778 



ANNUAL REGISTER. 



was just going to dose, one of my 

 keepers, whom I always liked for 

 his mildness, accosted me, and whis- 

 pering said, 'My dear child, you 

 ■would soon die in this prison, but 

 people who love you, though utter 

 strangers, let you know, that if 

 you keep the secret, they will soon 

 bring you to a place where you shall 

 be at "full liberty, and play Mith 

 children of your own age.' 1 swa', 

 lowed his words with avidit}', pro- 

 mised to reveal nothing, and waited 

 •with anxiety the fnllilmcnt of his 

 promise. On the following evening, 

 about the same time, a cart with 

 clean linen came into the court-yard 

 to be unloaded, and to take in 

 another quantity of foul. Among 

 this linen was laid concealed a 

 very sickly looking child, about 

 my age. A strong man in sailor's 

 dress took mc in his arms, put me 

 amongst a parcel of the foul things, 

 and only a small aperture kept me 

 from suffocation ; the last thing 

 that I saw in my prison was the sick 

 child, whom they put in my bed. 

 I was rather roughly flung into the 

 bottom of the cart, and without 

 farther obstruction conveyed to Cha- 

 illot. As soon as we got out of the 

 Temple, they gave me a little more 

 air, but on approaching the barriers 

 they covered me again entirely. At 

 Passy I wss carried, still packed 

 |ip, into a low room, where I was 

 quite at liberty. Here I saw three 

 strange men, who threw themselves 

 at my feet, and soemed to be cjuite 

 beside themselves with joy. They 

 quickly put on me female attire, 

 placed me in a post-chaise, and drove 

 jjlong the road to La Vendee, to 

 the army of the royalists. How it 

 came about that I should be liber- 

 ated, I was not informed till a long 

 ^i.me afterwards. After Robespierre's 



fall, the ruling fa6tIons were divid- 

 ed amongst themselves, and many 

 were not disinclined to the restor- 

 ation of royalty; overtures were 

 made to the Vendean royalists, and 

 negociations opened with them by 

 Rouclle, a member of the national 

 convention ; and one of the condi- 

 tions which the former insisted upon 

 was, my being delivered up to them ; 

 to which, however, the committee 

 of public welfare added the restric- 

 tion, that my deliverance should at 

 first bo kept a secret, and another 

 child substituted in my place. Af- 

 ter long and violent debates, the 

 royalists a.'sented to the measure. — 

 The only difficuliy was to find a pro, 

 per subject of a child to replace me. 



Count Louis de T undertook 



it, and sent the abbe Laurent for 

 this purpose into Normandy, at- 

 tended by hi.' adjutant Du Hamel. 

 They bribed one Ilervagault, a tay^ 

 lor, of St. Lo, to sacrifice, for a 

 consideration of 200,000 francs, for 

 the general good, his son, who re- 

 sembled mc. They otherwise assured 

 the taylor that he had nothing to dread 

 for his son's life, and they even con- 

 cealed it from him that the stripling 

 should be lulled into a sound sleep by 

 means of a strong dose of opium. 



" There were but three persons 

 in tlie Temple who knew the secret; 

 this was the jailer's wife, the above- 

 mentioned turnkey, and the sweep-" 

 er of the prison. It was the latter 

 who carried me out, and delivered 



me at Passy to Messrs. De T , 



du Cbatelier and abbe Laurent. — 

 Two hours after my deliverance the 

 celebrated Dessault, to whose care 

 1 had been entrusted, came into 

 the Temple, when the too strong 

 dose of opium had lulled the child, 

 which was laid in my bed, into a 

 lethargic slumber resembling death. 



CessauH 



