like to him, had frequently assaulted hini, and in one in stance would have killed him by the stroke of an iron bar on his head, had he not fortunately parried the blow.

The remark of the prisoner on the weakness of his wife's understanding, served to diminish the surprise of the court at her being so easily duped, nor indeed could they blame any relation for endeavouring, in any manner they were able, to expel the violator of the wife and pro perty of their kinsman.

Du Tilb then proceeded to inform the court of the reasons which first induced him to quit his house and family; related minutely where, how, and with whom he had passed his time; that he had served in the French army seven years, and, on his regiment being disbanded, had entered into the Spanish service, from which, being im patient to see his wife, and sorely repenting that he had ever quitted her, at a considerable expence he procured his discharge, and made the best of his way to Artigues, At this place, notwithstanding his long absence, and the loss of his hair, he was directly and universally recognized by his old acquaintance, and received with transports of joy by his wife and sisters, particularly by his uncle; although that unnatural and cruel relation had now thought proper to stir up the present prosecution against him.

The prisoner, in consequence of certain leading ques◄ tions from the judge, gave a minute description of the situation and peculiar circumstances of the place in Biscay, where he said he was born (still insisting that he was Martin Guerre) mentioning the names, age, and occupation of the relations he had left there; the year, the day, and the month of his marriage, also the persons who were present at the ceremony, as well as those who dined with them; which, on teferring to collateral evidence were found to tally.

On the other hand, forty-five reputable and credible witnesses, who were well acquainted with Martin Guerre and Arnold Du Tilb, swore, that the prisoner was not and could not be Martin: one of these, Carbon Barreau, maternal uncle of Du Tilb, acknowledged his nephew with tears, and, observing that he was fettered like a malefactor, bitterly lamented the disgrace it would bring upon his family.

These persons also insisted, that Martin Guerre was tall, of a slender make, and, as persons of that form frequently are, awkward and stooping in his gait; that he

had a remarkable way of protruding and hanging down his under lip; that his nose was Hat, and that several scars were to be seen on his left eye-brow, and other parts of his face.

On the contrary, they observed that Du Tilb was a middle-sized well-set man, upright, with thick legs, a well formed nose, and without any thing remarkable about his mouth or lips; they agreed that his counte nance exhibited the same scars as that of Martin.

The shoe maker, who had for many years furnished Guerre with shoes, being called, deposed, that his foot reached the twelfth size, but that the prisoner's was ra ther short of the ninth it further appeared, that the former had, from his early youth, been dexterous at cud• ́ gelling and wrestling, of which the impostor was wholly ignorant.

As a strong circumstance against the person accused, it was added that his manner of speaking, and the sort of language he used, though, at times, artfully interlarded with Patois and unintelligible gibberish, was very different from that which used to be spoken by the real Martin Guerre, who, being a Biscayan, spoke neither wholly Spanish, wholly French, nor wholly Gascon, but á curious mixture of each, a sort of language called the Basque.

Lastly, and what seemed to make an impression on the court, the prosecutors referred to the internal evidence of the offender's character, which, they proved, had been from his childhood vicious and incorrigible in the extreme; they produced satisfactory proofs of his being hardened in all manner of wickedness and uncleanness, a common swearer and blasphemer, a notorious profligate, every way capable of the crime laid to his charge.

The accusation lay heavy upon the prisoner; a pause ensued for deliberation, and the court, fatigued by the long and patient examination of a host of witnesses, took refreshment; the town house being still crowded with persons impatient to give their testimony in behalf of the prisoner, whom they considered and pitied as an injured

man.

The first parties next examined astonished the judge, and staggered the whole court, they were the four sisters of Martin Guerre, all reputed to be women of sound understanding, and of character unblemished; they positively swore, that the man in-custody was their dear bro VOL, II,

H h

ther Martin. Two of their husbands, and thirty-five persons born or brought up in the neighbourhood corroborated their assertions; among others, Catherine Boere, who carried Martin and his wife the medianoche, or as an Englishman would call it, the sack-posset, after they were put to bed on the wedding night, declared as she hoped for everlasting salvation, that the prisoner and the man she saw in bed with the bride, was the same person.

The majority of these last witnesses also deposed, that Martin Guerre had two scars in his face, and that the nail of the fore finger, on the left hand, in consequence of a wound received in his childhood, grew across the top of his finger; that he had three warts on the back of his right hand towards the knuckles, and another on his little finger; the judge ordered the culprit to stretch forth both his hands, which were found to agree with this description.

It further appeared, that on his first arrival at Artigues, the prisoner addressed most of the inhabitants by name, and recalled to the memory of those who had forgotten him, several circumstances with respect to the village, on the subject of births, marriages, and deaths, which had happened ten, fifteen, and twenty years before; he also spoke to his wife (as he still insisted she was) of certain circumstances of a very peculiar nature, which took place on the wedding night; these I will not repeat.

