The Manchester Examiner. — 1848-05-20 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

MUST RE-ESTABLISH THE GUILLOTINE!" Why should this expression be kept a secret? Why seek to hide the ferocity of the intentions of such a man as this? Why for ever cling to the system of deception and of lies? It is an extraordinary peculiarity connected with Barbes that he is a most devout man—quite a fanatic, and more than suspected of being a Jesuit. He was brought up at the first college of the Jesuits in France, that of Soireze, since broken up, where the great conferences were held of all the superiors of the different houses belonging to the order in France; and he carried into his prison of the Mont St. Michel all the petty observances and strict self-mortifications commanded so sternly to every member of the Company of Jesus. He is a man of fortune, and of a liberal and princely turn with regard to money, generous to a fault. He comes from the neighbourhood of Carcassone, and it was here that he retired to the magnificent chateau of his sister, after his first political condemnation, resolved to have nought to do henceforward with politics, and to live a life of solitude and prayer. They say that he was on the point of retiring altogether from the world, and of entering as instructing priest, into the convent of St. Acheul, when a few lines from Blanqui, brought by express courier from Paris—" Come ; you are wanted; we are fighting, and our brothers fall"—caused him immediately to throw his black gown aux °riles, and to set forth that very night to join once more the restless spirits, and their unholy cause. It was at the issue of this summons that he committed the murder (for, howev,he action maybe veiled by political excuses, it can haven() other name), which caused his condemnation to imprisonment for life, from which the Revolution of February has just released him. What an extraordinary career has been that of this man!  "It was not till Lamartine left the chamber that, following the crowd, I could obtain egress. All that passed at the Hotel de Ville the journals have reported. But our joy and gratitude to Providence is known to ourselves alone. It was on our return from that expedition that we attacked the house of Sobrier. Singular to state, we met with no resist • ance, although much was anticipated, and, as usual, much courage wasted in consequence. For instance, a company of twenty men volunteered, at the imminent peril of their lives, to climb the roof of the house, and descend by the leads into the balcony belonging to Sobrier's apartment, and thus enter by the window, while their comrades were left to guard the doort o prevent the escape of the criminal. This foolhardy feat was accomplished, amid the breathless anxiety of thousands of spectators, and when we thus burst in, it was to find the apartments deserted! Not a soul was visible in any one of the rooms, which gave evidence of having been abandoned but the instant before, for the chicken was still turning on the spit at the kitchen fire, and the little cradle, with its green silk curtains, still warm with the pressure of the baby form which had been torn from it in such haste. It was not till after this search, and the capture of the whole of Sobrier's papers, that the public security may be said to have been complete; and when I set forth abroad again, after having been home to seek a few hours' repose, I found the city full of a quiet and holy joy, the streets all illuminated, and the soldiers bivouacking all round the Madeleine, and down the Champs Elysees crowds of promenaders strolling out to enjoy the sight; hope and security again restored upon the earth, and in the heaven the calm moon and the quiet stars looking down to proclaim once more "Peace and good will towards men."