 |
Shaping the World:
Conversations on Democracy Thomas Jefferson Talks with Napoleon Bonaparte |
|
|
Shaping the World:
Conversations on Democracy Thomas Jefferson Talks with Napoleon Bonaparte |
|
The
Revolutionary Tribunal,
J.
G. Millingen
In the centre of the hall, under a statue of justice, holding
scales in one hand, and a sword in the other, with the book of laws by her
side, sat Dumas, the President, with the other judges. Under were seated the
public accuser, Fouquier-Tinville, and his scribes. Three coloured ostrich
plumes waved over their turned up hats, à la Henri IV, and they wore a
tri-coloured scarf. To the right were benches on which the accused were placed
in several rows, and gendarmes, with carbines and fixed bayonets by
their sides. To the left was the jury.
Never can I forget the mournful appearance of these funereal processions to the place of execution. The march was opened by a detachment of mounted gendarmes - the carts followed; they were the same carts as those that are used in Paris for carrying wood; four boards were placed across them for seats, and on each board sat two, and sometimes three victims; their hands were tied behind their backs, and the constant jolting of the cart made them nod their heads up and down, to the great amusement of the spectators. On the front of the cart stood Samson, the executioner, or one of his sons or assistants; gendarmes on foot marched by the side; then followed a hackney-coach, in which was the Rapporteur and his clerk, whose duty it was to witness the execution, and then return to Fouquier-Tinville, the Accusateur Publique, to report the execution of what they called the law.
The
process of execution was also a sad and heart-rending spectacle. In the middle
of the Place de la Révolution was erected a guillotine, in front of a
colossal statue of Liberty, represented seated on a rock, a Phrygian cap on
her head, a spear in her hand, the other reposing on a shield. On one side of
the scaffold were drawn out a sufficient number of carts, with large baskets
painted red, to receive the heads and bodies of the victims. Those bearing the
condemned moved on slowly to the foot of the guillotine; the culprits were led
out in turn, and, if necessary, supported by two of the executioner's valets,
as they were formerly called, but now denominated élèves de l’Executeur
des hautes oeuvres de la justice; but their assistance was rarely
required. Most of these unfortunates ascended the scaffold with a determined
step -many of them looked up firmly on the menacing instrument of death,
beholding for the last time the rays of the glorious sun, beaming on the
polished axe; and I have seen some young men actually dance a few steps before
they went up to be strapped to the perpendicular plane, which was then tilted
to a horizontal plane in a moment, and ran on the grooves until the neck was
secured and closed in by a moving board, when the head passed through what was
called, in derision, la lunette républicaine; the
weighty knife was then dropped with a heavy fall; and, with incredible
dexterity and rapidity, two executioners tossed the body into the basket,
while another threw the head after it.
Adapted from EyeWitness to History, www.eyewitnesstohistory.com
|
|