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4^w(sn ^lobemetit^ Vnt*dtAil ¦UMAnt^tMr^tnc
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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4^W(Sn ^Lobemetit^ Vnt*Dtail ¦Umant^Tmr^Tnc
4 ^ w ( sn ^ lobemetit ^ Vnt * dtAil ¦ UMAnt ^ tMr ^ tnc
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" And I will war , at least in wards , ( And—taonld my chance so happen—deeds , ) With all who war with Thought !" 'UtMn * IhearalitUeVird , « hQ sings The people by and by will be the stronger . "—Byeok . EASTERN EUROPE AND THE EMPEROR NICHOLAS . so . ti . It Is now onr task to unveil some of the CRIMES OF THE TYRANT NICHOLAS , who * as caTtefl to fte throne in 1825 by the death of Alexander . This event gave rise to a rebellion in several parts of the empire , the explosion of a longimoded conspiracy , which we pnrposeto fully explain irhen to come to review the celebrated Revelations of Russia .
rntST PERSECUTION OF THE POLES BY KICHOLiS . The Russian conspirators , ^ having entered into communication with an association of Polish patriots , the raguofKicfeolas comm enced with a rigid investigation . SeTenteen of his Polish subjects , from the Bussianised frovinees of Poland , were sent to St . Petershurgb , and tried hythe imperial senate , which condemned them all to Siberia . K ghtinthe kingdom of Poland were tried OS the Polish 8 enal <> , By whom , trader the presidence of the dying Bielinslri , they were acquitted . Four years after their incarceration , and nine months after their acquittal , these men were set atliberty ; bnttbe venerable Stanislas Soltyk never rose from his bed after this lOBg confinement .
The case of these unfortunate men is even worse than represented by onr author . We are enabled to State on the best authority , that of the eight yJetlms from the "kragdom of Poland , " only three were set at liberty , the others , in spite of their acquittal , were sent to prisons in Russia , where they still , if alive , remain . Prison tortures for twenty years hare failed to satiate the demoniacal hatred of their persecutor . The ferocious brnte Cosstaktine was now let loose upon Poland , and the country was exposed besides to all the oppression of double secret police , each arbitrary in Its power , and each mistrustful even of the other . We pass over the period of the Revolutionary war of 1830-31 , and the executions and other serenities which Immediately followed the suppression of the revolution , and proceed to narrate some of the tyrant ' s monstrous acts since that neriod .
Nicholas commenced by abolishing altogether the phantom of the constitution , which , so many years preTionsly . had been virtnally abrogated-lHedeclared Mmself sovereign by right of conquest ; and forth - with commenced the extermination of the conquered . by thousands : — An nkase , datea the 3 rd July , 1831 , contanned two "hundred and eighty-six persons to capital punishments , who bad been pat on their trials a year before ; pronouncing the same sentence on somewhere about the same nmnber of fugitives . This judgment was an absurd mockery , intended to deceive Europe . At the lowest computation fijty tfunisand Poles had already by that time been sent to Siberia . The fate of all of these -victims generally remains un-Snown , fratihe running the ganntlet till death , of some hundreds at Cronstadt , may give some notion of the fate reserved to them :
But , setting aside cases of individual cruelty , the massacre of hundreds , and the transplantation of thousands to the most desolating exile , we entreat the sympathies of our readers , for whole classes and masses of the children of unhappy Poland , chained scourged , and trampled upon by this merciless miscreant . The twenty millions of Poles , of which between thirteen and fourteen millions maybe accounted as under the dominion of Russia , are in round numbere divided nearly as follows ;—Three millions of Nobles . Four millions of Burgers . Two millions of Jews . Eleven millions of Peasants . We will now quote our author as to the persecution bvNicHOLAs of these several classes , commencing with the
JERSICUXIOS OF THE KOBEES . The Polish nobles in the Russian dominions amount to considerably upwards of two millions , on account of their being in a much larger proportion to the inhabitants than in . Kussian-Foland-It will be admitted by the most ardent lerellers that a class of such numerical extent acquires , from that circumstance alone , an importance impossible to deny . The Polish nobility is descended no doubt originally from a conquering race , so ancient that it probably
belongs to a period antecedent to the diffusion of patents and diplomas , and in some of its most esteemed families is enjoyed by prescription . Amongst this people ( as amongst the Spartans and Athenians ) has always snbs ' -Sted the principle of republican equality , thongh as with them , not extended to the people they subdued . Through every change of fortune , this nobility continued inalienable ; andfhegreatmajority of it had become so far reduced in circumstances , or had multiplied so much beyond its resources , that its members had become small farmers , soble peasants , or labourers .
Under the Russian dominion , they had been divided into seven categories , or classes . To these , according to the number of proofs and documents they coold furnish , taey were adjudged to belong . The qualification required for the first clas 3 was such » 3 very few could unite ; the next afibrded greater facilities , and in the seventh were comprehended all these which had no written documents whatever to show , but who , on theo&th of twelve registered noblemen , that they Mougeutothetody , werethemsdTesenregistered . This seventh class alone united , therefore , many times more members than the other six , the sixth far more so than the fifth , and so on in succession .
By QU 9 of those sweeping ukases in which Nicholas is so fond of indulging , which affect the -vital interests of hundreds of thousands , and of which we have no examples out of oriental despotisms , he abolished the privileges of four out of seven classes , at a single stroke of the pen . If this had been the simple abolition of a right , or a pre-emiaence exercised at the expense of other classes , although enjoyed from time immemorial , the injustice of it-principle mightbare been called in question ; but in iact , it reduces the nobleman ( who perhaps would hare hsen better designates as a free-man ) to the condition of the serf ; that is to say , he is wholly in the power of any Russian police official . One of those men who will extort bribes of half-pence , and make arrangements with the lowest thieves , has the discretionary power of inflicting eorporal punishment on bun , at any time , without being amenable to blame or punishment .
Furthermore , occasional ukases direct that all such ex-nobles as have no lands , shall be forcedly removed to colonise the interior of Russia , 01 be incorporated with the Cossacks of the lines of the Caucasus , or enrolled in the troops of the line . Forty-five thonsandfanriiies were thus removed by one nkase . The remainder continue entirely at the mercy of the authorities . In the most legitimate exercise of their functions , according to the instructions given them , when any proprietor of a small property dies , and his property comes to be divided between several children , they ma ; seize sons for soldiers . How it must not be forgotten that the disgrace and hardship of the soldier ' s life in Sussia , are such , that degradation to the ranks is considered as a punishment only inferior to the capital punjshmentof sole to Siberia .
Sot only , therefore , has a great majority of the nobility l » en deprived of itsprivfleges , and rendered liable to every indignity ani humiliation , hut poverty leadB at once to exile ; and this qualification of poverty the gorernmenthas done its best to secure to them , by the most extensive confiscation of individual property which has occurred within many centuries , if we except the period of the French revolution . A list of upwards of ten thousand estates confiscated , has appeared in the public documents ; and as this proscription has fallen heavy on the wealthier proprietors , they are supposed at the lowest computation to amount in value to sixty millions sterling , whilst others rate them at nearly the double .
