Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1883-02-18
said. and she and her lover were united
in hatred of the deadliest descrintion

saiu. ana sne ana her lover were united
IN hatred of the deadliest description
Not only revenge, but avarice prompted
to crime, for Sainte-Croix was extraya-
CANT, and her means were Inadequate
to his demands. He conceived the plan
OF poisoning her father and her two
brothers, so that she would come into
the possessions Of the family, and she
entered IN % his plans with equal will
l1ngness and aptitude, and soon became
as skillful as himself in the manufac-
ture of poison. The drugs which be
prepared she tried upon pigeons and
rabbits; then, according to the legend.
she essayed the effects of small doses
upon patients in the hospitals, and upon
guests at her fathers table, finally eiy-
ing herself a powerful drAught. from
the evil effects Of which she was saved
by the antldOte administered by Sainte-
Croix. Being thus satisfied of the DO
tency OF the poison, she administered it
to her father in his chocolate. The old
man fell i'll, and she nursed him for ten
days, giving him more poison in the
broths and other delicacies which she
prepared for him. and at the end of that
time he died SO naturally that no suspi-
cIon was aroused. Her two brothers.
who came to Join her in weeping over
the old mans death, were carried off in
six weeks time, Sainte-Croix having
hired servant named La Chaussee to
assist IN administering the poison. The
death of the only other heir, Nine. de
Brlnvllliers' sister, was resolved upon,
but she taking suspicion, fled from Par
is. Nine. de Brinvilliers then undertook
to XII her husband so as to be free to
ma Satn nj tx,H h< L.
desiring to wed his paramour. admins
tered antidotes and saved the marouis's
life, though his constitution was ruined.
At this juncture, while Sa;nte- Croix
was working in his laboratory in an OBJ
scure lodging, the mask which he en-
ployed to guard him from the fumes of
the powerful poisons he employed slip
ped off and he was suffocated. The
police took possession of his effects, no
friends or relations of the dead appear
ing, and among them was found small
box to which was affixed a document
adjuring the finder to deliver it to the
marquise, at her residence, declaring
that 1t belonged to her, and contained
nothing that could be of any use to any
one else; if Mime. de Brinvilliers should
be dead, the box was to be DESTROYED
unopened. The police, of course, open
ed the box, in which we're found sundry
walls and packages Of powders, her note
to Sainte-C Croix for 10000 francs, and
papers duplicating her and the servant,
Ia ChaIssee, in the marder of her rela-
tiyes. As soon as Mime. de Brinvilliers
heard of her lovers death she endeavor-
ed to obtain possession of the casket,
and failing, fed to England. La
Chaussee WAS taken, and under the tor
ture confessed to his share in the crime,
for which he had received 100 pistoles
and the promise of an annuity. He was
broken on the wheel in March, 1873.
Mime. de Brinvilliers being sentenced
by default to docapitation.
After three years residence in Eng
land, Nine. de Brinvilliers ventured
over to the continent, and took up her
residence in a convent at Liege. The
French police soon learned of her pres
ence there, and arranged with the au-
thOritios for her capture. A detective
in the Ruise of priest entered the con-
vent ito pay his respects to lady so
beautiful and SO unfortunate" and SO
wrought upon her by his flattery that
she agreed to meet him outside the con-
vent walls. She kept the appointment,
and found herself beyond the protection
of the ecclesiastical power, and i'll the
hands of the French police. La Chaus-
sees evidence would have been enough
to convict her, or the casket left by
Sainte- Croix, but besides these she had
written to her lover a full statement of
all her crimes. July l6, 1876, she was
condemned to be drawn on hurdle
with her feet bare, a rope about her
neck, and lighted taper III her hand to
the great entrance of the cathedral of
Notre Dame, there to make amende
honorable; thence she was to be taken
to the Place dc Grove and beheaded,
when her body was to be burned and
her ashes scattered to the four winds of
heaven. After her sentence she con-
fessed her guilt and met her death fear
lessly, asking the executioner to stand
beside her SO that shat scoundrel,
Desgrais," the officer who had entrap-
ped her, might not see her as she passed,
aud calling to the ladies who thronged
the windows along the route: "What
have you come to see? A pretty sight
trulyr' Her beauty and gracefulness
SO won upon the populace that before
nightfall she was considered saint and
martyr, and her ashes we're fairly fought
for and preserved as preventives of
witchcraft and all diseases.