THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE STATE PRISONER, COMMONLY CALLED THE IRON MASK, EXTRACTED FROM DOCUMENTS IN THE FRENCH ARCHIVES. BY THE HON. GEORGE AGAR ELLIS. SECOND EDITION. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXVII. PREFACE. I was led to undertake the following Narrative by the perusal of a work, lately published at Paris, entitled "Histoire de l'Homme au Masque de Fer, J. Delort;" in which the name of that state prisoner is most clearly and satisfactorily ascertained, by m ans of authentic documents. par Under these circumstances, it may be asked why I wasnt contented to leave the question, thus set at ree i. the hands of M. Delort, who had the original merit of the discovery: ---to this I would answer, that M. Delort's part of the book druck me as peculiarly ill arranged and confused; besides being unessarily filled with the most fulsome flattery of Lewis the Fourteenth, never, cer tainly, more inappropriately bestowed, than while in the act of recording one of the most cruel and oppressive acts of that Sovereign's cruel and oppressive reign. I have also thought, that the subject was one of sufficient historical curiosity to interest the English public. For these reasons I have been induced to throw together the following chain of evidence upon the subject, making use of the same documents as M. Delort, to which I have added some others pre viously published, and printing the whole series in an Appendix. April, 1826. G. A. E. |