Litchfield enquirer., 1869-05-27

the mortar, they used to ascend with their mouths full of water and spurt it into the hole. little by little, as they got on with their work. Had they been able to work freely, this would have been excessively toilsome: as it was, they had to work in such toilsome positions that one hour at q time was the most they could endure, and their hands were so cut and bruised that they never descended from their labor without finding them covered with blood. Notwithstanding the torture it caused-of which Latude could never speak in after years without 8 shudder-they persevered in their labor, and at the end of six months, during which they had steadily prosecuted 1t, they had succeeded in loosening the whole of the bars, and were at liberty to continue the manufacture of the rest of the articles they required.
 First of these was the wooden ladder, to enable them to ascend from the moat to the parapet, and from thence to the gov supply themselves with fuel at their own expense. they had stock of wood in their cell, which was sawed up in logs of about twenty inches in length. To cut these logs to suit their purpose, 8 saw was necessary:
 
 by means of half of the steel belonging to the tinder-box, from which he had previ- ously manufactured knife. By the use of these tools, they worked their logs into ladder, every part of which was marked in such way that they could put it to- gether in the dark. All these things were slowed away beneath the floor as they were completed, to await the night when the at- tempt at escape was to be made. But in addition to the wooden ladder, another had to be made of not less than eighty feet in length. The linen and silk articles were again resorted to, and the process of un- ravelling contiued until, in course of time, they had worked the threads into rope ca. pablo of bearing the weight of man. This was intended to effect the descent from the top of the Bastille; but this was not enough. Knowing that this top pro- jscted oyer the wall too far to allow man to steady himself in his descent by its means, and not knowing how long circum- stances might require them to remain on the ladder, during which time they would be swinging backward and forward, and spinning round like joint of meat before fire, they made another rope of ono hun dred and sixty feet long, which they pass ed through two holes drilled through the ends of one of their logs. This rope would, of course, hang double, and by holding one in the right hand and the other in the left, they were able to steady themselves in tbeir descent. Other ropes were made for sundry purposes, the total length made by them being about four hundred and seventy yards. So much for the prepara- tions, which were only a part of those re- quired before the attempt to escape could be made.
 Having fxod on night to make the at- tempt to escape, Latude climbed the chim- ney, in doing which he underwent great pain from the grating off of the skin from his elbows and knees. He had carried up a cord with him.. and by its means he drew up the different things they required to aid their escape. which were followed by his companion. Having reached the platform they fastened the ladder to one of the guns, and Latude descended successfully, but with immense pain and difficulty. His companion then drew up the loose rope and lowered their tools, after which he came down himself, Latude holding the bottom of the ladder, which made it com paratively easy. All this was done within hearing of the sound of the sentinels foot steps as he marched to and fro. The moat lucy ulQ uc6Couucu 1AGO WdS AllS0 WAgu water to the height of their -armpits, and had pieces of ice floating in it. As they had been obliged to give up the mode of escape they had planned in the first in- stance, the only other way was to wade through this water to the opposite side. and by means of their bars to make hole through the wall This wall was nearly five feet thick, and it took nine hours to make a hole large enough to squeeze through. Besides the labor this involved, every half hour they were obliged to dip their heads under water, to avoid the risk of being seen by the guard, the light of whose lantern fell upon the spot where they were at work every time the rounds were made. At length, after incredible exertions, they found themselves outside the wall and at liberty; but they had not gone far before they fell into an aqueduct, the water In which was about ten feet deep, and there was great thickness of mud at the sides. With great difficulty they scrambled out, ran some distance, and then fell on their knees to offer up thanksgiving for their escape.
 It is remarkable circumstance in the history of the Bastille that the builder of the two towers of which it was originally composed, ended his days as prisoner in one of them i; the last governor, the unfor- tunate Launay, was murdered, as everybo- dy knows, when the Bastille was taken by the populace in 1789.