When I least expected what
was to happen, I received a letter from the bailiff of Nidau, within
whose jurisdiction the island of St. Peter was; by his letter he
announced to me from their excellencies an order to quit the island
and their states. I thought myself in a dream. Nothing could be less
natural, reasonable, or foreseen than such an order: for I had
considered my apprehensions as the result of inquietude in a man whose
imagination was disturbed by his misfortunes, and not to proceed
from a foresight which could have the least foundation. The measures I
had taken to insure myself the tacit consent of the sovereign, the
tranquillity with which I had been left to make my establishment,
the visits of several people from Berne, and that of the bailiff
himself, who had shown me such friendship and attention, and the rigor
of the season in which it was barbarous to expel a man who was
sickly and infirm, all these circumstances made me and many people
believe that there was some mistake in the order, and that
ill-disposed people had purposely chosen the time of the vintage and
the vacation of the senate suddenly to do me an injury.
Had I yielded to the first impulse of my indignation, I should
immediately have departed. But to what place was I to go? What was
to become of me at the beginning of the winter, without object,
preparation, guide, or carriage? Not to leave my papers and effects at
the mercy of the first comer, time was necessary to make proper
arrangements, and it was not stated in the order whether or not this
would be granted me.
Pages:
927
928
929
930
931
932
933
934
935
936
937
938
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951