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THE

Gentleman's Magazine:

For NOVEMBER 1762.

An authentic Narrative of the Death of
Mark Anthony Calas, and of the
Trial and Execution of bis Father,
John Calas, for the fuppofed Murder
of his Son. From the French.

turn of mind; he therefore became difcontented and melancholy, and endeavoured to diffipate the gloom of his mind by playing at billiards, and other expenfive pleafures, of which his father often expreffed his difapprobation with fome warmth, and once threatened, that if he did not alter his conduct, he would turn him out of doors;' or expreffed himself in words to that effect. The young man's difcontent and melancholy ftill increased, and he feems to have entertained thoughts of putting an end to his life, as he was continually felecting and reading paffages from Plutarch, Seneca, Montaigne, and many other authors on fuicide, and could fay by heart a French tranflation of the celebrated foliloquy in Hamlet, which he frequently repeated, with Cfome paffages from a French TragyComedy, called Sidney, to the fame effect.

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OHN CALAS was A a merchant of the city of Thouloufe; where he had been fettled, and lived in good repute, forty years: He married an Englishwoman of B French extraction, her grand-mother being of the family of Garde-Montef quieu, and related to the chief noblefle of Languedoc.

Calas and his wife were Proteftants, and had five fons, whom they educated in the fame religion: But Lewis, one of the fons, fome time fince became a Roman Catholic; his father's maid-fervant, a religious Catholic, who had lived thirty years in the family, having greatly contributed to his converfion; but the father was fo far from expreffing any refentment or ill-will on the occafion, that he fettled D an annuity upon Lewis, and ftill kept the maid in his family.

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In Odober 1761, the family feems to have confifted of the father John Colas and his wife, one woman tervant, Mark Anthony Calas the eldest fon, and Peter Calas, the fecond fon. Marc Anthony had been educated as a fcholar, with a view to his becoming an advocate or counsellor at law; but he was not able to get himself admitted as a licentiate, because he muft either have performed fome acts, which, as a Proteftant, he could not F have performed; or have purchased certificates, which he either thought unlawful, or found too expensive : He could not follow the bufinefs of a merchant, because he was not qualified for it by his education, nor his

On the 13th of October 1761, M. Gober la Vaife, a young gentleman about nineteen years of age, the fon of La Vaiffe, a celebrated advocate of Toulouje, having been fome time at Bourdeaux, came back to Touloufe to fee his father; but finding that his father was gone to his country houfe, at fome distance from the city, he went to feveral places, endeavouring to hire a horfe to carry him thither. No horfe, however, was to be hired; and about five o'clock in the evening he was met by John Calas, the father and the eldest fon Mark Anthony, who was his friend. Calas, the father, invited him to fupper, as he could not fet out for his father's that night, and La Vaife confented. All three therefore proceeded to Calas's houfe together, and when they came thither, finding that Mrs Calas was ftill in her own room, which the had not quitted that day, La Vaille went up to fee her. After the first compliments, he told

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510 Narrative of the Death of Mark Anthony Calas.

her, he was to fup with her by her husband's invitation; the expressed her fatisfaction, and a few minutes afterwards left him, to give fome orders to her maid: When that was done, she went to look for her fon Anthony, whom the found fitting alone in the fhop, very penfive; the gave him fome money, and defired him to go and buy fome Roquefort cheese, he being always the market man for cheese, as he knew how to buy it good better than any other of the family.

She then returned to her guelt La Vaiffe, who very foon after went again to the livery-ftable, to fee if any horse was come in, that he might secure it for the next morning.

In a fhort time Anthony returned, having bought the cheele, and La Vaiffe alfo coming back about the fame time, the family and their guest fat down to fupper in a room up one pair of ftairs, the whole company confifting of Calas the father and his wife, Anthony and Peter Calas, the fons, and La Vaife the guest, no other perfon being in the house except the maidfervant, who has been already mentioned.

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On the ground floor of Calai's house was a shop and a warehoufe; the warehouse was divided from the fhop by a pair of folding doors: When Peter Calas and La Vaife came down ftairs into the fhop, they were extremely fhocked to fee Anthony hanging in his thirt, from a bar which he had laid acrols the top of the two folding doors, having half opened them for that purpofe. Upon difcovery of this horrid fpectacle, they fhrieked out, and the cry brought down Calas the father, the mother beB ing feized with fuch a terror as kept her trembling in the paffage above. The unhappy old man rushed forward, and taking the body in his arms, the bar to which the rope that fufpended him was fattened, flipped off from the folding doors of the warehoufe, and fell down: Having placed the body on the ground, he loofed and took off the cord, in an agony of grief and anguith not to be expreffed, weeping, trembling, and deploring himself and his child. The two young men, bis fecond fon and La Vaiffe, who had not had prefence of mind enough to attempt taking down the body, were ftanding by, ftupid with amazement and horror; in the mean time the mother, hearing the confufed cries and complaints of her husband, and finding no-body come to her, found means to get down ftairs. At the bottom the found La Vaife, and haftily and eagerly demanded what was the matter; this question rouzed him in a moment, and instead of anfwering her, he urged her to go again up itairs, to which, with much reluctance, the confented; but the conflict of her mind being fuch as could not be long borne, the fent down the maid, Jan

