diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76902-0.txt | 13852 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76902-h/76902-h.htm | 18675 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76902-h/images/cover.jpg | bin | 0 -> 320037 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76902-h/images/line.jpg | bin | 0 -> 1635 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 76902-h/images/plan.jpg | bin | 0 -> 67831 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
8 files changed, 32543 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/76902-0.txt b/76902-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7eefcb --- /dev/null +++ b/76902-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13852 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76902 *** + +Transcriber’s Note: This book uses the spelling “Bastile” throughout +(rather than “Bastille” as is more common in modern times). + + + + +THE HISTORY OF THE BASTILE. + + + + + THE + HISTORY OF THE BASTILE, + AND OF ITS + PRINCIPAL CAPTIVES. + + BY + R. A. DAVENPORT. + AUTHOR OF THE “NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY,” ETC. ETC. + + Then shame to manhood, and opprobrious more + To France than all her losses and defeats, + Old or of later date, by sea or land, + Her house of bondage, worse than that of old + Which God avenged on Pharaoh—the Bastile.—COWPER. + + LONDON: + PUBLISHED BY THOMAS TEGG AND SON, + 73, CHEAPSIDE. + 1838. + + LONDON: + BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +The execution of a plan so frequently falls immeasurably short of the +author’s original conception, that some wit, of whom I have forgotten the +name, has likened them to the cry of an oriental fruit-hawker: “In the +name of the Prophet—figs!” I can bear witness how much what is purposed +goes beyond what is accomplished. I began loftily, and perhaps the reader +will say, that I have ended with—figs. At the outset I designed to link, +in some measure, the history of the Bastile with that of France, and to +trace the rise and progress of those parties, factions, and sects, which +furnished inmates to the prisons of state. But I soon discovered that the +contracted limits of a single volume would not admit of my plan being +carried into execution. By much enlarging the page, and by making, at +no small cost, a very considerable addition to the number of pages, the +publisher has liberally endeavoured to give me the means of rendering +the work less imperfect than it would otherwise have been; but I have, +nevertheless, been exceedingly cramped by the want of adequate space. + +But, though I have not done all that I wished to do, I am by no means +disposed to disparage my labours. I have consulted every document that +was accessible, and have conscientiously tried to be strictly just, and +to combine information with amusement. I indulge a hope that the volume +will tend not only to keep up an abhorrence of arbitrary power, but +also to inspire affection for governments which hold it to be a duty to +promote the happiness of the people. Whatever may be its defects, it +is the only work in the English language that has even the slightest +pretension to be denominated a History of the Bastile. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + CHAPTER I. + + Original meaning of the word Bastile—Various + Bastiles—Description of “The Bastile”—Officers of the + fortress—Interior of it—The Garden—The Court where + the prisoners took exercise—The Towers, Dungeons, + Apartments, Furniture, Food, of the prisoners—The + Library—The Chapel—Lettres de Cachet described—Advocate + of them—Change in the treatment of prisoners—Narrative + of a prisoner—Strict search of prisoners—Harshness to + them—Artifices employed against them—Silence enjoined + to the Guards, &c., of the prison—Mode of receiving + visitors—Suppression of letters—Secrecy and mystery—Medical + attendance—Wills—Insanity—Clandestine burial of the dead. 1 + + CHAPTER II. + + Reign of John II.—Stephen Marcel, Provost of the + Merchants—Reign of Charles V.—Hugh Aubriot—Reign of + Charles VI.—Noviant—La Rivière—Peter des Essarts—John de + Montaigu—Contests of the factions at Paris—The Count of + Armagnac—The Burgundians obtain possession of Paris—Massacre + of the Armagnacs—Assassination of the Duke of Burgundy—Reign + of Charles VII.—Paris in the hands of the English—Villiers + de l’Isle Adam—The English expelled from Paris—Reign of + Louis XI.—Anthony de Chabannes—The Count de Melun—Cardinal + de Balue—William d’Haraucour—Charles d’Armagnac—Louis de + Luxembourg—The Duke of Nemours and his children. 33 + + CHAPTER III. + + Reign of Francis I.—Semblançai—The Chancellor Duprat—The + Chancellor Poyet—Admiral de Chabot—Fall of Poyet—Reign of Henry + II.—Anne du Bourg—Louis du Faur—Reign of Francis II.—Execution + of Du Bourg—Francis de Vendôme—Reign of Charles IX.—The Duke of + Lunebourg—Henry of Navarre and the Prince of Condé in danger of + the Bastile—Faction of the Politicians—La Mole—Coconas—Marshal + de Montmorenci—Marshal de Cossé—Reign of Henry III.—Bussi + d’Amboise. 74 + + CHAPTER IV. + + Reign of Henry III. continued—Conspiracy of Salcede—Francis + de Rosières—Peter de Belloy—Francis le Breton—Bernard + Palissy—Daring plots of the League—Henry III. expelled from + Paris—The Bastile surrenders to Guise—Bussi le Clerc appointed + governor—Damours—James de la Guesle—Reign of Henry IV.—Members + of the parliament arrested—President de Harlay—Potier de + Blancmesnil—The family of Seguier—Speeches of Henry IV.—Louis + Seguier—James Gillot—Outrage committed by the Council of + Sixteen—It is punished by the Duke of Mayenne—Henry IV. enters + Paris—Surrender of the Bastile—Du Bourg—Treasure deposited in + the Bastile by Henry. 102 + + CHAPTER V. + + Reign of Henry IV. continued—Viscount de Tavannes—The marshal + duke of Biron—Faults of Biron—Friendship of Henry IV. for + Biron—La Fin, and his influence over Biron—The Duke of + Savoy—Biron’s first treason pardoned—Embassies of Biron—Speech + of Queen Elizabeth to Biron—Discontent among the nobles—Art of + La Fin—Imprisonment of Renazé—La Fin betrays Biron—Artifices + employed to lull Biron into security—Arrest of Biron, and + the Count of Auvergne—Conduct of Biron in the Bastile—His + trial—His execution—Respect paid to his remains—Monbarot + sent to the Bastile—The Count of Auvergne—He is sent to the + Bastile but soon released—He plots again—Cause and intent of + the conspiracy—He is again arrested—Sentence of death passed + on him, but commuted for imprisonment—He spends twelve years + in the Bastile—Mary of Medicis releases him—Conspiracy of + Merargues—He is executed—Death of Henry IV. 133 + + CHAPTER VI. + + Reign of Louis XIII.—The treasure of Henry IV. + dissipated—Prevalent belief in magic—Cesar and Ruggieri—Henry, + prince of Condé—The Marchioness d’Ancre—Marshal + Ornano—Prevalence of duelling—The Count de Bouteville—The Day + of the Dupes—Vautier, the physician of Mary of Medicis—The + Marshal de Bassompierre—The Chevalier de Jars—Infamy of + Laffemas—Three citizens of Paris sent to the Bastile—Despotic + language of Louis XIII.—The Count de Cramail—The Marquis of + Vitry—Peter de la Porte—Noel Pigard Dubois, an alchemical + impostor—The Count de Grancé and the Marquis de Praslin—The + prince Palatine—Count Philip d’Aglie—Charles de Beys—Letter + from an unknown prisoner to Richelieu. 172 + + CHAPTER VII. + + Reign of Louis XIV.—Regency of Anne of Austria—Inauspicious + circumstances under which she assumed the regency—George + de Casselny—The Count de Montresor—The Marquis de + Fontrailles—Marshal de Rantzau—The Count de Rieux—Bernard + Guyard—Broussel, governor of the Bastile—The Duchess of + Montpensier orders the cannon of the Bastile to be fired on + the king’s army—Conclusion of the war of the Fronde—Surrender + of the Bastile—Despotism of Louis XIV.—Slavishness of the + nobles—John Herauld Gourville—The Count de Guiche—Nicholas + Fouquet—Paul Pellisson-Fontainier—Charles St. Evremond—Simon + Morin—The Marquis de Vardes—Count Bussy Rabutin—Saci le + Maistre—The Duke of Lauzun—Marquis of Cavoie—The Chevalier + de Rohan—A nameless prisoner—Charles D’Assoucy—Miscellaneous + prisoners. 217 + + CHAPTER VIII. + + The Poisoners—The Marchioness of Brinvilliers—Penautier—La + Voisin and her accomplices and dupes—The “Chambre Ardente”—The + Countess of Soissons—The Duchess of Bouillon—The Duke of + Luxembourg—Stephen de Bray—The Abbé Primi—Andrew Morell—Madame + Guyon—Courtils de Sandraz—Constantine de Renneville—The + Man with the Iron Mask—Jansenists—Tiron, Veillant, + and Lebrun Desmarets—The Count de Bucquoy—The Duke de + Richelieu—Miscellaneous prisoners. 273 + + CHAPTER IX. + + Reign of Louis XV.—Regency of the Duke of Orleans—Oppressive + measures against all persons connected with the Finances—Their + failure—Prisoners in the Bastile—Freret—Voltaire—The + Cellamare conspiracy—The Duchess of Maine—Madame de + Staal—Malezieu—Bargeton—Mahudel—The Mississippi scheme—Count + de Horn—Death of the Regent—Administration of the Duke of + Bourbon—La Blanc—Paris Duverney—The Count de Belleisle—The + Chevalier de Belleisle—Madame de Tencin. 314 + + CHAPTER X. + + Reign of Louis XV. continued—The Bull Unigenitus—A Notary + Public—G. N. Nivelle—G. C. Buffard—Death of Deacon Paris—Rise, + progress, and acts, of the Convulsionaries—Persecution + of them, and artifices employed by them to foil their + persecutors—Lenglet Dufresnoy—La Beaumelle—F. de + Marsy—Marmontel—The Abbé Morellet—Mirabeau the elder—The + Chevalier Resseguier—Groubendal and Dulaurens—Robbé + de Beauveset—Mahé de la Bourdonnais—Count Lally—La + Chalotais—Marin—Durosoi—Prévost de Beaumont—Barletti St. + Paul—Dumouriez. 346 + + CHAPTER XI. + + Captivity and Sufferings of Masers de Latude—Cause of his + Imprisonment—He is removed from the Bastile to Vincennes—He + escapes—He is retaken, and sent to the Bastile—Kindness of + M. Berryer—D’Alegre is confined in the same apartment with + him—Latude forms a plan for escaping—Preparations for executing + it—The Prisoners descend from the summit of the Bastile, and + escape—They are recaptured in Holland, and brought back—Latude + is thrown into a horrible dungeon—He tames rats, and makes a + musical pipe—Plans suggested by him—His writing materials—He + attempts suicide—Pigeons tamed by him—New plans suggested + by him—Finds means to fling a packet of papers from the top + of the Bastile—He is removed to Vincennes—He escapes—Is + recaptured—Opens a communication with his fellow-prisoners—Is + transferred to Charenton—His situation there—His momentary + liberation—He is re-arrested, and sent to the Bicêtre—Horrors + of that prison—Heroic benevolence of Madame Legros—She succeeds + in obtaining his release—Subsequent fate of Latude. 382 + + CHAPTER XII. + + Reign of Louis XVI.—Enormous number of Lettres de Cachet + issued in two reigns—William Debure the elder—Blaizot + imprisoned for obeying the King—Pelisseri—Prisoners from + St. Domingo—Linguet—Duvernet—The Count de Paradès—Marquis + de Sade—Brissot—The Countess de la Motte—Cardinal de + Rohan—Cagliostro—The affair of the Diamond Necklace—Reveillon + takes shelter in the Bastile—Attack and capture of the Bastile + by the Parisians—Conclusion. 436 + + + + +[Illustration: PLAN OF THE BASTILE. + +A. Avenue from St. Anthony’s Street—B. Entrance, and first drawbridge—C. +The Governor’s house—D. First court—E. Avenue leading to the gate of +the fortress—F. Drawbridge and gates of the fortress—G. Guard-houses—H. +The great court within the towers—I. Staircase leading to the Council +Chamber—K. Council Chamber—L. Court du Puits, or Well Court—M. Way to +the garden—N. Steps leading into the garden—O. Garden—P. The moat of the +fortress—Q. Passage to the Arsenal garden—R. A wooden road round the +walls for the night patrole—1. Tower du Puits—2. Tower de la Liberté—3. +Tower de la Bertaudière—4. Tower de la Bazinière—5. Tower de la Comté—6. +Tower du Trésor—7. Tower de la Chapelle—8. Tower du Coin.] + + + + +THE HISTORY OF THE BASTILE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + Original meaning of the word Bastile—Various + Bastiles—Description of “The Bastile”—Officers of the + fortress—Interior of it—The Garden—The Court where + the prisoners took exercise—The Towers, Dungeons, + Apartments, Furniture, Food, of the prisoners—The + Library—The Chapel—Lettres de Cachet described—Advocate + of them—Change in the treatment of prisoners—Narrative + of a prisoner—Strict search of prisoners—Harshness to + them—Artifices employed against them—Silence enjoined + to the Guards, &c. of the prison—Mode of receiving + visitors—Suppression of letters—Secrecy and mystery—Medical + attendance—Wills—Insanity—Clandestine burial of the dead. + + +The word Bastile, which has now long been, and will ever remain, a term +of opprobrious import, to designate the dungeons of arbitrary power, +has, like many other words, deviated widely in the lapse of years from +its original meaning. Its derivation is traced, somewhat doubtfully, to +the Italian _bastia_ or _bastione_. In former times, it was applied to +any fort, whether permanent or temporary. In our old writers, as well +as in those of France, we find it repeatedly given to field works. The +redoubts, for instance, by means of which, in the reign of the sixth +Henry, the English blockaded Orleans, are so denominated by French +chroniclers. The same is the case with respect to more durable works; +there were, at an early period, no less than three bastiles at Paris, +those of St. Denis, the Temple, and St. Anthony, all of which were +situated to the north of the Seine. Eventually, the name was confined to +the last of these buildings. The quadrangular castle of St. Denis was +demolished in 1671; but the tower of the Temple, in which the unfortunate +Louis the Sixteenth and his family were confined, outlasted the Bastile +itself for nearly a quarter of a century, and was used as a state prison +till 1811, when it ceased to exist. + +The bastile of St. Anthony—which structure I shall henceforth mention +only as The Bastile—is generally supposed to have been founded by Hugh +Aubriot. This opinion is, however, erroneous. It is beyond a doubt, +that the original plan and construction of it must be assigned to the +celebrated Stephen Marcel, provost of the merchants of Paris. When, in +1356, after the disastrous battle of Poitiers, the English detachments +were ravaging the vicinity of the French capital, and the citizens were +filled with terror, Stephen undertook to repair the dilapidated bulwarks +of the city, and add other defences. Among his additions was a gate, +fortified with towers on each side, leading from the suburb of St. +Anthony into the street of the same name. These towers must be considered +as the first rudiments of the Bastile. + +The haste with which, while an enemy was at hand, the walls had been +constructed, had not allowed of giving to them that height and solidity +which were requisite for effectually resisting an attack. In 1369, +Charles the Fifth resolved to remedy this defect. The task of making +the necessary improvements was committed to Hugh Aubriot, the provost +of Paris. Among the changes which Aubriot made, was the adding of two +towers to those which already existed at St. Anthony’s gate. They were +erected parallel with those built by Marcel; so that the whole formed +a square fort, with towers at the angles. In the reign of Charles the +Sixth, after the Maillotin insurrection, in 1382, the Bastile was again +enlarged, by the addition of two towers at each end of the fortress; thus +presenting a front of four towers to the city, and as many to the suburb. +To render more difficult any attempt to surprise the place, the road, +which, as we have seen, ran through it, was turned to one side. The body +of the fortress received no further accession; but, before the middle of +the seventeenth century, a bastion was constructed on the side toward the +suburb, and a broad dry ditch, about forty yards wide and twelve deep, +faced with masonry, encircled the whole. + +Along the summit of the exterior wall of the ditch, which was at an +elevation of sixty feet above the bottom of the ditch, was a wooden +gallery, called the Rounds, reached by two flights of steps. Day and +night sentinels were constantly moving about in this gallery; every +quarter of an hour they were visited by some of the officers or +serjeants; and, more completely to secure their vigilance, each man had +certain numbered pieces of copper pierced with holes, which, at stated +times, he was to drop on the point of an instrument, fixed in a padlocked +box. A bell was also rung upon the Rounds, every quarter of an hour, +throughout the night. + +The officers on the establishment of the Bastile consisted of a governor, +the king’s lieutenant, a major, who officiated as secretary, and prepared +the reports and monthly accounts for the minister, two adjutants to +assist him, a physician, a surgeon and his assistant, a chaplain, two +priests, and a confessor, a keeper of the records, clerk, superintendant +of the buildings, engineer, four turnkeys, and a company of invalids. +No soldier was allowed to sleep out of the place without leave from the +governor; nor could any officer dine out or be absent all night, without +permission from the minister. Originally only the governor and the +king’s lieutenant were appointed by the king, the rest being nominated +by the governor; and guard was mounted at the castle by a body of +citizens, which bore the name of the Independent Company of Archers. The +change was made about the middle of the eighteenth century. + +The interior of the gloomy fabric must now be described. Having passed +down St. Anthony’s-street, and arrived nearly at the city gate, leading +to the suburb of the same name, he who wished or was compelled to visit +the Bastile, turned to the right hand, in the direction of the Arsenal, +where stood a sentinel, to warn off all idle gazers. Before, however, +the main building could be entered, the visiter had to pursue his +way along an approach, bent nearly into the form of three sides of a +square, ⊐, flanked with buildings of various kinds, on the whole of one +side, and a part of the other. Over the entrance gate was an armoury, +and on the right of it a guard-room; on the left hand was a range of +suttling-houses, and on the right were barracks. The road then made an +abrupt turn, on the right of which were stables, coachhouses, and a door +into a space which was called the Elm Court. This first division was +named the Passage Court. At the extremity of it was a drawbridge, with a +guard-house at its further end. This bridge led to a second court, taking +its name from the governor’s house, which, with his garden, occupied one +half of its circuit. Another abrupt turn brought the visiter opposite the +portal of the fortress, which he at length reached, after having passed +by the kitchens, and traversed the great drawbridge. Between the street +and the interior of the fortress there were five massy gates, at all of +which sentinels were posted. + +The principal drawbridge being passed, and the gate opened, the visiter +stood within the Bastile itself. Leaving on his right a guard-room, he +found himself in the Great Court of the Castle, a parallelogram of about +a hundred and two feet long by seventy-two broad, containing six towers, +three on the side looking towards the suburb, and as many on the city +side: the former were named de la Comté, du Trésor, and de la Chapelle; +the latter de la Bazinière, de la Bertaudière, and de la Liberté. +Between the three left hand towers were rooms for the archives and other +purposes, and the chapel; between the towers du Trésor and de la Chapelle +was, in former times, the gate of St. Anthony, and the road into the city. + +A pile of buildings, comparatively modern, extending across the shortest +diameter of the fortress, from the Tour de la Chapelle to the miscalled +Tour de la Liberté, divided this principal court from another, called +the Well Court. This pile contained the council chamber, the library, +the repository for the prisoners’ effects, and apartments for the king’s +lieutenant, the major, and other officers, and, occasionally, for the +sick, and captives of distinction. + +The length of the Well Court was between seventy and eighty feet, the +breadth between forty and fifty. At the angle on the right was the tower +du Coin, on the left the tower du Puit. In this court were some lodgings +for the drudges of the place; and, as the poultry were fed and the offal +was thrown out here, it was always dirty and unwholesome. + +The garden, formed out of what once was a bastion, on the suburb side of +the castle, was laid out in walks, and planted with trees. It appears, +that, till a period not long previous to the downfall of the Bastile, +such prisoners as were not confined for flagitious crimes, or for the +express purpose of being rendered supremely wretched, were permitted +to walk there. To the last governor, M. de Launay, they were indebted +for being deprived of this privilege. To increase his already enormous +emoluments, he let it to a gardener, and he had interest enough with +the minister to obtain his sanction for this encroachment on the scanty +comforts of the prisoners—an order was issued by which they were excluded +from it. Nor was this all, or the worst. The platforms, along the summit +of the towers and connecting curtains, had hitherto afforded a pleasant +and airy walk; but these, too, were shut up, at his desire, partly to +save trouble to those who watched the prisoners, and partly to diminish +the chance of conversation between the former and the latter. Such +conduct is, however, not strange in the man who could meet the complaints +of his oppressed inmates with obscenely vulgar language; and could add, +that “people either ought not to put themselves in the way of being sent +to the Bastile, or ought to know how to suffer when they got there.” +Humanity deplores his subsequent fate, and execrates the brutality of his +murderers; but, as far as regards him personally, M. de Launay appears to +have been deserving of very little respect. + +The only remaining spot in which exercise could be taken was the +principal court. “The walls which enclose it,” says M. Linguet, “are +more than a hundred feet high, without windows; so that, in fact, it +is a large well, where the cold is unbearable in winter, because the +north-east wind pours into it, and in summer the heat is no less so, +because, there being no circulation of air, the sun makes an absolute +oven of it. This is the sole lyceum where such of the prisoners as have +permission (for all do not have it) can, each in his turn, for a few +moments in the day, disencumber their lungs from the pestilential air of +their dwelling.” But even this poor gratification, which seldom extended +to an hour, was considerably abridged by circumstances. Any increase in +the number of prisoners diminished the time which was allotted. Whenever, +as was frequently the case, any stranger entered the court, the prisoner +was obliged to hurry into a narrow passage, called the Cabinet, and shut +himself in closely, that he might not be seen. M. Linguet states, that +three quarters of an hour was often wasted in these compulsory retreats +to the Cabinet. If they were not promptly made, or the captive displayed +any curiosity, the least penalty inflicted was confining the delinquent +within the limits of his cell. + +The towers, which were at least a hundred feet high, were seven feet +thick at the top, and the thickness gradually increased, down to the +foundation. Lowest of all in them were dungeons, under the level of the +soil, arched, paved, lined with stone, dripping with perpetual damps, +the darkness of which was made visible by means of a narrow slit through +the wall, on the side next the ditch. In this fetid den, swarmed newts, +toads, rats, and every variety of vermin which haunt confined and gloomy +spots. Planks, laid across iron bars fixed in the wall, formed the couch +of the captive, and his only bedding, even in the most inclement season, +was a little straw. Two doors, each seven inches thick, with enormous +locks and bars, closed the entrance to each of these horrible abodes, +over which might fitly have been inscribed the terrific line that shone +dimly over the gate of hell, “All hope abandon ye who enter here!” + +Above the dungeons were four stories, each consisting of a single room, +with, in some instances, a dark closet scooped out of the wall. All were +shut in by ponderous double doors; as were also the staircases. In three +of the stories, the rooms, of an irregular octagonal shape, were about +twenty feet in diameter, and eighteen in height. In many of the rooms +the ceilings were double, with a considerable vacuity between them; the +lower one was of lath and plaster, the upper of solid oak. The highest +story of all, which was termed la Calotte, was neither so lofty nor so +large as the others; it was arched to support the roof and platform, and +its curvature prevented its inhabitant from walking in any part but the +middle of the room. On the towers and curtains several pieces of cannon +were mounted. + +The light which was thrown into these chambers was broken and imperfect; +prospect from them there was none. Each room had only one window; and, +independent of the obstacle opposed to sight by the massiveness of the +walls, there was another, in the double iron gratings, at the outside and +middle, formed of bars as thick as a man’s arm, which closed the narrow +aperture. In the lower stories, that there might be no chance of seeing +or being seen, the opening was filled half way up with stone and mortar, +or with planks fastened to the external grating. Three steps led up to +some of the windows, if windows they may be called; in other cases they +were level with the floor. A glass casement excluded the wind in the +better apartments; the dungeons were left exposed to all the rigour of +the elements. + +The rooms were floored with tile or stone, and all of them, except the +dungeons, had chimneys or stoves; the chimneys were secured, in several +parts, by iron bars. In winter, six pieces of wood were allowed daily +for firing. M. Linguet complains, in his Memoirs, that the quantity was +insufficient, and the quality execrable. It is obvious that, to enhance +his profits, an avaricious governor would purchase as cheaply, and deal +out as scantily, as it was possible for him to do. + +The rooms were designated from their situation in the towers, numbering +from the bottom, and the prisoners were designated by the number of their +room. Thus, for instance, the first chamber above the dungeon in the +Bazinière tower was called the first Bazinière, and so on to the topmost, +which was known as the Calotte Bazinière. The prisoner was consequently +mentioned not by his name but by the number of his room—the first +Bazinière, the first Bertaudière, the third Comté, &c. &c. In some cases +it appears that the prisoner received another name instead of his own, +which was never uttered or written. In this way De la Tude, of whom we +shall have occasion to speak, was denominated Daury. + +In what manner these pleasant abodes were furnished M. Linguet shall +describe. “Two worm-eaten mattresses, a cane elbow chair, the bottom of +which was held together by packthread, a tottering table, a water jug, +two pots of delftware, one of which was to drink out of, and two flag +stones, to support the fire; such was the inventory, at least such was +mine. I was indebted only to the commiseration of the turnkey, after +several months’ confinement, for a pair of tongs and a fire shovel. It +was not possible for me to procure dog-irons; and, whether it arises from +policy or inhumanity I know not, what the governor will not supply, he +will not allow a prisoner to procure at his own expense. It was eight +months ere I could obtain permission to buy a tea-pot, twelve before I +could procure a tolerably strong chair, and fifteen ere I was suffered +to replace by a crockery vessel the filthy and disgusting pewter vessel +which is the only one that is used in the Bastile. + +“The single article which I was at the outset allowed to purchase was a +new blanket, and the occasion was as follows: + +“The month of September, as every body knows, is the time when the moths +that prey upon woollens are transformed into winged insects. When the +antre which was assigned to me was opened, there arose from the bed, +I will not say a number, nor a cloud, but a large and dense column of +moths, which overspread the chamber in an instant. I started back with +horror. ‘Pooh! pooh!’ said one of my conductors with a smile, ‘before you +have lain here two nights, there will not be one of them left.’ + +“In the evening, the lieutenant of police came, according to custom, +to welcome me. I manifested so violent a repugnance to such a populous +flock bed, that they were gracious enough to permit me to put on a new +covering, and to have the mattress beaten, the whole at my own cost. As +feather beds are prohibited articles in the Bastile, doubtless because +such luxuries are not suitable for persons to whom the ministry wishes +above all things to give lessons of mortification, I was very desirous +that, every three months at least, my shabby mattress should have the +same kind of renovation. But, though it would have cost him nothing, the +proprietory governor opposed it with all his might, ‘because,’ said he, +‘it wears them out.’” + +Each prisoner was supplied with flint, steel, and tinder, a candle a day, +a broom once a week, and a pair of sheets every fortnight. + +Captives of rank were undoubtedly somewhat better accommodated, and, +where there were no particular reasons for annoying them, they were +favoured by being allowed to receive articles from their homes; but the +common run of convenience and comfort appears not to have gone beyond +what is described by M. Linguet. + +The food of the prisoners was paid for by the king at so much per head, +according to a graduated scale; but the supply and management of it were +left, seemingly without controul, in the hands of the governor. By this +arrangement the prisoners were placed at the mercy of their jailor, +who, if he happened to have a great love of gain, and a scanty portion +of humanity, might fill his purse by furnishing bad provisions, or not +sufficient to sustain life. “There are prisoners in the Bastile,” says +Linguet, “who have not more than four ounces of meat at a meal; this has +been ascertained more than once by weighing what was given to them; the +fact is notorious to all the under officers, who are grieved by it.” In +estimating the amount of the wrong thus inflicted, it must be borne in +mind, that the man who is in bonds requires more and better nourishment, +to keep nature from sinking, than is necessary for the man who is a free +agent. There was, in this instance, no excuse for stint. The sum allowed +by the king for the maintenance of the captives was exceedingly liberal. +It was nearly half a crown a day for an individual of the humblest class; +four shillings for a tradesman; eight shillings for a priest, a person +in the finance department, or an ordinary judge; twelve shillings for a +parliament counsellor; twenty shillings for a lieutenant general in the +army; one pound ten for a marshal of France; and two guineas for a prince +of the blood. If the sovereign oppressed those who incurred his anger, he +at least did not mean to starve them. + +What was the fare which this high rate of remuneration obtained for +the prisoners? It is thus described in a work, published in 1774, by +one who had himself long tried it. I am not aware that the accuracy of +the statement has ever been impeached; on the contrary, there is the +testimony of other witnesses to the same effect. + +“The kitchen is supplied by the governor’s steward, who has under him a +cook, a scullion, and a man whose employment is to cut wood for fuel. +All the victuals are bad, and generally ill-dressed: and this is a mine +of gold to the governor, whose revenue is daily augmented by the hard +fare of the prisoners under his keeping. Besides these profits, which +are inconceivably great, the governor receives a hundred and fifty +livres a day for fifteen prison rooms, at ten livres each, as a sort +of gratification in addition to his salary; and he often derives other +considerable emoluments. + +“On flesh days the prisoners have soup with boiled meat, &c. for dinner; +at night a slice of roast meat, a ragoût and salad. The diet on fast days +consists, at dinner, of fish, and two other dishes; at night, of eggs, +with greens. The difference in the quality of the diet is very small +between the lowest rank of prisoners, and those who are classed at five +or ten livres; the table of the latter is furnished with perhaps half +a starved chicken, a pigeon, a wild rabbit, or some small bird, with a +dessert; the portion of each rarely exceeds the value of twopence. + +“The _Sunday’s_ dinner consists of some bad soup, a slice of a cow, which +they call beef, and four little pâtés; at night a slice of roast veal or +mutton, or a little plate of haricot, in which bare bones and turnips +greatly predominate; to these are added a salad, the oil to which is +always rancid. The suppers are pretty uniformly the same on flesh days. +_Monday_: instead of four pâtés a haricot. _Tuesday_: at noon, a sausage, +half a pig’s foot, or a small pork chop. _Wednesday_: a tart, generally +either half warm or burnt up. _Thursday_: two very thin mutton chops. +_Friday_: half a small carp, either fried or stewed, a stinking haddock +or cod, with butter and mustard; to which are added greens or eggs; at +supper eggs, with spinach mixed up with milk and water.—_Saturday_: the +same. And this perpetual rotation re-commences on Sunday. + +“On the three holidays, St. Louis, St. Martin, and Twelfth day, every +prisoner has an addition made to his allowance, of half a roasted +chicken, or a pigeon. On Holy Monday, his dinner is accompanied by a tart +extraordinary. + +“Each prisoner has an allowance of a pound of bread and a bottle of +wine per day; but the wine is generally flat and good for nothing. The +dessert consists of an apple, a biscuit, a few almonds and raisins, some +cherries, gooseberries, or plums; these are commonly served in pewter, +though sometimes they are favoured with earthen dishes and a silver spoon +and fork. If any one complains of receiving bad provisions, a partial +amendment may take place for a few days; but the complainant is sure to +meet with some unpleasant effects of resentment. There is no cook’s shop +in the kingdom, where you may not get a better dinner for a shilling than +what are served in the Bastile. The cookery, in short, is wretchedly bad, +the soup tasteless, and the meat of the worst quality, and ill dressed. +All this must operate to injure the health of the prisoners; and, added +to other grievances, excites frequent imprecations of vengeance from +Heaven.” + +With respect to the badness of the wine, Linguet corroborates the +statement of this writer. The governor, it appears, in addition to the +diet-money, had the privilege of taking into his cellars near a hundred +hogsheads of wine, duty free. “What does he do?” says Linguet. “He sells +his privilege to a Parisian tavern keeper, of the name of Joli, who gives +him 250_l._ for it, and he takes in exchange from him the very cheapest +kind of wine for the use of the prisoners; which wine, as may easily be +imagined, is nothing but vinegar.” This was a fraud at once upon the +government and the prisoners. + +The sole mental recreation which the prison afforded was derived from a +small library, consisting of about five hundred volumes. This collection +is said to have been founded by a foreign prisoner, who died in the +Bastile, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, and to have been +enlarged by later sufferers. In some cases, prisoners were allowed to +read in the library; but, generally, the works were taken to the cells +of the captives, and the selection of them depended on the taste of the +turnkeys. Few of the books were unmutilated; for the prisoners now and +then indulged in writing bitter remarks on the blank spaces. As soon as a +book was returned, every leaf was carefully examined, and woe be to the +rash offender who had suffered passion to get the better of prudence! An +epigram, or a sarcasm, on his persecutors, or on men in office, exposed +him to the worst that irresponsible power could inflict. As to the +volume, if the writing was on the margin, the piece was cut off; but when +it chanced to be inserted between the lines, the page was torn out. + +It seems to have been thought by no means necessary that a prisoner, who +was deprived of all earthly comforts, should receive consolation from +regular attendance on religious worship. The chapel was a miserable hole, +of about seven or eight feet square, under the pigeon-house of the king’s +lieutenant. “In this chapel,” says one who had been a captive, “are five +small niches or closets, with strong locks, of which three are formed in +the wall; the others are only wainscot. Every prisoner admitted to hear +mass is put in by himself,[1] and can neither see objects nor be seen of +any. The doors of these niches are secured by two bolts on the outside, +and lined within by iron bars; they are also glazed; but before each is +hung a curtain, which is drawn back at the Sanctus, and again closed at +the concluding prayer. Five prisoners only being admitted at each mass, +it follows that no more than ten can assist at that ceremony in a day. +If there be a greater number than this in the Castle, they either do not +go at all, or go alternately; because there are generally found some who +have a constant permission.” + +There was a confessor in the fortress; but it is scarcely possible that a +prisoner could repose entire confidence in a spiritual director who was +in the pay of his oppressors. Though it is going much too far to say, +as M. Linguet does, that such a man is “a cowardly double-dealer who +prostitutes the dignity of his character,” it must be owned that some +doubts and suspicions as to him might naturally arise; it matters not +that they would be unjust, the possibility of their being excited ought +to have been carefully avoided. + +Let us now turn to the concise but terrible instrument, by virtue of +which an individual was consigned to captivity, perhaps for life. This +was the _lettre de cachet_, or sealed letter, so called to distinguish +it from the _patent_ or open letter, which was merely folded. In former +days, such epistles were called _lettres closes_, or _clauses_. The +name was not given to all sealed up missives, but only to those which +contained some command or information from the sovereign. They were +signed by the king, and countersigned by one of the secretaries of +state. The same appellation was originally given to all letters of the +kind described; but, in latter times, it was principally if not wholly +applied, at least in common parlance, to royal orders of exile and +imprisonment. + +The oldest recorded mandate of this species is that which Thierry the +Second issued, at the instigation of Brunehaut, against St. Columbanus, +who had severely censured the vices of the mother and the son. It +directed that he should be removed from the monastery of Luxeuil, +and banished to Besançon, where he was to remain during the king’s +pleasure. The saint yielded only to force, and, as soon as the guards +were withdrawn, he retired to his convent. Violence, however, at length +compelled him to quit the dominions of the licentious Thierry. + +The _lettre de cachet_ was usually carried into effect by the officers of +police; sometimes the arrest was made at the dwelling of the individual, +sometimes on the roads or in the street by night; but, in all cases, +it appears to have been accomplished with as much secrecy as possible, +so that it was no uncommon thing for persons to be missing for years, +without their friends being able to discover what had become of them. Men +of rank were at times spared the disgrace of being taken into custody; +they were favoured by being allowed to carry the letter themselves to +the prison mentioned in it, and surrender to the governor. Here is a +specimen of these obliging billets, which was addressed to the prince of +Monaco, a brigadier in the French army. + + “My Cousin, + + “Being by no means satisfied with your conduct, I send you this + letter, to apprise you that my intention is, that, as soon as + you receive it, you shall proceed to my castle of the Bastile, + there to remain till you have my further orders. On which, my + cousin, I pray God to have you in his holy keeping. Given at + Versailles, this 25th of June, 1748. + + (_Signed_) “LOUIS.” + (_Countersigned_) “VOYER D’ARGENSON.” + +By such a scrap of paper as this might any man in France be doomed to +close and hopeless imprisonment. Malice, wounded pride, rivalry, revenge, +all the base and cruel passions, availed themselves of it to torment +their enemies. The titled harlot, whose shame had excited laughter or +reprobation, the minister, whose measures were unpopular, the frivolous +courtier, whose folly had been satirised, the debauchee, who wished to +remove an obstacle to his lust, the parent, who preferred ruling his +offspring rather by fear than love, was eager to obtain one of these +convenient scorpion scourges, and the wish was too often gratified. + +There is scarcely any enormity so monstrous that it cannot find a +defender. Even _lettres de cachet_ have not been without an apologist; +and, to make the wonder the greater, an English apologist. Let us listen +to his plea. “Perhaps (says he) it was the abuse of the _lettres de +cachet_, rather than their institution, that merited the execration in +which they were held; for however extraordinary it may seem, they were +not unfrequently used to serve the purposes of humanity. There are many +instances of persons, who, on account of private disputes, or affairs +of state, would have been exposed to public punishment, that were shut +up by a _lettre de cachet_, until the danger was past, or the matter +accommodated or forgotten. It may undoubtedly be objected, that keeping a +person from justice is itself a crime against the public; but in forming +a judgment upon this subject, we ought to take into consideration the +prejudices entertained in the country where this authority was employed. +It should be remembered that, by an old and barbarous practice, the +disgrace attending a capital punishment, inflicted by the laws, was +reflected upon all the family of the criminal; and that in many instances +it required a public act of the supreme power to wipe off the stain, and +again enable them to serve their country. In as far, therefore, as the +_lettres de cachet_ counteracted the effects of these prejudices, they +were useful; _but though they were signed by the king, from the idea that +it was proper to have them ready for cases of emergency, ministers, and +governors of provinces, &c., were generally furnished with them in blank, +to be filled up at their discretions; and the friends and favourites of +those ministers sometimes obtained them from them, as is proved by the +case of M. de Fratteaux, and in many other instances_.”[2] + +This is, indeed, carrying to a ridiculous extent the determination +to find “a soul of good in things evil!” Perhaps it would not be +uncharitable to put a harsher construction on such language. Public +justice is to be defrauded, thousands are to be plunged into misery, +personal safety is to be hourly jeoparded, crime committed by the rich +and powerful is to escape with all but complete impunity, and the motives +which most influence individuals to bridle their unruly passions are to +be weakened, merely “to counteract the effects of a prejudice” on a few +ancient families! Never was an infinitely small benefit bought at a more +extravagant price. + +From certain particulars, which we find in various memoirs, it would seem +that, generally speaking, more indulgences were granted to the inmates +of the Bastile in former days, than during the last thirty years of its +existence. At all times, however, much would undoubtedly depend on the +personal character of the governor; if he chanced to be liberal-minded +and humane, he would, as far as he could venture to do so, mitigate the +sufferings of his captives; if, on the contrary, he were greedy of gain, +and harsh in his disposition, he would stint and deteriorate their diet, +wantonly deny them even the most trifling comforts, and, in short, do his +best to make the management of the prison “render life a burthen,” which, +with an impudent candour, one of the officers of the castle avowed to be +its especial purpose. + +It must be owned that, in some respects, modern times witnessed an +improvement in the practice of the Bastile. The cages, which it is +known once to have contained, were removed. The rack, also, and other +instruments of torture, ceased to be called into use. At what period +the change took place is not said. That, in the latter end of Louis the +Thirteenth’s reign, the instruments still existed in the castle, we +learn from the Memoirs of the faithful La Porte, who saw them, and was +threatened with them to extort a confession. + +What the Bastile was in its mildest form will appear from the following +narrative, written by a person who was confined for eight months. “About +five in the morning of the 2d of April, 1771,” says the narrator, “I was +awakened by a violent knocking at my chamber door, and was commanded, +in the name of the king, to open it. I did so, and an exempt of the +police, three men who appeared to be under his orders, and a commissary, +entered the room. They desired me to dress myself, and began to search +the apartment. They ordered me to open my drawers, and having examined my +papers, they took such as they chose, and put them into a box, which, as +I understood afterwards, was carried to the police office. The commissary +asked me my name, my age, the place where I was born, how long I had been +at Paris, and the manner in which I spent my time. The examination was +written down by him; a list was made of every thing found in the room, +which, together with the examination, I was desired to read and sign. +The exempt then told me to take all my body linen, and such clothes as +I chose, and to come along with them. At the word _all_ I started; I +guessed where they were about to take me, and it seemed to announce to me +a long train of misery. + +“Having shut and sealed the drawers, they desired me to follow them; and +in going out, they locked the chamber door and took the key. On coming +to the street, I found a coach, into which I was desired to go, and the +others followed me. After sitting for some time the commissary told me +they were carrying me to the Bastile, and soon afterwards I saw the +towers. They did not go the shortest and direct road; which I suppose was +to conceal our destination from those who might have observed us. The +coach stopped at the gate in St. Anthony’s street. I saw the coachman +make signs to the sentinel, and soon after the gate was opened: the +guard was under arms, and I heard the gate shut again. On coming to the +first drawbridge, it was let down, the guard there being likewise under +arms. The coach went on, and entered the castle, where I saw another +guard under arms. It stopped at a flight of steps at the bottom of the +court, where being desired to go out, I was conducted to a room which +I heard named the council chamber. I found three persons sitting at +a table, who, as I was told, were the king’s lieutenant, the major, +and his deputy. The major asked me nearly the same questions which the +commissary had done, and observed the same formalities in directing me to +read and sign the examination. I was then desired to empty my pockets, +and lay what I had in them on the table. My handkerchief and snuff-box +being returned to me, my money, watch, and indeed every thing else, were +put into a box that was sealed in my presence, and an inventory having +been made of them, it was likewise read and signed by me. The major then +called for the turnkey whose turn of duty it was, and having asked what +room was empty, he said, the Calotte de la Bertaudière. He was ordered +to convey me to it, and to carry thither my linen and clothes. The +turnkey having done so, left me and locked the doors. The weather was +still extremely cold, and I was glad to see him return soon afterwards +with firewood, a tinder-box, and a candle. He made my fire, but told me, +on leaving the tinder-box, that I might in future do it myself when so +inclined.[3] + +“From the time the exempt of police came into my room, I had not ceased +to form conjectures about the cause of my imprisonment. I knew of none, +unless it were some verses and sketches, relative to the affairs of the +times. Though they were indiscreet, they were of little importance. The +only writing that might have seriously given offence to the government, I +had never shown, but to one person in whom I thought I could confide. I +found afterwards he had betrayed me. + +“When I heard the double doors shut upon me a second time, casting my +eyes round my habitation, I fancied I now saw the extent of all that was +left to me in this world for the rest of my days. _Besides the malignity +of enemies, and the anger of a minister, I felt that I ran the risk of +being forgotten; the fate of many who have no one of influence to protect +them, or who have not particularly attracted the notice of the public. +Naturally fond of society, I confess I looked forward to the abyss of +lonely wretchedness, that I thought awaited me, with a degree of horror +that cannot easily be described. I even regretted now what I had formerly +considered as the greatest blessing, a healthy constitution that had +never been affected by disease._ + +“I recollect with humble gratitude the first gleam of comfort that shot +across this gloom. It was the idea, that neither massive walls, nor +tremendous bolts, nor all the vigilance of suspicious keepers, could +conceal me from the sight of God. This thought I fondly cherished, and +it gave me infinite consolation in the course of my imprisonment, and +principally contributed to enable me to support it, with a degree of +fortitude and resignation that I have since wondered at—I no longer felt +myself alone. + +“At eleven, my reflections were interrupted by the turnkey, who entered +with my dinner. Having spread the table with a clean napkin, he placed +the dishes on it, cut the meat, and retired, taking away the knife. The +dishes, plates, fork, spoon, and goblet, were of pewter. The dinner +consisted of soup and bouilli, a piece of roasted meat, a bottle of good +table wine, and a pound loaf of the best kind of household bread. In +the evening, at seven, he brought my supper, which consisted of a roast +dish and a ragoût. The same ceremony was observed in cutting the meat, +to render the knife unnecessary to me. He took away the dishes he had +brought for dinner, and returned at eight the next morning to take away +the supper things. Fridays and Saturdays being fast or _maîgre_ days, the +dinner consisted of soup, a dish of fish, and two dishes of vegetables; +the suppers, of two dishes of garden stuff, and an omelet, or something +made with eggs and milk. The dinners and suppers of each day in the week +were different, but every week was the same: so that the ordinary class +of prisoners saw in the course of the first week their bill of fare for +fifty years, if they staid so long. + +“I had remained in my room about three weeks, when I was one morning +carried down to the council chamber, where I found the commissary. He +began by asking most of the questions that had been put to me before. +He then asked if I had any knowledge of some works he named, meaning +those that had been written by me;—if I was acquainted with the author +of them;—whether there were any persons concerned with him;—and if I +knew whether they had been printed? I told him that, as I did not mean +to conceal any thing, I should avoid giving him needless trouble; that +I myself was the author of the works he had mentioned, and guessed I +was there on that account;—that they never had been printed;—that the +work, which I conceived was the cause of my confinement, had never been +shown to any but one person, whom I thought my friend; and having no +accomplices, the offence, if there was any, rested solely with myself. He +said my examination was one of the shortest he had ever been employed at, +for it ended here. I was carried back to my room, and the next day was +shaved for the first time since my confinement. + +“A few days afterwards I wrote to the lieutenant of the police, +requesting to be indulged with the use of books, pen, ink, and paper, +which was granted; but I was not allowed to go down to the library to +choose the books. Several volumes were brought to me by the turnkey, who, +when I desired it, carried them back and brought others. + +“After my last examination I was taken down almost daily, and allowed to +walk about an hour in the court within view of the sentinel: but my walks +were frequently interrupted; for if any one appeared, the sentinel called +out ‘To the Cabinet!’ and I was then obliged to conceal myself hastily in +a kind of dark closet in the wall near the chapel. + +“The sheets of my bed were changed once a fortnight, I was allowed four +towels a week, and my linen was taken to be washed every Saturday. I had +a tallow candle daily, and in the cold season a certain number of pieces +of firewood. I was told that the allowance of fire to the prisoners began +the 1st of November, and ceased on the 1st of April, and that my having a +fire in April was a particular indulgence. + +“After being detained above eight months, I was informed that an order +had come to discharge me. I was desired to go down to the council +chamber: every thing I had brought with me was returned, together with +the key of my apartment, which I found exactly in the state I left it on +the morning of the 2nd of April, 1771. + +“During my confinement I wrote many letters to several of my friends, +which were always received with civility, but not one of them had been +delivered.” + +The aspect of captivity in the Bastile, even when stripped of a part of +its horrors, is surely hideous enough. But there can be no doubt that, +in a multitude of cases, an enormous degree of severity was exercised. +Instead of being told, as in this instance, to give up the contents +of his pockets, the prisoner was rudely searched by four men, who +amused themselves with making vulgar jokes and remarks while they were +performing the task; sometimes his own garments were taken from him, +and he was clothed in rags. His sufferings from imprisonment might also +be frightfully aggravated, by thrusting him into one of the humid and +pestilential dungeons, or into a room which was in the vicinity of a +nuisance. M. Linguet was confined in a chamber which fronted the mouth +of the common sewer of St. Anthony’s street, so that the air which he +breathed was never pure; but in hot weather, in the spring and autumnal +floods, and whenever the sewer was cleaned, the mephitic vapours, which +penetrated into his cell, and accumulated there for want of an outlet, +were scarcely to be endured. What were the interior accommodations of +this cell the reader has already seen. + +The prisoner was not left to divine the motive for depriving him of all +incisive and pointed instruments; he was bluntly informed that it was +done to prevent him from cutting his own throat or the throats of his +keepers. The reason assigned for the precaution shows sufficiently, that +the officers of the Bastile rightly estimated the capability of exciting +despair, which was possessed by their prison. This preventive system was +carried to an almost ludicrous extent. Wishing to beguile the tedium +of captivity, M. Linguet resolved to resume his geometrical studies, +and he accordingly requested to be supplied with a case of mathematical +instruments. After much demur, the case was obtained, but it was without +a pair of compasses. When he remonstrated respecting the omission, he was +told, that “arms were prohibited in the Bastile.” At length, his jailors +hit upon the happy idea of having the compasses made of bone. Candour, +however, requires the acknowledgment that their fears were not wholly +groundless, instances having occurred in which prisoners were driven to +desperation. It was with a pair of compasses that the unfortunate Count +Lally endeavoured to put an end to his existence. His attempt was made in +the year 1766, and, in the following year, a more fatal event took place. +A captive, Drohart by name, contrived to secrete a knife, with which he +first mortally wounded a turnkey, and then destroyed himself. + +For some time after his arrival at the Bastile, every thing seems to +have been studiously contrived to shock a prisoner’s habits, insulate +him from the human race, and deliver him up to squalid wretchedness and +distracting thoughts. The manifest purpose of this was, to break his +courage, and thereby induce him to make such confessions as would answer +the ends of his persecutors. It was not till after he had undergone a +second examination that he was allowed to be shaved; and months often +elapsed before this favour was granted. Neither was he permitted to have +books, pens, or paper, nor to attend mass, nor to walk in the court. He +could not even write to the lieutenant of police, through whom alone +any indulgence was to be obtained. The sight of the turnkey, for a few +moments, thrice a day, was the sole link which connected him with his +fellow beings. + +Every stratagem which cunning could devise was put in practice to entrap +a prisoner into an avowal of guilt, the betraying of his suspected +friends, or, failing these, into such contradictions as might give a +colour for refusing to believe him innocent. Threats, too, were not +spared, nor even flatteries and promises. At one moment, papers were +shown to him, but not put into his hands, which his examiners affirmed +to contain decisive proof of his criminality; at another, he was told +that his accomplices had divulged the whole, and that his obstinate +silence would subject him to be tried by a special commission, while, +on the contrary, if he would speak out frankly he should be speedily +liberated. He who was seduced by this artifice was sure to repent of his +folly. When the irrevocable words had passed his lips, he was informed +that the power of his deluders did not extend to setting him free, but +that they would exert all their influence, and hoped to succeed. It is +scarcely necessary to say, that there was not a syllable of truth in +their assurances, and that he who had confided in them was treated with +increased severity. It was not only in official examinations that the +captive was exposed to be thus circumstanced; the same system was pursued +throughout. There was no one who approached him to whom he could venture +to breathe a whisper of complaint. If he was visited by the lieutenant of +police, the sole aim of the lieutenant was to draw forth something which +might be turned against him. If he was allowed to be attended by one of +the invalids, the attendant treasured up for his masters every word that +was dropped. Sometimes, apparently as a matter of grace and kindness, a +companion, said to be a fellow sufferer, was given to him; the companion +was a police spy, who was withdrawn when he had wormed out the secret, +or had become convinced that it was unattainable. To listen to that +which seemed the voice of pity was dangerous; for the turnkeys and other +officers, enjoined though they were to be mute on other occasions, had +their tongues let loose for fraudulent ends, and were taught to lure the +prisoners into indiscreet language, by feigned expressions of sympathy. + +In general, a silence was maintained by the officers and attendants, +which might rival that of the monks of La Trappe. “When a corporal or +any other, (said the instructions) is ordered to attend a prisoner, +who may have permission to walk in the garden, or on the towers, it is +expressly forbidden that he speak to him. He is to observe his actions, +to take care that he make no signs to any one without, and to bring +him back at the hour fixed, delivering him over to an officer, or one +of the turnkeys, as may have been ordered.”—“The sentinel in the court +must constantly keep in view the prisoners who may be permitted to walk +there: he must be attentive to observe if they drop any paper, letter, +note, or anything else: he must prevent them from writing on the walls, +and render an exact account of every thing he may have remarked whilst +on duty. All persons whatsoever, except the officers of the staff and +turnkeys, are forbidden ever to speak to any prisoner, or even to answer +him, under any pretence whatever.” As it was supposed that strangers +might chance to feel pity for the victims of despotism, and of course be +disposed to express it, or to serve them, care was taken to guard against +that evil. It was therefore ordered that, “if workmen should be employed +in the castle, as many sentinels must be put over them as may be thought +necessary, who must observe them with the same attention as they do the +prisoners, in order that they may not approach these, nor do any thing +that may be contrary to the rules of the place.” + +Visits from without seem never to have been permitted except in minor +cases of offence. No permission was granted till after the final +examination, and not then till repeated requests had been made, and +powerful interest employed. Even when the favour was obtained, its value +was seriously diminished by the restrictions with which it was clogged. +The prisoner was obliged to receive his relative or friend in the council +chamber, on one side of which he was placed, and his visitor on the +other, with two officers between them; nor were the parties suffered to +converse on any subject which had the most remote reference to the cause +or circumstances of the prisoner’s confinement. The same system was +followed when one captive had an interview with another. There was but +one case, in which incarcerated individuals could have a free interchange +of thoughts; it was when the fullness of the prison, or the humanity of +the governor, caused two of them to be located in the same chamber. + +Intercourse by letters was equally shackled, though there was an +insulting affectation of a readiness to facilitate correspondence. +It has, indeed, been conjectured, that “this apparent indulgence to +prisoners was one of the many artifices employed to discover their +secrets, and the persons with whom they were connected;” and this +supposition may not be far from the truth. There can be no doubt, that +of the letters written by captives few arrived at their destination. We +have seen, in the narrative of a prisoner, that the whole of those which +he wrote were suppressed. M. Linguet tells us, that, knowing the king’s +brothers, Monsieur and the Count d’Artois, (afterwards Louis XVIII. and +Charles X.) to be favourable to him, he wrote to them, to solicit their +intercession. “The letters,” says he, “were sealed. The lieutenant of +police, some time after, told me he had read but not transmitted them; +that he had not been allowed. When I observed to him that, since he knew +the contents, he might make them known to the generous princes from whom +he had detained them, he replied, that he had no access to such high +personages. Thus the man, who was prohibited from approaching such high +personages, had the privilege of breaking open and suppressing their +letters, of rendering fruitless their good intentions and those of the +monarch, and, in short, of raising round me ramparts more impenetrable +than all the magic castles with which imagination has ever peopled our +romances.” + +Profound secrecy and mystery were among the most prominent features in +the management of the Bastile. He who was fortunate enough to emerge +from this den of Cacus, was previously compelled to swear that he would +never reveal whatever he had seen or heard during his abode in it. He +who was retained, to waste away life within its dreary limits, was +sedulously shut out from all knowledge of what was passing in the world. +The malignant enemy, by whom he had been deprived of freedom, might be +gone to his last account, but to _him_ he still lived and tyrannized, +for no whisper of his departure was suffered to reach him. When the fact +of a person being in the Bastile was not so notorious as to preclude +the possibility of denying it, his being there was unblushingly denied. +When enquiry was made, the officers, the governor, the minister himself, +would not scruple to affirm, and that, too, in the most solemn manner, +that they knew nothing of any such individual. Thus were his friends +discouraged, and led to slacken in their exertions for his relief, or +wholly to discontinue them. If, however, they discovered the falsehood, +and persisted in their efforts, there was still another resource for +defeating them; slander was resorted to, the worst crimes were attributed +to him, and he was held up as an abandoned miscreant, whom it was a +disgrace to patronize, and mercy to confine. At last, weariness, disgust, +or death, robbed him of all who had loved or pitied him, and, even though +his original persecutor had ceased to exist, the victim was left to +perish forgotten in his dungeon. + +There was one object, besides the wish to elicit imprudent speeches or +confessions, which had power to open the lips of the jailors; that object +was the desire of tormenting, of making the prisoner feel how completely +he was insulated from mankind, no less by its own baseness than by his +prison walls. “I was daily told with a laugh,” says M. Linguet, “that I +ought not to trouble myself any longer about what the world was doing, +because I was believed to be dead; the joke was carried so far, as to +relate to me circumstances which insane rage or horrible levity added +to my pretended exit. I was assured, also, that I had nothing to hope +from the warmth and fidelity of my friends; not so much because, like +others, they were deceived with respect to my existence, as because they +had become treacherous. This double imposture had for its purpose, not +merely to torture me, but at once to inspire me with a boundless reliance +on the only traitor whom I had reason to fear, and who was perpetually +represented as being my only true friend, and to discover, from the +manner in which I was affected by these tidings, whether I had really any +secrets which could lay me open to a betrayer.” + +Though the captive was not allowed to live with even a shadow of comfort, +or to hasten his own end, a wide opening was left for death to accomplish +his deliverance in one of the regular modes. From the evening meal till +that of the morning, he was hermetically sealed up by massy, iron-lined +double doors; in all that time no human being approached him. The turnkey +slept in a distant chamber, where neither voice nor the sound of knocking +could reach him. Bells seem to have been thought too great a luxury +for the place. If illness suddenly came, there was no resource for the +sufferer, but to call to the nearest sentinel, on the other side of the +broad moat. If his voice were too weak, if his strength failed to carry +him to the window, or if the wind drowned his cries, he must remain +unaided. If his disorder were apoplectic, or he broke a blood-vessel, it +is manifest that his fate was sealed. But, supposing him to be heard, +prompt assistance was by no means to be expected. The sentinels gave the +alarm to each other, till it reached the guard-house; the turnkey was +then to be called, who, on his part, had to rouse the servant of the +king’s lieutenant, that he might awake his master, and procure from him +the keys. Two hours were thus spent before the surgeon was drawn from his +bed, where, in truth, he might as well have continued, since, interdicted +as he was from prescribing by himself, he could only make a report to the +governor, and promise that the physician, who resided three miles off, +and was overloaded with practice, should be sent to on the morrow. + +If the disease was not immediately dangerous, some medicine was brought, +and the sick man must help himself as well as he could, and be thankful +if his malady were not thought to be simulated. “But when he was reduced +to extremity, when he was so far gone that he could not rise from the +worm-eaten couch on which he lay, a nurse was given to him. And who +was this nurse? a stupid, coarse, brutal invalid soldier, incapable of +attentions, little assiduities, every thing which is indispensable for a +sick person. But a still worse thing is, that when this soldier is once +fastened on you, he can never quit you; he himself becomes a prisoner. It +is therefore necessary to begin by purchasing his consent, and prevailing +on him to be shut up with you as long as your captivity lasts; and, if +you recover, you must make up your mind to bear the bad temper, the +discontent, the reproaches, the ennui, of this companion, who takes ample +vengeance upon your health for the seeming services which he has lent to +your sickness.” + +There was yet another stab to be inflicted on those who were sinking into +the grave, and by this the living could be wounded at the same time. To +regulate the manner in which, after his death, his property shall be +distributed, and, by so doing, to save a wife and offspring from the +perplexity, endless trouble, expense, and perhaps ruin, which may arise +out of a disputed succession, or the want of needful formalities, is a +duty which every rational being will be anxious to perform. That the +person is a captive, only renders more necessary the performance of the +duty. But not so thought the myrmidons of the Bastile. It is on record +that a prisoner, who was stretched for two months on a bed of sickness, +expecting that each hour would be his last, repeatedly and vainly +implored a French minister of state to grant him the customary legal aid +for executing his will; his prayer was sternly refused, though there +was a lawyer who belonged to the prison establishment. That this was a +solitary instance it would be folly to imagine. + +It was not of unfrequent occurrence in the Bastile, for the bodily +faculties of a prisoner to survive his mental. Shut out from the +beautiful forms of nature, the treasures of intellect, and the delights +of social converse, from all that can animate or console; racked by a +thousand remembrances, conjectures, passions, and fears; brooding in +deep seclusion and silence over the past and the present, and vainly +struggling to penetrate the darkness of the future; his mind at length +gave way, and idiotism or madness ensued. Yet even that must be deemed a +blessing, if it brought with it oblivion of his fate. + +But the long and unbroken series of woes is at last ended; death has rent +asunder the fetters of the captive, and he is “where the wicked cease +from troubling, and the weary are at rest.” Is there yet a way left, by +which his ingenious tormentors can make their vengeance reach beyond +the grave, by which they can, in some measure, entail upon his kindred +a share of suffering? There is. How was this important purpose effected +in the Bastile? As soon as the breath was out of the body, a notice was +sent to the minister of the home department and the lieutenant-general +of police. The king’s commissary then visited the prison, to minute +down the circumstances. This being done, orders were issued to inter +the body. In the gloom of evening it was conveyed to the burying ground +of St. Paul’s; two persons belonging to the Bastile attended it to sign +the parish register; and the name under which the deceased was entered, +and the description of the rank which he held, were fictitious, that +all trace of him might be obliterated. Another register, containing +his real name and station, was, in truth, kept at the Bastile; but it +was almost inaccessible, a sight of it, for the purpose of making an +extract, being never allowed, without a strict enquiry into the reason +why the application was made. His family and friends, meanwhile, remained +in profound ignorance of his having been released from his troubles. +No mourning mother, wife, or child, followed his remains to their last +abode; and even the poor consolation was denied them of knowing the spot +where he reposed, that they might water it with their tears. Thus, in +death, as in life, oppression and malice triumphantly asserted their +absolute dominion over the captives of the Bastile. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + Reign of John II.—Stephen Marcel, Provost of the + Merchants—Reign of Charles V.—Hugh Aubriot—Reign of + Charles VI.—Noviant—La Rivière—Peter des Essarts—John de + Montaigu—Contests of the factions at Paris—The Count of + Armagnac—The Burgundians obtain possession of Paris—Massacre + of the Armagnacs—Assassination of the duke of Burgundy—Reign + of Charles VII.—Paris in the hands of the English—Villiers + de l’Isle Adam—The English expelled from Paris—Reign of + Louis XI.—Anthony de Chabannes—The Count de Melun—Cardinal + de Balue—William d’Haraucour—Charles d’Armagnac—Louis de + Luxembourg—The Duke of Nemours and his children. + + +A mind tinctured with superstition, even though it were not of the +darkest hue, might be tempted to believe that a fatality pursued the +men by whom the Bastile was raised. It has been seen that the original +founder was the famous Stephen Marcel, Provost of the Merchants. Marcel, +though his character has uniformly been blackened by writers devoted +to absolute monarchy, seems to have been influenced, at least in the +greatest portion of his career, by truly patriotic motives. It is not +the object which he laboured to obtain, but some of the means which +he employed for its attainment, that merits censure. To confine the +royal authority within reasonable bounds, and to give the national +representatives their proper weight in the scale of government, were +the purposes which he sought to accomplish. The dangerous circumstances +in which the country was placed, and the heavy oppression under which +the people groaned, pointed out such a reform as being no less wise +than just. The time for attempting it was favourable; inasmuch as +the captivity of the king, and the presence of a victorious foreign +army, would, it was supposed, compel the dauphin, Charles, to look to +the States-General for the means of saving France from still greater +calamities. Yet, so strong was princely dislike to receiving aid from the +legitimate guardians of the public purse, that Charles preferred raising +supplies by the fraudulent and ruinous expedient of debasing the coin. In +that scheme he was fortunately defeated by the stubborn opposition of the +Provost. + +The alliance formed by Marcel with Charles, surnamed the Bad, king +of Navarre, was, perhaps, an impolitic act; not so much because +the Navarrese monarch deserved the epithet given to him by French +historians—for we may doubt whether he was, in reality, much more +blame-worthy than his namesake, the dauphin, on whom the same historians +have lavished their praise—but because a junction with a man who was +exceedingly obnoxious to a large party in France was likely to give rise +to suspicions with respect to his principles and motives. It is probable, +however, that he was led to it, by a wish to have some stronger prop +to lean on than the fluctuating favour of the populace. The “varium +et mutabile semper,” by which Virgil, somewhat harshly, characterizes +the female sex, may, with less appearance of satire, be applied to the +multitude. This truth Marcel was doomed to learn by experience. + +For nearly two years, the Provost, with more or less steadiness, kept his +footing on the tottering eminence to which he had risen. During that time +he was actively engaged in securing the French capital from external and +internal foes. He fortified and enlarged its circuit, supplied it with +arms and provisions, established a guard of citizens, which was night +and day on the watch, and barricaded the entrances of the streets by +ponderous chains, which were fastened to the houses: these chains were +the first barricades which were formed in Paris. + +The capital was undoubtedly saved from pillage and devastation by the +provident care of Marcel. In spite, however, of his exertions, his +popularity waned; the minds of his fellow citizens were poisoned by +the arts and insinuations of the dauphin’s friends, and irritated by +his connection with the king of Navarre, whose troops were mercilessly +ravaging all the circumjacent country. While the Parisians were in this +ferment, the dauphin promised a general amnesty to them, on condition of +their giving up to him the Provost, and twelve other persons, whom he +should select. Fearing, probably, that this temptation would be too great +for them to resist, the Provost, in an evil hour, resolved to admit into +the city the troops of the king of Navarre. It is also said, though there +does not appear to be any proof of the fact, that he intended to make a +general massacre of the opposite party, and transfer the crown of France +to Charles the Bad. For this we have only the word of his enemies. + +It was on the night of the 31st of July, 1358, that Marcel designed to +open the gates of Paris to the Navarrese soldiery. He was too late. At +noon, he went to the gate of the bastile of St. Denis, and ordered the +guard to deliver up the keys to Joceran de Mascon, the king of Navarre’s +treasurer. The guard refused to comply, and a loud altercation arose. The +noise brought to the place John Maillard, the commandant of the quarter. +Up to this moment, Maillard had been the zealous friend of Marcel, but +he now resolutely opposed the scheme of the latter. A violent quarrel +ensued between them, which ended by Maillard springing on horseback, +unfurling the banner of France, and summoning the citizens to assist him +in preventing the Provost from betraying the city to the English. The +summons speedily brought a throng around him. The friends of the dauphin, +likewise, did not let slip this opportunity of acting in his behalf. A +considerable body of men was collected by them, at the head of which were +placed two gentlemen, named Pepin des Essarts and John de Charny. + +From the gate of St. Denis, meanwhile, Marcel proceeded on the same +errand to the other gates. He was not more successful than on his first +attempt; obedience was every where refused. As a last resource, he bent +his course to the bastile of St. Anthony. Here, again he was foiled. +His enemies were beforehand with him. The keys he did by some means +obtain, but they were useless. Maillard had already reached the scene of +action, with a numerous train of followers, and he was almost immediately +joined by the partisans of the dauphin. With the keys of the Bastile in +his hand, Marcel began to ascend the entrance ladder, striving at the +same time to keep off his assailants. A terrible cry now burst forth of +“Kill them! kill them! death to the Provost of the Merchants and his +accomplices!” Alarmed by the clamour, he attempted to save himself by +flight, but he was struck on the head with an axe, by de Charny, and he +fell at the foot of the Bastile, which he had himself built. His body +was immediately pierced with innumerable wounds by the infuriated crowd. +Giles Marcel, his nephew, and fifty-three others, the whole of the party +which had attended him, were either slain on the spot or thrown into +prison. Three days afterwards, the dauphin re-entered Paris, and began +to feed his revenge with blood. + +By Hugh Aubriot the Bastile was advanced another step towards its +completion. Born at Dijon, of humble parents, Aubriot gained the favour +of Charles the fifth, and of his brother, the duke of Anjou, and was +appointed minister of finance. He was also raised to the dignified, +though troublesome and dangerous office of Provost of Paris. Charles +the fifth had a love of building, and he found in the Provost a man who +had talents and activity to carry his wishes into effect. Paris was +indebted to Aubriot for numerous works, which conduced to its safety, +ornament, and salubrity. He strengthened and added to the ramparts, +constructed sewers, which he was the first to introduce into the +capital, formed quays, rebuilt the Pont au Change, and built the Pont +St. Michel. In these labours he employed, at a fixed rate of payment, +all the mendicants, destitute persons, and disorderly characters of the +city; thus compelling them to earn that subsistence which they had been +in the habit of extorting or plundering from the citizens. The police +of the city was greatly improved by him in other respects. Among the +ordinances which he issued, for that purpose, was one which revived that +of Louis the ninth, relative to prostitutes. Paris was now overrun with +loose women; the ordinance enjoined them, under penalty of fine and +imprisonment, to reside only in certain places, which were specified, to +the number of nine. + +The strict performance of his duty proved to be the ruin of Aubriot. +Among the worst nuisances of the capital were the scholars of the +University of Paris; they were addicted, among other things, to +drunkenness, libertinism, and robbery, and their insolence was still +more insufferable than their vices. Perpetual quarrels and contests, in +which they were almost always the aggressors, took place between these +votaries of learning and the citizens. The main cause of their excesses +being thus pushed beyond all bounds was the complete impunity which +they enjoyed. Fonder of its privileges than of morality and justice, +the University on all occasions strenuously resisted the efforts of the +magistrates to bring scholars to punishment. In more than one instance it +threw its protecting shield over plunderers and assassins, and pursued +with a deadly hatred those individuals who had dared to enforce the laws +against criminals. This crying abuse Aubriot determined to suppress. In +the prison of the Little Châtelet, which was built by him, he ordered +two strong and not over comfortable cells to be constructed, for the +reception of delinquent scholars. These he called his _clos Bruneau_ and +_rue de Fouaire_; the University schools being situated in places which +were so named. By this stinging joke, and by the vigorous measures of +Aubriot, the University was inexpiably offended. Regardless of its anger, +he, however, resolutely persisted in arresting and committing to prison +every student who ventured to transgress. + +While Charles the fifth lived, Aubriot remained safe; but the death of +his patron, and the weakness and confusion of a minority, laid him open +to the malice of his enemies. The University had sworn to accomplish +his ruin, and this oath it held sacred. In his public character he had +so deported himself as to be intangible; and, therefore, his private +life was ransacked to find matter for accusation. It was discovered, or +feigned, that he was too warm a lover of women, and, to give a darker +colour to this fault, it was added, that he had an especial predilection +for Jewesses. From this, by a curious process of logic, it was deduced +as an inference, that he was himself a Jew and a heretic; his accusers +not perceiving, or not choosing to perceive, that the one of these +conditions excluded the other. Their reasoning was akin to that which, in +the fable, the wolf uses to the lamb. Unluckily, too, for the Provost, +they resembled the wolf in other points; they had his savageness and his +ability to injure. The University and the clergy joined in a clamour +against him, and were supported by the duke of Berry, who was hostile to +the Burgundian party, to which Aubriot belonged. + +Charged with impiety and heresy, Aubriot was brought to trial before +an ecclesiastical tribunal. With such prosecutors and such judges, +conviction was certain. To such a pitch did the University and the clergy +carry their animosity against him, that he would have been doomed to the +flames, had not his friends at court powerfully exerted their influence +to procure a milder sentence. But, though his life was spared, he was not +suffered to escape without feeling how venomous are the fangs of fanatics +and pedants. He was condemned to public exposure and penance, in presence +of the heads and scholars of the University, to ask pardon upon his +knees, and, with no other food than bread and water, to spend in strict +confinement the remnant of his days. + +Aubriot was conveyed to the Bastile, to undergo the last part of his +sentence. In the course of a few months, probably because he was treated +with too much lenity in a state prison, he was removed to the bishop’s +prison, called Fort-l’Evêque, where he was thrown into one of those +dungeons which bore the significant name of oubliettes. There he might +have languished long, or perished quickly, but never have hoped for +deliverance, had not, in 1381, the intolerable oppression exercised +by the government given rise to the insurrection which, from the +circumstance of the revolters being armed with leaden malls, was called +the Maillotin. In want of a leader, the insurgents bethought them of Hugh +Aubriot; and it is not unlikely that, as he had suffered heavy wrongs, +they supposed he would espouse their cause with heart and soul. They +accordingly liberated him. Aubriot, however, was either too old, or too +prudent, to become the head of a revolt; he spoke his deliverers fair, +but, on the very evening that he was set free, he crossed the Seine, and +hastened to Burgundy, his native country, where he is believed to have +died in the following year. + +While Charles the sixth was labouring under his first attack of insanity, +the political feuds and intrigues which distracted his court gave fresh +inhabitants to the Bastile. When, in 1392, the dukes of Burgundy and +Berry assumed the government, the overthrow of Clisson, the constable +of France, and prime minister, necessarily ensued, and in his fall was +involved the ministry he had formed. Three of the ministers, La Begue de +Villaine, Noviant, and La Rivière, were arrested; Montaigu, the fourth, +escaped to Avignon. La Begue, an aged man, who had served in the field +with honour under several kings, was soon released; Noviant and La +Rivière were reserved as scape goats, and were shut up in the Bastile. +Of Noviant nothing important is recorded. La Rivière had enjoyed, in the +highest degree, the confidence and friendship of Charles the fifth; so +much, indeed, did the monarch value him, that, by his express commands, +whenever his favourite died, the royal mausoleum of St. Denis was to be +the place of interment. At the accession of Charles the sixth, La Rivière +suffered a temporary eclipse; but he shone forth again when the young +monarch assumed the reins of government. + +Noviant and La Rivière were now in the hands of their enemies, and had +little to hope; for they were rich enough to excite a hungering after +their spoils, and had been too long in possession of power not to be +loathed by their rivals. It is the curse and the shame of politics, +that they render men insensible to, or, which is still worse, incapable +of acknowledging, the merit really owned by those who differ from them +in views and principles. Thorough-going politicians are but too apt to +affirm what is false, or suppress what is true, provided it will injure +their opponents. It follows, as a natural consequence of this unworthy +feeling, that, though the two ministers fully vindicated themselves on +every article of impeachment, they had but small chance of escaping. +Their fate was deemed so inevitable that, more than once during the trial +the brute populace rushed to the place of execution, lured by the report +that the ministers were about to be brought to the scaffold. Luckily +for them, they had a protector, stronger than their innocence. This was +the young and lovely princess Jane, countess of Boulogne, the wife of +the duke of Berry. Her marriage with the duke had been brought about by +the influence of La Rivière, and this circumstance, together with the +minister’s estimable qualities, had secured for him her affection and +esteem. Her pleadings softened her husband, and thus prevented a deadly +sentence from being passed on the fallen statesmen. It is not to be +supposed, however, that they were allowed to go unscathed. To declare +them guiltless would have been a tacit confession of error, an act which +is not to be expected from weak and base minds; and, besides, hatred +could not consent to let loose its objects without previously making +them feel a touch of its fangs. The ministers, therefore, after having +been captives for twelve months, and in hourly dread of death, were only +condemned to confiscation of their property, and exile to a distance +from the court. With respect to the latter part of the sentence, they +might well have exclaimed, like Diogenes, “and we condemn you to remain +at court!” Charles, on his temporary return to sanity, restored their +estates, but they were not again employed. La Rivière died in 1400, and +was buried at St. Denis. + +There was a moment when the Bastile seemed about to be converted to its +original purpose, that of a fortress for the defence of Paris. After +the duke of Burgundy had, in 1405, obtained possession of the king, the +dauphin, and the capital, preparations to recover Paris were made by the +beautiful but worthless queen Isabella, and her paramour, the duke of +Orleans. In consequence of this, the Burgundian prince placed garrisons +in the Bastile and the Louvre; and a report having been spread, that +there was a plot to carry off the dauphin, a chain was stretched across +the river, from the Bastile to the opposite bank, to prevent the passage +of vessels. It was on this occasion that, to win the good will of the +Parisians, the duke induced the king to restore to them the barricading +chains, of which they had been deprived in 1383, and which had ever since +been kept in the castle of Vincennes. The precautions were prudent, but +they were made useless, by a treaty between the hostile parties. + +It has already been observed, that the office of Provost of Paris was no +less perilous than honourable. During the disturbed and disastrous reign +of Charles the sixth, there were as many as twenty-four provosts, and +there were few of them who did not find their dignity a burthen. Among +the most unfortunate of them was Peter des Essarts. He was one of the +French nobles who were sent to aid the Scotch in their contest with the +English; and, in 1402, he fell into the hands of the latter. After he was +ransomed he returned to France, and became a zealous partisan of John +the Fearless, the duke of Burgundy. The duke amply rewarded him for his +services. He successively obtained for him the posts of Provost of Paris, +grand butler, grand falconer, first lay president of the chamber of +accounts, supreme commissioner of woods and waters, and superintendant +of finance, and also the governments of Cherbourg, Montargis, and Nemours. + +As provost of Paris, it fell to his lot to arrest a man whose rise had +been no less rapid than his own. His task was performed with a thorough +good will. Montaigu, whom we have seen flying to Avignon after the +downfall of Clisson, returned to the French capital when the storm was +blown over. There he became more than ever a favourite of the king, who +loaded him with honours, promoted his relations, and procured for his +son the hand of the constable d’Albret’s sister. Among the offices which +were lavished on Montaigu were those of finance minister and grand master +of the royal household. His riches were soon increased to an enormous +degree, and his pride to a still greater. To the duke of Burgundy he +had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious, by thwarting his plans, and +being a determined adherent of the queen and the house of Orleans. The +Burgundian affected to be reconciled to him, but he did not the less +resolve upon his destruction. To accomplish the ruin of Montaigu, the +duke instituted an enquiry into the conduct of those who had managed +the finances; a species of enquiry which was always applauded by the +tax-burthened people. At the same time, he likewise procured for the +Parisians the restoration of various privileges, which had been taken +from them, as a punishment for the Maillotin insurrection. Having thus +fortified his popularity, he took advantage of the king being visited by +one of his fits of madness, to commence operations against Montaigu. The +favourite had been cautioned against his danger, and advised to fly from +it, but confiding in the support of the queen and the duke of Berry, he +was deaf to advice. He was arrested in the street by des Essarts, and +committed to the Little Châtelet. It strongly marks his insufferable +pride and insolence, that, when he was seized by the provost, he +exclaimed “Ribald! how hast thou the audacity to touch me.” This was the +arrogance of an upstart, for he was of humble birth. He was brought to +trial, with little attention to the forms or the spirit of justice, and, +after having been tortured, was condemned to lose his head; his property +was confiscated, but, instead of being appropriated to replenish the +treasury, it was divided among his enemies. The sentence was executed in +the autumn of 1409. + +If ambition had not entirely banished prudence, the fate of Montaigu +might have taught des Essarts to reflect on the frail tenure by which, +in an age of faction, the most conspicuous partisans hold their fortunes +and their lives. Nor was he without a still more impressive warning. In +a moment of displeasure, the duke of Burgundy said to him, “Provost of +Paris, John de Montaigu was three-and-twenty years in getting his head +cut off, but verily you will not be three years about it:”—ominous words, +where the prophet had the power of bringing his prophecy to pass! + +In 1410 the contending factions once more resumed their arms. By a rapid +march, the Burgundian prince made himself master of Paris, which he +garrisoned with eight thousand men. For the support of the troops, a +heavy tax was imposed upon the citizens. Des Essarts was charged with the +levying of this tax, and he is accused of having swelled his own coffers +with the largest share of the produce. By this onerous measure, the +popularity of the duke and the provost was materially diminished. In the +course of a few months, the duke deemed it prudent to conclude another +simular of a treaty; it was called the treaty of the Bicêtre, from the +place where it was negotiated, and by one of its articles he consented +that des Essarts should be removed from the provostship of Paris. + +It seems impossible for the signers of such treaties to have put their +hands to them without being tempted to laugh in each other’s faces; the +compacts were notoriously intended to be broken on the first favourable +opportunity. Accordingly, but a few months elapsed, after the conclusion +of the peace, before the Burgundian and Orleanist parties were again in +arms, and vituperating each other in the most virulent language. Des +Essarts was re-established as provost of Paris; and, during the temporary +ascendancy of the Orleanists, his exertions to supply the city with +provisions gained for him, from the citizens, the flattering appellation +of the Father of the People. When, however, the Parisians ceased to be in +dread of having hungry bellies, they ceased to applaud him; and, in the +following year, he became an object of their hatred. + +A sharp contest of a few months was terminated by another hollow truce, +under the name of a peace. By this time the Burgundian prince appears to +have been converted into a deadly enemy of des Essarts. Three causes are +assigned for this change. The provost is said to have in private charged +him with appropriating a large sum of the public money to his own use; to +have entered into correspondence with the Orleanist leaders, and warned +them that the duke designed to assassinate them; and likewise to have +formed, with the concurrence of the dauphin, a plan for rescuing that +prince and the king from the state of tutelage in which they were kept by +the Burgundian ruler. It is highly probable that, disgusted by the duke +having abandoned him in the treaty of the Bicêtre, he had really gone +over to the Orleanist faction. Any one of these causes was sufficient +to make his former patron resolve upon his ruin. There was also another +circumstance which wore a threatening aspect for des Essarts. The +States-General were now sitting at Paris, and in that assembly clamours +began to be heard against financial depredators, amongst whom the +multitude, so lately his adulators, did not hesitate to class him. To +elude the storm, which he saw approaching from more than one quarter, +he resigned his office of finance minister, in which he had succeeded +Montaigu; but he did not forget to secure an adequate compensation +for the sacrifice which he made. He then retired to his government of +Cherbourg. + +The Burgundian was at this period in apparent amity with the dauphin; +nor had he, as yet, openly manifested his animosity against the provost. +The dauphin, was, however, at heart hostile to him, and impatient of his +yoke. It was, no doubt, with a view to having a firm hold of Paris, that +he resolved to become master of the Bastile; but to the duke the reason +which he assigned was, the mutinous disposition of the people, which +it was necessary to have the means of repressing. Imagining that the +provost was still trusted by the duke, he proposed to confide to him the +task of seizing upon the Bastile. The clear-sighted Burgundian at once +saw through the scheme, but he gave a willing consent to its execution; +for it would enable him to accomplish two objects, the getting of des +Essarts into his hands, and the gaining a complete triumph over the +dauphin himself. Des Essarts was consequently summoned from Cherbourg; +he accepted the commission; and he managed so well, that he secured the +Bastile, without the least opposition. + +The provost was scarcely in possession of the fortress before the scene +changed. The Burgundian prince had skilfully laid a train, and a violent +explosion suddenly took place. A rumour was spread throughout Paris, that +the Orleanists, or Armagnacs, as they now began to be called, intended +to carry off the dauphin with his own consent, and that the provost +was at the head of the plot. A furious multitude, the leaders of which +were two of the duke’s attendants, immediately hurried to invest the +Bastile on all sides. It swelled every moment, till it consisted of not +fewer than twenty thousand armed men, all clamorous for the blood of des +Essarts, and determined to storm the castle, in order to satisfy their +rage. Another body, led by John de Troie, a surgeon, proceeded, at the +same time, to the dauphin’s palace, loaded him with insult, and arrested +several of his officers and friends, some of whom were murdered on their +way to prison. + +The duke of Burgundy now came forward, apparently as a mediator. The +besiegers he induced to suspend their attack, by promising that their +object should be attained without force being used. He then tried his +eloquence on des Essarts. In the first interview he failed, in the second +he succeeded. By dint of representing to him that it was impossible to +restrain the people, and that, if they effected their entrance, which +they certainly would, the provost would be torn in pieces, he shook his +resolution of defending himself; and, by pledging his honour that no harm +should befall him, he finally prevailed on him to surrender. + +Des Essarts would have done more wisely to brave death from the +sanguinary crowd, than to rely on the honour of an acknowledged assassin. +Ostensibly for the purpose of saving him from the violence of his +enemies, he was led to the prison of the Châtelet, where he seems to have +thought that all danger was at an end. He was speedily undeceived, by his +being brought to trial. In addition to various crimes charged against him +in his official capacity, he was accused of having caused the renewal of +the war between the princes after the treaty of Chartres, and of having +plotted to carry off from Paris the king, the queen, and the dauphin. He +was, of course, found guilty, and was condemned to lose his head, and to +have his remains suspended from the gibbet of Montfaucon. Four years +had not elapsed since the convicted Montaigu was conveyed by him to the +same spot. The sentence passed on des Essarts was executed on the first +of July 1413. He went to the scaffold with great courage; a circumstance +which his enemies attributed to his having flattered himself that the +people would rise and rescue him. If he entertained any such visionary +hopes, his long experience of the people must have been entirely lost +upon him. + +The changes in the fortune of the two factions which desolated France +succeeded each other with an almost ludicrous rapidity; the party which +was triumphant on one day was prostrate on the morrow. We have just seen +the dauphin humbled by the duke of Burgundy; yet the same year did not +pass away before the dauphin and the Armagnacs gained the upper hand, +and the duke found it prudent to retire to his own dominions. That he +might keep a firm hold of the capital, the dauphin gave the command of +the Bastile to his uncle, prince Louis of Bavaria, appointed the duke +of Berry governor of Paris, gave the provostship to Tannegui du Châtel, +removed to the Bastile the chains used for barricading the streets, and +issued orders for the citizens to deliver up all kinds of arms. + +The duke of Burgundy appealed to the sword, but without success, and the +treaty of Arras, which was the result of his failure, relieved France +for awhile from his incursions and his intrigues. It was not till nearly +two years afterwards, when the battle of Agincourt had given a rude +shock to the French throne, that he re-appeared upon the scene. Under +his auspices, the Burgundian faction at Paris formed a conspiracy, for a +general massacre of the Armagnacs, in which the king himself was not to +be spared, should he venture to resist. It was detected at the critical +moment, and the Armagnacs avenged themselves by murders, proscriptions, +and excessive taxes, which alienated many of their friends, without +crushing their enemies. + +The death of the dauphin Louis, speedily followed by that of his +brother and successor John, gave the dignity of dauphin to Charles, the +youngest son of the king. The duke of Burgundy had hoped to exercise an +influence over John, but he had only hostility to expect from Charles, +who, as far as a boy of fifteen could be any thing, was a partisan of +the Armagnacs. By war alone could any thing be gained, and he therefore +prepared to wage it. The gross impolicy of the opposite party gave him +manifold advantages. While the count of Armagnac, the constable, who was +the head of the reigning faction, goaded the people by forced loans, +enormous imposts, and severities against all whom he suspected, he and +the dauphin contrived also to exasperate the queen, by seizing her +treasures, casting, perhaps not undeservedly, a stain upon her character, +and banishing her to Tours. Driven to desperation by these injuries and +insults, she abjured her long-cherished hatred of the duke, and wrote +to him for succour. He gladly listened to the call, released her from +captivity, and escorted her to Chartres, where, in virtue of an obsolete +ordinance of the king, she assumed the title of regent, and created a +parliament, to counterbalance that of the capital. A preponderating +weight was thus thrown into the scale of the Burgundian prince. Nor did +he neglect to strengthen himself by conciliating the people; for, while +the count of Armagnac was daily irritating them by his extortions, the +duke held out to them a tempting lure, by proclaiming that all the towns +which opened their gates to him should be freed from taxes. Encouraged +by these circumstances, his partisans in the capital formed a plan for +admitting him into the city; but it was discovered and frustrated. + +The return of our Henry the fifth to France, in 1417, and the progress +which he was making in Normandy, recalled to their senses most of the +leaders of the factions. The necessity of union being felt, negotiations +were opened. The queen, the dauphin, and the duke of Burgundy were +willing to come to terms; the principal article agreed on was, that the +queen and the duke should form a part of the royal council. But the count +of Armagnac would hear of no treaty that did not really leave in his +hands the whole power of the state; and he accordingly strained every +nerve, and was even guilty of the most revolting cruelty, to render +impossible an accommodation with the Burgundian leaders. He little dreamt +how soon he was to be precipitated from the pinnacle of greatness, and +trampled in the mire by the basest of the base. + +Harassed and impoverished by tyranny and exaction within the walls, and +beset by foes beyond them, the Parisians were hungering for peace. They +were the more inveterate against Armagnac, because they were tantalized +by the object for which they longed being almost within their reach. +Peace had, in fact, been concluded at Montereau, and publicly announced +in Paris, and the count, seconded by de Marle, the chancellor, was the +sole obstacle to its being enjoyed. He was inflexible in his resistance. +To bring about a rupture of the treaty, he sent troops to attack two of +the Burgundian posts; seemingly struck with a judicial blindness, the +forerunner of his fall, he pushed to an unbearable length his arrogance, +extortion, and gloomy precautions; and he is said to have even meditated +a sweeping massacre of such of the citizens as were hostile to him, +and to have ordered leaden medals to be struck for distribution to his +partisans, that the murderers might distinguish them in the hour of +carnage. If the character of the man, and the spirit of those barbarous +times, were not in accordance with this sanguinary project, we might, +perhaps, imagine him to be unjustly charged with it; for, in all ages, +it has been the custom to blacken an overthrown tyrant, by loading him +with imaginary crimes. That, however, it was possible for persons of +the highest rank to tolerate, and probably to command, the cold-blooded +slaughter of their foes, was but too speedily proved. + +Terrible as the multitude is when once moved, it is slow to be moved. +Mutual distrust, and the dread of failure, keep its component parts +from uniting, till some one, more daring than the rest, or provoked +into action by flagrant wrongs, assumes the lead, and gives to it the +principle of cohesion. It was a denial of justice which brought into +play the man who was wanting, to convert into open revolt the passive +disaffection of the citizens. The servant of an Armagnac noble having +grossly maltreated Perinet le Clerc, whose father, an ironmonger, was the +quartinier, or magistrate of his ward, Perinet applied to the provost +for redress. His application was contemptuously rejected, and he swore +to be revenged. In concert with some of his friends, he matured a plan +for admitting the Burgundian troops, and he opened a correspondence on +the subject with Villiers de l’Isle Adam, who commanded at Pontoise, for +the duke. The chance of success seemed so fair, that l’Isle Adam readily +agreed to risk a portion of his garrison in the attempt. The negotiation +was conducted with so much secrecy that not a breath of it transpired. + +The plan was carried into effect on the night of the 28th of May, 1418. +Perinet was a man of ready resources, equally discreet and resolute, and +he omitted nothing that could tend to secure a triumph. By virtue of his +office, the father of Perinet held the keys of St. Germain’s gate, and +had the relieving of the guard there. On the appointed night, having +first contrived to place on guard many of his associates, Perinet stole +to his father’s bed-side, and, undiscovered, drew the keys from beneath +his pillow. L’Isle Adam was waiting near the gate with eight hundred men. +At two in the morning, it was opened by Perinet, who, as soon as the +troops had entered, locked the gate, and threw the keys over the walls, +that, retreat being impossible, the soldiers might be compelled to combat +with desperate valour. The adventurers proceeded in dead silence along +the streets till they reached the Little Châtelet, where they were joined +by several hundred armed citizens, who had been assembled to receive +them. The confederates now loudly raised the rallying cry of “Peace! +peace! Burgundy for ever!” and it was soon as loudly echoed from every +side. From all the streets crowds of citizens sallied forth, wearing on +their dress the St. Andrew’s cross, which was the distinguishing mark of +the Burgundian party. In a very short time, tens of thousands were in +arms. + +Scattered over a large city, and taken by surprise, the Armagnacs could +make no resistance. Tannegui du Châtel, the governor of the Bastile, +had barely time to hurry to the dauphin’s abode, snatch him half awaked +from the couch, wrap him in the bedclothes, and convey him for safety to +the Bastile, whence, without delay, he removed him to Melun. While he +was thus occupied, a party of Burgundians marched to the king’s palace, +and compelled him to take horse, and put himself at their head. Other +parties spread themselves over the city, and slaughtered, or dragged to +prison, all the Armagnacs on whom they could lay their hands. Nobles, +warriors, ministers of state, bishops, abbots, magistrates, and the +humble followers who had moved at their beck, were indiscriminately +thrust into durance. The jails were speedily crowded till they could hold +no more, and it then became necessary to confine the captives in public +buildings and private houses. The constable, in the rags of a beggar, at +first eluded his pursuers, and found shelter in the dwelling of a poor +mason; but a threatening proclamation, against whoever should harbour an +Armagnac, terrified his host into betraying him. + +The Bastile, and consequently the power of entering Paris, was yet held +by Tannegui du Châtel. In the hope of recovering the capital, before +preparations could be made for its defence, he hurried back from Melun, +along with other officers, among whom was Barbazan, who is honourably +distinguished in the French annals, as the irreproachable knight, and +the restorer of the kingdom and crown of France. At the head of a +large body of gendarmes, he, on the first of June, made a sally from +the Bastile, and advanced up St. Anthony’s-street, towards the palace, +with the intention of making himself master of the king’s person. The +king, however, had been removed, and Tannegui was soon encountered by +l’Isle Adam, who had gathered together some troops, and was every moment +reinforced by the citizens. A desperate contest took place, but the +Armagnac general was finally compelled to retreat, with the loss of four +hundred men. The corpses of the slain were ignominiously thrown into the +common sewer by the victors. Leaving a small garrison in the Bastile, he +retired with the remainder of his force, and distributed it among the +neighbouring fortresses of Corbeil, Meaux, and Melun. Two days after the +departure of Tannegui, the governor of the Bastile deemed it prudent to +capitulate. + +Already irritated by Tannegui’s attempt, the partisans of the Burgundians +were excited almost to madness by a letter from the queen, in which she +declared that neither she nor the duke would return to Paris, till it +was purged of the Armagnacs. It has been truly remarked, that “such a +letter was, in reality, a decree of death.” That was the construction put +upon it by the Burgundian faction; and, unrestrained by any religious or +humane feeling, they promptly carried the sentence into effect. On the +morning of the 12th of June, a report being spread that the enemy were +attacking two of the gates, the citizens hastily assembled from every +quarter. “All issued from their houses,” says an old writer, “like swarms +of bees from various hives. Malls, hatchets, axes, clubs, poles shod with +iron points, swords, pikes, javelins, and halberts, were called into use +by the insurgent people.” + +The signal of carnage was given by one Lambert, who harangued them, +and proposed to massacre the captives. His sanguinary suggestion was +instantly adopted by the brutal crowd, and they hurried to the numerous +prisons, uttering loud cries of “Kill those dogs! Kill those Armagnac +traitors!” A scene of horror ensued at which nature shudders. Some of the +victims were flung from the towers of the buildings upon the pikes of +the assassins, some were chopped down with hatchets, some were drowned, +and others were burned alive in their dungeons; their mangled remains +were exposed to every kind of indignity; and torrents of blood flowed +through the streets. From the jails the slaughter was extended to the +suspected inhabitants of houses, and was followed by pillage. The work of +murder and robbery was untiringly continued throughout the whole of the +night, and was recommenced in the morning, after the labourers in it had +refreshed themselves by a short repast. + +Nineteen hundred of the Armagnacs are said to have fallen on this +terrible day. Nor did they alone suffer, for numbers of the Burgundian +party fell beneath the weapons of their private foes, who availed +themselves of this opportunity to gratify their revenge. After having +for three days been dragged through the streets by the mob, the naked +and disfigured corpse of the constable was conveyed out of Paris in the +scavengers’ cart, and thrown among the filth and ordure of the city +laystall. That no proof of their ferocity might be wanting, his murderers +cut a portion of his skin into the form of a scarf, and hung it round him +in ridicule of the white scarf which was the badge of his party. + +A supplementary massacre, of equal extent, and attended by circumstances +equally atrocious, occurred shortly after, in which perished the +prisoners from the Bastile and Vincennes, and those who had been arrested +since the first slaughter. On this occasion, the captives in the Great +and Little Châtelet strove to defend themselves, by hurling down stones +and tiles on their enemies, but their resistance was soon overpowered, +and not one of them escaped. + +These enormities—prefigurations of those which, nearly four centuries +later, were to be committed in the same city—were succeeded by riotous +rejoicings for the arrival of the queen and the duke, and by “one of +the finest religious processions that ever was seen.” But the wrath of +Heaven did not slumber long. “The joy of Paris,” says an old annalist, +“was speedily changed into mourning, for three months had not passed away +after this carnage, when so cruel a pestilence fell upon the city, that +it destroyed more than eighty thousand persons in three months. History +records, that this Perinet and his companions, after having squandered +all that they had gained by plunder, died miserably, not long enjoying +the fruits of their robberies; and that the greater part of the nobles +and gentlemen, who had acted with the murderers, were carried off by the +pestilence, except l’Isle Adam, who was reserved to be chastised by king +Henry of England, though it was on another account, as we shall relate +in the proper place. And was it not God who took vengeance for these +cruelties?” + +In a little more than a year from this time, John the Fearless, himself +an assassin, fell by an assassin’s hand, at the conference of Montereau. +His life had been productive of great evils to France; his death brought +on it still greater. The murder of John gave birth to that coalition +between his successor Philip the Good, Henry the fifth of England, and +queen Isabella, which, for more than a quarter of a century, deluged the +kingdom with blood, and nearly wrested the sceptre from the ancient line +of monarchs. In 1420, Paris was delivered into the hands of the English, +and for sixteen years they retained possession of it; the Louvre, the +Bastile, and Vincennes, were their principal posts in the capital and its +immediate vicinity. + +The only prisoner whom, during their domination, the English are recorded +to have confined in the Bastile, was the very man but for whose activity +and daring the capital would, perhaps, never have been in their power. +It was l’Isle Adam. This warrior, who was born about 1384, of an ancient +and noble family, was taken by the English, at Honfleur, in 1415. After +he recovered his liberty, he joined the party of John the Fearless, and +was made governor of Pontoise. We have seen by what means he gained Paris +for the Burgundian prince. That he was deeply implicated in the massacres +appears to be a melancholy truth; and all his talents and valour are +insufficient to cleanse his reputation from that damnable spot. For his +services he was rewarded, by the duke of Burgundy, with the rank of +marshal. + +It is not clear in what manner l’Isle Adam incurred the displeasure of +our Henry the fifth, the regent of France. French writers ascribe the +circumstance to the pride and arrogance of the English sovereign, who +required the most abject homage from all his French courtiers. L’Isle +Adam, they tell us, having one day come into the royal presence in a +plain grey dress, the monarch sternly asked him whether that was a fit +dress for a marshal. “Dearest lord,” said the offender, “I had it made +to travel in from Sens to Paris;” and, while he spoke, he looked at +the king. “What!” exclaimed Henry, “do you dare to look a prince in the +face?” “Most dread lord,” answered the marshal, “it is the custom in +France; and if any one avoids looking at the person to whom he talks, he +is considered as a bad man and a traitor; therefore, in God’s name, do +not be offended.”—“Such is not our custom,” Henry sourly replied, and +here the dialogue ended. If this story be true, it speaks ill for the +policy, and worse for the disposition, of the victor of Agincourt. + +A few days after this conversation is supposed to have occurred, L’Isle +Adam was committed to the Bastile, on the false and absurd charge of +meaning to betray Paris to the dauphin. About a thousand of the citizens +took up arms to rescue him, on his way to the fortress, but they were +put to flight by the small band of English archers, which was escorting +him to prison. L’Isle Adam, it is affirmed, would have passed from the +Bastile to the scaffold, had he not been saved by the remonstrances of +Philip the Good, and the death of Henry. + +After the decease of Henry, L’Isle Adam rejoined the Burgundian standard, +and took so active and effective a part in the war, that, when the +order of the Golden Fleece was established, he was one of the first on +whom it was conferred. In 1437, he followed the duke of Burgundy into +Brabant, and on the 22nd of May, of that year, he was killed in a popular +insurrection, which took place at Bruges. + +It was not till the 22nd of September, 1429, that any attempt was made to +disturb the English in their occupation of Paris. Flushed with its recent +successes, and hoping that the citizens would rise upon the garrison, +the army of Charles assaulted on that day the ramparts of the capital, +between the gates of St. Honoré and St. Denis. The assault, led by Joan +of Arc, continued for four hours; but the glorious heroine was severely +wounded through the thigh, and the assailants were compelled to retire. + +For seven years after this attack, the English kept their ground in +Paris. But the English power in France was now daily crumbling into +dust. The Burgundian, their ally for several years, was become their +active enemy; the duke of Bedford, whose valour and skill so long upheld +a tottering cause, had sunk into the grave; town after town, willingly +or on compulsion, opened its gates to Charles; succours arrived seldom +and in scanty numbers; and frequent insurrections, in Normandy and other +quarters, compelled them to disseminate their troops, so that it became +impossible for them to take the field with a formidable army. At this +critical moment, Paris had only a feeble garrison of fifteen hundred men; +a force wholly inadequate to defend the place, even had the citizens +been far less disaffected than they really were. They were weary of +war, and, besides, prudence dissuaded them from persisting to oppose +a sovereign whose throne was evidently established on a solid basis. +Such being the state of things, Charles thought the time was come to +recover his capital. A negotiation was secretly opened with the citizens; +and, on condition of a general amnesty, they agreed to return to their +allegiance. On the night of the 13th of April, 1436, the king’s troops +were admitted into the city. Though he was taken by surprise, Willoughby, +the governor, a brave and intelligent officer, took such measures as +would have baffled his assailants, had he received any aid from the +Parisians. But not a hand was raised in his behalf, and he had no other +resource than a retreat to the Bastile, which he effected in good order. +An honourable capitulation, allowing him to retire with bag and baggage, +to Rouen, was offered to Willoughby, and, as he knew that resistance must +be unavailing, he wisely accepted an offer which he could not hope would +be repeated. Thus ended the sway of the English in Paris. + +During the remainder of the reign of Charles VII., nothing more occurred +which belongs to this narrative. Abundant materials, are, however, +supplied by the iron sway of his son and successor, Louis XI. Historians, +in speaking of Louis XI., have charactered him, and with justice, as a +violator of all social duties, as being a “bad son, a bad husband, a bad +father, a bad brother, a bad kinsman, a bad friend, a bad neighbour, +a bad master, and a most dangerous enemy.” That, on attaining supreme +power, such a man should take heavy vengeance for injuries, real or +supposed, is in the natural order of things. Immediately on his accession +to the throne, Louis displaced from their offices all persons who had +rendered themselves obnoxious to him; and, in some instances, his revenge +was more signally manifested. + +Among the most conspicuous of those who felt his anger was Anthony de +Chabannes, count of Dammartin. Chabannes had played an active part in the +long war between Charles VII. and the English, and, on various occasions +had done signal service. Like many other nobles of that period, he was, +however, possessed of far more courage than honourable principles. To +swell his coffers with plunder, he did not hesitate to put himself +at the head of the ferocious banditti known by the descriptive name +of _écorcheurs_, or flayers, with whom he ravaged the north-eastern +provinces of France, as far as the Swiss frontier. He quitted them in +1439, to marry a rich wife, after which he again entered into the king’s +service. + +Chabannes, as is often the case with criminals, could more easily +commit crimes than bear to be told of them. The monarch having one day +laughingly greeted him by the title of king of the flayers, he angrily +replied, “I never flayed any but your enemies; and it appears to me +that you have derived more benefit from their skins than I have.” Not +satisfied with this retort, he further gratified his offended feelings by +prompting the dauphin to become the leader of the malecontents, in the +ephemeral civil war which is known as the war of the _Praguerie_. + +After the Praguerie was over, Chabannes was again received into favour +by Charles, and he seems ever after to have remained faithful to him. He +even disclosed a conspiracy which the dauphin had formed, to deprive the +monarch of his crown and liberty. The dauphin, on being brought face to +face with him, hardily denied the fact, and gave him the lie. The conduct +of Chabannes, in this instance, was not undignified. “I know,” said he, +“the respect which is due to the son of my master; but the truth of my +deposition I am ready to maintain, by arms, against all those of the +dauphin’s household who will come forward to contradict it.” No one was +hardy enough to accept this challenge. + +It is less creditable to Chabannes, that he presided over the commission +which was appointed to try, or rather to find guilty, the persecuted +Jacques Cœur, and that he contrived to obtain, at a shamefully inadequate +price, several of Cœur’s estates. + +In 1455, Chabannes, by performing his duty to his sovereign, gave fresh +offence to the dauphin. Irritated at last by the political intrigues of +his son, and by his having persisted for ten years to absent himself from +the court, Charles determined to deprive him of the petty sovereignty of +Dauphiné, and to secure his person. Chabannes was chosen to carry this +determination into effect: and he acted with such vigour that, after +having prevailed on the duke of Savoy to refuse the prince an asylum, he +compelled him to seek shelter in the dominions of the duke of Burgundy. + +Chabannes was, consequently, one of the earliest victims on the accession +of Louis to the throne. Deprived of his office of grand master of France, +he took flight, but he soon returned, and claimed a fair trial. The king +refused to admit the claim, and ordered him to quit the kingdom; an order +which he obeyed. While he was absent, his property was confiscated, and +he was summoned to appear, and answer the charges against him. Confiding +in his innocence, he complied with the summons; but he was found guilty +of high treason, and condemned to death. The sentence was commuted to +banishment by Louis; who, however, changed his mind as to the punishment, +and shut him up in the Bastile. + +In the Bastile Chabannes remained for four years. On the breaking out +of the war, the parties in which called their confederacy the League of +the Public Good, he contrived to escape; and, on his way to join the +malecontents, he made himself master of the towns of St. Fargeau and St. +Maurice. He was one of those who benefited by the treaty of Conflans, +which terminated this war. His sentence was annulled, and his estates +were restored to him. + +It is a singular circumstance that, with respect to Chabannes, Louis +passed at once from the extreme of hatred and suspicion, to that of +kindness and confidence. He not only restored his estates, but he added +to their number. At a later date, when he instituted the order of St. +Michael, Chabannes was one of the first whom he nominated. Favours +conferred by a gloomy and unprincipled tyrant cast a doubt on the +character of the receiver, even when it has been hitherto unstained, +which was not the case with the new knight. The nomination gave occasion +to a severe sarcasm from the duke of Britanny. Louis having sent to him +the collar of the order, the duke declined it, assigning as a reason, +that “he did not choose to draw in the same collar with Chabannes.” + +Chabannes was not ungrateful for the benefits bestowed on him. When, +strangely deviating from his accustomed wariness, Louis involved himself +in the dilemma which Sir Walter Scott has so admirably described in +Quentin Durward, Chabannes did him the most essential and opportune +service, and received his warmest thanks for it. He was afterwards +employed in various important expeditions, all of which he brought to a +successful issue. In his old age, he withdrew from the court, but, in +1485, Charles VIII. conferred on him the government of the Isle of France +and Paris. Chabannes did not long enjoy this new honour; he died in 1488. + +The war, caused by the League of the Public Good, which restored liberty +and fortune to Chabannes, deprived his enemy, the count de Melun, not +only of both, but of life also. When we are told that Melun was so +addicted to pleasure, luxury and sloth, as to have acquired the name of +the Sardanapalus of his times, we can form no very flattering estimate +of his character. Yet he stood high in the good graces of Louis XI., +and participated largely in the spoils of Chabannes. In his capacity +of governor of Paris and the Bastile, he was also entrusted with the +custody of that nobleman. It was not till after the battle of Montlhéri +that Louis began to suspect him. The monarch had, indeed, some excuse +for suspicion. Melun had at least been criminally negligent, in a post +which demanded the utmost vigilance. He had prevented a sally from the +city during the battle, which might have turned the scale in the king’s +favour, and he had been ignorant of, or winked at, a correspondence +carried on with the chiefs of the League by some of the disaffected +citizens. These indications of treachery were strengthened by two +circumstances; some of the cannon of the Bastile had been spiked, and the +gates of the fortress, on the side next the country, had been left open +while the besiegers were making an attack. The escape of Chabannes might +also afford a reason for doubting his keeper’s fidelity. Louis, however, +was, at this moment, too closely pressed by his numerous enemies to enter +into an investigation of the subject; and he, therefore, only dismissed +the governor. + +Melun retired to his estates, and imagined that the storm was blown +over. He was mistaken. As soon as Louis had disembarrassed himself, he +instituted a rigid enquiry into the conduct of his disgraced favourite. +One of the most active in pushing it on was a man who was indebted to +the count for his rise in life; the cardinal Balue, of whom further +mention is about to be made. The result of the enquiry was, a charge of +having maintained a secret correspondence with the heads of the League, +especially with the duke of Britanny. Melun was in consequence arrested, +and conveyed to Chateau Galliard, in Normandy, by the provost Tristan +l’Hermite, of infamous memory. + +The trial was commenced without delay, and, as he refused to confess to +any crime, he was put to the torture. With respect to his correspondence +with the chiefs of the League, he avowed it, but pleaded that it had +the king’s sanction. It is probable that this was really the case. Many +motives might have induced the king to allow of his officer corresponding +with the enemy. But Louis had now resolved upon the destruction of Melun; +and, as he never scrupled at falsehood when he had any point to gain by +it, he denied that he had given the permission. By adding that he had +long had cause to be dissatisfied with the prisoner, he gave a broad +hint as to what kind of verdict he desired. The judges, as in duty +bound, pronounced Melun guilty, and he was consigned to the scaffold. His +execution took place in 1468. Of his confiscated property, a considerable +portion was bestowed on Chabannes. + +It is said, that the executioner having only wounded him at the first +stroke, Melun raised his head from the block, and declared, that he had +not deserved death, but that, since the king willed it, he was satisfied. +If this be true, we must own that tame submission to the injustice of a +despot was never more strikingly displayed. + +Had Melun lived but a little longer, he might have triumphed in the +downfall and punishment of his ungrateful enemy, the cardinal, which +took place in 1469. John Balue, the person in question, born in Poitou +in 1421, was the son of either a miller or a tailor. He had, perhaps, as +many vices, and as few virtues, as any person upon record. Ingratitude, +in particular, seems to have been deeply rooted into the nature of this +unworthy prelate. Towards the bishops of Poictiers and Angers, who had +early patronized and confided in him, and the count de Melun, by whom +he was introduced to the monarch, he acted with unparalleled baseness. +His sovereign fared no better than his other benefactors. Louis XI. had +rapidly raised him to the highest offices in the state, and had loaded +him with ecclesiastical preferment, yet the traitor betrayed him. + +While his power lasted, there was no department of the government with +which Balue did not interfere. This trait in the character of the +cardinal called forth a pleasant sarcasm from Chabannes, who could not +see with patience his own province invaded. Balue having one day reviewed +some regiments, Chabannes gravely requested the king’s permission to +visit the cardinal’s bishopric of Evreux, for the purpose of examining +clerical candidates, and conferring ordination on them. “What do you +mean?” said Louis. “Why, surely, sire,” replied Chabannes, “I am as fit +to ordain priests, as the bishop of Evreux is to review an army.” + +It required, however, something more than a joke to shake the confidence +which the monarch placed in the cardinal. That something more was not +slow in coming. Since the treaties of Conflans and Peronne, it had been a +main object of Louis to dissociate his brother, the duke of Berry, from +his dangerous adviser the duke of Burgundy; and, as one means towards +effecting this, he strove hard to induce him to accept, as an appanage, +the duchy of Guienne and the government of Rochelle, instead of the +provinces of Champagne and Brie, which, by the treaty of Peronne, he had +been compelled to confirm to his brother. Louis was undoubtedly justified +in wishing to accomplish this object, as there was little chance that +peace would be preserved if the duke of Berry became an immediate +neighbour of the duke of Burgundy. Nor was the equivalent which the king +offered for Champagne and Brie an inadequate one, but much the contrary. +On this occasion, the king suffered the penalty to which all deceivers +are subjected, that of not being trusted. Could the duke of Berry have +put faith in his brother, he no doubt would have accepted Guienne. + +It was with no less surprise than indignation that the king discovered, +by intercepted letters, that all his efforts, not only in this case but +in others, had been counteracted by the man on whom he most relied. +The cardinal, and his friend and agent William d’Haraucourt, bishop +of Verdun, were in close correspondence with his enemies. It was to +revenge himself for the king having failed in his promise, to procure +him a cardinal’s hat, that d’Haraucourt entered into the plot against +him. It would seem that nothing short of madness could have prompted +the cardinal to peril his liberty and fortune, perhaps his life, by his +treasonable proceeding. But here again the king was whipped by his own +vices. Balue perceived or imagined that his influence was declining, he +was convinced that it would wholly expire whenever his services were no +longer necessary to the monarch—Louis being, in his opinion, incapable +of personal attachment—and he therefore resolved to place him in such +a situation, by making the king’s foes formidable, that those services +should be always indispensable. On his being interrogated, he avowed, +with a shameless candour, that, for this purpose, he had betrayed the +secrets of the state to the Burgundian duke, encouraged the duke of Berry +to refuse the proposed exchange, advised the calamitous interview and +disgraceful treaty of Peronne, and recommended to Charles of Burgundy to +compel the king to accompany him on the expedition against the revolted +citizens of Liege. + +There was treason enough here to forfeit a hundred heads, had they +grown on laic shoulders. But, as far as regarded the final penalty of +the law, their ecclesiastical character proved a shield to the cardinal +and his associate. The king desired the pope to nominate apostolical +commissioners to try the criminals; the pope, on the other hand, +contended that they must be judged by the consistory, and that the +decision of their fate must be left to him. A long negotiation ensued +between the spiritual and temporal sovereigns, and, as neither would +concede, the offenders were never brought to trial at all. + +It cannot, however, be said that the cardinal and the bishop escaped +unscarred. If Louis could not take their lives, he could at least render +their lives a burthen, and this was a power which he was not backward +in exercising. In the province of Touraine, between twenty and thirty +miles to the southward of Tours, stood the castle of Loches, one of the +sepulchres in which Louis buried his living victims. It was there that, +at a later period, Ludovico Sforza lingered out the last years of his +existence. Loches was well provided with oubliettes, dungeons, chains of +enormous weight, facetiously called the king’s little daughters, iron +cages, and all other means of torturing the body and mind. Thither Balue +was sent, and there he passed eleven lonely years, in an iron cage, which +was only eight feet square. His fate resembled that of Perillus—for to +the cardinal himself is attributed the invention of these cages. Perhaps +the only praise which he ever deserved was gained at the castle of +Loches; the praise of having preserved his courage unshaken throughout +the whole of his tedious captivity. Balue was released in 1480, went to +Rome, where he was received with open arms, was sent as legate to France, +and died, in 1491, bishop of Albano, and legate of the March of Ancona. + +His confederate, d’Haraucourt, was still more severely punished. The +Bastile was his place of confinement, and there a cage, of unusual +strength, was constructed in one of the towers, expressly for his abode. +The cage was formed of massy beams, bolted together with iron, occupied +nineteen carpenters for twenty days in framing it, and was so heavy, that +the vault, which was to support it, was obliged to be rebuilt in a more +substantial manner. Within its narrow and gloomy limits, d’Haraucourt was +immured for no less than fifteen years. It was not till after the death +of Louis the eleventh, that the prisoner was set at liberty. He died, at +a very advanced age, in the year 1500. + +While d’Haraucourt was wasting away life in his cage, there was another +prisoner in the Bastile, who was enduring far worse misery, and was far +more worthy of compassion, because, though he was himself guiltless, he +suffered the penalty of another’s crimes. When, in 1473, the restless +and unprincipled John, count of Armagnac, was slain at Lectoure, by the +royal troops, his brother Charles, who had taken no part in the contest, +was arrested by order of Louis the eleventh, sent to the Concièrgerie, +and put to the torture. He was on the point of proving his innocence, +when he was removed to the Bastile, and secluded from all access of +friends. L’Huillier, the governor, treated him with a cold-blooded +barbarity which was worthy of a man who held office under Louis. There +was nothing that cruelty could suggest that was not practised on the +unfortunate Charles. The agonies of the captive were protracted for a +period of fourteen years, during all which time he inhabited a dreary +and noisome dungeon, in which water almost continually dropped upon him, +and he could not move without wading though slimy mud. He was liberated, +and his property was restored, by Charles the eighth. The boon, however, +came too late to be of any avail. His reason was shaken by what he had +undergone; he languished for a few years, and died in 1497. + +Less compassion is due to the next inhabitant of the Bastile who appears +upon the scene. Faithful to no party, he fell regretted by none. Louis +de Luxembourg, count of St. Pol, who was born in 1418, succeeded to the +possessions of his father, when he was only fifteen. He did not receive +his moral education in schools where humanity and honour were to be +learned. His uncle and guardian, count de Ligni, was well qualified +to brutalise his youthful mind. It was de Ligni that basely sold the +heroine Joan of Arc to the English, for ten thousand livres. In one of +his campaigns he took his nephew with him, that the boy might kill some +of the prisoners, in order to accustom him to scenes of blood. Louis is +said to have proved an apt scholar, and to have taken delight in the +performance of his murderous task. + +At his outset in life, St. Pol, like most of his family, was a warm +partisan of the English party. Circumstances, however, having compelled +him to visit the court of Charles the seventh, he met with so flattering +a reception that he deserted his party, and devoted himself to that +monarch. With the dauphin (who was afterwards Louis the eleventh) +he contracted as close a friendship as can subsist between two such +characters. St. Pol distinguished himself, in the service of his new +master, on various occasions, particularly at the sieges of the Norman +fortresses. + +Though St. Pol had given up the English party, he did not break off his +old connection with the Burgundian prince. He fought for him against the +insurgent citizens of Ghent, and he even joined in the League of the +Public Good, as it was ludicrously styled, and led the vanguard of the +count de Charolais, at the battle of Montlhéri. At the peace of Conflans, +Louis, in the hope of winning him over from the Burgundian interest, +promoted him to be constable of France; and soon after, with the same +view, he gave him the hand of Mary of Savoy, the queen’s sister, and +granted him a wide extent of territory. + +These favours did not produce the desired effect. St. Pol seems to have +had little gratitude in his nature; and, in this case, he perhaps thought +that there was none due for what was rather a bribe than a free gift. As +he imagined that his safety consisted in preventing a good understanding +between the king and the duke of Burgundy, he was constantly intriguing +to keep them at variance, and he alternately betrayed them. His intrigues +being discovered, the two princes, during one of their short periods of +amity, entered into a compact, by which they declared him their common +enemy. The duke of Burgundy promised, that if the constable fell into his +hands, he would surrender him to the king within eight days. For this he +was to be rewarded by the restoration of St. Quentin, Amiens, and other +towns on the Somme. This agreement was of course kept a profound secret. + +What St. Pol had already done was sufficient to seal his fate; but +he roused the anger of Louis still farther, by an act of personal +disrespect, and by leaguing with Edward the fourth of England for the +invasion of France. It was not, however, till he had got rid of Edward +by a treaty, and had artfully contrived to irritate the duke of Burgundy +still more against St. Pol, that Louis seriously prepared for taking +vengeance on the offender. The negotiation between Edward and Louis had +already alarmed the constable, and, to conciliate the latter, he had +offered to attack the English. This offer Louis communicated to Edward, +who, indignant at the treachery of his recent confederate, sent the +letters which he had received from him to the French monarch. Louis +was thus furnished with decisive proofs. To the overtures of St. Pol +he replied in ambiguous words, the real meaning of which was soon made +evident: “I am overwhelmed by so many affairs,” said the Machiavelian +monarch, “that I have great need of a good head like yours to get through +them.” + +The preparations of the king at length made St. Pol fully aware of his +danger. Hesitating as to the measure which in this emergency he ought +to adopt, he for a moment half resolved to stand on his defence; but +reflection on the superior resources of his enemy persuaded him that +he had no chance of success from arms. Yet, had he boldly appealed to +the sword, he might, perhaps, have saved his life, or at least have met +with an honourable death. He preferred throwing himself on the duke of +Burgundy, whom he tempted by offering him his strong towns, as the price +of protection. Louis demanded that he should be given up to him; and +after some qualms of conscience as to sacrificing a suppliant, who was +also his cousin, Charles of Burgundy complied with the demand. St. Pol +was conveyed to the Bastile. The French monarch gave him his choice, +either to make a full confession, or to be tried in the customary manner. +The latter alternative was chosen by the prisoner, who knew not that his +letters, to Edward and the duke of Burgundy, were in the king’s hands, +and therefore believed that there was not legal evidence to warrant +his conviction. His judges sentenced him to lose his head, and he was +executed on the 19th of December, 1475. + +The last captive in the Bastile, during the reign of Louis the Eleventh, +or rather the last of whom any record remains—for there were doubtless +numbers of the nameless throng—was an Armagnac; a name which seems to +have been fatal to its owners. We have seen one Armagnac torn in pieces +by the populace, another treacherously slain after the surrender of his +stronghold, a third losing his reason in a dungeon, and we are now to +witness the leading of a fourth to the scaffold, under circumstances the +most horrible. + +James of Armagnac, duke of Nemours, was the son of the Count de la +Marche, who was the governor of the youthful dauphin. When the pupil of +the count ascended the throne, he gave his cousin Louisa in marriage to +James of Armagnac, and conferred on him the dukedom of Nemours, with +all the rights and privileges of the peerage; an honour which had never +before been enjoyed by any other than princes of the royal family. +Nemours, nevertheless, joined the League of the Public Good. Louis, as we +have seen, was obliged to succumb to the League; and, by the consequent +peace of Conflans, James of Armagnac obtained the government of Paris and +the Isle of France. + +Little more than three years elapsed before Nemours was again engaged +in intrigues against the monarch. But the time was gone by when revolt +could lead to promotion. Louis had strengthened his authority, and he +was not disposed to see it set at nought. He, however, pardoned him; but +it was on condition that any future offence should render him liable +to punishment for the past, and that he should then be deprived of his +privilege of peerage, and be tried as a private individual. + +In the course of a few years Nemours once more, and finally, brought down +the wrath of the monarch on his head. He was accused of treason, and +Beaujeu was despatched to besiege him in the town of Carlat, to which +the duke had retired. Carlat was supposed to be impregnable, and it was +provisioned for two or three years. Nemours, nevertheless, surrendered +without resistance, on condition that his life should be spared; Beaujeu +guaranteed this condition, as did likewise Louis le Graville, lord of +Montaigu, and Bonfile le Juge, who enjoyed the royal confidence. The wife +of the duke, who was confined in child-bed, died of grief and terror, on +seeing her husband become a prisoner. + +Nemours was conveyed, first, to Pierre-Encise, whence he was removed +to the Bastile; where he was subjected to the harshest usage. All his +supplications to the king, during two years’ abode in the Bastile, were +unavailing; or rather, indeed, seem to have tended to irritate him. +The duke had, undoubtedly, been a turbulent subject; but nothing can +palliate the infamy of the king’s conduct, after he had Nemours in his +power. It is difficult to account for the inveteracy of his hatred. There +was no conceivable violation of justice of which he was not guilty. +To have broken the pledge solemnly given by his general was little +compared with what followed. Such of the judges as seemed inclined to +show mercy were threatened and displaced; others were tempted by being +promised to share in the spoils of the prisoner; the place where the +court held its sittings was more than once arbitrarily changed; and the +decent formalities of the law, as well as its essential principles, were +contemptuously discarded. No wonder that Nemours was condemned to death. + +But now a scene opens which casts all the rest into shade, and at which +nature shudders. Nothing was omitted that could render death terrible +to the duke. The chamber where he confessed to the priest was hung +with black; the horse which took him to execution was covered with a +housing of the same hue. He was already agonised by the thought that his +children, who were little more than infants, were reduced to beggary—but +this was not enough. A scaffold was expressly constructed for him to +suffer on, with wide openings between the planks, and underneath, clad +in white, their heads naked, and their hands bound, were placed his +children, that they might be drenched with their parent’s blood. It was +on the 4th of August, 1477, that this horrible tragedy was acted. + +Did the brutal vindictiveness of the monarch end here? It did not. The +guiltless children, of whom the youngest was only five years old, were +taken back to the Bastile, and plunged into a loathsome dungeon, where +they had scarcely the power of moving. There they remained, for five +years, till the accession of Charles the eighth opened their prison door. +A part of the confiscated property of their father was subsequently +restored to them by Charles. The health of two of them was so broken that +they did not long survive. The youngest inherited the title of Nemours, +rose to be viceroy of Naples, and fell at the battle of Cerignoles, in +1503. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + Reign of Francis I.—Semblançai—The Chancellor Duprat—The + Chancellor Poyet—Admiral de Chabot—Fall of Poyet—Reign of Henry + II.—Anne du Bourg—Louis du Faur—Reign of Francis II.—Execution + of du Bourg—Francis de Vendôme—Reign of Charles IX.—The Duke of + Lunebourg—Henry of Navarre and the Prince of Condé in danger of + the Bastile—Faction of the Politicians—La Mole—Coconas—Marshal + de Montmorenci—Marshal de Cossé—Reign of Henry III.—Bussi + d’Amboise. + + +During the reigns of Charles the eighth and Louis the twelfth, a period +of more than thirty years, no prisoners of note appear to have been +incarcerated in the Bastile. In the reign of Francis the first, we +again find it receiving persons of rank within its gloomy walls. The +first who was consigned to it by Francis was James de Beaune, baron +of Semblançai. He was the eldest son of John de Beaune, a citizen of +Tours, who acquired a large fortune by commerce, and who, after having +withdrawn from mercantile pursuits, held the office of steward to Louis +the eleventh and to Charles the eighth. Semblançai entered early into +the royal service, and, in the reign of Charles the eighth, rose to the +high situation of superintendant of the finances, and retained it under +Louis the twelfth and Francis the first. It was to his talents he was +indebted for preferment; and his conduct, in the difficult and dangerous +post which he occupied, justified his elevation, and gained for him the +confidence of the three monarchs. Francis was even accustomed to address +him with the flattering appellation of father. Keeping aloof from all +court intrigues, he displayed, in his official character, an exemplary +regularity, economy, and probity; and he crowned the whole by a virtue +which is still more rare in a finance minister—that of endeavouring +to alleviate the burthens of the people, and prevent them from being +despoiled by unprincipled nobles. + +The man who acted thus was not likely to be without enemies; all the +greedy, who were disappointed of thrusting their hands into the public +purse, and all the wasteful and corrupt, to whom his example was a +stinging rebuke, would of course abhor him. But Semblançai might have +set their malice at defiance, had they not found an invincible ally in a +female, whose venomous hatred was rendered fatal to him by her unbounded +influence. + +This powerful female was Louisa of Savoy, duchess of Angoulême, the +mother of Francis the First. She was beautiful in person, a doating +mother, and endowed with many intellectual qualities of a superior +class; but she was immeasurably ambitious, vindictive, and rapacious. +Such was her avidity for riches, and such her success in gratifying it, +that, at the time of her death, her coffers contained no less than a +million and a half of golden crowns—an enormous, not to say disgraceful +hoard, especially when we consider what was the value of the sum at +that period. In two instances, her criminal passions were the cause of +shame and misfortune to France. Of the first of these we are about to +speak; the second was her persecution of the Constable de Bourbon—a base +and disastrous measure, which was prompted either by resentment for +his rejection of her love, or by her eagerness to seize upon his ample +domains, or, perhaps, by a combination of both these unworthy motives. + +The regard which was manifested for Semblançai by Francis was, at one +period, equally felt by the duchess of Angoulême. There exists, under her +hand, the strongest testimony to the rectitude of the superintendant, and +of the generous sacrifices which he made, to provide for the wants of the +state. It was not till the necessity of vindicating his own character +compelled him to criminate her, that she became his enemy. + +Jealous of the influence possessed by the countess of Chateaubriant, the +mistress of Francis, whose brother, Lautrec, was then governor of the +Milanese and commander of the French army in that province, the duchess +appears to have formed the plan of aiming a deadly blow at the sister +through the side of the brother. If, by disabling him from defending the +Milanese, she could bring Lautrec into disgrace, it was not improbable +that the disgusted and indignant monarch, who set a high value on his +Italian conquest, would extend his anger to the countess. The means which +she adopted for bringing her scheme to bear, had also an additional and +not trivial merit in her eyes; that of contributing to swell the mass of +treasure which she had already accumulated. + +In the first part of her project, she completely succeeded. Deprived of +the pecuniary resources which he had expected from France, and which were +the more needful, as the harshness of his government had rendered him +unpopular in Italy, Lautrec was defeated at the battle of the Bicocco, +was deserted by his Swiss auxiliaries, and at length was driven from the +duchy of Milan. + +The disgrace thus cast upon the French arms, and that, too, in a +country which he in person had won, could not fail to exasperate a +young and warlike sovereign. When Lautrec returned to his native land, +the king refused to admit him to his presence; but at last, through +the intercession of his sister, and of the Constable de Bourbon, the +vanquished general obtained an audience. He was received with a frowning +countenance; and he boldly complained of his reception. “Is it possible +for me,” said Francis, sternly, “to look favourably on a man who is +guilty of having lost my duchy of Milan?” + +Nowise daunted by this rebuff, Lautrec firmly replied, “I will dare to +assert, that your majesty is the sole cause of that loss. For eighteen +months your gendarmes had not a single farthing of pay. The Swiss, with +whose disposition as to money you are well acquainted, were also left +unpaid. It was solely by my management that they were retained for +several months with my army. There would have been no reason for wonder +had they quitted it without drawing their swords; their respect for me +induced them, however, not to desert me till after a sanguinary combat. +They compelled me to give battle, though I foresaw clearly that there was +no hope of victory; but, in my circumstances, prudence dictated to risk +every thing, however little chance there might appear that our efforts +would be successful. The whole of my crime amounts to this.” + +The astonishment of Francis was excited by this speech of Lautrec. +“What!” exclaimed he, “did you not receive the four hundred thousand +crowns, which I ordered to be sent to you soon after your arrival at +Milan?” “No, Sire,” answered Lautrec; “your majesty’s letters came to +hand, but no money was forwarded to me; nor did it ever pass the Alps.” + +Semblançai was immediately summoned into his presence by Francis, to +account for such an extraordinary violation of his duty. In his defence, +the superintendant stated, that the duchess, vested with authority as +regent, had demanded from him the four hundred thousand crowns, and that +he held her receipt for the sum. + +Irritated by this unexpected discovery, Francis hastened to his mother’s +apartment, and reproached her for conduct which had cost him a part of +his dominions. The duchess is said to have begun her reply by a denial +of the fact. She was, however, ultimately compelled to own that she had +indeed obtained four hundred thousand crowns from Semblançai; but she +artfully pretended, that she had previously confided the money to his +care, and that it was the produce of savings from her income. Semblançai, +on the contrary, strenuously protested that she had never entrusted any +thing to his keeping, and that, when she drew from him the funds in +question, he had told her that they were set apart by the king for the +service of the forces in Italy. + +Francis was no doubt convinced of her guilt, but he could not bear +the idea of openly stigmatizing a mother whom he loved. There was +consequently nothing to be done but to bury, as far as was possible, the +whole transaction in oblivion. Abruptly putting an end to the altercation +between the duchess and the superintendant, he said, “Let us think no +more on the subject! we did not deserve to conquer; it was in vain that +fortune declared on our side; we threw insuperable obstacles in the way +of her favour. Let us cease to be traitors to each other, and let us +henceforth endeavour to act for the public good, with more wisdom and +union than we have hitherto displayed.” + +That Semblançai continued to hold his place is a sufficient proof that +his assertion was credited by the king. That the revengeful duchess was +eager to ruin him, we might easily have believed, even had the result +not afforded evidence of the fact. For a considerable time, however, she +silently nursed her wrath. It was not till 1524, when a new expedition +was in preparation against the Milanese, that she found an opportunity of +striking her blow. Money was wanted; and Semblançai, who had come forward +on former occasions, was desired to make an advance from his private +fortune. But this he declined to do; pleading, as a reason for his +refusal, that a debt of three hundred thousand crowns was already owing +to him. He was punished by dismissal from his office—if that can be +called a punishment for which he appears to have sought—and, after having +given in his accounts, and shown that they were correct, he retired to +his estate of Balan, in the neighbourhood of Tours. + +On the departure of Francis for Italy, he again appointed his mother to +act as regent. She had now unlimited power; and, as far as concerned +Semblançai, she exercised it cruelly and basely. She began by instituting +against him a suit, to recover a balance which she alleged to be due +to her, as part of the pretended deposit. To bolster up her cause, she +is accused of having stooped to the most degrading means. Gentil, the +confidential clerk of Semblançai, was enamoured of one of her attendants; +and this female the regent employed to steal, or obtain by blandishments, +the receipt which had been given to the superintendant. + +This suit was probably meant to answer the double purpose of narrowing +his resources and injuring his character. But this mode of proceeding +was “too poor, too weak, for her revenge,” and she soon adopted another, +which struck directly at his life. His secretary, John Prévost, who seems +himself to have had reason for dreading an inquiry into his official +conduct, was tampered with, to cause the ruin of his master. Impunity +for his own misdoings was to be the price of his new crime. A charge of +peculation was brought against Semblançai, and, towards the close of +1526, he was committed to the Bastile. To render his fate certain, the +office of sitting in judgment upon him was entrusted to the Chancellor +Duprat, who had been his rival, was still his deadliest foe, and was, +besides, a devoted tool of the queen mother. As his colleagues, or rather +accomplices, Duprat selected, from the various parliaments, men on whose +subserviency he could rely. From a tribunal thus infamously constituted, +not even a semblance of justice could be expected. On the 9th of August, +1527, Semblançai, who was then in his sixty-second year, was condemned to +be hanged; and this sentence was, shortly after, executed on him, at the +gibbet of Montfaucon. + +The popular feeling, with respect to Semblançai, may be considered as at +least a strong presumptive proof of his innocence. It is not often that +the fall of a finance minister is a subject of sorrow to the multitude. +In his case we find one of the few exceptions; for the people beheld +his melancholy fate with grief, surprise, and indignation, and they +long looked with an evil eye on the malignant princess by whom he was +judicially murdered. + +There is an apparent but not a real discrepancy in the accounts of the +behaviour of Semblançai, when his doom was sealed. From the language of +Du Bouchet, who represents him as weeping bitterly, and cherishing hopes +of pardon till the last moment, a hasty conclusion might be drawn, that +the courage of the victim deserted him. But wounded honour and a keen +sense of the ingratitude with which a life of services was repaid, might +well wring tears from his eyes, though his mind remained unmoved by the +fear of death. That his firmness was, in fact, not to be shaken, we have +the unexceptionable testimony of Marot, who probably witnessed the calm +deportment of Semblançai when going to the scaffold. In his lines, which +bear the title of “Du Lieutenant Criminel et de Semblançai,” the poet +thus forcibly expresses himself— + + “When Maillard, hellish judge, led Semblançai + On gallows tree to pass from life away, + Say which of them most undisturbed was seen?” + “I’ll tell you, friend: so blank was Maillard’s mien, + He looked as though he saw the direful dart + Of death hang o’er him; but so brave a heart + Semblançai showed, you would have sworn that he + Was leading Maillard to the gallows tree.” + +We have seen, that the chancellor, Duprat, was the instrument which +Louisa of Savoy employed to accomplish the destruction of Semblançai. At +an earlier period, he had served her as effectually in a similar case. +Her suit against the constable de Bourbon, to strip him of his vast +estates, is said to have been suggested by Duprat, and was certainly +brought to a favourable issue by the exercise of his influence over the +judges. His hatred of the constable was caused, or sharpened, by Bourbon +having refused to comply with a request relative to the grant of an +estate in Auvergne. Detested by all France, for the fiscal oppressions of +which he was the author, and for his having betrayed the liberties of the +Gallican church, the chancellor nevertheless retained his power to the +last, and died loaded with titles and riches. + +Another tool of the duchess of Angoulême, who closely imitated the +conduct of Duprat, was not equally fortunate. William Poyet, a native +of Angers, born about 1474, had acquired a high reputation at the bar +before he was chosen the queen-mother’s advocate against the constable +de Bourbon. The manner in which he performed his new task ensured his +promotion. He became successively advocate-general, and president à +mortier, and was employed in various negotiations; and, at length, in +1538, his ambition was gratified by his appointment to the high office of +chancellor. If servility to the monarch, and an utter disregard of the +rights and happiness of the people, are qualifications for that office, +his fitness cannot be denied. He was undoubtedly worthy of succeeding to +Duprat. + +The profligate readiness with which Poyet encouraged Francis the first +to load his subjects with heavy taxes, drew upon him a severe reproof +from Duchatel, the virtuous and benevolent bishop of Orleans. Hearing +the chancellor tell the king that his majesty was the master of all that +his subjects possessed, the bishop indignantly exclaimed, “Carry such +tyrannical maxims to the Caligulas and Neros, and, if you have no respect +for yourself, at least respect a monarch who is the friend of humanity, +and who knows that to hold its rights sacred is the first of his duties.” +This speech did honour to the prelate, but there is no ground for +believing that it produced any good effect upon either the sovereign or +the minister. + +It was by female influence that Poyet was raised to his lofty station; it +was by the same influence that he was precipitated from it. Two parties +existed at court, those of the dauphin and the duke of Alençon, the heads +of which were the constable de Montmorenci and the admiral de Chabot. +Besides the hatred which he felt against Chabot as a political rival, the +haughty Montmorenci found, in the unceremonious tone of equality with +which he was addressed by the admiral, another reason for hating him. +To ruin an enemy by underhand measures was the natural proceeding of a +courtier. He insinuated to the king that Chabot had acquired his riches +by iniquitous practices; and, by holding out the lure of a cardinal’s +hat, he induced Poyet to assist in Chabot’s destruction. The chancellor +exerted himself so strenuously, in raking up matter of accusation against +the intended victim, that he at length produced five-and-twenty charges, +each of which, he declared, would subject the delinquent to capital +punishment. The alleged criminality of Chabot was soon made known to the +king. + +It is probable, nevertheless, that remembering the services of Chabot, +and the friendship which had existed ever since their youthful days, +Francis would have overlooked the supposed crimes, had he not been +provoked by a speech which sounded like defiance. Some trifling dispute +occurring between them, he threatened to bring him to trial; to which +Chabot boldly replied, that a trial had no terrors for him, his conduct +having always been so irreproachable, that neither his life nor his +honour could be put in danger. Francis was weak enough to take offence at +this implied challenge; he committed the offender to the castle of Melun, +and directed the chancellor to prosecute him. + +Poyet rushed upon his prey with the ferocity of a hungry tiger. He began +by selecting the commissioners who were to sit in judgment on Chabot; +and, to ensure their obedience, he himself, contrary to established +custom, presided over them. Yet, with such instruments, and in spite of +all his unprincipled efforts to spur them on, he was not able fully to +accomplish his purpose. So groundless were the articles of impeachment, +there being only two of them which at all, and those but slightly, +affected the prisoner, that, instead of voting for death, the judges were +disposed either to acquit him, or, at most, to pass a lenient sentence. +By dint, however, of threats, the chancellor compelled them to go far +beyond their intention; they consequently condemned Chabot to a fine of +fifteen thousand livres, confiscation of property, and perpetual exile. +One of them is said to have added to his signature the Latin word _vi_, +in almost imperceptible characters; thus signifying that force had been +used to extort his consent. Not content with the daring contempt of +justice which he had already displayed, Poyet, in drawing up the judgment +of the court, did not hesitate to falsify it, by inserting additional +crimes, and aggravating the penalty. + +Though Francis was irritated by the honourable boldness of Chabot, he had +never intended to carry matters to extremity against him. He could not +now avoid being astonished that the charges had dwindled into such utter +insignificance, and that, nevertheless, a sentence of such undue severity +was pronounced; and he appears to have been also warmly solicited in +his behalf by a prevailing advocate, the duchess of Etampes, the royal +mistress, who was a relation of Chabot. Yet though the king designed to +receive the admiral again into favour, he could not deny himself the +mean gratification of taunting him. “Well,” said he to him, “will you +again boast of your innocence?” “Sire,” replied Chabot, “I have but too +well learned, that before God and his sovereign no man must call himself +innocent; but I have one consolation, that all the malice of my enemies +has failed to convict me of having ever been unfaithful to your majesty.” +Chabot was pardoned, and reinstated in his offices. This tardy justice +came too late; though his enemies had been unable to drag him to the +scaffold, they had succeeded in shortening his days. In little more than +twelve months, his existence was terminated by a disease, seemingly of +the heart, which was brought on by the grief and anxiety that he had +suffered. + +Chabot, however, lived long enough to witness the downfall of his +adversaries. To Montmorenci the king intimated, that he had no longer +occasion for his services; and the dismissed courtier in consequence +retired to Chantilly, whence he did not emerge during the remainder of +Francis’s reign. A heavier misfortune awaited Poyet, and it speedily fell +upon him. Two females, the duchess of Etampes and the queen of Navarre, +were the foes who overthrew him. The duchess, who was already offended +by his persecution of her relative, he exasperated beyond measure, by +refusing to perform an illegal act in favour of one of her friends; the +queen of Navarre he alienated in a similar manner; and he rendered both +of them more inveterate, by some bitter remarks on the influence which +females possessed over the mind of the sovereign. They combined together +for his ruin, and they effected it. In August, 1542, he was dragged from +his bed, and carried to the Bastile. Thus, after having been allowed +to be unjust with impunity, he was punished for recollecting at last +that he had duties to perform. In this emergency, he had the mingled +audacity and meanness to write to Chabot, imploring his forgiveness and +protection. After having been three years in prison, he was declared +incapable of ever holding office, and was sentenced to five years’ +imprisonment, and to pay a fine of a hundred thousand livres. The king +himself, with a strange want of decorum, came forward as a witness +against him on the trial. Poyet died in 1548, an object of general +contempt. + +The captives, to whom our attention is now to be directed, were of a +very different character from the chancellor Poyet; they were sufferers +for conscience’ sake; men who, when the question related to religious +interests, deemed it a duty not to submit in silence to arbitrary +power. Their names were Anne du Bourg, and Louis du Faur, and they +were counsellors of the parliament at Paris. The uncle of du Bourg was +chancellor in the reign of Francis I. Du Faur was of a family which had +produced many eminent characters, among whom is to be numbered Guy du +Faur, lord of Pibrac, author of the well-known Quatrains. + +Pressed, it is said, by the Guises, and by the duchess of Valentinois, +his mistress, the latter of whom was looking forward to the benefit she +might expect from confiscations, Henry the second unwisely resolved to +carry to the full extent the persecution of the protestants. Hitherto, +only the humbler classes had been marked out for punishment; but, as +nothing more than the mere pleasure of tormenting could be derived +from pursuing them, it was now determined that men of higher rank +should suffer in their turn. This was at least impartial injustice. It +was believed that the reformed doctrines had many partisans among the +magistracy; and the members of the parliament of Paris were therefore +selected, as the subjects upon whom the new experiment of rigour should +be first tried. This step was taken at the suggestion of le Maître, the +chief president, who had the baseness to deliver privately to the king a +list of his protestant colleagues, and also a tempting statement of the +property which they possessed. + +It was a custom of the heads of the parliament to meet at stated periods, +for the purpose, among other things, of inquiring into any alleged +neglect or violation of duty on the part of the members. These meetings, +which were established by an edict of Charles VIII., were called the +Mercuriales, from the circumstance of their taking place on a Wednesday. +To one of these assemblies, while it was in the midst of a debate, on the +measures which ought to be adopted with respect to heretics, the king +suddenly came, without any previous notice, accompanied by the Guises, +and other rigidly catholic nobles, and guarded by a formidable escort. + +Previously to his arrival, the balance of opinion had inclined to the +side of a lenient administration of the law, until the discipline of the +church had been reformed by a new œcumenical council. Though the monarch +affected to be calm, it was easy to perceive that he was under the +influence of passion. He made a vehement harangue, in which he dwelt on +the disturbances caused by sectaries, and on the necessity of defending +the church, and then ordered the members to resume the debate, and +promised them freedom of speech. + +The promise was meant only as a snare. The manner in which the king had +come to the sitting, in open contempt of usage and even of decorum, +plainly showed that his intention was to intimidate. But, by pretending +to guarantee the privilege of freely speaking, he hoped to do away the +impression which his abrupt coming had made, and delude the speakers into +a disclosure of their real sentiments. There were some, perhaps, who +confided in his word; there were others who, doubtless, were aware that +no reliance was to be placed on it, but who, nevertheless, thought they +were called upon to maintain, at all hazards, what they deemed to be the +cause of religion and truth. Of the latter class were Anne du Bourg and +Louis du Faur. + +Du Faur admitted that troubles arose in the state from the difference of +religions, but he contended that it ought to be inquired who was really +the author of those troubles; and, with a manifest allusion to the king, +he added, that if this were done, the same reply might perhaps be made as +was given, on a similar occasion, by the prophet Elijah to Ahab, “I have +not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house, in that ye have, +forsaken, the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.” + +The speech of du Bourg, though it seemed to be less directly personal to +the monarch, was as well calculated as that of du Faur to excite angry +feelings in Henry and in many of the hearers, on whose vices it made a +rude attack. There were men, he said, whose blasphemies, adulteries, +horrible debaucheries, and repeated perjuries, crimes worthy of the worst +death, were not merely overlooked, but shamefully encouraged, while +every day new punishments were invented for men who were irreproachable. +“For of what crime can they be accused?” exclaimed he. “Can they be +charged with high treason, they who never mention the sovereign but in +the prayers which they offer up for him? Who can say that they violate +the laws of the state, endeavour to shake the fidelity of the towns, or +incite the provinces to revolt? With all the pains that have been taken, +not even with witnesses picked out for the purpose, has it been possible +to convict them of having so much as thought of these things. No! All +their fault and misfortune is that, by means of the light of the Holy +Scriptures, they have discovered and revealed the shameless turpitude of +the Papal power, and have demanded a salutary reformation. This is their +sedition.” + +When all the members had delivered their opinions, some of which were +favourable to mild measures, the king called for the register, in which +were inscribed the opinions of those who had spoken before his arrival, +and also on a previous day. He then addressed to the assembly another +speech of censure and menace, and ended by ordering the arrest of du +Bourg and du Faur, who were present, and likewise of six absent members. +The two former were conveyed to the Bastile, where du Bourg, and probably +du Faur also, was shut up in a cage. Three of the others escaped; the +rest were sent to other places of confinement. + +This arbitrary act was the last which Henry had the power of committing. +On that day fortnight, at a tournament, he was mortally wounded by a +splinter from the lance of the count de Montgomery. The scene of the +tournament was near the Bastile; and it is said that as the wounded +monarch was carried past the prison, his conscience smote him, and he +more than once expressed his fears that he had behaved unjustly to men +who were innocent. The cardinal of Lorraine, who was with him, is also +said to have assured him, that such an idea could have been inspired only +by the arch fiend, and admonished him to reject it, and adhere firmly +to his faith. This story, however, has no other foundation than popular +report. + +The reign of Francis II. opened under no favourable auspices for the +protestants. The minor king was wholly under the influence of the +Guises, and of his mother Catherine of Medicis, all of whom had vowed a +deadly hostility to them. The persecution was accordingly resumed with +an increase of vigour. The trial of the members of the parliament was +pushed on; but it was against du Bourg that the hatred of the court was +peculiarly directed—the sweeping crimination, which was contained in his +speech before the deceased Henry, had wounded many great personages too +deeply to be forgiven. + +Before the death of Henry, a commission had been appointed, which had +interrogated du Bourg on the subject of his religious tenets. He having +candidly avowed them, they were pronounced heretical by the bishop of +Paris, and he was delivered over to the secular authority. Du Bourg +appealed to the archbishop of Sens, and to the parliament, but without +effect. The trial was proceeded with, and, while it was pending, an event +occurred, which contributed to render his enemies still more inveterate. +One of his judges was a counsellor named Minard, a man of profligate +life, who had given violent advice to the late king. Du Bourg, therefore, +repeatedly challenged him as incompetent to sit upon the trial, and, on +Minard refusing to withdraw, the prisoner is said to have exclaimed, “God +will know how to compel thee!” It unfortunately happened that, returning +one evening to his home from the trial, Minard was assassinated, by +a pistol being fired at him. Du Bourg was suspected, and not without +an appearance of reason, of being implicated in the murder, and this +hastened his fate. There is no ground whatever to believe that he was +concerned in the foul deed; but it must be owned, that such prophecies +as he ventured upon are dangerous, because they have a tendency to bring +about their own fulfilment. It is not improbable, that the act was +suggested to the mind of some fanatical protestant by the words of the +prisoner. + +It was in vain that the Elector Palatine wrote to the French monarch, +to entreat him to spare the life of du Bourg, and that numerous eminent +persons, even catholics, solicited to the same effect. Neither their +intercession, nor his acknowledged integrity and pure morals, availed to +save him. He was condemned to be hanged and his body burnt, at the Place +de Grêve. He died, at the age of thirty-eight, with a calm heroism, and +Christian spirit of forgiveness, which excited general admiration. His +death, far from being beneficial to the catholic cause, was exceedingly +injurious to it. The protestants regarded him as a martyr, gloried in +him as an honour to their party and faith, and were not slow in taking a +heavy vengeance for his untimely doom. + +The blood of du Bourg seems to have deadened the fire of persecution, as +far as related to the other parliamentary prisoners. Some were subjected +to little more than nominal punishments; and even du Faur, the most +obnoxious of them, was only condemned to pay a fine, ask pardon, and be +suspended from his judicial functions for five years. But, comparatively +light as this sentence was, du Faur refused to acquiesce in it; he boldly +protested against it, and after a hard struggle, he was fortunate enough +to obtain its revocation, and to be re-established in his magisterial +capacity. Nor does it appear that this victory was purchased by any +sacrifice of principle. + +Among those who, during the new crusade against protestants, had to +lament the loss of liberty, was Francis de Vendôme, Vidame of Chartres, +allied to the princes of the blood and the potent house of Montmorenci. +Vendôme had served in Italy, as a volunteer, under the duke of Aumale, +and, subsequently, held a command there, under the duke of Guise; after +which he was appointed governor of Calais. Closely connected with the +house of Montmorenci, he was irritated beyond measure by the dismissal +of the constable, and cherished a deadly animosity against the Guises, +who were the authors of that measure. It is not wonderful that, under the +influence of these feelings, he should make common cause with the prince +of Condé and the king of Navarre, who were preparing for resistance to +the court. Vendôme took an active part in rousing the protestants to +arms in various parts of the kingdom. But some of his letters, to the +prince of Condé, having been found upon la Sague, an emissary of the +protestant party, he was arrested and sent to the Bastile. There he was +treated with extreme rigour, and was refused permission to see his wife, +though she offered to become a prisoner with him. The letters were in +appearance merely complimentary, but the dread of the torture induced la +Sague to disclose that important secrets were written, with sympathetic +ink, on the cover that contained them. The death of Francis II. and +the pretended reconcilement of the hostile parties on the accession of +Charles IX., would have saved Vendôme from the scaffold, but he did not +live to recover his freedom. Worn out by a life of dissipation, he died, +in his thirty-eighth year, at the Tournelles, to which prison he had been +removed from the Bastile. + +The decease of Vendôme took place in 1560, and, for several years, with +the exception of a duke of Lunebourg, who was imprisoned for a quarrel +with the duke of Guise, no prisoner, at least none whose fate history has +thought worthy of recording, appears to have found an abode within the +walls of the Bastile. After the horrible massacre of St. Bartholomew, +there was a moment when the fortress seemed about to receive a princely +captive. The king of Navarre (afterwards Henry IV.) had yielded to the +threats of the royal murderer, and had changed his religion; but the +Prince of Condé was made of sterner stuff. He resisted so firmly all +attempts to induce him to apostatize, that Charles IX. ordered him to +be brought before him, and, in a furious tone, addressed to him three +ominous words; “The mass, death, or the Bastile.” Condé held out a little +longer, but he yielded when he found that du Rosier, a famous protestant +minister, had been converted to the Catholic faith. + +It was not till towards the close of the reign of Charles IX. that the +Bastile was again tenanted. That monarch was then sinking rapidly into +the grave, under the pressure of bodily disease, and the perpetual stings +of his conscience. Haunted by appalling dreams, and by direful spectres +and dismal sounds, which his fancy incessantly conjured up, he had fallen +into a state which scarcely the remembrance of his crimes can prevent +us from pitying. It was at this period that the party was formed which +adopted the appellations of Politicians and Malecontents. The first of +these names was chosen to show that the persons assuming it were not +actuated, like the protestants, by religious motives. The oppressive +weight of the taxes, the insolent licentiousness of the soldiery, and the +cruelty and flagrant incapacity of those who managed the public affairs, +were their grounds of complaint. At the head of this party, which soon +became considerable, were William de Montmorenci and his nephew, the +Viscount de Turenne. Though this party consisted of catholics, yet, as +among the objects which it sought to obtain there were many which the +protestants no less eagerly desired, it was not long before a coalition +was formed between them. + +To give greater weight and consistence to the party, it was thought +advisable to provide for it a chief of a more elevated rank than +Montmorenci and Turenne. The duke of Alençon, one of the king’s brothers, +who is known in English history as the duke of Anjou, was the chosen +individual. With many defects, and a scanty share of virtues, he had +some qualifications for being head of the party. To the protestants +he was recommended by his being far less hostile than the rest of his +family, and by his having been an unalterable friend of the murdered +admiral Coligni. Alençon was irritated by the restraint, little short of +imprisonment, under which he was kept at court, and by the refusal to +confer on him the lieutenant generalship of the kingdom, which had been +held by his brother Henry; and was consequently not averse from joining +those who could contribute to gratify his ambition. It has, indeed, been +supposed, and the supposition is by no means improbable, that the party, +or at least the protestant branch of it, would have been willing to raise +him to the throne, to the exclusion of Henry, his elder brother. + +Two of the principal agents in forwarding the design of the malecontents +were la Mole, and the count de Coconas, the favourites of the duke of +Alençon. La Mole was an officer, a native of Provence. Among the ladies +of the court he was much admired for his liveliness and companionable +qualities. His time was divided, not quite equally, between sinning +and hearing mass; the latter of which he attended three or four times +a day. It was said of him by the king, that whoever wished to keep a +register of la Mole’s debaucheries, need only reckon up his masses. He +was notoriously one of the gallants of Margaret of Valois, as Coconas was +of the duchess of Nevers, the eldest of three sisters, who were called +the Graces. Coconas was one of the many Italians who were attracted into +France by the hope of receiving patronage from Catherine of Medicis. One +anecdote will suffice to demonstrate the fiendishness of his nature. +During the massacre of St. Bartholomew, he bought from the populace +thirty hugonot prisoners, that he might gratify himself, by subjecting +them to torture both of body and mind. After having, by a promise of +saving their lives, induced them to renounce their faith, he put them +slowly to death by numerous superficial dagger wounds. Of this act he was +accustomed to boast. The fate of such a man can excite no pity. + +All was arranged for the flight of the duke of Alençon, the king of +Navarre, and the prince of Condé, from the court, in order to join the +malecontents, and hoist the standard of opposition. Bands of troops were +hovering round the palace of St. Germain, to protect their retreat. +But the plot was disconcerted by the vigilance of Catherine of Medicis, +the imprudence of some of the plotters, and the hesitation of the +feeble-minded duke. At two in the morning, Catherine hurried the dying +Charles from St. Germain to Paris in a litter, and placed guards over the +duke and the king of Navarre; Condé, more prudent than his associates, +had embraced the first opportunity to escape. There were some ludicrous +circumstances connected with the hasty retreat to Paris. “The cardinals +of Bourbon, Lorraine, and Guise,” says d’Aubigné, “the chancellor +Birague, and Morvilliers and Bellièvre, were all mounted on Italian +coursers, grasping with both hands their saddle bows, and as thoroughly +frightened at their horses as at the enemy.” Contrasting strongly with +this was the pitiable state of the monarch, with his frame debilitated, +and all the weight of the St. Bartholomew on his soul, groaning, and +mournfully exclaiming, “At least they might have waited till I was dead!” + +Indignant at what he called a foul conspiracy, the king ordered that a +rigid enquiry should instantly be commenced. La Mole denied every thing; +Coconas, on the contrary, disclosed all that he knew, and perhaps more. +But the fate of the conspirators was sealed by the duke of Alençon, who +made an ample confession, without even having attempted to stipulate for +the lives of his confederates. Coconas and la Mole, who had been sent to +the Bastile, were now brought to trial; and, by dint of legal sophistry, +the project of bringing about the flight of the princes was construed +into a design against the person of the king. + +Coconas and la Mole were condemned to be put to the torture, and then +beheaded. “Poor la Mole!” exclaimed the latter, while he was suffering +the first part of his sentence, “is there no way to obtain a pardon? The +duke, my master, to whom I owe innumerable obligations, commanded me +on my life to say nothing of what he was about to do. I answered, yes, +sir, if you do nothing against the king.” The unfortunate man, like vast +numbers at that period, had faith in magic arts. A waxen image, of which +the heart was pierced through with a needle, had been found among his +effects. On being questioned whether this was not meant to represent the +king, and to be an instrument of tormenting his majesty, he replied that +its only purpose was to inspire love in a lady, of whom he was deeply +enamoured. + +On the scaffold, before he laid down his head on the block, he +significantly said to the by-standers, “You see, sirs, that the little +ones are caught, and that the great ones, who have been guilty of the +fault, are allowed to escape.” La Mole displayed his ruling passion +strong in death. His last words, after having prayed to God and the +Virgin, were, “commend me to the kind remembrance of the queen of Navarre +and the ladies.” He was not forgotten by his lady-love; neither was his +companion. Queen Margaret and the duchess of Nevers are said by some +to have embalmed the heads of their admirers, that they might always +preserve them for contemplation; while by others they are asserted to +have taken them in a carriage to a chapel, at the foot of Montmartre, and +buried them with their own hands. Two years afterwards, the sentences +against la Mole and Coconas were annulled by Henry III. + +The abortive plot in favour of the duke of Alençon proved a source of +trouble to two individuals, more eminent in rank, and far more estimable +in character, than were la Mole and Coconas. The marshals Francis de +Montmorenci, and Arthur de Cossé, the former of whom was the eldest son +of the celebrated constable, were suspected, or pretended to be so, by +the queen mother; Montmorenci was also well known to feel that hatred +of the Guises which was characteristic of his family. At her suggestion, +therefore, they were committed to the Bastile, by Charles IX. This was +nearly the last exercise of his authority. He died about a fortnight +after, leaving his mother to hold the office of regent, till his +successor, the third Henry, could return from Poland. + +Montmorenci was the husband of Diana, the natural daughter of Henry II., +and had been employed on numerous occasions, civil and military, in all +of which he had honourably acquitted himself. Of his martial exploits the +most prominent was the brave though unsuccessful defence of Terouane. He +was liberal, high-minded, learned, firm, and of invariable rectitude. +Cossé was still more illustrious in arms than his fellow prisoner. He +had distinguished himself at various sieges, particularly those of Sens +and Metz, and in the battle of St. Denis, and many other encounters. Nor +was he a mere enterprising soldier. It is said of him, by contemporary +historians, and it is no light praise, “that his head was as good as his +arm.” + +The party which had hitherto been known as that of the Politicians now +took the name of the Third Party. It received a large increase, by the +junction of catholics, whose indignation was excited by the constraint +put upon the duke of Alençon and the king of Navarre, at Vincennes, and +the close imprisonment of two such eminent men as de Montmorenci and +de Cossé. Condé, too, was busy in Germany, stirring up the protestant +princes to succour his friends, and keeping up a continual correspondence +with the French calvinists. + +On his taking possession of the throne, Henry set at liberty the king +of Navarre and the duke of Alençon. The marshals, however, were still +retained in confinement. Diana, the wife of Montmorenci, had adopted +a singular mode of moving in her husband’s behalf the feelings of the +monarch. Dressed in deep mourning, and followed by all her female +attendants in the same garb, she met Henry as he was passing through the +street, fell at his feet, and entreated him to take compassion on her +husband, whose health was declining in a prison, into which he had been +thrown without being convicted, or so much as accused, of any crime. +She likewise forcibly urged that, even if his majesty supposed him to +be guilty, he ought to grant him a fair trial. The king seemed to be +affected by her appeal, which was backed by some of the nobles who were +present, and he promised to enquire into the business with as little +delay as possible. + +The promise of the king, however, if sincere at the moment, was soon +disregarded. Cossé, who, like his fellow captive, was suffering from bad +health, was, indeed, allowed to take up his abode in his own house, under +a guard; but the only deliverance which was destined for Montmorenci was +deliverance from all the troubles of this world. It appears, in fact, +that his life would not have been safe for a moment, but for the salutary +fear that his death would drive into open hostility his brother Damville, +who held the government of Languedoc. A report having been spread that +Damville was dead, the king resolved to have the marshal strangled in +prison, and, as a preliminary step, it was industriously given out that +he was subject to apoplectic attacks. This barbarous and cowardly scheme +would have been carried into effect, had not an obstacle occurred. Giles +de Souvré, who had been mistakenly selected to perform the assassin’s +part, chanced to be a more honest man than his royal master, and he +purposely interposed so many delays, that time was afforded to ascertain +the falsehood of the report which had announced the death of Damville. + +It was neither to the clemency nor the justice of his sovereign that +Montmorenci was ultimately indebted for the recovery of his freedom. +Endangered by the betrayal of a plot into which he had entered against +his brother, Alençon mustered up courage enough to run away. His flight +took place on the 16th of September 1575. As soon as he was in safety, at +Dreux, he issued a manifesto, not unartfully contrived, to gain partisans +in various quarters. Reform in every department was the tempting burden +of its song. It worked its intended effect; the protestants were in +raptures, the Third Party was satisfied with it, and he speedily found +himself in a situation to set the court at defiance. + +William, one of the brothers of Montmorenci, whom we have seen one of the +original chiefs of the Politicians, was now about to enter the French +territory at the head of a division of troops, designed to herald the way +to the army which the prince of Condé had succeeded in obtaining from +the Elector Palatine. In the first outbreak of her anger, on hearing +this news, the queen mother sent him word, that, if he dared to advance, +she would despatch to him the heads of the two marshals. His reply was, +“Should the queen do as she threatens, there is nothing of hers in France +on which I will not leave the marks of my revenge.” + +Menace having failed, the wily Catherine resorted to an opposite mode +of proceeding. Aware that the liberation of the two marshals would be +imperatively demanded by their armed friends, and that the king was too +weak to refuse it, she determined to try whether she could not secure +their gratitude, by appearing to have the merit of voluntarily releasing +them. They were accordingly restored to liberty. By a declaration, under +the royal seal, Montmorenci was pronounced to be “absolutely innocent of +the crime which had been laid to his charge,” When a similar exculpatory +document was offered to Cossé by the king, he chivalrously replied, +“Excuse me, sire, for declining it; a Cossé ought to think that no one +can believe him to be guilty.” + +Though they could not be ignorant of the motive which had induced +Catherine to throw open their prison doors, the marshals acted as if a +favour had really been granted to them. Montmorenci had the largest share +in bringing about the truce, and the subsequent treaty, between the king +and the duke of Alençon; and the loyalty of Cossé was considered to be +so unimpeachable that, in 1578, he received the order of the Holy Ghost. +Montmorenci died in 1579; Cossé in 1582. + +The principal favourite of the duke of Alençon, after the death of la +Mole and Coconas, was Louis de Clermont, better known by the appellation +of Bussy d’Amboise. In profligacy he went beyond his predecessors. He +seems to have been a compound of vices, without a single virtue; unless, +indeed, we may give the name of virtue to mere brutal courage. Full +of pride and insolence, eager to involve others in deadly quarrels, +a libertine, a professed duellist, and a cold-blooded assassin, his +being tolerated at the French court, and even admired by many persons, +is an unrefutable evidence of the wretched state of morals among the +nobility of France. Bravery must have been held in a sort of idolatrous +estimation, when respect for it could induce such a man as Crillon to be +the friend of d’Amboise. + +The first achievement which Bussy is known to have performed stamps his +name with infamy. He was engaged in a lawsuit against the marquis of +Renel, one of his relations, to recover from him the marquisate, which +Bussy claimed as his right. The marquis had come to Paris, with the king +of Navarre, and was there when the massacre of St. Bartholomew took +place. In the midst of the carnage, Bussy sought him out, and stabbed +him to the heart. The parliament, soon after, passed a decree, admitting +the murderer’s claim; but it is consolatory to find that the decree was +subsequently annulled. + +Having attached himself to the duke of Alençon, he was entrusted with the +government of the castle of Angers, and he soon made himself universally +hated, by his extortion and tyranny. When he visited the court with his +master, his arrogance and audacity rose to such a height, that the king’s +favourites, whom he had often insulted, at length formed a scheme to +assassinate him. The attack was made at night, and with superior numbers; +but it was foiled by the skill and resolution of Bussy and his followers. + +The monarch himself was not safe from the contemptuous sarcasms of Bussy. +In their dress, Henry and his minions carried to the most extravagant +length the costly and absurd fashions of that period. Bussy one day +attended his patron to court. He himself was simply dressed, but he was +followed by six pages, clad in cloth of gold, and tricked out in the most +approved style of finery. That the point of this silent satire might not +be lost, he insultingly proclaimed aloud, that “the time was come when +ragamuffins would make the most show!” The king was so irritated by this +language, that, for a while, the duke was obliged to forbid Bussy from +appearing in his train. + +About the same time, Bussy gave fresh cause of offence to the king. +Ever seeking an opportunity to indulge his passion for duelling, he had +wantonly quarrelled with a gentleman named St. Phal. Looking at some +embroidery, St. Phal remarked that the letter X was worked on it; Bussy, +from sheer contradiction, asserted that the letter was a Y. A duel of six +against six in consequence took place, and Bussy was slightly wounded. +As, however, Bussy sent his antagonist a second challenge, and expressed +a stubborn determination to follow up the quarrel to the last extremity, +the king interposed to put an end to it. Bussy reluctantly consented to +meet St. Phal, in the king’s presence, for the purpose of reconcilement, +and when, with that intent, he went to the Louvre, he was accompanied +into the palace by a band of two hundred determined partisans. The anger +of the king was excited by this irruption of bravos, but for the present +he restrained it. + +In one of those fits of suspecting his brother, with which Henry was +occasionally seized, he went by night to put him under arrest, and, at +the same time, he sent Bussy to the Bastile. On the following morning, a +council was held, at which, prompted by the queen mother, the ministers +declared that the step which the king had taken was impolitic, and +advised him to be reconciled with the duke. Henry consented. The only +stipulation which he made was, that Bussy, on being liberated, should be +reconciled to Caylus, the king’s favourite, with whom he was at enmity. +Bussy complied, and, in complying, contrived to throw ridicule on the +weak monarch. “Sire,” said he, “if you wish me to kiss him, I am quite +ready to do it;” then, suiting the action to the word, he embraced Caylus +in such a thoroughly farcical style, that the spectators were unable to +repress their laughter. + +It was not long before the libertinism of Bussy supplied Henry with the +means of destroying him. It is probable that, in his amours, the pleasure +of betraying the women who confided in him formed one of the greatest +inducements to pursue them—a base feeling, which is still prevalent. In +a letter to the duke of Anjou, he boasted that he had been spreading his +nets for the Great Huntsman’s beast, and that he held her fast in them. +The Great Huntsman was the count de Montsoreau, who held that office; +the beast, as she was politely called, was the count’s wife, whom the +profligate writer had seduced. This letter Anjou put into the king’s +hands, as a good jest. Henry kept it, and communicated it to the count, +whom he urged to revenge himself on the offender. Montsoreau was not +backward to follow the king’s advice. He hurried home, and compelled his +wife to write to Bussy, to make an assignation with him. Bussy was true +to the appointment. Instead, however, of meeting the countess, he was +attacked by Montsoreau and several men, all of whom wore coats of mail. +In spite of the odds against him, he fought for some time with determined +spirit; but, finding that he must eventually be overpowered, he tried +to escape through the window, and was slain by a stab in the back. “The +whole province,” says de Thou, “was delighted at his fall, and even the +duke of Anjou was not very sorry to be rid of a man who began to be a +burthen to him.” + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + Reign of Henry III. continued—Conspiracy of Salcede—Francis + de Rosières—Peter de Belloy—Francis le Breton—Bernard + Palissy—Daring plots of the League—Henry III. expelled from + Paris—The Bastile surrenders to Guise—Bussi le Clerc appointed + governor—Damours—James de la Guesle—Reign of Henry IV.—Members + of the parliament arrested—President de Harlay—Potier de + Blancmesnil—The family of Seguier—Speeches of Henry IV.—Louis + Seguier—James Gillot—Outrage committed by the Council of + Sixteen—It is punished by the duke of Mayenne—Henry IV. enters + Paris—Surrender of the Bastile—Du Bourg—Treasure deposited in + the Bastile by Henry. + + +It was a conspiracy against the duke of Anjou, and the king of France, +that brought the next prisoner of importance to the Bastile. This +conspiracy originated with the Guises, was promoted by that great artisan +of mischief Philip the Second of Spain, and contained the seminal +principle of the subsequent war, which is known as the war of the League. +The agent employed in carrying it on was Nicholas Salcede, a man of +daring and profligate character, whose father, a Spanish gentleman, the +governor of Vic, in Lorraine, having offended the Guises, was slain, +though he was a catholic, in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. By dint, +however, of heaping favours and attentions on him, the Guises, to whom, +indeed, he was distantly related, soon induced Salcede to forget the +murder of his parent. By a crowning act of kindness, they, in some +measure, acquired a right to his services. Counterfeiting the king’s +coin, as well as that of foreign states, was a crime which, for a long +series of years, was of common occurrence in France among persons of +rank. The punishment of throwing them into boiling oil was insufficient +to deter them; for it was so often evaded that it ceased to create +terror. Salcede had carried the practice of coining to such an extent as +to be able to purchase an estate. Being detected, he was summoned to take +his trial at Rouen, and, as he prudently refused to appear, sentence of +death was passed upon him as a contumacious criminal. But the duke of +Lorraine interceded for him, and his pardon was granted. This, and the +prospect of honours and rewards, linked him firmly to the Guises. + +The duke of Anjou was, at this period, struggling to acquire the +sovereignty of the Netherlands, and under his banner were arrayed an +immense number of the French nobles. To the members of the house of +Lorraine he was inveterately hostile; for he looked upon them as his +personal enemies, and as having been authors of the many mortifications +which he had undergone. To prevent him from entering France, for the +purpose of succouring his brother Henry, was, therefore, an object of +primary importance; as, if that were not attained, their project of +dethroning the king, or at least becoming viceroys over him, could +scarcely hope for success. Morality was, in those days, at so low an +ebb among the great, that it is probable the Guises would have felt but +few scruples in accomplishing their purpose by the death of the duke; +though, avowedly, their sole aim was to shut him out of France, by +closing against him the northern frontier and the ports of Britanny. + +The daring spirit and desperate situation of Salcede—for he was deeply +involved in debt—pointed him out to the Guises as a fit instrument. The +duke of Guise tempted him by a solemn assurance, that the king of Spain +would reward him with rank and occupation proportioned to the magnitude +of his services; and he backed his arguments and promises by descanting +on the benefit which the catholic religion would derive from ruining the +duke of Anjou. His eloquence prevailed, and Salcede unreluctantly devoted +himself to the furtherance of the treasonable scheme. + +It was arranged, that the Guises should secretly furnish funds for +raising a regiment, to be commanded by Salcede, and that he should then +proceed to the duke of Anjou, and offer to bring to his banner a chosen +body of men, who would engage to remain under it for several months. No +doubt was entertained that, as the duke was scantily provided with money, +was, in consequence, daily deserted by some of his troops, and had no +great confidence in the Belgians, he would gladly accept this offer; and +would either entrust the new corps with the keeping of some important +fortress, or reserve it as a guard for his own person. In either case, +the conspirators could turn the circumstance to account. The seizure of +Dunkirk and Cambray were the main points to which Salcede’s attention +was to be directed; but he was also to do his best to shake the fidelity +of Anjou’s officers, and, of course, was to act as spy for the Spanish +monarch. The prince of Parma, meanwhile, was gradually to approach +Calais, the governor of which town, it is said, had promised to betray +his trust. The sudden loss of Calais would, it was imagined, so terrify +Henry, that he would give the supreme command of his forces to the duke +of Guise; the French accomplices of the Guises would then rise in arms; +and the plan of subverting the government would be easily executed. + +As had been expected, the proposal of Salcede was listened to with much +pleasure by the duke of Anjou, who treated him as a valuable friend. The +duke was as yet ignorant that the conspirator had been reconciled to the +Guises. Nor was he aware that, in his way to Bruges, Salcede had visited +the enemy’s camp, had a conference with the prince of Parma, the viceroy, +and been accompanied to Bruges by two of the prince’s agents. But the +sharp-sighted prince of Orange was not disposed to grant his confidence +to the newcomer so readily as the duke; he disliked and suspected him, +both as being in his origin a Spaniard, and as having been found guilty +of an infamous offence. The enquiries of the prince of Orange elicited +sufficient evidence to justify his suspicion that Salcede had sinister +designs, and he, therefore, advised the duke to arrest him. This advice +was followed by Anjou, who had already learned, from another quarter, +that his pretended partisan was connected with the Guises. Salcede was +accordingly arrested on his coming to the palace. The two agents of the +prince of Parma were waiting at the palace gate for their confederate’s +return; one of them escaped, the other, Francis Baza by name, was seized +and committed to prison. In the course of a few days, Baza put an end to +his existence. + +In the first examination, mysterious hints were all that could be drawn +from Salcede; in the second, he spontaneously disclosed so complicated +and gigantic a conspiracy, that his hearers were astounded. That part of +it which related to Belgium and the duke of Anjou was the smallest part; +a mere episode in the Guisian Iliad. The conspirators purposed nothing +less than to imprison the king of France, exterminate the royal family, +and subject the kingdom to the domination of Spain. Their means Salcede +stated to be immense. As implicated in the plot, he named a multitude +of the most powerful nobles, a majority of the governors of provinces +and towns, and even some of the king’s ministers and favourites. The +provinces of Picardy, Champagne, Burgundy, Britanny, and the Cotentin, +were, he said, secured by the plotters; nor would foreign aid be wanting, +as the papal and Piedmontese troops were to enter France on the side of +Lyons, while two Spanish armies were to pass the Pyrenees into Bearn +and Gascony, where the malecontents were in readiness to receive them. +This deposition, after a lapse of some days, he voluntarily repeated and +enlarged, and he offered to prove it, by being confronted with three +persons, whom he had before mentioned, and who, he was convinced, would +confess that he had spoken but the truth. + +This disclosure was of too much importance to Henry of France to admit of +delay in making it known to him. The duke of Anjou accordingly despatched +one of his chamberlains to Paris, with the depositions, and a letter, in +which the Guises were not spared. At first, Henry was startled at the +seeming danger; but his natural dislike of business, and his love of +pleasure, soon induced him to take refuge in the idea that the whole was +an invention of some one who wished to disturb his quiet, or a stratagem +of his brother, to obtain liberal succours. Not so thought his minister +Bellièvre, in whom he placed great confidence. While the minister perused +the paper, the changes in his countenance plainly showed that he thought +the plot was real, and the peril from it extreme. It was at length +settled, that Bellièvre, accompanied by Brulart, one of the secretaries +of state, should proceed to Bruges, interrogate Salcede, and require +that the criminal should be transferred to Paris. “If,” said the king, +“my brother consents to the transfer, I shall believe that a conspiracy +exists.” + +When Bellièvre questioned him, Salcede, for the third time, repeated +his story. He was now conveyed to France, and placed in the castle of +Vincennes; the duke of Anjou having readily acceded to the wish of his +brother. When, however, he was brought before the king in council, +he disavowed all that he had previously said. His confession had, he +affirmed, been dictated to him by three persons in the duke’s service, +who compelled him to write it. “Why, then, did you say the same to +Bellièvre, when those persons were absent?” inquired the king. To this +the unblushing prisoner answered, that Bellièvre had intimidated him by +threats, and that he had always been under the influence of terror while +he was in the ducal palace. Bellièvre was a man remarkable for patience +and politeness, but he was so provoked by this charge, that he could not +forbear from exclaiming, “You are an impudent slanderer.” At the close of +the examination, Salcede was removed to the Bastile. There he was again +examined, and there he persisted in his disavowal. + +It now became a question what should be done with Salcede. The president +de Thou advised that he should be retained in prison. He urged that, if +the conspiracy were real, his detention would intimidate his accomplices, +and afford the means of convicting them in case of need; while, on the +other hand, if the conspiracy were only a calumny, invented by turbulent +and ill-disposed persons, the existence of the criminal might serve +to justify the innocence of those whom he had accused. His son, the +celebrated historian, tells us, that the president had an additional +motive in thus advising; he wished not merely to hold the conspirators +in check, by preserving the evidence of their guilt, but, at the same +time, to keep before the king’s eyes a memento of the danger to which +he exposed himself by his unbridled licentiousness, and his oppressive +misgovernment. + +This prudent counsel was, however, strenuously opposed. It was contended +that, in whatever light the question was viewed, the culprit ought to +die. Supposing the plot to be a reality, his death would terrify his +associates; his being suffered to live might drive them to rebellion +through despair. If, on the contrary, his tale were false, death ought +to punish the calumny; and the more so because, if impunity were granted +to him, resentment, at being unjustly suspected, might provoke innocent +persons to become really criminal. + +The motive which prompted many to insist on the latter mode of proceeding +cannot be mistaken; they were pleading for their own lives, or the +lives of their friends. The weakness of their reasoning is so evident +as to need no exposure. It was not by stifling inquiry that the monarch +could hope to neutralize or convert his enemies. History does, indeed, +record instances where it was wise as well as generous to throw the +veil of oblivion over an incipient plot, and save the plotters from the +necessity of becoming open rebels; but this was not a case of the kind. +The plotters against Henry were irreclaimable, and, ascribing his conduct +to fear and not to mildness, would only be encouraged to persist in their +destructive projects. When justice has pronounced upon the criminal, +then is the time for a sovereign to show mercy; and, if he have a human +heart, he will set no other bounds to his clemency than those which are +imperatively prescribed by the safety of the state. But he who shrinks +from prosecuting a traitor offers a premium for the growth of treason. + +Henry, nevertheless, decided otherwise. He adopted the opinion of those +who were for sending Salcede to the scaffold. In thus following their +insidious advice, he was not influenced by principle or mistaken policy; +he was mainly actuated by a childish impatience, an eagerness to get rid +of a disagreeable subject, which interrupted his contemptible pleasures. +Like the stupid bird, which hopes to baffle its pursuers by hiding its +head, he seems to have thought that if danger were out of sight it could +not reach him. He had, however, another and an equally mean reason for +his decision; the wish to mortify de Thou. The president had recently +offended him by a virtuous and truly loyal act. Dreading the effect which +would be produced by the king’s incessant edicts to extort money, he +implored him to pause, lest poverty and despair should drive the people +to resistance. Instead of profiting by this patriotic warning, Henry +turned round to his train of flatterers, and sneeringly exclaimed, “The +poor man is in a state of dotage!” He was righteously punished for his +scorn of honest and prudent counsel. Ere many years had gone by, he was +taught to lament with tears the loss of this doting magistrate, and to +confess that, had de Thou lived, Paris would never have revolted. + +Salcede was brought to trial. Everything that could throw light on the +fact of the conspiracy was studiously suppressed; there was no search for +evidence relative to it, no examination and confronting of the persons +who had been charged by the prisoner. The sole object was to obtain a +sentence of death against the man whose existence might prove fatal to +the conspirators. That object was accomplished on the 25th of October, +1582. Salcede was pronounced guilty of high treason, and was condemned +to be torn into quarters by four horses; his quarters were to be placed +on gibbets, at the principal gates of Paris, and his head was to be sent +to Antwerp, to be exposed in a similar manner. Immediately previous to +his execution, he was likewise to be put to the torture; this was a +supererogatory act of cruelty, for, even if we admit the possibility of +justifying the use of torture, its infliction in this instance could +answer no useful purpose. It was decreed, also, by his judges, that “his +confessions, the private letters found on him, and _the declarations +which he had made since the commencement of his trial_, should be burnt +to ashes; as having been malignantly and calumniously invented, to +prejudice the honour of various princes, nobles, and other persons.” Here +is the key to the whole proceeding. + + “Light dies before thy uncreating word! + Thy hand, great anarch, lets the curtain fall, + And universal darkness buries all.” + +The king was sufficiently devoid of feeling to witness, behind a curtain, +the torturing of the prisoner, and to go to the Town Hall, to see +executed the ferocious and sickening sentence, which condemned a fellow +being to be torn to pieces by horses. But, even in that corrupt and +semi-barbarous age, there were not wanting persons who passed a severe +censure on Henry, for conduct which was disgraceful to him as a king and +a man. + +When the torture was applied, Salcede again veered about; he re-asserted +the whole of what he had originally stated, with respect to the +conspiracy. This blow was, however, adroitly parried by those whom it +might otherwise have injured. As he was passing up a dark staircase, +after having been tortured, he was joined by a priest, of the order of +Jesuits, who exhorted him to retract his confession once more. This +ghostly adviser no doubt worked powerfully on his hopes and fears, with +regard to another world, and he succeeded in prevailing on him to make a +new retractation. As nothing was to be gained by varying in his story, he +persisted in this retractation, and, at the place of execution, he loudly +extolled the virtues, and proclaimed the innocence, of his patrons, the +Guises. He lived a villain, and he died a self-convicted liar. + +In the following year, 1583, there occurred another, but comparatively +a trivial, illustration of the ambitious views of the Guises, and +the vacillation and timidity of the king. Francis de Rosières, a +native of Toul, born in 1534, was a man of prepossessing manners, and +of considerable erudition and eloquence. He rose to be archdeacon of +Toul, and through the patronage of cardinal de Guise, obtained several +benefices, and the office of counsellor to the duke of Lorraine. To prove +his gratitude to his benefactors, and probably at their instigation, he +composed and published a voluminous work, on “the genealogy of the dukes +of Lorraine and Bar.” Its evident purpose was to degrade the reigning +family, and exalt that of the Guises. Not satisfied with tracing back +in a direct line to Charlemagne the descent of the house of Lorraine, +he carried it further through the starless night of ages, up to a son +of Clodion, from whom Merovæus was pretended to have usurped the crown. +The inference was easy, that the monarchs of the Capetian race were +intruders, and that the Guises alone had a legitimate right to the +throne. From thence to the assertion of the right was but a single step, +on the propriety of which it was for prudence to decide, the question of +justice being already settled. This doctrine was, in fact, openly taught +in other works, which the Guises, however, affected to disavow, and to +regard as fabrications of the protestants, for the purpose of throwing +suspicion on their loyalty. + +In addition to his laboured genealogy of his patrons, Rosières had been +guilty of various misrepresentations, and of a personal attack upon +Henry; and he had supported his fabric of falsehood by documents which +were manifestly spurious, and by altering others, so as to suit them to +his purpose. The other libels Henry had repelled only by employing Pons +de Thyard, a man of varied talents, to write an elaborate answer: against +this he resolved to proceed in a different manner; he treated it as a +state crime. He who had swallowed the camel of last year’s conspiracy, +now strained at this gnat of a volume. And here again his infirmity of +purpose betrayed him to the scorn of his enemies. Commencing vigorously, +he despatched Brulart to Toul, to interrogate Rosières; after which the +archdeacon was conveyed to Paris, and housed in the Bastile. Thus far, +Henry seemed to have meditated a tragedy; but, in its further progress +the drama dwindled down to a miserable farce. The plan which he adopted +had the demerit of alike disclosing an inclination to mortify the Guises, +and a dread of offending them. It was the latter feeling which prompted +him to prohibit the parliament from intervening in the cause, because +that body would probably pass a sentence derogatory to the house of +Lorraine; it was the former feeling which induced him to persevere in +seeking to gain the shadow of a triumph. He could not see that any thing +short of complete victory was in reality a defeat. + +Pursuing the absurd system which he had framed for himself, Henry now +convoked, at the Louvre, a numerous council of nobles and eminent men; +all the heads of the Lorraine family were present. Rosières was brought +from the Bastile, and, on his knees confessed his fault, owned that +he deserved rigorous punishment, and sued for pardon. The keeper of +the seals then gravely lectured him on the enormity of his crime, and +declared him to be guilty of high treason. It was next the turn of the +queen-mother to play her part; and, accordingly, as had previously been +arranged, she stepped forward, and entreated her son to forgive the +offender, for the sake of the duke of Lorraine. The king graciously +consented, and delivered Rosières into the hands of the duke. This +ludicrous scene was terminated by a decree, that the book should be torn +to pieces before the author’s face, but that no public record should be +made of these things, “lest reproach should fall on the illustrious house +of Lorraine.” Anquetil pithily remarks, that the crime ought either to +have been left unnoticed, or been more severely chastised. + +Rosières did not pass the whole of his remaining days in tranquillity. +He involved himself in a quarrel with his bishop, and was under the +necessity of repairing to Rome, to plead his own cause. How he sped in +the holy city is doubtful; one writer affirms that he was censured, +another maintains that he was absolved. He died in 1607. Besides the +Genealogy, he wrote various works, which are as dead as their author. + +Writers who ventured to thwart the Guises in their treasonable designs +did not meet with so much lenity from them as was shown to Rosières by +the feeble-minded Henry. No merit whatever could counterbalance the sin +of opposing them. This was experienced by Peter de Belloy, an eminent +jurisconsult, who was born at Montauban, about 1540, and became public +professor and counsellor at Toulouse. Belloy was a zealous catholic, and +his three elder brothers had fallen in combating against the protestants. +But these claims to consideration were not sufficient to prevent him from +being persecuted by the house of Lorraine. + +Asserting the king of Navarre’s right to succeed to the reigning monarch, +and exposing the machinations and hollow pretexts of the Guises, was +the crime of which Belloy was guilty. The works which drew on him +the vengeance of the Guisian faction were the “Catholic Apology;” “A +Refutation of the Bull of Pope Pius V. against the Navarrese sovereign;” +and “An Examination of the Discourse published against the Royal House +of France.” In these works, which were given to the press in 1585 and +1586, he contended, that the protestantism of Henry of Navarre did not +deprive him of his title to the crown; that the king could not disinherit +his legitimate heir; that the Pope had no authority to sit in judgment +upon the question of the succession; and that the seeming ardour of the +Guises, in behalf of catholicism, was nothing more than a mask to cover +their designs upon the throne. His language was strictly decorous, his +candour and impartiality were evident, but his facts and arguments were +unforgivable. + +Slander was the weapon which his enemies began by using against Belloy. +To his “Catholic Apology” a reply was published by a Jesuit, who assumed +the designation of Francisculus Romulus, but who is believed to have been +the celebrated Bellarmin. To give weight to his reasonings, the Jesuit +boldly asserted that his opponent, who falsely took the name of catholic, +was at least a heretic, if not an atheist. This calumny fell harmless +upon the object at which it was aimed. It was not so with calumny from +a higher quarter. The Guises were not satisfied with defaming him; they +determined to make him feel their power more effectually. An unfortunate +maniac, le Breton by name, of whom I shall have next occasion to speak, +had written a seditious libel. This libel the Guises ascribed to Belloy. +Failing to effect their purpose by this accusation, they painted him +in the darkest colours to the king, as a dangerous mischief-maker and +heretic, and the weak monarch was at last prevailed upon to commit him to +the prison of the Concièrgerie. + +After Henry had assassinated the duke of Guise, the Council of Sixteen +removed Belloy to the Bastile, where he remained in close confinement +for nearly four years. He at length found means to escape, and he sought +refuge at St. Denis, which was garrisoned by the troops of Henry IV. He +was introduced to Henry, by Vic, the governor, and the king rewarded +his talents and fidelity, by appointing him advocate-general to the +parliament of Toulouse. His subsequent life appears to have been passed +in quiet. The date of his death is not known, but in 1612 he was still +living. He wrote various works, besides those which have already been +mentioned: among them are a “Dissertation on the Origin and Institution +of various Orders of Chivalry;” and “An Exposition of the Seventy Weeks +of Daniel.” + +Francis le Breton, to whom I have already alluded, affords a striking +proof that, when Henry the third forbore to punish, it was not clemency, +but fear, indolence, or caprice, that withheld his hand. Le Breton was a +barrister of Poitiers, who had acquired considerable reputation by his +forensic talents. It speaks strongly in favour of his honesty and the +kindness of his nature, that he espoused so warmly the part of those for +whom he pleaded, as entirely to identify their interest with his own. A +mere mercenary counsel, indifferent to the justice or injustice of his +client’s claim, could have had no such feelings. Unfortunately, le Breton +was of a family in which symptoms of insanity had often appeared, and the +dreadful malady was lurking in his brain. The loss of a cause, in which +he was engaged for a poor individual, at once roused the latent disease +into action. He burst into vehement invectives against the judges, and +presented a violent memorial against them to a higher tribunal. The +superior judges, who saw how he was affected, gave him a gentle rebuke, +and dismissed the complaint. Irritated by this, he journeyed to Paris, +to make an appeal to the king. Having fastened his memorial on the +end of a stick, he went to the Louvre, where the guards, who rightly +concluded that he was bereft of his senses, endeavoured to drive him +away. Le Breton, however, was immovable, and he exclaimed so loudly and +incessantly, “The cause of the poor is abandoned, and God will take +vengeance for it,” that the noise reached the king’s ear, and he ordered +him to be admitted. Henry listened to his story, and then commanded him +to return to his own country, and to keep silence in public. To have +sent him to the hospital would have been a more praiseworthy act. + +Instead of proceeding to Poitiers, the maniac wandered through the +provinces, calling on the people to recover their liberty, and sending +inflammatory writings to the towns which were too distant for him to +visit. At last he reached Bordeaux, and demanded an interview with the +duke of Mayenne. It was granted; and the unfortunate lunatic employed +the whole of it in conjuring the duke to defend the cause of the poor. +Mayenne, who felt that le Breton’s harangues to the multitude, mad as he +was, might be serviceable to the Guises, gave him money, and probably +hopes, and then desired him to withdraw. + +Encouraged by this gracious reception, le Breton made the best of his +way to Paris, where he sat down to compose a furious invective against +the king, whom, with more truth than prudence or decorum, he styled +a debauched tyrant, and the magistrates, whom he stigmatised as men +steeped in wickedness, who, to please that tyrant, and gratify men in +power, betrayed the cause of the poor. Two printers were found who had +sufficient boldness to risk the printing of this libel. But, just as it +was about to appear, the whole impression was seized, and the author was +lodged in the Bastile. The printers were sentenced to be whipped, with +their necks in a halter, and then to be banished from the kingdom. The +libel was burnt by the public executioner. + +Believing, or affecting to believe, that the prisoner was less a madman +than an instrument of the malecontents, Henry endeavoured, by secret +interrogations, to obtain a confession that such was the fact. The +attempt failed, and the prisoner was then given up to the parliament for +trial. It was his misfortune that he was not the agent of some formidable +conspirator; he would in that case have had a fair chance of escaping. + +When le Breton was brought before the parliament, his malady manifested +itself in a more extravagant manner than ever. He treated the court with +unbounded contempt, spoke to the members with his hat on, and would +answer no questions. As he thus suffered judgment to go by default, +sentence of death was passed upon him, as guilty of having excited +the people to revolt; but his equitable and compassionate judges also +decreed, that “a deputation should wait upon the king, to represent that +the culprit laboured under mental alienation, and to entreat that his +majesty would pardon a crime which was rather the effect of disease than +of free will.” + +But neither the prayer of the parliament, nor the supplications of le +Breton’s mother, who brought irrefragable evidence of his madness, had +any effect upon the heartless Henry. Here was a victim whom he could +safely sacrifice, and he would not forego the pleasure. Yet even here +his mental cowardice peeped out. Instead of the involuntary offender +being conveyed to the Grêve, which was the usual place of execution, +he was hanged in the palace court. It seems to have been supposed, and +perhaps correctly, that the people could not witness without emotion +the death of a man, whose malady and whose fate had been brought upon +him by commiseration for their sorrows, and who perished because he had +no friend, while notorious criminals were daily allowed to brave the +laws with impunity. Far from acting as an example to deter others, the +murder of le Breton—for in his deplorable situation it was a murder—only +served to exasperate the people in a tenfold degree. It was the singular +infelicity of Henry never to be right in his treatment of crime; he was +despised when he did not punish, he was hated when he did. + +Political persecution consigned to the Bastile, at this period, and when +he was on the verge of the grave from extreme old age, a man who was +a benefactor, and an honour, to his native land. Bernard Palissy was +born about the year 1500, in the bishopric of Agen. His parents were so +scantily favoured by fortune that they could do little for his education; +but he contrived to acquire a knowledge of reading and writing, and +sufficient skill in drawing and land-measuring to gain a livelihood as a +draughtsman, a painter of glass and images, and a land surveyor. Geology, +natural philosophy, and chemistry, next attracted his attention, and with +respect to the two former he was far in advance of his contemporaries. + +It was about the year 1539, when he had settled at Saintes, after his +journeys through the provinces, that a circumstance occurred which gave +a colour to all his future life. He chanced to be shown a beautiful +enamelled porcelain cup, manufactured in Italy. It struck him that, if +he could discover the secret of fabricating this ware, he might obtain +riches, and likewise serve his country by introducing into it a new +art. From that moment he pursued his object with admirable energy and +perseverance. Innumerable experiments failed, his resources wasted away, +poverty and almost starvation stared him in the face, yet still, in spite +of this, and of the exhortations of some, and the sneers of others, he +steadily persisted. At length, after having suffered a mental martyrdom +of sixteen years’ duration, he succeeded in his efforts, and independence +and fame were his reward. For the adornment of their palaces and gardens, +the king and all the nobles of France were eager to possess the figures +and vases which were produced by Palissy’s taste and skill. + +Bernard Palissy had too enlarged a mind to devote himself wholly to +the heaping up of riches. The toils of business he diversified and +lightened by liberal studies. He formed a cabinet of natural history at +Paris; gave, for several years, a course of lectures on natural history +and physics; and wrote a variety of works, valuable for their facts and +reasonings, and the new and just views contained in them, and unaffected +and pleasing in their style. + +Palissy was a protestant, firmly attached to his religion, and from that +attachment arose the only troubles which molested him in the decline +of life. When the public exercise of their worship was prohibited, he +gathered into a private assembly a few individuals of his own class, each +of whom in his turn expounded the tenets of the Gospel. In 1562, though +the duke of Montpensier had given him a safeguard, and his manufactory +had been declared a privileged place, the bigoted judges of Saintes +destroyed his establishment, and would have destroyed the proprietor +also, had not the king interposed, and rescued him from their hands. +The memory of Charles the ninth is branded with eternal infamy, but +candour requires it to be owned, that he was a man of taste and talent; +a lover of literature and the arts. It is melancholy to think upon what +he might have been, and what he was. He invited the persecuted artist to +Paris, and gave him apartments in the Tuileries. Thus protected, Palissy +remained unhurt during the horrible slaughter of St. Bartholomew’s day. + +The protection which Charles the ninth extended to Palissy, the +weaker-minded Henry the third wanted courage to continue. When the +influence of the Guises became predominant in Paris, the venerable +artist was arrested by the Council of Sixteen, and thrown into the +Bastile. There Henry visited him. “My good man,” said the king, “if +you cannot bring yourself to conform on the point of religion, I shall +be compelled to leave you in the clutches of my enemies.” Palissy was +then nearly ninety years of age, but his spirit was not bowed by the +weight of years, or the prospect of death. He firmly replied, “Sire, you +have several times said that you pity me; but I pity _you_, who have +uttered the words ‘I am compelled.’ This is not speaking like a king. I +will teach you the royal language. Neither the Guisarts, nor your whole +people, can ever compel me to bend my knee before an image, for I know +how to die.” + +The firmness of Palissy was not put to the extreme proof; but, had it +been so, there is no reason to believe that his conduct would have belied +his words. He was saved from the fiery ordeal by the duke of Mayenne, who +humanely threw so many obstacles in the way of his trial, that Palissy +died a natural death, in the Bastile, about the year 1589, no less +respected for his virtues than admired for his talents.[4] + +Those enemies of Henry, into whose hands he feared that he should be +“compelled” to deliver up Palissy, continued to plot against the monarch +with an astonishing degree of audacity, which could be equalled only by +the tameness with which he endured it. Plans were successively formed +by them, to obtain possession of Boulogne; to arrest him on his way +from Vincennes, and, subsequently, at the fair of St. Germain; and to +make themselves masters of the Bastile, the Arsenal, the Temple, and +other posts in Paris, massacre the ministers, judges, and courtiers, +and depose and imprison him. Among the bitterest and most active of his +enemies was the duchess of Montpensier, sister of the duke of Guise, who +constantly wore at her girdle a pair of golden scissors, for the purpose, +as she insolently said, of giving the monkish tonsure to brother Henry +of Valois, previous to his being sent to a monastery. Henry frustrated +these schemes, but had not spirit to punish them. The impunity which +the criminals enjoyed produced its natural effect. The resources and the +boldness of the conspirators were increased; the memorable day of the +Barricades ensued; the monarch was expelled from Paris; and he entered it +no more. + +As soon as the king had taken flight from the Louvre, Guise put garrisons +into the Arsenal, and other military positions of Paris, and likewise +into Vincennes and the town of Corbeil. The Bastile might still have +remained in the power of Henry, and afforded him an easy entrance into +his capital, had he not been guilty of an unaccountable act of folly. +Colonel Ornano, an officer of established reputation, had offered to +pledge his head that, if he were entrusted with the command, he would +hold the place to the last extremity; but Henry preferred leaving it in +the hands of Lawrence Testu, of whom it was sarcastically said, that +he was more fit to govern a bottle than a fortress. He justified the +contempt which was expressed for him, by surrendering the moment that he +received a summons from Guise. His prompt submission called forth another +sarcasm, by which he was declared to have given up his post, because he +had no oranges to flavour his ragoût of partridges. + +The government of the Bastile was conferred, by Guise, on Bussi le Clerc, +the most active member of the Council of Sixteen, a determined hater of +the king and the protestants, and devoted heart and soul to the Guises. +Bussi was originally a fencing-master, but changed his calling, and +became an attorney. He was not long without prisoners. Among the first +whom he received were Perreuse, late the provost of the merchants, who +was expelled from his office for being faithful to the king, La Guesle, +the attorney general, and Damours, a protestant minister. + +Damours was fortunate. Some ferocious wild beasts have been known to +contract an attachment to helpless animals which were thrown into their +dens. Bussi did so with respect to Damours. Instead of tormenting him, +and being eager to send him to the flames, a mode of proceeding which +might have been expected from a zealous and unenlightened catholic, +he took a singular liking for him. With many oaths, he declared that, +thorough hugonot as he was, Damours was worth more than all those +politicians, the presidents and counsellors, “who were nothing but +hypocrites;” and he bestirred himself so vigorously on behalf of his +favourite, that he procured his liberation. + +James de la Guesle was born in 1557, and succeeded his father in +the office of attorney general. After the day of the Barricades, he +endeavoured to escape in disguise from Paris, for the purpose of joining +the fugitive king; but he was recognised, and committed to prison. He +did not long remain in the Bastile, and, as soon as he was set free, he +proceeded to St. Cloud, where Henry was residing. The death of the king, +which soon after occurred, afforded the enemies of La Guesle a pretext +to throw out insinuations against him; for it was by him that Clement, +the assassin monk, was introduced into the presence of the monarch. +His loyalty was, however, too well known to admit of being stained by +calumny. After having held office throughout the reign of Henry IV., and +enjoyed the full confidence of that sovereign, La Guesle died in 1612. + +The Bastile was not allowed to remain untenanted by prisoners of +distinction. Bussi had soon the gratification of wreaking his hatred +upon “the presidents and counsellors” whom he had described as being +“nothing but hypocrites.” The parliament, still faithful to the king, +was a serious obstacle in the way of the Leaguers, and the Council of +Sixteen determined, therefore, to apply an effectual remedy to this +evil. This remedy was of the same nature as that which, long afterwards, +was employed in England, by Oliver Cromwell, and is known by the name of +Pride’s Purge. Bussi le Clerc was the colonel Pride on this occasion. + +On the 16th of January, 1589, while the parliament was about to choose +deputies, for a mission to the king, at Blois, Bussi, who had surrounded +the hall with troops, suddenly entered, attended by some of his armed +followers, and began to read a list of the proscribed members, among +whom were the two presidents. On hearing this, the whole of the members +simultaneously declared, that they would share the fate of their chiefs. +Bussi took them at their word, and they were led away to the Bastile, +where they were soon joined by some of their colleagues, who, suspecting +what would happen, had not quitted their homes, but whose caution had +failed to ensure their safety. All those who were not on Bussi’s list +were, however, liberated in the course of the same evening, and a part +of the others were allowed to return to their homes, on their friends +becoming answerable for them. Having thus got rid of the persons who were +obnoxious to them, the Leaguers remodelled the parliament, in such a +manner as to render it subservient to their purposes. + +The most distinguished of the parliamentary members who were kept in hold +were Achille de Harlay, Nicholas Potier de Blancmesnil, Louis Seguier, +and James Gillot. + +The personal and mental courage of Harlay qualified him well for the +stormy times in which he lived. To the influence of fear he seems to +have been scarcely accessible. To the merit of unchangeable loyalty he +added the rarer merit of opposing the rash and oppressive edicts of the +sovereign. His legal knowledge was profound, and his integrity without +a stain. He was born in 1536, and he sprung from a family which had +distinguished itself, for more than two centuries, on the seat of justice +or in the field of battle. At the age of forty-six, he succeeded his +father-in-law, Christopher de Thou, as president of the parliament of +Paris. + +When the success of his partisans, on the day of the Barricades, had +rendered the duke of Guise master of the capital, he went, with a train +of followers, to the house of Harlay, for the purpose of prevailing on +him to convoke the parliament, that the recent measures might obtain +something like a sanction. The president was walking in the garden, and +he did not deign to notice his visiter till the duke approached him; +then, raising his voice, he said, “It is a lamentable thing when the +servant drives out his master. As to all the rest, my soul is God’s, +my heart is the king’s, and my body is in the hands of the wicked; let +them do as they please with it.” Guise still pressing him to assemble +the parliament, he sternly replied, “When the majesty of the monarch +is violated, the magistrate has no longer any authority.” Hoping to +intimidate him, some of the duke’s followers threatened him with death, +but their threats were as unavailing as the request of Guise had been. +“I have,” replied the undaunted magistrate, “neither head nor life that +I value more than the love I owe to God, the service which I owe to the +king, and the good which I owe to my country.” + +After an imprisonment of several months, Harlay obtained his liberty, at +the price of ten thousand crowns. The moment that he was free he departed +from Paris, to join Henry the fourth at Tours, and the monarch appointed +him president of the parliament sitting in that city, and composed of +Parisian members, who had succeeded in escaping from the clutches of the +Leaguers. In this post, Harlay sustained his high reputation, by the +vigour and eloquence with which he refuted the manifestos of Spain and +the League, and the bulls of the Roman Pontiff. + +Peace at length came, and Henry rewarded his services by the estate of +Beaumont, with the title of count. When the first president returned +to Paris, all the members of the parliament went out to meet and +congratulate him. As Harlay advanced in years, he did not bate one jot +of the spirit which he had manifested at an earlier period. He still +unflinchingly supported the rights of the kingdom, and the liberties of +the Gallican church, and protested against whatever he deemed pernicious +to the people or the monarch. The re-establishment of the Jesuits he +strongly but vainly opposed. From one of his speeches to Henry the +fourth, in 1604, we may judge with what an honest freedom he uttered his +sentiments. The parliament having dissented from a measure which the +Council had resolved upon, its dissent was construed into disobedience. +“If to serve well be disobedience,” replied the venerable magistrate, +“the parliament is in the habit of committing that fault; and, when a +conflict arises between the king’s absolute power and the good of his +service, it prefers the one to the other, not from disobedience, but from +a desire to do its duty, and to keep its conscience clear.” + +After having held the first presidentship for thirty-four years, Harlay, +whose sight and hearing were impaired, resigned it early in 1616, and he +died, on the 23d of October, of the same year, at the age of eighty. + +Born at Paris, in 1541, of a family which had given several eminent +magistrates to the state, Potier de Blancmesnil attained the rank of +president à mortier in 1578. With talents less splendid than those of +Harlay, he was not inferior to him in probity and devoted loyalty. From +the imprisonment which followed his seizure by Bussi le Clerc he was +released in a few days; but he did not long retain his liberty. When +Henry, on the 1st of November, 1589, made himself master of the suburbs +of Paris, and there seemed reason to believe that the new monarch would +soon enter the city in triumph, the joy of Potier was so undisguised, +that the Leaguers again sent him to his old quarters in the Bastile. He +was brought to trial, as an adherent of the Bearnese—for so Henry was +contemptuously called—and he would no doubt have suffered an ignominious +death, had not the duke of Mayenne interposed, and released him from +prison. Throwing himself at the feet of his deliverer, Potier exclaimed, +“My Lord, I am indebted to you for my life; yet I dare to request from +you a still greater benefit, that of permitting me to join my legitimate +sovereign. I shall all my life acknowledge you as my benefactor; but I +cannot serve you as my master!” Mayenne had greatness of mind enough not +to be offended by this speech. Affected even to tears by the appeal, he +raised up and embraced the suppliant, and allowed him to depart. It is +delightful to find a few bright flowers of virtue among the lurid and +noxious growth produced by civil war. + +Henry the Fourth rewarded Potier by making him president of the +parliament of Chalons. In that office he continued during the whole of +Henry’s reign. When the monarch perished by the knife of Ravaillac, +the news was carried to Chalons, accompanied, as is customary in such +cases, by a thousand terrific rumours. As soon as he heard the lamentable +tidings, René Potier, the president’s son, who was bishop of Beauvais, +hurried to the hall where the parliament was sitting, and entreated him +to quit the place without delay, in a carriage which he had brought for +the purpose. But the magistrate had more firmness than the prelate. He +answered, in a loud voice, that the state and the country called on him +not to absent himself on such an emergency, but to die, if needful, in +order to secure the obedience which was due to Henry the fourth’s son; +and he earnestly exhorted his colleagues not to remove from their seats. +It was probably for this opportune act of courage and fidelity that Mary +de Medicis conferred on him the title of her chancellor. + +Potier lived to the venerable age of ninety-four, preserving all his +faculties to the last. His decease took place on the 1st of June 1635. + +It has been remarked by French writers, that no family furnished more +magistrates than that of Seguier. From the first appearance of the name +in the parliament of Toulouse, when that body was originally formed, +in the 14th century, down to the period of the French revolution, the +number amounted to sixty-eight, of whom many possessed high talents, and +consummate legal knowledge. Peter, the first who bore that prenomen, +is characterised, by the poet Scevola St. Marthe, as “one of the most +brilliant lights of the temple of the laws,” and in this praise there +is no poetical exaggeration. To this magistrate France owes eternal +gratitude, for his having frustrated the project of introducing the +Inquisition into that country. He was warned beforehand that he would do +well to avoid venturing too far in his opposition, but he nobly set the +danger at defiance, and he triumphed. + +The six sons who survived him were all of the legal profession. No +monarch ever paid a more graceful compliment to a subject than that which +Henry the fourth paid to the second Peter, a son of the first, who became +president on the resignation of his father. The courtiers pressing so +closely round the king that the president could not reach him, Henry +held out his hand to Seguier, and said, “Gentlemen, allow to come to me +my inseparable during my bad fortune, which, with you, he aided me to +surmount. I can answer for it, that, notwithstanding the business with +which I burthen him, he will always be too much my friend to neglect +me.” In a similar strain he publicly addressed Anthony, another brother, +who was setting off on an embassy to Venice. “You made your way into my +affections,” said he, “in the same manner that I did into my kingdom, in +spite of the resistance and the slanders of my enemies and enviers.” + +Louis, the fourth brother, was a counsellor of the parliament, and also +dean of the cathedral church of Nôtre Dame, at Paris. He obtained his +release from the Bastile by paying a large ransom; but he was not allowed +to remain in peace, he being soon after expelled from the capital by +the Leaguers. He was subsequently sent to Rome, by Henry the fourth, to +negotiate with the pope for the monarch’s absolution. On his return, +he was offered the bishopric of Laon, which would have given him the +elevated and much coveted rank of duke and peer. Seguier, however, devoid +of ambition, preferred to remain in the humble station of dean. He died +in 1610. + +Gillot, the last of those whom I have mentioned as having been lodged +in the Bastile by Bussi le Clerc, was certainly entitled to share the +fate of his companions, his attachment to the royal cause being a matter +of notoriety. He was of a noble Burgundian family, possessed a good +fortune, much erudition, and a valuable library, was connected with most +of the wits and learned men of that period, and assembled them frequently +at his social board, where they conversed on topics of philosophy and +literature. He had also the higher merit of being beneficent, sincere, +and candid. It was said of him, that he had so benign a disposition that +his sole delight was in obliging. Gillot was educated for the church, +and became dean of Langres, and canon of the Holy Chapel at Paris; he +was likewise one of the ecclesiastical counsellors, or judges, in the +parliament. His abode in the Bastile does not appear to have been of long +duration; it is probable that he ransomed himself. For his incarceration +he took an ample revenge, by bearing a part in writing the admirable +satire called “la Satire Ménippée, ou le Catholicon d’Espagne,” which +covered the Leaguers with ineffaceable ridicule, and is said to have been +more injurious to their cause than the sword of Henry the fourth. The +harangue of the legate at the opening of the states of the League, and +the laughable idea of the procession of the Leaguers, are attributed to +Gillot. This estimable and talented man died in 1619. + +The Council of Sixteen, like the Common Council of Paris in 1792 and +1793, was eager to monopolize all the power of the state. It carried on +a secret correspondence with the Pope and the Spanish monarch, and was +obviously preparing to subvert the authority of the duke of Mayenne. +In furtherance of its plan, it resolved to strike the parliament with +terror, and of course render that body subservient, by a decisive blow. +A pretext was furnished by the acquittal of a person named Brigard, +who had been tried on a charge of corresponding with the royalists. +A cry was immediately raised, that the parliament had violated its +duty, by granting impunity to treason, and that some measure must be +adopted, to prevent the recurrence of such a crime. Several meetings +were clandestinely held, to decide upon what should be done. The result +was, that on the 15th of November, 1591, the president Brisson, and the +counsellors Larcher and Tardif, were seized by order of the Sixteen, +carried to prison, and hanged there upon a beam, without even the +semblance of a trial. The bodies, with calumnious papers attached to +them, were then removed to the Grêve, and publicly exposed on three +gibbets. + +This last outrage caused the downfall of the Sixteen. Mayenne had long +been dissatisfied with the conduct of these turbulent and sanguinary +men, and he was heartily glad of this opportunity to punish them, and +annihilate their political influence. He could do both with safety, +as a great majority of the citizens were shocked and disgusted by the +murderous act which had been committed. The duke was then with his army +at Soissons, where he was expecting to be joined by the prince of Parma. +Leaving his troops under the command of the young duke of Guise, he +hastened, with three hundred horse and fifteen hundred foot, to Paris. +A few days after his arrival, he consigned four of the criminals to +execution, proscribed two who had escaped, prohibited, under pain of +death, all secret meetings, and thus put an end for ever to the tyranny +of the council. The partisans and agents of Spain murmured in private +at these decisive measures, but they were in too feeble a minority to +venture upon doing more. + +Among those who were executed was not Bussi le Clerc; though, as he +had been the most conspicuous actor in the murders, he richly deserved +death. It was to being governor of the Bastile that he was indebted for +his safety. When Mayenne came to Paris, Bussi prudently kept within the +walls of the fortress; and, as there were various reasons which made it +unadvisable to besiege him, he was allowed to negociate. On condition +that he should not be punished for his share in the murder of Brisson, +Larcher, and Tardif, and that he should be at liberty to go wheresoever +he pleased with his property, he agreed to surrender the Bastile. The +first of these articles was faithfully performed; but with respect to the +second he was not so lucky, for Mayenne’s soldiers deprived him of the +booty which he had made during the civil war. He retired to Brussels, +where, during forty years, he earned a scanty subsistence, as an obscure +teacher of fencing. The custody of the Bastile was confided, by the duke +of Mayenne, to du Bourg, a brave and trusty officer. + +In 1589, after Henry the fourth’s attempt upon Paris, when he had little +more than the shadow of an army left, and was obliged to retreat on +Normandy, the Parisians were so confident that the Bearnese would be +brought back a prisoner by the duke of Mayenne, that the windows in St. +Anthony’s-street were hired, to see him pass along in his way to the +Bastile; in the following year, he held them cooped up within their +walls, suffering the direst extremity of famine; and now, in 1594, he +entered the capital in triumph, as an acknowledged sovereign, amidst +the shouts of the multitude. It must be owned, however, that for the +submission of Paris, as well as of many other cities, Henry had to thank +his purse rather than his sword. For giving up Paris, Brissac, the +governor, received nearly seventeen hundred thousand livres. The whole of +the strong places which the king bought, cost him no less than thirty-two +millions of livres, besides governments, offices, and titles. At dinner, +on the day of his entry, he pointedly alluded to this circumstance, in +the presence of some of the vendors. Nicolas, a jovial poet and man of +wit, was standing by Henry’s chair: “Well,” said the king to him, “what +say you to seeing me here in Paris?” “Sire,” replied Nicolas, “that which +is Cæsar’s has been rendered unto Cæsar.” “Ventre saint-gris!” exclaimed +Henry in reply, “I have not been treated at all like Cæsar, for it has +not been rendered to me but sold to me, and at a pretty high price too.” + +There was, nevertheless, one man among the Leaguers who was not venal. +This was du Bourg, the governor of the Bastile. His vigilance had +recently frustrated a plot to seize on the fortress, and he now prepared +to defend his charge to the utmost. For five days he refused to listen to +any overtures, and he even turned his cannon upon the city. But having +received information that it was impossible for Mayenne to succour him, +he consented to capitulate upon honourable terms. His garrison was +allowed to retire with arms and baggage. Money he refused to accept; +nor would he acknowledge Henry as his master; he had, he said, given his +faith to the duke of Mayenne, and he would not violate it. With a strange +mixture of ferocity, coarseness, and chivalrous feeling, he added, that +Brissac was a traitor, that he would maintain it in mortal combat with +him before the king, and that he “would eat his heart in his belly.” + +The circumstances of the times, which rendered it necessary to reign with +some degree of caution, but still more the generous and clement character +of Henry, for a few years prevented the Bastile from having many captive +inmates. Menaces of sending individuals to it were occasionally thrown +out, but they were not executed. In 1596, for instance, when, to supply +his pressing wants, Henry had unjustly seized on the money destined to +pay annuitants at the town-hall, we find him giving vent to a momentary +fit of anger, and threatening whoever should presume to hold what he +was pleased to call seditious language, with respect to this arbitrary +measure. The seditious language, which thus excited his wrath, was +nothing more than a petition, which a citizen named Carel had drawn up on +behalf of the plundered annuitants. + +There was a moment when the Bastile was on the point of receiving an +illustrious victim; no less a man than Theodore Agrippa d’Aubigné, the +long tried and faithful friend of Henry, amidst peril and misfortune. +Irritated by d’Aubigné’s restless zeal in the cause of the hugonots, the +king gave Sully an order to arrest him, but it was soon withdrawn. + +In 1602, Sully was appointed governor of the Bastile. Since 1597 he +had been at the head of the finance department, and during his able +administration, a part of the Bastile was occupied in a manner such as +it had never before been, nor ever was afterwards. It became a place +of deposit for the yearly surplus of revenue, which was obtained by +the judicious system of the minister. The amount of the treasure thus +accumulated has been variously estimated, but it was probably about forty +millions of livres. It was designed to be appropriated to the realising +of Henry’s military projects. The Tour du Trésor is supposed to have +derived its name from its having been the tower in which this hoard was +secured. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + Reign of Henry IV. continued—Viscount de Tavannes—The marshal + duke of Biron—Faults of Biron—Friendship of Henry IV, for + Biron—La Fin, and his influence over Biron—The duke of + Savoy—Biron’s first treason pardoned—Embassies of Biron—Speech + of Queen Elizabeth to Biron—Discontent among the nobles—Art of + la Fin—Imprisonment of Renazé—La Fin betrays Biron—Artifices + employed to lull Biron into security—Arrest of Biron, and + the count of Auvergne—Conduct of Biron in the Bastile—His + trial—His execution—Respect paid to his remains—Monbarot + sent to the Bastile—The count of Auvergne—He is sent to the + Bastile but soon released—He plots again—Cause and intent of + the conspiracy—He is again arrested—Sentence of death passed + on him, but commuted for imprisonment—He spends twelve years + in the Bastile—Mary of Medicis releases him—Conspiracy of + Merargues—He is executed—Death of Henry IV. + + +The first distinguished prisoner of the Bastile, after the firm +establishment of Henry on the throne, was John de Saulx, viscount +de Tavannes, second son of that marshal who acquired an undying but +unenviable fame during the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He was born in +1555, and may be said to have been nursed in a deadly hatred to the +protestants. The viscount accompanied Henry the third to Poland, remained +behind when his master departed, visited the Turkish frontier provinces, +was engaged in various actions, and at length fell into the hands of the +Ottomans. He managed, however, to get free, and, in 1575, he revisited +his native country. + +In the wars between the catholics and the protestants, Tavannes was +an indefatigable scourge of the latter. On one occasion, while he was +governor of Auxonne, he was in no small danger; he was surprised and +wounded in a church by the enemy, and was confined in a castle. Yet +though the wall was a hundred feet high, and he was guarded in sight, +he contrived to escape. In the war of the League, against both Henries, +he rendered himself conspicuous by his violence and perseverance. He +proposed to arm the people with pikes, but this proposal was overruled, +on the ground that it tended to excite in their minds the idea of a +republic. In attempting to relieve Noyon, he was again made prisoner; he +was, however, soon exchanged, the mother, wife, and two sisters, of the +duke of Longueville being given as an equivalent for him. In 1592, he was +appointed to the government of Burgundy, and he maintained the contest +till 1595, when, being abandoned by all his companions in the cause, he +yielded a sullen submission to Henry. + +Having refused to join the king at the siege of Amiens, he was arrested, +in 1597, and committed to the Bastile. Tavannes had certainly a talent +for escaping; we have seen that he twice extricated himself from +confinement, and he now did so for the third time. By what means he +eluded the vigilance of his jailors does not appear. Henry seems to have +cherished no very strong resentment against the fugitive; for, instead of +placing him in surer custody, he allowed him to reside unmolested on his +estate, where Tavannes died, about the year 1630. The viscount published +a life of his father, a curious and valuable work; of which, however, +some passages are animated by a spirit dishonourable to the writer. + +That Tavannes, who was long his determined enemy, and never professed +to have become his friend, should be openly or secretly hostile to him, +could excite no surprise in Henry; but his feelings must have received a +deep wound, when he discovered that he might say, with the inspired royal +psalmist, “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did +eat of my bread, hath lifted his heel against me.” + +Charles de Gontaut, duke of Biron, the son of a man distinguished for +his honour, loyalty, valour, and martial exploits, was born about 1562, +and inherited his father’s warlike spirit, but not his praiseworthy +qualities. In his childhood he was so dull of apprehension that he could +scarcely be taught to read. In his military studies he must, however, +have made early and extraordinary progress; for at fourteen he was +colonel of the Swiss regiments, and when he was only fifteen, the command +of the army in Guienne was entrusted to him for some weeks by his father, +who had broken one of his thighs. His religion we may believe to have +hung loosely enough upon him, as he twice changed it before he reached +his sixteenth year. + +There were two crying sins of the age, duelling and gaming, in which +Biron made himself conspicuous. He was not yet twenty, when he fought a +duel with the prince of Carency, who was a rival suitor to the heiress +of the family of Caumont. Each party had two seconds, all of whom were +in habits of friendship with each other. It was in a snow-storm, at day +break, that the combatants met; and, by taking their ground so that the +snow drove into the faces of their antagonists, Biron and his seconds +contrived to destroy them. This triple murder was pardoned by Henry the +third, at the request of the duke of Epernon. As a gamester, Biron played +so deeply, and with such infatuated perseverance, that he himself said, +“I know not whether I shall die on the scaffold; but, if I do not, I am +sure that I shall die in a workhouse.” + +The scaffold which, with somewhat of a divining spirit, he seems to +have thought his not improbable doom, was more than once predicted to +him. The basis on which one prediction was built may excite a smile. +“The archbishop of Lyons,” says an old writer, “judged better than any +one else of the nature of men by their countenances. For having one day +curiously contemplated the features and characters of the marshal Biron’s +face, he pronounced that he had an exceedingly bad physiognomy, verily +that of a man who was fated to perish wretchedly.” On surer grounds, +on a knowledge of his son’s disposition, his father sometimes said to +him, “Baron,” (that was his early title) “I advise you to go and plant +cabbages on your estate, as soon as peace is made; for, otherwise, you +will certainly lose your head at the Grêve.” + +The faults of Biron were, indeed, such as to justify melancholy +forebodings with respect to his end. He was vain, imperious, passionate, +restlessly active, so greedy of praise that he deemed himself robbed of +all that was given to others, so high an estimater of his own services +that he never thought them enough rewarded, and so reckless of speech +that, when he was in an angry mood, his invectives and reproaches did not +spare even the sovereign. These faults were rendered more dangerous to +him by his habits of profusion, and the consequent occasional emptiness +of his purse, which laid him open to temptation, especially during his +fits of dissatisfaction and disgust. On the other hand, it is beyond +all doubt that Biron, for some years after the outset of his career, +was devoted to Henry the fourth; he was eminently intrepid, displayed +unwearied zeal, gave an admirable example of discipline, and was a +consummate master of his profession. “No one,” said Henry, “has a keener +eye in reconnoitring an enemy, nor a more ready hand at arraying an army.” + +At the battles of Arques, Ivry, and Aumale, at the sieges of Paris and +Rouen, and on various other occasions, Biron was conspicuous among his +fellow chiefs. His promotion kept pace with his exploits, and he rose +rapidly to the highest dignities. In 1592, Henry appointed him admiral +of France, and, in 1594, a marshal; on receiving the latter rank he +gave up the office of admiral, which Villars demanded as a part of his +reward for the surrender of Rouen. It has been imagined, that Biron +cherished a rankling resentment for the deprivation of the admiralship; +but this is more than doubtful: he appears, on the contrary, to have +acceded to it with a good grace. In 1595, he obtained the government +of Burgundy, and his life was saved by Henry, at the sharp encounter +of Fontaine-Française. After having manifested his wonted military +talents at the siege of Amiens, in 1598, Biron attained the zenith of +his elevation, by being created a duke and peer. When the deputies of +the parliament waited on the king, in Picardy, to congratulate him on +the success of his arms, he paid to the new-made peer one of those +well-turned compliments by which he so often delighted his warriors and +statesmen. In turning to account that part of “the cheap defence of +nations” which consists in gracefully bestowing praise, no man was more +of a proficient than Henry. “Gentlemen,” said he to the deputies, “I +introduce to you the Marshal de Biron, whom I present with equal success +to my enemies and my friends.” + +Thenceforth, thanks to his own folly, the star of Biron gradually +declined till it set in blood. He soon became unsafe to be opposed to +the king’s enemies, and unworthy of being presented to his friends. +Vanity and prodigality were the faults which began his ruin; the one led +him to think that his superlative merit was inadequately requited, the +other caused him to accuse Henry of avarice and ingratitude, because +the monarch did not feed his extravagance with boundless supplies. Biron +might, nevertheless, have stopped short of destruction, had there not +been perpetually a tempter at his ear, whispering sinister councils. His +evil genius was Beauvais La Nocle, sieur de La Fin, a veteran intriguer, +who had spent his life in disturbing the public peace, and was still in +correspondence with Spain, Savoy, the banished partisans of the League, +and the malecontents in various provinces. He is truly described as +having been “an enterprising, active, insinuating man, especially skilful +in getting on the weak side of those whom he wished to seduce. Bold with +the rash, circumspect with the prudent, he seemed to give himself up +entirely to his accomplices, that he might provide for his own safety at +their expense.” Henry, who well knew the character of the man, warned +Biron against him, but the warning was slighted.[5] + +The peace of Vervins, which relieved France from a burthensome war, +precipitated the fall of Biron. Even before it was concluded, he had +listened to the blandishments of Spanish emissaries, and had suffered +them to tempt his ambition with the prospect of independent sovereignty, +but he had stopped short on the verge of disloyalty. While his mind +was thus susceptible of treasonable infection, he was unfortunately +despatched by Henry to Brussels, for the purpose of interchanging, with +the archduke, the customary oaths as to the faithful performance of the +treaty. There he was surrounded by every imaginable seduction. He was +“the observed of all observers;” the most splendid entertainments were +given, expressly in honour of him; and he heard nothing but exaggerated +praises of his transcendent valour and skill, insidious expressions of +regret that he should serve a master so blind to his worth, or so meanly +jealous of it, and highly-coloured representations of the glorious career +which he might run, if he would devote his talents to the cause of the +Spanish sovereign. When it was imagined that his head was sufficiently +turned, a treaty with Philip was proposed to him. But he was not yet +prepared to go thus far; he would give no more than a vague promise +to join the catholics, in case of their rising against Henry, and he +returned to Paris only half a traitor. + +That which had been begun in the Netherlands was completed in France. +During the troubles of the League, the duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel, +had seized upon the marquisate of Saluzzo. Hitherto he had held nearly +undisturbed possession of it, but Henry, now that he was relieved from +the pressure of foreign and domestic hostility, resolved to recover a +territory which was of importance from its affording a passage into +Italy. For the same reason, the duke was anxious to retain it; he could +not see without apprehension and disgust a powerful neighbour constantly +posted within a few miles of his capital. In the hope of prevailing +on Henry to cede the marquisate to him, the duke adopted the plan of +visiting the French court. Charles Emmanuel had seductive manners, and +a ready eloquence, and he concealed profound dissimulation under the +semblance of openness and sincerity. Henry, however, though he treated +him with an almost ostentatious kindness and pomp, was inflexible on the +main point, and the duke found himself under the necessity of signing a +disadvantageous treaty. + +But Charles Emmanuel had not relied solely on the policy or the +generosity of Henry; he knew that the embers of disaffection were still +alive in some of the French nobles, and he hoped to fan them into a +flame which should scorch the monarch. To win the discontented to his +side, he scattered with a lavish hand his largesses, under the disguise +of presents. Though from some of those whom he tempted he failed to +procure an explicit avowal of their sentiments, he doubted not that +they might be reckoned upon in case of an explosion; others spoke out +more plainly; and Biron threw himself unreservedly into the arms of the +wily Savoyard. It was partly, perhaps, by ministering to the marshal’s +wants, but much more by rousing his wrath against the king, that the duke +succeeded in making him a traitor. He artfully communicated to him some +depreciating language which Henry was said to have used, and the vain +and passionate Biron no longer hesitated to cast off his allegiance. The +reward of his treason was to be the sovereignty of Burgundy, and the hand +of one of Charles Emmanuel’s daughters. Yet at the moment when he was +rushing headlong into rebellion, he publicly refused to accept a present +of two fine horses from the duke of Savoy; assigning as the reason, that +it would not become him to receive gifts from a prince between whom and +his own sovereign there were differences existing. Thus hypocrisy was +added to the list of his vices. + +Imagining that the succour which he expected from the Spanish court, and +the movements of the French malecontents, would render it impossible for +Henry to attack him, Charles Emmanuel, on his return to Turin, refused to +carry the treaty into effect. Henry determined, therefore, to resort to +force. To Biron, of whose fidelity he did not yet doubt, he offered the +command of the army; and the marshal, in order to avoid suspicion, was +compelled to accept it. All that, without betraying himself, he could do +to shun success, he did. But the duke of Savoy, relying on his intrigues, +had left his fortresses scantily provided with the means of defence, +and they consequently made only a feeble resistance, in spite of Biron’s +wishes and faulty measures. It was a fatal circumstance for the Savoyard +prince, that the power of Spain was palsied by the recent accession of +the contemptible Philip the third. Had the second Philip been alive, the +viceroy of Milan, the count de Fuentes, a deadly foe of Henry, would +probably have led his numerous forces from the Milanese, and made the +contest something like what the duke had vauntingly threatened to make +it, “a forty years’ affair.” As it was, Fuentes could only recommend +to Biron, to seize the king and send him to Spain, “where,” said he, +contemptuously, “he shall be well treated, and we will divert him with +dancing, and banquetting among the ladies.” Biron shrank from this step, +yet, in one of his furious outbreaks of passion, he meditated a fouler +crime. At the siege of fort St. Catherine, knowing that the king was +about to visit the trenches, he sent a message to the governor, to point +his cannon on a certain part of them, and to place in another a company +of musketeers, who were to fire when a signal was given. But he quickly +repented of his purpose, and kept the king from approaching the perilous +spots. + +Though the marshal renounced the base idea of becoming the murderer of +his sovereign, he did not renounce his plots against him. La Fin was +still employed in negotiating for him with the count de Fuentes, and a +second treaty was agreed upon at Milan. It was arranged that the duke +of Savoy should sign a peace, which, however, he was to break as soon +as the French armies were withdrawn, and the Spanish troops were ready; +that the Spanish monarch should give to the marshal the title of his +lieutenant-general, and secure to him Burgundy, and a princess of Spain +or Savoy; and that, in case of the war being unsuccessful, he should +be indemnified for his loss by the payment of twelve hundred thousand +golden crowns, and an annuity of a hundred and twenty thousand. + +By this time the suspicions of Henry began to be awakened with regard to +Biron. There were many circumstances which conspired to rouse them; not +one of the least of which was the incomprehensible apathy of the duke +of Savoy; who, as he scarcely made an effort to defend himself, must be +supposed to look for deliverance by some unknown means. Rumours, too, +began to be spread of dark and dangerous intrigues; and it is probable, +that the manner in which the military operations were conducted by the +marshal, so unlike his wonted vigour, was not unremarked. All this +appears to have induced Henry to refuse to give the government of the +citadel of Bourg to Biron, who urgently requested it. There can be no +doubt that Biron wished to be master of this citadel solely to enable him +the better to act in concert with Charles Emmanuel; yet he considered as +an inexpiable insult the king’s refusal to grant it. + +No longer doubting that the marshal had become entangled in dangerous +projects, and anxious to save a man whom he loved, Henry took the step +of coming to a personal explanation with him. Taking Biron aside, in the +cloister of the Cordeliers, at Lyons, he questioned him as to the purpose +and cause of the correspondence which he carried on with the enemies +of the state, promising, at the same time, a full pardon for all past +errors. Thus caught by surprise and pressed, the marshal could not wholly +deny his fault, but he described it so as to make it appear only venial, +suppressed every thing that it was important for the king to know, and +affirmed that, though he was tempted by the prospect of marrying a +princess of Savoy, he should never for a moment have wavered in his duty +had he not been refused the government of the citadel of Bourg. Without +seeking to penetrate deeper into the mystery, Henry embraced him, and +said, “Well, marshal, do you think no more about Bourg, and, for my part, +I will never remember what has occurred.” The king, however, hinted that +a relapse would be productive of dangerous effects. + +In the following year, 1601, Biron was sent as ambassador to England, to +announce to Elizabeth the marriage of Henry. He was accompanied by the +counts of Auvergne and Chateauroux, the marquis de Créqui, and a splendid +train of a hundred and fifty gentlemen. Elizabeth received him in the +most flattering manner; but there was one of her conversations with him +which might well have excited ominous thoughts in his mind. Essex had +recently suffered. Speaking of that nobleman, she said, “I raised him to +the most eminent dignities, and he enjoyed all my favour; but the rash +man had the audacity to imagine that I could not do without him. His too +prosperous fortune and his ambition rendered him haughty, perfidious, +and the more criminal from his having seemed to be virtuous. He suffered +a just punishment; and if the king my brother would take my advice, he +would act at Paris as I have done here. He ought to sacrifice to his +safety all the rebels and traitors. God grant that his clemency may not +prove fatal to him. For my part, I will never show any mercy to those who +dare to disturb the peace of the realm.” Biron must surely have felt his +heart sink within him, when he heard this language, which, in all ways, +was so applicable to himself. It is said, and we may easily believe it, +that he omitted to mention this speech, when he gave an account of his +embassy. + +The forbearance of Henry, and the lesson of Elizabeth, were alike +powerless to check the downward career of the infatuated Biron. His +treasonable practices were still persevered in. After his return from +England, he was sent as ambassador, to Soleure, to ratify a treaty with +the Swiss, and, on his way thither, he had a four hours’ conversation +with Watteville, the duke of Savoy’s agent. Instead of proceeding to +Paris, to render an account of his mission, he stayed at Dijon, the +capital of his government, where the violent and insulting language in +which he spoke of the king, gave abundant proof that little reliance +could be placed upon his fidelity. In the meanwhile, various parts of +the kingdom, particularly Poitou, the Limousin, and Périgord, in the +last of which provinces the marshal had numerous partisans and vassals, +were thrown into a ferment by insidious reports of Henry’s tyrannical +intentions. Among the nobles also discontent was at work; the duke of +Bouillon and the count of Auvergne were the principal malecontents. The +provinces Henry quieted, by the kindness which he displayed in a journey +through them; the nobles were not so easily to be reclaimed. It was +obvious that a speech which the duke of Savoy made, after his leaving +France, was not a mere idle vaunt. His friends rallying him on his +failure, and alluding to the season at which he came home, told him that +he had brought nothing but mud back from France. “If I have put my feet +into the mud,” replied the duke, “I have put them in so far, and have +left such deep marks behind, that France will never efface them.” + +While, within the kingdom, men’s minds were in this uneasy state, the +news from without was by no means consolatory. Philip Dufresne Canaye, +the French ambassador at Venice, was laudably active in procuring +information of all movements among the Italian powers, by which his +country might be affected. He learned that, while throughout Italy the +utmost pains were taken to blacken the character and depreciate the +resources of Henry, French subjects, disguised, were busy at Turin and +Milan, and that they had frequent nocturnal interviews with the ministers +of the two courts. He described minutely the features, demeanour and +dress of these emissaries, and offered to have one of them seized, and +carried off to France, if a small remittance were sent to him. Some +strange lethargy seems to have come over the king and the French ministry +at this moment; for they not only refused the money which was required, +but even failed to send that which was indispensable for the payment of +his spies. + +From this ill-timed slumber they would probably have been startled up by +a fatal explosion, had not the catastrophe been averted by a disclosure +of nearly all that related to the plot which had so long been carried on. +The terrible secret was divulged by that very La Fin who had so largely +contributed to lead Biron astray. La Fin’s first feeling of alienation +from the great conspirator is supposed to have arisen out of the only act +for which, during a considerable period, the marshal had been deserving +of praise. From Biron’s sudden abandonment of the plan to kill the king, +in the trenches of fort St. Catherine, his confident drew the conclusion +that his firmness was not to be relied upon, and that consequently, at +some time or other, he might bring ruin upon those who were connected +with him. That he might have the means of shielding himself in case of +such an event, he immediately began to preserve all the papers that +passed through his hands; and when the marshal desired him to burn any +of them before his face, he, by a dextrous sleight, contrived to throw +others into the fire in their stead. + +Still La Fin continued to be employed in his perilous office of a +negociator. It is probable, however, that, now his fears were excited, +and it was become a main object with him to keep open a door for escape, +he did not display the same alacrity and zeal as before. Biron did not +suspect him, but the more cautious and penetrating count de Fuentes did; +and his suspicions are said to have been strengthened by some words +which dropped from La Fin. Those suspicions the count took especial care +to conceal from the person who had inspired them. “Dead men,” says the +proverb, “tell no tales;” and the case is much the same with men entombed +alive in a dungeon. Fuentes thought it prudent to provide against the +danger of a betrayal, by getting rid of La Fin. In order to effect this, +he found a pretext for requesting him to pass through Piedmont, on his +way to France. Either La Fin had some misgiving as to the intention of +the Spanish viceroy, or chance served him well; for, instead of going +himself to Turin, he took the road through Switzerland, and sent Renazé, +his confidential secretary, to the duke of Savoy. Renazé was immediately +arrested, and carried to the castle of Chiari. It was in vain that La +Fin strove to interest the marshal in behalf of the secretary; Biron +spoke coldly of the captive, as a man who must be sacrificed for the +safety of the rest; and he is said even to have advised his confidant +to take secret measures for effectually silencing all who had been the +companions of his travels, or could give any clue to his proceedings. +Already, though he seems not to have had the slightest idea that La Fin +would be unfaithful to him, he had deemed it politic to transfer his +dangerous confidence to the baron de Luz, his cousin, and two subordinate +agents. Of this La Fin obtained information; and it did not tend to quiet +his fears. It might be thought advisable to make him share the fate of +Renazé. But, even supposing this not to happen, he saw plainly that the +violent conduct of Biron towards the king must inevitably soon bring +matters to extremities, and that, if the conspirators failed, which it +was highly probable they would, his own life would be periled beyond +redemption. His nephew, the vidame of Chartres, was also urgent with him +to secure his head while there was yet an opportunity. + +La Fin at length passed the Rubicon. He made known to the king, that he +had momentous secrets to communicate. In reply, he was told, that he +should be rewarded for this service; but he stipulated only for pardon, +and it was readily granted. The whole of the proofs of Biron’s guilt were +then placed by him in the hands of Henry, who was deeply afflicted by +these convincing testimonies of the marshal’s treason. + +Justice seems to be degraded, and almost to change its nature, when its +purpose is attained by fraudulent means. The net was spread for Biron, +but in quieting his fears, and luring him into it, a scene of trickery +and falsehood was exhibited, which cannot be contemplated without pain. +Sully had set a better example, by a stratagem which is not amenable +to censure. To prevent Biron from maintaining a war in Burgundy, the +minister prudently withdrew from the fortresses of that province the +greatest part of the cannon and gunpowder, on the plea that the former +were damaged and ought to be recast, and the latter was weakened by +age, and must be re-manufactured, and he took care not to replace +them. The right arm of Biron’s strength was thus cut off. The marshal, +nevertheless, might still take flight; he had more than once evaded a +summons to confer with Henry; and it was of primary importance to secure +his person. As alarm might be excited by La Fin journeying to court, +he was instructed to write to the marshal, that the king had required +his presence, that he could not refuse to comply without giving rise +to surmises; and that nothing should drop from his lips which could +prejudice his friend. In the allusions which it made, and the caution +which it recommended, the reply of Biron furnished additional evidence +of his guilt. The monarch, too, played his part in the deception. To the +baron de Luz, who had been sent from Burgundy to observe what was going +on, and was about to return to that province, he spoke of the marshal +in terms of kindness, and declared that his heart was lightened by a +conversation which he had held with La Fin, as it proved that many of the +charges brought against Biron were wholly unfounded. La Fin, at the same +time, assured the marshal that the king was entirely satisfied, and would +receive him with open arms. Deluded by these artifices, Biron determined +to join Henry at Fontainebleau, notwithstanding that the incredulous de +Luz, and others of his adherents, strenuously endeavoured to dissuade +him. Various circumstances, ominous of evil, are said to have preceded +his departure. On his road he received more than one warning from his +well-wishers, but he spurned them all, and proceeded to Fontainebleau. +As he was descending from his horse, he was saluted by the traitorous +La Fin, who whispered, “Courage and wary speech, my master! they know +nothing.” His belief in these words consummated the ruin of Biron. + +In spite of Biron’s faults, the heart of Henry still yearned towards +him. Though he could not greet the offender with his customary warmth +and frankness, he received him graciously, and led him through the +palace, pointing out the improvements which had been made. At length he +touched upon the delicate subject of the marshal’s deviation from the +path of duty. He hinted that he had incontrovertible proof, but assured +him that an honest confession would cancel every thing, and replace him +on the summit of favour. Misled by his pride, and the fatal mistake +that his secret was safe, Biron, instead of seizing this opportunity to +extricate himself from danger, was mad enough to assume the lofty tone of +conscious and wronged innocence; studiously cold in his general manner, +he sometimes verged upon insolence, and he loudly declared, that he came +not to justify his conduct, but to demand vengeance upon those who had +slandered him, or, if need were, to take it. Twice more, in the course of +the day—once in person, and once through Biron’s friend, the count of +Soissons—Henry renewed his efforts, and was haughtily repulsed. On the +morrow the monarch returned to the charge, and made other two attempts +to save the marshal from the gulf which was opening to receive him. +Oblivion for the past, friendship for the future, were earnestly offered +to his acceptance. But Biron was like the deaf adder; he even broke out +into a fit of passion on being pressed for the last time; and Henry was +reluctantly compelled to resign him to his fate. + +It is probable that the king would have borne with Biron for a while +longer, had not the terrors, entreaties, and tears of his consort, +impelled him to decisive measures. Mary of Medicis believed, that it +was a part of the policy of Spain to cut off the royal family, and she +shuddered at the idea of what, in the case of a minority, might happen +to herself and her offspring, from the hostility of a man who was in all +ways so formidable as Biron. The king himself had already betrayed the +same apprehension to Sully. After having, in melancholy terms, confessed +his lingering affection for the marshal, he added, “But all my dread is, +that were I to pardon him, he would never pardon me, or my children, +or my kingdom.” The gates of mercy were in consequence shut upon the +dangerous criminal. + +Biron had been in the habit of contemptuously reflecting upon the +character of Essex, for what he considered as a cowardly surrender, +and of maintaining that a man of spirit ought rather to suffer himself +to be cut to pieces, than run the risk of dying by the headsman’s axe. +The time was now come when it was to be seen whether he could practise +his own doctrine. It was midnight when he quitted the presence of the +king. Every thing had been prepared for his arrest, and that of the +count of Auvergne, who was suspected of sharing in the treason. The +latter nobleman was taken into custody by Praslin, at the palace gate. +No sooner had Biron passed out of the ante-chamber than Vitry, the +captain of the guard, seized the marshal’s arm, informed him that he was +a prisoner, and demanded his sword. At first he supposed it to be a jest; +and, when he was undeceived, he desired to see the king, that he might +deliver the weapon into his hands. He was told that Henry could not be +seen, and his sword was again required. “What!” exclaimed he furiously, +“take the sword from me, who have served the king so well! My sword, +which ended the war, and gave peace to France! Shall the sword which my +enemies could not wrest from me be taken by my friends!” At length he +submitted. When he was led along the gallery, through a double line of +guards, he imagined that he was going to execution, and he wildly cried +out, “Companions! give me time to pray to God, and put into my hand a +firebrand, or a candlestick, that I may at least have the comfort to die +while I am defending myself.” When, however, he found that he was in no +instant danger, he meanly endeavoured to irritate the soldiers against +the king, by saying to them, “You see how good catholics are treated!” He +passed a sleepless and agitated night, pacing about his chamber, striking +the walls, raving to himself, and occasionally to the sentinels, pouring +forth invectives and imprecations, and sometimes with singular imprudence +striving to seduce a valet de chambre of the king, who watched him, to +write to his secretaries, directing them to keep out of the way, and to +maintain, in case of their being taken and questioned, that he never had +carried on any correspondence in cipher. + +From Fontainebleau the prisoners were conveyed by water to the Bastile. +During the passage, Biron was lost in gloomy reverie, and when he +entered within the walls of the prison his mind was racked with the +worst forebodings. Nor were the circumstances attendant on his abode +in the Bastile at all of a nature to raise his spirits. Placed in +the chamber whence the constable St. Pol had passed to the scaffold, +watched with lynx-eyed vigilance, and so carefully kept from weapons +that he was allowed only a blunted knife at his meals, he could not +help exclaiming, “This is the road to the Grêve.” While he was in this +disturbed state, superstitious weakness is said to have lent its aid to +complete his distraction. He was told that the Parisian executioner was +a native of Burgundy; and it instantly flashed into his recollection, +that having shown to la Brosse, an astrologer, his own horoscope under +another person’s name, the wizard predicted the beheading of the person; +and that Cesar, a pretended magician, of whom more will be seen in the +next chapter, had said, that “a single blow given behind by a Burgundian +would prevent him from attaining royalty.” The shock seems for the moment +to have utterly deprived him of his senses. Refusing to eat, or drink, +or sleep, he incessantly raved, threatened, and blasphemed. A visit +from the archbishop of Bourges, who came to offer the consolations of +religion, and who gave him some hopes of mercy on earth, rendered Biron +less violent. At the prisoner’s request, Villeroi and Silleri, two of the +king’s ministers, also visited him; and, either that his brain was still +wandering, or that he thought to establish a claim to pardon by appearing +to make important discoveries, or that he was prompted by a malignant +wish to involve in his own ruin those whom he hated, he is said to have +charged, and in the strongest terms, a number of innocent persons with +being engaged in treasonable practices. Whatever was his motive, his +purpose was frustrated; Henry did not thirst for blood; and it has been +remarked, that the documents which, on the trial, were brought forward +against the culprit, were not those that most forcibly criminated him, +but those which criminated him alone. + +While Biron was thus the sport of his unruly passions, his friends were +actively employed in endeavouring to save him. Henry had returned to the +capital, amidst the shouts and congratulations of his subjects. Soon +after his arrival, many of the nobles, some of whom were of Biron’s +nearest kindred, waited upon the king, to intercede for the criminal. +The duke of la Force was their spokesman; he spoke on his knees, and, +though Henry desired him to rise, he retained that posture. He pleaded +the services of the culprit and his father, the divine command to forgive +our enemies, the pardon which the king had extended to others, and, +especially, the deep indelible stain which would be thrown upon the +family by a public execution; and, as far as was possible, he laboured +to extenuate the marshal’s guilt, by representing that it arose from the +warmth of his temper, and had never been carried beyond mere intention. +There was one point in the duke’s speech which it was, perhaps, impolitic +in him to urge; that in which he stated himself to speak in the name of +a hundred thousand men, who had served under Biron. This was begging +too much in the style of the Spanish beggar in Gil Blas, and was not +calculated to propitiate a man like Henry. + +The monarch answered temperately, and even kindly, but with due firmness. +Reminding them that he did not resemble some of his predecessors, who +would not suffer parents to sue for their children on such an occasion, +he declared that the mercy for which they asked would, in fact, be the +worst of cruelty. He alluded to the love which he had always borne to +Biron, and told them, that had the offence been only against himself he +would willingly have forgiven it, and did forgive it as far as related to +his person, but that the safety of his children and of the whole kingdom +was implicated, and he must perform his duty to them. With respect to +the disgrace which it was feared would attach to the relatives of the +culprit, he treated the fear as a visionary one; he was, he said, himself +descended from the constable St. Pol and the Armagnacs, who suffered on a +scaffold, yet he did not feel dishonoured. In conclusion, he assured them +that, far from depriving the marshal’s kindred of the titles and offices +which they possessed, he was much more inclined to add to the number, so +long as they continued to serve the state with fidelity and zeal. + +The king having authorized the parliament to proceed to trial, a +deputation from that body, with the first president Harlay at its head, +went to the Bastile, to take the necessary examinations, and confront the +witnesses. With only one exception, which exception the internal evidence +supplied by the papers soon obliged him to retract, Biron recognized +all the letters and memorials which were shown to him; but he strove to +put an innocent construction upon them, and, as they were written in a +studiously ambiguous style, he might have thrown doubts upon the subject, +had they been unsupported by oral testimony. In this stage of the +business, he was asked what was his opinion of la Fin? Still believing +that person to be true to him, he replied that he was “an honourable +gentleman, a good man, and his friend.” The depositions of la Fin were +then read, and he was brought face to face with the prisoner. The marshal +now burst out into the most furious abuse of the man whom, but a moment +before, he had declared to be his honourable and worthy friend. “O good +God!” exclaims a contemporary chronicler, “what said he, and what did he +not say! With what more atrocious revilings could he have torn to pieces +the character of the most execrable being in the world! With what more +horrible protestations, with what more terrible oaths, could he have +called upon men, angels, and God himself, to be the witnesses and judges +of his innocence!” La Fin, however, stood his ground against the storm +of invective; and supported his evidence by corroborative circumstances, +and additional documents in the prisoner’s handwriting. It seemed as +though every thing conspired against Biron at this dreadful moment. “If +Renazé,” said he, “were here, he would prove La Fin to be a liar.” To +his utter surprise and consternation, the witness whom he had invoked, +but whom he imagined to be dead, was suddenly brought forward, and amply +confirmed the whole of La Fin’s story. On the very day that Biron was +arrested, Renazé contrived to escape from the castle of Chiari, and he +now sealed the fate of the marshal. Driven to his last resource, Biron +pleaded the pardon which was granted to him at Lyons, and protested that, +since he received it, he had never entertained any criminal designs. In +this plea he was no less unfortunate than in the others. From his own +incautious avowal, it was gathered that he did not make a full confession +to the king; and one of his letters showed that he had continued to plot +for many months after the monarch had forgiven him. + +The preliminary proceedings being completed, three days were occupied +by the parliament in going over the mass of evidence, and hearing the +summing up of the attorney general. The courts of justice, in those +times, always commenced their sittings at an early hour. Between five and +six o’clock, on the morning of the fourth day, Biron, closely guarded, +was taken by water to the hall of the parliament, where a hundred and +twelve of the members were in waiting to receive him; the peers had +unanimously refused to sit upon his trial. At the sight of this array +of judges he changed colour, but he soon recovered his self-possession, +and is said to have assumed a kind of theatrical air which was scarcely +decorous. A contemporary describes him as rudely bidding the chancellor +speak louder, and as “putting forward his right foot, holding his mantle +under his arm, with his hand on his side, and raising his other hand to +heaven, and smiting his breast with it, whenever he called upon God and +the celestial beings to be witnesses of his integrity in the service of +the king and kingdom.” + +The whole of the crimes attributed to him had been arranged under five +heads, concerning which he was interrogated by the chancellor. The +questioning and defence of Biron lasted between four and five hours, and +it must be owned that, in this final struggle for life and reputation, he +made a noble stand. Though, in the course of a long speech, he sometimes +became entangled in contradictions, its general tenor was well calculated +to produce a favourable effect; at moments he was even eloquent, and +worked strongly on the feelings of his auditors. Much he denied, and what +he could not deny he palliated; with respect to the treasons charged +against him, he was, he said, the seduced and not the seducer, a man not +deliberately wicked, but led astray by hateful intriguers, who wrought +his violent passions into frenzy, by representing that the monarch +had undervalued and insulted him—a representation which seemed to be +confirmed by his being refused the government of Bourg; he pleaded that +his errors had gone no farther than intention, that they had been fully +and freely pardoned, and had never been repeated; he urged his numerous +and eminent services as a counterbalance to his faults, and the mercy +which had uniformly been shown to far worse offenders as a reason why +it should be extended to him; and he repelled, as an infamous calumny, +the accusation of having intended to bring about the death of Henry—yet, +imprudent as such language was, he could not forbear from broadly hinting +that the monarch was fickle, unjust, and cruel: “I rely more upon you, +gentlemen,” said he, “than I do upon the king, who, having formerly +looked on me with the eyes of his affection, no longer sees me but with +the eye of his hatred, and thinks it a virtue to be cruel to me, and a +fault to exercise towards me an act of clemency.” At the close of his +speech, few of his hearers were unmoved, but all were unconvinced. + +The most curious part of his defence is yet to be mentioned. If he did +not spare his sovereign, it is not to be supposed that he would spare La +Fin. Whenever he mentioned him he could not restrain his fury, but gave +vent to a flood of abuse. Coining, and an unnatural regard for Renazé, +were among the numerous crimes which he imputed to him. Strange that he +did not perceive the folly of thus vituperating a man, whom he had so +recently recognized as his honourable and worthy friend, and whose sins, +if they really existed, he must then have known! But this was not all. +For his vindication he mainly trusted to one plea—that he had not been a +free agent, that he was under the irresistible influence of La Fin, who +was a sorcerer, and had dealings with the devil. He averred, seriously, +that La Fin was in the habit of breathing on him, biting his ear, and +kissing his left eye, and calling him his master, his lord, his prince, +and his king; that whenever his eye was kissed he felt a tendency to do +evil; that the magician also enchanted him by making him drink charmed +waters; and that he showed him waxen images which moved and spoke, and +one of which pronounced, in Latin, the words “impious king, thou shalt +perish!” “If by magic he could give voice to an inanimate body,” said he, +“is it wonderful that he should have such power over me as to bend my +will to an entire conformity with his own?” + +Deceived by the compassion which some of his judges had manifested, +Biron cherished the flattering hope of an acquittal. His spirits were +so elated by this idea, that he amused himself with repeating to his +guards various portions of his defence, and mimicking the gestures and +speeches which he supposed the chancellor to have made in the course of +the subsequent proceedings. His vanity, too, contributed to buoy him +up. He ran over, in conversation, the list of French commanders, found +some defect in each of them, and thence concluded that, as his military +talents were obviously indispensable to the state, his life was secure. + +The termination of that life was, nevertheless, rapidly approaching. By +an unanimous vote, on the day after his appearance at their bar, the +parliament pronounced Biron guilty of high treason, and condemned him to +lose his head on the Grêve. The place of execution was changed by the +king to the interior of the Bastile, at the request, it was said, of +the criminal’s friends; but partly, perhaps, in the fear that a popular +commotion might occur, and partly because a report was spread, that some +of his domestics intended to throw a sword to him on the scaffold, that +he might at least have the chance of dying an honourable death. It was +wise not to run the risk of encountering his despair. + +The first intimation which Biron received of his impending doom, was +from seeing that crowds were gathering together in the neighbourhood of +the Bastile. The change of time and place had not been publicly made +known. “I am sentenced! I am a dead man!” he instantly exclaimed. He +then sent a messenger to Sully, to request that he would come to him, +or would intercede with the king. With these requests Sully declined to +comply, but he desired the messenger to leave the marshal in doubt as to +the king’s intention. On the following morning, the last day of July, +1602, the chancellor, accompanied by some of his officers, proceeded +to the Bastile, to read the sentence to him, and announce its immediate +execution. Biron was at the moment deeply engaged in calculating his +nativity. When he was taken down to the chancellor, he addressed him +in an unconnected rhapsody of prayers, lamentations, invectives, and +reproaches, intermingled with protestations of innocence, and vaunts +of the services which he was yet capable of rendering to the state. He +besought that he might be suffered to live, even though it were in prison +and in chains! It was a considerable time before the chancellor could +obtain a hearing, and he was speedily interrupted by sallies of rage from +the marshal, who reproached him with hardness of heart, execrated La Fin, +accused the king of being revengeful, and the parliament of injustice in +not having allowed sufficient time for his vindication, and, finally, +asserted that he was put to death because he was a sincere catholic. + +This burst of insane passion was succeeded by a lucid interval, during +which he calmly dictated his will, sent tokens of remembrance to his +friends, and distributed in alms the money which he had about him. +The reading of some parts of his sentence again roused his irritable +feelings. When he heard the charge of having intended to destroy the +king, he exclaimed, “That is false! blot it out!” and when the Grêve was +mentioned, he declared that no power on earth should drag him thither, +and that he would sooner be torn to pieces by wild horses than submit to +such an indignity. He was quieted by being told of the change which had +been made; but, when it was hinted to him that his arms must be bound, he +relapsed into such violence that it was thought advisable to leave his +hands at liberty. He then made his confession to the priest; and it was +remarked that he, who had just before boasted of being a good catholic, +was ignorant of the commonest forms of prayer, prayed more like a +soldier than a Christian, and seemed to be thinking less of his salvation +than of the things of this world. + +It being now near five o’clock, the hour which was appointed for the +execution, he was informed that he must descend into the court of +the prison. As he was quitting the chapel, he caught sight of the +executioner. “Begone!” vociferated he: “touch me not till it is time; if +you come near me till then, I swear that I will strangle you!” He twice +repeated the command and the threat when he was at the scaffold. Looking +round on the soldiers, he mournfully said, “Would but some one of you +fire his musket through my body, how thankful I should be! What misery +it is to die so wretchedly, and by so shameful a blow!” The sentence +was then read again, and again he lost all patience at being accused of +planning Henry’s death. It was with much difficulty that the clerk of the +parliament completed the reading of the sentence, his voice being almost +drowned by the clamour of the prisoner. Thrice Biron tied a handkerchief +over his eyes, and as often he tore it off again, and once more he vented +his rage on the executioner, who had maddened him by wishing to cut +off his hair behind. “Touch me not,” he cried, “except with the sword. +If you lay hands on me while I am alive, if I am driven into a fury, +I will strangle half the folks that are here, and compel the rest to +kill me.” So terrible were his looks and his tone, that several of the +persons present were on the point of taking flight. It was believed that +he meditated seizing the death-sword, but the executioner had prudently +desired his attendant to conceal it till it was wanted. At last, after +long delay, the marshal requested Baranton, one of the officers of the +Bastile, to bandage his eyes and tuck up his hair; and, when this was +done, he laid his head upon the block. “Be quick! be quick!” were his +last words, and they were promptly obeyed. They were scarcely out of the +mouth of the speaker when the sword descended, and by a single blow Biron +ceased to exist. + +The remains of Biron were interred in the church of St. Paul. Not only +was his funeral followed by multitudes, but multitudes visited the church +afterwards, for the purpose of sprinkling his grave with holy water. +“Never was there a tomb,” says de Thou, “on which so much holy water +was poured; a circumstance rather disagreeable to the court, which was +vexed to see that a step which all ought to have deemed necessary for the +safety of the king and state, was so wrongly interpreted as to become a +subject of public dissatisfaction.” + +Almost the last wish of Biron was for vengeance on La Fin; the wish was +gratified. After a lapse of four years, La Fin ventured to visit Paris. +In the middle of the day, and in the centre of the capital, he was +attacked by twelve or fifteen well-mounted men, who unhorsed him, and +stretched him on the ground, weltering in his blood. Several passengers +were killed or wounded by the random firing. The perpetrators of this +deed, though not unknown, were never brought to justice. La Fin himself +was undeserving of pity; but his murderers, even had he been the only +victim, ought to have been shortened by the head. + +Faithless to a sovereign who had lavished kindness and honours upon him, +borne with his caprices and errors, and more than once saved his life +on the field of battle, Biron was rightfully punished; but the severity +which, on very slight grounds of suspicion, was shown to René de Marc, +sieur de Monbarot, seems to impeach the justice of Henry. When, however, +we recollect, that his mind was painfully agitated by the plots which +were thickening round him, we may, perhaps, be inclined to pity rather +than blame the monarch, that, in one instance, its natural bias towards +lenity was turned aside. + +In the bay of Douarnenez, off the Breton coast, there is an islet, called +Tristan, or Frimeau, which commands the entrance to the harbour of +Douarnenez. The government of it was held by the baron de Fontanelles, +who, during the war of the League, had rendered himself notorious by his +activity in plundering. Not being any longer able to gratify his rapacity +in this manner, he sought for other resources, and hoped he had found +them in becoming an accomplice of Biron, and in opening a negotiation +with the Spaniards, to deliver up to them the island and the neighbouring +town. This would have put Spain into possession of a very annoying post +in Britanny. Fortunately his treason was discovered, and he was sentenced +to be broken on the wheel. Three other persons, two of whom were Bretons, +participated in his guilt, and the latter were executed. + +Before the accomplices of Fontanelles were led to the scaffold, they were +put to the torture, and, while they were writhing under that iniquitous +infliction, something dropped from them which was construed into an +implication of Monbarot, who was governor of Rennes. Monbarot had done +good service against the duke of Mercœur, during the war of the League, +and, since the peace, he had made strenuous exertions to maintain the +royal authority in Britanny. All this was, nevertheless, insufficient to +save him from being suspected of treasonable designs, and immured in the +Bastile. + +Monbarot languished in prison for three years—and to a solitary captive +years are ages. He would, perhaps, have remained there during a much +longer period, had not filial love been a persevering suitor for him. +His only son repeatedly solicited the king to set his parent free; and, +failing to obtain that boon, he entreated that he might be allowed to +lighten his sorrows, by sharing his captivity. At length, Monbarot’s +enemies having failed to procure any proof whatever against him, he +was liberated by Henry. But, though he was declared to be innocent, he +was punished as though he were guilty. Instead of being, as far as was +possible, compensated for three years of suffering, he was deprived of +the government of Rennes, which was given to Philip de Bethune, Sully’s +younger brother. It is probable, indeed, that the persecution of Monbarot +was set on foot for the sole purpose of wresting from him his coveted +office. + +Charles of Valois, count of Auvergne, who was afterwards known as duke +of Angoulême, was a son of Charles the ninth, by Maria Touchet, and +was born in 1573. He was admitted a knight of Malta, and became grand +prior of France; but Catherine of Medicis having bequeathed to him the +counties of Auvergne and Lauragais, he quitted the order of Malta, and +married a daughter of the constable Montmorenci. Charles was one of the +first to join Henry of Navarre, on the accession of that prince, and he +fought valiantly for him at Arques, Ivry, and Fontaine Française. In +the course of a few years, however, his loyalty evaporated, and we find +him an accomplice of Biron. When he was arrested, his pleasantry and +presence of mind did not forsake him. On Praslin demanding his sword, +he laughingly said, “Here it is; it has never killed any thing but wild +boars. If you had given me a hint of this business, I should have been +in bed and asleep two hours ago.” He preserved the same gay humour while +he was in prison. In October he was released, after having disclosed the +whole that he knew of the conspiracy. As, however, the king had procured +the same information from other quarters, Auvergne would probably have +been severely punished but for two favourable circumstances—he was the +half brother of the king’s mistress, the marchioness of Verneuil, and he +had been particularly recommended to him by Henry the third, when that +monarch was on his death-bed. + +A very short time elapsed before Auvergne was again involved in +treasonable projects. His confederates were the marchioness of Verneuil, +her father, Francis de Balsac d’Entragues, and an Englishman named +Thomas Morgan. The duke of Bouillon, and other nobles, were also ready +to lend their aid. The marchioness, who, in consequence of the promise +of marriage which the king had given to her during the insanity of his +passion, affected to consider herself as his wife, was irritated by the +birth of a dauphin, which seemed to shut out the possibility of her son +ever possessing what she called his right. D’Entragues was deeply wounded +in his feelings, by the stain which Henry’s licentious love for his +daughter had cast upon him. Some writers,—who appear to suppose that a +French father could not think himself dishonoured by his child becoming +a king’s concubine,—throw doubts on the sincerity of d’Entragues’ +indignation; but I can see no real grounds for their so doing. There +is an air of sincerity, in what he says upon this subject, which is +greatly in his favour. After touching upon the ingratitude with which +his faithful services had been repaid, he adds, “Borne down by years and +maladies, I was condemned to suffer more deadly blows from blind fortune. +My daughter, the sole consolation of my old age, pleased the king, and +this last stroke completed my misery. Grief aggravated my maladies, and +still more intense mental anguish was joined to the pains which my body +endured. I found myself exposed to all the gibes of the courtiers, and +that which generally constitutes the happiness of a father, and which +ought to have formed the glory and felicity of my family, was, on the +contrary, the cause of my shame, of the dishonour of my house, and of +the insulting scorn with which I was overwhelmed.” As often as he +implored for leave to withdraw from court he was refused, and at length +he was forbidden to see his daughter. Not content with inflicting these +wrongs upon him, Henry was striving to seduce his second daughter also. +Assuredly if such injuries are not sufficient to rouse the wrath of a +father, it is difficult to imagine what would be. That d’Entragues keenly +felt them is certain; for he more than once endeavoured to intercept +and kill the king, while he was on his way to the marchioness, and to +her sister, and Henry is said to have narrowly escaped. The design to +assassinate is indefensible; but it at least proves that the father was +in earnest. At a subsequent period, Henry said to d’Entragues, “Is it +true, as is reported, that you meant to kill me?” “Yes, Sire,” replied +the undaunted noble, “and the idea will never be out of my mind, while +your majesty persists to blot my honour in the person of my daughter.” + +The particulars of the conspiracy are very imperfectly known. It is said +the principal stipulations of the treaty with Spain were, that Philip +should recognise as dauphin the natural son of Henry by the marchioness +of Verneuil, on her putting him into his hands; that, in the first +instance, the mother and child should seek refuge at Sedan, under the +protection of the duke of Bouillon, and that subsequently five Portuguese +fortresses should be ceded to them as places of security; and that France +should be invaded on the frontiers of Champagne, Burgundy, and Provence, +by the marquis of Spinola, the count of Fuentes, and the duke of Savoy. + +To the prosecution of Auvergne there were two obstacles, which arose out +of the conduct of Henry. When the count was released from the Bastile, he +offered to continue his correspondence with the Spanish court, for the +purpose of betraying its secrets to the king; and a regular authority +for so doing was unwisely granted to him. It was base in Auvergne to make +such a proposal, and scarcely less so in Henry to adopt it. By another +act, the monarch gave him a fresh pretext for holding intercourse with a +power which was thoroughly hostile at heart. Henry being attacked by a +fit of illness, the marchioness, who had insulted Mary of Medicis beyond +endurance, affected to feel, or perhaps felt, such extreme dread of what +would befal her and her offspring in case of his death, that the king +gave her half brother a written permission to negotiate an asylum for +her in a foreign country. Cambray was the place which she and Auvergne +selected as the city of refuge; and this selection afforded them, while +the negotiation was proceeding, an opportunity to carry on intrigues with +the emissaries of Spain. + +Apprehending, probably, that his treasonable duplicity would soon be +detected, Auvergne, by challenging the count of Soissons, artfully +contrived to be banished from court. Soissons complained, and Henry, to +satisfy him, exiled the challenger to the province whence he derived +his title. This was what Charles of Valois had aimed at; for, in that +province, his possessions, his popularity, and the rugged nature of +the country, would contribute to secure him from danger. While he was +there, a letter written by him, to one of his friends at Paris, was +intercepted, and, though its language was obscure, it gave the king +reason to believe that, under pretence of betraying Spain, the count was +in reality plotting with it. Henry immediately summoned him to return to +court. Auvergne was however aware of the reason and the danger. “It is +only for the purpose of bringing my head to the scaffold,” said he, “that +I am called to Paris.” The mere idea of being re-immured in “that great +heap of stones,” as he called the Bastile, made him shudder. Neither a +safe-conduct, nor a formal pardon, which were offered to him, nor the +assurances of several persons, whom the king sent to him, could remove +his suspicions. To avoid being taken by surprise, he lived in the woods, +and the most solitary spots, and kept dogs and sentinels continually on +the watch. Yet he was at last circumvented. His regiment of cavalry was +purposely ordered to pass near his abode, and he could not deny himself +the gratification of inspecting it. In this pleasure he thought he might +safely indulge, as he was resolved that he would neither dismount nor +be surrounded, and was on the back of a fleet horse, that could gallop +ten leagues without stopping. He was, nevertheless, adroitly seized, and +carried off to the Bastile, where he was placed in the chamber that Biron +had inhabited. On his way thither he had preserved his serenity, but, +when he entered the chamber, the remembrance of his friend drew from him +a few tears. He soon, however, recovered his equanimity, and jocosely +told the governor, “there was no inn at Paris so bad that he would not +rather go to bed in it, than in this building.” As soon as Auvergne was +secured, d’Entragues was arrested and lodged in the Concièrgerie, and the +marchioness of Verneuil was placed under a guard in her own house. + +The parliament was now directed to take cognizance of the plot. Henry, +however, whose main object in all this was to render his haughty mistress +more submissive, sent one of his confidential servants to make her an +offer of pardon on certain conditions. He was repulsed, as he richly +deserved to be. The marchioness disdainfully replied, that, as she had +never committed a crime against the king, there was no room for a pardon. +The trial accordingly proceeded. The conspirators defended themselves +dextrously. Biron had been ruined partly by admitting, at the outset, +the fair character and veracity of intended witnesses. The marchioness +and the count at least avoided that rock, by manifesting an apparently +bitter hostility to each other. As to d’Entragues, he censured them +both; but his vindication principally consisted of a severe exposure and +impeachment of Henry’s conduct, with respect to himself, the marchioness, +and her sister. + +Though in a legal point of view, whatever they might be in a moral, the +proofs against the prisoners were by no means clear, the judges, on the +1st of February, 1605, found Auvergne, d’Entragues, and Morgan, guilty +of high treason, and condemned them to lose their heads. The marchioness +was sentenced to be confined in a monastery, while further inquiries +were being made into her past proceedings. She was, however, soon +after allowed to reside in her own house at Verneuil; and no long time +elapsed before the king ordered that all inquiry into her acts should +be discontinued. The punishment of the remaining offenders was next +commuted. D’Entragues was exiled to his house at Malesherbes, Morgan was +sent out of the kingdom, and Auvergne was doomed to remain in “that great +heap of stones,” which he so much abhorred. + +Thus ended a farce which was eminently disgraceful to Henry, and for +which he was justly censured. “It excited indignation,” says de Thou, “to +see the ministry of the most respectable tribunal in the realm profaned +by a court intrigue. The king, it was said, had brought the marchioness +to trial, not for the purpose of punishing her, nor to give an example +which was equally necessary and full of equity, but that her father and +brother, who had tried to withdraw her from the court, might be foremost +in exhorting her to renew her connection with a prince who madly loved +her.” To crown the whole, the monarch who, to secure more effectually a +refractory mistress, had thus made a laughing-stock of the laws and the +magistracy, speedily deserted that mistress, and transferred his fickle +affections to Jacqueline de Beuil, whom he created countess of Moret. + +The death of Henry did not open the prison doors of the count of +Auvergne. He spent nearly twelve years in the Bastile. Happily for him, +he had been well educated, and though, while he was immersed in the +debaucheries of an immoral court, he had lost sight of literature, his +taste for it was not destroyed. He was therefore enabled to solace by +study his long captivity; and we may believe that, when he once more +emerged from his durance, reflection and added years had made him a wiser +and a better man. He had need of consolation while he was incarcerated; +for, the year after he was committed to the Bastile, he received another +heavy blow. Queen Margaret instituted a suit, to recover from him the +vast property which he derived from her mother, and the tribunal decided +against him. + +At last, in 1616, he was set free by Mary of Medicis, that he might +assist in forming a counterpoise to the Condéan faction; and in 1619, +he was created duke of Angoulême. He subsequently served the state with +honour, on various occasions, both as ambassador and general. His death +took place in 1650. + +Scarcely were the proceedings against Auvergne and his accomplices +brought to a close before another conspiracy was discovered; it was the +last which was formed, or rather, perhaps, which was made public, during +the reign of Henry. The author of this plot was Louis d’Alagon, sieur de +Merargues, a Provençal noble, nearly allied to some great families. We +have seen that the Spaniards were desirous to obtain an establishment +on the Breton coast, which might be a thorn in the side of France. They +now sought to gain a much more dangerous footing on the shore of the +Mediterranean. The important city of Marseilles was the object which they +coveted, and Merargues was the person on whom they reckoned to put it +into their possession. + +Almost the first step which Merargues took, after becoming a traitor, +showed how unfit he was to act the part which he had chosen; he had all +the will in the world to be a dangerous conspirator, and wanted only +the talent. Some years before, he had proposed to the king to keep two +galleys ready for service, in order to secure the port of Marseilles; +the plan was adopted, and as a recompense, he received the command of +the vessels. In maturing this scheme, he derived much assistance from a +galley-slave, who was a man of ability. To this man, whom he imagined +to be entirely devoted to him, and capable of daring deeds, Merargues +communicated his purpose of betraying Marseilles to the Spanish monarch. +By means of the two galleys, he considered himself to be master of the +port; and he had no doubt of being elected to the office of Viguier, +or Royal Provost, for the following year, which would give him full +authority over the city and the forts. + +In order to fathom to the bottom the project of Merargues, the wily +galley-slave affected to lend a willing ear to the projector. He, +however, deemed it more prudent to trust to the gratitude of his own +sovereign for a reward, than to that of Philip of Spain. As soon as he +had acquired a thorough knowledge of the particulars, he wrote to the +duke of Guise, offering to give information of the utmost importance, on +condition of recovering his liberty. His offer was made known to the king +by the duke, and was accepted. Guise was at the same time directed to +keep the affair a profound secret, till decisive proof could be obtained +against the criminal, and to take the necessary precautions for the +safety of the city. + +Merargues himself was not slow in furnishing the evidence which was +wanted. He had already had various conferences with Zuniga, the Spanish +ambassador, an able and intriguing diplomatist, but his correspondence +on the subject was principally carried on through Bruneau, the +ambassador’s secretary. Unconscious that his scheme was known to the +French government, he now visited Paris, on a mission to the court, from +the states of Provence; a mission which he no doubt readily undertook, +that he might have an opportunity of making arrangements with his foreign +confederates. By order of the king, he was closely watched, and it was +soon discovered that he had secret interviews with Zuniga and Bruneau. +The latter was tracked to the abode of Merargues, and both of them were +arrested. On the secretary, who tried in vain to draw his sword, was +found a paper, which bore witness to the criminality of his purpose. +Merargues, on being seized, exclaimed, “I am a dead man! but if the king +will spare my life, I will disclose great things to him!” He was conveyed +to the Bastile, and Bruneau to the Châtelet. + +No sooner did Zuniga learn the detention of his secretary than he +demanded an audience of the king. It must excite a smile, to hear that +he complained bitterly of heavy wrong, and assumed the lofty tone of +offended dignity. In the face of the clearest evidence, he denied all +sinister designs; and talked largely of the privilege of ambassadors +being violated, and the law of nations set at nought—as if any privileges +or law could exist authorizing an envoy to conspire in the very court of +the monarch to whom he is deputed. Nor did he forget to recriminate upon +the ministers of Henry, as being fomenters of revolution in the Spanish +dominions, nor to throw out threats of hostility, in case redress were +denied. Angered by the haughty language of Zuniga, Henry retorted with at +least equal acrimony, and concluded by a peremptory refusal to release +Bruneau, till the question of his guilt or innocence had been thoroughly +investigated. In the course of a few days, however, Bruneau was sent +back to his master; but not before he had answered interrogatories, and +been confronted with Merargues. + +The fate of Merargues could not be doubtful. He was sentenced to be +beheaded, and then quartered. As the culprit was related to the families +of the duke of Montpensier and the cardinal de Joyeuse, the king sent +to those personages, to offer the commutation of the punishment into +perpetual imprisonment. They, however, with a praiseworthy spirit, +replied that, though they were grateful for his kindness, they must +decline to accept it; of all such villains they would, they said, be glad +to see France cleared, and, although the criminal was their relative, +they would do justice on him with their own hands, if there were no +executioner to perform that duty. Merargues was in consequence executed, +at the Grêve, and his head was sent to Marseilles, and exposed on the +summit of one of the city gates. + +On the same day that Merargues was led to the scaffold, the life of Henry +was endangered by the violence of one John de Lisle, a madman. In the +course of a few months another accident occurred; he narrowly escaped +drowning, while crossing the ferry of Neuilly in his carriage. At the +expiration of five years, treason accomplished its purpose, and the +existence of this justly celebrated monarch was cut short by the knife of +Ravaillac. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + Reign of Louis XIII.—The treasure of Henry IV. + dissipated—Prevalent belief in magic—Cesar and Ruggieri—Henry, + prince of Condé—The Marchioness d’Ancre—Marshal + Ornano—Prevalence of duelling—The count de Bouteville—The Day + of the Dupes—Vautier, the physician of Mary of Medicis—The + marshal de Bassompierre—The chevalier de Jars—Infamy of + Laffemas—Three citizens of Paris sent to the Bastile—Despotic + language of Louis XIII.—The count de Cramail—The Marquis of + Vitry—Peter de la Porte—Noel Pigard Dubois, an alchemical + impostor—The count de Grancé and the Marquis de Praslin—The + prince Palatine—Count Philip d’Aglie—Charles de Beys—Letter + from an unknown prisoner to Richelieu. + + +The treasure deposited in the Bastile, by Henry IV., did not remain long +undissipated after his death. It began to melt away, like snow in the +sun, as soon as the regency of Mary of Medicis was commenced. Swarms of +her favourites and dependants clamoured to obtain the reward of their +sycophancy. Like the horse-leech’s two daughters, they were perpetually +crying, “Give! Give!” and, had such personages existed in the days of +Solomon, he might have added a fifth thing to the four which he describes +as never saying “It is enough.” Most prominent among the group were +Concini and his wife; and, as they were exceedingly unpopular, they +endeavoured to silence the cry against them, by stopping, at the public +expense, the mouths of their most formidable censors. But it was not +only her friends, as they called themselves, that Mary of Medicis had +to satisfy; her enemies, and she had many, were to be bought off, and +they sold their forbearance dearly. Fraud and shameless rapacity became +universal. “Governors,” says Anquetil, “called for guards which they +never enlisted, for augmentations of their garrisons, that they might +gain something out of the pay, and fortifications, which often were +useless. They themselves made the bargains, and, at the king’s cost, +managed matters with the contractors. Reversions were granted down to +the third generation. Those who by this means were excluded, required +drafts on the royal treasury. Nothing was more common than the doubling +and trebling of salaries, from the highest office to the lowest. Some +obtained dowries for their daughters, others the payment of their debts: +so that it was a general pillage.” To all this must be added, the loss +sustained, and the injury done to every branch of industry, by the +creation or revival of obnoxious tolls, privileges, and monopolies. + +Thus the money accumulated by Henry was speedily squandered. After all, +it was, perhaps, more innocently spent in this manner, than it would +have been in carrying on the wide-spreading war which he had planned, to +realise his chimerical projects. Some drops of the golden shower probably +descended among the multitude; and myriads were not led forth to spill +their blood in foreign lands. The real mischief in this case was, that, +when the hoard was gone, the spirit of spending remained; and to satisfy +that spirit new taxes and exactions were pitilessly imposed on a people +whose burthens were already oppressive. + +Having wholly lost his influence, Sully resigned many of his offices, and +returned into private life. Among the places which he relinquished were +the superintendence of the finances, and the government of the Bastile. +He, however, did not make the sacrifice without taking especial care to +be well remunerated for it. A million of livres, and a yearly pension of +forty-eight thousand livres, was his price. It is quite clear that the +virtuous Sully did not think, like Pope, that “virtue _only_ makes our +bliss below.” + +For the first four or five years of the regency of Mary of Medicis, the +Bastile seems to have contained no prisoner of note. At the end of that +time it received an individual who, though he had no rank to boast of, +professed to be in the service of a potent master. The belief in magic +was almost general at that period. We have seen that Biron attributed +his crimes to the influence of magic upon him. All the world was running +mad after charms, spells, and philtres; the boldest of the throng had +a violent curiosity to see the devil. Among those who preyed upon the +credulity of the crowd, history has preserved the names of two—one +was called Cesar, the other was Ruggieri, a Florentine. It is to the +extraordinary mode in which they are asserted to have quitted the world, +that we are indebted for our knowledge of them. + +Cesar is gravely stated to have had the power of calling down hail +and thunder at his pleasure. He had a familiar spirit, and a dog, who +seems to have been a sort of minor fiend, acting as messenger, to carry +his letters, and bring back answers. Cesar was a manufacturer of love +potions, to make young girls enamoured of young men; and, on occasion, +could help a cowardly enemy to destroy without risk the man whom he +hated. It was charged against him, that he had formed a charmed image +for the purpose of making a gentleman waste away. This was a very common +practice when sorcery and witchcraft were in vogue. But it seems probable +that the crime which brought him to the Bastile was an indiscretion which +he committed with respect to one of the gentle sex. He was accustomed to +attend the witches’ sabbath; and he boasted that, at one of those unholy +meetings, a great lady of the court had granted him the last favour which +a female can bestow. Such a vaunt was well calculated to bring him into +durance. It did that, and more. On the eleventh of March, 1615, all Paris +was astonished, by learning that, in the dead of the night, the devil had +come, with a tremendous din, and strangled Cesar in his bed. Four days +afterwards, his satanic majesty, who appears to have wanted the services +of two magicians at once, snatched away, in the same manner, the soul of +the Florentine Ruggieri, who was then residing in the house of a French +marshal. It is not difficult to account for these supposed supernatural +events. + +A curious description of the tricks which Cesar played upon his dupes +is given by a contemporary author, who speaks in the character of the +magician. The representation is probably correct. “You would hardly +believe,” says he, “how many young courtiers and young Parisians there +are, who teaze me to show them the devil. Finding this to be the case, +I hit upon one of the drollest inventions in the world to get money. +About a quarter of a league from this city, I found a very deep quarry, +which has long ditches on the right and left hand. When any body wants +to see the devil, I take him into that; but, before he enters, he must +pay me forty or fifty pistoles at least; swear never to say a word of the +matter; and promise not to be afraid, or call on the gods or demigods, or +pronounce any holy words. + +“All this being done, I enter the cavern first; then, before going +further, I make circles, and involutions, and fulminations, and mutter +some speech composed of barbarous words, which I have no sooner uttered +than my curious fool and I hear the rattling of heavy chains, and the +growling of large mastiffs. Then I ask him if he is afraid; if he says +yes (and there are many who dare not proceed), I lead him out again, and, +having thus cured him of his impertinent curiosity, I pocket his money. + +“If he is not afraid, I go forward, mumbling out some terrific words. +When I have reached a particular spot, I redouble my incantations, and +utter loud cries, as if I had gone frantically mad. Immediately six +men, whom I keep hidden in the cavern, throw out flashes of flame, to +the right and left of us, from burning rosin. Seen through these flames +I point out to my inquisitive companion a monstrous goat, loaded with +great heavy chains of iron, painted with vermilion, to look as though +they were red hot. On each side, there are two enormous mastiffs, with +their heads fastened into long wooden cases, which are wide at one end, +and very narrow at the other. While the men keep goading them, they howl +with all their might, and this howling echoes in such a manner, through +the instruments on their heads, that the cavern is filled with sounds so +terrific that, though I know the cause of the hurlyburly, even my own +hair stands on end. The goat, whom I have taught his lesson, plays his +part so well, rattling his chains, and brandishing his horns, that there +is nobody but what would believe him to be the devil in earnest. My six +men, whom I have also thoroughly trained, are likewise loaded with red +chains, and dressed like furies. There is no light in the cavern but what +they now and then make with powdered rosin. + +“Two of them, after having played the devil to perfection, now come to +torment my poor curious gull, with long bags of cloth full of sand; +with these they so belabour him all over his body, that I am at last +obliged to drag him out of the cavern half dead. Then, when he has come +to himself a little, I tell him that it is a most perilous thing to wish +to see the devil, and I beg that he will never indulge it in future; and +I assure you that no one ever does after having been so double damnably +beaten.” + +The year after the foul fiend had fetched away Cesar and Ruggieri, +the Bastile was tenanted by an occupant of high rank—Henry, prince of +Condé, the second who bore that Christian name. Condé was born in 1588, +and, till the birth of a dauphin, was presumptive heir to the throne of +France. The prince was well educated, witty and pleasant in conversation, +spoke several languages, and was better acquainted with literature and +the sciences than most contemporary men of high birth; but his person was +not attractive. It was probably the latter circumstance which induced +Henry the fourth to unite him to Henrietta de Montmorenci, the loveliest +and richest female of that time. Her inclinations leaned towards the +handsome, gallant, and accomplished Bassompierre; but Henry, who was +smitten with an extravagant passion for her, seems to have thought that +he could more easily seduce her if she were the wife of Condé. He was +mistaken. The prince, on whose “liking the chase a hundred thousand times +better than he liked women” Henry had rather erroneously calculated, +was not disposed to be dishonoured, even by a king who was his uncle. +Henry, previous to the marriage, had, indeed, pledged his word that, +on his account, the prince need have no fears; but Henry was not a man +to be trusted in such cases. The nuptial knot was scarcely tied before +the conduct of the monarch became such as to awake, and justify, all +the jealous fears of the husband; who was further aggrieved by being +compelled to endure the contempt and insolence of Sully. To avoid the +danger which hung over him, his sole resource was to fly the country with +his wife; and he accordingly contrived to make his escape, and to obtain +an asylum in the court of the archduke Albert, at Brussels. + +When Henry found that his intended prey was beyond his reach, his +behaviour resembled rather that of a madman than of a sage monarch, +at the mature age of fifty-seven. He ran about asking advice of his +courtiers, the ministers were summoned, councils were held, parties of +troops were despatched to seize the fugitives, and war was threatened +against Spain, if she refused to give them up. When Sully was told of +what had happened, he replied in a surly tone, “I am not astonished at +it, sire; I foresaw it clearly and warned you of it; and had you taken +my advice a fortnight ago, when he was going to Moret, you would have +put him into the Bastile, where you would find him now, and where I +should have kept a good watch over him for you.” Such was the morality +of the austere Sully! This “well-seeming Angelo,” who has been praised, +at least as much as he deserves, could be indignant at the idea of the +monarch marrying Henrietta d’Entragues, his mistress; but he could see +no dishonour in that monarch breaking his plighted word, as well as all +moral obligations, by seducing the wife of his nephew; nor in he himself +volunteering his assistance to forward an adulterous intercourse, by +prompting the seizure of the injured husband, and becoming his gaoler! + +It was not without reason that the prince dreaded to trust his wife +within the corrupted atmosphere of the French court. Had she remained +there, it appears certain that she must have fallen. As it was, her +fidelity was, for a moment, on the point of being shaken. Henrietta was +little more than sixteen, and the glory of the sovereign, his boundless +generosity to her, and his idolatrous fondness, dazzled her imagination +so far, that, while she was at Brussels, a correspondence was actually +carried on between them. An attempt was made by Henry’s emissaries to +carry her off, but it failed. When d’Estrées, marquis of Cœuvres, who +conducted this attempt, was reproached for his baseness by Condé, his +defence was, that he had acted upon orders from the king his master, and +that it was his duty to execute them, whether they were just or unjust. +Henrietta repaired her momentary error by her subsequent conduct. + +Not believing himself to be safe, Condé removed to Milan, where he +published a manifesto to justify his having quitted France. From +policy he passed over in silence the main cause of his flight; but he +indemnified himself by pouring forth all the bitterness of his resentment +on Sully, whom he painted in the darkest colours. Some overtures were +made, to lure the prince back to France, but they were ineffectual. +But, while Henry was preparing to carry war into the territory of his +neighbours, he fell by the hand of an assassin, and the way was thus +opened for the return of the prince. + +Condé aspired to the regency, but his ambitious hopes were disappointed. +Chagrined at the failure of some of his subsequent schemes, and the +refusal of favours which he sought, the prince, with many of the nobles, +took up arms against the court. For this, he and his adherents were +declared guilty of treason. A peace was, nevertheless, patched up between +the parties, and he returned to Paris in a sort of triumph. + +Not more than a year elapsed before the obvious intention of Condé, to +monopolize all the power of the state, compelled Mary of Medicis to +venture upon decisive measures against him. Sully was active in prompting +her to this step. The strength of the prince’s party rendered the +attempt hazardous; but the business was kept so secret, and was so ably +managed, that he was arrested in the Louvre, and conveyed to the Bastile, +without opposition. Here, and at Vincennes, he remained for three years, +during part of which time he was harshly treated. It was not without +much difficulty, and till he had been long confined, that his wife, who +had become sincerely attached to him, was allowed to share his prison. +His liberation was brought about by the fall of Concini, and he was +reinstated in his honours. Thenceforth, he served Louis the thirteenth +faithfully in the cabinet and the field. He died in 1646. Voltaire truly +says, with respect to him, that his being the father of the great Condé, +was his greatest glory. + +The downfall of Concini, marshal d’Ancre, which opened the gates of the +Bastile to let out Condé, opened them also to admit, for a short time, +the wife of the murdered marshal. After Concini had been assassinated by +Vitry and his accomplices, and his body had been dragged from the grave, +and torn into fragments, by an ignorant and savage populace, Leonora, his +widow, was hurried to prison. She was a daughter of the female by whom +Mary of Medicis was nursed, and had been the playmate of the princess. +When Mary became the consort of Henry IV., she took Leonora in her train +to Paris. So attached was Mary to her, that Leonora is said, by Mezeray, +“to have directed at her pleasure the desires, the affections, and the +hatreds of the queen.” Riches were, of course, heaped upon her. She is +charged with having fomented the disagreements of Mary and her inconstant +husband, by making false statements, to excite the jealousy of her +mistress. If she did so, which may be doubted, she was performing a work +of supererogation; for Henry rendered falsehood unnecessary, by affording +abundant and undisguised cause for complaint. The light of the sun was +not more obvious than his conjugal infidelity. It was also objected, +that she insolently shut her door against the princesses and nobles, who +came to pay court to her in the height of her power. If this be true, +it proves only that she had spirit and good sense enough to despise +the sycophancy of those by whom she knew herself to be detested. It is +much in favour of Leonora’s private character, that Mary of Medicis was +so firmly her friend; for, unlike the titled dames who surrounded her, +Mary was a modest and virtuous woman. That the marshal and his partner +fattened on the spoils of the state it would be folly to deny; but, mean +and criminal as such conduct undoubtedly is, we must bear in mind that +the crime was common to all the courtiers of that period. Every one +was eager, as the French phrase expresses it, “to carry off a leg or a +wing.” It was envy, not abhorrence of robbing the public, that caused the +destruction of Mary’s favourites. + +In France, to live upon the imposts squeezed from the people was not +deemed an impeachable act, unless, perhaps, by those who had failed to +get a share of the pillage; and consequently there was no legal ground +for dragging the widow of Concini to the bar. But hatred is ingenious in +finding means to effect its purpose. Having first been so effectually +plundered by the police officers, that she had not even a change of linen +left, she was sent before a special commission, to be tried for Judaism +and sorcery. Other charges were brought forward, but it is obvious +that they were only meant to increase the odium under which she was +labouring. The trial was, throughout, a mockery of justice. Evidence the +most trivial in some instances, and absurd in others, was produced to +substantiate the charge of Judaism and sorcery. Some Hebrew books, which +were found in her apartment, were gravely supposed to be used by her +for necromantic purposes. “By what magic did you gain such an influence +over the mind of the queen-mother?” was one of the questions put by her +judges. “My only magic,” replied the prisoner, “was the power strong +minds have over weak ones”—a memorable reply, which goes far to prove +that she was a woman of superior talent. + +Though the judges had, no doubt, been selected for the purpose of +ensuring her condemnation to death, it turned out that a mistake had +been made with respect to some of them, and that they were not of the +opinion of d’Estrées, who thought that the orders of a master ought to +be executed, whether they were just or unjust. Five of them absented +themselves, and a few others voted for banishment. The majority, however, +were faithful to their mission, and she was sentenced to be beheaded, +and her remains burnt, and scattered to the winds. By the same sentence, +her husband’s memory was branded with infamy, her son was declared +ignoble, and incapable of holding office or dignity; their mansion, near +the Louvre, was ordered to be levelled with the ground, and all their +property was confiscated. + +On hearing this sentence, to which she was compelled to listen +bareheaded, in the midst of an insulting crowd, nature for a moment +prevailed in the bosom of Leonora, and she sobbed loudly. The disgrace of +her son seems to have been more painful to her than even her own fate. +She soon, however, recovered herself, and became resigned to her doom. +When she was led to execution, her deportment so won for her the respect +of the multitude, that not a syllable of reproach was heard. She looked +firmly, yet without any theatrical affectation of heroism, on the block +and the flaming pile; submitted to the blow without a murmur; and thus +triumphantly vindicated her claim to the possession of a strong mind. + +Having passed over an interval of seven years, after the judicial murder +of the marchioness d’Ancre, we find the Bastile receiving John Baptist +Ornano, the son of a father who enjoyed and deserved the friendship of +Henry IV. Ornano was born in 1581, and was not more than fourteen when he +commanded a company of cavalry at the siege of la Fère. He subsequently +served with distinction in Savoy and other quarters. + +In 1619, Louis the thirteenth appointed him governor of Gaston, duke +of Anjou, the king’s brother, who was presumptive heir to the throne. +Gaston had, for some time, been under the care of the count de Lude, +than whom it would have been difficult to find a man more unfit for his +office, unless he was chosen for the purpose of leading his pupil astray. +Ornano, by a proper mixture of firmness and kindness, soon succeeded in +perfectly acquiring the respect and affection of the prince. One part of +the system, by which he purposed to break the bad habits of his youthful +charge, is said to have consisted in awakening his ambition. With this +view he dwelt upon the strong probability of the prince succeeding to the +crown, and the necessity of making himself acquainted with affairs of +state; and he taught him to believe, that he could gain such knowledge +only by being admitted into the king’s council. It may be supposed that, +in thus acting, Ornano was not without an eye to his own advancement and +influence. La Vieville, however, who then ruled, did not wish to see +Gaston in the council, and still less Ornano. He, therefore, persuaded +Louis to remove the prince’s governor, and send him into Provence. Ornano +refused to resign, and he was punished by being sent to the Bastile, +whence he was transferred to the castle of Caen. + +Gaston remonstrated strongly against being deprived of his friend and +preceptor; but his remonstrances would probably have been of little +avail, had not la Vieville been precipitated from power. Ornano was +then released by the king, and was placed at the head of the prince’s +household. In 1626, at the request of Gaston, seconded by the advice +of Richelieu, he was created marshal of France. This promotion was the +precursor of his fall. It was a part of the policy of Richelieu to grant, +in the first instance, more to suitors of rank than they were entitled to +expect, that, in case of their afterwards opposing him, he might treat +them without mercy. It appears he soon began to suspect that the new-made +marshal was not likely to be a submissive dependent, and this was enough +to induce him to work his ruin. Ornano himself aided his dangerous enemy, +by pertinaciously requiring admittance into the council, and by using +offensive language on his demand being refused. Various acts of the +marshal were now represented in the darkest colours to the suspicious +king, by Richelieu; and Louis, always open to suggestions of this kind, +imprisoned the supposed offender in the castle of Vincennes. Ornano died +there, in September, 1626. He death was attributed to poison, but the +report was certainly unfounded. Whether, if he had lived, he would have +saved his head, is doubtful; for when Richelieu had once resolved to have +a man’s head, it was not easy to disappoint him. + +Among the few whom justice, not tyranny or caprice, immured within the +walls of the Bastile, may be reckoned Francis, count de Bouteville, of +the ancient and illustrious family of Montmorenci, whose father, Louis +de Montmorenci, was vice-admiral of France in the reign of Henry the +fourth. The example which was made of him was necessary, to vindicate +the insulted laws, and to check a murderous practice which had shed +some of the best blood in the kingdom. For a long series of years, in +defiance of the severe edicts issued against it by Henry IV. and Louis +XIII., duelling had been carried to an extent which it is frightful to +contemplate. War itself would scarcely have swept off more victims of the +privileged class, than were sacrificed in private and frivolous quarrels. +Paris, in particular, swarmed with professed duellists, who gloried in +their exploits, and counted up their slain with the same exultation that +a sportsman counts the game he has killed. Some, who prided themselves on +a peculiar delicacy of honour, were ever on the watch to find a pretext +for taking offence. Even to look at them, to touch any part of their +dress in passing by them, or to utter a word which could be misconstrued, +sufficed to draw from them a challenge to mortal combat. + +Bouteville was one of the most conspicuous of these offenders. In +1624, M. Pontgibaud, in 1626, the count de Thorigny and the Marquis +Desportes, and in January, 1627, M. Lafrette, fell beneath his weapon. +In consequence of the last of these encounters, he, and his second, +the count des Chappelles, were compelled to take refuge at Brussels. +Thither he was followed by the marquis de Beuvron, a relation of the +count de Thorigny, who was eager to avenge his death. The archduchess +Isabella, who then governed the Netherlands, brought about a semblance +of reconciliation between them, but their rancour remained unabated; +for even at the moment when, in sign of forgiveness, they embraced each +other, Beuvron whispered to Bouteville, “I shall never be satisfied till +I have met you sword in hand.” + +The archduchess also solicited Louis the thirteenth to grant the pardon +of Bouteville, but the monarch refused. On hearing this, the rash and +insolent culprit exclaimed, “Since a pardon is denied, I will fight in +Paris, aye, and in the Place Royale too!” He was as good as his word. +In May he returned to the French capital, and his first step was to +offer Beuvron the satisfaction which that nobleman had expressed a wish +to obtain. A combat of three against three was arranged, and the Place +Royale was chosen as the spot for deciding it. Beuvron was seconded by +Buquet, his equerry, and by Bussy d’Amboise, the latter of whom had been +ill of fever for several days, and was weakened by repeated bleedings. +Bouteville brought with him des Chappelles, his cousin, and constant +auxiliary on such occasions, and another gentleman. They fought with +sword and dagger. + +Bussy being killed by des Chappelles, the five remaining combatants, who +began to dread the vengeance of the violated laws, sought for safety in +flight. Beuvron and Buquet succeeded in escaping to England. Bouteville +and his cousin fled towards Lorraine. Unfortunately for them, Louis the +thirteenth was then at the Louvre, and, as soon as he heard of the duel, +he ordered a vigorous pursuit of the offenders. At Vitry, in Champagne, +the officers of justice overtook Bouteville and his associate; the latter +wished to resist, but the former prevailed on him to surrender. On their +arrival at Paris, they were committed to the Bastile, and no time was +lost in bringing them to trial. + +From all quarters the king was importuned by entreaties to pardon the +criminals. The countess de Bouteville threw herself at his feet, to beg +the life of her husband; but he passed on without replying. “I pity her,” +said he to his courtiers, “but I must and will maintain my authority.” +The nobility were not more successful in their supplications to the king +and the parliament. At the trial all that forensic talent could do for +the prisoners was done by Chastelet, their counsel. The plea which he +put in for them was written with so much eloquence and boldness, that +cardinal Richelieu sternly told him it seemed to impeach the justice +of the king. “Excuse me, sir,” replied Chastelet, “it is only meant to +justify his mercy, in case he should extend it to one of the bravest men +in his kingdom.” When the sentence of death was passed, another effort +was made to move the king. The princess of Condé, accompanied by three +duchesses, and the wife of Bouteville, requested an audience of his +Majesty. He at first refused to see them; but he subsequently admitted +them to a private interview in the queen’s apartments. They pleaded +in vain. “I regret their fate as much as you do,” said he; “but my +conscience forbids me to pardon them.” + +Bouteville seems, from the beginning, to have made up his mind to die, +and to have been unfeignedly repentant. While he was in the Bastile, he +was attended by Cospean, the bishop of Nantes, one of the most highly +gifted preachers of the age. It was by the exhortations of this pious +prelate that Bouteville was awakened to a due sense of his crimes. So +moved was he by the fervid eloquence of his spiritual guide that, while +his trial was yet pending, he said to him, and doubtless with perfect +sincerity, “So resigned am I to the will of God, and so ready to do +every thing to save my soul, if to save it be possible, that, even more +pressingly than my wife now begs for my pardon, I will beg my judges to +condemn me to the gibbet, and to be drawn to it on a hurdle, in order to +render my death more ignominious and meritorious.” It was not without +difficulty that Cospean could dissuade him from seeking salvation by +means of this extraordinary self abasement. Contrition alone, and not an +act which would cast a stigma on his family, the prelate justly observed, +was required to appease the wrath of an offended Deity. + +Bouteville and his cousin met death with much firmness; the former +refused to allow his eyes to be bandaged. On the scaffold a circumstance +occurred, which appears to prove that vanity, like hope, sometimes does +not leave us till we die. The mustachios of Bouteville were large and +handsome, and he put up his hands, as though to save them, when the +executioner came to cut off his hair. “What! my son,” exclaimed Cospean, +who attended him till the last, “are you still thinking on _this_ world!” + +The plan which, under seemingly favourable auspices, was formed, by Mary +of Medicis and her partisans, to subvert the power of Richelieu, and +which was shattered to pieces on the day emphatically called the Day of +the Dupes (November 11, 1630), was disastrous to many who were concerned +in or suspected of favouring it. Of the Marillacs, one, a proved soldier, +was brought to the scaffold; the other, a magistrate of unimpeachable +conduct, was hurried from one prison to another, and closely confined, +and he died a captive. But we must restrict ourselves to those +individuals who were committed to the Bastile. One of these was Vautier, +born at Montpelier, in 1592, who was the queen mother’s principal +physician. If we were to give credit to Guy Patin, we must believe that +Vautier was a worse pest than a whole host of duellists, and richly +deserved to be the inmate of a dungeon. “He was,” says Patin, “a rascally +Jew of the Avignonese territory, very proud and very ignorant, who was +lucky in having escaped the gallows for coining, and who afterwards found +means to wriggle himself in at court.” But the evidence of Patin is +liable to more than suspicion in this instance; for Vautier was a friend +to antimony and chemical remedies, all of which his censurer held in +abhorrence: to prescribe them was worse in his eyes than being guilty of +all the deadly sins. Vautier, however, certainly appears to have been of +an obstinate disposition, and at times unjust. + +Vautier was believed to have so much influence with the queen mother, +that he was one of the first to be arrested after the Day of the Dupes. +He was confined for a while at Senlis, whence he was removed to the +Bastile. In the Parisian fortress he remained for twelve years, during +which period no communication with him was permitted. It was in vain +that, after her flight, when she was so dangerously ill at Ghent, Mary +of Medicis intreated to have the services of her confidential physician. +Richelieu kept fast hold of his prey. In 1643, the captive was set at +liberty by Mazarin, who subsequently appointed him head physician to the +king. Patin flings his venom upon this appointment. It was, he says, +bought of the minister for twenty thousand crowns, and the purchaser was +to act as his spy. He adds an insinuation, which does no credit to his +heart. “See what policy is!” he exclaims; “this man was twelve years +imprisoned by the father, yet the health of the son is entrusted to him.” +M. Patin seems to have thought, that a man who has been injured by the +parent, must needs wish to poison the child. Vautier died in 1652. + +The grave physician is succeeded by a very different personage; a +courtier of high birth, handsome, accomplished, full of gallantry in both +senses of the word, witty, and with his natural talents improved by early +study. Francis de Bassompierre, who was all this, was born in Lorraine, +in 1579, and was descended from the princely house of Cleves. On +returning from his travels, he visited the court of Henry IV., and soon +acquired the friendship of that sovereign. Among a crowd of courtiers, +each vying with the other in splendour and extravagance, he was one of +the foremost. At the baptism of the king’s children, he wore a dress of +cloth of gold, covered with pearls, the cost of which was nine hundred +pounds. Gaming, thanks to the bad example set by Henry, was scandalously +prevalent; and here, too, Bassompierre was prominent. He tells us, in his +memoirs, that not a day passed, while he was at Fontainebleau, in which +twenty thousand pistoles were not won and lost, and that he was a winner +of half a million of livres within twelve months. + +Desirous of adding the reputation of a soldier to his other pretensions, +he served a campaign in Savoy, in 1602, and in Hungary the following +year. Having established his military character, he resumed his station +at the French court. The greatest part of the business of his life +seems now, and for many years, to have been amorous intrigues—to apply +the word love to them would be a profanation of it. However eager he +might be to swell the number of his conquests, there is the best reason +for believing, that those whom he attacked were willing enough to be +overcome. It at once proves his attractions, and speaks volumes as to the +low state of morals among the females at that period, that when, at a +later date, Bassompierre was about to be imprisoned, he burnt more than +six thousand letters, which contained the proofs of his amatory success. +One of the most notorious of his amours was that in which he involved +himself with Mdlle. Entragues, sister of the king’s mistress, the +marchioness of Verneuil. By this lady he had a son. She is said to have +obtained from him a promise of marriage, and for several years she sought +to enforce the performance of it, and persisted in bearing his name. +Meeting him one day at the Louvre, she told him publicly that he ought to +cause the customary honours to be paid to her there, as his wife. “Why,” +said he, “will you take a _nom de guerre_?” “You are the greatest fool in +all the court!” exclaimed the enraged lady. “What would you have said to +me, then, if I had married you?” retorted the provoking Bassompierre. + +In 1605, the career of this gay deceiver was near being cut short by a +serious accident. At a tournament, in front of the Louvre, where the king +was present, Bassompierre was so severely wounded by the lance of the +duke of Guise, his antagonist, that his life was long in danger. This +tournament was the last which was exhibited in France; the dangerous +amusement was discontinued, in consequence of this misadventure. People +began to be of the same opinion as the Turkish sultan, that it was too +much for a jest and too little for earnest. + +Bassompierre at last appears to have felt that it was time for him +“to live cleanly as a nobleman should do,” and he resolved to marry. +His choice fell on Charlotte de Montmorenci, one of the most rich and +beautiful women in France, and neither she nor her father, the constable, +was averse from the union. It has been seen, in the sketch of Condé’s +career, that Henry IV. became excessively enamoured of her. In some cases +her marriage would have made no difference; as Henry might have assented +to it, and bound down the husband not to exercise his conjugal rights, +as he had done with respect to Gabrielle d’Estrées and Jacqueline du +Beuil. To such a restriction he probably thought that Bassompierre would +not submit. Calling him therefore to his bed-side—for Henry was ill of +the gout—he told him that he meant to unite him to Mdlle. d’Aumale, and +revive for him the dukedom of Aumale. On Bassompierre asking with a +smile, whether his majesty meant him to have two wives, the king sighed +deeply, and said, “Bassompierre, I will speak to you as a friend. I am +become not only in love with Mdlle. de Montmorenci, but absolutely beside +myself for her. If you marry her, and she loves you, I shall hate you; +if she loves me, you will hate me. It is much better that this should +not occur, to disturb the good understanding between us; for I have the +most affectionate regard for you.” The result was that the courtier +resigned his mistress, and was rewarded for the sacrifice with the rank +of colonel-general of the Swiss regiments. Bassompierre would fain make +us believe that he was sorely grieved, at being thus deprived of the +beautiful Montmorenci; but we may be sceptical on this head, since we +have his confession, that, in order “not to be idle, and to console +himself for his loss, he immediately made up his quarrel with three +ladies, whom he had entirely quitted when he thought that he should be +wedded.” + +For more than twenty years, Bassompierre continued to be a flourishing +courtier. Once only, in that long period, he was in danger; it was from +the hostility of la Vieville, the minister, who strove to cage him in +the Bastile. The time of Bassompierre was, however, not yet come, and he +had the satisfaction to witness the downfall of his enemy. In the course +of these twenty years, he acquired reputation, both in the field and the +cabinet; he was active at various sieges and battles, particularly at the +sieges of Rochelle and Montauban, and he was entrusted with embassies +to Spain, Switzerland, and England, which he executed in an able manner. +For a short time he had the custody of the Bastile; and, in 1623, he +rose to the rank of Marshal. His being employed as a negociator was the +work of the royal favourite, Luynes, who was jealous of the influence +which Bassompierre possessed with the monarch. Luynes was candid enough +to confess this. “I love you, and esteem you,” said he, “but the liking +which the king has for you gives me umbrage. I am, in truth, situated +like a husband who fears being deceived, and cannot see with pleasure +an amiable man frequenting his wife.” To remove from court the man whom +he dreaded, Luynes offered the choice of a command, a government, or an +embassy; Bassompierre chose the last. + +Richelieu proved a far more formidable adversary than la Vieville. He +doubted not that Bassompierre had been engaged in the late plot against +him; he knew that he was a friend of the queen mother; and he suspected +him of having borne a part in the clandestine marriage of the duke of +Orleans with the princess Margaret of Lorraine. It is said, also, that +the cardinal imagined the marshal to have voted for imprisoning him, in +case of the malecontents being successful. This was more than enough to +bring down on him the vengeance of the triumphant minister. Bassompierre +was warned more than once of what would happen, and was advised to +escape, but he refused to follow this advice. He was taken to the +Bastile, in February, 1631. His arrest cost the death of the princess of +Conti, to whom he had long been secretly married; she died of grief in +little more than two months. + +Bassompierre had reason to hope that his imprisonment would be but of +short duration. The evening before he was seized, he had mentioned to +the king the reports which were afloat, and Louis had declared them +to be false, and expressed much affection for him. The day after the +deed was done, the monarch sent him a message, that he considered him +to be a faithful servant, that he was not arrested for any fault, but +in the fear of his being led to commit one, and that he should soon be +released. Year after year elapsed, however, and the promised liberation +was still delayed. Hopes were often held out to him, apparently with no +other intention than that of making him feel the pain of disappointment. +There seems, indeed, to have been a malignant resolution formed to +torment him. The grain on his Lorrain estate was seized, the estate +itself was ravaged, his nephew’s mansion was destroyed, his pay was +stopped, cabals were excited against him in the Bastile, and he was +compelled to relinquish his commission of colonel-general for an +inadequate compensation. Yet, while Richelieu was acting thus, he could +ask Bassompierre to lend him his country-house! To add to the prisoner’s +vexations his property was going to ruin, some of his friends proved +faithless, and death was busy among his dearest relatives. + +It was twelve years before the decease of Richelieu gave freedom to +Bassompierre. His post of colonel-general was restored to him by Mazarin; +and an intention was manifested of appointing him governor to the minor +king, but this intention was frustrated by a fit of apoplexy, which put +an end to his existence in October 1646. + +Of the many individuals who were persecuted by the cardinal-king, none +were more estimable than Francis de Rochechouart, who was usually +denominated the chevalier de Jars. He was of an ancient and noble family, +which traced back its origin to the viscounts of Limoges, early in the +eleventh century. To great personal and mental graces, and prepossessing +manners, he added a mind of such firmness as is not of common +occurrence, especially among the courtier tribe. His eminent qualities +gained him the friendship of Anne of Austria, which alone was sufficient +to excite the suspicion and hatred of Richelieu—that ultra Turk, who +could bear “no rival near his throne,” nor even the friend of any one who +could possibly become a rival. In 1626, de Jars was, therefore, ordered +to quit the court. He retired to England, where he soon won the favour of +Charles I., his queen Henrietta Maria, the duke of Buckingham, and other +distinguished characters. Bassompierre, an acute observer, was at that +time in England as ambassador from Louis XIII., and from the manner in +which he mentions him, it is evident that de Jars was in high repute at +the court of Charles. + +In 1631, de Jars was allowed to return, or was recalled, to his native +country. Whether he was lured over to France, that he might be within the +grasp of his potent enemy, cannot now be ascertained. It is probable that +he was, for he did not long remain at liberty. In February, 1632, he was +involved in the downfall of Chateauneuf, the keeper of the seals, who +had inexpiably offended the implacable minister. De Jars had sufficient +demerit to bring down this misfortune on him; he was the friend, and, +as Bassompierre affirms, the confidant of Chateauneuf, possessed the +queen’s esteem, and was, perhaps, suspected of being looked upon with a +favourable eye by the beautiful and fickle duchess of Chevreuse, of whom +Richelieu was enamoured. As, however, the first two of these offences +would hardly have justified his imprisonment and trial, and as the third +had the same defect in a greater degree, and, besides, could not have +been decorously urged against him by a high dignitary of the church, +the crime attributed to him was that of assisting Anne of Austria to +correspond with Spain, and of planning the removal to England of the +queen mother and the duke of Orleans. + +It was the depth of winter when de Jars was thrown into one of the +dungeons of the Bastile, and there he was kept for eleven months, till +the clothes rotted off his back. The reader will remember what horrible +abodes these dungeons were. It being supposed, perhaps, that his spirit +was by this time enough broken, he was sent for trial to Tours, where +a tribunal of obedient judges had been formed, for the express purpose +of sitting in judgment upon him. At the head of this tribunal was one +Laffemas, or La Fymas; a man who was redeemed from the contempt of +mankind for his baseness, only by the hatred which was excited by his +power and will to do mischief. He was the ready tool, or, to use a more +emphatic and appropriate French phrase, the _âme damnée_ of Richelieu, +and was capable of diving to the lowest deep of degradation, in the +service of his master. He bore the well earned and significant nickname +of “the cardinal’s hangman.” + +At the Bastile and at Troyes, de Jars underwent no fewer than eighty +examinations. In these, Laffemas strained every nerve to seduce, or +beguile, or terrify, the prisoner into avowals which would manifest or +imply guilt in himself or in his friends. But de Jars was proof alike +against feigned sympathy, intreaties, artful snares, and ferocious +threats. Not a word dropped from his lips by which any one could be +criminated. Laffemas had no sinecure office in conducting this iniquitous +affair; he was often lashed by de Jars with unsparing severity, as a +mendacious and deceitful coward; nor did the cardinal himself escape +without a full portion of stinging censure. + +De Jars did not stop here. He determined to inflict a public disgrace +upon Laffemas. By dint of importunity, he obtained permission to hear +mass, on All Saints’ day, in the church of the Jacobins, where he knew +that Laffemas would be present. Thither he was taken, under a strong +guard. Watching the moment when, with downcast eyes and a Tartuffe +countenance, Laffemas was coming from the communion table, he broke from +his guards, and seized the judge by the throat. “Villain!” exclaimed he, +“this is the moment to confess the truth. Now; while your God is on your +lips, acknowledge my innocence, and your injustice in persecuting me. As +you pretend to be a Christian, act like one: if you do not, I renounce +you as my judge, and I call upon every one who hears me to bear witness +that I protest against your being so.” + +This singular scene drew the wondering congregation round the parties. +But the people were by no means inclined to interfere in behalf of the +intendant, and some time elapsed before the soldiers could extricate +him from the gripe of the prisoner. Laffemas seems not to have been +deficient in courage. Undisconcerted by this sudden attack, he said, in a +conciliating tone, “Do not make yourself uneasy, sir; I assure you that +the cardinal loves you; you will get off with merely going to travel in +Italy: but you must first allow us to show you some billets, in your +own handwriting, which will convince you that you are more blameable +than you say you are.” “Such an insinuation,” remarks Anquetil, “was +not calculated to set him at ease. Richelieu, as Madame de Motteville +tells us, said that ‘with two lines of a man’s writing, however innocent +that man might be, he might be brought to trial; because, by proper +management, whatever was wanted could be found in them.’ Accordingly, +when de Jars heard talk of writing, he gave himself up for lost, but he +soon armed himself with renovated courage.” + +The insinuation that written evidence existed was a falsehood. Fresh arts +were therefore employed, to obtain a confession. They were as fruitless +as all the former had been. Sentence of death was then passed; and, this +having been done, final efforts were made to move him, first by a promise +of pardon, next by the menace of torture. He treated both with contempt. +He was at last led to the scaffold; he ascended it with calm courage; +and, after once more asserting his innocence, he laid his head upon the +block. While he was waiting for the blow, and all earthly hopes must have +been dead in his bosom, he was suddenly raised up, and told that his life +was spared. As he was about to descend from the scaffold, the infamous +Laffemas approached, and besought him, in return for the king’s mercy, to +disclose whatever he knew respecting the misdeeds of Chateauneuf. But de +Jars disdainfully replied, “It is in vain that you seek to take advantage +of my disturbed state of mind; since the fear of death failed to extort +from me any thing that could injure my friend, you may be certain that +all your labour will be thrown away.[6]” + +It is said that the whole of this scene—a disgraceful scene to all the +actors but one—was got up by Laffemas under the direction of Richelieu. +Packed as the judges were, it was supposed that, if they thought death +were to ensue, even they would shrink from pronouncing the guilt of a man +against whom there was not a shadow of proof. The pardon was, therefore, +shown to them, and they were told that the mockery of an execution was +only meant to intimidate the prisoner into the desired confession. But +of what stuff must judges have been made in those days, when they could +consent thus to violate the dignity of justice, and the feelings of +humanity, in order to gratify the malice of a minister. + +From Troyes, de Jars was sent back to the Bastile. He remained there till +the spring of 1638, when he was liberated on condition of his immediate +departure, to travel in Italy. From Guy Patin’s letters, we learn that +the chevalier was indebted for his release to the intercession of Charles +I. of England and Henrietta Maria. He did not return to France till after +the decease of his persecutor. + +De Jars was engaged in the early part of the political contest, which led +to the ridiculous war of the Fronde; but he seems to have been rather a +peacemaker than a firebrand, for he endeavoured to arrange matters, by +bringing about a reconciliation between Mazarin, with whom he had become +acquainted at Rome, and Chateauneuf, the keeper of the seals, of whom he +was a constant friend. He at length withdrew from the court, passed his +latter years in happy retirement, and died in 1670. + +Nearly at the same time that de Jars was set free, the gates of the +Bastile were opened to admit three citizens of Paris, who had been guilty +of a crime which could not be overlooked; they had dared to remonstrate, +perhaps somewhat too roughly, against being robbed of the means of +subsistence. “They went,” says Guy Patin, “to M. Cornuel, and in some +degree threatened him, on a report being spread, that the payment of +the annuities receivable at the Town Hall was about to be suspended, and +the money to be applied _in usus bellicos_. The names of these three +annuitants are Bourges, Chenu, and Celoron, and they are all three _boni +viri optimeque mihi noti_. God grant, I pray, that no misfortune may +happen to them.” Whether the kind prayer of Patin was heard, we are not +told. + +That such things should occur in a country governed as France was, is +quite natural. Richelieu brooked not even the shadow of opposition; and, +Louis, submissive slave though he was to an imperious minister, had all +the brutal pride of an Oriental despot. In two instances (out of many +which might be quoted), the one not long before, and the other shortly +after, this period, the monarch, to whom parasites prostituted the title +of “the just,” did not scruple to treat with contumelious insolence the +parliament of Paris, a body of magistrates, eminent for their learning +and other qualities. On the first occasion, having taken offence at a +request which they made, he told them that, “in future, whenever he came +to them, he should expect to be received outside the door of their hall, +by four presidents on their knees, as the custom had formerly been.” +The second time, when, with respect to the duke de Valette’s trial, the +president Bellièvre, in decorous but dignified language, remonstrated +with Louis on his gross violation of justice and proper feeling, in +wishing the judges to sit in his own palace, while he was present to +overawe them, he furiously replied, that he detested all those who +opposed his trying a duke and peer wherever he pleased. They were, he +told them, ignorant beings, unfit for their office, and he did not know +whether he should not put others in their place. “I will be obeyed,” +said he; “and I will soon make you see plainly that all privileges are +founded only on a bad custom, and that I will not hear them talked +about any more.” But from this—which, however, can scarcely be called a +digression—let us return to his captives in the Bastile. + +During a part of the time that de Jars was in the Bastile, there was +within its walls a prisoner equally as brave, and of as honourable a +character, as himself. This was Adrian de Montluc, count de Cramail, born +in 1568, a grandson of that intrepid but cruel Montluc whose commentaries +were called by Henry IV. the Soldier’s Bible. In the second of Regnier’s +satires, which is addressed to Cramail, the poet winds up an animated +panegyric on him, by declaring that he proves “virtue not to be dead in +all courtiers.” There was more truth in this than is always to be found +in the eulogies lavished by a poet. It appears, from various authorities, +that he shone in conversation, was well informed, and was an honourable, +benevolent and judicious man. As a military officer, he earned reputation +in various battles. His conduct at the combat of Veillane, in 1630, +where Montmorenci utterly defeated a force five times as numerous as his +own, called forth a complimentary letter from cardinal Richelieu. “Fewer +lines than you have received blows,” says his eminence, “will suffice +to testify my joy that the enemy has cut out more work for your tailor +than your surgeon. I pray to God that, after such rencounters, you may +always have more to spend for clothes than plaisters; and that, for the +advantage of the king’s service, and the glory of those who have acquired +so much on this occasion, others of the same kind may often occur; among +which there will, I hope, be some that will enable me to convince you +that I am, &c. &c.” + +The manner in which Richelieu proved his friendship for Cramail was by +sending him to the Bastile. It has been stated that Cramail was put into +confinement shortly after the Day of the Dupes, and his attachment to +the prince of Condé was the cause of it. This, however, appears to be a +mistake. Cramail was undoubtedly serving under Louis XIII. in Lorrain, as +late as 1635, at the period when the French arms were under a temporary +eclipse; and we learn from Laporte, and other writers, that, believing +the king’s person to be in jeopardy, the count advised him to return to +Paris. For this advice, reasonable as it was, he was incarcerated by +Richelieu. His imprisonment did not terminate till after the death of +the cardinal. He did not long survive his persecutor; his health was +broken by captivity and harsh treatment, and he died in 1646. Cramail +was the author of three works—“La Comédie des Proverbes;” “Les Jeux de +l’Inconnu;” and “Les Pensées du Solitaire.” + +Among the contemporaries of Bassompierre, de Jars, and Cramail, within +the walls of the Bastile, there was another of equal rank, but not of +an equally noble mind. His hands were stained with blood; his earliest +promotion was bought by perpetrating a cowardly murder. This personage +was Nicholas de l’Hospital, marquis of Vitry, to whom I have slightly +alluded in my notice of the marchioness d’Ancre. He was the degenerate +son of a warrior, who was incapable of a dishonourable action. Vitry, who +was born in 1611, succeeded his father as captain of the royal guards, +and ingratiated himself with Luynes, the minion of Louis XIII. In concert +with Luynes, he formed the plan of assassinating marshal d’Ancre, who was +obnoxious to the king. Eager to win the marshal’s staff which was held by +Concini, Vitry let slip no opportunity of irritating the king against the +intended victim, and of pressing for permission to assassinate him. The +monarch hesitated for a while, not from virtue but from fear; he ended +by granting his sanction, and Vitry lost not a moment in acting upon it. +With his brother du Hallier, and an associate named Perray, he waited for +Concini at the entrance of the Louvre, and there the three confederates +despatched him with pistols, which they had kept concealed beneath their +cloaks. When Louis was informed that the deed was done, he had the +ineffable baseness to look out at the palace window, and exclaim, “Many +thanks to you, Vitry! I am now really king!” It must, however, be owned +that the baseness of the monarch was kept in countenance by that of his +courtiers and flatterers, who lauded the assassin as profusely as though +he had been the saviour of the state. + +For this disgraceful service, Vitry was rewarded by the great object +of his ambition, the rank of marshal. On hearing of this, the duke of +Bouillon indignantly declared that he blushed at being a French marshal, +now that the marshal’s staff was made the recompense of one who traded in +murder. + +Though, of the two favourites of the queen mother, Vitry had slain the +husband with his own hand, and thus been the cause of the wife’s public +execution, and though at that time he had treated her with disgusting +insolence, yet when, two years afterwards, a feigned reconcilement took +place between Mary of Medicis and her son, she allowed Vitry to be +presented to her. On this occasion a scene of dissimulation occurred, +which has not often been paralleled. Vitry bent to kiss the hem of her +garment, but she graciously stretched out her hand to raise him, saying, +at the same time, “I have always praised your affectionate zeal in the +king’s service.” To which, with equal sincerity, he replied, “it was that +consideration alone which induced me to do all that the king desired; +without, however, my having had the slightest idea of offending your +majesty.” If we cannot praise the parts which these actors played, we +must at least admit that they played them skilfully. + +The military career of Vitry did not begin till the breaking out of +the war between the protestants and catholics, in 1621. Though he was +deficient in principle, he was not so in courage; in the course of the +war he distinguished himself upon many occasions, particularly in the +isle of Rhé and at the blockade of Rochelle. He obtained the government +of Provence in 1631, and he held it for six years. At the expiration of +that period, he was arrested, and sent to the Bastile. His having caned +an archbishop, and misused his authority in various cases, were among +the causes of his imprisonment. Richelieu said of him that, “though his +courage and fidelity rendered him worthy to govern Provence, yet it was +necessary to deprive him of office, because, being of a haughty and +insolent disposition, he was not fit to rule a people so jealous as the +Provençals were of their franchises and privileges.” + +Vitry spent six years in the Bastile, from which prison he was not +released till after the death of cardinal Richelieu. During the latter +part of his imprisonment he participated in intrigues, which would have +brought him to the block had they been discovered. In conjunction with +Bassompierre, Cramail, and others, he entered into the plot of which +the gallant count de Soissons was the head. The state prisoners in the +Bastile were, at that period, allowed so much freedom of intercourse, +both with their friends and among themselves, that they had plenty of +opportunity to conspire. It was arranged, between Vitry, Bassompierre, +and their associates, that, as soon as Soissons had gained a victory, +they should seize the Bastile and the Arsenal, and call the citizens +of Paris to arms. De Retz is of opinion that the success of their +scheme would have been certain; but the death of Soissons, who fell +in the battle of Marfée, at the moment of his victory, prevented the +conspirators from carrying their design into effect. Fortunately for +those who were concerned, their secret practices were never disclosed +while cardinal Richelieu was alive. + +Vitry was created a duke in 1644, but he died in a few months after he +obtained this title. He left a son, possessed of talent far superior to +his own, and who in character more resembled his grandfather than his +father. + +The count de la Châtre, in his Memoirs, relates a circumstance respecting +the liberation of Vitry and his fellow prisoners. The anecdote shows, +among other things, to what an extent Louis XIII. was infected with what +Byron calls the “good old gentlemanly vice” of avarice. “The cardinal +(Mazarin) and M. de Chavigny,” says la Châtre, “solicited the king for +the deliverance of the marshals Vitry and Bassompierre, and the count +de Cramail. The means which they employed on this occasion deserve to +be recorded, as being rather pleasant; for, finding that the king was +not very willing to comply, they attacked him on his weak side, and +represented to him that these three prisoners cost him an enormous sum +to keep them in the Bastile, and that, as they were no longer able to +raise cabals in the kingdom, they might as well be at home, where they +would cost him nothing. This indirect mode succeeded, this prince being +possessed by such extraordinary avarice, that whoever asked him for money +was an insufferable burthen to him; so far did he carry this, that, after +the return of Treville, Beaupuy, and others, whom the violence of the +late cardinal (Richelieu) had, when he was dying, forced him to abandon, +he sought occasion to give a rebuff to each of them, that he might +prevent them from hoping to be rewarded for what they had suffered for +him.” Here we see a king beginning his reign by prompting his servants to +commit murder, and ending it by displaying cold-blooded ingratitude to +those who had been faithful to him—fit end for such a beginning! + +From a noble, who stained his hands with blood, to win the favour of a +king, we gladly turn to a plebeian, who risked his life, rather than +violate his fidelity to the neglected and ill-used consort of that +monarch. Peter de la Porte was this plebeian, who, though his trials were +not carried to such a dreadful extent as those of the chevalier de Jars, +has a legitimate claim, as far as regards probity and firmness of mind, +to be placed in the same class with that distinguished character. La +Porte was born in 1603, and entered into the service of Anne of Austria +at the age of eighteen, as one of her cloak-bearers. It being suspected +that he was trusted by the queen, he was deprived of his office in 1626, +when a desperate attempt was made by the minister to implicate her in the +conspiracy of La Chalais. He then entered into her body guards. In 1631, +he was, however, allowed to resume his former situation. + +Ever studying to abase the queen, Richelieu believed that he had at last +found an opportunity to accomplish his purpose effectually. This was in +1637[7]. That the queen should privately keep up some correspondence +with the king of Spain and the cardinal infant, who were her brothers, +and also with the persons whom she valued in the courts of Madrid and +Brussels, was natural, more especially in her discomfortable situation, +slighted as she was by her husband, and thwarted and misrepresented by +the minister and the minister’s satellites. But Anne of Austria had a +sincere attachment to France, and there is no reason to believe that her +letters contained anything which could prejudice her adopted country. +Yet, it was not advisable that they should come into the hands of a man, +who boasted that with only two lines of an innocent person’s writing he +could ruin him—a boast which could be made by no one that was not dead +to honour and shame. It was necessary, therefore, to provide a safe +place, where the correspondence might be deposited. The queen’s favourite +convent of Val de Grace, of which she was the foundress, was the place +which she chose. There Anne had an elegant apartment, or oratory, in +which, after her devotions were over, she could sometimes, free from the +constraint and heartlessness of the court, enjoy a few hours of social +intercourse with the inmates of the convent. One of the nuns received +the letters from Spain and the Netherlands, and placed them in a closet, +whence they were taken by the queen, whose answers were forwarded in the +same manner. + +Richelieu, who had spies in all quarters, discovered the secret of the +correspondence which was carried on through the Val de Grace. He lost not +a moment in filling the mind of the weak Louis with phantoms of danger, +which was to arise from the queen’s unauthorised communications with her +relatives. The queen was hurried off by her husband to Chantilly, where +she was confined to her own room, scantily attended, and was obliged to +submit to being interrogated by the chancellor. Such was the baseness +of the courtiers that, believing her to be lost, not one of them would +venture even to look up at her window. Her confidential servants were +shut up in various prisons. The chancellor himself visited Val de Grace +to make a rigorous search for papers; but he found nothing. That he +failed in his search is not marvellous; for he is believed to have +previously contrived to give the queen notice of the intended visit. All +the papers had consequently been removed, and placed under the care of +the marchioness of Sourdis. + +Foiled in this attempt to reach the secret, Richelieu tried whether it +might not be wrung from the servants of the queen. La Porte, as being +supposed to possess a large share of her confidence, was of course most +open to suspicion and persecution. There had, besides, been found upon +him a letter from the queen to the duchess of Chevreuse, who was then in +exile. In the month of August, 1637, he was committed to the Bastile. +Here he was repeatedly and severely questioned, but nothing to criminate +his royal mistress could be drawn from him. It was in vain that the +cardinal himself employed threats and promises, to obtain the information +which he so much desired. The obstinate fidelity of La Porte was not to +be shaken, even when the commissary showed him a paper, which he said +contained an order for applying to him the torture, and took him to the +room that he might see the instruments. He was equally proof to the fear +of death. + +In May, 1638, it being then certain that, after being childless for +two-and-twenty years, Anne of Austria was in a situation to give an +heir to the throne, the liberation of La Porte was granted to her. He +was, however, exiled to Saumur, where he resided till the decease of +Louis XIII. When Anne became regent, she recalled him, and gave him a +hundred thousand francs, that he might purchase the place of principal +valet-de-chambre to the king. This office he held for several years. +But La Porte was too honest to prosper in a corrupt court. Sincerely +attached to the queen-regent, he thought it his duty to apprise her of +the degrading reports which were spread, on the subject of her long +interviews with Mazarin, and by this candour he cooled her friendship +and gratitude, while, at the same time, he incurred the enmity of the +cardinal himself, by communicating to her a circumstance, relative to +the young king, which Mazarin was desirous of keeping concealed. In +revenge, Mazarin deprived him of his place, and forbad him to appear at +court. It was not till after the death of the cardinal that La Porte was +again admitted to the king’s presence, and from him he met with a kind +reception. He died in 1680. + +Alchemy, the rock on which the peace and fortune of numbers have been +wrecked, was still more fatal to Noel Pigard Dubois, a restless and +certainly unprincipled adventurer, whom it deprived of liberty and life. +He was a native of Coulomiers, adopted his father’s profession, that of +a surgeon, then abandoned it, and voyaged to the Levant, where he spent +four years. During his stay in the East, he studied the occult sciences. +Returning to Paris, he passed there four years of an obscure and often +intemperate existence, associating chiefly with pretenders to alchemical +knowledge. Caprice, or a sudden fit of devotion, next induced him to +enter a Capuchin convent, but he appears to have speedily become tired +of restraint, and accordingly he scaled the walls and escaped. At the +expiration of three years he re-embraced a monastic life, took the vows, +and was ordained a priest, in which character he was known by the name of +Father Simon. The quicksilver of his disposition seemed at length to be +fixed, for he continued to wear the monkish habit during ten years; but +he verified the proverb that the cowl does not make the monk, his unquiet +spirit was again roused into action, and he fled into Germany. There +he became a convert to the doctrines of Luther, and once more devoted +himself to seeking for the philosopher’s stone. + +Hoping, perhaps, that there would be more believers, or fewer rivals, +in his own country than in Germany, he retraced his steps to Paris. +Probably he was himself half dupe, half knave, almost believing that he +had really found the great secret, but resolved at all events, to turn +his supposed skill to his own advantage. His first step was to abjure +protestantism; his next was to marry under a fictitious name. Rumours +of his wonderful hermetic discoveries were speedily bruited about. They +procured him the acquaintance of an Abbé Blondeau, an evidently credulous +man, who introduced him to Father Joseph, the favourite and confident +of Richelieu, as a person who might be useful to the state. For the +services which Dubois was to render, it was stipulated that his past +misdeeds should be buried in oblivion. France was at that time groaning +under a heavy load of taxation, money was raised by the most abominable +exactions; and, consequently, it was but just that an individual who +promised to procure supplies more innocently than by grinding the face +of the people, should be forgiven for offences which, though deserving +of punishment, were somewhat less iniquitous than systematic tyranny and +extortion. + +It affords a striking proof to what an extent the delusions of alchemy +prevailed in that age, that the strong-minded Richelieu instantly grasped +at the bubble which floated before him. Had only the weak Louis done so, +there would have been no cause for wonder. But the minister was full +as eager as his nominal sovereign. It was arranged that Dubois should +perform the “great work” in the presence of the king, the queen, and a +throng of illustrious personages. The Louvre was the place at which the +new and never-failing gold mine was to be opened. + +When the important day arrived, Dubois adroitly acted in a manner which +was calculated to inspire confidence. He requested that some one might +be charged to keep an eye on his proceedings. One of his body guards, +named Saint Amour, was chosen by the king for this purpose. Musket balls, +given by a soldier, together with a grain of the powder of projection, +were placed in a crucible, the whole was covered with cinders, and the +furnace fire was soon raised to a proper pitch. The transmutation was now +declared by Dubois to be accomplished, and he requested that Louis would +himself blow off the ashes from the precious contents of the crucible. +Eager to see the first specimen of the boundless riches which were about +to flow in upon him, the king plied the bellows with such violence, that +the eyes of the queen and many of the courtiers were nearly blinded with +the dust. At last a lump of gold emerged to view, and his transports +were boundless. He hugged Dubois with childish rapture, ennobled him, +and appointed him president of the treasury, nominated Blondeau a privy +counsellor, promised a cardinal’s hat to Father Joseph, and gave eight +thousand livres to Saint Amour. The master of perennial treasures could +afford to be generous. + +The experiment is said to have been repeated, and with the same success +as in the first instance. Dubois must at least have been a clever knave, +an adept in legerdemain, to have deluded so many strongly interested +spectators, and that, too, in spite of the precautions which he had +himself daringly recommended, for the prevention of fraud. + +But there was a rock on which the luckless adventurer was doomed to +split. Humbler patrons than he had found might for a long while have been +satisfied with the scanty portion of gold contained in the bottom of a +crucible; but the desires of his powerful friends were of a more greedy +and impatient kind, not to be fed with distant hopes, but demanding large +and immediate fruition. Richelieu loudly called upon the alchemist to +operate on an extensive scale; and he proved that it was necessary to do +so, by requiring that Dubois should furnish weekly a sum which should not +be less than six hundred thousand livres, about 25,000_l._ The startled +Dubois requested time to make the requisite preparations, and time +was granted. In truth, as the powder of projection was believed to be +procurable only by a protracted and laborious process, it was impossible +not to admit his claim for delay. The marvel is, that he did not avail +himself of the respite, to get beyond the reach of danger. When the day +arrived which he had named, he was of course compelled to own that he was +not yet prepared. + +Suspicion being excited, he was imprisoned at Vincennes, whence he was +transferred to the Bastile. Offended pride and vanity and disappointed +cupidity are often cruel passions. To punish Dubois for his sins +against them, the cardinal appointed a commission to try him; but being +averse from coming forward in the character of a dupe, he ordered him +to be arraigned on a charge of dealing in magic. As the wretched man +obstinately persisted in denying his guilt, he was put to the torture. +To gain a brief reprieve from his sufferings, he offered to realise the +golden dreams which he had excited. Faith was not quite extinct in his +patrons, and he was allowed to make another experiment. It is needless to +say that he failed. Being thus driven from his last hold, he avowed his +imposture, was sentenced to death, and terminated his existence on the +scaffold, on the 23d of June 1637. + +The battle of Thionville, which was fought in 1639, and terminated in +the defeat of the French, and the death of Feuquieres, their general, +gave two prisoners to the Bastile; not foreign enemies, or rebellious +Frenchmen, but officers who had combated for their country—the count de +Grancé and the marquis de Praslin. At Thionville, the troops under their +orders refused to advance, and finally ran away. It appears, from the +testimony of Bassompierre, that no blame was attributable to the count +or the marquis; they were nevertheless immured in the Bastile, though +it does not seem easy to discern how the cowardice of soldiers is to +be cured by imprisoning their officers. It was, however, in a similar +kind of spirit, only somewhat more barbarous, that in England, more +than a century afterwards, admiral Byng was sacrificed (murdered is the +proper word); not, as Voltaire sarcastically observes, “to encourage the +others,” but to divert public indignation from its proper objects. The +system was carried to a horrible length in France, during the reign of +terror. Less sanguinary, in this instance, than his imitators, Richelieu +contented himself with inflicting a short deprivation of liberty. The two +captives were restored to favour, and Grancé rose, in the next reign, to +the rank of marshal. + +The next two cases which are on record, afford a striking proof of +the contempt in which Richelieu held justice and the law of nations, +whenever they chanced to stand in the way of his political schemes, and +the gratification of his vindictive spirit. On the death of the gallant +warrior, Bernard of Saxe Weimar, which took place in the summer of 1639, +the possession of his admirably trained army became an object which all +the belligerent powers were eager to obtain. Among those who sought the +prize was the Prince Palatine, a son of the unfortunate Frederic, who +lost the crown of Bohemia and his own hereditary states. The prince was +passing through France, from England, to enter on the negociation, when +he was arrested, and sent to the Bastile, under pretence of his being an +unknown and suspected person. Richelieu, meanwhile, pushed on his treaty +with the officers of the deceased duke, and succeeded in purchasing their +services for France. When this was accomplished, it was discovered that +the arrest of the Prince Palatine was a mistake, and he was consequently +set free. + +The second case occurred in the following year, 1640, and was a still +more flagrant violation of international laws, and more fraught with +circumstances of baseness and malignity. Louis XIII. had a sister, +Christina, beautiful, accomplished, and of winning manners; in a word, +as worthy of being beloved as he was the contrary. This princess was the +widow of the duke of Savoy, who left to her the regency of his states, +during the minority of Emanuel Philibert, his son. On the decease of +her husband, the ambition of his brothers prompted them to grasp at the +reins of government, and, to effect their purpose, they called in the +aid of Spain. The duchess was sorely pressed by her enemies. In this +strait, nature and policy combined to make her apply to Louis for aid. +The appeals to him, in her letters, are often affecting. Richelieu was +willing enough to send succours, but he was determined that they should +be bought at an extravagant rate. His object, in truth, was to place +the dominions of the minor, and even the minor himself, at the mercy of +France. He not only required that certain fortresses should be delivered +up to him, but also that the young duke should be put into the hands of +the French king, that is to say, into his own. To bring this about, he +descended to the most unworthy intrigues and double dealing; alternately +calumniating the duchess to her brothers-in-law, and them to her, in +order to render impossible an accommodation between them. Borne down by +necessity, the duchess at length consented to admit French garrisons +into some of her fortresses, but she resolutely persisted in refusing to +surrender her son. + +The firmness of the duchess was sustained by count Philip d’Aglie, one +of her principal ministers, a man of discernment and talent, who never +slackened in his hostility to the scheme of Richelieu. He feared that +the visit of the young duke to France would resemble the descent into +Avernus—“_Sed revocare gradum, hoc opus, hic labor est._” The cardinal +had hoped that, in an interview which the duchess had with Louis at +Grenoble, she might be cajoled or terrified into compliance. But on that +occasion her own firmness was backed by the presence of count d’Aglie, +and the expectations of the ungodly churchman were in consequence +frustrated. So irritated was he by his disappointment, that he proposed, +in council, to arrest the count; but, powerful and feared as he was, he +could not prevail upon the members to assent to this measure. It was +therefore postponed to a better opportunity. In the meanwhile, calumny +was set at work to blacken the character of the devoted individual, that +when the happy time arrived for pouncing upon him, he might excite no +sympathy. That the slander would wound the duchess also was a matter +of little concern to the personage by whom it was propagated. It was +roundly asserted, apparently without the shadow of a reason for it, that +an illicit intercourse subsisted between the duchess and the minister, +the latter of whom the cardinal, with an affectation of virtuous anger, +was pleased to designate as “the wretch who was ruining the reputation +of Christina.” It was not till the following year that he could succeed +in wreaking his malice on the count. As soon as the French troops +had recovered Turin from the Spaniards, Richelieu ordered d’Aglie to +be seized; and, in spite of the remonstrances of the duchess against +this gross violation of her sovereignty, he was hurried to France, and +confined in the Bastile. The date of the count’s deliverance, I am unable +to ascertain, but it is probable that his imprisonment was not protracted +beyond the life of the cardinal. + +It appears to have been about this time that there was published a +bitter satire upon the cardinal, for which an unlucky author, who had +no concern with it, was conveyed to the Bastile. The satire bore the +title of “The Milliad,” from its consisting of a thousand lines. One +edition is intituled, “The Present Government, or the Eulogy of the +Cardinal.” It was attributed to Charles de Beys, a now-forgotten author, +who wrote three plays and some verses, and was lauded as a rival of +Malherbe, by a few of his ill-judging contemporaries. It must have been +some mischievous joker that ascribed “The Milliad” to him, for Beys was +not the sort of man to meddle with political satire, especially on such +a dangerous subject; he was of an indolent, convivial disposition, and +spent the largest portion of his time in enjoying the pleasures of the +table. He was, nevertheless, pent up in the Bastile, as the libeller of +the all-potent cardinal. Fortunately for him, he was able to prove his +innocence, was set at liberty, and continued to follow his former course +of life, till his constitution gave way, and he died, in 1659, at the age +of forty. + +In the winter of 1642, Richelieu, who had so largely fed the prisons and +scaffolds of France, terminated his career of ambition and blood. There +is extant a letter which, while the cardinal was on his death bed, was +written to him by one of his victims, named Dussault. The letter bears +date on the first of December, three days previous to the decease of the +minister, and it seems never to have reached him. What was the offence of +Dussault is not known; from a broad hint which is given in his epistle, +it appears that he suffered for having refused to execute some sanguinary +order given to him by Richelieu. When he penned the following lines, he +had been more than eleven years an inmate of the Bastile. + +“My Lord,—There is a time when man ceases to be barbarous and unjust; +it is when his approaching dissolution compels him to descend into the +gloom of his conscience, and to deplore the cares, griefs, pains, and +misfortunes, which he has caused to his fellow creatures: allow me to +say fellow creatures, for you must now see that of which you would never +before allow yourself to be convinced, or persuade yourself to know, that +the sovereign and excellent celestial workman has formed us all on the +same model, and that he designed men to be distinguished from each other +by their virtues alone. Now, then, my lord, you are aware that for eleven +years you have subjected me to sufferings, and to enduring a thousand +deaths in the Bastile, where the most disloyal and wicked subject of +the king would be still worthy of pity and compassion. How much more +then ought they to be shown to me, whom you have doomed to rot there, +for having disobeyed your order, which, had I performed it, would have +condemned my soul to eternal torment, and made me pass into eternity with +blood-stained hands. Ah! if you could but hear the sobs, the lamentations +and groans, which you extort from me, you would quickly set me at +liberty. In the name of the eternal God, who will judge you as well as +me, I implore you, my lord, to take pity on my sufferings and bewailings; +and, if you wish that He should show mercy to you, order my chains to be +broken before your death hour comes, for when that comes, you will no +longer be at leisure to do me that justice which I must require only from +you, and you will persecute me even after you are no more, from which +God keep us, if you will permit yourself to be moved by the most humble +prayer of a man who has ever been a loyal subject to the king.” + +This application was made in vain. If the cardinal ever saw it, which +is doubtful, it failed to penetrate his iron heart; he “died, and made +no sign,” in favour of the wretched supplicant. From Dussault’s evident +despair of ever being freed except by Richelieu, it may be conjectured +that, as an agent of the minister, he had given inexpiable offence to +some one on whom power was now likely to devolve; and this supposition +is rendered more probable, by his captivity having been subsequently +protracted to an extraordinary length. It was not till the 20th of June, +1692, that he was dismissed, after having languished in the Bastile for +sixty one years! At his advanced age,—for he must at least have been +between eighty and ninety—he could scarcely have deemed the boon of +liberty a blessing. In the common course of nature, all his kindred and +friends must have been gone, and as his habits were wholly unfitted for +the turmoil of the world, and he was, perhaps, exposed to want, it is +not unnatural to conclude that he may have been a solitary and starving +wanderer for the brief remainder of his existence. A situation more +forlorn than this it would be difficult to imagine. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + Reign of Louis XIV.—Regency of Anne of Austria—Inauspicious + circumstances under which she assumed the regency—George + de Casselny—The count de Montresor—The marquis de + Fontrailles—Marshal de Rantzau—The count de Rieux—Bernard + Guyard—Broussel, governor of the Bastile—The duchess of + Montpensier orders the cannon of the Bastile to be fired on + the king’s army—Conclusion of the war of the Fronde—Surrender + of the Bastile—Despotism of Louis XIV.—Slavishness of the + nobles—John Herauld Gourville—The count de Guiche—Nicholas + Fouquet—Paul Pellisson-Fontainier—Charles St. Evremond—Simon + Morin—The Marquis de Vardes—Count Bussy Rabutin—Saci le + Maistre—The duke of Lauzun—Marquis of Cavoie—The chevalier + de Rohan—A nameless prisoner—Charles D’Assoucy—Miscellaneous + prisoners. + + +The regency of Anne of Austria commenced under auspices which were not +of the most favourable kind. For a long series of years she had been +persecuted by a tyrant minister, and discredited and humiliated, in every +possible manner, by an unfeeling husband. It would be a tedious task +to enumerate all the slights and injuries to which she was exposed; a +specimen may suffice. To avoid the disgrace of being sent back to Spain, +she had been compelled to confess before the Council a fault which she +everywhere else disavowed, and of which it is improbable that she was +guilty; on her bringing Louis XIV. into the world, she had suffered a +stinging insult from her consort, who had pertinaciously refused to give +her the embrace which was customary on such occasions—an insult which +affected her so deeply that her life was endangered; when he was on the +brink of the grave, and she earnestly sought to remove his prejudices +against her, he coldly replied to Chavigni, who was pleading her cause, +“In my situation I must forgive, but I am not obliged to believe her;” +and, in settling the regency, he would fain have excluded from it the +object of his hatred, but, that being impracticable, he took care to +shackle her authority in such a way as would have left her scarcely more +than the mere title of regent. Her having been childless for twenty-two +years, and been treated in child-bed with such marked aversion by him, +were also circumstances which were well calculated to throw dangerous +doubts on the legitimacy of the infant sovereign. Yet Anne of Austria +triumphed over all this, procured the setting aside of her deceased +husband’s arrangements, obtained unlimited power, and for five years +governed France without opposition, and with a considerable enhancement +of its military fame. It was not till the troubles of the Fronde broke +out that she encountered unpopularity and resistance. + +During the peaceable period of the queen mother’s government, the +Bastile seems to have had but few inmates, at least few whom history has +deemed worthy of being recorded; and during the war of the Fronde, and +even before, the castle of Vincennes was the prison which received the +captives of the highest class, such as the duke of Beaufort, the prince +of Condé, and cardinal de Retz. + +The first prisoner in the Bastile, of whom any notice occurs during +the regency, was a Spanish agent, named George de Casselny. Philip +IV. of Spain had recently lost his consort Elizabeth, and it appears +that Casselny was commissioned to make overtures for the monarch’s +marriage with that singular female the duchess of Montpensier, a woman +who had more manly qualities than her vacillating father, the duke of +Orleans. “There was a certain Spaniard, named George de Casselny (says +the duchess, in her memoirs), who had been made prisoner in Catalonia, +and was on his parole, he went to M. de Surgis, at Orleans, to request +that he would procure for him an interview with Monsieur (the duke of +Orleans), who put him off till he could see him at Paris. In consequence +of this delay, the Spaniard’s intention got wind, and he was put into +the Bastile, and the cardinal (Mazarin), told Monsieur that it was a man +who wanted to divert him from the service of the king by this proposal +of marriage; which Monsieur believed and still believes. Many persons, +however, affirm, that it was not a pretext, and that this gentleman had +orders to make solid and sincere propositions for the marriage of his +king with me, which he had thought it proper to communicate to Monsieur, +before he made them known to the court. Nevertheless, this poor creature +was kept a prisoner for several years, and when he was set at liberty, he +was sent out of the kingdom under a guard.” + +The next prisoner was one who, for a long period, was closely connected +with Monsieur, the father of the duchess. Claude de Bourdeille, count de +Montresor, was born about 1608, and was a grand-nephew of that pleasant +but unscrupulous writer Brantome, who bequeathed to him his mansion of +Richemont. Montresor was early admitted into the train of the duke of +Orleans, and at length became his confidential friend, whom he consulted +on all occasions. He availed himself of his influence to keep at a +distance from the duke all the friends of Richelieu, to incite him still +more against that minister, and to link him in confederacy with the count +of Soissons. In 1636, he went much further. In conjunction with Saint +Ibal and others, he formed a plan for assassinating the cardinal, and to +this plan the duke and the count gave their assent. The murder was to +be perpetrated as the minister was leaving the council chamber; Saint +Ibal was behind him, ready to strike the blow, and waited only for an +affirmative sign from the duke; but at this critical moment, either the +courage of Orleans gave way, or his conscience smote him, for he turned +away his head, and hurried from the spot. The cardinal consequently +escaped. + +While Montresor was subsequently busy in Guyenne, labouring to induce the +duke of Epernon and his son to take up arms for Monsieur, he was suddenly +abandoned by his employer, who made his own peace with Richelieu. +Montresor now retired to his estate, where, for more than five years, +he lived in the utmost privacy. He had, however, secret interviews with +Monsieur, and, at his solicitation, he engaged in the conspiracy of Cinq +Mars. Again he was deserted by him, and more disgracefully than in the +first instance; for the dishonourable prince did not scruple to disavow +the proceedings of his agent, and to aver that Cinq Mars and Montresor +were the persons who had misled him. Montresor would have ascended the +scaffold with Cinq Mars and de Thou, had he not prudently taken refuge in +England, whence he did not return till the cardinal was no more. + +When the government devolved on Anne of Austria, the enemies of Richelieu +had reason to hope that they would become the dominant party. The +haughty bearing which this hope led them to assume, obtained for them +the appellation of “The Cabal of the Importants.” They soon, however, +contrived to disgust the queen-regent; and before twelve months had +elapsed, Montresor, Chateauneuf, the duchess of Chevreuse, and several +others of the faction, were ordered to quit the court. Montresor retired +for a while to Holland. Late in 1645, he visited Paris, and, soon after, +two letters to him, from the exiled duchess de Chevreuse, having been +intercepted, Mazarin sent him to the Bastile. The prisoner was removed +to Vincennes, where he was rigorously treated for fourteen months. At +length, moved by the solicitations of Montresor’s relatives, the cardinal +set him at liberty, and even offered him his friendship. Montresor, +however, chose rather to league himself with Mazarin’s bitterest foe, +the celebrated Coadjutor, afterwards the cardinal de Retz, and he took +an active part in the war of the Fronde. In 1653 he was reconciled to +the court, and from that time till his decease, which occurred in 1663, +he led a peaceable life. Though ambition and a propensity to political +intrigue could lead him to dip his hands in blood, Montresor is said to +have had many social qualities, to have been generous, sincere, and a +firm and ardent friend. His “Memoirs” form a valuable contribution to the +history of his times. + +Among the agents of the duke of Orleans was Louis d’Astarac, marquis +of Fontrailles, a descendant from an ancient Armagnac family. When +the conspiracy of Cinq Mars was formed, Fontrailles was dispatched to +Spain, to negociate with the Spanish cabinet a treaty, for assistance +to the conspirators. By this treaty, Spain engaged to furnish the duke +of Orleans with 12,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, 400,000 crowns to +raise levies in France; and a monthly allowance of 12,000 crowns for +his private expenses. But, before any step could be taken to carry the +treaty into effect, the conspiracy was rendered abortive. Fontrailles, +against whom an order of arrest had been issued, was fortunate enough to +escape to England. The death of the cardinal and of his vassal sovereign, +which took place soon after, enabled the proscribed fugitive to return +to France. He became one of the Cabal of the Importants, and shared in +the downfall of that faction. In the summer of 1647, he was sent to +the Bastile; for what fault he was imprisoned I know not, or when he +was released. Guy Patin intimates that the charge was not of a capital +nature. Fontrailles died in 1677. + +The next who passes before us is a brave and injured soldier. Count +Josias de Rantzau was descended from an ancient family of Holstein, +thirty-two members of which are said to have greatly distinguished +themselves. The fidelity of this family to its sovereigns was so +remarkable, that the expression “As faithful as a Rantzau to his king,” +passed into a proverb. Josias was born in 1610, and seems first to have +borne arms in the Swedish service; he commanded a body of Swedes at +the siege of Andernach, headed the Swedish left wing at the combat of +Pakenau, and was present at the siege of Brisac. In 1635, he accompanied +the celebrated Oxenstiern into France, where Louis XIII. appointed him +a major-general, and colonel of two regiments. The subsequent career of +Rantzau was often successful, and was never stained with disgrace. He +effectually covered the retreat of the French after the raising of the +siege of Dole, victoriously defended St. Jean de Lône against Galas, bore +a conspicuous part in the subsequent campaigns in Flanders and Germany, +and was twice maimed at the siege of Arras, and displayed signal valour +at the siege of Aire. Fortune deserted him at the combat of Honnecourt +and the battle of Dutlingen, in 1642 and 1643, and in both instances he +was taken prisoner. She, however, soon became favourable to him. Between +1645 and 1649, he made himself master of Gravelines, Dixmude, Lens, and +all the maritime towns of Flanders. To reward his services he received +the government of Gravelines and Dunkirk, and was raised to the rank of +marshal. Mazarin, nevertheless, suspected him of being connected with his +enemies, and in February, 1649, the marshal was conveyed to the Bastile, +where he remained for eleven months. His innocence being at length +ascertained, he was set at liberty; but a dropsy, which he had contracted +in his confinement, proved fatal to him in the course of a few months. +He died in September 1650. Rantzau was possessed of brilliant valour, +much talent and military skill, and spoke all the principal languages of +Europe; his only defect was an inordinate love of wine. Like our Nelson, +but even in a greater degree, his person had been severely mutilated; he +had lost an ear, an eye, a leg, and an arm. To this fact the following +epitaph alludes: + + “But half of great Rantzau this tomb contains, + The other half in battle fields remains; + His limbs and fame he widely spread around, + And still, though mangled, conqueror was he found: + His blood a hundred victories did acquire, + And nothing but his heart by Mars was left entire!” + +A brawl brought to the Bastile, in 1652, the count de Rieux, a son of the +duke of Elbœuf. A dispute with the prince of Tarentum, as to precedence, +gave rise to it. The prince of Condé, the great Condé, was the other +actor. “The prince of Condé,” says the duchess of Montpensier, “took the +part of the prince of Tarentum, who is nearly related to him, against the +count de Rieux, and one day he got heated in the dispute; he imagined +that the count de Rieux had pushed him, which obliged him to return it by +a box on the ear; the count de Rieux then gave him a blow. The prince, +who had no sword, made a dart at that of the baron de Migenne, who was +present. M. de Rohan, who was also there, put himself between them, and +got out the count de Rieux, whom his royal highness (the duke of Orleans) +sent to the Bastile, for having dared to fail in respect. Many persons +say, that the prince struck first; if he did so, he must have taken some +gesture of the count for an insult, for though he is very passionate, +he is not so much so as to do an action of this kind. I saw him after +dinner, and he said, ‘You see a man who has been beaten for the first +time in his life.’ The count de Rieux remained in the Bastile till the +arrival of M. de Lorraine, who set him free, and blamed him very much.” +It must have been a ludicrous sight, to see a prince of the blood, the +victor of Rocroi, Fribourg, Nordlingen, and Lens, at fisticuffs amidst a +ring of courtiers, in the palace of the duke of Orleans! “This was not +the way,” remarks Voltaire, “to regain the hearts of the Parisians.” + +The leaders of the Frondeur faction were by no means tolerant of censure, +even when it came from clerical lips. Bernard Guyard, a dominican, had +reason to repent his having too honestly indulged in it. Guyard, who +was born in 1601, at Craon, in Anjou, took the religious habit, and was +admitted, in 1645, a doctor of the Sorbonne, and became popular for +his pulpit eloquence, so much so that Anne of Austria appointed him +her preacher, and the duchess of Orleans chose him as her confessor. +While the war of the Fronde was being carried on—a war of which it has +wittily and truly been said, that it ought to be recorded in burlesque +verse—Guyard ventured to reprobate, in the pulpit, the conduct of those +ambitious and unprincipled personages by whom its flames had been lighted +up. The punishment of his offence followed close upon the commission of +it. As he was leaving the church, he was arrested, and conveyed to the +Bastile, where he continued for some months. He died in 1674, at which +period he was theological professor in the convent of St. James. All +his works have long since ceased to attract notice, with the exception, +perhaps, of “The Fatality of St. Cloud,” which is a paradoxical attempt +to prove that not Clement, nor a Dominican, but a leaguer, disguised as a +monk, was the murderer of Henry III. + +During the war of the Fronde, the Bastile, for a short time, and for +the last, was again a fortress as well as a prison; but in the latter +character its services were only once required. When, in 1649, the +queen-regent suddenly quitted Paris with the young king, she imprudently +neglected to throw into the Bastile a garrison. It was guarded by only +twenty-two soldiers, who had neither ammunition nor provisions. Du +Tremblai, the governor, was therefore obliged to yield. The custody of +the fortress was committed to Peter Broussel, for whose deliverance +the Parisians had risen in arms on the day of the Barricades, and from +whom he had received the flattering appellations of the father and +the protector of the people. As Broussel was an aged man, his son, La +Louvière, was joined with him in the government. In 1652, Broussel was +appointed provost of the merchants, and the keeping of the Bastile +remained with La Louvière alone. + +The two pieces of cannon which, in 1649, the Parisians fired at the +Bastile to hasten its submission, would have been the only artillery +employed, either against it or by it, had not the daring of a woman +brought its guns into action. The duchess of Montpensier, who was called +Mademoiselle, had recently distinguished herself by her spirited conduct +at Orleans. Being sent by her father to that city, to encourage his +partisans, she was at first refused admittance, but she forced her way +in, through a hole in a gate, roused the people in her favour, and +succeeded in preventing the king’s troops from occupying that important +post. She was now at Paris, and soon found a fresh opportunity to display +her courage and presence of mind. On the second of July, 1652, the +sanguinary battle of the suburb of St. Anthony was raging; the army of +the prince of Condé, overborne by the far superior numbers which Turenne +led against him, could barely hold its ground; the prince had in vain +entreated for its admission at various gates; the enemy, reinforced, +was preparing for a new attack on its front and flanks; and, pent in +between the king’s troops and the city walls, its destruction seemed +to be inevitable. At this perilous moment it was saved by the duchess +of Montpensier. First from her father, and next from the municipal +authorities sitting at the Town Hall, she in a manner extorted an order +for opening the gate of St. Anthony to the nearly overwhelmed battalions +of Condé. She then ascended to the summit of the Bastile, and directed +the cannon to be charged, removed from the city side, and pointed to the +opposite quarter. They were opened upon the royalists, who pressed on the +retreating Condéans, and their commanding fire compelled the pursuers to +fall back beyond their range. Mademoiselle was at that time cherishing +a hope that she should be united to her cousin the king, or at least to +some crowned head; and it was with allusion to this circumstance that, +when he heard she had ordered the firing, Mazarin coolly remarked, “Those +cannon shots have killed her husband.” + +Four months did not pass away before, tired of wasting their lives and +properties in a contest which could benefit only the privileged classes, +the Parisians invited the king to return to his capital. The monarch +entered it on the 21st of October, 1652. The faction of the Fronde was +annihilated, and its leaders were scattered in all directions; their +vanity, selfishness, and utter want of principle and patriotism, +deserved such a fate. Had they been animated by noble motives, had they +possessed even a moderate share of wisdom and virtue, they might have +laid the groundwork of a stable and beneficent government, and thereby +saved their country from innumerable immediate and remote evils. But + + “The sensual and the base rebel in vain, + Slaves by their own compulsion!” + +As soon as the king had entered Paris, the Bastile was summoned, and La +Louvière was informed that, if he were rash enough to stand a siege, the +gibbet would be his portion. Too prudent to run so useless and formidable +a risk, he readily gave up his charge. From the moment when Mademoiselle +directed its fire upon the king’s troops, a hundred and thirty-seven +years elapsed before the Bastile again heard the roar of artillery fired +in anger. + +One of the first acts of Louis XIV. was to hold a bed of justice, in +which he ordered the registration of an edict to abridge the power of +the parliament. By this edict, the parliament was strictly prohibited +from deliberating on state and financial affairs, and instituting any +proceedings whatever against the ministers whom he might be pleased +to employ. Louis was then only a boy of fourteen, and this act was of +course the work of Mazarin; but, young as he was, the monarch was already +thoroughly imbued with the principles on which it was framed. Three +years afterwards he gave a striking proof of this. The parliament having +ventured to manifest a faint opposition to some of his many oppressive +fiscal edicts, he took a step which showed how deeply despotism was +ingrained into his character. He was engaged in the chase, at Vincennes, +when information was brought to him that his will was disputed. Hurrying +back to Paris, he entered the parliament chamber, the sanctuary of +justice, booted, spurred, whip in hand, and thus addressed the assembly +of venerable magistrates: “Sirs, everybody knows the calamities which +the meetings of the parliament have produced. I will henceforth prevent +those meetings. I order you, therefore, to desist from those which you +have begun, with respect to the edicts which, in my late bed of justice, +I directed to be registered. You, Mr. First President, I forbid to allow +of these assemblies; and I forbid every one of you to demand them.” +Having thus spoken he departed, leaving his hearers in astonishment. He +was then a beardless youth, who had not reached his seventeenth year. The +members of the parliament might well have called to mind the words of +Scripture—“If these things are done in the green tree, what will be done +in a dry?” Six years afterwards Mazarin died, and thenceforth Louis had +no prime minister; he became, in every sense of the word, the head of the +government, the autocrat of France. + +A new era, that of abject submission to the monarch, and almost +idolatrous worship of his person and greatness, commenced when the war +of the Fronde was over. The slaves had had their Saturnalia, and they +sank back—we may almost say rushed back—into a slavery more degrading +than that from which they had for a moment emerged. There were no longer +any Epernons, ruling their provinces as they pleased, and bearding the +sovereign; the feudal pride was extinct. This would have been a happy +circumstance for France, had the nobles, in losing their pride, preserved +their dignity. But from one extreme they passed to the other. The power +which they had lost, which was, in fact, but the power of doing mischief, +they might have replaced by a power more honourable and durable, that +which would have arisen from promoting the welfare and happiness of those +whom they called their vassals. But their extensive domains were looked +on only as mines, from which the last grain of gold was to be extracted, +that they might squander it in the capital. It seemed as though it were +impossible for them to exist out of the king’s presence; and when they +were excluded from it, they lamented and whined in a manner which excites +at once wonder and contempt. The consequences of this general prostration +were slowly, but surely and fatally, unfolded. + +Let us revert to the captives of the Bastile. The destiny of John Herauld +Gourville, who was born in 1625, was a singular one; he not only raised +himself from a humble state to be the companion and friend of princes, +but was appointed to be one of the representatives of his sovereign +while in exile, and while a Parisian court of justice was hanging him in +effigy as a convicted runaway peculator. After having received a scanty +education, he was placed in an attorney’s office by his widowed mother. +Having by his cleverness fortunately attracted the notice of the duke +de la Rochefaucault, the author of the “Maxims,” that nobleman made +him his secretary. During the war of the Fronde, Gourville displayed +such talent and activity, that he acquired the warm friendship of his +employer and the prince of Condé. His gratitude engaged him in many +desperate adventures for their service, and the mode in which he raised +the supplies for them was sometimes not much unlike that of a bandit; the +moral code of the Frondeurs was not remarkable for its strictness. When +Rochefaucault became weary of the inglorious contest in which he was an +actor, Gourville negotiated the duke’s peace with the court; and in doing +this he manifested so much ability and prudence, that Mazarin despatched +him to Bordeaux, to treat with the prince of Conti. In this mission he +was successful; and he was rewarded by being appointed commissary-general +of the French army in Catalonia. At the close of the campaign of 1655, he +returned to Paris, and Mazarin, who suspected that he came to intrigue +for the prince of Conti, shut him up in the Bastile. In his Memoirs, +Gourville candidly confesses that his six months’ imprisonment was +insufferably wearisome, and that he could think of little else than how +he should put an end to it. He was maturing a plan of escape, in concert +with six other prisoners, when the cardinal relented, took him again into +favour, and even prevailed on Fouquet to give him the lucrative place of +receiver-general of the province of Guienne. In this office Gourville +amassed an immense fortune, which he increased by his extraordinary +good luck at play. When Fouquet fell, the whole of his subalterns were +involved in his fall; but, far from deserting him in his calamity, +Gourville nobly furnished 100,000 livres to assist in gaining over some +of his enemies, and a still larger sum for the establishment of his +son, the count de Vaux. He soon, however, became himself an object of +impeachment, on a charge of peculation, and he deemed it prudent to quit +France. At that moment there was certainly no chance of his obtaining +a fair trial. After having visited England and Holland, he settled at +Brussels. Though he was compelled to live in a foreign country, Gourville +still preserved a strong affection for his native land, and he proved it, +by influencing the princes of Brunswick and Hanover in favour of France. +For this patriotic conduct Louis XIV. nominated him his plenipotentiary +at the court of Brunswick; while at the same moment his enemies at Paris +obtained against him a degrading sentence from his judges! That not a +love of justice, but a desire to extort money from him, gave rise to his +being prosecuted, is made evident by Colbert having offered a pardon, +at the price of 800,000 livres, which he afterwards reduced to 600,000. +Gourville, however, either could not or would not purchase this costly +commodity. He was subsequently employed as a diplomatist in Spain, and +again in Germany; and at length in 1681, a free pardon was granted to +him. From that time he led a tranquil life in the French capital, in +habits of friendship with, and much beloved by, the most eminent men of +genius and rank. At one period there was an intention of making him the +successor of Colbert, as comptroller-general of the finances, an office +for which he was well qualified; but he had ceased to be ambitious of +dangerous honours, and was happy to avoid them. The length of time which +his servants continued in his service, and the cordial manner in which he +speaks of them, afford strong proofs of his kind-heartedness: never did a +selfish or harsh master long retain a domestic. Haughtiness to inferiors +is the miserable make-shift of a man who has no true dignity to support +his pretensions. Gourville mentions four persons who had been with him +for fifteen, seventeen, twenty-five, and thirty-two years. He died in +1703, at the age of seventy-eight. His Memoirs, which he composed in four +months, to amuse himself while he was confined by a disease in the leg, +are deservedly praised by Madame de Sévigné and Voltaire. + +The next who appears on the scene was a noble, whom Madame de Sévigné +characterizes as “a hero of romance, who does not resemble the rest of +mankind.” This is somewhat exaggerated, but not wholly untrue. Armand +de Grammont, Count de Guiche, who was born in 1638, was a proficient in +all manly exercises, splendid in dress and equipage, spirited, witty, +well educated, handsome in person, and cultivated in mind. His valour +was early proved, at the sieges of Landrecy, Valenciennes, and Dunkirk. +In a voluptuous court, and with his attractive qualities, it is not +wonderful that Guiche was engaged in amorous intrigues. His desire of +conquest aimed so high—Henrietta Stuart, Duchess of Orleans, was its +great object—that Louis XIV. thrice exiled him; and it was probably on +this account that he became an inmate of the Bastile, from which prison +he was released in the autumn of 1660. Having a third time offended, he +was sent to Poland, where he distinguished himself in the war against +the Turks. At the end of two years, he was recalled; but it was not long +before he again fell into disgrace, by participating in the despicable +conduct of the Marquis de Vardes, which will be described in the sketch +of that courtier’s career. Guiche was banished to Holland. Too active +to remain unemployed, he served in the campaign against the Bishop of +Munster, and on board the Dutch squadron, in the sea-fight with the +English, off the Texel. He was allowed to return to France in 1669, +but was not re-admitted at court till two years afterwards. It was he +who, in 1672, led the way at the celebrated passage of the Rhine, near +Tollhuis; an exploit which is extravagantly lauded by Boileau. He died +at Creutznach, in Germany, in 1673; excessive chagrin, occasioned by +Montecuculi having defeated him, was the cause of his death. Guiche is +the author of a volume of Memoirs concerning the United Provinces. + +The first important act of Louis XIV., after his taking the +administration of public affairs into his own hands, was the disgracing +and ruining Fouquet, the superintendant of the finances. Nicholas +Fouquet, a son of Viscount de Vaux, was born at Paris, in 1615, and +was educated for the legal profession. At twenty he was master of +requests, and at thirty-five he filled the very considerable office of +attorney-general to the parliament of Paris. It would have been happy +for him had he steadily pursued his career in the magistracy, instead +of deviating into a path that was beset with dangers. During the +troubles of the Fronde he was unalterably faithful to the queen-mother, +and in gratitude for this she raised him, in 1652, to the post of +superintendant. It was a fatal boon. + +By all who were connected with it, the French treasury seems, in those +days, to have been considered as a mine which they were privileged +to work for their own benefit. Mazarin had recently been a wholesale +plunderer of it; and there can be little doubt that Fouquet was a +peculator to a vast extent. Yet the superintendant had one merit, which +was wanting in other depredators—though he took, he likewise gave; for +at one period, when money ran short, he mortgaged his property and his +wife’s, and borrowed on his own bills, to supply the necessities of the +state. + +The fatal failing of Fouquet was his magnificent extravagance. He had a +taste for splendour and lavish expenditure, which might have qualified +him for an oriental sovereign. On his estate at Vaux he built a mansion, +or rather a palace, which threw into the shade the country residences +of the French monarch—for Versailles was not then in existence. Whole +hamlets were levelled to the ground to afford space for its gardens. The +building was sumptuously decorated, and in every part of it was painted +his device, a squirrel, with the ambitious motto “_Quo non ascendam?