A GRAPHIC NARRATIVE

To get the King here from Honfleur the following method was adopted: M. Bresson, a loyal and intelligent officer in the French Navy and well known to the King, and Mr Jones, my Vice-Consul and principal Clerk, went in the steam ferry-boat a quarter before five P.M. to Honfleur. From the landing-place it is three-quarters of a mile to the place where the King and Queen were concealed. The ferry-boat was to leave Honfleur for Havre a quarter before seven o'clock. I had given M. Bresson a passport for Mr and Mrs Smith, and with this passport the King was to walk to the landing-place, where he was to be met by my Vice-Consul and be governed by him.

If the gens d'armes disputed his passport Mr Jones was to vouch for its regularity, and say that he was sent by me to conduct Mr Smith to Havre, who was my Uncle. M. Bresson was to follow with the Queen, and the rest of the suite were to come to the ferry-boat one after another, but none of the party were to know each other. The ferry-boat was to arrive in Havre about half-past seven, and I was to do the rest. A white pocket-handkerchief was to be twice exhibited as a signal that all was right so far. The difficulty of the gens d'armes being infinitely more to be provided against and apprehended here, I first confidentially communicated to the greatest gossips in the town that I had seen a written statement from an official person that the King had reached England in a fishing-boat from the neighbourhood of Tréport, and then got some persons whom I could rely upon, sons of my tradesmen here who are in the National Guard, to be near the steamer that was to receive the King, to give me their assistance if it should be necessary, on account of the turbulence of the crowd, to embark some friends of mine who were going to England. And if an extraordinary number of gens d'armes were stationed at the steamer, and they hesitated about letting my Uncle go on board, then about one hundred yards off I had two persons who were to pretend a quarrel and a fight, to which I knew the gens d'armes would all go as well as the crowd. In the meantime I hoped that as Captain Paul made no noise with his steam that the crowd would not assemble, and that we might find no gens d'armes. The anxiously expected moment at length arrived. The ferry-boat steamer came to the quay; it was almost dark, but I saw the white pocket-handkerchief. There was a great number of passengers, which favoured the debarkation. When half of them were out, the trembling Queen came up the ladder. I took her hand, told her it was me, and M. Bresson walked with her towards our steamer. At last came the King, disguised, his whiskers shaved off, a sort of casquette on his head, and a coarse overcoat, and immense goggles over his eyes. Not being able to see well, he stumbled, when I advanced, took his hand and said, "Ah, dear Uncle, I am delighted to see you." Upon which he answered, "My dear George, I am glad you are here." The English about me now opened the crowd for their Consul, and I moved off to a quiet and shaded part of the quay. But my dear Uncle talked so loud and so much that I had the greatest difficulty to make him keep silence. At length we reached the steamer; it was like a clock-work movement. The crowd was again opened for me. I conducted the King to a state-room below, gave him some information, and having personally ascertained that the Queen was in her cabin, and being very much touched with her tears and her grateful acknowledgments, I respectfully took my leave, gave the Captain the word to cut loose, and scrambled ashore. In twenty minutes the steamer was outside, steaming away for England. I drove down to the jetty, and had that last satisfaction of seeing her beyond all possibility of recall, and then drove home. Much has been said this morning about the mysterious departure of Captain Paul, and I have been obliged to confess that the gentleman I was seen conducting on board was a brother of the King of Naples, who was immensely frightened without cause, and that I had engaged the steamer for him and his family. Many think, however, that it was the King, but then again that could not be if he crossed over from Tréport in a fishing-boat. We have got everybody completely mystified, and there are only four persons in the secret, who will all remain in the same story.

I have scribbled, amidst the most hurried engagements, this little narrative, believing that it would interest your Lordship. It has the interest of romance and the support of truth. I have the honour to be, etc.

G. W. Featherstonhaugh.

Information has just reached me that one hour after the King and Queen left their hiding-place last night, and just when I was embarking them, an officer and three gens d'armes came to the place to arrest him. They were sent by the new Republican Préfet. It appears that the man who gave him refuge had confessed who he was as soon as the King had left Trouville, and had betrayed the King's hiding-place at Honfleur. What an escape! Your Lordship will see a paragraph in the enclosed newspaper not altogether false. We in the secret know nothing about Louis Philippe; we know something about the Count of Syracuse and something about Mr William Smith. If it leaks out, it must come from England. Here no one has any proof. In the meantime almost everybody here is delighted to think that he may have escaped.

[Footnote 9:] British Consul at Havre. This letter was submitted to the Queen by Lord Palmerston.

Viscount Palmerston to Queen Victoria.

ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND

Carlton Gardens, 3rd March 1848.