Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1853-04-20

to him, in the form of notes, all the infor-
nation which he could procure, and which
could throw light upon the history of
French establishments in North America.
On his side, Mr.. WILLIAMS, who did not
appear less curious to understand
thoroughly this same history, asked the
Prince to transmit to him all the documents
which related to it. and which could be
found in the archives ofthe French Gov
ernment.
.sOn his arrival at Green Bay. the
Prince was detained during half day. by
the difficulty of procuring the mum Der
of horses necessary for the journey, which
he was about to undertake. Mr.. Will
LIAMs pressed him earnestly to accom-
pany him to settlement of Iroquois Indi-
ans, established near Green Bay. among
whom, he said, were still many who re-
membered their Eastern fathers, and who
would receive with delight the son of the
Great Chief of France. The Prince de-
clined this offer, and pursued his jour-
ney.
"Since then, some letters have been
exchanged between Mr.. Williams and the
persons attached to the Prince, on the
subject of the documents in question:
Thus the letter or NJ. Touchard, cited in
the article of the Monthly Magazine, must
be authentic. Mr.. Williams could also
equally have produced one which l re-
member to have written to him upon the
same subject.
" But there ends all which the article
contains of'truth, CONCERNING the relations
of the Prince with MIR. Williams. All the
rest, t,all which treatsof the revelation which
The Prince made TO Mr.. Williams, of the
mystery of his birth, all which concerns
the pretended parsonage of Louis XVII,
is, from one end to the other, a work of
imagination a fable woven wholesale ;
a speculation upon the public credulity.-
If. by chance, any of the readers of the
Monthly Ndga=ine should be disposed to
avow belief in it, they should procure
from Paris a book which has been very
recently published by NJ. Beauchesne.-
They will there find concering the life and
death of the unfortunate Dauphin, the
mos circumstan.il Il and positive details.
1t remains for me to repeat TO you. Sir,
that you can make OF this letter such use
as you may Judge proper, and to offer to
you at the same time, the assurance of
my distinguished consideration.
(Signcd, AUG. TROGNON.
. Former Preccptor and Secretary for the
commands OF the Prince dc Joinville. :"
This is certainly II very explicit and en-
phatic denial of the very material stale
ment3 of Mr.. Williams. Mr.. Hanson
meets it by impeaching the veracity of
the Prince. He brings no new evidence
to sustain the allegations of Mr.. Williams,
and adduces no facts to rebute the Prince
de JoinvL!e' 5 denial Of them. But he Sc
lects one from the Princes ayerments-
and that by no means the most impor-
tans-and seeks to disprove it. drawing
the inference that if this statement be
false. all the others must be so also.
The Prince in his letter states that
! g finding himself at Mackinac he met on
board the steamboat Il passenger, whose
face he thinks he recognizes in the portrait
given in the magazine, but whose name
had entirely escaped his memory" Mr..
Hanson urges that the Prince in this
passage ascribes his meeting with Mr..
Williams entirely to chance whereas, in
point of fact, he says-it can be proved
that he sought the interview with MIR. Will
liams. The proof offered in support of
this statement is embodied in the follow
ing letters-which we copy, together
with Mr.. Hansou's comments upon them
Letter from Captain Shook to Rsv. j. FL.
Hanson.
Huron, Feb. 9, 1858.
REV. AND DEAR SIR {: Yours of the
18th inst, together with the FEBRUARY num-
ber of Putnam's Monthly came duly o
hard 1t gives me great pleasure to COM
! nd nl of
what took place between tn Prince de
Joinville and Rev. Eleazar Williams. upon
the steamer COiUn6US, from Mackinac TO
Green Bay, l have carefully read your
article in the Monthly and so far as mat
ters relating to me so, the reverend gen
tleman has stated things truly. l have a
very vivid and distinct recollection of the
introduction of the Prince to Rev. Mr..
Williams, and of the apparent surprise
manifested by the Prince ON the occasion,
and furthermore, could not but wonder
mys, lf.why he should pay to an humble and
unpretending Indian missionary, such
pointed and polite attention. l have long
known Rev. Mr.. Williams, and seen much
of him in our voyages up and down the
Lakes, and have always found him an
amiable, upwright gentlemanly man and
to be relied upon in any statement he
may make. l would again repeat, that
what he has stated in relation to me is
literally true. If have not met your
mind in this reply, please to right again,
and put the matter to ME in the form OF
of questions You say, g l believe that
the Prince gave to you gold snuff box
upon the occasions" He did, and l
prize it highly. @
If you need an affidavit on the subject,
[ am willing and ready to give it. With
sentiments of high regard, l am
| Yours, JOHN SHOOK.