_” +Whither shall I not rise? It is a curious circumstance, that the squirrel +was represented as being pursued by a snake, which was the arms of +Colbert, the bitter enemy of Fouquet. The edifice cost eighteen millions +of livres; a sum equivalent to three times as much at the present day. + +The largesses of the superintendant, which in many cases deserve the name +of bribes, were immense. Great numbers of the courtiers did not blush +to become his pensioners. On extraordinary occasions they also received +presents from him. Each of the nobles, who was invited with Louis XIV. to +the grand entertainment at Vaux, found in his bed-chamber a purse filled +with gold; which, says a sarcastic writer, “the nobles did not forget to +take away.” There was another abundant source of expense, which arose +out of his licentious passions; he lavished immense sums in purchasing +the venal charms of the French ladies of distinction, and was eminently +successful in finding sellers. “There were few at court,” says Madame de +Motteville, “who did not sacrifice to the golden calf.” Policy, no doubt, +had a share in prompting his liberality to the courtiers; and, perhaps, +it sometimes was mingled with lust and vanity in his gifts to frail +females of rank; but we may attribute to a purer motive the kindness and +courtesy which he manifested to persons of talent. The result was quite +natural; the great deserted him in his hour of danger and disgrace, the +people of talent clung with more tenacity than ever to their fallen +benefactor and friend. + +Mazarin, when on his death-bed, is said to have awakened the fears and +suspicions of Louis against Fouquet; and, to deepen the impression which +he had made, he left behind him two deadly foes of the superintendant. +These foes were Le Tellier and Colbert, of whom the latter was the most +inveterate and the most dangerous. When Louis formed the resolution of +being his own prime minister, Fouquet, who evidently wished to succeed to +the power of Richelieu and Mazarin, essayed to turn the monarch from his +purpose, by daily heaping on him a mass of dry, intricate, and erroneous +financial statements. He failed in his attempt. These papers the king +every evening examined, with the secret assistance of Colbert, whose +acuteness and practised skill instantly unravelled their artful tangles, +and exposed their errors. + +It was not alone the squandering of the royal treasure that irritated +Louis; though that would have been a sufficiently exciting cause to a +man whose own lavish habits required large supplies. He asserted, and +might perhaps believe, that the offender aspired to sovereignty. In a +long conversation with the president Lamoignon, he said, “Fouquet wished +to make himself duke of Britanny, and king of the neighbouring isles; +he won over every body by his profusion: there was not a single soul in +whom I could put confidence.” So much was he impressed with this idea, +that he repeated it over and over to the president. For this absurd fear +there was no other ground than that the superintendant had purchased and +fortified Belleisle; a measure which was prompted by patriotic motives, +it being his design to make that island an emporium of commerce. There is +said to have been another and a not less powerful cause for the monarch’s +hatred of Fouquet; the superintendant had been imprudent enough to +attempt to include La Vallière in the long catalogue of his mistresses, +and this was an offence not to be pardoned by the proudest and vainest of +kings. + +As soon as the ruin of Fouquet was determined upon, the most profound +dissimulation was used by the king and Colbert, to prevent him from +suspecting their purpose. All his measures seemed to give perfect +satisfaction; unlimited trust was apparently placed in him; and hints +were thrown out, that the coveted post of prime minister was within +his reach. The hints had a further purpose than that of blinding him +to the peril in which he stood; they were meant to rob him of a shield +against injustice. By virtue of his office, as attorney-general to the +parliament, he had the privilege of being tried only by the assembled +chambers; but, as it was intended that his trial should take place before +a packed tribunal, it was necessary to divest him of the privilege. For +this reason it was insinuated, that the post of attorney-general stood in +the way of his being raised to the premiership, and also of his obtaining +the blue riband. Fouquet fell into the snare, and sold his office for +1,400,000 livres, which sum, with a blind generosity, he instantly lent +to the Exchequer. To confirm Fouquet’s delusion, Louis graced with his +presence a gorgeous festival which was held at Vaux. But the splendour +of the place, the excessive magnificence of the entertainment, and the +presumptuousness of the superintendant’s motto, roused his anger to such +a pitch, that, had not the queen-mother remonstrated, he would have +committed the unkingly act of arresting Fouquet on the spot. + +When the courage inspired by passion had evaporated, Louis delayed yet +awhile to effect his purpose, till he had guarded in all possible ways +against the danger which was to be apprehended from the formidable +conspirator. Had Fouquet been capable of calling up legions from the +earth by the stamp of his foot, more precautions could not have been +taken. The blow was struck at last. Louis was at Nantes, to which city +he had removed under the idea that it would be easier to accomplish the +arrest there than at Paris. Thither he was followed by Fouquet. Some of +the superintendant’s friends warned him of the peril which hung over him, +but he gave no credence to their tidings. On the 5th of September, 1661, +as he was leaving the council, he was arrested, and was conveyed without +delay to the castle of Angers. Messengers were immediately despatched +to Paris, to seize his papers, and to order the arrest of many of his +partisans. + +Fouquet was bandied about from prison to prison, from Angers to Amboise, +Moret, and Vincennes, till he was finally lodged in the Bastile. He +bore his misfortune with an unshaken mind. His enemies, meanwhile, +were proceeding with the most malignant activity, and with a perfect +contempt of justice and decorum. It was the common talk of Paris, that +Colbert would be satisfied with nothing less than the execution of the +superintendant. He was even plainly charged by Fouquet with having +fraudulently made in his papers a multitude of alterations. Le Tellier, +though less openly violent than Colbert, was equally hostile. For the +trial of the prisoner twenty-two commissioners were picked out from +the French parliaments; nearly all—if not all—of them were notoriously +inimical to him, or connected with persons who were known to be so, and +at their head was the chancellor Seguier, one of his most deadly enemies. + +One benefit the fallen minister derived from this injustice, and from +the protracted trial which ensued; public opinion, which at first had +been adverse to him, gradually grew more and more favourable. Fouquet the +peculator, brought to judgment before an honest and impartial tribunal, +would have excited no sympathy; Fouquet, persecuted by his rivals for +power, and destined to be legally assassinated, could not fail to excite +a warm interest in the mind of every one who was not destitute of +honourable feelings. + +Those who were in habits of intimacy with Fouquet needed no other +stimulus than the benefits or the winning courtesies, which they had +experienced from him. He had on his side all who loved or practised +literature, all who could be captivated by prepossessing manners and +boundless generosity. “Never,” says Voltaire, “did a placeman have +more personal friends, never was a persecuted man better served in his +misfortunes.” Many men of letters wielded the pen in his behalf, with a +courage which deserves no small praise, when we consider that the Bastile +was staring them in the face. Pelisson in his dungeon tasked all his +powers to defend his ruined master; La Fontaine, in a touching elegy, +vainly strove to awake the clemency of Louis; Loret eulogized Fouquet in +his “Mercure Burlesque,” and was punished by the loss of his pension; +Hesnault, the translator of Lucretius, attacked Colbert in the bitterest +and boldest of sonnets; and a crowd of other assailants showered epigrams +and lampoons on the vindictive minister. The authors were, in general, +lucky enough to find impunity; but numbers of newswriters, printers, and +hawkers, were seized, all of whom were imprisoned, and some were sent +from prison to the galleys. + +Fouquet began by denying the competency of the tribunal before which +he was summoned. He was, however, compelled to appear; but, though +he answered interrogatories, he persisted in protesting against the +authority of his judges. He defended himself with admirable skill, +eloquence, and moderation. There were, indeed, moments when he was roused +to retaliate. A single example of the pungency with which he could +reply, will show that his persecutors were not wise in provoking him. +Behind a mirror, at his country house of St. Mandé, was found a sketch +of a paper, drawn up by him fifteen years before, and evidently long +forgotten by him. It contained instructions to his friends how they were +to proceed, in case of an attempt being made to subvert his power. This +was construed into a proof of conspiracy. Seguier having pertinaciously +called on him to own that the drawing up of such a paper was a crime +against the state, Fouquet said, “I confess that it is a foolish and wild +act, but not a state crime. A crime against the state is when, holding +a principal office, and being entrusted with the secrets of the prince, +the individual all at once deserts to the enemy, engages the whole of his +family in the same interest, causes governors to open the gates of cities +to the enemy’s army, and to close them against their rightful master, and +betrays to the hostile party the secrets of the government—this, sir, is +what is called a crime against the state.” This was a stunning blow to +the chancellor, for it was the past conduct of that magistrate himself +that was thus forcibly described by the prisoner. + +The trial lasted three years. It was not the fault of some of his +judges that it was not brought to a speedier issue. They listened with +reluctance to his eloquent defence, and would fain have cut it short. +Possort, one of them, who was an uncle of Colbert, once exclaimed, on +Fouquet closing his speech, “Thank Heaven! he cannot complain that he +has been prevented from talking his fill!” Others, still more insensible +to shame, made a motion, that he should be restricted to the mere +answering of questions; they were, however, overruled. It was not till +the middle of December, 1664, that Talon, the advocate-general, summed +up the evidence, and demanded that the culprit should be hanged on a +gallows, purposely erected in the Palace Court. But the time for this +excessive severity was gone by. Some of the judges had become accessible +to feelings of pity; others had been won over by the potent influence +of gold, of which the superintendant’s friends undoubtedly availed +themselves to a considerable extent. Among the most conspicuous of those +who leaned to the side of mercy were MM. d’Ormesson and Roquesante, men +of unquestionable integrity. Only nine voted for death; a majority of the +commissioners, thirteen in number, gave their suffrage for confiscation +of property and perpetual banishment. + +The king is said to have been grievously disappointed by this sentence. +Colbert was furious. In one of her letters, written at the moment, Madame +de Sévigné, who had a warm esteem for Fouquet, says, “Colbert is so +exceedingly enraged, that we may expect from him something unjust and +atrocious enough to drive us all to despair again.” In another letter, +she hints her fears that poison may be employed; Guy Patin was also of +the same opinion. Neither poison nor steel was, however, resorted to; it +was probably thought that to render the life of Fouquet a burthen to him, +would be a more exquisite gratification than taking of it away. To grant +mercy has always been regarded as the noblest prerogative of a monarch; +to refuse it was more to the taste of Louis. He altered the sentence of +Fouquet from banishment to endless imprisonment in a remote fortress, +and this was in mockery called a commutation of the penalty. Fouquet was +immediately sent off to Pignerol, and the members of his family, who were +doomed to suffer for his errors, were scattered in various directions. +His judges did not wholly escape without marks of the king’s anger. M. de +Roquesante, a native of the sunny Provence, who had spoken in favour of +the prisoner, was banished, in the depth of winter, to the distant and +imperfectly civilised province of Lower Britanny. + +On his way to Pignerol, and during his captivity there, Fouquet was +treated with great harshness. About six months after his arrival, he was +placed in imminent danger. The lightning fell on the citadel where he was +confined, and blew up the powder magazine. Numbers of persons were buried +under the ruins, but he stood in the recess of a window and remained +unhurt. There is a singular veil of mystery hanging over his last days. +He is generally said to have died at Pignerol, in 1680; yet Gourville, +his friend, positively states him to have been set at liberty before his +decease, and he adds, that he received a letter from him. Voltaire, too, +declares that the fact of the liberation was confirmed to him by the +Countess de Vaux, the daughter-in-law of Fouquet; but here all clue to +the subject is lost. It has recently been suggested that Fouquet may have +again been arrested, and that he was the individual who is known by the +appellation of the Man in the Iron Mask. + +While fidelity in friendship, inviolably preserved under the most trying +circumstances, shall continue to be admired by mankind, the name of Paul +Pelisson will always be mentioned with respect. He had talents, too, +which were of no mean order. Pelisson, who from affection to his mother +assumed also her maiden name of Fontanier, was born in 1624, at Bezières, +and was brought up in the Protestant faith. He attained an early and +rapid proficiency in literature and languages; nor were severer studies +neglected—for at the age of only nineteen he produced an excellent Latin +paraphrase of the first book of Justinian’s Institutes. He was beginning +to shine at the bar when he was attacked by small-pox. The disease so +excessively disfigured his countenance, and impaired his constitution, +that he was under the necessity of relinquishing his profession, and +retiring into the country to recruit his health. + +As soon as Pelisson was again able to take a part in active life, he +settled in Paris. It was not long before he acquired a multitude of +friends; and the French Academy, in return for a history which he wrote +of its early labours, made him a supernumerary member, and destined +for him the first vacancy which should occur. Fouquet, who knew his +abilities, appointed him his chief clerk, and reposed in him an implicit +confidence, which was well deserved. Had Fouquet followed the advice +of his assistant, who counselled him never to part with his office of +attorney-general, he would have done wisely. When this advice came to the +knowledge of Louis, he said “the clerk is more sharp-sighted than the +master.” + +Pelisson shared the fate of Fouquet; he was sent to the Concièrgerie, +whence he was removed to the Bastile. All attempts to elicit from him the +secrets of the superintendant were made in vain. Once only, to answer a +purpose, he seemed to make a disclosure. Fearing that, from not knowing +whether the documents were in existence, Fouquet might commit himself +in his answers to certain questions, Pelisson feigned to divulge some +unimportant particulars which related to the subject. Fouquet, who was +astonished at this seeming defection of his friend, was confronted with +him, and denied the correctness of what had been stated: “Sir,” said +Pelisson, in an emphatic tone, “You would not deny so boldly if you did +not know that all the papers concerning that affair are destroyed.” +Fouquet instantly comprehended the stratagem, and acted accordingly. + +In the early part of his confinement, Pelisson found means to compose +three memorials in defence of Fouquet. For eloquence and argument they +may be considered as his masterpieces; they were published, and produced +a strong impression. As a punishment, he was still more closely immured, +and pen and paper were withheld from him; but he contrived to foil his +persecutors, by writing, with ink made of burnt crust and wine, on the +blank leaves and margins of the religious works which he was allowed to +read. They were equally unsuccessful when, hoping that he might drop some +unguarded words, they gave him, as an attendant, a spy, who concealed +cunning under the mask of coarse simplicity. Pelisson saw through the +deception, and adroitly converted the spy into an instrument of his own. + +The imprisonment of Pelisson lasted four years and a half. Among the +means which he employed to beguile his lonely hours is said to have been +that of taming a spider; a task which he effected so completely, that at +a signal, it would fetch its prey from the further end of the room, or +even take it out of his hand. It is, however, doubtful whether Pelisson +was the person who performed this. De Renneville, who is good authority +on this subject, ascribes the taming of the spider to the Count de +Lauzun, and adds, that the jailer, St. Mars, brutally crushed the insect, +and exclaimed that criminals like Lauzun did not deserve to enjoy the +slightest amusement. + +The solicitations of Pelisson’s friends at length procured his release; +in memory of which he ever after yearly liberated some unfortunate +prisoner. After some lapse of time, he was even received into the good +graces of Louis, who probably thought that the man who had been faithful +to a ruined minister would not be wanting in fidelity to his sovereign. +It was, besides, no small merit in the king’s eyes, that Pelisson had +become a Catholic. Louis first appointed him his historiographer, with a +pension; then gave him several valuable benefices; and, lastly, entrusted +him with the management of the fund which was employed in purchasing +proselytes. Pelisson died in 1693. + +Pelisson was not the only literary character who was drawn into +the vortex by the sinking of Fouquet. The gay and witty Epicurean +philosopher, St. Evremond, was punished for the crime of being a friend +of the fallen superintendant. Charles St. Evremond was born in 1613, at +St. Denis le Guast, near Coutances. From the study of the law, and the +prospect of a high station in the magistracy, he was seduced by his love +of arms, and, at the age of sixteen, he obtained an ensigncy. He still, +however, retained his taste for philosophy and literature. By his bravery +he acquired the esteem of his superiors; and that esteem was heightened +by his varied acquirements and the charm of his conversation. That he +might always enjoy the pleasure of his society, the Duke of Enghien +appointed him lieutenant of his guards. In this post St. Evremond fought +gallantly at Rocroi, Fribourg, and Nordlingen, in the last of which +battles he was dangerously wounded. His familiar intercourse with the +prince was not of long duration; Enghien delighted to see others exposed +to the wit and raillery of his lieutenant, but he could not endure to be +himself their object; St. Evremond ventured to aim some pleasantries +at his princely protector, and the great Condé had the littleness to +take offence, and to insist on the offender resigning his commission +in the guards. In the war of the Fronde, St. Evremond served the royal +cause with pen and sword, and he was rewarded with a pension and the +rank of major-general. Some satirical remarks on Mazarin, which he soon +after made at a dinner party, were the cause of his being thrown into +the Bastile. Mazarin, however, was not of an implacable nature, like +his predecessor Richelieu. At the expiration of three months he set the +prisoner free, took him into favour, and afterwards, from among a crowd +of rivals, selected him as his companion, when he went to negociate the +peace of the Pyrenees. Dissatisfied with the terms of that peace, St. +Evremond gave vent to his dissatisfaction, in a private letter to the +Marshal de Créqui. In writing it he unconsciously wrote his own sentence +of banishment. A copy of it was found among the papers of Fouquet; and +Colbert, who rejoiced to have an opportunity of injuring a friend of +Fouquet, malignantly represented it in such a light to Louis XIV. that +an order was issued to convey the author to the Bastile. St. Evremond +was riding in the forest of Orleans when he received intelligence from +his friends of the danger that hung over him. As he did not wish to +pay a second visit to a state prison, he provided for his safety by an +immediate and rapid flight. In England he was welcomed with open arms, +and was idolized by the wits and courtiers. In 1664 he visited Holland, +where he met with an equally cordial reception, and gained the friendship +of the Prince of Orange. Charles II. invited him to return to England, in +1670, and settled on him a pension. Henceforth, till his decease, which +took place in 1703, he continued to reside in London. His friends in +France made repeated efforts to obtain his recall; but they could not +succeed till 1689, when Louis XIV. was pleased to grant their request. +St. Evremond refused to accept the tardy boon. Living at his ease in a +free country, and in the highest society, and admired and esteemed by +the fair, the witty, and the noble, he was too wise to put himself into +“circumscription and confine,” and purchase the privilege of bending +before a despotic monarch, at the risk of being condemned to solitary +meditation in one of the towers of the Bastile. St. Evremond was ninety +when he died, but he preserved his faculties to the last. He was interred +in Westminster Abbey. His poetry never rises above mediocrity, and does +not always reach it; but his prose is often excellent. Justice has +scarcely been done to him either by La Harpe or Voltaire. + +A harder fate than that of voluntary exile was the lot of Simon Morin, +an insane visionary, a man of humble birth, who was born about 1623, +at Richemont, in Normandy. His horrible death, which was in fact a +judicial murder, perpetrated by a fanaticism far worse than his own, +leaves an indelible stain on the character of the judges by whom it was +directed. Morin was originally a clerk in the war-office, but lost his +situation by neglecting his duties; and he subsequently gained a scanty +subsistence as a copyist, for which he was well qualified by the beauty +of his handwriting. His reason appears to have been early affected, +as he must have been under twenty when he was first put into prison +for his extravagant ideas in religious matters. After his release, he +seems to have gradually become more and more deranged. Like all madmen +of his class, however, he gained numerous proselytes, who listened to +his harangues, and read his printed reveries, with implicit belief. +His success drew on him the attention of the government, and, in July +1644, he was sent to the Bastile. At the expiration of twenty months he +was set at liberty. Imprisonment had only heightened his malady, and +he consequently laboured with more vigour than ever to disseminate his +opinions. Those opinions he embodied in a work intituled, “Thoughts of +Morin, with his Canticles and Spiritual Quatrains,” dedicated to the +king. He called himself the Son of Man, and maintained that Christ was +incorporated in him; that in his person was to take place the second +advent of the Saviour in a state of glory; and that the result would be +a general reformation of the Church, and the conversion of all people to +the true faith. There was much more of the same kind; he was in France +what Brothers, long afterwards, was in England. Of his tenets, several +bear a resemblance to those which, later in the 17th century, were held +by the Quietists. The publication of this volume again brought the police +upon him. For some time he eluded them, but he was at last discovered, +and re-committed to the Bastile. In 1649, he retracted his errors, and +was released, and he repeated his retractation four months after his +being set free. It was not long, however, before he relapsed, and for +this he was sent to the Concièrgerie, whence he was transferred to the +Petites Maisons, as an incurable lunatic. The last was the only sensible +measure which was adopted with respect to him. By another abjuration, he +once more recovered his liberty; and, as soon as he was let loose, he +once more asserted his claim to be an incarnation of the Deity. There can +be little doubt that he had short lucid intervals, and that it was during +these intervals that he renounced his errors. + +Thus, alternately raving and recanting, Morin went on till 1661, when, +in an evil hour, he contracted an intimacy with a man who was no less a +visionary than he himself was, and whose nature was deeply tinctured with +malignity and deceit. This man, John Desmarets de St. Sorlin, a member +of the French Academy, was the author of several works, now sunk into +oblivion, among which are a ponderous epic, called Clovis, and several +theatrical pieces. From his own showing, he appears to have been in youth +a monster of immorality; and though in advanced life he affected piety, +his conduct did not prove his heart to be much ameliorated; he became +fanatical instead of becoming virtuous. A brief specimen, from some of +his rhapsodies, will show how completely his wits were “turned the seamy +side without.” He asserted, that God in his infinite goodness had given +him the key of the treasure of the Apocalypse; that he was Eliachim +Michael, a Prophet; that he had the Divine command to raise an army of +144,000 men, bearing the seal of God on their foreheads, which army was +to be headed by the king, to exterminate the impious and the Jansenists; +and that Louis XIV. was indicated by the prophets as the person who was +destined to drive out the Turks, and extend throughout the whole earth +the kingdom of Christ. Had not Desmarets been a hater of the Jansenists, +and a flatterer of the monarch, he would undoubtedly have been sent to +study the Apocalypse in the solitude of a prison. + +The trite proverb, that “two of a trade cannot agree,” was verified by +Desmarets; he resolved to destroy the man who dared to make pretensions +that eclipsed his own. To effect his purpose, he acted with the cunning +of a lunatic, and the dark-heartedness of a fiend. By paying assiduous +court to Morin, by pretending to be one of his most submissive disciples, +and even by going so far as to write him a letter, unequivocally +recognising him as the Son of Man, he contrived to insinuate himself into +the confidence of his unfortunate victim, and to draw from him his most +secret thoughts. In the course of their conversations, Morin is said to +have declared, among other things, that unless the king acknowledged +his mission he would die. Having thus furnished himself with evidence +against the man whom he had deluded, Desmarets hastened to denounce him +as a heretic and traitor. Orders were issued for arresting Morin, who +was found engaged in copying out a “Discourse to the King,” which began +with “the Son of Man to the King of France.” He was brought to trial, and +was sentenced to be burned alive. Some of his followers were condemned +to whipping and the galleys. The iniquitous judgment passed on Morin was +executed on the 14th of March, 1663. At the stake his reason seems to +have returned; he repeatedly called on the Saviour and the Virgin, and +humbly prayed for mercy to the Creator of all things. + +Little commiseration is due to him whose imprisonment is next recorded; +his baseness met with deserved punishment. Francis René Crispin du Bec, +Marquis of Vardes, was of a good family, and served with reputation in +Flanders, France, Italy, and Spain. During the war of the Fronde, he was +constant to the royal party; and it was doubtless his zeal and fidelity +on this occasion which acquired for him the friendship of Louis XIV. He +rose to high rank in the army; was made captain-colonel of the Hundred +Swiss in 1655; and, next year, succeeded the Duke of Orleans in the +government of Aigues-Mortes, and was invested with the various orders of +knighthood. He was on the point of being created a duke and peer, when +the discovery of a dishonourable act of which he had been guilty, stopped +his promotion, and deprived him of his liberty. Louis had chosen Vardes +as his friend, and had confided to him his passion for the celebrated +Mlle. de la Vallière, who was one of the maids of honour to the Duchess +of Orleans. It appears that the duchess and her friend, the Countess of +Soissons, and their lovers, the Count de Guiche and Vardes, had hoped, +by means of La Vallière, to obtain a predominant influence over Louis. +But the royal mistress loved Louis with a sincere and disinterested +affection, and was not disposed to become the instrument of court +intriguers. It was resolved, therefore, to oust her, and substitute in +her stead Mlle. de la Mothe Houdancourt, who, it was imagined, would +be more subservient. To effect this object, Vardes wrote a letter, +purporting to be from the Spanish monarch, to his daughter the French +queen, informing her of her consort’s connection with la Vallière; it +was translated into Spanish by Guiche. The letter, however, fell into +the hands of Louis. While endeavouring to discover the author, the king +consulted Vardes, and Vardes was so ineffably base as to lead him to +believe that the offender was the Duchess of Noailles. The duchess, a +woman of strict virtue, had the superintendence of the queen’s maids of +honour, and had already dissatisfied Louis by her vigilant care of her +charge. He therefore readily believed the suggestion of Vardes, and, +without farther inquiry, deprived the duchess and her husband of all +the places which they held, and ordered them to retire to their estate. +For three years the perfidy of Vardes remained a secret, and it would +perhaps always have remained so, had he not caused a disclosure of it, by +conduct which was at once a flagrant breach of confidence to his friend, +the Count de Guiche, and a gross insult to the Duchess of Orleans. He +obtained possession of the letters written by the count to the duchess, +and refused to give them up; and he incited the Chevalier de Lorraine to +make offensive advances to her. This proceeding brought on a quarrel, the +result of which was that the king became acquainted with the treachery of +the man whom he had trusted. Vardes was sent to the Bastile in December, +1664, from whence he was removed to the citadel of Montpellier, where he +was closely confined for eighteen months. He was at length allowed to +reside in his government of Aigues-Mortes; but eighteen years passed away +before he was recalled to the court. He is said to have employed in study +the period of his exile, and to have made himself generally esteemed in +Languedoc. When, after his long banishment, he was graciously received +by the king, Vardes was dressed in the fashion of his early days, and, +when Louis laughed at the antique cut of his coat, the supple courtier +replied, “Sire, when one is so wretched as to be banished from you, one +is not only unfortunate, but ridiculous!” Vardes did not long enjoy his +re-establishment in the royal favour; he died in 1688. + +To Vardes succeeds another noble, Count Roger Bussy de Rabutin, who, +though he is not accused of such baseness as that of which Vardes was +guilty, was by no means a model of delicacy and virtue. He seems, indeed, +to have been of opinion, that honour and honesty were not necessary +qualities in the persons whom he had about him; for, in his Memoirs, +he coolly describes one gentleman, who was of his train, as having all +his life been a cutpurse; and another, on whom he bestows praise for +some things, as being addicted to every vice, and no less familiar +with robbery and murder than with eating and drinking. Such being his +laxity of principles, it is no wonder that he sometimes participated in +disgusting orgies, and was even suspected of feeling a more than parental +love for Madame de la Rivière, his daughter. Bussy de Rabutin was born +in 1618, entered the army when he was only twelve years of age, served +in all the campaigns between 1634 and 1663, and attained the rank of +lieutenant-general. His bravery was undoubted, but his vanity, arrogance, +and satirical spirit, made him numerous enemies among his brother +officers. On one occasion he lampooned Turenne, and that great general, +deviating from his usual magnanimity, avenged himself by writing to the +king, that “M de Bussy was the best officer in the army—for songs.” In +1641, Bussy was an inmate of the Bastile for five months. The defective +discipline of his regiment, and its having engaged in smuggling salt, +was the ostensible cause of his imprisonment; he himself assigned as +the reason, that his father was hated by Desnoyers the minister. The +same faults by which his companions in arms had been converted into +foes, proved his ruin at court. He wrote a libellous work, called “The +Amorous History of the Gauls,” which was published in 1665, and excited +a general outcry among the personages whom it describes. Bussy affirms, +that it was sent to the press without his consent, and even with +malignant alterations and additions, by an unfaithful mistress, to whom +he entrusted the manuscript. This production was made the pretext for +committing him to the Bastile; but it is said that his real offence was +a song, in which he ridiculed the king’s passion for the Duchess of la +Vallière. His imprisonment lasted twenty months, and he candidly owns, in +his Memoirs and Letters, that it was not very patiently endured. By dint +of importunity, seconded by an illness with which he was attacked, he at +length recovered his liberty. During his captivity, he was compelled to +resign, for a much less sum than it cost him, the major-generalship of +the light cavalry. But though Bussy was released, he was not pardoned; +he was banished to his estate. Notwithstanding his abject supplications, +which were incessantly renewed, he remained an exile for sixteen years. +At last, in 1682, he was graciously permitted to re-appear at court. +His happiness was, however, still incomplete; for the courtiers soon +began to cabal against him, and the monarch to treat him coldly; and, +though he succeeded in procuring a pension for himself, and pensions and +preferments for his children, he failed to obtain the blue riband and a +marshal’s staff, which were the great objects of his ambition. He died in +1693. + +A longer term of imprisonment than was undergone by Bussy Rabutin fell to +the lot of the next prisoner. Among the victims of the persecution which +was carried on against the Jansenists, was Louis Isaac le Maistre, better +known by the name of Saci, which is an anagram formed by him from one of +his christian names. He was born in 1613, and was educated at the college +of Beauvais, along with his uncle, the celebrated Anthony Arnauld. Though +he was early destined to the clerical profession, he did not take orders +till he was in his thirty-fifth year; a praiseworthy humility having +long induced him to doubt his being competent to fulfill properly the +duties of a gospel minister. He was soon after appointed director of the +Port Royal nuns, on which occasion he took up his abode in the convent, +resigning to it all his property, except a small annuity, and of that he +distributed the largest portion to the poor. His time was spent in study, +prayer, and pious exercises. But a blameless life was not sufficient to +shield him from theological hatred. In 1661, he was compelled to fly +from the convent, and he remained in concealment till 1666, when he was +discovered and conveyed to the Bastile. In that prison he was immured for +three years and a half, and he solaced his lonely hours by undertaking a +translation of the Bible, a considerable part of which he accomplished +while he was held in durance. He, however, did not live to complete it. +In the autumn of 1669 he was set at liberty. The minister, to whom he was +presented on leaving the Bastile, seems to have been willing to grant him +some favour, as a compensation for his unmerited sufferings; but all that +Saci asked was, that the prisoners might be more leniently treated. After +the destruction of Port Royal, he found an asylum in the house of his +cousin, the Marquis of Pomponne, and there he ended his days, in 1684. +Saci was such an enemy to controversy that, though often attacked, he is +said never to have replied except in one instance. Voltaire speaks of him +as “one of the good writers of Port Royal.” In the poetical compositions +of Saci, which were his earliest literary attempts, there are passages +that rise above mediocrity. Among his principal works, besides his +version of the Bible, are translations of the Psalms, St. Thomas à +Kempis, two books of the Eneid, the Fables of Phædrus, and three of the +Comedies of Terence. + +From the pious and humble pastor we must turn to a very different sort +of personage, to one of the courtier species, a man more remarkable for +his sudden rise, and for the vicissitudes which he experienced, than for +genius or virtue. Three of his eminent contemporaries have left on record +their opinion of Antoninus de Caumont, Count, and afterwards, Duke of +Lauzun. The witty Bussy Rabutin pithily describes him as being “one of +the least men, in mind as well as body, that God ever created.” The more +phlegmatic Duke of Berwick says of him, “he had a sort of talent, which, +however, consisted only in turning every thing into ridicule, insinuating +himself into every body’s confidence, worming out their secrets, and +playing upon their foibles. He was noble in his carriage, generous, +and lived in a splendid style. He loved high play, and played like a +gentleman. His figure was very diminutive, and it is incomprehensible how +he could ever have become a favourite with the ladies.” The satirical St. +Simon has drawn, in his best manner, a full-length portrait of Lauzun, +which has scarcely a single redeeming feature. He does, indeed, allow, +that he was a good friend, “when he chanced to be a friend, which was +rarely,” and a good relation; that he had noble manners, and was brave +to excess. This is the sole speck of light in the picture; the rest is +all shade. In the likeness drawn by St. Simon, we see Lauzun, “full +of ambition, caprices, and whimsies, jealous of every one, striving +always to go beyond the mark, never satisfied, illiterate, unadorned and +unattractive in mind, morose, solitary, and unsociable in disposition, +mischievous and spiteful by nature, and still more so from ambition and +jealousy, prompt to become an enemy, even to those who were not his +rivals, cruel in exposing defects, and in finding and making subjects for +ridicule, scattering his ill-natured wit about him without sparing any +one, and, to crown the whole, a courtier equally insolent, scoffing, and +base even to servility, and replete with arts, intrigues, and meannesses, +to accomplish his designs.” Such was the man whom the king long delighted +to honour. + +Lauzun, who at his outset bore the title of Marquis de Puyguilhem, was +the youngest son of a noble Gascon family, and was introduced at court +by the Marshal de Grammont, his relation. He soon became the favourite +of Louis, who heaped riches and places upon him: some of the latter +were expressly created for him. When the Duke of Mazarin resigned the +mastership of the ordnance, the king promised it to Lauzun, but bound +him to keep the matter secret for a short time. The folly and vanity of +the favourite, who could not refrain from boasting of his good fortune, +were the cause of his disappointment. Louvois thus obtained a knowledge +of the nomination, and remonstrated against it so strongly, and with such +sound reasons, that it was revoked by the monarch. On this occasion a +scene took place such as has seldom occurred between monarch and subject. +After having vainly tried to persuade the king to carry into effect his +original intention, Lauzun burst into a furious passion, turned his +back on him, broke his own sword under his foot, and vowed that he would +never again serve a prince who had violated his word so shamefully. +Louis acted in this instance with true dignity. Opening the window, he +threw out his cane, and, as he was quitting the room, he coolly said, “I +should be sorry to have struck a man of rank.” The next morning, however, +Lauzun was conveyed to the Bastile. But Louis was soon induced to forgive +the offender, and even to offer him, as an indemnity for his loss, the +post of captain of the royal guards. It strongly marks the insolence of +Lauzun, that he at first refused the proffered grace, and that entreaties +were required to induce him to accept it. + +Lauzun had scarcely been twelve months out of the Bastile, before +he had an opportunity of becoming the richest subject in Europe. A +grand-daughter of Henry IV., the celebrated Duchess of Montpensier, +usually known by the appellation of Mademoiselle, who had reached her +forty-second year, fell violently in love with him. In her Memoirs she +gives a curious and amusing account of her wooing, for the courtship +was all on the side of the lady. So completely had Lauzun recovered his +influence, that the king gave his consent to their union. The marriage +contract secured to him three duchies and twenty millions of livres. A +second time his fortune was marred by his vanity. His friends urged him +to hasten the nuptials, but he delayed, that they might be celebrated +with royal splendour. Of this delay his enemies availed themselves to +work upon the pride of the monarch, and they succeeded in breaking off +the match. The duchess was rendered inconsolable by this event; Lauzun +seems to have borne it with sufficient philosophy. A secret marriage +between them is believed to have subsequently taken place. + +Lauzun was supposed to be now more firmly fixed than ever in the +king’s good graces. He was placed at the head of the army which, in +1670, escorted the king and the court to Flanders, and he displayed +extraordinary magnificence in this command. But, flattering as +appearances were, he was on the eve of his fall. He had two active and +powerful enemies; Louvois, whom he constantly thwarted and provoked in +various ways, and Madame de Montespan, the king’s mistress, whom he +had more than once grossly insulted. Political rivalry and hatred and +female revenge were finally triumphant. The minister and the mistress +so incessantly laboured to blacken Lauzun, whose private marriage with +Mademoiselle is said to have aided their efforts, that, in November 1671, +he was sent to the Bastile, whence he was soon after removed to the +fortress of Pignerol. In that fortress he was closely confined in a cell +for nearly five years. His situation was at length somewhat ameliorated, +but his imprisonment was continued for five years more. It is probable +that he would have spent the rest of his days at Pignerol, had not the +Duchess of Montpensier purchased his freedom, by sacrificing the duchy +of Aumale, the earldom of Eu, and the principality of Dombes, to form an +appanage for the illegitimate son of Louis by Madame de Montespan. It is +an additional stain on the character of Lauzun, that he proved ungrateful +to his deliverer. + +Though Lauzun was released, he was not suffered to approach the court. +Tired of his exile from Versailles, he passed over to England. On the +revolution of 1688 breaking out, James placed the queen and the infant +prince under his care, to be conveyed to France. This trust opened the +way to his re-admission into the royal presence, and to his being created +a duke; but he never regained the confidence of the monarch. He led a +reinforcement of the French troops to James in Ireland; and displayed, as +the Duke of Berwick states, none of the qualities of a general. He died +in 1723, at the age of more than ninety. The closing scene of his life +was perhaps the only one for which he deserves praise. His disease was +cancer in the mouth, the protracted and horrible torture of which he bore +with astonishing temper and fortitude. + +The severe example which was made of de Bouteville, in the reign of Louis +XIII., though it gave a temporary check to the practice of duelling, +was far from putting an end to it. Nor did better success attend the +ordinances issued in 1634 by Louis XIII., and in 1643, 1651, and 1670, +by Louis XIV. The feebleness of the royal authority, during a disturbed +regency, and the war of the Fronde, with the quarrels arising out of it, +doubtless tended to neutralize the laws. But, even when Louis XIV. was +in uncontested possession of despotic power, we find that the murderous +custom of fighting in parties was still existing. In 1663, a famous duel +took place between the two La Frettes, Saint Aignan, and Argenlieu, +on the one side, and Chalais, Noirmoutier, d’Antin, and Flamarens, on +the other. The axe was at length laid to the root of the evil, by the +edict of August 1679, which constituted the marshals of France, and the +governors of provinces, supreme judges in all cases where individuals +supposed their honour to have been wounded. This edict prohibited, +under the heaviest penalties, all private combats and rencounters, both +within and without the kingdom. One clause seems excellently calculated +to produce its intended effect, no less by the insinuation with which +it opens, than by the denunciations with which it concludes. “Those,” +it says, “who, doubting of their own courage, shall have called in the +aid of seconds, thirds, or a greater number of persons, shall, besides +the punishment of death and confiscation, be degraded from their +nobility, and have their coat of arms publicly blackened and broken by +the hangman; their successors shall be obliged to adopt new arms; and +the seconds, thirds, and other accomplices, shall be punished in the +same manner.” This salutary edict appears to have nearly accomplished +the purpose for which it was framed. The slavish fear of incurring the +displeasure of the sovereign, a feeling which was so prevalent among the +courtiers of Louis XIV., perhaps aided materially in producing obedience +to the law. It would have been well if a worse effect had never resulted +from that kind of fear. + +Among the fashionable gladiators of those days was Philip d’Oger, Marquis +of Cavoie, a man whom nature had liberally endowed with the means of +shining in a nobler sphere. Cavoie, born in 1640, and descended from an +ancient Picard family, was the son of a woman of talent, who gained the +good graces of Anne of Austria, and availed herself of her influence +to forward the fortune of her offspring. His personal appearance was +greatly in his favour; he was one of the handsomest and best made men in +France, and he dressed with singular elegance. His courage, too, was no +less conspicuous than his corporeal qualities. In 1666, he served as a +volunteer on board of the Dutch fleet, under De Ruyter; and in the battle +with the Duke of Albemarle he distinguished himself by the perilous +exploit of proceeding in a boat to cut the cable with which some English +sloops were towing down a fire-ship on the Dutch admiral. He succeeded +in his daring attempt, and escaped unhurt. By this gallant action he +acquired the friendship of the celebrated Turenne. Long before this he +had become known as “the brave Cavoie,” in consequence of his gallant +bearing in the single combats which were still too common in France. + +It was for having acted as second in one of these combats, that he was +immured in the Bastile. His imprisonment would, perhaps, have been +protracted, but for a curious circumstance, of which a pleasant account +is given by the Duke de St. Simon. Mlle. de Coetlogon, one of the +maids of honour to the consort of Louis XIV., had fallen madly in love +with Cavoie. St. Simon describes her as being “ugly, prudent, naïve, +much-liked, and a very good creature.” It is no slight proof of her +amiability, that, in a frivolous and satirical court, her sorrows were a +subject of pity instead of laughter. Cavoie was anything but delighted +with her idolatrous fondness, which she seemed to glory in manifesting; +and he strove to rid himself of it by being obdurate, and even downright +harsh. In spite of his repulsive conduct, however, she became every day +fonder. When he went to the army, her tears and cries were incessant, and +during the whole of the campaign she obstinately abstained from adorning +her person in the smallest degree. It was not till he came back that she +resumed her customary style of dress. His being committed to the Bastile +renewed her grief. “She spoke to the king in behalf of Cavoie,” says St. +Simon, “and not being able to obtain his deliverance, she scolded his +majesty so violently as to abuse him. The king laughed heartily, at which +she was so much incensed that she threatened him with her nails, and he +thought it prudent not to run the risk of them. He every day dined and +supped publicly with the queen; at dinner it was usual for the Duchess +of Richelieu and the queen’s maids of honour to wait upon them. On these +occasions, Coetlogon never would hand any thing to the king; either she +avoided him, or she flatly refused, and told him that he did not deserve +to be waited upon by her. Next, she was ill of jaundice, and had violent +hysterics, and fits of despair. This went so far, that the king and +queen seriously desired the Duchess of Richelieu to accompany her to the +Bastile, to see Cavoie; and this was twice or thrice repeated. At last +he was released, and Coetlogon, in raptures, again took to dressing; but +it was not without much difficulty that she could be reconciled to the +king.” + +It is delightful to know that the devoted love of this warm-hearted +female was rewarded; and it is honourable to Louis XIV. that, instead +of meanly resenting her bursts of passion, he kindly and successfully +exerted himself to render her happy. In conjunction with the queen, he +more than once pleaded for the enamoured lady, but he found Cavoie averse +from a marriage. At length, the death of his grand maréchal-de-logis +enabled the king to attack Cavoie with advantage. This time, however, he +spoke in the tone of an absolute monarch; for he insisted that Cavoie +should wed Mlle. de Coetlogon; but, in return, he promised to put him in +the road to fortune, and, as a dowry to the portionless maid, he gave +him the splendid office which had just become vacant. Despotism thus +exercised may be forgiven, if only for its rarity. Cavoie yielded to the +command of his sovereign, and the desired union took place. The result +was more satisfactory than might have been expected. Cavoie proved to be +an indulgent husband, and she, on her part, never ceased to look up to +him as a sort of superior being. Neither in her maiden nor in her married +state, was her virtue for a moment doubted. + +Cavoie accompanied Louis XIV. in all his campaigns. At the passage of +the Rhine, his intrepidity called forth praise from the king himself. A +report having soon after been spread, that Cavoie was among the slain, +Louis exclaimed, “O, how grieved M. de Turenne will be!” The courtiers +who surrounded him were joining in a general chorus of eulogium upon the +supposed dead man, when a horseman was seen plunging into the river on +the opposite side, and swimming over. It was Cavoie, whom the Prince de +Condé had sent to the monarch, to announce to him the complete success +of his army. + +For many years Cavoie was held in high esteem at court, and enjoyed the +confidence of his master. A circumstance at length occurred to disturb +his peace. He had hoped to be included in the number of those on whom the +order of the Holy Ghost was conferred in 1688, but he was disappointed. +This disappointment was the work of Louvois, who hated him, because he +was the old and firm friend of the Marquis de Seignalai. Wounded by this +slight, the grand maréchal wrote a letter to Louis, informing him that he +intended to retire. But the vows of chagrined courtiers are as brittle +as those of lovers. The king called him into his cabinet, and, with that +graciousness which he well knew how to assume, he said to him, “We have +lived too long together to part now; I cannot let you quit me; I will see +that you shall be satisfied.” Cavoie abandoned his design of withdrawing +from court; but the promised blue riband was never bestowed on him. + +At a later period, about twenty years before his decease, he resumed and +carried into execution his purpose of seceding from public life. He was +a patron of literary characters in general, and was in habits of close +intimacy with Racine, Boileau, and other eminent authors. Cavoie died in +1716, at the age of 76, leaving behind him the enviable reputation of +having been a man on whose sincerity and probity an implicit reliance +might with safety be placed. + +From Cavoie we pass to an individual of a less estimable character. +Louis, Prince of Rohan, commonly known by the title of the Chevalier +Rohan, a degenerate descendant from illustrious ancestors, was born +about 1635. Rohan was endowed by nature with a handsome and graceful +person, and many intellectual qualities; but all these advantages were +nullified by his follies and vices. The Marquis de la Fare describes +him as being made up of contradictions; sometimes witty, at others the +contrary; sometimes dignified and brave, at others mean and dastardly. +In the annals of gallantry he seems to have been ambitious of holding a +conspicuous place. The most celebrated of his amorous adventures was his +carrying off, aided by her brother, the Duke of Nevers, the beautiful +and frail Hortensia Mancini, who was united to the contemptible Duke +of Mazarin. That he gamed high, and was careless of his gold, we learn +from an anecdote which is related of him. He had lost to the king, at +the gaming-table, a large sum, which was to be paid in louis-d’or. Rohan +counted out seven or eight hundred, but, not having enough of them, he +added two hundred Spanish pistoles. Louis objected to the latter, upon +which the chevalier snatched them up, and threw them out of the window, +saying at the same time, “Since your majesty will not have them, they +are good for nothing.” The king complained of this to Cardinal Mazarin, +who replied, “Sire, the Chevalier de Rohan played like a king, and you +played like a Chevalier de Rohan.” This action of Rohan has been praised +as a “piquant lesson” to Louis; it seems, however, to have been rather an +absurd mode of rebuking the monarch’s unprincely conduct. + +Rohan continued in favour at court for several years, and in 1656 was +appointed grand huntsman of France, an office equivalent to our master +of the buck-hounds; he was afterwards made colonel of the guards. He +served in 1654, 1655, 1672, and 1677, and displayed great valour. +The commencement of his decline seems to have been his being obliged +to give up the office of grand huntsman, in consequence of his amour +with the Duchess of Mazarin. His extravagance and profligacy at length +ruined his fortune and reputation. To repair his shattered finances, +he engaged in a plot, at once treasonable and absurd, which completed +the destruction of his character, and brought him to the scaffold. Into +this scheme he was seduced by Latruaumont, a Norman officer, a man as +impoverished and licentious as himself. Their accomplices were Preault, +a young officer, the Marchioness of Villiers-Bourdeville, his mistress, +and a schoolmaster, named Van den Enden; all of whom are said to have +disbelieved that the soul is immortal. Their plan was, to put into the +hands of the Dutch the town of Quillebœuf, in Normandy, and to excite +the province to revolt, for which service they were to be liberally +rewarded. The magnitude of their project forms a striking contrast with +the scantiness of their means. The conspiracy was discovered by the +government, before the conspirators could begin their operations. Rohan +was committed to the Bastile, and M. de Brissac was sent into Normandy to +arrest Latruaumont. The latter defended himself, was mortally wounded, +and died in a few hours. He had at least some honourable feelings, for, +in order to save his confederates, he persisted to the last moment that +he was the sole criminal. The friends of Rohan nightly made the circuit +of the Bastile, and vociferated, through a speaking-trumpet, “Latruaumont +is dead, and has confessed nothing.” They were, however, unheard by the +chevalier. He, meanwhile, was perseveringly pressed to acknowledge his +guilt, but he refused; and, as his participation in the plot was known +only to the deceased, and no written proof existed against him, he +might have saved his life, had he not been circumvented by one of those +stratagems which were employed against prisoners. De Bezons, one of the +counsellors of state who interrogated the captive, had the baseness to +assure him that the king meant to pardon him if he would declare the +truth, although every thing was already known from the dying avowal +of Latruaumont. Trusting to the assurances of his treacherous adviser, +Rohan acknowledged his treason. He soon learned the deceit which had been +practised on him; and he burst into such violent paroxysms of rage, that +his keepers were compelled to manacle him that he might not lay violent +hands on himself. Rohan and his accomplices were soon after sentenced +to death; they were executed in front of the Bastile, on the 27th of +November, 1674. In spite of her erroneous principles, the sufferer most +worthy of pity was, perhaps, Madame de Villiers, who displayed a noble +fortitude and forgiving spirit. The only evidence against her was some of +her letters to Preault, which he had unwisely preserved. At first, she +uttered a few words of mild reproof for his fatal imprudence; but she +quickly changed her tone, and said with a smile, “We must not think on +what is passed, but only how to die.” + +The same year that consigned Rohan to the scaffold, saw his place in the +Bastile filled by a youthful victim, who was doomed to waste a large part +of his life in captivity, for having offended a vindictive and powerful +religious body. His name is not recorded, but it is evident that he was +of a good family. + +Louis XIV. was requested, by the Jesuits of Clermont College, to be +present at the representation of a tragedy by their pupils. He complied, +and was highly gratified by the piece; the more so, perhaps, as it was +thickly strewn with passages in praise of him. A nobleman in attendance +having spoken to him in terms of admiration, as to the manner in which +the drama had been played, the king replied, “Where’s the wonder? is it +not my college?” These words were not lost upon the principal of the +college, who was standing by. As soon as the king was gone, the old +inscription, “_Collegium Claromontanum Societati Jesus_,” which was on +the front of the building, was taken down, and workmen were all night +employed to inscribe the words, “_Collegium Ludovici Magni_,” in gold +letters, on a tablet of black marble. + +In the morning the new inscription was seen conspicuously displayed on +the edifice. A youth of sixteen, a pupil in the college, had the good +sense and the good taste to be disgusted with this worse than indecorous +adulation, and he gave vent to his feelings in a Latin distich, which, +during the night, he fastened on the gate. The meaning of his lines may +be thus given: + + “Christ’s name expunged, the king’s now fills the stone! + O impious race! by this is plainly shown + That Louis is the only god you own!” + +The pungent lines excited a violent clamour among the Jesuits, and +no pains were spared to trace the writer. The juvenile offender was +discovered, and was shut up in the Bastile. After having been confined +there for a long while, he was transferred to the citadel of St. +Marguerite, on the coast of Provence. There he continued for several +years; after which he was taken back to the Bastile. One-and-thirty years +he passed in this manner, and the remainder of his life would doubtless +have been consumed in the same way, had he not, in 1705, become sole +heir to the estates of his family. The confessor of the Bastile, who was +a jesuit, now remonstrated with his brethren on the impolicy of keeping +in prison an individual from whom, by procuring his release, they might +reap such a golden harvest. His advice was taken, and the captive was set +free at their intercession. There can be no doubt that their tardy and +interested mercy received a liberal reward. + +Among the fellow prisoners of the nameless satirist of the jesuits +was, for a short time, another writer of verses, but verses of a very +different kind. The person in question was Charles Dassouci, who +ludicrously designated himself as “Emperor of the Burlesque, the first +of that name.” He was born at Paris, about 1604, and was the son of a +barrister. His bringing up, and his early habits, were not calculated to +make him an estimable member of society. His parents were separated, and +the tyranny of a female, who was at once the servant and the concubine +of his father, drove him from his home. When he was only nine years +old, he wandered to Calais, where he passed himself off as an adept in +astrology, the son of Cesar, that dealer in magic whose fate has been +narrated in the preceding chapter. The boy having, by the power of +imagination, worked a cure upon a hypochondriacal individual, the wise +people of Calais considered this fact to be a decisive proof of his +intercourse with the devil, and were about to throw him into the sea, but +he was saved by some of his friends, who conveyed him privately out of +the place. After having led a roving life for some time, he became player +on the lute and singer to Christina, Duchess of Savoy, the daughter of +Henry IV. In 1640, he was introduced to Louis XIII., who gave him the +same situation that he had filled in the household of the duchess, and +he was continued in it during the minority of Louis XIV. Resolving to +return to Turin, he quitted Paris in 1655; but, before his departure +from the kingdom, he visited various parts in the south of France. He +was accompanied every where by two handsome youths, called his musical +pages; his connexion with whom afforded to his enemies a reason, or a +pretext, for fixing a deep stain on his moral character. Failing to +obtain patronage at Turin, he went to Rome, and there he was put into the +prison of the Inquisition, for having satirized some powerful prelates. +On being liberated he went back to Paris, where he was not more fortunate +than he had been in Italy, for he was committed to the Bastile, in 1675, +whence he was transferred to the Châtelet. To his licentious conduct and +writings he is said to have been indebted for his imprisonment, which +lasted six months. He died about 1679. His principal works are, “Ovid +in good humour,” which is a travestie upon part of the Metamorphoses; +Claudian’s Rape of Proserpine burlesqued; and many poems in a similar +style. Dassouci, who was sometimes called “the ape of Scarron,” received +a lash from the satirical scourge of Boileau, and he complained heavily +of the injury. In his Art of Poetry, Boileau thus alludes to the +popularity which Dassouci had once enjoyed: + + “The scurviest joker charmed some kindred mind, + And even Dassouci could readers find.” + +It must be owned, however, that in the works of “the emperor of the +Burlesque,” there are some passages which prove that, though his taste +and his morals were defective, he was not destitute of talent. + +The reader has seen that, with very few exceptions, the prisoners who +have been mentioned in this chapter belonged to the courtier-class; that +they were men who seemed to feel a difficulty of breathing whenever they +did not inhale the vapours of a frivolous and voluptuous court. We ought +always to abhor injustice, and therefore we must hate the power which was +unjust to them; but they have no title to that liberal share of our pity +which is the right of humbler victims, for it was an implied condition of +their artificial existence that they should bend to a despot’s will; they +purchased the smiles of their master, the pleasures, such as they were, +of the Louvre and Versailles, and a portion of the public spoils, by the +renunciation of their free agency, and by encountering the risk of being +capriciously transferred from a palace to a dungeon. If, relying on his +good luck, a man will venture to play with a gambler whom he knows to +assert the privilege of now and then cogging the dice, his folly perhaps +deserves more compassion than his misfortune. + +Let us now see in what manner other classes were affected by the +working of an arbitrary government; whether its tyranny was impartially +distributed among them. A few examples, taken between the years 1660 +and 1670, will enable us to form a tolerably correct judgment upon this +subject. Before we proceed to give these examples, it may, however, be +well to apprise the reader, that committals to the Bastile were not +things of rare occurrence, but the contrary. In 1663, fifty-four persons +were sent to that dreary pile; in some years the number was fewer; in +others it rose to nearly a hundred and fifty. The Bastile was so crowded +in 1665, that a part of the prisoners were obliged to be removed to other +places of confinement. It must, indeed, have been full to overflowing, +before this removal could have been thought necessary. Such being the +case with the Bastile, it is probable that Vincennes, and many other +state prisons, were in a similar situation. + +Though, as far as can be judged from imperfect registers, it appears +that a large majority of the persons incarcerated in the Bastile were +the victims of caprice, malice, or religious and political persecution, +there can be no doubt that many were really criminal. Some instances of +the latter class occur in the years between 1660 and 1670. The crime of +coining, which we have seen so common at an earlier period, was still +prevalent, and was still committed by men who held a respectable rank in +society. In 1666 twelve coiners were hanged within a fortnight, and they +accused several others, among whom was a M. Delcampe, who is described +as “the celebrated master of an academy in the suburb of St. Germain.” +He was escorted in a carriage to the Bastile, by three companies of the +guards, and little more than a week elapsed before he was beheaded. The +crowd to witness his execution was so great, that many persons were +killed or wounded by being pressed or trampled on. + +The Bastile was often employed as an engine of extortion. To contribute +to the wants of the state, or, rather, to the prodigalities of the +court, immense sums were levied upon individuals holding offices, and +upon contractors, and all who had had any concern with the finances. +It must, of course, have been taken for granted that they had robbed +the public; and it could hardly have been expected that they would not +indemnify themselves, by future peculation, for their present loss. +Messat, a registrar of the council, was Bastiled for remonstrating +against a demand of six hundred thousand livres from himself and three +of his colleagues. Catalan, a contractor, shared the same fate, and was +threatened with death to boot; but after a confinement of several months, +he ransomed himself for six millions of livres. From another individual +nine hundred thousand livres, and from three of the treasurers of the +exchequer several millions, were squeezed by this powerful instrument. M. +Deschiens, one of M. Colbert’s head clerks, was also frightened into the +payment of a good round sum, by a visit to the Bastile. + +Other equally honourable means of raising money were resorted to; all of +which helped to fill the prisons as well as the coffers of the monarch. +Among them were “free gifts,” once known in England under the name of +“benevolences.” From the city of Sens, for instance, twelve thousand +livres were demanded as a free gift, besides nearly thrice as much for +the pay of the gendarmerie. The citizens replied that they had no money, +but would give a thousand hogsheads of excellent wine. Whether the wine +was accepted, or whether any of the citizens were imprisoned for the +misdemeanour of being pennyless, I cannot say. + +Immense sums were raised by the sale of offices. For the title of +counsellor of the court, 75,000 crowns were paid, and 90,000 for a place +at the board of exchequer. Numerous purchasers were found at far higher +prices. There is perhaps much truth in Patin’s sarcastic remark on this +occasion: “They must have robbed at a great rate,” says he, “or they +would not have so much money to squander.” Monopolies likewise lent +their aid to replenish the royal store. Niceron, a grocer, who appears +to have been an agent, or spokesman, of the Parisian companies of +tradesmen, was lodged in the Bastile for having ventured to remonstrate +against a projected monopoly of whale oil. Another article of supply +was the stopping of the annuities payable at the town hall; a measure +for which we have seen a precedent in the reign of Henry IV. Poignant, +a respectable citizen of Paris, was sent to the Bastile for having +spoken on this subject; and a female, named Madame de la Trousse, was, +for the same cause, prohibited from going to the town hall, or to any +other meeting, under pain of corporal punishment! On another occasion, +the President le Lievre was banished from Paris, for having made some +observations which were unfavourable to the taxes. + +The money thus obtained was lavishly spent on the pomps and amusements of +the court. A part was dissipated at the gaming-table; Louis being then +a constant and an unlucky gamester. Theatrical entertainments absorbed +another portion. The getting up of a single grand ballet is said to +have cost no less than forty thousand pounds. Guy Patin had reason to +exclaim, “they talk much at the Louvre of balls, ballets, and rejoicings, +but nothing is said of relieving the people, who are dying of such +unexampled want, after so great and solemn a general peace has been +concluded. O pudor! ô mores! ô tempora!” + +But though, in his private letters, Patin could venture to censure +profusion and exaction, he would soon have been fitted with what he +somewhere calls “a stone doublet,” had he dared to breathe a word +against them in public. It was dangerous even for a barrister to perform +faithfully his duty to a client. M. Burai, an eminent advocate, was +committed to the Bastile, in 1655, for having undertaken the defence of +Guenegaut, one of the treasurers, who was prosecuted by the government. + +The press was completely muzzled. We find De Prez, a printer, sent to +the Bastile, for having printed a letter by the Bishop of Aleth, which +displeased the jesuits; a second unlucky typographer, for offending the +Archbishop of Paris; and a third, named Coquier, for privately printing +an answer to a work of the Chevalier Talon, who had attacked Coquier’s +former master, the superintendant Fouquet. It was a perilous task for +a man to defend himself against the minions of favour. The Journal des +Sçavans having abused Charles Patin, he was about to reply, when it was +intimated to him that if he did not desist, the Bastile would receive +him: the journal happened to be protected by M. Colbert, the minister. +Such protection gave a decisive advantage over a less fortunate rival. +The conduct of Renaudot, the printer of the Gazette, affords a strong +proof of the tyrannical use which was made of it. There appears to have +been at this period a sort of partnership, the members of which gained a +livelihood by compiling and vending a manuscript gazette. As the sale of +this paper diminished that of his own, Renaudot made a bold attempt to +get rid of his competitors. He is said to have been extremely desirous +that they should be hanged; but his benevolent wish was not gratified. +He had, however, the satisfaction of procuring seven of them to be sent +to the Bastile, one of whom was publicly whipped through the streets. +Yet these measures, harsh as they were, did not succeed in putting down +the manuscript gazetteers; for, five years afterwards, six more of them +were committed to prison. From its long continuance, and the risks which +the traders were willing to encounter, we may infer that the trade was +productive. + +To have a different opinion from the sovereign, as to the merit of any +one whom he placed in office, was a heavy offence. M. de Montespan +expiated, by imprisonment in Fort-l’Evêque, his having doubted the +wisdom of choosing M. Montausier as governor to the dauphin. Some were +thrown into the Bastile for impossible crimes; such was the case of St. +Severin, a priest, who was accused of sorcery. Of others, the fault and +the meaning of their punishment are now undiscoverable. With respect to +L’Epine, a priest, for example, we are only told that he was discharged +from the Bastile, on condition of quitting Paris within twenty-four +hours, and going to Egypt. The reason of this singular species of +banishment must remain an enigma. + +One of the instances in which despair prompted an inmate of the Bastile +to commit suicide, occurred in 1669, and is recorded by Patin. “A state +prisoner,” says he, “has poisoned himself in the Bastile, terrified by +the punishment which could not fail to be inflicted on him, for having +spoken very badly _de Domino Priore_.” + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + The Poisoners—The Marchioness of Brinvilliers—Penautier—La + Voisin and her accomplices and dupes—The “Chambre Ardente”—The + Countess of Soissons—The Duchess of Bouillon—The Duke of + Luxembourg—Stephen de Bray—The Abbé Primi—Andrew Morell—Madame + Guyon—Courtils de Sandraz—Constantine de Renneville—The + Man with the Iron Mask—Jansenists—Tiron, Veillant, + and Lebrun Desmarets—The Count de Bucquoy—The Duke de + Richelieu—Miscellaneous Prisoners. + + +In the year 1676, the Bastile received a criminal, whose guilt was of the +blackest dye, and who was soon followed by a crowd of imitators, more +profoundly wicked, if possible, than she herself was. Poisoning was their +crime, and the practice of it became so common, that Madame de Sévigné +expresses a fear that, in foreign countries, the words Frenchman and +poisoner would be considered as synonymous. + +Foremost in the dark catalogue stands the Marchioness of Brinvilliers, +the daughter of Dreux d’Aubrai, the Civil Lieutenant. She was beautiful, +reserved in her manners, and apparently devout; but her heart was +corrupted to the core. From her own confession, it appears, that when +she was only seven years old, she had already lost her maiden innocence, +and had also set fire to a house. Her later years were worthy of this +beginning. Between 1666 and 1670, she poisoned her father, two brothers, +a sister, and many of her acquaintance. She is said to have administered +poison to her husband, though without effect; and also, with fatal +success, to the poor, and the sick in the hospitals, to whom she gave +biscuits, in which deadly drugs were mixed. The latter facts are denied +by Voltaire; they are, however, positively affirmed by Madame de Sévigné. + +The diabolical art which she so widely practised was learned from St. +Croix, a young officer, who was her paramour. He was a friend of her +husband, who, in opposition to her real or feigned remonstrances, made +him an inmate of his house. A criminal intimacy soon took place between +the wife and the friend. The husband, a man of dissipated habits, +seems to have been regardless of their intrigue; but her father was so +disgusted by its shameless publicity that he obtained a lettre-de-cachet, +and St. Croix was lodged in the Bastile, where he continued for twelve +months. There St. Croix was placed in the same apartment with Exili, +an Italian, who was confined on suspicion of being, as he really was, +a compounder and vender of poisons. Exili taught St. Croix all his +detestable secrets, and the latter communicated them to the marchioness, +who was a willing scholar. + +St. Croix died suddenly in 1672, and, as he had no relatives, the +government took possession of his effects. Among them was a small box, +which was importunately claimed by the marchioness. It was opened, and +found to contain a note, desiring that it might be delivered, without the +contents being disturbed, to Madame de Brinvilliers. The box was filled +with poisons of all kinds, some of the marchioness’s letters to him, and +a note of hand to him, for 30,000 livres, bearing her signature. + +Disappointed in all attempts to gain possession of the box, and finding +that suspicion began to fall heavily upon her, Brinvilliers took flight. +After having visited England, she fixed her residence at Liege. Fresh +presumptions of her guilt having arisen, it was resolved to arrest her. +Desgrais, the exempt of police, was accordingly despatched to Liege. +He disguised himself as an Abbé, pretended to be enamoured of her, +insinuated himself into her good graces, and ultimately succeeded in +seizing the lady and her papers, and conveying them to Paris. + +Brinvilliers now disavowed all knowledge of the box; but it was too +late. For a little while her spirits deserted her, and she made an +ineffectual attempt at suicide. She, however, soon rallied them, and +preserved her courage to the last. Among her papers was found a written +confession of the numerous crimes which she had committed. To extort an +oral confession, it was resolved to put her to the ordinary question, +which consisted in forcing down the throat of the culprit an immense +quantity of water. When she saw three buckets in the torture room, she +coolly observed, “This must be for the purpose of drowning me, for they +can never expect to make a woman of my size drink it all.” She was saved +from the trial, by making a full avowal of her misdeeds. Her sentence she +heard with an unaltered countenance. In the last twenty-four hours of +her existence she is said to have manifested sincere penitence. She was +beheaded, and her remains were burned, on the 16th of July, 1676. It will +perhaps scarcely be believed that, on the morrow, the besotted populace +collected her ashes; assigning as their reason for so doing, that she was +a saint! + +With Brinvilliers was implicated Penautier, who held the lucrative +offices of treasurer-general of the clergy, and of the states of +Languedoc. He was known to be her intimate friend, and was believed, +apparently with reason, to be one of her favoured lovers. It is asserted, +that in the box which was left by St. Croix, there was a packet of +poison, addressed to Penautier. That the receiver-general had the +reputation of making use of such packets is certain, and was a subject +of public jest. Cardinal de Bonzi, archbishop of Narbonne, who was his +strenuous protector, used to say laughingly, “None of those who have +pensions on my benefices are long-lived, for my star is fatal to them +all.” The caustic Abbé Fouquet one day saw the prelate and Penautier in +a carriage together, and he told everybody that he had just met Cardinal +de Bonzi and his star. Penautier was imprisoned, and appears to have been +in imminent danger; from which he is said to have been extricated only by +the most powerful influence, and the sacrifice of half his riches. + +Instead of operating as a warning, the execution of the marchioness would +rather seem to have stimulated others to the commission of the horrible +species of crime for which she suffered. After her death, poisoning is +said to have become prevalent to an extraordinary degree. Loud complaints +arose from numbers of families, members of which were supposed to have +been taken off secretly by their enemies, or by those who were eager to +inherit their riches. It was with reference to the latter motive that +the name of “powder of succession” was given to the drug administered. +We may believe that the complaints were not unfrequently groundless—for +it has always been the practice of weak minds to ascribe sudden death to +poison—but still, it is certain that there were very many cases in which +the suspicion was borne out by facts. + +So general did the clamour become, that, in January, 1660, the king +issued an ordinance, naming commissioners, who were to hold their +sittings at the Arsenal, for the purpose of trying poisoners and +magicians! This commission is known by the name of _la Chambre Ardente_. +It has been supposed, that it derived this appellation from its being +established to take cognizance of crimes which were punishable by fire. +This appears to be a mistake; the name having, in old times, been given +to the hall in which criminals of high birth were tried, and which was +so called because it was hung with black, and lighted with torches. The +same title was, however, borne by a sort of committee, which Francis II. +instituted in each parliament, for the trial of protestants, and which +mercilessly condemned them to the flames. + +The principal distributor of the poisons, a widow, by the name of +Monvoisin, but who was known under the appellation of La Voisin, +was already in the Bastile, with about forty persons charged as her +accomplices. The most prominent of these subordinate culprits were, a +female, named La Vigoureux, and her brother, and Cœuvrit, a priest, +who was called Lesage. La Voisin was a midwife; but her profession not +proving lucrative, she deserted it for the more profitable speculation of +turning to account the credulity, the folly, and at last the vices, of +mankind. The most innocent part of her employment consisted in telling +fortunes on the cards, discovering stolen goods, casting nativities, and +selling charms and spells, to render women beautiful and beloved, and men +invulnerable and fortunate! Her pretensions to supernatural skill did not +stop here; for she boldly undertook to show spirits, and even the devil +himself, to her dupes. Such is the cullibility of the crowd, whether of +high or low degree, that the number of her visitors, the majority of whom +were people of rank, soon enabled her to remove from a mean lodging into +a splendid mansion, and keep an equipage and a train of attendants. That +her house was made a convenience for the purposes of seduction, and for +carrying on illicit connexions, there can be no doubt; many of those who +frequented it, of both sexes, being notorious profligates. The round of +La Voisin’s occupations was completed by the sale of poisons to those who +were desirous of destroying the proof of incontinence, taking vengeance +on a rival or an enemy, or getting rid of superannuated husbands and +long-lived relatives. + +The newly-established tribunal found the whole of the prisoners guilty. +All but La Voisin were condemned to punishments short of death; to +imprisonment, exile, or the galleys. She alone was sentenced to be burned +alive on the Place de Grêve, and her ashes scattered to the winds. The +narrative of her last hours proves that, to a considerable portion of +brutal courage, or rather insensibility, she added the most disgusting +sensuality, vulgarity, and impiety. When she was informed of her doom, +she invited her guards to have a midnight revel with her, at which she +drank largely of wine, and sang twenty bacchanalian songs. The next +evening, after having undergone the question, she repeated the revel; and +when she was told that she had better think on God, and sing hymns, she +sang two hymns in a burlesque style. On the morning of her execution, she +was enraged at being refused any other food than soup. Before she was +placed in the sledge, she was advised to confess; but she obstinately +refused, and thrust away from her the confessor and the cross. At Nôtre +Dame, it was impossible to make her repeat the amende honorable, and when +she reached the Grêve she struggled furiously against the officers, and +it was not without using force that they could take her from the vehicle, +bind her, and place her on the pile. Consistent to the last, she several +times kicked off the straw, poured forth a volley of oaths, and did not +cease her violence till the flames deprived her of the power of motion +and speech. + +Either with the hope of obtaining impunity, by implicating the great and +powerful in her crimes, or, which her character renders more probable, +that she might enjoy the malignant delight of involving them in her +ruin, La Voisin disclosed the names of many of the noblest personages +of the court, who had consulted her; and she stated circumstances which +gave rise to terrible suspicions against them. Among those whom she thus +dragged into public view, were the Countess of Soissons and the Duchess +of Bouillon, nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, the Princess de Tingri, Madame +de Polignac, and the Duke of Luxembourg. Against some of the suspected or +accused individuals, the Chamber issued warrants; others it summoned to +appear, and answer interrogatories. + +The Countess of Soissons, mother of the celebrated Prince Eugene, was a +woman whose reputation was already sullied by the stains of political +and amorous intrigue. Among the crimes which were attributed to her, +was the death of her husband, who died suddenly in 1673. In her early +years, before he became enamoured of her sister Mary, Louis had paid her +some attentions. It was probably the remembrance of his transient flame +that induced him to send to the countess a message, that if she were +innocent he advised her to enter the Bastile, in which case he would +befriend her, but that, if she were guilty, she might retire wherever +she pleased. She replied that she was blameless, but that she could not +endure imprisonment. The countess immediately set off for Brussels, and +she never returned to France. It would, however, be doing her injustice +to conceal, that she offered to come back and justify herself, on +condition that she should not be confined while the trial was pending. +The condition was not granted, and she died in exile, in 1708. + +The Duchess of Bouillon, her sister, passed through the ordeal more +triumphantly. There is something amusing in the flippant contempt with +which she treated her judges. The carriages of nine dukes went in +procession with her to the Chambre Ardente, into which she was handed +by her husband and the Duke of Vendôme. Before she would take notice of +any question that was put to her, she ordered the clerk to minute down, +“that she came there solely out of respect to the king’s orders, and not +at all to the Chamber, which she would not recognize, because she would +not derogate from the privilege of the ducal class.” She then answered, +but with no small disdain, the various questions, some of which were, +in truth, ridiculous enough. Her reason for going to La Voisin’s house +was, she said, that she wished to see the Sibyls, which that female had +promised to show her. La Reynie, one of the judges, being absurd enough +to ask if she had seen the devil, she replied that she saw him at that +moment, that he was very ugly and filthy, and was disguised in the garb +of a counsellor of state. As she quitted the court, she said aloud, that +she had never before heard so many foolish speeches so gravely uttered. +There being nothing more to urge against her than that she had been +credulous and sillily curious, no further proceedings were taken by the +court, but, angry at her having made laughing-stocks of his magistrates, +Louis sent her in exile to Nerac, in the distant province of Guienne. + +If in France military talents of the highest order, and important +services rendered to the state, had possessed any protecting influence, +Francis Henry de Montmorenci, Duke of Luxembourg, would not have been +made a prisoner, and nearly a victim, by an implacable and unprincipled +minister. Luxembourg was the posthumous son of that Bouteville whom, +in a preceding chapter, we have seen consigned to the scaffold for the +crime of duelling. He was warmly patronised by the Princess of Condé, +who placed him as aide-de-camp to her son. The young Condé soon became +attached to him. At the battle of Lens, Bouteville distinguished himself +so greatly, that, though he was not more than twenty, Anne of Austria +made him a major-general. + +During the war of the Fronde, Bouteville followed the fortunes of Condé; +he joined the Spaniards with him, acquired in numerous encounters a +well-merited reputation, and, finally, returned to his allegiance along +with his friend. There is an anecdote recorded of him, on the latter +occasion, which is much to his honour. After Bouteville had ceased to +bear arms against France, the Spanish monarch sent him 60,000 crowns, as +a reward for his services. He refused to take the money: “I never,” said +he, “considered myself in the service of Spain, and will receive favours +only from my own sovereign.” Soon after this, he married the heiress +of the house of Luxembourg, by which union he gained a dukedom, and a +splendid fortune. If we may believe St. Simon, rank and riches were all +that the husband derived from this match, the lady being “frightfully +ugly, both in figure and face,” and not at all atoning for her personal +defects by intellectual qualities. As far as regarded beauty, the pair +had no right to reproach each other; for Luxembourg himself had repulsive +features, a prominence on his chest, and another behind. + +Between 1667 and 1679, Luxembourg, sometimes commander-in-chief, +sometimes as second to the great Condé and the Duke of Orleans, +displayed, in Franche Comté, Holland, and Flanders, a degree of skill +which gave him a conspicuous place in the first class of generals: in +fact, Turenne having fallen, and Condé retired, Luxembourg had no equal +in France. The marshal’s staff was conferred on him in 1675. + +But neither the ancient descent, nor the high rank, nor the still higher +renown, of Luxembourg, were sufficient to shield him from the malice +of his potent enemy. That enemy was Louvois,—Louvois, the perpetual +inciter of Louis to war, the director of the horrible crimes committed +by the French troops in Holland, and the incendiary of the Palatinate. +He was, at one time, the friend of Luxembourg, but they quarrelled; and +he thenceforth hated him, with even a more deadly hatred than he had +cherished against Turenne. The affair of the poisoners seemed to afford +him an opportunity, which he eagerly seized, of disgracing, and perhaps +destroying, the duke. + +It was by a credulous belief in the power of pretended sorcerers, that +Luxembourg was brought into peril. Bonnard, clerk to one of his lawyers, +had lost some papers, which were indispensable to the success of a +lawsuit instituted by the duke. To recover them, he applied to Lesage, +one of the confederates of La Voisin. Lesage required 2,000 crowns, +and the performance of certain mummeries by Bonnard; and his demand +was granted. The papers were then found to be in the hands of a girl +named Dupin, who refused to give them up. A power of attorney was now +obtained from the duke, by Bonnard, authorizing steps to be taken against +Dupin, to compel her to resign the papers. This he gave to Lesage, who, +between the body of the document and the signature, inserted two lines, +containing a transfer of the duke’s soul to his Satanic majesty. Luckily, +the clumsy forger had written these lines in a hand writing quite +different from that of the instrument itself. This compact with the devil +formed the main proof against Luxembourg. He appears, indeed, to have +afforded a further pretext for suspicion, by his weakness in applying to +Lesage for the horoscopes of various individuals. + +It was on this slender foundation that the plot against him was built. +When his name began to be called in question, he is said to have been +insidiously counselled by Louvois, to save himself by flight. The brave +Cavoie, who was his friend, proved himself to be so, by advising him +to surrender himself voluntarily to the Bastile; and this advice was +wisely followed by the duke. On his arrival there, he was placed in a +comfortable chamber, and, on the second day, he underwent a preliminary +interrogation. But it was not the intention of the minister who had +driven him into a prison, that he should enjoy any comfort there; and +accordingly, on the third day, he was removed to one of the filthiest of +dungeons, not more than six feet and a half in diameter, and no further +notice was taken of him for five weeks. He claimed his privilege, as a +peer, of being tried by the Parliament, but no attention was paid to his +claim, and he was obliged to be contented with protesting against this +denial of justice. It was afterwards made a subject of reproach to him, +by some of the peers, that he had not stood up with sufficient boldness +for the rights of the peerage. + +Luxembourg remained for fourteen months in the noisome den into which +Louvois had thrown him. The fetid atmosphere which he breathed, the want +of exercise, and the disturbed state of his mind, brought on a fit of +illness, and so much injured his constitution that he never thoroughly +recovered. It must have been no small aggravation of his sufferings, that +he was occasionally drawn forth, to be confronted with the profligate +Lesage, and others of the same class, and to hear them impudently charge +him with the foulest crimes. Lesage maintained, that the duke had entered +into the compact with Satan for the purpose of procuring the death of +Dupin; his accomplices added, that by his order they had murdered her, +cut the body into quarters, and thrown it into the river. Besides this +improbable story, they told another, equally improbable, that he had +given poisoned wine to a brother of Dupin, and to a mistress whom that +brother kept, and had endeavoured to destroy several persons by means of +sorcery. Their depositions may, indeed, contest the palm of absurdity and +falsehood with those of Titus Oates and his perjured associates. + +This, however, was not all. It would seem, from their evidence, that +the duke had driven a hard bargain with the prince of darkness, for +they asserted that the compact was designed not only to bring about the +murder of Dupin, but also to obtain the government of a province or a +fortress, and the marriage of his son with the daughter of Louvois. In a +letter to a friend, Luxembourg has left on record his dignified answer +to the last of these stupid calumnies. After treating with ridicule the +idea that he would sell his soul for a government, he says, with respect +to the remainder, “I replied that when the villain (Lesage) told such an +untruth, he did not know that I was of a family which did not purchase +alliances by crimes; that it would have been a great honour to me had +my son married Mdlle. de Louvois, but that I would not have adopted for +the purpose any means which would have subjected me to self-reproach; +and that when Matthew de Montmorenci espoused a queen of France, the +mother of a minor king, he did not give himself to the devil for this +marriage, since the thing was done by a resolution of the States General, +who declared that, to gain for the monarch the services of the lords of +Montmorenci, it was necessary to form this union. It was even out of +delicacy that I used the word _services_, for I believe that, in the +declaration, the word _protection_ is used.” + +Such testimony as was produced against Luxembourg was not deemed by his +judges sufficient to warrant his conviction, even though a minister +of state was eager for his ruin. He was, in consequence, set free on +the 14th of May, 1680. Notwithstanding the duke’s acquittal, Louis +banished him from the court, and he remained in exile till the summer +of 1681, when he was recalled, and resumed his duties as captain of +the body-guards. It is somewhat remarkable, that Louis never made the +slightest allusion to what had passed. + +For ten years, Luxembourg remained without a command. In 1690, however, +Louis himself placed him at the head of the army in Flanders. Luxembourg +had scarcely taken the field, before he gained the splendid victory of +Fleurus. The fall of Namur, or of Charleroi, would probably have been +the result of this success, had he not been thwarted by the malignant +Louvois, who forbade his besieging either of those fortresses, and +deprived him of the best part of his army, to reinforce Boufflers. In the +succeeding campaigns, Luxembourg pursued his triumphant progress, and +won the battles of Leuze, Steenkirk, and Neerwinden. Such a number of +standards were taken, and sent to be hung up in the cathedral of Nôtre +Dame, at Paris, that the Prince of Conti wittily denominated him “the +tapestry-hanger of Nôtre Dame.” Irritated by his defeats, William III. is +said to have exclaimed, “Am I never to beat that hunchback?” “Hunchback!” +said the duke, when he was told of this speech, “what does he know about +it? He has never seen my back!” The career of Luxembourg was abruptly +closed, by an illness of only five days, on the 4th of January, 1695. + +Several persons of distinction were censured by the “Chambre Ardente,” +and were, in consequence, forbidden the court, or sent into exile. Among +the latter was Madame de Polignac. The monarch was so decidedly hostile +to her, that, five years afterwards, he spoke of her with unmeasured +severity, and interfered to prevent the marriage of her son with Mdlle. +de Rambures. It was said, that she had once formed the scheme of giving +him a philtre, to inspire him with a passion for her. + +One of the humbler class of culprits who was imprisoned in the Bastile, +and who finally suffered the extreme sentence of the law, was Stephen de +Bray, described as the accomplice of James Dechaux and Jane Chanfrain, +who were perhaps rivals of La Voisin and her confederates in their +detestable trade. The crimes alleged against him were blasphemy, +sacrilege, and poisoning, and he was burned at the Grêve. + +From poisoners, and mercenary pretenders to sorcery, we turn to an +adventurer of a less noxious species. The Abbé Primi was a native of +Bologna, in which city his father was a cap-maker. He had acuteness, wit, +and a pleasing person, and with these mental and corporeal qualities +he hoped to make his way at Paris. On his journey thither he became +acquainted with a man of talent, named Duval. One of the travellers in +the coach smelt so offensively that the others were anxious to get rid +of him; and accordingly Duval and Primi secretly concerted a scheme for +that purpose. Primi was to pretend to the gift of foretelling, from only +seeing a person’s handwriting, what had happened, and would happen, to +him. Primi, being questioned by Duval on this head, gave him elaborate +answers, which the latter admitted to be correct. Specimens of the +penmanship of the rest of the travellers, who were in the plot, were then +handed to Primi, and, of course, they were satisfied with the result. The +obnoxious passenger at length begged the oracular Italian to do for him +the same favour that he had done for the rest. When Primi looked at the +paper, he pretended to be shocked, and hastily gave it back, declining to +say more than that “he hoped he was mistaken.” The applicant, however, +solicited so earnestly to know his fate, that Primi told him he was +destined to be assassinated at Paris, if he went thither. This startling +intelligence produced the designed effect; the strong-scented querist +took the first opportunity to discontinue his journey, and return to his +home. + +When they reached Paris, Duval presented Primi to the Abbé de la Baume, +who was afterwards archbishop of Embrun; and the abbé introduced him to +the Duke of Vendôme, and his brother, the Grand Prior. The trick played +off in the stage was talked over, and it was agreed that a repetition +of it in the French capital would be productive of infinite amusement. +Primi was therefore kept carefully secluded, for nearly two months, till +he had learned by heart the genealogy and the secret history of most of +the persons about the court. When he had obtained a thorough knowledge of +their connexions, amours, rivalships, enmities, and presumed motives, his +skill in his novel kind of divination was spread about by his employers, +and all the rank and fashion of France soon flocked to consult him. +Among the distinguished females who patronized him, were the Countess +of Soissons and the Duchess of Orleans; the latter of whom Primi firmly +convinced of his powers, by mentioning many circumstances relative to +her correspondence with the Count de Guiche. The duchess prevailed on +Louis XIV. to let her show his handwriting to the Italian. To her utter +astonishment, Primi no sooner saw it than he declared it to be written +by a miserly curmudgeon, who was not possessed of a single good quality. +When she returned the paper to Louis, and told him what Primi had said, +the king was no less astonished than she was. The paper was indeed +written by a man of whom his enemies spoke in the same manner as Primi. +It was the handwriting of Rose, the king’s cabinet secretary, who wrote +exactly like Louis, and whom he often employed to answer letters, that +he might himself avoid trouble. To get at the bottom of this mystery, +the king ordered Primi to be brought into his cabinet. “Primi,” said the +monarch, “I have only two words to say—disclose to me your secret, for +which I will pay you with a pension of two thousand livres—or else make +up your mind to be hanged.” There was no resisting the bribe and the +threat, and Primi consequently related his own history, and all that had +come to his knowledge since he had lived in the capital. On going into +the queen’s apartment, Louis mentioned, before the courtiers, that he had +admitted Primi to an interview, and he added, “I must acknowledge that +he told me things which no being of his kind has ever before revealed to +any one.” This strong testimony to the merit of Primi contributed not a +little to enhance his reputation. + +The pension granted to him by Louis placed Primi above the necessity of +resorting to deception for a livelihood; nor, indeed, was the part which +he had been playing one which could be carried on for any length of +time. He married the daughter of Frederic Leonard, an eminent Parisian +printer, and sought to gain reputation by chronicling the actions of the +French monarch. In an Italian narrative, which he wrote, of the Dutch +campaign of Louis, he divulged the secret of the private treaty between +that monarch and our Charles II. For this he was sent to the Bastile; +but he was soon released, and received an ample present. The publication +is believed to have, in fact, been authorized by the king, to punish +the defection of Charles; the imprisonment of the author being merely a +blind, to prevent his master from being suspected. + +Louvois, who will for ever be infamously remembered for his outrages +upon humanity, was the tyrant who twice consigned to the Bastile the +celebrated medallist, Andrew Morell. Berne was the native place of +Morell, who was born in 1646. He was remarkable for his memory and +acuteness. The study of history led him to that of numismatics, in which +he made an almost unequalled progress; and he learned drawing, in order +to render his medallic knowledge more perfect and available. Charles +Patin, the son of Guy, then an exile from France, who was himself no mean +numismatist, became acquainted with Morell, and aided him by his counsel +and purse. It was probably by his advice that, in 1680, Morell visited +Paris, where he met with a warm reception from the most distinguished men +of learning and science. Encouraged by them, he undertook the laborious +task of publishing a description of all the antique medals which were +contained in the numerous cabinets of Europe. As a prelude, he gave a +specimen to the world. But his scheme was interrupted, for the moment, +by a circumstance which would ultimately have benefited it, had he not +been ungenerously treated. He was appointed coadjutor of Rainssart, +the keeper of the king’s medals. In assiduously arranging and reducing +to order the vast collection which was placed under his care, he spent +several years. When he claimed his promised reward it was withheld, and, +on his venturing to resent this breach of faith, he was committed to the +Bastile, in 1688, by Louvois. His friends obtained his release; but, in +little more than twelve months, he was again immured in that prison, +probably for the same reason as before. Yet, while he was thus persecuted +by an arrogant minister, he continued to enjoy the esteem of Louis XIV.; +a curious fact, which proves how strong was the influence of Louvois +over his master. While he was in the Bastile, his colleague died, and he +was offered the vacant place of sole keeper of the king’s cabinet, on +condition that he would change his religion. Morell, however, rejected +the offer. + +It was not till 1691, nor till the government of Berne had interfered +in his behalf, that Morell was set free. Disgusted with the treatment +which he had experienced, he returned to his native country. His +subsequent existence was embittered by severe bodily suffering. His +health was so much injured by confinement, and by vexation at his +favourite project being frustrated, that palsy deprived him of the use +of one side, and rendered him incapable of handling pen or pencil. He +was somewhat recovered, and had acquired the patronage of the Count of +Schwartzenburg-Armstadt, a lover of medals, when he was overturned in a +carriage, and one of his shoulders dislocated. This accident brought on +another attack of palsy, to which he fell a victim in 1703. The materials +for his unfinished work were arranged and published, by Havercamp, in +1734, with the title of “Thesaurus Morellianus.” Another of his works, a +“Numismatic History of the Twelve Emperors,” was given to the public, in +1753, by Havercamp, Schlegel, and Gori, who overlaid it with a ponderous +mass of confused and discordant commentaries. + +The doctrines of Quietism, the origin of which may be traced to oriental +climes, but of which a Spanish monk, Michael Molinos, was the European +apostle, and finally the victim, were espoused by one of the most amiable +of French enthusiasts, and they brought on her, as they had brought on +him, calumny, persecution, and imprisonment. Madam Guyon, whose maiden +name was Bouvier de la Motte, was born at Montargis, in 1648. Even in +very early youth she had a strong tendency to mysticism, and would have +adopted a monastic life, had her parents not prevented her. At sixteen +she was married; at eight-and-twenty she became a widow. The visionary +ideas which she had cherished before marriage now resumed their empire, +and a powerful stimulus was given to them by her confessor, and by the +titular bishop of Geneva, and other ecclesiastics, all of whom laboured +to fill her with the belief that Heaven had destined her to play an +extraordinary part for the advancement of religion. “Left a widow when +she was still tolerably young,” says Voltaire, “with riches, beauty, and +a mind fitted for society, she became infatuated with what is called +_spiritualism_. A monk of Anneci, near Geneva, named Lacombe, was her +director. This man, characterized by a not uncommon mixture of passions +and religion, and who died mad, plunged the mind of his penitent into +the mystic reveries by which it was already affected. The longing desire +to be a French St. Theresa did not allow her to perceive how different +the French character is from the Spanish, and made her go much further +than St. Theresa. The ambition of having disciples, which is perhaps the +strongest of all the kinds of ambition, took entire possession of her +heart.” In ascribing such a motive to Madame Guyon, Voltaire does her +wrong, there not being a shadow of a reason for supposing that she was +actuated by any thing but a sincere though erroneous belief, that she was +fulfilling a solemn duty. He is more correct in the description which +he gives of her doctrines. “She taught a complete renunciation of self, +the silence of the soul, the annihilation of all its faculties, internal +worship, and the pure and disinterested love of God, which is neither +degraded by fear, nor animated by the hope of reward.” It must be owned +that, both in language and ideas, she often fell into enormous absurdity, +in her efforts to explain and enforce these doctrines. + +For five years Madame Guyon wandered through Piedmont, Dauphiny, and +the adjacent provinces, spreading her opinions by the press as well +as by oral Communication. As was to be expected, she made many ardent +proselytes, and not a few enemies. In 1686 she returned to Paris, and +continued her labours, and was left unmolested for two years. At length +she attracted the notice of the archbishop of Paris, who affected to be +shocked at the resemblance which her tenets bore to those of Molinos. +The see of Paris was at that time filled by Harlay de Chamvallon, +an individual infamously celebrated for his profligate debauchery. +This prelate, who certainly was not likely to comprehend a pure and +disinterested love of God, or of man or woman either, procured Lacombe +to be sent to the Bastile as a seducer, and Madame Guyon to the +Visitandines convent. At the Visitandines she was generally beloved, and +made several converts. She was soon after snatched from the clutches of +Harlay by Madame de Maintenon, who admitted her at St. Cyr, and became +much attached to her. It was at St. Cyr that she was also introduced to +Fenelon; a friendship took place between them which nothing could ever +shake. + +But though Fenelon continued true to his friend, Madame de Maintenon +ultimately deserted her. This desertion was the work of Godet-Desmarais, +bishop of Chartres, who was the religious director of St. Cyr and of +Madame de Maintenon. The mind of the king was also poisoned against her; +and she was exposed to a long series of persecutions, not the least +painful of which was a slanderous attack on her character, made in the +form of a letter from Lacombe, exhorting her to repent of their criminal +intimacy. Lacombe was then insane. So irreproachable, however, was her +conduct, that her innocence was universally acknowledged. + +In 1695 she was sent to Vincennes, whence she was removed to the Bastile; +but she was released through the intervention of Noailles, who had +succeeded the shameless Harlay in the archbishopric of Paris. In 1698 +she was again immured in the Bastile, and was not liberated till 1702. +After her liberation, she was exiled to Blois, where, for fifteen years, +her patience, piety, and charity, were admired by every one. She died in +1717, at the age of sixty-nine. + +Influenced by prejudice, Voltaire has been unjust to Madame Guyon; +he denies that she possessed talent, and sneeringly says, that “she +wrote verses like Cotin, and prose like Punchinello.” This is not the +first time that truth has been sacrificed, for the sake of giving an +epigrammatic turn to a sentence. To the opinion of Voltaire may be +opposed that of the shrewd Duke of St. Simon, which is very different. +Nor is it probable that Fenelon would have held in high estimation +a mere senseless enthusiast. That in her writings, which extend to +nine-and-thirty volumes, much erroneous reasoning, mystic jargon, and +even nonsense, may be found, admits of no dispute; but they also contain +many fine sentiments strikingly expressed. That she was endowed with +a prevailing eloquence appears to be undeniable. There is an anecdote +recorded of her which proves, likewise, that in the common business of +life, she was possessed of a large share of penetration and sound sense. +She was chosen as sole umpire in a cause in which she and twenty-two of +her relations were interested. After thirty days’ close investigation of +the documents and claims, she drew up an award, which received the prompt +and full approbation of all the contending parties. It may be doubted, +whether there have been many arbitrators who have given such universal +satisfaction as Madame Guyon. + +About the time that Madame Guyon was released from the Bastile, that +prison became the abode of Gatien de Courtils de Sandraz, a fertile +writer, but whose productions are, for the most part, of a class which +merits censure rather than praise. This author, a Parisian, born in +1644, must be reckoned among those who poison the sources of history. +“He was,” says Voltaire, “one of the most culpable writers of this +kind. He inundated Europe with fictions under the name of histories.” +Many of those fictions profess to be written by persons who, during the +reigns of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., had borne a part in affairs of +state and court intrigues. More than forty volumes of memoirs of this +sort, biographies, romances, and political tracts, were produced by +his indefatigable pen. He was originally a captain in the regiment of +Champagne, but went to Holland in 1683, and staid in that country for +five years. It was while he was there that he gave some of his earliest +works to the press. In 1689, the partiality which he manifested on the +side of France occasioned him to be sent out of the Dutch territory, +and he went to Paris, where he continued till 1694. He then returned to +Holland, where he continued for eight years. In 1702, he went back to his +native land, but his reception was calculated to make him regret having +done so. He was immediately sent to the Bastile, where he languished for +nine years, during the first three of which he was very harshly treated. +His offence is not known; but his Annals of Paris and the court, in which +he attacked the character of some powerful personages, are conjectured to +have been the cause of his imprisonment. His decease took place in 1712. + +Of those who suffered in the Bastile very few indeed revealed to the +world the secrets of the prison-house. The first who disclosed them was +René Augustus Constantine de Renneville, a Norman gentleman, who was born +at Caen, in 1650. De Renneville was the youngest of ten brothers, seven +of whom fell in the service of their country. After having borne arms in, +and retired from, the mousquetaires, he was patronised by Chamillart, +one of the ministers, who employed him in various confidential affairs, +and rewarded him by a respectable and lucrative office in Normandy. De +Renneville passed several years in his native province, filling up by +literary pursuits his intervals of leisure from his official duties. +The persecution of the protestants, of whom he was one, drove him, in +1699, into Holland. Being, however, unable to find there a satisfactory +establishment for his family, he yielded to the solicitations of +Chamillart, and returned, in 1702, to France. The minister received him +with open arms, gave him a pension, and promised him the first place +that might become vacant in his own department. But the scene soon +changed. Envy was excited by the reception which he had met with, and it +quickly found or made the means of crushing him. Some years before, in +a splenetic mood, he had written some _bouts rimés_, which were by no +means complimentary to France. As, however, this would hardly authorize +a heavy punishment, he was accused of being a spy, and of keeping up a +correspondence with foreign powers. In consequence of this he was sent +to the Bastile, in May 1702. He was placed in a wretched chamber, dirty, +gloomy, and swarming with fleas, and his bed was overrun with vermin of +a more disgusting kind. He was nevertheless tolerably well treated by +his jailers till after the escape of Count de Bucquoy, in which he was +supposed to have assisted. On this supposition he was thrown into one +of the worst dungeons of the fortress, where he remained till life was +nearly extinct. He tells us that his only sustenance was bread and water, +and that his sleeping place was the bare ground, where, without straw, or +even a stone to lay his head on, he lay stretched in the mire, and the +slaver of the toads. His situation when he was taken out was pitiable. +“My eyes,” says he, “were almost out of my head, my nose was as large +as a middling-sized cucumber, more than half my teeth, which previously +were very good, had fallen out by scurvy, my mouth was swelled, and +entirely covered with an eruption, and my bones came through my skin in +more than twenty places.” His captivity lasted for some years after his +removal from the dungeon, and as though he was not again reduced to the +same degree of misery, he was treated with much harshness. He bore his +misfortune with courage, and solaced his lonely hours by reading and +composition. His pen was a small bone, his ink was lampblack mixed with +wine, and he wrote between the lines, and on the margins, of books which +he had concealed. Under these disadvantages, he composed several works of +considerable length. Among these works was a “Treatise on the Duties of +a faithful Christian.” They were taken away from him by his persecutors, +and he deeply regretted the loss of them. After having been confined +for eleven years, he was set at liberty; but was ordered to quit France +for ever. It would have been strange had he wished to remain there. +De Renneville sought an asylum in England, where George I. gave him a +pension; and in 1715 he published his “French Inquisition, or the History +of the Bastile,” which went through three or four editions, and was +translated into various languages. It was probably at the instigation of +those who were branded in this book, that he was attacked in the street +by three cut-throats, whom, however, he bravely repulsed. De Renneville +was living in 1724; but the time and place of his decease are not known. +Among his works is a Collection of Voyages for the establishment, &c., of +the Dutch East India Company. + +The next prisoner comes before us wrapped in such a mysterious cloud, +that he scarcely seems to wear the aspect of a being of this world. His +birth, his name, his country, his crime, are all unknown; all that we +really know of him is, that he was long a captive, and that he died. It +cannot be necessary to say, that the problematical individual alluded to +is the personage who is distinguished by the appellation of “The Man with +the Iron Mask.” + +There appears to have been in France, during the first forty years of +the 18th century, a sort of indistinct tradition respecting a masked +prisoner, who had been in various state prisons. It was not, however, +till 1745 that any attempt was made to lift the veil which covered +the subject. In that year came out “Mémoires secrets pour servir à +l’histoire de Perse,” in which French characters were described under +oriental names. In these memoirs, which have been ascribed to several +writers, among whom is Voltaire, some particulars are given relative to +the masked man, and he is asserted to have been the Count de Vermandois, +natural son of Louis XIV., confined by his father for having struck the +dauphin. + +The Memoirs gave rise to a controversy, and to an extravagant romance by +the Chevalier de Mouhy; but nothing definite was brought forward till +1751, when Voltaire published, under a feigned name, the first edition +of his “Age of Louis XIV.” Here he threw a ray of light on a part of the +question, leaving, however, the rest in as much darkness as ever. + +“Some months after the decease of this minister (Mazarin) there +happened,” says he, “an event which has no parallel, and what is no +less singular is, that all the historians have been ignorant of it. +There was sent, with the utmost secrecy, to the castle of the isle of +St. Margaret, on the coast of Provence, an unknown prisoner, above the +common stature, young, and of a most handsome and noble figure. During +the journey, this prisoner wore a mask, the lower half of which had +steel springs, which allowed him to eat while the mask was on his face. +Orders were given to kill him if he uncovered himself. He remained in +the isle till a confidential officer, of the name of St. Marc, governor +of Pignerol, having been made governor of the Bastile in 1690, went to +the isle of St. Margaret to fetch him, and conducted him to the Bastile, +always masked. The Marquis de Louvois went to see him in that isle +before his removal, and spoke to him standing, and with a deference +which bordered on respect. This unknown personage was taken to the +Bastile, where he was lodged as comfortably as it was possible to be in +that fortress. Nothing that he asked for was refused. His predominant +taste was for linen of extreme fineness, and for lace. He played on the +guitar. His table was profusely served, and the governor rarely took a +seat in his presence. An old physician of the Bastile, who had often +attended this singular man when he was ill, said that he had never seen +his face, though he had frequently examined his tongue, and the rest of +his person. He was admirably made, said this physician; his skin was +rather brown; he excited an interest by the mere tone of his voice, but +never complained of his situation, nor gave any hint of who he was. This +unknown individual died in 1703, and was buried at night in the parish of +St. Paul’s. + +“What renders these circumstances doubly astonishing is, that at the +time when he was sent to the isle of St. Margaret no eminent personage +disappeared in Europe. Yet that the prisoner was one is beyond all +doubt, for the following event took place during an early period of his +residence in the isle. The governor himself put the dishes on the table, +and then withdrew, after having locked him in. The prisoner one day +wrote with his knife on a silver plate, and threw the plate out of the +window, towards a boat, which was near the shore, almost at the foot of +the tower. A fisherman, to whom the boat belonged, picked up the plate, +and took it to the governor. Greatly astonished, the latter asked the +fisherman, ‘Have you read what is written on this plate, or has anybody +seen you with it?’—‘I cannot read,’ replied the fisherman, ‘I have only +just found it, and nobody has seen it,’ This countryman was detained till +the governor was thoroughly convinced that he could not read, and that no +one had seen the plate. ‘You may go now,’ said he, ‘and think yourself +lucky that you know not how to read.’ Of the persons who had a direct +knowledge of this fact there is one, of undoubted veracity, who is still +living. M. de Chamillart was the last minister who was intrusted with +this strange secret. The second Marshal de Feuillade, his son-in-law, +told me that, when his father-in-law was on his death-bed, he begged him +on his knees to tell him who was the man who was never known by any other +name than that of the man with the iron mask. Chamillart replied that it +was a state secret, and that he had taken an oath never to reveal it. +There are, besides, others of my contemporaries who can testify to my +statement, and I know no fact which is more extraordinary or more firmly +established.” + +At a later period, Voltaire, in the “Philosophical Dictionary,” corrected +some trifling errors which he had made in his account of the masked +prisoner. He states that the captive was first confined at Pignerol, +whence he was removed to the isle of St. Margaret, and that, a few days +before his death, he said that he believed himself to be about sixty. +Voltaire then controverts various guesses which had been hazarded as +to the name of the individual, and then adds, that the concealment of +his face must have been occasioned by “the fear that a too striking +resemblance might be recognised in his features.” In conclusion, he +hints, that he is well informed on the subject, but that he will not +communicate his knowledge. It would seem, however, that, after the lapse +of a few years, he changed his mind,—for, in another edition of the +Dictionary, there was inserted an article, ostensibly by the editor, but +which is generally supposed to be written by Voltaire himself. It is +there roundly asserted that the masked captive was an elder brother of +Louis XIV., illegitimate, and brought up in secrecy, whom for obvious +reasons of state the reigning monarch was obliged to hold in durance. In +the original account by Voltaire, his pointed mention of the prisoner’s +fondness for fine linen and lace, which was also characteristic of Anne +of Austria, appears to indicate that he believed her to be the mother of +the mysterious individual. + +There is in the human mind a restless longing, and perpetual struggle, +to penetrate into every thing that is shrouded in mystery. Ever since +the man with the iron mask was first mentioned, he has been a subject of +inquiry and controversy; dissertations and volumes innumerable have been +written to dispel the Egyptian darkness which surrounds him. With the +exception perhaps of Junius, there is probably no personage who has been +the cause of so many books and theories; and in both cases no approach +to certainty has been made. It is not improbable that Junius may yet be +unveiled; but, with respect to the masked captive, so long a time has +gone by, so much care was taken after his decease to destroy all traces +of his existence, and it is so likely that the remaining documents, if +any there were, perished during the French revolution, that there is not +a chance of the world being enabled to say, “_This_ is certainly the man.” + +At least twelve or thirteen candidates have been brought forward for +the melancholy honour of being the personage in question. Two of them +are English—the Duke of Monmouth and Henry Cromwell. Of the latter it +is only necessary to state that he lived a quiet country life after the +restoration, and died in Huntingdonshire in 1679. The Duke of Monmouth +is supposed, by M. de St. Foix, to have found some one obliging enough +to mount the scaffold in his stead, and to have been sent to France, to +be kept in safe custody. This ineffably absurd theory is demolished by +the fact, that, when Monmouth was executed, the man with the mask had +been for twenty years in prison. Equally baseless is the system of the +Chevalier de Taulès, who made a claim for Ardewicks, the patriarch of the +Armenians at Constantinople, who was kidnapped, taken to France, and +lodged in the Bastile by the Jesuits, to whom he had given offence. But +Ardewicks was not carried off till 1699 or 1700, and he is known to have +embraced catholicism, recovered his liberty, and died at Paris. A recent +French writer, of very considerable talent and research, has revived +the idea that Fouquet was the prisoner, and has supported his argument +with great skill; but it is impossible to reconcile his supposition with +the story told by Voltaire. With respect to Fouquet the precautions and +deference, which Voltaire mentions, would not have been deemed necessary. +We have seen that the author of the “Secret Memoirs on Persia” asserts +the Count of Vermandois to have been the unknown captive. Voltaire +contemptuously denies the truth of this assertion; which is, indeed, +sufficiently refuted by the well-ascertained fact, that the count died, +of small-pox, at the army in Flanders, in 1683, and was buried at Arras; +his death was notorious to numbers of persons. The Duke of Beaufort has +been invested with the mask on no better authority. There can be no doubt +that he was slain, in a sally, at the siege of Candia, in 1669. But, say +those who adopt him as their hero, his body was never found. It certainly +was not recognised; and for this plain reason, that the Turks stripped +it, and cut off the head. The next asserted owner of the mask is backed +by no less than four champions, Dutens, Roux-Fazillac, Delort, and the +late Lord Dover, and his cause has been ably supported by them all. The +claimant for whom they contend is Matthioli, secretary of the Duke of +Mantua, who, for having outwitted Louis in a negotiation respecting the +cession of Casal, was seized by order of the monarch, and imprisoned at +Pignerol and other places. There are, however, circumstances which seem +decisive against his being the man with the iron mask. It will perhaps +suffice to mention that, instead of meeting with respect and indulgence, +he was treated with the utmost harshness, and even cruelty. It has been +argued, as a presumption on his side, that his name bears a resemblance +to that of Marchiali, under which the unknown captive was buried. The +resemblance, I think, is not a whit closer than that which Fluellin so +ingeniously discovers between Macedon and Monmouth, and is a sorry basis +on which to build an argument. Another supposition gives the mask to Don +John de Gonzaga, a natural brother of the Duke of Mantua, who is imagined +to have accompanied Matthioli in disguise to the conference at which he +was seized. This supposition is rendered untenable, by irrefragable proof +that Matthioli was alone. + +We have now arrived at the only remaining name which has been mentioned +as that of the mysterious prisoner. Voltaire, as we have seen, affirms +that he was a son of Anne of Austria. This assertion seems to receive +support from the language which is said to have been held by Louis XV. +Laborde, the head valet-de-chambre of that monarch, who enjoyed much of +his confidence, once endeavoured to obtain from him the long-concealed +secret. He did not succeed. “I pity him,” replied the king, “but his +detention was injurious only to himself, and _averted great misfortunes_. +Thou must not know the secret.” It is manifest that such a speech +could not be made with reference to any of the persons who have been +enumerated. It is equally manifest that, as Voltaire has intimated, the +mask could have been worn for no other purpose than to prevent a striking +likeness from being recognised. + +Various conjectures have been made as to the paternity of the unknown +child, to which Anne of Austria is thought to have given birth. By some +the Duke of Buckingham has been assigned as its father, others have +attributed it to a French nobleman; some have imagined that it was the +fruit of a legitimate union with Cardinal Mazarin, a kind of union which, +however, could not take place; and others, with more tenderness for the +character of the queen, have represented it to be a twin brother of Louis +XIV. The theory of his royal birth may, perhaps, be as erroneous as all +the rest; but it appears to me to be the only one by which we can account +for the close and perpetual imprisonment, the pains taken to confine the +secret to as few persons as possible, the carefully concealed features, +and the respect and indulgence which are asserted to have been uniformly +shown to the unfortunate captive[8]. + +We must now turn our attention from the victim of state policy to some of +the victims of religious persecution. + +To enumerate all whom Jansenism led to the Bastile would be a tedious +labour, and no less uninteresting than tedious, as little more than a +dry list of names would be the result. Among the Jansenists who towards +the close of Louis XIV.’s reign were sent to the Bastile, we find Tiron, +a Benedictine, who was prior of Meulan; Germain Veillant, an author; +and Lebrun-Desmarets, a man of much theological erudition. Tiron was +committed “for different writings, on matters of religion and state, +and against the king and the Jesuits.” The coupling together of the +king and the disciples of Loyola, as though they were coequal powers, +is a striking proof of the vast influence which the Society of Jesus +had acquired. Veillant’s offence was his being “a violent Jansenist, in +connexion with Father Quesnel, and having got his works printed, and +managed his affairs at Paris.” He was examined eighty-nine times, and was +probably treated with more than common harshness, for he fell ill on the +day that he was released, and died in the course of a few days. + +Lebrun-Desmarets, a native of Rouen, who entered the Bastile in 1707, +two years previous to the destruction of Port-Royal monastery, was of +a family which was strongly attached to that persecuted establishment. +His father, a bookseller of Rouen, was condemned to the galleys, for +having printed books in vindication of it. The son was partly educated +in the convent, and never ceased to regard its inmates with affection +and reverence. In 1707, when they were involved in a harassing lawsuit +by their enemies, Lebrun espoused their cause so ardently that he was +imprisoned. He was held in durance for five years, and was treated +with great severity. After he recovered his liberty, he took up his +abode at Orleans, where he died, in 1731, at the age of eighty. On Palm +Sunday, the day before his death, fearing that a priest would refuse +to administer the sacrament to him, he dragged his enfeebled frame to +the church, that he might not quit the world without the consolation of +having participated in the rites of religion. Lebrun’s principal work is +a “Liturgical Journey in France,” in which he gives an account of the +most remarkable customs and ceremonies of the various churches. + +We now revert once more to prisoners whose sins were political. Count +John Albert de Bucquoy, the next individual who comes under our notice, +was of the family of the celebrated Spanish and Imperial general, who +bore the same name and title. He was a native of Champagne, in which +province he was born about 1650. A line in Dryden’s severe description of +Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, will partly characterize Bucquoy; he + + “Was every thing by starts, and nothing long.” + +The circumstances of his having been left an orphan at the age of four +years, and having received a very imperfect education, may, perhaps, +account for some of his eccentricities. He embraced the military life; +but when he had served for five years, an escape from danger, which +he considered as miraculous, induced him to make a vow to withdraw +from all worldly pursuits. The rules of the Carthusian monks not being +strict enough to satisfy him, he entered at La Trappe, where he so +much injured his health by supererogatory austerities that the Abbé de +Rancé, the superior of the convent, was obliged to dismiss him. Bucquoy +then abruptly resumed his warlike attire; but soon after, with equal +abruptness, again cast it off, to dress himself in rags, and become a +hermit. Flying from the temptations of Paris, he next settled at Rouen, +where, under the name of La Mort, he for two years kept a school, to give +gratuitous instruction to the poor. The Jesuits of that city admired +his talents and his humble demeanour, and fruitlessly endeavoured to +enrol him in their fraternity. Having been accidentally recognised by a +person who had been a brother officer, he could no longer preserve his +incognito, and he therefore quitted Rouen, and bent his way to Paris. +There he formed the plan of founding a new monastic order, destined to +prove to unbelievers the truth of the Christian religion. It appears +to have been about this time that he assumed the garb and title of an +abbé. But while he was thus planning the demolition of incredulity, he +so bewildered himself in his theological speculations and reasonings, +that he became a sceptic. One thing which contributed much to produce the +change in him was, that, notwithstanding his self-inflicted severities, +he had failed to obtain the power of working miracles. This alone would +suffice to prove that his intellects were disordered. At this period, +his relatives, who had long believed him dead, were made acquainted with +his being in existence, and they procured for him a benefice. Bucquoy, +however, had got rid of his religious schemes, and had relapsed into +a taste for the profession of a soldier. His wish was now to raise a +regiment. But while he was indulging this new freak, he attracted the +attention of the government by his invectives against despotism and +the abuse of power. He was mistaken for the Abbé de la Bourlie, who +afterwards became notorious in England under the name of Guiscard, and +was arrested. When the mistake was discovered, he would have been set +free, had not his indiscreet language and conduct caused him to be +detained. He was committed to Fort-l’Evêque, from whence, however, he +contrived to escape. After having been at large for a considerable time, +he was caught and shut up in the Bastile, with a strict charge to the +keepers, that he should be closely watched, as being an enterprising +and dangerous person. The officers of that prison were seldom slack in +executing such orders, yet, in spite of all their vigilance, Bucquoy took +his measures so skilfully, and carried them into effect with so much +secrecy, that, in May 1709, after having been confined for two years, he +left his jailors in the lurch, and made good his retreat to Switzerland. +As soon as he was in safety, he began to negotiate with the French +ministers for his return to France, and the restoration of his property. +Failing in this, he journeyed to Holland, and submitted to the allies a +project for converting France into a republic, and annihilating arbitrary +power. This scheme, too, fell to the ground. It was, nevertheless, +beneficial to him, as it gained for him the friendship of General +Schulemburg, who, in 1714, introduced him, at Hanover, to George I. The +monarch was pleased with his conversation, admitted him to his table, and +gave him a pension. Bucquoy lived to nearly the age of ninety. In his +latter days, he wholly neglected his dress, suffered his beard to grow, +and might well have been mistaken for a squalid mendicant. + +There was perhaps a spice of madness in Bucquoy, which sufficiently +accounts for his eccentric conduct. For the faults, or rather crimes, of +the personage who now comes under our notice there was no such excuse. +Throughout the whole of his existence, which, like that of Bucquoy, was +protracted far beyond the period usually allotted to man, the Marshal +Duke of Richelieu displayed as few virtues, and as many vices, as any +courtier on record. He had superficial talents, some wit, polished +manners, a handsome person, and much bravery; and this is all that +can be said for him. On the other hand, he was wholly without honour, +morals, and religion; a supporter and adulator of despotism, a political +intriguer, who could stoop to use the basest means for the accomplishment +of his purposes, a reckless duellist, and a systematic and heartless +seducer; he was, in fact, an impersonation of the profligacy and +corruption which distinguished the courts of the regent Duke of Orleans +and the fifteenth Louis. + +Richelieu, who, in his early years, was known as the Duke of Fronsac, was +born in 1696. He was a seven months’ child, whom after his birth it was +necessary to keep in a box filled with cotton, and the preservation of +whose existence was long doubtful. When his health was established, he +was put under able preceptors; but he derived little benefit from their +instructions, and he never could spell with tolerable correctness. He +acquired, however, those showy graces which, undoubtedly, are an ornament +to virtue, but which, when the possessor has no virtue, can captivate +only persons of frivolous minds. He was introduced to the court at the +early age of fourteen, and soon, as St. Simon tells us, became its +darling. The female portion of it was in raptures with him, and seems to +have expressed its feelings without any regard to decorum. Fronsac, whose +passions were uncommonly precocious, met the forward with equal ardour, +and spared no pains to ensnare the few who were more timid or more +modest. He went to such a length that censure began to fall heavily on +the Duchess of Burgundy, and his own father deemed it prudent to request +a lettre-de-cachet against him, under which he was for fourteen months +confined in the Bastile. During his seclusion, Fronsac was attended by a +preceptor; and he consequently came out of prison with some knowledge of +Latin, and some addition to his scanty stock of useful information; but, +as far as concerned dignity of mind and purity of heart, no improvement +whatever had taken place. + +The licentious career of Richelieu was suspended for a while, by his +serving as a volunteer in the army. He was present at the battle of +Denain, and at the sieges of the fortresses which were recovered by +Villars in consequence of his victory; and he distinguished himself so +much, that he was made aide-de-camp to the marshal, and was chosen by +him to convey to Paris the news of the surrender of Friburg. In 1715, +he succeeded to the title of Richelieu. On this occasion he performed +an action which merits praise; the property which was available for the +debts of his father was far from sufficient to cover them, he generously +paid to the creditors the full amount of their claims. + +Again all the faculties of Richelieu were devoted to licentious +pleasures, which were now and then interrupted by a duel. In 1716 he +had a desperate encounter with the Count de Gacé, for which the regent +committed both parties to the Bastile, where they remained from March +till August. This imprisonment was, however, less severe than that which +he had to endure two years afterwards. In the spring of 1719, he was +sent, for the third time, to the Bastile, but, in this instance, he went +with the brand of traitor upon him, and was treated accordingly. He was +concerned in the Cellamare conspiracy, and had promised to deliver up +Bayonne to the Spaniards, and to join in exciting the south of France +to revolt. “If the Duke of Richelieu had four heads,” said the regent, +“I have proof enough against him to deprive him of them all.” On his +first arrival at the Bastile, the duke was placed in a dungeon; but +female influence soon obtained his removal to more comfortable quarters, +and permission for him to walk daily on the ramparts of the fortress. +His walks gave rise to an occurrence, which speaks volumes as to the +unblushing depravity of the high-born dames of France. During the hour +that he was walking, a string of elegant carriages, filled with women who +notoriously were or had been his mistresses, passed slowly backward and +forward in front of the spot where he was, and an intercourse of signs +was kept up between the prisoner and these unscrupulous ladies. It was by +the intercession of two princesses, who were enamoured of him, that his +release was obtained, after he had suffered a captivity of five months. + +The danger to which Richelieu had been exposed on this occasion, though +it did not render him less vicious, rendered him, at least in one +respect, more prudent; he did not again put his head in the way of being +brought to the block. Thenceforward he limited his political intrigues, +in France, to acquiring benefits for himself, circumventing his rivals, +providing mistresses for the king, and making those mistresses the +instruments of his designs; and by these arts he became a thriving +courtier. Honours of all kinds, military and civil, were showered +upon him. At the age of twenty-four, without any literary pretensions +whatever, he was unanimously chosen a member of the French Academy; +and, in 1734, he was nominated an honorary member of the Academy of +Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. In the army he rose to the rank +of marshal; but his titles as a soldier were not unearned. At Kehl, +Philipsburg, Dettingen, Friburg, Fontenoy, Laufeldt, Genoa, and Minorca, +they were fairly won. In his last campaign, however, that of Hanover, in +1757, he sullied his laurels by the most infamous conduct. His rapacity +and extortion were a scorpion scourge to the country which France +had subdued; and, as though he feared that his own endless exactions +would not suffice to make him hated, he allowed, if not encouraged, +his troops to be guilty of marauding, and of various other enormities. +The subsequent defeats of the French army were the righteous result of +these dishonourable proceedings. As a negotiator, Richelieu manifested +considerable skill. He was twice employed in that capacity; at Vienna, +from 1725 to 1729, and at Dresden, in 1746. In both instances he fully +accomplished the purpose of his mission, and in both he displayed a +degree of ostentatious magnificence which had seldom been equalled. +When he entered Vienna, his train consisted of seventy-five carriages; +and his horses, and those of his officers, were shod with silver, the +shoes being slightly fastened, that they might fall off and be left for +the populace. In the state employments which he held, there appears to +have been but a solitary instance in which he was entitled to praise. +As lieutenant-general of the king in Languedoc, he once deviated into +the right path; by a judicious mixture of firmness and mildness, he +averted the disturbances which were about to arise from the persecution +of the protestants. But it was not in his nature to be permanently good. +At a later period, his harshness, in the same country, was rewarded by +his being appointed governor of Guienne and Gascony; and his pride and +tyranny very soon rendered him an object of detestation in both of these +provinces. At court, his influence and his example had a baneful effect. +He for more than a quarter of a century possessed the friendship of Louis +XV., and he foully abused it; he pandered to the monarch’s lusts, and +strained every nerve, with too much success, to prevent the misguided +sovereign from carrying into effect his occasional resolves, to lead in +future a life more suitable to his years, and to the lofty station which +he filled. He was the Mephistopheles of his royal master. + +Richelieu was so fortunate as not to be exposed to the revolutionary +tempest; his disgraceful career was brought to a close in August, 1788, +when he had attained the age of ninety-two. + +Of prisoners less known, or less important, during the period to which +this chapter refers, it will suffice to give a scanty specimen. Religious +intolerance contributed largely to people the jails. To enumerate all +who expiated in dungeons the crime of being protestants, would be an +endless task; in 1686 a hundred and forty-seven persons, and in 1689 +sixty-one, were sent to the Bastile alone, almost all of whom were +hugonots. To unite in marriage the members of that proscribed class was +a heinous offence; a priest, named John de Pardieu, was doomed to the +Bastile for committing it. Whole families were immured for endeavouring +to leave the kingdom. Some of the victims were driven to despair by the +manner in which they were treated. Such was the case with the Sieur +Braconneau, who, as the register specifies, was “imprisoned on account of +religion, and died of a wound which he gave to himself with a knife.” The +protestants were, however, not the sole sufferers; the Jansenists, too, +came in for an ample share of persecution. + +Real or pretended plots and evil speaking against the king were another +fruitful source of commitments. The following are a few instances: Don +Thomas Crisafi “suspected of intrigues with the Spanish ambassador +against the interests of the king.” Joseph Jurin, a footman, for having +said, “Who can prevent me from killing the king?” The Sieur Beranger de +Berliere, “for a plot against the king’s person.” The Count de Morlot, +accused of “detestable purposes against the king’s life.” Desvallons, +“for speaking insolently of the king.” Laurence Lemierre, shoemaker, +and his wife, for dangerous discourse about the king; and Francis +Brindjoug for the same offence. The Sieur Cardel, “for important reasons, +regarding the safety of the king’s person.” Jonas de Lamas, a baker, +“for execrations against the king.” This man was twenty years in the +Bastile, and was then removed to the Bicêtre. The Sieur de la Perche, +a fencing-master, accused of having said that “the king oppressed his +subjects, and thought only of amusing himself with his old woman; that he +would soon be a king of beggars; that his officers were starving; that he +had ruined the kingdom by driving away the hugonots; and that he cared +not a pin for his people.” The last article of the Sieur de la Perche’s +charge against the sovereign was made in language which is too vulgar to +be translated. + +Under the head of miscellaneous offences may be mentioned the following: +Pierre His, “for having assisted several persons to go clandestinely +to America.” Those persons were probably hugonots. The Sieur Marini, +envoy from Genoa. This commitment, for which no reason is assigned, +took place in 1684, the year in which Louis XIV. made his disgraceful +attack on Genoa. Besnoit, called Arnonville, “an evil-minded woman, who +held improper discourse.” Charles Combon, called Count de Longueval, “a +maker of horoscopes, a fortune-teller, and vender of drugs to procure +abortion.” The Abbé Dubois, “a wicked and troublesome person.” Papillard, +“a bad catholic.” Saint Vigor, “affecting to be a hermit, but a man +of licentious manners.” John Blondeau, a hermit, “a suspected person.” +Peter John Mere, professing himself a physician, “for selling improper +drugs.” After having been thirty years in the Bastile, Mere was sent to +the Bedlam at Charenton. Bailly, a hatter, “for a design to establish a +hat manufactory in a foreign country.” Louisa Simon, a widow, “pretends +to tell fortunes, to have secrets for inspiring love, and to be able to +make marriages.” John Galembert, of the gens-d’armes, “a great traveller, +suspected of corresponding with the enemies of the state.” He was +subsequently exiled to Languedoc, his native province, within the limits +of which he was ordered to remain. The Prince de Riccia, “one of the +party at Naples that is against the French succession.” Nicholas Buissen, +“for insolent letters against Samuel Bernard (the court banker), with an +intention to hurt his credit.” The Sieur de Soulange, formerly a captain +of infantry in the Orleannois regiment, “a rogue, and spy on both sides.” + +It will be seen that, in some of those instances, the individuals +deserved legal punishment; that, in others, the charges were trivial, or +vague, or ridiculous; and that in at least one case the French monarch +displayed gross contempt of the law of nations. His imprisonment of +Marini, the Genoese envoy, can only be paralleled by the manner in which +the Turks used to treat Christian ambassadors on the breaking out of +hostilities. But it was of a piece with the rest of his conduct towards +the Genoese republic. It was retributive justice that he, the wanton +disturber and insulter of Europe, should himself live to have his pride +trodden into the dust, and to dread the approach of a hostile army to the +walls of his own capital. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + Reign of Louis XV.—Regency of the Duke of Orleans—Oppressive + measures against all persons connected with the Finances—Their + failure—Prisoners in the Bastile—Freret—Voltaire—The + Cellamare conspiracy—The Duchess of Maine—Madame de + Staal—Malezieu—Bargeton—Mahudel—The Mississippi scheme—Count + de Horn—Death of the Regent—Administration of the Duke of + Bourbon—La Blanc—Paris Duverney—The Count de Belleisle—The + Chevalier de Belleisle—Madame de Tencin. + + +When the Duke of Orleans assumed the regency, the finances of the kingdom +were in a lamentable state. The protracted and expensive wars into which +Louis XIV. had wantonly plunged, the boundless extravagance in which he +had indulged, and the peculations, and wasteful expenditure of every +kind, which had so long prevailed, had not only drained the treasury, but +had also caused a heavy load of debt, and almost dried up the sources of +supply. The government was indebted to an enormous amount, the revenue +of three years had been anticipated, and public credit was destroyed. +From all quarters a loud cry was raised for fiscal reform. A national +bankruptcy was proposed in the council, but the proposal was unanimously +rejected. The means which were adopted in its stead were, however, +scarcely less unjust; they were the same clumsy and violent means which +former rulers had almost uniformly employed. Contracts, entered into by +the ministers of the late king, were capriciously annulled, annuities and +pensions were cut down to one half, offices, which the holders had bought +at a great price, were abolished without any compensation being given, +a new coinage was issued at a higher nominal value, and government +securities, to the amount of six hundred millions, were at one stroke +reduced to two hundred and fifty millions, and even of this diminished +sum the creditors were defrauded of more than a fifth part. But the grand +panacea, for restoring the consumptive exchequer to its pristine vigour, +was the establishment of a court, antithetically denominated a chamber of +justice. This chamber was directed to institute a rigorous inquiry into +the conduct of all persons who had any connection with the finances, or +with contracts of any kind, and compel them to disgorge their spoil. A +sweeping edict brought under the jurisdiction of this inquisitorial body +several thousands of individuals, from the richest farmer-general, or +contractor, down to the poorest clerk. “The custom,” says Lemontey, “of +drawing back by proscriptions the rapines which a vicious administration +has tolerated, is an Asiatic art which ill beseems regular governments. +But, condemned to a financial anarchy by its squandering habits, +France, for a long while, could find no other than this odious remedy.” +The remedy was indeed an odious one! The retrospective operation of +this edict extended as far back as seven-and-twenty years; so that it +clutched in its iron grasp not only living presumed criminals, but +the children, grandchildren, and relations of those who had ceased to +exist, and thus at once inflicted torment on a multitude of guiltless +victims, and shook property to its very basis. The means employed to +give effect to the edict were of the most base and barbarous kind. +Death was the penalty denounced against all who were convicted, whoever +made an incorrect declaration of his fortune was doomed to the galleys, +and, that there might be no lack of evidence, the pillory was held up +_in terrorem_ to negligent witnesses. But, bad as all this was, there +was something still worse. Informers were to be rewarded with a fifth +part of the confiscations, and to receive a certificate, stating that +they were under the king’s protection, and exempt from being sued by +their creditors; to slander them was rendered punishable with death. +By another enactment, servants were allowed to denounce their masters, +under fictitious names; a happy invention for destroying all domestic +confidence! To excite the people, already sufficiently excited, a medal +was struck, on which the culprits were typified by the robber Cacus, +horrible songs and prints were circulated, and it was ordered that a +portion of the confiscated property should be distributed among the +inhabitants of the place where the condemned individual resided. The +whole scheme of proceeding was consistently infamous; it never deviated +into anything like justice. + +To prevent the escape of those who were marked out for prosecution, an +order was suddenly issued, forbidding them to leave their abodes on pain +of death. Such, however, was the terror inspired by this unexpected +measure that many took flight, and others put an end to their own +existence. Of those who remained, multitudes were dragged from their +homes in the most studiously disgraceful manner, amidst the hootings +of the populace, who lent their willing aid to the officers of police. +The Bastile and the other prisons were speedily so crowded, that +numbers were obliged to be left in their houses under a guard. For six +months the chamber proceeded in its career, purveying liberally for the +pillory, the galleys, and the scaffold. It was at last discovered, that +this was a tedious and unsatisfactory process; that though revenge and +malice were gratified, there was little profit; and the system was in +consequence changed. To levy enormous fines and impositions was the new +course which was adopted. Twenty lists of pecuniary proscription were +made out, containing the names of 4470 heads of families, from whom the +sum of two hundred and twenty millions of livres—about nine millions +sterling—was demanded. The celebrated Bourvalais, who had risen from +being a footman to be one of the richest financiers in France, was taxed +at 4,400,000 livres. In many instances envy or personal enmity contrived +to have insufferable burthens laid upon obnoxious individuals. Then, on +the part of the sufferers, ensued solicitations and bribes to men and +women in power, to procure more favourable terms; the golden harvest +was eagerly reaped by the courtiers, and the court became a theatre +of underhand manœuvres and gross corruption. The people, meanwhile, +were rapidly growing disgusted with the chamber of justice. They found +that they had derived no benefit whatever from its labours, the sums +extorted by it having chiefly been wasted in gifts and pensions to the +privileged classes. There was another and yet stronger reason for their +dissatisfaction. Trade, and the demand for labour, had fallen off to an +alarming degree, and money was rapidly disappearing; for no one would +display riches, and indulge in luxuries, when his so doing might render +him an object of persecution. So loud a cry was therefore raised against +the chamber that, after having been twelve months in existence, it was +suppressed. By the subsequent reversal of most of its sentences, and by a +declaration, that no measure of a similar kind should again be resorted +to, a severe but just censure was in fact passed upon the defunct +tribunal, and upon the whole transaction. + +From tyranny in the gross we must now turn our attention again to tyranny +in the detail. Oriental despotism, in its most capricious mood, could +not have inflicted punishment more ridiculously and unjustly than the +French government inflicted it upon the celebrated Freret. This eminent +individual, who was born at Paris in 1688, was remarkable for his +precocious talents and multifarious learning. Chronology, geography, +mythology, history, and the laws, customs, and literature of ancient and +modern nations, were all thoroughly known to him, he was not ignorant +of the abstruse sciences, and his knowledge, instead of being a chaotic +mass, was well arranged, systematically linked together, and readily +available. An authoritative tone, and some ruggedness of manner, were the +only defects imputed to him; but they were merely superficial, and did +not prevent him from being kind, charitable, and a sincere and constant +friend. He died at the age of sixty-one, his constitution, which was +naturally strong, being worn out by incessant study. The edition of his +works, in twenty volumes, is incomplete. Several irreligious productions +have been calumniously attributed to him. + +It was a “Memoir on the Origin of the French” which was the cause of his +being sent to the Bastile in 1705, and the Abbé de Vertot is asserted to +have been the person to whom he owed his imprisonment. His offence was, +that the origin which he assigned to his countrymen was an affront to the +national dignity. It is said that, after having been closely interrogated +at the Bastile, he begged leave to ask a single question, “Why am I +here?” To this the reply was, “You have a great deal of curiosity.” When +he was at length released, one of the magistrates sneeringly said to him, +“Let France, and the French, and modern subjects, alone; antiquity offers +such a wide field for your labours.” It is probable that no Turkish +cadi, in the fifteenth century, ever uttered a speech of such insolent +stupidity as is ascribed, three centuries later, to this magistrate of a +polished nation. + +Various as were the acquirements of Freret, there was in the Bastile, and +nearly contemporaneously with him, a prisoner, who far transcended him on +that score, and who possessed a splendid genius. Poet, in almost every +style of poetry, dramatist, historian, novellist, essayist, philosopher, +controversialist, and commentator, the universal Voltaire was pre-eminent +in several departments of literature, and was below mediocrity in none. +“He was,” says a French author, “one of our greatest poets; the most +brilliant, the most elegant, the most fertile, of our prose writers. +There is not, in the literature of any country, either in verse or in +prose, an author who has written on so many opposite kinds of subjects, +and has so constantly displayed a superiority in all of them.” It has +been said that Voltaire is a superficial writer, but this assertion is +not borne out by the fact. On the contrary, it is wonderful that so gay +and witty and fertile a writer, who was so much in the whirl of society +as he was, should have displayed such profound research, such a vast +command of materials, as Voltaire has undoubtedly done. + +As a man, Voltaire could be a warm friend, and was a champion of +humanity, and a strenuous opponent of intolerance, superstition, and +oppression. From our admiration of him a considerable drawback must, +however, be made, for the readiness with which he lavished incense upon +such worthless nobles as the Duke of Richelieu; for the aristocratical +feelings which occasionally peep out even from among his liberal +opinions; for his duplicity in showering praises and professions of +kindness upon men whom he was at the same moment devoting to ridicule; +for his meanness in stooping to falsehood, whenever he feared that +avowing the truth would expose him to inconvenience; for his inflammable +passions, which so often blinded his reason; for the sleepless animosity +with which he strove to hunt down, disgrace, and crush whoever had +offended him; for his obscenity and nauseating indelicacy; and for the +fury with which he attacked objects which, in all ages, wise and good men +have held sacred. + +Voltaire, whose family name was Arouet, was born, in 1694, at Chatenay, +and received a thorough education at the Jesuits’ College, in the French +capital. One of his tutors predicted that he would be the Coryphæus of +deism in France; and the society which the youthful poet frequented, +elegant, but immeasurably licentious and irreligious, was not likely +to falsify the prediction. His father destined him for a place in the +magistracy, but the literary propensity of the son was unconquerable. In +his twenty-second year he was sent to the Bastile, by the regent Duke of +Orleans, on an unfounded suspicion of his being the author of a libel. +It was while he was in prison that he formed the plan of the Henriade, +and completed the tragedy of Œdipus. He was in the Bastile above a year +before the regent recognised his innocence, and set him free. The regent +desired to see him, and the Marquis de Nocé was ordered to introduce him. +While they were waiting in the ante-chamber, a circumstance occurred +which strongly marks the profaneness and indiscretion of Voltaire. A +violent storm burst over Paris, upon which the poet looked up at the +clouds, and exclaimed, “If it were a regent that governed above, things +could not be managed worse.” When de Nocé presented him to the duke, he +said, “Here, your highness, is young Arouet, whom you have just taken out +of the Bastile, and whom you will send back again,” and he then repeated +what had been said. The duke, however, did not send him back again; he +laughed heartily, and made the offender a liberal present. “I thank your +royal highness for taking care of my board,” said Voltaire, “but I must +request that you will not again provide me with lodging.” + +Œdipus was represented in 1718, with complete success. Two other +tragedies, Artemise and Mariane, by which it was succeeded, were less +fortunate. The Duke of Orleans was dead, and the reins of government +were now held by the Duke of Bourbon. Voltaire having ventured to +resent a dastardly insult offered to him by the worthless Chevalier de +Rohan-Chabot, the chevalier thought it safer to imprison his adversary +than to meet him in the field. His friends applied to the Duke of +Bourbon, and raised his anger by showing him an epigram which the poet +had composed on him. Their plan was successful; Voltaire was committed +to the Bastile, and remained there for six months. This act of injustice +induced him to take up his residence in England. In this country he +lived for three years, was flatteringly received by many illustrious +characters, and obtained a splendid subscription for the Henriade. The +produce of this subscription formed the basis of that large fortune +which he subsequently obtained by various lucky speculations. In 1728 he +returned to his native land, and, between that year and 1749, he produced +his tragedies of Zara, Alzira, Mahomet, and Merope, and many other works, +was admitted into the French Academy, and was appointed gentleman in +ordinary of the king’s bed-chamber, and historiographer of France. + +In 1750 Voltaire accepted an invitation to Berlin, which was given to him +by the king of Prussia. For a while the sovereign and the poet were on +the most amicable terms; but, in 1753, their friendship was broken, and +Voltaire quitted the Prussian dominions in disgust. Paris, in consequence +of the intrigues of his enemies, being no longer an eligible abode for +him, he lived for short periods at Geneva and other places, and at length +purchased an estate at Ferney, in the Pays de Gex, on which he finally +settled. There, in possession of an ample fortune, and surrounded by +friends, he gave free scope to his indefatigable pen. In April, 1778, he +went once more to Paris, after an absence of nearly thirty years. He was +received with almost a frenzy of enthusiasm, his bust was crowned on +the stage, and was placed by the academicians next to that of Corneille. +These honours, however, he did not long enjoy, for he expired on the 30th +of May; his death is supposed to have been hastened by an over-dose of +laudanum, which he took to calm the pain occasioned by strangury, and +to procure sleep, of which he had long been deprived. In the edition of +Beaumarchais, the collected works of Voltaire form seventy volumes. + +By the detection of the Cellamare conspiracy, in 1718, a large accession +of prisoners fell to the share of the Bastile. Wounded female pride had +the chief share in getting up that conspiracy. The Duchess of Maine was +the prime mover. This princess, whose small frame was animated by a high +and restless spirit, had seen her family degraded in a manner which it +was not unnatural that she should violently resent. By an edict, dated +in 1710, Louis XIV. not only granted to the Duke of Maine, and his other +legitimated children, the same rank and honours which were enjoyed by +princes of the blood, but also declared them capable of inheriting +the crown, on failure of descendants in the legitimate branches. This +step was highly offensive to the French peers, and was opposed by the +parliament; but, while the king lived, resistance was unavailing. But +the scene was about to change. Though Louis had reinforced his decree by +a declaration in 1714, and by a clause in his testament, his death soon +afforded another proof of the little respect that is paid to a deceased +despot. The will, as every one knows, was set aside, without a voice +being heard in support of it. In 1717, at the instance of the Duke of +Bourbon, and the peers, the council of regency deprived the legitimated +princes of all the privileges of princes of the blood, with the exception +of a seat in the parliament. It was in vain that the Duchess of Maine +and her partisans moved heaven and earth to avert this blow; all +their writings, speeches, and manœuvres, were entirely thrown away. It +must, however, be owned, that the duchess displayed wonderful talent +and industry on this occasion; while the struggle continued, she was +constantly to be seen half buried in a pile of dusty volumes, records, +and other documents, in which she sought arguments and examples to +support her cause. When the dreaded blow was finally struck, her passion +rose to the highest pitch. “There is nothing left to me now,” exclaimed +she to her more patient husband, “but the shame of having married you!” +In the following year fresh fuel was heaped upon the flame. The Duke of +Maine was reduced to take rank below all the peers, except those who were +created posterior to 1694, and was likewise divested of the tutorship +of the young king, which was assumed by the Duke of Bourbon. This gave +rise to another outbreak of passion on the part of the duchess, who, +on receiving notice to give up to the triumphant Bourbon the official +apartments in the Tuileries, broke the glasses, the china, and everything +which she had strength enough to destroy. Thus stung to the quick, she +resorted to conspiracy for vengeance, and she speedily rallied round her +a band of subaltern intriguers and discontented politicians. To expel +the Duke of Orleans from the regency, and place the government under +the tutelage of Philip V. of Spain, was the design of the plotters. The +Spanish monarch, who detested the Duke of Orleans, and who, in spite of +his renunciation, had still views on the French crown, was by no means +averse from forwarding the scheme of the duchess. The correspondence was +carried on through the Prince de Cellamare, the Spanish ambassador at +Paris. The Duke of Orleans was, however, not in the dark with respect +to these proceedings; they were betrayed to him by some of the parties +concerned; and, as soon as the proof was complete, the whole of the +offenders were arrested. The Duchess of Maine was sent to the castle +of Dijon, and allowed only one female servant to attend her, the duke +was closely confined in the citadel of Dourlens; the Abbé Brigault, the +Marquis of Pompadour, the Count of Laval, the Chevalier Menil, Malezieu, +Mademoiselle de Launay, and many more, found lodgings in the Bastile; +and Vincennes and other prisons received their share of captives. Of de +Launay and Malezieu some account shall be given; the rest deserve no +record. + +The Baroness de Staal, whose maiden name was de Launay, was born at +Paris, in 1693. Her father was a painter, who was compelled to retire +to England before her birth; her mother, who seems not to have been +overburdened with maternal feelings, found with her infant a retreat in +a convent at Rouen. Even in infancy, De Launay manifested the dawning +of a very superior intellect, and her manners were so fascinating that +she became the darling of the convent. She had an extreme longing for +knowledge, her questions were incessant, and, as all the nuns were +eager to gratify and improve her, she soon acquired a larger and more +valuable stock of ideas than falls to the lot of children in general. +Among her friends in the convent was Madame de Grieu, who, on being +nominated prioress of St. Louis at Rouen, took the child with her to +her new abode. “The convent of St. Louis,” says Madame de Staal, “was +like a little state in which I reigned sovereignly.” The abbess and her +sister enjoyed a small pension from their family, which they devoted to +the payment of masters for their favourite. By the time that she was +fourteen, De Launay had studied the philosophy of Descartes, and pondered +over the speculations of Malebranche, and, not long after, she turned her +attention to the science of geometry. + +Her intellectual powers and her winning qualities brought many admirers +around her; among whom were the Abbé de Vertot, M. Brunel, and M. Rey. +None of them, however, made any impression on her heart. With respect to +the passion of M. Rey, she makes one of those quiet yet piquant remarks, +which are so common in her Memoirs. He was accustomed to escort her back +to the convent, when she had been visiting some neighbouring friends. “We +had to pass through a large open space,” says she, “and at the beginning +of our acquaintance, he used to take his way along the sides. I found +now, that he crossed over the middle of it; from which I concluded, that +his love was at least diminished in the proportion of the difference +between the diagonal and the two sides of a square.” It was not long ere +she ceased to be able to speak of love in a sportive tone. She became +deeply enamoured of the Marquis de Silly, the brother of a friend. He +respected her, and acted the part of a counsellor, and almost a brother, +but he could not return her affection: and the unfortunate fair one has +touchingly described the sufferings she endured from her idolatrous and +hopeless passion. Years elapsed before it was eradicated. + +This woe was aggravated by another. The death of the prioress, Madame de +Grieu, in 1710, obliged her to quit the convent, and threw her without +resources on the world. She accompanied to Paris the sister of her late +patroness, and found a temporary refuge in the Presentation convent. To +the purses of her friends she resolutely determined to make no appeal, +while her means of repayment were uncertain, but rather to welcome +servitude than forfeit her self-estimation. Her finances and hopes were +almost at the lowest ebb, when the report of her astonishing abilities +reached the gay, frivolous, and volatile duchess of La Ferté. The duchess +was delighted with the idea of getting possession of, and exhibiting, +what in fashionable cant phrase is called “a lion.” She could not rest +till the new wonder was brought to her; an event which was somewhat +retarded by the necessity under which Mademoiselle de Launay was placed, +of borrowing decent clothes to appear in. The duchess was one of those +persons who are apt to take sudden and violent likings, and she instantly +pronounced her to be an absolute prodigy. She lauded her without measure +in all quarters, hurried her about from place to place, and showed her +off, much in the same way that a remarkably clever monkey is managed +by an itinerant exhibitor of wild beasts. Madame de Staal has given an +account, which is at once ludicrous and painful, of what she endured +at this period. Fortunately for her, she became acquainted with men of +talent, and acquired some valuable friends, among whom were Fontenelle +and Malazieu. + +Disappointed in her hopes of being received into the household of the +Duchess of La Ferté, or of obtaining an establishment elsewhere through +her means, De Launay accepted an offer from the Duchess of Maine, to whom +she had been introduced. This defection, as it was deemed, threw her late +patroness into a paroxysm of rage. Her new situation was an unenviable +one. She filled the place of a lady’s maid, who had retired; her +apartment was a wretched low closet, in which it was impossible to move +about in an upright posture, and which had neither chimney nor window; +and her chief occupation was to make up shifts, in which she confesses +herself to have been so inexpert, that, when the duchess came to put on +some of her handywork, she found in the arm what ought to have been in +the elbow. By the duchess, and all the upper classes in the house, she +was utterly neglected, as a mere drudge; by those of her own class, she +was envied, hated, and persecuted, for her natural superiority over +them. Life at last became a burthen, and there was a moment when she +seriously meditated the commission of suicide. + +A happy chance lifted her at once from this slough of despond into her +proper sphere. There was an exceedingly beautiful female, named Testard, +who laid claim to supernatural powers; by desire of the Duke of Orleans, +Fontenelle had visited her, and, prejudiced by her charms, is said to +have manifested too much faith in her. This folly of a philosopher, +who was not remarkable for believing too much, excited a loud clamour. +“You had better write to M. de Fontenelle, to let him hear what every +body is talking against him about Testard,” said the duchess one day +to her despised attendant. De Launay did write; and her letter, though +brief, was such a finished composition, such an admirable mixture of +delicate reproof and delicate praise, that, in the course of a few days, +innumerable copies of it were spread throughout Paris. She, meanwhile, +was unconscious of the effect which she had produced, till she was +apprised of it by the duchess’s visitors, who overwhelmed her with +compliments and attentions. + +From this time Mademoiselle de Launay was looked upon by the duchess as +a person whose opinion was of some consequence, and was admitted into +her parties, and enjoyed her confidence. She now shared with Malezieu +the task of supplying plans and verses for the spectacles at Sceaux. Her +literary connections became more widely extended, and she had no lack +of lovers. Among those who paid the most devoted homage to her, was the +Abbé de Chaulieu; the passion, as she herself hints, could have been only +platonic, for he was then verging on eighty, but she owns that she had “a +despotic authority over everything in his house.” It must, however, be +mentioned, to her honour, that she displayed a rare disinterestedness, +and steadily refused presents from him, which would have tempted a +woman of a common mind, especially under De Launay’s circumstances. The +princely gift of a thousand pistoles, which the Abbé offered, would have +saved her from the slavery, endured night after night, of reading a +duchess to sleep, while her own health was endangered by want of rest. + +In the memorial which the Duchess of Maine drew up in behalf of the +legitimated princes, she was assisted by De Launay. “I turned over,” +says the latter, “the old chronicles, and the ancient and modern +jurisconsults, till excessive fatigue disposed the princess to rest. +Then came my reading, to lull her to sleep; and then I went to seek for +slumber, which, however, I never found!” + +In the proceedings of the duchess, with respect to the Cellamare +conspiracy, she was deeply implicated; a part at least of the +correspondence passed through her hands. Her good sense anticipated, +long before the event, what would be the final result. The storm burst +at last. She was arrested on the 19th of December, 1718, and, three days +after, was committed to the Bastile. With a truly philosophical spirit, +she soon became reconciled to her fate. Luckily, she had an invaluable +companion in her maid Rondel, faithful, affectionate, and acute, the +very model of domestics. But it must not be concealed, that she had +another consolation, to lighten her prison hours. She inspired two +persons with an ardent attachment. One of these was a fellow prisoner, +on the Cellamare score, the Chevalier de Menil; the other was the king’s +lieutenant in the fortress, M. de Maisonrouge. Reason would have chosen +the latter as the proper object of fondness; but her wayward heart +decided in favour of the former. No writer has ever imagined a more +elevated, devoted, self-sacrificing passion than that of Maisonrouge. +He lived and breathed but for her; ever watchful to forerun all her +wishes, having no delight but to behold and converse with her, he had +even the magnanimity to convey her letters to Menil, and to bring about +interviews, when he found that her heart was irrevocably bestowed on him. +The catastrophe is painful. The favoured Menil, who had solemnly pledged +himself to make her his wife, was no sooner set free than he proved +faithless to his vows. The noble-minded and unfortunate Maisonrouge never +recovered the shock which he sustained from his loss; he died the victim +of his unrequited love. + +The confinement of Mademoiselle de Launay was continued for two years; +she was the last to be liberated. Her imprisonment was protracted by +her repeated resolute refusals to confess anything that could tend to +derogate from the safety and character of the Duchess of Maine. She +persisted in this course even after she had the duchess’s permission +to speak out, and she was released at last after having made only an +imperfect confession. This heroic conduct gained, as it deserved, +universal praise. It is mortifying to relate that, after her sufferings, +she was received by the duchess without that warm greeting which she had +a right to expect. The duchess even carried her indifference so far as +to let her remain almost in rags, all her clothes having been worn out +in the Bastile. Yet she would not hear of her quitting Sceaux, and when +Dacier, who was rich, would have married De Launay, she frustrated the +negotiation, in the dread of losing her. At length, when her ill-used and +exhausted dependent was meditating to retire into a convent, the duchess +bestirred herself, and brought about an union with the Baron de Staal, a +half-pay Swiss officer. The baroness was now admitted to all the honours +enjoyed by the highest ladies in the household, and from this period +till her decease in 1750, she was comparatively happy. + +Nicholas de Malezieu, a native of Paris, was born in 1650. Like Madame +de Staal, he possessed much talent, and, like her, he displayed it in +childhood. By the time that he was four years old he had, with scarcely +any assistance, taught himself to read and write, and at twelve years of +age had gone through a complete course of philosophy. His merit gained +for him the friendship of Bossuet, and the Duke of Montausier, and so +highly did those eminent men rate it, that they recommended him as tutor +to the Duke of Maine. Fenelon was subsequently added to the list of his +friends, and, notwithstanding the breach between that amiable prelate and +Bossuet, he retained the good-will of both. He seems, too, to have lived +in harmony with all the principal contemporary authors. The marriage of +the Duke of Maine with the high-spirited and intelligent grand-daughter +of the great Condé drew still closer the ties which bound Malezieu to +the family of the duke. His learning embraced a wide circle, he was a +proficient in mathematics, elegant literature, Greek, and Hebrew, and his +extemporary translations from the Greek dramatists and poets, and his +illustrations and comments on them, are said to have been delivered with +a degree of eloquence which excited universal admiration. The duchess +listened to his instructions with delight. It is therefore not wonderful, +that he acquired an almost unbounded influence in the ducal palace. +“The decisions of M. Malezieu,” says Madame de Staal, “were thought as +infallible as were those of Pythagoras among his disciples. The warmest +disputes were at an end the moment any one pronounced the words ‘_He_ +said it.’” There was another reason which had, perhaps no small effect +in rendering him a favourite with the duchess. He was not one of those +stately personages who think that it derogates from their dignity to +attend to graceful trifles. The duchess was fond of giving magnificent +spectacles and entertainments, and having plays acted, at Sceaux, where +she held a sort of miniature court. Malezieu had the management of them, +and when verses, and sometimes pieces, were wanted, his ready pen was +called in to supply them. From these light occupations he was taken away +for a time, to become mathematical preceptor to the youthful Duke of +Burgundy; in this task he was for four years engaged, and he performed +it in a manner which enhanced his reputation. The lessons which he +gave to his royal pupil were afterwards published, under the title of +“Elements of Geometry.” The days of Malezieu were spent in uninterrupted +tranquillity, till the period when the duchess rashly plunged into +intrigues with the Spanish court. It was not unnatural that he should +espouse warmly the cause of his noble patrons, and he was perhaps led to +the verge of treason before he was aware. His heaviest offence seems to +have been his writing, at the request of the Duchess of Maine, sketches +of two letters against the Duke of Orleans which were to be sent to the +Spanish monarch, for the purpose of being addressed by him to Louis +XV. and the parliaments. Malezieu long persisted in denying the fact, +and asserting the innocence of his employer, and for this persistency +he was kept in the Bastile after the whole of the plotters, with the +exception of himself and De Launay, had been discharged. It was not till +he knew that proof was in the hands of the government, and the duchess +had confessed, that he avowed the authorship of the letters. He was then +released, but was exiled for six months to Etampes. His decease took +place in 1727. + +There remains yet another person who suffered by the Cellamare +conspiracy, though he was not one of its agents. He had the fate of the +unlucky stork in the fable, who got into dangerous company. Bargeton, one +of the most celebrated advocates of the parliament of Paris, was born, +about 1675, at Uzès, in Languedoc. If he was not of humble birth, his +parents at least were poor; for, before he had emerged from obscurity, +all relationship with him was disclaimed by a Languedocian family +which claimed to be noble. When, however, his fortune and fame were +established, one of that family was anxious to prove his consanguinity +with the formerly despised advocate, and hoped to flatter him, by +descanting on the antiquity of their common origin. Bargeton cut short +the harangue of his would-be kinsman. “As you are a gentleman by birth,” +said he, “it is impossible that we can be relations.” + +Bargeton was the law adviser of some of the highest personages of the +kingdom. The duke and duchess of Maine placed entire confidence in him. +This circumstance gave rise to suspicion that he was connected with the +Cellamare plot, and he was consequently committed to the Bastile. In a +short time his innocence was recognized, and he was set at liberty. + +The legal reputation of Bargeton, both as a civilian and common lawyer, +induced Machault, the comptroller-general of finances, to apply to him, +in 1749, for assistance. The clergy had hitherto contributed to the +wants of the state only by voluntary gifts; and, of course, asserted +the privilege of not being compelled to contribute at all. Machault +determined to put an end to this pretended privilege, by subjecting +them, like the rest of the people, to the payment of the twentieth. Had +he succeeded, his success would have put an end to one of the abuses +which contributed to produce the Revolution, and, most probably, would +at length have caused the downfall of another equally crying abuse with +respect to the nobles. Though Bargeton was thoroughly convinced that the +clergy had no right to an exemption from imposts, yet, being aware that +the firmness of Louis XV. was not to be relied on, he advised Machault +either to prohibit the ecclesiastics from holding meetings, or to +decline a contest with them. “I have the king’s promise to stand by me,” +said Machault. “He will break it,” replied the advocate, who, in this +instance, proved to be a prophet. Bargeton, nevertheless, lent his aid to +the comptroller-general, and wrote a series of admirable letters, on the +subject of the clerical immunity. His labour was in vain. Unchangeable +in nothing but sensuality and despotism, the king yielded; the clergy +triumphed; and the letters of Bargeton were suppressed by an order of +council. The author did not live to witness this event; he died early in +1753, before his work had passed through the press. + +The suspicion of carrying on an improper correspondence with Spain, +though it does not appear that he was connected with the Duchess of +Maine’s party, gave another prisoner to the Bastile. Nicholas Mahudel, +who was born at Langres, in 1673, was by profession a physician; but +his celebrity was acquired by his profound knowledge of history and +numismatics. So extensive were his talents and information upon those +subjects, that he was chosen a member of the Academy of Inscriptions, and +he took a very active part in the proceedings of that learned body. His +servant having betrayed to the police some letters which his master had +written to Spain, at the period when all intercourse with that country +was looked upon with a jealous eye, the consequence was, that Mahudel was +lodged in the Bastile for several months. It was while he was in prison +that he wrote his “History of Medallions,” of which only four copies were +printed. His other productions are chiefly dissertations on medals, and +on historical questions. He died in 1747. + +It has seldom happened that a captive has been reluctant to quit his +prison. Such an uncommon anomaly did, however, actually occur with +respect to an individual who was implicated in the Cellamare plot. Five +years had elapsed since the discomfiture of that plot, and the government +believed that all who were connected with it had been released, when it +was by mere chance discovered that one of them, the Marquis de Bon Repos, +had been left in the Bastile by mistake. Bon Repos, an aged officer, who, +notwithstanding his title, was miserably poor, was anything but grateful +for his proffered release. He had become habituated to confinement, and +was rejoiced to be safe from want, and he manifested a strong dislike to +“a crust of bread and liberty.” It was not without much murmuring that he +consented to change his quarters in the Bastile for others in the Hôtel +des Invalides. + +It might have been supposed that the tremendous explosion of the +Mississippi scheme, which spread ruin over France, would have filled the +prisons with real or imagined offenders. But this was not the case. Law +himself, more unfortunate and imprudent perhaps than criminal, received +a passport from the regent, and reached Brussels in safety. The only +persons who appear to have at all suffered, were his brother, William +Law, and two of the directors, who were sent for a short time to the +Bastile. + +The next remarkable inmate of the Bastile, the Count de Horn, a Flemish +noble, was no less infamous by crime than he was illustrious by birth. He +was allied to several princely houses, and could even claim relationship +with the regent Duke of Orleans. So thoroughly had he disgraced himself, +by his fraudulent and debauched conduct, that at the very time when he +was meditating the atrocity which drew on him the vengeance of the +law, his family had despatched a gentleman to pay his debts, to request +his expulsion from Paris, and to bring him back, by force if necessary, +to his own country. Their agent arrived too late. Some of the count’s +freaks, disgraceful as they were, might have been charitably ascribed to +the licentious manners of the age, and the turbulent passions of a youth +of twenty-two, had he not been guilty of a crime which proved that his +heart was still more faulty than his head. + +The two indiscretions—if so mild a name may be given to them—for which +the Count de Horn was sent to the Bastile, were not too harshly punished +by his imprisonment; as they manifested a degree of brutality which was +ominous of worse deeds. In company with some of his libertine companions, +he was passing the cloisters of St. Germain, where a corpse was waiting +for interment. “What are you doing here? Get up!” he exclaimed to the +body, which was lying uncovered. He seconded his speech by striking the +corpse several blows with his sword, and overturning it among the sacred +vessels, which were placed in readiness for the funeral service. + +As no notice was taken of this outrage, he was emboldened to make +the church of St. Germain once more the scene of his exploits. It is +necessary to mention that, at the period in question, almost the whole +population of Paris was labouring under the epidemic madness of the +famous Mississippi scheme. An ordinance relative to bank notes had just +been issued by the government, and a hawker was crying it for sale in the +street. From this man the count purchased a copy of the ordinance, and +gave him a crown for it, on condition of his placing a large stone at +the great door of the church. On this stone De Horn mounted, and while +high mass was being celebrated within the building, he thundered out the +anthem which is sung when the dead are committed to the ground, and he +concluded by proclaiming the burial of bank notes. This second insult to +public decency was too much to be borne; the priest laid his complaint +before the government, and the offender was conveyed to the Bastile. + +In the course of a few days the youthful profligate was set at liberty. +But his brief imprisonment had worked no beneficial change upon him. It +seems, indeed, to have had a contrary effect. So slight a chastisement +perhaps induced him to calculate upon impunity for greater crimes. A +very short time elapsed before he dipped his hands in blood. In the +sanguinary deed which brought him to destruction, he had two accomplices, +Laurent de Mille, a half-pay captain, and Lestang, a youth of twenty, the +son of a Flemish banker. Every Frenchman, who could any how obtain the +means of speculating, was then busily engaged in the Rue Quincampoix, +which was the Parisian stock exchange. De Horn, too, was there; but his +speculation was of a more diabolical nature than that which engaged the +multitude. Having picked out a rich stock-jobber, who was known to carry +about with him a large sum in notes, he lured him by pretending to be in +possession of shares, which he was willing to sell considerably under the +market price. These bargains were usually concluded in a tavern; and, +accordingly, De Horn and his associates proceeded with their unsuspecting +victim to a house of that kind in the Rue de Venise. There he stabbed the +unfortunate stock-jobber, and robbed him of his pocket-book. He then, +with his accomplices, leaped out of the window, and endeavoured to make +his escape. Lestang got off, but the count and the half-pay captain were +less fortunate; they were overtaken, and lodged in prison. + +Justice, on this occasion, was not delayed. The trial of the delinquents +followed close upon the commission of the murder; no circumstance of +mitigation could be pleaded in their behalf, and they were both condemned +to be broken on the wheel. No sooner did the sentence become known than +the whole of the aristocratical class in France, Flanders, and Germany, +was in commotion. To subject a nobleman to such a degrading punishment +was declared to be an unprecedented and abominable measure. The regent +was beset on all sides by solicitations for a pardon, or, at least, +for a change in the mode of executing the criminal. When the first of +these boons was found to be hopeless, redoubled exertions were made to +obtain the second. Among the arguments employed to move the regent, that +of the culprit being related to him was strongly urged. But, though +Philip of Orleans was stained by many vices, there were moments when his +better nature prevailed, and he was capable of acting nobly. To the near +relations of the count, who pressed him incessantly on the subject, he +replied, “When I have impure blood in my veins, I have it drawn out.” +Then, quoting the sentiment of Corneille, “’tis crime that brands with +shame, and not the scaffold,” he added, “I must share in the disgrace of +which you complain, and this ought to console the rest of his kindred.” +It is said, however, that he was at length on the point of yielding so +far as to commute the form of punishment for one less obnoxious; but +that Mr. Law and the Abbé Dubois insisted on the absolute necessity of +allowing justice to take its course. Popular indignation would, they +justly remarked, be roused by any favour being shown to the perpetrator +of such a heinous offence. The regent acquiesced in their opinion; and, +that he might not be harassed by further appeals to his clemency, he +went privately to St. Cloud, where he remained till the murderers were +executed. + +Having lost all hope from the Regent, the Princes of Robecq and +Isengheim, who were nearly allied to De Horn, tried a new method of +evading the dreaded stigma. They gained admission to his prison, and +exhorted him to escape the wheel, by taking poison, which they offered. +But either religious scruples, or a lingering belief that he might yet be +pardoned, induced him to decline acceding to their wishes. Finding that +all their intreaties and remonstrances were unavailing, they quitted him +in a rage, exclaiming, “Go, wretch! you are fit only to die by the hand +of the executioner.” + +The firmness of the regent was worthy of applause. It was, nevertheless, +looked upon as an inexpiable insult by the aristocracy in general, and +especially by the kinsfolk of the malefactor. The regent having directed +that the confiscated property of the count should be restored to the +prince, his brother, the haughty noble rejected the proffered boon, and +gave vent to his high displeasure in the following insolent letter. +“I do not complain, Sir, of the death of my brother; he had committed +so horrible a crime, that there was no punishment he did not deserve. +But I complain, that, in his person, you have violated the rights of +the kingdom, of the nobility, and of nations. For the offer of his +confiscated property, which you have been pleased to make, I thank you; +but I should think myself as infamous as he was, if I were to accept of +the slightest favour from your Royal Highness. I hope that God and the +king will, some day, mete out to you the same rigid justice that you have +dispensed to my unfortunate brother.” + +By the death of the Duke of Orleans, in 1723, all the power of the state +fell into the worthless hands of the Duke of Bourbon. The vices of +Orleans had been at least palliated by great talents, some virtues, and a +heart which, though corrupted, was not dead to kind and noble feelings; +but Bourbon, harsh in disposition, rude in manners, repulsive in personal +appearance, and governed by an artful and profligate mistress, had no one +good quality to throw even a faint lustre over his numerous defects. The +sway of Bourbon lasted little more than two years, and, in that brief +space of time, he committed so many enormous political errors, springing +from ignorance, presumption, and intolerance, that the kingdom was thrown +into discontent and confusion. + +The minister of the war department, Claude le Blanc, was one of those +who suffered by the change which took place on the death of the Duke of +Orleans. Le Blanc was born in 1669, and had filled several important +offices before he became one of the ministers. The machinations of his +enemies, one of the most inveterate of whom was the Marshal de Villeroi, +procured his temporary banishment from court in 1723, on suspicion of +his having participated in peculation committed by the treasurer. He was +confined in the Bastile by the Duke of Bourbon, and the parliament was +directed to bring him to trial. To secure his conviction, his adversaries +calumniously asserted, that he had employed an assassin to murder one of +his principal accusers. The parliament, however, fully acquitted him of +all the charges which were brought against him. He was, nevertheless, +exiled by the duke. In 1726, Cardinal de Fleury placed him once more at +the head of the war department, where he continued till his decease, in +1728. It is in favour of his character that he died poor, and that he was +beloved by the people. + +Le Blanc was scarcely restored to his office, before his vacant place in +the Bastile was filled by one who had been among the most active of his +enemies. Joseph Paris Duverney, a native of Dauphiné, of humble birth, +was one of four brothers, all of whom were men of talent. A fortunate +chance gave them the opportunity of exercising their talents in a wider +field than, considering their primitive station in life, they could have +hoped to find. They were the sons of a man who kept a small solitary inn +at the foot of the Alps, and whom they assisted in his business. The +Duke of Vendôme was then at the head of the French army in Italy, and +all his plans were rendered abortive by the failure of supplies. This +want of subsistence was caused by the scandalous conduct of Bouchu, the +commissary general. Bouchu, who was old, had the folly to make love to +a young girl, and she had the good sense to prefer his deputy, who had +youth and personal appearance on his side. To revenge himself for this +slight, Bouchu retarded the collecting of provisions, in order to throw +the blame on his deputy, who was charged with the merely mechanical part +of the operations. Knowing that further delay would be ruin to him, the +deputy contrived to collect a portion of the supplies that were wanted; +but he was yet far from being out of his difficulties, for the Alps were +interposed between him and the French army, and he knew not where to find +in the neighbourhood a practicable pass. While he was labouring under +this embarrassment, he luckily fell in with the four brothers, and they +engaged to extricate him from it. They were thoroughly acquainted with +every path and goat track in that wild region, and they conducted the +convoy with so much skill, through apparently impassable ways, that they +reached the French camp without having suffered the slightest loss. + +This service, for which they were liberally rewarded, laid the foundation +of their fortune. The contractors and commissaries employed them, and +promoted them rapidly; and, at no distant time, the brothers became +themselves contractors, and extensive commercial speculators. Riches +rapidly flowed in upon them, and they were called to take a share +in managing the finances of the state. They experienced, however, a +temporary eclipse during the ascendancy of Law, to whom they were +hostile, and who avenged himself by procuring their exile into Dauphiné. +The flight of Law put an end to their banishment; they returned to Paris, +were in higher credit than ever, and contributed much to mitigate the +evils which had been caused by the Mississippi scheme. They continued to +have great weight in the government, till they lost it in consequence of +a political intrigue, in which Joseph Paris imprudently engaged, with the +Marchioness de Prie, the Duke of Bourbon’s mistress. Their intent was to +exclude Cardinal de Fleury from public affairs, and to give the duke an +unbounded ascendancy over the youthful monarch. Fleury discovered the +plot; the duke was deprived of power; and the brothers were once more +exiled. Joseph was soon after arrested, at his asylum near Langres, and +was sent to the Bastile, where he remained for nearly two years. In 1730, +however, he recovered his influence, and he kept it till his death, in +1770. France is indebted to Joseph Duverney for the project of the Royal +Military School, which was carried into execution in 1751. + +Two grandsons of the unfortunate Fouquet, the Count de Belleisle, and +the Chevalier de Belleisle, were involved in the fall of Le Blanc, and +were for some time inmates of the Bastile. The count was born in 1684; +the chevalier in 1693. The count had acquired a high military character, +in the war of the succession, and in the Spanish campaign of 1719, when, +with his brother, he was immured in a prison. After his release, he +served with distinction in various quarters, and rose to the rank of +marshal. Cardinal de Fleury placed entire confidence in his civil as well +as his military talents. It was not, however, till the breaking out +of the war of 1741 that his genius shone forth in its full lustre. The +secret negotiations for raising the Elector of Bavaria to the dignity of +emperor were carried on by him, and on this occasion he gave convincing +proof of his diplomatic skill. Placed at the head of the French army, +which was to maintain Charles VII. on the throne, Belleisle carried +Prague by assault. But while, as ambassador extraordinary of Louis XV., +he was securing the election of Charles at Frankfort, the Austrians +threatened to deprive him of his recent conquests. He, therefore, +hastened back to his army, obtained some advantages, and would probably +have triumphed, had not the sudden defection of Prussia and Saxony left +him to bear the whole weight of Maria Theresa’s forces. + +Prague, garrisoned by 28,000 French, was soon invested by 60,000 enemies. +Belleisle offered to give up the Bohemian capital, on condition of being +allowed to retire without molestation; but the besiegers would listen +to nothing short of a surrender at discretion. After having made a +protracted defence, he began to be threatened by famine, and, in this +extremity, he resolved to break through the Austrian quarters. At the +head of 15,000 men, with twelve days’ provisions, he sallied from Prague, +on the night of the 16th of December, 1742, and directed his march upon +Egra, which city was at the distance of thirty-eight leagues. He took +his measures so well, that, though he was closely pursued by the enemy’s +light troops, he sustained little injury. The sufferings of the French +army were, nevertheless, extreme. Compelled to bivouac for ten nights +among snow and ice, and often without wood for fires, the mortality among +the troops was appalling. The line of the retreat was marked throughout +by whole platoons frozen to death; seventeen hundred men perished in the +course of the ten days. In 1746 and 1747, Belleisle was charged with +the defence of Dauphiné; these were his last campaigns. In 1748 he was +created a duke and peer, and in 1757 he became war minister. He held the +war department for three years, and reformed many abuses. In 1761 he died +childless, the last of his family, his heir, the Count of Gisors, having +fallen at the battle of Crevelt. + +His brother, the chevalier, had gone before him, the victim of an +intemperate courage. From 1734 to 1746, the chevalier was often actively +engaged, both in fighting and negotiating, and displayed equal talents +in each occupation. It being an object of importance to open a passage +into the heart of Piedmont, the two brothers agreed that an attack +should be made on the formidable intrenched post of the Piedmontese, at +the Col de l’Assiette. The chevalier was animated by the prospect of +gaining the rank of marshal, in case of success. The position of the +enemy was all but inaccessible, and was fortified with more than usual +care, well provided with artillery, and held by a large force. Belleisle +led his men to the attack, but found it impossible even to approach his +antagonists, who scattered death among his ranks, with almost perfect +impunity to themselves. Instead of retiring from a hopeless contest, he +madly persisted in his efforts, till the slaughter became horrible. He at +last put himself at the head of a body of officers, and made a desperate +but fruitless assault, in which he fell, along with most of those who +surrounded him. Nearly four thousand of the assailants were slain, and +half as many wounded, while the loss of the Piedmontese fell far short of +a hundred men. + +We have, in the former part of this chapter seen one literary female an +inmate of the Bastile, we must now contemplate in the same situation +another, of equal talents, but with a more sullied character. The second +of these females was Madame de Tencin, sister of the cardinal of that +name. Though, like most Frenchwomen of that period, it is probable that +Madame de Staal did not preserve an inviolate chastity, she certainly +paid more respect to appearances than was paid by Madame de Tencin, and +was less stimulated by mere animal passion. “I shall paint only my bust,” +Madame de Staal is said to have replied, when she was asked how, in her +Memoirs, she would contrive to speak of her love affairs; with respect +to Madame de Tencin, it may be doubted whether, at least while she was +moving in the circle of the court, she would have hesitated to delineate +a whole-length likeness of herself. + +Tencin was a name derived from a small estate; the family name was +Guerin. The lady in question was born in 1681, and her father was +president of the parliament of Grenoble. She was placed in the convent of +Montfleury, near Grenoble, where she resided for five years. If credit +may be given to the statements of St. Simon and others, her conduct while +she wore the veil was anything but pious and decorous. The consequence +of one of her amours is said to have rendered it indispensable for her +to leave the convent, of which she was already tired. Her great object +was to shine in Paris, and this she accomplished. Through the interest of +Fontenelle, who took a great interest in her, she obtained a dispensation +from the Pope, and she then gave full swing to her pleasures. She +became the mistress of the ultra profligate Dubois; and the scandalous +chronicles of the time charge her with having joined in the orgies of the +regent and his companions, and prostituted her talents by the composition +of obscene works. With Law, the Mississippi projector, she was intimate, +and she and her brother appear to have profited largely by speculations +during that period of national madness. It is one pleasing feature in +her character, that she was more anxious to establish her brother than +herself. + +The celebrated d’Alembert was the fruit of one of her amours; the father +was the Chevalier Destouches. The infant was, in the first instance, +deserted by its parents; it was left on the steps of the church of St. +John de la Ronde, where it was found in such a state of weakness that, +instead of sending it to the Foundling Hospital, the commissary of police +humanely gave it to the wife of a poor glazier to be nursed. Such a want +of maternal feeling, had it not been in some measure atoned for, would +have justified a sarcasm of the Abbé Trublet, who, on some one praising +to him the mild disposition of Madame de Tencin, replied, “Oh, yes! if +she had an interest in poisoning you, she would choose the mildest poison +for the purpose.” The parents are, however, said to have relented in the +course of a few days; the father settled on him a pension of 1200 livres. + +It was the fatal result of another of her amours that gave her a place +in the Bastile. In 1726, La Fresnaye, one of the members of the Great +Council, shot himself through the head at her house. A paper in his +handwriting was found, in which he declared that, if ever he died a +violent death, she would be the cause of it. From this paper, which +certainly bears on the face of it a very different meaning, it was +hastily and harshly concluded, that she had a hand in his murder. She was +consequently committed to the Concièrgerie, whence she was removed to the +Bastile; but she was not long a prisoner. + +In her later years, the conduct of Madame de Tencin underwent a complete +reformation; the catastrophe of La Fresnaye perhaps contributed to the +change. She kept up a correspondence with Cardinal Lambertini, which +was not discontinued when he became Pope Benedict XIV., and her house +was the resort of all the wit and talent of Paris, with Fontenelle +and Montesquieu at their head. Her assemblage of literary men she +used jocosely to call her menagerie, and her animals, and it was her +custom, on New-year’s-day, to present each individual with two ells of +velvet, for a pair of breeches. It is not easy to suppress a smile at +the ludicrous idea of such a present. Madame de Tencin died in 1749. +Her three romances, the Count de Comminge, the Siege of Calais, and the +Misfortunes of Love, still deservedly maintain a high rank among works of +that class. It has been said, that she was assisted in writing them by +two of her nephews; but the truth of this is at least doubtful. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + Reign of Louis XV. continued—The Bull Unigenitus—A Notary + Public—G. N. Nivelle—G. C. Buffard—Death of Deacon Paris—Rise, + progress, and acts, of the Convulsionaries—Persecution + of them, and artifices employed by them to foil their + persecutors—Lenglet Dufresnoy—La Beaumelle—F. de + Marsy—Marmontel—The Abbé Morellet—Mirabeau the elder—The + Chevalier Resseguier—Groubendal and Dulaurens—Robbé + de Beauveset—Mahé de la Bourdonnais—Count Lally—La + Chalotais—Marin—Durosoi—Prévost de Beaumont—Barletti St. + Paul—Dumouriez. + + +Religious intolerance, on the one hand, and disgusting fanaticism, on +the other, contributed largely to swell the number of captives in the +Bastile, and in other places of confinement. For many years after Pope +Clement XI., at the instigation of the bigoted Le Tellier and Louis XIV., +had thrown among the clergy of the Gallican church that ecclesiastical +firebrand the bull Unigenitus, it continued to spread the flames of +fierce contention, hatred, and persecution. The first individual for whom +the bull found an abode in a prison was, I believe, a notary public. +While the regency was held by the Duke of Orleans, the bishops of +Mirepoix, Senez, Montpellier, and Boulogne, had the boldness to sign an +act, protesting against the bull, and appealing from the pope to a future +council; and, accompanied by a notary, they solemnly presented this act +to the assembled Sorbonne. As to have imprisoned the four bishops would +scarcely have been politic, they were only ordered to retire to their +dioceses; the notary, of whom a scape-goat could more conveniently be +made, was sent to the Bastile. + +Backed by power, the supporters of the bull were finally triumphant, and +they did not fail to make the vanquished party experience the consequence +of being defeated by men who did not consider forbearance as a virtue. +It would be useless to dwell upon the many appellants who were chastised +for having ventured to doubt the pontifical infallibility, and insist on +referring the question in dispute to a future council; I will, therefore, +only make mention of two individuals. + +Among those who were most active in opposing the bull Unigenitus, and +who, consequently, were proscribed by its champions, was Gabriel Nicholas +Nivelle; he was indefatigable in drawing up memorials and tracts, and +soliciting appeals against it. He more than once contrived to elude his +pursuers; but, in 1730, he was taken and committed to the Bastile, where +he remained for four months. His zeal was, however, rather excited than +cooled by this imprisonment; and, till his decease in 1761, when he was +in his seventy-fourth year, he continued to be a determined opponent of +the bull. Nivelle edited several voluminous works relative to the contest +in which his party was engaged; the principal of which, in four folio +volumes, bears the title of The Constitution Unigenitus denounced to the +Universal Church, or a General Collection of the Acts of Appeal. + +Equally hostile to the bull, and equally persecuted by its victorious +friends, was Gabriel Charles Buffard, a native of Bayeux, who was born +in 1683. He was rector of the university of Caen, and canon of Bayeux; +but was expelled from his offices, and banished out of the diocese, in +1722. Buffard settled at Paris, where he was not long allowed to remain +in quiet. He was conveyed to the Bastile, and, after having been there +for some time, he was exiled to Auxerre. From Auxerre he was speedily +dragged to suffer another imprisonment in the Bastile. Fortunately, he +found a protector in Cardinal des Gesvres, through whose intercession he +was set at liberty. Buffard thenceforth lived in retirement, and gained +a subsistence by giving opinions as a chamber counsel, and by assisting +young scholars in the study of the canon law. He died in 1763. + +It was an opinion of Bishop Butler, the celebrated author of The Analogy +of Religion, that “whole communities and public bodies might be seized +with fits of insanity, as well as individuals;” and, indeed, that +“nothing but this principle, that they are liable to insanity, equally +at least with private persons, can account for the major part of those +transactions which we read of in history.” Singular as, at first sight, +this opinion may appear to be, there are many circumstances which ought +to induce us to pause, before we reject it as erroneous. The strange +scenes, for instance, which took place among the Jansenists,—scenes +arising out of the death of the deacon Paris,—may almost authorize a +belief, that large bodies of individuals can be simultaneously smitten +with monomania, or at least can communicate it to each other with +wonderful rapidity. + +Francis Paris, a strenuous opponent of the bull Unigenitus, was the son +of a French counsellor. Pious, humble, and benevolent, Paris relinquished +to his brother all claim to the paternal succession, renounced the +world, lived by the labour of his own hands, and spent his leisure +moments in prayer, and in succouring, consoling, and instructing the +poor. His modest estimate of his own abilities deterred him from taking +holy orders. He died on the 1st of May, 1727, and was buried in the +church-yard of St. Medard. Many of those to whom he had been a comforter +and guide, looked upon him as a beatified being, and came to pray at +his tomb. Among the number were many females. Rumours soon began to +be spread, that miracles were worked by the influence of the sainted +defunct; sight was said to be restored, and contracted limbs extended to +their full longitude. Multitudes now flocked to the sacred ground. Then +ensued, especially among the women, contortions and convulsive movements, +attended by cries, shrieks, and groans, all of which were regarded as +manifestations of divine power. All convulsive movements are catching, +and consequently, the number of persons who displayed them at St. Medard, +increased daily to an enormous extent. The jargon which was uttered by +the convulsionaries, during their paroxysms, was next supposed to be the +language of prophecy; and a whole volume of it was actually published, +under the title of “A Collection of Interesting Predictions.” Before, +however, we laugh at our Gallic neighbours for such folly, it may be well +to remember some things which have happened in England, within the last +quarter of a century. + +After these practices had gone on, with hourly increasing vigour, +for some years, the government closed the church-yard of St. Medard, +which was become the theatre of exhibitions calculated to mislead the +weak-minded, and disgust men of sound intellect. But the sect of the +convulsionaries—for it had by this time grown into a strong and regularly +organized sect,—was not discouraged by this measure. Earth from the +church-yard where the deacon Paris was interred, and water from the +spring which had supplied him with drink, became the symbols of this +buried idol, and the means of working miracles. Meetings were held in +private houses, and there fanaticism, of the darkest, wildest kind, +gave full scope to all its gloomy inspirations. A regular system of +torture was practised by the deluded votaries; women being the principal +sufferers. To be beaten with logs on the tenderest portions of the human +frame; to bend the body into a semi-circular form, and allow a weight of +fifty pounds to be dropped from the ceiling on to the abdomen; to lie +with a plank on the same part, while several men stood on it; to be tied +up with the head downwards; and to have the breasts and nipples torn +with pincers; were among the inflictions to which females submitted, and +apparently with delight. The blows were inflicted by vigorous young men, +who were called Secouristes. The highly sublimed madness of some pushed +them to still more dreadful extremities; it prompted them to be tied on +spits, and exposed to the flames, or to be nailed by the hands and feet +to a cross. The performance of these unnatural acts was denominated “the +work.” + +The Convulsionaries did not form a homogeneous body; as was to be +expected, they were split into parties, bearing various appellations, +and being, in some instances, hostile to each other. There were the +Vaillantistes, the Augustinians, the Melangistes, the Margoullistes, the +Figuristes, and many more. The Vaillantistes took their name from Peter +Vaillant, a priest, who taught that the prophet Elijah was resuscitated, +and that he would appear on earth, to convert the Jews and the court of +Rome. His disciple, Housset, maintained that Vaillant himself was the +prophet. Darnaud, another priest, boldly assumed the character of the +prophet Enoch. The Augustinians, who carried their fanaticism to such +a pitch that they were looked upon as heretical by other convulsionary +sects, were the followers of a friar of the name of Augustin. Among their +peculiar follies, was that of making nocturnal processions, with torches +in their hands, and halters round their necks, to Nôtre Dame, and thence +to the place de Grêve; these processions were a sort of rehearsal of the +tragic scene in which they expected they should ultimately be called +upon to perform. The Melangistes were those who distinguished two causes +producing convulsions; one which gave rise to useless or improper acts, +another which inspired divine and supernatural acts. The tenets of the +Margoullistes have not been handed down to us. The Figuristes were so +called from their representing, in their convulsive paroxysms, various +phases of the passion of Christ, and the martyrdom of the saints. + +The fierce enthusiasm of all these sectarians has never been exceeded. +Like American Indians, they set at defiance the utmost severity of pain. +Even slight stimulus would rouse them into violent action. “I have seen +them,” says Voltaire, “when they were talking of the miracles of St. +Paris, grow heated by degrees, till their whole frame trembled, their +faces were disfigured by rage, and they would have killed whoever dared +to contradict them. Yes, I have seen them writhe their limbs, and foam, +and cry out ‘There must be blood!’” Not the slightest concession would +they make to avoid punishment. A pardon was offered to several of them, +who were sentenced to the pillory; they refused it, for they could not, +they said, repent of having done right. No lapse of time could eradicate +this feeling from their minds. In 1775, when M. de Malesherbes visited +the Concièrgerie, he found there a male and a female convulsionary, who +had been imprisoned for forty-one years. Age had not chilled in them the +resentment which was excited by their wrongs. He offered them liberty, if +they would only ask for it; but they firmly replied, that they had been +unjustly detained, and that it was the business of justice to atone for +its errors, and to give the reparation to which they were entitled. They +were released. + +It must not be imagined that the sect of the convulsionaries consisted +merely of poor and ignorant people. Such was not the case. Strange as the +fact may appear, the sect included great numbers of pious, learned, and +intellectual men. Very many rich individuals also belonged to it, and +contributed to the maintenance of their less fortunate brethren. A Count +Daverne was sent to the Bastile “for wasting his property in supporting +the convulsionaries;” and the same crime brought a similar penalty on +other individuals. That there were, however, numerous impostors, who +pretended to espouse the doctrines of the sect in order to further their +own purposes, admits of no doubt. There were men who gave regular lessons +in the art of bringing on convulsions. + +A hot persecution was perseveringly carried on against this sect, and +with the usual result; the sect throve in spite of it, or rather, +perhaps, in consequence of it. For five-and-thirty years it mocked +all attempts to exterminate it, and it did not begin to decline till +it was left to the withering influence of ridicule and neglect. It +is believed to have retained a few votaries even to a recent period. +The Bastile and the other Parisian prisons were yearly crowded with +convulsionaries. Of those who were confined in the Bastile, one of the +earliest was Peter Vaillant, from whom the Vaillantistes derived their +name. He had previously suffered there an imprisonment of three years, +for his opposition to the bull Unigenitus. In 1734, he was again sent +thither, and, after having been there for two-and-twenty years, he was +transferred to Vincennes, where he died. Housset, his disciple; Darnaud, +who called himself the prophet Enoch; the Abbé Blondel, author of Lives +of the Saints; the Abbés Deffart, Planchon, and Deribat; Lequeux, +prior of St. Yves, the learned editor of Bossuet’s works; and Carré de +Montgeron, a counsellor of the parliament of Paris; were of the number +of those who were sent to the Bastile. Montgeron was born in the French +capital, in 1686, and we have his own word for it that, till he was +suddenly converted in St. Médard’s church-yard, he was a thoroughly +worthless unbeliever. By a natural transition, he became one of the most +credulous and enthusiastic of dupes. In 1737, he printed a quarto volume, +illustrated with twenty plates, “to demonstrate the truth of the miracles +operated by the intercession of the beatified Paris.” This volume he +presented to Louis XV. at Versailles, and the next day, by order of the +monarch, he was conveyed to the Bastile. He was afterwards an inmate of +various prisons, and died at last in the citadel of Valence. While he was +in confinement, he added two more volumes to his rhapsody. + +In hunting down the humbler class of delinquents, the police found +abundant employment, and they performed their task in the most oppressive +manner. Hénault, the lieutenant of police, an irascible and unreasoning +man, was an ardent partisan of the Jesuits, and, of course, was a +violent enemy of the proscribed sect. His myrmidons spread terror in all +directions. They are charged with having, “even in the dead of night, +penetrated into the dwellings of individuals, scaled the walls, broken +open the doors, and shown no respect to age or sex, when their object +was to discover, imprison, consign to the pillory, banish, and ruin, +those who favoured the convulsionaries.” It was dangerous to be subject +to epileptic or other fits; persons who were attacked by them in the +streets having been pitilessly hurried off to jail. + +The vigilance of the police was also kept on the stretch, and in a +majority of cases was eluded, by the prints, posting-bills, pamphlets, +and periodical writings of the convulsionaries, as well as by their +secret meetings. Of the prints, one represented the tree of religion, in +the branches of which were seated Quesnel, Paris, and other apostles of +Jansenism, while two Jesuits were striving to root it up. For this, a +rhymer and engraver, Cointre by name, was committed to the Bastile. In +another, Archbishop Vintimille was seen throwing a stone at the sainted +deacon Paris, and the lieutenant of police was holding the archiepiscopal +cross, and stimulating the prelate. This print procured for Mercier, the +vender of it, a place in the Bastile. In a third of these caricatures was +depicted the pope larded with a dozen Jesuits. + +In placarding the walls, and distributing hand-bills, all sorts of +stratagems were employed. The following is one of the most ingenious +modes which was adopted by the bill-stickers. A woman, raggedly dressed, +with a large pannier strapped on her back, leaned her pannier against +the wall, as though she wished to rest herself. In the pannier was a +child, who, as soon as she stopped, opened the cover, and fixed a bill +on the wall. As soon as his task was performed he closed the aperture, +and his bearer proceeded with him to another convenient place. The bills +and short pamphlets, which were made public in this and other ways, were +innumerable. In the library of the Duke de la Vallière, there was an +imperfect collection of them, which formed thirteen quarto volumes. Most +of them seem to have been printed in the environs of the capital; they +were often brought into the city by females, and in searching for them, +the police officers were guilty of the grossest indecency. + +But the great object which the police sought to obtain, and in which it +was utterly foiled, was the suppression of a periodical publication which +bore the title of Nouvelles Ecclesiastiques. This obnoxious work was +vigorously continued for more than twenty years, without the government +being able to lay hands on the writers, or to stop the printing and +distributing of it. Many persons were, indeed, committed to the Bastile +and other prisons, on suspicion of being its editors or contributors, +but no positive proof could ever be procured. The police were wholly at +fault; and the authors of the paper appear to have taken a provoking +pleasure in showing the lieutenant of police their contempt of his +efforts. In one instance, while his satellites were fruitlessly searching +a house which was suspected of being the printing-office, a bundle of the +papers, wet from the press, was thrown into his carriage almost before +his face. The paper was sometimes printed in the city, and sometimes in +the neighbourhood. At one time the press was secreted even under the +dome of the Luxembourg; at another, it was hidden among piles of timber, +and the printers were disguised as sawyers; on other occasions, it was +contained in a boat on the Seine. When the paper was printed in the +vicinity of Paris, various artifices were resorted to for smuggling it +into the town, one of which deserves especial notice. Water-dogs were +trained as carriers; they were closely shorn, the papers were wrapped +round them, a large rough skin was then sewn carefully over the whole, +and the sagacious animals then took their way, unsuspected, to their +several destinations. + +But enough has been said on the victims of religious delusion; and we +must now turn our view to persons of a different class. The fertile +author of little short of thirty works, and the editor of an equal +number, nearly all of which are forgotten, Lenglet Dufresnoy, who was +born at Beauvais in 1764, was perhaps a more frequent visiter to the +Bastile than any other person. It is said that he was so accustomed to +lettres de cachet, that as soon as he saw M. Tapin, the officer, enter +his apartment, he would greet him with, “Ah, M. Tapin, good day to you;” +and then say to his servant, “Come, be quick; make up my little bundle, +and put in my linen and my snuff;” which being done, he would add, “Now, +M. Tapin, I am at your service.” Between 1718 and 1751, he was at least +five times in the Bastile. He was also acquainted with Vincennes and +other jails. His first committal to the Parisian state prison was perhaps +the one which was most dishonourable to him; he was sent there to act +the part of a spy, and worm out the secrets of the persons who were in +durance for being concerned in the Cellamare conspiracy. It is asserted, +that he had already appeared in a similar degrading character at Lille, +in 1708, where he was paid for intelligence by the allies and the French, +and betrayed both parties. Lenglet was of a quarrelsome and caustic +disposition, which involved him in personal disputes, and he appears to +have paid little respect to truth; but he had at least one estimable +quality, an unconquerable love of independence,—no offers, however +flattering or lucrative, could prevail on him to place himself under the +galling yoke of the rich and the great. His death, which took place in +1755, was occasioned by his falling into the fire while he was asleep. + +The Bastile twice received Laurent Angliviel la Beaumelle, who was born +in 1727, at Vallerangue, in Lower Languedoc. His first imprisonment, in +1753, which lasted six months, was caused by his Notes on the Age of +Louis XIV.; for his second, in the following year, he was indebted to a +passage in his Memoirs of Madame de Maintenon, which charged the Austrian +court with keeping poisoners in its pay. His release, at the end of five +months, was generously obtained by the intercession of that court which +he had so grossly insulted. La Beaumelle was brought up in the Catholic +religion, but, during a residence of some years in Geneva, he became +a protestant. At the age of twenty-one, he was appointed professor of +French literature at Copenhagen, and his first work, “Mes Pensées,” was +published in the Danish capital. Lured by the patronage which Frederic of +Prussia held out to authors, La Beaumelle removed to Berlin. Voltaire, +who was then at the Prussian court, visited him, and expressed a wish +to be numbered among his friends; but their amicable intercourse was +soon changed into deadly hostility. There was a short paragraph in Mes +Pensées, which wounded the vanity of Voltaire, and La Beaumelle was +also guilty of having a respect for Maupertuis, whom Voltaire detested, +and missed no opportunity of ridiculing. The rabid hatred with which +Voltaire ever after pursued his foe, and the virulent and even low abuse +which he lavished on him, can excite only disgust. The malign influence +of Voltaire having rendered Berlin a disagreeable abode, La Beaumelle +returned to his native country. After having resided in peace at Toulouse +for several years, he obtained a place in the King’s Library, at Paris, +which, however, he did not long retain; his death, which happened in +1779, followed close upon his appointment. La Beaumelle had certainly no +mean talents; and it is much to be regretted, that they were so often +thrown away upon literary squabbles. Of his works, the best are Mes +Pensées; a Defence of the Spirit of Laws; and Letters to M. de Voltaire. + +The literary successor of La Beaumelle in the Bastile, was Francis +de Marsy, a native of Paris, born in 1714. After he had finished his +studies, he was admitted a member of the society of Jesuits. His first +productions were two Latin poems, on Tragedy and Painting, from which, +particularly the latter, he derived considerable reputation, his Latinity +being good, his versification flowing and spirited, and his imagery +poetical. Encouraged perhaps by the praise which he received for these +works, he became an author by profession, and wasted, in the ungrateful +occupation of writing for booksellers, those talents which, otherwise +employed, might have given him permanent fame. One of his tasks, an +analysis of the works of Bayle, which he published in 1755, was condemned +by the parliament of Paris, and made him, for some months, an inmate +of the Bastile. He died in 1763. Among his works are the first twelve +volumes of the History of the Chinese, Japanese, &c.; and an edition of +Rabelais in eight volumes. The former is a hasty compilation; the latter +he spoiled, by retouching and modernizing the style—it is probable, +however, that the clothing of Rabelais in a modern garb was a sagacious +scheme of the publishers. + +To hazard censure upon an individual of the privileged class, or even +to be suspected of having done so, was an infallible passport to the +Bastile. That versatile and elegant writer Marmontel was one of those who +were taught the danger of a courtier’s hostility. This enemy was the Duke +d’Aumont, whom, in his Memoirs, he truly describes as being “the most +stupid, the most vain, and the most choleric, of all the gentlemen of the +King’s chamber.” + +John Francis Marmontel, the son of parents in a humble station, was +born in 1723, at the town of Bort, in the Limousin. He has drawn a +delightful picture of the comfort and content in which his family lived. +“The property on which we all subsisted was very small. Order, domestic +arrangement, labour, a little trade, and frugality, kept us above want. +Our little garden produced nearly as many vegetables as the consumption +of the family required; the orchard afforded us fruits; and our quinces, +our apples, and our pears, preserved with the honey of our bees, were, in +winter, most exquisite breakfasts for the good old women and children. +They were clothed by the small flock of sheep that folded at St. Thomas. +My aunts spun the wool, and the hemp of the field that furnished us with +linen; and in the evenings, when, by the light of a lamp, which our +nut-trees supplied with oil, the young people of the neighbourhood came +to help us to dress our flax, the picture was exquisite. The harvest +of the little farm secured us subsistence; the wax and honey of the +bees, to which one of my aunts carefully attended, formed a revenue +that cost but little; the oil pressed from our green walnuts had a +taste and smell that we preferred to the flavour and perfume of that +of the olive. Our buck-wheat cakes, moistened, smoking hot, with the +good butter of Mont d’Or, were a delicious treat to us. I know not what +dish would have appeared to us better than our turnips and chesnuts; +and on a winter evening, while these fine turnips were roasting round +the fire, and we heard the water boiling in the vase where our chesnuts +were cooling, so relishing and sweet, how did our hearts palpitate with +joy! I well remember, too, the perfume that a fine quince used to exhale +when roasting under the ashes, and the pleasure our grandmother used +to have in dividing it amongst us. The most moderate of women made us +all gluttons. Thus, in a family where nothing was lost, trivial objects +united made plenty, and left but little to expend, in order to satisfy +all our wants. In the neighbouring forest there was an abundance of dead +wood of trifling value—there my father was permitted to make his annual +provision. The excellent butter of the mountain, and the most delicate +cheese, were common, and cost but little; wine was not dear, and my +father himself drank of it soberly.” + +Marmontel was designed by his father to be brought up to trade, but +his desire of learning was unconquerable, and was at last allowed to +be gratified. His early education he received from the Jesuits, at the +humble college of Mauriac, and he completed it at Clermont and Toulouse. +At one time he fancied that he had a vocation for the ecclesiastical +state, and he would have become one of the fraternity of Jesuits, had he +not been deterred by the pathetic entreaties and remonstrances of his +mother. It was at Toulouse that he made his first literary essay, in a +competition for one of the prizes bestowed by the academy for Floral +Games. A correspondence into which he entered with Voltaire, induced the +poet to advise him to take up his abode in Paris, and on this advice he +acted in 1745. For a considerable time after his settling in the capital, +he had to contend against poverty. The complete success which attended +his tragedy of Dionysius the Tyrant, lifted him at once into fortune +and fame. “In one day,” says he, “almost in one instant, I found myself +rich and celebrated. I made a worthy use of my riches, but it was not so +with my celebrity. My fame became the origin of my dissipation, and the +source of my errors. Till then my life had been obscure and retired.” +It is honourable to him that all his family benefited by his improved +circumstances; and, in palliation of his errors, we must consider how +difficult it was for a young and flattered poet to escape the contagious +effect of a corrupted capital. He finally renounced his licentious +habits, and became an affectionate and happy husband and father. + +Dionysius was followed by Aristomenes, Cleopatra, and other tragedies, +of which only Aristomenes was eminently successful. His wide-spread +reputation at length gained for him the patronage of Madame de +Pompadour, through whom he obtained the place of Secretary of the Royal +Buildings, and a pension on the French Mercury. It was for the Mercury +that he began those tales, which have been translated into English under +the erroneous appellation of Moral Tales. On the death of Boissy in +1758, Marmontel, by the favour of Pompadour, received the patent of the +Mercury; and, under his management, the work rose into high repute. He, +however, enjoyed this lucrative employment for only two years. Cury, +a wit, who had been deeply injured by the stupid and spiteful Duke +d’Aumont, composed a satire on his titled enemy. He repeated the verses +to Marmontel, and the latter, who had an excellent memory, repeated +them to a company at Madame Geoffrin’s. This circumstance was instantly +reported to the Duke d’Aumont, who lost not a moment in procuring a +lettre de cachet, by virtue of which Marmontel was conveyed to the +Bastile, charged with being the author of the satire. His confinement +lasted only eleven days; but as he generously refused to betray the +writer’s name, the patent of the Mercury was taken from him, and nothing +was left to him except a pension payable out of the profits of the work. + +In 1763, Marmontel became a member of the French Academy, and, twenty +years later, he was appointed its perpetual secretary. After he was +deprived of the Mercury, he pursued his literary labours, for many years, +with equal vigour and credit. Among the works which he produced during +that period are Belisarius, the Incas, a translation of the Pharsalia, +a new series of tales, various comic operas, miscellaneous pieces, a +History of the Regency of the Duke of Orleans, Elements of Literature, +and Memoirs of his own Life. During the fierce struggles between the +republican parties, after the downfall of the throne, Marmontel lived in +retirement, and in a state of penury which bordered upon poverty. He was +elected a member of the council of elders, in 1797, but the revolution +of the 18th Fructidor deprived him of his seat, and he withdrew to his +cottage in Normandy, happy in not being exiled to another hemisphere, as +was the case with many of his colleagues. Marmontel died of apoplexy, on +the last day of 1799. + +Morellet, the friend, and by marriage the relative, of Marmontel, was, +like that writer, one who suffered from the vengeance of the great. It +must be owned, however, that there was less injustice in his punishment +than in that of his friend, as he was really the author of the satire for +which he was confined, and it was published under circumstances which +made even Voltaire doubt whether the conduct of the writer was perfectly +justifiable. Andrew Morellet, to whom some of his acquaintance gave the +punning appellation of Mord-les, or Bite-’em, was born at Lyons, in 1727. +He received the early part of his education at the Jesuits’ College +in that city, and he completed his studies at Paris, in the seminary +of Trente-Trois, and the Sorbonne. He appears, however, to have paid +at least as much attention to the works of modern philosophers as to +those of the theologians. At Paris he became intimate with D’Alembert, +Diderot, and other contributors to the Encyclopædia. Returning to Paris, +after a tour which he made with a pupil, he was gladly admitted into the +most talented society in the capital. Palissot, in his comedy of the +Philosophers, having ridiculed the philosophical party, Morellet resented +the insult by a satirical production, called The Vision. In this work +there were some severe lines on the princess of Robecq, an enemy of the +encyclopedists, who was then lying on her death-bed. For these lines +Morellet suffered an imprisonment of several months in the Bastile. +Morellet was admitted into the French Academy in 1784, and he contributed +much to the Dictionary of that body. In 1803 he became a member of the +Institute, and in 1807 attained a seat in the legislature. His life was +protracted to the age of ninety-two, and, for nearly the whole of that +time his pen was actively employed on subjects of political economy and +general literature, and in translations, principally from the English +language. A selection from his writings was made by himself, in four +volumes, with the title of Literary and Philosophical Miscellanies of the +18th Century. He died in 1819. + +By Marmontel, who married his friend’s niece, he is thus characterized: +“The Abbé Morellet, with more order and clearness, in a very rich +magazine of every kind of knowledge, possessed in conversation a source +of sound, pure, profound ideas, that, without ever being exhausted, never +overflowed. He showed himself at our dinners with an openness of soul, +a just and firm mind, and with as much rectitude in his heart as in his +understanding. One of his talents, and the most distinguishing, was a +turn of pleasantry delicately ironical, of which Swift alone had found +the secret. With this facility of being severe, if he had been inclined, +no man was ever less so; and, if he ever permitted himself to indulge in +personal raillery, it was but a rod in his hand to chastise insolence or +punish malignity.” + +A less amiable captive than Marmontel and Morellet next claims our +attention. Though he was by no means destitute of talent or information, +Victor Riquetti, Marquis of Mirabeau, owes the redemption of his name +from oblivion less to his numerous literary productions than to his being +the father of the celebrated Mirabeau. The marquis, who was descended +from a Florentine family, was born at Perthes in 1715. He became a +disciple of Quesnay, and published many works, to disseminate the +doctrines of the political economists. His compositions are disfigured +by a detestable style, great affectation, and a want of method. Of his +labours, which amount to more than twenty volumes, it will suffice to +mention L’Ami des Hommes and the Théorie de l’Impôt. With reference to +the former, Voltaire satirically speaks of Mirabeau as “the friend of +man, who talks, who talks, who talks, who decides, who dictates, who +is so fond of the feudal government, who commits so many blunders, and +who gets so often into the wrong box—the pretended friend of the human +race.” He bestows equal contempt on the second work—“I have read the +Theory of Taxation,” says he, “and it seems to me no less absurd than +ridiculously written. I do not like those friends of man, who are for +ever telling the enemies of the state ‘we are ruined;—come;—you will have +an easy task.’” The government seems to have been of the same opinion as +Voltaire, for the Theory of Taxation procured for its author a lodging +in the Bastile. Mirabeau, however, continued to write and to publish +till nearly his last moments; he died in 1789. This pretended friend of +the human race, as Voltaire with justice calls him, deserved abhorrence +in all the relations of social life. He was an oppressive master, and a +tyrannical and brutal husband and father. He was perpetually soliciting +for lettres de cachet to plunge some branch or other of his family into +a dungeon. Of those letters he is said to have obtained fifty-four, many +of which were enforced against his highly-gifted though erring son, the +Count de Mirabeau, whom he hated, and whom, by his persevering cruelty, +he contributed to drive into desperate courses. + +Among those who felt the vengeance of the vindictive Pompadour was the +Chevalier Resseguier, a native of Toulouse, who was much admired in the +Parisian circles for his gaiety and wit. An epigram which he aimed at +the royal mistress, speedily made him an inmate of the Bastile. There, +like many other unfortunate victims of the marchioness, he might perhaps +have spent the rest of his days, had not his brother, a member of the +parliament of Toulouse, hastened up to the capital and succeeded in +mollifying Pompadour. In their way home from the Bastile, the grave +magistrate began to give his brother some prudent advice. Little disposed +to listen to it, the chevalier thrust his head out of the coach window, +and, in the words of Philoxenus of Syracuse, exclaimed, “take me back +to the quarries!” The brother still persisting to administer caution +and reproof, the chevalier lost all patience, censured him bitterly for +having stooped to ask a favour from the marchioness, and then leaped from +the carriage. Resseguier of course continued to scatter his sarcasms on +all sides. For one of them, directed against the notorious President +Maupeou, who was afterwards chancellor, he ran considerable risk of +paying a second visit to the Bastile. He was dining, on a fast-day, at +the house of M. de Sartine, and some of the guests were admiring the +size of the fish. “Yes,” said Marin, (whose name the reader will meet +with again) “they are very fine fish; but I dined yesterday with the +president, and we had still larger.” “Ah!” replied Resseguier, “I do not +wonder in the least at that; it is the place for everything monstrous.” +Louis XV. was informed of this pungent attack on the instrument of his +despotism, and was greatly irritated by it. + +The next literary prisoner was the involuntary proxy of an offender, +who took care to get beyond the reach of the police. In 1761, Grouber +de Grouberdal, a German by birth, and barrister by profession, author +of Irus, ou le Savetier du Coin, and a poem with the title of Le Sexe +Triomphant, was sent to the Bastile, on suspicion of having written a +satire called the Jesuitics, to which he appears to have only contributed +some verses. Grouber, however, escaped with no more than a month’s +imprisonment. A friend of Grouber’s was the real author. Henry Joseph +Dulaurens was born at Douay, and very early displayed abilities of a +superior order. He was less amiable than talented; for he is said to +have been suspicious, sarcastic, hasty, restless, and turbulent: that he +was licentious, is proved by his works. Dulaurens was destined for the +church, but abandoned the clerical profession. His satire, the Jesuitics, +which was modelled on the celebrated Philippics of La Grange Chancel, +was aimed at the Jesuits, to whom he had long been bitterly hostile. +Fearing that it would bring him into peril, he set off for Holland, on +the morning after it was published, without warning his friend Grouber +that danger was to be apprehended. In Holland he became a writer for +the booksellers; but, though his pen was extremely fertile, and his +productions, which were generally marked by originality and spirit, +obtained an extensive sale, he was scarcely able to avoid sinking into +poverty: the booksellers throve on those fruits of his talent, by which +he himself was barely kept alive. By his flight from Paris, Dulaurens +had eluded a residence in the Bastile, but it ultimately brought on him +a more protracted confinement than he would have endured had he remained +in France. In the hope of bettering his condition, he quitted Amsterdam, +and went to Liege, whence he removed to Frankfort. While he was living +in the latter city, he was prosecuted by the ecclesiastical chamber +of Mentz, as an anti-religious writer, and was condemned to perpetual +imprisonment. He died in 1797, in a convent near Mentz, after having been +a prisoner during thirty years. Of his works, the most remarkable are, Le +Compère Mathieu, L’Evangile de la Raison, Irma, and L’Aretin Moderne, in +prose; and Le Balai, and La Chandelle d’Arras, two mock-heroic poems;—of +these poems, which are of considerable length, the first was composed in +twenty-two days, and the second in fifteen. + +Of all the writers who, during the reign of Louis XV., found or deserved +a lodging in the Bastile, Peter Robbé de Beauveset may, perhaps, be +considered as one of the most degraded, in a moral point of view. He +was born at Vendôme, in 1714, received a good education, and was not +destitute of talent. At an early age, he began to write poems of the +coarsest obscenity, and he continued the practice till almost the close +of a long life. To repeat them to all companies that would listen, +seems to have been one of his greatest pleasures. Next to licentious +composition, he delighted in satire. His verses were insufferably harsh; +but they now and then displayed happy thoughts and forcible expressions. +To give an idea of his propensity to wallow in the mire, it will be +sufficient to say, that he chose for one of his themes the only disease +which is a disgrace to the sufferer, and that the song was worthy of +the theme. This drew on him the sarcasm, likely enough to be true, that +he was “the bard of the unclean malady, and that he was full of his +subject.” Having tried his satirical skill upon Louis XV., an order was +issued to seize his papers, and he would certainly have paid a visit to +the Bastile, had he not skilfully parried the blow. Being timely warned +of his danger, he destroyed the obnoxious piece, and substituted in its +place another of an opposite kind. This stratagem was successful. Instead +of sending him to prison, the king pensioned him, and gave him apartments +in the palace of St. Germain. Severe censors have hinted, that the +debauched monarch wished to have a monopoly of the poet’s obscene rhymes. +Robbé likewise received a pension from the Archbishop of Paris, on +condition that he should not publish his objectionable pieces. He kept to +the letter of his agreement; he did not print them; he contented himself +with reciting them to as many hearers as he could find. The motive of +the archbishop we can comprehend; but it is not easy to perceive what +could have induced the duchess of Olone to leave a legacy of 15,000 +francs to so shameless a writer, and to speak in flattering terms of his +reputation as an author! Before his death, which took place in 1794, he +is said to have manifested some signs of reformation. + +The liability to be thrust into a prison, for the purpose of gratifying a +courtier, or other powerful enemy, was not the fate of authors alone; the +men who devoted their talents, and shed their blood, to enlarge or defend +the dominion of their country, were equally subject to it. Striking proof +of this fact is afforded by the persecution which fell to the lot of Mahé +de la Bourdonnais and Count Lally. + +Bernard Francis Mahé de la Bourdonnais was born in 1699, at St. Malo, +entered the service of the East India Company at an early period, and +displayed such talent, and such consummate knowledge of mercantile +as well as of naval concerns, that, in 1735, he was appointed +governor-general of the isles of France and Bourbon. On his arrival +in the Isle of France, he found everything in a state of penury and +confusion. In a very short time, however, he showed what can be done +by a man of abilities and perseverance. A new and vivifying spirit was +breathed by him into the languishing frame of the colony. Laws and police +were established; arsenals, docks, forts, magazines, and canals, were +constructed; and the cultivation of indigo, cotton, manioc, and sugar, +was introduced. All this was accomplished within the space of five +years. Twice La Bourdonnais was sent to the coast of Coromandel, with +succours for his ungenerous rival and enemy Dupleix; the first time in +1741, the second in 1746. To narrate all the exertions of La Bourdonnais, +on these occasions, would require a volume. His conduct was such as to +win the warm praise of the English, who suffered by his success. The +result of his operations, in 1746, was the surrender of Madras; but the +terms of the capitulation were dishonourably violated by Dupleix, in +spite of the remonstrances of the indignant conqueror. Dupleix having +appointed another governor at the Isle of France, La Bourdonnais returned +to Europe, and on his way homeward was taken by an English vessel. In +England he met with that reception which was due to a talented and noble +foe, and was allowed to proceed on parole to his native country. A far +different greeting awaited him in France, where his mean and malignant +enemies had long been labouring effectually for his ruin. He had only +been three days in Paris before all his papers were seized, and he was +hurried to the Bastile. There he was kept in solitary confinement for +twenty-six months, not even his wife and children being allowed access +to him; nor was he permitted to have the means of writing. One of the +charges against him, founded on the testimony of a soldier who had been +hired to perjure himself, was that he had secretly conveyed on board of +his vessel a large sum of money from Madras. To refute this charge, by +showing that it was impossible for the witness to have seen any such +proceeding from the spot where he was posted, La Bourdonnais, destitute +as he was of materials, drew from memory an exact plan of Madras, and +contrived to have it conveyed to the commissioners who were appointed +to investigate his conduct. The plan was drawn on a white handkerchief, +with a rude sort of pencil formed from a slip of box, and dipped in brown +and yellow colours, which he obtained from coffee, and the verdigris +scraped from copper coins. This curious document quickened the movements +of his judges, and they took steps to bring the question to an issue. +After having undergone an imprisonment of three years, he was pronounced +innocent, and was released. The gift of liberty came too late to +save his life; his health was undermined by grief, anxiety, and the +unwholesomeness of his dungeon, and his fortune had melted away in the +hands of his persecutors; he languished in severe pain, and in a state of +indigence, till 1755, when death put an end to his sufferings. + +A doom still more severe than that of La Bourdonnais was assigned to +the unfortunate Count Lally. Thomas Arthur Lally was born in 1702, and +was the son of Sir Gerard Lally, one of those high-minded but mistaken +Irishmen, whose ideas of duty led them to expatriate themselves rather +than renounce their allegiance to the second James. Young Lally was early +conversant with war; he was not twelve years old when he first mounted +guard, in the trenches before Barcelona. In the course of the next thirty +years, he distinguished himself in numerous battle fields, particularly +at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and was employed in missions to England and +Russia, the former of which, not a little perilous, was undertaken in +1737, for the service of the Stuart family. To the house of Hanover he +was an inveterate foe, and he was fertile in plans for its overthrow. On +the breaking out of the war between England and France in 1756, he was +made a lieutenant-general, and appointed commandant of all the French +establishments in Hindostan. Unfortunately for him, the government +unwisely delayed his departure, and withdrew a part of the force which +had been intended to accompany him. When he reached Pondicherry he found +everything in confusion, none of the resources which he had expected to +find, and, worse than all, men in office who knew that he meant to punish +peculators, and who were therefore incessantly on the alert to thwart all +his plans. Their machinations were aided by his own defects; for he was +harsh, violent, and headstrong, in an extraordinary degree. Voltaire +says of him, that “he had found the secret of making himself hated by +everybody,” and that “every one, except the executioner, had a right to +kill him.” There is much exaggeration in this; but it is certain that +Lally was, and deserved to be, an unpopular man. + +In spite of the scantiness of his means, Lally took the field against +the English, with a firm resolve to drive them out of India. His first +operations were successful. He made himself master of Goudalour, Fort St. +David, and Devicotta, but here his good fortune ended; he was foiled in +an attack on Tanjore, and was subsequently compelled to raise the siege +of Madras. His failure must not be attributed to want of military skill; +he was nearly without resources, and there was in his own army a powerful +faction which was hostile to him. The council of Pondicherry, too, hated +him with such a deadly hatred that it rejoiced in, and even helped to +cause, his disappointments. Invested at last in Pondicherry by the +English, he defended the place with desperate courage, but was compelled +by famine to surrender. + +On his return to France, Lally attacked his enemies with his wonted +impetuosity. Their influence, however, was superior to his, and he +was sent to the Bastile. Nineteen months elapsed before he was even +questioned. The trial was at last commenced, and it occupied more than +two years. The whole of the proceedings teemed with the most flagrant +injustice; there was a manifest determination to send the prisoner to the +scaffold. The language used by some of his judges deserved the severest +punishment. Sentence of death was pronounced on the 6th May, 1766. On its +being made known to him, Lally stabbed himself with a pair of compasses, +but the wound was not mortal. Three days afterwards, he was taken to +execution, and, that nothing might be wanting to lacerate his feelings, +he was conveyed in a mud-cart, and his mouth was gagged. This brutality +had a contrary effect to that which was expected; it excited for him +the sympathy of the spectators, and covered his enemies with execration +and disgrace. The son of Count Lally, advantageously known during the +revolution as Count Lally-Tolendal, obtained, some years afterwards, a +solemn reversal of the sentence, and the restoration of his parent’s +honour. + +Caradeuc de la Chalotais, a Breton magistrate, estimable for his talents +and rectitude, is the next who comes forward on the scene. He appears +to have been indebted for his misfortunes partly to the Jesuits, +whose order he had assisted to suppress in France, and partly to the +Duke d’Aiguillon, whom he had offended, by venturing to hint a doubt +of his courage. He was a native of Rennes, born in 1701, and became +attorney-general in the parliament of Brittany. His two Comptes Rendus, +against the Jesuits, which contributed much to their overthrow, and his +Essay on National Education, which forms a kind of supplement to them, +are spoken of in the most laudatory terms by Voltaire. La Chalotais +subsequently acted a conspicuous part, when the parliament of Brittany +refused to register some of the royal edicts, which violated the Breton +privileges. The Duke d’Aiguillon was then governor of the province, and +we may believe that he was not sorry to take vengeance for the sarcasm +which the attorney-general had aimed at him. The Jesuits, too, are +said to have spared no pains to accomplish their enemy’s destruction. +In November, 1765, La Chalotais, his son, and four of the parliament +counsellors, were arrested, and in the following month, they were placed +in close confinement in the citadel of St. Malo. The main charges against +La Chalotais were, that he had written two anonymous letters to one of +the secretaries of state, which contained insults upon the king and his +ministers, and that he had entered into a conspiracy against the regal +authority. With respect to the letters, though some persons accustomed +to examine handwritings asserted them to be his, the vulgar style and +incorrect spelling render it in the highest degree improbable that he +was their author. He himself denied the charge in the most emphatic +manner. La Chalotais was carefully secluded from all correspondence, and +deprived of pen and ink; he, nevertheless, contrived to produce three +eloquent memorials in his defence, and to procure a wide circulation of +them. They were written on scraps of paper which had contained sugar and +chocolate, with a pen made from a toothpick, and ink composed of soot, +sugar, vinegar, and water. A commission was at first formed to try the +prisoners, but the cause was afterwards removed into the council of +state, and the captives were transferred to the Bastile. A stop was, +however, put to the proceedings by the king, and the accused individuals +were exiled to Saintes. An attempt was made to prevail on La Chalotais +to resign his office, but he refused to listen to the messenger. On the +death of Louis XV. his successor allowed La Chalotais to resume his seat +in parliament, and the magistrate retained it till his decease in 1785. + +The celebrated Curran, whose conversational talents no one that witnessed +them could possibly forget, once said to me, in allusion to the transient +intoxication produced by champagne, that it made a runaway rap at a man’s +head. It may, perhaps, from a similar reason, be allowable to say, that a +runaway rap was made at the liberty of the person who is the subject of +this sketch. Francis Louis Marin had scarcely time to lament the loss of +his liberty before it was restored to him. Marin was a Provençal, born at +Ciotat, in 1721; after having been a chorister, and then an organist, he +adopted the clerical profession, and went to Paris, where he became tutor +to the son of a nobleman. His manner and figure, which were good, and +his talents, which were far from contemptible, gained him many patrons +in the French capital. He now quitted his ecclesiastical pursuits, was +admitted a barrister, and published various works, one of which, the +History of Saladin, is perhaps the best of all his productions, and is +still in repute; it was dedicated to St. Florentin, one of the ministers, +and gained for its author the appointment of royal censor, to which was +subsequently added that of secretary-general to Sartine, who had been +placed at the head of the inquisitorial office, to which printers and +publishers were amenable. As secretary-general he seems to have satisfied +no one; he was desirous of befriending the philosophical party, in which +he had several friends, but was still more desirous of retaining his +lucrative post. The consequence was, that he sometimes winked at, and +even aided, infractions of the law, and then sought to propitiate his +employers by additional vigilance and severity. Marin was certainly not +overburthened with delicacy; and, unless he is much belied, he increased +his income by acting as purveyor to the disgraceful amours of his royal +master. In 1763, he was confined for twenty-four hours in the Bastile, +for having, in his censorial character, neglected to expunge some lines +from one of Dorat’s tragedies. A few years afterwards, he was deprived of +a pension of 2000 livres, because he had allowed Favart’s comic opera of +the Gleaner to be acted and published. In 1771, he was made editor of the +Gazette de France, in which capacity he brought upon himself a perpetual +shower of epigrams and sarcasms. Many of these annoying shafts were aimed +at him by the Nouvelles à la Main, and he had the weakness to demand that +the editor of the paper should be arrested. He had soon the misfortune or +the folly to provoke a much more formidable enemy, the witty and eloquent +Beaumarchais, who covered him with ridicule. To complete his vexation, +no long time elapsed before the Count de Vergennes dismissed him, and +in the most humiliating manner, from the royal censorship and the +superintendence of the Gazette. Marin then retired to his native town, +where he busied himself in literary pursuits. By the revolution he lost a +considerable part of his income; but to his credit it must be owned, that +he did not lose his temper or his spirits; he died in 1809. Marin had +some praiseworthy qualities; he is said to have been ready to do acts of +kindness, and even to have often run serious risks to serve his friends. +But here we must stop, for it appears that his principles and his morals +were lamentably defective; one of his biographers, who writes of him +in a friendly spirit, owns that in extreme old age he had “a taste for +pleasure, and even for libertinism.” + +Less fortunate than Marin, Farmain De Rozoi, or, as he was generally +called Durosoi, did not pay a visit of only twenty-four hours to the +Bastile. Durosoi was a Parisian by birth, and seems to have early +betaken himself to “the idle trade” of literature. He tried many +kinds of authorship, and was far below mediocrity in all; novels, +histories, poems, and plays, especially the latter, he poured forth in +rapid succession, drawing down abundance of bitter sarcasms from the +critics, and gaining little emolument to himself. Among the dramatic +subjects which he chose was Henry IV., and he was so delighted with his +hero, that he brought him on the stage in three different pieces. The +appellation of “the Modern Ravaillac,” which he acquired by these pieces, +shows how woefully the monarch fared under his hands. But Durosoi had +worse enemies than the critics; on an erroneous suspicion of his being +the author of two obnoxious works, he was shut up for two months in the +Bastile. When the revolution broke out he espoused the royal cause, and +became editor of the Gazette de Paris. He was a zealous and certainly an +honest advocate of that cause. Though slenderly endowed with talents, he +was by no means deficient in courage and noble feelings. When Louis XVI., +after his flight to the frontier, was under restraint in the Tuileries, +Durosoi formed the romantic but generous project of obtaining the king’s +liberty, by inducing the friends of Louis to offer themselves as hostages +for him; and a great number of individuals actually consented to render +themselves personally responsible for the sovereign’s conduct. Durosoi +did not slacken in his hostility to the revolutionists, till their +final success on the 10th of August compelled him to drop the pen. He +was one of their earliest victims on the scaffold, he being executed by +torch-light only nineteen days after the downfall of the monarchy. He +died with the utmost firmness; in a letter which he left behind him, he +declared, that “a royalist like him was worthy to die on St. Louis’s day, +for his religion and his king.” It is said that, with the laudable desire +of benefiting mankind by his death, he was desirous that his blood should +be employed in trying the experiment of transfusion. + +The French revolution, which ultimately consigned Durosoi to death, +opened the prison-gates of a man, of whom few particulars are recorded, +but whose courage and unmerited sufferings deserve our admiration and +pity. It will scarcely be credited that, from a very early period of the +reign of Louis XV. there existed an infamous monopoly of grain, which was +managed for the benefit of the monarch. Corn, bought at a low price in +plentiful seasons, was hoarded up, and sold at an immense profit in times +of scarcity. The circumstance was kept as secret as possible for many +years, but the truth got out, and the name of “the compact of famine” +was popularly given to the monopoly. A patriotic individual, Prévost +de Beaumont, the secretary of the clergy, formed the daring project of +at one sweep gaining possession of all the documents relative to this +affair, and revealing to France the whole machinery of the scandalous +system. When, however, he was about to carry his plan into effect, he was +seized by the police, and conveyed to the Bastile. In that prison, and at +Vincennes, he spent twenty-two years, his hands and feet heavily ironed, +a bare board for his bed, and a scanty portion of bread and water for his +daily subsistence; he would no doubt have perished in his dungeon, had +not the chains which he had so long worn been broken by the strong hand +of the French people. + +A striking proof how liable to abuse is irresponsible power, placed in +the hands of ministers of state and of monopolizing corporations, is +afforded by the persecution of Barletti St. Paul, a man of considerable +abilities, who was born at Paris, in 1734. So precocious was his talent, +that, at the age of sixteen, he had made himself master of all that the +best teachers could communicate to him. After having been for a while +sub-preceptor of the junior branches of the royal family, he was involved +in a quarrel, in consequence of which he quitted France. He resided for +six years at Naples, after which he was intrusted by the Dauphin with a +diplomatic mission at Rome; and, when he had fulfilled this mission, he +returned to his native country. + +Rapidly as St. Paul had acquired knowledge, he was thoroughly +dissatisfied with the method of instruction then in use, and particularly +with the various and discordant systems which were followed by +preceptors. He, therefore, undertook the Herculean task of forming a +collection of elementary treatises on the sciences and arts, with new +modes of studying languages. On this encyclopedic labour he was, at +intervals, employed during nearly the whole of his life. Eighteen volumes +of it were completed, and he was on the point of seeing them brought +before the public, when his prospects were destroyed by the base jealousy +of one learned body, and the legal despotism of another. As the cost of +printing the work would be great, a society of his friends was formed, +for the purpose of accomplishing the publication in concert, and a public +meeting was announced, to deliberate on the necessary arrangements. But +the University of Paris had taken the alarm. Like all old and pampered +institutions, it hated novelty, and trembled lest its monopoly should be +shaken. To avert the dreaded evil, it had recourse to the parliament; +and the compliant parliament issued a prohibition against the meeting. +This step was backed by the appointment of four commissioners to +examine the work. It did not require the spirit of prophecy to predict +that commissioners, chosen under such auspices, would be anything but +impartial. The hackneyed joke, of suing his Satanic majesty in one of +the infernal courts, is pretty sure to be realised on such occasions. +The report which they made was so unfavourable, that a complete stop was +put to the scheme of publishing. St. Paul did not tamely submit to this +treatment. He procured to be printed, at Brussels, a pamphlet, which was +entitled The Secret Revealed. Sartine, the minister of police, who had +been one of his active enemies, was somewhat roughly handled in this +production. The king of spies, jails, and gibbets, was not a man to be +attacked with impunity, and he avenged himself in a manner which was +worthy of him, by suppressing the pamphlet, and sending its author to the +Bastile. + +At the expiration of three months, the intercession of the Cardinal de +Rohan obtained the liberation of St. Paul. He then went to Spain, where +he became professor of belles-lettres at Segovia; an appointment which +he held for three years. Returning again to France, he published a New +System of Typography, to diminish the labour of compositors. For this +the government rewarded him by a grant of twenty thousand livres, and +by printing five hundred copies of his volume at the Louvre press. His +improvement consisted in casting in one mass the diphthongs, triphthongs, +and all the most frequently occurring combinations of letters. A similar +plan, with the name of the Logographic, was tried in London, a few years +afterwards, but it was soon abandoned. + +St. Paul continued to labour indefatigably on his ameliorated system of +education; he gained in its favour the suffrage of Sicard, who was one of +three persons whom the National Institute nominated to examine it; but +he did not live to complete it, and only a small specimen of it was ever +published. He passed unhurt through the storms of the Revolution, and +died at Paris, in 1809. One of his best works, “The means of avoiding the +customary errors in the instruction of Youth,” suggests a mode by which +two scholars may reciprocally give lessons to each other. + +Almost the last prisoner, perhaps the last of any note, who was committed +to the Bastile in the closing year of Louis the Fifteenth’s reign, +was a man who subsequently acted a conspicuous part in politics and +war. Charles Francis Duperier Dumouriez, born at Cambray, in 1739, +was the son of an army commissary, who translated the Ricciardetto, +and wrote some dramatic pieces. After having been educated with much +care, Dumouriez obtained a cornetcy, and, before the close of the seven +years’ war, he had received two-and-twenty wounds, nineteen of which +were inflicted on him in a combat which he gallantly maintained against +twenty hussars, five of whom he disabled. Peace being concluded, he +travelled in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1768 and 1769, he served +with distinction in Corsica, and rose to the rank of colonel. The Duke +de Choiseul employed him, in 1770, on a mission in Poland, to support +the confederation of Bar against the Russians, but the dismissal of +the duke, which took place soon after, led to the recall of the envoy. +Dumouriez was next intrusted, by Louis XV., with a secret mission to +the court of Gustavus of Sweden, relative to the revolution which that +sovereign was then planning. This was done by Louis, who was in the habit +of taking similar steps, without the knowledge of the Duke d’Aiguillon, +the minister for foreign affairs. Dumouriez was, in consequence, arrested +at Hamburgh, by order of the duke, and conveyed to the Bastile, Louis +not having spirit enough to avow his own acts. During his six months’ +imprisonment, Dumouriez wrote various works. The accession of Louis +XVI. restored the captive to liberty; and he successively obtained +the government of Cherbourg, and the command of the country between +Nantes and Bordeaux. That such a man should not take an active part in +the French revolution was impossible. But Dumouriez was not, as the +ultra-royalists have unjustly described him to be, an enemy of the +throne; he was, in truth, a constitutional royalist. In 1792, he was +promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and was appointed minister +for foreign affairs, from which office he was shortly afterwards removed +to the war department. That department, however, he held only for four +days, at the end of which term he resigned. The duration of his official +existence did not exceed three months. He was now placed at the head +of the army which was destined to repel the Prussians, who were led by +the Duke of Brunswick. By a masterly disposition of his troops, in the +defiles of Champagne, he completely foiled the enemy, and compelled +them to make a ruinous retreat. He then broke into the Netherlands, +gained the battle of Jemappe, revolutionized the whole country, and +carried the French arms into Holland. Quitting his army for a while, he +visited Paris, for the purpose of endeavouring to save the king, but in +that he failed, and rendered himself an object of suspicion. The tide +of military success, too, at length began to turn against him. He lost +the battle of Neerwinden, and was forced to abandon the Low Countries. +Commissioners were now sent by the Convention to arrest him; and, after +having vainly endeavoured to rally his army on his side, he was obliged +to seek for safety in flight. After having resided in various foreign +countries, he finally settled in England, where he was often consulted by +the ministers. Though he was decidedly hostile to the emperor Napoleon, +he took no share in the restoration of the Bourbons, nor did he approve +of their conduct. Dumouriez died on the 14th of March, 1823, and was +interred at Henley, in Oxfordshire. His works are numerous; the most +interesting of them are, his Memoirs, and the Present State of Portugal. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + Captivity and Sufferings of Masers de Latude—Cause of his + Imprisonment—He is removed from the Bastile to Vincennes—He + escapes—He is retaken, and sent to the Bastile—Kindness of + M. Berryer—D’Alegre is confined in the same apartment with + him—Latude forms a plan for escaping—Preparations for executing + it—The Prisoners descend from the summit of the Bastile, and + escape—They are recaptured in Holland, and brought back—Latude + is thrown into a horrible dungeon—He tames rats, and makes a + musical pipe—Plans suggested by him—His writing materials—He + attempts suicide—Pigeons tamed by him—New plans suggested + by him—Finds means to fling a packet of papers from the top + of the Bastile—He is removed to Vincennes—He escapes—Is + recaptured—Opens a communication with his fellow-prisoners—Is + transferred to Charenton—His situation there—His momentary + liberation—He is re-arrested, and sent to the Bicêtre—Horrors + of that prison—Heroic benevolence of Madame Legros—She succeeds + in obtaining his release—Subsequent fate of Latude. + + +In one of the finest passages that ever flowed from his pen, Sterne +alludes to the comparatively trifling effect produced on the mind, when +it endeavours to form a collective idea of the misery which is felt by a +throng of sufferers. “Leaning my head upon my hand,” says he, “I began to +figure to myself the miseries of confinement. I was in a right frame for +it, and so I gave full scope to my imagination. + +“I was going to begin with the millions of my fellow-creatures born to no +inheritance but slavery; but finding, however affecting the picture was, +that I could not bring it near me, but that the multitude of groups in it +did but distract me, I took a single captive, and having first shut him +up in his dungeon, I then looked through the twilight of his grated door +to take his picture. + +“I beheld his body half wasted away with long expectation and +confinement, and felt what sickness of the heart it was which arises +from hope deferred. Upon looking nearer, I saw him pale and feverish; in +thirty years the western breeze had not once fanned his blood; he had +seen no sun, no moon, in all that time—nor had the voice of friend or +kinsman breathed through his lattice.” + +It is even as Sterne asserts. The contemplation of the woes which are +undergone by a large aggregate of persons, seems indeed to act on the +mind somewhat in the manner of a heavy misfortune; it bewilders and +benumbs the feelings. When we read of a single individual falling beneath +the knife of a murderer, we are more violently startled and thrilled, and +the impression made is more permanent, than when we read of the thousands +who groan out their lives on the field of battle; though, in the latter +case, the largest part of the victims, mutilated, torn, trampled on, and +slowly dying without succour, and distant from all that is dear to them, +endure agonies far beyond those which are inflicted by the stab of an +assassin. + +Let us, therefore, now follow the example of Sterne. Hitherto the reader +has seen only a rapid succession of captives passing before him, like the +shadows of a magic lantern; he has had but glimpses of the wretchedness +that falls to the lot of a prisoner; for, with respect to nearly the +whole of the individuals chronicled in this volume, we know, as to +their situation while in durance, little beyond the circumstance of +their having been incarcerated; their persecutors ensured their silence +by retaining them till they sunk into the grave, or by the terror of +becoming once more inmates of a dungeon. While the Bastile was standing, +few would venture even to whisper what they had experienced within its +walls. Fortunately, however, there does exist one faithful record of +the severest woes, protracted by untirable tormentors, through a series +of years, extending to half the natural life of man. Let us then avail +ourselves of it, fix our attention steadily on a single individual, watch +his anguish, bodily and mental, his privations, his struggles, and his +despair, and mark how deeply the iron can be made to enter into his soul +by vindictive and ruthless tyrants. + +Henry Masers de Latude, the person alluded to, spent thirty-five years +in the Bastile and other places of confinement. If we did not know that +power, when it is held by the base-minded, is exercised by them without +mercy, to punish whoever offends them, we might suppose that Latude +brought his long agonies upon himself by the commission of some enormous +crime. That he committed a fault is undeniable, and it was a fault of +that sort which most disgusts high-spirited men, because it bears the +stamp of meanness and fraud. It deserved a sharp reprimand, perhaps +even a moderate chastisement; but no heart that was not as hard as the +nether millstone, could have made it a pretext for the infliction of such +lengthened misery as he was doomed to undergo. + +Latude, who was in his twenty-fifth year when his misfortunes began, +was the son of the Marquis de Latude, a military officer, and was born +in Languedoc. He was intended for the engineer service, but the peace +of Aix-la-Chapelle prevented him from being enrolled. The notorious +Marchioness de Pompadour, who united in herself the double demerit of +being the royal harlot and procuress, was then in the zenith of her +power, and was as much detested by the people as she was favoured by the +sovereign. As Latude was one day sitting in the garden of the Tuileries, +he heard two men vehemently inveighing against her; and a thought +struck him, that, by turning this circumstance to account, he might +obtain her patronage. His plan was a clumsy one, and it was clumsily +executed. He began by putting into the post-office a packet of harmless +powder, directed to the marchioness; he then waited on her, related the +conversation which he had overheard, said that he had seen them put a +packet into the post-office, and expressed his fears that it contained +some extremely subtle poison. She offered him a purse of gold, but he +refused it, and declared that he was only desirous of being rewarded +by her protection. Suspicious of his purpose, she wished to see his +handwriting; and therefore, under pretence of intending to communicate +with him, she asked for his address. He wrote it, and, unfortunately for +him, he wrote it in the same hand in which he had directed the pretended +poison. He was then graciously dismissed. The sameness of the writing, +and the result of the experiments which she ordered to be made on the +contents of the packet, convinced her that the whole was a fraud. It is +scarcely possible not to smile at the blundering folly of the youthful +impostor; had he sent real poison, and disguised his handwriting, he +would perhaps have succeeded. + +But this proved to be no laughing matter to the luckless Latude. The +marchioness looked upon the trick as an unpardonable insult, and she +was not slow in revenging it. In the course of a few days, while he was +indulging in golden dreams, he was painfully awoke from them by the +appearance of the officers of justice. They carried him to the Bastile, +and there he was stripped, deprived of his money, jewels, and papers, +clothed in wretched rags, and shut up in the Tower du Coin. On the +following day, the 2nd of May, 1749, he was interrogated by M. Berryer, +the lieutenant of police. Unlike many of his class, Berryer was a man of +feeling; he promised to intercede for him with the marchioness, and, in +the meanwhile, he endeavoured to make him as comfortable as a man could +be who was robbed of his liberty. To make the time pass less heavily, he +gave him a comrade, a Jew, a man of abilities, Abuzaglo by name, who was +accused of being a secret British agent. The two captives soon became +friends; Abuzaglo had hopes of speedy liberation through the influence +of the Prince of Conti, and he promised to obtain the exercise of that +influence in behalf of his companion. Latude, on his part, in case of +his being first released, bound himself to strain every nerve to rescue +Abuzaglo. + +Ever on the listen to catch the conversation of the prisoners, the +jailors appear to have obtained a knowledge of the hopes and reciprocal +engagements of the friends. When Latude had been four months at the +Bastile, three turnkeys entered, and said that an order was come to +set him free. Abuzaglo embraced him, and conjured him to remember his +promise. But no sooner had the joyful Latude crossed the threshold of +his prison, than he was told that he was only going to be removed to +Vincennes. Abuzaglo was liberated shortly after; but believing that +Latude was free, and had broken his word to him, he ceased to take an +interest in his fate. + +It is not wonderful that the health of Latude gave way under the pressure +of grief and disappointment. M. Berryer came to console him, removed +him to the most comfortable apartment in the castle, and allowed him to +walk daily for two hours in the garden. But he did not conceal that the +marchioness was inflexible, and in consequence of this, the captive, who +felt a prophetic fear that he was destined to perpetual imprisonment, +resolved to make an attempt to escape. Nearly nine months elapsed before +he could find an opportunity to carry his plan into effect. The moment +at length arrived. One of his fellow-prisoners, an ecclesiastic, was +frequently visited by an abbé; and this circumstance he made the basis of +his project. To succeed, it was necessary for him to elude the vigilance +of two turnkeys, who guarded him when he walked, and of four sentinels, +who watched the outer doors, and this was no easy matter. Of the +turnkeys, one often waited in the garden, while the other went to fetch +the prisoner. Latude began by accustoming the second turnkey to see him +hurry down stairs, and join the first in the garden. When the day came on +which he was determined to take flight, he, as usual, passed rapidly down +the stairs without exciting any suspicion, his keeper having no doubt +that he should find him in the garden. At the bottom was a door, which he +hastily bolted to prevent the second turnkey from giving the alarm to his +companion. Successful thus far, he knocked at the gate which led out of +the castle. It was opened, and, with an appearance of much eagerness, he +asked for the abbé, and was answered that the sentinel had not seen him. +“Our priest has been waiting for him in the garden more than two hours,” +exclaimed Latude; “I have been running after him in all directions to no +purpose; but, egad, he shall pay me for my running!” He was allowed to +pass; he repeated the same inquiry to the three other sentinels, received +similar answers, and at last found himself beyond his prison walls. +Avoiding as much as possible the high road, he traversed the fields and +vineyards, and finally reached Paris, where he shut himself up in a +retired lodging. + +In the first moments of recovered liberty, the feelings of Latude were +those of unmixed pleasure. They were, however, soon alloyed by doubt, +apprehension, and anxiety. What was he to do? whither was he to fly? To +remain concealed was impossible, and, even had it been possible, would +have been only another kind of captivity; to fly from the kingdom was +nearly, if not quite as difficult; and, besides, he was reluctant to give +up the gaieties of the capital and his prospects of advancement. In this +dilemma he romantically determined to throw himself upon the generosity +of his persecutor. “I drew up,” says he, “a memorial, which I addressed +to the king. I spoke in it of Madame de Pompadour with respect, and on +my fault towards her with repentance. I entreated she would be satisfied +with the punishment I had undergone; or, if fourteen months’ imprisonment +had not expiated my offence, I ventured to implore the clemency of her I +had offended, and threw myself on the mercy of my sovereign. I concluded +my memorial by naming the asylum I had chosen.” To use such language was, +indeed, sounding “the very base-string of humility.” + +This appeal of the sheep to the wolf was answered in a wolf-like manner. +Latude was arrested without delay, and immured in the Bastile. It was a +part of the tactics of the prison to inspire hopes, for the purpose of +adding the pain of disappointment to the other sufferings of a prisoner. +He was accordingly told that he was taken into custody merely to +ascertain by what means he had escaped. He gave a candid account of the +stratagem to which he had resorted; but, instead of being set free, as he +had foolishly expected, he was thrown into a dungeon, and subjected to +the harshest treatment. + +Again his compassionate friend, the lieutenant of police, came to his +relief. He could not release him from his dungeon, but did all that lay +in his power to render it less wearisome. He condoled with him; tried, +but in vain, to soften his tormentor; and, as a loop-hole in the vault +admitted light enough to allow of reading, he ordered him to be supplied +with books, pens, ink, and paper. For six months these resources enabled +Latude to bear his fate with some degree of fortitude. His patience was +then exhausted, and he gave way to rage and despair, in the paroxysms of +which he vented his angry feelings in epigrams and satirical verses. One +of these compositions, which is certainly not deficient in bitterness, +he was imprudent enough to write on the margin of a book which had been +lent to him— + + “With no wit or allurements to tempt man to sin, + With no beauty and no virgin treasure in store, + In France you the highest of lovers may win— + For a proof do you ask? Then behold Pompadour.” + +Latude had taken the precaution to write this in a feigned hand; but he +was not aware, that, whenever a prisoner returned a book, every page of +it was carefully examined. The jailers discovered the epigram, and took +the volume to John Lebel, the governor, who dutifully hastened to lay it +before the mistress of the king. The fury of the marchioness was extreme. +Sending for M. Berryer, she exclaimed to him, in a voice half smothered +with passion, “See here! learn to know the man for whom you are so much +interested, and dare again to solicit my clemency!” + +Eighteen dreary months passed away, during which Latude was strictly +confined to his dungeon, scarcely hearing the sound of a human voice. At +last M. Berryer took upon himself the responsibility of removing him to +a better apartment, and even allowing him to have the attendance of a +servant. A young man, named Cochar, was found willing to undertake the +monotonous and soul-depressing task of being domestic to a prisoner. He +was gentle and sympathising, and in so far was qualified for his office; +but he had miscalculated his own strength, and the weight of the burden +which he was to bear. He drooped, and in a short time he was stretched on +the bed of mortal sickness. Fresh air and liberty might have saved him. +Those, however, he could not obtain; for it was a rule that the fate of +any one who entered into the service of a prisoner became linked with +that of his master, and that he must not expect to quit the Bastile till +his employer was set at large. It was not till Cochar was expiring, that +the jailers would so much as consent to remove him from the chamber of +Latude. Within three months from his entrance into the Bastile, he ceased +to exist. + +Latude was inconsolable for the loss of the poor youth, who had always +endeavoured to comfort him, as long as he had spirits to do so. To +mitigate his grief, M. Berryer obtained for him the society of a +fellow-captive, who could scarcely fail to have a perfect communion of +feeling with him. This new associate, D’Alegre by name, was about his +own age, full of activity, spirit, and talent, and had committed the +irremissible crime of offending the Marchioness de Pompadour. Taking it +for granted that she was reclaimable, though on what ground he did so it +would be difficult to discover, he had written to her a letter, in which +he apprised her of the public hatred, and pointed out the means by which +he thought she might remove it, and become an object of affection. For +giving this advice, he had already spent three years within the walls +of the Bastile. Yet his woes were now only beginning. The unfortunate +D’Alegre had ample cause to lament his having forgotten the scriptural +injunction, not to cast pearls before swine. + +M. Berryer took the same warm interest in D’Alegre as in Latude. He was +indefatigable in his exertions to obtain their pardon, and for a while +he flattered himself that he should succeed. At last, wearied by his +importunity, the marchioness vowed that her vengeance should be eternal, +and she commanded him never again to mention their names. He was, +therefore, obliged to communicate to them the melancholy tidings, that +their chains could be broken only by her disgrace or death. + +D’Alegre was almost overwhelmed by the first shock of this intelligence; +it inspired Latude, on the contrary, with a sort of insane energy, and +his mind immediately began to revolve projects of escape. The very +idea of escaping would seem to be indicative of madness; egress through +the gates, tenfold guarded as they were, was utterly impossible, and to +ascend to the summit of the lofty tower, which must be done through the +grated chimney, then to descend from the dizzy height into the ditch, +and, lastly, to break through or climb the outward wall, appeared to be +equally impracticable. Yet, with no apparent means of accomplishing his +purpose, Latude firmly made up his mind to try the latter plan. He had +two things in his favour, time and perseverance, and their sovereign +efficacy has often been proved. + +When Latude mentioned to him his scheme, D’Alegre considered it as +little better than the ravings of delirium. Latude, however, continued +to meditate deeply upon it, though in silence. The first step towards +the execution of it, without the success of which no other could be +taken, was to find a hiding-place for the tools and materials which must +be employed. From his being unable to hear any of the movements of the +prisoner in the chamber below, Latude concluded that there was a space +between the floor of his own room and the ceiling of his neighbour’s, +and he immediately set himself to ascertain whether this was the fact. +As he was returning with D’Alegre from mass, he contrived that his +fellow-prisoner should drop his toothpick to the bottom of the stairs, +and request the turnkey to pick it up. While the turnkey was descending, +Latude looked into the under chamber, and estimated its height at about +ten feet and a half. He then counted the number of stairs between the two +rooms, measured one of them, and found, to his infinite delight, that +there must be a vacancy of five feet and a half between the bottom of the +one room and the top of the other. + +As soon as they were locked in, Latude embraced D’Alegre, and exclaimed +that, with patience and courage, they might be saved, now that they had a +spot where they could conceal their ropes and materials. At the mention +of ropes, D’Alegre thought that his companion’s wits were wandering, and, +when he heard him assert, that he had more than a thousand feet of rope +in his trunk, he felt sure that the assertion was prompted by madness. +“What!” said Latude, “have I not a vast quantity of linen[9]—thirteen +dozen and a half of shirts—many napkins, stockings, nightcaps, and other +articles? Will not these supply us? We will unravel them, and we shall +have abundance of rope.” + +D’Alegre began to have a gleam of hope, but he still started numerous +difficulties, among which were the want of wood for ladders, and of tools +to make them, and to wrench the iron gratings from the chimney. Latude +silenced him by replying, “My friend, it is genius which creates, and we +have that which despair supplies. It will direct our hands; and once more +I tell you, we shall be saved.” + +Their first essay in tool-making was to grind down to an edge, on the +tiled floor, two iron hooks, taken from a folding table; with these they +meant to remove the chimney gratings. The next was to convert a part +of the steel of their tinder-box into a knife, with which they made +handles for the hooks. The hooks were immediately applied to raise the +tiles, in order to find whether there was really a cavity beneath. After +six hours’ toil, the prisoners found that there was an empty space of +about four feet, and, having gained this satisfactory knowledge, they +carefully replaced the floor of their cell. The threads of two shirts +were then drawn out, one by one, tied together, wound into small balls, +and, subsequently, formed into two larger balls, each composed of fifty +threads, sixty feet in length. These were ultimately twisted into a rope, +from which was made a ladder of twenty feet, intended to support the +captives, while they extracted the bars by which the chimney was closed. + +The removal of the bars was a work of horrible labour. Cramped into the +most painful postures, it was impossible for them to work more than an +hour at a stretch, and their hands were always covered with blood. The +mortar was nearly as hard as iron, they had no means of softening it but +by blowing water on it from their mouths, and they thought themselves +lucky when they could clear away as much as an eighth of an inch in the +course of a night. As fast as the bars were extracted they replaced them, +that their operations might not be betrayed. Six months’ unremitting toil +was bestowed upon this single object. + +Having opened the passage up the chimney, they proceeded to construct +their ladders. Their fuel, which was in logs of about eighteen or twenty +inches long, supplied the rounds for the rope ladder, by which they +were to descend from the tower; and the whole of that by which they +were to scale the outward wall. More tools being required to cut the +wood, Latude converted an iron candlestick into a saw, by notching it +with the remaining half of the steel which belonged to the tinder-box. +To this implement he afterwards added others. They then set to work on +their wooden ladder, which it was necessary to make of the length of +twenty or five-and-twenty feet. It had only one upright, three inches +in diameter, through which the rounds passed, each round projecting six +inches on either side; the pieces of which it consisted were joined by +mortises and tenons, and each joint was fastened by two pegs, to keep +them perpendicular. As fast as the pieces were finished, the rounds were +tied to them with a string, that no mistake might occur when they were +put together in the dark. They were then carefully hidden under the floor. + +As in case of the prison spies chancing to overhear them talking about +their employment, it was of consequence to prevent their enemies from +understanding what was said, they invented a vocabulary of names for +all the tools and the portions of the apparatus. For instance, the saw +was _the monkey_, the reel _Anubis_, the hooks _Tubal Cain_, the wooden +ladder _Jacob_, the rounds _sheep_, the ropes _doves_, a ball of thread +_the little brother_, and the knife _the puppy dog_; the hole in which +they concealed them was christened _Polyphemus_. + +It now remained for them to make their principal rope ladder. This was +an arduous and almost endless task, as it was more than a hundred and +eighty feet long, and, consequently, double that length of rope was +wanted. “We began,” says Latude, “by unravelling all our linen, shirts, +towels, nightcaps, stockings, drawers, pocket-handkerchiefs,—every thing +which could supply thread or silk. When we had made a ball, we hid it in +_Polyphemus_; and when we had a sufficient quantity, we employed a whole +night in twisting it into a rope, and I defy the most skilful rope maker +to have done it better.” + +There was still a pressing necessity for another enormous quantity of +rope. Along the upper part of the outside of the Bastile ran a kind +of cornice, which stood out three or four feet beyond the wall. The +effect of this would be, to make the ladder hang loosely in the air, and +vibrate in such a terrific manner, that there would be great danger of +the captive who led the way being precipitated headlong to the ground. +To avert this peril, they made a second rope, three hundred and sixty +feet long, to be tied round the person first descending, and passed +gradually through a sort of block fixed above, in order to steady him. +Shorter ropes were also provided, to fasten the ladder to a cannon, and +for any other occasion that might occur. On measuring the whole of their +manufacture, they found that it extended to more than fourteen hundred +feet. Two hundred and eight rounds were required for the ladders, and, +lest their knocking against the wall should give the alarm, they covered +them with the linings of their morning gowns, waistcoats, and under +waistcoats. These last preparations for flight occupied eighteen months. + +It had originally been their intention, after having reached the ditch, +to climb the parapet, and get into the governor’s garden, and from thence +descend into the moat of the gate of St. Antoine. On consideration, +however, this plan was abandoned, because in this part they would be +more exposed than elsewhere to be detected by the sentinels. It was +therefore deemed advisable, though the labour would be greatly increased, +to break a way through the wall which divided the ditch of the Bastile +from that of the St. Antoine gate. Latude was of opinion that the mortar +of the wall on this side, having been weakened by frequent floods, might +be removed with comparative ease. Two bars from the chimney were to be +used as levers to raise the stones, and an auger, to make holes for the +insertion of the bars, was fabricated out of a screw from one of the +bedsteads, to which a wooden cross handle was added. + +All was now prepared for their flight, and they had only to decide upon +the day for attempting their hazardous enterprise. The 25th of February, +1756, was the day which they chose. A portmanteau was filled with a +change of clothes, the rounds were fastened into the rope ladder, the +wooden ladder was got ready, the two crowbars were put into cases to +prevent them from clanging, and a bottle of brandy was prudently added to +their baggage, to hearten them while they worked in the water—for the +Seine had overflowed, and at that moment there was from four to five feet +water in the moat of the Bastile, and ice was floating upon it. + +Supper being over, and the turnkey having locked them in for the +night, the captives, doubtless with throbbing hearts, began their +operations. Latude was the first to ascend the chimney. “I had the +rheumatism in my left arm,” says he, “but I thought little of the pain, +for I soon experienced one more severe.” Before he reached the top, +his knees and elbows were so excoriated, that the blood ran down from +them. When he arrived at the summit, he let down a rope, by means of +which he successively drew up the portmanteau, the ladders, and the +other articles. The end of the rope ladder he allowed to hang down, +and the upper part he fastened across the funnel with a large wooden +peg. D’Alegre was thus enabled to mount with less difficulty than his +predecessor had experienced. + +At last they breathed the free air of heaven on the platform of the +Bastile. As the du Trésor tower appeared to be the most favourable for +their descent, they carried their apparatus thither. One end of the +rope ladder was made fast to a cannon, and it was gently let down. The +safety rope was next passed through a firmly fixed block, and it was tied +securely round the body of Latude. The daring adventurer now commenced +his fearful descent of more than fifty yards; D’Alegre meanwhile slowly +letting out the rope. It was well that they had taken this precaution; +for, at every step that he took, Latude swung so violently in the air +that it is probable he would have lost his hold, had not the safety rope +given him confidence. In a few moments, which however must have seemed +hours, he reached the ditch unhurt. The portmanteau and the other effects +were then lowered to him, and he placed them on a spot to which the +water had not risen. D’Alegre himself followed; and, as Latude applied +all his strength to steady the ladder, the descent of his companion was +effected with less annoyance and hazard than his own had been. That +regret, at being unable to carry away their ladder and implements, should +have found a place among the feelings by which they were agitated, may at +the first glance seem strange, but was certainly not unnatural; articles +on which they had bestowed such persevering toil, which had proved the +instruments of their deliverance, and were also the trophies of their +triumph, they must have regarded with something like affection. + +As they heard a sentinel pacing along at the distance of ten yards, they +were obliged finally to relinquish the scheme of climbing the parapet, +which they had still cherished a hope of carrying into execution. There +was, therefore, no resource but to break a hole through the wall. +Accordingly they crossed the ditch of the Bastile, to the spot where +the wall separated it from that of the St. Antoine gate. Unluckily, the +ditch had been deepened here, and the water, on which ice was floating, +was up to their arm-pits. They, nevertheless, set to work with a vigour +which can be inspired only by circumstances like those under which they +were placed. Scarcely had they begun, when, about twelve feet above their +heads, they saw light cast upon them from the lantern which was carried +by a patrol major; they were compelled instantly to put their heads under +water, and this they had to do several times in the course of the night. +The wall at which they were working had a thickness of a yard and a half; +so that, although they plied their crowbars without intermission, they +were nine mortal hours in making a hole of sufficient size for them to +creep through. Their task was ultimately achieved, they passed through +the aperture, and were now beyond the walls of their prison. But even at +this moment of exultation, they had a narrow escape from perishing. In +their way to the road by which they were to go, there was an aqueduct; +it was not more than six feet wide, but it had ten feet of water and +two feet of mud. Into this they stumbled. Fortunately, Latude did not +lose his upright position; having shaken off his companion, who had +mechanically grasped him, he scrambled up the bank, and then drew out +D’Alegre by the hair of his head. + +The clock struck five as they entered the high road. After having +joyously clasped each other in a long and close embrace, they dropped on +their knees, and poured forth fervent thanks to the Divine Being, who had +so miraculously aided them in their dangerous undertaking. In consequence +of the evaporation which was taking place, they now began to feel more +acutely than when they were in the water the effects of their immersion; +their whole frame was rapidly becoming rigid. They, therefore, drew a +change of clothes from the portmanteau; but they were so much benumbed +and exhausted, that neither of them could dress without being assisted by +his friend. When they were somewhat recovered, they took a hackney-coach, +and eventually found shelter in the house of a kind-hearted tailor, a +native of Languedoc, who was known to Latude. + +To gain strength after their toils, as well as to let the hue and cry +die away, the friends remained nearly a month in concealment. It having +been settled between them that, in order to avoid being both caught at +once, they should quit the country separately, D’Alegre, in the disguise +of a peasant, set out on his journey to Brussels. He reached that city +in safety, and informed Latude of his success. Furnished with a parish +register of his host, who was nearly of his own age, and with some old +papers relative to a lawsuit, and dressed as a servant, Latude departed. +He went on foot a few leagues from Paris, and then took the diligence for +Valenciennes. He was several times stopped, searched, and questioned, +and, on one occasion, was in imminent danger of being detected. By dint, +however, of sticking to his story, that he was carrying law papers to his +master’s brother at Amsterdam, he got safely to Valenciennes, at which +town he removed into the stage for Brussels. He was walking when they +reached the boundary post which marks the frontier line of France and +the Netherlands. “My feelings,” says he, “got the better of my prudence; +I threw myself on the ground, and kissed it with transport. At length, +thought I, I can breathe without fear! My companions, with astonishment, +demanded the cause of this extravagance. I pretended that, just at the +very moment, in a preceding year, I had escaped a great danger, and that +I always expressed my gratitude to Providence by a similar prostration +when the day came round.” + +Latude had appointed D’Alegre to meet him at the Hôtel de Coffi, +in Brussels. Thither he went immediately on his arrival; but there +disappointment and sorrow awaited him. The landlord at first denied any +knowledge of D’Alegre, and, when further pressed, he hesitated, and +became extremely embarrassed. This was enough to convince the inquirer +that his friend had been seized; and the conviction was strengthened, by +his having heard nothing from him, though D’Alegre knew the moment when +his companion would reach Brussels. As his friend could be arrested on +the Austrian territory, it was obvious that Latude could not remain in +it without danger; and, with a heavy heart, he resolved to fly instantly +from this inhospitable soil. He secured a place in the canal boat, which +was that night to proceed to Antwerp. In the course of the voyage, he +learned the fatal truth from a fellow-passenger. He was told, that +one of the two prisoners, escaped from the Bastile, had arrived at the +Hôtel de Coffi, had been apprehended by a police officer, and had been +ultimately sent under a strong escort to Lille, and there delivered into +the custody of a French exempt; and, moreover, that all this was kept as +secret as possible, in order not to alarm the other fugitive, the search +after whom was carried on with such activity that he must inevitably fall +into the hands of his pursuers. + +Believing that, if he went on immediately to Amsterdam he would find +there an officer of the police waiting to seize him, he directed his +steps to Bergen-op-Zoom. But now another trouble fell upon him. He had +nearly exhausted his scanty stock of money, and had not found at Brussels +a remittance which he expected from his father; he afterwards learned +that it had been intercepted by the French exempt, who was employed +to trace him. While he remained at Bergen-op-Zoom, which was till he +supposed that his enemies would have lost the hope of his coming to +Amsterdam, he wrote to his father for a supply. But a considerable time +must elapse before he could receive it, and, in the meanwhile, he would +run the risk of starving. When he had paid the rent of his wretched +garret at Bergen-op-Zoom, and the fare of the boat which was to convey +him to Amsterdam, a few shillings was all that was left. In this state +of penury, unwilling to beg, he tried whether life could be supported +by grass and wild herbs alone. The experiment failed, for his stomach +rejected the loathsome food. To render his herbs less disgusting, he +bought four pounds of a black and clay-like rye bread, to eat with them. + +Hoping that by this time the bloodhounds of the marchioness had desisted +from seeking him in the Dutch capital, Latude ventured to embark. To hide +his poverty, he kept aloof as much as possible from his fellow-voyagers. +He was, however, not unobserved. There was in the boat one John +Teerhorst, who kept a sort of humble public-house, in a cellar at +Amsterdam. Under his unprepossessing exterior, he had a heart as kind as +ever beat in a human breast. Chancing to catch a sight of Latude’s sorry +fare, he could not help exclaiming, “Good God! what an extraordinary +dinner you are making! You seem to have more appetite than money!” Latude +frankly owned that it was so. The good-natured Dutchman immediately led +him to his own table. “No compliments, Mr. Frenchman,” said he, “seat +yourself there, and eat and drink with me.” On further acquaintance with +him, Latude discovered that his host was not only a truly benevolent man, +but that he had also the rare talent of conferring favours with such +delicacy as not to wound the feelings of the person whom he obliged. + +When they reached Amsterdam, Teerhorst offered to introduce him to +a Frenchman named Martin, who, judging from himself, he doubted not +would be delighted to serve him. Latude, however, found that his +fellow-countryman was one of the most soulless animals whom he had ever +seen; a being who cared only for self. He was better fitted to be a +turnkey of the Bastile than the consoler of one of its victims. The tears +and low spirits of his guest disclosed to the Dutchman the reception +which Latude had met with, and the forebodings that oppressed him. Taking +his hand, he said, “Do not weep—I will never abandon you: I am not rich, +it is true, but my heart is good; we will do the best we can for you, and +you will be satisfied.” + +Teerhorst’s underground habitation was divided by a partition into two +rooms; one of which served as kitchen, while the other was at once shop, +sitting-room, and bed-room. Though the narrow tenement was already +crowded, Teerhorst contrived to make a sleeping place for Latude in +a large closet, and he and his wife cheerfully gave him a mattress +from their own bed. Not content with feeding and lodging the fugitive, +Teerhorst strove to divert him from melancholy thoughts, by taking +him wherever there was anything that could amuse him. His charitable +efforts were but partially successful; for the mind of Latude was +deeply begloomed by his own precarious situation, and still more by his +incessantly brooding over and regretting the fate of D’Alegre. + +Though Latude had found no sympathy in Martin, he was more fortunate in +another of his countrymen, Louis Clergue, who was a native of Martagnac, +where the fugitive was born. Rich and compassionate, Clergue gave him +a room in his house, made him a constant partaker of his table, and +furnished him with clothes and linen. The linen was not the least +acceptable of these gifts; for Latude had been forty days without a +change of it. Clergue also assembled his friends, to hear the story of +his guest, and to consult what could be done for him. They were all of +opinion that Latude had nothing to fear, as neither the States General +nor the people of Amsterdam would ever consent to deliver up a persecuted +stranger, who had confidingly thrown himself on their protection. Even +Latude himself began to believe that at last he was safe. + +The unfortunate man was soon woefully undeceived. Not for a moment had +his pursuers slackened in the chase, not a single precaution had they +neglected that could lead to success. In aid of the subaltern agents, +the French ambassador had also exerted himself. By representing the +fugitive as a desperate malefactor, he had obtained the consent of the +States to arrest him. Calumny was one of the weapons uniformly employed +against prisoners, in order to insulate them from their fellow-creatures, +by extinguishing pity. But, in this instance, there seems reason for +believing that bribery was an auxiliary to calumny; the expense of +following up the fugitives was no less than 9000_l._ sterling—a sum for +which it is impossible to account, without supposing that much of it was +expended in bribes. + +Though Latude had changed his name, and the address to which his friends +were to direct their communications, the active agents of the marchioness +had succeeded in intercepting all his letters. One was at last allowed to +reach him, as the means of effecting his ruin. It does not appear whether +his residing in the house of M. Clergue was known to them; probably it +was; but, if it were, they perhaps thought that it would be imprudent +to seize him there, as his protector might proclaim to the populace the +innocence of his guest, and thus excite a tumult. A letter from Latude’s +father, containing a draft on a banker, was therefore forwarded to him. +Into this snare he fell. As he was proceeding to the banker’s, the Dutch +police officers pounced upon him, and he was immediately fettered and +dragged along. The crowd which had by this time gathered, were told that +he was a dangerous criminal; but, as the numbers nevertheless continued +to increase, the brutal officers, who were armed with heavy bludgeons, +dealt their blows liberally on all sides, to clear the way to the Town +Hall. One of these blows struck the prisoner with such violence, on the +nape of his neck, that he dropped senseless to the ground. + +When consciousness returned, he was lying on a truss of straw, in a +dungeon; there was not a ray of light visible, not a sound to be heard. +He seemed to be cut off from the human race, and he resigned himself +wholly to despair. His tumultuous reflections were interrupted, in the +morning, by a visit from St. Marc, the French exempt, who had pursued +him from Paris. This brutal caitiff had the baseness to aggravate his +sufferings by an awkward attempt at irony. “He told me,” says Latude, +“that I ought to pronounce the name of the Marchioness de Pompadour with +the most profound respect; she was anxious only to load me with favours; +far from complaining, I ought to kiss the generous hand that struck +me, every blow from which was a compliment and an obligation.” In a +second visit, some time after, the exempt brought him an ounce of snuff, +which he strongly recommended, but which Latude did not use, because he +imagined, and not unreasonably, that it was poisoned. + +Latude remained nine days in this dungeon, while his captors were +waiting for permission to carry him through the territory of the Empress +Maria Theresa. They were anxious to receive it without delay, for M. +Clergue and the other friends of the prisoner were loudly asserting his +innocence, and the citizens began to murmur at the disgrace which was +cast upon their country by his seizure being permitted. The permission +soon came, and the myrmidons of the Marchioness hastened to bear off +their prey. + +In this instance, the Dutch and Austrian governments must bear the shame +of having been ready instruments of the persecutors. It is, however, +doubtful whether, had those governments acted otherwise, the fugitives +would have escaped. To effect their purpose, the emissaries of the +Bastile did not scruple to violate the territory of foreign powers. +In 1752, a M. Bertin de Fretaux was carried off from England. He was +secretly seized at Marylebone, put on board ship at Gravesend, and +conveyed to the Bastile, where he died after having been confined for +twenty-seven years. Even foreign subjects were not safe. The publisher of +a Leyden Gazette having printed a satire on Louis XIV., he was kidnapped +in Holland, and conveyed to the rock of St. Michael, on the Norman coast, +and shut up in a cage till he died. + +At two in the morning, on the 9th of June, 1756, the jailers of Latude +came to remove him. Round his body they fastened a strong leathern belt, +on which were two large rings, fastened by padlocks. Through these rings +his hands were passed; so that his arms were pinioned down to his sides, +without the power of motion. He was then conveyed to a boat, into the +foulest corner of which he was thrown. As he could not feed himself, the +office of feeding him was committed to two men; they were so horribly +filthy that he refused, for four-and-twenty hours, to take nourishment +from them. Force was then employed to make him eat. “They brought me,” +says Latude, “a piece of beef swimming in gravy; they took the meat in +their hands, and thrust it into my mouth; they then took some bread, +which they steeped in the grease, and made me swallow it in a similar +manner. During this disgusting operation, one of these ruffians blew his +nose with his fingers, and, without wiping them, soaked some bread, and +approached it to my mouth. I turned my head aside, but it was too late. +I had seen these preliminaries, and my stomach revolted. The consequence +was, a long and severe fit of vomiting, which left me almost without +strength or motion.” + +The mode of confinement by the belt was absolute torture to the prisoner. +At length, thanks to the compassionate interference of a servant on +board, who declared that, if no one else would, he himself would cut it, +the belt was removed, and Latude was indulged, by being only handcuffed +on the right arm, and chained to one of his guards. When they arrived at +Lille, St. Marc halted for the night, and sent the prisoner to the town +jail, where he was bolted to the chain of a deserter, scarcely nineteen, +who had been told that he was to be hanged on the morrow. The despairing +youth spent the night in trying to convince him that he, too, would +be hanged, and in proposing that they should elude a public execution +by strangling themselves with their shirts. For the remainder of the +journey, Latude, with his legs ironed, travelled in a carriage with St. +Marc, who took the precaution of carrying pistols, and had likewise an +armed servant by the side of the vehicle, whose orders were to shoot the +captive if he made the slightest motion. + +By his associates at the Bastile, St. Marc was received like some victor +returning from the scene of his triumph. They swarmed round him, listened +with greedy ears to the tale of his exertions and stratagems, and +lavished praises and attentions upon him. The group must have borne no +very distant resemblance to fiends exulting over a lost soul. + +Stripped, and reclothed in rags which were dropping to pieces, his hands +and feet heavily ironed, the prisoner was thrown into one of the most +noisome dungeons of the fortress. A sprinkling of straw formed his bed; +covering it had none. The only light and air which penetrated into this +den of torment came through a loop-hole, which narrowing gradually from +the inside to the outside, had a diameter of not more than five inches +at the furthest extremity. This loop-hole was secured and darkened by +a fourfold iron grating, so ingeniously contrived that the bars of one +net-work covered the interstices of another; but there was neither glass +nor shutters, to ward off the inclemency of the weather. The interior +extremity of this aperture reached within about two feet and a half of +the ground, and served the captive for a chair and a table, and sometimes +he rested his arms and elbows on it to lighten the weight of his fetters. + +Shut out from all communication with his fellow-beings, Latude found some +amusement in the society of the rats which infested his dungeon. His +first attempt to make them companionable was tried upon a single rat, +which, in three days, by gently throwing bits of bread to it, he rendered +so tame that it would take food from his hands. The animal even changed +its abode, and established itself in another hole in order to be nearer +to him. In a few days a female joined the first comer. At the outset she +was timid; but it was not long before she acquired boldness, and would +quarrel and fight for the morsels which were given by the prisoner. + +“When my dinner was brought in (says Latude) I called my companions: the +male ran to me directly; the female, according to custom, came slowly +and timidly, but at length approached close to me, and ventured to take +what I offered her from my hand. Some time after, a third appeared, who +was much less ceremonious than my first acquaintances. After his second +visit, he constituted himself one of the family, and made himself so +perfectly at home, that he resolved to introduce his comrades. The next +day, he came, accompanied by two others, who in the course of the week +brought five more; and, thus, in less than a fortnight, our family circle +consisted of ten large rats and myself. I gave each of them names, which +they learned to distinguish. When I called them they came to eat with me, +from the dish, or off the same plate; but I found this unpleasant, and +was soon forced to find them a dish for themselves, on account of their +slovenly habits. They became so tame that they allowed me to scratch +their necks, and appeared pleased when I did; but they would never permit +me to touch them on the back. Sometimes I amused myself with making them +play, and joining in their gambols. Occasionally I threw them a piece of +meat, scalding hot: the most eager ran to seize it, burned themselves, +cried out, and left it; while the less greedy, who had waited patiently, +took it when it was cold, and escaped into a corner, where they divided +their prize: sometimes I made them jump up, by holding a piece of bread +or meat suspended in the air.” In the course of a year, his four-footed +companions increased to twenty-six. Whenever an intruder appeared he met +with a hostile reception from the old standers, and had to fight his way +before he could obtain a footing. Latude endeavoured to familiarize a +spider, but in this he was unsuccessful. + +Another source of comfort was unexpectedly opened to the solitary +captive. Among the straw which was brought for his bed, he found a piece +of elder, and he conceived the idea of converting it into a sort of +flageolet. This, however, was a task of no easy accomplishment, for his +hands were fettered, and he had no tools. But necessity is proverbially +inventive. He succeeded in getting off the buckle which fastened the +waistband of his breeches, and bending it into a kind of chisel by means +of his leg irons; and, with this clumsy instrument, after the labour of +many months, he contrived to form a rude kind of musical pipe. It was +probably much inferior to a child’s whistle, but his delight when he had +completed it was extreme; the feeling was natural, and the sounds must +have been absolute harmony to his ear. + +Though his flageolet and his animal companions made his lonely hours +somewhat less burthensome, and at moments drew his attention wholly from +maddening thoughts, the longing for liberty would perpetually recur, +and he racked his mind for plans to shake off his chains. The thought +occurred to him, that if he could be fortunate enough to suggest some +plan which would benefit the state, it might be repaid by the gift of +freedom. At that time the non-commissioned military officers were armed +only with halberts, which could be of no use but in close engagement; +Latude proposed to substitute muskets for the halberts, and thus make +effective at least 20,000 men. But how was he to communicate his idea +to the king and the ministers? he had neither pen, ink, nor paper, and +strict orders had been given that he should be debarred from the use of +them. This obstacle, however, he got over. For paper, he moulded thin +tablets of bread, six inches square; for pens he used the triangular +bones out of a carp’s belly; for ink his blood was substituted—to obtain +it he tied round a finger some threads from his shirt, and punctured the +end. As only a few drops could be procured in this way, and as they dried +up rapidly, he was compelled to repeat the operation so often, that his +fingers were covered with wounds, and enormously swelled. The necessity +of frequent punctures he ultimately obviated, by diluting the blood with +water. + +When the memorial was finished, there was yet another difficulty to be +surmounted; it must be copied. In this emergency, Latude clamorously +demanded to see the Major of the Bastile. To that officer he declared +that, being convinced he had not long to live, he wished to prepare +for his end, by receiving religious assistance. The confessor of the +prison was in consequence sent to him, was astonished and delighted by +the memorial, became interested in his favour, and obtained an order +that he should be supplied with materials for writing. The memorial was +accordingly transcribed, and presented to the king. + +The suggestion was adopted by the government; the unfortunate prisoner +was, however, left to languish unnoticed in his dungeon. Again he tasked +his faculties for a project which might benefit at once his country and +himself. At this period no provision was made in France for the widows +of those who fell in battle. The king of Prussia had recently set the +example of granting pensions; and Latude deemed it worthy of being +imitated. But, knowing that an empty treasury would be pleaded in bar, +he proposed a trifling addition to the postage of letters, which he +calculated would raise an ample fund. His memorial and the data on which +it was founded, were forwarded to the monarch and the ministers. The tax +was soon after imposed, and nominally for the purpose pointed out by +Latude; but the widows, nevertheless, continued to be destitute, and the +projector unpitied. + +Foiled in all his efforts, the firmness of Latude gave way. He had +been pent for three years and five months in a loathsome dungeon, +suffering more than pen can describe. Exposed in his horrible fireless +and windowless abode to all the blasts of heaven, three winters, one of +which was peculiarly severe, had sorely tortured his frame. The cold, the +keen winds, and a continual defluxion from his nostrils, had split his +upper lip, and destroyed his front teeth; his eyes were endangered from +the same causes, and from frequent weeping; his head was often suddenly +affected by a sort of apoplectic stroke; and his limbs were racked by +cramp and rheumatism. Hope was extinct; intense agony of mind and body +rendered existence insufferable; and the unhappy victim resolved to throw +off a burthen which he could no longer bear. No instrument of destruction +being within reach, he tried to effect his purpose by starving himself; +and for a hundred and thirty-three hours he obstinately persisted in +refusing all food. At last, his jailers wrenched open his mouth, and +frustrated his design. Still bent on dying, he contrived to obtain and +secrete a fragment of broken glass, with which he opened four of the +large veins. During the night he bled till life was all but extinct. +Once more, however, he was snatched from the grave, and he now sullenly +resigned himself to await his appointed time. + +After he had been confined a considerable time longer, a fortunate +overflowing of the Seine occasioned his removal. The turnkey complained +heavily that he was obliged to walk through the water to the prisoner, +and Latude was in consequence removed to an apartment in the tower +of La Comté. It had no chimney, and was one of the worst rooms in the +tower, but it was a paradise when compared with the pestiferous hole from +which he had emerged. Yet, so strong is the yearning for society, that, +gladdened as he was by his removal, he could not help bitterly regretting +the loss of his sociable rats. As a substitute for them, he tried to +catch some of the pigeons which perched on the window; and, by means of a +noose, formed from threads drawn out of his linen, he finally succeeded +in snaring a male and a female. “I tried,” says he, “every means to +console them for the loss of liberty. I assisted them to make their nest +and to feed their young; my cares and attention equalled their own. +They seemed sensible of this, and repaid me by every possible mark of +affection. As soon as we had established this reciprocal understanding, +I occupied myself entirely with them. How I watched their actions, and +enjoyed their expressions of tenderness! I lost myself entirely while +with them, and in my dreams continued the enjoyment.” + +This pleasure was too great to be lasting. He had been placed in his +present apartment because it was under the care of a brutal turnkey named +Daragon, who had been punished for Latude’s former escape, and cherished +a rankling feeling of revenge. It was Daragon who purchased the grain +for the pigeons, and for this service the prisoner, besides the large +profit which the turnkey made, gave him one out of the seven bottles of +wine which was his weekly allowance. Daragon now insisted on having four +bottles, without which he would purchase no more grain. It was to no +purpose that Latude pleaded that the wine was indispensably necessary to +restore his health; the turnkey was deaf to reason. Latude was provoked +into asperity; Daragon rushed out in a rage; and in a short time he +returned, pretending that he had an order from the governor to kill +the pigeons. “My despair at this,” says Latude, “exceeded all bounds, +and absolutely unsettled my reason; I could willingly have sacrificed +my life to satisfy my just vengeance on this monster. I saw him make a +motion towards the innocent victims of my misfortunes; I sprang forward +to prevent him. I seized them, and, in my agony, I crushed them myself. +This was perhaps the most miserable moment of my whole existence. I never +recall the memory of it without the bitterest pangs. I remained several +days without taking any nourishment; grief and indignation divided my +soul; my sighs were imprecations, and I held all mankind in mortal +horror.” + +Fortunately, a humane and generous man, the Count de Jumilhac, was, +soon after, appointed governor of the Bastile. He compassionated the +sufferings of Latude, and exerted himself to relieve them. He obtained +for him an interview with M. de Sartine, the minister of police, who gave +him leave to walk for two hours daily on the platform of the Bastile, +and promised to befriend him. That promise he soon broke. Hope revived +in the breast of Latude, and he again set to work to form plans for the +good of the country. Schemes for issuing a new species of currency, and +for establishing public granaries in all the principal towns, were among +the first fruits of his meditations. With respect to the latter project, +he says, “nothing could be more simple than the mode I suggested of +constructing and provisioning these magazines. It consisted in a slight +duty upon marriage, which all rich people, or those who wished to appear +so, would have paid with eagerness, as I had the address to found it upon +their vanity.” This project pleased M. de Sartine so much, that he wished +to have the merit of it to himself, and, by means of a third person, he +sounded Latude, to know whether he would relinquish his claim to it, on +having a small pension secured to him. Latude gave a brief but peremptory +refusal, and M. de Sartine was thenceforth his enemy. All letters and +messages to him remained unnoticed. + +While he was one day walking on the platform, he learned the death of +his father. The sentinel who guarded him had served under his father, +but did not know that the prisoner was the son of his old officer. +Latude was overwhelmed by this fatal intelligence, and he fainted on the +spot. His mother still lived; but she, too, was sinking into the grave +from grief. It was in vain that, in the most pathetic language, she +repeatedly implored the harlot marchioness to have mercy on the captive. +Her prayers might have moved a heart of flint, but they had no effect +on Madame de Pompadour. But the horrors of imprisonment were not enough +to be inflicted on him; he was made the victim of calumny, and a stain +was fixed upon his character. To get rid of importunity in his behalf, +the men in office replied to his advocates, “Beware how you solicit the +pardon of that miscreant. You would shudder if you knew the crimes he has +committed.” + +Thus goaded almost to madness, it is not to be wondered at that he was +eager to take vengeance on his persecutors. Since the heart of Madame de +Pompadour was inaccessible to pity, he determined that it should at least +feel the stings of mortification and rage. His plan was, to draw up a +memorial, exposing her character, and to address it to La Beaumelle, who +had himself tasted the rigours of the Bastile. “I had only,” says he, “to +place in trusty hands the true history of her birth and infamous life, +with all the particulars of which I was well acquainted; in depriving +me of existence, she would dread my dying words, and even from the tomb +I should still be an object of terror to her. There was nothing then +to restrain the blow with which I had the power of crushing her. The +faithful friends who were to become the depositaries of my vengeance, +in apprising her of the danger, would merely give her a single moment to +escape it by doing me justice.” + +It was while he was walking on the platform of the Bastile that he formed +this chimerical project, for chimerical it was, there being scarcely a +probability that any one would have courage enough to second his attack +on the potent and vindictive marchioness. Having calculated the distance +between the top of the tower and the street of St. Anthony, on which he +looked down, he perceived that it was possible to fling a packet into +the street. Nothing of this kind could, however, be done while he was +closely watched by Falconet the aid-major, and a serjeant, both of whom +always attended him in his walk. Falconet was insufferably garrulous, +particularly on his own exploits, and Latude hoped to disgust him by +perpetual sarcasm and contradiction. He succeeded in silencing him, but +Falconet still clung to him like his shadow. To tire him out, Latude +adopted the plan of almost running during the whole of the time that +he was on the platform. The aid-major remonstrated, but the prisoner +answered, that rapid motion was indispensably necessary to him, in order +to excite perspiration. At last, Falconet suffered him to move about as +he pleased, and fell into gossiping with the serjeant, in which they both +engaged so deeply that Latude was left unnoticed. + +The next step of Latude was to gaze into the windows of the opposite +houses, and scrutinise the faces of the persons whom he saw, till +he could see some one whose countenance seemed indicative of humane +feelings. It was on the female sex, as having more sensibility than the +male, that he mainly relied for pity and succour; and his attention was +finally fixed on two young women, who were sitting by themselves at work +in a chamber, and whose looks appeared to betoken that they were of kind +dispositions. Having caught the eye of one of them, he respectfully +saluted her by a motion of his hand; the sign was answered by both of +them in a similar manner. After this dumb intercourse had continued for +some days, he showed them a packet, and they motioned to him to fling it; +but he gave them to understand that it was not yet ready. + +The means of conveyance for his intended work were now secured, but, as +he no longer had materials for writing, he had still much to contrive. +But he was not of a nature to be discouraged even by serious obstacles. +He had fortunately been allowed to purchase some books, and he resolved +to write between the lines and on the margins of the pages. As a pen +made of a carp bone would not write a sufficiently small hand for +interlineations, he beat a halfpenny as thin as paper, and succeeded in +shaping it into a tolerable pen. Ink was yet to be provided, and this +was the worst task of all to accomplish. Having on the former occasion +narrowly escaped gangrene in his fingers, he was afraid to use blood, +and was therefore compelled to find a substitute. To make his ink of +lampblack was the mode which occurred to him; but as he was allowed +neither fire nor candle, how was the black to be obtained? By a series +of stratagems he managed to surmount the difficulty. Under pretence of +severe tooth-ache, he borrowed from the serjeant, who attended him on +the platform, a pipe and the articles for lighting it, and he secreted a +piece of the tinder. By a simulated fit of colic, he got some oil from +the doctor. This he put into a pomatum pot, and made a wick from threads +drawn out of the sheets. He then made a bow and peg, like a drill, and +with this and the piece of tinder, by dint of rapid friction, he ignited +two small bits of dry wood, and lighted his lamp. The first view of the +light threw him, he says, into a delirium of joy. The condensed smoke he +collected on the bottom of a plate, and in six hours he had sufficient +for his purpose. But here he was stopped short, and all his trouble +seemed likely to be thrown away; for the light and oily black floated +on the water instead of mixing with it. He got over this by affecting +to have a violent cold. The prison apothecary sent him some syrup, and +Latude employed it to render the lamp black miscible with water. + +Thus provided with materials for writing, Latude sat down to compose +his work. “My whole heart and soul were in it,” says he, “and I steeped +my pen in the gall with which they were overflowing.” Having completed +the history of his persecutor, he wrote a letter of instructions to La +Beaumelle, another to a friend, the Chevalier de Mehegan, in case of La +Beaumelle being absent, and a third to his two female friends, in which +he directed them how to proceed, and entreated them to exert themselves +in his behalf. The whole of the papers he packed up in a leathern bag, +which he formed out of the lining of a pair of breeches. As the packet +was rather bulky, and the carrying of it about his person was dangerous, +he was anxious to get rid of it as soon as possible. Some time, however, +elapsed before he could catch sight of his friendly neighbours. At length +one of them saw his signal, descended into the street, and caught the +packet. Three months and a half passed away, during which he frequently +saw them, and they seemed to be pleased with something that related to +him, but he was unable to comprehend their signs. At last, on the 18th of +April, 1764, they approached the window, and displayed a roll of paper, +on which was written in large characters, “The Marchioness of Pompadour +died yesterday.” + +“I thought I saw the heavens open before me!” exclaimed Latude. His +oppressor was gone, and he felt an undoubting confidence that his +liberation would immediately follow as a necessary consequence. He was +soon cruelly undeceived. After some days had passed over, he wrote to the +lieutenant of police, and claimed his freedom. Sartine had given strict +orders to all the officers of the Bastile to conceal the death of the +marchioness, and he instantly hurried to the prison, to discover how the +news had reached Latude. He summoned the prisoner into his presence, and +harshly questioned him on the subject. Latude perceived that a disclosure +might be prejudicial to the kind females, and, with equal firmness and +honour, he refused to make it. “The avowal,” said Sartine, “is the price +of your liberty.” The captive, however, again declared that he would +rather perish than purchase the blessing at such a cost. Finding him +inflexible, the baffled lieutenant of police retired in anger. Irritated +by repeated letters, petitions, and remonstrances being neglected, and +having been led to fear that he was to be perpetually imprisoned, to +prevent him from suing Pompadour’s heirs, Latude in an evil hour lost all +command over himself, and wrote a violent epistle to Sartine, avowedly +for the purpose of enraging him. This act of insane passion was punished +by instant removal to one of the worst dungeons, where his fare was bread +and water. + +After Latude had been for eighteen days in the dungeon, M. de Sartine +obtained an order to transfer him to Vincennes, and immure him in an +oubliette. Before he removed the prisoner, he circulated a report “that +he meant to deliver him, but that, to accustom him by degrees to a change +of air, he was going to place him for a few months in a convent of +monks.” On the night of the 14th of August, 1764, an officer of police, +with two assistants, came to convey him to his new prison. “My keepers,” +says he, “fastened an iron chain round my neck, the end of which they +placed under the bend of my knees; one of them placed one hand upon my +mouth, and the other behind my head, whilst his companion pulled the +chain with all his might, and completely bent me double. The pain I +suffered was so intense, that I thought my loins and spine were crushed; +I have no doubt it equalled that endured by the wretch who is broken on +the wheel. In this state I was conveyed from the Bastile to Vincennes.” + +At Vincennes he was placed in a cell. His mind and body were now both +overpowered by the severity of his fate, dangerous illness came on, +and he every day grew weaker. Fortunately for Latude, M. Guyonnet, the +governor of the fortress, had nothing of “the steeled jailer” about him; +he was a generous, humane man, of amiable manners. He listened to the +mournful tale of the captive, wept for his misfortunes, took on himself +the responsibility of giving him a good apartment, and obtained for him +the privilege of walking daily for two hours in the garden. + +Despairing, as well he might, of being ever released by his inflexible +enemies, Latude meditated incessantly on the means of escaping. Fifteen +months elapsed before an opportunity occurred, and then it was brought +about by chance. He was walking in the garden, on a November afternoon, +when a thick fog suddenly came on. The idea of turning it to account +rushed into his mind. He was guarded by two sentries and a serjeant, who +never quitted his side for an instant; but he determined to make a bold +attempt. By a violent push of his elbows he threw off the sentries, then +pushed down the serjeant, and darted past a third sentry, who did not +perceive him till he was gone by. All four set up the cry of “Seize him!” +and Latude joined in it still more loudly, pointing with his finger, to +mislead the pursuers. There remained only one sentry to elude, but he +was on the alert, and unfortunately knew him. Presenting his bayonet, he +threatened to kill the prisoner if he did not stop. “My dear Chenu,” +said I to him, “you are incapable of such an action; your orders are +to arrest, and not to kill me. I had slackened my pace, and came up to +him slowly; as soon as I was close to him, I sprang upon his musket, I +wrenched it from him with such violence, that he was thrown down in the +struggle; I jumped over his body, flinging the musket to a distance of +ten paces, lest he should fire it after me, and once more I achieved my +liberty.” + +Favoured by the fog, Latude contrived to hide himself in the park till +night, when he scaled the wall, and proceeded, by by-ways, to Paris. +He sought a refuge with the two kind females to whom he had entrusted +his packet. They were the daughters of a hair-dresser, named Lebrun. +The asylum for which he asked was granted in the kindest manner. They +procured for him some linen, and an apartment in the house, gave him +fifteen livres which they had saved, and supplied him with food from all +their own meals. The papers confided to them they had endeavoured, but in +vain, to deliver to the persons for whom they were intended: two of those +persons were absent from France; the third was recently married, and his +wife, on hearing that the packet was from the Bastile, would not suffer +her husband to receive it. + +Latude was out of prison, but he was not out of danger. He was convinced +that, to whatever quarter he might bend his steps, it would be next +to impossible to elude M. de Sartine, who, by means of his spies, was +omnipresent. In this emergency, he deemed it prudent to conciliate +his persecutor; and he accordingly wrote a letter to him, entreating +forgiveness for insults offered in a moment of madness, promising future +silence and submission, and pathetically imploring him to become his +protector. This overture had no result. He tried the influence of various +persons, among whom was the prince of Conti, but everywhere he was met +by the prejudice which Sartine had raised against him; and, to add to his +alarm and vexation, he learned that a strict search was making for him, +and that a reward of a thousand crowns was offered for his apprehension. + +As a last resource, he determined to make a personal appeal to the +duke of Choiseul, the first minister, who was then with the court at +Fontainebleau. It was mid-December when he set out, the ground was +covered with ice and snow, and the cold was intense. A morsel of bread +was his whole stock of provisions, he had no money, and he dared not +approach a house, proceed on the high road, or travel by day, lest he +should be intercepted. In his nightly circuitous journey, of more than +forty miles, he often fell into ditches, or tore himself in scrambling +through the hedges. “I hid myself in a field,” says he, “during the whole +of the 16th; and, after walking for two successive nights, I arrived on +the morning of the 17th at Fontainebleau, worn out by fatigue, hunger, +grief, and despair.” + +Latude was too soon convinced that there was no chance of escaping from +the vengeance of M. de Sartine. As soon as he had announced his arrival +to the duke, two officers of the police came to convey him, as they said, +to the minister; but their mask was speedily thrown off, and he found +that they were to escort him back to Vincennes. They told him that every +road had been beset, and every vehicle watched, to discover him, and they +expressed their wonder at his having been able to reach Fontainebleau +undetected. “I now learned,” says he, “for the first time, that there +was no crime so great, or so severely punished, as a complaint against +a minister. These exempts quoted to me the case of some deputies from +the provinces, who, having been sent a short time before to denounce to +the king the exactions of certain intendants, had been arrested, and +punished as dangerous incendiaries!” + +On his reaching Vincennes, he was thrown into a horrible dungeon, barely +six feet by six and a half in diameter, which was secured by four +iron-plated, treble-bolted doors, distant a foot from each other. To +aggravate his misery, he was told that he deserved a thousand times worse +treatment; for that he had been the cause of the serjeant who guarded +him being hanged. This appalling news entirely overwhelmed him; he gave +himself up to frantic despair, and incessantly accused himself as the +murderer of the unfortunate man. In the course of a few days, however, a +compassionate sentinel, who was moved by his cries and groans, relieved +his heart, by informing him that the serjeant was well, and had only been +imprisoned. + +The kind-hearted governor sometimes visited Latude, but the information +which he brought was not consolatory. He had tried to move M. de Sartine, +and had found him inflexible. Sartine, however, sent to offer the +prisoner his liberty, on condition that he would name the person who held +his papers, and he pledged his honour that no harm should come to that +person. Latude knew him too well to trust him. He resolutely answered, “I +entered my dungeon an honest man, and I will die rather than leave it a +dastard and a knave.” + +Into the den, where he was as it were walled up, no ray of light entered; +the air was never changed but at the moment when the turnkey opened the +wicket; the straw on which he lay was always rotten with damp, and the +narrowness of the space scarcely allowed him room to move. His health +of course rapidly declined, and his body swelled enormously, retaining +in every part of it, when touched, the impression of the finger. Such +were his agonies that he implored his keepers, as an act of mercy, to +terminate his existence. At last, after having endured months of intense +suffering, he was removed to a habitable apartment, where his strength +gradually returned. + +Though his situation was improved, he was still entirely secluded from +society. Hopeless of escape, he pondered on the means of at least opening +an intercourse with his fellow-prisoners. On the outer side of his +chamber was the garden, in which each of the prisoners, Latude alone +being excluded, was daily allowed to walk by himself for a certain time. +This wall was five feet thick; so that to penetrate it seemed almost as +difficult as to escape. But what cannot time and perseverance accomplish! +His only instruments were a broken piece of a sword and an iron hoop of +a bucket, which he had contrived to secrete; yet with these, by dint of +twenty-six months’ labour, he managed to perforate the mass of stone. +The hole was made in a dark corner of the chimney, and he stopped the +interior opening with a plug, formed of sand and plaster. A long wooden +peg, rather shorter than the hole, was inserted into it, that, in case of +the external opening being noticed and sounded, it might seem to be not +more than three inches in depth. + +For a signal to the prisoner walking in the garden, he tied several +pieces of wood so as to form a stick about six feet long, at the end of +which hung a bit of riband. The twine with which it was tied was made +from threads drawn out of his linen. He thrust the stick through the +hole, and succeeded in attracting the attention of a fellow-captive, +the Baron de Venac, who had been nineteen years confined for having +presumed to give advice to Madame de Pompadour. He successively became +acquainted with several others, two of whom were also the victims of +the marchioness; one of them had been seventeen years in prison, on +suspicion of having spoken ill of her; the other had been twenty-three +years, because he was suspected of having written against her a pamphlet, +which he had never even seen. The prisoners contrived to convey ink and +paper to Latude through the hole; he opened a correspondence with them, +encouraged them to write to each other, and became the medium through +which they transmitted their letters. The burthen of captivity was much +lightened to him by this new occupation. + +An unfortunate change for the prisoners now took place. The benevolent +and amiable-mannered Guyonnet was succeeded by Rougemont, a man who was +a contrast to him in every respect; he was avaricious, flinty-hearted, +brutal, and a devoted tool of M. de Sartine. The diet which he provided +for the captives was of the worst kind; and their scanty comforts were +as much as possible abridged. That he might not be thwarted in the +exercise of his tyranny, he dismissed such of the prison attendants as he +suspected of being humane, and replaced them by men whose dispositions +harmonised with his own. How utterly devoid of feeling were the beings +whom he selected, may be judged by the language of his cook. This libel +on the human race is known to have said, “If the prisoners were ordered +to be fed upon straw, I would give them stable-litter;” and, on other +occasions, he declared, “If I thought there was a single drop of juice in +the meat of the prisoners, I would trample it under my foot to squeeze it +out.” Such a wretch would not have scrupled to put poison into the food, +had not his master had an interest in keeping the captives alive. When +any one complained of the provisions, he was insultingly answered, “It is +but too good for prisoners;” when he applied for the use of an article, +however insignificant, the reply was, “It is contrary to the rules.” So +horrible was the despotism of the governor that, within three months, +four of the prisoners strangled themselves in despair. “The Inquisition +itself,” says Latude, “might envy his proficiency in torture!” + +Latude was one of the first to suffer from the brutality of Rougemont. +The apartment in which Guyonnet had placed him commanded a fine view. +The enjoyment of a prospect was thought to be too great a luxury for a +prisoner, and, accordingly, Rougemont set about depriving him of it. He +partly built up the windows, filled the interstices of the bars with +close iron net-work; and then, lest a blade of grass should still be +visible, blockaded the outside with a blind like a mill-hopper, so that +nothing could be perceived but a narrow slip of sky. But his situation +was soon made far worse. In a fit of anger, caused by his being refused +the means of writing to the lieutenant of police, he imprudently chanced +to wish himself in his former cell again. He was taken at his word. On +the following morning, when he had forgotten his unguarded speech, he was +led back to his dark and noisome dungeon. “Few will believe,” says he, +“that such inhuman jests could be practised in a civilised country.” + +M. de Sartine, being now appointed minister of the marine, was replaced +by M. Le Noir. It was some time before Latude knew of this change, and +he derived no benefit from it, the new head of the police being the +friend of Sartine. He wished to address the minister, but the means were +refused, and he again tasked his skill to remove the obstacle. The only +light he enjoyed was when his food was brought to him. The turnkey then +set down the lamp at the entrance of the wicket, and went away to attend +to other business. Of the turnkey’s short absence Latude availed himself +to write a letter; it was written on a piece of his shirt, with a straw +dipped in blood. His appeal was disregarded; and, to prevent him from +repeating it in the same manner, the governor ordered a socket for the +candle to be fixed on the outside of the wicket, so that only a few +feeble rays might penetrate into the dungeon. But the captive was not +to be easily discouraged; and, besides, he took a delight in baffling +his persecutors. He had remaining in a pomatum pot some oil, sent by the +surgeon to alleviate the colic pains which were caused by the dampness +of his abode. Cotton drawn from his stockings supplied him with a wick. +He then twisted some of his straw into a rope, which he coiled up, and +fastened, in the shape of a bee-hive. With another portion of straw he +made a sort of stick, five feet long, with a bit of linen at the end of +it. The turnkey was always obliged to bring his food at twice; and, while +he was fetching the second portion, Latude thrust out the stick, obtained +a light from the candle, lighted his taper, and then closely covered it +over with the bee-hive basket. When he was left by himself he unhooded +the lamp, and wrote a second letter with his own blood. The only result +was, to make his jailers believe that he was aided by the prince of +darkness. + +It was not till Latude was again at death’s-door that he was removed +from his dungeon; on being taken out he fainted, and remained for a long +while insensible. When he came to himself his mind wandered, and for +some time he imagined that he had passed into the other world. Medical +aid was granted to him, and he slowly recovered his health. The turnkeys +now occasionally dropped obscure hints of some beneficial change, which +he was at a loss to understand. The mystery was at length explained. +The benevolent M. de Malesherbes had lately been appointed a cabinet +minister, and one of his first acts was to inspect the state prisons. +He saw Latude, listened to his mournful story, was indignant at his +six-and-twenty years’ captivity, and promised redress. + +Latude had been more than eleven years at Vincennes, when the order +arrived for his release. His heart beat high with exultation; but he was +doomed to suffer severe disappointment. At the moment when he imagined +that he was free, an officer informed him, that the minister thought +it expedient to accustom him gradually to a purer air, and that he was +therefore directed to convey him to a convent, where he was to remain for +a few months. These were the very same words which had been spoken to +him when he was sent from the Bastile to Vincennes; and, knowing their +meaning but too well, they almost palsied his faculties. His enemies +had been busily at work; by gross misrepresentations, and by forging in +his name an extravagant memorial to the king, they had induced M. de +Malesherbes to believe that the prisoner’s intellects were disordered, +and that he could not be immediately released without peril. + +It was to the hospital of Charenton, the Parisian bedlam, that the +officers were removing Latude. When he was about to quit Vincennes, +he heard the brutal Rougemont describe him to them as a dangerous and +hardened criminal, who could not be too rigorously confined. It was also +hinted, that the prisoner was gifted with magical powers, by virtue of +which he had thrice escaped in an extraordinary manner. When he was +turned over to the monks, called the Brothers of Charity, who had the +management of Charenton, these particulars were faithfully reported to +them, and he was introduced under the name of Danger, in order to excite +an idea of his formidable character. + +Unacquainted with the nature of Charenton, Latude, on seeing the monks, +had supposed that he was in a monastery. On finding that he was in a +mad-house, he dropped lifeless to the ground. He was conducted to a cell, +which was over the vault where the furious lunatics were chained, and +their shrieks and groans were horrible. In the night he heard the sound +of voices, and discovered that two prisoners, one in the adjoining +room, and the other in that above, were talking about him, out of their +windows. They were both of them state prisoners, the hospital being +occasionally converted into a jail by the ministers; one was named St. +Magloire, the other the Baron de Prilles. Latude introduced himself to +them, and they promised him all the services in their power. De Prilles +possessed considerable influence with the officers of the establishment, +and he exerted it so effectually, that he obtained permission for Latude +to be visited by his fellow-captives. He had, however, enjoyed this +comfort only for a short time, when Rougemont came and gave orders for +his being placed in close and solitary confinement. + +Latude remained in seclusion for a considerable time; but, at length, by +dint of incessant remonstrances, De Prilles induced the superiors of the +hospital to allow his new friend to take his meals in the apartment of +St. Bernard, one of his fellow-captives. Another favour was soon after +granted; he was permitted to take some exercise in the smaller court, +when all the inmates of the place had been shut up for the night. It was +then winter; and, at eight o’clock, the keeper led him to the court; and, +when he was not disposed to walk with him, he placed his lantern on a +stone, and watched him through some holes purposely bored in the door. + +Trifling as were these indulgences, the worthy monks had disobeyed +positive orders in allowing them. But they did not stop here. The head of +the hospital, Father Facio, was so deeply moved by the injustice done to +the captive, that he waited on M. de Malesherbes to intercede for him. +On his assuring the minister that the prisoner was submissive, docile, +and perfectly sane, his hearer, who had been told that Latude was a +furious madman, was astonished and indignant at having been deceived. He +promised that he would speedily release him, and desired that he might, +in the meanwhile, enjoy as much liberty as the hospital regulations would +allow. Unfortunately, however, for Latude, Malesherbes very shortly after +ceased to be one of the ministers. + +Though he failed to obtain his freedom, the situation of Latude was +much ameliorated; he might roam wherever he would, within the bounds +of the establishment. He derived additional comfort from several of +the state prisoners being now suffered to take their meals together, +instead of having them separately in their apartments. The party thus +formed admitted to their society several of the lunatics who had been +liberally educated, and were harmless. One of these unfortunate men +asserted himself to be the Divinity, another claimed to be a son of +Louis XV., a third took a higher flight, and was the reigning monarch. +These aspiring pretensions were strongly contrasted with the humility +of others. A barrister, whose intellect love had shaken, manifested his +insanity by throwing himself at every one’s feet and imploring pardon. +Another individual, who had been a hermit, obstinately persisted in +believing that Latude was a German elector, and, in spite of all attempts +to prevent it, would perform for him the meanest domestic offices. “If +I told him in the morning,” says Latude, “that a flea had disturbed my +rest, he would not leave my chamber till he had killed it: he would bring +it to me in the hollow of his hand, to show me what he had done. ‘My +lord,’ he would say, ‘it will bite no more, and will never again disturb +the sleep of your most serene highness.’” + +A fellow prisoner who had recently been confined in a cell during a +furious paroxysm of insanity, now gave some information to Latude, +which deeply wounded his feelings. From him Latude learned that his +early friend D’Alegre was in the prison, a raving maniac, shut up in an +iron cage. His entreaties were so pressing, that the monks granted him +permission to visit this unfortunate being. He found him a lamentable +spectacle, shrunk to a skeleton, his hair matted, and his eyes sunken +and haggard. Latude rushed to embrace him, but was repelled with signs +of aversion by the maniac. In vain he strove to recall himself to the +maniac’s recollection; the lost being only looked fiercely at him, and +exclaimed, in a hollow tone, “I know you not!—begone!—I am God!” This +victim of despotism had been ten years at Charenton, and he continued +there, in the same melancholy state, during the remainder of his +existence, which was protracted till a very late period. + +After Latude had been for nearly two years at Charenton, his friends +succeeded in obtaining an order for his release, on condition that he +should permanently fix his abode at Montagnac, his native place. He +quitted the prison without hat or coat; all his dress consisting of +a tattered pair of breeches and stockings, a pair of slippers, and a +great-coat thirty years old, which damp had reduced to rottenness. He +was penniless, too; “but,” says he, “I was regardless of all these +circumstances; it was enough that I was free!” + +With some money, which he borrowed from a person who knew his family, +Latude procured decent clothing. He called on M. Le Noir, who received +him not unfavourably, and desired him to depart without delay for +Montagnac. Unfortunately, he did not follow this advice. He lingered in +Paris to draw up a memorial to the king, soliciting a recompense for his +plans; and he had an interview with the Prince de Beauveau, to whom he +related his woeful story. In his memorial, he mentioned M. de Sartine; +and, though he intimates that he said nothing offensive, we may doubt +whether he manifested much forbearance. The ministers now gave him +peremptory orders to quit Paris; it is obvious that they were acquainted +with his memorial, and were irritated by it beyond measure. He had +proceeded forty-three leagues on his journey to the south of France, when +he was overtaken by an officer of police, who carried him back a prisoner +to the capital. + +Latude was now taught that hitherto he had not reached the lowest depth +of misery; he was doomed to experience “a bitter change, severer for +severe.” Till this time his companions in suffering had been men with +whom it was no disgrace to associate; but, in this instance, he was +tossed among a horde of the most abandoned ruffians on earth; he was +immured in the Bicêtre, in that part of the jail which was appropriated +to swindlers, thieves, murderers, and other atrocious criminals, the scum +and offscouring of France. On his arrival there, he was stripped, clad +in the coarse and degrading prison attire, thrust into a dungeon, and +supplied with a scanty portion of bread and water. + +He was now in the midst of wretches, who tormented him with questions +as to what robberies and murders he had committed, boasted of their own +numerous crimes, and laughed at his pretending to innocence. “I was +condemned,” says he, “to endure their gross and disgusting language, +to listen to their unprincipled projects, in short to breathe the very +atmosphere of vice.” It was in vain that, to procure his liberation from +this den of infamy, he wrote to the friends who had rescued him from +Charenton; some of them were silenced by the old falsehood that he was +a dangerous madman, and others were alienated by being told that he had +broken into the house of a lady of rank, and by threats had terrified +her into giving him a large sum of money. This last calumny stung him +to the soul, and he wrote to M. de Sartine to demand a trial; but his +letter produced no other effect than the issuing of an order to take from +him the means of writing. Such accumulated injustice soured his mind, +and, brooding over the hope of revenge, he assumed the name of Jedor, in +allusion to a dog so called, the figure of which he had seen on the gate +of a citadel, with a bone between its paws, and underneath, as a motto, +“I gnaw my bone, expecting the day when I may bite him who has bitten me.” + +While the money lasted which Latude had taken into the prison, he could +obtain a supply of food, bad indeed in quality, and villanously cooked, +but still capable of supporting nature. But the money was soon spent, +and he was then reduced to the prison allowance, which was scanty in +quantity, of the worst kind, and often polluted by an admixture of filth +and vermin. Latude was a large eater, and the portion of food allowed to +him was so trifling, that he was tortured by hunger. To such extremity +was he driven, that he was compelled to petition the sweepers to give him +some of the hard crusts which were thrown into the passages by the richer +prisoners, and which were collected every morning for the pigs. + +Bad as the fare of Latude was, his lodging was far worse. His windowless +cell, only eight feet square, swarmed with fleas and rats to such a +degree that to sleep was all but impossible; fifty rats at a time were +under his coverlet. He had neither fire nor candle, his clothing was +insufficient, and the wind, rain, and snow beat furiously through the +iron grating, which barely admitted the light. In rainy weather, and +during thaws, the water ran in streams down the walls of the dungeon. + +Eight-and-thirty months were spent in this infernal abode. Rheumatism, +that prevented him from quitting his pallet, was the first consequence +of his exposed situation. This brought with it an aggravation of another +evil; for when Latude was unable to approach the wicket, the keeper flung +in his bread, and gave him no soup. Scurvy of the most inveterate kind +at length attacked him, his limbs were swelled and blackened, his gums +became spongy, and his teeth loose, and he could no longer masticate the +bread. For three days he lay without sustenance, voiceless and moveless, +and he was just on the point of expiring, when he was conveyed to the +infirmary. The infirmary was a loathsome place, little better than a +charnel-house, but the medical aid which he obtained there restored him, +after a struggle of many months, to a tolerable state of health. + +On his recovery he was placed in a decent apartment. He did not, +however, long enjoy it. Having attempted to present a petition to a +princess of the house of Bouillon, who came to see the Bicêtre, he was +punished by being thrust into a dungeon more horrible than that which +he had previously inhabited. His own words will best describe what he +underwent. “I was,” says he, “still enduring a physical torture which I +had experienced before, though never to so cruel and dangerous an extent. +After having triumphed over so many disasters, and vanquished so many +enemies by my unshaken constancy, I was on the point of yielding to the +intolerable pain occasioned by the vermin which infested my person. My +dungeon was totally dark, my eye-sight was nearly extinguished, and I +tried in vain to deliver myself from the myriads of these noxious animals +that assailed me at once; the dreadful irritation made me tear my flesh +with my teeth and nails, until my whole body became covered with ulcers; +insects generated in the wounds, and literally devoured me alive. It was +impossible to sleep: I was driven mad with agony, my sufferings were +drawing to a close, and death in its most horrid shape awaited me.” + +Gloomy as appearances were, the dawn of a brighter day was at hand. A +providential occurrence, which seemed calculated to destroy his last +hope, was the cause of his redemption. In 1781, the President de Gourgue +visited the Bicêtre, heard the story of Latude, desired that the captive +would draw up a memorial, and promised to exert himself in his behalf. +Latude wrote the memorial, and intrusted it to a careless messenger, who +dropped it in the street. The packet was found by a young female, Madame +Legros, who carried on in a humble way the business of a mercer, and +whose husband was a private teacher. The envelope being torn by lying +in the wet, and the seal broken, she looked at the contents, which were +signed “Masers de Latude, a prisoner during thirty-two years, at the +Bastile, at Vincennes, and at the Bicêtre, where he is confined on bread +and water, in a dungeon ten feet under ground.” + +The gentle heart of Madame Legros was shocked at the idea of the +protracted agony which the prisoner must have suffered. After she +had taken a copy of the memorial, her husband, who participated in +her feelings, carried it to the president. But the magistrate had +been deceived by the falsehood, that the captive was a dangerous +incurable lunatic, and he advised them to desist from efforts which +must be fruitless. Madame Legros, however, who had much good sense and +acuteness, would not believe that the captive was mad; she again read +the memorial attentively, and could perceive in it no indication of +disordered intellect. She was firmly convinced that he was the victim of +persecution, and she resolved to devote her time and her faculties to +his deliverance. Never, perhaps, was the sublime of benevolence so fully +displayed as by this glorious woman, whose image ought to have been +handed down to posterity by the painter’s and the sculptor’s hand. In +the course of her philanthropic struggles, she had to endure calumny and +severe privations, she was reduced to sell her ornaments and part of her +furniture, and to subsist on hard and scanty fare, yet she never paused +for a moment from the pursuit of her object, never uttered a sentence +of regret that she had engaged in it. Her husband, too, though less +personally active, has the merit of having entirely coincided with her in +opinion, and aided her as far as he had the power. + +It is delightful to know that her noble labours were crowned with +success. Her toils, and the result of them, are thus summed up by Latude, +who has also narrated them at great length. “Being thoroughly convinced +of my innocence, she resolved to attempt my liberation; she succeeded, +after occupying three years in unparalleled efforts, and unwearied +perseverance. Every feeling heart will be deeply moved at the recital +of the means she employed, and the difficulties she surmounted. Without +relations, friends, fortune, or assistance, she undertook everything, +and shrank from no danger and no fatigue. She penetrated to the levées +of ministers, and forced her way to the presence of the great; she spoke +with the natural eloquence of truth, and falsehood fled before her words. +They excited her hopes and extinguished them, received her with kindness +and repulsed her rudely; she reiterated her petitions, and returned a +hundred times to the attack, emboldened by defeat itself. The friends +her virtues had created trembled for her liberty, even for her life. +She resisted all their entreaties, disregarded their remonstrances, and +continued to plead the cause of humanity. When seven months pregnant, she +went on foot to Versailles, in the midst of winter; she returned home +exhausted with fatigue and worn out with disappointment; she worked more +than half the night to obtain subsistence for the following day, and then +repaired again to Versailles. At the expiration of eighteen months, she +visited me in my dungeon, and communicated her efforts and her hopes. +For the first time I saw my generous protectress; I became acquainted +with her exertions, and I poured forth my gratitude in her presence. +She redoubled her anxiety, and resolved to brave everything. Often, on +the same day, she has gone to Montmartre to visit her infant, which was +placed there at nurse, and then came to the Bicêtre to console me and +inform me of her progress. At last, after three years, she triumphed, and +procured my liberty!” + +In the first instance, the boon of liberty could not be said to be more +than half granted; Latude being ordered to fix his abode at Montagnac, +and not to leave the town without the permission of the police officer +of the district. As his fortune was entirely lost, a miserable pension +of four hundred livres (about £16) was assigned for his subsistence. By +the renewed exertions of Madame Legros, however, the decree of exile was +rescinded, and he was allowed to remain at Paris, on condition of his +never appearing in the coffee-houses, on the public walks, or in any +place of public amusement. The government might well be ashamed that such +a living proof of its injustice should be contemplated by the people. + +It was on the 24th of March, 1784, that Latude emerged into the world, +from which he had for five-and-thirty years been secluded. He and his +noble-minded benefactress were, for a considerable time, objects of +general curiosity. Happily, that curiosity did not end in barren pity and +wonder, but proved beneficial to those who excited it. A subscription +was raised, by which two annuities, each of 300 livres, were purchased, +one for Latude, the other for his deliverer. Two other pensions, of 600 +livres and 100 crowns, were soon after granted by individuals to Madame +Legros, and the Montyon gold medal, annually given as the prize of +virtue, was unanimously adjudged to her by the French Academy. The income +of Latude also obtained some increase; but it was not till 1793 that it +received any addition of importance; in that year he brought an action +against the heirs of the Marchioness de Pompadour, and heavy damages +were awarded to him. Notwithstanding the severe shocks his frame had +undergone, the existence of Latude was protracted till 1805, when he died +at the age of eighty. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + Reign of Louis XVI.—Enormous number of Lettres de Cachet + issued in two reigns—William Debure the elder—Blaizot + imprisoned for obeying the King—Pelisseri—Prisoners from + St. Domingo—Linguet—Duvernet—The Count de Paradès—Marquis + de Sade—Brissot—The Countess de la Motte—Cardinal de + Rohan—Cagliostro—The affair of the Diamond Necklace—Reveillon + takes shelter in the Bastile—Attack and capture of the Bastile + by the Parisians—Conclusion. + + +The reign of Louis XV., which, as far as regarded himself, was every +way inglorious, was protracted to the length of fifty-nine years; a +duration which has rarely been equalled. Popular enthusiasm, or rather +popular folly—the terms are often synonymous—at one time conferred on +him the title of “the Well-beloved;” he lived to be sincerely hated, +and he died unlamented, except by such of his flatterers and parasites +as feared that they would be cast off by a new monarch. Of the enormous +amount of private misery which, during the period of his sway, he must +have inflicted, in exercising only one attribute of his despotism, some +idea may be formed, from the circumstance of more than 150,000 _lettres +de cachet_ having been issued while he occupied the throne; an annual +average of more than 2500. How many wives, parents, children, must have +been yearly driven to despair by this atrocious tyranny! Though it is +certain that the prisoners were not all treated with the same brutality +as Masers de Latude, the mass of suffering must, nevertheless, have been +more than can be contemplated without a shudder by any one who is not +dead to the feelings of humanity. + +In 1774, Louis XVI. ascended the throne. He was a perfect contrast to +his predecessor. In his manners there was little of the dignity of a +sovereign, and he was deficient in firmness and penetration; but, pure +in morals, kind in heart, and honest in principle, he was unfeignedly +desirous to do justice to his people, and to contribute to their welfare. +Yet, so difficult is it to uproot a long-established abuse, and such is +the power of ministers and men in office, that, even under the government +of this well-meaning king, no fewer than 14,000 _lettres de cachet_ are +said to have been granted in the fifteen years which elapsed between the +accession of Louis and the meeting of the States General. + +The very first instances which I shall bring forward of the use made of +_lettres de cachet_, in this reign, will afford proof of the unprincipled +and arbitrary spirit of the men who held authority. We commence with +William Debure the elder, one of the most eminent and intelligent of the +Parisian booksellers. The family of the Debures carried on, from father +to son, the same business in Paris, for nearly two centuries. The subject +of this sketch was in habits of intimacy with the most distinguished +literary characters. His catalogues of celebrated libraries, to the +number of forty-three, are much esteemed. At the time of his decease, +in 1820, when he was eighty-six, he was the oldest bookseller in France, +and was considered as the patriarch of bibliography. It was in 1778 +that he was sent to the Bastile. In 1777, the Council of State thought +proper to issue an ordinance, decreeing that the term of copyright should +not in future extend beyond the time which was required to defray the +expense of publishing. The Council followed this up by another ordinance, +authorizing the sale of pirated editions, on payment of a stamp duty. +These acts, equally absurd and unjust, were, in fact, licenses to commit +robbery upon authors and publishers, for the benefit of the treasury, +which shared the spoil with the robbers. Debure then held in his company +the place of syndic, which seems to be analogous to that of master in +our stationers’ company. To him fell the task of stamping the pirated +works. Well knowing that a great number of booksellers would inevitably +be ruined by the new law, or rather violation of law, which the Council +had promulgated, Debure declined to comply with it, and desired that he +might be allowed to resign. His resignation was not accepted, and he was +thrice summoned to proceed to the stamping of the spurious books; and in +each instance the significant hint was thrown out, “Stamp, or if you do +not——.” Debure remained immovable, and he was at length committed to the +Bastile. The ministers, however, either became ashamed of their conduct, +or, which is more probable, were overruled by the monarch; for, in the +course of a few days, he recovered his liberty. + +Another bookseller is said to have been punished in the same manner, for +the extraordinary offence of executing, in the way of trade, an order +which was given to him by his sovereign. Suspecting that his ministers +kept him in ignorance of the sentiments and wishes of the people, Louis +determined to obtain some knowledge of them from another quarter. To +peruse the various political pamphlets of the day seemed to him the best +mode of accomplishing his purpose. Accordingly, he directed a bookseller, +named Blaizot, to send them regularly and secretly to a certain place, +whence they were to be conveyed to him. This was done for about two +months. Alarmed to find the king possessed of so much information, +upon subjects with which they had believed him to be unacquainted, the +ministers set to work to discover the source of it. Either Blaizot’s +imprudence, or the activity of their spies, soon made them masters of +the secret. The luckless bookseller was speedily taught that there +was an influence behind the throne which was greater than the throne +itself. The Bastile received him. This audacious act is attributed to +the Baron de Breteuil; of whom, however, it is but justice to state, +that he is said to have liberated many prisoners, and much ameliorated +the prison discipline. But he was at times harsh and impetuous, and may, +perhaps, on this occasion, have yielded to passion, or to the wish of his +colleagues. Surprised by the customary supply of pamphlets being abruptly +stopped, Louis inquired into the cause of it, and was equally astonished +and indignant to find that Blaizot had been lodged in the Bastile, by +virtue of one of those laconic billets which were signed Louis, and +countersigned by a cabinet minister. Blaizot was instantly released, and +the Baron de Breteuil was reprimanded, in the severest language, by his +offended master. + +That Breteuil, highly aristocratic in his principles, and believing the +established order of things to be perfection itself, should consider it +as a matter of course to silence all opponents by means of the Bastile, +can excite no wonder; but, if a minister who sprang from the people, +a republican by birth, and a professed friend of reform, could punish +by imprisonment a man who ventured to criticise his measures, we must +wonder indeed! Yet, if M. Linguet was not misinformed, such a case did +actually happen. He tells us that, while he was in the Bastile, there +was in the prison a captive named Pelisseri, who had been three years +in confinement, and whose sole crime was that he had made some remarks +on the financial operations of M. Necker. The story is not probable. +With some important faults, the minister had many virtues, and certainly +had nothing cruel in his nature. It is very likely that the captivity +of Pelisseri was the work of some secret enemy, who hated both him and +Necker, and doubly gratified his vindictive feelings, by incarcerating +the one and calumniating the other. + +The agents of the French government in the colonies seem not to have +been backward in following the example of tyranny which was set to them +by their superiors at home. In one instance, a governor of St. Domingo, +who had quarrelled with all the members of a court of justice, adopted a +summary mode of proceeding against them. He shipped the whole of them, +and sent them off to France as criminals. On their arrival they were +placed in the Bastile, and kept separate from each other; and in this +painful situation they remained for eight months. They were at length +pronounced innocent, and were conveyed back to St. Domingo; but they +received not the slightest compensation for more than a year’s endurance +of bodily and mental suffering. + +The Bastile received, in September, 1780, a man whose talents were +more worthy of praise than his temper. This was Simon Nicholas Henry +Linguet, a native of Rheims, who was born in 1736. He was learned, acute, +and eloquent both in speech and writing; but paradoxical, changeful, +suspicious, violent, and wrong-headed. At the age of sixteen, he gained +the three highest University prizes. After having visited Poland with +the Duke of Deux Ponts, and Portugal with the Prince de Beauveau, he +commenced his literary career by a History of the Times of Alexander the +Great. Disappointed by D’Alembert, in his wish to obtain a seat in the +French Academy, he became an inveterate enemy of D’Alembert, and the +party which was called the philosophical. His works succeeded each other +with uncommon rapidity: the most remarkable of those which he published +at this period are, the History of the Revolutions of the Roman Empire, +and the Theory of Civil Laws. Both these works, which in many respects +have great merit, excited a loud clamour, especially the latter, by the +leaning which they manifest towards despotism. Linguet had soon reason to +change his opinion on this subject. + +The literary labours of Linguet might seem sufficient to occupy all +his time; but the fact was not so. He was all the while a barrister +in extensive practice. In splendid eloquence, and in the successful +management of causes, he had few if any rivals. He boasted that he +never lost more than two causes, “and those,” said he, “I had a strong +inclination to lose.” It was mainly by his efforts that the obnoxious +Duke d’Aiguillon escaped from deserved punishment. The duke proved +ungrateful, and his irritated counsellor wrote him word that he had +“stolen him from the scaffold,” and that, if the peer did not do what was +right with regard to his advocate, “he would keep him hanging for ten +years at the point of his pen.” D’Aiguillon thought it prudent to yield, +but he took care to avenge himself in the end. The lucrative career of +Linguet, as a barrister, was suddenly brought to a close by his brethren +of the bar, some of whom envied his superior gains, and all of whom +had been irritated by his violent and sarcastic language. They refused +to plead with him, and the parliament sanctioned this resolution, and +expunged his name from the roll of counsellors. + +Shut out from forensic honours and emoluments, Linguet devoted himself +to literature and politics. He began to publish a journal in 1774, but, +in 1776, it was suppressed by the minister Maurepas. Apprehensive for +his liberty, he quitted France, and successively resided in Switzerland, +Holland, and England. It was in 1777, while he was in exile, that he +established his well-known work, the Political, Civil, and Literary +Annals of the Eighteenth Century, which forms nineteen volumes. The Count +de Vergennes gave him permission to return to France; but scarcely had +he availed himself of it ere he was shut up in the Bastile, where he +continued for above two years. On his release, he settled at Brussels, +and gained the good-will of the emperor Joseph, which, however, he +soon lost, by espousing the party of the Belgian revolutionists. In +1791, he returned to France. During the reign of terror, he withdrew +into retirement. He was, however, unable to elude the vigilance of the +Jacobins; he was sent by them before the revolutionary tribunal, which, +without suffering him to make any defence, condemned him to death, and he +was accordingly executed in the summer of 1794. + +While Linguet was in the Bastile, one of his opponents was sharing the +same fate, though for a much shorter term. Duvernet, an ecclesiastic, +published a pamphlet, anonymously, in 1781, in which he indulged his +wit at the expense of Linguet, D’Espremenil, and other well-known +characters. This he might have done with impunity; but he also attacked +the government; and the government, in return, sent him to the Bastile +for three weeks, to learn prudence. The lesson was thrown away upon him; +for, soon after his release, he ventured to animadvert upon the conduct +of the Count de Maurepas, and was again lodged in the Bastile. His +confinement lasted longer than in the first instance; and he availed +himself of this compulsory leisure to write a life of Voltaire. The +minister of police detained the manuscript; but the work, nevertheless, +found its way into print in 1786, and had such an extensive sale, that +the French bishops took the alarm, and commissioned the keeper of the +seals to complain to the king. Louis XVI., however, replied, “I will not +meddle with this affair; if Duvernet is wrong, let him be refuted,—that +is the business of the bishops.” The author afterwards enlarged and +remodelled his work; but he died in 1796, the year before the new edition +was published. + +Another prisoner, who was also contemporary with Linguet in the Bastile, +was an individual of mysterious origin and conduct, who ought to have +found a place in an English prison rather than in a French one. This +was a person who assumed the title of the Count de Paradès. He himself +claimed to be descended from an ancient Spanish family of the same name; +some affirmed him to be the natural son of a Count de Paradès; but he +was generally believed to be of far humbler origin, the offspring of +a pastry-cook named Richard, who resided at Phalsburg. Of his early +life nothing is known; it is at the age of twenty-five that we find him +entering on his public career; and, by some means or other, he contrived +to procure an extremely flattering reception at the French court. +Fearing that he was too old to attain elevated rank in the military +profession, he looked about for another road to fortune, and thought he +had found it in adopting the perilous and undignified occupation of a +spy. France was at that period secretly preparing for hostilities against +England, the revolt of the British American colonies seeming to afford +her a favourable opportunity of taking vengeance for the defeats and +disgrace which she had suffered in the seven years’ war. Deeming this +an excellent opportunity to bring himself forward, Paradès voluntarily +visited England, where he gathered some valuable information relative to +our arsenals, ports, and naval and military establishments. The memorial +which, on his return, he presented to Sartine, the French minister of +marine, was so much approved of, that he was despatched to procure +further particulars. He was so successful in his inquiries, that he was +regularly engaged as a spy by Sartine, and was profusely supplied with +the means to purchase the services of British traitors. Paradès was not +idle; he bribed highly, and, if his own assertion may be credited, he +found no difficulty in corrupting many clerks and officers of an inferior +class. Though he may have exaggerated in this respect, there can be no +doubt that there were too many base-minded wretches who were willing +to sell their country. This fact is established by the circumstances +which came out on the trial of La Motte, his less fortunate successor. +Paradès reconnoitred all the English and Irish ports. In a part of his +journeys he was accompanied by an officer of engineers, and they were +several times in the utmost danger of being discovered. For the purpose +of keeping up an intercourse with the French ministry, he fitted out a +vessel, and had a regular establishment of messengers; the vessel served +the double purpose of trading and conveying his despatches. Many of +the communications which he made were highly important; he complains, +in his memoirs, that some of them, which would have enabled France to +strike fatal blows, were unaccountably neglected. One of his projects +was to set fire to the British fleet in the harbour of Portsmouth. His +services were not unrewarded; he was pensioned, and appointed a colonel +of cavalry. In the short time that he had been acting his part, he had +also contrived to amass about £35,000 by speculations in commerce +and the funds, and perhaps by pocketing a heavy per centage on the +remittances from the French ministry. Nearly £30,000 was sent to him by +his employers, and it is obvious that, as to the disbursement of it, they +could have no check whatever upon him. It was with a scheme for seizing +upon Plymouth that he closed his career as a spy. In that port he either +had, or pretended to have emissaries, and to have corrupted a serjeant +and several soldiers of the feeble garrison. It was in pursuance of this +plan that D’Orvilliers, with the combined French and Spanish squadrons, +consisting of sixty-five sail, entered the Channel. It is notorious that +Plymouth was then in an extremely imperfect state of defence, and would +have been much endangered by a vigorous attack. Fortunately, however, +D’Orvilliers, in spite of the remonstrances of Paradès, declined to make +an attempt upon the place. Paradès now visited France, and immediately +received instructions to return to England; but, before he could depart, +his adventurous occupation was brought to an abrupt close. He is said to +have been suspected of playing the Janus-faced traitor, equally bribed +by England and by France. The suspicion, though natural, was probably +unjust, and may have been prompted by the friends of those officers whom +he had accused of missing favourable opportunities. He was committed to +the Bastile in April 1780, and was not liberated till April 1781. He was +allowed to have what books he pleased, to carry on a free correspondence, +and to be visited by his friends. The presumptions against him could not +have been strong; if they had been so, he would have been rigorously +treated, and permanently confined. For three years after he was set free, +Paradès continued to press the government for the payment of £25,000, +which he asserted to be due to him. The war, however, had exhausted the +French treasury, and he consequently solicited in vain. In 1784 he +sailed to St. Domingo, where he had purchased an estate, and he died +there in the course of the following year. + +He who appears next on the list of captives was a man—if indeed the name +of man is not misapplied to him—whose crimes were of so dark a dye that +to imprison him for them was unjust, solely because it was nothing less +than assisting him to evade the punishment which justice would have +inflicted on him. This abandoned individual has been correctly described, +by a French writer, as “the profound villain named the Marquis de Sade, +who, by his atrocious examples, and his equally horrible writings, +proved himself to be the apostle of every crime,—of assassination, of +poisoning,—and the enemy of all social order; this monster spent great +part of his life in prison, and was twenty times saved from the scaffold +by his title of marquis.” + +The Marquis de Sade, who was descended from an ancient family of the +Comtat Venaissin, was born at Paris, in 1740. He embraced the military +profession, and served in all the German campaigns of the seven years’ +war. In 1766, he married an amiable and virtuous woman, to whom he proved +a perpetual source of wretchedness. A sense of duty induced her, for a +considerable period, to aid in extricating him from the difficulties in +which he involved himself, but she was finally obliged to give him up. In +the same year that he was united to her, one of his infamous adventures +caused him to be imprisoned and exiled; and no sooner was he allowed +to return to Paris than he took an actress into keeping, carried her +to Provence, and introduced her as his wife to the gentry around his +mansion. These, however, were merely the venial offences of Sade. His +criminality took a far higher flight. In 1778, he would have fallen a +victim to the justice of his country, for horrible cruelty to a female, +had he not been snatched from it by a _lettre de cachet_, which confined +him for a time at Saumur, whence he was removed to Pierre-Encise. + +This danger did not operate as a warning to him. At Marseilles, in 1772, +in company with his valet, who was the companion of his debaucheries, +he acted in such a manner that the parliament of Aix prosecuted him and +his servant, and ultimately pronounced them guilty of unnatural acts +and of poisoning; the persons poisoned are said to have been two loose +women, to whom they administered stimulants of the most dangerous kind. +Sade took flight, but was seized in Savoy by the king of Sardinia, and +sent to the castle of Miolans. He made his escape from the castle, and +concealed himself in Paris, where, in 1777, he was discovered, and sent +to Vincennes. He escaped, was retaken, was lodged again at Vincennes, and +was treated with great rigour for two years. In 1784, he was transferred +to the Bastile. + +At Vincennes and the Bastile he wrote the earliest of those works which +alone would suffice to brand his name with indelible infamy. It is truly +said of them, that “everything the most monstrous and revolting, that +can be dreamt by the most frenzied, obscene, and sanguinary imagination, +seems to be combined in these works, the mere conception of which ought +to be looked upon as a crime against social order.” Sade was a voluminous +writer, and produced many other works, plays, romances, verses, and +miscellanies, which have never seen the light. + +At the Bastile, but a short time before the attack on it, he quarrelled +with the governor, and, by means of a sort of speaking trumpet, harangued +the passengers in St. Anthony’s Street, and endeavoured to excite them +to arms. For this he was sent off to Charenton. In 1790, the decree of +the National Assembly, which liberated all the victims of _lettres des +cachet_, put an end to his imprisonment, after it had continued for +thirteen years. Sade was a partisan of the revolution, in its worst +aspect; but even the revolutionists of 1793 shrank from contact with +so foul a being. He was arrested by them, and for nearly a year was an +inmate of various prisons. After this, he remained at large till the +reins of government were assumed by Napoleon. The First Consul put a +stop, in 1801, to the publication of Sade’s works, and sent him to St. +Pelagie; from that prison he was removed to Charenton, in 1803, and there +he spent his days till the close of his dishonoured existence in 1814, +when he was seventy-five years of age. To the very last his detestable +doctrines and habits experienced not the slightest change. + +One of the most eminent of the French revolutionists, from whom a +considerable party took its denomination, was among the latest prisoners +of the Bastile. John Peter Brissot was born in 1754, at the village of +Ouarville, near Chartres, where his father, who was a pastry-cook in +Chartres, had a trifling property. It was from his native place, the name +of which he anglicised, that he afterwards styled himself Brissot de +Warville. He received a good education, and, as he also read with great +avidity, he accumulated a large stock of miscellaneous but undigested +knowledge. In the English language he acquired a proficiency which was +unusual among Frenchmen at that period, and his study of it contributed +powerfully to give his sentiments a republican tinge; for he dwelt with +delight on the characters of the great men who withstood the tyranny +of Charles the First. Brissot was placed in an attorney’s office at +Paris; and it is a curious circumstance, that one of his fellow-clerks +was Robespierre, who afterwards became his deadly political foe. In +two years Brissot got tired of legal drudgery, and determined to look +to literature for subsistence. His first essay was a satire, which he +subsequently owned to contain much injustice, and for which he narrowly +escaped being lodged in the Bastile. A pamphlet which he published +attracted the notice of Swinton, an Englishman, a man utterly devoid of +honourable feelings, who engaged him to superintend the reprinting of the +Courrier de l’Europe, at Boulogne. This engagement was soon terminated; +and Brissot, who had received two hundred pounds on his father’s death, +purchased the necessary titles for practising at the bar. The money thus +laid out was thrown away, he being soon compelled to resign all hope of +succeeding as an advocate. His next scheme, of the success of which he +did not allow himself to doubt, was to establish, in the British capital, +a Lyceum, which was to serve as a point of union to literary men of all +countries, and was to carry on a universal correspondence with them, +and to issue a periodical work for the more wide diffusion of English +literature. As might have been foreseen, this magnificent institution, of +which he was of course to be the presiding genius, proved to be nothing +more than an abortion. Instead of reaping fame and profit from the +periodical, Brissot found that no one would buy it, and he was arrested +and imprisoned by the printer. Having, however, contrived to get free, +he returned penniless to France in 1784, where another prison was ready +to receive him. Merely, it is said, because he had spoken lightly of +the works of D’Aguesseau, he was sent to the Bastile. Others attribute +his imprisonment to the malice of his inveterate and unprincipled enemy +Morande, who accused him of having written a libel, entitled le Diable à +Quatre, which was from the pen of the Marquis de Pelleport. Through the +influence of Madame de Genlis, Brissot was released at the expiration +of two months. This visit to the Bastile was not calculated to diminish +his republican fervour. That fervour was no doubt much increased by his +visit to the United States, whither he went early in 1788, and whence he +returned in the following year. + +Brissot, on his return, threw himself with all his heart and soul into +the Revolution. His mind was heated by the reading of ancient and +modern writers, who have held up republican heroes to our admiration, +and it was irritated by wrongs which arbitrary power had inflicted; +and he rashly and illogically concluded, that under a monarchy it was +impossible for liberty to exist. Such was the case, also, with many of +the talented, eloquent, and warm-hearted men who, acting in concert +with him, were known by the title of Brissotins and Girondists. No one +who has attentively perused the numerous documents relative to the +French revolution can deny that, at a moment when, according to their +own confession, there was not a handful of republicans in France, the +Brissotins had determined to subvert the monarchical government and +establish their favourite system. It is as certain, too, that they were +not delicate in the choice of means, and that truth was not allowed to +stand in the way of their designs. Believing a republican order of things +to be the perfection of human wisdom, they seem to have thought that, “to +do a great right, they might do a little wrong.” They were soon taught +by woeful experience that the strict rule of right can never be violated +without danger; and that, however good his intentions may be, he who does +a little wrong opens the way for the commission of the worst of crimes. + +Brissot was elected a member of the Parisian Common Council, an assembly +which, in less than four years, became infamous for its ferocious and +sanguinary proceedings. It must have been gratifying to his feelings, +that one of the first acts which it fell to his lot to perform, was +to receive the keys of the Bastile. He now established a newspaper +called the French Patriot, in which he made daily violent attacks on the +monarch, the ministers, and all the institutions of the state. It was +he who, in conjunction with Laclos, after the flight of Louis XVI. to +Varennes, drew up the petition which called on the Constituent Assembly +to depose the king, and which gave rise to a riot that cost some blood. +At the period when the election of members to the Legislative Assembly +was going forward, the court exerted itself to prevent him from being +chosen a representative. Its misdirected efforts, however, as was the +case in many other instances, only produced a diametrically opposite +effect to that which was intended; the attention of the electors was +directed to Brissot, and he was unanimously returned as one of the +Parisian members. + +Brissot was nominated a member of the diplomatic committee, and its +reports were almost uniformly drawn up by him. It was principally by +his exertions that a war was brought about with Austria; his purpose in +producing that war was to forward the dethroning of the king. In the +Legislative Assembly he, for a while, enjoyed great popularity, and +he availed himself of it to batter in breach the tottering fabric of +the monarchy. But the Jacobins, meanwhile, with Robespierre at their +head, all animated by a deadly hatred of Brissot and his friends, +were gradually gaining influence; and, in proportion as they won over +the populace and the most hot-headed of the legislators, the power +of Brissot declined. For a moment he meditated making common cause +with the constitutional royalists, in order to avert the disastrous +consequences which he began to dread would ensue, in case the Jacobins +should triumph. The plan, however, was abandoned. In the revolution +of the 10th of August he did not participate; Danton was the prime +mover in that transaction. The department of the Eure deputed Brissot +to the convention; and thenceforth, with a few exceptions, his conduct +was prudent and moderate. From the moment that he and his friends took +their seats, they were daily and furiously assailed by the Jacobins. +They maintained the contest for several months, but they were finally +overthrown, and the majority of them perished on the scaffold. Brissot +was put to death on the 31st of October, 1793, and met his fate as calmly +as though he had only been ascending the tribune to read a report to his +late colleagues. The few tears which he shed during his imprisonment were +not for himself, they were wrung from him by the agonizing thought that +he must leave a beloved wife and children in a state of destitution. + +The last prisoners that remain to be noticed, owed their residence +in the Bastile to an affair which excited the public attention in an +extraordinary degree, and contributed greatly to render the Queen of +France an object of suspicion and unpopularity. This was the affair of +the diamond necklace, in which the principal part was played by the +Countess de la Motte. The countess, and a brother and sister, were +descendants of Henry de St. Remi, a natural son of Henry II., but her +family had been reduced to beggary. The three children, two of whom she +had found asking alms, were taken under the protection of the Marchioness +of Boulainvilliers, who charitably brought them up at her own expense. +D’Hozier, the eminent genealogist, having ascertained that they really +sprang from the house of Valois, the Duke of Brancas presented to the +queen a memorial in their favour, and a small pension was in consequence +granted to each of them. + +In 1780, Jane, the eldest, married the Count de la Motte, who was +one of the guards of the Count d’Artois. Their united resources being +exceedingly scanty, the Countess looked about for the means of improving +them at the cost of some dupe. She had a prepossessing appearance, +fluency of speech, and considerable talents for intrigue, masked by +a semblance of openness and candour. The personage whom she selected +to try her experiment on, was the Cardinal Prince de Rohan, Bishop of +Strasburgh, who was then in his fiftieth year. Rohan, though a bishop +and a cardinal, did not think it necessary to assume even the appearance +of decorum and virtue. He was weak, vain, dissolute, presumptuous, +and extravagant. For a long time he had been in great disfavour with +Maria Antoinetta, the Queen of France. She, as well as her mother, the +Empress Queen, had been disgusted by his unseemly conduct, some years +before this, while he was ambassador at Vienna, and the queen’s disgust +was heightened by his indiscreet language respecting her, and by the +insulting manner in which he had spoken of her mother, in a letter to +the Duke d’Aiguillon. She, however, did not interfere to prevent his +obtaining several ill-deserved appointments from the government, but she +manifested her resentment by refusing to admit him into her presence, and +by expressing her unbounded contempt of him. + +Rohan was in despair at not being admitted into the society of the +queen. All that he enjoyed seemed worthless, while he was denied that +privilege. It was on this egregious weakness that Madame de la Motte +founded her hopes of success. The deceiver acted her part with much +skill; she gradually led the besotted cardinal to believe that she +had acquired the queen’s entire confidence, and could exercise great +influence over her. She was, therefore, obviously the fittest person to +bring about the reconciliation for which he was so eager. The countess +readily undertook to be the mediator. Week after week she deluded him by +tales of her pleadings to the queen, and of the slow but sure progress +that she made in restoring him to the royal favour. At last he was told, +that though the queen had forgiven him, there were reasons why she could +not alter her behaviour towards him at court, and that all intercourse +between them must be carried on through the medium of Madame de la Motte. +Billets, forged by a M. Villette, now began to be addressed to him in her +Majesty’s name; twice the writer requested a loan from Rohan, and the +request was granted by the delighted dupe. To lure him on still further, +he was informed, that Maria Antoinetta would admit him to an interview at +night, in the Bois du Boulogne. To play this character, a lady of easy +virtue, named d’Oliva, whose person and voice resembled the queen’s, +was tutored by La Motte. The cardinal saw her for a moment, and was in +raptures, but he had not time to express them before the nocturnal farce +was put an end to, by a preconcerted interruption. This last fraud having +raised the infatuation of the cardinal to the highest pitch, measures +were taken to turn his folly to advantage. There was in the hands of +Bœhmer and Bossange, the court jewellers, a splendid diamond necklace, +valued at 1,800,000 francs, which the queen had recently declined to +purchase, on the ground that it was too expensive. It was this rich prize +which La Motte had in view. To get possession of it, she made Rohan her +tool; she succeeded in making him believe—for his fund of credulity +appears to have been inexhaustible—that the queen was extremely desirous +to be mistress of the necklace; but that, as she did not choose to be +seen in the affair, she wished him to negotiate for her, and to purchase +it on his own credit. A forged authority, from Maria Antoinetta, was +produced, in support of this fiction. Rohan rushed blindly into the +snare; he bought the necklace, giving for it four bills, payable at +intervals of six months, which the jewellers consented to receive, on his +showing them the paper authorizing him to treat with them. Another forged +document, bearing the queen’s signature, enabled Madame de la Motte to +get the necklace into her own possession. Her husband is said to have +been immediately sent off to London, to dispose of a part of the diamonds. + +When the first bill became due, it was dishonoured, for Rohan had no +money, and had relied upon receiving the amount from the queen. The +alarmed jewellers hastened to the palace, to remonstrate with her majesty +on the subject. The queen was indignant and astonished at the story +which they told. Cardinal de Rohan, the Countess de la Motte, and some +others, were arrested, and conveyed to the Bastile. The parliament was +charged with the trial of the prisoners. The trial was not brought to a +conclusion till the 31st of May, 1786. Rohan was acquitted, but Madame +de la Motte was sentenced to make the _amende honorable_, to be branded +on both shoulders, and publicly whipped, and be confined for the rest +of her days in the prison of the Salpêtrière. Villette, the forger, and +d’Etionville, his accomplice, were condemned to the galleys for life. +After having undergone the ignominious part of her sentence, the countess +contrived to escape, and joined her husband in London, where she died in +1791. + +Rohan, though acquitted, was compelled by the king to resign the office +of high almoner, and the Order of the Holy Ghost, and was exiled to one +of his abbeys. In the early part of the Revolution, he for a short time +seemed friendly to it; but, his aristocratic feelings soon getting the +upper hand, he became one of its most inveterate enemies, and strained +every nerve to forward the designs of the emigrants. He died in Germany, +in 1803. + +Besides La Motte and Rohan, there were committed to the Bastile some +subordinate actors in the affair of the diamond necklace, and also a +singular adventurer, who was known to the world under the title of +Count Cagliostro. The count himself, while he threw a veil of mystery +over his birth, appeared to claim an oriental and illustrious origin; +but his enemies assert that his real name was Joseph Balsamo, and that +he was the son of poor parents at Palermo, where he was born in 1743. +They represent him, too, as a degraded being, sometimes living by the +sale of chemical compositions, sometimes by swindling, and, still more +frequently, by the prostitution of a handsome wife. Yet it is certain +that, in his travels over the largest portion of Europe, he gained the +esteem and confidence of many distinguished characters. That he was a man +of talents is undeniable; his person and manners were attractive, he was +acquainted with most of the European and Asiatic languages, his knowledge +is said to have been extensive, and he had a powerful flow of eloquence. +Where he procured the funds, by which he kept up the appearance of a man +of distinction, it would not be easy to ascertain. He was intimate with +Cardinal de Rohan, who had sought his friendship, and this intimacy was +the cause of his being incarcerated, on suspicion of being an accomplice +of the cardinal. He was acquitted by the parliament. Cagliostro +subsequently spent two years in England, whence he passed into Italy. At +Rome, his wanderings were brought to a close; he was arrested in 1791, +and sent to the castle of St. Angelo, on a charge of having established +a masonic lodge, and written a seditious, heretical, and blasphemous +work, entitled Egyptian Masonry. He was condemned to death, but for this +penalty the Pope substituted perpetual imprisonment. He is believed to +have died in confinement in 1795. + +The long catalogue of captives is now exhausted; ruin impends over +the fortress in which they spent their solitary and mournful hours; +but, before its doom is sealed, we must see it changing its character, +and becoming, for the first time, a place of refuge to a persecuted +individual. In April 1789, at a period when the minds of all Frenchmen +were in a state of fermentation, and when, like the ground-swell, which +announces a coming tempest, popular outbreaks were happening in various +quarters, there occurred a riot of a very serious nature in the suburb of +St. Antoine. Reveillon, a man of good character, who had himself risen +from the working class, was the person against whom the fury of the mob +was directed. He was a paper-hanging manufacturer, and employed three +hundred men. The charge against him, which was calumniously made by an +abbé, who was in his debt, was, that he had declared bread to be not yet +dear enough, and expressed a hope that hunger would compel the workmen +to labour for half their present wages. The thoughtless multitude, +always too ready to credit such slanders, immediately determined to take +summary vengeance on him; the first step of the rioters was to hang him +in effigy. On the first day they were prevented from going further, but +on the following day, they returned to the charge with increased numbers +and means of offence. Reveillon’s house and manufactory were plundered +of everything that was portable, and were then burned to the ground. It +was not till the mischief was completed, that the troops arrived. They +seem to have thought it necessary to atone for their extraordinary delay +by extraordinary severity; a furious contest ensued, and between four +and five hundred of the rioters are said to have been slaughtered on +the spot. Each of the political parties accused its rival of having, for +sinister purposes, been the planner of this sanguinary scene. In the +midst of the confusion, Reveillon was so fortunate as to escape from the +mob, and he sought for shelter in the Bastile, where, during a whole +month, he deemed it prudent to remain. + +In little more than three months after the destruction of Reveillon’s +establishment, the storm of popular anger, which had long been gathering +in the capital, burst forth with irresistible violence, and shook to its +very basis the throne of France. Matters were, indeed, come to a crisis, +between the royalist and the reforming parties. The court seemed resolved +to commit the question to the decision of the sword; a formidable +force, consisting chiefly of foreign troops, was accumulated around the +metropolis; and the language held by some of the courtiers and ministers +was of the most sanguinary kind. The Baron de Breteuil did not hesitate +to say, “If it should be necessary to burn Paris, it shall be burned, +and the inhabitants decimated: desperate diseases require desperate +remedies.” To dissolve the National Assembly by force, and to consign +to the scaffold its most distinguished members, were among the remedies +which this political Sangrado designed to administer for the purpose of +checking the disease. + +As a preliminary to the projected operations, the ministry of M. Necker +was abruptly broken up, and another was formed, composed of men notorious +for their hostility to the rights of the people. It was a sufficient +indication of what was intended, that Necker, Montmorin, De la Lezarne, +De Puysegur, and De St. Priest, were replaced by Breteuil, Broglie, De la +Vauguyon, and others of the same stamp. Necker was ordered to quit the +kingdom, and to keep his departure a profound secret. + +The dismissed minister obeyed the order so strictly that not even his +daughter knew of his setting out; but the ridiculous silence which +was required of him was of no avail. On the following day, which was +Sunday, the 12th of July, it was known at Paris that the favourite of +the people was expelled from office, and was leaving the country. All +the citizens were instantly in alarm. Groups assembled in every street, +and more than ten thousand persons were soon congregated at the Palais +Royal. Every one was enraged, but no one knew what to propose, till +Camille Desmoulins ascended a table, in the Palais Royal, and exhorted +his hearers to take up arms; he then plucked a green leaf, which he put +into his hat, as a rallying-sign, and the symbol of hope. His example +was universally followed. The crowd now proceeded to a waxwork museum, +took from it the busts of Necker and the Duke of Orleans, covered +them with crape, carried them in procession through the streets, and +compelled the passengers to take off their hats. Near the place Vendôme, +they were assailed by a detachment of the Royal German regiment, and +several persons were wounded. The Germans were, however, repulsed. At +the place de Louis XV. there was another contest. They were charged by +the dragoons of the Prince de Lambesc, who dispersed them, and killed a +soldier of the French guards, and one of the bearers of the busts. The +prince himself, a brutal character, followed some of them into the garden +of the Tuileries, sabring indiscriminately the fugitives and those who +were walking; among those who fell beneath his hand were a female and +an aged man. The multitude rallied, and chairs, stones, and everything +that could be converted into a weapon, was employed against the dragoons, +who were finally compelled to fly. By this time the French guards, who +were confined in their barracks, because they favoured the people, +had learned the death of their comrade. It was impossible to restrain +their rage; they broke out, fired on the Royal German regiment, and then +took post to cover the multitude from further attack. Some of the Swiss +regiments were ordered to reduce them to obedience, but they refused +to obey; and it was thus rendered obvious, that the court had fatally +miscalculated in relying upon the army for support. + +During that night, and the whole of the succeeding day, Paris was like a +hive about to send forth a swarm. In the course of the night, the most +disorderly part of the populace burned the custom-houses at the barriers, +and plundered the gunsmiths’ shops. Weapons of every kind, and of all +ages and countries, were eagerly sought for and brought into use. In +the morning, the electors met at the town-hall to decide upon the steps +which ought to be taken. It was manifest that they had nothing to expect +from the leniency of the court; it was, in fact, understood that Paris +was to be attacked on seven points in the evening of the 14th, and it +was therefore absolutely necessary to provide the means of defence. In +a few hours a plan was matured and proclaimed, for arraying forty-eight +thousand Parisian militia. The alarm-bells were kept incessantly ringing +throughout Paris, and drums were beating in every street, to summon +the inhabitants to their posts. The scanty supply of arms was the most +serious obstacle which the citizens had to overcome. To remove it in +part, pikes were fabricated, fifty thousand of which were distributed +within six-and-thirty hours. Fortunately, it was discovered that there +was a large quantity of arms at the Hôtel des Invalides; these were +immediately seized upon, and thus 28,000 muskets, besides sabres and some +cannon, were obtained. Sufficient powder was procured, and hundreds of +men were occupied in casting balls. + +The position of the Bastile, interrupting the communication between +various parts of the capital, and commanding a considerable portion +of the city, was a cause of much embarrassment to the citizens. M. +de Launey had received instructions to defend his post to the last +extremity. He was provided with ample means, as far as regarded +ammunition and arms; for he had on the ramparts fifteen cannon, and +twelve wall-pieces, each of which carried a ball of a pound and a half; +he had also plenty of shot, 15,000 cartridges, and 31,000 pounds of +powder. Besides these, there were, on the summit of the building, six +cartloads of paving-stones, bars of iron, and other missiles, to hurl on +an approaching enemy, when the cannon could no longer reach him. But, +with unaccountable negligence, no magazine of provisions had been formed; +there was not food enough in the place to last for twenty-four hours. The +garrison consisted of 32 Swiss and 82 invalids. + +It is certain that the Committee of Electors, sitting at the town-hall, +did not entertain any idea of reducing the Bastile by arms. A sort of +neutrality was the most for which they hoped. That this is the fact, +is proved by their having twice sent a deputation to the governor, +calling on him to admit a detachment of the Parisian militia, to act in +conjunction with the garrison. The ground on which they claimed this +admission was, that the city ought to have a control over any military +force which was stationed within its limits. To such a proposal the +governor could not accede without perilling his head. + +A M. Thuriot was now sent, by the district of St. Louis de la Culture, +to desire that the cannon might be removed from the towers. De Launey +replied that this could not be done without the king’s orders, but that +he would withdraw them from the embrasures to prevent their appearance +from exciting alarm. Thuriot was permitted to ascend to the summit of the +fortress, that he might be enabled to report to those who sent him the +real state of things, and he availed himself of this permission to exhort +the soldiers to surrender. This they refused to do, but they unanimously +and solemnly promised that they would not be the first to fire. + +But though the Committee of Electors was not disposed to engage in +hostilities which seemed likely to be both fruitless and dangerous, there +were others, who were more daring, and some, perhaps, who were aware that +the garrison had no provisions, and little inclination to fight. From +various parts, but especially from the suburb of St. Antoine, an enormous +multitude, with every variety of weapon, hurried to the fortress, +shouting “We will have the Bastile! down with the troops!” Two of them +boldly ascended the roof of the guard-house, and with axes broke the +chains of the great drawbridge. The throng then pressed into the court, +and advanced towards the second bridge, firing all the while upon the +garrison. The latter replied with such effect, that the assailants were +driven back; but they placed themselves under shelter, whence they kept +up an incessant discharge of musketry. + +A despatch to the governor, informing him that succour was at hand, +having been intercepted by the committee, that body sent a third +deputation to prevail on him to admit the Parisian forces. It reached the +outer court, and was invited to enter the place by some officers of the +garrison; but either it mistook the meaning of the invitation, or was +intimidated by the scene of carnage, for it retired without fulfilling +its mission. The firing was recommenced by the people, and was answered +with deadly effect by their antagonists. Three waggon-loads of straw were +now brought in and set on fire, to burn the buildings near the fortress; +but they were so unskilfully managed, that they proved obstacles to the +besiegers, who were compelled to remove them. While they were thus +employed, they received a discharge of grape-shot from the only cannon +which the garrison fired during the conflict. + +The French guards now arrived with four pieces of cannon, to take a part +in the attack. The sight of this reinforcement entirely depressed the +spirits of the besieged, which had already begun to sink. They called on +their commander to capitulate. Anticipating, no doubt, the fate which was +reserved for him, he is said to have seized a lighted match, intending +to apply it to the powder-magazine. A large portion of the neighbourhood +would have been destroyed with the Bastile, had not two non-commissioned +officers repelled him with their bayonets from the dangerous spot. A +white handkerchief was hoisted on one of the towers as a flag of truce, +and a parley was beaten by the drums of the invalids. These signs were +unnoticed for a considerable time by the besiegers, who continued their +fire. At length, finding that all was silent in the Bastile, they +advanced towards the last drawbridge, and called to the garrison to let +it down. A Swiss officer looked through a loop-hole, and required that +his comrades should be allowed to march out with the honours of war. That +being refused, he declared that they were willing to submit, on condition +of not being massacred. “Let down the bridge, and nothing shall happen to +you,” was the reply. On this assurance, the governor gave up the key of +the bridge, and the conquerors entered in triumph. + +A vast majority of the assailants were undoubtedly brave and honourable +men; but there were among them numbers of the most infamous of mankind; +men who lent their aid in tumults only that they might gratify their +love of plunder and blood. To these degraded wretches must be attributed +the cruelties which sullied the victory. No sooner was the day won, +than they began to gratify their diabolical propensities. Their first +achievement was to attempt to throw into the flames a young girl, whom +they found in a fainting fit, and supposed to be the governor’s daughter. +She was, however, saved by one of the Parisian volunteers. Others were +less happy. The unfortunate De Launey was massacred on his way to the +town-hall, after having received innumerable sword and bayonet stabs from +the savages around him. Five of his officers were put to death in an +almost equally barbarous manner. + +The loss of the besiegers was eighty-three killed on the spot, fifteen +who died afterwards, thirteen crippled, and sixty wounded. + +In the Bastile there were found only seven prisoners; four of them had +forged bills to an immense amount, two were insane, and the last, the +Count de Solange, had been confined at the request of his father for +dissipated conduct. + +The Bastile soon ceased to exist. It was demolished by order of the civic +authorities of Paris; and, when the demolition was completed, a grand +ball was given on the levelled space. The capture and downfall of this +obnoxious fabric were hailed with delight by the friends of liberty in +every part of the globe, and they long furnished a favourite and fertile +theme for moralists, orators, and poets. + + +THE END. + + LONDON: + BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, + WHITEFRIARS. + + + + +FOOTNOTES + + +[1] M. Linguet says, that each of these niches was but just large enough +for one person, and had neither light nor air except at the moment when +the door was opened. + +[2] M. de Fratteaux was seized in England, and carried off, by the +French officers of police. “His misfortunes seem to have been owing to +an unnatural father, who being on terms of intimacy with the minister, +obtained a _lettre de cachet_ to arrest and confine his son.” + +[3] Prisoners who were not allowed to have a servant of their own, +sometimes were indulged with an invalid soldier to attend them; but those +who had neither, made their bed, lighted their fire, and swept their +room, themselves. + +[4] I have passed lightly over the life of Palissy, because I shall have +occasion to dwell upon it, in another volume of the Family Library. + +[5] Henry pointed his advice with a pun, which is not translatable. He +recommended to Biron, “Qu’il l’otât d’auprès de lui, sinon que _La Fin +l’affineroit_.” In English, if such a deceiver’s name were Cousin, we +might similarly say, “If you do not get rid of that Cousin, he will cozen +you.” + +[6] Biographers and historians differ with respect to the circumstances +which ensued on the pardon being announced. While some give the statement +which I have adopted, others affirm that, when de Jars was taken back to +prison, he remained for a long while speechless, and seemingly deprived +of all consciousness. This is asserted by Madame de Motteville; and, +as she was his intimate friend, her authority has considerable weight. +But her assertion may be correct, and yet it is more than probable +that de Jars may have made the reply which is attributed to him. I +think the conduct ascribed to him in the text more consonant than any +other with his intrepid character. Nature, however, can endure only to +a certain point, and the effort that is made to bear up, and which, +as long as danger is present, seldom fails with the honourable and +brave, necessarily produces exhaustion when the struggle is over. It +may therefore, easily be believed, that, though de Jars was capable of +answering Laffemas with his wonted spirit—and the very sight of such a +monster would stimulate that spirit—he might sink into insensibility on +his return to prison. + +[7] It has been conjectured, by some writers, that Richelieu was +stimulated to this new attack upon the queen by the circumstance of her +being pregnant, which induced him to dread that her influence would be +greatly increased, if he did not find the means of rendering her an +object of suspicion. But the conjecture is erroneous, as a comparison +of dates will prove. The attack upon her was commenced in the summer of +1637 (La Porte was sent to the Bastile in August), and the queen was not +brought to bed till September 1638, thirteen months afterwards. + +[8] The mask is said to have been improperly described as being of iron; +it being formed of black velvet. Only the frame work and the springs were +of metal. + +[9] This seems to be a quantity of linen so enormous as to stagger +belief. But Latude is probably correct in his assertion. In some of the +French provinces, families have an immense stock of linen; and it is +necessary that they should, as the operation of washing is not performed +more than twice or thrice a year. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76902 *** diff --git a/76902-h/76902-h.htm b/76902-h/76902-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2216873 --- /dev/null +++ b/76902-h/76902-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,18675 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> +<head> + <meta charset="UTF-8"> + <title> + The history of the Bastile | Project Gutenberg + </title> + <link rel="icon" href="images/cover.jpg" type="image/x-cover"> + <style> + +a { + text-decoration: none; +} + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +h2.nobreak { + page-break-before: avoid; +} + +hr.chap { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + clear: both; + width: 65%; + margin-left: 17.5%; + margin-right: 17.5%; +} + +img.w100 { + width: 100%; +} + +div.chapter { + page-break-before: always; +} + +p { + margin-top: 0.5em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.5em; + text-indent: 1em; +} + +.chapter p { + padding-left: 2em; + text-indent: -2em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + font-size: 90%; +} + +table { + margin: 1em auto 1em auto; + max-width: 40em; + border-collapse: collapse; +} + +td { + padding-left: 2.25em; + padding-right: 0.25em; + vertical-align: top; + text-indent: -2em; + text-align: justify; +} + +.tdc { + text-align: center; + padding: 0.75em 0.25em 0.5em 0.25em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.tdpg { + vertical-align: bottom; + text-align: right; +} + +blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 10%; +} + +.center { + text-align: center; + text-indent: 0; +} + +figcaption p { + margin-bottom: 1em; + font-size: 90%; +} + +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.footnotes { + margin-top: 1em; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.footnote { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em; +} + +.footnote .label { + position: absolute; + right: 84%; + text-align: right; +} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.larger { + font-size: 150%; +} + +.noindent { + text-indent: 0; +} + +.pagenum { + position: absolute; + right: 4%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + font-style: normal; +} + +.poetry-container { + text-align: center; +} + +.poetry { + display: inline-block; + text-align: left; +} + +.poetry .stanza { + margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; +} + +.poetry .verse { + padding-left: 3em; +} + +.poetry .indent0 { + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poetry .indent2 { + text-indent: -2em; +} + +.right { + text-align: right; +} + +.smaller { + font-size: 80%; +} + +.smcap { + font-variant: small-caps; + font-style: normal; +} + +.spacer { + margin-left: 5em; +} + +.titlepage { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 3em; + text-indent: 0; +} + +.transnote { + background-color: #E6E6FA; + color: black; + text-align: center; + font-size: smaller; + padding: 0.5em; + margin-bottom: 5em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker img { + max-width: 100%; + width: auto; + height: auto; +} + +.x-ebookmaker .poetry { + display: block; + margin-left: 1.5em; +} + +.x-ebookmaker blockquote { + margin: 1.5em 5%; +} + +/* Illustration classes */ +.illowp100 {width: 100%;} + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76902 ***</div> + +<div class="transnote"> +<p><b>Transcriber’s Note:</b> This book uses the spelling “Bastile” throughout +(rather than “Bastille” as is more common in modern times).</p> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[i]</span></p> + +<p class="center larger"><span class="smaller">THE</span><br> +HISTORY OF THE BASTILE.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[ii]</span></p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[iii]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage larger"><span class="smaller">THE</span><br> +HISTORY OF THE BASTILE,<br> +<span class="smaller"><span class="smaller">AND OF ITS</span><br> +PRINCIPAL CAPTIVES.</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br> +R. A. DAVENPORT.<br> +<span class="smaller">AUTHOR OF THE “NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY,” ETC. ETC.</span></p> + +<div class="poetry-container titlepage smaller"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">Then shame to manhood, and opprobrious more</div> + <div class="verse indent0">To France than all her losses and defeats,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Old or of later date, by sea or land,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Her house of bondage, worse than that of old</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Which God avenged on Pharaoh—the Bastile.—<span class="smcap">Cowper.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="titlepage">LONDON:<br> +PUBLISHED BY THOMAS TEGG AND SON,<br> +<span class="smaller">73, CHEAPSIDE.</span><br> +1838.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">[iv]</span></p> + +<p class="titlepage smaller">LONDON:<br> +BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARS.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">[v]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="ADVERTISEMENT">ADVERTISEMENT.</h2> + +</div> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" style="max-width: 7.8125em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/line.jpg" alt=""> +</figure> + +<p>The execution of a plan so frequently falls immeasurably +short of the author’s original conception, that +some wit, of whom I have forgotten the name, has +likened them to the cry of an oriental fruit-hawker: +“In the name of the Prophet—figs!” I can bear +witness how much what is purposed goes beyond what +is accomplished. I began loftily, and perhaps the +reader will say, that I have ended with—figs. At the +outset I designed to link, in some measure, the history +of the Bastile with that of France, and to trace the +rise and progress of those parties, factions, and sects, +which furnished inmates to the prisons of state. But +I soon discovered that the contracted limits of a single +volume would not admit of my plan being carried into +execution. By much enlarging the page, and by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">[vi]</span>making, at no small cost, a very considerable addition +to the number of pages, the publisher has liberally endeavoured +to give me the means of rendering the +work less imperfect than it would otherwise have been; +but I have, nevertheless, been exceedingly cramped +by the want of adequate space.</p> + +<p>But, though I have not done all that I wished to +do, I am by no means disposed to disparage my labours. +I have consulted every document that was +accessible, and have conscientiously tried to be strictly +just, and to combine information with amusement. I +indulge a hope that the volume will tend not only to +keep up an abhorrence of arbitrary power, but also to +inspire affection for governments which hold it to be a +duty to promote the happiness of the people. Whatever +may be its defects, it is the only work in the +English language that has even the slightest pretension +to be denominated a History of the Bastile.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">[vii]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> + +</div> + +<table> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER I.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Original meaning of the word Bastile—Various Bastiles—Description + of “The Bastile”—Officers of the fortress—Interior + of it—The Garden—The Court where the prisoners + took exercise—The Towers, Dungeons, Apartments, Furniture, + Food, of the prisoners—The Library—The Chapel—Lettres + de Cachet described—Advocate of them—Change in + the treatment of prisoners—Narrative of a prisoner—Strict + search of prisoners—Harshness to them—Artifices employed + against them—Silence enjoined to the Guards, &c., of the + prison—Mode of receiving visitors—Suppression of letters—Secrecy + and mystery—Medical attendance—Wills—Insanity—Clandestine + burial of the dead.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER II.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of John II.—Stephen Marcel, Provost of the Merchants—Reign + of Charles V.—Hugh Aubriot—Reign of + Charles VI.—Noviant—La Rivière—Peter des Essarts—John + de Montaigu—Contests of the factions at Paris—The + Count of Armagnac—The Burgundians obtain possession of + Paris—Massacre of the Armagnacs—Assassination of the + Duke of Burgundy—Reign of Charles VII.—Paris in the hands + of the English—Villiers de l’Isle Adam—The English expelled + from Paris—Reign of Louis XI.—Anthony de Chabannes—The + Count de Melun—Cardinal de Balue—William d’Haraucour—Charles + d’Armagnac—Louis de Luxembourg—The + Duke of Nemours and his children.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">33</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">[viii]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER III.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Francis I.—Semblançai—The Chancellor Duprat—The + Chancellor Poyet—Admiral de Chabot—Fall of Poyet—Reign + of Henry II.—Anne du Bourg—Louis du Faur—Reign + of Francis II.—Execution of Du Bourg—Francis de + Vendôme—Reign of Charles IX.—The Duke of Lunebourg—Henry + of Navarre and the Prince of Condé in danger of + the Bastile—Faction of the Politicians—La Mole—Coconas—Marshal + de Montmorenci—Marshal de Cossé—Reign of + Henry III.—Bussi d’Amboise.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IV.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Henry III. continued—Conspiracy of Salcede—Francis + de Rosières—Peter de Belloy—Francis le Breton—Bernard + Palissy—Daring plots of the League—Henry III. + expelled from Paris—The Bastile surrenders to Guise—Bussi + le Clerc appointed governor—Damours—James de la Guesle—Reign + of Henry IV.—Members of the parliament arrested—President + de Harlay—Potier de Blancmesnil—The family + of Seguier—Speeches of Henry IV.—Louis Seguier—James + Gillot—Outrage committed by the Council of Sixteen—It is + punished by the Duke of Mayenne—Henry IV. enters Paris—Surrender + of the Bastile—Du Bourg—Treasure deposited in + the Bastile by Henry.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">102</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER V.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Henry IV. continued—Viscount de Tavannes—The + marshal duke of Biron—Faults of Biron—Friendship of + Henry IV. for Biron—La Fin, and his influence over Biron—The + Duke of Savoy—Biron’s first treason pardoned—Embassies + of Biron—Speech of Queen Elizabeth to Biron—Discontent + among the nobles—Art of La Fin—Imprisonment of + Renazé—La Fin betrays Biron—Artifices employed to lull + Biron into security—Arrest of Biron, and the Count of + Auvergne—Conduct of Biron in the Bastile—His trial—His + execution—Respect paid to his remains—Monbarot sent to + the Bastile—The Count of Auvergne—He is sent to the Bastile + but soon released—He plots again—Cause and intent of the + conspiracy—He is again arrested—Sentence of death passed on + him, but commuted for imprisonment—He spends twelve + years in the Bastile—Mary of Medicis releases him—Conspiracy + of Merargues—He is executed—Death of Henry IV.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">133</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">[ix]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Louis XIII.—The treasure of Henry IV. dissipated—Prevalent + belief in magic—Cesar and Ruggieri—Henry, + prince of Condé—The Marchioness d’Ancre—Marshal + Ornano—Prevalence of duelling—The Count de Bouteville—The + Day of the Dupes—Vautier, the physician of + Mary of Medicis—The Marshal de Bassompierre—The Chevalier + de Jars—Infamy of Laffemas—Three citizens of Paris sent + to the Bastile—Despotic language of Louis XIII.—The Count + de Cramail—The Marquis of Vitry—Peter de la Porte—Noel + Pigard Dubois, an alchemical impostor—The Count de + Grancé and the Marquis de Praslin—The prince Palatine—Count + Philip d’Aglie—Charles de Beys—Letter from an unknown + prisoner to Richelieu.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">172</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Louis XIV.—Regency of Anne of Austria—Inauspicious + circumstances under which she assumed the regency—George + de Casselny—The Count de Montresor—The Marquis + de Fontrailles—Marshal de Rantzau—The Count de + Rieux—Bernard Guyard—Broussel, governor of the Bastile—The + Duchess of Montpensier orders the cannon of the Bastile + to be fired on the king’s army—Conclusion of the war of the + Fronde—Surrender of the Bastile—Despotism of Louis XIV.—Slavishness + of the nobles—John Herauld Gourville—The + Count de Guiche—Nicholas Fouquet—Paul Pellisson-Fontainier—Charles + St. Evremond—Simon Morin—The Marquis + de Vardes—Count Bussy Rabutin—Saci le Maistre—The + Duke of Lauzun—Marquis of Cavoie—The Chevalier de + Rohan—A nameless prisoner—Charles D’Assoucy—Miscellaneous + prisoners.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">217</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER VIII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Poisoners—The Marchioness of Brinvilliers—Penautier—La + Voisin and her accomplices and dupes—The + “Chambre Ardente”—The Countess of Soissons—The + Duchess of Bouillon—The Duke of Luxembourg—Stephen + de Bray—The Abbé Primi—Andrew Morell—Madame + Guyon—Courtils de Sandraz—Constantine de Renneville—The + Man with the Iron Mask—Jansenists—Tiron, Veillant, + and Lebrun Desmarets—The Count de Bucquoy—The Duke + de Richelieu—Miscellaneous prisoners.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">273</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">[x]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER IX.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Louis XV.—Regency of the Duke of Orleans—Oppressive + measures against all persons connected with the + Finances—Their failure—Prisoners in the Bastile—Freret—Voltaire—The + Cellamare conspiracy—The Duchess of Maine—Madame + de Staal—Malezieu—Bargeton—Mahudel—The + Mississippi scheme—Count de Horn—Death of the Regent—Administration + of the Duke of Bourbon—La Blanc—Paris + Duverney—The Count de Belleisle—The Chevalier de Belleisle—Madame + de Tencin.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">314</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER X.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Louis XV. continued—The Bull Unigenitus—A + Notary Public—G. N. Nivelle—G. C. Buffard—Death of + Deacon Paris—Rise, progress, and acts, of the Convulsionaries—Persecution + of them, and artifices employed by them to + foil their persecutors—Lenglet Dufresnoy—La Beaumelle—F. + de Marsy—Marmontel—The Abbé Morellet—Mirabeau + the elder—The Chevalier Resseguier—Groubendal and Dulaurens—Robbé + de Beauveset—Mahé de la Bourdonnais—Count + Lally—La Chalotais—Marin—Durosoi—Prévost de + Beaumont—Barletti St. Paul—Dumouriez.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">346</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XI.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Captivity and Sufferings of Masers de Latude—Cause of + his Imprisonment—He is removed from the Bastile to Vincennes—He + escapes—He is retaken, and sent to the Bastile—Kindness + of M. Berryer—D’Alegre is confined in the same + apartment with him—Latude forms a plan for escaping—Preparations + for executing it—The Prisoners descend from the + summit of the Bastile, and escape—They are recaptured in + Holland, and brought back—Latude is thrown into a horrible + dungeon—He tames rats, and makes a musical pipe—Plans + suggested by him—His writing materials—He attempts + suicide—Pigeons tamed by him—New plans suggested by him—Finds + means to fling a packet of papers from the top of the + Bastile—He is removed to Vincennes—He escapes—Is recaptured—Opens + a communication with his fellow-prisoners—Is + transferred to Charenton—His situation there—His momentary + liberation—He is re-arrested, and sent to the Bicêtre—Horrors + of that prison—Heroic benevolence of Madame Legros—She + succeeds in obtaining his release—Subsequent fate of Latude.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">382</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">[xi]</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc" colspan="2">CHAPTER XII.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Reign of Louis XVI.—Enormous number of Lettres de + Cachet issued in two reigns—William Debure the elder—Blaizot + imprisoned for obeying the King—Pelisseri—Prisoners + from St. Domingo—Linguet—Duvernet—The Count de + Paradès—Marquis de Sade—Brissot—The Countess de la + Motte—Cardinal de Rohan—Cagliostro—The affair of the + Diamond Necklace—Reveillon takes shelter in the Bastile—Attack + and capture of the Bastile by the Parisians—Conclusion.</td> + <td class="tdpg"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">436</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">[xii]</span></p> + +<figure class="figcenter illowp100" id="plan" style="max-width: 43.75em;"> + <img class="w100" src="images/plan.jpg" alt=""> + <figcaption> + <p class="center">PLAN OF THE BASTILE.</p> + <p>A. Avenue from St. Anthony’s Street—B. Entrance, and first drawbridge—C. + The Governor’s house—D. First court—E. Avenue leading + to the gate of the fortress—F. Drawbridge and gates of the fortress—G. + Guard-houses—H. The great court within the towers—I. + Staircase leading to the Council Chamber—K. Council Chamber—L. + Court du Puits, or Well Court—M. Way to the garden—N. Steps + leading into the garden—O. Garden—P. The moat of the fortress—Q. + Passage to the Arsenal garden—R. A wooden road round the walls + for the night patrole—1. Tower du Puits—2. Tower de la Liberté—3. + Tower de la Bertaudière—4. Tower de la Bazinière—5. Tower de + la Comté—6. Tower du Trésor—7. Tower de la Chapelle—8. Tower + du Coin.</p> + </figcaption> +</figure> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">[1]</span></p> + +<h1>THE<br> +HISTORY OF THE BASTILE.</h1> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p>Original meaning of the word Bastile—Various Bastiles—Description +of “The Bastile”—Officers of the fortress—Interior +of it—The Garden—The Court where the prisoners took exercise—The +Towers, Dungeons, Apartments, Furniture, Food, +of the prisoners—The Library—The Chapel—Lettres de +Cachet described—Advocate of them—Change in the treatment +of prisoners—Narrative of a prisoner—Strict search of prisoners—Harshness +to them—Artifices employed against them—Silence +enjoined to the Guards, &c. of the prison—Mode +of receiving visitors—Suppression of letters—Secrecy and mystery—Medical +attendance—Wills—Insanity—Clandestine +burial of the dead.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The word Bastile, which has now long been, and will +ever remain, a term of opprobrious import, to designate +the dungeons of arbitrary power, has, like many +other words, deviated widely in the lapse of years +from its original meaning. Its derivation is traced, +somewhat doubtfully, to the Italian <i>bastia</i> or <i>bastione</i>. +In former times, it was applied to any fort, whether +permanent or temporary. In our old writers, as well +as in those of France, we find it repeatedly given to +field works. The redoubts, for instance, by means of +which, in the reign of the sixth Henry, the English +blockaded Orleans, are so denominated by French +chroniclers. The same is the case with respect to +more durable works; there were, at an early period, +no less than three bastiles at Paris, those of St. Denis, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">[2]</span>the Temple, and St. Anthony, all of which were situated +to the north of the Seine. Eventually, the name +was confined to the last of these buildings. The quadrangular +castle of St. Denis was demolished in 1671; +but the tower of the Temple, in which the unfortunate +Louis the Sixteenth and his family were confined, outlasted +the Bastile itself for nearly a quarter of a century, +and was used as a state prison till 1811, when it +ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>The bastile of St. Anthony—which structure I shall +henceforth mention only as The Bastile—is generally +supposed to have been founded by Hugh Aubriot. This +opinion is, however, erroneous. It is beyond a doubt, +that the original plan and construction of it must be +assigned to the celebrated Stephen Marcel, provost of +the merchants of Paris. When, in 1356, after the +disastrous battle of Poitiers, the English detachments +were ravaging the vicinity of the French capital, and +the citizens were filled with terror, Stephen undertook +to repair the dilapidated bulwarks of the city, and add +other defences. Among his additions was a gate, fortified +with towers on each side, leading from the suburb +of St. Anthony into the street of the same name. +These towers must be considered as the first rudiments +of the Bastile.</p> + +<p>The haste with which, while an enemy was at hand, +the walls had been constructed, had not allowed of +giving to them that height and solidity which were +requisite for effectually resisting an attack. In +1369, Charles the Fifth resolved to remedy this defect. +The task of making the necessary improvements was +committed to Hugh Aubriot, the provost of Paris. +Among the changes which Aubriot made, was the +adding of two towers to those which already existed +at St. Anthony’s gate. They were erected parallel +with those built by Marcel; so that the whole formed +a square fort, with towers at the angles. In the reign +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">[3]</span>of Charles the Sixth, after the Maillotin insurrection, +in 1382, the Bastile was again enlarged, by the addition +of two towers at each end of the fortress; thus +presenting a front of four towers to the city, and as +many to the suburb. To render more difficult any attempt +to surprise the place, the road, which, as we +have seen, ran through it, was turned to one side. The +body of the fortress received no further accession; but, +before the middle of the seventeenth century, a bastion +was constructed on the side toward the suburb, +and a broad dry ditch, about forty yards wide and twelve +deep, faced with masonry, encircled the whole.</p> + +<p>Along the summit of the exterior wall of the ditch, +which was at an elevation of sixty feet above the bottom +of the ditch, was a wooden gallery, called the +Rounds, reached by two flights of steps. Day and +night sentinels were constantly moving about in this +gallery; every quarter of an hour they were visited by +some of the officers or serjeants; and, more completely +to secure their vigilance, each man had certain numbered +pieces of copper pierced with holes, which, at +stated times, he was to drop on the point of an instrument, +fixed in a padlocked box. A bell was also rung +upon the Rounds, every quarter of an hour, throughout +the night.</p> + +<p>The officers on the establishment of the Bastile consisted +of a governor, the king’s lieutenant, a major, +who officiated as secretary, and prepared the reports +and monthly accounts for the minister, two adjutants +to assist him, a physician, a surgeon and his assistant, +a chaplain, two priests, and a confessor, a keeper of +the records, clerk, superintendant of the buildings, +engineer, four turnkeys, and a company of invalids. +No soldier was allowed to sleep out of the place without +leave from the governor; nor could any officer dine +out or be absent all night, without permission from the +minister. Originally only the governor and the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">[4]</span>king’s lieutenant were appointed by the king, the rest +being nominated by the governor; and guard was +mounted at the castle by a body of citizens, which +bore the name of the Independent Company of Archers. +The change was made about the middle of +the eighteenth century.</p> + +<p>The interior of the gloomy fabric must now be described. +Having passed down St. Anthony’s-street, +and arrived nearly at the city gate, leading to the suburb +of the same name, he who wished or was compelled +to visit the Bastile, turned to the right hand, in the +direction of the Arsenal, where stood a sentinel, to +warn off all idle gazers. Before, however, the main +building could be entered, the visiter had to pursue his +way along an approach, bent nearly into the form of +three sides of a square, ⊐, flanked with buildings of +various kinds, on the whole of one side, and a part of +the other. Over the entrance gate was an armoury, +and on the right of it a guard-room; on the left hand +was a range of suttling-houses, and on the right were +barracks. The road then made an abrupt turn, on the +right of which were stables, coachhouses, and a door +into a space which was called the Elm Court. This +first division was named the Passage Court. At the +extremity of it was a drawbridge, with a guard-house +at its further end. This bridge led to a second court, +taking its name from the governor’s house, which, with +his garden, occupied one half of its circuit. Another +abrupt turn brought the visiter opposite the portal of +the fortress, which he at length reached, after having +passed by the kitchens, and traversed the great drawbridge. +Between the street and the interior of the +fortress there were five massy gates, at all of which +sentinels were posted.