The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-22

or in the realms Of the widest and most scnsa-
tonal fiction.
Beginning in 1882 and for period Of eight
years, the inhabitants Of Aniou, Poictou and La
Bretagnc became affected by vague and indie
Unable terror-a dread Of something that could
neither be described nor explained. Some be-
licved that the country side was rayaged by
vampire, that through some CHASTITY process Of
resurrection preyod not upon the dead, but ON the
living choosing young children and maidens and
timing the place and hour so that there was
means neither for defence nor for pursuit
Michect speaks Of the dreaded thing as beast OF
determination. unseen, unknown, unnatural in
describabe, horrible: omnipresent, possessed Of
| powers Of disappearance on the instant and so Of
escape, dissolving into thin air 1t was believed
| by many TO be a physical manifestation OF the
| Evil One The peasants wandered dsconsOlatc
along the highways, lamcntng their lost children.
Little girls returning home from school, boys who
| played in tho street wandered through the
woods, mysteriously disappeared and were heard
| of no more. Soon horrible suspicious began TO be
! aroused. Each time that G lilies de Rctz changed
| his quarters-when he went from the fortress OF
| Tifauges TO the chateau OF Champtoce or from
| there TO the castle Of La Suze-he left behind him
| u trail Of lamcntaton. lie crossed country
| side by night and lol in the morning there was a
| cry Of children lost The trembling peasant re-
called the fact that whenever Prclati. Roger de
| Brigue-N Vile GILES de la Sille any Of the
| Baron's henchmen had been seen children had
disappeared Moreover, the story ran that an old
woman Perrino Martin, had been met wandering
| about tho country. clad In gray, and with her
viSage covered with veil OF black. She had been
seen TO accost children and II was said that her
speech was so seductive and her face, when she
raised the VEIL so benevolent. that the unsuspect
ing little ones would follow her without hesitation
TO the edge Of the nearest wood. there TO be seized
by lurking men and carried off in sacks. And
the terrified peasants gave TO the yeilod woman
the name OF La MeIraye-the bird of prey. Also
1t began to DO whispered that the children Of the
very poor, who, following the custom of the coun-
try and the age, had gone to the castle to ask aims
had been enticed inside and more heard Of
These facts all finally brought to the notice
OF Messre Jean deMaestroit, tho Bishop of Nantes,
who thereupon held secret inquest for the solu-
ton Of the mystery, and so brought the truth TO
light The first public step taken against the
malefactor was "a Declaration OF Infamy against
Giles de Retz by the Bishop Of Nantes. July 80,
144O." This Is in Latin. and forms part of tho
ecclesiastical record in the case 1t set forth,
inter ala that.
Upon public rumor and on the numerous reports
that have come to US fortified by the depo.
stions Of the synodical witnesses Of these churches
by who. thanks to their probities and their we'll
known prudence. arc above suspicion, We
have discovered . . that Giles de Retz.
subject and justiciable by himself and By certain
his accomplices. has strangled killed and in.
humanity mastered . very large number of infants;
that he has committed upon them crimes against
nature; that he has made or has caused to be made
numerous horrible In locations OF demons; he has
made to them sacrifices and offerings and has passed
a compact with them. without counting other crimos
For 1ht
he was and is now. and publicly and for the inow-
edge OF ALL rendered infamous toward all gray and
honest men"
Armed with a writ and q warrant Of arrest. a
troop OF soldiers proceeded 10 the Castle OF Mache-
coul. Giles, partly in bravado and partly no
doubt, trusting to his rank and power and the
laws probable failure TO make proof against
him, gave orders to raise the portculIis and open
the gates and submitted himself to arrest Upon
search being made from top to bottom OF the fort
rcss a mass OF children's clothing stained with
blood and pile Of haf-burned human bones were
discovered in the moat while subseque ntly over
ton OF children's bones was found In cellars
and other hiding places In the midst OF maiedic-
tons and cries OF horror Giles was taken TO the
chateau of Nantes and 1--WE days later brought
before the Bishop. A month later he was brought
to the bar a criminal in public trial and required
10 plead. lie reluSeu 10 pledu insullcu 'he IuuBco
accused them OF simony and maintained that
they were all his personal enemies and when
questions were put to him. stood mute Then
the Bishop and the vicenqusitor Of the ecclesias-
tical court declared him contumacious and pro-
nounced sentence of communication upon
him. Nextday he was again arraigned. Whether
he had in tho meantime been put to inc
question" that is, tortured Is not known, but
he announced that he was prepared TO make iull
confession He was allowed respite OF twenty
four hours to prepare his statement and on tho
day following the full court was assembled.
From all the country around the peasants had
focked to get glimpse Of thefASaging wild beast
at the mere whisper Of whose name before his cap
ture. every door was closed. In the body OF the !
hall was a pressing. exasperated throng OF be- |
rcaved parents and friends who filled the court |
with cries against the perperator OF the crimes by
which they had lost their loved ones Bishops. |
clad in full canonicas with golden mitres and col
lars and chains of gold and precious stones, sat !
on the first tier Of benches; beneath them were the
secular Judges, clad in scarlet, black and white
while from the highest seat beneath the crucifA.
Jean de Malestroit looked down upon the court,
Loaded with chains and in charge Of an escort OF
armed soldiers Giles was broughtin. He was bag
gard. unkempt, and had aged twenty years in
single night AT a sig 4al from the presidi Judge
he began his horrible confession. The lust for
wealth had led him to commit his awful crimes
He believed that Prelati could make gold, whether
by science, by magic, by the intervention OF the
devil OF OF all these means combined. In a Labor
atory which he had installed in the highest tower
Of his chateau of Tifauges he had attempted the
transmutation of metals into gold. He distilled
into retorts different liquids destined TO dissolve
tho mineral substances after certain formulas OF
magic repeated in the invocation of demons Pre-
lat had declared that to make these operations
successful required the addition OF the hearts
hands or eyes but above all the blood OF young
children. The blood was TO be used In tracing
the magic circles and figures. To furnish victims
for these incantations he had abducted children,
choosing the little peasants, who would not DO
missed or whose parents from poverty, would not
be likely to pursue the search Mechanically,
one by one, he recounted the deaths OF his vic
inns describing their last agOnies their cries for
mercy and their dying struggles Having begun
by committing these murders for the devil, a rag
ing lust Of cruelty had seized upon him, and he
came at last to revel in his butcheres They be-