“One day, after a system of abuses too shocking to relate, Simon seized the dauphin by the ear, and drawing him to the middle of the apartment, said,—
“‘Capet, if the Vendéans were to set you at liberty, what would you do to me?’
“‘I would forgive you,’ replied the noble boy.
“His situation at last became wretched in the extreme. He was placed in a filthy cell where he could neither receive pure air nor have exercise; his food was scanty, his bed was not made for six months, and his clothes were not changed for a year. He became covered with vermin, and the mice used to nibble at his feet. He passed the days in utter silence, wishing only to die. Once, when he had attempted to pray kneeling, he had been discovered and terribly punished, and he felt that it was not safe for him to speak even to his God.
“After the overthrow of the Revolutionary government under Robespierre, he was assigned to more merciful keepers. But his body and mind were in ruins, and all efforts to restore him proved in vain.
“It was a lovely June day in the summer of 1795. He was dying; without, the air was full of sunshine, of birds and roses.
“‘Are you in pain?’ asked his attendant.
“‘Yes,’ he said; ‘but not in so much as I was, the music is so sweet.’
“He presently added; ‘Do you not hear the music?’
“‘From whence does it come?’