Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

'HIE BLIXD \ OF
who could do nothing else bnt he-r? Was it possible this
man's memory could retain what ho had only onoa heurd ? It
was then decided that it must be clearly proved; that he must
be confronted successively -with all the prisoners, Martel
among the number, and if, after hearing them speak, the blind
man, spontaneously, and without once hesitating, should recoguize
the -voice which had BO much struck him, this last
sign, added to other circumstances, would no longer leave any
uncertainty.
It was not without design
that Christmas-eve had been
chosen for this trial; one hitherto unheard of in the annals of
judicature. To command the appearance of the prisoners on
an ordinary day, would have awakened suspicions, and suggested
means of evading the proof to be put to them. On,
Christmas-eve, however, there would have been great astonishment
in the conciergerie, if the order had not arrived for a
general meeting at the palace, the usual custom on the eve of
great fetes, when the members of the council examined the
criminals; sometimes even these magistrates (on occasion and
In reverence of the fete) gave liberty to those who were detain,
ed for slight offences. Above all, it was requisite to impress
on the blind man, that Heaven had invested a sacred power in
the decisions of the parliament. At its head was the president
Feu, whose wisdom and gravity had caused him to be named
Cato the Censor
" "
Gervais, said he, in a solemn penetrating voice, "there
After this oath, which the old man took with a fervency that
dispelled all doubts as to his sincerity, the proof began.
Already eighteen prisoners had appeared and answered the
questions pr.t to them. The blind man listened, but made no
movement; on their side, perceiving a person unknown to
them, they remained quiet and indifferent. It was then that
of horror and alarm, as if to repulse with his han s an object
he knew was near, and of which he was afraid, sou^h. to fly,
crying out
"It is he! Yes.it is the voice I heard a Argenteuil."
Tho jai!or removed Martel, m re dead than alive, the president
ordering another prisoner to be brought forward, but at
the same time making a sign that was understood by the jailor,
and some minutes after it was Martel a_aia thut he brought,
and who was a second time, plnoocl nn the hom-h, nnd int'
ted under a fulso name.
'
answers ; but shaking his head with an iiicr
blind man said
" No ; it is a feint. I recognize the voice that conv.
with me on the heights of Arg nteuil."
Six times all tho prisoners from the Conciergerie were
ally brought forward, each time under a new ordn- ;
some of the astonished prisoners were add res.- id qu>
which concerned the assassination of Zambelli and war:
;
a sign from the president, they answered (o II-
which they were ignorant.
Butthe blind man did n
for an instant he ; dways recognized the voice he hudheaid > n
the mountains of Argenteuil.
At length, then, the horrible mystery ws cleared up. A
superhuman voice seemed to fill the vast chamber of audience,
and say to the blind man " It is he! it is the u^sussim,:
belli! "
This thunder, loud and menacing, like that which
sounded on the heights of Argenteuil on that day of <
seemed to overwhelm the guilty man, who shudderin
convulsed, murmured a tardy confession, now useless for, to
all the magistral s seated there in judgment, the etti ct of the
proof had bei u such, that not a shadow of doubt remained in
the mind of one of them.
A few minutes after, in a dark cell of the Conciergerie, was
pronounced a terrible decree, whilst in the public squa
at hand, dreadful preparations were being made ; for, in those
above us, is the image of the Son of God, who was unjustly
put to death by false witnesses. Swear by this crucifix
swear by God Himself, who is herj present, and listens to us,
that you will affirm nothing that you are not as sure of as your
existence, or of the misfortune that deprived you of the times,
light
of the sun."
to the man found guilty of death there was no morrow
the sun rose no more for him.
Some hours had passed, and the streets around Saint-Michel,
Saint-Sauveur, the old place, and the college of
Saint-GeorgeSj
could scarcely contain the inhabitants of the town, who were re-
turning from the Vieux-Marche", where they had been witnesses
of a horrible spectacle ; and these men, these women, pi'.le,
trembling, terrifie I, repeated to one another the solemn words
they h d just heard. That voi e had sounded to them from
the depths of gr.ef ; and feeble as it then was, nearly extin-
the nineteenth pri-oner was introduced in his turn but ; who
shall picture his amazement t the sight of Gervais ? Who
shall describe the sudden alteration in his manner, his pale
and contracted features, the perspiration that chilli d his
forehead, and his sudden prostration, which was RO great, that
it was necessary to support and lend him to a bench, where
he cou d not even seat himself without the keeper's aid; and,
overcome as he was, when he came a little to himself, one perceived
in his involuntary gi surfs the remorse of a tortured
soul, or, perhaps, the horrible regret of having committed an
incomplete crime of not having finished his work.
The presidents and judges awaited anxiously whut was to follow
but at the first words Martel answered to the ;
questions of
the president, the blind man, who, since the commencement of
this Bce.-e, which he was ignorant of, had remained immovable,
suddenly roused himself and 1 guished, yet
stened; he listened eagerly listened
again, then quickly recoiled, aid making an eagir gesture
what authority it had, what power in those last
moments! Thundering, f rmidable, speaking like the voice
of God to that immense nal;itude, who, coming to s.e, was
now silent, listening eagerly, as if it had no other sens . And
the voice had utt red words that v.ould l^ng ho remembered
for what moral st, what philosopher will find more believers,
01- leave more lasting impressions th n a condemned curninal
confessing and detesting his crime to the world, widch recoils
from him, and to heaven, who punishes him ; denouncing his
cupidity und thirst fur gold, which precipitated him into the
abjes, declaring, us one who knows it, that however distant ha
may be from the place where his crime was committed, God
will be there before him, will have wuit.ng i'or him, to spy him
out, an unsuspected wi ness tlrnt the rest of the world was ignorant
of, seeing all, forgetting nothing; firs, an in xoruble
denouncer, and tueu a terrible judge.
About fil'ty years after this event, Laurent Bigot being long
His
dead, Emeric had succeeded him, and became president.
friend Etieune 1'asquier wus a noble and venerable old man of
great learning, engaged in composing his curious " Researches
sur la France. " Wishing to show, he said, that God so:i e
permits crime to be proved, v. hen man thinks discovery almost
hopeless, he took care not to for et the almost, miraculous fact
he was witness to i.i his youth, and which we h..ve given
au account of, nearly word for word as we f.,uud it in In nar-
rative,