PERSECUTION OF THE BDB 6 BBS , JEWS , ASB PEA 8 AHTS . If we now tern to the burger class , it may be sufficient to state , that as far as their trade is concerned , they are exposed to more vexations grievances than in an earlier part of this chapter they have been described as liable to , during the lastyear of Alexander's reign . As to thencivil rights , the equality in the eye of the law , which Kapoleonhaa established , and Alexander solemnly confirmed , has been abolished . There remain the Hebrews and the peasantry . Thegreat bulb of the Jewish people still inhabits Poland , which first offered the example of civil toleration , afterwards followed by Holland and Great Britain . It is true that in these latter countries there has succeeded a toleration of opinion , which lias
sever yet amen in Poland . Nevertheless , though the Hebrews had not been admitted to the Ml rights of citizenship , they had , on the other hand , hitherto been exempted from one of the most onerouB of its charges—one which their prejudices rendered peculiarly odious—themilitary service . The Emperor Nicholas , distinguished by his strong personal antipathy to this people , has vigorously submitted them to the conscription , making the parents responsible in their persons and property for the appearance of the children—not only without conferring « a them any equivalent right ? , but exercising towards them a wholesale violence , such as the utmost rigour of ttahomedan despotism has sever displayed in its most virulent prejudice .
Unable to stop the smugg ling in the frontier governments , chiefly on aceonat of the gross venality and col-Won of his own agents , he fell , as is well knows , oa the expedient of simultaneously transplanting into the interior of fiusria a hundred thousand families . Those who could not get rid of their property within » given space
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of time , ( which how should they do where all wt ! re sellers ?) were to leave it in the cars of the police ,. to dfcpOfcT of for them . For all who have ever been in Bussia , and kni"v thatthename of every branch of the police is syHonymofl with the utmost depravity , and the most flagrant dishonesty , there is an appearance of the most cynical derision In such a propositien . A stranger might as weU confide hiswatch and purse to the sweU-mob in London The next imperial interference with the Jews was to prohibit , under thepenalty ofa fine , the wearing the distinctive costume and beard which they have learned to consider as symbolical ofthefaith they profess , and to which previous ukases had , under other penalties , contoea them . It may be imagined what a means of extortion this prohibition proves to the police , who have the charge of enforcuurit . nffima SWhinfi fmm m 1 n \ T * 1 A *!***¦—Jt ~ . _ i «¦ ^ rooATIn . aQi
There remains to consider the condition of the peasantry . in the Kusso-Polish provinces , —that is to say , in those incorporated in the Russian empire , — they continue in the slavery from which Alexander in 1818 forbade their masters to emancipate them . In the kingdom Of Poland , where six-and-hrenty years previously they had been enfranchised for ever by Napoleon , by the first article of the constitution of the grand duchy of'Warsaw , which decreed equality in the eye of the law , Nicholas , the signer of treaties for the suppression of the slave-trade , in 1833 , reduces ! them by ukase again virtually to the condit ion of serfs . It is meanthere literally of serfs , —that is tasay , to astateofservitudeasithasexisted in Poland , not to the absolute slavery of Eussia , where practically a peasant is gambled away at cards , and transferred like a horse .
On the other hand , however , the Polish peasant is far more oppressed by the government authorities than even tb e Russian . For him there is no ' possiblereire ; g ft jainst the lowest and the meanest of his tyrants , because even his lord is divested of all interest . . On a market-day , for instance , the fruits of his produce are unblushingly confiscated by anything that " wears a Buisian uniform . His best poultry is seized under the ' pretextthtrt it is diseased , —his finest fruit and vegetables because unripe ; and if he ventures one single murmur , he is pressed into the public service , to wort at paving or sweeping the streets for several days ; leaving the remainder of his goods at the mercy of the police . : We pass over the infernal system of espionage , and coercion of everything In the shape of opinion , these are too well known to need description . A long aceount is given of the religions persecution of the Polish , people . No sooner was the authority of Nicholas re-established in Poland than ke set on foot
a system of persecution which gradually increased in intensity , till in 1839 it was undertaken on a scale of unprecedented magnitude land severity . He determined forcibly to incorporate the United Greeks , or Basilians , ( that islo say , Roman Catholics , to whom the Papal see bad allowed the marriage of the priesthood , and other of the usages and ritual of the Eastern Church , ) numbering three millions in his dominions , with the Russian Church . The bishops were gained ' over , and immediately 13 , 000 priests were forced to abjure Roman Catholicism , or suffer the tortures to which non-conformists
were doomed . These tortures we need not describe at length , suffice it to " say , that imprisonment in horrible dungeons , starvation , flogging , incorporation in the Caucasian army , and banishment to Siberia , were among the . ' means employed to convert the recusant priests . Of course , the fate of hundreds of these unhappy men will for ever remain unknown to Western Europe , but what the end of many of them has been may be inferred" from the murder of the friar SiEBOcufsKi , exiled to Siberia , who . was recently knouted to death at Tobolsk , having been detected secretly administering the ' sacrament to his
fellowprisoners . As to the congregations of these priests , the most shameless and cruel measures were adopted to force them to conform to the new faith . The Emperor Nicholas , who at the close of the revolu * t ion , published a free pardon , with certain exceptions , " to all who should return to their homes within a given time , expressing their contrition , —by a letter dated 6 th of April 1832 , instructed the governor of Podolia to transport into Eussia those who , trusting in his promise , had submitted . But though so merciless towards those whom he had ranked in the class of most rental political offenders , and had allured into his power by solemn assurances offorgivenesB , he offers by an ukase of the 2 nd of January , 1839 , an absolute pardon to all Boman Catholics condemned for murder or theftto capital punishments , on condition of embracing the Chreekfaith .
The peasantry were promised their freedom on the condition of apostacy ; and a period of famine was taken advantange of , to offer them £ onr on the condition of their making three crosses on a register , to acknowledge its receipt . This register contained a general recantation , to which their mark was thus surreptitiously obtained ; hut as after this they were , by the terms of the ukase , considered as belonging to the Busso-Greek Church , from which any departure is capitally punished , they were thus utterly at the mercy of the authorities . In " some places whole Tillages were driven into bafts and barns , where they were smoked by lighted straw till they yielded .
A commission , composed of gevermnent agents and apostate priests , summoned the inhabitants of the village of Worodrfcof to appear before them , where they were sitting , about sixteen miles off . When before the commission they refused to sign their adherence to the new faith , they were ironed , thrown into baths filled with a fetid smoke , hut without fire , in the severest weather . Here they were kept several days , without food , beaten and ill-treated , and being constantly informed that they would be sent to Tfitepsk , to be capitally punished . When many of them had fallen ill , they were forced to sign their adhesion ; but immediately on their return exposed these facts in a petition signed by sixty-four of their number , nobles and peasants ; but met with no redress ; they were considered as irrevocably orthodox .
