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 when 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, asking 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 

 ikeep 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 

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

 i garden at early dawn. She soon perceived that the "old 

 i soldier " — very young still ; he was but twenty-five years old — 

 ||wa8 interested in her every movement. Her name was Jeanne 

 i Etiennette Roqui. 



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



I metres from Salins, belonged to one of the most ancient 



[plebeian families of the country. The Salins archives mention 



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



where were Eoqui 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 



jind testaments mentioned legacies or gifts from brother to 



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



| ITeanne Etiennette were living very quietly in the old Salins 



| faubourg. Their daughter was modest, intelligent and kind; 



lean Joseph Pasteur asked for her hand in marriage. They 



jjieemed made for each other; the difference in their natures 



Ibnly strengthened their mutual affection : he wa6 reserved, 



I 



