Графични страници
PDF файл
ePub

possessed estates in Normandy..... The strange events of the revolution disordered his senses; he saw that many had raised themselves from obscurity, and he wished to do the same.

ducted to prison at Bayeux, at the distance of only ten leagues from St. Lo. His father came again to procure his deliverance, which, in consideration of his youth, was indulgently granted, and the lad replaced under paternal authority. He was now to learn the trade of a tailor; an insufferable thought to his mind. He broke loose a third time.

In 1797, he was in the diligence or stage coach, between Laval and Alencon, very plainly and decently habited according to his sex. Not far from the latter place he alighted, and brushed off to a village by the road side, called Les Joncherts Being benighted, he begged quarters of a peasant, who directed him to the house of mademoiselle Talon Lacombe for better accommodation. To this lady he declared himself to be one of the family of Montmorency, who had a castle and estates near Dreaux, but was obliged to fly from his persecutors. She conceiv

In September, 1796, he left his father's house, and strolled as a vagabond about the country, declaring himself to be the son of a family of rank, reduced to distress by the revolution. His youth, his innocent appearance, and the plausibility of his story, every where procured him a favourable reception and relief. He had no passport, but was never asked for one. He became bolder, and attempted likewise to carry on his trade in the towns. He came to Cherbourg, but was soon taken up as a vagrant. His father, the tailor, being apprised of this, hastened to fetch him, and was not a little surprised to find him richly provided with money and jewels. He brought him back to St. Lo, where the brisk young bladeed a lively interest for his situation, did not, however, stay long, but soon ran away a second time, strolled through the department of Calvados, and, having improved both in body and mind, he became more ingeniously inventive in his stories than at first. He sometimes passed for a son of the prince of Monaco, and sometimes for the heir of the duke d'Ursel, in the Netherlands. He thus raised himself, step by step, and, ere long, made himself a relation of Louis XVI, of France, of the emperor Joseph II, and of the king of Prussia. For the sake of his safety, which was threatened, he travelled in women's clothes, pretending that he had just returned from England, where he had been taking some money to his emigrant father.

Many, very many people of rank and education were deceived, for he flattered their former prejudices; the ladies, in particular, showed a decided partiality for him, because he addressed their hearts..... His adventures began to attract some notice, and he was arrested a second time in female attire, and con

and supplied him with money and clothes, which he promised to repay upon his arrival at Dreaux. Here he lived, for a while, much at his ease, acted the part of a man of quality, and presented, for instance, the hostler, who saddled his riding horse, with a louis-d'or.

At last he felt himself induced to set off, and mademoiselle Lacombe accompanied him to Dreaux, to get back the value of what she had advanced to him. They safely reached the place; but both castle and estates had vanished. Can any thing be more natural? Poorer by fifty louis-d'ors, and richer in experience, the lady returned home.

The young hero continually gain. ed in boldness. In the month of May, 1791, he ventured in the diligence to Meaux, only eight leagues from Paris, and alighted at the inn, where he, indeed, obtained some refreshment, but, having no passport, was refused a night's lodging. The wife of a Paris merchant, Laravine, who happened to be at Meaux, took pity on him, and permitted him to sleep in her warehouse. This en

couraged him to ask further favours, and he succeeded. He represented himself as a rich farmer's son at Domery, who had fled to avoid being enrolled as a recruit, and madame made him a present of four louis-d'ors, upon which he hired a place in the diligence for Strasburg. About one league from Chalons he disappeared, and the postillion in vain waited his return. He went to the village of Mery, and wished to make good his story at the castle of Guinancourt; but, being suspected, he was put under arrest, and taken before the justice of peace at Cernon. Being asked who he was, he mysteriously replied, "He had no answer to make to such a question." He was sent to Chalons, where, being asked to give his name, he proudly said, "You will learn it but too soon.' At last he said, he was called Louis Antoine Jean Francois de Langueville; that his father was dead, and that his mother, madame Sainte Emilie, lived at Bauzeville, near Pont Andemar, in the department of Eure. It must be confessed that it is impossible to tell a lie more circumstantially.

Confined in the prison of Chalons, Hervagault assumed an air of grandeur, and a mysterious deportment; he tempted the curious, gave significant hints, and, in short, ere long, it was whispered about, "It is the dauphin! the son of Louis XVI!" The jailor himself believed the story, and advanced him money. The wives of two merchants of the town, Saignes and Felize, were initiated in the secret, which soon spread about; and no one any longer doubted. His figure, his manners......" You need but see him," exclaimed the credulous souls, "to recognize him at the very first look." All the inhabitants of Chalons, of the privileged orders, were, by degrees, made confidents and adherents; and they all vied with each other in supporting this last ill-fated offspring of their kings..... His table was daily served with dainties of every description, his

rooms were elegantly furnished, masters were given him, the jailor treated him with deference and respect; his prisoner was allowed to walk about as often as he pleas ed, but always in the disguise of a female; in fine, his dungeon was, as it were, metamorphosed into a pleasure house.