</p> + +<p>The principal drawbridge being passed, and the gate +opened, the visiter stood within the Bastile itself. Leaving +on his right a guard-room, he found himself in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">[5]</span>Great Court of the Castle, a parallelogram of about a +hundred and two feet long by seventy-two broad, containing +six towers, three on the side looking towards +the suburb, and as many on the city side: the +former were named de la Comté, du Trésor, and de +la Chapelle; the latter de la Bazinière, de la Bertaudière, +and de la Liberté. Between the three left hand +towers were rooms for the archives and other purposes, +and the chapel; between the towers du Trésor and +de la Chapelle was, in former times, the gate of St. +Anthony, and the road into the city.</p> + +<p>A pile of buildings, comparatively modern, extending +across the shortest diameter of the fortress, from +the Tour de la Chapelle to the miscalled Tour de la +Liberté, divided this principal court from another, +called the Well Court. This pile contained the council +chamber, the library, the repository for the prisoners’ +effects, and apartments for the king’s lieutenant, +the major, and other officers, and, occasionally, +for the sick, and captives of distinction.</p> + +<p>The length of the Well Court was between seventy +and eighty feet, the breadth between forty and fifty. +At the angle on the right was the tower du Coin, +on the left the tower du Puit. In this court were +some lodgings for the drudges of the place; and, as +the poultry were fed and the offal was thrown out +here, it was always dirty and unwholesome.</p> + +<p>The garden, formed out of what once was a bastion, +on the suburb side of the castle, was laid out in walks, +and planted with trees. It appears, that, till a period +not long previous to the downfall of the Bastile, such +prisoners as were not confined for flagitious crimes, or +for the express purpose of being rendered supremely +wretched, were permitted to walk there. To the last +governor, M. de Launay, they were indebted for being +deprived of this privilege. To increase his already +enormous emoluments, he let it to a gardener, and he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">[6]</span>had interest enough with the minister to obtain his +sanction for this encroachment on the scanty comforts +of the prisoners—an order was issued by which they +were excluded from it. Nor was this all, or the worst. +The platforms, along the summit of the towers and +connecting curtains, had hitherto afforded a pleasant +and airy walk; but these, too, were shut up, at his desire, +partly to save trouble to those who watched the +prisoners, and partly to diminish the chance of conversation +between the former and the latter. Such +conduct is, however, not strange in the man who could +meet the complaints of his oppressed inmates with obscenely +vulgar language; and could add, that “people +either ought not to put themselves in the way of being +sent to the Bastile, or ought to know how to +suffer when they got there.” Humanity deplores his +subsequent fate, and execrates the brutality of his +murderers; but, as far as regards him personally, M. +de Launay appears to have been deserving of very +little respect.</p> + +<p>The only remaining spot in which exercise could be +taken was the principal court. “The walls which enclose +it,” says M. Linguet, “are more than a hundred +feet high, without windows; so that, in fact, it +is a large well, where the cold is unbearable in winter, +because the north-east wind pours into it, and in +summer the heat is no less so, because, there being +no circulation of air, the sun makes an absolute oven +of it. This is the sole lyceum where such of the prisoners +as have permission (for all do not have it) can, +each in his turn, for a few moments in the day, disencumber +their lungs from the pestilential air of their +dwelling.” But even this poor gratification, which +seldom extended to an hour, was considerably abridged +by circumstances. Any increase in the number of +prisoners diminished the time which was allotted. +Whenever, as was frequently the case, any stranger +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">[7]</span>entered the court, the prisoner was obliged to hurry +into a narrow passage, called the Cabinet, and shut +himself in closely, that he might not be seen. M. +Linguet states, that three quarters of an hour was +often wasted in these compulsory retreats to the Cabinet. +If they were not promptly made, or the captive +displayed any curiosity, the least penalty inflicted was +confining the delinquent within the limits of his cell.</p> + +<p>The towers, which were at least a hundred feet high, +were seven feet thick at the top, and the thickness +gradually increased, down to the foundation. Lowest +of all in them were dungeons, under the level of the +soil, arched, paved, lined with stone, dripping with +perpetual damps, the darkness of which was made +visible by means of a narrow slit through the wall, on +the side next the ditch. In this fetid den, swarmed +newts, toads, rats, and every variety of vermin which +haunt confined and gloomy spots. Planks, laid across +iron bars fixed in the wall, formed the couch of the +captive, and his only bedding, even in the most inclement +season, was a little straw. Two doors, each +seven inches thick, with enormous locks and bars, +closed the entrance to each of these horrible abodes, +over which might fitly have been inscribed the terrific +line that shone dimly over the gate of hell, “All hope +abandon ye who enter here!”</p> + +<p>Above the dungeons were four stories, each consisting +of a single room, with, in some instances, a +dark closet scooped out of the wall. All were shut in +by ponderous double doors; as were also the staircases. +In three of the stories, the rooms, of an irregular +octagonal shape, were about twenty feet in diameter, +and eighteen in height. In many of the rooms +the ceilings were double, with a considerable vacuity +between them; the lower one was of lath and plaster, +the upper of solid oak. The highest story of all, which +was termed la Calotte, was neither so lofty nor so +large as the others; it was arched to support the roof +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">[8]</span>and platform, and its curvature prevented its inhabitant +from walking in any part but the middle of the +room. On the towers and curtains several pieces of +cannon were mounted.</p> + +<p>The light which was thrown into these chambers +was broken and imperfect; prospect from them there +was none. Each room had only one window; and, +independent of the obstacle opposed to sight by the +massiveness of the walls, there was another, in the +double iron gratings, at the outside and middle, formed +of bars as thick as a man’s arm, which closed the narrow +aperture. In the lower stories, that there might +be no chance of seeing or being seen, the opening was +filled half way up with stone and mortar, or with +planks fastened to the external grating. Three steps +led up to some of the windows, if windows they may +be called; in other cases they were level with the floor. +A glass casement excluded the wind in the better +apartments; the dungeons were left exposed to all the +rigour of the elements.</p> + +<p>The rooms were floored with tile or stone, and all +of them, except the dungeons, had chimneys or stoves; +the chimneys were secured, in several parts, by iron +bars. In winter, six pieces of wood were allowed +daily for firing. M. Linguet complains, in his Memoirs, +that the quantity was insufficient, and the quality +execrable. It is obvious that, to enhance his profits, +an avaricious governor would purchase as cheaply, +and deal out as scantily, as it was possible for him to do.</p> + +<p>The rooms were designated from their situation in +the towers, numbering from the bottom, and the prisoners +were designated by the number of their room. +Thus, for instance, the first chamber above the dungeon +in the Bazinière tower was called the first Bazinière, +and so on to the topmost, which was known as +the Calotte Bazinière. The prisoner was consequently +mentioned not by his name but by the number of his +room—the first Bazinière, the first Bertaudière, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">[9]</span>third Comté, &c. &c. In some cases it appears that +the prisoner received another name instead of his own, +which was never uttered or written. In this way De +la Tude, of whom we shall have occasion to speak, +was denominated Daury.</p> + +<p>In what manner these pleasant abodes were furnished +M. Linguet shall describe. “Two worm-eaten +mattresses, a cane elbow chair, the bottom of which +was held together by packthread, a tottering table, a +water jug, two pots of delftware, one of which was to +drink out of, and two flag stones, to support the fire; +such was the inventory, at least such was mine. I was +indebted only to the commiseration of the turnkey, +after several months’ confinement, for a pair of tongs +and a fire shovel. It was not possible for me to procure +dog-irons; and, whether it arises from policy or +inhumanity I know not, what the governor will not +supply, he will not allow a prisoner to procure at his +own expense. It was eight months ere I could obtain +permission to buy a tea-pot, twelve before I could +procure a tolerably strong chair, and fifteen ere I was +suffered to replace by a crockery vessel the filthy and +disgusting pewter vessel which is the only one that is +used in the Bastile.</p> + +<p>“The single article which I was at the outset allowed +to purchase was a new blanket, and the occasion +was as follows:</p> + +<p>“The month of September, as every body knows, is +the time when the moths that prey upon woollens are +transformed into winged insects. When the antre +which was assigned to me was opened, there arose +from the bed, I will not say a number, nor a cloud, +but a large and dense column of moths, which overspread +the chamber in an instant. I started back with +horror. ‘Pooh! pooh!’ said one of my conductors +with a smile, ‘before you have lain here two nights, +there will not be one of them left.’</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">[10]</span></p> + +<p>“In the evening, the lieutenant of police came, +according to custom, to welcome me. I manifested so +violent a repugnance to such a populous flock bed, +that they were gracious enough to permit me to put +on a new covering, and to have the mattress beaten, +the whole at my own cost. As feather beds are prohibited +articles in the Bastile, doubtless because such +luxuries are not suitable for persons to whom the +ministry wishes above all things to give lessons of +mortification, I was very desirous that, every three +months at least, my shabby mattress should have the +same kind of renovation. But, though it would have +cost him nothing, the proprietory governor opposed +it with all his might, ‘because,’ said he, ‘it wears +them out.’”</p> + +<p>Each prisoner was supplied with flint, steel, and +tinder, a candle a day, a broom once a week, and a +pair of sheets every fortnight.</p> + +<p>Captives of rank were undoubtedly somewhat better +accommodated, and, where there were no particular reasons +for annoying them, they were favoured by being +allowed to receive articles from their homes; but the +common run of convenience and comfort appears not +to have gone beyond what is described by M. Linguet.</p> + +<p>The food of the prisoners was paid for by the king +at so much per head, according to a graduated scale; +but the supply and management of it were left, seemingly +without controul, in the hands of the governor. +By this arrangement the prisoners were placed at the +mercy of their jailor, who, if he happened to have a +great love of gain, and a scanty portion of humanity, +might fill his purse by furnishing bad provisions, or +not sufficient to sustain life. “There are prisoners in +the Bastile,” says Linguet, “who have not more than +four ounces of meat at a meal; this has been ascertained +more than once by weighing what was given to them; +the fact is notorious to all the under officers, who are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">[11]</span>grieved by it.” In estimating the amount of the wrong +thus inflicted, it must be borne in mind, that the man +who is in bonds requires more and better nourishment, +to keep nature from sinking, than is necessary for the +man who is a free agent. There was, in this instance, +no excuse for stint. The sum allowed by the king +for the maintenance of the captives was exceedingly +liberal. It was nearly half a crown a day for an +individual of the humblest class; four shillings for a +tradesman; eight shillings for a priest, a person in the +finance department, or an ordinary judge; twelve shillings +for a parliament counsellor; twenty shillings for +a lieutenant general in the army; one pound ten for a +marshal of France; and two guineas for a prince of the +blood. If the sovereign oppressed those who incurred +his anger, he at least did not mean to starve them.</p> + +<p>What was the fare which this high rate of remuneration +obtained for the prisoners? It is thus described +in a work, published in 1774, by one who had himself +long tried it. I am not aware that the accuracy of +the statement has ever been impeached; on the contrary, +there is the testimony of other witnesses to the +same effect.</p> + +<p>“The kitchen is supplied by the governor’s steward, +who has under him a cook, a scullion, and a man whose +employment is to cut wood for fuel. All the victuals +are bad, and generally ill-dressed: and this is a mine +of gold to the governor, whose revenue is daily augmented +by the hard fare of the prisoners under his +keeping. Besides these profits, which are inconceivably +great, the governor receives a hundred and fifty +livres a day for fifteen prison rooms, at ten livres each, +as a sort of gratification in addition to his salary; and +he often derives other considerable emoluments.</p> + +<p>“On flesh days the prisoners have soup with boiled +meat, &c. for dinner; at night a slice of roast meat, a +ragoût and salad. The diet on fast days consists, at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">[12]</span>dinner, of fish, and two other dishes; at night, of eggs, +with greens. The difference in the quality of the diet +is very small between the lowest rank of prisoners, +and those who are classed at five or ten livres; the +table of the latter is furnished with perhaps half a +starved chicken, a pigeon, a wild rabbit, or some small +bird, with a dessert; the portion of each rarely exceeds +the value of twopence.</p> + +<p>“The <i>Sunday’s</i> dinner consists of some bad soup, +a slice of a cow, which they call beef, and four little +pâtés; at night a slice of roast veal or mutton, or a +little plate of haricot, in which bare bones and turnips +greatly predominate; to these are added a salad, the +oil to which is always rancid. The suppers are pretty +uniformly the same on flesh days. <i>Monday</i>: instead +of four pâtés a haricot. <i>Tuesday</i>: at noon, a sausage, +half a pig’s foot, or a small pork chop. <i>Wednesday</i>: +a tart, generally either half warm or burnt up. <i>Thursday</i>: +two very thin mutton chops. <i>Friday</i>: half a +small carp, either fried or stewed, a stinking haddock +or cod, with butter and mustard; to which are added +greens or eggs; at supper eggs, with spinach mixed up +with milk and water.—<i>Saturday</i>: the same. And this +perpetual rotation re-commences on Sunday.</p> + +<p>“On the three holidays, St. Louis, St. Martin, +and Twelfth day, every prisoner has an addition made +to his allowance, of half a roasted chicken, or a pigeon. +On Holy Monday, his dinner is accompanied by a tart +extraordinary.</p> + +<p>“Each prisoner has an allowance of a pound of +bread and a bottle of wine per day; but the wine is +generally flat and good for nothing. The dessert consists +of an apple, a biscuit, a few almonds and raisins, +some cherries, gooseberries, or plums; these are +commonly served in pewter, though sometimes they +are favoured with earthen dishes and a silver spoon +and fork. If any one complains of receiving bad provisions, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">[13]</span>a partial amendment may take place for a few +days; but the complainant is sure to meet with some +unpleasant effects of resentment. There is no cook’s +shop in the kingdom, where you may not get a better +dinner for a shilling than what are served in the Bastile. +The cookery, in short, is wretchedly bad, the +soup tasteless, and the meat of the worst quality, and +ill dressed. All this must operate to injure the health +of the prisoners; and, added to other grievances, excites +frequent imprecations of vengeance from Heaven.”</p> + +<p>With respect to the badness of the wine, Linguet +corroborates the statement of this writer. The governor, +it appears, in addition to the diet-money, had +the privilege of taking into his cellars near a hundred +hogsheads of wine, duty free. “What does he do?” +says Linguet. “He sells his privilege to a Parisian +tavern keeper, of the name of Joli, who gives him +250<i>l.</i> for it, and he takes in exchange from him the +very cheapest kind of wine for the use of the prisoners; +which wine, as may easily be imagined, is nothing but +vinegar.” This was a fraud at once upon the government +and the prisoners.</p> + +<p>The sole mental recreation which the prison afforded +was derived from a small library, consisting of about +five hundred volumes. This collection is said to have +been founded by a foreign prisoner, who died in the +Bastile, about the beginning of the eighteenth century, +and to have been enlarged by later sufferers. In some +cases, prisoners were allowed to read in the library; +but, generally, the works were taken to the cells of the +captives, and the selection of them depended on the +taste of the turnkeys. Few of the books were unmutilated; +for the prisoners now and then indulged in +writing bitter remarks on the blank spaces. As soon +as a book was returned, every leaf was carefully examined, +and woe be to the rash offender who had suffered +passion to get the better of prudence! An epigram, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">[14]</span>or a sarcasm, on his persecutors, or on men in office, +exposed him to the worst that irresponsible power could +inflict. As to the volume, if the writing was on the +margin, the piece was cut off; but when it chanced to +be inserted between the lines, the page was torn out.</p> + +<p>It seems to have been thought by no means necessary +that a prisoner, who was deprived of all earthly comforts, +should receive consolation from regular attendance +on religious worship. The chapel was a miserable +hole, of about seven or eight feet square, under the +pigeon-house of the king’s lieutenant. “In this chapel,” +says one who had been a captive, “are five small +niches or closets, with strong locks, of which three are +formed in the wall; the others are only wainscot. Every +prisoner admitted to hear mass is put in by himself,⁠<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +and can neither see objects nor be seen of any. The +doors of these niches are secured by two bolts on the +outside, and lined within by iron bars; they are also +glazed; but before each is hung a curtain, which is +drawn back at the Sanctus, and again closed at the +concluding prayer. Five prisoners only being admitted +at each mass, it follows that no more than ten can assist +at that ceremony in a day. If there be a greater number +than this in the Castle, they either do not go at all, +or go alternately; because there are generally found +some who have a constant permission.”</p> + +<p>There was a confessor in the fortress; but it is +scarcely possible that a prisoner could repose entire +confidence in a spiritual director who was in the pay of +his oppressors. Though it is going much too far to +say, as M. Linguet does, that such a man is “a cowardly +double-dealer who prostitutes the dignity of his +character,” it must be owned that some doubts and suspicions +as to him might naturally arise; it matters not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">[15]</span>that they would be unjust, the possibility of their being +excited ought to have been carefully avoided.</p> + +<p>Let us now turn to the concise but terrible instrument, +by virtue of which an individual was consigned +to captivity, perhaps for life. This was the <i>lettre de +cachet</i>, or sealed letter, so called to distinguish it from +the <i>patent</i> or open letter, which was merely folded. In +former days, such epistles were called <i>lettres closes</i>, or +<i>clauses</i>. The name was not given to all sealed up missives, +but only to those which contained some command +or information from the sovereign. They were signed +by the king, and countersigned by one of the secretaries +of state. The same appellation was originally given +to all letters of the kind described; but, in latter times, +it was principally if not wholly applied, at least in common +parlance, to royal orders of exile and imprisonment.</p> + +<p>The oldest recorded mandate of this species is that +which Thierry the Second issued, at the instigation of +Brunehaut, against St. Columbanus, who had severely +censured the vices of the mother and the son. It +directed that he should be removed from the monastery +of Luxeuil, and banished to Besançon, where he +was to remain during the king’s pleasure. The saint +yielded only to force, and, as soon as the guards were +withdrawn, he retired to his convent. Violence, however, +at length compelled him to quit the dominions of +the licentious Thierry.</p> + +<p>The <i>lettre de cachet</i> was usually carried into effect +by the officers of police; sometimes the arrest was made +at the dwelling of the individual, sometimes on the roads +or in the street by night; but, in all cases, it appears +to have been accomplished with as much secrecy as +possible, so that it was no uncommon thing for persons +to be missing for years, without their friends being +able to discover what had become of them. Men of +rank were at times spared the disgrace of being taken +into custody; they were favoured by being allowed to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">[16]</span>carry the letter themselves to the prison mentioned in +it, and surrender to the governor. Here is a specimen +of these obliging billets, which was addressed to the +prince of Monaco, a brigadier in the French army.</p> + +<blockquote> + +<p class="noindent">“My Cousin,</p> + +<p>“Being by no means satisfied with your conduct, I +send you this letter, to apprise you that my intention +is, that, as soon as you receive it, you shall proceed to +my castle of the Bastile, there to remain till you have +my further orders. On which, my cousin, I pray God +to have you in his holy keeping. Given at Versailles, +this 25th of June, 1748.</p> + +<p class="right">(<i>Signed</i>) <span class="spacer">“<span class="smcap">Louis.</span>”</span></p> + +<p class="right">(<i>Countersigned</i>) <span class="spacer">“<span class="smcap">Voyer d’Argenson.</span>”</span></p> + +</blockquote> + +<p>By such a scrap of paper as this might any man in +France be doomed to close and hopeless imprisonment. +Malice, wounded pride, rivalry, revenge, all the base +and cruel passions, availed themselves of it to torment +their enemies. The titled harlot, whose shame had +excited laughter or reprobation, the minister, whose +measures were unpopular, the frivolous courtier, whose +folly had been satirised, the debauchee, who wished to +remove an obstacle to his lust, the parent, who preferred +ruling his offspring rather by fear than love, was eager +to obtain one of these convenient scorpion scourges, and +the wish was too often gratified.</p> + +<p>There is scarcely any enormity so monstrous that it +cannot find a defender. Even <i>lettres de cachet</i> have +not been without an apologist; and, to make the wonder +the greater, an English apologist. Let us listen +to his plea. “Perhaps (says he) it was the abuse of +the <i>lettres de cachet</i>, rather than their institution, that +merited the execration in which they were held; for +however extraordinary it may seem, they were not unfrequently +used to serve the purposes of humanity. +There are many instances of persons, who, on account +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">[17]</span>of private disputes, or affairs of state, would have been +exposed to public punishment, that were shut up by a +<i>lettre de cachet</i>, until the danger was past, or the matter +accommodated or forgotten. It may undoubtedly +be objected, that keeping a person from justice is itself +a crime against the public; but in forming a judgment +upon this subject, we ought to take into consideration +the prejudices entertained in the country where this +authority was employed. It should be remembered that, +by an old and barbarous practice, the disgrace attending +a capital punishment, inflicted by the laws, was reflected +upon all the family of the criminal; and that in many +instances it required a public act of the supreme power +to wipe off the stain, and again enable them to serve +their country. In as far, therefore, as the <i>lettres de +cachet</i> counteracted the effects of these prejudices, they +were useful; <i>but though they were signed by the king, +from the idea that it was proper to have them ready +for cases of emergency, ministers, and governors of +provinces, &c., were generally furnished with them in +blank, to be filled up at their discretions; and the +friends and favourites of those ministers sometimes +obtained them from them, as is proved by the case of +M. de Fratteaux, and in many other instances</i>.”⁠<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>This is, indeed, carrying to a ridiculous extent the +determination to find “a soul of good in things evil!” +Perhaps it would not be uncharitable to put a harsher +construction on such language. Public justice is to be +defrauded, thousands are to be plunged into misery, +personal safety is to be hourly jeoparded, crime committed +by the rich and powerful is to escape with all +but complete impunity, and the motives which most +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">[18]</span>influence individuals to bridle their unruly passions are to +be weakened, merely “to counteract the effects of a prejudice” +on a few ancient families! Never was an infinitely +small benefit bought at a more extravagant price.</p> + +<p>From certain particulars, which we find in various +memoirs, it would seem that, generally speaking, more +indulgences were granted to the inmates of the Bastile +in former days, than during the last thirty years of its +existence. At all times, however, much would undoubtedly +depend on the personal character of the +governor; if he chanced to be liberal-minded and humane, +he would, as far as he could venture to do so, +mitigate the sufferings of his captives; if, on the contrary, +he were greedy of gain, and harsh in his disposition, +he would stint and deteriorate their diet, wantonly +deny them even the most trifling comforts, and, +in short, do his best to make the management of the +prison “render life a burthen,” which, with an impudent +candour, one of the officers of the castle avowed +to be its especial purpose.</p> + +<p>It must be owned that, in some respects, modern +times witnessed an improvement in the practice of the +Bastile. The cages, which it is known once to have +contained, were removed. The rack, also, and other +instruments of torture, ceased to be called into use. At +what period the change took place is not said. That, +in the latter end of Louis the Thirteenth’s reign, the +instruments still existed in the castle, we learn from the +Memoirs of the faithful La Porte, who saw them, and +was threatened with them to extort a confession.</p> + +<p>What the Bastile was in its mildest form will appear +from the following narrative, written by a person who +was confined for eight months. “About five in the +morning of the 2d of April, 1771,” says the narrator, +“I was awakened by a violent knocking at my chamber +door, and was commanded, in the name of the king, to +open it. I did so, and an exempt of the police, three +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">[19]</span>men who appeared to be under his orders, and a commissary, +entered the room. They desired me to dress +myself, and began to search the apartment. They ordered +me to open my drawers, and having examined my +papers, they took such as they chose, and put them into +a box, which, as I understood afterwards, was carried to +the police office. The commissary asked me my name, +my age, the place where I was born, how long I had +been at Paris, and the manner in which I spent my time. +The examination was written down by him; a list was +made of every thing found in the room, which, together +with the examination, I was desired to read and sign. +The exempt then told me to take all my body linen, +and such clothes as I chose, and to come along with +them. At the word <i>all</i> I started; I guessed where they +were about to take me, and it seemed to announce to +me a long train of misery.</p> + +<p>“Having shut and sealed the drawers, they desired +me to follow them; and in going out, they locked the +chamber door and took the key. On coming to the +street, I found a coach, into which I was desired to go, +and the others followed me. After sitting for some +time the commissary told me they were carrying me to +the Bastile, and soon afterwards I saw the towers. They +did not go the shortest and direct road; which I suppose +was to conceal our destination from those who +might have observed us. The coach stopped at the +gate in St. Anthony’s street. I saw the coachman make +signs to the sentinel, and soon after the gate was opened: +the guard was under arms, and I heard the gate shut +again. On coming to the first drawbridge, it was let +down, the guard there being likewise under arms. The +coach went on, and entered the castle, where I saw another +guard under arms. It stopped at a flight of steps +at the bottom of the court, where being desired to go +out, I was conducted to a room which I heard named +the council chamber. I found three persons sitting at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">[20]</span>a table, who, as I was told, were the king’s lieutenant, +the major, and his deputy. The major asked me nearly +the same questions which the commissary had done, and +observed the same formalities in directing me to read +and sign the examination. I was then desired to empty +my pockets, and lay what I had in them on the table. +My handkerchief and snuff-box being returned to me, +my money, watch, and indeed every thing else, were put +into a box that was sealed in my presence, and an inventory +having been made of them, it was likewise read +and signed by me. The major then called for the turnkey +whose turn of duty it was, and having asked what +room was empty, he said, the Calotte de la Bertaudière. +He was ordered to convey me to it, and to carry thither +my linen and clothes. The turnkey having done so, +left me and locked the doors. The weather was still +extremely cold, and I was glad to see him return soon +afterwards with firewood, a tinder-box, and a candle. +He made my fire, but told me, on leaving the tinder-box, +that I might in future do it myself when +so inclined.⁠<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>“From the time the exempt of police came into my +room, I had not ceased to form conjectures about the +cause of my imprisonment. I knew of none, unless it +were some verses and sketches, relative to the affairs +of the times. Though they were indiscreet, they were +of little importance. The only writing that might have +seriously given offence to the government, I had never +shown, but to one person in whom I thought I could +confide. I found afterwards he had betrayed me.</p> + +<p>“When I heard the double doors shut upon me a +second time, casting my eyes round my habitation, I +fancied I now saw the extent of all that was left to me +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">[21]</span>in this world for the rest of my days. <i>Besides the malignity +of enemies, and the anger of a minister, I felt +that I ran the risk of being forgotten; the fate of +many who have no one of influence to protect them, +or who have not particularly attracted the notice of +the public. Naturally fond of society, I confess I +looked forward to the abyss of lonely wretchedness, +that I thought awaited me, with a degree of horror +that cannot easily be described. I even regretted now +what I had formerly considered as the greatest blessing, +a healthy constitution that had never been affected +by disease.</i></p> + +<p>“I recollect with humble gratitude the first gleam of +comfort that shot across this gloom. It was the idea, +that neither massive walls, nor tremendous bolts, nor +all the vigilance of suspicious keepers, could conceal +me from the sight of God. This thought I fondly cherished, +and it gave me infinite consolation in the course +of my imprisonment, and principally contributed to +enable me to support it, with a degree of fortitude and +resignation that I have since wondered at—I no longer +felt myself alone.</p> + +<p>“At eleven, my reflections were interrupted by the +turnkey, who entered with my dinner. Having spread +the table with a clean napkin, he placed the dishes on +it, cut the meat, and retired, taking away the knife. +The dishes, plates, fork, spoon, and goblet, were of pewter. +The dinner consisted of soup and bouilli, a piece +of roasted meat, a bottle of good table wine, and a pound +loaf of the best kind of household bread. In the evening, +at seven, he brought my supper, which consisted +of a roast dish and a ragoût. The same ceremony was +observed in cutting the meat, to render the knife unnecessary +to me. He took away the dishes he had +brought for dinner, and returned at eight the next +morning to take away the supper things. Fridays and +Saturdays being fast or <i>maîgre</i> days, the dinner consisted +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">[22]</span>of soup, a dish of fish, and two dishes of vegetables; +the suppers, of two dishes of garden stuff, and +an omelet, or something made with eggs and milk. The +dinners and suppers of each day in the week were different, +but every week was the same: so that the +ordinary class of prisoners saw in the course of the +first week their bill of fare for fifty years, if they staid +so long.</p> + +<p>“I had remained in my room about three weeks, +when I was one morning carried down to the council +chamber, where I found the commissary. He began +by asking most of the questions that had been put to +me before. He then asked if I had any knowledge of +some works he named, meaning those that had been +written by me;—if I was acquainted with the author +of them;—whether there were any persons concerned +with him;—and if I knew whether they had been +printed? I told him that, as I did not mean to conceal +any thing, I should avoid giving him needless trouble; +that I myself was the author of the works he had mentioned, +and guessed I was there on that account;—that +they never had been printed;—that the work, +which I conceived was the cause of my confinement, +had never been shown to any but one person, whom I +thought my friend; and having no accomplices, the +offence, if there was any, rested solely with myself. He +said my examination was one of the shortest he had +ever been employed at, for it ended here. I was carried +back to my room, and the next day was shaved +for the first time since my confinement.</p> + +<p>“A few days afterwards I wrote to the lieutenant of +the police, requesting to be indulged with the use of +books, pen, ink, and paper, which was granted; but I +was not allowed to go down to the library to choose +the books. Several volumes were brought to me by +the turnkey, who, when I desired it, carried them back +and brought others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">[23]</span></p> + +<p>“After my last examination I was taken down almost +daily, and allowed to walk about an hour in the court +within view of the sentinel: but my walks were frequently +interrupted; for if any one appeared, the sentinel +called out ‘To the Cabinet!’ and I was then +obliged to conceal myself hastily in a kind of dark closet +in the wall near the chapel.</p> + +<p>“The sheets of my bed were changed once a fortnight, +I was allowed four towels a week, and my linen +was taken to be washed every Saturday. I had a tallow +candle daily, and in the cold season a certain number +of pieces of firewood. I was told that the allowance +of fire to the prisoners began the 1st of November, and +ceased on the 1st of April, and that my having a fire +in April was a particular indulgence.</p> + +<p>“After being detained above eight months, I was +informed that an order had come to discharge me. I +was desired to go down to the council chamber: every +thing I had brought with me was returned, together +with the key of my apartment, which I found exactly +in the state I left it on the morning of the 2nd of +April, 1771.</p> + +<p>“During my confinement I wrote many letters to +several of my friends, which were always received with +civility, but not one of them had been delivered.”</p> + +<p>The aspect of captivity in the Bastile, even when +stripped of a part of its horrors, is surely hideous enough. +But there can be no doubt that, in a multitude of cases, +an enormous degree of severity was exercised. Instead +of being told, as in this instance, to give up the contents +of his pockets, the prisoner was rudely searched by four +men, who amused themselves with making vulgar jokes +and remarks while they were performing the task; +sometimes his own garments were taken from him, and +he was clothed in rags. His sufferings from imprisonment +might also be frightfully aggravated, by thrusting +him into one of the humid and pestilential dungeons, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">[24]</span>or into a room which was in the vicinity of a nuisance. +M. Linguet was confined in a chamber which fronted +the mouth of the common sewer of St. Anthony’s street, +so that the air which he breathed was never pure; but +in hot weather, in the spring and autumnal floods, and +whenever the sewer was cleaned, the mephitic vapours, +which penetrated into his cell, and accumulated there +for want of an outlet, were scarcely to be endured. What +were the interior accommodations of this cell the reader +has already seen.</p> + +<p>The prisoner was not left to divine the motive for +depriving him of all incisive and pointed instruments; +he was bluntly informed that it was done to prevent +him from cutting his own throat or the throats of his +keepers. The reason assigned for the precaution shows +sufficiently, that the officers of the Bastile rightly estimated +the capability of exciting despair, which was possessed +by their prison. This preventive system was +carried to an almost ludicrous extent. Wishing to beguile +the tedium of captivity, M. Linguet resolved to +resume his geometrical studies, and he accordingly requested +to be supplied with a case of mathematical instruments. +After much demur, the case was obtained, +but it was without a pair of compasses. When he remonstrated +respecting the omission, he was told, that +“arms were prohibited in the Bastile.” At length, his +jailors hit upon the happy idea of having the compasses +made of bone. Candour, however, requires the acknowledgment +that their fears were not wholly groundless, instances +having occurred in which prisoners were driven +to desperation. It was with a pair of compasses that +the unfortunate Count Lally endeavoured to put an end +to his existence. His attempt was made in the year +1766, and, in the following year, a more fatal event +took place. A captive, Drohart by name, contrived to +secrete a knife, with which he first mortally wounded +a turnkey, and then destroyed himself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">[25]</span></p> + +<p>For some time after his arrival at the Bastile, every +thing seems to have been studiously contrived to shock +a prisoner’s habits, insulate him from the human race, +and deliver him up to squalid wretchedness and distracting +thoughts. The manifest purpose of this was, +to break his courage, and thereby induce him to make +such confessions as would answer the ends of his persecutors. +It was not till after he had undergone a +second examination that he was allowed to be shaved; +and months often elapsed before this favour was +granted. Neither was he permitted to have books, +pens, or paper, nor to attend mass, nor to walk in the +court. He could not even write to the lieutenant of +police, through whom alone any indulgence was to be +obtained. The sight of the turnkey, for a few +moments, thrice a day, was the sole link which connected +him with his fellow beings.</p> + +<p>Every stratagem which cunning could devise was +put in practice to entrap a prisoner into an avowal of +guilt, the betraying of his suspected friends, or, failing +these, into such contradictions as might give a colour +for refusing to believe him innocent. Threats, too, +were not spared, nor even flatteries and promises. +At one moment, papers were shown to him, but not +put into his hands, which his examiners affirmed to +contain decisive proof of his criminality; at another, +he was told that his accomplices had divulged the +whole, and that his obstinate silence would subject +him to be tried by a special commission, while, on the +contrary, if he would speak out frankly he should be +speedily liberated. He who was seduced by this artifice +was sure to repent of his folly. When the irrevocable +words had passed his lips, he was informed +that the power of his deluders did not extend to setting +him free, but that they would exert all their influence, +and hoped to succeed. It is scarcely necessary to say, +that there was not a syllable of truth in their assurances, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">[26]</span>and that he who had confided in them was +treated with increased severity. It was not only in +official examinations that the captive was exposed to +be thus circumstanced; the same system was pursued +throughout. There was no one who approached him +to whom he could venture to breathe a whisper of +complaint. If he was visited by the lieutenant of +police, the sole aim of the lieutenant was to draw +forth something which might be turned against him. +If he was allowed to be attended by one of the invalids, +the attendant treasured up for his masters every word +that was dropped. Sometimes, apparently as a matter +of grace and kindness, a companion, said to be a +fellow sufferer, was given to him; the companion was +a police spy, who was withdrawn when he had wormed +out the secret, or had become convinced that it was +unattainable. To listen to that which seemed the +voice of pity was dangerous; for the turnkeys and +other officers, enjoined though they were to be mute +on other occasions, had their tongues let loose for fraudulent +ends, and were taught to lure the prisoners +into indiscreet language, by feigned expressions of +sympathy.</p> + +<p>In general, a silence was maintained by the officers +and attendants, which might rival that of the monks +of La Trappe. “When a corporal or any other, (said +the instructions) is ordered to attend a prisoner, who +may have permission to walk in the garden, or on the +towers, it is expressly forbidden that he speak to him. +He is to observe his actions, to take care that he make +no signs to any one without, and to bring him back +at the hour fixed, delivering him over to an officer, or +one of the turnkeys, as may have been ordered.”—“The +sentinel in the court must constantly keep in +view the prisoners who may be permitted to walk +there: he must be attentive to observe if they drop +any paper, letter, note, or anything else: he must prevent +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">[27]</span>them from writing on the walls, and render an +exact account of every thing he may have remarked +whilst on duty. All persons whatsoever, except the +officers of the staff and turnkeys, are forbidden ever +to speak to any prisoner, or even to answer him, under +any pretence whatever.” As it was supposed that +strangers might chance to feel pity for the victims of +despotism, and of course be disposed to express it, +or to serve them, care was taken to guard against that +evil. It was therefore ordered that, “if workmen +should be employed in the castle, as many sentinels +must be put over them as may be thought necessary, +who must observe them with the same attention as +they do the prisoners, in order that they may not +approach these, nor do any thing that may be contrary +to the rules of the place.”</p> + +<p>Visits from without seem never to have been permitted +except in minor cases of offence. No permission +was granted till after the final examination, and +not then till repeated requests had been made, and +powerful interest employed. Even when the favour +was obtained, its value was seriously diminished by the +restrictions with which it was clogged. The prisoner +was obliged to receive his relative or friend in the +council chamber, on one side of which he was placed, +and his visitor on the other, with two officers between +them; nor were the parties suffered to converse on +any subject which had the most remote reference to +the cause or circumstances of the prisoner’s confinement. +The same system was followed when one captive +had an interview with another. There was but +one case, in which incarcerated individuals could have +a free interchange of thoughts; it was when the fullness +of the prison, or the humanity of the governor, +caused two of them to be located in the same chamber.</p> + +<p>Intercourse by letters was equally shackled, though +there was an insulting affectation of a readiness to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">[28]</span>facilitate correspondence. It has, indeed, been conjectured, +that “this apparent indulgence to prisoners +was one of the many artifices employed to discover +their secrets, and the persons with whom they were +connected;” and this supposition may not be far from +the truth. There can be no doubt, that of the letters +written by captives few arrived at their destination. +We have seen, in the narrative of a prisoner, that the +whole of those which he wrote were suppressed. M. +Linguet tells us, that, knowing the king’s brothers, +Monsieur and the Count d’Artois, (afterwards Louis +XVIII. and Charles X.) to be favourable to him, he +wrote to them, to solicit their intercession. “The +letters,” says he, “were sealed. The lieutenant of +police, some time after, told me he had read but not +transmitted them; that he had not been allowed. +When I observed to him that, since he knew the contents, +he might make them known to the generous +princes from whom he had detained them, he replied, +that he had no access to such high personages. Thus +the man, who was prohibited from approaching such +high personages, had the privilege of breaking open +and suppressing their letters, of rendering fruitless their +good intentions and those of the monarch, and, in +short, of raising round me ramparts more impenetrable +than all the magic castles with which imagination +has ever peopled our romances.”</p> + +<p>Profound secrecy and mystery were among the +most prominent features in the management of the +Bastile. He who was fortunate enough to emerge +from this den of Cacus, was previously compelled to +swear that he would never reveal whatever he had +seen or heard during his abode in it. He who was +retained, to waste away life within its dreary limits, +was sedulously shut out from all knowledge of what +was passing in the world. The malignant enemy, by +whom he had been deprived of freedom, might be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">[29]</span>gone to his last account, but to <i>him</i> he still lived and +tyrannized, for no whisper of his departure was suffered +to reach him. When the fact of a person being +in the Bastile was not so notorious as to preclude the +possibility of denying it, his being there was unblushingly +denied. When enquiry was made, the officers, +the governor, the minister himself, would not scruple +to affirm, and that, too, in the most solemn manner, +that they knew nothing of any such individual. Thus +were his friends discouraged, and led to slacken in +their exertions for his relief, or wholly to discontinue +them. If, however, they discovered the falsehood, +and persisted in their efforts, there was still another +resource for defeating them; slander was resorted to, +the worst crimes were attributed to him, and he was +held up as an abandoned miscreant, whom it was a +disgrace to patronize, and mercy to confine. At last, +weariness, disgust, or death, robbed him of all who +had loved or pitied him, and, even though his original +persecutor had ceased to exist, the victim was left to +perish forgotten in his dungeon.</p> + +<p>There was one object, besides the wish to elicit +imprudent speeches or confessions, which had power +to open the lips of the jailors; that object was the +desire of tormenting, of making the prisoner feel how +completely he was insulated from mankind, no less by +its own baseness than by his prison walls. “I was +daily told with a laugh,” says M. Linguet, “that I +ought not to trouble myself any longer about what +the world was doing, because I was believed to be +dead; the joke was carried so far, as to relate to me +circumstances which insane rage or horrible levity +added to my pretended exit. I was assured, also, that +I had nothing to hope from the warmth and fidelity +of my friends; not so much because, like others, they +were deceived with respect to my existence, as because +they had become treacherous. This double imposture +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">[30]</span>had for its purpose, not merely to torture me, but at +once to inspire me with a boundless reliance on the +only traitor whom I had reason to fear, and who was +perpetually represented as being my only true friend, +and to discover, from the manner in which I was +affected by these tidings, whether I had really any +secrets which could lay me open to a betrayer.”</p> + +<p>Though the captive was not allowed to live with +even a shadow of comfort, or to hasten his own end, a +wide opening was left for death to accomplish his deliverance +in one of the regular modes. From the evening +meal till that of the morning, he was hermetically +sealed up by massy, iron-lined double doors; in all that +time no human being approached him. The turnkey +slept in a distant chamber, where neither voice nor the +sound of knocking could reach him. Bells seem to +have been thought too great a luxury for the place. If +illness suddenly came, there was no resource for the +sufferer, but to call to the nearest sentinel, on the other +side of the broad moat. If his voice were too weak, +if his strength failed to carry him to the window, or if +the wind drowned his cries, he must remain unaided. +If his disorder were apoplectic, or he broke a blood-vessel, +it is manifest that his fate was sealed. But, +supposing him to be heard, prompt assistance was by +no means to be expected. The sentinels gave the +alarm to each other, till it reached the guard-house; +the turnkey was then to be called, who, on his part, +had to rouse the servant of the king’s lieutenant, that +he might awake his master, and procure from him the +keys. Two hours were thus spent before the surgeon +was drawn from his bed, where, in truth, he might as +well have continued, since, interdicted as he was from +prescribing by himself, he could only make a report +to the governor, and promise that the physician, who +resided three miles off, and was overloaded with practice, +should be sent to on the morrow.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">[31]</span></p> + +<p>If the disease was not immediately dangerous, some +medicine was brought, and the sick man must help +himself as well as he could, and be thankful if his +malady were not thought to be simulated. “But when +he was reduced to extremity, when he was so far gone +that he could not rise from the worm-eaten couch on +which he lay, a nurse was given to him. And who +was this nurse? a stupid, coarse, brutal invalid soldier, +incapable of attentions, little assiduities, every +thing which is indispensable for a sick person. But a +still worse thing is, that when this soldier is once fastened +on you, he can never quit you; he himself becomes +a prisoner. It is therefore necessary to begin +by purchasing his consent, and prevailing on him to +be shut up with you as long as your captivity lasts; +and, if you recover, you must make up your mind to +bear the bad temper, the discontent, the reproaches, +the ennui, of this companion, who takes ample vengeance +upon your health for the seeming services which +he has lent to your sickness.”</p> + +<p>There was yet another stab to be inflicted on those +who were sinking into the grave, and by this the living +could be wounded at the same time. To regulate +the manner in which, after his death, his property +shall be distributed, and, by so doing, to save a wife +and offspring from the perplexity, endless trouble, expense, +and perhaps ruin, which may arise out of a disputed +succession, or the want of needful formalities, is +a duty which every rational being will be anxious to +perform. That the person is a captive, only renders +more necessary the performance of the duty. But +not so thought the myrmidons of the Bastile. It is on +record that a prisoner, who was stretched for two +months on a bed of sickness, expecting that each hour +would be his last, repeatedly and vainly implored a +French minister of state to grant him the customary +legal aid for executing his will; his prayer was sternly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">[32]</span>refused, though there was a lawyer who belonged to +the prison establishment. That this was a solitary +instance it would be folly to imagine.</p> + +<p>It was not of unfrequent occurrence in the Bastile, +for the bodily faculties of a prisoner to survive his +mental. Shut out from the beautiful forms of nature, +the treasures of intellect, and the delights of social +converse, from all that can animate or console; racked +by a thousand remembrances, conjectures, passions, +and fears; brooding in deep seclusion and silence over +the past and the present, and vainly struggling to penetrate +the darkness of the future; his mind at length +gave way, and idiotism or madness ensued. Yet even +that must be deemed a blessing, if it brought with it +oblivion of his fate.</p> + +<p>But the long and unbroken series of woes is at last +ended; death has rent asunder the fetters of the captive, +and he is “where the wicked cease from troubling, +and the weary are at rest.” Is there yet a way +left, by which his ingenious tormentors can make their +vengeance reach beyond the grave, by which they can, +in some measure, entail upon his kindred a share of +suffering? There is. How was this important purpose +effected in the Bastile? As soon as the breath +was out of the body, a notice was sent to the minister +of the home department and the lieutenant-general +of police. The king’s commissary then visited the +prison, to minute down the circumstances. This being +done, orders were issued to inter the body. In +the gloom of evening it was conveyed to the burying +ground of St. Paul’s; two persons belonging to the +Bastile attended it to sign the parish register; and +the name under which the deceased was entered, and +the description of the rank which he held, were fictitious, +that all trace of him might be obliterated. Another +register, containing his real name and station, +was, in truth, kept at the Bastile; but it was almost +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">[33]</span>inaccessible, a sight of it, for the purpose of making +an extract, being never allowed, without a strict enquiry +into the reason why the application was made. +His family and friends, meanwhile, remained in profound +ignorance of his having been released from his +troubles. No mourning mother, wife, or child, followed +his remains to their last abode; and even the +poor consolation was denied them of knowing the spot +where he reposed, that they might water it with their +tears. Thus, in death, as in life, oppression and malice +triumphantly asserted their absolute dominion +over the captives of the Bastile.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<p>Reign of John II.—Stephen Marcel, Provost of the Merchants—Reign +of Charles V.—Hugh Aubriot—Reign of Charles VI.—Noviant—La +Rivière—Peter des Essarts—John de Montaigu—Contests +of the factions at Paris—The Count of Armagnac—The +Burgundians obtain possession of Paris—Massacre of the +Armagnacs—Assassination of the duke of Burgundy—Reign of +Charles VII.—Paris in the hands of the English—Villiers de l’Isle +Adam—The English expelled from Paris—Reign of Louis XI.—Anthony +de Chabannes—The Count de Melun—Cardinal de Balue—William +d’Haraucour—Charles d’Armagnac—Louis de Luxembourg—The +Duke of Nemours and his children.</p> + +</div> + +<p>A mind tinctured with superstition, even though it +were not of the darkest hue, might be tempted to believe +that a fatality pursued the men by whom the Bastile +was raised. It has been seen that the original +founder was the famous Stephen Marcel, Provost of +the Merchants. Marcel, though his character has uniformly +been blackened by writers devoted to absolute +monarchy, seems to have been influenced, at least in +the greatest portion of his career, by truly patriotic +motives. It is not the object which he laboured to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">[34]</span>obtain, but some of the means which he employed for +its attainment, that merits censure. To confine the +royal authority within reasonable bounds, and to give +the national representatives their proper weight in the +scale of government, were the purposes which he sought +to accomplish. The dangerous circumstances in which +the country was placed, and the heavy oppression under +which the people groaned, pointed out such a reform +as being no less wise than just. The time for attempting +it was favourable; inasmuch as the captivity of the +king, and the presence of a victorious foreign army, +would, it was supposed, compel the dauphin, Charles, +to look to the States-General for the means of saving +France from still greater calamities. Yet, so strong +was princely dislike to receiving aid from the legitimate +guardians of the public purse, that Charles preferred +raising supplies by the fraudulent and ruinous +expedient of debasing the coin. In that scheme he was +fortunately defeated by the stubborn opposition of +the Provost.</p> + +<p>The alliance formed by Marcel with Charles, surnamed +the Bad, king of Navarre, was, perhaps, an impolitic +act; not so much because the Navarrese monarch +deserved the epithet given to him by French historians—for +we may doubt whether he was, in reality, much +more blame-worthy than his namesake, the dauphin, +on whom the same historians have lavished their praise—but +because a junction with a man who was exceedingly +obnoxious to a large party in France was likely +to give rise to suspicions with respect to his principles +and motives. It is probable, however, that he was led +to it, by a wish to have some stronger prop to lean on +than the fluctuating favour of the populace. The “varium +et mutabile semper,” by which Virgil, somewhat +harshly, characterizes the female sex, may, with less +appearance of satire, be applied to the multitude. This +truth Marcel was doomed to learn by experience.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">[35]</span></p> + +<p>For nearly two years, the Provost, with more or less +steadiness, kept his footing on the tottering eminence +to which he had risen. During that time he was actively +engaged in securing the French capital from external +and internal foes. He fortified and enlarged its +circuit, supplied it with arms and provisions, established +a guard of citizens, which was night and day on +the watch, and barricaded the entrances of the streets +by ponderous chains, which were fastened to the houses: +these chains were the first barricades which were formed +in Paris.</p> + +<p>The capital was undoubtedly saved from pillage and +devastation by the provident care of Marcel. In spite, +however, of his exertions, his popularity waned; the +minds of his fellow citizens were poisoned by the arts +and insinuations of the dauphin’s friends, and irritated +by his connection with the king of Navarre, whose +troops were mercilessly ravaging all the circumjacent +country. While the Parisians were in this ferment, the +dauphin promised a general amnesty to them, on condition +of their giving up to him the Provost, and twelve +other persons, whom he should select. Fearing, probably, +that this temptation would be too great for them +to resist, the Provost, in an evil hour, resolved to admit +into the city the troops of the king of Navarre. It is +also said, though there does not appear to be any proof +of the fact, that he intended to make a general massacre +of the opposite party, and transfer the crown of France +to Charles the Bad. For this we have only the word +of his enemies.</p> + +<p>It was on the night of the 31st of July, 1358, that +Marcel designed to open the gates of Paris to the Navarrese +soldiery. He was too late. At noon, he went +to the gate of the bastile of St. Denis, and ordered the +guard to deliver up the keys to Joceran de Mascon, +the king of Navarre’s treasurer. The guard refused +to comply, and a loud altercation arose. The noise +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">[36]</span>brought to the place John Maillard, the commandant +of the quarter. Up to this moment, Maillard had been +the zealous friend of Marcel, but he now resolutely +opposed the scheme of the latter. A violent quarrel +ensued between them, which ended by Maillard springing +on horseback, unfurling the banner of France, and +summoning the citizens to assist him in preventing the +Provost from betraying the city to the English. The +summons speedily brought a throng around him. The +friends of the dauphin, likewise, did not let slip this +opportunity of acting in his behalf. A considerable +body of men was collected by them, at the head of which +were placed two gentlemen, named Pepin des Essarts +and John de Charny.</p> + +<p>From the gate of St. Denis, meanwhile, Marcel proceeded +on the same errand to the other gates. He was +not more successful than on his first attempt; obedience +was every where refused. As a last resource, +he bent his course to the bastile of St. Anthony. Here, +again he was foiled. His enemies were beforehand +with him. The keys he did by some means obtain, +but they were useless. Maillard had already reached +the scene of action, with a numerous train of followers, +and he was almost immediately joined by the partisans +of the dauphin. With the keys of the Bastile in his +hand, Marcel began to ascend the entrance ladder, +striving at the same time to keep off his assailants. A +terrible cry now burst forth of “Kill them! kill them! +death to the Provost of the Merchants and his accomplices!” +Alarmed by the clamour, he attempted to +save himself by flight, but he was struck on the head +with an axe, by de Charny, and he fell at the foot of +the Bastile, which he had himself built. His body was +immediately pierced with innumerable wounds by the +infuriated crowd. Giles Marcel, his nephew, and fifty-three +others, the whole of the party which had attended +him, were either slain on the spot or thrown into prison. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">[37]</span>Three days afterwards, the dauphin re-entered Paris, +and began to feed his revenge with blood.</p> + +<p>By Hugh Aubriot the Bastile was advanced another +step towards its completion. Born at Dijon, of humble +parents, Aubriot gained the favour of Charles the +fifth, and of his brother, the duke of Anjou, and was +appointed minister of finance. He was also raised to +the dignified, though troublesome and dangerous office +of Provost of Paris. Charles the fifth had a love of +building, and he found in the Provost a man who had +talents and activity to carry his wishes into effect. Paris +was indebted to Aubriot for numerous works, which +conduced to its safety, ornament, and salubrity. He +strengthened and added to the ramparts, constructed +sewers, which he was the first to introduce into the +capital, formed quays, rebuilt the Pont au Change, and +built the Pont St. Michel. In these labours he employed, +at a fixed rate of payment, all the mendicants, +destitute persons, and disorderly characters of the city; +thus compelling them to earn that subsistence which +they had been in the habit of extorting or plundering +from the citizens. The police of the city was greatly +improved by him in other respects. Among the ordinances +which he issued, for that purpose, was one which +revived that of Louis the ninth, relative to prostitutes. +Paris was now overrun with loose women; the ordinance +enjoined them, under penalty of fine and imprisonment, +to reside only in certain places, which were +specified, to the number of nine.</p> + +<p>The strict performance of his duty proved to be the +ruin of Aubriot. Among the worst nuisances of the +capital were the scholars of the University of Paris; +they were addicted, among other things, to drunkenness, +libertinism, and robbery, and their insolence was +still more insufferable than their vices. Perpetual quarrels +and contests, in which they were almost always the +aggressors, took place between these votaries of learning +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">[38]</span>and the citizens. The main cause of their excesses +being thus pushed beyond all bounds was the complete +impunity which they enjoyed. Fonder of its privileges +than of morality and justice, the University on all occasions +strenuously resisted the efforts of the magistrates +to bring scholars to punishment. In more than +one instance it threw its protecting shield over plunderers +and assassins, and pursued with a deadly hatred +those individuals who had dared to enforce the laws +against criminals. This crying abuse Aubriot determined +to suppress. In the prison of the Little Châtelet, +which was built by him, he ordered two strong and +not over comfortable cells to be constructed, for the reception +of delinquent scholars. These he called his +<i>clos Bruneau</i> and <i>rue de Fouaire</i>; the University +schools being situated in places which were so named. +By this stinging joke, and by the vigorous measures of +Aubriot, the University was inexpiably offended. Regardless +of its anger, he, however, resolutely persisted +in arresting and committing to prison every student who +ventured to transgress.</p> + +<p>While Charles the fifth lived, Aubriot remained safe; +but the death of his patron, and the weakness and confusion +of a minority, laid him open to the malice of his +enemies. The University had sworn to accomplish his +ruin, and this oath it held sacred. In his public character +he had so deported himself as to be intangible; +and, therefore, his private life was ransacked to find +matter for accusation. It was discovered, or feigned, +that he was too warm a lover of women, and, to give a +darker colour to this fault, it was added, that he had +an especial predilection for Jewesses. From this, by a +curious process of logic, it was deduced as an inference, +that he was himself a Jew and a heretic; his accusers +not perceiving, or not choosing to perceive, that the one +of these conditions excluded the other. Their reasoning +was akin to that which, in the fable, the wolf uses to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">[39]</span>the lamb. Unluckily, too, for the Provost, they resembled +the wolf in other points; they had his savageness +and his ability to injure. The University and the +clergy joined in a clamour against him, and were supported +by the duke of Berry, who was hostile to the +Burgundian party, to which Aubriot belonged.</p> + +<p>Charged with impiety and heresy, Aubriot was +brought to trial before an ecclesiastical tribunal. With +such prosecutors and such judges, conviction was certain. +To such a pitch did the University and the +clergy carry their animosity against him, that he would +have been doomed to the flames, had not his friends at +court powerfully exerted their influence to procure a +milder sentence. But, though his life was spared, he +was not suffered to escape without feeling how venomous +are the fangs of fanatics and pedants. He was +condemned to public exposure and penance, in presence +of the heads and scholars of the University, to ask pardon +upon his knees, and, with no other food than bread +and water, to spend in strict confinement the remnant +of his days.</p> + +<p>Aubriot was conveyed to the Bastile, to undergo the +last part of his sentence. In the course of a few months, +probably because he was treated with too much lenity +in a state prison, he was removed to the bishop’s prison, +called Fort-l’Evêque, where he was thrown into +one of those dungeons which bore the significant name +of oubliettes. There he might have languished long, +or perished quickly, but never have hoped for deliverance, +had not, in 1381, the intolerable oppression exercised +by the government given rise to the insurrection +which, from the circumstance of the revolters being +armed with leaden malls, was called the Maillotin. In +want of a leader, the insurgents bethought them of +Hugh Aubriot; and it is not unlikely that, as he had +suffered heavy wrongs, they supposed he would espouse +their cause with heart and soul. They accordingly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">[40]</span>liberated him. Aubriot, however, was either too old, +or too prudent, to become the head of a revolt; he +spoke his deliverers fair, but, on the very evening that +he was set free, he crossed the Seine, and hastened to +Burgundy, his native country, where he is believed to +have died in the following year.</p> + +<p>While Charles the sixth was labouring under his first +attack of insanity, the political feuds and intrigues +which distracted his court gave fresh inhabitants to the +Bastile. When, in 1392, the dukes of Burgundy and +Berry assumed the government, the overthrow of Clisson, +the constable of France, and prime minister, necessarily +ensued, and in his fall was involved the ministry +he had formed. Three of the ministers, La Begue +de Villaine, Noviant, and La Rivière, were arrested; +Montaigu, the fourth, escaped to Avignon. La Begue, +an aged man, who had served in the field with honour +under several kings, was soon released; Noviant and +La Rivière were reserved as scape goats, and were shut +up in the Bastile. Of Noviant nothing important is +recorded. La Rivière had enjoyed, in the highest degree, +the confidence and friendship of Charles the fifth; +so much, indeed, did the monarch value him, that, by +his express commands, whenever his favourite died, the +royal mausoleum of St. Denis was to be the place of +interment. At the accession of Charles the sixth, La +Rivière suffered a temporary eclipse; but he shone forth +again when the young monarch assumed the reins of +government.</p> + +<p>Noviant and La Rivière were now in the hands of +their enemies, and had little to hope; for they were +rich enough to excite a hungering after their spoils, +and had been too long in possession of power not to +be loathed by their rivals. It is the curse and the +shame of politics, that they render men insensible to, +or, which is still worse, incapable of acknowledging, +the merit really owned by those who differ from them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">[41]</span>in views and principles. Thorough-going politicians +are but too apt to affirm what is false, or suppress +what is true, provided it will injure their opponents. +It follows, as a natural consequence of this unworthy +feeling, that, though the two ministers fully vindicated +themselves on every article of impeachment, they had +but small chance of escaping. Their fate was deemed +so inevitable that, more than once during the trial the +brute populace rushed to the place of execution, lured +by the report that the ministers were about to be +brought to the scaffold. Luckily for them, they had +a protector, stronger than their innocence. This was +the young and lovely princess Jane, countess of Boulogne, +the wife of the duke of Berry. Her marriage +with the duke had been brought about by the influence +of La Rivière, and this circumstance, together with +the minister’s estimable qualities, had secured for him +her affection and esteem. Her pleadings softened +her husband, and thus prevented a deadly sentence +from being passed on the fallen statesmen. It is not +to be supposed, however, that they were allowed to go +unscathed. To declare them guiltless would have been +a tacit confession of error, an act which is not to be +expected from weak and base minds; and, besides, +hatred could not consent to let loose its objects without +previously making them feel a touch of its fangs. +The ministers, therefore, after having been captives +for twelve months, and in hourly dread of death, were +only condemned to confiscation of their property, and +exile to a distance from the court. With respect to +the latter part of the sentence, they might well have +exclaimed, like Diogenes, “and we condemn you to +remain at court!” Charles, on his temporary return +to sanity, restored their estates, but they were not +again employed. La Rivière died in 1400, and was +buried at St. Denis.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">[42]</span></p> + +<p>There was a moment when the Bastile seemed +about to be converted to its original purpose, that of +a fortress for the defence of Paris. After the duke +of Burgundy had, in 1405, obtained possession of the +king, the dauphin, and the capital, preparations to recover +Paris were made by the beautiful but worthless +queen Isabella, and her paramour, the duke of +Orleans. In consequence of this, the Burgundian +prince placed garrisons in the Bastile and the Louvre; +and a report having been spread, that there was a +plot to carry off the dauphin, a chain was stretched +across the river, from the Bastile to the opposite +bank, to prevent the passage of vessels. It was on +this occasion that, to win the good will of the Parisians, +the duke induced the king to restore to them +the barricading chains, of which they had been deprived +in 1383, and which had ever since been kept +in the castle of Vincennes. The precautions were +prudent, but they were made useless, by a treaty +between the hostile parties.</p> + +<p>It has already been observed, that the office of Provost +of Paris was no less perilous than honourable. +During the disturbed and disastrous reign of Charles +the sixth, there were as many as twenty-four provosts, +and there were few of them who did not find their +dignity a burthen. Among the most unfortunate of +them was Peter des Essarts. He was one of the +French nobles who were sent to aid the Scotch in +their contest with the English; and, in 1402, he fell +into the hands of the latter. After he was ransomed +he returned to France, and became a zealous partisan +of John the Fearless, the duke of Burgundy. The +duke amply rewarded him for his services. He successively +obtained for him the posts of Provost of +Paris, grand butler, grand falconer, first lay president +of the chamber of accounts, supreme commissioner +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">[43]</span>of woods and waters, and superintendant of finance, +and also the governments of Cherbourg, Montargis, +and Nemours.</p> + +<p>As provost of Paris, it fell to his lot to arrest a man +whose rise had been no less rapid than his own. His +task was performed with a thorough good will. Montaigu, +whom we have seen flying to Avignon after +the downfall of Clisson, returned to the French capital +when the storm was blown over. There he +became more than ever a favourite of the king, who +loaded him with honours, promoted his relations, and +procured for his son the hand of the constable +d’Albret’s sister. Among the offices which were lavished +on Montaigu were those of finance minister +and grand master of the royal household. His +riches were soon increased to an enormous degree, +and his pride to a still greater. To the duke of Burgundy +he had rendered himself peculiarly obnoxious, +by thwarting his plans, and being a determined adherent +of the queen and the house of Orleans. The +Burgundian affected to be reconciled to him, but he +did not the less resolve upon his destruction. To +accomplish the ruin of Montaigu, the duke instituted +an enquiry into the conduct of those who had managed +the finances; a species of enquiry which was always +applauded by the tax-burthened people. At the same +time, he likewise procured for the Parisians the restoration +of various privileges, which had been taken +from them, as a punishment for the Maillotin insurrection. +Having thus fortified his popularity, he took +advantage of the king being visited by one of his fits +of madness, to commence operations against Montaigu. +The favourite had been cautioned against his danger, +and advised to fly from it, but confiding in the support +of the queen and the duke of Berry, he was deaf to +advice. He was arrested in the street by des Essarts, +and committed to the Little Châtelet. It strongly +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">[44]</span>marks his insufferable pride and insolence, that, when +he was seized by the provost, he exclaimed “Ribald! +how hast thou the audacity to touch me.” This was +the arrogance of an upstart, for he was of humble +birth. He was brought to trial, with little attention +to the forms or the spirit of justice, and, after having +been tortured, was condemned to lose his head; his +property was confiscated, but, instead of being appropriated +to replenish the treasury, it was divided among +his enemies. The sentence was executed in the +autumn of 1409.</p> + +<p>If ambition had not entirely banished prudence, +the fate of Montaigu might have taught des Essarts +to reflect on the frail tenure by which, in an age of +faction, the most conspicuous partisans hold their fortunes +and their lives. Nor was he without a still +more impressive warning. In a moment of displeasure, +the duke of Burgundy said to him, “Provost of +Paris, John de Montaigu was three-and-twenty years +in getting his head cut off, but verily you will not be +three years about it:”—ominous words, where the +prophet had the power of bringing his prophecy to pass!</p> + +<p>In 1410 the contending factions once more resumed +their arms. By a rapid march, the Burgundian prince +made himself master of Paris, which he garrisoned +with eight thousand men. For the support of the +troops, a heavy tax was imposed upon the citizens. +Des Essarts was charged with the levying of this tax, +and he is accused of having swelled his own coffers +with the largest share of the produce. By this onerous +measure, the popularity of the duke and the provost +was materially diminished. In the course of a +few months, the duke deemed it prudent to conclude +another simular of a treaty; it was called the treaty of +the Bicêtre, from the place where it was negotiated, +and by one of its articles he consented that des Essarts +should be removed from the provostship of Paris.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">[45]</span></p> + +<p>It seems impossible for the signers of such treaties +to have put their hands to them without being tempted +to laugh in each other’s faces; the compacts were +notoriously intended to be broken on the first favourable +opportunity. Accordingly, but a few months +elapsed, after the conclusion of the peace, before the +Burgundian and Orleanist parties were again in arms, +and vituperating each other in the most virulent language. +Des Essarts was re-established as provost of +Paris; and, during the temporary ascendancy of the +Orleanists, his exertions to supply the city with provisions +gained for him, from the citizens, the flattering +appellation of the Father of the People. When, however, +the Parisians ceased to be in dread of having +hungry bellies, they ceased to applaud him; and, in the +following year, he became an object of their hatred.</p> + +<p>A sharp contest of a few months was terminated by +another hollow truce, under the name of a peace. By +this time the Burgundian prince appears to have been +converted into a deadly enemy of des Essarts. Three +causes are assigned for this change. The provost is +said to have in private charged him with appropriating +a large sum of the public money to his own use; to +have entered into correspondence with the Orleanist +leaders, and warned them that the duke designed to +assassinate them; and likewise to have formed, with +the concurrence of the dauphin, a plan for rescuing +that prince and the king from the state of tutelage in +which they were kept by the Burgundian ruler. It is +highly probable that, disgusted by the duke having +abandoned him in the treaty of the Bicêtre, he had +really gone over to the Orleanist faction. Any one +of these causes was sufficient to make his former patron +resolve upon his ruin. There was also another +circumstance which wore a threatening aspect for des +Essarts. The States-General were now sitting at +Paris, and in that assembly clamours began to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">[46]</span>heard against financial depredators, amongst whom +the multitude, so lately his adulators, did not hesitate +to class him. To elude the storm, which he saw approaching +from more than one quarter, he resigned +his office of finance minister, in which he had succeeded +Montaigu; but he did not forget to secure an +adequate compensation for the sacrifice which he made. +He then retired to his government of Cherbourg.</p> + +<p>The Burgundian was at this period in apparent +amity with the dauphin; nor had he, as yet, openly +manifested his animosity against the provost. The +dauphin, was, however, at heart hostile to him, and +impatient of his yoke. It was, no doubt, with a view +to having a firm hold of Paris, that he resolved to become +master of the Bastile; but to the duke the reason +which he assigned was, the mutinous disposition +of the people, which it was necessary to have the +means of repressing. Imagining that the provost was +still trusted by the duke, he proposed to confide to +him the task of seizing upon the Bastile. The clear-sighted +Burgundian at once saw through the scheme, +but he gave a willing consent to its execution; for it +would enable him to accomplish two objects, the getting +of des Essarts into his hands, and the gaining a +complete triumph over the dauphin himself. Des +Essarts was consequently summoned from Cherbourg; +he accepted the commission; and he managed so well, +that he secured the Bastile, without the least opposition.</p> + +<p>The provost was scarcely in possession of the fortress +before the scene changed. The Burgundian +prince had skilfully laid a train, and a violent explosion +suddenly took place. A rumour was spread +throughout Paris, that the Orleanists, or Armagnacs, +as they now began to be called, intended to carry off +the dauphin with his own consent, and that the provost +was at the head of the plot. A furious multitude, +the leaders of which were two of the duke’s attendants, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">[47]</span>immediately hurried to invest the Bastile on +all sides. It swelled every moment, till it consisted +of not fewer than twenty thousand armed men, all +clamorous for the blood of des Essarts, and determined +to storm the castle, in order to satisfy their rage. +Another body, led by John de Troie, a surgeon, proceeded, +at the same time, to the dauphin’s palace, +loaded him with insult, and arrested several of his +officers and friends, some of whom were murdered on +their way to prison.</p> + +<p>The duke of Burgundy now came forward, apparently +as a mediator. The besiegers he induced to +suspend their attack, by promising that their object +should be attained without force being used. He then +tried his eloquence on des Essarts. In the first interview +he failed, in the second he succeeded. By dint +of representing to him that it was impossible to restrain +the people, and that, if they effected their entrance, +which they certainly would, the provost would +be torn in pieces, he shook his resolution of defending +himself; and, by pledging his honour that no +harm should befall him, he finally prevailed on him +to surrender.</p> + +<p>Des Essarts would have done more wisely to brave +death from the sanguinary crowd, than to rely on the +honour of an acknowledged assassin. Ostensibly for +the purpose of saving him from the violence of his +enemies, he was led to the prison of the Châtelet, +where he seems to have thought that all danger was +at an end. He was speedily undeceived, by his being +brought to trial. In addition to various crimes +charged against him in his official capacity, he was +accused of having caused the renewal of the war between +the princes after the treaty of Chartres, and of +having plotted to carry off from Paris the king, the +queen, and the dauphin. He was, of course, found +guilty, and was condemned to lose his head, and to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">[48]</span>have his remains suspended from the gibbet of Montfaucon. +Four years had not elapsed since the convicted +Montaigu was conveyed by him to the same +spot. The sentence passed on des Essarts was executed +on the first of July 1413. He went to the +scaffold with great courage; a circumstance which his +enemies attributed to his having flattered himself that +the people would rise and rescue him. If he entertained +any such visionary hopes, his long experience +of the people must have been entirely lost upon him.</p> + +<p>The changes in the fortune of the two factions which +desolated France succeeded each other with an almost +ludicrous rapidity; the party which was triumphant on +one day was prostrate on the morrow. We have just +seen the dauphin humbled by the duke of Burgundy; +yet the same year did not pass away before the dauphin +and the Armagnacs gained the upper hand, and the +duke found it prudent to retire to his own dominions. +That he might keep a firm hold of the capital, the +dauphin gave the command of the Bastile to his uncle, +prince Louis of Bavaria, appointed the duke of Berry +governor of Paris, gave the provostship to Tannegui +du Châtel, removed to the Bastile the chains used for +barricading the streets, and issued orders for the citizens +to deliver up all kinds of arms.</p> + +<p>The duke of Burgundy appealed to the sword, but +without success, and the treaty of Arras, which was the +result of his failure, relieved France for awhile from +his incursions and his intrigues. It was not till nearly +two years afterwards, when the battle of Agincourt +had given a rude shock to the French throne, that +he re-appeared upon the scene. Under his auspices, +the Burgundian faction at Paris formed a conspiracy, +for a general massacre of the Armagnacs, in which the +king himself was not to be spared, should he venture +to resist. It was detected at the critical moment, and +the Armagnacs avenged themselves by murders, proscriptions, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">[49]</span>and excessive taxes, which alienated many +of their friends, without crushing their enemies.</p> + +<p>The death of the dauphin Louis, speedily followed +by that of his brother and successor John, gave the +dignity of dauphin to Charles, the youngest son of the +king. The duke of Burgundy had hoped to exercise +an influence over John, but he had only hostility to +expect from Charles, who, as far as a boy of fifteen +could be any thing, was a partisan of the Armagnacs. +By war alone could any thing be gained, and he therefore +prepared to wage it. The gross impolicy of the +opposite party gave him manifold advantages. While +the count of Armagnac, the constable, who was the +head of the reigning faction, goaded the people by +forced loans, enormous imposts, and severities against +all whom he suspected, he and the dauphin contrived +also to exasperate the queen, by seizing her treasures, +casting, perhaps not undeservedly, a stain upon her +character, and banishing her to Tours. Driven to +desperation by these injuries and insults, she abjured +her long-cherished hatred of the duke, and wrote to +him for succour. He gladly listened to the call, released +her from captivity, and escorted her to Chartres, +where, in virtue of an obsolete ordinance of the king, +she assumed the title of regent, and created a parliament, +to counterbalance that of the capital. A preponderating +weight was thus thrown into the scale +of the Burgundian prince. Nor did he neglect to +strengthen himself by conciliating the people; for, +while the count of Armagnac was daily irritating them +by his extortions, the duke held out to them a tempting +lure, by proclaiming that all the towns which opened +their gates to him should be freed from taxes. Encouraged +by these circumstances, his partisans in the capital +formed a plan for admitting him into the city; but it +was discovered and frustrated.</p> + +<p>The return of our Henry the fifth to France, in 1417, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">[50]</span>and the progress which he was making in Normandy, +recalled to their senses most of the leaders of the factions. +The necessity of union being felt, negotiations +were opened. The queen, the dauphin, and the duke +of Burgundy were willing to come to terms; the principal +article agreed on was, that the queen and the +duke should form a part of the royal council. But the +count of Armagnac would hear of no treaty that did +not really leave in his hands the whole power of the +state; and he accordingly strained every nerve, and +was even guilty of the most revolting cruelty, to render +impossible an accommodation with the Burgundian +leaders. He little dreamt how soon he was to be precipitated +from the pinnacle of greatness, and trampled +in the mire by the basest of the base.</p> + +<p>Harassed and impoverished by tyranny and exaction +within the walls, and beset by foes beyond them, the +Parisians were hungering for peace. They were the +more inveterate against Armagnac, because they were +tantalized by the object for which they longed being +almost within their reach. Peace had, in fact, been concluded +at Montereau, and publicly announced in Paris, +and the count, seconded by de Marle, the chancellor, was +the sole obstacle to its being enjoyed. He was inflexible +in his resistance. To bring about a rupture of the +treaty, he sent troops to attack two of the Burgundian +posts; seemingly struck with a judicial blindness, the +forerunner of his fall, he pushed to an unbearable length +his arrogance, extortion, and gloomy precautions; and +he is said to have even meditated a sweeping massacre +of such of the citizens as were hostile to him, and to +have ordered leaden medals to be struck for distribution +to his partisans, that the murderers might distinguish +them in the hour of carnage. If the character of the +man, and the spirit of those barbarous times, were not +in accordance with this sanguinary project, we might, +perhaps, imagine him to be unjustly charged with it; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">[51]</span>for, in all ages, it has been the custom to blacken an +overthrown tyrant, by loading him with imaginary +crimes. That, however, it was possible for persons of +the highest rank to tolerate, and probably to command, +the cold-blooded slaughter of their foes, was but too +speedily proved.</p> + +<p>Terrible as the multitude is when once moved, it is +slow to be moved. Mutual distrust, and the dread of +failure, keep its component parts from uniting, till +some one, more daring than the rest, or provoked into +action by flagrant wrongs, assumes the lead, and gives +to it the principle of cohesion. It was a denial of +justice which brought into play the man who was wanting, +to convert into open revolt the passive disaffection +of the citizens. The servant of an Armagnac noble +having grossly maltreated Perinet le Clerc, whose father, +an ironmonger, was the quartinier, or magistrate +of his ward, Perinet applied to the provost for redress. +His application was contemptuously rejected, and he +swore to be revenged. In concert with some of his +friends, he matured a plan for admitting the Burgundian +troops, and he opened a correspondence on the +subject with Villiers de l’Isle Adam, who commanded +at Pontoise, for the duke. The chance of success +seemed so fair, that l’Isle Adam readily agreed to risk +a portion of his garrison in the attempt. The negotiation +was conducted with so much secrecy that not a +breath of it transpired.</p> + +<p>The plan was carried into effect on the night of the +28th of May, 1418. Perinet was a man of ready resources, +equally discreet and resolute, and he omitted +nothing that could tend to secure a triumph. By virtue +of his office, the father of Perinet held the keys of +St. Germain’s gate, and had the relieving of the guard +there. On the appointed night, having first contrived +to place on guard many of his associates, Perinet stole +to his father’s bed-side, and, undiscovered, drew the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">[52]</span>keys from beneath his pillow. L’Isle Adam was waiting +near the gate with eight hundred men. At two +in the morning, it was opened by Perinet, who, as soon +as the troops had entered, locked the gate, and threw +the keys over the walls, that, retreat being impossible, +the soldiers might be compelled to combat with desperate +valour. The adventurers proceeded in dead silence +along the streets till they reached the Little Châtelet, +where they were joined by several hundred armed citizens, +who had been assembled to receive them. The confederates +now loudly raised the rallying cry of “Peace! +peace! Burgundy for ever!” and it was soon as loudly +echoed from every side. From all the streets crowds +of citizens sallied forth, wearing on their dress the St. +Andrew’s cross, which was the distinguishing mark of +the Burgundian party. In a very short time, tens of +thousands were in arms.</p> + +<p>Scattered over a large city, and taken by surprise, +the Armagnacs could make no resistance. Tannegui +du Châtel, the governor of the Bastile, had barely time +to hurry to the dauphin’s abode, snatch him half +awaked from the couch, wrap him in the bedclothes, +and convey him for safety to the Bastile, whence, +without delay, he removed him to Melun. While he +was thus occupied, a party of Burgundians marched +to the king’s palace, and compelled him to take horse, +and put himself at their head. Other parties spread +themselves over the city, and slaughtered, or dragged +to prison, all the Armagnacs on whom they could +lay their hands. Nobles, warriors, ministers of state, +bishops, abbots, magistrates, and the humble followers +who had moved at their beck, were indiscriminately +thrust into durance. The jails were speedily crowded +till they could hold no more, and it then became necessary +to confine the captives in public buildings and +private houses. The constable, in the rags of a beggar, +at first eluded his pursuers, and found shelter in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">[53]</span>dwelling of a poor mason; but a threatening proclamation, +against whoever should harbour an Armagnac, +terrified his host into betraying him.</p> + +<p>The Bastile, and consequently the power of entering +Paris, was yet held by Tannegui du Châtel. In +the hope of recovering the capital, before preparations +could be made for its defence, he hurried back from +Melun, along with other officers, among whom was +Barbazan, who is honourably distinguished in the +French annals, as the irreproachable knight, and the +restorer of the kingdom and crown of France. At +the head of a large body of gendarmes, he, on the first +of June, made a sally from the Bastile, and advanced +up St. Anthony’s-street, towards the palace, with the +intention of making himself master of the king’s +person. The king, however, had been removed, and +Tannegui was soon encountered by l’Isle Adam, who +had gathered together some troops, and was every +moment reinforced by the citizens. A desperate contest +took place, but the Armagnac general was finally +compelled to retreat, with the loss of four hundred +men. The corpses of the slain were ignominiously +thrown into the common sewer by the victors. Leaving +a small garrison in the Bastile, he retired with the +remainder of his force, and distributed it among the +neighbouring fortresses of Corbeil, Meaux, and Melun. +Two days after the departure of Tannegui, the +governor of the Bastile deemed it prudent to capitulate.</p> + +<p>Already irritated by Tannegui’s attempt, the partisans +of the Burgundians were excited almost to madness +by a letter from the queen, in which she declared +that neither she nor the duke would return to Paris, +till it was purged of the Armagnacs. It has been truly +remarked, that “such a letter was, in reality, a decree +of death.” That was the construction put upon +it by the Burgundian faction; and, unrestrained by +any religious or humane feeling, they promptly carried +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">[54]</span>the sentence into effect. On the morning of the 12th +of June, a report being spread that the enemy were +attacking two of the gates, the citizens hastily assembled +from every quarter. “All issued from their +houses,” says an old writer, “like swarms of bees +from various hives. Malls, hatchets, axes, clubs, +poles shod with iron points, swords, pikes, javelins, +and halberts, were called into use by the insurgent +people.”</p> + +<p>The signal of carnage was given by one Lambert, +who harangued them, and proposed to massacre +the captives. His sanguinary suggestion was instantly +adopted by the brutal crowd, and they hurried to the +numerous prisons, uttering loud cries of “Kill those +dogs! Kill those Armagnac traitors!” A scene of +horror ensued at which nature shudders. Some of the +victims were flung from the towers of the buildings +upon the pikes of the assassins, some were chopped +down with hatchets, some were drowned, and others +were burned alive in their dungeons; their mangled +remains were exposed to every kind of indignity; and +torrents of blood flowed through the streets. From +the jails the slaughter was extended to the suspected +inhabitants of houses, and was followed by pillage. +The work of murder and robbery was untiringly +continued throughout the whole of the night, and was +recommenced in the morning, after the labourers in it +had refreshed themselves by a short repast.</p> + +<p>Nineteen hundred of the Armagnacs are said to +have fallen on this terrible day. Nor did they alone +suffer, for numbers of the Burgundian party fell beneath +the weapons of their private foes, who availed +themselves of this opportunity to gratify their revenge. +After having for three days been dragged through the +streets by the mob, the naked and disfigured corpse of +the constable was conveyed out of Paris in the scavengers’ +cart, and thrown among the filth and ordure of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">[55]</span>the city laystall. That no proof of their ferocity might +be wanting, his murderers cut a portion of his skin into +the form of a scarf, and hung it round him in ridicule +of the white scarf which was the badge of his party.</p> + +<p>A supplementary massacre, of equal extent, and +attended by circumstances equally atrocious, occurred +shortly after, in which perished the prisoners from the +Bastile and Vincennes, and those who had been arrested +since the first slaughter. On this occasion, the +captives in the Great and Little Châtelet strove to +defend themselves, by hurling down stones and tiles +on their enemies, but their resistance was soon overpowered, +and not one of them escaped.</p> + +<p>These enormities—prefigurations of those which, +nearly four centuries later, were to be committed in +the same city—were succeeded by riotous rejoicings +for the arrival of the queen and the duke, and by +“one of the finest religious processions that ever was +seen.” But the wrath of Heaven did not slumber +long. “The joy of Paris,” says an old annalist, “was +speedily changed into mourning, for three months had +not passed away after this carnage, when so cruel a +pestilence fell upon the city, that it destroyed more +than eighty thousand persons in three months. History +records, that this Perinet and his companions, +after having squandered all that they had gained by +plunder, died miserably, not long enjoying the fruits +of their robberies; and that the greater part of the +nobles and gentlemen, who had acted with the murderers, +were carried off by the pestilence, except l’Isle +Adam, who was reserved to be chastised by king +Henry of England, though it was on another account, +as we shall relate in the proper place. And was it not +God who took vengeance for these cruelties?”</p> + +<p>In a little more than a year from this time, John +the Fearless, himself an assassin, fell by an assassin’s +hand, at the conference of Montereau. His life had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">[56]</span>been productive of great evils to France; his death +brought on it still greater. The murder of John gave +birth to that coalition between his successor Philip the +Good, Henry the fifth of England, and queen Isabella, +which, for more than a quarter of a century, deluged +the kingdom with blood, and nearly wrested the +sceptre from the ancient line of monarchs. In 1420, +Paris was delivered into the hands of the English, and +for sixteen years they retained possession of it; the +Louvre, the Bastile, and Vincennes, were their principal +posts in the capital and its immediate vicinity.</p> + +<p>The only prisoner whom, during their domination, +the English are recorded to have confined in the Bastile, +was the very man but for whose activity and +daring the capital would, perhaps, never have been in +their power. It was l’Isle Adam. This warrior, who +was born about 1384, of an ancient and noble family, +was taken by the English, at Honfleur, in 1415. After +he recovered his liberty, he joined the party of John +the Fearless, and was made governor of Pontoise. +We have seen by what means he gained Paris for the +Burgundian prince. That he was deeply implicated +in the massacres appears to be a melancholy truth; +and all his talents and valour are insufficient to cleanse +his reputation from that damnable spot. For his services +he was rewarded, by the duke of Burgundy, +with the rank of marshal.</p> + +<p>It is not clear in what manner l’Isle Adam incurred +the displeasure of our Henry the fifth, the regent of +France. French writers ascribe the circumstance to +the pride and arrogance of the English sovereign, who +required the most abject homage from all his French +courtiers. L’Isle Adam, they tell us, having one day +come into the royal presence in a plain grey dress, the +monarch sternly asked him whether that was a fit +dress for a marshal. “Dearest lord,” said the offender, +“I had it made to travel in from Sens to Paris;” and, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">[57]</span>while he spoke, he looked at the king. “What!” +exclaimed Henry, “do you dare to look a prince in the +face?” “Most dread lord,” answered the marshal, +“it is the custom in France; and if any one avoids +looking at the person to whom he talks, he is considered +as a bad man and a traitor; therefore, in God’s +name, do not be offended.”—“Such is not our custom,” +Henry sourly replied, and here the dialogue ended. +If this story be true, it speaks ill for the policy, and +worse for the disposition, of the victor of Agincourt.</p> + +<p>A few days after this conversation is supposed to +have occurred, L’Isle Adam was committed to the +Bastile, on the false and absurd charge of meaning to +betray Paris to the dauphin. About a thousand of +the citizens took up arms to rescue him, on his way +to the fortress, but they were put to flight by the +small band of English archers, which was escorting +him to prison. L’Isle Adam, it is affirmed, would +have passed from the Bastile to the scaffold, had he +not been saved by the remonstrances of Philip the +Good, and the death of Henry.</p> + +<p>After the decease of Henry, L’Isle Adam rejoined +the Burgundian standard, and took so active and +effective a part in the war, that, when the order of the +Golden Fleece was established, he was one of the +first on whom it was conferred. In 1437, he followed +the duke of Burgundy into Brabant, and on the +22nd of May, of that year, he was killed in a popular +insurrection, which took place at Bruges.</p> + +<p>It was not till the 22nd of September, 1429, that +any attempt was made to disturb the English in their +occupation of Paris. Flushed with its recent successes, +and hoping that the citizens would rise upon the garrison, +the army of Charles assaulted on that day the +ramparts of the capital, between the gates of St. +Honoré and St. Denis. The assault, led by Joan +of Arc, continued for four hours; but the glorious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">[58]</span>heroine was severely wounded through the thigh, and +the assailants were compelled to retire.</p> + +<p>For seven years after this attack, the English kept +their ground in Paris. But the English power in +France was now daily crumbling into dust. The +Burgundian, their ally for several years, was become +their active enemy; the duke of Bedford, whose +valour and skill so long upheld a tottering cause, had +sunk into the grave; town after town, willingly or on +compulsion, opened its gates to Charles; succours +arrived seldom and in scanty numbers; and frequent +insurrections, in Normandy and other quarters, compelled +them to disseminate their troops, so that it +became impossible for them to take the field with a +formidable army. At this critical moment, Paris had +only a feeble garrison of fifteen hundred men; a force +wholly inadequate to defend the place, even had the +citizens been far less disaffected than they really were. +They were weary of war, and, besides, prudence dissuaded +them from persisting to oppose a sovereign +whose throne was evidently established on a solid +basis. Such being the state of things, Charles thought +the time was come to recover his capital. A negotiation +was secretly opened with the citizens; and, on +condition of a general amnesty, they agreed to return +to their allegiance. On the night of the 13th of April, +1436, the king’s troops were admitted into the city. +Though he was taken by surprise, Willoughby, the +governor, a brave and intelligent officer, took such +measures as would have baffled his assailants, had he +received any aid from the Parisians. But not a +hand was raised in his behalf, and he had no other +resource than a retreat to the Bastile, which he +effected in good order. An honourable capitulation, +allowing him to retire with bag and baggage, to Rouen, +was offered to Willoughby, and, as he knew that resistance +must be unavailing, he wisely accepted an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">[59]</span>offer which he could not hope would be repeated. Thus +ended the sway of the English in Paris.</p> + +<p>During the remainder of the reign of Charles VII., +nothing more occurred which belongs to this narrative. +Abundant materials, are, however, supplied by +the iron sway of his son and successor, Louis XI. +Historians, in speaking of Louis XI., have charactered +him, and with justice, as a violator of all social duties, +as being a “bad son, a bad husband, a bad father, a +bad brother, a bad kinsman, a bad friend, a bad neighbour, +a bad master, and a most dangerous enemy.” +That, on attaining supreme power, such a man should +take heavy vengeance for injuries, real or supposed, +is in the natural order of things. Immediately on his +accession to the throne, Louis displaced from their +offices all persons who had rendered themselves obnoxious +to him; and, in some instances, his revenge +was more signally manifested.</p> + +<p>Among the most conspicuous of those who felt his +anger was Anthony de Chabannes, count of Dammartin. +Chabannes had played an active part in the +long war between Charles VII. and the English, and, +on various occasions had done signal service. Like +many other nobles of that period, he was, however, +possessed of far more courage than honourable principles. +To swell his coffers with plunder, he did not +hesitate to put himself at the head of the ferocious +banditti known by the descriptive name of <i>écorcheurs</i>, +or flayers, with whom he ravaged the north-eastern +provinces of France, as far as the Swiss frontier. He +quitted them in 1439, to marry a rich wife, after which +he again entered into the king’s service.</p> + +<p>Chabannes, as is often the case with criminals, could +more easily commit crimes than bear to be told of +them. The monarch having one day laughingly +greeted him by the title of king of the flayers, he +angrily replied, “I never flayed any but your enemies; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">[60]</span>and it appears to me that you have derived more +benefit from their skins than I have.” Not satisfied +with this retort, he further gratified his offended feelings +by prompting the dauphin to become the leader +of the malecontents, in the ephemeral civil war which +is known as the war of the <i>Praguerie</i>.</p> + +<p>After the Praguerie was over, Chabannes was again +received into favour by Charles, and he seems ever +after to have remained faithful to him. He even disclosed +a conspiracy which the dauphin had formed, +to deprive the monarch of his crown and liberty. The +dauphin, on being brought face to face with him, +hardily denied the fact, and gave him the lie. The +conduct of Chabannes, in this instance, was not undignified. +“I know,” said he, “the respect which is +due to the son of my master; but the truth of my deposition +I am ready to maintain, by arms, against all +those of the dauphin’s household who will come forward +to contradict it.” No one was hardy enough to +accept this challenge.</p> + +<p>It is less creditable to Chabannes, that he presided +over the commission which was appointed to try, or +rather to find guilty, the persecuted Jacques Cœur, +and that he contrived to obtain, at a shamefully inadequate +price, several of Cœur’s estates.</p> + +<p>In 1455, Chabannes, by performing his duty to +his sovereign, gave fresh offence to the dauphin. +Irritated at last by the political intrigues of his son, +and by his having persisted for ten years to absent +himself from the court, Charles determined to deprive +him of the petty sovereignty of Dauphiné, and +to secure his person. Chabannes was chosen to carry +this determination into effect: and he acted with such +vigour that, after having prevailed on the duke of +Savoy to refuse the prince an asylum, he compelled +him to seek shelter in the dominions of the duke +of Burgundy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">[61]</span></p> + +<p>Chabannes was, consequently, one of the earliest +victims on the accession of Louis to the throne. Deprived +of his office of grand master of France, he took +flight, but he soon returned, and claimed a fair trial. +The king refused to admit the claim, and ordered him +to quit the kingdom; an order which he obeyed. +While he was absent, his property was confiscated, +and he was summoned to appear, and answer the +charges against him. Confiding in his innocence, he +complied with the summons; but he was found guilty +of high treason, and condemned to death. The sentence +was commuted to banishment by Louis; who, +however, changed his mind as to the punishment, and +shut him up in the Bastile.</p> + +<p>In the Bastile Chabannes remained for four years. +On the breaking out of the war, the parties in which +called their confederacy the League of the Public +Good, he contrived to escape; and, on his way to +join the malecontents, he made himself master of the +towns of St. Fargeau and St. Maurice. He was one +of those who benefited by the treaty of Conflans, which +terminated this war. His sentence was annulled, and +his estates were restored to him.</p> + +<p>It is a singular circumstance that, with respect to +Chabannes, Louis passed at once from the extreme of +hatred and suspicion, to that of kindness and confidence. +He not only restored his estates, but he added +to their number. At a later date, when he instituted +the order of St. Michael, Chabannes was one of the +first whom he nominated. Favours conferred by a +gloomy and unprincipled tyrant cast a doubt on the +character of the receiver, even when it has been hitherto +unstained, which was not the case with the +new knight. The nomination gave occasion to a severe +sarcasm from the duke of Britanny. Louis having +sent to him the collar of the order, the duke declined +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">[62]</span>it, assigning as a reason, that “he did not choose +to draw in the same collar with Chabannes.”</p> + +<p>Chabannes was not ungrateful for the benefits bestowed +on him. When, strangely deviating from his +accustomed wariness, Louis involved himself in the +dilemma which Sir Walter Scott has so admirably +described in Quentin Durward, Chabannes did him +the most essential and opportune service, and received +his warmest thanks for it. He was afterwards employed +in various important expeditions, all of which +he brought to a successful issue. In his old age, he +withdrew from the court, but, in 1485, Charles VIII. +conferred on him the government of the Isle of France +and Paris. Chabannes did not long enjoy this new +honour; he died in 1488.</p> + +<p>The war, caused by the League of the Public Good, +which restored liberty and fortune to Chabannes, deprived +his enemy, the count de Melun, not only of +both, but of life also. When we are told that Melun +was so addicted to pleasure, luxury and sloth, as to +have acquired the name of the Sardanapalus of his +times, we can form no very flattering estimate of his +character. Yet he stood high in the good graces of +Louis XI., and participated largely in the spoils of +Chabannes. In his capacity of governor of Paris and +the Bastile, he was also entrusted with the custody of +that nobleman. It was not till after the battle of +Montlhéri that Louis began to suspect him. The +monarch had, indeed, some excuse for suspicion. +Melun had at least been criminally negligent, in a +post which demanded the utmost vigilance. He had +prevented a sally from the city during the battle, which +might have turned the scale in the king’s favour, and +he had been ignorant of, or winked at, a correspondence +carried on with the chiefs of the League by +some of the disaffected citizens. These indications of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">[63]</span>treachery were strengthened by two circumstances; +some of the cannon of the Bastile had been spiked, +and the gates of the fortress, on the side next the +country, had been left open while the besiegers were +making an attack. The escape of Chabannes might +also afford a reason for doubting his keeper’s fidelity. +Louis, however, was, at this moment, too closely +pressed by his numerous enemies to enter into an +investigation of the subject; and he, therefore, only +dismissed the governor.</p> + +<p>Melun retired to his estates, and imagined that the +storm was blown over. He was mistaken. As soon +as Louis had disembarrassed himself, he instituted a +rigid enquiry into the conduct of his disgraced favourite. +One of the most active in pushing it on +was a man who was indebted to the count for his +rise in life; the cardinal Balue, of whom further mention +is about to be made. The result of the enquiry +was, a charge of having maintained a secret correspondence +with the heads of the League, especially +with the duke of Britanny. Melun was in consequence +arrested, and conveyed to Chateau Galliard, +in Normandy, by the provost Tristan l’Hermite, of +infamous memory.</p> + +<p>The trial was commenced without delay, and, as he +refused to confess to any crime, he was put to the +torture. With respect to his correspondence with the +chiefs of the League, he avowed it, but pleaded that it +had the king’s sanction. It is probable that this was +really the case. Many motives might have induced +the king to allow of his officer corresponding with the +enemy. But Louis had now resolved upon the destruction +of Melun; and, as he never scrupled at falsehood +when he had any point to gain by it, he denied +that he had given the permission. By adding that he +had long had cause to be dissatisfied with the prisoner, +he gave a broad hint as to what kind of verdict he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">[64]</span>desired. The judges, as in duty bound, pronounced +Melun guilty, and he was consigned to the scaffold. +His execution took place in 1468. Of his confiscated +property, a considerable portion was bestowed on +Chabannes.</p> + +<p>It is said, that the executioner having only wounded +him at the first stroke, Melun raised his head from +the block, and declared, that he had not deserved +death, but that, since the king willed it, he was satisfied. +If this be true, we must own that tame submission +to the injustice of a despot was never more +strikingly displayed.</p> + +<p>Had Melun lived but a little longer, he might have +triumphed in the downfall and punishment of his +ungrateful enemy, the cardinal, which took place in +1469. John Balue, the person in question, born in +Poitou in 1421, was the son of either a miller or a +tailor. He had, perhaps, as many vices, and as few +virtues, as any person upon record. Ingratitude, in +particular, seems to have been deeply rooted into the +nature of this unworthy prelate. Towards the bishops +of Poictiers and Angers, who had early patronized +and confided in him, and the count de Melun, by whom +he was introduced to the monarch, he acted with unparalleled +baseness. His sovereign fared no better +than his other benefactors. Louis XI. had rapidly +raised him to the highest offices in the state, and had +loaded him with ecclesiastical preferment, yet the +traitor betrayed him.</p> + +<p>While his power lasted, there was no department +of the government with which Balue did not interfere. +This trait in the character of the cardinal called forth +a pleasant sarcasm from Chabannes, who could not +see with patience his own province invaded. Balue +having one day reviewed some regiments, Chabannes +gravely requested the king’s permission to visit the +cardinal’s bishopric of Evreux, for the purpose of examining +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">[65]</span>clerical candidates, and conferring ordination +on them. “What do you mean?” said Louis. “Why, +surely, sire,” replied Chabannes, “I am as fit to +ordain priests, as the bishop of Evreux is to review +an army.”</p> + +<p>It required, however, something more than a joke +to shake the confidence which the monarch placed +in the cardinal. That something more was not slow +in coming. Since the treaties of Conflans and Peronne, +it had been a main object of Louis to dissociate his +brother, the duke of Berry, from his dangerous adviser +the duke of Burgundy; and, as one means towards +effecting this, he strove hard to induce him to +accept, as an appanage, the duchy of Guienne and the +government of Rochelle, instead of the provinces of +Champagne and Brie, which, by the treaty of Peronne, +he had been compelled to confirm to his brother. Louis +was undoubtedly justified in wishing to accomplish this +object, as there was little chance that peace would be +preserved if the duke of Berry became an immediate +neighbour of the duke of Burgundy. Nor was the +equivalent which the king offered for Champagne and +Brie an inadequate one, but much the contrary. On +this occasion, the king suffered the penalty to which +all deceivers are subjected, that of not being trusted. +Could the duke of Berry have put faith in his brother, +he no doubt would have accepted Guienne.</p> + +<p>It was with no less surprise than indignation that +the king discovered, by intercepted letters, that all +his efforts, not only in this case but in others, had +been counteracted by the man on whom he most relied. +The cardinal, and his friend and agent William +d’Haraucourt, bishop of Verdun, were in close correspondence +with his enemies. It was to revenge +himself for the king having failed in his promise, to +procure him a cardinal’s hat, that d’Haraucourt entered +into the plot against him. It would seem that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">[66]</span>nothing short of madness could have prompted the +cardinal to peril his liberty and fortune, perhaps his +life, by his treasonable proceeding. But here again +the king was whipped by his own vices. Balue perceived +or imagined that his influence was declining, +he was convinced that it would wholly expire whenever +his services were no longer necessary to the monarch—Louis +being, in his opinion, incapable of personal +attachment—and he therefore resolved to place +him in such a situation, by making the king’s foes formidable, +that those services should be always indispensable. +On his being interrogated, he avowed, +with a shameless candour, that, for this purpose, he +had betrayed the secrets of the state to the Burgundian +duke, encouraged the duke of Berry to refuse +the proposed exchange, advised the calamitous interview +and disgraceful treaty of Peronne, and recommended +to Charles of Burgundy to compel the king +to accompany him on the expedition against the revolted +citizens of Liege.</p> + +<p>There was treason enough here to forfeit a hundred +heads, had they grown on laic shoulders. But, as far +as regarded the final penalty of the law, their ecclesiastical +character proved a shield to the cardinal and his +associate. The king desired the pope to nominate +apostolical commissioners to try the criminals; the +pope, on the other hand, contended that they must be +judged by the consistory, and that the decision of their +fate must be left to him. A long negotiation ensued +between the spiritual and temporal sovereigns, and, as +neither would concede, the offenders were never brought +to trial at all.</p> + +<p>It cannot, however, be said that the cardinal and the +bishop escaped unscarred. If Louis could not take their +lives, he could at least render their lives a burthen, and +this was a power which he was not backward in exercising. +In the province of Touraine, between twenty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">[67]</span>and thirty miles to the southward of Tours, stood the +castle of Loches, one of the sepulchres in which Louis +buried his living victims. It was there that, at a later +period, Ludovico Sforza lingered out the last years of +his existence. Loches was well provided with oubliettes, +dungeons, chains of enormous weight, facetiously called +the king’s little daughters, iron cages, and all other +means of torturing the body and mind. Thither Balue +was sent, and there he passed eleven lonely years, in +an iron cage, which was only eight feet square. His +fate resembled that of Perillus—for to the cardinal +himself is attributed the invention of these cages. Perhaps +the only praise which he ever deserved was gained +at the castle of Loches; the praise of having preserved +his courage unshaken throughout the whole of his tedious +captivity. Balue was released in 1480, went to +Rome, where he was received with open arms, was sent +as legate to France, and died, in 1491, bishop of Albano, +and legate of the March of Ancona.</p> + +<p>His confederate, d’Haraucourt, was still more severely +punished. The Bastile was his place of confinement, +and there a cage, of unusual strength, was +constructed in one of the towers, expressly for his abode. +The cage was formed of massy beams, bolted together +with iron, occupied nineteen carpenters for twenty days +in framing it, and was so heavy, that the vault, which +was to support it, was obliged to be rebuilt in a more +substantial manner. Within its narrow and gloomy +limits, d’Haraucourt was immured for no less than fifteen +years. It was not till after the death of Louis the +eleventh, that the prisoner was set at liberty. He died, +at a very advanced age, in the year 1500.</p> + +<p>While d’Haraucourt was wasting away life in his +cage, there was another prisoner in the Bastile, who +was enduring far worse misery, and was far more worthy +of compassion, because, though he was himself +guiltless, he suffered the penalty of another’s crimes. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">[68]</span>When, in 1473, the restless and unprincipled John, +count of Armagnac, was slain at Lectoure, by the royal +troops, his brother Charles, who had taken no part in +the contest, was arrested by order of Louis the eleventh, +sent to the Concièrgerie, and put to the torture. +He was on the point of proving his innocence, when he +was removed to the Bastile, and secluded from all access +of friends. L’Huillier, the governor, treated him with +a cold-blooded barbarity which was worthy of a man +who held office under Louis. There was nothing that +cruelty could suggest that was not practised on the unfortunate +Charles. The agonies of the captive were +protracted for a period of fourteen years, during all +which time he inhabited a dreary and noisome dungeon, +in which water almost continually dropped upon him, +and he could not move without wading though slimy +mud. He was liberated, and his property was restored, +by Charles the eighth. The boon, however, came too +late to be of any avail. His reason was shaken by what +he had undergone; he languished for a few years, and +died in 1497.</p> + +<p>Less compassion is due to the next inhabitant of the +Bastile who appears upon the scene. Faithful to no +party, he fell regretted by none. Louis de Luxembourg, +count of St. Pol, who was born in 1418, succeeded +to the possessions of his father, when he was +only fifteen. He did not receive his moral education +in schools where humanity and honour were to be +learned. His uncle and guardian, count de Ligni, was +well qualified to brutalise his youthful mind. It was +de Ligni that basely sold the heroine Joan of Arc to +the English, for ten thousand livres. In one of his +campaigns he took his nephew with him, that the boy +might kill some of the prisoners, in order to accustom +him to scenes of blood. Louis is said to have proved +an apt scholar, and to have taken delight in the performance +of his murderous task.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">[69]</span></p> + +<p>At his outset in life, St. Pol, like most of his family, +was a warm partisan of the English party. Circumstances, +however, having compelled him to visit the +court of Charles the seventh, he met with so flattering +a reception that he deserted his party, and devoted +himself to that monarch. With the dauphin (who was +afterwards Louis the eleventh) he contracted as close +a friendship as can subsist between two such characters. +St. Pol distinguished himself, in the service of his new +master, on various occasions, particularly at the sieges +of the Norman fortresses.</p> + +<p>Though St. Pol had given up the English party, he +did not break off his old connection with the Burgundian +prince. He fought for him against the insurgent +citizens of Ghent, and he even joined in the League of +the Public Good, as it was ludicrously styled, and led +the vanguard of the count de Charolais, at the battle +of Montlhéri. At the peace of Conflans, Louis, in the +hope of winning him over from the Burgundian interest, +promoted him to be constable of France; and soon +after, with the same view, he gave him the hand of +Mary of Savoy, the queen’s sister, and granted him a +wide extent of territory.</p> + +<p>These favours did not produce the desired effect. +St. Pol seems to have had little gratitude in his nature; +and, in this case, he perhaps thought that there was +none due for what was rather a bribe than a free gift. +As he imagined that his safety consisted in preventing +a good understanding between the king and the duke +of Burgundy, he was constantly intriguing to keep them +at variance, and he alternately betrayed them. His +intrigues being discovered, the two princes, during one +of their short periods of amity, entered into a compact, +by which they declared him their common enemy. The +duke of Burgundy promised, that if the constable fell +into his hands, he would surrender him to the king +within eight days. For this he was to be rewarded by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">[70]</span>the restoration of St. Quentin, Amiens, and other towns +on the Somme. This agreement was of course kept a +profound secret.</p> + +<p>What St. Pol had already done was sufficient to seal +his fate; but he roused the anger of Louis still farther, +by an act of personal disrespect, and by leaguing with +Edward the fourth of England for the invasion of +France. It was not, however, till he had got rid of +Edward by a treaty, and had artfully contrived to irritate +the duke of Burgundy still more against St. Pol, +that Louis seriously prepared for taking vengeance on +the offender. The negotiation between Edward and +Louis had already alarmed the constable, and, to conciliate +the latter, he had offered to attack the English. +This offer Louis communicated to Edward, who, indignant +at the treachery of his recent confederate, sent the +letters which he had received from him to the French +monarch. Louis was thus furnished with decisive +proofs. To the overtures of St. Pol he replied in ambiguous +words, the real meaning of which was soon +made evident: “I am overwhelmed by so many affairs,” +said the Machiavelian monarch, “that I have great need +of a good head like yours to get through them.”</p> + +<p>The preparations of the king at length made St. +Pol fully aware of his danger. Hesitating as to the +measure which in this emergency he ought to adopt, +he for a moment half resolved to stand on his defence; +but reflection on the superior resources of his enemy +persuaded him that he had no chance of success from +arms. Yet, had he boldly appealed to the sword, he +might, perhaps, have saved his life, or at least have +met with an honourable death. He preferred throwing +himself on the duke of Burgundy, whom he +tempted by offering him his strong towns, as the price +of protection. Louis demanded that he should be +given up to him; and after some qualms of conscience +as to sacrificing a suppliant, who was also his cousin, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">[71]</span>Charles of Burgundy complied with the demand. St. +Pol was conveyed to the Bastile. The French monarch +gave him his choice, either to make a full confession, +or to be tried in the customary manner. The +latter alternative was chosen by the prisoner, who +knew not that his letters, to Edward and the duke of +Burgundy, were in the king’s hands, and therefore +believed that there was not legal evidence to warrant +his conviction. His judges sentenced him to +lose his head, and he was executed on the 19th of +December, 1475.</p> + +<p>The last captive in the Bastile, during the reign of +Louis the Eleventh, or rather the last of whom any +record remains—for there were doubtless numbers of +the nameless throng—was an Armagnac; a name +which seems to have been fatal to its owners. We +have seen one Armagnac torn in pieces by the populace, +another treacherously slain after the surrender +of his stronghold, a third losing his reason in a dungeon, +and we are now to witness the leading of a fourth +to the scaffold, under circumstances the most horrible.</p> + +<p>James of Armagnac, duke of Nemours, was the +son of the Count de la Marche, who was the governor +of the youthful dauphin. When the pupil of the +count ascended the throne, he gave his cousin Louisa +in marriage to James of Armagnac, and conferred on +him the dukedom of Nemours, with all the rights and +privileges of the peerage; an honour which had never +before been enjoyed by any other than princes of the +royal family. Nemours, nevertheless, joined the +League of the Public Good. Louis, as we have +seen, was obliged to succumb to the League; and, +by the consequent peace of Conflans, James of Armagnac +obtained the government of Paris and the +Isle of France.</p> + +<p>Little more than three years elapsed before Nemours +was again engaged in intrigues against the monarch. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">[72]</span>But the time was gone by when revolt could lead to +promotion. Louis had strengthened his authority, +and he was not disposed to see it set at nought. He, +however, pardoned him; but it was on condition that +any future offence should render him liable to punishment +for the past, and that he should then be deprived +of his privilege of peerage, and be tried as a private +individual.</p> + +<p>In the course of a few years Nemours once more, +and finally, brought down the wrath of the monarch +on his head. He was accused of treason, and Beaujeu +was despatched to besiege him in the town of +Carlat, to which the duke had retired. Carlat was +supposed to be impregnable, and it was provisioned +for two or three years. Nemours, nevertheless, surrendered +without resistance, on condition that his life +should be spared; Beaujeu guaranteed this condition, +as did likewise Louis le Graville, lord of Montaigu, +and Bonfile le Juge, who enjoyed the royal confidence. +The wife of the duke, who was confined in child-bed, +died of grief and terror, on seeing her husband become +a prisoner.</p> + +<p>Nemours was conveyed, first, to Pierre-Encise, +whence he was removed to the Bastile; where he was +subjected to the harshest usage. All his supplications +to the king, during two years’ abode in the Bastile, +were unavailing; or rather, indeed, seem to have +tended to irritate him. The duke had, undoubtedly, +been a turbulent subject; but nothing can palliate +the infamy of the king’s conduct, after he had Nemours +in his power. It is difficult to account for the +inveteracy of his hatred. There was no conceivable +violation of justice of which he was not guilty. To +have broken the pledge solemnly given by his general +was little compared with what followed. Such of the +judges as seemed inclined to show mercy were threatened +and displaced; others were tempted by being promised +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">[73]</span>to share in the spoils of the prisoner; the place +where the court held its sittings was more than once +arbitrarily changed; and the decent formalities of the +law, as well as its essential principles, were contemptuously +discarded. No wonder that Nemours was +condemned to death.</p> + +<p>But now a scene opens which casts all the rest into +shade, and at which nature shudders. Nothing was +omitted that could render death terrible to the duke. +The chamber where he confessed to the priest was +hung with black; the horse which took him to execution +was covered with a housing of the same hue. He +was already agonised by the thought that his children, +who were little more than infants, were reduced to +beggary—but this was not enough. A scaffold was +expressly constructed for him to suffer on, with wide +openings between the planks, and underneath, clad in +white, their heads naked, and their hands bound, were +placed his children, that they might be drenched with +their parent’s blood. It was on the 4th of August, +1477, that this horrible tragedy was acted.</p> + +<p>Did the brutal vindictiveness of the monarch end +here? It did not. The guiltless children, of whom +the youngest was only five years old, were taken back +to the Bastile, and plunged into a loathsome dungeon, +where they had scarcely the power of moving. There +they remained, for five years, till the accession of +Charles the eighth opened their prison door. A part +of the confiscated property of their father was subsequently +restored to them by Charles. The health of +two of them was so broken that they did not long survive. +The youngest inherited the title of Nemours, +rose to be viceroy of Naples, and fell at the battle of +Cerignoles, in 1503.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">[74]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Francis I.—Semblançai—The Chancellor Duprat—The +Chancellor Poyet—Admiral de Chabot—Fall of Poyet—Reign of +Henry II.—Anne du Bourg—Louis du Faur—Reign of Francis +II.—Execution of du Bourg—Francis de Vendôme—Reign of +Charles IX.—The Duke of Lunebourg—Henry of Navarre and +the Prince of Condé in danger of the Bastile—Faction of the +Politicians—La Mole—Coconas—Marshal de Montmorenci—Marshal +de Cossé—Reign of Henry III.—Bussi d’Amboise.</p> + +</div> + +<p>During the reigns of Charles the eighth and Louis +the twelfth, a period of more than thirty years, no +prisoners of note appear to have been incarcerated in +the Bastile. In the reign of Francis the first, we +again find it receiving persons of rank within its +gloomy walls. The first who was consigned to it by +Francis was James de Beaune, baron of Semblançai. +He was the eldest son of John de Beaune, a citizen +of Tours, who acquired a large fortune by commerce, +and who, after having withdrawn from mercantile +pursuits, held the office of steward to Louis the +eleventh and to Charles the eighth. Semblançai entered +early into the royal service, and, in the reign of +Charles the eighth, rose to the high situation of superintendant +of the finances, and retained it under +Louis the twelfth and Francis the first. It was to +his talents he was indebted for preferment; and his +conduct, in the difficult and dangerous post which he +occupied, justified his elevation, and gained for him +the confidence of the three monarchs. Francis was +even accustomed to address him with the flattering +appellation of father. Keeping aloof from all court +intrigues, he displayed, in his official character, an exemplary +regularity, economy, and probity; and he +crowned the whole by a virtue which is still more rare +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">[75]</span>in a finance minister—that of endeavouring to alleviate +the burthens of the people, and prevent them +from being despoiled by unprincipled nobles.</p> + +<p>The man who acted thus was not likely to be without +enemies; all the greedy, who were disappointed +of thrusting their hands into the public purse, and all +the wasteful and corrupt, to whom his example was a +stinging rebuke, would of course abhor him. But +Semblançai might have set their malice at defiance, +had they not found an invincible ally in a female, whose +venomous hatred was rendered fatal to him by her unbounded +influence.</p> + +<p>This powerful female was Louisa of Savoy, duchess +of Angoulême, the mother of Francis the First. She +was beautiful in person, a doating mother, and endowed +with many intellectual qualities of a superior +class; but she was immeasurably ambitious, vindictive, +and rapacious. Such was her avidity for riches, and +such her success in gratifying it, that, at the time of +her death, her coffers contained no less than a million +and a half of golden crowns—an enormous, not to say +disgraceful hoard, especially when we consider what +was the value of the sum at that period. In two instances, +her criminal passions were the cause of shame +and misfortune to France. Of the first of these we +are about to speak; the second was her persecution of +the Constable de Bourbon—a base and disastrous +measure, which was prompted either by resentment +for his rejection of her love, or by her eagerness to +seize upon his ample domains, or, perhaps, by a combination +of both these unworthy motives.</p> + +<p>The regard which was manifested for Semblançai +by Francis was, at one period, equally felt by the +duchess of Angoulême. There exists, under her hand, +the strongest testimony to the rectitude of the superintendant, +and of the generous sacrifices which he made, +to provide for the wants of the state. It was not till +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">[76]</span>the necessity of vindicating his own character compelled +him to criminate her, that she became his enemy.</p> + +<p>Jealous of the influence possessed by the countess +of Chateaubriant, the mistress of Francis, whose brother, +Lautrec, was then governor of the Milanese and +commander of the French army in that province, the +duchess appears to have formed the plan of aiming a +deadly blow at the sister through the side of the brother. +If, by disabling him from defending the Milanese, +she could bring Lautrec into disgrace, it was +not improbable that the disgusted and indignant monarch, +who set a high value on his Italian conquest, +would extend his anger to the countess. The means +which she adopted for bringing her scheme to bear, +had also an additional and not trivial merit in her eyes; +that of contributing to swell the mass of treasure which +she had already accumulated.</p> + +<p>In the first part of her project, she completely succeeded. +Deprived of the pecuniary resources which +he had expected from France, and which were the +more needful, as the harshness of his government had +rendered him unpopular in Italy, Lautrec was defeated +at the battle of the Bicocco, was deserted by his Swiss +auxiliaries, and at length was driven from the duchy +of Milan.</p> + +<p>The disgrace thus cast upon the French arms, and +that, too, in a country which he in person had won, +could not fail to exasperate a young and warlike sovereign. +When Lautrec returned to his native land, +the king refused to admit him to his presence; but at +last, through the intercession of his sister, and of the +Constable de Bourbon, the vanquished general obtained +an audience. He was received with a frowning +countenance; and he boldly complained of his reception. +“Is it possible for me,” said Francis, sternly, +“to look favourably on a man who is guilty of having +lost my duchy of Milan?”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">[77]</span></p> + +<p>Nowise daunted by this rebuff, Lautrec firmly replied, +“I will dare to assert, that your majesty is the +sole cause of that loss. For eighteen months your +gendarmes had not a single farthing of pay. The +Swiss, with whose disposition as to money you are +well acquainted, were also left unpaid. It was solely +by my management that they were retained for several +months with my army. There would have been no +reason for wonder had they quitted it without drawing +their swords; their respect for me induced them, however, +not to desert me till after a sanguinary combat. +They compelled me to give battle, though I foresaw +clearly that there was no hope of victory; but, in my +circumstances, prudence dictated to risk every thing, +however little chance there might appear that our +efforts would be successful. The whole of my crime +amounts to this.”</p> + +<p>The astonishment of Francis was excited by this +speech of Lautrec. “What!” exclaimed he, “did you +not receive the four hundred thousand crowns, which +I ordered to be sent to you soon after your arrival at +Milan?” “No, Sire,” answered Lautrec; “your +majesty’s letters came to hand, but no money was forwarded +to me; nor did it ever pass the Alps.”</p> + +<p>Semblançai was immediately summoned into his +presence by Francis, to account for such an extraordinary +violation of his duty. In his defence, the +superintendant stated, that the duchess, vested with +authority as regent, had demanded from him the four +hundred thousand crowns, and that he held her receipt +for the sum.</p> + +<p>Irritated by this unexpected discovery, Francis hastened +to his mother’s apartment, and reproached her +for conduct which had cost him a part of his dominions. +The duchess is said to have begun her reply +by a denial of the fact. She was, however, ultimately +compelled to own that she had indeed obtained four +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">[78]</span>hundred thousand crowns from Semblançai; but she +artfully pretended, that she had previously confided +the money to his care, and that it was the produce of +savings from her income. Semblançai, on the contrary, +strenuously protested that she had never entrusted +any thing to his keeping, and that, when she +drew from him the funds in question, he had told her +that they were set apart by the king for the service of +the forces in Italy.</p> + +<p>Francis was no doubt convinced of her guilt, but +he could not bear the idea of openly stigmatizing a +mother whom he loved. There was consequently nothing +to be done but to bury, as far as was possible, +the whole transaction in oblivion. Abruptly putting +an end to the altercation between the duchess and the +superintendant, he said, “Let us think no more on the +subject! we did not deserve to conquer; it was in vain +that fortune declared on our side; we threw insuperable +obstacles in the way of her favour. Let us cease +to be traitors to each other, and let us henceforth endeavour +to act for the public good, with more wisdom +and union than we have hitherto displayed.”</p> + +<p>That Semblançai continued to hold his place is a +sufficient proof that his assertion was credited by the +king. That the revengeful duchess was eager to ruin +him, we might easily have believed, even had the result +not afforded evidence of the fact. For a considerable +time, however, she silently nursed her wrath. +It was not till 1524, when a new expedition was in +preparation against the Milanese, that she found an +opportunity of striking her blow. Money was wanted; +and Semblançai, who had come forward on former +occasions, was desired to make an advance from his +private fortune. But this he declined to do; pleading, +as a reason for his refusal, that a debt of three hundred +thousand crowns was already owing to him. He +was punished by dismissal from his office—if that can +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">[79]</span>be called a punishment for which he appears to have +sought—and, after having given in his accounts, and +shown that they were correct, he retired to his estate +of Balan, in the neighbourhood of Tours.</p> + +<p>On the departure of Francis for Italy, he again +appointed his mother to act as regent. She had now +unlimited power; and, as far as concerned Semblançai, +she exercised it cruelly and basely. She began by +instituting against him a suit, to recover a balance +which she alleged to be due to her, as part of the +pretended deposit. To bolster up her cause, she is +accused of having stooped to the most degrading +means. Gentil, the confidential clerk of Semblançai, +was enamoured of one of her attendants; and this female +the regent employed to steal, or obtain by blandishments, +the receipt which had been given to the +superintendant.</p> + +<p>This suit was probably meant to answer the double +purpose of narrowing his resources and injuring his +character. But this mode of proceeding was “too +poor, too weak, for her revenge,” and she soon +adopted another, which struck directly at his life. +His secretary, John Prévost, who seems himself to +have had reason for dreading an inquiry into his official +conduct, was tampered with, to cause the ruin of +his master. Impunity for his own misdoings was to +be the price of his new crime. A charge of peculation +was brought against Semblançai, and, towards +the close of 1526, he was committed to the Bastile. +To render his fate certain, the office of sitting in +judgment upon him was entrusted to the Chancellor +Duprat, who had been his rival, was still his deadliest +foe, and was, besides, a devoted tool of the queen +mother. As his colleagues, or rather accomplices, +Duprat selected, from the various parliaments, men +on whose subserviency he could rely. From a tribunal +thus infamously constituted, not even a semblance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">[80]</span>of justice could be expected. On the 9th of +August, 1527, Semblançai, who was then in his +sixty-second year, was condemned to be hanged; and +this sentence was, shortly after, executed on him, at +the gibbet of Montfaucon.</p> + +<p>The popular feeling, with respect to Semblançai, +may be considered as at least a strong presumptive +proof of his innocence. It is not often that the fall +of a finance minister is a subject of sorrow to the +multitude. In his case we find one of the few exceptions; +for the people beheld his melancholy fate with +grief, surprise, and indignation, and they long looked +with an evil eye on the malignant princess by whom he +was judicially murdered.</p> + +<p>There is an apparent but not a real discrepancy in +the accounts of the behaviour of Semblançai, when +his doom was sealed. From the language of Du +Bouchet, who represents him as weeping bitterly, +and cherishing hopes of pardon till the last moment, +a hasty conclusion might be drawn, that the courage +of the victim deserted him. But wounded honour +and a keen sense of the ingratitude with which a life +of services was repaid, might well wring tears from +his eyes, though his mind remained unmoved by the +fear of death. That his firmness was, in fact, not to +be shaken, we have the unexceptionable testimony of +Marot, who probably witnessed the calm deportment +of Semblançai when going to the scaffold. In his +lines, which bear the title of “Du Lieutenant Criminel +et de Semblançai,” the poet thus forcibly expresses +himself—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“When Maillard, hellish judge, led Semblançai</div> + <div class="verse indent0">On gallows tree to pass from life away,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Say which of them most undisturbed was seen?”</div> + <div class="verse indent0">“I’ll tell you, friend: so blank was Maillard’s mien,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">He looked as though he saw the direful dart</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Of death hang o’er him; but so brave a heart</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Semblançai showed, you would have sworn that he</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Was leading Maillard to the gallows tree.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">[81]</span></p> + +<p>We have seen, that the chancellor, Duprat, was the +instrument which Louisa of Savoy employed to accomplish +the destruction of Semblançai. At an earlier +period, he had served her as effectually in a similar case. +Her suit against the constable de Bourbon, to strip him +of his vast estates, is said to have been suggested by +Duprat, and was certainly brought to a favourable issue +by the exercise of his influence over the judges. His +hatred of the constable was caused, or sharpened, by +Bourbon having refused to comply with a request relative +to the grant of an estate in Auvergne. Detested +by all France, for the fiscal oppressions of which he +was the author, and for his having betrayed the liberties +of the Gallican church, the chancellor nevertheless +retained his power to the last, and died loaded with titles +and riches.</p> + +<p>Another tool of the duchess of Angoulême, who +closely imitated the conduct of Duprat, was not equally +fortunate. William Poyet, a native of Angers, born +about 1474, had acquired a high reputation at the bar +before he was chosen the queen-mother’s advocate +against the constable de Bourbon. The manner in +which he performed his new task ensured his promotion. +He became successively advocate-general, and +president à mortier, and was employed in various negotiations; +and, at length, in 1538, his ambition was +gratified by his appointment to the high office of chancellor. +If servility to the monarch, and an utter disregard +of the rights and happiness of the people, are qualifications +for that office, his fitness cannot be denied. +He was undoubtedly worthy of succeeding to Duprat.</p> + +<p>The profligate readiness with which Poyet encouraged +Francis the first to load his subjects with heavy +taxes, drew upon him a severe reproof from Duchatel, +the virtuous and benevolent bishop of Orleans. Hearing +the chancellor tell the king that his majesty was +the master of all that his subjects possessed, the bishop +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">[82]</span>indignantly exclaimed, “Carry such tyrannical maxims +to the Caligulas and Neros, and, if you have no respect +for yourself, at least respect a monarch who is the friend +of humanity, and who knows that to hold its rights +sacred is the first of his duties.” This speech did honour +to the prelate, but there is no ground for believing +that it produced any good effect upon either the +sovereign or the minister.</p> + +<p>It was by female influence that Poyet was raised to +his lofty station; it was by the same influence that he +was precipitated from it. Two parties existed at +court, those of the dauphin and the duke of Alençon, +the heads of which were the constable de Montmorenci +and the admiral de Chabot. Besides the hatred +which he felt against Chabot as a political rival, the +haughty Montmorenci found, in the unceremonious tone +of equality with which he was addressed by the admiral, +another reason for hating him. To ruin an enemy by +underhand measures was the natural proceeding of a +courtier. He insinuated to the king that Chabot had +acquired his riches by iniquitous practices; and, by +holding out the lure of a cardinal’s hat, he induced +Poyet to assist in Chabot’s destruction. The chancellor +exerted himself so strenuously, in raking up +matter of accusation against the intended victim, that +he at length produced five-and-twenty charges, each of +which, he declared, would subject the delinquent to capital +punishment. The alleged criminality of Chabot +was soon made known to the king.</p> + +<p>It is probable, nevertheless, that remembering the +services of Chabot, and the friendship which had existed +ever since their youthful days, Francis would have +overlooked the supposed crimes, had he not been provoked +by a speech which sounded like defiance. Some +trifling dispute occurring between them, he threatened +to bring him to trial; to which Chabot boldly replied, +that a trial had no terrors for him, his conduct having +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">[83]</span>always been so irreproachable, that neither his life nor +his honour could be put in danger. Francis was weak +enough to take offence at this implied challenge; he +committed the offender to the castle of Melun, and +directed the chancellor to prosecute him.</p> + +<p>Poyet rushed upon his prey with the ferocity of a +hungry tiger. He began by selecting the commissioners +who were to sit in judgment on Chabot; and, +to ensure their obedience, he himself, contrary to established +custom, presided over them. Yet, with such +instruments, and in spite of all his unprincipled efforts +to spur them on, he was not able fully to accomplish +his purpose. So groundless were the articles of impeachment, +there being only two of them which at all, +and those but slightly, affected the prisoner, that, instead +of voting for death, the judges were disposed +either to acquit him, or, at most, to pass a lenient sentence. +By dint, however, of threats, the chancellor +compelled them to go far beyond their intention; they +consequently condemned Chabot to a fine of fifteen +thousand livres, confiscation of property, and perpetual +exile. One of them is said to have added to his signature +the Latin word <i>vi</i>, in almost imperceptible characters; +thus signifying that force had been used to extort +his consent. Not content with the daring contempt +of justice which he had already displayed, Poyet, in +drawing up the judgment of the court, did not hesitate +to falsify it, by inserting additional crimes, and aggravating +the penalty.</p> + +<p>Though Francis was irritated by the honourable +boldness of Chabot, he had never intended to carry +matters to extremity against him. He could not now +avoid being astonished that the charges had dwindled +into such utter insignificance, and that, nevertheless, a +sentence of such undue severity was pronounced; and +he appears to have been also warmly solicited in his +behalf by a prevailing advocate, the duchess of Etampes, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">[84]</span>the royal mistress, who was a relation of Chabot. Yet +though the king designed to receive the admiral again +into favour, he could not deny himself the mean gratification +of taunting him. “Well,” said he to him, +“will you again boast of your innocence?” “Sire,” +replied Chabot, “I have but too well learned, that before +God and his sovereign no man must call himself +innocent; but I have one consolation, that all the malice +of my enemies has failed to convict me of having +ever been unfaithful to your majesty.” Chabot was +pardoned, and reinstated in his offices. This tardy +justice came too late; though his enemies had been +unable to drag him to the scaffold, they had succeeded +in shortening his days. In little more than twelve +months, his existence was terminated by a disease, +seemingly of the heart, which was brought on by the +grief and anxiety that he had suffered.</p> + +<p>Chabot, however, lived long enough to witness the +downfall of his adversaries. To Montmorenci the king +intimated, that he had no longer occasion for his services; +and the dismissed courtier in consequence retired +to Chantilly, whence he did not emerge during +the remainder of Francis’s reign. A heavier misfortune +awaited Poyet, and it speedily fell upon him. Two +females, the duchess of Etampes and the queen of Navarre, +were the foes who overthrew him. The duchess, +who was already offended by his persecution of her relative, +he exasperated beyond measure, by refusing to +perform an illegal act in favour of one of her friends; +the queen of Navarre he alienated in a similar manner; +and he rendered both of them more inveterate, +by some bitter remarks on the influence which females +possessed over the mind of the sovereign. They combined +together for his ruin, and they effected it. In +August, 1542, he was dragged from his bed, and carried +to the Bastile. Thus, after having been allowed +to be unjust with impunity, he was punished for recollecting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">[85]</span>at last that he had duties to perform. In +this emergency, he had the mingled audacity and meanness +to write to Chabot, imploring his forgiveness and +protection. After having been three years in prison, +he was declared incapable of ever holding office, and +was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, and to pay +a fine of a hundred thousand livres. The king himself, +with a strange want of decorum, came forward as +a witness against him on the trial. Poyet died in 1548, +an object of general contempt.</p> + +<p>The captives, to whom our attention is now to be directed, +were of a very different character from the chancellor +Poyet; they were sufferers for conscience’ sake; +men who, when the question related to religious interests, +deemed it a duty not to submit in silence to arbitrary +power. Their names were Anne du Bourg, and +Louis du Faur, and they were counsellors of the parliament +at Paris. The uncle of du Bourg was chancellor +in the reign of Francis I. Du Faur was of a +family which had produced many eminent characters, +among whom is to be numbered Guy du Faur, lord of +Pibrac, author of the well-known Quatrains.</p> + +<p>Pressed, it is said, by the Guises, and by the duchess +of Valentinois, his mistress, the latter of whom was +looking forward to the benefit she might expect from +confiscations, Henry the second unwisely resolved to +carry to the full extent the persecution of the protestants. +Hitherto, only the humbler classes had been +marked out for punishment; but, as nothing more than +the mere pleasure of tormenting could be derived from +pursuing them, it was now determined that men of +higher rank should suffer in their turn. This was at +least impartial injustice. It was believed that the reformed +doctrines had many partisans among the magistracy; +and the members of the parliament of Paris were +therefore selected, as the subjects upon whom the new +experiment of rigour should be first tried. This step +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">[86]</span>was taken at the suggestion of le Maître, the chief president, +who had the baseness to deliver privately to the +king a list of his protestant colleagues, and also a tempting +statement of the property which they possessed.</p> + +<p>It was a custom of the heads of the parliament to +meet at stated periods, for the purpose, among other +things, of inquiring into any alleged neglect or violation +of duty on the part of the members. These meetings, +which were established by an edict of Charles VIII., +were called the Mercuriales, from the circumstance of +their taking place on a Wednesday. To one of these +assemblies, while it was in the midst of a debate, on +the measures which ought to be adopted with respect +to heretics, the king suddenly came, without any previous +notice, accompanied by the Guises, and other +rigidly catholic nobles, and guarded by a formidable +escort.</p> + +<p>Previously to his arrival, the balance of opinion had +inclined to the side of a lenient administration of the +law, until the discipline of the church had been reformed +by a new œcumenical council. Though the +monarch affected to be calm, it was easy to perceive +that he was under the influence of passion. He made +a vehement harangue, in which he dwelt on the disturbances +caused by sectaries, and on the necessity of +defending the church, and then ordered the members +to resume the debate, and promised them freedom of +speech.</p> + +<p>The promise was meant only as a snare. The manner +in which the king had come to the sitting, in open +contempt of usage and even of decorum, plainly showed +that his intention was to intimidate. But, by pretending +to guarantee the privilege of freely speaking, he +hoped to do away the impression which his abrupt coming +had made, and delude the speakers into a disclosure +of their real sentiments. There were some, perhaps, +who confided in his word; there were others who, doubtless, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">[87]</span>were aware that no reliance was to be placed on +it, but who, nevertheless, thought they were called upon +to maintain, at all hazards, what they deemed to be the +cause of religion and truth. Of the latter class were +Anne du Bourg and Louis du Faur.</p> + +<p>Du Faur admitted that troubles arose in the state +from the difference of religions, but he contended that +it ought to be inquired who was really the author of +those troubles; and, with a manifest allusion to the +king, he added, that if this were done, the same reply +might perhaps be made as was given, on a similar occasion, +by the prophet Elijah to Ahab, “I have not +troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house, in that +ye have, forsaken, the commandments of the Lord, and +thou hast followed Baalim.”</p> + +<p>The speech of du Bourg, though it seemed to be +less directly personal to the monarch, was as well calculated +as that of du Faur to excite angry feelings in +Henry and in many of the hearers, on whose vices it +made a rude attack. There were men, he said, +whose blasphemies, adulteries, horrible debaucheries, +and repeated perjuries, crimes worthy of the worst +death, were not merely overlooked, but shamefully encouraged, +while every day new punishments were invented +for men who were irreproachable. “For of what +crime can they be accused?” exclaimed he. “Can +they be charged with high treason, they who never +mention the sovereign but in the prayers which they +offer up for him? Who can say that they violate the +laws of the state, endeavour to shake the fidelity of +the towns, or incite the provinces to revolt? With +all the pains that have been taken, not even with +witnesses picked out for the purpose, has it been possible +to convict them of having so much as thought of +these things. No! All their fault and misfortune +is that, by means of the light of the Holy Scriptures, +they have discovered and revealed the shameless turpitude +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">[88]</span>of the Papal power, and have demanded a salutary +reformation. This is their sedition.”</p> + +<p>When all the members had delivered their opinions, +some of which were favourable to mild measures, the +king called for the register, in which were inscribed +the opinions of those who had spoken before his arrival, +and also on a previous day. He then addressed +to the assembly another speech of censure and menace, +and ended by ordering the arrest of du Bourg and du +Faur, who were present, and likewise of six absent +members. The two former were conveyed to the Bastile, +where du Bourg, and probably du Faur also, was +shut up in a cage. Three of the others escaped; the +rest were sent to other places of confinement.</p> + +<p>This arbitrary act was the last which Henry had +the power of committing. On that day fortnight, at +a tournament, he was mortally wounded by a splinter +from the lance of the count de Montgomery. The +scene of the tournament was near the Bastile; and it +is said that as the wounded monarch was carried past +the prison, his conscience smote him, and he more than +once expressed his fears that he had behaved unjustly +to men who were innocent. The cardinal of Lorraine, +who was with him, is also said to have assured him, +that such an idea could have been inspired only by the +arch fiend, and admonished him to reject it, and adhere +firmly to his faith. This story, however, has no other +foundation than popular report.</p> + +<p>The reign of Francis II. opened under no favourable +auspices for the protestants. The minor king was +wholly under the influence of the Guises, and of his +mother Catherine of Medicis, all of whom had vowed +a deadly hostility to them. The persecution was accordingly +resumed with an increase of vigour. The trial +of the members of the parliament was pushed on; but +it was against du Bourg that the hatred of the court +was peculiarly directed—the sweeping crimination, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">[89]</span>which was contained in his speech before the deceased +Henry, had wounded many great personages too deeply +to be forgiven.</p> + +<p>Before the death of Henry, a commission had been +appointed, which had interrogated du Bourg on the subject +of his religious tenets. He having candidly avowed +them, they were pronounced heretical by the bishop of +Paris, and he was delivered over to the secular authority. +Du Bourg appealed to the archbishop of Sens, +and to the parliament, but without effect. The trial was +proceeded with, and, while it was pending, an event occurred, +which contributed to render his enemies still +more inveterate. One of his judges was a counsellor +named Minard, a man of profligate life, who had given +violent advice to the late king. Du Bourg, therefore, +repeatedly challenged him as incompetent to sit upon +the trial, and, on Minard refusing to withdraw, the +prisoner is said to have exclaimed, “God will know +how to compel thee!” It unfortunately happened that, +returning one evening to his home from the trial, Minard +was assassinated, by a pistol being fired at him. +Du Bourg was suspected, and not without an appearance +of reason, of being implicated in the murder, and +this hastened his fate. There is no ground whatever +to believe that he was concerned in the foul deed; but +it must be owned, that such prophecies as he ventured +upon are dangerous, because they have a tendency to +bring about their own fulfilment. It is not improbable, +that the act was suggested to the mind of some fanatical +protestant by the words of the prisoner.</p> + +<p>It was in vain that the Elector Palatine wrote to the +French monarch, to entreat him to spare the life of du +Bourg, and that numerous eminent persons, even catholics, +solicited to the same effect. Neither their intercession, +nor his acknowledged integrity and pure +morals, availed to save him. He was condemned to +be hanged and his body burnt, at the Place de Grêve. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">[90]</span>He died, at the age of thirty-eight, with a calm heroism, +and Christian spirit of forgiveness, which excited general +admiration. His death, far from being beneficial +to the catholic cause, was exceedingly injurious to it. +The protestants regarded him as a martyr, gloried in +him as an honour to their party and faith, and were not +slow in taking a heavy vengeance for his untimely doom.</p> + +<p>The blood of du Bourg seems to have deadened the +fire of persecution, as far as related to the other parliamentary +prisoners. Some were subjected to little more +than nominal punishments; and even du Faur, the most +obnoxious of them, was only condemned to pay a fine, +ask pardon, and be suspended from his judicial functions +for five years. But, comparatively light as this +sentence was, du Faur refused to acquiesce in it; he +boldly protested against it, and after a hard struggle, +he was fortunate enough to obtain its revocation, and +to be re-established in his magisterial capacity. Nor +does it appear that this victory was purchased by any +sacrifice of principle.</p> + +<p>Among those who, during the new crusade against +protestants, had to lament the loss of liberty, was Francis +de Vendôme, Vidame of Chartres, allied to the +princes of the blood and the potent house of Montmorenci. +Vendôme had served in Italy, as a volunteer, +under the duke of Aumale, and, subsequently, held a +command there, under the duke of Guise; after which +he was appointed governor of Calais. Closely connected +with the house of Montmorenci, he was irritated +beyond measure by the dismissal of the constable, and +cherished a deadly animosity against the Guises, who +were the authors of that measure. It is not wonderful +that, under the influence of these feelings, he should +make common cause with the prince of Condé and the +king of Navarre, who were preparing for resistance to +the court. Vendôme took an active part in rousing the +protestants to arms in various parts of the kingdom. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">[91]</span>But some of his letters, to the prince of Condé, having +been found upon la Sague, an emissary of the protestant +party, he was arrested and sent to the Bastile. +There he was treated with extreme rigour, and was +refused permission to see his wife, though she offered +to become a prisoner with him. The letters were in +appearance merely complimentary, but the dread of the +torture induced la Sague to disclose that important secrets +were written, with sympathetic ink, on the cover +that contained them. The death of Francis II. and +the pretended reconcilement of the hostile parties on +the accession of Charles IX., would have saved Vendôme +from the scaffold, but he did not live to recover +his freedom. Worn out by a life of dissipation, he died, +in his thirty-eighth year, at the Tournelles, to which +prison he had been removed from the Bastile.</p> + +<p>The decease of Vendôme took place in 1560, and, +for several years, with the exception of a duke of +Lunebourg, who was imprisoned for a quarrel with +the duke of Guise, no prisoner, at least none whose +fate history has thought worthy of recording, appears +to have found an abode within the walls of the Bastile. +After the horrible massacre of St. Bartholomew, +there was a moment when the fortress seemed about +to receive a princely captive. The king of Navarre +(afterwards Henry IV.) had yielded to the threats of +the royal murderer, and had changed his religion; +but the Prince of Condé was made of sterner stuff. +He resisted so firmly all attempts to induce him to +apostatize, that Charles IX. ordered him to be brought +before him, and, in a furious tone, addressed to him +three ominous words; “The mass, death, or the Bastile.” +Condé held out a little longer, but he yielded +when he found that du Rosier, a famous protestant +minister, had been converted to the Catholic faith.</p> + +<p>It was not till towards the close of the reign of +Charles IX. that the Bastile was again tenanted. That +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">[92]</span>monarch was then sinking rapidly into the grave, under +the pressure of bodily disease, and the perpetual +stings of his conscience. Haunted by appalling dreams, +and by direful spectres and dismal sounds, which his +fancy incessantly conjured up, he had fallen into a +state which scarcely the remembrance of his crimes +can prevent us from pitying. It was at this period +that the party was formed which adopted the appellations +of Politicians and Malecontents. The first of +these names was chosen to show that the persons assuming +it were not actuated, like the protestants, by +religious motives. The oppressive weight of the taxes, +the insolent licentiousness of the soldiery, and the +cruelty and flagrant incapacity of those who managed +the public affairs, were their grounds of complaint. +At the head of this party, which soon became considerable, +were William de Montmorenci and his nephew, +the Viscount de Turenne. Though this party consisted +of catholics, yet, as among the objects which it +sought to obtain there were many which the protestants +no less eagerly desired, it was not long before a +coalition was formed between them.</p> + +<p>To give greater weight and consistence to the party, +it was thought advisable to provide for it a chief of a +more elevated rank than Montmorenci and Turenne. +The duke of Alençon, one of the king’s brothers, who +is known in English history as the duke of Anjou, +was the chosen individual. With many defects, and +a scanty share of virtues, he had some qualifications +for being head of the party. To the protestants he +was recommended by his being far less hostile than the +rest of his family, and by his having been an unalterable +friend of the murdered admiral Coligni. Alençon +was irritated by the restraint, little short of imprisonment, +under which he was kept at court, and by the +refusal to confer on him the lieutenant generalship of +the kingdom, which had been held by his brother +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">[93]</span>Henry; and was consequently not averse from joining +those who could contribute to gratify his ambition. +It has, indeed, been supposed, and the supposition +is by no means improbable, that the party, or +at least the protestant branch of it, would have been +willing to raise him to the throne, to the exclusion of +Henry, his elder brother.</p> + +<p>Two of the principal agents in forwarding the design +of the malecontents were la Mole, and the count +de Coconas, the favourites of the duke of Alençon. +La Mole was an officer, a native of Provence. Among +the ladies of the court he was much admired for his +liveliness and companionable qualities. His time was +divided, not quite equally, between sinning and hearing +mass; the latter of which he attended three or four +times a day. It was said of him by the king, that +whoever wished to keep a register of la Mole’s debaucheries, +need only reckon up his masses. He was +notoriously one of the gallants of Margaret of Valois, +as Coconas was of the duchess of Nevers, the eldest +of three sisters, who were called the Graces. Coconas +was one of the many Italians who were attracted into +France by the hope of receiving patronage from Catherine +of Medicis. One anecdote will suffice to demonstrate +the fiendishness of his nature. During the +massacre of St. Bartholomew, he bought from the +populace thirty hugonot prisoners, that he might gratify +himself, by subjecting them to torture both of +body and mind. After having, by a promise of saving +their lives, induced them to renounce their faith, he +put them slowly to death by numerous superficial dagger +wounds. Of this act he was accustomed to boast. +The fate of such a man can excite no pity.</p> + +<p>All was arranged for the flight of the duke of +Alençon, the king of Navarre, and the prince of Condé, +from the court, in order to join the malecontents, and +hoist the standard of opposition. Bands of troops were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">[94]</span>hovering round the palace of St. Germain, to protect +their retreat. But the plot was disconcerted by the +vigilance of Catherine of Medicis, the imprudence of +some of the plotters, and the hesitation of the feeble-minded +duke. At two in the morning, Catherine hurried +the dying Charles from St. Germain to Paris in +a litter, and placed guards over the duke and the king +of Navarre; Condé, more prudent than his associates, +had embraced the first opportunity to escape. There +were some ludicrous circumstances connected with the +hasty retreat to Paris. “The cardinals of Bourbon, +Lorraine, and Guise,” says d’Aubigné, “the chancellor +Birague, and Morvilliers and Bellièvre, were all +mounted on Italian coursers, grasping with both hands +their saddle bows, and as thoroughly frightened at their +horses as at the enemy.” Contrasting strongly with +this was the pitiable state of the monarch, with his +frame debilitated, and all the weight of the St. Bartholomew +on his soul, groaning, and mournfully exclaiming, +“At least they might have waited till I +was dead!”</p> + +<p>Indignant at what he called a foul conspiracy, the +king ordered that a rigid enquiry should instantly be +commenced. La Mole denied every thing; Coconas, +on the contrary, disclosed all that he knew, and perhaps +more. But the fate of the conspirators was sealed +by the duke of Alençon, who made an ample confession, +without even having attempted to stipulate for +the lives of his confederates. Coconas and la Mole, +who had been sent to the Bastile, were now brought +to trial; and, by dint of legal sophistry, the project of +bringing about the flight of the princes was construed +into a design against the person of the king.</p> + +<p>Coconas and la Mole were condemned to be put to +the torture, and then beheaded. “Poor la Mole!” +exclaimed the latter, while he was suffering the first +part of his sentence, “is there no way to obtain a pardon? +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">[95]</span>The duke, my master, to whom I owe innumerable +obligations, commanded me on my life to say +nothing of what he was about to do. I answered, yes, +sir, if you do nothing against the king.” The unfortunate +man, like vast numbers at that period, had faith +in magic arts. A waxen image, of which the heart +was pierced through with a needle, had been found +among his effects. On being questioned whether this +was not meant to represent the king, and to be an instrument +of tormenting his majesty, he replied that its +only purpose was to inspire love in a lady, of whom +he was deeply enamoured.</p> + +<p>On the scaffold, before he laid down his head on the +block, he significantly said to the by-standers, “You see, +sirs, that the little ones are caught, and that the great +ones, who have been guilty of the fault, are allowed +to escape.” La Mole displayed his ruling passion +strong in death. His last words, after having prayed +to God and the Virgin, were, “commend me to the +kind remembrance of the queen of Navarre and the +ladies.” He was not forgotten by his lady-love; neither +was his companion. Queen Margaret and the +duchess of Nevers are said by some to have embalmed +the heads of their admirers, that they might always +preserve them for contemplation; while by others they +are asserted to have taken them in a carriage to a +chapel, at the foot of Montmartre, and buried them +with their own hands. Two years afterwards, the +sentences against la Mole and Coconas were annulled +by Henry III.</p> + +<p>The abortive plot in favour of the duke of Alençon +proved a source of trouble to two individuals, more +eminent in rank, and far more estimable in character, +than were la Mole and Coconas. The marshals Francis +de Montmorenci, and Arthur de Cossé, the former +of whom was the eldest son of the celebrated constable, +were suspected, or pretended to be so, by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">[96]</span>queen mother; Montmorenci was also well known to +feel that hatred of the Guises which was characteristic +of his family. At her suggestion, therefore, they +were committed to the Bastile, by Charles IX. This +was nearly the last exercise of his authority. He died +about a fortnight after, leaving his mother to hold the +office of regent, till his successor, the third Henry, +could return from Poland.</p> + +<p>Montmorenci was the husband of Diana, the natural +daughter of Henry II., and had been employed on +numerous occasions, civil and military, in all of which +he had honourably acquitted himself. Of his martial +exploits the most prominent was the brave though +unsuccessful defence of Terouane. He was liberal, +high-minded, learned, firm, and of invariable rectitude. +Cossé was still more illustrious in arms than his +fellow prisoner. He had distinguished himself at various +sieges, particularly those of Sens and Metz, and +in the battle of St. Denis, and many other encounters. +Nor was he a mere enterprising soldier. It is said of +him, by contemporary historians, and it is no light +praise, “that his head was as good as his arm.”</p> + +<p>The party which had hitherto been known as that +of the Politicians now took the name of the Third +Party. It received a large increase, by the junction +of catholics, whose indignation was excited by the +constraint put upon the duke of Alençon and the king +of Navarre, at Vincennes, and the close imprisonment +of two such eminent men as de Montmorenci and de +Cossé. Condé, too, was busy in Germany, stirring +up the protestant princes to succour his friends, and +keeping up a continual correspondence with the +French calvinists.</p> + +<p>On his taking possession of the throne, Henry set +at liberty the king of Navarre and the duke of Alençon. +The marshals, however, were still retained in +confinement. Diana, the wife of Montmorenci, had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">[97]</span>adopted a singular mode of moving in her husband’s +behalf the feelings of the monarch. Dressed in deep +mourning, and followed by all her female attendants +in the same garb, she met Henry as he was passing +through the street, fell at his feet, and entreated him +to take compassion on her husband, whose health was +declining in a prison, into which he had been thrown +without being convicted, or so much as accused, of +any crime. She likewise forcibly urged that, even if +his majesty supposed him to be guilty, he ought to +grant him a fair trial. The king seemed to be affected +by her appeal, which was backed by some of the nobles +who were present, and he promised to enquire into +the business with as little delay as possible.</p> + +<p>The promise of the king, however, if sincere at the +moment, was soon disregarded. Cossé, who, like his +fellow captive, was suffering from bad health, was, indeed, +allowed to take up his abode in his own house, +under a guard; but the only deliverance which was +destined for Montmorenci was deliverance from all +the troubles of this world. It appears, in fact, that +his life would not have been safe for a moment, but +for the salutary fear that his death would drive into +open hostility his brother Damville, who held the government +of Languedoc. A report having been spread +that Damville was dead, the king resolved to have the +marshal strangled in prison, and, as a preliminary step, +it was industriously given out that he was subject to +apoplectic attacks. This barbarous and cowardly +scheme would have been carried into effect, had not +an obstacle occurred. Giles de Souvré, who had been +mistakenly selected to perform the assassin’s part, +chanced to be a more honest man than his royal master, +and he purposely interposed so many delays, that +time was afforded to ascertain the falsehood of the +report which had announced the death of Damville.</p> + +<p>It was neither to the clemency nor the justice of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">[98]</span>his sovereign that Montmorenci was ultimately indebted +for the recovery of his freedom. Endangered +by the betrayal of a plot into which he had entered +against his brother, Alençon mustered up courage +enough to run away. His flight took place on the +16th of September 1575. As soon as he was in +safety, at Dreux, he issued a manifesto, not unartfully +contrived, to gain partisans in various quarters. Reform +in every department was the tempting burden of +its song. It worked its intended effect; the protestants +were in raptures, the Third Party was satisfied +with it, and he speedily found himself in a situation +to set the court at defiance.</p> + +<p>William, one of the brothers of Montmorenci, whom +we have seen one of the original chiefs of the Politicians, +was now about to enter the French territory at +the head of a division of troops, designed to herald the +way to the army which the prince of Condé had succeeded +in obtaining from the Elector Palatine. In the +first outbreak of her anger, on hearing this news, the +queen mother sent him word, that, if he dared to advance, +she would despatch to him the heads of the two +marshals. His reply was, “Should the queen do as +she threatens, there is nothing of hers in France on +which I will not leave the marks of my revenge.”</p> + +<p>Menace having failed, the wily Catherine resorted +to an opposite mode of proceeding. Aware that the +liberation of the two marshals would be imperatively +demanded by their armed friends, and that the king was +too weak to refuse it, she determined to try whether she +could not secure their gratitude, by appearing to have +the merit of voluntarily releasing them. They were +accordingly restored to liberty. By a declaration, under +the royal seal, Montmorenci was pronounced to be +“absolutely innocent of the crime which had been laid +to his charge,” When a similar exculpatory document +was offered to Cossé by the king, he chivalrously replied, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">[99]</span>“Excuse me, sire, for declining it; a Cossé +ought to think that no one can believe him to be guilty.”</p> + +<p>Though they could not be ignorant of the motive +which had induced Catherine to throw open their prison +doors, the marshals acted as if a favour had really +been granted to them. Montmorenci had the largest +share in bringing about the truce, and the subsequent +treaty, between the king and the duke of Alençon; +and the loyalty of Cossé was considered to be so unimpeachable +that, in 1578, he received the order of +the Holy Ghost. Montmorenci died in 1579; Cossé +in 1582.</p> + +<p>The principal favourite of the duke of Alençon, after +the death of la Mole and Coconas, was Louis de Clermont, +better known by the appellation of Bussy d’Amboise. +In profligacy he went beyond his predecessors. +He seems to have been a compound of vices, without +a single virtue; unless, indeed, we may give the name +of virtue to mere brutal courage. Full of pride and +insolence, eager to involve others in deadly quarrels, a +libertine, a professed duellist, and a cold-blooded assassin, +his being tolerated at the French court, and even +admired by many persons, is an unrefutable evidence +of the wretched state of morals among the nobility of +France. Bravery must have been held in a sort of +idolatrous estimation, when respect for it could induce +such a man as Crillon to be the friend of d’Amboise.</p> + +<p>The first achievement which Bussy is known to have +performed stamps his name with infamy. He was engaged +in a lawsuit against the marquis of Renel, one +of his relations, to recover from him the marquisate, +which Bussy claimed as his right. The marquis had +come to Paris, with the king of Navarre, and was there +when the massacre of St. Bartholomew took place. In +the midst of the carnage, Bussy sought him out, and +stabbed him to the heart. The parliament, soon after, +passed a decree, admitting the murderer’s claim; but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">[100]</span>it is consolatory to find that the decree was subsequently +annulled.</p> + +<p>Having attached himself to the duke of Alençon, he +was entrusted with the government of the castle of Angers, +and he soon made himself universally hated, by +his extortion and tyranny. When he visited the court +with his master, his arrogance and audacity rose to +such a height, that the king’s favourites, whom he had +often insulted, at length formed a scheme to assassinate +him. The attack was made at night, and with +superior numbers; but it was foiled by the skill and +resolution of Bussy and his followers.</p> + +<p>The monarch himself was not safe from the contemptuous +sarcasms of Bussy. In their dress, Henry +and his minions carried to the most extravagant length +the costly and absurd fashions of that period. Bussy +one day attended his patron to court. He himself was +simply dressed, but he was followed by six pages, clad +in cloth of gold, and tricked out in the most approved +style of finery. That the point of this silent satire +might not be lost, he insultingly proclaimed aloud, that +“the time was come when ragamuffins would make +the most show!” The king was so irritated by this +language, that, for a while, the duke was obliged to forbid +Bussy from appearing in his train.</p> + +<p>About the same time, Bussy gave fresh cause of +offence to the king. Ever seeking an opportunity to +indulge his passion for duelling, he had wantonly quarrelled +with a gentleman named St. Phal. Looking at +some embroidery, St. Phal remarked that the letter X +was worked on it; Bussy, from sheer contradiction, +asserted that the letter was a Y. A duel of six against +six in consequence took place, and Bussy was slightly +wounded. As, however, Bussy sent his antagonist a second +challenge, and expressed a stubborn determination +to follow up the quarrel to the last extremity, the king +interposed to put an end to it. Bussy reluctantly consented +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">[101]</span>to meet St. Phal, in the king’s presence, for +the purpose of reconcilement, and when, with that intent, +he went to the Louvre, he was accompanied into +the palace by a band of two hundred determined partisans. +The anger of the king was excited by this irruption +of bravos, but for the present he restrained it.</p> + +<p>In one of those fits of suspecting his brother, with +which Henry was occasionally seized, he went by night +to put him under arrest, and, at the same time, he sent +Bussy to the Bastile. On the following morning, a +council was held, at which, prompted by the queen +mother, the ministers declared that the step which the +king had taken was impolitic, and advised him to be +reconciled with the duke. Henry consented. The +only stipulation which he made was, that Bussy, on +being liberated, should be reconciled to Caylus, the +king’s favourite, with whom he was at enmity. Bussy +complied, and, in complying, contrived to throw ridicule +on the weak monarch. “Sire,” said he, “if you +wish me to kiss him, I am quite ready to do it;” then, +suiting the action to the word, he embraced Caylus in +such a thoroughly farcical style, that the spectators +were unable to repress their laughter.</p> + +<p>It was not long before the libertinism of Bussy supplied +Henry with the means of destroying him. It is +probable that, in his amours, the pleasure of betraying +the women who confided in him formed one of the +greatest inducements to pursue them—a base feeling, +which is still prevalent. In a letter to the duke of +Anjou, he boasted that he had been spreading his nets +for the Great Huntsman’s beast, and that he held her +fast in them. The Great Huntsman was the count de +Montsoreau, who held that office; the beast, as she +was politely called, was the count’s wife, whom the profligate +writer had seduced. This letter Anjou put into +the king’s hands, as a good jest. Henry kept it, and +communicated it to the count, whom he urged to revenge +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">[102]</span>himself on the offender. Montsoreau was not +backward to follow the king’s advice. He hurried +home, and compelled his wife to write to Bussy, to +make an assignation with him. Bussy was true to +the appointment. Instead, however, of meeting the +countess, he was attacked by Montsoreau and several +men, all of whom wore coats of mail. In spite of the +odds against him, he fought for some time with determined +spirit; but, finding that he must eventually be +overpowered, he tried to escape through the window, +and was slain by a stab in the back. “The whole province,” +says de Thou, “was delighted at his fall, and +even the duke of Anjou was not very sorry to be rid +of a man who began to be a burthen to him.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Henry III. continued—Conspiracy of Salcede—Francis +de Rosières—Peter de Belloy—Francis le Breton—Bernard +Palissy—Daring plots of the League—Henry III. expelled from +Paris—The Bastile surrenders to Guise—Bussi le Clerc appointed +governor—Damours—James de la Guesle—Reign of Henry IV.—Members +of the parliament arrested—President de Harlay—Potier +de Blancmesnil—The family of Seguier—Speeches of +Henry IV.—Louis Seguier—James Gillot—Outrage committed +by the Council of Sixteen—It is punished by the duke of Mayenne—Henry +IV. enters Paris—Surrender of the Bastile—Du Bourg—Treasure +deposited in the Bastile by Henry.</p> + +</div> + +<p>It was a conspiracy against the duke of Anjou, and +the king of France, that brought the next prisoner of +importance to the Bastile. This conspiracy originated +with the Guises, was promoted by that great artisan of +mischief Philip the Second of Spain, and contained the +seminal principle of the subsequent war, which is known +as the war of the League. The agent employed in +carrying it on was Nicholas Salcede, a man of daring +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">[103]</span>and profligate character, whose father, a Spanish gentleman, +the governor of Vic, in Lorraine, having offended +the Guises, was slain, though he was a catholic, +in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. By dint, however, +of heaping favours and attentions on him, the +Guises, to whom, indeed, he was distantly related, soon +induced Salcede to forget the murder of his parent. By +a crowning act of kindness, they, in some measure, acquired +a right to his services. Counterfeiting the king’s +coin, as well as that of foreign states, was a crime which, +for a long series of years, was of common occurrence in +France among persons of rank. The punishment of +throwing them into boiling oil was insufficient to deter +them; for it was so often evaded that it ceased to create +terror. Salcede had carried the practice of coining to +such an extent as to be able to purchase an estate. +Being detected, he was summoned to take his trial at +Rouen, and, as he prudently refused to appear, sentence +of death was passed upon him as a contumacious criminal. +But the duke of Lorraine interceded for him, +and his pardon was granted. This, and the prospect of +honours and rewards, linked him firmly to the Guises.</p> + +<p>The duke of Anjou was, at this period, struggling to +acquire the sovereignty of the Netherlands, and under +his banner were arrayed an immense number of the +French nobles. To the members of the house of Lorraine +he was inveterately hostile; for he looked upon +them as his personal enemies, and as having been authors +of the many mortifications which he had undergone. +To prevent him from entering France, for the +purpose of succouring his brother Henry, was, therefore, +an object of primary importance; as, if that were +not attained, their project of dethroning the king, or at +least becoming viceroys over him, could scarcely hope +for success. Morality was, in those days, at so low an +ebb among the great, that it is probable the Guises +would have felt but few scruples in accomplishing their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">[104]</span>purpose by the death of the duke; though, avowedly, +their sole aim was to shut him out of France, by +closing against him the northern frontier and the ports +of Britanny.</p> + +<p>The daring spirit and desperate situation of Salcede—for +he was deeply involved in debt—pointed him out +to the Guises as a fit instrument. The duke of Guise +tempted him by a solemn assurance, that the king of +Spain would reward him with rank and occupation proportioned +to the magnitude of his services; and he +backed his arguments and promises by descanting on +the benefit which the catholic religion would derive +from ruining the duke of Anjou. His eloquence +prevailed, and Salcede unreluctantly devoted himself +to the furtherance of the treasonable scheme.</p> + +<p>It was arranged, that the Guises should secretly furnish +funds for raising a regiment, to be commanded by +Salcede, and that he should then proceed to the duke +of Anjou, and offer to bring to his banner a chosen +body of men, who would engage to remain under it for +several months. No doubt was entertained that, as the +duke was scantily provided with money, was, in consequence, +daily deserted by some of his troops, and had +no great confidence in the Belgians, he would gladly +accept this offer; and would either entrust the new +corps with the keeping of some important fortress, or +reserve it as a guard for his own person. In either +case, the conspirators could turn the circumstance to +account. The seizure of Dunkirk and Cambray were +the main points to which Salcede’s attention was to be +directed; but he was also to do his best to shake the +fidelity of Anjou’s officers, and, of course, was to act +as spy for the Spanish monarch. The prince of Parma, +meanwhile, was gradually to approach Calais, the governor +of which town, it is said, had promised to betray +his trust. The sudden loss of Calais would, it was +imagined, so terrify Henry, that he would give the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">[105]</span>supreme command of his forces to the duke of Guise; +the French accomplices of the Guises would then rise +in arms; and the plan of subverting the government +would be easily executed.</p> + +<p>As had been expected, the proposal of Salcede was +listened to with much pleasure by the duke of Anjou, +who treated him as a valuable friend. The duke +was as yet ignorant that the conspirator had been reconciled +to the Guises. Nor was he aware that, in +his way to Bruges, Salcede had visited the enemy’s +camp, had a conference with the prince of Parma, the +viceroy, and been accompanied to Bruges by two of the +prince’s agents. But the sharp-sighted prince of Orange +was not disposed to grant his confidence to the newcomer +so readily as the duke; he disliked and suspected +him, both as being in his origin a Spaniard, and as +having been found guilty of an infamous offence. The +enquiries of the prince of Orange elicited sufficient evidence +to justify his suspicion that Salcede had sinister +designs, and he, therefore, advised the duke to arrest +him. This advice was followed by Anjou, who had already +learned, from another quarter, that his pretended +partisan was connected with the Guises. Salcede was +accordingly arrested on his coming to the palace. The +two agents of the prince of Parma were waiting at the +palace gate for their confederate’s return; one of them +escaped, the other, Francis Baza by name, was seized +and committed to prison. In the course of a few days, +Baza put an end to his existence.</p> + +<p>In the first examination, mysterious hints were all +that could be drawn from Salcede; in the second, he +spontaneously disclosed so complicated and gigantic a +conspiracy, that his hearers were astounded. That +part of it which related to Belgium and the duke of +Anjou was the smallest part; a mere episode in the +Guisian Iliad. The conspirators purposed nothing less +than to imprison the king of France, exterminate the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">[106]</span>royal family, and subject the kingdom to the domination +of Spain. Their means Salcede stated to be immense. +As implicated in the plot, he named a multitude +of the most powerful nobles, a majority of the +governors of provinces and towns, and even some of +the king’s ministers and favourites. The provinces of +Picardy, Champagne, Burgundy, Britanny, and the Cotentin, +were, he said, secured by the plotters; nor would +foreign aid be wanting, as the papal and Piedmontese +troops were to enter France on the side of Lyons, while +two Spanish armies were to pass the Pyrenees into +Bearn and Gascony, where the malecontents were in +readiness to receive them. This deposition, after a +lapse of some days, he voluntarily repeated and enlarged, +and he offered to prove it, by being confronted +with three persons, whom he had before mentioned, and +who, he was convinced, would confess that he had +spoken but the truth.</p> + +<p>This disclosure was of too much importance to Henry +of France to admit of delay in making it known to him. +The duke of Anjou accordingly despatched one of his +chamberlains to Paris, with the depositions, and a letter, +in which the Guises were not spared. At first, +Henry was startled at the seeming danger; but his +natural dislike of business, and his love of pleasure, +soon induced him to take refuge in the idea that the +whole was an invention of some one who wished to +disturb his quiet, or a stratagem of his brother, to obtain +liberal succours. Not so thought his minister +Bellièvre, in whom he placed great confidence. While +the minister perused the paper, the changes in his +countenance plainly showed that he thought the plot +was real, and the peril from it extreme. It was at +length settled, that Bellièvre, accompanied by Brulart, +one of the secretaries of state, should proceed to Bruges, +interrogate Salcede, and require that the criminal should +be transferred to Paris. “If,” said the king, “my +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">[107]</span>brother consents to the transfer, I shall believe that a +conspiracy exists.”</p> + +<p>When Bellièvre questioned him, Salcede, for the +third time, repeated his story. He was now conveyed +to France, and placed in the castle of Vincennes; the +duke of Anjou having readily acceded to the wish of +his brother. When, however, he was brought before +the king in council, he disavowed all that he had previously +said. His confession had, he affirmed, been +dictated to him by three persons in the duke’s service, +who compelled him to write it. “Why, then, did you +say the same to Bellièvre, when those persons were +absent?” inquired the king. To this the unblushing +prisoner answered, that Bellièvre had intimidated him +by threats, and that he had always been under the influence +of terror while he was in the ducal palace. Bellièvre +was a man remarkable for patience and politeness, +but he was so provoked by this charge, that he +could not forbear from exclaiming, “You are an impudent +slanderer.” At the close of the examination, +Salcede was removed to the Bastile. There he was +again examined, and there he persisted in his disavowal.</p> + +<p>It now became a question what should be done with +Salcede. The president de Thou advised that he should +be retained in prison. He urged that, if the conspiracy +were real, his detention would intimidate his accomplices, +and afford the means of convicting them in case +of need; while, on the other hand, if the conspiracy +were only a calumny, invented by turbulent and ill-disposed +persons, the existence of the criminal might +serve to justify the innocence of those whom he had +accused. His son, the celebrated historian, tells us, +that the president had an additional motive in thus advising; +he wished not merely to hold the conspirators +in check, by preserving the evidence of their guilt, but, +at the same time, to keep before the king’s eyes a memento +of the danger to which he exposed himself by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">[108]</span>his unbridled licentiousness, and his oppressive misgovernment.</p> + +<p>This prudent counsel was, however, strenuously opposed. +It was contended that, in whatever light the +question was viewed, the culprit ought to die. Supposing +the plot to be a reality, his death would terrify +his associates; his being suffered to live might drive +them to rebellion through despair. If, on the contrary, +his tale were false, death ought to punish the calumny; +and the more so because, if impunity were granted to +him, resentment, at being unjustly suspected, might +provoke innocent persons to become really criminal.</p> + +<p>The motive which prompted many to insist on the +latter mode of proceeding cannot be mistaken; they +were pleading for their own lives, or the lives of their +friends. The weakness of their reasoning is so evident +as to need no exposure. It was not by stifling inquiry +that the monarch could hope to neutralize or convert +his enemies. History does, indeed, record instances +where it was wise as well as generous to throw the veil +of oblivion over an incipient plot, and save the plotters +from the necessity of becoming open rebels; but this +was not a case of the kind. The plotters against +Henry were irreclaimable, and, ascribing his conduct +to fear and not to mildness, would only be encouraged +to persist in their destructive projects. When +justice has pronounced upon the criminal, then is the +time for a sovereign to show mercy; and, if he have a +human heart, he will set no other bounds to his clemency +than those which are imperatively prescribed by +the safety of the state. But he who shrinks from prosecuting +a traitor offers a premium for the growth of +treason.</p> + +<p>Henry, nevertheless, decided otherwise. He adopted +the opinion of those who were for sending Salcede to +the scaffold. In thus following their insidious advice, +he was not influenced by principle or mistaken policy; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">[109]</span>he was mainly actuated by a childish impatience, an +eagerness to get rid of a disagreeable subject, which +interrupted his contemptible pleasures. Like the stupid +bird, which hopes to baffle its pursuers by hiding +its head, he seems to have thought that if danger were +out of sight it could not reach him. He had, however, +another and an equally mean reason for his decision; +the wish to mortify de Thou. The president had recently +offended him by a virtuous and truly loyal act. +Dreading the effect which would be produced by the +king’s incessant edicts to extort money, he implored +him to pause, lest poverty and despair should drive the +people to resistance. Instead of profiting by this patriotic +warning, Henry turned round to his train of +flatterers, and sneeringly exclaimed, “The poor man +is in a state of dotage!” He was righteously punished +for his scorn of honest and prudent counsel. Ere many +years had gone by, he was taught to lament with tears +the loss of this doting magistrate, and to confess that, +had de Thou lived, Paris would never have revolted.</p> + +<p>Salcede was brought to trial. Everything that could +throw light on the fact of the conspiracy was studiously +suppressed; there was no search for evidence relative +to it, no examination and confronting of the persons +who had been charged by the prisoner. The sole object +was to obtain a sentence of death against the man +whose existence might prove fatal to the conspirators. +That object was accomplished on the 25th of October, +1582. Salcede was pronounced guilty of high treason, +and was condemned to be torn into quarters by four +horses; his quarters were to be placed on gibbets, at +the principal gates of Paris, and his head was to be sent +to Antwerp, to be exposed in a similar manner. Immediately +previous to his execution, he was likewise to +be put to the torture; this was a supererogatory act of +cruelty, for, even if we admit the possibility of justifying +the use of torture, its infliction in this instance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">[110]</span>could answer no useful purpose. It was decreed, also, +by his judges, that “his confessions, the private letters +found on him, and <i>the declarations which he had made +since the commencement of his trial</i>, should be burnt +to ashes; as having been malignantly and calumniously +invented, to prejudice the honour of various +princes, nobles, and other persons.” Here is the key +to the whole proceeding.</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Light dies before thy uncreating word!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Thy hand, great anarch, lets the curtain fall,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And universal darkness buries all.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The king was sufficiently devoid of feeling to witness, +behind a curtain, the torturing of the prisoner, and to +go to the Town Hall, to see executed the ferocious and +sickening sentence, which condemned a fellow being to +be torn to pieces by horses. But, even in that corrupt +and semi-barbarous age, there were not wanting persons +who passed a severe censure on Henry, for conduct +which was disgraceful to him as a king and a man.</p> + +<p>When the torture was applied, Salcede again veered +about; he re-asserted the whole of what he had originally +stated, with respect to the conspiracy. This +blow was, however, adroitly parried by those whom it +might otherwise have injured. As he was passing up +a dark staircase, after having been tortured, he was +joined by a priest, of the order of Jesuits, who exhorted +him to retract his confession once more. This ghostly +adviser no doubt worked powerfully on his hopes and +fears, with regard to another world, and he succeeded +in prevailing on him to make a new retractation. As +nothing was to be gained by varying in his story, he +persisted in this retractation, and, at the place of execution, +he loudly extolled the virtues, and proclaimed +the innocence, of his patrons, the Guises. He lived a +villain, and he died a self-convicted liar.</p> + +<p>In the following year, 1583, there occurred another, +but comparatively a trivial, illustration of the ambitious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">[111]</span>views of the Guises, and the vacillation and timidity of +the king. Francis de Rosières, a native of Toul, born +in 1534, was a man of prepossessing manners, and of +considerable erudition and eloquence. He rose to be +archdeacon of Toul, and through the patronage of cardinal +de Guise, obtained several benefices, and the office +of counsellor to the duke of Lorraine. To prove +his gratitude to his benefactors, and probably at their +instigation, he composed and published a voluminous +work, on “the genealogy of the dukes of Lorraine and +Bar.” Its evident purpose was to degrade the reigning +family, and exalt that of the Guises. Not satisfied +with tracing back in a direct line to Charlemagne the +descent of the house of Lorraine, he carried it further +through the starless night of ages, up to a son of Clodion, +from whom Merovæus was pretended to have +usurped the crown. The inference was easy, that the +monarchs of the Capetian race were intruders, and that +the Guises alone had a legitimate right to the throne. +From thence to the assertion of the right was but a +single step, on the propriety of which it was for prudence +to decide, the question of justice being already +settled. This doctrine was, in fact, openly taught in +other works, which the Guises, however, affected to +disavow, and to regard as fabrications of the protestants, +for the purpose of throwing suspicion on their loyalty.</p> + +<p>In addition to his laboured genealogy of his patrons, +Rosières had been guilty of various misrepresentations, +and of a personal attack upon Henry; and he had supported +his fabric of falsehood by documents which were +manifestly spurious, and by altering others, so as to +suit them to his purpose. The other libels Henry had +repelled only by employing Pons de Thyard, a man of +varied talents, to write an elaborate answer: against +this he resolved to proceed in a different manner; he +treated it as a state crime. He who had swallowed +the camel of last year’s conspiracy, now strained at this +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">[112]</span>gnat of a volume. And here again his infirmity of +purpose betrayed him to the scorn of his enemies. +Commencing vigorously, he despatched Brulart to +Toul, to interrogate Rosières; after which the archdeacon +was conveyed to Paris, and housed in the Bastile. +Thus far, Henry seemed to have meditated a +tragedy; but, in its further progress the drama dwindled +down to a miserable farce. The plan which he +adopted had the demerit of alike disclosing an inclination +to mortify the Guises, and a dread of offending +them. It was the latter feeling which prompted him +to prohibit the parliament from intervening in the cause, +because that body would probably pass a sentence derogatory +to the house of Lorraine; it was the former +feeling which induced him to persevere in seeking to +gain the shadow of a triumph. He could not see +that any thing short of complete victory was in reality +a defeat.</p> + +<p>Pursuing the absurd system which he had framed +for himself, Henry now convoked, at the Louvre, a +numerous council of nobles and eminent men; all the +heads of the Lorraine family were present. Rosières +was brought from the Bastile, and, on his knees confessed +his fault, owned that he deserved rigorous punishment, +and sued for pardon. The keeper of the +seals then gravely lectured him on the enormity of his +crime, and declared him to be guilty of high treason. +It was next the turn of the queen-mother to play her +part; and, accordingly, as had previously been arranged, +she stepped forward, and entreated her son to forgive +the offender, for the sake of the duke of Lorraine. +The king graciously consented, and delivered Rosières +into the hands of the duke. This ludicrous scene +was terminated by a decree, that the book should be +torn to pieces before the author’s face, but that no +public record should be made of these things, “lest +reproach should fall on the illustrious house of Lorraine.” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">[113]</span>Anquetil pithily remarks, that the crime ought +either to have been left unnoticed, or been more severely +chastised.</p> + +<p>Rosières did not pass the whole of his remaining +days in tranquillity. He involved himself in a quarrel +with his bishop, and was under the necessity of repairing +to Rome, to plead his own cause. How he sped +in the holy city is doubtful; one writer affirms that he +was censured, another maintains that he was absolved. +He died in 1607. Besides the Genealogy, he wrote +various works, which are as dead as their author.</p> + +<p>Writers who ventured to thwart the Guises in their +treasonable designs did not meet with so much lenity +from them as was shown to Rosières by the feeble-minded +Henry. No merit whatever could counterbalance +the sin of opposing them. This was experienced +by Peter de Belloy, an eminent jurisconsult, who was +born at Montauban, about 1540, and became public +professor and counsellor at Toulouse. Belloy was a +zealous catholic, and his three elder brothers had fallen +in combating against the protestants. But these +claims to consideration were not sufficient to prevent +him from being persecuted by the house of Lorraine.</p> + +<p>Asserting the king of Navarre’s right to succeed to +the reigning monarch, and exposing the machinations +and hollow pretexts of the Guises, was the crime of +which Belloy was guilty. The works which drew on +him the vengeance of the Guisian faction were the +“Catholic Apology;” “A Refutation of the Bull of +Pope Pius V. against the Navarrese sovereign;” and +“An Examination of the Discourse published against +the Royal House of France.” In these works, which +were given to the press in 1585 and 1586, he contended, +that the protestantism of Henry of Navarre +did not deprive him of his title to the crown; that the +king could not disinherit his legitimate heir; that the +Pope had no authority to sit in judgment upon the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">[114]</span>question of the succession; and that the seeming ardour +of the Guises, in behalf of catholicism, was nothing +more than a mask to cover their designs upon the +throne. His language was strictly decorous, his candour +and impartiality were evident, but his facts and +arguments were unforgivable.</p> + +<p>Slander was the weapon which his enemies began +by using against Belloy. To his “Catholic Apology” +a reply was published by a Jesuit, who assumed the designation +of Francisculus Romulus, but who is believed +to have been the celebrated Bellarmin. To give weight +to his reasonings, the Jesuit boldly asserted that his +opponent, who falsely took the name of catholic, was +at least a heretic, if not an atheist. This calumny +fell harmless upon the object at which it was aimed. +It was not so with calumny from a higher quarter. +The Guises were not satisfied with defaming him; +they determined to make him feel their power more +effectually. An unfortunate maniac, le Breton by +name, of whom I shall have next occasion to speak, +had written a seditious libel. This libel the Guises +ascribed to Belloy. Failing to effect their purpose by +this accusation, they painted him in the darkest colours +to the king, as a dangerous mischief-maker and heretic, +and the weak monarch was at last prevailed upon +to commit him to the prison of the Concièrgerie.</p> + +<p>After Henry had assassinated the duke of Guise, the +Council of Sixteen removed Belloy to the Bastile, where +he remained in close confinement for nearly four years. +He at length found means to escape, and he sought refuge +at St. Denis, which was garrisoned by the troops +of Henry IV. He was introduced to Henry, by Vic, the +governor, and the king rewarded his talents and fidelity, +by appointing him advocate-general to the parliament +of Toulouse. His subsequent life appears to +have been passed in quiet. The date of his death is +not known, but in 1612 he was still living. He wrote +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">[115]</span>various works, besides those which have already been +mentioned: among them are a “Dissertation on the +Origin and Institution of various Orders of Chivalry;” +and “An Exposition of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel.”</p> + +<p>Francis le Breton, to whom I have already alluded, +affords a striking proof that, when Henry the third +forbore to punish, it was not clemency, but fear, indolence, +or caprice, that withheld his hand. Le Breton +was a barrister of Poitiers, who had acquired considerable +reputation by his forensic talents. It speaks +strongly in favour of his honesty and the kindness of +his nature, that he espoused so warmly the part of +those for whom he pleaded, as entirely to identify their +interest with his own. A mere mercenary counsel, +indifferent to the justice or injustice of his client’s +claim, could have had no such feelings. Unfortunately, +le Breton was of a family in which symptoms of insanity +had often appeared, and the dreadful malady +was lurking in his brain. The loss of a cause, in +which he was engaged for a poor individual, at once +roused the latent disease into action. He burst into +vehement invectives against the judges, and presented +a violent memorial against them to a higher tribunal. +The superior judges, who saw how he was affected, +gave him a gentle rebuke, and dismissed the complaint. +Irritated by this, he journeyed to Paris, to +make an appeal to the king. Having fastened his +memorial on the end of a stick, he went to the Louvre, +where the guards, who rightly concluded that he was +bereft of his senses, endeavoured to drive him away. +Le Breton, however, was immovable, and he exclaimed +so loudly and incessantly, “The cause of the poor is +abandoned, and God will take vengeance for it,” that +the noise reached the king’s ear, and he ordered him +to be admitted. Henry listened to his story, and then +commanded him to return to his own country, and to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">[116]</span>keep silence in public. To have sent him to the hospital +would have been a more praiseworthy act.</p> + +<p>Instead of proceeding to Poitiers, the maniac wandered +through the provinces, calling on the people to +recover their liberty, and sending inflammatory writings +to the towns which were too distant for him to visit. +At last he reached Bordeaux, and demanded an interview +with the duke of Mayenne. It was granted; +and the unfortunate lunatic employed the whole of it +in conjuring the duke to defend the cause of the poor. +Mayenne, who felt that le Breton’s harangues to the +multitude, mad as he was, might be serviceable to the +Guises, gave him money, and probably hopes, and +then desired him to withdraw.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by this gracious reception, le Breton +made the best of his way to Paris, where he sat down +to compose a furious invective against the king, whom, +with more truth than prudence or decorum, he styled +a debauched tyrant, and the magistrates, whom he +stigmatised as men steeped in wickedness, who, to +please that tyrant, and gratify men in power, betrayed +the cause of the poor. Two printers were found who +had sufficient boldness to risk the printing of this +libel. But, just as it was about to appear, the whole +impression was seized, and the author was lodged in +the Bastile. The printers were sentenced to be +whipped, with their necks in a halter, and then to be +banished from the kingdom. The libel was burnt by +the public executioner.</p> + +<p>Believing, or affecting to believe, that the prisoner +was less a madman than an instrument of the malecontents, +Henry endeavoured, by secret interrogations, +to obtain a confession that such was the fact. +The attempt failed, and the prisoner was then given +up to the parliament for trial. It was his misfortune +that he was not the agent of some formidable conspirator; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">[117]</span>he would in that case have had a fair chance +of escaping.</p> + +<p>When le Breton was brought before the parliament, +his malady manifested itself in a more extravagant +manner than ever. He treated the court with +unbounded contempt, spoke to the members with his +hat on, and would answer no questions. As he thus +suffered judgment to go by default, sentence of death +was passed upon him, as guilty of having excited the +people to revolt; but his equitable and compassionate +judges also decreed, that “a deputation should wait +upon the king, to represent that the culprit laboured +under mental alienation, and to entreat that his majesty +would pardon a crime which was rather the effect +of disease than of free will.”</p> + +<p>But neither the prayer of the parliament, nor the +supplications of le Breton’s mother, who brought irrefragable +evidence of his madness, had any effect upon +the heartless Henry. Here was a victim whom he +could safely sacrifice, and he would not forego the +pleasure. Yet even here his mental cowardice peeped +out. Instead of the involuntary offender being conveyed +to the Grêve, which was the usual place of execution, +he was hanged in the palace court. It seems +to have been supposed, and perhaps correctly, that +the people could not witness without emotion the +death of a man, whose malady and whose fate had been +brought upon him by commiseration for their sorrows, +and who perished because he had no friend, +while notorious criminals were daily allowed to brave +the laws with impunity. Far from acting as an example +to deter others, the murder of le Breton—for +in his deplorable situation it was a murder—only +served to exasperate the people in a tenfold degree. It +was the singular infelicity of Henry never to be right +in his treatment of crime; he was despised when he +did not punish, he was hated when he did.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">[118]</span></p> + +<p>Political persecution consigned to the Bastile, at +this period, and when he was on the verge of the +grave from extreme old age, a man who was a benefactor, +and an honour, to his native land. Bernard +Palissy was born about the year 1500, in the bishopric +of Agen. His parents were so scantily favoured by +fortune that they could do little for his education; +but he contrived to acquire a knowledge of reading +and writing, and sufficient skill in drawing and land-measuring +to gain a livelihood as a draughtsman, a +painter of glass and images, and a land surveyor. +Geology, natural philosophy, and chemistry, next attracted +his attention, and with respect to the two +former he was far in advance of his contemporaries.</p> + +<p>It was about the year 1539, when he had settled +at Saintes, after his journeys through the provinces, +that a circumstance occurred which gave a colour to +all his future life. He chanced to be shown a beautiful +enamelled porcelain cup, manufactured in Italy. +It struck him that, if he could discover the secret of +fabricating this ware, he might obtain riches, and +likewise serve his country by introducing into it a +new art. From that moment he pursued his object +with admirable energy and perseverance. Innumerable +experiments failed, his resources wasted away, +poverty and almost starvation stared him in the face, +yet still, in spite of this, and of the exhortations of +some, and the sneers of others, he steadily persisted. +At length, after having suffered a mental martyrdom +of sixteen years’ duration, he succeeded in his efforts, +and independence and fame were his reward. For the +adornment of their palaces and gardens, the king and +all the nobles of France were eager to possess the +figures and vases which were produced by Palissy’s +taste and skill.</p> + +<p>Bernard Palissy had too enlarged a mind to devote +himself wholly to the heaping up of riches. The toils +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">[119]</span>of business he diversified and lightened by liberal +studies. He formed a cabinet of natural history at +Paris; gave, for several years, a course of lectures on +natural history and physics; and wrote a variety of +works, valuable for their facts and reasonings, and the +new and just views contained in them, and unaffected +and pleasing in their style.</p> + +<p>Palissy was a protestant, firmly attached to his religion, +and from that attachment arose the only troubles which +molested him in the decline of life. When the public exercise +of their worship was prohibited, he gathered into a +private assembly a few individuals of his own class, +each of whom in his turn expounded the tenets of the +Gospel. In 1562, though the duke of Montpensier had +given him a safeguard, and his manufactory had been +declared a privileged place, the bigoted judges of Saintes +destroyed his establishment, and would have destroyed +the proprietor also, had not the king interposed, and +rescued him from their hands. The memory of Charles +the ninth is branded with eternal infamy, but candour +requires it to be owned, that he was a man of taste and +talent; a lover of literature and the arts. It is melancholy +to think upon what he might have been, and +what he was. He invited the persecuted artist to +Paris, and gave him apartments in the Tuileries. Thus +protected, Palissy remained unhurt during the horrible +slaughter of St. Bartholomew’s day.