The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1875-11-05
A Dark Bit of History.

captivcs iii chains within the great pris-
on of the BaStilc. It was indeed a grim
and disnaI-looking buiIdin@ upon the
borders OF Paris, with sluggish water
around it. and is door was entered by
Il d~raw-brid@c. Toward the frowning
walls Of this prison Ohere is only Il tall
bronze column upon the spot now the
populace of the city rushed hradl0ng,
with whatever weapons they could lay
hands upon. Butchers took their clcay-
ers, stable-ncn their forks, carterSthcir
heavy Oakcn stakes, carpenters their
axes, and there Were, thousands with
guns and cutlaSscS, and there We're
brawny women with heavy pistols. The
soldiers who guarded the prison were so
frightened by the sights and sounds of
this tempest Of the peoples fury, that
they could hardly make any opposing
fight tail. The governor of the prison,
seeing what mad rage he must encoun-
ter, would have blown up the huge
building altogether, and had actually
laid the match to do so, but the soldiers
rebelled and forced him to surrender.
Then the raging mob flowed in, and
those who wore the uniform Of the kim
were smittcn to death, and dungcon-
gates were unlocked, and prisoners
staggered out who had not scen the dav
for dozens and scores of years.
y beautiful girl was caught sight of
flying down one of the great stair-ways,
and she was straightway seized upon by
those who believed hertz be 4 daughter
of the governor, and would have been
burned in the courtyard had not a few
generous soldiers stolen her away and
secrctcd her until the sack WAS over.
As for the governor, who was amarquiS
and the Kings friend, they cut off his
head and bore it bleeding from the top
Of Il pike-Staf all down the street: and
ali down the street poured the mad, re-
joicing rabble, staying many another As
they went, and carrying the trophic,
with thcm-gory heads on pixies, or
cory heads on chatting dishes carried by
women.
As it was that day 50 It was on many.
4 day thereafter, and fer many Il week
and month; and for years whoever was
Il noble, or friend Of the hated mobiles.
or rich, or friend of the hated rich
lived, if he lived at all III that city of
revolution, in great dread and danger.
There was not much feeling ut the
first against Louis NYI., for he WAS Il
far better King than those who had
gone before him. lie was kindly at
heart, and what we might call now-a-
days a gentlemanly, amiablc man, with
not much force of character, and dis
posed to yield to the opinions Of those
who had been his old advisers. These,
by their o~bstinacy, brought him very
soon TO grief. The people forced him
to trial, and there was Il forced con-
demnation. His head, too, fell before
the fury OF the enraged people, and was
held up by the ~eXecutioner upon the
seatfold for the thronging mob to look
upon.
This poor King had left behind him
in the prison 4 son, whom he had
taught, as he best could in those dreary
prison hours, arithmetic and geogra-
ply. Do you think the boy ever for
got those lessons or ever forgot the sor-
row and the loud wailings Of his moth
er, the Queen, when the King went out
to his bloody death?
A little after this those crazy ones,
who were governing France so madIy
in this timc,gave over this prince to the
care of Il shoemaker and his wife, to
whom they furnished a lodgment in the
prison for this purpose; and they did
this in order, as they said, that the
bringing up Of the boy might be as low
is that of the lowest of the people. Poor
boy! poor princet
\ little later, Marie Antoincttc, the
Queen, was taken out of her dungeon
to 20 to trial. They called it 4 trial, for
the sake of dcccncy; but | think they
knew how itwould endbefore theycalled
on her to appear. If the Judges before
whom she stood had said she was inno-
cent and must 90 free, | an sure that
the wives Of the wine-scllers, and the
fish-women, andth hays of Paris would
have snatched her away and carried her
off to execution, if they had not slain
her with their own bread-knives in the
street.
These mad people had such a thirst