Alfred

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Excerpt from Alfred: Or the Adventures of a French Gentleman Towards the close of the year 1793, when the horrors of the French Revolution expelled so many noble emigrants from their unhappy country to seek an asylum on the hospitable shores of England, whose sons are ever ready to afford shelter and protection to the political sufferers of other climes, a post-chaise drove up to the door of a hotel in Leicester Square, and a foreigner of commanding aspect, and aristocratic mien, descended the steps of the vehicle, crying involuntarily, "thank God! we are at length safe in the metropolis of England!" He then assisted a lady to alight from the carriage, which she did with difficulty, for in her arms she carried a sleeping babe that had scarcely breathed the air of this world eight or ten months. The landlord received the strangers with obsequious bows, for they were evidently of high rank - if manners and appearance form a criterion to judge of the position of individuals in the wide circle of society - although they merely gave as their names Monsieur and Madame d'Estelle, without any titular appendage. Of one thing, however, they made no secret: too much rejoiced at having escaped the persecutions awaiting them in their own country, the illustrious foreigners did not scruple to confess that they were emigrants from the distracted territory of France, whose ambitious rulers had changed the principles of a glorious revolution into the hateful tyranny of murderous despots. But they had not left their native clime as beggars on the face of the earth: they were aware that many of their unfortunate fellow-countrymen had already put the charitable disposition of the compassionate English to a repeated test, and they had wisely provided themselves with that which now-a-days has become "the one thing needful." M. d'Estelle, and his affectionate wife, who insisted upon sharing the adversity as well as the prosperity of her husband, resided about a week at the hotel in Leicester Square, whence they removed to a comfortable lodging which they hired in the Haymarket. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.