[65] He was born in 1841, in the department of the Rhône. His
education was completed very early. At the age of twenty he was
engaged on two journals of the opposition, _La Jeune France_, and _La
Jeunesse_. Those papers were soon suppressed, and their young
contributor was imprisoned for three months. In 1864 he became one of
the staff of the _Presse_, whence he passed to the _Liberté_ in 1866.
Two years later he founded the _Courrier Français_; but from the
multiplicity of fines imposed upon it, and from the imprisonment of
its founder, the new journal expired very shortly. After a year’s
incarceration at Sainte-Pélagie, Vermorel was engaged on the
_Réforme_, which continued to appear until the fall of the Empire.
During the siege he served as a private in the National Guard. He
became a member of the Committee of Justice under the Commune, and was
one of those who, at its fall, neither deserted nor disgraced it. He
is reported to have mounted a barricade armed only with a cane, crying
“I come here to die and not to fight.” His mother obtained permission
to transport his remains to Venice.