However, the
better-informed part of the community were firmly convinced that
Louis XVII. was dead and buried; and from that time till 1832, the
belief was never effectually disturbed. Taking advantage of the
doubt, several impostors made their appearance, claiming to be the
prince. The first of these was one Hervagaut, who, when discovered to
be a tailor's son, was condemned in 1802 to four years' imprisonment.
In 1818, Mathurin Bruneau, a shoemaker, tried the same trick; but
failing, was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. In short, no
fewer than fifteen impostors have been enumerated; all of whom
pretended to be the wretched young prince, returned from exile after
escaping from the Temple. The latest claimant is the subject of the
present notice; and so startlingly do some of the circumstances of
his career coincide with the short history of the son of Louis XVI.,
that many well-informed persons really believe he was the person he
represented himself to be.
Between the termination of Charles-Louis's imprisonment by death or
otherwise, and the appearance of this individual on the scene, it may
be necessary to remind the reader that several revolutions and
counter-revolutions had swept over France.
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