September, 1698, and the former immediately went to the Minister to
apprize him of their arrival.[141] This event is thus commemorated
in the journal of M. Dujonca,[142] who was for many years the
Lieutenant of the King, at the Bastille:--“Thursday, 18th September,
1698, at three o’clock in the afternoon, M. de St. Mars, Governor
of the Bastille, arrived to take possession of his office, coming
from the Islands of St. Margaret and St. Honorat, bringing with
him in his litter an old prisoner, whom he had under his care
at Pignerol, of whom the name is not mentioned; who is always
kept masked, and who was first placed, till night, in the tower
of the Basiniere,[143] and whom I conducted afterwards myself,
at nine o’clock at night, to the third chamber of the tower of
the Bertaudière;[143] which chamber I had taken care to furnish
with all things necessary before his arrival, having received
orders to that effect from M. de St. Mars. When I conducted him
to the before-mentioned chamber, I was accompanied by the Sieur
Rosarges,[144] whom M. de St. Mars also brought with him, and who is
charged to wait upon and take care of the aforesaid prisoner, who is
fed by the Governor.”[145]
Dujonca’s account is confirmed by the extracts of the Register
of the Bastille, published in the work entitled “La Bastille
dévoilée.”[146]
The placing of the prisoner, on his first arrival, temporarily in
one part of the Bastille, and afterwards removing him by night to
another, appears to have been done for the sake of greater secrecy;
and we see by this, as well as by the account of his visit to
Palteau, that the precautions against the possibility of discovery
of his name and character were in no way diminished.
He certainly continued, from all accounts, to wear his mask from
the time of his arrival at the Bastille till his death. We learn
from the persons who saw him at Palteau that he was tall of stature;
and an old physician, who had attended him at the Bastille when
he was ill, described him (if we may credit Voltaire) as well
made, of a brown complexion, and possessing an agreeable voice.
He attended mass occasionally, and was forbid in his way there to
speak to any one. The invalids were ordered to fire upon him if he
disobeyed.[147] He is also said to have occupied himself a good deal
during his confinement with playing on the guitar.[148]
These are all the particulars, worthy of credit, to be collected
respecting Matthioli during his confinement at the Bastille, which
lasted rather more than five years. He died there after a few hours’
illness, November 19th, 1703. Dujonca’s journal gives the following
account of his decease and interment.
“Monday, 19th November, 1708. The unknown prisoner, who was always
masked with a mask of black velvet, whom M. de St. Mars brought with
him, when he came from the Islands of St Margaret, and whom he had
had the care of for a long time, having found himself rather more
unwell when he came out from mass, died to-day, about ten o’clock
in the evening, without having had any considerable illness. M.
Girault, our chaplain, confessed him yesterday. Death having come
suddenly on, he was not able to receive his sacraments, and our
chaplain only had time to exhort him for a moment before he died. He
was interred on Tuesday the 20th November, at four in the afternoon,
in the church-yard of St. Paul, which is our parish. His interment
cost forty livres.”
This extract is confirmed in its facts by the register of the
Bastille,[149] as well as by the register of burials of the church
of St. Paul, at Paris. The former document also informs us that
he was wrapped in “a winding-sheet of new linen,”[150]--and the
latter, that he was buried in the presence of Rosarges, Major of the
Bastille, and of Reilh, Surgeon-Major of the same prison.
In the register of the church he is designated by the name of
Marchialy, and his age is entered as forty-five; assertions which
are both of them evidently incorrect, and probably only made in
order to mislead the curious. At the time of his death, Matthioli
was sixty-three years of age, as appears from the date of his birth
before given. Shortly before he died, he told the Apothecary of the
Bastille that he believed he was sixty years[151] old--a degree
of inaccuracy as to his own age, which is easily to be conceived
in a man who had been so long and so rigorously imprisoned. His
confinement had lasted above twenty-four years.
