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y
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vy^i^B ® e Q -
MEMOIRS
or
V I D o c a, '^
PRINCIPAL AGENT OF THE FRENCH POLICE.
WRITTEN BY HIMSELF.
Gvanslateir from t1)e iFcenc^.
€
LONDON: II. G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1853.
THE NKW T03K
rrpi.IC IIBUARY
AirrOK, LKNOX AND
TIUȣN iHtNltAnMIS
1 1M4 L
PREFACE.
As a piece of Autobiography, the present Work has many and singular characteristics, which stamp it at once as one of the most interesting and powerful Narratiyes ever penned. Replete with astonishing incident and instructive moral, it affords for the lovers of romance all that the wildest taste could desire of hair-breadth escapes, immi- nent dangers, thrilling horrors, and powerful description. For the amateurs of fun, there are sketehes as comic as humour can devise; and for the reflective reader, who, not content with the mere detail of events, searches into the motives, and philosophizes on the wit or weakness, power or puerility of the human mind, herein will be found ample scope for his most meditative musings. To thoie who may assert their disbelief of the personal deeds and perils of Yidocq, we suggest this plain fact — none of them have been contradicted; and yet many of the per- sons whom he has handled with severity, and spoken of in no very measured terms, are still living, and would, doubt- less, be too happy to refute the charges alleged, did not truth forbid denial. Of his wonderful and multiplied
iy VEBF4CB.
escapes and adventures, we are equally assured; as no man in his senses would give fictitious descriptions of what could be easily disproved, if false.
We have been compelled occasionally to prime down pruriencies offensive to English taste when considered (as we consider it) synonymous with decency and decorum. A greater latitude, both of action and expression, is al- lowed— nay, encouraged — amongst our politer French neighbours, who relish a double entendre, and have a zest for an indecent simile, or obscene allusion. We are not itieklers, and have the same opinion, to a certain extent, fliat Dean Swift had when he said, that " a nice man was a man of nasty ideas;" but there is a line of demarcation which cannot be too strongly drawn between inoffensive pleasantry and coarse ribaldry, or indeHcate allusion.
In translating these Memoirs, we have, with one excep- tion, ihougl^t it needful to suppress all such matter as appeared to us to be foreign to the Work as an Autobi- ography, or in any way so to act as to interrupt the conti- nuous thread of its history. That exception is the episode of Addle d'Escars, which, for the above stated reason, is pimted at the end of the Memoirs. The narrative of AdMe d'Eaeaxp is surpassed in description, depth of feeling and pathos, by no work of romance with which we are teqcudnted; and it certainly is the most powerful illus- tration ever penned of the almost utter impossibilitji of again beholding the sunshine of acknowledged rec titude and virtue, after having once plunged into f abyss of crime; yea, let but the artificial barrier, whir still more artificial state of society has erected, be
PRIFACB.
closed against a poor erring mortal, and, alas! farewell joy— rfarewell friends; even hope, with pouting Hps and knitted^brow, at length quits the fair one's hreast, leaTiDg nought behind but the canker-worm sorrow, to dig the early grave of the weeping penitent, who, overcome by grief and bitter anguish, prays to her God, and sinks into the sleep of eternity, scorned by one portion of the world, and forgotten by the other. Oh, ye children, of artificial sensibility, ye steel-hearted slaves of careless forgetfulness, ye idolizers of worldly forms and ceremonies, ye mammon worshippers and shadow-himters, how long will ye con- tinue to turn a deaf ear to the earnest entreaties of mercy, justice^ and humanity? Oh, when will that too often un- feeling and misery-creating principle of self, swear alle- giance to the all-humanizing and peace-making precept of our Saviour, "Do as thou would'st be done by?" But enough ; the barrier must be broken. Would to heaven that it was, and a temple of peace erected in its stead, wherein the penitent child of error might rest her weary head, and cease to be the world's sign-post of immorality and crime. It is a source of much pleasure to us to reflect on the railroad rapidity with which we are advancing to- wards that millennium — ^that truth-predominating state which has been so long and so earnestly desired by the dis- cerning and well-disposed of all classes of society ; and al- though there are many barriers yet to be destroyed, many superstitious and erroneous theories still to be combated, and a powerful aristocracy's tyranny and overbearing op- pression to hurl from despotism's dire abode, still, as the water from the tiny spring, winding its vra^ iVox^ ^<&
n PRBPACI.
pebbly vhore, at length assumes the form of a mi liver, and ebbs and flows with the eternal oceanic s great cause of tnith and justice will daily — yea, 1i force and strength.
F.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER 1.
PAOB.
Mt birih ; Precocious disposition ; I become s joom^maa baker ; Thefirsttheft; The false key; The accusLng ftfwla; The stolen plate; Prison; Maternal clemency; My father's eyes opened; The finishing stroke; Departore from Arras; I seek a ship; The shipbroker; The danger of idleness; The trmnpet call* M. Comas, first physician in the world ; The preceptor of g^ neral Jaqnot ; The rope-dancers ; I entnr the company ; Lessons of the Little Devil ; The savage of the Sooth Seaa ; Punch and the Theatre of Amusing Varities ; A scene of Jeabusy, or the seijeant in the eye; I go into the service of a qtack dpctor; Return to my father s house ; Acquaintance with an actress ; Another chase ; My departure in a regiment ; Tho rash com- panion ; Desertion ; The raw Rcardy Soldier and the asdgnats ; I go over to the enemy ; A flogging; I return to my old stand- ard ; A domestic robbery, and the housekeeper of an old wor thy; Two duels a day; I am wounded; My father a public functionary; I join the war; Change of regiment; Residence at Arras. ..••.••. 1
CHAPTER U.
foseph Lebon; The ordiestra of the guillotine, and the reading of the bulletin; The aristocrat parrot; (Titizeness Lebon; Ad- dress to the Sans Cullottes; The apple*woman; New amours; I am imprisoned ; The jailor Beaupre ; The ven&c«!don o^ v2[yt&
A
U CONTENTS*
VAO
bnith ; M. de Bethune ; I gtrt my liberty ; The sister of my liberator I am mailc an olficcr ; The quarters of St. SyWestre Capdle ; The n'volutionary army ; The retaking of a vessel ; My betrothed ; A disguise ; The pretended pregnaney ; I marry ; I am content without being boitcn ; Another stay at the Baiv* dets; My emancipation 1
CHAPTER III.
ftesidence at Brussels; Coffee-houses; The gastronomic gendar- mes ; A forger ; The roving army ; The baroness and the baker- boy ; The disappointment ; Arrival at Paris ; A gay lady ; Mys- tificatioQ. 2
CHAPTER IV.
The gypsies ; A Flemish fair; Return to Lille ; Another acquaint- ance J The Bull's eye ; The sentence of punishment; St Peter's tower; The prisoners ; A forgery. ... 4
CHAPTER V.
Three escapes ; The Chatifftun ; The suicide ; The interrogatory; Vidocq accused of assassination ; Sent back on a complaint; Fresh escape; Departure for Ostend. The smugglers ; Vidocq retaken. . . » » • • 6
CHAPTER VI.
The pewter keys ; The quacks ; Vidocq an hussar ; He is retaken ; The siege of the dungeon ; Sentence; Condemnation. . . 6
CHAPTER Vn.
Departure from Donai; The prisoners revdt in the forest of Compeigne; Residence at the Bicetre; Prison costumes; The madhouse 9
CONTENTS. Ki
CHAFrEK VIll.
PAUK. $
The departure of the chain; Captain Viez and his lieutenant Thierry; The complaint of the galley-slaves; The visit firom Paris; Hmnanity of the galley-seijeants ; They encouri^ plundering; The loaf converted into a portmanteau; Useless attempt to escape; The Bagne at Brest; The benedictions. Another escape. 91
CHAPTER IX.
The pursuit after the galley-slave ; The village mayor; The voice of blood ; The hospital ; Sister Franyoise : Faublas the second ; The mother of robbers. ....... 100
CHAPTER X.
The market-place at Cholet; Arrival at Paris; History of captain , Villedieu. Ill
CHAPTER XL
Journey to Arras; Father Lambert; Vidooq a schoolmaster; De- parture for Holland; The "sellers of souls;" The mutiny; The corsair ; Catastrophe. ....... 123
CHAPTER XIL
I see Francine again ; My re-cstabliahment in the prison of Douai ; Am I, or am I not, Duval? The magistrates embarrassed; I confess that I am "^dooq; Another residence at BicStre; I find captain Labbre there; Departure for Toulon; Jossas, the famous robber; £Q« interview with a great lady; A tempest on the Rhone; The marquis of St Armand; The executioner of the Bagne; The plunderers of the wardrobe; A. knoi':} o^ Chauffeurs, . . . \^\
Iv CONTBXTfl.
CUAFTBR XIIL
TkQM
Father Mathiea; I enter oo ft new line of bosineM-; Ruin of my
•
establishment ; I am eappoaed to be paralixed in my limbi; I am aanitantm^'or; Eooe Homo, or the pealm-eeller; A dia- fuiae; Stop him! he ia a ftigiti^e oonrict; I am added to the doable chain ; The kindneaa of the commissary ; I tell him a made-op tale ; My best contriTed escape ; The lady of the town and the borial ; I know not what ; Critical sitoation ; A band of robbers; I detect a thief; I get my dismissal; I promise iecrecy. 147
CHAPTER XIV.
A receiTer of stolen goods ; Denouncement ; First treaty with the police; Departore for Lyons ; A mistake 100
CHAPTER XV.
Rendence at Arras; Disguises; The false Austrian; Departure; Residence at Rouen ; Arrest 108
CHAPTER XVL
The camp of Boulogne ; The rencontre ; The recruiters of the ancien regime ; M. BeUeRose 178
CHAPTER XVII.
Continuation of the Mime (lay; An aii^utant de place; The dau^^tera of Modier Thomas; The Silrer lion; Captain Panlet and his lieutenant; The I^ratea: The bombardment; Departure of Lord Lauderdale ; The disguised actress ; The exectioner ; Henry the Ninth and his ladies ; I embark; Sea> fight; Paolet's second is killed; Capture of a brig of war; My Sosia ! I change my name ; Death of Dufailli ; Twelfth day ; A frigate sunk ; I wish to save two lovers ; A tempest ; The fiahermeifs wives 100
CONTENTS. t
CHAPTER XVIII.
PAOK
I am admitted into the marine artillery; I become a corporal ; Seven prisoners of war ; Secret societies of the army — ** The Olympiensf Singular duels; Meeting with a galley-slave; The incendiary ; I am promised promotion ; I am betrayed ) Once more in prison ; Disbanding of the Arm^e de la Lone ; The pardoned soldier ; A companion is sentenced to be shot ; The Piedmontese bandit; The camp fortune-teller; Fonrmur- derers set at liber^ 222
CHAPTER XIX.
I am coaducled to Dooai; Application for pardon; My wife marries again ; The plunge in the Scaipe ; I travel as an o£Sp cer: Readii^ the despatches; Residence at Paris; A new name ; The woman of my heart ; I am a wandering merchant ; The commissary of Melun; Execution of Herbaux; I de< nounce a robber— 4ie denounces me; The galley-slaves at Auxerre ; I am settled in the capital ; Two fugitives from the bagne ; My wife again ; Receiving stolen goods . . . 239
CHAPTER XX.
Another robber ; My wicker car : Arrest of two galley-slaves ; Fearful discovery ; St Germain wishes to involve me ip a rob- bery ; I offer to serve the police ; Horrid perplexities ; They wish to take me whilst in bed ; My concealment ; A comic ad- venture; Disguises on disguises; Chevalier has denounced me ; Annette at the Depot of the Prefecture ; I prepare to leave Paris ; Two passers of false money ; I am apprehended in my shirt ; I alb conducted to the Bicetre 253
CHAPTER XXI
A plan c^ escape; New proposal to M. Henry; My agreement
with the police ; Important discoveries; Coco-Laconr; A band
of robbers; The inspectors under lock and key; The old
clothes-woman and the assassins ; A pretended escape . . 2C8
â–² 3
â–¼1 CONTBNTt.
CHAPTER XXII.
M. Henry, â– urnamad the ErO Spirit ; MM. Beitaax and Pariaot; A word respecting the police ; Mj first capture ; Bouhin and Terrier are arrested upon mj information .... 279
CHAFTEB XXIII.
â–
I again meet St Oermun ; He proposes to me the morder of two old men; The plunderers; The grandson of Cartouche; A short account of instigating agents ; Great perplexities ; An- nette agafii aids me ; An attempt to rob the house of a banker in the Rue Hauteville ; I am lulled ; Arrest of St Germain and his accomplice Boudin ; Portraits of these two anwaBninn . 38S
CHAPTER XXIV.
I continue to frequent places of bad resort; The inspectors betray me ; Discovery of a reoeiTer of stolen goods ; I arrest him ; Stratagem employed to convict him ; He is conderoned • 395
CHAPTER XXV.
Gueuvive's gang ; A girl helps me to discover the chief; I dine with the thieves ; One of them takes me to sleep at his house ; I pass fcr a ftigitive galley-slave ; I engage in a plot against myself; I wait for myself at my own door : A robbery in the Rue Cassette ; Great surprise ; Gueuvive with four of his men are arrested ; The girl Comevin points the others out to me ; A batch of eighteen ' . .800
CHAPTER XXVI.
I trip Gaffire ; The best friends in the world ; I mistrust myself; Two hours at Saint-Roche ; I have no eyes in my pocket ; An old man in an embarrassment ; The spoils of the faithful ; Thief and spy two trades too many ; The danger of passing before a eorpt de garde ; Another trip for Gaffre ; Goupil takes me for a dentist; An attitude ; The biter bit . . . '
CONTENTS. â–¼!!
CHAPTER XXVII
PAOB.
Destruction of three dasaes of thieves; Fonnation of a new species ; The brothers Delzive ; How disooTered ; Delzdve the younger arrested . • • 815
CHAPTER XXVIII.
I seek two celebrated thieres ; The music mistress, or another " mother of robbers ;'* A metamorphosis, which is not the last ; Scenes of hospitality: The fiedse keys; Ramifications of an admirable plot; Perfidy of an agent; The plan detected; Mother Noel accuses me of having robbed her ; My innocence Tecofpaa&d ; My female accoser sent to St Lazarre . . 320
' CHAPTER XXIX.
The polic6K}ffioerB sent in pursuit of a celebrated robber ; They are unable to discovor him ; Great anger of one of -hem ; I promise another new-year's gift to the pr6fet ; The yellow cur- tains and the humpAiacked female ; I am a good citizen ; A messenger puts me on the rig^t scent ; The chest of the pre- fecture of police ; I am a coal man ; The fright of a vintner and his "^e; The little Nomnan in tears; The danger of giving Eaa de-Cologne ; Carrying o£f of Mademoiselle Ton- neau ; A search ; The thief takes me for his mats ; Thieves laugh at locksmiths ; The jump from the window ; The effects of a long slide, or broken stitches 830
CHAPTER XXX.
Goillotin ; The cloaca of Desnoyers; Chaos and creation; Mon- sieur Double-croche and the chickai.coop ; A genteel appear- ance: The supreme bon ton; War with the greenhorns; Le Cadranblen de la Canaille; A well compacted society; The Oriontalists- and the Argonauts; The mutton of the salt marshes ; The cat's tail; The quids and the Chahut ; Riboulet and Manon }a Blonde ; The triumphant entiy ; The little black father; Two ballads; Hospitality ; The coWcige^nen!\\ The Children of the Sun , ^^i^
Vlll roNTCNTl.
CHAFFER XXXI.
A frcqaanler of La Petite Chaise ; A roam to rob ; Father Mae* soa's oranges ; The heap of sconet ; No ctrnpromiM ; A noo- lumal carrying off; The jolly thief; Every man to his liking ; My first visit to Bic^tre; Down with VidtKq! Superb dis- ' coorw; A matter of fear ; The storm is appeased ; They will notkillme W
CHAPTER XXXII.
Uiility of a good stomach; The soi^icioiis oceurrrace ; The pn^ cession of bandies ; The swallows of La Ordre ; The conreni- enoe of a hackney-coarii ; The swag of these f{cnUemen ; The shipwright's man; There is no trusting every boily ; Madame Bras, or the scmpoloas shopkeeper; Annette, or the good wOTian ; People do not always eat ; The first who was king; Vidocq cau^t, a new piooe of which the lait act is passed in a guard-house ; I play the part of Vidocq ; Representation at my benefit; Unanimous i^laose; Pommt Rmtgt ; Le grand Camel ; The inspection of papers ; I let a robber escape ; The veteran who takes his broth ; the author of the Pied-dtt-MoU' ton; The accusing stockingi and cravat; I lose my five-frane piece; The fight with the vintner; I am apprehended; The commissary's round; My deliverance; The bandage falls; Vidocq the Catcher recognised in Vidocq the Caught; Do yon wish for a piece of good advice? Mind how the nail is driven . 88
CHAPTER XXXIIL
Now for Saint Cloud ; The aqnring spy ; The scheme of diver- non, or the deceitful stratagem ; An early visit ; The discnrder of a sleeping chamber ; Singular ctnnments ; No report ; They are honest fellows in the faubourg Saint Marceau ; The tur- key's daws ; Take care of your shoes; Sacrifice to the god of fat paunches; J>eu$ eU in nohU; Judas' language; The po- lioe^nan's nectar ; Explanation of the word Tra\fe ; The two
CONTENTS. IX
PAOB.
mistresses; The man who anests himself; Content .gives wings ; The new Epictetos ; A monolc^e ; Despairing incre- duli^ ; Change from a tilbory to wooden shoes ; A tradition ; The mii^tress of a Russian prince ; Brown bread and the tit- bits of Tortoni ; Mother Bariole ; The old seraglio, or the hell of a kept woman ; Prostitutes and hackney-coach horses ; The friend of all the world ; The invnlnerable ; The picture of the Sabines ; The holy arch ; The money-box ; JnSanAum regina iubet; Hatred to epaulettes; Good sentiments; A strange re ligion ; The lottery ticket and the offering to Sainte-Qenevieve Example of remarkable fidelity ; Penelope ; The oath ; I know the beautiftd mask ; Journey through Paris ; Louison la Bkk- gueiue ; The monster; A fury; Cruel du^; Emilie in the «iard4ioixse ; Return to Bariole's; The friend's bottle; Th« Sybil's tripod ; Philemon and Baucis ; Josephine Real, or the - fruits of a good education ; Philosophical reflections on con- cord and death ; Three arrests ; The traitor punished ; A trait of active morality ; A liberation ; Answer to critics . • £75
CHAPTER XXXrV.
The mania for turning spy; The female thief who denounces her- self; The good son ; The unlucky fugitive ; The twelfth-night king and queen; The treacherous kiss; The difficulty over- come; The washerwoman's basket; The stolen child; The umbrella which affords uo shelter; The modem Sappho; li- berty is not the first of blessings; The inseperables ; The hero- ism of friendship; Vice has its virtues 399
chapter' XXXV.
Our friends our enemies ; The jeweller and the clergyman ; The honest man; The hiding-place and the coffer; The blessing from heaven and the fijtiger of God; Fatal intelligence; We are undone ; The love of our neighbour ; The cossacks are in- nocent; 100,000 francs, 50,000 fi-ancs, 10,000 francs, or re- compense in abatement; The false soldier; The pretended sprin ; The coooer's wife at Urry ; Local reputation ; 1 ttm %
<('
Z CONTENTS.
TAOI
Jew ; My pilgrimage with the mm of Dourdans ; The phoenix of women ; My metamorphoais into a German servant ; My arrest; I am imprisoned; The straw cutter; My entrance to prison ; Strangera have firiends everywhere ; The church rat ; The flesh-coloared coat ; The huttons of my great coat ; A drunkard's meaning ; My history ; The battle of Montereau ; I have robbed my master ; Prqjects of escape ; Journey to Ger- many; The black hen; Confidence in the attorney-general; My release ; Flight with an unfortunate companion ; A hun- dred thousand crowns worth of diamonds ; The minimum . 4C
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The stolen looking-glasses ; A fine yoong man ; My four trades ; The connoisseur; The Turk who had sold his odalisques; No *^ accomplices; General Boucher; The inconvenience of good wines; The little Saint Jean; The soundest sleeper in France; The grand uniform, and the bank notes; The credulity of a fence; Twenty-five thousand francs burnt; The meddler; Capture of twenty-two thieves; The adorable cavalier, The father of all the world ; What it is to be knowing ; The love- lace; The almoner of the regiment; Surprise at the Cafe Hardi ; The Anacreon of the galleys ; Another little song ; I go to the Tuileries ; A great lord ; The director of the police of the Chateau; Explanations on the subject of the assassination of the Due de Berri ; The giant of robbers ; Appear and dis- appear; A scene of Madame de Genlis; I am accoucheur; Synonymes; The mother and child are well; A matter of form ; Baptism ; No sugar plums ; My gossip at St. Lazare ; A suicide; The thieves* alley; The dangerous doctor; Fear benefits; I see old fiiends; A dinner at Capucin; The trap, the Boh^miens ; An exploit at a duchess's ; I recover the pro- perty ; Two mountains never meet ; The moral hump-backed lady ; The fair of Versailles ; The disturbed rest of a milliner ; The bug bites and bug hunts; Love and tyranny; The win- dow and the green curtain ; scenes of jealousy ; I vanish
CONTENT!. Xl
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The jolly butcher ; A still tongue shows a wise head; The harm- lessness of light wines; A murder; The mi^strates of Cor- beil ; The removal of the body ; The accusing address ; Tis either he, or his brother ; The criminating wound ; I hit i^Km the right man ; The mark of Cain ; The morning's alarm ; Ar- rest of a suspected pair ; One culprit taken ; A second sought after; He is accused of being a liberal; The goguettes, or the bards of the Quu du Nord; A pretext; Seditions songs; I bo- G<Hne an assistant in the kitchen ; Genuine wine ; The man of principle ; A removal to the prefecture ; Confession ; Resur- rection of a dealer in poultry, &c. ; A scene of somnambulism ; The guilty parties confronted ; HabemuM eonfi:ente» reot ; A friendly embrace ; A supper under lock and k^ ; Departure from Paris . . . 447
CHAPTER XXXVUI.
