Year: 1873




total darkness.


THE CLAIMANTS.


The autobiography OF "Louis xvII.,n however,
claims to raise the veil and continue the history OF
the young Prince from the day on which he was
given over to the brutal taller, Simon, to that on
which, worn out with misfortune and embittered
with disappointment he died ct Delft, in Holland,
leaving the legacy OF hts pretensons to the chill
dren, who are now engaged in submitting them to
French justice The supposed Dauphin declares
that ne was revied by his new jaiers in the coars-
est terms .and that they seemed to rejoice in ad-
dressing him in the most contumelious language.
Almost at every instant he heard savage voices cry
out, "Capetl well, viper. come here that may see
theei' "Wearied by these tormentors," he writes,
II resolved to be killed rather than answer them"
This was resolution which 1t is not incredible
high-spirited child might make and act upon.
The incident is OF much Importance in the story,
for there Is o11cial evidence Of an interview be-
tween the Dauphin and q commission sent by the
Revolutionary government to see and examine
him in the Temple during which he would not
utter word. 1t is curious to flnd the name Of


JOSEPHINE,


Afterwards Empress, introduced into these strange
revelations; but the writer attributes his escape
from the Temple largely to her influence. She
leaned towards the royalist side, and after the fall
Of Robespierre, her lover, Barras rose TO great In
nuence, which, at her instance, he employed to
contrive the escape Of the Dauphin. man In the
confidence of Barras and Josephine, named
Laurent was placed in charge OF the Dauphin In
lieu OF Simon, and means were at once devised to
set him free. There is discrepancy, however,
between the confession Of Stmons wife aud the
rative of "Louis XVII" as to the mode in
which this was successfully accomplished. The
fOru hat her huah nd had
actually taken part In the AFFAIR; that large basket
Of toys had been sent to the Dauphn; that child
mute, and Of his precise age, had been placed in
the basket; that the Dauphin ana this child
had exchanged places, the mute becoming
prisoner, and the Dauphin, then about
nine and half years old, being carried out In
the basket. The sot-dtsant "Louls XvII.'s" ac-
count OF his own escape differs materially from
this story Of Simon's wife. He states that one day
he was made to swallow dose OF opium, and, being
partly under its influence, saw that mannikin
with face resembling the Dauphin's was placed in
his bed, while he was put to sleep In a cradle close
by. He soon afterwards lost all consciousness and
awoke to find himself in large room on the fourth
story OF the Temple tower. the maunikin de-
ceived the guard at first, but the following day the
deception was discovered. Contemporaneously
with the Dauphin's abstraction from his old
prison lodgings his friend out-oEdoors had
despatched child in mysterious manner
toward Strasburg with the view Of deluding the
authorities into the belief that the young Prince
had really made good his escape. He, however, re-
NAMED in the lonely room for some time, attended
by Laurent, who brought him food and other neces-
saries. When the Dauphin's absence was discovered
by the government they fastened to ind q sub
stitute to personate him, so as to appease the
populace and fnd practical denial to the rumor
OF his escape, As the real Dauphin had preserved
an obstinate silence since his ill-treatment by
Lenor, q mute child, procured by Josephine, was
put the place OF the royal fugitive, and was at the
same time surrounded by strict guards, no one
being admitted to his presence lest the secret
should be dvulged and the government exposed
to the suspicion of royalist sympathies. Subse-
quently three members of


THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL SAFETY


were instructed to visit the Temple and or in
terrogate the imprisoned Dauphin. The report OF
the interview increases the probability OF the sub
stitution Of mute for the real Dauphin. When
the three commissioners entered the Princes
apartment he took no notice OF them; and, though
they were very kindly disposed towards him, and
addressed him in respectful and afrectionate Ian
guage, he merely regarded them with fixed
stare. To their signs, however. he yielded quick
response. He walked, gave his hand and ate



description given by the commissioner of the
prisoner did not at all accord with that of the true
Dauphin. The Commissioners reported that the
Prince had o malformatfon that his arms, legs and
thighs were long and thin that his shoulders were
high and his hair long, handsome and Of chest
nut color The true Dauphin was perfectly
formed, and his hair, so far from being chestnut
color, was blonde, and had been cut short by the
wife Of his jailer, Simon. The prisoners


OBSTINATE SILENCE r)


sorely perplexed the commissioners, and NJ Har-
mand observes in his repOrt:-'T represented to
him that his silence was the more painful to u.s. as
we could only attribute it to our having the mis-
fortune to be displeasing to him, and that we
would therefore propose to the government to
send him commissioners who would be more
agreeable to him. The same regard and no
answer. DO you wish, monsieur, that we should
retlrer No answer We then left." 1t was
judged prudent BY the commissioners to make no
public report Of this interview, but secret state
ment concerning 1t was submitted to the Commit
tee Of Pubic Safety Certainly the conduct Of the
prisoner on this important occasion was quite con-
sistent with the theory of the substituted mute.
His demeanor was that Of o child who
did not understand the words, but
quickly apprehended the signs that were ad-
dressed him. A considerable amount Of
poisoning ls now aueeeu 10 nave peen praCtISeu
by the orders Of the government; but the out
come OF 1t all was that other friends OF the true
Dauphin, who all this time was lying hidden away
in the attic of the Temple, procured the release Of
the mute, and he was brought by them to the
house Of Josephine de Beauharnais, who was
alarmed and distracted, as well she might be, at
the mistake that had been committed through
which the mute, whom she had SO skilfuly pro
vided to simulate the Dauphin, was returned on
her hands. The government, determined that some
child should die in the Temple in place Of the
Dauphin provided from the hospitals sick child,
whose end was accelerated" and this poor vic
tim died, 1t Is said, on the 9Th OF June, 1885, A
post-mortem examination was held on his body,
the o1cial report Of which is couched In language
Of singular ambiguity. A certain citizen Sevestre
reports to the convention the death OF the
Dauphin whom he calls, with affected contempt,
"the son of Capet." He sends the p0st-mortem