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Guesno desirous of having his papers as soon as possible went out early and directed his steps towards the Central Bureau which he had just reached when he encountered his compatriot Lesurques; having explained to him the motive that called him to the Bureau he proposed to him that they should go together |
Lesurques accepted and the Citizen Daubenton not having yet arrived they sat down in the antechamber in order to see him as he passed and thus expedite the matter |
About ten o'clock the judge who had entered his cabinet by a back door was interrupted in his examination of the documents previous to interrogating the witnesses by the officer Hendon who demanded leave to make an important communication |
"Amongst the witnesses " said he "now waiting in the antechamber are two women--one _la femme_ Santon servant to Evrard the innkeeper at Mongeron--the other _la fille_ Grossetete servant to Madame Chatelain the _limonadiere_ at Lieursaint who assert in the most positive manner that two of the assassins are there waiting like them to be admitted |
These women declare that they cannot deceive themselves for one of them served the four travellers at Mongeron and the other spoke to them at Lieursaint and stayed an hour in the billiard-room while they were playing |
" The judge could not admit the probability of two of the assassins thus voluntarily placing themselves within the grasp of the law yet he ordered the women to be shown into his presence |
On interrogation they persisted in their statements declaring that it was impossible they could deceive themselves |
Guesno was then introduced to the judge's presence the women being continued to examine him strictly before finally pronouncing as to his identity |
"What brings you to the Central Bureau?" demanded the judge |
"I come to receive my papers " replied Guesno "as you promised me yesterday that I should have them on application |
" "Are you alone?" "I have a compatriot with me one Joseph Lesurques whom I met on the way here |
" The judge then ordered the second individual designated by the women to be introduced |
It was Lesurques |
He spoke to Lesurques and to Guesno for a few minutes and then begged them to return into the antechamber where their papers would be sent to them |
An order was given however to the officer Hendon not to lose sight of them |
On their leaving the room M |
Daubenton again demanded of the women if they persisted in their declarations as to the identity of these men with the criminals they were in search of |
They replied without hesitation that they were certain of it; that they could not be deceived |
The magistrate was then forced to receive their depositions in writing and to order the arrest of Guesno and Lesurques |
From the moment of their arrest the examination proceeded with great rapidity |
Guesno and Lesurques were confronted with the witnesses brought from Mongeron and Lieursaint and were recognised by all of them! _La femme_ Santon deposed that Lesurques was the one who after the dinner at Mongeron wanted to pay in _assignats_ but that the big dark man (Couriol) paid in money |
She was positive as to Lesurques being the man |
Champeaux and his wife who kept the inn at Lieursaint were equally positive as to Lesurques being the one whose spur wanted mending and who came back to fetch the sabre which he had forgotten |
Lafolie groom at Mongeron and _la femme_ Alfroy also recognised him; and Laurent Charbaut labourer who dined in the same room with the four horsemen recognised Lesurques as the one who had silver spurs fastened by little chains to his top-boots |
This combination of testimony respecting one whom they had seen but a few days before was sufficient to leave little doubt in the mind of any one |
The trial was therefore fixed on |
The day of his arrest Lesurques wrote the following letter to one of his friends which was intercepted and joined to the documentary evidence to be examined on the trial:-- "My dear Friend --I have met with nothing but unpleasantries since my arrival at Paris but I did not--I could not anticipate the misfortune which has befallen me to-day |
You know me--and you know whether I am capable of sullying myself with a crime--yet the most atrocious crime is imputed to me |
The mere thought of it makes me tremble |
I find myself implicated in the murder of the Lyons' courier |
Three women and two men whom I know not--whose residence I know not--(for you well know that I have not left Paris)--have had the impudence to swear that they recognise me and that I was the first of the four who presented himself at their houses on horseback |
You know also that I have not crossed a horse's back since my arrival in Paris |
You may understand the importance of such an accusation which tends at nothing less than my judicial assassination |