Arrival at Corbeil; Popular legends; A crowd; The gossips; Good compfmy ; Poulailler and Captain Picard ; A disgust for grandeur; The dealer in turkeys; General Beufort; Public opinion of myself; Extreme terror of a sous pr6fet ; Assassins and their Victim ; Repentance ; Anotther supper ; Place the knives ; Important divcoveries, &c dec .... 465
CHAPTER XXXIX.
A journey to the fontiers ; A robber ; Mother Bardou ; Assisted by a child ; A deliberation ; I address the object of my search ; A feigned recc^nition ; A pleasant fellow ; The two make a pair; The false smuggler; False advice; A brigand aston- ished ; We should not tempt the devil ; I deliver the country from a scourge ; Hercules with the skin of a bear ; A great devour of tobacco. 173
CHAPTER XL.
A visit to Versailles ; Great talking and lltHe do\u^; 'B«&\^«i6L<cnv% A cThningl'a agony; We make our own fale*, T\ie i^wg <A «k
XII OONTBNTfc.
murderer; New oonrertA ; They iuvitc me to witneM their ex- ecution ; Ueflcdiona on a gold box ; A Supreme Being ; No- thing to be mhamrd of; The fatal lu>ur ; We shall meet again; The Curline; The crucidxet; I embrace two death's beads; The spirit of vengeance ; A last adieu ; Eternity. , . . 48U
~ii~M~ii~r"i~i~ii~i — inrinrinrinr>r>rirM~iorx»
ADELE D'ESCARS.
CHAPTER I.
Ad^le d'E scars; The first step; Borrowed name; Fatal inscrip* tion ; A public avowal ; The despair of parents ; llie chapter of cambrioleurs ; Good head and good heart ; Liberal allow- ances ; A privation 491
CHAPTER II.
The pangs of solitude ; Love ; Living as man and wife ; The ex> cellent pupil ; A first attempt ; The breaking in ; Where the devil is the money f Compensation ; A scene o enthusiasm ; Life is a bed of eiderdown, full of pleasure ; The danger of opposite windows; The perfidious curtains; The reflection; A bed-room hussar ; The crusade ; The window blinds of curi> osity ; The judge's beard ; A chance occurrence ; Sixteen years' imprisonment. . .... . 494
CHAPTER III
The firuits of economy ; Flan of amendment ; The skilful work- woman; Precarious existence; Consequences of prgudice; The Mont de Pi6t£ ; Despair; She must die; Cruel punish- ment ; The instruments of crime ; Resistance to temptation. . 409
OONTENTS. Zili
CHAPTER IV.
PAOB.
The hntau of charity ; The door of the philanthropist ; The dowager's equipage ; An accident ; The good coalheaver ; The committee of succour; The mob in action; The basket wo> man's collection ; Little people have great virtues ; like master like man ; the shirt-sleeve ; Victory proclaimed too soon ; The grand figure ; The exempts ; Unheard of brutality ; The car- rying off; The carriage departs 602
' 'CHAPTER V.
The inside of a coach; Tvro wretches; La Morgue and the corps- de-gardc; False humanity; The compassionate soldiers; The invincible Eighteenth; The good captain: Who gives what he* has, gives' what he can; The return home; A straw bed; A delirium; The candle end; Gratitude. . » . . 609
CHAPTER VI.
The kettle empty; The audience and reading la Quotidtennti Break your arms and legs ! Have you a curate? Justice is there ; The tall figure again ; The second breakfast . • 615
CHAPTER VII.
A priest should be humane ; The parsonage-house ; The prepara- tions for a gala; The devotes ; Curiosity ; The Abb6 Tatillion, or the msyor-domo ; Te Deum lat^mut ; Regrets d la comite; An indiscretion; Meddle with your ovni affairs. . . 518
CHAPTER VIII.
The Sacristan; Demoiselle Marie, or the pass-wor^; The two Vicars, or the parallel; The old and the new; Well-ordered chari^ ; The representation ; Registers of the civil state; F!i^ ture of deep misery; No one dies of hunger; Malediction; A general confession ; The tall figure again ; ImpeitaneuX «]1\]a> ion ; BapUsm and btmal; The charitable aclor. , . % Vtt
liv C»»STKhr!l
ciiArrKU IX.
The month too icon passed awny ; Vihit to benefactors ; They have gone ; The mourning coaches ; Tlic aUt'iidants on foneiw ttis; The apostrophes; The lackeys; The chapel; We owe truth to the dead ; The director of the quadrilles; The plain of Virtues; The drum beats; Atrocious jcsUiigs; A brawl; The excommunicant ; 0(m1! it is he; Is it a vision? The vanities of an impious crealure ; The funeral-knell ; The two foldiim^ doors ; The clergy ; The com of the pall ; The tall figure ap pears again ; Hatred of the world. 59
CHAPTER X.
A rambling brain; Despair; The charcoal-vender; A nirpriae; Everyone for himself; There is no longer a God ; Final deter- mination; The closed door; Precaution; The chafing-dish; Unauimi^ ; Mind the bomb ; Conscience ; The month utten, but the heart has no participation ; An ** alTair ' — the life of the holy «
CHAPTER XI.
The morning-walk; Ill-gotten gaina bring nothing but paint; Castle in the air; Gaie^; The storm is preparing; Two keys; The new-laid eggs and the fruit-woman ; The unkind landlord; A good deed brings happiness ; Precautious. . . .64
CHAPTER XII.
The treasure; Anxious moments; M. and Madame Lmnbard; The capricious lock; The whale and the elephant; The knit- ting-needle; Thieves; The couple rolled heels over head; The locksmith; The ring taken out; The apron ; Send for the Com- missary 5tf<
CHAPTER XIII.
Great joy in the House; A cloud; The work of benevolence; Preparations for a breakfast; The larder replcpished ; Honest projects; The salt-seller upset; The Commissary; The search; A visit firom a lady ; A recognition ; Return to St. Lazaro ; Sentence for life iA<
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
CHAPTER I.
T WAS born at Arras ; my continual disguises, the flezibilitj of my features, and a singular power of grimacing, having east some doubt concerning my age, it will not be deemed super- fluous to declare here, that 1 was brought into the world on the 23rd of July, 1776, in a house a^Joininff that in which Bobespierre was bom sixteen years before. It was night ; the rain fell, lightning flashed, the thunder rolled ; and a relation, who was both midwife and fortune-teller, predicted that my career would be a stormy one.
However that may be, we will presume that the sky was not troubled on my special account ; and although there is always something very attractive in the marvellous, I am far from thinking that the turbulence of the elements had much refer- ence to my birth. I had a most robust constitution, and there was plenty of me, so that as soon as I was bom, they took me for a child of two years of age ; and I gave tokens of that athletic figure, that colossal form, which have since struck terror into the most hardened and powerful mffians. My father's house, being situated in the Place d' Armes, the con- stant resort of all the blackguards of the vicinity, I had my muscular powers early called into action, in regularly thrashing my comrades, whose parents were always complaining of me to my father and mother. At home, nothing was talked of but torn earii, black eyes, and rent garments ; at eight years of age, I was the terror of all the dogs, cats, and children of the neighbourhood; at thiileen I handled a foil, with no little ■kill and address. My father, perceiving that I associated chiefly with the military of the garrison, was alarmed foi m«« and desired me to prepare myself for the first iecei\vng oi liim
S MEMOIES OF VIDOCQ, '
oofmnunion : two devotees undertook to prepare me for this â– olemn duty. Ood knows what fVuit I have gathered from tiieir lessons. I began at the same time to learn the trade of a baker, which was my father's business, in which he intended tiiat I should succeed him, although I had an elder brother.
My employment principally consisted in carrying bread through the city. During my rounds, I made frequent visits to the fencing-rooms, of which my parents trere not long in ignorance ; but the cooks all gave such testimony of my po- liteness and punctuality, that they winked at this trifling prank. This went on until they discovered a deficiency in the till, of which they never took away the key. My brother, who visited it in the same manner as myself, was detected in the very aet, and sent off in a hurry to a baker at Lille. The day after this event, which had not been explained to me, I was about to explore, according to custom, the convenient drawer, when I perceived that it was carefiilly closed. The same day, my nther desired me to use more alacrity in my rounds, aid to return at a certain hour. It was then evident that from this day forward I should be equally deprived of liberty and money. I bewailed this twofold calamity, and hastened to impart it tc a comrade named Poyant, older than myself. As a hole was cut in the counter to drop the money through, he first advised me to introduce a feather dipped in glue ; but this ingenious expedient only produced me very small pieces of money, and it became necessary for me to employ a false key, which was made for me by a blacksmith's son. I then dipped again into the till, and we spent together the fruits of these pilferings at a public-house, where we had established our head quarters. There assembled, attracted by the master of the house, a great many well-known rogues, and some unfortunate young fellows, who, to get replenished pockets, used the same expedient as mysel£ I soon joined the society of the most abandoned vagabonds of the country, who initiated me into all their villanies. Such was the honourable society in the bosom of which I spent my leisure hours, until one day my father sur- prised me, as he had done my brother, took away my key, heartily thrashed me, and took such precautions as totally cut off all my hopes of ever again getting a dividend from the receipts therein deposited.
My only resource tiras now, to take my tithes from the bak- ings. Occasionally I pilfered a loaf or two; but as in dispos- ing of them I was compelled to sell them very cheaply, I seatoely by their sale obtained sufficient to regale myself with tarts and honey. Necessity makes us active ; I had an eye
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
for CYerythipg ; all was agreeable to me, wine, ragar, and liquors. My mother had never known her provisions to disappear so quickly, and perhaps would not have disoorered so soon, but two chickens which I had resolved on disposing of to my own peculiar profit, raised their voices to accuse me. Hid in my breeches pocket, and concealed by my baker's apron, they thrust out their heads and crowed : and my mo- ther, thus informed of their intended fate, came out to prevent it She gave me several euffi of the head, and sent me supper* less to bed. I did not sleep a wink, and it was, I think, the evil spirit that kept me awake : all I know is, that I rose with the determination to lay hands on all the plate. One thing alone gave me uneasiness. On each piece the name of yidocq was engraved in large letters. Poyant, to whom I broached the matter, overruled all difficulties: and the same day, at dinner time, I swept off ten forks and as many coffee* spoons. Twenty minutes afterwards the whole was pawned, and the next day I had not a farthing left of the hundred and fifty francs, which they lent me on them.
I did not return home for three days, and on the third even- ing I was arrested by two police officers, who conveyed me to the Baudets, a place in which mad persons are confined, to- gether with those committed for trial, and the rogues of tho district. I was kept in a dungeon for ten days, without beinc told the cause of my arrest, and then the jailor told me that 1 had been imprisoned at the desire of my &ther. This inform- ation a little composed me : it was a paternal correction thai was inflicted on me, and I accordingly judged that its con- tinuance would not be rigorous. My mother came to see mo- the next day, and I was pardoned. Four days afterwards I was set at liberty, and I returned to work with a determination and promise of henceforward conducting myself irreproacha- bly. Vain resolve 1 I soon resumed my old habits, except extravagance ; and I had excellent reasons for no more play- ing the prodigal, for my father, who had before been rather careless and regardless, now exercised a vigilance that would have done credUt to the commandant of an advanced guard. If he left the post at the counter, my mother relieved guard ; it was impossible for me to approach it, although I was con- stantly on the look out This put me in despair. At last one of my tavern companions took pity on me; it was Poyant again, that thorough rogue, of whose abilities in this way the citizens of ,Arras may still preserve the memory. I confided my sorrows to his friendly bosom. ** What a pieciofOft CooV "^ oa «re (laid he) to raxuan tbuBj and what busineM Uu & \iA fsl
4 MEMOIR* Ok V1I>UC<4
TOUT age to ^ short of a larthing f Ah ! were I in your plaet, I know what I would do."— •* Well, what ? "— " Your parenti are rich, and a thousand crowns, more or less, would not hurt them. The old misers 1 they are fair game, and we must eany it off." — " I^ understand, we must grasp at once what we can- not get in detail." — " You're right ; and then we will be ofl^ neither seen nor known." — " Yes, but the police." — " Hold your tongue ; are you not their son ? and your mother it too fond for t hat." ThiB consideration of my mother's love, united to the remembrance of her indulgence after my late freaks, was powerfully persuasive ; I blindly adopted a project which smiled on my audacity ; it only remained to put it in execu- tion, and an opportimity was not long wanting.
One evening whilst my mother was at home alone, a con- fidant of Poyant came kindly to tell her, that engaged in a debauch with some girls, I was fighting everybody, and breaking and destroying evervthing in the house, and that, if I were not stopped, there would be at least a hundred francs to pay for the damage done.
At this moment my mother was seated in her chair knitting; the stocking dropped from her hand, she arose with haste, a^ ran with great alarm to the place of the pretended affiray, which had been fixed on at the extremity of the city. Her absence could not be of long continuance, and we hastened to profit by it A key which 1 had stolen from the old lady procured us admittance into the shop. The till was closed ; I was almost glad to meet with this obstacle. I recalled the memory of my mother's love for me, not as an inducement to commit the act with impunity, but as exciting feelings of coming remorse. I was going to retire ; Poyant neld me, his infernal eloquence made me blush for what he called my weakness ; and when he presented me with a crowbar, with which he had the precaution to provide himself, I seized it almost with enthusiasm ; the chest was forced ; it contained nearly 2,000 francs (upwards of 80/.) which we shared, and half an hour afterwards I was alone on the road to Lille. In the trouble which this affitir threw me into, I walked at first very quickly, so that when I reached Lens I was much fatigued. A return chaise passed, into which I got, and in less than three hours arrived at the capital of French Flanders, whence I immediately started for Dunkirk, being excessively anxious to place myself beyond the reach of pursuit
I had resolved on visiting the new world. My fate forbade this project The port of Dunkirk was empty, I reached Cakia, intending to embark immediately, but they asked m«
MEM0IK8 OF VIDOCQ. S
more tfaan tlie whole sum in my posaeMion. J wtt induced <• hope tiiat at Ostend the lare would be leae ; and on goiBg thoM Ibuid the captains not more reaaonable than at Ga&k. Th«a disappointed I fell into that adventurous disposition, whioh in- dnees us to throw ourselves voluntarily into the arms of th» first enterjHrise that offers. Whilst I was walking, I was Ac- costed by a person whose benevolent appearance gave mm rather a fiivourable impression of him. The first words he ad- dressed to me were questions. He had learnt that I was a .stranger ; he told me that he was a ship-broker ; and when be learnt the cause of my coming to Ostend, he offered his-eer- vices. " Your countenance pleases me," said he, *' I iilw aa open face ; there is in your features the air of frankness ami joviality, which I like, and I will prove it to yon by procnriag for you a passage for almost nothing." I spoke of my grati- tude. ** No thanks, my friend, that will be soon enough when your business is completed, which I hope will be soon ; but smrely you will be tired of waiting about in this manner t " I said that certainly I was not very much amused. ** If yon will accompany me to Blakemberg, we will sup there together, with some jolly fallows, who are very fond of Frenchaank" The broker was so polite, and asked me so cordially, that I thought it would be imgentlemanly to refuse, and therefore accepted his invitation. He conducted me to a house where some very agreeable young ladies welcomed us with all that ancient hospitality which did not conjSne itself only to feast- ing. At midnight, probably — I say probably, for we took no acoount of hours — my head became heavy, and my legs would no longer support me ; there was around me a oomplele ehaos, and things whirled in such a manner, that without per- ceiving that they had undressed me, I thouj^t 1 was stripped to my shirt in the same bed with one of the Blakembergian nymphs ; it might be true, but all that I know is, that I soon fell soundly asleep. On waking I found myself cold ; instead of the large green curtains, which had appeared to me in my sleep, ttiy heavy eyes only gazed on a forest of masts, and I heard the watchful cry which only echoes in the sea-ports. I endeavoured to rise, and my hand touched a heap of cordage, against which I was leaning. Did I dream, then, or had I dnamt the previous evening ? I felt abou^ I got up, and when on my feet I found that 1 did not dream, and what was worse, that I was not one of the small number of those per- sonages whom fortune fevours whilst sleeping. I was half nakad^ and except two crowns and six livrea^ whiiKh I found in Oia^ iA my hreeahes pockett, I was pennjl^u. It Was Chen ^tti'tM
B S
0 MEMOIRS or VIDOCO*
d«ftr of roe. at the broker had said, "my bntiiMM had been done." I waa greatly enraged, but what did that avafl met I waa eren uuble to point out the apot where I had been thua plundered. I made un my mind and returned to the inn, where I had aome olothea which remedied the deficieneiee of my attire. I had no oceasion to tell my miafortune to the landlord. *' Ah, ah I *' aaid he to me, aa far off aa he could aee me, ** here comea another. Do you know, youn^ man, that yon have got off well ? You return with all your limba, whieh ia lucky when one gets into auch a hornet's nest; you now know what a land shark is; they were certainly beautiful smna ! All pirates are not on the sea, you obsenre, nor all the aharka within it ; I will wager that they have not left you a fiurthing." I drew my two crowns from my pocket to show them the inn-keeper. " That will be," said he, ** juat enough to pay your bill," which he then presented. I paid it and took leave of him, without however quitting the city.
The sea was open to me aa a profession, and I resolved to betrothe myself to it, at the risk of breaking my neck thirty times a day, by climbing, for eleven franca a month, up the rigging of a ahip. I was ready to enter liktf a novice, when the Bound of a trumpet auddenly arrested my attention ; it was not that of a regiment, but of Paillasse (Merry- Andrew) and hia maater, who, in front of a show bedecked with the emblem of an itinerant menagerie, were awaiting the mob, which never hisses the vulgar exhibitions. I saw Sie beginning ; and whilat a large crowd waa testifying its gratification by loud ahouta of laughter, it occurred to me that the master of Paillaase might give me employment Paillasse appeared to me a good fellow, and I was desirous of securing his protection ; and aa
1 knew that one good turn deserves another, when he got down i^om his platform, on saying ** follow the crowds" thinking that he might be thirsty, 1 'devoted my last shilling in offering him half a pint of gin. Paillasse, sensible of this politeness, promised instantly to speak for me, and as soon as our half- pint was finished, he presented me to the director. He was the famous Cotte-Comus : he called himself the first physician of the world, and in traversing the country, had united hia talents to those of the naturalist Gamier, the learned preceptor of general Jacquot, whom all Paris saw in the square of the Fountains before and after the revolution. These gentlemen had with them a troop of rope-dancers. Comus, as soon as I appeared before him, asked me what I could do. " Nothing," flaid I. ** In that case," said he, ** they will teach you : there aie greater fools than you, and then besides, you have not a
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 7
oliiinsy appearance. We shall see if you have a taste for the stage; then I will engage you for two years; the first sii months you shall he well fed, and clothed ; at the end of that time you shall have a sixteenth of the profits ; and the year following, if you are bright, I will give you a share like the others; in the meantime, my friend, I will find occupation for you."
