The Mysteries of the Court of London Vol. 4 — page 157: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

e a eT ST SSC pS SSS = Ss OE | i me =m awww WY a Niahinths sete ad eo diate = s me~= 144 . td ree =. eS > 6 the kindest commiseration in respect to the per- secuted Princess of Wales. ‘Therefore, after a very short sojourn at Canter- bury, Jocelyn Loftus set out again for the Continent, —little suspecting that he was now closely watched by the spy whom the conspirators had set to dog his movements. Traversing Belgiam,; he entered the Prussian territory, and embarked at Cologne upon the Rhine, which hé pursued witil he reached Basle in Switzerland; and thence he resolved to travel post into Italy, Passing by Neufchatel and Geneva, he in due course arrived at the town of Chambery, which isin the Kingdom of Piedmont but within eight or ten miles of the French frontier. This place he reached on the tenth day after leavin England; and according to the intelligence whic he redeived, the Princess of Wales and her auite were at-that time staying at Milan. Accordingly, Jocelyn Loftus, after having ree’ed at night at Chambery, ordered s pst-chaise for the purpose of prosecuting hig journey towards the capital of Lom- bardy: and now it was that the epy who had so un- weariedly pursued him, was enabled to carry into effect the instructions he had received ere leaving England. For by means of bribing the postilions, he doduced them to take the road towards the Frengh frontier instead of that leading in the direc- tiog of Milanz, and:asJocelyn was a perfect eftanger td the-xante.and was moreover absorbed in his re- flectigny, che did not immediately notice that the vehicle was pursuing @ .south-weatérn instead of a south-eastern direction. Nor were his suspicions excited until the chaise stopped in about an hour ata little town where the well-known uniforms of the French Custom House officers immediately met’his eyes |! , Then it immediately atruck him that sither adme atrange mistake, had been made, or some foul treachery. practieed; and on inquiring the name of the place,.tie.was informed that it was Les Echelles —a town on the French frontier. Sis passport was demanded; and with a sore misgiving did he pro- duce it: for he now beheld @ certain Linglish traveller whom he had seen at one or two pointe during his journey, prompting the Custom House officers in their present proceeding. We need not inform the reader that this “ certain Englishman” was the spy of the conspirators; but we may hasten to observe that Jocelyn was at once taken into cus-, tody on the double charge of travelling with a pase- port made out in a false name, and having escaped from the Prefeeture of Police in Paris. Remon- strance was of course ineffectual; and our young hero was borne off to the prison a6 Grenoble—a large and celebrated French town at a distance of about thirty miles from La Behelles. Hie was not, however, treated with any rudeness or unnecessary harehneas;-ahd inasmuch as before he jJeft England he had taken: the precaution of having the Princess Sophia’s Jetter sewn in the lining of hie coat, i¢ now estaped detection when he was required to produce the contents of his pockets. No stricter persons] seareh than this was male by “the officers; and thus the cherished credential passed not away from his possession atthe same time with the other papers which were taken from him. Behold, then, Jocelyn Lofius once mores prisoner in France—a captive, too, at-the instance of those sate conspirators in England who had been the means of provoking hig former prisonage ! = wees Oe |} pais THE MYSTERIES OF THK COURT. ‘ It is not our purpose to dwell at any consider- able length upon this episode in the life of Jocelyn Loftus: but a few particulars are never- theless necessarycin order to give an ftea of the treatment which ho experienced during the re- newed period of imprisonment that was now taking place. Two apartments on the debtors’ side of the gaol at Grenoble were farnished in a comfort- able and even handsom¢ manner for his reception : a valet was specially appointed to wait upon him; and any orders which he chose to issue re- lative to his repasts were accurately attended to. One of the yards belonging to the prison was assigned solely to hig use for taking exercise ; but every precaution was adopted to prevent him from holding the slightest communication with any of the prisoners in the other parts of the establishment. — Those ‘details will aufficiently show that the French -authirities were well aware that Jocelyn had committed no real offence, but that his cap- tivity suited the purposes of certain high and in- fluential personages ia England, The governor af tho prison behaved towards him in the most respectiu] manner, and visited him at least two or three times y-week to inquire concerning his health, aud ascertain whether all bis wants wero properly attended to,. It was en phe occasion of woe of the carliest of these visits that the French governoraddressed Jocelyn Loftus in the following terms :—. ; “You may reat assured, alr, thatniot the slightest intention is entertained of using unnecessa: y hareh- ness towards -yous; and I am instructed to state that if there.be any relation or partichlar friend in England, or eleewhere, to whom gpu may wish to write occasionally, in order to relieve their minds from any uneasiness on your account, you are at liberty to do'so—aud 1 pledge you my honour as a gentleman: fiet your letters shall be duly transmitted. At the aame time, you will of course understand, sir, that" you are aot to state that you are in -captivity—-nor yet that you are at Grenoble ;-—but you can date your letters from any other city or town of France, and request that ull replies may be scent t& the post-office of such town, in which case those answers shall be duly forwarded to you hither. You will also take care to"avoid inserting in your letters anything that may engender the suxpicinn that you are subject to coercio®. of restraint; and, in a word, you must place nuthiag upon record that may lead your friends in Bhglaud to suspect you are not at liberty, and thas induge them to enter upon in- trigues or adept plans for the discovery of your whereabouts and the accomplishment ‘of yuur rescue. . Of eourse the letters that you may write wilt be perused by me before being wavsmitted to the post; aud the answers sent thereto will also have.tp pase.thvough my hands, Understanding the Euglish language perfectly, I shall'reserve this duty of supervision to mysel, instead of entrusting it to any. anderliug or interpreter. Thas, sir, 20 long a9 you adhere to the conditions whict I have laid down, you need not hesitate to place on record any sentiment or feeling, of a near god tender interest: for-it will be through go motive of im- pertinent ourivsity that E shall iaspect your cor- respondence—and therefore I aliall have neither eyes nor memory for anything that may appear MS on ie Sede? PP eign ee ee Ee EE gee US ET oe eer eee Se el ai ia TAA NE SS SR at I PO AD 0 FRE Nr OO TEA ET ERO Ry TE EEE SG EE STATOR ER CONIC OO (C cS) CO