Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
Monsieur Violet, by Captain Marryat.
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Captain Frederick Marryat was born July 10 1792, and died August 8 1848.He retired from the British navy in 1828 in order to devote himself towriting. In the following 20 years he wrote 26 books, many of which areamong the very best of English literature, and some of which are stillin print.
Marryat had an extraordinary gift for the invention of episodes in hisstories. He says somewhere that when he sat down for the day's work, henever knew what he was going to write. He certainly was a literarygenius.
"Monsieur Violet" was published in 1843, the twentieth book to flow fromMarryat's pen. It was written after Marryat's visit to America, theDiary of which had been published in 1839. Much of the material forthis book must have been gathered during that visit. The setting isNorth America.
This e-text was transcribed in 1998 by Nick Hodson, and was reformattedseveral times during recent years.
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MONSIEUR VIOLET, BY CAPTAIN FREDERICK MARRYAT.
CHAPTER ONE.
The Revolution of 1830, which deprived Charles the Tenth of the throneof France, like all other great and sudden changes, proved the ruin ofmany individuals, more especially of many ancient families who wereattached to the Court, and who would not desert the exiled monarch inhis adversity. Among the few who were permitted to share his fortuneswas my father, a noble gentleman of Burgundy, who at a former period andduring a former exile, had proved his unchangeable faith and attachmentto the legitimate owners of the crown of France.
The ancient royal residence of Holyrood having been offered, as aretreat, to his unhappy master, my father bade an eternal adieu to hiscountry and with me, his only son, then but nine years of age, followedin the suite of the monarch, and established himself in Edinburgh.
Our residence in Scotland was not long. Charles the Tenth decided upontaking up his abode at Prague. My father went before him to make thenecessary arrangements; and as soon as his master was established there,he sought by travel to forget his griefs. Young as I was, I was hiscompanion. Italy, Sicily, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, and the Holy Land wereall visited in the course of three years, after which time we returnedto Italy; and being then twelve years old, I was placed for my educationin the Propaganda at Rome.
For an exile who is ardently attached to his country there is no repose.Forbidden to return to his beloved France, there was no retreat whichcould make my father forget his griefs, and he continued as restless andas unhappy as ever.
Shortly after that I had been placed in the Propaganda, my father fellin with an old friend, a friend of his youth, whom he had not met withfor years, once as gay and as happy as he had been, now equallysuffering and equally restless. This friend was the Italian PrinceSeravalle, who also had drank deep of the cup of bitterness. In hisyouth, feeling deeply the decadence, both moral and physical, of hiscountry, he had attempted to strike a blow to restore it to its formersplendour; he headed a conspiracy, expended a large portion of hiswealth in pursuit of his object, was betrayed by his associates, and formany years was imprisoned by the authorities in the Castle of SanAngelo.
How long his confinement lasted I know not, but it must have been a longwhile, as in after-times, when he would occasionally revert to hisformer life, all the incidents he related were for years "when he was inhis dungeon, or in the court-yard prison of the Capitol," where many ofhis ancestors had dictated laws to nations.
At last the Prince was restored to freedom, but captivity had made noalteration in his feelings or sentiments. His love for his country, andhis desire for its regeneration, were as strong as ever, and he verysoon placed himself at the head of the Carbonari, a sect which, yearsafterwards, was rendered illustrious by the constancy and sufferings ofa Maroncelli, a Silvio Pellico, and many others.
The Prince was again detected and arrested, but he was not thrown intoprison. The government had been much weakened and the well-knownopinions and liberality of the Prince had rendered him so popular withthe Trasteverini, or northern inhabitants of the Tiber, that policyforbade either his captivity or destruction. He was sentenced to bebanished for (I think) ten years.
During his long banishment, the Prince Seravalle wandered over variousportions of the globe, and at last found himself in Mexico. After aresidence at Vera Cruz, he travelled into the interior, to examine theremains of the ancient cities of the Western World; and impelled by histhirst for knowledge and love of adventure, he at last arrived on thewestern coast of America, and passing through California, fell in withthe Shoshones, or Snake Indians, occupying a large territory extendingfrom the Pacific to nearly the feet of the Rocky Mountains. Pleasedwith the manners and customs and native nobility of this tribe ofIndians, the Prince remained with them for a considerable time, andeventually decided that he would return once more to his country, nowthat his term of banishment had expired; not to resettle in anungrateful land, but to collect his property and return to theShoshones, to employ it for their benefit and advancement.
There was, perhaps, another feeling, even more powerful, which inducedthe Prince Seravalle to return to the Indians with whom he had lived solong. I refer to the charms and attraction which a wild life offers tothe man of civilisation, more particularly when he has discovered howhollow and heartless we become under refinement.
Not one Indian who has been brought up at school, and among thepleasures and luxuries of a great city, has ever wished to make hisdwelling among the pale faces; while, on the contrary, many thousands ofwhite men, from the highest to the lowest stations in civilisation, haveembraced the life of the savage, remaining with and dying among them,although they might have accumulated wealth, and returned to their owncountry.
This appears strange, but it is nevertheless true. Any intelligenttraveller, who has remained a few weeks in the wigwams of well-disposedIndians, will acknowledge that the feeling was strong upon him evenduring so short a residence. What must it then be on those who haveresided with the Indians for years?
It was shortly after the Prince's return to Italy to fulfil hisbenevolent intentions, that my father renewed his old friendship--afriendship of early years, so strong that their adverse politics couldnot weaken it. The Prince was then at Leghorn; he had purchased avessel, loaded it with implements of agriculture and various branches ofthe domestic arts; he had procured some old pieces of artillery, a largequantity of carabines from Liege, gunpowder, etcetera; materials forbuilding a good house, and a few articles of ornament and luxury. Hislarge estates were all sold to meet these extraordinary expenses. Hehad also engaged masons, smiths, and carpenters, and he was to beaccompanied by some of his former tenants, who well understood thecultivation of the olive-tree and vine.
It was in the autumn of 1833 when he was nearly ready to start, that hefell in with my father, told him his adventures and his future plans,and asked him to accompany him. My father, who was tired and disgustedwith every thing, blase au fond, met the Prince more than half way.
Our property in France had all been disposed of at a great sacrifice atthe time of the Revolution. All my father possessed was in money andjewels. He resolved to risk all, and to settle with the Prince in thisfar distant land. Several additions were consequently made to the cargoand to the members composing the expedition.
Two priests had already engaged to act as missionaries. Anxious for myeducation, my father provided an extensive library, and paid a large sumto the Prior of a Dominican convent to permit the departure w
ith us ofanother worthy man, who was well able to superintend my education. Twoof the three religious men who had thus formed our expedition had beengreat travellers, and had already carried the standard of the cross eastof the Ganges in the Thibetian and Burman empires.
In order to avoid any difficulties from the government, the PrinceSeravalle had taken the precaution to clear the vessel out forGuatemala, and the people at Leghorn fully believed that such was hisobject. But Guatemala and Acapulco were left a long way south of usbefore we arrived at our destination.
At last every thing was prepared. I was sent for from the Propaganda--the stock of wines, etcetera, were the last articles which were shipped,and the Esmeralda started on her tedious, and by no means certainvoyage.