The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1828-07-02
MISCELLANEOUS.
AN EXECUTION IN PARIS.

y v
ladies' OF the celestial empire, quantity re
marks, "They (the ladies in question: sci
dom stir abroad, and one would oe apt t.
MINK, that, as some have coniectured, thei
keeping up their fondness for the fashion
were stratagem of the mems to keep then
from gossiping and gadding about, and con
hne them athome." | never stumble upor
this passage ofthe worthy Buccaneer, with
out wishing that the friends of the Partisan
ladles would either advise them to refrain
from the custom ofhonoring executions with
! their presence, or introduce the fashion O.
little feet to keep them from gossippine
and gadding about" once had occulal
demonstration of this penchant of the French
ladies' for such disgusting exhibitions, OF
one day, coming from the Cour Royale
AS descended the broad fight ofsteps thai
lead to the spacious court yard below, | be-
came entangled in a dense crowd, from
which found extrication impossible till |
had reached the fountain in the Place du
Chatelet AS soon as had escaped from
| the pressure of the throng, sought place
| OF security, and was in a short time ac-
quainted with the cause of such multitude
being collected; an execution was about to
take place, and of all such scenes, this must
have been the most dreadful-it was the
execution OF mother and son !; the former
was slXty-tive years of age, and the latter
put tWenty-four; they were convicted of
having murdered an infrm woman ofeighty.
The prisoners were both seated in one cart,
with their backs to the horses, and priest
at the side of each. The son sat near the
horses; his appearance was detected in the
| extreme md bo IL 1
! ~ wild expression to his features, and he
occasionally put his hand to his brow, as if
to dash off the clammy drops that started
on his forehead, and then applied both hands
TO his throat, as if he were gasping for that
breath which he was about to lose for
ever. His head sunk on the priests shout
ders, and his whole frame seemed unnerv-
ed by utter debility. His aged mother, the
partner OF his crime, appeared, on the con-
trary, the picture of resolution and daring
courage. upon her eye-balls murderous
tyranny sat in grim majesty, to fright the
world" Her gray hair which had fallen
rom under her cap,and hung in matted locks
about her face, heightened the Hecate ex-
preston of her eyes, which flashed with
vlndlctlVe chances on the multitude assem-
pled TO view her progress. AS soon as the
cart had passed, the rush of the throng
swept me with it | was carried with the
stream towards the spot where the world
was finally to close on two wretched beings
who had alike violated the laws of God
and man, and was thus forced to witness aQ
exhibition which | would otherwise have
gladly escaped. On arriving at the feet Of
the scaffold, the old woman leaped boldly
from the cart, hurriedly assembled the steps,
and stood alone and unsupported or the
platform; but the son had not power to rise,
terror had chained him to his seat, and he
was ultimately lifted from the cart, assisted
up the steps, and placed by the side of his
mother near the executioner. To the most
aged was allotted the priority of first undergo
ing the penalty of the law: she was bound
placed under the knife-and was in mo-
ment lifeless. AS the weapon rapidly and
| obliquely descended ringing in the grooves,
| was watching the effect Of the sound on
the other prisoner, whose back was turned
to the sight; could only remark slight
tremor, and convulsive rising of the Shout
ders, but when gendarme slightly touched
him, to warn him that his time had come,
he fell under the touch, as if he had struck
life from him and he was probably uncon-
sclous of the remaining part of the sacrifice
| his coat, which had been loosely thrown
round his shoulders, was rudely torn from
him, his shirt rent down, and he dragged to
| the knife by that hair which seemed to have
been previously curled with the greatest at
tention to effect. From the time of the ar
rival of the cart at the foot of the scaffold
till the striking off the sons head, ten min
utes had not been consumed, and in less
than ten more the whole structure was
taken to pieces, and the multitude dispersed
The number of females on this occasion
was immense; they at least formed two
thirds of the multitude, and evidently took
the greatest interest in the whole affair
they apparently considered it as a fete, and
enjoyed it accordingly. Their dress, more
over, bespoke them as belonging, if not tC
the upper classes, at least to the middle rank
of society; certainly the lower orders did
not predominant. Voltaire's assertion, that
the French were compound of the tiger
and monkey, was never more forcibly Illus
trated than in the conduct ofthese females OF
| this awful occasion. AS the cart passed Il
the place of execution they assailed the sol
with every epithet of vituperation afforded
them by a copious vocabulary. His features
distorted with terror, and his hands, com
pressed with agony, were subjects of ridi
cule; and their savage remarks ceased only
when the unit of his life I" had been with
drawn from the sum ofhumaM exstence."-
The unyielding demeanor of his guilty
mother was, on the other hand, received
with marked appreciation; and, as she occa
sionally, with convulsed features, and arm
uplifted in the wild paroxysm of insanity
turned round to 1evile the craven terror
her offspring, the applause from those o
her own sex was redoubled, and repeated
at every frantic gesture of the exulting dc
= moniac. Iagain assert, that this want o
feeling was not seen in the lower orders ex
clusively; and that it is not confined to tn,
lnnnr nrflnrc alnnn ic r,rnund hu !, nnnnInA,