Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1849-04-13

49,
is one of the few who have revealed The
secrets Of that prison-house; and his mar
%rative, although long since out of print,
and forgotten in the multitude of more
recent wonders, is one Of The most pain
full interesting that were ever put on re-
cord.
Latude Masers was the son of a noble
man, and was educated for the army;
but the peace Of Aix-la-C hapelle defeated
his expectations of employment, and be-
lug in somewhat Strengthened circum-
stances, he went 10 Paris, at the age OF
twenty-five, in hope of Obtaining some
place at court. By a silly device, the
ubiec, of which was merely TO gain the
favor of the notorious Marchioness of
Pompadour, he unfortunately gave Of
fence 10 that royal harlot, and by lettra
de cachet, which she Obtained from Lou
is the fifteenth, he was thrown into the
Bastile, and afterwards into other prisons,
whence he was not released until he was
sixty years of age.
Ii was on the first of May, 1749, that
he was conveyed 10 The Bas,ile, conloun-
ded, indeed, at his arrest, but entertain
ing strong hopes hat his confinement
would be brief, as his offence was ~venial;
hopes in which he was confirmed by the
degree Of attention paid to his comfort,
and by the assurance Of Monsieur Berry
err, the lieutenant of police, who promis-
ed to intercede for him with the marchio-
ness, and made consoling predictions
that her anger would quickly be appeas-
ed. lie did not know the cruel and re-
vengeful nature of the woman with whom
he had TO deal.
After four months Of confinement in
the Bastile, Masers was transferred TO the
castle Of Vincennes, whence, at the end
Of nine months he contrived to make his
escape, by a bold and ingenious effort
His first moments Of liberty were en-
ployed in reflection upon his future
course, the result of which was a roman
tic but most unfortunate determination to
throw himself upon the generosity Of his
persecu,rix. lie addressed u letter TO
the king, in which he pro(essed contri-
ton for his offence, implored The elem.
cncy of her to whom it had been given,
and concluded by naming the place of
his c~oncealment. His answer was an
immediate arrest and r-e-conveyance to
the BasIile. with orders TO cast him into
the lowest and most unwholesome dun.
geon, and subject him TO The harshest
treatment.
For two years these orders were obey
ed TO the letter; but at the end OF that
time his friend the lieutenant, came a.
gain 10 his relief, and removed him 10 a
better apartment. He did more; avail
ing himself Of his entree at The court, he
made frequent and earnest appeals to the
m%archioness in behalf Of the poor cap
tive, but only with the calamitous effect
of Irritating her ferocious temper, and
causing her 10 make a vow that her ven
geance should be eternal.
f From this time Masers again revolved
in his mind projects Of escape, in which,
after nearly three years Of patient, ingen-
f ious and unremitting labor, and al intin-
tie peril of his life, he again succeeded I;
+; having no other implements than two iron
r hooks which he wrenched from a fold.
+ ing-table, a knife made from the steel Of
II undertook, ropes constructed Of thread
drawn from his linen shirts, of which he
/ had, fortunately, a very large supply,
y and the small billets of wood with which
he was supplied for fuel. With these
poor aids he removed the iron gratings
of The chimney, although firmly imbed-
ded in the solid wall, constructed rope
ladders, one of which was a hundred and
eighty feet long, and which altogether re-
quired fourteen hundred feet Of rope, de-
scended from the top of the chimney to
the ground, a height of moro than one
hundred and fifty feet, swan the ditch,
f and finally broke through a wall four
t feet and a half in thickness; and a, last
had the felicity Of finding himself once
more at liberty, aud beyond the walls of
the hated prison in which he had so long
I languished.
r By the assistance Of n friend he sue
J ceeded in reaching the Netherlands but
! even in that country he was not safe
from the vengeance Of the cruel woman
, who welded the power Of France,
| through the licentious attachment Of the
king. He was actually seized in Amster-
dam, with the consent of the States Gen.
eral, TO whom he was represented by the
French ambassador as a desperate and
atrocious malefactor; and it is pretty
well ascertained that bribery on a large
scale was employed, in addition to cal.
umny, to secure the victim of The unre.
lenting P~ompadour. The tenacily of
purpose with which she pursued the IN.
fortunate Masers, is strikingly exhibited
in The fact that no less a sum than one
hundred and eighty thousand francs were
expended in his recapture.
The return of the prisoner to Paris
was signalized by the most ingenious and
tormenting ill-usage and on the six.
teenth of June, 1856, he was again
thrown into his old dungeon. where he