The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-03-18
THE DAUPHIN'S HEART.
Curious Vicissitudes OF the Preserved
Heart of the Heir to the Throne
and Crown of France.
BY n. w. METCALFE.


1t is said that the confused noise
of city at a sufficient elevation be-
comes perfect harmony, so even the
cannon of revolution after a century
is as the soft strings of a lutte, and the
descendants of the mob which peered
with savage delight around the cart
which bore to the scaffold the Inflated
Marie Antoinette now join in the cult
which gives to everything connected
with the poor queen a peculiar inter-
est.
From time to time in Paris are ex-
hibtsd souvenirs of her brilliant court
at Versailles, and not long since, on
one such occasion, the "Reveu Retro
spective" for the. first time called at
tention to the fact that there is still in
existence a relic more closely con-
nected with Marie Antoinette, and
more precious to her than were all the
jewels of her crown. This is the pre-
served heart of the poor little dauphin,
about whom has ragged so many con-
troversies. If truly existing it must
nullify all the legends which for the
past century have satisfied credulous
minds of the escape of the young
prince from the Bastile. and woven
around more than one life a romance
as delightful as mythical.
THE STOLEN HEART.
The poor heart has had most sin
gular and vagabond existence, pre-
served still almost by miracle, and
rare thing for a relic-with it are the
documents which vouch for it's authen-
ITCHY. One DR.. Pelletan was charged
with the autopsy on the daulphin, dur
ing which he managed to remove the
heart. and afterward secrete it in his
pocket without the knowledge of his
colleagues, LaSsus, the surgeon, being
his only confident. This viscera he put
in jar of spirits of wine. which he
placed on a high shelf in his library.
The spirits of wine was ten wears
evaporating, leaving the heart per-
fectly preserved. He then placed it
in the drawer of a secretary with
other anatomical preparations of little
Importance. the better to hide it. One
day he had the weakness to show it
to a pupil in pharmacy, who robbed
him of it, but dying soon after. con-
fessed the theft to his family. who re-
stored it to the original thief.
THE CRYSTAL CASE.
Again in possession of the precious
relic, Pelletan tried to find for it
safe place of deposit, with doubtless
the hope of turning a penny as well.
The Bourbons had returned to the
throne. and to them he offered it, ex-
pecting that they would seize upon
such a treasure with avidity, but in
this he was mistaken. He paid many
visits to NJ. de Blacas with reference
to it: he saw NJ. de Quelaon and Cha
taubriand: also the sister of the dau-
phin, who made him recount to her
the circumstances by which he OBJ
tanned the heart.
Although Pelletan negotiated with
many other representatives of the
crown, the government showed itself
in no haste to obtain possession of the
moor viscera. DR.. Pelletan had incased
the precious relic in a crystal casket,
on one face of which was engraven
the CIPHER of Louis XVII. This rested
on a pedestal of silver, and was closed
bv a ribbon of white silk, and sealed.
One man only had considered favor
ably his request-the archbishop OF
Paris. He proposed that 1t be depos-
tied with him, together with the long
iustifying memoir The wife of Pelle-
tan placed the precious casket in the
hands of the prelate, the archbishop
giving the following receipt: Il here
bv recognize having received as sa-
cred deposit from NJ. Pelletan. mem
her of the institute, by the hand of
Madame Pelletan. his wife. crystal
vase, filed with spirits of wine, IN
closing a preserved heart, which M.
Pelletan takes oath to be that or the
Young king, Louis XVII" At the end
of a year Monseigncr de Quelan wrote
to the king concerning this relic. He
did not desire to keep it longer, and
asked that inquiries be made concern
ing it's authenticity, and that once
proposed several solutions
to place it in Notre Dame, with por-
tions of the remains of Louis XIII anG
Louis XIV: or at st. German, near
church of st. Louis. 1t was in 1879
that monseigneur made these fruitless
to Charles X Meantime
DR.. Pelletan had died, and the heart
remained with the prelate until 1881,
when the archbishop was robbed.
LOST AND FOUND.
Soon after the robbery the son of
Pelletan received from one Lescroart a
note informing him of the new and
singular fortune of the relic. Lescro-
art, printer, had entered into the
cabinet of the cardinal while 1t was
still in confusion: the books were
thrown to the floor, and among them
he discovered a wooden box. wrapped
in paper of which he took possession.
In the box was a richly mounted crys-
tai vase, of the contents of which he
was ignorant The vase was broken
in his hand, and the manuscript only
this he sent to the son of
Dr. Pelletan, who returned 1T TO the
archbishop. A severe storm soon fol-
lowed and the sand of the courtyard |
was swept in heaps on either side. 1t |
was in one of these heaps that the |
heart was found intact, and later the |
remains of the vase. DR.. Pelletan died |
n 1879, and in making an inventory |
IF his estate the executors found the |
heart. They proposed to offer it to |
The Count de Chambord but soon af- |
Ter the count died. and in 1886 his |
executor wrote to the administrator of |
DR.. Pelletan that he had not been able |
% obtain decision from the heirs of |