The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-04-02
A Singular Discovery.
Living RepUIieanIsm Profits by the SIH-
perstltiOn of Dead Royalty,

| u very singular ana, IN some respects,
important discovery has recently been
made in France-a discovery which,
had it remained with its discoverer,
would have been to him a source of
| great wealth, but which now rebounds
to the profit of the French nation, and
at time, too, when it is needed. It is
not, as might be surmised, discovery
in the arts, but is, IN short, a veritable
Treasure trove." Although some
pains have been taken by the author
tiles to keep the matter quiet, it is be-
lieved, in fact known, that the follow
ing Is true statement, at least a sub
stantially correct one.
1t happened in this way A man of
mean extraction, one Baptiste Voieau.
Rrava-digger By occup patton, and
most inveterate thief by nature and
\ praetipe, offered for sale, in November
last, to Messra AIArcoeur & Co., Jew
elers in the Lue Girouuiere, a most ad-
mirable diamond ''of the rose cut ,"
| (whatever that may beg, the value of
which, as is asserted by Messrs. Mer-
coeW, cannot be less than 10000
francs. Notice was at once given to
the authorities, and Vojeau was ar
rested. At first the suspicion prevailed
that he, being graye-digger, had found
means of robbing the corpses of rich
| people whom he helped to bury, but
the suppositiOn was untenable from the
fact that nobody has, at least in modern
times, been buried or entombed with a
| gem having a tithe of the value of the
| one in question. Brought before the
| magistrate, NOleau asserted and main
| tanned that he had found the stone
| among the gravel which he was shovel
ing out of grave that he was digging;
but as the gem was not in rough state,
but had been most beautifully cut. no
credence was given to his tale, and he
was remanded to prison, while the DO
lice sought diligently for clue, rightly
supposing that had such a valuable
stone been lost in all Europe, the state
ments of the case in the Paris journals
would speedily bring to light the right
full owners
The lodgings of the prisoner Gin the |
Rue Gambret) were of course searched,
but beyond some worn apparel. the
tools of his trade, and an old leaden
box (eVldently used as a receptacle for
food), containing only dry and hard
piece of black bread, nothing appeared
to afford the slightest clue.
Thus matters rested on Dec. 3, when !
the mystery was solved by an old in
spector of police, M. Bertin by name, |
who, alone, followed the scent with the |
traditional acuteness of a VidocJ or a |
Javert. NJ. Bertin is one of those men
who never forget. He had heard of |
crown jewels that after the decease of |
a king, one of the finest among the |
jewels would be missing. This he had |
heard as the merest gossip listened to
it when II child, from the lips of an old |
nurse who had said that twas among the |
most sacred of secrets Of the Bourbons, |
and that the loss of jewel at the death |
OF his predecessor was never inquired |
into by the succeeding monarch and |
1t was held as a superstition that such |
loss boded the new king good, and that |
whenever a prince should come into |
the possession of the kingdom and all |
the crown jewels, he should have a tur- |
bulent and bloody reign, and would be |
fortunate indeed if his own head did |
not ''fall into the basket" There even |
came back to NJ. Bertin part of an old |
song, which, robbed of half its quaint |
beauty, may be, though poorly, rem
dered into English thus:
Search not for the jewel king
For its loss to you shall bring
Long and happy reign:
But if found, or never lost,
Thou shalt rue it to thy cost,
Call for help in vain.
To this his old nurse had ascribed
the troublous reign and final decapita.
tions of Louis XVI; for, she asserted,
no jewel was missed after the death Of
Louis XIV. These stories, idle as they
may seem, had made strong impress
sion upon the boy, and the man had not
entirely OutgrOwn them. If it were
true, NJ. Bertin thought, that such
jewels had been lost, they might per-
maps, sometimes be found and why
not by grave, digger? Bat how and
where?
In an instant that inspiration, that
intuition, which no really successful
office of police is without. and which to
him is worth more than all the logic in
the world, flashed upon and illuminated
all this mystery and as the quick,
luminous thoughts crowded and jostled
one another through his brain, he saw
it all. His thoughts probably ran some
what as follows Why was no Jewel
lost at the death of Louis XIV? In
what did his death and interment differ
Surely Dame Florette without the least
|
the doctors had evaded the removal of
Louis XIV, who died of smallpox.
Therein, then, lay the difference. That
Ieaden box, and the crust of black
bread, took now to his mind a different
appearance in fact, the latter could
be nothing less than the heart of dead
king, and the leaden box its casket.
This was the true solution for, on
investigation, such a search as only the
French police know how to make, re-
vealed the fact that in crypt of st.
Dennis that had escaped the fury of the
mob, which, in the days of the revolu-
tion, dragged forth the bodies of the
kings of France, and cast their coffins
into leaden bullets, quietly reposed the
hearts of, we do not know how many,
dead kings. That of Louis Kill, with
its casket, was found to be missing, and
the casket that should have contained
the heart of Louis XIV. was found to |
be empty.
Charged circunstantially with the
theft, Vojeau confessed that he had |
gained access to the crypt, and had
stolen the easket for its value as lead,
but had, upon opening it and breaking
open its contents. found the diamond. |
He has been sentenced (under an old |
French law to penal servitude for 20
years, but there can be but little doubt |
that he will receive a free pardon for
having thus, indirectly and uninten-
it is true, put into the treasury
of the young French republic, jewels
to the value of millions. 1t is said that
no fewer than 81 magnificent diamonds,
some of astonishing size and brilliancy,
have been thus recovered.
The value of this "tind" is unknown,
but has been variously estimated from
twelve to eighteen million francs.
The custom of removing the viscera from the ]
bodies of the kings oS France, after DEATH is well
known to students of French history, but the fact
hat the heart not returned to the body, but !
was Enclosed in little casket OF lead) deposited in
the secret crypt of st. Dennis, is not, believe
20 generally known.
The Worth of Life.
&c M oor,voNp.o1oao ,