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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
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+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #62650 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62650)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for Young
-People), by Franz Hoffman
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for Young People)
-
-Author: Franz Hoffman
-
-Translator: George P. Upton
-
-Release Date: July 15, 2020 [EBook #62650]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE DAUPHIN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the
-Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
-(This file was produced from images generously made
-available by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- [Illustration: _Happy days in the garden_]
-
- _Life Stories for Young People_
-
-
-
-
- THE
- LITTLE DAUPHIN
-
-
- _Translated from the German of
- Franz Hoffmann_
-
- BY
- GEORGE P. UPTON
-_Translator of “Memories,” author of “Upton Handbooks on Music,” editor
- “Autobiography of Theodore Thomas,” etc., etc._
-
- WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
-
- [Illustration: A. C. McCLURG & CO.]
-
- CHICAGO
- A. C. McCLURG & CO.
- 1905
-
- Copyright
- A. C. McClurg & Co.
- 1905
- Published September 16, 1905
-
- THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
-
-
-
-
- Translator’s Preface
-
-
-The story of Louis Charles, second son of Louis XVI and Marie
-Antoinette, is one of the most pathetic in the history of royalty, and
-has an added interest because of the attempts of many romancers and some
-historical writers to raise doubts as to his fate. The brief space of
-the little Dauphin’s life is measured by the awful period of the French
-Revolution and Reign of Terror. Franz Hoffmann, the writer of the
-original (which was published under the title of “Ein Königssohn,” or,
-“A King’s Son”), follows the ordinarily accepted version that the
-Dauphin was separated from the King and Queen and confined in the
-Temple, and that after their execution he was deliberately and cruelly
-allowed to waste away in body and become the victim of hopeless disease,
-remaining thus until death ended his sufferings and the inhuman
-barbarity of his keepers. In the course of his narrative the author
-touches upon the most striking events of the Revolution, that “dreadful
-remedy for a dreadful disease,” as it has been called, and brings out in
-strong relief the character of the well-meaning but weak King and
-imperious Queen, as well as that of the brutal cobbler Simon, the
-Dauphin’s keeper; but the principal interest centres in the pathetic
-figure of the little prince. The historic doubts raised as to the
-Dauphin’s fate also lend interest to the tale. One of these has to do
-with the identity of Naundorff, who passed himself off as the Duke of
-Normandy, the Dauphin’s title, and the other with the Rev. Eleazar
-Williams of Green Bay, Wisconsin, missionary among the Indians. The
-claims put forth by friends of Williams attracted widespread attention
-and provoked much discussion in this country and France, half a century
-ago, because of the extraordinary coincidences attaching to the alleged
-identity. It is the generally accepted verdict of history, however, that
-the Dauphin was the victim of the Revolution and died in the Temple in
-1795, and as such he appears in these pages. The details of his fate can
-never be stated with accuracy, so involved and uncertain is the tragic
-mystery, but Hoffmann’s narrative is undoubtedly correct in its general
-outlines. There are almost as many different versions as there are
-histories of that thrilling period.
-
- G. P. U.
-
-Chicago, 1905
-
-
-
-
- Contents
-
-
- I Sunny Days 11
- II The Night of Varennes 30
- III In the Temple 65
- IV Separation from his Mother 79
- V The Cobbler Simon 93
- VI The End of Sorrows 126
- Appendix 149
-
-
-
-
- List of Illustrations
-
-
- Happy days in the garden _Frontispiece_
- _Facing page_
- The King’s last farewell 76
- The Cobbler and his little victim 120
- The Dauphin and the sparrows 138
-
-
-
-
- The Little Dauphin
-
-
-
-
- Chapter I
- Sunny Days
-
-
-Within the grounds of the Tuileries,—that splendid palace of the King of
-France,—at the end of a terrace overlooking the water, there was, in
-1790, a small garden surrounded by a neat trellis and adjoining a
-pavilion occupied by the Abbé Daveaux, tutor of the Dauphin, or Crown
-Prince, Louis Charles.[1]
-
-On a certain bright July morning in that year a handsome, graceful boy
-about five years old entered this garden. He was richly and carefully
-dressed, and was accompanied by a small detachment of soldiers in the
-uniform of the National Guard, who followed him on foot to the gate in
-the trellis and stationed themselves there as sentinels. The boy bowed
-courteously to them and said, smiling: “I am sorry, gentlemen, my garden
-is so small I cannot have the pleasure of receiving you in it, but I
-will do the best I can,” and quickly gathering a handful of flowers, he
-proceeded to distribute them among his escort with such winning
-sweetness that the bearded soldiers could scarcely restrain their
-emotion.
-
-After busying himself for some time in this way, the boy took from a
-corner one of the small but handsomely finished garden tools that had
-evidently been specially adapted to his use, and went industriously to
-work removing the weeds which had sprung up among the flowers, and
-spading the soil of a small bed to prepare it for setting out some young
-plants which he had brought with him in a pretty little basket. He
-worked with such energy and absorption that beads of perspiration stood
-on his forehead, and he did not observe that his tutor, the Abbé
-Daveaux, had entered the little garden and was watching his labors with
-loving interest.
-
-“That will do, my Prince,” said the Abbé, finally. “You must not fatigue
-yourself too much or you will not be able to give proper attention to
-your lessons.”
-
-The boy immediately laid down his tool and with a bright smile greeted
-his tutor, who gently brushed the clustering curls from his flushed
-face. As he stood there, glowing with health and breathless from the
-exercise which had brought a bright color to his cheeks, with the frank,
-fearless glance of his great blue eyes shaded by dark lashes, the wide,
-fair brow, the fresh red lips, the dimple in his rounded chin, and the
-almost angelic expression of innocence on his face—it would have been
-hard to find a lovelier child. His figure was slender and delicate, his
-motions full of grace and vivacity, while in his manner and bearing
-there was something noticeably distinguished, combined with a confiding
-trustfulness that won all hearts.
-
-Universally admired for his beauty and beloved for his nobility of mind,
-his tender heart, and the sweet friendliness he showed to all with whom
-he came in contact, this boy was Louis Charles, Dauphin of France,
-destined in the ordinary course of events to be the future ruler of one
-of the mightiest kingdoms of the world. Tenderly beloved by his parents,
-the unfortunate King Louis the Sixteenth and the imperious Grand Duchess
-Marie Antoinette[2]; surrounded by all the pomp and splendor of a
-kingdom, and sheltered with loving solicitude from every shadow of evil,
-as yet he had known only the sunny days of happy, careless childhood;
-but already above him were gathering the dark clouds which were to
-eclipse the sunshine of his life evermore and transform the serene
-happiness of his parents into bitter trouble and untold misery. Alas!
-what a cruel fate had destiny reserved for this beautiful boy whose blue
-eyes looked out so bravely and trustfully upon the world! But of all
-this he had little foreboding as he gave himself up to the full
-enjoyment of his innocent happiness with all the light-hearted
-unconsciousness of a child.
-
-“Just see, M. Abbé, how busy I have been this morning!” said the boy,
-after he had given the usual morning greetings to his tutor. “I have
-taken out all the weeds and planted this bed with fine asters, which
-will please my mother very much when they blossom. You know, M. Abbé,
-how much she loves flowers!”
-
-“I do, indeed, my Prince,” answered M. Daveaux, “and it is very nice and
-thoughtful of you to take her a nosegay every morning; but I cannot
-understand why you exert yourself to do all that digging, weeding,
-watering, and planting when a gardener would do it for you in a few
-moments.”
-
-The little Prince shook his head earnestly. “No, no, M. Abbé,” he
-replied after a moment’s reflection; “my father gave me this garden so
-that I should have the care of it. And besides,” he added with a
-charming smile, “I must make these flowers grow myself, because mamma
-would not like them half so well if anyone else had done it.”
-
-“You are right, my Prince,” said the Abbé, surprised and touched by the
-boy’s remark, which showed so much affection for his mother. “Go on
-planting your flowers, and I hope they may thrive entirely to your
-satisfaction.”
-
-“Oh, they are growing finely, M. Daveaux,” answered the Prince, proudly.
-“You will see what a large bunch I can pick in just a moment”; and with
-a zeal and energy inspired by his love for his mother he examined all
-the flowers in his little garden, selected the largest and freshest
-blossoms, and bound them into a bouquet which he arranged with much care
-and taste.
-
-“Look, M. Abbé,” said he, holding out his nosegay with childish triumph,
-“do you not think my mother will be pleased with this? It makes me very
-unhappy when the weather is bad and I cannot work in my garden, for how
-can I be happy, M. Abbé, when I have not earned mamma’s first kiss with
-my bouquet? But now I must go and feed my rabbits, and then hurry to her
-with the flowers.”
-
-In a corner of the garden there was a small enclosure walled in with
-bricks, where some pretty tame rabbits were kept by the Prince. They
-recognized him with evident pleasure, and came quickly at his call as he
-bountifully distributed among them fresh cabbage leaves and carrots
-provided for the purpose. After this visit to his pets, the Dauphin
-turned back toward the palace to make his usual morning call on his
-mother, but once more he was detained.
-
-Before the iron railings that separated the garden from the open street
-stood a poor woman, who was gazing at the Prince with longing eyes, but
-had not ventured to address him. Perceiving instantly that she seemed to
-be in trouble, he approached her and asked kindly: “What is the matter,
-my good woman? Can I do anything for you?”
-
-The woman burst into tears. “Oh, my Prince,” she stammered, “I am very
-poor and have a sick child at home,—it is a boy, my Prince, and just as
-old as you,—and he is waiting anxiously for my return. But I cannot bear
-to go back to him with empty hands!”
-
-“Wait a moment,” replied the Prince, after he had convinced himself that
-the woman was really poor and needy. “I am going to see my mother, and
-will be back directly.”
-
-With hasty steps he ran on, and disappeared in the palace; but in less
-than ten minutes he was back again with a beaming face.
-
-“Here, my good woman,” he said in his gentle voice, as he handed her a
-bright new gold piece through the railings, “that is from my mother. And
-this,” he added, snatching one of the finest roses from his garden,
-“this is from me for your sick boy. I hope he will soon be well again”;
-and before the astonished woman could utter her thanks the little
-Dauphin had vanished again, hardly hearing the loud acclamations of the
-crowd which had gathered outside the palings and witnessed his generous
-deed.
-
-At no time was the young Prince gayer or more charming than with his
-mother, whom he adored above all the world. As she did not wish his mind
-overtaxed with learning during his tender years, she taught him herself
-the rudiments of his education before giving him into the hands of his
-tutor, and nothing could equal the motherly care and solicitude she
-bestowed on the task. If the boy became weary, the Queen would seat
-herself at the piano or harp and play for him little melodies, full of
-expression, which she had either learned or composed herself, observing
-with pleasure that his ear was very sensitive to the charm of melody; or
-she would sometimes read to him fairy tales, fables, or stories from
-history, to which the little Prince listened with the liveliest
-interest. Every emotion aroused by these appeals to his imagination
-showed itself on his sensitive, animated features. Exclamations of
-wonder or excitement occasionally escaped him at the recital of stirring
-events or adventures which his mind could readily grasp; but whenever
-anything escaped his comprehension or was not clear to him, his brow
-clouded, and a stream of questions immediately followed. Nor was he
-satisfied until he fully understood. At such times he often astonished
-those about him with observations and reflections that awakened the
-liveliest hopes for the future of the royal child,—hopes unhappily
-doomed to be so soon blasted!
-
-After the little Dauphin had made the poor woman happy with his gift, he
-returned for a moment to his mother to thank her again for the gold
-piece, and then went to give the King his morning greetings.
-
-“What is this I hear, my dear Charles?” said the King, smiling and
-shaking his finger at the Prince. “M. Hue has been telling me strange
-things of you.” M. Hue was one of the Prince’s attendants.
-
-“What things, papa?” asked the boy. “I don’t remember doing anything
-bad.”
-
-“No? Think well, Charles. Yesterday, while you were reciting your
-lesson, you began to whistle. Did you not deserve a rebuke for that?”
-
-The Prince colored. Then he answered quietly: “Yes, papa, I remember. I
-repeated my lesson so badly that I whistled to myself.”
-
-“Nevertheless you see it was heard,” replied the King. “You may be
-forgiven for that, however, but we have not come to the end yet.
-Afterwards you were in such high spirits that you tried to run away and
-dash through the rose-bushes in the garden. M. Hue warned you, and said,
-‘Monseigneur, a single one of those thorns might wound your face badly,
-or even put out your eye!’ And what answer did Monseigneur make?”
-
-Somewhat abashed, the Prince lowered his eyes. “I said: ‘It is the
-thorny path that leads to glory!’ And is not that true, papa?”
-
-The King’s face assumed a more serious expression. “Yes, yes, the
-principle is right,” he answered, “but you have misapplied it, my child.
-There is no glory in risking your eyesight merely to gratify a
-mischievous impulse. If it had been a question of killing a dangerous
-beast, of rescuing a human being from peril, in short, if you had risked
-your life to save another, that might have been called glory; but your
-act, Charles, was simply thoughtless and imprudent. Beside, child, you
-had better wait and not talk of glory until you are able to read the
-history of your ancestors and our French heroes like Guesclin, Bayard,
-Turenne, and many others who have defended our crown with their blood.”
-
-This mild but earnest exhortation made a deep impression on the heart of
-the young Prince. He seized his father’s hand, kissed it, and said in a
-low voice, “Very well, dear papa, after this I will find my glory in
-following your counsels and in obeying you.”
-
-“Then we are good friends again,” answered the King; “and now we will
-look over your exercises for a few moments, so that M. Hue and M.
-Daveaux may be pleased with you.”
-
-The King, as well as the Queen, observed with pride the talents of his
-son, and it afforded him much pleasure to be present during the lesson
-hours and examine the exercises and copy-books. He frequently instructed
-the Prince himself, and by his praise or censure encouraged in the boy a
-habit of diligence and attention to what was being impressed upon his
-mind. Together with his wife he guided the education of the young
-Prince, and even continued the practice in later and less happy days,
-when, deprived of his crown, he had to accustom himself to the gloom of
-a prison cell.
-
-Soon the Abbé Daveaux appeared, and the usual instruction in religion,
-reading, history, and geography began. The Prince was particularly
-attentive on this day, for his father’s gentle admonition had sunk deep
-into his heart and spurred his zeal to the utmost.
-
-“You have been very bright and industrious to-day, my Prince,” said M.
-Daveaux, when study-time was over, “and I am glad, therefore, that I
-have a pleasant piece of news for you.”
-
-“What news?” asked the Prince, quickly.
-
-“This,—that a company of small soldiers has been formed in Paris under
-the name of ‘Regiment of the Dauphin,’ which wishes to have you for its
-Colonel. I am sure you will accept this post of honor with pleasure.”
-
-“Yes, indeed, if papa will allow me!” replied the Prince, with sparkling
-eyes.
-
-“Your papa,” answered the King himself, “has not only already given his
-consent, but is willing for you to receive the young gentlemen who have
-come to pay their respects to their new Colonel.”
-
-“Come already? Where shall I find them?” asked the Prince, eagerly.
-
-“In your garden,” replied the King. “M. Daveaux will be good enough to
-accompany you.”
-
-Beaming with joy, the Crown Prince hastened with his tutor to the
-garden, where he greeted the little deputation, most of whom were not
-more than four or five years older than himself, with graceful courtesy
-and announced his readiness to accept the post of Colonel of their
-regiment.
-
-“Now it will be adieu to your flowers and the nosegays for your mamma, I
-suppose?” said the Abbé.
-
-“Oh, no!” returned the Dauphin, gayly, “reviewing my Grenadiers will not
-prevent me from taking care of my flowers. Some of these young soldiers
-have little gardens of their own; they will love the Queen, too, like
-their Colonel, and in the future, instead of a single one, mamma will
-receive a whole regiment of bouquets every day.”
-
-The little soldiers loudly applauded their new commander’s speech, and
-the best relations were at once established between them and continued
-without a break for several weeks. His small Guards afforded the Prince
-the greatest pleasure, until they were dispersed in the stormy times
-which soon followed.
-
-By this time the day was considerably advanced, and the Abbé was obliged
-to remind his pupil that his mother would be waiting for him and he must
-dismiss the envoys of the Regiment of the Dauphin. The Prince gave his
-hand courteously to his little comrades and followed his tutor to the
-Queen’s apartment. His reception, however, was by no means such as he
-expected. His mother greeted him with a very serious face and gave him
-only her cheek to kiss instead of the usual embrace. Prince Louis
-Charles, who was acutely sensitive, perceived at once that something was
-amiss and looked at his mother timidly and somewhat perplexed.
-
-“What fault have I committed now, mamma?” he asked.
-
-“Ah, the young gentleman’s conscience troubles him already,” replied the
-Queen. “Perhaps he can tell me about the trick that was played on the
-page who attended him yesterday on the terrace. I hope he will not
-attempt to deny it!”
-
-The Prince’s delicate face grew crimson, for he remembered very well to
-what his mother referred. The day before, while they were walking
-together, he had mischievously taken a flute from his companion’s pocket
-and hidden it in a fir-tree on the terrace. In a faltering voice he
-confessed his guilt.
-
-“Very good,” said the Queen; “your confession mitigates your fault
-somewhat, but nevertheless such pranks cannot be passed over without
-punishment. It is out of the question, of course, to imprison the newly
-appointed Colonel of a regiment, but there is Mouflet! Mouflet was with
-you at the time. He was in a way the accomplice of his master, and since
-that master may not be punished, Mouflet must suffer for him. Let
-Mouflet be called and placed in arrest for two hours!”
-
-Mouflet was a pretty little dog, dearly loved by the Prince, and on this
-affection the Queen relied in her punishment of the Dauphin. Nor was she
-mistaken as to its effect.
-
-Confined in a dark little cabinet, deprived alike of his freedom and the
-sight of his young master, poor Mouflet began to whine dolefully, to
-scratch at the door, and finally to howl with all his might. His
-lamentations found an echo in the tender heart of the real culprit and
-filled it with pity and remorse. Weeping, he hastened to his mother and
-tearfully kissed her hand.
-
-“But, mamma,” said he, “Mouflet is not the one who has done wrong. Why
-should the poor dog be punished? Oh, please set him free and put me in
-his place!”
-
-Delighted as the Queen was at this proof of the Prince’s sense of
-justice, and gladly as she would have pardoned him, she felt that for
-the sake of discipline she must not yield to her feelings, and replied
-gravely: “Very well, since you feel that you deserve the punishment, I
-will not prevent you from enduring it. You may release poor Mouflet and
-be locked up in his place for an hour.”
-
-Rejoiced at this decision, the Prince accepted his sentence at once and
-even extended it beyond the allotted time. But this was not all. In the
-solitude of his prison he began to reflect upon his behavior, and told
-himself that even though he had atoned for his fault the wrong had not
-yet been righted. He resolved that as soon as he was at liberty he would
-go to the garden, get the flute from its hiding-place, and give it back
-to his playmate with a request for forgiveness. A loving glance, a
-tender caress from his mother, were the rewards of his victory over
-himself; and these signs that he was forgiven made the little Prince so
-happy and contented that for the rest of the day he was the most polite
-and well-behaved of boys and gave not the slightest occasion for a word
-or even a look of reproof.
-
-Some days later, on the fourteenth of July, 1790, a great _fête_ was
-held on the Champ de Mars[3] in Paris, as in all the other cities of
-France, to celebrate the inauguration of the new _régime_. The storm of
-the Revolution which had broken out in the previous year seemed to have
-passed away with this celebration, and there was a general feeling of
-hope and cheerful expectancy even among the opponents of the new order
-of things. All the people, without distinction of rank or class, had
-contributed to the erection of a huge amphitheatre-like structure built
-around the Champ de Mars, and in its construction had treated one
-another like members of one great family. Even the heavy gusts of rain
-which ushered in the long-talked-of day failed to dampen the ardor of
-the deputies and the vast throng of people assembled there. The endless
-processions followed each other in perfect order; and at last the sun
-burst forth triumphantly from the mists and rain clouds. First,
-Lafayette[4] mounted the steps of the high altar erected under the open
-sky, where Talleyrand,[5] Bishop of Autun, with sixty priests, read the
-Mass and consecrated the banners of the eighty-three districts of
-France, and swore, with the colors of Paris in his hand, in the name of
-the National Guard and the army of France, to be true to the law and the
-King; then the President of the National Assembly, rising from his seat
-at the right of the King, took the same oath; and finally the King
-himself arose and swore with uplifted arms to use all the power bestowed
-on him by the law and the new Constitution for their maintenance. At
-this instant, while cannon thundered and trumpets blared, loud shouts
-arose. The Queen, who was on a raised dais beside the throne, carried
-away by the excitement of the moment, lifted her son, the Dauphin, high
-in her arms to show him to the people and also to let him share in the
-oaths. The lovely child, smiling and radiant, stretched out his innocent
-arms as though to invoke a blessing from Heaven upon France, whereat the
-multitude that witnessed the charming sight broke forth into cheers and
-deafening huzzas that rent the ragged clouds and penetrated to the
-heavens above.
-
-The envoys of the people thronged about the little Dauphin to offer him
-their loyalty and homage, which the Prince received with such grace and
-childish dignity that the enthusiasm broke out afresh, and thousands of
-hearts vowed unswerving allegiance to this child whose innocent breast
-seemed to harbor no thoughts but those of peace and good-will to men.
-The King and Queen embraced each other, many eyes were filled with
-tears, and a general reconciliation seemed to have closed forever the
-abyss of the Revolution which had threatened to engulf unhappy France.
-
-These were still sunny days; but, alas! they were the last to shine upon
-the well-meaning King and his unfortunate consort. Fate had doomed them
-to misfortune, and “misfortune travels swiftly.”
-
-
-
-
- Chapter II
- The Night of Varennes[6]
-
-
-Soon after the celebration of the new _régime_, the Hydra of the
-Revolution, which had been for a short time trodden into the dust, again
-lifted its poisonous head. Those evil geniuses of France, Robespierre,
-Marat, and Danton, vied with one another in their efforts to disturb the
-peace of the country which had been secured with such difficulty, and by
-calumnies against the King to sow the seeds of hatred and distrust of
-him among the people.
-
-They succeeded only too well. The National Assembly issued an
-unprecedented order to the effect that the King should not absent
-himself from Paris for more than twenty-four hours; and if he should
-leave the kingdom, and not return at the request of the Assembly, he
-should be deposed.
-
-Notwithstanding this order, the King determined on a journey to St.
-Cloud. At eleven o’clock in the morning he attempted to start, but his
-carriage was immediately surrounded by a dense throng of people. A troop
-of mutinous soldiers locked the doors of the palace, and with threats
-and shouts levelled their bayonets at the breasts of the horses. All
-Lafayette’s efforts to appease the tumult were in vain, and after two
-hours of struggle and dispute, during which the King was forced to bear
-the grossest insults and abuse, he was obliged to return to his
-apartments.
-
-The little Dauphin, who had been eagerly looking forward to the journey
-and making a thousand plans for his sojourn in St. Cloud, was much
-grieved over this failure of his hopes. To divert his mind from the
-disappointment, after he had returned to his room the Abbé Daveaux gave
-him a volume of “The Children’s Friend,” by Berquin,[7] to look at. The
-Prince opened it at random, and cried in astonishment: “Just see, M.
-Abbé! what a curious thing! Look at this title, ‘The Little Captive’!
-How strange!”
-
-The child had foretold only too well in applying the name of little
-captive to himself. He, as well as his parents, was in fact a prisoner
-of the people and the National Assembly, and their numerous jailers
-behaved so rudely and disrespectfully to them that the situation soon
-became unbearable. The unvarying kindness and patience of the King
-served only to multiply the complaints and calumnies of his enemies.
-Even the Queen could no longer appear at her window without exposing
-herself to insults and invectives. At last the yoke became so heavy that
-nothing remained but to escape, or break it by force. The kindly heart
-of the King shrank from the latter course, which could not be
-accomplished without bloodshed, so the necessary preparations were made
-for flight—the only recourse left him. It was determined to seek a
-refuge in some frontier town and from there to carry on negotiations
-with the arrogant Assembly.
-
-The King was not entirely without loyal friends. By means of a secret
-correspondence, an arrangement was made with the Marquis de Bouillé,[8]
-a lieutenant-general at the head of an important army corps. The troops
-in Champagne, Alsace, and Lorraine were placed under his command, and he
-also guarded the frontier from Switzerland to the Moselle and the
-Sambre. It was arranged between him and the King that the latter should
-go to Montmédy, a strong post situated conveniently near the frontier.
-The Marquis proposed, in order to lessen the danger, that the party
-should separate, the Queen with the Dauphin going first; but the King
-answered: “If we are to be saved, it must be together or not at all.”
-
-On the 29th of April, 1791, the King wrote to M. Bouillé to procure a
-coach for the journey, large enough to accommodate himself and his
-entire family; but the general tried to persuade him to take, instead,
-two small, light English travelling-carriages, such as were used at that
-time, which would not attract attention. The King unfortunately would
-not listen to this suggestion, a seemingly trivial circumstance, which
-brought about disastrous results. Before he left Paris, he wished to
-relieve the Marquis from any responsibility in the matter, and sent him
-therefore a written order to station troops along the road from Châlons
-to Montmédy, for the purpose of guarding the safety of the persons of
-the King and his family.
-
-Their departure was fixed for the night of June nineteenth, but was
-deferred at the last moment by an unfortunate occurrence. One of the
-Queen’s waiting-women, who, it was feared, might betray the plan if she
-had the least suspicion of it, was dismissed from her service that very
-day, so the journey was postponed for twenty-four hours. We shall soon
-see how this fact also contributed to the failure of the ill-fated
-undertaking.
-
-Haste was imperative. The plan had already begun to excite suspicion;
-for it had become necessary to take several persons into the secret, who
-did not guard it with proper care. Even the lower domestics in the
-Tuileries whispered of it among themselves, and the rumor, spreading
-abroad, excited the populace to such a degree that the police were
-formally notified. This report naturally resulted in the maintenance of
-a still stricter surveillance over the palace. The royal family was
-constantly watched in the most offensive way; the people even became so
-bold as to lock the King and Queen in their own apartments at night; and
-mattresses were placed before the doors for the guards to sleep on, so
-that no one could leave the rooms without stepping over the bodies of
-their jailers. This difficulty, however, had been foreseen, and an
-effort made to surmount it. Some months before this, a door had been so
-skilfully cut in the woodwork of the chamber occupied by the King’s
-sister, Madame Élisabeth,[9] that only the closest scrutiny could
-discover it. This door opened on a small staircase, which led to a
-vaulted passage separating this room from that of the Queen. A similar
-door had been made in the royal apartment, and both fitted with keys
-which turned so easily they could be opened instantly, without noise or
-delay. Finally, the precaution had been taken to conceal them by means
-of large cupboards or presses, that opened on both sides and hid the
-secret doors without preventing passage through them. In this way one
-room could be easily reached from the other, and by means of the
-passage, access gained to the interior of the palace, from whence it
-would be easy to reach the open air and freedom.
-
-On the twentieth of June, at ten o’clock in the morning, the little
-Dauphin was working in his garden at the end of the Tuileries; at
-eleven, the Queen went to hear mass with her attendants, and on her
-return from the chapel ordered her carriage to be in readiness at five
-in the afternoon. The day passed as usual; but the elder sister of the
-Dauphin noticed that her parents seemed anxious and agitated, and
-confided this observation to her brother. At five o’clock the Queen took
-a little drive with her children, and seized this opportunity to impress
-upon them that they must not be alarmed at anything that might occur in
-the course of the evening or night. The children were clever enough to
-perceive their mother’s meaning, and the little Prince assured her she
-might be quite easy with regard to him.
-
-After the King and his family had eaten their evening meal at the usual
-hour, all retired to their apartments. The Dauphin was put to bed at
-nine o’clock, the Princess, his sister, at ten; the Queen retired at
-half-past ten, and the King a few moments later. The servants were given
-the seemingly necessary orders for the following morning; the doors were
-locked, the sentries took their usual precautions, and at Madame
-Élisabeth’s door the guard was doubled. But scarcely had the
-serving-people withdrawn, when the King, the Queen, and Madame Élisabeth
-carefully arose, dressed themselves quickly, and in a few moments were
-ready for the journey. The Queen went into her daughter’s room to awaken
-her and her waiting-woman, Madame Brunier. She acquainted the latter
-with the plan for escape, informed her that she and Madame de Neuville
-had been chosen to accompany them, and requested her finally to dress
-the Princess as quickly as possible and bring her into the Dauphin’s
-chamber. The clothes had been already prepared. The dress for the little
-Princess was of cheap brown stuff and very simply made, in order that
-the rank of the fugitive might not be suspected, while the Dauphin was
-dressed as a girl, and looked most charming in his new costume. But,
-aroused from his first sleep at eleven o’clock at night, he could not
-understand what was going on about him, and fell asleep again
-immediately. His sister awoke him once more, and whispered:
-
-“Charles, Charles! what do you think of all this?”
-
-To which he replied sleepily, and with half-closed eyes, “I think it is
-a comedy we are going to act, because we are dressed up so strangely.”
-
-At the time fixed for departure, both children were taken out into the
-passage, where they were joined a moment later by the Queen. She took
-them by the hand and led the way, Madame de Neuville, Madame Brunier,
-and Madame de Tourzel, the Dauphin’s governess, following. They
-descended a staircase, hurried through several dark corridors to a door
-in the farthest corner of the courtyard, which had been left unguarded,
-and near which a hackney-coach was standing. It had been agreed they
-should not all leave the palace together, for fear of attracting the
-attention of the sentries, so the Queen lifted her children into the
-coach, entrusted them to the care of Madame de Tourzel, and returned to
-the palace. The driver was Count Axel Fersen[10]—a Swedish gentleman
-who, next to M. de Bouillé, enjoyed the highest favor at court. He drove
-out of the courtyard, took a roundabout way through the quarter to elude
-observation, and then came back to the Petit Carrousel, where he was to
-wait for the rest of the party. While they stood there, Lafayette’s
-carriage drove by, surrounded by torch bearers; he was on his way to the
-Tuileries, but recognized no one and observed nothing; for that matter,
-the Dauphin was in the bottom of the coach, hiding under his governess’s
-skirt.
-
-An hour passed, but no one came. Finally Madame Élisabeth arrived, and
-not long after her the King appeared. The Queen was only a short
-distance behind him, but she caught sight of Lafayette’s carriage again
-approaching, and, afraid of being discovered, hurried down one of the
-narrow streets near by. Confused by the labyrinth of alleys, she lost
-her way, and dared not ask it of anyone so near the palace. Thus another
-precious half-hour was lost before she found the coach again. At last
-they started, and reached the new Barrier of the suburb St. Martin,
-without further mishap, where they found the large travelling-coach
-awaiting them, drawn by five strong horses, although it was fully two
-hours past the time agreed on.
-
-It was the shortest night of the year, and the first faint light of dawn
-was already visible in the sky, as, shortly after two o’clock, the
-carriage containing the royal family rattled up. The change to the
-waiting travelling-coach was made without delay, and Count Fersen swung
-himself onto the box beside his coachman, Balthasar Sapel.
-
-“Drive on, quickly!” he ordered. “Make haste!” They started forward.
-Their _rôles_ were distributed as follows: Madame de Tourzel was to
-appear as the Baroness von Korff; the Princess and the Dauphin as her
-daughters Amalie and Algan; the Queen passed as the children’s
-governess, Madame Rochet; Madame Élisabeth personated the waiting-woman
-called Rosalie; the King took the part of _valet-de-chambre_ under the
-name of Durand; and three officers of the bodyguard who accompanied
-them, Messieurs de Maldent, de Moustier, and de Valory, passed for
-servants and couriers. All were suitably dressed.
-
-Count Fersen, on the coachman’s box in front, constantly cracked the
-whip and urged the driver on. “Faster! faster! Balthasar!” he called to
-him. “Do not spare the horses—they will have time enough to rest when we
-are safe with the regiment.” The horses almost flew, but their furious
-speed seemed slow to the anxious impatience of the Count, who realized
-but too well the dangers of the enterprise. Bondy was reached in half an
-hour, and here, through the forethought of M. de Valory, six fresh
-horses were waiting for them, while he himself rode on in advance to
-Claye to take the same precaution there. At Bondy, Count Fersen took
-leave of them with reluctance, and returned to Paris, to escape as soon
-as possible to Belgium.
-
-At Claye the travellers found the waiting-maids, Brunier and de
-Neuville, who had left Paris a little before them in a postchaise. It
-was important to continue their journey without delay, but the new
-travelling-coach already needed some repairs, and again invaluable time
-was lost. At the village of Étoges, between Montmirail and Châlons, they
-had an anxious moment, fearing themselves recognized. The King, with his
-usual carelessness, allowed himself to be seen too often. He descended
-from the coach more than once, walked up one or two of the long hills
-with the children, and even talked with some peasants they met. At
-Châlons, where they arrived about noon, they were indeed recognized by
-the postmaster and some other persons who had seen the King; but they
-were shrewd and loyal, and did all in their power to aid the fugitives,
-harnessing the horses themselves and urging the postilions to depart.
-The travellers were amply supplied with provisions, and nowhere was a
-stop made for meals. At the bridge in Sommevesle, the first post-station
-after Châlons, they should have found a detachment of hussars to act as
-escort on the road to Montmédy; but when they reached there at six
-o’clock, not a hussar was to be seen. It was discovered afterward that
-six hours earlier the troops had been at their post, according to
-orders; but, having already waited some hours, a longer stay was deemed
-imprudent, owing to the suspicious attitude of the people. M. de
-Choiseul, the commander of the hussars, fearful of arousing fresh
-disturbances in Ste. Menehould, had then given orders to avoid that town
-in their retreat, and make their way by cross-roads; and hence the
-travellers missed them altogether. Again the unfortunate consequences of
-these delays were felt; but even worse results were to follow. At Ste.
-Menehould an escort of the King’s dragoons should have been waiting; but
-their leader, Captain d’Andoins, had been forced to go to the town hall
-to account for the presence of his troops, which had alarmed the now
-excited populace, and was held there virtually a prisoner, while his
-troopers unsaddled their horses and dispersed.
-
-It was here that the King, uneasy over the failure of their plans, and
-putting his head out of the coach window, was recognized by the
-postmaster Drouet.[11] The sight of the King struck the fellow with
-amazement; he compared the head of the traveller with that of the King
-stamped on an assignat (the paper money used at that time), and his
-malignant expression betrayed his thoughts. The Queen caught his evil
-smile and felt her heart sink; but they passed on without hindrance, and
-she gradually forgot her fears. The traitor Drouet, however, lost no
-time in profiting by his discovery. He communicated it at once to the
-town council, and the whole village was in commotion. At that moment a
-special messenger arrived from Châlons, confirming the news of the
-King’s escape. It was resolved that Drouet, accompanied by a former
-dragoon of the Queen’s regiment, should start instantly in pursuit of
-the fugitives, and, in case he succeeded in overtaking them, place them
-under arrest. In hot haste they mounted, and set off at furious speed in
-the direction taken by the royal party.
-
-Meanwhile M. de Damas, with a company of dragoons, had arrived at
-Clermont the previous afternoon, at five o’clock, with orders to wait
-there for the King, and as soon as he had passed to follow him along the
-road to Varennes. They remained at their post till nightfall, when Damas
-ordered his troopers’ horses to be unsaddled and allowed the men to
-disperse. Half an hour later the coach arrived, and continued on its way
-without stopping. M. de Damas, who saw it pass, sent an officer to
-summon the dragoons in haste from their quarters. The town was soon in
-great excitement; the council was disturbed; discussions grew more and
-more heated. When Damas finally gave the signal to mount, the troopers
-refused to obey, and it was with the greatest difficulty he persuaded
-them to follow him—another link in the chain of fatalities!
-
-The King’s coach had scarcely left Clermont when Drouet himself arrived,
-obtained a fresh mount, and set off again in hot pursuit. One of the
-King’s bodyguard was riding in advance of the coach as courier, another
-behind it as rear guard. Beside these, Damas, when he saw Drouet ride
-off, had sent one of his officers to overtake and stop him. This man had
-almost succeeded in his attempt, when, favored by the darkness, the
-traitor turned off into by-ways known only to himself, and, thoroughly
-familiar with the country, reached Varennes shortly after eleven
-o’clock, fully an hour before the King and his family arrived there.
-
-Varennes was a secluded little village and had no post-house, but a
-place in the outskirts of the town, where he might obtain a change of
-horses, had been so carefully described to the King that he had no
-difficulty in finding it. Here they stopped, expecting to get the
-horses, but nothing was to be seen of them. In vain the King knocked on
-the door; no one answered. As a matter of fact, the plan had been
-changed at the last moment, owing to the disturbances existing all over
-the country, and the horses had been sent to an inn on the other side of
-the river; but, through more misunderstandings and errors, someone had
-neglected to notify the King. Lights were still visible in the house,
-and the Queen herself alighted from the coach and tried to obtain some
-response from the inmates; but her hope of obtaining information by some
-chance was not realized, and half an hour was lost. Drouet knew how to
-make the most of the time. When at last the travellers were forced to
-abandon the attempt and re-enter the coach, the postilions refused to go
-any farther, pretending that their horses were too exhausted to continue
-the journey. Just then the courier returned, bringing with him a man in
-a dressing-gown and with a nightcap on his head. As he approached the
-royal couple they demanded impatiently: “Where are our horses, fellow?
-Tell us at once!”
-
-“Your horses!” he shouted, flinging himself almost inside the vehicle.
-“That I cannot say; but I know another secret I will not tell you.”
-
-“Do you know Frau von Korff?” asked Madame de Tourzel.
-
-“No,” said he, “but I know something better than that”; and with these
-words he disappeared again. At the Queen’s entreaties, the postilions
-finally consented to drive the coach at least through the town. The
-travellers now believed themselves safe; they attributed this incident,
-like the other mishaps of their journey, to some error or
-miscalculation, and, full of hope, saw themselves already under the
-protection of Bouillé’s loyal troops. But alas! matters were soon to
-assume a different aspect.
-
-Rightly to understand what follows, it should be explained that Varennes
-is built on the side of a hill, and consists of an upper and lower town
-connected by a bridge across the Aire, which flows between. At that time
-the town was approached from Clermont, not as now by way of a fine
-square, but through a narrow street ending in an arched passageway,
-guarded by a heavy gate which could be closed at will. This archway was
-built under a tower, which is still standing; on one side was a church,
-long since destroyed, and on the other a small inn called the Bras d’Or,
-kept by the Le Blanc family. The gateway was used as entrance to the
-town in time of peace, and the inn served as a sort of watch-house.
-Beyond the passage was the bridge, and it was here that Drouet had
-placed the ambuscade which was to prevent the King’s farther progress.
-The host of the Golden Arm tavern was also an officer of the National
-Guard. Aroused by Drouet, he ran to call up the mayor of the town, M.
-Sance; then he and his brother armed themselves, and, summoning several
-of the National Guard, stationed themselves before the entrance to the
-archway. Sance meanwhile had hastened to alarm the town, and sent out
-messengers to the nearest villages. His son Georges, a captain of
-grenadiers, took command of the guard, and while his other children were
-running through the town at their father’s command, shouting “Fire!
-Fire!” M. Drouet, accompanied by a notary called Regnier and some of the
-townspeople, brought up a loaded wagon, which they placed diagonally
-across the bridge to obstruct its passage. All the preparations were
-complete, when the expected vehicle was heard approaching. It passed
-through the upper town without interruption, the houses apparently all
-dark and silent, and came rapidly on, until, just as it reached the dark
-archway under the tower, the horses were brought to a sudden standstill
-by the barricade. At the same instant there sounded from all sides the
-cry, “Halt, there! Halt!”—a cry issuing from the rough throats of ten
-armed men, who now emerged from the darkness. They threw themselves upon
-the horses, seized the postilions, sprang to both doors of the coach,
-and harshly demanded of the travellers who they were.
