The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1805-01-01

written, VIII loon be augmented with anew
chapter. Aperfon, who thinks himfelf able TO
explain this myitery in more fatisfaetory man.
scr, is preparing To publiih his couieStures.-
lie pretends to knowfrom letter Of Louis XVI.
that this prince was unacquainted with the fe-
cret who that unfortunate perlon really was who
lived and died with an iron maxi over his face.
1t rs knowp that one of the iupEohtions which
has obtained moft credit, is that he was the
count de Ia Vermandois, natural fon of Louis
XIV. by the dutchefs dc la Volere. That the
motive to this extreme rgour was All act Of bru-
taiity of count de Vermandois towards the tau-
phin. But as the count was publicly buried,
1t rs inppoted that the funeral ceremonies per-
torme:! for him, were merely means TO millead
the hiitorians of that TING, and that log Of
wood was buried in his place. It is the verif;-
cation or his coliin, and what it contains, which
is the Object OF the above mentioned letter OF
Louis XVI. now in the hands OF member of
the national inititute. The king ordered the
5iihop OF Arras 10 open the coffin, and to take
prsee5 z'erbGi of its contents, and to fend it to
his maje6y. Louis XVI. coniequently did not
know any thing certain on this tuhiett This
letter will be depoiited in the imperial library,
as an hiitoricai record, where every one may fee
and read its contents. 1t is fdid, that after the,
pubic has been acquainted with the new ex-
planation ready to appear, the man of the iron
h'siN hi!i OC'iiS ~ hsOlTS tUt lame 1DtcTCiE As
be has hitherto done.-Gaseffr de France
The public is now about to be plagued with
the hundredth fuppofition concerning the man
IN the iron maik, in confcquence OF letter
which Louis XVI. wrote 10 the bi'hop OF Ar
ras, to have the coffin of the coun, dc Ver,nan
dois verified, and which was found TO contain
the bones or afhes of ione dead perfon IF the
ageia which the count died That Louis XVI.
hould be ignorant of what was known to bis
anceitors, and even to the courtiers and writers
of his own times IS totally improbable. Both
the late duES Il R,cheIeu and Vol.are were ac-
quainted with the name, birth, and rank of the
perfon known under the name OF the man with
the iron max, though in fact, this rnaik was of
velvet with iron fprings. The Particulars Of
this perfon are now no longer myferious, 6nce
a manuscript copy in Voltsrc's own hand writ
ing, is in the hands of his niece. NJ 4dame De
Villette, explaining the whole, ard which with
other inedited Inanufcripts of that great philo
fopher, are bequeathed by her TO Il literary
friend, on condition of not being printed before
ten years after her death. Many psrfons have,
however, been permitted to perute it and we
can allure our readers, upon the mott authentic
documents, that the man with the iron maxi was
the fon of the queen dowager of Louis XIII.
and the mother of Louis XIV. by Cardinal Ma
zarin, to whom fhe was privately married. and
that he WAS born III the palace royal, a: Paris,
l64s. 1t is well known that Mazarin, though
a cardinal, had not taken priens orders, and that
Louis XVI. always treated him with the fame
refpect and regard as if he had been his parent.
ii was after MaZafin's death that the public
firt heard of the iron maxi, becauie, during his
life, his fon was travelling abroad with private
tutor, without knowing who were his parents
or relatives. This tutor dying fome time after
wards fuddenly at Brufiels, his papers, unfortu-
nately difcovered to Young Mazarin, his high
birth, who, in coniequence, went to Paris, and
expoftulated rather imprudently, with his mo-
Their, who to conceal what fhe thought her fami-
~ difgrace, by fuch marriage, confented to
the treatment which her youngeft fon afterwards
experienced, and who, on account of his great
likenefs to his brother Louis XIV. was Obliged
to wear black velvet MAX over his fsce H
was however, treated in his confinement, with
all the refpect due to prince of the blood, and
even the governor of the Battle dared not fit
down in his preicnce, without his permifiion.
He was always ierved upon plate with the
choicef di!hes and wines, and wore the fineft
clothes and linen. Except his liberty, he could
command every thing, and every one about him.
Thefe particulars Voltare rad not only from
his friend, the duke of Richelieu but from the
duke of Orleans, the regent under the minority
of Louis XIV. The letter of Louis xiv. to the
biihop of Arras can therefore be nothing eIf-
but mere matter of curiofity on the part of
prince, e It be real but many think It one
OF many fabricated In his name by the Jacobins
of 1893 and 1898.