Washington sentinel., 1899-08-26
~, -,1, SENTINEL
Poisoning the Seventeenth Cen
tury,
NsaO York Nation.

mains in our imagination as the
eliminating point Of all the ele-
gance and greatness Of France
We call it A grand steele, and LOWS
XIV. is L grand yol. If we would
form a better opinion Of our own
time, in contrast with past ages,
and see the shadows behind the
glaring light Of the seventeenth
century, we can do no better than
to read a work just published on
the "Drama OF the Poisons, by
M. Funck Brentano. This elabor-
ate work is very fully documented,
il Imay be allowed to use mod
ern expression applied to all his
torical works which are considered
worth reading. NJ. Funck Bren.
tano has plunged into the archives
oil the Bastille, in the archives OF
the Prefecture of Police, where all
the papers concerning the atatrs
Of the poisons are preserved; he
has found IN the Library OF Rouen
the papers concerning lie NoIsin.
one OF the women who made trade
ofturnishing poisoning The trial
OF the MarchIoness de Brinv,llIers,
who was one OF the ehIet pOisoueTs,
is still remembered. Her rank has
given her an historic notoriety;
but she was only one among a
number OF men and women who
used poison freely in the seven
teenth century. There were regu-
lar associations OF alchemistS,
magicians, sorcerers, poisoners.
When the lieutenant Of police, a
Reyuie, FIRST penetrated this world
Of crime, he was so moved that he
wrote: Human life has become
a matter Of trade; poisoning is the
grea remedy in all family embar.
rassments; impIetY, sacrilege-
abominaIons are common practi-
ces 10 Paris. in the country, in the
provinces"
The belief in soTcery was still
popular in the seventeenth cen
tury. Jean Bodkin, the illustrious
author Of "Slx Books on the Re
public" wrote a treatise called
"Demonomania, or Treatise on
Sorcerers." His definition Of the
sorcerer is this: A person who, by
diabolIcal and forbidden means,
attempts to obtain something.
"Sorcerers, men and women,
formed a sort Of association; Chev
had traditional secrets, formulas,
habits, ceremonies, generally oi
the most infamous, impious and
indecent character" They had
their own mass, called the black
mass. They were doctors and
chemists. They revealed the fu.
ture, they found hidden treasure
they were alchemists, and tried tC
discover the philosophers ston,
tor converting al metals into gold
The woman called lie VoisIl
was a typical specimen Of the sor
ceress Of the seventeenth century
very different from the NOR
ancient soTcereSs described bJ
Michelet. She earned annually
as much as 4oo, 900 francs; she haC
MFhI AOkGAa aA0 gave GAlAlAGA ,
Among her lovers was the execu
toner OF Paris, Andre GuIllaume
who beheaded Madame BrinVilll
ers. lie Voisin was a mere char
latan; she delivered her oTacles t
persons OF all ranks in a splendiC
gown, and with a mantle covered
with golden eagles. She was rea
believer IN alchemy. She was alsC
a doctor, like all sorceresses, ant
had receipts for every malady
She was known to help abortIV
practices, and once, in a motive Q
sincerity, she confessed havini
burned or inferred in her gar
den the bodies OF more than ? $50
children, pTematurely born. Curl
ously enough, she insisted upol
these children being baptized. h
crimes oi this horrible creatur
were su that the lieutenant @
police was appalled, by the comics
SION OF them. One can easily i'm
agine the stupor OF Louis XIV
when they were revealed 20 him
A special commission was aP
pointed to investigate what wa
called the affair of the poisons
This commission was known il
history as the ckaWbte ardent.
The arrests were made by EsttyeS a
cachet. -Four hundred and forty
two persons appeared before tn
commission, and two hundred an
eighteen persons were kept /
prison. Thirty-six prisoners weT
condemned to death andsexecutec
FIVE were condemned to the ga
lows, twenty-three were 6anishec
The declarations oil the vendor
oi polsons before the ckant6p
avdtHEs we're Of such gravity ths
LOUIS XIV. gave special order
tnat they should be kept secrel
The name Of Madame de Monies
pan, the Kings iaYorite, was pro
nounced. Her ambition was ex
treme. She had made great effort
to supplant Mdlle. de la Valliert
and by degrees had established he
empire over the King. Her iavo
lasted fourteen years, and she ha
no less than seven children b
Louis XIV. the eldest being III
Due du Name. The eldei
daughter, Mdlle. de Nantes, ma
rled tho Due de Bourbon; anothC
daughter, Mdlle, de Blois, Marie