Part 85
The stranger was accommodated as well as it was possible to be in the Bastile. An apartment had been prepared for him by order of the governor before his arrival, fitted up in the most convenient style; and every thing he expressed a wish for, was instantly procured him. His table was the best that could be provided, and he was supplied with as rich clothes as he desired; but his chief taste in this last particular was for lace, and for linen remarkably fine. He was allowed the use of such books as he requested, and he spent much of his time in reading. He also amused himself with playing on the guitar. He had the liberty of going to mass; but was then strictly forbid to speak, or uncover his face: orders were even given to the soldiers to fire upon him, if he attempted either; and their pieces were always pointed towards him as he passed through the court. When he had occasion to see a surgeon or a physician, he was obliged, under pain of death, constantly to wear his mask. An old physician of the Bastile, who had often attended him when he was indisposed, said, that he never saw his face, though he had frequently examined his tongue, and different parts of his body; and that he never complained of his confinement, nor let fall any hint, by which it might be guessed who he was. He often passed the night in walking up and down his room. This unfortunate prince died on the 19th of November, 1703, after a short illness; and was interred next day, in the burying-place of the parish of St. Paul. The expense of his funeral amounted only to forty livres. The name given him was _Marchiali_; and even his age, as well as his real name, it seemed of importance to conceal, for in the register made of his funeral, it was mentioned that he was about forty years old, though he had told his apothecary, some time before his death, that he thought he must be sixty. Immediately after his death, his apparel, linen clothes, mattresses, and in short, every thing that had been used by him, were burnt; the walls of his room were scraped, and the floor taken up, evidently from the apprehension that he might have found means of writing something that would have discovered who he was. Nay, such was the fear of his having left a letter, or any mark which might lead to a discovery, that his plate was melted down; the glass was taken out of the window of his room, and pounded to dust; the window-frames and doors burnt; and the ceiling of the room, and the plaster of the inside of the chimney, demolished.
Several writers have affirmed, that the body of this unfortunate personage was buried without a head; and M. de St. Foix informs us, in his _Essais Historiques_, that "a gentleman having bribed the sexton, had the body taken up in the night, but found a stone instead of the head." The natural inference from these extraordinary accounts, is, that the Iron Mask was not only a person of high birth, but that he must have been of great consequence; and that his being concealed was of the utmost importance to the king and ministry.
Among the various conjectures that have been formed, concerning the real name and condition of this remarkable man, none appears to have any probability except the following:--That he was a son of Anne of Austria, queen to Louis XIII. and consequently that he was a brother of Louis XIV; but whether a bastard-brother, a brother-german, or a half-brother, is a question that has given rise to three several opinions, viz. 1. That the queen proved with child at a time when it was evident it could not have been by her husband, who, for some months before, had never been with her in private. The supposed father of this child is said to have been the duke of Buckingham, who came to France, in May, 1625, to conduct the princess Henrietta, wife of Charles I. to England. The private letters and memoirs of those times speak very suspiciously of the Queen and Buckingham: his behaviour at Amiens, whither the queen and queen-mother accompanied the princess in her way to Boulogne, occasioned much whispering; and it appears, that the king, on this occasion, was extremely offended at her, and that it required all the influence and address of the queen-mother to effect a reconciliation. It is said, that this child was privately brought up in the country; that when Mazarin became a favourite, he was entrusted with the care of him; and that Louis XIV. having discovered the secret on the death of the cardinal, thought it necessary to confine him in the manner above related.
The second, and the most probable opinion, is, that he was the twin-brother of Louis XIV. born some hours after him. This opinion first appeared in a short anonymous work, published without date, or name of place, or printer. It is therein said, "Louis XIV. was born at St. Germains-en-Laye, on the 5th of September, 1638, about noon; and the illustrious prisoner, known by the appellation of the Iron Mask, was born the same day, while Louis XIII. was at supper. The king and the cardinal, fearing that the pretensions of a twin-brother might one day be employed to renew those civil wars with which France had been so often afflicted, cautiously concealed his birth, and sent him away, to be brought up privately." This opinion was confirmed, in a work, entitled, _Memoires de Marechal Duc de Richelieu_, written by the Abbé Soulavie; in which it is asserted, that "The birth of the prisoner happened in the evening of the 5th September, 1638, in presence of the chancellor, the bishop of Meaux, the author of the MS. a midwife, named Peronéte, and a sieur Honorat." This circumstance greatly disturbed the king's mind; he observed, that the Salic law had made no provision for such a case. By the advice of cardinal Richelieu, it was therefore resolved to conceal his birth, but to preserve his life, in case, by the death of his brother, it should be necessary to avow him. A declaration was drawn up, and signed and sworn to by all present; in which every circumstance was mentioned, and several marks on his body described. This document being sealed by the chancellor with the royal seal, was delivered to the king; and all took an oath never to speak on the subject, not even in private and among themselves. The child was delivered to the care of Madame Peronéte, to be under the direction of cardinal Richelieu, at whose death the charge devolved to cardinal Mazarin. Mazarin appointed the author of the MS. his governor, and entrusted to him the care of his education. But as the prisoner was extremely attached to Madame Peronéte, and she equally so to him, she remained with him till her death. His governor carried him to his house in Burgundy, where he paid the greatest attention to his education.
