THE EXILE.
1791-1794
Plans for the invasion of France.--The campaign of 1792.--The invasion
of France.--Proclamation of the Assembly.--Imprisonment of
Lafayette.--Measures of defense.--Battle of Valmy.--Gallantry of the
Duke of Chartres.--Embarrassment of Egalite.--Continued war against
France.--The Battle of Jemappes.--Peril of the Orleans family.--Decision
of the Duke of Orleans.--Origin of the Tri-color.--The Decree of
Banishment.--Battle of Nerwinde.--Charges against Dumouriez.--The
Flight.--Supposed Plan of Dumouriez.--Wanderings on the Rhine.--Arrest
of the Orleans family.--Life in Switzerland.--Letter from General
Dumouriez.--Hardships of travel.--A college professor.--Political
divisions in France.--The wilds of Scandinavia.
In the month of August, 1791, the Duke of Chartres left Vendome with
his regiment, and went to Valenciennes, where he spent the winter. He
had been appointed commandant of that place, and, young as he was,
discharged the important duties of the position with ability and
firmness, which secured for him a very high reputation. The emigrant
nobles had assembled on the French frontier, in the electorate of
Treves, where they were organizing their forces for the invasion of
France. It was understood that Leopold II., then Emperor of Germany,
was co-operating with them, and was forwarding large bodies of troops
to many points along the German banks of the Rhine for a crusade into
France.
The French government demanded of the emperor an explanation of his
intentions. He replied: "We do not know of any armaments in the
Austrian states which can be magnified into preparations for war."
Though Louis XVI. was in cordial sympathy with the emigrants, and, by
his secret agents, was urging the Emperor of Austria to lend him
troops to aid in crushing the revolution in France, still he was
compelled not only to dissemble, but on the 20th of April, 1792,
publicly to declare war against the Emperor of Austria, who was
brother of his queen, Maria Antoinette.
The Duke of Orleans, _Egalite_, begged permission of the king to join
the armies of revolutionized France in their march against Austria,
and to take with him his two oldest sons, the Duke of Chartres (Louis
Philippe), and the Duke of Montpensier. In the campaign of 1792,
which ensued, both of these young men acquired distinction and
promotion. General Biron, in command, wrote to the minister of war:
"Messieurs Chartres and Montpensier have accompanied me as
volunteers, and, being exposed for the first time to a brisk
fire from the enemy, behaved with the utmost heroism and
intrepidity."
The Duke of Chartres, in command of a brigade of dragoons, was soon
after transferred to a corps at Metz, under General Kellerman, who
subsequently obtained such renown in the wars of the Empire.
When the Duke of Chartres first appeared at head-quarters, General
Kellerman, not knowing who he was, and surprised by his youthful
appearance, exclaimed:
"Ah, monsieur! I never before have had the pleasure of seeing so
young a general officer. How have you contrived to be made a general
so soon?"
The duke replied: "By being a son of him who made a colonel of you."
They clasped hands cordially, and a warm friendship commenced between
them.
In July, 1792, the united armies of Prussia and Austria commenced
their march from the German fortresses upon the Rhine into France.
The emigrant nobles, and all their partisans, were received into the
ranks of these invaders. Their combined strength amounted to 160,000
men. The Duke of Brunswick, in command of the united armies, issued
from Coblentz, on the 15th of July, 1792, his famous manifesto, in
which he declared, "That he would punish as rebels every Frenchman
who should oppose the allied army; and that, should any attack be
made upon the royal family in the Tuileries, the whole city should
be given up to destruction, and the rebels to instant death."
In view of these terrible menaces, the Legislative Assembly issued a
proclamation, in which it was said:
"A numerous army has moved upon our frontiers. All those who
are enemies to liberty have armed themselves against our
constitution. Citizens! the country is in danger! Let all
those who have had the happiness of taking up arms in the
cause of liberty remember that they are Frenchmen, and free;
that their fellow-citizens enjoy in their homes security of
persons and property; that the magistrates are vigilant; that
every thing depends on calm resolution; that they should take
care to acknowledge the majesty of law, and the country will
still be safe."
