The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-05-29 00:00:00

CRIMINAL JUSTICE.-ASSIZES OF TARN.

(From the Gazette des Tribunaux of Maw 6.)
The opening of these Assizes is fixed for the 18th of
May. The most important case in the list is that of the
Abbe de Roubig,nac. r, he following is the act of accusa•
tion in this case. It is impossible to read it without feel-

ings of horror. -
Elizabeth Louisa Faramond, the daughter of an honest
,
tradesman in Valence, died in that city on the 4th of
January, 1835. S!ie had hardly completed her 18th year,
and her bloom, which was in all its fulness up to the end
of last November, had not led her friends to imagine that
they were so soon to lose her. •
In the -month of December," however, she began to
Waste rapidly, and such, a transition from perfect health
to decay gave rise to rumours respecting her, which the
hand of death served to aggravate. It was first whispered,
and afterwards boldly affirmed, that Elizabeth. Louisa
Fararnond had fallen a victim to certain treatmerfii witteli
her person was made to go through. She. had always
been remarkable for the purity of her morals,,her pious
habits, and a chaste and timid bearing.
• The Mayor of Valence having gathered depositions
from various persons, and among them the parents of the
deceased, transmitted them to the justice of the peace of
the canton, who did not lose a nyytent in filling the duty
imposed on him. On the very ay that the girl died he
proceeded to look at the corpse, accompanied by a medical
officer of the place. On the following day he returned
similarly attended. The body was examined, when there
appeared on each of the two breasts the traces of wounds
in a round shape. One of these had recently healed, and
the other was still covered with a crust. Round the waist

there were the marks of an instrument in the shape of a
belt,- which must have remained applied for a certain
length of t ime, and which, according to very visible marks,
must have been composed of wire, nearly two inches in
width; and lined inside with points, which had penetrated
the skin, particularly 'on the sides of the body, where two
black crusts still adhered, and at the back, where several
holes, made apparently by nails, were still open. There
were traces on the fore-parts of the two arms. of wounds.
On the one there was a crust of the form and size of a
franc-piece; the other had the appearance of having been
done by the pricking of a great number of pins applied at
once. In the lower hind parts of the body there were
similar wounds, in the same state as the above. The
thighs had also marks of wounds inflicted not long before,
and which were covered with crusts of the shape and size
of a two-franc piece.
The medical inspector of these marks declared that the
causes must have been operating some time before the
last three weeks; that some of the wounds which had left
the marks must have been effected by means of hot irons ;
and that the others were made by the application of
instruments which had bruised the skin without cutting
or dividing it.
On a report of these circumstances being made to the
Procureur du Roi at Albi, that functionary deemed it
necessary that a new. inquiry should be made. A new
examination of the body, therefore, took place on the
13th of January. It was undertaken by two medical
gentlemen legally deputed, and who were instructed to
examine the appearance of every part of the body. Be-
sides the above appearances and conclusions, it was
ascertained and declared that the virginity of the deceased
had remained intact. But other appearances gave reason
to think that the body had been the victim of the most

horrid depravity.
The question then was, who had thus pricked, bruised,
flagellated, torn, burnt, and branded in so infamous a
manner the body of the young girl ? Who had torment-
ed the virgin whose youth and innocence ought to have
protected her against a martyrdom which could only be
fit for the most inveterate sinner, if even there it could
possibly be agreeable to God ? It was impossible to
think that she could herself have done all that appeared,
and it was evident that an assisting baud, at least, had
completed much of the mischief done. The public voice
named the Abbe Roubignac, vicar of Valence; and al-
ready the eccleiiastieal authorities had instituted an in-
quiry,' and collected evidence. An attempt was made to
represent him as a victim of the spirit of irreligion.and
of party ; but the prelate who governs the diocess of Albi
caused a letter to be written to him, saying that nothing
was spoken of in the diocess but the scandalous disorders
of his conduct, and that it had become necessary that. he'
should appear "whiter-in the eyes of God than in the,
eves of men."
'The judicial authority having also its duties to
had, then, merely to pursue the course which had been!
opened by the ecclesiastical authority, and here oncee,
more what had been heard before. The facts which have
come out of this investigation are these :—The Abbe
Roubignac had been at 4alence only a short period.—
He had admitted Elizabeth L. Faramond among his
• .