In one place , some hundreds of the peasantry having obstinately taken refuge on a frozen pond , the so'diers accompanying the Russian missions were directed to break the ice , and the unyielding wretches perished wholesale . We must refer onr readers to the work itself for a fuller account of these devilish doings . By these means two millions of proselytes were enregistered as having accepted theJRusso-Greek faith . "When Nicholas had produced this desired result , he caused a medal to be struck , recording the incorporation of the United Greeks with the Orthodox ( Russian ) Church . It ran as follows : — " Separated by - violence in 159 G , re-umted by love in 1839 . "
There , ye Exeter Hall hypocrites , bigots , and fools , ye who " strain ^ at a gnat and sw allow a camel , " , who compass sea and land to save Hindoos , Hottentots , &c , Ac , from the tyranny to which their spiritual chiefs subject them , read the above account of the wrongs of your fellow Christians , and blush for your heartless indifference to their sufferings . Convinced by long experience that the Polish people are unconquerable , their savage persecutor adopts every possible effort to keep under and reduce the population . To effect this , besides the banish ment and incorporation into the Russian armies , o f large masses of Poles , no Pole , without a special permission , is permitted to marry before the age of thirty ; but this is not the worst , we have now to relate a series of inhuman atrocities , unmatched in history , unless we except the slaughter of the " lnnocenta" by Heeod .
SEIZURE ASD DESTRUCTION OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN , An ukase , dated 1832 , authorised the police to seize all children who were orphans , or the offspring of poor persons , to internate them into Bussia , and bring them up in the Greek religion . In two days , seven hundred were sent off to Warsaw , amidst the despair and imprecations of their parents , who followed till exhaustion obliged them to abandon the convoy . The children of all those who had fought in the Polish armies were subjected to the same fate , and it is calculated that some thousands of those belonging to individuals who were obnoxious to the government , were seized in the bosoms of their families in a like manner . Soon after this , a diabolical means was resorted to , of saving the police trouble , which , till known , was used throughout the country , particularly in the large towns .
Scarcity and famine , which embarrass other governments , proved a useful auxiliary to . the Russian ; and charity was used as a lure to reach its victims . The police declared that they were to draw up lists of the indigent , for the purpose of affording them relief in food , and ' remitting their burthens . All who were in that condition were invited to declare it . As soon as the lists appeared completed , the police , condemning the applicants on their own showing , relieved them indeed , —but it was of their childrea , who were thus collected without trouble . When this experiment was exhausted , razzias were made in all the parochial schools of the large towns , — even in thtse of charitable institutions , the ' schools forthe soldiers' children , and the foundling hospitals .
This constant drain of the inhabitants , but especially of the youth of the country , proceeds augmenting systematically . A larger number were transplanted in 1843 than in 1842 , and a larger number in 1814 than in 1843 . It is in pursuance of a plan for transplanting , as far as possible , the Polish population , and dispersing it over Russia . Of these children it is calculated that more than one-third never reach the place of their destination . In 1833 and 1833 , before this service was organised , those that fell from exhaustion were abandoned by the roadside , with a few pounds of black bread beside them ; and the number confided to theeaeortwas recruited further on .
What language of denunciation can sufficiently characterise the abomination of these atrocities ? Is there not some chosen curse , Some hiddea thunder in the stores of heaven , Rod with uncommon wrath , to blast the man , Who owe ? bis greatness to a people / I ruin *
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Let us hear no more of the maudlin cant whioh would excuse tyrants their crimes because forsooth they don t know they are doing MrongC ) , because tiey have been so taught , 80 trained , &c . The miscreams live in no fool ' s paradise , not knowing good frem evil , wrong from right . Will any maudlin philosopuer grayely assure us that ths modern HimoDis satisfied in his own conscience that his wholesale child-murdering ^ right and justifiable ? We hear much in these canting daya , of "the sacredness of human life , " and the principle is twisted into a safe-. T-fif" . no tiooi * tiAniA .. _*• m _ . _ . * *
guard for tyrants , to save them from the merited reward of their crimes ; but the life of a mad dog is not sacred in our eyes , ana aa little sacred do we re « gard the lives ot Imperial beasts of prey , who ravage nations , and , wolf-like , tear infant children from their mother ' s breasts to g orge their ravenous appetite for blood . Aa we read the following , we , from our hear t ' s inmost depths , curse the drivelling morality that influenced the men who , having their country ' s fate in their hands , threw away their glorious chance , and to save mere units enanredthe destruction of thousands , and the misery of millions .
CONSPIRACY AGAISST THE AUTOCRAT . At the coronation of Nicholas at Warsaw , the expedientbad been adopted by the conspirators of freeing their country by the massacre of the imperial family , of which all the members , as well as nearly every personage of note in the empire , were there assembled , and which denied unconsciously between the students of the cadetschools , * whose muskets were loaded with ball-cartridge , whilst every avenue of escape was occupied by the confederates . At the eleventh hour , a ceunter-order came from their chiefs , who were unwilling , on due reflection , to sully their ' cause by such a massacre ; and the family of Romanoff was saved .
Men who conspire to crush tyranny should remember that " revolutions are not wade with rosewater . " The imbecility which covers ; itself with the cloak of a spurious morality may be , and often has been more fatal to the interests of the oppressed , than all other causes of failure combined . In the month of August last year , twenty-one eon spirators were condemned to Siberia ; in October , eighty-two } yet itt spite of this an attempt Was * shortly afterwards made to assassinate the police ' master of Warsaw . Many were arrested : the aceused were tortured in many ways , especially by giving them salted food , without water . Several were condemned to be knouted . and all died under the
infliction ; the executioner continuing to strike the dead bodies . With the torturing to death efScigenht , and Levitoux , and the recent hanging of Peioisei , Zabssi , and Kocsiszewski , and theksouting to death of Madame KnosNOwsE ^ and other victims , our readers are familiar . But , "let us , " in the words of the author of this work , " close this chapter of horrors ; it may suffice to show that the Poles , without being turbulent , dissatisfied , or unruly , would be unworthy of the respect of Englishmen , if all their thoughts and energies were not directed to overthrow a domination of which they have had such terrible experience , and which still weighs like a fearful nightmare on their country . "
t& * Next Tweek | we will re-publish froni the Reforme , an account , by an eye-witness , of the Gallician massacres prompted by the infernal Austrian government .
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* It was not a cadet school , but the school of Porte-Emeimies . —EA . N . S .