[Illustration: FLIGHT AND IMPRISONMENT OF LAFAYETTE.]
The plan of the campaign, adopted by the Duke of Brunswick, was to
press rapidly forward, with his combined army, from the banks of the
Rhine to Paris, cut off its supplies, and by famine to compel it to
surrender. He would then destroy the liberal constitution, punish and
disperse the friends of popular rights, and restore the king to the
absolutism of the old regime. To oppose this formidable army of
invasion, France had one corps of 14,000 men near Metz, and another
of 33,000 at Sedan, under General Dumouriez. General Lafayette had
been in command of the latter force; but, by his opposition to some
of the radical measures of the Convention, had excited the hostility
of the Paris mob and the Jacobin clubs. They had burned him in effigy
at the Palais Royal, accused him of treason before the Assembly, and
set a price upon his head. Argument was of no avail against the fury
of the populace--in flight only was his safety. While thus pursued by
the Jacobins of Paris as an aristocrat, he was arrested by a patrol
of the Austrian army as a democrat. With the greatest secrecy, his
captors hurried him to Olmutz, where he was thrown into close
confinement, and subjected to the most cruel privations. It was two
years before his friends could discover the place of his captivity.
His wife and daughters then, after much difficulty and delay,
succeeded in obtaining permission to share the glooms of his dungeon.
It was not until after an imprisonment of five years that he was set
at liberty, Napoleon commanding his release in tones which Austria
did not dare to disregard.
The proclamation by the Assembly that the country was in danger,
caused volunteers in large numbers to set out from every portion of
France. From Paris alone, in three days, an army of 32,000 men,
completely equipped, were on the advance to the scene of conflict.
General Dumouriez, in command at Sedan, drew up his lines of defense
before the defiles of Argoun, where he thought he could make the most
effectual stand against the invading host. The Duke of Brunswick fell
fiercely upon his left wing, and, breaking through, poured his troops
like a flood into the plains of Champagne. For a time a terrific
panic spread through the French army, and it became needful for
Generals Dumouriez and Kellerman to unite their forces. In the mean
time, the triumphant Prussians, defiling rapidly by Grandpre and
Croix-aux-Bois, were approaching Chalons.
The French troops concentrated at Valmy. There they drew up in line
of battle, to arrest the advance of their foes. The second line of
the French army was commanded by the Duke of Chartes. The battle
which ensued was one of the most memorable and hard-fought in French
history. In the early morning a dense mist covered the field of
conflict. At eleven o'clock the fog dispersed, and the sun came out
brightly, revealing the Prussian columns advancing in beautiful
order, with a glittering display of caparisoned horses and polished
weapons, deploying with as much precision as if on a field of parade.
The eye took in at a glance 100,000 men preparing for the
death-struggle. It was, indeed, an imposing spectacle, for such hosts
had then been rarely collected on any field of blood.
Neither party seemed disposed to come into close contact with the
other, but each brought forward its batteries, and a terrific
cannonade commenced, which continued until the close of the day. It
was estimated that forty thousand balls were hurled by the opposing
armies into each other's ranks. Each army, however, maintained its
position. Yet it was considered a French victory, for the Prussians
failed in their attempt to break through the lines of the French, and
the French succeeded in arresting the march of the Prussians. Indeed,
it was admitted by the Prussians that their plan was hopelessly
thwarted. The Duke of Brunswick proposed an armistice to the French
officers, and this was speedily followed by the evacuation of the
French territory by the whole body of Prussian troops. Thus, for the
time, the Germanic project of invasion was abandoned.
