The Sun.
London, England, 1832-01-17 00:00:00

the fastening of the window-sash ;in fact, it could not
in any way have assisted him in committing suicide."
Nlanoury, likewise, who entered first, and who
went from the bed where he was first directed to
the casement, did not meet with any obstacle." If,"
said he, " there had been a chair either before or
at the side of the Prince, I should have necessarily
thrown myself into it."
Explanations which surely are not irreconcileable
with the version of the proces verbal.

MM. Bonnie and Letelliere, the physicians at
St. Leu, have made written deposition to the same
effect. The matter thus becomes formidable, and I
will take it upon me to sav, that in treating these
particulars with a sort of disdain, they have not
answered a fact which is not without weight.
The Prince had tender feet, which became swollen
towards the close of the day. In order to guard
them against the pressure of his slippers, he had a
leather sole attached to the foot of his pantaloons,
and it can he understood that in walking on a good
carpet he might therefore dispense with the use
of his slippers, which, however, were placed every
evening in a convenient position where they were
found every morning.
The Prince did not use them. " I have never
seen the Prince's slippers near his bed," say Leclerc
and Manoury ; this is the first time that they have
been found near the bed; and in truth, the perpe-
trators of the crime, when adjusting the disorder
which i 'Ls consummation occasioned, persuaded them-
selves they were achieving wonders in placing the
slippers which they found in the chamber close to
his bed.

It is very clear that those whose aim it was to
cause the act of suicide to be credited, would have
taken care to repair on the corpse those appearances
of disorder the traces of which they bad endeavoured
to efface from the bed, and from the chamber, and
it is an observation truly puerile which has been ap-
plied to the clothes. Perhaps, indeed, they have
pressed their attention on this head much too far.
It is difficult on the suicide hypothesis to con-
ceive how the head-dress could have escaped being
deranged by the suspending ligatures, and in that
position the appearance of the rosettes in the silk
handkerchief always appeared to me astonishing.
That which prevented giving credit to the sui-
cide of the Prince was the absence of every sort of
written document which might be used in evidence
so as to place his officers, household, and Madame
de Feucheres herself, above all suspicion. Not one
word, notwithstanding the Prince employed his pen
and recorded his losses at play. You well know,
gentlemen, that the unfortunate persons who are
driven to suicide never fail to take these precautions;
never do they free themselves from this care. You
have had a recent example in the death of the la-
mented professor (M. Nloiroud), the recollection of
whom forces itself upon my thoughts in spite of
myself. . _

If it could have been presumed that the death of
the Prince could have been the effect of a crime,
the necessary precautions would have been taken;
but no one had any such suspicion. Thus, It must
never be forgotten, that the proceeding began under
the inevitable influence of this powerful prejudice;
they have, therefore, stated, in a proces verbal drawn
up by M. Lctellier, but signed by both, " After
having carefully examined all the circumstances of
the body, we have ascertained that the death was
certain. The body was cold, the upper and lower
limbs were stiff, whence it appears that death was
certainly produced by strangulation."
M. Letellier, for he it is who writes, says—" From
the position of the body, and of the articles around it,
as stated in the proces verbal, it is very probable
that his Royal Highness, after going to bed, rose
soon after, got upon a chair placed near, tied the
handkerchiefs very tight, and kicked away the chair."
What are we to think of this hypothesis, now
that it is admitted that the chair was not near, and
that the Prince could not avail himself of it ?

The proces verbal continues—" Then the weight
of the body made the knots of the handkerchief
which passed into that which was tied round the
neck slip by degrees until the extremity of the fee•
rested on the ground. The body must have re-
mained in the position in which it was found, the
stiffness of death, which had already taken place,
having prevented a greater depression of the legs,
so far as to make the heels touch."

