Kitabı oku: «The True History of the State Prisoner, commonly called the Iron Mask», sayfa 13
No. 106
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
October 9th, 1680.
I have only further, Sir, to acquaint you with the circumstance of the Sieur Matthioli’s having given a ring to Blainvilliers, who immediately delivered it to me. I will keep it, till it shall please you, Sir, to give me orders what to do with it.
I am, &c.
De Saint-Mars.306
No. 107
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Particulars respecting the Ring given by Matthioli to Blainvilliers.
October 26th, 1680.
In order to explain to you, Sir, more amply than I have hitherto done, the story of the diamond ring which the Sieur Matthioli gave to Blainvilliers, I shall begin by taking the liberty to tell you that I believe he made him this present as much from fear as from any other cause: this prisoner having previously used very violent language to him, and written abusive sentences with charcoal on the wall of his room, which had obliged that officer to menace him with severe punishment, if he was not more decorous and moderate in his language for the future. When he was put in the tower with the Jacobin, I charged Blainvilliers to tell him, at the same time showing him a cudgel, that it was with that the unruly were rendered manageable, and that if he did not speedily become the latter, he could easily be compelled to it. This message was conveyed to him, and some days afterwards, as Blainvilliers was waiting on him at dinner, he said to him; Sir, here is a little ring which I wish to give you, and I beg you to accept of it. Blainvilliers replied to him that he only took it to deliver it to me, as he could not receive any thing himself from the prisoners. I think it is well worth fifty or sixty pistoles.
De Saint-Mars.307
No. 108
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Versailles, Nov. 2d, 1680.
I have received your letter of the 26th of last month. I am writing to the Sieur du Channoy to make the necessary repairs to the barracks of the citadel of Pignerol: with regard to the brambles which are in the walls, I think it will be better to wait till the spring to have them rooted up, because that will make them die more certainly, and then at the same time mortar might be inserted into the fissures.
You must keep the ring, which the Sieur Matthioli has given to the Sieur de Blainvilliers, in order to restore it to him, if it should ever happen that the King ordered him to be set at liberty.
De Louvois.308
No. 109
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Versailles, Nov. 11th, 1680.
The King has been informed that the Governor of Milan has received the plan of the town and citadel of Pignerol, from an individual named Quadro, who was some time in the prison, to explain the fortifications to one of your nephews; and as it is important for the service of His Majesty, that the Italians should never have any communication with the citadel of Pignerol, nor with the prison there, His Majesty has commanded me to let you know, that he wishes you not to allow any one to enter there, without his express order; and his intention is, if you have any soldiers or servants who are Piedmontese, Savoyards, or Italians, that you should get rid of them as quietly as possible, under pretext of their not serving you well.
De Louvois.309
No. 110
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
St. Germain, December 5th, 1680.
Your letter of the 27th of last month has reached me. The King does not wish you to have any soldiers in your company who are Piedmontese, Savoyards, Italians, or natives of the Government of Pignerol. With regard to the three servants of this nation, who have been with you for six or seven years, you may keep them, since you are certain of their fidelity.
De Louvois.310
No. 111
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Appointment of Saint-Mars to the Government of Exiles – Measures to be taken by him thereupon.
Versailles, May 12th, 1681.
I read to the King your letter of the 3d of this month, by which his Majesty having discovered the extreme repugnance you have to accept the command of the citadel of Pignerol, he has thought proper to accord to you that of Exiles, vacant by the death of the Duke of Lesdiguières; whither he wishes you to transport those of the prisoners who are under your care, whom he shall think it important not to entrust to any other hands but yours. I shall take care to solicit at the office of M. de Croissy311 for the grants of the aforesaid government, of which, as the salary does not exceed four thousand livres, His Majesty will continue to you the five hundred livres a month he gave you at Pignerol, by means of which your emoluments will be as considerable as those of the Governors of the great places in Flanders.
I have requested the Sieur du Channoy to go with you to visit the buildings at Exiles, and to make there a list of the repairs absolutely necessary for the lodging of the two prisoners in the lower part of the tower, who are, I think, the only ones His Majesty will have transferred to Exiles.
Send me a list of all the prisoners under your care, and write opposite to each name all that you know of the reasons why they were arrested.