After the decease of Matthioli, every thing was done to endeavour
to destroy all trace even of his former existence. His clothes were
burnt, as was all the furniture of his room; the silver plate, the
copper, and the pewter, which had been used by him, were melted
down; the walls of his chamber were first scraped, and then fresh
white-washed; the floor was new paved; the old ceiling was taken
away and renewed; the doors and windows were burnt; and every corner
was searched in which it was thought any paper, linen, or other
memorial of him might be concealed.[152]
Thus were continued, to the very last, the same extraordinary
precautions against discovery, which marked the whole imprisonment
of the mysterious prisoner: a circumstance, which of itself
certainly affords a strong confirmation of the fact, that the _Iron
Mask of the Bastille_, was one and the same person with the _Count
Matthioli_, who had been so secretly introduced into Pignerol, and
so mysteriously conveyed from place to place by St. Mars. But the
actual proof of this is only to be found in the documents which form
the groundwork of the preceding narrative; and which, undoubtedly,
do present a most convincing and satisfactory chain of evidence upon
the subject.
An important corroboration of this evidence is also derived from the
well-attested fact, that Lewis the Fifteenth, who is allowed, on all
hands, to have known the history of the Iron Mask, affirmed, more
than once, that _he was the minister of an Italian sovereign_. He
told the Duke de Choiseul,[153] on one occasion, that he knew who
the Iron Mask was; and, upon the Duke’s questioning him further,
would only add, _that all the conjectures hitherto made upon the
subject were erroneous_.[154] The Duke then begged Madame de
Pompadour[156] to ask the King who it was; she did so, and his
reply was, “_The minister of an Italian prince_!”[157] The Duke
de Choiseul, unsatisfied by this reply, which he considered to be
only an evasion, took another opportunity of again applying to the
King upon the subject, who again answered, “_He believed that the
prisoner was a minister of one of the courts of Italy_!”[158]
Thus has the ill-fated Matthioli been identified with the Iron Mask,
and traced through his long and dreary prison to his grave. It is
probable that much of the illusion and interest, which accompanied
the mysterious appellation of _the Iron Mask_, will be destroyed by
the certainty of who he really was; as well as by the comparative
insignificance of the personage who has successfully laid claim to
the title. Still it is surely satisfactory that truth, after being
so long overwhelmed by error, should be at length triumphant.
The lovers of romance, who still wish to know more of the
magnificent conjectures of former days; or who desire to be made
acquainted with the reasons that induced a belief, that the Iron
Mask was either the Duke de Beaufort; or the Count de Vermandois;
or the Duke of Monmouth; or an elder or a twin-brother of Lewis the
Fourteenth; or a son of Oliver Cromwell; or Arwediks, the Armenian
Patriarch; are referred to Voltaire, Dutens, St. Foix, La Grange
Chancel, Gibbon, the Père Papon, the Père Griffet, the Chevalier
de Taulés, and Mr. Quintin Craufurd. Of these accounts, perhaps
Voltaire’s is the least curious, find Mr. Craufurd’s the most so;
because the first did not seek for truth, but only wished to invent
a moving tale; while the latter was most anxious to arrive at the
truth, and had all the advantage in his researches of the former
writers upon the same subject.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “L’homme au masque de fer.”
[2] M. Roux (Fazillac) published several of the documents,
since republished by M. Delort, but he does not appear to have
seen the whole series; and therefore his reasoning upon the
subject is inconclusive. M. Delort has, however, copied a great
deal from him in his narrative--whole sentences sometimes, word
for word, without any acknowledgment of the plagiarism.
[3] Delort.
[4] The Abbé d’Estrades, Ambassador for a considerable time
from Lewis the Fourteenth, to the Republic of Venice, was son
of Godfrey, Count d’Estrades, so long employed in negociations
and embassies in Holland, and who was one of the eight Marshals
of France made upon the death of Turenne. Madame Cornuel called
them, “La Monnoie de M. de Turenne.”
[5] Ferdinand Charles IV., Duke of Mantua, a weak and
unfortunate Prince. Died July the 5th, 1708, as it is said of
poison, administered by a lady he was in love with.
