s t ed i n a s t ruggl e wa s a ft er wa rds ,

a t t e n de d wi t h s o l e m n a n d s p e c i fi e d fo r m a l i t i e s I t wa s p r e .

ceded by a ch a ll eng e uttered b e fore t h e t rib una l ; t h e p er s on

,

wh o a s k e d fo r a j udi c i a l d uel t hre w do wn a g l o v e a s a ga g e o f ,

b a t tl e Th e j udg e s wh o ordere d t h e due l were b ound t o s e e it

.

out Th e c h a m pion s b efo re c o m i ng t o b l ows s wore on t h e

.
, ,

c ros s a n d m i s s a l n o t to ha v e r e c our s e to m a g i c in t h e j u s t

q u a r re l t hey w e re a b out t o fi g ht f o r T h e w e a p o n s di ffe r e d .

ac c o r di ng t o c l a s s e s : serfs were a rm ed wi t h a st i c k or a k ni fe ,

a n d h a d a shi e l d o f l e a t her c a ll e d ca ner a s s q uire s u s e d only '

swo rd a nd s hiel d Th e c on q u e r e d wa s re ga rde d a s c ond e m ned

.

b y j u dg m ent o f H ea v en a nd a n i g n o m i n iou s d e a t h a wa i t e d h i m
,

i f h e did n o t p e ri s h b y the b l ows o f h i s o ppon e n t I n c e r t a in

“

c a s e s m e n a s well a s wom en a nd c h i l dren c oul d de fe r a q ua rr e l

, ,

t o c h a m p ion s I n 5 9 1 G o u t r a y o r de r e d one o f h i s c h a m b e r
.
,

l a in s a n d one o f h i s g a m ek e e p ers w h o c h a rg e d ea c h o t h e r wi t h ,

h a v ing k i ll e d a b u ffa l o t o fi gh t in t h e l i s t s Th e c h a m b e rl a in s
’
,
.

c h a m pion a nd t h e g a m e k eep e r k i ll e d e a c h o t h e r Th e c h a m .

b e r la i n d uly c o n v i c t e d o f t h e cri m e b y t h e dea t h o f h i s

,

c h a m p ion wa s c h a in e d to a p o s t a nd stoned
, I n c e r ta in c a s e s .

a c o m b a t b etween a m a n a nd a n a ni m a l wa s p erm i t ted Th e .

pl ace o f a l r
a nt e n ? d h e c o o lly A g ne ra l burs t o f l ugh t e r fo ll o we d
’
sai , . e a

t h is sa ll y ,
wh i ch s a ve d h i s l i fe I t w a s b y t h e h n d o f t h i pr el a t e t h t I
. a s a

w as c o nfi rm e d —S .
3 00 APPENDIX .

h ea rd m a s s, er whi c h t h e pr i e s t m a de h i m k i s s t h e cros s and

a ft

t h e g o s p e l a n d fi na lly s prinkl e d h i m wi t h ho ly wa ter

, H e wa s .

t h e n u ndr e s s ed h i s r i g h t h a nd wa s t i e d t o h i s l e ft foot a nd he
, ,

wa s t h rown into t h e wa t e r I f he went t o t h e b o t to m a s

"

.
,

w a s n a tur a l he wa s r e pu t e d inno c ent ; i f on the other h a nd

, , ,

h e r e m a in e d a t t h e s u r fa c e it wa s sa id th a t the wa te r wou l d not

,

t a k e h i m a n d he w a s c on s ider e d g ui l ty Or dea l by ooz lz ng w a t er

'

