The Sun.
London, England, 1836-01-12 00:00:00

(From the Gazette
Tribunaux of Sunday.)
It undoubtedly must be consi!lered a gloomy and unwel-
come day, when society is called u;:"1111. in the name of
public justice, to deprive one of its membe•:s of life ; and,
of all the functions which the organs of the- la'"have to
discharge, none is so disagreeable and so painful as tiio exe-
tion of _a capital sentence. And yet, when, in addition id
the crime itself, there is affected a sort of boastful pride at
its commission, and when in order to justify his murder
and to elevate it, as it were, to the dignity of philosophy,
the accused transforms himself into an accuser against all
social order—when, during all the time that has elapsed
since his condemnation, he has continued to play, in the
depth of his dungeon, the odious part which he acted in
the presence of his judges, can individuals even the most
disposed to commiseration, philanthropists the most hos-
tile to capital punishment, avoid being influenced by al-
most a desire for a terrible but necessary retribution ?
After a kind of defiance has been hurled by a mut,•
derer at society, do we not think it in some degree
necessary to direct the people's eye to the scaffold,
and to say, " Behold the close of such a life ! The
boasted contempt for all belief, and all religious princi-
ple ; those monstrous theories which could only find exis-
tence in a diseased imagination and a depraved heart—be-
hold their sanction and their ,result ! The guillotine !
such is the destiny, of all Lacenaires !" It is perhaps but
too true, that the spectacle of successful and unpunished
crime holds' out great temptations, but the crime which leads
to death, and to an ignominious death, creates no envy and
finds no imitators, however lightly the criminal may affect
to consider his fate.. But it is not merely by the just
punishment inflicted on Lacenaire that a wholesome pub-
lic lesson is taught. This is also furnished by the bearing
of the culprit on the spot of execution, and especially by
the contrast which the conduct of Avril and Lacenaire
presents at the last moment of their existence. For this
reason we think it will be useful to publish all the informa-
tion which we have received on this subject, and for the
accuracy of which we can vouch. At 9 o'clock on Fri-
day night Lacenairo was informed at the prison of the Con-
ciegerie that lie must rise from bed in order to be
transferred to the prison of Bicetre. " Well, then,"
said he, " I only wish that it may he all over
to-morrow." Avril was sound asleep at the time.
When told that he must prepii:e to go to the
Bicetre, he displayed great coolness, and expressed the
same wish that Lacenaire had. It was a quartt:.
r past 10
o'clock when the convicts reached the Bicetre. The
reason of this removal had been carefully concealed frog:
them ; but they declared that " they were not to be duped
by any secrecy ; that they knew well enough that it was
for to-morrow. * * *" And they immediately set to
and sang the Parisienne. The next minute they were locked
up in separate cells. At 11 o'clock the head of the street
police visited the culprits, with the view of obtaining from
them, if possible, fresh disclosures ; but they both, on being
separately interrogated, declared that they had nothing to
add to what they had already confessed. " I have told all
that I know," Lacenaire observed. Nevertheless, the Pro-
cureur-General had commissioned M. Comrnerson, one of
the registers of the Court in which the convicts were tried,
to receive any disclosures which they might make at the last
moment, and had also directed that gentleman to suspend, if
necessary, the execution. The two culprits, though sepa-
rately confined, could, by raising their voices, contrive to ad-
dress to each other a few words. Lacenaire was heard to
say to Avril, " It is cold ; it freezes : the ground will be
hard and cold to-morrow." At 6 o'clock on Saturday morn-
ing the Abbe Montes, general gaol chaplain, and the Abbe
Azibert went to the condemned cells. Lacenaire received
the Abbe Montes with great politeness. " I thank you,"
said he, addressing the priest, " but I regret the trouble
you have put yourself to. You know that what you have
come about does not at all accord with my manner of look-
ins- at things, and your visit is useless." Yet, with an in-
consistency which might appear inexplicable, if, in the ex-
pressions we have just reported, some dregs of the habitue
of the Courts of Assizes might not be discovered, Lacenaire
had on the previous evening composed at the Conciergerie a
prayer to God, the concluding lines of which are as follow :
" Dieu quo j'invoque, ecoute ma priere I
Darde en mon ame un rayon de ta foi,
Car je rougis de n'etre que rnatiere,
Et cependant je doute malf;re moi—
Pardonne-moi' si dans ta creature
Mon ceil superbe a meconnu ta main.
Dieu—le neant—notre ame—la nature—
C'est un secret ;—je le saurai demain.
