Louis-Charles, and distinguished himself both for good conduct and
courage. But he could not remain content with the praises which he
acquired by his bravery, and once more confided the wonderful story of
his birth and misfortunes to his shipmates, many of whom listened and
believed. But the monotony of life at sea was too great for his
sensitive nerves, and he deserted, and again took to a wandering life,
trying his fortunes, on this occasion, among the royalists of Lower
Brittany. Intelligence of his whereabouts soon reached the government,
and he was arrested and again conveyed to the Bicetre, with the
intimation that his captivity would only terminate with his life.

By this time it was well known in France that Bonaparte's word, once
passed, would not be broken; and Hervagault, losing all hope,
abandoned himself to drunkenness and the wildest excesses. His
constitution gave way, and in a very short time he lay at the gates of
death. A priest was summoned to administer the last consolations of
religion to the dying pretender, and urged him to think on God and
confess the truth. He gazed steadily into the eyes of the confessor,
and said--"I shall not appear as a vile impostor in the eyes of the
Great Judge of the universe. Before His tribunal I shall stand,
revealed and acknowledged, the son of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette
of Austria. A Bourbon, descendant of a line of kings, my portion will
be among the blessed. There I shall meet with my august and
unfortunate family, and with them I shall partake of the common
eternal rest." Two days afterwards he died, as he had lived, with a
lie on his lips.

MATURIN BRUNEAU--_SOI-DISANT_ LOUIS XVII. OF FRANCE.

Maturin Bruneau, the next pretender to the honours of the deceased son
of Louis XVI., was quite as great a rascal as Hervagault, but he
lacked his cleverness. Bruneau was the son of a maker of wooden shoes,
who resided at the little village of Vezin, in the department of the
Maine and Loire. He was born in 1784, and having been early left an
orphan, was adopted by a married sister, who kept him until she
discovered that he was incorrigibly vicious, and was compelled to turn
him into the streets to earn his livelihood in the best way he could.
Although Maturin was only eleven years old at the time, he found no
difficulty in providing for himself. He strayed a little distance from
home, into regions where he was personally unknown, and there accosted
a farme