Norwich bulletin., 1914-11-27
FAMOUS TRIALS
TRIAL OF DUG D'ENeHIEN.

In 1894 a plot was discovered which
 threatened the life of Napoleon and
 the English in particular hinted at
 his probable assassination. At the
 time there was living at Ettenheim
 under an assumed name the Due d'
 Enghien, a descendent of the great
 Condo.
 The Due d'Enghien, having fallen
 under suspicion, was arrested at
 Ettenheim. in the neutral territory of
 Baden, brought to Vincennes at mid
 night, and was placed on trial with
 much formality by a military court.
 It had been ascertained that the prisoner would come secretly into
 Strassburg, and with him was the
 English agent who had just come from London.
 On March 10 Bonaparte summoned his colleagues, the two Consuls, with Talleyrand, Fouche and Regnier, to a
 privy council, at which it was decided to arrest the Duke. Gems. Ordener, Caulaincourt and Frfrion were sent at the head of a small force, and dur ing the night of March 14 the Duke was arrested He was at once sent to Paris.
 Meanwhile the papers seized at Et- tenheim. and the reports of the officials commanding the expedition, had
 ed to 8 mistake. The Duke was not
 conspiring; he was living quietly at Ettenheinl. But Napoleon paid no at tention to these facts. Was he under
 the influence of one of those fits of
 rage, genuine or simulated?
 On the morning of March 20 a meet ing of the Privy Council decided to summon immediately a military com
 mission of seven members to be named by Murat, as governor of Paris. At II o'clock Murat made his nominations appointing as president Gen. Hulin, Al haIfn1 . fha DIIl<a arrived af
 the Castle of Vincennes, where two hours before his grave had been dug. At 9 in the evening the members of the commission met at the castle.
 A detachment of troops commanded by
 SaVary was also present. At Il o'clock the Duke was subjected to 0 prelim- mary examination in his room. At 1
 a. m on the 21st he appeared before his judges, Savary standing im- mediateiy behind Hulin. The exami-
 nation was short and revealed noth-
 ing. At half-past 2 the Due dEnghien was shot.
 No other act of Napoleon has ex-
 cited 50 much discussion as this. Some
 writers have laid the whole blame of the transaction upon the Emperor, and
 others endeavor to free him altogether
 from the charge. There is no doubt
 that Napoleon's emissaries to Etten-
 helm created fearful fantoms out of
 innocent appearance. The judgment OI the N~ODSul was ODSCuTeQ Dy
 the rapidity with which his imagina-
 ton moved, causing him to take for
 incontestable facts stories which had
 but vague conjectures for their foun-
 dation. He, therefore, determined in his mind: "The Duke is the prime
 mover in the conspiracy; the soul of it; at least one of the first accom- plices.'
 There was another cause which act
 ed upon the determination of the First
 
 poleon was matured in England, but it's branches spread in every direction Tn England conspirators were pen stoned, and in Austria battalions were l raised. In the eyes of Napoleon the Cabinets of London and Vienna acted
 in concert. D'Enghien was an officer ! of the English army and must be cognizant of the preparations which | were on foot.
 While the Duke was held captive in Paris. he was confined in the Castle l of Vineennes. In the trial proceedings no legal formaIities were observed. | The prisoner of St. Helena continu-
 ally justified himself by saving that 1 the Duke was tried "by a competent I tribunal The competence of inc tribunal is a very doubtful matter; but could it be settled according to the 1 wishes of Napoleon, there would still remain in this affair the infraction of | the laws which protect the accused. The Duke had no defender. Ma | poleonS it is true. has said, If guilty | the commission did right in con- | demning him to death. If innocent, it should have acquitted him, for no
 order can justify the conscience of a 1 judge"
 Not caring to place himself in the position of recognizing that a plot | had been formed to assassinate him, the chief charges against the Duke
 were bearing arms against France in | the late war, and with intending to l take part in the new coalition then 1 proposed against France.
 With the Duke ended the house of Condo. It is now known that Jose phine and Mime. de Remusat had beg
 ged Napoleon for mercy toward the | Duke, but nothing would bend his
 will. On his way to St. Helena he as-
 serted that, in the same circum- stances he IVa.rlH f1o fhe Sama gain