The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-06-07
The Man with the Iron MASK

One of the questions which the world has
never settled, and over which there is
prospect that it will wrangle as long as the
earth stands, is the identity of the indivdu-
al who, just two hundred years ago this
spring, was imprisoned in the Bastile at
Paris, and found a place in history as the
Man with the Iron Mask. The story briefly
narrated, is that on April 3, 1878, a man of
aristocratic bearing and dress, supposed to
have been arrested on the northern French
frontier, was imprisoned in the famous Pa
risian lookup. The next spring he was re-
moved, with velvet mask upon his face,
to the fortress of Pignerol, and placed I'M
der the charge of ST. Mars, who was his
custodian for twenty mine years, when his
mission was ended by the death of the Man
in the Iron Mask. During his imprison-
ment the mysterious prisoner was removed
from Pgnerol to the Castle of Exiles,
thence to the Isles of Ste. Marguerite, and
finally returned to the Bastile in 1898,
where he remained until he died in 1904
When h. died his body was subjected to
chemical action, his papers and furniture
were burned, and the walls of his cell
scraped to destroy all chance even of acct
dental recognition. At the time of his cap
ture Louis the XIV was King, his mother,
Anne of Austria, was alive, and Fouquet
was noninally the prime minister. The
King, his mother, and the Dauphin, Louis
XIV, are the only ones known to have pos
sessed the secret of the prisoners identity,
though it was probably known also to St.
Mars. his sole custodian.
The story of the man thus imprisoned for
twenty nine years with his mask constantly
upon his face, has given rise to much spec
ulaton among the historians, and been
ln . =. 4
mances, almost innumerabla. The histo-
rians have given it great attention and pa
tient investigations and have reached con-
illusions, of widely varying nature. The
list of those, who have been named as the
persons to whom the honor of this mysteri-
Gus imprisonment belongs, is an extended
one, and evidence, more or less voluminous
and conclusive has been brought to support
the claims of each The chief names il
bears are those of the son of Louis XIV by
Louise de VALERIE gan illegitimate son of
Anne of Austria by Buckingham, or a son
of the same by Mazarin, and lastly twin
brother of Louis XIV. But these, well
supported as their claims seem to have
been, have been, with the exception OF the
illegitimate son of Anne of Austria, or a
twin brother of the king, disposed of and set
aside as out of the question. In relation to
these two exceptions it is to be said that
there are host of supporters of both theo-
ries. Dumas appearing among those who
are the strongest debaters in favor of the
identity of the twin brother of the king and
the Man in the Iron Mask.
Major Jung, of the French army, has re-
Gently published book which he claims to
be " the final, because the correct" solu-
ton of the enigma; and in the June num-
Der of the GaldTU Colonel James f. Moline
hastens to adopt this solution, which is sim
ply this: In the records OF the war depart
ment of France, Major Jung has found
proof of the existence, in 1873, of we'll
formed and influential conspiracy against
the kings life and that at very near the
time when the masked prisoner is known to
have been arrested, the chief of this con-
spiracy was also made prisoner and taken
to the Bastile. The idea that the masked
prisoner was prince of the blood, or more
than common conspirator, they dismiss
incontinently.
Colonel Meline having reviewed and ap-
proved Major Jung, there are a plenty of
disputants arising to review and disprove of
Col. Incline. They point to the circum-
stances connected with the Imprisonment of
the unk nown to show that whether conspi-
rator or not he must have been prince of
the blood, for this was shown by his treat
ment as a prisoner of the highest rank in
the clothing and provisions provided for
him, and in the attitude of st. Mars and his
fellow officers towards their protege, stand
ing uncovered when in his presence until
requested to sit down--one which such Off
GERS would not have observed toward any
one in France but to a prince of the blood.