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THE INSURRECTION IN PORTUGAL . Ter the last few weeks we have reported the progress of agitation and revolt in Portugal , and in our last number we had the gratification of announcing the fall of the Cahral administration ; we think however that a more detailed account than has yet appeared in our columns will be interesting to our readers , more particularly as the insurrection is sot yet over , and may before the end comes produce most serious results not only in Portugal but Spain also . We nave compiled the None can deny the talent of the two brothers , Oabraes . But they went too far—they trusted too much to themselves , and were certain that by paying well the army and their friends- —keeping them pleased , that they could do anything they pleased . To keep the army in their favour , they paid them very well , and they gave to the
commanding officers and some of the captains , &c , gratificacoens , through the secret-service money ; this is to say , they did not care for the rest of the nation , and they acted as if the whole nation was comprised in the ministry and the army . Net minding the public distress , the total stagnation of trade , they increased the expense of the civil list , by augmenting the number of the public functionaries , and creating new courts , tribunals , and God knows what , to satisfy those who had been useful to them at the elections , and keep' them from publishing all their msntenvm ; the present CorteB being entirely composed of public functionaries , or of persons depending upon government . They established new sanatory laws to oblige and reward the services rendered them , at the last elec tions , by the country surgeons and apothecaries ; these laws imposed heavy taxes upon all the shops selling any
sorts of eatables or drinkables , go much so that a . taverna selling twenty-five Sardinhas , some wine , bread , and onions , of which all the stock ) s not worth six shillings , was obliged to pay twelve ' shillings ; aHd when those people think proper they carried away all the stock , under the pretext that they are not in good condition . No one , no matter poor or rich , in any village , could be buried without a certificate from the surgeon , paying for it from four to six shillings . The fees to the curates had been also much altered . They altered completely the method of taxation , and imposed direct and personal taxation , msch heavier than before , and quite on a n » w system , of which the people had no idea , and they appointed to have this new law executed , people unfit for it , and who had not the proper manners to deal with them . For the new direct taxation , every one was obliged to declare the
property each one possessed , where it was situated , and their exact limits letmfmiiaeotw ); heavy taxation , oppression of the magistrates , and an undue hand in exciting the people , and showing to them how this excess of taxation was misapplied to useless expenses , to keep an army of janissaries , and to enrich a few , who but a short time back were beggars . Women , or men dressed in women's clothes , were the first in the Minho to rise against the authorities and the military ; they had the better ef them : encouraged by it , the different parishes rose en masse , and attacked the troops , atGuimaraes and Braga , and fought desperately . When government could n » longer conceal the doings from the public , and a force of six thousand men was marching upon Oporto , they applied to the Cortes to grant them the suspension of the guarantees , and an authorisation to place the revolted
country under martial law : and they passed a law making the whole province answerable for the loss that these people might occasion which law was sanctioned by the Cortes by a large majority . Some troops were imme . diitely sent to Oporto , the 16 th Regiment , Commander Tahorda , wth Joseph Caliras , to whom the Queen wrote a earta regia , granting him full powers over the whole country revolted , and over all the civil and military . Jose Cabral , in arriving at Oporto , instead of looking into the grievances of the people , and forgetting that the Minho is the most populous Province in Portugal , the best soldiers and the bravest , and that every man there has been - a soldier , ordered a few hundred men , divided in three columns to march against them , and to carry everything by sword and fire . Tabordo
proceeded to carry out the minister ' s order by delivering up the town of Villa Nova de Tamelicao to plunder , setting fire to property , violating women , and shooting the prisoners who unfortunately fell into their hands . These and other like proceedings exasperated the people against the military , and more particularly against the 16 th Regiment , to such a degree , that they solemnly swore their destruction , which they very nearly accomplished . The hatred against the military goon spread all over the country . To enter on the detail of the different movements of the troops and the encounters with the Sublevauos , would be a too long tale ; the fact is the troops were beaten everywhere , the people fought bravely and desperately , and in some places the troops would not fight against the peeple but have joined them .
In Oporto , Cabral distributed arms to the Cabos de Seguranca ; hut finding out big error , he wanted to have them disarmed ; they refused , and fought against the troops ; being without ammunition they retreated and joined the Sublevados . Oporto was therefore for some days in the greatest consternation , and ready to explode and take revenge on Cabral , whose barbarity was such tbat he ordered to set firs to a house because they fired from it upon him . The whole of Minho and Trasos Montes being in arms , the people in such force that they attacked and besieged Melgaeo andValenca , and troops in Trasos Monte g joining the Sublevados ; the Beiralta , with Vfaan being also in arms , everything being ready at Combra and all over the country , Cabral at Oporto being guarded by his friends to save him from assassination , the government being without troops , the whole army amounting to scarcely 8 . 000 men , and without money , the people of TrasysMonteB having formed a junta at Villa
Rea l , with Son Fernando , son of Count of "Villa Seal , at the head ; the people having proclaimed " Death to the Cabraes ; " the insolent dictator deemed it prudent to decamp . It" was with difficulty that he could get out of Oporto . On his arrival at Lisbon a Cabinet Council was immediately assembled—the news of his arrival , of the state of the northern provinces , and of the Beria Alto , was iu every body ' s mouth , and produced the greatest excitement . On Sunday evening ( the 24 th ult . ) , Ministers , much against their will , tendered their resignation , whic the Queen accepted apparently , and Count de Villa Real was called to form the new Administration , with ins true tiong toformit of persons in the interests of Cabral ; he work ed hard but could find no one who would accept it . In the meantime the officers commanding the corps of the garrison , were called to know if they could answer for their corps , 'and would support Ministers ; they did not nee ; three of them declaring that their duty wag to
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obey , bat not to support men in power ; they were d }« ea and cajoled to make a representation to the Queen , asking to keep the same Ministry , aa it was indecorous to yield to the voice of the people ; they , the same three , refused to do so—some very threatening scenes took place . The Duke de Palmella was next sent for by the Queen to form a ministry . In this Palmella was not immediately Bucceg&fttl , and several days of anarchy succeeded . The run upon the Bank , and the several companies allowed to wsue paper notes , was immense , and the Bonk paid in silver in three days , abdnt 600 contos ( £ 135 , 000 at 54 per 1000 ) . In the impossibility of continuing thepaymentof the notes , they presented an address to the Queen , in which they declared the impossibility to meet the notes , on account of the great debt of Government , andthe difficutties arising in coniequenco of the state of the eountry
and prajing the QueQn to order thftforcea cirtnlation of the notes , and allow them three months to meet them , ordering at the same time that no one might refuge to re . ceive them in private transactions , except in foreign bills , it is easy to form an idea of the impression such a step caused , the more so as all the companies and savings ' banks took advantage from it , and formally stopped payment . Government , afraid of some popular movement in the capital , had ordered on the 23 rd tho elosinj ? of all the receiving and paying houses , that is to say , Custom House , Jcc and of this order the bank and the companies took advantage , to the great detriment of the public , many bills of very respectable houses were protested . It being Saturday , when private accounts had to be settled , it wns a great annoyance to the public , and on the 25 th , the government order was published . ' allowing them the three months as above mentioned . '
The Bank of Lisbon was established in 1821 by the Cortes sitting after the popular movement of 1820 . The King , Don John TI . ; by a decreer of the 7 th of June , 1824 , granted the bank some privileges—a charter" for thirty years from that date , and that it was to have a enpital of 2 , 400 contos ( £ 540 , 009 at 54 per l , 0 W reis ); it was afterwards authorised in 1827 , to increase its capital Sy 2 , 500 contos more ( £ 585 , 000 . ) The capital , therefore , of the Bank of Lisbon k 5 , 000 ' eontoB , say £ 1 , 325 , 000 , at tfre exchange of 54 dollars per 1 , 000 reis . The bank is allowed tO ; issaer netes , with such circumspection that it may ncrer be forced to defer or interrupt , the payments . In anotiier place it is left to the discretion of the directors to buy Government securities , but never to endanger the inv terests of the bank , and it is positively enacted tbat the directors of the bank are nevrer to make loans , or enter
into transactions with' the Government without assembling the shareholders , and have , their consent for it , The bank is also authorised t » discount bills , and lend money upon safe guarantees . The Government , for some years past , has had a direct influence in the election of the Governor ( President ) and Directors of the Bank ; consequently , the election has fallen upon persons in their own interest . Though they have assembled at different periods , the general assembly o ? the shareholders to obtaiu their consent (» contract with government , the influence , both of the'government and their friends has been such , that they have contrived , notwithstanding the juat opposition of these shareholders who know their own infsrests , to obtain' thsir consent ; sometimes with certain restrictions , and sometimes with ' out ; the consequence , therefore , is , tbat tne government is indebted to the bank , fo * between three and four contos of reis , that is to say , £ 67 S > , & 00 and £ 900 , 008 * ,. The loan made upon securities ig about three hundred and fifty contos ( £ 76 > 750 ); the Bank haa noire cold and'silvcrbars .