" penitents" soon after his arrival. He discovered that
she had a disposition to piety and religion amounting to
bigotry, and that she had an exceedingly credulous mind.
He had worked upon this disposition of hers, by imposing
on the young girl a variety of practices ostensibly reli-
gious, which occupied the whole of her time. At day--
break she was at church, and after dark she was still seen
there. , This religious fervour was carried to an excess
that gave uneasiness to her parents. Bat these outward
practices, however did not alter her health. It was only
towards the latter part of November that her spirits be-
gan to change. Her appearance began to alter, her
colour faded, and by degrees all the motions of her body
became constrained; at last she was unable to sit down
or get up without great difficulty. She was evidently under
the influence of bodily pain, though she answered all
questions by an assurance that she suffered merely from
indigestion. Avery different cause, however, soon be-
came visible, for her mother discovered stains of blood in
different parts of her-linen. The mother therefore press-
ed her inquiries until actual pain and maternal influence
working together brought about a complete, though gra-
dual, disclosure. She was at length induced to confess
that the Abbe Roubignac had procured for her, and
placed with his own hands round her naked body, the
wire.belt. Her mother endeavoured to force it off, but
was unable to do it without being assisted by strong ex-
ertions on the part of her daughter, who, after undoing
it, could not detach it without the greatest difficulty and
pain, the points with which it was-inside studded having
so far entered the skin as to fix it coMpletely on her body.
She moreover said, that besides this cruel and permanent
torture inflicted on her, the Abbe Roubignac had, with
a knife, cut open her right arm, driven pins into her left
arm, burnt her breasts and hind parts with a hot poker,
and flagellated several parts ,ofher.person with an instru-
ment made with very fine wires, which were sharp at the
ends. She stated, that in order to do these things, he
used to take her into his room, lock the door, and draw
the curtains. Her mother frequently asked her certain
questions which seemed to confuse her much, and the
only answer site would give to these questions was, " I
have said enough." Enough indeed she had said to free
her a little from the restraint under which she had
laboured by an injunction of secrecy "imposed by di-
vine law ;" so that she soon began to repeat to her female
friends what she had made known to her mother. One
day she observed to a young friend of her's who appeared
to enjoy perfect health, " I too should bewell had it not/
been for the Abbe Roubignac. I could have borne the
belt, but I could not bear the rest." She would not,
however, explain what she meant by the latter words.
It is immaterial that Elizabeth M. Faramond should
not have been brought to give judicial evidence before
her death. . The state in which her body was found, the.
nature and the situation of the wounds, her slow and in-
- genuons avowals, sufficiently establish that it was the
Abbe Roubignac that. had been the author of her ills.
What would seemtoplaee this beyond a doubt is the fact
that she had confessed all these things to the respectable
curate of Valence, who, not having received them under
the seal of a regular confession, did not conceive himself
bound to withhold' them from the knowledge of judicial
authorities.
A dark mystery, however, seemed yet to hang over so
many atrocities, which it was necessary to unravel: The
author of the wounds was now known, but what were his
motives? During; the atrocious sufferings that he in,
flieted on her, he made her repeat five .pate- and five ave.
He tried to make her endure them by frequently ex-
claiming, "Courage, my child, courage !" He reminded
her of the sufferings of Christ. He declared he had
caused the belt to be made for his own use. It might,
therefore, have been supposed that a false zeal had in-
duced him to think that he was doing what must be agree-
able in the sight of God, when he inflicted on another
what he would have inflicted on himself. But the choice
of his victim was such as to authorize a supposition that,
by the means employed in tormenting her, he had sought
the gratification of brutal desires. Perhaps, too, he had
made her go through the severity of the discipline in or-
der to mislead her entirely as to his mode of satisfying
his beastly passion. What strengthens this. supposition
is that a variety of circumstances relative to the conduct
and life of the Abbe Roubignac have come to light, by
which it appears that his disorders had allowed him to re-
main but a short time in a parish, and such became his
reputation that the other priests, under whose. depend-
ence he was to be placed, saw him appear with the ut-
most regret... It has been proved that he was in the ha-
bit of attracting young girls into his room, where he
used to keep them for several hours; and it is known
that he himself made no scruple openly to boast of
certain liberties he was in the habit of taking with
them, which betrayed his secret inclinations. These were
proved by the evidence of six young girls and one widow,
whose testimony was taken during the inquiry. One 61.
them has related all the infamous practices that the Abbe
Roubignac allowed hinvelf, with her on the very day of
the Fete-Dieu.. Only a few moments after, he celebrated
,mass, and carried thelloly Sacrament in thei procession.
This is not the only profanation imputable to the Abbe
Roubignac. He was in the habit of saying to the young
girls whose resistance he could not overcome, that his
object had been solely to by them, and that he commended
their uprightness i in which he advised them to persevere!
None of these acts, however, were accompanied with via-
fence, *so that they do not constitute-any crime of viola-

