e had
previously been connected, and joined the Protestant Episcopal Church,
by which he was ordained, and to which he remained faithful during the
later years of his life.

By this time he was convinced that he was no Indian, and believed that
he was the son of some noble Frenchman, but he scarcely ventured to
think that he was a pure Bourbon; although dim suspicions of his royal
descent sometimes haunted him, although friends assured him that his
likeness to the French king was so strong that his origin was beyond
question, and although he had certain marks on his body which
corresponded with those said to exist on the person of the dauphin.
But as he got older, the evidence in favour of his illustrious
parentage seemed to grow stronger; if he was questioned on the
subject he was too truthful to deny what he thought, and the knowledge
of his name and the number of those who believed in him rapidly
increased. At last, according to his own story, an event occurred
which placed the matter beyond all doubt.

The Prince de Joinville was travelling in America in 1841, and what
happened in the course of his travels to the Rev. Eleazar Williams
that gentleman may be left to tell. He says--"In October 1841, I was
on my way from Buffalo to Green Bay, and took a steamer from the
former place bound to Chicago, which touched at Mackinac, and left me
there to await the arrival of the steamer from Buffalo to Green Bay.
Vessels which had recently come in announced the speedy arrival of the
Prince de Joinville; public expectation was on tiptoe, and crowds were
on the wharves. The steamer at length came in sight, salutes were
fired and answered, the colours run up, and she came into port in fine
style. Immediately she touched the Prince and his retinue came on
shore, and went out some little distance from the town to visit some
natural curiosities in the neighbourhood. The steamer awaited their
return. During their absence I was standing on the wharf among the
crowd, when Captain John Shook came up to me and asked whether I was
going on to Green Bay, adding that the Prince de Joinville had made
inquiries of him concerning a Rev. Mr. Williams, and that he had told
the prince he knew such a person, referring to me, whom he supposed
was the man he meant, though he could not imagine what the prince
could want with or know of me. I replied to the captain in a laughing
way, without having any idea what a deep meaning attached to my
words-