[6] Casale did not come into the possession of the French till
1681. In 1695, it was taken by the Allies, and its
fortifications demolished. It was, however, retaken by the
French, and fortified again. The King of Sardinia, (Victor
Amadeus,) made himself master of it in 1706. His successor,
Charles Emmanuel, lost it again to the French in 1745, but
regained it the following year.
[7] The strong fort of Pignerol, acquired to the Crown of
France by the negociations of Richelieu, continued in their
possession for 68 years. In 1696, it was restored by treaty to
Victor Amadeus II., Duke of Savoy; its fortifications having
been previously dismantled.
[8] Victor Amadeus I., Duke of Savoy, a prince of great bravery
and considerable talent. He married Christina, daughter of
Henry IV., King of France, by whom he had two sons, Francis
Hyacinth and Charles Emmanuel II., successively Dukes of Savoy.
Died October 7th, 1637. He was the first Duke of Savoy, who
appropriated to himself the title of _Royal Highness_.
[9] Isabella Clara, of Austria, daughter of the Archduke
Leopold, who was grandson of the Emperor Ferdinand III. Married
June 13th, 1649, to Charles III., Duke of Mantua.
[10] Appendix, No. 1.
[11] Appendix, No. 1.
[12] The Empress Eleanor was daughter of Charles, Duke of
Rhetelois, who died in the life-time of his father, Charles I.
Duke of Mantua, in spite of which he is generally denominated
by historians, Charles II., Duke of Mantua. She became, on the
30th of April, 1651, the third wife of Ferdinand III., Emperor
of Germany, whom she survived many years, and died December
5th, 1686. She was the aunt of Ferdinand Charles IV., Duke of
Mantua.
[13] Thomas de la Cerda, Marquis of Laguna, in Spain, married
April 22, 1672, to Maria Louisa, only daughter of Vespasian
Gonzaga, only brother of Ferdinand III., the reigning Duke of
Guastalla.
[14] The Monk Bulgarini appears to have been the confessor and
favourite of the Duchess-mother of Mantua; and to have been
entirely devoted to the Spanish interests.
[15] The profession of Giuliani was, that of an editor of
newspapers, in which capacity he was in the habit of travelling
from town to town, to collect and convey news. See Appendix,
No. 98.
[16] Alphonso IV., Duke of Modena, succeeded his father Francis
I. in his territories, and in the command in chief of the
French army in Italy, in 1658. Died in the 29th year of his
age, July 16, 1662, having married, May 27, 1655, Laura
Martinozzi, niece of Cardinal Mazarin.
[17] Charles III., Duke of Mantua, father of Ferdinand Charles
IV., the reigning Duke, had the command of the Imperial Army
in Italy, and took upon himself the office of Vicar General
of the Empire in Italy, during the interregnum which followed
the death of the Emperor Ferdinand III. in 1657, in virtue of
a diploma, lately granted to him by that Prince. His right was
contested by the Duke of Savoy, who, upon the ground of old
usage, claimed the office for himself. The Electors of the
Empire annulled the appointment of the Duke of Mantua.
[18] Appendix, No. 1.
[19] Appendix, No. 1.
[20] Appendix, No. 1.
[21] Cæsar Bishop of Laon and Cardinal d’Estrées, son of
the first Marshal of France of that name, was employed in
various negociations with the Princes of Italy; but is now
more remembered for his courtier-like reply to Lewis XIV. That
Monarch one day at dinner complained of having lost all his
teeth. “And who is there, Sire, that has any teeth?” said the
Cardinal (Sire, et qui est-ce qui a des dents?) What made the
flattery the more ludicrously gross was, that the Cardinal,
though an old man, had remarkably fine teeth, and showed them
very much whenever he opened his mouth.
[22] Appendix, No. 2.
[23] Appendix, No. 8.
[24] 1677.
[25] Simon Arnaud de Pomponne, Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs from 1671 to 1679, when he was dismissed from his
office, but retained the title of Minister of State, with
permission to attend the Council. A man, like so many of his
race, who united considerable talents to great excellence of
character. Madame de Sévigné says, in speaking of the eminent
station he had filled, that “Fortune had wished to make use of
his virtues for the happiness of others.”