Thus was I introduced, and then went to partake of the flock-bed of the obliging merry-andrew. At the break of day we were awakened by the sonorous voice of our master, who leading me to a kind of small room, said, whilst showing me the lamps and wooden chandeliers — ** There is your employ- ment, you must clean these and put them in proper order; do you imderstandf And afterwards you must clean out the cages of the animals, and brush the floors." I went about my job which did not greatly please me: the tallow disgusted me, and I was not quite at. my ease with the monkeys, who enraged to see a fool to whom they were not accustomed, made incon- ceivable efforts to tear my eyes out But I yielded to iron necessity. My duty performed, I appeared before the director, who- said that I was an apt pupil, and that if I was assi- duous he would do something for me. 1 rose early, and was very hungry ; it was ten o'clock, but no signs of breakfast were visible, and yet it was agreed that I should have bed and board. I was sinking from want, when they gave me a piece of brown bread, so hard, that being unable to get through with it, although gifted with sharp teeth, and a famous appe- tite, I threw the greater portion amongst the animals. I was obliged to light up in the evening, and as, from want of prac- tice, I did not evince in my occupation all possible despatch^ the director^who was a brute, administered to me a slight Cor- rection, which he renewed the next and following days. A month had not elapsed, before I was in a wretched condition; my clothes, spotted with grease and torn by the monkies, were in rags ; I was devoured by vermine ; hard diet had made mm so thin, that no one would have recognised me ; and then it was that there arose in all imaginable bitterness the regrets for my paternal home, where good food, soft bed, and excellent clothmg were mine, and where I had no monkeys to make clean and feed.
I was in this mood, when one morning Comus told me, that after due consideration he was convinced that I should make an admirable tumbler. He then placed me undf r the tultioik of Sieur Balmate, called the " little devil," with ordeiB to team me My master just mcaped hrtakin^ my loins at lYie fkt%t
8 MBMOIES or VIDOCQ.
bmd which he compelled me to make. I took two or tiiiM lettoni daily. In leu than three weeks, I wai able to coDMOli with much skill the monkey's leap, the dnmkafd't Imp, tho ooward's leap, &c. My teacher, delighted at mj yiogfeai, took pains to forward me ; a hundred times I thoiu;lit tMt in dereloping my powers hp would dislocate my umba. At length we reached the difficulties of the art, which beeame more and more complicated. At my first attempt at Htm gmd fling, I nearly split mjrself in two i and in the ohair>wam I broke my nose. Bruised, maimed, and tired of io pafloni a business, I determined on telling Comus that I had no deriw to become a Yaulter. '* Oh you do not like it,** aaid he i aai without objecting to my refusal gave me a sound tkumpiBf. I Uien left Balmate entirely and returned to my lampa.
Comus had given me up, and it was now for Oamier to gife, me a torn. One day, after having beaten me more than nioaly' (for he shared this pleasing office with Comus)^ Gbnier, measuring me from head to foot, and viewing with a marked delight the dilapidation of my doublet, through whieh my flesh was visible, said to me, *' I like you : yon have reached the point that pleases me. Now, if you are obedient it remaim with yourself to be happy : from to day you must let your nails grow ; your hair is already of a sufficient length ; you are nearly naked, and a decoction of walnut-tree leavei vdll do the rest" I did not understand what Oamier meant, %hen he called my (Hend Paillasse and desired him to bring the tiger ddn and club. Paillasse obeyed — " Now," said Oamier, ** we will go through the performance. You are a young asvage firom the South Seas, and moreover a cannibal ; you eat raw flesh, the sight of blood puts you in a fury, and when you are thirsty, you introduce into your mouth flints which you crack ; you utter onl]^ broken and shrill sounds, you open your eyes widely, your motions are violent ; you only move with leaps and bounds : finally, take for your model the ourang-outang who is in cage number one." During this lesson, a jar full of small stones quite round was placed at my feet, and near it a cock which was tired with having its legs tied together; Oar- nier took it, and offered it to me, saying, *' Onaw away at this." I would not bite it ; he threatened me. I rebeUed, and demanded to be released ; to which he replied by a dozen cufb of the ear. But he did not get off scot-free; irritated at this usage, I aeized a stake, and should assuredly hav^ knocked the naturalist on the head, if the whole troop had not fallen on me, and thrust me out at the door with a shower of blows from the fists and kicks of the feet
HEMOI&S OF VIDOCQ. 0
Some days afterwards. I was at the same public- house, with a showman and his wife who exhibited puppets in the open street. We made acquaintance, and I founid that X had in- spired them with some feelings of interest The husband pitied me for having been condemned to what he termed the>«pciety of beasts. He compared me with Daniel in the lions* den. We may see that he was learned, and intended for something better than to play ** Punch.'* At a later period he supojri)!- tended a provincial theatrical company, and perhaps superin- tends It stilL I shall conceal his name. The embryo mana- ger was very witty, though his wife did not perceive it ; he was very ugly, which she plainly perceived. She was one of those smart brunettes with forig eyelashes, whose hearts are of most inflammable material, which deserves a better destiny than to light a fire of straw. I was young, and so was the lady : she was only Fixteen, her husband thirty-five. As soon as I found myself out of place, I went to see this couple ; it struck me that they would advise me correctly. They gave me some dinner, and congratulated me in having di^red to free myself from the despotic yoke of Gamier. ** Since you are your own master," said the husband to me, '* you had better accompany us : you will assist us ; at least, when we are three in number, V we shall have no lost time between the acts ; you will move the actdrs whilst Eliza goes round with the hat; thus the public will be attracted and not go off, and the profits will be more abundant What say you, Eliza?" Eliza answered, that she would do in this respect all he might desire, and be- sides she entirely agreed with him ; and at the same time gave me a look which bespoke that she was not displeased, and that we should soon understand each other. I accepted the new employ with gratitude, and at the next representation I was installed to my office. The situation was infinitely superior to that at Oarnier's. Eliza, who, despite m^ leanness, had discovered that I was not so badly made as I was clothed, made a thousand secret advances, to which I was not backward in reply : at the end of three days she said she loved me. I was not ungrateful ; we were happy and constantly together. At home, we only laughed, played, and joked. Eliza's husband took all that for child's sport; when at work we were side by side under a narrow cabin, formed of four cloth rags, dignified by the splendid title of "Theatre of Amusing Varieties." Eliza was on the right of her husband, and I on her right hand, and filled her place when she was not there to superin- ten'l the exits and entrances. One Sunday the i^\ay vtaii. .Va fall T^preBeDtjttion, and there was a crowded audience io>mi^
10 MEMOIRS or VIDOCQ.
tlM Stage. Punch had beaten everybody, and our matter hav* ing nouiing more to do with one of his personages (the Ser- jeant of the Wateh) wished it to be removed, and called for hit ainstant We heard him not. " Assistant, assistant," he re- peated with impatience, and at a third time turning round ha saw us enfolding each other in a close embrace. Elixa, sur- prised, sought for an excuse, but the husband without listening eried out again, ** Assistant," and thrust against hit eye the hook which served to suspend the serjeant At the same mo- ment the blood flowed, the representation was interrupted, and a battle ensued between the two married people ; the show was Ofwtamed, and we were exposed in the midst of a numerous orowd of spectators, from whom this scene drew a lengthened peal of applause and laughter.
This disaster again threw me on the wide world, without a home to shelter my head. If I had had a decent appearance, I might have procured a situation in a respectable fSgonily, but my appearance was so wretched that no one would have any- thing to say to me. In my situation I had but one resource, that of returning to Arras : but then how to exist on the road t I was a prey to these perplexities, when a person passed near me whom I took by his appearance to be a pedlar. I entered into conversation with him, and he told me he was going to Lille ; that he sold powders, opiates, and elixirs, cut corns, relieved bunions, and sometimes extracted teeth. ''It is a good trade," added he, ** but I am getting old, and want some- body to carry my pack ; it is a stiff- backed fellow like you that I need, with a firm foot, and steady eye ; so if you like we will tramp it together." — " Willingly," was my reply, and without any further stipulation, we went on our way together. After an eight hours' walk, night drew on, and we could scarcely see our way, when we halted before a wretched village inn. — *' Here it is," said the itinerant doctor, knocking atthe door. — ** Who is there ? " cried a hoarse voice. " Father Gk>di(rd with his pack," answered my guide; and, the door immediately opening, we found oursejves in the midst of a crowd of pedlars, tinkers, quack-doctors, umbrella-venders, show-men, &c who hailed my new master, and ordered a plate to be brought for him. I Uiought they would do me equal honour, and I was about to seat myself at table, when the hos^ striking me fiEuniliarly on the shoulder, asked me if I was not mountebank of father Godard. " Who do you call ^ mounte- bank?" said I with astonishment ''The merryandrew, then.'* I confess that, despite of the recent reminiscences of the menagerie, and the Theatre of Amusing Varieties, I felt
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCO. 11
mortified at meh an appellation. But I had a deril of an appetite, and as I thought .:that supper would follow the inter- rogatory, and that, after all, my situation with father Oodavd had not heen accurately defined, I consented to pass for Ids mountebank. On my answering, the host led me at once to a neighbouring spot, a sort' of bam, where a dozen of fellows were smoking, drinking, and playing at cards. He said thai they would send me in someUiing to eat Soon afterwards, a •toat wench brought me in a mess in a wooden bowl, on which I led with the utmost avidity. A loin of mutton was swim- minff in a sea of pot-liquor with stringy turnips : I cleared the whole up in a twmkling. This done, I laid myself down with the other packmen's valets on some piles of straw, which we •bared with a camel, two muzzled bears, and a crowd of learned doga» The vicinity of such bedfellows was not the most pleas- ing ; but it was necessary to put up with it I did not close my eyes, whilst all the otibers snored away most gloriously.
Father Oodard paid for all, and however bad were the beds and the fare, as we draw near Arras, it was necessary that I should not quit him. At length we reached Lille, which we entered on a market day. By way of losing no time, father Godard went straight to the principal square, and desired me to arrange his table, his chest, his vials, and packets, and then proposed that I should go and announce his arrival round the place. 1 had made a good breakfast, and the proposition dis« gusted me: I could put up with acting with a dromedary, and carrying his baggage from Ostend to Lille, but to go round in parade, at ten leagues from Arras — No! I bade adieu to father Oodard, and then set out towards my native city, of which the clock soon became visible. Having reached the foot of the ramparts, before the closing of the gates, I trem- bled at the idea of the reception I should meet with: one moment I was tempted to beat a retreat, but fatigue and hunger could not allow that; rest and food were vitally necessary : I wavered no longer, and ran towards my patemid roofl My mother was alone in the shop: I entered, and throwing myself at her feet, wept, whilst I entreated her for- giveness. The poor old woman, who hardly recognised me, so greatly was J altered, was softened. She had not power to repulse me, and even appeared to have forgotten all. She * reinstated me in my old chamber, after having supplied all my wants. But it was necessary to tell my father of my return. She did not feel courage to face his first bursts of auger ; a priest of her acquaintance, the almoner of the regiment of Ka- |ou, garrisoned at Arras, undettook to be the beaiet oi \)ick%
18 MEMOIRS or VIDOCQ.
words of piACi' : and my father, after naYinff vowed firt â– ! flames, ctmscntifl ti> pardon me. I tremblni lest he ihooU prove inoxoraliU', iind whrn I learnt that he had yielded, I jumped for joy. TIic almoner brought the newt to me^ ad followed it up with a moral application, which waa no doilt xery tr'Uchinjr* hut I do not remember a word of it; I od|y recollect that he quoted the parable of the Prodigal Sok, which was in truth a history similar to my own.
My adventures had mnde aomc noise in the city ; everybo^f was anxious to hear them from my own lips. But no one, et cept one actress of the Arraa company, took more intereat ii them than two milliners of the Rue de Troia Viaagoa : I paid them frequent visits. However, the actress soon obtained die exclusive privilege of my attention, and an intrigue ibllowedi in which, diffguised as a young girl, I renewed at her booM aome scenes from the romance of Faublaa. A audden joniMj to Lillc with my conquest, her husband, and a veiy pretty little maid servant, who passed me off for her sitter, proved to my father that I had soon forgotten the troablei or ray flnt campaign. My absence was not of long continuance : three weeks had scarcely elapsed, when, ftom vrant of money, the actress refused any longer to allow me to form part of the baggage. 1 returned quietly to Arras, and my father WM confounded at the straightforward way with which I adced hii consent to enter the army. The beat he could do was to com- ply, which he did ; and the next day I wat clad in the onifbrm of the Bourbon regiment My height, good figure, and akiU in. arma, procured for me an appointment in a company of chasseurs. Some old veterana took ofience at it, and I tent two to the hospital in consequence, where I soon joined them myself, on being wounded by one of their comrades. TUi commencement gave me notoriety, and they took a malieiona pleffi^ure in reviewing my past adventures ; so that at the end of six months. Reckless, — for they bestowed that name on me, — lifld killed two men and fought fitlteen duels. In other respects I enjoyed all the pleasure of a garrison life. I mounted guard at the cost of some good shopkeepers, whote daughters took on themselves the charge of making me at comfortable as possible. My mother added to these liberali- ties, and my father made me an allowance; and besides I found means to run in debt: thus I really cut a fi^re, and acarcely felt anything of the troubles of discipline. Once only 1 was sentenced to a fortnight's imprisonment, because I hsd not answered to tliree summonses. T underwent my punish- ment in a dungeon beneath one of the bastions, where one tfH
MSteOIRS OF YIDOCQ. 13
mrades was shut up with me, a soldier in the laine mt. He was accused of various robheries, which he had sed. Scarcely were we alone when he told itae the ]b of his detention. Doubtlessly the regiment would im up, and this idea, joined to the dread of dishonouring nily, threw him into despair. I pitied him, and seeing nedy for so deplorable a case, I counselled him to erade iment either by escape or suicide. He determined to ) former ere he resolved on the latter ; and, aided by a
friend who came to visit me, I prepared all for his At midnight two bars . of iron were broken, and we cted the prisoner to the ramparts, and then I said to " Go : you must either jump or hang," He calcula- e height, and hesitating, determined rather to run the » of his sentence than to break his legs. He was pre- ; to return to his dungeon : at a moment when he feast »d it, we gave him a push over ; he shrieked out whilst him be silent. I then* returned to my cell: when on raw, I tasted the repose which the consciousness of a leed always brings. The next day, on the flight of Ihy inSon being discovered, I was questioned, and dismissed jring that I knew nothing of the affiur. Some years ards, I met this unfortunate fellow, who looked on me as erator. Since his fall he had been lame, but had be- an honest man.
ould not remain eternally at Arras; war had been ed against Austria, and I set out with the regiment, and iter was present at the route of Marquain, which ended at by the massacre of the brave and unfortunate general u After this we were ordered againat the camp at le, and then in that de la Lune, when, with the infernal under the command of Killerman, I was engaged in the
against the Prussians of the 30th of October. The day I was made corporal of grenadiers : thereupon it le necessary to baptise my worsted lace, and I acquitted f with much credit at the drinking booth, when, I know DW or why, I quarrelled with the serjeant-major of the ent which I had just left An honourable meeting,
I proposed, was agreed upon, but when on the ground ▼ersary pretended that the difference from rank would Qow of his measuring weapons with me. I sought to >i him by violence, he went to make complaint of me, lie same evening I was, together with my second, '^^ace^ arrest. Two days afterwards we were infonned \iVi«lii^ t» h0 tried bjr court-martial, and I thereupon dct(5imme4
c
14 MXMOIAS OF VIDOCQ.
to desert My comrade in hU wautcoat only, with a ea» mk hit head, like a soldier about to underso punUhment, wuktA
before me, who had on a hairy cap, my anapsack, and mi at the end of which was a lurge packet s^ed with red vai^ and inscribed " To the citisen commandant of the quartcrt al Vitry-Ie-Fran-yais." This was our passport, and we rendwdl Vitry in safety, and procured citixena* haoita from a Jew. Aft this period the walls of eyery city were covered with plaeard%ia whicn all Frenchmen were inyited, to fly to the defeaee ol their country. At such a juncture the first comers mn enrolled: a quarter-master of the 11th chasseurs receiyedvi^ gsTc us our route, and we immediately started for the dcpAt at Philippeville.
My companion and self had but little cash, when fortunat^ a lucky wmdfall was in waiting for us at Chylous. lalte same inn with us was a soldier of Bea^jolais, who invited ns to drink. Ho was an open-hearted countryman of Picardy, and as I conversed with him in the provincial dialect of his country, whilst the glass was circulating we grew such great friends, that he showed us a portfolio filled with aasignatit which he said he had found near Chateau-1' Abbaye. '* Cooh rades," said he, *' I cannot read, but if you will tell me what these papers are worth, I will give you a share." The Pioafd could not have asked any one better able to inform him, and m bulk he had much the greater quantity ; but he had no suspi- cion that we had retained in value nine-tenths of the sum. This little supply was not useless during the remainder of oat journey, which we finished with much glee. Arrived at ovf place of destination, we had still enough left to keep the pot boiling. A short time afterwards we were sufiicienuy skilled in horsemanship to be appointed to one of the squadrons on service, and we reached tiie army two days before Uie battle of Jemmappes. It was not the first time that I had smelt pow- der, and I was no coward ; indeed I had reason to know that I had found favour in the eyes of my officers, when my captain informed me, that having been discovered to be a deserter, I should be most certainly arrested. The danger was inmiinent^ and that same evening I saddled my horse, intending to go over to the Austrians. I soon reached their out- posts ; and on asking to be admitted, was incorporated at once with the cuirassiers of Kinski. What I most feared was lest I should be compelled next day to cross swords with the French, and I hastens to avoid any such necessity. A pretended illneia enabled me to be left at Louvain, where after passing soma days in the hospital, I offered to give the officers in the gaiw
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 15
rison lessons in fencing. They were delighted with the pro- posal, and supplied me with masks, gloves, and foils ; and an assault, in which t disarmed two or three pretended German masters was enough to give them the highest opinion of my skill. I soon had many pupils, and reapdl a good harvest of florins.
I was too much elated with my success, when at the end of a brisk attack on a brigadier, I was condemned to undergp twenty stripes of the cat, which according to custom, were given to me on parade. This transported me with rage, and I refused to give another lesson. I was ordered to continue^ with a choice of giving lessons or a fresh flogging. I decided on the former ; but tiie cat annoyed me, and I resolved to date all to escape from it Being informed that a lieutenant was about to join the army under general Schroeder, I begged to accompany him as his servant ; to which he agreed, under the idea that I should make a St G«orge of him ; but he was mistaken, for as we approached Quesnoi I took French leave, and directed my journey towards Landrecies, where I passed iar a Belgian who had left the Austrian banner. They wished me to enter a cavalry regiment, but the fear of being recognized and shot, if ever I should be brigaded with my old regiment, made me give the preference to the 14th light regiment (the old chasseurs of the barriers). The army of the Sambre and Mouse was then marching towards Aiz-la-Chapelle ; the com- paay to which I belonged received orders to follow it We set out, and on entering Rocroi I saw the chasseurs of the 11th. I gave myself up for lost, when my old captain, with whom I could not avoid an interview, gave me courage. This worthy man, who had taken an interest in me ever since he had seen me cut away amongst the hussars of Saxe-Teschen, told me that as an amnesty would henceforward place me out of the reach of all pursuit, he should have much pleasure in again having me under his order. I told him how glad it would make 'me ; and he, undertaking to arrange the affidr, I was 4moe more reinstated in the llth. My old comrades received me with pleasure, and I wa^ not less pleased to flnd myself •once again amongst ihem ; and nothing was wanting to com- tplete my happiness, when love, who is idways busy, determined 'on playing one of his tricks. It will not be thought surprising illiat at seventeen I captivated the housekeeper of an old gentle^ ■WKZL Manon, for that was her name, was near twice my age, 'tat>then Ae loved me very tenderly, and proved it by makmg <efei7 aaerifice to me unhesitatingly. I was to hex tai^, ^% /kandsomcit of chasseurs, because I was hers, and alie ma\i«i
16 IIBMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
that I should alto be the most dashing. She had already gives me a watish, and I was proudly adorned with Tarious jewels, proo6 of the love with which 1 had inspired her, when I learnt thai Manon was accused by her master of robbery. Manon con* iessed the fact, but at the same time, to assure herself thai after her sentence I should not pass into another's arms, she pointed me out as her accomplice, and even asserted that I had proposed the theft to her. It had the appearance of proba- bility, and I was consequently implicated, and should have extricated myself with difficulty if chance had not brought to liffht some letters of hers, which established my innocence. Manon, conscience- stricken, retracted. I had been shut up in the house of confinement at Stenay, whence I was set at liber^, and sent back as white as snow. My captain, who had never thought me guilty, was delighted at seeing me again : but the chasseurs could not forgive my being even suspected ; and in consequence of various dlusions and. comments, I had no lest than six duels in as many days. In the last I was badly wounded, and was conveyed to Uie hospital, where I remained for a month before I recovered. On going out, my officer, convinced that these quarrels would be renewed if I did not go away for a time, gave me a furlough for six weeks. I went to Arras, where I was much astonished to find my father in a public employment As an old baker, he had been appointed to watch over the supplies of the commissariat. He opposed the distribution of bread at a time of scarcity ; and this dis- charge of his duty, although he performed it gratis, was to offensive, that he would assuredly have been conducted to the guillotine had he not been protected by citizen (now lieuten- ant-general) Souham, commandant of the 2d battalion of Corr^ze, into which I was temporarily drafted.