-
-“Frau von Korff, with her family!” came the answer.
-
-“That may be,” returned a voice, “but you will have to prove it!”
-
-At the first shout and the first gleam of weapons, the officers of the
-bodyguard had leaped from their places with their hands on their
-concealed knives, ready at a signal from the King to make use of them.
-But Louis the Sixteenth nobly forbade them to use force, and the hostile
-musket barrels remained pointing toward the coach. Drouet seized a
-light, held it up to the King’s face, and, without calling him by name,
-ordered him to alight and show his passport to the mayor. The King,
-still clinging to the hope that he had not been recognized, descended
-from the coach, his family following him.
-
-As the party passed up the street, they saw some hussars arriving; it
-was M. de Choiseul’s force, which should have waited at the bridge in
-Sommevesle. The National Guard, whose numbers had increased, allowed
-them to pass, but were ready nevertheless to resist any attempt at
-rescue. By this time the malicious activity of Drouet had produced its
-results. The alarm bell was rung, the drums beat, all Varennes was
-astir. Thousands of peasants came flocking in from neighboring towns,
-and the villages through which the King had passed were thrown into wild
-excitement by the news of his flight.
-
-The mayor’s house, whither the royal family was conducted, contained two
-rooms on the upper floor, reached by a spiral staircase. One of them
-overlooked the street, the other the garden. The King was lodged in the
-back room, but, as there was a connecting door between, he could see all
-that passed in the street. A dense throng of people had gathered there,
-and increased every moment. Sance at first pretended not to recognize
-his illustrious guests, and, treating them as ordinary travellers,
-explained that the horses could go no farther, and besought them to
-remain and rest until fresh relays could be obtained. But this mask of
-hypocrisy was soon thrown aside, and he as well as Drouet began to
-overwhelm the King with cruel taunts and bitter invectives. They accused
-him directly of intending to escape to foreign lands for the purpose of
-joining and assisting in an invasion of France by her enemies. In vain
-the King attempted to deny his rank and claim the liberty accorded to
-all travellers. They declared flatly that he and his family were
-recognized, and continued their jeers and abuse.
-
-“Very well, then,” suddenly said the Queen, with dignity—she had not
-hitherto spoken a word—“since you recognize him as your King, then see
-that you treat him as such!”
-
-These words induced the King to resume his natural frankness of manner,
-which he had with difficulty concealed. He explained freely the motives
-which had prompted him to take this journey; spoke of his earnest desire
-to learn the real needs of the people whose welfare was dear to him;
-resolutely denied the false report that he wished to escape from France
-and make his home in a foreign land, and even offered to entrust himself
-to the National Guard of Varennes, and let them accompany him to
-Montmédy or any other place in the kingdom where his personal freedom
-might be assured.
-
-The naturally warm and candid eloquence of the King did not fail in its
-effect. Sance was almost ready to give way, and if it had depended only
-on him they might have been allowed to proceed. But Drouet had no idea
-of allowing his prey to escape him now; he became still more violent,
-and declared that his own head might answer for it if the King were not
-sent back to Paris. At this moment, too, an incident occurred in the
-street which decided the fate of the royal fugitives. A conflict arose
-between the officers who were on the King’s side and the National Guard.
-M. de Goguelat crowded his horse against the leader of the Guard and
-drew his sword; the Major discharged his pistol at Goguelat and wounded
-him in the shoulder, causing his horse to rear and throw him. M. de
-Choiseul’s hussars looked on, but made no motion to interfere, and it
-was evident that they could no longer be depended on. All hope was now
-lost; the King’s only chance lay in the possible arrival of Bouillé and
-his soldiers, but Bouillé did not appear. Instead, fresh reënforcements
-of the National Guard came pouring in from all sides to assist their
-comrades, and the ever increasing throngs overflowed the little town—a
-town destined from this night to claim a melancholy place in history.
-
-Between six and seven o’clock in the morning, two messengers arrived
-from the National Assembly, M. de Romeuf, Lafayette’s aide-de-camp, and
-Bayon, an officer of the National Guard in Paris. They brought a decree
-of the Assembly, ordering the King to be taken back to his capital
-wherever he might be found. Bayon entered alone. Fatigue and excitement
-had given a still darker cast to his naturally gloomy expression. With
-tangled hair and disordered attire, he approached the King, and
-stammered confusedly:
-
-“Sire, you are aware ... all Paris is in arms ... our wives and children
-even now perhaps are being massacred ... you will not go any farther
-away.... Sire, the welfare of the country ... yes, Sire ... our wives
-and children....”
-
-At these words, the Queen with a sudden movement seized his hands and,
-pointing to the sleeping children on the bed, exclaimed:
-
-“Sir, am I not also a mother!”
-
-“What is your business here?” demanded the King.
-
-“Sire, a decree of the Assembly.”
-
-“Where is it?”
-
-“My comrade has it.”
-
-With these words, he opened the door and disclosed M. de Romeuf, who,
-overcome with emotion, was leaning against a window in the front room.
-His face was wet with tears. He approached with downcast eyes, holding
-out a paper, which the King took from him and glanced through rapidly.
-
-“Now,” he said, “there is no longer a King in France!”
-
-The children had awakened by this time, and the little Dauphin became
-the object of special interest. Some admired his beauty, and others
-asked him questions about his journey and the Tuileries, to which the
-sleepy child scarcely responded, but only gazed at his mother.
-
-“Ah, Charles,” his sister whispered to him, “you were mistaken, this is
-no comedy!”
-
-“I knew that long ago!” returned the poor child, shrugging his
-shoulders.
-
-Meanwhile, the crowd, excited almost to frenzy by Drouet, were demanding
-the King’s departure, and their shouts and cries came surging upward
-from the street. Some of the most violent even tried to break into the
-house and bring him out by force, while above all the tumult arose a
-scream of “Drag him out! Drag him into his coach! We will have him!”
-
-The King attempted to appease them by appearing at the window, seeking
-to gain time, in the faint hope that any moment might bring Bouillé and
-rescue. As a last resort, one of the waiting-women declared she was
-violently ill, and the King and Queen refused to desert her. But all
-their efforts were of no avail, and the King realized at last that
-further resistance was hopeless. He requested to be left alone with his
-family for a moment, and, after a brief and sorrowful consultation, he
-yielded and announced himself ready to depart. The royal mother took her
-son in her arms and carried him herself to the coach. It was half-past
-seven when they started on their return journey—alas! just a quarter of
-an hour too early!
-
-Only a few moments after they had gone, a body of troops appeared on the
-heights overlooking Varennes in the direction of Verdun. It was the son
-of M. de Bouillé with the cavalry. He tried to cross the river by a
-ford, the bridge being defended, but was unable to accomplish it, and
-thus the last chance of saving the King was lost. General Bouillé
-arrived soon after at the head of his Royal German Regiment, in full
-gallop, only to learn when he reached Mouza that the King had left
-Varennes and that he was too late. Broken-hearted, he turned his horse’s
-head, and with his faithful and now dejected troops began his retreat to
-the frontier.
-
-The royal party was already far from Varennes. Surrounded by five or six
-thousand infuriated peasants, the King was a prisoner in the same
-vehicle that was to have borne him to safety and freedom. It was only
-allowed to proceed at a foot-pace, and a whole hour was consumed in
-reaching Clermont. This town, like all the others through which they
-passed, was filled to overflowing. Everywhere the shops were closed, the
-people beside themselves with excitement, and hundreds of frantic voices
-yelled denunciations against the King, his nobles, and his officers.
-
-At three in the afternoon Ste. Menehould was reached, and the mayor,
-Furci, a brave and honest man, invited the Queen to partake of some
-refreshment in the town hall. The weary travellers would gladly have
-remained here some hours to rest, for the little Prince, exhausted by
-his seven-hours’ journey in the heat and dust, was suffering from an
-attack of fever; but Bayon, the cruel commander of this sad expedition,
-refused to gratify their desire, and the unfortunate royal family were
-obliged to continue their journey. Here the National Guard of Varennes
-and Clermont left them, and their place was taken by the Guard of Ste.
-Menehould, who were relieved in their turn by those of the next town.
-
-One dreadful occurrence struck terror to the hearts of the poor
-fugitives, and gave them a chill foreboding of the horrors in store for
-them. On a hillside near the village of Han, a brave nobleman, the
-Marquis de Dampierre, rode up to greet the King as he passed. Louis
-conversed with him for some moments, and, as they parted with mutual
-good wishes, M. de Dampierre bowed low and reverently kissed the hand of
-his unhappy sovereign. This token of respect was his death-warrant, for
-scarcely had the loyal noble left the coach door when savage voices
-shouted to him to halt, and as he unsuspectingly obeyed, the mob fell
-upon him in a fury, tore him from his horse, and slaughtered him without
-pity before the eyes of the royal family. His head was cut off and
-carried on the end of a spear for some distance in front of their coach,
-as a trophy.
-
-In the midst of such atrocities, it is gratifying to hear of one
-instance which proves there were still pure and noble hearts even in
-those frightful times.
-
-Young Cazotte was the commander of the National Guard in the village of
-Piercy, and it was his duty to receive the King at Épernay, where a stop
-was to be made at the Hotel Rohan. Cazotte’s men guarded the entrance to
-this palace, and he exacted a solemn promise from them to allow no one
-but the authorities to enter. Scarcely were these measures taken when
-the King’s coach arrived, almost borne along by the waves of people. The
-prisoners alighted amid a storm of curses, jeers, and insults, directed
-especially against the Queen.
-
-“Ignore this madness, madame; God is over all!” said Cazotte to her in
-German.
-
-A grateful glance was her only answer as she stepped forward, followed
-by her daughter, Madame Élisabeth, and Madame de Tourzel, the crowd
-pressing close behind them. The little Dauphin was carried by one of the
-soldiers. He was crying and calling for his mother, who was out of
-sight. Cazotte took him in his arms and tried to soothe him, but his
-tears did not cease to flow until he was carried into the room where the
-Queen had been taken. Cazotte’s delicate solicitude for the royal family
-did not end even here; regardless of what the consequences might be, he
-found a seamstress to repair their clothing, which had been torn and
-trampled on by the mob, furnished them with refreshments and such
-conveniences as he was able to obtain, and did all in his power to add
-to their comfort till their departure put an end to his unselfish and
-kindly service.
-
-Between Épernay and Dormans they met the commission sent out by the
-National Assembly, consisting of Barnave, Pétion, and the Marquis de
-Latour-Maubourg. They took their places in the coach, but Pétion and
-Latour-Maubourg only remained inside a short time, leaving Barnave alone
-with the travellers. Barnave[12] was one of the minor deputies of the
-people, who amid all the tumult and violence of the Assembly had
-preserved his nobility and tenderness of heart. He felt sincere pity for
-the unfortunate royal family, and, no longer restrained by the presence
-of his colleague, Pétion,[13] freely offered his sympathy. The Queen was
-touched by his considerate behavior, and joined in the conversation.
-Barnave, on the other hand, to whom the Queen had been painted in the
-most odious colors, was astonished to find her so different from what he
-had expected, and soon began to honor and respect those he had been
-taught to hate and despise. When the conversation ceased after a time,
-he took the little Prince on his knee and talked with the child, whose
-quick and lively, yet gentle, answers impressed him deeply.
-
-“Are you not sorry to go back to Paris?” he asked.
-
-“Oh, I am happy everywhere,” answered the Dauphin, “as long as I have my
-father and mamma with me, and my aunt, my sister, and Madame de Tourzel,
-too.”
-
-“Ah, sir,” said the King to Barnave, “this is indeed a sad journey for
-me and for my children!”
-
-The mournful tone in which these words were spoken moved the Dauphin
-deeply, and he took his father’s hand and kissed it. The King took him
-in his arms and pressed him to his heart.
-
-“Do not be unhappy, dear papa,” said the child, his eyes full of tears.
-“Some other time we will have a pleasanter journey!”
-
-At every change of post-horses, the other commissioners came up to see
-what was passing inside the coach. Surprised to find the heir to the
-throne generally seated on Barnave’s lap, Pétion finally remarked in a
-spiteful tone, loud enough to be heard by the travellers:
-
-“You see, Latour-Maubourg, Barnave is decidedly the prop of future
-royalty!”
-
-Unhappy Barnave! He was forced ere long to atone with his life for his
-newly won devotion to the royal house and perish on the guillotine!
-
-The remainder of the journey passed without further incident. Sullen
-crowds gathered everywhere to watch the King pass, but no one spoke or
-showed any sign of good-will or favor toward him. At Ferté-sous-Jouarre,
-however, the royal family found one hearty welcome from the Regnards, at
-whose house they dined. Although Madame Regnard wore an apron to avoid
-recognition, Marie Antoinette guessed her position at once, and
-approached her, saying:
-
-“You are the lady of the house, are you not?”
-
-“I was that only until your Majesty entered it,” answered Madame
-Regnard; a reply which pleased the Queen and did full honor to the
-gracious mistress of the house. When they were leaving, the Queen said
-to the Dauphin:
-
-“My son, thank the lady for her kindness, and tell her we shall never
-forget it.”
-
-The little Prince immediately obeyed. “Mamma thanks you for your
-attention,” said the child, “and I—I love you very much because you have
-given her pleasure.”
-
-When the coach arrived at Meaux a great tumult arose; a priest nearly
-lost his life as the poor Marquis had done, but Barnave rescued him,
-calling out to the people in thundering tones:
-
-“Frenchmen, would you become a pack of assassins?” Whereupon Pétion
-turned to Latour-Maubourg and remarked with a sneer:
-
-“It appears that our colleague’s mission is not only to protect royalty,
-but also the clergy!”
-
-After Barnave’s humane action, the Dauphin willingly seated himself
-again on his knee and talked to him until they reached Bossuet. At
-eleven o’clock that evening, after his colleagues were asleep, Barnave
-was summoned to the King’s chamber, where he had a long conference with
-the royal couple in regard to their situation.
-
-“Evidently,” said the Queen, at the end of it, “we have been deceived as
-to the real state of public feeling in France.”
-
-They thanked Barnave warmly for his counsel, and it was agreed that he
-should meet them secretly in the Tuileries. From this time Barnave
-inwardly swore allegiance to the throne, and kept his vow faithfully to
-the end.
-
-On the twenty-fifth of June, at seven in the evening, the royal party
-arrived in Paris and entered the Tuileries, before the gates of which a
-vast throng had assembled, drunk with wine and fury and with difficulty
-restrained from violence by the National Guard. M. Hue lifted the little
-Dauphin from the coach and carried him into his own apartment, where he
-was soon in bed. The child was restless, however, and his sleep very
-uneasy. In the morning when he awoke, he said to his tutor, in a voice
-loud enough to be heard distinctly by the guards stationed in the room:
-
-“Oh, M. Hue, I have had such a horrible dream! I thought there were
-wolves and tigers and all kinds of wild beasts around me all night long,
-waiting to tear me to pieces!”
-
-M. Hue merely shrugged his shoulders, and made no reply. The guards
-looked at each other in astonishment, but no one ventured to reprove the
-little Prince for his prophetic dream.
-
-
-
-
- Chapter III
- In the Temple
-
-
-The French Revolution pursued its terrible course, and war with Austria
-was finally added to the internal disorders that distracted the unhappy
-country. The people, kept in a constant tumult by the false reports and
-incessant assaults of the bloody Jacobins, hated the King more than
-ever. Not content with depriving him of his liberty and his throne, and
-subjecting him to the deepest humiliations, the brutal mob also demanded
-his life.
-
-The first step toward this dreadful _dénouement_ of the tragedy was the
-formal arrest of the royal family and their imprisonment in the
-Temple.[14] On the thirteenth of August, 1792, they were taken to this
-prison, the gates of which closed behind the King, never to open for him
-again till he went forth to lay his head under the guillotine.
-
-The Temple was originally the residence of the Grand Priors of the
-Knights Templars, and in the thirteenth century occupied an extensive
-area, acquired by the purchase of surrounding lands. In the year 1792,
-however, little remained of it but the so-called Tower of the Temple, a
-dark square structure whose massive, frowning walls were flanked by
-turrets at each corner. The Tower had four stories. On the ground floor
-there was but one large room, and a kitchen which was unused. The first
-story consisted of an antechamber and a dining-room, which communicated
-with a small closet in one of the turrets. The second floor also
-contained an anteroom and two apartments, one of which the Queen and her
-daughter used as a bedchamber, others being occupied by the Dauphin,
-Madame Élisabeth, and Madame de Tourzel. The third floor was similar to
-the second, and here at first the King was lodged with his attendants,
-M. Hue and M. Chamilly.
-
-A few faithful and devoted friends had chosen to share the royal
-family’s imprisonment, but this consolation was not long permitted them.
-On the nineteenth of August, two officers made their appearance with an
-order from the Commune to remove all persons not belonging to the Capet
-family. In vain the Queen opposed the departure of the Princess de
-Lamballe,[15] on the ground that she was a relative. Their parting was
-most affecting; both the royal children mingled their tears with those
-of their elders, until the Princess and Madame de Tourzel were forcibly
-separated from them and carried away. Not a single attendant was left to
-the unfortunate prisoners, except M. Hue, who, much to his surprise, was
-permitted to remain.
-
-Their life in the Tower of the Temple was very sad and monotonous. The
-King arose every morning between six and seven, and employed himself
-with his devotions in his little oratory in the turret until nine
-o’clock, while M. Hue set the room in order, laid the table for
-breakfast, and then went down to the Queen. Marie Antoinette was up even
-before the King, dressed herself and her son, and heard him say his
-prayers. She kept her door closed, however, until M. Hue appeared, in
-order to prevent the officers, sent by the Commune to remain in her room
-during the day, from entering any earlier. At nine she went with her
-children and Madame Élisabeth to breakfast with the King, and M. Hue
-took this opportunity to clean their rooms and light the fires. At ten
-the whole family returned to the Queen’s room, where they remained for
-the rest of the day. The King devoted himself to his son’s instruction,
-and the Queen heard the Princess recite her lessons, while Madame
-Élisabeth taught them ciphering and drawing.
-
-At one o’clock, when the weather was fine and Santerre, the commander of
-the guards, was present, the whole family walked in the little garden of
-the Temple, and the Dauphin amused himself with childish sports and
-games. At two they had dinner, after which came an hour of recreation,
-when the children’s amusements and laughter somewhat enlivened the
-customary gloom. About four the King would often take a short nap in his
-arm-chair, while the Princesses sat by with a book or some needlework,
-and the little Prince studied his lessons or applied himself to his
-drawing and copy-book. M. Hue superintended his work, and after it was
-finished took him into the other room, where they played ball or
-shuttlecock together.
-
-At seven the family gathered around the table, and read aloud from some
-religious or historical work that would interest and instruct the
-children. At eight M. Hue gave the Dauphin his supper in Madame
-Élisabeth’s room; his parents were usually present, and the King would
-often give him little easy riddles to guess, the solution of which
-occupied and diverted the child. After supper he was undressed and said
-his evening prayer, which usually was as follows:
-
-“Almighty God, who hast created and redeemed me, to Thee I pray.
-Preserve the life of the King, my father, and watch over the days of my
-family also. Protect us from our enemies! Grant to Madame de Tourzel
-strength to bear the sorrows she is enduring on our behalf.”
-
-After his prayer the Queen put him to bed, and she and Madame Élisabeth
-remained with him in turn. As soon as the family supper was over, the
-King came to say good-night to his son. After a few moments’ talk, he
-pressed the hand of his wife and sister, received the caresses of his
-children, and returned to his own room, retiring at once to his oratory,
-where he remained till midnight.
-
-The Princesses sat together some time later, often making use of this
-quiet hour to mend the family clothing; and the King rarely composed
-himself to sleep until after the guard was changed at midnight. This was
-the daily routine as long as the King remained a prisoner. The days
-passed in sadness and humiliation, and there was scarcely an hour in
-which they were not exposed to some fresh insult or indignity.
-
-At this time the little Dauphin was seven and a half years of age.
-Through all their troubles, he showed a courage and sweetness of
-disposition seldom found even in the happiest natures. Sometimes the
-seriousness of his thoughts would betray itself by word or look; but he
-never failed to respond to his parents’ affected cheerfulness with all a
-child’s unquestioning light-heartedness. Apparently he thought no more
-of past greatness; he was glad to be alive, and the only thing that made
-him unhappy was his mother’s tears. He never spoke of his former
-amusements and pleasures, showed no regrets, and seemed to have
-forgotten all the joys of happier days. He applied himself diligently to
-his studies, and with the aid of a good memory he was far more advanced
-than most children of his age. Through all this time of sorrow and
-trouble, the poor little Prince had possessed one unfailing
-consolation—his parents’ love and care. But alas! the time was soon to
-come when he would be deprived of this, too, and lose, first, his
-father, then his mother.
-
-The hard school of adversity developed all the purity and nobility of
-the boy’s nature, already so richly endowed with warm affections and
-tender sensibilities. Still a child in all his acts and feelings, he was
-old enough at the same time to be able to comprehend the misfortunes of
-the family, and seemed to feel that he owed his parents even more
-respect and attention than formerly, though his lively fancies often
-made him forget their cruel situation. He realized that they were
-prisoners, and was discreet and prudent in his speech and behavior.
-Never a syllable escaped him that could have caused a painful memory or
-regret in his mother’s heart. How affectionate and yet how thoughtful
-and quick-witted he was, one or two incidents will show.
-
-A stone-mason was at work one day on the wall of the King’s anteroom,
-making a place for heavier bolts to be put on the door. While the
-workman was eating his breakfast, the little Prince amused himself by
-playing with his tools. The King took the chisel and hammer from his
-son’s hand to show him how to use them, and worked at the wall himself
-for a few moments. The mason, moved by a sudden feeling of pity, said to
-him:
-
-“After you have gone away from here, you can say you have worked on your
-own prison!”
-
-“Alas!” answered the King, “when and how shall I get away from here?”
-
-Scarcely had he spoken the words, when the little Dauphin threw himself
-into his father’s arms and burst into tears. The King dropped the hammer
-and chisel: he, too, was much affected, and paced up and down the room
-for some moments, struggling with his emotions.
-
-On another occasion the Prince had not shown a coarse fellow named
-Mercereau all the respect to which he considered himself entitled,
-whereupon he addressed the child roughly with:
-
-“Hey, boy! don’t you know that liberty has made us all equal?”
-
-“_Equal_, as much as you please,” answered the Dauphin with a glance at
-his father, “but you will find it hard to make us believe that liberty
-has made us free!”
-
-And now the time was approaching which was to separate the King from his
-loved ones forever. After so many crimes committed by the French people
-in the first intoxication and frenzy of their power, there remained only
-the King’s death to be accomplished. Louis the Sixteenth, the mildest
-and most just of kings, who had committed no crime but that of loving
-his people too well, was summoned before the blood-thirsty Convention
-which had boldly set itself up to judge him. For several days previously
-the treatment of the royal prisoners had been even harsher than before.
-They were deprived of every means of employment; even the ladies’
-needles were taken away from them, so that they could no longer find
-distraction in their feminine occupations, and to Louis these added
-brutalities indicated but too plainly the issue of his trial. Indeed, he
-was quite prepared for the worst; but what troubled him most was the
-separation from his family. During the session of the Convention he had
-not been permitted to see them, and it was only with the greatest
-difficulty and by the most ingenious expedients that he was able to
-obtain news of them or communicate with them.
-
-At last the death sentence was pronounced, to be executed on the
-following morning, and the King was granted a final interview with his
-family. At half-past eight in the evening his door was opened. The Queen
-came first, leading the little Dauphin by the hand; then her daughter,
-Marie Thérèse, and Madame Élisabeth. They threw themselves into the arms
-of the King, and for some moments a sorrowful silence prevailed, broken
-only by sobs. The Queen made a motion to her husband to take them into
-his bedchamber.
-
-“Not there,” said the King, “we will go into the dining-room; that is
-the only place where I can see you.”
-
-They stepped into the adjoining room, which was divided from the
-antechamber by a glass partition, and the guards closed the door. The
-King sat down with his wife and sister on either side; the Princess
-knelt before him, and the Dauphin remained standing between his father’s
-knees. They all leaned towards him and frequently embraced him, while
-the King told them about his trial, and tried to excuse those who had
-condemned him. He then gave some religious admonitions to his children;
-charged them to forgive those who were the cause of his death, and
-bestowed his blessing upon them. The Queen expressed her earnest desire
-that they might all spend the night together, but he refused, saying
-that he much needed to rest and compose his thoughts. This melancholy
-scene lasted nearly two hours. As the time drew near when it must end,
-the King turned to his children again, and made them give him a solemn
-promise never to be revenged on his enemies. Then, taking the Dauphin on
-his knee, he impressed upon him the fulfilment of his last wishes, and
-concluded with these words:
-
-“My son, you have heard all that I have said, but since an oath is more
-sacred than words, swear with uplifted hand that you will obey the last
-wishes of your father.”
-
-The little Prince obeyed and took the oath with streaming eyes. The
-others, too, wept bitterly, for the touching nobility of the King only
-intensified their grief. And now for more than a quarter of an hour not
-a word was spoken; only heart-rending sounds of anguish filled the room,
-while the whole family mingled their tears until exhausted by sorrow. At
-length Louis rose, and the others followed his example. A faithful
-servant, named Cléry, who had managed to gain admittance to the prison
-so as to be near the King, opened the door. Louis supported his wife and
-held their son’s hand, while the Princess clasped her arms tightly about
-her father and Madame Élisabeth clung to his arm. They took several
-steps toward the outer door, and again heart-breaking sobs burst forth.
-
-“Be calm!” said the King; “I will see you again in the morning at eight
-o’clock.”
-
-“You promise?” they all cried.
-
-“Yes, I promise!”
-
-“But why not at seven?” asked the Queen.
-
-“Well, at seven, then,” replied the King. “Adieu!”
-
-This farewell was spoken in such a touching tone that their grief became
-once more uncontrollable. The Princess sank senseless at her father’s
-feet, and Cléry assisted Madame Élisabeth to support her. The King, to
-put an end to this distressing scene, clasped them all once more in his
-arms most tenderly, and tore himself from their embraces.
-
- [Illustration: _The King’s last farewell_]
-
-“Farewell! Farewell!” he said again with a breaking heart, as he
-returned to his room.
-
-The good King, the loving father, had seen his dear ones for the last
-time on earth. To save them from another such trial, he nobly resolved
-to deprive himself of the sad consolation of pressing them once more to
-his heart, and went to his execution without a last farewell. His last
-words, spoken from the scaffold to the people, were:
-
-“I die innocent of all the crimes of which I am accused. I forgive all
-those who are the cause of my death, and pray God that the blood you are
-about to shed may assure the happiness of France. And you, unhappy
-people....”
-
-The rest was drowned in the roll of drums. His noble head fell—the head
-of a martyr, the head of one of the best and most merciful kings who
-ever ruled in France.[16]
-
-
-
-
- Chapter IV
- Separation from his Mother
-
-
-After the sad parting, the Queen had scarcely strength enough left to
-undress her children, and as soon as they were asleep she flung herself,
-dressed, upon her bed, where she passed the night shivering with cold
-and trembling with apprehension. The Princess and Madame Élisabeth slept
-in the same room on a mattress.
-
-The next morning the royal family arose before daybreak, waiting for a
-last sight of him whom, alas! they were never to see again. In all
-quarters of Paris the drums were beating, and the noise penetrated even
-into the Tower. At a quarter-past six the door opened, and some one came
-in to get a book, which was wanted for the mass about to be read to the
-King. The anxious women regarded this trifling occurrence as a hopeful
-sign, and expected a speedy summons to the promised interview. But they
-were soon undeceived. Each moment seemed an hour, and still the time
-slipped by without bringing the fulfilment of their last sorrowful hope.
-
-Suddenly a louder roll of drums announced the moment of the King’s
-departure. No words can describe the scene that followed. The
-heart-broken women, with tears and sobs, made fruitless attempts to
-excite the compassion of their pitiless jailers. The little Prince
-sprang from his mother’s arms, and, beside himself with grief and
-terror, ran from one to another of the guards, clasping their knees,
-pressing their hands, and crying wildly:
-
-“Let me go, messieurs! Let me go!”
-
-“Where do you wish to go?” they asked him.
-
-“To my father! I will speak to the people—I will beg them not to kill my
-papa! In the name of God, messieurs, let me go!”
-
-The guards were deaf to his childish appeals; fear for their own heads
-compelled them to be, but history does not tell us that they were
-inhuman enough to jeer at the child or make sport of his innocent prayer
-for his father’s life. Even harder hearts must have been touched by the
-sight of such sorrow.
-
-About ten o’clock the Queen wished the children to have some breakfast;
-but they could not eat, and the food was sent away untouched. A moment
-later cries and yells were heard, mingled with the discharge of
-firearms. Madame Élisabeth raised her eyes to heaven, and, carried away
-by the bitterness of her grief, exclaimed:
-
-“Oh, the monsters! They are glad!...”
-
-At these words the Princess Marie Thérèse uttered a piercing scream; the
-little Dauphin burst into tears; while the Queen, with drooping head and
-staring eyes, seemed sunk in a stupor almost like death. The shouts of a
-crier in the street soon informed them yet more plainly that all was
-over.
-
-For the rest of the day, the poor little Prince hardly stirred from his
-mother’s side. He kissed her hands, often wet with his tears, and
-overwhelmed her with sweet childish caresses, which he seemed to feel
-would comfort her more than words.
-
-“Alas! the tears of an innocent child, they may never cease to flow!”
-said the Queen, bitterly. “Death is harder for those who survive than
-for the ones who are gone!”
-
-During the afternoon she asked permission to see Cléry, who had remained
-with his royal master in the Tower till the last moment. She felt that
-she must hear the last words and farewells of her martyred husband and
-treasure them as a precious legacy, and for more than an hour the
-faithful valet was with her, both absorbed in sorrowful discourse.
-
-The long day passed in tears and wretchedness, and night brought no
-respite. The prisoners had been placed in charge of two jailers, a
-married couple named Tison, coarse creatures, from whose intrusions they
-were never free. Thus the inflexible hate of an infuriated populace
-pursued them even in the sanctity of their grief.
-
-It was two o’clock at night, and more than an hour since the tearfully
-ended prayers had announced the time for rest; but rest was still far
-from the three unhappy women. In obedience to the Queen’s wishes, the
-Princess Marie Thérèse had indeed gone to bed, but she could not close
-her eyes. Her royal mother and her aunt, who were sitting near the bed
-of the Dauphin, talked of their sorrow and wept together in
-uncontrollable anguish. The sleeping child smiled, and there was such an
-expression of angelic sweetness and purity on his innocent face that the
-Queen could not refrain from saying sadly:
-
-“He is now just as old as his brother was when he died at Meudon. Happy
-are those of our family who have been the first to go; at least they
-have not lived to see the downfall of our house!”
-
-Madame Tison, who had been listening at the door, heard these words, or
-at least the sound of the Queen’s voice. Devoid of respect for a sorrow
-that must find relief in words or become unbearable, the heartless woman
-knocked on the door and harshly demanded the cause of this nocturnal
-conversation. As if this were not enough, her husband and some municipal
-guards even opened the door and attempted to force their way into the
-room, when Madame Élisabeth, turning her pale face toward them, said
-with quiet dignity:
-
-“I pray you, allow us at least to weep in peace!”
-
-These simple words, spoken in such a tone, disarmed even these wretches.
-They drew back in confusion, and did not venture again to intrude on the
-sanctity of so profound a grief. The next morning the Queen took her son
-in her arms and said to him:
-
-“My child, we must put our trust in the dear God!”
-
-“Oh, yes, mamma,” answered the little Prince, “I do trust the dear God,
-but whenever I fold my hands and try to pray, the image of my father
-comes before my eyes.”
-
-Sadly and wearily the days passed. Weakened by sorrow and exhausted by
-sleepless nights, the Queen almost succumbed to her troubles, and seemed
-to be indifferent whether she lived or died. Sometimes her companions
-would find her eyes fixed on them with such an expression of profound
-pity, it almost made them shudder. A deathly stillness prevailed; they
-all seemed to be holding their breaths, save when their grief found vent
-in half-smothered sobs or paroxysms of tears. It was almost a boon to
-the wretched women when the Princess Marie Thérèse really fell ill. In
-the duties of a mother, Marie Antoinette found some mitigation of her
-grief for the loss of her husband. She spent all her time at her
-daughter’s bedside, and the care and anxiety afforded her a wholesome
-distraction and roused her benumbed faculties. The Princess soon
-recovered from her illness, and from that time the Queen devoted herself
-wholly to her children.
-
-The little Dauphin sang very sweetly, and his mother found much pleasure
-in teaching him little songs, but especially in having him continue the
-studies he had begun. Thus absorbed, she even thanked Heaven for the
-peace granted her by her enemies, which enabled her to perform these
-maternal tasks. Madame Élisabeth was her devoted assistant, and their
-love for the children afforded them some relief from sorrows which were
-constantly being sharpened by fresh trials. But even this last faint
-semblance of happiness was at last taken from them.
-
-Some faithful friends of the Queen and the royal house, brave, noble
-hearts who gladly risked their lives in the hope of rescuing the
-prisoners from the shameful brutalities of their jailers, had devised a
-plan for their escape. Owing to an unlucky combination of circumstances,
-the attempt failed, and the tyrants of the Convention, who then held
-despotic sway over wretched France, issued the following decree:
-
-“The Committee of Public Safety orders that the son of Capet shall be
-separated from his mother and delivered into the hands of a governor,
-the choice of whom shall rest with the General Council of the Commune.”
-
-On the third of July, 1793, this cruel and infamous order was put into
-execution.
-
-It was almost ten o’clock on that evening; the little Prince was in bed
-and sleeping peacefully and soundly, with a smile on his pale but still
-lovely face. The bed had no curtains, but his mother had ingeniously
-arranged a shawl to keep the light from falling on his closed eyelids
-and disturbing his rest.
-
-The Queen, Madame Élisabeth, and the Princess Marie Thérèse were sitting
-up somewhat later than usual, the elder ladies busy with some mending
-and the Princess reading aloud to them. She had finished several
-chapters from some historical work, and now had a book of devotions
-called “Passion Week,” which Madame Élisabeth had succeeded in obtaining
-only a short time before. Whenever the Princess paused to turn a page,
-or at the end of a chapter in the history or of a psalm in the book of
-prayers, the Queen would raise her head, let her work fall in her lap,
-and gaze lovingly at the sleeping boy or listen to his quiet breathing.
-Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps was heard on the stairs. The bolts
-were drawn with a rattle, the door opened, and six municipal guards
-entered.
-
-“We come,” said one of them roughly to the terrified Princesses, “to
-inform you that the Committee of Public Safety has ordered the son of
-Capet to be separated from his mother and his family.”
-
-The Queen started to her feet, struck to the heart by the suddenness of
-this blow.
-
-“Take my child away from me?” she cried, white with terror,—“no—no—it
-cannot be possible!”
-
-Marie Thérèse stood beside her mother trembling, while Madame Élisabeth,
-with both hands on the prayer-book, listened and looked on, paralyzed
-with terror and unable to stir.
-
-“Messieurs,” continued the Queen in a tremulous voice, and struggling to
-control the ague fit that shook her from head to foot, “it is
-impossible; the Council cannot think of such a thing as to separate me
-from my son! He is so young, he is so delicate—my care is so necessary
-to him! No—no—it cannot be!”
-
-“It is the decree of the Committee,” replied the officer harshly,
-unmoved by the deadly pallor of the Queen; “the Convention has decided
-on the measure, and we are sent to carry it into immediate execution.”
-
-“Oh, I can never submit to it!” cried the unhappy mother. “In the name
-of Heaven, I beseech you, do not demand this cruel sacrifice of me!”
-
-Both her companions joined their entreaties to hers. All three had
-instinctively placed themselves before the child’s bed, as if to defend
-it against the approach of the officers; they wept, they prayed, they
-exhausted themselves in the humblest and most touching supplications.
-Such distress might have softened the hardest heart; but to these
-pitiless tools of the villanous Convention, they appealed in vain.
-
-“What is the use of all this outburst?” they demanded at length. “Your
-child is not going to be killed. You had better give him to us without
-any more trouble, or we shall find other means of getting him.”
-
-In fact, they began to use force against the desperate mother. In the
-struggle, the improvised bed-curtain was torn down and fell on the head
-of the sleeping Prince. He awoke, saw at a glance what was happening,
-and flung himself into his mother’s arms.
-
-“Mamma, dear mamma!” he cried, shaking with fright, “do not leave me!”
-
-The Queen clasped him close to her breast, as if to protect him, and
-clung with all her strength to the bedposts.
-
-“Pah! We do not fight with women,” said one of the deputies who had not
-spoken before. “Citizens, let us call up the guard!”
-
-“Do not do that!” said Madame Élisabeth, “in the name of Heaven, do not
-do that! We must submit to forcible demands, but grant us at least time
-to prepare ourselves. This poor child needs his sleep, and he will not
-be able to sleep anywhere but here. Let him at least spend the night in
-this room, and he shall be delivered into your hands early in the
-morning.”
-
-To this touching appeal there was no reply.
-
-“Promise me, at least,” said the Queen in a hollow voice, “that he shall
-remain within the walls of this Tower, and that I shall be permitted to
-see him every day, if only at meal times.”
-
-“We are not obliged to account to you for what we do,” snarled one of
-the rough fellows, ferociously; “neither is it for you to question the
-acts of the country. Just because your child is taken from you, why
-should you act like a fool? Are not our sons marching toward the
-frontier every day, to have their heads shot off by the enemy you
-enticed there?”
-
-“Oh, I did not entice them there,” replied the Queen; “and you see that
-my son is much too young to serve his country yet. Some day, God
-willing, I hope he will be proud to devote his life to France.”
-
-The threatening manner of the officers showed the poor mother plainly
-enough that all her prayers were useless, and she must yield to her
-cruel fate. With trembling hands she dressed the little Prince, and,
-although both Princesses assisted her, it took her longer than ever
-before. Every garment, before it was put on the child, was turned in and
-out, passed from hand to hand, and wet with bitter tears. In every
-possible way they strove to defer the dreadful moment of parting, but
-the officers soon began to lose patience.
-
-“Make haste!” they cried. “We can wait no longer!”
-
-With a breaking heart, the Queen submitted. Summoning all her fortitude,
-she seated herself on a chair, laid both her thin white hands on the
-shoulders of the unhappy child, and, forcing herself to be calm, said to
-him in a solemn, earnest voice:
-
-“My child, we must part. Remember your oath when I am no longer with you
-to remind you of it. Never forget the dear God who has sent you this
-trial, nor the dear mother who loves you. Be prudent, brave, and
-patient, and your father will look down from Heaven and bless you.”
-
-So speaking, she pressed a last kiss on his forehead, clasped him once
-more to her tortured heart, and gave him to his jailers. The poor child
-sprang away from them, rushed to his mother again, and clung desperately
-to her dress, clasping her knees. She tried to soothe his distress.
-
-“You must obey, my child, you must!” she said.
-
-“Yes, and I hope you have no more instructions to give him,” added one
-of the deputies. “You have abused our patience enough already.”
-
-“As it is, you might have saved yourself the trouble of giving him any,”
-said another, dragging the Prince forcibly out of the room.
-
-A third, somewhat more humane than the others, added, “You need not have
-any further anxiety; the great and generous country will care for him.”
-
-Heaven was witness what tears of anguish, what cries of despair,
-followed this distressing scene. In the extremity of her sufferings, the
-unfortunate mother writhed upon the bed where her son had just been
-sleeping. She had succeeded in maintaining her courage and a feigned
-composure in the presence of the merciless wretches who had robbed her
-of her child, but this unnatural strength, this superhuman exertion, had
-exhausted all the powers of her being and almost deprived her of reason.
