Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur OrtonAnonymous
History
Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton
Anonymous
Impostors and imposture -- Biography
On the other hand, a greater number of persons asserted as positively
that the man before them was one Arnold du Tilh, of Sagais, and was
commonly called Pansette; while nearly sixty of the witnesses--who had
known both men--declared that there was so strong a resemblance
between these two persons that it was impossible for them to declare
positively whether the accused was Martin Guerre or Arnold du Tilh.
In this dilemma the judge ordered two inquiries--one with regard to
the likeness or unlikeness of Sanxi Guerre to the accused, and the
other as to the resemblance existing between the child and the sisters
of Martin Guerre. It was reported that the boy bore no resemblance to
the prisoner, but that he was very like his father's sisters, and upon
this evidence the judge pronounced the prisoner guilty, and sentenced
him to be beheaded and quartered.
But the public of the neighbourhood not being so easily satisfied as
the criminal judge of Rieux, and unable to comprehend the grounds of
the decision, became clamorous, and an appeal was made on behalf of
the convict to the Parliament of Toulouse. That Assembly ordered the
wife (Bertrande de Rols) and the uncle (Peter Guerre) to be confronted
separately with the man whom they accused of being an impostor, and
when the parties were thus placed face to face, the so-called Arnold
du Tilh maintained a calm demeanour, spoke with an air of assurance
and truth, and answered the questions put to him promptly and
correctly. On the other hand, the confusion of Peter Guerre and
Bertrande de Rols was so great as to create strong suspicions of their
honesty. New witnesses were called, but they only served to complicate
matters; for out of thirty, nine or ten were convinced that the
accused was Martin Guerre, seven or eight were as positive that he was
Arnold du Tilh, and the rest would give no distinct affirmation either
one way or another.
When the testimony came to be analysed, it was seen that forty-five
witnesses, in all, had asserted in the most positive terms that the
man presented to them was not Guerre, but Du Tilh, which they said
they were the better able to do, because they had known both men
intimately, had eaten and drank with them, and conversed with them at
intervals from the days of their common childhood. Most of these
witnesses agreed that Martin Guerre was taller and of a darker
complexion, that he was of slender make and had round shoulders, that
his chin forked and turned up, his lower lip hung down, his nose was
large and flat, and that he had the mark of an ulcer on his face, and
a scar on his right eyebrow, whereas Arnold du Tilh was a short
thickish man who did not stoop, although at the same time similar
marks were on his face.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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