My furlough being out, I rejoined my reginient at Givet> whence we marched for the county of Namiir. We were quartered in the villages on the banks of the Mouse ; and at the Austrians were in sight, not a day passed without some firing on both sides. At the termination of an engagement more serious than usual, we were driven back almost und^ the cannon of Givet : and in the retreat I received a ball in* my leg, which compelled me to go again to the hospital, and afterwards to remain at the dep6t ; and I was there when the Germanic legion passed, principally composed of a party of deserters, fencing- masters, &c. One of the chief officers pro- posed that I should enter this corps, offering the rank of qoar- terrmaster. "Once admitted," said he, "I will answer for you, you shall be safe from all pursuit" The certainty of nol
MEMOIRS itOf VIDOCQ. 17
being asked for, Joined to the remembrance of the disagreea- bles of my intimacy with Manon, decided me ; I accepted the offer, and the next day was with the legion on the road to Flanders. No doubt, in continuing to serve in this corps, where promotion was very rapid, I should have been made an officer, but my wound opened afresh, with such bad symptoms, that I determined to ask for leave again, which on obtaining, I was lis di^s afterwards once more at the gates of Arras.
18
CHAPTER n.
On entering the city, I Fas struck with the air of eonstema- tion which every countenance wore ; some persons whom I questioned looked at me with contempt, and left me without making any reply. What extraordinary business was being transacted ? Penetrating tlie crowd, which was thronged in the dark and winding streets, I soon reached the fish-market. Then the first object which struck my sight was the guillotine, raising its blood-red boards above the silent multitude. An old man, whom they had iust tied to the fatal plank, was the victim ; suddenly I heard the sound of trumpets. On a high place which overlooked the Oichestra, was seated a man, soil young, clad in a Carmagnole of black and blue stripes. Thin person, whose appearance announced monastic rather than militaiy habits, was leaning carelessly on a cavalry sabre, the large hilt of which represented the Cap of Liberty ; a row of pistols ornamented his girdle, and his hat, turned up in the Spanish fashion, was surmounted by a large tri-coloured cock- ade : I recognized Joseph Lebon. At this moment his mean countenance was animated with a horrid smile ; he paused firom beating time with his left foot ; the trumpets stopped ; he made a signid, and the old man was placed under the blade. A sort of clerk, half drunk, then appeared at the side of the "avenger of the people," and read with a hoarse voice a bulletin of the army of the Rhine and .Moselle. At each paragraph the orchestra sounded a chord ; and when the reading was con- cludedi the head of the wretched old man was stricken off amidst shouts of ** Vive la republique ! " repeated by the satellites of the ferocious Lebon. 1 shall never forget, nor can I ade- quately depict the impression of this horrible sight I reached my father's house almost as lifeless as the miserable being whose agony had been so cruelly prolonged ; and then I learnt that he was M. de Mongon, the old commandant of the citadel, condemned as an aristocrat. A few days before, they had exe- cuted at the same place, M. de Vieux-Pont, whose only crime W8S that of having a parrot, in whose chatterings there were
MEMOIRS OF VliM9C«h 19
some sounds like the cry of " Vive le roi ! " Tne parrot had escaped the iate of his master ; and it was said that it had been pardoned at the entreaty of the citizeness Lebon, who had undertaken to convert it The citizeness Lebon had been a nun of the abbey of Viyier: with this qualification added to many others, she was the fitting consort of the ex-curate of Neuville, and exercised a power^ influence over the members of the commission at Arras, in which were seated, as judges or jurymen, her brother-in law and three undes. The ex-nun was no less greedy of gold than blood. One evening at the theatre, she ventured to make this address to the crowded auditory : — ** Ah, Sans Culottes, they say it is not for you that the gfuillotine is at work? What the devil, must we not de- nounce the enemies of the country? Do you know any noble, any ricli person, any aristocratical shopkeeper? Denounce bim and you shall have his money-bags." The atrocity of this nronster ^as only equalled by that of her husband, who abandoned himself to the greatest excesses. Frequently after his orgies he was seen running through the city making bestial propositions to one young person, bandishing a sabre over another's head, and firing pistols in the ears of women and children.
An old apple-woman, with a red cap and sleeves tucked up to the shoulders, carrying a long stick of hazel-wood, usually attended him in his walks, and they were frequently met arm- in-arm together. This woman, called mother Duchesne, in allusion to the famous father Duchesne, figured as the Goddess of Liberty in several democratic solemnities. She regularly assisted at the sittings of the commissions, for which she pre- pared the arrests by her speeches and denunciations. She thus brought to the guillotine all the inhabitants of one street, which was left entirely desolated.
I have often asked myself how, in the midst of such deplor- able scenes, the taste for pleasure and amusement lost none of ito relish. The fact is, that Arras continued to ofier to me the same dissipations as ever ; the ladies were as accessible ; and X was easily convinced of that, as in a very few days I rose ^^radnally in my amours from the young and pretty Constance, 4>nly child of corporal Latnlipe, canteen-keeper of the citadel, to tile four daughters of the notary, who had an office at the comer x>f the Rue des Capucines. Lucky should I have been liad I confined myself to that, but I began to pay my homage to a beauty of the Rue de la Justice ; and one day I met my rival in my walks. He, who was the old musician of the regi- was one of those men who, without boasting of the su6-
20 MSMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
cess which they have obtained, hint in plain terma that tlMf have experienced refusals. I charged him with boastiiig fai this way, and he became enraged ; I provoked him the mon^ and the more angry he grew : I had forgotten my own oaut of anger with him, when I remembered that I had good grounds of offence. I demanded an explanation, which wat useless ; and he only consented to meet me after I had inflietad on him the most degrading humiliation. The rendeivovs was fixed for the next morning. I was punctual ; bm aeaioely had I arrived when I was surrounded by a troop of gendaroMt and police officers, who demanded my sword and ordered mo to follow them. I obeyed, and was soon enclosed within tht walls of the Baudeta, whose use had been changed vaoe tki terrorists had put the population of Arras in a state of perioiiif cal decapitation. The jailor, Beauprd, covered with an onoi^ mous red cap, and followed by two large blade dogs, who iiofw quitted him, conducted me to a vast garret, where ho keld fai his keeping the principal inhabitants of the country. Hmto, deprived of all communication from without, th^ WMnioi^ received nourishment, and not even that until it had litOf^ ally been overhauled by Beaupr^, who carried his preean- tion so far as to plunge his filthy dirty hands in the brod^ to a^ure himself that there were no arms or keys. If anybody oomplained, he said to him, " Umph I you are very diAoolt to please for the time you have left to live. How do you know that it will not be your turn to-morrow t Oh, by the wi^, what is your name ? "— " So and so."-—** Ah 1 by my faith it is your turn to-morrow ! " And the predictions of Beaimrd were the less likely to fail as he himself pointed out the in- dividuals to Joseph Lebon, who, after his dinner, eonaultod him, saying, " Who shall we bathe to-morrow ? "
Amongst the gentry shut up with us, was the Count do Bethune. One morning they sent for him to the tribunaL Before leading him out to the fore court, Beauprtf said to him abruptly, " Citizen Bethune, since you are going down tlien^ am not I to have all you leave behind you t " — ** Cectahi^Ft M. Beauprtf," answered the old man tranquilly. " Theremie no misters now," said the grinning wretch of a jailor, '*we all citizens;" and at the gate he' again cried out to " Adieu, citizen Bethune ! " M. de Bethune was however quitted. He was brought back to prison as a su^ected son. His return rejoiced us all ; we thought him laiwd, Inft the next day he was again oalled up. Joseph Lebon, during whose absence the sentence . of acquittal had been paan^ arrived from the country: furious at being deprived of
ilEMOl&S Of Vll>OCQ. 21
Mood of 80 worthy a man, he had ordered the memhers of the eommission to assemble immediately, and M. de Bethune, condemned at the next sitting, was executed by torchlight
This event, which Beaupre announced to us with ferocious joy, gave me serious uneasiness ; every day they condemned to death men who were ignorant even of the cause of their arrest, and whose fortune or situation in society never intended them for political commotion ; and on the other hand, I knew that Beaupr^, very scrupulous as to the number, thought not of the quali^ ; and that frequently, not seeing immediately the number of individuals pointed out, sent the first who cam^ to hand, that the service of the state might sufier nothing from delay. Every moment then might place me in the clutch ot Beaupr^, and you may believe that this idea was not the most satisfactory in the world.
I had been already detained sixteen days, when a visit firom Joseph Lebon was announced ; his wife accompanied him, and he had in his train the principle terrorists of the country, amongst whom, I recognised my father's old barber, and an emptier of wells, called Delmotte, or Lantilette. I asked thera to say a word for me to the representative, which they pro- mised ; Imd I augured the bettei of it as they were both in good estimation. However, Joseph Lebon went through the rooms, questioning the prisoners in a brutal manner, and pre- tending to address them with frightful harshness. When he came to me, he stared at me, and said in a tone half severe and half jesting, ** Ah ! ah ! is it you, Francois ? What, yoi) an aristocrat, — ^you speak ill of the Sans Culottes, — ^you regret your old Bourbon regiment, — take care, for I can send you to be cooked (guillotined). But send your mother to me." I told him, that being so strictly immured (au secret) I could not see her. ** Beaupr^," said he to the jailor, <* let Vidocq*s mbther come in ;" and went away, leaving me full of hope, as he- had evidently treated me with marked amenity. Two hours afterwards I saw my mother, who told me, what I knew not before, that the musician whom I had challenged had denounced me. The denunciation was in the hands of a furious jacobin, the terrorist Chevalier, who out of frendship to my rival, would certainly have been much against me, if his sister, at the per- suasion of my mother, had not prevailed on him to exert him- self to procure my discharge. Having left prison, I was con- ducted with great state to the patriotic society, where they made me take the oath of fidelity to the republic and hatred to tyrants. I swore all they desired. What sacrificet wW nttV ^ man roaV* /^ vrocure his freedom 1
22 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
These formalities concluded, 1 was replaced in the dep^ where my comrades testified mach pleasure at seeing mt again. After what had passed, I should have heen deficient ill gratitude had I not looked on Chevalier as my deliverer; I went to thank him, and expressed to his sister how much I was touched at the interest which she had so kindly testified to a poor prisoner. This lady, who was the most amorous dT bnmettes, but whose large black eyes did not compensate for their ugliness, thought that I was in love because I was polite; she construed literally some compliments which I paid her, and flrom the first interview, she so greatly misinterpreted mj sentiments as to cast her regards upon me. Our union wu talked of, and my parents were questioned on the point, who answered that eighteen was too young for marriage, and so the matter went on. Meanwhile battalions were formed at Arras» and being known as an excellent driller, I was summonedy with seven other subaltern officers, to instruct the 2d battalioa of Pas-de-Calais, to which belonged a corporal of grenadiers of the regiment of Languedoc, named Cesar, now gard§ champitre at Colombre or Pateuz, near Paris. Afterwurds t was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant on arriving at St Sylvestre-Capelle, near Bailleul, where we quartered. CBsar had been fencing-master in his own regiment, and my proweM with the advanced guard of Kinski*s cuirassiers was well known. We resolved to teach the practice as well at the theory of fencing to the officers of the battalion, who were much pleased at such an arrangement Our lessons produced us some money, but not enough for our wants, or if yon please, the desire of men of our abilities. It was particulaify in good living that we were found wanting. What increased our regrets and appetites was, that the mayor with whom we lodged kept an excellent table. We sought in vain the meant of increasing our supplies; an old domineering servant named Sixca, always defeated our intentions, and disturbed our gastronomic plans. We were disheartened and starving.
At len^ Caesar found out the secret of breaking the charm which kept us from the table of the municipal function* ary. At his suggestion, the drum-major came one morniqg to beat the morning call under the mayor's windows. Judge of the disturbance. It may be surmised that the old Mogai* did not fail to request an intervention in putting a stop to this uproar C«sar promised, with a mild air, to use all his infln* ence to put a stop to the noise, and then ran to beg the dram^ major to renew the cause of complaint ; and the next moiikiiy there was a row sufHcient to awaken the dead from the s^||^
MEMOIRS .OF VIDOCQ) , "23
«ent ehiurch-yard ; and at length, not to do things by halfea, he ■ent the drum-maior to practice with his boys at the back odT the home ; a papil of the abb^ Sicard could not have endured it The old woman came to us, and inyited the eunning Caiar and me yery graciously; but that was not enougk The drummers continued their concert, which only concluded when their respectable chief was admitted, as well as ourselves, to the municipal banquet. From that time no more drums were heard at St Sylvestre-Capelle, except when detachments were peaaing by, and everybody was at peace except myself^ whom the old woman began to threaten with her obliginff fiivoors. This unfortunate passion brought on a scene which must still be remembered in that part of the country, where it made much noise at the time. ' .
It was the village feast, dancing, singing, drinking went on; snd I bore my part so ably that they were compelled to lead me to bed. The next day I awoke before daybreak : as after all similar orgies, I had a giddy head, my mouth parched, and my stomach £sordered ; I wanted something to drink ; and on rising I felt a hand as cold as a well-rope encircling my neck ; my head was still wandering and weak from the over-night's debauch, and I shrieked out lustily. The mayor, who slept in an adjoining chamber, ran with his brother and an old servant, both armed with cudgels. Caesar had not returned, and reflection had convinced me that the nocturnal visitor could Oidj be Sixca ; and pretending to be greatly alarmed, I told them that some hobgoblin had come to my side, and had gli- ded out at the foot of the bed. They then laid on several blows with their sticks ; and Sixca, perceiving that she would loon be killed, cried out, " Gentlemen, do not strike, it is I— it is Sizca. I walked in my sleep to the officer's bed." At the same time she showed her head, and did well ; for although they recognised her voice, yet the superstitious Flemings were about to renew the application of the bastinado. This affidr made much noise throughout the place. It spread even to Cassel, and procured me many intrigues. I had, amonirst others, one with a pretty bar-maid, whom I should not iJlude to if she had not taught me, that at the counter of some coffee-houses a good-looking fellow may get change for cash which he has not paid.
We had been quartered for three months when the division was ordered to Stinward. The Austrians had given tokens of «n intention to proceed to Poperingue, and the 2nd battalion of llie Pas-de-Calais was placed in the first rank. The night after our arrivid the enemy surprised our outposts, «&d ]^eii<a<»
124 ' MEMOIRS QP VIDOCQ.
trated to the tillage of Belle, which we occupied, and w« formed in battle array in the greatest haste. In thia nocturnal mancBuvre our young recruits evinced that intelligence and alacrity which are only to be found in Frenchnaen. About aix o'clock in the morning, a squadron of Wunnser huaian debouched on our left, and charged us without being able to break through our ranks. A column of infantry which follow* ed them, attacked us at the same time with the bayonet ; and it was only after a brisk encounter that our inferiority of num- bers compelled us to fall back upon Stinward, our head- quarters.
On arriving there I received the congratulatious of general Vandomme, and a billet for the hospital of St Omer, for I had had two sabre cuts in fighting with an Austrian hussar, who was killed whiUt crying, " Ergib dich I ergib dich I (sur- render, surrender)."
My wounds were not very severe, since at the end of two months I was enabled to rejoin the battalion which was at Haze- broiiek. I then saw the strange corps called the Revolutionary Army.
The men with pikes and red caps, who composed it, took with them everywhere the guillotine. The convention had not, they said, found any better way of securing the fidelity of the officers of the fourteen armies which it had on foot, than by placing before their eyes the instrument of punishment reserved for traitors. All that I can say is, that this moumiul sight almost killed with fear the inhabitants of the eountiy through which it passed. It did not much flatter the military^ and we had many quarrels with the Sans Culottes, who were called the body guard of the guillotine. I beat one of the party, who took upon himself to censure my gold epaulettes, when the regulation only ordered those of worsted. My fine array would have brought misfortune on me, and I should have paid dearly for my disregard of the sumptuary law, if I had not been allowed to start for Cassel, where I was joined by my battalion, which was then arrayed like the other regimenta: these officers became plain soldiers, and it was in that capacity' that I was directed to enter the 28th battalion of volunteerHy which formed part of the army destined to drive the Austriana from Valenciennes and Cond^.
Shortly afterwards the battalion was quartered at Fresnes. In the farm house in which I was billeted, there arrived ono day the whole family of a pilot, consisting of the husband, wife, and two children, one of whom was a girl of eighteen^ who was remarkably handsome. The Austrians had taken th«
MEMOIRS OF YIDOCQ.
l)oat, laden With grain, which was their whole fortune ; and these poor people, reduced to the garments which covered them, had no resource left hut to ttke refuge with my host tiieir relation. This circumstance, tbeir pitiahle condition and the beauty of the young girl Delphine, touched m) heart.
During a foraging party, I discovered their boat, which the enemy "were only gradually unlading and measuring out I proposed to a dozen of my comrades to carry off the spoili from the Austrians. They acceded to the proposition ) oiv colonel gave his consent; and on a stormy night, we hp- proached the vessel without being observed by the officer in charge, whom we despatched to feed the fish of the Escaut with five 'Strokes of the bayonet The wife of the pilot, who would follow us, instantly ran for a bag of florins which she had concealed in the grain, and gave them to my charge. We then loosened the boat, to let it float to a point where we had an entrenched post, but at the moment it got into the stream, we were surprised by the challenge of a guard, whom we had not observed amongst the bulrushes which concealed him. At the report of his gun which accompanied his second call to US, the next piquet flew to arms, and in a moment the bank was covered with soldiers who fired a shower of balls at the boat, which we were compelled to quit My comrades and I cast ourselves on a sort of raft which we had, and the women did the tame; but the pilot, forgotten in the confusion, or stopping with a hope' of escape, was taken by the Austrians, who were not sparing of their blows and kicks. This experi* ment had besides lost us three men, and I had two fingers broken by a musket-ball. Delphine loaded me with caresses. Her mother having set out for Ghent, where she knew her husband had been sent as prisoner of war, we betook ourselves to Lille. I there passed my time of convalescence. As Del- phine had a portion of the money found in the grain, we led a very pleasant life. We talked of marriage, and the affair was so far arranged that I started one morning for Arras, whence I was to return with the license and my parents' consent Delphine had already procured that of her parents, who were still at Ghent A league from Lille, I remembered that I had forgotten my hospital billet, which it was indispensably neces- sary to produce before the municipality of Arras, and I returned for it Arrived at the hotel, I went to the room we occupied and knocked ; no one answered. It was impossible that Delphine could be out so early, it being «cat<M\Y %vi o'clock. J knocked kgain, and Delphine opened Vliiie doot
26 MEMOtHS OF VIOOCQ.
f tretoliing her amu and rubbing her eyes like lome one who hail been suddenly awakened. To prove her, I proposed that she should go with me to Arras, that I might present her to my parents, and she very tranquilly agree£ My suspicioM were disappearing, and yet something whispered to me that she was deceiving me. I at length perceived that she fre- quently glanced towards the wardrobe. I pretended a desire to open it, which my chaste betrothed opposed, and gave me one of those excuses which a woman always has ready. But I was determined; and at length opened the closet, where J found concealed, beneath a heap of dirty linen, the doctor whp had attended me during my convalescence. He waa old, ng^, and misshapen. The first feeling was the humiliation ef having such a rival ; and yet I should have been more enragea at finding a good-looking fellow, but this I leave for the deeir sion of Uie numerous lovers who have been similarly circum* stanced. As for me, I wished to begin by knocking out tbf brains of the intriguing Esculapius, out (which seldom hap- pened to me) reflection restrained me. We were in a town of war, where they might play me some trick about my leave of absence. Besides Delphine was not my wife ; I had po ri^it over her. I determined on kicking her out ; after whieh, I threw her from the window her clothes, and money enough' to take her to Ghent I allowed myself to retain the remaiiidCT of the money, which I thought I had lawfully acquired, sino^ I had directed the splendid expedition which had rescqed k from the clutch of the Austrians. I - forgot to say that % allowed the doctor to return unmolested.
Having got rid of mv faithless she, I determined on Wm maining at Lille, until the time of my furlough shonl^ expire ; but it is as easy to conceal oneself in this city aa at Paris, and my residence would have been undisturbed but finr an affiiir of gallantry of which I shall spare the details* It will suffice to say, that being arrested in female attire, at the moment I was flying from the rage of a jealous husband, I was taken to the police office, where I at first obstinately refused to give any account of myself; for in fact, Iqt speak- ing, I should either destroy the female who had been kind to me, or announce myself as a deserter. Some hours' con- finement changed my resolution ; a superior officer, to whom I had appealed to receive my declaration, and to whom I can- didly stated the facts, seemed to take some interest for me. The conmiandant-general of the division wished to hear frooA my own lips this recital, which made him laugh to excess. He then gave orders that I should be set at liberty; and
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 97
eanaed a line forthwith to be giren to me to rejoin the 38t]i battdion at Brabant : but instead of following this deatina- tion, I went to Arrai, determined only to enter the aenrlce again at the last extremity.
