The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-06-23
WHAT CONSCIENCE DOES.
Freuch Murderer Voluntarily Gives Him
self Tin TO ,Dustlce.

A Freuch Murderer Voluntarily Gives Him.
self Up to Justice.
Charles Dickens in Martin Chuzzle-
wit" and Erckmann-C Chatrian in "The
Polish Jew," have depicted the case Of
criminals who preferred surrendering
themselves to justice rather than to
longer endure the feeling that they were
being hunted down like wild beasts,
but such case. OF conscience has
actually happened here in Paris. This
same feeling has just driven murderer
to give himself up to the police aftet
they had hunted for him in vain every
where. A poor devil named Cornu
killed dealer In birds at the little
town of Saint Maur, and then he wan
dcred over tho face OF the, earth in
company with o man whose acquaint-
ance. he had picked up on the road.
The two made no long halts at wayside
inns, they avoided towns and villages,
slept under hedges or in such sheltered
corners as they could find, and they
made long detours to dodge the gend-
s.rmes. In this way they crossed four
departments; occasionally they were
uoticed and were chased by gardes
ohampetres, who perhaps knew in
stinctively that they were suspicious
characters on whom it might be we'll
to lay their hands, and, although they
managed to escape arrest, they
had the fear of 1t constantly upon
them. and the specter of the guillotino
was ever before their eyes. Perhaps,
too, remorse. or at least regret, for
useless crime, hung heavily on Cornu,
numbering his sleep just as it did that
of the successful Macbeth. Finally
the two tramps arrived safely at the
frontier and stepped across into Bel
gium. They were now, comparatively
speaking. safe from pursuit, and Cor
NUS companion, who doubtless, also,
had his reasons for stunning the gem
darmes, had papers to prove his ident-
ity when, on reaching Antwerp, they
applied for passage as emigrants to the
Congo. He was. accepted, but as Cornu
had nothing to show who he was or
where he came from, he was refused,
the agents of the Free State of Congo
being determined to keep the wilds of
Africa uncontaminated by the presence
of European criminals. 1t was not in
the heart of the dark continent'' that
the repentant, or least regretful, mur-
derer could be permitted to begin q
new life.5 Befores separating the two;
made a division of the few francs that
remained in the joint purse, and then
Cornu mechanically commenced re-
tracing his steps toward his own
country. He re-crossed the frontier,
followed the same roads, slept under
the same hedges and lodged the same
gendarmes; finally, footsore and starv-
ing, he reached the capital, went
straight to the Palais de Justice and
said to a policeman: ARREST me; I
am Cornu, the murderer of the bird
dealer of Saint Maur." Now it was
misery as much as any thing else that
put Cornu in the hands of justice. But
one of the ways in which remorse some
times acts on "a guilty man is that it
makes him feel himself isolated from
the rest of mankind. There are mur-
derers who are haunted by ayeng-
ing furies quite as terrible as those
which women, crowned with writhing
serpents. and waving lurid torches,
represented on the ancient stage, and
such men can only find refuge from
this mental anguish in q prison CELL
Paris Letter.