-Never was there a greater despair than that of this most unhappy Queen
-and her companions. The three prisoners gazed at one another in
-speechless agony, and could find no words of consolation. The only
-comfort of their wretched life was gone. The little Dauphin had been the
-one ray of sunlight in the darkness of their imprisonment, and that now
-had been extinguished. What more could follow? Alas! even worse was yet
-to come, for the resources of inhumanity are boundless!
-
-
-
-
- Chapter V
- The Cobbler Simon
-
-
-Guarded by six deputies and a turnkey, the young Prince, or rather King,
-since he was the only and lawful heir to the throne, was taken to that
-part of the Tower formerly occupied by his father. There a guardian was
-awaiting him, a cruel, tyrannical master, the cobbler Simon. The room
-was poorly lighted. After conversing with this man for some time in an
-undertone, the deputies gave him some final instructions and withdrew,
-and the child found himself alone with Simon, whose slouching gait,
-rough and violent language, and arrogant manner, easily proclaimed him
-the future master of the unfortunate Prince.
-
-The cobbler Simon was fifty-seven years old, of more than medium height,
-powerfully built, with a swarthy skin and a shock of stiff black hair
-falling over his eyebrows. His features were heavy, and he wore large
-mustaches. His wife was about the same age, but very short and stout;
-she was dark and ill-favored, like her husband, and usually wore a cap
-with red ribbons, and a blue apron. This worthy pair were given absolute
-control over the Dauphin, the descendant of so many kings, torn from his
-royal mother’s arms to be delivered into such hands as these! The very
-refinement of cruelty could scarcely have conceived a greater infamy!
-The poor child, confused and bewildered by having been awakened so
-suddenly from a sound sleep, remained for hours sitting on a stool in
-the farthest corner of the room and weeping pitifully. Simon plied him
-with rude questions, plentifully sprinkled with curses and blasphemies,
-as he smoked his pipe, but only succeeded in extracting short answers
-from his victim.
-
-For the first two or three days the little Prince was in such despair at
-being parted from his mother that he could swallow nothing but a few
-mouthfuls of broth. Soon, however, he began to rebel inwardly; gleams of
-indignation shone through his tears, and his anger broke forth at last
-in passionate words:
-
-“I want to know,” he cried imperiously to the municipal officers who
-were visiting Simon, “what law gives you the right to take me from my
-mother and keep me shut up here? Show me this law! I will see it!”
-
-The officers were amazed at this child of nine years, who dared to
-question their power and address them in such a kingly tone. But their
-worthy comrade came to their aid. He harshly ordered his charge to be
-silent, saying:
-
-“Hold your tongue, Capet! you are only a chatterer.”
-
-The little prisoner’s sad and longing gaze was continually fixed upon
-the door, although he knew he could never pass its threshold without
-permission from his jailers. He often wept, but seemed at last to resign
-himself to his fate, and mutely obeyed the commands of his tormentors.
-He would not speak, however.
-
-“Oho, little Capet!” said the cobbler to him one day; “so you are dumb!
-Well, I am going to teach you to talk, to sing the ‘Carmagnole,’[17] and
-shout ‘Vive la Republique!’ Oh, yes, you are dumb, are you?”
-
-“If I said all I thought,” returned the poor child, with a touch of his
-old spirit, “you would call me mad. I am silent because I am afraid of
-saying too much.”
-
-“Ho! so Monsieur Capet has much to say!” shouted the cobbler with a
-malicious laugh. “That sounds very aristocratic, but it won’t do with
-me, do you hear? You are still young, and some allowance should be made
-for you on that account; but I am your master, and cannot allow such
-ignorance. I must teach you to understand progress and the new ideas.
-So, look here! I am going to give you a jews-harp. Your she-wolf of a
-mother and your dog of an aunt play the piano, you must learn the
-jews-harp.”
-
-A gleam of anger flashed in the boy’s beautiful blue eyes, and he
-refused to take the jews-harp, declaring that he never would play on it.
-
-“Never?” cried the cobbler, furiously. “Never? Play on it this moment!”
-
-The child persisted in his determination, and the cobbler—the pen almost
-refuses to write it—the cobbler seized the defenceless child and beat
-him most cruelly, but without being able to conquer his will.
-
-“You can punish me if I do wrong,” cried the poor little Prince, “but
-you must not strike me; do you understand? For you are stronger than I
-am.”
-
-“I am here to command you, you beast!” roared the cobbler. “I can do
-what I like! Long live Liberty and Equality!”
-
-On Sunday, the 17th of July, 1793, a report spread through Paris that
-the Dauphin had been carried off. In order to refute this rumor, which
-had already begun to create disturbances among the lower classes, a
-deputation was sent to the Temple by the Committee of Public Safety,
-with orders that the son of the tyrant should be brought down into the
-garden where he might be seen. The cobbler obeyed, and unceremoniously
-demanded of the deputies what the real intentions of the Committee were
-in regard to little Capet.
-
-“What have they decided to do with the young wolf? He has been taught to
-be insolent, and I will see that he is tamed. If he rebels, so much the
-worse for him, I warrant you! But what is to be done with him in the
-end? Send him out of the country? No! Kill him? No! Poison him? No!
-Well, what then?”
-
-“We must get rid of him!” was the significant reply.
-
-Such, indeed, was the real purpose of the inhuman leaders of the
-Revolution. They did not want to put the unfortunate Prince to death,
-they only wished to get rid of him; that is to say, to torture him to
-death by slow degrees, without anyone being able to say that he had been
-poisoned, strangled, hanged, or beheaded!
-
-As soon as the Dauphin found himself in the garden, he began to call to
-his mother as loudly as he could. Some of the guards tried to quiet him;
-but he answered indignantly, pointing to Simon and the deputies:
-
-“They will not, they cannot, show me the law that orders me to be
-separated from my mother.”
-
-Astonished at his firmness and moved by his childish affection, one of
-the guards asked the cobbler whether no one could help the little
-fellow; but Simon replied sharply:
-
-“The young wolf does not submit to the muzzle easily; he might know the
-law as well as you do, but he is always asking for the reasons of
-things—as if people were obliged to give him reasons! Now, Capet, keep
-still, or I will show the citizens how I beat you when you deserve it!”
-
-The poor little prisoner turned to the deputies as if to appeal to their
-compassion, but they coldly turned their backs on him. _He was to be got
-rid of!_ How could this be possible if he were left to the tender care
-of his mother?
-
-Henceforth Simon’s cruelties toward his victim were redoubled. He
-understood at last what was expected of him, and wished to do credit to
-his task. The youth, the innocence, the indescribable charm of the
-little Prince, did not in the least diminish the ferocity of his jailer.
-On the contrary, it seemed as though the child’s delicate face, his
-clear eyes, his slender little hands, the nobility of his demeanor, only
-served to inflame the brutal passions of Simon and his wife. They felt
-the Prince’s refinement and delicacy, in contrast with their own
-uncouthness, as a personal affront; and their jealous rage, their
-implacable hatred, made them take a savage pleasure in attempting to
-degrade their charge to their own level and extinguishing in this scion
-of a royal house all recollection of his illustrious family and of his
-early education.
-
-Still another circumstance added to Simon’s abuse of the Prince.
-Marat,[18] that bloody and ferocious hyena of the Revolution, died at
-last by the knife of Charlotte Corday. Marat had been a patron of
-Simon’s, and was largely responsible for the appointment of the cobbler
-as the Dauphin’s keeper—a position which carried with it a considerable
-income—and his sudden death threw Simon into a sort of frenzy. When he
-heard the news, he deserted his prisoner for the first time, and
-returned in a state of excitement and irritation that relieved itself in
-abuse and blasphemy. He drank quantities of wine and brandy, and then,
-inflamed with the liquor, his brain on fire, he dragged his wife and the
-Prince up to the platform of the Tower, where he smoked his pipe and
-tried to catch an echo of the far-away lamentations for his friend
-Marat.
-
-“Do you hear that noise down there, Capet?” he shouted to the Prince.
-“It is the voice of the people, lamenting the loss of their friend. You
-wear black clothes for your father; I was going to make you take them
-off to-morrow, but now you shall wear them still longer. Capet shall put
-on mourning for Marat! But, accursed one, you do not seem much grieved
-about it! Perhaps you are glad that he is dead?”
-
-With these words, furious with rage, he shook the boy, threatened him
-with his fist, and pushed him violently away.
-
-“I do not know the man who is dead,” returned the child, “and you should
-not say that I am glad. We never wish for the death of anyone.”
-
-“Ah, _we_? ‘_We_ wish?’ _We?_” roared the cobbler. “Are you presuming to
-say _we_, like those tyrants, your forefathers?”
-
-“Oh, no,” answered the Prince, “I say _we_, in the plural, meaning
-myself and my family.”
-
-Somewhat appeased by this apology, the cobbler strode up and down,
-puffing great clouds of smoke from his mouth and laughing to himself as
-he repeated: “Capet shall put on mourning for Marat!”
-
-Marat was buried on the following morning, and Simon’s resentment at not
-being able to attend the funeral ceremonies made him furious. All day
-long he paced the floor of his room like a caged tiger, sparing the
-innocent Prince neither blows nor curses.
-
-Some days later, news came of a crushing defeat of the Republican army
-at Saumur,[19] and again the poor child had to suffer from his master’s
-rage and spite.
-
-“It is your friends who are doing this!” shouted Simon to him.
-
-In vain the little Prince cried, “Indeed it is not my fault!” The
-infamous wretch furiously rushed at him, and shook him with the ferocity
-of a maddened beast. The child bore it all in silence; great tears
-rolled down his cheeks, but he allowed no cry of pain to escape him, for
-fear his mother might hear it and be distressed about him. This fear
-gave him strength, and enabled him to bear his sufferings with the
-courage of a hero. Joy had long since been banished from his heart, the
-roses of health from his cheeks, but they had not succeeded yet in
-extinguishing his love of truth and purity.
-
-In accordance with the orders he had received, Simon allowed his
-prisoner to go down into the garden every day, and sometimes took him
-with him when he went up on the roof of the Tower to breathe the air and
-smoke his pipe undisturbed. The boy followed him with hanging head, like
-a whipped dog; he never ventured to raise his eyes to his master’s face,
-knowing he should meet only hatred and abuse.
-
-Naturally there was no further mention of any kind of instruction for
-the Prince. Simon made him listen to revolutionary or so-called
-patriotic songs, and filled his ears with the vilest oaths and
-blasphemies; but he did not think it necessary to occupy young Capet’s
-time otherwise. He forced the child to wait on him and perform the most
-menial duties; he took away his suit of mourning, and gave him instead a
-coat of orange-colored cloth, with breeches of the same color, and a red
-cap, which was the notorious uniform of the Jacobins.
-
-“If I allow you to take off black for Marat,” he said, “at least you
-shall wear his livery and honor his memory in that way!”
-
-The Prince put on the clothes without protest, but nothing could induce
-him to wear the Jacobin cap; and Simon was powerless, even by the
-cruellest treatment, to overcome his resistance. He had become the slave
-of his jailers, he had submitted to a thousand insults and indignities,
-but he would not allow the badge of his father’s murderers to be placed
-upon his head. Weary with his efforts, the cobbler finally desisted from
-the attempt, at the intercession of his wife. To tell the truth, this
-was not the first time this woman had taken the part of the unfortunate
-child, for she, indeed, had good reason to be satisfied with him.
-
-“He is an amiable being, and a nice child,” she remarked one day to
-another woman. “He cleans and polishes my shoes, and makes the fire for
-me when I get up,” for these were also his duties now. Alas! what a
-change from the days when every morning he had brought his adored mother
-a nosegay from his garden, picked and arranged with his own hands! Now,
-the drudge of a shoemaker’s wife—poor, lovely, high-born little Prince!
-
-A systematic effort was made to debase the child in every way, morally
-and physically; no pains were spared to vitiate his pure innocent mind
-and make him familiar with the most revolting infamies. Madame Simon cut
-off his beautiful hair for no other reason than because it had been his
-mother’s delight. As it happened, some guards and deputies witnessed the
-act, and one of them, a good-natured fellow named Meunier, cried out:
-
-“Oh, what have you slashed off all his pretty hair for?”
-
-“What for?” retorted Madame Simon. “Why, don’t you see, citizen, we were
-playing the part of dethroned King, here!” And all, with the exception
-of Meunier, burst into shouts of laughter over the shorn lamb, who bent
-his poor little disfigured head upon his breast in mute despair. Not
-content with this outrage, that same evening the brutal wretches forced
-the child to drink large quantities of wine, which he detested; and when
-they had succeeded in making him drunk, so that he did not know what he
-was doing, Simon put the red cap on his head.
-
-“At last I see you a Jacobin!” cried the villain, triumphantly, as the
-Revolutionary emblem nodded on the brow of the unhappy descendant of
-Louis the Fourteenth, the proudest King of Christendom! They had broken
-the child’s noble pride at last—one shudders to think by what terrible
-means; and from this time a few blows or curses sufficed to make him put
-on the new head-covering. Thus far the wretched child’s unhappy fate had
-remained unknown to his mother, although she had never ceased to implore
-the guards or deputies for news of him. They all assured her that she
-need not be uneasy about her son—that he was in good hands and well
-cared for; but all these protestations failed to soothe her maternal
-anxiety and but too well-founded distrust.
-
-At last, on the thirteenth of July, through the assistance of Tison,
-who, at first a bitter enemy, had since changed and become friendly to
-her, she succeeded in obtaining a sight of her poor little son. But
-alas! this happiness, so long yearned for, so besought from Heaven, was
-granted her only to her sorrow. The little Prince indeed passed before
-the eyes of his mother, who bent her anxious, searching gaze upon him.
-He had laid aside the mourning for his father; the red cap was on his
-head, his brutal jailer beside him. Unluckily, moreover, just at that
-moment Simon fell into one of the outbursts of fury that usually vented
-themselves upon his wretched charge. The poor Queen, struck by this
-terrible sight as if by lightning, grasped her sister-in-law for
-support, and both quickly drew the Princess Marie Thérèse away from
-their place of concealment (whither she had hastened for a glimpse of
-her brother), at the same time reassuring themselves by a glance that
-she had seen nothing and remained in blissful ignorance of the Dauphin’s
-fate.
-
-“It is useless to wait any longer,” said the Queen; “he will not come
-now.”
-
-After a few moments, her tears began to flow; she turned away to hide
-them, and came back again, hoping for another sight of her son. A little
-later she did see him again. He passed by in silence, with bowed head;
-his tyrant was no longer cursing him. She heard no words, but this
-silence was almost as terrible to her as Simon’s invectives. Mute and
-motionless, she remained as if rooted to the spot till Tison came for
-her.
-
-“Oh, God!” she cried bitterly to him, “you have been deceiving me!”
-
-“No, madame,” he replied; “I merely did not tell you everything, so you
-would not be troubled. But now that you know all, in the future I will
-conceal nothing from you that I may chance to discover.”
-
-The knowledge of the pitiable condition of her son reduced the Queen to
-the apathy of despair, and she would sit for hours in silent misery. To
-know that her child was suffering and not be able to tend or care for
-him, to know that he was unhappy and not be able to comfort him, to know
-that he was in danger and not be able to protect him—what tortures could
-compare with the martyrdom of this poor mother? It turned her beautiful
-dark hair as white as snow, and made her indifferent to her own fate.
-The Convention had issued a decree that the Queen should be removed from
-the Temple to the Conciergerie, and on the second of August, at two
-o’clock in the morning, the Princesses were roused from their sleep to
-hear this order. The Queen listened quietly and without a word as it was
-read to them, then rose immediately and made her preparations to follow
-the officers, who first searched her roughly, and even took everything
-out of her pockets. Before she went, she embraced her daughter and
-sister-in-law, and exhorted them to be brave and steadfast. As she
-passed through the low doorway, she forgot to stoop, and struck her head
-a sharp blow against it. One of the men asked her if she was hurt, and
-she replied:
-
-“Nothing can hurt me now.”
-
-But ah! with what feelings must she have left that Tower! With what
-lingering glances at the door of the room where the Dauphin was
-confined! She knew she was leaving never to return; knew that never
-again should she clasp her child to her breast; knew that he was in the
-clutches of a tiger. Poor ill-fated, unhappy Queen and mother!
-
-Meanwhile, Simon continued by every vile means in his power to maltreat
-the child committed to his guardianship. On the seventh of August,
-Madame Simon went to the theatre to see a low play performed, entitled
-“Brutus,” and returned full of enthusiasm. She described the piece, the
-plot of which was directed against royalty, and Simon listened eagerly
-and attentively. Suddenly he perceived that the little Prince had turned
-away his head, as if to avoid hearing it.
-
-“You accursed young wolf,” he cried furiously, “so you do not want to
-listen to the citoyenne—to be improved and enlightened! You would like
-to remain a blockhead and the son of a tyrant!”
-
-“Everyone has relatives that he should honor,” replied the boy with
-angelic calmness and filial affection.
-
-This very calmness and composure only seemed to enrage Simon the more.
-He could not forgive the child for honoring his father and mother, and,
-seizing him roughly, he threw him across the room and down to the floor,
-with a volley of oaths and abusive epithets. Nor was this the worst of
-which the monster was guilty. If a rising occurred anywhere in France,
-against the Revolution and its crimes, he vented his rage and spite upon
-his victim. On the sixth of August, Montbrison rose in arms, with the
-cry, “God save King Louis the Seventeenth!” Three or four days later the
-news reached the Temple, and Simon immediately pounced upon the Prince.
-
-“Here, madame,” said he, jeeringly, “allow me to present to you the King
-of Montbrison, and”—he continued, taking off the boy’s Jacobin cap—“I
-will anoint him at once and burn incense to him!” Whereupon he rubbed
-the poor child’s head and ears roughly with his hard hands, blew tobacco
-smoke from his pipe into his face, and finally flung him over to his
-wife, that she in her turn might do homage to “His Majesty.” On the
-tenth of August, the Convention gave a _fête_ for the people, and Simon
-awakened the Prince from his morning sleep and commanded him to shout,
-“Long live the Republic!” The child did not seem to understand at first;
-he arose, and began to put on his clothes in silence, when Simon, who
-was standing before him with folded arms, repeated imperiously:
-
-“Make haste, Capet! This is a great day; you must shout ‘Vive la
-Republique!’”
-
-The boy made no answer, but went on with his dressing.
-
-“Hey! Who am I talking to here?” cried the cobbler, furiously. “Accursed
-King of Montbrison, will you shout ‘Vive la Republique!’ quickly—or—”
-and he made a significant gesture with his clenched fist.
-
-The Prince raised his head with a resolute expression, and, looking full
-at his tormentor, replied in a clear, firm voice: “You may do what you
-choose with me, but I will never cry, ‘Vive la Republique!’”
-
-He spoke so proudly and nobly that even this hardened villain gave way
-before him, and for once did not venture to do him any violence.
-
-“Good, good!” said Simon with a sneer, to cover his discomfiture; “I
-will see that your behavior is made known.” And indeed he did repeat the
-whole incident to everyone in the Temple; but no one blamed the Prince,
-and some even praised him for his strength of character.
-
-The next morning the cobbler seemed to have repented of his weakness. He
-procured an account of the _fête_ of the preceding day, and forced the
-boy to stand and listen while he read it aloud. The Prince obeyed; but
-at one part, which contained a gross insult to his father, he could no
-longer control his rebellious feelings, and retired to one of the window
-recesses to hide his face and his tears. Simon hurried after him,
-dragged him roughly back by the hair to the table, and ordered him,
-under pain of a beating, to stand there and listen quietly and
-attentively. Then he resumed his reading, and laid particular emphasis
-on the words: “Let us swear to defend the Constitution unto death; the
-Republic shall live forever!”
-
-“Do you hear that, Capet?” he shouted; “the Republic shall live
-forever!”
-
-The child made no reply, and did not even raise his head; his face was
-hidden in his hands.
-
-“You cursed young wolf!” roared Simon, choking with passion, “yesterday
-you would not shout ‘Vive la Republique!’ but you see now, blockhead,
-that the Republic shall live forever! You _shall_ say with us, ‘The
-Republic shall live forever!’”
-
-As he spoke, he seized the Dauphin by both shoulders and shook him with
-all his strength, as if to force the words from his mouth. After
-exhausting his fury, the cobbler paced up and down the floor for some
-time, then stopped beside the bed of the weeping child and said gruffly:
-
-“It is your own fault, fool; you well deserved your treatment.”
-
-“Let him alone, Simon,” said his wife; “he is blind, the little one. He
-was brought up on lies and deception, and knows no better.” And,
-somewhat disconcerted, the cobbler turned away.
-
-Not long after this, the police scattered through the streets of the
-city low songs and scurrilous rhymes against the “Austrian she-wolf,” as
-the unfortunate Marie Antoinette was called, and Simon procured some of
-these sheets.
-
-“Come, Capet,” said he one day to the little Prince, holding out to him
-some abominable verses about his mother, “here is a new song you must
-sing for me.”
-
-The boy glanced at the song, and threw it indignantly on the table.
-Simon immediately flew into a rage, and said threateningly:
-
-“I believe I said you should sing, and you shall sing!”
-
-“I will never sing such a song as that!” replied the boy, with a firm
-determination against which the cobbler’s rage was powerless.
-
-“I tell you, I will strike you dead if you do not sing!” he shouted,
-seizing an iron grating from the chimney-place.
-
-“Never!” retorted the Prince, and the furious brute actually hurled the
-heavy iron at the boy’s head, and would certainly have killed him if he
-had not been quick enough to dodge the missile.
-
-Scenes like this were of daily occurrence in the cruel prison of the
-Temple. Simon left nothing undone to accomplish his terrible purpose and
-_rid the Convention_ of the unfortunate child. He kept his prisoner on
-an irregular diet, forcing him one day to eat and drink to excess, and
-the next leaving him to suffer from hunger. With diabolical calculation,
-he did everything possible to undermine the health of the Dauphin, and
-succeeded only too well. He gradually sickened, and an attack of fever
-helped to reduce his strength. He slowly recovered, it is true; but his
-old vigor of mind and body never returned. They took advantage of his
-illness to make him sign a deposition against his mother; and this false
-statement, extorted from him while he was too weak to resist, was used
-by the bloodthirsty Convention to bring the Queen’s head to the
-scaffold. The rising in La Vendée also brought fresh abuse upon the
-Prince. The Vendeans had proclaimed him King, and Simon made merry, with
-some of his friends who were visiting him, over the “King of La Vendée.”
-
-“For all that,” said one of them, “there are signs of change in the air,
-and it would be curious if this monkey should be a King sometime!”
-
-“At least, citizen,” returned Simon, “he will never be King of
-Paris—trust me for that!”
-
-The Prince, crouching at the foot of his bed, had been obliged to
-overhear all this, with other cruel and bloodthirsty jests about the son
-of “Louis the Shortened.” After the guests had finally departed, Simon
-remained some time longer in the room, quarrelling with his wife, who
-did not attempt to conceal her fears for the future. The little Prince
-had not dared to leave his place, and heard Simon say:
-
-“If the Vendeans should ever advance as far as Paris, I will throttle
-the young wolf before I will give him up to them.”
-
-He kept as still as he could, fearing that the least sound or movement
-would bring down on his head the storm that seemed ready to burst.
-Suddenly Simon came up to him, seized him by the ear, and led him to the
-table in the middle of the room.
-
-“Capet,” said he, “if the Vendeans should set you free, what would you
-do with me?”
-
-“I would forgive you,” replied the child, calmly. Such an answer might
-have softened the hardest heart, but it only increased the cobbler’s
-hatred for him. Poor helpless, forsaken child! They had robbed him of
-his mother, too, now, for the Queen had been dragged to the guillotine
-on the sixteenth of October, though, happily, of this he knew
-nothing.[20]
-
-The poor little Prince had become sadly changed. The face that had been
-so fresh and smiling was deeply lined, and bore the marks of sorrow and
-suffering; the once clear, rosy complexion had grown dull and sallow;
-his limbs looked too long and thin for his size, and his back was bent a
-little, as if with the weight of his trouble. Since he had found that
-all his actions, and even his words, brought abuse or derision upon him
-he remained silent, scarcely daring to answer the simplest question with
-“yes” or “no.” He was like a deaf-mute, and at last his mind began to be
-confused. He scarcely seemed to remember his past life or realize his
-present situation. Now that he no longer afforded Simon any excuse for
-beating him, that foul wretch found himself compelled to devise other
-means of venting his brutality and hastening the end of his victim.
-
-Yet the Dauphin was not entirely destitute of friends and sympathizers.
-One of the turnkeys, named Gourlet, and Meunier, a servant in the
-Temple, ventured upon the dangerous attempt to provide him with a little
-diversion. The child had expressed a desire for some birds, and Meunier
-immediately exerted himself to obtain some canaries. He went to several
-families whose devotion to the royal house was known to him, and, on his
-stating his purpose, they hastened to place their birds at his disposal.
-He returned to the Temple with ten or twelve canaries, all of which were
-well tamed and trained. Their gay chirping and flutterings brought life
-and cheerfulness into the gloomy prison, and, full of delight, the
-little Prince caught them one after another, and kissed them. There was
-one of the winged band he noticed particularly. It was tamer and more
-affectionate than all the rest, and would come flying to him at the
-softest call, to perch on his outstretched finger, seeming to enjoy the
-caresses he bestowed on it. For this bird, the little Prince soon
-conceived an especial affection; he spent much time with it, fed it
-millet seed from his hand or his mouth, and, in order to be able to
-distinguish it more readily from the others, he fastened a little red
-ribbon on one of its feet. Whenever he called, the tiny creature would
-come to him instantly, alight first on his head, then hop to his
-shoulder, and finally settle itself upon his finger.
-
-These playmates made the poor little prisoner very happy; but it was too
-pleasant, too sweet, to last long. On the nineteenth of December a visit
-of inspection was made, and when the officers entered, the Prince’s
-yellow favorite was trilling its clear, shrill notes in a burst of song.
-
-“What is the meaning of this?” cried one of the deputies, roughly. “The
-bird there is wearing a red ribbon like an order! That savors too much
-of aristocracy, and signifies a distinction that no good republican
-should tolerate.”
-
-With these words he seized the poor little songster, tore the ribbon
-from its foot, and hurled it against the wall. Happily, the bird used
-its wings, and saved itself from being killed; it fell to the floor
-indeed, but soon started up again and mingled with its companions,
-uttering soft, plaintive notes.
-
-The little Prince, horror-stricken, could not take his eyes from his
-feathered friend. He had not been able to repress a cry at the cruel
-act, but did not dare to show any concern or sympathy, for fear of
-making matters worse. Poor child! as a result of this unlucky visit, all
-the birds that had afforded him so much innocent pleasure were
-ruthlessly taken away from him. It had been indeed too pleasant to last!
-Simon’s fear that he might be blamed for allowing the creatures in the
-prison increased his resentment against the Dauphin, and he nursed his
-wrath until he could find an outlet for it. The opportunity soon came.
-
-The next day he happened to take a foot-bath, and, as it was very
-agreeable to him to be waited on by a King’s son, he ordered the boy to
-warm the linen for drying his feet. Trembling with fear of his brutal
-jailer, the poor child obeyed with more haste than dexterity, and in his
-agitation dropped a towel into the fire. The cobbler’s feet were in the
-water, and, foaming with rage at his inability to reach the child, he
-hurled the most frightful imprecations at him. After a few moments, the
-Dauphin, thinking his master’s fury had passed, knelt down to dry
-Simon’s feet, and the monster profited by this opportunity to give him a
-kick that sent him half across the room and stretched him on the floor.
-As if stunned by the shock, the poor child lay there motionless; but,
-not content with this, the cobbler beat and kicked him, overwhelming him
-at the same time with the vilest epithets until his breath gave out.
-Then, seeing that his victim was still conscious and able to move, he
-ordered him to stand up; and the poor little Prince was obliged to rise
-and drag himself into a corner, where he was suffered to remain, weeping
-piteously.
-
- [Illustration: _The Cobbler and his little victim_]
-
-The jailer grew more vindictive every day, his passions more malignant;
-and his temper was not improved when his wife became so dangerously ill
-that the services of a physician were required. A surgeon named Nautin,
-a worthy, respectable man, was called in, prescribed a remedy, and
-promised to come again the next day. As he was leaving, he passed
-through the room where Simon sat with his charge and some of the
-municipal officers. The boy had refused to sing a licentious song as
-Simon had ordered, and, just as the surgeon entered, the cobbler flung
-himself upon the child, lifted him up by the hair and shook him,
-shouting furiously:
-
-“Accursed viper! I have a mind to dash you to pieces against the wall!”
-
-The doctor hastened to the spot and snatched the Dauphin from Simon’s
-grasp, crying angrily:
-
-“Villain, what are you doing?”
-
-Taken aback by this interference, Simon recoiled without a word, and for
-the time being did not venture to maltreat the Prince any further. On
-the following day the surgeon again visited his patient, and was greatly
-surprised and touched when suddenly, as he was passing through the room
-where the Dauphin was confined, the little prisoner seized his hand and
-offered him two pears which he had saved from his own meal.
-
-“Take them, please, dear sir,” he said in his touching voice; “yesterday
-you showed that you have an interest in me. I thank you for it, but have
-no way of proving my gratitude. Will you not take these pears, then? It
-will make me very happy!”
-
-The old man pressed the child’s hand kindly, but did not speak. He
-accepted the present, and a tear that rolled down his cheek betrayed the
-emotion he could not find words to express.
-
-So noble was the nature of this royal child that even the terrible
-treatment he had received had not entirely destroyed his
-sensibilities—at the slightest touch of kindness or sympathy they sprang
-to life again. Never had he forgotten his mother’s admonitions.
-Sometimes he even recalled them in his dreams; and once it happened that
-Simon overheard him when, in his sleep, he knelt with folded hands and
-prayed fervently to God. Unmoved by this touching sight, the cobbler
-awakened his wife to look at the strange dreamer; then, seizing a
-pitcher of water, he suddenly dashed it over the little bowed head,
-regardless of the danger that the shock of such an ice-cold shower-bath
-on a January night might kill the child. Instantly seized with a chill,
-the Prince threw himself back on his bed without uttering a sound. But
-the dampness of his couch allowed him no rest. He got up again and
-sought refuge on the floor with his pillow—the only part of his bed that
-had escaped the deluge. As he crouched there, his teeth chattering with
-cold, Simon sprang up again in spite of his wife’s efforts to detain
-him, grasped the child with both hands, and shook him violently, crying:
-
-“I will teach you to get up in the night to recite your paternosters,
-like a Trappist!” Then as if in a frenzy he rushed at the boy with such
-a malignant expression upon his cruel face that the poor little Prince
-caught at the arms of his ferocious jailer and cried:
-
-“Oh, what have I done that you should want to murder me?”
-
-“Murder you! As if that was what I wanted! Don’t you know that, if I
-wished to murder you, I could take you by the throat and stop your noise
-in no time?”
-
-So speaking, he flung the boy roughly back into his bed, which had been
-turned into a veritable pond. Without a word, he sank down on his
-wretched cot, shivering with cold and terror, while the cobbler retired
-to his own rest filled with savage satisfaction. After this dreadful
-night the poor little Dauphin fell into a state of utter despair and
-apathy. Even his tearful glances no longer appealed to his brutal
-keeper. His eyes were always fixed on the floor. The last remnants of
-his courage were gone; he had finally succumbed to his fate.
-
-Nevertheless, the terrible Simon was not to enjoy the triumph of seeing
-his victim expire at his feet. The municipal council had decreed that
-for the future the prisoner was to be guarded by four of its members,
-who were to serve as deputies, and on the nineteenth of January, 1794,
-Simon and his wife were removed from the Temple. The parting words of
-the cobbler to the innocent child he had tortured so barbarously were
-quite in keeping with his character. His wife had said:
-
-“Capet, I do not know whether I shall ever see you again!” And Simon
-added: “Oh! he is not crushed yet; but he will never get out of this
-prison—not if all the saints of heaven moved in his behalf!”
-
-A last blow accompanied these words, which the poor little Prince, who
-stood before him with downcast eyes, received meekly and apathetically,
-without even a glance at his departing jailer. But Simon did not escape
-the vengeance of Heaven. The cruel cobbler perished on the scaffold on
-the twenty-eighth of July, 1794, together with Robespierre and other
-monsters of the Revolution.
-
-
-
-
- Chapter VI
- The End of Sorrows
-
-
-The removal of Simon released the Dauphin from actual physical abuse,
-but on the whole there was not much change for the better in his
-situation. The leaders of the Revolution felt no pity for the royal
-child; and instead of appointing a successor to the cobbler, they doomed
-him to solitary confinement. The door of communication between his
-prison and the anteroom was securely fastened with nails and screws, and
-crossed from top to bottom with iron bars. Three or four feet from the
-floor there was a small opening over a little shelf, covered by a
-movable iron grating, which was secured by a padlock. Through this
-opening or wicket little Capet was supplied with food and water, and
-when he had eaten he replaced the empty vessels on the shelf. They
-allowed him neither light nor fire. His room was heated only by the flue
-from a stove in the antechamber, and lighted only by a lamp which hung
-opposite the wicket. Here the poor child spent the terrible days and
-nights, his only way of reckoning time; for years, months, weeks, days,
-were all one in his confused brain. Time, like a stagnant pool, had
-ceased to flow for him. There was nothing but suffering to mark the
-hours, hence they were indistinguishable.
-
-We will pass quickly over this period—one long monotonous round of
-misery and wretchedness, that lasted without intermission for more than
-six months. During all that time the air of heaven did not once
-penetrate to this barred cell, and only a faint glimmer of daylight
-pierced the grating and the close, heavy shutters. The little prisoner
-never saw the guards who thrust his scanty meals to him through the
-wicket; he heard no sound but the creaking of bolts and a harsh voice,
-which at the close of day ordered him to go to bed, since there was no
-light for him. The solitude and loneliness lay upon his spirit like a
-leaden weight. Without work, without play, without diversion or
-occupation of any kind, how endless must the days have been! And then
-the night and darkness, with its vague phantoms, its indefinable
-terrors, chilling the child’s blood with fear!
-
-Many such days and nights passed, but no word, no sound of complaint,
-escaped from the dark cell. The wicket was opened every day, but the
-little Prince never sought for pity or compassion. He had given up all
-hope of human sympathy, and trusted only to the mercy of God; hoped only
-for a speedy death and for everlasting peace beyond.
-
-The deputies, whose duty it was to guard the Dauphin, were cruel and
-unfeeling—if not naturally so, then because they feared to be otherwise.
-At nightfall they would go up to the den of the “young wolf” to assure
-themselves that he was alive and had not escaped. If he did not answer
-their harsh summons at once, they would open the wicket with a great
-clattering and shout:
-
-“Capet, Capet! Are you asleep? Where are you? Get up, viper!”
-
-The child, so rudely aroused, would drag himself with trembling limbs
-from his wretched bed to the grating, his feet colder than the damp
-floor on which he trod, to answer gently:
-
-“Here I am!”
-
-“Come nearer, then, so we can see you!” they would cry, holding up a
-lantern to light the cell.
-
-“Very good! Go to bed again!”
-
-Two hours later there would be another rattling of bolts, other deputies
-would appear, and again the Prince would be roused from his sleep and
-compelled, half-naked and shivering with cold and terror, to answer the
-questions of his jailers. This persecution soon exhausted him mentally
-and physically. The lack of fresh air, the darkness and solitude,
-benumbed all his faculties. He no longer wept. His feeble hands could
-scarcely lift the earthen plate or jug in which his food and water were
-brought. He had ceased to try to clean his room; he no longer had even
-the strength to shake up the sack of straw that formed his bed, or to
-turn the mattress. The bedclothes were never changed, and his pillow was
-in tatters; he could not get clean linen or mend his ragged clothes; he
-had not resolution enough to wash and clean himself, but lay patiently
-on his bed most of the time, his dull eyes staring into vacancy.
-
-How often must he have prayed to God, “When, oh! when, will my
-sufferings end?” How long—how long it must have seemed before the
-Almighty listened to the feeble voice and sent the blessed release of
-death. But at last the petition was heard, and a gleam of human pity
-brightened the last days of this innocent victim of man’s cruelty.
-
-After the execution of Robespierre[21] and his associates in the Reign
-of Terror, better days dawned for the little Prince. The new government
-sent him a jailer named Laurent, who was kind and humane, and dared to
-show his pity for his prisoner. He had the barred door opened, and,
-horror-stricken at the sight disclosed, at once took measures to relieve
-the poor child, whom he found cowering on a filthy bed, clothed in rags,
-his back bent as if with age, his little body covered with sores. The
-once lovely child showed scarcely a trace of his former beauty. His face
-was yellow and emaciated, his eyes dim and sunken; he was ill, and the
-bright and vigorous mind was no longer active. “I want to die! I want to
-die!” were the only words Laurent was able to draw from him at his first
-visit.
-
-The kindly jailer lost no time in bettering his situation as far as he
-could. The barred door with the wicket was removed, the shutters taken
-down from the windows to admit the light and air freely, and the cell
-thoroughly cleaned. One of his first cares was to have the boy bathed,
-cleaned, and placed in another bed. He also sent for a physician, and
-ordered a tailor to make some new clothes for his charge. At first the
-poor little Prince could not understand these expressions of sympathy
-and kindness. He had suffered so much and so deeply from the inhumanity
-of men, that his crushed sensibilities were slow in starting to life
-again.
-
-“Why do you trouble yourself about me?” he asked one day, and when
-Laurent made some kindly answer, added, with a swelling heart, “I
-thought no one cared for me any more!” while he tried to hide his tears.
-
-Simon had introduced the custom of addressing the Prince simply as
-“Capet”; Laurent changed this, and called him by his first name, “M.
-Charles.” He also obtained permission for him to walk on the platform of
-the Tower whenever he chose, and enjoy the blue sky and the sunshine
-again after his long, sad imprisonment. Here, one day, he found some
-little yellow flowers that were trying to live in the seams and crevices
-of the crumbling stone. He gathered them eagerly, and tied them into a
-little nosegay, recalling, perhaps, the sunny days of his early
-childhood.
-
-On the ninth of November, 1794, a second jailer arrived—a man named
-Gomin, who, like Laurent, was kind and tender-hearted. It was settled
-between them that they should share the same room, an arrangement which
-suited Laurent very well, since it gave him more freedom; and both men
-exerted themselves to make their little captive’s dull days as cheerful
-as possible. They would have done even more for him had they not been
-restrained by the presence of a deputy, who was required to share their
-guard over the Dauphin. These deputies were frequently changed. If the
-choice of their superiors happened to fall on a man who was friendly and
-obliging, Laurent and Gomin could usually obtain small favors from him.
-Thus, on the third day after his arrival in the Temple, Gomin made use
-of the good-will of a deputy named Bresson to obtain for the Prince four
-plants in pots, all in full bloom. The sight of these flowers was a most
-wonderful surprise to the poor child, and his eyes filled with tears of
-joy and happiness. He went around and around them, as if intoxicated
-with delight, clasped them in his arms, and inhaled their fragrance. He
-devoured them with his eyes, examined every blossom, and finally picked
-one. Then he looked at Gomin with a troubled expression; an innocent,
-childish memory trembled in his heart. He thought of his mother! Alas,
-poor child! For her no more should earthly flowers bloom, nor wert thou
-ever to be permitted to lay a blossom on her grave!
-
-Soon after this, a deputy named Delboy came to the Temple. He was coarse
-and uncouth in appearance, and had a gruff, harsh voice. With an air of
-brutality, he opened all the prison doors, and behaved in a rude and
-boorish manner; but under this rough exterior was concealed a softness
-of heart and highmindedness that greatly surprised the little prisoner.
