A Beleaguered City

by Mrs. Oliphant

  Produced by Stan Goodman and PG Distributed Proofreaders

  A BELEAGUERED CITY

  BEING

  A NARRATIVE OF CERTAIN RECENT EVENTS IN THE CITY OF SEMUR, IN THEDEPARTMENT OF THE HAUTE BOURGOGNE

  A STORY OF THE SEEN AND THE UNSEEN

  by Mrs. Oliphant

  1900

  THE AUTHOR inscribes this little Book, with tender and gratefulgreetings, to those whose sympathy has supported her through many andlong years, the kind audience of her UNKNOWN FRIENDS.

  THE NARRATIVE OF M. LE MAIRE: THE CONDITION OF THE CITY.

  I, Martin Dupin (de la Clairiere), had the honour of holding the officeof Maire in the town of Semur, in the Haute Bourgogne, at the time whenthe following events occurred. It will be perceived, therefore, that noone could have more complete knowledge of the facts--at once from myofficial position, and from the place of eminence in the affairs of thedistrict generally which my family has held for many generations--bywhat citizen-like virtues and unblemished integrity I will not be vainenough to specify. Nor is it necessary; for no one who knows Semur canbe ignorant of the position held by the Dupins, from father to son. Theestate La Clairiere has been so long in the family that we might verywell, were we disposed, add its name to our own, as so many families inFrance do; and, indeed, I do not prevent my wife (whose prejudices Irespect) from making this use of it upon her cards. But, for myself,_bourgeois_ I was born and _bourgeois_ I mean to die. My residence, likethat of my father and grandfather, is at No. 29 in the Grande Rue,opposite the Cathedral, and not far from the Hospital of St. Jean. Weinhabit the first floor, along with the _rez-de-chaussee,_ which hasbeen turned into domestic offices suitable for the needs of the family.My mother, holding a respected place in my household, lives with us inthe most perfect family union. My wife (_nee_ de Champfleurie) iseverything that is calculated to render a household happy; but, alas oneonly of our two children survives to bless us. I have thought thesedetails of my private circumstances necessary, to explain the followingnarrative; to which I will also add, by way of introduction, a simplesketch of the town itself and its general conditions before theseremarkable events occurred.

  It was on a summer evening about sunset, the middle of the month ofJune, that my attention was attracted by an incident of no importancewhich occurred in the street, when I was making my way home, after aninspection of the young vines in my new vineyard to the left of LaClairiere. All were in perfectly good condition, and none of the manysigns which point to the arrival of the insect were apparent. I had comeback in good spirits, thinking of the prosperity which I was happy tobelieve I had merited by a conscientious performance of all my duties. Ihad little with which to blame myself: not only my wife and relations,but my dependants and neighbours, approved my conduct as a man; and evenmy fellow-citizens, exacting as they are, had confirmed in my favour thegood opinion which my family had been fortunate enough to secure fromfather to son. These thoughts were in my mind as I turned the corner ofthe Grande Rue and approached my own house. At this moment the tinkle ofa little bell warned all the bystanders of the procession which wasabout to pass, carrying the rites of the Church to some dying person.Some of the women, always devout, fell on their knees. I did not go sofar as this, for I do not pretend, in these days of progress, to haveretained the same attitude of mind as that which it is no doubt becomingto behold in the more devout sex; but I stood respectfully out of theway, and took off my hat, as good breeding alone, if nothing else,demanded of me. Just in front of me, however, was Jacques Richard,always a troublesome individual, standing doggedly, with his hat uponhis head and his hands in his pockets, straight in the path of M. leCure. There is not in all France a more obstinate fellow. He stoodthere, notwithstanding the efforts of a good woman to draw him away, andthough I myself called to him. M. le Cure is not the man to flinch; andas he passed, walking as usual very quickly and straight, his soutanebrushed against the blouse of Jacques. He gave one quick glance frombeneath his eyebrows at the profane interruption, but he would notdistract himself from his sacred errand at such a moment. It is a sacrederrand when any one, be he priest or layman, carries the best he cangive to the bedside of the dying. I said this to Jacques when M. le Curehad passed and the bell went tinkling on along the street. 'Jacques,'said I, 'I do not call it impious, like this good woman, but I call itinhuman. What! a man goes to carry help to the dying, and you show himno respect!'