Lion ; but they are niacis r:t.4f.! in the_ proceedings as a
corroboration of the naitiCWAseriliable for the discipline
imposed by the Abbe lloubig:Tac Fara-

mend.
But his excesses, the wounds of tortures inflicted by
him, did not merely constitute acts of the most infamous
immorality. It is necessary to discover whether they
have occasioned the death of the victim'.
According to the first medical report, death had ensued
from some of the wounds., According to the second re-
port, the wounds were not of that serious nature as to be
the direct or indirect cause of death. Of these two
opinions the Chamber of Accusation .has adopted the
.lattier, thinking that, so far, the indications
.that death
had been immediately caused by the wounds were not
sufficieritly strong. "But that they had led to the disease
'which terminated in death is perfectly preSumable. .In,
consequence thereof the said JacqUes"Roubignac, priest,
ex-vicar at Valence, is accused of having voluntarily,
and with premeditation, inflicted blows. and wounds on
the person of Elizabeth Louisa Faramond; from the
effects of which a disease or'disability of more than twenty
days has been produced—a crime which is provided for
by the articles 309 and 310 of the penal code, which fix a
punishment of hard labour (the galleys) for a certain
period.

LORD BRQUGHAWS RESOLUTIONS RESPECTING
EDUCATION.

-1, That although the number of schools where some of the
elementary branches of education are taught has greatly in-
creased within the last twenty years, yet that there still exists
a deficiency of such schools, especially in the metropolis and
other great towns, and that the means of elementary instruc-
tion ,are peculiarly deficient in the counties of Middlesex and
Lancaster.
2. That the kind of education given at.the greater number of
the schools now established fur the poorer classes of the people
is of a kind by no means sufficient-for their instruction, being
for the most part confined to reading, writing, and a little arith-
metic; whereas, at no greater expense, and in the same time,
the children might easily be instructed in the elements of the
more useful branches of knowledge, and thereby trained to
sober, industrious, prudent,-and virtuous habits.
3. That the number of infant schools is still exceedingly de-
ficient, and epecially in those great towns where they are most
wanted for improving the morals of the people and preventing
the commission of crimes.
4. That while-it is expedient to do nothing which may relax the
efforts of private beneficence in forming and supporting schools,
or which may.discourage the poorer classes of the people from
contributing to the cost of educating their children, it is incinn.,
bent upon parliament to aid in providing the effectual means of
instruction where these cannot otherwise be obtained for the
people.
5. That it is incumbent upon parliament to encourage in like
manner the establishment of infant schools, especially in the
larger towns.
6. That, for the purpose of improving the kind of education
given at schools for the people at large, it is expedient to estab-
lish in several parts of the country seminaries where good
schoolmasters may be trained and taught the duties of their
profession.
7. That there are at present existing in different parts of the
united kingdom funds, as Well real as personal, to a large
amount, given or bequeathed to charitable purposes connected
with education, but which, partly from.want of objects in the
particular places to which such gifts are confined, partly from
w'hnt of proper powers in the trustees, partly from other defects
in the foundations, and partly from a change in the habits of the.
people, have become in many instances unavailing to the pur-
poses for which they were originally intended„ and are .new
productive of very inadequate benefit to. the country,
_while,
from want of publicity, abuses frequently creep into the manage-
ment of them, only to be remedied by tedious and expensive
litigation.
8. That, in order to superintend the due and just application
of the funds from time to time voted by parliament for the pro--
motion of education, to establish proper seminaries for training
teachers, to encourage the trustees of charities connected with
education in using beneficially the powers now possessed by
them, to watch over the abuses of trusts committed by such trus-
tees, and to control the exercise of such new powers as parlia-
ment may grant them, it is expedient that a board of commis-
sioners be appointed, with powers and duties to be regulated by
act of parliament.
9. That it is further expedient to give such board a power of
fillirig up the number of trustees when these have fallen below
the quorum in any. will or deed of foundation, subject to the ap-
proval of the special visitor, where there is one, and to authorize,
subject to the like approval, the sale, the mortgage, or exchange
of any property given to charitable uses connected with educa-
tion for the promotion of the objects of the foundation, as far as
these may be deemed beneficial to the community.
10. That it be further expedient to give such a board a power,
subject as aforesaid, of directing the trustees of any grammar
school, where the funds- are sufficient, to apply such part
thereof as may not be wanted for teaching grammar in provid-
ing the means of common and unproved education for the people
at large.
• 11. That it is further expedient to give such board a power,
subject as aforesaid, with consent of the trustees, and subject
to,appeal iu parliament,-to apply, a portioa of the funds in-
trusted to them in -such manner as to produce a more,genethl
benefit, and.at a cheaper rate, in the education of the people at
arge, where the particular employment of the funds directed by
the founder has become difficult from want of objects, or pre-
judicial from the employment pointed out being no longer bene-

