Norwich bulletin., 1917-05-17

sisting the cannon of the Nineteenth Century; though they could not with
 stand the ruinous explosives of the re-
 treating Teuton.
 "Six years prior to the beginning of this work, which covered the period from 14S5 to 14Te-Joan of Arc was imprisoned at Ham, whence, after some months, she was sold by John
 of Luxembourg into the hands of the
 English, who, in turn, delivered her over for trial
 Much later, in the midst of the en- closure within the huge walls, brick barra ok -guardhouses were built. in architectural form following the style of the old Qualifications of Paris: a;:il one of these has served as a place of detention for prisoners of state. Here it was that the Ministers of Charles x were brought to expiate their of
 fence of signing the ordinance that caused the downfall of the Orleans throne: and one of them, the Comte de Peyronnet. has gone on record in a complaint. which was published in the newspapers of the time. against the conditions which he found there The prison of Ham is very badly situated : he wrote. and, moreover, unhealthy. It is enveloped in fog half the day. The promenade covers space of about 150 feet at the end of ram can walk abreast.
 These prisoners were released in 1886 by the terms of the amnesty then proclaimed; and four years later Ham opened it's doors to the most adven- turous of all it's captives, Louis Na- poleon.
 This imitator of his great uncle, having failed in his BouIogne f1libust-
 ering expedition of August, 1S40, was
 temporarily held at Ham for few
 he could be taken to Paris for his trial before the Chamber of Peers
 After his condemnation to perpetual
 Imprisonment, he was returned to there he remained until May, 1s46,
 when he effected his escape From
 Ham, Louis Napoleon made his way
 to Belgium ana thence to England.
 From London ne was recalled to Paris.
 at the overthrow of the Bourbons, to become a member of the new Chamber of Deputies; and within less than
 three years from the day of his es- cape he had made himself Prince President of the Republic of France and in little more than five years had encompassed the coup -d'etat which
 gave him the imperial crown.
 ''In his contest for the French Pres
 idency Louis Napoleon was opposed
 by General Cavaignac: who figured
 next in the list of plebiscite but at a long interval. The vanquished Cav aignac never relinquished his hostility to his successful rival, however, and at the time or the coup d'etat he wa s one of the sturdiest opponents of the
 plot and was joined in his opposition
 by General Lamorciere. who had been
 Minister of War under him. Louis Napoleon, as Emperor, could not for give these men and it was with grim
 humor. no doubt, that he caused them to be imprisoned at Ham where he
 himself had passed six weary years. That portion of the district of tl.e
 Somme where Ham stands is marshy, though rich, in soil, and long has been a center of the market gardening of which the thrifty French are such masters. The town numbered between
 three and four thousand people, and like all the ancient seats of power had its cathedra1-which boasted eight centuries of history, though the pres ent day structure iis it's entirety dates
 only from 1760, when it was largely destroyed by fire and since has had restora tion.
 'In the F>ranco-Prussian war of 1870 Ham was the scene of many engage
 ments between French and German troops and the place was taken and retaken many times in that campaign It fei in the present war in that vic torius first months march Of the Ger mans up on Paris: and as the pursu- ing French heastened past the ruined but still historic walls of it's castle there must have been more than one to whom the citadel spoke in terms