My first visit was to the patriot CheTalier. His mfluenoe with Joseph Lebon made me hope that I should obtain through his interest an extension of leaTe, which he procured for me. and I was again introduced to ihe family of my benefactor. His sister, whose kind intentions towards me are already known, redoubled her kindnesa ; and on the other hand, the habit of seeing her daily familiarised me with her ugliness; in short, matters came to such a point that I was not at all surprised to hear one day that she was pregnant She made no mention of marriage, not even pronouncing the word ; but I saw but too clearly, that to this complexion it must come at laat, lest I should incur the vengeance of her brother, who would not have hesitated to denounce me as an aristocrat^ and moreover a deserter. My parents, struck with all these con- siderations, and conceiving the hope of keeping me near them, gave their consent to the marriage, which the Chevalier fimaily were very anxious about It was at last settled, and I became a husband at eighteen years of 9ge, I thought myself also almost the father of a family, but scarcely had a few days elapsed, when my wife confessed that her pretended pregnancy was the result of a ] \an to induce me to many her. The ex- cessive satisfiMstion which sudi an avowal gave me, may b« conceived ; but the same motives which had decided me on contraetinff the aUiance compiled me to be silent ; and I determined to keep my own counsel, enraged as I was. A mercer's ahop which my wile had opened, turned out very badly ; I thought that I found the cause of it in the repeated absence of my wife, who was all day at her brother's. I made my observations ; and received orders to rejoin my regiment at Toumay. I might have complained of this expeditious mode c^ getting rid of a troublesome husband ; but I was so much tired of the joke of Chevalier, that I resumed with joy my uniform, which I had cast off with so much pleasure.
At Toumay, a veteran officer of the Bourbon regiment^ then adjutant-general, attached me to his office as a deputy, and particulany in the serving out of clothing. Business soon demanded that a man of trust should be despatched to Arras. I set out post, and arrived in the city at eleven o'clock at night As I was charged with orders, the gates were opened to me, and by an impulse, for which I - cannot account^ I waa induced to run to my wife's abode. I knocked for a long time
28 MKMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
and DO one answered. A neighbour, at length, opened th« door, and I ran up stairs with all speed to my wife's chamber. On approaching, I heard the clank of a &lling aabre, then a window opened, and a man leaped out into the street. It is needless to say that they recognised my voice. I went down stairs with great haste, and soon overtook my Lovelace, in whom I recognised an adjutant-major of the 17th horse chas- seurs, quartered at Arras. He was half naked ; I led him back to my conjugal domicile, when he finished hia toilette, and we then separated, on agreeing to fight the next day.
This scene had roused the whole neighbourhood. The greater part of the people assembled at their windows, had seen me seize on tne guilty adjutant, who had been found guilty of the fact in their presence. I had no lack orwitneases to prove and obtain the divorce, and that was what 1 intended to do ; but the family of my chaate wife, who were desirous of keeping a protector for her, exerted themselves to check my measures, or at least to paralyie them. The next day, b^one 1 could meet the adjutant-major, I was arrested by the police and by gendarmes, who spoke of placing me in the Baudets. Fortunately for me, I plucked up courage, as I saw that there was nothing discouraging in my situation : I demanded to be carried before Joseph Lebon, which could not be denied me. I appeared before the representative of the people, whom I found surroimded by an enormous pile of letters and papers — "What, is it you," said he to me, *' who come here without permissioo — and for maltreating your wife too ? " I saw what coi^rse I should pursue, I produced my orders, I called for the testimony of my neighbours against my wife, and that of the adjutant- major himself, who could not gainsay the facts. Indeed, I so clearly explained the affiiir, that Joseph Lebon was forced to confess that the wrongs were not of my committing ; but out of regard, however, to his friend Chevalier, ho made me promise not to remain long at Arras ; and as I feared the wind might veer against me, as I had seen it with many others, I undertook to comply with his request as promptly as possible. Having completed my mission, I bade farewell to all my friends, and the next morning found me on the road to Toumay.
29
CHAPTER III.
I DID ntfi find the a^jalant-genend at Tournay, he had let out for Bruaeels, and I set out on the followmg day hy the dili- gence to jom him there. At the first glance, I recognised amongst the travellers those individuals whom I had known at Lille, as passing the whole day at the public-houses^ and living in a very suspicious manner, ^o my great astonishment, I found them clothed in uniforms of different regiments, one having the epaulettes of lieutenant-colonel, the others those of captain or lieutenant. How can they have got them, thought I, for they have never seen service ? I was lost in conjecture. Cki their side, they appeared at first much confused at the rencontre ; but soon recovering, they testified a mutual sur- prise at finding me only a plain soldier. Whftn I had ex- plained to them how the regulation of the battBilion had de- prived me of my rank, the lieutenant-colonel promised me his protection, which I accepted, although scarcely knowing what to think of my protector. I saw clearly, however, that he had plenty of money, and paid for all at the table d'h6te, where he testified a violent republican feeling, at the same time afiecting to have sprung from an ancient family.
I was not more fortunate at Brussels than at Toumay; the adjutant-general, who seemed to fly fi*om me, had gone to Liege, fi.r which place I set out, relying on not taking an use- less journey this time ; but on arriving, I learnt that my man had taken the road to Paris on the previous evening, having been summoned to appear at the bar of the convention. His absence would not be longer than a fortnight , I waited, but no one arrived. Another month passed, and still no adjutant My cash was sensibly diminishing, and I resolved on re- turning to Brussels, where I hoped to find some means of ex- tricating myself from my embarrassment To speak with that candour on which I pique myself in giving this history of my life, I must confess that I had begun not to be over %ciu^^Q)U% in toy choice of thene means ; my education had uol nvtAc txk^
d3
30 MEMOIRS O^ VIDOCa.
a very precise man in such matters, and the injurious sooietx of a garrison, which I had been used to from my childhood, had corrupted a naturally honourable mind.
It was then, without doing much violence to my delicacy, that I saw myself installed, at Brussels, with a gay lady of my acquaintance, who, after having been patronised by general Van-der-Nott, had fallen a little lower into public society. Idle, as are all who have but a precarious mode of existence, I passed whole days and nights ai the Caf(f Turc, or the CkU de la Monnaie, the rendezvous of knights of the post, and professed gamblers. TJiesa fellows spent liberally, and played the devil's games; and as they had no ostensible fneans of living, I could not divine how they managed to carry on the war. A 3roung fellow with whom I had associated myself, and whom 1 questioned on this subject, appeared struck at my in- experience, and I had the greatest difficulty in persuading him that 1 was really a novice. " The men whom you see there every day, and all day," said be, "are sharpers,* those who only come once, and do not appear again^ are dupes, who lose their money."
Thus instructed, I made many remarks, which till then had escaped me ; 1 saw tricks of sleight of hand almost incredible ; and what proved that there was still something good within me, I was often tempted to tell the pigeon whom they plucked. What happened to me will prove that my intentions were guessed.
A party was one evening engaged at the Caf^ Turc ; the dupe (le gonse) lost fifty louis, and, demanding his revenge on the next day, went away. Scarcely had he gone out, when the winner, whom I now see daily in the streets of Paris, approached me, and said with an air of simplicity, " On my word, sir, we. have played with luek, and you were right to bet on me; I have won ten games, which, at four crowns a game, will make your share ten louis — here they are." I told him that he was mistaken, and that I had not interested myself in his play ; he made me no answer, but put the ten louis in my hand. ** Take it," said the young man who had initiated me into these mys- teries, and who was sitting next to me, " take it and fallow me." I obeyed mcchanicidly, and when we reached the street, my ■*lentor added " They have discovered that you watch the games, and fear lest you should blow the concern ; and as there are no means of intimidating you, because they know that you have a strong arm and a mischievous hand, they have resolved on giving you a slice of the cake, so you have a good means of «v»«t«»»ice befoiv vou, the two coffee-houses will be milch oews
HEMOIHS OF VIDOCQ,. d]«
to you, whence you may draw your four or six crowns a day." In spite of the accommodating propensity of my conscience, I was desirous of replying and making some .obsenrations — i V You are a child," said my honourable friend ; " we do not talk, of robbery here — it is, fortune only ; and believe me, mat- ters pass in the drawing-room as they do at the tavern — ^there they bubble, that is the word ; and the merchant, who in the morning whilst at his desk would think it a crime to rob you ef an hour*s interest, would very quietly cheat you at tlie gamr ing- table in the evening." How could I answer such unan- swerable arguments ? I had nothing to reply but to keep the money, which I did.
These small dividends, joined to a remittance of a hundred crowns from my mother, enabled me to dash a little, and to show my gratitude to Emily, whose devotion to me I was not insensible o£ Matters were in this agree- able train when I was one evening arrested at the Theatre du Pare, by several police-officers, and desired to produce my papers. This would have been a dangerous ejdiibition, and I said that 1 had none. They conducted me to the Madelonettes ; and the next morning, at my examination, I found that I was unknown, and they had mistaken me for another person. I said that my name was Rousseau, bom at Lille, and added, that I had come to Brussels on pleasure, and had not thought it expedient to provide myself with papers. I then asked to be conducted to Lille, at my own expense, by two gendarmes, which was granted, and £6r a few crowns my escort agreed that poor Emily should accompany me.
Having left Brussels, I was so far safe ; but it was still more important that I should not reach Lille, where I should be certainly recognised as a deserter. Escape must be made at all riskb, and this was Emily's opinion when I communicated my intention to her, and we executed our preconcerted plan on reaching Toumay. I told the gendarmes that before they left me at Lille the next day, where I should be at once set at liberty, 1 wished to treat them with a good supper. Already taken with my liberality and mirth, they accepted the invitation vrith much willingness, and in the evening, whilst they were sleeping on the table, stupified with rum and beer, thinking me in die same condition, I descended by the sheets from the second-floor window. Emily followed, and we struck into the cross-roads, where they would not think of pursuing us. We thus reached the suburbs of Notre-Dame at Lille, when I dressed myself in the cloak of the horse-chasseurs, taking the preca^itlon to put a blacV. patch on my left eye, which made it
33 MiMoiRi or fIDOCa
impossible to reoognite me. But I did not jadg« it to remain long in a city so near my bhth-plaoe, and we' for Ghent Tnere, by a rather romantie inefdent, EmOr her father, which determined her to return to her liuiiuy. It is true that she would not consent to part from me, hat vitk an express stipulation that I should r^oin her as soon at nat» ters wliich I said called me to Brussels, should be ttraagcd.
My business at Brussels was to beffin ^hdn to levy rstea «B the CtS6 Turc and the Caf^ de la Monniue. But to preteal myself at this city, I wanted papers which should prow that I was really Rousseau, bom at Lille, as I had said at ny ex- amination before I made my escape. A captain of Be^iaa carabineers in the French senrioe, named Labbre, undertook for fifteen louis to supply me with the necessary credentlalt. At the end of three weeks he brought me a copy of my regii* ter of birth, a passport, and a certificate of half-pay in the name of Rousseau, all done better than I ever saw them exe- cuted by any other forger. Thus protected, I went to Bniasels ; the commandant of the place, an old comrade of Labbre*a undertook to make all right
Quieted in this particular, I hastened to the CtM Ture. The first persons whom I saw in the ro^ra were the pretended oflicers with whom I had trsTelled. They received me wlA acclamation; and judging from the recital of my adrentnree that my situation was not over splendid, proposed that I should take the rank of sub-lieutenant of horse chasseurs, doubtless because they saw the cloak I wore. So advantageous a pro- motion was not to be refused ; and it was then conferred on me : and when I said Rousseau was only an assumed name, the worthy lieutenant-colonel told me to take any one which I pre- ferred. It was impossible to be more obliging. J resolved on keeping the name of Rousseau, on which they gave me, not a brevet, but a line of route for a sub-lieutenant of the 6th chasseurs, travelling with his horse, and being entitled to lodgings and rations.
1 thus found myself incorporated with the lovmg army (arm^e roulante) composed of officers without brevet, and without troops, and who, furnished with false certificates and false lines of march, imposed the more essiiy on the emn- missaries at war, as there was less method at this period in the military arrangements. It is certain that, during a tour which we made through the Netherlands, we got all our allowances without the least demur. Yet the roving army was not then composed of less than two thousand adventurers, who lived like fishes in water. What is still more curious is, that they
Jf£M01B$ OF VIDOCQ. 35
pfomoted themBeWes as rapidly as ciiloumstances would allow: an advancement was tha more profitable, as increase of rank brought increase of allowances. I passed in this manner to be captain of hussars ; one of my comrades became chief of a battalion ; but what most astonished me was, the promotion of Auf&ay, our lieutenant- colonel, to the rank of brigadier^ generaL It is true, that if the importance of the rank and the notoriety of a promotion of this kind rendered it more difficult to keep up the deception, yet the very audacity of such a step bade defiance to suspicion.
Returned to Brussels, we showed our billets, and I was sent
to a rich widow, the baroness d'l . I was received in the
manner in which all Frenchmen were welcomed at Brussels at this period — that is, with open arms. A very handsome bed- chamber was placed at my sole disposal, and my hostess, de- lighted at my reserved conduct, assured me in the most gra- cious manner, that if her hours suited me, a place at her table would always be prepared for me. It was impossible to resist; such pressing politeness, and I was profuse in my thanks, ami. I took my seat at her board the same day with three other guests, who were ladies, older than the baroness, who was about fifty. They were all charmed with the prepossessing manners of the captain of hussars. At Paris I should have felt some- what awkward in such society, but I did very well at Brussels for a young man whose premature introduction to the world had necessarily injured his education. The baroness doubt- lessly made some such reflections^ for she paid me such little^ attention as gave me much food for thought.
As I was sometimes absent to dine with the general, whose invitations I told her it was impossible to refuse, she desired me to present him and my other friends to her. At first I was not over desirous of introducing my associates to the society of this lady, who saw much company, and might have guests at her house who might g^ess our little speculations. But the baroness insisted on it, and I consented, at the same time stipu- lating that the general should only meet a small party, as he was desirous of keeping up a sort of incognito* He came ; and the baroness, who received him with marked attention, seated him near her and talked to him for so long a time in an under tone that I was rather piqued. To disturb this tdte-&-tdte, I imagined that it would be a good plan to ask the general to sing us something, and accompany himself on the piano. I knew that he could not make out a note, but I relied that the usual persuasions which guests make on such occasions nvo\]\^ \t least occupy his attention fot Kome minutes. My BlT«iV;as!&V!^
34 MBMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
only half succeeded ; the lieutenant-colonel, who was of the party, seeing that the general was so much pressed, kindly offered himself as a substitute, and accordingly seated himteu at the piano, and sunff some little ditties with sufficient taste to procure him universal approbation, whilst 1 all the time wished him at the devil.
At last this interminable cTening concluded, and each per- son withdrew, I raging with anger and plotting revenge against the rival who I imagined was about to carry ol from me, 1 wUl not say the love, but the kind attentions of the baroness. Full of this idea, I went to my general at his rising, who was much surprised to see me so early. " Do you know," said he, with- out giving me time to break in upon his conversation, " do yoa
know, my friend, that the baroness is '• "Who spoke of
the baroness ?" interrupted I abruptly, ** it is no matter what she is or what she is not" — " So much the worse," he replied ** if you are not speaking of her, I have nothing to under- stand." And, continuing thus to puzzle me for some time, he ended by telling me that his conversation with the baroness was concerning me only, and that he had so far pushed my in- terest, that he believed that she was quite disposed to— to marry me.
I at first thought that my poor comrade's head was tamed. That one of the richest women of rank in the United Provinces would marry an adventurer, of whose family, fortune, and an- cestors she knew nothing, was an idea that would have stag- gered the most credulous. Ought I, moreover, to engage in a ' deceit which must be discovered, sooner or later, and must ruin me ? Besides, was I not really and actually married at Arras ? These objections, and many others, which the remorse 1 must experience at deceiving the excellent woman who had treated me so kindly, excited in my mind, did not for an instant stop my comrade, who thus answered them :
'* All you say is very fine, and I am quite of your opinion ; and to follow my natural bias for virtuous behaviour, I Only want 10,000/. a-year. But I see no reason for being scrupulous in your case. What does the baroness want? A husband, and a husband to her liking. Are you not that husband t Are you not determined to pay her every attention, and to treat her as a person who is necessary to you, and of whom yen hare had no cause to complain? You talk of the inequality of your fortunes, — the baroness thinks not of that. Tou only want, to complete the matter, one single thing — a title of rank, whieh I will give you, — ^yes, I will gfive it to you ! Why do you stare iO t Luten, and do not interrupt me. You must be acquainted
MEMOIRS OF TIOOCC). gc
«itli some joung nobleman of your own Age and country ; you wn he, and your parents have emigrated and are now at Uaui* bvrgh. Ton entered France to endeavour to recover a tUifd of ue value of your paternal property, and to carry off the plate and a thouaaad double-louis concealed beneath the floor* ing of the drawing-room at the breaking out of the revolution : the pretence of some strangers, the haste of departure, which an arrest issued against your fitther would not allow you to de* lay, has prevented you from getting this treasure. Arrived in this country, disguised as a journeyman tanner, you were denounced by the very person who had pledged himself to aid your enterprise ; outlawed by the sentence of the republican authorities, you were nearly losing your head on the scaffold, when I fell in with you, half dead from inquietude and neces- sity. An old friend of the family, I procured for you the brevet of an officer of hussars, under the name of Rousseau, until an opportun:t7 should offer of rejoining your noble parents at Hamburgh. The baroness already knows all this ; yes, all, except your name, which, for appearances' sake, I did not tell her ; but in fact, because I did not know what appella^ tion you might choose to assume. That is a confidence which I left for yourself to communicate.
** Thus the affiur is quite settled, and you are a gentleman, nothing can be said against that. Say nothing to me of your jade of a wife ; you were divorced at Arras under the name of Vidooq, and you are married at Brussels under the name of
count B ^. Now listen to me. So far, our business has
gone on well, but that may be entirely marred at any moment. We have already met with some very inquisitive commissaries, and we may find others still less civil, who may cut off our supplies and send us to the fleet at Toulon. You understand me, I know. The best that can happen to you will be to take up your knapsack and accoutrements in your old regiment, or else be shot for a deserter ; but by marrying, you acquire the means of a splendid life, and will be enabled to assist your friends. Sincevwe have come to this point, let us understand each other ; your wife has a hundred thousand florins a-year ; there are three of us, and you shall give us each a pension of a thousand crowns, payable in advance, and I shall expect besides a premium of thirty thousand francs for having made a count of a baker's son."
I was quite stupified; but this harangue, in Which the seneral had sd skilfully stated all the difiiculties of my situa- Son, overcame all my opposition, which, to say the tro.^ niA 101 very obstinate. I agreed to everything, and lYieu ictoXTMA
36 MEMOIES OF VIDOCQ.
to the baronets. The count de B fell at her feet : ani
the scene was so well played, and, though it may be scarcely believed, I entered so completely into the spirit of my part, that I even for a moment surprised myself — which I am told sometimes happens to imposters. The baroness was oharmed at the sallies and sentiment with which my situation inspired me. The general was rejoiced with my success, as was eveiy other person. Several expressions escaped me which savoured a little of the canteen, but the general had told the baroness that political events had caused my education to be strangely neglected, and this explanation was satisfactory to her. Sub- sequently, marshal Suchet was no less easily satisfied, when Coignard, addressing him as ** M. le duque d'Albufera," ex- cused himself by the plea, that having emigrated when very young, he could consequently have but a very imperfect know- ledge of the French language.
We sat down to table and dined in high spirits. After the dessert the baroness whispered me thus : — " I know, my dear «ir, that your fortune is in the hands of the jacobins, and your parents at Hamburgh may be in some difficulty, oblige me by remitting to them a bill for three thousand florins, which my banker will send you to-morrow morning." I was about to express my thanks, when she rose from table and went into the drawing-room. I took the opportunity of telling the general what had just occurred. ** Well, simpleton," said he, " do you think you are telling me any news t Was it not I who hinted to the baroness that your parents must be in want of money ? We are at this moment your parents, — our funds are low } and to run any risk in procuring more, would be to hazard too foolishly the success of this adventure ; I will un- dertake to negotiate the bill. At the same time I suggested to the baroness that a supply of cash was needed for you to make some figure before your marriage, and it is understood that from now until the consummation of the marriage you shall have five hundred florins a month." I found the next day this sum on my dressing-table, where also. was placed a handsome dressing-case and some trinkets.
