Year: 1871

So he said, 'this was to have been my
successor


IL IS scarcely necessary TO add that the
| CLOCK proved, on examination to be an in
| ternal machine Of the most ingenious and
| deadly description. Concealed beneath
the natalie slab, which formed the pave
ment of the mimic chapel and which was
constructed to fold back at the proper
moment, was found triple row of small
wrought-iron barrels, loaded heavily with
| slugs and balls and arranged to cover an
are OF 45 degrees, at distance of twenty
yards from the machine. No one within
that distance could possibly have with
stood their charge to explode simultan-
eously, exactly when the hands on the
dial indicated the hour of noon; but a
I spring on the outside gave the manipula-
tor power to alter the set of the works
and discharge them sooner if necessary.


a few months after the occurrence mar
rated above, Fouche received letter
from Chavarri, then in England. written
IN the vein in which men who have played
desperate game and lost occasionally
write to those who have outwited them.
! The writer stated that the clock was en-
| tlrely the work of his own hands. and that
he and his own daughter were alone CON
cerned in the plot, which had been trus-
trsted by Pouches promptness


| As for himself, he had little expectation
OF escaping, having freely resolved to in
volve himself, if necessary in the destruc-
ton which should overwhelm the Emper-
Or. Ills daughter, however, the only
| person on earth for whom he retained any
| affection, he could not afford thus to sac
rlice. He had made provisions elsewhere
tor her future support, and, according to
the original plan, she was to have left
Paris some thirty days before the consum-
nation OF the plot, thus having abundant
time to pass the frontier and reach place
Of safety. This had been foiled bv an
| unforeseen event. On the evening before
the final tiaseo in the Tuilleries they had
received information to the effect that
Napoleon was on the point of departure
for the frontier and everything being in
readiness, and the period of his return
being uncertain, it was determined to
make the attempt at once. On the follow
ing morning, accordingly, the daughter
had departed at rs early an hour as pos
sible, trusting for her escape to good for
! tune, and he himself, fortified with letters
from prominent officials. had proceeded
to the place at eleven, and given his
daughter all the time it was possible to
spare.


Fouche himself knew the rest.


No personal danger, no promised honor
nothing in short but the cunninelv de-
vised falsehood regarding his daughter.
could have induced him, Chavarlr, to
stop the hands of the clock


| He also confessed that it was he who,
two years before, had fired the shot in the
Rue dc Tivoli, and stated that it had long
been the sole aim and purpose of his life
to assassnate Napoleon He added that
they need have no fear of his repeating
the attempt, rs the ma@nanimity of the
Emperor on the last occasion had COM
pletely disarmed him.


Chavari subsequently died in extreme
| poverty in London. Of the fate OF his
| daughter nothing is known. His clock,
| despoilcd Of the mnrderons portion Of its
machinery, preserved for several years in
the Tuilcrcs was finally destroyed by an
accidental fire and the falling of wall