Five years later, after one day’s illness, November 19, 1703, this prisoner died in the Bastille.* His end was so rapid that he did not receive the solace of the sacrament; the chaplain ‘exhorted him a moment before he died.’ As dusk fell on the next afternoon the drawbridge was lowered, and a sorry funeral passed out, which took its way to the graveyard of the church of St Paul: behind a rude coffin, two turnkeys of the prison. A furtive, perfunctory burying, scarcely even decent;* into his hasty grave, probably by lantern-light, the turnkeys unknown lowered the unknown dead, and that was the end. On the church’s register was inscribed the name of Marchioly.* In the Bastille they had known him as the prisoner from Provence.
* Lieutenant Étienne du Junca, Saint-Mars’s second-in-command at the Bastille, kept a meticulous private journal (like his contemporary, Samuel Pepys) in which he recorded the passing of the masked prisoner. According to du Junca, ‘the unknown prisoner’ never removed his velvet mask and was wearing it when he died.
* For most of his captivity, the masked man was kept comfortable and treated with marked courtesy. But something changed in March 1701. The prisoner began to be shunted around the Bastille to make room for new arrivals, and even shared a cell with a wild nineteen-year-old servant boy. Perhaps King Louis, whose attention was now completely engrossed in his plan to make Europe’s powers acknowledge his grandson Philip as King of Spain, felt that whatever hold or value the man in the Bastille had once possessed was no longer of such concern. See The War of the Spanish Succession.
* Hopkins saw in this confirmation that Mattioli was the masked prisoner; the clerk’s spelling was always shaky (he misspelt his own superiors’ names) and Saint-Mars tended to write ‘Mattioli’ as Martioly anyway. However, there is a strong probability that Mattioli never left Fort Royal: a prisoner there who had his own personal valet died there in April 1694, and Mattioli was by then the only inmate with a manservant. It was, moreover, state policy to bury political prisoners under a pseudonym; Saint-Mars seems to have enjoyed dreaming them up, rather like Mr Bumble in Oliver Twist. Perhaps ‘Marchioly’ was another red herring — just as Eustache Dauber de Cavoye (1637-late 1680s) was the name of a poor wretch committed to the asylum of St Lazaire sometime in or before 1668, where he died some twelve years later.
Précis
Five years after he came to the Bastille, the masked prisoner died suddenly. He was buried with little ceremony in a nearby churchyard, with his gaolers for pall-bearers. Throughout his time at the Bastille his name had never been spoken — staff generally called him ‘the prisoner from Provence’ — but the name under which he was buried was ‘Marchioly’. (58 / 60 words)
Five years after he came to the Bastille, the masked prisoner died suddenly. He was buried with little ceremony in a nearby churchyard, with his gaolers for pall-bearers. Throughout his time at the Bastille his name had never been spoken — staff generally called him ‘the prisoner from Provence’ — but the name under which he was buried was ‘Marchioly’.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, despite, if, not, ought, since, unless, who.
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Word Games
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Hand. Ill. Year.
2 Know. Room. Wear.
3 Back. Chaplain. Die.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Confusables Find in Think and Speak
In each group below, you will find words that are similar to one another, but not exactly the same. Compose your own sentences to bring out the similarities and differences between them, whether in meaning, grammar or use.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Homonyms Find in Think and Speak
Each of the words below has more than one possible meaning. Compose your own sentences to show what those different meanings are.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1. Even. 2. Last. 3. Arm. 4. Set. 5. Halt. 6. Long. 7. Pass. 8. Saw. 9. Grave.
Add Vowels Find in Think and Speak
Make words by adding vowels to each group of consonants below. You may add as many vowels as you like before, between or after the consonants, but you may not add any consonants or change the order of those you have been given. See if you can beat our target of common words.
rds (14+2)
arduous. erodes. radios. radius. raids. readies. reads. reds. reeds. rides. rids. roads. rodeos. rods.
redoes. roadies.
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