UC-NRLF S3 fill / THE LOST DAUPHIN. THE LOST DAUPHIN; LOUIS XVII. OR ONWARENHIIAKI, ${tt gnMan A. DE GRASSE STEVENS, Author of ' Old Boston" " Weighed in the Balance" etc., etc. GEORGE ALLEN, SUNNYSIDE, ORPINGTON, KENT. 1887. [All rig/its reserved.}. DC I 3? i 3 COPYRIGHT BY A. DE GRASSE STEVENS, 1887. Printed by Hazell, Watson, & Viney, Ld., London and Aylesbury. LIST OF PLATES. Louis XVII. From the picture in the Bryan Gallery, New York . To face page 1 6 ELEAZAR WILLIAMS. Facsimile of Pencil Sketch, by Fagnam, from Original Portrait, byj. Stewart of Hartford in 1806. . . . To face page 64 THE REV. ELEAZAR WILLIAMS. From a Portrait by the Chevalier Fagnani . . To face page 104 M198496 THE LOST DAUPHIN. ""HERE is no historical truth against which obstinacy cannot raise many objections. Many people think themselves justified in assert- ing against an alleged historical fact its improba- bility, without considering that nothing is true or untrue in the eye of history because it is probable or improbable, but simply because, as- suming its general logical possibility, it can be proved to be or not to be a fact." On first reading these words there would seem to be but little or no connection between them and the American Exhibition now open to the THE LOST DAUPHIN. English public. And yet no more intangible and inconsequent are the threads that bind together historical sequences and issues, than is this utter- ance of Von Bunsen's, which may well serve as a link between epoch and epoch, monarchical dynasty and Republican systems, the last scion of Royalty and an humble God-fearing missionary. Perhaps of all the exhibits prepared by the American management at Earl's Court, none awakens keener interest or truer curiosity than the "Ranch" of "Buffalo Bill," his Indian chiefs and squaws, their daily avocations, w r arfare, sports, and councils. The "red-skins" have al- ways exercised a peculiar fascination over their English brothers. More than two hundred years have gone by since* Governor Weymouth's two New England savages stalked about the streets of London, or that Pochahontas and her com- panions were made the idols of the hour, and THE LOST DAUPHIN. feasted and toasted by every " Mohawk" of the day ; while over a century has passed since Colonel Schuyler sailed from New York with his five Indian chiefs, selected, from the new Confederacy of the Five Nations, as hostages for the faith-keeping of their respective tribes. Used only as political agents in the hands of Colonel Schuyler, they were received at Court, as was their Virginian princess before them, where they made a speech duly prepared for them, in which they expressed devoted loyalty to the Queen, and hatred to the French. Addison, in The Spectator of Friday, April 27th, 1711, writes of them as follows: ''When the four Indian kings were in this country, about a twelvemonth ago, I often mixed with the rabble and followed them a whole day together, being wonderfully struck with the sight of everything that is new and remarkable." He then pretends io THE LOST DAUPHIN. to have found at their lodgings, after their departure, a packet of papers, and proceeds to give some extracts from the ''abundance of my odd observations which I find this little fraternity of kings made during their stay in the isle of Great Britain." It was these Indian chiefs who formed the element of attraction at the grand review of outgoing troops held by King George III. at Clapham. The immense crowd gathered together on the Common came not so much to see the regiments so soon setting forth to take part against the great rebellion of the American Colonies as to gaze their fill upon the four native chiefs, who were the representatives of the aborigines of that Western land. Their appearance was singular in the extreme, as they wore their native blankets and ''wampums" over English clothes, with ensigns' breastplates, THE LOST DAUPHIN. n carried hatchets in their hands, and were in full war paint and feathers. It may not be out of place to add that it was at this review that the new order was put in force, obliging all the troops, officers and men, during the American campaign, to dress alike, and their hair to be similarly arranged, in order that the rebels might not distinguish commissioned officers from privates ; and the fea- ture of the day was the presentation to all the regiments on review of felt caps with black feathers, in place of the old and more warlike head-gear. It is not difficult to understand the interest thus awakened in Addison's mind, for no race of people aborigines of any country hold more of mystery, romance, and tragedy in their history than does that of the North American Indian. His character is a study well worth time and 12 THE LOST DA UPHIN. patience ; in it are mingled, with almost impartial distribution, the attributes of chivalry, fidelity, treachery, generosity, pusillanimity, courage, fear, ferocity, and gentleness. Pages of the deepest and most thrilling interest could be written con- cerning this fast vanishing race, who combine with savage existence a knowledge of some of the arts and sciences of modern civilization. Testimony of their skill in model-building has lately been found in the opening of some abori- ginal graves on Pilley's Island, Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. In one was discovered the well-preserved skull of an adult, which exhibited all the " peculiar characteristerics of the skull of a savage, but so well shaped and developed, it was difficult to suppose these Bethuks (or Red Indians) were of a low type of humanity, taking the intelligent contour of the head as evidence." Among other very beautiful articles THE LOST DAUPHIN. 13 of stone and bone work wrapped in birch-bark, found in the graves, was a perfect model of a bark canoe, as finished in every detail as if it had been the work of a nineteenth century artizan. These, then, are the people who once owned the British possessions of Newfoundland, and who roamed at will, lords of creation, from the rock-bound coast of New England to the soft- rolling rivers of the Carolinas, and who spread their several tribes across the whole broad American Continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Their position in the early history of America when she was struggling from the darkness of foreign political government, reigned over on one hand by royal governors, and on the other by proprietary rights, still more arrogant and grinding was one of greatest importance, since i 4 THE LOST DAUPHIN. on their good or evil will depended the life or death of the many small settlements in New England and the Southern States, while they were regarded as invaluable factors and agents in the ever-increasing differences between the French occupation of Canada and the English pretensions thereto. We have but lately read of the last act of Vandalism perpetrated by the Republican Govern- ment of France, the demolition of the Expiatory Chapel on the Boulevard Haussmann, within whose sacred precincts those Toyal to the old Bourbon cause were wont to repair to show their loyalty to that most unfortunate queen, Marie Antoinette. Very few who have visited that little shrine, and read the touching words on the two monuments erected to Louis XVI. and his Queen, but will hear with regret of its speedy destruction; hitherto THE LOST DA UPHIN. 