The New York herald., 1922-07-09
The Literature Of the Lost Dauphir

the party when his father was iso-
lated at the beginning Of his trial
Later he was turned over to the care
Of the cobbler Antoine Simon. who
was appointed his guardian by the
Committee of General Safety.
It may have been Simon who
taught him the confessions which he
made of his own life and the admis-
sions of misconduct on the part Of
his mother which were used against
her at her trial. But there is con-
siderable doubt II Simon i'll treated
him, as was alleged by Royalist
writer's. Nine. Simon. it is shown by
official documents, took a great in
terest in the unhappy child and saw
that he had plenty Of exercise in the
open air and that his food was
wholesome.
Simon left the Temple in January,
1874. and was sent to the guillotine
with Robespierre few months af-
terward. Nine. Simon became an in
mate of hospital for incurables.
She always insisted that the Dauphin
escaped. She professed great anxi-
ETY. to make a full confession of the
affair to Marie Theresa. She had
an opportunity to do this when the
Dauphin's sister, then the Duchess Of
Angouleme. secretly visited her in
1916 after the Restoration. What
her statement was remains merely a
matter of surmise. but it is known
that she was afterward frightened
into silence by the police.
After the departure of Simon there
was a series of strange and mex
plicable happenings, of which the
child prisoner of the Temple.
whether it was the titular King Louis
XVII. or some one substituted for
him., was the center. In the first
place he was kept in strict seclusion.
One report says his cell was walled
up and that he never uttered a word,
the explanation being that he refused
to speak because his admissions
were used to send his mother to the
guillotne. In the next place. it was
said that the guards reported won
derful changes in the appearance of
their prisoner. One declared that In
a month the child changed from
boy of ten to a youth Of eighteen.
Then came the report of the child's
sudden and serious illness. A physi-
clan well acquainted with the Dau-
phin was summoned. The physician
died a few days afterward with every
symptom of poison. Next it was an
nounced that the child had died An
autopsy was held and the two doc
tors called to perform 1t reported
that the child whom the commission
ers said was ''the son of the late
Louis Capet." died of a scrofulous
affection Of long standing. Both the
physicians within a few days met
violent deaths.
1t was the revolutionary records
covering this period OF the child's i'm
prisonment which were destroyed at
the time of the Restoration. Louis
XVIII. desired no possible develop
ment which might imperil his crown.
A similar reason was assigned for
the silence Of the Duchess Of Angou-
leme regarding the confessions of
Nine. Simon.
One Of the unaccountable things is
that there is no evidence extant that
Marie Therese was called upon to
identify her brothers body. This
simple Identification would have pre-
vented any question OF resuscitated
Dauphin. Possibly the fact that she
did not identify her brother in the
youth who died of "a scrofulous af-
fection of long standing" was one
reason for the destruction of the
record of this period
Marie Therese did not wear mourn
ing for her brother after her release
from the Temple until she went to
Vienna. where she saw II was ex-
pected Of her. Louis XVIII. and the
royal family never paid the tributes
to the memory of the young King
which would have been expected of
them were they certain he was dead