63S 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



Anszcer of the Mhmter of the Grand 



Master of Malta. 

 Sir, 



I hasten to inform your excellen- 

 cy, that I have received your k'ttcr 

 of tlie 31st Germinal, witii a copy 

 of the report of the grand jiulirc, 

 relative to the conspiracy designed 

 by Mr. Drake, his Britannic majes- 

 ty's minister at tlic court of Mu- 

 nich. I shall immediately transmit 

 the communicalion to his liigliness 

 the grand master of the order of St. 

 Jolin of Jernsaknn : liis attachment, 

 his profound devotion, as well as 

 that of the order over which he pre- 

 sides, to the interests of France, 

 and the august person of the first 

 consul, are such, that he will feel 

 the greatest horror and indignation 

 irhcn he hears of this odious plot. 



(Signed) The Bailiff of Ferrcte. 

 Taris, March 2G, 1801. 



CJficiul Account of the Death of Pi- 

 chegru, extracted from the 3Ioiii- 

 ieiir, or French Official Journal^ 

 of the Stko/Jprd, 1801. 



The following is the substance of 

 the juridical reports connected with 

 the suicide of Pichegru : ■ citizens 

 Soupc, Didier, Bousquet, Brunct, 

 Lesvignes, and FIcury, surgeons 

 appointed b)' the criminal tribunal 

 to inspert the body of (lie cx-gcne- 

 ral Pichegru, and to state what was 

 the cause which gave rise to his 

 death, unanimously declared — ^That 

 (on the Cth of April) from the 

 temple, they were conducted into 

 the chamber where Charles Piche- 

 gru, the ex-gcncral, Avas confined. 

 On arriving in the chamber they 

 found a male corpse. After de- 

 scribing his person, and what ap- 

 peared to them his age, they go on 

 3 



to say that he died of strangulation. 

 They state, they found a black silk 

 haridkcrchief about his neck, through ■ 

 which was passed a small stick for- 

 ty-five centimeters long, and from 

 four to live centimeters in circum- 

 ference ; which stick, forming 

 a tourquinet of the cravat, was 

 stopped by the left jaw, on which 

 he lay, with one end of the stick 

 under, and this produced a degree 

 of strangulation suflicient to occa- 

 sion his death. They then remark- 

 ed, that the stick had rested by one 

 of its ends on flie left check, and 

 that by moving round irregularl}', 

 it had produced a transversal scratch 

 of about six centimeters. — The face 

 was discoloured, the jaw was locked, 

 and the tongue was pressed betwixt 

 the teeth. The discolouration (e rc- 

 inosyt), extended over the whole 

 body. The extremities were cold. 

 The muscles and fingers of the hand 

 were strongly contracted. Their 

 oi)inion, therefore, was, from all 

 they saw in the position of the bo- 

 dy, and the idea they had formed 

 respecting it, that the body was the 

 coipsc of the ex-general Pichegru, 

 and that he was guilty of suicide. — 

 Citizen Sirot, oneof thegensd'armes 

 d\'iite, was stationed near the cham- 

 ber of general Pichegru, in the tem- 

 ple. He had heard a considerable 

 decree of struggling and noise, but 

 imagined that the prisoner laboured 

 under a great degree of difficulty of 

 breathing. lie did not, however, 

 think that there was any thing which 

 required his particular assistance. 

 Citizen Lapointe was near the same 

 spot. He av. aked about 4 o'clock 

 in the morning, but heard no parti- 

 cular noise. Citizen Fanconnier, 

 keeper of the tower of the Temple, 

 deposed, that at half-past seven in 

 the morning, (of the Cth of April) 



•itizua 