.
,

c o n s i s t ed in pl a c i ng a c a u l dr on fu ll o f wa ter on a l a r e fi re ;
g
w h e n t h e wa t e r wa s i n a s t a te o f e b u ll ition it wa s ta k en a wa y
fro m t h e fl a m e s a r o p e wa s t ied a b ov e it t o which wa s s us
,

pended a ri ng or a ny o t h er obj e c t which wa s the n l o wer e d

, ,

i n t o t h e wa te r a t di fferent d e pt h s A t t h e fi rst orde a l the

.
,

a ccu s ed h a d on ly t o p l ung e h i s h a nd to c a tc h ho l d o f t h e r i ng

a t t h e se c ond o r de a l he pl u ng e d the a r m up to t h e el bo w ; a n d
.

a t t h e t hi r d a ll t h e a r m W h en t h e Ordea l wa s a ccom pl ish e d

.
,

t h e su ffer e r s a r m wa s in s er te d in a b a g on whi c h t h e j udg e i m

’

r in t e d his s e a l whi c h wa s b r o k en t hree d a ys a ft er a nd t h en

p , , ,

i f a ny m a rk o f b urning wa s s t i ll a ppa rent t h e a c c us e d wa s ,

d e c l a red gui l t y ; in t h e oth e r c a s e he wa s a b so lv ed .

4. O r d ea l oy w a r /n n o t a,
n d r ed l
,
z o t t r o n —-

T hi s orde a l c o n

s i s t e d i n t a k in g w i t h t h e h an d a h e a t e d iron or in wa lk i ng wi t h ,

b a re fe e t on b urni ng iron I n t h e m iddl e a g e s nob l em e n a nd

.

p r i e s ts h a d r eco ur s e to i t T h e a c c u s ed a ft er fa s ting fo r three

.
,

d ays a ttended m a s s a n d wa s le d to t h e pa r t o f t h e c hu r c h
, ,

wh e re t h e ordea l wa s t o ta k e pl a ce ; there h e t oo k t h e iron

wh i c h h a d b e e n m ore or l e s s hea t e d a c c ording to the g ra v ity o f ,

t h e c r i m e he r a i s e d it t wo or t h r ee ti m e s or c a rried it m o r e or ,

l e s s fa r a c c ording t o t h e sen t e n c e A s in t h e pre c e di ng t es t

,
.
,

his h a n d wa s t h r us t in t o a b a g a n d wa s sea l ed fo r t hree days

, ,

a n d i f it wa s wi t h o ut s c a r t h e a c c u s e d wa s dec l a r e d inno c e n t .

Ordea l b y r e d h o t i r on con s i s t e d in putting on a r e d hot

- -

iron ga un t l e t or in wa lki ng on i r on b a r s o f whi c h the u s u a l

, ,

n u m b e r wa s n ine b u t whi c h c o ul d b e ext ended to twe lv e

,
.

Ord e a l s founde d on t h e b el ie f th a t G o d a l wa ys pro v ed the

inno c e n c e o f t h e a c c u s e d by a m ira cl e were a b a ndoned in the
 A PPENDIX .
30 1

th irteenth century when St Loui s d e c l a red tha t c o m b a t wa s

, .

not a pr oof o f r ight a nd s ub s t i t ut e d ev i de n t i a l pro o f fo r j u di c i a l

,

te s t s. Th e tra ce s o f this in s t itution ho we v er exi s t e d unti l

, ,

t h e sixte e n t h c en t ury .

There c a n b e n o doub t t hat t or ture wa s t h e r e s u l t o f t h e

a ncient su p er s tition whi c h h a d g i v en b i r t h t o j u di c i a l ordea l s .

To rture com prised cer ta in g ra du a t ed torm en t s i nfl i c t e d u pon a

prisoner ei t her t o c om pe l h i m t o con fe s s h i s c ri m e o r t o o h ,

t a i n the n a m es o f his a c c o m pl i c e s Wh i l e he wa s s ubj e c t e d t o

.

t hese su ffering s a j udg e sta nding c l o s e to t h e t o r t ur er o r ones

, ,

t i onna i r e c a ll ed up o n t h e a c c u s ed to s a y t h e t ru t h a n d wr o t e
, ‘
,

down h i s de c l a ra t ions when c e the n a m e o f q ues t i on wh i c h wa s