With regard to the two in the lower part of the tower, you need only designate them by this name, without adding any thing else.
The King expects that, during the little time you will be absent from the citadel of Pignerol, when you go with the Sieur du Channoy to Exiles, you will arrange the guarding of your prisoners in such a manner, that no accident may happen to them, and that they may have no intercourse with any one, any more than they have hitherto had during the time they have been under your charge.
De Louvois.312
No. 112
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Precautions for the Journey of the Prisoners from Pignerol to Exiles.
Versailles, June 9th, 1681.
I send you the necessary grants, as Governor of Exiles, which the King has thought good to have sent to you. The intention of His Majesty is, that as soon as the room at Exiles, which you shall judge the most proper for the secure keeping of the two prisoners in the lower part of the tower, shall be in a state to receive them, you will send them out of the citadel of Pignerol in a litter, and conduct them there under the escort of your troop, for the march of whom the orders are hereunto joined: and immediately after the departure of the aforesaid prisoners, it is His Majesty’s intention that you should go to Exiles, to take possession of the government, and to make it, for the future, your residence.
And because His Majesty does not wish that the remainder of the prisoners at present under your charge, who are to remain in the citadel of Pignerol should be left to the care of a Captain of a Battalion, who may be changed from day to day, I address to you an order from the King to have the Sieur de Villebois recognized as Commandant of the aforesaid citadel of Pignerol, until the return of M. de Rissan, or the arrival of the person whom His Majesty shall entrust with the command of the aforesaid citadel. In case the health of the aforesaid Sieur de Rissan does not permit him to return there, you will, if you please, acquaint the aforesaid Sieur de Villebois with it, to whom the Sieur du Channoy has orders to pay two crowns a day, for the support of those three prisoners.
You will see by the orders of the King hereunto joined, that your company is to be reduced to forty-five men, to commence from the 15th of this month; and by the statement which accompanies them, the footing upon which it is to be paid, as well as what the King has ordered you for the subsistence of the two before-named prisoners, whom His Majesty expects that you will guard with the same exactitude you have made use of hitherto. Therefore, it only remains for me to recommend you to give me, from time to time, intelligence respecting them.
With regard to the effects belonging to the Sieur Matthioli, which are in your possession, you will have them taken to Exiles, in order to be given back to him, if ever His Majesty should order him to be set at liberty.
You will receive the orders I have mentioned by the first occasion.
De Louvois.313
No. 113
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Versailles, June 11th, 1681.
I have acquainted the King with the contents of your letter of the 13th of last month, and with the list of the repairs necessary to be made to the tower at Exiles, which you deem the most proper residence for the prisoners whom His Majesty leaves under your care. The King has thought fit to grant you a thousand crowns, as well for the aforesaid repairs, as for those which you shall judge necessary to make in your own lodging; which, as soon as you receive this, you will take care to have done immediately, as if the expense was to come out of your own pocket: and as soon as the prison shall be in a fit state, it is the intention of His Majesty that you should transfer the aforesaid two prisoners to it, according to what I have already commanded you in my last letter; and in conformity with that and the order which was joined to it, you will then deliver to the Sieur de Villebois the command of the citadel of Pignerol.
De Louvois.314
No. 114
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Versailles, July 9th, 1681.
I have received your letter of the 29th of last month. You may have the doors you have need of, for the security of your prisoners, made at Exiles, without taking the trouble of having them carried from Pignerol.
I have written to the Père Lachaise for the benefice, which you ask of the King for one of your children, to whom I trust His Majesty will grant it.
De Louvois.315
No. 115
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Precautions for the Security and Concealment of the Prisoners at Exiles.
Pignerol, July 12th, 1681.Just setting off for Exiles.
In order that the prisoners may not be seen (at Exiles,) they will not leave their chamber when they hear mass; and in order that they may be kept the more securely, one of my lieutenants will sleep above them, and there will be two sentinels night and day, who will watch the whole round of the tower, without its being possible for them and the prisoners to see and to speak to one another, or even to hear any thing of one another. They will be the soldiers of my company, who will be always the sentinels over the prisoners. There is only a confessor, about whom I have my doubts; but if you do not disapprove, I will give them the curate of Exiles instead, who is a good man, and very old, whom I will forbid, on the part of His Majesty, to enquire who these prisoners are, or their names, or what they have been, or to speak of them in any way, or to receive from them by word of mouth, or by writing, either communications or notes.
