who, in March, 1694, came from Pignerol to Sainte-Marguerite.  Now in April, 1694, a prisoner died at the island, a prisoner who, like Mattioli, had A valet.  We hear of no other prisoner on the island, except Mattioli who had a valet.  A letter of Saint-Mars (January 6, 1696) proves that no prisoner then had a valet, for each prisoner collected his own dirty plates and dishes, piled them up, and handed them to the lieutenant.

M. Funck-Brentano argues that in this very letter (January 6, 1696) Saint-Mars speaks of “les valets de messieurs les prisonniers.”  But in that part of the letter Saint-Mars is not speaking of the actual state of things at Sainte-Marguerite, but is giving reminiscences of Fouquet and Lauzun, who, of course, at Piguerol, had valets, and had money, as he shows.  Dauger had no money.  M. Funck-Brentano next argues that early in 1694 one of the preacher prisoners, Melzac, died, and cites M. Jung ("La Verite sur le Masque de Fer,” p. 91).  This is odd, as M. Jung says that Melzac, or Malzac, “died in the end of 1692, or early in 1693.”  Why, then, does M. Funck-Brentano cite M. Jung for the death of the preacher early in 1694, when M. Jung (conjecturally) dates his decease at least a year earlier?[1] It is not a mere conjecture as, on March 3, 1693, Barbezieux begs Saint-Mars to mention his Protestant prisoners under nicknames.  There are three, and Malzac is no longer one of them.  Malzac, in 1692, suffered from a horrible disease, discreditable to one of the godly, and in October, 1692, had been allowed medical expenses.  Whether they included a valet or not, Malzac seems to have been non-existent by March, 1693.  Had he possessed a valet, and had he died in 1694, why should his valet have been “shut up in the vaulted prison”?  This was the fate of the valet of the prisoner who died in April, 1694, and was probably Mattioli.

[1] M. Funck-Brentano’s statement is in Revue Historique, lvi. p. 298.  “Malzac died at the beginning of 1694,” citing Jung, p. 91.  Now on p. 91 M. Jung writes, “At the beginning of 1694 Saint-Mars had six prisoners, of whom one Melzac, dies.”  But M. Jung (pp. 269, 270) later writes, “It is probable that Melzac died at the end of 1692, or early in 1693,” and he gives his reasons, which are convincing.  M. Funck-Brentano must have overlooked M. Jung’s change of opinion between his p. 91 and his pp. 269, 270.

Mattioli, certainly, had a valet in December, 1693, at Pignerol.  He went to Sainte-Marguerite in March, 1694.  In April, 1694, a prisoner with a valet died at Sainte-Marguerite.  In January, 1696, no prisoner at Sainte-Marguerite had a valet.  Therefore, there is a strong presumption that the “prisonnier au valet” who died in April, was Mattioli.