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MEMOIRS OF THE SANSONS.

CHAPTER I.

ORIGIN OF MY FAMILY.

My family came from one of the most ancient stocks in France. I heard from my grandfather that, having visited Milan, he discovered in the Ambrosian Library a number of documents in which a Sanson was mentioned as being Seneschal of the Duke of Normandy, better known as Robert the Devil, and as having joined a Crusade to the Holy Land. My grandfather was extremely fond of historical and archæological studies; he assured us that all the ancient chroniclers whose writings he had read, Villehardouin, Guy, Martial d'Auvergne, Rigaud and Joinville, designated the Sansons as bannerets of the Dukes of Normandy; that they had seen not only the Crusades, but the Conquest of England and the expeditions of Robert Guiscard and his sons, when these heroic Neustrian adventurers fought for the Pope against the Saracens, and founded the principalities and kingdoms of Southern Italy. This is a legend; and as no family, I may almost say no

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nation, can possibly explain the mystery of its origin otherwise than by hypothesis and conjecture, I hasten to enter the more trustworthy demesnes of reality.

In the fifteenth century my family was established at Abbeville, and held a most honourable place in the history of the town. If I admit the accuracy of my grandfather's speculations, it seems certain that the Sansons were somewhat below their former splendour. At the time they belonged to the high and rich bourgeoisie, which was a link between the nobility and the Tiers État, and possessed, like the former, the privilege of serving the king, as officers, while the latter was deprived of municipal dignities and honours. Several Sansons filled the office of Echevin of Abbeville. One of the members of the family served Henry IV. throughout all his wars, and he was seriously wounded at Fontaine-Française, where the King of Béarn himself was well-nigh captured and slain by the Spanish cavalry. When the Peace of Vervins put an end to civil and foreign strife, this brave companion of the great Henry returned to his native town, and until his death, which occurred on May 31, 1593, was honoured with the esteem and veneration of his fellowcitizens. His grandson was one of the most remarkable men of the first part of the seventeenth century. His name was Nicolas Sanson. He may be said to have been one of the fathers of modern geography. Born in 1600, this illustrious man already enjoyed European fame, when Cardinal de Richelieu, who was no man to leave in a provincial town one who could help him in

his vast projects of transatlantic colonisation, assigned him a suitable pension, and honoured him with particular affection. Louis XIII. also appreciated the merit of the geographer, and Nicolas Sanson received many tokens of royal favour. The seductions of the Court, and Nicolas Sanson's connection with the most exalted personages of the time, often retained him in Paris; but the want of solitude and quiet frequently led him back to Abbeville. In 1638, when Louis XIII. entered this last town, he declined the offer of a resting place worthy of royalty, and preferred partaking of his geographer's hospitality. A King of France, a Bourbon, slept for two nights beneath the roof of a family which later was to bear a hand on another Bourbon in the name of a revolutionary law. A singular hazard indeed!

Charles Sanson de Longval, who became the first of the branch whereof I am the last representative, was the lineal descendant of Nicolas Sanson. I have now done with those of my ancestors who were men and citizens. It is time to speak of those who were headsmen.

CHAPTER II.

CHARLES SANSON DE LONGVAL.

CHARLES SANSON was born at Abbeville in 1635. His father and mother died when he was still in the cradle. He had a brother, Jean-Baptiste Sanson, who was born in 1624, and was therefore eleven years older than he, Their uncle, Pierre Brossier, sire of Limeuse, took the orphans under his protection. His kindness and tenderness greatly alleviated the melancholy of their situation. He had a daughter named Colombe; and he gave an equal share of affection to all three. Colombe Brossier and Charles Sanson were nearly of the same age. The intimacy of childhood made the ties of blood still faster and gave rise to mutual attachment. Their friendship became love. Neither Pierre Brossier nor Jean-Baptiste Sanson had any notion of the feelings of Charles and Colombe. And on a Sunday morning the former, having announced that he had just obtained for JeanBaptiste the office of Councillor at the Court of Abbeville, informed his daughter that the new councillor sued her hand, and that he (Pierre Brossier) highly approved of the match-in fact, that this marriage had been one

of his long cherished projects, and that the sooner it was accomplished the better.

In those times, more than in ours, a father's will was law, and no other course but to submit was left to Colombe Brossier. Much against her wishes she was wedded to Jean-Baptiste a short time after. As to Charles Sanson, his grief was so deep that he resolved to leave Europe. He left his relation, went to Rochefort, and embarked for Quebec, where he was received by one of his father's sisters, who resided there. His affection, however, seems to have resisted the test of travels and novel sights, for he constantly refused to see again his native country, and only returned to France after the death of his brother Jean-Baptiste, and of his wife Colombe, which occurred a few years after his departure. Charles Sanson was by this time familiar with almost every part of the world; he had seen the West Indies, the whole of America and the Levant; but his disappointed affection had brought on a dark mood and a bitterness which became chronic, and he regarded the world in anything but a sympathetic disposition.

Shortly after his return to France, Charles Sanson betook himself to arms, the military profession being generally adopted by gentlemen of his station. He bought a commission in the regiment of the Marquis de Laboissière, took part in the battle of Gravelines and other encounters, and, under his full name of Charles de Longval, acquired in his regiment a reputation for great proficiency and courage. It was in 1662 that happened the strange adventure which led to his falling from his

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