The Duke of Chartres again, upon this occasion, distinguished himself
by bravery and military skill. General Kellerman, in his official
report of the battle, said: "I shall only particularize, among those
who have shown distinguished courage, M. Chartres and his
aid-de-camp, M. Montpensier, whose extreme youth renders his presence
of mind, during one of the most tremendous cannonades ever heard, so
very remarkable."
It will be observed that General Kellerman speaks of the young dukes
as simply M. Chartres and M. Montpensier. At that time all honorary
titles were abolished in France, and the highest nobles were
addressed, as were the humblest peasants, by the only title of
_Citizen_. Still, the lower classes regarded with great jealousy
those higher orders to whom they had been accustomed to pay the
homage which slaves render their masters. The laborers, the humble
artisans, the toil-worn peasants, could not appear with any thing
like equality in the presence of the high-born men and courtly dames
who, through their ancestry of many generations, had been accustomed
to wealth and rank and power. Thus, to the lower orders, the dress of
a gentleman, the polite bearing of the prince, the courtly manner of
the noble, excited suspicion, and created hostile feelings.
Even Egalite himself, though he had renounced all his titles, all his
feudal rights, and had assumed, as far as possible, the manners of a
blunt, plain-spoken man, was still, next to the king, in the
enjoyment of the richest revenue in France. He could by no
possibility place himself upon a social equality with his boot-black.
He manifested no disposition to divide his vast possessions with the
mob in Paris, and to send his wife to work with the washer-women, and
his daughter to a factory, and to earn himself his daily bread by
menial toil. And the washer-women were asking, "Why should we toil at
the tub, and Citizeness Orleans ride in her carriage and dress in
satins? We are as good as she, and our blood is as red." And at the
corners of the streets, the uncombed mob were beginning to inquire,
"Why should Citizen Orleans, who, by adopting the title of Egalite,
has confessed himself to be only our equal, be in possession of
magnificent palaces, and of thousands of acres of the public domain,
and of a revenue of millions of francs, while we dwell in hovels, and
eat the coarsest food, and, by the most menial toil, obtain a bare
subsistence? Citizen Orleans has given up his titles, as he ought to
have done; now let him give up his enormous estates, and divide them
among us, his brethren; and, if he is unwilling to do this, let us
compel him to do so."
Louis Philippe, accustomed to profound reflection, and trained in the
school of these tremendous political agitations, clearly foresaw all
these menaces. He was well aware that it was no longer safe for him
to be in Paris, and that the perils of the battle-field were among
the least he had to encounter. Though the Prussian troops had
withdrawn from the alliance against France, the Austrians, encouraged
by the intrigues and the gold of the British cabinet, still continued
the conflict. The Austrian court had an additional motive for
perseverance, in the war against revolutionary France, in the anxiety
it felt for the safety of the Austrian princess, Maria Antoinette.
On the 5th of November, 1792, the French army, under General
Dumouriez, found itself intrenched upon the heights of Jemappes.
Directly before it was the camp of the Austrians, containing a
veteran force of twenty-two thousand men, commanded by General
Clarfait.
The renowned battle of Jemappes ensued, which commenced, after a
cannonade of three hours, by an attack upon the whole of the Austrian
lines by the entire French army. Again the young Duke of Chartres,
who commanded the centre, greatly distinguished himself by his
coolness, bravery, and skill. The carnage was serious on both sides,
and for some hours the result was doubtful. At length victory
declared in favor of the French. The Austrians, driven from all their
positions, fled, leaving the battle-field covered with their dead,
and abandoning nearly all their cannon to the victors.
The French vigorously pursued the routed Austrians until they again
overtook them, and drove them out of the kingdom. On the 8th day
after the victory of Jemappes, Dumouriez advanced the French standard
to Brussels. As we have mentioned, the sister of the Duke of
Chartres, the Princess Eugene Louise Adelaide, with her governess,
Madame de Genlis, had been included in the proscriptive laws against
emigration. The Duke of Chartres visited them in Switzerland, where
they had taken refuge, and conducted them to Tornay.
