The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1853-03-31
1--we WE A BOURBON AMONG Us'


-, s,,;o,s as ever. Ii will be recollected
,ha, simultaneously with the publication OF 'hs
fra, article on the subject by Putnam oooS
,nnsared in Paris, written by q certain M
Rssuehesne. which claimed TO give minute
...o,,, of the Imprisonment and DEAN oi
Iou;s XVII. In the April No. OF fu'ha"n' '"e
psx Mr.. Hanson replies to this nooK' sup
por,ing his statements and those 0i "s. VIZ
G,ms. nv numerous certificates none oil which
,nnear 10 us, however. at all satisfactory. In
80 .o,rse of his article, he publishes and re-
,,l;ss 70 q letter from nj. Trognon. preceptor
I'D secretary of the Prince de Joinville, and
bic Communion during his American tour, in
which fat contradiction is offered, by autho-
r;,v. TO the statement of Mr.. Williams, in its
most material point. Those who have read
rhe first article of Mr.. II. will recollect that he
states that Williams was sought for by the
Prince, that the Prince was greatly agitated
on seeing him, that he asked for an interview,
and that during that interview he revealed the
startling fact that he was the undoubted heir of
Louis XVI, the long lost Louis XVII. This
statement, NJ. Trognon treats as an absurd IA
bic, and details ell that he says occurred be-
tween the Prince and Mr.. Williams. He says,
in substance, that towards the end of The year
1S4l, the Prince met with a passenger at
Mackinaw, ON board of steamboat, whs
seemed TO possess great deal OF knowledge
with regard TO the history of North America
during the last century, and that though the
circumstance had nearly escaped his memory,
the portrait in the Magazine had convinced
him that MIR. Williams was the person. lie
received from him, he says, many commuhca-
tons respecting the Iroquois Indians, always
allies of France, and learned that his mother
was of that tribe. He also related many inte-
resting anecdotes, especially one relative to
the last hours of the Marquis de Montcalm,
who, he said, died in the arms of an lroquois,
first bequeathing his sword to him. The
Prince was, of course, deeply interested, the
great object of his journey being TO retrace the
path of the French in America. He asked the
person alluded to (Mr. W. to send him in the
form of notes, all the information he could
procure calculated to throw light on the histo-
Nv Of the French in America, and in return,
he promised to transmit to him all the docu-
ments he could find in the French archives, on
the same subject. MIR. w. pressed the Prince
10 visit the Iroquois. but he could not find
leisure to do so, and they parted. Since then,
letters have passed on the subject between
persons attached to the Prince and MIR. W.,
but there ends everything Of truth contained in
the article.
Mr.. Hanson labors, and we think success
fully, to prove that the Prince sought out Mr.
w, instead of falling in with him accidentally,
and having gotten thus far forward, conceives
that he has demolished his whole statement,
or rather rendered it unworthy of credit, the
man who makes it having lied in the first in
stance.
There are, however, some points yet to clear
NJ, before this marvellous story can be regard
ed as entitled even to the benefit of full in
yestigation. Mr.. Hanson states that the
Prince, after having revealed to Mr.. w. the Sc
ere, of his birth, placed before him certain in
sgruments of writing, by one of which he was
to make q formal surrender, in the name of
himself and his heirs, of all his right, title and
interest, as the son of Louis XVI, 10 the crown
Of France, and that surrender was to be made
in favor of Louis Philippe. In consideration
OF such surrender, the King of the French en-
gagged TO secure to him all the estates belong
ing to him as King of France, and heir TO the
Bourbon dynasty. A massive seal was placed
before him, whether of gold or silver, he does
not seem TO know. but he does know that it
was of precious metal, the last relic of the
the seal Of the Bourbon Kings, sc.
lst. Louis Philippe, as all the wotld knows
was placed upon the throne by q revolution
which overwhelmed the elder branch Of the
Bourbon family. That branch could never be
restored, but in consequence OF another revo
luton, which must overthrow the Orleans dy-
nasty in its turn. The Count de Chambord
according to the Legitimist doctrine, and in the
eyes of all Of that party, is the true heir to the
throne, unless the claim of Mr.. w. be estab
lisaed. But admit that it is, and that he should
sign away his right, the crown rests instanta
aeeusly, by the laws of succession, in the per
son having the next best title, and that person
Is this very Count de Chambord, or Henry V
as the Legitimists call him. This Louis Phi
lippe himself knew very well, and the Prince
de Joinville knew it likewise. What good
then, could it do him to get out of the way al
old man of seventy, whose title might probabl,
never come TO light, and TO substitute younl
man of five Or sx-and twenty, whose CLAIM
would, by that very act, he rendered indispu
tablet Mr.. Hanson and Fir. Williams, both
speak of the succession to crown as the
would of succession to an estate. But in n
modern kingdom, we believe, has the King III
right TO settle the succession, or 10 bequeat
il, or otherwise dispose of it. In France, cel
tainly, during the reign of the Bourbons, tn
descent of the crown was prescribed by law
Louis XVII, ii he were actually and undenia
bly, alive, might abdicate, but the law hs
fixed upon the person TO succeed him, an
that person is not the man in whose favor h
may think proper TO resign his crown, but tn
Count de Chambord. His title he could m
SET aside, save by reigning in his stead. or re-
signing 10 favor of some heir male of his ow
tady.