,

g i v en t o torture .
Q u es t i o n w a s o f t w o sor t s ei ,t her d efi n i t e o r

p r el i m i n a ry. T he s e t w o c a t e g orie s w e re s u b di v id e d i n t o q ues

t i on or di na i r e and ex t r a o r di na i r e Throug h t h e fi r s t i t wa s
.

sought to exa c t fro m the a c c u s ed t h e c on fe s s i o n o f h i s gu i lt ;

throu gh t h e s ec ond it wa s en dea vour e d t o di s c o ver t h e na m es
o f t h e a c c o m p l i c es wh o h a d h e l p e d h i m in t h e p e rp e tr a t i o n o f

h i s c ri m e . Torm ent c a rr ie d t o a c e r ta in l i m it c on s t i t uted ones

t i on or di na i r e it wa s doub l ed in q ues t i on ex t r a or di na i r e whi c h , ,

as a r u l e wa s on ly in fl i c te d u pon cu lprits pr ev iou s ly sen t en c e d

,

t o dea th .

To r turers h a d m u l ti pl ie d t h e in s trum en t s o f puni s h m e nt .

Furth er it m a y b e seen t h a t e a c h pro v inci a l p a rl i a m ent h a d i t s

p a r t i c u l a r in fl i c t io n fro m whi c h it c ou l d n o t d ep a r t
, I s ha ll
.

b eg in by dwe ll in g on t h e m ore g enera l s p e c i e s o f tor ture s i n ,

which wa ter woo d fi re a n d iron were a l ways u s ed

, , , .

Tort ure b y w a t er c onsi s ted in s ea ting t h e c u l p rit on a ston e

stool a fter his senten c e h a d b een rea d to h i m H i s wr ists we re
,
.

att a c h e d b ehind his b a c k to t wo iron rings dista nt fr om ea c h

other All t h e c ord s t hen entwined round his l i m b s a n d body
.

were t hen p u ll ed a s m u c h a s p o s s i bl e a nd when t h e b ody o f ,

the su ffe r e r c o u l d not b e stret c hed a ny m ore a tre s t l e wa s ,

l a c e d under his b a c k T h e q ues t i onna i r e h e l d a horn in one

p .

hand a nd with the o t her he poure d wa ter i n and obl i g ed t h e

, ,
 39 2 APPENDIX .

r i m in a l t o swa ll o w fo ur p in t s in q ues t i on or di na i r e a n d e i ght

c ,

p int s in q u es t i on ex t r a or di n a i r e .

Th e l oot wa s a n i ns tr um e nt c o n s i s t ing o f four pl a n k s ,

b etween whi c h t h e s u ffe re r s leg wa s pr e s s ed Th e pl a nk s we re

’
.

p i e r c e d with h o l e s t h r ough wh i c h r o pe s w e re pa s s e d s o a s t o
, ,

pre s s t h e pl a nk s t o g e t h e r Th e e xe c u t ion e r th e n dro v e we dg e s

.

b e twe e n t h e p l a nk s wi t h a m a ll e t t h u s co m pr e s s i ng a nd e v e n
,

b rea k i ng t h e l i m b s o f t h e c ul pr i t Ordin a ry t or ture i nc l u de d

.

fo ur w e dg e s ei gh t w e d g e s wer e u s ed in q ues t i o n ex t r a or di na i r e .

Th e P a rl i a m e nt o f P a r i s a p pl i e d o n ly t wo k ind s o f t o r tur e ,

b y wa te r a n d b o o t . I n Br itta ny t h e s u fferer wa s t ied to a n iro n

,

c h a i r whi l e h i s l e g s w e re b r ou gh t b y d e g rees i n c on t a c t w i t h
,

t h e fir e .A t R ou e n t h e thu m b a n d a no t h e r fi ng e r or t h e le g
, , ,

wer e c o m p r e s s e d a t B e s a n go n t h e h o r s e wh i c h c o n s i s t e d in
, ,

a p i e c e o f woo d g a r ni s h e d w i t h s pi k e s on wh ic h t h e c u l prit
.

w a s pl a c e d a s tri de wa s g e n e ra lly u s ed
,
A t A utun to r tu r e wa s
.

in fl i c t e d b y pouring b oi l ing oi l on the fe e t Es tra p a de pr e .

v a i l e d a t O rl e a n s .

