Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-05-01

and besought the Virgin to intercede for
him. At the conclusionrof his prayer
he cried out 'aa-.
~ Kill me, if you WILL will not
obey" % ~ =.
=" You have ten minutes still, /" coolly
replied the Judge.
All was again silent; the pendulum
alone was heard, with its infexible vi
brations measuring life with qualimpar-
tiality to the happy and the wretched.
And she, the unhappy subject of this
tragedy, for whom, in q few minutes,
eternity was to open, stood there i'm
movable as statue. Was it innocence
or insensibility that thus steeled her
human feelings, and enabled her to
meet SO calmly all the horrors of vio-
lent death2 ' o. .--..-
q The quarter struck. At signal from
the president, two assistants advanced
toward the executioner, and again pre-
sented the sword to him; he shook his
head, and pushed it aside with his hand.
but was unable to utter word. The
president cooked his pistol; the wretch
ed man did not know what to do.
" Holy Virgin !" thought he, "must
l leave my wife widow, and my child
an orphan?" .....-
Whether it was this thought that in
huenced him, or that his power of re-
slstance sank before the arm stretched
out against his life, I know not, but he
cried, in stifed voice:
[ CONSENT consent %
He took the sword, and having tried
its edge, stepped forward. The lady re-
mained standing. A .. ..r
" Will you not let her see a priest ?"
said he, stopping suddenly.
" Do you perform your Office, and do
not trouble yourself with anything
else. :"
"The lady must be bound,' said he.
81 bound!" she cried, in disdainful
tone. .l..H
"Bind that woman's hands," said the
monotonous voice of the Judge. .....
Two men advanced toward her: she
drew herself up to her full height.
" You dare not!'' she cried.
These words seemed to deter the two
servants, orthe persons who had assumed
their functions.
''Imustbe obeyed, said the president.
She was Immediately bound to block
and her veil raised as far as her throat,
She made no further resistance, but re-
s1med her former immobility.
" Strike! or"-cried the Judge, pre-
senting a pistol charged to the very
mouth.
The executloner, excited either by fear
or that intoxication which it is said in
huences people in times of imminent
danger, raised the sword, and at one
blow severed the head from the trunk.
and then he, the man of iron nerves, who
during twenty years had been shedding
human blood as the minister of human
luStlce' sank falntlng on the ground be.
side the victim he had sacrificed.
When he recovered his senses he found
himself again in the carriage, his ewes
bandaged, and cloak wound round him
to conceal his blood-stained garments.
When his companions perceived that
he was recovered, one of them handed
him purse, saying:
4 " Here is your reward; it is double
what you were promised, in eonsidera-
ton OF your conscientious conduct"
Their, journey back was performed
with the same precautions as the former
one; and on the fourth day he was set
free on the banks of the Ille, in meadow
near his house. He found his wife very
anxious, and the magistrates furious.
All that [ have written is copied al
most exactly from his dispositions, which
we read In Strasburg, at the residence
OF the acknowledgement, who gave me
permission to transcribe them.
The magistrates of Colmar made every
oxertlon to discover the persons con
cerned in this melancholy history; but
In vain. Nothing more was ever heard