Oblige me by lending me the assistance of your memory and endeavour to recollect where I was and what persons I saw at Paris on the day when they impudently assert they saw me out of Paris (I believe it was the 7th or 8th ) in order that I may confound these infamous calumniators and make them suffer the penalty of the law |
" In a postscript he enumerates the persons he saw on that day: Citoyen Tixier General Cambrai 'Demoiselle Eugenie Citoyen Hilaire Ledru his wife's hairdresser the workmen in his apartments and the porter of the house |
V |
--THE TRIAL AND THE BLINDNESS OF ZEAL |
MM |
Lesurques Guesno Couriol Bernard Richard and Bruer were summoned before the tribunal of justice; the three first as authors or accomplices of the murder and robbery--Bernard as having furnished the horses--Richard as having concealed at his house Couriol--and his mistress Madelaine Breban as having received and concealed part of the stolen goods--and Bruer as having given Couriol refuge at Chateau-Thierry |
The witnesses persisted in their declarations as to the identity of Guesno and Lesurques |
But Guesno established beyond all doubt the fact of his _alibi_; and Bruer easily refuted every charge that concerned himself |
Lesurques had cited fifteen witnesses--all respectable men--and presented himself at the bar with a calmness and confidence which produced a favourable impression |
Against the positive testimony of the six witnesses who asserted him to have been at Mongeron and Lieursaint on the 8th Floreal he had brought a mass of testimony to prove an _alibi |
_ Citoyen Legrand a rich jeweller and goldsmith compatriot of Lesurques was first examined |
He deposed that on the 8th Floreal--the day on which the crime had been committed--Lesurques had passed a portion of the morning with him |
Aldenof a jeweller Hilaire Ledru and Chausfer deposed that on that day they dined with Lesurques in the _Rue Montorgueil;_ that after dinner they went to a cafe took some liqueur and went home with him |
Beudart a painter deposed that he was invited to the dinner with Lesurques and his friends but that as one of the national guard he was that day on service and so was prevented attending; but that he had gone to Lesurques that very evening in his uniform and had seen him go to bed |
In support of his deposition he produced his _billet de garde_ dated the 8th |
Finally the workmen employed in the apartment that Lesurques was having fitted up deposed that they saw him at various times during the 8th and 9th Floreal |
No further doubt of his innocence now remained; the _alibi_ was so distinctly proved and on such unquestionable testimony that the jury showed in their manner that they were ready to acquit him when a fatal circumstance suddenly changed the whole face of the matter |
The jeweller Legrand who had manifested such zeal in the establishment of his friend's innocence had with an anxiety to avail himself of every trifle declared that to prove the sincerity of his declaration he would cite a fact which prevented his being mistaken |
On the 8th Floreal he had made before dinner an exchange of jewellery with the witness Aldenof |
He proposed that his ledger should be sent for as its entry there would serve to fix all recollections |
As a matter of form the ledger was sent for |
At the first glance however it was evident that the _date_ of the transaction mentioned by Legrand had been _altered!_ The exchange had taken place on the 9th and an alteration badly dissimulated by an erasure had substituted the figure 8 for the original figure 9 |
Murmurs of surprise and indignation followed this discovery and the President pressing Legrand with questions and unable to obtain from him any satisfactory answer ordered his arrest |
Legrand then trembling and terrified retracted his former deposition and declared that he was not certain he had seen Lesurques on the 8th Floreal but that he had altered his book in order to give more probability to the declaration he had determined to make in his friend's favour--of whose innocence he was so assured that it was only the conviction that he was accused erroneously which made him perjure himself to save that innocent head |
From this moment the jury received the depositions in favour of Lesurques with extreme prejudice--those already heard seemed little better than connivance and those yet to be heard were listened to with such suspicion as to have no effect |
The conviction of his guilt was fixed in every mind |
Lesurques despairing to get over such fatal appearances ceased his energetic denials and awaited his sentence in gloomy silence |
The jury retired |
At this moment a woman agitated with the most violent emotions demanded to speak to the President |
She said that she was moved by the voice of conscience and wished to save the criminal tribunal from a dreadful error |
It was Madelaine Breban the mistress of Couriol |
Brought before the President she declared that she knew positively Lesurques was innocent and that the witnesses deceived by an inexplicable resemblance had confounded him with the real culprit who was called Dubosq |