15 it has been held in some manner sacred, and however doubtful may have been the memorials treasured there, it was at least an expression of melancholy justice, and formed a rendezvous for all who were left of the old Royalist party. But even the most loyal-hearted of them all, who laid their lilies on the tombs of the son of St. Louis and his beautiful wife, or the most thorough- going fanatic in a dead cause, would scarcely see the connection between the little Expiatory Chapel and the wide, rolling prairies of the great West, or between the unfortunate, sad Queen and the savage Red Indian of America. And yet, so strange are the romances of history that the very closest of all ties is said to have united these two extremes, and that the treasure which the Due de Provence, the Committee of Safety, and the jailers of the Temple guarded so care- lessly, the Iroquois and Oneida tribes of the 1 6 THE LOST DA UPHIN. American Indians protected with fidelity and affection. When Robespierre died by the sharp knife of nis own " Jeanne Marie," and the fury of the Revolutionary government came to an end, having glutted itself in the blood of its King and Queen and highest noblesse, there, still remained one poor little royal prisoner to whom the opening of all prison doors made small difference. " The little Capet," so called by the Assembly, or Louis XVII., King of France and Navarre, was still a State prisoner in one of the strong towers that formed the dreary precincts of the Temple. Since his captivity he had lost father, mother, and aunt, and there remained to him, after the death of the saintly Madame Elizabeth, only his sister, who was separated from him, and his two uncles, the Dues de Provence and D'Artois. No figure in all history stands' LO UiS XVII . From flu picl:u,-e lit llit B,ya.,, iiaUrry. J'r* Work. THE LOST DAUPHIN. 17 forth more pathetically than that of the little Dauphin, who had been the darling of his parents, the hope of the Bourbon dynasty, and whose final destination is wrapped in so much mystery. There was one little spot of ground in the Tuileries gardens that used to speak most elo- quently of him ; that one little garden-bed, where, after the removal of the royal family from Versailles, he used to cultivate his flowers, work- ing assiduously day by day to have his morning nosegay as a greeting for his mother. This same little historic plot became the plaything of the little Roi de Rome, under Napoleon's reign, while Charles X. consecrated it to the use of the little Due de Burgundy, and Louis Philippe gave it to the Count de Paris, while doubtless the late Prince Imperial planted his violets in the self-same spot, and reviewed his boy soldiers 1 8 THE LOST DAUPHIN. where once the little Capet had drilled his company of " Royal Dauphins." It is not within the scope of this slight sketch to enter upon the different causes which ended in the Revolution of 1793 ; it is an epoch regarding which so much has been written that no recapitu- lation is necessary to place its prominent features before the reader. Let us then presuppose a knowledge of all such facts, and step at once into the mysterious entourage that from the fall of Robespierre surrounded the life of the young king, Louis XVII. His uncle, the Due de Provence, an unscru- pulous and ambitious man, had declared himself Regent in behalf of the boy king, on the death of Louis XVI., whom, as Lamartine says, " he loved as much as it was possible for him to love any one ranking above him." But this usurp- ation of power was not solely in the interests THE LOST DA UPHIN. 19 of his nephew ; the Due de Provence, even before the death of his brother, was intriguing to obtain at least the Regency in case of Louis XVI. 's abdication, if not mounting to the throne by the voice of the people, whose " king " he hoped to become. The famous " Fitzjames " letters show how the wind blew, and how he intended to strike at the Queen's honour, written, as they presumably were, by him. In that of May 1 3th, 1787, dated from Versailles and signed Louis Stanislaus Xavier, he says, " Here is, my dear Duke, the Assembly of Notables drawing to its close, and yet the great question has not been touched upon. You cannot doubt that the Notables will not hesitate to believe, from the documents which you sent them, more than six weeks ago, that the King's children are not his own. The fact in question once averred, it is easy to infer the consequences. The Parliament 20 THE LOST DAUPHIN. which dislikes the Queen will not make any great difficulty, but if it should have the fancy to raise any, we have the means of bringing it to reason. In short, we must attempt the blow." Some five or six years later he writes to the Count d'Artois : "It is done, my brother, the blow is struck. I hold in my hand the official news of the death of the unfortunate Louis XVI. I am informed also that his son is dying. You will not forget how useful to the State their deaths will be, and remember that the Grand Prior, your son, is, after me, the hope and heir to the monarchy." Not much of brotherly love is to be found in these two letters, while if the former be taken in connection with the Due's appearance at the Assembly of Notables in 1787 (the same year as the date of the " Fitzjames " letter), for the first time publicly in the character of reformer, THE LOST DA UPHIN. 21 throwing all his weight against the aristocracy, and allying himself with the masses as the champion of sweeping constitutional amendment, it will not be difficult to accept Lamartine's digest of his political schemes, converging to but one end his own ascendency to the throne of his brother. " All reform which extended to his own dynasty appeared to him sacrilegious. He foresaw a revolution . . . and believed that France, reconstructed on a new monarchical plan, would take refuge under his own govern- ment." That he played fast and loose with each faction in turn, to suit his own plans, is evidenced by his treatment of Charette, whom he cajoled as the head of a dangerous party whose object was to wrest the Dauphin from prison, and, proclaiming him king, arouse the country in his cause even while he fooled the Convention by his plausible acquiescence in their 22 THE LOST DAUPHIN. plans. One fact in all the turmoil of that time stands prominently forward : neither party that of the self-styled Regent, nor that of the Con- vention desired to see the little king proclaimed sovereign of France ; while any plan that en- compassed his removal would be quietly winked at, and no questions asked as to the manner of that removal. The conversation that took place between the deputation of the Committee of General Safety and Simon, the Dauphin's jailer, exemplifies the real feelings of both parties : " Citizens, what is to be done with this young wolf? He is insolent. I will tame him; but what, after all, is desired ? Carry him away ? " "No. 11 "Kill him?" "No." "Poison him?" "No." "What then?" "Get rid of him:' Six months of solitary confinement followed the departure of Simon before another guardian was appointed for the " little Capet," in the THE LOST DAUPHIN. 