In the course of the afternoon comes the magi-
strate of the canton of Enghien. His first step was
to direct that the body should be taken down and
placed upon the bed; and from this period the state
of things as they were at first could no longer be
observed. About three o'clock the Attorney-Ge-
neral of the Court of Pontoise arrived, accompanied
by MM. Godard and Deslions. These two physi-
cians drew up a proces verbal, in which they say—
" Round the neck was a white cravat twisted twice
round; the neck, at its lateral and upper part,
showed a mark without ecchymosis, with a depression
more decided towards the left lateral part of the
neck, where the knot of the cravat was placed ; a
single slight excoriation was observed at the left la-
eta! part. The tongue, of a violet colour, protruded
from the mouth about an inch. The two feet, in
the fore part, exhibited long recent excoriatiotis ;
blood flowed from the canal of the ure►hra. The
external state of the body, in the back part of it,
which we merely examined, offered nothing besides
worthy of remark. The right, side, on which the
body lay ( which the physicians saw only upon the
bed), exhibited the cadaverous lividness which ne-
cessarily takes place after death, towards the sloping
part of the body. In consequence we are of opinion
that the Prince probably (observe this expression)
sunk under an asphyxia through strangulation ; but
it is necessary to open the body in order to deter-
mine exactly the cause of death."
Observe, moreover, that these two physicians have
given no formal opinion as the cause of the strangu-
lation, and confined themselves to the conclusion
that the Prince " probably sunk under au asphyxia
through strangulation." When skilful physicians
restrict themselves to conclusions so vague, so re-
served, it must be observed that they did not find in
the cii cumstances observed about the body plausible
grounds to justify them in giving a formal opinion.
M. Marc, physician of the King, accompanied by
MM. Marjolin and Pasquier, arrived at St. Leu on
the 27th, at nine o'clock. He examined the state
of the body, but did not then draw up any proces
verbal. The Attorney-General, Bernard, who, in
consequence of a wrong direction, lost twelve hours
in a journey to Chantilly, where he supposed the
Prince had died, arrived in the morning of the 28th. \
This Magistrate required that a new inspection
should be made by MM. Marc, Marjolin, and Pas-
quier ; and these physicians made a proces verbal, in
which we read—" First, that there was round the
neck a rnatk which denoted the actio❑ of the ligature
placed upon this part; that the characters of this
mark leave no doubt as to the action of the ligature
during life ; that the tongue, tum;fied and livid, pro-
truded from the mouth; that there exists no ap-
parent external cause to which death can be attri-
buted ; we are of opinion (say they) that it must
have been produced by strangulation." Secondly—
Some observations on the inner fastenings, which
demonstrate how much the physicians were struck
by this circumstance, which operated without their
being conscious of it, upon their decision ; some re-
marks on the state of the clothes, which are of no
importance ; and then, " the mark observed on the
neck is very large, oblique, and is not prolonged
beyond the surface of the mastoid apophyses ; we
are of opinion that the strangulation was not effected
by anoi her hand."

- --
It is in the proces verbal of the post-mortem ex-
amination that the excoriation remarked on the
Prince's body are described and explained. What
is to be remarked here is this very important pas-
sage—" The characters of the mark leave no doubt
as to the action of the ligature during life."
We have seen in the process verbal of MM.
Godard and Deslions that the mark was without
ecchymosis, a term which it is perhaps useful to de-
fine. Ecchvmosis is a slight contusion which does
only injure the skin ;—the effusion of blood which
it causes between the flesh and the skin.
It must be observed that this fact, observed ex-

ternally, was verified at the time of dissection. The
physicians of Paris observed and pointed out to
the Attorney-General, that there was no ecchymosis
—that is, no effusion of blood in the cellular mem-
brane, nor in the parts lying beneath the nape of the
neck.

The meaning of the word ecchymssis being well
ascertained, I affirm, tbat if the suspension took
place during the life of the Prince, it would have
been almost impossible that strangulation should not
have produced that effusion of blood between the
flesh and the ski❑ which constitutes ecchymosis ;
but if the suspension took place after death, the
circulation of the blood being stopped, the mark
without ecchymosis would be the only thing tha►
could follow. I affirm, that Dr. Gendrin has de-
monstrated this in a consultation distributed among
the members of the Court, and which is thus re-
sumed on the point—" If there is any inference to
' be drawn from the mark found on the person of the
Prince of Conde, it is an inference contrary to that
established by these examiners; for if the ecchymosis
on the wrinkle of the ligature may be wanting when
the individual has been hung alive, it is not
less true that it is always wanting when the
body has been hung after death." Thus the
only conclusion which it is allowable to deduce from
this mark is, the strong probability that the bo d
had been tied up after death, in order to give the
appearance of suicide.
A passage which I extract from the depositions
made by the physicians goes further to show under
what influence they acted. I read there—
" Continuing our operations, the Attorney-General,
having taken cognizance of the above report, considering
that the post mortem examination cannot fail to throw ad-
ditional light on the facts already established, to demon-
strate suicide, required that this operation should be pro-
ceeded with."

Thus all those who were engaged in the first exa-
mination (instruction) have admitted, a priori, that
suicide was established. No endeavour was made
to discover the truth, in the absolute sense of the
word : but to complete the demonstration of a truth
already known.
One circumstance, in which is more particularly
found the evidence of the murder, presenting itself
under the influence of the inner fastenings, tends to
brighten the illusion. Care has been taken to tell
you that the Abbe Pelier had, during a conversation,
on Sunday, the Ist of August, acquainted the Prince
with the march of Rambouillet and the pillage of St.
Cloud : that the Prince, being much struck at this
news, exclaimed, " Oh ! they have plundered," and
retired very much absorbed.
It is possible to think with this witness, that it
was at this period the Prince conceived the design
of taking measures to preserve his own habitation
from a like misfortune. What, moreover, is certain
is, that on the 10th or 11th of August, the Prince
had in contemplation the project of a placard, which
he propesed to stick up against the grating of his
chateau. This fact has been attested by a witness,
against whom no other objection has been raised but
his profession. He has been accused of being a
dentist. Well, he is a dentist ; that does not hinder
him from being a witness. It becomes indispensable
to go through his deposition.
" The second time I had the honour of seeing the
Prince," says AL Holstein, " on the]oth or 11th of
August last, the Prince asked me with eagerness what was
going forward at Paris, and what was said of him. I
took the liberty of telling him that all appeared to be be-
coming tranquil; that no plundering bad taken place;
that his Highness was loved, &c. ; and that he had no
enemies.' To which he deigned to answer, smiling,—
' Oh ! I know it; they are the hares and the rabbits, on
which I make a cruel war.'

