Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1852-09-08

! FIVE children-fonr sons and one daugh-
ter-whom she brought up and educated
to be an honor to herself and ornaments
to the society in which they lived. DIR.
Soulie became, in time, one of the physi-
clans of the court of Louis XIV and
when the political troubles began to break
out, he unfortunately wrote a pamphlet
in favor of the court, and thus became q
marked man. In the fall of 1892, at 8
o'clock one morning. the police forcibly
entered DR.. Soulie's house, dragged him
4 and his two eldest sons from their beds
and in spite of the prayers and entrea-
ties of the poor wife and mother, carried
them off. 1t was nearly week before
Madame Souile could hear any news from
her beloved ones, and then-they had al
ready been dead four days-the guillo-
tine had done its work for them. Ma
dame Soulie clasped her three remaining
children to her arms, two boys of seven
teen and eighteen, and a girl of fifteen
years of age. But as she strained them
to her in the agony of her grief, fresh
troubles were preparing for her. Her
sons swore within themselves TO revenge
the murder of their father and brothers.
1t would take too long to narrate all the
circumstances which followed, but. these
twoyoung men placed themselves at the
head of conspiracy against the govern
ment, and one year precisely from the
day on which she had learned the death
of her husband and two eldest sons, Ma
dame Soulie received short note, as fol-
lows:
CoNUTERcER1E, Thursday Morn.
Mother, dear mother-We have con-
spired against the government-we have
been betrayed and die to- morrow. Bear
it bravely, mother, we die for our father
and brothers.
HENRI, YIcToR.
What words can describe the agony of
that poor mother. At first she prayed to
God to take her life or her reason. But
ray of hope dawned upon her; she might
perhaps, save her boys; the tribunal which
had condemned them could uot be deaf to
mothers prayer-a mothers despair.
But alas Madame Soulie little knew the
men upon whose compassion she counted.
In vain she supplicated, in vain she pray
ed; they ended by refusing to listen to
her any longer. She did all that could
possibly done to save her boys from death;
she even, after the manner of Madame
Chalias, tried to bribc the executioners {;
but they accepted her money and then
betrayed her. Finding her efforts vain,
she tried to resign herself, and deter
mined, as she could no! obtain her sons
lives, at least to get permission to aid them
to die. This was, with great difficulty
gained her, but at last she received it, and
a couple of hours before the execution was
to take place, she presented herself before
her unhappy boys. Then all the gran
deur of her soul, the devotion, the resig-
nation which was so remarkable in her af-
ter life showed itself No useless fears,
no reproaches, no lamentating. One
short burst of agony at the sight of the
manacled limbs of her children forced
from her in spite of herself, and she was
done with this world. Every moment
was precious. God and the eternity in.
to which these two boys were soon to en-
ter, formed the sole object of the conVer.
sation between the mother and her chill
dren, until the jailor came to announce
that the moment had arrived to say their
last prayers. Madame Soulie stood by
while the chains were knockedoff; she knelt
and prayed with the priest who had been
sent to accompany them to the scaffold;
and then she took an arm of each of the
beloved boys and left the prison with
them.
The public place was crowded with
people. They could Hnot help plying
those two handsome youths about to be
executed; but tears ran down the hardi
est cheeks at the sight of that noble mo-
ther, still in mourning for her husband
and two eldest children, and now accom-
panying her two remaining sons to death.
! She ascended the scaffold with them, en-
braced them tenderly, offered up short
prayer with them, and then allowed her
self TO be led away by friend. But she
was not out Of hearing when the shouts
of the multitude announced to her that all
was over.
Well, in '95 she herself was condemned
to death, on the charge Of concealing her
brother-in-law, political prisoner, who
had escaped from prison. A second time
the poor woman mounted the scaffold, and
was preparing to die, when an order came
for her release. She then retired to a
little farm she owned near Blois, and soon
after married her daughter to man every
way worthy of her. But misfortune was
to be her lot through life. Heronly child
that fate had left her to love and cherish,
died in childbirth eleven months after
marriage.
1t was then that Madame Soulie turn
ed her eyes towards the eloister. After
considerable delay she was received into
the Ursuline Convent of NeVeres, and in
1925 made lady abbess, which place she
held until her death. Her last moments
were sOOthed by the presence of many Of
those upon whom she had bestowed her.
benefits and charities, and she died as
calmly as an infant falling asleep, her
H.. &l,o oul haT avas