The perfect authenticity of Dujonca’s journal is shown by many proofs. It suffices to have read it and assured oneself that it is not composed of detached leaves afterwards bound together, but has been written all entire by the same incorrect and simple pen, in order to be convinced of the impossibility of the least alteration. Either it is a forgery from beginning to end, or the pages relating to the Iron Mask have for their author that kind of general superintendent of the Bastille, sometimes too pompously styled Lieutenant of the King, sometimes fulfilling the humble functions of turnkey, devoted to his multifarious duties,[289] who ought to be believed for his ignorance of certain things as much as for his complete knowledge of others, for the unfeigned simplicity of his language, and the tone of sincere assurance that runs uniformly throughout the entire journal. Moreover, not only is all that concerns the other prisoners corroborated by indisputable despatches deposited in other archives,[290] but the most reliable documents absolutely confirm the dates, and even some of the points indicated in the two accounts we have just quoted. Dujonca says in the first: “I had had his chamber furnished with everything some days before his arrival, _having received M. de Saint-Mars’ order for it_.” Now a despatch as yet unpublished and of especial importance contains what follows: “Barbézieux to Saint-Mars.--Marly, July 19, 1698--I have received the letter which you have taken the trouble to write to me the 9th of this month. The King finds it good that you should leave the Isles Sainte-Marguerite to go to the Bastille with your old prisoner, taking your precautions to prevent his being either seen or known by any one. _You can write in advance to His Majesty’s Lieutenant of this château to have a chamber ready so as to be able to place your prisoner in it on your arrival._” This despatch cannot be questioned. It exists in the archives of the Ministry of War. It was written by the Minister, Barbézieux, a short time previous to Saint-Mars’ departure for the Bastille, and like many others which we shall quote hereafter, it establishes in a formal manner that in 1698, and not later, the Man with the Iron Mask entered the Bastille, and that no alteration has consequently been made in Dujonca’s journal. But to these definitive proofs let us add others drawn from Avedick’s very singular end. Let us return to this individual at the moment when he treads the French soil for the first time, and let us follow him to his death, less in order to complete our demonstration that he is not the Man with the Iron Mask--which would be superfluous--than to throw every light upon this little-known individual, and pursue to its _dénoûment_ the story of this extraordinary crime. FOOTNOTES: [277] _L’Homme au Masque de Fer: Mémoire Historique par le Chevalier de Taulès, ancien consul-général en Syrie_, p. 1.