Page:Life of Louis Philippe, late king of the French.pdf/14

14 precautions he adopted, that they lost all trace of him. Baffled in all their efforts, they proposed to the Duchess of Orleans that she should write the Prince to proceed to the United States, promising to remove the sequestration from her own property, and allow her younger sons (who were imprisoned in the town of St. Jean, at Marseilles) to join their brother in America. To this the Duchess agreed, and wrote her son, advising him to comply with the terms; concluding her letter with these words—“May the prospect of relieving the sufferings of your poor mother, of rendering the situation of your brothers less painful, and of contributing to give quiet to your country, recompense your generosity !"

On receipt of this communication, the Duke determined to embark without delay, and wrote in reply—“When my dear mother shall receive this letter, her orders will have been excented, and I shall have sailed for the United States." He accordingly engaged a passage for himself and his servant in the ship “American," then lying in the Elbe-sailed on the 24th of September, 1796, and, on the 21st of the following month, arrived at Philadelphia. Here he was joined by his two brothers, Montpensier and Beaujolais, and having fixed on a place of residence, they passed the winter together.

During their stay in Philadelphia, the young princes were presented to General Washington, who invited then to his house when his term of service expired. The invitation was accepted, and, some time after, they visited Mount Vernon, where they were kindly received, and where they spent a few days.

After leaving Mount Vernon, they set out on a tour to the western country, and passing through Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, crossed to the British side, and visited the Falls of Niagara. On their return to Philadelphia, the Duke of Montpensier, in a letter to