The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1850-10-19


ten IN their hats The penalty for the offence was
80 high that it was very rarely enforced, and
practically It was very seldom indeed that the
actual loss Incurred by the offending party was
anything more than tie pal,ry venture, which he
was generally permitted to abandon making the
oes' use oi his heels TO escape any further pun.
ishment The gensdarmes planted at he different
barriers generally make prey Of the pcrtables
which they captured. and were consequently inte.
rested IN keeping good lookout for olf,nders.-
1t was this vigilance that led to the discovery Of
Tie robbers, Tor, not being able to devise any
better plan Tor the removal of the money than
that OF secreling 1t about their persons, they at.
tempted thus 10 carry out their object. But rs
one oil them, heavily encumbered with the gold.
en- spois, was passing through the Barriere Eu.
fer, one Of the soldieI.police who was ON duty as
sentinel. suspecting, from his appearance and hes.
itating gait, that he carried smugglcd liquors in
h's hat, suddenly stepped behind him and struck
1t from his head with his halberd. What was hs
astonlshment to behold. instead of the expected
bladder OF vine or Spirits several small bags Of
gold and rolls Of English bank.notesi The con.
fusion and prevarcation Of the wretch, who made
vain and frantic attempts TO recover the proper
ty, betrayed his guilt, and lac was Immediately
taken into custody, together with his companion,
who, following at very short distance, was un.
hesItatingly pointed out by his cowarGly and be-
wlldrred confederate as the owner of the money.
No time was lost in conveying intelligence of their
capture TO their unfortunate victim, who immed
atsy 'dentihed the notes as lis own property,
and at the first view Of the assassins, swore dis
,inctly to the persons Of toth-to the elder, as
having repeatedly stabbed him. and to the youn.
ger. rs his companion and coadiutor.
The criminals were In due course of time tried.
fully convicted, and, as was to be expected, sen.
fenced TO death by the guillotine but owing 10
some technlcrl informality in the proceedings, tie
| doom of the law could not be carried into execu.
t!on until the sentence Of the cour, had been con-
iirmed upon appeal. This delay afforded time
aud opportunity for some ineddling or Interested
'ndi'idual-eiiher moved by the desire of making
cruel experiment, or else by the hope Of obtain,
ing reversal Of the capital sentence against the
prisoners-to work upon the feelings Of the un-
fortunate money.chnnger A few days after the
sentence OF death had been pronounced, the un.
happy victim had received letter from an uri.
known hand. mysteriously worded, and setting
forth IN expressions that seemed to him fearfullv
prophetic. that the thread Of his own destiny was
indissoluby united with that of bis condemned
ussassins 1t was evidently out Of their power
to take away his life; and i, was equally out Of
his power to survive them, die by the sentence o!
the law. or how or when they might; it became
; clear-so argued this in,ermedder--that the
same moment which saw the termination Of their
lives would inevitably be the last Of his own
10 fortlfy his arguments the letter.wrter refer.
red to certain mystic symbols in the heavens -
Now, though the poor man could understand no.
thing o: the trumpery diagrams which were set
forth as illustrating the truth Of the fatal warning
thus conveyed to him, and though his friends uni.
versally laughed at the trick as a bare.!acei at
tempt of some anonymous imposter, to rob Just
ice OF her due, it nevertheless made deep i'm.
preston uron his mind. Ignorant Of everything
but what related Immediately to his own money.
getting profession, he had a blind and uud.tined
awe OF what he termed the supernatural sciences,
and he inwardly thanked the kinl monitor who
had given him at least chance Of redeeming his
days
He Immediately set about making application
to the Judges, IN order to get the decree Of death
changed into sentence TO the gallevs for life.
lie was equally surprised and distressed to find
that they treated hls petition with contempt, and
ridiculed his fears, So far from granting his re.
guest, after repeated solicitations, they command
IN in peremptory manner TO uppear no more
before them. Driven almost to despair, he r.sol.
we'd upon pettionng the king; aud after much
expense and toll, he succeeded in obtaining an
audience with Charles Y. All was in vain A
crime so enormous, committed with such cool de.
liberation, left no opening for the plea of mercy
every effort he made only served to strengthen
the resolution Of the authorities to execute iudy.
meut. Finding all his efforts in vain, lie appeared
to resign himself despairingly to his fate De-
priyed Of all relish even for gain, he took to his
bed, and lansuished in hopeless misery, and as
the time for the execution Of the criminals an.
preached, lapsed more and more into terror and
dismay.
1t was on sultrv afternoon in the beginning
OF June, 1925, that the writer of this brief mar.
rative--then u not too thoughtful lad, in search Of
employment in Paris hurried, together with a
party OF sightseeing English wofkmen TO the
Place dc Greve to witness the execution of the
two assassins Of the uouey-changer. Under the
rays of an almost insupportable sun, an immense
crowd had congregated around the gulllo,iue (;
and II was not without considerable ex,rtou, and
a brlbe OF some small amount, that standing pla.
ces were ut length obtained within few PAGES of
the dea'hidi instrument upon the fiat top of the
low wall which divides the simple area uf the
Place de Greve from the river Seine.
| Precisely At four O'Clock the sombre cavalcade
approached Seated upon bench in a long cart,
between two priests, sat the wre,ched victims Of
re,ribu,ive justice. The cruciix was incessently
exhibited to their view, and presented to their
lips to DO kissed, by their ghostly attendants -
After few minutes Of silent and horrible prcpa.
ration, the elder advanced upon the platform Of
the guillotine. With livid aspec, and quivering
lips he gazed around in unu,.crable agony upon
the sea Of human faces; then lifting his haggard
eyes to heaven, he demanded pardon of Gud aud
the people for the violation Of the great preropa.
tive Of the former and the social rights of the
latter, aud besought most ernes,y the mercy Of
the Judge into whose presence lie was abou, to
enter. In less than ;wo minutes both he and his
companion were hcndless corpses, and in n quar-.
ter OF an hour no vestige, save a few remains Of
sawdust, wns left Of the terrible drama that had
been enacted, Soon, however, a cofised murmur
pervaded the crowd-a report that the victim of
cruelty and avnrice had realized the dread pre-.
sentiment Of his own mind, and justified the pre-.
diction contained in the anonymous letter lie had
received, On inquiry this wOs found to be true.
As the signal rung out for execution the unhappy
man, whom twenty-five stabs Of the dagger had
failed to kill, expired in paroxysm Of terror
adding one more to the many examples already
upon record Of the fatal force Of fear upon an ex.
cited imagination,