The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-02-05 00:00:00

TRIAL OF FIESCHL

PARIS, Jan. 30.—This importantaffair carne on to-day before
the Court of Peers, being a month earlier than had been con-
templated ; but the comparatively sudden termination of the
proves-monstre leaving the peers (as a court) unoccupied, and
the preparatory proceedings being complete, it was deemed ex-
pedient to bring the avowed principal in the horrible attempt on
the King's life, and in so many assassinations resulting from it,
with his alleged accomplices, to justice with as little delay as
was possible.
'Shortly after twelve o'clock, a little bustle observable in the
court announced the arrival of a distinguished personage. It
was Prince Talleyrandf in his costume as a peer of Franse (re-
sembling marvellously that of a well-dressed footman,) with a
feathered cocked hat. A few minutes later, and the curtain
behind the seat allotted to :he accused became agitated, and
° dividine, an officer and a few soldiers of the garde municipale
entered, followed by the prisoner Pepin—then a municipal
guardsman—then Pieschi—then another soldier—Morey—a
soldier—Bescher—and, finally, Boireau.
Pepin looked ten years older then n hen I saw him on trial in
the year 1832, for the insurrection of June. He was decently
dressed in a black or (lark brown coat, with a figured velvet
waistcoat, and had the same common air and appearance which
I observed formerly. He was evidently that for which his
former conduct when on trial had prepared me—that is, much
depressed. ';
Morey had the appearance of a man of seventy years of age,
although some years younger. He wore a black silk nightcap,
such as invalids‘or old men in France are often seen with. He
was apparently in the last stage of weakness or sickness, :And
was immediately seated. He had the air of a man who had (to
use a common phrase) seen better days.
Boireau is a young man of twenty-six or twenty-eight years,
with a very smart air, and what is usually termed in England a
saucy face. He seemed perfectly indifferent about his situation.
He was well dressed in black, with a little foppery about him,
including a pair of mustaches.
Bescher appears a man of thirty-eight or forty-eight years of
age. I shall quote their precise age at the end of my report if .1
have time. He Wore a blue frock, and was otherwise well
dressed. He was perfectly collected, without the slightest touch
of affectation, and seemed a respectable man.
Fieschi has, when examined, as bad a face as can be imagined.
There is in one or other of Hogarth's pictures (one of the stages
of The Idle Apprentice, I think) a face strongly resembling his.
Ile is a man of some two or three and forty; round face, vulgar,
and common withal; but there is an expression of cunning—of
cruelty—and a glare of satisfied 9r triumphant villany about
him, which I never before saw in a living human countenance.
On entering the chart his colour was high, and his manner and
gestures those of a man affecting to conceal, as it were, an irre-
pressible self-complacency—self-possession, and even gaiety.
He looked round with the courageous grin of a man who wished
to be considered an object of admiration, and also of one who
set the consequences of his crime at defiance. .His side look,
without being a scowl, is awfully forbidding. He laughed fre-
quently, shook hands with a barrister (his advocate,) took snuff;
and coutinued acting his well-rehearsed part, with occasionally,
it was remarked to me, a malignant smile—a smile which was
held to bode no good to his co-accused or employers. The evil
expression of his countenance was, no doubt, considerably ag-
gravated by the consequences of the bursting of some of the
gun-barrels at the moment of the explosion, for, as well as I
could see, the corners of his mouth on the
,left side were drawn
in and pursed from his wounds. His forehead showed the mark
of the fracture of his skull, and his left temple, for about the
circumference of a crown piece, was bare, as it had recently
been blistered. He is a low-sized man, with no indication of
that vast muscular strength attributed to him, and with which
he wishes U have it believed he is endowed. When he had
been seated a few minutes his colour vanished, and his face be-
came of a yellow paleness. His dress was clean, but bespoke
poverty. 1-lis frock, waistcoat, and cravat, were of rusty black.
I ought to observe, perhaps, thatthe prisoners were seated on
a row of benches in the followingnrder, beginning at the left
(looking from the court) :
Fieschi, a garde municipale, Morey, a garde municipale, and
then, in the same chequered way, Pepin, Boireau, and Bescher.
Scarcely had the prisoners bCen placed in order when the
peers entered, and the appel nominel was immediately made
(the names of the peers called over.)
After the Recorder had concluded the appel -notainel of the
peers, 175 of whom were in attendance,
'Peron Pasquier questioned the prisoners on, their name, age,
profession, &c.
Fieschi replied, in a firm voice, that his name was Joseph
Marie Fieschi; that he was born in Murato, in Corsica, on the
3d December, 1790; and that he was a mecanicien by profes-
sion.
Morey, in a feeble voice, stated that his christian name was
Peter ' • that he was born at Chassaigne, in the department of
the Cote d'Or ; and that he was a saddler.
Pepin, also in a stifled voice, gave in his name tsr be Pierre.
Theodore Florentin ; born at Remy, in Picardy, in 1801; and
that he was a grocer.
Boireau, without any visible emotion, said that his name was
Victor; that he was twenty-five years of age, and born at La
Fleche, in the department of the Sarthe ; and that he was a
lamp-maker.
"La ; Chat tie whliberylelte •Iftrie'loV4t.hi,e„eh rij L
the department of Mayenne ; and that he was a bookbinder. •
When the interrogatory of the prisoners was eoncluded, the
Recorder read the bill of indictment containing the recapitula-
tion of the crimes Fieschi and his accomplices were accused of,
and the various considerations of the Court of Peers for declar-
ing itself competent to try them for high treason.
Fieschi appeared perfectly indifferent to what was going on.
He looked to the right and left, took an odd pinch of snuff, dig
i'Vopoleon, and kept continually fixing his cravat and the collar
of his shirt. Morey, a feeble old man, remained with his eyes
constantly fixed on the ground, and appeared to labour under
great physical sufferings. Pepin also seemed very much down-
cast. Boireau and Bescher were quite composed..
The Recorder of the Court next proceeded to read the volu-
minous report of the commission appointed to investigate the
matter,,and containing a full statement of the facts imputed to
each of the prisoners individually, with which our readers are
already acquainted.
The act of accusation Anglice- bill of indictment having been
read, the President proceeded to exantine the prisoner, The
following passagee will suffice to show the manner in which
criminal justice is administered in France.
President.—Was it not you, who between 12 and one o'clock vn
the 28111 July, 1835, /Tom the window of the house, No. 50, on the
Boulevard du Tempte, fired a machine by which 40 persons were
killed or wounded, and the lives of the King and his two sons en-
dangered: _ _

