, 1874-09-30

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deal to be desired on the part of kindness,
or even civility. Not being able to gain her
point, she then petitioned the President of
the Republic direct, asking him to commute
the sentence passed upon the Marshal into one
of Punishment from France. This too was
refused. Madame then put herself In oommu.
"nication with th9 Marshal's brother and others
of his relatives, and it was determined to
effect his escape. | observe that some of YOUR
English papers say B~azaine was on parole;
that is simply false. He was not, and could
not have been on parole no prisoner inside
a ganl can be. But he was, like all other
prisoners, kept under lock and key, and could
In all honour attempt to escape if he wished
to do so. | must tell you that of late his
captivity had become iutolerable to The pri-
e0ner. He is a man of very Stout make, and
one who had always been accustomed to a
very great deal OF exercise on horseback.
Since, in May, 1872, he was made a prisoner
at Versailles until row, he had never been able
to move save under the eyes of q sentinel
and to walk under their never ending superyi-
sion so Disguised him that for some tine he
gave it up altogether. He is now G. years
of age, and weighs at the very least some
sixteen stone. TO believe that such q man,
and at his age, could slip Town a rope hanging,
over q cliff that is nearly forty feet high is an
astonishing piece Of c~redulity even for a
French journalist. The Marshal walked out
Of the door of his prison a little before day,
light On Monday and yet there was no one
inside the fort who was privy to his act, or
who Played the traitor to the Government.
The plan was very simple indeed. For some
weeks beforehand a disguise had been prepared
by Madame BaZaine herself. Bit by bit this
was brought outside the fort and hidden. The
Marshal never slept in his bed that night, but
a lay figure was put there to deceive the
Governor when he locked up for the night.
Before daybreak, about Ads am, the gates
of the fort were opened as usual, and some Of
the garrison, as is their custom, went beyond
the walls The prisoner was dressed in a
lAbourer's blouse to hide his bulky figure, and
carried on lis back a huge sack Of rubbish,
as if he were going tofthroW it into the sea
The scheme succeeded because it was bold
and plucky. No one could for a moment
suspect that either the prisoner was rot under
lock aud KEY, or that he would dream of walk
ing cooIly out of The fort. Once outside, be
had merely to walk down TO where the boat
was waiting, get into it, and be rowed TO the
steamer which his wife had hired ready to
take him away. 1t was a question Of time
of minutes-Whether he could get on board
before his absence was discovered, which it
W0uIQ Op sure 10 uH Ut o.. d.LIJ tIlG llIilo when
lie was always visited by one Of the prison
authorities. The rope stained with Blood
was hung over the parapet very late the night
before, in order to put the authoritil on d
false scent, and most effectually il did so.
The rest is soon told. On board the steamer
they were watching for the boat, and when the
latter rut off from the island, the steamer
came slowly towards it, In a quarter of an
hour he was on board, in two hours he was
on Italian ground, and before night he had
travelled by train to the house of will not
say who in Belgium. Here the ex-prisoner
will remain a few days, but his ultimate desti-
nation is England, where he wishes to live a
retired life, and educate his children. | NAV
here state what | know to be fact, that when
the prisoners flight was discovered on Monday
morning, 10 one was more surprised than
his faithful aide-de-oamp and true friend,
Colonel V~gllettp. It is, not often that a man
who is no relative, who is himself fifty years
of age, and who has a wife and chi dren of
his own, would volunteer to pass his days in
captivity with an old chief. The Colonel
did this. Since May, 1872, when the Marshal
was first made a prisoner at Versailles, this
gallant officer has never left him. 1t was he
who, on the 18th of December last, was the
first to announce to the Marshal that he had
been condemned to death and, although
BaZaine received the news with the utmost