"As the prisoner grew up, he became impatient to discover his birth, and often importuned his governor on that subject. His curiosity had been roused, by observing that messengers from the court frequently arrived at the house; and a box, containing letters from the queen and the cardinal, having one day been inadvertently left out, he opened it, and saw enough to guess at the secret. From that time he became thoughtful and melancholy, which, (says the author,) I could not then account for. He shortly after asked me to get him a portrait of the late and present king; but I put him off, by saying, that I could not procure any that were good. He then desired me to let him go to Dijon; which I have known since was with an intention of seeing a portrait of the king there, and of going secretly to St. John de Las, where the court then was, on occasion of the marriage with the Infanta. He was beautiful, and love helped him to accomplish his wishes. He had captivated the affections of a young housekeeper, who procured him a portrait of the king. It might have served for either of the brothers; and the discovery put him into so violent a passion, that he immediately came to me with the portrait in his hand, saying, _Voila mon frere, et voila qui je suis_, shewing me at the same time a letter of the cardinal de Mazarin that he had taken out of the box!" Upon this discovery, his governor immediately sent an express to court, to communicate what had happened, and to desire new instructions; the consequence of which was, that the governor, and the young prince under his care, were arrested and confined. The author of this memoir concludes, "I have suffered with him in our common prison: I am now summoned to appear before my Judge on high; and for the peace of my soul, I cannot but make this declaration, which may point out to him the means of freeing himself from his present ignominious situation, in case the king his brother should die without children. Can an extorted oath compel me to observe secrecy on a thing so incredible, but which ought to be left on record to posterity?"
The third opinion is, that he was a son of the queen by cardinal Mazarin, born about a year after the death of her husband, Louis XIII.; that he was brought up secretly; and that, soon after the death of the cardinal, on the 9th of March, 1661, he was sent to Pignerol. To this account Father Griffet justly objects, "that it was needless to mask a face that was unknown; and therefore this opinion does not merit discussion."--(_Traite de la Verité de l'Histoire_, p. 318.) Indeed, it seems totally unaccountable, that so much care should have been taken to conceal a child of the queen by the cardinal, who, whether they were privately married or not, could never have had the most distant claim to the crown of France. The conjectures advanced by other authors, that he was the duke of Monmouth's, the count of Vermandois', or the duke of Beaufort's, &c. are still more improbable.
CHAP. LXXVI.
CURIOSITIES IN HISTORY, ETC.--(_Continued._)
GIPSIES.--Mr. Lyons, in his entertaining work of the Environs of London, has given the following curious account of the Queen of the Gipsies, and the extraordinary people under her dominion.
From the register of the parish of Bockenham, in Kent; extract: 'Margaret Finch, buried October 24, 1740.'--"This remarkable person lived to the age of one hundred and nine years. She was one of the people called Gipsies; and had from them the title of Queen. After travelling over various parts of the kingdom, during the greater part of a century, she settled at Norwood, whither her age, and the fame of her fortune-telling, attracted numerous visitors. From a habit of sitting on the ground with her chin resting on her knees, the sinews at length became so contracted, that she could not rise from that posture. After her death, they were obliged to enclose her body in a deep square box. Her funeral was attended by two mourning coaches, a sermon was preached on the occasion, and a great concourse of people attended the ceremony. Her portrait adorns the sign-post of a house of entertainment in Norwood, called the Gipsy-House. In an adjoining cottage lives an old woman, grand-daughter of queen Margaret, who inherits her title. She is niece of queen Bridget, who was buried at Dulwich, in 1768. Her rank seems to be merely titular: I do not find that the gypsies pay her any particular deference; or that she differs in any other respect from the rest of her tribe, than that of being a householder." To the above he adds some leading facts concerning this extraordinary race of people, who are scattered over most parts of Europe, Asia, and America.
