Causes Célèbres. who had stopped in passing to listen to the debate, stepped forward, and addressing the servant in German, warned her to afford them no information. Now it happened that Lemoine under stood German, and with these ominous words stole into his heart the conviction that his child had been kidnapped by the Jew, for purposes too horrible to contem plate. Already it might be too late to save the little innocent; but revenge at least was left, and to this Lemoine, secretly de spairing of his child's life, devoted himself heart and soul. No time was lost in laying a formal complaint before the lieutenantcriminel of Metz; but before the suspected Jew could be apprehended, those of his people resident in the city wrote to him, earnestly advising him to appear and answer frankly to the charge preferred. Raphael Levi obeyed. In the process which followed, Raphael Levi was described as aged fifty-six, born at Xelaincourt, of middle stature, black curl ing hair, very full black beard; a bold, determined man; had travelled much in the Levant, in Italy, Spain, Holland, — whithersoever, in short, the affairs of his people summoned him; of late years, res ident at Boulay, in the duchy of Lorraine (six French leagues from Metz), where he exercised the functions of rabbi and chief of the synagogue. On the day of the alleged abduction of the child Lemoine, he had quitted Boulay at seven in the morning, arriving three hours later at Metz, his errand being to purchase a ram's horn for the next day's Feast of Trumpets, and also wine, oil, and fish. These articles he delivered to his son, and despatching him homeward, followed him self an hour after noon. The village of Glatigny is about a league and a half from Metz, and lies some two hundred paces from the highroad from Metz to Boulay. It has been mentioned that the child, in place of following his mother to the spring, had wandered into the road. The presumption 65
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was that Levi, finding him there alone, had caught him up on his horse, returned to Metz, delivered him into the keeping of others of his people, and finally retraced his way to Boulay to sleep. Eighteen witnesses were produced, five of whom testified to having observed, on the day mentioned in the process, a Jew answering the description of Levi enter by the German Gate. He rode a white horse, and carried before him, wrapped in his mantle, a child about three years of age, with long, bright curls escap ing from his little crimson cap. One only of the witnesses, however, Beaisette Thomas, swore positively to the identity of the infantcarrying Jew, while the Vaudemont rider affirmed that the man he had encountered on the road exceeded the accused in height and size. The Jews of Metz, who neglected noth ing to secure the acquittal of Levi, now tendered proof that on the day in question he had been at three o'clock at Estangs, two leagues from Metz, and half a league from Glatigny, arriving at Boulay at four, accompanied by his son. "Agreed!" replied the judges, "that is very possible; " and thereupon decreed that the accused, Raphael Levi, should be burned alive, — being previously subjected to the torture, ordinary and extraordinary, with the view of discovering what he had done with the child. Appeal was instantly made to Parliament. Two days after the first decree had been pronounced, — namely, on the nth of No vember, — the jailer reported to the recorder that he had surprised Levi in the act of throwing out a letter to a servant of the prison, and on searching his cell, had found ten other letters, addressed at different times to the accused. These the servant, Mar guerite Houster, admitted having received at the gate from the prisoner's son. The letters were in Hebrew and in German, the Jews of Metz habitually using the latter tongue for conversation. Some delay oc curred in discovering an interpreter for the
