It would appear that his experiments
were not altogether useless; for at a trial of newly-invented shells
before the Board of Ordnance at Woolwich, the duke's missiles were
declared either second or third, we forget which, in point of
efficiency. Indeed he seems to have occupied himself almost
exclusively with scientific pursuits whilst in England. At Chelsea,
whither he removed, the duke constructed a set of work-shops and
laboratories, in which he, with his assistants and pupils, diligently
wrought. In what his scientific labours and experiments would have
resulted, it is impossible to say, for they were interrupted by a
third attempt on his life. While alone in one of his work-shops, late
at night, a bullet was fired at him from a hidden and still
undiscovered enemy. The shot missed him; but, afraid to remain in
this country any longer, he retired to Delft, in Holland, where it
seems he died a natural death on the 10th of August 1845.
Whatever opinions may be formed of the truth of this individual's
story of his birth, it is certain that a great many persons in
France, whose opinions are entitled to respect, believed him to have
been Louis XVII.
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