Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1816-10-12
FOREIGN.
From London PAPER of June.
Mr.. Smiths statement Of his persecution in

|
an account of the extraordinary things that
have seen, ana Of the suffeirings have
undergone, during, an imprisonment of
4 onc hundred and sixty DAYS. in the prisons
o! Paris. which would probably make eve
| ry hng'ishman priza more highly, the. ea-
loyment of his civil liberty. As l find,
However that detailed narrative would
have occupied the contents Of a large w.
lume, nave,. 10 avoid an un,lertakiner
which my i'll state Of health will not per.
mt me al preseDtto perform, Confined nv
sell to very brief statement of the prose-
tcution tn which have been subjected, ey-
cry tact OF which I. can prove with authety.
NC documents. / was arrested ut 6 O'Clock
m the morning of the Esd of January, by
seven ruiIians who burst open the door Of
my room, i Was dragged to dungeon in
ine prefecture, OF the police, where L lay
nlne days betnre Twas examined. Several
EhSiish gentlemen were arrested on the
same morning. enc of whoma Mr. Lentoa
was conh0ed nj a dungeon contiguous to
,nlne .tleafnt this afterwards from his fell,
low .piisoners, wbo were full of gratitude
Tor MS generous behavior to fhctn. When
my payers were opened, short verbal ex-.
animation took place. 1t began by my ask
ing what was the crime laid to nv CHARGE.
that could anthOrise the treatment 7 had AL
ready undergone; You are denounced
| as being the correspondent of the Morning
Chronicle. and Of great lord of the uppo-
sltion. Is it go ?" No, it i, nOt.'' s. Who
us the correspondent OF the Morning Chro-
mcle ~ To this / only expressed my sur
prise and Indignation, that any such aues-'
| ton should be asked me. " What are the
contents of your papers Z" 's Letters from
my friends, pamphlets and memoirs on the
passing events of the day, that OCCASION
ally bought from Hawkers, who were in the
habit OF selling them to foreigners few
rough copies OF letters, intended TO have
been sent to my friends 10 England, to grs-
tiy their curiosity on the moral and n0ljt-
zeal state of France; every sentence of
which avow and which YOU may PUBLISH
II you please, together with tour that I
had made with some of my friends through
the department overrun BY the allies
These questions were prelimiDa les to a
more formal though equally Illegally in
terrogatory that took place afterwards.
aud were meant as learnt conseduentIv.,
to feel my pulse, later lie Terrain.-Nv
papers contained number of anecdotes IL
Illustrative OF the events of the day; Wit,
illusions to the names of few persons
who figured in them. It seemed to be tha
grand object of the police during nv exa-
mlnahon, toinduce me, either by threats
or promises of my liberation, to give III,
the persons in question. And such disclo-
sure, peremptorily refused, aud declared
at the very opening of the proceeding, that f..
torture itself, should moi COME! me to Of
Ter up as victims TO san2uinary police.
persons whose names had casually reached
my ears. shall relate two anecdotes
upon which the police pretended to found
conspiracy 10 overturn the state.
about the beginning of August last, lust
after my arrival III Paris. when France wag
IN The highest state of fermeut, | happened
to dino Of Very's in the Palais Royal with
an Engllsh gentleman We were sitting
over our wine at eight o'clock. and the
Whole ct the company were gone excent-
ing French general who sat at the ta,je
next To US. He accostcd us courteously.
aud Joined our conversation: for eyeiV
Erglishman VINO has travelled in France.
knows that the French are extremely unra:
served to our cOuntrymen aud that tbey
place unlimited confidence in our honor
and discretion. After long deal Of corr
versation on the spirit Of the times IN diff
ierent parts of France, he told us that the
ci-dernnt Guyenne, and the provinces ad--
Jacent, which had once been um,,r the do.
mlnion of the Black Prince, was so weari.
ed cut with Bonaparte's tyranny, and az
the same time were SO hopeless Of enjoying
reasonable degree Of liberty under Ii :
present government, that they would cor
sent cheeriully to become an integral nart
OF tine British Empire, provided they should
We represented IN parliament. We beard
his arguments IN favor Of his plan, which
I've developed with warmth, poi ting o1s
we mutual advantages that would be de.
rived by both parties in fipancial. com
mercial and waflike point Of view
We adjourned TO PotoDi'swhere we renew
"a the diecussion, sitting on chairs on The
boulevards until eleven O'cLck. He SEEM
Ell TO require our opinion which we briefly
gave, by stating, that doubtless cur am9T
proPre ndtioHat was battered by such
marks OF partiaIity as I've had shewn for
England, and her constitution but that,
u ne were really serious, it whould be advi!
Die that he should propose question of
mat Importance only to some high official
authority, and that we being private indi.
vlduals could not lend him any assistance
whatever net hima few DAYS sCrr,