The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1868-06-17
geIett Stnru.
A BOX OF RoGUEs.

w Heu Iue CIllnlHal, L leTI6 OIduRtII
escorted by four gendarmes, was placed
in the dock of the court of assize, there
was a general stir among the crowd
which lad assembled from every quar-
ter to be present at his trial.
Pierre Granger was not an ordinary
culprit-not one of those poor wretches
whom the CT urt, as a matter of form,
furnishes with an advocate, judges in
the presence Of needless auditory, and
sends to oblivion in the convict prison
of the state He had figured at Augtil
IN the columns of the newspapers and
while III. Lepervier had undertaken his
defence, NJ. Lourangain, the attorney
general, was to conduct the prosecution.
Now, at the time of which L write,
these two men stood at the head of
their profession. Whenever it was
know that they were to be pitted against
euCh< <UttIcr any cause, crowdE imme
6iately focked to enjoy their eloquent
sentence, sonorous periods, and phrases
as round and as po .ished as so many
billiard balls
1t was perfect riot Of tropcs and
figures, a delicious confusion of peri
phrases and metaphors. All the fig
ures of rhetoric d filled before the
charmed auditory, and sported, jestrd
and struggled with each other, like
Yirgil's play yful lsAepherds There was
luxury of epitets, passing even that
of the Able Delille. LEeery individual
substantive was as regularly followed
by its attendant adjective as the great
lady OF the last century by her train
bearing page. Iu this ompous diction
man became a mortal, horse a cours-
er, the MON was styled pale Dian..
My iather and my mother were nev-
er called so, but invariably "the author
of my being; dream was vision, a
glass crystal vase, a. knife sword, a
car chariot, and breeze became a
whirlwind all of which. no doubt,
tended to produce sty'e of exceeding
sublimity and beauty. h
Pierre Granger was clumsy built
fellow, Eve feet ten in height, thirty
eight years old, with foxy hair, high
color, and small cunning grey eyes :
He was accused of having strangled bis
wife cut up the body into pieces, and
then, in order to conceal his crime, set
fire to his house, wherein his three
children perished Such an accumula
6ion of horrors had shed quite roman
tic halo ronDd their perpetrator. La
dies of rank an fashion hocked to the
Jail to look at him and his autograph
was in wonderful request, as soon as il
became known that Madame Cesarine
Langelot, the liocess of the district,
possessed some words Of his writing in
her album, placed between ballad by
a professor of rhetoric and problem
by the engineer.in chief of the depart
-meut--neither hattered by such close
juxtaposition with the interesting pet
prisoner g fe yeJ Ge- Dc .cs'A
~ When Pierre Granger, with his low
erin brow and air Of stolid cunning,
was placed in the dock, the names Of
twelve jurors were drawn by lot, and
the president demanded whether they
wished to exercise their right of chal-
'lenge. Both dec ined offering ary OBJ
lection to the twelve honorable names !;
but the Attorney General added that
he would require the drawing of sup
Elementary juror. 1t was done, and
on the paper appeared the name of
Major Werner. At the sound slight
mdrnur was heard among the specta-
tors, while NJ Lourongain and Leper-
vier exchanged rapid glance, which
seemed to said, "Will not yow cbal-
lenge him ?" But neither of them did
so ; an officer conducted Major Werner
into bis appointed place, and amid pro-
found silence the Indictment was read
Major Werner bad lived in the town
during the last two years. Every one
gave him the military title, yet none
could tell when, nor where, or whom
he Lad served. He seemed to have
neither family or friends; and when
any of his acquaintances sounded him
on the subject, he always replied 10
manner by no means calculated to en-
courage curiosity. "Do L trouble my
head about your affairs 2" he would
say. "Your shabby old town suits me
well enough as residence, but if you
don't think have right to live il it.
1 shall be most happy to convince you
of the fact tomorrow at daybreak with
gun, sword or pistol" Major Werner