There were some cases certainly hard; one or two for resisting the
_gen-d'armerie_ in a riot at Rouen. To transport a rioter, unless under
aggravated circumstances, is grievous enough; but after the revolution
of July, that hallowed riot, to make a galley-slave of a _brave_ for
resisting the police, must have been at least surprising to him. The
tribunal no doubt felt the necessity of severity; and we acknowledged it
all in deploring the degradation of these poor devils for an act, which
in so many thousand others was, at the moment, extolled to the skies as
the acme of heroism. But justice hath her lottery-wheel as well as
fortune.
As the last _chaine_ was completing, an ecclesiastic went round to
collect money of the visitors. But as there were few, so were the
offerings. The convicts at the same time produced the fruits of their
ingenuity in straw work-boxes, needle-cases, carved ivory and wood. The
guardians, to do them justice, seemed humane.
The _bagne_ at Toulon, the destination of the members of the _chaine_,
was respectably peopled when I visited it some years ago. It contained
amongst others, Sarrazin, a famous general, who had deserted to us from
Buonaparte, and whose works on the Spanish and other campaigns, are
still read with interest. The general had caught the inexcusable habit
of marrying a wife in each town wherein he was quartered, and was sent
to the gallies for _trigintagamy_.
Pages:
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54