The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1868-08-06

two beautiful daughters who were ex-
ceedingly well-bred, and performed very
skillfully on the piano. One day, IN 1850,
Lord Durham and Bowring sent word
that they would visit him. The two ceie-
brated men were DESTROYS of getting &C
ouainted with him and-the guillotine In
honor of these guests, the guillotine was
painted afresh Lord Durham intended
to buy a sheep and have it beheaded, but
he contented himself with seeing Samson
drop the ak on several bundles In his
presence and that of the other guests; for
a number of Englishmen had accompa-
MED him to the eXecutioner's house. The
notorious Vidocq assisted the executioner
in making this experiment, with which
Lords Durham and Bowring were so de-
| lighted that they invited Samson and his
son to dinner. Beside them, Alexander
Dumas, Balzac, Fourier, Victor Consider
ant, and many were invited. myself was
| among the guests, and do not remember
ever to have seen sprightlier dinner
party"
The conversation turned to the conduct
Of the culprits on the way to the scaffold.
cit is so very different" said M. Du-
! faure, " most of them are so worn out by
the long imprisonment and excitement
| that at the fatal hour, they are more dead
than alive. Others take pains to shake off
| their depression, and seek to seem coura
geous But it is very rarely that one of
them meets death with perfect sang Jroad.
! Not unfrequently there are cases of ex-
trene cownrdice. Thus Verger, the mu
derer of the Archbishop of Paris, had to
be forcibly dragged from his couch and
| dressed for the scaffold He had felt con-
WINGED that he would be pardoned. And
he was utterly unprepared for death. When
the priest exhorted him to compose him
self, he said, Il would you were in my
place!' Even before he had reached the
scaffold, his features were so much dis
torted that no one recognized him any
more 1t is true, Orsini and Pieri, espe-
cially the former, conducted themselves
in widely different manner. Both knew
what was in store for them and prepared
to meet their fate bravely. Orsini desired
to be buried in a coffin. :. :"
care then the remains of the executed
criminals not inferred in collins? ?" inter
rupted one of the guests.
"No. As soon as the sword Of justice
has avenged the crime, they are conveyed
to the MontparnaSse cemetery and thrown
into their grave. Now Orsini expressed
in his short but well-written will the wish
to be laid after his execution into coffin,
to be sent to London, and to be buried
there by the side of his friend, Ugo Fos-
colo The coffin was granted to him, but
his remains were not sent to London. He
expressed in his will still another desire,
to wit, that a gold watch, worth eight
hundred francs, might be purchased and
given to Jules Favre, who had defended
him. The then pr0cUreotr-g general C7tat1D
o. Estd7lge caused this wish, too, to be full
filled, and believe Jules Favre is wearing
that watch all the time. Orsini preserved
in his last moments the same tranquility
and composure which he had shown dur
ing the whole of his imprisonment. AS
'regicides,' he and Pieri had to ascend the
scatfold barefoOted and their heads shroud-
ed in black Grape. On the way thither,
Pieri began to sing the hymn MOatr5r pour
la Patrie but Orsini rebuked him in gen
tie words, and eXhorted him to be quiet
and composed. Pieri's head fell first.
Orsini gazed at it for moment, and, shout
ing out, V9Ue J. Hdl5e! Va0e la France d!
he laid his head under the AK"
Permit me to close this not exactly
very merry conversation by relating a
curious case," said an artist who was
among the guests. "You must have heard
oftenUimes of Lays, the opera singer. This
singer, who enjoyed considerable and well
merited celebrity toward the close of the
eighteenth century, left a daughter who
married the historical painter, Dupavillon,
a pupil ofDavid's, and a son who obtained
to gain fame and riches in the career of his
father. DupavillOn, the painter, very
excellent artist, was in feeble health, and
soon was unable to work in his profession,
so that he was soon in an embarrassed
condition, which the Society of Fine Arts
tried TO alleviate as much as possible. His
brother-in-law, Lays, who loved his art,
but was destitute of talent, was soon like
wise in reduced circumstances and, al
| l. ,1r1x T.,4a, .
sculptor, he was supported by our society
as a member of Dupavillon's family Be
fore long, however, still worse fate was
to befall this unfortunate man, a rumor
spreading like wildfire that, during the
Reign of Terror, he had officiated on the
scaffold as assistant of the executioner
He was relieved as heretofore but no ar
fist would see him no one would come in
personal contact with him. He had al
ready written several letters to our presi-
dent and to the founder of the association
of artists, Baron Taylor, requesting an in
terview !; but the Baron, spite of his we'll
known kind-heartedness could not pre-
vail upon himself to visit a man upon
whom such a suspicion rested. Many
years passed in this manner, until
Taylor, profoundly moved by the
heart-rending letters of the old singer,
at length resolved to visit him.
<"I am the victim of terrible suspicion,
he said to the Baron, and | know what
has given rise to it. My father was on
friendly terms with Samson, who, it is well
known, was an ardent lover of music.
Samson gave a great many soirees, and my
father sung at his house without ever ac-
cepting any remuneration at the hands of
his friend. Sanson's family and mine were
in constant intercourse, and after the death
of Samson and my father, Sanson's son
often gave me money. But ] swear by the
Almighty God that the suspicion which
has been weighing me down for so many
years past, and made me an outcast, is ut
terly groundless.'
Baron Taylor, it is true, was convinced
of the sincerity of the poor man, but he
required still other, still more REPUTABLE
proofs Hence he repaired, on August "A,
1854, to Samson, who you know. had been
dismissed in 1917; and Samson wrote him
at once certificate, in which he declared
that Lays had never been in his service,
that the assistants of the eXecutioner were
appointed by the minister of justice, that
they received their salary from that func-
tionary, and that none but relatives of the
executioner were appointed to that posi-
| ton.
"The minister of justice told the baron
! the same thing, and thus the poor man
was relieved from the disgrace that had
| weighed him down for over twenty years
past.
Z" Paris is the most interesting city on
EARTH" said the artist, closing his nara
| tive.
mo romancist is able to invent as
thrilling events as take Mace here every