23 person of Laurent, a Republican soldier with a most kindly heart. He at once visited the Temple, and asked for the rooms of the little prisoner. When the door was forced they found him lying on his bed worn to a skeleton, with tumours at his elbows, knees, and ankles ; his long captivity and the horrible treatment to which he had been subjected had culminated in a state of imbecility and physical prostration. " His open eyes had no expression; their colour had changed ; he had the look, not of a fool, but of an idiot." The next act in the drama was Laurent's petition for a colleague and the appointment of Gomin ; and here is to be seen the hand of the Regent, who procured this position for Gomin through his friend the Marquis de Fenouil, who, though a Republican outwardly, was in his heart devoted to the Regent's cause ; and henceforward 24 THE LOST DA UPHIN. whatever took place in the Temple was accom- plished with the knowledge and sanction of the Due de Provence. Matters had now reached such a crisis that to the two political factions that of the Republican party in power, and the Regent's party intriguing for power the death of the young king offered the only peaceable solution of all difficulties ; and if this result did not come to pass in the due course of nature, there were those who would not hesitate to proclaim the event even at the risk of losing their heads should their plans be discovered and frustrated by the only loyal party, that of Charette at the head of his Vendean troops. On the 26th of February, 1794, Laurent and Gomin reported to the Committee of General Safety on the precarious state of their little prisoner's health. When asked the nature of his condition, they replied that " the little Capet THE LOST DA UPHIN. 25 had tumours on all the articulations, and par- ticularly at the knees, and that it was impossible to obtain from him a single word." Lamartine gives a touching picture of the Dauphin as he was found by the Committee who visited him. " The Prince was sitting before a little square table on which were scattered some playing cards, some bent into the form of boxes and little chests, others piled up in castles. He was amusing -himself with these cards when we en- tered, but did not give up his play. He was dressed in a soldier's jacket of slate-coloured cloth, his head was bare." Harmand, one of the deputies, spoke to him, and endeavoured in many ways to make him speak, but could get no response in words ; the mechanical movement of his limbs was the only indication of sense he showed during the interview. The deputies questioned his attendants 26 THE LOST DAUPHIN. as to the reason of this "obstinate silence," and were assured by them that ever since the fatal day when the monstrous deposition against his mother had been forced from him, the poor child had ceased to speak, "remorse had pros- trated his understanding." It is well to bear in mind this account of Lamartine's, as Beauchesne, the friend of Louis Philippe, in his account of the last days of the young king Louis XVII., written seme fifty or sixty years after the events which he depicts with so lively and detailed a pencil, omits the last sentence, placing three stars in its place. In the following year Laurent resigned his position, and the vacancy was filled by the appointment of Etienne Lasne, who had been a soldier in the Garde Franchise, and was an instrument of the Republican faction, as Gomin was a creature of the Marquis de Fenouil. On THE LOST DAUPHIN. 27 the arrival of Lasne several important changes took place in the care of the young king ; the espionage over him was much relaxed, and the order for two guards to be always with him was disregarded, Gomin and Lasne taking turns in sitting with him alone; while the locks and keys of the doors in his apartment were oiled and made to work noiselessly. Evidently some plan was on foot in which both Lasne and Gomin were concerned, and which was to cut the Gordian knot of the living presence of Louis XVI I., and free both political parties from the onerousness of their position. In the meantime the Royalist cause had never looked so prosperous. Thiers tells us how the cry for the restoration was universal, until matters assumed so grave an aspect that the Government came to terms with Charette, promising to deliver the young king into his 28 THE LOST DA UPHIN. hands in the following June. In all of these projects the Regent seemed to concur, though in reality he kept his agents ready to act as he saw fit when the moment came that he found his nephew in the way of his own accession to the throne. The 1 3th of June was rapidly approaching, the day on which the Convention had agreed to deliver the royal prisoners, the Dauphin and his sister Madame Royal, to the care of Charette ; therefore whatever plans were laid to the contrary had to be worked out and completed by the end of May. The Marquis de Fenouil was well acquainted, working as he did with the Govern- ment, with all that took place in the Temple, and through his creatures Gomin and Lasne expected to outwit both the Vendeans and the Convention. In the beginning of May the bulletin in the THE LOST DA UPHIN. 29 Register of the Temple ran as follows : " The little Capet is indisposed ; " the next day, " The little Capet is dangerously ill, and there is fear of his death." The result of these informal bul- letins was the visit of Desault, the celebrated physician, who was authorised by the Convention to attend him, and who first visited him on the 6th. His report of the "dangerous illness" was not calculated to please the Regent's faction, as he pronounced the swellings at the knees and wrists not to be of a scrofulous nature, but due to starvation and ill-usage ; he ordered the simplest remedies, and according to the Duchesse D'Angouleme, undertook to cure him. Through- out all the long examination, however, the child preserved the same unbroken silence. Up to the end of May Desault visited him daily, and towards the last the Dauphin showed a hesitating and timid interest in him. On the 3 o THE LOST DAUPHIN. 3Oth of May the good doctor made his last visit, though neither he nor the child supposed it to be so. The terribly sudden death of Desault was proclaimed on the ist of June ; a death so sudden and so unexpected as to throw all Paris into excitement, and which his pupil, M. Abeille, did not hesitate to declare was due to poison. Here then was removed in a remarkable manner, at a remarkable time, the only person of distinction and position who had it in his power to discover the plots of the Due de Provence, and through whose devotion doubtless the Dauphin would soon have obtained his liberty. On the morning of the 3ist of May the Acting Commissary arrived at the Temple, and said he would wait for the doctor in the prisoner's apartment, and was allowed to do so and to remain alone with the child, Gomin and THE LOST DAUPHIN. 