THE TRIAL OF GILLES GARNIER. BY JOSEPH M. SULLIVAN. CLOSELY allied to the charge of witch craft was that of lycanthropy, a preju dice derived from Pythagorean sorcery. Lycanthropy was the supposed act of turn ing one's self or another person into a wolf. Defined by medical men, it was a species of erratic melancholy, in which the person afflicted imagines himself a wolf, and imi tates the actions of that animal. The follow ing case will illustrate the nature of this stupendous transformation. Cases of this sort were common in southern France, a dis trict where wolves abound. And the learned men of that day reasoned that if the devil could enter into swine, he could as easily enter into wolves. The case of Gilles Garnier furnishes an example of pure ignorance, superstition, and cruelty unparalleled in the history of juris prudence. Gamier was sentenced to death tipon his own confession, wrung from him while he was suffering from the tortures of the rack. The sentence of the court con demning him to be burned alive at the stake, and his ashes to be scattered to the winds, was carried out to the very letter. The detailed facts of the prosecution are as follows: At Dole, in 1573. a loup-garou, or 'cclir-'ivolf (man-wolf), was accused of devastating the country and devouring little children. The indictment was read by HenryCamus, doctor of laws and counsellor to the king, to the effect that the accused, Gilles
Gamier, had killed a girl twelve years of age, having torn her to pieces, partly with his teeth, and partly with his wolf's paws; that having dragged the body into the forest, he then devoured the larger portion, reserving the remainder for his wife; also that by rea son of injuries inflicted in a similar way upon another young girl, thfc loup-garou had occa sioned her death; also that he had devoured a boy of thirteen, tearing him limb by limb; that he displayed the same unnatural propen sities even in his own proper shape. Fifty persons were found to bear witness; and he was put to the rack, which elicited an unreserved confession. He was then brought back into court, when Dr. Camus, in the name of the Parliament of Dole, pro nounced the following sentence: "Seeing thai Gilles Gamier has, by the testimony of credible witnesses and by his own spontane ous confession, been proved guilty of the abominable crimes of lycantliropy and witch craft, this court condemns him, the said Gilles, to be this day taken in a cart from this spot to the place of execution, accom panied by the executioner, where he, by the said executioner, shall be tied to a stake and burned alive, and that his ashes be scattered to the winds. The court further condemns him, the said Gilles, to the costs of the prose cution. Given at Dole, this 18th day of January, 1573."
