Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXIV, May 1852, Vol. IVVarious
General
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XXIV, May 1852, Vol. IV
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
CRIME DETECTED.--AN ANECDOTE OF THE PARIS POLICE.
Previously to the year 1789, but at what precise date can not say, the
city of Paris possessed as guardian of its safety, and chief minister of
police, a man of rare talent and integrity. At the same period, the
parish of St. Germais, in the quarter of the Rue St. Antoine, had for
its curé a kind venerable old man, whose whole life was spent in doing
good to both the souls and bodies of his fellow-creatures, and whose
holy consistency and dignified courage caused him to be loved by the
good, and respected by even the most abandoned characters. One cold dark
winter's night, the bell at the old curé's door was rung loudly, and he,
although in bed, immediately arose and opened the door, anticipating a
summons to some sick or dying bed.
A personage, richly dressed, with his features partly concealed by a
large false beard, stood outside. Addressing the curé in a courteous and
graceful manner, he apologized for his unseasonable visit, which, as he
said, the high reputation of monsieur had induced him to make.
"A great and terrible, but necessary and inevitable deed," he continued,
"is to be done. Time presses; a soul about to pass into eternity
implores your ministry. If you come you must allow your eyes to be
bandaged, ask no questions, and consent to act simply as spiritual
consoler of a dying woman. If you refuse to accompany me, no other
priest can be admitted, and her spirit must pass alone."
After a moment of secret prayer, the curé answered, "I will go with
you." Without asking any further explanation, he allowed his eyes to be
bandaged, and leaned on the arm of his suspicious visitor. They both got
into a coach, whose windows were immediately covered by wooden shutters,
and then they drove off rapidly. They seemed to go a long way, and make
many doublings and turnings ere the coach drove under a wide archway and
stopped.
During this time, not a single word had been exchanged between the
travelers, and ere they got out the stranger assured himself that the
bandage over his companion's eyes had not been displaced, and then
taking the old man respectfully by the hand, he assisted him to alight
and to ascend the wide steps of a staircase as far as the second story.
A great door opened, as if of itself, and several thickly-carpeted rooms
were traversed in silence. At length, another door was opened by the
guide, and the curé felt his bandage removed. They were in a
solemn-looking bed-chamber; near a bed, half-vailed by thick damask
curtains, was a small table, supporting two wax lights, which feebly
illuminated the cold death-like apartment. The stranger (he was the Duke
de ----), then bowing to the curé, led him toward the bed, drew back the
curtains, and said in a solemn tone:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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