The Express.
London, England, 1853-08-17 00:00:00

TRIAL OF LEGITIMIST CONSPIRATORS IN

PARIS.

The affair called the Vincennes plot, or the Liget
Falcate, occupied the Tribunal of Correctional Police,
presided over by M. Leer":lcc, 10th, 11th. and
12th 01 Angst. in Miij last, the police made a seizure of I
'wirers in the shop of M. Jeanne, the well known stations}
Of the Passage Choiseul, who fur many years past has ex-
hibited azr wad busts and portraits of the Count us Cham-
_
fiord, verses setting forth Ilia the lineal he:r of the Bour-
bons was waiting patiently till France should call fur him,
fieur de lys letter paper, and legitimist symbols under
various forms. The examination of the papers seized
led to the arrest of Jeanne himself, M. Piegard,
the father-in-law of AL Prouiltion, and about
a duzeo other very obscure persons, who, together with
Dubuisson, a legitimist conspirator of upwards of twenty
years' standing, and four or five other men not in custody,
were indicted for belonging to a secret legitimist society,
end ill. Bally possessing arms mid ammunition. Jeanne was
further prosecuted for having sold books without a license.
Some of the papers seized apparently disclosed a design to
get possession at the fort of the Vincennes, but the public
prosecutor declined to support this head of the accusation.
The mesas of action of the accused were so contemptible
that it was impossible to suppose they could seriously have
contemplated an attack upon the strongest fortress in or
near Paris. Jienne, upon being interrogated, said he had
been five or six times arrested, and as often prosecuted,
but bad been always acquitted. He had, however,
b. en condemned for an affair of some almanacks.
The pink., he admitted, had seized some legitimist emblems
in hie shop—they consisted, amongst other things, of a por-
trait of the Count de Chambord, bearing the inscription
Henri du France, but not Henri V., or Henri King of
France. Ten !ruts of that Prince, with the inscription
Henri V., had also been seized. He had kept them waiting
for a more happy moment. By the expression " happy mo-
I meet" he did not mean to imply that he was endeavouring
to bring about a certain political event, but simply that
such an event would be a happy one for him. He
could affirm that when people asked him for busts
of Henri, with the inscription " King," he had
refused them. Three riugs, representing the Count
de Chambord wearing a crown, had been seized in
his bedroom, but they were not destined for sale. He
might he wrong in keeping such rings, but it was because
he loved the Count de Chambord ; it was a weakness which
he could net resist. The police, he admitted, had seized
2,000 legitimist pamphlets on his premises ; but he bed
had them since 1848. A copying press bad likewise been
seized in his house. Some letters of Dubuisson had also
been discovered; he had treated them slightly, but admitted
that they were of a compromising character. He had seen
Dubuisson at Brussels, and had made a medal fur him.
He did not remember who had introduced him to him.
"It is astonishing," said the President, " that you
should not remember who made you known to a man
with whom you became so intimate that you had fifty-
three of his letters." "Dubuisson," said the accused, " has
a mania for letter writing. lie charged me with a host of
commissions. He was a botanist, and I know not what ;
and he was constantly wanting seeds and plants." "Do
you know that be had been an aide-de-camp of Count de
Bourmont ? " "I do not teeny know. Dubuisson talks a
good deal ; he is a very polite man, and speaks well; but
he says so many things that I cannot pretend to remember
them all." "Do you remember that he called himself
general-in-chief, and represented himself to have full
powers from the Count de Chambord ? " " Ah, yes."
" Did you believe him ? " " he is ton uiffing." " Ne-
vertheless, you received his instructions? " " Yes, to take
Vincennes and Mont Valerien by myself alone." The
accused then went on to say that he had n accepted
any political commission from Dubuisson. It had been
alleged that he had given brevets of colonel, captain, chef
de bataillon, &c,, to all the members of his society ; but
the proof that he had not received one was that none had
been found. [Here certain brevets were produced; they
were headed with the words, "France. Justice
to the provinces. Deus, Rex of Patria. Tout pour
le people et par le pimple. Libertd, Kgaliti,
Fraternite." They also bete four seals.] "In one
of Dubuisson's letters," continued the President,
interrogating, "he says, we must endeavour to find out
the effective of the garrison of Vin—,' and he sends you a
list of 25 officers as composing that effective." " But I can-
not tell why he sent that to ins. He is a man who reads
and writes and who showers down let'ers which cannot
be understood." " In another letter he says, ' Eight days
ago the master (meaning the Count de Chambord) was at
Venice, and he said that it is time to act, to succeed or to
die.' " "It is another pieceof imprudence on the part of
Dubuisson to say such things. My trade is that
of a stationer, and I understand it well enough ;
hut I know nothing of cannons, fortresses, and
Vincennes." "In another letter he tells you that
a person whose word is good for 500,000 f. would
undertake to pay a fine inflicted on you." " But the said
person did nothing, and I paid the fine out of my own
money." " lie then again refers to hie projects on Yin.
emus." " That is because Viuccunes is his bobby-horse."
" And yours too, it seems; for he acknowledged the receipt
from you of a plan for taking that fortress."" But, Mr.
President, lam not mad, as that gentleman is—l do not
want to take Vincennes." " Then what plan was it that
he sent to you ? " " I know not—he asked for so many
things that I lost my wits." "He added—' Courage .
We are about to succeed. All the provinces are with us—
there is a general plot!'." "A general plot between him
sad me t " The accused then proceeded to say that the
lists seized in his posseuion were those of the Circle Na-
tional, and referred to elections, and that it was false that
he had cried when they were seised by the police, " I am a
ruined man."