31 Lasne permitting this flagrant breach of rule. The Commissary was none other than Bellanger, an artist, whose patron was the Regent, and for whose good-will he was ready to act as he might be directed. Several days passed, during each of which he was a constant visitor, going and coming as he pleased, without regard to hours or rules, and having ample opportunity to carry out any plan of abduction and secretion that might be devised. It was not until the 5th of June that another doctor was appointed, an unpardonable delay if the Dauphin was so seriously ill as was reported. M. Pellatin, the new physician, unlike M. Desault, had never seen the young Prince, while the former doctor had frequently visited him in happier days ; consequently, had any substitute been introduced in the place of the Dauphin, M. Pellatin would not have been able to detect the fraud. On 32 THE LOST DA UPHIN. his appointment, however, he asked for further help, as he found his patient in " so sad a state he could not bear alone the responsibility of his position." A very different statement from Desault's, who had never once pronounced the child in danger. And here may well be introduced the evidence given in Ireland's "France" (1822), showing the conviction of one class of society as to the authenticity of the child then in the Temple, who was introduced to Pellatin as the Dauphin : " My authority for the following narrative is a very respectable tradesman who has heard his father, to whom the circumstances occurred, re- peat it in society fifty times : ' As I was then a resident in that quarter of Paris where the Temple was situated, in my capacity as a National Guard, it became my turn to attend there as sentry, when having seen the Dauphin THE LOST DAUPHIN, 33 about six months before, and being anxious to behold him again prior to his death, as the current report was his being in a dangerous state, I applied to the jailer to know whether I might be permitted to occupy the post of the Guard destined to keep watch over the Dauphin's apartment. To this request he acceded with one proviso. I was not to exchange a single syllable with Citizen Capet, as the infringement of such order would be attended by the loss of my head. I promised, and immediately entered upon my duty. In the room there were three common chairs, a table, and a low bedstead whereon the Dauphin was lying ; but from the position of the bedclothes I could not perceive his countenance. I remained thus for the space of an hour, only observing at intervals a motion beneath the bed-covering. At length, however, he pushed away the sheet from his head, when I 34 THE LOST DA UPH1N. was enabled to consider a countenance squalid in the extreme, partially covered with blotches. As he perceived in me a stranger, he inquired in a faint voice who I was ; but the peremptory order received and the heavy price set upon a breach of my faith sealed my lips. At this he appeared displeased, and after turning about, I beheld his body rise until he sat upright in the bed, when nothing could exceed my astonish- ment on viewing a figure much taller from the head to the bottom of the back than the Dauphin could possibly have displayed. My wonder, however, increased on beholding him thrust his legs from beneath the covering, from which I was enabled to form an estimate of the height of the figure before me if standing erect ; when I felt a conviction that no such change could have taken place in the growth of a youth in a half year in short, a more pitiable THE LOST DA UPH1N. 35 object never met the human sight, whoever it may have been, for as to the Dauphin, / am fully convinced it was not him.' On explaining to the jailer his doubt as to the identity of the prisoner with Louis XVII., adding as a proof his having seen the Dauphin six months previous, and the absolute impossibility of any such extraordinary growth having taken place in so short a time, he was answered, ' Sick children, citizen, will sometimes shoot up very fast ; go home and keep a still tongue in your mouth, lest you should grow shorter by a head.' " Beauchesne in his history leaves out this piece of evidence, and proceeds to give the last hours of the Dauphin as described by Gomin and Lasne, who, though solemnly assuring the Com- missioners and Desault only ten days previous that the little Capet refused to utter a word and 3 3 6 THE LOST DAUPHIN. remained absolutely dumb, now describe him as lively in conversation and full of the most moral and edifying death-bed platitudes, a change as impossible in mental growth as was that found by the guard in his physical stature. According to Lasne, the Prince died at two hours and a quarter after mid-day, on the 8th of June ; but neither he nor Gomin made any haste to inform the Convention of this most important fact, and when Gomin did arrive at the Tuileries he found the session over for the day, and was in consequence unable to lay his report before the Government, but meeting one of the members he told him, and was requested to "keep the secret until to-morrow" The next day the prods verbal was made out, and curiously enough the Committee thought best to assert that they re- ceived the information at a quarter past two the day before, when in fact Gomin had not then THE LOST DA UPHIN. 37 left the Temple, and Lasne had not reported the death to his companions, and the Committee had already dispersed. This same proces verbal is not dated with the year, a strange oversight in so important a document ; in fact, it displays throughout a carelessness that would scarcely have been permitted had the real Dauphin died as reported on the 8th of June. On that day, however, instead of listening to Gomin's report of the last affecting moments of Louis XVII., the Committee were engaged upon a far more important business, that of prepar- ing and issuing orders to all the heads of police in and about Paris for the careful searching of all post carriages leaving the city, as it was be- lieved the Dauphin would be carried off from the Temple in some such manner. Quoting from the London Atlas, we find this comment : " The great fact of the escape of the 38 THE LOST DAUPHIN. Dauphin from the Temple is well established by the archives of the police, where is still preserved the order sent out to the departments to arrest on every highroad in France any travellers bearing with them a child of about eight years, as there had been an escape of Royalists from the Temple. The order bears date June 8th, I 795-" Of the action taken upon this order we need only mention the arrest of M. Guerwiere, who was travelling in the carriage of the Prince de Conde, "under the suspicion that he, then a child of ten years, was the Dauphin." It would be impossible to enter into all the mass of evidence in proof of the abduction of the Prince by agents acting, doubtless, under the aegis of the Due de Provence. He had the oppor- tunity and the tools to work with ; was it likely that he, with his unscrupulous ambitious cha- racter, would let slip such a chance of relieving THE LOST DAUPHIN. 