I am, &c.De Saint-Mars.316
No. 116
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Departure of Saint-Mars from Pignerol ordered to be deferred, in order that he might receive Catinat there.
Versailles, July 22d, 1681.
I have received your letter of the 12th of this month, by which I see that the repairs which you have ordered to be made at Exiles will not permit you to leave Pignerol before the end of next month. As the service of the King will perhaps require that you should remain there all the following month, it would be well that you should advance the aforesaid repairs of Exiles as little as possible, in order that you may have a pretext for not leaving Pignerol till the first days of the month of October; taking care to act in such a manner, that your continuing to remain there may not appear to be the result of voluntary delay.
I am about to send the necessary order for the repayment of the money you have expended for your prisoners, and you will receive it by the next post.
You will find joined with this letter a packet for M. de Pianesse,317 which I request you to deliver to him without fail.
De Louvois.318
No. 117
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Fontainebleau, August 3d, 1681.
Your letter of the 23rd of last month has been delivered to me. The King approves of your going to see the Marquis de Pianesse at his country house, and of your making a journey to Turin, if you desire it, provided you do not sleep out of the citadel of Pignerol more than one night at a time. With regard to the journey to Exiles, and the leave of absence you ask for the Sieur Tourtebat, whom you wish to take with you, you will have seen by my former letters, that the intention of the King is that you should not go there.
De Louvois.319
No. 118
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Orders for the Reception of Catinat at Pignerol.
Fontainebleau, August 13th, 1681.
The King having ordered M. de Catinat to go as soon as possible to Pignerol, for the same affair which before took him there at the commencement of the year 1679, I send you these few lines by order of His Majesty, to give you intelligence thereof, in order that you may prepare an apartment for him, in which he can remain concealed for three weeks or a month; and also to tell you that when he shall send to let you know that he is arrived at the place where you went to meet him in the aforesaid year 1679, it is the intention of His Majesty that you should go there again to meet him, and that you should conduct him into the prison of the citadel of the aforesaid Pignerol, with every kind of precaution, in order that no one may know he is with you. I do not say any thing to you about assisting him with your servants, your horses, and whatever carriages he may have occasion for, because I have no doubt but you will do with pleasure on these heads, whatever he shall ask you.
If between this time and his arrival any packet for him should be addressed to you either from Piedmont or from Italy, you will keep it, if you please, to deliver to him.
De Louvois.320
No. 119
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Fontainebleau, August 23d, 1681.
I have received your letter of the 13th of this month, which requires no answer, except to say that I have given orders for a French clerk to be sent, to have the direction of the Post-office at Pignerol; by means of whom we shall be assured that no further abuses can be committed with regard to the letters.
De Louvois.321
No. 120
LOUVOIS TO SAINT-MARS
Fontainebleau, Sept. 20th, 1681.
This word is only for the purpose of acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 16th of last month. The King will not disapprove of your visiting, from time to time, the last prisoner who has been placed in your charge, after he shall have been established in his new prison, and shall have left that where he is at present confined. His Majesty desires that you will execute the order he has sent you for your establishment at Exiles. I beg you to deliver the packet hereunto joined into M. de Richemont’s own hands.
De Louvois.322
No. 121
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Exiles, Dec 4th, 1681.
As there is always one of my two prisoners ill, they give me as much occupation as I have ever had with any of those I have hitherto guarded.
Although, Sir, you have the kindness to give me permission to go, from time to time, to Casale, I dare not do it, lest during my absence, you should address any packets to me for M. de Pianesse.
De Saint-Mars.323
No. 122
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Description of the Apartment and manner of Confinement of the Prisoners at Exiles.
Exiles, March 11th, 1682.
