The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-05-13
History's Great Secret Solved -:--

o'clock in the afternoon, NJ de St Mars,
Governor of the Chateau of the Bastile,
made his first appearance, coming from
the Isles Of Ste. Observation-Disclosures,
bringing with him in his conveyance q
prisoner he had formerly at Pignerol,
whom he caused to be always masked,
whose name is not mentioned. Directly
he got out Of the carriage he put him
in the first room Of the BiZinieTe tower,
waiting until night for me to take him,
at nine O'Clock, ard put him with NJ de
Rosarges, one Of the sergeants brought
by the Governor, alone in the third room
of the Bertaudiere tower, which 1 had
had furnished with all necessaries some
days before his arrival, having received
orders to that effect from NJ de St Mars
the which prisoner will be looked after
and waited upon by NJ. de Rosarges and
maintained by the Governor"
The same lieutenant in the same diary
thus records the mysterious mans death:
''on the same day, November 49, 1903,
the unknown prisoner. always masked
with a mask OF black velvet. whom NJ
de ST. Mars. the Governor brought with
him on coming from the Isles Of Ste.
Marguerite. whom he had kept for a long
time, the which. happening 10 be a lit
tie i'll yesterday, on coming from mass,
died today, about ten o'clock at night,
without having had serious illness, it
could not nave been sIighter. II. Giraut,
our chaplain, confessed him yesterday. is
surprised at his death. He did not re-
ceIve the sacrament, and our chaplain
eXhorted him a moment before he died.
And this unknown prisoner. kept here
for 50 long. was buried on Tuesday at
four o'clock p. m. November %, in the
graveyard Of St. Paul, our parish. On
the register Of burial he was given a
name, also unknown. NJ de R0sarges,
Major. and ARIEL. surgeon, signed the
register. Marginal note. II have SINCE
learnt that they caleb him NJ de 2LaE-
chiel on the register. and that forty
livFes was the cost Of the funeral
The entry on the register Of ST. PauPs
church. Paris. Of the burial Of the man
in the iron mask, reads:
ION the 18th November. 1903. Na-chi-
oily. aged forty-fve years Or theraa Bouts,
Died in the Basule. whose body was
hurled in the churchvard Of St PAN, lis
parish, the 10Th # the present month. n
the presence Of II. Rosarge. major If the
Pastiie, and of NJ. Reglhe surgeon mator
Of the Bastile. who signed R9sargcs,
Reihle"
OF these historical documents and the
mystery, the New York Herald says:
Solved at last seems the m,st InscrUt-
able mystery hat ever troubled the royal
courts Of Eur7pe-one that has been the
despair of historians for two hundred
years. and which now, AZ The close Of the
nineteenth century, falls from the height
Of tremendous tragedy to that Of an in
cident in the history Of France-the mys-
terry Of The Man in the Iron Mask"
The solution comes largely through the
records Of the Basrile, which, after fifty
years Of patient toll, have at last been
eatalogued TO the number of six humid
red thousand and opened for the .nspec-
ton # the public at the Arsenal Library.
al Paris. Among the students who have
for some time pact had private across to
these valuable. records Is F'rarrtz Funck-
BrentanO. He has discovered papers anu
letters whoch 90 with other proofs 10
show who was the Man in the Iron Mask
His conclusions, in . new work entitled.
Legends Of the Bastile" have been in
dorscd by Nictcrien Sardou and by many
eTnircnt scholars and crowned by the
French Academy"
Mr. FUnck- Brentano IS one of the most
distinguished Of the younger generation
Of French historical writers. In his
twentieth year he entered the Erolc des
Charles the famous institution for train
gr-~ ir
search At the end Of his three years,
course he was appointed TO succeed
Francois Ravaisson in the work II class
flying the archives Of the Bastile in the
Arsenal Library. This occupied him for
more than ten years. One fruit Of his
work is the large catalogue # more than
one thousand p2ses. printed under official
auspices and awarded the Prix le Dissez
de PeaaurUm 10y the Academic los Sci
ences Morales ct PoH,iqUes Another re
suit Of his work in the BaStile archives
is his recent book in which he solves
the mystery u the Man in the Iron Mask
which the French Academy has crow
ned NJ. Funck-Brentano Is general sec
reta~y of the Srciete des Etudee His
tcriqU5s and deputy professor of history
at the College Of France.
Few secrets have ever 0een Sc jealousy
guarded while 81 unremittinElv pursued
1t has been puzzled over in royal bout
doris and kings and cardinals have
sought yainly for its solution Early in
the history = The Mans tnn~isonruenr.
in lf7e. whispers q his fate spread over
France and aroused an interest " hich ex-
pressed itself AZ first cautiously and with
fear The thought of prisoner whose
name was known only 10 the King and
YelentleSs j3tI7r. whose crime. If any.
must never be spoken cf. whose face was
never bare. who must l.nser out all his
life behind mask Of harsh iron. chain
ed and locked about his head, who could
through the narrow Sits OF metal visor:
upon whose checks ths air would never
blow acain-such thoughts appealed viz
idly to the popular ima2inati3u and eN-
cited tide of curiosity and interest
which touched the very foot u she
throne and Yet was Beaten hack unsati--
fed. Ten years after the mans death.
I'm I712-afrer an Imprisonment 81 twenty
four years-oeople were stti specu,atinE.
ard -he Kings own sjepsister was tell
ing her friends thar De was an English
lord who had been concerned III the
Duke II Berwick plot against King
William III. ~ England. In the succeed
ing re.-c The food o. curiosity had not
subsi&cI ara Louis Ky. who had IN
heriied the Strange secret. was pursued
by inquiries from has fayo-itss ana court
iSrs. The Tae 5e Choissul hegsod him in