" La Conciergerie, 8 Janvier, 1836.* "
Avril received M. Azibert with great earnestness. He
listened to the exhortations of the venerable ecclesiastic
with great resignation, and manifested a strong religious
sentiment. " Monsieur l'Abbe," said he, "be pleased to
fulfil one of my last wishes :—announce, in your sermon to
the prisoners of Bicetre, that I repent what I have done ;
tell them that my example ought to he useful to them : I
am very guilty, I know ; if I had not lost my family when I
was quite young, I should not be in the situation I am now
in." Nearly six weeks ago Avril expressed the same sen-
timents in the following letter, which we feel pleasure in
printing without alteration, and which we believe will be
read with interest. It is addressed to his old companions
at Poissy :
"My Friends,—l ought perhaps to be ashamed to make
known my situation to you ; but I have great confidence
in you, and I feel some pleasure in thinking that you
will all, without exception, pardon me my crime. Be
assured that I shall die with greater courage than I
possessed to commit a murder. My friends, in acquaint-
ing you with my situation, I do so in order that it
may serve as an example to you, to deter you from act-
ing as I have done ; for if I had listened to you, you espe-
cially, who worked in the same place with me, I should not
be in the melancholy situation in which I now am placed,
for almost every one of you entreated me not to keep com-
pany with L'Assener. Ido not blame him for my misfor-
tune, oh, no ! but if I had never known him, perhaps T

should not have been in my present situation. Ido nox
complain, for now I think my destiny very good. In a few
days I shall suffer no more ; my sad existence ivill have
ended. I do not know if you will believe me, but I now
feel myself very comfortable. I seem to be lighter—no-
thing oppresses me. I am no longer the same person. I
am satisfied with my fate, now that I have confessed my,
crime. I had wished to conceal it, and to die without say-
ing Yes, yes ! it is I who have committed the crime, the
murder ;' but I could not keep this resolution. I was
stifled ; I was like a brute beast, absorbed in my reflec-
tions.. Ah, how miserable was I then ! Ah, my friendi,
I firmly believe that I need not advise you to take an ex-
ample from me. Let this lesson be of use to you, and I
am satisfied. In this business there is only one man that
I pity ; it is Francois. He is condemned to perpetual hard
labour ; he will therefore suffer greatly.
" I conclude my letter by bidding you an eternal adieu.
" Paris, Nov. 17, 1835. "VICTOR AVRIL.
At half-past six o'clock the two prisoners were conducted
to the chapel to hear the service for the dying. , Avril was
calm and collected : Lacenaire's countenance was pale, and
he tried to assume an air of indifference to what was pas-
sing around him.
As soon as the prayers were concluded Lacenaire asked
for a cup of coffee and a glass of brandy, which he shared
with Avril ; the latter asked for another, and a small glass
of brandy, half of which he gave to the other prisoner.
" For the little time which now remains for us in this
world," said Lacenaire, " it is no use to forget our old ha-
bits," and so saying he took a cigar from his pocket, lighted
it, and began to smoke as usual.' At that moment the exe-
cutioner and his assistants presented themselves. Lace-
naire followed them in silence ; as soon as he arrived at the
lobby Lacenaire laid his cigar upon the stove and sat down
upon the fatal stool. During the :preparations for the toi-
lette, Lacenaire again became pale ; addressing one of the
officers he said, " Have the goodness to bring me my blue
frock coat, lam anxious to wear it to-day" (this was the
coat he wore during the trial.) Then, perceiving the Go-
vernor, he said, " Ah ! M. Becquerel, I hope you arc
well. I had asked for some paper and ink for this morning,
they were probably forgotten ;" and he added with a forced
smile, " No, they will be for to-morrow." On seeing the
Inspector-General of Prisons, he said, " I am glad to see
you, M. Olivier Dufresne, and I thank you for coming to
attend upon my last moments."
The necessary preparations having been concluded, Lace-
naire was re-conducted to the ante-chamber. During that
mournful ceremony Lacenaire became evidently depressed :
it was easy to see that be made an effort not to discredit
that firmness of which he had made so great a display ;
but already his heart began to fail him, and it was with a
painful exertion that he succee led in pronouncing a few
short and half-articulated words.
Avril was led forward in his turn. " Where is Lace-
naire," said he, in a quiet tone, ," he is not gone ?" One of
the assistants intimated to him, by an inclination of the
head (it being contrary to the rules for these persons to
* In spite of these words, Lacenaire, when he wrote them,
certainly did not know that his execution would take place on
the following day.