THE CONVENT SCANDAL IN PARIS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue XXVI, 28 July 1871, Page 3

THE CONVENT SCANDAL IN PARIS.

The Paris correspondent of the Times says : — The reigning scandal of the day is the affair of the Convent of Picpus, So highly roused has public indignation been by the supposed discovery of atrocities committed within those jealous walls, that the people have been peremptorily excluded until the investigations of justice shall be complete. I managed, however, to penetrate within the precincts by attaching myself to the cortege of an English friend, who was journeying thither under special official orders to investigate the case of an English sister named Garret. In the Rue de Picpus, near Mazas prison, stand two large buildings, each surrounded by high walls above which may be seen green trees at intervals. The one is an establishment of the Jesuits : the other the Convent of the White Nuns. The Jesuit Brothers escaped at the first sign of approaching danger, but the Sisters held their own until forced into cabs and conveyed to the cells of f3t Laaare, there to await the results of a judicial inquiry into certain matters that are deemed .suspicious. Arrived at the gate of the convent, and forcing our way through a crowd of angry people demanding instant entrance, we were admitted inside the door und^r cover of the pass and signatures. In the courtyard, under the shade of some fine trees, a few Guards were playing bowls in the Jesuits' alley ; and one of thorn, whose cap displayed tokens of authority, and to whom we mentioned our business, pointed out to us the fact, of which theie certainly could exist no doubt, that the two buildings communicated one with the other, by means of an old door which still exists at the back of a stable, as well as by other apertures in the garden wall, which show signs of having been recently closed up. The Jesuits' garden is a most beautiful one, occupying a space of some twelve acres, laid out with care, and furnished with fruit trees ef every description. Through the old door above mentioned we passed into the Sisters' garden, equally large and beautiful, though not kept with the same care In the centre stands a gymnasium, and further on the cemetery, a lovely spot, where, under the heavy shade of ancient cypresses, lie bearers of some of the most ancient names in France : — " Prince of Salm-Kyrbourg," " Rochefoucauld," " Do Noailles," " Montmorency," " the great Lafayette," the whole family of the Talleyraud-Perigords, and legions of Princes and Princesses. Some of the vaults have been opened, and many lead coffins, half covered with rotting velvet and gold lace, lie exposed to the light of day, awaiting an examina" don at the hands of the Minister of Justice. At the extreme end of the garden, however, are the three little conical huts, side by side, resembling while ants' nests, which have been the prime cause of so much excitement and judicial enquiry. When the convent was occupied by the National Guards, these little huts were tenanted each by an old woman, enclosed in a wooden cage, like a chicken's pen, the three buildings being smaller in size and construction, six feet square by seven in height, with a slate roof, through which daylight was visible, while the three old women were all of them hopeless idiots. The Lady Superior had kept her lips resolutely closed up to the present time, but admitted, when first questioned, that the three sufferers had lived in their hideous prison for nine years, in an atmosphere of stifling heat throughout the summer and half frozen with cold throughout the winter ; ' but,' she added, ' they were idiots when they came.' The conductor of the enquiry replied that, if such were the case, it was illegal to have admitted them to the convent at all, and that even supposing them to have been admitted, the place where they were found was not a fit place for a dog. A key was discovered among her papers, labelled " key of the great vault ;" but where this great vault may be has not yet been found out. The Superior and her nuus keep a uniform and persistent silence upon the point; excavations have been made at different points in the garden, and under the high altar of the chapel, but hitherto without effect. At one end of the nuns' garden stands an isolated building, in which were found mattrasses furnished with straps and buckles, also two iron corsets, and iron skull cap, and a species of rack turned by a cog-wheel, evidently intended for bending back the body with force. The Superior explained that these were orthopaedic instruments — a superficial falsehood. The mattresses and straps struck me as being easily accounted for ; I have seen such things used in French midwifery, and in cases of violent delirium; but the rack and its adjuncts are justly objects of grave suspicion, for they imply a use of brutal force which ro disease at present known would justify. On our way back through the gardens, our guide made a detour, in order to show us a great subterranean warehouse 1 , where an enormous quantity of potatoes was stored, as well as barrels full of salt pork, while in a yard bard by lay grunting a fat pig. " Look at this," cried our National Guard indignantly. " Look at these stores, which might have helped to feed the starving poor of the arrondissement during our six months' seigc, and think that these people were begging from door to door the whole time for money to buy broken victuals for their pensioners !" Arrived at the entrance gate, our guide nudged me, telling me in whispers to look at the old woman who was wandering about, followed by a younger one, stooping from time to time to pick up a leaf, or rub her hands with sand or gravel. " That is Soeur Bernardine," lie said,

" one of the three prisoners of the wooden cages. She is the most sane in mind of the three, and we keep her here under the care of one of our wives to cheer her up. She is only fifty, though she looks past seventy. The other two have been removed, as they were rendered violent by the crowd and change of scene. I passed close to her, and she looked up — a soft, pale face, with sunken eyes shaded by the frills of a great cap. She looked at me dazedly, without taking any notice, and, stooping again, she filled her hands with refuse coffee grounds, which she put into her mouth until pro vented by her companion. Without showing the least prejudice in the mattor, I think I oau safely say that the ladies now shut up at St. Lazarre will find it no easy matter to clear themselves of blame; for, though there are doubtless many suspicious circumstances that may be explained away, there are also hard facts which will remain hard facts in spite of tho most elaborate attempts at refutation.