776 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



of wine and good cheer sent for his 

 use. No person, but those ab- 

 solutely necessary to attend him, 

 was permitted admission without a 

 ticket. 



Meanwhile his offence was by no 

 means considered as in a political 

 view, but merely as a matter be- 

 longing to the correctional police, 

 to the enquiry and punishment qf 

 which it was accordingly left. Ma- 

 dame Saignes was likewise taken up 

 as his accomplice; but there being 

 no proof to convift her, she was 

 acquitted in consequence. Herva- 

 gauit, in the beginning of the year 

 1802, was sentenced to four years 

 imprisonment, as a sharper, and 

 abuser of the credulity of the peo- 

 ple, and confined accordingly in 

 the house of corrc61ion at Ostcnd. 

 Both the dilinqucnt and the attor- 

 ney general, though upon different 

 grounds, appealed against this sen- 

 tence to the government. 



The matter was now to be treat- 

 ed at Rheims, when a new and very 

 important a6tor suddenly burst up- 

 on the scene of this tragi-comcdy. 

 The aged prelate L. de S bi- 

 shop de V a man venerable 



for his integrity, universally respect- 

 ed 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 i:orpse 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 consi- 

 derable sums to eifeCt this purpose, 

 abandoned the very functions of his 

 office, came to Rheims, correspond- 

 ed with the prisoner by means of 

 the keeper of the jail, and thought 



himself sure of his being the identi- 

 cal 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 Genie du 

 Christianisme, by Chatcaubriant, 

 and the tragedy of Athalia, 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 eve- 

 ry friend he could command in 

 Paris : he drew up a list of those 

 persons to whom he intended to en- 

 trust the fate of the dauphin. In it 

 were found, amongst others, the 

 names of Brissac, Necker, Madame 

 de Stael, Montcsson, Roquelaure, 

 Angouleme, Talleyrand, Puys de 

 Segur, Bouflers, La Harpe, &c. 

 some believed him, some did not ; 

 some called him a Blondel, some a 

 Joab. The correspondence was car- 

 ried on in cyphers; it even went so 

 far, that the projeCl Avas formed to 

 marry the daui)hin with a distant 

 relation of the royal family. Her- 

 vagault at first seemed to wave the 

 proposal, for he had (as the reader 

 will presently be informed) sworn 

 the oath of fidelity and affeCtion to 

 the queen of Portugal's most ami- 

 able sister, but from political mo- 

 tives he yielded, and it was resolv- 

 ed 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 



Biore 



