Rensselaer Union, Volume 9, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1877 — PROVIDENTIAL JUSTICE. [ARTICLE]

PROVIDENTIAL JUSTICE.

The Bois dfc Boulogne Is the modern pride of Paris, and it is to: the French capital what Central Park is to New York, extending from the Triumphal Arch, at the head of the Champs Elysees, for a mile or more by a boulevard one hundred and fifty feet wide, into what used to be a thick forest, abounding with game, and the resort of duelists and organized bands of robbers. All this Is changed now; millions of dollars have oeen expended in turning the entire region into a charming park, intersected by beautiful drives, waterfalls, fountains, grottos and flowerbeds, all of which form the favorite drive and promenade of the Parisians. To create this beautiful and extensive pork many of the houses which had stood here and 'there upon the*,grounds were necessarily torn down and destroyed, some of them mansions which had stood for a century, many pretentious buildings belonging 10 noble families, and many of very humble aspect, forming the homes of the middle class of people. Some, indeed many, of these lwuses had their story or legend, well, remembered by the neighborhood, and it is one of these which we propose to relate, as exhibiting a marked instance of providential justice! The Bois de Boulogne was one of the crown domains under Louis Philippe, but in 1852 it was transferred to -the pality of Paris, on the condition that two millions of francs should be expended upon it at once, and that it Bhould be henceforth maintained as a public park at the cost of the city. Then at once commenced the demolition of the buildings referred to, the laying out of broad and attractive thoroughfares, lakes, groves and the like. 80 that the date of Ihe events we describe is scarcely more than twenty years since. In that section of the present Bois de Boulogne nearest to Champs Elysees, there ttood an ancient stone structure which had evidently once been a very pretentious mansion' but which in later times had been reduced in size, and the walls and building generally«had been adapted to the convenience of a modern residence. In effecting this a false wall had been erected on the east side of the building, so as to cover up the rough appearance produced by the removal of a portion of the former edifice on that side. This portion of the building of which we speak was the back paid, and, with this exception, the whole dwelling presented a very neat and handsome aspect.

• J " 1 It ii still remembered that in 1840 this house was occupied by a lady, known as Madame Brienville* and her daughter, a Very beautiful girl of eighteen or twenty, and that the complement Qf the little household was made up by the addition of an elderly domestic, named Nanette Little was known relating to Madame Brienville and her family ; indeed, there seemed to be some mystery connected with them. She was understood to be a widow and to have come here to live from the neighborhood of Lyons, but she had no intimate acquaintances, nor any relatiops, as far as could be discovered ,• The old servant was very retioent, and the gossips could get little or nothing from her concerning her mistress except that they hail all come from the Department of the Rhone. That the widow was possessed of ample pecuniary means was clear enough to her neighbors, for though there was nothing of an ostentatious character in her style of living, still every domestic necessity, and even luxury of a desirable character, were freely enjoyed by the household, except that they kept quite isolated and were satisfied with the servaes of old Nanette alone. Madame Brienville and her beautiful daughter were often seen together among the shaded paths of the vicinity, walking arin in arm, on which occasion the observers did not fall to note the dignity and quiet, distinguished air which seemed to surround the widow, quite as readily as they did the extraordinary beauty of her daughter. Yet the char mb of face and form which characterized Mile. Loise were so marked as to be the theme of universal comment among the people of the neighborhood. In vain were all the attempts of the interviewers of old Jeanette, when she daily went with her basket upon hpr arm to the nearest market. These curious ones were gratified only by a repetition of the old story, over and over again, until they gave up in absolute despair. They had all come from the Department of the Rhone; madamie was a widow. That was the sum total of the information which old Nanette could or would communicate. The natural conclusion was that good and substantial reasons must exist for such reticence, and this acted as a spur to the inquisitive people. to%hom any mystery was a delight. None would have presumed to force their presence upon the distant and dignified Madame Brienville herself. Her neighbors were of too humble a class to call upon tho widow in a social way. And so matters stood up to the spring of 1840, when Nanette, by chance, let out the fact that the family were about to go to the Town of Dieppe, on the coast, for the summer, i 1 hopes it might improve madame’s health. “ Is Madame Brienville ill ?” asked one.