Fieschi (with 'solemnitv)—Yes, Sir.
President.—Was not that machine composed of musket bar-
reis ranged on a frame of oak ?
Fieschi.—Yes, sir.
President.—You avow yourself to be the contriver and maker
of that machine ?
Fieschi.—Yes, sir.
President. —How many gun barrels were there on it ?
F en ty-fou r.
President—How were they charged?
Fies:chi.—With four buck-shot, a musket ball entire, and
another cut in quarters.
President.—Nothing else ?
Fiesehi.—Yes ; in one of them was a screw.
The President then interrogated the prisoner on the manner
in which the machine had been fired, which he stated was by a
train of gunpowder, ignited by a piece of slow match.
President.—Was it at one end, or in the middle that you
fired it?
Fieschi.—ln the centre!
President. —One of the barrels burst?
Fieschi.—Yes—(striking his forehead). Behold the proofs;
look at my head.
The prisoner then, in reply to the questions of the President,
proceeded. I endeavoured, after the explosion, and notwith-
standing my wounds, to escape by a rope from a window in the
rear of the house. Vhen arrested I had on me a knife and
stiletto, a cat'o-nine-tails with leaden knobs to them. I threw
away the poniard near the chateau d'Eau (the fine form-
tan in front of the Diorama.)

President.—Why
(The reply is quite characteristic of the sentimental monster.]
Fieschi.—That dagger is mine. I threw it away for this rea-
son—a national guard gave me a thump. lam not accustomed
to be so treated. I recollected that I had a dagger, and a bad
thought struck me. I took hold of it, and I said "No," and I
threw away the poniard !
Fieschi then proceeded—l charged them the day before with
tko...hammer, with the aid of my accomplice, More•.
/President.—Do you recognise that print of the Duke of Bor-
deaux found in the room?
Fieschi.—l do.

P-resident;--With what intention did you purchase it.?
Fieschi.—lt was a wild thought. It was in order that, if I
failed, it should not be known whether the attempt was made by
Carlists or republicans. I was also told to buy several copies of
opposition journals, but I forget it.
On being asked whether he was aware of the rank, age, and
sex of his victims, and did he not intend to kill the King and
his sons, lie replied that he had told the truth, and would persist
in his declaration, that the plot against the King's life had been
concocted between him and his accomplices. He then stated
that, when he perceived M. Lovecat, he hesitated, but finally
said to himself, "I gave my word of honour, and I will not prove
a perjurer." He was glad, he added, that none of the persons
killed were acquaintances of his.
Fieschi then entered into the history of his life. I do not
speak French as fluently as I do Italian; nevertheless, said he.
I shall do my best to convey toy ideas to the court. lam an old
soldier. I was 'sentenced to death with Alurat in 1815. After
the rovolution of July I offered my services to the French go-
vernment, and 'I applied to the ministry for relief as a political
sufferer. lam neither a Carlist nor a republican. I had been
incorporated into the veterans. 1 was happy when I chanced
to form the unfortunate connexion which reduced me to my last
shirt. I served Messrs. Caune and Lovecat. I also volun-
teered my services to M. Baude, who accepted them, as Prefect
of Police. I sin extremely grateful to those gentlemen. On
the 24th April, 1834, a warrant was issued agaiust me for hay-

. .
ing', forged papers to establish my claim as a political snffe.
I fell into the utmost misery. I knew not where to get my din-
ner; I had not even one penny to get myself shaved. It was
then the man you know admitted me to his house, and it was
there the plan of that unfortunate machine was got up. I had
• accomplices quite beneath me. sir: they were not worthy of My
character. I had only one vice throughout life; but it will
bring me to the scaffold. I regret the victims I made more than
life itself; but it is now all over. I ant sorry for it.
Some questions were then put as to his cccupation, opinions,
political connections. and the nature of his intercourse with the
other prisoners, all of which he answered.with the utmost sang
frac!, The continuation of the examination is thus described :
The prisoner then mentioned the occurrence at a dinner at
Pepin's, at which he was present, with several other .persons,
among whom were Morey, Recurt, a barrister. whom I only
know by sight, and a deputy of Bretagne (M. Vaillant.) The
conversation turned on the practicability of an attempt on the
King's life. The deputy who presided at the banquet, evading
a question about the succession, said " Let us allow the mutton
time to boil Pepin on another occasion told me that he ex-
pected Prince Charles de Rehan, whom on the next (My I met
at his house. Pepin informed we that the prince lived in
Switzerland. lat that lime earnestly desired to leave France,
and in a letter I begged of the Prince de Rohan to enable me
to reach M. Dames in Switzerland. He replied that he had