It is not rightly ascertained ! the amount of the notes they have oat , but no one doubts that it exceeds their capital . It is manifestly known- that government are indebted to the Bank and to these companies for very large amounts advanced by , them upow the revenue ; that is to say , the whole public revenues are mortgagad to the Bank and this company for some- ; years to come ; and it must be the most difficult task of She Ministers to-find oat the means of defraying tne current expenses . Fine promises have already passed between Palmella and'the Bank directors , as well as those of the companies , but people doubt much of their mutual sincerity . Those loans and advances made , to the government were of such immense advantage to the parties making them ; thay even if they lose half it will be a very profitable affair . A general and total bankruptcy is feared . The pronnnciamentos continued , on the 20 th , Almada , Carilhas , and all the small places on the south side of the Tagus , opposite to Lisbon , made . their pronunciamento , deposed the authorities , and appointed others .
We have now to record a shameful and brutal massacre ef the unarmed people . Thursday , the 21 st , the day after the packet left , was holiday or saint ' s < Jay , { and the panic which already existed in all classes of society was increased by the augmented numbers of soldiery parading the streets and formed into strong guards in the public squares . The curiosity of the people was naturally excited at a measure , which from their existing tranquil conduct , appeared wholly uncalled-for asd ill-timed . Groups were ordered to disperse from the squares , and a park of artillery and platoons were placed at the entrances of the streets to intimidate an inoffensive people dressed in their holiday suits and armed with walking canes , and deprived of their customary privilege of crossing the Tagus in the small steamers which ply every half hoar for that purpose , or of their harmless promenade in tbe
magnificent square of the Terreiro de Faco , facing the river , now the scene of so much warlike preparation and anti . cipated feud . These wholly unncessary steps were the forerunner and provoker of a demonstration of dissatisfaction and juBt irritation on . the part of the people , which , however , merely showed itself in an obstinacy to resist the same . feeling ' of . pertinacity in the . troops . They were then charged by the patrols of lancers , and maltreated and driven by the infantry , and several were badly wounded . The cavalry and infantry ' of the municipal guard and 7 th Regiment of Foot then made their appearance , and after some useless hissing , hooting , and pelting , the troops fired vollies , and ten or twelve people were killed . At night the guard-houses were set fire to , and universal terror reigned . On the following morning , the now frightened Queen issued the following proclamation : —
PROCLAMATION OF TBE QUEEN . The evils which afflict the Portuguese nation , so worthy of being free and happy , deeply afflict my heart . The complaints of the people cannot be otherwise than listened to by me , when they are made known to me . The state of the nation imperiously demands the application of immediate and efficacious remedies , with which my Government is about to occupy itself incessantly . The ordinary session of the Cortes will he immediately closed . The sanitary laws , and those for the reform of the system of taxation , are going . to'be abolished by a royal decree , which the Cortes wfll in due time be made acquainted with . The eminent public opinion , tke best counsellor in representative Governments , will serve as a becon light to my Government , and the freedom of the press is already in force . :
Portuguese—The establishment of order and respect to the laws is at the present moment the primary necessity , and my greatest desire consists in the . cessation of the disastrous effects of the public inquietude—this state is indispensable in order that the government may occupy itself with urgency , and , at the same time , with confidence in whatever be necessary for the people really to enjoy the benefit and effects of the constitutional charter . Jly actual Ministers are commissioned by me to form the projects of law which may most tend to the furtherance of economy in the public finances , and the satisfying the principal necessities of administration and justice . The national representation will be convoked the moment the tranquillity of . thecountry permits , for only then can this representation be real and competent to transact the public affairs . '
Portuguese , confide in me , as I equally confide in the honour of this nation , which , with so much valour and loyalty restored to me my Grown , and the -liberty of the country , the keeping an 4 preservation of which are objects ef my greatest solicitude . Toe Qdeen . Duke of Palmella . - ' ' Duke of Tebceira . Court of Belem , May 21 , 184 C . The signature of Terceira in the above proclamation called forth against him the public hatred , and no confidence was placed in such a paper . Many proclamations were then published , some calling the people to arms , and not to allow more doubt and procrastination ; amongst them , one signed " M ., " which is an exact description of the country during the late administration ; we give it as follows : —
POBTUGUESE , The general rising of the nation , recently ridiculed by half-a-dozen scoundrels , has sufficiently pointed out to you the path you have to follow . The Janizaries of Lisbon are few and cowardly ; they scour the streets of the capital to impose , and where there is imposition there is no force . The troops are ready to follow you , but they know not the will of the people , because they are deceived . The liberty of the press , one of the most precious guarantees of the Constitutional Government , has been wrested from you , and the Diario do Governo , organ of the Ministers , contains nothing hut falsehood .
At the moment when the people of the Minho were valorously fighting , deprived . perhaps , of their daily bread , everything in tbe capital appeared to abound in wealth and rejoicing , the Queen visited the theatres ; tbe Ministers , during the day , rode in their gilded can .-iages , and at night were closed with those deputies a 1 ectr ; a at the point of the bayonet , for the purpose of contriving means to oppress and deceive the people . The ministers of religion—the Pattia xch and Bishops , prostituted their characters in counsel Jing and approving the sanguinary laws of extermination ., The money of the taxes disappeared in balls and splendid banquets , given by a handful o / usurious money-len . ders , who , in conjunction with t '/ ie Cabraes and other Ministers , have absorbed in scandalous and clandestine contracts the revenues of tl \ e nation . And do these miscreants persuade themselves , that in the midst of banquets and bacchanalian orgies , the fate of a virtuous nation is decided t ,
No , people—for you iuve in your hands arms which you must not lay down , For a length of time Palaces have been purchased , and immense suras deposited in foreign countries safe from the justice of the peeple . Robbery was the fundamental base of the edifice of the Cabrws ; they even dragged the Ouecn to Thomar , and ,
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witnm * "' 8 name ' P re 8 ente ' 110 her a C " stle > richlJ adorned _ ; er ^ ult of much infamy and immorality . Still flu 1 ? want x ° deceive you , to induce you to depose your - ams a'od i > return to power . Way does i *>* ConT 6 showltstlf theenemy of thePeople , who with tll'e sweat tf / their brow , sustains its magnificeniff ? Why does not t . ' ie Queen ap > V > int a Ministry that is pepular ? Do you nv » t see in the itfnistry the Duke of Terceirs , who has beetf battling against the people , that he is a dirty ditftrtout of t . ' ie Court , and the accomplice of the Cabraes ? What confidence can he merit from you ? People , be on th \ s alert ? The Cabraes are still in Lisbon hidden in the houso of a foreign Minister , and the Court continues in its blindness . It is necessary for es ' ery one to be firm to his duty , and to prevent assassination and robbery . Without having obtain'ed a popular Ministry , and new Cortes , do not lay down yo ur arms ! People , be on the alert !