-
-“Why this miserable food?” he said one day, glancing at the Dauphin’s
-scanty meal. “If he were in the Tuileries, we might question what he had
-to eat—but here in our hands! We should be merciful to him; the nation
-is magnanimous! What are these shutters for? Under the government of the
-people, the sun shines for all, and this child is entitled to his share
-of it. Why should a brother be prevented from seeing his sister? Our
-watchword is fraternity!”
-
-The Prince gazed at him in open-eyed astonishment, and followed every
-movement of this rough stranger, whose friendly words were such a
-contrast to his forbidding aspect.
-
-“Is it not so, my boy,” continued the deputy; “would you not be very
-happy if you could play with your sister? I do not see why the nation
-should remember your origin if you forget it.”
-
-Then, turning to Laurent and Gomin, he added: “It is not his fault that
-he is the son of a King. He is only a child—an unfortunate one, too—and
-should not be treated so harshly. He is, at least, a human being; and is
-not France the mother of all her children?”
-
-After his departure, Gomin hastened to procure more comforts for the
-Prince, and took pains to see that he had a light in his room at night,
-for which the poor child was very grateful. He was not allowed to see
-his sister, Marie Thérèse, however, as the government had strictly
-forbidden it. But all the care and attention of his jailers could not
-save him from being attacked by a bad fever, and unfortunately the
-deputies were not all so considerate as the rough but kindly Delboy.
-Some of them terrified him by harsh threats and insults, which by no
-means improved his condition. One man, named Careaux, to whom Gomin
-applied for permission to send for a physician for the sick child, had
-the heartless insolence to reply:
-
-“Pah! never mind him. There are plenty of children dying all the time
-who are of more consequence than he!”
-
-A day or two afterward, Gomin was painfully surprised to hear the poor
-boy, muttering to himself, repeat the words, “Many children die who are
-of more consequence!” and from this time he sank into a state of the
-deepest melancholy and failed rapidly. It was with difficulty that Gomin
-could induce him to go up to the roof of the Tower, even when he had the
-strength; and soon, indeed, his feet could no longer support him, and
-his jailers were obliged to carry him up in their arms. The disease made
-such terrible progress in a few days that the government finally felt it
-necessary to send a deputation to the Temple to inquire into the
-condition of the prisoner. Nothing came of it, however. No physician was
-summoned, no remedies applied, and the Dauphin was left to sink slowly
-into the grave. It was plain that his death had been determined on by
-the government, and disease was allowed to finish the work which that
-unspeakable wretch, the cobbler Simon, had begun so well.
-
-Gomin still had hope, nevertheless, and used every means in his power to
-add to the child’s small pleasures and recreations. He found some books,
-which the Prince read eagerly; and, through an acquaintance named
-Debierne, obtained a turtle-dove for him, but it did not live long. They
-often played draughts together; the Prince did not understand the game
-very well, but the kind-hearted jailer always contrived to let his small
-opponent win. Shuttlecock, too, was a favorite amusement when the
-child’s strength permitted, and at this he proved very skilful. His eye
-was sure, his hand quick, and he always rested the left one lightly on
-his hip while the right was busy with the battledore.
-
-On the twenty-ninth of March, 1795, Laurent left the Temple, and was
-replaced by Etienne Lasne, a house painter and soldier of the Guard. The
-Prince thereby lost one friend, but gained another, for Lasne from the
-beginning showed the heartiest good-will toward him, and soon learned
-how to win his affection. He would spend hours playing with him, sing
-lively songs while Gomin joined in with his violin, or entertain him
-with humorous fancies; and his devotion so won the child’s love and
-confidence that the Dauphin always used the familiar “thou” in speaking
-to him, although such had never been his custom.
-
-All this time the condition of the little Dauphin had been growing worse
-so steadily that finally, at the urgent demands of the jailers, a
-physician was sent for. M. Desault treated him and prescribed some
-remedies, though he gave Gomin to understand from the first that he had
-little hope of the boy’s recovery. They moved him into a room that was
-more light and sunny, but he was very weak, and the change did little to
-check the progress of the disease. Though his kind friend often carried
-him up to the platform on the Tower, the slight improvement wrought by
-breathing the fresh air scarcely compensated for the fatigue the effort
-cost him.
-
-In the course of centuries, the rain had hollowed out a sort of little
-basin on the battlements of the platform, where the water would remain
-for several days, and as there were frequent rains in the spring of
-1795, this reservoir was never empty. Every time the Prince was carried
-to the roof, he saw a number of sparrows that came daily to the little
-pool to drink and bathe in it. At first they would fly away at his
-approach, but after a time they became accustomed to seeing him, and
-only took flight when he came too close. They were always the same ones,
-and he learned to know them. Perhaps they, like himself, had grown
-familiar with the old Tower. He called them his birds. As soon as the
-door was opened, his first glance would be toward the little basin, and
-the sparrows were always there. When he approached, they would all rise
-in the air, fluttering and chirping; but after he had passed, they would
-settle down again at once. Supported by his jailer’s arm and leaning
-against the wall, he would often stand perfectly motionless for a long
-time, watching the birds alight and dip their little beaks in the water,
-then their breasts, fluttering their wings and shaking the drops off
-their feathers, while the poor little invalid would clasp his keeper’s
-arm tightly, as if to say: “Alas! I cannot do that!” Sometimes, with
-this support, he would take several steps forward, till he was so near
-he could almost touch them with his outstretched arm. This was his
-greatest pleasure; he loved their cheerful twittering and quick, alert
-motions.
-
- [Illustration: _The Dauphin and the sparrows_]
-
-The physician, M. Desault, came every morning at nine o’clock to see his
-patient, and often remained with him for some time. The Prince was very
-fond of the good old man, and showed his gratitude both in words and
-looks. Suddenly, however, his visits ceased, and they learned that he
-had died unexpectedly on the thirty-first of May. The little Prince wept
-when he was told of it, and mourned sincerely for his kind friend. The
-chief surgeon, M. Pelletan, took his place; but he, too, had no hope of
-being able to prolong the life of the child, who, like a delicate plant
-deprived of light and air, gradually drooped and faded. Yet he bore his
-sufferings without a murmur or complaint. The plant was dying; its
-bright colors were gone, but its sweet fragrance remained to the last.
-
-M. Pelletan, who realized only too well his dangerous condition, had
-requested from the government the advice and assistance of another
-physician, and on the seventh of June M. Dumaugin was sent to accompany
-him to the Temple. The Prince’s weakness had increased alarmingly, and
-that morning, after having taken his medicine and been rubbed as usual,
-he had sunk into a sort of swoon, which made the jailers fear the end
-was near. He revived a little, however, when the physicians arrived; but
-they saw plainly it was useless to attempt to check the malady. They
-ordered a glass of sweetened water to be given to him, to cool his dry,
-parched mouth, if he should wish to drink, and withdrew with a painful
-sense of their helplessness. M. Pelletan was of the opinion that the
-little Prince would not live through another day, but his colleague did
-not think the end would come so soon. It was agreed that M. Pelletan
-should make his visit at eight o’clock the next morning, and M. Dumaugin
-was to come at eleven.
-
-When Gomin entered the room that evening with the Dauphin’s supper, he
-was pleasantly surprised to find the sick child a little improved. His
-color was better, his eyes brighter, his voice stronger.
-
-“Oh, it is you!” he said at once to his jailer, with evident pleasure at
-seeing him.
-
-“You are not suffering so much now?” asked Gomin.
-
-“Not so much,” answered the Prince softly.
-
-“You must thank this room for that,” said Gomin. “Here there is at least
-fresh air to breathe, and plenty of light; the good doctors come to see
-you, and you should find a little comfort in all this.”
-
-At these words the Prince looked up at his jailer with an expression of
-deepest sadness. His eyes grew dim, then shone suddenly bright again, as
-a tear trickled through his lashes and rolled down his cheek.
-
-“Alone—always alone!” was his answer. “And my mother has been over
-there, in that other Tower, all this time!”
-
-He did not know that she, as well as his aunt, Madame Élisabeth, had
-long since been dragged to the guillotine, and all the warmth and
-tenderness of which the poor child’s heart was still capable of feeling
-were fixed on the mother from whose arms he had been so cruelly torn.
-This childish affection had survived through everything; it was as
-strong as his will, as deep as his nature. “Love,” says the Holy
-Scriptures, “is stronger than death,” and this child confirmed the
-saying. Now, when his mind was dwelling on memories of the past and the
-recollection of his sufferings, every other thought was forgotten, and
-his tried and tortured heart had room for no other image than that of
-his dearly and tenderly beloved mother.
-
-“It is true you are often alone here, and that is sad, to be sure,”
-continued Gomin; “but then you no longer have the sight of so many bad
-men around you, or the example of so many wicked actions.”
-
-“Oh, I have seen enough of them,” murmured the child; “but,” he added in
-a gentler tone, laying his hand on the arm of his kindly jailer and
-raising his eyes to his face, “I see good people also, and they keep me
-from being angry with those who are not.”
-
-At this, Gomin said suddenly: “That wicked Careaux you have seen here so
-often, as deputy, has been arrested, and is now in prison himself.”
-
-The Prince started.
-
-“Careaux?” he repeated. “He did not treat me well. But I am sorry. Is he
-here?”
-
-“No, in La Force, in the Quartier St. Antoine.”
-
-An ordinary nature would have harbored some feeling of revenge, but this
-royal child had the greatness of soul to pity his persecutor.
-
-“I am very sorry for him; he is more unhappy than we, for he deserves
-his misfortunes!”
-
-Words so simple and yet so noble, on the lips of a child scarcely ten
-years old, may be wondered at; nevertheless, they were actually spoken
-by the Dauphin, and the words themselves did not impress Gomin so much
-as the sincere and touching tone in which they were spoken. Without
-doubt, misfortune and suffering had matured the child’s mind
-prematurely, and he may have been inspired by some invisible presence
-from above, such as God often sends to the bedside of the suffering and
-dying.
-
-Night came on—the last night the poor little prisoner was to spend in
-solitude and loneliness, with only those old companions, misery of mind
-and body. He had always been left alone at night, even during his
-illness; and not until eight o’clock in the morning were his jailers
-allowed to go to him. We do not know how the Prince passed that last
-night, or whether he waked or slept; but in either case death was
-hovering close beside his pillow. The next morning, Monday, the eighth
-of June, Lasne entered the room between seven and eight o’clock, Gomin
-not daring to go first for fear he should not find their charge alive.
-But by the time M. Pelletan arrived the Prince was sitting up, and Lasne
-thought he had even improved somewhat since the day before, though the
-physician’s more experienced eye told him there was no change for the
-better. Indeed, the poor little invalid, whose feet felt strangely
-heavy, soon wanted to lie down again.
-
-When M. Dumaugin came at eleven o’clock, the Prince was in bed; but he
-welcomed him with the unvarying gentleness and sweetness that had never
-deserted him through all his troubles, and to which the physician
-himself testified later on. He shrugged his shoulders over the patient’s
-condition, and felt that the end was not far off. After he had taken his
-leave, Gomin replaced Lasne in the sick room. He seated himself near the
-bed, but, fearing to rouse or disturb the child, did not speak. The
-Prince never began a conversation, and was silent likewise, gazing
-mournfully at his friend.
-
-“How unhappy it makes me to see you suffer so much!” said Gomin at last.
-
-“Never mind,” answered the child softly, “I shall not always suffer.”
-
-Gomin knelt down by the bed to be nearer him, and the affectionate child
-seized his keeper’s hand and pressed it to his lips. At this, Gomin gave
-way to his emotion, and his heart went out in prayer—the prayer that man
-in his deepest sorrow sends up to the all-merciful Father; while the
-Prince, still clasping the faithful hand in his, raised his eyes to
-heaven with a look of angelic peace and holiness impossible to describe.
-After a time, Gomin, seeing that he lay quiet and motionless, said to
-him:
-
-“I hope you do not suffer now?”
-
-“Oh, yes, I still suffer,” whispered the Prince, “but much less—the
-music is so beautiful!”
-
-Now, there was no music in or near the Temple at this solemn moment; no
-noise of any kind from outside entered the room where the soul of the
-little martyr was preparing for flight. Gomin, much surprised,
-therefore, asked him:
-
-“Where does the music come from?”
-
-“From above there!” replied the child.
-
-“Is it long that you have heard it?”
-
-“Since you knelt down by me and prayed. Have you not heard it?
-Listen—listen now!”
-
-With a quick motion he held up his feeble hand, his blue eyes shining
-with rapture, while Gomin, not wishing to dispel this last sweet
-illusion of the dying child, made a pious effort to hear what could not
-be heard, and pretended to be listening to the music. In a few moments
-the Prince raised himself suddenly and cried out in an ecstasy of joy:
-
-“Oh! among all those voices I can hear my mother’s!” and as this holy
-name escaped the orphan’s lips, all his pain and sorrow seemed to
-disappear. His eyebrows, drawn with suffering, relaxed and his eyes
-sparkled with the light of victory and freedom. But the radiance of his
-glance was soon dimmed; the old worn look came back to his face and he
-sank back, his hands crossed meekly on his breast. Gomin watched him
-closely and followed all his movements with anxious eyes. His breathing
-was not more difficult, but his eyes wandered about vacantly and
-absently, and were often fixed on the window. Gomin asked if anything
-troubled him, but he did not seem to hear even when the question was
-repeated, and made no reply. Lasne came soon after to relieve Gomin, who
-left his little friend with a heavy heart, although he did not realize
-the end was so near. Lasne sat by the bed for a long time in silence,
-the Prince gazing at him sorrowfully; but when he moved a little, Lasne
-asked him how he felt and whether he wanted anything. Instead of
-replying, he asked abruptly:
-
-“Do you think my sister could hear the music? It would make her so
-happy!”
-
-Lasne could not answer this. The yearning eyes of the dying boy, dark
-with the anguish of death, were turned toward the window. Suddenly a cry
-of joy escaped him; then, turning to Lasne, he said:
-
-“I have something to tell you.”
-
-The jailer took his hand—the little head drooped upon his breast—he
-listened, but in vain. The last word had been spoken! God had spared the
-little Dauphin the last agonizing death-struggle, and in a last dream of
-joy and rapture had taken him to His loving arms!
-
-Lasne laid his hand gently on the child’s heart, but it no longer beat.
-That troubled heart was quiet now. The little Dauphin had exchanged his
-sorrowful earthly dwelling for the eternal peace and happiness of
-Heaven—had found his loved ones and his God.[22]
-
- * * * * * * * *
-
-Only a few more words, gentle reader. I have unrolled a sad picture
-before you, and, however much it may have excited your sympathy, it
-could not be softened, for from beginning to end it is the truth and
-only the truth. The little Dauphin, Louis Charles, the son of a King and
-a King himself, really bore all these sorrows; he lived, suffered, and
-died as has been described in these pages. A conscientious and reliable
-investigator, M. de Beauchesne, has with untold zeal and patience
-collected all the incidents here recounted; and the facts have been
-corroborated by Lasne and Gomin, the two worthy men who tried to
-brighten the last days of the unfortunate little Prince.
-
-And now, should you ask what moral is to be drawn from this true
-narrative, I would answer: Learn from the perusal of this child’s life
-to be submissive under affliction and trouble. God keep you from pain
-and sorrow; but, should they one day fall to your lot, then remember the
-little Dauphin and King of France, and endure, as he endured, suffering
-and heart-break with calmness and patience, with humility and submission
-to the will of the Lord, before whose mysterious and inscrutable decrees
-weak mortality must bow without repining.
-
-
-
-
- Appendix
-
-
-The following is a chronological statement of the most important events
-mentioned in this volume, as well as of those directly connected with
-the French Revolution:
-
- August 23, 1754 Birth of Louis XVI.
- 1770 Marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
- 1774 Louis XVI ascends the throne.
- March 27, 1785 Birth of Louis XVII.
- 1789 Louis XVII becomes Dauphin.
- May 5, 1789 Meeting of States General. Revolutionary agitations.
- June 17, 1789 Third Estate takes the name of Constituent Assembly.
- July 14, 1789 Storming of the Bastille.
- July 14, 1790 The “Feast of the Pikes” on the Champ de Mars, and
- the oath of Federation.
- June 20, 1791 Flight of the Royal Family to Varennes.
- June 25, 1791 Brought back to Paris as captives.
- September, 1791 Constitution adopted.
- April, 1792 War with Prussia and Austria.
- September 21, 1792 Proclamation of the Republic.
- January 21, 1793 Execution of Louis XVI.
- March, 1793 Establishment of Revolutionary Tribunal.
- April, 1793 Establishment of Committee of Public Safety.
- July 3, 1793 Imprisonment of the Dauphin in the Temple.
- July 13, 1793 Assassination of Marat.
- October 16, 1793 Execution of Marie Antoinette.
- 1793-94 Reign of Terror.
- April 6, 1794 Execution of Danton.
- July 27, 1794 Execution of Robespierre.
- June 8, 1795 Death of the Dauphin in the Temple.
- October 5, 1795 Victory of Buonaparte over the Sections.
- 1796 Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars.
- November, 1799 Beginning of the Consulate.
- 1802 Napoleon made Life Consul.
- March 18, 1804 Establishment of the Empire.
-
-
-
-
- Footnotes
-
-
-[1]Louis Charles, Duke de Normandie, second son of Louis XVI and Marie
- Antoinette, was born at Versailles March 27, 1785, became Dauphin in
- 1789, and three years later was imprisoned in the Temple, where he
- died June 8, 1795. At the time this story opens, he was the only son.
- His brother, Louis Joseph Xavier François, born October 22, 1781,
- died June 7, 1789. He had two sisters, Maria Theresa Charlotte, born
- December 19, 1778, married the Duke d’Angoulême, eldest son of
- Charles X of France, died October 19, 1851; and Sophia Hélène
- Beatrice, born July 9, 1786, died June 16, 1787.
-
-[2]Louis XVI, grandson of Louis XV, was born at Versailles August 23,
- 1754. In 1770 he married Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor
- Francis I and Maria Theresa, of Austria. Louis XVI was guillotined
- January 21, 1793, and Marie Antoinette October 16, 1793.
-
-[3]The Champ de Mars is a large square on the left bank of the Seine,
- devoted to military exercises. From a very early period it has been
- the scene of battles, riots, pageants, festivals, and great public
- gatherings. Besides the Fête of the Federation, sometimes called the
- “Feast of the Pikes,” mentioned above, it was the scene of the
- Massacres in 1791, and of the “Fête à l’Être suprême,” the latter a
- festival in which an effort was made, under the auspices of
- Robespierre, who had obtained a decree from the Assembly recognizing
- the existence of the Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul,
- to set up a new religion in the place of Catholicism and reason
- worship. Carlyle calls it “the shabbiest page of human annals.”
-
-[4]The Marquis de Lafayette was not only a statesman, but a soldier. He
- served with great distinction in the War of the American Revolution,
- commanded the French National Guard, 1789-90, fought the Austrians in
- 1792, commanded the National Guard in 1830, and helped place Louis
- Philippe on the throne. He came to this country twice, the second
- time in 1824.
-
-[5]Talleyrand, a French abbé, was made Bishop of Autun in 1788, but he
- was much more celebrated as a statesman and diplomatist. He was
- prominent in all the political events of French history from 1789 to
- 1834, and was also a leading figure in all the diplomatic affairs of
- that period. He died at Paris May 17, 1838.
-
-[6]Varennes-en-Argonne is a small town in the department of Meuse on the
- river Aire.
-
-[7]Arnaud Berquin, a French author, was born at Langoiran in 1749, and
- died at Paris in 1791. He was famous as a writer for children. Among
- his most popular works are “The Children’s Friend” and “The Little
- Grandison.”
-
-[8]The Marquis de Bouillé, a French general, was born at Auvergne in
- 1739, and died at London in 1800. He was governor in the Antilles
- from 1768 to 1782, and when the French Revolution broke out was in
- command at Metz. In 1790 he quelled the mutiny of the garrison at
- Nancy, and in the following year made an effort to get Louis XVI out
- of the country; failing in which, he fled to England, where he died a
- few years afterward.
-
-[9]Élisabeth Philippine Marie Hélène, sister of Louis XVI, was born at
- Versailles, May 3, 1764, and was guillotined May 10, 1794. Of her
- courage at the scaffold, Carlyle says “Another row of tumbrils we
- must notice: that which holds Élisabeth, the sister of Louis. Her
- trial was like the rest, for plots, for plots. She was among the
- kindliest, most innocent of women. There sat with her, amid
- four-and-twenty others, a once timorous Marchioness de Crussol,
- courageous now, expressing toward her the liveliest loyalty. At the
- foot of the scaffold, Élisabeth, with tears in her eyes, thanked this
- marchioness, said she was grieved she could not reward her. ‘Ah!
- Madame, would your Royal Highness deign to embrace me, my wishes were
- complete.’ ‘Right willingly, Marquise de Crussol, and with my whole
- heart.’”
-
-[10]Count de Axel Fersen, who accompanied the King in this flight, was
- born at Stockholm, September 4, 1755, and was murdered in the same
- city, June 20, 1810, by the populace, who suspected that he and his
- sister had been concerned in the death of Prince Christian of
- Holstein-Augustenburg, who was to be the successor of Charles XIII.
- Count Fersen was commander of the Royal Swedish Regiment in the
- service of Louis XVI.
-
-[11]“Nor is Postmaster Drouet unobservant all this while, but steps out
- and steps in, with his long flowing nightgown, in the level sunlight,
- prying into several things.... That lady in slouched gypsy-hat,
- though sitting back in the carriage, does she not resemble someone we
- have seen sometime—at the Feast of Pikes or elsewhere? And this
- Grosse-Tête in round hat and peruke, which, looking rearward, pokes
- itself out from time to time, methinks there are features in it—?
- Quick, Sieur Guillaume, Clerk of the Directoire, bring me a new
- assignat! Drouet scans the new assignat, compares the paper-money
- picture with the Gross Head in round hat there, by day and night; you
- might say the one was an attempted engraving of the other. And this
- march of troops, this sauntering and whispering—I see
- it.”—_Carlyle’s_ “_French Revolution._”
-
-[12]Antoine Pierre Barnave, one of the French revolutionists, was deputy
- to the Third Estate in 1789, and President of the National Assembly
- in 1790. He was arrested for alleged treason in 1791, and was
- guillotined in 1793.
-
-[13]Pétion, mentioned in this connection, another of the revolutionists,
- was President of the Constituent Assembly in 1790, and Mayor of Paris
- in 1791-92. He was proscribed in June, 1793, but escaped, and at last
- committed suicide near Bordeaux in 1794.
-
-[14]The Temple was a fortified structure of the Knights Templars, built
- in 1128. After the order was abolished in 1312, it was used for
- various purposes. The chapel remained until 1650, and the square
- tower, where the royal family were imprisoned, was destroyed in 1810.
-
-[15]The Princess de Lamballe was the daughter of the Prince de Carignan
- of the house of Savoy-Carignan, and an intimate friend of Marie
- Antoinette, and shared the latter’s imprisonment in the Temple. She
- married the Prince de Lamballe, a great-grandson of Louis XIV and
- Madame de Montespan. She was put to death in 1792, because she
- refused to take the oath against the monarchy. Carlyle, in his
- “French Revolution,” says of her murder: “The brave are not spared,
- nor the beautiful, nor the weak. Princess de Lamballe has lain down
- on bed. ‘Madame, you are to be removed to the Abbaye’ (the military
- prison at St. Germain-des-Prés). ‘I do not wish to remove; I am well
- enough here.’ There is a need-be for removing. She will arrange her
- dress a little, then. Rude voices answer: ‘You have not far to go!’”
- The sad story of her fate is told in the last outcry from the mob.
- Although innocent of any offence, unless sympathy with the royal
- family or friendship with Marie Antoinette were an offence, she was
- executed. She went calmly to the guillotine and bravely gave up her
- life.
-
-[16]History relates that the King mounted the scaffold without
- hesitation and without fear, but when the executioners approached to
- bind him he resisted them, deeming it an affront to his dignity and a
- reflection upon his courage. The Abbé who had accompanied him, as a
- spiritual consoler, reminded him that the Saviour had submitted to be
- bound, whereupon Louis, who was of a very pious nature, at once
- consented, though still protesting against the indignity of the act.
- Before the fatal moment, he advanced to the edge of the scaffold and
- said to the people: “Frenchmen, I die innocent; it is from the
- scaffold and near appearing before God that I tell you so. I pardon
- my enemies. I desire that France—” The sentence was left unfinished,
- for at that instant the signal was given the executioner. The Abbé
- leaning towards the King said: “Son of Saint Louis, ascend to
- Heaven.” Undoubtedly the reason for the interruption of the King’s
- last words was the fear of popular sympathy, for notwithstanding the
- revolutionary frenzy he was personally liked by many.
-
-[17] The Carmagnole was originally a Provençal dance tune, which was
- frequently adapted to songs of various import. During the Revolution,
- so-called patriotic words were set to it, and it was sung, like the
- “Marseillaise,” to inspire popular wrath against royalty.
-
-[18]Jean Paul Marat, the French revolutionist, was born in Switzerland
- in 1744. He was both physician and scientist in his earlier years,
- but at the outbreak of the Revolution took a prominent part in the
- agitation for a republic, and incited the people to violence. In 1792
- he was elected to the National Convention, and in 1793 was tried
- before the Revolutionary Tribunal as an ultra-revolutionist, but was
- acquitted. July 13, 1793, he was assassinated by Charlotte Corday,
- who was guillotined for the murder four days later.
-
-[19]Saumur is a town in the department of Maine-et-Loire, on the Loire
- River. It was here that the Vendeans, who were partisans of the royal
- rising against the Revolution and the Republic, won a victory over
- the Republican Army June 9, 1793, and took the town.
-
-[20]Marie Antoinette died upon the scaffold as bravely as the King had
- done. Her trial was a mock one, for her execution had been decided
- upon before she was tried. She was never liked by the French people,
- and all sorts of charges had been made against her, many of them
- untrue. She had inherited her ideas of royalty and absolution from
- her mother, Maria Theresa of Austria, and never showed any interest
- in the lower classes. Her biographer in the Encyclopædia Britannica
- says: “In the Marie Antoinette who suffered on the guillotine we
- pity, not the pleasure-loving Queen; not the widow who had kept her
- husband against his will in the wrong course; not the woman who
- throughout her married life did not scruple to show her contempt for
- her slow and heavy but good-natured and loving King, but the little
- princess, sacrificed to state policy and cast uneducated and without
- a helper into the frivolous court of France, not to be loved but to
- be suspected by all around her and eventually to be hated by the
- whole people of France.”
-
-[21]Maximilien Robespierre, one of the most prominent among the
- revolutionists, was the leader of the extreme Left in the Constituent
- Assembly, and a member of the Committee of Public Safety in 1793. He
- was also identified with the Reign of Terror, but was finally
- stripped of all his power, and was guillotined July 28, 1794.
-
-[22]The Dauphin died in the afternoon of June 8, 1795.
-
-
-
-
- LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
-
-
- _BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCES
- TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY_
- GEORGE P. UPTON
-
-_A new, interesting, and very useful series that will be found especially
- suitable for school libraries and for supplementary reading_
-
-The books in this series are translated from the German, because in that
-country a specialty is made of really desirable reading for the young.
-Eight titles are now ready and more will follow.
-
-Their simplicity and accuracy make them very useful for every school
-library in the grades.
-
-For parents who feel disposed to give their children books that provide
-a mild element of historical information, as well as first-class
-entertainment, the little books will prove a veritable find.
-
-The “life-stories” retain the story form throughout, and embody in each
-chapter a stirring event in the life of the hero or the action of the
-time. The dramatis personæ are actual characters, and the facts in the
-main are historically correct. They are therefore both entertaining and
-instructive, and present biography in its most attractive form for the
-young.
-
- A FULL LIST OF THE TITLES IS GIVEN ON THE NEXT PAGE
-
-The work of translation has been done by Mr. George P. Upton, whose
-“Memories” and Lives of Beethoven, Haydn, and Liszt, from the German of
-Max Mueller and Dr. Nohl, have been so successful.
-
- _Each is a small square 16mo in uniform binding, with four
- illustrations. Each 60 cents net._
-
- _FULL LIST OF TITLES_
- Frederick the Great
- The Maid of Orleans
- The Little Dauphin
- Maria Theresa
- William Tell
- Mozart
- Beethoven
- Johann Sebastian Bach
-
-“These narratives have been well calculated for youthful minds past
-infancy, and Mr. Upton’s version is easy and idiomatic.”—_The Nation._
-
-“He is a delightful writer, clearness, strength, and sincerity marking
-everything to which he puts his hand. He has translated these little
-histories from the German in a way that the reader knows has conserved
-all the strength of the original.”—_Chicago Evening Post._
-
-“They are written in simple, graphic style, handsomely illustrated, and
-will be read with delight by the young people for whose benefit they
-have been prepared.”—_Chicago Tribune._
-
-“The work of translation seems to have been well done, and these little
-biographies are very well fitted for the use of young people.... The
-volumes are compact and neat, and are illustrated sufficiently but not
-too elaborately.”—_Springfield Republican._
-
-“These books are most entertaining and vastly more wholesome than the
-story books with which the appetites of young readers are for the most
-part satisfied.”—_Indianapolis Journal._
-
- _OF ALL BOOKSELLERS OR OF THE PUBLISHERS_
- A. C. McCLURG & CO., CHICAGO
-
-
-
-
- LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
-
- _Translated from the German by
- GEORGE P. UPTON_
-
- 8 Vols. Ready
-
- Beethoven
- Mozart
- Bach
- Maid of Orleans
- William Tell
- The Little Dauphin
- Frederick the Great
- Maria Theresa
-
- _Each, with 4 Illustrations, 60 cents net_
-
-
-
-
- Transcriber’s Notes
-
-
---Copyright notice provided as in the original—this e-text is public
- domain in the country of publication.
-
---In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the
- HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)
-
---Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and
- dialect unchanged.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for
-Young People), by Franz Hoffman
-
-*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE DAUPHIN ***
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for Young
-People), by Franz Hoffman
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for Young People)
-
-Author: Franz Hoffman
-
-Translator: George P. Upton
-
-Release Date: July 15, 2020 [EBook #62650]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LITTLE DAUPHIN ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by D A Alexander, Stephen Hutcheson, and the
-Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
-(This file was produced from images generously made
-available by The Internet Archive)
-
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-
-
-</pre>
-
-<div class="img">
-<img class="cover" id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="The Little Dauphin" width="784" height="1081" />
-</div>
-<div class="img" id="pic1">
-<img src="images/p008.jpg" alt="" width="540" height="740" />
-<p class="caption"><i>Happy days in the garden</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="box">
-<p class="center"><span class="sc"><i>Life Stories for Young People</i></span></p>
-<h1><span class="smaller">THE</span>
-<br />LITTLE DAUPHIN</h1>
-<p class="center"><span class="large"><i>Translated from the German of
-<br />Franz Hoffmann</i></span></p>
-<p class="center"><span class="small">BY</span>
-<br /><span class="large">GEORGE P. UPTON</span>
-<br /><span class="small"><i>Translator of &ldquo;Memories,&rdquo; author of &ldquo;Upton Handbooks on Music,&rdquo; editor &ldquo;Autobiography of Theodore Thomas,&rdquo; etc., etc.</i></span></p>
-<p class="center"><span class="smaller">WITH FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS</span></p>
-<div class="img">
-<img src="images/p009.jpg" alt="A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO." width="200" height="199" />
-</div>
-<p class="center">CHICAGO
-<br />A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO.
-<br />1905</p>
-</div>
-<p class="center small"><span class="sc">Copyright
-<br />A. C. McClurg &amp; Co.</span>
-<br />1905
-<br />Published September 16, 1905</p>
-<p class="center smaller">THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_v">v</div>
-<h2>Translator&rsquo;s Preface</h2>
-<p>The story of Louis Charles, second son
-of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette,
-is one of the most pathetic in the history
-of royalty, and has an added interest because
-of the attempts of many romancers and some
-historical writers to raise doubts as to his fate.
-The brief space of the little Dauphin&rsquo;s life is measured
-by the awful period of the French Revolution
-and Reign of Terror. Franz Hoffmann, the
-writer of the original (which was published under
-the title of &ldquo;Ein K&ouml;nigssohn,&rdquo; or, &ldquo;A King&rsquo;s
-Son&rdquo;), follows the ordinarily accepted version that
-the Dauphin was separated from the King and
-Queen and confined in the Temple, and that after
-their execution he was deliberately and cruelly
-allowed to waste away in body and become the
-victim of hopeless disease, remaining thus until
-death ended his sufferings and the inhuman barbarity
-of his keepers. In the course of his narrative
-the author touches upon the most striking events
-of the Revolution, that &ldquo;dreadful remedy for a
-dreadful disease,&rdquo; as it has been called, and brings
-out in strong relief the character of the well-meaning
-but weak King and imperious Queen, as well as
-that of the brutal cobbler Simon, the Dauphin&rsquo;s
-keeper; but the principal interest centres in the
-pathetic figure of the little prince. The historic
-doubts raised as to the Dauphin&rsquo;s fate also lend
-interest to the tale. One of these has to do with
-the identity of Naundorff, who passed himself off
-as the Duke of Normandy, the Dauphin&rsquo;s title, and
-the other with the Rev. Eleazar Williams of Green
-Bay, Wisconsin, missionary among the Indians.
-The claims put forth by friends of Williams attracted
-widespread attention and provoked much
-discussion in this country and France, half a century
-ago, because of the extraordinary coincidences
-attaching to the alleged identity. It is the generally
-accepted verdict of history, however, that the
-Dauphin was the victim of the Revolution and
-died in the Temple in 1795, and as such he appears
-in these pages. The details of his fate can never
-be stated with accuracy, so involved and uncertain
-is the tragic mystery, but Hoffmann&rsquo;s narrative is
-undoubtedly correct in its general outlines. There
-are almost as many different versions as there are
-histories of that thrilling period.</p>
-<p><span class="jr">G. P. U.</span></p>
-<p><span class="small"><span class="sc">Chicago</span>, 1905</span></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_vii">vii</div>
-<h2>Contents</h2>
-<dl class="toc">
-<dt><span class="cn">I </span><a href="#c1"><span class="sc">Sunny Days</span></a> 11</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">II </span><a href="#c2"><span class="sc">The Night of Varennes</span></a> 30</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">III </span><a href="#c3"><span class="sc">In the Temple</span></a> 65</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">IV </span><a href="#c4"><span class="sc">Separation from his Mother</span></a> 79</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">V </span><a href="#c5"><span class="sc">The Cobbler Simon</span></a> 93</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">VI </span><a href="#c6"><span class="sc">The End of Sorrows</span></a> 126</dt>
-<dt><span class="cn">&nbsp; </span><a href="#c7"><span class="sc">Appendix</span></a> 149</dt>
-</dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_ix">ix</div>
-<h2>List of Illustrations</h2>
-<dl class="toc">
-<dt><a href="#pic1">Happy days in the garden</a><i>Frontispiece</i></dt>
-<dt class="jr"><i>Facing page</i></dt>
-<dt><a href="#pic2">The King&rsquo;s last farewell</a>76</dt>
-<dt><a href="#pic3">The Cobbler and his little victim</a>120</dt>
-<dt><a href="#pic4">The Dauphin and the sparrows</a>138</dt>
-</dl>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_11">11</div>
-<h2>The Little Dauphin</h2>
-<h2 id="c1"><span class="h2line1">Chapter I</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">Sunny Days</span></h2>
-<p>Within the grounds of the Tuileries,&mdash;that
-splendid palace of the King of
-France,&mdash;at the end of a terrace overlooking
-the water, there was, in 1790,
-a small garden surrounded by a neat trellis and adjoining
-a pavilion occupied by the Abb&eacute; Daveaux,
-tutor of the Dauphin, or Crown Prince, Louis
-Charles.<a class="fn" id="fr_1" href="#fn_1">[1]</a></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_12">12</div>
-<p>On a certain bright July morning in that year a
-handsome, graceful boy about five years old entered
-this garden. He was richly and carefully dressed,
-and was accompanied by a small detachment of
-soldiers in the uniform of the National Guard, who
-followed him on foot to the gate in the trellis and
-stationed themselves there as sentinels. The boy
-bowed courteously to them and said, smiling: &ldquo;I
-am sorry, gentlemen, my garden is so small I cannot
-have the pleasure of receiving you in it, but I
-will do the best I can,&rdquo; and quickly gathering a
-handful of flowers, he proceeded to distribute them
-among his escort with such winning sweetness that
-the bearded soldiers could scarcely restrain their
-emotion.</p>
-<p>After busying himself for some time in this way,
-the boy took from a corner one of the small but
-handsomely finished garden tools that had evidently
-been specially adapted to his use, and went industriously
-to work removing the weeds which had sprung
-up among the flowers, and spading the soil of a small
-bed to prepare it for setting out some young plants
-which he had brought with him in a pretty little
-basket. He worked with such energy and absorption
-that beads of perspiration stood on his forehead,
-and he did not observe that his tutor, the Abb&eacute;
-Daveaux, had entered the little garden and was
-watching his labors with loving interest.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_13">13</div>
-<p>&ldquo;That will do, my Prince,&rdquo; said the Abb&eacute;, finally.
-&ldquo;You must not fatigue yourself too much or you
-will not be able to give proper attention to your
-lessons.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The boy immediately laid down his tool and
-with a bright smile greeted his tutor, who gently
-brushed the clustering curls from his flushed face.
-As he stood there, glowing with health and breathless
-from the exercise which had brought a bright
-color to his cheeks, with the frank, fearless glance
-of his great blue eyes shaded by dark lashes, the
-wide, fair brow, the fresh red lips, the dimple in his
-rounded chin, and the almost angelic expression of
-innocence on his face&mdash;it would have been hard to
-find a lovelier child. His figure was slender and
-delicate, his motions full of grace and vivacity, while
-in his manner and bearing there was something
-noticeably distinguished, combined with a confiding
-trustfulness that won all hearts.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_14">14</div>
-<p>Universally admired for his beauty and beloved
-for his nobility of mind, his tender heart, and the
-sweet friendliness he showed to all with whom he
-came in contact, this boy was Louis Charles, Dauphin
-of France, destined in the ordinary course of
-events to be the future ruler of one of the mightiest
-kingdoms of the world. Tenderly beloved by his
-parents, the unfortunate King Louis the Sixteenth
-and the imperious Grand Duchess Marie Antoinette<a class="fn" id="fr_2" href="#fn_2">[2]</a>;
-surrounded by all the pomp and splendor
-of a kingdom, and sheltered with loving solicitude
-from every shadow of evil, as yet he had known only
-the sunny days of happy, careless childhood; but
-already above him were gathering the dark clouds
-which were to eclipse the sunshine of his life evermore
-and transform the serene happiness of his parents
-into bitter trouble and untold misery. Alas!
