1822—1843 5 



of Malta and an ardent royalist, ordered all the late soldiers of 

 Napoleon, the "brigands de la Loire" as they were now called, 

 to bring their sabres to the Mairie. Joseph Pasteur reluctantly 

 obeyed; but v/hen he heard that these glorious weapons were 

 destined to police service, and would be used by police agents, 

 further submission seemed to him intolerable. He recognized 

 his own sergeant-major's sabre, which had just been given to 

 an agent, and springing upon the man, wrested the sword 

 from him. Great excitement ensued — a mixture of indigna- 

 tion, irritation and repressed enthusiasm; the numerous Bona- 

 partists in the town began to gather together. An Austrian 

 regiment was at that time still garrisoned in the town. The 

 Mayor appealed to the colonel, asldng him to repress this dis- 

 obedience; but the Austrian officer refused to interfere, declar- 

 ing that he both understood and approved the military feelings 

 which actuated the ex-sergeant-major. Pasteur was allowed to 

 keep his sword, and returned home accompanied by sympa- 

 thizers who were perhaps more noisily enthusiastic than he 

 could have wished. 



Having peacefully resumed his work he made the acquaint- 

 ance of a neighbouring family of gardeners, whose garden faced 

 his tannery on the other bank of the ' ' Furieuse, * ' a river rarely 

 deserving its name. From the steps leading to the water Jean 

 Joseph Pasteur often used to watch a young girl working in the 

 garden at early dawn. She soon perceived that the *'old 

 soldier*' — very young still; he was but twenty-five years old — 

 was interested in her every movement. Her name was Jeanne 

 Etiennette Roqui. 



Her parents, natives of Marnoz, a village about four kilo- 

 metres from Salins, belonged to one of the most ancient 

 plebeian families of the country. The Salins archives mention 

 a Roqui working in vineyards as far back as 1555, and in 1659 

 there were Roqui lampmakers and plumbers. The members of 

 this family were in general so much attached to each other that 

 *'to love like the Roqui" had become proverbial; their wills 

 and testaments mentioned legacies or gifts from brother to 

 brother, uncle to nephew. In 1815 the father and mother of 

 Jeanne Etiennette were living very quietly in the old Salins 

 faubourg. Their daughter was modest, intelligent and kind; 

 Jean Joseph Pasteur asked for her hand in marriage. They 

 neemed made for each other; the difference in their natures 

 only strengthened their mutual affection; he was reserved. 