Yet the register of my birth, as count de B , whose name
I had assumed, and which the general wished to procure, thinking that the other credentials might be forged, did not arrive ; but the baroness, whose blindness must appear incon- ceivable, to those who are not in a situation to know to what extent credulity can go, and the audacity of some rogues, con- sented to marry me under the name of Rousseau. I had all the necessary papers to justify my claim to that. Nothing
MEMOIRS OF VIOOCQ. 37
was wanting but my father's consent ; that was easily procured through the instrumentality of Labbre, whom we had under our thumb ; but although the baroness had consented to marry- ing me under a name which she knew was not my own, yet she felt some repugnance at being as it were an accomplice in a falsehood, for which the only excuse was, that it saved my head from the block. Whilst we were planning means for avoiding this, we learnt the number of the arm^e roulante had become so considerable, that the eyes of government were opened* and that the most severe orders had been issued to check Uie abuse. We divested ourselves of uniforms, believ- ing that we should have nothing to fear, but the inquiries were so active that the general was compelled to set out suddenly for Namur, where he thought he should be less liable to detec- tion. J explained his abrupt departure to the baroness, by at- tributing i^ to the general's having been in fear of a reprimand for having procured me a commission under an assumed name. This circumstance made her very uneasy for me, and I could only calm her fears by setting out for Breda, to which place she would accompany me.
I am not very well calculated to play the sentimental, and it would compromise the tact and finesse, for which I have some credit, if I made a parade and fuss, but I may be believed when I say so much attachment affected me. The whispers of remorse, to which we cannot be always deaf at nineteen, were heard ; I saw the abyss into which I was leading an admirable woman who had been so generous towards me ; I pictured het as driving from her with horror the deserter, the vagabond, the bigamist, the forger : and this idea determined me to tell her all. Away from those who had drawn me into this imposture, and who had just been arrested at Naraur, I decided on the measures 1 would adopt; and one evening, after supper, I determined on breaking the ice. Without detailing my adven- tures, 1 told the baroness, that circumstances which I could not explain compelled me to appear at Brussels under the two names by which she knew me, but that neither was the real one. I added, that events forced me to quit the Netherlands without the power of contracting an union which would have ' ensured my happiness, but that I should for ever preserve the recollection of the kindness which she had so generously evinced for me.
I spoke long, and with an emotion which increased my utter- ance and warmth of manner — and I aii now astonished at vVift facility of my own eloquence when 1 think of \l — \^\)ill few^A. to henr the reply of the baroness. Motionless, pa\e, aivA vi A\\
£
38 MEMOIES or TIDOCQ.
a glased eye, she heard me without interruption ; then looking at me with a glance of horror, she rose abruptiy and ran to shut herself up in her room. I never saw her again. £n- lightened by my confession, and by some words which without doubt fell from me in the embarrassment of the moment, she saw all the dangers from which she had escaped, and ux\justly suspected me perhaps of being more culpable than I was ; she might think that she had escaped from some vile criminal, whose hands might have been embrued in blood ! On the other hand, if this complication of disguises might render her more apprehensive, the spontaneous avowal that I had made was sufficient to have quelled her fears ; and this idea probably took hold of her, for the next day when I arose, the landlord ffave me a casket, containing fifteen thousand francs in gold, which the baroness had left for me before her departure, at one o'clock in the morning, which I w&s glad to hear of, as her presence would have troubled me. Nothing now detaining me at Breda, I packed my trunks, and some hours aftcrwaras set out for Amsterdam.
I have already said, and now repeat, that certain portions of this adventure may appear unnatural, and some may call them altogether false, but nothing is more true. The initials I have given will suffice to explain it to any person who knew Brussels thirty years ago. Besides, there is nothing uncom- mon in the affair, nothing more than is read of in the com- monest romance. If I have entered into minute details, it is not to ensure a melo-dramatic effect, but with the intention of putting too credulous persons on their guard against a species of deception more frequently employed, and with more success than may be generally thought, in all classes of society ; and such is the aim of these Memoirs. Let them be reflected on in every particular, and who knows but some fine morning the duties of attorney-general, judge, gendarme, and agent of police, may be discovered to have become sinecures.
My stay at Amsterdam was very short. Having converted into cash two bills of those left me by the baroness, I set out, and on the 2nd of March, 1796, made my entrance into the capital, where at a future day my name was destined to make some noise. I put up at the hotel du €raillard-Bois in Rue de PEchelle, and first employed myself in changing my ducats into French money, and in selling a quantity of small jewel- lery and trinkets, now superfluous to me, as I resolved on establishing myself in some village in the environs, and enter- ing into some business ; but this project was not to be realised. One evening, one of those persons who are always to be found
* MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 39
in hotels seeking acquaintance with travellers, proposed to
!>resent me at a house where there was a party. I unfortunate- 7 consented, confiding in my experience of the CtS6 Turo and tiie CaS6 de la Monnaie ; but I soon found that gamblers of Brussels were but bunglers in comparison with these gentle- men, of whose society I now formed one. Now the games of chance are better managed and more equal ; but at £his time, the police tolerating those places, called ^touffoirs, they were not contented with slipping a card or managing the suits as
they liked — sometimes at M. Lafitte's, Messrs. de S , jun.,
and A. de la Rock's — the knowing ones had conventional signs so combined that they must succeed. Two sittings cleared me of a hundred louis ; I had enough to spare still, but it was decreed that the money of the baroness should soon leave my company. The destined agent of its dissipation was a very pretty woman, whom I met at a table d'hote which I some- times frequented. Rosine, for that was her name, at first showed an exemplary disinterestedness. A month afterwards I was her acknowledged lover, without having spent anything but for dinners, theatres, coach-hire, gowns, ribands, flowers, &c., all which things cost nothing at Paris, when we do not pay for them. •
More and more enamoured of Rosine, I never left her. One morning, whilst at breakfast, I found her thoughtful ; 1 pressed her with inquiries, which she resisted, and finished by avowing to me that she was troubled about a little trifle due to her milliner and upholsterer. I ofiered my services instantly^ which were refused with remarkable magnanimity, and I could not even learn the names of her two creditors. Many very excellent people would have left the matter here, but, like a true knight, I had not tf moment's rest until Divine, the wait- ing-maid, had given me the desired addresses. From the Rue Yivienne, where Rosine lived, who was called madame de Saint Michel, I ran to the upholsterer, in the Rue de Clery. I told him the purpose of my visit, and he immediately overwhelmed me with politeness, as is usually the case under such circum- stances. He handed me the bill, which to my consternation, amounted to twelve hundred francs ; but I was too far gone to recede now. At the milliner's the same scene took place, with an additional hundred francs ; it was suillcient to have intimidated the boldest, and yet matters had not reached tlieir climax. Some days after I had paid the creditors, they brought me jewels to purchase, to the amount of two thousand francs^ And other similar expenses perpetually occuned. 1 ««« tuj money flj awaj In this way, but fearing that it iROuld ikO\\i«%^
40 MEMOIRS or VIDOCQ. •
cuily replenished, I parted with it less freely from day to daj; However, I went on, and found that at the end of two months I had spent the moderate' sum of fourteen thousand francs. This discovery made me serious, and Rosine immediately perceived it She guessed that my finances were getting low. Women have great tact in this respect, and are hut rarely de- ceived ; and without being exactly cold towards, me, she yet showed a kind of reserve, and on my manifesting astonishment, she answered me with singular abruptness, ** that private mat- ters put her out of temper." That was a trick, but I had been too deeply a sufferer already by my interference in these private matters to proffer again to arrange them, and I advised her with an air of coolness to have patience. She became only more contemptuous, passed some days in pouting, and then the storm burst
At the conclusion of tome trifling discussion, she said with a very flippant tone, ** that she did not choose to be crossed, and that those who could not put up with her ways had better remain at home." That was plain speaking ; but I was weak enough to appear not to understand her. New presents brought back a temporary renewal of kindness, which, however, could ao longer in^ose upon me. Then knowing all that she could get from my blind infatuation, Rosine soon returned \o the charge for cash for a letter of credit for two thousand francs, which she had to pay or else go to prison. Rosine in prison I The idea was insupportable, and I was about to discharge the debt at once, when chance placed in my way a letter which opened my eyes.
It was from the platonic friend of Rosine. who was staying at Versailles, and this interesting personage asked " when the pigeon would be quite plucked," that he might make his ap- pearance. I intercepted this agreeable missive in the hands of Rosine' s porter. I went to the perfidious woman, but she was absent : and enraged and humiliated at the same time, I could not restrain myself. I was in the bed -room, and at one kick I overthrew a stand covered with china, and a cheval glass was shivered to atoms. Divine, the waiting-maid, who had fol- lowed me, went down on her knees and begged me to pause from what would cost me so dear : I looked at her and hesi- tated, and a remnant of common sense induced me to think that she was right I questioned her — and the poor girl, who had always been gentle and attentive, told me all about her mistress. It is the more in place to mention her statement, as the same things occur daily at Paris.
When Rosine met me she had not had anybody for two
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 41
months : and thinking me fair game, from the expensive way I got rid of my money, conceived the plan of profiting hy it ;. and her lover, whose letter I had intercepted, had consented, and went to Versailles to stay until my money should he ex- hausted. It was in the name of this lover that the proceedings had been carried on for the bill of exchange which I had for- merly taken up, and the debts of the millinet and upholsterer were equall} false.
Athough cursing my egregious folly, I was yet astonished not to see the honourable lady, who had so well tricked me, return. Divine told me that most probably the porter had told her that I had got the letter, and that she would not very speedily appear. This conjecture was well founded. On learning the catastrophe which had prevented her frikn pluck- ing the last feather nrom my wing, Rosine had set out in a hackney-coach for Versailles to rejoin her friend. The finery, which she left in her furnished apartments, was not sufficient to pay for the two months' lodging due to the landlord, who, when I was going out, compelled me to pay for the china and cheval glass which I had broken in my first transports of anger.
Such yiolent inroads had dreadfully reduced my finanees. Fourteen hundred francs alone remained of the dusats of the baroness ! I left the capital with ho^or, as it had been so un- propitious to me, and resolved to regain Lille, where, knowing the localities, I might at least find resources^which I should in vain seek^ for at Pani»
m3
43
CHAPTER IV.
Lille, as a fortified and frontier town, offered great adranta- ges to al^who, like myself, were likely to find there useful ac- quaintances, either amongst the military of the garrison, or tnat class of persons who, with one foot in France and the other in Belgium, have really no home in either; and I relied a little on this for recovering myself* and my hope was not groundless. In tlie 18th chasseurs I met several officers of the south, and amongst the rest a lieutenant named Ville- dieii, whom we shall presently hear more ot All these persons had only known me in the regiment under one of those nom* de guerre, which it was the custom at this time to assume, and were therefore not astonished at seeing me bear the name of Rousseau. I spent the day with them at the Caf^ or fencing- ' rooms, but this was not lucrative, and I actually began to be in want of money. At this juncture a visitor of the Caf4, whom they called Rentier, from his regular life, and who had made me many compliments, of which he was very prodigal to all the world, inquired with some interest into my affairs, and asked me to travel with him.
To travel was all very well : but in what quality ? I was no longer of an age to engage myself as Merry Andrew or valet- de-chambre of monkies and bears, and nobody would doubt- less make me such a proposition : but yet it was necessary to know in what capacity. I asked my new protector very modestly what duties I had to perform in his service. ** I am an itinerant doctor,'* said this man, whose bushy eye-brows and sun-burnt skin gave him a singular physiognomy; "I eure secret diseases with an infallible recipe. I cure animals, and lately restored the horses of a squadron of the 13th chas- seurs, whom the veterinary surgeon had given over." — ** Well," said I to myself, " once more a doctor." But there vras no receding: we agreed to start next morning, and to meet at five in the morning at the gate leading to the Paris road.
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 43
I was punctual at the rendezvous, ana my friend, who was equally punctual, seeing ray trunk strapped at the back of a lad, said that it would be useless to take it, as we should be only three days away, and must go on foot. At this observa- tion I sent my goods back to the inn, and we walked on at a brisk rate, having, as my guide said, to make five leagues before mid-day. About this time we reached a solitary farm- house, where he was received with open arms and saluted by the name of Caron, which was strange to me who had always heard him called Christian. After a few words the master of the house went into his chamber and returned with two or three bags of crowns, which he spread on the table. My friend took them, and examining them singly with an atten- tion which appeared to me affected, put aside one hundred and fifty, and counted out a like sum for the farmer in different money, with a premium of six crowns : I understood nothing of this operation, which was carried on in a Flemish dialect, of which I understood but very little. I was then much astonished when on leaving the farm, where Christian had said he would soon return, he gave me three crowns, saying that I ought to have a share of the profits. I could not learn what the profits were, and said so. " That is my secret," said he, with a mysterious air ; " you shall know it at a future time, if I am satisfied with you." I told him that he might rely on my discretion since I knew nothing, only that he had changed crowns for another coin. He told me that this was the only point on which I ought to be silent, to avoid difficulties, and I therefore took the money without knowing what was to result fiom all this.
For four days we made similar excursions to various farmSy and every evening I touched two or three crowns. Christian, whom they all called Caron, was well known in this part of Brabant, but only as a doctor ; for, although he every where carried on his change of monies, the conversation was always about healing man or beast. I found besides that he had ■reputation for removing the charms cast on animals. A pro- posal which he made me as we entered the village of Wer- vique, initiated me into this species of magic — " May I rely on you ? " said he to me, stopping suddenly — ** Certainly,** said I ; ** but for what and how ? " — " Listen, and learn.'*'
He took from a sort of game-bag four square packets made up like those of chemists, and apparently containing some specifics; he then said, "You see those four fiirms, situated at some distance from each other, you can entei them the back way, taking care that no one sees you*, ^eV. \tiX.Q ^%
44 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
•table, and throw into the manger the powder of otte of the packets. Take great care that you are not discovered — I will take care of the rest." I objected to this, as I might be ior- prised at the moment I was climbing the gate and they would •eise me, and perhaps put some awkward questiona. I refused point blank, in spite of the perspective of the crowna, and all Christian's eloquence failed in persuading me. I even said that I would quit him at once, unless he would disclose to me his real condition and the mystery of his exchange of money, which seemed to me extremely suspicious. This declaration seemed to embarrass him, and, as we may learn, he endeavored to draw me off the scent, in making me a half oonfidant
" My country ? '* said he, answering my latter question, " I have none. My mother, who was hang^ last year at T^me- iwar, belonged to a gang of gipsies (Boh^miens) who were traversing the frontiers of Hungary and Bannat, where I was bom in a village on the Carpathian mountains. I say Boh^« miens that you may understand, , for this is not our proper name, we call ourselves Romamichels, in a language which we are forbidden to teach to any person ; we are also K>rbidden to travel alone, and that is the reason why we are generally in troops of fifteen or twenty. We have had a long run through France^ curing charms and spells of cattle, but this business is pretty well destroyed at present The countrjrman hat grown too cunning, and we have been driven into Flanders, where they are not so cunning, and the difference of money gifeB us a finer opportunity for the exercise of our industry. As for me, I have been at Brussels on private business which I have just settled, and in three days I rejoin the troop at the fi&ir of Malines. It is at your pleasure to accompany me : you may be useftil to us. But we must have no more non- sense now ! "
Half embarrassed as to where I should shelter my head, and half curious to see the termination of this adventure, I agreed to go with Christian, without at all understanding how I could be useful to him. The third day we reached Malines, whence he told me we should return to Brussels. Having traversed the city, we stopped in the Faubourg de Louvain, before a wretched looking house with blackened walls, furrowed with wide crevices, and many bundles of straw as substitutes for window glasses. It was midnight, and I had time to make my observations by the moonlight, for more than half an hour elapsed before the door was opened by one of the most hideous old hags I ever saw in my life. We were then introduced to a
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 45
kmg room, where thirty persons of both sexes were indiscri- minatelj smoking and drinking, mingling in strange and licentious positions. Under their blue loose frocks, orna- mented with red embroidery, the men wore blue felvet waisl- ooats with silver buttons, like the Andalusian muleteers ; the clothing of the women was all of one bright colour : there were some ferocious countenances amongst them, but yet they were all feasting. The monotonous sound of the drum, mingled with the howling of two dogs tied under the table, accom- panied the strange songs, which I mistook for a funeral psalm. The smoke of tobacco and wood, which filled this den, scarcely allowed me to perceive in the midst of the room a woman who, adorned with a scarlet turban, was performing a wild dance with the most wanton postures.
On our entrance there was a pause in the festivity ; the men came to shake hands with Christian and the women to em- brace him, and then all eyes were turned on me, who felt mudi embarrassed at my present situation. I had been told a thousand strange stories of the Boh^miens, which did not in- crease my comfortable feelings : they might take oifonce at any scruples I should make, and might get rid of me before it was ever known where I had gone to, since no one could trace me to such a haunt. My disquietude became sufficiently apparent to attract the attention of Christian, who thought to assure me by saying that we were at the house of the duchesL (a title which is equivalent to that of mother amongst sucn comrades,) and that we were in perfect safety. My appetite decided me on taking my part at the banquet. The gin bottle was often filled and emptied, when I felt an inclination to go to bed. At the first word that I said Christian conducted me to a neighbouring closet, where were already on clean straw several Boh^miens. It did not suit me to be particular ; but I could not prevent myself from asking my patron why he, who had always before selected such good quarters, had made dioice of so bad a sleeping place ? He told me that in all towns, where there was a house of the Romamichels, they were constrained to lodge, under pain of being considered as a felse brother, and as such punisheid by a council of the tribe. Women and children all slept in this military bed ; and the sleep which soon overtook them, proved that it was a familiar couch.
At break of day everybody was on foot, and the general toilet was made. But for their prominent features, w\xVvo\i\ thdx laven-black tresses and that oily and tanned c\Lvn,\ §MM McarceJjr have iw:ogttiaed my com^9moiM of l\ie')^i«o^
46* MEMOIRS or TIDOCQ.
ding evening. The men, clnd. in rich iockey holland ^ettt, with leathern suhes like those worn by the inhabitants of Poiuy, and the women covered with ornaments of gold and tilver, assumed the costume of Zealand peasants: even the children, whom I had seen covered with rags, were neatly elothed, and had an entirely different appearance. All soon left the house and took different directions, that they might not reach the market-place all together, where the country people were assembling in .crowds. Christian, seeing that I was preparing to follow him, told me that he should not have need of me the whole day, and that I might go wherever I pleased until evening, when we were to meet at the house of the duchess. He then put some crowns in mv hand and left me.
As in our conversation of the previous evening he had told me that I was not compelled to lodge with the troop, I began by ordering a bed at the inn. Then, not knowing now to kOl time, I went to the fair, and had scarcely gone round it four or five times, when I met fkce to face an old officer of the recruiting battalions, named Malgaret, whom I had known as making one of the gambling set at the Cafi^ Turc at Brussels. After the first salutations, he asked me why I was staying at Malines. I told him a histoiy, and he was equally communi- cative about his travels; and we were thus eentent, each thinking that he had imposed on the other. Having taken some refreshments we returned to the fair, and every part where there was a crowd I met some of the lodgers of the duchess. Having told my companion that I had no acquaint- ance at Malines, I turned my head that they might not recognise me, for I did not much care to confess that I had such friends; but I had too cunning a fox to deid with. " Look," said he to me, looking me full in the face, "look at those people wno are regarding you so attentively. Pray do you know them ? " Without turning my head I replied that I had never seen them before, and did not even know who they were. " Who they are ! " replied my companion, " I will tell you — supposing you to be ignorant — they are rob- bers ! "—" Robbers ! » I replied. « How do you know it t " ** In the same way that you shall soon know if you will foiled me, for it is a- fair bet that we shall not have far to go without finding them at work. Come along — ^here they are."
Raising my eyes towards a crowd in front of a menagerie, I perceived one of the false jockeys taking tiie purse of a &t grazier, whom we saw the next moment seeking for it in Ui po<j)Eets : the Boh^mien then entered a jeweller's shop, Hftm^
MEMOIRS OP VIOOCQ. 47
were already two of the pretended Zealand peasants, and my companion assured me that he would not come out until hie had pilfered some of the jewels that were shown to him. Wa then left our post of ohservatiou to go and dine together: and, at the end of the repast, seeing my companion disposed to talk, I pressed him to tell me precisely who the people were whom he had pointed out to me, assuring him that, in spite of appearances, I knew hut very little of theno. He complied, and toldjne as follows
" It was in the prison (Rasphuys^of Ghent, where I passed six months, some years since, at the end of a game at which some doctors Hoaded dice) were discovered, that I made acquaintance with two men of the troop now at Malines. We were in the same cell, and as I passed myself off for an accom- plished thief, they told me, without distrust, all their light- fingered tricks: and even gave me the minutest details of their singulai existence. These people come from the coun- try ahout Moldavia, where a hundred and fifty thousand of them vegetate, like the Jews in Poland, without the power of fulfilling any office but that of executioner. Their name changes with their change of country ; they are ziguiners in Germany, gypsies in England, zingari in Italy, gitanos in Spain, and Boh^miens in France and Belgium. They thus traverse all Europe, exercising the lowest and most dangerous trades. They clip does, tell fortunes, mend crockery, repair saucepans, play wretcned music at the public-house doors, speculate in rabbit-skins, and change foreign money which they find out of the usual circulation.