F r a n c e wa s t h e c ountry in whi c h t o rture preva i l e d the

l o ng e s t A d e c l a ra t i o n d a t e d O c tob e r 2 4 1 7 8 0 a b o l i s h e d
.
, , ,

p pre a ra t or y q u e s t ion a,
n d a n o t h er de c ree ( M a r ch 1 1 8 8
7 ) d i d ,

a wa y with tort ure a l to g e t h e r .

T H E E X ECU TI O N ER .

I N t h e p r i m i t i v e t i m e s o f F r e n c h s o c i e ty, t h e m a n on whom
de vo lv e d t h e s a d m i s s ion o f p u t t ing c ri m in a l s to dea t h or ,

e xa c ti ng co n fe s s i o n by t o r tur e t o o k t h e n a m e o f Exe c ution e r

,

o f H i gh J u s ti c e ,
b e c a u s e h i g h j u dg e s a nd a l s o roya l j u dg e s
a l one h a d t h e r i ght to pa s s s e nt e n c e o f d e a t h I n 13 23 e x e c u .

t i o ne r s we r e a l s o de s i gn a t e d a s eonuni s s a z r es sp i eula t eur s It .

w a s o nly und e r Loui s XI t h a t the ep i t h e t o f B o ur r ea u wa s

.

a ppl ied t o t h e exe c u t i o n e r B e fo r e the R evo l ution he wa s

.

c o ns id e red a s a s erv a n t o f the St a te a nd hel d l ette rs a t nt

, p e
39 4 A PPENDIX .

c hi e f ri ght wa s tha t o f lz a vee ( from a voi r t o ha v e ) Thi s r ight ,

.

c on s i s t e d i n t a k i n g a s m u c h o f t h e c orn s o l d in t h e m a rk e t a s

h e c o ul d t a k e w i t h h i s h a nd s Thi s pr i v i l e g e h a d b e e n gra nte d

.

t o t h e exe c u t io n er t o h el p h i m in h i s p e rso n a l wa n t s a n d t o ,

s a v e h i m t h e t r oub l e o f b u yin g pro v i s i o n s whi c h he c ou l d not

'

ea s i ly pr o c ur e o t h erwi s e m a ny p e opl e d ec l ini ng t o r ec e i ve

,

m on ey wh i c h c a m e fro m su c h h a n ds a s h i s Th e exe c u t ioner .

c ou l d e m p l oy a s s i s ta nts to c o ll e c t h i s t a x ; a nd t h e n u m b e r o f

m e n he wa s le d t o enga g e fo r t h e purp o s e a ll b ut a b s o r b ed a ll
h i s pr o fit s I n c on s e q uen c e o f t h i s h i s r i gh t in c e r t a in t o wn s
.
,

wa s exc h a n g e d fo r a y e a r ly a ll o wa n c e o f m on ey I n a le t ter
‘

a ddr e s s e d t o t h e a utho r i t i e s b T a r di ve a u t h e l o cal ex ecu

y ,

t i o n e r t h e wr i t e r c o m pl a in s t h a t h e i s ob l i g e d t o
,
em pl oy a
r e ul a r a rm y o f a s s i s ta nts in c o ll e c t i n l e S t dis
g g i a r/ e o a s o .

t i ng ui s h t h o s e wh o h a d p a id h i m fro m h i s o t h er de b to r s t h e ,

exec u t ion e r or h i s a s s i s ta nts m a rk e d t h em on t h e s h ou l d e r o r

e l b o w w i t h white c h a lk Thi s b rou ght on r io t s a nd s e di t ion s
.

a n d m o r eo v e r a s t h e ri ght o f li a r/e e or ra t her t h e m a n n er o f

“

, , ,

exe r c i s ing i t c a u s e d ri s ing di s cont e nt it wa s a t l a s t repl a c ed

, ,

by a n in c r e a s e o f s a l a ry .