" He was then pleased to say to me, that the plunder of
the chateau of St. Cloud had frightened him; that he was
afraid that the thieves, checked i❑ Paris, would spread
themselves in the neighbourhood, and pillage the chateaux
and private property; and taking from the table a folded
paper, he added, shaking this paper, ' Would you believe
that I likewise have made a proclamation which I propose
to have stuck up, and in which I declare that I have given
all my property to King Philip, and in which I recommend
that no injury may be done to my servants: oppressed
with years and infirmities, I have only to die."
It results from the declaration of this same wit-
ness, that when the Prince showed him this folded
paper, he no longer attached any importance to it.
It would not be easy to controvert the evidence of
M. Holstein, for it would be necessary also to repu-
diate the testimony of Manoury, who thus expresses
himself in the examination (instruction).
" M. Holstein came almost every Sunday to St. Cloud.
I have seen him there since July. One day, walking
with M. Holstein, who had just left the Prince, I said to
him, You have been a long time with Monseigneur.' M.
Holstein replied, ' Has not this good Prince taken it into
his head to make a proclamation?' I do not recollect
sufficiently, in order to detail them, the particulars which
M. Holstein gave me, but it was on this very day."
I do not indulge in vain conjectures as to what
this project had come to, but I will tell you, that
when the dying chamber was entered, and at the
moment of the examinations which were almost
immediately made, the ashes in the fire-place de-
noted that many papers had been recently burnt.
It was therefore on the night between the 26th and
27th that the burning took place; but on the
morning of the 27th, a rigorous investigation was
instituted throughout every part of the chamber;
the chimney was examined, in order to see if any
one could have introduced himself that way ; and,
to use the expression of one of the witnesses, " they
looked about every where, and saw nothing in the
fire-place but the remains of the paper after it had
been consumed."

It is on the evening of the :27th that the frag-
ments of writing are found by Lecomte and M.
Guillaume, secretary to the King'.. Cabinet ; and
this is the declaration, full of honour, of the wit-
rie,s :—" The papers found by me have evidently
been thrown down after the burning of those which
were burnt underneath them, and looked like a fall
of snow upon them. The state of the burnt papers,
and the little appearance of compression they pre-
sented, induced me to presume that the apartment
had not been put to rights since the papers had been
burnt."

Thus it was not on the night between the 26th
and 27th of August that the papers were placed on
the hearth, for in these nights they would have been
consumed by the fire which destroyed so many other
documents, and particularly all that the Prince had
for many days written with an air of great mystery,
and of which no further trace has been found.; and
besides, in admitting that they had been thrown
there after the burning, they would inevitably have
been observed on the morning of the 27th upon the
hearth, on which they would have glared from their
whiteness, like snow : we must presume, then, that
they are the remains of the placard which M. Hol-
stein had seen in the hands of the Prince before the
1 lth of August,and to which from that date he did
not attach any more importance, and which he con-
sideted but as a memento of anxiety, and which he
would have torn in pieces, and which a criminal
foresight would have preserved. Yes, it was several
hours after the opening of the chamber, after the
scrupulous investigation which had been made there,
that the fragments of the draft of the placard
were thrown on the still warm ashes of papers burnt
during the night.

Lecomte opposes himself in vain to the objection.
" In the forepart of the fire-place,"
he Says, " he re-
n arked some burnt papers, but in the back there
were some torn papers." No, Lecomte, this version
is inadmissible; " tike snow abo've,"—this lively
image explains every thing.
It is, therefore, incontestably demonstrable, that
a ith the design of abiising public opinion,
and
making it be believed that there has been ares-upiclaidcneed,,
with which it was necessary to reproach the memory
of the Prince, there were intentionally thrown,
fragmentsduring
paper,
ownh
which
wereashesn
o i n the
otherfi than those
of the draft of the placard written by the Prince
in the beginning of August, and almost immediately
after abandoned by him. This culpable contrivance,
the innocence of which can never be established, is
of itself a proof of culpability. Certain words, how-
ever, which are read on the fragments recovered,
struck all persons present. This is very likely. M.
Bernard said, " The truth is there; we must find at i"