The National Register.
London, England, 1822-09-29 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL AEG ISTER

mentarily compelled to give way, and the hollow
square became gradually contracted. The windows
mud tops of all the houses within view, the quays,
opposite, the Pont' (Bridges) WElite and de Marie,
even the towers of the church of Notre Dame, in the
distance, were crowded to overflow. A great deal of
amusement was just then excited by a sweep, who
kept his position on a shed against all the efforts of
the owner and some gendarmes. A movement.
amongst those who had a view of the Quay Pelletier
autiounced the approach or the fatal cortege, but the
spectators continued encouraging the Savoyards, by
shouts, plaudits, and clapping of hands.
Precisely as the clock tildes Hotel de Ville struck
a quarter past five, the first gendarmes, tixming the
escort of the condemned, entered the Place de Greve;
a universal cry of "- Hats off" took place—all heads
were uncovered. The two waggons in succession
appeared; in the first was the executioner, the pri-
soners Bories, Goubin, and two clergymen ; in the
second were Raoulx and Poinier, each also attended
by a clergyman. The prisoners sat on boards placed
across in the waggons, and beside each a priest with
a crucifix in his hand, who seemed apparently most
anxious to impress their unhappy charge with some
sense of religion, but certainly without a particle of
success. During the whole line of march from the
Conciergerie to the Place de Greve, the prisoners
had never attended to the priests for au instant ;
they looked round them incessantly, acknowledged
acquaintances he the crowd, made loud remarks to
each other, and Buries and Guubin repeatedly ad-
dressed the people, notwithstanding the efforts of the
priests and the gendarmes to restrain them. Arrived
at the scaffold, the same spirit continued to animate
them up to their last breath. Buries sat next to the
horses in the first waggon, having been first brought
out of the Conciergerie. He alone wore a regimental
jacket, or any thing nsilitaire. In common with his
unfortunate associates, he had no hat nor cravat, and
the millers of their shirts were loose and open. The
waggons advanced at a smart walk, the priests
straining every nerve—it was useless—they halted
at the loot of the scaffold. I now perceived a gen-
tleman on foot in a brown surtout, near them. The
instant the waggon reached the scaffold, the execu-
tioner descended, went up to the guillotine, and ar-
ranged a cord. All the prisoners ruse, threw a hasty
glance round them, muds some remarks loudly to
each other, and prepared in a burred manner to quit
the waggons. I then perceived that their hands
were tied behind their backs. The confessor of Bo-
ries appeared to inform him that it was his unfortu-
nate companion who was to have the fatal precedence,
and to entreat him to be calm and resigned. Buries,
with a gesture of impatient a& quiescence, sat down,
and Guubin sprang from the waggon. All were
then permitted to descend. The gentlemen in the
brown coat now advanced to Goubin and Buries;
he was connected with the Ministry of Justice. He
made a last appeal to the condemned. The priests
redoUbled their entreaties and exertions; they were
lost, for those unfortunate young men appeared to
have no other feeling than that they were brought
there to suffer, and that to have it over suddenly and
expeditiously was the only thing desirable. Goubin
addressed ►us companions, and was either replied to,
or addressed in the same tone, by Remits, who stood
furthest from him; for the clergyman in attendance
upon him appeared shocked, and remonstrated• with
him. Raoul% turned his back, and walked about
with the air of contemptuous and constrained sub-
mission. They ountinued to talk loudly, always
turning away with impatience fium the clergyman,
who, with the gentlemen already mentioned, seemed
at length to express despair. A little bustle occurred
--Goubin flew up the steps of the scaffold—he was
instantly seized by the executioner and his assistants
--bound to the plank—shouted" Vive la Liberte"
—she was thrown down—l shut my eyes, closed my
ears, but a general groan from 150,000 people an-
nounced that the bold and daring Guubin had ceased
to live. The cool, intrepid, Raoulx exchanged a
significant smile with Buries, a mind expression of
sympathy and congratulation, to which their fine
dark eyes gave peculiar force. Mintier ascended next.
with a cheerfulness, although not so animated as
Goubin ; afterwaeds Banda, whose handsome face
can never be forgotten by any one who has seen him.
He wore very lung whiskers, and had all the ap-
pearance of esprit, and was deemed a most intelli-
gent and respectable young man; he was the only
one who seemed to possess rang froid ; time others
looked and acted as if nervously excited. Finally,
the brave mercurial Buries ascended. I saw his last
look of apparent triumphs he was seized like the
others by the executioner. I ran into an inner
apartment; a young Frenchman shrieked. " Oh,
Buries, Buries ;" rushed through the room, and fell
lifeless in the passage—it was all over.
From the moment of the arrival of the cavalcade
at the entrance to the Place de Greve, seven minutes
bad only elapsed, and Buries, Goubia, Beattie, and
Punier, were dead. The priests were departing—
the crowd separating—the women, unmoved to
tears, were making observations on the bloody scene

—the executioner and his men were busittl in die.
posing of the mangled bodies, and in dismantling
the guillotine—water WAS poured prorasely on the
blood-stained pavement, the soldiers prepared to
march: in short, at 35 minutes past five o'clock the
troops defiled, with drums beating, and few remained
near the scaffold, save the gendarmes.