39 both parties and salving his own conscience ? The Dauphin removed out of the country, a false prince introduced in his place, whose death would satisfy the demands and scruples of the Government, would leave him free to carry out his own plans for self-aggrandisement, while the sin of murder would not rest upon his soul ; since he had secret emissaries who could always communicate with him and his royal nephew, whose unhappy state of mind rendered him unfit for any position of responsi- bility, but whose lawful claims to the throne could not be set aside so long as he was known to be alive. The subsequent conduct of Louis XVIII. goes to prove this, as neither at the time of his acces- sion nor during any part of his reign did he make any public acknowledgment of the absolute death of his nephew, or erect any monument to 40 THE LOST DA UPHIN. his memory, or seek out his grave ; while on the other hand he made great public ex-ertions to find the remains of his brother, Louis XVI., and Marie Antoinette, and erected to their memories monuments of esteem and affection. After the drama of the Hundred Days in 1815 when all Europe was convulsed at the apparent revivification of Napoleon's despotism, when the scarcely acclimatised king, Louis XVIII., and his family were again obliged to fly, and during which the Duchesse D'Angouleme displayed such courageous intrepidity as to draw from Bonaparte the remark that "she was the only man of her family," and which ended in the triumphal re-entry of the king, and the banishment from France, for ever, of the Corsican Emperor public opinion, which had been too en- grossed with the exciting topics of the immediate present to bestow any sentiment upon the past, THE LOST DAUPHIN. 41 demanded from Louis XVIII. some expression of regret and esteem in memory of his royal nephew, to whom rightfully belonged the throne of France. This public sentiment went so far as to cause the passing of a decree in both Chambers, that a monument should be erected, at the public ex- pense, to Louis XVII. The King, with his usual plasticity, agreed cordially to the scheme, and threw so much apparent affection into it as to delegate Lemot to execute the monument, which was to be placed in the Madeleine, in whose cemetery the bodies of his unfortunate relatives, Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, and their faithful Swiss Guards had been thrown. He also employed M. Belloc to draw up a suitable epitaph. But here all action ended ; the monument was never erected, one royal pretext after another being given for the delay, and the pompous Latin 42 THE LOST DAUPHIN. eulogy on the child-king remained among the State papers as a curiosity only. It ran as follows : TO THE MEMORY OF LOUIS XVII., WHOM FROM HIS SACRED PARENTS SEPARATED BY A MOURNFUL FATE, AND STRICKEN WITH EVERY SORROW, ON THE VERY THRESHOLD OF LIFE, DEATH REMOVED ON THE 8TH DAY OF JUNE, 1795. HE LIVED 10 YEARS, 2 MONTHS, IO DAYS. LOUIS XVIII. HATH ERECTED THIS TO HIS NEPHEW MOST LOVELY, AND BEYOND THE MEASURE OF HIS AGE RELIGIOUS. HAIL, INNOCENT SOUL, WHO, LIKE A GLITTERING STAR OF FRANCE, WALKEST IN THE BLESSED SKIES; AUSPICIOUSLY, THIS COUNTRY AND THE HOUSE OF BOURBON, WITH PLACID EYE BEHOLD. THE LOST DAUPHIN. 43 The Due de Provence could not change his nature, though he became King of France, and he had not the courage to publicly put forward so bold a falsehood. There were others beside himself concerned in the abduction of the Dau- phin, and he could have no surety that, were he to authoritatively assert the young king's death, they would not come forward to prove his being alive, and show the Regent's hand in the matter. The Duchesse D'Angouleme, who wept so passionately over the murdered body of her cousin, the Due D'Enghien, and who attended the obsequies held over his remains at the Madeleine, was not likely to permit the evident sarcasm implied in the bald honour of a monu- mental tomb to her brother's memory. If the child who did die in the Temple was in truth the Dauphin, why, since his place of burial in the cemetery of St. Marguerite was well known, 44 THE LOST DA UP BIN. did not Louis XVIII. exhume the body and have it re-interred at the same time, and with the same pomp, as was bestowed upon the very uncertain remains of the young king's unfortunate parents ? His sister, while bowing to the superior will of her uncle, could not have sanctioned such a direct imposition as a public interment of the body of the poor Temple victim would have countenanced. In consulting the testimony of M. Labreli Fontaine, who was librarian to the Duchesse D'Orleans, we find that " the first article of the secret treaty of Paris, 1814, explains the manner in which the powers of Europe had permitted the Due de Provence to occupy the throne of France. Although the high contracting powers, the allied sovereigns, have no certain evidence of the death of the son of Louis XVI., the state of Europe and its political interests require that they should place at the head of the government in France Louis THE LOST DA UPHIN. 45 Xavier, Count de Provence, ostensibly with the title of king ; but being, in fact, considered in their secret transactions only as regent of the kingdom for the two years next ensuing, reserving to them- selves during that period to obtain every possible certainty concerning a fact which must ultimately determine who shall be the sovereign of France." And again, M. Bourbon le Blanc published the attestation of M. Pegold, notary of Crossen, in which he affirmed that " there was not a sovereign in Europe who did not in 1818 receive letters from him on the subject," namely, the abduction of the Dauphin from the Temple. It is, then, a granted hypothesis that the young king Louis XVII. did not die in the Temple as reported. The next question that naturally arises is as to the possible place of his banishment, and where and how he grew up, and why his claims were never brought THE LOST DAUPHIN. forward and established. Now, putting aside the pretensions of Naundorff and Richemont, which were utterly confounded and discredited by the Duchesse D'Angouleme, we still have evidence that she fully believed her brother to be alive, and admitted this, while she hinted at his whereabouts ; but her devotion to her uncle, Louis XVIII., was of such a nature, and her memory of the unfortunate mental condition of the Dauphin so sad, she did not deem it ex- pedient to institute any official inquiries. Bearing in mind all the extraordinary facts and circumstances that surround the fate of Louis XVII., it will, notwithstanding, doubtless give rise to a smile of incredulity when the theory is brought for- ward that Louis XVII., King of France, was carried to America, with the consent and co-operation of the Regent, and deposited with the Indians of the Iroquois tribe ; that with them he grew into THE LOST DA UPHIN. 47 youthhood, and that as their friend and missionary he lived and died, though knowing his claims to the throne of France to be far more substantial and credible than any that had been put forth. Yet such was and is the belief in many thinking minds, and so complete was the cir- cumstantial evidence that many of the most prominent men of America, forty odd years ago, publicly acknowledged this conviction. Among these were the late Bishop of New York, Dr. Potter ; the Hon. Hamilton :Fisit; the Rev. F. L. Hawkes, D.D., LL.D. ; the Bishop of California, Dr. W. Ingraham Kip ; the Hon. John Jay, late Minister to Vienna ; Chevalier Fagnani ; Mr. A. Fleming,* and the Rev. J. H. Hanson, a great grandson of Oliver Goldsmith. * Mr. Fleming was a direct descendant of that family, one of whose members, Mary Fleming, was the devoted friend and Maid of Honour to Mary Queen of Scots. 