In the year 1843 he held his little fugitive court in furnished lodgings, in a forgotten district of London, called Belgrave Square.

Many of the nobles of France flocked thither to him, despising the persecutions of the occupant of the throne; and some of the chiefs of the British nobility--among whom may be reckoned the celebrated and chivalrous Duke of Jenkins--aided the adventurous young Prince with their counsels, their wealth, and their valor.
The third candidate was his Imperial Highness Prince John Thomas Napoleon--a fourteenth cousin of the late Emperor; and said by some to be a Prince of the House of Gomersal.

He argued justly that, as the immediate relatives of the celebrated Corsican had declined to compete for the crown which was their right, he, Prince John Thomas, being next in succession, was, undoubtedly, heir to the vacant imperial throne.

And in support of his claim, he appealed to the fidelity of Frenchmen and the strength of his good sword.
His Majesty Louis Philippe was, it need not be said, the illustrious wielder of the sceptre which the three above-named princes desired to wrest from him.

It does not appear that the sagacious monarch was esteemed by his subjects, as such a prince should have been esteemed.
The light-minded people, on the contrary, were rather weary than otherwise of his sway.