The New York herald., 1873-09-15


structions Laurent had acted. He heard her ask
Laurent what had become Of the dead child. and
he replied that 'the little unfortunate was buried
In the garden OF the Temple the night after the
Dauphin's escape" where, as already related, the
skeleton OF CHILD, ABOUT ten years old. was
subsequently discovered. Louis XVII. did not,
according to his own account, leave his
prison In the Temple without having substantial
means of proving his Identity One OF the earliest
acts Of his royal parents after they became prison.
ers was 1t seems to draw out an accurate descrip-
tion Of all the marks on his body, to certify this
with their seals and signature end to entrust 1t to
the boy with the srlctest injunctions to preserve
it carefully In case OF his removal or escape. This
certificate he claims to have exhibited to several
persons during that portion OF his life which COM
menced with his escape from the Temple IN 1925
and ended in 1912 with his becoming q respectable
and successful watchmakerin in the town OfSpandau,
Prussia, under the name Of Naimdorf, position
which he must have sorely regretted he ever
abandoned The royaltst cause In France being
lost, he declares that
HE WAS TAKEN TO ITALY,
where he was received with every attention BY
Pope Plus and resided In secret for several years.
Italy soon succumbed to the rising genius OF Napo
leon; the Pope warned the Dauphin's friends OF
the Princes consequent insecurity, and the latter
led in sailing vessel bound for England which
was, however, captured of the French coast.
AGAIN PRISONER.
Here he again fell into the hands Of his enc
mics, and he relates how two men visited him In
prison and required that he should choose between
entering monastery or losing his life. Upon his
peremptory refusal and defiance they bound him
In chair and proceeded to scarify his face, so as
to obliterate the marked resemblance which 1t
seems admitted he bore to Louis XVI, and to
destroy those birth marks among which,
he says, was the rude outline OF
dove with 0utstretched wings on his left
thigh) which would have always afforded
powerful evidence OF his identity, and would have
amounted to actual proof when compared with
the formal certificate Of his royal parents. Re-
leased from his torturers by, he claims, the in
fuence OF Josephine, now the wife OF Napoleon,
and acting In the matter without the knowledge
and against the wishes OF her distinguished hus-
band he was again arrested by his prosecutors,
and spent four years in the prison Of Vincennes.
There were, indeed, several false dauphins In the
country at this time, and several OF them-notably
Eervagault-were arrested, tried publicly and,
their true condition being proved, severely pun
ished for their attempted imposture. Louis
XVII. declares in his autobiography that
some OF these fictitious dauphins were the
creation Of his prosecutors, and were ex-
pressy designed to cast suspicion and
ridicule upon his rightful claims. He also
observes with considerable force that, while the
governments Of Franco duly arrested tried and
punished In course OF law the other pretenders
It always treated him as dangerous political
parsonage, whose claims were to be suppressed by
force since they could not be dsproved by justice.
1t is certain that this person-whether really
Louis XVII. or merely NatmSorf the watch
maker matters not-was actually in the power Of
several successive governments Of France; that at
one time, during the reign OF Louis Philippe, he
lived openly in Paris under the title OF Charles
Louis, Duke Of Normandy; was recognized In that
capacity by many persons OF high position, incud-
ing the lady who had been his personal attendant
from the day Of his brt1 to that of his imprison.
ment In the Temple and that he challenged the
authorities dispute his assertion and bring him to
the public trial which was the sole wish Of his heart
As his influence ana adnerents were increasing
rapidly at this crisis of his life, the government Of
the day answered his challenge by suddenly making
o descent upon his house, selling all his papers
and deportng him to England IN charge Of the
police, with q warning not to return. They treated
him. in short, very much as Monsieur Theirs lately
treated Prince Napoleon Jerome, when his late ex-
Imperial Highness recently demanded his rights
of French citizenship. IL would therefore seem
more than probable that the S0t-dtsdnt son OF
Louis XVI. was person whom the French gov
ernment had excellent reasons Of some kind
for denying fair public trial at the bar Of justice.
This trial his children seeking in order to
establish their legitimacy ana gain their civil
rights, and, in the interests Of justice
and the elucidaton Of o historical enigma
almost as puxzling as that OF the 'man In
the "Iron Mask" we candidv hope they will OBJ
tain 1t. Their father was certainly q peaceful in-
a vin xy6,o <hA luyi1l of N
fellow burgesses of Spandau, and received some
special favors at the hands OF the Prussian police
authorities on hts first arrival In their country
Louis XVI. and Queen Marie Antoinette may not
have been hts parents but the closest oflcial in
quiries made by the Prussian government at the
instance OF that Of France failed to discover trace
Of any Others
WHO AM ~
Ills life and lineage before he settled In Spandau
were enveloped in mystery, and he had always the
no small advantage Of being able to say to bis op-
ponents -
'Tf am not the person represent myself to be-
show the world who really am; prove me to be .
liar and an impostor."
Meanwhile the following extract from the opinion
OF so eminent lawyer as M. Jules Favre may be
quoted in justification Of the applicants present
proceedings:-
rue undersigned counsel has made himself
thoroughly acquainted with the preceding d0cu-
ments and has formed from their scrupuiouS exam-
ination the c0nvictlon:-
Fi,'st-That the pretended William Naimdorf is
not Prusstan nor Pole by birth, ana that so lar
hts origin remains quite uncertain.
Secoad-That the gravest presumptions combine
in Of the belief that he is really Charles Louis
Duke OF Normandy and son OF Louis XVI.
Thtrd-That he owes the prosecutions OF which he
has been the victim, and which have also overtaken
his family to his constant and perseverng demand,
during twenty-five years, for his true civil rights.
FOurth-That to this demand, Of which the French
tribunals were Informed, must be attributed his
expulsion from the national territory, contrary to
all law for the laws relative to foreigners were
not applicable to him, since he declared himself
French and justice was upon the point OF exam
lining big demaqd." :.
It seems to the undersigned counsel an un-
heard of thing, unless high reasons OF state have
paralyzed the action Of Justice, that she should
refuse to take notice OF the demands OF this man
that all access TO her, whether civil or criminal,
should be denied him; that he should weary
Europe with his protestations, and that no one
should yet be convinced of his impOeture.