St. Cloud Democrat. [volume] (Saint Cloud, Stearns County, Minn.) 1858-1866, 1864-02-25
!. TRAGEDY IN MASQUERADE: RAJ !:
Tn. nutehs.. carMs.iA, M or 1yartembs.,,

rh. . Datch... cara.iA, 81 wartemburss.
THE following singular story e,nana.es
from one ofthe Imperial Chamherlains, who
alleges that he heard il related by Napoleon
himself, one evening. at !Malmaison. The
son yersation happening 70 turn on IL the
Prince IS of Wurtemburg. the Empersr ad-i
dressed to Ills Chamberlain tho following
question II ~---'s w. tsr~~.. :.
Il allow old is the present king of Wurtem-
burg ~ u;, ~ ;GI IS Y:u1B .~t.5tob
...He is no longer q young man, sire.
Frederick William is seventy. lie was
born in 1874. In 1880 lie married Prin-
cess Caroline of Brunswick 'Wolfenbutel |;
md he became widower In September
1851" l.. a,#u{Eif. gsnj" 1lrl.'3 - l.
eyes, ne became widower," remarked
the Emperor. ,@.:...,# y......,> ii,
The tone Of voice in which Napoleon ut
tered these words, rivetted the attention Of
every one present. A dead pause ensued,
and the Emperor himself broke silence by
narrating the following story l.. ~
''On tho 4th Of: October. 1881, about
eight o'clock in the morning, . man called
on Mr.. Dietrich, the Preteur*. Of Stras-
burgh. The ser want, when he entered to
announce the visitor to his master, looked
pale and terrified. "Whet is the. matter,
Franz p inquired Preteur 'sir,--' said
the servant, trembling. why do you not
answer s'-'sir,' replied Franz, it is the
Executioner.' what can he want? NJ
matter. Show him in and go away."", ,.
:.Thc Execut;oner Of stresbqrgk was !
man infinitely superior to thbse Who in 9th
er countries exercised his: fearful calling
He was pious and we'll Informed. lie had
stuaied surgery, and was skilled. in curing
fractures and setting, broken limbs: Hi
gratuitous service in this way had confer
red on him sort Of popularity among tn,
poorer classes. They p;ticd rather thar
despised him., yet his presence seldom fail
ed to excite an invincible feeling of terror
sWhen introduced into the presence o
the Preteur, an expression Of gravity, ever
greater than usual, was observable III hi.
countenancc
"'What have you to say to me! - inquired
NJ. Dietrich. ''.'. - - -2s az, 49, -
7s'I come replied the Executioner, It.
discharge duty imposed on me by tht
imperative mandates Of my conscience, !
cn:reat sir, that you will receive a disclo
sure, which wish to make TO you, ant
that you will write it down US deliver it
1t is al affair of great Importance, and
must state it in detail for to due consid
Grafton Of all the facts look for my justi
fication.' i.
ut will readily be supposed. that thes,
preliminary remarks excited the curiosity
!oc, the rretcur. lie Immediately seatet
himself ct his.wri'ing table, and the exc
,cutioncr thus commenced his extraorlita
~ disclosures
'About a week ago, that is to say, OF
the night Of the 26th of last month, wa!
at home in my retired dwelling, in the sub
urb of Kiel, on the right bank Of the Rhine
It was past midnight. / had gone 10 bed
ind | was suddenly startled by q lou,
knocking at my door. My old housekeer.
er being awakened; by, the noise, hurriet
down stairs 10 open the, door. She wa
not alarmed, for I am frequently knocked
up at all hours Of the night, by poor per
sons, who come to solicit those acts of ser
vice which I amt too happy in. being ell
to render to my suffering fellow creatures
l had a|so risen. and was proceeding dow,
stairs, when t discovered that the poor oil
woman was disputing with two mon, who's
faces were masked, and who we're holdin
a pistol to her throat. IL " ;'--'~ =, t'@
"'Murder me, she exclaimed, ,:bsit spar
lhy MASTER NO harm win betide him
said one Of the two men. .'On the contrar
he. will be largely rewarded. But he mn:
go with us Immediately. His life depend
on his compliance - '' 80 '~ ,'..' . $780,. -. .
"'Seelng me descending the staircas,
the men rushed upon me, and levelled til
pistols at my breast, In the first momen
Of my alarm I imagined That they ha
como to take revenge on me for an .execr
ton which had been ordered ty Tie KIM
and . natural impulse prompted me to in
plore that they would spare ny life H'You
life is not in danger, said they, 'if'yo
obey us punctually But if you NANTES
tho least hesit1ttoh, rest assured that you
death is certain. Provide yourself wit
your best axe, and we must tie 4 bandlp
over your eyes be silent and follow" us
All this time the pistol was pointed at a.
Resistance was vain, and was helped i,
to a carriage, in which the two stranger
Immediately .eated themselves, and IL
horses set off al q gallop." I left my q
housekeeper almost petrifed by terror an IN
amazement; and as we drove Of, I hear
one Of the men tell her, that il she did n,
carefully conceal her knowledge Of the
secretsvisit, my doom was sealed, - '''''
"'1 rode on in q, painful state Of perple'
ity, i commended myself to the Holy vii
gin, to whom ! mentally addressed aspraJ
er. After having invoked the holy nan.
at'sthsls,, ' sl,'g dtaif r. y y chriAt pt,u
somewhat more at ease, Andsl tried to di'
cover in What dirsotiph; VI IMsre travelling
on. this po1ntt1 could arr1rivvAa Il nn safis{s,