Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-11-05
THE CONCIERGERIE.
The Ante.Chamber to the GuillOtine.
Through Which Passed All the No
table Martyrs OF the Revolution.
Fourteen Hundred and Eighty Eight Men
and Women Massacred Within Its
Walls-The MOuse-Trap.

A strange and historical old prison Is the
Conciergerie. 1t is the most prominent of
the dependencies of the Palais de Justice.
The three old gothic towers that are lis most
striking features are believed TO date back 10
the reign of St. Louis. Between two of
them, the tour dArgent and the tour Bon
bee, is the main entrance to the prison, al
though there is another entrance through
the courtyard of the Palais de Justice. the
third tower is called the tour de Gear and
also the tour de Montgomery. Ii Is the only
one of the three that has preserved its an
Gent battlements. The Conciergerie is the
prison in which are confined all prisoners
waiting for trial before the Court oil Assizes
for the department of the Seine. Its name
is derived from the fact that it was the part
OF the former royal palace which, from the
reign of St. Louis, contained the residence OF
the concierge or porter of the palace, IN Off
cial parsonage of high rank, sort Of head
steward TO the royal family, and in
whose keeping were such Slate prisoners as
might be confined in the palace. During the
sanguinary quarrels which took place in the
reign of the poor mad King Charles vi, the
Conccrserie was the scene OF frequent horri-
bic massacres. After the royal residence was
removed from what is now the Palais de
Justice, The Conciergerie remained State
prison. Among the most famous prisoners
whom it inclosed during the old regime !
may mention Louis de Borquip, a nobleman
from Picardy, who was burned alive during
the reign of Francis for having sought to
propagate the doctrines of Luther; the Count
de Montgomery was for many years impris-
onsd in the tower that 4aiIl-aAllAA- afta-
him, for having by accident killed Henry III
in a tournament-Catherine de Medicis
would nsver consent TO the release of the man
who had killed her husband; the regicides,
Rayaillac and Damiens; LeonoSde Galigai,
who was condemned to death for witchcrsft.
and the celebrated thief, Cartouche, were all
imprisoned in the Conciergerie before their
execution.
In 1776 portion of the Conciergerie was
DESTROYED by fire, and several OF the prison
ers confined there perished In the flames Ii
was during the revolutionary period, how
ever, that this old prison became the most
celebrated. Ia one of the massacres there
persisted no less than 1900 men and women
who had been arrested and confined there as
suspected of hostility to the republic, and at
another time the victims numbered 2SS.
TheI Conciergerie soon became an ante
chamber 10 the guillotine, through which
passed, among hundreds of less illustrious
victims, Nine. Roland, Lavoisier, Male
sherbes, Bsilly, Danton, Camille Desmou-
Inns, the Queen Marie Antoinette, Nine.
Elizabeth and the Gems. Cuisine, Wester-
man and Beauharnais. After the reign of
terror the Conciergerie was again devoted to
the IMPRISONMENT Oh cfimludlss Lie Dcnt
known of these was Louvel, the assassin OF
the Duke de Berry. Among the last OF the
State prisoners who were confined In the
Conciergerie was Louis Napoleon, after his
arrest at Boalogne in 184O In 1851 Charles
and Francis Victor Hogo (sons of the great
poet). Paul Meuria and Louis Jourdan and
a number of other Republican journalists
were allowed to serve out the terms OF i'm
prisonment inflicted on them for press
offenses at the Concisrgerie instead OF at the
Mazas penitentiary. There is annexed to
the Conciergerie a little prison known as the
Sourieiere (mcuse-trap), where the prisoners
who are to pass before the correctional police
court are imprisoned before and after trial.
There pass through the Souriciere on an aver
age from so to 100 of these petty criminals
each day. The Rett Pdrquet little COURT,
is another annex to the CJnciergerie, where
all the crimes where the accused are taken
in the actual act of committing them are in
vestigated and disposed of Immediately.
Petit Rarquet disposes of from 40 900 to 10000
in the course of a year. The last annex to.
the Conciergerie is known as the Quarter des
Cochers (quarter of the coachmen). In this
are imprisoned those whose sentences only
call for two days confinement The name is
derived from the fact that its most frequent
inmates are the city Jehus.