No sooner was the sentence passed, than Lesurques rose calmly, and
addressing the Judges, said, "I am innocent of the crime of which I am
accused. Ah! citoyens, if it is horrible to murder on the high-road, it
is not less so to murder by the law!"

Couriol, condemned to death, rose and said, "Yes, I am guilty--I avow
it. But Lesurques is innocent, and Bernard did not participate in
the murder."

Four times he reiterated this declaration; and, on entering his prison,
he wrote to the judge a letter full of sorrow and repentance, in which
he said, "I have never known Lesurques; my accomplices are Vidal, Rossi,
Durochat, and Dubosq. The resemblance of Lesurques to Dubosq has
deceived the witnesses."

To this declaration of Couriol was joined that of Madelaine Breban, who,
after the judgment, returned to renew her protestation, accompanied by
two individuals, who swore that, before the trial, she had told them
Lesurques had never had any relations with the culprits; but that he was
a victim of his fatal likeness to Dubosq. These testimonies threw doubt
in the minds of the magistrates, who hastened to demand a reprieve from
the Directory, which, terrified at the idea of seeing an innocent man
perish through a judicial error, had recourse to the _Corps Legislatif;_
for every other resource was exhausted. The message of the Directory to
the Five Hundred was pressing; its aim was to demand a reprieve, and a
decision as to what course to pursue. It ended thus: "Must Lesurques
perish on the scaffold because he resembles a villain?"

The _Corps Legislatif_ passed to the order of the day, as every
condition had been legally fulfilled, that a particular case could not