The morning news., 1894-11-25

o.
tiaFe - himself, and that he wishes to found
iiis own claims on his birth from the child
OF the Iron Mask
DuFlhs all this time. writer's of promi-
Heh-e' romaucers and dramatfsts. went on
ing the original suggestion of Vol
1e' ne Man OF the Iron Mask was rep
resented sometimes as the elder. some
tllnes as the twin and again as the Younger
pIoIher OF Louis XIV, having for his fa-
theF, as the case might be eitbe King
LOUIS AIIL. or Cardinal AIazarfn or the
Enslsh Duke Of Buckingham. In the En-
sIiSh literature OF the subject the most
popular supposition seems to bava hean
mat he was the twin brother Of T.onis
~: suppressed from his birth to avoid
lhe uineulttes of a double rule.
L ms view was the one taken bv the nov
5lSl, Alexander Dumas In his '"Vicom+e
80 , hraselonne' Zone Of the sequeIs to the
AlIee MuSketeers'D Aramis. who has be-
come an intriguing Jesuit. obtains secret
aunt a. iIIdhce 10 The Man of the Iron Mask
ulscioses to Kim his identity, schoolmas-
ters an, and finally substitutes him for
uaE IN the place of the real king The
9GuoolinasteI1ng includes a good kuowl-
etSe OF the faces and characters of all the
couftlers and ladies about the court and
promise to make him-Aramis-secret
prime minister when the substitution shall
nave become an accomplished fact How
lhe plot IS foiied by another OF the three
husketeers, how Louis XIV. escapes and
relmprjsOns his unfortunate twin brother
must be looked for i'm the pages of the
greatest novelist France has produced
But the last temperance of Dumas Man
OF the Mask is when the young Ncomte
de BraSelonne-son of the third muske-
teef-Ahds a silver plate fall al his feet be-
sue prison castles walls in remote
part of the country What the Iron Mask
haa written on the plate think Dumas has
/ never told
a half dozen of historical students, who
looked into things for themselves, declared
from time to time that the mystery of the
Man OF the Iron Mask was not so romantic
after all. They agreed in identifying the
Man of the Iron Mask with Nattioli, an
Italian minister of state, who suddenly
| and utterly disappeared in 1919 and was
! never heard of more. 1t is known that
Louis XIV had peculiar reasons for de-
string his removal, which he could not
secure openly, as the minister was not his
subject. This view OF the case was eX-
posed in the popular Chambers Miscellany
many years ago.
The Identification was far from being
complete The French General jung even
thought he had discovered proof that Mat
toll had died in prison in the island of
/ Saint-Marguerite in 169A-four years be-
for the Man OF the Iron Mask was brought
up to the BastilIe. Two other Investigators
as late as last year, 1888 laboriOusly tried
to prove from the state correspondence
in cipher of Louis XIV, that the prisoner
was simply the French officer Bulonde
who had displeased his master by his con-
duct during q siege. Popular belief set
tied back into the pleasanter and more ro-
mantle conclusion that the grand mon
arch" had somehow suppressed his broth
er behind the black velvet mask with its
steel springs.
What is now disclosed for the first time
completes the final Identification of the
man. 1t comes from the knowledge of the
/ prison registers, especially that of Plgne-
rol. 1t agrees with other testimony which
has Just come to light in the incessant
cleaning of last century documents.
The Man of the Iron Mask was indeed
Count Ercole Antnio Mattiol, secretary OF
state of Charles ", Duke of Mantua.
His story, with its proof, is briefly told.
Louis XIV. was steadily advancing ms
conquests on the frontiers of Savoy ana
Piedmont. The annexation of these prov
/ inces. half French in language, has been
/ scentury-long dream CT the rulers OF
France, only partly realized in our own cay
/ by the cession of Nice and savoy 70 Napo-
/ leon III in return for his services TO mi
/ ted Italv. Pignerol had been gained for
France bv Cardinal Richelieu, who for
tilted it strongly. 1t has now long been re-
stored to the Italian possessions ana is
known as Pinerolo, the last town before
! reaching the valley of the Waldenses. 1t
commands Turin, the capital OF PIEDMONT
at a distance of not 20 miles from the west
/ Louis XIV was anxious to secure cor
| resuonding stronghold on the east of that
| city. Casale which is half as far again
| distant on the river Pc, fulfilled the con
dition 1t belonged to the dominions or
/ the Duke Of Mantua, Charles OF ConzaSa'
who was a notorious spendthrIt III the
pursuit of his own private pleasure All
his affairs of state were lett TO ms sec
/ retary Count Mattoh.
Louis. XIV. conceived the plan OF buy
/ ing up both master and man. He began
/ bv the latter to whom he sent ms am
/ bassador in Venice the clever Abbe
/ Fstrades. Mattioli agreed to everything,
persuaded the buke to consent, ana came
! ON himself to Paris, where he received
/ his fun prfce from the king and signed
/ the act of cession in his masters name
/ Tben he hurried back to Mantua Louis
! Wv sent a special convoy from Yer
! sailles to secure the ratification oil the
! treaty. and occupy Casale. He was thun-
! derstruck to learn that his envoy hao
| been arrested at Mantua.
Nattioli had simply sold himself over
again to the kings enemies, SPAIN savoy
and the republic of Venice He had m
formed each Of these states, for money
! down. of the proposed cession OF Casaie
to the King of France. OF course, this
was now at an end and the frontier Of
France was likely to remain permanently
where IL was. The grand monarch had
hean outwftted by the willy italian. He
was not man to devour his mortihca-
tion in silence without trying to avenge
If is known that on the second day of
Nav 1879. Mattioh was lured into the
environs Of Turin, where he disappeared
dnalIv. From a recently discovered ac-
count written two years later by an
| italian in a position to know, we learn
what had happened. The secretary
CJaEtiolD was surrounded by TEN or
| twelve horsemen, who seized him,
masked him, and took him off toPig-
nerol" Catinat the leader Of the enter
nrise wrote in his report to LouVois,
minister of Louis XIV: mo one knows
The name Of this scoundrel not even the
| oficers who have helped TO arrest him
. fsven so mighty d monarch as Louis
| Wv could not hope to escape the IN
dignation OF all Europe, If we've once
ltnoyyn that he had thus violated IN
ternational rights by selling his enemy
i'm the territory of another power. The
/ i-i,o,e order for the arrest, dated April