On the 2 * th , arrived thC Archduke Constantine of Russia , to whom no attention was paid , and he went about in a hackney carriage .. » Q" the 25 th the Cortos were dissolved , which was agreea *! k . * to the people , and new ones are to bo assembled on tiVift 1 st of September next . On the same day the tvoops ser # 36 resist the Pronunciatos at Cacithas and Almada being tut tacked , were forced to retreat to Lisbon . On the 26 th the new ministry was formed as follows : — President and Finance—Duke- « f P . almella . Home Department—Luiz da jSiinv Mouzinho Albuquerque . Foreign Affairs—Count Lavradio .-War—Marquis Saldanha . , ¦ Marine—Joze Jorge Loureiro . Justice—Joaquim Felippe de Soure . - \
we must now return to the Cabral . »; . 5 r 3 t . . ° dunnythe the above events hid themselves , in th * -f 5 r > t instance in the Carmo barracks , the chief quarters afitlfce Municipal Guard , and there endeavoured , but in vaiftj . So stimnfate the military , through the Deputy , Major J&aqaa ' ui Bento , and otherB of their partisans , to an arme ^ moTt nien t in their favour . Tfte two Cabrnls now drea » J 4 ti' Je st they might be betrayed , and betook themselves tC'thf house of the Spanish Minister , Gonzalez Bravo . Fr 0 , tn this they proceeded under the escort of a fcWMfa crew , armed to the teeth with cutlasses and pi . Ufcfe under the cloud of the night to a French brig of 57 Sr T » hich happened to be lying in the river . Here tlfity \ wero at least safe , and remained for threee or feiff cfa . , while the flameB of insurrection was raging oh' Iic 0 . H 1 banks of the TdkuBi themselves tho cause . GSlen
their eyes were anxiously turned in the dieeotSon of the Cortes , in the neighbourhood of which , witftm a few months , one nao moved , into a fine palace ; . ani the other was in the act of finishing a still more- ntngrnificent palace in a style of splendour tarely seen ' ' in tho Pertuguese metropolis . It is generally agreeo ^ fo have been most signal impolicy in Costa Cabral , rtret sort of madness , in fact , " which precedes destruction ?' to employ forty labourers daily , for months past , in 1 the completion of this sumptuous . ediSce , a me--nument of hatrud iu the eyeg of the Lisbon people ; who could not fail , as they passed , to compare tlii » splendour with the Balary ( £ 700 a-year ) which the Minister legitimately possessed . This egregious folly—this popularly regarded " Castle plunder , " contributed as much as anything else to his downfall . It was the
universal-supposition , that the excited populace , maddened by his escape from their clutches , would have set his palace in a blaze to light him out of the river . This they did not do , however , either moderated by their victory , or kept in restraint by the Municipal Guard . Costa Cabral had nvoved his most valuable effects to the Estrella Convent , and his brother had moved his to another place of security . These they are said to- have managed to remove on board the French Erij * , and the' fairy tales do not exceed the rumours afloat amongst the populace about the wealth which their boxes-contained . Of course , no one but those concerned knows snythir . g on the . subject , but it is currently said , that no means of making money were neglected By the two brothers . The next Bight CarcWlas
and Almada were in active insurrection , and the rattling musketry of the skirmish between the people and soldiery could be heard by the Cabrals , who-were ' conscious Ihat ¦ they were the cause . This , too , passed over , butoffirred 'little encouragement to remain in the French brig r which ' could not leave the river without special orders , and the Gabrals apprehended a coup de main by the . Exnltado-populace in boats tb seize them from on board the brig , a » d cnt them to pieces-. Accordingly as the Paelia Peninsular steamer which arrived on Sunday from Englan-d vr » s saSing out of the Tagus , they moved alongside of her , were towed past the town of Beloa , and then wentro » board of lier , and proceeded to Cadiz , where they now are vegetating like Milivat Marseilles .
Ore the 30 th ult . the Queen , after much difficulty , signed a decree , granting a-general amnesty , to the Almedra insurgents , and re-establishing them to their ranks and places- On the same day news was received from Oportothat the new Governor , Visconde de B ' eive , had liberated the political prisoners whom Jose Cabral had confined , they were brought intothe city in a triumphal procession . The armed Minho peasants were still encamped , and whether they would return to their homes at the-bidding of the new government was- much doubted . The walls of thecaphal continue to be covered with predamatkmswarning the people not to lay down their arn » without having proper guarantees .. The state of affairs in Portugal caused' considerable uneasiness at Madrid , and fears were entertained that the movement would extend itself to Spain .
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TRIAL OF LECOMTE FOR ATTEMPTING TO ASSASSINATE LOUIS PHILIPPE . Paris , June i . The trial began on Thursday . M . Hebert , Procureur-Goneral , and M . Bresson , Avocat-General , conducted tb ? prosecution > M , Duvergier , the defence . The accused was brought into court , escorted by four gensdarmes . Bis step was firm , and Imdemeanonr composed ; and as ha stood at the bar he gazed around him with a calm and deliberate air , wholly free from insolence or affectation . He is a stout-built man , about five feet eight inches high ; 48 years of age ; with black hair , closely cropped ; short , thick moustache , and was attired in a suit of black . When his counsel took his seat , he rose and bowed to him , and resumed his place with the indifference of a spectator .
The proceedings opened witli the calling over the names 0 / the Peers , of whom 200 and upwards answered to their names . This completed , theChancellor inquired of the accused his name . He rose and replied respectfully , " Pierre Lecomte . " The witnesses were then admitted , 44 or 45 in number , and then ( he Secretary of the Chamber read at length the "Acte d'Aecusation , " which comprised a long resume of tho transaction , with ' many details as to Lecomte ' s previous life , and arguments as to his motives and conduct before nnd since the attempt , to Tvhichhe listened with the same air of composure as at first . The names of the witnesses were then read over , and they withdrew , except the Comte de Montaliret ! The Chancellor ' then interrogated Lecomte as to how and when he left Paris on the ISth of April—of his attempt on the king—his motives , < kc , to which , with much alacrity , and at times , when he spoke of his fancied wrongs , with
much vehemence , the accused replied , saying , he bad reached Fontainebleau on the morning of tbe 16 th April , concealed bis carbine in the forest , taken his breakfast at Yalvins ( two miles distant ) , returned to the Parquet d'Avon , an enclosure in the park , where he loaded both barrels of his carbine , and piled some faggots , to enable him to stand and fire from behind the wall , but the noise of wheels having made-him ascend the pile hastily , hetmd only got up in time to see the carriage abreast of him . He had then fired both barrels , and missed tbe king by firing too much to the right , in order that he might not hit any other persons in the char-a-banc . As to his motives , he said all bis applications for a sum to recompense his loss of salary and place were Vefussd ; he had but a miserable pittance , to be paid only during the life of the king . None of his letters of remonstrance were answered , and then he resolved to shoot the king .
The Comte de Montalivet , Intendant de la Lists Civile , who was with the king in the carriage at the time Lecomte fired , then deposed to the fact of the two shots being heard , which whistled close to his left ear . The king said ealmly to the postilions , who bad stopped , — " Proceed , proceed ; " and tke queen , having picked up a piece of wadding between herself and the king , they proceeded to the chateau de Fontainebleau , when , on examining the carriage , he found several bullet and shot holes in the roof . The Comte then gave a long account of Lecomte ' s service in the woods of the royal family , hisconduct , and dismissal from the royal service . Lecointa denied some of the details , but in a very trifling degree and mainly as to a point of date . M . de Montalivet on being asked by Lecomto's Couxeel said his behaviour as ffarde-forestier bad been pretty good as far as he personally knew .
