SOLD SOUL TO SATAN

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11011, 26 January 1926, Page 5

SOLD SOUL TO SATAN

FLOGGING OF FRENCH A3BE BY WOKEN KNOTTED CORDS'USED (Received Jan. 25, 7.25 p.m.) PARIS, Jan. £5, The trial of ton wemsij fnembers of the order Notre Game tfes Pleurs on a charge of hogging Abbe Desnoyers suggests a reversion to the Middle Ages rather than a civilised court of tS26. AH the accused glory in the deed, declaring that the Abbe Desnoy£rs was the jerrsbccfmenC of Satan and the most formidabie wizard of modern times, who cast an evil spell cn large numbers of people. Loudid, a farmer, gave evidence concerning the Abbe's enchantments carried cut by means of sparrows and canaries which circled over the victims’ houses. As the Abbe had sold his scu! to Satan, the Devil had to be driven out by flogging. A grocer, another witness, said that knotted cords were used to discipline the Abbe. The women were all dressed in black and heaviiy veiled. When they left the Court they were followed by a ribald crowd which sang parodies of mystic incantations. —A. and N.Z.C.A. [A cable on January '5 said that behind the attack was the weirdest story of Madame Mesmiirs statue of the Virgin, which wept, but ceased when removed to a Convent. She replaced it by a fascimile from Milan, which did not weep, but exhaled a sweet perfume. That also ceased, and Mia dame Mesmin began to suffer. She then accused the Abbe of witchcraft, despite the fact that the authorities demonstrated the absurdity of the miraculous statues.]