I again pressed his hand, and then got into the carriage, and seated myself between the two soldiers.
This time my vehicle was an open one, and as it traversed the long way from the Castle of St. Angelo to the Piazza della Minerva, I saw and was seen by many persons. I was regarded with curiosity. It was, indeed a singular spectacle to behold a prisoner of the Inquisition under the guard of the French Republic.
I found the Capitaine Rapporteur even more conciliatory in his deportment towards me than he was before, and I felt persuaded that he entertained a personal sympathy towards me. I will not, however, repeat our conversation. I will only say that it cheered me greatly, and made me feel so thoroughly as if I were my own master, that I determined to try if it could really be the case.
I walked into an ante-chamber, where I saw several sets of military garbs and accoutrements. In a moment I found myself in the uniform of a French soldier. I proceeded towards the doors on the landing; they were open; not a single individual anywhere to be seen, to oppose my egress. It was half after five in the evening, consequently dusk. I did what any one else, I suppose, in my situation would have done, and I did it with a smile of confidence and joy. I descended into the Piazza della Minerva, passed through the Strada Pie-di-Marmo, the Piazza del Collegio Romano, and walked down the Corso, in my military garb. Unrecognised, uninterrupted, I arrived at a place where I changed my dress. Here I found money prepared for me; a passport and a carriage with post-horses were soon ready, and at seven in the evening I beheld myself beyond the walls of Rome!
I offered up my thanksgiving to the Lord, and implored his blessing upon my country, my brethren, and the infant church, which will one day shine forth in all the lustre of truth, so that it may again be said of the Romans, that "their faith is spoken of throughout the whole world."
In six hours after leaving Rome I arrived at Civita Vecchia, where I rested till morning. I then delivered several letters, and afterwards went on board a French steamer of war. The whole of that day I passed in port, engaged, the greatest portion of it, in returning my grateful thanks to my Almighty Father, and praying to Him to provide for me in all respects. I likewise, finding I had an opportunity of getting it posted, wrote a farewell letter to my brethren in Rome.
The next day we sailed for Toulon, whence I proceeded to Marseilles, and thence to Lyons; where I stopped a day, to embrace my excellent friend, Mr. Fisch, and other brethren, who felt as if they could not bless and thank the Lord enough, for my unexpected liberation. In Paris I was greeted with the same rejoicings. Oh, what enjoyments has the Christian life, even in this world! In my own case all that I have suffered now seems sweet and delightful to me. It is indeed to my body like a dream; but to my spirit it is a precious and enduring reality. Never, I hope, shall I forget the gratitude, which, under God, I owe to the brethren of the Evangelical Alliance, who have indeed set an example with regard to myself, of the most edifying Christian charity.
At Paris I laid aside my incognito, which in fact was of no use to me after I embarked at Civita Vecchia; but the French government, through whose assistance I had escaped, stipulated that I should not resume my own name before I reached Paris. It was consequently my duty to obey. Several among the old ministry assured me that they would have gladly lent me their services, had they been in power; but as that was not the case, they rejoiced in seeing it done by others: they seemed indeed to be of opinion that the way in which my liberation had been effected, was the only one that could have been adopted to avoid a dispute with the Pontifical government; that, on the other hand, had I been suffered to remain in prison, it would have been a lasting disgrace to France, to have it said that the power of the Inquisition was restored and upheld through her medium; they added that if assistance had not been afforded me at an earlier period, it was only because it had been given out that I was confined on account of moral delinquencies, and not for my religious tenets.
"And I," said the ex-minister, "was one of the first to be misled by these charges; but when they were all proved to be malignant inventions, brought forward only to injure you, there was but one wish on the subject, and that was to see you set at liberty."
Notwithstanding this flattering testimony of the ex-minister, I have no doubt there were many, even among the French, who would much rather I had remained in the power of the Inquisition; the Jesuit party especially, among whom were several members of the National Assembly, were loud in their outcries against me, and renewed in their journals their old calumnies, which had so often been answered before, and to which the act of the government itself, in liberating me, was more than a sufficient reply.