-what a cruel fate had destiny reserved for this beautiful
-boy whose blue eyes looked out so bravely
-and trustfully upon the world! But of all this he
-had little foreboding as he gave himself up to the
-full enjoyment of his innocent happiness with all
-the light-hearted unconsciousness of a child.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Just see, M. Abb&eacute;, how busy I have been this
-morning!&rdquo; said the boy, after he had given the
-usual morning greetings to his tutor. &ldquo;I have
-taken out all the weeds and planted this bed with
-fine asters, which will please my mother very much
-when they blossom. You know, M. Abb&eacute;, how
-much she loves flowers!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_15">15</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I do, indeed, my Prince,&rdquo; answered M. Daveaux,
-&ldquo;and it is very nice and thoughtful of you to take
-her a nosegay every morning; but I cannot understand
-why you exert yourself to do all that digging,
-weeding, watering, and planting when a gardener
-would do it for you in a few moments.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The little Prince shook his head earnestly. &ldquo;No,
-no, M. Abb&eacute;,&rdquo; he replied after a moment&rsquo;s reflection;
-&ldquo;my father gave me this garden so that
-I should have the care of it. And besides,&rdquo; he
-added with a charming smile, &ldquo;I must make these
-flowers grow myself, because mamma would not
-like them half so well if anyone else had done
-it.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You are right, my Prince,&rdquo; said the Abb&eacute;, surprised
-and touched by the boy&rsquo;s remark, which
-showed so much affection for his mother. &ldquo;Go on
-planting your flowers, and I hope they may thrive
-entirely to your satisfaction.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_16">16</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, they are growing finely, M. Daveaux,&rdquo;
-answered the Prince, proudly. &ldquo;You will see what
-a large bunch I can pick in just a moment&rdquo;; and
-with a zeal and energy inspired by his love for his
-mother he examined all the flowers in his little
-garden, selected the largest and freshest blossoms,
-and bound them into a bouquet which he arranged
-with much care and taste.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Look, M. Abb&eacute;,&rdquo; said he, holding out his nosegay
-with childish triumph, &ldquo;do you not think my
-mother will be pleased with this? It makes me
-very unhappy when the weather is bad and I cannot
-work in my garden, for how can I be happy,
-M. Abb&eacute;, when I have not earned mamma&rsquo;s first
-kiss with my bouquet? But now I must go and
-feed my rabbits, and then hurry to her with the
-flowers.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In a corner of the garden there was a small enclosure
-walled in with bricks, where some pretty
-tame rabbits were kept by the Prince. They recognized
-him with evident pleasure, and came quickly
-at his call as he bountifully distributed among them
-fresh cabbage leaves and carrots provided for the
-purpose. After this visit to his pets, the Dauphin
-turned back toward the palace to make his usual
-morning call on his mother, but once more he was
-detained.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_17">17</div>
-<p>Before the iron railings that separated the garden
-from the open street stood a poor woman, who was
-gazing at the Prince with longing eyes, but had not
-ventured to address him. Perceiving instantly that
-she seemed to be in trouble, he approached her and
-asked kindly: &ldquo;What is the matter, my good
-woman? Can I do anything for you?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The woman burst into tears. &ldquo;Oh, my Prince,&rdquo;
-she stammered, &ldquo;I am very poor and have a sick
-child at home,&mdash;it is a boy, my Prince, and just as
-old as you,&mdash;and he is waiting anxiously for my
-return. But I cannot bear to go back to him with
-empty hands!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Wait a moment,&rdquo; replied the Prince, after he
-had convinced himself that the woman was really
-poor and needy. &ldquo;I am going to see my mother,
-and will be back directly.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With hasty steps he ran on, and disappeared in
-the palace; but in less than ten minutes he was back
-again with a beaming face.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Here, my good woman,&rdquo; he said in his gentle
-voice, as he handed her a bright new gold piece
-through the railings, &ldquo;that is from my mother.
-And this,&rdquo; he added, snatching one of the finest
-roses from his garden, &ldquo;this is from me for your
-sick boy. I hope he will soon be well again&rdquo;;
-and before the astonished woman could utter her
-thanks the little Dauphin had vanished again, hardly
-hearing the loud acclamations of the crowd which
-had gathered outside the palings and witnessed his
-generous deed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_18">18</div>
-<p>At no time was the young Prince gayer or more
-charming than with his mother, whom he adored
-above all the world. As she did not wish his mind
-overtaxed with learning during his tender years, she
-taught him herself the rudiments of his education
-before giving him into the hands of his tutor, and
-nothing could equal the motherly care and solicitude
-she bestowed on the task. If the boy became weary,
-the Queen would seat herself at the piano or harp
-and play for him little melodies, full of expression,
-which she had either learned or composed herself,
-observing with pleasure that his ear was very sensitive
-to the charm of melody; or she would sometimes
-read to him fairy tales, fables, or stories from
-history, to which the little Prince listened with the
-liveliest interest. Every emotion aroused by these
-appeals to his imagination showed itself on his sensitive,
-animated features. Exclamations of wonder
-or excitement occasionally escaped him at the recital
-of stirring events or adventures which his mind
-could readily grasp; but whenever anything escaped
-his comprehension or was not clear to him, his brow
-clouded, and a stream of questions immediately followed.
-Nor was he satisfied until he fully understood.
-At such times he often astonished those
-about him with observations and reflections that
-awakened the liveliest hopes for the future of the
-royal child,&mdash;hopes unhappily doomed to be so
-soon blasted!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_19">19</div>
-<p>After the little Dauphin had made the poor
-woman happy with his gift, he returned for a moment
-to his mother to thank her again for the gold
-piece, and then went to give the King his morning
-greetings.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What is this I hear, my dear Charles?&rdquo; said the
-King, smiling and shaking his finger at the Prince.
-&ldquo;M. Hue has been telling me strange things of
-you.&rdquo; M. Hue was one of the Prince&rsquo;s attendants.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What things, papa?&rdquo; asked the boy. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t
-remember doing anything bad.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No? Think well, Charles. Yesterday, while
-you were reciting your lesson, you began to whistle.
-Did you not deserve a rebuke for that?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The Prince colored. Then he answered quietly:
-&ldquo;Yes, papa, I remember. I repeated my lesson so
-badly that I whistled to myself.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_20">20</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Nevertheless you see it was heard,&rdquo; replied the
-King. &ldquo;You may be forgiven for that, however,
-but we have not come to the end yet. Afterwards
-you were in such high spirits that you tried to run
-away and dash through the rose-bushes in the garden.
-M. Hue warned you, and said, &lsquo;Monseigneur,
-a single one of those thorns might wound your face
-badly, or even put out your eye!&rsquo; And what answer
-did Monseigneur make?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Somewhat abashed, the Prince lowered his eyes.
-&ldquo;I said: &lsquo;It is the thorny path that leads to glory!&rsquo;
-And is not that true, papa?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The King&rsquo;s face assumed a more serious expression.
-&ldquo;Yes, yes, the principle is right,&rdquo; he
-answered, &ldquo;but you have misapplied it, my child.
-There is no glory in risking your eyesight merely
-to gratify a mischievous impulse. If it had been a
-question of killing a dangerous beast, of rescuing a
-human being from peril, in short, if you had risked
-your life to save another, that might have been
-called glory; but your act, Charles, was simply
-thoughtless and imprudent. Beside, child, you
-had better wait and not talk of glory until you are
-able to read the history of your ancestors and our
-French heroes like Guesclin, Bayard, Turenne, and
-many others who have defended our crown with
-their blood.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_21">21</div>
-<p>This mild but earnest exhortation made a deep
-impression on the heart of the young Prince. He
-seized his father&rsquo;s hand, kissed it, and said in a low
-voice, &ldquo;Very well, dear papa, after this I will find
-my glory in following your counsels and in obeying
-you.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Then we are good friends again,&rdquo; answered the
-King; &ldquo;and now we will look over your exercises
-for a few moments, so that M. Hue and M. Daveaux
-may be pleased with you.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The King, as well as the Queen, observed with
-pride the talents of his son, and it afforded him much
-pleasure to be present during the lesson hours and
-examine the exercises and copy-books. He frequently
-instructed the Prince himself, and by his
-praise or censure encouraged in the boy a habit of
-diligence and attention to what was being impressed
-upon his mind. Together with his wife he guided
-the education of the young Prince, and even continued
-the practice in later and less happy days,
-when, deprived of his crown, he had to accustom
-himself to the gloom of a prison cell.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_22">22</div>
-<p>Soon the Abb&eacute; Daveaux appeared, and the usual
-instruction in religion, reading, history, and geography
-began. The Prince was particularly attentive
-on this day, for his father&rsquo;s gentle admonition had
-sunk deep into his heart and spurred his zeal to
-the utmost.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You have been very bright and industrious
-to-day, my Prince,&rdquo; said M. Daveaux, when study-time
-was over, &ldquo;and I am glad, therefore, that I
-have a pleasant piece of news for you.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What news?&rdquo; asked the Prince, quickly.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;This,&mdash;that a company of small soldiers has
-been formed in Paris under the name of &lsquo;Regiment
-of the Dauphin,&rsquo; which wishes to have you for its
-Colonel. I am sure you will accept this post of
-honor with pleasure.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Yes, indeed, if papa will allow me!&rdquo; replied the
-Prince, with sparkling eyes.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Your papa,&rdquo; answered the King himself, &ldquo;has
-not only already given his consent, but is willing for
-you to receive the young gentlemen who have come
-to pay their respects to their new Colonel.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Come already? Where shall I find them?&rdquo;
-asked the Prince, eagerly.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;In your garden,&rdquo; replied the King. &ldquo;M. Daveaux
-will be good enough to accompany you.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_23">23</div>
-<p>Beaming with joy, the Crown Prince hastened
-with his tutor to the garden, where he greeted the
-little deputation, most of whom were not more than
-four or five years older than himself, with graceful
-courtesy and announced his readiness to accept the
-post of Colonel of their regiment.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Now it will be adieu to your flowers and the
-nosegays for your mamma, I suppose?&rdquo; said the
-Abb&eacute;.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, no!&rdquo; returned the Dauphin, gayly, &ldquo;reviewing
-my Grenadiers will not prevent me from
-taking care of my flowers. Some of these young
-soldiers have little gardens of their own; they will
-love the Queen, too, like their Colonel, and in the
-future, instead of a single one, mamma will receive
-a whole regiment of bouquets every day.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The little soldiers loudly applauded their new
-commander&rsquo;s speech, and the best relations were at
-once established between them and continued without
-a break for several weeks. His small Guards
-afforded the Prince the greatest pleasure, until they
-were dispersed in the stormy times which soon
-followed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_24">24</div>
-<p>By this time the day was considerably advanced,
-and the Abb&eacute; was obliged to remind his pupil that
-his mother would be waiting for him and he must
-dismiss the envoys of the Regiment of the Dauphin.
-The Prince gave his hand courteously to his little
-comrades and followed his tutor to the Queen&rsquo;s
-apartment. His reception, however, was by no
-means such as he expected. His mother greeted
-him with a very serious face and gave him only her
-cheek to kiss instead of the usual embrace. Prince
-Louis Charles, who was acutely sensitive, perceived
-at once that something was amiss and looked at his
-mother timidly and somewhat perplexed.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What fault have I committed now, mamma?&rdquo;
-he asked.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ah, the young gentleman&rsquo;s conscience troubles
-him already,&rdquo; replied the Queen. &ldquo;Perhaps he can
-tell me about the trick that was played on the page
-who attended him yesterday on the terrace. I hope
-he will not attempt to deny it!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The Prince&rsquo;s delicate face grew crimson, for he
-remembered very well to what his mother referred.
-The day before, while they were walking together,
-he had mischievously taken a flute from his companion&rsquo;s
-pocket and hidden it in a fir-tree on the
-terrace. In a faltering voice he confessed his
-guilt.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_25">25</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Very good,&rdquo; said the Queen; &ldquo;your confession
-mitigates your fault somewhat, but nevertheless such
-pranks cannot be passed over without punishment.
-It is out of the question, of course, to imprison the
-newly appointed Colonel of a regiment, but there is
-Mouflet! Mouflet was with you at the time. He
-was in a way the accomplice of his master, and since
-that master may not be punished, Mouflet must
-suffer for him. Let Mouflet be called and placed
-in arrest for two hours!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Mouflet was a pretty little dog, dearly loved by
-the Prince, and on this affection the Queen relied
-in her punishment of the Dauphin. Nor was she
-mistaken as to its effect.</p>
-<p>Confined in a dark little cabinet, deprived alike
-of his freedom and the sight of his young master,
-poor Mouflet began to whine dolefully, to scratch
-at the door, and finally to howl with all his might.
-His lamentations found an echo in the tender heart
-of the real culprit and filled it with pity and remorse.
-Weeping, he hastened to his mother and
-tearfully kissed her hand.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;But, mamma,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;Mouflet is not the
-one who has done wrong. Why should the poor
-dog be punished? Oh, please set him free and put
-me in his place!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_26">26</div>
-<p>Delighted as the Queen was at this proof of the
-Prince&rsquo;s sense of justice, and gladly as she would
-have pardoned him, she felt that for the sake of
-discipline she must not yield to her feelings, and
-replied gravely: &ldquo;Very well, since you feel that
-you deserve the punishment, I will not prevent you
-from enduring it. You may release poor Mouflet
-and be locked up in his place for an hour.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Rejoiced at this decision, the Prince accepted his
-sentence at once and even extended it beyond the
-allotted time. But this was not all. In the solitude
-of his prison he began to reflect upon his
-behavior, and told himself that even though he had
-atoned for his fault the wrong had not yet been
-righted. He resolved that as soon as he was at
-liberty he would go to the garden, get the flute
-from its hiding-place, and give it back to his playmate
-with a request for forgiveness. A loving
-glance, a tender caress from his mother, were the
-rewards of his victory over himself; and these signs
-that he was forgiven made the little Prince so happy
-and contented that for the rest of the day he was
-the most polite and well-behaved of boys and gave
-not the slightest occasion for a word or even a look
-of reproof.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_27">27</div>
-<p>Some days later, on the fourteenth of July, 1790,
-a great <i>f&ecirc;te</i> was held on the Champ de Mars<a class="fn" id="fr_3" href="#fn_3">[3]</a>
-in Paris, as in all the other cities of France, to celebrate
-the inauguration of the new <i>r&eacute;gime</i>. The storm of
-the Revolution which had broken out in the previous
-year seemed to have passed away with this celebration,
-and there was a general feeling of hope
-and cheerful expectancy even among the opponents
-of the new order of things. All the people, without
-distinction of rank or class, had contributed to the
-erection of a huge amphitheatre-like structure built
-around the Champ de Mars, and in its construction
-had treated one another like members of one
-great family. Even the heavy gusts of rain which
-ushered in the long-talked-of day failed to dampen
-the ardor of the deputies and the vast throng of
-people assembled there. The endless processions
-followed each other in perfect order; and at last the
-sun burst forth triumphantly from the mists and
-rain clouds. First, Lafayette<a class="fn" id="fr_4" href="#fn_4">[4]</a> mounted the steps
-of the high altar erected under the open sky, where
-Talleyrand,<a class="fn" id="fr_5" href="#fn_5">[5]</a> Bishop of Autun, with sixty priests,
-read the Mass and consecrated the banners of the
-eighty-three districts of France, and swore, with
-the colors of Paris in his hand, in the name of the
-National Guard and the army of France, to be true
-to the law and the King; then the President of the
-National Assembly, rising from his seat at the right
-of the King, took the same oath; and finally the King
-himself arose and swore with uplifted arms to use all
-the power bestowed on him by the law and the new
-Constitution for their maintenance. At this instant,
-while cannon thundered and trumpets blared, loud
-shouts arose. The Queen, who was on a raised dais
-beside the throne, carried away by the excitement of
-the moment, lifted her son, the Dauphin, high in
-her arms to show him to the people and also to let
-him share in the oaths. The lovely child, smiling and
-radiant, stretched out his innocent arms as though
-to invoke a blessing from Heaven upon France,
-whereat the multitude that witnessed the charming
-sight broke forth into cheers and deafening huzzas
-that rent the ragged clouds and penetrated to the
-heavens above.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_29">29</div>
-<p>The envoys of the people thronged about the
-little Dauphin to offer him their loyalty and homage,
-which the Prince received with such grace and
-childish dignity that the enthusiasm broke out afresh,
-and thousands of hearts vowed unswerving allegiance
-to this child whose innocent breast seemed to harbor
-no thoughts but those of peace and good-will
-to men. The King and Queen embraced each other,
-many eyes were filled with tears, and a general reconciliation
-seemed to have closed forever the abyss
-of the Revolution which had threatened to engulf
-unhappy France.</p>
-<p>These were still sunny days; but, alas! they
-were the last to shine upon the well-meaning King
-and his unfortunate consort. Fate had doomed them
-to misfortune, and &ldquo;misfortune travels swiftly.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_30">30</div>
-<h2 id="c2"><span class="h2line1">Chapter II</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">The Night of Varennes<a class="fn" id="fr_6" href="#fn_6">[6]</a></span></h2>
-<p>Soon after the celebration of the new <i>r&eacute;gime</i>,
-the Hydra of the Revolution, which had
-been for a short time trodden into the dust,
-again lifted its poisonous head. Those evil
-geniuses of France, Robespierre, Marat, and Danton,
-vied with one another in their efforts to disturb the
-peace of the country which had been secured with
-such difficulty, and by calumnies against the King
-to sow the seeds of hatred and distrust of him
-among the people.</p>
-<p>They succeeded only too well. The National
-Assembly issued an unprecedented order to the
-effect that the King should not absent himself from
-Paris for more than twenty-four hours; and if he
-should leave the kingdom, and not return at the
-request of the Assembly, he should be deposed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_31">31</div>
-<p>Notwithstanding this order, the King determined
-on a journey to St. Cloud. At eleven o&rsquo;clock in the
-morning he attempted to start, but his carriage was immediately
-surrounded by a dense throng of people.
-A troop of mutinous soldiers locked the doors of the
-palace, and with threats and shouts levelled their
-bayonets at the breasts of the horses. All Lafayette&rsquo;s
-efforts to appease the tumult were in vain, and after
-two hours of struggle and dispute, during which the
-King was forced to bear the grossest insults and
-abuse, he was obliged to return to his apartments.</p>
-<p>The little Dauphin, who had been eagerly looking
-forward to the journey and making a thousand
-plans for his sojourn in St. Cloud, was much grieved
-over this failure of his hopes. To divert his mind
-from the disappointment, after he had returned to
-his room the Abb&eacute; Daveaux gave him a volume
-of &ldquo;The Children&rsquo;s Friend,&rdquo; by
-Berquin,<a class="fn" id="fr_7" href="#fn_7">[7]</a> to look
-at. The Prince opened it at random, and cried
-in astonishment: &ldquo;Just see, M. Abb&eacute;! what a
-curious thing! Look at this title, &lsquo;The Little
-Captive&rsquo;! How strange!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_32">32</div>
-<p>The child had foretold only too well in applying
-the name of little captive to himself. He, as well
-as his parents, was in fact a prisoner of the people
-and the National Assembly, and their numerous
-jailers behaved so rudely and disrespectfully to
-them that the situation soon became unbearable.
-The unvarying kindness and patience of the King
-served only to multiply the complaints and calumnies
-of his enemies. Even the Queen could no
-longer appear at her window without exposing
-herself to insults and invectives. At last the yoke
-became so heavy that nothing remained but to
-escape, or break it by force. The kindly heart of
-the King shrank from the latter course, which could
-not be accomplished without bloodshed, so the
-necessary preparations were made for flight&mdash;the
-only recourse left him. It was determined to seek
-a refuge in some frontier town and from there to
-carry on negotiations with the arrogant Assembly.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_33">33</div>
-<p>The King was not entirely without loyal friends.
-By means of a secret correspondence, an arrangement
-was made with the Marquis de Bouill&eacute;,<a class="fn" id="fr_8" href="#fn_8">[8]</a> a
-lieutenant-general at the head of an important army
-corps. The troops in Champagne, Alsace, and
-Lorraine were placed under his command, and he
-also guarded the frontier from Switzerland to the
-Moselle and the Sambre. It was arranged between
-him and the King that the latter should go to
-Montm&eacute;dy, a strong post situated conveniently
-near the frontier. The Marquis proposed, in order
-to lessen the danger, that the party should separate,
-the Queen with the Dauphin going first; but the
-King answered: &ldquo;If we are to be saved, it must be
-together or not at all.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_34">34</div>
-<p>On the 29th of April, 1791, the King wrote to
-M. Bouill&eacute; to procure a coach for the journey,
-large enough to accommodate himself and his entire
-family; but the general tried to persuade him to
-take, instead, two small, light English travelling-carriages,
-such as were used at that time, which
-would not attract attention. The King unfortunately
-would not listen to this suggestion, a seemingly
-trivial circumstance, which brought about
-disastrous results. Before he left Paris, he wished
-to relieve the Marquis from any responsibility in
-the matter, and sent him therefore a written order
-to station troops along the road from Ch&acirc;lons to
-Montm&eacute;dy, for the purpose of guarding the safety
-of the persons of the King and his family.</p>
-<p>Their departure was fixed for the night of June
-nineteenth, but was deferred at the last moment by
-an unfortunate occurrence. One of the Queen&rsquo;s
-waiting-women, who, it was feared, might betray the
-plan if she had the least suspicion of it, was dismissed
-from her service that very day, so the journey was
-postponed for twenty-four hours. We shall soon
-see how this fact also contributed to the failure of
-the ill-fated undertaking.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_35">35</div>
-<p>Haste was imperative. The plan had already begun
-to excite suspicion; for it had become necessary
-to take several persons into the secret, who did not
-guard it with proper care. Even the lower domestics
-in the Tuileries whispered of it among themselves,
-and the rumor, spreading abroad, excited the
-populace to such a degree that the police were formally
-notified. This report naturally resulted in the maintenance
-of a still stricter surveillance over the palace.
-The royal family was constantly watched in the
-most offensive way; the people even became so
-bold as to lock the King and Queen in their own
-apartments at night; and mattresses were placed
-before the doors for the guards to sleep on, so that
-no one could leave the rooms without stepping over
-the bodies of their jailers. This difficulty, however,
-had been foreseen, and an effort made to surmount
-it. Some months before this, a door had been so
-skilfully cut in the woodwork of the chamber occupied
-by the King&rsquo;s sister, Madame &Eacute;lisabeth,<a class="fn" id="fr_9" href="#fn_9">[9]</a>
-that
-only the closest scrutiny could discover it. This
-door opened on a small staircase, which led to a
-vaulted passage separating this room from that of
-the Queen. A similar door had been made in the
-royal apartment, and both fitted with keys which
-turned so easily they could be opened instantly,
-without noise or delay. Finally, the precaution had
-been taken to conceal them by means of large cupboards
-or presses, that opened on both sides and hid
-the secret doors without preventing passage through
-them. In this way one room could be easily reached
-from the other, and by means of the passage, access
-gained to the interior of the palace, from whence
-it would be easy to reach the open air and freedom.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_36">36</div>
-<p>On the twentieth of June, at ten o&rsquo;clock in the
-morning, the little Dauphin was working in his garden
-at the end of the Tuileries; at eleven, the Queen
-went to hear mass with her attendants, and on her
-return from the chapel ordered her carriage to be in
-readiness at five in the afternoon. The day passed
-as usual; but the elder sister of the Dauphin noticed
-that her parents seemed anxious and agitated, and
-confided this observation to her brother. At five
-o&rsquo;clock the Queen took a little drive with her children,
-and seized this opportunity to impress upon
-them that they must not be alarmed at anything
-that might occur in the course of the evening or
-night. The children were clever enough to perceive
-their mother&rsquo;s meaning, and the little Prince assured
-her she might be quite easy with regard to him.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_37">37</div>
-<p>After the King and his family had eaten their
-evening meal at the usual hour, all retired to their
-apartments. The Dauphin was put to bed at nine
-o&rsquo;clock, the Princess, his sister, at ten; the Queen
-retired at half-past ten, and the King a few moments
-later. The servants were given the seemingly necessary
-orders for the following morning; the doors
-were locked, the sentries took their usual precautions,
-and at Madame &Eacute;lisabeth&rsquo;s door the guard was
-doubled. But scarcely had the serving-people withdrawn,
-when the King, the Queen, and Madame
-&Eacute;lisabeth carefully arose, dressed themselves quickly,
-and in a few moments were ready for the journey.
-The Queen went into her daughter&rsquo;s room to awaken
-her and her waiting-woman, Madame Brunier. She
-acquainted the latter with the plan for escape, informed
-her that she and Madame de Neuville had
-been chosen to accompany them, and requested her
-finally to dress the Princess as quickly as possible
-and bring her into the Dauphin&rsquo;s chamber. The
-clothes had been already prepared. The dress for
-the little Princess was of cheap brown stuff and very
-simply made, in order that the rank of the fugitive
-might not be suspected, while the Dauphin was
-dressed as a girl, and looked most charming in his
-new costume. But, aroused from his first sleep at
-eleven o&rsquo;clock at night, he could not understand
-what was going on about him, and fell asleep again
-immediately. His sister awoke him once more,
-and whispered:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_38">38</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Charles, Charles! what do you think of all
-this?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>To which he replied sleepily, and with half-closed
-eyes, &ldquo;I think it is a comedy we are going to act,
-because we are dressed up so strangely.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At the time fixed for departure, both children
-were taken out into the passage, where they were
-joined a moment later by the Queen. She took
-them by the hand and led the way, Madame de
-Neuville, Madame Brunier, and Madame de Tourzel,
-the Dauphin&rsquo;s governess, following. They descended
-a staircase, hurried through several dark
-corridors to a door in the farthest corner of the
-courtyard, which had been left unguarded, and near
-which a hackney-coach was standing. It had
-been agreed they should not all leave the palace
-together, for fear of attracting the attention of the
-sentries, so the Queen lifted her children into the
-coach, entrusted them to the care of Madame de
-Tourzel, and returned to the palace. The driver
-was Count Axel Fersen<a class="fn" id="fr_10" href="#fn_10">[10]</a>&mdash;a Swedish gentleman
-who, next to M. de Bouill&eacute;, enjoyed the highest
-favor at court. He drove out of the courtyard,
-took a roundabout way through the quarter to
-elude observation, and then came back to the
-Petit Carrousel, where he was to wait for the rest
-of the party. While they stood there, Lafayette&rsquo;s
-carriage drove by, surrounded by torch bearers;
-he was on his way to the Tuileries, but recognized
-no one and observed nothing; for that matter, the
-Dauphin was in the bottom of the coach, hiding
-under his governess&rsquo;s skirt.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_39">39</div>
-<p>An hour passed, but no one came. Finally
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth arrived, and not long after her
-the King appeared. The Queen was only a short
-distance behind him, but she caught sight of Lafayette&rsquo;s
-carriage again approaching, and, afraid of
-being discovered, hurried down one of the narrow
-streets near by. Confused by the labyrinth of alleys,
-she lost her way, and dared not ask it of anyone
-so near the palace. Thus another precious half-hour
-was lost before she found the coach again.
-At last they started, and reached the new Barrier
-of the suburb St. Martin, without further mishap,
-where they found the large travelling-coach awaiting
-them, drawn by five strong horses, although it
-was fully two hours past the time agreed on.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_40">40</div>
-<p>It was the shortest night of the year, and the
-first faint light of dawn was already visible in
-the sky, as, shortly after two o&rsquo;clock, the carriage
-containing the royal family rattled up. The change
-to the waiting travelling-coach was made without
-delay, and Count Fersen swung himself onto the
-box beside his coachman, Balthasar Sapel.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Drive on, quickly!&rdquo; he ordered. &ldquo;Make
-haste!&rdquo; They started forward. Their <i>r&ocirc;les</i> were
-distributed as follows: Madame de Tourzel was to
-appear as the Baroness von Korff; the Princess
-and the Dauphin as her daughters Amalie and
-Algan; the Queen passed as the children&rsquo;s governess,
-Madame Rochet; Madame &Eacute;lisabeth personated
-the waiting-woman called Rosalie; the King
-took the part of <i>valet-de-chambre</i> under the name of
-Durand; and three officers of the bodyguard who
-accompanied them, Messieurs de Maldent, de
-Moustier, and de Valory, passed for servants and
-couriers. All were suitably dressed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_41">41</div>
-<p>Count Fersen, on the coachman&rsquo;s box in front,
-constantly cracked the whip and urged the driver
-on. &ldquo;Faster! faster! Balthasar!&rdquo; he called to
-him. &ldquo;Do not spare the horses&mdash;they will have
-time enough to rest when we are safe with the
-regiment.&rdquo; The horses almost flew, but their furious
-speed seemed slow to the anxious impatience of
-the Count, who realized but too well the dangers
-of the enterprise. Bondy was reached in half an
-hour, and here, through the forethought of M. de
-Valory, six fresh horses were waiting for them,
-while he himself rode on in advance to Claye to
-take the same precaution there. At Bondy, Count
-Fersen took leave of them with reluctance, and
-returned to Paris, to escape as soon as possible
-to Belgium.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_42">42</div>
-<p>At Claye the travellers found the waiting-maids,
-Brunier and de Neuville, who had left Paris a little
-before them in a postchaise. It was important to
-continue their journey without delay, but the new
-travelling-coach already needed some repairs, and
-again invaluable time was lost. At the village of
-&Eacute;toges, between Montmirail and Ch&acirc;lons, they had
-an anxious moment, fearing themselves recognized.
-The King, with his usual carelessness, allowed himself
-to be seen too often. He descended from the
-coach more than once, walked up one or two of the
-long hills with the children, and even talked with
-some peasants they met. At Ch&acirc;lons, where they
-arrived about noon, they were indeed recognized by
-the postmaster and some other persons who had
-seen the King; but they were shrewd and loyal, and
-did all in their power to aid the fugitives, harnessing
-the horses themselves and urging the postilions
-to depart. The travellers were amply supplied with
-provisions, and nowhere was a stop made for meals.
-At the bridge in Sommevesle, the first post-station
-after Ch&acirc;lons, they should have found a detachment
-of hussars to act as escort on the road to
-Montm&eacute;dy; but when they reached there at six
-o&rsquo;clock, not a hussar was to be seen. It was discovered
-afterward that six hours earlier the troops
-had been at their post, according to orders; but,
-having already waited some hours, a longer stay
-was deemed imprudent, owing to the suspicious attitude
-of the people. M. de Choiseul, the commander
-of the hussars, fearful of arousing fresh
-disturbances in Ste. Menehould, had then given
-orders to avoid that town in their retreat, and make
-their way by cross-roads; and hence the travellers
-missed them altogether. Again the unfortunate
-consequences of these delays were felt; but even
-worse results were to follow. At Ste. Menehould
-an escort of the King&rsquo;s dragoons should have been
-waiting; but their leader, Captain d&rsquo;Andoins, had
-been forced to go to the town hall to account for
-the presence of his troops, which had alarmed the
-now excited populace, and was held there virtually
-a prisoner, while his troopers unsaddled their horses
-and dispersed.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_43">43</div>
-<p>It was here that the King, uneasy over the failure
-of their plans, and putting his head out of the
-coach window, was recognized by the postmaster
-Drouet.<a class="fn" id="fr_11" href="#fn_11">[11]</a> The sight of the King struck the fellow
-with amazement; he compared the head of the
-traveller with that of the King stamped on an assignat
-(the paper money used at that time), and his
-malignant expression betrayed his thoughts. The
-Queen caught his evil smile and felt her heart sink;
-but they passed on without hindrance, and she gradually
-forgot her fears. The traitor Drouet, however,
-lost no time in profiting by his discovery. He
-communicated it at once to the town council, and
-the whole village was in commotion. At that moment
-a special messenger arrived from Ch&acirc;lons, confirming
-the news of the King&rsquo;s escape. It was resolved
-that Drouet, accompanied by a former dragoon
-of the Queen&rsquo;s regiment, should start instantly in
-pursuit of the fugitives, and, in case he succeeded
-in overtaking them, place them under arrest. In
-hot haste they mounted, and set off at furious speed
-in the direction taken by the royal party.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_44">44</div>
-<p>Meanwhile M. de Damas, with a company of
-dragoons, had arrived at Clermont the previous
-afternoon, at five o&rsquo;clock, with orders to wait there
-for the King, and as soon as he had passed to follow
-him along the road to Varennes. They remained
-at their post till nightfall, when Damas ordered his
-troopers&rsquo; horses to be unsaddled and allowed the
-men to disperse. Half an hour later the coach
-arrived, and continued on its way without stopping.
-M. de Damas, who saw it pass, sent an officer to
-summon the dragoons in haste from their quarters.
-The town was soon in great excitement; the council
-was disturbed; discussions grew more and more
-heated. When Damas finally gave the signal to
-mount, the troopers refused to obey, and it was with
-the greatest difficulty he persuaded them to follow
-him&mdash;another link in the chain of fatalities!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_45">45</div>
-<p>The King&rsquo;s coach had scarcely left Clermont when
-Drouet himself arrived, obtained a fresh mount,
-and set off again in hot pursuit. One of the King&rsquo;s
-bodyguard was riding in advance of the coach as
-courier, another behind it as rear guard. Beside
-these, Damas, when he saw Drouet ride off, had
-sent one of his officers to overtake and stop him.
-This man had almost succeeded in his attempt,
-when, favored by the darkness, the traitor turned
-off into by-ways known only to himself, and,
-thoroughly familiar with the country, reached Varennes
-shortly after eleven o&rsquo;clock, fully an hour
-before the King and his family arrived there.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_46">46</div>
-<p>Varennes was a secluded little village and had no
-post-house, but a place in the outskirts of the town,
-where he might obtain a change of horses, had been
-so carefully described to the King that he had no
-difficulty in finding it. Here they stopped, expecting
-to get the horses, but nothing was to be seen of
-them. In vain the King knocked on the door; no
-one answered. As a matter of fact, the plan had
-been changed at the last moment, owing to the disturbances
-existing all over the country, and the
-horses had been sent to an inn on the other side of
-the river; but, through more misunderstandings and
-errors, someone had neglected to notify the King.
-Lights were still visible in the house, and the Queen
-herself alighted from the coach and tried to obtain
-some response from the inmates; but her hope of
-obtaining information by some chance was not realized,
-and half an hour was lost. Drouet knew how
-to make the most of the time. When at last the
-travellers were forced to abandon the attempt and
-re-enter the coach, the postilions refused to go
-any farther, pretending that their horses were too
-exhausted to continue the journey. Just then the
-courier returned, bringing with him a man in a
-dressing-gown and with a nightcap on his head.
-As he approached the royal couple they demanded
-impatiently: &ldquo;Where are our horses, fellow? Tell
-us at once!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Your horses!&rdquo; he shouted, flinging himself
-almost inside the vehicle. &ldquo;That I cannot say; but
-I know another secret I will not tell you.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_47">47</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Do you know Frau von Korff?&rdquo; asked
-Madame de Tourzel.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;but I know something better
-than that&rdquo;; and with these words he disappeared
-again. At the Queen&rsquo;s entreaties, the postilions
-finally consented to drive the coach at least through
-the town. The travellers now believed themselves
-safe; they attributed this incident, like the other
-mishaps of their journey, to some error or miscalculation,
-and, full of hope, saw themselves already
-under the protection of Bouill&eacute;&rsquo;s loyal troops. But
-alas! matters were soon to assume a different aspect.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_48">48</div>
-<p>Rightly to understand what follows, it should be
-explained that Varennes is built on the side of a
-hill, and consists of an upper and lower town connected
-by a bridge across the Aire, which flows between.
-At that time the town was approached
-from Clermont, not as now by way of a fine square,
-but through a narrow street ending in an arched
-passageway, guarded by a heavy gate which could
-be closed at will. This archway was built under a
-tower, which is still standing; on one side was a
-church, long since destroyed, and on the other
-a small inn called the Bras d&rsquo;Or, kept by the Le
-Blanc family. The gateway was used as entrance
-to the town in time of peace, and the inn served as
-a sort of watch-house. Beyond the passage was the
-bridge, and it was here that Drouet had placed the
-ambuscade which was to prevent the King&rsquo;s farther
-progress. The host of the Golden Arm tavern was
-also an officer of the National Guard. Aroused by
-Drouet, he ran to call up the mayor of the town, M.
-Sance; then he and his brother armed themselves,
-and, summoning several of the National Guard, stationed
-themselves before the entrance to the archway.
-Sance meanwhile had hastened to alarm the
-town, and sent out messengers to the nearest villages.
-His son Georges, a captain of grenadiers, took
-command of the guard, and while his other children
-were running through the town at their father&rsquo;s
-command, shouting &ldquo;Fire! Fire!&rdquo; M. Drouet,
-accompanied by a notary called Regnier and some
-of the townspeople, brought up a loaded wagon,
-which they placed diagonally across the bridge to
-obstruct its passage. All the preparations were
-complete, when the expected vehicle was heard
-approaching. It passed through the upper town
-without interruption, the houses apparently all dark
-and silent, and came rapidly on, until, just as it
-reached the dark archway under the tower, the
-horses were brought to a sudden standstill by the
-barricade. At the same instant there sounded from
-all sides the cry, &ldquo;Halt, there! Halt!&rdquo;&mdash;a cry
-issuing from the rough throats of ten armed men,
-who now emerged from the darkness. They threw
-themselves upon the horses, seized the postilions,
-sprang to both doors of the coach, and harshly demanded
-of the travellers who they were.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_49">49</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Frau von Korff, with her family!&rdquo; came the
-answer.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;That may be,&rdquo; returned a voice, &ldquo;but you
-will have to prove it!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At the first shout and the first gleam of weapons,
-the officers of the bodyguard had leaped from their
-places with their hands on their concealed knives,
-ready at a signal from the King to make use of
-them. But Louis the Sixteenth nobly forbade them
-to use force, and the hostile musket barrels remained
-pointing toward the coach. Drouet seized a light,
-held it up to the King&rsquo;s face, and, without calling
-him by name, ordered him to alight and show his
-passport to the mayor. The King, still clinging
-to the hope that he had not been recognized,
-descended from the coach, his family following him.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_50">50</div>
-<p>As the party passed up the street, they saw some
-hussars arriving; it was M. de Choiseul&rsquo;s force,
-which should have waited at the bridge in Sommevesle.
-The National Guard, whose numbers had
-increased, allowed them to pass, but were ready
-nevertheless to resist any attempt at rescue. By
-this time the malicious activity of Drouet had produced
-its results. The alarm bell was rung, the
-drums beat, all Varennes was astir. Thousands of
-peasants came flocking in from neighboring towns,
-and the villages through which the King had passed
-were thrown into wild excitement by the news of his
-flight.</p>
-<p>The mayor&rsquo;s house, whither the royal family was
-conducted, contained two rooms on the upper floor,
-reached by a spiral staircase. One of them overlooked
-the street, the other the garden. The King
-was lodged in the back room, but, as there was a
-connecting door between, he could see all that
-passed in the street. A dense throng of people
-had gathered there, and increased every moment.
-Sance at first pretended not to recognize his illustrious
-guests, and, treating them as ordinary travellers,
-explained that the horses could go no farther,
-and besought them to remain and rest until fresh
-relays could be obtained. But this mask of hypocrisy
-was soon thrown aside, and he as well as
-Drouet began to overwhelm the King with cruel
-taunts and bitter invectives. They accused him
-directly of intending to escape to foreign lands for
-the purpose of joining and assisting in an invasion
-of France by her enemies. In vain the King attempted
-to deny his rank and claim the liberty
-accorded to all travellers. They declared flatly that
-he and his family were recognized, and continued
-their jeers and abuse.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_51">51</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Very well, then,&rdquo; suddenly said the Queen, with
-dignity&mdash;she had not hitherto spoken a word&mdash;&ldquo;since
-you recognize him as your King, then see
-that you treat him as such!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>These words induced the King to resume his
-natural frankness of manner, which he had with difficulty
-concealed. He explained freely the motives
-which had prompted him to take this journey;
-spoke of his earnest desire to learn the real needs
-of the people whose welfare was dear to him; resolutely
-denied the false report that he wished to
-escape from France and make his home in a foreign
-land, and even offered to entrust himself to
-the National Guard of Varennes, and let them accompany
-him to Montm&eacute;dy or any other place in
-the kingdom where his personal freedom might be
-assured.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_52">52</div>
-<p>The naturally warm and candid eloquence of the
-King did not fail in its effect. Sance was almost
-ready to give way, and if it had depended only on
-him they might have been allowed to proceed.
-But Drouet had no idea of allowing his prey to
-escape him now; he became still more violent, and
-declared that his own head might answer for it if
-the King were not sent back to Paris. At this
-moment, too, an incident occurred in the street
-which decided the fate of the royal fugitives. A
-conflict arose between the officers who were on the
-King&rsquo;s side and the National Guard. M. de Goguelat
-crowded his horse against the leader of the
-Guard and drew his sword; the Major discharged
-his pistol at Goguelat and wounded him in the
-shoulder, causing his horse to rear and throw him.
