MEMOIRS OF THE SANSONS.
13
satisfaction of its material -appetites. A kind
Of ifrenzy possessed the ration. Honor, ithe
tformer object of her venesation, was replaced
hy pleasure; and license, the>result of a relaxa-
tion Of manners, had rapridly spread through
the lower classes of society. The system which
couldiin tbe course of a dayrenricb the poorrand
ruin the rich, initiated moblemen, bourgeois,
and men of the people snto the emotions of
gambling. The shrine oif Hazard was substi-
tuted ifor that of patient work and resigned
iprobity. This fever of miches, this thirst for
pleasures and ups and downs in fortune, :fl!Ied
Paris with a flock of disappointed adventurers,
ruined gamblers, and unsatisfied libertines,
readyito seek in crime the pleasures which a
regular Mfe could not affoard them. Tbe luxury
of -servants had increased enormously, and in
their rtaaks the army of disorder found numer-
ous rand willing recruits. It also fount! ele-
ment's in the army, and even among aniill-or-
ganiaed and undisciplined police.
It was thus that individual and organized
banitism was enabled to engage in an open
struggle with society, oppose strength to the
strength used to destroy it, and persevere with
impunity, during many years, in its depreda-
tions rand outrages.
Cartouche has remained the ideal <f the
thietvree of the eighteenth century. In the
sphere .of crime he is the exact image of the
period soif transition during which he lived. In
this miscreant's person there is much of the bri-
gand ofthe middle ages and, at the same time,
of the thief of our times. Like the former, he
has frequent recourse to brutal strength, hut be
prefers stratagem, of which he is a master. He
has the intuition of all the improvements intro-
duced by his successors in the art of appro-
priating .other people's property; and it may be
said that he is the precursor of thieves of our
generation.
Cartouche's biography, which has been fre-
quently written, does not come within my prov-
ince. He only belongs to me from the time
when the law handed him over to that one of
my ancestors who then wielded the sword of
justice. I will therefore say but a few words
concerning Cartouche's birth and life, and re-
late a few anecdotes which I find in my notes.
Cartouche, who was the son of a cooper,
passed his youth in that quarter of Paris called
the Marais. After being a bohemian, a re-
cruiter, and a soldier, he returned to Paris in
1715. His biographers say that peace cast him
penniless on the King's pavement. It appears
to me more probable that he deserted the ranks.
What is quite accurate is the tradition which
attributes to this singular man the powers of
of organization of a general, and shows us this
Caasar of the highway at the head of a legion in
which he had : established a kind of military
hierarchy and a unit}7 of command and action;
he had accomplished spies in all ranks of so-
ciety, and his army had even its surgeons.
Thus organized against an almost powerless
police. Cartouche's gang put society in such
peril that protracted impunity might have given
it the proportions of a public calamity. Thieves
were so numerous, night attacks were so fre-
quent, that no one ventured out of doors after
dark without an escort, and caravans were or-
ganized to cross the bridges or to go along the
quays; the waylayers acted with such ensemble
and upon plans so well combined that all their
attacks were crowned with success. Otherwise
it would be hard to explain the prodigious num-
ber of their misdeeds.
Cartouche's strength knd audacity, his'ingen-
ious fecundity of strategems, his extraordinary
agility, the energy with which he endured pri-
vations and fatigues, and above all his really
superior intellect, naturally designated him as
the leader of gangs of thieves. Certain advent-
ures in which members of tbe aristocracy played
a part, gave him notoriety; a daring escape and
many singular exploits established his celebrity,
and made him almost popular.
The robbery committed on the Archbishop of
Bourges was the subject of public conversation,
and caused considerable amusement at Court.
Monseigneur was traveling when, in the neigh-
borhood of Saint Denis, he was waylaid and
robbed by Cartouche's men. They took from
him his pastoral cross, his pontifical ring, ten
louis he had in his purse, and two bottles of
Tokay. It was said that the thieves had taken
the bb Cerutti, who accompanied the arch-
bishop, and was young and handsome, for a
disguised lady, and that, as Monseigneur de
Bourges was much offended by the suggestion,
Cartouche had beaten'his subordinate, saying,
"This will teach you to respect the clergy!"