Meanwhile the persons who were let into the secret were not sufficiently discreet. A word dropped here and there, in the gladness of their hearts, aroused the vigilance of the magistrates; and, after this masquerade was played two months, Hervagault was made to undergo stricter examinations. With artifice and gestures that seemed to belie his words, he now declared that he was the son of a tailor at St. Lo. The father was applied to in writing, confirmed the truth of the declaration, and the offender was sentenced to one month's imprisonment. This mild punishment was considered as a victory by those who thought they really knew the secret: during his trial they trembled lest the real origin of the prisoner should not escape discovery. In order to free him from the prying vigilance of the police, they abun dantly furnished him with money and jewels, and thus facilitated his retreat. He was very well satisfied with the issue, and now began to act his part at Vire, in the department of Calvados. Here he made but a few proselytes, was soon arrested again, and, with greater severity, doomed to two years imprisonment. As the inhabitants of Vire only considered him as a young vagabond, he would have passed these two years very sorrily, had not his faithful adherents at Chalons continued to support him, on which occasion the consoling madame Saignes conducted the correspondence. This woman really wished him well, and advised him to apply the time of his confinement to the improvement of his education; but he gave way to drinking, and, at the end of two years, left the prison worse than when he entered. Ma

dame Saignes herself went to fetch him from Vire to Chalons, into the bosom of his faithful and devoted friends. The most splendid preparations were made for his reception. He arrived, received congratulations, had flowers strewed at his feet, and was treated with the most distinguished respect. In short, the horn of plenty was again most copiously poured out on the tailor's son of St. Lo.

When the police discovered these proceedings, his partisans, upon deliberation, found it expedient to send the dauphin on his travels. His route was so contrived that he every where found confidential friends, who, being previously informed of his supposed high birth, showed him all the respect due to that exalted station. He was once at Rheims, twice at Vitry le Francais, and often at different little country seats, where balls, concerts, and feasts of every kind, were given in honour of him. At Vitry he was splendidly and conveniently lodged at the house of madame de Rambecour, whose husband closely followed all his footsteps, waited upon him with the most attentive zeal, and served him like a valet. On St. Louis's day a superb fete was prepared for him; it being the feast of the saint whose name he bore. The ladies sung songs composed in honour of him. In the confidential circles which he frequented they always called him mon prince his portrait was handed about as that of the dauphin, and it was reported that the pope himself had imprinted a mark on his leg, to know him again by; finally, a letter was handed about from a bishop, in which that deluded prelate writes in expressions of the profoundest respect for this young vagabond; and, by his example, convinced many who were still wavering in their belief. Already was a court formed round Louis XVII. He had immediately his favourites, and was going to nominate those who were to hold the great offices of his household. Many names of consequence were to be

found among them. They all glowed with enthusiasm, and prepared to make the greatest sacrifices. Men of birth and rank deemed themselves fortunate in being able to perform the meanest drudgery of menial service for him. Misers turned spendthrifts, that they might have the honour of entertaining him. It was very natural that such proceedings should not escape the eye of a vigilant police. Fouche was informed, at Paris, of all that was going forward at Vitry; and a warrant put an end to the farce.

But, even when taken into custody, Hervagault conducted himself with a loftiness and dignity that struck all present with a dubious awe. His most downcast confidants surrounded him with the most heartfelt reverence; one of them, highly moved, begged leave to embrace him, and the tailor's son negligently tendered his hand to kiss. The very first night of his incarceration a most splendid feast was given at the prison. Intercessions were made for his release upon bail, but in vain; all that could be obtained was to mitigate, as much as possible, the rigours of his captivity. He was constantly served in the most sumptuous manner, and so accus tomed to this high style of living, that once a chicken, a pigeon, with a sallad and custard being served for his supper, he thought proper to find the fare incomplete, and indignantly dashed the mess on the ground.

Admet the notary called him, in his prison, monseigneur, and was most graciously rewarded with the appellation of "Mon petit page, mon petit valet de chambre d' amitie." Thus he acted his part dispassionately, and with an air of the utmost importance. Going to mass, a servant carried his prayerbook and cushion. He appointed a secretary, and made him sign, in his name, that of Louis Charles. Where a man bears a great name, said he to the justices, he is sure to be exposed to persecution. The mayor of Vitry, owing to the great

concourse of people, found himself, at last, under the necessity of putting him under closer confinement, and, at the same time, intercepted the enormous supplies of wine and good cheer sent for his use. No person, but those absolutely to at tend him, was permitted admission without a ticket.

Meanwhile, his offence was by no means considered in a political view, but merely as a matter belonging to the correctional police, to the enquiry and punishment of which he was accordingly left..... Madame Saignes was likewise taken up as his accomplice; but, there being no proof to convict her, she was acquitted in consequence. Hervagault, in the beginning of the year 1802, was sentenced to four years imprisonment, as a sharper and abuser of the credulity of the people, and confined accordingly in the house of correction at Ostend. Both the delinquent and the attorney-general, though upon different grounds, appealed against this sentence to the government.

