The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-07-08
PARTISAN CRIMINALS.


Novelists have continually tried to enliven
eir pages by pictures of the enemies to
|cety who lurk in the holes and corners
"A civilized cities. Since Fielding took Jona-
Pm Wild for his hero; innumerable attempts |
I'VE been made to describe the professional
lninal but for the most part with very poor
.ccess Indeed failures are not surprising |
hero is some touch of the poetical in the
Ieal ruffian who maintains himself in the |
|dst of usin defiance of legislators and po-
#e; we think of a bit of wild nature sur
Ming in the midst of a highly cultivated
tnnfry. and fancy that even the London pick
&cket must have something of the
&hce of the outlaw with his foot
Hoh' his native heath. Unlucldly the
Ehlty, is too far from the fictitious
&rsoiiage; our criminals are for the most part
unlike their pictures as the drunken red
dian of the present day is to Cooper's
3ble savages, or as the genuine cattle-stealer
The last century to Sir Walter Scott's
[Rob Roy They are squalid, prosaic, and
Ndeous beings, whose intellects are little
Iofe than animal cunning, and whose in
Nincts are too gross for any decent veil of
Rtion Therefore, for the most part, their
Rscriber takes refuge in sheer unreality, and
Nveals types like George de Barnewel in
he nodel novel, or the charming highway
fen after whom that philosophical hero was
prtrayed. Yet the readers of a late article
the Resue des DeuE M0HdeS by M. Maxine
In Camp may perhaps be inclined to fancy
bat the school of writers who deal in the
er1ible and revolving might add powerful
bapter OF two to the mysteries of Paris with
rpt straying too far into the regions of pure
kncy NJ du Camp has evidently a close
with his subject; he has talked
Fith some of the leading men in the criminal
Profession; he has visited their favorite
paunts; he has picked up something Of their
bnguage and he gives us an elaborate classi-
Ecation Of their favorite pursuits. If, in
.ome respects, the French criminal is little
Ibove the wild beast in his propensities, he
bas yet a certain grim picturesqueness about
him which would repay careful student of
human nature. There was, for example, a
certain sense of humor about one Beaumont
Fho got himself up in splendid official cos
kume, with black coat, white cravat, and
voluminous portfolio under his arm, and
ordered soldier to accompany him with an
hir of undoubting confidence. Placing him
|as a sentinel before the door of the chief Of
the Ser0ice de Surete, with orders to admit no
|one, M. Beaumont repaired to the official
apartment, walked off with the valuables,
|and, dismissing the soldier, disappeared
into utter obscurity, sending the same
evening civil note of apology for the trouble
which he had given. NJ. Beaumont, we are
almost glad to say, escaped with his plunder
from all pursuit. The celebrated Jadin, again,
appears to have acted the part of a Robin
Hood in modern life. In following his pro-
fession of cdn1bTSOleuT-a peculiar variety of
burglar-he was in the habit of breaking into
rooms, and when he found them specially
poverty y-stricken, leaving behind him a re-
spectacle contribution for the benefit of the
fortunate inmate. The delicacy of feeling
thus displayed did not imply that he was
above doing his work in most business-like
spirit when occasion demanded, for Jadin was
unfortunately executed for numbering young
girl whom he surprised in one of
his visitations. A slight touch of
good feeling may perhaps be put to
the account of another gentleman
who was accused of completely in murder of
peculiar atrocity at st. Cyr He pointed out
to the President of the Court that he was in
nocent of any generalization, inasmuch as he
had come without arms to the scene OF opera
tions, and had only picked up stone on the
way to help in demolishing the victims. ''Why,
then, said the President, "did you accom-
pany men whom you knew to be intending O
crime?" 'Dane, was the reply, ''eHtre 00tst1s
IL fdut 6ie7l Sc rendre de petitS S6rDSceS." Other
stories are of more unmitigatedly revolving
character We have lately been treated to dis
cussions as to the intuitive sense of morality
possessed by the whole human race. What
sort of moral sentiment could lurk in th'
breast of the criminal who went to see his
brother executed, and occupied himself il
picking pockets of four watches and purse
or of the horrible ruffian of twenty-one who
after numbering his mother with fifty-sil
blows of knife, lay down on the bed by tn,
corpse, and, in his own words, 'passed gooC
night?" Much as the plea of insanity ha
been abused we would be glad to think tina
it was possible to set down the crimes of sucl
monsters to some irresistible moral disease.
The heroes of these stories were amongs
the aristocracy of their profession. They re
joice in the proud title of escdrpe, the nam
given to the genuine assassin who murder
systematically by way of opening proceed
ings, and not as a matter of occasional ex
pediency. Below them are numerous classe
of criminals, each devoted to some speciality
and frequently displaying the same sort o
skill which we admire in the artisan who's
facility in his own branch of work has becom
an instinct For the most part, we recogniz
them as analogous to English criminals c
different varieties, though peculiarities Of ms
tional custom open different modes of attac
in the two countries The .tdiSeurS, who are tn
most intellectual members of the profession
are the swindlers; capable of anything froI
cheating at CARDS TO gettlng up sham compf
nies. M. du Camp mentions certain Nit
fiau, who called himself Comte de Belair, pre-
fessed to be the son of a general of the fir
empire, and lived in the very best society o
the profits of skilful thefts and gambling
Another, certain Piednoir, is at the presei
moment living in great comfort in larg
Dutch town. Far below these are the frdn,
6OurgeOis, who get admission into houses 6
beggars for the purpose of stealing; til
tireuaY, or genuine pickpockets; shoplifter
who are subdivided into many classes, sue
as those who profess to buy, and take tn
opportunity OF helping themselves undt