AuguatinGoJua ^ aiUfiKetirin the King ' s Stp . blWv at Pontaiubleau , was outrider to the cbar-a-ban ( , o » , the 16 th of April , and beard the shots fired ; he stop-fwd ' , but the Queoa cited "En Awunt , ' an& be desired the postillions to . advance whilst he waited with Jlilct aai others to watA the . RwouflJ d'Avon , and prevent any « ae from escaping . Joseph Borel , a Lieutenant of the 1 st Vegiment oi Hussars quartered at Fontainbleau , was oni , . of the escort on the 16 th of April ; saw Lecomte ( whom , be identified ) whenseiaedbyMilet , and helped to esc ort him to-the guard-house .
Charles Gournay , the Captain comtD . anding the- Gendarmerie of the Seine and Marne , was on duty , on the 16 th of April , at Fontainbleau , on hor seback , behind the carriage . Heard a shot fired—looked uPj anu gaw a man , half of whose form was visible ,, and who was armed with a gun , aimed in the direction , of the King looked and saw no one was hurt ; put hi ' i horse into a gallop , and then heard a second shot ; rdaced his men round the Parquet A * Avon , saw Lecomte aj .-rive with Milet and lieutenant Deflandre ; beard Leccjnte say before the prefect , " The king is not hurt—so 1 ^ uc h the better for him : he is luckier than I am . "
Pierre Milet , a groom ; in the King ' s sen ice , was out with the carriage on thv i ( jth . Heard the shots fired , looked tip and saw a r iian in a blouse with a handkerchief tied round his mout ' , !; jumped off his horse , entered by a gate , then , placing i , js horse against the wall , put his foot on the aaftdkj , and thus climbed upon and over the wall—saw a m 9 , n scrambling over a heap of faggots , in order to gat ov , er the wall , ran to him , seized his gun , and arrested , him in the king ' s name . He made no resistance , but appeared surprised . Lieutenant Deflandre ar . vcd : witness took off Lecomto ' s blouse , and found in
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his jacket a phial , a small uiirror , aad some powder and ball in a paper . . .- ¦ -.-- * This evidence was confirmed by Lieutenant Deflandre , who added many details . He stated that when he arrived where Milet was , who cried for "help , "he saw Lecomte , who said , ,. Vm caught . lt wa 8 T wh 0 djd u „ Witnes , did not rccoBuise him at first , until he said , " You know me very well , Lieutenant ; I am Lecomte . IhaTeplayed tor high stakes , and I have lost the game . " The next witness was M . de Monicault , prefect at Melan , who attended the kinf on the day of the attempt . He repeated the circumstances of it , and added , that on his coming up with Lecomto ,-nlien in custody , and on
his way to Fontainebleau , he heard him say , " The king is not wounded , he is mom fortunate than I am " W&en they had arrived at the prison , Lecomte declared that JlB had intended to kill the King , and had come to Fontainbleau for that purpose . ' ? Colonel Berryer , who was with the King , deposed that after Lecomte was arrested he said , in answer to the questions of theprefect , * 'I had to complain of the conservator of the Crown Forests . I ad * dressed the intemlatits , and was from thence referred to the conservator . This wns trifling with me , and I resolved to be revenged . I have only one thing to hinme myself for . I placed myself badly , and regret it . The King has profited by it , I shall be blamed , but I have as much heart and as much honour as those who will blame
me . " M . Cante , a gunsmith , identified the gun produced in court . ' Denele , a corporal of the 1 st Hussar ? , deposed that he had seen Lecomte in the morning- before the attempt , in company with another person , but he could dot swear that they were talking together . IIu had previously seen him three or four times alone . — Other witnesses gave similar testimony , and . Lecomte observed that what tbe witnesses stated was improbable , Hevwould hardly have exposed himself in 3
place where he could be recognised , as he Was so well ; known at Fontainebleau . r ' " ; M . Hebert de la Grave knew Lecomte when Secretary I of the Inspection of Torosts of Villiers Cotteyfite in 1880 , ; and also in B 33 , when under the ofdefs of the witness . i He described him as of un eccentric , tacitutn , sombre , violent and vindictive character , severe to hiSsubordisxttcs , and nstless uwJJerfliesothorrty of his superiors , tr . t \ rtg tb hls-eaefessive pride and st ! f-h > Ve . He lived alone wiifflouffriend wcortipunfttt ' , but hi ? conduct »«» regular , an * liis-exnctitirfo and' proBity Were irreproachable . Ho was-considered aiv excellent marksman .
M , Savoie , an JnSpectbr is ? Grown Forests , said ? he neverfod'tb -eomprata' of EQOomtp .. Ilis tatelKjgeilce wa * limited 1 ,- bnt he always-did cSterTully v / liat tne vtittreia comniaao-efd . He lifted to live alone , and'hel'df no commanicattbaii'itlr'liis-saUOfdinatBiT , except oa matters ot duty . 11 \> r probity was- unqiiestsorihlile - , Slid nothing could hare-infduced hinJ'io'violate Sis duties . M . Le ffJieJ , ' Who had ^ iVeifLeconrSe'le ' al'e of absSftee it * 1838 for illness ; was called to give evi 3 erice as tc > tile state ; i of his mind . Ifch ' nd bee : * saia"thattfils-witrie 33 ! liad de-! c 3 ared Lecoitfte to be deift'ttgcd . ' lie' deposed Ihat thainwnd of LecwrrW was in' sc sttstfe-of ' escitevJierii ; antftbat'he' . needed repose- ? -huilie nad aever imagined'that hewa » jinsane . M . Ditargier a 9 ked the wlln' 6 ss rfnettfer , ar the Wparior of Lecomfe ; hfe had r . wtoraerea Kim to be ' severe ! towards his inferiors . - The \ v ?< ii « ss replied that he had ' ordered him to eafsree the rulesrof ' trfe service , btet tober Mfedferale .