-M. de Choiseul&rsquo;s hussars looked on, but made no
-motion to interfere, and it was evident that they
-could no longer be depended on. All hope was
-now lost; the King&rsquo;s only chance lay in the possible
-arrival of Bouill&eacute; and his soldiers, but Bouill&eacute; did
-not appear. Instead, fresh re&euml;nforcements of the
-National Guard came pouring in from all sides to
-assist their comrades, and the ever increasing throngs
-overflowed the little town&mdash;a town destined from
-this night to claim a melancholy place in history.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_53">53</div>
-<p>Between six and seven o&rsquo;clock in the morning,
-two messengers arrived from the National Assembly,
-M. de Romeuf, Lafayette&rsquo;s aide-de-camp, and
-Bayon, an officer of the National Guard in Paris.
-They brought a decree of the Assembly, ordering
-the King to be taken back to his capital wherever
-he might be found. Bayon entered alone. Fatigue
-and excitement had given a still darker cast to his
-naturally gloomy expression. With tangled hair
-and disordered attire, he approached the King, and
-stammered confusedly:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Sire, you are aware ... all Paris is in arms ...
-our wives and children even now perhaps are being
-massacred ... you will not go any farther away....
-Sire, the welfare of the country ... yes,
-Sire ... our wives and children....&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At these words, the Queen with a sudden movement
-seized his hands and, pointing to the sleeping
-children on the bed, exclaimed:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Sir, am I not also a mother!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What is your business here?&rdquo; demanded the
-King.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_54">54</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Sire, a decree of the Assembly.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Where is it?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;My comrade has it.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With these words, he opened the door and disclosed
-M. de Romeuf, who, overcome with emotion,
-was leaning against a window in the front room.
-His face was wet with tears. He approached with
-downcast eyes, holding out a paper, which the King
-took from him and glanced through rapidly.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Now,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;there is no longer a King in
-France!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The children had awakened by this time, and the
-little Dauphin became the object of special interest.
-Some admired his beauty, and others asked him
-questions about his journey and the Tuileries, to
-which the sleepy child scarcely responded, but only
-gazed at his mother.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ah, Charles,&rdquo; his sister whispered to him,
-&ldquo;you were mistaken, this is no comedy!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I knew that long ago!&rdquo; returned the poor
-child, shrugging his shoulders.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_55">55</div>
-<p>Meanwhile, the crowd, excited almost to frenzy
-by Drouet, were demanding the King&rsquo;s departure,
-and their shouts and cries came surging upward
-from the street. Some of the most violent even
-tried to break into the house and bring him out by
-force, while above all the tumult arose a scream of
-&ldquo;Drag him out! Drag him into his coach! We
-will have him!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The King attempted to appease them by appearing
-at the window, seeking to gain time, in the faint
-hope that any moment might bring Bouill&eacute; and
-rescue. As a last resort, one of the waiting-women
-declared she was violently ill, and the King and
-Queen refused to desert her. But all their efforts
-were of no avail, and the King realized at last that
-further resistance was hopeless. He requested to
-be left alone with his family for a moment, and, after
-a brief and sorrowful consultation, he yielded and
-announced himself ready to depart. The royal
-mother took her son in her arms and carried him
-herself to the coach. It was half-past seven when
-they started on their return journey&mdash;alas! just a
-quarter of an hour too early!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_56">56</div>
-<p>Only a few moments after they had gone, a body
-of troops appeared on the heights overlooking
-Varennes in the direction of Verdun. It was the
-son of M. de Bouill&eacute; with the cavalry. He tried
-to cross the river by a ford, the bridge being defended,
-but was unable to accomplish it, and thus
-the last chance of saving the King was lost. General Bouill&eacute;
-arrived soon after at the head of his
-Royal German Regiment, in full gallop, only to
-learn when he reached Mouza that the King had
-left Varennes and that he was too late. Broken-hearted,
-he turned his horse&rsquo;s head, and with his
-faithful and now dejected troops began his retreat
-to the frontier.</p>
-<p>The royal party was already far from Varennes.
-Surrounded by five or six thousand infuriated peasants,
-the King was a prisoner in the same vehicle
-that was to have borne him to safety and freedom.
-It was only allowed to proceed at a foot-pace, and
-a whole hour was consumed in reaching Clermont.
-This town, like all the others through which they
-passed, was filled to overflowing. Everywhere the
-shops were closed, the people beside themselves
-with excitement, and hundreds of frantic voices yelled
-denunciations against the King, his nobles, and his
-officers.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_57">57</div>
-<p>At three in the afternoon Ste. Menehould was
-reached, and the mayor, Furci, a brave and honest
-man, invited the Queen to partake of some refreshment
-in the town hall. The weary travellers would
-gladly have remained here some hours to rest, for
-the little Prince, exhausted by his seven-hours&rsquo; journey
-in the heat and dust, was suffering from
-an attack of fever; but Bayon, the cruel commander
-of this sad expedition, refused to gratify
-their desire, and the unfortunate royal family were
-obliged to continue their journey. Here the National
-Guard of Varennes and Clermont left them,
-and their place was taken by the Guard of Ste.
-Menehould, who were relieved in their turn by those
-of the next town.</p>
-<p>One dreadful occurrence struck terror to the hearts
-of the poor fugitives, and gave them a chill foreboding
-of the horrors in store for them. On a hillside
-near the village of Han, a brave nobleman, the
-Marquis de Dampierre, rode up to greet the King
-as he passed. Louis conversed with him for some
-moments, and, as they parted with mutual good
-wishes, M. de Dampierre bowed low and reverently
-kissed the hand of his unhappy sovereign. This
-token of respect was his death-warrant, for scarcely
-had the loyal noble left the coach door when savage
-voices shouted to him to halt, and as he unsuspectingly
-obeyed, the mob fell upon him in a fury, tore
-him from his horse, and slaughtered him without
-pity before the eyes of the royal family. His head
-was cut off and carried on the end of a spear for
-some distance in front of their coach, as a trophy.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_58">58</div>
-<p>In the midst of such atrocities, it is gratifying
-to hear of one instance which proves there were
-still pure and noble hearts even in those frightful
-times.</p>
-<p>Young Cazotte was the commander of the National
-Guard in the village of Piercy, and it was his
-duty to receive the King at &Eacute;pernay, where a stop
-was to be made at the Hotel Rohan. Cazotte&rsquo;s
-men guarded the entrance to this palace, and he exacted
-a solemn promise from them to allow no one
-but the authorities to enter. Scarcely were these
-measures taken when the King&rsquo;s coach arrived, almost
-borne along by the waves of people. The
-prisoners alighted amid a storm of curses, jeers, and
-insults, directed especially against the Queen.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ignore this madness, madame; God is over all!&rdquo;
-said Cazotte to her in German.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_59">59</div>
-<p>A grateful glance was her only answer as she
-stepped forward, followed by her daughter, Madame
-&Eacute;lisabeth, and Madame de Tourzel, the crowd
-pressing close behind them. The little Dauphin
-was carried by one of the soldiers. He was crying
-and calling for his mother, who was out of sight.
-Cazotte took him in his arms and tried to soothe
-him, but his tears did not cease to flow until he was
-carried into the room where the Queen had been
-taken. Cazotte&rsquo;s delicate solicitude for the royal
-family did not end even here; regardless of what the
-consequences might be, he found a seamstress to
-repair their clothing, which had been torn and
-trampled on by the mob, furnished them with refreshments
-and such conveniences as he was able to
-obtain, and did all in his power to add to their
-comfort till their departure put an end to his unselfish
-and kindly service.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_60">60</div>
-<p>Between &Eacute;pernay and Dormans they met the
-commission sent out by the National Assembly, consisting
-of Barnave, P&eacute;tion, and the Marquis de
-Latour-Maubourg. They took their places in the
-coach, but P&eacute;tion and Latour-Maubourg only remained
-inside a short time, leaving Barnave alone
-with the travellers. Barnave<a class="fn" id="fr_12" href="#fn_12">[12]</a> was one of the minor
-deputies of the people, who amid all the tumult and
-violence of the Assembly had preserved his nobility
-and tenderness of heart. He felt sincere pity for the
-unfortunate royal family, and, no longer restrained
-by the presence of his colleague, P&eacute;tion,<a class="fn" id="fr_13" href="#fn_13">[13]</a> freely
-offered his sympathy. The Queen was touched by
-his considerate behavior, and joined in the conversation.
-Barnave, on the other hand, to whom the
-Queen had been painted in the most odious colors,
-was astonished to find her so different from what
-he had expected, and soon began to honor and respect
-those he had been taught to hate and despise.
-When the conversation ceased after a time, he took
-the little Prince on his knee and talked with the
-child, whose quick and lively, yet gentle, answers
-impressed him deeply.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Are you not sorry to go back to Paris?&rdquo; he
-asked.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, I am happy everywhere,&rdquo; answered the
-Dauphin, &ldquo;as long as I have my father and mamma
-with me, and my aunt, my sister, and Madame de
-Tourzel, too.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ah, sir,&rdquo; said the King to Barnave, &ldquo;this is
-indeed a sad journey for me and for my children!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_61">61</div>
-<p>The mournful tone in which these words were
-spoken moved the Dauphin deeply, and he took
-his father&rsquo;s hand and kissed it. The King took
-him in his arms and pressed him to his heart.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Do not be unhappy, dear papa,&rdquo; said the child,
-his eyes full of tears. &ldquo;Some other time we will
-have a pleasanter journey!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At every change of post-horses, the other commissioners
-came up to see what was passing inside
-the coach. Surprised to find the heir to the throne
-generally seated on Barnave&rsquo;s lap, P&eacute;tion finally
-remarked in a spiteful tone, loud enough to be
-heard by the travellers:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You see, Latour-Maubourg, Barnave is decidedly
-the prop of future royalty!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Unhappy Barnave! He was forced ere long to
-atone with his life for his newly won devotion to
-the royal house and perish on the guillotine!</p>
-<p>The remainder of the journey passed without
-further incident. Sullen crowds gathered everywhere
-to watch the King pass, but no one spoke or
-showed any sign of good-will or favor toward him.
-At Fert&eacute;-sous-Jouarre, however, the royal family
-found one hearty welcome from the Regnards, at
-whose house they dined. Although Madame Regnard
-wore an apron to avoid recognition, Marie
-Antoinette guessed her position at once, and approached
-her, saying:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_62">62</div>
-<p>&ldquo;You are the lady of the house, are you not?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I was that only until your Majesty entered
-it,&rdquo; answered Madame Regnard; a reply which
-pleased the Queen and did full honor to the gracious
-mistress of the house. When they were leaving,
-the Queen said to the Dauphin:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;My son, thank the lady for her kindness, and
-tell her we shall never forget it.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The little Prince immediately obeyed. &ldquo;Mamma
-thanks you for your attention,&rdquo; said the child, &ldquo;and
-I&mdash;I love you very much because you have given
-her pleasure.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>When the coach arrived at Meaux a great tumult
-arose; a priest nearly lost his life as the poor
-Marquis had done, but Barnave rescued him, calling
-out to the people in thundering tones:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Frenchmen, would you become a pack of assassins?&rdquo;
-Whereupon P&eacute;tion turned to Latour-Maubourg
-and remarked with a sneer:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;It appears that our colleague&rsquo;s mission is not
-only to protect royalty, but also the clergy!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_63">63</div>
-<p>After Barnave&rsquo;s humane action, the Dauphin
-willingly seated himself again on his knee and
-talked to him until they reached Bossuet. At
-eleven o&rsquo;clock that evening, after his colleagues
-were asleep, Barnave was summoned to the King&rsquo;s
-chamber, where he had a long conference with the
-royal couple in regard to their situation.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Evidently,&rdquo; said the Queen, at the end of it,
-&ldquo;we have been deceived as to the real state of
-public feeling in France.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>They thanked Barnave warmly for his counsel,
-and it was agreed that he should meet them secretly
-in the Tuileries. From this time Barnave inwardly
-swore allegiance to the throne, and kept his vow
-faithfully to the end.</p>
-<p>On the twenty-fifth of June, at seven in the evening,
-the royal party arrived in Paris and entered the
-Tuileries, before the gates of which a vast throng
-had assembled, drunk with wine and fury and with
-difficulty restrained from violence by the National
-Guard. M. Hue lifted the little Dauphin from
-the coach and carried him into his own apartment,
-where he was soon in bed. The child was restless,
-however, and his sleep very uneasy. In the morning
-when he awoke, he said to his tutor, in a voice
-loud enough to be heard distinctly by the guards
-stationed in the room:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_64">64</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, M. Hue, I have had such a horrible
-dream! I thought there were wolves and tigers
-and all kinds of wild beasts around me all night
-long, waiting to tear me to pieces!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>M. Hue merely shrugged his shoulders, and
-made no reply. The guards looked at each other
-in astonishment, but no one ventured to reprove
-the little Prince for his prophetic dream.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_65">65</div>
-<h2 id="c3"><span class="h2line1">Chapter III</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">In the Temple</span></h2>
-<p>The French Revolution pursued its terrible
-course, and war with Austria was finally
-added to the internal disorders that distracted
-the unhappy country. The people,
-kept in a constant tumult by the false reports and
-incessant assaults of the bloody Jacobins, hated
-the King more than ever. Not content with depriving
-him of his liberty and his throne, and subjecting
-him to the deepest humiliations, the brutal mob
-also demanded his life.</p>
-<p>The first step toward this dreadful <i>d&eacute;nouement</i>
-of the tragedy was the formal arrest of the royal
-family and their imprisonment in the Temple.<a class="fn" id="fr_14" href="#fn_14">[14]</a> On
-the thirteenth of August, 1792, they were taken to
-this prison, the gates of which closed behind the
-King, never to open for him again till he went forth
-to lay his head under the guillotine.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_66">66</div>
-<p>The Temple was originally the residence of the
-Grand Priors of the Knights Templars, and in the
-thirteenth century occupied an extensive area, acquired
-by the purchase of surrounding lands. In
-the year 1792, however, little remained of it but
-the so-called Tower of the Temple, a dark square
-structure whose massive, frowning walls were flanked
-by turrets at each corner. The Tower had four
-stories. On the ground floor there was but one
-large room, and a kitchen which was unused. The
-first story consisted of an antechamber and a
-dining-room, which communicated with a small
-closet in one of the turrets. The second floor also
-contained an anteroom and two apartments, one
-of which the Queen and her daughter used as a
-bedchamber, others being occupied by the Dauphin,
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth, and Madame de Tourzel. The
-third floor was similar to the second, and here at
-first the King was lodged with his attendants, M.
-Hue and M. Chamilly.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_67">67</div>
-<p>A few faithful and devoted friends had chosen to
-share the royal family&rsquo;s imprisonment, but this consolation
-was not long permitted them. On the nineteenth
-of August, two officers made their appearance
-with an order from the Commune to remove all
-persons not belonging to the Capet family. In
-vain the Queen opposed the departure of the
-Princess de Lamballe,<a class="fn" id="fr_15" href="#fn_15">[15]</a>
-on the ground that she
-was a relative. Their parting was most affecting;
-both the royal children mingled their tears with
-those of their elders, until the Princess and Madame
-de Tourzel were forcibly separated from them and
-carried away. Not a single attendant was left to
-the unfortunate prisoners, except M. Hue, who,
-much to his surprise, was permitted to remain.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_68">68</div>
-<p>Their life in the Tower of the Temple was very
-sad and monotonous. The King arose every morning
-between six and seven, and employed himself
-with his devotions in his little oratory in the turret
-until nine o&rsquo;clock, while M. Hue set the room in
-order, laid the table for breakfast, and then went
-down to the Queen. Marie Antoinette was up
-even before the King, dressed herself and her son,
-and heard him say his prayers. She kept her door
-closed, however, until M. Hue appeared, in order to
-prevent the officers, sent by the Commune to remain
-in her room during the day, from entering any
-earlier. At nine she went with her children and
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth to breakfast with the King,
-and M. Hue took this opportunity to clean their
-rooms and light the fires. At ten the whole family
-returned to the Queen&rsquo;s room, where they remained
-for the rest of the day. The King devoted himself
-to his son&rsquo;s instruction, and the Queen heard the
-Princess recite her lessons, while Madame &Eacute;lisabeth
-taught them ciphering and drawing.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_69">69</div>
-<p>At one o&rsquo;clock, when the weather was fine and
-Santerre, the commander of the guards, was present,
-the whole family walked in the little garden of the
-Temple, and the Dauphin amused himself with
-childish sports and games. At two they had dinner,
-after which came an hour of recreation, when
-the children&rsquo;s amusements and laughter somewhat
-enlivened the customary gloom. About four the
-King would often take a short nap in his arm-chair,
-while the Princesses sat by with a book or some
-needlework, and the little Prince studied his lessons
-or applied himself to his drawing and copy-book.
-M. Hue superintended his work, and after it was
-finished took him into the other room, where they
-played ball or shuttlecock together.</p>
-<p>At seven the family gathered around the table,
-and read aloud from some religious or historical
-work that would interest and instruct the children.
-At eight M. Hue gave the Dauphin his supper in
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth&rsquo;s room; his parents were usually
-present, and the King would often give him
-little easy riddles to guess, the solution of which
-occupied and diverted the child. After supper he
-was undressed and said his evening prayer, which
-usually was as follows:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Almighty God, who hast created and redeemed
-me, to Thee I pray. Preserve the life of the King,
-my father, and watch over the days of my family
-also. Protect us from our enemies! Grant to
-Madame de Tourzel strength to bear the sorrows
-she is enduring on our behalf.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_70">70</div>
-<p>After his prayer the Queen put him to bed, and
-she and Madame &Eacute;lisabeth remained with him in
-turn. As soon as the family supper was over, the
-King came to say good-night to his son. After a
-few moments&rsquo; talk, he pressed the hand of his wife
-and sister, received the caresses of his children, and
-returned to his own room, retiring at once to his
-oratory, where he remained till midnight.</p>
-<p>The Princesses sat together some time later, often
-making use of this quiet hour to mend the family
-clothing; and the King rarely composed himself to
-sleep until after the guard was changed at midnight.
-This was the daily routine as long as the King
-remained a prisoner. The days passed in sadness
-and humiliation, and there was scarcely an hour in
-which they were not exposed to some fresh insult or
-indignity.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_71">71</div>
-<p>At this time the little Dauphin was seven and a
-half years of age. Through all their troubles, he
-showed a courage and sweetness of disposition seldom
-found even in the happiest natures. Sometimes
-the seriousness of his thoughts would betray
-itself by word or look; but he never failed to
-respond to his parents&rsquo; affected cheerfulness with
-all a child&rsquo;s unquestioning light-heartedness. Apparently
-he thought no more of past greatness; he
-was glad to be alive, and the only thing that made
-him unhappy was his mother&rsquo;s tears. He never
-spoke of his former amusements and pleasures,
-showed no regrets, and seemed to have forgotten
-all the joys of happier days. He applied himself
-diligently to his studies, and with the aid of a good
-memory he was far more advanced than most children
-of his age. Through all this time of sorrow
-and trouble, the poor little Prince had possessed one
-unfailing consolation&mdash;his parents&rsquo; love and care.
-But alas! the time was soon to come when he
-would be deprived of this, too, and lose, first, his
-father, then his mother.</p>
-<p>The hard school of adversity developed all the
-purity and nobility of the boy&rsquo;s nature, already so
-richly endowed with warm affections and tender
-sensibilities. Still a child in all his acts and feelings,
-he was old enough at the same time to be able
-to comprehend the misfortunes of the family, and
-seemed to feel that he owed his parents even more
-respect and attention than formerly, though his
-lively fancies often made him forget their cruel situation.
-He realized that they were prisoners, and
-was discreet and prudent in his speech and behavior.
-Never a syllable escaped him that could have
-caused a painful memory or regret in his mother&rsquo;s
-heart. How affectionate and yet how thoughtful and
-quick-witted he was, one or two incidents will show.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_72">72</div>
-<p>A stone-mason was at work one day on the wall
-of the King&rsquo;s anteroom, making a place for heavier
-bolts to be put on the door. While the workman
-was eating his breakfast, the little Prince amused
-himself by playing with his tools. The King took
-the chisel and hammer from his son&rsquo;s hand to show
-him how to use them, and worked at the wall himself
-for a few moments. The mason, moved by a sudden
-feeling of pity, said to him:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;After you have gone away from here, you can
-say you have worked on your own prison!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Alas!&rdquo; answered the King, &ldquo;when and how
-shall I get away from here?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Scarcely had he spoken the words, when the little
-Dauphin threw himself into his father&rsquo;s arms and
-burst into tears. The King dropped the hammer
-and chisel: he, too, was much affected, and paced up
-and down the room for some moments, struggling
-with his emotions.</p>
-<p>On another occasion the Prince had not shown a
-coarse fellow named Mercereau all the respect to
-which he considered himself entitled, whereupon he
-addressed the child roughly with:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_73">73</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Hey, boy! don&rsquo;t you know that liberty has
-made us all equal?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;<i>Equal</i>, as much as you please,&rdquo; answered the
-Dauphin with a glance at his father, &ldquo;but you will
-find it hard to make us believe that liberty has made
-us free!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>And now the time was approaching which was to
-separate the King from his loved ones forever.
-After so many crimes committed by the French
-people in the first intoxication and frenzy of their
-power, there remained only the King&rsquo;s death to be
-accomplished. Louis the Sixteenth, the mildest and
-most just of kings, who had committed no crime but
-that of loving his people too well, was summoned
-before the blood-thirsty Convention which had
-boldly set itself up to judge him. For several days
-previously the treatment of the royal prisoners had
-been even harsher than before. They were deprived
-of every means of employment; even the ladies&rsquo;
-needles were taken away from them, so that they
-could no longer find distraction in their feminine
-occupations, and to Louis these added brutalities
-indicated but too plainly the issue of his trial. Indeed,
-he was quite prepared for the worst; but what
-troubled him most was the separation from his
-family. During the session of the Convention he had
-not been permitted to see them, and it was only with
-the greatest difficulty and by the most ingenious expedients
-that he was able to obtain news of them or
-communicate with them.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_74">74</div>
-<p>At last the death sentence was pronounced, to be
-executed on the following morning, and the King was
-granted a final interview with his family. At half-past
-eight in the evening his door was opened. The
-Queen came first, leading the little Dauphin by the
-hand; then her daughter, Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se, and
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth. They threw themselves into
-the arms of the King, and for some moments a sorrowful
-silence prevailed, broken only by sobs. The
-Queen made a motion to her husband to take them
-into his bedchamber.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Not there,&rdquo; said the King, &ldquo;we will go into the
-dining-room; that is the only place where I can see
-you.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_75">75</div>
-<p>They stepped into the adjoining room, which was
-divided from the antechamber by a glass partition,
-and the guards closed the door. The King sat down
-with his wife and sister on either side; the Princess
-knelt before him, and the Dauphin remained standing
-between his father&rsquo;s knees. They all leaned
-towards him and frequently embraced him, while the
-King told them about his trial, and tried to excuse
-those who had condemned him. He then gave
-some religious admonitions to his children; charged
-them to forgive those who were the cause of his
-death, and bestowed his blessing upon them. The
-Queen expressed her earnest desire that they might
-all spend the night together, but he refused, saying
-that he much needed to rest and compose his
-thoughts. This melancholy scene lasted nearly
-two hours. As the time drew near when it must
-end, the King turned to his children again, and
-made them give him a solemn promise never to be
-revenged on his enemies. Then, taking the Dauphin
-on his knee, he impressed upon him the
-fulfilment of his last wishes, and concluded with
-these words:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;My son, you have heard all that I have said,
-but since an oath is more sacred than words, swear
-with uplifted hand that you will obey the last wishes
-of your father.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_76">76</div>
-<p>The little Prince obeyed and took the oath with
-streaming eyes. The others, too, wept bitterly, for
-the touching nobility of the King only intensified
-their grief. And now for more than a quarter of
-an hour not a word was spoken; only heart-rending
-sounds of anguish filled the room, while
-the whole family mingled their tears until exhausted
-by sorrow. At length Louis rose, and the
-others followed his example. A faithful servant,
-named Cl&eacute;ry, who had managed to gain admittance
-to the prison so as to be near the King, opened
-the door. Louis supported his wife and held their
-son&rsquo;s hand, while the Princess clasped her arms
-tightly about her father and Madame &Eacute;lisabeth
-clung to his arm. They took several steps toward
-the outer door, and again heart-breaking sobs burst
-forth.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Be calm!&rdquo; said the King; &ldquo;I will see you again
-in the morning at eight o&rsquo;clock.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You promise?&rdquo; they all cried.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Yes, I promise!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;But why not at seven?&rdquo; asked the Queen.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Well, at seven, then,&rdquo; replied the King.
-&ldquo;Adieu!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>This farewell was spoken in such a touching tone
-that their grief became once more uncontrollable.
-The Princess sank senseless at her father&rsquo;s feet, and
-Cl&eacute;ry assisted Madame &Eacute;lisabeth to support her.
-The King, to put an end to this distressing scene,
-clasped them all once more in his arms most tenderly,
-and tore himself from their embraces.</p>
-<div class="img" id="pic2">
-<img src="images/p083.jpg" alt="" width="545" height="793" />
-<p class="caption"><i>The King&rsquo;s last farewell</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_77">77</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Farewell! Farewell!&rdquo; he said again with a
-breaking heart, as he returned to his room.</p>
-<p>The good King, the loving father, had seen his
-dear ones for the last time on earth. To save them
-from another such trial, he nobly resolved to deprive
-himself of the sad consolation of pressing them once
-more to his heart, and went to his execution without
-a last farewell. His last words, spoken from the
-scaffold to the people, were:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I die innocent of all the crimes of which I am
-accused. I forgive all those who are the cause of
-my death, and pray God that the blood you are
-about to shed may assure the happiness of France.
-And you, unhappy people....&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_78">78</div>
-<p>The rest was drowned in the roll of drums. His
-noble head fell&mdash;the head of a martyr, the head of
-one of the best and most merciful kings who ever
-ruled in France.<a class="fn" id="fr_16" href="#fn_16">[16]</a></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_79">79</div>
-<h2 id="c4"><span class="h2line1">Chapter IV</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">Separation from his Mother</span></h2>
-<p>After the sad parting, the Queen had
-scarcely strength enough left to undress
-her children, and as soon as they were
-asleep she flung herself, dressed, upon her
-bed, where she passed the night shivering with cold
-and trembling with apprehension. The Princess
-and Madame &Eacute;lisabeth slept in the same room on
-a mattress.</p>
-<p>The next morning the royal family arose before
-daybreak, waiting for a last sight of him whom,
-alas! they were never to see again. In all quarters
-of Paris the drums were beating, and the noise penetrated
-even into the Tower. At a quarter-past six
-the door opened, and some one came in to get a
-book, which was wanted for the mass about to be
-read to the King. The anxious women regarded
-this trifling occurrence as a hopeful sign, and expected
-a speedy summons to the promised interview.
-But they were soon undeceived. Each moment
-seemed an hour, and still the time slipped by without
-bringing the fulfilment of their last sorrowful
-hope.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_80">80</div>
-<p>Suddenly a louder roll of drums announced the
-moment of the King&rsquo;s departure. No words can
-describe the scene that followed. The heart-broken
-women, with tears and sobs, made fruitless attempts
-to excite the compassion of their pitiless jailers.
-The little Prince sprang from his mother&rsquo;s arms,
-and, beside himself with grief and terror, ran from
-one to another of the guards, clasping their knees,
-pressing their hands, and crying wildly:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Let me go, messieurs! Let me go!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Where do you wish to go?&rdquo; they asked him.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;To my father! I will speak to the people&mdash;I
-will beg them not to kill my papa! In the name
-of God, messieurs, let me go!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The guards were deaf to his childish appeals;
-fear for their own heads compelled them to be, but
-history does not tell us that they were inhuman
-enough to jeer at the child or make sport of his
-innocent prayer for his father&rsquo;s life. Even harder
-hearts must have been touched by the sight of such
-sorrow.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_81">81</div>
-<p>About ten o&rsquo;clock the Queen wished the children
-to have some breakfast; but they could not eat, and
-the food was sent away untouched. A moment
-later cries and yells were heard, mingled with the
-discharge of firearms. Madame &Eacute;lisabeth raised
-her eyes to heaven, and, carried away by the bitterness
-of her grief, exclaimed:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, the monsters! They are glad!...&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At these words the Princess Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se
-uttered a piercing scream; the little Dauphin burst
-into tears; while the Queen, with drooping head
-and staring eyes, seemed sunk in a stupor almost
-like death. The shouts of a crier in the street soon
-informed them yet more plainly that all was over.</p>
-<p>For the rest of the day, the poor little Prince
-hardly stirred from his mother&rsquo;s side. He kissed
-her hands, often wet with his tears, and overwhelmed
-her with sweet childish caresses, which he
-seemed to feel would comfort her more than words.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Alas! the tears of an innocent child, they may
-never cease to flow!&rdquo; said the Queen, bitterly.
-&ldquo;Death is harder for those who survive than for
-the ones who are gone!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_82">82</div>
-<p>During the afternoon she asked permission to see
-Cl&eacute;ry, who had remained with his royal master in
-the Tower till the last moment. She felt that she
-must hear the last words and farewells of her martyred
-husband and treasure them as a precious
-legacy, and for more than an hour the faithful valet
-was with her, both absorbed in sorrowful discourse.</p>
-<p>The long day passed in tears and wretchedness,
-and night brought no respite. The prisoners had
-been placed in charge of two jailers, a married
-couple named Tison, coarse creatures, from whose
-intrusions they were never free. Thus the inflexible
-hate of an infuriated populace pursued them
-even in the sanctity of their grief.</p>
-<p>It was two o&rsquo;clock at night, and more than an
-hour since the tearfully ended prayers had announced
-the time for rest; but rest was still far from
-the three unhappy women. In obedience to the
-Queen&rsquo;s wishes, the Princess Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se had indeed
-gone to bed, but she could not close her eyes.
-Her royal mother and her aunt, who were sitting near
-the bed of the Dauphin, talked of their sorrow and
-wept together in uncontrollable anguish. The
-sleeping child smiled, and there was such an expression
-of angelic sweetness and purity on his innocent
-face that the Queen could not refrain from
-saying sadly:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_83">83</div>
-<p>&ldquo;He is now just as old as his brother was when
-he died at Meudon. Happy are those of our
-family who have been the first to go; at least they
-have not lived to see the downfall of our house!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Madame Tison, who had been listening at the
-door, heard these words, or at least the sound of
-the Queen&rsquo;s voice. Devoid of respect for a sorrow
-that must find relief in words or become unbearable,
-the heartless woman knocked on the door and
-harshly demanded the cause of this nocturnal conversation.
-As if this were not enough, her husband
-and some municipal guards even opened the door
-and attempted to force their way into the room,
-when Madame &Eacute;lisabeth, turning her pale face
-toward them, said with quiet dignity:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I pray you, allow us at least to weep in peace!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>These simple words, spoken in such a tone, disarmed
-even these wretches. They drew back in
-confusion, and did not venture again to intrude on
-the sanctity of so profound a grief. The next
-morning the Queen took her son in her arms and
-said to him:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;My child, we must put our trust in the dear
-God!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_84">84</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes, mamma,&rdquo; answered the little Prince,
-&ldquo;I do trust the dear God, but whenever I fold my
-hands and try to pray, the image of my father comes
-before my eyes.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Sadly and wearily the days passed. Weakened
-by sorrow and exhausted by sleepless nights, the
-Queen almost succumbed to her troubles, and
-seemed to be indifferent whether she lived or died.
-Sometimes her companions would find her eyes
-fixed on them with such an expression of profound
-pity, it almost made them shudder. A deathly
-stillness prevailed; they all seemed to be holding
-their breaths, save when their grief found vent in
-half-smothered sobs or paroxysms of tears. It was
-almost a boon to the wretched women when the
-Princess Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se really fell ill. In the duties
-of a mother, Marie Antoinette found some mitigation
-of her grief for the loss of her husband. She
-spent all her time at her daughter&rsquo;s bedside, and the
-care and anxiety afforded her a wholesome distraction
-and roused her benumbed faculties. The Princess
-soon recovered from her illness, and from that
-time the Queen devoted herself wholly to her
-children.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_85">85</div>
-<p>The little Dauphin sang very sweetly, and his
-mother found much pleasure in teaching him little
-songs, but especially in having him continue the
-studies he had begun. Thus absorbed, she even
-thanked Heaven for the peace granted her by her
-enemies, which enabled her to perform these maternal
-tasks. Madame &Eacute;lisabeth was her devoted assistant,
-and their love for the children afforded them
-some relief from sorrows which were constantly
-being sharpened by fresh trials. But even this last
-faint semblance of happiness was at last taken from
-them.</p>
-<p>Some faithful friends of the Queen and the royal
-house, brave, noble hearts who gladly risked their
-lives in the hope of rescuing the prisoners from the
-shameful brutalities of their jailers, had devised a
-plan for their escape. Owing to an unlucky combination
-of circumstances, the attempt failed, and
-the tyrants of the Convention, who then held
-despotic sway over wretched France, issued the following
-decree:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;The Committee of Public Safety orders that the
-son of Capet shall be separated from his mother
-and delivered into the hands of a governor, the
-choice of whom shall rest with the General Council
-of the Commune.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On the third of July, 1793, this cruel and infamous
-order was put into execution.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_86">86</div>
-<p>It was almost ten o&rsquo;clock on that evening; the
-little Prince was in bed and sleeping peacefully and
-soundly, with a smile on his pale but still lovely face.
-The bed had no curtains, but his mother had ingeniously
-arranged a shawl to keep the light from
-falling on his closed eyelids and disturbing his
-rest.</p>
-<p>The Queen, Madame &Eacute;lisabeth, and the Princess
-Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se were sitting up somewhat later than
-usual, the elder ladies busy with some mending and
-the Princess reading aloud to them. She had
-finished several chapters from some historical work,
-and now had a book of devotions called &ldquo;Passion
-Week,&rdquo; which Madame &Eacute;lisabeth had succeeded in
-obtaining only a short time before. Whenever the
-Princess paused to turn a page, or at the end of a
-chapter in the history or of a psalm in the book of
-prayers, the Queen would raise her head, let her
-work fall in her lap, and gaze lovingly at the sleeping
-boy or listen to his quiet breathing. Suddenly
-the sound of heavy footsteps was heard on the
-stairs. The bolts were drawn with a rattle, the
-door opened, and six municipal guards entered.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_87">87</div>
-<p>&ldquo;We come,&rdquo; said one of them roughly to the
-terrified Princesses, &ldquo;to inform you that the Committee
-of Public Safety has ordered the son of
-Capet to be separated from his mother and his
-family.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The Queen started to her feet, struck to the
-heart by the suddenness of this blow.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Take my child away from me?&rdquo; she cried,
-white with terror,&mdash;&ldquo;no&mdash;no&mdash;it cannot be
-possible!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se stood beside her mother trembling,
-while Madame &Eacute;lisabeth, with both hands on
-the prayer-book, listened and looked on, paralyzed
-with terror and unable to stir.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Messieurs,&rdquo; continued the Queen in a tremulous
-voice, and struggling to control the ague fit
-that shook her from head to foot, &ldquo;it is impossible;
-the Council cannot think of such a thing as
-to separate me from my son! He is so young, he
-is so delicate&mdash;my care is so necessary to him!
-No&mdash;no&mdash;it cannot be!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;It is the decree of the Committee,&rdquo; replied the
-officer harshly, unmoved by the deadly pallor of
-the Queen; &ldquo;the Convention has decided on the
-measure, and we are sent to carry it into immediate
-execution.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_88">88</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, I can never submit to it!&rdquo; cried the unhappy
-mother. &ldquo;In the name of Heaven, I beseech
-you, do not demand this cruel sacrifice of
-me!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Both her companions joined their entreaties to
-hers. All three had instinctively placed themselves
-before the child&rsquo;s bed, as if to defend it against the
-approach of the officers; they wept, they prayed,
-they exhausted themselves in the humblest and
-most touching supplications. Such distress might
-have softened the hardest heart; but to these pitiless
-tools of the villanous Convention, they appealed
-in vain.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What is the use of all this outburst?&rdquo; they
-demanded at length. &ldquo;Your child is not going to
-be killed. You had better give him to us without
-any more trouble, or we shall find other means of
-getting him.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>In fact, they began to use force against the desperate
-mother. In the struggle, the improvised
-bed-curtain was torn down and fell on the head of
-the sleeping Prince. He awoke, saw at a glance
-what was happening, and flung himself into his
-mother&rsquo;s arms.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Mamma, dear mamma!&rdquo; he cried, shaking with
-fright, &ldquo;do not leave me!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_89">89</div>
-<p>The Queen clasped him close to her breast, as if
-to protect him, and clung with all her strength to
-the bedposts.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Pah! We do not fight with women,&rdquo; said one
-of the deputies who had not spoken before. &ldquo;Citizens,
-let us call up the guard!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Do not do that!&rdquo; said Madame &Eacute;lisabeth,
-&ldquo;in the name of Heaven, do not do that! We
-must submit to forcible demands, but grant us at
-least time to prepare ourselves. This poor child
-needs his sleep, and he will not be able to sleep anywhere
-but here. Let him at least spend the night
-in this room, and he shall be delivered into your
-hands early in the morning.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>To this touching appeal there was no reply.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Promise me, at least,&rdquo; said the Queen in a hollow
-voice, &ldquo;that he shall remain within the walls of
-this Tower, and that I shall be permitted to see him
-every day, if only at meal times.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;We are not obliged to account to you for what
-we do,&rdquo; snarled one of the rough fellows, ferociously;
-&ldquo;neither is it for you to question the acts of the
-country. Just because your child is taken from you,
-why should you act like a fool? Are not our sons
-marching toward the frontier every day, to have
-their heads shot off by the enemy you enticed
-there?&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_90">90</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, I did not entice them there,&rdquo; replied the
-Queen; &ldquo;and you see that my son is much too
-young to serve his country yet. Some day, God
-willing, I hope he will be proud to devote his life
-to France.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The threatening manner of the officers showed
-the poor mother plainly enough that all her prayers
-were useless, and she must yield to her cruel fate.
-With trembling hands she dressed the little Prince,
-and, although both Princesses assisted her, it took
-her longer than ever before. Every garment, before
-it was put on the child, was turned in and out,
-passed from hand to hand, and wet with bitter tears.
-In every possible way they strove to defer the
-dreadful moment of parting, but the officers soon
-began to lose patience.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Make haste!&rdquo; they cried. &ldquo;We can wait no
-longer!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With a breaking heart, the Queen submitted.
-Summoning all her fortitude, she seated herself on
-a chair, laid both her thin white hands on the
-shoulders of the unhappy child, and, forcing herself
-to be calm, said to him in a solemn, earnest voice:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_91">91</div>
-<p>&ldquo;My child, we must part. Remember your oath
-when I am no longer with you to remind you of it.
-Never forget the dear God who has sent you this
-trial, nor the dear mother who loves you. Be prudent,
-brave, and patient, and your father will look
-down from Heaven and bless you.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>So speaking, she pressed a last kiss on his forehead,
-clasped him once more to her tortured heart,
-and gave him to his jailers. The poor child sprang
-away from them, rushed to his mother again, and
-clung desperately to her dress, clasping her knees.