The matter was now to be treated at Rheims, when a new and very important actor suddenly burst upon the scene of this tragi-comedy..... There the late L. de S, bishop de V, remarkable for his integrity, universally respected for the austerity of his manners, and his profound learning, expressed his conviction, that Hervagault was the real and genuine dauphin. He had even spoke to the surgeons that had anatomised the corpse of the pretended dauphin in the Temple, who had informed him it was not that of the real one. He resolved upon freeing his young monarch from the chains of captivity, lent out considerable sums to effect this purpose, abandoned the very functions of his office, came to Rheims, corresponded with the prisoner by means of the keeper of the jail, and thought himself sure of his being the identical person. The dauphin's death appeared to him a mere political lie of the national convention. He even thought it his duty to give to the

neglected prince a good education, and endeavoured to accomplish this end with the purest and sincerest intentions. He sent him, amongst other works, one day, Le Geni du Christianisme, by Chateabriant, and the tragedy of Athilla; upon which he received, to his surprise, this answer: "Do you mock me? All this I know by heart."

All the fears of the prelate were, lest the object of his care should be sentenced to transportation. To prevent this, he strained every nerve, and made use of the interest of every friend he could command in Paris. He drew up a list of those persons to whom he intended to entrust the fate of the dauphin. In it were found, among others, the names of Brissac, Necker, madame de Stael, Montesson, Roquelare, Augouleme, Talleyrand, Puys de Segur, Boufflers, La Harpe, &c. Some believed him, some did not; some called him a Blondel, some a Joab. The correspondence was carried on in cyphers. It even went so far that the project was formed to marry the dauphin with a distant relation of the royal family. Hervagault at first seemed to wave the proposal, for he had, according to his own account, sworn the oath of fidelity and affection to the queen of Portugal's most amiable sister; but, from political movements, he yielded, and it was resolved to make levies of men for his service.

But, ere these negociations could possibly ripen, the trial before the criminal tribunal at Rheims was once more publicly revised, and that in the presence of a numerous multitude of people, who all were in favour of the accused, loudly murmured against the prosecuting attorney-general, and, with enthusi astic fervor, applauded the official defender of Hervagault. The judges, however, would not suffer themselves to be misguided, and confirmed the original sentence. While they were deliberating on the subject in another room, the most painful anxiety was depicted in the countenance of every spectator in

court. Hervagault heard his sentence with composure, with a smile of contempt; and his partisans, instead of giving credit to the juridical decision, obstinately persevered in their former preconceived opinion. They continued to wait on him with royal service in the place of his detention. He had by him, amongst other effects, a silver cup, on which the letters L. C. (Louis Charles) were engraved and decorated with an antique French crown. This, he pretended to the jailor, was his cypher.

None of his adherents deserted his cause; on the contrary, their zeal redoubled, and the venerable bishop of Valways headed them. Nay, the latter did not confine his zeal to presents and good advice, he even resolved most actively to exert himself; and, being informed that it was intended to bring his illustrious pupil from Rheims to Soissons, he determined to rescue him on the road from the hands of his prosecutors. This youthful project of an old head was betrayed; the bishop and his papers were seized; and it evidently appeared, upon proof, that it was his intention to make the tailor's son of St. Lo act the part of the dauphin. The government, however, had compassion on the hoary dotard, and gave him his liberty. Hervagault himself had fared better, if the least prospect of amendment had appeared in his conduct; but, as he formed another junto of partisans at Soissons, it was thought proper to make him disappear.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF LIND

LEY MURRAY, ESQ.

THIS gentleman's literary character, the extensive circulation of his works, and his solicitude for the guarded education and happiness of young persons, will doubtless render some traits of his history interesting to the public, especially to those

who have derived benefit from his writings.

Mr. Murray is a native of Pennsylvania; he was born in the year 1745. His parents were persons of respectable characters, who were solicitous to endue his mind with pious and virtuous principles. He was carefully and regularly educated, and made a rapid progress in learning. His father, who removed to New York, and was a distinguished merchant there, placed him, at the age of fifteen, in his counting house, intending to form him to mercantile business. But this employment not agreeing with young Murray's taste for reading, and desire of improving his mind, he solicited permission to study medicine or law. His father, perceiving his strong bent towards learning, procured for him a private tutor, a person of erudition and respectability, under whose care and direction he closely applied to the liberal studies, and gratifying himself in his favourite pursuits.

At the age of nineteen, he commenced the study of the law, under the auspices of a gentleman eminent in his profession; and he had the happiness of having for his fellow student Mr. Jay, late plenipotentiary to the court of Britain. At the expiration of four years, Mr. Murray was admitted to the bar, and receiv ed a licence to practice, both as counsel and attorney, in all the courts of the state of New York. In this profession he continued, with increasing reputation and success, till the troubles in America interrupted all business of this nature. He then removed from New York, and remained some time in the country. But impatient of an inactive life, and desirous of improving his fortune, he returned to the city, and engaged in the mercantile line. By his diligence, abilities, and respectable connections, he acquired, in the course of a few years, a very handsome competency. He then concluded to retire from business, and made a correspondent arrange

« ПредишнаНапред »