"The gipsies, (continues he,) in most places on the Continent are called _Cingari_, or _Zingari_: the Spaniards call them _Gitanos_. It is not certain when they first appeared in Europe; but mention is made of them, in Hungary and Germany, so early as the year 1417. Within ten years afterwards, they made their appearance in France, Switzerland, and Italy. The date of their arrival in England is more uncertain: it is most probable, that it was not till nearly a century afterwards. In the year 1530, they are thus spoken of in the penal statutes: 'Forasmuch as before this time, divers and many outlandish people, calling themselves Egyptians, using no craft nor feat of merchandise, have come into this realm, and gone from shire to shire, and from place to place, in great companies, and used great subtilty and crafty means to deceive the people; bearing them in hand, that they, by palmistry, could tell men's and women's fortunes; and so, many times, by craft and subtilty, have deceived the people of their money; and also have committed many heinous felonies and robberies, to the great hurt and deceit of the people they have come among, &c.'
"It was afterwards made death to them to continue in the kingdom; and it remains on record, that thirteen were executed for a violation of this law, a few years before the Restoration: nor was this cruel act repealed till about the year 1783.
"The gipsies were expelled from France in 1560, and from Spain in 1591; but it does not appear that they have been entirely extirpated in any country. Their collective numbers, in every quarter of the globe, have been calculated at seven or eight hundred thousand. They are most numerous in Asia, and in the northern parts of Europe. Various have been the opinions relating to their origin. That they came from Egypt has been the most prevalent. This opinion (which has procured them here the name of Gipsies, and in Spain that of Gitanos,) arose, from some of the first who arrived in Europe, pretending that they came from that country; which assertion they made, perhaps, to heighten their reputation for skill in palmistry[22] and the occult sciences. It is now, I believe, pretty generally agreed, that they came originally from Hindostan; since their language so far coincides with the Hindostanic, that even now, after a lapse of more than three centuries, during which they have been dispersed in various foreign countries, nearly one half of their words are precisely those of Hindostan; and scarcely any variation is to be found in vocabularies procured from the gipsies in Turkey, Hungary, Germany, and those in England.
"Their manners, for the most part, coincide, as well as their language, in every quarter of the world where they are found; being the same idle, wandering race of beings, and seldom professing any ostensible mode of livelihood, except that of fortune-telling. Though they are no great frequenters either of mosques or churches, they generally conform to rites and ceremonies as they find them established.
"Upon the whole, we may certainly agree with Grellman, who has written their history, by regarding them as a singular phenomenon in Europe. For the space of between three or four hundred years, they have gone wandering about like pilgrims and strangers, yet neither time nor example has made in them any alteration: they remain ever, and every where, what their fathers were. Africa makes them no blacker, nor does Europe make them whiter."
It is not the least singular feature in the history of this wandering and vagabond race, that they should have so long maintained their credit for foretelling events, when the fallacy of their predictions must have been so often experienced, and their ignorance and want of principle so well known. What reliance can be placed on the oracular decisions of a man, who has not sufficient foresight of his own affairs, to escape the hands of justice for robbing a hen-roost?
The desire of prying into futurity seems to be a natural propensity in the human mind. In the ancient world, the consultation of oracles, soothsayers, and augurs, divining by the flight of birds, the entrails of the victims, or the feeding of chickens, were so many efforts of a weak endeavour to withdraw that veil, which in mercy is appointed to conceal from our view the events that are to befal us.
In modern times, the impudent pretensions of astrologers, conjurers, and fortune-tellers, have deluded the credulous, even of that rank, in which men should set a more rational example. About sixty years ago, a celebrated professor of this dark science lived in London, in a place called Frying-pan Alley; and crowds of carriages were daily seen waiting in the neighbourhood, whilst the artful impostor was distributing different allotments to their owners, according to his arbitrary caprice, or what he thought would bring most money into his purse.
The following account is taken from a Liverpool weekly magazine, entitled 'The Freeman,' published some years since:--
"Of late years some attempts have been made to reduce the numbers, or at any rate to civilize the habits, of that vagabond and useless race, the gipsies. In pursuance of such purpose, a society of gentlemen have been making all the preliminary inquiries requisite to a proper understanding of the subject. A series of questions have been proposed to competent persons in the different counties of England and Scotland; and answers have been received. The following are specimens of these replies:
"1. All gipsies believe that Egypt was the residence of their most remote ancestors.
"2. They cannot form any idea of their number in England.
"3. The gipsies of Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, some parts of Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, and Huntingdonshire, are continually making revolutions within the ranges of those counties.
"4. They are either ignorant of the number of gipsies in the counties through which they travel, or unwilling to disclose their knowledge.
"5. The most common names are Smith, Cooper, Draper, Taylor, Boswell, Lee, Lovel, Loversedge, Allen, Mansfield, Glover, Williams, Carew, Martin, Stanley, Buckley, Plunkett, and Corrie.
