The Philipsburg mail. [volume] (Philipsburg, Mont.) 1887-current, 1895-01-31

4
Il Louis Philippe
had filled the
! ears of the wan
dering exile with hopes that the people
Of France would rush to arms and
crown any one bearing the magic name
Of the great Corsican the instant he set
foot upon the soil Of Franco. Inspired
by these illusions, easily fostered at
that date in one of his blood, he ap-
peared at Boulogne during the summer
of 1910 with pitiful company Of ad-
herents-less than threescore-to make
what seemed then most absurd claim.
Arrest followed, ending with trial
dignifed by the eloquence of the great
est orators in France. 1t was no idle
dream. France did look for savior to
come again along with the ashes Of the
dead conqueror, which the temporizing
king had imported from Elba to rest
under the dome of the Invalides. On
legalized rostrum, in the presence Of an
assembly Of peers sitting in judgment
upon the captive prince, the silver
tongued Berryer preached the gospel Of
Napolsonism to the populace Of France,
and although the accused conspirator
went to a dungeon under sentence Of
perpetual imprisonment his cause was
inthrcned in the hearts of the multitude.
The prison selected by the scared and
jealous monarchists for the rival Of
their king was the strongest in the
realm, the fortress Of Ham, very an
cient castle in the center of barren
plain. Within the castle inclosure were
the brick barracks of the garrison, a lit
tie army of 400 men, and at one end of
the barracks under the closest surveil-
lance, the captive had his quarters, and
these we'll devised to make a spirited
prince restless in his chains His COM
panions in misery were personal adher-
ents. DR.. Conneau had been with him
at Boulogne; also Count Montholon, the
companion of Napoleon at Elba, and
now under 30 years sentence for aid
ing the prince. A manservant who had
chung to the prince through varying for
tunes and stood trial with tho rest,
though escaping conviction, was per-
mitted to share the imprisonment with
his master The doctor, the servant,
Thelin, and q favorite mastiff belonging
to the prince were to be Indispensable
factors in reducing the sentence Of per-
petual imprisonment to something less
than six years.
The guard held over the captives was
Of the strictest. Sixty soldiers kept a
constant watch, and they were not of
the character of those veterans of the
old empire who in 1866 met the illus
trious exile returning from Elba to seize
the throne with unloaded muskets One
Of them stood at the door of the princess
room constantly, and two civilian keep
ers kept watch at the bottom Of stair
way leading down into the courtyard,
where the prisoners were allowed to go
for air and exercise, but never without
an extra guard Of armed attendants
Thelin was the only one Of the party
exempted from these strict rules. With
a pass from the governor he was allow
ed to go out on errands for the prince.
Harsher measures still were sometimes
used after a scare produced by rumored
uprisings in the large cities to set the
peoples fayorite free.
For time it looked as though the
man Of whom the restless Frenchmen
expected SO much would settle down to
pamphlet writing and wait for others
to make his destiny, if changed it was
to be. Yet his pastimes with the pen bore
fruit. They reached the press and spoke
to the imperialists ideas they delighted
to take from that source. For instance,
in an imaginary address to the remains
OF his uncle, recalling to the departed
spirit the homage of the living who gath
cred around the crypt in the chapel Of
the Invalides, he declared, "The great
men Of the day render you honor in
deed, but in a suppressed voice they
say, God grant that he may not
awake. a" This dramatic picture of the
situation in French councils
could only fan anew the popular hope
that an imperial specter of appalling
portent to the Bourbons would appear,
not rising ghostlike above the sarcopha-
gus on the banks Of the Seine, but ma
terialized and bursting through the
walls Of the fortress Of Ham. The mot
was prophecy, too, for the writer would
never rest until the spirit Of the dead
took the helm again in the
person Of the nephew and godson.
In order to ,allay suspicion Of plots of
escape the prisoner pleaded with the
King for exile, promising solemnly to
return to his dungeon again whenever
;he government so directed Failing in
'he appeal it was decided to try to
'soape. Friends Of the. imperial cause
outside wrote to the captive hopeful let
;ers Of the the prospect. Of amnesty, and
'hese. read by the. governor, Of offs,t the cas-.
lie, led that Official to believe anything
NIGHT be lonkad for from Tho zacillat |