﻿LOUIS PHILIPPE. 233 



principal modern languages ; for having accustomed him to wait on 

 himself; to despise all sorts of effeminacy; to sleep habitually on a 

 wooden bed, with no covering but a mat ; to expose himself to heat, 

 cold, and rain ; to accustom himself to fatigue, by daily and violent 

 exercise, and by walking ten or fifteen miles with leaden soles to 

 his shoes ; and, finally, for having given him the taste and habit for 

 travelling 1 . He had lost all he had inherited from birth and fortune 



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nothing remained but what he had received from nature and me." 



At an early age, the Countess de Genlis observed of his general 

 character, "Possessing none of the frivolities of the age, he dV 

 dains the puerilities which occupy the thoughts of so many yo-,ng 

 men of rank, such as fashions, dress, trinkets, follies of all kinds, 

 and the desire for novelties. He has no passion for money ; he is 

 disinterested, despises glare, and is consequently truly noble." And 

 I will add, there are various incidents on record which fully corrob- 

 orate this statement, but I have not room for their record here. 



He had been for some years an honorary colonel, when, at the 

 age of a little more than seventeen, he assumed the command of 

 his regiment. In this command he manifested much prudence and 

 kindness. 



In the French revolution of 1793, the father of Louis Philippe 

 was beheaded. Previous to the death of the Duke of Orleans, 

 Louis Philippe was summoned before the Committee of Public 

 Safety. Knowing this to be nearly equivalent to condemnation, he 

 immediately fled ; was hotly pursued, but escaped into the Belgian 

 Netherlands. He wandered for months, a youth among strangers, 

 and at last nearly penniless. Sometimes he received kind treat- 

 ment, and sometimes very unkind usage. Finally, being under the 

 necessity of employment for support, he procured the situation of a 

 preceptor, under the assumed name of Chabaud-Latour. Here he 

 was very successful. And here for the first time he heard of the 

 dreadful fate of his father. Political movements soon made it 

 prudent for him again to become a wanderer. And after a few 

 months, at the request of his mother, he visited the United States, 

 and travelled extensively, in connection with his two younger 

 brothers. 



I should be happy to give my readers some account of his wan- 



