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have been another similar gang, in a similar locality, in the same
city, under the same circumstances, with the same means and appliances,
engaged in a wrong of precisely the same aspect, at precisely the
same period of time! Yet in what, if not in this marvellous train of
coincidence, does the accidentally suggested opinion of the populace
call upon us to believe?
"
Before proceeding farther, let us consider the supposed scene of the
assassination, in the thicket at the Barrière du Roule. This thicket,
although dense, was in the close vicinity of a public road. Within
were three or four large stones, forming a kind of seat with a back and
footstool. On the upper stone was discovered a white petticoat; on the
second, a silk scarf. A parasol, gloves, and a pocket-handkerchief,
were also here found. The handkerchief bore the name, 'Marie Rogêt.'
Fragments of dress were seen on the branches around. The earth was
trampled, the bushes were broken, and there was every evidence of a
violent struggle.
"Notwithstanding the acclamation with which the discovery of this
thicket was received by the press, and the unanimity with which it
was supposed to indicate the precise scene of the outrage, it must be
admitted that there was some very good reason for doubt. That it was the
scene, I may or I may not believe--but there was excellent reason for
doubt. Had the true scene been, as Le Commerciel suggested, in the
neighborhood of the Rue Pavée St. Andrée, the perpetrators of the
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