The Helena independent., 1894-11-29

| meantime. pfnola OF mhttlnH ufucn-
cry from the Duchess of Savoy horselL
who showed him the copies of the docu-
ments relative 70 the surrender OF Ca
sale,
+, Louis XIV, was a man of the most
egotlsticRl nndsreVenEeful nature. and,
finding himself deceived and betrayed,
gave vent TO fierce Indignation ana
vowed 10 avenge himself on the traitor,
The night OF May 2, 1879, Loulss ennis
saries lured Mnttioli into an ambush In
the cnvirons of Turin, where he was
seized. masked (the records are very
positive on this polnD and tRkon to the
fnrtresa of Pignerol.
lt was undoubtedly requisite that SO
flagrnnt nm act aa the seizure of n min
lister plonlpotentiarY which Mattloli ao-
| tuhlly was at the time. should be kept.
/ if possible, a profound secret, while
| Louis XIV, was not at all scrupul0us
/ about invading his neighbors terrific.
riea or kidnapping their subjects, and
/ the prince Immediately injured was
weak and powerless, Yet Il involved n
/ breach " the law of nations, In the VIM
/ dication OF which all the powers were
| Interested and might combine. This
was the motive for the mask and mys'
/ terry which forever after concealed Mat
tioll from human eyes,
AT Pignerol IL In said that ST. Mars
the governor. showed his prisoner the
utmost consideration, served him hlin-
self and provided him with everything
that he desired IN the way OF food ana
/ clothes The captive was Obliged on
pain ~ death. "a wear continually his
I velvet mask, except In the presence OF
/ his physician, His only Amusement wa =
/ 90 pluck hairs from his beard with
small steel pincers, highly polished ana
/ ehiniug
March ~, 1904. ST Mars was trans
ferrcd 60 the prison of Isles Of Sainte
Marguerite and took Mattloli with him
Ia Septemher lGsS, St Mars was APP
pointed governor 20 the Bastile and
Brought Nattiol to that prison.
The register of the Bastile states;
ION Thursday september lS,l6ps, al
3 O'Clock IN thu afternoon, M, de ST.
Mars arrived from Isles OF SAinte Mar
guerite to take charge M governor OF
the Dastile He brought with him in
litter prisoner whom he had with him
for many years at Pignerol, whom he
compelled tn keep masked continually,
and whose name he did not give"
A passage In the journal of NJ, Dy-
oncn, lieutenant ~ the Bastile Zone of
the few authentic records now extanp'
says;
'The prisoner was put in the tower OF
lsA ttAluiAltlht NNANh NNAf AoN RN'h
| taken 10 furnish with all that was
/ necessary. The Sieur de Rosarges, who
| likewise came from the Isles de Sainte
/ Marguerite with st. Mars. was directed
| To wait upon and take care OF the atore-
said prisoner, who was fed by the gov
ernur."
The Man with the Iron Mask" died
Nov. ~, 1908, regarding which Dyonca
writes:
"The unknown prisoner (whose face
is covered with a black velvet mask)
and had long kept under his charge,
feeling slightly indisposed after at
tending mass died to-day at 10 at night
without having experienced any consid-
cradle illness He could not have suf-
fered less. NJ, Giidut, our chaplain,
confessed him yesterday Surprised by
death, he was unable 10 receive the
sacraments, and our chaplain exhorted
him for a moment before he died. He
was inferred Tuesday. the 10th OF No
vembcr. at 4 In the afternoon, In the
cemetery of st. Paul His burial cost
40 llvres."
Dyonca's $ exAetltude is fully borne out
by an extract from the register OF bur
ials for the parish of St Paul, accred-
| tied 10 the vicar, under his hand, Feb.
Q. 1890. This entry Is as follows:
"In the year 1908. the 18th OF Novem-
ber. died at the Bastile, Marchiali. aged
45 or thereabouts. The body was in
TERED In the burial ground OF St Paul
on the e0th OF said month in the pres
| ence OF NJ. Rosarges. major of the Bas-
tile, and of NJ Relh. sergeant Of the
Bastile who have affixed their sigma
lures"
Marchiali was an assumed name
given 10 battle inquiry. as was also the
alleged age of the dead man.
After his death the utmost care was
taken TO destroy every vestige OF his
existence. Everything that he had
been In the habit OF using, his clothes,
bedding, etc. was burnt. The walls OF
his room were scraped and replastered,
the window panes were changed, and,
according TO some authorities, the body
itself was consumed with quicklime.
Now for the proof identifying Count
Mattioli with that masked prisoner who
entered the Bastie that September
afternoon nearly 200 years ago.
The order of Louis XIV, dated April
2s 1879, TO arrest MRttioll and imprison
him at Pignerol contains these words
mo one must know what becomes OF
this man" Catinat afterward wrote to
Luvois. the French minister of war:
mo one knows the name of this knaVe,
not even the officers who aided In his
arrest" Finally AN Italian pamphlet
published In 1889. two years after the
event, and-this Is important-fifty
years before the Identity Of the Mask
began to be much discussed. says. "The
secretary Of state (Mattioln was sur
rounded by ten or twelve troopers, who
| seized, masked and carried him 10 Pig
nerol."
II is established by the prison regis
I F..g ,tf fb.. no lat a. ma glg gAI ma m
| was "a prisoner whom st. Mars had
/ had with him for many years at Pig
/ nerol." In August 1881, st. Mars re-
/ signed the governorship Of Pignerol for
that Of the Isles. Al that time all the
| prisoners except five who had been un-
der his surveillance when he took
charge were either dead or at liberty.
This point is well established. The
five were: Danger and La Riviere. SER
wants Of FOucquet. who had been Louis
NlN's superintendent ~ finance, and
who was condemned for peoulntion and
imprisoned at Pignerol. where he died;
an Insane J0cObin, man named Du-
! brcl, and, finally, MattiOli The
! masked man must necessarily have
been one of these five La Riviere died
December. 1856, the mad Jacobn died
| toward the end ol 1888 81. Mars took
Danger with him 20 the Isles and the
masked man was transferred Directly
from PlEuctul to Isles Sainte Marguer-
ito There rcmnined but Duhrci whose
arrest had been made publicly aud
about whose Imprisonment there was
no mystery. lie was a petty spy, such
as they seized In those days In Alsace
and In the Palatlnate. Thus IL is
malhcmatically proved that the Mask
was Mattlol
The masked prisoner was buried Nov
90, 1903, in the cemetery ~ st. Paul. NJ
Pierre Bertrand the harmed librarian
ut the ministry NJ foreign affairs. has
found upon the burial reEistor ~ that
date The record OF The iutrrmpnt oi
Mattipli, secretary Of state 10 the duke
Of Mantuu.