Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Succinct Account Of The Life Of The Writer.
behind it . Politely I was asked to sit down , ancl he assured me that 1 was more before a friend than a judge ; he told me to banish all fear , and speak the truth to all questions he should put to me , ancl that he would do his best to free me from the trouble in which 1 was . He asked my name , country , and the reason why 1 was prisoner ; then he enquired whether I knew a certain person , by name , ancl whether I belonged to Freemasonry . To this last I answered in the negative . After several
other questions he addressed me thus : " I believe you to be not guilty of the crime you are accused of , but I cannot give you your liberty . I shall however make instantly my report , and you will hear of me in a short time . I shall give orders meanwhile that you be better treated . " Then he ordered me to retire , and I was conducted to another room , well provided with bars , where there was a bed , a table , and two chairs . Eiht days afterwards I was taken to another prisoncalled " le carcere
g , nuovo , " new prison , where I was well treated ; and , after another examination , having been detained seven months and twenty-four days , I was set at liberty by a " motu proprio " of his holiness , under the following conditions , viz .: —To leave the papal states within three days , and to sign an obligation never to enter the states of Rome again , uncier pain of five years at the galleys . All this being done , I embarked and went over to Marseilles .
I learnt there that preparations were going on for an expedition against Algiers , and I requested the prefect of marine to give me a place for taking part in this campaign , as surveyor of the stores , and I obtained it .
After this expedition I returned to France , and , not knowing how to employ myself , I resolved to go to Paris before spending the little money I had gained , thinking that I could more readily obtain in the capital an employment suitable for me ; and on the 28 th of July , 1830 , at ten o ' clock in the morning , I arrived there . I had heard already the news of the revolution . The most open streets were barricadoed . I alighted near the Jardin des Plantes , went on foot through the town , in spite of
the firing which was going on in almost all the streets , and came to the gate of St . Denys , where a platoon of the " Garde du Corps" denied the passage to every one . Unwilling to meddle with these affairs , not being a Frenchman , I requested the officer to let me pass ; but instead of consenting to my entreaty , he rode up to me to strike me with his sabre . I stooped to avoid the blow , and lifting his right foot out of the stirrup , he fell from the horse . The revoltershaving stopped till this moment
, in the doors of the houses , came out , and commenced a fire which forced the platoon to fall back . The revolters wanted to make me their leader , but I refused ; and continuing my road up to La Villete , a village joining the capital , I went to a friend , with whom I remained several days . The revolution had terminated , but the French hacl clone nothing except change their masters ; things remained on the same footing , the only alteration being in the name .
The government granted a pension to all exiled officers ; but this assistance carried with it the most galling chains ; they were obliged to live in an appointed spot , from which they might not stir without special permission of government , and three francs were deducted every year from the sum granted , so that , after a few years , it became so insignificant , that an officer was left no more than forty-five francs a month , equivalent to thirty-six shillings English . Being without friends in a strange country , and finding myself lonely .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Succinct Account Of The Life Of The Writer.
behind it . Politely I was asked to sit down , ancl he assured me that 1 was more before a friend than a judge ; he told me to banish all fear , and speak the truth to all questions he should put to me , ancl that he would do his best to free me from the trouble in which 1 was . He asked my name , country , and the reason why 1 was prisoner ; then he enquired whether I knew a certain person , by name , ancl whether I belonged to Freemasonry . To this last I answered in the negative . After several
other questions he addressed me thus : " I believe you to be not guilty of the crime you are accused of , but I cannot give you your liberty . I shall however make instantly my report , and you will hear of me in a short time . I shall give orders meanwhile that you be better treated . " Then he ordered me to retire , and I was conducted to another room , well provided with bars , where there was a bed , a table , and two chairs . Eiht days afterwards I was taken to another prisoncalled " le carcere
g , nuovo , " new prison , where I was well treated ; and , after another examination , having been detained seven months and twenty-four days , I was set at liberty by a " motu proprio " of his holiness , under the following conditions , viz .: —To leave the papal states within three days , and to sign an obligation never to enter the states of Rome again , uncier pain of five years at the galleys . All this being done , I embarked and went over to Marseilles .
I learnt there that preparations were going on for an expedition against Algiers , and I requested the prefect of marine to give me a place for taking part in this campaign , as surveyor of the stores , and I obtained it .
After this expedition I returned to France , and , not knowing how to employ myself , I resolved to go to Paris before spending the little money I had gained , thinking that I could more readily obtain in the capital an employment suitable for me ; and on the 28 th of July , 1830 , at ten o ' clock in the morning , I arrived there . I had heard already the news of the revolution . The most open streets were barricadoed . I alighted near the Jardin des Plantes , went on foot through the town , in spite of
the firing which was going on in almost all the streets , and came to the gate of St . Denys , where a platoon of the " Garde du Corps" denied the passage to every one . Unwilling to meddle with these affairs , not being a Frenchman , I requested the officer to let me pass ; but instead of consenting to my entreaty , he rode up to me to strike me with his sabre . I stooped to avoid the blow , and lifting his right foot out of the stirrup , he fell from the horse . The revoltershaving stopped till this moment
, in the doors of the houses , came out , and commenced a fire which forced the platoon to fall back . The revolters wanted to make me their leader , but I refused ; and continuing my road up to La Villete , a village joining the capital , I went to a friend , with whom I remained several days . The revolution had terminated , but the French hacl clone nothing except change their masters ; things remained on the same footing , the only alteration being in the name .
The government granted a pension to all exiled officers ; but this assistance carried with it the most galling chains ; they were obliged to live in an appointed spot , from which they might not stir without special permission of government , and three francs were deducted every year from the sum granted , so that , after a few years , it became so insignificant , that an officer was left no more than forty-five francs a month , equivalent to thirty-six shillings English . Being without friends in a strange country , and finding myself lonely .