[26] Ferdinand III., Duke of Guastalla, descended from a
younger branch of the House of Gonzaga; and the heir to the
Duchy of Mantua, if he survived Ferdinand Charles; which
however was not the case. He died of dropsy, January 11th,
1678.
[27] Anne Isabella, eldest daughter of Ferdinand III., Duke of
Guastalla, married August 13th, 1671, to Ferdinand Charles IV.,
Duke of Mantua, by whom she had no offspring.
[28] This is evidently a mistake, and should be read _niece_
instead of _second daughter_. It alludes to Maria Louisa,
only daughter of Vespasian Gonzaga, only brother of Ferdinand
III., Duke of Guastalla, married to a Spanish nobleman, Thomas
de la Cerda, Marquis of Laguna. At this time neither of the
daughters of Ferdinand had children, and _she_, consequently,
after them, was the heiress of their claims upon the Duchies of
Guastalla and Mantua. The second daughter of Ferdinand III.,
Maria Victoria, married June 30th, 1769, Vincent Gonzaga Count
of St. Paul--the person who is here erroneously described as
having been the means of marrying her to another person.
[29] Vincent Gonzaga, Count of St. Paul, afterwards Duke of
Guastalla, was descended from a younger son of Ferrant II.,
first Duke of Guastalla. After contesting for many years his
right to that Duchy with Ferdinand Charles IV., Duke of Mantua;
during which they were both merely made use of, by turns, as
the instruments of the French and Austrian domination; he
was finally successful in establishing himself at Guastalla
in 1706, where he died April 28th, 1714. By his wife, Maria
Victoria, second daughter of Ferdinand III., Duke of Guastalla,
he left two sons, who successively succeeded him in the
sovereignty of that Duchy.
[30] Appendix, No. 9.
[31] Appendix, No. 10.
[32] Appendix, No. 17.
[33] Appendix, No. 18.
[34] Appendix, Nos. 24, 28, 29, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 40.
[35] Appendix, No. 47.
[36] Delort, quoting from an Italian manuscript, in the records
of the office of the French Secretary of State for Foreign
Affairs, which appears to have been written by Giuliani.
[37] Delort, quoting from the same authority.
[38] M. Delort says the sum actually given to Matthioli, was
400 Doubles, and the sum promised him 400,000 Doubles, which,
from its largeness, he conceives must be a mistake; but he adds
that it is so written in the Italian manuscripts before
referred to.
[39] Delort.
[40] Francis Michael Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, son of
the Chancellor Le Tellier, Secretary of State for the War
department, from 1666, to the time of his death, in 1691, which
occurring suddenly, and just as he was on the point of being
disgraced, gave occasion to a report that he was poisoned: for
which, however, it appears there was no foundation. He was of a
haughty and cruel disposition, and was the minister who planned
and ordered the inhuman ravages of the Palatinate, which have
so indelibly disgraced the reign of his master.
[41] Delort.
[42] Lewis Francis, Marquis and afterwards Duc de Boufflers,
Marshal of France in 1693. Died in 1711. One of the best of
Lewis the Fourteenth’s generals.
[43] Nicholas de Catinat, Marshal of France in 1698. “He
united,” says Voltaire, “philosophy to great military talents.
The last day he commanded in Italy, he gave for the watch-word,
‘Paris and St. Gratien,’ the name of his country house. He died
there in the retirement of a real sage, (having refused the
blue ribbon) in 1712.”
[44] Upon reference to the Mémoires de Catinat, published in
1819, this event is found to be thus adverted to:--“In 1679,
Catinat was charged with some negociations with the Duke of
Mantua; but the affair failed of success, in consequence of the
treachery of the Secretary of that prince. Catinat, according
to the King’s orders, was anxious to punish the traitor. He
remained at Pignerol some days, and having engaged him in a
hunting party, had him arrested.” It also appears from these
Memoirs, that both Catinat and Boufflers were again despatched
to Italy on the same errand, in 1681, when Casale was really
given up to Lewis; and on this occasion, Louvois, in his
instruction to Boufflers, mentions Matthioli by name, as the
person whose treachery had prevented the success of the former
negociation.
