Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur OrtonAnonymous
History
Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton
Anonymous
Impostors and imposture -- Biography
The procession entered by the old gate of the cemetery, and the
interment took place in the corner on the left, at a distance of eight
or nine feet from the enclosure wall, and at an equal distance from a
small house. The grave was filled up--no mound was raised, but the
ground was carefully levelled, so that no trace of the interment
should remain. All was over.
This is the story of M. Beauchesne, and there seems to be little
reason to doubt its truth in any essential particular. He writes with
much feeling, but he does not permit his sentiments to overcome his
reason, and has verified the truthfulness of his statements before
giving them to the public. His book is the result of twenty years'
labour and research, and he freely reproduces his authorities for the
inspection and judgment of his readers. He was personally acquainted
with Lasne and Gomin, the two last keepers of the Tower, and the
government aided him if it did not patronise him in his work.
Certificates, reports, and proclamations are all proved, and
lithographs of them are given. The book is a monument of patient
research as well as of love, and the mass of readers will find no
difficulty in believing that it embodies the truth, or that Louis
XVII. really died in the Temple on the 8th of June 1795.
* * * * *
But in a land such as France, it is not remarkable that the utmost
should have been made of the mystery which surrounded the fate of the
youthful dauphin, or that pretenders should have endeavoured to
personate the son of Louis XVI. The first of these was a lad called
Jean Marie Hervagault, a young scamp, who was a native of St. Lo, a
little village in the department of La Manche, and who resided there
during his early youth with his father, who was a tailor. This
precocious youth, who was gifted with good looks, and who undoubtedly
bore some resemblance to the deceased prince, ran away from home in
1796, and, by his plausible manners and innocent expression, succeeded
in ingratiating himself with several royalist families of distinction,
who believed his story that he was the son of a proscribed nobleman.
His good luck was so great that he was induced to visit Cherbourg, and
tempt his fortune among the concealed adherents of the monarchy who
were resident there; but he was quickly detected, and was thrown into
prison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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