" They sell specifics against the illness of cattle, and to pro- mote the business, they despatcli trusty envoys, who, under pretenses of making purchases, get into the stables, and throw drugs into the mangers, which make the cattle sick. They then present themselves, and are received with open arms, and knowmg the nature of the malady, they easily remove it, and the farmer hardly knows huw to be adequately gratefuL This is not all ; for before they quit the farm, they learn whether the husbandman has any crowns of such and such a year, or such and such a stamp, promising to give a premium for them. The interested countryman, like all persons who but ieldcm find an opportunity of getting money, spreads his coin before them, of which they invariably contrive to pilfer a por- tion. What is almost incredible is, that they are seen to repeat with impunity the same trick frequently at the sam« house. Indeed, what is most villaiious of all in their ttausac- tions, is, thatr they protit by these circuni stances, and \Ii^e\t
48 MBMOIRS or VIDOCQ.
•
knowledge of the localities of the county, t» point out !• burglars the detached farms in which there is money, and the means of getting at it, and it is needless to add, that thty eome in for their share of the spoil."
Malgaret gave further details concerning the Bohtfmiens, which determined me on quitting their dangerous soeie^ as speedily as possible^
He was speaking thus, looking into the streets firom time to time from tne window ney which we were seated, when aud- denly I heard him exclaim, " Oh, the devil! My friends of the Rasphuys at Ghent !" — I looked out, and saw Christian walk- inff very fast, and with an air of busy import I could scarcely help exclaiming aloud. Malgaret, profiting by the trouble into which his explanation had thrown me, had not much diffi- culty in extracting from me how I was associated with the Boh^miens. Seeing me resolved on quitting their company, he proposed that I should accompany him to Coutrai, where, he said, he had some game in view. After having taken from the inn the few things I had brought from the house of the duchess I set out with my new associate, but we did not find at Coutrai the friends Malgaret had relied on meeting there, and it was our cash, and not theirs, that was spent Despairmg of their appearance, we returned to Lille ; I had still one hun- dred francs left, and Malgaret gambled with them on our mu- tua> account, and lost them, together with what he had of- his oVn, and I afterwards learnt that he had confederated with his antagonist to cheat me out of what I had left.
In this extremity, T had recourse to my abilities: and some fencing-masters, to .whom I spoke of my situation, gave me a benefit at a fencing-match, which produced me a hundred crowns. Set up with this sum, which for a time secured me from want, I frequented public places, balls. &c. I then formed an intimacy, of which the circumstances and consequences decided the destiny of my whole life. Nothing could be more simple than the commencement of this important episode of my history. I met at the Bal de la Montague with a, young lady, with whom I was soon on good terms. Francine, for that was her name, appeared much attached to me, and at every moment made me protestations of fidelity, which did not, however, prevent her from giving private interviews to a captain of engineers.
I one day surprised them supping at a tavern in the place Riourt, and, transported with rage, I heartily thumped the astonished pair. Francine, with her hair hanging loose, fled ; but her partner remained, and making a charge against me, I
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 49
was arriested and conducted to prison of Petit H6tel. Whilst njy trial was preparing, I was visited by many females of my acqaaintanee, who made it a duty to offer me their consolations. Francine learnt this, and her jealousy aroused, she dismissed the unfortunate captain, withdrew the charge against me which she had made at the same time with his, and beseeching me to • receive her, I weakly consented. The judges heard of this fact, which was tortured into a premeditated plan between me and Francine, and I was sentenced to three months' imprison- ment. From the Petit Hdtel I was transferred to St Peter's Tower, where I obtained a chamber called the Bull's-eye. Francine remained with me there for a part of the day, and Uie remainder I passed with the other prisoners, amongst whom were two old serjeant-majors, Grouard and Herbaux, the latter son of a boot-tmaker at Lille, both condemned for forgeries ; and a labourer, named Boitel, condemned for six years' con- finement for stealing garden- tools ; this latter, who was the father of a large family, was always bewailing his imprison- ment, which, he said, deprived him of the means of working a small farm, which he only knew how to turn to advantage. In spite of the crime he had committed, much interest was evinced in his favour, or rather towards his children, and many inhabi- tants of his district had drawn up and presented petitions in his favour, which were as yet unanswered, and the unfortunate man was in despair, often repeating that he would give such and such a sum for his liberty. Grouard and Herbaux, whu were in St. Peter's Tower, waiting to be sent to the gallies, thought they could get him pardoned by means of a memorial, which they drew up, or rather plotted together ; a plan which was ultimately so injurious to me.
Grouard began to complain that he could not work quietly in the midst of the uproar of the common room, in which were eighteen prisoners singing, swearing, and quarrelling all day. Boitel, who had done me some little kind offices, begged me to lend my chamber to the compilers of his memoral, and I eonsented, although very unwillingly, to give it up to them for four hours* a day. From the next morning they were there installed, and the jailor frequently went there secretly. These comings and goings, and the mystery which pervaded them, would have awakened suspicions in a man accustomed to the intrigues of a prison, but ignorant of their plans, and occu- pied in drinking with the friends who visited me, I interested myself but too little with what was going on in the B\ilV%- eye.
At the end of eight days, they thanked me i<.x m^ Vva^tift«*i
F
50 MBMOIRS OF TIDOCQ.
telling me tliat the memorial was concluded, and that they hjid ereiy reason to hope for the pardon of the petitioner, without lending it to Paris, from the influence of the representations of the people at Lille. All thu was not yierj clear to me, but 1 did not give it much attention, thinking it no business of mine ; and there was no occasion for me to concern myself. But it took a turn which throwed blame on my carelessness, for scarcely had forty-eight hours elapsed after the finishing of the memorial, when two brothers of Boitel arrived by express, and came to dine with him at the jailor's table. At the end of the repast, an order arrived, which being opened by the jailor, he cried, " Good news, by my faith ! It is an order for the liberation of Boitel ;" at these words they all arose in confu- sion, embraced him, ezaniiued the order, and congratiilatttl hlro ; and Boitel, who had sent away his clothes, Hee, the previous eveninfr, immediately left the prison without bidding sdieu to any of the prisoners.
Next day, about ten o'clock in the morning, the inspector of the prisons came to visit us ; and on the jailor's showmg him the order for Boitel's liberation, he cast his eye over it, said that it was a foigery, and that he should not allow the prisoner to depart umtif he had referred to the authorities. The jailor then said that Boitel had left on the previous evening. The inspector testified his astonishment that he should have been deceived by an order signed by persons whose names were unknown to him, and at last placed him under a guard. lie then took the order away with him, and soon made himself certain that, independently of the forgery of the signatures, there were omissions and errors in form which must have struck any person at all familiar with such papers.
It was soon known in the prison, that the inspector had placed the jailor under arrest, for having allowed Boitel to go out under a false order, and I began to surmise the truth. I desired Orouard and Herbaux to tell me the whole, observing indistinctly, that the affiur might compromise me ; but they swore, most solemnly that they had done nothing but draw up the memorial, and were themselves astonished at its prompt success. I did not believe a word of this, but having no opposing proofs, I was compelled to wait for the event. The next day I was summoned to the court, before tlie judge, and answered, that I knew nothing of the framing of the forged order, and that I had only lent my room, as the only quiet place in the prison, for the preparation of the justificatory memorial. I added, that all these fatis could be corroborated by the gaoler, who frequently went inio the room during their
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 51
work, appealing to te much interested for Boitel. Groiuutl and Herbaux were also interrogated, and then placed in soli- taiy confinement, whilst I returned to my chamber. Scarcely had I entered it, when Boitel's bed-fellow came to me, and told me the whole plot, which I had only before suspected.
Grouard, hearing Boitel so often^ repeat that he would will- ingly give a hundred crowns to procure his liberty, had planned with Herbaux the means of getting him out, and they had deTiaed no mode so simple as that of forging a false order. Boitel was let- into the plot, as may be supposed : they only told him, that as there were many persons to gun over, he must give four hundred francs. It was then that they applied for my chamber, which was indispensable for the due concoc- tion ttid forging of the order, without being perceived by the other prisoners; moreover the jailor was in tneir confidence, to jnqj^e by his frequent visits, and the circumstances which bad preceded and followed the departure of BoiteL The order had been brought by a friend of Herbaux, named Stofflet. He appeared besides only to decide Boitel on giving four Irandred francs, which the forger had persuaded him was to be shared with me, although I had rendered him no other senrice than that of lending my room.
Thus instructed, I at first wished the person who had given me these particulars to make a declaration of them, but he obstinately refrised, saying that he would not reveal to justice a secret confided to his oath ; and besides, he did not feel desirous of being knocked on the head by the prisoners for turning note (pour avoir mangi le morceau.) He dissuaded me even from informing the judge, telling me that I was in no danger. But on arresting Boitel in the country, and bringing him to Lille, and putting him into solitary confinement, he named as the aiders and abettors in his escape, Orouard, HerbauX| Stofilet, and Vidocq. On this confession, we were 9ue8tioned at the towe/, and I persisted in my first declaration, fdthough I could have extricated myself in a moment, by disclosing all that Boitel's bed-fellow had told me ; but I was to frilly convinced that it was impossible to substantiate any diarge against me, that I was thunderstruck when, at the expiration of my three months, I was prevented from quitting the prison by an entry stating me as arraigned as an "aocom* pliee in the forgery of authentic and public documents.'*
62
CHAPTER V.
I THKM began to think that this affiur might turn out badly for me ; but any other statement without proof would be more dangerous to me than silence, which it was now too late to think of breaking. All these reflections affected me so much, that I had a severe illness, during which time Francine at- tended me most carefully. I was scarcely convalescent, when, unable to support the state of incertitude in which I found my affairs, I resolved on escaping, and to escape by the door, although that may appear a difficult step. Some particular observations made me prefer this method in preference to any other. The wicket-keeper at St Peter's Tower was a galley- slave from the Bagne (place of confinement) at Brest, sen- tenced for life. After the revision of the penal laws and the code of 1791, he had obtained a commutation of six years' confinement in the prison at Lille, where he had made him- self useful to the jailor, who, persuaded that a man who had passed four years at the Bagne must be as watchful as an eagle, since he must know every method of escape, promoted him to the office of gate-keeper, which he thought he could not confide to more trust-worthy hands. It wa<<, however, on the stupidity of this prodigy of cunning that I relied for th6 success of my project ; and it appeared the more easy to deceive him, as he was so donfident in hia own sagacity. In a word, I relied on passing by him under the disguise of a superior officer, charged with visiting St Peter's Tower, which was used as a military prison twice a week.
Francine, whom I saw daily, got me the requisite clothing, which she brought me in her mu£ I immediately tried them on, and they suited me exactly. Some of the prisoners who saw me thus attired assured me that it was impossible to detect me. I was the same height as the officer whose character I was about to assume, and I made myself appear twenty-five years of age. At the end of a few days, he made his usual round, and whilst one of my friends occupied his attention,
MBM0IR8 OF VIDOCQ. 5S
under pretext of examining his food, I disguised myself hastily, amd presented myself at the door, which the gaol-keeper, taking off his cap, opened, and I went out into the street I ran to a friend of Francine's, as agreed on in case I should succeed, and she soon joined me there.
I was there perfectly safe, if I could resolve on keeping concealed ; hut how could I submit to a slavery almost as severe as Uiat of St Peter's Tower. • As for three months I had been enclosed within four walls, I was now desirous to exercise the activity so long repressed. I announced my intention of going out ; and, as with me an inflexible deter- mination was always the auxiliary of the most capricious fancy, I did go. My first excursion was safely performed, but the next morning, as I was coming to the Rue Ecremoise, a Serjeant named Louis, who had seen me during ray imprison- ment, stopped me, and asked if I was freew He was a severe practical man, and by a motion of his hand could summon twenty persons. 1 said that I would follow him ; and begging him to allow me to bid adieu to my mistress, who was in a house of Rue de I'Hdspital, he consented, and we really met Francine, who was much surprised to see me in such company ; and then I told her that having reflected that my escape might injure me in the estimation of my judges, I had decided on returning to St Peter's Tower to wait the result of the process.
Francine did not at first comprehend why I had expended three hundred francs, to return at the end of four months to prison. A sign put her on her guard, and I found an oppor- tunity of desiring her to put some cinders in my pocket wnilst Louis and I took a glass of rum, and then set out for the prison. Having reached a deserted street, I blinded my guide with a handful of cinders, and regained my asylum wiUi all speed.
Louis having made his declaration, the gendarmes and police-officers were on the full cry after me ; and there was one -Jacquard amongst them who undertook to secure me if I were in tiie city. I was not unacquainted with these particulars, and instead of being more circumspect in my behaviour, I affeeted a ridiculous bravado. It might have been said that I ought to have had a portiou of the premium promised for my apprehension. I was certainly hotly pursued, as may be judged fVom the following incident
Jacquard learnt one day that I was going to dine in Rue Notre»Dame. He immediately went with four assistanta, 'wVotbl he left' on the grouad-fioor, and ascended the fttaiicaae \o ^DIca
F 3
M MJIMOIM or VIDOCQ.
room where I was about to sit down to table with two females, A reoruiting serjeant, who was to have made the fourth, had not yet arrived. I recognized Jacquard, who never having teen me, had.not the same advantage, and besides mj diaguiie would have bid defiance to any detoription of my person. Without being at all uneasy, I approached, and with the most natural tone I begged him to pass into a closet, the glass door of whieh looked on the banquet-room. " It is Vidocq whom yon tre loking for," said I ; "if you will wait for ten minutes yon will see hhn. There is his cover, he cannot be long. When he enters, I will make you a sign ; but if you are alone, I doubt if you can seixe him, as he is armed and resolved to defend himselfl" — " I have my gendarmes on the staircase,"
answered he, ** and if he escapes ** Take care how you
place them then," said I witn affected haste. " If Vidocq should see them he would mistrust some plot, and then farewell to the bird."—*' But where shall I place them ? "— ** Oh, why in this closet—mind, no noise, that would spoil all ; and I have more desire than yourself that he should not suspect anything." My commissary was now shut up in four walls with his agents. The door, which was very strong, closed with a double lock. Then, certain of time to escape, I cried to my prisoners, ** You are looking for Vidocq — wsll, it is he who has caged you; farewell." And awsy I went like a dart, leaving the party shouting for help, and making desperate efforts to escape from the imlucky closet
Two escapes of the same sort I affected, but at last 1 was arrested and carried back to St Peter's Tower, where, for greater security, I was placed in a dungeon with a man named Calendrin, who was also thus punished for two attempts at escape. Calendrin, who had known me during my first con- finement in the prison, imparted to me a fresh plan of ^ape, which he had devised by means of a hole worked in the vrisll of the dungeon of the galley-slaves with whom we could com- municate. The third night all was managed for our escape, and eight of the prisoners who first went out were so fortunate as to avoid being detected by the sentinel, who was only a short distance off
Seven of us still remained, and we drew straws, as is usual in such circumstances, to determine which of the seven should first pass. I drew the short straw and undressed myself that I might get with greater ease through the hole, which was very narrow, but, to the great disappointment of all, I stuck fast without the possibility of advancing or receding. In vain did my companions endeavour to pull me oat by force, I was
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCa* 5^
eanglit as if in a trap, and the pain of my situation was so- extreme, that not expecting further help from within, I called to the sentry to render me assistance. He approached with** the precaution of a man who fears a surprise, and presenting his bayonet to my breast, forbade me to make the slightest movement At his summons the guard came out, the porters ran with torches, and I was dragged from my hole, not without leaving behind me a portion of my skin and fiesh. Torn and wounded as I was, ihey immediately transfe/red me to the prison of Petit Hdtel, when I was put into a dungeon, fettered hand and foot.
Ten days afterwards I was placed among the prisoners, through my entreaties and promises not to attempt again to escape. Up to this time I had lived with men who were sharpers, robbers, and forgers ; but here I found myself in the midst of most hardened villains, and of this number was one of my fellow townsmen, named Desfosseux, a man of wonder- ful ingenuity, prodigious strength, and who, condemned to the gallies from the age of eighteen, had escaped from the Bagne three times, whence he was to be sent again with the next chain of convicts. He told all his exploits and hair-breadths' scapes with much coolness, and said diat no doubt " one day or other the guillotine would make sausage meat of his flesh." In spite of the secret horror with which this man inspired me, I took a pleasure in conversing with him of the wild life he had led, and what most induced me to make so many inquiries of him was, that I hoped he would be able to aid me with some means of escape. With the same motive, I associated with many individuals imprisoned as part of a band of forty or filly Chafifeurs, who infested the adjacent districts, under the com- mand of the funous Sallambier. They were named Chopine (called the Nantzman), Louis (of Douay), Duhamel (called Lilleman), Auguste Poissard (called the Provencal), Caron the younger, Caron the Humpback, and Bruxellois (called the Daring), an appellation which he deserved for an act of courage which is seldom heard of even in bulletins.
At the moment of entering a farm with six of his comrades, he thrust his left hand through an opening in the shutter to lift the latch, but when he was drawing it back, he found that his wrist had been caught in a slip-knot Awakened by the noise, the inhabitants of the farm had laid this snare, although too weak to go out against a band of robbers which report had magnified as to numbers. But the attempt being thus defeated, day was fast approaching, and Bruxellois saw hh dismv^edi .eomrades IooIuit^ at each other with doubt, wYien t\i« \^««k
56 MEMOIRS or VIDOCQ.
, ooourred to him that to avoid discovery they would knock out * his brains. With his right hand he drew out his clasp knife with a sharp point, which he always had about him, and cutting off his wrist at the joint, fled with his comrades without being stopped by the excessive pain of his horrid wound. This *emarkable deed, which has been attributed to a thousand dif* ferent spots, really occurred in the vicinity of Lille, and is well authenticated in die northern districts, where many persons yet remember to have seen the hero of this tale, who was thence called Manchot (or one armed), executed.
Introduced by so distinguished a worthy as my townsman De^bsseux, 1 was received with open arms in the circle of bandits, where from morning to night the means of escape was our only theme. Under these circumstances, as in many others, I remarked that with prisoners, the thirst for liberty, becoming the engrossing idea, produced plots inconceivable by the man who discusses them at his ease. Liberty ! — in thu W(frd all is centred, this thought pursues the prisoner through* out the tedious day, and during the wintry nights spent in utter darkness, when abandoned to all the tormenting impulses of impatience. Enter any prison you will hear shouts of noisy mirth, you may almost imagine yourself at a place of entertainment; approach — mouths grin horribly a ghastly smile, but the eyes betray no pleasure, tliey are stem and haggard ; this assumed gaiety is forced in iti^ hideous yells, like that of the jackal, which dashes against its' cage, striving to burst the bars.
Well knowing what men they had to guard, our jailors watched us with a care that marred all our plans ; the only opportunity which gave a chance of success now offered itself and I seized on it before my companions, cunning as they were, had even thought of it We were about eighteen of us in the anti-room of the examining judge, wliere we had been con- ducted for the purpose of being interrogated, which was guard- ed by soldiers, and two gendUirmes, one of whom had laid down his hat and cloak near me, whilst he went to the bar, whither his companion was summoned by the ringing of a bell. I put his hat on my head instantly, and wrapping myself in his cloak, took a prisoner under my arm as if I was taking him out for a pressing necessity ; I went to the door, whidi the corporal of the guard immediately opened, and we got out once more. But what could we do without money or papers 7 My comrade went into the province, and I, at jthe risk of beiflg retaken, returned to Francine, who, overjoyed at seeing me, det^mined on selling her furniture, and flying
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 57
wM me to Belgium. This was determined on, when a most Hnei^eted event, attributable only to my incredible careless- ness, completely overthrew our plan.
The night before our intended departure, I met in the dusk of the evening a woman of Brussels, named Eliza, with whom I had been on intimate terms. She embraced me, and begged me to go and sup with her, and, conquering my weak objec- tions, kept me with her until tiie next day. I persuaded Francine, who had sought me everjrwhere, that, pursued by police offioers, I had been compelled to take refuge in » house which I could not quit till daybreak. She was at first satisfied ; but having by accident discovered that I had passed the night with a female, her jealousy burst forth in overwhelming and tearful reproaches against my ingratitude, and in her rage she swore that she would have me arrested. To put me in prisoH was certainly the best mode of putting a stop to my infideli- ties ; but Francine was a woman of her word, and I deemed it prudent to allow her anger to evaporate, intending to return after some time, and start with her as we had agreed on. However, as I needed my clothes, and did not wish to ask for them, for fear of a fresh burst of temper, I went alone to our chamber, of which she had the key, and forcing a shutter, T- took oat what I wanted, and left the house.
