New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-02-21

slant dismissal snd removal from the disrric, g.
spare nim. be adds. the tacOnrsnieA q Of npn;.S
lDg han with bis own hand AS Mazoni aooc,..
10 be extending the circui. of bis domir alton -
ischment Of troops has been ordered from ~.
town 10 hunt him from hs retreat, and so sen -.
tne measures taken o. destroy the nuisance "a,
we may, probably, soon hear OF his caotare. r..
details gwen IN the dispatch iust received bv -
Government are very clrious.
Religious Perversioa.
A very curious istely came belo,a d.
Court @, Assizes. IL was ihc trial Of fourteen ~.
ard women, who were accused Of holding IlsS,'
meetings, nc, OF political character" The b.,
Is, the persons in questions are members OF ns,'
sect orrelgion, who have existed for some ye.,
IN France under the name Of begatns and ~.
were in the hsbi, Of holding periodical mee,ipe,
in the Rue d Odillon, in Paris, till some month.
ago, when these meetings were brought under ia
notice Of the police as being both illegal and erces
slvely immoral. The accused were Almo,, Al
natives o, the village Of ~ Jean, Bonueionds b,
the department Of the Loire, where the ,ecs
seems 10 have had It's origin, and most oltbeus
declared that they bad been Beguins since thei,
birth. For long time the Beguns had had the
reputation Of being inoaensive people, both a. "a
spects morality and general conduct bot thc,a
appears 10 UdNc Occil soNoc sad DaCkalfdfnge ~
since they placed themselves under the dir,ctio,
of their present chief. person Of the name y
Digonnet, for whom they have 4 variety of apo..
lations, which, according 20 them, can be address,
ed TO him indiferently. They call him Ls 10,
Dieu," the good friend Ellie" John the Ran
list" and the Holy Ghost"
This man is a beggar by profession, who. be.
sides having undergone seven years confinement
in the bdgRe is at the present moment prisoner
il Oh al If Aurtlia. On q CHI If
and swindliDg. The yices OF the "God Disonnet'
as he is called, and the credulity and faith OF hs
blinded follow ers, are quite inexplicable Thou1
now sixty seven years Of age, he lived on tera
Of the strictest intimacy with all the femalesd
his sect, iatterlng esch that she was TO becona
the mother of the Messiah. 1t appears from the
evidence produced in the case. that the titles d
Dieonnet TO the faith Of the Beguins were-First,
that they expected prophet; secondly, thatthey
recognised this prophet IN the person OF Digonnet
and by the accomplishment OF the double predic.
tion made by him Of the disease among the pots.
toes, sDd the advent Of the Republic These are
the only proofs of his divine mission, or rather
his divinity for the SectsrIsnsdeclare that they
believe in his divinity from the bottom of then
hearts.
Yet notorious acts of the greatest iniamy ara
alleged against this Gcd Of the Begains. 1t sp.
pears certain Though the legal proof failed h
bringing home the criminal portion OF the charge
10 the accused that he has introduced new prac.
tees into the form othe religion, In conformity to
his own character and conduct. IL was alleged o.
the trial. and not denied that, In the nightly meet.
ings of the Sect on given signal, the lights vera
extipeuished and that all cried with loud voice,
down with light Down with modesty Ia 6ss
la lumiere-d 6ds Ia pudeuvl. One OF the doctrines
of the sect is abstinence from marriage bu. BY
the side Of this precept is placed, 1t is said, thu
most unbrided dssOluteness, which Is, In fact the
charge which brought them before the Assizes II
is also said that they were in the hsbit Of going
into the woods at night and marching In procession
in a state of complete nudity, practice which has
been brought home to avsst number oil sects Of
the same kind.
The evidence produced before the Jury was
very defective, and failed in proving the WORT
part of the case bat enough was proved % shov
that with some trouble, the whole Of the charges
might have been made good against the prisoners.
Digonnet himself was Hot put on his trial, being
already in prison on more serious charge, aai
not having been present at the meeting where I
fourteen disciples were seized. The case va
brought to light by one Of the women belonging
to the sect, who had been deprived OF her sgo
children girls by her co.religlonists, for the par
pose Of being initiated in the mysteries OF theh
faith. This woman being witness 20 the aoan-
doned practices of the other females OF the sect
became alarmed for the fste OF her children. Sh9
endeavored to recover them, bat failed and find
ing no other means OF doing so, she denounced
the sect TO the authorities and gave such inforns
ton as led to their arrest and trial.
1t was proved on the trial that recently ona
woman having announced herself to be IN shs
family way by the God Digonnet the whole set
coDgregated in the expectation Of the adventd
the Messiah, but, 10 the woiul disappointmenIa
all and to the 10 SINAI. confusion OF the god bin
self the expected Messiah turned out 10 be gn.
Owing 10 defective evidence the only 1hngshat
could be proved againstthe Beeuins was that Of
having held illegal aud unauthorized neetogi
and having been found guilty Of this mitss'ed o.
tense, they were condemned 70 a fine Of 25L each