</p> + +<p>The protection which Charles the ninth extended to +Palissy, the weaker-minded Henry the third wanted +courage to continue. When the influence of the Guises +became predominant in Paris, the venerable artist was +arrested by the Council of Sixteen, and thrown into the +Bastile. There Henry visited him. “My good man,” +said the king, “if you cannot bring yourself to conform +on the point of religion, I shall be compelled to +leave you in the clutches of my enemies.” Palissy +was then nearly ninety years of age, but his spirit was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">[120]</span>not bowed by the weight of years, or the prospect of +death. He firmly replied, “Sire, you have several +times said that you pity me; but I pity <i>you</i>, who have +uttered the words ‘I am compelled.’ This is not speaking +like a king. I will teach you the royal language. +Neither the Guisarts, nor your whole people, can ever +compel me to bend my knee before an image, for I +know how to die.”</p> + +<p>The firmness of Palissy was not put to the extreme +proof; but, had it been so, there is no reason to believe +that his conduct would have belied his words. He was +saved from the fiery ordeal by the duke of Mayenne, +who humanely threw so many obstacles in the way of +his trial, that Palissy died a natural death, in the Bastile, +about the year 1589, no less respected for his virtues +than admired for his talents.⁠<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<p>Those enemies of Henry, into whose hands he +feared that he should be “compelled” to deliver up +Palissy, continued to plot against the monarch with an +astonishing degree of audacity, which could be equalled +only by the tameness with which he endured it. Plans +were successively formed by them, to obtain possession +of Boulogne; to arrest him on his way from Vincennes, +and, subsequently, at the fair of St. Germain; and to +make themselves masters of the Bastile, the Arsenal, +the Temple, and other posts in Paris, massacre the +ministers, judges, and courtiers, and depose and imprison +him. Among the bitterest and most active of +his enemies was the duchess of Montpensier, sister of +the duke of Guise, who constantly wore at her girdle a +pair of golden scissors, for the purpose, as she insolently +said, of giving the monkish tonsure to brother +Henry of Valois, previous to his being sent to a monastery. +Henry frustrated these schemes, but had not +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">[121]</span>spirit to punish them. The impunity which the criminals +enjoyed produced its natural effect. The resources +and the boldness of the conspirators were increased; +the memorable day of the Barricades ensued; +the monarch was expelled from Paris; and he entered +it no more.</p> + +<p>As soon as the king had taken flight from the Louvre, +Guise put garrisons into the Arsenal, and other +military positions of Paris, and likewise into Vincennes +and the town of Corbeil. The Bastile might still have +remained in the power of Henry, and afforded him an +easy entrance into his capital, had he not been guilty +of an unaccountable act of folly. Colonel Ornano, an +officer of established reputation, had offered to pledge +his head that, if he were entrusted with the command, +he would hold the place to the last extremity; but +Henry preferred leaving it in the hands of Lawrence +Testu, of whom it was sarcastically said, that he was +more fit to govern a bottle than a fortress. He justified +the contempt which was expressed for him, by +surrendering the moment that he received a summons +from Guise. His prompt submission called forth another +sarcasm, by which he was declared to have given +up his post, because he had no oranges to flavour his +ragoût of partridges.</p> + +<p>The government of the Bastile was conferred, by +Guise, on Bussi le Clerc, the most active member of +the Council of Sixteen, a determined hater of the king +and the protestants, and devoted heart and soul to the +Guises. Bussi was originally a fencing-master, but +changed his calling, and became an attorney. He was +not long without prisoners. Among the first whom +he received were Perreuse, late the provost of the merchants, +who was expelled from his office for being faithful +to the king, La Guesle, the attorney general, and +Damours, a protestant minister.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">[122]</span></p> + +<p>Damours was fortunate. Some ferocious wild beasts +have been known to contract an attachment to helpless +animals which were thrown into their dens. Bussi did +so with respect to Damours. Instead of tormenting +him, and being eager to send him to the flames, a mode +of proceeding which might have been expected from a +zealous and unenlightened catholic, he took a singular +liking for him. With many oaths, he declared that, +thorough hugonot as he was, Damours was worth +more than all those politicians, the presidents and counsellors, +“who were nothing but hypocrites;” and he bestirred +himself so vigorously on behalf of his favourite, +that he procured his liberation.</p> + +<p>James de la Guesle was born in 1557, and succeeded +his father in the office of attorney general. After the +day of the Barricades, he endeavoured to escape in disguise +from Paris, for the purpose of joining the fugitive +king; but he was recognised, and committed to +prison. He did not long remain in the Bastile, and, +as soon as he was set free, he proceeded to St. Cloud, +where Henry was residing. The death of the king, +which soon after occurred, afforded the enemies of La +Guesle a pretext to throw out insinuations against him; +for it was by him that Clement, the assassin monk, +was introduced into the presence of the monarch. His +loyalty was, however, too well known to admit of being +stained by calumny. After having held office +throughout the reign of Henry IV., and enjoyed the +full confidence of that sovereign, La Guesle died in 1612.</p> + +<p>The Bastile was not allowed to remain untenanted +by prisoners of distinction. Bussi had soon the gratification +of wreaking his hatred upon “the presidents +and counsellors” whom he had described as being “nothing +but hypocrites.” The parliament, still faithful +to the king, was a serious obstacle in the way of the +Leaguers, and the Council of Sixteen determined, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">[123]</span>therefore, to apply an effectual remedy to this evil. +This remedy was of the same nature as that which, +long afterwards, was employed in England, by Oliver +Cromwell, and is known by the name of Pride’s Purge. +Bussi le Clerc was the colonel Pride on this occasion.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of January, 1589, while the parliament +was about to choose deputies, for a mission to the king, +at Blois, Bussi, who had surrounded the hall with +troops, suddenly entered, attended by some of his armed +followers, and began to read a list of the proscribed +members, among whom were the two presidents. On +hearing this, the whole of the members simultaneously +declared, that they would share the fate of their chiefs. +Bussi took them at their word, and they were led away +to the Bastile, where they were soon joined by some +of their colleagues, who, suspecting what would happen, +had not quitted their homes, but whose caution had +failed to ensure their safety. All those who were not +on Bussi’s list were, however, liberated in the course +of the same evening, and a part of the others were +allowed to return to their homes, on their friends becoming +answerable for them. Having thus got rid of +the persons who were obnoxious to them, the Leaguers +remodelled the parliament, in such a manner as to render +it subservient to their purposes.</p> + +<p>The most distinguished of the parliamentary members +who were kept in hold were Achille de Harlay, +Nicholas Potier de Blancmesnil, Louis Seguier, and +James Gillot.</p> + +<p>The personal and mental courage of Harlay qualified +him well for the stormy times in which he lived. To +the influence of fear he seems to have been scarcely +accessible. To the merit of unchangeable loyalty he +added the rarer merit of opposing the rash and oppressive +edicts of the sovereign. His legal knowledge +was profound, and his integrity without a stain. He +was born in 1536, and he sprung from a family which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">[124]</span>had distinguished itself, for more than two centuries, +on the seat of justice or in the field of battle. At the +age of forty-six, he succeeded his father-in-law, Christopher +de Thou, as president of the parliament of Paris.</p> + +<p>When the success of his partisans, on the day of the +Barricades, had rendered the duke of Guise master of +the capital, he went, with a train of followers, to the +house of Harlay, for the purpose of prevailing on him +to convoke the parliament, that the recent measures +might obtain something like a sanction. The president +was walking in the garden, and he did not deign +to notice his visiter till the duke approached him; then, +raising his voice, he said, “It is a lamentable thing +when the servant drives out his master. As to all the +rest, my soul is God’s, my heart is the king’s, and my +body is in the hands of the wicked; let them do as they +please with it.” Guise still pressing him to assemble +the parliament, he sternly replied, “When the majesty +of the monarch is violated, the magistrate has no longer +any authority.” Hoping to intimidate him, some of +the duke’s followers threatened him with death, but +their threats were as unavailing as the request of Guise +had been. “I have,” replied the undaunted magistrate, +“neither head nor life that I value more than the love +I owe to God, the service which I owe to the king, and +the good which I owe to my country.”</p> + +<p>After an imprisonment of several months, Harlay +obtained his liberty, at the price of ten thousand crowns. +The moment that he was free he departed from Paris, +to join Henry the fourth at Tours, and the monarch +appointed him president of the parliament sitting in that +city, and composed of Parisian members, who had succeeded +in escaping from the clutches of the Leaguers. +In this post, Harlay sustained his high reputation, by +the vigour and eloquence with which he refuted the +manifestos of Spain and the League, and the bulls of +the Roman Pontiff.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">[125]</span></p> + +<p>Peace at length came, and Henry rewarded his services +by the estate of Beaumont, with the title of count. +When the first president returned to Paris, all the +members of the parliament went out to meet and congratulate +him. As Harlay advanced in years, he did +not bate one jot of the spirit which he had manifested +at an earlier period. He still unflinchingly supported +the rights of the kingdom, and the liberties of the Gallican +church, and protested against whatever he deemed +pernicious to the people or the monarch. The re-establishment +of the Jesuits he strongly but vainly opposed. +From one of his speeches to Henry the fourth, +in 1604, we may judge with what an honest freedom +he uttered his sentiments. The parliament having dissented +from a measure which the Council had resolved +upon, its dissent was construed into disobedience. +“If to serve well be disobedience,” replied the +venerable magistrate, “the parliament is in the habit +of committing that fault; and, when a conflict arises +between the king’s absolute power and the good of his +service, it prefers the one to the other, not from disobedience, +but from a desire to do its duty, and to keep +its conscience clear.”</p> + +<p>After having held the first presidentship for thirty-four +years, Harlay, whose sight and hearing were impaired, +resigned it early in 1616, and he died, on the +23d of October, of the same year, at the age of eighty.</p> + +<p>Born at Paris, in 1541, of a family which had given +several eminent magistrates to the state, Potier de +Blancmesnil attained the rank of president à mortier +in 1578. With talents less splendid than those of +Harlay, he was not inferior to him in probity and devoted +loyalty. From the imprisonment which followed +his seizure by Bussi le Clerc he was released in a few +days; but he did not long retain his liberty. When +Henry, on the 1st of November, 1589, made himself +master of the suburbs of Paris, and there seemed reason +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">[126]</span>to believe that the new monarch would soon enter the +city in triumph, the joy of Potier was so undisguised, +that the Leaguers again sent him to his old quarters +in the Bastile. He was brought to trial, as an adherent +of the Bearnese—for so Henry was contemptuously +called—and he would no doubt have suffered an +ignominious death, had not the duke of Mayenne interposed, +and released him from prison. Throwing himself +at the feet of his deliverer, Potier exclaimed, “My +Lord, I am indebted to you for my life; yet I dare to +request from you a still greater benefit, that of permitting +me to join my legitimate sovereign. I shall +all my life acknowledge you as my benefactor; but I +cannot serve you as my master!” Mayenne had greatness +of mind enough not to be offended by this speech. +Affected even to tears by the appeal, he raised up and +embraced the suppliant, and allowed him to depart. It +is delightful to find a few bright flowers of virtue among +the lurid and noxious growth produced by civil war.</p> + +<p>Henry the Fourth rewarded Potier by making him +president of the parliament of Chalons. In that office +he continued during the whole of Henry’s reign. +When the monarch perished by the knife of Ravaillac, +the news was carried to Chalons, accompanied, as is +customary in such cases, by a thousand terrific rumours. +As soon as he heard the lamentable tidings, +René Potier, the president’s son, who was bishop of +Beauvais, hurried to the hall where the parliament +was sitting, and entreated him to quit the place without +delay, in a carriage which he had brought for +the purpose. But the magistrate had more firmness +than the prelate. He answered, in a loud voice, that +the state and the country called on him not to absent +himself on such an emergency, but to die, if needful, +in order to secure the obedience which was due to +Henry the fourth’s son; and he earnestly exhorted +his colleagues not to remove from their seats. It +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">[127]</span>was probably for this opportune act of courage and +fidelity that Mary de Medicis conferred on him the +title of her chancellor.</p> + +<p>Potier lived to the venerable age of ninety-four, preserving +all his faculties to the last. His decease took +place on the 1st of June 1635.</p> + +<p>It has been remarked by French writers, that no +family furnished more magistrates than that of Seguier. +From the first appearance of the name in the parliament +of Toulouse, when that body was originally +formed, in the 14th century, down to the period of the +French revolution, the number amounted to sixty-eight, +of whom many possessed high talents, and consummate +legal knowledge. Peter, the first who bore +that prenomen, is characterised, by the poet Scevola +St. Marthe, as “one of the most brilliant lights of +the temple of the laws,” and in this praise there is +no poetical exaggeration. To this magistrate France +owes eternal gratitude, for his having frustrated the +project of introducing the Inquisition into that country. +He was warned beforehand that he would do +well to avoid venturing too far in his opposition, but +he nobly set the danger at defiance, and he triumphed.</p> + +<p>The six sons who survived him were all of the legal +profession. No monarch ever paid a more graceful +compliment to a subject than that which Henry the +fourth paid to the second Peter, a son of the first, +who became president on the resignation of his father. +The courtiers pressing so closely round the king that +the president could not reach him, Henry held out his +hand to Seguier, and said, “Gentlemen, allow to come +to me my inseparable during my bad fortune, which, +with you, he aided me to surmount. I can answer +for it, that, notwithstanding the business with which +I burthen him, he will always be too much my friend +to neglect me.” In a similar strain he publicly addressed +Anthony, another brother, who was setting off +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">[128]</span>on an embassy to Venice. “You made your way into +my affections,” said he, “in the same manner that I did +into my kingdom, in spite of the resistance and the +slanders of my enemies and enviers.”</p> + +<p>Louis, the fourth brother, was a counsellor of the +parliament, and also dean of the cathedral church of +Nôtre Dame, at Paris. He obtained his release from +the Bastile by paying a large ransom; but he was not +allowed to remain in peace, he being soon after expelled +from the capital by the Leaguers. He was +subsequently sent to Rome, by Henry the fourth, to +negotiate with the pope for the monarch’s absolution. +On his return, he was offered the bishopric of Laon, +which would have given him the elevated and much +coveted rank of duke and peer. Seguier, however, +devoid of ambition, preferred to remain in the humble +station of dean. He died in 1610.</p> + +<p>Gillot, the last of those whom I have mentioned +as having been lodged in the Bastile by Bussi le Clerc, +was certainly entitled to share the fate of his companions, +his attachment to the royal cause being a +matter of notoriety. He was of a noble Burgundian +family, possessed a good fortune, much erudition, and +a valuable library, was connected with most of the +wits and learned men of that period, and assembled +them frequently at his social board, where they conversed +on topics of philosophy and literature. He +had also the higher merit of being beneficent, sincere, +and candid. It was said of him, that he had so benign +a disposition that his sole delight was in obliging. +Gillot was educated for the church, and became dean +of Langres, and canon of the Holy Chapel at Paris; +he was likewise one of the ecclesiastical counsellors, +or judges, in the parliament. His abode in the Bastile +does not appear to have been of long duration; it +is probable that he ransomed himself. For his incarceration +he took an ample revenge, by bearing a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[129]</span>part in writing the admirable satire called “la Satire +Ménippée, ou le Catholicon d’Espagne,” which covered +the Leaguers with ineffaceable ridicule, and is said +to have been more injurious to their cause than the +sword of Henry the fourth. The harangue of the +legate at the opening of the states of the League, and +the laughable idea of the procession of the Leaguers, +are attributed to Gillot. This estimable and talented +man died in 1619.</p> + +<p>The Council of Sixteen, like the Common Council +of Paris in 1792 and 1793, was eager to monopolize +all the power of the state. It carried on a secret correspondence +with the Pope and the Spanish monarch, +and was obviously preparing to subvert the authority +of the duke of Mayenne. In furtherance of its plan, +it resolved to strike the parliament with terror, and of +course render that body subservient, by a decisive +blow. A pretext was furnished by the acquittal of +a person named Brigard, who had been tried on a +charge of corresponding with the royalists. A cry +was immediately raised, that the parliament had violated +its duty, by granting impunity to treason, and +that some measure must be adopted, to prevent the +recurrence of such a crime. Several meetings were +clandestinely held, to decide upon what should be done. +The result was, that on the 15th of November, 1591, +the president Brisson, and the counsellors Larcher and +Tardif, were seized by order of the Sixteen, carried +to prison, and hanged there upon a beam, without +even the semblance of a trial. The bodies, with calumnious +papers attached to them, were then removed +to the Grêve, and publicly exposed on three gibbets.</p> + +<p>This last outrage caused the downfall of the Sixteen. +Mayenne had long been dissatisfied with the +conduct of these turbulent and sanguinary men, and +he was heartily glad of this opportunity to punish +them, and annihilate their political influence. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[130]</span>could do both with safety, as a great majority of the +citizens were shocked and disgusted by the murderous +act which had been committed. The duke was then +with his army at Soissons, where he was expecting to +be joined by the prince of Parma. Leaving his troops +under the command of the young duke of Guise, he +hastened, with three hundred horse and fifteen hundred +foot, to Paris. A few days after his arrival, he +consigned four of the criminals to execution, proscribed +two who had escaped, prohibited, under pain +of death, all secret meetings, and thus put an end for +ever to the tyranny of the council. The partisans +and agents of Spain murmured in private at these decisive +measures, but they were in too feeble a minority +to venture upon doing more.</p> + +<p>Among those who were executed was not Bussi le +Clerc; though, as he had been the most conspicuous actor +in the murders, he richly deserved death. It was +to being governor of the Bastile that he was indebted +for his safety. When Mayenne came to Paris, Bussi +prudently kept within the walls of the fortress; and, +as there were various reasons which made it unadvisable +to besiege him, he was allowed to negociate. On +condition that he should not be punished for his share +in the murder of Brisson, Larcher, and Tardif, and +that he should be at liberty to go wheresoever he +pleased with his property, he agreed to surrender the +Bastile. The first of these articles was faithfully performed; +but with respect to the second he was not so +lucky, for Mayenne’s soldiers deprived him of the +booty which he had made during the civil war. He +retired to Brussels, where, during forty years, he earned +a scanty subsistence, as an obscure teacher of fencing. +The custody of the Bastile was confided, by the duke +of Mayenne, to du Bourg, a brave and trusty officer.</p> + +<p>In 1589, after Henry the fourth’s attempt upon +Paris, when he had little more than the shadow of an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[131]</span>army left, and was obliged to retreat on Normandy, +the Parisians were so confident that the Bearnese would +be brought back a prisoner by the duke of Mayenne, +that the windows in St. Anthony’s-street were hired, +to see him pass along in his way to the Bastile; in +the following year, he held them cooped up within their +walls, suffering the direst extremity of famine; and +now, in 1594, he entered the capital in triumph, as an +acknowledged sovereign, amidst the shouts of the multitude. +It must be owned, however, that for the submission +of Paris, as well as of many other cities, Henry +had to thank his purse rather than his sword. For +giving up Paris, Brissac, the governor, received nearly +seventeen hundred thousand livres. The whole of the +strong places which the king bought, cost him no less +than thirty-two millions of livres, besides governments, +offices, and titles. At dinner, on the day of his entry, +he pointedly alluded to this circumstance, in the presence +of some of the vendors. Nicolas, a jovial poet +and man of wit, was standing by Henry’s chair: “Well,” +said the king to him, “what say you to seeing me here +in Paris?” “Sire,” replied Nicolas, “that which is +Cæsar’s has been rendered unto Cæsar.” “Ventre +saint-gris!” exclaimed Henry in reply, “I have not +been treated at all like Cæsar, for it has not been +rendered to me but sold to me, and at a pretty high +price too.”</p> + +<p>There was, nevertheless, one man among the +Leaguers who was not venal. This was du Bourg, +the governor of the Bastile. His vigilance had recently +frustrated a plot to seize on the fortress, and he +now prepared to defend his charge to the utmost. For +five days he refused to listen to any overtures, and he +even turned his cannon upon the city. But having received +information that it was impossible for Mayenne +to succour him, he consented to capitulate upon honourable +terms. His garrison was allowed to retire with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[132]</span>arms and baggage. Money he refused to accept; nor +would he acknowledge Henry as his master; he had, +he said, given his faith to the duke of Mayenne, and +he would not violate it. With a strange mixture of +ferocity, coarseness, and chivalrous feeling, he added, +that Brissac was a traitor, that he would maintain it in +mortal combat with him before the king, and that he +“would eat his heart in his belly.”</p> + +<p>The circumstances of the times, which rendered it +necessary to reign with some degree of caution, but still +more the generous and clement character of Henry, +for a few years prevented the Bastile from having many +captive inmates. Menaces of sending individuals to it +were occasionally thrown out, but they were not executed. +In 1596, for instance, when, to supply his pressing +wants, Henry had unjustly seized on the money +destined to pay annuitants at the town-hall, we find him +giving vent to a momentary fit of anger, and threatening +whoever should presume to hold what he was +pleased to call seditious language, with respect to this +arbitrary measure. The seditious language, which thus +excited his wrath, was nothing more than a petition, +which a citizen named Carel had drawn up on behalf +of the plundered annuitants.</p> + +<p>There was a moment when the Bastile was on the +point of receiving an illustrious victim; no less a man +than Theodore Agrippa d’Aubigné, the long tried and +faithful friend of Henry, amidst peril and misfortune. +Irritated by d’Aubigné’s restless zeal in the cause of +the hugonots, the king gave Sully an order to arrest +him, but it was soon withdrawn.</p> + +<p>In 1602, Sully was appointed governor of the Bastile. +Since 1597 he had been at the head of the finance department, +and during his able administration, a part of +the Bastile was occupied in a manner such as it had +never before been, nor ever was afterwards. It became +a place of deposit for the yearly surplus of revenue, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[133]</span>which was obtained by the judicious system of the minister. +The amount of the treasure thus accumulated +has been variously estimated, but it was probably about +forty millions of livres. It was designed to be appropriated +to the realising of Henry’s military projects. +The Tour du Trésor is supposed to have derived its +name from its having been the tower in which this +hoard was secured.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Henry IV. continued—Viscount de Tavannes—The marshal +duke of Biron—Faults of Biron—Friendship of Henry IV, +for Biron—La Fin, and his influence over Biron—The duke of +Savoy—Biron’s first treason pardoned—Embassies of Biron—Speech +of Queen Elizabeth to Biron—Discontent among the nobles—Art +of la Fin—Imprisonment of Renazé—La Fin betrays +Biron—Artifices employed to lull Biron into security—Arrest +of Biron, and the count of Auvergne—Conduct of Biron in the +Bastile—His trial—His execution—Respect paid to his remains—Monbarot +sent to the Bastile—The count of Auvergne—He +is sent to the Bastile but soon released—He plots again—Cause +and intent of the conspiracy—He is again arrested—Sentence +of death passed on him, but commuted for imprisonment—He +spends twelve years in the Bastile—Mary of Medicis releases +him—Conspiracy of Merargues—He is executed—Death +of Henry IV.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The first distinguished prisoner of the Bastile, after +the firm establishment of Henry on the throne, was +John de Saulx, viscount de Tavannes, second son of +that marshal who acquired an undying but unenviable +fame during the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He +was born in 1555, and may be said to have been nursed +in a deadly hatred to the protestants. The viscount +accompanied Henry the third to Poland, remained behind +when his master departed, visited the Turkish +frontier provinces, was engaged in various actions, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[134]</span>at length fell into the hands of the Ottomans. He +managed, however, to get free, and, in 1575, he revisited +his native country.</p> + +<p>In the wars between the catholics and the protestants, +Tavannes was an indefatigable scourge of the +latter. On one occasion, while he was governor of +Auxonne, he was in no small danger; he was surprised +and wounded in a church by the enemy, and was confined +in a castle. Yet though the wall was a hundred +feet high, and he was guarded in sight, he contrived to +escape. In the war of the League, against both Henries, +he rendered himself conspicuous by his violence and +perseverance. He proposed to arm the people with +pikes, but this proposal was overruled, on the ground +that it tended to excite in their minds the idea of a +republic. In attempting to relieve Noyon, he was +again made prisoner; he was, however, soon exchanged, +the mother, wife, and two sisters, of the duke of Longueville +being given as an equivalent for him. In 1592, +he was appointed to the government of Burgundy, and +he maintained the contest till 1595, when, being abandoned +by all his companions in the cause, he yielded a +sullen submission to Henry.</p> + +<p>Having refused to join the king at the siege of +Amiens, he was arrested, in 1597, and committed to +the Bastile. Tavannes had certainly a talent for +escaping; we have seen that he twice extricated himself +from confinement, and he now did so for the third +time. By what means he eluded the vigilance of his +jailors does not appear. Henry seems to have cherished +no very strong resentment against the fugitive; for, +instead of placing him in surer custody, he allowed him +to reside unmolested on his estate, where Tavannes +died, about the year 1630. The viscount published a +life of his father, a curious and valuable work; of +which, however, some passages are animated by a spirit +dishonourable to the writer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[135]</span></p> + +<p>That Tavannes, who was long his determined enemy, +and never professed to have become his friend, should +be openly or secretly hostile to him, could excite no +surprise in Henry; but his feelings must have received +a deep wound, when he discovered that he might say, +with the inspired royal psalmist, “Yea, mine own familiar +friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my +bread, hath lifted his heel against me.”</p> + +<p>Charles de Gontaut, duke of Biron, the son of a man +distinguished for his honour, loyalty, valour, and martial +exploits, was born about 1562, and inherited his +father’s warlike spirit, but not his praiseworthy qualities. +In his childhood he was so dull of apprehension +that he could scarcely be taught to read. In his military +studies he must, however, have made early and +extraordinary progress; for at fourteen he was colonel +of the Swiss regiments, and when he was only fifteen, +the command of the army in Guienne was entrusted to +him for some weeks by his father, who had broken one +of his thighs. His religion we may believe to have +hung loosely enough upon him, as he twice changed it +before he reached his sixteenth year.</p> + +<p>There were two crying sins of the age, duelling and +gaming, in which Biron made himself conspicuous. He +was not yet twenty, when he fought a duel with the +prince of Carency, who was a rival suitor to the heiress +of the family of Caumont. Each party had two seconds, +all of whom were in habits of friendship with +each other. It was in a snow-storm, at day break, that +the combatants met; and, by taking their ground so +that the snow drove into the faces of their antagonists, +Biron and his seconds contrived to destroy them. This +triple murder was pardoned by Henry the third, at the +request of the duke of Epernon. As a gamester, Biron +played so deeply, and with such infatuated perseverance, +that he himself said, “I know not whether I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[136]</span>shall die on the scaffold; but, if I do not, I am sure +that I shall die in a workhouse.”</p> + +<p>The scaffold which, with somewhat of a divining +spirit, he seems to have thought his not improbable +doom, was more than once predicted to him. The basis +on which one prediction was built may excite a smile. +“The archbishop of Lyons,” says an old writer, +“judged better than any one else of the nature of men +by their countenances. For having one day curiously +contemplated the features and characters of the marshal +Biron’s face, he pronounced that he had an exceedingly +bad physiognomy, verily that of a man who was +fated to perish wretchedly.” On surer grounds, on a +knowledge of his son’s disposition, his father sometimes +said to him, “Baron,” (that was his early title) “I +advise you to go and plant cabbages on your estate, as +soon as peace is made; for, otherwise, you will certainly +lose your head at the Grêve.”</p> + +<p>The faults of Biron were, indeed, such as to justify +melancholy forebodings with respect to his end. He +was vain, imperious, passionate, restlessly active, so +greedy of praise that he deemed himself robbed of all +that was given to others, so high an estimater of his +own services that he never thought them enough rewarded, +and so reckless of speech that, when he was +in an angry mood, his invectives and reproaches did not +spare even the sovereign. These faults were rendered +more dangerous to him by his habits of profusion, and +the consequent occasional emptiness of his purse, which +laid him open to temptation, especially during his fits +of dissatisfaction and disgust. On the other hand, it +is beyond all doubt that Biron, for some years after +the outset of his career, was devoted to Henry the +fourth; he was eminently intrepid, displayed unwearied +zeal, gave an admirable example of discipline, and was +a consummate master of his profession. “No one,” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[137]</span>said Henry, “has a keener eye in reconnoitring an +enemy, nor a more ready hand at arraying an army.”</p> + +<p>At the battles of Arques, Ivry, and Aumale, at the +sieges of Paris and Rouen, and on various other occasions, +Biron was conspicuous among his fellow chiefs. +His promotion kept pace with his exploits, and he rose +rapidly to the highest dignities. In 1592, Henry appointed +him admiral of France, and, in 1594, a marshal; +on receiving the latter rank he gave up the office +of admiral, which Villars demanded as a part of his +reward for the surrender of Rouen. It has been imagined, +that Biron cherished a rankling resentment for +the deprivation of the admiralship; but this is more than +doubtful: he appears, on the contrary, to have acceded +to it with a good grace. In 1595, he obtained the government +of Burgundy, and his life was saved by Henry, +at the sharp encounter of Fontaine-Française. After +having manifested his wonted military talents at the +siege of Amiens, in 1598, Biron attained the zenith of +his elevation, by being created a duke and peer. When +the deputies of the parliament waited on the king, in +Picardy, to congratulate him on the success of his arms, +he paid to the new-made peer one of those well-turned +compliments by which he so often delighted his warriors +and statesmen. In turning to account that part of +“the cheap defence of nations” which consists in gracefully +bestowing praise, no man was more of a proficient +than Henry. “Gentlemen,” said he to the deputies, +“I introduce to you the Marshal de Biron, whom I present +with equal success to my enemies and my friends.”</p> + +<p>Thenceforth, thanks to his own folly, the star of Biron +gradually declined till it set in blood. He soon became +unsafe to be opposed to the king’s enemies, and +unworthy of being presented to his friends. Vanity +and prodigality were the faults which began his ruin; +the one led him to think that his superlative merit was +inadequately requited, the other caused him to accuse +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[138]</span>Henry of avarice and ingratitude, because the monarch +did not feed his extravagance with boundless supplies. +Biron might, nevertheless, have stopped short of destruction, +had there not been perpetually a tempter at +his ear, whispering sinister councils. His evil genius +was Beauvais La Nocle, sieur de La Fin, a veteran intriguer, +who had spent his life in disturbing the public +peace, and was still in correspondence with Spain, Savoy, +the banished partisans of the League, and the malecontents +in various provinces. He is truly described as +having been “an enterprising, active, insinuating man, +especially skilful in getting on the weak side of those +whom he wished to seduce. Bold with the rash, circumspect +with the prudent, he seemed to give himself +up entirely to his accomplices, that he might provide +for his own safety at their expense.” Henry, who well +knew the character of the man, warned Biron against +him, but the warning was slighted.⁠<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>The peace of Vervins, which relieved France from a +burthensome war, precipitated the fall of Biron. Even +before it was concluded, he had listened to the blandishments +of Spanish emissaries, and had suffered them +to tempt his ambition with the prospect of independent +sovereignty, but he had stopped short on the verge of +disloyalty. While his mind was thus susceptible of +treasonable infection, he was unfortunately despatched +by Henry to Brussels, for the purpose of interchanging, +with the archduke, the customary oaths as to the +faithful performance of the treaty. There he was surrounded +by every imaginable seduction. He was “the +observed of all observers;” the most splendid entertainments +were given, expressly in honour of him; and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[139]</span>he heard nothing but exaggerated praises of his transcendent +valour and skill, insidious expressions of regret +that he should serve a master so blind to his worth, +or so meanly jealous of it, and highly-coloured representations +of the glorious career which he might run, +if he would devote his talents to the cause of the Spanish +sovereign. When it was imagined that his head +was sufficiently turned, a treaty with Philip was proposed +to him. But he was not yet prepared to go thus +far; he would give no more than a vague promise to +join the catholics, in case of their rising against Henry, +and he returned to Paris only half a traitor.</p> + +<p>That which had been begun in the Netherlands was +completed in France. During the troubles of the +League, the duke of Savoy, Charles Emmanuel, had +seized upon the marquisate of Saluzzo. Hitherto he +had held nearly undisturbed possession of it, but +Henry, now that he was relieved from the pressure of +foreign and domestic hostility, resolved to recover a +territory which was of importance from its affording a +passage into Italy. For the same reason, the duke +was anxious to retain it; he could not see without +apprehension and disgust a powerful neighbour constantly +posted within a few miles of his capital. In the +hope of prevailing on Henry to cede the marquisate to +him, the duke adopted the plan of visiting the French +court. Charles Emmanuel had seductive manners, +and a ready eloquence, and he concealed profound +dissimulation under the semblance of openness and +sincerity. Henry, however, though he treated him +with an almost ostentatious kindness and pomp, was +inflexible on the main point, and the duke found himself +under the necessity of signing a disadvantageous +treaty.</p> + +<p>But Charles Emmanuel had not relied solely on the +policy or the generosity of Henry; he knew that the +embers of disaffection were still alive in some of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[140]</span>French nobles, and he hoped to fan them into a flame +which should scorch the monarch. To win the discontented +to his side, he scattered with a lavish hand +his largesses, under the disguise of presents. Though +from some of those whom he tempted he failed to procure +an explicit avowal of their sentiments, he doubted +not that they might be reckoned upon in case of an +explosion; others spoke out more plainly; and Biron +threw himself unreservedly into the arms of the wily +Savoyard. It was partly, perhaps, by ministering to +the marshal’s wants, but much more by rousing his +wrath against the king, that the duke succeeded in +making him a traitor. He artfully communicated to +him some depreciating language which Henry was +said to have used, and the vain and passionate Biron +no longer hesitated to cast off his allegiance. The +reward of his treason was to be the sovereignty of +Burgundy, and the hand of one of Charles Emmanuel’s +daughters. Yet at the moment when he was +rushing headlong into rebellion, he publicly refused to +accept a present of two fine horses from the duke of +Savoy; assigning as the reason, that it would not become +him to receive gifts from a prince between whom +and his own sovereign there were differences existing. +Thus hypocrisy was added to the list of his vices.</p> + +<p>Imagining that the succour which he expected from +the Spanish court, and the movements of the French +malecontents, would render it impossible for Henry to +attack him, Charles Emmanuel, on his return to Turin, +refused to carry the treaty into effect. Henry determined, +therefore, to resort to force. To Biron, of +whose fidelity he did not yet doubt, he offered the +command of the army; and the marshal, in order to +avoid suspicion, was compelled to accept it. All that, +without betraying himself, he could do to shun success, +he did. But the duke of Savoy, relying on his +intrigues, had left his fortresses scantily provided with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[141]</span>the means of defence, and they consequently made only +a feeble resistance, in spite of Biron’s wishes and faulty +measures. It was a fatal circumstance for the Savoyard +prince, that the power of Spain was palsied by the +recent accession of the contemptible Philip the third. +Had the second Philip been alive, the viceroy of Milan, +the count de Fuentes, a deadly foe of Henry, would +probably have led his numerous forces from the Milanese, +and made the contest something like what the +duke had vauntingly threatened to make it, “a forty +years’ affair.” As it was, Fuentes could only recommend +to Biron, to seize the king and send him to +Spain, “where,” said he, contemptuously, “he shall +be well treated, and we will divert him with dancing, +and banquetting among the ladies.” Biron shrank +from this step, yet, in one of his furious outbreaks of +passion, he meditated a fouler crime. At the siege +of fort St. Catherine, knowing that the king was about +to visit the trenches, he sent a message to the governor, +to point his cannon on a certain part of them, and +to place in another a company of musketeers, who +were to fire when a signal was given. But he quickly +repented of his purpose, and kept the king from approaching +the perilous spots.</p> + +<p>Though the marshal renounced the base idea of becoming +the murderer of his sovereign, he did not renounce +his plots against him. La Fin was still employed +in negotiating for him with the count de Fuentes, +and a second treaty was agreed upon at Milan. +It was arranged that the duke of Savoy should sign +a peace, which, however, he was to break as soon as +the French armies were withdrawn, and the Spanish +troops were ready; that the Spanish monarch should +give to the marshal the title of his lieutenant-general, +and secure to him Burgundy, and a princess of Spain +or Savoy; and that, in case of the war being unsuccessful, +he should be indemnified for his loss by the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[142]</span>payment of twelve hundred thousand golden crowns, +and an annuity of a hundred and twenty thousand.</p> + +<p>By this time the suspicions of Henry began to be +awakened with regard to Biron. There were many +circumstances which conspired to rouse them; not one +of the least of which was the incomprehensible apathy +of the duke of Savoy; who, as he scarcely made an +effort to defend himself, must be supposed to look for +deliverance by some unknown means. Rumours, too, +began to be spread of dark and dangerous intrigues; +and it is probable, that the manner in which the military +operations were conducted by the marshal, so unlike +his wonted vigour, was not unremarked. All +this appears to have induced Henry to refuse to give +the government of the citadel of Bourg to Biron, who +urgently requested it. There can be no doubt that +Biron wished to be master of this citadel solely to +enable him the better to act in concert with Charles +Emmanuel; yet he considered as an inexpiable insult +the king’s refusal to grant it.</p> + +<p>No longer doubting that the marshal had become +entangled in dangerous projects, and anxious to save +a man whom he loved, Henry took the step of coming +to a personal explanation with him. Taking Biron +aside, in the cloister of the Cordeliers, at Lyons, he +questioned him as to the purpose and cause of the +correspondence which he carried on with the enemies +of the state, promising, at the same time, a full pardon +for all past errors. Thus caught by surprise and +pressed, the marshal could not wholly deny his fault, +but he described it so as to make it appear only venial, +suppressed every thing that it was important for the +king to know, and affirmed that, though he was +tempted by the prospect of marrying a princess of +Savoy, he should never for a moment have wavered +in his duty had he not been refused the government +of the citadel of Bourg. Without seeking to penetrate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[143]</span>deeper into the mystery, Henry embraced him, +and said, “Well, marshal, do you think no more about +Bourg, and, for my part, I will never remember what +has occurred.” The king, however, hinted that a +relapse would be productive of dangerous effects.</p> + +<p>In the following year, 1601, Biron was sent as ambassador +to England, to announce to Elizabeth the +marriage of Henry. He was accompanied by the +counts of Auvergne and Chateauroux, the marquis de +Créqui, and a splendid train of a hundred and fifty +gentlemen. Elizabeth received him in the most flattering +manner; but there was one of her conversations +with him which might well have excited ominous +thoughts in his mind. Essex had recently suffered. +Speaking of that nobleman, she said, “I raised him +to the most eminent dignities, and he enjoyed all my +favour; but the rash man had the audacity to imagine +that I could not do without him. His too prosperous +fortune and his ambition rendered him haughty, +perfidious, and the more criminal from his having +seemed to be virtuous. He suffered a just punishment; +and if the king my brother would take my +advice, he would act at Paris as I have done here. +He ought to sacrifice to his safety all the rebels and +traitors. God grant that his clemency may not prove +fatal to him. For my part, I will never show any +mercy to those who dare to disturb the peace of the +realm.” Biron must surely have felt his heart sink +within him, when he heard this language, which, in +all ways, was so applicable to himself. It is said, and +we may easily believe it, that he omitted to mention +this speech, when he gave an account of his embassy.</p> + +<p>The forbearance of Henry, and the lesson of Elizabeth, +were alike powerless to check the downward career +of the infatuated Biron. His treasonable practices +were still persevered in. After his return from England, +he was sent as ambassador, to Soleure, to ratify +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[144]</span>a treaty with the Swiss, and, on his way thither, he had +a four hours’ conversation with Watteville, the duke of +Savoy’s agent. Instead of proceeding to Paris, to +render an account of his mission, he stayed at Dijon, +the capital of his government, where the violent and +insulting language in which he spoke of the king, gave +abundant proof that little reliance could be placed upon +his fidelity. In the meanwhile, various parts of the +kingdom, particularly Poitou, the Limousin, and Périgord, +in the last of which provinces the marshal had +numerous partisans and vassals, were thrown into a +ferment by insidious reports of Henry’s tyrannical intentions. +Among the nobles also discontent was at +work; the duke of Bouillon and the count of Auvergne +were the principal malecontents. The provinces Henry +quieted, by the kindness which he displayed in a journey +through them; the nobles were not so easily to +be reclaimed. It was obvious that a speech which the +duke of Savoy made, after his leaving France, was +not a mere idle vaunt. His friends rallying him on +his failure, and alluding to the season at which he came +home, told him that he had brought nothing but mud +back from France. “If I have put my feet into the +mud,” replied the duke, “I have put them in so far, +and have left such deep marks behind, that France will +never efface them.”</p> + +<p>While, within the kingdom, men’s minds were in this +uneasy state, the news from without was by no means +consolatory. Philip Dufresne Canaye, the French +ambassador at Venice, was laudably active in procuring +information of all movements among the Italian +powers, by which his country might be affected. He +learned that, while throughout Italy the utmost pains +were taken to blacken the character and depreciate the +resources of Henry, French subjects, disguised, were +busy at Turin and Milan, and that they had frequent +nocturnal interviews with the ministers of the two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[145]</span>courts. He described minutely the features, demeanour +and dress of these emissaries, and offered to +have one of them seized, and carried off to France, if a +small remittance were sent to him. Some strange lethargy +seems to have come over the king and the +French ministry at this moment; for they not only +refused the money which was required, but even failed +to send that which was indispensable for the payment +of his spies.</p> + +<p>From this ill-timed slumber they would probably +have been startled up by a fatal explosion, had not the +catastrophe been averted by a disclosure of nearly all +that related to the plot which had so long been carried +on. The terrible secret was divulged by that very +La Fin who had so largely contributed to lead Biron +astray. La Fin’s first feeling of alienation from the +great conspirator is supposed to have arisen out of the +only act for which, during a considerable period, the +marshal had been deserving of praise. From Biron’s +sudden abandonment of the plan to kill the king, in the +trenches of fort St. Catherine, his confident drew the +conclusion that his firmness was not to be relied upon, +and that consequently, at some time or other, he might +bring ruin upon those who were connected with him. +That he might have the means of shielding himself +in case of such an event, he immediately began +to preserve all the papers that passed through his +hands; and when the marshal desired him to burn any +of them before his face, he, by a dextrous sleight, contrived +to throw others into the fire in their stead.</p> + +<p>Still La Fin continued to be employed in his perilous +office of a negociator. It is probable, however, that, +now his fears were excited, and it was become a main +object with him to keep open a door for escape, he did +not display the same alacrity and zeal as before. Biron +did not suspect him, but the more cautious and penetrating +count de Fuentes did; and his suspicions are +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[146]</span>said to have been strengthened by some words which +dropped from La Fin. Those suspicions the count +took especial care to conceal from the person who had +inspired them. “Dead men,” says the proverb, “tell +no tales;” and the case is much the same with men +entombed alive in a dungeon. Fuentes thought it prudent +to provide against the danger of a betrayal, by +getting rid of La Fin. In order to effect this, he found +a pretext for requesting him to pass through Piedmont, +on his way to France. Either La Fin had some misgiving +as to the intention of the Spanish viceroy, or +chance served him well; for, instead of going himself +to Turin, he took the road through Switzerland, and +sent Renazé, his confidential secretary, to the duke of +Savoy. Renazé was immediately arrested, and carried +to the castle of Chiari. It was in vain that La +Fin strove to interest the marshal in behalf of the secretary; +Biron spoke coldly of the captive, as a man +who must be sacrificed for the safety of the rest; and +he is said even to have advised his confidant to take +secret measures for effectually silencing all who had +been the companions of his travels, or could give any +clue to his proceedings. Already, though he seems +not to have had the slightest idea that La Fin would be +unfaithful to him, he had deemed it politic to transfer +his dangerous confidence to the baron de Luz, his cousin, +and two subordinate agents. Of this La Fin obtained +information; and it did not tend to quiet his +fears. It might be thought advisable to make him +share the fate of Renazé. But, even supposing this +not to happen, he saw plainly that the violent conduct +of Biron towards the king must inevitably soon bring +matters to extremities, and that, if the conspirators +failed, which it was highly probable they would, his own +life would be periled beyond redemption. His nephew, +the vidame of Chartres, was also urgent with him to +secure his head while there was yet an opportunity.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[147]</span></p> + +<p>La Fin at length passed the Rubicon. He made +known to the king, that he had momentous secrets to +communicate. In reply, he was told, that he should +be rewarded for this service; but he stipulated only +for pardon, and it was readily granted. The whole of +the proofs of Biron’s guilt were then placed by him in +the hands of Henry, who was deeply afflicted by these +convincing testimonies of the marshal’s treason.</p> + +<p>Justice seems to be degraded, and almost to change +its nature, when its purpose is attained by fraudulent +means. The net was spread for Biron, but in quieting +his fears, and luring him into it, a scene of trickery and +falsehood was exhibited, which cannot be contemplated +without pain. Sully had set a better example, by a +stratagem which is not amenable to censure. To prevent +Biron from maintaining a war in Burgundy, the +minister prudently withdrew from the fortresses of that +province the greatest part of the cannon and gunpowder, +on the plea that the former were damaged and +ought to be recast, and the latter was weakened by age, +and must be re-manufactured, and he took care not to +replace them. The right arm of Biron’s strength was +thus cut off. The marshal, nevertheless, might still +take flight; he had more than once evaded a summons +to confer with Henry; and it was of primary importance +to secure his person. As alarm might be excited +by La Fin journeying to court, he was instructed to +write to the marshal, that the king had required his +presence, that he could not refuse to comply without +giving rise to surmises; and that nothing should drop +from his lips which could prejudice his friend. In the +allusions which it made, and the caution which it recommended, +the reply of Biron furnished additional +evidence of his guilt. The monarch, too, played his +part in the deception. To the baron de Luz, who had +been sent from Burgundy to observe what was going +on, and was about to return to that province, he spoke +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[148]</span>of the marshal in terms of kindness, and declared that +his heart was lightened by a conversation which he had +held with La Fin, as it proved that many of the charges +brought against Biron were wholly unfounded. La +Fin, at the same time, assured the marshal that the +king was entirely satisfied, and would receive him with +open arms. Deluded by these artifices, Biron determined +to join Henry at Fontainebleau, notwithstanding +that the incredulous de Luz, and others of his adherents, +strenuously endeavoured to dissuade him. Various circumstances, +ominous of evil, are said to have preceded +his departure. On his road he received more than +one warning from his well-wishers, but he spurned +them all, and proceeded to Fontainebleau. As he was +descending from his horse, he was saluted by the traitorous +La Fin, who whispered, “Courage and wary +speech, my master! they know nothing.” His belief +in these words consummated the ruin of Biron.</p> + +<p>In spite of Biron’s faults, the heart of Henry still +yearned towards him. Though he could not greet the +offender with his customary warmth and frankness, he +received him graciously, and led him through the palace, +pointing out the improvements which had been made. +At length he touched upon the delicate subject of the +marshal’s deviation from the path of duty. He hinted +that he had incontrovertible proof, but assured him +that an honest confession would cancel every thing, and +replace him on the summit of favour. Misled by his +pride, and the fatal mistake that his secret was safe, +Biron, instead of seizing this opportunity to extricate +himself from danger, was mad enough to assume the +lofty tone of conscious and wronged innocence; studiously +cold in his general manner, he sometimes verged +upon insolence, and he loudly declared, that he came +not to justify his conduct, but to demand vengeance +upon those who had slandered him, or, if need were, to +take it. Twice more, in the course of the day—once +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[149]</span>in person, and once through Biron’s friend, the count of +Soissons—Henry renewed his efforts, and was haughtily +repulsed. On the morrow the monarch returned to +the charge, and made other two attempts to save the +marshal from the gulf which was opening to receive +him. Oblivion for the past, friendship for the future, +were earnestly offered to his acceptance. But Biron +was like the deaf adder; he even broke out into a fit of +passion on being pressed for the last time; and Henry +was reluctantly compelled to resign him to his fate.</p> + +<p>It is probable that the king would have borne with +Biron for a while longer, had not the terrors, entreaties, +and tears of his consort, impelled him to decisive measures. +Mary of Medicis believed, that it was a part +of the policy of Spain to cut off the royal family, and +she shuddered at the idea of what, in the case of a minority, +might happen to herself and her offspring, from +the hostility of a man who was in all ways so formidable +as Biron. The king himself had already betrayed +the same apprehension to Sully. After having, +in melancholy terms, confessed his lingering affection +for the marshal, he added, “But all my dread is, that +were I to pardon him, he would never pardon me, or +my children, or my kingdom.” The gates of mercy +were in consequence shut upon the dangerous criminal.</p> + +<p>Biron had been in the habit of contemptuously +reflecting upon the character of Essex, for what he +considered as a cowardly surrender, and of maintaining +that a man of spirit ought rather to suffer himself +to be cut to pieces, than run the risk of dying by the +headsman’s axe. The time was now come when it was +to be seen whether he could practise his own doctrine. +It was midnight when he quitted the presence of the +king. Every thing had been prepared for his arrest, +and that of the count of Auvergne, who was suspected +of sharing in the treason. The latter nobleman was +taken into custody by Praslin, at the palace gate. No +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[150]</span>sooner had Biron passed out of the ante-chamber than +Vitry, the captain of the guard, seized the marshal’s +arm, informed him that he was a prisoner, and demanded +his sword. At first he supposed it to be a jest; +and, when he was undeceived, he desired to see +the king, that he might deliver the weapon into his +hands. He was told that Henry could not be seen, +and his sword was again required. “What!” exclaimed +he furiously, “take the sword from me, who +have served the king so well! My sword, which ended +the war, and gave peace to France! Shall the sword +which my enemies could not wrest from me be taken by +my friends!” At length he submitted. When he was +led along the gallery, through a double line of guards, he +imagined that he was going to execution, and he wildly +cried out, “Companions! give me time to pray to +God, and put into my hand a firebrand, or a candlestick, +that I may at least have the comfort to die while I am +defending myself.” When, however, he found that he +was in no instant danger, he meanly endeavoured to +irritate the soldiers against the king, by saying to them, +“You see how good catholics are treated!” He passed +a sleepless and agitated night, pacing about his chamber, +striking the walls, raving to himself, and occasionally +to the sentinels, pouring forth invectives and imprecations, +and sometimes with singular imprudence +striving to seduce a valet de chambre of the king, who +watched him, to write to his secretaries, directing them +to keep out of the way, and to maintain, in case of +their being taken and questioned, that he never had +carried on any correspondence in cipher.</p> + +<p>From Fontainebleau the prisoners were conveyed by +water to the Bastile. During the passage, Biron was +lost in gloomy reverie, and when he entered within the +walls of the prison his mind was racked with the worst +forebodings. Nor were the circumstances attendant +on his abode in the Bastile at all of a nature to raise +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[151]</span>his spirits. Placed in the chamber whence the constable +St. Pol had passed to the scaffold, watched with +lynx-eyed vigilance, and so carefully kept from weapons +that he was allowed only a blunted knife at his meals, +he could not help exclaiming, “This is the road to the +Grêve.” While he was in this disturbed state, superstitious +weakness is said to have lent its aid to complete his +distraction. He was told that the Parisian executioner +was a native of Burgundy; and it instantly flashed +into his recollection, that having shown to la Brosse, +an astrologer, his own horoscope under another person’s +name, the wizard predicted the beheading of the +person; and that Cesar, a pretended magician, of +whom more will be seen in the next chapter, had said, +that “a single blow given behind by a Burgundian +would prevent him from attaining royalty.” The +shock seems for the moment to have utterly deprived +him of his senses. Refusing to eat, or drink, or sleep, +he incessantly raved, threatened, and blasphemed. A +visit from the archbishop of Bourges, who came to +offer the consolations of religion, and who gave him +some hopes of mercy on earth, rendered Biron less +violent. At the prisoner’s request, Villeroi and Silleri, +two of the king’s ministers, also visited him; and, +either that his brain was still wandering, or that he +thought to establish a claim to pardon by appearing to +make important discoveries, or that he was prompted +by a malignant wish to involve in his own ruin those +whom he hated, he is said to have charged, and in the +strongest terms, a number of innocent persons with +being engaged in treasonable practices. Whatever +was his motive, his purpose was frustrated; Henry did +not thirst for blood; and it has been remarked, that +the documents which, on the trial, were brought forward +against the culprit, were not those that most +forcibly criminated him, but those which criminated +him alone.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[152]</span></p> + +<p>While Biron was thus the sport of his unruly passions, +his friends were actively employed in endeavouring +to save him. Henry had returned to the capital, +amidst the shouts and congratulations of his subjects. +Soon after his arrival, many of the nobles, some of +whom were of Biron’s nearest kindred, waited upon +the king, to intercede for the criminal. The duke of +la Force was their spokesman; he spoke on his knees, +and, though Henry desired him to rise, he retained +that posture. He pleaded the services of the culprit +and his father, the divine command to forgive our enemies, +the pardon which the king had extended to others, +and, especially, the deep indelible stain which would be +thrown upon the family by a public execution; and, as +far as was possible, he laboured to extenuate the marshal’s +guilt, by representing that it arose from the +warmth of his temper, and had never been carried beyond +mere intention. There was one point in the +duke’s speech which it was, perhaps, impolitic in him +to urge; that in which he stated himself to speak in +the name of a hundred thousand men, who had served +under Biron. This was begging too much in the style +of the Spanish beggar in Gil Blas, and was not calculated +to propitiate a man like Henry.</p> + +<p>The monarch answered temperately, and even kindly, +but with due firmness. Reminding them that he did not +resemble some of his predecessors, who would not suffer +parents to sue for their children on such an occasion, +he declared that the mercy for which they asked +would, in fact, be the worst of cruelty. He alluded to +the love which he had always borne to Biron, and told +them, that had the offence been only against himself he +would willingly have forgiven it, and did forgive it as +far as related to his person, but that the safety of his +children and of the whole kingdom was implicated, and +he must perform his duty to them. With respect to +the disgrace which it was feared would attach to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[153]</span>relatives of the culprit, he treated the fear as a visionary +one; he was, he said, himself descended from the constable +St. Pol and the Armagnacs, who suffered on a scaffold, +yet he did not feel dishonoured. In conclusion, he +assured them that, far from depriving the marshal’s kindred +of the titles and offices which they possessed, he +was much more inclined to add to the number, so +long as they continued to serve the state with fidelity +and zeal.</p> + +<p>The king having authorized the parliament to proceed +to trial, a deputation from that body, with the +first president Harlay at its head, went to the Bastile, +to take the necessary examinations, and confront +the witnesses. With only one exception, which exception +the internal evidence supplied by the papers +soon obliged him to retract, Biron recognized all the +letters and memorials which were shown to him; but +he strove to put an innocent construction upon them, +and, as they were written in a studiously ambiguous +style, he might have thrown doubts upon the subject, +had they been unsupported by oral testimony. In +this stage of the business, he was asked what was his +opinion of la Fin? Still believing that person to be +true to him, he replied that he was “an honourable +gentleman, a good man, and his friend.” The depositions +of la Fin were then read, and he was brought +face to face with the prisoner. The marshal now +burst out into the most furious abuse of the man +whom, but a moment before, he had declared to be +his honourable and worthy friend. “O good God!” +exclaims a contemporary chronicler, “what said he, +and what did he not say! With what more atrocious +revilings could he have torn to pieces the character of +the most execrable being in the world! With what +more horrible protestations, with what more terrible +oaths, could he have called upon men, angels, and +God himself, to be the witnesses and judges of his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[154]</span>innocence!” La Fin, however, stood his ground +against the storm of invective; and supported his evidence +by corroborative circumstances, and additional +documents in the prisoner’s handwriting. It seemed +as though every thing conspired against Biron at this +dreadful moment. “If Renazé,” said he, “were here, +he would prove La Fin to be a liar.” To his utter +surprise and consternation, the witness whom he had +invoked, but whom he imagined to be dead, was suddenly +brought forward, and amply confirmed the whole +of La Fin’s story. On the very day that Biron was +arrested, Renazé contrived to escape from the castle +of Chiari, and he now sealed the fate of the marshal. +Driven to his last resource, Biron pleaded the pardon +which was granted to him at Lyons, and protested +that, since he received it, he had never entertained +any criminal designs. In this plea he was no less +unfortunate than in the others. From his own incautious +avowal, it was gathered that he did not make +a full confession to the king; and one of his letters +showed that he had continued to plot for many months +after the monarch had forgiven him.</p> + +<p>The preliminary proceedings being completed, three +days were occupied by the parliament in going over +the mass of evidence, and hearing the summing up +of the attorney general. The courts of justice, in +those times, always commenced their sittings at an +early hour. Between five and six o’clock, on the +morning of the fourth day, Biron, closely guarded, +was taken by water to the hall of the parliament, +where a hundred and twelve of the members were in +waiting to receive him; the peers had unanimously +refused to sit upon his trial. At the sight of this +array of judges he changed colour, but he soon recovered +his self-possession, and is said to have assumed +a kind of theatrical air which was scarcely decorous. +A contemporary describes him as rudely bidding the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[155]</span>chancellor speak louder, and as “putting forward his +right foot, holding his mantle under his arm, with his +hand on his side, and raising his other hand to heaven, +and smiting his breast with it, whenever he called +upon God and the celestial beings to be witnesses of +his integrity in the service of the king and kingdom.”</p> + +<p>The whole of the crimes attributed to him had been +arranged under five heads, concerning which he was +interrogated by the chancellor. The questioning and +defence of Biron lasted between four and five hours, +and it must be owned that, in this final struggle for +life and reputation, he made a noble stand. Though, +in the course of a long speech, he sometimes became +entangled in contradictions, its general tenor was well +calculated to produce a favourable effect; at moments +he was even eloquent, and worked strongly on the +feelings of his auditors. Much he denied, and what +he could not deny he palliated; with respect to the +treasons charged against him, he was, he said, the seduced +and not the seducer, a man not deliberately +wicked, but led astray by hateful intriguers, who +wrought his violent passions into frenzy, by representing +that the monarch had undervalued and insulted +him—a representation which seemed to be confirmed +by his being refused the government of Bourg; he +pleaded that his errors had gone no farther than intention, +that they had been fully and freely pardoned, +and had never been repeated; he urged his numerous +and eminent services as a counterbalance to his faults, +and the mercy which had uniformly been shown to +far worse offenders as a reason why it should be extended +to him; and he repelled, as an infamous calumny, +the accusation of having intended to bring +about the death of Henry—yet, imprudent as such +language was, he could not forbear from broadly hinting +that the monarch was fickle, unjust, and cruel: +“I rely more upon you, gentlemen,” said he, “than I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[156]</span>do upon the king, who, having formerly looked on me +with the eyes of his affection, no longer sees me but +with the eye of his hatred, and thinks it a virtue to be +cruel to me, and a fault to exercise towards me an act +of clemency.” At the close of his speech, few of his +hearers were unmoved, but all were unconvinced.</p> + +<p>The most curious part of his defence is yet to be +mentioned. If he did not spare his sovereign, it is not +to be supposed that he would spare La Fin. Whenever +he mentioned him he could not restrain his fury, +but gave vent to a flood of abuse. Coining, and an +unnatural regard for Renazé, were among the numerous +crimes which he imputed to him. Strange that +he did not perceive the folly of thus vituperating a +man, whom he had so recently recognized as his honourable +and worthy friend, and whose sins, if they +really existed, he must then have known! But this +was not all. For his vindication he mainly trusted to +one plea—that he had not been a free agent, that he +was under the irresistible influence of La Fin, who +was a sorcerer, and had dealings with the devil. He +averred, seriously, that La Fin was in the habit of +breathing on him, biting his ear, and kissing his left +eye, and calling him his master, his lord, his prince, +and his king; that whenever his eye was kissed he +felt a tendency to do evil; that the magician also +enchanted him by making him drink charmed waters; +and that he showed him waxen images which moved +and spoke, and one of which pronounced, in Latin, +the words “impious king, thou shalt perish!” “If +by magic he could give voice to an inanimate body,” +said he, “is it wonderful that he should have such +power over me as to bend my will to an entire conformity +with his own?”</p> + +<p>Deceived by the compassion which some of his +judges had manifested, Biron cherished the flattering +hope of an acquittal. His spirits were so elated by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[157]</span>this idea, that he amused himself with repeating to his +guards various portions of his defence, and mimicking +the gestures and speeches which he supposed the +chancellor to have made in the course of the subsequent +proceedings. His vanity, too, contributed to +buoy him up. He ran over, in conversation, the list +of French commanders, found some defect in each of +them, and thence concluded that, as his military talents +were obviously indispensable to the state, his life +was secure.</p> + +<p>The termination of that life was, nevertheless, rapidly +approaching. By an unanimous vote, on the +day after his appearance at their bar, the parliament +pronounced Biron guilty of high treason, and condemned +him to lose his head on the Grêve. The place +of execution was changed by the king to the interior +of the Bastile, at the request, it was said, of the criminal’s +friends; but partly, perhaps, in the fear that a +popular commotion might occur, and partly because a +report was spread, that some of his domestics intended +to throw a sword to him on the scaffold, that he might +at least have the chance of dying an honourable death. +It was wise not to run the risk of encountering his +despair.</p> + +<p>The first intimation which Biron received of his +impending doom, was from seeing that crowds were +gathering together in the neighbourhood of the Bastile. +The change of time and place had not been publicly +made known. “I am sentenced! I am a dead +man!” he instantly exclaimed. He then sent a messenger +to Sully, to request that he would come to him, +or would intercede with the king. With these requests +Sully declined to comply, but he desired the messenger +to leave the marshal in doubt as to the king’s intention. +On the following morning, the last day of July, 1602, +the chancellor, accompanied by some of his officers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[158]</span>proceeded to the Bastile, to read the sentence to him, +and announce its immediate execution. Biron was at +the moment deeply engaged in calculating his nativity. +When he was taken down to the chancellor, he addressed +him in an unconnected rhapsody of prayers, +lamentations, invectives, and reproaches, intermingled +with protestations of innocence, and vaunts of the services +which he was yet capable of rendering to the state. +He besought that he might be suffered to live, even +though it were in prison and in chains! It was a considerable +time before the chancellor could obtain a +hearing, and he was speedily interrupted by sallies of +rage from the marshal, who reproached him with hardness +of heart, execrated La Fin, accused the king of +being revengeful, and the parliament of injustice in not +having allowed sufficient time for his vindication, and, +finally, asserted that he was put to death because he +was a sincere catholic.</p> + +<p>This burst of insane passion was succeeded by a lucid +interval, during which he calmly dictated his will, sent +tokens of remembrance to his friends, and distributed +in alms the money which he had about him. The +reading of some parts of his sentence again roused his +irritable feelings. When he heard the charge of having +intended to destroy the king, he exclaimed, “That +is false! blot it out!” and when the Grêve was mentioned, +he declared that no power on earth should drag +him thither, and that he would sooner be torn to pieces +by wild horses than submit to such an indignity. He +was quieted by being told of the change which had been +made; but, when it was hinted to him that his arms +must be bound, he relapsed into such violence that it +was thought advisable to leave his hands at liberty. +He then made his confession to the priest; and it was +remarked that he, who had just before boasted of being +a good catholic, was ignorant of the commonest forms +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[159]</span>of prayer, prayed more like a soldier than a Christian, +and seemed to be thinking less of his salvation than of +the things of this world.</p> + +<p>It being now near five o’clock, the hour which was +appointed for the execution, he was informed that he +must descend into the court of the prison. As he was +quitting the chapel, he caught sight of the executioner. +“Begone!” vociferated he: “touch me not till it is +time; if you come near me till then, I swear that I +will strangle you!” He twice repeated the command +and the threat when he was at the scaffold. Looking +round on the soldiers, he mournfully said, “Would +but some one of you fire his musket through my body, +how thankful I should be! What misery it is to die +so wretchedly, and by so shameful a blow!” The +sentence was then read again, and again he lost all +patience at being accused of planning Henry’s death. +It was with much difficulty that the clerk of the parliament +completed the reading of the sentence, his voice +being almost drowned by the clamour of the prisoner. +Thrice Biron tied a handkerchief over his eyes, and +as often he tore it off again, and once more he vented +his rage on the executioner, who had maddened him +by wishing to cut off his hair behind. “Touch me +not,” he cried, “except with the sword. If you lay hands +on me while I am alive, if I am driven into a fury, I +will strangle half the folks that are here, and compel +the rest to kill me.” So terrible were his looks and +his tone, that several of the persons present were on +the point of taking flight. It was believed that he +meditated seizing the death-sword, but the executioner +had prudently desired his attendant to conceal it till +it was wanted. At last, after long delay, the marshal +requested Baranton, one of the officers of the Bastile, +to bandage his eyes and tuck up his hair; and, when +this was done, he laid his head upon the block. “Be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[160]</span>quick! be quick!” were his last words, and they were +promptly obeyed. They were scarcely out of the mouth +of the speaker when the sword descended, and by a +single blow Biron ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>The remains of Biron were interred in the church +of St. Paul. Not only was his funeral followed by +multitudes, but multitudes visited the church afterwards, +for the purpose of sprinkling his grave with +holy water. “Never was there a tomb,” says de Thou, +“on which so much holy water was poured; a circumstance +rather disagreeable to the court, which was vexed +to see that a step which all ought to have deemed necessary +for the safety of the king and state, was so +wrongly interpreted as to become a subject of public +dissatisfaction.”</p> + +<p>Almost the last wish of Biron was for vengeance on +La Fin; the wish was gratified. After a lapse of four +years, La Fin ventured to visit Paris. In the middle +of the day, and in the centre of the capital, he was attacked +by twelve or fifteen well-mounted men, who unhorsed +him, and stretched him on the ground, weltering +in his blood. Several passengers were killed or +wounded by the random firing. The perpetrators of +this deed, though not unknown, were never brought +to justice. La Fin himself was undeserving of pity; +but his murderers, even had he been the only victim, +ought to have been shortened by the head.</p> + +<p>Faithless to a sovereign who had lavished kindness +and honours upon him, borne with his caprices and errors, +and more than once saved his life on the field of +battle, Biron was rightfully punished; but the severity +which, on very slight grounds of suspicion, was shown +to René de Marc, sieur de Monbarot, seems to impeach +the justice of Henry. When, however, we recollect, +that his mind was painfully agitated by the plots +which were thickening round him, we may, perhaps, be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[161]</span>inclined to pity rather than blame the monarch, that, +in one instance, its natural bias towards lenity was +turned aside.</p> + +<p>In the bay of Douarnenez, off the Breton coast, there +is an islet, called Tristan, or Frimeau, which commands +the entrance to the harbour of Douarnenez. The government +of it was held by the baron de Fontanelles, +who, during the war of the League, had rendered himself +notorious by his activity in plundering. Not being +any longer able to gratify his rapacity in this manner, +he sought for other resources, and hoped he had found +them in becoming an accomplice of Biron, and in opening +a negotiation with the Spaniards, to deliver up to +them the island and the neighbouring town. This +would have put Spain into possession of a very annoying +post in Britanny. Fortunately his treason was discovered, +and he was sentenced to be broken on the wheel. +Three other persons, two of whom were Bretons, participated +in his guilt, and the latter were executed.</p> + +<p>Before the accomplices of Fontanelles were led to +the scaffold, they were put to the torture, and, while +they were writhing under that iniquitous infliction, +something dropped from them which was construed +into an implication of Monbarot, who was governor of +Rennes. Monbarot had done good service against the +duke of Mercœur, during the war of the League, and, +since the peace, he had made strenuous exertions to +maintain the royal authority in Britanny. All this +was, nevertheless, insufficient to save him from being +suspected of treasonable designs, and immured in +the Bastile.</p> + +<p>Monbarot languished in prison for three years—and +to a solitary captive years are ages. He would, perhaps, +have remained there during a much longer period, +had not filial love been a persevering suitor for him. +His only son repeatedly solicited the king to set his +parent free; and, failing to obtain that boon, he entreated +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[162]</span>that he might be allowed to lighten his sorrows, +by sharing his captivity. At length, Monbarot’s enemies +having failed to procure any proof whatever against +him, he was liberated by Henry. But, though he was +declared to be innocent, he was punished as though he +were guilty. Instead of being, as far as was possible, +compensated for three years of suffering, he was deprived +of the government of Rennes, which was given +to Philip de Bethune, Sully’s younger brother. It is +probable, indeed, that the persecution of Monbarot was +set on foot for the sole purpose of wresting from him +his coveted office.</p> + +<p>Charles of Valois, count of Auvergne, who was afterwards +known as duke of Angoulême, was a son of Charles +the ninth, by Maria Touchet, and was born in 1573. +He was admitted a knight of Malta, and became grand +prior of France; but Catherine of Medicis having bequeathed +to him the counties of Auvergne and Lauragais, +he quitted the order of Malta, and married a +daughter of the constable Montmorenci. Charles was +one of the first to join Henry of Navarre, on the accession +of that prince, and he fought valiantly for him at +Arques, Ivry, and Fontaine Française. In the course +of a few years, however, his loyalty evaporated, and we +find him an accomplice of Biron. When he was arrested, +his pleasantry and presence of mind did not +forsake him. On Praslin demanding his sword, he +laughingly said, “Here it is; it has never killed any +thing but wild boars. If you had given me a hint of +this business, I should have been in bed and asleep +two hours ago.” He preserved the same gay humour +while he was in prison. In October he was released, +after having disclosed the whole that he knew of the +conspiracy. As, however, the king had procured the +same information from other quarters, Auvergne would +probably have been severely punished but for two favourable +circumstances—he was the half brother of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[163]</span>the king’s mistress, the marchioness of Verneuil, and +he had been particularly recommended to him by Henry +the third, when that monarch was on his death-bed.</p> + +<p>A very short time elapsed before Auvergne was +again involved in treasonable projects. His confederates +were the marchioness of Verneuil, her father, +Francis de Balsac d’Entragues, and an Englishman +named Thomas Morgan. The duke of Bouillon, and +other nobles, were also ready to lend their aid. The +marchioness, who, in consequence of the promise of +marriage which the king had given to her during the +insanity of his passion, affected to consider herself as +his wife, was irritated by the birth of a dauphin, which +seemed to shut out the possibility of her son ever possessing +what she called his right. D’Entragues was +deeply wounded in his feelings, by the stain which +Henry’s licentious love for his daughter had cast upon +him. Some writers,—who appear to suppose that a +French father could not think himself dishonoured by +his child becoming a king’s concubine,—throw doubts +on the sincerity of d’Entragues’ indignation; but I can +see no real grounds for their so doing. There is an +air of sincerity, in what he says upon this subject, which +is greatly in his favour. After touching upon the ingratitude +with which his faithful services had been repaid, +he adds, “Borne down by years and maladies, I +was condemned to suffer more deadly blows from blind +fortune. My daughter, the sole consolation of my old +age, pleased the king, and this last stroke completed +my misery. Grief aggravated my maladies, and still +more intense mental anguish was joined to the pains +which my body endured. I found myself exposed to +all the gibes of the courtiers, and that which generally +constitutes the happiness of a father, and which ought +to have formed the glory and felicity of my family, +was, on the contrary, the cause of my shame, of the +dishonour of my house, and of the insulting scorn with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[164]</span>which I was overwhelmed.” As often as he implored +for leave to withdraw from court he was refused, and +at length he was forbidden to see his daughter. Not +content with inflicting these wrongs upon him, Henry +was striving to seduce his second daughter also. Assuredly +if such injuries are not sufficient to rouse the +wrath of a father, it is difficult to imagine what would +be. That d’Entragues keenly felt them is certain; for +he more than once endeavoured to intercept and kill +the king, while he was on his way to the marchioness, +and to her sister, and Henry is said to have narrowly +escaped. The design to assassinate is indefensible; +but it at least proves that the father was in earnest. +At a subsequent period, Henry said to d’Entragues, “Is +it true, as is reported, that you meant to kill me?” +“Yes, Sire,” replied the undaunted noble, “and the +idea will never be out of my mind, while your majesty +persists to blot my honour in the person of my +daughter.”</p> + +<p>The particulars of the conspiracy are very imperfectly +known. It is said the principal stipulations of +the treaty with Spain were, that Philip should recognise +as dauphin the natural son of Henry by the marchioness +of Verneuil, on her putting him into his hands; +that, in the first instance, the mother and child should +seek refuge at Sedan, under the protection of the duke +of Bouillon, and that subsequently five Portuguese +fortresses should be ceded to them as places of security; +and that France should be invaded on the frontiers +of Champagne, Burgundy, and Provence, by the +marquis of Spinola, the count of Fuentes, and the duke +of Savoy.</p> + +<p>To the prosecution of Auvergne there were two obstacles, +which arose out of the conduct of Henry. +When the count was released from the Bastile, he +offered to continue his correspondence with the Spanish +court, for the purpose of betraying its secrets to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[165]</span>king; and a regular authority for so doing was unwisely +granted to him. It was base in Auvergne to +make such a proposal, and scarcely less so in Henry to +adopt it. By another act, the monarch gave him a +fresh pretext for holding intercourse with a power +which was thoroughly hostile at heart. Henry being +attacked by a fit of illness, the marchioness, who had +insulted Mary of Medicis beyond endurance, affected +to feel, or perhaps felt, such extreme dread of what +would befal her and her offspring in case of his death, +that the king gave her half brother a written permission +to negotiate an asylum for her in a foreign country. +Cambray was the place which she and Auvergne +selected as the city of refuge; and this selection afforded +them, while the negotiation was proceeding, an +opportunity to carry on intrigues with the emissaries +of Spain.</p> + +<p>Apprehending, probably, that his treasonable duplicity +would soon be detected, Auvergne, by challenging +the count of Soissons, artfully contrived to be banished +from court. Soissons complained, and Henry, to satisfy +him, exiled the challenger to the province whence +he derived his title. This was what Charles of Valois +had aimed at; for, in that province, his possessions, +his popularity, and the rugged nature of the country, +would contribute to secure him from danger. While +he was there, a letter written by him, to one of his +friends at Paris, was intercepted, and, though its language +was obscure, it gave the king reason to believe +that, under pretence of betraying Spain, the count was in +reality plotting with it. Henry immediately summoned +him to return to court. Auvergne was however aware of +the reason and the danger. “It is only for the purpose +of bringing my head to the scaffold,” said he, “that I +am called to Paris.” The mere idea of being re-immured +in “that great heap of stones,” as he called +the Bastile, made him shudder. Neither a safe-conduct, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[166]</span>nor a formal pardon, which were offered to him, +nor the assurances of several persons, whom the king +sent to him, could remove his suspicions. To avoid +being taken by surprise, he lived in the woods, and the +most solitary spots, and kept dogs and sentinels continually +on the watch. Yet he was at last circumvented. +His regiment of cavalry was purposely ordered to pass +near his abode, and he could not deny himself the gratification +of inspecting it. In this pleasure he thought +he might safely indulge, as he was resolved that he +would neither dismount nor be surrounded, and was on +the back of a fleet horse, that could gallop ten leagues +without stopping. He was, nevertheless, adroitly +seized, and carried off to the Bastile, where he was +placed in the chamber that Biron had inhabited. On +his way thither he had preserved his serenity, but, +when he entered the chamber, the remembrance of his +friend drew from him a few tears. He soon, however, +recovered his equanimity, and jocosely told the governor, +“there was no inn at Paris so bad that he would +not rather go to bed in it, than in this building.” As +soon as Auvergne was secured, d’Entragues was arrested +and lodged in the Concièrgerie, and the marchioness +of Verneuil was placed under a guard in her +own house.</p> + +<p>The parliament was now directed to take cognizance +of the plot. Henry, however, whose main object +in all this was to render his haughty mistress more +submissive, sent one of his confidential servants to +make her an offer of pardon on certain conditions. He +was repulsed, as he richly deserved to be. The marchioness +disdainfully replied, that, as she had never +committed a crime against the king, there was no room +for a pardon. The trial accordingly proceeded. The +conspirators defended themselves dextrously. Biron +had been ruined partly by admitting, at the outset, the +fair character and veracity of intended witnesses. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[167]</span>marchioness and the count at least avoided that rock, +by manifesting an apparently bitter hostility to each +other. As to d’Entragues, he censured them both; +but his vindication principally consisted of a severe exposure +and impeachment of Henry’s conduct, with respect +to himself, the marchioness, and her sister.</p> + +<p>Though in a legal point of view, whatever they might +be in a moral, the proofs against the prisoners were by +no means clear, the judges, on the 1st of February, 1605, +found Auvergne, d’Entragues, and Morgan, guilty of +high treason, and condemned them to lose their heads. +The marchioness was sentenced to be confined in a +monastery, while further inquiries were being made +into her past proceedings. She was, however, soon +after allowed to reside in her own house at Verneuil; +and no long time elapsed before the king ordered that +all inquiry into her acts should be discontinued. The +punishment of the remaining offenders was next commuted. +D’Entragues was exiled to his house at Malesherbes, +Morgan was sent out of the kingdom, and +Auvergne was doomed to remain in “that great heap +of stones,” which he so much abhorred.</p> + +<p>Thus ended a farce which was eminently disgraceful +to Henry, and for which he was justly censured. “It +excited indignation,” says de Thou, “to see the ministry +of the most respectable tribunal in the realm +profaned by a court intrigue. The king, it was said, +had brought the marchioness to trial, not for the purpose +of punishing her, nor to give an example which +was equally necessary and full of equity, but that her +father and brother, who had tried to withdraw her +from the court, might be foremost in exhorting her to +renew her connection with a prince who madly loved +her.” To crown the whole, the monarch who, to secure +more effectually a refractory mistress, had thus +made a laughing-stock of the laws and the magistracy, +speedily deserted that mistress, and transferred his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[168]</span>fickle affections to Jacqueline de Beuil, whom he created +countess of Moret.</p> + +<p>The death of Henry did not open the prison doors +of the count of Auvergne. He spent nearly twelve +years in the Bastile. Happily for him, he had been +well educated, and though, while he was immersed in +the debaucheries of an immoral court, he had lost sight +of literature, his taste for it was not destroyed. He +was therefore enabled to solace by study his long captivity; +and we may believe that, when he once more +emerged from his durance, reflection and added years +had made him a wiser and a better man. He had need +of consolation while he was incarcerated; for, the year +after he was committed to the Bastile, he received another +heavy blow. Queen Margaret instituted a suit, +to recover from him the vast property which he derived +from her mother, and the tribunal decided against +him.</p> + +<p>At last, in 1616, he was set free by Mary of Medicis, +that he might assist in forming a counterpoise +to the Condéan faction; and in 1619, he was created +duke of Angoulême. He subsequently served the +state with honour, on various occasions, both as ambassador +and general. His death took place in 1650.</p> + +<p>Scarcely were the proceedings against Auvergne +and his accomplices brought to a close before another +conspiracy was discovered; it was the last which was +formed, or rather, perhaps, which was made public, +during the reign of Henry. The author of this plot +was Louis d’Alagon, sieur de Merargues, a Provençal +noble, nearly allied to some great families. We have +seen that the Spaniards were desirous to obtain an establishment +on the Breton coast, which might be a thorn +in the side of France. They now sought to gain a +much more dangerous footing on the shore of the +Mediterranean. The important city of Marseilles was +the object which they coveted, and Merargues was the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[169]</span>person on whom they reckoned to put it into their +possession.</p> + +<p>Almost the first step which Merargues took, after +becoming a traitor, showed how unfit he was to act the +part which he had chosen; he had all the will in the +world to be a dangerous conspirator, and wanted only +the talent. Some years before, he had proposed to +the king to keep two galleys ready for service, in order +to secure the port of Marseilles; the plan was adopted, +and as a recompense, he received the command of the +vessels. In maturing this scheme, he derived much +assistance from a galley-slave, who was a man of ability. +To this man, whom he imagined to be entirely +devoted to him, and capable of daring deeds, Merargues +communicated his purpose of betraying Marseilles to +the Spanish monarch. By means of the two galleys, +he considered himself to be master of the port; and he +had no doubt of being elected to the office of Viguier, +or Royal Provost, for the following year, which would +give him full authority over the city and the forts.</p> + +<p>In order to fathom to the bottom the project of Merargues, +the wily galley-slave affected to lend a willing +ear to the projector. He, however, deemed it more +prudent to trust to the gratitude of his own sovereign +for a reward, than to that of Philip of Spain. As soon +as he had acquired a thorough knowledge of the particulars, +he wrote to the duke of Guise, offering to give +information of the utmost importance, on condition of +recovering his liberty. His offer was made known to +the king by the duke, and was accepted. Guise was +at the same time directed to keep the affair a profound +secret, till decisive proof could be obtained against the +criminal, and to take the necessary precautions for the +safety of the city.</p> + +<p>Merargues himself was not slow in furnishing the +evidence which was wanted. He had already had various +conferences with Zuniga, the Spanish ambassador, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[170]</span>an able and intriguing diplomatist, but his correspondence +on the subject was principally carried on through +Bruneau, the ambassador’s secretary. Unconscious +that his scheme was known to the French government, +he now visited Paris, on a mission to the court, from +the states of Provence; a mission which he no doubt +readily undertook, that he might have an opportunity +of making arrangements with his foreign confederates. +By order of the king, he was closely watched, and it +was soon discovered that he had secret interviews +with Zuniga and Bruneau. The latter was tracked to +the abode of Merargues, and both of them were arrested. +On the secretary, who tried in vain to draw +his sword, was found a paper, which bore witness to +the criminality of his purpose. Merargues, on being +seized, exclaimed, “I am a dead man! but if the king +will spare my life, I will disclose great things to him!” +He was conveyed to the Bastile, and Bruneau to the +Châtelet.</p> + +<p>No sooner did Zuniga learn the detention of his +secretary than he demanded an audience of the king. It +must excite a smile, to hear that he complained bitterly +of heavy wrong, and assumed the lofty tone of +offended dignity. In the face of the clearest evidence, +he denied all sinister designs; and talked largely of the +privilege of ambassadors being violated, and the law of +nations set at nought—as if any privileges or law could +exist authorizing an envoy to conspire in the very court +of the monarch to whom he is deputed. Nor did he +forget to recriminate upon the ministers of Henry, as +being fomenters of revolution in the Spanish dominions, +nor to throw out threats of hostility, in case redress +were denied. Angered by the haughty language of +Zuniga, Henry retorted with at least equal acrimony, +and concluded by a peremptory refusal to release +Bruneau, till the question of his guilt or innocence +had been thoroughly investigated. In the course of a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">[171]</span>few days, however, Bruneau was sent back to his master; +but not before he had answered interrogatories, +and been confronted with Merargues.</p> + +<p>The fate of Merargues could not be doubtful. He +was sentenced to be beheaded, and then quartered. As +the culprit was related to the families of the duke of +Montpensier and the cardinal de Joyeuse, the king sent +to those personages, to offer the commutation of the +punishment into perpetual imprisonment. They, however, +with a praiseworthy spirit, replied that, though +they were grateful for his kindness, they must decline +to accept it; of all such villains they would, they said, +be glad to see France cleared, and, although the criminal +was their relative, they would do justice on him +with their own hands, if there were no executioner to +perform that duty. Merargues was in consequence +executed, at the Grêve, and his head was sent to +Marseilles, and exposed on the summit of one of the +city gates.</p> + +<p>On the same day that Merargues was led to the +scaffold, the life of Henry was endangered by the +violence of one John de Lisle, a madman. In the +course of a few months another accident occurred; he +narrowly escaped drowning, while crossing the ferry of +Neuilly in his carriage. At the expiration of five years, +treason accomplished its purpose, and the existence of +this justly celebrated monarch was cut short by the +knife of Ravaillac.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">[172]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Louis XIII.—The treasure of Henry IV. dissipated—Prevalent +belief in magic—Cesar and Ruggieri—Henry, prince +of Condé—The Marchioness d’Ancre—Marshal Ornano—Prevalence +of duelling—The count de Bouteville—The Day of the +Dupes—Vautier, the physician of Mary of Medicis—The marshal +de Bassompierre—The chevalier de Jars—Infamy of Laffemas—Three +citizens of Paris sent to the Bastile—Despotic language of +Louis XIII.—The count de Cramail—The Marquis of Vitry—Peter +de la Porte—Noel Pigard Dubois, an alchemical impostor—The +count de Grancé and the Marquis de Praslin—The prince +Palatine—Count Philip d’Aglie—Charles de Beys—Letter from +an unknown prisoner to Richelieu.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The treasure deposited in the Bastile, by Henry IV., +did not remain long undissipated after his death. It +began to melt away, like snow in the sun, as soon as the +regency of Mary of Medicis was commenced. Swarms +of her favourites and dependants clamoured to obtain +the reward of their sycophancy. Like the horse-leech’s +two daughters, they were perpetually crying, +“Give! Give!” and, had such personages existed in +the days of Solomon, he might have added a fifth +thing to the four which he describes as never saying +“It is enough.” Most prominent among the group +were Concini and his wife; and, as they were exceedingly +unpopular, they endeavoured to silence the cry +against them, by stopping, at the public expense, the +mouths of their most formidable censors. But it was +not only her friends, as they called themselves, that +Mary of Medicis had to satisfy; her enemies, and she +had many, were to be bought off, and they sold their +forbearance dearly. Fraud and shameless rapacity became +universal. “Governors,” says Anquetil, “called +for guards which they never enlisted, for augmentations +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">[173]</span>of their garrisons, that they might gain something +out of the pay, and fortifications, which often +were useless. They themselves made the bargains, +and, at the king’s cost, managed matters with the contractors. +Reversions were granted down to the third +generation. Those who by this means were excluded, +required drafts on the royal treasury. Nothing was +more common than the doubling and trebling of salaries, +from the highest office to the lowest. Some obtained +dowries for their daughters, others the payment +of their debts: so that it was a general pillage.” To +all this must be added, the loss sustained, and the injury +done to every branch of industry, by the creation +or revival of obnoxious tolls, privileges, and monopolies.</p> + +<p>Thus the money accumulated by Henry was speedily +squandered. After all, it was, perhaps, more innocently +spent in this manner, than it would have been +in carrying on the wide-spreading war which he had +planned, to realise his chimerical projects. Some drops +of the golden shower probably descended among the +multitude; and myriads were not led forth to spill their +blood in foreign lands. The real mischief in this case +was, that, when the hoard was gone, the spirit of spending +remained; and to satisfy that spirit new taxes and +exactions were pitilessly imposed on a people whose +burthens were already oppressive.</p> + +<p>Having wholly lost his influence, Sully resigned +many of his offices, and returned into private life. +Among the places which he relinquished were the superintendence +of the finances, and the government of +the Bastile. He, however, did not make the sacrifice +without taking especial care to be well remunerated for +it. A million of livres, and a yearly pension of forty-eight +thousand livres, was his price. It is quite clear +that the virtuous Sully did not think, like Pope, that +“virtue <i>only</i> makes our bliss below.”</p> + +<p>For the first four or five years of the regency of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">[174]</span>Mary of Medicis, the Bastile seems to have contained +no prisoner of note. At the end of that time it received +an individual who, though he had no rank to +boast of, professed to be in the service of a potent +master. The belief in magic was almost general at +that period. We have seen that Biron attributed his +crimes to the influence of magic upon him. All the +world was running mad after charms, spells, and philtres; +the boldest of the throng had a violent curiosity +to see the devil. Among those who preyed upon the +credulity of the crowd, history has preserved the names +of two—one was called Cesar, the other was Ruggieri, +a Florentine. It is to the extraordinary mode in +which they are asserted to have quitted the world, that +we are indebted for our knowledge of them.</p> + +<p>Cesar is gravely stated to have had the power of +calling down hail and thunder at his pleasure. He had +a familiar spirit, and a dog, who seems to have been a +sort of minor fiend, acting as messenger, to carry his +letters, and bring back answers. Cesar was a manufacturer +of love potions, to make young girls enamoured +of young men; and, on occasion, could help a cowardly +enemy to destroy without risk the man whom he +hated. It was charged against him, that he had formed +a charmed image for the purpose of making a gentleman +waste away. This was a very common practice +when sorcery and witchcraft were in vogue. But it +seems probable that the crime which brought him to +the Bastile was an indiscretion which he committed +with respect to one of the gentle sex. He was accustomed +to attend the witches’ sabbath; and he boasted +that, at one of those unholy meetings, a great lady of the +court had granted him the last favour which a female +can bestow. Such a vaunt was well calculated to bring +him into durance. It did that, and more. On the +eleventh of March, 1615, all Paris was astonished, by +learning that, in the dead of the night, the devil had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">[175]</span>come, with a tremendous din, and strangled Cesar in +his bed. Four days afterwards, his satanic majesty, +who appears to have wanted the services of two magicians +at once, snatched away, in the same manner, +the soul of the Florentine Ruggieri, who was then residing +in the house of a French marshal. It is not difficult +to account for these supposed supernatural events.</p> + +<p>A curious description of the tricks which Cesar played +upon his dupes is given by a contemporary author, who +speaks in the character of the magician. The representation +is probably correct. “You would hardly believe,” +says he, “how many young courtiers and young Parisians +there are, who teaze me to show them the devil. +Finding this to be the case, I hit upon one of the drollest +inventions in the world to get money. About a quarter +of a league from this city, I found a very deep quarry, +which has long ditches on the right and left hand. +When any body wants to see the devil, I take him into +that; but, before he enters, he must pay me forty or +fifty pistoles at least; swear never to say a word of the +matter; and promise not to be afraid, or call on the +gods or demigods, or pronounce any holy words.</p> + +<p>“All this being done, I enter the cavern first; then, +before going further, I make circles, and involutions, +and fulminations, and mutter some speech composed of +barbarous words, which I have no sooner uttered than +my curious fool and I hear the rattling of heavy chains, +and the growling of large mastiffs. Then I ask him +if he is afraid; if he says yes (and there are many +who dare not proceed), I lead him out again, and, +having thus cured him of his impertinent curiosity, I +pocket his money.</p> + +<p>“If he is not afraid, I go forward, mumbling out +some terrific words. When I have reached a particular +spot, I redouble my incantations, and utter loud +cries, as if I had gone frantically mad. Immediately +six men, whom I keep hidden in the cavern, throw out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">[176]</span>flashes of flame, to the right and left of us, from burning +rosin. Seen through these flames I point out to +my inquisitive companion a monstrous goat, loaded +with great heavy chains of iron, painted with vermilion, +to look as though they were red hot. On each side, +there are two enormous mastiffs, with their heads fastened +into long wooden cases, which are wide at one +end, and very narrow at the other. While the men +keep goading them, they howl with all their might, +and this howling echoes in such a manner, through the +instruments on their heads, that the cavern is filled with +sounds so terrific that, though I know the cause of the +hurlyburly, even my own hair stands on end. The +goat, whom I have taught his lesson, plays his part so +well, rattling his chains, and brandishing his horns, +that there is nobody but what would believe him to be +the devil in earnest. My six men, whom I have also +thoroughly trained, are likewise loaded with red chains, +and dressed like furies. There is no light in the cavern +but what they now and then make with powdered rosin.</p> + +<p>“Two of them, after having played the devil to +perfection, now come to torment my poor curious gull, +with long bags of cloth full of sand; with these they +so belabour him all over his body, that I am at last +obliged to drag him out of the cavern half dead. Then, +when he has come to himself a little, I tell him that +it is a most perilous thing to wish to see the devil, and +I beg that he will never indulge it in future; and I +assure you that no one ever does after having been so +double damnably beaten.”</p> + +<p>The year after the foul fiend had fetched away +Cesar and Ruggieri, the Bastile was tenanted by an +occupant of high rank—Henry, prince of Condé, the +second who bore that Christian name. Condé was +born in 1588, and, till the birth of a dauphin, was +presumptive heir to the throne of France. The prince +was well educated, witty and pleasant in conversation, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">[177]</span>spoke several languages, and was better acquainted +with literature and the sciences than most contemporary +men of high birth; but his person was not attractive. +It was probably the latter circumstance +which induced Henry the fourth to unite him to Henrietta +de Montmorenci, the loveliest and richest female +of that time. Her inclinations leaned towards the +handsome, gallant, and accomplished Bassompierre; +but Henry, who was smitten with an extravagant +passion for her, seems to have thought that he could +more easily seduce her if she were the wife of Condé. +He was mistaken. The prince, on whose “liking the +chase a hundred thousand times better than he liked +women” Henry had rather erroneously calculated, +was not disposed to be dishonoured, even by a king +who was his uncle. Henry, previous to the marriage, +had, indeed, pledged his word that, on his account, +the prince need have no fears; but Henry was not a +man to be trusted in such cases. The nuptial knot +was scarcely tied before the conduct of the monarch +became such as to awake, and justify, all the jealous +fears of the husband; who was further aggrieved by +being compelled to endure the contempt and insolence +of Sully. To avoid the danger which hung over him, +his sole resource was to fly the country with his wife; +and he accordingly contrived to make his escape, and +to obtain an asylum in the court of the archduke +Albert, at Brussels.</p> + +<p>When Henry found that his intended prey was beyond +his reach, his behaviour resembled rather that of +a madman than of a sage monarch, at the mature age +of fifty-seven. He ran about asking advice of his +courtiers, the ministers were summoned, councils were +held, parties of troops were despatched to seize the +fugitives, and war was threatened against Spain, if she +refused to give them up. When Sully was told of +what had happened, he replied in a surly tone, “I +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">[178]</span>am not astonished at it, sire; I foresaw it clearly and +warned you of it; and had you taken my advice a +fortnight ago, when he was going to Moret, you would +have put him into the Bastile, where you would find +him now, and where I should have kept a good watch +over him for you.” Such was the morality of the +austere Sully! This “well-seeming Angelo,” who has +been praised, at least as much as he deserves, could +be indignant at the idea of the monarch marrying +Henrietta d’Entragues, his mistress; but he could +see no dishonour in that monarch breaking his plighted +word, as well as all moral obligations, by seducing the +wife of his nephew; nor in he himself volunteering his +assistance to forward an adulterous intercourse, by +prompting the seizure of the injured husband, and becoming +his gaoler!</p> + +<p>It was not without reason that the prince dreaded +to trust his wife within the corrupted atmosphere of +the French court. Had she remained there, it appears +certain that she must have fallen. As it was, her +fidelity was, for a moment, on the point of being shaken. +Henrietta was little more than sixteen, and the glory +of the sovereign, his boundless generosity to her, and +his idolatrous fondness, dazzled her imagination so far, +that, while she was at Brussels, a correspondence was +actually carried on between them. An attempt was +made by Henry’s emissaries to carry her off, but it +failed. When d’Estrées, marquis of Cœuvres, who +conducted this attempt, was reproached for his baseness +by Condé, his defence was, that he had acted upon +orders from the king his master, and that it was his +duty to execute them, whether they were just or unjust. +Henrietta repaired her momentary error by her +subsequent conduct.</p> + +<p>Not believing himself to be safe, Condé removed to +Milan, where he published a manifesto to justify his +having quitted France. From policy he passed over +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">[179]</span>in silence the main cause of his flight; but he indemnified +himself by pouring forth all the bitterness of +his resentment on Sully, whom he painted in the darkest +colours. Some overtures were made, to lure the +prince back to France, but they were ineffectual. But, +while Henry was preparing to carry war into the territory +of his neighbours, he fell by the hand of an assassin, +and the way was thus opened for the return of +the prince.</p> + +<p>Condé aspired to the regency, but his ambitious +hopes were disappointed. Chagrined at the failure of +some of his subsequent schemes, and the refusal of +favours which he sought, the prince, with many of the +nobles, took up arms against the court. For this, he +and his adherents were declared guilty of treason. A +peace was, nevertheless, patched up between the parties, +and he returned to Paris in a sort of triumph.</p> + +<p>Not more than a year elapsed before the obvious +intention of Condé, to monopolize all the power of the +state, compelled Mary of Medicis to venture upon decisive +measures against him. Sully was active in +prompting her to this step. The strength of the +prince’s party rendered the attempt hazardous; but the +business was kept so secret, and was so ably managed, +that he was arrested in the Louvre, and conveyed to +the Bastile, without opposition. Here, and at Vincennes, +he remained for three years, during part of +which time he was harshly treated. It was not +without much difficulty, and till he had been long confined, +that his wife, who had become sincerely attached +to him, was allowed to share his prison. His liberation +was brought about by the fall of Concini, and he +was reinstated in his honours. Thenceforth, he served +Louis the thirteenth faithfully in the cabinet and the +field. He died in 1646. Voltaire truly says, with +respect to him, that his being the father of the great +Condé, was his greatest glory.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">[180]</span></p> + +<p>The downfall of Concini, marshal d’Ancre, which +opened the gates of the Bastile to let out Condé, +opened them also to admit, for a short time, the wife +of the murdered marshal. After Concini had been +assassinated by Vitry and his accomplices, and his body +had been dragged from the grave, and torn into fragments, +by an ignorant and savage populace, Leonora, +his widow, was hurried to prison. She was a daughter +of the female by whom Mary of Medicis was nursed, +and had been the playmate of the princess. When +Mary became the consort of Henry IV., she took +Leonora in her train to Paris. So attached was Mary +to her, that Leonora is said, by Mezeray, “to have +directed at her pleasure the desires, the affections, and +the hatreds of the queen.” Riches were, of course, +heaped upon her. She is charged with having fomented +the disagreements of Mary and her inconstant husband, +by making false statements, to excite the jealousy +of her mistress. If she did so, which may be +doubted, she was performing a work of supererogation; +for Henry rendered falsehood unnecessary, by +affording abundant and undisguised cause for complaint. +The light of the sun was not more obvious +than his conjugal infidelity. It was also objected, that +she insolently shut her door against the princesses and +nobles, who came to pay court to her in the height of +her power. If this be true, it proves only that she +had spirit and good sense enough to despise the sycophancy +of those by whom she knew herself to be detested. +It is much in favour of Leonora’s private +character, that Mary of Medicis was so firmly her +friend; for, unlike the titled dames who surrounded +her, Mary was a modest and virtuous woman. That +the marshal and his partner fattened on the spoils of +the state it would be folly to deny; but, mean and +criminal as such conduct undoubtedly is, we must bear +in mind that the crime was common to all the courtiers +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">[181]</span>of that period. Every one was eager, as the +French phrase expresses it, “to carry off a leg or a +wing.” It was envy, not abhorrence of robbing +the public, that caused the destruction of Mary’s +favourites.</p> + +<p>In France, to live upon the imposts squeezed from +the people was not deemed an impeachable act, unless, +perhaps, by those who had failed to get a share of +the pillage; and consequently there was no legal ground +for dragging the widow of Concini to the bar. But +hatred is ingenious in finding means to effect its purpose. +Having first been so effectually plundered by +the police officers, that she had not even a change of +linen left, she was sent before a special commission, to +be tried for Judaism and sorcery. Other charges were +brought forward, but it is obvious that they were only +meant to increase the odium under which she was labouring. +The trial was, throughout, a mockery of +justice. Evidence the most trivial in some instances, +and absurd in others, was produced to substantiate the +charge of Judaism and sorcery. Some Hebrew books, +which were found in her apartment, were gravely supposed +to be used by her for necromantic purposes. +“By what magic did you gain such an influence over +the mind of the queen-mother?” was one of the questions +put by her judges. “My only magic,” replied +the prisoner, “was the power strong minds have over +weak ones”—a memorable reply, which goes far to +prove that she was a woman of superior talent.</p> + +<p>Though the judges had, no doubt, been selected for +the purpose of ensuring her condemnation to death, it +turned out that a mistake had been made with respect +to some of them, and that they were not of the opinion +of d’Estrées, who thought that the orders of a master +ought to be executed, whether they were just or unjust. +Five of them absented themselves, and a few others +voted for banishment. The majority, however, were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">[182]</span>faithful to their mission, and she was sentenced to be +beheaded, and her remains burnt, and scattered to the +winds. By the same sentence, her husband’s memory +was branded with infamy, her son was declared ignoble, +and incapable of holding office or dignity; their mansion, +near the Louvre, was ordered to be levelled with +the ground, and all their property was confiscated.</p> + +<p>On hearing this sentence, to which she was compelled +to listen bareheaded, in the midst of an insulting +crowd, nature for a moment prevailed in the bosom of +Leonora, and she sobbed loudly. The disgrace of her +son seems to have been more painful to her than even +her own fate. She soon, however, recovered herself, +and became resigned to her doom. When she was led +to execution, her deportment so won for her the respect +of the multitude, that not a syllable of reproach was +heard. She looked firmly, yet without any theatrical +affectation of heroism, on the block and the flaming +pile; submitted to the blow without a murmur; and +thus triumphantly vindicated her claim to the possession +of a strong mind.</p> + +<p>Having passed over an interval of seven years, after +the judicial murder of the marchioness d’Ancre, we +find the Bastile receiving John Baptist Ornano, the +son of a father who enjoyed and deserved the friendship +of Henry IV. Ornano was born in 1581, and +was not more than fourteen when he commanded a +company of cavalry at the siege of la Fère. He subsequently +served with distinction in Savoy and other +quarters.</p> + +<p>In 1619, Louis the thirteenth appointed him governor +of Gaston, duke of Anjou, the king’s brother, who +was presumptive heir to the throne. Gaston had, for +some time, been under the care of the count de Lude, +than whom it would have been difficult to find a man +more unfit for his office, unless he was chosen for the +purpose of leading his pupil astray. Ornano, by a proper +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">[183]</span>mixture of firmness and kindness, soon succeeded +in perfectly acquiring the respect and affection of the +prince. One part of the system, by which he purposed +to break the bad habits of his youthful charge, is +said to have consisted in awakening his ambition. +With this view he dwelt upon the strong probability +of the prince succeeding to the crown, and the necessity +of making himself acquainted with affairs of state; +and he taught him to believe, that he could gain such +knowledge only by being admitted into the king’s +council. It may be supposed that, in thus acting, +Ornano was not without an eye to his own advancement +and influence. La Vieville, however, who then +ruled, did not wish to see Gaston in the council, and +still less Ornano. He, therefore, persuaded Louis to +remove the prince’s governor, and send him into Provence. +Ornano refused to resign, and he was punished +by being sent to the Bastile, whence he was transferred +to the castle of Caen.</p> + +<p>Gaston remonstrated strongly against being deprived +of his friend and preceptor; but his remonstrances +would probably have been of little avail, had not la +Vieville been precipitated from power. Ornano was +then released by the king, and was placed at the head +of the prince’s household. In 1626, at the request of +Gaston, seconded by the advice of Richelieu, he was +created marshal of France. This promotion was the precursor +of his fall. It was a part of the policy of Richelieu +to grant, in the first instance, more to suitors +of rank than they were entitled to expect, that, in case +of their afterwards opposing him, he might treat them +without mercy. It appears he soon began to suspect +that the new-made marshal was not likely to be a submissive +dependent, and this was enough to induce him +to work his ruin. Ornano himself aided his dangerous +enemy, by pertinaciously requiring admittance into the +council, and by using offensive language on his demand +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">[184]</span>being refused. Various acts of the marshal were now +represented in the darkest colours to the suspicious +king, by Richelieu; and Louis, always open to suggestions +of this kind, imprisoned the supposed offender +in the castle of Vincennes. Ornano died there, in +September, 1626. He death was attributed to poison, +but the report was certainly unfounded. Whether, if +he had lived, he would have saved his head, is doubtful; +for when Richelieu had once resolved to have a +man’s head, it was not easy to disappoint him.</p> + +<p>Among the few whom justice, not tyranny or caprice, +immured within the walls of the Bastile, may be +reckoned Francis, count de Bouteville, of the ancient +and illustrious family of Montmorenci, whose father, +Louis de Montmorenci, was vice-admiral of France in +the reign of Henry the fourth. The example which +was made of him was necessary, to vindicate the insulted +laws, and to check a murderous practice which +had shed some of the best blood in the kingdom. For +a long series of years, in defiance of the severe edicts +issued against it by Henry IV. and Louis XIII., +duelling had been carried to an extent which it is frightful +to contemplate. War itself would scarcely have +swept off more victims of the privileged class, than +were sacrificed in private and frivolous quarrels. Paris, +in particular, swarmed with professed duellists, +who gloried in their exploits, and counted up their slain +with the same exultation that a sportsman counts the +game he has killed. Some, who prided themselves on a +peculiar delicacy of honour, were ever on the watch to +find a pretext for taking offence. Even to look at +them, to touch any part of their dress in passing by +them, or to utter a word which could be misconstrued, +sufficed to draw from them a challenge to +mortal combat.</p> + +<p>Bouteville was one of the most conspicuous of these +offenders. In 1624, M. Pontgibaud, in 1626, the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">[185]</span>count de Thorigny and the Marquis Desportes, and in +January, 1627, M. Lafrette, fell beneath his weapon. +In consequence of the last of these encounters, he, and +his second, the count des Chappelles, were compelled +to take refuge at Brussels. Thither he was followed +by the marquis de Beuvron, a relation of the count +de Thorigny, who was eager to avenge his death. The +archduchess Isabella, who then governed the Netherlands, +brought about a semblance of reconciliation between +them, but their rancour remained unabated; for +even at the moment when, in sign of forgiveness, they +embraced each other, Beuvron whispered to Bouteville, +“I shall never be satisfied till I have met you +sword in hand.”</p> + +<p>The archduchess also solicited Louis the thirteenth +to grant the pardon of Bouteville, but the monarch refused. +On hearing this, the rash and insolent culprit +exclaimed, “Since a pardon is denied, I will fight in +Paris, aye, and in the Place Royale too!” He was as +good as his word. In May he returned to the French +capital, and his first step was to offer Beuvron the satisfaction +which that nobleman had expressed a wish to +obtain. A combat of three against three was arranged, +and the Place Royale was chosen as the spot for deciding +it. Beuvron was seconded by Buquet, his +equerry, and by Bussy d’Amboise, the latter of whom +had been ill of fever for several days, and was weakened +by repeated bleedings. Bouteville brought with +him des Chappelles, his cousin, and constant auxiliary +on such occasions, and another gentleman. They fought +with sword and dagger.</p> + +<p>Bussy being killed by des Chappelles, the five remaining +combatants, who began to dread the vengeance +of the violated laws, sought for safety in flight. Beuvron +and Buquet succeeded in escaping to England. Bouteville +and his cousin fled towards Lorraine. Unfortunately +for them, Louis the thirteenth was then at the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">[186]</span>Louvre, and, as soon as he heard of the duel, he ordered +a vigorous pursuit of the offenders. At Vitry, +in Champagne, the officers of justice overtook Bouteville +and his associate; the latter wished to resist, but +the former prevailed on him to surrender. On their +arrival at Paris, they were committed to the Bastile, +and no time was lost in bringing them to trial.</p> + +<p>From all quarters the king was importuned by entreaties +to pardon the criminals. The countess de +Bouteville threw herself at his feet, to beg the life of +her husband; but he passed on without replying. “I +pity her,” said he to his courtiers, “but I must and +will maintain my authority.” The nobility were not +more successful in their supplications to the king and +the parliament. At the trial all that forensic talent +could do for the prisoners was done by Chastelet, their +counsel. The plea which he put in for them was +written with so much eloquence and boldness, that +cardinal Richelieu sternly told him it seemed to impeach +the justice of the king. “Excuse me, sir,” +replied Chastelet, “it is only meant to justify his +mercy, in case he should extend it to one of the +bravest men in his kingdom.” When the sentence of +death was passed, another effort was made to move the +king. The princess of Condé, accompanied by three +duchesses, and the wife of Bouteville, requested an +audience of his Majesty. He at first refused to see +them; but he subsequently admitted them to a private +interview in the queen’s apartments. They pleaded +in vain. “I regret their fate as much as you do,” said +he; “but my conscience forbids me to pardon them.”</p> + +<p>Bouteville seems, from the beginning, to have made +up his mind to die, and to have been unfeignedly repentant. +While he was in the Bastile, he was attended +by Cospean, the bishop of Nantes, one of the most +highly gifted preachers of the age. It was by the exhortations +of this pious prelate that Bouteville was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">[187]</span>awakened to a due sense of his crimes. So moved +was he by the fervid eloquence of his spiritual guide +that, while his trial was yet pending, he said to him, +and doubtless with perfect sincerity, “So resigned am +I to the will of God, and so ready to do every thing +to save my soul, if to save it be possible, that, even +more pressingly than my wife now begs for my pardon, +I will beg my judges to condemn me to the gibbet, +and to be drawn to it on a hurdle, in order to render +my death more ignominious and meritorious.” It was +not without difficulty that Cospean could dissuade him +from seeking salvation by means of this extraordinary +self abasement. Contrition alone, and not an act +which would cast a stigma on his family, the prelate +justly observed, was required to appease the wrath of +an offended Deity.</p> + +<p>Bouteville and his cousin met death with much firmness; +the former refused to allow his eyes to be bandaged. +On the scaffold a circumstance occurred, +which appears to prove that vanity, like hope, sometimes +does not leave us till we die. The mustachios +of Bouteville were large and handsome, and he put +up his hands, as though to save them, when the executioner +came to cut off his hair. “What! my son,” +exclaimed Cospean, who attended him till the last, +“are you still thinking on <i>this</i> world!”</p> + +<p>The plan which, under seemingly favourable auspices, +was formed, by Mary of Medicis and her partisans, to +subvert the power of Richelieu, and which was shattered +to pieces on the day emphatically called the Day of the +Dupes (November 11, 1630), was disastrous to many +who were concerned in or suspected of favouring it. Of +the Marillacs, one, a proved soldier, was brought to the +scaffold; the other, a magistrate of unimpeachable conduct, +was hurried from one prison to another, and +closely confined, and he died a captive. But we must +restrict ourselves to those individuals who were committed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">[188]</span>to the Bastile. One of these was Vautier, born +at Montpelier, in 1592, who was the queen mother’s +principal physician. If we were to give credit to Guy +Patin, we must believe that Vautier was a worse pest +than a whole host of duellists, and richly deserved to +be the inmate of a dungeon. “He was,” says Patin, +“a rascally Jew of the Avignonese territory, very proud +and very ignorant, who was lucky in having escaped +the gallows for coining, and who afterwards found +means to wriggle himself in at court.” But the evidence +of Patin is liable to more than suspicion in this +instance; for Vautier was a friend to antimony and +chemical remedies, all of which his censurer held in +abhorrence: to prescribe them was worse in his eyes +than being guilty of all the deadly sins. Vautier, however, +certainly appears to have been of an obstinate +disposition, and at times unjust.</p> + +<p>Vautier was believed to have so much influence with +the queen mother, that he was one of the first to be +arrested after the Day of the Dupes. He was confined +for a while at Senlis, whence he was removed to +the Bastile. In the Parisian fortress he remained for +twelve years, during which period no communication +with him was permitted. It was in vain that, after her +flight, when she was so dangerously ill at Ghent, Mary +of Medicis intreated to have the services of her confidential +physician. Richelieu kept fast hold of his prey. +In 1643, the captive was set at liberty by Mazarin, +who subsequently appointed him head physician to the +king. Patin flings his venom upon this appointment. +It was, he says, bought of the minister for twenty +thousand crowns, and the purchaser was to act as his +spy. He adds an insinuation, which does no credit to +his heart. “See what policy is!” he exclaims; “this +man was twelve years imprisoned by the father, yet the +health of the son is entrusted to him.” M. Patin +seems to have thought, that a man who has been injured +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">[189]</span>by the parent, must needs wish to poison the +child. Vautier died in 1652.</p> + +<p>The grave physician is succeeded by a very different +personage; a courtier of high birth, handsome, accomplished, +full of gallantry in both senses of the word, +witty, and with his natural talents improved by early +study. Francis de Bassompierre, who was all this, +was born in Lorraine, in 1579, and was descended +from the princely house of Cleves. On returning +from his travels, he visited the court of Henry IV., +and soon acquired the friendship of that sovereign. +Among a crowd of courtiers, each vying with the other +in splendour and extravagance, he was one of the +foremost. At the baptism of the king’s children, he +wore a dress of cloth of gold, covered with pearls, the +cost of which was nine hundred pounds. Gaming, +thanks to the bad example set by Henry, was scandalously +prevalent; and here, too, Bassompierre was +prominent. He tells us, in his memoirs, that not a +day passed, while he was at Fontainebleau, in which +twenty thousand pistoles were not won and lost, and +that he was a winner of half a million of livres within +twelve months.</p> + +<p>Desirous of adding the reputation of a soldier to +his other pretensions, he served a campaign in Savoy, +in 1602, and in Hungary the following year. Having +established his military character, he resumed his station +at the French court. The greatest part of the +business of his life seems now, and for many years, to +have been amorous intrigues—to apply the word love +to them would be a profanation of it. However eager +he might be to swell the number of his conquests, +there is the best reason for believing, that those whom +he attacked were willing enough to be overcome. It +at once proves his attractions, and speaks volumes as to +the low state of morals among the females at that period, +that when, at a later date, Bassompierre was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">[190]</span>about to be imprisoned, he burnt more than six thousand +letters, which contained the proofs of his amatory success. +One of the most notorious of his amours was +that in which he involved himself with Mdlle. Entragues, +sister of the king’s mistress, the marchioness +of Verneuil. By this lady he had a son. She is said +to have obtained from him a promise of marriage, and +for several years she sought to enforce the performance +of it, and persisted in bearing his name. Meeting him +one day at the Louvre, she told him publicly that he +ought to cause the customary honours to be paid to +her there, as his wife. “Why,” said he, “will you +take a <i>nom de guerre</i>?” “You are the greatest fool +in all the court!” exclaimed the enraged lady. “What +would you have said to me, then, if I had married you?” +retorted the provoking Bassompierre.</p> + +<p>In 1605, the career of this gay deceiver was near +being cut short by a serious accident. At a tournament, +in front of the Louvre, where the king was present, +Bassompierre was so severely wounded by the +lance of the duke of Guise, his antagonist, that his +life was long in danger. This tournament was the last +which was exhibited in France; the dangerous amusement +was discontinued, in consequence of this misadventure. +People began to be of the same opinion as +the Turkish sultan, that it was too much for a jest +and too little for earnest.</p> + +<p>Bassompierre at last appears to have felt that it +was time for him “to live cleanly as a nobleman +should do,” and he resolved to marry. His choice +fell on Charlotte de Montmorenci, one of the most +rich and beautiful women in France, and neither she +nor her father, the constable, was averse from the +union. It has been seen, in the sketch of Condé’s +career, that Henry IV. became excessively enamoured +of her. In some cases her marriage would have made +no difference; as Henry might have assented to it, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">[191]</span>and bound down the husband not to exercise his conjugal +rights, as he had done with respect to Gabrielle +d’Estrées and Jacqueline du Beuil. To such a restriction +he probably thought that Bassompierre would +not submit. Calling him therefore to his bed-side—for +Henry was ill of the gout—he told him that he +meant to unite him to Mdlle. d’Aumale, and revive for +him the dukedom of Aumale. On Bassompierre asking +with a smile, whether his majesty meant him to have +two wives, the king sighed deeply, and said, “Bassompierre, +I will speak to you as a friend. I am become +not only in love with Mdlle. de Montmorenci, +but absolutely beside myself for her. If you marry her, +and she loves you, I shall hate you; if she loves me, +you will hate me. It is much better that this should +not occur, to disturb the good understanding between +us; for I have the most affectionate regard for you.” +The result was that the courtier resigned his mistress, +and was rewarded for the sacrifice with the rank of +colonel-general of the Swiss regiments. Bassompierre +would fain make us believe that he was sorely grieved, +at being thus deprived of the beautiful Montmorenci; +but we may be sceptical on this head, since we have +his confession, that, in order “not to be idle, and to +console himself for his loss, he immediately made up his +quarrel with three ladies, whom he had entirely quitted +when he thought that he should be wedded.”</p> + +<p>For more than twenty years, Bassompierre continued +to be a flourishing courtier. Once only, in that +long period, he was in danger; it was from the hostility +of la Vieville, the minister, who strove to cage +him in the Bastile. The time of Bassompierre was, +however, not yet come, and he had the satisfaction to +witness the downfall of his enemy. In the course of +these twenty years, he acquired reputation, both in the +field and the cabinet; he was active at various sieges +and battles, particularly at the sieges of Rochelle and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">[192]</span>Montauban, and he was entrusted with embassies to +Spain, Switzerland, and England, which he executed +in an able manner. For a short time he had the custody +of the Bastile; and, in 1623, he rose to the rank +of Marshal. His being employed as a negociator was +the work of the royal favourite, Luynes, who was +jealous of the influence which Bassompierre possessed +with the monarch. Luynes was candid enough to +confess this. “I love you, and esteem you,” said he, +“but the liking which the king has for you gives me +umbrage. I am, in truth, situated like a husband who +fears being deceived, and cannot see with pleasure an +amiable man frequenting his wife.” To remove from +court the man whom he dreaded, Luynes offered the +choice of a command, a government, or an embassy; +Bassompierre chose the last.</p> + +<p>Richelieu proved a far more formidable adversary +than la Vieville. He doubted not that Bassompierre +had been engaged in the late plot against him; he +knew that he was a friend of the queen mother; and +he suspected him of having borne a part in the clandestine +marriage of the duke of Orleans with the +princess Margaret of Lorraine. It is said, also, that +the cardinal imagined the marshal to have voted for +imprisoning him, in case of the malecontents being +successful. This was more than enough to bring +down on him the vengeance of the triumphant minister. +Bassompierre was warned more than once of +what would happen, and was advised to escape, but he +refused to follow this advice. He was taken to the +Bastile, in February, 1631. His arrest cost the death +of the princess of Conti, to whom he had long been +secretly married; she died of grief in little more than +two months.</p> + +<p>Bassompierre had reason to hope that his imprisonment +would be but of short duration. The evening +before he was seized, he had mentioned to the king +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">[193]</span>the reports which were afloat, and Louis had declared +them to be false, and expressed much affection for +him. The day after the deed was done, the monarch +sent him a message, that he considered him to be a +faithful servant, that he was not arrested for any fault, +but in the fear of his being led to commit one, and +that he should soon be released. Year after year +elapsed, however, and the promised liberation was still +delayed. Hopes were often held out to him, apparently +with no other intention than that of making him feel +the pain of disappointment. There seems, indeed, to +have been a malignant resolution formed to torment +him. The grain on his Lorrain estate was seized, +the estate itself was ravaged, his nephew’s mansion +was destroyed, his pay was stopped, cabals were excited +against him in the Bastile, and he was compelled to +relinquish his commission of colonel-general for an +inadequate compensation. Yet, while Richelieu was +acting thus, he could ask Bassompierre to lend him his +country-house! To add to the prisoner’s vexations +his property was going to ruin, some of his friends +proved faithless, and death was busy among his dearest +relatives.</p> + +<p>It was twelve years before the decease of Richelieu +gave freedom to Bassompierre. His post of colonel-general +was restored to him by Mazarin; and an intention +was manifested of appointing him governor +to the minor king, but this intention was frustrated by +a fit of apoplexy, which put an end to his existence +in October 1646.</p> + +<p>Of the many individuals who were persecuted by the +cardinal-king, none were more estimable than Francis +de Rochechouart, who was usually denominated the +chevalier de Jars. He was of an ancient and noble +family, which traced back its origin to the viscounts +of Limoges, early in the eleventh century. To great +personal and mental graces, and prepossessing manners, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">[194]</span>he added a mind of such firmness as is not +of common occurrence, especially among the courtier +tribe. His eminent qualities gained him the +friendship of Anne of Austria, which alone was sufficient +to excite the suspicion and hatred of Richelieu—that +ultra Turk, who could bear “no rival near +his throne,” nor even the friend of any one who could +possibly become a rival. In 1626, de Jars was, therefore, +ordered to quit the court. He retired to England, +where he soon won the favour of Charles I., his +queen Henrietta Maria, the duke of Buckingham, +and other distinguished characters. Bassompierre, an +acute observer, was at that time in England as ambassador +from Louis XIII., and from the manner in +which he mentions him, it is evident that de Jars was +in high repute at the court of Charles.</p> + +<p>In 1631, de Jars was allowed to return, or was recalled, +to his native country. Whether he was lured +over to France, that he might be within the grasp of +his potent enemy, cannot now be ascertained. It is +probable that he was, for he did not long remain at liberty. +In February, 1632, he was involved in the downfall +of Chateauneuf, the keeper of the seals, who had +inexpiably offended the implacable minister. De Jars +had sufficient demerit to bring down this misfortune +on him; he was the friend, and, as Bassompierre affirms, +the confidant of Chateauneuf, possessed the +queen’s esteem, and was, perhaps, suspected of being +looked upon with a favourable eye by the beautiful and +fickle duchess of Chevreuse, of whom Richelieu was +enamoured. As, however, the first two of these offences +would hardly have justified his imprisonment and +trial, and as the third had the same defect in a greater +degree, and, besides, could not have been decorously +urged against him by a high dignitary of the church, +the crime attributed to him was that of assisting Anne +of Austria to correspond with Spain, and of planning +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">[195]</span>the removal to England of the queen mother and the +duke of Orleans.</p> + +<p>It was the depth of winter when de Jars was thrown +into one of the dungeons of the Bastile, and there he +was kept for eleven months, till the clothes rotted off +his back. The reader will remember what horrible +abodes these dungeons were. It being supposed, perhaps, +that his spirit was by this time enough broken, +he was sent for trial to Tours, where a tribunal of obedient +judges had been formed, for the express purpose +of sitting in judgment upon him. At the head of this +tribunal was one Laffemas, or La Fymas; a man who +was redeemed from the contempt of mankind for his +baseness, only by the hatred which was excited by his +power and will to do mischief. He was the ready tool, +or, to use a more emphatic and appropriate French +phrase, the <i>âme damnée</i> of Richelieu, and was capable +of diving to the lowest deep of degradation, in the +service of his master. He bore the well earned and +significant nickname of “the cardinal’s hangman.”</p> + +<p>At the Bastile and at Troyes, de Jars underwent no +fewer than eighty examinations. In these, Laffemas +strained every nerve to seduce, or beguile, or terrify, +the prisoner into avowals which would manifest or +imply guilt in himself or in his friends. But de Jars +was proof alike against feigned sympathy, intreaties, +artful snares, and ferocious threats. Not a word +dropped from his lips by which any one could be criminated. +Laffemas had no sinecure office in conducting +this iniquitous affair; he was often lashed by de +Jars with unsparing severity, as a mendacious and deceitful +coward; nor did the cardinal himself escape +without a full portion of stinging censure.</p> + +<p>De Jars did not stop here. He determined to inflict +a public disgrace upon Laffemas. By dint of importunity, +he obtained permission to hear mass, on All +Saints’ day, in the church of the Jacobins, where he +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">[196]</span>knew that Laffemas would be present. Thither he was +taken, under a strong guard. Watching the moment +when, with downcast eyes and a Tartuffe countenance, +Laffemas was coming from the communion table, he +broke from his guards, and seized the judge by the +throat. “Villain!” exclaimed he, “this is the moment +to confess the truth. Now; while your God is +on your lips, acknowledge my innocence, and your injustice +in persecuting me. As you pretend to be a +Christian, act like one: if you do not, I renounce you +as my judge, and I call upon every one who hears me +to bear witness that I protest against your being so.”</p> + +<p>This singular scene drew the wondering congregation +round the parties. But the people were by no +means inclined to interfere in behalf of the intendant, +and some time elapsed before the soldiers could extricate +him from the gripe of the prisoner. Laffemas +seems not to have been deficient in courage. Undisconcerted +by this sudden attack, he said, in a conciliating +tone, “Do not make yourself uneasy, sir; I assure +you that the cardinal loves you; you will get off +with merely going to travel in Italy: but you must +first allow us to show you some billets, in your own +handwriting, which will convince you that you are +more blameable than you say you are.” “Such an +insinuation,” remarks Anquetil, “was not calculated +to set him at ease. Richelieu, as Madame de Motteville +tells us, said that ‘with two lines of a man’s writing, +however innocent that man might be, he might be +brought to trial; because, by proper management, +whatever was wanted could be found in them.’ Accordingly, +when de Jars heard talk of writing, he +gave himself up for lost, but he soon armed himself +with renovated courage.”</p> + +<p>The insinuation that written evidence existed was a +falsehood. Fresh arts were therefore employed, to +obtain a confession. They were as fruitless as all the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">[197]</span>former had been. Sentence of death was then passed; +and, this having been done, final efforts were made to +move him, first by a promise of pardon, next by the +menace of torture. He treated both with contempt. +He was at last led to the scaffold; he ascended it with +calm courage; and, after once more asserting his innocence, +he laid his head upon the block. While he was +waiting for the blow, and all earthly hopes must have +been dead in his bosom, he was suddenly raised up, +and told that his life was spared. As he was about to +descend from the scaffold, the infamous Laffemas approached, +and besought him, in return for the king’s +mercy, to disclose whatever he knew respecting the +misdeeds of Chateauneuf. But de Jars disdainfully +replied, “It is in vain that you seek to take advantage +of my disturbed state of mind; since the fear of +death failed to extort from me any thing that could +injure my friend, you may be certain that all your +labour will be thrown away.⁠<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a>”</p> + +<p>It is said that the whole of this scene—a disgraceful +scene to all the actors but one—was got up by Laffemas +under the direction of Richelieu. Packed as the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">[198]</span>judges were, it was supposed that, if they thought death +were to ensue, even they would shrink from pronouncing +the guilt of a man against whom there was +not a shadow of proof. The pardon was, therefore, +shown to them, and they were told that the mockery of +an execution was only meant to intimidate the prisoner +into the desired confession. But of what stuff must +judges have been made in those days, when they could +consent thus to violate the dignity of justice, and the +feelings of humanity, in order to gratify the malice of +a minister.</p> + +<p>From Troyes, de Jars was sent back to the Bastile. +He remained there till the spring of 1638, when he +was liberated on condition of his immediate departure, +to travel in Italy. From Guy Patin’s letters, we learn +that the chevalier was indebted for his release to the +intercession of Charles I. of England and Henrietta +Maria. He did not return to France till after the +decease of his persecutor.</p> + +<p>De Jars was engaged in the early part of the political +contest, which led to the ridiculous war of the +Fronde; but he seems to have been rather a peacemaker +than a firebrand, for he endeavoured to arrange +matters, by bringing about a reconciliation between +Mazarin, with whom he had become acquainted at +Rome, and Chateauneuf, the keeper of the seals, of +whom he was a constant friend. He at length withdrew +from the court, passed his latter years in happy +retirement, and died in 1670.</p> + +<p>Nearly at the same time that de Jars was set free, +the gates of the Bastile were opened to admit three +citizens of Paris, who had been guilty of a crime which +could not be overlooked; they had dared to remonstrate, +perhaps somewhat too roughly, against being +robbed of the means of subsistence. “They went,” +says Guy Patin, “to M. Cornuel, and in some degree +threatened him, on a report being spread, that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">[199]</span>the payment of the annuities receivable at the Town +Hall was about to be suspended, and the money to be +applied <i>in usus bellicos</i>. The names of these three annuitants +are Bourges, Chenu, and Celoron, and they are +all three <i>boni viri optimeque mihi noti</i>. God grant, +I pray, that no misfortune may happen to them.” +Whether the kind prayer of Patin was heard, we are +not told.</p> + +<p>That such things should occur in a country governed +as France was, is quite natural. Richelieu +brooked not even the shadow of opposition; and, +Louis, submissive slave though he was to an imperious +minister, had all the brutal pride of an Oriental despot. +In two instances (out of many which might be +quoted), the one not long before, and the other shortly +after, this period, the monarch, to whom parasites +prostituted the title of “the just,” did not scruple to +treat with contumelious insolence the parliament of +Paris, a body of magistrates, eminent for their learning +and other qualities. On the first occasion, having +taken offence at a request which they made, he told +them that, “in future, whenever he came to them, he +should expect to be received outside the door of their +hall, by four presidents on their knees, as the custom +had formerly been.” The second time, when, with +respect to the duke de Valette’s trial, the president +Bellièvre, in decorous but dignified language, remonstrated +with Louis on his gross violation of justice and +proper feeling, in wishing the judges to sit in his own +palace, while he was present to overawe them, he furiously +replied, that he detested all those who opposed +his trying a duke and peer wherever he pleased. They +were, he told them, ignorant beings, unfit for their +office, and he did not know whether he should not +put others in their place. “I will be obeyed,” said +he; “and I will soon make you see plainly that all +privileges are founded only on a bad custom, and that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">[200]</span>I will not hear them talked about any more.” But +from this—which, however, can scarcely be called a +digression—let us return to his captives in the Bastile.</p> + +<p>During a part of the time that de Jars was in the +Bastile, there was within its walls a prisoner equally +as brave, and of as honourable a character, as himself. +This was Adrian de Montluc, count de Cramail, +born in 1568, a grandson of that intrepid but cruel +Montluc whose commentaries were called by Henry +IV. the Soldier’s Bible. In the second of Regnier’s +satires, which is addressed to Cramail, the poet winds +up an animated panegyric on him, by declaring that he +proves “virtue not to be dead in all courtiers.” There +was more truth in this than is always to be found in +the eulogies lavished by a poet. It appears, from +various authorities, that he shone in conversation, was +well informed, and was an honourable, benevolent and +judicious man. As a military officer, he earned reputation +in various battles. His conduct at the combat +of Veillane, in 1630, where Montmorenci utterly defeated +a force five times as numerous as his own, called +forth a complimentary letter from cardinal Richelieu. +“Fewer lines than you have received blows,” says his +eminence, “will suffice to testify my joy that the enemy +has cut out more work for your tailor than your surgeon. +I pray to God that, after such rencounters, you +may always have more to spend for clothes than plaisters; +and that, for the advantage of the king’s service, +and the glory of those who have acquired so much on +this occasion, others of the same kind may often occur; +among which there will, I hope, be some that will +enable me to convince you that I am, &c. &c.”</p> + +<p>The manner in which Richelieu proved his friendship +for Cramail was by sending him to the Bastile. +It has been stated that Cramail was put into confinement +shortly after the Day of the Dupes, and his attachment +to the prince of Condé was the cause of it. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">[201]</span>This, however, appears to be a mistake. Cramail +was undoubtedly serving under Louis XIII. in Lorrain, +as late as 1635, at the period when the French +arms were under a temporary eclipse; and we learn +from Laporte, and other writers, that, believing the +king’s person to be in jeopardy, the count advised him +to return to Paris. For this advice, reasonable as it +was, he was incarcerated by Richelieu. His imprisonment +did not terminate till after the death of the cardinal. +He did not long survive his persecutor; his +health was broken by captivity and harsh treatment, +and he died in 1646. Cramail was the author of three +works—“La Comédie des Proverbes;” “Les Jeux +de l’Inconnu;” and “Les Pensées du Solitaire.”</p> + +<p>Among the contemporaries of Bassompierre, de Jars, +and Cramail, within the walls of the Bastile, there +was another of equal rank, but not of an equally noble +mind. His hands were stained with blood; his earliest +promotion was bought by perpetrating a cowardly +murder. This personage was Nicholas de l’Hospital, +marquis of Vitry, to whom I have slightly alluded in +my notice of the marchioness d’Ancre. He was the +degenerate son of a warrior, who was incapable of a +dishonourable action. Vitry, who was born in 1611, +succeeded his father as captain of the royal guards, +and ingratiated himself with Luynes, the minion of +Louis XIII. In concert with Luynes, he formed the +plan of assassinating marshal d’Ancre, who was obnoxious +to the king. Eager to win the marshal’s staff +which was held by Concini, Vitry let slip no opportunity +of irritating the king against the intended victim, +and of pressing for permission to assassinate him. The +monarch hesitated for a while, not from virtue but from +fear; he ended by granting his sanction, and Vitry lost +not a moment in acting upon it. With his brother +du Hallier, and an associate named Perray, he waited +for Concini at the entrance of the Louvre, and there +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">[202]</span>the three confederates despatched him with pistols, +which they had kept concealed beneath their cloaks. +When Louis was informed that the deed was done, he +had the ineffable baseness to look out at the palace +window, and exclaim, “Many thanks to you, Vitry! +I am now really king!” It must, however, be owned +that the baseness of the monarch was kept in countenance +by that of his courtiers and flatterers, who +lauded the assassin as profusely as though he had been +the saviour of the state.</p> + +<p>For this disgraceful service, Vitry was rewarded by +the great object of his ambition, the rank of marshal. +On hearing of this, the duke of Bouillon indignantly +declared that he blushed at being a French marshal, +now that the marshal’s staff was made the recompense +of one who traded in murder.</p> + +<p>Though, of the two favourites of the queen mother, +Vitry had slain the husband with his own hand, and +thus been the cause of the wife’s public execution, and +though at that time he had treated her with disgusting +insolence, yet when, two years afterwards, a feigned +reconcilement took place between Mary of Medicis +and her son, she allowed Vitry to be presented to her. +On this occasion a scene of dissimulation occurred, +which has not often been paralleled. Vitry bent to +kiss the hem of her garment, but she graciously +stretched out her hand to raise him, saying, at the +same time, “I have always praised your affectionate +zeal in the king’s service.” To which, with equal sincerity, +he replied, “it was that consideration alone which +induced me to do all that the king desired; without, +however, my having had the slightest idea of offending +your majesty.” If we cannot praise the parts which +these actors played, we must at least admit that they +played them skilfully.</p> + +<p>The military career of Vitry did not begin till the +breaking out of the war between the protestants and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">[203]</span>catholics, in 1621. Though he was deficient in principle, +he was not so in courage; in the course of the +war he distinguished himself upon many occasions, +particularly in the isle of Rhé and at the blockade +of Rochelle. He obtained the government of Provence +in 1631, and he held it for six years. At the +expiration of that period, he was arrested, and sent to +the Bastile. His having caned an archbishop, and +misused his authority in various cases, were among the +causes of his imprisonment. Richelieu said of him +that, “though his courage and fidelity rendered him +worthy to govern Provence, yet it was necessary to deprive +him of office, because, being of a haughty and +insolent disposition, he was not fit to rule a people so +jealous as the Provençals were of their franchises and +privileges.”</p> + +<p>Vitry spent six years in the Bastile, from which prison +he was not released till after the death of cardinal +Richelieu. During the latter part of his imprisonment +he participated in intrigues, which would have brought +him to the block had they been discovered. In conjunction +with Bassompierre, Cramail, and others, he +entered into the plot of which the gallant count de +Soissons was the head. The state prisoners in the +Bastile were, at that period, allowed so much freedom +of intercourse, both with their friends and among themselves, +that they had plenty of opportunity to conspire. +It was arranged, between Vitry, Bassompierre, +and their associates, that, as soon as Soissons had +gained a victory, they should seize the Bastile and the +Arsenal, and call the citizens of Paris to arms. De +Retz is of opinion that the success of their scheme +would have been certain; but the death of Soissons, +who fell in the battle of Marfée, at the moment of his +victory, prevented the conspirators from carrying their +design into effect. Fortunately for those who were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">[204]</span>concerned, their secret practices were never disclosed +while cardinal Richelieu was alive.</p> + +<p>Vitry was created a duke in 1644, but he died in a +few months after he obtained this title. He left a son, +possessed of talent far superior to his own, and who +in character more resembled his grandfather than his +father.</p> + +<p>The count de la Châtre, in his Memoirs, relates a +circumstance respecting the liberation of Vitry and +his fellow prisoners. The anecdote shows, among +other things, to what an extent Louis XIII. was infected +with what Byron calls the “good old gentlemanly +vice” of avarice. “The cardinal (Mazarin) +and M. de Chavigny,” says la Châtre, “solicited the +king for the deliverance of the marshals Vitry and +Bassompierre, and the count de Cramail. The means +which they employed on this occasion deserve to be +recorded, as being rather pleasant; for, finding that +the king was not very willing to comply, they attacked +him on his weak side, and represented to him that +these three prisoners cost him an enormous sum to +keep them in the Bastile, and that, as they were no +longer able to raise cabals in the kingdom, they might +as well be at home, where they would cost him nothing. +This indirect mode succeeded, this prince being possessed +by such extraordinary avarice, that whoever +asked him for money was an insufferable burthen to +him; so far did he carry this, that, after the return of +Treville, Beaupuy, and others, whom the violence of +the late cardinal (Richelieu) had, when he was dying, +forced him to abandon, he sought occasion to give a +rebuff to each of them, that he might prevent them +from hoping to be rewarded for what they had suffered +for him.” Here we see a king beginning his reign by +prompting his servants to commit murder, and ending +it by displaying cold-blooded ingratitude to those +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">[205]</span>who had been faithful to him—fit end for such a +beginning!</p> + +<p>From a noble, who stained his hands with blood, to +win the favour of a king, we gladly turn to a plebeian, +who risked his life, rather than violate his fidelity to the +neglected and ill-used consort of that monarch. Peter +de la Porte was this plebeian, who, though his trials +were not carried to such a dreadful extent as those of +the chevalier de Jars, has a legitimate claim, as far as +regards probity and firmness of mind, to be placed in +the same class with that distinguished character. La +Porte was born in 1603, and entered into the service +of Anne of Austria at the age of eighteen, as one of +her cloak-bearers. It being suspected that he was +trusted by the queen, he was deprived of his office in +1626, when a desperate attempt was made by the minister +to implicate her in the conspiracy of La Chalais. +He then entered into her body guards. In 1631, he +was, however, allowed to resume his former situation.</p> + +<p>Ever studying to abase the queen, Richelieu believed +that he had at last found an opportunity to accomplish +his purpose effectually. This was in 1637⁠<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a>. +That the queen should privately keep up some correspondence +with the king of Spain and the cardinal +infant, who were her brothers, and also with the persons +whom she valued in the courts of Madrid and +Brussels, was natural, more especially in her discomfortable +situation, slighted as she was by her husband, +and thwarted and misrepresented by the minister and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">[206]</span>the minister’s satellites. But Anne of Austria had a +sincere attachment to France, and there is no reason +to believe that her letters contained anything which +could prejudice her adopted country. Yet, it was not +advisable that they should come into the hands of a +man, who boasted that with only two lines of an innocent +person’s writing he could ruin him—a boast +which could be made by no one that was not dead to +honour and shame. It was necessary, therefore, to +provide a safe place, where the correspondence might +be deposited. The queen’s favourite convent of Val +de Grace, of which she was the foundress, was the +place which she chose. There Anne had an elegant +apartment, or oratory, in which, after her devotions +were over, she could sometimes, free from the constraint +and heartlessness of the court, enjoy a few hours +of social intercourse with the inmates of the convent. +One of the nuns received the letters from Spain and +the Netherlands, and placed them in a closet, whence +they were taken by the queen, whose answers were +forwarded in the same manner.</p> + +<p>Richelieu, who had spies in all quarters, discovered +the secret of the correspondence which was carried on +through the Val de Grace. He lost not a moment in +filling the mind of the weak Louis with phantoms of +danger, which was to arise from the queen’s unauthorised +communications with her relatives. The queen +was hurried off by her husband to Chantilly, where +she was confined to her own room, scantily attended, +and was obliged to submit to being interrogated by the +chancellor. Such was the baseness of the courtiers +that, believing her to be lost, not one of them would +venture even to look up at her window. Her confidential +servants were shut up in various prisons. The +chancellor himself visited Val de Grace to make a +rigorous search for papers; but he found nothing. +That he failed in his search is not marvellous; for he is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">[207]</span>believed to have previously contrived to give the queen +notice of the intended visit. All the papers had consequently +been removed, and placed under the care of +the marchioness of Sourdis.</p> + +<p>Foiled in this attempt to reach the secret, Richelieu +tried whether it might not be wrung from the +servants of the queen. La Porte, as being supposed +to possess a large share of her confidence, was of course +most open to suspicion and persecution. There had, +besides, been found upon him a letter from the queen +to the duchess of Chevreuse, who was then in exile. +In the month of August, 1637, he was committed to +the Bastile. Here he was repeatedly and severely +questioned, but nothing to criminate his royal mistress +could be drawn from him. It was in vain that the +cardinal himself employed threats and promises, to obtain +the information which he so much desired. The +obstinate fidelity of La Porte was not to be shaken, +even when the commissary showed him a paper, which +he said contained an order for applying to him the +torture, and took him to the room that he might +see the instruments. He was equally proof to the fear +of death.</p> + +<p>In May, 1638, it being then certain that, after +being childless for two-and-twenty years, Anne of +Austria was in a situation to give an heir to the throne, +the liberation of La Porte was granted to her. He +was, however, exiled to Saumur, where he resided till +the decease of Louis XIII. When Anne became +regent, she recalled him, and gave him a hundred +thousand francs, that he might purchase the place of +principal valet-de-chambre to the king. This office he +held for several years. But La Porte was too honest +to prosper in a corrupt court. Sincerely attached to +the queen-regent, he thought it his duty to apprise +her of the degrading reports which were spread, on +the subject of her long interviews with Mazarin, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">[208]</span>by this candour he cooled her friendship and gratitude, +while, at the same time, he incurred the enmity of the +cardinal himself, by communicating to her a circumstance, +relative to the young king, which Mazarin was +desirous of keeping concealed. In revenge, Mazarin +deprived him of his place, and forbad him to appear at +court. It was not till after the death of the cardinal +that La Porte was again admitted to the king’s presence, +and from him he met with a kind reception. +He died in 1680.</p> + +<p>Alchemy, the rock on which the peace and fortune +of numbers have been wrecked, was still more fatal to +Noel Pigard Dubois, a restless and certainly unprincipled +adventurer, whom it deprived of liberty and life. +He was a native of Coulomiers, adopted his father’s +profession, that of a surgeon, then abandoned it, and +voyaged to the Levant, where he spent four years. +During his stay in the East, he studied the occult +sciences. Returning to Paris, he passed there four +years of an obscure and often intemperate existence, +associating chiefly with pretenders to alchemical knowledge. +Caprice, or a sudden fit of devotion, next induced +him to enter a Capuchin convent, but he appears +to have speedily become tired of restraint, and accordingly +he scaled the walls and escaped. At the expiration +of three years he re-embraced a monastic life, +took the vows, and was ordained a priest, in which character +he was known by the name of Father Simon. +The quicksilver of his disposition seemed at length to +be fixed, for he continued to wear the monkish habit +during ten years; but he verified the proverb that the +cowl does not make the monk, his unquiet spirit was +again roused into action, and he fled into Germany. +There he became a convert to the doctrines of Luther, +and once more devoted himself to seeking for the philosopher’s +stone.</p> + +<p>Hoping, perhaps, that there would be more believers, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">[209]</span>or fewer rivals, in his own country than in Germany, +he retraced his steps to Paris. Probably he was himself +half dupe, half knave, almost believing that he +had really found the great secret, but resolved at all +events, to turn his supposed skill to his own advantage. +His first step was to abjure protestantism; his next +was to marry under a fictitious name. Rumours of +his wonderful hermetic discoveries were speedily +bruited about. They procured him the acquaintance of +an Abbé Blondeau, an evidently credulous man, who +introduced him to Father Joseph, the favourite and +confident of Richelieu, as a person who might be useful +to the state. For the services which Dubois was to +render, it was stipulated that his past misdeeds should +be buried in oblivion. France was at that time groaning +under a heavy load of taxation, money was raised +by the most abominable exactions; and, consequently, +it was but just that an individual who promised to +procure supplies more innocently than by grinding the +face of the people, should be forgiven for offences +which, though deserving of punishment, were somewhat +less iniquitous than systematic tyranny and +extortion.</p> + +<p>It affords a striking proof to what an extent the +delusions of alchemy prevailed in that age, that the +strong-minded Richelieu instantly grasped at the bubble +which floated before him. Had only the weak +Louis done so, there would have been no cause for +wonder. But the minister was full as eager as his +nominal sovereign. It was arranged that Dubois +should perform the “great work” in the presence of +the king, the queen, and a throng of illustrious personages. +The Louvre was the place at which the new +and never-failing gold mine was to be opened.</p> + +<p>When the important day arrived, Dubois adroitly +acted in a manner which was calculated to inspire confidence. +He requested that some one might be charged +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">[210]</span>to keep an eye on his proceedings. One of his body +guards, named Saint Amour, was chosen by the king +for this purpose. Musket balls, given by a soldier, +together with a grain of the powder of projection, +were placed in a crucible, the whole was covered with +cinders, and the furnace fire was soon raised to a proper +pitch. The transmutation was now declared by +Dubois to be accomplished, and he requested that +Louis would himself blow off the ashes from the precious +contents of the crucible. Eager to see the +first specimen of the boundless riches which were +about to flow in upon him, the king plied the bellows +with such violence, that the eyes of the queen and +many of the courtiers were nearly blinded with the +dust. At last a lump of gold emerged to view, and his +transports were boundless. He hugged Dubois with +childish rapture, ennobled him, and appointed him president +of the treasury, nominated Blondeau a privy +counsellor, promised a cardinal’s hat to Father Joseph, +and gave eight thousand livres to Saint Amour. +The master of perennial treasures could afford to be +generous.</p> + +<p>The experiment is said to have been repeated, and +with the same success as in the first instance. Dubois +must at least have been a clever knave, an adept in +legerdemain, to have deluded so many strongly interested +spectators, and that, too, in spite of the precautions +which he had himself daringly recommended, +for the prevention of fraud.</p> + +<p>But there was a rock on which the luckless adventurer +was doomed to split. Humbler patrons than he +had found might for a long while have been satisfied +with the scanty portion of gold contained in the bottom +of a crucible; but the desires of his powerful friends +were of a more greedy and impatient kind, not to be +fed with distant hopes, but demanding large and immediate +fruition. Richelieu loudly called upon the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">[211]</span>alchemist to operate on an extensive scale; and he +proved that it was necessary to do so, by requiring that +Dubois should furnish weekly a sum which should +not be less than six hundred thousand livres, about +25,000<i>l.</i> The startled Dubois requested time to +make the requisite preparations, and time was granted. +In truth, as the powder of projection was believed to +be procurable only by a protracted and laborious process, +it was impossible not to admit his claim for delay. +The marvel is, that he did not avail himself of the +respite, to get beyond the reach of danger. When +the day arrived which he had named, he was of course +compelled to own that he was not yet prepared.</p> + +<p>Suspicion being excited, he was imprisoned at Vincennes, +whence he was transferred to the Bastile. +Offended pride and vanity and disappointed cupidity +are often cruel passions. To punish Dubois for his +sins against them, the cardinal appointed a commission +to try him; but being averse from coming forward in +the character of a dupe, he ordered him to be arraigned +on a charge of dealing in magic. As the wretched man +obstinately persisted in denying his guilt, he was put +to the torture. To gain a brief reprieve from his +sufferings, he offered to realise the golden dreams +which he had excited. Faith was not quite extinct in +his patrons, and he was allowed to make another experiment. +It is needless to say that he failed. Being +thus driven from his last hold, he avowed his imposture, +was sentenced to death, and terminated his existence +on the scaffold, on the 23d of June 1637.</p> + +<p>The battle of Thionville, which was fought in 1639, +and terminated in the defeat of the French, and the +death of Feuquieres, their general, gave two prisoners +to the Bastile; not foreign enemies, or rebellious +Frenchmen, but officers who had combated for their +country—the count de Grancé and the marquis de +Praslin. At Thionville, the troops under their orders +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">[212]</span>refused to advance, and finally ran away. It appears, +from the testimony of Bassompierre, that no blame +was attributable to the count or the marquis; they +were nevertheless immured in the Bastile, though it +does not seem easy to discern how the cowardice of +soldiers is to be cured by imprisoning their officers. +It was, however, in a similar kind of spirit, only somewhat +more barbarous, that in England, more than a +century afterwards, admiral Byng was sacrificed (murdered +is the proper word); not, as Voltaire sarcastically +observes, “to encourage the others,” but to divert +public indignation from its proper objects. The +system was carried to a horrible length in France, +during the reign of terror. Less sanguinary, in this +instance, than his imitators, Richelieu contented himself +with inflicting a short deprivation of liberty. The +two captives were restored to favour, and Grancé rose, +in the next reign, to the rank of marshal.</p> + +<p>The next two cases which are on record, afford a striking +proof of the contempt in which Richelieu held justice +and the law of nations, whenever they chanced to stand +in the way of his political schemes, and the gratification +of his vindictive spirit. On the death of the gallant +warrior, Bernard of Saxe Weimar, which took place in +the summer of 1639, the possession of his admirably +trained army became an object which all the belligerent +powers were eager to obtain. Among those who +sought the prize was the Prince Palatine, a son of the +unfortunate Frederic, who lost the crown of Bohemia +and his own hereditary states. The prince was passing +through France, from England, to enter on the +negociation, when he was arrested, and sent to the +Bastile, under pretence of his being an unknown and +suspected person. Richelieu, meanwhile, pushed on +his treaty with the officers of the deceased duke, and +succeeded in purchasing their services for France. +When this was accomplished, it was discovered that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">[213]</span>the arrest of the Prince Palatine was a mistake, and he +was consequently set free.</p> + +<p>The second case occurred in the following year, +1640, and was a still more flagrant violation of international +laws, and more fraught with circumstances of +baseness and malignity. Louis XIII. had a sister, +Christina, beautiful, accomplished, and of winning +manners; in a word, as worthy of being beloved as he +was the contrary. This princess was the widow of +the duke of Savoy, who left to her the regency of his +states, during the minority of Emanuel Philibert, his +son. On the decease of her husband, the ambition +of his brothers prompted them to grasp at the reins +of government, and, to effect their purpose, they called +in the aid of Spain. The duchess was sorely pressed +by her enemies. In this strait, nature and policy combined +to make her apply to Louis for aid. The appeals +to him, in her letters, are often affecting. Richelieu +was willing enough to send succours, but he was determined +that they should be bought at an extravagant +rate. His object, in truth, was to place the dominions +of the minor, and even the minor himself, at the +mercy of France. He not only required that certain +fortresses should be delivered up to him, but also that +the young duke should be put into the hands of the +French king, that is to say, into his own. To bring +this about, he descended to the most unworthy intrigues +and double dealing; alternately calumniating +the duchess to her brothers-in-law, and them to her, +in order to render impossible an accommodation between +them. Borne down by necessity, the duchess +at length consented to admit French garrisons into +some of her fortresses, but she resolutely persisted in +refusing to surrender her son.</p> + +<p>The firmness of the duchess was sustained by count +Philip d’Aglie, one of her principal ministers, a man +of discernment and talent, who never slackened in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">[214]</span>his hostility to the scheme of Richelieu. He feared that +the visit of the young duke to France would resemble +the descent into Avernus—“<i>Sed revocare gradum, +hoc opus, hic labor est.</i>” The cardinal had hoped +that, in an interview which the duchess had with Louis +at Grenoble, she might be cajoled or terrified into +compliance. But on that occasion her own firmness +was backed by the presence of count d’Aglie, and the +expectations of the ungodly churchman were in consequence +frustrated. So irritated was he by his disappointment, +that he proposed, in council, to arrest +the count; but, powerful and feared as he was, +he could not prevail upon the members to assent +to this measure. It was therefore postponed to a +better opportunity. In the meanwhile, calumny was +set at work to blacken the character of the devoted +individual, that when the happy time arrived for +pouncing upon him, he might excite no sympathy. +That the slander would wound the duchess also was +a matter of little concern to the personage by whom it +was propagated. It was roundly asserted, apparently +without the shadow of a reason for it, that an illicit +intercourse subsisted between the duchess and the +minister, the latter of whom the cardinal, with an affectation +of virtuous anger, was pleased to designate +as “the wretch who was ruining the reputation of +Christina.” It was not till the following year that +he could succeed in wreaking his malice on the count. +As soon as the French troops had recovered Turin +from the Spaniards, Richelieu ordered d’Aglie to be +seized; and, in spite of the remonstrances of the +duchess against this gross violation of her sovereignty, +he was hurried to France, and confined in the Bastile. +The date of the count’s deliverance, I am unable to +ascertain, but it is probable that his imprisonment was +not protracted beyond the life of the cardinal.</p> + +<p>It appears to have been about this time that there +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">[215]</span>was published a bitter satire upon the cardinal, for +which an unlucky author, who had no concern with +it, was conveyed to the Bastile. The satire bore the +title of “The Milliad,” from its consisting of a +thousand lines. One edition is intituled, “The Present +Government, or the Eulogy of the Cardinal.” It +was attributed to Charles de Beys, a now-forgotten +author, who wrote three plays and some verses, and +was lauded as a rival of Malherbe, by a few of his ill-judging +contemporaries. It must have been some +mischievous joker that ascribed “The Milliad” to him, +for Beys was not the sort of man to meddle with political +satire, especially on such a dangerous subject; +he was of an indolent, convivial disposition, and spent +the largest portion of his time in enjoying the pleasures +of the table. He was, nevertheless, pent up in +the Bastile, as the libeller of the all-potent cardinal. +Fortunately for him, he was able to prove his innocence, +was set at liberty, and continued to follow his +former course of life, till his constitution gave way, +and he died, in 1659, at the age of forty.</p> + +<p>In the winter of 1642, Richelieu, who had so +largely fed the prisons and scaffolds of France, terminated +his career of ambition and blood. There is +extant a letter which, while the cardinal was on his +death bed, was written to him by one of his victims, +named Dussault. The letter bears date on the first +of December, three days previous to the decease of the +minister, and it seems never to have reached him. +What was the offence of Dussault is not known; from +a broad hint which is given in his epistle, it appears +that he suffered for having refused to execute some +sanguinary order given to him by Richelieu. When +he penned the following lines, he had been more than +eleven years an inmate of the Bastile.</p> + +<p>“My Lord,—There is a time when man ceases +to be barbarous and unjust; it is when his approaching +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">[216]</span>dissolution compels him to descend into the +gloom of his conscience, and to deplore the cares, +griefs, pains, and misfortunes, which he has caused +to his fellow creatures: allow me to say fellow creatures, +for you must now see that of which you would +never before allow yourself to be convinced, or persuade +yourself to know, that the sovereign and excellent +celestial workman has formed us all on the same +model, and that he designed men to be distinguished +from each other by their virtues alone. Now, then, +my lord, you are aware that for eleven years you have +subjected me to sufferings, and to enduring a thousand +deaths in the Bastile, where the most disloyal and +wicked subject of the king would be still worthy of +pity and compassion. How much more then ought +they to be shown to me, whom you have doomed to +rot there, for having disobeyed your order, which, had +I performed it, would have condemned my soul to eternal +torment, and made me pass into eternity with +blood-stained hands. Ah! if you could but hear +the sobs, the lamentations and groans, which you +extort from me, you would quickly set me at liberty. +In the name of the eternal God, who will judge you as +well as me, I implore you, my lord, to take pity on my +sufferings and bewailings; and, if you wish that He +should show mercy to you, order my chains to be +broken before your death hour comes, for when that +comes, you will no longer be at leisure to do me that +justice which I must require only from you, and you +will persecute me even after you are no more, from +which God keep us, if you will permit yourself to be +moved by the most humble prayer of a man who has +ever been a loyal subject to the king.”</p> + +<p>This application was made in vain. If the cardinal +ever saw it, which is doubtful, it failed to penetrate his +iron heart; he “died, and made no sign,” in favour +of the wretched supplicant. From Dussault’s evident +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">[217]</span>despair of ever being freed except by Richelieu, it may +be conjectured that, as an agent of the minister, he +had given inexpiable offence to some one on whom +power was now likely to devolve; and this supposition +is rendered more probable, by his captivity having +been subsequently protracted to an extraordinary +length. It was not till the 20th of June, 1692, that +he was dismissed, after having languished in the Bastile +for sixty one years! At his advanced age,—for +he must at least have been between eighty and ninety—he +could scarcely have deemed the boon of liberty +a blessing. In the common course of nature, all his +kindred and friends must have been gone, and as his +habits were wholly unfitted for the turmoil of the +world, and he was, perhaps, exposed to want, it is not +unnatural to conclude that he may have been a solitary +and starving wanderer for the brief remainder of his +existence. A situation more forlorn than this it would +be difficult to imagine.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Louis XIV.—Regency of Anne of Austria—Inauspicious +circumstances under which she assumed the regency—George de +Casselny—The count de Montresor—The marquis de Fontrailles—Marshal +de Rantzau—The count de Rieux—Bernard +Guyard—Broussel, governor of the Bastile—The duchess of Montpensier +orders the cannon of the Bastile to be fired on the king’s +army—Conclusion of the war of the Fronde—Surrender of the +Bastile—Despotism of Louis XIV.—Slavishness of the nobles—John +Herauld Gourville—The count de Guiche—Nicholas +Fouquet—Paul Pellisson-Fontainier—Charles St. Evremond—Simon +Morin—The Marquis de Vardes—Count Bussy Rabutin—Saci +le Maistre—The duke of Lauzun—Marquis of Cavoie—The +chevalier de Rohan—A nameless prisoner—Charles D’Assoucy—Miscellaneous +prisoners.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The regency of Anne of Austria commenced under +auspices which were not of the most favourable kind. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">[218]</span>For a long series of years she had been persecuted by +a tyrant minister, and discredited and humiliated, in +every possible manner, by an unfeeling husband. It +would be a tedious task to enumerate all the slights and +injuries to which she was exposed; a specimen may +suffice. To avoid the disgrace of being sent back to +Spain, she had been compelled to confess before the +Council a fault which she everywhere else disavowed, +and of which it is improbable that she was guilty; on +her bringing Louis XIV. into the world, she had suffered +a stinging insult from her consort, who had pertinaciously +refused to give her the embrace which was +customary on such occasions—an insult which affected +her so deeply that her life was endangered; when he +was on the brink of the grave, and she earnestly sought +to remove his prejudices against her, he coldly replied +to Chavigni, who was pleading her cause, “In my situation +I must forgive, but I am not obliged to believe +her;” and, in settling the regency, he would fain have +excluded from it the object of his hatred, but, that +being impracticable, he took care to shackle her authority +in such a way as would have left her scarcely +more than the mere title of regent. Her having been +childless for twenty-two years, and been treated in +child-bed with such marked aversion by him, were also +circumstances which were well calculated to throw +dangerous doubts on the legitimacy of the infant sovereign. +Yet Anne of Austria triumphed over all this, +procured the setting aside of her deceased husband’s +arrangements, obtained unlimited power, and for five +years governed France without opposition, and with a +considerable enhancement of its military fame. It was +not till the troubles of the Fronde broke out that she +encountered unpopularity and resistance.</p> + +<p>During the peaceable period of the queen mother’s +government, the Bastile seems to have had but few +inmates, at least few whom history has deemed worthy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">[219]</span>of being recorded; and during the war of the Fronde, +and even before, the castle of Vincennes was the +prison which received the captives of the highest +class, such as the duke of Beaufort, the prince of +Condé, and cardinal de Retz.</p> + +<p>The first prisoner in the Bastile, of whom any +notice occurs during the regency, was a Spanish agent, +named George de Casselny. Philip IV. of Spain had +recently lost his consort Elizabeth, and it appears that +Casselny was commissioned to make overtures for the +monarch’s marriage with that singular female the +duchess of Montpensier, a woman who had more manly +qualities than her vacillating father, the duke of +Orleans. “There was a certain Spaniard, named +George de Casselny (says the duchess, in her memoirs), +who had been made prisoner in Catalonia, and +was on his parole, he went to M. de Surgis, at Orleans, +to request that he would procure for him an interview +with Monsieur (the duke of Orleans), who put him +off till he could see him at Paris. In consequence of +this delay, the Spaniard’s intention got wind, and he +was put into the Bastile, and the cardinal (Mazarin), +told Monsieur that it was a man who wanted to divert +him from the service of the king by this proposal of +marriage; which Monsieur believed and still believes. +Many persons, however, affirm, that it was not a pretext, +and that this gentleman had orders to make solid +and sincere propositions for the marriage of his king +with me, which he had thought it proper to communicate +to Monsieur, before he made them known to +the court. Nevertheless, this poor creature was kept +a prisoner for several years, and when he was set at +liberty, he was sent out of the kingdom under a guard.”</p> + +<p>The next prisoner was one who, for a long period, +was closely connected with Monsieur, the father of the +duchess. Claude de Bourdeille, count de Montresor, +was born about 1608, and was a grand-nephew of that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">[220]</span>pleasant but unscrupulous writer Brantome, who bequeathed +to him his mansion of Richemont. Montresor +was early admitted into the train of the duke of +Orleans, and at length became his confidential friend, +whom he consulted on all occasions. He availed himself +of his influence to keep at a distance from the +duke all the friends of Richelieu, to incite him still +more against that minister, and to link him in confederacy +with the count of Soissons. In 1636, he went +much further. In conjunction with Saint Ibal and +others, he formed a plan for assassinating the cardinal, +and to this plan the duke and the count gave their assent. +The murder was to be perpetrated as the minister +was leaving the council chamber; Saint Ibal +was behind him, ready to strike the blow, and waited +only for an affirmative sign from the duke; but at this +critical moment, either the courage of Orleans gave +way, or his conscience smote him, for he turned away +his head, and hurried from the spot. The cardinal +consequently escaped.</p> + +<p>While Montresor was subsequently busy in Guyenne, +labouring to induce the duke of Epernon and his son to +take up arms for Monsieur, he was suddenly abandoned +by his employer, who made his own peace with Richelieu. +Montresor now retired to his estate, where, for +more than five years, he lived in the utmost privacy. +He had, however, secret interviews with Monsieur, +and, at his solicitation, he engaged in the conspiracy +of Cinq Mars. Again he was deserted by him, and +more disgracefully than in the first instance; for +the dishonourable prince did not scruple to disavow +the proceedings of his agent, and to aver that Cinq +Mars and Montresor were the persons who had misled +him. Montresor would have ascended the scaffold +with Cinq Mars and de Thou, had he not prudently +taken refuge in England, whence he did not return till +the cardinal was no more.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">[221]</span></p> + +<p>When the government devolved on Anne of Austria, +the enemies of Richelieu had reason to hope that they +would become the dominant party. The haughty +bearing which this hope led them to assume, obtained +for them the appellation of “The Cabal of the Importants.” +They soon, however, contrived to disgust +the queen-regent; and before twelve months had +elapsed, Montresor, Chateauneuf, the duchess of Chevreuse, +and several others of the faction, were ordered +to quit the court. Montresor retired for a while to +Holland. Late in 1645, he visited Paris, and, soon +after, two letters to him, from the exiled duchess de +Chevreuse, having been intercepted, Mazarin sent him +to the Bastile. The prisoner was removed to Vincennes, +where he was rigorously treated for fourteen +months. At length, moved by the solicitations of +Montresor’s relatives, the cardinal set him at liberty, +and even offered him his friendship. Montresor, however, +chose rather to league himself with Mazarin’s +bitterest foe, the celebrated Coadjutor, afterwards the +cardinal de Retz, and he took an active part in the war +of the Fronde. In 1653 he was reconciled to the court, +and from that time till his decease, which occurred in +1663, he led a peaceable life. Though ambition and +a propensity to political intrigue could lead him to dip +his hands in blood, Montresor is said to have had many +social qualities, to have been generous, sincere, and a +firm and ardent friend. His “Memoirs” form a valuable +contribution to the history of his times.</p> + +<p>Among the agents of the duke of Orleans was +Louis d’Astarac, marquis of Fontrailles, a descendant +from an ancient Armagnac family. When the conspiracy +of Cinq Mars was formed, Fontrailles was dispatched +to Spain, to negociate with the Spanish cabinet +a treaty, for assistance to the conspirators. By this +treaty, Spain engaged to furnish the duke of Orleans +with 12,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, 400,000 crowns +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">[222]</span>to raise levies in France; and a monthly allowance of +12,000 crowns for his private expenses. But, before +any step could be taken to carry the treaty into effect, +the conspiracy was rendered abortive. Fontrailles, +against whom an order of arrest had been issued, was +fortunate enough to escape to England. The death +of the cardinal and of his vassal sovereign, which took +place soon after, enabled the proscribed fugitive to return +to France. He became one of the Cabal of the +Importants, and shared in the downfall of that faction. +In the summer of 1647, he was sent to the Bastile; +for what fault he was imprisoned I know not, or when +he was released. Guy Patin intimates that the charge +was not of a capital nature. Fontrailles died in 1677.</p> + +<p>The next who passes before us is a brave and injured +soldier. Count Josias de Rantzau was descended +from an ancient family of Holstein, thirty-two members +of which are said to have greatly distinguished +themselves. The fidelity of this family to its sovereigns +was so remarkable, that the expression “As +faithful as a Rantzau to his king,” passed into a proverb. +Josias was born in 1610, and seems first to +have borne arms in the Swedish service; he commanded +a body of Swedes at the siege of Andernach, +headed the Swedish left wing at the combat of Pakenau, +and was present at the siege of Brisac. In 1635, +he accompanied the celebrated Oxenstiern into France, +where Louis XIII. appointed him a major-general, +and colonel of two regiments. The subsequent career +of Rantzau was often successful, and was never +stained with disgrace. He effectually covered the retreat +of the French after the raising of the siege of Dole, victoriously +defended St. Jean de Lône against Galas, bore +a conspicuous part in the subsequent campaigns in Flanders +and Germany, and was twice maimed at the siege of +Arras, and displayed signal valour at the siege of Aire. +Fortune deserted him at the combat of Honnecourt and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">[223]</span>the battle of Dutlingen, in 1642 and 1643, and in both +instances he was taken prisoner. She, however, soon +became favourable to him. Between 1645 and 1649, he +made himself master of Gravelines, Dixmude, Lens, +and all the maritime towns of Flanders. To reward his +services he received the government of Gravelines +and Dunkirk, and was raised to the rank of marshal. +Mazarin, nevertheless, suspected him of being connected +with his enemies, and in February, 1649, the +marshal was conveyed to the Bastile, where he remained +for eleven months. His innocence being at +length ascertained, he was set at liberty; but a dropsy, +which he had contracted in his confinement, proved fatal +to him in the course of a few months. He died in September +1650. Rantzau was possessed of brilliant valour, +much talent and military skill, and spoke all the principal +languages of Europe; his only defect was an +inordinate love of wine. Like our Nelson, but even +in a greater degree, his person had been severely mutilated; +he had lost an ear, an eye, a leg, and an arm. +To this fact the following epitaph alludes:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“But half of great Rantzau this tomb contains,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">The other half in battle fields remains;</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His limbs and fame he widely spread around,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And still, though mangled, conqueror was he found:</div> + <div class="verse indent0">His blood a hundred victories did acquire,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And nothing but his heart by Mars was left entire!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>A brawl brought to the Bastile, in 1652, the count +de Rieux, a son of the duke of Elbœuf. A dispute +with the prince of Tarentum, as to precedence, gave +rise to it. The prince of Condé, the great Condé, was +the other actor. “The prince of Condé,” says the +duchess of Montpensier, “took the part of the prince +of Tarentum, who is nearly related to him, against the +count de Rieux, and one day he got heated in the dispute; +he imagined that the count de Rieux had pushed +him, which obliged him to return it by a box on the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">[224]</span>ear; the count de Rieux then gave him a blow. The +prince, who had no sword, made a dart at that of the +baron de Migenne, who was present. M. de Rohan, +who was also there, put himself between them, and got +out the count de Rieux, whom his royal highness (the +duke of Orleans) sent to the Bastile, for having dared +to fail in respect. Many persons say, that the prince +struck first; if he did so, he must have taken some +gesture of the count for an insult, for though he is very +passionate, he is not so much so as to do an action of +this kind. I saw him after dinner, and he said, ‘You +see a man who has been beaten for the first time in his +life.’ The count de Rieux remained in the Bastile till +the arrival of M. de Lorraine, who set him free, and +blamed him very much.” It must have been a ludicrous +sight, to see a prince of the blood, the victor of +Rocroi, Fribourg, Nordlingen, and Lens, at fisticuffs +amidst a ring of courtiers, in the palace of the duke of +Orleans! “This was not the way,” remarks Voltaire, +“to regain the hearts of the Parisians.”</p> + +<p>The leaders of the Frondeur faction were by no +means tolerant of censure, even when it came from +clerical lips. Bernard Guyard, a dominican, had reason +to repent his having too honestly indulged in it. +Guyard, who was born in 1601, at Craon, in Anjou, +took the religious habit, and was admitted, in 1645, a +doctor of the Sorbonne, and became popular for his +pulpit eloquence, so much so that Anne of Austria appointed +him her preacher, and the duchess of Orleans +chose him as her confessor. While the war of the +Fronde was being carried on—a war of which it has +wittily and truly been said, that it ought to be recorded +in burlesque verse—Guyard ventured to reprobate, in +the pulpit, the conduct of those ambitious and unprincipled +personages by whom its flames had been lighted +up. The punishment of his offence followed close upon +the commission of it. As he was leaving the church, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">[225]</span>he was arrested, and conveyed to the Bastile, where +he continued for some months. He died in 1674, at +which period he was theological professor in the convent +of St. James. All his works have long since +ceased to attract notice, with the exception, perhaps, of +“The Fatality of St. Cloud,” which is a paradoxical +attempt to prove that not Clement, nor a Dominican, +but a leaguer, disguised as a monk, was the murderer +of Henry III.</p> + +<p>During the war of the Fronde, the Bastile, for a +short time, and for the last, was again a fortress as +well as a prison; but in the latter character its services +were only once required. When, in 1649, the queen-regent +suddenly quitted Paris with the young king, she +imprudently neglected to throw into the Bastile a garrison. +It was guarded by only twenty-two soldiers, +who had neither ammunition nor provisions. Du +Tremblai, the governor, was therefore obliged to yield. +The custody of the fortress was committed to Peter +Broussel, for whose deliverance the Parisians had risen +in arms on the day of the Barricades, and from whom +he had received the flattering appellations of the father +and the protector of the people. As Broussel was an +aged man, his son, La Louvière, was joined with him +in the government. In 1652, Broussel was appointed +provost of the merchants, and the keeping of the Bastile +remained with La Louvière alone.</p> + +<p>The two pieces of cannon which, in 1649, the Parisians +fired at the Bastile to hasten its submission, +would have been the only artillery employed, either +against it or by it, had not the daring of a woman +brought its guns into action. The duchess of Montpensier, +who was called Mademoiselle, had recently +distinguished herself by her spirited conduct at Orleans. +Being sent by her father to that city, to encourage his +partisans, she was at first refused admittance, but she +forced her way in, through a hole in a gate, roused the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">[226]</span>people in her favour, and succeeded in preventing the +king’s troops from occupying that important post. She +was now at Paris, and soon found a fresh opportunity +to display her courage and presence of mind. On the +second of July, 1652, the sanguinary battle of the +suburb of St. Anthony was raging; the army of the +prince of Condé, overborne by the far superior numbers +which Turenne led against him, could barely hold +its ground; the prince had in vain entreated for its +admission at various gates; the enemy, reinforced, was +preparing for a new attack on its front and flanks; +and, pent in between the king’s troops and the city +walls, its destruction seemed to be inevitable. At this +perilous moment it was saved by the duchess of Montpensier. +First from her father, and next from the municipal +authorities sitting at the Town Hall, she in a +manner extorted an order for opening the gate of St. +Anthony to the nearly overwhelmed battalions of +Condé. She then ascended to the summit of the Bastile, +and directed the cannon to be charged, removed +from the city side, and pointed to the opposite quarter. +They were opened upon the royalists, who pressed on +the retreating Condéans, and their commanding fire +compelled the pursuers to fall back beyond their range. +Mademoiselle was at that time cherishing a hope that +she should be united to her cousin the king, or at least +to some crowned head; and it was with allusion to this +circumstance that, when he heard she had ordered the +firing, Mazarin coolly remarked, “Those cannon shots +have killed her husband.”</p> + +<p>Four months did not pass away before, tired of wasting +their lives and properties in a contest which could +benefit only the privileged classes, the Parisians invited +the king to return to his capital. The monarch entered +it on the 21st of October, 1652. The faction of the +Fronde was annihilated, and its leaders were scattered +in all directions; their vanity, selfishness, and utter +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">[227]</span>want of principle and patriotism, deserved such a fate. +Had they been animated by noble motives, had they +possessed even a moderate share of wisdom and virtue, +they might have laid the groundwork of a stable and +beneficent government, and thereby saved their country +from innumerable immediate and remote evils. But</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The sensual and the base rebel in vain,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">Slaves by their own compulsion!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>As soon as the king had entered Paris, the Bastile +was summoned, and La Louvière was informed that, if +he were rash enough to stand a siege, the gibbet would +be his portion. Too prudent to run so useless and +formidable a risk, he readily gave up his charge. From +the moment when Mademoiselle directed its fire upon +the king’s troops, a hundred and thirty-seven years +elapsed before the Bastile again heard the roar of +artillery fired in anger.</p> + +<p>One of the first acts of Louis XIV. was to hold a +bed of justice, in which he ordered the registration of +an edict to abridge the power of the parliament. By +this edict, the parliament was strictly prohibited from +deliberating on state and financial affairs, and instituting +any proceedings whatever against the ministers whom +he might be pleased to employ. Louis was then only +a boy of fourteen, and this act was of course the work +of Mazarin; but, young as he was, the monarch was +already thoroughly imbued with the principles on which +it was framed. Three years afterwards he gave a +striking proof of this. The parliament having ventured +to manifest a faint opposition to some of his many +oppressive fiscal edicts, he took a step which showed +how deeply despotism was ingrained into his character. +He was engaged in the chase, at Vincennes, when information +was brought to him that his will was disputed. +Hurrying back to Paris, he entered the parliament +chamber, the sanctuary of justice, booted, spurred, +whip in hand, and thus addressed the assembly of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">[228]</span>venerable magistrates: “Sirs, everybody knows the +calamities which the meetings of the parliament have +produced. I will henceforth prevent those meetings. +I order you, therefore, to desist from those which you +have begun, with respect to the edicts which, in my +late bed of justice, I directed to be registered. You, +Mr. First President, I forbid to allow of these assemblies; +and I forbid every one of you to demand them.” +Having thus spoken he departed, leaving his hearers +in astonishment. He was then a beardless youth, who +had not reached his seventeenth year. The members +of the parliament might well have called to mind the +words of Scripture—“If these things are done in the +green tree, what will be done in a dry?” Six years +afterwards Mazarin died, and thenceforth Louis had no +prime minister; he became, in every sense of the word, +the head of the government, the autocrat of France.</p> + +<p>A new era, that of abject submission to the monarch, +and almost idolatrous worship of his person and greatness, +commenced when the war of the Fronde was +over. The slaves had had their Saturnalia, and they +sank back—we may almost say rushed back—into a +slavery more degrading than that from which they had +for a moment emerged. There were no longer any +Epernons, ruling their provinces as they pleased, and +bearding the sovereign; the feudal pride was extinct. +This would have been a happy circumstance for France, +had the nobles, in losing their pride, preserved their +dignity. But from one extreme they passed to the +other. The power which they had lost, which was, in +fact, but the power of doing mischief, they might have +replaced by a power more honourable and durable, that +which would have arisen from promoting the welfare +and happiness of those whom they called their vassals. +But their extensive domains were looked on only as +mines, from which the last grain of gold was to be extracted, +that they might squander it in the capital. It +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">[229]</span>seemed as though it were impossible for them to exist +out of the king’s presence; and when they were excluded +from it, they lamented and whined in a manner +which excites at once wonder and contempt. The +consequences of this general prostration were slowly, +but surely and fatally, unfolded.</p> + +<p>Let us revert to the captives of the Bastile. The +destiny of John Herauld Gourville, who was born in +1625, was a singular one; he not only raised himself +from a humble state to be the companion and friend of +princes, but was appointed to be one of the representatives +of his sovereign while in exile, and while a Parisian +court of justice was hanging him in effigy as a convicted +runaway peculator. After having received a scanty education, +he was placed in an attorney’s office by his widowed +mother. Having by his cleverness fortunately attracted +the notice of the duke de la Rochefaucault, the +author of the “Maxims,” that nobleman made him +his secretary. During the war of the Fronde, Gourville +displayed such talent and activity, that he acquired +the warm friendship of his employer and the +prince of Condé. His gratitude engaged him in many +desperate adventures for their service, and the mode +in which he raised the supplies for them was sometimes +not much unlike that of a bandit; the moral +code of the Frondeurs was not remarkable for its +strictness. When Rochefaucault became weary of +the inglorious contest in which he was an actor, Gourville +negotiated the duke’s peace with the court; and +in doing this he manifested so much ability and prudence, +that Mazarin despatched him to Bordeaux, to +treat with the prince of Conti. In this mission he +was successful; and he was rewarded by being appointed +commissary-general of the French army in +Catalonia. At the close of the campaign of 1655, he +returned to Paris, and Mazarin, who suspected that he +came to intrigue for the prince of Conti, shut him up +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">[230]</span>in the Bastile. In his Memoirs, Gourville candidly confesses +that his six months’ imprisonment was insufferably +wearisome, and that he could think of little else +than how he should put an end to it. He was maturing +a plan of escape, in concert with six other prisoners, +when the cardinal relented, took him again into favour, +and even prevailed on Fouquet to give him the lucrative +place of receiver-general of the province of Guienne. +In this office Gourville amassed an immense fortune, +which he increased by his extraordinary good luck at +play. When Fouquet fell, the whole of his subalterns +were involved in his fall; but, far from deserting him +in his calamity, Gourville nobly furnished 100,000 +livres to assist in gaining over some of his enemies, +and a still larger sum for the establishment of his son, +the count de Vaux. He soon, however, became himself +an object of impeachment, on a charge of peculation, +and he deemed it prudent to quit France. At +that moment there was certainly no chance of his obtaining +a fair trial. After having visited England and +Holland, he settled at Brussels. Though he was compelled +to live in a foreign country, Gourville still preserved +a strong affection for his native land, and he +proved it, by influencing the princes of Brunswick +and Hanover in favour of France. For this patriotic +conduct Louis XIV. nominated him his plenipotentiary +at the court of Brunswick; while at the same +moment his enemies at Paris obtained against him a +degrading sentence from his judges! That not a love +of justice, but a desire to extort money from him, gave +rise to his being prosecuted, is made evident by Colbert +having offered a pardon, at the price of 800,000 +livres, which he afterwards reduced to 600,000. Gourville, +however, either could not or would not purchase +this costly commodity. He was subsequently employed +as a diplomatist in Spain, and again in Germany; +and at length in 1681, a free pardon was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">[231]</span>granted to him. From that time he led a tranquil life +in the French capital, in habits of friendship with, and +much beloved by, the most eminent men of genius and +rank. At one period there was an intention of making +him the successor of Colbert, as comptroller-general +of the finances, an office for which he was well qualified; +but he had ceased to be ambitious of dangerous +honours, and was happy to avoid them. The length +of time which his servants continued in his service, +and the cordial manner in which he speaks of them, +afford strong proofs of his kind-heartedness: never +did a selfish or harsh master long retain a domestic. +Haughtiness to inferiors is the miserable make-shift of +a man who has no true dignity to support his pretensions. +Gourville mentions four persons who had been +with him for fifteen, seventeen, twenty-five, and thirty-two +years. He died in 1703, at the age of seventy-eight. +His Memoirs, which he composed in four +months, to amuse himself while he was confined by a +disease in the leg, are deservedly praised by Madame +de Sévigné and Voltaire.</p> + +<p>The next who appears on the scene was a noble, +whom Madame de Sévigné characterizes as “a hero of +romance, who does not resemble the rest of mankind.” +This is somewhat exaggerated, but not wholly untrue. +Armand de Grammont, Count de Guiche, who was +born in 1638, was a proficient in all manly exercises, +splendid in dress and equipage, spirited, witty, well +educated, handsome in person, and cultivated in mind. +His valour was early proved, at the sieges of Landrecy, +Valenciennes, and Dunkirk. In a voluptuous court, +and with his attractive qualities, it is not wonderful +that Guiche was engaged in amorous intrigues. His +desire of conquest aimed so high—Henrietta Stuart, +Duchess of Orleans, was its great object—that Louis +XIV. thrice exiled him; and it was probably on this +account that he became an inmate of the Bastile, from +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">[232]</span>which prison he was released in the autumn of 1660. +Having a third time offended, he was sent to Poland, +where he distinguished himself in the war against the +Turks. At the end of two years, he was recalled; but +it was not long before he again fell into disgrace, by +participating in the despicable conduct of the Marquis +de Vardes, which will be described in the sketch of +that courtier’s career. Guiche was banished to Holland. +Too active to remain unemployed, he served in +the campaign against the Bishop of Munster, and on +board the Dutch squadron, in the sea-fight with the +English, off the Texel. He was allowed to return to +France in 1669, but was not re-admitted at court till +two years afterwards. It was he who, in 1672, led +the way at the celebrated passage of the Rhine, near +Tollhuis; an exploit which is extravagantly lauded by +Boileau. He died at Creutznach, in Germany, in 1673; +excessive chagrin, occasioned by Montecuculi having +defeated him, was the cause of his death. Guiche is +the author of a volume of Memoirs concerning the +United Provinces.</p> + +<p>The first important act of Louis XIV., after his taking +the administration of public affairs into his own hands, +was the disgracing and ruining Fouquet, the superintendant +of the finances. Nicholas Fouquet, a son of +Viscount de Vaux, was born at Paris, in 1615, and +was educated for the legal profession. At twenty he +was master of requests, and at thirty-five he filled the +very considerable office of attorney-general to the +parliament of Paris. It would have been happy for +him had he steadily pursued his career in the magistracy, +instead of deviating into a path that was beset +with dangers. During the troubles of the Fronde he +was unalterably faithful to the queen-mother, and in +gratitude for this she raised him, in 1652, to the post +of superintendant. It was a fatal boon.</p> + +<p>By all who were connected with it, the French treasury +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">[233]</span>seems, in those days, to have been considered as +a mine which they were privileged to work for their +own benefit. Mazarin had recently been a wholesale +plunderer of it; and there can be little doubt that +Fouquet was a peculator to a vast extent. Yet the +superintendant had one merit, which was wanting in +other depredators—though he took, he likewise gave; +for at one period, when money ran short, he mortgaged +his property and his wife’s, and borrowed on his own +bills, to supply the necessities of the state.</p> + +<p>The fatal failing of Fouquet was his magnificent extravagance. +He had a taste for splendour and lavish +expenditure, which might have qualified him for an +oriental sovereign. On his estate at Vaux he built a +mansion, or rather a palace, which threw into the shade +the country residences of the French monarch—for Versailles +was not then in existence. Whole hamlets were +levelled to the ground to afford space for its gardens. +The building was sumptuously decorated, and in every +part of it was painted his device, a squirrel, with the +ambitious motto “<i>Quo non ascendam?</i>” Whither +shall I not rise? It is a curious circumstance, that +the squirrel was represented as being pursued by a +snake, which was the arms of Colbert, the bitter enemy +of Fouquet. The edifice cost eighteen millions of +livres; a sum equivalent to three times as much at +the present day.</p> + +<p>The largesses of the superintendant, which in many +cases deserve the name of bribes, were immense. +Great numbers of the courtiers did not blush to become +his pensioners. On extraordinary occasions they also +received presents from him. Each of the nobles, who +was invited with Louis XIV. to the grand entertainment +at Vaux, found in his bed-chamber a purse filled +with gold; which, says a sarcastic writer, “the nobles +did not forget to take away.” There was another +abundant source of expense, which arose out of his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">[234]</span>licentious passions; he lavished immense sums in +purchasing the venal charms of the French ladies +of distinction, and was eminently successful in finding +sellers. “There were few at court,” says Madame de +Motteville, “who did not sacrifice to the golden +calf.” Policy, no doubt, had a share in prompting his +liberality to the courtiers; and, perhaps, it sometimes +was mingled with lust and vanity in his gifts to frail +females of rank; but we may attribute to a purer motive +the kindness and courtesy which he manifested to +persons of talent. The result was quite natural; the +great deserted him in his hour of danger and disgrace, +the people of talent clung with more tenacity than ever +to their fallen benefactor and friend.</p> + +<p>Mazarin, when on his death-bed, is said to have +awakened the fears and suspicions of Louis against +Fouquet; and, to deepen the impression which he had +made, he left behind him two deadly foes of the superintendant. +These foes were Le Tellier and Colbert, +of whom the latter was the most inveterate and the +most dangerous. When Louis formed the resolution +of being his own prime minister, Fouquet, who evidently +wished to succeed to the power of Richelieu +and Mazarin, essayed to turn the monarch from his +purpose, by daily heaping on him a mass of dry, intricate, +and erroneous financial statements. He failed +in his attempt. These papers the king every evening +examined, with the secret assistance of Colbert, whose +acuteness and practised skill instantly unravelled their +artful tangles, and exposed their errors.</p> + +<p>It was not alone the squandering of the royal treasure +that irritated Louis; though that would have +been a sufficiently exciting cause to a man whose own +lavish habits required large supplies. He asserted, +and might perhaps believe, that the offender aspired +to sovereignty. In a long conversation with the president +Lamoignon, he said, “Fouquet wished to make +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">[235]</span>himself duke of Britanny, and king of the neighbouring +isles; he won over every body by his profusion: +there was not a single soul in whom I could put confidence.” +So much was he impressed with this idea, +that he repeated it over and over to the president. +For this absurd fear there was no other ground than +that the superintendant had purchased and fortified +Belleisle; a measure which was prompted by patriotic +motives, it being his design to make that island an +emporium of commerce. There is said to have been +another and a not less powerful cause for the monarch’s +hatred of Fouquet; the superintendant had been imprudent +enough to attempt to include La Vallière in +the long catalogue of his mistresses, and this was an +offence not to be pardoned by the proudest and vainest +of kings.