“ Bhe is in delicate health,” answered Nanette. . “ Why does she not call In Doctor Fouchet?”. ''Oh,*he is not ill in the way to reimlre medicine. A liltlo change of climate and scene for a few months will make madame all right again,” answered the servant. “And when do you go to Dieppe ?” asked a listener. “At once.” “To-day?” “ No, but veiy soon. Madame did not say when,” replied Nanette, as she gathered up her purchases and departed. “That woman knows all about the family, but she has been tutored to hold her tongue,” said one neighbor to another, looking after the departing figure. “ She’s a close one,” was the answer. “ I would not like to live alone in the stone house If I were those women; there was a robbery only last week, over the lake, you know.” “ That Is true, and I have seen madame with diamond solitaires in her ears when she has been walking,” remarked the other neighbor. “ It's true the stone house can be fastened up very securely at night; every window has fts bolt and bars and outside shutters, as well as those within.” “ Where’s the house these rogues cannot enter If they have a mind?” asked the other. “To overcome bolts and bars is only the least part of their trade.” 1 “ Yes, and then once inside of the stone house, a robber has only three women to contend with; they have no man there, and the house is rather isolated.” “All of which is probably ns well known to the robbers as it is to you and me,” was the response of the other party. This was all very true, and, as we have intimated, the vicinity of the Bois de Boulogne was a locality with a proverbially bad name, and where the law was very frequently outraged, even in the hours of open day. One would Hardly like to pass among its labyrinths unarmed, after nightfall, in our own time, for the neighborhoods of large cities always have a crop of dangerous and desperate men. Still Madame Brienville and her companions had lived unmolested here for some two years. True, it was observed that at night particular care was taken to fasten up" all the doors and windows in a very secure manner, so that after nightfall no light, or evidence of the stone house being inhabited, could be discovered from the outside. At the close of the twilight hour the place always assumed the aspect of a deserted old mansion-house.

It was on a pleasant morning of early summer of the year 1840, that the neighbors observed the windows of the stonehouse still remained closed and fastened, lone after the sun was up, and quite contrary to the usual custom. One or two stopped, in their daily passage from one place to another, to observe the fact and remark upon it. “ Oh,” said one, “the family have gone to Dieppe, as Nanette said they were to do, though they have slipped away very quietly, that’s a fact. But we know they have been getting ready.” “ They couldn’t do anything like other people; they must even make a mystery of goingaway,” said another. Queer people,” added still another. “ They must have gone in the night,” said a fourth person. ~ “ That’s just it,” responded one of the first speakers, “where there is so much secrecy there is sure to be some good reason for it. No one knows anything about this Madame BrienviHe and her pretty daughter, though she has lived among us these two years and more.” “ She is registeied by the police, and if there was anything wrong about her they would find it out,” said another. “Very true,” responded another of the group, who was discussing the matter. “ Leave madamc in peace. Ifshecliooses to go to Dieppe by night, let her go.” And so the subject was dropped by the neighbors. If anyone asked about the stone house, which presented the aspect of a dwelling hermetically sealed, he was told that the occupants had gone to Dieppe to pass the summer by the seaside, on account of Madame Brienville’s failing health, and so several months passed on. By and by the summer was gone and winter art in, hut still the people who inhabited the stone house did not return from Dieppe. When Madame Brienville had first come to the place, it was remembered by the inquisitive ones that she had purchased the establishment, so there was no landlord to be looking after the rent. There was a neglected and crumbling look gradually settling down over the stone house and its surroundings by the following spring. but, then, that was the owner’s business, and no one need fret over the matter if it tumbled to the ground. A sentiment which the neighbors fully expressed. The isolated situation of she house prevented the fact of its remaining so long shut up from being the cause of much remark, and the years from 1840 to 1850 were full of such stirring experiences in and about Paris, that the old stoue house ceased to be a subject of curiosity even to those in the immediate vicinity. By and by came the preparations for the improvements intheßoisde Boulogne, so long contemplated.

