“Some months after the decease of this minister (Mazarin) there happened,” says he, “an event which has no parallel, and what is no less singular is, that all the historians have been ignorant of it. There was sent, with the utmost secrecy, to the castle of the isle of St. Margaret, on the coast of Provence, an unknown prisoner, above the common stature, young, and of a most handsome and noble figure. During the journey, this prisoner wore a mask, the lower half of which had steel springs, which allowed him to eat while the mask was on his face. Orders were given to kill him if he uncovered himself. He remained in the isle till a confidential officer, of the name of St. Marc, governor of Pignerol, having been made governor of the Bastile in 1690, went to the isle of St. Margaret to fetch him, and conducted him to the Bastile, always masked. The Marquis de Louvois went to see him in that isle before his removal, and spoke to him standing, and with a deference which bordered on respect. This unknown personage was taken to the Bastile, where he was lodged as comfortably as it was possible to be in that fortress. Nothing that he asked for was refused. His predominant taste was for linen of extreme fineness, and for lace. He played on the guitar. His table was profusely served, and the governor rarely took a seat in his presence. An old physician of the Bastile, who had often attended this singular man when he was ill, said that he had never seen his face, though he had frequently examined his tongue, and the rest of his person. He was admirably made, said this physician; his skin was rather brown; he excited an interest by the mere tone of his voice, but never complained of his situation, nor gave any hint of who he was. This unknown individual died in 1703, and was buried at night in the parish of St. Paul’s.