The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1911-05-12
A ROYAL MYSTERY
One of the LegaCies of the French
Revolution.
FATE OF THE YOUNG DAUPHIN
Whether the Son of Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette Was Murdered or
Died or Was Spirited Away Is an
Enigma Without a Solution.

| an loves mystery, ana, fortunately
for the world, history has provided
one or two problems which have been
worn threadbare without revealing
their secrets. Among these Is the fate
OF the nine-year-old son Of Louis XVI.
and Marie Antoinette. which Nine.
Louise Latour recently dealt with In
lecture In London.
A child judicially murdered or else
| spirited away, another substituted for
| him TO die and to be buried under q
| false name. the people who reported Of
these things silenced or poisoned. the
period Of events comparatively recent
the story sounds incredible. but II
rests on a basis of established fact.
The dauphin. delicate child OF nine.
was removed from his mother and
friends and given TO the care of Simon.
the brutal savetier and his wife.
After this all remains obscure except
that while the boy was in their care
the Simons gave up their post--in it.
self rather strange as ii was lucra
tive one-and on the day Of the change
of residence the substitution is sup
posed 10 have taken place. In the even.
ing q child In bed was shown to the
emissaries Of the convention, and the
next morning he was removed TO a
smaller room with the door nailed up.
the only air coming in by the grille
through which his food was passed
So he remained until he became so Ill
that DR.. Dessault. who had often been
to Versailles in the old days. was sum-
moned to attend him and was amazed
to find scrofulous and dying boy.
."Ce nest pas lie petit dauphin!'
(''That is not the little Dauphin!D he
blurted out imprudently, and day or
two later he died by poison.
Other doctors were brought who
were unacquainted with the royal chill
dren. and the child died and was bur-
led I'm his assumed character He Is
generally supposed to have been a lad
called Gombeau. and his mother was
actually seen by people in America.
where she admitted the wickedness OF
having sold her dying son when she
was in condition of extreme poverty.
La femme Simon talked. but her
words were discredited by the authori-
ties, who declared she was drunken
and garrulons. Nevertheless, on her
deathbed she confessed TO priest and
a nurse that a substitute had been put
In the dauphin's place.
Such are the historical facts as re-
lated by Nine. Latour. and to account
for them two theories have been de
duced. says n writer in the London
Times. The first, in which Nine. La.
tour believes. was that the dauphin
was judcially murdered by Simon In
the temple and the dying Gombeau
put In his place TO hide the crime from
the world. or the second, that the
child escaped alive from his prison.
many people are strenuous supporters
Some of them describe the course OF
events thus: Gombeau was brought
into the temple on the day OF the de
management In a large cardboard
horse given ostensibiy as a souvenir to
the royal prisoner by the femme ST
mon. while the dauphin was carried
out by the woman In big basket of
dirty linen. Others declare that the
prince was actually kept hidden In a
garrett in the temple until the subsu
tute died, more than a year later,
when he was taken out in coffin with
false bottom. the body of Gombeau
being buried in the moat.
This theory has had two startling
combinations small coffin filed
with paper and stones was actually
found In the cemetery of La Madeleine.
and General d'Andlgne. imprisoned In
the temple in 1901 and allowed TO re
lieve the tedium of his confinement by
gardening. was digging In the moat
when he found the uncoffined skeleton
OF child.
But. as Nine. Latour asked. II the
dauphin escaped alive into the world.
where did he go? No fewer than
thirty pretenders, one a negro. at diff
ferent times have declared themselves
| the son of Louis XVI. and Marie An
toinette The two who attracted most
disciples were the Due de Richemont
! and "Naundorc." With regard TO the
latter. II was against him that he did
not come forward until he was thirty
| years OF age and he could not speak
a word of French. Nine. Latour added
that he married a middle class wife
and was an excellent matchmaker. con.
sequently unlike what the heir ST roy
oil line ought TO be. obviously the speak.
or had forgotten Louis Seize and MS
passion for making and mending locks.
Real Experience.
Friend. began the strolling philos-
opter do you know anything about
the pursuit Of happinessT
"0ught to-" chuckled the rural con-
stable as he filled his mouth with TO
bacco. Calculate | have chased more
eloping couples than any man In this
ection."-Chicago News.