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The Greeti Bag.
CAUSES CÉLÈBRES. XIII. THE MARCHIONESS DE BRINVILLIERS. [I676.] /^VN the 31st of July, 1672, there died in Paris a gentleman named Gaudin de Sainte-Croix. His death occurred after an illness of five months; and as he had a wife from whom he had been separated, and numerous creditors, a commissary was summoned to place seals upon his effects. During his lifetime this Sainte-Croix had had the reputation of being an honest, up right man, and had been greatly respected by his neighbors. On the 8th of August, at the request of his widow and his creditors, the seals were removed, and a notary called to make an inventory of the property. Among other things was found a little roll of papers upon which were written these words : " My Con fession." Such a document being considered a sacred thing, and one neither to be seen nor read, by consent of those present it was burned unopened. There was also found a small box, about eighteen inches long and ten inches wide; and on opening it a half-sheet of paper was discovered, on which was written, in the handwriting of the deceased, the following lines: — I earnestly entreat those into whose hands this box may fall to place it at once in the hands of the Marchioness de Brinvilliers, living in the Rue Neuve-Saint-Paul, as its contents concern her alone, and no other person in the world has any interest in them. In case she shall be dead, as well as myself, I request that the box shall be burned with all its contents, without opening or disturbing anything. . . . (Signed) Sainte-Croix. Out of respect to the wishes of the de ceased, the notary contented himself with a glance into the box, which contained some
packages of papers, a few small packets, and several glass vials; and it was then locked and sealed. However, as they proceeded with the in ventory, and but little property of value was discovered, the creditors and the widow be came uneasy. They began to imagine that the box contained more than had at first been supposed. Madame Sainte-Croix was not ignorant that her husband had lived on terms of great intimacy with this Marchioness de Brinvilliers, to whom the paper found in the box attributed the ownership of its con tents. She suspected that a valuable gift was in this manner to be made to the Mar chioness to her own prejudice, and by unre mitting efforts she finally carried her point that the contents of this mysterious box should be investigated. In the presence of the proper authorities, the seals were once more removed from the box, and the result of the examination was the discovery of a number of small packets carefully sealed and containing what was supposed to be anti mony, corrosive sublimate, and vitriol. The box also contained several letters from the Marchioness to Sainte-Croix. In them there was only one allusion to poison, and that was in one of her most impassioned letters, in which she declared that she had determined to put an end to her existence, and pretended that she had taken some of the poison which Sainte-Croix had given her. This poison she described as Glazer's receipt. Suspi cion, however, was excited by the discovery of so many mysterious packets, and by the recollection of the sudden deaths of three near relatives of the Marchioness. It was also remembered that she had frequently been heard to allude to the means she pos sessed of getting rid of an enemy, when she
