are now, it is true, being written, and two monthly magazines, taking opposite sides, are throwing much light on what happened in the provinces, ignored by Louis Blanc and Michelet; but scarcely more than a beginning has been made. It may, however, be conjectured that as many Englishmen suffered imprisonment or death outside Paris as within it.
When Lyons was recaptured by the Jacobins in October 1793, four persons of British nationality or descent perished in the wholesale fusillades perpetrated by the victors. The most prominent of these was Joseph Smith, a civil engineer born in Paris, who happened to be at Lyons, and rendered great service by casting cannon. He bore the rank of lieutenant-colonel of artillery. According to Balleydier, he solved an important engineering problem the very day he was shot, and carried the secret to the grave. Précy, one of the few leaders who escaped, gives a minute account of the last desperate sortie. On entering the village of Bagnols he heard that two fugitives had been arrested there. He demanded their release. The municipality hesitated, but he threatened, and at last the two men were brought. One of them was Smith, who urged Précy to leave his troop and try to escape alone. Smith gave him his cloak and his provision of chocolate. Précy with great difficulty got to Switzerland. Smith with the rest of the troop was captured, and two days afterwards (October 14th)
