New-York tribune., 1897-01-10

q nd sser,. IN ne proud of IT, I'm fact" he con-
| tinues, II was as punctual In drinking my cup
| OF chocolate as I was In reading my preV'ar'
fear, a little more so perhaps; for' coHie'"'
| TO my shame, my occupations made me so'he-
times forget to recite 1t fully.
Salamon was taken to the Marie on the 2'th
of August The I'd OF September had been set
for the massacre at the Abbaye. On the Isl
i member OF the Commune entered the garret In
which the prisoners packed and said In
! loud voice: sixty three of those who have been
I longest here will be transferred; let them come
forward until ! take down their names Saa-
mon admits that he was one OF the newest ar
rivais but the instinct OF sef-preservation was
strong in this man. He put down his name anu
was transferred" He was at the moment uh'
certain as to where he was going. When ne ar
rived at the Abbaye his heart sank. But mere his
luck revived. He was confined with numper
of others in a vast hall with door at either EMU
window in of the side walls looked OUT
upon a kind Of yard. The window was more
than fourteen feet above the ground. put "he"
the mob began to batter down the doors some vi
the prisoners, including Salamon contriVed 10
get through It into the yard. There the mob dis
covered them. and the picture is tragic one oi
the frightened priests covering in the corner
them with their pixies. The Able GODDARD was
saved at this instant by "a big fat rufiian who
hauled him through the crowd. shouting: we
have him. the brigand, Come along, you old ras-
CALI" The "ruffian" turned out to be friend
who bad thus disguised himself in order to res
cue GODDARD Saiamon was taken before an I'M
provised tribunal legal no doubt according to
the procedure Of the Commune. but barbarc "a
we look back upon 1t now. The aged cure OF
Saint Jean en- Greve was before the judges when
Salamon arrived The president asked him II he
had taken the oath of adhesion to the Commune
He answered in the negative. AT the same IN
stant a sabre stroke. aimed at his head but
luckily missing it. knocked of his wig and ex-
posed to view a bald head. which the years had
till then respected but which assassins were
soon to lay low. But then the strokes fell swift
and sharp. now on the head( now on the body.
and in few seconds he lay stretched on the
floor He was seized by the feet and dragged out
side His murderers quickly returned, shouting
'Vive la Nation.'"
What follows is nightmare Of character to
frs eye the blood. One after another the victims
were brought before the butcher who presided
over these shambles and slaughtered as the aged
Cure had been slaughtered Salamon sat with
his heart beating in agonies Of apprehension.
Nevertheless his presence OF mind remained Ia
tact. He inverted "A plausible story IN order to
gain time threw his Judges off the scent OF his
true character. appealed to their patriotism as
one who was patriotic as themselves and finally
escaped the grisy fate which most Of his COM
panions were forced to meet. One hardly knows
whether to admire him for his address to de-
spise him for what looks like the Jesuitical
pleading Of a dandy anxious to save his skill
To keep it whole he had still 20 pass through
of his memoirs grows to feel some contempt fOI
the little man, he also feels some sympathy and
even sorrow. Escaped from the clutches OF the
September butchers he was Implicated under
the Terror, with his forty-nine associates in the
Pararrent of Paris, In the preparation OF that
famous protest. intended for the hands OF the
King. which ultimately brought every one OF
his colleagues to the scaffod He alone escaped
hiding in the woods near Paris. Duryng himself
i'm the Bois. living the life Of a hunted animal
Patiently waiting for the storm 20 blow over he
was at last rewarded. and through the influence
of Bourbon dc IOise was reinstated in his home
Again. in 1874. the Directory prosecuted him for
conspiracy and his acquittal was only gained
after more experiences OF prison life. He has
told Of these adventures in three fragments. each
one tense with the excitement of the Revolution
He was sma-souled man. Hut he was light
hearted good humored, resourceful. and in mis-
way courageous His memoirs are thoroughly
readable He escaped all his enemies. lived to
he nominated to the Bishopric of Saint Flour III
1S2O and died nine years later a prosperous and
much respected prelate His portrait Is at
AVignon and has been reproduced as frontis-
piece for thi. volume. 1t shows worldly very
worldly face, not especially lovable, but full OF
intelligence Obviously, the Abb6 was not IL
man 10 be impressive. but just AZ obviously he
was a man To amuse his interlocutor. In his
memoirs he confirms this conclusion.