The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1838-12-05


He is good father, Francois"
So Thought y twelve children have been
born in the Dead-Hous Conjugal and do
mestic joys, marriages and baptisms, love,
religion, virtue, oil have place in this funeral
above, as well as elsewhere. Meanwhile We
passed on through chambers which II Is not
my purpose to describe, until we came TO the
administrative cabinet or registry-ofice Of M.
Perrin. asked and received permission to
look over the book containing the records of
the dead. II was in double columns, the one
for the known and the other for the unknown.
The numbers Of the unknown greatly predo-
minated. Such entries as these were abund-
ant: :" Brought at three in the morning skull
fractured; unknown. Brought at midnight;
drowned under the Bridge Of Arts; a pack Of
cards in. the pocket nnknoHn--C Child newly
born, found dead from cold, at the door Of
hotel unknopn." And so on
"Ahw said M. Perrin 10 me, "dont you
find onr registers kept very nicely nowf My
hand does tremble q little, but you may see
that il is still a firm hand writing Tor my age.
| have cultivated flowing dash with some
; success. There is . capital M now-neatly
turned, is il not y
Good, simple man Proud only Of the turn
of capital letter, whilst needless Of the fact,
that that very letter was the commencement
Of. princes name, of maine inscribed upon
an Italian coinage. How came he nssPsocs
prince into the pages or a dead house regis
ter, i remember The occasion, though
know not the canse.' One night when proud
mansion was lighted up in Paris, when its
magnificent halls were. crowded with the gay
and fashionable, all thinking only Of life and its
enjoyments, a domestic, with haggard look,
rushed up the mistress Of the. dwelling, who.
was surroundetby the guests entertained byhe
in her husbands temporary absence. The lady
had no sooner listened 10 her servant than she
flew from the Assembly The music ceased,
the dancers stopped, whispers. passed among
the crowd, voice cried ito La Morgue!"
and away rushed the whole, some Of them nn-
cloaked, some with their very heads uncover
ed, and all in confusion. A strange sight il
was to see that lately brilliant throng flying in
disorder through the open streets, in night OF
storm and darkness. They reached La
Morgue one by one and there stretched on
table they beheld the ford Of the mansion
they had left. cold and lifeless. The body Of
the Prince-had been found in wood in
the environs ofthe capital. How he died was
undiscovered. But, opposite to his name the
register, there was, as M: Perrin made me re-
mark, the words ,ceH k,io,cn.
To return, however, to M. Perrin: From
the chamber Of registry we went to another
apartment, that in which the clothes Of the
dead were kept-There they hung upon the
wall, of all forms, kinds, and dimensions /;
hideousy coupled together; spattcrdash
joined by pin to a sleeve, Of a shawl resting
upon the collar Of mans coat; dresses OF
gentlemen, ladies', workmen, and, in short, OF
every class, mingled together, all dirty and
defaced and exciting the most painful impress
sions in the mind One could even mark the
aprons Of the workmen still rolled up, and
showing that death had surprised them at the
end of days common toll.
Francois, who followed my eyes in looking
at these oiects, in order to observe the effect
made by them upon me, here drew profound
sigh. "What goa then are moved at this
sight ?" said to him; "your condition is I'M
satisfactory -repugnant 10 you, then, IS 1t Z"
"Not precisely that, sir, replied Francois.
But you must know, sir, that hitherto the
clothes Of the Unknowns have fallen to us after
being exposed for six months. We then sell
them Now they speak of taking The clothes
from US ="
Strange calousness of habit consoled
Francois by the assurance that neither the
government nor the world at large spoke of
taking away the perquisi,e of the clothes. -
From this apartment we now went to the
room where the bodies are exposed +; and here,
upon marble table, its sole furniture, beheld
the three bodies spoken of. The infant
which had fallen from the grasp of its poor
nurse, and been suffocated in the stagecoach,
Il kol.,
agreeable objects, and hurried from the sight
of them.
said to M. Perrin, when he came to his
register room. again, that / feared he must
find his situation tedious in the long nights Of
winter. "No, no." said he, in lively tone,
"my daughters sing, and work; Francois and
join our wives at a game of picquet The
misfortune is, that our little party is often put
into disorder. A knock comes below: we
are obliged to descend, TO receive and undress
the new conner, and TO put the case in the re-
gster. This disturbs our game zoe forget to
make the points"
" But your daughters, are they perfectly"
"Oh you mistake much, if you imagine
that the common spect#cles to be seen here
distress them at ALL" said M Perrin. "They
pass the night here with the greatest COM
posture and cheerfulness. One grows to any
thing"
He might well say 50. The room which
his family occupied were in the floor immedi-
ately above that where the bodies were laid.
Nay, The piano Of the young ladies' stood d.
rectly above the table on which the unfortu-
mates were exposed, before being reclaimed
or buried So much was | struck with the
wonderful soaring Of habi, in this instance,
that could not help fancying il possible for