[45] Appendix, Nos. 52, 62, 64, 73, 76, 77, 78.
[46] I am not sure whether I am correct in imagining that this
was the Marshal d’Asfeld, who distinguished himself at the
battle of Almanza, and died at great old age, in 1743.
[47] Appendix, Nos. 52, 54, 55.
[48] Victor Amadeus II., at this time a minor, and under the
Regency of his mother, Mary Jane de Nemours. In 1713, he became
King of Sicily, which kingdom he was compelled to exchange for
that of Sardinia, in 1720; abdicated the throne in favour of
his son, in 1730; and died in 1732. This prince possessed in an
eminent degree, the attributes of his race--valour and skill in
military matters, and faithlessness in his treaties and
engagements with his brother sovereigns.
[49] Leopold I. succeeded Ferdinand III. in 1657, died in 1705.
[50] Charles II. the last King of Spain of the House of
Austria.--Died in 1700.
[51] Appendix, Nos. 68, 69, 89.
[52] See ante, note, page 18.
[53] Appendix, No. 66.
[54] Appendix, No. 68.
[55] Appendix, No. 67.
[56] Namely, of the delivery of Casale.
[57] Appendix, No. 72.
[58] Appendix, Nos. 75, 79, 81, 83, 88.
[59] Mary Jane Baptista of Savoy, daughter of Charles Amadeus,
Duke of Nemours and Aumale, (who was killed in a duel by his
brother-in-law, the Duke of Beaufort). Married May 11th, 1665,
to Charles Emmanuel II., Duke of Savoy; Regent of the
territories of her son during his minority. Died March 15th,
1724.
[60] Delort. Appendix, Nos. 87, 92, 95.
[61] Appendix, No. 92.
[62] Appendix, No. 70.
[63] Delort.
[64] Appendix, No. 75.
[65] Appendix, No. 71.
[66] Benigne d’Auvergne de Saint-Mars, Seigneur of Dimon and
Palteau; Bailli and Governor of Sens; successively Governor of
Exiles, the Island of St. Marguerite, and the Bastille. At
Pignerol he had only the command of the state prisoners, the
Marquis d’Herleville being governor of the fortress. St. Mars
came to Pignerol a short time before the arrival there of
Fouquet, who was the first prisoner confided to his care.
[67] Roux (Fazillac.)
[68] Appendix, Nos. 79, 81.
[69] Delort.
[70] Appendix, No. 88.
[71] Appendix, No. 82.
[72] Delort.
[73] M. Roux (Fazillac) gives these particulars, upon the
authority of a letter from Estrades to Pomponne, of May 7th,
1679; and of one from Catinat to Louvois of the same date;
neither of which are published.
[74] Roux (Fazillac.)
[75] Appendix, No. 84.
[76] Ibid.
[77] Delort.
[78] Appendix, No. 85.
[79] Appendix, No. 84.
[80] Ibid. No. 85.
[81] Appendix, Nos. 96, 103, 104.
[82] Ibid. No. 48.
[83] Nicholas Fouquet, “Surintendant des Finances,” in 1653.
The most lavish, but the most amiable of financiers.--Disgraced
in 1664, when he was condemned, by the commissioners appointed
to inquire into his conduct, to banishment. The sentence was
commuted by the King himself to perpetual imprisonment; and
Fouquet died in the citadel of Pignerol, in 1680. On his trial
he defended himself with great spirit and talent. See Madame de
Sévigné’s interesting Letters to M. de Pomponne upon the
subject.
[84] Anthony Nompar de Caumont, Marquis of Peguilhem, and
afterwards Duke of Lauzun: whose adventures and eccentricities
are too well known to require relation here. It is in speaking
of him that La Bruyère says, “Il n’est pas permis aux autres
hommes de rêver, comme il a vécu.”
[85] Anne Mary Louisa, of Orleans, Mademoiselle de Montpensier,
commonly called the “Grande Mademoiselle.”--A woman of an
unpleasant character, according to her own showing in her
Memoirs; but who certainly did not deserve to be the victim, as
she was, in different ways, of two such men as Lewis and
Lauzun.
