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Untitled Article
and' son of the architect to the department , has given the fottowinifaccount o what transpired under his o \ f& eye : — - M *^* it was near midnight ; my wife , who had retired to bed , was just falling asleep , and I was writing by her 6 tde ,
when we were disturbed by a distant noise . It appeared as though the drums beat the generate , and crossed the town iti every direction . My wife , in alarm , inquired what all this could mean : and , hi order to allay her apprehensions , I replied that it probably announced the arrival or departure of some troops of
ttie garrison . But firing and shouts were immediately audible ; and , on opening my window , I distinguished , horrible imprecations , mingled with cries of * Vive le Hoi I * I roused an officer who lodged m the House , and M . Chancel , director of the public works . We went out together , and gained the boulevarde . The
moon shone bright , and every object was nearly as distinct as in the day . A furions crowd was pressing on , vowing extermination , and the greater part half naked , armed with muskets , knives , sticks and sabres . I inquired repeatedly the history of the tumult , and was informed * that the massacre was general ,
and that in the faubourgs several were already killed . ' M . Chancel retired to put on his uniform , a . s captain of the Pompiers ; the officer repaired to the barracks ; and , anxious for my wife , I returned home . By the noise I was convinced that persons followed : I crept along in the shadow of the wall , opened
my door , entered and closed it , leaving , however , a small aperture , that unperceived I might watch the movements of the party , whose arms shone in the moonlight . In a few moments some armed men appeared , conducting a prisoner to the very spot where I was concealed . At this I was not surprised , as , for some time past , any brigand had the
right to seize and imprison a citizen , without any authority but his own will . They stopped . I now shut gently the door ; but , being unwilling to lose sight of the party , I mounted an alder-tree , planted against the wall of the garden . The foliage covered me ; I looked over ike top of the wall ; and what a , scene ! « r ** fehe mere recollection chills mo with
horror . A man , on his kness , implored mercy from wretches who mocked his Hgony , and loaded him with abuse . c In the name of my wife and children / said he , ' spare me ;;—what have I done , ?—Why would you murder me for nothing ?' —A cold sweat stood on my forehead : my agitation was insupportable ; and though a hundred fiends would have beset my home w an instant , and I was
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afone to defend my wife an&"femil y $ r- t * as an ftee point of ctfylng otit and menacing the muixlerers' with vengeance , I had wh , long to deliberate : the discharge of several fusils terminated ray suspense : and
the unhappy suppheaaaft * struck in the loins and the head , fell to rise no more . The assassins were in the shade under the wall ; and their backs were turned towards the tree . Of course I could hot recognize them ; and they innnediately retired , reloading their pieces . ¦ ?
' « I descended , and approached the dying man . I found him m his blood disfigured and uttering deep and dismal groans . At first I thottgfrt of carrying him into the house ; but I perceived that Ms wounds were mortal , and I remembered that his removal would designate
my house * to his murderers . Some National Guards arrived at the moment , and I again retired , closed the door and listened . * What do I see ? ' said one , c a dead man V— He sings stilt , ' said another ( some groans escaped the
sufferer in the agonies of death ) . —* They have tickled him / said a third , * and that is not amiss ; but it wiM be better to finish him , and put an end to his misery . ' —Five or six muskets were instantly fired —the groans ceased .
" ' Should any refuse to believe such complicated horrors , I can excuse their incredulity . I witnessed them , and yet I am frequently obliged to assure myself that all was not a dream . The next morning , from the break of day , I began to send to all the commissaries of police
for authority to remove the body to the hospital . Some of these gentlemen were in bed , and others were out . At length , by dint of application , about eleven o ' clock , I received the permission . One word more ; and I shudder while I write . Crowds came to inspect and to insult the deceased . The day after a massacre
was always observed as a sort of f £ te : every occupation was left to go and gaze upon the victims . A wretch , who wished to gratify * the people , ' . took the pipe from his own mouth , aficf placed it in the mouth of the corpse . The jokes ana merriment of the spectators rewarded the exertions of this friend of l the altar
and the throne / All this I saw . " ¦ It was the death of Louis Lichafre , the father of four children , that M . Durand witnessed . Four years after the evf * ntr ^ Nov . 25 * 1819 , ) the- writer verified this account by his oath , on the trial of Servant , one of the murderers /' - —P p « 453—456 .
All this is but a sample-of the diabolical atrocities perpetrated in the Gaffd , and white these were tatog
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& 7 G Review . ~ IPilks &Perseevfi < ffi 8 of the Protestants of JFranee .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1821, page 676, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2506/page/44/
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