The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-02-05
A Dramatic Trial.

Another of those remarkable drainhtiC epl-
sodns ,r;tb. which the Communist trlais nav
,no,le ne familiar has lately been presenter u.
poriS Early in the month was arlaleneai
thn Marty. twenty-three in number, accusto
~ having shot the hostages. AS usuai, Iile
o,,nr;ts Gmbraced every age and almost every
oondition of life. Men, women, anu CHI
1ren stood shoulder to shoulder at the oar,
% thev had stood before at the balTicadcs, 10
.,,,,rtrle for their lives. One OF the prlsoN-
or, HerauIt. was n representative OF tll'lt
nre,cocio11s ferocity which the Commune
s.ems to have developed. He was boy OF
seventeen, "whose fair hair, round features,
and male face" says an eyewitness, "oulu
have beftted schoolboy better than the
member of terrible band of assassins. 1ee
he did not deny having served as soldler OF
the Commune; he is said to have boastea Oh
having been one of the firing party that shot
the hostages. and witness of the massacre
testifies that it was perpetrated by just such
smooth-face young lads as Hefanit.
Another of the accused was "a orlsnl,
handsome, proud-looking young 1ellow', d
paper-cutter, named Forterl lie tolu Iiie
somewhat improbable story that during al
the reign of the Commune he had remained
quietly working at his trade. me IVY
most forbidding- looking" rascais OF inc lol
indeed made out the most plausible cases,
fact which may distress disciples OF Lavater'
But the browning sensation was the eNlinl-
nation of Pigerre, who Is alleSea 10 naNe
commanded the firing party. Ills appear
ance seems not to have been prepossessl,ie'
Indeed. the correspondent of the London
Standard thinks his face must raise up a
terrible prejudice against him, "t 1t
were not sufficient to hang him." "Palc,
with hollow checks, sharp nose, sunken
ewes. narrow, retreating forehead, tmn,
lsnk' black hair thrown behind his
ears. he is evidently of the true type of Ia
matte. Yet, standing there like wolf at
bav, he EFFORTS the admiration of his enemies
bv his wonderful nerve and audaclty. lis
ewes. deep sunk and intense, fastened on the
flee of an adverse witness, confused him, ana
made his truth seem like falachood. "Ihey
soem like pistol Shots" says spectator. a
dozen witnesses have identified him as the
chief of the firing party, yet he contronts
and contradicts them all. lie even invites
the scrutiny of those who are to pick him
out from among bis fellow prisoners. NJ.
Cheyillot, the mayor of Partisan arron-
basement, who had been one of the hostages,
was called on to identify the chief OF the
firing party.
ain order to get closer survey he Went
down from the witness railing and slowly
glanced along the three rows of captlves,
until, amid the brcathless suspense of the
audience, he lifted his finger and pointed to
pigerre. Foila - exclaimed Pigerre, start
ing to his feet and looking him straight in the
face, his frame drawn up into soldier-llkc
erectness Of attitude, his CHASTITY pale face
rigid with nervous tension. Instead OF avoid
ing the scrutiny, Pigerre invited it by step
ping from his own seat into the row before
him, and looking at NJ. Chevilot face to face.
The men were little more than yard from
each other; they looked full into each others
eyes, and at last the witness broke the sus-
pense of the audience by saying that lie be-
Geved PigerTe to be the man."
The same scene was repeated with every
other witness, Pigerre in each case coming
half way to meet his accuSer, and almost baf-
fling him with his basilisk glance.
Add to this extraordinary resolution that
PiScrrc, though only cabinet-naker,
"speaks with great force and precision Of
rhetoric" and has the "stern, pitiless, ter
ribly impressive look Of one born to COM
mand," and we may agree with the CORE
spondent that he is no common man. lie
will probably be shot, if he has not already
been. And yet, however, much we may eX-
ecrate the crimes for which he. suffers, it is
hard to avoid the reflection that with many
such Frenchmen rs this Sedan would have
been impossible.-NeD York Times.