48 THE LOST DA UPHIN. And now the scene changes, and we must step backward over a century to gather up one link in the strange chain of events which unites the fortunes of the Dauphin of France with those of the Red Man of North America. In the year 1704 there occurred at Deerfield, Massa- chusetts, one of those terrible incursions of the Indians which were the terror of the new country. Lord Cornbury detested alike for his vices and his eccentricities, the lightest of which was his habit of appearing in public dressed as a woman, and giving as his reason that since his Royal Queen and cousin was a woman, it behoved her representatives to adopt the habiliments of her sex was then Governor of New York, and though he sent intelligence of a probable rising of the St. Francois Indians to the Governor of Massachusetts in 1703, it was not until the early part of the new year that it actually took place. THE LOST DA UPHIN. 49 There lived in Deerfield at that time the Rev. John Williams and his family. He was the pastor of the village, and a man of no ordinary attainments. In 1697, when a similar attack had been made, he, at the head of his flock, had repulsed and routed the enemy ; but, with their usual long patience, the St. Francois' waited for, and accomplished their revenge. On the 28th of February, 1704, the Rev. Mr. Williams retired to rest as usual without any premonition of danger, but at daybreak the village was attacked, and the noise of axes and hammers sounding a reveille was the first notification of alarm. The Indians entered Mr. Williams' house, and before his eyes murdered tw r o of his children, while he and his wife and their remaining little ones were taken prisoners. Through deep snow they made their weary way; in front of them stretched three hundred miles to be traversed before they 50 THE LOST DA UPHIN. reached the home of the St. Frar^ois, who were followers of the French Jesuits. After a very rapid journey, during which Mrs. Williams was murdered, they arrived at Montreal ; and here his little daughter, Eunice, was adopted by the Jesuit Mission, and baptized in the Catholic faith. This was a terrible blow to the Puritan minister, -far worse than his compulsory attendance at Mass. The little Eunice, however, fell in love with her new friends, and not only adopted the religion of her dusky companions, but their language and customs as well, and later on became a thorough Indian by marrying a young native of the name of Turoges, which is con- sidered to be a corruption of De Rogers. She completely forgot her mother tongue, and could never be got to renounce any of the habits of savage life. She was, however, THE LOST DAUPHIN. 51 never forgotten in her New England village, where, after her father's return, her strange fate was the cause of many prayer-meetings, and her re-conversion the source of much earnest prayer. Before her father's death in 1729 she once visited Deerfield, dressed in her blanket and wampum, and though she consented to attend " meeting " in civilized attire, she got rid of it as soon as possible, and returned to the life of her choice. She had three children, a son and two daughters. Her son, John De Rogers, was killed at Lake George in 1758; her daughter Catharine married an Indian called Rice, and Mary married an English physician, who though named Williams was no relation. They had one son, Thomas Williams, or Tehorakwaneken, who in his turn married an Indian named Mary Ann Konwate- wenteta, in January 1799. 4 52 THE LOST DA UPHIN. Throughout the Revolution Thomas Williams fought on the British side, and rendered good service to General Waterbury and Burgoyne. He had eight children, who were all baptized Catholics at the Mission of Caughnawaga. The habits of Thomas Williams were known to be peculiar and secretive, and he was often absent from his family for long periods without thinking it necessary to make any explanation. On re- turning from one of these absences he brought with him a young boy of about eight or nine years old ; a fair, delicate child, whose features were refined and sensitive, though his mind was seemingly vacant and imbecile. And now to return to civilization. In 1795 there came to Albany, the capital of New York State, and a city of much importance and wealth, four strangers who had come direct from France. At that time many refugees sought protection THE LOST DAUPHIN. 53 in America, but these persons attracted special attention. They gave their name as De Jardin, and the party consisted of a lady, a gentleman, and two children, the eldest of whom was a girl called Louise, the other a little boy named Louis. The lady, though bearing the same name as the gentleman, was never considered to be his wife in any respect ; he, indeed, was evi- dently her inferior, and never obtruded his presence in any way. The children under their care were guarded with much mystery, and were never allowed to be seen in public, especially the boy, who was only visited by one or two ladies and children, and who appeared to be very quiet and deficient for one of his age. Madame De Jardin possessed several things that had belonged to Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. She stated frankly that she had been a maid- of-honour to the unfortunate Oueen, and was 54 THE LOST DAUPHIN. separated from her before her imprisonment in the Temple ; she spoke with much emotion, and burst into tears at the name of the Queen. The children were spoken of at the time as not being those of Madame De Jardin, and the boy at least was regarded as one of the royal family of France. Mrs. Dudley, a member of Governor Seymour's family, speaks of them in a letter dated 1853 as follows : " Among the reminiscences of early days I have always recollected with much interest being taken by my mother to visit a family who arrived here (Albany) in 1795 direct from France. These were a lady and gentleman called De Jardin. They had with them two children, a boy and a girl ; the girl was the eldest, the boy about nine or ten ; he apparently did not notice us. On my first visit I was much struck THE LOST DA UPHIN. 55 with the appearance of the family. A gentleman was in the hall ; he showed us into the parlour, but did not enter with us ; his dress was very plain, and I never realized how he was con- nected with the family. We were received with politeness by Madame. After a short interview she took me to a room upstairs, with shelves on one side of the wall, containing a number of handsome books ; on a table were jointed cards." (Does not this recall the pathetic figure of the little Dauphin and his playing cards in the Temple ?) "I was introduced to Mademoiselle Louise and Monsieur Louis. Mademoiselle and I played together, but Monsieur Louis did not join us ; he was dressed in shorts, and amused himself at some distance from us. Madame told my mother she was maid-of-honour to the Queen Marie Antoinette. My mother thought the chil- dren were belonging to the Crown. After some 56 THE LOST DA UPHIN. time Madame called and said they were obliged to leave us, and had many useful and hand- some articles to dispose of, and wished my mother to have the first choice, a pair of gilt andirons representing lions and a bowl, said to be gold, on which were engraven the arms of France. I have heard it spoken of some time after, and it was said to belong to a gentleman near Albany. The andirons were purchased by General Peter Gansevoort's lady, and are still belonging to a member of that family." And here let us note the coincidence of the above facts with portions of NaundorfTs story. We find the same characters exactly, even to detail ; and when coupled with his assertion that the Prince was sent to America, and the correspondence of time, the result is at least startling. We must now leave Albany, and betake our THE LOST DAUPHIN. 