The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1876-01-27

that he should DO at the same time de
priyed and declared unworthy Of q yerJ
handsome legacy left him by his old mis-
tress. With such force was that latter
point urged that it was plainly apparent
that this same legacy was the real source
Of all The enmity Of De Sayonnieres TO-
ward tho unfortnnateL lie Brun. sfsf
i NJ. D,Aucour, who was employed asLe
Bruins advocate, showed conclusivcly
TINT it was impossible that he could Be
guilty. The deceased had received above
| fifty wounds, and hai evidently made
great resistance, but the prisoner had moi
even the slightest scratch on his hands, OF
spot Of blood on his dlotlles; the towel
twisted up like n cap was so much smaller
than his head that he could not put ii on
The knife was not his;the neck-cloth was
known TO belong to another person; the
shirt,Ths not like any he possessed; it was
unliketn6t only in quality, but also'iu
Isize, and waa made for n small man
whcr6ds Le.Bfun. was tall and robust
The misdirected' zeal Of the prosecution
wasstruhgly urged upon the court. Why
was notinguiry made after Berry? Ber-
ry, who had once robbed Madame Mazel
who was knoRh ITO be! IN infamous
wretch, capable OF any mischief; to whom
the neck cloth wa8 known TO belong; who
was in Paris abotit.the timeof tho murder
and had been seen since with IN amount
Of money he could Internationally OBJ
tanned Why wasno notice taken of the
Able PoulardI an cguivocal character al
best; q priest who, after being in two or
ders, actually belonged to none; who had
access at all hours 10 the house Of Mad.
anne Mazel; who hhd been seen to enter.il
at midnight-the hour the murder was
committed--and who had-an interest id
the dcathi OF his benefactress, which Le
Brun (who. was ignorant of thelegacy left
to him had not. lp slili lrlFy .idu
The counsel on the other side laid great
stress on the possession Of the key, onLe
Bruns exclamation "This is not apo.
plexy, but something worsc," and on the
seven louis he gave his wife TO lock up,
and which it was pretended5was part OF
the money taken from MADAME Mazel, al
though no Identification Of it was even
attempted. Never was there clearer
case There -wass-ne direct evidence
either Way.s a single, eircumstance-the
possession ofta niastet.key, Of which a
duplicate was known 10 be in existence
was all that could be urged against the
prisoner, while in his favor there was q
mass Of circumstantial evidence, clear,
preponderating, and convincing. His nc
Quittal seemed certain, but we who occa-
sionally feel inclined 10 grumble at the
perversities Of juries, would do we'll to
study carefully the history Of French
Jurisprudence before the Revolution.
Poor Le Brun was tried at different times
before iiftyiive Judges, men whose bust.
ness was the trial OF causes, and whom the
knowledge which comes from expert
ense should have enlightened. But other
causes were at work-they always were
at work in the old French parlemens-
family influence, friendship, money, So
cial relations all exerted an influence on
these bodies which juries rarely feel. To
their Ubiquitous decisions on, many occa-
sions was largely due tina. intense hatred
Of the Old system Of procedure which
made its overthrow ono Of the earliest
steps in the Revolution. OF the eleven
Judges whoifirst fried him Two declared
that they required further information,
two voted that he might be put 10 the tor
turc, and six condemned him TO death,
and that too, lip the most cruel manner
that could be devised. r l.
On February 22d his case came up for
review, and sentence was passed upon
him by twenty-five judges. Two only Of
these demanded, further inquiry; the 9TH
err twenty decided for the torture, ordi-
nary and extraordinary. To Brun was
in consequence put to this dreadful trial,
but amid the most dreadful fortunes per-
sisted in declaring his innocence. On the
9th, twenty-five other Judges being as
sembled, two voted that he should be sent
t. the galleys for life, but the rest voted
for m adjourned inquiry OF twelve
months, during which Lc Brun was to re-
main in prison, though his wife was to be
Mt liberty. lie Brun, who had all this
time been kcpt,ir! q dungeon without be-
ing allowed to see. any one but the jailor,
was now allowed to received his wife, chill
dren and friends; thisalleviation came
too late; the violence OF the torture had
so reduced him, though very athletic
aud healthy man in the prime oflifc, that
his wife had only time to procure for him
the administration OF the sacraments. IA
he received them lie again solemnly pro.
tested his innocence, and expired amid
the despair Of his wife and children and
the regret Of all who knew him. X AZ :
A few weeks after this occurrence.in-
formation given to The Magistrate Of
Sens that q man named Gerlass other
wise Berry, had established himself in
| that town as dealer in horses, and with.
out any visible means by which hc could
acquire money to support such rtraftic.
He was arrested, and upon hins was
fonud watch which was Known 70 be-
long 10 Madam Mazel. PfoceSs,wbsin-
stantly commenced against him, and wit
nesscs examined. Several persons swore
they had seen him at Parisyat the time OF
the murder; n woman swote she saw him
come out Of the house after ~ O'clock Jon
the very night it was committed. A
barber dcposed that he had shaved him
the next day, and, having lsobaesyed
scratches and wounds on his hand, Berry
had told him that they were made by a
cat which he had attempted 70 kin. N The
shirt and neck.cloth were proved be
his by comparing them with those found
upon him. ~. .itl.'u q
Berry was put to the torture Wien he
confessed that he had concealed himself
in the garrett Of the house from tile Friday
to tho Sunday, feeding upon bread and
apples, which he had putiinto his Pock-
els; that on Sunday morninGYBeniM Mad
anne Nfazsl went TO mass, lie entered her
chamber and crcpt under the bed, where
he lay for some time. After dinner, when
Madame MaEel was COMO 10 vespers, he
warmed himself at the fire, and, finding
his hat troublesome, made nightcap Of
towel, tied up the bell.cord, and stayed
at the fire tiff he heard the coach enter
the courtyard. Getting back into his
hiding place, he waited patiently till the
old lady had been in bed an hour. He
thenJ showed, himself and caske3 for
her money, but on her Commencing
TO scream he told her il she cried out he
would kill her, and ,upon, her still contn-
uing 10 dc, % and ,attemptinE to ring the
1 "a r l.