The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-11-09
The aaaiehta paiu Eagles aaedmesdau ors 1898

swindling and was condemned 10 a few
months Imprisonment at Vincennes: his
captivity was not so severe that he could
not escape. He was rearrested. and this
time sent to the Bastille. Instead of re-
naming quiet, he begins to perorate, TO
insult everybody; he writes on the books
which are sent him insulting verses about
the Pompadour He is allowed. never
theless, TO have a room. servant, and a
companion. D'Anegre- It is with the help
Of this companion that Latude prepares
his escape:
zone does not know" says Sardou.
what to admire most the ingenuity OF
the pair or the simplicity Of this prison
vieux jeu, which allows them to fabricate
al ease several instruments and I4o feet
Of cord, a ladder $50 feet long, out OF Us
pieces Of wood; to conceal the whole be-
tween two floors, without anybody TAX
ing the pains 10 see Z all; 10 bore hole
through a wall four and half feet thick
and to escape without having been once
fired at
n the early morning the passers-by cav
the ladder on the wall; the escape became
hHOhn anu pcUplC AdGSAACA a. NhC ~
lice The two prisoners were found and
arrested. Allegro at Brussels and Latude
in Holland. This time Latude was guard
ed with more severity. but IL did not hin
der him from demonstrating and protest
ing without intermission. He was sent
TO the prison of Vincennes and was prom
ised his freedom if he owud condescend
10 remain quiet for a while. He was on
the point Of being liberated when he pre-
ferred 10 escape, which was very easy.
as he was allowed to walk the moat OF
the chateau He was arrested again,
kept again for a while at Vincennes. and
as he was considered to be somewhat out
Of his mind, he was urged TO go TO his
own pays and remain with his family
This did not suit him. He remained in
Paris, attacking constantly and public
" NJ. De Sartine and NJ. De Marigny.
writing memoirs. claiming enormous dam
ages, extorting money by threats from
a lady, etc. The police lost patience and
Latude was finally sent to Bicetre as
dangerous mailman. The long chapter
which NJ. Funck-Brentano has written
on Latude is a sort OF psychological
study which is not without interest. We
have numerous letters of Latude's3he ap-
pears in them all as full of morbid van
il wand as impudent and insupportabie
person.
NJ. Funck- Brentano has another chap
ter on the Man of the Iron Mask
confess that, before reading IT. l was ig-
norant that this enigmatic parsonage had
been sent from Pignerol TO the Bastille;
but NJ. Funck-Brentano gives US the text
of a passage in the register of Du Junca,
lieutenant of the king. at the Bastlhe IN
these terms: ION Thursday, September
- 1898, NJ de Saint-Mars, governor OF the
chateau of the Bastile, arrived, from his
government of the islands Sainte-Mar-
guerite and Saint Hororat, bringing with
him. in his litter. prisoner whom he had
at Pignerol whom he keeps alawys mask
ed. and whose name is not revealed
This prisoner is treated with much care
and a second report says he died on No
venber 10. 1903, without having had any
great malady." In the register or the
church of Saint Paul, the dead prisoner,
buried in the cemetery of that church, Is
entered as MARKEDLY. aged 40 years NJ.
Funck- Brentano writes at great length
of what he calls the legend OF the iron
mask 1 will not dilate on II, as l re-
member a stor (which was told me In
England about Disraeli. One of his ad-
mirers brought him one day son, a
young man of great promise, and asked
Disraeli to say something TO this young
man which he might remember all his
Ifetime-- well" said Disraeli, ''if you
aim 10 become writer, never write any
thing about the author Of the letters OF
Junius, because you would be considered
a bore; and never try to find out who was
the Iron Mask, because then you would
be still a greater bore"
The end of NJ. Funck-Brentano's work
is devoted to the famous July IA, the day
of the fall of the Bastille. Many are the
documents on this historical event, very
petty in what might be called the mill
tary sense. almost ludicrous in some de-
tails. horrible in others, but very great
as a landmark for France The Bastille
was stormed by the mob. by insurgent
soldiers and by brigands; these brigands
have been transformed into great men
When the Duke of Larochefoucald owke
ND Louis XVI. to announce TO him the
taking OF the BastiHe. "Why, It is re-
volt" said the king. mo, sire" said the
duke. cit is a revolution" Tame has well
described in his great work the effect all
over France of the fall of the Bastille
The people became in a moment lawless;
piHage, fire. assassination. marked in a
hundred places the end Of regime which
was no longer defended. The disorgani-
cation was complete. The 18th Of July
was the turning Of a leaf in the book Of
destiny.