THE DAUPHIN IN THE TEMPLE.
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CHAPTER II.
THE ORPHAN OF THE TEMPLE.
Those who would follow the story of the dark days in the Temple, can do so best by the perusal of the record left by Madame Royale herself. Written with an almost naive simplicity, it is touching in the highest degree, while incidentally it affords graphic pictures of the various members of the royal family.
Here, for instance, is Marie Antoinette sketched to the life. “Her calm contempt and her dignified air generally struck them (the municipal officers) with respect. They seldom ventured to speak to her.”
“We passed the entire day together,” writes the princess. “My father gave a lesson in geography to my brother; my mother made him read some pages of history, and learn some verses, and my aunt gave him a lesson in arithmetic. My father was so fortunate as to find a library which gave him occupation; my mother employed her time in working embroidery.... My aunt spent the greater part of her time in praying, and always read the prayers of the day. She read a great number of books of piety, which my mother frequently requested her to read aloud.”
Every day exposed the prisoners to fresh insults.