'
"To the veneration of the turnkeys for the king of the future I owe
it that one day when I was led to trial, and had to pass by his
cell, they opened the doors that I might see my illustrious friend.
He was of medium size, from forty to forty-five years of age,
somewhat embonpoint, and had a thoroughly Bourbon physiognomy."
[Footnote: Silvio Pellico, "Le Mie Prigioni," p. 51 et seq. An
examination of Silvio Pellico's work will convince the reader that
Silvio Pellico was by no means a believer in the genuineness of his
companion's claims. Miss Muhlbach seems to have been scarcely just
in leaving the impression conveyed in the text.-TB.]
After seven years of imprisonment, the gates opened at last for the
Baron de Richemont; and he who had been placed there without the
sentence of a judge, was released with as little show of authority.
The son of the queen was free again; the death of King Louis XVIII.
had restored him to the walks of men. But another King of France
assumed his place at once; the Count d'Artois ascended the throne
under the title of Charles X.
The poor Baron de Richemont bore his sorrows and his humiliation
into the valleys of Switzerland. But when, in the year 1830, King
Charles X. abdicated the throne, the son of Marie Antoinette again
came forth from his solitude, issued a proclamation to the French
people, and, in the presence of all Europe, demanded his
inheritance.
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