The Woes of Honore Mirabel; Or, Why Some Treasures Should Remain Buried

"New York Times," June 28, 1874 via Newspapers.com

So, you’re just a poor working stiff, barely getting by in this world.  Then one night, a ghost tells you the location of some buried treasure.  You do a little digging, and by golly, there’s the loot.  All your troubles are over, right?

Not necessarily, chum.

Honore Mirabel was a young laborer living near Marseilles, France.  One night in May of 1726, he was lying under an almond tree when he noticed a man at an upper window of a nearby building belonging to a Madame Placasse.  Mirabel asked the man what he was up to, but he got no response.  When he entered the building, he found no one there.  The unnerved boy went to a well for some water.  As he drank, he heard a faint voice telling him to dig there for some valuables, and asking that masses might be said for his (the voice’s) soul.  Then, from out of nowhere, Mirabel saw a stone fall on a certain spot.

Recognizing this as a sign of where to dig, Mirabel enlisted the help of another laborer named Bernard, and the two began excavating.  They soon uncovered a packet of dirty linen, containing more than a thousand Portuguese gold coins.  Mirabel was so thrilled by his windfall that he not only paid for the masses for his ghostly benefactor, he had himself bled four times, just to calm his nerves.

And then it occurred to Mirabel that he didn’t know what to do with the coins.  He consulted a merchant named Auguier, who advised him to do nothing with the loot, as putting them into circulation would inevitably lead to some awkward questions.  Auguier persuaded Mirabel to give him the coins for safe keeping, in exchange for a loan of less suspicious cash.  On September 27, Auguier gave him a formal signed receipt.

Then things got complicated.  When Mirabel later asked for his coins back, the merchant flatly refused.  When Mirabel tried pressing him on the issue, Auguier--according to the laborer--tried to murder him.  Mirabel then filed a lawsuit against him demanding the return of his property.

During the trial, Auguier acknowledged that Mirabel had told him of finding buried treasure, but insisted that he himself had never so much as seen the money, even though a ribbon was found in his house identical to the one Mirabel had used to tie up his bag of coins.  A woman named Marguerite Caillot testified that Mirabel had told her about his ghost.  She witnessed the hoard being uncovered, and identified the ribbon from Auguier’s home as the one used for the coins.  Another witness described seeing Mirabel give bags to Auguier, and getting a slip of paper in return.  A third stated that Mirabel had shown her his treasure.  As for the defense, Auguier brought in expert witnesses who stated that although the handwriting on the receipt was similar to the merchant’s, it was a forgery.  The ribbon found in Auguier’s home, it was claimed, was merely part of a dress belonging to his daughter.  After hearing all this, the obviously bewildered judge could think of no better solution than ordering that Auguier should be put to the torture.

Naturally, the merchant’s lawyer appealed this disagreeable decision, on the grounds that Mirabel’s whole story was nuts.  He argued that if there was no ghost--and what sane person believes in ghosts?--there was no treasure.  And if Mirabel found the coins on his own initiative, why didn’t the other digger, Bernard, claim his share of the loot?  Auguier also now claimed that he was in Pertuis, eight leagues away from Marseilles, on the day he allegedly received Mirabel’s treasure.

Mirabel’s lawyer countered by arguing that ghosts did indeed exist.  He cited as evidence the fact that the Bible, the Faculty of Theology in Paris, the Sorbonne, and the Parliament of Paris had all, in various ways, affirmed the reality of the spirit world.  In any case, whether you believe in ghosts or not, Mirabel unquestionably had a hoard of gold coins, which he had unwisely entrusted to the merchant.  Auguier, they claimed, had altered his handwriting when he wrote out the receipt, in order to trick Mirabel.  And Auguier’s alibi was worthless: he could easily have traveled the distance between Pertuis and Marseilles in less than a day.

Although one might think he’d be the first person to be interviewed, it was only at this point that Bernard was called to the stand.  He stated that Mirabel had told him about the ghost, he helped his friend dig, and they found some linen, but he insisted he had never seen any coins.  He added that Mirabel had given him money to pay for masses for the ghost, and later showed him a document which he thought resembled the receipt Auguier had allegedly signed.  More handwriting witnesses came forward, testifying that the receipt was not in the merchant’s hand.

A legal summons was submitted, in which Madame Placasse (who owned the land where the coins were allegedly found) insisted that the treasure rightfully belonged to her.  According to Mirabel, the document was a forgery, handed to him one day by an unknown man.

Marguerite Caillot now repudiated her earlier testimony, saying she had lied about hearing of the ghost and seeing the discovery of the packet in order to do Mirabel a favor.  She and Mirabel were arrested and joined Auguier in prison.  A man named Etienne Barthelemy was also arrested, on the charge that he had attempted to suborn witnesses to deliver testimony in Mirabel’s favor.

This fine legal mess was finally resolved on February 18, 1729.  The court acquitted Auguier, fined Marguerite Caillot ten francs, and sentenced Mirabel to be tortured and sent to the galley for life.  While under torture, Mirabel accused Etienne Barthelemy of instigating his charges against Auguier.  He claimed that Etienne had forged the receipt and the document where Madame Placasse demanded the return of her gold.  However, Mirabel doggedly insisted that he had indeed given Auguier sacks of coins, one of which had been tied with the ribbon found in the merchant’s home.  Barthelemy was also given a life sentence in the galleys.

The moral here is obvious: if, on some moonlit night, a ghost wants to guide you to a hidden fortune, tell it to get lost.