-She tried to soothe his distress.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You must obey, my child, you must!&rdquo; she
-said.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Yes, and I hope you have no more instructions
-to give him,&rdquo; added one of the deputies. &ldquo;You
-have abused our patience enough already.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;As it is, you might have saved yourself the
-trouble of giving him any,&rdquo; said another, dragging
-the Prince forcibly out of the room.</p>
-<p>A third, somewhat more humane than the others,
-added, &ldquo;You need not have any further anxiety;
-the great and generous country will care for him.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_92">92</div>
-<p>Heaven was witness what tears of anguish, what
-cries of despair, followed this distressing scene. In
-the extremity of her sufferings, the unfortunate
-mother writhed upon the bed where her son had
-just been sleeping. She had succeeded in maintaining
-her courage and a feigned composure in the
-presence of the merciless wretches who had robbed
-her of her child, but this unnatural strength, this
-superhuman exertion, had exhausted all the powers
-of her being and almost deprived her of reason.
-Never was there a greater despair than that of this
-most unhappy Queen and her companions. The
-three prisoners gazed at one another in speechless
-agony, and could find no words of consolation. The
-only comfort of their wretched life was gone. The
-little Dauphin had been the one ray of sunlight in
-the darkness of their imprisonment, and that now
-had been extinguished. What more could follow?
-Alas! even worse was yet to come, for the resources
-of inhumanity are boundless!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_93">93</div>
-<h2 id="c5"><span class="h2line1">Chapter V</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">The Cobbler Simon</span></h2>
-<p>Guarded by six deputies and a turnkey,
-the young Prince, or rather King,
-since he was the only and lawful heir to
-the throne, was taken to that part of the
-Tower formerly occupied by his father. There a
-guardian was awaiting him, a cruel, tyrannical master,
-the cobbler Simon. The room was poorly
-lighted. After conversing with this man for some
-time in an undertone, the deputies gave him some
-final instructions and withdrew, and the child found
-himself alone with Simon, whose slouching gait,
-rough and violent language, and arrogant manner,
-easily proclaimed him the future master of the
-unfortunate Prince.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_94">94</div>
-<p>The cobbler Simon was fifty-seven years old, of
-more than medium height, powerfully built, with a
-swarthy skin and a shock of stiff black hair falling
-over his eyebrows. His features were heavy, and
-he wore large mustaches. His wife was about the
-same age, but very short and stout; she was dark
-and ill-favored, like her husband, and usually wore
-a cap with red ribbons, and a blue apron. This
-worthy pair were given absolute control over the
-Dauphin, the descendant of so many kings, torn
-from his royal mother&rsquo;s arms to be delivered into
-such hands as these! The very refinement of
-cruelty could scarcely have conceived a greater
-infamy! The poor child, confused and bewildered
-by having been awakened so suddenly from a sound
-sleep, remained for hours sitting on a stool in the
-farthest corner of the room and weeping pitifully.
-Simon plied him with rude questions, plentifully
-sprinkled with curses and blasphemies, as he smoked
-his pipe, but only succeeded in extracting short
-answers from his victim.</p>
-<p>For the first two or three days the little Prince
-was in such despair at being parted from his mother
-that he could swallow nothing but a few mouthfuls
-of broth. Soon, however, he began to rebel inwardly;
-gleams of indignation shone through his
-tears, and his anger broke forth at last in passionate
-words:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_95">95</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I want to know,&rdquo; he cried imperiously to the
-municipal officers who were visiting Simon, &ldquo;what
-law gives you the right to take me from my mother
-and keep me shut up here? Show me this law! I
-will see it!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The officers were amazed at this child of nine
-years, who dared to question their power and address
-them in such a kingly tone. But their worthy
-comrade came to their aid. He harshly ordered
-his charge to be silent, saying:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Hold your tongue, Capet! you are only a
-chatterer.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The little prisoner&rsquo;s sad and longing gaze was
-continually fixed upon the door, although he knew
-he could never pass its threshold without permission
-from his jailers. He often wept, but seemed at last
-to resign himself to his fate, and mutely obeyed the
-commands of his tormentors. He would not speak,
-however.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oho, little Capet!&rdquo; said the cobbler to him
-one day; &ldquo;so you are dumb! Well, I am going
-to teach you to talk, to sing the &lsquo;Carmagnole,&rsquo;<a class="fn" id="fr_17" href="#fn_17">[17]</a> and
-shout &lsquo;Vive la Republique!&rsquo; Oh, yes, you are
-dumb, are you?&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_96">96</div>
-<p>&ldquo;If I said all I thought,&rdquo; returned the poor child,
-with a touch of his old spirit, &ldquo;you would call me
-mad. I am silent because I am afraid of saying
-too much.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ho! so Monsieur Capet has much to say!&rdquo;
-shouted the cobbler with a malicious laugh. &ldquo;That
-sounds very aristocratic, but it won&rsquo;t do with me, do
-you hear? You are still young, and some allowance
-should be made for you on that account; but I am
-your master, and cannot allow such ignorance. I
-must teach you to understand progress and the new
-ideas. So, look here! I am going to give you a
-jews-harp. Your she-wolf of a mother and your
-dog of an aunt play the piano, you must learn the
-jews-harp.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>A gleam of anger flashed in the boy&rsquo;s beautiful
-blue eyes, and he refused to take the jews-harp,
-declaring that he never would play on it.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Never?&rdquo; cried the cobbler, furiously. &ldquo;Never?
-Play on it this moment!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The child persisted in his determination, and the
-cobbler&mdash;the pen almost refuses to write it&mdash;the
-cobbler seized the defenceless child and beat him
-most cruelly, but without being able to conquer his
-will.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_97">97</div>
-<p>&ldquo;You can punish me if I do wrong,&rdquo; cried the
-poor little Prince, &ldquo;but you must not strike me; do
-you understand? For you are stronger than I
-am.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I am here to command you, you beast!&rdquo; roared
-the cobbler. &ldquo;I can do what I like! Long live
-Liberty and Equality!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>On Sunday, the 17th of July, 1793, a report
-spread through Paris that the Dauphin had been
-carried off. In order to refute this rumor, which
-had already begun to create disturbances among the
-lower classes, a deputation was sent to the Temple
-by the Committee of Public Safety, with orders that
-the son of the tyrant should be brought down into
-the garden where he might be seen. The cobbler
-obeyed, and unceremoniously demanded of the deputies
-what the real intentions of the Committee
-were in regard to little Capet.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What have they decided to do with the young
-wolf? He has been taught to be insolent, and I
-will see that he is tamed. If he rebels, so much the
-worse for him, I warrant you! But what is to be
-done with him in the end? Send him out of the
-country? No! Kill him? No! Poison him?
-No! Well, what then?&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_98">98</div>
-<p>&ldquo;We must get rid of him!&rdquo; was the significant
-reply.</p>
-<p>Such, indeed, was the real purpose of the inhuman
-leaders of the Revolution. They did not want to
-put the unfortunate Prince to death, they only wished
-to get rid of him; that is to say, to torture him to
-death by slow degrees, without anyone being able
-to say that he had been poisoned, strangled, hanged,
-or beheaded!</p>
-<p>As soon as the Dauphin found himself in the
-garden, he began to call to his mother as loudly as
-he could. Some of the guards tried to quiet him;
-but he answered indignantly, pointing to Simon and
-the deputies:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;They will not, they cannot, show me the
-law that orders me to be separated from my
-mother.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Astonished at his firmness and moved by his
-childish affection, one of the guards asked the cobbler
-whether no one could help the little fellow; but
-Simon replied sharply:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_99">99</div>
-<p>&ldquo;The young wolf does not submit to the muzzle
-easily; he might know the law as well as you do,
-but he is always asking for the reasons of things&mdash;as
-if people were obliged to give him reasons! Now,
-Capet, keep still, or I will show the citizens how I
-beat you when you deserve it!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The poor little prisoner turned to the deputies
-as if to appeal to their compassion, but they coldly
-turned their backs on him. <i>He was to be got rid of!</i>
-How could this be possible if he were left to the
-tender care of his mother?</p>
-<p>Henceforth Simon&rsquo;s cruelties toward his victim
-were redoubled. He understood at last what was
-expected of him, and wished to do credit to his task.
-The youth, the innocence, the indescribable charm
-of the little Prince, did not in the least diminish the
-ferocity of his jailer. On the contrary, it seemed
-as though the child&rsquo;s delicate face, his clear eyes, his
-slender little hands, the nobility of his demeanor,
-only served to inflame the brutal passions of Simon
-and his wife. They felt the Prince&rsquo;s refinement and
-delicacy, in contrast with their own uncouthness, as
-a personal affront; and their jealous rage, their implacable
-hatred, made them take a savage pleasure
-in attempting to degrade their charge to their own
-level and extinguishing in this scion of a royal house
-all recollection of his illustrious family and of his
-early education.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_100">100</div>
-<p>Still another circumstance added to Simon&rsquo;s abuse
-of the Prince. Marat,<a class="fn" id="fr_18" href="#fn_18">[18]</a> that bloody and ferocious
-hyena of the Revolution, died at last by the knife
-of Charlotte Corday. Marat had been a patron of
-Simon&rsquo;s, and was largely responsible for the appointment
-of the cobbler as the Dauphin&rsquo;s keeper&mdash;a position
-which carried with it a considerable income&mdash;and
-his sudden death threw Simon into a sort of
-frenzy. When he heard the news, he deserted his
-prisoner for the first time, and returned in a state of
-excitement and irritation that relieved itself in abuse
-and blasphemy. He drank quantities of wine and
-brandy, and then, inflamed with the liquor, his brain
-on fire, he dragged his wife and the Prince up to
-the platform of the Tower, where he smoked his
-pipe and tried to catch an echo of the far-away
-lamentations for his friend Marat.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_101">101</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Do you hear that noise down there, Capet?&rdquo;
-he shouted to the Prince. &ldquo;It is the voice of the
-people, lamenting the loss of their friend. You
-wear black clothes for your father; I was going
-to make you take them off to-morrow, but now you
-shall wear them still longer. Capet shall put on
-mourning for Marat! But, accursed one, you do
-not seem much grieved about it! Perhaps you are
-glad that he is dead?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With these words, furious with rage, he shook
-the boy, threatened him with his fist, and pushed
-him violently away.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I do not know the man who is dead,&rdquo; returned
-the child, &ldquo;and you should not say that I am
-glad. We never wish for the death of anyone.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Ah, <i>we</i>? &lsquo;<i>We</i> wish?&rsquo; <i>We?</i>&rdquo; roared the
-cobbler. &ldquo;Are you presuming to say <i>we</i>, like
-those tyrants, your forefathers?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, no,&rdquo; answered the Prince, &ldquo;I say <i>we</i>, in
-the plural, meaning myself and my family.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Somewhat appeased by this apology, the cobbler
-strode up and down, puffing great clouds of smoke
-from his mouth and laughing to himself as he
-repeated: &ldquo;Capet shall put on mourning for
-Marat!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_102">102</div>
-<p>Marat was buried on the following morning, and
-Simon&rsquo;s resentment at not being able to attend the
-funeral ceremonies made him furious. All day
-long he paced the floor of his room like a caged
-tiger, sparing the innocent Prince neither blows nor
-curses.</p>
-<p>Some days later, news came of a crushing defeat of
-the Republican army at Saumur,<a class="fn" id="fr_19" href="#fn_19">[19]</a> and again the poor
-child had to suffer from his master&rsquo;s rage and spite.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;It is your friends who are doing this!&rdquo; shouted
-Simon to him.</p>
-<p>In vain the little Prince cried, &ldquo;Indeed it is not
-my fault!&rdquo; The infamous wretch furiously rushed
-at him, and shook him with the ferocity of a maddened
-beast. The child bore it all in silence;
-great tears rolled down his cheeks, but he allowed
-no cry of pain to escape him, for fear his mother
-might hear it and be distressed about him. This
-fear gave him strength, and enabled him to bear
-his sufferings with the courage of a hero. Joy
-had long since been banished from his heart, the
-roses of health from his cheeks, but they had
-not succeeded yet in extinguishing his love of truth
-and purity.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_103">103</div>
-<p>In accordance with the orders he had received,
-Simon allowed his prisoner to go down into the
-garden every day, and sometimes took him with
-him when he went up on the roof of the Tower to
-breathe the air and smoke his pipe undisturbed.
-The boy followed him with hanging head, like a
-whipped dog; he never ventured to raise his eyes
-to his master&rsquo;s face, knowing he should meet only
-hatred and abuse.</p>
-<p>Naturally there was no further mention of any
-kind of instruction for the Prince. Simon made
-him listen to revolutionary or so-called patriotic
-songs, and filled his ears with the vilest oaths and
-blasphemies; but he did not think it necessary to
-occupy young Capet&rsquo;s time otherwise. He forced
-the child to wait on him and perform the most
-menial duties; he took away his suit of mourning,
-and gave him instead a coat of orange-colored cloth,
-with breeches of the same color, and a red cap, which
-was the notorious uniform of the Jacobins.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;If I allow you to take off black for Marat,&rdquo; he
-said, &ldquo;at least you shall wear his livery and honor
-his memory in that way!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_104">104</div>
-<p>The Prince put on the clothes without protest,
-but nothing could induce him to wear the Jacobin
-cap; and Simon was powerless, even by the cruellest
-treatment, to overcome his resistance. He had
-become the slave of his jailers, he had submitted to
-a thousand insults and indignities, but he would not
-allow the badge of his father&rsquo;s murderers to be placed
-upon his head. Weary with his efforts, the cobbler
-finally desisted from the attempt, at the intercession
-of his wife. To tell the truth, this was not the first
-time this woman had taken the part of the unfortunate
-child, for she, indeed, had good reason to be
-satisfied with him.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;He is an amiable being, and a nice child,&rdquo; she
-remarked one day to another woman. &ldquo;He cleans
-and polishes my shoes, and makes the fire for me
-when I get up,&rdquo; for these were also his duties
-now. Alas! what a change from the days when
-every morning he had brought his adored mother a
-nosegay from his garden, picked and arranged with
-his own hands! Now, the drudge of a shoemaker&rsquo;s
-wife&mdash;poor, lovely, high-born little Prince!</p>
-<p>A systematic effort was made to debase the child
-in every way, morally and physically; no pains were
-spared to vitiate his pure innocent mind and make
-him familiar with the most revolting infamies.
-Madame Simon cut off his beautiful hair for no
-other reason than because it had been his mother&rsquo;s
-delight. As it happened, some guards and deputies
-witnessed the act, and one of them, a good-natured
-fellow named Meunier, cried out:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_105">105</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, what have you slashed off all his pretty
-hair for?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;What for?&rdquo; retorted Madame Simon. &ldquo;Why,
-don&rsquo;t you see, citizen, we were playing the part of
-dethroned King, here!&rdquo; And all, with the exception
-of Meunier, burst into shouts of laughter over
-the shorn lamb, who bent his poor little disfigured
-head upon his breast in mute despair. Not content
-with this outrage, that same evening the brutal
-wretches forced the child to drink large quantities
-of wine, which he detested; and when they had succeeded
-in making him drunk, so that he did not
-know what he was doing, Simon put the red cap on
-his head.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_106">106</div>
-<p>&ldquo;At last I see you a Jacobin!&rdquo; cried the villain,
-triumphantly, as the Revolutionary emblem nodded
-on the brow of the unhappy descendant of Louis
-the Fourteenth, the proudest King of Christendom!
-They had broken the child&rsquo;s noble pride at last&mdash;one
-shudders to think by what terrible means;
-and from this time a few blows or curses sufficed
-to make him put on the new head-covering. Thus
-far the wretched child&rsquo;s unhappy fate had remained
-unknown to his mother, although she had never
-ceased to implore the guards or deputies for news
-of him. They all assured her that she need not be
-uneasy about her son&mdash;that he was in good hands
-and well cared for; but all these protestations failed
-to soothe her maternal anxiety and but too well-founded
-distrust.</p>
-<p>At last, on the thirteenth of July, through the
-assistance of Tison, who, at first a bitter enemy,
-had since changed and become friendly to her, she
-succeeded in obtaining a sight of her poor little son.
-But alas! this happiness, so long yearned for, so
-besought from Heaven, was granted her only to
-her sorrow. The little Prince indeed passed before
-the eyes of his mother, who bent her anxious,
-searching gaze upon him. He had laid aside the
-mourning for his father; the red cap was on his
-head, his brutal jailer beside him. Unluckily,
-moreover, just at that moment Simon fell into
-one of the outbursts of fury that usually vented
-themselves upon his wretched charge. The poor
-Queen, struck by this terrible sight as if by lightning,
-grasped her sister-in-law for support, and both
-quickly drew the Princess Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se away
-from their place of concealment (whither she had
-hastened for a glimpse of her brother), at the same
-time reassuring themselves by a glance that she had
-seen nothing and remained in blissful ignorance of
-the Dauphin&rsquo;s fate.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_107">107</div>
-<p>&ldquo;It is useless to wait any longer,&rdquo; said the Queen;
-&ldquo;he will not come now.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>After a few moments, her tears began to flow;
-she turned away to hide them, and came back again,
-hoping for another sight of her son. A little later
-she did see him again. He passed by in silence,
-with bowed head; his tyrant was no longer cursing
-him. She heard no words, but this silence was
-almost as terrible to her as Simon&rsquo;s invectives.
-Mute and motionless, she remained as if rooted to
-the spot till Tison came for her.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, God!&rdquo; she cried bitterly to him, &ldquo;you
-have been deceiving me!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No, madame,&rdquo; he replied; &ldquo;I merely did not
-tell you everything, so you would not be troubled.
-But now that you know all, in the future I will
-conceal nothing from you that I may chance to
-discover.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_108">108</div>
-<p>The knowledge of the pitiable condition of her
-son reduced the Queen to the apathy of despair, and
-she would sit for hours in silent misery. To know
-that her child was suffering and not be able to tend
-or care for him, to know that he was unhappy and
-not be able to comfort him, to know that he was in
-danger and not be able to protect him&mdash;what tortures
-could compare with the martyrdom of this poor
-mother? It turned her beautiful dark hair as white
-as snow, and made her indifferent to her own fate.
-The Convention had issued a decree that the Queen
-should be removed from the Temple to the Conciergerie,
-and on the second of August, at two o&rsquo;clock
-in the morning, the Princesses were roused from
-their sleep to hear this order. The Queen listened
-quietly and without a word as it was read to them,
-then rose immediately and made her preparations
-to follow the officers, who first searched her
-roughly, and even took everything out of her pockets.
-Before she went, she embraced her daughter
-and sister-in-law, and exhorted them to be brave
-and steadfast. As she passed through the low
-doorway, she forgot to stoop, and struck her head a
-sharp blow against it. One of the men asked her
-if she was hurt, and she replied:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Nothing can hurt me now.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_109">109</div>
-<p>But ah! with what feelings must she have left
-that Tower! With what lingering glances at the
-door of the room where the Dauphin was confined!
-She knew she was leaving never to return; knew
-that never again should she clasp her child to her
-breast; knew that he was in the clutches of a tiger.
-Poor ill-fated, unhappy Queen and mother!</p>
-<p>Meanwhile, Simon continued by every vile means
-in his power to maltreat the child committed to his
-guardianship. On the seventh of August, Madame
-Simon went to the theatre to see a low play performed,
-entitled &ldquo;Brutus,&rdquo; and returned full of
-enthusiasm. She described the piece, the plot of
-which was directed against royalty, and Simon listened
-eagerly and attentively. Suddenly he perceived
-that the little Prince had turned away his
-head, as if to avoid hearing it.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You accursed young wolf,&rdquo; he cried furiously,
-&ldquo;so you do not want to listen to the citoyenne&mdash;to
-be improved and enlightened! You would like
-to remain a blockhead and the son of a tyrant!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Everyone has relatives that he should honor,&rdquo;
-replied the boy with angelic calmness and filial
-affection.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_110">110</div>
-<p>This very calmness and composure only seemed
-to enrage Simon the more. He could not forgive
-the child for honoring his father and mother, and,
-seizing him roughly, he threw him across the room
-and down to the floor, with a volley of oaths and
-abusive epithets. Nor was this the worst of which
-the monster was guilty. If a rising occurred anywhere
-in France, against the Revolution and its
-crimes, he vented his rage and spite upon his victim.
-On the sixth of August, Montbrison rose in arms,
-with the cry, &ldquo;God save King Louis the Seventeenth!&rdquo;
-Three or four days later the news reached
-the Temple, and Simon immediately pounced upon
-the Prince.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Here, madame,&rdquo; said he, jeeringly, &ldquo;allow me
-to present to you the King of Montbrison, and&rdquo;&mdash;he
-continued, taking off the boy&rsquo;s Jacobin cap&mdash;&ldquo;I
-will anoint him at once and burn incense to
-him!&rdquo; Whereupon he rubbed the poor child&rsquo;s
-head and ears roughly with his hard hands, blew
-tobacco smoke from his pipe into his face, and
-finally flung him over to his wife, that she in her turn
-might do homage to &ldquo;His Majesty.&rdquo; On the
-tenth of August, the Convention gave a <i>f&ecirc;te</i> for the
-people, and Simon awakened the Prince from his
-morning sleep and commanded him to shout, &ldquo;Long
-live the Republic!&rdquo; The child did not seem to
-understand at first; he arose, and began to put on
-his clothes in silence, when Simon, who was standing
-before him with folded arms, repeated imperiously:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_111">111</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Make haste, Capet! This is a great day; you
-must shout &lsquo;Vive la Republique!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The boy made no answer, but went on with his
-dressing.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Hey! Who am I talking to here?&rdquo; cried the
-cobbler, furiously. &ldquo;Accursed King of Montbrison,
-will you shout &lsquo;Vive la Republique!&rsquo; quickly&mdash;or&mdash;&rdquo;
-and he made a significant gesture with his
-clenched fist.</p>
-<p>The Prince raised his head with a resolute expression,
-and, looking full at his tormentor, replied
-in a clear, firm voice: &ldquo;You may do what you
-choose with me, but I will never cry, &lsquo;Vive la
-Republique!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<p>He spoke so proudly and nobly that even this
-hardened villain gave way before him, and for once
-did not venture to do him any violence.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Good, good!&rdquo; said Simon with a sneer, to cover
-his discomfiture; &ldquo;I will see that your behavior is
-made known.&rdquo; And indeed he did repeat the
-whole incident to everyone in the Temple; but no
-one blamed the Prince, and some even praised him
-for his strength of character.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_112">112</div>
-<p>The next morning the cobbler seemed to have
-repented of his weakness. He procured an account
-of the <i>f&ecirc;te</i> of the preceding day, and forced the boy
-to stand and listen while he read it aloud. The
-Prince obeyed; but at one part, which contained a
-gross insult to his father, he could no longer control
-his rebellious feelings, and retired to one of the
-window recesses to hide his face and his tears.
-Simon hurried after him, dragged him roughly back
-by the hair to the table, and ordered him, under
-pain of a beating, to stand there and listen quietly
-and attentively. Then he resumed his reading, and
-laid particular emphasis on the words: &ldquo;Let us
-swear to defend the Constitution unto death; the
-Republic shall live forever!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Do you hear that, Capet?&rdquo; he shouted; &ldquo;the
-Republic shall live forever!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The child made no reply, and did not even raise
-his head; his face was hidden in his hands.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You cursed young wolf!&rdquo; roared Simon,
-choking with passion, &ldquo;yesterday you would not
-shout &lsquo;Vive la Republique!&rsquo; but you see now,
-blockhead, that the Republic shall live forever!
-You <i>shall</i> say with us, &lsquo;The Republic shall live
-forever!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_113">113</div>
-<p>As he spoke, he seized the Dauphin by both
-shoulders and shook him with all his strength, as
-if to force the words from his mouth. After exhausting
-his fury, the cobbler paced up and down
-the floor for some time, then stopped beside the
-bed of the weeping child and said gruffly:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;It is your own fault, fool; you well deserved
-your treatment.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Let him alone, Simon,&rdquo; said his wife; &ldquo;he is
-blind, the little one. He was brought up on lies
-and deception, and knows no better.&rdquo; And, somewhat
-disconcerted, the cobbler turned away.</p>
-<p>Not long after this, the police scattered through
-the streets of the city low songs and scurrilous
-rhymes against the &ldquo;Austrian she-wolf,&rdquo; as the unfortunate
-Marie Antoinette was called, and Simon
-procured some of these sheets.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Come, Capet,&rdquo; said he one day to the little Prince,
-holding out to him some abominable verses about his
-mother, &ldquo;here is a new song you must sing for me.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The boy glanced at the song, and threw it indignantly
-on the table. Simon immediately flew into
-a rage, and said threateningly:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I believe I said you should sing, and you shall
-sing!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_114">114</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I will never sing such a song as that!&rdquo; replied
-the boy, with a firm determination against which the
-cobbler&rsquo;s rage was powerless.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I tell you, I will strike you dead if you do not
-sing!&rdquo; he shouted, seizing an iron grating from the
-chimney-place.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Never!&rdquo; retorted the Prince, and the furious
-brute actually hurled the heavy iron at the boy&rsquo;s
-head, and would certainly have killed him if he had
-not been quick enough to dodge the missile.</p>
-<p>Scenes like this were of daily occurrence in the
-cruel prison of the Temple. Simon left nothing
-undone to accomplish his terrible purpose and <i>rid
-the Convention</i> of the unfortunate child. He kept
-his prisoner on an irregular diet, forcing him one
-day to eat and drink to excess, and the next leaving
-him to suffer from hunger. With diabolical calculation,
-he did everything possible to undermine the
-health of the Dauphin, and succeeded only too well.
-He gradually sickened, and an attack of fever helped
-to reduce his strength. He slowly recovered, it is
-true; but his old vigor of mind and body never
-returned. They took advantage of his illness to
-make him sign a deposition against his mother; and
-this false statement, extorted from him while he was
-too weak to resist, was used by the bloodthirsty
-Convention to bring the Queen&rsquo;s head to the scaffold.
-The rising in La Vend&eacute;e also brought fresh abuse
-upon the Prince. The Vendeans had proclaimed
-him King, and Simon made merry, with some of his
-friends who were visiting him, over the &ldquo;King of
-La Vend&eacute;e.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_115">115</div>
-<p>&ldquo;For all that,&rdquo; said one of them, &ldquo;there are signs
-of change in the air, and it would be curious if this
-monkey should be a King sometime!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;At least, citizen,&rdquo; returned Simon, &ldquo;he will
-never be King of Paris&mdash;trust me for that!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The Prince, crouching at the foot of his bed, had
-been obliged to overhear all this, with other cruel
-and bloodthirsty jests about the son of &ldquo;Louis the
-Shortened.&rdquo; After the guests had finally departed,
-Simon remained some time longer in the room,
-quarrelling with his wife, who did not attempt to conceal
-her fears for the future. The little Prince had
-not dared to leave his place, and heard Simon say:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;If the Vendeans should ever advance as far as
-Paris, I will throttle the young wolf before I will
-give him up to them.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_116">116</div>
-<p>He kept as still as he could, fearing that the
-least sound or movement would bring down on
-his head the storm that seemed ready to burst.
-Suddenly Simon came up to him, seized him by
-the ear, and led him to the table in the middle of
-the room.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Capet,&rdquo; said he, &ldquo;if the Vendeans should set
-you free, what would you do with me?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I would forgive you,&rdquo; replied the child, calmly.
-Such an answer might have softened the hardest
-heart, but it only increased the cobbler&rsquo;s hatred for
-him. Poor helpless, forsaken child! They had
-robbed him of his mother, too, now, for the
-Queen had been dragged to the guillotine on the
-sixteenth of October, though, happily, of this he
-knew nothing.<a class="fn" id="fr_20" href="#fn_20">[20]</a></p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_117">117</div>
-<p>The poor little Prince had become sadly changed.
-The face that had been so fresh and smiling was
-deeply lined, and bore the marks of sorrow and
-suffering; the once clear, rosy complexion had grown
-dull and sallow; his limbs looked too long and thin
-for his size, and his back was bent a little, as if with
-the weight of his trouble. Since he had found that
-all his actions, and even his words, brought abuse
-or derision upon him he remained silent, scarcely daring
-to answer the simplest question with &ldquo;yes&rdquo; or
-&ldquo;no.&rdquo; He was like a deaf-mute, and at last his
-mind began to be confused. He scarcely seemed to
-remember his past life or realize his present situation.
-Now that he no longer afforded Simon any excuse
-for beating him, that foul wretch found himself compelled
-to devise other means of venting his brutality
-and hastening the end of his victim.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_118">118</div>
-<p>Yet the Dauphin was not entirely destitute of
-friends and sympathizers. One of the turnkeys,
-named Gourlet, and Meunier, a servant in the Temple,
-ventured upon the dangerous attempt to provide
-him with a little diversion. The child had
-expressed a desire for some birds, and Meunier immediately
-exerted himself to obtain some canaries.
-He went to several families whose devotion to the
-royal house was known to him, and, on his stating
-his purpose, they hastened to place their birds at his
-disposal. He returned to the Temple with ten or
-twelve canaries, all of which were well tamed and
-trained. Their gay chirping and flutterings brought
-life and cheerfulness into the gloomy prison, and,
-full of delight, the little Prince caught them one
-after another, and kissed them. There was one of
-the winged band he noticed particularly. It was
-tamer and more affectionate than all the rest, and
-would come flying to him at the softest call, to perch
-on his outstretched finger, seeming to enjoy the
-caresses he bestowed on it. For this bird, the little
-Prince soon conceived an especial affection; he spent
-much time with it, fed it millet seed from his hand
-or his mouth, and, in order to be able to distinguish
-it more readily from the others, he fastened a little
-red ribbon on one of its feet. Whenever he called,
-the tiny creature would come to him instantly, alight
-first on his head, then hop to his shoulder, and
-finally settle itself upon his finger.</p>
-<p>These playmates made the poor little prisoner
-very happy; but it was too pleasant, too sweet, to
-last long. On the nineteenth of December a visit of
-inspection was made, and when the officers entered,
-the Prince&rsquo;s yellow favorite was trilling its clear,
-shrill notes in a burst of song.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_119">119</div>
-<p>&ldquo;What is the meaning of this?&rdquo; cried one of
-the deputies, roughly. &ldquo;The bird there is wearing
-a red ribbon like an order! That savors too much
-of aristocracy, and signifies a distinction that no
-good republican should tolerate.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With these words he seized the poor little songster,
-tore the ribbon from its foot, and hurled it
-against the wall. Happily, the bird used its
-wings, and saved itself from being killed; it fell
-to the floor indeed, but soon started up again and
-mingled with its companions, uttering soft, plaintive
-notes.</p>
-<p>The little Prince, horror-stricken, could not take
-his eyes from his feathered friend. He had not
-been able to repress a cry at the cruel act, but
-did not dare to show any concern or sympathy,
-for fear of making matters worse. Poor child! as
-a result of this unlucky visit, all the birds that had
-afforded him so much innocent pleasure were ruthlessly
-taken away from him. It had been indeed
-too pleasant to last! Simon&rsquo;s fear that he might
-be blamed for allowing the creatures in the prison
-increased his resentment against the Dauphin, and
-he nursed his wrath until he could find an outlet
-for it. The opportunity soon came.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_120">120</div>
-<p>The next day he happened to take a foot-bath,
-and, as it was very agreeable to him to be waited
-on by a King&rsquo;s son, he ordered the boy to warm
-the linen for drying his feet. Trembling with fear
-of his brutal jailer, the poor child obeyed with
-more haste than dexterity, and in his agitation
-dropped a towel into the fire. The cobbler&rsquo;s feet
-were in the water, and, foaming with rage at his
-inability to reach the child, he hurled the most
-frightful imprecations at him. After a few moments,
-the Dauphin, thinking his master&rsquo;s fury had passed,
-knelt down to dry Simon&rsquo;s feet, and the monster
-profited by this opportunity to give him a kick
-that sent him half across the room and stretched
-him on the floor. As if stunned by the shock, the
-poor child lay there motionless; but, not content
-with this, the cobbler beat and kicked him, overwhelming
-him at the same time with the vilest
-epithets until his breath gave out. Then, seeing that
-his victim was still conscious and able to move, he
-ordered him to stand up; and the poor little Prince
-was obliged to rise and drag himself into a corner,
-where he was suffered to remain, weeping piteously.</p>
-<div class="img" id="pic3">
-<img src="images/p129.jpg" alt="" width="521" height="740" />
-<p class="caption"><i>The Cobbler and his little victim</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_121">121</div>
-<p>The jailer grew more vindictive every day, his
-passions more malignant; and his temper was not
-improved when his wife became so dangerously ill
-that the services of a physician were required. A
-surgeon named Nautin, a worthy, respectable man,
-was called in, prescribed a remedy, and promised to
-come again the next day. As he was leaving, he
-passed through the room where Simon sat with
-his charge and some of the municipal officers. The
-boy had refused to sing a licentious song as Simon
-had ordered, and, just as the surgeon entered, the
-cobbler flung himself upon the child, lifted him up
-by the hair and shook him, shouting furiously:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Accursed viper! I have a mind to dash you to
-pieces against the wall!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The doctor hastened to the spot and snatched
-the Dauphin from Simon&rsquo;s grasp, crying angrily:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Villain, what are you doing?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Taken aback by this interference, Simon recoiled
-without a word, and for the time being did
-not venture to maltreat the Prince any further.
-On the following day the surgeon again visited
-his patient, and was greatly surprised and touched
-when suddenly, as he was passing through the
-room where the Dauphin was confined, the little
-prisoner seized his hand and offered him two pears
-which he had saved from his own meal.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_122">122</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Take them, please, dear sir,&rdquo; he said in his
-touching voice; &ldquo;yesterday you showed that you
-have an interest in me. I thank you for it, but
-have no way of proving my gratitude. Will you
-not take these pears, then? It will make me very
-happy!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The old man pressed the child&rsquo;s hand kindly, but
-did not speak. He accepted the present, and a tear
-that rolled down his cheek betrayed the emotion
-he could not find words to express.</p>
-<p>So noble was the nature of this royal child that
-even the terrible treatment he had received had not
-entirely destroyed his sensibilities&mdash;at the slightest
-touch of kindness or sympathy they sprang to life
-again. Never had he forgotten his mother&rsquo;s admonitions.
-Sometimes he even recalled them in
-his dreams; and once it happened that Simon overheard
-him when, in his sleep, he knelt with folded
-hands and prayed fervently to God. Unmoved by
-this touching sight, the cobbler awakened his wife to
-look at the strange dreamer; then, seizing a pitcher
-of water, he suddenly dashed it over the little bowed
-head, regardless of the danger that the shock of
-such an ice-cold shower-bath on a January night
-might kill the child. Instantly seized with a chill,
-the Prince threw himself back on his bed without
-uttering a sound. But the dampness of his couch
-allowed him no rest. He got up again and sought
-refuge on the floor with his pillow&mdash;the only part
-of his bed that had escaped the deluge. As he
-crouched there, his teeth chattering with cold,
-Simon sprang up again in spite of his wife&rsquo;s efforts
-to detain him, grasped the child with both hands,
-and shook him violently, crying:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_123">123</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I will teach you to get up in the night to recite
-your paternosters, like a Trappist!&rdquo; Then as if
-in a frenzy he rushed at the boy with such a malignant
-expression upon his cruel face that the poor
-little Prince caught at the arms of his ferocious
-jailer and cried:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, what have I done that you should want to
-murder me?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Murder you! As if that was what I wanted!
-Don&rsquo;t you know that, if I wished to murder you,
-I could take you by the throat and stop your noise
-in no time?&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_124">124</div>
-<p>So speaking, he flung the boy roughly back into
-his bed, which had been turned into a veritable
-pond. Without a word, he sank down on his
-wretched cot, shivering with cold and terror, while
-the cobbler retired to his own rest filled with savage
-satisfaction. After this dreadful night the poor little
-Dauphin fell into a state of utter despair and apathy.
-Even his tearful glances no longer appealed to his
-brutal keeper. His eyes were always fixed on the
-floor. The last remnants of his courage were gone;
-he had finally succumbed to his fate.</p>
-<p>Nevertheless, the terrible Simon was not to enjoy
-the triumph of seeing his victim expire at his feet.
-The municipal council had decreed that for the
-future the prisoner was to be guarded by four of
-its members, who were to serve as deputies, and on
-the nineteenth of January, 1794, Simon and his wife
-were removed from the Temple. The parting words
-of the cobbler to the innocent child he had tortured
-so barbarously were quite in keeping with his character.
-His wife had said:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Capet, I do not know whether I shall ever
-see you again!&rdquo; And Simon added: &ldquo;Oh! he
-is not crushed yet; but he will never get out of
-this prison&mdash;not if all the saints of heaven moved
-in his behalf!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_125">125</div>
-<p>A last blow accompanied these words, which the
-poor little Prince, who stood before him with downcast
-eyes, received meekly and apathetically, without
-even a glance at his departing jailer. But Simon
-did not escape the vengeance of Heaven. The
-cruel cobbler perished on the scaffold on the twenty-eighth
-of July, 1794, together with Robespierre and
-other monsters of the Revolution.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_126">126</div>
-<h2 id="c6"><span class="h2line1">Chapter VI</span>
-<br /><span class="h2line2">The End of Sorrows</span></h2>
-<p>The removal of Simon released the Dauphin
-from actual physical abuse, but on
-the whole there was not much change
-for the better in his situation. The
-leaders of the Revolution felt no pity for the royal
-child; and instead of appointing a successor to the
-cobbler, they doomed him to solitary confinement.
-The door of communication between his prison and
-the anteroom was securely fastened with nails and
-screws, and crossed from top to bottom with iron
-bars. Three or four feet from the floor there was
-a small opening over a little shelf, covered by a
-movable iron grating, which was secured by a padlock.
-Through this opening or wicket little Capet
-was supplied with food and water, and when he had
-eaten he replaced the empty vessels on the shelf.
-They allowed him neither light nor fire. His
-room was heated only by the flue from a stove in
-the antechamber, and lighted only by a lamp which
-hung opposite the wicket. Here the poor child
-spent the terrible days and nights, his only way of
-reckoning time; for years, months, weeks, days,
-were all one in his confused brain. Time, like a
-stagnant pool, had ceased to flow for him. There
-was nothing but suffering to mark the hours, hence
-they were indistinguishable.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_127">127</div>
-<p>We will pass quickly over this period&mdash;one
-long monotonous round of misery and wretchedness,
-that lasted without intermission for more than six
-months. During all that time the air of heaven
-did not once penetrate to this barred cell, and only
-a faint glimmer of daylight pierced the grating and
-the close, heavy shutters. The little prisoner never
-saw the guards who thrust his scanty meals to him
-through the wicket; he heard no sound but the
-creaking of bolts and a harsh voice, which at the
-close of day ordered him to go to bed, since there
-was no light for him. The solitude and loneliness
-lay upon his spirit like a leaden weight. Without
-work, without play, without diversion or occupation
-of any kind, how endless must the days have been!
-And then the night and darkness, with its vague
-phantoms, its indefinable terrors, chilling the child&rsquo;s
-blood with fear!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_128">128</div>
-<p>Many such days and nights passed, but no word,
-no sound of complaint, escaped from the dark cell.
