clergyman all the details of this terrible history, and signed each page. Allut died in peace with God, and received Christian burial. After his death, Abbé P——— sent to the Paris police the valuable document from which the strange facts above recorded have been derived. He wrote also the following letter:
"MONSIEUR LE PRÉFET:
"I have had the happiness of bringing to repentance a very great sinner. He believed, and I agreed with him, that it would be advisable to communicate to you a series of horrible events in which the unhappy man had been at once actor and victim. By following the indications furnished in the note annexed to this sheet, you will discover the subterranean chamber where the remains of the wretched and unfortunate Picaud, the victim of his own passions and hate, may still be found. God grants pardon. Men, in their pride, wish to do more than God; they pursue vengeance, and vengeance crushes them.
"Antoine Allut sought in vain for the spot where his victim's treasures were deposited. He entered his room secretly by night, but no book, deed, or document, and no sum of money fell into his hands. I inclose the addresses and instructions how to find the two lodgings which, under his two assumed names, Picaud occupied in Paris.
"Even on the bed of death Allut refused to tell me how he had obtained his knowledge of the facts related in the document, or who informed him of the crimes and wealth of Picaud; only, just before expiring, he said: 'Father, the faith of no man is more living than mine, for I have seen and heard a soul that had left the body.'
"Nothing then indicated delirium on the part of Allut. He had just made his solemn profession of faith. The men of this age are presumptuous; in their ignorance, their refusal to believe seems to them wisdom. The ways of God are infinite. Let us adore and submit.
"I have the honor, etc., etc."
(Archives of the Police Department.)
