[153] Stephen Francis, Duke de Choiseul, Prime Minister under Lewis the Fifteenth, for above twelve years. A man of some talent, but an unskilful and extravagant minister; in spite of which, on his disgrace, (through the means of Madame du Barri, in 1770) he was turned into a martyr, by the influence of the ladies of the court, who were angry with the King for choosing his mistresses from the lower orders, instead of among them. To do him honour snuff-boxes were made, bearing the head of Sully on one side, and that of the Duke de Choiseul on the other. One of them being shown to _Sophie Arnoud_, the actress, celebrated for her repartees, she looked at the two sides, and said, “_C’est la recette--et la dépense_.” [154] This first answer of the king ought not to be entirely overlooked; as, it will be remembered, that at the time it was made, the minister of the Duke of Mantua had not been mentioned by any one as the Iron Mask. He was first suggested to have been that prisoner, by the Baron de Heiss, in a letter to the authors of the “Journal Encyclopédique,” dated Phalsbourg, June 28th, 1770; in which he grounded his opinion upon a letter, published in a work entitled “L’Histoire Abregée de l’Europe;” published at Leyden in 1687; giving a detailed account of the arrest, by French agents, of a secretary of the Duke of Mantua.[155] M. Dutens, in his “Correspondance Interceptée,” published in 1789, held the same opinion, grounded upon the same authority. He afterwards repeated the same opinion in his “Mémoires d’un Voyageur, qui se repose.” Finally, M. Roux, (Fazillac) in 1801, published his work upon the Iron Mask; in which he supported the same opinion; and attached to the Secretary the name of Matthioli. [155] See Appendix, No. 133. [156] Jane Antoinette Poisson, married to a financier named Le Normand d’Etioles; created Marquise de Pompadour by Lewis the Fifteenth, of whom she was first the mistress, and afterwards the minister of his disgraceful debauches. At her death, in 1765, the King showed no signs of grief; and on seeing her funeral go by his windows on a rainy day, his only remark was, “La Marquise aura aujourd’hui un mauvais temps pour son voyage!” [157] Appendix, No. 131. [158] Appendix, Nos. 131, 132. Madame Campan mentions having heard Lewis the Sixteenth tell his wife, that the Count de Maurepas (who, both from his age and situation, was very likely to know the truth,) had informed him that the _Iron Mask_ was “a prisoner dangerous from his intriguing disposition, and a subject of the Duke of Mantua.” APPENDIX. APPENDIX. No. 1. ESTRADES TO LEWIS THE FOURTEENTH. Commencement of the Negociation.--State of the Court of Mantua.--Influence of the Spaniards there. Venice, Dec 18th, 1677. SIRE,