The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-04-19


on the cross before mis- limbs were bro
ken with the iron bar.
On the day before the execution
August ,, l7SS, Charles Henri Samson
sent two carts with the scaff0ld anC
instruments of torture to Versailles
following later in the day. To Iii
surprise, the condemned man being o
/ humble rank, he found the town in ;
fever; the Place st. Louis was 81
thronged that the carpenters cOuio
hardly proceed with their work; the
mob frequently jeered them, anC
when one of them struck boy who
lad pelted him the crowd attacked
, the wOrkmen, and was only driven
back by Il body of stalwart men easily
recognized as smiths, who acted in
unison and apparently under com
) mand.
Trouble was clearly brewing, and
those were trOublous times. The
provinces-NOrman Dearn, Bre-
tagne-had risen, demanding the full
privileges of their ParliamentS; in
Davphine, after serious riots, the tiers
etdts had declared their provincial in
dependence, but the King and Court
did not fear any outbreak in their inn
mediate presence, and only a small
| guard was stationed at Versailles
| Samson returned to Paris to recount
his apprehensiOns, which were ridi-
| culed. A rumOr spread through the
| town that Helen Nerdier had forced
her way to the Queens presence, and
| throwing herself at Marie AntOinette's
feet, obtained a promise of the Sow
ereign's intercession, which was sure
| to be successful. The crowd melted
away after dark, and only a few
Young men were left on the Place st.
! Louis. Taking advantage of this cir
| cumstance, Samson had n stout pailing
| erected round the scatfold and the
| magistrates took upon themselves to
advance the time of execution by two
| hours, that all might be over ere the
| townsmen we're awake.
At > a. m. Samson went to the priS
on. He saw the same men i'll the
place, evidently keeping sentry
f.Ouchart, rising i'll his cell, calm,
though pale, listened to the reading
Of his sentence without fear, andmur-
INJURED at its close: ''POor father! in
two hours l will explain it all to him."
at is time to go" presently said the
eXecutiOneI. "NOu can be i'll no
greater hurry than ! am, sir" the
condemned man replied, cOuTteously.
At 1870 Il. M, in the early dawn of the
the prison gate.
one glance showed that the precau-
tlOn against excessive publicity were
in vain. The streets were crowded
and deafening clamurs arose the i'll
Stant the cart was seen. With diff
Guilty could the cOrtege press its way
onward, who had at his arrest felt
the full weight of popular defestation,
faHcied that the boots and curses
We're launched at him.
At the corner of the Rue de Satory
a piercing cry was heard, and a girl
was seen Waiving her handkerchief.
Jean LOuchaTt recognized his mis-
tress, and struggling to his feet in the
cart tried to smile, and cried. "Adieu,
Helen. Adieu!"
"Say an rGrOir Jedn-not good by,'
thundered a gigantic smith, who was
walking by the wheel, and he added,
"Shall good fellows like this be bro
ken on the Wheel"'
Spurring toward the sturdy smith,
a hOrse-soldier drove him back; but
roar of applause and ciapping Ofhands
followed the appeal TO the thrOng, and
the pale faces of the clerk, execution
ers and guards showed that they re-
cOgnized their peril and helplessness.
At the fOOtOf the scaffold Jean spoke
to the priest, in answer evidently to a
question, and the priest replied, ITO /
save YOU" ''NO, father,' said the
doomed man, with some impatience:
'!if am innocent of the intention OF
committing the crime, my hands
| must die-I wish to die, BE quick
there"
"Sir," said Samson, pointing to the
infuriated crowd straining against the
pailings, eff there is man here like |
ly to die it is not you" Hardly had
he spoken when a tempest of yells |
and groans broke forth; the palings |
We're torn up or trodden down like !
straws, and the mob swarmed upon |
the scaffold, headed by the smith,
who seized the prisoner and in an in
slant cut his bonds, and prepared to
carry him away in triumph. An eX-
traOrdinaTy scene now took place,
the prisoner refusing to escape and |
pleading with the guards to rescue |
him and carry out his sentence. But
his friends OveTcame his scruples and |
at last bore him away.
Samson thought that bis last hour
had arrived, but the smith said to !
him: Fear nothing, Chariot the IA
miliar name for the headsnan); we
y
ments. Henceforth you must kill
your customers without making them
suffer. Let him pass" he added to
the crowd; "let him pass and do lim
no harm" As the battied executions
er took his way through the throng he
saw the scaffold and the cross broken
up and cast upon the pile already pre-
pared for burning the parricide's body,
the heap was crowned by the wheel,
fire was set to it, and the men and
women, Joining hands, danced round
the dutO-d,t-fG of Versailles.
This is the story of Jean LouschaTt
as told by Henry Samson in his ''Menl-
orias," but ] have read another YER
sion which, while it narrates the same
order, declares that the prisoner was
only temporarily rescued by the
crowd, and being recaptured by the
troops was put TO death, In any case,
a son was born 10 Helen NerdieF, its
father being sentenced i'll France to
death upon the wheel as a parricide.
The son of this son was the Emmanu-
el Modesto Louchart, who was guillo-
tinel NJ EyereuX on the day before
Yesterday, And, strange 70 say, the
| crime he eKpiated on the scallQlq was
matricide. In his Gaze, however,
| there was no romance about his ta-
| king of. 1t was q frlghtfully deliDer-
ate murder for an ignoble motive
gain. Emmanuel Modesto Louchard
beat out his mothers brains with a
| hammer then he cut her to pieces,
limbs and body, the Wqmb that bad
bore him, and wheeling the ghastly
| fragments in a barrow across the
| fields, dumped them in hole in q
| lonely place: last, he dung the head
| into an oven and baked il 10 prevent
| the features from being recognized!
1t need hardly be said that when, on
the 2S.h of January, the criminal was
| sentenced to death the sentence was
| app!auded everywhere, No, not ev-
! aTYwheFs, That au.iaLie laiical
| sGeet, Ia L.ailterl6, took OCCASION 10
prooc>; 'ts accustomed sermon against
! rapital punish;,,,eut, Is hI!owsi
"Iouchard was Il hidet,ls ASSASSIN,
an abominable parricidc, Il monstt""r;
ncverthelessit was the duty of society
| To save him from the knife of the exc
! cutioner. The grandfather of this
wretch died OH the gliillotine; he, too,
was an assassin; his grandson N4e
| born with crime in his blood. The
| childhood of this boy may be imag-
ined; he was, without doubt, n pariah,
| from whom urchins stood al0of, upon
| u