The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-14 00:00:00

DR. GUILLOTIN.

Carried away by his own enthusiasm, the worthy doctor
went so far as to praise his machine and namesake, as not
only doing away with all suffering, but causing actually a
pleasing sensation. The " patient," he said, really did not
feel the slightest inconvenience, but merely "une legire
fraicheur sur le cou." The phrase caused some hilarity;
and when the doctor continued, "avec cette machine je vous
fais sauter la tete d'un elm d' mil et vous ne soujrez point,"
the whole assembly broke out into Homeric laughter.
Louis XVI., says the Reader of Saturday, had no sooner
heard of .he new machine than he desired to see a design of
it, He accordingly ordered Dr. Anthony Louis to summon
M. Guillotin to the Tuileries, together with Charles
Henry Sanson, to give the necessary explanation's, it being
understood by M. Guillotin that the presence of his Ma-
jesty should be looked upon as entirely incognito. The in-
terview, which took pace on the 2d of March, 1792, is de-
scribed as follows in "Les Memoires des Sa.nsons"

The palaoe of the Tuileries looked already like the tomb
of an exp ring monarchy. I i walking with Dr. Guillotin
along the vast galleries, formerly flikd with smiling cour-
tiers, but now empty and silent, Charles Henry Sanson felt
overcome by a sudden presentiment of evil. The servants
whom they met looked pale and careworn ; sorrow was
impressed on every face. Thus they arrived at the study
of Dr. Loui-, whom they found sitting in an arm-chair, in
front of a large table covered with green velvet fringed
with gold. Atter a few compliments, exchanged between
the two physicians, Dr. Louis demanded to see the plan of
the new machine, and Guillotin handed him the design of
Herr Schmidt, to which my grandfather had added a short
description, indicating the use of the different parts by
letters. While they were engaged in examining it, a door,
hidden under tapestry, opened at the other side of the
apartment, and a new corner entered the room. Dr. Louis,
who sat till this moment, quickly arose, and Dr. Guillotin
made a profound bow, which, however, was not acknow-
ledged by the stranger. The latter, addressing Dr. Louis,
asked in a rapid mode of speech—
" Eh, bien, doctor, what do you think of the machine ?"
" It seems very complete," replied the doctor, " and to
justify all that M. Guillotin has said about it. Here is the
design."

The stranger examin•d the sketch for a moment, and
then, shaking his head, exclaimed—
" But are you sure that this hollow knife is really what
is wanted P How can a sword thus shaped adapt itself to
all necks? The circle appears to be much too small for
some, much too large for others."
There was a momentary silence. From the commence-
ment of the entrance of the stranger into the room,Charles H.
Sanson had not taken his eyes from him. He had heard
the sound of that voice before, and seen that lace, and it
flashed upon htm en a sudden that it was the king. It was,
indeed, Louis XVI., in dark dress, with no signs of his
august rank on his person. When his majesty made the
observation about the concavity of the falling sword, my
grandfather was struck with the truth of the remark. In-
voluntarily he lifted his eyes to the neck of the king, covered
only by a thin lace collar, and saw at a glance that it was
of extraordinary large dimensions, surpassing by far the
diameter of the circle indicated by Schmidt. Acold shudder
ran over him; and, while still meditating within himself,
he was aroused by the voice of the king, who, pointing to
him by a look, asked the doctor in an under tone—
" Is that the man ?"
" It is," replied Anthony Louis.
"Ask his opinion," exclaimed his majesty.
" You have heard the remark of monsieur?" said the
physician; "please give us your opinion on the shalt, of
the instrument."
" Monsieur is perfectly right," answered Sanson, laying
stress upon the word monsieur; "the concave form of the
knife seems a real defect "
The king smiled, being evidently pleased, and, taking up
a pen, corrected the sketch, by altering .:he concave into an
oblique line. He then retired through the door where he
had entered, making a slight sign with his hand.
In little more than ten months after, on the 21st of
January of the following year, the head of Louis XVI. tell
under the very instrument of death approved of and cot -
rected by his majesty.

DRAMATISED NOVELS.—The rage tor dramatising
novels, says the Mirror, did not reach its height tiii
the appearance of Mr. Dickens as a leader in the world of
prose fiction. The reality of his pictures, which any one
might test. without further knowledge than is acquired by
a familiarity with ordinary life, and which was altogether
different in its kind from anything that had been presented
before, would alone have ensured a wider popularity than
was ever attained by Sir Walter, whose admirers, at least
on this side of the Tweed, belonged to classes more or less
aristtoratic, while to the charm of matter and style was
added the advantage of the serial form in which Mr.
Dickens's works were given to the public, and which
increased the number of his readers to an indefinite ex-
tent. The immense popularity of his works was at once
detected by the London managers, and turned by them to
profitable account. A dramatised " Pickwick," brought out
before the novel was even completed, was the main support
of the Strand, during Mr. Hammond's management, and
not long afterwards "Nicholas Nickleby" and "Martin
Chuzzlewit" drew crowds to the Adelphi and the Lyceum.
Theatrical companies were then stronger than they are
now, and people derived unbounded gratification from see-
ing how tar the characters of which they had read were
adapted to the peculiarities of this or that favourite actor.
The dramatised novel then reached its zenith as a type, its
nadir as a species of theatrical entertainment.

BANBURY CAKES.—It is worthy of remark that
cakes had formerly not unfrequently a religious
significance, from their being more used at religious seasons
than at other times. The triangular cakes made at Con-
gloton, in Cheshire, have a raisin in each corner, thought
to be emblematic of the lrinity ; the cakes at Shrewsbury
may have had something to do with its old religious shows.
Coventry, on New Year's day, has its God-cakes. Then
we hive the Twelfth-cake with its bean; the Good Friday
bun with its cross; the Pancake, with its shroving or con-
fession, and the Passover cake of the Jews. The minced
pie was treated by the Puritans as a superstitious observ-
ance, and after the Restoration it almost served as a test
for religious opinions. According to the old rule, the case
or crust of a minced pie should be oblong, in imitation of
the cradle or manger wherein the Saviour was laid the
ingredients of the mince being said to refer to the offerings
of the wise men.— John Ti,nbs in Once-a •Week.
A MIRACLE IN TELEGRAPitY.—A " project of
aw" was recently presented to the Corps L eg.
s
latif, which proposes that it should supersede the Morse
apparatus now in universal use. The pan-telegraph is
termed an autograph and an awometeur. ‘‘ A despatch
i
written at Paris, ' says a correspondent, " s reproduced
without the assistance of any clerk at Ma seilles, wi!h the
most rigorous fidelity, as is also a portrait, sket, b, or draw
ing of any kind. Nor does the Casselli apparatus need so
great a supply of electricity as that of Morse, and it is much
less affected by the condition of the atmosphere, Th,
Empress has lately had her likenesses telegraphed to 6,1111 t
of her friends in the provinces, and last week Casselli tele-
graphed a painting of a full-blown rose trim the Observe.
tory to the bureau of the Telegraphic Administration. The
petals were of a b,sutitul pink colour and the leaves of an
equally good green—in short, were exactly like the tints
of the original. Rossini also, not many days ago, tele-
graphed to Marseilles by his apparatus a melody which
he improvised in honour of the inventor, and which ha,
since gene the rounds of the Paris mom."