Jean-Gabriel PELTIER, French Journalist (1760 - 1825) - CONTINUED


IN EXILE
He is 32 years old when he reaches London for a 30 years exile! He very quickly finds there a society, with most of its members living in poverty. To survive, Jean Gabriel has a mahogany mini-guillotine built up and decapitates some fowl daily on his stand (1)... the show costs from a shilling to a crown according to the location.
At the same time he begins to write about the days he has just lived through in Paris "Dernier Tableau de Paris", which meets with great success and is translated into English, (The late Picture of Paris; or narrative of the Revolution of the Tenth of August)
It is the beginning of a long series of newspapers, all short lived, with the exception of "Paris", published from 1795 to 1802. (William Pitt was a "Paris" subscriber during 1795) and the "Ambigu" which lasted 16 years. Very well documented, these papers had a great reputation in the countries where French émigrés had taken residence. Chateaubriand is a collaborator and publishes there "A Country Graveyard", an elegy imitating GRAY and his "General Answer".

Countess Walsh de Serrant
To improve his daily fare, Jean-Gabriel knows how to play the role of an intermediary and make use of its contacts with the Creoles of Saint Domingue and the people of Brittany. He speculates and gambles, which explains his reverses of fortune. During his prosperous periods he shares his affluence with friends like Chateaubriand. Jean-Gabriel is present at all society gatherings, the Countess Walsh de Serrant receives him. It is there that they read the works of his friend Fontanes, he sings, jokes and blusters at dinner parties. He is listened to, as he is generally well informed and has more than one string to his bow. His knowledge of the English language allows him to work for several London newspapers. He translates for the Foreign Office, from which he will receive a pension for "secret services" rendered! His contacts are such that he can intervene on behalf of French émigrés writers and obtain for them subsidies from the Literary Fund. During this time his brother Marie-Etienne is a prisoner on English pontoons... But in that case, he does not intervene as their opinions are too dissimilar.
On the 13th. of July 1799 Jean-Gabriel weds Anne Andoe (the daughter of an Irish distiller established in Bordeaux). Fontanes writes of her: "She seems to gather what is best in France and in England". She manages to turn him into a "changed and tender" man, in spite of all this,

during his bankruptcy examination, they find numerous unpaid invoices for her jewellery. Some years later, Anne Peltier, to preserve her wealth, seeks a financial separation.
Amidst all his various activities Jean-Gabriel plays an important role in an adventure fit for a novel: the Charlotte Walpole (Mrs. Atkins) scheme (2). Having fallen under the spell of the Queen during her travels through France, Mrs. Atkins decides to attempt to free Louis XVI. The King death shortly afterwards, leads her to return alone to Paris and try to see the Queen, a useless visit. When she too dies, Mrs. Atkins decides to abduct the Dauphin and to substitute another child. Peltier does not join in the plot as it is bound to fail. Mrs. Atkins will loose her fortune, victim of crooks and her own extravagance. She went as far as purchasing a ship to cruise along the French coast. She died a pauper, very badly recompensed for her devotion to the Bourbon's cause.
Queen Marie-Antoinette

THE COURT CASE

Taking sides in all quarrels between émigrés, in his paper the "Paris", Peltier keeps the best of his spirited pen for "Buonaparte", his Majesty Napoléon-Ali-Buonaparté and family, to the point of inciting the wrath of the 1st. Consul. Untouchable as long as England and France are at war, Peltier is sued for defamation of Napoleon at the time of the Amiens peace treaty. The trial opens on the 21st. of February 1803 at Westminster, on one side Bonaparte First Consul ( and « assigned» journalist at the « Moniteur » the only authorised paper in France) on the other Peltier and the « Ambigu », supported by the majority of the British opposition press, the English government claiming to uphold the "Freedom of the Press... In spite of a ridiculous argument the trial is important! Peltier has one of the best barristers,

James Mackintosh, whose speeches for the defence are widely circulated around Europe. Before an audience of ambassadors, the jury takes less than a minute to find Jean-Gabriel guilty, but the sentence is never carried out. Peltier, as well as Napoleon, is not satisfied with the verdict. French newspapers are prohibited to laud the proceedings under threat of suspension! Napoleon's ultimate revenge (3): the confiscation of Peltier's property in France.

Until the end the "Ambigu" will pursue its attacks against Napoleon, denouncing the loss of human life, condemning his victories... Jean Gabriel's analyses of the Spanish and Russian campaigns are farsighted, he relies on excerpts from foreign papers and compares the proclamations of the opposing armies. The fall of the Emperor fills him with joy.

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(1) From Carpenter, "Refugees of the French Revolution", p. 73).
(2) Find Jean Gabriel in the historical novel "La Messe Rouge" (The Red Mass) by Juliette BEZONI
Editions PLON, 75284 PARIS
(3) After Jean-Gabriel Peltier.

Frontispiece of the Ambigu added on to the newspaper after the Napoleon's court case.