57 selves to the beautiful region about Ticondaroga Lake, and once more we must quote from an eyewitness, who was living as late as 1853, for an account of what took place here the same year of the Jardins' arrival in Albany, 1795. This witness was John Skenondough O'Brien,* an Indian half-breed, the son of an Irishman and an Oneida woman ; he was sent to France to be educated, and returned to America during the Revolution. During the hunting season he was often at Lake George, and while at Ticon- daroga in 1/95, ''two Frenchmen, one of them having the appearance of a Roman priest, came there, bringing with them a weak, sickly child, * This Skenondough was a nephew of the old war-chief of that name who dressed Lafayette's wounds at the battle of Brandywine. O'Brien Skenondough was a pensioner of the writer's grandmother when he had reached the great age of one hundred and fifteen. 58 THE LOST DA UPHIN. in a state of mental imbecility. Being acquainted with French, O'Brien conversed with the men, and learned from them that the boy was born in France ; he was adopted by an Iroquois chief named Thomas Williams ; " and here the narra- tive is brought down to the time when Williams, returning from one of his long absences, appeared with a foreign child, as unlike an Indian as well could be, and with grave taciturnity bade his wife look after him as one of their own. His name from thenceforward was Eleazar, or Lazu Williams, and from that time Thomas Williams was for many years in receipt of regular moneys which he went to Albany to collect, and which Mr. John Bleeker received from France, to be devoted to the support of Eleazar. Doubtless these transactions were arranged through the Indian, Jacob Vanderheyden, with whom Talley- rand was in correspondence for years. It was THE LOST DA UPHIN. 59 this Jacob Vanderheyden who was present at Lake George when the little Eleazar was de- livered to the care of the Williams family, and his daughter, Mrs. Catherine Mancius, told the Rev. Mr. Van Rensselear, of Mount Morris, that when Talleyrand visited America he paid her father a visit of considerable length. Williams, however, was as silent about the money as he was about the strange child. The boy was delicate, refined, sensitive, though so deficient in mind as to be called I' imbecile; and while after a few years of free, out-door life his physical health improved, his mental powers, especially that of memory, still remained undeveloped. He often accompanied his adopted father to Lake George, where the Indian hunting-grounds were occupied year after year by the same tribes; and it was here, some little time after his 60 THE LOST DA UPHIN. adoption by the Iroquois, that he fell from a rock near the Old Fort, *at the head of the lake, and cut his head severely. On his recover- ing from the effects of this injury what was his delight to find his poor confused brain becoming clearer, while many things that had seemed only terrible or beautiful dreams assumed definite shapes and reality ; his memory, which for so many years had been clouded and obscure, was slowly reawakening. One of the incidents most vividly impressed upon his mind at this time was the visit of two strange gentlemen to the encampment of Thomas Williams, who took their seats beside him on a log a little distance from his wigwam. Williams called out, " Lazu, this friend of yours wishes to speak to you." As he approached, one of the gentlemen rose and walked off. The one who remained had every indication, in dress, THE LOST DAUPHIN. - 61 manner, and language, of being a Frenchman ; the boy remembered a few words of his native tongue, and so knew that he spoke in French. His hair was powdered; he had on a ruffled shirt, and bore a very splendid appearance. When Eleazar came near he advanced several steps towards him, embraced him most tenderly, and, shedding abundance of tears, called him " pauvre garfon" The Frenchman continued to lament and caress him, speaking rapidly and earnestly, but the lad could not understand him. They came again the next day, and the French gentleman remained several hours ; the last thing he did was to take hold of the boy's bare feet and examine them and his ankles closely, when he again shed tears, and on leaving gave him a gold piece. Thomas Williams, contrary to his usual custom, soon after the visit of the strange gentleman, 62 THE LOST DA UPHIN. broke up camp and returned to Chaughnawaga, instead of remaining for the winter at Lake George. Not long after their arrival at home, Eleazar overheard a conversation between his adopted parents, in which Thomas Williams eagerly advocated some project, which the old Indian woman as eagerly discouraged. Thomas Williams, however, persevered ; and finally, in answer to his demand, she replied " If you will do it, you may send away this strange boy ; means have been put into your hands for his education, but John I cannot part with." The boy was excitedly interested in what he heard ; but though the memory of it remained with him, he soon forgot to attach any special meaning to it, and before long it faded from his mind. Very soon after this a great change came into the life of Eleazar. Not long after Thomas THE LOST DAUPHIN. 63 Williams' return to Chaughnawaga, he told young Williams that he and his brother John were to be sent east to be educated. Strangely enough they owed this opportunity to the memory of Eunice Williams, who though long dead had not been forgotten in her native home. The Rev. Nathaniel Ely, who remembered her story, traced out her descendants and offered to bring up two of them " in the fear of the Lord." As we know, Mary Ann Williams was very loth to part with any of her children, and at last only consented to allow John to go if accom- panied by " the strange boy, Lazu." Eleazar was at this time (1800) about fifteen, and John was several years younger. Their appearance at the New England village of Long Meadow caused great excitement ; they were called the " two Indian youths/' though there was something "so singular and mysterious 64 THE LOST DAUPHIN. in the difference between them, that those who saw them never forgot it." Mr. Ely was acquainted with the secret of Eleazar's birth in so far as to know he was French, and of distinguished origin, and through- out all their companionship he treated the young man with extreme respect and courtesy. He was also doubtless aware of the fact that at the time of Eleazar's adoption by the Iroquois, Thomas Williams, two boxes, containing clothing and other personal articles, were left with him. One of these boxes was taken away by one of Thomas Williams' daughters, but the other, in 1854, was still in Montreal, though great efforts were made to keep it concealed. In this box were three medals, or coins one of gold, one of silver, and one of copper each bearing the same inscription ; they were in fact some of the medals struck at the coronation of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. ELEAZAR wi THE LOST DA UPHIN. 