Sir,
I have received the letter which you were pleased to do me the honour to write to me on the 27th of last month, in which you acquaint me, Sir, that it is important my two prisoners should have no communication with any one. Since the first time that you, Sir, gave me this order, I have guarded these two prisoners, who are under my care, as severely and exactly as I formerly did Messieurs Fouquet and Lauzun, who could not boast that they had either sent or received any news, while they were in confinement. These prisoners can hear the people speak as they pass along the road which is at the bottom of the tower; but they, if they wished it, could not make themselves heard; they can see the persons on the hill which is before their windows, but cannot themselves be seen on account of the bars which are placed across their room. There are two sentinels of my company always night and day, on each side of the tower, at a reasonable distance, who can see the window of the prisoners obliquely. They are ordered to take care that no one speaks to them, and that they do not cry out from their windows; and to make the passengers walk on if they wish to stop in the path, or on the side of the hill. My own room being joined to the tower, and having no other look-out except towards this path, I hear and see every thing, even my two sentinels, who are by this means always kept alert.
As for the inside of the tower, I have divided it in such a manner, that the priest who says mass to them cannot see them, on account of a curtain I have made, which covers their double doors. The servants, who bring their food, put whatever is necessary for the prisoners upon a table on the outside, and my lieutenant takes it and carries it in to them. No one speaks to them except myself, my officer, M. Vigneron (the confessor), and physician from Pragelas, which is six leagues from hence, who only sees them in my presence. With regard to their linen and other necessaries, I take the same precautions which I did with my former prisoners.
I am, &c.De Saint-Mars.324
No. 123
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Exiles, Dec. 23d, 1685.
My prisoners are still ill and in a course of medicine; they are, however, perfectly tranquil.
De Saint-Mars.325
No. 124
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Saint-Mars is made Governor of the Islands of Saint Margaret.
Exiles, January 20th, 1687.
Sir,
I am most grateful for the new favour, which I have just received from his Majesty, (the government of the Islands of Saint Margaret). If you order me to go there without delay, I would request to be permitted to take the road through Piedmont, on account of the great quantity of snow that there is between this place and Embrun; and, on my return, which shall be as quick as I can possibly make it, I hope you will approve of my going by the way, to take leave of the Duke of Savoy, from whom I have always received so much kindness. I will give such good orders for the guarding of my prisoner, that I can answer to you, Sir, for his entire security, as well as for his not now, nor ever, holding intercourse with my Lieutenant, whom I have forbid to speak to him, which is punctually obeyed. If I take him with me to the Islands, I think the most secure conveyance will be a chair covered with oil-cloth, in which there would enter a sufficiency of air, without its being possible for any one to see or speak to him during the journey, not even the soldiers whom I shall select to be near the chair. This conveyance will be less embarrassing than a litter, which is liable often to break.
I am, &c.De Saint-Mars.326
No. 125
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
From the Islands of Saint Margaret,March 23d, 1687.
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
I have been here for the last thirty days, of which I have passed twenty-six in bed, with a continual fever. I have taken so much powder of bark, that, for the last three days, I have been free from fever. I have sent to Toulon for my litter, in order to go from hence the 26th of this month, and I hope to be at Exiles in eight days, by the Embrun and Briançon road. As soon as I shall have had the honour of receiving your commands, Sir, I shall set forth again with my prisoner, whom I promise to conduct here in all security, without any one seeing or speaking to him. He shall not hear mass after he leaves Exiles, till he is lodged in the prison which is preparing for him here, to which a chapel is attached.
∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗
I pledge my honour to you for the entire security of my prisoner.
I am, &c.De Saint-Mars.327
No. 126
SAINT-MARS TO LOUVOIS
Arrival of Matthioli at the Islands of Saint Margaret.
From the Islands of Saint Margaret,May 3d, 1687.
Sir,
I arrived here the 30th of last month: I was only twelve days on the journey, in consequence of the illness of my prisoner, occasioned, as he said, by not having as much air as he wished. I can assure you, Sir, that no one has seen him, and that the manner in which I have guarded and conducted him during all the journey, makes every body try to conjecture who he is.
My prisoner’s bed was so old and worn out, as well as every thing he made use of, both table linen and furniture, that it was not worth while to bring them here; they only sold for thirteen crowns. ∗ ∗ ∗
I have given to the eight porters, who brought the chair from Turin, and my prisoner to this place, (including the hire of the aforesaid chair) two hundred and three livres, which I have paid out of my own pocket.
De Saint-Mars.328