</p> + +<p>As soon as the ruin of Fouquet was determined +upon, the most profound dissimulation was used by +the king and Colbert, to prevent him from suspecting +their purpose. All his measures seemed to give perfect +satisfaction; unlimited trust was apparently placed +in him; and hints were thrown out, that the coveted +post of prime minister was within his reach. The +hints had a further purpose than that of blinding him +to the peril in which he stood; they were meant to +rob him of a shield against injustice. By virtue of +his office, as attorney-general to the parliament, he +had the privilege of being tried only by the assembled +chambers; but, as it was intended that his trial +should take place before a packed tribunal, it was necessary +to divest him of the privilege. For this reason +it was insinuated, that the post of attorney-general +stood in the way of his being raised to the premiership, +and also of his obtaining the blue riband. Fouquet +fell into the snare, and sold his office for 1,400,000 +livres, which sum, with a blind generosity, he instantly +lent to the Exchequer. To confirm Fouquet’s delusion, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">[236]</span>Louis graced with his presence a gorgeous festival +which was held at Vaux. But the splendour of +the place, the excessive magnificence of the entertainment, +and the presumptuousness of the superintendant’s +motto, roused his anger to such a pitch, that, had +not the queen-mother remonstrated, he would have +committed the unkingly act of arresting Fouquet on +the spot.</p> + +<p>When the courage inspired by passion had evaporated, +Louis delayed yet awhile to effect his purpose, +till he had guarded in all possible ways against the +danger which was to be apprehended from the formidable +conspirator. Had Fouquet been capable of +calling up legions from the earth by the stamp of his +foot, more precautions could not have been taken. The +blow was struck at last. Louis was at Nantes, to +which city he had removed under the idea that it would +be easier to accomplish the arrest there than at Paris. +Thither he was followed by Fouquet. Some of the +superintendant’s friends warned him of the peril which +hung over him, but he gave no credence to their +tidings. On the 5th of September, 1661, as he was +leaving the council, he was arrested, and was conveyed +without delay to the castle of Angers. Messengers +were immediately despatched to Paris, to seize his +papers, and to order the arrest of many of his partisans.</p> + +<p>Fouquet was bandied about from prison to prison, +from Angers to Amboise, Moret, and Vincennes, +till he was finally lodged in the Bastile. +He bore his misfortune with an unshaken mind. His +enemies, meanwhile, were proceeding with the most +malignant activity, and with a perfect contempt of +justice and decorum. It was the common talk of +Paris, that Colbert would be satisfied with nothing +less than the execution of the superintendant. He was +even plainly charged by Fouquet with having fraudulently +made in his papers a multitude of alterations. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">[237]</span>Le Tellier, though less openly violent than Colbert, +was equally hostile. For the trial of the prisoner +twenty-two commissioners were picked out from the +French parliaments; nearly all—if not all—of them +were notoriously inimical to him, or connected with +persons who were known to be so, and at their head +was the chancellor Seguier, one of his most deadly +enemies.</p> + +<p>One benefit the fallen minister derived from this +injustice, and from the protracted trial which ensued; +public opinion, which at first had been adverse to him, +gradually grew more and more favourable. Fouquet +the peculator, brought to judgment before an honest +and impartial tribunal, would have excited no sympathy; +Fouquet, persecuted by his rivals for power, and +destined to be legally assassinated, could not fail to +excite a warm interest in the mind of every one who +was not destitute of honourable feelings.</p> + +<p>Those who were in habits of intimacy with Fouquet +needed no other stimulus than the benefits or the +winning courtesies, which they had experienced from +him. He had on his side all who loved or practised +literature, all who could be captivated by prepossessing +manners and boundless generosity. “Never,” says +Voltaire, “did a placeman have more personal friends, +never was a persecuted man better served in his misfortunes.” +Many men of letters wielded the pen in +his behalf, with a courage which deserves no small +praise, when we consider that the Bastile was staring +them in the face. Pelisson in his dungeon tasked all +his powers to defend his ruined master; La Fontaine, +in a touching elegy, vainly strove to awake the clemency +of Louis; Loret eulogized Fouquet in his +“Mercure Burlesque,” and was punished by the loss +of his pension; Hesnault, the translator of Lucretius, +attacked Colbert in the bitterest and boldest of sonnets; +and a crowd of other assailants showered epigrams +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">[238]</span>and lampoons on the vindictive minister. The +authors were, in general, lucky enough to find impunity; +but numbers of newswriters, printers, and +hawkers, were seized, all of whom were imprisoned, +and some were sent from prison to the galleys.</p> + +<p>Fouquet began by denying the competency of the +tribunal before which he was summoned. He was, +however, compelled to appear; but, though he answered +interrogatories, he persisted in protesting +against the authority of his judges. He defended +himself with admirable skill, eloquence, and moderation. +There were, indeed, moments when he was +roused to retaliate. A single example of the pungency +with which he could reply, will show that +his persecutors were not wise in provoking him. +Behind a mirror, at his country house of St. Mandé, +was found a sketch of a paper, drawn up by him fifteen +years before, and evidently long forgotten by him. +It contained instructions to his friends how they were +to proceed, in case of an attempt being made to subvert +his power. This was construed into a proof of +conspiracy. Seguier having pertinaciously called on +him to own that the drawing up of such a paper was +a crime against the state, Fouquet said, “I confess +that it is a foolish and wild act, but not a state crime. +A crime against the state is when, holding a principal +office, and being entrusted with the secrets of the +prince, the individual all at once deserts to the enemy, +engages the whole of his family in the same interest, +causes governors to open the gates of cities to the +enemy’s army, and to close them against their rightful +master, and betrays to the hostile party the secrets +of the government—this, sir, is what is called a crime +against the state.” This was a stunning blow to the +chancellor, for it was the past conduct of that magistrate +himself that was thus forcibly described by the prisoner.</p> + +<p>The trial lasted three years. It was not the fault +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">[239]</span>of some of his judges that it was not brought to a +speedier issue. They listened with reluctance to his +eloquent defence, and would fain have cut it short. +Possort, one of them, who was an uncle of Colbert, +once exclaimed, on Fouquet closing his speech, “Thank +Heaven! he cannot complain that he has been prevented +from talking his fill!” Others, still more insensible +to shame, made a motion, that he should be restricted +to the mere answering of questions; they were, +however, overruled. It was not till the middle of December, +1664, that Talon, the advocate-general, summed +up the evidence, and demanded that the culprit +should be hanged on a gallows, purposely erected in +the Palace Court. But the time for this excessive +severity was gone by. Some of the judges had become +accessible to feelings of pity; others had been +won over by the potent influence of gold, of which the +superintendant’s friends undoubtedly availed themselves +to a considerable extent. Among the most +conspicuous of those who leaned to the side of mercy +were MM. d’Ormesson and Roquesante, men of unquestionable +integrity. Only nine voted for death; a +majority of the commissioners, thirteen in number, +gave their suffrage for confiscation of property and +perpetual banishment.</p> + +<p>The king is said to have been grievously disappointed +by this sentence. Colbert was furious. In +one of her letters, written at the moment, Madame de +Sévigné, who had a warm esteem for Fouquet, says, +“Colbert is so exceedingly enraged, that we may +expect from him something unjust and atrocious enough +to drive us all to despair again.” In another letter, +she hints her fears that poison may be employed; Guy +Patin was also of the same opinion. Neither poison nor +steel was, however, resorted to; it was probably thought +that to render the life of Fouquet a burthen to him, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">[240]</span>would be a more exquisite gratification than taking of +it away. To grant mercy has always been regarded +as the noblest prerogative of a monarch; to refuse it +was more to the taste of Louis. He altered the sentence +of Fouquet from banishment to endless imprisonment +in a remote fortress, and this was in mockery +called a commutation of the penalty. Fouquet was +immediately sent off to Pignerol, and the members of +his family, who were doomed to suffer for his errors, +were scattered in various directions. His judges did +not wholly escape without marks of the king’s anger. +M. de Roquesante, a native of the sunny Provence, +who had spoken in favour of the prisoner, was banished, +in the depth of winter, to the distant and imperfectly +civilised province of Lower Britanny.</p> + +<p>On his way to Pignerol, and during his captivity +there, Fouquet was treated with great harshness. About +six months after his arrival, he was placed in imminent +danger. The lightning fell on the citadel where he was +confined, and blew up the powder magazine. Numbers +of persons were buried under the ruins, but he stood in +the recess of a window and remained unhurt. There is a +singular veil of mystery hanging over his last days. +He is generally said to have died at Pignerol, in 1680; +yet Gourville, his friend, positively states him to have +been set at liberty before his decease, and he adds, +that he received a letter from him. Voltaire, too, declares +that the fact of the liberation was confirmed to +him by the Countess de Vaux, the daughter-in-law of +Fouquet; but here all clue to the subject is lost. It +has recently been suggested that Fouquet may have +again been arrested, and that he was the individual +who is known by the appellation of the Man in the +Iron Mask.</p> + +<p>While fidelity in friendship, inviolably preserved +under the most trying circumstances, shall continue to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">[241]</span>be admired by mankind, the name of Paul Pelisson +will always be mentioned with respect. He had +talents, too, which were of no mean order. Pelisson, +who from affection to his mother assumed also her +maiden name of Fontanier, was born in 1624, at +Bezières, and was brought up in the Protestant faith. +He attained an early and rapid proficiency in literature +and languages; nor were severer studies neglected—for +at the age of only nineteen he produced an excellent +Latin paraphrase of the first book of Justinian’s +Institutes. He was beginning to shine at the bar +when he was attacked by small-pox. The disease so +excessively disfigured his countenance, and impaired +his constitution, that he was under the necessity of relinquishing +his profession, and retiring into the country +to recruit his health.</p> + +<p>As soon as Pelisson was again able to take a part +in active life, he settled in Paris. It was not long +before he acquired a multitude of friends; and the +French Academy, in return for a history which he +wrote of its early labours, made him a supernumerary +member, and destined for him the first vacancy which +should occur. Fouquet, who knew his abilities, appointed +him his chief clerk, and reposed in him an implicit +confidence, which was well deserved. Had Fouquet +followed the advice of his assistant, who counselled +him never to part with his office of attorney-general, +he would have done wisely. When this +advice came to the knowledge of Louis, he said “the +clerk is more sharp-sighted than the master.”</p> + +<p>Pelisson shared the fate of Fouquet; he was sent to +the Concièrgerie, whence he was removed to the +Bastile. All attempts to elicit from him the secrets of +the superintendant were made in vain. Once only, +to answer a purpose, he seemed to make a disclosure. +Fearing that, from not knowing whether the documents +were in existence, Fouquet might commit himself +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">[242]</span>in his answers to certain questions, Pelisson +feigned to divulge some unimportant particulars which +related to the subject. Fouquet, who was astonished +at this seeming defection of his friend, was confronted +with him, and denied the correctness of what had been +stated: “Sir,” said Pelisson, in an emphatic tone, +“You would not deny so boldly if you did not know +that all the papers concerning that affair are destroyed.” +Fouquet instantly comprehended the stratagem, and +acted accordingly.</p> + +<p>In the early part of his confinement, Pelisson found +means to compose three memorials in defence of Fouquet. +For eloquence and argument they may be considered +as his masterpieces; they were published, and +produced a strong impression. As a punishment, he +was still more closely immured, and pen and paper +were withheld from him; but he contrived to foil his +persecutors, by writing, with ink made of burnt crust +and wine, on the blank leaves and margins of the religious +works which he was allowed to read. They +were equally unsuccessful when, hoping that he might +drop some unguarded words, they gave him, as an +attendant, a spy, who concealed cunning under the +mask of coarse simplicity. Pelisson saw through the +deception, and adroitly converted the spy into an instrument +of his own.</p> + +<p>The imprisonment of Pelisson lasted four years and +a half. Among the means which he employed to beguile +his lonely hours is said to have been that of taming +a spider; a task which he effected so completely, that +at a signal, it would fetch its prey from the further +end of the room, or even take it out of his hand. It +is, however, doubtful whether Pelisson was the person +who performed this. De Renneville, who is good authority +on this subject, ascribes the taming of the spider +to the Count de Lauzun, and adds, that the jailer, St. +Mars, brutally crushed the insect, and exclaimed that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">[243]</span>criminals like Lauzun did not deserve to enjoy the +slightest amusement.</p> + +<p>The solicitations of Pelisson’s friends at length +procured his release; in memory of which he ever +after yearly liberated some unfortunate prisoner. After +some lapse of time, he was even received into the good +graces of Louis, who probably thought that the man +who had been faithful to a ruined minister would not +be wanting in fidelity to his sovereign. It was, besides, +no small merit in the king’s eyes, that Pelisson had +become a Catholic. Louis first appointed him his +historiographer, with a pension; then gave him several +valuable benefices; and, lastly, entrusted him with the +management of the fund which was employed in purchasing +proselytes. Pelisson died in 1693.</p> + +<p>Pelisson was not the only literary character who +was drawn into the vortex by the sinking of Fouquet. +The gay and witty Epicurean philosopher, St. Evremond, +was punished for the crime of being a friend of +the fallen superintendant. Charles St. Evremond was +born in 1613, at St. Denis le Guast, near Coutances. +From the study of the law, and the prospect of a high +station in the magistracy, he was seduced by his love of +arms, and, at the age of sixteen, he obtained an ensigncy. +He still, however, retained his taste for philosophy +and literature. By his bravery he acquired the +esteem of his superiors; and that esteem was heightened +by his varied acquirements and the charm of his +conversation. That he might always enjoy the pleasure +of his society, the Duke of Enghien appointed +him lieutenant of his guards. In this post St. Evremond +fought gallantly at Rocroi, Fribourg, and Nordlingen, +in the last of which battles he was dangerously +wounded. His familiar intercourse with the prince +was not of long duration; Enghien delighted to see +others exposed to the wit and raillery of his lieutenant, +but he could not endure to be himself their object; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">[244]</span>St. Evremond ventured to aim some pleasantries at his +princely protector, and the great Condé had the littleness +to take offence, and to insist on the offender resigning +his commission in the guards. In the war of the +Fronde, St. Evremond served the royal cause with +pen and sword, and he was rewarded with a pension +and the rank of major-general. Some satirical +remarks on Mazarin, which he soon after made at a +dinner party, were the cause of his being thrown into +the Bastile. Mazarin, however, was not of an implacable +nature, like his predecessor Richelieu. At the +expiration of three months he set the prisoner free, +took him into favour, and afterwards, from among a +crowd of rivals, selected him as his companion, when +he went to negociate the peace of the Pyrenees. Dissatisfied +with the terms of that peace, St. Evremond +gave vent to his dissatisfaction, in a private letter to +the Marshal de Créqui. In writing it he unconsciously +wrote his own sentence of banishment. A copy of it +was found among the papers of Fouquet; and Colbert, +who rejoiced to have an opportunity of injuring a friend +of Fouquet, malignantly represented it in such a light +to Louis XIV. that an order was issued to convey the +author to the Bastile. St. Evremond was riding in the +forest of Orleans when he received intelligence from +his friends of the danger that hung over him. As he +did not wish to pay a second visit to a state prison, he +provided for his safety by an immediate and rapid +flight. In England he was welcomed with open arms, +and was idolized by the wits and courtiers. In 1664 +he visited Holland, where he met with an equally cordial +reception, and gained the friendship of the Prince +of Orange. Charles II. invited him to return to England, +in 1670, and settled on him a pension. Henceforth, +till his decease, which took place in 1703, he +continued to reside in London. His friends in France +made repeated efforts to obtain his recall; but they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">[245]</span>could not succeed till 1689, when Louis XIV. was +pleased to grant their request. St. Evremond refused +to accept the tardy boon. Living at his ease in a free +country, and in the highest society, and admired and +esteemed by the fair, the witty, and the noble, he was +too wise to put himself into “circumscription and confine,” +and purchase the privilege of bending before a +despotic monarch, at the risk of being condemned to +solitary meditation in one of the towers of the Bastile. +St. Evremond was ninety when he died, but he preserved +his faculties to the last. He was interred in +Westminster Abbey. His poetry never rises above +mediocrity, and does not always reach it; but his prose +is often excellent. Justice has scarcely been done to +him either by La Harpe or Voltaire.</p> + +<p>A harder fate than that of voluntary exile was the +lot of Simon Morin, an insane visionary, a man of +humble birth, who was born about 1623, at Richemont, +in Normandy. His horrible death, which was +in fact a judicial murder, perpetrated by a fanaticism +far worse than his own, leaves an indelible stain on +the character of the judges by whom it was directed. +Morin was originally a clerk in the war-office, but lost +his situation by neglecting his duties; and he subsequently +gained a scanty subsistence as a copyist, for +which he was well qualified by the beauty of his handwriting. +His reason appears to have been early affected, +as he must have been under twenty when he +was first put into prison for his extravagant ideas in +religious matters. After his release, he seems to have +gradually become more and more deranged. Like all +madmen of his class, however, he gained numerous +proselytes, who listened to his harangues, and read +his printed reveries, with implicit belief. His success +drew on him the attention of the government, and, in +July 1644, he was sent to the Bastile. At the expiration +of twenty months he was set at liberty. Imprisonment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">[246]</span>had only heightened his malady, and he +consequently laboured with more vigour than ever to +disseminate his opinions. Those opinions he embodied +in a work intituled, “Thoughts of Morin, with +his Canticles and Spiritual Quatrains,” dedicated to +the king. He called himself the Son of Man, and +maintained that Christ was incorporated in him; that +in his person was to take place the second advent of +the Saviour in a state of glory; and that the result +would be a general reformation of the Church, and the +conversion of all people to the true faith. There was +much more of the same kind; he was in France what +Brothers, long afterwards, was in England. Of his +tenets, several bear a resemblance to those which, +later in the 17th century, were held by the Quietists. +The publication of this volume again brought the +police upon him. For some time he eluded them, but +he was at last discovered, and re-committed to the +Bastile. In 1649, he retracted his errors, and was +released, and he repeated his retractation four months +after his being set free. It was not long, however, +before he relapsed, and for this he was sent to the +Concièrgerie, whence he was transferred to the Petites +Maisons, as an incurable lunatic. The last was +the only sensible measure which was adopted with +respect to him. By another abjuration, he once more +recovered his liberty; and, as soon as he was let loose, +he once more asserted his claim to be an incarnation +of the Deity. There can be little doubt that he had +short lucid intervals, and that it was during these intervals +that he renounced his errors.</p> + +<p>Thus, alternately raving and recanting, Morin went +on till 1661, when, in an evil hour, he contracted an +intimacy with a man who was no less a visionary than +he himself was, and whose nature was deeply tinctured +with malignity and deceit. This man, John Desmarets +de St. Sorlin, a member of the French Academy, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">[247]</span>was the author of several works, now sunk into oblivion, +among which are a ponderous epic, called Clovis, +and several theatrical pieces. From his own showing, he +appears to have been in youth a monster of immorality; +and though in advanced life he affected piety, his conduct +did not prove his heart to be much ameliorated; he became +fanatical instead of becoming virtuous. A brief +specimen, from some of his rhapsodies, will show how +completely his wits were “turned the seamy side without.” +He asserted, that God in his infinite goodness had given +him the key of the treasure of the Apocalypse; that +he was Eliachim Michael, a Prophet; that he had the +Divine command to raise an army of 144,000 men, +bearing the seal of God on their foreheads, which +army was to be headed by the king, to exterminate +the impious and the Jansenists; and that Louis XIV. +was indicated by the prophets as the person who was +destined to drive out the Turks, and extend throughout +the whole earth the kingdom of Christ. Had not +Desmarets been a hater of the Jansenists, and a flatterer +of the monarch, he would undoubtedly have +been sent to study the Apocalypse in the solitude of +a prison.</p> + +<p>The trite proverb, that “two of a trade cannot +agree,” was verified by Desmarets; he resolved to +destroy the man who dared to make pretensions that +eclipsed his own. To effect his purpose, he acted +with the cunning of a lunatic, and the dark-heartedness +of a fiend. By paying assiduous court to Morin, +by pretending to be one of his most submissive disciples, +and even by going so far as to write him a +letter, unequivocally recognising him as the Son of +Man, he contrived to insinuate himself into the confidence +of his unfortunate victim, and to draw from +him his most secret thoughts. In the course of their +conversations, Morin is said to have declared, among +other things, that unless the king acknowledged his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">[248]</span>mission he would die. Having thus furnished himself +with evidence against the man whom he had deluded, +Desmarets hastened to denounce him as a heretic and +traitor. Orders were issued for arresting Morin, who +was found engaged in copying out a “Discourse to +the King,” which began with “the Son of Man to the +King of France.” He was brought to trial, and was +sentenced to be burned alive. Some of his followers +were condemned to whipping and the galleys. The +iniquitous judgment passed on Morin was executed +on the 14th of March, 1663. At the stake his reason +seems to have returned; he repeatedly called on the +Saviour and the Virgin, and humbly prayed for mercy +to the Creator of all things.</p> + +<p>Little commiseration is due to him whose imprisonment +is next recorded; his baseness met with deserved +punishment. Francis René Crispin du Bec, Marquis +of Vardes, was of a good family, and served with reputation +in Flanders, France, Italy, and Spain. During +the war of the Fronde, he was constant to the +royal party; and it was doubtless his zeal and fidelity +on this occasion which acquired for him the friendship +of Louis XIV. He rose to high rank in the army; +was made captain-colonel of the Hundred Swiss in +1655; and, next year, succeeded the Duke of Orleans +in the government of Aigues-Mortes, and was invested +with the various orders of knighthood. He was on +the point of being created a duke and peer, when the +discovery of a dishonourable act of which he had been +guilty, stopped his promotion, and deprived him of his +liberty. Louis had chosen Vardes as his friend, and +had confided to him his passion for the celebrated +Mlle. de la Vallière, who was one of the maids of +honour to the Duchess of Orleans. It appears that +the duchess and her friend, the Countess of Soissons, +and their lovers, the Count de Guiche and Vardes, +had hoped, by means of La Vallière, to obtain a predominant +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">[249]</span>influence over Louis. But the royal mistress +loved Louis with a sincere and disinterested +affection, and was not disposed to become the instrument +of court intriguers. It was resolved, therefore, +to oust her, and substitute in her stead Mlle. de la +Mothe Houdancourt, who, it was imagined, would be +more subservient. To effect this object, Vardes wrote +a letter, purporting to be from the Spanish monarch, +to his daughter the French queen, informing her of +her consort’s connection with la Vallière; it was +translated into Spanish by Guiche. The letter, however, +fell into the hands of Louis. While endeavouring +to discover the author, the king consulted Vardes, +and Vardes was so ineffably base as to lead him to +believe that the offender was the Duchess of Noailles. +The duchess, a woman of strict virtue, had the superintendence +of the queen’s maids of honour, and had +already dissatisfied Louis by her vigilant care of her +charge. He therefore readily believed the suggestion +of Vardes, and, without farther inquiry, deprived the +duchess and her husband of all the places which they +held, and ordered them to retire to their estate. For +three years the perfidy of Vardes remained a secret, +and it would perhaps always have remained so, had +he not caused a disclosure of it, by conduct which was +at once a flagrant breach of confidence to his friend, +the Count de Guiche, and a gross insult to the Duchess +of Orleans. He obtained possession of the letters +written by the count to the duchess, and refused to +give them up; and he incited the Chevalier de Lorraine +to make offensive advances to her. This proceeding +brought on a quarrel, the result of which was +that the king became acquainted with the treachery +of the man whom he had trusted. Vardes was sent +to the Bastile in December, 1664, from whence he +was removed to the citadel of Montpellier, where he +was closely confined for eighteen months. He was at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">[250]</span>length allowed to reside in his government of Aigues-Mortes; +but eighteen years passed away before he +was recalled to the court. He is said to have employed +in study the period of his exile, and to have +made himself generally esteemed in Languedoc. When, +after his long banishment, he was graciously received +by the king, Vardes was dressed in the fashion of his +early days, and, when Louis laughed at the antique +cut of his coat, the supple courtier replied, “Sire, +when one is so wretched as to be banished from you, +one is not only unfortunate, but ridiculous!” Vardes +did not long enjoy his re-establishment in the royal +favour; he died in 1688.</p> + +<p>To Vardes succeeds another noble, Count Roger +Bussy de Rabutin, who, though he is not accused of +such baseness as that of which Vardes was guilty, was +by no means a model of delicacy and virtue. He seems, +indeed, to have been of opinion, that honour and honesty +were not necessary qualities in the persons whom +he had about him; for, in his Memoirs, he coolly describes +one gentleman, who was of his train, as having +all his life been a cutpurse; and another, on whom he +bestows praise for some things, as being addicted to +every vice, and no less familiar with robbery and +murder than with eating and drinking. Such being +his laxity of principles, it is no wonder that he sometimes +participated in disgusting orgies, and was even +suspected of feeling a more than parental love for +Madame de la Rivière, his daughter. Bussy de Rabutin +was born in 1618, entered the army when he +was only twelve years of age, served in all the campaigns +between 1634 and 1663, and attained the +rank of lieutenant-general. His bravery was undoubted, +but his vanity, arrogance, and satirical spirit, +made him numerous enemies among his brother officers. +On one occasion he lampooned Turenne, and +that great general, deviating from his usual magnanimity, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">[251]</span>avenged himself by writing to the king, that +“M de Bussy was the best officer in the army—for +songs.” In 1641, Bussy was an inmate of the Bastile +for five months. The defective discipline of his regiment, +and its having engaged in smuggling salt, was +the ostensible cause of his imprisonment; he himself +assigned as the reason, that his father was hated by +Desnoyers the minister. The same faults by which +his companions in arms had been converted into foes, +proved his ruin at court. He wrote a libellous work, +called “The Amorous History of the Gauls,” which +was published in 1665, and excited a general outcry +among the personages whom it describes. Bussy affirms, +that it was sent to the press without his consent, +and even with malignant alterations and additions, +by an unfaithful mistress, to whom he entrusted +the manuscript. This production was made the pretext +for committing him to the Bastile; but it is said +that his real offence was a song, in which he ridiculed +the king’s passion for the Duchess of la Vallière. His +imprisonment lasted twenty months, and he candidly +owns, in his Memoirs and Letters, that it was not +very patiently endured. By dint of importunity, seconded +by an illness with which he was attacked, he +at length recovered his liberty. During his captivity, +he was compelled to resign, for a much less sum than +it cost him, the major-generalship of the light cavalry. +But though Bussy was released, he was not pardoned; +he was banished to his estate. Notwithstanding his +abject supplications, which were incessantly renewed, +he remained an exile for sixteen years. At last, in +1682, he was graciously permitted to re-appear at +court. His happiness was, however, still incomplete; +for the courtiers soon began to cabal against him, and +the monarch to treat him coldly; and, though he succeeded +in procuring a pension for himself, and pensions +and preferments for his children, he failed to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">[252]</span>obtain the blue riband and a marshal’s staff, which +were the great objects of his ambition. He died in +1693.</p> + +<p>A longer term of imprisonment than was undergone +by Bussy Rabutin fell to the lot of the next prisoner. +Among the victims of the persecution which +was carried on against the Jansenists, was Louis Isaac +le Maistre, better known by the name of Saci, which +is an anagram formed by him from one of his christian +names. He was born in 1613, and was educated at +the college of Beauvais, along with his uncle, the celebrated +Anthony Arnauld. Though he was early +destined to the clerical profession, he did not take +orders till he was in his thirty-fifth year; a praiseworthy +humility having long induced him to doubt +his being competent to fulfill properly the duties of a +gospel minister. He was soon after appointed director +of the Port Royal nuns, on which occasion he took +up his abode in the convent, resigning to it all his +property, except a small annuity, and of that he distributed +the largest portion to the poor. His time +was spent in study, prayer, and pious exercises. But +a blameless life was not sufficient to shield him from +theological hatred. In 1661, he was compelled to fly +from the convent, and he remained in concealment till +1666, when he was discovered and conveyed to the +Bastile. In that prison he was immured for three +years and a half, and he solaced his lonely hours by +undertaking a translation of the Bible, a considerable +part of which he accomplished while he was held in +durance. He, however, did not live to complete it. +In the autumn of 1669 he was set at liberty. The +minister, to whom he was presented on leaving the +Bastile, seems to have been willing to grant him some +favour, as a compensation for his unmerited sufferings; +but all that Saci asked was, that the prisoners might +be more leniently treated. After the destruction of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">[253]</span>Port Royal, he found an asylum in the house of his +cousin, the Marquis of Pomponne, and there he ended +his days, in 1684. Saci was such an enemy to controversy +that, though often attacked, he is said never +to have replied except in one instance. Voltaire speaks +of him as “one of the good writers of Port Royal.” +In the poetical compositions of Saci, which were his +earliest literary attempts, there are passages that rise +above mediocrity. Among his principal works, besides +his version of the Bible, are translations of the +Psalms, St. Thomas à Kempis, two books of the +Eneid, the Fables of Phædrus, and three of the Comedies +of Terence.</p> + +<p>From the pious and humble pastor we must turn to +a very different sort of personage, to one of the courtier +species, a man more remarkable for his sudden +rise, and for the vicissitudes which he experienced, +than for genius or virtue. Three of his eminent contemporaries +have left on record their opinion of Antoninus +de Caumont, Count, and afterwards, Duke of +Lauzun. The witty Bussy Rabutin pithily describes +him as being “one of the least men, in mind as well +as body, that God ever created.” The more phlegmatic +Duke of Berwick says of him, “he had a sort +of talent, which, however, consisted only in turning +every thing into ridicule, insinuating himself into +every body’s confidence, worming out their secrets, +and playing upon their foibles. He was noble in his +carriage, generous, and lived in a splendid style. He +loved high play, and played like a gentleman. His +figure was very diminutive, and it is incomprehensible +how he could ever have become a favourite with the +ladies.” The satirical St. Simon has drawn, in his +best manner, a full-length portrait of Lauzun, which +has scarcely a single redeeming feature. He does, +indeed, allow, that he was a good friend, “when he +chanced to be a friend, which was rarely,” and a good +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">[254]</span>relation; that he had noble manners, and was brave +to excess. This is the sole speck of light in the picture; +the rest is all shade. In the likeness drawn by +St. Simon, we see Lauzun, “full of ambition, caprices, +and whimsies, jealous of every one, striving always to +go beyond the mark, never satisfied, illiterate, unadorned +and unattractive in mind, morose, solitary, and +unsociable in disposition, mischievous and spiteful by +nature, and still more so from ambition and jealousy, +prompt to become an enemy, even to those who +were not his rivals, cruel in exposing defects, and in +finding and making subjects for ridicule, scattering his +ill-natured wit about him without sparing any one, +and, to crown the whole, a courtier equally insolent, +scoffing, and base even to servility, and replete with +arts, intrigues, and meannesses, to accomplish his designs.” +Such was the man whom the king long delighted +to honour.</p> + +<p>Lauzun, who at his outset bore the title of Marquis +de Puyguilhem, was the youngest son of a noble Gascon +family, and was introduced at court by the Marshal +de Grammont, his relation. He soon became +the favourite of Louis, who heaped riches and places +upon him: some of the latter were expressly created +for him. When the Duke of Mazarin resigned the +mastership of the ordnance, the king promised it to +Lauzun, but bound him to keep the matter secret for +a short time. The folly and vanity of the favourite, +who could not refrain from boasting of his good fortune, +were the cause of his disappointment. Louvois +thus obtained a knowledge of the nomination, and remonstrated +against it so strongly, and with such sound +reasons, that it was revoked by the monarch. On +this occasion a scene took place such as has seldom +occurred between monarch and subject. After having +vainly tried to persuade the king to carry into effect +his original intention, Lauzun burst into a furious +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">[255]</span>passion, turned his back on him, broke his own sword +under his foot, and vowed that he would never again +serve a prince who had violated his word so shamefully. +Louis acted in this instance with true dignity. +Opening the window, he threw out his cane, and, as +he was quitting the room, he coolly said, “I should +be sorry to have struck a man of rank.” The next +morning, however, Lauzun was conveyed to the +Bastile. But Louis was soon induced to forgive the +offender, and even to offer him, as an indemnity for +his loss, the post of captain of the royal guards. It +strongly marks the insolence of Lauzun, that he at +first refused the proffered grace, and that entreaties +were required to induce him to accept it.</p> + +<p>Lauzun had scarcely been twelve months out of the +Bastile, before he had an opportunity of becoming the +richest subject in Europe. A grand-daughter of +Henry IV., the celebrated Duchess of Montpensier, +usually known by the appellation of Mademoiselle, +who had reached her forty-second year, fell violently +in love with him. In her Memoirs she gives a curious +and amusing account of her wooing, for the courtship +was all on the side of the lady. So completely +had Lauzun recovered his influence, that the king +gave his consent to their union. The marriage contract +secured to him three duchies and twenty millions +of livres. A second time his fortune was marred by +his vanity. His friends urged him to hasten the nuptials, +but he delayed, that they might be celebrated +with royal splendour. Of this delay his enemies availed +themselves to work upon the pride of the monarch, +and they succeeded in breaking off the match. The +duchess was rendered inconsolable by this event; +Lauzun seems to have borne it with sufficient philosophy. +A secret marriage between them is believed +to have subsequently taken place.</p> + +<p>Lauzun was supposed to be now more firmly fixed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">[256]</span>than ever in the king’s good graces. He was placed +at the head of the army which, in 1670, escorted the +king and the court to Flanders, and he displayed extraordinary +magnificence in this command. But, flattering +as appearances were, he was on the eve of his +fall. He had two active and powerful enemies; Louvois, +whom he constantly thwarted and provoked in +various ways, and Madame de Montespan, the king’s +mistress, whom he had more than once grossly insulted. +Political rivalry and hatred and female revenge +were finally triumphant. The minister and the +mistress so incessantly laboured to blacken Lauzun, +whose private marriage with Mademoiselle is said to +have aided their efforts, that, in November 1671, he +was sent to the Bastile, whence he was soon after +removed to the fortress of Pignerol. In that fortress +he was closely confined in a cell for nearly five years. +His situation was at length somewhat ameliorated, but +his imprisonment was continued for five years more. +It is probable that he would have spent the rest of his +days at Pignerol, had not the Duchess of Montpensier +purchased his freedom, by sacrificing the duchy of +Aumale, the earldom of Eu, and the principality of +Dombes, to form an appanage for the illegitimate son +of Louis by Madame de Montespan. It is an additional +stain on the character of Lauzun, that he proved +ungrateful to his deliverer.</p> + +<p>Though Lauzun was released, he was not suffered +to approach the court. Tired of his exile from Versailles, +he passed over to England. On the revolution +of 1688 breaking out, James placed the queen and the +infant prince under his care, to be conveyed to France. +This trust opened the way to his re-admission into +the royal presence, and to his being created a duke; +but he never regained the confidence of the monarch. +He led a reinforcement of the French troops to James +in Ireland; and displayed, as the Duke of Berwick +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">[257]</span>states, none of the qualities of a general. He died in +1723, at the age of more than ninety. The closing +scene of his life was perhaps the only one for which +he deserves praise. His disease was cancer in the +mouth, the protracted and horrible torture of which +he bore with astonishing temper and fortitude.</p> + +<p>The severe example which was made of de Bouteville, +in the reign of Louis XIII., though it gave a +temporary check to the practice of duelling, was far +from putting an end to it. Nor did better success +attend the ordinances issued in 1634 by Louis XIII., +and in 1643, 1651, and 1670, by Louis XIV. The +feebleness of the royal authority, during a disturbed +regency, and the war of the Fronde, with the quarrels +arising out of it, doubtless tended to neutralize the laws. +But, even when Louis XIV. was in uncontested possession +of despotic power, we find that the murderous +custom of fighting in parties was still existing. In +1663, a famous duel took place between the two +La Frettes, Saint Aignan, and Argenlieu, on the one +side, and Chalais, Noirmoutier, d’Antin, and Flamarens, +on the other. The axe was at length laid to +the root of the evil, by the edict of August 1679, +which constituted the marshals of France, and the +governors of provinces, supreme judges in all cases +where individuals supposed their honour to have been +wounded. This edict prohibited, under the heaviest +penalties, all private combats and rencounters, both +within and without the kingdom. One clause seems +excellently calculated to produce its intended effect, +no less by the insinuation with which it opens, than by +the denunciations with which it concludes. “Those,” +it says, “who, doubting of their own courage, shall +have called in the aid of seconds, thirds, or a greater +number of persons, shall, besides the punishment of +death and confiscation, be degraded from their nobility, +and have their coat of arms publicly blackened and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">[258]</span>broken by the hangman; their successors shall be +obliged to adopt new arms; and the seconds, thirds, +and other accomplices, shall be punished in the same +manner.” This salutary edict appears to have nearly +accomplished the purpose for which it was framed. +The slavish fear of incurring the displeasure of the +sovereign, a feeling which was so prevalent among the +courtiers of Louis XIV., perhaps aided materially in +producing obedience to the law. It would have been +well if a worse effect had never resulted from that +kind of fear.</p> + +<p>Among the fashionable gladiators of those days was +Philip d’Oger, Marquis of Cavoie, a man whom nature +had liberally endowed with the means of shining +in a nobler sphere. Cavoie, born in 1640, and descended +from an ancient Picard family, was the son of +a woman of talent, who gained the good graces of +Anne of Austria, and availed herself of her influence +to forward the fortune of her offspring. His personal +appearance was greatly in his favour; he was one of +the handsomest and best made men in France, and he +dressed with singular elegance. His courage, too, was +no less conspicuous than his corporeal qualities. In +1666, he served as a volunteer on board of the Dutch +fleet, under De Ruyter; and in the battle with the +Duke of Albemarle he distinguished himself by the +perilous exploit of proceeding in a boat to cut the cable +with which some English sloops were towing down a +fire-ship on the Dutch admiral. He succeeded in his +daring attempt, and escaped unhurt. By this gallant +action he acquired the friendship of the celebrated +Turenne. Long before this he had become known as +“the brave Cavoie,” in consequence of his gallant +bearing in the single combats which were still too +common in France.</p> + +<p>It was for having acted as second in one of these +combats, that he was immured in the Bastile. His +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">[259]</span>imprisonment would, perhaps, have been protracted, +but for a curious circumstance, of which a pleasant +account is given by the Duke de St. Simon. Mlle. de +Coetlogon, one of the maids of honour to the consort +of Louis XIV., had fallen madly in love with Cavoie. +St. Simon describes her as being “ugly, prudent, +naïve, much-liked, and a very good creature.” It is +no slight proof of her amiability, that, in a frivolous +and satirical court, her sorrows were a subject of pity +instead of laughter. Cavoie was anything but delighted +with her idolatrous fondness, which she seemed +to glory in manifesting; and he strove to rid himself +of it by being obdurate, and even downright harsh. +In spite of his repulsive conduct, however, she became +every day fonder. When he went to the army, her tears +and cries were incessant, and during the whole of the +campaign she obstinately abstained from adorning her +person in the smallest degree. It was not till he came +back that she resumed her customary style of dress. +His being committed to the Bastile renewed her grief. +“She spoke to the king in behalf of Cavoie,” says St. +Simon, “and not being able to obtain his deliverance, +she scolded his majesty so violently as to abuse him. +The king laughed heartily, at which she was so much +incensed that she threatened him with her nails, and +he thought it prudent not to run the risk of them. +He every day dined and supped publicly with the +queen; at dinner it was usual for the Duchess of +Richelieu and the queen’s maids of honour to wait +upon them. On these occasions, Coetlogon never +would hand any thing to the king; either she avoided +him, or she flatly refused, and told him that he did +not deserve to be waited upon by her. Next, she was +ill of jaundice, and had violent hysterics, and fits of +despair. This went so far, that the king and queen +seriously desired the Duchess of Richelieu to accompany +her to the Bastile, to see Cavoie; and this was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">[260]</span>twice or thrice repeated. At last he was released, +and Coetlogon, in raptures, again took to dressing; +but it was not without much difficulty that she could +be reconciled to the king.”</p> + +<p>It is delightful to know that the devoted love of +this warm-hearted female was rewarded; and it is +honourable to Louis XIV. that, instead of meanly resenting +her bursts of passion, he kindly and successfully +exerted himself to render her happy. In conjunction +with the queen, he more than once pleaded +for the enamoured lady, but he found Cavoie averse +from a marriage. At length, the death of his grand +maréchal-de-logis enabled the king to attack Cavoie +with advantage. This time, however, he spoke +in the tone of an absolute monarch; for he insisted +that Cavoie should wed Mlle. de Coetlogon; but, in +return, he promised to put him in the road to fortune, +and, as a dowry to the portionless maid, he gave him +the splendid office which had just become vacant. +Despotism thus exercised may be forgiven, if only for +its rarity. Cavoie yielded to the command of his sovereign, +and the desired union took place. The result +was more satisfactory than might have been expected. +Cavoie proved to be an indulgent husband, and she, +on her part, never ceased to look up to him as a sort +of superior being. Neither in her maiden nor in her +married state, was her virtue for a moment doubted.</p> + +<p>Cavoie accompanied Louis XIV. in all his campaigns. +At the passage of the Rhine, his intrepidity called +forth praise from the king himself. A report having +soon after been spread, that Cavoie was among the +slain, Louis exclaimed, “O, how grieved M. de Turenne +will be!” The courtiers who surrounded him +were joining in a general chorus of eulogium upon the +supposed dead man, when a horseman was seen plunging +into the river on the opposite side, and swimming +over. It was Cavoie, whom the Prince de Condé had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">[261]</span>sent to the monarch, to announce to him the complete +success of his army.</p> + +<p>For many years Cavoie was held in high esteem at +court, and enjoyed the confidence of his master. A +circumstance at length occurred to disturb his peace. +He had hoped to be included in the number of those +on whom the order of the Holy Ghost was conferred +in 1688, but he was disappointed. This disappointment +was the work of Louvois, who hated him, because +he was the old and firm friend of the Marquis +de Seignalai. Wounded by this slight, the grand +maréchal wrote a letter to Louis, informing him that +he intended to retire. But the vows of chagrined +courtiers are as brittle as those of lovers. The king +called him into his cabinet, and, with that graciousness +which he well knew how to assume, he said to him, +“We have lived too long together to part now; I +cannot let you quit me; I will see that you shall be +satisfied.” Cavoie abandoned his design of withdrawing +from court; but the promised blue riband was +never bestowed on him.</p> + +<p>At a later period, about twenty years before his +decease, he resumed and carried into execution his +purpose of seceding from public life. He was a patron +of literary characters in general, and was in habits of +close intimacy with Racine, Boileau, and other eminent +authors. Cavoie died in 1716, at the age of 76, +leaving behind him the enviable reputation of having +been a man on whose sincerity and probity an implicit +reliance might with safety be placed.</p> + +<p>From Cavoie we pass to an individual of a less estimable +character. Louis, Prince of Rohan, commonly +known by the title of the Chevalier Rohan, a degenerate +descendant from illustrious ancestors, was born +about 1635. Rohan was endowed by nature with a +handsome and graceful person, and many intellectual +qualities; but all these advantages were nullified by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">[262]</span>his follies and vices. The Marquis de la Fare describes +him as being made up of contradictions; sometimes +witty, at others the contrary; sometimes dignified +and brave, at others mean and dastardly. In the +annals of gallantry he seems to have been ambitious +of holding a conspicuous place. The most celebrated +of his amorous adventures was his carrying off, aided +by her brother, the Duke of Nevers, the beautiful +and frail Hortensia Mancini, who was united to the +contemptible Duke of Mazarin. That he gamed high, +and was careless of his gold, we learn from an anecdote +which is related of him. He had lost to the +king, at the gaming-table, a large sum, which was to +be paid in louis-d’or. Rohan counted out seven or +eight hundred, but, not having enough of them, he +added two hundred Spanish pistoles. Louis objected +to the latter, upon which the chevalier snatched them +up, and threw them out of the window, saying at the +same time, “Since your majesty will not have them, +they are good for nothing.” The king complained of +this to Cardinal Mazarin, who replied, “Sire, the +Chevalier de Rohan played like a king, and you +played like a Chevalier de Rohan.” This action of +Rohan has been praised as a “piquant lesson” to +Louis; it seems, however, to have been rather an +absurd mode of rebuking the monarch’s unprincely +conduct.</p> + +<p>Rohan continued in favour at court for several years, +and in 1656 was appointed grand huntsman of France, +an office equivalent to our master of the buck-hounds; +he was afterwards made colonel of the guards. He +served in 1654, 1655, 1672, and 1677, and displayed +great valour. The commencement of his decline seems +to have been his being obliged to give up the office of +grand huntsman, in consequence of his amour with the +Duchess of Mazarin. His extravagance and profligacy +at length ruined his fortune and reputation. To +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">[263]</span>repair his shattered finances, he engaged in a plot, at +once treasonable and absurd, which completed the destruction +of his character, and brought him to the +scaffold. Into this scheme he was seduced by Latruaumont, +a Norman officer, a man as impoverished +and licentious as himself. Their accomplices were +Preault, a young officer, the Marchioness of Villiers-Bourdeville, +his mistress, and a schoolmaster, named +Van den Enden; all of whom are said to have disbelieved +that the soul is immortal. Their plan was, to +put into the hands of the Dutch the town of Quillebœuf, +in Normandy, and to excite the province to +revolt, for which service they were to be liberally +rewarded. The magnitude of their project forms a +striking contrast with the scantiness of their means. +The conspiracy was discovered by the government, +before the conspirators could begin their operations. +Rohan was committed to the Bastile, and M. de Brissac +was sent into Normandy to arrest Latruaumont. +The latter defended himself, was mortally wounded, +and died in a few hours. He had at least some honourable +feelings, for, in order to save his confederates, +he persisted to the last moment that he was the sole +criminal. The friends of Rohan nightly made the circuit +of the Bastile, and vociferated, through a speaking-trumpet, +“Latruaumont is dead, and has confessed +nothing.” They were, however, unheard by the chevalier. +He, meanwhile, was perseveringly pressed to +acknowledge his guilt, but he refused; and, as his +participation in the plot was known only to the deceased, +and no written proof existed against him, he +might have saved his life, had he not been circumvented +by one of those stratagems which were employed +against prisoners. De Bezons, one of the +counsellors of state who interrogated the captive, had +the baseness to assure him that the king meant to +pardon him if he would declare the truth, although +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">[264]</span>every thing was already known from the dying avowal +of Latruaumont. Trusting to the assurances of his +treacherous adviser, Rohan acknowledged his treason. +He soon learned the deceit which had been practised +on him; and he burst into such violent paroxysms of +rage, that his keepers were compelled to manacle him +that he might not lay violent hands on himself. Rohan +and his accomplices were soon after sentenced to +death; they were executed in front of the Bastile, on +the 27th of November, 1674. In spite of her erroneous +principles, the sufferer most worthy of pity was, +perhaps, Madame de Villiers, who displayed a noble +fortitude and forgiving spirit. The only evidence +against her was some of her letters to Preault, which +he had unwisely preserved. At first, she uttered a +few words of mild reproof for his fatal imprudence; +but she quickly changed her tone, and said with a +smile, “We must not think on what is passed, but +only how to die.”</p> + +<p>The same year that consigned Rohan to the scaffold, +saw his place in the Bastile filled by a youthful +victim, who was doomed to waste a large part of his +life in captivity, for having offended a vindictive and +powerful religious body. His name is not recorded, +but it is evident that he was of a good family.</p> + +<p>Louis XIV. was requested, by the Jesuits of Clermont +College, to be present at the representation of a +tragedy by their pupils. He complied, and was highly +gratified by the piece; the more so, perhaps, as it was +thickly strewn with passages in praise of him. A nobleman +in attendance having spoken to him in terms of +admiration, as to the manner in which the drama had +been played, the king replied, “Where’s the wonder? +is it not my college?” These words were not lost +upon the principal of the college, who was standing +by. As soon as the king was gone, the old inscription, +“<i>Collegium Claromontanum Societati Jesus</i>,” +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">[265]</span>which was on the front of the building, was taken +down, and workmen were all night employed to inscribe +the words, “<i>Collegium Ludovici Magni</i>,” in +gold letters, on a tablet of black marble.</p> + +<p>In the morning the new inscription was seen conspicuously +displayed on the edifice. A youth of sixteen, +a pupil in the college, had the good sense and +the good taste to be disgusted with this worse than +indecorous adulation, and he gave vent to his feelings +in a Latin distich, which, during the night, he fastened +on the gate. The meaning of his lines may be thus +given:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Christ’s name expunged, the king’s now fills the stone!</div> + <div class="verse indent0">O impious race! by this is plainly shown</div> + <div class="verse indent0">That Louis is the only god you own!”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>The pungent lines excited a violent clamour among +the Jesuits, and no pains were spared to trace the +writer. The juvenile offender was discovered, and +was shut up in the Bastile. After having been confined +there for a long while, he was transferred to the +citadel of St. Marguerite, on the coast of Provence. +There he continued for several years; after which he +was taken back to the Bastile. One-and-thirty years +he passed in this manner, and the remainder of his +life would doubtless have been consumed in the same +way, had he not, in 1705, become sole heir to the +estates of his family. The confessor of the Bastile, +who was a jesuit, now remonstrated with his brethren +on the impolicy of keeping in prison an individual +from whom, by procuring his release, they might reap +such a golden harvest. His advice was taken, and +the captive was set free at their intercession. There +can be no doubt that their tardy and interested mercy +received a liberal reward.</p> + +<p>Among the fellow prisoners of the nameless satirist +of the jesuits was, for a short time, another writer +of verses, but verses of a very different kind. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">[266]</span>person in question was Charles Dassouci, who ludicrously +designated himself as “Emperor of the +Burlesque, the first of that name.” He was born at +Paris, about 1604, and was the son of a barrister. +His bringing up, and his early habits, were not calculated +to make him an estimable member of society. +His parents were separated, and the tyranny of a +female, who was at once the servant and the concubine +of his father, drove him from his home. When he +was only nine years old, he wandered to Calais, where +he passed himself off as an adept in astrology, the son +of Cesar, that dealer in magic whose fate has been +narrated in the preceding chapter. The boy having, by +the power of imagination, worked a cure upon a hypochondriacal +individual, the wise people of Calais +considered this fact to be a decisive proof of his intercourse +with the devil, and were about to throw him +into the sea, but he was saved by some of his friends, +who conveyed him privately out of the place. After +having led a roving life for some time, he became +player on the lute and singer to Christina, Duchess +of Savoy, the daughter of Henry IV. In 1640, he +was introduced to Louis XIII., who gave him the +same situation that he had filled in the household of +the duchess, and he was continued in it during the minority +of Louis XIV. Resolving to return to Turin, +he quitted Paris in 1655; but, before his departure +from the kingdom, he visited various parts in the south +of France. He was accompanied every where by two +handsome youths, called his musical pages; his connexion +with whom afforded to his enemies a reason, +or a pretext, for fixing a deep stain on his moral character. +Failing to obtain patronage at Turin, he went +to Rome, and there he was put into the prison of the +Inquisition, for having satirized some powerful prelates. +On being liberated he went back to Paris, +where he was not more fortunate than he had been in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">[267]</span>Italy, for he was committed to the Bastile, in 1675, +whence he was transferred to the Châtelet. To his +licentious conduct and writings he is said to have been +indebted for his imprisonment, which lasted six months. +He died about 1679. His principal works are, “Ovid +in good humour,” which is a travestie upon part of +the Metamorphoses; Claudian’s Rape of Proserpine +burlesqued; and many poems in a similar style. Dassouci, +who was sometimes called “the ape of Scarron,” +received a lash from the satirical scourge of Boileau, +and he complained heavily of the injury. In his Art +of Poetry, Boileau thus alludes to the popularity which +Dassouci had once enjoyed:</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“The scurviest joker charmed some kindred mind,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">And even Dassouci could readers find.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>It must be owned, however, that in the works of +“the emperor of the Burlesque,” there are some passages +which prove that, though his taste and his morals +were defective, he was not destitute of talent.</p> + +<p>The reader has seen that, with very few exceptions, +the prisoners who have been mentioned in this chapter +belonged to the courtier-class; that they were +men who seemed to feel a difficulty of breathing whenever +they did not inhale the vapours of a frivolous and +voluptuous court. We ought always to abhor injustice, +and therefore we must hate the power which was unjust +to them; but they have no title to that liberal share +of our pity which is the right of humbler victims, for it +was an implied condition of their artificial existence +that they should bend to a despot’s will; they purchased +the smiles of their master, the pleasures, such as they +were, of the Louvre and Versailles, and a portion of +the public spoils, by the renunciation of their free +agency, and by encountering the risk of being capriciously +transferred from a palace to a dungeon. If, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">[268]</span>relying on his good luck, a man will venture to play +with a gambler whom he knows to assert the privilege +of now and then cogging the dice, his folly perhaps +deserves more compassion than his misfortune.</p> + +<p>Let us now see in what manner other classes were +affected by the working of an arbitrary government; +whether its tyranny was impartially distributed among +them. A few examples, taken between the years +1660 and 1670, will enable us to form a tolerably correct +judgment upon this subject. Before we proceed +to give these examples, it may, however, be well to +apprise the reader, that committals to the Bastile were +not things of rare occurrence, but the contrary. In +1663, fifty-four persons were sent to that dreary pile; +in some years the number was fewer; in others it rose +to nearly a hundred and fifty. The Bastile was so +crowded in 1665, that a part of the prisoners were +obliged to be removed to other places of confinement. +It must, indeed, have been full to overflowing, before +this removal could have been thought necessary. +Such being the case with the Bastile, it is probable +that Vincennes, and many other state prisons, were in +a similar situation.</p> + +<p>Though, as far as can be judged from imperfect registers, +it appears that a large majority of the persons +incarcerated in the Bastile were the victims of caprice, +malice, or religious and political persecution, there can +be no doubt that many were really criminal. Some +instances of the latter class occur in the years between +1660 and 1670. The crime of coining, which we +have seen so common at an earlier period, was still +prevalent, and was still committed by men who held a +respectable rank in society. In 1666 twelve coiners +were hanged within a fortnight, and they accused several +others, among whom was a M. Delcampe, who +is described as “the celebrated master of an academy +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">[269]</span>in the suburb of St. Germain.” He was escorted in +a carriage to the Bastile, by three companies of the +guards, and little more than a week elapsed before he +was beheaded. The crowd to witness his execution +was so great, that many persons were killed or wounded +by being pressed or trampled on.</p> + +<p>The Bastile was often employed as an engine of extortion. +To contribute to the wants of the state, or, +rather, to the prodigalities of the court, immense sums +were levied upon individuals holding offices, and upon +contractors, and all who had had any concern with the +finances. It must, of course, have been taken for granted +that they had robbed the public; and it could hardly +have been expected that they would not indemnify +themselves, by future peculation, for their present loss. +Messat, a registrar of the council, was Bastiled for remonstrating +against a demand of six hundred thousand +livres from himself and three of his colleagues. Catalan, +a contractor, shared the same fate, and was threatened +with death to boot; but after a confinement of several +months, he ransomed himself for six millions of livres. +From another individual nine hundred thousand livres, +and from three of the treasurers of the exchequer several +millions, were squeezed by this powerful instrument. +M. Deschiens, one of M. Colbert’s head clerks, +was also frightened into the payment of a good round +sum, by a visit to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>Other equally honourable means of raising money +were resorted to; all of which helped to fill the prisons +as well as the coffers of the monarch. Among them +were “free gifts,” once known in England under the +name of “benevolences.” From the city of Sens, for +instance, twelve thousand livres were demanded as a +free gift, besides nearly thrice as much for the pay of +the gendarmerie. The citizens replied that they had +no money, but would give a thousand hogsheads of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">[270]</span>excellent wine. Whether the wine was accepted, or +whether any of the citizens were imprisoned for the +misdemeanour of being pennyless, I cannot say.</p> + +<p>Immense sums were raised by the sale of offices. +For the title of counsellor of the court, 75,000 crowns +were paid, and 90,000 for a place at the board of +exchequer. Numerous purchasers were found at far +higher prices. There is perhaps much truth in Patin’s +sarcastic remark on this occasion: “They must have +robbed at a great rate,” says he, “or they would not +have so much money to squander.” Monopolies likewise +lent their aid to replenish the royal store. Niceron, +a grocer, who appears to have been an agent, +or spokesman, of the Parisian companies of tradesmen, +was lodged in the Bastile for having ventured to remonstrate +against a projected monopoly of whale oil. +Another article of supply was the stopping of the annuities +payable at the town hall; a measure for which +we have seen a precedent in the reign of Henry IV. +Poignant, a respectable citizen of Paris, was sent to +the Bastile for having spoken on this subject; and a +female, named Madame de la Trousse, was, for the +same cause, prohibited from going to the town hall, +or to any other meeting, under pain of corporal punishment! +On another occasion, the President le +Lievre was banished from Paris, for having made some +observations which were unfavourable to the taxes.</p> + +<p>The money thus obtained was lavishly spent on the +pomps and amusements of the court. A part was dissipated +at the gaming-table; Louis being then a constant +and an unlucky gamester. Theatrical entertainments +absorbed another portion. The getting up of +a single grand ballet is said to have cost no less than +forty thousand pounds. Guy Patin had reason to +exclaim, “they talk much at the Louvre of balls, ballets, +and rejoicings, but nothing is said of relieving the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">[271]</span>people, who are dying of such unexampled want, after +so great and solemn a general peace has been concluded. +O pudor! ô mores! ô tempora!”</p> + +<p>But though, in his private letters, Patin could venture +to censure profusion and exaction, he would soon +have been fitted with what he somewhere calls “a stone +doublet,” had he dared to breathe a word against them +in public. It was dangerous even for a barrister to +perform faithfully his duty to a client. M. Burai, an +eminent advocate, was committed to the Bastile, in +1655, for having undertaken the defence of Guenegaut, +one of the treasurers, who was prosecuted by the +government.</p> + +<p>The press was completely muzzled. We find De +Prez, a printer, sent to the Bastile, for having printed +a letter by the Bishop of Aleth, which displeased the +jesuits; a second unlucky typographer, for offending +the Archbishop of Paris; and a third, named Coquier, +for privately printing an answer to a work of the Chevalier +Talon, who had attacked Coquier’s former master, +the superintendant Fouquet. It was a perilous task +for a man to defend himself against the minions of favour. +The Journal des Sçavans having abused Charles +Patin, he was about to reply, when it was intimated to +him that if he did not desist, the Bastile would receive +him: the journal happened to be protected by M. Colbert, +the minister. Such protection gave a decisive advantage +over a less fortunate rival. The conduct of Renaudot, +the printer of the Gazette, affords a strong proof +of the tyrannical use which was made of it. There +appears to have been at this period a sort of partnership, +the members of which gained a livelihood by compiling +and vending a manuscript gazette. As the +sale of this paper diminished that of his own, Renaudot +made a bold attempt to get rid of his competitors. +He is said to have been extremely desirous that they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">[272]</span>should be hanged; but his benevolent wish was not +gratified. He had, however, the satisfaction of procuring +seven of them to be sent to the Bastile, one of +whom was publicly whipped through the streets. Yet +these measures, harsh as they were, did not succeed in +putting down the manuscript gazetteers; for, five years +afterwards, six more of them were committed to prison. +From its long continuance, and the risks which the +traders were willing to encounter, we may infer that +the trade was productive.</p> + +<p>To have a different opinion from the sovereign, as +to the merit of any one whom he placed in office, was a +heavy offence. M. de Montespan expiated, by imprisonment +in Fort-l’Evêque, his having doubted the wisdom +of choosing M. Montausier as governor to the dauphin. +Some were thrown into the Bastile for impossible +crimes; such was the case of St. Severin, a priest, +who was accused of sorcery. Of others, the fault +and the meaning of their punishment are now undiscoverable. +With respect to L’Epine, a priest, for example, +we are only told that he was discharged from +the Bastile, on condition of quitting Paris within twenty-four +hours, and going to Egypt. The reason of this +singular species of banishment must remain an enigma.</p> + +<p>One of the instances in which despair prompted an +inmate of the Bastile to commit suicide, occurred in +1669, and is recorded by Patin. “A state prisoner,” +says he, “has poisoned himself in the Bastile, terrified +by the punishment which could not fail to be +inflicted on him, for having spoken very badly <i>de +Domino Priore</i>.”</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">[273]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<p>The Poisoners—The Marchioness of Brinvilliers—Penautier—La +Voisin and her accomplices and dupes—The “Chambre +Ardente”—The Countess of Soissons—The Duchess of Bouillon—The +Duke of Luxembourg—Stephen de Bray—The Abbé Primi—Andrew +Morell—Madame Guyon—Courtils de Sandraz—Constantine +de Renneville—The Man with the Iron Mask—Jansenists—Tiron, +Veillant, and Lebrun Desmarets—The Count de +Bucquoy—The Duke de Richelieu—Miscellaneous Prisoners.</p> + +</div> + +<p>In the year 1676, the Bastile received a criminal, +whose guilt was of the blackest dye, and who was soon +followed by a crowd of imitators, more profoundly +wicked, if possible, than she herself was. Poisoning +was their crime, and the practice of it became so common, +that Madame de Sévigné expresses a fear that, in +foreign countries, the words Frenchman and poisoner +would be considered as synonymous.</p> + +<p>Foremost in the dark catalogue stands the Marchioness +of Brinvilliers, the daughter of Dreux d’Aubrai, +the Civil Lieutenant. She was beautiful, reserved +in her manners, and apparently devout; but her heart +was corrupted to the core. From her own confession, +it appears, that when she was only seven years old, +she had already lost her maiden innocence, and had +also set fire to a house. Her later years were worthy +of this beginning. Between 1666 and 1670, she poisoned +her father, two brothers, a sister, and many of +her acquaintance. She is said to have administered +poison to her husband, though without effect; and also, +with fatal success, to the poor, and the sick in the +hospitals, to whom she gave biscuits, in which deadly +drugs were mixed. The latter facts are denied by Voltaire; +they are, however, positively affirmed by Madame +de Sévigné.</p> + +<p>The diabolical art which she so widely practised +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">[274]</span>was learned from St. Croix, a young officer, who was +her paramour. He was a friend of her husband, who, +in opposition to her real or feigned remonstrances, +made him an inmate of his house. A criminal intimacy +soon took place between the wife and the friend. +The husband, a man of dissipated habits, seems to +have been regardless of their intrigue; but her father +was so disgusted by its shameless publicity that he obtained +a lettre-de-cachet, and St. Croix was lodged in +the Bastile, where he continued for twelve months. +There St. Croix was placed in the same apartment +with Exili, an Italian, who was confined on suspicion +of being, as he really was, a compounder and vender +of poisons. Exili taught St. Croix all his detestable +secrets, and the latter communicated them to the marchioness, +who was a willing scholar.</p> + +<p>St. Croix died suddenly in 1672, and, as he had no +relatives, the government took possession of his effects. +Among them was a small box, which was importunately +claimed by the marchioness. It was opened, and +found to contain a note, desiring that it might be delivered, +without the contents being disturbed, to Madame +de Brinvilliers. The box was filled with poisons +of all kinds, some of the marchioness’s letters to him, +and a note of hand to him, for 30,000 livres, bearing +her signature.</p> + +<p>Disappointed in all attempts to gain possession of +the box, and finding that suspicion began to fall heavily +upon her, Brinvilliers took flight. After having +visited England, she fixed her residence at Liege. +Fresh presumptions of her guilt having arisen, it was +resolved to arrest her. Desgrais, the exempt of police, +was accordingly despatched to Liege. He disguised +himself as an Abbé, pretended to be enamoured of her, +insinuated himself into her good graces, and ultimately +succeeded in seizing the lady and her papers, and conveying +them to Paris.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">[275]</span></p> + +<p>Brinvilliers now disavowed all knowledge of the +box; but it was too late. For a little while her spirits +deserted her, and she made an ineffectual attempt at +suicide. She, however, soon rallied them, and preserved +her courage to the last. Among her papers +was found a written confession of the numerous crimes +which she had committed. To extort an oral confession, +it was resolved to put her to the ordinary question, +which consisted in forcing down the throat of the +culprit an immense quantity of water. When she +saw three buckets in the torture room, she coolly +observed, “This must be for the purpose of drowning +me, for they can never expect to make a woman of my +size drink it all.” She was saved from the trial, by +making a full avowal of her misdeeds. Her sentence +she heard with an unaltered countenance. In the last +twenty-four hours of her existence she is said to have +manifested sincere penitence. She was beheaded, and +her remains were burned, on the 16th of July, 1676. +It will perhaps scarcely be believed that, on the morrow, +the besotted populace collected her ashes; assigning +as their reason for so doing, that she was a saint!</p> + +<p>With Brinvilliers was implicated Penautier, who +held the lucrative offices of treasurer-general of the +clergy, and of the states of Languedoc. He was +known to be her intimate friend, and was believed, +apparently with reason, to be one of her favoured +lovers. It is asserted, that in the box which was left +by St. Croix, there was a packet of poison, addressed +to Penautier. That the receiver-general had the reputation +of making use of such packets is certain, +and was a subject of public jest. Cardinal de Bonzi, +archbishop of Narbonne, who was his strenuous protector, +used to say laughingly, “None of those who have +pensions on my benefices are long-lived, for my star is +fatal to them all.” The caustic Abbé Fouquet one day +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">[276]</span>saw the prelate and Penautier in a carriage together, +and he told everybody that he had just met Cardinal +de Bonzi and his star. Penautier was imprisoned, +and appears to have been in imminent danger; +from which he is said to have been extricated only by +the most powerful influence, and the sacrifice of half +his riches.</p> + +<p>Instead of operating as a warning, the execution of +the marchioness would rather seem to have stimulated +others to the commission of the horrible species of +crime for which she suffered. After her death, poisoning +is said to have become prevalent to an extraordinary +degree. Loud complaints arose from numbers of +families, members of which were supposed to have +been taken off secretly by their enemies, or by those +who were eager to inherit their riches. It was with +reference to the latter motive that the name of “powder +of succession” was given to the drug administered. +We may believe that the complaints were not unfrequently +groundless—for it has always been the practice +of weak minds to ascribe sudden death to poison—but +still, it is certain that there were very many cases +in which the suspicion was borne out by facts.</p> + +<p>So general did the clamour become, that, in January, +1660, the king issued an ordinance, naming commissioners, +who were to hold their sittings at the Arsenal, +for the purpose of trying poisoners and magicians! +This commission is known by the name of <i>la Chambre +Ardente</i>. It has been supposed, that it derived this +appellation from its being established to take cognizance +of crimes which were punishable by fire. This +appears to be a mistake; the name having, in old +times, been given to the hall in which criminals of +high birth were tried, and which was so called because +it was hung with black, and lighted with torches. The +same title was, however, borne by a sort of committee, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">[277]</span>which Francis II. instituted in each parliament, for the +trial of protestants, and which mercilessly condemned +them to the flames.</p> + +<p>The principal distributor of the poisons, a widow, +by the name of Monvoisin, but who was known under +the appellation of La Voisin, was already in the Bastile, +with about forty persons charged as her accomplices. +The most prominent of these subordinate +culprits were, a female, named La Vigoureux, and her +brother, and Cœuvrit, a priest, who was called Lesage. +La Voisin was a midwife; but her profession +not proving lucrative, she deserted it for the more +profitable speculation of turning to account the credulity, +the folly, and at last the vices, of mankind. +The most innocent part of her employment consisted +in telling fortunes on the cards, discovering stolen +goods, casting nativities, and selling charms and spells, +to render women beautiful and beloved, and men invulnerable +and fortunate! Her pretensions to supernatural +skill did not stop here; for she boldly undertook +to show spirits, and even the devil himself, to her +dupes. Such is the cullibility of the crowd, whether +of high or low degree, that the number of her visitors, +the majority of whom were people of rank, soon enabled +her to remove from a mean lodging into a splendid +mansion, and keep an equipage and a train of attendants. +That her house was made a convenience for the +purposes of seduction, and for carrying on illicit connexions, +there can be no doubt; many of those who +frequented it, of both sexes, being notorious profligates. +The round of La Voisin’s occupations was completed +by the sale of poisons to those who were desirous of +destroying the proof of incontinence, taking vengeance +on a rival or an enemy, or getting rid of superannuated +husbands and long-lived relatives.</p> + +<p>The newly-established tribunal found the whole of +the prisoners guilty. All but La Voisin were condemned +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">[278]</span>to punishments short of death; to imprisonment, +exile, or the galleys. She alone was sentenced +to be burned alive on the Place de Grêve, and her +ashes scattered to the winds. The narrative of her +last hours proves that, to a considerable portion of brutal +courage, or rather insensibility, she added the most +disgusting sensuality, vulgarity, and impiety. When +she was informed of her doom, she invited her guards +to have a midnight revel with her, at which she drank +largely of wine, and sang twenty bacchanalian songs. +The next evening, after having undergone the question, +she repeated the revel; and when she was told +that she had better think on God, and sing hymns, +she sang two hymns in a burlesque style. On the +morning of her execution, she was enraged at being +refused any other food than soup. Before she was +placed in the sledge, she was advised to confess; but +she obstinately refused, and thrust away from her +the confessor and the cross. At Nôtre Dame, it was +impossible to make her repeat the amende honorable, +and when she reached the Grêve she struggled furiously +against the officers, and it was not without using force +that they could take her from the vehicle, bind her, +and place her on the pile. Consistent to the last, she +several times kicked off the straw, poured forth a volley +of oaths, and did not cease her violence till the +flames deprived her of the power of motion and speech.</p> + +<p>Either with the hope of obtaining impunity, by implicating +the great and powerful in her crimes, or, +which her character renders more probable, that she +might enjoy the malignant delight of involving them +in her ruin, La Voisin disclosed the names of many +of the noblest personages of the court, who had consulted +her; and she stated circumstances which gave +rise to terrible suspicions against them. Among those +whom she thus dragged into public view, were the +Countess of Soissons and the Duchess of Bouillon, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">[279]</span>nieces of Cardinal Mazarin, the Princess de Tingri, +Madame de Polignac, and the Duke of Luxembourg. +Against some of the suspected or accused individuals, +the Chamber issued warrants; others it summoned to +appear, and answer interrogatories.</p> + +<p>The Countess of Soissons, mother of the celebrated +Prince Eugene, was a woman whose reputation was +already sullied by the stains of political and amorous +intrigue. Among the crimes which were attributed to +her, was the death of her husband, who died suddenly +in 1673. In her early years, before he became enamoured +of her sister Mary, Louis had paid her some +attentions. It was probably the remembrance of his +transient flame that induced him to send to the countess +a message, that if she were innocent he advised +her to enter the Bastile, in which case he would befriend +her, but that, if she were guilty, she might retire +wherever she pleased. She replied that she was +blameless, but that she could not endure imprisonment. +The countess immediately set off for Brussels, and +she never returned to France. It would, however, be +doing her injustice to conceal, that she offered to come +back and justify herself, on condition that she should +not be confined while the trial was pending. The condition +was not granted, and she died in exile, in 1708.</p> + +<p>The Duchess of Bouillon, her sister, passed through +the ordeal more triumphantly. There is something +amusing in the flippant contempt with which she +treated her judges. The carriages of nine dukes +went in procession with her to the Chambre Ardente, +into which she was handed by her husband and the +Duke of Vendôme. Before she would take notice +of any question that was put to her, she ordered the +clerk to minute down, “that she came there solely +out of respect to the king’s orders, and not at all to +the Chamber, which she would not recognize, because +she would not derogate from the privilege of the ducal +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">[280]</span>class.” She then answered, but with no small disdain, +the various questions, some of which were, in truth, +ridiculous enough. Her reason for going to La Voisin’s +house was, she said, that she wished to see the +Sibyls, which that female had promised to show her. +La Reynie, one of the judges, being absurd enough +to ask if she had seen the devil, she replied that she +saw him at that moment, that he was very ugly and +filthy, and was disguised in the garb of a counsellor of +state. As she quitted the court, she said aloud, that +she had never before heard so many foolish speeches so +gravely uttered. There being nothing more to urge +against her than that she had been credulous and +sillily curious, no further proceedings were taken by +the court, but, angry at her having made laughing-stocks +of his magistrates, Louis sent her in exile to +Nerac, in the distant province of Guienne.</p> + +<p>If in France military talents of the highest order, +and important services rendered to the state, had possessed +any protecting influence, Francis Henry de +Montmorenci, Duke of Luxembourg, would not +have been made a prisoner, and nearly a victim, by +an implacable and unprincipled minister. Luxembourg +was the posthumous son of that Bouteville +whom, in a preceding chapter, we have seen consigned +to the scaffold for the crime of duelling. He +was warmly patronised by the Princess of Condé, who +placed him as aide-de-camp to her son. The young +Condé soon became attached to him. At the battle +of Lens, Bouteville distinguished himself so greatly, +that, though he was not more than twenty, Anne of +Austria made him a major-general.</p> + +<p>During the war of the Fronde, Bouteville followed +the fortunes of Condé; he joined the Spaniards with +him, acquired in numerous encounters a well-merited +reputation, and, finally, returned to his allegiance along +with his friend. There is an anecdote recorded of him, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">[281]</span>on the latter occasion, which is much to his honour. +After Bouteville had ceased to bear arms against +France, the Spanish monarch sent him 60,000 crowns, +as a reward for his services. He refused to take the +money: “I never,” said he, “considered myself in the +service of Spain, and will receive favours only from +my own sovereign.” Soon after this, he married the +heiress of the house of Luxembourg, by which union +he gained a dukedom, and a splendid fortune. If we +may believe St. Simon, rank and riches were all that +the husband derived from this match, the lady being +“frightfully ugly, both in figure and face,” and not at +all atoning for her personal defects by intellectual +qualities. As far as regarded beauty, the pair had no +right to reproach each other; for Luxembourg himself +had repulsive features, a prominence on his chest, +and another behind.</p> + +<p>Between 1667 and 1679, Luxembourg, sometimes +commander-in-chief, sometimes as second to the great +Condé and the Duke of Orleans, displayed, in Franche +Comté, Holland, and Flanders, a degree of skill which +gave him a conspicuous place in the first class of generals: +in fact, Turenne having fallen, and Condé retired, +Luxembourg had no equal in France. The +marshal’s staff was conferred on him in 1675.</p> + +<p>But neither the ancient descent, nor the high rank, +nor the still higher renown, of Luxembourg, were sufficient +to shield him from the malice of his potent +enemy. That enemy was Louvois,—Louvois, the +perpetual inciter of Louis to war, the director of the +horrible crimes committed by the French troops in +Holland, and the incendiary of the Palatinate. He +was, at one time, the friend of Luxembourg, but they +quarrelled; and he thenceforth hated him, with even a +more deadly hatred than he had cherished against +Turenne. The affair of the poisoners seemed to afford +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">[282]</span>him an opportunity, which he eagerly seized, of +disgracing, and perhaps destroying, the duke.</p> + +<p>It was by a credulous belief in the power of pretended +sorcerers, that Luxembourg was brought into +peril. Bonnard, clerk to one of his lawyers, had lost +some papers, which were indispensable to the success +of a lawsuit instituted by the duke. To recover them, +he applied to Lesage, one of the confederates of La +Voisin. Lesage required 2,000 crowns, and the performance +of certain mummeries by Bonnard; and his +demand was granted. The papers were then found +to be in the hands of a girl named Dupin, who refused +to give them up. A power of attorney was now obtained +from the duke, by Bonnard, authorizing steps to +be taken against Dupin, to compel her to resign the +papers. This he gave to Lesage, who, between the +body of the document and the signature, inserted two +lines, containing a transfer of the duke’s soul to his +Satanic majesty. Luckily, the clumsy forger had +written these lines in a hand writing quite different +from that of the instrument itself. This compact with +the devil formed the main proof against Luxembourg. +He appears, indeed, to have afforded a further pretext +for suspicion, by his weakness in applying to Lesage +for the horoscopes of various individuals.</p> + +<p>It was on this slender foundation that the plot +against him was built. When his name began to be +called in question, he is said to have been insidiously +counselled by Louvois, to save himself by flight. The +brave Cavoie, who was his friend, proved himself to be +so, by advising him to surrender himself voluntarily +to the Bastile; and this advice was wisely followed by +the duke. On his arrival there, he was placed in a +comfortable chamber, and, on the second day, he underwent +a preliminary interrogation. But it was not +the intention of the minister who had driven him into +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">[283]</span>a prison, that he should enjoy any comfort there; and +accordingly, on the third day, he was removed to one +of the filthiest of dungeons, not more than six feet and +a half in diameter, and no further notice was taken of +him for five weeks. He claimed his privilege, as a +peer, of being tried by the Parliament, but no attention +was paid to his claim, and he was obliged to be +contented with protesting against this denial of justice. +It was afterwards made a subject of reproach to him, +by some of the peers, that he had not stood up with +sufficient boldness for the rights of the peerage.</p> + +<p>Luxembourg remained for fourteen months in the +noisome den into which Louvois had thrown him. +The fetid atmosphere which he breathed, the want of +exercise, and the disturbed state of his mind, brought +on a fit of illness, and so much injured his constitution +that he never thoroughly recovered. It must have +been no small aggravation of his sufferings, that he +was occasionally drawn forth, to be confronted with +the profligate Lesage, and others of the same class, +and to hear them impudently charge him with the +foulest crimes. Lesage maintained, that the duke had +entered into the compact with Satan for the purpose of +procuring the death of Dupin; his accomplices added, +that by his order they had murdered her, cut the body +into quarters, and thrown it into the river. Besides +this improbable story, they told another, equally improbable, +that he had given poisoned wine to a brother +of Dupin, and to a mistress whom that brother kept, +and had endeavoured to destroy several persons by +means of sorcery. Their depositions may, indeed, +contest the palm of absurdity and falsehood with those +of Titus Oates and his perjured associates.</p> + +<p>This, however, was not all. It would seem, from +their evidence, that the duke had driven a hard bargain +with the prince of darkness, for they asserted that +the compact was designed not only to bring about the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">[284]</span>murder of Dupin, but also to obtain the government +of a province or a fortress, and the marriage of his +son with the daughter of Louvois. In a letter to a +friend, Luxembourg has left on record his dignified +answer to the last of these stupid calumnies. After +treating with ridicule the idea that he would sell his +soul for a government, he says, with respect to the +remainder, “I replied that when the villain (Lesage) +told such an untruth, he did not know that I was of a +family which did not purchase alliances by crimes; that +it would have been a great honour to me had my son +married Mdlle. de Louvois, but that I would not +have adopted for the purpose any means which would +have subjected me to self-reproach; and that when +Matthew de Montmorenci espoused a queen of France, +the mother of a minor king, he did not give himself +to the devil for this marriage, since the thing was done +by a resolution of the States General, who declared +that, to gain for the monarch the services of the lords +of Montmorenci, it was necessary to form this union. +It was even out of delicacy that I used the word +<i>services</i>, for I believe that, in the declaration, the word +<i>protection</i> is used.”</p> + +<p>Such testimony as was produced against Luxembourg +was not deemed by his judges sufficient to +warrant his conviction, even though a minister of state +was eager for his ruin. He was, in consequence, set +free on the 14th of May, 1680. Notwithstanding the +duke’s acquittal, Louis banished him from the court, +and he remained in exile till the summer of 1681, +when he was recalled, and resumed his duties as +captain of the body-guards. It is somewhat remarkable, +that Louis never made the slightest allusion to +what had passed.</p> + +<p>For ten years, Luxembourg remained without a +command. In 1690, however, Louis himself placed +him at the head of the army in Flanders. Luxembourg +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">[285]</span>had scarcely taken the field, before he gained +the splendid victory of Fleurus. The fall of Namur, +or of Charleroi, would probably have been the result +of this success, had he not been thwarted by the +malignant Louvois, who forbade his besieging either +of those fortresses, and deprived him of the best part +of his army, to reinforce Boufflers. In the succeeding +campaigns, Luxembourg pursued his triumphant progress, +and won the battles of Leuze, Steenkirk, and +Neerwinden. Such a number of standards were taken, +and sent to be hung up in the cathedral of Nôtre Dame, +at Paris, that the Prince of Conti wittily denominated +him “the tapestry-hanger of Nôtre Dame.” Irritated +by his defeats, William III. is said to have exclaimed, +“Am I never to beat that hunchback?” “Hunchback!” +said the duke, when he was told of this speech, +“what does he know about it? He has never seen my +back!” The career of Luxembourg was abruptly +closed, by an illness of only five days, on the 4th of +January, 1695.</p> + +<p>Several persons of distinction were censured by the +“Chambre Ardente,” and were, in consequence, forbidden +the court, or sent into exile. Among the latter +was Madame de Polignac. The monarch was so decidedly +hostile to her, that, five years afterwards, he +spoke of her with unmeasured severity, and interfered +to prevent the marriage of her son with Mdlle. de +Rambures. It was said, that she had once formed the +scheme of giving him a philtre, to inspire him with a +passion for her.</p> + +<p>One of the humbler class of culprits who was imprisoned +in the Bastile, and who finally suffered the +extreme sentence of the law, was Stephen de Bray, +described as the accomplice of James Dechaux and +Jane Chanfrain, who were perhaps rivals of La Voisin +and her confederates in their detestable trade. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">[286]</span>crimes alleged against him were blasphemy, sacrilege, +and poisoning, and he was burned at the Grêve.</p> + +<p>From poisoners, and mercenary pretenders to +sorcery, we turn to an adventurer of a less noxious +species. The Abbé Primi was a native of Bologna, +in which city his father was a cap-maker. He had +acuteness, wit, and a pleasing person, and with these +mental and corporeal qualities he hoped to make his +way at Paris. On his journey thither he became acquainted +with a man of talent, named Duval. One of +the travellers in the coach smelt so offensively that +the others were anxious to get rid of him; and accordingly +Duval and Primi secretly concerted a scheme +for that purpose. Primi was to pretend to the gift of +foretelling, from only seeing a person’s handwriting, +what had happened, and would happen, to him. Primi, +being questioned by Duval on this head, gave him elaborate +answers, which the latter admitted to be correct. +Specimens of the penmanship of the rest of the +travellers, who were in the plot, were then handed to +Primi, and, of course, they were satisfied with the result. +The obnoxious passenger at length begged the +oracular Italian to do for him the same favour that he +had done for the rest. When Primi looked at the +paper, he pretended to be shocked, and hastily gave it +back, declining to say more than that “he hoped he +was mistaken.” The applicant, however, solicited so +earnestly to know his fate, that Primi told him he was +destined to be assassinated at Paris, if he went thither. +This startling intelligence produced the designed +effect; the strong-scented querist took the first opportunity +to discontinue his journey, and return to his +home.</p> + +<p>When they reached Paris, Duval presented Primi +to the Abbé de la Baume, who was afterwards archbishop +of Embrun; and the abbé introduced him to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">[287]</span>the Duke of Vendôme, and his brother, the Grand +Prior. The trick played off in the stage was talked +over, and it was agreed that a repetition of it in the +French capital would be productive of infinite amusement. +Primi was therefore kept carefully secluded, +for nearly two months, till he had learned by heart the +genealogy and the secret history of most of the persons +about the court. When he had obtained a thorough +knowledge of their connexions, amours, rivalships, +enmities, and presumed motives, his skill in his novel +kind of divination was spread about by his employers, +and all the rank and fashion of France soon flocked to +consult him. Among the distinguished females who +patronized him, were the Countess of Soissons and the +Duchess of Orleans; the latter of whom Primi firmly +convinced of his powers, by mentioning many circumstances +relative to her correspondence with the Count +de Guiche. The duchess prevailed on Louis XIV. to +let her show his handwriting to the Italian. To her +utter astonishment, Primi no sooner saw it than he +declared it to be written by a miserly curmudgeon, who +was not possessed of a single good quality. When +she returned the paper to Louis, and told him what +Primi had said, the king was no less astonished than +she was. The paper was indeed written by a man of +whom his enemies spoke in the same manner as Primi. +It was the handwriting of Rose, the king’s +cabinet secretary, who wrote exactly like Louis, and +whom he often employed to answer letters, that he +might himself avoid trouble. To get at the bottom of +this mystery, the king ordered Primi to be brought +into his cabinet. “Primi,” said the monarch, “I +have only two words to say—disclose to me your +secret, for which I will pay you with a pension of two +thousand livres—or else make up your mind to be +hanged.” There was no resisting the bribe and the +threat, and Primi consequently related his own history, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">[288]</span>and all that had come to his knowledge since he had +lived in the capital. On going into the queen’s apartment, +Louis mentioned, before the courtiers, that he +had admitted Primi to an interview, and he added, +“I must acknowledge that he told me things which no +being of his kind has ever before revealed to any one.” +This strong testimony to the merit of Primi contributed +not a little to enhance his reputation.</p> + +<p>The pension granted to him by Louis placed Primi +above the necessity of resorting to deception for a +livelihood; nor, indeed, was the part which he had +been playing one which could be carried on for any +length of time. He married the daughter of Frederic +Leonard, an eminent Parisian printer, and sought to +gain reputation by chronicling the actions of the French +monarch. In an Italian narrative, which he wrote, of +the Dutch campaign of Louis, he divulged the secret +of the private treaty between that monarch and our +Charles II. For this he was sent to the Bastile; but +he was soon released, and received an ample present. +The publication is believed to have, in fact, been authorized +by the king, to punish the defection of Charles; +the imprisonment of the author being merely a blind, +to prevent his master from being suspected.</p> + +<p>Louvois, who will for ever be infamously remembered +for his outrages upon humanity, was the tyrant who +twice consigned to the Bastile the celebrated medallist, +Andrew Morell. Berne was the native place of +Morell, who was born in 1646. He was remarkable +for his memory and acuteness. The study of history led +him to that of numismatics, in which he made an almost +unequalled progress; and he learned drawing, in +order to render his medallic knowledge more perfect +and available. Charles Patin, the son of Guy, then +an exile from France, who was himself no mean numismatist, +became acquainted with Morell, and aided +him by his counsel and purse. It was probably by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">[289]</span>his advice that, in 1680, Morell visited Paris, where +he met with a warm reception from the most distinguished +men of learning and science. Encouraged +by them, he undertook the laborious task of publishing +a description of all the antique medals which were +contained in the numerous cabinets of Europe. As +a prelude, he gave a specimen to the world. But his +scheme was interrupted, for the moment, by a circumstance +which would ultimately have benefited it, had +he not been ungenerously treated. He was appointed +coadjutor of Rainssart, the keeper of the king’s medals. +In assiduously arranging and reducing to order the +vast collection which was placed under his care, he +spent several years. When he claimed his promised +reward it was withheld, and, on his venturing to resent +this breach of faith, he was committed to the Bastile, +in 1688, by Louvois. His friends obtained his release; +but, in little more than twelve months, he was again +immured in that prison, probably for the same reason +as before. Yet, while he was thus persecuted by an +arrogant minister, he continued to enjoy the esteem of +Louis XIV.; a curious fact, which proves how strong +was the influence of Louvois over his master. While +he was in the Bastile, his colleague died, and he was +offered the vacant place of sole keeper of the king’s +cabinet, on condition that he would change his religion. +Morell, however, rejected the offer.</p> + +<p>It was not till 1691, nor till the government of +Berne had interfered in his behalf, that Morell was set +free. Disgusted with the treatment which he had +experienced, he returned to his native country. His +subsequent existence was embittered by severe bodily +suffering. His health was so much injured by confinement, +and by vexation at his favourite project being +frustrated, that palsy deprived him of the use of one +side, and rendered him incapable of handling pen or +pencil. He was somewhat recovered, and had acquired +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">[290]</span>the patronage of the Count of Schwartzenburg-Armstadt, +a lover of medals, when he was overturned +in a carriage, and one of his shoulders dislocated. +This accident brought on another attack of +palsy, to which he fell a victim in 1703. The materials +for his unfinished work were arranged and +published, by Havercamp, in 1734, with the title of +“Thesaurus Morellianus.” Another of his works, a +“Numismatic History of the Twelve Emperors,” was +given to the public, in 1753, by Havercamp, Schlegel, +and Gori, who overlaid it with a ponderous mass of +confused and discordant commentaries.</p> + +<p>The doctrines of Quietism, the origin of which may +be traced to oriental climes, but of which a Spanish +monk, Michael Molinos, was the European apostle, +and finally the victim, were espoused by one of the +most amiable of French enthusiasts, and they brought +on her, as they had brought on him, calumny, persecution, +and imprisonment. Madam Guyon, whose +maiden name was Bouvier de la Motte, was born at +Montargis, in 1648. Even in very early youth she +had a strong tendency to mysticism, and would have +adopted a monastic life, had her parents not prevented +her. At sixteen she was married; at eight-and-twenty +she became a widow. The visionary ideas +which she had cherished before marriage now resumed +their empire, and a powerful stimulus was given to +them by her confessor, and by the titular bishop of +Geneva, and other ecclesiastics, all of whom laboured +to fill her with the belief that Heaven had destined her +to play an extraordinary part for the advancement of +religion. “Left a widow when she was still tolerably +young,” says Voltaire, “with riches, beauty, and a +mind fitted for society, she became infatuated with +what is called <i>spiritualism</i>. A monk of Anneci, near +Geneva, named Lacombe, was her director. This +man, characterized by a not uncommon mixture of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">[291]</span>passions and religion, and who died mad, plunged the +mind of his penitent into the mystic reveries by which +it was already affected. The longing desire to be a +French St. Theresa did not allow her to perceive how +different the French character is from the Spanish, +and made her go much further than St. Theresa. +The ambition of having disciples, which is perhaps the +strongest of all the kinds of ambition, took entire possession +of her heart.” In ascribing such a motive to +Madame Guyon, Voltaire does her wrong, there not +being a shadow of a reason for supposing that she was +actuated by any thing but a sincere though erroneous +belief, that she was fulfilling a solemn duty. He is +more correct in the description which he gives of her +doctrines. “She taught a complete renunciation of +self, the silence of the soul, the annihilation of all its +faculties, internal worship, and the pure and disinterested +love of God, which is neither degraded by fear, +nor animated by the hope of reward.” It must be +owned that, both in language and ideas, she often fell +into enormous absurdity, in her efforts to explain and +enforce these doctrines.</p> + +<p>For five years Madame Guyon wandered through +Piedmont, Dauphiny, and the adjacent provinces, +spreading her opinions by the press as well as by oral +Communication. As was to be expected, she made +many ardent proselytes, and not a few enemies. In +1686 she returned to Paris, and continued her labours, +and was left unmolested for two years. At +length she attracted the notice of the archbishop of +Paris, who affected to be shocked at the resemblance +which her tenets bore to those of Molinos. The see of +Paris was at that time filled by Harlay de Chamvallon, +an individual infamously celebrated for his profligate +debauchery. This prelate, who certainly was not +likely to comprehend a pure and disinterested love of +God, or of man or woman either, procured Lacombe +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">[292]</span>to be sent to the Bastile as a seducer, and Madame +Guyon to the Visitandines convent. At the Visitandines +she was generally beloved, and made several +converts. She was soon after snatched from the +clutches of Harlay by Madame de Maintenon, who admitted +her at St. Cyr, and became much attached to +her. It was at St. Cyr that she was also introduced +to Fenelon; a friendship took place between them +which nothing could ever shake.</p> + +<p>But though Fenelon continued true to his friend, +Madame de Maintenon ultimately deserted her. This +desertion was the work of Godet-Desmarais, bishop of +Chartres, who was the religious director of St. Cyr +and of Madame de Maintenon. The mind of the king +was also poisoned against her; and she was exposed to +a long series of persecutions, not the least painful of +which was a slanderous attack on her character, made +in the form of a letter from Lacombe, exhorting her +to repent of their criminal intimacy. Lacombe was +then insane. So irreproachable, however, was her +conduct, that her innocence was universally acknowledged.</p> + +<p>In 1695 she was sent to Vincennes, whence she +was removed to the Bastile; but she was released +through the intervention of Noailles, who had succeeded +the shameless Harlay in the archbishopric of +Paris. In 1698 she was again immured in the Bastile, +and was not liberated till 1702. After her liberation, +she was exiled to Blois, where, for fifteen years, +her patience, piety, and charity, were admired by +every one. She died in 1717, at the age of sixty-nine.</p> + +<p>Influenced by prejudice, Voltaire has been unjust +to Madame Guyon; he denies that she possessed talent, +and sneeringly says, that “she wrote verses like +Cotin, and prose like Punchinello.” This is not the +first time that truth has been sacrificed, for the sake +of giving an epigrammatic turn to a sentence. To +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">[293]</span>the opinion of Voltaire may be opposed that of the +shrewd Duke of St. Simon, which is very different. +Nor is it probable that Fenelon would have held in +high estimation a mere senseless enthusiast. That in +her writings, which extend to nine-and-thirty volumes, +much erroneous reasoning, mystic jargon, and even +nonsense, may be found, admits of no dispute; but +they also contain many fine sentiments strikingly expressed. +That she was endowed with a prevailing +eloquence appears to be undeniable. There is an +anecdote recorded of her which proves, likewise, that +in the common business of life, she was possessed of a +large share of penetration and sound sense. She was +chosen as sole umpire in a cause in which she and +twenty-two of her relations were interested. After +thirty days’ close investigation of the documents and +claims, she drew up an award, which received the +prompt and full approbation of all the contending +parties. It may be doubted, whether there have been +many arbitrators who have given such universal satisfaction +as Madame Guyon.</p> + +<p>About the time that Madame Guyon was released +from the Bastile, that prison became the abode of +Gatien de Courtils de Sandraz, a fertile writer, but +whose productions are, for the most part, of a class +which merits censure rather than praise. This author, +a Parisian, born in 1644, must be reckoned among +those who poison the sources of history. “He was,” +says Voltaire, “one of the most culpable writers of +this kind. He inundated Europe with fictions under +the name of histories.” Many of those fictions profess +to be written by persons who, during the reigns of +Louis XIII. and Louis XIV., had borne a part in +affairs of state and court intrigues. More than forty +volumes of memoirs of this sort, biographies, romances, +and political tracts, were produced by his +indefatigable pen. He was originally a captain in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">[294]</span>regiment of Champagne, but went to Holland in 1683, +and staid in that country for five years. It was while +he was there that he gave some of his earliest works +to the press. In 1689, the partiality which he manifested +on the side of France occasioned him to be sent +out of the Dutch territory, and he went to Paris, where +he continued till 1694. He then returned to Holland, +where he continued for eight years. In 1702, he +went back to his native land, but his reception was +calculated to make him regret having done so. He +was immediately sent to the Bastile, where he languished +for nine years, during the first three of which he +was very harshly treated. His offence is not known; +but his Annals of Paris and the court, in which he attacked +the character of some powerful personages, are +conjectured to have been the cause of his imprisonment. +His decease took place in 1712.</p> + +<p>Of those who suffered in the Bastile very few indeed +revealed to the world the secrets of the prison-house. +The first who disclosed them was René +Augustus Constantine de Renneville, a Norman gentleman, +who was born at Caen, in 1650. De Renneville +was the youngest of ten brothers, seven of whom +fell in the service of their country. After having +borne arms in, and retired from, the mousquetaires, he +was patronised by Chamillart, one of the ministers, +who employed him in various confidential affairs, and +rewarded him by a respectable and lucrative office +in Normandy. De Renneville passed several years +in his native province, filling up by literary pursuits +his intervals of leisure from his official duties. The +persecution of the protestants, of whom he was one, +drove him, in 1699, into Holland. Being, however, +unable to find there a satisfactory establishment for +his family, he yielded to the solicitations of Chamillart, +and returned, in 1702, to France. The minister received +him with open arms, gave him a pension, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">[295]</span>promised him the first place that might become vacant +in his own department. But the scene soon changed. +Envy was excited by the reception which he had met +with, and it quickly found or made the means of +crushing him. Some years before, in a splenetic +mood, he had written some <i>bouts rimés</i>, which were +by no means complimentary to France. As, however, +this would hardly authorize a heavy punishment, he +was accused of being a spy, and of keeping up a correspondence +with foreign powers. In consequence of +this he was sent to the Bastile, in May 1702. He was +placed in a wretched chamber, dirty, gloomy, and +swarming with fleas, and his bed was overrun with +vermin of a more disgusting kind. He was nevertheless +tolerably well treated by his jailers till after +the escape of Count de Bucquoy, in which he was +supposed to have assisted. On this supposition he +was thrown into one of the worst dungeons of the +fortress, where he remained till life was nearly extinct. +He tells us that his only sustenance was bread and +water, and that his sleeping place was the bare ground, +where, without straw, or even a stone to lay his head +on, he lay stretched in the mire, and the slaver of +the toads. His situation when he was taken out was +pitiable. “My eyes,” says he, “were almost out of +my head, my nose was as large as a middling-sized +cucumber, more than half my teeth, which previously +were very good, had fallen out by scurvy, my mouth +was swelled, and entirely covered with an eruption, and +my bones came through my skin in more than twenty +places.” His captivity lasted for some years after +his removal from the dungeon, and as though he was +not again reduced to the same degree of misery, he +was treated with much harshness. He bore his misfortune +with courage, and solaced his lonely hours +by reading and composition. His pen was a small +bone, his ink was lampblack mixed with wine, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">[296]</span>he wrote between the lines, and on the margins, of +books which he had concealed. Under these disadvantages, +he composed several works of considerable +length. Among these works was a “Treatise +on the Duties of a faithful Christian.” They were +taken away from him by his persecutors, and he deeply +regretted the loss of them. After having been confined +for eleven years, he was set at liberty; but was +ordered to quit France for ever. It would have been +strange had he wished to remain there. De Renneville +sought an asylum in England, where George I. +gave him a pension; and in 1715 he published his +“French Inquisition, or the History of the Bastile,” +which went through three or four editions, and was +translated into various languages. It was probably at +the instigation of those who were branded in this book, +that he was attacked in the street by three cut-throats, +whom, however, he bravely repulsed. De Renneville +was living in 1724; but the time and place of his +decease are not known. Among his works is a Collection +of Voyages for the establishment, &c., of the +Dutch East India Company.</p> + +<p>The next prisoner comes before us wrapped in such +a mysterious cloud, that he scarcely seems to wear the +aspect of a being of this world. His birth, his name, +his country, his crime, are all unknown; all that we +really know of him is, that he was long a captive, and +that he died. It cannot be necessary to say, that the +problematical individual alluded to is the personage +who is distinguished by the appellation of “The Man +with the Iron Mask.”</p> + +<p>There appears to have been in France, during the +first forty years of the 18th century, a sort of indistinct +tradition respecting a masked prisoner, who had +been in various state prisons. It was not, however, +till 1745 that any attempt was made to lift the veil +which covered the subject. In that year came out +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">[297]</span>“Mémoires secrets pour servir à l’histoire de Perse,” +in which French characters were described under +oriental names. In these memoirs, which have been +ascribed to several writers, among whom is Voltaire, +some particulars are given relative to the masked man, +and he is asserted to have been the Count de Vermandois, +natural son of Louis XIV., confined by his +father for having struck the dauphin.</p> + +<p>The Memoirs gave rise to a controversy, and to an +extravagant romance by the Chevalier de Mouhy; +but nothing definite was brought forward till 1751, +when Voltaire published, under a feigned name, the +first edition of his “Age of Louis XIV.” Here he +threw a ray of light on a part of the question, leaving, +however, the rest in as much darkness as ever.</p> + +<p>“Some months after the decease of this minister +(Mazarin) there happened,” says he, “an event which +has no parallel, and what is no less singular is, that +all the historians have been ignorant of it. There was +sent, with the utmost secrecy, to the castle of the isle of +St. Margaret, on the coast of Provence, an unknown +prisoner, above the common stature, young, and of a +most handsome and noble figure. During the journey, +this prisoner wore a mask, the lower half of which +had steel springs, which allowed him to eat while the +mask was on his face. Orders were given to kill him +if he uncovered himself. He remained in the isle till +a confidential officer, of the name of St. Marc, governor +of Pignerol, having been made governor of the +Bastile in 1690, went to the isle of St. Margaret to +fetch him, and conducted him to the Bastile, always +masked. The Marquis de Louvois went to see him in +that isle before his removal, and spoke to him standing, +and with a deference which bordered on respect. +This unknown personage was taken to the Bastile, +where he was lodged as comfortably as it was possible +to be in that fortress. Nothing that he asked for was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">[298]</span>refused. His predominant taste was for linen of extreme +fineness, and for lace. He played on the guitar. +His table was profusely served, and the governor +rarely took a seat in his presence. An old physician of +the Bastile, who had often attended this singular man +when he was ill, said that he had never seen his face, +though he had frequently examined his tongue, and +the rest of his person. He was admirably made, +said this physician; his skin was rather brown; he +excited an interest by the mere tone of his voice, but +never complained of his situation, nor gave any +hint of who he was. This unknown individual died +in 1703, and was buried at night in the parish of St. +Paul’s.</p> + +<p>“What renders these circumstances doubly astonishing +is, that at the time when he was sent to the isle +of St. Margaret no eminent personage disappeared in +Europe. Yet that the prisoner was one is beyond all +doubt, for the following event took place during an +early period of his residence in the isle. The governor +himself put the dishes on the table, and then withdrew, +after having locked him in. The prisoner one +day wrote with his knife on a silver plate, and threw +the plate out of the window, towards a boat, which +was near the shore, almost at the foot of the tower. +A fisherman, to whom the boat belonged, picked up +the plate, and took it to the governor. Greatly astonished, +the latter asked the fisherman, ‘Have you +read what is written on this plate, or has anybody +seen you with it?’—‘I cannot read,’ replied the +fisherman, ‘I have only just found it, and nobody has +seen it,’ This countryman was detained till the governor +was thoroughly convinced that he could not +read, and that no one had seen the plate. ‘You may +go now,’ said he, ‘and think yourself lucky that you +know not how to read.’ Of the persons who had a direct +knowledge of this fact there is one, of undoubted veracity, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">[299]</span>who is still living. M. de Chamillart was the last minister +who was intrusted with this strange secret. The second +Marshal de Feuillade, his son-in-law, told me that, +when his father-in-law was on his death-bed, he begged +him on his knees to tell him who was the man who +was never known by any other name than that of the +man with the iron mask. Chamillart replied that it +was a state secret, and that he had taken an oath never +to reveal it. There are, besides, others of my contemporaries +who can testify to my statement, and I +know no fact which is more extraordinary or more +firmly established.”</p> + +<p>At a later period, Voltaire, in the “Philosophical +Dictionary,” corrected some trifling errors which he +had made in his account of the masked prisoner. He +states that the captive was first confined at Pignerol, +whence he was removed to the isle of St. Margaret, +and that, a few days before his death, he said that he +believed himself to be about sixty. Voltaire then +controverts various guesses which had been hazarded +as to the name of the individual, and then +adds, that the concealment of his face must have been +occasioned by “the fear that a too striking resemblance +might be recognised in his features.” In conclusion, +he hints, that he is well informed on the +subject, but that he will not communicate his knowledge. +It would seem, however, that, after the lapse +of a few years, he changed his mind,—for, in another +edition of the Dictionary, there was inserted an article, +ostensibly by the editor, but which is generally supposed +to be written by Voltaire himself. It is there +roundly asserted that the masked captive was an elder +brother of Louis XIV., illegitimate, and brought up +in secrecy, whom for obvious reasons of state the +reigning monarch was obliged to hold in durance. In +the original account by Voltaire, his pointed mention +of the prisoner’s fondness for fine linen and lace, which +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">[300]</span>was also characteristic of Anne of Austria, appears to +indicate that he believed her to be the mother of the +mysterious individual.</p> + +<p>There is in the human mind a restless longing, and +perpetual struggle, to penetrate into every thing that +is shrouded in mystery. Ever since the man with the +iron mask was first mentioned, he has been a subject +of inquiry and controversy; dissertations and volumes +innumerable have been written to dispel the Egyptian +darkness which surrounds him. With the exception +perhaps of Junius, there is probably no personage who +has been the cause of so many books and theories; +and in both cases no approach to certainty has been +made. It is not improbable that Junius may yet be +unveiled; but, with respect to the masked captive, so +long a time has gone by, so much care was taken after +his decease to destroy all traces of his existence, and +it is so likely that the remaining documents, if any +there were, perished during the French revolution, +that there is not a chance of the world being enabled +to say, “<i>This</i> is certainly the man.”</p> + +<p>At least twelve or thirteen candidates have been +brought forward for the melancholy honour of being +the personage in question. Two of them are English—the +Duke of Monmouth and Henry Cromwell. Of +the latter it is only necessary to state that he lived a +quiet country life after the restoration, and died in +Huntingdonshire in 1679. The Duke of Monmouth +is supposed, by M. de St. Foix, to have found some +one obliging enough to mount the scaffold in his stead, +and to have been sent to France, to be kept in safe +custody. This ineffably absurd theory is demolished +by the fact, that, when Monmouth was executed, the +man with the mask had been for twenty years in prison. +Equally baseless is the system of the Chevalier +de Taulès, who made a claim for Ardewicks, the patriarch +of the Armenians at Constantinople, who was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">[301]</span>kidnapped, taken to France, and lodged in the Bastile +by the Jesuits, to whom he had given offence. But +Ardewicks was not carried off till 1699 or 1700, and +he is known to have embraced catholicism, recovered +his liberty, and died at Paris. A recent French writer, +of very considerable talent and research, has revived +the idea that Fouquet was the prisoner, and has supported +his argument with great skill; but it is impossible +to reconcile his supposition with the story told by +Voltaire. With respect to Fouquet the precautions +and deference, which Voltaire mentions, would not +have been deemed necessary. We have seen that the +author of the “Secret Memoirs on Persia” asserts the +Count of Vermandois to have been the unknown captive. +Voltaire contemptuously denies the truth of this +assertion; which is, indeed, sufficiently refuted by the +well-ascertained fact, that the count died, of small-pox, at +the army in Flanders, in 1683, and was buried at Arras; +his death was notorious to numbers of persons. The +Duke of Beaufort has been invested with the mask on +no better authority. There can be no doubt that he +was slain, in a sally, at the siege of Candia, in 1669. +But, say those who adopt him as their hero, his body +was never found. It certainly was not recognised; +and for this plain reason, that the Turks stripped it, +and cut off the head. The next asserted owner of the +mask is backed by no less than four champions, Dutens, +Roux-Fazillac, Delort, and the late Lord Dover, and +his cause has been ably supported by them all. The +claimant for whom they contend is Matthioli, secretary +of the Duke of Mantua, who, for having outwitted +Louis in a negotiation respecting the cession of Casal, +was seized by order of the monarch, and imprisoned +at Pignerol and other places. There are, however, +circumstances which seem decisive against his being +the man with the iron mask. It will perhaps suffice +to mention that, instead of meeting with respect +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">[302]</span>and indulgence, he was treated with the utmost harshness, +and even cruelty. It has been argued, as a presumption +on his side, that his name bears a resemblance +to that of Marchiali, under which the unknown captive +was buried. The resemblance, I think, is not a whit +closer than that which Fluellin so ingeniously discovers +between Macedon and Monmouth, and is a sorry basis +on which to build an argument. Another supposition +gives the mask to Don John de Gonzaga, a natural +brother of the Duke of Mantua, who is imagined to +have accompanied Matthioli in disguise to the conference +at which he was seized. This supposition is +rendered untenable, by irrefragable proof that Matthioli +was alone.</p> + +<p>We have now arrived at the only remaining name +which has been mentioned as that of the mysterious +prisoner. Voltaire, as we have seen, affirms that he +was a son of Anne of Austria. This assertion seems +to receive support from the language which is said to +have been held by Louis XV. Laborde, the head +valet-de-chambre of that monarch, who enjoyed much +of his confidence, once endeavoured to obtain from +him the long-concealed secret. He did not succeed. +“I pity him,” replied the king, “but his detention was +injurious only to himself, and <i>averted great misfortunes</i>. +Thou must not know the secret.” It is manifest +that such a speech could not be made with reference +to any of the persons who have been enumerated. +It is equally manifest that, as Voltaire has intimated, +the mask could have been worn for no other purpose +than to prevent a striking likeness from being +recognised.</p> + +<p>Various conjectures have been made as to the paternity +of the unknown child, to which Anne of Austria +is thought to have given birth. By some the +Duke of Buckingham has been assigned as its father, +others have attributed it to a French nobleman; some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">[303]</span>have imagined that it was the fruit of a legitimate union +with Cardinal Mazarin, a kind of union which, however, +could not take place; and others, with more tenderness +for the character of the queen, have represented +it to be a twin brother of Louis XIV. The theory of +his royal birth may, perhaps, be as erroneous as all the +rest; but it appears to me to be the only one by which +we can account for the close and perpetual imprisonment, +the pains taken to confine the secret to as few +persons as possible, the carefully concealed features, +and the respect and indulgence which are asserted to +have been uniformly shown to the unfortunate captive⁠<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>.</p> + +<p>We must now turn our attention from the victim of +state policy to some of the victims of religious persecution.</p> + +<p>To enumerate all whom Jansenism led to the Bastile +would be a tedious labour, and no less uninteresting +than tedious, as little more than a dry list of names +would be the result. Among the Jansenists who +towards the close of Louis XIV.’s reign were sent to +the Bastile, we find Tiron, a Benedictine, who was +prior of Meulan; Germain Veillant, an author; and +Lebrun-Desmarets, a man of much theological erudition. +Tiron was committed “for different writings, on +matters of religion and state, and against the king and +the Jesuits.” The coupling together of the king and +the disciples of Loyola, as though they were coequal +powers, is a striking proof of the vast influence which +the Society of Jesus had acquired. Veillant’s offence +was his being “a violent Jansenist, in connexion with +Father Quesnel, and having got his works printed, and +managed his affairs at Paris.” He was examined +eighty-nine times, and was probably treated with more +than common harshness, for he fell ill on the day +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">[304]</span>that he was released, and died in the course of a few +days.</p> + +<p>Lebrun-Desmarets, a native of Rouen, who entered +the Bastile in 1707, two years previous to the destruction +of Port-Royal monastery, was of a family which +was strongly attached to that persecuted establishment. +His father, a bookseller of Rouen, was condemned +to the galleys, for having printed books in +vindication of it. The son was partly educated in the +convent, and never ceased to regard its inmates with +affection and reverence. In 1707, when they were +involved in a harassing lawsuit by their enemies, +Lebrun espoused their cause so ardently that he was +imprisoned. He was held in durance for five years, +and was treated with great severity. After he recovered +his liberty, he took up his abode at Orleans, +where he died, in 1731, at the age of eighty. On +Palm Sunday, the day before his death, fearing that a +priest would refuse to administer the sacrament to him, +he dragged his enfeebled frame to the church, that he +might not quit the world without the consolation of +having participated in the rites of religion. Lebrun’s +principal work is a “Liturgical Journey in France,” in +which he gives an account of the most remarkable customs +and ceremonies of the various churches.</p> + +<p>We now revert once more to prisoners whose sins +were political. Count John Albert de Bucquoy, the +next individual who comes under our notice, was of +the family of the celebrated Spanish and Imperial general, +who bore the same name and title. He was a +native of Champagne, in which province he was born +about 1650. A line in Dryden’s severe description of +Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, will partly characterize +Bucquoy; he</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“Was every thing by starts, and nothing long.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class="noindent">The circumstances of his having been left an orphan +at the age of four years, and having received a very +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">[305]</span>imperfect education, may, perhaps, account for some +of his eccentricities. He embraced the military life; +but when he had served for five years, an escape from +danger, which he considered as miraculous, induced +him to make a vow to withdraw from all worldly pursuits. +The rules of the Carthusian monks not being +strict enough to satisfy him, he entered at La Trappe, +where he so much injured his health by supererogatory +austerities that the Abbé de Rancé, the superior +of the convent, was obliged to dismiss him. Bucquoy +then abruptly resumed his warlike attire; but soon +after, with equal abruptness, again cast it off, to dress +himself in rags, and become a hermit. Flying from +the temptations of Paris, he next settled at Rouen, +where, under the name of La Mort, he for two years +kept a school, to give gratuitous instruction to the +poor. The Jesuits of that city admired his talents +and his humble demeanour, and fruitlessly endeavoured +to enrol him in their fraternity. Having been accidentally +recognised by a person who had been a brother +officer, he could no longer preserve his incognito, +and he therefore quitted Rouen, and bent his way to +Paris. There he formed the plan of founding a new +monastic order, destined to prove to unbelievers the +truth of the Christian religion. It appears to have +been about this time that he assumed the garb and +title of an abbé. But while he was thus planning +the demolition of incredulity, he so bewildered himself +in his theological speculations and reasonings, that +he became a sceptic. One thing which contributed +much to produce the change in him was, that, notwithstanding +his self-inflicted severities, he had failed +to obtain the power of working miracles. This alone +would suffice to prove that his intellects were disordered. +At this period, his relatives, who had long +believed him dead, were made acquainted with his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">[306]</span>being in existence, and they procured for him a benefice. +Bucquoy, however, had got rid of his religious +schemes, and had relapsed into a taste for the profession +of a soldier. His wish was now to raise a regiment. +But while he was indulging this new freak, he +attracted the attention of the government by his invectives +against despotism and the abuse of power. +He was mistaken for the Abbé de la Bourlie, who +afterwards became notorious in England under the +name of Guiscard, and was arrested. When the +mistake was discovered, he would have been set free, +had not his indiscreet language and conduct caused him +to be detained. He was committed to Fort-l’Evêque, +from whence, however, he contrived to escape. After +having been at large for a considerable time, he was +caught and shut up in the Bastile, with a strict charge +to the keepers, that he should be closely watched, as +being an enterprising and dangerous person. The +officers of that prison were seldom slack in executing +such orders, yet, in spite of all their vigilance, Bucquoy +took his measures so skilfully, and carried them +into effect with so much secrecy, that, in May 1709, +after having been confined for two years, he left his +jailors in the lurch, and made good his retreat to Switzerland. +As soon as he was in safety, he began to negotiate +with the French ministers for his return to +France, and the restoration of his property. Failing +in this, he journeyed to Holland, and submitted to the +allies a project for converting France into a republic, +and annihilating arbitrary power. This scheme, too, +fell to the ground. It was, nevertheless, beneficial +to him, as it gained for him the friendship of General +Schulemburg, who, in 1714, introduced him, at Hanover, +to George I. The monarch was pleased with +his conversation, admitted him to his table, and gave +him a pension. Bucquoy lived to nearly the age of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">[307]</span>ninety. In his latter days, he wholly neglected his +dress, suffered his beard to grow, and might well have +been mistaken for a squalid mendicant.</p> + +<p>There was perhaps a spice of madness in Bucquoy, +which sufficiently accounts for his eccentric conduct. +For the faults, or rather crimes, of the personage who +now comes under our notice there was no such excuse. +Throughout the whole of his existence, which, like +that of Bucquoy, was protracted far beyond the period +usually allotted to man, the Marshal Duke of Richelieu +displayed as few virtues, and as many vices, as any +courtier on record. He had superficial talents, some +wit, polished manners, a handsome person, and much +bravery; and this is all that can be said for him. On +the other hand, he was wholly without honour, morals, +and religion; a supporter and adulator of despotism, a +political intriguer, who could stoop to use the basest +means for the accomplishment of his purposes, a reckless +duellist, and a systematic and heartless seducer; +he was, in fact, an impersonation of the profligacy and +corruption which distinguished the courts of the regent +Duke of Orleans and the fifteenth Louis.</p> + +<p>Richelieu, who, in his early years, was known as +the Duke of Fronsac, was born in 1696. He was a +seven months’ child, whom after his birth it was necessary +to keep in a box filled with cotton, and the +preservation of whose existence was long doubtful. +When his health was established, he was put under +able preceptors; but he derived little benefit from their +instructions, and he never could spell with tolerable +correctness. He acquired, however, those showy +graces which, undoubtedly, are an ornament to virtue, +but which, when the possessor has no virtue, +can captivate only persons of frivolous minds. He +was introduced to the court at the early age of fourteen, +and soon, as St. Simon tells us, became its darling. +The female portion of it was in raptures with him, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">[308]</span>and seems to have expressed its feelings without any +regard to decorum. Fronsac, whose passions were +uncommonly precocious, met the forward with equal +ardour, and spared no pains to ensnare the few who +were more timid or more modest. He went to such a +length that censure began to fall heavily on the +Duchess of Burgundy, and his own father deemed it +prudent to request a lettre-de-cachet against him, +under which he was for fourteen months confined in +the Bastile. During his seclusion, Fronsac was attended +by a preceptor; and he consequently came out +of prison with some knowledge of Latin, and some +addition to his scanty stock of useful information; but, +as far as concerned dignity of mind and purity of +heart, no improvement whatever had taken place.</p> + +<p>The licentious career of Richelieu was suspended +for a while, by his serving as a volunteer in the army. +He was present at the battle of Denain, and at the +sieges of the fortresses which were recovered by +Villars in consequence of his victory; and he distinguished +himself so much, that he was made aide-de-camp +to the marshal, and was chosen by him to convey +to Paris the news of the surrender of Friburg. In 1715, +he succeeded to the title of Richelieu. On this occasion +he performed an action which merits praise; the property +which was available for the debts of his father +was far from sufficient to cover them, he generously +paid to the creditors the full amount of their claims.</p> + +<p>Again all the faculties of Richelieu were devoted +to licentious pleasures, which were now and then interrupted +by a duel. In 1716 he had a desperate +encounter with the Count de Gacé, for which the +regent committed both parties to the Bastile, where +they remained from March till August. This imprisonment +was, however, less severe than that which he +had to endure two years afterwards. In the spring +of 1719, he was sent, for the third time, to the Bastile, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">[309]</span>but, in this instance, he went with the brand of traitor +upon him, and was treated accordingly. He was concerned +in the Cellamare conspiracy, and had promised +to deliver up Bayonne to the Spaniards, and to join in +exciting the south of France to revolt. “If the Duke +of Richelieu had four heads,” said the regent, “I have +proof enough against him to deprive him of them all.” +On his first arrival at the Bastile, the duke was placed +in a dungeon; but female influence soon obtained his +removal to more comfortable quarters, and permission +for him to walk daily on the ramparts of the fortress. +His walks gave rise to an occurrence, which speaks +volumes as to the unblushing depravity of the high-born +dames of France. During the hour that he was +walking, a string of elegant carriages, filled with women +who notoriously were or had been his mistresses, +passed slowly backward and forward in front of the +spot where he was, and an intercourse of signs was +kept up between the prisoner and these unscrupulous +ladies. It was by the intercession of two princesses, +who were enamoured of him, that his release was obtained, +after he had suffered a captivity of five months.</p> + +<p>The danger to which Richelieu had been exposed +on this occasion, though it did not render him less +vicious, rendered him, at least in one respect, more +prudent; he did not again put his head in the way of +being brought to the block. Thenceforward he limited +his political intrigues, in France, to acquiring benefits +for himself, circumventing his rivals, providing mistresses +for the king, and making those mistresses the +instruments of his designs; and by these arts he became +a thriving courtier. Honours of all kinds, military +and civil, were showered upon him. At the age +of twenty-four, without any literary pretensions whatever, +he was unanimously chosen a member of the +French Academy; and, in 1734, he was nominated an +honorary member of the Academy of Inscriptions and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">[310]</span>Belles Lettres. In the army he rose to the rank of +marshal; but his titles as a soldier were not unearned. +At Kehl, Philipsburg, Dettingen, Friburg, Fontenoy, +Laufeldt, Genoa, and Minorca, they were fairly won. +In his last campaign, however, that of Hanover, in +1757, he sullied his laurels by the most infamous conduct. +His rapacity and extortion were a scorpion +scourge to the country which France had subdued; +and, as though he feared that his own endless exactions +would not suffice to make him hated, he allowed, +if not encouraged, his troops to be guilty of marauding, +and of various other enormities. The subsequent +defeats of the French army were the righteous result +of these dishonourable proceedings. As a negotiator, +Richelieu manifested considerable skill. He was twice +employed in that capacity; at Vienna, from 1725 to +1729, and at Dresden, in 1746. In both instances +he fully accomplished the purpose of his mission, and +in both he displayed a degree of ostentatious magnificence +which had seldom been equalled. When he +entered Vienna, his train consisted of seventy-five carriages; +and his horses, and those of his officers, were +shod with silver, the shoes being slightly fastened, that +they might fall off and be left for the populace. In +the state employments which he held, there appears to +have been but a solitary instance in which he was entitled +to praise. As lieutenant-general of the king in +Languedoc, he once deviated into the right path; by a +judicious mixture of firmness and mildness, he averted +the disturbances which were about to arise from the +persecution of the protestants. But it was not in his +nature to be permanently good. At a later period, +his harshness, in the same country, was rewarded by +his being appointed governor of Guienne and Gascony; +and his pride and tyranny very soon rendered +him an object of detestation in both of these provinces. +At court, his influence and his example had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">[311]</span>a baneful effect. He for more than a quarter of a +century possessed the friendship of Louis XV., and he +foully abused it; he pandered to the monarch’s lusts, +and strained every nerve, with too much success, to +prevent the misguided sovereign from carrying into +effect his occasional resolves, to lead in future a life +more suitable to his years, and to the lofty station +which he filled. He was the Mephistopheles of his +royal master.</p> + +<p>Richelieu was so fortunate as not to be exposed to +the revolutionary tempest; his disgraceful career was +brought to a close in August, 1788, when he had attained +the age of ninety-two.</p> + +<p>Of prisoners less known, or less important, during +the period to which this chapter refers, it will suffice to +give a scanty specimen. Religious intolerance contributed +largely to people the jails. To enumerate all +who expiated in dungeons the crime of being protestants, +would be an endless task; in 1686 a hundred +and forty-seven persons, and in 1689 sixty-one, were +sent to the Bastile alone, almost all of whom were +hugonots. To unite in marriage the members of that +proscribed class was a heinous offence; a priest, named +John de Pardieu, was doomed to the Bastile for committing +it. Whole families were immured for endeavouring +to leave the kingdom. Some of the victims +were driven to despair by the manner in which they +were treated. Such was the case with the Sieur Braconneau, +who, as the register specifies, was “imprisoned +on account of religion, and died of a wound +which he gave to himself with a knife.” The protestants +were, however, not the sole sufferers; the Jansenists, +too, came in for an ample share of persecution.</p> + +<p>Real or pretended plots and evil speaking against the +king were another fruitful source of commitments. The +following are a few instances: Don Thomas Crisafi “suspected +of intrigues with the Spanish ambassador against +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">[312]</span>the interests of the king.” Joseph Jurin, a footman, +for having said, “Who can prevent me from killing the +king?” The Sieur Beranger de Berliere, “for a plot +against the king’s person.” The Count de Morlot, +accused of “detestable purposes against the king’s +life.” Desvallons, “for speaking insolently of the +king.” Laurence Lemierre, shoemaker, and his wife, +for dangerous discourse about the king; and Francis +Brindjoug for the same offence. The Sieur Cardel, +“for important reasons, regarding the safety of the +king’s person.” Jonas de Lamas, a baker, “for execrations +against the king.” This man was twenty +years in the Bastile, and was then removed to the +Bicêtre. The Sieur de la Perche, a fencing-master, +accused of having said that “the king oppressed his +subjects, and thought only of amusing himself with his +old woman; that he would soon be a king of beggars; +that his officers were starving; that he had ruined the +kingdom by driving away the hugonots; and that he +cared not a pin for his people.” The last article of +the Sieur de la Perche’s charge against the sovereign +was made in language which is too vulgar to be translated.</p> + +<p>Under the head of miscellaneous offences may be +mentioned the following: Pierre His, “for having +assisted several persons to go clandestinely to +America.” Those persons were probably hugonots. +The Sieur Marini, envoy from Genoa. This commitment, +for which no reason is assigned, took place in +1684, the year in which Louis XIV. made his disgraceful +attack on Genoa. Besnoit, called Arnonville, +“an evil-minded woman, who held improper discourse.” +Charles Combon, called Count de Longueval, +“a maker of horoscopes, a fortune-teller, and +vender of drugs to procure abortion.” The Abbé +Dubois, “a wicked and troublesome person.” Papillard, +“a bad catholic.” Saint Vigor, “affecting to be +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">[313]</span>a hermit, but a man of licentious manners.” John +Blondeau, a hermit, “a suspected person.” Peter +John Mere, professing himself a physician, “for selling +improper drugs.” After having been thirty years in +the Bastile, Mere was sent to the Bedlam at Charenton. +Bailly, a hatter, “for a design to establish a +hat manufactory in a foreign country.” Louisa Simon, +a widow, “pretends to tell fortunes, to have secrets +for inspiring love, and to be able to make marriages.” +John Galembert, of the gens-d’armes, “a great traveller, +suspected of corresponding with the enemies of +the state.” He was subsequently exiled to Languedoc, +his native province, within the limits of which he was +ordered to remain. The Prince de Riccia, “one of +the party at Naples that is against the French succession.” +Nicholas Buissen, “for insolent letters against +Samuel Bernard (the court banker), with an intention +to hurt his credit.” The Sieur de Soulange, formerly +a captain of infantry in the Orleannois regiment, +“a rogue, and spy on both sides.”</p> + +<p>It will be seen that, in some of those instances, the +individuals deserved legal punishment; that, in others, +the charges were trivial, or vague, or ridiculous; and +that in at least one case the French monarch displayed +gross contempt of the law of nations. His imprisonment +of Marini, the Genoese envoy, can only be +paralleled by the manner in which the Turks used to +treat Christian ambassadors on the breaking out of +hostilities. But it was of a piece with the rest of his +conduct towards the Genoese republic. It was retributive +justice that he, the wanton disturber and insulter +of Europe, should himself live to have his pride trodden +into the dust, and to dread the approach of a hostile +army to the walls of his own capital.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">[314]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Louis XV.—Regency of the Duke of Orleans—Oppressive +measures against all persons connected with the Finances—Their +failure—Prisoners in the Bastile—Freret—Voltaire—The +Cellamare conspiracy—The Duchess of Maine—Madame de +Staal—Malezieu—Bargeton—Mahudel—The Mississippi +scheme—Count de Horn—Death of the Regent—Administration +of the Duke of Bourbon—La Blanc—Paris Duverney—The +Count de Belleisle—The Chevalier de Belleisle—Madame +de Tencin.</p> + +</div> + +<p>When the Duke of Orleans assumed the regency, +the finances of the kingdom were in a lamentable +state. The protracted and expensive wars into which +Louis XIV. had wantonly plunged, the boundless extravagance +in which he had indulged, and the peculations, +and wasteful expenditure of every kind, which +had so long prevailed, had not only drained the treasury, +but had also caused a heavy load of debt, and +almost dried up the sources of supply. The government +was indebted to an enormous amount, the revenue +of three years had been anticipated, and public credit +was destroyed. From all quarters a loud cry was +raised for fiscal reform. A national bankruptcy was +proposed in the council, but the proposal was unanimously +rejected. The means which were adopted in +its stead were, however, scarcely less unjust; they +were the same clumsy and violent means which former +rulers had almost uniformly employed. Contracts, +entered into by the ministers of the late king, were +capriciously annulled, annuities and pensions were cut +down to one half, offices, which the holders had bought +at a great price, were abolished without any compensation +being given, a new coinage was issued at a higher +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">[315]</span>nominal value, and government securities, to the +amount of six hundred millions, were at one stroke +reduced to two hundred and fifty millions, and even +of this diminished sum the creditors were defrauded of +more than a fifth part. But the grand panacea, for +restoring the consumptive exchequer to its pristine +vigour, was the establishment of a court, antithetically +denominated a chamber of justice. This chamber was +directed to institute a rigorous inquiry into the conduct +of all persons who had any connection with the +finances, or with contracts of any kind, and compel +them to disgorge their spoil. A sweeping edict +brought under the jurisdiction of this inquisitorial body +several thousands of individuals, from the richest +farmer-general, or contractor, down to the poorest +clerk. “The custom,” says Lemontey, “of drawing +back by proscriptions the rapines which a vicious administration +has tolerated, is an Asiatic art which ill +beseems regular governments. But, condemned to a +financial anarchy by its squandering habits, France, for +a long while, could find no other than this odious remedy.” +The remedy was indeed an odious one! The +retrospective operation of this edict extended as far +back as seven-and-twenty years; so that it clutched in +its iron grasp not only living presumed criminals, but +the children, grandchildren, and relations of those who +had ceased to exist, and thus at once inflicted torment +on a multitude of guiltless victims, and shook property +to its very basis. The means employed to give effect +to the edict were of the most base and barbarous kind. +Death was the penalty denounced against all who were +convicted, whoever made an incorrect declaration of +his fortune was doomed to the galleys, and, that there +might be no lack of evidence, the pillory was held up +<i>in terrorem</i> to negligent witnesses. But, bad as all +this was, there was something still worse. Informers +were to be rewarded with a fifth part of the confiscations, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">[316]</span>and to receive a certificate, stating that they +were under the king’s protection, and exempt from +being sued by their creditors; to slander them was +rendered punishable with death. By another enactment, +servants were allowed to denounce their masters, +under fictitious names; a happy invention for destroying +all domestic confidence! To excite the people, +already sufficiently excited, a medal was struck, on +which the culprits were typified by the robber Cacus, +horrible songs and prints were circulated, and it was +ordered that a portion of the confiscated property +should be distributed among the inhabitants of the +place where the condemned individual resided. The +whole scheme of proceeding was consistently infamous; +it never deviated into anything like justice.</p> + +<p>To prevent the escape of those who were marked +out for prosecution, an order was suddenly issued, forbidding +them to leave their abodes on pain of death. +Such, however, was the terror inspired by this unexpected +measure that many took flight, and others put +an end to their own existence. Of those who remained, +multitudes were dragged from their homes in +the most studiously disgraceful manner, amidst the +hootings of the populace, who lent their willing aid to +the officers of police. The Bastile and the other prisons +were speedily so crowded, that numbers were +obliged to be left in their houses under a guard. For +six months the chamber proceeded in its career, purveying +liberally for the pillory, the galleys, and the +scaffold. It was at last discovered, that this was a +tedious and unsatisfactory process; that though revenge +and malice were gratified, there was little profit; +and the system was in consequence changed. To +levy enormous fines and impositions was the new course +which was adopted. Twenty lists of pecuniary proscription +were made out, containing the names of +4470 heads of families, from whom the sum of two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">[317]</span>hundred and twenty millions of livres—about nine +millions sterling—was demanded. The celebrated +Bourvalais, who had risen from being a footman to be +one of the richest financiers in France, was taxed at +4,400,000 livres. In many instances envy or personal +enmity contrived to have insufferable burthens +laid upon obnoxious individuals. Then, on the part of +the sufferers, ensued solicitations and bribes to men +and women in power, to procure more favourable +terms; the golden harvest was eagerly reaped by the +courtiers, and the court became a theatre of underhand +manœuvres and gross corruption. The people, meanwhile, +were rapidly growing disgusted with the chamber +of justice. They found that they had derived no +benefit whatever from its labours, the sums extorted +by it having chiefly been wasted in gifts and pensions to +the privileged classes. There was another and yet +stronger reason for their dissatisfaction. Trade, and the +demand for labour, had fallen off to an alarming degree, +and money was rapidly disappearing; for no one would +display riches, and indulge in luxuries, when his so +doing might render him an object of persecution. So +loud a cry was therefore raised against the chamber +that, after having been twelve months in existence, it +was suppressed. By the subsequent reversal of most +of its sentences, and by a declaration, that no measure +of a similar kind should again be resorted to, a severe +but just censure was in fact passed upon the defunct +tribunal, and upon the whole transaction.</p> + +<p>From tyranny in the gross we must now turn our +attention again to tyranny in the detail. Oriental +despotism, in its most capricious mood, could not have +inflicted punishment more ridiculously and unjustly +than the French government inflicted it upon the +celebrated Freret. This eminent individual, who was +born at Paris in 1688, was remarkable for his precocious +talents and multifarious learning. Chronology, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">[318]</span>geography, mythology, history, and the laws, customs, +and literature of ancient and modern nations, were all +thoroughly known to him, he was not ignorant of the +abstruse sciences, and his knowledge, instead of being +a chaotic mass, was well arranged, systematically +linked together, and readily available. An authoritative +tone, and some ruggedness of manner, were the +only defects imputed to him; but they were merely +superficial, and did not prevent him from being kind, +charitable, and a sincere and constant friend. He died +at the age of sixty-one, his constitution, which was +naturally strong, being worn out by incessant study. +The edition of his works, in twenty volumes, is incomplete. +Several irreligious productions have been +calumniously attributed to him.</p> + +<p>It was a “Memoir on the Origin of the French” which +was the cause of his being sent to the Bastile in 1705, +and the Abbé de Vertot is asserted to have been the +person to whom he owed his imprisonment. His +offence was, that the origin which he assigned to his +countrymen was an affront to the national dignity. +It is said that, after having been closely interrogated +at the Bastile, he begged leave to ask a single question, +“Why am I here?” To this the reply was, “You have +a great deal of curiosity.” When he was at length +released, one of the magistrates sneeringly said to him, +“Let France, and the French, and modern subjects, +alone; antiquity offers such a wide field for your +labours.” It is probable that no Turkish cadi, in the +fifteenth century, ever uttered a speech of such insolent +stupidity as is ascribed, three centuries later, to +this magistrate of a polished nation.</p> + +<p>Various as were the acquirements of Freret, there +was in the Bastile, and nearly contemporaneously with +him, a prisoner, who far transcended him on that +score, and who possessed a splendid genius. Poet, in +almost every style of poetry, dramatist, historian, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">[319]</span>novellist, essayist, philosopher, controversialist, and +commentator, the universal Voltaire was pre-eminent +in several departments of literature, and was below +mediocrity in none. “He was,” says a French author, +“one of our greatest poets; the most brilliant, the +most elegant, the most fertile, of our prose writers. +There is not, in the literature of any country, either in +verse or in prose, an author who has written on so +many opposite kinds of subjects, and has so constantly +displayed a superiority in all of them.” It has been +said that Voltaire is a superficial writer, but this assertion +is not borne out by the fact. On the contrary, it +is wonderful that so gay and witty and fertile a writer, +who was so much in the whirl of society as he was, +should have displayed such profound research, such a +vast command of materials, as Voltaire has undoubtedly +done.</p> + +<p>As a man, Voltaire could be a warm friend, and +was a champion of humanity, and a strenuous opponent +of intolerance, superstition, and oppression. From +our admiration of him a considerable drawback must, +however, be made, for the readiness with which he +lavished incense upon such worthless nobles as the +Duke of Richelieu; for the aristocratical feelings which +occasionally peep out even from among his liberal +opinions; for his duplicity in showering praises and professions +of kindness upon men whom he was at the +same moment devoting to ridicule; for his meanness +in stooping to falsehood, whenever he feared that +avowing the truth would expose him to inconvenience; +for his inflammable passions, which so often blinded +his reason; for the sleepless animosity with which he +strove to hunt down, disgrace, and crush whoever had +offended him; for his obscenity and nauseating indelicacy; +and for the fury with which he attacked objects +which, in all ages, wise and good men have held +sacred.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">[320]</span></p> + +<p>Voltaire, whose family name was Arouet, was +born, in 1694, at Chatenay, and received a thorough +education at the Jesuits’ College, in the French capital. +One of his tutors predicted that he would be the +Coryphæus of deism in France; and the society which +the youthful poet frequented, elegant, but immeasurably +licentious and irreligious, was not likely to falsify +the prediction. His father destined him for a place in +the magistracy, but the literary propensity of the son +was unconquerable. In his twenty-second year he +was sent to the Bastile, by the regent Duke of Orleans, +on an unfounded suspicion of his being the author of +a libel. It was while he was in prison that he formed +the plan of the Henriade, and completed the tragedy +of Œdipus. He was in the Bastile above a year +before the regent recognised his innocence, and set +him free. The regent desired to see him, and the +Marquis de Nocé was ordered to introduce him. While +they were waiting in the ante-chamber, a circumstance +occurred which strongly marks the profaneness and +indiscretion of Voltaire. A violent storm burst over +Paris, upon which the poet looked up at the clouds, +and exclaimed, “If it were a regent that governed +above, things could not be managed worse.” When +de Nocé presented him to the duke, he said, “Here, +your highness, is young Arouet, whom you have just +taken out of the Bastile, and whom you will send back +again,” and he then repeated what had been said. The +duke, however, did not send him back again; he +laughed heartily, and made the offender a liberal present. +“I thank your royal highness for taking care +of my board,” said Voltaire, “but I must request that +you will not again provide me with lodging.”</p> + +<p>Œdipus was represented in 1718, with complete +success. Two other tragedies, Artemise and Mariane, +by which it was succeeded, were less fortunate. The +Duke of Orleans was dead, and the reins of government +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">[321]</span>were now held by the Duke of Bourbon. Voltaire +having ventured to resent a dastardly insult +offered to him by the worthless Chevalier de Rohan-Chabot, +the chevalier thought it safer to imprison his +adversary than to meet him in the field. His friends +applied to the Duke of Bourbon, and raised his anger +by showing him an epigram which the poet had composed +on him. Their plan was successful; Voltaire +was committed to the Bastile, and remained there for +six months. This act of injustice induced him to take +up his residence in England. In this country he lived +for three years, was flatteringly received by many +illustrious characters, and obtained a splendid subscription +for the Henriade. The produce of this +subscription formed the basis of that large fortune +which he subsequently obtained by various lucky +speculations. In 1728 he returned to his native land, +and, between that year and 1749, he produced his +tragedies of Zara, Alzira, Mahomet, and Merope, and +many other works, was admitted into the French Academy, +and was appointed gentleman in ordinary of the +king’s bed-chamber, and historiographer of France.</p> + +<p>In 1750 Voltaire accepted an invitation to Berlin, +which was given to him by the king of Prussia. For +a while the sovereign and the poet were on the most +amicable terms; but, in 1753, their friendship was +broken, and Voltaire quitted the Prussian dominions +in disgust. Paris, in consequence of the intrigues of +his enemies, being no longer an eligible abode for him, +he lived for short periods at Geneva and other places, +and at length purchased an estate at Ferney, in the +Pays de Gex, on which he finally settled. There, in +possession of an ample fortune, and surrounded by +friends, he gave free scope to his indefatigable pen. +In April, 1778, he went once more to Paris, after an +absence of nearly thirty years. He was received with +almost a frenzy of enthusiasm, his bust was crowned +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">[322]</span>on the stage, and was placed by the academicians +next to that of Corneille. These honours, however, +he did not long enjoy, for he expired on the 30th of +May; his death is supposed to have been hastened +by an over-dose of laudanum, which he took to calm +the pain occasioned by strangury, and to procure sleep, +of which he had long been deprived. In the edition +of Beaumarchais, the collected works of Voltaire form +seventy volumes.</p> + +<p>By the detection of the Cellamare conspiracy, in +1718, a large accession of prisoners fell to the share +of the Bastile. Wounded female pride had the chief +share in getting up that conspiracy. The Duchess of +Maine was the prime mover. This princess, whose +small frame was animated by a high and restless spirit, +had seen her family degraded in a manner which it was +not unnatural that she should violently resent. By +an edict, dated in 1710, Louis XIV. not only granted +to the Duke of Maine, and his other legitimated children, +the same rank and honours which were enjoyed +by princes of the blood, but also declared them capable +of inheriting the crown, on failure of descendants +in the legitimate branches. This step was highly +offensive to the French peers, and was opposed by the +parliament; but, while the king lived, resistance was +unavailing. But the scene was about to change. +Though Louis had reinforced his decree by a declaration +in 1714, and by a clause in his testament, his +death soon afforded another proof of the little respect +that is paid to a deceased despot. The will, as every +one knows, was set aside, without a voice being heard +in support of it. In 1717, at the instance of the Duke +of Bourbon, and the peers, the council of regency +deprived the legitimated princes of all the privileges of +princes of the blood, with the exception of a seat in +the parliament. It was in vain that the Duchess of +Maine and her partisans moved heaven and earth to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">[323]</span>avert this blow; all their writings, speeches, and +manœuvres, were entirely thrown away. It must, +however, be owned, that the duchess displayed wonderful +talent and industry on this occasion; while the +struggle continued, she was constantly to be seen half +buried in a pile of dusty volumes, records, and other +documents, in which she sought arguments and examples +to support her cause. When the dreaded blow was +finally struck, her passion rose to the highest pitch. +“There is nothing left to me now,” exclaimed she to +her more patient husband, “but the shame of having +married you!” In the following year fresh fuel was +heaped upon the flame. The Duke of Maine was +reduced to take rank below all the peers, except those +who were created posterior to 1694, and was likewise +divested of the tutorship of the young king, which +was assumed by the Duke of Bourbon. This gave +rise to another outbreak of passion on the part of the +duchess, who, on receiving notice to give up to the +triumphant Bourbon the official apartments in the +Tuileries, broke the glasses, the china, and everything +which she had strength enough to destroy. Thus +stung to the quick, she resorted to conspiracy for +vengeance, and she speedily rallied round her a band +of subaltern intriguers and discontented politicians. +To expel the Duke of Orleans from the regency, and +place the government under the tutelage of Philip V. +of Spain, was the design of the plotters. The Spanish +monarch, who detested the Duke of Orleans, and +who, in spite of his renunciation, had still views on +the French crown, was by no means averse from forwarding +the scheme of the duchess. The correspondence +was carried on through the Prince de Cellamare, +the Spanish ambassador at Paris. The Duke of +Orleans was, however, not in the dark with respect to +these proceedings; they were betrayed to him by +some of the parties concerned; and, as soon as the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">[324]</span>proof was complete, the whole of the offenders were +arrested. The Duchess of Maine was sent to the +castle of Dijon, and allowed only one female servant +to attend her, the duke was closely confined in the +citadel of Dourlens; the Abbé Brigault, the Marquis +of Pompadour, the Count of Laval, the Chevalier +Menil, Malezieu, Mademoiselle de Launay, and many +more, found lodgings in the Bastile; and Vincennes +and other prisons received their share of captives. Of +de Launay and Malezieu some account shall be given; +the rest deserve no record.</p> + +<p>The Baroness de Staal, whose maiden name was +de Launay, was born at Paris, in 1693. Her father +was a painter, who was compelled to retire to England +before her birth; her mother, who seems not to have +been overburdened with maternal feelings, found with +her infant a retreat in a convent at Rouen. Even in +infancy, De Launay manifested the dawning of a very +superior intellect, and her manners were so fascinating +that she became the darling of the convent. She had +an extreme longing for knowledge, her questions were +incessant, and, as all the nuns were eager to gratify +and improve her, she soon acquired a larger and more +valuable stock of ideas than falls to the lot of children +in general. Among her friends in the convent was +Madame de Grieu, who, on being nominated prioress +of St. Louis at Rouen, took the child with her to her +new abode. “The convent of St. Louis,” says Madame +de Staal, “was like a little state in which I +reigned sovereignly.” The abbess and her sister enjoyed +a small pension from their family, which they +devoted to the payment of masters for their favourite. +By the time that she was fourteen, De Launay had +studied the philosophy of Descartes, and pondered +over the speculations of Malebranche, and, not long +after, she turned her attention to the science of +geometry.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">[325]</span></p> + +<p>Her intellectual powers and her winning qualities +brought many admirers around her; among whom +were the Abbé de Vertot, M. Brunel, and M. Rey. +None of them, however, made any impression on her +heart. With respect to the passion of M. Rey, she +makes one of those quiet yet piquant remarks, which +are so common in her Memoirs. He was accustomed +to escort her back to the convent, when she had been +visiting some neighbouring friends. “We had to pass +through a large open space,” says she, “and at the +beginning of our acquaintance, he used to take his +way along the sides. I found now, that he crossed +over the middle of it; from which I concluded, that +his love was at least diminished in the proportion of +the difference between the diagonal and the two sides +of a square.” It was not long ere she ceased to be +able to speak of love in a sportive tone. She became +deeply enamoured of the Marquis de Silly, the brother +of a friend. He respected her, and acted the part of +a counsellor, and almost a brother, but he could not +return her affection: and the unfortunate fair one has +touchingly described the sufferings she endured from +her idolatrous and hopeless passion. Years elapsed +before it was eradicated.</p> + +<p>This woe was aggravated by another. The death +of the prioress, Madame de Grieu, in 1710, obliged +her to quit the convent, and threw her without resources +on the world. She accompanied to Paris the +sister of her late patroness, and found a temporary +refuge in the Presentation convent. To the purses of +her friends she resolutely determined to make no +appeal, while her means of repayment were uncertain, +but rather to welcome servitude than forfeit her +self-estimation. Her finances and hopes were almost +at the lowest ebb, when the report of her astonishing +abilities reached the gay, frivolous, and volatile duchess +of La Ferté. The duchess was delighted with the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">[326]</span>idea of getting possession of, and exhibiting, what in +fashionable cant phrase is called “a lion.” She could +not rest till the new wonder was brought to her; an +event which was somewhat retarded by the necessity +under which Mademoiselle de Launay was placed, +of borrowing decent clothes to appear in. The duchess +was one of those persons who are apt to take sudden +and violent likings, and she instantly pronounced her +to be an absolute prodigy. She lauded her without +measure in all quarters, hurried her about from place +to place, and showed her off, much in the same way +that a remarkably clever monkey is managed by an +itinerant exhibitor of wild beasts. Madame de Staal +has given an account, which is at once ludicrous and +painful, of what she endured at this period. Fortunately +for her, she became acquainted with men of +talent, and acquired some valuable friends, among +whom were Fontenelle and Malazieu.</p> + +<p>Disappointed in her hopes of being received into +the household of the Duchess of La Ferté, or of obtaining +an establishment elsewhere through her means, +De Launay accepted an offer from the Duchess of +Maine, to whom she had been introduced. This defection, +as it was deemed, threw her late patroness +into a paroxysm of rage. Her new situation was an +unenviable one. She filled the place of a lady’s maid, +who had retired; her apartment was a wretched low +closet, in which it was impossible to move about in an +upright posture, and which had neither chimney nor +window; and her chief occupation was to make up +shifts, in which she confesses herself to have been so +inexpert, that, when the duchess came to put on some +of her handywork, she found in the arm what ought +to have been in the elbow. By the duchess, and all +the upper classes in the house, she was utterly neglected, +as a mere drudge; by those of her own class, +she was envied, hated, and persecuted, for her natural +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">[327]</span>superiority over them. Life at last became a burthen, +and there was a moment when she seriously meditated +the commission of suicide.</p> + +<p>A happy chance lifted her at once from this slough +of despond into her proper sphere. There was an +exceedingly beautiful female, named Testard, who laid +claim to supernatural powers; by desire of the Duke +of Orleans, Fontenelle had visited her, and, prejudiced +by her charms, is said to have manifested too +much faith in her. This folly of a philosopher, who +was not remarkable for believing too much, excited a +loud clamour. “You had better write to M. de Fontenelle, +to let him hear what every body is talking +against him about Testard,” said the duchess one day +to her despised attendant. De Launay did write; +and her letter, though brief, was such a finished composition, +such an admirable mixture of delicate reproof +and delicate praise, that, in the course of a few days, +innumerable copies of it were spread throughout Paris. +She, meanwhile, was unconscious of the effect which +she had produced, till she was apprised of it by the +duchess’s visitors, who overwhelmed her with compliments +and attentions.</p> + +<p>From this time Mademoiselle de Launay was looked +upon by the duchess as a person whose opinion was of +some consequence, and was admitted into her parties, +and enjoyed her confidence. She now shared with +Malezieu the task of supplying plans and verses for +the spectacles at Sceaux. Her literary connections +became more widely extended, and she had no lack of +lovers. Among those who paid the most devoted +homage to her, was the Abbé de Chaulieu; the +passion, as she herself hints, could have been only +platonic, for he was then verging on eighty, but she +owns that she had “a despotic authority over everything +in his house.” It must, however, be mentioned, +to her honour, that she displayed a rare disinterestedness, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">[328]</span>and steadily refused presents from him, which +would have tempted a woman of a common mind, +especially under De Launay’s circumstances. The +princely gift of a thousand pistoles, which the Abbé +offered, would have saved her from the slavery, endured +night after night, of reading a duchess to sleep, +while her own health was endangered by want of +rest.</p> + +<p>In the memorial which the Duchess of Maine drew +up in behalf of the legitimated princes, she was assisted +by De Launay. “I turned over,” says the latter, +“the old chronicles, and the ancient and modern jurisconsults, +till excessive fatigue disposed the princess to +rest. Then came my reading, to lull her to sleep; +and then I went to seek for slumber, which, however, +I never found!”</p> + +<p>In the proceedings of the duchess, with respect to +the Cellamare conspiracy, she was deeply implicated; +a part at least of the correspondence passed through +her hands. Her good sense anticipated, long before +the event, what would be the final result. The storm +burst at last. She was arrested on the 19th of December, +1718, and, three days after, was committed +to the Bastile. With a truly philosophical spirit, she +soon became reconciled to her fate. Luckily, she had +an invaluable companion in her maid Rondel, faithful, +affectionate, and acute, the very model of domestics. +But it must not be concealed, that she had another consolation, +to lighten her prison hours. She inspired two +persons with an ardent attachment. One of these was +a fellow prisoner, on the Cellamare score, the Chevalier +de Menil; the other was the king’s lieutenant in the +fortress, M. de Maisonrouge. Reason would have +chosen the latter as the proper object of fondness; but +her wayward heart decided in favour of the former. +No writer has ever imagined a more elevated, devoted, +self-sacrificing passion than that of Maisonrouge. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">[329]</span>lived and breathed but for her; ever watchful to forerun +all her wishes, having no delight but to behold +and converse with her, he had even the magnanimity +to convey her letters to Menil, and to bring about +interviews, when he found that her heart was irrevocably +bestowed on him. The catastrophe is painful. +The favoured Menil, who had solemnly pledged himself +to make her his wife, was no sooner set free than +he proved faithless to his vows. The noble-minded +and unfortunate Maisonrouge never recovered the +shock which he sustained from his loss; he died the +victim of his unrequited love.</p> + +<p>The confinement of Mademoiselle de Launay was +continued for two years; she was the last to be +liberated. Her imprisonment was protracted by her +repeated resolute refusals to confess anything that +could tend to derogate from the safety and character +of the Duchess of Maine. She persisted in this +course even after she had the duchess’s permission +to speak out, and she was released at last after having +made only an imperfect confession. This heroic conduct +gained, as it deserved, universal praise. It is +mortifying to relate that, after her sufferings, she was +received by the duchess without that warm greeting +which she had a right to expect. The duchess even +carried her indifference so far as to let her remain +almost in rags, all her clothes having been worn out in +the Bastile. Yet she would not hear of her quitting +Sceaux, and when Dacier, who was rich, would have +married De Launay, she frustrated the negotiation, in +the dread of losing her. At length, when her ill-used +and exhausted dependent was meditating to retire into +a convent, the duchess bestirred herself, and brought +about an union with the Baron de Staal, a half-pay +Swiss officer. The baroness was now admitted to +all the honours enjoyed by the highest ladies in the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">[330]</span>household, and from this period till her decease in +1750, she was comparatively happy.</p> + +<p>Nicholas de Malezieu, a native of Paris, was born +in 1650. Like Madame de Staal, he possessed much +talent, and, like her, he displayed it in childhood. By +the time that he was four years old he had, with +scarcely any assistance, taught himself to read and +write, and at twelve years of age had gone through a +complete course of philosophy. His merit gained for +him the friendship of Bossuet, and the Duke of +Montausier, and so highly did those eminent men rate +it, that they recommended him as tutor to the Duke +of Maine. Fenelon was subsequently added to the +list of his friends, and, notwithstanding the breach +between that amiable prelate and Bossuet, he retained +the good-will of both. He seems, too, to have lived +in harmony with all the principal contemporary authors. +The marriage of the Duke of Maine with the +high-spirited and intelligent grand-daughter of the +great Condé drew still closer the ties which bound +Malezieu to the family of the duke. His learning +embraced a wide circle, he was a proficient in mathematics, +elegant literature, Greek, and Hebrew, and his +extemporary translations from the Greek dramatists +and poets, and his illustrations and comments on them, +are said to have been delivered with a degree of eloquence +which excited universal admiration. The +duchess listened to his instructions with delight. It +is therefore not wonderful, that he acquired an almost +unbounded influence in the ducal palace. “The decisions +of M. Malezieu,” says Madame de Staal, “were +thought as infallible as were those of Pythagoras +among his disciples. The warmest disputes were at an +end the moment any one pronounced the words ‘<i>He</i> +said it.’” There was another reason which had, perhaps +no small effect in rendering him a favourite +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">[331]</span>with the duchess. He was not one of those stately +personages who think that it derogates from their dignity +to attend to graceful trifles. The duchess was +fond of giving magnificent spectacles and entertainments, +and having plays acted, at Sceaux, where she +held a sort of miniature court. Malezieu had the +management of them, and when verses, and sometimes +pieces, were wanted, his ready pen was called in to +supply them. From these light occupations he was +taken away for a time, to become mathematical preceptor +to the youthful Duke of Burgundy; in this +task he was for four years engaged, and he performed +it in a manner which enhanced his reputation. The +lessons which he gave to his royal pupil were afterwards +published, under the title of “Elements of Geometry.” +The days of Malezieu were spent in uninterrupted +tranquillity, till the period when the duchess rashly +plunged into intrigues with the Spanish court. It +was not unnatural that he should espouse warmly the +cause of his noble patrons, and he was perhaps led +to the verge of treason before he was aware. His +heaviest offence seems to have been his writing, at +the request of the Duchess of Maine, sketches of two +letters against the Duke of Orleans which were to be +sent to the Spanish monarch, for the purpose of being +addressed by him to Louis XV. and the parliaments. +Malezieu long persisted in denying the fact, and asserting +the innocence of his employer, and for this +persistency he was kept in the Bastile after the whole +of the plotters, with the exception of himself and De +Launay, had been discharged. It was not till he +knew that proof was in the hands of the government, +and the duchess had confessed, that he avowed the +authorship of the letters. He was then released, but +was exiled for six months to Etampes. His decease +took place in 1727.</p> + +<p>There remains yet another person who suffered by +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">[332]</span>the Cellamare conspiracy, though he was not one of +its agents. He had the fate of the unlucky stork in +the fable, who got into dangerous company. Bargeton, +one of the most celebrated advocates of the parliament +of Paris, was born, about 1675, at Uzès, in Languedoc. +If he was not of humble birth, his parents at +least were poor; for, before he had emerged from +obscurity, all relationship with him was disclaimed by +a Languedocian family which claimed to be noble. +When, however, his fortune and fame were established, +one of that family was anxious to prove his consanguinity +with the formerly despised advocate, and hoped +to flatter him, by descanting on the antiquity of their +common origin. Bargeton cut short the harangue of +his would-be kinsman. “As you are a gentleman by +birth,” said he, “it is impossible that we can be +relations.”</p> + +<p>Bargeton was the law adviser of some of the highest +personages of the kingdom. The duke and duchess +of Maine placed entire confidence in him. This circumstance +gave rise to suspicion that he was connected +with the Cellamare plot, and he was consequently +committed to the Bastile. In a short time +his innocence was recognized, and he was set at +liberty.</p> + +<p>The legal reputation of Bargeton, both as a +civilian and common lawyer, induced Machault, the +comptroller-general of finances, to apply to him, in +1749, for assistance. The clergy had hitherto contributed +to the wants of the state only by voluntary gifts; +and, of course, asserted the privilege of not being +compelled to contribute at all. Machault determined +to put an end to this pretended privilege, by subjecting +them, like the rest of the people, to the payment of +the twentieth. Had he succeeded, his success would +have put an end to one of the abuses which contributed +to produce the Revolution, and, most probably, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">[333]</span>would at length have caused the downfall of another +equally crying abuse with respect to the nobles. +Though Bargeton was thoroughly convinced that the +clergy had no right to an exemption from imposts, +yet, being aware that the firmness of Louis XV. was +not to be relied on, he advised Machault either to prohibit +the ecclesiastics from holding meetings, or to +decline a contest with them. “I have the king’s promise +to stand by me,” said Machault. “He will break +it,” replied the advocate, who, in this instance, proved +to be a prophet. Bargeton, nevertheless, lent his aid +to the comptroller-general, and wrote a series of admirable +letters, on the subject of the clerical immunity. +His labour was in vain. Unchangeable in nothing but +sensuality and despotism, the king yielded; the clergy +triumphed; and the letters of Bargeton were suppressed +by an order of council. The author did not live to +witness this event; he died early in 1753, before his +work had passed through the press.</p> + +<p>The suspicion of carrying on an improper correspondence +with Spain, though it does not appear that he +was connected with the Duchess of Maine’s party, gave +another prisoner to the Bastile. Nicholas Mahudel, +who was born at Langres, in 1673, was by profession a +physician; but his celebrity was acquired by his profound +knowledge of history and numismatics. So +extensive were his talents and information upon those +subjects, that he was chosen a member of the Academy +of Inscriptions, and he took a very active part +in the proceedings of that learned body. His servant +having betrayed to the police some letters which his +master had written to Spain, at the period when all +intercourse with that country was looked upon with a +jealous eye, the consequence was, that Mahudel was +lodged in the Bastile for several months. It was +while he was in prison that he wrote his “History of +Medallions,” of which only four copies were printed. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">[334]</span>His other productions are chiefly dissertations on +medals, and on historical questions. He died in 1747.</p> + +<p>It has seldom happened that a captive has been reluctant +to quit his prison. Such an uncommon anomaly +did, however, actually occur with respect to an +individual who was implicated in the Cellamare plot. +Five years had elapsed since the discomfiture of that +plot, and the government believed that all who were +connected with it had been released, when it was by +mere chance discovered that one of them, the Marquis +de Bon Repos, had been left in the Bastile by mistake. +Bon Repos, an aged officer, who, notwithstanding +his title, was miserably poor, was anything but +grateful for his proffered release. He had become habituated +to confinement, and was rejoiced to be safe +from want, and he manifested a strong dislike to “a +crust of bread and liberty.” It was not without much +murmuring that he consented to change his quarters +in the Bastile for others in the Hôtel des Invalides.</p> + +<p>It might have been supposed that the tremendous +explosion of the Mississippi scheme, which spread ruin +over France, would have filled the prisons with real +or imagined offenders. But this was not the case. +Law himself, more unfortunate and imprudent perhaps +than criminal, received a passport from the regent, +and reached Brussels in safety. The only persons +who appear to have at all suffered, were his brother, +William Law, and two of the directors, who were sent +for a short time to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>The next remarkable inmate of the Bastile, the +Count de Horn, a Flemish noble, was no less infamous +by crime than he was illustrious by birth. He was +allied to several princely houses, and could even claim +relationship with the regent Duke of Orleans. So +thoroughly had he disgraced himself, by his fraudulent +and debauched conduct, that at the very time when he +was meditating the atrocity which drew on him the vengeance +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">[335]</span>of the law, his family had despatched a gentleman +to pay his debts, to request his expulsion from +Paris, and to bring him back, by force if necessary, to +his own country. Their agent arrived too late. Some +of the count’s freaks, disgraceful as they were, might +have been charitably ascribed to the licentious manners +of the age, and the turbulent passions of a youth +of twenty-two, had he not been guilty of a crime +which proved that his heart was still more faulty than +his head.</p> + +<p>The two indiscretions—if so mild a name may be +given to them—for which the Count de Horn was sent +to the Bastile, were not too harshly punished by his +imprisonment; as they manifested a degree of brutality +which was ominous of worse deeds. In company +with some of his libertine companions, he was passing +the cloisters of St. Germain, where a corpse was waiting +for interment. “What are you doing here? Get +up!” he exclaimed to the body, which was lying uncovered. +He seconded his speech by striking the +corpse several blows with his sword, and overturning +it among the sacred vessels, which were placed in readiness +for the funeral service.</p> + +<p>As no notice was taken of this outrage, he was +emboldened to make the church of St. Germain once +more the scene of his exploits. It is necessary to +mention that, at the period in question, almost the +whole population of Paris was labouring under the +epidemic madness of the famous Mississippi scheme. +An ordinance relative to bank notes had just been +issued by the government, and a hawker was crying +it for sale in the street. From this man the count +purchased a copy of the ordinance, and gave him a +crown for it, on condition of his placing a large stone +at the great door of the church. On this stone De +Horn mounted, and while high mass was being celebrated +within the building, he thundered out the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">[336]</span>anthem which is sung when the dead are committed to +the ground, and he concluded by proclaiming the +burial of bank notes. This second insult to public +decency was too much to be borne; the priest laid his +complaint before the government, and the offender +was conveyed to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>In the course of a few days the youthful profligate +was set at liberty. But his brief imprisonment had +worked no beneficial change upon him. It seems, +indeed, to have had a contrary effect. So slight a +chastisement perhaps induced him to calculate upon +impunity for greater crimes. A very short time +elapsed before he dipped his hands in blood. In the +sanguinary deed which brought him to destruction, +he had two accomplices, Laurent de Mille, a half-pay +captain, and Lestang, a youth of twenty, the son of a +Flemish banker. Every Frenchman, who could any +how obtain the means of speculating, was then +busily engaged in the Rue Quincampoix, which was +the Parisian stock exchange. De Horn, too, was +there; but his speculation was of a more diabolical +nature than that which engaged the multitude. Having +picked out a rich stock-jobber, who was known to +carry about with him a large sum in notes, he lured +him by pretending to be in possession of shares, which +he was willing to sell considerably under the market +price. These bargains were usually concluded in a +tavern; and, accordingly, De Horn and his associates +proceeded with their unsuspecting victim to a house of +that kind in the Rue de Venise. There he stabbed +the unfortunate stock-jobber, and robbed him of his +pocket-book. He then, with his accomplices, leaped +out of the window, and endeavoured to make his escape. +Lestang got off, but the count and the half-pay captain +were less fortunate; they were overtaken, and lodged +in prison.</p> + +<p>Justice, on this occasion, was not delayed. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">[337]</span>trial of the delinquents followed close upon the commission +of the murder; no circumstance of mitigation +could be pleaded in their behalf, and they were both +condemned to be broken on the wheel. No sooner +did the sentence become known than the whole of the +aristocratical class in France, Flanders, and Germany, +was in commotion. To subject a nobleman to such a +degrading punishment was declared to be an unprecedented +and abominable measure. The regent was +beset on all sides by solicitations for a pardon, or, at +least, for a change in the mode of executing the criminal. +When the first of these boons was found to be +hopeless, redoubled exertions were made to obtain the +second. Among the arguments employed to move +the regent, that of the culprit being related to him was +strongly urged. But, though Philip of Orleans was +stained by many vices, there were moments when his +better nature prevailed, and he was capable of acting +nobly. To the near relations of the count, who +pressed him incessantly on the subject, he replied, +“When I have impure blood in my veins, I have it +drawn out.” Then, quoting the sentiment of Corneille, +“’tis crime that brands with shame, and not +the scaffold,” he added, “I must share in the disgrace +of which you complain, and this ought to console the +rest of his kindred.” It is said, however, that he was +at length on the point of yielding so far as to commute +the form of punishment for one less obnoxious; but +that Mr. Law and the Abbé Dubois insisted on the +absolute necessity of allowing justice to take its course. +Popular indignation would, they justly remarked, be +roused by any favour being shown to the perpetrator +of such a heinous offence. The regent acquiesced in +their opinion; and, that he might not be harassed by +further appeals to his clemency, he went privately to +St. Cloud, where he remained till the murderers were +executed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">[338]</span></p> + +<p>Having lost all hope from the Regent, the Princes +of Robecq and Isengheim, who were nearly allied to +De Horn, tried a new method of evading the dreaded +stigma. They gained admission to his prison, and +exhorted him to escape the wheel, by taking poison, +which they offered. But either religious scruples, or +a lingering belief that he might yet be pardoned, induced +him to decline acceding to their wishes. Finding +that all their intreaties and remonstrances were unavailing, +they quitted him in a rage, exclaiming, “Go, +wretch! you are fit only to die by the hand of the +executioner.”</p> + +<p>The firmness of the regent was worthy of applause. +It was, nevertheless, looked upon as an inexpiable +insult by the aristocracy in general, and especially by +the kinsfolk of the malefactor. The regent having +directed that the confiscated property of the count +should be restored to the prince, his brother, the +haughty noble rejected the proffered boon, and gave +vent to his high displeasure in the following insolent +letter. “I do not complain, Sir, of the death of my +brother; he had committed so horrible a crime, that +there was no punishment he did not deserve. But I +complain, that, in his person, you have violated the +rights of the kingdom, of the nobility, and of nations. +For the offer of his confiscated property, which you +have been pleased to make, I thank you; but I should +think myself as infamous as he was, if I were to accept +of the slightest favour from your Royal Highness. +I hope that God and the king will, some day, mete out +to you the same rigid justice that you have dispensed +to my unfortunate brother.”</p> + +<p>By the death of the Duke of Orleans, in 1723, all +the power of the state fell into the worthless hands of +the Duke of Bourbon. The vices of Orleans had +been at least palliated by great talents, some virtues, +and a heart which, though corrupted, was not dead to +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">[339]</span>kind and noble feelings; but Bourbon, harsh in disposition, +rude in manners, repulsive in personal appearance, +and governed by an artful and profligate mistress, +had no one good quality to throw even a faint lustre +over his numerous defects. The sway of Bourbon +lasted little more than two years, and, in that brief +space of time, he committed so many enormous political +errors, springing from ignorance, presumption, +and intolerance, that the kingdom was thrown into +discontent and confusion.</p> + +<p>The minister of the war department, Claude le +Blanc, was one of those who suffered by the change +which took place on the death of the Duke of Orleans. +Le Blanc was born in 1669, and had filled several +important offices before he became one of the ministers. +The machinations of his enemies, one of the most +inveterate of whom was the Marshal de Villeroi, procured +his temporary banishment from court in 1723, +on suspicion of his having participated in peculation +committed by the treasurer. He was confined in the +Bastile by the Duke of Bourbon, and the parliament +was directed to bring him to trial. To secure his +conviction, his adversaries calumniously asserted, that +he had employed an assassin to murder one of his +principal accusers. The parliament, however, fully +acquitted him of all the charges which were brought +against him. He was, nevertheless, exiled by the +duke. In 1726, Cardinal de Fleury placed him once +more at the head of the war department, where he +continued till his decease, in 1728. It is in favour of +his character that he died poor, and that he was beloved +by the people.</p> + +<p>Le Blanc was scarcely restored to his office, before +his vacant place in the Bastile was filled by one who +had been among the most active of his enemies. Joseph +Paris Duverney, a native of Dauphiné, of humble birth, +was one of four brothers, all of whom were men of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">[340]</span>talent. A fortunate chance gave them the opportunity +of exercising their talents in a wider field than, considering +their primitive station in life, they could have +hoped to find. They were the sons of a man who kept +a small solitary inn at the foot of the Alps, and whom +they assisted in his business. The Duke of Vendôme +was then at the head of the French army in Italy, and +all his plans were rendered abortive by the failure of +supplies. This want of subsistence was caused by the +scandalous conduct of Bouchu, the commissary general. +Bouchu, who was old, had the folly to make +love to a young girl, and she had the good sense to +prefer his deputy, who had youth and personal appearance +on his side. To revenge himself for this slight, +Bouchu retarded the collecting of provisions, in order +to throw the blame on his deputy, who was charged +with the merely mechanical part of the operations. +Knowing that further delay would be ruin to him, the +deputy contrived to collect a portion of the supplies +that were wanted; but he was yet far from being out +of his difficulties, for the Alps were interposed between +him and the French army, and he knew not where to +find in the neighbourhood a practicable pass. While +he was labouring under this embarrassment, he luckily +fell in with the four brothers, and they engaged to +extricate him from it. They were thoroughly acquainted +with every path and goat track in that wild +region, and they conducted the convoy with so much +skill, through apparently impassable ways, that they +reached the French camp without having suffered the +slightest loss.</p> + +<p>This service, for which they were liberally rewarded, +laid the foundation of their fortune. The contractors +and commissaries employed them, and promoted them +rapidly; and, at no distant time, the brothers became +themselves contractors, and extensive commercial speculators. +Riches rapidly flowed in upon them, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">[341]</span>they were called to take a share in managing the +finances of the state. They experienced, however, a +temporary eclipse during the ascendancy of Law, to +whom they were hostile, and who avenged himself by +procuring their exile into Dauphiné. The flight of +Law put an end to their banishment; they returned +to Paris, were in higher credit than ever, and contributed +much to mitigate the evils which had been +caused by the Mississippi scheme. They continued +to have great weight in the government, till they +lost it in consequence of a political intrigue, in which +Joseph Paris imprudently engaged, with the Marchioness +de Prie, the Duke of Bourbon’s mistress. +Their intent was to exclude Cardinal de Fleury from +public affairs, and to give the duke an unbounded +ascendancy over the youthful monarch. Fleury discovered +the plot; the duke was deprived of power; +and the brothers were once more exiled. Joseph was +soon after arrested, at his asylum near Langres, and +was sent to the Bastile, where he remained for nearly +two years. In 1730, however, he recovered his +influence, and he kept it till his death, in 1770. +France is indebted to Joseph Duverney for the project +of the Royal Military School, which was carried into +execution in 1751.</p> + +<p>Two grandsons of the unfortunate Fouquet, the +Count de Belleisle, and the Chevalier de Belleisle, were +involved in the fall of Le Blanc, and were for some time +inmates of the Bastile. The count was born in 1684; +the chevalier in 1693. The count had acquired a high +military character, in the war of the succession, and +in the Spanish campaign of 1719, when, with his +brother, he was immured in a prison. After his +release, he served with distinction in various quarters, +and rose to the rank of marshal. Cardinal de Fleury +placed entire confidence in his civil as well as his +military talents. It was not, however, till the breaking +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">[342]</span>out of the war of 1741 that his genius shone forth in +its full lustre. The secret negotiations for raising the +Elector of Bavaria to the dignity of emperor were +carried on by him, and on this occasion he gave convincing +proof of his diplomatic skill. Placed at the +head of the French army, which was to maintain +Charles VII. on the throne, Belleisle carried Prague +by assault. But while, as ambassador extraordinary +of Louis XV., he was securing the election of Charles +at Frankfort, the Austrians threatened to deprive +him of his recent conquests. He, therefore, hastened +back to his army, obtained some advantages, and +would probably have triumphed, had not the sudden +defection of Prussia and Saxony left him to bear the +whole weight of Maria Theresa’s forces.</p> + +<p>Prague, garrisoned by 28,000 French, was soon +invested by 60,000 enemies. Belleisle offered to +give up the Bohemian capital, on condition of being +allowed to retire without molestation; but the besiegers +would listen to nothing short of a surrender at discretion. +After having made a protracted defence, +he began to be threatened by famine, and, in this +extremity, he resolved to break through the Austrian +quarters. At the head of 15,000 men, with twelve +days’ provisions, he sallied from Prague, on the night +of the 16th of December, 1742, and directed his march +upon Egra, which city was at the distance of thirty-eight +leagues. He took his measures so well, that, +though he was closely pursued by the enemy’s light +troops, he sustained little injury. The sufferings of +the French army were, nevertheless, extreme. Compelled +to bivouac for ten nights among snow and ice, +and often without wood for fires, the mortality among +the troops was appalling. The line of the retreat +was marked throughout by whole platoons frozen to +death; seventeen hundred men perished in the course +of the ten days. In 1746 and 1747, Belleisle was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">[343]</span>charged with the defence of Dauphiné; these were +his last campaigns. In 1748 he was created a duke +and peer, and in 1757 he became war minister. He +held the war department for three years, and reformed +many abuses. In 1761 he died childless, the last of +his family, his heir, the Count of Gisors, having fallen +at the battle of Crevelt.</p> + +<p>His brother, the chevalier, had gone before him, the +victim of an intemperate courage. From 1734 to +1746, the chevalier was often actively engaged, both +in fighting and negotiating, and displayed equal talents +in each occupation. It being an object of importance +to open a passage into the heart of Piedmont, the two +brothers agreed that an attack should be made on the +formidable intrenched post of the Piedmontese, at the +Col de l’Assiette. The chevalier was animated by the +prospect of gaining the rank of marshal, in case of +success. The position of the enemy was all but inaccessible, +and was fortified with more than usual care, +well provided with artillery, and held by a large force. +Belleisle led his men to the attack, but found it impossible +even to approach his antagonists, who +scattered death among his ranks, with almost perfect +impunity to themselves. Instead of retiring from a +hopeless contest, he madly persisted in his efforts, +till the slaughter became horrible. He at last put +himself at the head of a body of officers, and made a +desperate but fruitless assault, in which he fell, along +with most of those who surrounded him. Nearly four +thousand of the assailants were slain, and half as many +wounded, while the loss of the Piedmontese fell far +short of a hundred men.</p> + +<p>We have, in the former part of this chapter seen +one literary female an inmate of the Bastile, we must +now contemplate in the same situation another, of equal +talents, but with a more sullied character. The second +of these females was Madame de Tencin, sister of the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">[344]</span>cardinal of that name. Though, like most Frenchwomen +of that period, it is probable that Madame +de Staal did not preserve an inviolate chastity, she certainly +paid more respect to appearances than was paid +by Madame de Tencin, and was less stimulated by +mere animal passion. “I shall paint only my bust,” +Madame de Staal is said to have replied, when she +was asked how, in her Memoirs, she would contrive +to speak of her love affairs; with respect to Madame de +Tencin, it may be doubted whether, at least while she +was moving in the circle of the court, she would have +hesitated to delineate a whole-length likeness of herself.</p> + +<p>Tencin was a name derived from a small estate; the +family name was Guerin. The lady in question was +born in 1681, and her father was president of the +parliament of Grenoble. She was placed in the convent +of Montfleury, near Grenoble, where she resided for +five years. If credit may be given to the statements +of St. Simon and others, her conduct while she wore +the veil was anything but pious and decorous. The +consequence of one of her amours is said to have +rendered it indispensable for her to leave the convent, +of which she was already tired. Her great object was +to shine in Paris, and this she accomplished. Through +the interest of Fontenelle, who took a great interest in +her, she obtained a dispensation from the Pope, and +she then gave full swing to her pleasures. She became +the mistress of the ultra profligate Dubois; and +the scandalous chronicles of the time charge her with +having joined in the orgies of the regent and his companions, +and prostituted her talents by the composition +of obscene works. With Law, the Mississippi projector, +she was intimate, and she and her brother +appear to have profited largely by speculations during +that period of national madness. It is one pleasing +feature in her character, that she was more anxious to +establish her brother than herself.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">[345]</span></p> + +<p>The celebrated d’Alembert was the fruit of one of +her amours; the father was the Chevalier Destouches. +The infant was, in the first instance, deserted by its +parents; it was left on the steps of the church of St. +John de la Ronde, where it was found in such a state +of weakness that, instead of sending it to the Foundling +Hospital, the commissary of police humanely gave it +to the wife of a poor glazier to be nursed. Such a +want of maternal feeling, had it not been in some +measure atoned for, would have justified a sarcasm of the +Abbé Trublet, who, on some one praising to him the +mild disposition of Madame de Tencin, replied, “Oh, +yes! if she had an interest in poisoning you, she would +choose the mildest poison for the purpose.” The parents +are, however, said to have relented in the course +of a few days; the father settled on him a pension of +1200 livres.</p> + +<p>It was the fatal result of another of her amours that +gave her a place in the Bastile. In 1726, La Fresnaye, +one of the members of the Great Council, shot himself +through the head at her house. A paper in his +handwriting was found, in which he declared that, if +ever he died a violent death, she would be the cause of +it. From this paper, which certainly bears on the face +of it a very different meaning, it was hastily and +harshly concluded, that she had a hand in his murder. +She was consequently committed to the Concièrgerie, +whence she was removed to the Bastile; but she was +not long a prisoner.</p> + +<p>In her later years, the conduct of Madame de +Tencin underwent a complete reformation; the +catastrophe of La Fresnaye perhaps contributed to +the change. She kept up a correspondence with +Cardinal Lambertini, which was not discontinued when +he became Pope Benedict XIV., and her house was +the resort of all the wit and talent of Paris, with Fontenelle +and Montesquieu at their head. Her assemblage +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">[346]</span>of literary men she used jocosely to call her +menagerie, and her animals, and it was her custom, on +New-year’s-day, to present each individual with two +ells of velvet, for a pair of breeches. It is not easy +to suppress a smile at the ludicrous idea of such a +present. Madame de Tencin died in 1749. Her +three romances, the Count de Comminge, the Siege +of Calais, and the Misfortunes of Love, still deservedly +maintain a high rank among works of that class. It +has been said, that she was assisted in writing them +by two of her nephews; but the truth of this is at +least doubtful.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Louis XV. continued—The Bull Unigenitus—A Notary +Public—G. N. Nivelle—G. C. Buffard—Death of Deacon +Paris—Rise, progress, and acts, of the Convulsionaries—Persecution +of them, and artifices employed by them to foil their persecutors—Lenglet +Dufresnoy—La Beaumelle—F. de Marsy—Marmontel—The +Abbé Morellet—Mirabeau the elder—The +Chevalier Resseguier—Groubendal and Dulaurens—Robbé de +Beauveset—Mahé de la Bourdonnais—Count Lally—La Chalotais—Marin—Durosoi—Prévost +de Beaumont—Barletti St. +Paul—Dumouriez.</p> + +</div> + +<p>Religious intolerance, on the one hand, and disgusting +fanaticism, on the other, contributed largely to +swell the number of captives in the Bastile, and in +other places of confinement. For many years after +Pope Clement XI., at the instigation of the bigoted +Le Tellier and Louis XIV., had thrown among the +clergy of the Gallican church that ecclesiastical firebrand +the bull Unigenitus, it continued to spread the +flames of fierce contention, hatred, and persecution. +The first individual for whom the bull found an abode +in a prison was, I believe, a notary public. While the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">[347]</span>regency was held by the Duke of Orleans, the bishops +of Mirepoix, Senez, Montpellier, and Boulogne, had +the boldness to sign an act, protesting against the +bull, and appealing from the pope to a future council; +and, accompanied by a notary, they solemnly presented +this act to the assembled Sorbonne. As to have imprisoned +the four bishops would scarcely have been +politic, they were only ordered to retire to their +dioceses; the notary, of whom a scape-goat could more +conveniently be made, was sent to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>Backed by power, the supporters of the bull were +finally triumphant, and they did not fail to make the +vanquished party experience the consequence of being +defeated by men who did not consider forbearance as +a virtue. It would be useless to dwell upon the many +appellants who were chastised for having ventured to +doubt the pontifical infallibility, and insist on referring +the question in dispute to a future council; I will, +therefore, only make mention of two individuals.</p> + +<p>Among those who were most active in opposing +the bull Unigenitus, and who, consequently, were +proscribed by its champions, was Gabriel Nicholas +Nivelle; he was indefatigable in drawing up memorials +and tracts, and soliciting appeals against it. He +more than once contrived to elude his pursuers; but, +in 1730, he was taken and committed to the Bastile, +where he remained for four months. His zeal was, +however, rather excited than cooled by this imprisonment; +and, till his decease in 1761, when he was in +his seventy-fourth year, he continued to be a determined +opponent of the bull. Nivelle edited several +voluminous works relative to the contest in which +his party was engaged; the principal of which, in four +folio volumes, bears the title of The Constitution +Unigenitus denounced to the Universal Church, or +a General Collection of the Acts of Appeal.</p> + +<p>Equally hostile to the bull, and equally persecuted +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">[348]</span>by its victorious friends, was Gabriel Charles Buffard, +a native of Bayeux, who was born in 1683. He was +rector of the university of Caen, and canon of Bayeux; +but was expelled from his offices, and banished out +of the diocese, in 1722. Buffard settled at Paris, +where he was not long allowed to remain in quiet. +He was conveyed to the Bastile, and, after having +been there for some time, he was exiled to Auxerre. +From Auxerre he was speedily dragged to suffer +another imprisonment in the Bastile. Fortunately, +he found a protector in Cardinal des Gesvres, through +whose intercession he was set at liberty. Buffard +thenceforth lived in retirement, and gained a subsistence +by giving opinions as a chamber counsel, and +by assisting young scholars in the study of the canon +law. He died in 1763.</p> + +<p>It was an opinion of Bishop Butler, the celebrated +author of The Analogy of Religion, that “whole +communities and public bodies might be seized with +fits of insanity, as well as individuals;” and, indeed, +that “nothing but this principle, that they are liable +to insanity, equally at least with private persons, can +account for the major part of those transactions which +we read of in history.” Singular as, at first sight, +this opinion may appear to be, there are many circumstances +which ought to induce us to pause, before we +reject it as erroneous. The strange scenes, for +instance, which took place among the Jansenists,—scenes +arising out of the death of the deacon Paris,—may +almost authorize a belief, that large bodies of +individuals can be simultaneously smitten with monomania, +or at least can communicate it to each other +with wonderful rapidity.</p> + +<p>Francis Paris, a strenuous opponent of the bull +Unigenitus, was the son of a French counsellor. +Pious, humble, and benevolent, Paris relinquished to +his brother all claim to the paternal succession, renounced +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">[349]</span>the world, lived by the labour of his own +hands, and spent his leisure moments in prayer, and +in succouring, consoling, and instructing the poor. +His modest estimate of his own abilities deterred him +from taking holy orders. He died on the 1st of +May, 1727, and was buried in the church-yard of +St. Medard. Many of those to whom he had been +a comforter and guide, looked upon him as a beatified +being, and came to pray at his tomb. Among the +number were many females. Rumours soon began +to be spread, that miracles were worked by the influence +of the sainted defunct; sight was said to be +restored, and contracted limbs extended to their full +longitude. Multitudes now flocked to the sacred +ground. Then ensued, especially among the women, +contortions and convulsive movements, attended by +cries, shrieks, and groans, all of which were regarded +as manifestations of divine power. All convulsive +movements are catching, and consequently, the number +of persons who displayed them at St. Medard, +increased daily to an enormous extent. The jargon +which was uttered by the convulsionaries, during their +paroxysms, was next supposed to be the language of +prophecy; and a whole volume of it was actually +published, under the title of “A Collection of Interesting +Predictions.” Before, however, we laugh at +our Gallic neighbours for such folly, it may be well +to remember some things which have happened in +England, within the last quarter of a century.</p> + +<p>After these practices had gone on, with hourly increasing +vigour, for some years, the government closed the +church-yard of St. Medard, which was become the +theatre of exhibitions calculated to mislead the weak-minded, +and disgust men of sound intellect. But the +sect of the convulsionaries—for it had by this time grown +into a strong and regularly organized sect,—was not +discouraged by this measure. Earth from the church-yard +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">[350]</span>where the deacon Paris was interred, and water +from the spring which had supplied him with drink, became +the symbols of this buried idol, and the means +of working miracles. Meetings were held in private +houses, and there fanaticism, of the darkest, wildest +kind, gave full scope to all its gloomy inspirations. +A regular system of torture was practised by the +deluded votaries; women being the principal sufferers. +To be beaten with logs on the tenderest portions of +the human frame; to bend the body into a semi-circular +form, and allow a weight of fifty pounds to be +dropped from the ceiling on to the abdomen; to lie +with a plank on the same part, while several men +stood on it; to be tied up with the head downwards; +and to have the breasts and nipples torn with pincers; +were among the inflictions to which females submitted, +and apparently with delight. The blows were inflicted +by vigorous young men, who were called Secouristes. +The highly sublimed madness of some pushed them +to still more dreadful extremities; it prompted them +to be tied on spits, and exposed to the flames, or to +be nailed by the hands and feet to a cross. The performance +of these unnatural acts was denominated +“the work.”</p> + +<p>The Convulsionaries did not form a homogeneous +body; as was to be expected, they were split into +parties, bearing various appellations, and being, in +some instances, hostile to each other. There were the +Vaillantistes, the Augustinians, the Melangistes, the +Margoullistes, the Figuristes, and many more. The +Vaillantistes took their name from Peter Vaillant, a +priest, who taught that the prophet Elijah was resuscitated, +and that he would appear on earth, to convert +the Jews and the court of Rome. His disciple, +Housset, maintained that Vaillant himself was the +prophet. Darnaud, another priest, boldly assumed +the character of the prophet Enoch. The Augustinians, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">[351]</span>who carried their fanaticism to such a pitch +that they were looked upon as heretical by other convulsionary +sects, were the followers of a friar of the +name of Augustin. Among their peculiar follies, was +that of making nocturnal processions, with torches in +their hands, and halters round their necks, to Nôtre +Dame, and thence to the place de Grêve; these processions +were a sort of rehearsal of the tragic scene +in which they expected they should ultimately be +called upon to perform. The Melangistes were those +who distinguished two causes producing convulsions; +one which gave rise to useless or improper acts, +another which inspired divine and supernatural acts. +The tenets of the Margoullistes have not been handed +down to us. The Figuristes were so called from their +representing, in their convulsive paroxysms, various +phases of the passion of Christ, and the martyrdom of +the saints.