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Leader (1850-1860), 24th January 1857, Edition 2 of 2, Page 6, 78 THE LEADBE. _____ [No. 357, Saturday ...

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      78 The Leadbe. _____ [No. 357, Saturday ...

      78 THE LEADBE . _____ [ No . 357 , Saturday ,

      The Tbial Oj? Verger. The Trial Of Verge...

      THE TBIAL OJ ? VERGER . The trial of Verger for the murder of the Archbishop of Pans took place last Saturday at the Palais de Justice . Only those who had tickets were admitted ; bat , even with this restriction , the hall was crammed in every available part , . and a strong force of sergens de ville maintained order . A large crowd of people remained in the neighbourhood , in the hope of hearing from time to time some report of the proceedings . The presiding Judge was ML , le Premier President Delangle . " On the table in front of the Judge , " says the account given by the Dally News correspondent , " -were placed , in accordance with -established usage , those appalling things called the pieces de conviction , the material evidence * of the cdme . There was the murderous knife ( the blade yet bloody in more than half its length ) , and there were the sacerdotal garments of the -victim—the stole , the surplice , the gown , all pierced and bloody . The poniard , about a foot long , as las been said , is a most terrible weapon , and a peculiarity in its manufacture is that at the back of the blade near the point there is a concavity resembling the hollow part of the end of a pen , made , it is said , in order to facilitate tUe flowing of the blood . At twenty . minutes past ten , the prisoner was brought into court . He is a young man of middle height , fair

      complexion , high forehead , and regular and expressive features . His face , long , thin , and pale , is extremely intellectual , and in nowise indicative of ferocity . He was dressed entirely an black , in the costume which priests generally wear in the streets . He advanced to the bar without the least appearance of either trepidation or bravado . He had a bundle of papers in his hand , and on taking . . Iris seat between two gendarm . es , he leant forward with the greatest calmness to whisper a word to his advocate ( officially appointed } , -M . Nogent Saint Laurens . "

      The demeanour of the accused , and the wildness of his answers to the Judge , were so singular and striking that we give the greater part of the examination at at full length , as we find it reported in the very interesting account given in the Daily Nexos . After the reading of the indictment , "Verger , in a calm tone , said he had an . observation to make . The President told him he might speak ; on which he proceeded : — " Gentlemen , nineteen centuries ago , a great word was spoken by a man who was more . than a man ; his name was Jesus Christ . This word was , ' Pax vobis ! Pax omnibus ! ' And another man-whom you love and venerate , and whom I love and venerate with you , repeated this word when he said , ' L'Ernpire ^ c ' est la paix ! ' Now we must -understand the sense of this great word ¦ " The President : " Excuse me ; you seem to be going into your defence , and this is not the time . "

      The Prisoner : " The empire of the sabre is war ; the moral empire is peace . A few minutes ago , gentlemen , you heard the registrar read the circumstantial details of the event for which I am responsible before God , before society , and in mine own eyes . The members of the parquet ( public prosecutor ' s office ) have succeeded in procuring the most precise information against me . I have had no similar advantages . Since rny imprisonment I have , it is true , fabricated some formidable arms , but the arms whicli I had prepared before going to prison were also formidable , and I have them not . Among them are papers which will show what my enemies are- Those enemies aro the members of the Papal Inquisition . " Considerable discussion then ensued with respect to the suppression of these papers and of the refusal to hear several of the witnesses for the defence .

      The reason for those acts , of which Verger bitterly complained , was alleged to be that he designed to make a libellous attack on several of the clergy . The Procureur-General ( M . Vaisso ) observed , " His list of witnesses is but an abominable libel . " On this , Verger , in a loud voice , burst out , " Head it , then , read it !" The Procureur-Gcinc * ral : " It is an abominablo libel , a farrago of calumnies . " The Prisoner ( furiously ) : " Read , read , read , read !"

      The President : "You spoke just now of Christ . " Tho Prisoner : " Yes , M . lc President . I appeal again to his justice , his truth , his goodness , his mercy . " Tho President : " Enough . " Tho Procureur-G < Sneral : " After having assassinated the Archbishop of Parie , this man would have us permit him . to strike with tho poniard of calumny the most eminent members of the Prencu clergy ; and he asks for time to study his insults . " ( Ho had requested to Lavo the trial postponed . )

      Tho Prisoner ( loudly ) : " The , defence is not freo . " The President : " What do you mean by the defence not being free ?" Tho Prisoner : " What is liberty but tho exemption from " Thei Presidont : " It is liconco , doubtless . " The Prisoner : " No , sir , it is the exemption from physical bonds , from bolts and gendarmes . Moral bonds aro interrogatories auch as you -would put to mo . " Tho President ; " What do you moan ? Is not your definujefroa ?" Tho Prisoner : " It is not free ! it is not froo ! Tho defence is not freo 1 My Ufa has boon passed with tho porsons that I wiah to call . " Tho Proaidoufc : « ' Come , xiow , once for all , aro you willing to go on with the proceedings ?**

