The Washington herald., 1911-04-25
PRETENDERS TO THE THRONE.

Many have been the crimes committed
in the struggle for a crown. The annals
OF history relate many episodes in which
the rightful heirs to thrones were put out
OF the way by scheming and plotting
rivals, who usurped the much-coveted
diadem. Often however. the disappear
ance Of the legitimate prince or his sud
den death is shrouded in mystery, and
history tries in vain to penetrate the
secret In modern times-and especially
in Western Europe-such event are al
most impossible, except in times Of revo-
luton and sudden upheavals. In such
moments the death OF an individual due
to the deed Of n hired assassin easily
can be attributed to a simple accident.
And vet, the shot fired at the wearer
Of crown, the bomb hurled at the i'm
perial head. may have been directed and
guided by some party anxious to see on
the throne a prince who otherwise would
have stood but little chance.
1t also has happened that rightful heirs
to a throne suddenly. for no palpable
reasons, committed suicide or mysteri-
ously disappeared. Their death or dis
appearance remains a secret to the en-
tire world, a secret jealously guarded by
those concerned and interested. The
mysterious disappearance or even death
of a rightful heir heretofore has often
given rise to doubt and suspicion. Peo-
pie began to doubt whether in reality
A prince was dead and not secretly kept
in some fortress or in an out-of-the-way
castle. Scope thus was given to pretend
uhn ha
claimed their so-called rightful identity.
Their audacious pretensions invariably
are proved to be a tissue OF lies. and
they end their adventurous lives on the
scafrold or in narrow prison cell.
And vet the mystery OF their identity
rarely is solved to che satisfaction OF the
world and the secret Of the event and
the cause leading 20 the appearance OF
so-called pretender still remain secret
jealously guarded by the family. Such a
secret as il appears from various indi-
cations. has been and still is in the posses
sion of the members of the dynastic
branch Of the Orleanist Bourbons in
France.
In ls45. on the 10th of August, date
ominous in the history of the Bourbons.
there died in Delft a man who. with
his dying breath. still proclaimed him
self to be the son of the unhappy Louis
XVI and Of Marie Antoinette. AS is
we'll known, Louis Charles, the dauphin'
son of Louis XVI and of Marie An
toinette. was born at Versailles, March
27. 17s5. and until the death Of his elder
brother was known as the Due de Nor
mandie. The child accompanied his
royal parents from Versailles to the
Tuileries, thence to Varennes, and at
last to the Temple" In June, 1873, he
was separated from his mother and
handed over to the Jacobin shoemaker
named Simon, who treated the heir to
the crown OF France with plebeian rough
ness and the cruelty of common people
in power.
The overthrow of the Terror delivered
the royal martyr from the tyranny Of his
his tutor and governess and
the famous physician Desault were COM
missioned by the Convention" to look
after the suffering child. 1t was too
late, for, physically and morally ruined
by the harsh treatment. he died on June
s, 17s5 Such Is the official story. The
body Of Louis Charles. or Louis XVII.
was buried in the cemetery of Ste. Mar
guerite, but In 1915 his remains could
not be found.
Who was the mysterious stranger who
died in ls45 at Delft? His opponents
maintained that he was a matchmaker
named Naundorff; but 1t has never been
legally and satisfactorily proved that he
was not the dauphin. II IL q secret as
a. that Of the Man Of the
Iron Mask" and other similar secrets.