The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-02-03


other Joan of Arc, sees visions and is
instructed by heavenly voices Able
Felix Delavois, a priest of the diocese
of Marseilles, having changed his
Christian name to Henry and altered
the spelling of his surname to de
Valois, has come forward as a claim
ant to the throne of France and all
that belongs by right divine to the
chief of the house of Bourbon.
The Prince-Abbe, as his supporters
call him, claims to be descended from
the eldest son of Louis XIII, who, ac-
cording to the account on which he
relies, was none other than The
Man in the Iron Mask" twin brother
of Louis XIV, condemned by paternal
caution and fraternal dread to life
long Imprisonment and anonymity.
The story of The Man in the Iron
Mask" has been told a thousand
times, or more, and in a thousand
ways. Historians are agreed that
the man was led a prisoner across
France, from Provence to Paris,
in 1898, his face covered by a
small black velvet mask, and lodged
in the Bastile, where he died in 1908.
The ground for Identifying him with
the eldest son of Louis THE Just
lies in a work portentously entitled
THE Relation of the Birth and Edu-
cation of the Unfortunate Prince
Withdrawn from Society by the Car
dinals Richelieu and Mazarin, and
Immured by Order of Louis XIV
Composed by the tutor of that Prince
on the death bed)," published in lie
Masque de Fer" the organ of the
Valois Pretender, as taken from let
ter written by Mademoiselle de
Valois, daughter of the Regent Or
leans, to the Due de Richelieu, nre-
served in the French Foreign Office,
and there copied by M. Billiard for
reproduction in his Memories de
Tous, published in 1885.
The Man in the Iron Mask never
eluded the vigilance of his jailers,
The partisans of the Abbe-Prince do
not pretend that he did, but they re-
peat the tales which describe "the
unknown captive" as the object of a
sort of veneration in whose presence
prison governors and ministers OF
state did not sit, whose table was
served with abundance, whose linen
was of the finest and lace of the rich
est. The Man in the Iron Mask mar
ried into the family of his preceptor,
"as we will show when the time
comes says the Abbe's organ. From
this marriage-the particulars of
which remain undisputed-issued, &C
cording to the same authority, Louis
de Valois ga sort of corsair, whose
comrades called him Admiral de
Valois' y, born at Toulon in 1896, i'm
prisoned in the Chateau DIFF about
1863. He had a son, always accord
ing to the organ of the Prince-Abbe,
who is now called Due d'Anjou, and
who has been given the title of Mon
seigneur Jean Baptist Michel Felix
who was carried to the Hotel Dieu of
Marseilles, and baptized March g.,
1854. The register of his baptism,
preserved in the city archives of Mar
settles, contains the names of his god
parents, but is silent as to his parent
age.
Jean Baptiste Michel de Valois,
eldest son of Admiral de Valois," was
put out to nurse at Manosque. The
cradle he used was gilt, with a quilt
of velvet fringed with gold and
marked with the initials F., de ",
interlaced at the corners. This
cradle remained for long time in
the hospital at Marseilles,' says lie
Masque de Fer
Jean Baptiste was the father OF
Joseph de Valois, born in 1890, and
Joseph was the father of Pierre dc
Valois, born in 1916. Both of these
lived and died at Manosque.
Felix, now by his own law Henry
de Valois, the present Pretender, was
born at Manosque in 1860. From his
eighth year he has put forward the
claims to the crown of France, which
/ his father was too ignorant or toC
wise to assert. The clamor Of his
supporters has not yet reused France
Until the Prince-Abbe produces
something more roal, serious consid
Grafton cannot be given to his protes
tations. The fimsy nature of hi
proofs, however, has not prevente'
him from gathering a party roun'
him.
Regarding the revelations whicI
pious women think they have re
ceived with regard to him am lot
to speak. Their number and fire.