Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1858-01-05
Tne Man Ia the Iron Musk.

There are some enigmas in the world that
seem to defy solution, or, at least any Solu
ton which shall be received with anything
| like unanimity. The authorship Of Junius
letters, aud the identity of the Iron Mask
are chief among the list Of these vexed CUES,
tons. PROFOUND al inquiry relating t.
either Of them, and the iioodgates OF discus
sion are at once opened Men who have NJ
opinion Of their own upon any other ques
tons under Heaven, have very decided
opinion that such one was Junius, and such
another the Iron Mask, and which they will
champion through the stormie5t debate
| Last year NJ. dc Remusat gave Us a thick
volume on the authorship of Junius. Ine
Ambigu COmique, reviewing the other even
! log an old melo-drama of the Iron Mask, set
US all to battling the question Of the identity
of this strange parsonage. Some have as
serted that the Iron Mask was the Duke de
/ Beaufort. known as lie Roi des lIai!es; 9th
ers that he was the Count de Eermandois, "a
natural child OF Louis XIV. and the Duchess
/ DE- la Naiiere,) punished IN this way Tor
! shaping the Grand Dauphiu; these, Fouquet,
/ the unhappy treasurer; those, the Duke OF
Monmouth, publicly beheaded in London;
others, again, one Armedicks, a sChsmatlC
! Armenian, who did great deal Of harm to
/ the Oriental Catholics; others, still, secre-
! targ Of the Duke of Mautua, one Matthldi or
Marchili, who successfully opposed the policy
Of the KIM Of France.
| None OF these ConjeCturcs bear eXamlna-
| ton; they prove grUundicss upon the least
comparison Of the dates Of the imprisonment
Of the Iron Mask with the dates Of known
passages in the lie OF any Of those persons.
/ Besides, No good ground of reason can be
advanced for the multitude OF precautions
taken to assure the impo5sibiIity of the Iron
Mask communicating with any person out Of
the prisons in which his life passed away,
and to preclude his features from being seen
! by anybody; while at the same time every
attention was bestowed on him-he was trea-
ted with serVile respect even by men as high
as Louyois himself, and his linen, apparel,
! furniture, table, were as princely rs Yer
sailles itself possessed. What reason can
be alleged to Justify this excess OF severity
and this regal luxury, where only de Beau
fort, dc NermandJls, Monmouth were
concerned ! say nothing OF the less arlstg-
cratic pretendeTs. Still less can any plausl-
BILE pretext be assigned for the scrupulous,
the minute care, with which every trace OF
the Iron Masks existence was destroyed or
| iasifed after his death, aud the inViJlable
reserve maintained by all the members Of
Louis NIV.'s family and successors, concern
ing this parsonage. 1t was inCOntestlble
that the prisoner was of most illustrious
BIRTH and that his existence was a danger,
if not disgrace for the Bourbon dynasty.
Eoltare is the first person who gave any
thing like a plausible solution Of this Qucs-
ton, and he did not advance his solution by
way Of parenthesis, Int he limited it first IN
his Steele &c Louis XIV, and stated it with
considerable m.nutcncss in his DiCtiOnaire
Philosophique. He declared that the Iron
Mask was a son Of Anne IF Austria, an
elder uterine brother Of Louis XIV. Ii Is
believed that Notaire received the hint Of
this solution from the Duke de RichelIeu,
with whom he was on an intimate footing
in his Younger days. Just before the French
Revolution, copies OF letter, written to the
Duke de Richclieu, by MILE de NalOis, the
Regents daughter, were circulated, in which
she told him that she had heard from her
father (UpoR rcyy strange condHi0nS,) that
the Iron Max was a twin brother Of Louis
XIV, born at!a: him.
Tue coquettsh character Ito use the most
eunhonicai eZpression) Of Anne Of Austria,
and the aversion Louis Mi publicly eXhibi
ted towards her, together with his refusal t.
cohabit with her-Buckingh am'5 mad pas
sion for Ecr and the leniency, to say no more,
with which she regarded 1.-THE close rcla-
tons between her and her brother-n-law,
(Mons!cur Castor, Duke Of Orleans,) the
pains she took to prevent his marriage with
Mile de Montpensier, (which 80 excited the
Kings jealousy be asked her before the
Council IF she pretended to have two hus
bands 1T the same time?"l arc matters of his
tory familiar 10 every college boy.
1t being admitted that the Iron Mask was
an adu!terine child Of Anne Of Austria, and
an elder brother of Louis XIV, it is easy to
comprehend that when Louis XIV. was in
formed Of the existence Of this brother, who
might provoke a terrible scandal and light
the flames Of civil war by invoking his pri-
ority of birth, (tor being born in lawful wed
lock, his faint was destroyed in the eyes OF
the law Louis NV. ordered that this dan
gerous child should be imprisoned, and COM
manded, under penalty of death, that all
communication between him and the world
Except his govcrnor) should cease. And as
the family likeness might reveal his relation
ship to the King, the latter condemned him
to wear for life an iron mask. This solution
explains, too, the care and respect shown the
prisoner by tue most illustrious persons in
tho State, even while maintaining most
rigid seclusion of him, and explains how
shame prevented Anne Of Austria from max
ing any attempt u see this son, or to ob.ain
his deiiycrancc. And why at his death 50
much care was taken to destroy or disguise
every object which could at future day aid
the revelation Of his origin, and why the
royal family for Sd many reiGns should pre-
serve an inyiolable secrecy concerning him?
After the revolution of 1880, NJ. Auguste
Billiard, sometime Secretary OF the Ministry
of the Interior, stated in letter addressed
to u magazine, called L'iustiiut llistOriquo,
that during tie Empire he had had in his
hands a relation, written by ST. Mars him
self, Of the mission with winch he was In
vested. THIS Mss, which belonged . the
archives Of the Ministry Of Forcign Affairs
had been lent by the keeper Of the archives
u VI. de Montralivet, Minister of the Int
rior. NJ. Billiard attested that no doubt
could be raised touching the authenticity Of
this document, whose writing, paper, and
form were very evidently Of Louis NIY.'s
reign. Two or three years alter this letter
urrnorad q maroon nHa-ei m tho Nm rl;s bnr,