ficial to the community.
12. That it is further expedient to give such board the power,
in conjunction with the trustees, of imposing conditions upon
the masters of endowed schools, in respect of taking boarders,
and otherwise conducting themselves; and of removing them,
With consent of the trustees, in case of breach of such con-
ditions.
13. That it is further expedient to give such board the power
of calling from time to time for accounts of the management of
endowed schools, both from the trustees and from the teachers.
14. That it is expedient to require all trustees of charities
connected with education to deliver yearly to his Majesty's
Principal Secretary of State an account of all sums of money
received and expended by them in the execution of their trust.
May 21, 1835.

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

THE KING

(WRITTEN FOR THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.)

The King—in a bumper!—we'll drink to the crown
And the sceptre so mildly held o'er us;
For dear are those symbols of ancient renown—
They were dear to our fathers before us.
And 0 ! when the spell that is in them falls dead
On the ear and the heart of a Briton,
That moment the glory of England is fled—
That moment her destiny's written !

The King of the Isles is no tyrant to fear,
And no faction shall keep him a vassal ;
The peasant is free in his cottage—the peer
Is free in the light of his castle.
And shall not our King be, in word and in will,
As free as his people around him?
0 ! death to the traitors who, baffling him still,
Iu fetters would hind, or have bound him !

DREADFUL COACH ACCIDENT,

On Tuesday,morning, about four o'clock, the Halifax Hope
coach was upset, on its, way to London,, between Heckliffe and
Danstable. The coach was heavily laden with passengers and
luggage, a large quantity .:of. the latter being very imprudently
piled on the roof. At the time the accident occurred, the coach-
man was urging his hors6s forward at rather an immoderate
speed, and ventured at the same pace .to descend a hill about
two miles. beyond Dunstable, without taking the precaution of
ordering the slipper to be put on the wheel. On the horses feel-
ing. their inability to support the great weight behind them, they .
quickened their pace, and at lest became quite unmanageable;
in consequence of which the coach, after reeling two or three
times iu several directions, fell on the off side. The scene at
this moment was truly heart-rending; the,greans and shrieks of
the unhappy sufferers were the more distressing, as at that
early hour it was quite, impossible to obtain immediate assist-
ance. Two or three gentlemen escaped almost immediately un-
hurt, and promptly took the best means of adininisteting relief.
The rain at the time fell rather plentifully, and the quantity of
blood which was flowing around clearly indieated.that injuries
of no trifling nature had been sustained. The coachmaa and
guard were found much injured (we have not yet heard the full
extent), and lyingapparently.insensible. On a more close ex-,
amination, it was found that the bodies of two gentlemen were
buried beneath the luggage with which the roof was loaded.—
After this had been removed with some difficulty, they were
seen with their faces so dreadfully wangled and clotted with
gore, that it was quite impossible to recognize the features
most distantly, the whole forming a picture too horrible to des-
Cribe. One of these gentlemen, we are informed, a Mr.
Parker, of Tuffield, has received most severe contusions abotit
the head, and is in great danger., The other, whose name we
have not ascertained, was not so dangerously wounded. There
were also several ladies and gentlemen who escaped with what•
we hope we may call temporary injuries in comparison with the
others. Medical aid was procured as speedily as circumstances
would allow, and the sufferers were conveyed in post-chaises to
Dunstable, where they are now being treated with every kind-
ness their deplorable. situation demands. We cannot help al-
luding to the shameful manner in which the roofs of the coaches
from the manufacturing towns in- the North are loaded with
luggage and packages, and proprietors of coaches should be
careful that those whom they employ are laid under strict in-
junctions not to tamper.with the lives and comforts of indivi-
duals commited to , their. care. These disastrous .occurrences
sometimes take place 'without blame being attachable to any
party,. but when a little reflection will show that-caution and
prudence were not exercised, the circumstances attending such
a catastrophe as this are aggravated in, a tenfold degree.