“I have something to tell you.”
The jailer took his hand—the little head drooped upon his breast—he listened, but in vain. The last word had been spoken! God had spared the little Dauphin the last agonizing death-struggle, and in a last dream of joy and rapture had taken him to His loving arms!
Lasne laid his hand gently on the child’s heart, but it no longer beat. That troubled heart was quiet now. The little Dauphin had exchanged his sorrowful earthly dwelling for the eternal peace and happiness of Heaven—had found his loved ones and his God.[22]
* * * * * * * *
Only a few more words, gentle reader. I have unrolled a sad picture before you, and, however much it may have excited your sympathy, it could not be softened, for from beginning to end it is the truth and only the truth. The little Dauphin, Louis Charles, the son of a King and a King himself, really bore all these sorrows; he lived, suffered, and died as has been described in these pages. A conscientious and reliable investigator, M. de Beauchesne, has with untold zeal and patience collected all the incidents here recounted; and the facts have been corroborated by Lasne and Gomin, the two worthy men who tried to brighten the last days of the unfortunate little Prince.
And now, should you ask what moral is to be drawn from this true narrative, I would answer: Learn from the perusal of this child’s life to be submissive under affliction and trouble. God keep you from pain and sorrow; but, should they one day fall to your lot, then remember the little Dauphin and King of France, and endure, as he endured, suffering and heart-break with calmness and patience, with humility and submission to the will of the Lord, before whose mysterious and inscrutable decrees weak mortality must bow without repining.
Appendix
The following is a chronological statement of the most important events mentioned in this volume, as well as of those directly connected with the French Revolution:
| August 23, 1754 | Birth of Louis XVI. |
| 1770 | Marriage of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. |
| 1774 | Louis XVI ascends the throne. |
| March 27, 1785 | Birth of Louis XVII. |
| 1789 | Louis XVII becomes Dauphin. |
| May 5, 1789 | Meeting of States General. Revolutionary agitations. |
| June 17, 1789 | Third Estate takes the name of Constituent Assembly. |
| July 14, 1789 | Storming of the Bastille. |
| July 14, 1790 | The “Feast of the Pikes” on the Champ de Mars, and the oath of Federation. |
| June 20, 1791 | Flight of the Royal Family to Varennes. |
| June 25, 1791 | Brought back to Paris as captives. |
| September, 1791 | Constitution adopted. |
| April, 1792 | War with Prussia and Austria. |
| September 21, 1792 | Proclamation of the Republic. |
| January 21, 1793 | Execution of Louis XVI. |
| March, 1793 | Establishment of Revolutionary Tribunal. |
| April, 1793 | Establishment of Committee of Public Safety. |
| July 3, 1793 | Imprisonment of the Dauphin in the Temple. |
| July 13, 1793 | Assassination of Marat. |
| October 16, 1793 | Execution of Marie Antoinette. |
| 1793-94 | Reign of Terror. |
| April 6, 1794 | Execution of Danton. |
| July 27, 1794 | Execution of Robespierre. |
| June 8, 1795 | Death of the Dauphin in the Temple. |
| October 5, 1795 | Victory of Buonaparte over the Sections. |
| 1796 | Beginning of the Napoleonic Wars. |
| November, 1799 | Beginning of the Consulate. |
| 1802 | Napoleon made Life Consul. |
| March 18, 1804 | Establishment of the Empire. |