  This brought the colour to his face; and I think, perhaps, that he mighthave become ashamed of the part he had played; but the women pushed inagain, as they are so fond of doing. 'Oh, M. le Maire, he does notdeserve that you should lose your words upon him!' they cried; 'and,besides, is it likely he will pay any attention to you when he tries tostop even the _bon Dieu_?'

  'The _bon Dieu!_' cried Jacques. 'Why doesn't He clear the way forhimself? Look here. I do not care one farthing for your _bon Dieu_. Hereis mine; I carry him about with me.' And he took a piece of a hundredsous out of his pocket (how had it got there?) '_Vive l'argent_' hesaid. 'You know it yourself, though you will not say so. There is no_bon Dieu_ but money. With money you can do anything. _L'argent c'est lebon Dieu_.'

  'Be silent,' I cried, 'thou profane one!' And the women were still moreindignant than I. 'We shall see, we shall see; when he is ill and wouldgive his soul for something to wet his lips, his _bon Dieu_ will not domuch for him,' cried one; and another said, clasping her hands with ashrill cry, 'It is enough to make the dead rise out of their graves!'

  'The dead rise out of their graves!' These words, though one has heardthem before, took possession of my imagination. I saw the rude fellow goalong the street as I went on, tossing the coin in his hand. One time itfell to the ground and rang upon the pavement, and he laughed moreloudly as he picked it up. He was walking towards the sunset, and I too,at a distance after. The sky was full of rose-tinted clouds floatingacross the blue, floating high over the grey pinnacles of the Cathedral,and filling the long open line of the Rue St. Etienne down which he wasgoing. As I crossed to my own house I caught him full against the light,in his blue blouse, tossing the big silver piece in the air, and heardhim laugh and shout _'Vive l'argent!_ This is the only _bon Dieu_.'Though there are many people who live as if this were their sentiment,there are few who give it such brutal expression; but some of the peopleat the corner of the street laughed too. 'Bravo, Jacques!' they cried;and one said, 'You are right, _mon ami_, the only god to trust innowadays.' 'It is a short _credo_, M. le Maire,' said another, whocaught my eye. He saw I was displeased, this one, and his countenancechanged at once.

  'Yes, Jean Pierre,' I said, 'it is worse than short--it is brutal. Ihope no man who respects himself will ever countenance it. It is againstthe dignity of human nature, if nothing more.'

  'Ah, M. le Maire!' cried a poor woman, one of the good ladies of themarket, with entrenchments of baskets all round her, who had beenwalking my way; 'ah, M. le Maire! did not I say true? it is enough tobring the dead out of their graves.'

  'That would be something to see,' said Jean Pierre, with a laugh; 'and Ihope, _ma bonne femme_, that if you have any interest with them, youwill entreat these gentlemen to appear before I go away.'

  'I do not like such jesting,' said I. 'The dead are very dead and willnot disturb anybody, but even the prejudices of respectable personsought to be respected. A ribald like Jacques counts for nothing, but Idid not expect this from you.'

  'What would you, M. le Maire?' he said, with a shrug of his shoulders.'We are made like that. I respect prejudices as you say. My wife is agood woman, she prays for two--but me! How can I tell that Jacques isnot right after all? A _grosse piece_ of a hundred sous, one sees that,one knows what it can do--but for the other!' He thrust up one shoulderto his ear, and turned up the p
alms of his hands.

  'It is our duty at all times to respect the convictions of others,' Isaid, severely; and passed on to my own house, having no desire toencourage discussions at the street corner. A man in my position isobliged to be always mindful of the example he ought to set. But I hadnot yet done with this phrase, which had, as I have said, caught my earand my imagination. My mother was in the great _salle_ of the_rez-de-chausee,_ as I passed, in altercation with a peasant who hadjust brought us in some loads of wood. There is often, it seems to me, asort of _refrain_ in conversation, which one catches everywhere as onecomes and goes. Figure my astonishment when I heard from the lips of mygood mother the same words with which that good-for-nothing JacquesRichard had made the profession of his