The Warner sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1885-1???, 1888-07-06

l can say without exaggeraSSn chat / alone
liz my a department secure quiet mere
efectually on behalf Of the State than a hun
dred thousand men can do.
De not believe, gentlemen, that in defend
ing the uniustly attacked p~rerogatiyes of my
office | claim any personal merit; l know that
an Office, however brilliant, is always distinct
from the individual who holds it. Is ! lay
no claim to the glory of my functions, IT
would be unjust to cast upon me the oppro-
brium which the thoughtlees have seen fit to
attach to them, and to call me infamous be
cause it is alleged that my office deserves the
epithet. Permit me to add hat / have the
honor to be the fourth of my family to whom
the office of Public Executioner of Paris has
descended from father TO son, and If heTedita-
ry nobility were attached it, as it
should be, ! might stand OF even
ground with Madame 10 Marquise.
You laugh, gentlemen, at the word 'heredi-
tary.' Icannot find anything extraordiaryo or
pTeposterous in it. Military Offices, which, as |
have observed, are inferior to it, enjoy the
same advantages. Yours, gentlemen-allow
me to say so-yours, which only contribute
to the public veal in an indirect way, have
the same privilege. Why is the concession
denied to my Officer None among you. gen
tlemen, can. individually, insure public hapi-
ness ~efectually; none can pronounce a sen.
tence except in conjunction with all the other
members of the body, Thus you never act
otherwise than as members, whereas / alone
procure peace, and / act as chief
Now every chief is respectable, and to
whatever category he may belong he should
enjoy the privilege ef mobility. The general
prosecutor, who is the chief of his depart
ment, has it; SO does the chief clerk ofcouTt.
Why should / be deprived OF it by an upright.
eous exception.
Il will press no uFtheF the sovereignreason
suggested by the justice of my case; | merely
point them out,as You may see. Men ofmy
profession can think better chan they can
speak; can handle the sword better than
make an address. ] believe, nevertheless,
that ] have said enough to urge confidently
that Madame la Marquise shouid be nor.
suited, ] therefore ask, not that the alleged
infamy Of my Office be removed, fornoinfamy
is attached to it, but that it bedeclared not
only that l am q member Of the sovereign
court, but that / am the head of my depart
ment; that my office has particular resem,
blance to the profession of arms; that in con,
sequence i have a right to the prerogative OF
gown and sword; and / further ask that in
virtue Of this twofold title nobility be con.
ferred upon me as well as upon my posterity,
and ! am confident that You cannot but
grant my request. / ask no favor, but / ex
pect everything o. your equity"
The court retired to confer, and decided
that the case should be indefinitely post.
poned. When the Marquise de Laueliere
left, she returned once to look at Charles
Henri Samson. He bowed low. Madame first
cast on him a look Of whitening seoen, and
then, oddly enough, she returned the saints,
ton.
THIRD COURTS.
1t was the reign Of the guillotine-bhat fata
and reliable instrument which Louis XVI.
himself perfected. Poor Louis, who would
have made an excellent 1ocksmithl It was
that delirious carnival of anarchy when all
the passions went en- masque; when tyranny
wore the guise of humanity, and humanity
arrayed, itselfin terrorism; and conspiracy,
patriotism, grief and laughter went arm in
arm wearing the red cap of liberty. Death
was made ~iocular. The very excavations Of
the mob were sinister witticisms.
"Hah, said Dueos, the youngest Of the
condemned Girondins, as he climbed the
scafold, what a pity they did not decree the
unity and indivisibility Of our personsl'
So they laughed and died-forl ibertyi King
and queen, peasant and beggar, Camille
Desmoulins and Corday and Danton, the lit
tie -mantuamaker, the old mender of roads,
the mueh-tried bakerI They died BY the
Thousand.
ut seems" cried Charles Henri Samson,
"as if they had made a revolution only to
give me work.
''They are disgracing the guillotine," com
planned his assistants with gTotesque pride.
There was a time when Citizen Fonquier-Tin,
vile ordered that Samson shonldh have four
teen of these assistants.
At last the supremacy Of the exhcutioner
was acknowledged. The cracked boil upon
the panels Of the carriage was the only coat
ofa9ms left in France.
But the vehicles on which the attention OF
Paris was centred were the carts rolled from
the prison to the Place de la Revolution.
"Not many to-day, said a cheyenne, dis
-r4.-[.Il- -. 49, ..AE- 49, - - -
mo, said her companion; Samson wont
earn his wages"
The crowd about the scaffold seemed to be
interested, however. They were apparently
anticipating some especially well seasoned
dish in their diet Of Tragedy,
When the carts stopped the exeentioner us.
sisted Q lady TO alight. # was the Marguise
de Lamerliere.
- will wait upon you first, Marquise,' he
said, ~uncoyering his head.
''You are very kind, Monsieur lexcutioner;
but there is q poor youth here whom / would
save from the unpleasant sight"
1T Is against orders. madame
"The revolution gives ladies the precedence,
does III Thank it, in my name. But, / am
sure, you win not refuse the last request Of a
lady, Kindly execute this trembling youth
first"
The executioner bowed. The lady returned
it with as much grace as she had shown four
teen years before.
Then she turned to the youth by her. Cour-
agel eourageI'' she whispered.
The youth fang his arms around her neck.
What do / die for?" he sobbed.
The assistants took hina away. They
forced him down to tile weigh plank.
The executioner approached the Marquiue.
Sheaccepted his hand and assembled the steps
Of the sc8tfold with vivacifY.
You no longer wear green, Isee, monsieur,
said she, archly.
Madame, said Samson, SAY you forgive
me for what ] am aboutto do"
Monsieur, 4 replied the lads, *you afronted
me once. 3Ou are doing me q favor now. III
shall join a brilliant for all who
were worthy to live are now dead
Have you any request TO maker
II have one-a foolish one. Be good
enough to discharge your assistant for q
executed by a gentleman
Il shall be as you say. FAREWELL"
Farewell, monsieur. By the way, how
well that pigs head looked in the parBieyt'
She kept on laughing till abe was bound.
Say q prayer whispered SAMSON
have prayed. ! have no fear. It is the
fashion to die now Samson. and have al
ways followed the fashion"
How many to-day7s queried the wife Of
Charles Henri Samson that night.
Only five" said he, the day has been
Gen. Grants Way With the Pope.
N I