Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-09-20

rouqVier-ll invite and the Jury
jeered ir chorus with the Judge, the
helpless creatures for whose blood
they thirsted. The twenty-five vic-
TINS were then literally tumbled
into q room destined for criminals
sentenced TO death. There, tied
together like brutes destined for
the slaughter, they awaited orders
for removal to the scatfold. Dur.
ing the few intervening moments
Madame Elizabeth, forgetting her
self and busy only about her com.
panions in misfortune, exerted her
self, as is related by one Of the jail
ers, in "exhorting them to have
confidence in God who rewards a
generous sacrifice, and imploring
of them to offer their life for tie
salvation of their immortal souls
and that of France"
Her "accomplices - What a
farce /. In that room Madam Eli
zabeth met, for the first time in her
life, noble men and ladies, and poor
people, none Of whom she had ever
seen before or heard of. Yet these
had been sentenced to death because
false witnesses had sworn they were
''her accomplices"-old laundry
girls, milk women, servants, pell-
NELL, with mobiles aud princes, and
Royal convicts. She kept her self
possession to the last, and had a
smile for all, and never did she in
the least refer to the ignominy of the
judges, or the monstrous iniquity
OF the sentence; but spoke to all
her "accomplices'' of the infinite
mercy of God, their Father, of the
meekness of the Lord Jesus, their
Saviour, and inspired them with an
unlimited confidence in Mary I'm
maculate, the mother of God, and
their Mother now and at the hour
of their death. That IA
tai hour had now struck. IL was
five o'clock in the afternoon. From
reports taken there and then we
learn that the day was one of those
mild and sunny days of spring per-
fumed with the scent of thousand
trees in bloom.
The cart which conveyed Madam
Elizabeth of France contained, be-
sides, four other "criminals''-
was the aged sister of Counsellor
Malesherbes, who after a years i'm
prisonment, was gulllotined few
weeks before, April 22nd, for the
"crime" of pleading the cause of
his Royal Master the King. An
other was the Marchioness de Crus-
sol; and two men standing in the
cart near the Royal Princess. The
condemned victims had been able
to receive the last aids of religion
by one of their number, a Canon of
Sens, who heard their confessions.
Another faithful and valiant priest,
Father de Sambucy, mixed with the
crowd and followed the c0rtege to
the scalrold, giving secret absoln-
tion to the victims as they fell.
When the carts were being drawn
from the inner court of the Palais
de Justice into the street, the peo-
pie hooted and shouted after them,
and the old lady on hearing the
abominable names, imprecations,
and notifications used by the mob,
nearly tainted. Courage" said
the princess, sit viii be over soon ;
soon we shall be in the bosom of
God, where we shall find those we
love-" This was a thoughtful ref
erence to the cruel execution of
their poor but idolized respective
brothers now in Heaven. Madam
Elizabeth wore a white dress, a
lawn muffier covered her neck and
shoulders, whilst a white muslin
handkerchief was loosely thrown
over her hair which was cut bare for
the knife of the guillotine. All the
prisoners had their hands tied be-
hind their backs, and were other
wise well secured.
The funeral procession moved
on. Gradually the savage energu-
mems whom the revolutionary agents
had massed around the Palais de
Justice, to produce effect, remained
behind, thus making roos. for the
''true Partisan people, whose ST.
lent and mournful attitude was, no
doubt, consoling contrast with
the clamors of the Jacobines for
the terrified victims hurried away
to execution. This silence, and a
sort of dismay grew in intensity as