420

LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.

closed door of communication between the two rooms,in a joking, “larking” manner. Presently one of them,■who it seems was looking through the key hole of ourdoor, being violently pushed from behind by one of hisblackguard comrades, burst open the door and came boltinto the room. At that instant I was engaged in carving a“ Dinde aux truffles.” The ladies screamed—and I jumpedup, carving knife in one hand, and a chair for a shield inthe other ; rushing upon the intruder, he hastily retreated,—I after him—calling him and his comrades all the“polissons” blackguards, &c., that I could muster. Luckywas he and his party to make their exit by the other door :they had not time to seize their swords that were hangingon the hat pegs : so, satisfied with the lesson I had giventhem, I returned to my friends who, by this time, hadarmed themselves with pokers, knives, and chairs, and werehastening to my assistance. But the enemy had fled, andshortly after they sent Janiot, the host, to solicit an inter-view, in order to apologise for what they had the candourto confess was very improper conduct. So the affair wassettled without further notice; except that it got windamongst my Neapolitan friends who not a little chuckled atthe discomfiture of the French .

An acquaintance of mine, a man of great literary powerand acumen, who has been reading some portions of mymanuscript, objects to several passages in which I inferen-tially cast obloquy on Sir Hudson Lowe, Sir Sidney Smith ,Prince Canosa, Lord Nelson , and several other personswhose actions it has been my task to record. I cannot agreewith the gentleman in this matter ; I am decidedly adverseto the inquisition into private life, or for trying men inpublic situations, not for the manner in which they dischargetheir public duties, but for their private peculiarities orvices. Good qualities in private life, even where they exist