Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-06-07

executsnr dss JUDGEMENTS criminels, from
being . great lover Of music and Civ
ing every week . musical soires,
At which the most celebrated artists
performed. Thus Sauson enjoyed
certain popularity. He liked to visit
the vaudeville theatres, whore he Gre
sted . sensation by his tall stature and
bald head. He was not infrequently
called upon by distinguished French
men and foreigners, who were greatly
surprised to see at his house number
Of valuable paintings and his two
beautiful daughters, who were ex-
ceedingly well bred and performed very
skilfully ON the piano. One day in 1885
two English nobIemen sent him word
that they would visit him. The two men
were DESTROYS of getting acquainted.
with him and the guillotine. In honor
Of these guests the guillotine was paint
ed affesh. One OF the noblemen sin-
tended to buy sheep and have it be-
headed, but he contented himself with
seeing Sauson drop the axe on several
bundles in his presence and that OF the
other guests. The notorious Vidocq
assisted the executioner in making this
experiment, with which the English
visitors were so delighted that they in
yited SAMSON and his son to dinner.
Besides them, Alexander Dumas, Bal
FAC, Fourier, and many others were
invited"
The conversation turned to the con-
duct Of the culprits on the way to the
scaffold. at is very different" said
NJ. Dufaure; "most Of them are so
worn out by the long imprisonment
and excitement that at the fatal hour
they are more dead than alive. Others
take pains to shake off their depression
and seek to seem courageous. But it
is very rarely that one meets death
with perfect sang:froid. Not I'M
frequently there are cases Of ex-
tremc cowardice. Thomas Veyer, the
murderer Of the Archbishop Of Paris,
had to be forcibly dragged from his
couch and dressed for the scaffold. He
had felt convinced that he would be
pardoned, and he was utterly UMPIRE
pared for death. When the priest ex-
horted him to compose himself he said:
Il would you were in my place!'
Even before he had reached the scaffold
his features were so much distorted
that no one recognized him any more.
II is true Orsini and Pieri, especially
the former, conducted themselves in
widely different manner. Both
knew what was in store for them and
prepared to meet their fate bravely.
0rsini desired to be buried in q coffin"
5. Are, then, the remains Of executed
criminals not inferred in collins ?" in
terrupted one of the guests. "No; as
soon as the sword Of justice has
avenged the crime they are conveyed to
the Mount Parnasse cemetery and
thrown into their graves. But Orsini
expressed in his short but well-written
will the wish to be laid after his
execution in a coffin, to be sent to
London, and to be buried there by the
side of his friend Ugo Fascolo. The
coffin was granted to him, but his re-
mains were not sent to London. He
expressed in his will still another de-
sire-to wit f: That a gold watch, worth
about sl6O, might be purchased and
given to Jules Favre, who had defended
him. The Acknowledgement caused
this will to be fulfilled, and l believe
Jules Favre wore that watch up to the
time he died. Orsini preserved in his
last moments the same tranquility and
composure which he had shown during
the whole of his imprisonment. AS
regicides, he and Pieri had to ascend the
scaffold barefooted, with their heads
shrouded in black Grape. On the way
thither Pieri began to sing the hymn,
Mourir pour la Patrie," but Orsini
rebuked him in gentle words, and ex-
horted him to be quiet and composed.
Pieri's head fell first. Orsini gazed at
it for a moment, and, shouting out
sVive l'Italis Vive la France - he
laid his head under the axe"
Permit me to close this not exactly
very merry conversation by relating
curious case" said an artist who was
among the guests. ''You must have
heard oftentimcs of Lays, the opera
singer. This singer, who enjoyed con-
siderable and well-merited celebrity
toward the close Of the eighteenth CEN
fury. left daughter who married
the historical painter, Dupavillon,
pupil Of David, and son who
lived to gain fame and riches in the
career of his father. Dupavillon, the
painter, a very excellent artist, was in
feeble health, and became unable to
work in his profession, so that he was
soon in an embarrassed condition,
which the Society Of Fine Arts tried to
alleviate as much as possible. His
brother-in-law, Lays, who loved his
art but was destitute OF talent.
was soon likewise in reduced
circumstances, and, although ne
was neither a painter nor a sculp-
tor, he was supported by our society as
member Of Dupavillon's family. Be-
fore long, however, still worse fate
was to befall this unfortunate man, q
rumor spreading like wildfirs that du-
ring the reign Of terror he had ofticia-
ted on the scaffold as assistant Of the
erecutioner. He was relieved, as
heretofore, but no artist would see
him; no one would come in per-
sonal contact with him. He had
already written several letters to our
president and to the founder Of our asso-
citation of artists, Baron Taylor. request
ing an interview but the Baron, in
spite Of his well-known kind-hearted-
ness, could not prevail on himself to
visit man upon whom such suspl-
cion rested. Many years passed in this
manner, until Taylor, profoundly
moved by the heartrending letters Of
the old singer, at last resolved to visit
him.
al am the victim Of . terrible sus.
picion,' be said to the Baron, and
know what has given rise to it. My
father was on friendly terms with
Sauson, who, it ia well known, was al
ardent lover Of music. Sauson gave I
great many soirees, and my father
sang at his house without ever &C
cepting any remuneration at thu
hands Of his friend. Sauson's famil.