The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1858-01-23

There are some culgiuaS i'll the world that
seem to defy solution. or, at least. any solution
which shall be received with ANYTHING Ike
llnanimitv. The authorship of Junins' let
tiers and the identity Of tie Eron Mask, are
chief among the list Of these yrxed a,.Q4tions
PROFOUND an inquiry relating to either Of them
and the fIpnd-gatcs of discussion are Mt once
opened. Mn who have no % non Of lhcir
own upon any other questions under heaven
have very decided opinion that such n one
was JnIlnS, and Su'h another The Iron Mask
and winch they will champion through The
sto,nirst debate. Last year NJ. Dc RrmuSat
gave us thick volume on the authorship O.
Junlus The Ambigu Comiquc, reviewing
the other evening an old meioarama Of the
Iron Mask, SET us all to b&tt Ing the question
of The identity Of this strange parsonage.
Some have asserted that the Iron Mask was
the Duke dc Beaufort, known AS lie Roi dies
llallcs o,hcis that lie was the Cnunt de Yer
mandois, IA natural child Ct Lonis XIV, AMI
the Duchess de la Nalicre,) punished III this
way for Shaping the Grand Dauphin; these.
Fouqurt, the unhappy treasurer: those, the
Duke of Monmouth, pubfcly hchcnd'd in
London; others, again, one ArmelickS, a
schismatic Armenian. who did great deal
of ha,m to the Oriental Catholics; others,
still, n secretary Of the Duke of Man.ua, one
iiIui VI flaItiiII W ~ successfully OPP IS
ed the policy Of the King of France.
None Of these conicctures bear examination;
they prove groundlrss upon the least conpar-
ison Of the dates OF the imprisonment OF tie
Iron Mask with the dates of known passages
in the life Of any Of those persons. B sides,
no good ground of reason can be advanced
for the multitude of precautions taken to
assure the impoS3bi!ity Of the Iron Mask
communicating with any person ont OF thr
prisons i'll which his life passed away, aGd
to preclude his features from being seen by
anybody which at the saae time every at.
tcn,ion was bestowed on him--hc was treated
with servlle respect even by men as high as
Louvos himself, and his lnin. apparel, fur
nturc, table, were as Versailles itself posS,S5-
ed. What reason can he alleged to Justify
this excess Of severity aud this regal luxury,
where only DC Beaufort. de Ncrl,an'l5is,
q Monmouth wee concerned? | say no'him1
Of the less ariStocratic prptcnderS. Sill less
can any plausible prcteXt be assigned for the
Scrupulous, the minute care, with which
every trace Of the Iron Masks existence was
destroyed or falsiled after his death, and the
lnyiolahlc reserve maintained by all the mem
bers Of Louis NlV.'s family ana Successors,
concerning this parsonage. IL was incoNtcs-
tihe that the phi ,onar was Of most illlstriouS
birth, and that his existence was a danger, if
not a disgrace, for the Bourbon dynasty.
Notaire is the first person who gave any
thing like a plausible solution to this question,
ard he did rot advance his solution by way
of parentheSis but he hiatvi ii first in his
Steele de Louis XIV. and stated it wlth CON
Siderable minutcnpss in his Dictronairp
Philosophers He declared that the Iron
Mask was a son Of Anne of Austria an elder
uterine brother of Louis XIV. 1t is believed
that Voltairc received the HAT of this solution
from the Duke de Richcicu, with whom he
was on an intimate footing in his younger
days. Just before the French Revolution,
copies of a letter, written to the DuNe de
Richclicu, by Mile dc Valois, the Regents
daughter were circulated, in which she told
Lin that she heard from her father (npoa
gerry strange condasonS,) that the Iron Mask
was a twin brother of Louis XIV, bonn after
him.
The coqucttish character to use the most
and the aversion Of Louis XIII publicly
exhibits! towards her, together with his
refusal to cohabit with her Bnckinghams
mad passion for her and the lencncy. to say
no more, with which she regarded it the
close relations between her and her brother.
in law, (Monsicur Castor, Duke Of Oleans,
the pains she took to prevent his marriage
with Mile de Montpensier, (Which so excited
the King .iealouSly that he asked her before
the Council, eff she pretended to have two
husbands at the same timc!'') ave matters Ct
history familiar to every college boy.
1t being admitted that the Iron Mask was
ain adulterne child Of Anne of Austria. and
an elder brother Of Louis NV, it is easy to
comprehend that when Louis XIV. was in
formed of the existence Of his brother. who
might provoke terrible scandal and light
the flames of civil war by invoking his priori-
" of birth, (fur being born in lawful wedlock,
bis faint was destroyed in the eyes of he
ew, Louis XIV. ordered that this dangerous
hild should be imprisoned, and commanded
ader penalty Of death thai all communica-
pm between HIM and the world except his
Tcrnor) should cease. And AS the family
Wness might reveal his relationship to the
d. the latter comdemed him to wear fgr
san Iron mask. THIS solution explains,
the care and "espect shown the prisoner
sthe most illustrous persons in the State,
p while maintaining a most rigid scclus
a Of him, and explains how Shame pre-
! He'd Anne of Austria from making any
i empt to see this son, or to obtain his de
sr,nce And why at his death So much
A 3 was taken to destroy or disguise every
! get which could at future day aid the
81 slation of his origin, and why the royal
n fly for so many rciens should preserve
II biylolable secrecy concerning him!
tr the revolution Of 1880, NJ. Auguste
II I'd, sometime Secretary Of the Ministry
"A lc Interior, stated in a letter addressed
81 magazine; called L'Insti;ut Historiquc
"a during the Empire he had had il lis
~ a revelation, written by st. Mars
tli, of the mission with which he invest