W . Jallon , a pnyiicinn at OneBhto ,- deposed to hi * having attended Letiotiitewhilst l&bouring under sin affec--tion ' of Jhe chest . Efe'had given' ^ im a certificate' as tohis state of health , ia'&rder that ifemfgh ' t ' obtain leave of absence-. In answe ^ 'to a question from the PVesMent , the witness stated tftffBhe had fou ' iTd notrnce of insanity in the prisoner , nor'Had'lie ' ever'thought of ' look'ing-for any symptoms of the IJiikd ; M . Lecrone was thrnext witriess ' examined , itat'hi *' evidenes'was immoteriatf . Samson ; a guard in t \\ Crown Forests , deposed that he had sewed under tfiV orders of ? Jeeomte , buVhadS never beemwn good terms' with him . 3 eliad heard hitnV when speaftjng of both ttie"present and the old -royalfamily , mutosr words bet-. « en his teeth which' he ^ ' could * not distinctly make out . '
¦ The evidence of the neat Witness , DeiRfrrc , merely went to the fact of his having known thfe- prisoner in » 1139 and 1840 yand of- their'having taken their'meals together at Fontanebleau . ' Ifecomte had 'once asked his ' opinion as to itte capitnllsatSon"of his pension , when hs > - had told him tfciafr-his ' claims were' not well founded . ' If . Marrier Ae Bois d'fl ' yrer , ' inspector ^ of ' forests ,-deposed that he'had frequenrintmourse with tn ' e prisoner during th * last four years .- He considered him asa man of a vary violent and proud character , morose ; ' and taciturn , and c&pable of goitigtogreiit extremities -wheuthwarted . On .-me' -occasion ; - ia-partieulnr ; lie remembered his eominptO'liim in a great'passion and asking :
him if he meant it as an insulttf his -having placed' -h » name on some ofTMat * -paper belowanother name whichwas written on it . lie , the - witness ; 'had ' replied that nothing was further -from-his intention , - whi Jh Lecomte ought to have heea" « iware of' as-he'sawhim . writcthe name in great hurry > jusc as he was about to-mouut his horse . The answer ? however , tiki-toot pacify . Mmy and' he appeared much exeitedi - On aaether occasion" he 'had given way to much : violence on the-occasion of having ! 20 fr . of his pay stopped for ¦ some breach" of '' duty . Lecomte was , howcarer . i a man of great energy-of character , ani capable of- 'masterir . g : his-temper wheu ' -he thought proper .
The prisoner denfad'the assertion'of this witness , and said that he had himself admitted ' thut - the punishment inflicted on him wae-cnjusti M . de Sahune , conservator op forests ,- deposed that be had seen Lecomte tor- the firatitime on a tsur-of'inspection at Villars-SbttCTets .- Ba-hnd Teceivedni satis * factory account of his . activity and intelligence , but-was told that he was severe -towards -his inferiors . He had taken him aside and- 'aiade some a-biserration'to him-oB--the subject , which , ifheremeaibesed . a'ight . -wera properly received . His conduct , . liowuvev ; did not alter ; and'he bad consequently proposed to tbe > Iritendant General tostop from him tlie-iafual'annual-gratification . He had . afterwards ordered 4 twenty francs-to be deductcnV in consequence of his disobedience to « an order given him byi
his sub-inspector . In consequence-of this , Lesomte hadi addressed a letter toihe administration ; demanding thesettlement of his pension . . He had- heard- uot £ iinxiuioreof him until in November last >; * when < : passing near the Palais Royal he w&c insulted by .-3 Un in the grossest man .. ner . He did not at ¦ first recogaieeiliiin . Ife-had'sinco frequently met him , and had' ' sveryt time received the most outrageous insults' . . He-hadin-consequencecom--plained to the Perfect of Police ^ who sent-a , polke . officerto accompany himin order thatriie might know him . On . the next occasion-. of his being insulted , tliepplice officer pursued Lecomte , and discovered his residence-. in the Rue Colyaee . He bad-been ' Sumiaoned . to-appear ; before Hiepolice authorities , and since that period-lie bad-ceased to annoy him , although 'ho had met him frequently ..
II . TheologuerJiFnder . Secr&tary of the Civil 2 d ? t , atatei that in Novemba ? Jast Lecookte came to his office to inquire the resuttxrf . his--last appliontion to the Xing ; betdid not know him , and couid not liaye . told-iiimvor . any , one else , thatoo unfavourable note had been added in , the margin when it was laid before his-Majesty . The prisoner ^ persisted in affirming tbab the witness did give him such an answer . Mme . Coc ' dois . who keags the licase-in which the , pn-. soner lodgeaf deposed that Lecomte was in the habit of , using bitten Janguage frequently , RuBier , one of . thp waiters at the lodging-house , stated that Lecomte wap rarely visited -by ar . y on » . -except a M . Braeewich , a clerk , in the offiae-of the Minister of-Foreign Affairs . That he kept verj \ early houss , and never slopti from . home . This testimony . was confirmed ty ano&tr servant of the ; house .
M . Bcacfcwich stated , thu . t " ae had heard Lecomt , e de . clare that all Frenchmen wye cowtwds ,. the Barisians , thieves ^ and . Louis Phiilippo a scoundrel , but this was ., said in such a tone that no erne couad belic , ve be meant , seriousljfvwhat he-said . Tiie Court thec proceedsdi to hear , the witnessses . for ^ the prisoner . > Th * first : callad - was Jf « Boyer , who deposed . that 1 * ?^ . comtetlived with him fcam November , igiS , till June , 184 *} aud .-tbatUe « -ns , vwyi steady and quiet during the / whole of the tisne . He- gave a ibng .-statean- nfc of a , duel » , iu . whioh he ( $ be witnsas ) wa ^ second tQ , Lecomte , who , ' aftsr having , » eceived his . adv « 6 arj ' sflrs } , di 5 cliargedUis | own pistol hvthe ' air .
The next-witnesses , were ] & Carries and M .. . Arnoult who were both . askodwheth 9 r they knew that Lecomte ^ after the Sflth of August , 18 & ; took a , jpurnRy . from Pnri& to Fontaioebleau , where they then were , but both gav . e a , negativo -answer * ~ It beiag seven o ' clock ,. t £ e Court adjourned'till , Friday . Duri » g the whole of &is long Bitting , Lecomte neverlosthia . compasuMor . sftflj / roid . ¦ ¦ lie the whole time pjiid , an undivided attention to the proceedings ;¦ was . ' . iKy . ay . Sk ready to volunteer esplanatjoas ; but never- once- inter-, rup £ ed < a- witness . QaEriday morning the Court again assemble ! . M > , Hebert , the Prwceuvcwr du R * i ,. reviewed the e « fe dance , and strongly , urged the violence of eliaratttei :- an « J ; lung premeditation agaiast Lecosate , who . had ,, he- as . ser-ted , long , matured his pla , n , and , uUbaagh . the accused denied it , had visited Fontainebleau on <;* or twice beCore the lCih of April , whea the Kiaic was t-bere .
M . Duvergier then rose to aiidrcss tho Co . uitia bahalf of the prisoner . After recapitulating thabistory of the life of Lecomtie , enlarging upon the-good conduct of Leeomte during hi& services in the army , he replied all idea of leconit ^ s having beeu impellod by political foelings , affirming that he scarcely , if eve »\ read : my of the journals . M . Ruvergior next combated the eharjre of the crime having been in premeditation from Stny , 1 SU , to- April . 181 G , and protested that there was no evidences whatever of its being ascertained till after his lett < -vs tothe King , and tho insulting language addressed to M . de , Satauno in the open street . The Learned Counsel , in , support of the brnvery and good conduct of L « corato when in the army , read a Letter from Colonel d'Argou ,
of the Chasseurs , and stilting , as a proof the generosity of his mini ) , that having , when in war , made several officers his prisoners , he refused to accept the moaey to which he was entitled for their ranKom . M . Duvergier also read a lettev from the prisoner ' s sister , written immediately after his resignation , expressing ! itr regret that her brother had suffered himself to fall into a ma « issmus and morbid excitement . While this letter was being read , the prisonci shed tears . The Lenvnci Counsel then entered into ths immediate state of L . e » comte ' o mind when he committed the attempt , represent , ing him to have vacillated and even thought of flying and abandoning his project , until he was again excited by hearing the King ' s carriage wroiw wpt "hw his sesn
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), June 13, 1846, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1370/page/7/
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