Prejudiced as they were against Lesurques and suspicious of all testimony after the perjury they had already detected the tribunal scarcely listened to Madelaine Breban; and the jury returned with their verdict in consequence of which Couriol Lesurques and Bernard were condemned to death; Richard to four-and-twenty years' imprisonment; Guesno and Bruer were acquitted |
No sooner was the sentence passed than Lesurques rose calmly and addressing the Judges said "I am innocent of the crime of which I am accused |
Ah! citoyens if it is horrible to murder on the high-road it is not less so to murder by the law!" Couriol condemned to death rose and said "Yes I am guilty--I avow it |
But Lesurques is innocent and Bernard did not participate in the murder |
" Four times he reiterated this declaration; and on entering his prison he wrote to the judge a letter full of sorrow and repentance in which he said "I have never known Lesurques; my accomplices are Vidal Rossi Durochat and Dubosq |
The resemblance of Lesurques to Dubosq has deceived the witnesses |
" To this declaration of Couriol was joined that of Madelaine Breban who after the judgment returned to renew her protestation accompanied by two individuals who swore that before the trial she had told them Lesurques had never had any relations with the culprits; but that he was a victim of his fatal likeness to Dubosq |
These testimonies threw doubt in the minds of the magistrates who hastened to demand a reprieve from the Directory which terrified at the idea of seeing an innocent man perish through a judicial error had recourse to the _Corps Legislatif;_ for every other resource was exhausted |
The message of the Directory to the Five Hundred was pressing; its aim was to demand a reprieve and a decision as to what course to pursue |
It ended thus: "Must Lesurques perish on the scaffold because he resembles a villain?" The _Corps Legislatif_ passed to the order of the day as every condition had been legally fulfilled that a particular case could not justify an infraction of decreed laws; and that too on such indications to do away with a condemnation legally pronounced by a jury would be to overset all ideas of justice and equality before the law |
The right of pardon had been abolished; and Lesurques had neither resources nor hope |
He bore his fate with firmness and resignation and wrote on the day of his execution this note to his wife:-- "_Ma bonne Amie_ --There is no eluding ones destiny I was fated to be judicially murdered |
I shall at least bear it with proper courage |
I send you my locks of hair; when our children are grown up you will divide it among them; it is the only heritage I can leave them |
" He addressed also a letter to Dubosq through the newspapers |
"You in whose place I am about to perish content yourself with the sacrifice of my life |
Should you ever be brought to justice remember my three children covered with opprobrium--remember my wife reduced to despair and do not longer prolong their misfortunes |
" VI |
--THE EXECUTION |
The 10th March 1797 Lesurques was led to the scaffold |
He wished to be dressed completely in white as a symbol of his innocence |
He wore pantaloons and frock-coat of white cotton and his shirt-collar turned down over his shoulders |
It was the day before Good Friday and he expressed regret that he had not to die on the morrow |
In passing from the prison _de la Conciergerie_ to the _Place de la Greve_ where the execution took place Couriol placed beside Lesurques in the cart cried out to the people in a loud voice "Citoyens I am guilty! I am guilty! but Lesurques is innocent |
" On arriving at the platform of the guillotine already stained with the blood of Bernard Lesurques exclaimed "I pardon my judges; I pardon the witnesses through whose error I die; and I pardon Legrand who has not a little contributed to my judicial assassination |
I die protesting my innocence |
" In another instant he was no more |
Couriol continued his declarations of Lesurques's innocence to the foot of the scaffold; and after a final appeal he too delivered himself to the executioner |
The drop fell on a guilty neck having before been stained with the blood of two innocent men |
The crowd retired with a general conviction that Lesurques had perished guiltless; and several of the judges were seriously troubled by the doubts which this day had raised in their minds |
Many of the jury began to repent having relied so on the affirmations of the witnesses from Mongeron and Lieursaint precise as they had been |
M |
Daubenton the magistrate who had first ordered the arrest went home a thoughtful man and determined to lose no opportunity of getting at the truth which the arrest of the three accomplices mentioned by Couriol could alone bring to light |
VII |
--THE PROOFS Two years passed on without affording any clue to the conscientious magistrate |