The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-08-24
The Bastils.

IL was on the l4th Of July, 1889. nine
II y-three years ago, that the Bastile wa
captured and destroyed by, the ,peonl.
OF Farls, Had the dull, leaden- minded
i hngs then sitting tfieasily ofi .tht
French throne. been, able to understand
ana conform to the signs of the times
or been able tosepaiate himself fro,,, sfbt
courtiers who, urged him to resist ltbf
i rising tide OF popular feeling. the awfu1
events that followed the capture III fbf
famous prison might have been ayerted,
and France and the world SHARED
chapter Of history the Ike Of which was
never known before and has. never been
known since. But Louis XVI. would
not. perhaps could notlinderstand Ever
the taking Of the Bastile was warning
ne tailed to interpret Alright He and
the assembly were at Versailles engaged
IN the game of demands. and petitions
on one side and refusals or insincere
concessions on tie other, which had
been protracted till the country was
weary of it. 1t was time of painful
suspense and anxiety. Thecourtiers were
endeavorlng to persuade the irresolute
King to let loose the army on the people.
The assembly were in constant appre-
hension of being arrested and thrown
behind the grim and pitiless walls of the
lfroWning fortress prison which stood nt
the gate of St. Antoine where so many
y gallant spirit had been imrnuIrtesd ir be-
lore. There was no adjournments The
sessions were kept: up day and night,
lest, II the assembly left the hall,
its doors riwould be closed and
the body dispersed. All communi-
cation with Paris had been cut Of.
and the news of whatwas going ON there
could not be brought, though The BOOM
ing OF cannon heard through the day told
plalnly that wOrk and warm work foo,
was going on, 1t was not till nirht that
the King and the Assembly learned that
the peoples of Paris had seized .sthe. arms
IN the arsenal and stormed and captured
the Bastile. The King was irritated. 6..If
e reFoitPJ said he, resentf,lllyl Nay,,
sire, replied one of his most frank at
tendanfs, ~ it IS 4 revolution "a Ard IN
T was-the beginning OF that frightful
reckoning with the execrable misrule,
falsehood had rotten pretence which for
hundred years had been .heapins eup
wrath against the day of wrath till the
angry and menacfng structure was TOP.
ping over the dleaauof. the King and,
Court. The impulse which Brought the
;exasperated populace of Paris aGaffist
the Bastile was an i,lstinets Asa French
historian remarks: lit was an act of
faith. There was no reason in ii. sTk8
walls which connected the eight lofty.
towers OF the. fortress were forty feet
thick at the bottom and ten feefs thick
at the top, and snearly.a hundred, feet
high. 1t was absolutely safe against the
.musket balls Which fiaftened Themselves.
against it'd black and. ancient front and,
the shots from the two light pieces Of
cannon which merely dentedi the ssfofies.E
The garrison of eighty two, French and
forty Swiss soldiers, had they been dis
posed, might have held 1t easily again sol
the assault Of the mob of 100, 900 mens
sad women arrayed round it on that h (
July day.. But The infdriatea rpOpulacel
were bent on; making a. beeinnipe ;and.
they acted more wisely than they thought
when with one consent they ewfllps|
before. the Eembrasuress of the. hated |
prison four hundred years old, fit type Of /
the dlsihalo and detestib blel regime they
We're aaetermipM to aeyerthrow. The
spirit Of revolution had been at work in
The affiit ands ssk6 French solaisrss 0f,fhe
garrison synpathized with the people
and refused to fire upon them They
even went fuftRer. After the itttaclt had |
lasted. for tiEe hours without making an |
impression the French soldiers hung |
white haSssin token sof surrender along
the top 9th walls and opened the gates,
to the mob ssProperly speaking. saws
Michelet, sstheJ Bastilo was not taken, iii /
surrendered, Troubled with asbad con-
science, it went mad and lost al bres-
ence Of mfnda' IThe4 populace were
moderate in the, hour, of their triumph. |
They cut off the head of Le lLanney, /
governors Of the prison, and stuck itsdn al
pike, did the same for Flesselles,. the |
Mayor of the CITY, and 1
hanged tw0si Swiss soldiers. who had
been actiYe Jig ip j firing l On " t4e people, to
unheesied, iuaa,t0 bcd0l lloBed hjtheEnt-
ting of. Of heads enough to make a
mountain and the shedding of blood /
enough tosfUrm q river. iIg b7EH0s IssI
have been made 10 show, that
the Bastile was not the awful abode Of II
torture, criiiieI and despair the French
people held il, t,to be7rthat it was q. very
respectable and properly conducted I
prison. Be- Nfiis ass il may, thsl Ffench
people have never ceased to- regard .ittas.l
lile symbol of the most unendurabIe mis- /
of modern times and to /
celebrate its downfall as, marking their
from detested regime. 81.