-The wicket was opened every day, but the little
-Prince never sought for pity or compassion. He
-had given up all hope of human sympathy, and
-trusted only to the mercy of God; hoped only for
-a speedy death and for everlasting peace beyond.</p>
-<p>The deputies, whose duty it was to guard the
-Dauphin, were cruel and unfeeling&mdash;if not naturally
-so, then because they feared to be otherwise. At
-nightfall they would go up to the den of the
-&ldquo;young wolf&rdquo; to assure themselves that he was
-alive and had not escaped. If he did not answer
-their harsh summons at once, they would open the
-wicket with a great clattering and shout:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Capet, Capet! Are you asleep? Where are
-you? Get up, viper!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The child, so rudely aroused, would drag himself
-with trembling limbs from his wretched bed to the
-grating, his feet colder than the damp floor on which
-he trod, to answer gently:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Here I am!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Come nearer, then, so we can see you!&rdquo;
-they would cry, holding up a lantern to light the
-cell.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_129">129</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Very good! Go to bed again!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Two hours later there would be another rattling
-of bolts, other deputies would appear, and again the
-Prince would be roused from his sleep and compelled,
-half-naked and shivering with cold and
-terror, to answer the questions of his jailers. This
-persecution soon exhausted him mentally and
-physically. The lack of fresh air, the darkness
-and solitude, benumbed all his faculties. He no
-longer wept. His feeble hands could scarcely lift
-the earthen plate or jug in which his food and
-water were brought. He had ceased to try to clean
-his room; he no longer had even the strength to
-shake up the sack of straw that formed his bed, or
-to turn the mattress. The bedclothes were never
-changed, and his pillow was in tatters; he could
-not get clean linen or mend his ragged clothes;
-he had not resolution enough to wash and clean
-himself, but lay patiently on his bed most of the
-time, his dull eyes staring into vacancy.</p>
-<p>How often must he have prayed to God, &ldquo;When,
-oh! when, will my sufferings end?&rdquo; How long&mdash;how
-long it must have seemed before the Almighty
-listened to the feeble voice and sent the blessed
-release of death. But at last the petition was heard,
-and a gleam of human pity brightened the last days
-of this innocent victim of man&rsquo;s cruelty.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_130">130</div>
-<p>After the execution of Robespierre<a class="fn" id="fr_21" href="#fn_21">[21]</a> and his associates
-in the Reign of Terror, better days dawned
-for the little Prince. The new government sent
-him a jailer named Laurent, who was kind and
-humane, and dared to show his pity for his prisoner.
-He had the barred door opened, and, horror-stricken
-at the sight disclosed, at once took measures to
-relieve the poor child, whom he found cowering on
-a filthy bed, clothed in rags, his back bent as if with
-age, his little body covered with sores. The once
-lovely child showed scarcely a trace of his former
-beauty. His face was yellow and emaciated, his
-eyes dim and sunken; he was ill, and the bright
-and vigorous mind was no longer active. &ldquo;I
-want to die! I want to die!&rdquo; were the only words
-Laurent was able to draw from him at his first
-visit.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_131">131</div>
-<p>The kindly jailer lost no time in bettering his
-situation as far as he could. The barred door with
-the wicket was removed, the shutters taken down
-from the windows to admit the light and air freely,
-and the cell thoroughly cleaned. One of his first
-cares was to have the boy bathed, cleaned, and
-placed in another bed. He also sent for a physician,
-and ordered a tailor to make some new clothes
-for his charge. At first the poor little Prince could
-not understand these expressions of sympathy and
-kindness. He had suffered so much and so deeply
-from the inhumanity of men, that his crushed sensibilities
-were slow in starting to life again.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Why do you trouble yourself about me?&rdquo; he
-asked one day, and when Laurent made some
-kindly answer, added, with a swelling heart, &ldquo;I
-thought no one cared for me any more!&rdquo; while
-he tried to hide his tears.</p>
-<p>Simon had introduced the custom of addressing
-the Prince simply as &ldquo;Capet&rdquo;; Laurent changed
-this, and called him by his first name, &ldquo;M. Charles.&rdquo;
-He also obtained permission for him to walk on
-the platform of the Tower whenever he chose, and
-enjoy the blue sky and the sunshine again after his
-long, sad imprisonment. Here, one day, he found
-some little yellow flowers that were trying to live in
-the seams and crevices of the crumbling stone. He
-gathered them eagerly, and tied them into a little
-nosegay, recalling, perhaps, the sunny days of his
-early childhood.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_132">132</div>
-<p>On the ninth of November, 1794, a second jailer
-arrived&mdash;a man named Gomin, who, like Laurent,
-was kind and tender-hearted. It was settled between
-them that they should share the same room,
-an arrangement which suited Laurent very well,
-since it gave him more freedom; and both men
-exerted themselves to make their little captive&rsquo;s
-dull days as cheerful as possible. They would have
-done even more for him had they not been restrained
-by the presence of a deputy, who was required
-to share their guard over the Dauphin.
-These deputies were frequently changed. If the
-choice of their superiors happened to fall on a man
-who was friendly and obliging, Laurent and Gomin
-could usually obtain small favors from him. Thus,
-on the third day after his arrival in the Temple,
-Gomin made use of the good-will of a deputy
-named Bresson to obtain for the Prince four plants
-in pots, all in full bloom. The sight of these
-flowers was a most wonderful surprise to the poor
-child, and his eyes filled with tears of joy and happiness.
-He went around and around them, as if
-intoxicated with delight, clasped them in his arms,
-and inhaled their fragrance. He devoured them
-with his eyes, examined every blossom, and finally
-picked one. Then he looked at Gomin with a
-troubled expression; an innocent, childish memory
-trembled in his heart. He thought of his mother!
-Alas, poor child! For her no more should earthly
-flowers bloom, nor wert thou ever to be permitted
-to lay a blossom on her grave!</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_133">133</div>
-<p>Soon after this, a deputy named Delboy came to
-the Temple. He was coarse and uncouth in appearance,
-and had a gruff, harsh voice. With an air
-of brutality, he opened all the prison doors, and
-behaved in a rude and boorish manner; but under
-this rough exterior was concealed a softness of heart
-and highmindedness that greatly surprised the little
-prisoner.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Why this miserable food?&rdquo; he said one day,
-glancing at the Dauphin&rsquo;s scanty meal. &ldquo;If he
-were in the Tuileries, we might question what he
-had to eat&mdash;but here in our hands! We should
-be merciful to him; the nation is magnanimous!
-What are these shutters for? Under the government
-of the people, the sun shines for all, and this
-child is entitled to his share of it. Why should a
-brother be prevented from seeing his sister? Our
-watchword is fraternity!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_134">134</div>
-<p>The Prince gazed at him in open-eyed astonishment,
-and followed every movement of this rough
-stranger, whose friendly words were such a contrast
-to his forbidding aspect.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Is it not so, my boy,&rdquo; continued the deputy;
-&ldquo;would you not be very happy if you could play
-with your sister? I do not see why the nation
-should remember your origin if you forget it.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Then, turning to Laurent and Gomin, he added:
-&ldquo;It is not his fault that he is the son of a King.
-He is only a child&mdash;an unfortunate one, too&mdash;and
-should not be treated so harshly. He is, at least, a
-human being; and is not France the mother of all
-her children?&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_135">135</div>
-<p>After his departure, Gomin hastened to procure
-more comforts for the Prince, and took pains to see
-that he had a light in his room at night, for which
-the poor child was very grateful. He was not
-allowed to see his sister, Marie Th&eacute;r&egrave;se, however,
-as the government had strictly forbidden it. But
-all the care and attention of his jailers could not
-save him from being attacked by a bad fever, and
-unfortunately the deputies were not all so considerate
-as the rough but kindly Delboy. Some of
-them terrified him by harsh threats and insults,
-which by no means improved his condition. One
-man, named Careaux, to whom Gomin applied for
-permission to send for a physician for the sick child,
-had the heartless insolence to reply:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Pah! never mind him. There are plenty of
-children dying all the time who are of more consequence
-than he!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>A day or two afterward, Gomin was painfully surprised
-to hear the poor boy, muttering to himself,
-repeat the words, &ldquo;Many children die who are of
-more consequence!&rdquo; and from this time he sank
-into a state of the deepest melancholy and failed
-rapidly. It was with difficulty that Gomin could
-induce him to go up to the roof of the Tower, even
-when he had the strength; and soon, indeed, his feet
-could no longer support him, and his jailers were
-obliged to carry him up in their arms. The disease
-made such terrible progress in a few days that the
-government finally felt it necessary to send a deputation
-to the Temple to inquire into the condition
-of the prisoner. Nothing came of it, however.
-No physician was summoned, no remedies applied,
-and the Dauphin was left to sink slowly into the
-grave. It was plain that his death had been determined
-on by the government, and disease was
-allowed to finish the work which that unspeakable
-wretch, the cobbler Simon, had begun so well.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_136">136</div>
-<p>Gomin still had hope, nevertheless, and used
-every means in his power to add to the child&rsquo;s small
-pleasures and recreations. He found some books,
-which the Prince read eagerly; and, through an acquaintance
-named Debierne, obtained a turtle-dove
-for him, but it did not live long. They often
-played draughts together; the Prince did not understand
-the game very well, but the kind-hearted
-jailer always contrived to let his small opponent
-win. Shuttlecock, too, was a favorite amusement
-when the child&rsquo;s strength permitted, and at this he
-proved very skilful. His eye was sure, his hand
-quick, and he always rested the left one lightly on
-his hip while the right was busy with the battledore.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_137">137</div>
-<p>On the twenty-ninth of March, 1795, Laurent
-left the Temple, and was replaced by Etienne Lasne,
-a house painter and soldier of the Guard. The
-Prince thereby lost one friend, but gained another,
-for Lasne from the beginning showed the heartiest
-good-will toward him, and soon learned how to win
-his affection. He would spend hours playing with
-him, sing lively songs while Gomin joined in with
-his violin, or entertain him with humorous fancies;
-and his devotion so won the child&rsquo;s love and confidence
-that the Dauphin always used the familiar
-&ldquo;thou&rdquo; in speaking to him, although such had
-never been his custom.</p>
-<p>All this time the condition of the little Dauphin
-had been growing worse so steadily that finally, at
-the urgent demands of the jailers, a physician was
-sent for. M. Desault treated him and prescribed
-some remedies, though he gave Gomin to understand
-from the first that he had little hope of the
-boy&rsquo;s recovery. They moved him into a room that
-was more light and sunny, but he was very weak,
-and the change did little to check the progress of
-the disease. Though his kind friend often carried
-him up to the platform on the Tower, the slight improvement
-wrought by breathing the fresh air scarcely
-compensated for the fatigue the effort cost him.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_138">138</div>
-<p>In the course of centuries, the rain had hollowed
-out a sort of little basin on the battlements of the
-platform, where the water would remain for several
-days, and as there were frequent rains in the spring of
-1795, this reservoir was never empty. Every time
-the Prince was carried to the roof, he saw a number
-of sparrows that came daily to the little pool to
-drink and bathe in it. At first they would fly away
-at his approach, but after a time they became accustomed
-to seeing him, and only took flight when
-he came too close. They were always the same
-ones, and he learned to know them. Perhaps they,
-like himself, had grown familiar with the old Tower.
-He called them his birds. As soon as the door
-was opened, his first glance would be toward the
-little basin, and the sparrows were always there.
-When he approached, they would all rise in the air,
-fluttering and chirping; but after he had passed, they
-would settle down again at once. Supported by his
-jailer&rsquo;s arm and leaning against the wall, he would
-often stand perfectly motionless for a long time,
-watching the birds alight and dip their little beaks
-in the water, then their breasts, fluttering their
-wings and shaking the drops off their feathers,
-while the poor little invalid would clasp his keeper&rsquo;s
-arm tightly, as if to say: &ldquo;Alas! I cannot do that!&rdquo;
-Sometimes, with this support, he would take several
-steps forward, till he was so near he could almost
-touch them with his outstretched arm. This was
-his greatest pleasure; he loved their cheerful twittering
-and quick, alert motions.</p>
-<div class="img" id="pic4">
-<img src="images/p149.jpg" alt="" width="539" height="769" />
-<p class="caption"><i>The Dauphin and the sparrows</i></p>
-</div>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_139">139</div>
-<p>The physician, M. Desault, came every morning
-at nine o&rsquo;clock to see his patient, and often
-remained with him for some time. The Prince
-was very fond of the good old man, and showed his
-gratitude both in words and looks. Suddenly,
-however, his visits ceased, and they learned that he
-had died unexpectedly on the thirty-first of May.
-The little Prince wept when he was told of it, and
-mourned sincerely for his kind friend. The chief
-surgeon, M. Pelletan, took his place; but he, too,
-had no hope of being able to prolong the life of the
-child, who, like a delicate plant deprived of light
-and air, gradually drooped and faded. Yet he bore
-his sufferings without a murmur or complaint.
-The plant was dying; its bright colors were gone,
-but its sweet fragrance remained to the last.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_140">140</div>
-<p>M. Pelletan, who realized only too well his dangerous
-condition, had requested from the government
-the advice and assistance of another physician,
-and on the seventh of June M. Dumaugin was sent to
-accompany him to the Temple. The Prince&rsquo;s weakness
-had increased alarmingly, and that morning,
-after having taken his medicine and been rubbed
-as usual, he had sunk into a sort of swoon, which
-made the jailers fear the end was near. He revived
-a little, however, when the physicians arrived;
-but they saw plainly it was useless to attempt
-to check the malady. They ordered a glass of
-sweetened water to be given to him, to cool his dry,
-parched mouth, if he should wish to drink, and
-withdrew with a painful sense of their helplessness.
-M. Pelletan was of the opinion that the little Prince
-would not live through another day, but his colleague
-did not think the end would come so soon.
-It was agreed that M. Pelletan should make his
-visit at eight o&rsquo;clock the next morning, and M.
-Dumaugin was to come at eleven.</p>
-<p>When Gomin entered the room that evening
-with the Dauphin&rsquo;s supper, he was pleasantly surprised
-to find the sick child a little improved. His
-color was better, his eyes brighter, his voice stronger.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, it is you!&rdquo; he said at once to his jailer,
-with evident pleasure at seeing him.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You are not suffering so much now?&rdquo; asked
-Gomin.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Not so much,&rdquo; answered the Prince softly.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;You must thank this room for that,&rdquo; said
-Gomin. &ldquo;Here there is at least fresh air to breathe,
-and plenty of light; the good doctors come to see
-you, and you should find a little comfort in all this.&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_141">141</div>
-<p>At these words the Prince looked up at his jailer
-with an expression of deepest sadness. His eyes
-grew dim, then shone suddenly bright again, as a
-tear trickled through his lashes and rolled down his
-cheek.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Alone&mdash;always alone!&rdquo; was his answer. &ldquo;And
-my mother has been over there, in that other Tower,
-all this time!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>He did not know that she, as well as his aunt,
-Madame &Eacute;lisabeth, had long since been dragged to
-the guillotine, and all the warmth and tenderness of
-which the poor child&rsquo;s heart was still capable of
-feeling were fixed on the mother from whose arms
-he had been so cruelly torn. This childish affection
-had survived through everything; it was as
-strong as his will, as deep as his nature. &ldquo;Love,&rdquo;
-says the Holy Scriptures, &ldquo;is stronger than death,&rdquo;
-and this child confirmed the saying. Now, when
-his mind was dwelling on memories of the past and
-the recollection of his sufferings, every other
-thought was forgotten, and his tried and tortured
-heart had room for no other image than that of his
-dearly and tenderly beloved mother.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_142">142</div>
-<p>&ldquo;It is true you are often alone here, and that is
-sad, to be sure,&rdquo; continued Gomin; &ldquo;but then you
-no longer have the sight of so many bad men
-around you, or the example of so many wicked
-actions.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, I have seen enough of them,&rdquo; murmured
-the child; &ldquo;but,&rdquo; he added in a gentler tone,
-laying his hand on the arm of his kindly jailer and
-raising his eyes to his face, &ldquo;I see good people also,
-and they keep me from being angry with those who
-are not.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>At this, Gomin said suddenly: &ldquo;That wicked
-Careaux you have seen here so often, as deputy, has
-been arrested, and is now in prison himself.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The Prince started.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Careaux?&rdquo; he repeated. &ldquo;He did not treat
-me well. But I am sorry. Is he here?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;No, in La Force, in the Quartier St. Antoine.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>An ordinary nature would have harbored some
-feeling of revenge, but this royal child had the
-greatness of soul to pity his persecutor.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;I am very sorry for him; he is more unhappy
-than we, for he deserves his misfortunes!&rdquo;</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_143">143</div>
-<p>Words so simple and yet so noble, on the lips of
-a child scarcely ten years old, may be wondered at;
-nevertheless, they were actually spoken by the
-Dauphin, and the words themselves did not impress
-Gomin so much as the sincere and touching tone in
-which they were spoken. Without doubt, misfortune
-and suffering had matured the child&rsquo;s mind
-prematurely, and he may have been inspired by some
-invisible presence from above, such as God often
-sends to the bedside of the suffering and dying.</p>
-<p>Night came on&mdash;the last night the poor little
-prisoner was to spend in solitude and loneliness, with
-only those old companions, misery of mind and
-body. He had always been left alone at night, even
-during his illness; and not until eight o&rsquo;clock in the
-morning were his jailers allowed to go to him. We
-do not know how the Prince passed that last night,
-or whether he waked or slept; but in either case
-death was hovering close beside his pillow. The
-next morning, Monday, the eighth of June, Lasne
-entered the room between seven and eight o&rsquo;clock,
-Gomin not daring to go first for fear he should not
-find their charge alive. But by the time M. Pelletan
-arrived the Prince was sitting up, and Lasne thought
-he had even improved somewhat since the day
-before, though the physician&rsquo;s more experienced eye
-told him there was no change for the better. Indeed,
-the poor little invalid, whose feet felt strangely heavy,
-soon wanted to lie down again.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_144">144</div>
-<p>When M. Dumaugin came at eleven o&rsquo;clock, the
-Prince was in bed; but he welcomed him with the
-unvarying gentleness and sweetness that had never
-deserted him through all his troubles, and to which
-the physician himself testified later on. He shrugged
-his shoulders over the patient&rsquo;s condition, and felt
-that the end was not far off. After he had taken
-his leave, Gomin replaced Lasne in the sick room.
-He seated himself near the bed, but, fearing to rouse
-or disturb the child, did not speak. The Prince
-never began a conversation, and was silent likewise,
-gazing mournfully at his friend.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;How unhappy it makes me to see you suffer so
-much!&rdquo; said Gomin at last.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Never mind,&rdquo; answered the child softly, &ldquo;I
-shall not always suffer.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Gomin knelt down by the bed to be nearer him,
-and the affectionate child seized his keeper&rsquo;s hand
-and pressed it to his lips. At this, Gomin gave way
-to his emotion, and his heart went out in prayer&mdash;the
-prayer that man in his deepest sorrow sends up
-to the all-merciful Father; while the Prince, still
-clasping the faithful hand in his, raised his eyes to
-heaven with a look of angelic peace and holiness
-impossible to describe. After a time, Gomin,
-seeing that he lay quiet and motionless, said to
-him:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_145">145</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I hope you do not suffer now?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh, yes, I still suffer,&rdquo; whispered the Prince,
-&ldquo;but much less&mdash;the music is so beautiful!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Now, there was no music in or near the Temple
-at this solemn moment; no noise of any kind from
-outside entered the room where the soul of the little
-martyr was preparing for flight. Gomin, much
-surprised, therefore, asked him:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Where does the music come from?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;From above there!&rdquo; replied the child.</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Is it long that you have heard it?&rdquo;</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Since you knelt down by me and prayed.
-Have you not heard it? Listen&mdash;listen now!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>With a quick motion he held up his feeble hand,
-his blue eyes shining with rapture, while Gomin,
-not wishing to dispel this last sweet illusion of the
-dying child, made a pious effort to hear what could
-not be heard, and pretended to be listening to the
-music. In a few moments the Prince raised himself
-suddenly and cried out in an ecstasy of joy:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_146">146</div>
-<p>&ldquo;Oh! among all those voices I can hear my
-mother&rsquo;s!&rdquo; and as this holy name escaped the
-orphan&rsquo;s lips, all his pain and sorrow seemed to disappear.
-His eyebrows, drawn with suffering, relaxed
-and his eyes sparkled with the light of victory
-and freedom. But the radiance of his glance was
-soon dimmed; the old worn look came back to his
-face and he sank back, his hands crossed meekly on
-his breast. Gomin watched him closely and followed
-all his movements with anxious eyes. His breathing
-was not more difficult, but his eyes wandered about
-vacantly and absently, and were often fixed on the
-window. Gomin asked if anything troubled him,
-but he did not seem to hear even when the question
-was repeated, and made no reply. Lasne came soon
-after to relieve Gomin, who left his little friend with
-a heavy heart, although he did not realize the end
-was so near. Lasne sat by the bed for a long time
-in silence, the Prince gazing at him sorrowfully; but
-when he moved a little, Lasne asked him how he
-felt and whether he wanted anything. Instead of
-replying, he asked abruptly:</p>
-<p>&ldquo;Do you think my sister could hear the music?
-It would make her so happy!&rdquo;</p>
-<p>Lasne could not answer this. The yearning eyes
-of the dying boy, dark with the anguish of death,
-were turned toward the window. Suddenly a cry
-of joy escaped him; then, turning to Lasne, he said:</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_147">147</div>
-<p>&ldquo;I have something to tell you.&rdquo;</p>
-<p>The jailer took his hand&mdash;the little head drooped
-upon his breast&mdash;he listened, but in vain. The
-last word had been spoken! God had spared the
-little Dauphin the last agonizing death-struggle,
-and in a last dream of joy and rapture had taken
-him to His loving arms!</p>
-<p>Lasne laid his hand gently on the child&rsquo;s heart,
-but it no longer beat. That troubled heart was quiet
-now. The little Dauphin had exchanged his sorrowful
-earthly dwelling for the eternal peace and
-happiness of Heaven&mdash;had found his loved ones
-and his God.<a class="fn" id="fr_22" href="#fn_22">[22]</a></p>
-<p class="center"><span class="gs">* * * * * * * *</span></p>
-<p>Only a few more words, gentle reader. I have
-unrolled a sad picture before you, and, however
-much it may have excited your sympathy, it could
-not be softened, for from beginning to end it is the
-truth and only the truth. The little Dauphin,
-Louis Charles, the son of a King and a King himself,
-really bore all these sorrows; he lived, suffered,
-and died as has been described in these pages. A
-conscientious and reliable investigator, M. de Beauchesne,
-has with untold zeal and patience collected
-all the incidents here recounted; and the facts have
-been corroborated by Lasne and Gomin, the two
-worthy men who tried to brighten the last days of
-the unfortunate little Prince.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_148">148</div>
-<p>And now, should you ask what moral is to be
-drawn from this true narrative, I would answer:
-Learn from the perusal of this child&rsquo;s life to be submissive
-under affliction and trouble. God keep you
-from pain and sorrow; but, should they one day fall
-to your lot, then remember the little Dauphin and
-King of France, and endure, as he endured, suffering
-and heart-break with calmness and patience, with
-humility and submission to the will of the Lord,
-before whose mysterious and inscrutable decrees
-weak mortality must bow without repining.</p>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_149">149</div>
-<h2 id="c7">Appendix</h2>
-<p>The following is a chronological statement of the most
-important events mentioned in this volume, as well as of
-those directly connected with the French Revolution:</p>
-<table class="center">
-<tr><td class="r"> August 23, 1754</td><td>Birth of Louis XVI.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1770</td><td>Marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1774</td><td>Louis XVI ascends the throne.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> March 27, 1785</td><td>Birth of Louis XVII.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1789</td><td>Louis XVII becomes Dauphin.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> May 5, 1789</td><td>Meeting of States General. Revolutionary agitations.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> June 17, 1789</td><td>Third Estate takes the name of Constituent Assembly.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> July 14, 1789</td><td>Storming of the Bastille.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> July 14, 1790</td><td>The &ldquo;Feast of the Pikes&rdquo; on the Champ de Mars, and the oath of Federation.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> June 20, 1791</td><td>Flight of the Royal Family to Varennes.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> June 25, 1791</td><td>Brought back to Paris as captives.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> September, 1791</td><td>Constitution adopted.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> April, 1792</td><td>War with Prussia and Austria.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r">September&nbsp;21,&nbsp;1792</td><td>Proclamation of the Republic.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> January 21, 1793</td><td>Execution of Louis XVI.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> March, 1793</td><td>Establishment of Revolutionary Tribunal.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> April, 1793</td><td>Establishment of Committee of Public Safety.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> July 3, 1793</td><td>Imprisonment of the Dauphin in the Temple.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> July 13, 1793</td><td>Assassination of Marat.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> October 16, 1793</td><td>Execution of Marie Antoinette.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1793-94</td><td>Reign of Terror.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> April 6, 1794</td><td>Execution of Danton.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> July 27, 1794</td><td>Execution of Robespierre.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> June 8, 1795</td><td>Death of the Dauphin in the Temple.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> October 5, 1795</td><td>Victory of Buonaparte over the Sections.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1796</td><td>Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> November, 1799</td><td>Beginning of the Consulate.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> 1802</td><td>Napoleon made Life Consul.</td></tr>
-<tr><td class="r"> March 18, 1804</td><td>Establishment of the Empire.</td></tr>
-</table>
-<div class="pb" id="Page_150">150</div>
-<h2>Footnotes</h2>
-<div class="fnblock"><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_1" href="#fr_1">[1]</a>Louis Charles, Duke de Normandie, second son of Louis XVI and Marie
-Antoinette, was born at Versailles March 27, 1785, became Dauphin in 1789, and
-three years later was imprisoned in the Temple, where he died June 8, 1795. At
-the time this story opens, he was the only son. His brother, Louis Joseph Xavier
-Fran&ccedil;ois, born October 22, 1781, died June 7, 1789. He had two sisters, Maria
-Theresa Charlotte, born December 19, 1778, married the Duke d&rsquo;Angoul&ecirc;me,
-eldest son of Charles X of France, died October 19, 1851; and Sophia H&eacute;l&egrave;ne
-Beatrice, born July 9, 1786, died June 16, 1787.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_2" href="#fr_2">[2]</a>Louis XVI,
-grandson of Louis XV, was born at Versailles August 23, 1754.
-In 1770 he married Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Emperor Francis I and
-Maria Theresa, of Austria. Louis XVI was guillotined January 21, 1793, and
-Marie Antoinette October 16, 1793.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_3" href="#fr_3">[3]</a>The
-Champ de Mars is a large square on the left bank of the Seine, devoted
-to military exercises. From a very early period it has been the scene of battles,
-riots, pageants, festivals, and great public gatherings. Besides the F&ecirc;te of the Federation,
-sometimes called the &ldquo;Feast of the Pikes,&rdquo; mentioned above, it was the
-scene of the Massacres in 1791, and of the &ldquo;F&ecirc;te &agrave; l&rsquo;&Ecirc;tre supr&ecirc;me,&rdquo; the latter a
-festival in which an effort was made, under the auspices of Robespierre, who had
-obtained a decree from the Assembly recognizing the existence of the Supreme
-Being and the immortality of the soul, to set up a new religion in the place of
-Catholicism and reason worship. Carlyle calls it &ldquo;the shabbiest page of human
-annals.&rdquo;
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_4" href="#fr_4">[4]</a>The Marquis de Lafayette
-was not only a statesman, but a soldier. He served
-with great distinction in the War of the American Revolution, commanded the
-French National Guard, 1789-90, fought the Austrians in 1792, commanded the
-National Guard in 1830, and helped place Louis Philippe on the throne. He came
-to this country twice, the second time in 1824.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_5" href="#fr_5">[5]</a>Talleyrand, a French abb&eacute;, was made Bishop of Autun in 1788, but he
-was much more celebrated as a statesman and diplomatist. He was prominent in
-all the political events of French history from 1789 to 1834, and was also a leading
-figure in all the diplomatic affairs of that period. He died at Paris
-May 17, 1838.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_6" href="#fr_6">[6]</a>Varennes-en-Argonne is a small town in the department of Meuse on the river Aire.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_7" href="#fr_7">[7]</a>Arnaud Berquin, a French author, was born at Langoiran in 1749, and died
-at Paris in 1791. He was famous as a writer for children. Among his most
-popular works are &ldquo;The Children&rsquo;s Friend&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Little Grandison.&rdquo;
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_8" href="#fr_8">[8]</a>The Marquis de Bouill&eacute;, a French general, was born at Auvergne in 1739, and
-died at London in 1800. He was governor in the Antilles from 1768 to 1782,
-and when the French Revolution broke out was in command at Metz. In 1790
-he quelled the mutiny of the garrison at Nancy, and in the following year made an
-effort to get Louis XVI out of the country; failing in which, he fled to England,
-where he died a few years afterward.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_9" href="#fr_9">[9]</a>&Eacute;lisabeth
-Philippine Marie H&eacute;l&egrave;ne, sister of Louis XVI, was born at
-Versailles, May 3, 1764, and was guillotined May 10, 1794. Of her courage at
-the scaffold, Carlyle says &ldquo;Another row of tumbrils we must notice: that which
-holds &Eacute;lisabeth, the sister of Louis. Her trial was like the rest, for plots, for
-plots. She was among the kindliest, most innocent of women. There sat with
-her, amid four-and-twenty others, a once timorous Marchioness de Crussol,
-courageous now, expressing toward her the liveliest loyalty. At the foot of the
-scaffold, &Eacute;lisabeth, with tears in her eyes, thanked this marchioness, said she
-was grieved she could not reward her. &lsquo;Ah! Madame, would your Royal Highness
-deign to embrace me, my wishes were complete.&rsquo; &lsquo;Right willingly, Marquise
-de Crussol, and with my whole heart.&rsquo;&rdquo;
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_10" href="#fr_10">[10]</a>Count de Axel Fersen, who accompanied the King in this flight, was born at
-Stockholm, September 4, 1755, and was murdered in the same city, June 20, 1810,
-by the populace, who suspected that he and his sister had been concerned in the death
-of Prince Christian of Holstein-Augustenburg, who was to be the successor of
-Charles XIII. Count Fersen was commander of the Royal Swedish Regiment in
-the service of Louis XVI.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_11" href="#fr_11">[11]</a>&ldquo;Nor is Postmaster Drouet unobservant all this while, but steps out and
-steps in, with his long flowing nightgown, in the level sunlight, prying into several
-things.... That lady in slouched gypsy-hat, though sitting back in the carriage,
-does she not resemble someone we have seen sometime&mdash;at the Feast of Pikes or
-elsewhere? And this Grosse-T&ecirc;te in round hat and peruke, which, looking rearward,
-pokes itself out from time to time, methinks there are features in it&mdash;? Quick,
-Sieur Guillaume, Clerk of the Directoire, bring me a new assignat! Drouet
-scans the new assignat, compares the paper-money picture with the Gross Head in
-round hat there, by day and night; you might say the one was an attempted
-engraving of the other. And this march of troops, this sauntering and whispering&mdash;I
-see it.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Carlyle&rsquo;s</i> &ldquo;<i>French Revolution.</i>&rdquo;
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_12" href="#fr_12">[12]</a>Antoine Pierre Barnave,
-one of the French revolutionists, was deputy to the
-Third Estate in 1789, and President of the National Assembly in 1790. He was
-arrested for alleged treason in 1791, and was guillotined in 1793.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_13" href="#fr_13">[13]</a>P&eacute;tion, mentioned in this connection, another of the revolutionists, was
-President of the Constituent Assembly in 1790, and Mayor of Paris in 1791-92.
-He was proscribed in June, 1793, but escaped, and at last committed suicide near
-Bordeaux in 1794.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_14" href="#fr_14">[14]</a>The Temple
-was a fortified structure of the Knights Templars, built in 1128.
-After the order was abolished in 1312, it was used for various purposes. The
-chapel remained until 1650, and the square tower, where the royal family were
-imprisoned, was destroyed in 1810.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_15" href="#fr_15">[15]</a>The Princess de Lamballe was the daughter of the Prince de Carignan of the
-house of Savoy-Carignan, and an intimate friend of Marie Antoinette, and shared
-the latter&rsquo;s imprisonment in the Temple. She married the Prince de Lamballe, a
-great-grandson of Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan. She was put to death
-in 1792, because she refused to take the oath against the monarchy. Carlyle, in
-his &ldquo;French Revolution,&rdquo; says of her murder: &ldquo;The brave are not spared, nor
-the beautiful, nor the weak. Princess de Lamballe has lain down on bed.
-&lsquo;Madame, you are to be removed to the Abbaye&rsquo; (the military prison at St. Germain-des-Pr&eacute;s).
-&lsquo;I do not wish to remove; I am well enough here.&rsquo; There is
-a need-be for removing. She will arrange her dress a little, then. Rude voices
-answer: &lsquo;You have not far to go!&rsquo;&rdquo; The sad story of her fate is told in the
-last outcry from the mob. Although innocent of any offence, unless sympathy with
-the royal family or friendship with Marie Antoinette were an offence, she was executed.
-She went calmly to the guillotine and bravely gave up her life.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_16" href="#fr_16">[16]</a>History relates that the King mounted the scaffold without hesitation and
-without fear, but when the executioners approached to bind him he resisted them,
-deeming it an affront to his dignity and a reflection upon his courage. The Abb&eacute;
-who had accompanied him, as a spiritual consoler, reminded him that the Saviour
-had submitted to be bound, whereupon Louis, who was of a very pious nature, at
-once consented, though still protesting against the indignity of the act. Before the
-fatal moment, he advanced to the edge of the scaffold and said to the people:
-&ldquo;Frenchmen, I die innocent; it is from the scaffold and near appearing before
-God that I tell you so. I pardon my enemies. I desire that France&mdash;&rdquo;
-The sentence was left unfinished, for at that instant the signal was given the executioner.
-The Abb&eacute; leaning towards the King said: &ldquo;Son of Saint Louis,
-ascend to Heaven.&rdquo; Undoubtedly the reason for the interruption of the King&rsquo;s
-last words was the fear of popular sympathy, for notwithstanding the revolutionary
-frenzy he was personally liked by many.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_17" href="#fr_17">[17]</a> The Carmagnole was originally a Proven&ccedil;al dance tune, which was frequently
-adapted to songs of various import. During the Revolution, so-called patriotic
-words were set to it, and it was sung, like the &ldquo;Marseillaise,&rdquo; to inspire popular
-wrath against royalty.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_18" href="#fr_18">[18]</a>Jean Paul Marat, the French revolutionist, was born in Switzerland in 1744.
-He was both physician and scientist in his earlier years, but at the outbreak of the
-Revolution took a prominent part in the agitation for a republic, and incited the
-people to violence. In 1792 he was elected to the National Convention, and in
-1793 was tried before the Revolutionary Tribunal as an ultra-revolutionist, but was
-acquitted. July 13, 1793, he was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, who was
-guillotined for the murder four days later.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_19" href="#fr_19">[19]</a>Saumur is a town in the department of Maine-et-Loire, on the Loire River.
-It was here that the Vendeans, who were partisans of the royal rising against the
-Revolution and the Republic, won a victory over the Republican Army June 9,
-1793, and took the town.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_20" href="#fr_20">[20]</a>Marie Antoinette died upon the scaffold as bravely as the King had done.
-Her trial was a mock one, for her execution had been decided upon before she was
-tried. She was never liked by the French people, and all sorts of charges had been
-made against her, many of them untrue. She had inherited her ideas of royalty
-and absolution from her mother, Maria Theresa of Austria, and never showed any
-interest in the lower classes. Her biographer in the Encyclop&aelig;dia Britannica says:
-&ldquo;In the Marie Antoinette who suffered on the guillotine we pity, not the pleasure-loving
-Queen; not the widow who had kept her husband against his will in the
-wrong course; not the woman who throughout her married life did not scruple to
-show her contempt for her slow and heavy but good-natured and loving King, but
-the little princess, sacrificed to state policy and cast uneducated and without a helper
-into the frivolous court of France, not to be loved but to be suspected by all around
-her and eventually to be hated by the whole people of France.&rdquo;
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_21" href="#fr_21">[21]</a>Maximilien Robespierre, one of the most prominent among the revolutionists,
-was the leader of the extreme Left in the Constituent Assembly, and a member of
-the Committee of Public Safety in 1793. He was also identified with the Reign
-of Terror, but was finally stripped of all his power, and was guillotined July 28,
-1794.
-</div><div class="fndef"><a class="fn" id="fn_22" href="#fr_22">[22]</a>The Dauphin died in the afternoon of June 8, 1795.
-</div>
-</div>
-<h2 id="c8"><span class="h2line1"><span class="large">LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</span></span></h2>
-<p class="center"><i>BIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCES
-<br /><span class="small">TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY</span></i>
-<br /><span class="large">GEORGE P. UPTON</span></p>
-<p class="center small"><i>A new, interesting, and very useful series that will be found especially
-<br />suitable for school libraries and for supplementary reading</i></p>
-<p>The books in this series are translated from the German, because
-in that country a specialty is made of really desirable
-reading for the young. Eight titles are now ready and more will
-follow.</p>
-<p>Their simplicity and accuracy make them very useful for every
-school library in the grades.</p>
-<p>For parents who feel disposed to give their children books that
-provide a mild element of historical information, as well as first-class
-entertainment, the little books will prove a veritable find.</p>
-<p>The &ldquo;life-stories&rdquo; retain the story form throughout, and embody
-in each chapter a stirring event in the life of the hero or the action
-of the time. The dramatis person&aelig; are actual characters, and the
-facts in the main are historically correct. They are therefore both
-entertaining and instructive, and present biography in its most attractive
-form for the young.</p>
-<p class="center smaller">A FULL LIST OF THE TITLES IS GIVEN ON THE NEXT PAGE</p>
-<p>The work of translation has been done by Mr. George P.
-Upton, whose &ldquo;Memories&rdquo; and Lives of Beethoven, Haydn, and
-Liszt, from the German of Max Mueller and Dr. Nohl, have been
-so successful.</p>
-<p class="center small"><i>Each is a small square 16mo in uniform binding, with four
-<br />illustrations. Each 60 cents net.</i></p>
-<p class="center"><i><span class="small">FULL LIST OF TITLES</span></i>
-<br /><span class="sc">Frederick the Great</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">The Maid of Orleans</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">The Little Dauphin</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">Maria Theresa</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">William Tell</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">Mozart</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">Beethoven</span>
-<br /><span class="sc">Johann Sebastian Bach</span></p>
-<p>&ldquo;These narratives have been well calculated for youthful minds
-past infancy, and Mr. Upton&rsquo;s version is easy and idiomatic.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>The Nation.</i></p>
-<p>&ldquo;He is a delightful writer, clearness, strength, and sincerity marking
-everything to which he puts his hand. He has translated these little
-histories from the German in a way that the reader knows has conserved
-all the strength of the original.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Chicago Evening Post.</i></p>
-<p>&ldquo;They are written in simple, graphic style, handsomely illustrated,
-and will be read with delight by the young people for whose benefit
-they have been prepared.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Chicago Tribune.</i></p>
-<p>&ldquo;The work of translation seems to have been well done, and these
-little biographies are very well fitted for the use of young people....
-The volumes are compact and neat, and are illustrated sufficiently but
-not too elaborately.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Springfield Republican.</i></p>
-<p>&ldquo;These books are most entertaining and vastly more wholesome than
-the story books with which the appetites of young readers are for the
-most part satisfied.&rdquo;&mdash;<i>Indianapolis Journal.</i></p>
-<p class="center"><i>OF ALL BOOKSELLERS OR OF THE PUBLISHERS</i>
-<br />A. C. McCLURG &amp; CO., CHICAGO</p>
-<div class="box">
-<p class="center">LIFE STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE</p>
-<p class="center"><i>Translated from the German by
-<br />GEORGE P. UPTON</i></p>
-<p class="center">8 Vols. Ready</p>
-<dl class="undent"><dt><span class="sc">Beethoven</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">Mozart</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">Bach</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">Maid of Orleans</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">William Tell</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">The Little Dauphin</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">Frederick the Great</span></dt>
-<dt><span class="sc">Maria Theresa</span></dt></dl>
-<p class="center"><i>Each, with 4 Illustrations, 60 cents net</i></p>
-</div>
-<h2>Transcriber&rsquo;s Notes</h2>
-<ul>
-<li>Copyright notice provided as in the original&mdash;this e-text is public domain in the country of publication.</li>
-<li>In the text versions, delimited italics text in _underscores_ (the HTML version reproduces the font form of the printed book.)</li>
-<li>Silently corrected palpable typos; left non-standard spellings and dialect unchanged.</li>
-</ul>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
-End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Little Dauphin (Life Stories for
-Young People), by Franz Hoffman
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