</p> + +<p>The fierce enthusiasm of all these sectarians has +never been exceeded. Like American Indians, they +set at defiance the utmost severity of pain. Even +slight stimulus would rouse them into violent action. +“I have seen them,” says Voltaire, “when they were +talking of the miracles of St. Paris, grow heated by +degrees, till their whole frame trembled, their faces +were disfigured by rage, and they would have killed +whoever dared to contradict them. Yes, I have seen +them writhe their limbs, and foam, and cry out ‘There +must be blood!’” Not the slightest concession would +they make to avoid punishment. A pardon was offered +to several of them, who were sentenced to the pillory; +they refused it, for they could not, they said, repent of +having done right. No lapse of time could eradicate +this feeling from their minds. In 1775, when M. de +Malesherbes visited the Concièrgerie, he found there +a male and a female convulsionary, who had been imprisoned +for forty-one years. Age had not chilled in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">[352]</span>them the resentment which was excited by their +wrongs. He offered them liberty, if they would only +ask for it; but they firmly replied, that they had been +unjustly detained, and that it was the business of +justice to atone for its errors, and to give the reparation +to which they were entitled. They were released.</p> + +<p>It must not be imagined that the sect of the convulsionaries +consisted merely of poor and ignorant +people. Such was not the case. Strange as the fact +may appear, the sect included great numbers of pious, +learned, and intellectual men. Very many rich individuals +also belonged to it, and contributed to the +maintenance of their less fortunate brethren. A +Count Daverne was sent to the Bastile “for wasting +his property in supporting the convulsionaries;” and +the same crime brought a similar penalty on other +individuals. That there were, however, numerous +impostors, who pretended to espouse the doctrines of +the sect in order to further their own purposes, admits +of no doubt. There were men who gave regular lessons +in the art of bringing on convulsions.</p> + +<p>A hot persecution was perseveringly carried on +against this sect, and with the usual result; the sect +throve in spite of it, or rather, perhaps, in consequence +of it. For five-and-thirty years it mocked all +attempts to exterminate it, and it did not begin to +decline till it was left to the withering influence of +ridicule and neglect. It is believed to have retained +a few votaries even to a recent period. The Bastile +and the other Parisian prisons were yearly crowded +with convulsionaries. Of those who were confined +in the Bastile, one of the earliest was Peter Vaillant, +from whom the Vaillantistes derived their name. He +had previously suffered there an imprisonment of three +years, for his opposition to the bull Unigenitus. In +1734, he was again sent thither, and, after having +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">[353]</span>been there for two-and-twenty years, he was transferred +to Vincennes, where he died. Housset, his +disciple; Darnaud, who called himself the prophet +Enoch; the Abbé Blondel, author of Lives of the +Saints; the Abbés Deffart, Planchon, and Deribat; +Lequeux, prior of St. Yves, the learned editor of +Bossuet’s works; and Carré de Montgeron, a counsellor +of the parliament of Paris; were of the number +of those who were sent to the Bastile. Montgeron +was born in the French capital, in 1686, and we have +his own word for it that, till he was suddenly converted +in St. Médard’s church-yard, he was a thoroughly worthless +unbeliever. By a natural transition, he became +one of the most credulous and enthusiastic of dupes. +In 1737, he printed a quarto volume, illustrated with +twenty plates, “to demonstrate the truth of the +miracles operated by the intercession of the beatified +Paris.” This volume he presented to Louis XV. at +Versailles, and the next day, by order of the monarch, +he was conveyed to the Bastile. He was afterwards +an inmate of various prisons, and died at last in the +citadel of Valence. While he was in confinement, he +added two more volumes to his rhapsody.</p> + +<p>In hunting down the humbler class of delinquents, +the police found abundant employment, and they performed +their task in the most oppressive manner. +Hénault, the lieutenant of police, an irascible and unreasoning +man, was an ardent partisan of the Jesuits, +and, of course, was a violent enemy of the proscribed +sect. His myrmidons spread terror in all directions. +They are charged with having, “even in the dead of +night, penetrated into the dwellings of individuals, +scaled the walls, broken open the doors, and shown +no respect to age or sex, when their object was to +discover, imprison, consign to the pillory, banish, and +ruin, those who favoured the convulsionaries.” It +was dangerous to be subject to epileptic or other fits; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">[354]</span>persons who were attacked by them in the streets +having been pitilessly hurried off to jail.</p> + +<p>The vigilance of the police was also kept on the +stretch, and in a majority of cases was eluded, by the +prints, posting-bills, pamphlets, and periodical writings +of the convulsionaries, as well as by their secret meetings. +Of the prints, one represented the tree of religion, +in the branches of which were seated Quesnel, +Paris, and other apostles of Jansenism, while two +Jesuits were striving to root it up. For this, a rhymer +and engraver, Cointre by name, was committed to +the Bastile. In another, Archbishop Vintimille was +seen throwing a stone at the sainted deacon Paris, and +the lieutenant of police was holding the archiepiscopal +cross, and stimulating the prelate. This print procured +for Mercier, the vender of it, a place in the +Bastile. In a third of these caricatures was depicted +the pope larded with a dozen Jesuits.</p> + +<p>In placarding the walls, and distributing hand-bills, +all sorts of stratagems were employed. The following +is one of the most ingenious modes which was adopted +by the bill-stickers. A woman, raggedly dressed, +with a large pannier strapped on her back, leaned her +pannier against the wall, as though she wished to rest +herself. In the pannier was a child, who, as soon as +she stopped, opened the cover, and fixed a bill on the +wall. As soon as his task was performed he closed +the aperture, and his bearer proceeded with him to +another convenient place. The bills and short pamphlets, +which were made public in this and other ways, +were innumerable. In the library of the Duke de la +Vallière, there was an imperfect collection of them, +which formed thirteen quarto volumes. Most of them +seem to have been printed in the environs of the +capital; they were often brought into the city by +females, and in searching for them, the police officers +were guilty of the grossest indecency.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">[355]</span></p> + +<p>But the great object which the police sought to +obtain, and in which it was utterly foiled, was the suppression +of a periodical publication which bore the +title of Nouvelles Ecclesiastiques. This obnoxious +work was vigorously continued for more than twenty +years, without the government being able to lay hands +on the writers, or to stop the printing and distributing +of it. Many persons were, indeed, committed to the +Bastile and other prisons, on suspicion of being its +editors or contributors, but no positive proof could +ever be procured. The police were wholly at fault; +and the authors of the paper appear to have taken a +provoking pleasure in showing the lieutenant of police +their contempt of his efforts. In one instance, while +his satellites were fruitlessly searching a house which +was suspected of being the printing-office, a bundle of +the papers, wet from the press, was thrown into his +carriage almost before his face. The paper was sometimes +printed in the city, and sometimes in the neighbourhood. +At one time the press was secreted even +under the dome of the Luxembourg; at another, it +was hidden among piles of timber, and the printers +were disguised as sawyers; on other occasions, it was +contained in a boat on the Seine. When the paper +was printed in the vicinity of Paris, various artifices +were resorted to for smuggling it into the town, one +of which deserves especial notice. Water-dogs were +trained as carriers; they were closely shorn, the +papers were wrapped round them, a large rough skin +was then sewn carefully over the whole, and the sagacious +animals then took their way, unsuspected, to +their several destinations.</p> + +<p>But enough has been said on the victims of religious +delusion; and we must now turn our view to persons +of a different class. The fertile author of little short +of thirty works, and the editor of an equal number, +nearly all of which are forgotten, Lenglet Dufresnoy, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">[356]</span>who was born at Beauvais in 1764, was perhaps a +more frequent visiter to the Bastile than any other +person. It is said that he was so accustomed to +lettres de cachet, that as soon as he saw M. Tapin, +the officer, enter his apartment, he would greet him +with, “Ah, M. Tapin, good day to you;” and then +say to his servant, “Come, be quick; make up my +little bundle, and put in my linen and my snuff;” +which being done, he would add, “Now, M. Tapin, I +am at your service.” Between 1718 and 1751, he +was at least five times in the Bastile. He was also +acquainted with Vincennes and other jails. His first +committal to the Parisian state prison was perhaps +the one which was most dishonourable to him; he +was sent there to act the part of a spy, and worm out +the secrets of the persons who were in durance for +being concerned in the Cellamare conspiracy. It is +asserted, that he had already appeared in a similar +degrading character at Lille, in 1708, where he was +paid for intelligence by the allies and the French, and +betrayed both parties. Lenglet was of a quarrelsome +and caustic disposition, which involved him in personal +disputes, and he appears to have paid little +respect to truth; but he had at least one estimable +quality, an unconquerable love of independence,—no +offers, however flattering or lucrative, could prevail +on him to place himself under the galling yoke of the +rich and the great. His death, which took place in +1755, was occasioned by his falling into the fire while +he was asleep.</p> + +<p>The Bastile twice received Laurent Angliviel la +Beaumelle, who was born in 1727, at Vallerangue, in +Lower Languedoc. His first imprisonment, in 1753, +which lasted six months, was caused by his Notes on +the Age of Louis XIV.; for his second, in the following +year, he was indebted to a passage in his Memoirs +of Madame de Maintenon, which charged the Austrian +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">[357]</span>court with keeping poisoners in its pay. His +release, at the end of five months, was generously +obtained by the intercession of that court which he +had so grossly insulted. La Beaumelle was brought +up in the Catholic religion, but, during a residence +of some years in Geneva, he became a protestant. +At the age of twenty-one, he was appointed professor +of French literature at Copenhagen, and his first work, +“Mes Pensées,” was published in the Danish capital. +Lured by the patronage which Frederic of Prussia +held out to authors, La Beaumelle removed to Berlin. +Voltaire, who was then at the Prussian court, visited +him, and expressed a wish to be numbered among +his friends; but their amicable intercourse was soon +changed into deadly hostility. There was a short +paragraph in Mes Pensées, which wounded the vanity +of Voltaire, and La Beaumelle was also guilty of +having a respect for Maupertuis, whom Voltaire detested, +and missed no opportunity of ridiculing. The +rabid hatred with which Voltaire ever after pursued +his foe, and the virulent and even low abuse which he +lavished on him, can excite only disgust. The malign +influence of Voltaire having rendered Berlin a disagreeable +abode, La Beaumelle returned to his native +country. After having resided in peace at Toulouse +for several years, he obtained a place in the King’s +Library, at Paris, which, however, he did not long +retain; his death, which happened in 1779, followed +close upon his appointment. La Beaumelle had certainly +no mean talents; and it is much to be regretted, +that they were so often thrown away upon literary +squabbles. Of his works, the best are Mes Pensées; +a Defence of the Spirit of Laws; and Letters to M. +de Voltaire.</p> + +<p>The literary successor of La Beaumelle in the +Bastile, was Francis de Marsy, a native of Paris, born +in 1714. After he had finished his studies, he was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_358">[358]</span>admitted a member of the society of Jesuits. His +first productions were two Latin poems, on Tragedy +and Painting, from which, particularly the latter, he +derived considerable reputation, his Latinity being +good, his versification flowing and spirited, and his +imagery poetical. Encouraged perhaps by the praise +which he received for these works, he became an +author by profession, and wasted, in the ungrateful +occupation of writing for booksellers, those talents +which, otherwise employed, might have given him +permanent fame. One of his tasks, an analysis of +the works of Bayle, which he published in 1755, was +condemned by the parliament of Paris, and made +him, for some months, an inmate of the Bastile. He +died in 1763. Among his works are the first twelve +volumes of the History of the Chinese, Japanese, &c.; +and an edition of Rabelais in eight volumes. The +former is a hasty compilation; the latter he spoiled, +by retouching and modernizing the style—it is probable, +however, that the clothing of Rabelais in a +modern garb was a sagacious scheme of the publishers.</p> + +<p>To hazard censure upon an individual of the privileged +class, or even to be suspected of having done +so, was an infallible passport to the Bastile. That versatile +and elegant writer Marmontel was one of those +who were taught the danger of a courtier’s hostility. +This enemy was the Duke d’Aumont, whom, in his +Memoirs, he truly describes as being “the most stupid, +the most vain, and the most choleric, of all the gentlemen +of the King’s chamber.”</p> + +<p>John Francis Marmontel, the son of parents in a +humble station, was born in 1723, at the town of Bort, +in the Limousin. He has drawn a delightful picture +of the comfort and content in which his family lived. +“The property on which we all subsisted was very +small. Order, domestic arrangement, labour, a little +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_359">[359]</span>trade, and frugality, kept us above want. Our little +garden produced nearly as many vegetables as the consumption +of the family required; the orchard afforded +us fruits; and our quinces, our apples, and our pears, +preserved with the honey of our bees, were, in winter, +most exquisite breakfasts for the good old women and +children. They were clothed by the small flock of +sheep that folded at St. Thomas. My aunts spun the +wool, and the hemp of the field that furnished us with +linen; and in the evenings, when, by the light of a +lamp, which our nut-trees supplied with oil, the young +people of the neighbourhood came to help us to dress +our flax, the picture was exquisite. The harvest of +the little farm secured us subsistence; the wax and +honey of the bees, to which one of my aunts carefully +attended, formed a revenue that cost but little; the oil +pressed from our green walnuts had a taste and smell +that we preferred to the flavour and perfume of that of +the olive. Our buck-wheat cakes, moistened, smoking +hot, with the good butter of Mont d’Or, were a delicious +treat to us. I know not what dish would have +appeared to us better than our turnips and chesnuts; +and on a winter evening, while these fine turnips were +roasting round the fire, and we heard the water boiling +in the vase where our chesnuts were cooling, so relishing +and sweet, how did our hearts palpitate with joy! +I well remember, too, the perfume that a fine quince +used to exhale when roasting under the ashes, and the +pleasure our grandmother used to have in dividing it +amongst us. The most moderate of women made us all +gluttons. Thus, in a family where nothing was lost, +trivial objects united made plenty, and left but little to +expend, in order to satisfy all our wants. In the +neighbouring forest there was an abundance of dead +wood of trifling value—there my father was permitted +to make his annual provision. The excellent butter +of the mountain, and the most delicate cheese, were +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_360">[360]</span>common, and cost but little; wine was not dear, and +my father himself drank of it soberly.”</p> + +<p>Marmontel was designed by his father to be brought +up to trade, but his desire of learning was unconquerable, +and was at last allowed to be gratified. His early +education he received from the Jesuits, at the humble +college of Mauriac, and he completed it at Clermont +and Toulouse. At one time he fancied that he had a +vocation for the ecclesiastical state, and he would have +become one of the fraternity of Jesuits, had he not +been deterred by the pathetic entreaties and remonstrances +of his mother. It was at Toulouse that he +made his first literary essay, in a competition for one +of the prizes bestowed by the academy for Floral +Games. A correspondence into which he entered +with Voltaire, induced the poet to advise him to take +up his abode in Paris, and on this advice he acted in +1745. For a considerable time after his settling in +the capital, he had to contend against poverty. The +complete success which attended his tragedy of Dionysius +the Tyrant, lifted him at once into fortune and +fame. “In one day,” says he, “almost in one instant, +I found myself rich and celebrated. I made a worthy +use of my riches, but it was not so with my celebrity. +My fame became the origin of my dissipation, and the +source of my errors. Till then my life had been obscure +and retired.” It is honourable to him that all +his family benefited by his improved circumstances; +and, in palliation of his errors, we must consider how +difficult it was for a young and flattered poet to escape +the contagious effect of a corrupted capital. He +finally renounced his licentious habits, and became an +affectionate and happy husband and father.</p> + +<p>Dionysius was followed by Aristomenes, Cleopatra, +and other tragedies, of which only Aristomenes was +eminently successful. His wide-spread reputation at +length gained for him the patronage of Madame de +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_361">[361]</span>Pompadour, through whom he obtained the place of +Secretary of the Royal Buildings, and a pension on the +French Mercury. It was for the Mercury that he began +those tales, which have been translated into English +under the erroneous appellation of Moral Tales. +On the death of Boissy in 1758, Marmontel, by the +favour of Pompadour, received the patent of the Mercury; +and, under his management, the work rose into +high repute. He, however, enjoyed this lucrative employment +for only two years. Cury, a wit, who had +been deeply injured by the stupid and spiteful Duke +d’Aumont, composed a satire on his titled enemy. He +repeated the verses to Marmontel, and the latter, who +had an excellent memory, repeated them to a company +at Madame Geoffrin’s. This circumstance was instantly +reported to the Duke d’Aumont, who lost not +a moment in procuring a lettre de cachet, by virtue of +which Marmontel was conveyed to the Bastile, charged +with being the author of the satire. His confinement +lasted only eleven days; but as he generously refused +to betray the writer’s name, the patent of the Mercury +was taken from him, and nothing was left to him +except a pension payable out of the profits of the work.</p> + +<p>In 1763, Marmontel became a member of the +French Academy, and, twenty years later, he was +appointed its perpetual secretary. After he was deprived +of the Mercury, he pursued his literary labours, +for many years, with equal vigour and credit. Among +the works which he produced during that period are +Belisarius, the Incas, a translation of the Pharsalia, +a new series of tales, various comic operas, miscellaneous +pieces, a History of the Regency of the Duke of +Orleans, Elements of Literature, and Memoirs of his +own Life. During the fierce struggles between the +republican parties, after the downfall of the throne, +Marmontel lived in retirement, and in a state of penury +which bordered upon poverty. He was elected a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_362">[362]</span>member of the council of elders, in 1797, but the revolution +of the 18th Fructidor deprived him of his +seat, and he withdrew to his cottage in Normandy, +happy in not being exiled to another hemisphere, as +was the case with many of his colleagues. Marmontel +died of apoplexy, on the last day of 1799.</p> + +<p>Morellet, the friend, and by marriage the relative, +of Marmontel, was, like that writer, one who suffered +from the vengeance of the great. It must be owned, +however, that there was less injustice in his punishment +than in that of his friend, as he was really the +author of the satire for which he was confined, and it +was published under circumstances which made even +Voltaire doubt whether the conduct of the writer was +perfectly justifiable. Andrew Morellet, to whom some +of his acquaintance gave the punning appellation of +Mord-les, or Bite-’em, was born at Lyons, in 1727. +He received the early part of his education at the +Jesuits’ College in that city, and he completed his +studies at Paris, in the seminary of Trente-Trois, and +the Sorbonne. He appears, however, to have paid at +least as much attention to the works of modern philosophers +as to those of the theologians. At Paris he +became intimate with D’Alembert, Diderot, and other +contributors to the Encyclopædia. Returning to Paris, +after a tour which he made with a pupil, he was gladly +admitted into the most talented society in the capital. +Palissot, in his comedy of the Philosophers, having +ridiculed the philosophical party, Morellet resented the +insult by a satirical production, called The Vision. In +this work there were some severe lines on the princess +of Robecq, an enemy of the encyclopedists, who was +then lying on her death-bed. For these lines Morellet +suffered an imprisonment of several months in the +Bastile. Morellet was admitted into the French Academy +in 1784, and he contributed much to the +Dictionary of that body. In 1803 he became a member +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_363">[363]</span>of the Institute, and in 1807 attained a seat in the +legislature. His life was protracted to the age of +ninety-two, and, for nearly the whole of that time his +pen was actively employed on subjects of political +economy and general literature, and in translations, +principally from the English language. A selection +from his writings was made by himself, in four volumes, +with the title of Literary and Philosophical Miscellanies +of the 18th Century. He died in 1819.</p> + +<p>By Marmontel, who married his friend’s niece, he +is thus characterized: “The Abbé Morellet, with more +order and clearness, in a very rich magazine of every kind +of knowledge, possessed in conversation a source of +sound, pure, profound ideas, that, without ever being +exhausted, never overflowed. He showed himself at +our dinners with an openness of soul, a just and firm +mind, and with as much rectitude in his heart as in his +understanding. One of his talents, and the most distinguishing, +was a turn of pleasantry delicately ironical, +of which Swift alone had found the secret. With this +facility of being severe, if he had been inclined, no man +was ever less so; and, if he ever permitted himself to +indulge in personal raillery, it was but a rod in his +hand to chastise insolence or punish malignity.”</p> + +<p>A less amiable captive than Marmontel and Morellet +next claims our attention. Though he was by no +means destitute of talent or information, Victor Riquetti, +Marquis of Mirabeau, owes the redemption of +his name from oblivion less to his numerous literary +productions than to his being the father of the celebrated +Mirabeau. The marquis, who was descended +from a Florentine family, was born at Perthes in 1715. +He became a disciple of Quesnay, and published many +works, to disseminate the doctrines of the political +economists. His compositions are disfigured by a detestable +style, great affectation, and a want of method. +Of his labours, which amount to more than twenty +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_364">[364]</span>volumes, it will suffice to mention L’Ami des Hommes +and the Théorie de l’Impôt. With reference to the former, +Voltaire satirically speaks of Mirabeau as “the +friend of man, who talks, who talks, who talks, who decides, +who dictates, who is so fond of the feudal government, +who commits so many blunders, and who gets +so often into the wrong box—the pretended friend of +the human race.” He bestows equal contempt on the +second work—“I have read the Theory of Taxation,” +says he, “and it seems to me no less absurd than ridiculously +written. I do not like those friends of man, +who are for ever telling the enemies of the state ‘we +are ruined;—come;—you will have an easy task.’” +The government seems to have been of the same opinion +as Voltaire, for the Theory of Taxation procured +for its author a lodging in the Bastile. Mirabeau, +however, continued to write and to publish till nearly +his last moments; he died in 1789. This pretended +friend of the human race, as Voltaire with justice calls +him, deserved abhorrence in all the relations of social +life. He was an oppressive master, and a tyrannical +and brutal husband and father. He was perpetually +soliciting for lettres de cachet to plunge some branch or +other of his family into a dungeon. Of those letters he +is said to have obtained fifty-four, many of which were +enforced against his highly-gifted though erring son, +the Count de Mirabeau, whom he hated, and whom, +by his persevering cruelty, he contributed to drive into +desperate courses.</p> + +<p>Among those who felt the vengeance of the vindictive +Pompadour was the Chevalier Resseguier, a native +of Toulouse, who was much admired in the Parisian +circles for his gaiety and wit. An epigram which he +aimed at the royal mistress, speedily made him an inmate +of the Bastile. There, like many other unfortunate +victims of the marchioness, he might perhaps +have spent the rest of his days, had not his brother, a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_365">[365]</span>member of the parliament of Toulouse, hastened up to +the capital and succeeded in mollifying Pompadour. +In their way home from the Bastile, the grave magistrate +began to give his brother some prudent advice. +Little disposed to listen to it, the chevalier thrust his +head out of the coach window, and, in the words of +Philoxenus of Syracuse, exclaimed, “take me back to +the quarries!” The brother still persisting to administer +caution and reproof, the chevalier lost all patience, +censured him bitterly for having stooped to ask a +favour from the marchioness, and then leaped from the +carriage. Resseguier of course continued to scatter his +sarcasms on all sides. For one of them, directed +against the notorious President Maupeou, who was +afterwards chancellor, he ran considerable risk of paying +a second visit to the Bastile. He was dining, on +a fast-day, at the house of M. de Sartine, and some of +the guests were admiring the size of the fish. “Yes,” +said Marin, (whose name the reader will meet with +again) “they are very fine fish; but I dined yesterday +with the president, and we had still larger.” “Ah!” +replied Resseguier, “I do not wonder in the least at +that; it is the place for everything monstrous.” Louis +XV. was informed of this pungent attack on the instrument +of his despotism, and was greatly irritated +by it.</p> + +<p>The next literary prisoner was the involuntary +proxy of an offender, who took care to get beyond the +reach of the police. In 1761, Grouber de Grouberdal, +a German by birth, and barrister by profession, +author of Irus, ou le Savetier du Coin, and a poem +with the title of Le Sexe Triomphant, was sent to the +Bastile, on suspicion of having written a satire called +the Jesuitics, to which he appears to have only contributed +some verses. Grouber, however, escaped +with no more than a month’s imprisonment. A friend +of Grouber’s was the real author. Henry Joseph +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_366">[366]</span>Dulaurens was born at Douay, and very early displayed +abilities of a superior order. He was less +amiable than talented; for he is said to have been +suspicious, sarcastic, hasty, restless, and turbulent: +that he was licentious, is proved by his works. Dulaurens +was destined for the church, but abandoned +the clerical profession. His satire, the Jesuitics, +which was modelled on the celebrated Philippics of +La Grange Chancel, was aimed at the Jesuits, to +whom he had long been bitterly hostile. Fearing that +it would bring him into peril, he set off for Holland, +on the morning after it was published, without warning +his friend Grouber that danger was to be apprehended. +In Holland he became a writer for the booksellers; +but, though his pen was extremely fertile, and his +productions, which were generally marked by originality +and spirit, obtained an extensive sale, he was +scarcely able to avoid sinking into poverty: the booksellers +throve on those fruits of his talent, by which +he himself was barely kept alive. By his flight from +Paris, Dulaurens had eluded a residence in the +Bastile, but it ultimately brought on him a more +protracted confinement than he would have endured +had he remained in France. In the hope of bettering +his condition, he quitted Amsterdam, and went to +Liege, whence he removed to Frankfort. While he +was living in the latter city, he was prosecuted by the +ecclesiastical chamber of Mentz, as an anti-religious +writer, and was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. +He died in 1797, in a convent near Mentz, +after having been a prisoner during thirty years. Of +his works, the most remarkable are, Le Compère +Mathieu, L’Evangile de la Raison, Irma, and L’Aretin +Moderne, in prose; and Le Balai, and La Chandelle +d’Arras, two mock-heroic poems;—of these poems, +which are of considerable length, the first was composed +in twenty-two days, and the second in fifteen.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_367">[367]</span></p> + +<p>Of all the writers who, during the reign of Louis +XV., found or deserved a lodging in the Bastile, +Peter Robbé de Beauveset may, perhaps, be considered +as one of the most degraded, in a moral point +of view. He was born at Vendôme, in 1714, received +a good education, and was not destitute of talent. +At an early age, he began to write poems of the +coarsest obscenity, and he continued the practice till +almost the close of a long life. To repeat them to all +companies that would listen, seems to have been one +of his greatest pleasures. Next to licentious composition, +he delighted in satire. His verses were insufferably +harsh; but they now and then displayed happy +thoughts and forcible expressions. To give an idea +of his propensity to wallow in the mire, it will be +sufficient to say, that he chose for one of his themes +the only disease which is a disgrace to the sufferer, +and that the song was worthy of the theme. This +drew on him the sarcasm, likely enough to be true, +that he was “the bard of the unclean malady, and +that he was full of his subject.” Having tried his +satirical skill upon Louis XV., an order was issued +to seize his papers, and he would certainly have paid +a visit to the Bastile, had he not skilfully parried the +blow. Being timely warned of his danger, he destroyed +the obnoxious piece, and substituted in its place +another of an opposite kind. This stratagem was +successful. Instead of sending him to prison, the +king pensioned him, and gave him apartments in the +palace of St. Germain. Severe censors have hinted, +that the debauched monarch wished to have a monopoly +of the poet’s obscene rhymes. Robbé likewise +received a pension from the Archbishop of Paris, on +condition that he should not publish his objectionable +pieces. He kept to the letter of his agreement; he +did not print them; he contented himself with reciting +them to as many hearers as he could find. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_368">[368]</span>motive of the archbishop we can comprehend; but it +is not easy to perceive what could have induced the +duchess of Olone to leave a legacy of 15,000 francs +to so shameless a writer, and to speak in flattering +terms of his reputation as an author! Before his +death, which took place in 1794, he is said to have +manifested some signs of reformation.</p> + +<p>The liability to be thrust into a prison, for the +purpose of gratifying a courtier, or other powerful +enemy, was not the fate of authors alone; the men +who devoted their talents, and shed their blood, to +enlarge or defend the dominion of their country, were +equally subject to it. Striking proof of this fact is +afforded by the persecution which fell to the lot of +Mahé de la Bourdonnais and Count Lally.</p> + +<p>Bernard Francis Mahé de la Bourdonnais was born +in 1699, at St. Malo, entered the service of the East +India Company at an early period, and displayed such +talent, and such consummate knowledge of mercantile +as well as of naval concerns, that, in 1735, he was +appointed governor-general of the isles of France and +Bourbon. On his arrival in the Isle of France, he +found everything in a state of penury and confusion. +In a very short time, however, he showed what can +be done by a man of abilities and perseverance. A +new and vivifying spirit was breathed by him into the +languishing frame of the colony. Laws and police +were established; arsenals, docks, forts, magazines, +and canals, were constructed; and the cultivation of +indigo, cotton, manioc, and sugar, was introduced. All +this was accomplished within the space of five years. +Twice La Bourdonnais was sent to the coast of Coromandel, +with succours for his ungenerous rival and +enemy Dupleix; the first time in 1741, the second +in 1746. To narrate all the exertions of La Bourdonnais, +on these occasions, would require a volume. +His conduct was such as to win the warm praise of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_369">[369]</span>the English, who suffered by his success. The result +of his operations, in 1746, was the surrender of +Madras; but the terms of the capitulation were dishonourably +violated by Dupleix, in spite of the remonstrances +of the indignant conqueror. Dupleix having +appointed another governor at the Isle of France, La +Bourdonnais returned to Europe, and on his way +homeward was taken by an English vessel. In +England he met with that reception which was due +to a talented and noble foe, and was allowed to proceed +on parole to his native country. A far different +greeting awaited him in France, where his mean and +malignant enemies had long been labouring effectually +for his ruin. He had only been three days in Paris +before all his papers were seized, and he was hurried +to the Bastile. There he was kept in solitary confinement +for twenty-six months, not even his wife and +children being allowed access to him; nor was he +permitted to have the means of writing. One of the +charges against him, founded on the testimony of a +soldier who had been hired to perjure himself, was that +he had secretly conveyed on board of his vessel a +large sum of money from Madras. To refute this +charge, by showing that it was impossible for the +witness to have seen any such proceeding from the +spot where he was posted, La Bourdonnais, destitute +as he was of materials, drew from memory an exact +plan of Madras, and contrived to have it conveyed to +the commissioners who were appointed to investigate +his conduct. The plan was drawn on a white handkerchief, +with a rude sort of pencil formed from a slip +of box, and dipped in brown and yellow colours, which +he obtained from coffee, and the verdigris scraped +from copper coins. This curious document quickened +the movements of his judges, and they took steps to +bring the question to an issue. After having undergone +an imprisonment of three years, he was pronounced +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_370">[370]</span>innocent, and was released. The gift of +liberty came too late to save his life; his health was +undermined by grief, anxiety, and the unwholesomeness +of his dungeon, and his fortune had melted away +in the hands of his persecutors; he languished in +severe pain, and in a state of indigence, till 1755, when +death put an end to his sufferings.</p> + +<p>A doom still more severe than that of La Bourdonnais +was assigned to the unfortunate Count Lally. +Thomas Arthur Lally was born in 1702, and was the +son of Sir Gerard Lally, one of those high-minded but +mistaken Irishmen, whose ideas of duty led them to +expatriate themselves rather than renounce their allegiance +to the second James. Young Lally was early +conversant with war; he was not twelve years old +when he first mounted guard, in the trenches before +Barcelona. In the course of the next thirty years, he +distinguished himself in numerous battle fields, particularly +at Dettingen and Fontenoy, and was employed +in missions to England and Russia, the former of +which, not a little perilous, was undertaken in 1737, +for the service of the Stuart family. To the house of +Hanover he was an inveterate foe, and he was fertile +in plans for its overthrow. On the breaking out of +the war between England and France in 1756, he was +made a lieutenant-general, and appointed commandant +of all the French establishments in Hindostan. Unfortunately +for him, the government unwisely delayed +his departure, and withdrew a part of the force which +had been intended to accompany him. When he +reached Pondicherry he found everything in confusion, +none of the resources which he had expected to find, +and, worse than all, men in office who knew that he +meant to punish peculators, and who were therefore +incessantly on the alert to thwart all his plans. Their +machinations were aided by his own defects; for he +was harsh, violent, and headstrong, in an extraordinary +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_371">[371]</span>degree. Voltaire says of him, that “he had +found the secret of making himself hated by everybody,” +and that “every one, except the executioner, +had a right to kill him.” There is much exaggeration +in this; but it is certain that Lally was, and deserved +to be, an unpopular man.</p> + +<p>In spite of the scantiness of his means, Lally took +the field against the English, with a firm resolve to +drive them out of India. His first operations were +successful. He made himself master of Goudalour, +Fort St. David, and Devicotta, but here his good fortune +ended; he was foiled in an attack on Tanjore, +and was subsequently compelled to raise the siege of +Madras. His failure must not be attributed to want of +military skill; he was nearly without resources, and +there was in his own army a powerful faction which +was hostile to him. The council of Pondicherry, too, +hated him with such a deadly hatred that it rejoiced in, +and even helped to cause, his disappointments. Invested +at last in Pondicherry by the English, he defended the +place with desperate courage, but was compelled by +famine to surrender.</p> + +<p>On his return to France, Lally attacked his enemies +with his wonted impetuosity. Their influence, however, +was superior to his, and he was sent to the +Bastile. Nineteen months elapsed before he was even +questioned. The trial was at last commenced, and it +occupied more than two years. The whole of the +proceedings teemed with the most flagrant injustice; +there was a manifest determination to send the prisoner +to the scaffold. The language used by some of +his judges deserved the severest punishment. Sentence +of death was pronounced on the 6th May, 1766. +On its being made known to him, Lally stabbed himself +with a pair of compasses, but the wound was not +mortal. Three days afterwards, he was taken to execution, +and, that nothing might be wanting to lacerate +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_372">[372]</span>his feelings, he was conveyed in a mud-cart, and his +mouth was gagged. This brutality had a contrary +effect to that which was expected; it excited for him +the sympathy of the spectators, and covered his enemies +with execration and disgrace. The son of Count Lally, +advantageously known during the revolution as Count +Lally-Tolendal, obtained, some years afterwards, a +solemn reversal of the sentence, and the restoration of +his parent’s honour.</p> + +<p>Caradeuc de la Chalotais, a Breton magistrate, +estimable for his talents and rectitude, is the next +who comes forward on the scene. He appears to +have been indebted for his misfortunes partly to +the Jesuits, whose order he had assisted to suppress +in France, and partly to the Duke d’Aiguillon, +whom he had offended, by venturing to hint a +doubt of his courage. He was a native of Rennes, +born in 1701, and became attorney-general in the +parliament of Brittany. His two Comptes Rendus, +against the Jesuits, which contributed much to +their overthrow, and his Essay on National Education, +which forms a kind of supplement to them, +are spoken of in the most laudatory terms by +Voltaire. La Chalotais subsequently acted a conspicuous +part, when the parliament of Brittany +refused to register some of the royal edicts, which +violated the Breton privileges. The Duke d’Aiguillon +was then governor of the province, and we +may believe that he was not sorry to take vengeance +for the sarcasm which the attorney-general +had aimed at him. The Jesuits, too, are said to +have spared no pains to accomplish their enemy’s +destruction. In November, 1765, La Chalotais, +his son, and four of the parliament counsellors, +were arrested, and in the following month, they +were placed in close confinement in the citadel of +St. Malo. The main charges against La Chalotais +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_373">[373]</span>were, that he had written two anonymous +letters to one of the secretaries of state, which +contained insults upon the king and his ministers, +and that he had entered into a conspiracy against +the regal authority. With respect to the letters, +though some persons accustomed to examine handwritings +asserted them to be his, the vulgar style +and incorrect spelling render it in the highest +degree improbable that he was their author. He +himself denied the charge in the most emphatic +manner. La Chalotais was carefully secluded from +all correspondence, and deprived of pen and ink; +he, nevertheless, contrived to produce three eloquent +memorials in his defence, and to procure +a wide circulation of them. They were written +on scraps of paper which had contained sugar and +chocolate, with a pen made from a toothpick, and +ink composed of soot, sugar, vinegar, and water. A +commission was at first formed to try the prisoners, +but the cause was afterwards removed into the +council of state, and the captives were transferred +to the Bastile. A stop was, however, put to the +proceedings by the king, and the accused individuals +were exiled to Saintes. An attempt was +made to prevail on La Chalotais to resign his +office, but he refused to listen to the messenger. +On the death of Louis XV. his successor allowed +La Chalotais to resume his seat in parliament, and +the magistrate retained it till his decease in 1785.</p> + +<p>The celebrated Curran, whose conversational +talents no one that witnessed them could possibly +forget, once said to me, in allusion to the transient +intoxication produced by champagne, that it made +a runaway rap at a man’s head. It may, perhaps, +from a similar reason, be allowable to say, that a +runaway rap was made at the liberty of the person +who is the subject of this sketch. Francis Louis +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_374">[374]</span>Marin had scarcely time to lament the loss of his +liberty before it was restored to him. Marin was a +Provençal, born at Ciotat, in 1721; after having +been a chorister, and then an organist, he adopted +the clerical profession, and went to Paris, where +he became tutor to the son of a nobleman. His +manner and figure, which were good, and his talents, +which were far from contemptible, gained him many +patrons in the French capital. He now quitted his +ecclesiastical pursuits, was admitted a barrister, and +published various works, one of which, the History +of Saladin, is perhaps the best of all his productions, +and is still in repute; it was dedicated to St. Florentin, +one of the ministers, and gained for its author +the appointment of royal censor, to which was subsequently +added that of secretary-general to Sartine, +who had been placed at the head of the inquisitorial +office, to which printers and publishers were +amenable. As secretary-general he seems to have +satisfied no one; he was desirous of befriending +the philosophical party, in which he had several +friends, but was still more desirous of retaining +his lucrative post. The consequence was, that he +sometimes winked at, and even aided, infractions of +the law, and then sought to propitiate his employers +by additional vigilance and severity. Marin was +certainly not overburthened with delicacy; and, unless +he is much belied, he increased his income by +acting as purveyor to the disgraceful amours of his +royal master. In 1763, he was confined for twenty-four +hours in the Bastile, for having, in his censorial +character, neglected to expunge some lines from one +of Dorat’s tragedies. A few years afterwards, he was +deprived of a pension of 2000 livres, because he had +allowed Favart’s comic opera of the Gleaner to be +acted and published. In 1771, he was made editor of +the Gazette de France, in which capacity he brought +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_375">[375]</span>upon himself a perpetual shower of epigrams and +sarcasms. Many of these annoying shafts were +aimed at him by the Nouvelles à la Main, and he +had the weakness to demand that the editor of the +paper should be arrested. He had soon the misfortune +or the folly to provoke a much more formidable +enemy, the witty and eloquent Beaumarchais, +who covered him with ridicule. To complete +his vexation, no long time elapsed before the +Count de Vergennes dismissed him, and in the most +humiliating manner, from the royal censorship and +the superintendence of the Gazette. Marin then retired +to his native town, where he busied himself +in literary pursuits. By the revolution he lost a +considerable part of his income; but to his credit it +must be owned, that he did not lose his temper or his +spirits; he died in 1809. Marin had some praiseworthy +qualities; he is said to have been ready to +do acts of kindness, and even to have often run +serious risks to serve his friends. But here we must +stop, for it appears that his principles and his morals +were lamentably defective; one of his biographers, +who writes of him in a friendly spirit, owns that in +extreme old age he had “a taste for pleasure, and +even for libertinism.”</p> + +<p>Less fortunate than Marin, Farmain De Rozoi, or, +as he was generally called Durosoi, did not pay +a visit of only twenty-four hours to the Bastile. +Durosoi was a Parisian by birth, and seems to +have early betaken himself to “the idle trade” of +literature. He tried many kinds of authorship, and +was far below mediocrity in all; novels, histories, +poems, and plays, especially the latter, he poured +forth in rapid succession, drawing down abundance of +bitter sarcasms from the critics, and gaining little +emolument to himself. Among the dramatic subjects +which he chose was Henry IV., and he was so delighted +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_376">[376]</span>with his hero, that he brought him on the +stage in three different pieces. The appellation of +“the Modern Ravaillac,” which he acquired by these +pieces, shows how woefully the monarch fared under +his hands. But Durosoi had worse enemies than +the critics; on an erroneous suspicion of his being +the author of two obnoxious works, he was shut up +for two months in the Bastile. When the revolution +broke out he espoused the royal cause, and +became editor of the Gazette de Paris. He was a +zealous and certainly an honest advocate of that +cause. Though slenderly endowed with talents, he +was by no means deficient in courage and noble +feelings. When Louis XVI., after his flight to the +frontier, was under restraint in the Tuileries, Durosoi +formed the romantic but generous project of +obtaining the king’s liberty, by inducing the friends +of Louis to offer themselves as hostages for him; +and a great number of individuals actually consented +to render themselves personally responsible for the +sovereign’s conduct. Durosoi did not slacken in his +hostility to the revolutionists, till their final success +on the 10th of August compelled him to drop the +pen. He was one of their earliest victims on the +scaffold, he being executed by torch-light only nineteen +days after the downfall of the monarchy. He +died with the utmost firmness; in a letter which he +left behind him, he declared, that “a royalist like +him was worthy to die on St. Louis’s day, for his +religion and his king.” It is said that, with the +laudable desire of benefiting mankind by his death, +he was desirous that his blood should be employed in +trying the experiment of transfusion.</p> + +<p>The French revolution, which ultimately consigned +Durosoi to death, opened the prison-gates +of a man, of whom few particulars are recorded, but +whose courage and unmerited sufferings deserve our +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_377">[377]</span>admiration and pity. It will scarcely be credited +that, from a very early period of the reign of Louis +XV. there existed an infamous monopoly of grain, +which was managed for the benefit of the monarch. +Corn, bought at a low price in plentiful seasons, +was hoarded up, and sold at an immense profit in +times of scarcity. The circumstance was kept as +secret as possible for many years, but the truth got +out, and the name of “the compact of famine” was +popularly given to the monopoly. A patriotic individual, +Prévost de Beaumont, the secretary of the +clergy, formed the daring project of at one sweep +gaining possession of all the documents relative to this +affair, and revealing to France the whole machinery +of the scandalous system. When, however, he was +about to carry his plan into effect, he was seized by +the police, and conveyed to the Bastile. In that prison, +and at Vincennes, he spent twenty-two years, his +hands and feet heavily ironed, a bare board for his bed, +and a scanty portion of bread and water for his daily +subsistence; he would no doubt have perished in his +dungeon, had not the chains which he had so long +worn been broken by the strong hand of the French +people.</p> + +<p>A striking proof how liable to abuse is irresponsible +power, placed in the hands of ministers of state and of +monopolizing corporations, is afforded by the persecution +of Barletti St. Paul, a man of considerable +abilities, who was born at Paris, in 1734. So precocious +was his talent, that, at the age of sixteen, he +had made himself master of all that the best teachers +could communicate to him. After having been for +a while sub-preceptor of the junior branches of the +royal family, he was involved in a quarrel, in consequence +of which he quitted France. He resided for +six years at Naples, after which he was intrusted by +the Dauphin with a diplomatic mission at Rome; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_378">[378]</span>and, when he had fulfilled this mission, he returned to +his native country.</p> + +<p>Rapidly as St. Paul had acquired knowledge, he +was thoroughly dissatisfied with the method of instruction +then in use, and particularly with the various and +discordant systems which were followed by preceptors. +He, therefore, undertook the Herculean task of forming +a collection of elementary treatises on the sciences +and arts, with new modes of studying languages. On +this encyclopedic labour he was, at intervals, employed +during nearly the whole of his life. Eighteen volumes +of it were completed, and he was on the point of seeing +them brought before the public, when his prospects +were destroyed by the base jealousy of one learned +body, and the legal despotism of another. As the +cost of printing the work would be great, a society of +his friends was formed, for the purpose of accomplishing +the publication in concert, and a public meeting +was announced, to deliberate on the necessary arrangements. +But the University of Paris had taken the +alarm. Like all old and pampered institutions, it +hated novelty, and trembled lest its monopoly should +be shaken. To avert the dreaded evil, it had recourse +to the parliament; and the compliant parliament +issued a prohibition against the meeting. This step was +backed by the appointment of four commissioners to +examine the work. It did not require the spirit of +prophecy to predict that commissioners, chosen under +such auspices, would be anything but impartial. The +hackneyed joke, of suing his Satanic majesty in one of +the infernal courts, is pretty sure to be realised on +such occasions. The report which they made was so +unfavourable, that a complete stop was put to the +scheme of publishing. St. Paul did not tamely submit +to this treatment. He procured to be printed, at +Brussels, a pamphlet, which was entitled The Secret +Revealed. Sartine, the minister of police, who had +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_379">[379]</span>been one of his active enemies, was somewhat roughly +handled in this production. The king of spies, jails, +and gibbets, was not a man to be attacked with impunity, +and he avenged himself in a manner which +was worthy of him, by suppressing the pamphlet, and +sending its author to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>At the expiration of three months, the intercession +of the Cardinal de Rohan obtained the liberation of +St. Paul. He then went to Spain, where he became +professor of belles-lettres at Segovia; an appointment +which he held for three years. Returning again to +France, he published a New System of Typography, +to diminish the labour of compositors. For this the +government rewarded him by a grant of twenty thousand +livres, and by printing five hundred copies of his +volume at the Louvre press. His improvement consisted +in casting in one mass the diphthongs, triphthongs, +and all the most frequently occurring combinations +of letters. A similar plan, with the name of +the Logographic, was tried in London, a few years +afterwards, but it was soon abandoned.</p> + +<p>St. Paul continued to labour indefatigably on his +ameliorated system of education; he gained in its +favour the suffrage of Sicard, who was one of three +persons whom the National Institute nominated to +examine it; but he did not live to complete it, and +only a small specimen of it was ever published. He +passed unhurt through the storms of the Revolution, +and died at Paris, in 1809. One of his best works, +“The means of avoiding the customary errors in the +instruction of Youth,” suggests a mode by which two +scholars may reciprocally give lessons to each other.</p> + +<p>Almost the last prisoner, perhaps the last of any +note, who was committed to the Bastile in the closing +year of Louis the Fifteenth’s reign, was a man who +subsequently acted a conspicuous part in politics and +war. Charles Francis Duperier Dumouriez, born at +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_380">[380]</span>Cambray, in 1739, was the son of an army commissary, +who translated the Ricciardetto, and wrote some +dramatic pieces. After having been educated with +much care, Dumouriez obtained a cornetcy, and, before +the close of the seven years’ war, he had received +two-and-twenty wounds, nineteen of which were inflicted +on him in a combat which he gallantly maintained +against twenty hussars, five of whom he disabled. +Peace being concluded, he travelled in Italy, +Spain, and Portugal. In 1768 and 1769, he served +with distinction in Corsica, and rose to the rank of +colonel. The Duke de Choiseul employed him, in +1770, on a mission in Poland, to support the confederation +of Bar against the Russians, but the dismissal +of the duke, which took place soon after, led to the +recall of the envoy. Dumouriez was next intrusted, +by Louis XV., with a secret mission to the court of +Gustavus of Sweden, relative to the revolution which +that sovereign was then planning. This was done by +Louis, who was in the habit of taking similar steps, +without the knowledge of the Duke d’Aiguillon, the +minister for foreign affairs. Dumouriez was, in consequence, +arrested at Hamburgh, by order of the duke, +and conveyed to the Bastile, Louis not having spirit +enough to avow his own acts. During his six months’ +imprisonment, Dumouriez wrote various works. The +accession of Louis XVI. restored the captive to liberty; +and he successively obtained the government of Cherbourg, +and the command of the country between Nantes +and Bordeaux. That such a man should not take an +active part in the French revolution was impossible. +But Dumouriez was not, as the ultra-royalists have +unjustly described him to be, an enemy of the throne; +he was, in truth, a constitutional royalist. In 1792, +he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, +and was appointed minister for foreign affairs, from +which office he was shortly afterwards removed to the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_381">[381]</span>war department. That department, however, he held +only for four days, at the end of which term he resigned. +The duration of his official existence did not +exceed three months. He was now placed at the +head of the army which was destined to repel the +Prussians, who were led by the Duke of Brunswick. +By a masterly disposition of his troops, in the defiles +of Champagne, he completely foiled the enemy, and +compelled them to make a ruinous retreat. He then +broke into the Netherlands, gained the battle of +Jemappe, revolutionized the whole country, and carried +the French arms into Holland. Quitting his +army for a while, he visited Paris, for the purpose of +endeavouring to save the king, but in that he failed, +and rendered himself an object of suspicion. The +tide of military success, too, at length began to turn +against him. He lost the battle of Neerwinden, and +was forced to abandon the Low Countries. Commissioners +were now sent by the Convention to arrest +him; and, after having vainly endeavoured to rally +his army on his side, he was obliged to seek for safety +in flight. After having resided in various foreign +countries, he finally settled in England, where he was +often consulted by the ministers. Though he was +decidedly hostile to the emperor Napoleon, he took +no share in the restoration of the Bourbons, nor did +he approve of their conduct. Dumouriez died on the +14th of March, 1823, and was interred at Henley, in +Oxfordshire. His works are numerous; the most +interesting of them are, his Memoirs, and the Present +State of Portugal.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_382">[382]</span></p> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<p>Captivity and Sufferings of Masers de Latude—Cause of his Imprisonment—He +is removed from the Bastile to Vincennes—He +escapes—He is retaken, and sent to the Bastile—Kindness of +M. Berryer—D’Alegre is confined in the same apartment with +him—Latude forms a plan for escaping—Preparations for executing +it—The Prisoners descend from the summit of the Bastile, +and escape—They are recaptured in Holland, and brought +back—Latude is thrown into a horrible dungeon—He tames +rats, and makes a musical pipe—Plans suggested by him—His +writing materials—He attempts suicide—Pigeons tamed by him—New +plans suggested by him—Finds means to fling a packet of +papers from the top of the Bastile—He is removed to Vincennes—He +escapes—Is recaptured—Opens a communication with his +fellow-prisoners—Is transferred to Charenton—His situation +there—His momentary liberation—He is re-arrested, and sent to +the Bicêtre—Horrors of that prison—Heroic benevolence of +Madame Legros—She succeeds in obtaining his release—Subsequent +fate of Latude.</p> + +</div> + +<p>In one of the finest passages that ever flowed from his +pen, Sterne alludes to the comparatively trifling effect +produced on the mind, when it endeavours to form a +collective idea of the misery which is felt by a throng +of sufferers. “Leaning my head upon my hand,” +says he, “I began to figure to myself the miseries of +confinement. I was in a right frame for it, and so I +gave full scope to my imagination.</p> + +<p>“I was going to begin with the millions of my fellow-creatures +born to no inheritance but slavery; but +finding, however affecting the picture was, that I could +not bring it near me, but that the multitude of groups +in it did but distract me, I took a single captive, and +having first shut him up in his dungeon, I then looked +through the twilight of his grated door to take his +picture.</p> + +<p>“I beheld his body half wasted away with long +expectation and confinement, and felt what sickness of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_383">[383]</span>the heart it was which arises from hope deferred. +Upon looking nearer, I saw him pale and feverish; in +thirty years the western breeze had not once fanned +his blood; he had seen no sun, no moon, in all that +time—nor had the voice of friend or kinsman breathed +through his lattice.”</p> + +<p>It is even as Sterne asserts. The contemplation of +the woes which are undergone by a large aggregate of +persons, seems indeed to act on the mind somewhat +in the manner of a heavy misfortune; it bewilders +and benumbs the feelings. When we read of a single +individual falling beneath the knife of a murderer, we +are more violently startled and thrilled, and the impression +made is more permanent, than when we read +of the thousands who groan out their lives on the field +of battle; though, in the latter case, the largest part +of the victims, mutilated, torn, trampled on, and slowly +dying without succour, and distant from all that is +dear to them, endure agonies far beyond those which +are inflicted by the stab of an assassin.</p> + +<p>Let us, therefore, now follow the example of Sterne. +Hitherto the reader has seen only a rapid succession +of captives passing before him, like the shadows of +a magic lantern; he has had but glimpses of the +wretchedness that falls to the lot of a prisoner; for, +with respect to nearly the whole of the individuals +chronicled in this volume, we know, as to their situation +while in durance, little beyond the circumstance +of their having been incarcerated; their persecutors +ensured their silence by retaining them till they sunk +into the grave, or by the terror of becoming once +more inmates of a dungeon. While the Bastile was +standing, few would venture even to whisper what they +had experienced within its walls. Fortunately, however, +there does exist one faithful record of the severest +woes, protracted by untirable tormentors, through a +series of years, extending to half the natural life of man. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_384">[384]</span>Let us then avail ourselves of it, fix our attention +steadily on a single individual, watch his anguish, +bodily and mental, his privations, his struggles, and his +despair, and mark how deeply the iron can be made to +enter into his soul by vindictive and ruthless tyrants.</p> + +<p>Henry Masers de Latude, the person alluded to, +spent thirty-five years in the Bastile and other places +of confinement. If we did not know that power, when +it is held by the base-minded, is exercised by them +without mercy, to punish whoever offends them, we +might suppose that Latude brought his long agonies +upon himself by the commission of some enormous +crime. That he committed a fault is undeniable, and +it was a fault of that sort which most disgusts high-spirited +men, because it bears the stamp of meanness +and fraud. It deserved a sharp reprimand, perhaps +even a moderate chastisement; but no heart that was +not as hard as the nether millstone, could have made +it a pretext for the infliction of such lengthened misery +as he was doomed to undergo.</p> + +<p>Latude, who was in his twenty-fifth year when his +misfortunes began, was the son of the Marquis de +Latude, a military officer, and was born in Languedoc. +He was intended for the engineer service, but the +peace of Aix-la-Chapelle prevented him from being +enrolled. The notorious Marchioness de Pompadour, +who united in herself the double demerit of being the +royal harlot and procuress, was then in the zenith of +her power, and was as much detested by the people as +she was favoured by the sovereign. As Latude was +one day sitting in the garden of the Tuileries, he +heard two men vehemently inveighing against her; +and a thought struck him, that, by turning this circumstance +to account, he might obtain her patronage. +His plan was a clumsy one, and it was clumsily executed. +He began by putting into the post-office a +packet of harmless powder, directed to the marchioness; +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_385">[385]</span>he then waited on her, related the conversation which +he had overheard, said that he had seen them put a +packet into the post-office, and expressed his fears that +it contained some extremely subtle poison. She offered +him a purse of gold, but he refused it, and declared +that he was only desirous of being rewarded by her +protection. Suspicious of his purpose, she wished to +see his handwriting; and therefore, under pretence of +intending to communicate with him, she asked for his +address. He wrote it, and, unfortunately for him, he +wrote it in the same hand in which he had directed +the pretended poison. He was then graciously dismissed. +The sameness of the writing, and the result +of the experiments which she ordered to be made on +the contents of the packet, convinced her that the +whole was a fraud. It is scarcely possible not to smile +at the blundering folly of the youthful impostor; had +he sent real poison, and disguised his handwriting, he +would perhaps have succeeded.</p> + +<p>But this proved to be no laughing matter to the +luckless Latude. The marchioness looked upon the +trick as an unpardonable insult, and she was not slow +in revenging it. In the course of a few days, while +he was indulging in golden dreams, he was painfully +awoke from them by the appearance of the officers of +justice. They carried him to the Bastile, and there +he was stripped, deprived of his money, jewels, and +papers, clothed in wretched rags, and shut up in +the Tower du Coin. On the following day, the 2nd +of May, 1749, he was interrogated by M. Berryer, the +lieutenant of police. Unlike many of his class, Berryer +was a man of feeling; he promised to intercede +for him with the marchioness, and, in the meanwhile, +he endeavoured to make him as comfortable as a man +could be who was robbed of his liberty. To make the +time pass less heavily, he gave him a comrade, a Jew, +a man of abilities, Abuzaglo by name, who was accused +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_386">[386]</span>of being a secret British agent. The two captives +soon became friends; Abuzaglo had hopes of speedy +liberation through the influence of the Prince of Conti, +and he promised to obtain the exercise of that influence +in behalf of his companion. Latude, on his part, in +case of his being first released, bound himself to +strain every nerve to rescue Abuzaglo.</p> + +<p>Ever on the listen to catch the conversation of the +prisoners, the jailors appear to have obtained a knowledge +of the hopes and reciprocal engagements of the +friends. When Latude had been four months at the +Bastile, three turnkeys entered, and said that an order +was come to set him free. Abuzaglo embraced him, +and conjured him to remember his promise. But no +sooner had the joyful Latude crossed the threshold of +his prison, than he was told that he was only going to +be removed to Vincennes. Abuzaglo was liberated +shortly after; but believing that Latude was free, and +had broken his word to him, he ceased to take an +interest in his fate.</p> + +<p>It is not wonderful that the health of Latude gave +way under the pressure of grief and disappointment. +M. Berryer came to console him, removed him to the +most comfortable apartment in the castle, and allowed +him to walk daily for two hours in the garden. But +he did not conceal that the marchioness was inflexible, +and in consequence of this, the captive, who felt a +prophetic fear that he was destined to perpetual imprisonment, +resolved to make an attempt to escape. +Nearly nine months elapsed before he could find an +opportunity to carry his plan into effect. The moment +at length arrived. One of his fellow-prisoners, an ecclesiastic, +was frequently visited by an abbé; and this +circumstance he made the basis of his project. To +succeed, it was necessary for him to elude the vigilance +of two turnkeys, who guarded him when he walked, +and of four sentinels, who watched the outer doors, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_387">[387]</span>and this was no easy matter. Of the turnkeys, one +often waited in the garden, while the other went to +fetch the prisoner. Latude began by accustoming the +second turnkey to see him hurry down stairs, and join +the first in the garden. When the day came on which +he was determined to take flight, he, as usual, passed +rapidly down the stairs without exciting any suspicion, +his keeper having no doubt that he should find him in +the garden. At the bottom was a door, which he +hastily bolted to prevent the second turnkey from +giving the alarm to his companion. Successful thus +far, he knocked at the gate which led out of the castle. +It was opened, and, with an appearance of much +eagerness, he asked for the abbé, and was answered +that the sentinel had not seen him. “Our priest has +been waiting for him in the garden more than two +hours,” exclaimed Latude; “I have been running after +him in all directions to no purpose; but, egad, he shall +pay me for my running!” He was allowed to pass; +he repeated the same inquiry to the three other sentinels, +received similar answers, and at last found himself +beyond his prison walls. Avoiding as much as +possible the high road, he traversed the fields and +vineyards, and finally reached Paris, where he shut +himself up in a retired lodging.</p> + +<p>In the first moments of recovered liberty, the feelings +of Latude were those of unmixed pleasure. They +were, however, soon alloyed by doubt, apprehension, +and anxiety. What was he to do? whither was he +to fly? To remain concealed was impossible, and, +even had it been possible, would have been only another +kind of captivity; to fly from the kingdom was +nearly, if not quite as difficult; and, besides, he was +reluctant to give up the gaieties of the capital and his +prospects of advancement. In this dilemma he romantically +determined to throw himself upon the generosity +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_388">[388]</span>of his persecutor. “I drew up,” says he, “a memorial, +which I addressed to the king. I spoke in it of +Madame de Pompadour with respect, and on my fault +towards her with repentance. I entreated she would +be satisfied with the punishment I had undergone; or, +if fourteen months’ imprisonment had not expiated my +offence, I ventured to implore the clemency of her I +had offended, and threw myself on the mercy of my +sovereign. I concluded my memorial by naming the +asylum I had chosen.” To use such language was, +indeed, sounding “the very base-string of humility.”</p> + +<p>This appeal of the sheep to the wolf was answered +in a wolf-like manner. Latude was arrested without +delay, and immured in the Bastile. It was a part of +the tactics of the prison to inspire hopes, for the purpose +of adding the pain of disappointment to the other +sufferings of a prisoner. He was accordingly told +that he was taken into custody merely to ascertain by +what means he had escaped. He gave a candid account +of the stratagem to which he had resorted; but, +instead of being set free, as he had foolishly expected, +he was thrown into a dungeon, and subjected to the +harshest treatment.</p> + +<p>Again his compassionate friend, the lieutenant of +police, came to his relief. He could not release him +from his dungeon, but did all that lay in his power to +render it less wearisome. He condoled with him; tried, +but in vain, to soften his tormentor; and, as a loop-hole +in the vault admitted light enough to allow of +reading, he ordered him to be supplied with books, +pens, ink, and paper. For six months these resources +enabled Latude to bear his fate with some degree of +fortitude. His patience was then exhausted, and he +gave way to rage and despair, in the paroxysms of +which he vented his angry feelings in epigrams and +satirical verses. One of these compositions, which is +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_389">[389]</span>certainly not deficient in bitterness, he was imprudent +enough to write on the margin of a book which had +been lent to him—</p> + +<div class="poetry-container"> + <div class="poetry"> + <div class="stanza"> + <div class="verse indent0">“With no wit or allurements to tempt man to sin,</div> + <div class="verse indent2">With no beauty and no virgin treasure in store,</div> + <div class="verse indent0">In France you the highest of lovers may win—</div> + <div class="verse indent2">For a proof do you ask? Then behold Pompadour.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p>Latude had taken the precaution to write this in a +feigned hand; but he was not aware, that, whenever +a prisoner returned a book, every page of it was carefully +examined. The jailers discovered the epigram, +and took the volume to John Lebel, the governor, who +dutifully hastened to lay it before the mistress of the +king. The fury of the marchioness was extreme. +Sending for M. Berryer, she exclaimed to him, in a +voice half smothered with passion, “See here! learn +to know the man for whom you are so much interested, +and dare again to solicit my clemency!”</p> + +<p>Eighteen dreary months passed away, during which +Latude was strictly confined to his dungeon, scarcely +hearing the sound of a human voice. At last M. +Berryer took upon himself the responsibility of removing +him to a better apartment, and even allowing +him to have the attendance of a servant. A young +man, named Cochar, was found willing to undertake +the monotonous and soul-depressing task of being domestic +to a prisoner. He was gentle and sympathising, +and in so far was qualified for his office; but he had +miscalculated his own strength, and the weight of the +burden which he was to bear. He drooped, and in a +short time he was stretched on the bed of mortal sickness. +Fresh air and liberty might have saved him. +Those, however, he could not obtain; for it was a rule +that the fate of any one who entered into the service +of a prisoner became linked with that of his master, +and that he must not expect to quit the Bastile till his +employer was set at large. It was not till Cochar was +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_390">[390]</span>expiring, that the jailers would so much as consent to +remove him from the chamber of Latude. Within +three months from his entrance into the Bastile, he +ceased to exist.</p> + +<p>Latude was inconsolable for the loss of the poor +youth, who had always endeavoured to comfort him, +as long as he had spirits to do so. To mitigate his +grief, M. Berryer obtained for him the society of a +fellow-captive, who could scarcely fail to have a perfect +communion of feeling with him. This new associate, +D’Alegre by name, was about his own age, full +of activity, spirit, and talent, and had committed the +irremissible crime of offending the Marchioness de +Pompadour. Taking it for granted that she was reclaimable, +though on what ground he did so it would +be difficult to discover, he had written to her a letter, +in which he apprised her of the public hatred, and +pointed out the means by which he thought she might +remove it, and become an object of affection. For +giving this advice, he had already spent three years +within the walls of the Bastile. Yet his woes were +now only beginning. The unfortunate D’Alegre had +ample cause to lament his having forgotten the scriptural +injunction, not to cast pearls before swine.</p> + +<p>M. Berryer took the same warm interest in D’Alegre +as in Latude. He was indefatigable in his exertions +to obtain their pardon, and for a while he flattered +himself that he should succeed. At last, wearied by +his importunity, the marchioness vowed that her vengeance +should be eternal, and she commanded him +never again to mention their names. He was, therefore, +obliged to communicate to them the melancholy +tidings, that their chains could be broken only by her +disgrace or death.</p> + +<p>D’Alegre was almost overwhelmed by the first shock +of this intelligence; it inspired Latude, on the contrary, +with a sort of insane energy, and his mind immediately +began to revolve projects of escape. The +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_391">[391]</span>very idea of escaping would seem to be indicative of +madness; egress through the gates, tenfold guarded as +they were, was utterly impossible, and to ascend to +the summit of the lofty tower, which must be done +through the grated chimney, then to descend from the +dizzy height into the ditch, and, lastly, to break through +or climb the outward wall, appeared to be equally impracticable. +Yet, with no apparent means of accomplishing +his purpose, Latude firmly made up his mind +to try the latter plan. He had two things in his favour, +time and perseverance, and their sovereign efficacy has +often been proved.</p> + +<p>When Latude mentioned to him his scheme, D’Alegre +considered it as little better than the ravings of delirium. +Latude, however, continued to meditate deeply +upon it, though in silence. The first step towards the +execution of it, without the success of which no other +could be taken, was to find a hiding-place for the tools +and materials which must be employed. From his being +unable to hear any of the movements of the prisoner +in the chamber below, Latude concluded that there was +a space between the floor of his own room and the ceiling +of his neighbour’s, and he immediately set himself to +ascertain whether this was the fact. As he was returning +with D’Alegre from mass, he contrived that his fellow-prisoner +should drop his toothpick to the bottom +of the stairs, and request the turnkey to pick it up. +While the turnkey was descending, Latude looked +into the under chamber, and estimated its height at +about ten feet and a half. He then counted the number +of stairs between the two rooms, measured one +of them, and found, to his infinite delight, that there +must be a vacancy of five feet and a half between the +bottom of the one room and the top of the other.</p> + +<p>As soon as they were locked in, Latude embraced +D’Alegre, and exclaimed that, with patience and courage, +they might be saved, now that they had a spot +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_392">[392]</span>where they could conceal their ropes and materials. +At the mention of ropes, D’Alegre thought that his +companion’s wits were wandering, and, when he heard +him assert, that he had more than a thousand feet of +rope in his trunk, he felt sure that the assertion was +prompted by madness. “What!” said Latude, “have +I not a vast quantity of linen⁠<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>—thirteen dozen and a +half of shirts—many napkins, stockings, nightcaps, +and other articles? Will not these supply us? We +will unravel them, and we shall have abundance of +rope.”</p> + +<p>D’Alegre began to have a gleam of hope, but he +still started numerous difficulties, among which were +the want of wood for ladders, and of tools to make +them, and to wrench the iron gratings from the chimney. +Latude silenced him by replying, “My friend, +it is genius which creates, and we have that which +despair supplies. It will direct our hands; and once +more I tell you, we shall be saved.”</p> + +<p>Their first essay in tool-making was to grind down +to an edge, on the tiled floor, two iron hooks, taken +from a folding table; with these they meant to remove +the chimney gratings. The next was to convert a +part of the steel of their tinder-box into a knife, with +which they made handles for the hooks. The hooks +were immediately applied to raise the tiles, in order to +find whether there was really a cavity beneath. After +six hours’ toil, the prisoners found that there was an +empty space of about four feet, and, having gained this +satisfactory knowledge, they carefully replaced the +floor of their cell. The threads of two shirts were +then drawn out, one by one, tied together, wound into +small balls, and, subsequently, formed into two larger +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_393">[393]</span>balls, each composed of fifty threads, sixty feet in length. +These were ultimately twisted into a rope, from which +was made a ladder of twenty feet, intended to support +the captives, while they extracted the bars by which +the chimney was closed.</p> + +<p>The removal of the bars was a work of horrible +labour. Cramped into the most painful postures, it +was impossible for them to work more than an hour +at a stretch, and their hands were always covered with +blood. The mortar was nearly as hard as iron, they +had no means of softening it but by blowing water on +it from their mouths, and they thought themselves +lucky when they could clear away as much as an +eighth of an inch in the course of a night. As fast as +the bars were extracted they replaced them, that their +operations might not be betrayed. Six months’ unremitting +toil was bestowed upon this single object.</p> + +<p>Having opened the passage up the chimney, they +proceeded to construct their ladders. Their fuel, which +was in logs of about eighteen or twenty inches long, +supplied the rounds for the rope ladder, by which they +were to descend from the tower; and the whole of +that by which they were to scale the outward wall. +More tools being required to cut the wood, Latude +converted an iron candlestick into a saw, by notching +it with the remaining half of the steel which belonged +to the tinder-box. To this implement he afterwards +added others. They then set to work on their wooden +ladder, which it was necessary to make of the length +of twenty or five-and-twenty feet. It had only one +upright, three inches in diameter, through which the +rounds passed, each round projecting six inches on +either side; the pieces of which it consisted were joined +by mortises and tenons, and each joint was fastened +by two pegs, to keep them perpendicular. As fast as +the pieces were finished, the rounds were tied to them +with a string, that no mistake might occur when they +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_394">[394]</span>were put together in the dark. They were then carefully +hidden under the floor.</p> + +<p>As in case of the prison spies chancing to overhear +them talking about their employment, it was of +consequence to prevent their enemies from understanding +what was said, they invented a vocabulary of +names for all the tools and the portions of the apparatus. +For instance, the saw was <i>the monkey</i>, the reel +<i>Anubis</i>, the hooks <i>Tubal Cain</i>, the wooden ladder +<i>Jacob</i>, the rounds <i>sheep</i>, the ropes <i>doves</i>, a ball of +thread <i>the little brother</i>, and the knife <i>the puppy dog</i>; +the hole in which they concealed them was christened +<i>Polyphemus</i>.</p> + +<p>It now remained for them to make their principal +rope ladder. This was an arduous and almost endless +task, as it was more than a hundred and eighty feet +long, and, consequently, double that length of rope +was wanted. “We began,” says Latude, “by unravelling +all our linen, shirts, towels, nightcaps, stockings, +drawers, pocket-handkerchiefs,—every thing which +could supply thread or silk. When we had made a +ball, we hid it in <i>Polyphemus</i>; and when we had a +sufficient quantity, we employed a whole night in +twisting it into a rope, and I defy the most skilful +rope maker to have done it better.”</p> + +<p>There was still a pressing necessity for another enormous +quantity of rope. Along the upper part of the outside +of the Bastile ran a kind of cornice, which stood +out three or four feet beyond the wall. The effect of +this would be, to make the ladder hang loosely in the +air, and vibrate in such a terrific manner, that there +would be great danger of the captive who led the +way being precipitated headlong to the ground. To +avert this peril, they made a second rope, three hundred +and sixty feet long, to be tied round the person first +descending, and passed gradually through a sort of +block fixed above, in order to steady him. Shorter ropes +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_395">[395]</span>were also provided, to fasten the ladder to a cannon, +and for any other occasion that might occur. On +measuring the whole of their manufacture, they found +that it extended to more than fourteen hundred feet. +Two hundred and eight rounds were required for the +ladders, and, lest their knocking against the wall should +give the alarm, they covered them with the linings of +their morning gowns, waistcoats, and under waistcoats. +These last preparations for flight occupied +eighteen months.</p> + +<p>It had originally been their intention, after having +reached the ditch, to climb the parapet, and get into +the governor’s garden, and from thence descend into +the moat of the gate of St. Antoine. On consideration, +however, this plan was abandoned, because in +this part they would be more exposed than elsewhere +to be detected by the sentinels. It was therefore +deemed advisable, though the labour would be greatly +increased, to break a way through the wall which +divided the ditch of the Bastile from that of the St. +Antoine gate. Latude was of opinion that the mortar +of the wall on this side, having been weakened by frequent +floods, might be removed with comparative ease. +Two bars from the chimney were to be used as levers +to raise the stones, and an auger, to make holes for +the insertion of the bars, was fabricated out of a screw +from one of the bedsteads, to which a wooden cross +handle was added.</p> + +<p>All was now prepared for their flight, and they had +only to decide upon the day for attempting their +hazardous enterprise. The 25th of February, 1756, +was the day which they chose. A portmanteau was +filled with a change of clothes, the rounds were fastened +into the rope ladder, the wooden ladder was got +ready, the two crowbars were put into cases to prevent +them from clanging, and a bottle of brandy was +prudently added to their baggage, to hearten them +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_396">[396]</span>while they worked in the water—for the Seine had +overflowed, and at that moment there was from four +to five feet water in the moat of the Bastile, and ice +was floating upon it.</p> + +<p>Supper being over, and the turnkey having locked +them in for the night, the captives, doubtless with +throbbing hearts, began their operations. Latude was +the first to ascend the chimney. “I had the rheumatism +in my left arm,” says he, “but I thought little +of the pain, for I soon experienced one more severe.” +Before he reached the top, his knees and elbows were +so excoriated, that the blood ran down from them. +When he arrived at the summit, he let down a rope, +by means of which he successively drew up the portmanteau, +the ladders, and the other articles. The end +of the rope ladder he allowed to hang down, and the +upper part he fastened across the funnel with a large +wooden peg. D’Alegre was thus enabled to mount +with less difficulty than his predecessor had experienced.</p> + +<p>At last they breathed the free air of heaven on the +platform of the Bastile. As the du Trésor tower +appeared to be the most favourable for their descent, +they carried their apparatus thither. One end of the +rope ladder was made fast to a cannon, and it was gently +let down. The safety rope was next passed through +a firmly fixed block, and it was tied securely round +the body of Latude. The daring adventurer now commenced +his fearful descent of more than fifty yards; +D’Alegre meanwhile slowly letting out the rope. It +was well that they had taken this precaution; for, at +every step that he took, Latude swung so violently in +the air that it is probable he would have lost his hold, +had not the safety rope given him confidence. In +a few moments, which however must have seemed +hours, he reached the ditch unhurt. The portmanteau +and the other effects were then lowered to him, and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_397">[397]</span>he placed them on a spot to which the water had not +risen. D’Alegre himself followed; and, as Latude +applied all his strength to steady the ladder, the descent +of his companion was effected with less annoyance +and hazard than his own had been. That regret, +at being unable to carry away their ladder and implements, +should have found a place among the feelings +by which they were agitated, may at the first glance +seem strange, but was certainly not unnatural; articles +on which they had bestowed such persevering toil, +which had proved the instruments of their deliverance, +and were also the trophies of their triumph, they +must have regarded with something like affection.</p> + +<p>As they heard a sentinel pacing along at the distance +of ten yards, they were obliged finally to relinquish the +scheme of climbing the parapet, which they had still +cherished a hope of carrying into execution. There +was, therefore, no resource but to break a hole through +the wall. Accordingly they crossed the ditch of the +Bastile, to the spot where the wall separated it from +that of the St. Antoine gate. Unluckily, the ditch +had been deepened here, and the water, on which ice +was floating, was up to their arm-pits. They, nevertheless, +set to work with a vigour which can be inspired +only by circumstances like those under which they were +placed. Scarcely had they begun, when, about twelve +feet above their heads, they saw light cast upon them +from the lantern which was carried by a patrol major; +they were compelled instantly to put their heads +under water, and this they had to do several times in +the course of the night. The wall at which they +were working had a thickness of a yard and a half; +so that, although they plied their crowbars without +intermission, they were nine mortal hours in making a +hole of sufficient size for them to creep through. Their +task was ultimately achieved, they passed through the +aperture, and were now beyond the walls of their +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_398">[398]</span>prison. But even at this moment of exultation, they +had a narrow escape from perishing. In their way to +the road by which they were to go, there was an +aqueduct; it was not more than six feet wide, but it +had ten feet of water and two feet of mud. Into this +they stumbled. Fortunately, Latude did not lose his +upright position; having shaken off his companion, +who had mechanically grasped him, he scrambled up +the bank, and then drew out D’Alegre by the hair of +his head.</p> + +<p>The clock struck five as they entered the high road. +After having joyously clasped each other in a long and +close embrace, they dropped on their knees, and +poured forth fervent thanks to the Divine Being, who +had so miraculously aided them in their dangerous +undertaking. In consequence of the evaporation +which was taking place, they now began to feel more +acutely than when they were in the water the effects +of their immersion; their whole frame was rapidly +becoming rigid. They, therefore, drew a change of +clothes from the portmanteau; but they were so much +benumbed and exhausted, that neither of them could +dress without being assisted by his friend. When +they were somewhat recovered, they took a hackney-coach, +and eventually found shelter in the house of a +kind-hearted tailor, a native of Languedoc, who was +known to Latude.</p> + +<p>To gain strength after their toils, as well as to let +the hue and cry die away, the friends remained nearly +a month in concealment. It having been settled between +them that, in order to avoid being both caught at +once, they should quit the country separately, D’Alegre, +in the disguise of a peasant, set out on his journey to +Brussels. He reached that city in safety, and informed +Latude of his success. Furnished with a parish register +of his host, who was nearly of his own age, and +with some old papers relative to a lawsuit, and dressed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_399">[399]</span>as a servant, Latude departed. He went on foot a +few leagues from Paris, and then took the diligence +for Valenciennes. He was several times stopped, +searched, and questioned, and, on one occasion, was in +imminent danger of being detected. By dint, however, +of sticking to his story, that he was carrying +law papers to his master’s brother at Amsterdam, +he got safely to Valenciennes, at which town he removed +into the stage for Brussels. He was walking +when they reached the boundary post which marks the +frontier line of France and the Netherlands. “My +feelings,” says he, “got the better of my prudence; +I threw myself on the ground, and kissed it with transport. +At length, thought I, I can breathe without +fear! My companions, with astonishment, demanded +the cause of this extravagance. I pretended that, just +at the very moment, in a preceding year, I had escaped +a great danger, and that I always expressed my gratitude +to Providence by a similar prostration when the +day came round.”</p> + +<p>Latude had appointed D’Alegre to meet him at the +Hôtel de Coffi, in Brussels. Thither he went immediately +on his arrival; but there disappointment and +sorrow awaited him. The landlord at first denied any +knowledge of D’Alegre, and, when further pressed, +he hesitated, and became extremely embarrassed. This +was enough to convince the inquirer that his friend had +been seized; and the conviction was strengthened, by +his having heard nothing from him, though D’Alegre +knew the moment when his companion would reach +Brussels. As his friend could be arrested on the +Austrian territory, it was obvious that Latude could +not remain in it without danger; and, with a heavy +heart, he resolved to fly instantly from this inhospitable +soil. He secured a place in the canal boat, +which was that night to proceed to Antwerp. In the +course of the voyage, he learned the fatal truth from a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_400">[400]</span>fellow-passenger. He was told, that one of the two +prisoners, escaped from the Bastile, had arrived at +the Hôtel de Coffi, had been apprehended by a police +officer, and had been ultimately sent under a strong +escort to Lille, and there delivered into the custody +of a French exempt; and, moreover, that all this +was kept as secret as possible, in order not to alarm +the other fugitive, the search after whom was carried +on with such activity that he must inevitably fall into +the hands of his pursuers.</p> + +<p>Believing that, if he went on immediately to Amsterdam +he would find there an officer of the police +waiting to seize him, he directed his steps to Bergen-op-Zoom. +But now another trouble fell upon him. He +had nearly exhausted his scanty stock of money, and +had not found at Brussels a remittance which he expected +from his father; he afterwards learned that it +had been intercepted by the French exempt, who was +employed to trace him. While he remained at Bergen-op-Zoom, +which was till he supposed that his enemies +would have lost the hope of his coming to Amsterdam, +he wrote to his father for a supply. But a considerable +time must elapse before he could receive it, +and, in the meanwhile, he would run the risk of starving. +When he had paid the rent of his wretched +garret at Bergen-op-Zoom, and the fare of the boat +which was to convey him to Amsterdam, a few shillings +was all that was left. In this state of penury, unwilling +to beg, he tried whether life could be supported +by grass and wild herbs alone. The experiment failed, +for his stomach rejected the loathsome food. To render +his herbs less disgusting, he bought four pounds +of a black and clay-like rye bread, to eat with them.</p> + +<p>Hoping that by this time the bloodhounds of the +marchioness had desisted from seeking him in the +Dutch capital, Latude ventured to embark. To hide +his poverty, he kept aloof as much as possible from his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_401">[401]</span>fellow-voyagers. He was, however, not unobserved. +There was in the boat one John Teerhorst, who kept +a sort of humble public-house, in a cellar at Amsterdam. +Under his unprepossessing exterior, he had a +heart as kind as ever beat in a human breast. Chancing +to catch a sight of Latude’s sorry fare, he could +not help exclaiming, “Good God! what an extraordinary +dinner you are making! You seem to have +more appetite than money!” Latude frankly owned +that it was so. The good-natured Dutchman immediately +led him to his own table. “No compliments, +Mr. Frenchman,” said he, “seat yourself there, and eat +and drink with me.” On further acquaintance with +him, Latude discovered that his host was not only a +truly benevolent man, but that he had also the rare +talent of conferring favours with such delicacy as not +to wound the feelings of the person whom he obliged.</p> + +<p>When they reached Amsterdam, Teerhorst offered +to introduce him to a Frenchman named Martin, who, +judging from himself, he doubted not would be delighted +to serve him. Latude, however, found that his fellow-countryman +was one of the most soulless animals whom +he had ever seen; a being who cared only for self. +He was better fitted to be a turnkey of the Bastile +than the consoler of one of its victims. The +tears and low spirits of his guest disclosed to the +Dutchman the reception which Latude had met with, +and the forebodings that oppressed him. Taking his +hand, he said, “Do not weep—I will never abandon +you: I am not rich, it is true, but my heart is good; +we will do the best we can for you, and you will be +satisfied.”</p> + +<p>Teerhorst’s underground habitation was divided by +a partition into two rooms; one of which served as +kitchen, while the other was at once shop, sitting-room, +and bed-room. Though the narrow tenement +was already crowded, Teerhorst contrived to make a +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_402">[402]</span>sleeping place for Latude in a large closet, and he and +his wife cheerfully gave him a mattress from their own +bed. Not content with feeding and lodging the fugitive, +Teerhorst strove to divert him from melancholy +thoughts, by taking him wherever there was anything +that could amuse him. His charitable efforts were but +partially successful; for the mind of Latude was +deeply begloomed by his own precarious situation, and +still more by his incessantly brooding over and regretting +the fate of D’Alegre.</p> + +<p>Though Latude had found no sympathy in Martin, +he was more fortunate in another of his countrymen, +Louis Clergue, who was a native of Martagnac, where +the fugitive was born. Rich and compassionate, Clergue +gave him a room in his house, made him a constant +partaker of his table, and furnished him with clothes +and linen. The linen was not the least acceptable of +these gifts; for Latude had been forty days without a +change of it. Clergue also assembled his friends, to +hear the story of his guest, and to consult what could +be done for him. They were all of opinion that Latude +had nothing to fear, as neither the States General +nor the people of Amsterdam would ever consent to +deliver up a persecuted stranger, who had confidingly +thrown himself on their protection. Even Latude +himself began to believe that at last he was safe.</p> + +<p>The unfortunate man was soon woefully undeceived. +Not for a moment had his pursuers slackened in the +chase, not a single precaution had they neglected that +could lead to success. In aid of the subaltern agents, +the French ambassador had also exerted himself. By +representing the fugitive as a desperate malefactor, he +had obtained the consent of the States to arrest him. +Calumny was one of the weapons uniformly employed +against prisoners, in order to insulate them from their +fellow-creatures, by extinguishing pity. But, in this +instance, there seems reason for believing that bribery +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_403">[403]</span>was an auxiliary to calumny; the expense of following +up the fugitives was no less than 9000<i>l.</i> sterling—a +sum for which it is impossible to account, without +supposing that much of it was expended in bribes.</p> + +<p>Though Latude had changed his name, and the +address to which his friends were to direct their communications, +the active agents of the marchioness +had succeeded in intercepting all his letters. One was +at last allowed to reach him, as the means of effecting +his ruin. It does not appear whether his residing in +the house of M. Clergue was known to them; probably +it was; but, if it were, they perhaps thought that +it would be imprudent to seize him there, as his protector +might proclaim to the populace the innocence of +his guest, and thus excite a tumult. A letter from +Latude’s father, containing a draft on a banker, was +therefore forwarded to him. Into this snare he fell. +As he was proceeding to the banker’s, the Dutch +police officers pounced upon him, and he was immediately +fettered and dragged along. The crowd which +had by this time gathered, were told that he was a +dangerous criminal; but, as the numbers nevertheless +continued to increase, the brutal officers, who were +armed with heavy bludgeons, dealt their blows liberally +on all sides, to clear the way to the Town Hall. One +of these blows struck the prisoner with such violence, +on the nape of his neck, that he dropped senseless to +the ground.</p> + +<p>When consciousness returned, he was lying on a +truss of straw, in a dungeon; there was not a ray of +light visible, not a sound to be heard. He seemed to +be cut off from the human race, and he resigned himself +wholly to despair. His tumultuous reflections +were interrupted, in the morning, by a visit from St. +Marc, the French exempt, who had pursued him from +Paris. This brutal caitiff had the baseness to aggravate +his sufferings by an awkward attempt at irony. +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_404">[404]</span>“He told me,” says Latude, “that I ought to pronounce +the name of the Marchioness de Pompadour +with the most profound respect; she was anxious only +to load me with favours; far from complaining, I ought +to kiss the generous hand that struck me, every blow +from which was a compliment and an obligation.” In +a second visit, some time after, the exempt brought +him an ounce of snuff, which he strongly recommended, +but which Latude did not use, because he imagined, +and not unreasonably, that it was poisoned.</p> + +<p>Latude remained nine days in this dungeon, while +his captors were waiting for permission to carry him +through the territory of the Empress Maria Theresa. +They were anxious to receive it without delay, for M. +Clergue and the other friends of the prisoner were +loudly asserting his innocence, and the citizens began +to murmur at the disgrace which was cast upon their +country by his seizure being permitted. The permission +soon came, and the myrmidons of the Marchioness +hastened to bear off their prey.</p> + +<p>In this instance, the Dutch and Austrian governments +must bear the shame of having been ready instruments +of the persecutors. It is, however, doubtful +whether, had those governments acted otherwise, +the fugitives would have escaped. To effect their purpose, +the emissaries of the Bastile did not scruple to +violate the territory of foreign powers. In 1752, a M. +Bertin de Fretaux was carried off from England. He +was secretly seized at Marylebone, put on board ship +at Gravesend, and conveyed to the Bastile, where he +died after having been confined for twenty-seven years. +Even foreign subjects were not safe. The publisher +of a Leyden Gazette having printed a satire on Louis +XIV., he was kidnapped in Holland, and conveyed to +the rock of St. Michael, on the Norman coast, and +shut up in a cage till he died.</p> + +<p>At two in the morning, on the 9th of June, 1756, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_405">[405]</span>the jailers of Latude came to remove him. Round +his body they fastened a strong leathern belt, on which +were two large rings, fastened by padlocks. Through +these rings his hands were passed; so that his arms +were pinioned down to his sides, without the power of +motion. He was then conveyed to a boat, into the +foulest corner of which he was thrown. As he could +not feed himself, the office of feeding him was committed +to two men; they were so horribly filthy that +he refused, for four-and-twenty hours, to take nourishment +from them. Force was then employed to +make him eat. “They brought me,” says Latude, “a +piece of beef swimming in gravy; they took the meat +in their hands, and thrust it into my mouth; they then +took some bread, which they steeped in the grease, +and made me swallow it in a similar manner. During +this disgusting operation, one of these ruffians blew +his nose with his fingers, and, without wiping them, +soaked some bread, and approached it to my mouth. +I turned my head aside, but it was too late. I had +seen these preliminaries, and my stomach revolted. The +consequence was, a long and severe fit of vomiting, +which left me almost without strength or motion.”</p> + +<p>The mode of confinement by the belt was absolute +torture to the prisoner. At length, thanks to the +compassionate interference of a servant on board, who +declared that, if no one else would, he himself would +cut it, the belt was removed, and Latude was indulged, +by being only handcuffed on the right arm, and chained +to one of his guards. When they arrived at Lille, St. +Marc halted for the night, and sent the prisoner to the +town jail, where he was bolted to the chain of a deserter, +scarcely nineteen, who had been told that he was +to be hanged on the morrow. The despairing youth +spent the night in trying to convince him that he, too, +would be hanged, and in proposing that they should +elude a public execution by strangling themselves with +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_406">[406]</span>their shirts. For the remainder of the journey, Latude, +with his legs ironed, travelled in a carriage with +St. Marc, who took the precaution of carrying pistols, +and had likewise an armed servant by the side of the +vehicle, whose orders were to shoot the captive if he +made the slightest motion.</p> + +<p>By his associates at the Bastile, St. Marc was received +like some victor returning from the scene of his +triumph. They swarmed round him, listened with +greedy ears to the tale of his exertions and stratagems, +and lavished praises and attentions upon him. The +group must have borne no very distant resemblance to +fiends exulting over a lost soul.</p> + +<p>Stripped, and reclothed in rags which were dropping +to pieces, his hands and feet heavily ironed, the prisoner +was thrown into one of the most noisome dungeons +of the fortress. A sprinkling of straw formed +his bed; covering it had none. The only light and +air which penetrated into this den of torment came +through a loop-hole, which narrowing gradually from +the inside to the outside, had a diameter of not more +than five inches at the furthest extremity. This loop-hole +was secured and darkened by a fourfold iron +grating, so ingeniously contrived that the bars of one +net-work covered the interstices of another; but there +was neither glass nor shutters, to ward off the inclemency +of the weather. The interior extremity of this +aperture reached within about two feet and a half of +the ground, and served the captive for a chair and a +table, and sometimes he rested his arms and elbows on +it to lighten the weight of his fetters.</p> + +<p>Shut out from all communication with his fellow-beings, +Latude found some amusement in the society +of the rats which infested his dungeon. His first attempt +to make them companionable was tried upon a +single rat, which, in three days, by gently throwing +bits of bread to it, he rendered so tame that it would +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_407">[407]</span>take food from his hands. The animal even changed its +abode, and established itself in another hole in order to +be nearer to him. In a few days a female joined the first +comer. At the outset she was timid; but it was not +long before she acquired boldness, and would quarrel +and fight for the morsels which were given by the prisoner.</p> + +<p>“When my dinner was brought in (says Latude) I +called my companions: the male ran to me directly; +the female, according to custom, came slowly and +timidly, but at length approached close to me, and +ventured to take what I offered her from my hand. +Some time after, a third appeared, who was much less +ceremonious than my first acquaintances. After his +second visit, he constituted himself one of the family, +and made himself so perfectly at home, that he resolved +to introduce his comrades. The next day, he came, +accompanied by two others, who in the course of the +week brought five more; and, thus, in less than a +fortnight, our family circle consisted of ten large rats +and myself. I gave each of them names, which they +learned to distinguish. When I called them they +came to eat with me, from the dish, or off the same +plate; but I found this unpleasant, and was soon forced +to find them a dish for themselves, on account of their +slovenly habits. They became so tame that they allowed +me to scratch their necks, and appeared pleased +when I did; but they would never permit me to touch +them on the back. Sometimes I amused myself with +making them play, and joining in their gambols. +Occasionally I threw them a piece of meat, scalding +hot: the most eager ran to seize it, burned themselves, +cried out, and left it; while the less greedy, +who had waited patiently, took it when it was cold, +and escaped into a corner, where they divided their +prize: sometimes I made them jump up, by holding +a piece of bread or meat suspended in the air.” In +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_408">[408]</span>the course of a year, his four-footed companions +increased to twenty-six. Whenever an intruder appeared +he met with a hostile reception from the old +standers, and had to fight his way before he could +obtain a footing. Latude endeavoured to familiarize a +spider, but in this he was unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>Another source of comfort was unexpectedly opened +to the solitary captive. Among the straw which was +brought for his bed, he found a piece of elder, and he +conceived the idea of converting it into a sort of flageolet. +This, however, was a task of no easy accomplishment, +for his hands were fettered, and he had no +tools. But necessity is proverbially inventive. He +succeeded in getting off the buckle which fastened +the waistband of his breeches, and bending it into a +kind of chisel by means of his leg irons; and, with +this clumsy instrument, after the labour of many +months, he contrived to form a rude kind of musical +pipe. It was probably much inferior to a child’s whistle, +but his delight when he had completed it was extreme; +the feeling was natural, and the sounds must have been +absolute harmony to his ear.</p> + +<p>Though his flageolet and his animal companions +made his lonely hours somewhat less burthensome, +and at moments drew his attention wholly from maddening +thoughts, the longing for liberty would perpetually +recur, and he racked his mind for plans to shake off his +chains. The thought occurred to him, that if he +could be fortunate enough to suggest some plan which +would benefit the state, it might be repaid by the gift +of freedom. At that time the non-commissioned military +officers were armed only with halberts, which +could be of no use but in close engagement; Latude proposed +to substitute muskets for the halberts, and thus +make effective at least 20,000 men. But how was he +to communicate his idea to the king and the ministers? +he had neither pen, ink, nor paper, and strict orders +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_409">[409]</span>had been given that he should be debarred from the use +of them. This obstacle, however, he got over. For +paper, he moulded thin tablets of bread, six inches +square; for pens he used the triangular bones out of +a carp’s belly; for ink his blood was substituted—to +obtain it he tied round a finger some threads from his +shirt, and punctured the end. As only a few drops +could be procured in this way, and as they dried up +rapidly, he was compelled to repeat the operation so +often, that his fingers were covered with wounds, and +enormously swelled. The necessity of frequent punctures +he ultimately obviated, by diluting the blood with +water.</p> + +<p>When the memorial was finished, there was yet another +difficulty to be surmounted; it must be copied. In +this emergency, Latude clamorously demanded to see +the Major of the Bastile. To that officer he declared +that, being convinced he had not long to live, he +wished to prepare for his end, by receiving religious +assistance. The confessor of the prison was in consequence +sent to him, was astonished and delighted by +the memorial, became interested in his favour, and +obtained an order that he should be supplied with materials +for writing. The memorial was accordingly +transcribed, and presented to the king.</p> + +<p>The suggestion was adopted by the government; the +unfortunate prisoner was, however, left to languish +unnoticed in his dungeon. Again he tasked his faculties +for a project which might benefit at once his country +and himself. At this period no provision was +made in France for the widows of those who fell in +battle. The king of Prussia had recently set the example +of granting pensions; and Latude deemed it +worthy of being imitated. But, knowing that an +empty treasury would be pleaded in bar, he proposed +a trifling addition to the postage of letters, which he +calculated would raise an ample fund. His memorial +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_410">[410]</span>and the data on which it was founded, were forwarded +to the monarch and the ministers. The tax was soon +after imposed, and nominally for the purpose pointed +out by Latude; but the widows, nevertheless, continued +to be destitute, and the projector unpitied.</p> + +<p>Foiled in all his efforts, the firmness of Latude +gave way. He had been pent for three years and five +months in a loathsome dungeon, suffering more than +pen can describe. Exposed in his horrible fireless and +windowless abode to all the blasts of heaven, three +winters, one of which was peculiarly severe, had sorely +tortured his frame. The cold, the keen winds, and +a continual defluxion from his nostrils, had split his +upper lip, and destroyed his front teeth; his eyes were +endangered from the same causes, and from frequent +weeping; his head was often suddenly affected by a +sort of apoplectic stroke; and his limbs were racked by +cramp and rheumatism. Hope was extinct; intense +agony of mind and body rendered existence insufferable; +and the unhappy victim resolved to throw off a +burthen which he could no longer bear. No instrument +of destruction being within reach, he tried to +effect his purpose by starving himself; and for a hundred +and thirty-three hours he obstinately persisted in +refusing all food. At last, his jailers wrenched open +his mouth, and frustrated his design. Still bent on +dying, he contrived to obtain and secrete a fragment +of broken glass, with which he opened four of the large +veins. During the night he bled till life was all but +extinct. Once more, however, he was snatched from +the grave, and he now sullenly resigned himself to +await his appointed time.</p> + +<p>After he had been confined a considerable time +longer, a fortunate overflowing of the Seine occasioned +his removal. The turnkey complained heavily that he +was obliged to walk through the water to the prisoner, +and Latude was in consequence removed to an apartment +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_411">[411]</span>in the tower of La Comté. It had no chimney, +and was one of the worst rooms in the tower, +but it was a paradise when compared with the pestiferous +hole from which he had emerged. Yet, so strong +is the yearning for society, that, gladdened as he was +by his removal, he could not help bitterly regretting +the loss of his sociable rats. As a substitute for them, +he tried to catch some of the pigeons which perched +on the window; and, by means of a noose, formed from +threads drawn out of his linen, he finally succeeded +in snaring a male and a female. “I tried,” says he, +“every means to console them for the loss of liberty. +I assisted them to make their nest and to feed their +young; my cares and attention equalled their own. +They seemed sensible of this, and repaid me by every +possible mark of affection. As soon as we had established +this reciprocal understanding, I occupied myself +entirely with them. How I watched their actions, +and enjoyed their expressions of tenderness! I lost +myself entirely while with them, and in my dreams +continued the enjoyment.”</p> + +<p>This pleasure was too great to be lasting. He had +been placed in his present apartment because it was +under the care of a brutal turnkey named Daragon, +who had been punished for Latude’s former escape, +and cherished a rankling feeling of revenge. It was +Daragon who purchased the grain for the pigeons, and +for this service the prisoner, besides the large profit +which the turnkey made, gave him one out of the seven +bottles of wine which was his weekly allowance. Daragon +now insisted on having four bottles, without +which he would purchase no more grain. It was to +no purpose that Latude pleaded that the wine was indispensably +necessary to restore his health; the turnkey +was deaf to reason. Latude was provoked into +asperity; Daragon rushed out in a rage; and in a +short time he returned, pretending that he had an +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_412">[412]</span>order from the governor to kill the pigeons. “My +despair at this,” says Latude, “exceeded all bounds, +and absolutely unsettled my reason; I could willingly +have sacrificed my life to satisfy my just vengeance on +this monster. I saw him make a motion towards the +innocent victims of my misfortunes; I sprang forward +to prevent him. I seized them, and, in my agony, I +crushed them myself. This was perhaps the most miserable +moment of my whole existence. I never recall +the memory of it without the bitterest pangs. I +remained several days without taking any nourishment; +grief and indignation divided my soul; my sighs were +imprecations, and I held all mankind in mortal horror.”</p> + +<p>Fortunately, a humane and generous man, the Count +de Jumilhac, was, soon after, appointed governor of +the Bastile. He compassionated the sufferings of Latude, +and exerted himself to relieve them. He obtained +for him an interview with M. de Sartine, the minister +of police, who gave him leave to walk for two hours +daily on the platform of the Bastile, and promised to +befriend him. That promise he soon broke. Hope revived +in the breast of Latude, and he again set to work +to form plans for the good of the country. Schemes +for issuing a new species of currency, and for establishing +public granaries in all the principal towns, were +among the first fruits of his meditations. With respect +to the latter project, he says, “nothing could be more +simple than the mode I suggested of constructing and +provisioning these magazines. It consisted in a slight +duty upon marriage, which all rich people, or those +who wished to appear so, would have paid with eagerness, +as I had the address to found it upon their vanity.” +This project pleased M. de Sartine so much, that he +wished to have the merit of it to himself, and, by means +of a third person, he sounded Latude, to know whether +he would relinquish his claim to it, on having a small +pension secured to him. Latude gave a brief but peremptory +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_413">[413]</span>refusal, and M. de Sartine was thenceforth +his enemy. All letters and messages to him remained +unnoticed.</p> + +<p>While he was one day walking on the platform, he +learned the death of his father. The sentinel who +guarded him had served under his father, but did not +know that the prisoner was the son of his old officer. +Latude was overwhelmed by this fatal intelligence, and +he fainted on the spot. His mother still lived; but +she, too, was sinking into the grave from grief. It was +in vain that, in the most pathetic language, she repeatedly +implored the harlot marchioness to have mercy +on the captive. Her prayers might have moved a +heart of flint, but they had no effect on Madame de +Pompadour. But the horrors of imprisonment were +not enough to be inflicted on him; he was made the +victim of calumny, and a stain was fixed upon his character. +To get rid of importunity in his behalf, the +men in office replied to his advocates, “Beware how +you solicit the pardon of that miscreant. You would +shudder if you knew the crimes he has committed.”</p> + +<p>Thus goaded almost to madness, it is not to be wondered +at that he was eager to take vengeance on his +persecutors. Since the heart of Madame de Pompadour +was inaccessible to pity, he determined that it +should at least feel the stings of mortification and rage. +His plan was, to draw up a memorial, exposing her +character, and to address it to La Beaumelle, who +had himself tasted the rigours of the Bastile. “I had +only,” says he, “to place in trusty hands the true history +of her birth and infamous life, with all the particulars +of which I was well acquainted; in depriving +me of existence, she would dread my dying words, and +even from the tomb I should still be an object of terror +to her. There was nothing then to restrain the blow +with which I had the power of crushing her. The +faithful friends who were to become the depositaries +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_414">[414]</span>of my vengeance, in apprising her of the danger, +would merely give her a single moment to escape it by +doing me justice.”</p> + +<p>It was while he was walking on the platform of the +Bastile that he formed this chimerical project, for chimerical +it was, there being scarcely a probability that +any one would have courage enough to second his attack +on the potent and vindictive marchioness. Having +calculated the distance between the top of the tower +and the street of St. Anthony, on which he looked +down, he perceived that it was possible to fling a packet +into the street. Nothing of this kind could, however, +be done while he was closely watched by Falconet the +aid-major, and a serjeant, both of whom always attended +him in his walk. Falconet was insufferably garrulous, +particularly on his own exploits, and Latude hoped to +disgust him by perpetual sarcasm and contradiction. +He succeeded in silencing him, but Falconet still clung +to him like his shadow. To tire him out, Latude +adopted the plan of almost running during the whole +of the time that he was on the platform. The aid-major +remonstrated, but the prisoner answered, that +rapid motion was indispensably necessary to him, in +order to excite perspiration. At last, Falconet suffered +him to move about as he pleased, and fell into gossiping +with the serjeant, in which they both engaged so deeply +that Latude was left unnoticed.</p> + +<p>The next step of Latude was to gaze into the windows +of the opposite houses, and scrutinise the faces of +the persons whom he saw, till he could see some one +whose countenance seemed indicative of humane feelings. +It was on the female sex, as having more sensibility +than the male, that he mainly relied for pity and succour; +and his attention was finally fixed on two young women, +who were sitting by themselves at work in a chamber, +and whose looks appeared to betoken that they were of +kind dispositions. Having caught the eye of one of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_415">[415]</span>them, he respectfully saluted her by a motion of his +hand; the sign was answered by both of them in a similar +manner. After this dumb intercourse had continued +for some days, he showed them a packet, and they +motioned to him to fling it; but he gave them to understand +that it was not yet ready.</p> + +<p>The means of conveyance for his intended work +were now secured, but, as he no longer had materials +for writing, he had still much to contrive. But he was +not of a nature to be discouraged even by serious obstacles. +He had fortunately been allowed to purchase +some books, and he resolved to write between the lines +and on the margins of the pages. As a pen made of a +carp bone would not write a sufficiently small hand for +interlineations, he beat a halfpenny as thin as paper, and +succeeded in shaping it into a tolerable pen. Ink was +yet to be provided, and this was the worst task of all +to accomplish. Having on the former occasion narrowly +escaped gangrene in his fingers, he was afraid to +use blood, and was therefore compelled to find a substitute. +To make his ink of lampblack was the mode +which occurred to him; but as he was allowed neither +fire nor candle, how was the black to be obtained? By +a series of stratagems he managed to surmount the difficulty. +Under pretence of severe tooth-ache, he borrowed +from the serjeant, who attended him on the platform, +a pipe and the articles for lighting it, and he +secreted a piece of the tinder. By a simulated fit of +colic, he got some oil from the doctor. This he put +into a pomatum pot, and made a wick from threads +drawn out of the sheets. He then made a bow and +peg, like a drill, and with this and the piece of tinder, +by dint of rapid friction, he ignited two small bits of +dry wood, and lighted his lamp. The first view of the +light threw him, he says, into a delirium of joy. The +condensed smoke he collected on the bottom of a plate, +and in six hours he had sufficient for his purpose. But +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_416">[416]</span>here he was stopped short, and all his trouble seemed +likely to be thrown away; for the light and oily black +floated on the water instead of mixing with it. He +got over this by affecting to have a violent cold. The +prison apothecary sent him some syrup, and Latude +employed it to render the lamp black miscible with +water.</p> + +<p>Thus provided with materials for writing, Latude +sat down to compose his work. “My whole heart +and soul were in it,” says he, “and I steeped my +pen in the gall with which they were overflowing.” +Having completed the history of his persecutor, he +wrote a letter of instructions to La Beaumelle, another +to a friend, the Chevalier de Mehegan, in case of La +Beaumelle being absent, and a third to his two female +friends, in which he directed them how to proceed, +and entreated them to exert themselves in his behalf. +The whole of the papers he packed up in a leathern +bag, which he formed out of the lining of a pair of +breeches. As the packet was rather bulky, and the +carrying of it about his person was dangerous, he was +anxious to get rid of it as soon as possible. Some +time, however, elapsed before he could catch sight of +his friendly neighbours. At length one of them saw +his signal, descended into the street, and caught the +packet. Three months and a half passed away, during +which he frequently saw them, and they seemed to be +pleased with something that related to him, but he +was unable to comprehend their signs. At last, on +the 18th of April, 1764, they approached the window, +and displayed a roll of paper, on which was written in +large characters, “The Marchioness of Pompadour +died yesterday.”</p> + +<p>“I thought I saw the heavens open before me!” +exclaimed Latude. His oppressor was gone, and he +felt an undoubting confidence that his liberation would +immediately follow as a necessary consequence. He +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_417">[417]</span>was soon cruelly undeceived. After some days had +passed over, he wrote to the lieutenant of police, and +claimed his freedom. Sartine had given strict orders +to all the officers of the Bastile to conceal the death of +the marchioness, and he instantly hurried to the prison, +to discover how the news had reached Latude. +He summoned the prisoner into his presence, and +harshly questioned him on the subject. Latude perceived +that a disclosure might be prejudicial to the +kind females, and, with equal firmness and honour, he +refused to make it. “The avowal,” said Sartine, “is +the price of your liberty.” The captive, however, +again declared that he would rather perish than purchase +the blessing at such a cost. Finding him inflexible, +the baffled lieutenant of police retired in +anger. Irritated by repeated letters, petitions, and +remonstrances being neglected, and having been led +to fear that he was to be perpetually imprisoned, to +prevent him from suing Pompadour’s heirs, Latude in +an evil hour lost all command over himself, and wrote +a violent epistle to Sartine, avowedly for the purpose +of enraging him. This act of insane passion was +punished by instant removal to one of the worst +dungeons, where his fare was bread and water.</p> + +<p>After Latude had been for eighteen days in the +dungeon, M. de Sartine obtained an order to transfer +him to Vincennes, and immure him in an oubliette. +Before he removed the prisoner, he circulated a report +“that he meant to deliver him, but that, to accustom +him by degrees to a change of air, he was going to +place him for a few months in a convent of monks.” +On the night of the 14th of August, 1764, an officer +of police, with two assistants, came to convey him to +his new prison. “My keepers,” says he, “fastened +an iron chain round my neck, the end of which they +placed under the bend of my knees; one of them +placed one hand upon my mouth, and the other behind +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_418">[418]</span>my head, whilst his companion pulled the chain with +all his might, and completely bent me double. The +pain I suffered was so intense, that I thought my loins +and spine were crushed; I have no doubt it equalled +that endured by the wretch who is broken on the +wheel. In this state I was conveyed from the Bastile +to Vincennes.”</p> + +<p>At Vincennes he was placed in a cell. His mind +and body were now both overpowered by the severity +of his fate, dangerous illness came on, and he every +day grew weaker. Fortunately for Latude, M. Guyonnet, +the governor of the fortress, had nothing of “the +steeled jailer” about him; he was a generous, humane +man, of amiable manners. He listened to the mournful +tale of the captive, wept for his misfortunes, took +on himself the responsibility of giving him a good +apartment, and obtained for him the privilege of walking +daily for two hours in the garden.</p> + +<p>Despairing, as well he might, of being ever released +by his inflexible enemies, Latude meditated incessantly +on the means of escaping. Fifteen months elapsed +before an opportunity occurred, and then it was brought +about by chance. He was walking in the garden, on +a November afternoon, when a thick fog suddenly +came on. The idea of turning it to account rushed +into his mind. He was guarded by two sentries and a +serjeant, who never quitted his side for an instant; +but he determined to make a bold attempt. By a violent +push of his elbows he threw off the sentries, then +pushed down the serjeant, and darted past a third +sentry, who did not perceive him till he was gone by. +All four set up the cry of “Seize him!” and Latude +joined in it still more loudly, pointing with his finger, +to mislead the pursuers. There remained only one +sentry to elude, but he was on the alert, and unfortunately +knew him. Presenting his bayonet, he threatened +to kill the prisoner if he did not stop. “My dear +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_419">[419]</span>Chenu,” said I to him, “you are incapable of such an +action; your orders are to arrest, and not to kill me. +I had slackened my pace, and came up to him slowly; +as soon as I was close to him, I sprang upon his +musket, I wrenched it from him with such violence, +that he was thrown down in the struggle; I jumped +over his body, flinging the musket to a distance of +ten paces, lest he should fire it after me, and once +more I achieved my liberty.”</p> + +<p>Favoured by the fog, Latude contrived to hide +himself in the park till night, when he scaled the wall, +and proceeded, by by-ways, to Paris. He sought +a refuge with the two kind females to whom he had +entrusted his packet. They were the daughters of a +hair-dresser, named Lebrun. The asylum for which +he asked was granted in the kindest manner. They +procured for him some linen, and an apartment in +the house, gave him fifteen livres which they had +saved, and supplied him with food from all their own +meals. The papers confided to them they had endeavoured, +but in vain, to deliver to the persons for +whom they were intended: two of those persons were +absent from France; the third was recently married, +and his wife, on hearing that the packet was from the +Bastile, would not suffer her husband to receive it.</p> + +<p>Latude was out of prison, but he was not out of +danger. He was convinced that, to whatever quarter +he might bend his steps, it would be next to impossible +to elude M. de Sartine, who, by means of his spies, +was omnipresent. In this emergency, he deemed it +prudent to conciliate his persecutor; and he accordingly +wrote a letter to him, entreating forgiveness for +insults offered in a moment of madness, promising +future silence and submission, and pathetically imploring +him to become his protector. This overture +had no result. He tried the influence of various +persons, among whom was the prince of Conti, but +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_420">[420]</span>everywhere he was met by the prejudice which Sartine +had raised against him; and, to add to his alarm and +vexation, he learned that a strict search was making +for him, and that a reward of a thousand crowns was +offered for his apprehension.</p> + +<p>As a last resource, he determined to make a +personal appeal to the duke of Choiseul, the first +minister, who was then with the court at Fontainebleau. +It was mid-December when he set out, the +ground was covered with ice and snow, and the cold +was intense. A morsel of bread was his whole stock +of provisions, he had no money, and he dared not +approach a house, proceed on the high road, or travel +by day, lest he should be intercepted. In his nightly +circuitous journey, of more than forty miles, he often +fell into ditches, or tore himself in scrambling through +the hedges. “I hid myself in a field,” says he, +“during the whole of the 16th; and, after walking +for two successive nights, I arrived on the morning +of the 17th at Fontainebleau, worn out by fatigue, +hunger, grief, and despair.”</p> + +<p>Latude was too soon convinced that there was no +chance of escaping from the vengeance of M. de +Sartine. As soon as he had announced his arrival to +the duke, two officers of the police came to convey +him, as they said, to the minister; but their mask +was speedily thrown off, and he found that they were +to escort him back to Vincennes. They told him +that every road had been beset, and every vehicle +watched, to discover him, and they expressed their +wonder at his having been able to reach Fontainebleau +undetected. “I now learned,” says he, “for the +first time, that there was no crime so great, or so +severely punished, as a complaint against a minister. +These exempts quoted to me the case of some +deputies from the provinces, who, having been sent +a short time before to denounce to the king the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_421">[421]</span>exactions of certain intendants, had been arrested, +and punished as dangerous incendiaries!”</p> + +<p>On his reaching Vincennes, he was thrown into +a horrible dungeon, barely six feet by six and a half +in diameter, which was secured by four iron-plated, +treble-bolted doors, distant a foot from each other. +To aggravate his misery, he was told that he deserved +a thousand times worse treatment; for that he had +been the cause of the serjeant who guarded him being +hanged. This appalling news entirely overwhelmed +him; he gave himself up to frantic despair, and incessantly +accused himself as the murderer of the unfortunate +man. In the course of a few days, however, +a compassionate sentinel, who was moved by his +cries and groans, relieved his heart, by informing +him that the serjeant was well, and had only been +imprisoned.</p> + +<p>The kind-hearted governor sometimes visited +Latude, but the information which he brought was +not consolatory. He had tried to move M. de Sartine, +and had found him inflexible. Sartine, however, sent +to offer the prisoner his liberty, on condition that he +would name the person who held his papers, and he +pledged his honour that no harm should come to that +person. Latude knew him too well to trust him. +He resolutely answered, “I entered my dungeon an +honest man, and I will die rather than leave it a +dastard and a knave.”</p> + +<p>Into the den, where he was as it were walled up, +no ray of light entered; the air was never changed +but at the moment when the turnkey opened the +wicket; the straw on which he lay was always rotten +with damp, and the narrowness of the space scarcely +allowed him room to move. His health of course +rapidly declined, and his body swelled enormously, +retaining in every part of it, when touched, the +impression of the finger. Such were his agonies that +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_422">[422]</span>he implored his keepers, as an act of mercy, to terminate +his existence. At last, after having endured +months of intense suffering, he was removed to a +habitable apartment, where his strength gradually +returned.</p> + +<p>Though his situation was improved, he was still entirely +secluded from society. Hopeless of escape, he +pondered on the means of at least opening an intercourse +with his fellow-prisoners. On the outer side of +his chamber was the garden, in which each of the prisoners, +Latude alone being excluded, was daily allowed +to walk by himself for a certain time. This wall was +five feet thick; so that to penetrate it seemed almost as +difficult as to escape. But what cannot time and perseverance +accomplish! His only instruments were a +broken piece of a sword and an iron hoop of a bucket, +which he had contrived to secrete; yet with these, by +dint of twenty-six months’ labour, he managed to perforate +the mass of stone. The hole was made in a +dark corner of the chimney, and he stopped the interior +opening with a plug, formed of sand and plaster. +A long wooden peg, rather shorter than the hole, was +inserted into it, that, in case of the external opening +being noticed and sounded, it might seem to be not +more than three inches in depth.</p> + +<p>For a signal to the prisoner walking in the garden, +he tied several pieces of wood so as to form a stick +about six feet long, at the end of which hung a bit of +riband. The twine with which it was tied was made +from threads drawn out of his linen. He thrust the +stick through the hole, and succeeded in attracting the +attention of a fellow-captive, the Baron de Venac, +who had been nineteen years confined for having presumed +to give advice to Madame de Pompadour. He +successively became acquainted with several others, +two of whom were also the victims of the marchioness; +one of them had been seventeen years in prison, on +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_423">[423]</span>suspicion of having spoken ill of her; the other had +been twenty-three years, because he was suspected of +having written against her a pamphlet, which he had +never even seen. The prisoners contrived to convey ink +and paper to Latude through the hole; he opened a +correspondence with them, encouraged them to write +to each other, and became the medium through which +they transmitted their letters. The burthen of captivity +was much lightened to him by this new occupation.</p> + +<p>An unfortunate change for the prisoners now took +place. The benevolent and amiable-mannered Guyonnet +was succeeded by Rougemont, a man who was a +contrast to him in every respect; he was avaricious, +flinty-hearted, brutal, and a devoted tool of M. de Sartine. +The diet which he provided for the captives +was of the worst kind; and their scanty comforts were +as much as possible abridged. That he might not be +thwarted in the exercise of his tyranny, he dismissed +such of the prison attendants as he suspected of being +humane, and replaced them by men whose dispositions +harmonised with his own. How utterly devoid +of feeling were the beings whom he selected, may be +judged by the language of his cook. This libel on the +human race is known to have said, “If the prisoners +were ordered to be fed upon straw, I would give them +stable-litter;” and, on other occasions, he declared, “If +I thought there was a single drop of juice in the meat +of the prisoners, I would trample it under my foot to +squeeze it out.” Such a wretch would not have +scrupled to put poison into the food, had not his +master had an interest in keeping the captives alive. +When any one complained of the provisions, he was +insultingly answered, “It is but too good for prisoners;” +when he applied for the use of an article, however +insignificant, the reply was, “It is contrary to the +rules.” So horrible was the despotism of the governor +that, within three months, four of the prisoners +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_424">[424]</span>strangled themselves in despair. “The Inquisition +itself,” says Latude, “might envy his proficiency in +torture!”</p> + +<p>Latude was one of the first to suffer from the brutality +of Rougemont. The apartment in which Guyonnet had +placed him commanded a fine view. The enjoyment +of a prospect was thought to be too great a luxury for a +prisoner, and, accordingly, Rougemont set about depriving +him of it. He partly built up the windows, filled +the interstices of the bars with close iron net-work; and +then, lest a blade of grass should still be visible, +blockaded the outside with a blind like a mill-hopper, +so that nothing could be perceived but a narrow slip +of sky. But his situation was soon made far worse. +In a fit of anger, caused by his being refused the means +of writing to the lieutenant of police, he imprudently +chanced to wish himself in his former cell again. He +was taken at his word. On the following morning, +when he had forgotten his unguarded speech, he was +led back to his dark and noisome dungeon. “Few +will believe,” says he, “that such inhuman jests could +be practised in a civilised country.”</p> + +<p>M. de Sartine, being now appointed minister of the +marine, was replaced by M. Le Noir. It was some +time before Latude knew of this change, and he derived +no benefit from it, the new head of the police being +the friend of Sartine. He wished to address the minister, +but the means were refused, and he again tasked +his skill to remove the obstacle. The only light he +enjoyed was when his food was brought to him. The +turnkey then set down the lamp at the entrance of the +wicket, and went away to attend to other business. Of +the turnkey’s short absence Latude availed himself to +write a letter; it was written on a piece of his shirt, with +a straw dipped in blood. His appeal was disregarded; +and, to prevent him from repeating it in the same manner, +the governor ordered a socket for the candle to be fixed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_425">[425]</span>on the outside of the wicket, so that only a few feeble +rays might penetrate into the dungeon. But the captive +was not to be easily discouraged; and, besides, he took +a delight in baffling his persecutors. He had remaining +in a pomatum pot some oil, sent by the surgeon to +alleviate the colic pains which were caused by the +dampness of his abode. Cotton drawn from his stockings +supplied him with a wick. He then twisted some +of his straw into a rope, which he coiled up, and +fastened, in the shape of a bee-hive. With another +portion of straw he made a sort of stick, five feet long, +with a bit of linen at the end of it. The turnkey was +always obliged to bring his food at twice; and, while +he was fetching the second portion, Latude thrust out +the stick, obtained a light from the candle, lighted his +taper, and then closely covered it over with the bee-hive +basket. When he was left by himself he unhooded +the lamp, and wrote a second letter with his +own blood. The only result was, to make his jailers +believe that he was aided by the prince of darkness.</p> + +<p>It was not till Latude was again at death’s-door +that he was removed from his dungeon; on being +taken out he fainted, and remained for a long while +insensible. When he came to himself his mind +wandered, and for some time he imagined that he +had passed into the other world. Medical aid was +granted to him, and he slowly recovered his health. +The turnkeys now occasionally dropped obscure hints +of some beneficial change, which he was at a loss to +understand. The mystery was at length explained. +The benevolent M. de Malesherbes had lately been +appointed a cabinet minister, and one of his first acts +was to inspect the state prisons. He saw Latude, +listened to his mournful story, was indignant at his +six-and-twenty years’ captivity, and promised redress.</p> + +<p>Latude had been more than eleven years at Vincennes, +when the order arrived for his release. His +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_426">[426]</span>heart beat high with exultation; but he was doomed +to suffer severe disappointment. At the moment when +he imagined that he was free, an officer informed +him, that the minister thought it expedient to accustom +him gradually to a purer air, and that he was +therefore directed to convey him to a convent, where +he was to remain for a few months. These were the +very same words which had been spoken to him when +he was sent from the Bastile to Vincennes; and, +knowing their meaning but too well, they almost +palsied his faculties. His enemies had been busily +at work; by gross misrepresentations, and by forging +in his name an extravagant memorial to the king, +they had induced M. de Malesherbes to believe that +the prisoner’s intellects were disordered, and that he +could not be immediately released without peril.</p> + +<p>It was to the hospital of Charenton, the Parisian +bedlam, that the officers were removing Latude. When +he was about to quit Vincennes, he heard the brutal +Rougemont describe him to them as a dangerous and +hardened criminal, who could not be too rigorously +confined. It was also hinted, that the prisoner was +gifted with magical powers, by virtue of which he had +thrice escaped in an extraordinary manner. When +he was turned over to the monks, called the Brothers +of Charity, who had the management of Charenton, +these particulars were faithfully reported to them, and +he was introduced under the name of Danger, in +order to excite an idea of his formidable character.</p> + +<p>Unacquainted with the nature of Charenton, Latude, +on seeing the monks, had supposed that he +was in a monastery. On finding that he was in a +mad-house, he dropped lifeless to the ground. He +was conducted to a cell, which was over the vault +where the furious lunatics were chained, and their +shrieks and groans were horrible. In the night he +heard the sound of voices, and discovered that two +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_427">[427]</span>prisoners, one in the adjoining room, and the other +in that above, were talking about him, out of their +windows. They were both of them state prisoners, +the hospital being occasionally converted into a jail +by the ministers; one was named St. Magloire, the +other the Baron de Prilles. Latude introduced himself +to them, and they promised him all the services +in their power. De Prilles possessed considerable +influence with the officers of the establishment, and +he exerted it so effectually, that he obtained permission +for Latude to be visited by his fellow-captives. +He had, however, enjoyed this comfort only for a +short time, when Rougemont came and gave orders +for his being placed in close and solitary confinement.</p> + +<p>Latude remained in seclusion for a considerable +time; but, at length, by dint of incessant remonstrances, +De Prilles induced the superiors of the hospital +to allow his new friend to take his meals in the +apartment of St. Bernard, one of his fellow-captives. +Another favour was soon after granted; he was permitted +to take some exercise in the smaller court, +when all the inmates of the place had been shut up +for the night. It was then winter; and, at eight +o’clock, the keeper led him to the court; and, when he +was not disposed to walk with him, he placed his lantern +on a stone, and watched him through some holes +purposely bored in the door.</p> + +<p>Trifling as were these indulgences, the worthy +monks had disobeyed positive orders in allowing them. +But they did not stop here. The head of the hospital, +Father Facio, was so deeply moved by the injustice +done to the captive, that he waited on M. de Malesherbes +to intercede for him. On his assuring the +minister that the prisoner was submissive, docile, and +perfectly sane, his hearer, who had been told that +Latude was a furious madman, was astonished and indignant +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_428">[428]</span>at having been deceived. He promised that +he would speedily release him, and desired that he +might, in the meanwhile, enjoy as much liberty as the +hospital regulations would allow. Unfortunately, +however, for Latude, Malesherbes very shortly after +ceased to be one of the ministers.</p> + +<p>Though he failed to obtain his freedom, the situation +of Latude was much ameliorated; he might roam +wherever he would, within the bounds of the establishment. +He derived additional comfort from several of +the state prisoners being now suffered to take their +meals together, instead of having them separately in +their apartments. The party thus formed admitted to +their society several of the lunatics who had been liberally +educated, and were harmless. One of these +unfortunate men asserted himself to be the Divinity, +another claimed to be a son of Louis XV., a third took +a higher flight, and was the reigning monarch. These +aspiring pretensions were strongly contrasted with the +humility of others. A barrister, whose intellect love +had shaken, manifested his insanity by throwing himself +at every one’s feet and imploring pardon. Another +individual, who had been a hermit, obstinately +persisted in believing that Latude was a German +elector, and, in spite of all attempts to prevent it, +would perform for him the meanest domestic offices. +“If I told him in the morning,” says Latude, “that +a flea had disturbed my rest, he would not leave my +chamber till he had killed it: he would bring it to me +in the hollow of his hand, to show me what he had +done. ‘My lord,’ he would say, ‘it will bite no +more, and will never again disturb the sleep of your +most serene highness.’”</p> + +<p>A fellow prisoner who had recently been confined +in a cell during a furious paroxysm of insanity, now +gave some information to Latude, which deeply wounded +his feelings. From him Latude learned that his +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_429">[429]</span>early friend D’Alegre was in the prison, a raving +maniac, shut up in an iron cage. His entreaties were +so pressing, that the monks granted him permission +to visit this unfortunate being. He found him a lamentable +spectacle, shrunk to a skeleton, his hair +matted, and his eyes sunken and haggard. Latude +rushed to embrace him, but was repelled with signs of +aversion by the maniac. In vain he strove to recall +himself to the maniac’s recollection; the lost being +only looked fiercely at him, and exclaimed, in a hollow +tone, “I know you not!—begone!—I am God!” +This victim of despotism had been ten years at Charenton, +and he continued there, in the same melancholy +state, during the remainder of his existence, which was +protracted till a very late period.</p> + +<p>After Latude had been for nearly two years at +Charenton, his friends succeeded in obtaining an order +for his release, on condition that he should permanently +fix his abode at Montagnac, his native place. He +quitted the prison without hat or coat; all his dress +consisting of a tattered pair of breeches and stockings, +a pair of slippers, and a great-coat thirty years old, +which damp had reduced to rottenness. He was +penniless, too; “but,” says he, “I was regardless of +all these circumstances; it was enough that I was +free!”</p> + +<p>With some money, which he borrowed from a person +who knew his family, Latude procured decent +clothing. He called on M. Le Noir, who received him +not unfavourably, and desired him to depart without +delay for Montagnac. Unfortunately, he did not follow +this advice. He lingered in Paris to draw up a +memorial to the king, soliciting a recompense for his +plans; and he had an interview with the Prince de +Beauveau, to whom he related his woeful story. In +his memorial, he mentioned M. de Sartine; and, +though he intimates that he said nothing offensive, we +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_430">[430]</span>may doubt whether he manifested much forbearance. +The ministers now gave him peremptory orders to +quit Paris; it is obvious that they were acquainted +with his memorial, and were irritated by it beyond +measure. He had proceeded forty-three leagues on +his journey to the south of France, when he was overtaken +by an officer of police, who carried him back a +prisoner to the capital.</p> + +<p>Latude was now taught that hitherto he had not +reached the lowest depth of misery; he was doomed +to experience “a bitter change, severer for severe.” +Till this time his companions in suffering had been +men with whom it was no disgrace to associate; but, +in this instance, he was tossed among a horde of the +most abandoned ruffians on earth; he was immured in +the Bicêtre, in that part of the jail which was appropriated +to swindlers, thieves, murderers, and other +atrocious criminals, the scum and offscouring of +France. On his arrival there, he was stripped, clad +in the coarse and degrading prison attire, thrust into a +dungeon, and supplied with a scanty portion of bread +and water.</p> + +<p>He was now in the midst of wretches, who tormented +him with questions as to what robberies and +murders he had committed, boasted of their own numerous +crimes, and laughed at his pretending to innocence. +“I was condemned,” says he, “to endure their +gross and disgusting language, to listen to their unprincipled +projects, in short to breathe the very atmosphere +of vice.” It was in vain that, to procure his +liberation from this den of infamy, he wrote to the +friends who had rescued him from Charenton; some +of them were silenced by the old falsehood that he was +a dangerous madman, and others were alienated by +being told that he had broken into the house of a lady +of rank, and by threats had terrified her into giving +him a large sum of money. This last calumny stung +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_431">[431]</span>him to the soul, and he wrote to M. de Sartine to +demand a trial; but his letter produced no other effect +than the issuing of an order to take from him the +means of writing. Such accumulated injustice soured +his mind, and, brooding over the hope of revenge, he +assumed the name of Jedor, in allusion to a dog so +called, the figure of which he had seen on the gate of +a citadel, with a bone between its paws, and underneath, +as a motto, “I gnaw my bone, expecting the +day when I may bite him who has bitten me.”</p> + +<p>While the money lasted which Latude had taken +into the prison, he could obtain a supply of food, bad +indeed in quality, and villanously cooked, but still +capable of supporting nature. But the money was +soon spent, and he was then reduced to the prison +allowance, which was scanty in quantity, of the worst +kind, and often polluted by an admixture of filth and +vermin. Latude was a large eater, and the portion of +food allowed to him was so trifling, that he was tortured +by hunger. To such extremity was he driven, +that he was compelled to petition the sweepers to give +him some of the hard crusts which were thrown into +the passages by the richer prisoners, and which were +collected every morning for the pigs.</p> + +<p>Bad as the fare of Latude was, his lodging was far +worse. His windowless cell, only eight feet square, +swarmed with fleas and rats to such a degree that to +sleep was all but impossible; fifty rats at a time were +under his coverlet. He had neither fire nor candle, +his clothing was insufficient, and the wind, rain, and +snow beat furiously through the iron grating, which +barely admitted the light. In rainy weather, and +during thaws, the water ran in streams down the walls +of the dungeon.</p> + +<p>Eight-and-thirty months were spent in this infernal +abode. Rheumatism, that prevented him from quitting +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_432">[432]</span>his pallet, was the first consequence of his exposed +situation. This brought with it an aggravation of another +evil; for when Latude was unable to approach +the wicket, the keeper flung in his bread, and gave +him no soup. Scurvy of the most inveterate kind at +length attacked him, his limbs were swelled and blackened, +his gums became spongy, and his teeth loose, +and he could no longer masticate the bread. For +three days he lay without sustenance, voiceless and +moveless, and he was just on the point of expiring, +when he was conveyed to the infirmary. The infirmary +was a loathsome place, little better than a charnel-house, +but the medical aid which he obtained there +restored him, after a struggle of many months, to a +tolerable state of health.</p> + +<p>On his recovery he was placed in a decent apartment. +He did not, however, long enjoy it. Having +attempted to present a petition to a princess of the +house of Bouillon, who came to see the Bicêtre, he +was punished by being thrust into a dungeon more +horrible than that which he had previously inhabited. +His own words will best describe what he underwent. +“I was,” says he, “still enduring a physical torture +which I had experienced before, though never to so cruel +and dangerous an extent. After having triumphed +over so many disasters, and vanquished so many enemies +by my unshaken constancy, I was on the point +of yielding to the intolerable pain occasioned by the +vermin which infested my person. My dungeon was +totally dark, my eye-sight was nearly extinguished, +and I tried in vain to deliver myself from the myriads +of these noxious animals that assailed me at once; the +dreadful irritation made me tear my flesh with my +teeth and nails, until my whole body became covered +with ulcers; insects generated in the wounds, and +literally devoured me alive. It was impossible to sleep: +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_433">[433]</span>I was driven mad with agony, my sufferings were drawing +to a close, and death in its most horrid shape +awaited me.”</p> + +<p>Gloomy as appearances were, the dawn of a brighter +day was at hand. A providential occurrence, which +seemed calculated to destroy his last hope, was the +cause of his redemption. In 1781, the President de +Gourgue visited the Bicêtre, heard the story of Latude, +desired that the captive would draw up a memorial, +and promised to exert himself in his behalf. Latude +wrote the memorial, and intrusted it to a careless +messenger, who dropped it in the street. The packet +was found by a young female, Madame Legros, who +carried on in a humble way the business of a mercer, +and whose husband was a private teacher. The envelope +being torn by lying in the wet, and the seal +broken, she looked at the contents, which were signed +“Masers de Latude, a prisoner during thirty-two +years, at the Bastile, at Vincennes, and at the Bicêtre, +where he is confined on bread and water, in a dungeon +ten feet under ground.”</p> + +<p>The gentle heart of Madame Legros was shocked +at the idea of the protracted agony which the prisoner +must have suffered. After she had taken a copy of +the memorial, her husband, who participated in her +feelings, carried it to the president. But the magistrate +had been deceived by the falsehood, that the +captive was a dangerous incurable lunatic, and he advised +them to desist from efforts which must be fruitless. +Madame Legros, however, who had much good +sense and acuteness, would not believe that the captive +was mad; she again read the memorial attentively, +and could perceive in it no indication of disordered +intellect. She was firmly convinced that he was the +victim of persecution, and she resolved to devote her +time and her faculties to his deliverance. Never, perhaps, +was the sublime of benevolence so fully displayed +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_434">[434]</span>as by this glorious woman, whose image ought to have +been handed down to posterity by the painter’s and +the sculptor’s hand. In the course of her philanthropic +struggles, she had to endure calumny and +severe privations, she was reduced to sell her ornaments +and part of her furniture, and to subsist on hard +and scanty fare, yet she never paused for a moment +from the pursuit of her object, never uttered a sentence +of regret that she had engaged in it. Her husband, +too, though less personally active, has the merit +of having entirely coincided with her in opinion, and +aided her as far as he had the power.</p> + +<p>It is delightful to know that her noble labours were +crowned with success. Her toils, and the result of +them, are thus summed up by Latude, who has also +narrated them at great length. “Being thoroughly +convinced of my innocence, she resolved to attempt +my liberation; she succeeded, after occupying three +years in unparalleled efforts, and unwearied perseverance. +Every feeling heart will be deeply moved +at the recital of the means she employed, and the +difficulties she surmounted. Without relations, friends, +fortune, or assistance, she undertook everything, and +shrank from no danger and no fatigue. She penetrated +to the levées of ministers, and forced her way to +the presence of the great; she spoke with the natural +eloquence of truth, and falsehood fled before her +words. They excited her hopes and extinguished +them, received her with kindness and repulsed her +rudely; she reiterated her petitions, and returned a +hundred times to the attack, emboldened by defeat itself. +The friends her virtues had created trembled +for her liberty, even for her life. She resisted all +their entreaties, disregarded their remonstrances, and +continued to plead the cause of humanity. When +seven months pregnant, she went on foot to Versailles, +in the midst of winter; she returned home +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_435">[435]</span>exhausted with fatigue and worn out with disappointment; +she worked more than half the night to obtain +subsistence for the following day, and then repaired +again to Versailles. At the expiration of eighteen +months, she visited me in my dungeon, and communicated +her efforts and her hopes. For the first time +I saw my generous protectress; I became acquainted +with her exertions, and I poured forth my gratitude in +her presence. She redoubled her anxiety, and resolved +to brave everything. Often, on the same day, she +has gone to Montmartre to visit her infant, which was +placed there at nurse, and then came to the Bicêtre to +console me and inform me of her progress. At last, +after three years, she triumphed, and procured my +liberty!”</p> + +<p>In the first instance, the boon of liberty could not +be said to be more than half granted; Latude being +ordered to fix his abode at Montagnac, and not to +leave the town without the permission of the police +officer of the district. As his fortune was entirely +lost, a miserable pension of four hundred livres (about +£16) was assigned for his subsistence. By the renewed +exertions of Madame Legros, however, the +decree of exile was rescinded, and he was allowed to +remain at Paris, on condition of his never appearing +in the coffee-houses, on the public walks, or in any +place of public amusement. The government might +well be ashamed that such a living proof of its injustice +should be contemplated by the people.</p> + +<p>It was on the 24th of March, 1784, that Latude +emerged into the world, from which he had for five-and-thirty +years been secluded. He and his noble-minded +benefactress were, for a considerable time, +objects of general curiosity. Happily, that curiosity +did not end in barren pity and wonder, but proved +beneficial to those who excited it. A subscription was +raised, by which two annuities, each of 300 livres, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_436">[436]</span>were purchased, one for Latude, the other for his deliverer. +Two other pensions, of 600 livres and 100 +crowns, were soon after granted by individuals to +Madame Legros, and the Montyon gold medal, annually +given as the prize of virtue, was unanimously +adjudged to her by the French Academy. The income +of Latude also obtained some increase; but it was not +till 1793 that it received any addition of importance; +in that year he brought an action against the heirs of +the Marchioness de Pompadour, and heavy damages +were awarded to him. Notwithstanding the severe +shocks his frame had undergone, the existence of +Latude was protracted till 1805, when he died at the +age of eighty.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<p>Reign of Louis XVI.—Enormous number of Lettres de Cachet issued +in two reigns—William Debure the elder—Blaizot imprisoned +for obeying the King—Pelisseri—Prisoners from St. +Domingo—Linguet—Duvernet—The Count de Paradès—Marquis +de Sade—Brissot—The Countess de la Motte—Cardinal de +Rohan—Cagliostro—The affair of the Diamond Necklace—Reveillon +takes shelter in the Bastile—Attack and capture of +the Bastile by the Parisians—Conclusion.</p> + +</div> + +<p>The reign of Louis XV., which, as far as regarded +himself, was every way inglorious, was protracted to +the length of fifty-nine years; a duration which has +rarely been equalled. Popular enthusiasm, or rather +popular folly—the terms are often synonymous—at one +time conferred on him the title of “the Well-beloved;” +he lived to be sincerely hated, and he died unlamented, +except by such of his flatterers and parasites as feared +that they would be cast off by a new monarch. Of +the enormous amount of private misery which, during +the period of his sway, he must have inflicted, in +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_437">[437]</span>exercising only one attribute of his despotism, some +idea may be formed, from the circumstance of more +than 150,000 <i>lettres de cachet</i> having been issued +while he occupied the throne; an annual average of +more than 2500. How many wives, parents, children, +must have been yearly driven to despair by this +atrocious tyranny! Though it is certain that the prisoners +were not all treated with the same brutality as +Masers de Latude, the mass of suffering must, nevertheless, +have been more than can be contemplated +without a shudder by any one who is not dead to the +feelings of humanity.</p> + +<p>In 1774, Louis XVI. ascended the throne. He +was a perfect contrast to his predecessor. In his +manners there was little of the dignity of a sovereign, +and he was deficient in firmness and penetration; but, +pure in morals, kind in heart, and honest in principle, +he was unfeignedly desirous to do justice to his people, +and to contribute to their welfare. Yet, so difficult is +it to uproot a long-established abuse, and such is the +power of ministers and men in office, that, even under +the government of this well-meaning king, no fewer +than 14,000 <i>lettres de cachet</i> are said to have been +granted in the fifteen years which elapsed between the +accession of Louis and the meeting of the States +General.</p> + +<p>The very first instances which I shall bring forward +of the use made of <i>lettres de cachet</i>, in this reign, will +afford proof of the unprincipled and arbitrary spirit of +the men who held authority. We commence with +William Debure the elder, one of the most eminent +and intelligent of the Parisian booksellers. The +family of the Debures carried on, from father to son, +the same business in Paris, for nearly two centuries. +The subject of this sketch was in habits of intimacy +with the most distinguished literary characters. His +catalogues of celebrated libraries, to the number of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_438">[438]</span>forty-three, are much esteemed. At the time of his +decease, in 1820, when he was eighty-six, he was the +oldest bookseller in France, and was considered as the +patriarch of bibliography. It was in 1778 that he was +sent to the Bastile. In 1777, the Council of State +thought proper to issue an ordinance, decreeing that +the term of copyright should not in future extend +beyond the time which was required to defray the +expense of publishing. The Council followed this up +by another ordinance, authorizing the sale of pirated +editions, on payment of a stamp duty. These acts, +equally absurd and unjust, were, in fact, licenses to +commit robbery upon authors and publishers, for the +benefit of the treasury, which shared the spoil with the +robbers. Debure then held in his company the place +of syndic, which seems to be analogous to that of +master in our stationers’ company. To him fell the +task of stamping the pirated works. Well knowing +that a great number of booksellers would inevitably be +ruined by the new law, or rather violation of law, +which the Council had promulgated, Debure declined +to comply with it, and desired that he might be allowed +to resign. His resignation was not accepted, and he +was thrice summoned to proceed to the stamping of +the spurious books; and in each instance the significant +hint was thrown out, “Stamp, or if you do not——.” +Debure remained immovable, and he was at length +committed to the Bastile. The ministers, however, +either became ashamed of their conduct, or, which is +more probable, were overruled by the monarch; for, +in the course of a few days, he recovered his liberty.</p> + +<p>Another bookseller is said to have been punished +in the same manner, for the extraordinary offence of +executing, in the way of trade, an order which was +given to him by his sovereign. Suspecting that his +ministers kept him in ignorance of the sentiments and +wishes of the people, Louis determined to obtain some +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_439">[439]</span>knowledge of them from another quarter. To peruse +the various political pamphlets of the day seemed to +him the best mode of accomplishing his purpose. Accordingly, +he directed a bookseller, named Blaizot, to +send them regularly and secretly to a certain place, +whence they were to be conveyed to him. This was +done for about two months. Alarmed to find the king +possessed of so much information, upon subjects with +which they had believed him to be unacquainted, the +ministers set to work to discover the source of it. Either +Blaizot’s imprudence, or the activity of their spies, +soon made them masters of the secret. The luckless +bookseller was speedily taught that there was an influence +behind the throne which was greater than the +throne itself. The Bastile received him. This audacious +act is attributed to the Baron de Breteuil; of +whom, however, it is but justice to state, that he is +said to have liberated many prisoners, and much ameliorated +the prison discipline. But he was at times +harsh and impetuous, and may, perhaps, on this occasion, +have yielded to passion, or to the wish of his +colleagues. Surprised by the customary supply of +pamphlets being abruptly stopped, Louis inquired into +the cause of it, and was equally astonished and indignant +to find that Blaizot had been lodged in the Bastile, +by virtue of one of those laconic billets which were +signed Louis, and countersigned by a cabinet minister. +Blaizot was instantly released, and the Baron de Breteuil +was reprimanded, in the severest language, by his +offended master.</p> + +<p>That Breteuil, highly aristocratic in his principles, +and believing the established order of things to be perfection +itself, should consider it as a matter of course +to silence all opponents by means of the Bastile, can +excite no wonder; but, if a minister who sprang from +the people, a republican by birth, and a professed +friend of reform, could punish by imprisonment a man +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_440">[440]</span>who ventured to criticise his measures, we must wonder +indeed! Yet, if M. Linguet was not misinformed, +such a case did actually happen. He tells us that, +while he was in the Bastile, there was in the prison a +captive named Pelisseri, who had been three years in +confinement, and whose sole crime was that he had +made some remarks on the financial operations of M. +Necker. The story is not probable. With some important +faults, the minister had many virtues, and +certainly had nothing cruel in his nature. It is very +likely that the captivity of Pelisseri was the work of +some secret enemy, who hated both him and Necker, +and doubly gratified his vindictive feelings, by incarcerating +the one and calumniating the other.</p> + +<p>The agents of the French government in the colonies +seem not to have been backward in following the +example of tyranny which was set to them by their +superiors at home. In one instance, a governor of St. +Domingo, who had quarrelled with all the members of +a court of justice, adopted a summary mode of proceeding +against them. He shipped the whole of them, +and sent them off to France as criminals. On their +arrival they were placed in the Bastile, and kept +separate from each other; and in this painful situation +they remained for eight months. They were at length +pronounced innocent, and were conveyed back to +St. Domingo; but they received not the slightest +compensation for more than a year’s endurance of +bodily and mental suffering.</p> + +<p>The Bastile received, in September, 1780, a man +whose talents were more worthy of praise than his +temper. This was Simon Nicholas Henry Linguet, +a native of Rheims, who was born in 1736. He was +learned, acute, and eloquent both in speech and +writing; but paradoxical, changeful, suspicious, violent, +and wrong-headed. At the age of sixteen, he +gained the three highest University prizes. After +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_441">[441]</span>having visited Poland with the Duke of Deux Ponts, +and Portugal with the Prince de Beauveau, he commenced +his literary career by a History of the Times +of Alexander the Great. Disappointed by D’Alembert, +in his wish to obtain a seat in the French +Academy, he became an inveterate enemy of D’Alembert, +and the party which was called the philosophical. +His works succeeded each other with uncommon +rapidity: the most remarkable of those which he +published at this period are, the History of the Revolutions +of the Roman Empire, and the Theory of +Civil Laws. Both these works, which in many +respects have great merit, excited a loud clamour, +especially the latter, by the leaning which they manifest +towards despotism. Linguet had soon reason to +change his opinion on this subject.</p> + +<p>The literary labours of Linguet might seem sufficient +to occupy all his time; but the fact was not so. +He was all the while a barrister in extensive practice. +In splendid eloquence, and in the successful management +of causes, he had few if any rivals. He boasted +that he never lost more than two causes, “and those,” +said he, “I had a strong inclination to lose.” It was +mainly by his efforts that the obnoxious Duke d’Aiguillon +escaped from deserved punishment. The duke +proved ungrateful, and his irritated counsellor wrote +him word that he had “stolen him from the scaffold,” +and that, if the peer did not do what was right with +regard to his advocate, “he would keep him hanging +for ten years at the point of his pen.” D’Aiguillon +thought it prudent to yield, but he took care to avenge +himself in the end. The lucrative career of Linguet, +as a barrister, was suddenly brought to a close by his +brethren of the bar, some of whom envied his superior +gains, and all of whom had been irritated by his +violent and sarcastic language. They refused to plead +with him, and the parliament sanctioned this resolution, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_442">[442]</span>and expunged his name from the roll of +counsellors.</p> + +<p>Shut out from forensic honours and emoluments, +Linguet devoted himself to literature and politics. +He began to publish a journal in 1774, but, in 1776, +it was suppressed by the minister Maurepas. Apprehensive +for his liberty, he quitted France, and +successively resided in Switzerland, Holland, and +England. It was in 1777, while he was in exile, that +he established his well-known work, the Political, +Civil, and Literary Annals of the Eighteenth Century, +which forms nineteen volumes. The Count de Vergennes +gave him permission to return to France; but +scarcely had he availed himself of it ere he was +shut up in the Bastile, where he continued for above +two years. On his release, he settled at Brussels, +and gained the good-will of the emperor Joseph, +which, however, he soon lost, by espousing the party +of the Belgian revolutionists. In 1791, he returned +to France. During the reign of terror, he withdrew +into retirement. He was, however, unable to elude +the vigilance of the Jacobins; he was sent by them +before the revolutionary tribunal, which, without +suffering him to make any defence, condemned him +to death, and he was accordingly executed in the +summer of 1794.</p> + +<p>While Linguet was in the Bastile, one of his opponents +was sharing the same fate, though for a much +shorter term. Duvernet, an ecclesiastic, published a +pamphlet, anonymously, in 1781, in which he indulged +his wit at the expense of Linguet, D’Espremenil, and +other well-known characters. This he might have +done with impunity; but he also attacked the government; +and the government, in return, sent him to the +Bastile for three weeks, to learn prudence. The +lesson was thrown away upon him; for, soon after his +release, he ventured to animadvert upon the conduct +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_443">[443]</span>of the Count de Maurepas, and was again lodged in +the Bastile. His confinement lasted longer than in +the first instance; and he availed himself of this compulsory +leisure to write a life of Voltaire. The minister +of police detained the manuscript; but the work, +nevertheless, found its way into print in 1786, and +had such an extensive sale, that the French bishops +took the alarm, and commissioned the keeper of the +seals to complain to the king. Louis XVI., however, +replied, “I will not meddle with this affair; if +Duvernet is wrong, let him be refuted,—that is the +business of the bishops.” The author afterwards +enlarged and remodelled his work; but he died in +1796, the year before the new edition was published.</p> + +<p>Another prisoner, who was also contemporary with +Linguet in the Bastile, was an individual of mysterious +origin and conduct, who ought to have found a place +in an English prison rather than in a French one. +This was a person who assumed the title of the Count +de Paradès. He himself claimed to be descended from +an ancient Spanish family of the same name; some +affirmed him to be the natural son of a Count de +Paradès; but he was generally believed to be of far +humbler origin, the offspring of a pastry-cook named +Richard, who resided at Phalsburg. Of his early life +nothing is known; it is at the age of twenty-five that +we find him entering on his public career; and, by +some means or other, he contrived to procure an extremely +flattering reception at the French court. Fearing +that he was too old to attain elevated rank in the +military profession, he looked about for another road +to fortune, and thought he had found it in adopting +the perilous and undignified occupation of a spy. +France was at that period secretly preparing for hostilities +against England, the revolt of the British American +colonies seeming to afford her a favourable +opportunity of taking vengeance for the defeats and +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_444">[444]</span>disgrace which she had suffered in the seven years’ +war. Deeming this an excellent opportunity to bring +himself forward, Paradès voluntarily visited England, +where he gathered some valuable information relative +to our arsenals, ports, and naval and military establishments. +The memorial which, on his return, he +presented to Sartine, the French minister of marine, +was so much approved of, that he was despatched to +procure further particulars. He was so successful in +his inquiries, that he was regularly engaged as a spy +by Sartine, and was profusely supplied with the means +to purchase the services of British traitors. Paradès +was not idle; he bribed highly, and, if his own assertion +may be credited, he found no difficulty in corrupting +many clerks and officers of an inferior class. +Though he may have exaggerated in this respect, there +can be no doubt that there were too many base-minded +wretches who were willing to sell their country. This +fact is established by the circumstances which came +out on the trial of La Motte, his less fortunate successor. +Paradès reconnoitred all the English and +Irish ports. In a part of his journeys he was accompanied +by an officer of engineers, and they were several +times in the utmost danger of being discovered. +For the purpose of keeping up an intercourse with the +French ministry, he fitted out a vessel, and had a regular +establishment of messengers; the vessel served +the double purpose of trading and conveying his despatches. +Many of the communications which he made +were highly important; he complains, in his memoirs, +that some of them, which would have enabled France +to strike fatal blows, were unaccountably neglected. +One of his projects was to set fire to the British fleet +in the harbour of Portsmouth. His services were not +unrewarded; he was pensioned, and appointed a colonel +of cavalry. In the short time that he had been acting +his part, he had also contrived to amass about +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_445">[445]</span>£35,000 by speculations in commerce and the funds, +and perhaps by pocketing a heavy per centage on the +remittances from the French ministry. Nearly +£30,000 was sent to him by his employers, and it is +obvious that, as to the disbursement of it, they could +have no check whatever upon him. It was with a +scheme for seizing upon Plymouth that he closed his +career as a spy. In that port he either had, or pretended +to have emissaries, and to have corrupted a +serjeant and several soldiers of the feeble garrison. It +was in pursuance of this plan that D’Orvilliers, with +the combined French and Spanish squadrons, consisting +of sixty-five sail, entered the Channel. It is notorious +that Plymouth was then in an extremely imperfect +state of defence, and would have been much +endangered by a vigorous attack. Fortunately, however, +D’Orvilliers, in spite of the remonstrances of +Paradès, declined to make an attempt upon the place. +Paradès now visited France, and immediately received +instructions to return to England; but, before he +could depart, his adventurous occupation was brought +to an abrupt close. He is said to have been suspected +of playing the Janus-faced traitor, equally bribed by +England and by France. The suspicion, though natural, +was probably unjust, and may have been +prompted by the friends of those officers whom he had +accused of missing favourable opportunities. He was +committed to the Bastile in April 1780, and was not +liberated till April 1781. He was allowed to have +what books he pleased, to carry on a free correspondence, +and to be visited by his friends. The presumptions +against him could not have been strong; if they had +been so, he would have been rigorously treated, and +permanently confined. For three years after he was +set free, Paradès continued to press the government +for the payment of £25,000, which he asserted to be +due to him. The war, however, had exhausted the +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_446">[446]</span>French treasury, and he consequently solicited in vain. +In 1784 he sailed to St. Domingo, where he had purchased +an estate, and he died there in the course of the +following year.</p> + +<p>He who appears next on the list of captives was a +man—if indeed the name of man is not misapplied to +him—whose crimes were of so dark a dye that to +imprison him for them was unjust, solely because it +was nothing less than assisting him to evade the +punishment which justice would have inflicted on +him. This abandoned individual has been correctly +described, by a French writer, as “the profound villain +named the Marquis de Sade, who, by his atrocious +examples, and his equally horrible writings, proved +himself to be the apostle of every crime,—of assassination, +of poisoning,—and the enemy of all social order; +this monster spent great part of his life in prison, and +was twenty times saved from the scaffold by his title +of marquis.”</p> + +<p>The Marquis de Sade, who was descended from an +ancient family of the Comtat Venaissin, was born at +Paris, in 1740. He embraced the military profession, +and served in all the German campaigns of the seven +years’ war. In 1766, he married an amiable and +virtuous woman, to whom he proved a perpetual source +of wretchedness. A sense of duty induced her, for a +considerable period, to aid in extricating him from the +difficulties in which he involved himself, but she was +finally obliged to give him up. In the same year that +he was united to her, one of his infamous adventures +caused him to be imprisoned and exiled; and no sooner +was he allowed to return to Paris than he took an +actress into keeping, carried her to Provence, and introduced +her as his wife to the gentry around his mansion. +These, however, were merely the venial offences +of Sade. His criminality took a far higher flight. In +1778, he would have fallen a victim to the justice of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_447">[447]</span>his country, for horrible cruelty to a female, had he +not been snatched from it by a <i>lettre de cachet</i>, which +confined him for a time at Saumur, whence he was +removed to Pierre-Encise.</p> + +<p>This danger did not operate as a warning to him. +At Marseilles, in 1772, in company with his valet, who +was the companion of his debaucheries, he acted in +such a manner that the parliament of Aix prosecuted +him and his servant, and ultimately pronounced them +guilty of unnatural acts and of poisoning; the persons +poisoned are said to have been two loose women, to +whom they administered stimulants of the most dangerous +kind. Sade took flight, but was seized in Savoy +by the king of Sardinia, and sent to the castle of +Miolans. He made his escape from the castle, and +concealed himself in Paris, where, in 1777, he was +discovered, and sent to Vincennes. He escaped, was +retaken, was lodged again at Vincennes, and was treated +with great rigour for two years. In 1784, he was +transferred to the Bastile.</p> + +<p>At Vincennes and the Bastile he wrote the earliest +of those works which alone would suffice to brand his +name with indelible infamy. It is truly said of them, +that “everything the most monstrous and revolting, +that can be dreamt by the most frenzied, obscene, and +sanguinary imagination, seems to be combined in these +works, the mere conception of which ought to be +looked upon as a crime against social order.” Sade +was a voluminous writer, and produced many other +works, plays, romances, verses, and miscellanies, which +have never seen the light.</p> + +<p>At the Bastile, but a short time before the attack +on it, he quarrelled with the governor, and, by means +of a sort of speaking trumpet, harangued the passengers +in St. Anthony’s Street, and endeavoured to +excite them to arms. For this he was sent off to +Charenton. In 1790, the decree of the National +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_448">[448]</span>Assembly, which liberated all the victims of <i>lettres +des cachet</i>, put an end to his imprisonment, after it had +continued for thirteen years. Sade was a partisan +of the revolution, in its worst aspect; but even the +revolutionists of 1793 shrank from contact with so +foul a being. He was arrested by them, and for +nearly a year was an inmate of various prisons. +After this, he remained at large till the reins of government +were assumed by Napoleon. The First +Consul put a stop, in 1801, to the publication of +Sade’s works, and sent him to St. Pelagie; from +that prison he was removed to Charenton, in 1803, +and there he spent his days till the close of his dishonoured +existence in 1814, when he was seventy-five +years of age. To the very last his detestable +doctrines and habits experienced not the slightest +change.</p> + +<p>One of the most eminent of the French revolutionists, +from whom a considerable party took its +denomination, was among the latest prisoners of the +Bastile. John Peter Brissot was born in 1754, at +the village of Ouarville, near Chartres, where his +father, who was a pastry-cook in Chartres, had a +trifling property. It was from his native place, the +name of which he anglicised, that he afterwards +styled himself Brissot de Warville. He received a +good education, and, as he also read with great +avidity, he accumulated a large stock of miscellaneous +but undigested knowledge. In the English language +he acquired a proficiency which was unusual among +Frenchmen at that period, and his study of it contributed +powerfully to give his sentiments a republican +tinge; for he dwelt with delight on the characters +of the great men who withstood the tyranny of +Charles the First. Brissot was placed in an attorney’s +office at Paris; and it is a curious circumstance, +that one of his fellow-clerks was Robespierre, who +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_449">[449]</span>afterwards became his deadly political foe. In two +years Brissot got tired of legal drudgery, and determined +to look to literature for subsistence. His +first essay was a satire, which he subsequently owned +to contain much injustice, and for which he narrowly +escaped being lodged in the Bastile. A pamphlet +which he published attracted the notice of Swinton, +an Englishman, a man utterly devoid of honourable +feelings, who engaged him to superintend the reprinting +of the Courrier de l’Europe, at Boulogne. +This engagement was soon terminated; and Brissot, +who had received two hundred pounds on his father’s +death, purchased the necessary titles for practising at +the bar. The money thus laid out was thrown away, +he being soon compelled to resign all hope of succeeding +as an advocate. His next scheme, of the +success of which he did not allow himself to doubt, +was to establish, in the British capital, a Lyceum, +which was to serve as a point of union to literary +men of all countries, and was to carry on a universal +correspondence with them, and to issue a periodical +work for the more wide diffusion of English literature. +As might have been foreseen, this magnificent institution, +of which he was of course to be the presiding +genius, proved to be nothing more than an abortion. +Instead of reaping fame and profit from the periodical, +Brissot found that no one would buy it, and he was arrested +and imprisoned by the printer. Having, however, +contrived to get free, he returned penniless to +France in 1784, where another prison was ready to +receive him. Merely, it is said, because he had spoken +lightly of the works of D’Aguesseau, he was sent to +the Bastile. Others attribute his imprisonment to the +malice of his inveterate and unprincipled enemy Morande, +who accused him of having written a libel, entitled +le Diable à Quatre, which was from the pen of +the Marquis de Pelleport. Through the influence of +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_450">[450]</span>Madame de Genlis, Brissot was released at the expiration +of two months. This visit to the Bastile was not +calculated to diminish his republican fervour. That +fervour was no doubt much increased by his visit to +the United States, whither he went early in 1788, and +whence he returned in the following year.</p> + +<p>Brissot, on his return, threw himself with all his +heart and soul into the Revolution. His mind was +heated by the reading of ancient and modern writers, +who have held up republican heroes to our admiration, +and it was irritated by wrongs which arbitrary power +had inflicted; and he rashly and illogically concluded, +that under a monarchy it was impossible for liberty +to exist. Such was the case, also, with many of the +talented, eloquent, and warm-hearted men who, acting +in concert with him, were known by the title of +Brissotins and Girondists. No one who has attentively +perused the numerous documents relative to the +French revolution can deny that, at a moment when, +according to their own confession, there was not a +handful of republicans in France, the Brissotins had +determined to subvert the monarchical government and +establish their favourite system. It is as certain, too, +that they were not delicate in the choice of means, and +that truth was not allowed to stand in the way of their +designs. Believing a republican order of things to be +the perfection of human wisdom, they seem to have +thought that, “to do a great right, they might do a +little wrong.” They were soon taught by woeful experience +that the strict rule of right can never be +violated without danger; and that, however good his +intentions may be, he who does a little wrong opens +the way for the commission of the worst of crimes.</p> + +<p>Brissot was elected a member of the Parisian Common +Council, an assembly which, in less than four +years, became infamous for its ferocious and sanguinary +proceedings. It must have been gratifying to his feelings, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_451">[451]</span>that one of the first acts which it fell to his lot to +perform, was to receive the keys of the Bastile. He now +established a newspaper called the French Patriot, in +which he made daily violent attacks on the monarch, +the ministers, and all the institutions of the state. It +was he who, in conjunction with Laclos, after the +flight of Louis XVI. to Varennes, drew up the petition +which called on the Constituent Assembly to depose +the king, and which gave rise to a riot that +cost some blood. At the period when the election of +members to the Legislative Assembly was going +forward, the court exerted itself to prevent him from +being chosen a representative. Its misdirected efforts, +however, as was the case in many other instances, +only produced a diametrically opposite effect to that +which was intended; the attention of the electors was +directed to Brissot, and he was unanimously returned +as one of the Parisian members.</p> + +<p>Brissot was nominated a member of the diplomatic +committee, and its reports were almost uniformly +drawn up by him. It was principally by his exertions +that a war was brought about with Austria; his purpose +in producing that war was to forward the dethroning +of the king. In the Legislative Assembly +he, for a while, enjoyed great popularity, and he +availed himself of it to batter in breach the tottering +fabric of the monarchy. But the Jacobins, meanwhile, +with Robespierre at their head, all animated by +a deadly hatred of Brissot and his friends, were gradually +gaining influence; and, in proportion as they +won over the populace and the most hot-headed of the +legislators, the power of Brissot declined. For a +moment he meditated making common cause with the +constitutional royalists, in order to avert the disastrous +consequences which he began to dread would ensue, +in case the Jacobins should triumph. The plan, however, +was abandoned. In the revolution of the 10th +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_452">[452]</span>of August he did not participate; Danton was the +prime mover in that transaction. The department of +the Eure deputed Brissot to the convention; and +thenceforth, with a few exceptions, his conduct was +prudent and moderate. From the moment that he +and his friends took their seats, they were daily and +furiously assailed by the Jacobins. They maintained +the contest for several months, but they were finally +overthrown, and the majority of them perished on +the scaffold. Brissot was put to death on the 31st +of October, 1793, and met his fate as calmly as +though he had only been ascending the tribune to +read a report to his late colleagues. The few tears +which he shed during his imprisonment were not for +himself, they were wrung from him by the agonizing +thought that he must leave a beloved wife and children +in a state of destitution.</p> + +<p>The last prisoners that remain to be noticed, owed +their residence in the Bastile to an affair which excited +the public attention in an extraordinary degree, +and contributed greatly to render the Queen of +France an object of suspicion and unpopularity. +This was the affair of the diamond necklace, in +which the principal part was played by the Countess +de la Motte. The countess, and a brother and +sister, were descendants of Henry de St. Remi, a +natural son of Henry II., but her family had been +reduced to beggary. The three children, two of +whom she had found asking alms, were taken under +the protection of the Marchioness of Boulainvilliers, +who charitably brought them up at her own expense. +D’Hozier, the eminent genealogist, having ascertained +that they really sprang from the house of +Valois, the Duke of Brancas presented to the queen +a memorial in their favour, and a small pension was +in consequence granted to each of them.</p> + +<p>In 1780, Jane, the eldest, married the Count de +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_453">[453]</span>la Motte, who was one of the guards of the Count +d’Artois. Their united resources being exceedingly +scanty, the Countess looked about for the means of +improving them at the cost of some dupe. She had +a prepossessing appearance, fluency of speech, and +considerable talents for intrigue, masked by a semblance +of openness and candour. The personage +whom she selected to try her experiment on, was the +Cardinal Prince de Rohan, Bishop of Strasburgh, +who was then in his fiftieth year. Rohan, though a +bishop and a cardinal, did not think it necessary to +assume even the appearance of decorum and virtue. +He was weak, vain, dissolute, presumptuous, and extravagant. +For a long time he had been in great +disfavour with Maria Antoinetta, the Queen of +France. She, as well as her mother, the Empress +Queen, had been disgusted by his unseemly conduct, +some years before this, while he was ambassador at +Vienna, and the queen’s disgust was heightened by +his indiscreet language respecting her, and by the +insulting manner in which he had spoken of her +mother, in a letter to the Duke d’Aiguillon. She, +however, did not interfere to prevent his obtaining +several ill-deserved appointments from the government, +but she manifested her resentment by refusing +to admit him into her presence, and by expressing +her unbounded contempt of him.</p> + +<p>Rohan was in despair at not being admitted into +the society of the queen. All that he enjoyed seemed +worthless, while he was denied that privilege. It +was on this egregious weakness that Madame de +la Motte founded her hopes of success. The deceiver +acted her part with much skill; she gradually +led the besotted cardinal to believe that she had acquired +the queen’s entire confidence, and could exercise +great influence over her. She was, therefore, +obviously the fittest person to bring about the reconciliation +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_454">[454]</span>for which he was so eager. The countess +readily undertook to be the mediator. Week after +week she deluded him by tales of her pleadings to the +queen, and of the slow but sure progress that she +made in restoring him to the royal favour. At last +he was told, that though the queen had forgiven him, +there were reasons why she could not alter her behaviour +towards him at court, and that all intercourse +between them must be carried on through the medium +of Madame de la Motte. Billets, forged by a +M. Villette, now began to be addressed to him in her +Majesty’s name; twice the writer requested a loan +from Rohan, and the request was granted by the delighted +dupe. To lure him on still further, he was +informed, that Maria Antoinetta would admit him to +an interview at night, in the Bois du Boulogne. To +play this character, a lady of easy virtue, named +d’Oliva, whose person and voice resembled the +queen’s, was tutored by La Motte. The cardinal +saw her for a moment, and was in raptures, but he +had not time to express them before the nocturnal +farce was put an end to, by a preconcerted interruption. +This last fraud having raised the infatuation +of the cardinal to the highest pitch, measures were +taken to turn his folly to advantage. There was in +the hands of Bœhmer and Bossange, the court jewellers, +a splendid diamond necklace, valued at 1,800,000 +francs, which the queen had recently declined to +purchase, on the ground that it was too expensive. +It was this rich prize which La Motte had in view. +To get possession of it, she made Rohan her tool; +she succeeded in making him believe—for his fund of +credulity appears to have been inexhaustible—that +the queen was extremely desirous to be mistress of +the necklace; but that, as she did not choose to be +seen in the affair, she wished him to negotiate for +her, and to purchase it on his own credit. A forged +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_455">[455]</span>authority, from Maria Antoinetta, was produced, in +support of this fiction. Rohan rushed blindly into +the snare; he bought the necklace, giving for it four +bills, payable at intervals of six months, which the +jewellers consented to receive, on his showing them +the paper authorizing him to treat with them. Another +forged document, bearing the queen’s signature, +enabled Madame de la Motte to get the necklace into +her own possession. Her husband is said to have +been immediately sent off to London, to dispose of a +part of the diamonds.</p> + +<p>When the first bill became due, it was dishonoured, +for Rohan had no money, and had relied upon receiving +the amount from the queen. The alarmed +jewellers hastened to the palace, to remonstrate with +her majesty on the subject. The queen was indignant +and astonished at the story which they told. +Cardinal de Rohan, the Countess de la Motte, and +some others, were arrested, and conveyed to the +Bastile. The parliament was charged with the trial +of the prisoners. The trial was not brought to a +conclusion till the 31st of May, 1786. Rohan was +acquitted, but Madame de la Motte was sentenced to +make the <i>amende honorable</i>, to be branded on both +shoulders, and publicly whipped, and be confined for +the rest of her days in the prison of the Salpêtrière. +Villette, the forger, and d’Etionville, his accomplice, +were condemned to the galleys for life. After having +undergone the ignominious part of her sentence, the +countess contrived to escape, and joined her husband +in London, where she died in 1791.</p> + +<p>Rohan, though acquitted, was compelled by the +king to resign the office of high almoner, and the +Order of the Holy Ghost, and was exiled to one of +his abbeys. In the early part of the Revolution, he +for a short time seemed friendly to it; but, his aristocratic +feelings soon getting the upper hand, he became +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_456">[456]</span>one of its most inveterate enemies, and strained +every nerve to forward the designs of the emigrants. +He died in Germany, in 1803.</p> + +<p>Besides La Motte and Rohan, there were committed +to the Bastile some subordinate actors in the affair of +the diamond necklace, and also a singular adventurer, +who was known to the world under the title of Count +Cagliostro. The count himself, while he threw a veil +of mystery over his birth, appeared to claim an +oriental and illustrious origin; but his enemies assert +that his real name was Joseph Balsamo, and that he +was the son of poor parents at Palermo, where he +was born in 1743. They represent him, too, as a +degraded being, sometimes living by the sale of +chemical compositions, sometimes by swindling, and, +still more frequently, by the prostitution of a handsome +wife. Yet it is certain that, in his travels over +the largest portion of Europe, he gained the esteem +and confidence of many distinguished characters. +That he was a man of talents is undeniable; his +person and manners were attractive, he was acquainted +with most of the European and Asiatic +languages, his knowledge is said to have been extensive, +and he had a powerful flow of eloquence. +Where he procured the funds, by which he kept up +the appearance of a man of distinction, it would not be +easy to ascertain. He was intimate with Cardinal +de Rohan, who had sought his friendship, and this +intimacy was the cause of his being incarcerated, on +suspicion of being an accomplice of the cardinal. +He was acquitted by the parliament. Cagliostro +subsequently spent two years in England, whence he +passed into Italy. At Rome, his wanderings were +brought to a close; he was arrested in 1791, and +sent to the castle of St. Angelo, on a charge of +having established a masonic lodge, and written a +seditious, heretical, and blasphemous work, entitled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_457">[457]</span>Egyptian Masonry. He was condemned to death, +but for this penalty the Pope substituted perpetual +imprisonment. He is believed to have died in confinement +in 1795.</p> + +<p>The long catalogue of captives is now exhausted; +ruin impends over the fortress in which they spent +their solitary and mournful hours; but, before its +doom is sealed, we must see it changing its character, +and becoming, for the first time, a place of refuge to +a persecuted individual. In April 1789, at a period +when the minds of all Frenchmen were in a state of +fermentation, and when, like the ground-swell, which +announces a coming tempest, popular outbreaks were +happening in various quarters, there occurred a riot +of a very serious nature in the suburb of St. Antoine. +Reveillon, a man of good character, who had himself +risen from the working class, was the person against +whom the fury of the mob was directed. He was a +paper-hanging manufacturer, and employed three +hundred men. The charge against him, which was +calumniously made by an abbé, who was in his debt, +was, that he had declared bread to be not yet dear +enough, and expressed a hope that hunger would +compel the workmen to labour for half their present +wages. The thoughtless multitude, always too ready +to credit such slanders, immediately determined to +take summary vengeance on him; the first step of +the rioters was to hang him in effigy. On the first +day they were prevented from going further, but on +the following day, they returned to the charge with +increased numbers and means of offence. Reveillon’s +house and manufactory were plundered of everything +that was portable, and were then burned to the ground. +It was not till the mischief was completed, that the +troops arrived. They seem to have thought it necessary +to atone for their extraordinary delay by extraordinary +severity; a furious contest ensued, and +between four and five hundred of the rioters are said +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_458">[458]</span>to have been slaughtered on the spot. Each of the +political parties accused its rival of having, for sinister +purposes, been the planner of this sanguinary scene. +In the midst of the confusion, Reveillon was so fortunate +as to escape from the mob, and he sought for +shelter in the Bastile, where, during a whole month, +he deemed it prudent to remain.</p> + +<p>In little more than three months after the destruction +of Reveillon’s establishment, the storm of popular +anger, which had long been gathering in the capital, +burst forth with irresistible violence, and shook to its +very basis the throne of France. Matters were, indeed, +come to a crisis, between the royalist and the +reforming parties. The court seemed resolved to +commit the question to the decision of the sword; a +formidable force, consisting chiefly of foreign troops, +was accumulated around the metropolis; and the +language held by some of the courtiers and ministers +was of the most sanguinary kind. The Baron de +Breteuil did not hesitate to say, “If it should be +necessary to burn Paris, it shall be burned, and the +inhabitants decimated: desperate diseases require +desperate remedies.” To dissolve the National Assembly +by force, and to consign to the scaffold its +most distinguished members, were among the remedies +which this political Sangrado designed to administer +for the purpose of checking the disease.</p> + +<p>As a preliminary to the projected operations, the +ministry of M. Necker was abruptly broken up, and +another was formed, composed of men notorious for +their hostility to the rights of the people. It was a +sufficient indication of what was intended, that Necker, +Montmorin, De la Lezarne, De Puysegur, and De +St. Priest, were replaced by Breteuil, Broglie, De la +Vauguyon, and others of the same stamp. Necker +was ordered to quit the kingdom, and to keep his +departure a profound secret.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_459">[459]</span></p> + +<p>The dismissed minister obeyed the order so strictly +that not even his daughter knew of his setting out; +but the ridiculous silence which was required of him +was of no avail. On the following day, which was +Sunday, the 12th of July, it was known at Paris that +the favourite of the people was expelled from office, +and was leaving the country. All the citizens were +instantly in alarm. Groups assembled in every street, +and more than ten thousand persons were soon congregated +at the Palais Royal. Every one was enraged, +but no one knew what to propose, till Camille Desmoulins +ascended a table, in the Palais Royal, and +exhorted his hearers to take up arms; he then plucked +a green leaf, which he put into his hat, as a rallying-sign, +and the symbol of hope. His example was universally +followed. The crowd now proceeded to a +waxwork museum, took from it the busts of Necker +and the Duke of Orleans, covered them with crape, +carried them in procession through the streets, and +compelled the passengers to take off their hats. Near +the place Vendôme, they were assailed by a detachment +of the Royal German regiment, and several +persons were wounded. The Germans were, however, +repulsed. At the place de Louis XV. there was +another contest. They were charged by the dragoons +of the Prince de Lambesc, who dispersed them, and +killed a soldier of the French guards, and one of the +bearers of the busts. The prince himself, a brutal +character, followed some of them into the garden of +the Tuileries, sabring indiscriminately the fugitives +and those who were walking; among those who fell +beneath his hand were a female and an aged man. +The multitude rallied, and chairs, stones, and everything +that could be converted into a weapon, was +employed against the dragoons, who were finally compelled +to fly. By this time the French guards, who +were confined in their barracks, because they favoured +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_460">[460]</span>the people, had learned the death of their comrade. +It was impossible to restrain their rage; they broke +out, fired on the Royal German regiment, and then +took post to cover the multitude from further attack. +Some of the Swiss regiments were ordered to reduce +them to obedience, but they refused to obey; and it +was thus rendered obvious, that the court had fatally +miscalculated in relying upon the army for support.</p> + +<p>During that night, and the whole of the succeeding +day, Paris was like a hive about to send forth a swarm. +In the course of the night, the most disorderly part +of the populace burned the custom-houses at the barriers, +and plundered the gunsmiths’ shops. Weapons +of every kind, and of all ages and countries, were +eagerly sought for and brought into use. In the +morning, the electors met at the town-hall to decide +upon the steps which ought to be taken. It was +manifest that they had nothing to expect from the +leniency of the court; it was, in fact, understood that +Paris was to be attacked on seven points in the evening +of the 14th, and it was therefore absolutely necessary +to provide the means of defence. In a few hours +a plan was matured and proclaimed, for arraying forty-eight +thousand Parisian militia. The alarm-bells were +kept incessantly ringing throughout Paris, and drums +were beating in every street, to summon the inhabitants +to their posts. The scanty supply of arms was the most +serious obstacle which the citizens had to overcome. +To remove it in part, pikes were fabricated, fifty +thousand of which were distributed within six-and-thirty +hours. Fortunately, it was discovered that +there was a large quantity of arms at the Hôtel des +Invalides; these were immediately seized upon, and +thus 28,000 muskets, besides sabres and some cannon, +were obtained. Sufficient powder was procured, and +hundreds of men were occupied in casting balls.</p> + +<p>The position of the Bastile, interrupting the communication +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_461">[461]</span>between various parts of the capital, and +commanding a considerable portion of the city, was a +cause of much embarrassment to the citizens. M. de +Launey had received instructions to defend his post +to the last extremity. He was provided with ample +means, as far as regarded ammunition and arms; for +he had on the ramparts fifteen cannon, and twelve +wall-pieces, each of which carried a ball of a pound +and a half; he had also plenty of shot, 15,000 cartridges, +and 31,000 pounds of powder. Besides these, +there were, on the summit of the building, six cartloads +of paving-stones, bars of iron, and other missiles, +to hurl on an approaching enemy, when the cannon +could no longer reach him. But, with unaccountable +negligence, no magazine of provisions had been +formed; there was not food enough in the place to +last for twenty-four hours. The garrison consisted +of 32 Swiss and 82 invalids.</p> + +<p>It is certain that the Committee of Electors, sitting +at the town-hall, did not entertain any idea of reducing +the Bastile by arms. A sort of neutrality was +the most for which they hoped. That this is the fact, +is proved by their having twice sent a deputation to +the governor, calling on him to admit a detachment of +the Parisian militia, to act in conjunction with the garrison. +The ground on which they claimed this admission +was, that the city ought to have a control over any +military force which was stationed within its limits. +To such a proposal the governor could not accede +without perilling his head.</p> + +<p>A M. Thuriot was now sent, by the district of St. +Louis de la Culture, to desire that the cannon might +be removed from the towers. De Launey replied that +this could not be done without the king’s orders, but +that he would withdraw them from the embrasures to +prevent their appearance from exciting alarm. Thuriot +was permitted to ascend to the summit of the fortress, +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_462">[462]</span>that he might be enabled to report to those who sent +him the real state of things, and he availed himself of +this permission to exhort the soldiers to surrender. +This they refused to do, but they unanimously and +solemnly promised that they would not be the first to +fire.</p> + +<p>But though the Committee of Electors was not disposed +to engage in hostilities which seemed likely to +be both fruitless and dangerous, there were others, who +were more daring, and some, perhaps, who were aware +that the garrison had no provisions, and little inclination +to fight. From various parts, but especially from +the suburb of St. Antoine, an enormous multitude, +with every variety of weapon, hurried to the fortress, +shouting “We will have the Bastile! down with the +troops!” Two of them boldly ascended the roof of +the guard-house, and with axes broke the chains of the +great drawbridge. The throng then pressed into the +court, and advanced towards the second bridge, firing +all the while upon the garrison. The latter replied +with such effect, that the assailants were driven back; +but they placed themselves under shelter, whence they +kept up an incessant discharge of musketry.</p> + +<p>A despatch to the governor, informing him that succour +was at hand, having been intercepted by the +committee, that body sent a third deputation to prevail +on him to admit the Parisian forces. It reached +the outer court, and was invited to enter the place by +some officers of the garrison; but either it mistook the +meaning of the invitation, or was intimidated by the +scene of carnage, for it retired without fulfilling its +mission. The firing was recommenced by the people, +and was answered with deadly effect by their antagonists. +Three waggon-loads of straw were now brought +in and set on fire, to burn the buildings near the +fortress; but they were so unskilfully managed, that +they proved obstacles to the besiegers, who were compelled +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_463">[463]</span>to remove them. While they were thus employed, +they received a discharge of grape-shot from +the only cannon which the garrison fired during the +conflict.</p> + +<p>The French guards now arrived with four pieces of +cannon, to take a part in the attack. The sight of this +reinforcement entirely depressed the spirits of the +besieged, which had already begun to sink. They +called on their commander to capitulate. Anticipating, +no doubt, the fate which was reserved for him, +he is said to have seized a lighted match, intending to +apply it to the powder-magazine. A large portion of +the neighbourhood would have been destroyed with the +Bastile, had not two non-commissioned officers repelled +him with their bayonets from the dangerous spot. +A white handkerchief was hoisted on one of the +towers as a flag of truce, and a parley was beaten by +the drums of the invalids. These signs were unnoticed +for a considerable time by the besiegers, who +continued their fire. At length, finding that all was +silent in the Bastile, they advanced towards the last +drawbridge, and called to the garrison to let it down. +A Swiss officer looked through a loop-hole, and required +that his comrades should be allowed to march out +with the honours of war. That being refused, he declared +that they were willing to submit, on condition +of not being massacred. “Let down the bridge, and +nothing shall happen to you,” was the reply. On this +assurance, the governor gave up the key of the bridge, +and the conquerors entered in triumph.</p> + +<p>A vast majority of the assailants were undoubtedly +brave and honourable men; but there were among +them numbers of the most infamous of mankind; men +who lent their aid in tumults only that they might +gratify their love of plunder and blood. To these degraded +wretches must be attributed the cruelties which +sullied the victory. No sooner was the day won, than +<span class="pagenum" id="Page_464">[464]</span>they began to gratify their diabolical propensities. +Their first achievement was to attempt to throw into +the flames a young girl, whom they found in a fainting +fit, and supposed to be the governor’s daughter. She +was, however, saved by one of the Parisian volunteers. +Others were less happy. The unfortunate De Launey +was massacred on his way to the town-hall, after +having received innumerable sword and bayonet stabs +from the savages around him. Five of his officers +were put to death in an almost equally barbarous manner.</p> + +<p>The loss of the besiegers was eighty-three killed +on the spot, fifteen who died afterwards, thirteen +crippled, and sixty wounded.</p> + +<p>In the Bastile there were found only seven prisoners; +four of them had forged bills to an immense +amount, two were insane, and the last, the Count de +Solange, had been confined at the request of his father +for dissipated conduct.</p> + +<p>The Bastile soon ceased to exist. It was demolished +by order of the civic authorities of Paris; and, when +the demolition was completed, a grand ball was given +on the levelled space. The capture and downfall of +this obnoxious fabric were hailed with delight by the +friends of liberty in every part of the globe, and they +long furnished a favourite and fertile theme for moralists, +orators, and poets.</p> + +<p class="titlepage">THE END.</p> + +<p class="center smaller">LONDON:<br> +BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS,<br> +WHITEFRIARS.</p> + +<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop"> + +<div class="footnotes"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="nobreak" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> + +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> M. Linguet says, that each of these niches was but just large +enough for one person, and had neither light nor air except at the +moment when the door was opened.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> M. de Fratteaux was seized in England, and carried off, by the +French officers of police. “His misfortunes seem to have been +owing to an unnatural father, who being on terms of intimacy with +the minister, obtained a <i>lettre de cachet</i> to arrest and confine +his son.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> Prisoners who were not allowed to have a servant of their own, +sometimes were indulged with an invalid soldier to attend them; +but those who had neither, made their bed, lighted their fire, and +swept their room, themselves.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> I have passed lightly over the life of Palissy, because I shall +have occasion to dwell upon it, in another volume of the Family +Library.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Henry pointed his advice with a pun, which is not translatable. +He recommended to Biron, “Qu’il l’otât d’auprès de lui, sinon +que <i>La Fin l’affineroit</i>.” In English, if such a deceiver’s name +were Cousin, we might similarly say, “If you do not get rid of that +Cousin, he will cozen you.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> Biographers and historians differ with respect to the circumstances +which ensued on the pardon being announced. While some +give the statement which I have adopted, others affirm that, when +de Jars was taken back to prison, he remained for a long while +speechless, and seemingly deprived of all consciousness. This is +asserted by Madame de Motteville; and, as she was his intimate +friend, her authority has considerable weight. But her assertion +may be correct, and yet it is more than probable that de Jars may +have made the reply which is attributed to him. I think the conduct +ascribed to him in the text more consonant than any other +with his intrepid character. Nature, however, can endure only to a +certain point, and the effort that is made to bear up, and which, as +long as danger is present, seldom fails with the honourable and +brave, necessarily produces exhaustion when the struggle is over. +It may therefore, easily be believed, that, though de Jars was capable +of answering Laffemas with his wonted spirit—and the very +sight of such a monster would stimulate that spirit—he might sink +into insensibility on his return to prison.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> It has been conjectured, by some writers, that Richelieu was +stimulated to this new attack upon the queen by the circumstance +of her being pregnant, which induced him to dread that her influence +would be greatly increased, if he did not find the means of +rendering her an object of suspicion. But the conjecture is erroneous, +as a comparison of dates will prove. The attack upon her +was commenced in the summer of 1637 (La Porte was sent to the +Bastile in August), and the queen was not brought to bed till September +1638, thirteen months afterwards.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> The mask is said to have been improperly described as being of +iron; it being formed of black velvet. Only the frame work and +the springs were of metal.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> This seems to be a quantity of linen so enormous as to stagger +belief. But Latude is probably correct in his assertion. In +some of the French provinces, families have an immense stock of +linen; and it is necessary that they should, as the operation of +washing is not performed more than twice or thrice a year.</p></div> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76902 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/76902-h/images/cover.jpg b/76902-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d34543c --- /dev/null +++ b/76902-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/76902-h/images/line.jpg b/76902-h/images/line.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81ef70f --- /dev/null +++ b/76902-h/images/line.jpg diff --git a/76902-h/images/plan.jpg b/76902-h/images/plan.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..388b340 --- /dev/null +++ b/76902-h/images/plan.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fc857de --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for eBook #76902 +(https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/76902) |
