Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-16
ONLY WRITING HE LEFT
Some Of the Personators of the I'm
fortunate Prince.
AUTOGRAPHS OF THE FAMOUS
Interesting Specimens in the Notable
Collection Of an Albany Man.
A Letter From Danton.
By WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Cosrespondenee Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald. -.

Special Correspondenee Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald. -.
ALBANY. December IA, 1907.
An amiaole gentleman of Albany has
recently added to his collection of auto
graphs, which was already one of the
largest and most remarkable in the world
a unique relic in the form of writing
exercise by Louis XVII, Dauphin OF
France. whose mysterious fate has been
the theme" of SO much controversy and
romance. 1t is probably the only speci-
men OF the handwriting of Louis XVII
in existence: at least, it is the only auto
graph known. 1t was written while he
was a prisoner in the Temple during the
French revolution, some time between
October, 1850. and August, 1880. He was
sent to prison with his father. Louis XVI
his mother. Marie Antoinette: his sister
Maria Theresa; his aunt. Elizabeth, sister
o. the king and other members of the
royal family, and while there was al
lowed to receive instructions from Jean
Nicolas Ruache de Ia Neuville, his tutor
whose autograph is also in the same col
lection. The little chap signed his name
Louis Charles" three times at the bot.
tom of his writing lesson. but his hand
seems to have been SO tired that he omit
ted the letter II In the last Louis" Al
this criticism. Tres mauvais page
very poor page"
This autograph was evidently preserved
by the tutor and was handed down from
til it came into the hands of a dealer
in Paris, from whom it was recently pur-
chased.
Louis XVI was guillotined at the Place
de Ia Revolution in Paris, January q.
1898. Queen Marie Antoinette was gull
iOtlned Dlace October
that year. Maria Theresa, their dauEh-
ter. was spared and afterward released.
Louis Charles. the dauphin, was kept In
prison after the death of his father In
charge of a brutal ex-shoemaker named
Simon until he became wrecked in body
and mind. After the reign of terror he
was forgotten. and Is supposed to have
died in prison June 8, 1875.
Psrsonators Of the Dauphin.
The mystery of his death and the fall
ure to find his body have given an OPP
portunity for several impostors to i'm
personate him and claim the succession
The most famous ones were as follows:
J. Jean Marie Hervagault. son of a ST.
10 tailor. who was born in 1881 He ran
away from home at fourteen, advanced
his claims as the real dauphin, and found
many supporters in Brittany, Normandy,
Cnsm sensas.s and H S In 1902 he
posture and died in confinement in 1912.
. Mathurin Brumeau, the son of a
shoemaker. who called himself Charles of
France. was born in 1884. He spent
turned to France. began to assert his
claims and was promptly imprisoned at
Rouen., There. he remained until the
revolution In 1888. when he disappeared
and was never heard of again.
3. Francois Henri Herbert who called
himself the Due de Richmont, in 1923 be-
came POSSESSED of the idea that he was
the daaphip and seemed sincere I'm his
(deiuston. IN 1884 he was thrown into Jail.
, but escaped and died in London. His
X-aildren assumed the name of Bourbon,
n and in 1874 and 1874 actually started law
CsFNs against the Count de Chambord.
I ~. The fourth and most famous of all,
wfs Elfazar Williams. an American
cbrgyma in who was born at Caughna-
~wbsa, n. Y. about 1857, and died at Ho-
ganstown, N. Y. August g. 1858. This
man was supposed to be the son. of
Thomas Williams. an Indian chief of
ae"1ongmeadow. Mass, served among the
Indians of Canada a secret agent of
the United States in the war Of 1912. and
was wounded at the battle of Piattsburg,
1874 In 1925 he was ordained as a minis
ter Of the Episcopal church. He was a
man of some attanments; translated the
Bible into the Mohawk language and
wrote an Indian spelling book and sew
About 1912. Williams began to claim that
he was the son of Louis XVI of France
and Marie Antoinette and that he had
been abducted from his Paris prison and
fozet family. His story was set forth in
xutnam's Monthly by Rev. j. H Han
non OF New York, and again in a volume
called THE Lost Prince"
Ny friend has an autograph Of Will
iams. which was written at Lenox, Mass.
January 3, 1926. and of Richmont. the
other pretender. The latter is a defense
Of his claims dated. at the Luxembourg in
1893. and signed by him as Duke Of Nor
nancy the first title of the dauphin.
Books Used by the Dauphin.
Among his most interesting relics are
several school books used in the temple
for the instruction Of the dauphin. They
were preserved by his sister, Maria The
resa Charlotte. Duchess Of Angouleme,
Familiarity called Nine. Roya!e. the only
member of the family to survive the
scenes In the Temple. She was released
on Christmas day. 1I0o. upon the demands
OF Austria, and exchanged for certain
French citizens who were held In prison
by Austria. She married Charles X, and
her son. Louis Antoine, became the dau-
phn of France.
The books were afterward presented by
Maria Theresa to her friend, Nine.
Chanterenne. from whose descendants
they were purchased for the present col
lection.
My friend has been a close student o.
the French revolution and has eagerly
sought for years every scrap of original
manuscript bearing upon 1t. He has au-
tographs of every conspicuous character
mentioned in the history of France dur
ing that period. Among them are several
letters written by Louis XIV, Louis XIV
and Louis XVI: several written by Marie
Antoinette and the other members of
the family. There is one by Adelaide
Maria. a daughter of Louis XIV. who
was nicknamed by her father "Loque''
(the rag: another by her sister Victorie,
familiariy called by her father "Coche''
(the pig). and a letter from Charles X.
who married Maria Theresa and sue
ceeded Louis XVIII on the throne of
France In 1924. He abdicated in 1890.
Also several of Louis Philippe and his
family.
Autographs Of Famous People.
There are autographs of Nine. de
Pompadour, Mime. Roland. Nine. de Stael
and her father, jacques Necker.
minister of finance. under Louis XVI. 1t
wss his abrupt dismissal. attributed by
the people to the influence of Marie An
tOinette, toward o'clock on the afternoon
Of July IL, 1850, that was the immediate
cause of the revolution and attracted the
mob to the Tuilleries on the following
day procession of demonstrating citi-
zens bearing busts of Necker and Philippe
dOrleans came in contact with the troops
tn the ydepS If the Tufila yfeS "a the =.