At the end of five days, clothed like a countryman, I left the* place I had inhabited in the suburbs, and going into tiie city, I went to the house of a seamstress, a friend of Francine' s, on whose mediation I relied for reconciling us. This woman seemed so greatly embarrassed, that fearing I should implicate her, I only begged her to go and seek my mistress. *' Yes,*' said she, with a very remarkable air, and without looking at me. She went out, and I was left alone to reflect on my strange reception.
A knock at the door was heard, which I hastened to open, thinking that I should receive Francine in my arms, when a crowd of gendarmes and police-officers appeared, who seizing me, I was carried before the magistrate, who began by asking me where I had been during the last five days. My answer was. brief, as I never implicated those who sheltered me. The magistrate observed, that my obstinacy in refusing him any explanation would go much against me, and that my head wafi in jeopardy, 8tc, &c. I only laughed, as imagining this re^ ipfurk to be a trap to force me to confess through fear. I jfersjated in my silence, and was remanded to the Petit Hdtel;.
Scarcely had I set foot in the street, when all eyes were fixed on me. People tilled to each other and whispered^
58 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
which I thought was caused by my disguise, and I seareely heeded it They made me enter a cell, where I was left alone in the straw, heavily ironed. At the end of two hours the jailor came, who, pretending to pity me, and take an interest m me, told me that my resolution not to confess where I had spent the last five days, would injure me in the estimation of the judges ; but I was immovable, and two more hours elapsed, when the iailor returned with a turnkey, who took off my fBt- ters, and dssired me to go down to the office, where two judges were in attendance. I was again questioned, and inade a similar reply, and they then stripped my clothes entirely o^ and stamped on my right shoulder a blow that would have killed an ox, which was to mark me ; my clothes were taken away, after being described in the process-verbal ; and I was sent back to my cell, covered with a shirt of sail-cloth, in a surtout half black and half grey, in rags which had served at least two generations of prisoners.
All this gave me food for reflection. It was evident that the* seamstress had denounced me, but for what ? She had no complaint to make of me. In spite of her fury, Francine would have reflected twice before she denounced me ; and if I had withdrawn for some days, it was rather because I did not wish to irritate her by my presence, than from any fear of consequences. Why these reiterated inquiries, these mys- terious words of the jailor, and this description of my attire t I was lost in a labyrinth of conjecture, and for twenty-five hours I was kept in the strictest solitary confinement ; I then wuierwent an examination which informed me of alL 4fe''y^what is your name ?** •^ ^ Eugene Francois Vidocq."
** What is your profession ?"
" Military."
" Do you know the ffirl Francine Longuet V
** Yes ; she is my mistress."
" Do you know where she is at this moment V*
*' She should be at a friend's house, for she sold her own furniture."
" What is the name of this friend?"
** Madame Bourgeois."
" Where does she live V*
*' At a baker's in the Rue St. Andr€."
" How long had you left the woman Longuet when yoa arrested f "
"Five days." '
"Why did you leave her V
MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 59
** To avoid her ang^r; she knew that I had paaied the night with another female, and in a fit of jealousy threatened to have me arrested."
^ Who was the woman with whom you passed the night?"
^ A former mistress."
<< What is her name?"
" Eliza— J only know her hy that name."
'< Where does she live?"
** At Brussels, whither, X helieve, she has returned*"
"Where are the things which you had in the house of the woman Longult?'*
** In a place that I can point out if need he."
" How could you get them, having quarrelled with her, and not wishing to see her ?"
" After our quarrel in the Caftf, where she found me, she threatened to call for the guard to seize me: knowing her perverseness, I ran down the hy-streets, and reached the house before her, which I had hoped to do, and wanting some clothes, I forced a shutter to effect my entrance, and then took out what I wanted. You just now asked me where these things are, and I will now tell you; they are in the Rue Saint Sau- veur, at the house of Duboc, who will corroborate this."
" You do not speak truth — ^before you left Francine at her house, you had a great quarrel ; it is said that you struck her.'
** That is false ; I did not see Prancine at her own home after the quarrel, and consequently I could not have maltreated her. She can corroborate this."
" Do you know this knife ?" »
** Yes ; it is the one I generally use at my meals."
'* You see the blade and haft are covered with blood. Does not the sight of it make any impression upon you? You are agitated!"
** Yes," I replied with emotion ; " but what has happened to Francine ? Tell me, and I will give every possible explana- tion,"
" Did nothing particular happen to you when you carried off your clothes ?
** Nothing that I can call to mind." "You persist in your declarations?** " Yes."
" You are imposing on justice ; — that you ma> have time for reflection on your position, and the consequences of your obstinacy, I shall now delay the remainder of your examiua^ tion until to-morrow. — Gendarmes, watch this man moat caxt* felly— Go."
60 IIBMOIRS OP VIDOCQ.
It was late when I returned to mj eell, where thej broo^t me my allowance, which the trouble I experienced from the result of the interrogatory would not allow me to eat; I could not sleep, and passed the whole night without closing an eye. Some crime had been committed, but on whom f By whom f Why was I inculpated ? I had asked myself that qfuettion a thousand tim^s, without getting at any ratfonal solution, when they came to fetch me on the following morning to renew my examination. After the usual questions, a door was opened, and two gendarmes entered, supporting a fepnale. it was Francine — Francine pale, and altered so as to be scarcely re- cognizable. On seeing me she fainted ; and when I wished to approach her, I was withheld by the gendarmes. They took her away, and I alone remained with the examining judge, who asked me if the sight of the unfortunate woman did not prompt me to confess all? I protested my innocence, assert- mg that I did not know till that instant that Francine was ill. I was led back to the prison, but not to solitary confinement, and I could then hope that I might be informed of all the e?ents of which I was so singularly the yictim. I questioned the jailor, but he would not answer me ; I wrote to Francine, although I was told that the letters would be detained by the judge, and that she was dismissed. I was on thorns, and at last determined on sending for counsel, who, after having learnt the accusation, told me that 1 was charged with at- tempting to assassinate Francine. On the very day I left her^ she had been found expiring, stabbed with a knife in five places, and barlhed in blood. My precipitate flight — ^the secret carrying away of my clothes, which it was known that I had taken from one place to another as if to elude the search of justice — the broken shutter in my rooin — the footmark which resembled mine, — all tended to confirm tho suspicions of my guilt, and my disguise still more corroborated it.
It was thought that I only disguised myself and returned, to learn whether she had died without accusing me. One par- ticular, which would have been in my favour under any other circumstances, now aggravated the charge against me ; as soon as the physicians would allow Francine to speak, she declared that she had stabbed herself, in despair, at finding that she was abandoned by a man for whom she had s icrificed all. But her attachment to me rendered her testimony suspected, and it was believed that she only spoke thus to save me.
My counsel had terminated this narrative at least a quarter of an hour, and I was still listening like a man oppressed with the night-mare. At the age of twenty I was suffering under
MSMOIRS OF VIDOCO. 6t
the weight of the two-fold accusation of forgery and assassina- tion, without having even dreamt of committing such crimes. I even reflected whether I would not hang myself at the hars of my cell with a straw rope. I was losing my senses, but at last collected myself sufficiently to detail all Uie facts requi- site for my exculpation. In the after-examination they in- i sisted strongly on the blood which the porter, who had carried my luggage, stated he had seen on my hands. This blood had flowed from a cut inflicted by the glass of a window which I had broken to remove the shutter, and I could produce two •witnesses of this £ict My counsel, to whom I told all my grounds of defence, assured me, that united with the testi- moliy of Francine, which alone had been of no avail, I should be acquitted, which was the case a few days afterwaids. Prancine, although still very weak, came immediately to see me, and confirmed all the particulars which the examination bad first acquainted me with.
I was thus relieved of an enormous weight, without being yet entirely freed from uneasiness : my repeated escapes had delnyed the decision of the accusation of forgery, in which I had been implicated, and nothing indicated its termination, for Orouard had also escaped. The result of the charge from vi^hich I had just been freed had, however, given me a hope, and I thought nothing of attempting to escape, when an op-
?ortuni^ presented, which ^I seized, as it were, by instinct n the chamber in which I was placed were the temporary prisoners, and on fetching away two of them one morning, the jailor forgot to close the door, which I perceivedf and de- scending to the ground floor, found, on looking about me, that I had a chance. It was scarcely daybreak, and the prisoners were all asleep ; I had met no one on the staircase, and there was no one at the gate, which I cleared ; but the jailor, who was drinking a dram at a public-house opposite the prison, pursued me, crying loudly, " Stop him I Stop him !'* He cried in vain, for the streets were empty, and the desire of liberty gave me wings. In a few minutes I got out of sight of the jailor, and soon reached a house in Rue Saint Sauveur, where I was very certain they would not come to seek for me. I was now compelled to quit Lille as quickly as possible, as 1 was too well known there to be long in safety.
At nightfall all were on the look out, and I learnt that all the gates were closed, and no one was let out but through the wicket, where police officers and disguised gendanxves "vieTe stationed to examine all comers. The gates t);iu« cVo&ed oii^
6S MBMOIRS OF VIDOOa*
ma, I retolfed on descending the rammurtt, and knowing tilt spot well, I went at ten o'clock at night to the bastion of Notre-Dame, which I judged the most propitious place for the execution of my project Having tied to a tree a cord, which I had procured for the purpose, 1 began to slide down, but the weight of my body impelling me more rapidly than I antici- pated, the friction of tne cord made my hands so hot that 1 was compelled to \et go about fifteen feet from the ^ound, and fell so heavily on my right foot, that I sprained it, and in endeavouring to £^t out of the ditch I thought I should never be able to effect it Unheard-of efforts at length extricated me, but on reaching the plain I could move no farther.
There I was, swearing most emphatically against all ditches, ropes, and sprains, but this did not relieve my embarrassment, when a man passed me with one of those cars so common in Flanders. A crown -piece, my only one, prevailed on him to place me on his car, and convey me to the next village. On reaching his house he laid me on a bed, and rubbed my foot with brandy and soap, whilst his wife assisted him very effici- ently, although staring with wonder at my clothes, stained with the mud of the ditch. They did not ask for any explana- tion, but I thought it expedient to give one ; and to prepare myself for it, I pretended that I was greatly in want of sleep, and my host left me. At the end of two hours 1 called them, like a man just awaking, and told them in a few words, that in conveying smuggled tobacco up the ramparts, I had fitllen, and my comrades, pursued by the custom-house officers, had been compelled to leave me in the ditch ; and 1 added, that 1 left myself in their hands to do as they pleased with me. These good creatures, who hated the custom-house officers as cordially as the inhabitant of any frontier town ever does, assured me that they would not for the world betray me. To try them, I asked if there was no means of conveyance to my father's house, who lived at the other side, and they said that such a step wouid expose me, and that it would be better to wait a few days, until I was well. I consented, and to remove all suspicions, it was agreed that I should pass for a relation on a visit. No one, however, made the least observation.
Quieted on this head, I began to reflect on my next step, and what I must do. I determined on leaving these parts, and going into Holland. But to execute this plan money was indispensable, and except my watch, which I had offered to my host, 1 possessed only four shillings and tenpence. I might 4f0 to Francine, but then, of course, she was closely watohed : and to send her any message would infallibly hazard her
HSMOIRS OF VIDOCQ. 63
Mfety. At leant, I must wait until the heat of the first pursuit %Bt over. I did wait, and at the end of a fortnight I deter- mined to write to Franoine, which I intrusted to my host, tell- ing him that, as this female was the go-between of the 8mu|a(ler8, he must use much caution in visiting her. He fulfi&ed his commission with much care, and brought me next day one hundred and twenty francs in gold. The next day I bade farewell to my friends, whose charges were extremely modetate, and at the end of six days reached Ostend.
My tetenfion, as at my first visit to this city, was to go to America or India, but I only met with Danish and Dutch skippers, who refused to take me without credentials. The little cash which I had brought from Lille diminished rapidly, and I was approaching that situation with which we become raore or less familiarized, but which is not the less disagreea- ble on that account Money certainly does not produce wit, nor talents, nor understanding ; but the quiet of mind which it superinduces, the eqoanimi^ which it afibrds, amply supply the place of tiiese qualities; whilst in the absence of tliis equanimity these gifts are of no avail with many who possess them.
I had heard much of the adventurous and lucrative life of the coasting tmugglers, of whom the prisoners had boasted with enthusiasm; for this profession was often followed through indination, by individuals whose fortune and situation did not compel them to adopt so perilous a life. I confess, for my part, that I was not seduceo by the prospect of passing whole nights under cliffii, in the midst of rocks, exposed to all winds, and, above all, to tJic shots of the custom-house officers.
It was with real repugnance that 1 went to the house of a man named Peters, to whom I was directed, as one deeply en-. gaged in the pursuit, and able to introduce me to it A sea- guU nailed on bis door with extended wings, like the owls and weasels that we see on bams, guided me. I found th? worthy in a sort of cellar, which by the ropes, sails, oars, hammocks, and barrels, which filled it, might have been taken for a nav^ dep6t From the midst of a thick atmosphere of smoke which surrounded him, he viewed me at first wiUi a cmitempt w,hich had hot a good appearance, and my conjec- tures were soon realized, for I had scarcely otfered my services than he fell upon me with a shower of blows. I could, certainly have resisted him effectually, but astonishment had. in a measure deprived me of the power of defence ; and \ wm besides, in theicourt*yard, half a dozen mi\oi« vad «xi«o»t*
64 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ.
mous Newfoundland dog, which would hafe been poweifut . odds. Turned into the street, I endeavoured to account for this singular reception, when it occurred to me that Petera had mistaken me for a spy, and treated me accordingly.
This idea determined me on returning to a dealer in Hol- lands, who had told me of him, and he, laughing at the result of my visit, gave me a pass-word that would procure me free access to Peters. Thus empowered, I sgain went to his for- midable abode, having first filled my pockets with large stone» which, in case of a second attack, might protect my retoeat Fortunately I had no need of them. At the words ** Beware of the sharks " (custom-house officers), I was re- ceived in a most amicable manner, for my strength snd activity made me a valuable acquisition to the fraternity, who are often compelled to carry with speed, from one spot to another, the most oppressive loads. A Bourdeaux man, who was one of the gang, undertook to initiate me, and teach me the stratagems of the profession, which, however, I was called on to put in practice before my tuition had progressed very far.
I slept at Peters' house with a dozen or fifteen smug^lerSr Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Portuguese, and Russian ; there were no Englishmen, and only two Frenchmen. The day after my installation, as we were all getting into our ham- mocks, or fiock beds, Peters entered suddenly into our chamber, which was only a cellar contiguous to his own, and so filled with barrels and kegs that we could scarcely find room to sling our hammocks. Peters had put off his usual attire, which was that of ship- caulker, or sail-maker, and had on a hairy cap, and a long red shirt, closed at the breast with a silver pin, fire-arms in his belt, and a pair of thick large fisherman's boots, which reach the top of the thigh, or may be folded down beneath the knee.
*^ A-hoy ! a-hoy !" cried he at the door, striking the ground with the but- end of his carbine, ** Down with the hammocks, down with the hammocks ! We will sleep some other day. The Squirrel has made signals for a landing this evening, and we must see what she has in her, muslin or tobacco. Come, come, turn out my sea-boys."
In a twinkling everybody was ready. They opei\,ed an arm- chest, and every man took out a carbine or blunderbuss, a ^brace of pistols, and a cutlass or boarding- pike, and we set out, after having drunk so many glasses of brandy and arrack that the bottles were empty. At this time there were not more than twenty of us, but we were joined or met, at one
MEMOIRS OF VIOOCQ. 63
pltee or another, by so many individuals, that on reaching ihe sea^ride we were forty-seven in number, exclusive of two females and some countrymen fh>m the adjacent villages, who brought hired horses, which they concealed in a hollow behind . tome rocks.
It was night, and the wind was siiifting, whilst the sea daahed with so much force that I did not understand how any vessel could approach without being cast on shore. What confirmed this idea was, that by the starlight I saw a small boat rowing backwards and forwards, as if it feared to land* They told me afterwards that this was only a manoeuvre ttf ascertain if all was ready for the unloading, and no danger to be apprehended. Peters now lighted a reflecting lantern^ which one of the men had brought, and immediately eztiii« guished it ; the Squirrel raised a lantern at her mizen, whicli (gily shone for a moment, and then disappeared like a glow- worm on a Bummer's night We then saw it approach, and anchor about a gun-shot off from the spot where we were. Our troop then divided into three companies, two of which were placed five hundred paces in front, to resist the revenue officers if they should present themselves. The men of these companies were then placed at intervals along the ground, having at the left arm a packthread which ran *from one to the other : in case of alarm, it was announced by a slight pull, and each being ordered to answer this signal by firing his gun, a line of firing was thus kept up, which perplexed the revenue officers. The third company, t>f which I. was one, remained . by the sea- side, to cover the landing and the transport of the cargo.
All being thus arranged, the Newfoundland dog already mentioned, and who was with us, dashed at a word into the midst of the waves and swam powerfully in the direction of the Squirrel, and in an instant afterwards returned with the end of a rope in his mouth. Peters instantly seized it, and be^an to draw it towards him, making lis signs to assist hm$p which I obeyed mechanically. After a few tugs, I saw that at the end of the cable were a dozen small casks, which floated towards us. I then perceived that the vessel thus contrived to keep sufficiently far from the shore, not to run a lisk of being stranded.
In an instant the casks, smeared over with something that made them water-proof, were unfastened and placed on horses, which immediately dashed off for the interior of the country. A second cargo arrived with the same success ; but a& i?ft ii«ct landing the third,- some reports of fire-arms annoviTVce^ 1i3fc«fc
G S
€6 MEMOIRS OF VIDOCQ»
our out-po8ts were attacked. '* There is the beginning of the ball," said Peters, calmly ; '* I must go and see who will dance ;" and taking up his carbine, he joined the out-posts, . which had by this time joined each other. The firing became rapid, and we had two men killed, and others slightly wounded. At the fire of the reyenue officers, we soon found that they exceeded us in number, but alarmed, and fearing an ambus- cade, they dared not to approach, and we effected our retreat without any attempt on theii part to prevent it. From the beginning of the fight the Squirrel hsd weighed anchor and stood out to sea, for fear that the noise of the firing should bring down on her the government cruiser. I was told that most probably she would unload her cargo in some other part of the coast, where the owners had numerous agents.
On the return to Peters' house, at break of day, I threw my- self into my hammock, and did not leave it ibc eight^nd- forty hours : the fati^e of the night, the moisture which penetrated my clothes, whilst exercise had made me perspire profusely, and the uneasiness of my new situation, all combined to make hie ill, and a fever seized me. When it left me, I told Peters that I foimd the employment too hard, and that I should be glad if he would allow me to go. He agreed more quietly tiian I expected, and gave me a hundred francs. I have since learnt that he had me followed for several days, to be assured wheliier or no I took the road to Lille, which I had told him was my intention.
I did go to that city, led by a childish wish to see Francine, and take her with me to Holland, where I had formed a plan of a small establishment But my imprudence was soon pu- nished ; for two gendarmes, who were drinking in a pot-house, saw me crossing the street, and they resolved on fpllowinff me to ask for my papers. They overtook me at a turning, and the trouble which their appearance caused me, determined them on apprehending me. They took me to the brigade prison, yrhere I was already looking out for means of escape, when I heard some one say to the gendarmes, " Here is the guard of Lille ; is there any one for the prison ?** Two men of the Lille brigade came to the prison and asked if there was any
fame in the trap 7 ** Yes" said the fellows who took me, ** we ave one named Leger (my assumed name), whom we found without a passport." They opened the door, and the brigadier of Lille, who had often seen me at the Petit H6tel, cried, " By ^ove, 'tis Yidocq I" I was compelled to confess it, and setting out, I entered Lille a few hours afterwards, between my two body guards.
CHAPTER VL
Z FOUND at the Petit H6tel the greater number of the prisoners who had been emancipated before my escape. Some of then? had made but a very short absence, and were speedily appre- hended, charged with fresh crimes, or fresh offences. Amongst them was Csdandrin, whom I have spoken about: enlarged on the 11th, he was retaken on the 13th, charged with burglary and being an accomplice of the Chauffeurs, whose name alone inspired imivcrsal dread. On the strength of the reputation which my various escapes had procured for me, these men looked on me as one on whom they might rely. On my side, X could scarcely separate myself from them. Accused' of eapital offences, they had a powerful motive for being secret concerning our attempts, whilst the unfortunate " petty larceny rascal" might denounce us, in the dread of being accused of being privy to our designs. This is the logic of the prison. This escape, however, was not so very easy a matter, as may be surmised when I say that our dungeons, seven feet sc^uare, had walls six feet thick, strengthened with planking crossed and rivetted with iron ; a window, two feet by one, closed with three iron gratings placed one after the other, and the door cased with wrought iron.* With such precautions, a jailor might depend on the safe keeping of his charge, but yet we overcame it all.
I was in a cell on the second floor with Duhamel. For six francs, a prisoner, who was also a turnkey, procured us two files, a ripping chisel, and two turnscrews. We had pewter spoons, and