[86] Appendix, Nos. 85, 87, 91, 92, 94, 95, 97.
[87] Ibid. No. 97.
[88] Ibid. Nos. 84, 85.
[89] Appendix, No. 90.
[90] Ibid. No. 93.
[91] Ibid. No. 96.
[92] Ibid. No. 101.
[93] Charles IV. or V., for he is sometimes called one and
sometimes the other, was the son of Nicholas Francis, Cardinal,
and afterwards Duke of Lorrain. On the death of his uncle,
Charles IV., he took the barren titles of Duke of Lorrain and
Bar, but never obtained possession of his territories, (which
were usurped by France,) “though his military, political, and
Christian virtues and talents, made him worthy to occupy the
first throne in the universe.” He commanded the armies of the
Emperor for some years with the greatest distinction, married
the Archduchess Eleanor, widow of Michael Wiecnowiecki, King of
Poland, and died in 1690. Lewis the Fourteenth, on hearing of
his death, said of him, “that he was the greatest, wisest, and
most generous of his enemies.”
[94] Appendix, No. 102.
[95] Appendix, No. 107.
[96] Appendix, No. 106.
[97] Appendix, No. 108.
[98] Appendix, No. 103.
[99] Appendix, No. 104.
[100] Ibid.
[101] Appendix, No. 105.
[102] If we were to judge of the Christian religion by the
manner in which it was professed by Lewis the Fourteenth, we
should indeed have a most perverted idea of its precepts. It
seems as if the pseudo-christianity of that monarch, only
incited him to acts of narrow-minded bigotry and cruelty,
allowing, at the same time, full latitude to every kind of
licentious excess; while it debarred him from the exercise of
humanity and toleration. A good measure of the nature and
extent of his religious knowledge and feelings is acquired, by
the anecdote respecting Fontpertuis and the Duke of Orleans.
When the latter was going into Spain, Lewis objected to his
taking the former with him, because he was a Jansenist; but
withdrew the objection when assured by the duke that he was
only an atheist!
[103] M. Roux (Fazillac), quoting from an unpublished letter of
Louvois to St. Mars, dated December 14th, 1681.
[104] About 1_l._ 12_s._ 0_d._ Appendix, No. 126.
[105] Exiles was taken from the French in 1708, by the Duke of
Savoy, but restored to them by the treaty of Utrecht.
[106] Appendix, No. 111.
[107] Appendix, No. 111.
[108] Appendix, No. 112.
[109] Appendix, No. 111.
[110] Appendix, No. 112.
[111] Ibid.
[112] Appendix, No. 115.
[113] Appendix, No. 111.
[114] Appendix, No. 117.
[115] Appendix, No. 113.
[116] Appendix, Nos. 114, 115.
[117] Appendix, No. 120.
[118] Appendix, No. 121.
[119] Appendix, No. 121.
[120] Appendix, No. 123.
[121] Roux (Fazillac).
[122] Ibid.
[123] Ibid.
[124] Appendix, Nos. 124, 125.
[125] Appendix, No. 124.
[126] Appendix, No. 125.
[127] Appendix, No. 124.
[128] Appendix, No. 126.
[129] Delort.
[130] Extract of Dujonca’s journal, in Mr. Craufurd’s article
upon “L’Homme au Masque de fer.”
[131] Delort.
[132] Papon in his “Histoire générale de Provence” informs us
that he went to see the room.
[133] “Histoire générale de Provence, du Père Papon.”
[134] See “Mélanges d’Histoire et de Littérature,” by Mr.
Quintin Craufurd.
[135] See the same work of Mr. Quintin Craufurd.
[136] This must have been Lewis Francis Le Tellier, Marquis de
Barbezieux, who, in the preceding year, had succeeded his
father, Louvois, in the post of Secretary of State for the War
Department. He was an indolent but intelligent Minister.--Died
in 1701, aged 33.
[137] Appendix, No. 127.
[138] Delort.