One of the first obstacles to be removed proved to be the old stone house, whica had lain empty these ten years. Inquiry was made aS to the ownership; but the action of the French authorities, when once commenced upon any given purpose, is summary; no delay is permitted, for the-Government is all-powerful. Bo an order was issued to tear down the house without loss ol time, and now that attention was directed to. the building, the authorities were themselves surprised that the affairs of Madame Brienville had been permitted to sleep quietly for so many years without coming under their surveillance. . Curiosity was aroused once more in the neighborhood when it was proposed to tear down the stone house. The usual forms were observed, and a suitable officer was detailed to oversee the solving of this mystery. The doors were broken in very easily, for decay had weakened them, and ere long, they would have fallen from the eating of rust, damp and general decay. Strange was the sight that met the eyes of those that entered there. The dust and mold were many inches deep upon everything. Articles lay about as they had done in every-day use, but coated with the deposit of years. The close, damp atmosphere was oppressive and the stillness ominous! Nothing had been packed away as if for departure or a temporary absence of the occupants. There stood a table with the decayed food in the dishes, the cups and saucers, knives and forks and spoons, lying about as though left there to be clearer away hefore the next meal should be prepared. There was a strange and mysterious suggestiveness of something to be discovered in these signs which met the eye at every tu|n.,

Presently the officers wentup the dusty, creaking stairs, add into the first room or chamber tbey came to. Ah! what do they see that causes them to start so, and to hurriedly address each other? These are men accustomed to all manner of exigenciee, but they almost tiemble with excitement now. Upon the bed they beheld —one of them having thrown open the barred windows—the skeleton of a woman, half clad in a night-dress, the whole under a coating of mold! The mystery was about to be srtlved. Here was the evidence of murder, too plain to be mistaken. Other rooms were hurriedly visited. In that next to the one first examined, they found another skeleton, half clothed - this one lying upon the floor near the door, as If on the way to join the person who had occupied the first room. In the rear room, upon this floor, was found still another skeleton lying cross wise upon the bed, and partly clothed, like the others. These three skeletons were the only occupants of the house. The officers called in some of the neighbors to question them, and at last one or two were found who remembered about Madame Brienville and her family, and part of the mystery began to be unraveled. Here in the first room was the mother; in the second apartment were the bones of the daughter, the once lovely Loise; and in the "third and rear room, there lay across the bed the skeleton of the old domestic, Nanette. Evidences were soon found that showed the house had been robbed, and these women murdered, some ten or twelve years since. Further examination showed that the robber or robbers mußt have entered the house from the roof, as the only window or place of ingress and egress found unbarred was that of a rear one in the upper half-story of the building. After satisfying themselves upon this point, the officials returned to the chambers where the ghastly skeletons lay. The bones alone were left!

The rats and other vermin had eaten every particle of the flesh from the frames years and years gone by. After proper official' action had been taken, the remains were decently arranged and buried. It was more than a nine days’ wonder. The authorities blamed themselves that it was possible such a crime could lie In their midst, as it were, unsuspected for so long a period, and the few neighbors who were left saw how stupid they had been in not directing attention to the missing family. True, they had every reason to suppose that they had gone to the seaside, but then they should have remembered that if this were the case, Mme. Brienville and her daughter would be sure to return at the close of the summer. They saw this plain enough now. The march of improvement, in the meantime, was not stayed; the public laborers cleared the house of its valuables, which were turned over to the public receiver, and then commenced to tear down the old stone mansion. This was the work of not one, but many days. Gradually the structure, stone by stone, floor by floor, disappeared, and was carted from the spot. The authorities had half forgotten the crime which had so long ago been committed within those walls, when one day, as the worker en came upon the foundation walls, the proper officer was hastily summoned to the spot. Another revelation wasi in store for him. ~~ Another skeleton was found! It lay amoDg the foundation stones, and was that of a man, still clasping a box in his fleshless arms, as though even in death and the grave he would retain his ill-gotten booty. The truth was plain at a glance. This was all that remained of the long-ago robber and murderer! It will be remembered that we spoke of a false wall which had been erected to screen the rear part of the old house; it was between this and the main building that the robber’s skeleton was found. In making his escape from the scene of the robbery and murder, by that lofty back window, he had fallen between these walls into a living grave! The l*ox his skeleton arms still embraced contained rich jewelry, diamonds and gold, to possess which he had murdered the three innocent occupants of the stone house in the P.oi? de Boulogne; but providential justice bad been meted out to him in the very hour of his awful crimes!— Lieut. Murray , in American Cultivator.