That I was not the only one who justly appreciated the noble character of Georges is rendered evident by the following circumstance.  Having accompanied M. Carbonnet to the police, where he went to demand his papers, on the day of his removal to St. Pelagic, we were obliged to await the return of M. Real, who was absent.  M. Desmarets and several other persons were also in attendance.  M. Real had been at the Conciergerie, where he had seen Georges Cadoudal, and on his entrance observed to M. Desmarets and the others, sufficiently loud to be distinctly heard by M. Carbonnet and myself, “I have had an interview with Georges who is an extraordinary man.  I told him that I was disposed to offer him a pardon if he would promise to renounce the conspiracy and accept of employment under Government.  But to my arguments and persuasions he only replied, ’My comrades followed me to France, and I shall fellow them, to death.’” In this he kept his word.

Were we to judge these memorable proceedings from the official documents published in the Moniteur and other journals of that period, we should form a very erroneous opinion.  Those falsities were even the object of a very serious complaint on the part of Cosier St. Victor, one of the accused.

After the speech of M. Gauthier, the advocate of Coster St. Victor, the President inquired of the accused whether he had anything further to say in his defence, to which he replied, “I have only to add that the witnesses necessary to my exculpation have not yet appeared.  I must besides express my surprise at the means which have been employed to lead astray public opinion, and to load with infamy not only the accused but also their intrepid defenders.  I have read with pain in the journals of to-day that the proceedings—­” Here the President interrupting, observed that “these were circumstances foreign to the case.”—­“Not in the least,” replied Cosier St. Victor; “on the contrary, they bear very materially on the cause, since mangling and misrepresenting our defence is a practice assuredly calculated to ruin us in the estimation of the public.  In the journals of to-day the speech of M. Gauthier is shamefully garbled, and I should be deficient in gratitude were I not here to bear testimony to the zeal and courage which he has displayed in my defence.  I protest against the puerilities and absurdities which have been put into his mouth, and I entreat him not to relax in his generous efforts.  It is not on his account that I make this observation; he does not require it at my hands; it is for ’myself, it is for the accused, whom such arts tend to injure in the estimation of the public.”

Coster St. Victor had something chivalrous in his language and manners which spoke greatly in his favour; he conveyed no bad idea of one of the Fiesco conspirators, or of those leaders of the Fronds who intermingled gallantry with their politics.