M a ny o t h e r p r i v i l eg e s were a tta c hed to t h e o ffi c e b e s ides

t h a t whi c h I h a v e m e n t io ne d By a n ord e r o f t h e Chate l t ;
.
e

da te d 1 5 3 0 t h e exe c utioner o f Pa ris h a d a r i gh t o f t axa tion o n

,

fruit gra p es n uts h a y eg g s a n d woo l a l s o a toll on t h e Pe t it

, , , , ,

Pont a t a x o n b a rg es a s um fo r ea c h pa t i ent s u ffe ri ng fro m

, ,

l epro sy a s um on bro o m s c oa l s oys t e r s fi s h c a k e s o f

, , , , ,

Ep i ph a ny wa t er cre s s s e ll e rs a nd on s tra y p i g s
,
-

,
When o n e o f .

h i s s e rva nt s c a p t ur e d a pi g he too k it to t h e H ote l D ieu a n d

,
-

ei t h e r t h e h ea d or a s um o f m o n ey wa s g i ven in r e t urn Th e .

exe c utio ner h a d a l s o a ri ght t o a pa r t o f t h e a ppa rel o f t h e

c ul p r i t s w h o s u ffe r ed b h i s h a nd s a t fi r s t o nly c l o t h e s be l ow
y
t h e wa i s t wer e gi v en h i m b ut even t ua lly h e ob ta i ned t h e wh o l e
,

a
pp a r e l .

I n c erta in cities t h e exe c utio n er l ev ied a t a x on wom en o f

l oo s e l i fe Th e m onk s o f Sa i nt M a r ti n ga v e h i m fiv e l oa v e s
.
-
 APPENDIX .
39 5

and five b o t tl e s o f wine fo r ev ery exec ution t ha t t o o k pla cie o n

th e i r l a n ds t h os e o f Sa int G e n e v i eve pa i d h i m fiv e s o l s ye a rly
i n l i e u o f ri gh t o f lz a o ee ; a n d on St V i nc e n t D a y t h e a b b o t o f
'
.

Sa i nt G e rm a in de s P r es g a v e h i m a pi g s h e a d a n d a s s i g ned t o
’
- -

h i m a pr o m in e nt pl a c e in t h e pro c e s s i o n o f t h e a bb ey .

Th e execu t ioner a l s o r ecei ve d a s um o f m o n ey fo r e a c h

e x e c ut l o n .

In r
17 21 igh t s a pp e r ta i ni ng t o t h e o ffi ce we re
a ll the r

a b o l i s h ed a n d t h e e m o l u m en t s o f t h e e xe c uti o ner w e re fixe d a t

,

l i vr e s ; a n d up to 1 7 9 3 t h e exe c ution o f c a pi t a l s e n
t e nc es wa s en t r us ted to the t h re e fo ll o wing fun c t ion ar ies
1 . Th e ex ecut io ner

2 Th e q ues t i onna i r e .

3 . Th e ca r pen t er .

A ll p u n i s h m e n t s fo ll o wed by d e a t h conc e r n e d t h e ex ec u

t i o ne r B e s id e s h i s s a l a ry o f 1 6,0 0 0 l i vr es , h e r e c e i ved
. i l ‘

s pe c a

fe e s fo r e x e c u t ion s ou t s i de t h e wa ll s o f P a ri s A ll h i s exp e n s e s .

w e re d e fr aye d H i s a s s i s t a n t s w er e o f t wo s o r t s : r Th e s on s
. .

o f p r o v in c i a l exe c u t ion e r s unpa i d b ut fe d a nd boa rde d

, ,
.

