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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
130
On
the
retirement
of
his
father
the
family
removed
to
Frankfort
in
1847,
partly
from
motives
of
economy
and
partly
for
the
boy's
instruction.
Here
Fleeming
and
his
father
spent
a
pleasant
time
together,
sketching
old
castles,
and
observing
the
customs
of
the
peasantry.
Fleeming
was
precocious,
and
at
thirteen
had
finished
a
romance
of
three
hundred
lines
in
heroic
measure,
a
Scotch
novel,
and
innumerable
poetical
fragments,
none
of
which
are
now
extant.
He
learned
German
in
Frankfort;
and
on
the
family
migrating
to
Paris
the
following
year,
he
studied
French
and
mathematics
under
a
certain
M.
Deluc.
While
here,
Fleeming
witnessed
the
outbreak
of
the
Revolution
of
1848,
and
heard
the
first
shot.
In
a
letter
written
to
an
old
schoolfellow
while
the
sound
still
rang
in
his
ears,
and
his
hand
trembled
with
excitement,
he
gives
a
boyish
account
of
the
circumstances.
The
family
were
living
in
the
Rue
Caumartin,
and
on
the
evening
of
February
23
he
and
his
father
were
taking
a
walk
along
the
boulevards,
which
were
illuminated
for
joy
at
the
resignation
of
M.
Guizot.
They
passed
the
residence
of
the
Foreign
Minister,
which
was
guarded
with
troops,
and
further
on
encountered
a
band
of
rioters
marching
along
the
street
with
torches,
and
singing
the
Marseillaise.
After
them
came
a
rabble
of
men
and
women
of
all
sorts,
rich
and
poor,
some
of
them
armed
with
sticks
and
sabres.
They
turned
back
with
these,
the
boy
delighted
with
the
spectacle,
'I
remarked
to
papa'
(he
writes),'I
would
not
have
missed
the
scene
for
anything.
I
might
never
see
such
a
splendid
one;
when
PONG
went
one
shot.
Every
face
went
pale:
R--R--R--R--R
went
the
whole
detachment
[of
troops],
and
the
whole
crowd
of
gentlemen
and
ladies
turned
and
cut.
Such
a
scene!---ladies,
gentlemen,
and
vagabonds
went
sprawling
in
the
mud,
not
shot
but
tripped
up,
and
those
that
went
down
could
not
rise--they
were
trampled
over....
I
ran
a
short
time
straight
on
and
did
not
fall,
then
turned
down
a
side
street,
ran
fifty
yards,
and
felt
tolerably
safe;
looked
for
papa;
did
not
see
him;
so
walked
on
quickly,
giving
the
news
as
I
went.'
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