126 General Sir Richard Church's Karrative of the [Feb. 



" Viva I' Independenza ! Viva la Liberia !" and again telling nie I should 

 die if I did not. My aides-de-camp, and General Coglitore, more than 

 ever alarmed for my life, urged me to content the mob, and cry " viva 

 r Independenza /" to which I only said, " Jamais ! pas un mot." 



All this time I was revolving in my mind how to extricate the party 

 from the hands of the populace. To stop and harangue them was to be 

 immediately murdered : to go into a house would have produced the 

 same effect, and the pillage of my retreat by the populace. The senate- 

 house occurred to me, but I remembered that there was still in it 

 a number of ladies. As the carriage was close at hand, to mount into 

 it, if possible, and start the horses at full gallop, seemed the only 

 plausible plan of escape. In the meantime, as we approached the 

 senate-house, the mob became more furious and proceeded to blows, of 

 which both my officers and myself received several, and from that to 

 display their daggers, and their decided intention of shedding blood. 

 The party, however, had now fortunately arrived near the carriage ; the 

 doors of the carriage were opened instantly by the servant, and the 

 horses' heads were providentially turned towards the street that leads 

 from the senate-house towards the country through the St. Antonio 

 gate. In an instant the party sprang into this open carriage, a number 

 of the mob mounting in every direction, and assailing us with various 

 weapons and with enormous stones. In this scuffle the brave servant of 

 General Coglitore, who was behind the carriage, was thrown to the 

 ground, and has never since been heard of. Thus assaulted, I received 

 a stunning blow on the head and shoulders, and General Coglitore 

 a wound with a dagger, aimed at me, and to which the motion of the 

 carriage gave another direction. Though the coachman's whip was torn 

 from his hands, the horses were at full gallop, being frightened by the 

 assault of the mob. The aides-de-camp, with drawn swords, beat off 

 those who endeavoured to approach the traces, and the two generals, 

 standing up in the carriage, directed its movements according to the 

 progress of our pursuers, and kept its back from being occupied. After 

 the second assault, the assassins mounted twice on the carriage, which 

 they overtook, notwithstanding the speed of the horses. In their third 

 and fourth attempts they were not so successful, and contented them- 

 selves with discharging into the carriage immense stones, some of which 

 were twice the size of a man's head. After a pursuit of about a mile, 

 the mob ceased to follow the carriage, which had now gained the 

 country on the side of the St. Antonio gate. Here the carriage stopped 

 a moment. I proposed driving to my lodging by back streets, and there 

 protecting myself by my guard, till troops could come to my protection. 

 General Coglitore would not listen to this proposal, which he represented 

 to be certain death, as the populace would undoubtedly arrive at my lodg- 

 ings before me, and be there waiting for me ; he added, that no reliance 

 could be placed on the protection of the troops, after what they had ex- 

 perienced when surrounded by the populace. In fact, our party, whilst 

 pursued by the mob, passed several guards, and patroles of cavalry and 

 infantry, not one of which made the least effort for our protection. Nay, 

 one patrole of cavalry nearly rode over us, in forcing their way through 

 the mob, and left their general in the hands of the populace. General 

 Coglitore then proposed driving to the house of one of his sisters in the 

 suburbs, there to change our clothes, and put ourselves in communica- 

 tion with the viceroy? and the commander of the troops. This scheme 