He, who could give an assumed character so strong a resemblance to reality, and so dexterously clothe falsehood in the robes of truth, was no common impostor; like other great villains, he must have been a man of abilites.

To add to the perplexities of this business, the wife being called, her pretended husband solemnly addressed, and called on her, as she valued peace of mind here, and everlasting happiness hereafter, to speak truth without fear or affection, and declared that he would submit to instant death, without repining, if she would swear that he was not her real husband; the woman replied, that she would by no means take an oath on the occasion, at the same time, she would not give credit to any thing he could say.

The evidence, on both sides, being closed, and the defence of the prisoner having been heard, the judge pronounced Arnauld du Tilb guilty, and sentenced him to suffer death; but the culprit appealed to the parliament of Thoulouse, who not long after ordered a copy

of the proceedings, and the convict to be forthwith transmitted to them.

The parliament, at that period a court of justice as well as registry of royal edicts, wisely determined to take no decisive step in the business till they had endeavoured to get sight of and secure the man with a wooden leg, as described by the traveller; the uncle strenuously in-sisting that he, and no other, was his long lost nephew.

A commission was appointed to examine the papers, and call for new evidence, if necessary; descriptions of the person, and circumstances of Martin Guerre, the absent husband, were also circulated throughout the kingdom; at length, after several months elapsed, and considerable pains had been taken, the absentee was fortunately discovered in a distant province, conveyed to Thoulouse, and ordered into close custody, with particular directions that he should have no intercourse with any person whatever, even at his meals, but in the presence of one of the commissioners, who ordered an additional lock to the door of the room in which he was confined, and themselves kept the key.

A day was fixed for a solemn and final re-hearing, and a list of such witnesses, as would be required to appear before the parliament, was, in the mean time, sent to Rieux, for the purpose of preventing the trouble and expense of conveying to Thoulouse, so large a number of persons who had crowded the court and streets of Rieux. The parliament assembled at an early hour, the former proceedings were read; the prisoner still persisted in asserting his innocence, and complained of the hardships and injuries he had suffered.

The real Martin Guerre now walked into court on his wooden leg, and Du Tilb being asked if he knew him, undauntedly answered, "No." The injured husband reproaching the impostor for the perfidiousness of his conduet in basely taking advantage of the frankness of an old companion, and depriving him of his wife and property; Du Tilb retorted the charge on his accuser.

The present was thought a curious instance of audacity contrasted with simplicity of heart and unassuming manners; an impudent and flagitious adventurer, who had for several years enjoyed the wife and property of another," and, in the face of his country, endeavouring to persuade the injured man out of his name and personal identity; it was further observed, that the gesture, deportment," Hb. 2

air, and mode of speaking of the impostor was cool, consistent, and steady; while those who appeared in the cause of truth, were embarrassed, hesitating, confused, and, on certain points, contradictory in their evidence,

The wife, the four sisters, and the uncle, had not yet seen the real Martin Guerre; they were now called into court: the first who entered was the eldest sister, who, the moment she caught sight of the man with a wooden leg, ran and embraced him, exclaiming, with tears, " Oh, my dear brother, I now see and acknowledge the error and misfortune into which this abominable traitor hath betrayed us.

The rest of the family as they approached, confessed, in a similar way, how much they had been deceived; and the long lost Martin, mingling his tears with theirs, received their embraces, and heard their penitential apolo gies with every appearance of tenderness and affection.

But, towards his wife, he deported himself very differently; she had not yet ventured to come near him, but stood at the entrance of the court, trembling and dismayed; one of the sisters, taking her arm, conducted her to Martin, but he viewed her with sternness and aversion, and, in reply to the excuses and advances she made, and the intercession of his sisters in her behalf, "That she was herself innocent, but seduced by the arts of a vil→ lain." He observed, "Her tears, and her sorrow are use→ less, I never shall love her again; it is in vain that you attempt to justify her, from the circumstance of so many others having been deceived; a wife has ways of knowing a husband unknown to all the world; in such a case as this, it is impossible that a woman could have been imposed on, if she had not entertained a secret wish to be unfaithful; I shall, for ever, regard her as the cause of all my misfortunes, and impute solely to her, the whole of my wretchedness and disgrace.”

The judge reminding the angry husband, that if he had remained at home, nothing of what had happened could ever have taken place, recommended lenity and forgiveness.

Du Tilb was pronounced guilty of fraud, adultery, sacrilege, rape, and theft, and condemned to make the amende honourable, in the market-place of Artigues, in his shirt, with his head and feet bare, a halter round his neck, and a lighted torch in his hand; to demand pardon of God, the king, the nation, and the family he had cruelly deceived; it was further ordered, that he should