THE DEVIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4924, 4 January 1877, Page 3

THE DEVIL.

Tho event of the day at Compiegne, France, is the reported appearance of the devil in the house of a Sieur Cousin, an inhabitant of that town. The promenades and avenues of the ex-Imperial residence, generally much frequented on summer evenings, are almost all deserted, as the people who are in the habit of repairing there congregate outside the house in the Rue St. Joseph, from the interior of which the devil makes manifestations of his presence. This house is inhabited by a carpenter and his family, who for the last few weeks have been unable, to get any sleep, except at rare intervals, on account of the noise which is being made by the Spirit of Evil. As a. general rule, the manifestations do not begin until after the lights are extinguished. Last Sunday they commenced as usual soon after ten o’clock, and were so loud that an old woman sleeping in a neighboring house thought that a shepherd who had died in the house a few years ago was holding an infernal Sabbath in his former residence. The commissary of police was called up, and came with two of his agents to search the house. A wardrobe was suspected of harboring the devil, but when opened there was not so much as smell of sulphur. The commissary of police spent the whole night in the house, but without making any discovery. The noise commenced the next evening, and the house was again searched, but to no purpose.