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It was now about feven o'clock; the fupper was not long; but before it was over, or, according to the French expreffion, when they came to the defert, Anthony left the table, and went into the kitchen, which was on the fame A or, as he ufed to do; the maid E alked him it he was a cold, he answered, Quite the contrary; I burn; and then left her: In the mean time his friend and the family left the room they had fupped in, and went into a bed-chamber: the father and M. La Veiffe fat down together on a sofa; the younger fon Peter in an elbow. chair, and the mother in another chair; and without making any enqairy after Anthony, continued in converfation together tili between nine and ten o'clock, when La l'aiffe took his leave, and Peter, who had fallen adleep, was awaked to attend him with a light*.

This little narrative contains a picture of domeftic life, which must be altogether rew to an English reader: A merchant who had bred his eldelt fon a fcholar, in order to have him called to the bar, fends this fon out to buy cheese, having only one fervant in the family, who, after preparing the fupper, fets it upon the table at feven o'clock, and leaves the company to wait upon themfelves: This fupper, however, had what they call a defeit, but before it is over, Anthony, the eldest

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net, to see what was the matter; when the maid difcovered what had happened, the continued below, either because the feared to carry an account of it to her miftrefs, or because the bufied herself in doing fome good ofGfice to her mafter, who was ftill embracing the body of his fon, and bathing it in his tears. The mother there

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Narrative of the Death of Mark Anthony Calas.

A

fore, being thus left alone, went down,
and mixed in the scene, that has been
already defcribed, with fuch emotions
as it would naturally produce: In the
mean time, Peter had been fent for La
Moire, a turgeon in the neighbourhood;
La Moire was not at home, but his
apprentice, M. Groffe, came instant-
ly: Upon examination, he found the
body quite dead; and upon taking off
the neckcloth, which was of black
taffety, he faw the mark of the cord,
and immediately pronounced, that B
the deceased had been strangled. This
particular had not been told; for the
poor old man, when Peter was going
for La Moire, cried out, "Save at least
the honour of my family; do not go
and fpread a report that your bro-
ther has made away with himself.”

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By this time a crowd of people was C gathered about the door, and one Cafing, with another friend or two of the family were come in; fome of thofe who were in the street had heard the cries and exclamations of the father, the mother, the brother, and his friend, before they knew what was the matter; and having by fome means learnt that Anthony Calas was fuddenly dead, and that the furgeon who had examined the body, declared he had beed strangled, they took it into their heads that he had been murdered; and as his family were Protestants, they presently fuppofed that the young man was about to abjure their religion, and had been put to death for that reafon. The cries they had heard, they fancied were thofe of the deceafed, while he was refifting the violence that was offered him.

The

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tumult in the street increafed every F
moment; fome faid that Anthony Calas
was to have abjured the next day;
others, that Proteftants are bound by
their religion to ftrangle or cut the
throats of their children, when they
are inclined to become Catholics:
Others, who had found out that La
Vaille was in the house when the ac-
cident happened, very confidently af-
firmed, that the Proteftants, at their
laft affembly, appointed a perfon to
be their common executioner on thefe
occafions, and that La Vaife was the
man, who, in confequence of the office
to which he had been appointed, had
come to Calas's to hang his fon.

The poor father, therefore, who was overwhelmed with grief for the lofs of his child, was advised by his friends to fend for the officers of jus tice, to prevent his being torn to pieces for having murdered him.

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This was accordingly done: One was dispatched to the Capitoul, one David, the first magiftrate of the police, or principal civil magiftrate of the place; and another to an inferior officer, called an affeffor: The Capitoul, was already fet out, having been alarmed by the rumour of a murder, before the meffenger fent from Calas's got to his houfe: He entered the house with 40 foldiers, took the father, Peter the fon, the mother, La Vaiffe, and the maid, them: He fent for M. de la Tour, a all into custody, and fet a guard over physician, and M. La Marque and Perronet, furgeons, who examined the body for marks of violence, but found none except the mark of the ligature on the neck; they found alfo the hair of the deceased done up in the ufual manner, perfectly smooth, and without the least diforder; his cloaths alfo were regularly folded up, and laid upon the counter, nor was his shirt either torn or unbuttoned.

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Notwithstanding thefe appearances, David thought fit to give into the opinion of the mob, and took it into his head that old Calas had fent for La Vaiffe, telling him he had a fon to be hanged, that La Vaife had come to perform his office of executioner, and that the father and the brother had affited him in it.

