780 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1804. 



Jsnowledgcd by the coalesced pow- 

 ers. I was therefore embarked on 

 the coast of St. Jean dc Monts, and 

 attended by the chevalier de la 

 Robcrie, I landed at Jersey, where 

 the prince de Bouillon gave me a 

 very flattering reception. The che- 

 valier had a declaration Avith him, 

 signed by the chiefs of the royalists, 

 in which they acknowledged me for 

 the legitimate son and heir of Louis 

 XVI. The same secretly happened 

 on the part of the due de Bouillon. 

 He was, however, prevented i)y the 

 gout from following rae all the way 

 to England. 



" On my arrival in London, I Mas 

 immediately introduced to the Due 

 d'llarcourt, ambassador of the 

 French princes at the British court, 

 who received me coolly, and asked 

 nie several impertinent questions, 

 ■which I thought beneath my notice. 

 The count d'Artois refused to see 

 me, from which it became evident 

 that they harboured intentions, to 

 the realization of w hich 1 had proved 

 an obstacle. In the interval the che- 

 valier de la Roberie procured me a 

 secret audience of his Britannic ma- 

 jesty, who had been kept in the 

 dark with respedl to many things. 

 Though his majesty, by the advice 

 of his ministers, could not acknow- 

 ledge me publicly; yet apartments 

 were fitted up for me in the palace, 

 where I was served with ■suitable dig- 

 nity, and experieni cd a kind of 

 paternal treatment. So'wetimcs the 

 king himself used to play wilh me 

 like a child, on which account I 

 once gave him a box on the ear. 

 My «ncle was so enraged at the 

 reception I met with, that he once 

 ordered a cook of his to poison my 

 soup. This foul purpose, however, 

 was discovered in due time, and an 

 antidote quickly administered. The 



king was going to order my iincle 

 into confinement; but, by my in- 

 tercession, I averted from him the 

 thunderbolt of vengeance. My life 

 was now no longer safe in England, 

 for which reason the king, however 

 relu(!'tantly he parted with me, re- 

 solved to send me to Rome and 

 Portugal with the most powerful 

 recommendations. 



" I set out, attended by a trusty 

 old domestic, and loaded with pre- 

 sents, among which there was a 

 mahogany box lined with gold, con- 

 taining instructions for princes des- 

 tined to ascend a throne. The king 

 of England had signed them with 

 his own hand ; and losing afterwards 

 all my effects, the loss of this pre- 

 cious deposit grieved me the most. 



Embarking at Portsmouth, I 

 landed, after a long voyage, in the 

 harbour of Ostia ; from whence I 

 went io Rome, where I delivered 

 a letter to Pope Pius VII, in the 

 king of England's own hand-w ritiug. 

 His holiness was astonished, blessed, 

 caressed, was even secretly going to 

 anoint me ; and, in order to recog- 

 nize me again, he caused the arm's 

 of France to be imprinted on my 

 right leg, and the words vive le roi 

 to be branded upon my left arm. 

 This happened in the presence of 

 twenty cardinals. I then went 

 through Spain to Portugal. 



" In the former country I fsavr 

 none of my relations but the duchess 

 of Orleans, who prostrated herself 

 at my feet without my being able to 

 prevent her ; I took no step to be 

 presented at the court of Madrid, 

 because I well knew how much it 

 depended on France. But in Por- 

 tugal my reception surpassed every 

 expectation of mine. Never shall 

 I forget Lisbon, the banks of the 

 Tagus, and the jialacc of Quel us ! 



Ther« 