While there, a new decree was issued by the Assembly, declaring that
every member of the Bourbon family then in France, with the exception
of the royal household itself, which was held in imprisonment in the
Temple awaiting trial under the charge of treason, should leave
France, and all the territory occupied by the newly-established
Republic, within eight days. The position of the Orleans branch of
the Bourbon family now became every hour increasingly perilous. The
nation was demanding the life of the king, and the banishment of all
who bore his name. St. Just, in urging in the Assembly this decree of
banishment, said: "As to the king, we shall keep him; _and you know
for what?_"
The Duke of Chartres, who very fully comprehended the peril in which
his father's family was involved, urged him to avail himself of the
decree of banishment, which opened an honorable avenue of escape for
him, and all his family, from France.
"You will assuredly," said he to his father, "find yourself in an
appalling situation. Louis XVI. is about to be accused before an
assembly of which you are a member. You must sit before the king as
his judge. Reject the ungracious duty; withdraw, with your family,
to America, and seek a calm retreat, far from the enemies of France,
and there await the return of happier days."
But the Duke of Orleans did not deem it consistent with his honor to
desert his post in the hour of danger. Yet the arguments urged by his
son were so strong that he desired him to consult an influential
member of the Assembly upon the subject. The deputy replied:
"I am incompetent to give your father any advice. Our positions are
dissimilar. I myself seek redress for personal injuries. Your father,
the Duke of Orleans, ought to obey the dictates of his conscience as
a prince, and the dictates of duty as a citizen."
This undecided answer led the Duke of Orleans to the decision that,
in the prominent position which he occupied as a citizen of rank and
wealth, he could not with honor abandon his country in her hour of
peril. The Duke of Chartres desisted from any further solicitation,
and, oppressed with much anxiety, returned to the army.
The badge of the Bourbons was a white banner. The insurgents, if we
may so call the opponents, of all varieties of opinions, who assailed
the ancient despotism, at the siege of the Bastile, wore red
cockades. But very many were in favor of monarchy who were also in
favor of constitutional liberty. Blue had been, in ancient times, the
royal color, and they adopted that. Others, who were in favor of the
Bourbons, and advocated reform only, not revolution, adopted white,
the livery of the Bourbons. Thus arose the celebrated tri-color flag,
which became the emblem of all in France who adopted the principles
of political liberalism, whether monarchists or republicans. The
white banner of the Bourbons and the tri-color of the revolutionists
thus became arrayed against each other.
It was well known that there was a strong party in favor of placing
the Duke of Orleans upon the throne. The king was awaiting his trial
in the Temple. The monarchy was virtually overthrown, and a republic
was established. The Republicans were in great fear of a reaction,
which might re-establish the throne in favor of the Orleans family.
It was, therefore, proposed in the Assembly that the Duke of Orleans
and his sons should be banished from France. But it could not be
denied that the Duke of Orleans had been one of the most prominent
leaders in the revolution. He had given all his influence, and
consecrated his immense wealth, to the cause. He had made great
sacrifices, and had alienated himself entirely from the royal family,
and from the nobility generally, by his bold advocacy of democratic
principles. Under these circumstances, it seemed peculiarly
ungrateful to proscribe and persecute him, merely because the blood
of the Bourbons flowed in his veins, and because he was born near the
throne.
After a violent discussion in the Assembly, the decree of banishment
was passed. But the friends of the duke rallied, and succeeded, after
a struggle of two days, in obtaining a reversal of the decree. It was
known that the Duke of Chartres had urged his father to yield to the
decree, and to retire from France. This increased the suspicion that
the Duke of Chartres was not friendly to the new state of things in
republican, anarchic, France.