Mdme. la Marquise de Beauffremont was also
the heroine of an adventure with Cartouche. It
was alleged that she distributed safe-conducts
and was on good terms with Cartouche, from
the following cause: One night, after returning
from a ball, she sent away her maids, and be-
gan to write by her fireside. She suddenly
beard a noise in her chimney, and soon after a
man, armed to the teeth, tumbled in the room
amidst a cloud of soot, dust, and sparrows'
nests. As, in his fall, the visitor had sent the
burning logs atout the floor, he took the tongs,
and mindless of the effect produced by his sin-
gular way of entering, he methodically replaced
all the wood;iu the grate, and then turning to
Mdme. de Beauffremont:
"May I venture to ask, madam," said he,
" whom I have the honor of addressing?"
" Sir," stammered the Marchioness, trem-
bling with fear, "I am Mdme. de Beauffre-
mont; but as I do not know you at all, and as
you 'have not the looks of "a thief, I cannot
guess why you gain access to my room in the
dead of the night aud down the chimney."
"Madam," answered the unknown visitor,
"in coming here I was not precisely aware of
the nature of the house into which I was com-
pelled to intrude. And to shorten a visit
which, I have no doubt, is not to your liking,
allow me to ask you to have the kindness to ac-
company me as far as the gate of your man-
sion."
As he spoke, he drew a pistol from his belt,
and took up a candle.
" But, sir------"
" Madam, have the goodness to be quick," he
added, cocking his pistol. " We must descend
together, and you will be good enough to request
the porter to open the gate."
"Do not speak so loud, sir; the Marquis de
Beauffremont might hear you!" said the fright-
ened lady.
" Put on your cloak, madam. It is freezing,
and you might catch cold."
Things took place as the audacious visitor
desired. Mdme. de;Beauffremont was so fright-
ened that she sank in a chair in the porter's
lodge after the man passed the threshold of
the mansion. She then heard a tap at the
porter's window, and the voice of the strange
visitor was heard saying:
" Monsieur le Suisse I have walked three or
four miles on tbe roofs of houses during the
night to escape from the policemen who were
after me. Do not go and inform your master
that there was any impropriety in being in this
house; otherwise you shall be dealt with by
Cartouche."
Mdme. de Beauffremont returned to her room
and awoke her husband, who told her she must
have been dreaming; Two or three days after
this adventure she received a letter of apology
and thanks, written iu very respectful and
choice terms, which inclosed a safe-conduct for
Mdme. de Beauffremont and an authorization
to deliver similar documents to members of her
family. With the letter came a small box con-
taining a fine diamond, which was estimated at
6,000 livres, which sum Mdme. de Beauffremont
hastened to present to the Htel Dieu.
An anecdote which may appear more authen-
tic is the trick Cartouche played at the expense
of the chief officer of patrols, whom he de-
prived of his silver forks and spoons in broad
daylight. One day, at twelve o'clock, as this
officer was sitting down at table, the door was
thrown open, and he saw a magnificent carriage
flanked with two tall servants standing near his
window. A stiff and self possessed old man
stepped out, and, announcing himself as an En-
glishman of distinction, he asked to see the
chief officer. He was introduced to the dining-
room. Perceiving that dinner was on the table,
be apologized profusely, declined to take a seat,
and having, he remarked in an accent which
could leave no doubt as to its nationality, only
a few words to say, he took the officer to a
corner of the apartment, placing himself so
that the latter should turn his back to the win-
dows.
After relating how an anonymous letter had
warned him that his house was to be attacked
on the following night, after asking for sentries
and promising a hundred guineas to the police-
men if they captured the famous Cartouche, for
whom the generous old Englishman expressed
the most profound hatred, he left his host, who,
much pleased at the prospect of a connection
with so rich a man, insisted on escorting him
to his carriage, and looked at the fine set-out as
it disappeared round the street corner.