"6. and 7. The gangs in different towns have not any regular connection or organization; but those who take up their winter quarters in the same city or town, appear to have some knowledge of the different routes each horde will pursue; probably with a desire to prevent interference with each other.
"8. In the county of Herts, it is computed there may be sixty families, having many children. Whether they are quite so numerous in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire, the answers are not sufficiently definite to determine. In Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire, greater numbers are calculated upon. In various counties, the attention has not been competent to the procuring data for any estimate of families or individuals.
"9. More than half their number follow no business: some are dealers in horses and asses: while others profess themselves to be farriers, smiths, tinkers, braziers, grinders of cutlery, basket-makers, chair-bottomers, and musicians.
"10. The children are brought up in the habits of their parents, particularly to music and dancing, and are of dissolute habits.
"11. The women mostly carry baskets with trinkets and small wares; and tell fortunes.
"12. They are too ignorant to have acquired accounts of genealogy, and perhaps indisposed by the irregularity of their habits.
"13. In most counties there are particular situations to which they are partial. There is a marsh, near Newbury in Berkshire, much frequented by them; and Dr. Clark states, that in Cambridgeshire, their principal rendezvous is near the western villages.
"14. It cannot be ascertained whether this attachment to particular places has prevailed from their first coming into the nation.
"15, 16, and 17. When among strangers, they elude inquiries respecting their peculiar language, calling it Gibberish. They know of no person that can write it, or of any written specimen of it.
"18. Their habits and customs in all places are peculiar.
"19. Those who profess any religion, represent it to be that of the country in which they reside: but their description of it seldom goes beyond repeating the Lord's Prayer; and only a few of them are capable of that. Instances of their attending any place for worship are very rare.
"20. They marry for the most part by pledging to each other, without any ceremony. A few exceptions have occurred, when money was plentiful.
"21. They do not teach their children religion.
"22, and 23. _Not one in a thousand_ can read."
CHAP. LXXVII.
CURIOSITIES IN HISTORY, ETC.--(_Continued._)
FREE AND ACCEPTED MASONS.--This very ancient society is so called, either from some extraordinary knowledge of masonry, of which they are supposed to be masters, or because the first founders of the society were persons of this profession. They are now very considerable, both on account of their numbers, and the rank they hold in society, being found in every country in Europe, as well as North America; and they consist principally of persons of merit and consideration. They make no small pretensions to antiquity, for they claim a standing of some thousands of years. What the design of their institution is, seems still in some measure a secret: the members are said to be admitted into the fraternity by being put in possession of a great number of secrets, called the _mason's word_, which have been religiously kept from age to age. In a treatise on Masonry, published in 1792, by William Preston, master of the Lodge of Antiquity, the origin of masonry is traced from the creation. "Ever since symmetry began, and harmony displayed her charms, (says he,) our order has had a being." By other accounts the antiquity of masonry has only been traced as far back as the building of Solomon's temple.
In Dr. Henry's history of Great Britain, we find the origin of the Free Mason Society attributed to the difficulty found in former times to procure workmen to build the vast number of churches, monasteries, and other religious edifices, which either the pretended piety or the superstition of those ages prompted the people to raise. Hence the masons were greatly favoured by the popes, and many indulgences were granted, to augment their numbers. In those times, it may well be supposed, that such encouragement from the supreme pastors of the church must have been productive of the most beneficial results to the fraternity; and hence the society rapidly increased. An ancient author, who was well acquainted with their history and constitution, says, "The Italians, with some Greek refugees, and with them French, Germans, and Flemings, joined into a fraternity of architects, procuring papal bulls for their encouragement; they styled themselves _Free Masons_, and ranged from one nation to another, as they found churches to be built: their government was regular; and where they fixed near the building in hand, they made a camp of huts. A surveyor governed in chief; while every tenth man was called a warden, and superintended the other nine."
Masonry had a very early introduction into Britain, but never attained to any degree of importance, until the year 557 of the Christian era; when St. Austin, with forty monks, among whom the sciences had been preserved, came into England. By these Christianity was propagated; all the kings of the heptarchy were converted; masonry was patronized by St. Austin; and the Gothic style of building was introduced into England, by numerous foreigners, who resorted at this time to the kingdom. Austin appeared at the head of the fraternity in founding the old cathedral of Canterbury, in 600; that of Rochester, in 602; St. Paul's in London, in 604; St. Peter's in Westminster, in 605: to which may be added many others. The number of masons was thus greatly increased, as well as by other buildings, such as castles, &c. throughout the kingdom.