"It can not be denied," says a French historian, "that upon this
occasion the young prince evinced that high sagacity which, by
foreseeing events, succeeds in dispersing their dangers. He looked
upon it that the revocation of the decree of banishment against his
family was a great misfortune; because the name of Orleans having
been once pronounced suspected and dangerous, could never again be
useful to their country, and would be infallibly persecuted. 'If we
can no longer be useful,' said he, 'and if we only give occasion of
offense, can we hesitate in expatriating ourselves?'"
But, as we have said, the duke decided to remain at his post; and his
son, returning to the army, anxiously awaited events. The Austrians
speedily filled up their depleted ranks with reinforcements, and on
the 18th of March, 1793, were again in battle array near the village
of Nerwinde. Another terrible battle ensued, in which the Duke of
Orleans again won many laurels; but victory decided against the
French. The army of Dumouriez was utterly routed. The Duke of
Chartres had a horse shot from under him; but he spent the whole
night upon the field, struggling to rally the fugitives. It was
attributed to his heroism that the army did not, on that occasion,
experience an irreparable disaster.
General Dumouriez now found himself in the most painful and perilous
position. It was not safe for any leader of the Republican armies to
allow himself to be defeated. The loss of a battle was considered
equivalent to treason. A committee was sent by the Assembly to spy
out his conduct. The _Moniteur_ of the 27th of March, 1793, contains
the following report:
"We arrived at Tournay on Tuesday, the 26th. Citizen
Proly--who was previously known to General Dumouriez--waited
upon him. He found him at the house of Madame Sillery, in
company with that lady, the Misses Egalite, and Pamela. He
was attended, also, by Generals Valence and Chartres.
"Among other unbecoming observations, which he did not
hesitate to make, General Dumouriez said that the Convention
was the cause of all the misfortunes of France; that it was
composed of 745 tyrants, all regicides; that he was strong
enough to bring them to a sense of propriety; and that, if
they were to call him Caesar, Cromwell, or Monk, he was still
resolved to save his country."
The publication of this report rendered it certain to Dumouriez and
his friends that he would immediately be arrested and conveyed to
Paris, under circumstances which would render condemnation and
execution inevitable. He had not an hour to lose. He was supping with
the Duke of Chartres, anxiously conversing upon the peril in which
they both were involved, when a courier arrived, summoning him
immediately to repair to Paris to explain his conduct to the
Convention. The Duke of Chartres said sadly to his general: "This
order is your death-warrant." As he said this, the general was
opening another document, and replied: "Now it is your turn, my young
friend; this letter incloses a similar invitation for you."
They both mounted their horses, and bidding adieu to unhappy France,
set out, with a small retinue, for the frontier. A detachment of
dragoons was sent in pursuit of them. By the extraordinary sagacity
and self-possession of Baudoin, the faithful servant of the prince,
they effected their escape. It is altogether probable that Dumouriez
was intending, by the aid of the army, to overthrow the Convention,
and re-establish the throne in favor of the Duke of Chartres. An
anonymous French writer, commenting upon these events, says:
"We do not hesitate to place among the number of the plans of
Dumouriez a project which did him honor--that of abolishing
the republican system and erecting a constitutional monarchy
in favor of the Duke of Chartres. Many persons have imagined
that the Duke of Chartres was aware of this design. It is
certain that in the army, as well as among the moderates of
the interior, the prince would have found a crowd of
adherents. But he was too conscientious to usurp a crown
which had just fallen in blood--too good a son to authorize
proceedings which would have endangered the life of his
father; in short, too enlightened, too prudent,
notwithstanding his extreme youth, to be instrumental in any
ambitious or ill-conceived scheme emanating from such a man
as Dumouriez. However, whether the Duke of Chartres was
conscious or not of the designs of General Dumouriez, a stern
necessity rendered a union of their fortunes indispensable
for a time."
The fugitives repaired first to Mons, the head-quarters of the
Austrians, to obtain their passports. Prince Charles urged the duke
to enter the service of the Empire, and to co-operate with foreign
armies and the emigrants in restoring monarchy to France. The duke
emphatically declined. Indeed, such an act would probably have
brought his father's head, and the head of every member of the
family, within reach of the Convention, beneath the slide of the
guillotine. Nothing now remained for the prince but exile and
poverty.