He was disturbed in his contemplation by the
cries of his servant, who had just discovered-
that not a single spoon or fork remained on the;
table.
Cartouche, for it was no other, had acted his
part so well, that the officer defended his visitor'
against the accusations of his servants, and
maintained that he had not even approached
the table. But soldiers in the court had seen
the noble stranger's people carelessly leaning
against the open window; the table being at a
short distance from the window, it was proba-
ble that while the counterfeit Englishman was
engaging the chief officer's attention, the tall
footmen, stretching out their arms, had taken
the silver plate.
A few minutes after, these suspicious'were
confirmed. A commissionaire brought to the
chief officer a dozen forks and spoons of the
finest tin, in place of those he had lost.
The salient feature of all Cartouche's acts was
the witty frolic which was inseparable from
them. The thief was not content with despoil-
ing his victims; he laughed at them in the most
disagreeable manner. This was, perhaps, the
secret of his renown; Cartouche understood
that much would be forgiven ifihe amused
those who feared him.
It was on October 27 that Charles Sanson saw
Cartouche for the first time. He was still at
the Chatelet, and there was a large crowd before
the eutrance of the prison. Everybody wished
to say, "I have seen him!" aud permission to
visit the bandit was solicited as a great favor.
Women were especially eager to have a peep at
him; the Regent's mistress, Mdme. de Parabfere,
was one of the first who scanned his features.
Charles Sanson was perhaps the only man
who had a right to be more patient; but the
lightness of sentiment which characterized the
times possessed even the executioner; he could
not resist the solicitations of a few friends who
asked to accompany him, and he failed to un-
derstand that it was neither fair nor charitable
to appear prematurely before a man who was
doomed to meet him on the scaffold. In his
notes, Charles Sanson says that Cartouche
looked fortya statement which does not agree
with the date of his birth, but which can be
explained by the effect produced on his appear-
ance by the passions, debaucheries, and fatigues
of his profession. His head between the ears
was extraordinarily developed; his hair was
thin and shaggy, and the eye was not wanting
in malice. He was of rather low stature, but
thinness made him look taller than he really
was. " We examined him with surprise," adds
my ancestor, "so astonished were we that a
man so ugly should have been represented as a
woman-killer. He looked joyful and in good
health, and when one of our number asked him
whether he really was Cartouche, he shrugged
his shoulders, and sang a chorus in the language
of thieves."
Cartouche recognized his grim visitor; he was
rather troubled, but he soon recovered from his
agitation, and, showing more gayety than he
had hitherto displayed, he pointed to the exe-
cutioner's stick, and asked him if he had
brought it to take his measure.
An attempt at escape, which was nearly suc-
cessful, induced the authorities to transfer Car-
touche to the Conciergerie. He was in a cell with
another prisoner, who happened to be a mason. .
They made a hole in a sewer gallery. They
fell into the water, waded their way to the end
of the gallery, and, having removed a very
largc stone, they emerged in the cellar of a
a greengrocer. They went up to the shop, but,
unfortunately for the fugitives, the greengro-
cer's dog began to bark furiously. The servant
heard the noise, opened the window, and
shrieked for help; the greengrocer came down
with a light, and would have allowed them to
run away, but four policemen, who were in
the neighborhood, ran up, entered the shop,
and recognized Cartouche, who had chains to
his feet and hands. They took him back to
prison with his companion, and henceforth he
was watched with the utmost vigilance.
Cartouche's trial was soon concluded. On
November 26 was passed a sentence by which
Louis Dominique Cartouche, alias Lamarre,
alias Petit, alias Bourguignon; Jacques Maire,
Jean Pierre Balagny, Pierre Franois Guthrus,
Ducbtelet, and Charles Blanchard, were con-
demned to be broken, after suffering the ques-
tion ordinaire et extraordinaire. Two minor ac-
complices of Cartouche, Magdelaine and Mes-
sier, were sentenced to be banged.
On the next day, November 27, Cartouche
was tortured.    He suffered the "boot" with





1