“The Temple Tower, November 7, 1794.”
The contents of this letter, taken together with its date, accord in a remarkable way with Cormier’s communication to Lady Atkyns.
There is another striking argument in favour of the authenticity of Laurent’s letters. When they were produced by the pretender Nauendorff, they were for the most part in complete contradiction to all that was known of the Dauphin’s captivity and the testimonies of those connected with it. Certain facts to which they made allusion were known to nobody. Thus Laurent states clearly on November 7 that a new warder—whom he calls Gommier instead of Gomin—is to come to the Temple next day and to be associated with him. Now, in 1835, when this letter was published, what was known of Gomin? Next to nothing, and the little that was known did not tally with Laurent’s statements. Simeon Despreaux, author of a book entitled “Louis XVIII.,” published in 1817, did not even know of Gomin’s existence. Gomin himself made a formal declaration before the magistrates that he entered the Temple about July 27, 1794, before Laurent was there at all. Many years later it was found, on examining all the documents referring to the Temple that were kept in the National Archives, that Laurent’s statements were quite correct.
Some days after this letter to Lady Atkyns, Cormier informed Frotté of the great news, in the course of a visit paid him by the latter.
“I know all about it,” he said, according to Frotté’s account of the interview afterwards in a letter to Lady Atkyns, “because they could do nothing without me; but everything is now ready, and I give you my word that the King and France are saved. All the necessary steps have been taken. I can tell you no more.... Do not question me, don’t try to go further into the matter. Already I have told you more than I had any right to, and from Mr. Pitt down to myself there is now no one who knows more about it than you do. So I beg of you to keep it absolutely to yourself.”
From November 8, then, Laurent is no longer sole guardian of the young Prince. His duties are henceforth shared with Gomin. What kind of relations subsisted between the two? It is hard to say, for it is even more difficult to find out the truth about the Temple during the subsequent months than during those which went before.
We find one innovation introduced during these months which is worth noting. It is no longer the delegates of the Commune who have to pay the daily visit to the prison, but the representatives of the Comités Civils of the forty-eight divisions of Paris. Now, among all those who visited the Dauphin none left any record, with one exception, to which we shall come presently. All that we can learn from Gomin’s own statements, so often contradictory, is that throughout the period the child placed under his care uttered no word. The warder takes no further notice of this strange conduct, Laurent having satisfied him that if the Dauphin will not open his mouth it is because of the infamous deposition against his mother that he was made to sign. It is unnecessary to point out how improbable was this explanation, the Dauphin’s examination having taken place on October 6, 1793, and Laurent not having come to the Temple until July 29, 1794. Gomin, however, asked no further questions, and Laurent experiencing no further anxiety in regard to him, sought what means he could of bringing about the desired end.
Six weeks pass, however, without further progress, and then on November 5 Laurent hears, to his great satisfaction, that his master has become a member of the Committee of Public Safety. This new office would surely enable the general to carry out his plan and relieve the anxious guardian from the heavy responsibility lying on his shoulders.
It was, therefore, not without surprise that on December 19 Laurent and Gomin saw three Commissioners of the Committee of Public Safety make their way into the prison and up the stairway of the Tower to the Dauphin’s cell. These three visitors—Harmand la Meuse, Matthieu, and Reverchon—asked to see the Dauphin, so that they might question him and satisfy themselves as to the way in which he was kept under supervision. At a time when there were so many rumours current about the Temple, and when rescues were openly talked about, when every day brought forth some new sensational report, it was only natural that the Convention, in order to silence these rumours and calm public opinion, should institute an official inspection of the prison in this way.
In a work which he published twenty years later, Harmand de la Meuse tells us all that we know of this visit, and of the impression made upon the delegates by the little mute ushered into their presence. Suffice it here to record that this narrative (written with an eye to the good graces of Louis XVIII.) makes it quite clear that it was a mute whom they saw, and that all efforts to extract replies were quite in vain.