The body, by order of this poor ignorant bigot, was carried to the town-houfe with the cloaths. The father and fon were thrown into a dark dungeon; and the mother, La Vaille, the maid, and Cafing, were imprisoned in one that admitted the light. The next day, what is called Town-houfe, inítead of the pot where the verbal process was taken at the the body was found, as the law directs, and was dated at Calas's house, to conceal the irregularity: This verbal process is fomewhat like our Coroner's Inquest; witneffes are examined, and the magiftrate makes his report, which is the fame there as the verdict of the coroner's jury with us. The witneffes examined by this Capitoul were the phyfician and furgeon, who proved Anthony Calas to have been ftrangled; the furgeon having been ordered to examine the ftomach of the deceased, depofed alfo, that the food which was found there had been taken four hours before his death: As no proof of the fuppofed fact could be procured, the Capitoul had recourfe to a Monitory, in which the crime was taken for granted, and all perfons were required

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quired to give fuch teftimony con-
cerning it as they were able, particu-
larizing the points to which they were
to fpeak. This Monitory recites, that
La Valle was commiflioned by the
Protestants to be their executioner in A
ordinary, when any of their children
were to be hanged for changing their
religion; it recites alfo, that when
Proteftants thus hang their children,
they compel them to kneel, and one
of the interrogatories was, whether
any perfon had feen Anthony Calas
kneel before his father when he ftran-
gled him; it recites too, that Anthony
died a Roman Catholic, and requires
evidence of his Catholicitm: These
ridiculous opinions being thus adopt-
ed and published by the principal ma-
giftrate of a confiderable city, the
church of Geneva thought itfelf ob-
liged to fend an atteftation of its ab-
horrence of opinions fo abominable
and abfurd, and of its aftonishment
that they thould be fufpected of fuch
opinions, by persons whose rank and
office required them to have more
knowledge and better judgment.

Trial of John Calas for a fuppofed Murder.

attefted that they were guilty in his monitory without proof, and no proof coming in, he thought fit to condemn the unhappy father, mother, brother, friend and fervant to the torture, and put them all into irons on the 18th of November. Cafing was enlarged upon proof that he was not in Calas's house till after Anthony was dead.

From thete dreadful proceedings the fufferers appealed to the parliament, which immediately took cognizance of the affair, annulled the fentence of the Capitoul as irregular, and conti nued the profecution.

When the tryal came on, the hangman, who had been carried to Calas's houte, aud fhewn the folding doors and the bar, depofed, that it was impoffible Anthony thould hang himself as was pretended; another witness swore that they looked through the key hole of Calas's door into a dark room, C where they faw men running hastily to and fro; a third fwore, that his wife had told him, that a woman, named Mandrill, had told her, that a certain woman unknown had declared the heard the cries of Mark Anthony Calas at the farther end of the city. Upon fuch evidence as this, the maDjority of the parliament were of opi

But before this Monitory was publifhed, the mob had got a notion that Anthony Calas was the next day to have entered into the confraternity of the White Penitents. The Capitoul immediately adopted this opinion alfo, without the leaft examination, and ordered Anthony's body to be buried in the middle of St Stephen's church, which was done; forty priests, and all the white penitents affilting in the funeral proceflion. E

Four days afterwards, the White Penitents performed a folemn fervice for him in their chapel; the church was hung with white, and a tomb was raifed in the middle of it, on the top of which was placed a human skeleton, holding in one hand a paper, on which was written abjuration of herefy, and in F the other a palin, the Einblem of Martyrdom.

The next day the Francifcans performed a fervice of the fame kind for him, and it is eafy to imagine how much the minds of the people were inflamed by this ftrange folly of their magistrates and priests.

nion, that the father and mother ordered La Vaiffe to hang their fon, and that another fon and a maid fervant, who was a good Catholic, had affifted him to do it.

One la Borde prefided at the tryal, who had zealously efpoufed the popular prejudices, and though it was manifeft to demonftration that the prifoners were either all innocent, or all guilty, he voted that the father fould frit fuffer the torture ordinary and extraordinary, to difcover his accomplices, and be then broken alive upon the wheel, to receive the last stroke when he had lain two hours, and then to be burnt to afhes In this opinion he had the concurrence of fix others, three were for the torture alone, two were of opinion that they fhould en deavour to afcertain upon the spot whether Anthony could hang himielf or not, and one voted to acquit the G prifoner. After long debates, the majority was for the torture and the wheel, and probably condemned the father by way of experiment, whether he was guilty or not, hoping he would, . in his agony, confefs the crime, and accufe the other prifoners, whole fate, therefore, they fulpended: It is, however, certain, that if they had had evi

The Capitoul continued the profe cution with unrelenting feverity, and though the grief and distraction of the family when he first came to the house, were alone fufficient to have convinced any reasonable being that they were H not the authors of the event which they deplored, yet having publickly,

dence

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