The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-01-04
THE PRESS.
THURSDAY MORNING, JAN. 4, 1872.
[From the London Times.l
An Old TichbOrne Case.

| an Viu 1lCuUOI uC OdSts
THT STORY OF MARTIN GUERRE OVER THREE
HUNDRED YEARS AGO.
We need not be told that ''there is nothing
new under the sun''-uot even the Itch
borne case. Many of those who day after
day wade through six or more columns of the
morning papers for report of the passes a
arms between "Mr. Hawkins and ssBrother
Ballantine," hardly suspect that particulars of
still more vital interest than any that have as
yet arisen from the present trial were discuss
| ed before French Court of law more than
three centuries ago. All of us are aware that
in cases of natural resemblance, especially
| with twins, the discernment of the most ia
miliar acquaintance is often at fault; but
strange freaks of the same description have
also been played by mere fortuitous likeness.
Ancient writers amuse us with their tales of
the ridiculous" likeness between Strabo, the
great Pompey's father, and his cook, and of
the other still more striking resemblance of
Sura, Roman Proconsul in Sicily, to fish
erman native of that island-a resemblance
not only of feature, size and figure and also
of voice, smile and gesture, with the addition
al coincidence Of the habit of stammering 1t
is known that the Proconsul, who could not
account for the phenomenon, maliciously ask
ed his facsimile whether his mother had
ever been at Rome," whereupon the fisher
man ingenuously answered, "Not my mother,
but my father"
In the case we now propose to condense,
however, the Identity was in great measure
a matter of imagination. People who had
sworn to an undeLiable likeness in perfectly
good faith, and upon the strongest and most
irresistible conviction, were ultimately COM
PEELED to acknowledge their error, and to give,
rs it were, evidence against themselves. The
main facts of the case are the following: In
the year 1889 Martin Guerre, native of Bis
cay, belonging to the class OF well-to-do peas
ant proprietors, married girl, by name Ber-
trande de Rols, an inhabitant OF Antiques, in
the Diocese of Rieux, in Languedoc, where
Martins family had settled. Both the bride
and bridegroom were at the time little more
than children, about eleven years old, and
nine years passed before they had any chill
dren. At last son was born, whom they
called Sanxi, and about whose birth there
were some circumstances which might be pre-
sumed to have remained a secret between the
parents. 1t happened that Martin Guerre
robbed his father Of some corn, and dreading
the consequences of a detection of his oflense
years, during which there was neither trace
nor intelligence Of him. In the interval his
father died, leaving tour daughters under the
guardianship of his brother, who managed the
family estate in the name of the absent Mar
tin. AT the end of eight years the lost Mar
tin Guerre, or one whom every one at once
recognized as such, reappeared in Antiques,
and was welcomed by his wife Bertrande, by
his sisters, by his uncle, and by all his friends
and acquaintances, living with them for three
years without raising a shadow of suspicion.
His wife, who had been warmly attached to
her husband before his disappearance, was
overjoyed at his supposed return, chung to
the newcomer with redoubled affection, and
bore him two children, one of whom died in
| tender age.
Presently, however, a soldier happened to
go through the village of Antiques, who, at a
private interview, communicated to Ber-
trande the startling intelligence that her real
husband, Martin Guerre, was living in Flan-
ders; that he had been soldier like himself,
and had lost a leg, carried off by cannon
ball at the Battle of St. Laurent. Bertrande,
evidently disturbed, but not convinced, went
to notary, bade him draw up record of
the soldiers revelations, but took no further
notice of them, and continued to live in the
most intimate terms with the man who had
| been represented to her as an imposter. AT
the end of three years disputes arose between
| the alleged Martin Guerre and his uncle
| Pierre with respect to the restitution of part
of the property. Pierre proceeded to acts of
personal violence against the man he believed
| to be his nephew, and in one instance, in
| which he attacked him with bar of iron, the
nephew was only rescued from the uncle's
| fury by the int ference of the loving Ber-
trande. Shortly ,,.terwards this same neph-
| ew was arrested in consequence of quarrel
he had with one of the villagers, and while he
was in durance at Toulouse his uncle Pierre
and four of the sons-in-law of this latter en-
deavored to prevail on Bertrande to denounce
Martin as an imposter. But she withstood
all their arguments, and to every doubt urged
| against the man now perSonating her hus-
band, she instantly replied that he must Sci
ther be Martin Guerre or the devil in his
skim" Her imprisoned husband was present
| ly released on bail, and on his return to his
| village he was again received by her with ev-
cry mark of conjugal attachment. But on
the following day, early in the morning, his
uncle Pierre, with his four sons-in-law, broke
into Martins house with arms in their hands,
and, protesting to act by power Of attorney in
| the wife's name, arrested Martin, charging
him with fraud and deception. The power Of
attorney, however, as it was proved, was only
signed by Bertrande in the evening of that
same day.
The prosecution began before the Judge at
Rieux, and witnesses came forward on either
side. 1t was alleged on the part of the uncle
that the prisoner was not Martin Guerre, but
one Arnauld de Tilh, alias Pansette, of Sagi-
as, a man of bad character, known to many
in the district from early youth. On behalf
of the prisoner it was urged that he had been
after an absence of eight years, recognized
without hesitation by his uncle, by his foul
sisters, and by his wife, as well as by all the
community, without any doubt ever arising as
to his identity, for whole period Of three
years. No change was noticed in the man
except the growth of long beard which had
taken the place of the youthful down which
fringed his chin at the time of his disappear
ance. 1t was urged that the intimacy of mar
red life precluded the possibility of deception
on the part of Bertrande, and much stress
was laid on her blameless conduct, ON her up
right character, on the strong affection she
had always shown for her husband, present
or absent, and on her visible repugnance tc
join her husbands uncle in his prosecution
Allusion was made to those conjugal secrets
respecting the birth of their first child Sank
which were not of a nature to find their way
out of the nuptial chamber. The prisoner
pointed to the fact that from the very moment
of his temperance he found himself perfectly
at home on all subjects connected with his
former life, greeted friends and acquaint ances
on their first meeting, each of them with the
uegree OF cOrulalty JuStlneu Dy tnelr lOrIne1
intimacy, reminding them of circumstances
which had escaped their memory, and dwell
ing on particulars either of so private or of sc
trivial nature that Encouragement or col
lusion seemed altogether out Of the question
He described with the greatest accuracy his
father and mother, his marriage, the priest
who had celebrated it, the witnesses, the
guests, the persons who, according to custom
had accompanied him within the threshold OF
the bridal chamber, and up to the nuptial
bed, where the bride awaited him; and espec-
tally those circumstances of an extremely del
icate nature connected with the birth of his
child Sanxi.
He gave a most precise account of his eight
years wanderings, of his serving first in the
French, then in the Spanish army, and his
narrative was ascertained to be thoroughly
correct in every particular. Bertrande, also
being examined, not only confirmed all the
prisoners assertions, but alluded to theil
long-entertained belief that their having nc
children for nine years had been by them at
tributed to witchcraft, and to the prayers
fasting and masses to which they had re
course for counter-charm-all circumstan
ces on which, on second examination, hel
statements were found to tally in every res