Dr Vignol, another of the accused, admitted having ac-
opted the grade of colonel " in the service of his Majesty
Henri V.," with the obligation of raising men ; that on re-
ceiving the grade he had taken an oath in presence of Do.
buisson, and that be had belonged to his society. But all
that, he said, took place in 1818, when France was without
a government.
Among the witnesses examined was the Marquis Henry
de Larochjaquelin, who said that he knew the name of Du-
bunion as that of a person who of late years had been
mixed up in all the affairs of the legitimist party, but that
he did not know hies personally, nor did any one of his ac-
quaintance. He could, however, assert that it was not
true, as he pretended, liac he had been the aide•decamp
of Marshal Bourmont.
It was proved that the words "patron" and " bourgeois,"
used in the correspondence seised meant the Count de Chem-
bard." Merchandise " stood formoney ; " furniture, articles,
clerk.," signified the affiliated member of the society ; and
the " opening of operations " meant the beginning of the
battle. The promises made by Dabuisson to the troops
who should fight for the legitimate cause were magnificent.
A scale of life annuities, with a handsome sum of ready
money, was fixed for all grades from the private to the
colonel. The promised rations were such as the army of
Satory, even in the days of sausages and champagne, might
have envied. Here is the daily bill of fare : Meat, ve-
getables, white bread, 1 kilogramme ; wine, 1 litre, or 2 litres
of cider; tobacco, 16 grammes; and 3 small glasses of
brandy. N.B. Roast meat every fête day." The
members of the society took an oath of pas-
sive obedience to a general who would make himself
known when the day of action came by the letters
CRA D B. The counsel for the defence said that the
affair had bees made by the government much more im-
portant than it really was. They ridiculed the idea that
any serious plot existed, and threw the whole blame upon
Dubuisson, whom they described as a " chimerical man,"
with a passion for letter-writing. The prisoners, they con-
tended were not responsible for the feverish emanations of
his brain. Th. court, however, found all the &sensed
guilty upon one or more of the counts, and sentenced them
to various terms of imprisonment, with fines. Judgment
by default was pronounced against Dubuisson of feur years
imprisonment, I,ooof. fine, and 10 years privation of civic
rights ; M. Proudhon's father-in•law,Piegard,wm sentenced
to two years' imprisonment. The sentence against Jeanne
was two years' imprisonment, 600 f. fine, and five years
deprivation of civic rights. Th. arms and ammunition
taken, as well as all the lithographic prints, engravings,
and emblems, seized at the house of Jeanne, to be confis-
cated; the establishment of Jeanne, as far as regards the
bookeelling, to be clotted.