Th e serva n t s wh o a l s o a c t e d in t h e c a pa c i t y of pri va t e
,

do m e s ti c s t o t h e exe c u t io ner .

Th e q ues t i onna i r e wa s s o m e t i m e s t h e s o n or r e l a ti ve o f the

'

exe c u t io n e r H e infl i c t e d q ues t i on or di na i r e a nd ex t r a or di na i re

.
,

a nd a l s o pr e l i m in a ry to r t ur e .

I f one i s t o j udg e by t h e s a l a ry ( fro m to

fr a n c s ) t h e o ffi c e o f ca r pent er wa s a pro fi t a b l e o n e
,
Th e c a r .
~

r s b u s in e s s wa s to c on s truc t r e pa ir a n d k e ep i n o r d e r
’

p e n t e , ,

s ca ffo l ds a n d in s t r u m e nts o f pun i s h m e nt .

I n 1 7 93 t h e N a t io n a l C onv e n t ion c o m pl e te ly a l te re d t h e
o s i t io n o f u b l i c e xe c u t ion e r s By a d e c r e e i s su e d on J u ne
p p .

13 ,
1 7 9 3 i t wa s d e c id e d t h a t a n exe c ut i o n e r s h o ul d b e a t t a c h e d
,

t o e a c h d e pa r t m e nt o f t h e R epub l i c Th e s a la ry o f e x e c u .

t i o n e r s wa s t o b e pa i d b y t h e St a t e In t owns o f wh i c h t h e
.

p op u l a t ion di d no t e x c e e d in h a b i t a nt s t h e s a l a ry w a s ,

fixe d a t l i vre s in t h o s e nu m be ring fro m to

'

V OL . 11 . _
x
 3 6
0 APPENDIX .

inh a b i t a n t s a t ,
l i vre s a n d l a stly t h e em o l u m en t s
, ,

o f t h e exe c u t ion er o f P a ri s w ere di m ini s h e d fr o m to

l i vre s H i s a s s i s t a nts were p a id on t h e s a m e s c a l e
. .

D uri ng the R e i g n o f Te rr or howev e r a sp e c i a l fe e o f

, ,

fra n c s wa s a d de d to h i s sa l a ry I t wa s not too m u c h fo r wha t

.

h e h a d t o do t h e n .

Th e l a s t re form in the p o si t ion o f exe c utioner s wa s en a cted

i n 1 8 4 9 when t h e s a l a ry o f t h e exe c u t ion e r o f P a ri s wa s
,

l o we r e d t o fr a n c s ; t h e exe c u t ioner o f Lyon s r e c ei v e d

fr a n c s t h o s e o f B o r d e a ux R ouen a n d Tou l o us e
, , ,

fra nc s a nd t h e g a ng o f l e s s i m p o r t a nt h e a ds m e n e a ch
, ,

fr a n c s. I t w i ll b e s e e n t h a t w e a r e fa r fro m the t i m e when M .

de P a r i s c o ll e c t e d fr a n c s o nly fo r h i s right o f lz a uee

’
It .

i s we ll t o r e m a r k t h a t n o m ore l e t t e r s pa te nt a r e h e l d b y e x e c u
t io ner s t h a t t h e s a l a ry h a s b e c o m e a k in d o f p e t ty s t i pend
a n d t h e c onc l u s i o n in di c a t e d b t h i s s t a t e o f thi ng s i s t h a t wh e n
y
o c c upa tio ns o f t h e k i nd I h a v e d e s c rib e d gra dua lly l o s e in i m
p ort a n c e
, t h e ti m e i s n o t di s t a nt w h e n t h ey s h a ll dis a pp ea r
a l t o g e ther .

L O N DO N : P RI N TE D BY

S P OT I I S W O O D E AN D N E VV —S T R E ET S Q U A RE
'
CU
' ‘
.
,