      The Prisoner ( vehemently ) : " 1 desire that my witnesses should be heard . M . jNageut Saint Laurens rose and begged his client to calm Mmself . He would reserve to himself the right to call for further witnesses if , in the course of the trial , he should see occasion to do so . The Prisoner ( interrupting ) : " My honourable defender , I cannot concede to you what I refuse to the court . I maintain my demand , and I desire that it may be executed . " The court here retired to deliberate upon the prisoner's application to i > ostpone the trial , and returned in a few minutes , when the President announced that the application was rejected-The President : " Verger , rise , and auswer my questions . "

      The Prisoner ( resolutely ) : "I will answer nothing . It is moral violence . " On the sergent de ville who arrested Verger giving his evidence , the prisoner said : — " I have been ill-treated . I have a , reproach to make against this witness . I was horribly beaten and kicked . Such an arrest is not moral . " QLaughterS ) The President here pointed to the bloody poniard , and asked trie prisoner whether he recognised it . The Prisoner : "Yes , sir ; that is the instrument I used . "

      Guillot , a huissier , heard the prisoner cry A has les dtfesses , " and saw Mm brandish the poniard . Madame Laine , the woman who Iet 3 out chairs in the church , saw Verger sitting on the third row . The Archbishop gave his benediction , and then she saw the prisoner strike him . She thought at first that he had given a blow with his fist . The Prisoner : " The evidence of this lady 13 of no importance . I must remark , that , according to Jesus Christ , no money ought to be paid in a church , but she made me pay ten centimes for the chair . I hope the money may profit her soul . " ( Sensation . }

      A letter to the cure" of St . Severm from Verger having been mentioned , the President asked what he said to that . He replied : — " I have to say that I am the enemy of the present clergy , just as Jesus Christ was the enemy of the Pharisees . I am an enemy of all that is pliaiisaical . I demand that the letter be read . " The Procureur : " That is unnecessary . " The Prisoner ; " Spectators , see how they refuse me everything—physical violence , moral violence . " M . legentil proved the circumstances rebating to the prisoner ' s conduct at Meaux . The Prisoner : "I defended with all my might a man who was unjustly condemned by the Court of Assize for poisoning . " The President : " You alone possess the supreme science . You pretend to know that men are innocent who are condemned by the justice of their country . "

      The Prisoner ( emphatically ) : " Yes , yes . Bead my ' Colin Maillard' ( a pamphlet written by the prisoner ) . People ( turning towards the audience ) , ask to have that read . Public , ask my brother for the book : he will give it you . " The Vicar-G-eneral of Heaux stated the facts which led to the interdiction of the prisoner . The Prisoner ( to the witness ) : " You are a scoundrel . " The President exhorted the prisoner to be moderate . The Prisoner : " You see here but a dead man , a poniard , a scaffold , and a guillotine . I see something else . I have laboured fifteen years for this result , and you will not hear me a single day . " Tlie President here read a letter written by Verger a year ago , in which he said that ho alone had premeditated and executed tho murder of the archbishop .

      On being askod why Le wroto that letter , the prisoner made a long rambling statement to the effect that he was in despair , and had been persecuted by the Paris Inquisition . The President : " Your doctrine is abominable ; above all , in the mouth of a priest . " The Prisoner : " A lie , a lie ! Anathema , President !" M . Montandon , a French Protestant clergyman , stated that Verger came to him complaining of his superiors , and said ho wished to "become a Protestant . Witness told him that a change of religion was a very ' serious matter , and that dissatisfaction with his superiors was no sufficient cause for such a step . The Prisoner : " After having seen this gentleman , I renounced both Catholics and Protestants , because I became convinced that they are both in error . "

      Tho Abbe" Sibon , vicar of Saint Germain I'Auxorrois , stated , among other things , that he had received a letter from Verger , in which ho threatened to dishonour him , as well aa tho inancs of a person who was dear to him , and whom he had lost . The Priuoncr : "You are a Pagan to say ' manes . ' That is Paganism , do you hear ?" The Prisoner horo said that tho witness had not stated wliat they both know very well about tho Bishop of Eyreux Tho President : " Stop ! stop !" The Prisoner ( raising i , i 8 Voico ) : " Nor about the UlBliop of Soiaaona . " ( Movement of indionatio * in Die awdience . ) Tie President : " Hold your tongue , and sit down . "