In the month of April, 1793, the duke, assuming the name of Mr.
Corby, and the appearance of an English traveller, accompanied only
by a servant and his aid-de-camp, Caesar Ducrest, commenced travelling
in Germany. While the Republicans assailed him from suspicion of his
secret hostility to Republican principles, the emigrants thoroughly
hated both him and his father for the countenance which they had
given to the Revolution. The region was full of emigrants who would
gladly surrender him to his enemies. It was necessary for him to
practise the utmost caution, that he might preserve his incognito. In
the cities of Liege, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Cologne, he did not dare to
dine at the table d'hote, lest he should be recognized.
The duke had reached Frankfort, when he read the account in the
journals of the arrest of his father and brothers. Lafayette, laden
with irons, was pining in the dungeons of Olmutz. Such was the reward
which these patriots received for their devotion to the cause of
popular liberty.
Departing from Frankfort, the duke proceeded to Basle. From an
eminence in the environs of the town the tri-color flag was visible,
floating in the distance above the battlements of the fortress of
Huninguen. With deep emotion the duke saluted the flag of liberty,
for which he had suffered so much, and continued his sad journey. At
Basle he learned that his sister, accompanied by Madame de Genlis,
had taken refuge at Schaffhausen, in Switzerland. His mother and two
brothers, as well as his father, had been arrested, and were
imprisoned in France. Joining his sister and Madame de Genlis, the
little party of exiles proceeded, oppressed with anxiety and grief,
to Zurich. Here it became necessary for them to acquaint the
magistrates with their real names.
The emigrant royalists who had taken refuge there ostentatiously
displayed their detestation of the democratic prince. At the same
time, the Helvetic magistrates trembled lest they should incur the
wrath of Revolutionary France by affording a refuge to the
illustrious exiles. The _Moniteur_, of the 12th of June, 1793,
contained the following notice:
"The _ci-devant_ Duke of Chartres and his suite are not in
Italy, as had been supposed, but reside in a solitary house
on the margin of Lake Zug, in Switzerland. They pass for an
Irish family."
It was on the 14th of May that the sorrowful exiles took up their
residence upon the banks of this silent lake. In Zurich, where they
were recognized, they had been exposed to many insults. One evening,
as they were walking out, an emigrant cavalier purposely caught his
spur in a portion of the dress of Mademoiselle d'Orleans, rudely
tearing it.
Soon they were again discovered by some emigrants who were passing
through Zug. A dispatch from Berne reproached the authorities for
their imprudence in allowing the noble wanderers an asylum. The
magistrates called upon the duke and respectfully, but with much
embarrassment, entreated him to depart from their coasts. It was now
evident that the party could no longer, with safety, reside together.
The duke succeeded, through some influential friends, in obtaining
admission for his sister into the convent of Sainte Claire, near
Bremgarten.
"As for you," said M. de Montjoie to the Duke of Chartres, "there is
no alternative but to wander in the mountains, not sojourning long in
any place, but pursuing this life of sorrow until the circumstances
of your country shall assume a more favorable aspect. If fortune
shall prove propitious, your wanderings will be an Odyssey, the
details of which will one day be collected with avidity."
General Dumouriez, who was also wandering in obscurity and exile, at
this time wrote to General Montesquieu, who was a friend of the Duke
of Chartres, and a gentleman possessed of much influence and power in
Switzerland:
"Embrace for me our excellent young friend. What you are
doing to serve him is worthy of you. Let him derive
instruction and strength from his adversity. This frenzy
will pass away, and then he will find his place. Induce him
to make a circumstantial diary of his travels. It will be
curious to see the diary of a Bourbon treating of other
subjects than the chase, women, and the table. I am
convinced that this work, which he will one day produce,
will serve as a certificate for life, either when he shall
have re-entered it, or to make him return to it."
