He, however, who was called Marchiali, and who entered the Bastille the 18th of September, 1698, died there suddenly the 19th of November, 1703.
Very singular precautions were taken after his decease.
The body and face were mutilated, and every thing composing his furniture was burned; even the doors and windows of his bedroom. The silver he used was melted. The walls of his apartment were scraped and re-whitened.
He was buried the 20th of November, 1703, in the Church of St. Paul, under the name of Marchiali.
Time has not given the answer to this lugubrious enigma, and we fear M. Maurice Topin has failed to solve it.
But let us give him his meed of praise for having consecrated his nights to seeking for documents, comparing dates, and confronting the evidence of the most celebrated writers on the subject.
Honor to the brave historian whom the night of time does not intimidate, and who is willing to grope among the shades of the past for what is hidden, and above all a secret of the state!
Among all the victims of the old régimes, The Man with the Iron Mask was the most interesting.
This popular story was in every mouth the day of the taking of the Bastille.
If he had lived until 1789, would it have been a pretender to the crown, or simply a suspected prisoner, that the people would have delivered?