The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1893-12-23

sie' Win us souvenirs OF the Reign of
Terror. Every American visitor to Paris
has seen La Roquette, which is chiefly
known as the place outside which the
guillotine is erected whenever there
Is an execution in the French capital.
II was in the street In front of La
Roquette that Pranzini, the murderer.
had his head cut off in 1887. The fol-
lowing year witnessed the execution of
Prado, the infamous assassin of women.
Eyraud. the strangler, was a recent
victim of the guillotine in the Place de
La Roquette.
II rests with the public pro secutor,
and not with the judges, in France to
determine in what prison delinquent
sentenced by the courts shall be con-
fined. Prisoners condemned for crimes
OF comparatively minor Importance
often obtain permission to pass the
time OF their sentence in La Roquette
on condition of paying II cents day
TO the state The discipline of the
prison is not rigorous.
AT the end of one of the long cJr:i-
cors is the narrow prison which served
as place OF confinement for Mgr.
Darboy, the archbishop of Paris, who
was shot with the rest of the hostages
by the communists in 1871. Since that
august prisoner was inclosed within
the four narrow walls the cell has
never been entered by any criminal 1t
has remained intact. The bed is just
as it was when the great prelate was
called TO meet his fate. The same
sheets have been left, and the iron
cross which closes the spyhole into the
cell is still surmounted by the Latin
words, vitae rober, mentis salus."
written in pencil by the archbishop,
who occupied some of his weary mo-
ments in sketching the scourge, the
sponge dipped in hyssop and other in
struments of the Passion on the door
of his prison.
The small winding staircase may
still be seen by which the host
ages went down when they were
summoned to meet the firing
party in the yard of La Ro-
quette, where the feeble old prelate.
who had overtaxed his strength. was
compelled to cling to the arm of his
companion, NJ. Bonjean, to avoid fall
ing. The spot is still pointed out
where the five hostages fell; where
Mgr. Darboy called down forgiveness
for his murderers, who knew not what
they did. The mark of the bullets can
still be seen around the white marble
slab, which records one of the most
sanguinary acts of the Paris ra bile.
Evergreens mark the place where the
men fell who died victims of its blind
fury.
There is an old prisoner in La Ro-
quette who remembers sitting in the
cell of Billoir, the noted murderer,
when the venerable Able Crozes, the
chaplain, and Beauquesne, the gov
ernor of La Roquette, entered and in
formed him that Marshal McMa hon
had rejected his appeal for mercy. and
that the sentence of death passed on him
for the murder of Marie La Manech was
about 10 be carried into eXecu-
ton. The murderer, who had
been playing cards all the even
ing and who had expressed his
confidence in the clemency of his
former general, was terror-stricken.
His chest heaved spasmodically. and a
strong dose of cordial had to be given
TO him before he could summon up
courage to remember that he had
been soldier and had won the mill
tary medal.
Another old prisoner tells an Incl
dent connected with the Commune, |
which is recorded by Able Faure, the