      . The Prisoner : " Audience , you see I Am not free Gentlemen of the jury , I am not free . " Tie President : " You are not free to slander ani you shall not . " The Abbe Legrand , cure of Saint Germain l'Auxerrok deposed to Verger being the author of several libellous writings against him . He had employed him ia a secondary capacity . At this stage of the proceedings , the prisoner became more violent than ever . He declared that only garbled letters were read against him , and loudly demanded that everything should be read . He sat down and rose Tip repeatedly with furious gestures , and called the cur 4 a " Miserable ! miserable !" The President : " Prisoner , by virtue of my discretionary power , I shall send you out of court , and proceed with the trial in your absence . "

      The Prisoner : " La parole on la guillotine . I am afraid of nothing . I will brave death as I brave this tribunal . You are a set of wretches . I fear God alone . " The President ordered the gendarmes to take the prisoner away . He resisted and cried , " Help , people People , defend me !* ' A cry here arose from the audience , " No , no ! You are an assassin , an assassin and the prisoner was dragged away from the bar amidst a scene such as was probably never before witnessed in a court of justice . The court then adjourned for a short time .

      On the resumption of the proceedings , Verger ipas calmer , and , the rest of the evidence having been received , the President called upon the Procureur-Gen & al to make his speech for the prosecution . The Procureur-G « neYal began , by saying that he had really no rfquiritoire to pronounce ; he was not able to master his emotions . The prisoner here exclaimed , " You tremble , sir , you tremble , finding yourself opposed to such an adversary as I am . Yes , I am your adversary in everything . You shall not speak . You have prevented me from speaking , and I will prevent you . " After Taia attempts to make the prisoner conduct himself decently , the court , oa the motion of the Procureur-Ge * neraL pronounced a decree reciting that the prisoner , by

      incessant clamours and insults , had obstructed the course of justice , and ordering that , by-virtue of Articles 9 , 10 , and 12 of the law of September 25 , 1835 , he should be removed from court , the trial proceeding : in his absence . The prisoner suffered himself to be taken away quietly , and the rest of the proceedings , including the speech , for the defence , were gone through . The defence was based on the presumed insanity of Verger—a presumption which had certainly received great confirmation , from the conduct of the accused during the trial . The President having summed up , the jury , after retiring for twenty minutes , returned with a verdict of Guilty Sentence of death was then passed in the usual form ( Verger being still absent ) , and 1 VL No / rent Saint

      Laurens was directed to inform him that he had three days to appeal to the Court of Cassation against the sentence . Some particulars of the conduct of Verger after the trial are given by the Paris correspondent of the Times : — " At seven o ' clock on Saturday evening , the clerks of the Court repaired to the prison of the Coaciergerie , where Vergor is confined . They entered his cell , and announced that they had come , in conformity with the law of the 9 th of September , 1835 , to read to hint the copy of the minutes of the trial after he had been removed from the court . Verger was then somewhat calm ; he stood up , and declared that he was ready to hear them . After the reading of the minutes and of the sentence of the court , he became suddenly much excited , and , addressing the clerks , he cried out , ' Now , sirs , be off—get

      away—administer justice ! You also shall be condemned . Quit this place ! I drive you from my presence , and I despise you ! ' The governor of the prison at once gave orders that Verger should put on the dress appropriated to those under sentence of death . It consists of a camisole de force , or strait-waistcoat . He made no resistance , nor used any violent words , while the operation was going on . He merely said , ' I know now that I am no longer my own master . ' He passed the night quietly , and even slept soundly , and on Sunday morning seemed quite calm . The Governor inquired if them was anything ho wished for . ' I desire , ' ho said , ' to appeal to tho Court of Cassation at once . * ' Ho was informed that it was impossible to do so on that day ( Sunday ) , but tho Governor promised him that early on tho morrow ho would communicate his demand to the clerks of the court . "

      Subsequently , ho received the Abbe' Nottolet , who talked with him for some time , and tuo effect seemed to bo to render him much calmer . To tho oflicora of tho prison he expressed a desire to address a petition for pardon to tho Emperor . " A copy of the indictment , " aays the Times correspondent , " was presented to Vergor previous to tho trial , and he made several corrections iu * it , and signed it with his initials , ' L . V . ' Among other alterations , " « struck out the worda setting forth that the exclamation ho used on striking the archbishop wa 8 , 'A bets fe * dde . ssesJ * and insisted that it was ' A las les Ganovefains ? ( The GiSnovcfains arc tho chaplains of St . Genovieve . ) In another place , whore tho copying clerk had inadc the blunder of spelling autel ( altar ) hotel , Vorgor co ^ rectcd the miatako , and wroto ia tho margin ' Atw !' ( ass !)"

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 24, 1857, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24011857/page/6/