Darker and darker grew the path of the exiled prince. His funds
became very low. He was separated from all his friends except his
faithful servant, Baudoin, who absolutely refused to leave him. He
retained but one horse. His servant chanced to be so sick that he
could not walk. The duke left Basle on foot, leading by the hand the
horse upon which his humble but faithful companion in exile was
mounted.[C]
[Footnote C: Vie Anecdotique de Louis Philippe. Par MM. A. Laugier et
Carpentier, p. 108.]
Passing through Neufchatel, Zellen Blatt, and Kussnacht, he reached
the ruins of Halsburg. Here, in the midst of silence and solitude,
the great-grandson of the brother of Louis XIV. sought a refuge from
his countrymen, who were thirsting for his blood.
[Illustration: ST. GOTHARD.]
During one of his adventurous excursions among the Alps, on foot,
accompanied only by his servant, he approached the hospitium of Saint
Gothard. It was on the 28th of August, 1793. Having rung the bell, a
Capuchin friar appeared at the casement and inquired, "What do you
want?" "I request," replied the duke, "some nourishment for my
companion and myself." "My good young men," said the friar, "we do
not admit foot-passengers here, particularly of your description."
"But, reverend father," replied the duke, "we will pay whatever you
demand." "No, no," added the Capuchin, pointing to a shed where some
muleteers were partaking of Alpine cheese, "that little inn there
is good enough for you."
At Gordona the duke and his servant met with a similar repulse.
Covered with the dust of travel, and with knapsacks on their backs,
with night and storm approaching, they found the door of a hostlery
closed against them. It was not until after much entreaty that the
way-worn travellers were allowed shelter, with a bed of straw, in an
outhouse.
While engaged in these wanderings, the duke received a letter from M.
de Montesquieu, offering him the situation of professor at the
college of Reichenau. This was a chateau near the confluence of the
upper and lower Rhine. He was then but twenty years of age. Assuming
the name of M. Chabaud, he underwent a very rigid examination,
without exciting the slightest suspicion as to his real character.
For eight months he discharged the duties of teaching the French and
English languages with marked success, and so secured the respect of
the inhabitants of Reichenau that they elected him their deputy to
the Assembly at Coire.
Here the tidings reached him of the sad fate of his father.
Overwhelmed with grief, and restless in view of the peril of other
members of the family, he resumed his wanderings. Proceeding to
Bremgarten, the residence of his influential friend M. de
Montesquieu, he remained with him, as aid-de-camp, until some time in
the year 1794.
But it was impossible for a man so widely known to remain long
concealed in any place. There was still an energetic and increasingly
powerful party in France opposed to the disorders which the Republic
had introduced, and anxious to restore monarchical forms. The
situation of the sister of the _Duke of Orleans_, as Louis Philippe
now became, on the death of his father, was considered so unsafe in
the convent of Bremgarten that she was removed to Hungary.
One day, as the duke was sitting silently, lost in thought, in a
parlor adjoining the one occupied by his generous host, he overheard
some conversation which led him to fear that the hospitality which he
was receiving might endanger the safety of his friend. He immediately
resolved to withdraw from Bremgarten and to seek refuge in Hamburg.
Here, finding his position very insecure, he resolved to hide himself
in the cheerless climate of Northern Europe. Accustomed to the
severest privations, he was enabled to recommence his wanderings
with the slender funds at his disposal. Assuming the character of a
Swiss traveller, he made arrangements to disappear from Southern
Europe, and seek refuge in the wilds of Scandinavia. He obtained
passports from the King of Denmark, which allowed him to take with
him his steadfast friend Count Montjoie, and his faithful servant
Baudoin, who had shared all the sufferings of his exile. A letter of
credit upon a banker at Copenhagen supplied his immediate pecuniary
wants.