It’s also an element in one of the “Horatio Hornblower” novels.
Thank you for that information!! I want to do more research on this aspect of French history. Both my triple great grandparents were killed in the Franco-Prussian war. Their son, my great great grandfather, was orphaned and adopted by sailors who took him aboard their ship, enrolling him in schools as the traveled around the Mediterranean. In the process, he learned 7 languages. As an adult, he served as a translator in the Irish Royal Court. When he and his Irish wife immigrated to the US around 1870, however, the only housing they could find as catholics, was in the Hell's Kitchen section of NYC. He struggled to find employment. Persecution takes many forms.