The Conservative. (M'connelsville, Ohio) 1866-1871, 1867-10-10
tPaHs Cor'e'pou denes boston Post.
A French Poet and HIS Horrible
Themes


Paris has lost tho last. IL not tho first
OF poets. Baudolaire, "thc poet of all
III, as ho loved TO style himself, tho
author OF Flowers Of Evil, has Just
dlCd at the private mad house kept by
.Df. Duvul, IN the Bois.do Boulogue.
Never was a man better fitte,l tor tho
pcrsOniticniion Uf the mad frenzy attri-
Duted to poets of the Middle Ages than
Baudclaire~ His long hair, unkempt
and ragged, flowing over his shoulders,
his restless gray eye and satirical
smile, all reminded ono ofthe Mcsslre
Jehan or the Chautetleur of former
times. Baulclairc possessed much OF
tho depth and power OF the poets of that
day. His talent lay chiefly in the de-
scriptiOn Of horrors, not of the same
nature as Edgar Poe, but moral de-
| iUrmIty and vico too terrible to bo
moro than hintcd at, were the themes
OF his dark and gloomy verse. One or
two Of the pieces in the Flower Of
Evil made for Baudelaire gigantic
reputation. Ono in particular, ,scrip.
tive Of Il scene which took place somo
years AGO in house of ill-fame, in
PARIS, exceeds any thing of the kind
ever written. a young man, whose
indcntity was never discovered in spite
OF the vigilance Of the police, had en-
tered the house ut o'clock in the NOR
nng, in company with lady whose
face was concealed by Il black velvet
mask. But as this happened during
carnival time, nc notice VAS taken of
the occurrence. As the guests ascend.
ed Tho stairs the hostess overheard tho
young man say To- himself IN kind OF
hollow whisper--thc tone OF which sho
remcm bcred with n shudder-"Atter
five years mortal anguish. the hour of
re7cngo has come at last" But these
words wcro attributed to motive far
d tlorent from that which prompted
them, and the woman, being sleepy,
was only too glad to conduct her
guests To the vacant room. and with
drew TO resume her own slumbers.--
But on the morrow great was the tu--
mult--tho heart of Paris was shaken
/ to IT'S very core. Guided by some Sc
cret indications, the police had peno-
trated TO tho chamber. The Young
man had departed long since, and
there on tie bed lay the corpse OF the
woman, whose head had boen severed
from her body AMI placed Mt her feet.
Tho mask had hcon torn of, and tho
features thus revealed were ofthe most
exquisite beauty. The long, fair halr
had been cut off, and lay scattered
about tho room. wri!e tho sheets and
blankets, and even IL great portion of
the curtains, had been used 10 absorb
! tho blood so that it should not escap6.
4 The cvent made terrible sensation in
| Paris, but the secret of that murder has
never been revealed to this day. 1t
WAS the general idon MT that time that
the lady belonged TO some high family
AMI that the young man was her sons
tutor. But the affair was hushed up
10 skillmlly that nothing certain was
ever allowed 10 get abroad. This hor.
rihle subject was vorsi6ol with hurri-
bile effect by Baudelairo, and tho blood
runs cold while reading tho poem. -
! Tho tension of thought always fixed on
the terrible drove poor Baudelaire mad
NJ last, and even his madness took n
most singular and una accountable form
unlike ull others. His first symptom
displayed itself ia his inability 20 pro-
nounco tho last syllable of his words;
then the second syllable left his mem
ory, and ut length he could say only
the first, so that all conversation or
connection Of ideas became impossible.
s9- Boston Is about TO wiring ian
honest penny" out Of tho boot blacks
and newsboys, by making them take
out licenses.