65 The Indians sold the gold and silver ones, but thirty years ago the bronze one was in the posses- sion of the Catholic Bishop of Montreal. It will at once be seen how easily these im- portant souvenirs could find their way to Montreal, as Chaughnawaga, the winter home of the Williamses, was but a straggling Indian village on the St. Lawrence, opposite Lachine, and within sight of Montreal. Those who placed the strange French boy among the Indians could not have chosen a more secluded spot ; while should they at any time wish to re-establish his claim to the throne of France which the nature of the relics left would imply they might, through the nearness of Montreal, hope to obtain traces of them, even though the roving and gipsy character of the tribes of that settlement would almost preclude any such result. A Boston paper of the period thus speaks of 66 THE LOST DAUPHIN. the peculiar difference between the two lads. " John was evidently of Indian birth ; he showed no fondness for study, always kept his bows and arrows hid away, and on any excuse would make use of them. Eleazar, though entirely illiterate when he came, soon became fond of his books. John learned little or nothing, and returned home ; Eleazar made progress, and remained ; he showed none of the traits of the Indian race, and was not regarded as of Indian blood." To quote again. "John was truly an Indian, with long black hair, his complexion and every feature corresponding with his race ; Eleazar had brown hair, hazel eyes, and European features." Even at this time of his life the boy was asked many questions as to his childhood, for already it was acknowledged that a mystery sur- rounded him. He spoke once to a playmate of the " painful images before his mind of things THE LOST DA UPHIN. 67 in his childhood." His journal for 1800 is most interesting, and shows a mind of no ordinary bent ; indeed the facility with which he acquired all knowledge would seem phenomenal had there not been a foundation laid in former years, which, though forgotten and unused for so long, re- sponded at once to culture and learning.* He remained for five years with Mr. Ely, and improved wonderfully in that short time. His journals, which he kept with faithful regularity, show his mental development, until in 1805 we find them displaying considerable elegance of style. He went to Canada in this year, and at Montreal received such marked attention from distinguished people as to greatly astonish and * This was especially noticeable in his quick attainment of handwriting ; in an incredibly short time he wrote a characteristic hand, though when he came to Mr. Ely he was apparently ignorant of the first principles, and kept his journal by signs of his own. 68 THE LOST DA UPHIN. delight him, though he seems to have accepted it all with much dignity, and as one " to the manner born." In 1806 he had an interview with Bishop Chevreux, then a Catholic priest in Boston, who by his questions and interest in him evidently knew more about his birth and ante- cedents than he would reveal. In 1810 he made the acquaintance of Bishop Hobart, who even at that early day was attracted by him, and showed him much attention. In 1812 he first set out with the full intention of devoting his life as a missionary to the Indians, and as agent to the American Board of Missions he visited Canada. At Sault St. Louis he received a message from the chief of the Iroquois tribe requesting his attendance at their council-house, where he was made a chief of that nation, under the name of Onwarenhiiaki, THE LOST DA UPHIN. 69 or "Tree Cutter," the same name that had been bestowed upon Sir William Johnson. During the war of 1812-14 he occupied a most important position between the Indians and the Americans, and rendered such good service in keeping peace between the St. Regis tribe and the two belligerent parties as to be put at the head of the Secret Corps, a position he held with much bravery, discretion, and coolness, His war journal at this time is of exceptional interest, and is the reflex of a mind that was certainly fitted to take foremost rank, and that could not possibly have belonged to an Indian half-breed, whose sole education had been encom- passed within five years. In many delicate positions, that might well have taxed the diplomacy of a political veteran, he displayed unerring judgment and justice, and by his exceptional influence over the Indians 70 THE LOST DA UPHIN. settled many questions peaceably that might have been the cause of renewed hostilities. For his services during the entire war the United States Government paid him ,2,000 ($10,000), the whole of which he afterwards spent in building schools and supporting the miserably paid Indian Mission, of which he was the pastor. During this time his religious con- victions became identical with the tenets of the Episcopal Church in America, which is the daughter of the Church of England, though not a National Establishment. An incident occurred at this time that is not without significance. Eleazar was visiting the Rev. Mr. Clowes, of Albany, and on seeing a brilliantly illuminated missal, which lay upon the table, his usually self-possessed and dignified man- ner deserted him ; he became very much agitated, and begged passionately to be given the book ; THE LOST DAUPHIN. he was, however, refused, because his manner was so agitated that he was supposed to be suffering from some temporary delusion. Mr. Hammond, in his most interesting book, gives the following : " There is now before me an Indian Mass Book in MS., which, from the colour of the paper, the faded writing, and its dilapidated condition, seems at least two centuries old. It was given Mr. Williams (Eleazar) in 1836, by an Indian woman, now dead, who told him that, while in an insane condition, he one day snatched a pen and wrote in it a number of figures and letters. There are on one of the covers, on the inside, in French characters, the numerals from i to 30, and from i to 19 ; a letter C. precisely like that element in the hand- writing of the Dauphin while under the care of Simon ; and in a less distinct form, but still quite legible, the word 'due' and the letters * Loui.' ' 72 THE LOST DA UPHIN. Another incident is told of him at this time. When looking at some engravings shown him by a friend, one of Simon was exhibited, Professor Day covering the name as he displayed it ; im- mediately Mr. Williams looked at it he exhibited marked signs of distress, and exclaimed in terrified accents, " Good God ! I know that face, it has haunted me through life."* On his return east he began his preparation for the ministry, and in 1815 he went to New York to unfold his plans to the then Bishop, Dr. Hobart. The Bishop received him cordially, and entered with sympathy into all his desires, and after a few weeks sent him among the Indians as a catechist, lay reader, and school- master, and in this humble capacity he laboured * The late United States Minister to Vienna, Mr. John Jay, was present, and heard this remark. THE LOST DAUPHIN. 73 for many years. It is impossible to enter into detail concerning this part of his life, interesting though it is; he remained at his post until 1818, when, his health failing, he went further north into the St. Regis country, and here, it would appear, the first real doubts as to his birth occurred to him. He had a letter of intro- duction to Mr. Richards, of the Montreal Catholic Seminary, who, on his entering, said,