TWO ANECDOTES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1764, 12 September 1885, Page 26

TWO ANECDOTES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.

FKOM AN OLD NOTE-BOOK.

At the commencement of the French Revolution, nearly one hundred years ago, the lieu-tenant-general of the police of Paris had upon his register the names of no fewer than two thousand suspected and depraved characters, whose pursuits were- known to be of a criminal nature, yet by making the department of police the immediate object of the close and uniform attention of one branch of the executive government, crimes were much less frequent than in England, and the security extended to fche public with regard to the protection of life and property against lawless depredation was infinitely greater. The- following narratives were authenticated by an English magistrate at ■the time ; and a record of them, written at the commencement of this century, is now in the possession of the present writer. A merchant of high respectability in Bordeaux had occasion to visit Paris upon commercial business, carrying with him bills and money to a very large amount. .On 'his arrival at the gates of the Fjrench metropolis, a gentpel-look-dng man opened the door of the carriage and addressed him to l&ss effect :

" Sir, I have been waiting for you some time. According to my notes you WG,vp to 'arrive at this hour ; ajul your personj your carriage, and your portmanteau exactly answering the description I hold \n my hand, you will permit jme to have the honour of you to Monsieur do Sartine." The gentleman, astonished and alarmed at

this interruption, and still more at hearing the name of the lieutenant of police mentioned, demanded to know what M. de Sartine wanted with him, adding that he had never committed any offence against the laws, and that the police could have no right to detain him. The messenger declared himself ignorant of the cause of the detention, and said that when he had conducted him to M. de Sartine he should have executed his orders. After some further explanations, the gentleman permitted the officer to conduct him to the police official.

M. de Sartine received him with great politeness, and after requesting him to be seated, to his astonishment described his portmanteau, and told him the exact amount in bills and cash which he had brought with him to Paris, where he was to lodge, his usual time of going to bed, and a number of other circumstances which he had conceived were known only to himself.

Having thus excited his attention, M. de Sartine asked him :

" Sir, are you a man of courage ? " The gentleman, still more astonished at the singularity \>f this interrogatory, demanded the reason why such a question was put, adding that no man had ever doubted his courage.

M. de Sartine replied : " Sir, you are to be robbed and murdered this night. If you are a man of courage, you must go to your hotel, and retire to rest at the usual hour. But be careful not to fall asleep ; neither will it be proper for you to look under your bed, or into the closet which is in your chamber. You must place your portmanteau in its usual situation near your beds and betray no suspicion. Leave what remains to me. If you do not feel your courage sufficient to bear you out, I will procure someone who shall personate you, and go to bed in your stead." The merchant, being convinced that M. de Sartine's intelligence was accurate in every particular, refused v to be personated, and resolved to follow literally the directions he had received. He accordingly drove to the hotel, and went to bed at his usual hour, eleven o'clock. «

At half -past twelve— the time mentioned by M. de Sartine— the door of his bedchamber burst open, and three men entered with a dark-lan-tern, daggers, and pistols. The merchant perceived one of them to be his own servant. They rifled his portmanteau undisturbed, aud settled the plan of putting him to death. Hearing all this, and not knowing by what means he was to to be rescued, it may be supposed he was under great perturbation of mind during such, an interval of suspense. When at the moment the villains were preparing to take the merchant's life, four police officers, who were concealed under the bed and in the closet, rushed out and seized the offenders with the property in their possession. The consequence was that the perpetration of the murder was prevented, and sufficient evidence obtained to convict the offenders. M. de Sartine's intelligence thus enabled him to prevent many cases of murder and robbery.

The second story is as follows. The Emperor of Austria, Joseph 11., having in the year 1787 formed and promulgated a new code of laws relative to criminal and civil affairs, and having also established what he conceived tp be the best system of police in Europe, could scarcely ever forgive the French nation, in consequence of the accuracy and intelligence of M. de Sartine's police having been found superior to his own, notwithstanding the pains he had bestowed on that department of his government.

A notorious. Austrian offender, who had committed many atrocious acts of violence and depredation in Vienna, was traced to Paris by the police established by his Majesty, who ordered his Ambassador at the Court of France to demand that this delinquent should be delivered up to public justice.

M. de Sartine acknowledged to the Imperial Ambassador that the person he inquired after had been in Paris f that, if he wished it, he would inform him where he lodged, and the different gaming-tables and other places of resort which he had frequented while there ; but that he was now gone.

The Ambassador insisted that this offender must still be in Paris, otherwise the Emperor would not have commanded him to make such an application.

M. de Sartine smiled at the incredulity of the Imperial Minister, and replied to the following effect : •" Do me the honour, sir, to inform the Emperor your master that the person he looks for left Paris about the 10th of last month, and is now lodged in a back room, looking into a garden, in the third storey of a house, No. 93 in street, in his own capital of Vienna; where his Majesty will, by sending to the spot, be sure to find him."

It was literally* as the French Minister had stated. The Emperor, to his astonishment, found the delinquent in the house and apartment described; but he was greatly mortified at this proof of the superiority of the French police.