1824.] after the Restorat'i 



liatik ; lliere I recommended to the 

 lioiitmaii to plead cornpuision, — that I 

 liad threatened to pistol him, to get a 

 jiussagc over. Soon after, I plunged 

 into (lie wood of Riotier, where I rested 

 for a short time, and, evening coming 

 on, I hastened towards Trevoux. 



Eeloie I had reaehed Trevoux, my 

 (idvenfure had been represented hi such 

 a light, as to {)reclude all hopes of self- 

 defence, at least for some time. My 

 relations, duly ap|)rised of this, had 

 scattered themselves, in diflbrcnt direc- 

 tions, to provide for my re-eulrance into 

 the town. One of them conducted me 

 to a small house, situated in Les 

 Bruyeres, belonging to one of my 

 fricuds. Here I was to remain se- 

 cluded till the violence of tiie passions 

 had siilisided, and the storm of persecu- 

 tion had blown over. Intelligence rela- 

 tive to any transactions, wherein my 

 brother and I were implicated, was to 

 be s|)eedily conveyed ; and, in the uatne 

 of my family, I was entreated to arm 

 myself with patience. I thought a few 

 days would suBicc tQ clear up my inno- 

 cence ; but uo ! for tiiree years 1 have 

 Lad to pine and rumiuate ou my mourn- 

 ful doom. 



About four in the morning of the next 

 day, luy brother came to find me in my 

 retreat. He had just escaped from the 

 moveable guani, which, conducted by 

 the mayor and justice of peace, Lad 

 beset the house of one of our cousins, 

 where he had taken refuge, to get some 

 rest, after a wearisome course that the 

 chasseurs of the Pyrenees had led him. 



As the road from Yillefranche to 

 Anse is one of the fiuest and smoothest 

 in Erance, horsemen would quickly 

 overtake a foot-passenger, that had ouly 

 half an hour's start of them. He heard 

 very distinctly the horses galloping, and, 

 concealment being his aim till the troop 

 had gone by, he sought, but in vain, for 

 some retired nook, on either side of the 

 road, which unfortunately lay open to 

 view in every direction. PoorAntoine 

 was then obliged to throw himself 

 under a bridge, up to the neck in water, 

 hiding his head among the bulrushes. 

 In this position be had to remain till 

 dark; in this durance vile, his limbs 

 congealed with cold, he hear'd the horse- 

 men pass and repass over the bridge, 

 dealing out menaces and invectives 

 against us; some of them reporting that 

 I had been taken, and others that 1 was 

 killed. In all his campaigns, he never 

 had to endure what he experienced 

 under the bridge of Ambery. 



I have been puzzled to remark, tliat 



on of the Bourbons. 40 1 



in certain circles, some curious gcnllc- 

 men have, in good earnest, agitated (he , 

 question, whether my brother's situation, 

 or that of Scarron, when he plunged 

 into a river, to escape the resentment 

 of some females whom he had scan- 

 dalized by an indecent mascpierade, 

 was the most ludicrous. Witii respect 

 to this frivolous problem, I can only 

 distinctly explain to them, and it is to 

 be hoped tliey will understand and 

 acknowledge, tiiat there is a wide dif- 

 ference between the last farcical days 

 of a carnival, and the beginning of a 

 cruel and violent persecution. 



The ardour of our i)ursucrs seemed to 

 increase in proportion to the exertions 

 we made to avoid them. They were 

 within a minute of overtaking me at the 

 port or quay De Franc, and my brother 

 bad but just time to jump out of a 

 window when the guard was entering 

 his chamber. The zeal of our friends 

 redoubled also with our dangers, and 

 was proved in many instances. 



Oj) the left side of the ancient churcli 

 of the Ffttliers (det Peres), at Trevoux, 

 there runs a narrow aad rapid path, 

 called Priondc ; after passing along it 

 about twenty minutes, we aie in the 

 plain that bears the name of Lcs 

 Bruyeres. Here a bloody battle was 

 fought between the Emperor Severus 

 and bis competitor Albinus, wherein 

 the latter lost his life. On this tract, 

 where formerly the empire of the world 

 was disputed, we can now trace no ves- 

 tiges or remembrances of that combat. 

 We see only one or two farms, and a 

 few small houses, where the inhabitants 

 of Trevoux occasionally repair for a 

 promenade and for recreation. In all 

 this, there was nothing terrible to us ; 

 but still it appeared to be thronged with 

 sinister images. 



Severus was a tyrant, and the father 

 of Caracalla; he had «ith him ouly the 

 Asiatic legions. Albinus was a favourite 

 of the people, and his army consisted of 

 those fierce Gauls that Marius extolled, 

 as excelling even the Romans in valour. 

 Victory, however, declared for Severus; 

 Albinus tied along the banks of the 

 Saoue ; but, being hard pressed by his 

 enemies, to avoid the torments they 

 would have inflicted, liedeslroycd himself. 

 We, for our parts, had witnessed 

 victory confronted with our courage; 

 we also were fugitives, and might have 

 to follow the same route, and expe- 

 rience a disastrous fate, like Albinus. 



Ideas and apprehensions such as 

 these would lose nothing of their terror 

 iu tba stillness and solemnitj- of night. 



£ut 



