Damiens

Damiens, ROBERT FRANÇOIS, the would-be murderer of Louis XV., was born in 1714 near Arras. Already known in his youth as Robert le Diable, he was by turns a soldier and a servant in Paris; in 1756 he was forced for a robbery to flee to Belgium, but ventured to return to Paris about the end of the year. Already he had formed the plan to murder the king, either, as he himself alleged, on account of his conduct towards the parliament, or because, as was generally asserted, he was instigated by the Jesuits. On 4th January 1757 he went to Versailles, next day followed the king and his courtiers about everywhere, and about six o'clock at night, when the king was entering his carriage to leave Trianon, managed to stab him. Damiens was seized before he could finish the deed, and was nearly three months later adjudged by the parliament to a horrible death. The hand which had attempted the murder was burned at a slow fire; the fleshy parts of his body were then torn off by pincers, and melted resin and oil poured into the wounds; finally, he was torn to pieces by four horses. The fragments of his body were burned, the house in which he was born pulled down, and his family banished from France for ever.