Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1862-09-19
eventually hanged and burned bef,re the
house Of Guerra

e'chtuaiy hahSeu anu burned bVfDre the
house Of Guerre.
The authority for tits case is the Coa~s
Ce'ebress, a d i is hardly necessary TO say
that il Is difficult 10 determine, when read
Ing iha, work, the exact boundary between
aothenIc history and the usual romantic
license of the French writer's. Admitting.
however. the entire correctness or the nerra-
lion, we may safely conclude tina, art had
quite as much 10 do in the matter as nature.
1t Was a splendid piece Of deception on the
part OF a consunmate actor Nature had
indeed provided the remarkable likeness,
aud there probably her services ended. The
secret marks We're, doubtless, purposely ere
ated by Du Tllil himself. who also adopted
what he lad learned to be The peculiar man
nsrs Of Guerre. a good memory Of the de-
taiIs dat fad beer Communicated TO hin en-
abled him still further 10 misead his dupes;
and the lack of suspicion, combined with un-
restrained imagination on their part, did all
the Test. Sill, SO great was the natural re-
senhRnce between The two men, that had
Du Iiih died without confession half the
community would have denounced his fate
as judicial murder, aud ever afterward re-
garded the real Martin Guerre with suspi-
con.
Tie cases mentioned in my introduction
occurred more recently, and are better au-
thenticatcd. 0,,e of them, although of less
Importance, and unattended by any serious
consequences 10 the survivor. possesses.
nevertheless, a certain degree of interest. II
las never, believe, been made public, but
! can souch Tor its entire accuracy, as II oc.
CURED under my own personal observation.
Ia the year 1850, i was one day watch
Ing, from the window of my hotel, in the
eity of Brooklyn, Opposite New York; the
operation of elevating /" Liberty Pole in
the square beneath. A crowd had assem-
bled Gu the OCCASION, and remarked the
dangerous position ofcertain individuals in
ease ny accident should occur. The thought
seemed to be prophetic, for the next mo-
ment some of tie ropes parted, and section
Of the shaft fell heavily TO the ground. One
of the by by-standers, an elderly man of the
humber class, received blow upon the
head. which produced instant death. The
body was removed TO The doorstep beneath
my window, and the unfortunate man was
at once recognized by several Of his neigh
bors who chaneed to be present. The cor
oner was in the immediate vicinity. and was
soon brought TO the spot, when, The case be-
ing clearly one cf accidental death, the for
mality Of an inquest was shortly concluded,
and the body delivered to the friends OF TIE
deceased, who removed it to his lafe resd-
ence. attended the inquest, which was
held in an adjacent room. and heard dis
iinctly the testimony which identified the
corpse. no less than FIVE or six witnesses de-
claring that they were immediate neighbors
of the deceased, whom they unhesitatingly
recognized.
The affair produced no other impressions
than those natural on witnessing such sad
occurrence, and would have passed event
ually into oblivion, had not, the next morn
ing, heard the sequel, and subsequently sat
isied myself by personal investigation, of
.he accuracy Of the details. They were
briefly as follows :-That corpse was con-
veyed TO The house of The deceased, and met
at the door by the b,vken-ilearted widow,
kissing The face that was scarcely cold, and
indulging in all those extrayagant demon
strations SO common in women Of her class.
She was finally induced TO retire to her APP
artment-kitchen and drawing-room COM
b;ned-the body was deposited in an adj
joining chamber, and The by-sianders gradu.
ally dispersed. This was about four o'clock
in the afternoon. Two or three hours later,
while several persons were arranging the
corpse, the mourning wife was seated by
her freside, painfully contemplating the in
terrupied preparations she had been MAX
Ing for the accustomed evening meal; when
the outer door opened, as it was wont TO do
at that hour, familiar footsteps advanced,
and 10 her husband stood before her, hale
and hearty as when he had left her in The
morning to proceed to his daily occupation.
Her considerations. and that of her friends,
iiiay better be imagined than described and
her subsequent joy, when her senses were
fairly restored, was almost as frantic as had |
been her former agony.
The explanaiion is very simple. The de-
ceased etensuslly proved to BE an entire |
stranger, from town forty miles distant, |
whc chaneed to be In the city on e visit. /.
The persbnal resemblance between tIie two !
men was very strong. and their garments
also similar. In the horror Of Tie r1orent, I
the recognition by the neighbors was not |
while the wife had been already /
by 9 messenger, of the fatal event,
and was prepared to received her husbands /
corpse. Half blind fr.m weeping, she did .
not stop to scrutinize closely the familiar
features; but, the FIRST burst Of grief over,
,iirre,5 awsv t,S ind,,l,e her a-anv 1e.-i... 1