Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-08-14

about "a enter. Sometimes 1t was
quenched by violent and ignominious
| death. and sometimes wasted away in
slow, silent, life-wearing oblivion. So,
TOO. much OF the bold, fearless genius OF
philosophy has here sustained pcrsecu-
ton, through the harassing medium OF
promised liberty, protrscted imprison-
ment. and all the wearying alterations
OF suspense, that the tower Is monu-
ment OF suffering, n stone chronicle OF
times, dates, aud events. There is not
an iyy-swincd loophole, not time
tinted bastion belonging to this frown-
ing dungeon--so long the terrific instru-
ment Of tyranical caprice engulting any
victim whom power, thwartcd in some
darling passion, might hurl into its moi
some ceils--but has a specific power to
awaken sadness and 10 arouse indigna-
ton.
RELICS OF THE PAST.
Each Of the FIVE floors has o vast,
lofty central room, surrounded by cells,
in which many features still remain to
recall The noblemen, princes Of the
blood, great writer's, and illustrious
statesmen who occupied them as pris-
oners. The easement still exists
through the bars Of which the great
Condo cultivated his pinks during his
long imprisonment. His original crime,
and the cause, perhaps, of all his after
errors, was bis devotion to beautiful
wife whom he refused to resign
to the passion Of gray-headed
king. The cell is still pointed out
which was occupied by Diderot when
he was sent here for the publication OF
his letter, "Sur les Aveugles," and
while here his great and luminous mind
nearly sunk under the scene Of the in
| justice OF which he was the victim. II
was here also that Mirabeau wrote his
beautiful and eloquent Letters to
Sophie while undergoing the impris-
onment which followed his arrest in
Holland. His crime was that of having
eloped with the fair and frail Sophie
Mounier, and the Imprisonment of five
years with which it was punished gave
him time to compose a powerful work
against the g Lettres de Cachet,' of
whose abuse he was himself vic
tim. Sometimes the fate of those ar
rested by virtue Of one Of these
letfres de cdchet was shrouded in such
mystery that it was not known where
the victim was incarcerated. Such was
the case Of the brave Marshal de
Luxembourg, long prisoner here with
out knowing Of what he was accused,
while his friends were in doubt whether
he was in Vincennes, the bastille, or
some other State prison. The oblivion
Of the grave hung over the life and fate
Of man who just before his arrest was
filing all France with the fame of his
military exploits, and yet the charge
on which this brave commander who
had fought so many battles for Louis
XIV. was thus imprisoned was simply
that Of sorceIy.
1t is pretty good climb to the top of
the doDjon, but once we are up we
shall be we'll rewarded for our trouble.
All! Isn't this magnificent psnora-
ma Of capital and country, Of the river,
fields, and forest spread out for cur
contemplation? There are very few
spots in this landscape which do not re-
call historical sourenirs. All these
roads have been traverSed by men
who left deep marks on the pages
of continental existence. Not a
corner of this smiling suburban
scene but has witnessed bloody
combats. NormanS, Englishmen, Rus
slams, Austrians, Spaniards, Catholics,
and Protestants-those were the days
Of the Huguenots-have fought battles
hereabouts, the prize Of which for the
copqueror was possession Of Paris.
Constables, princes, kings, and mar
shals have marched their men through
all these hamlets and villages, have
biyouacked under these trees, have ma
nured these rich lands with brave SOL
diers, dead, and sprinkled them with
human blood. The courtyard at our
feet has ruDg with the tread of mail
clad knights and their high-born COM
manders. 1t has echoed with the
muflled drums and the sullen lannon's
roar preceding funeral professions of
dead warriors. 1t has resounded with
the din Of hand-to-hand conflicts, with
the strife Of tournaments, with the
blasts Of trumpets proclaiming victo-
ries and the clarions Of heralds an
nouncing the coming Of king. Look
on the landscape once again. Yonder
is where Charles VII. built the Castle
Of Beauty, in which he placed sweet
Agnes SOrel, When that accom-
plished and gallant voldptuary was
amusing himself in her society, de-
voting himself to love and plea
sure, he permitted the Bedfords
and Talbots to oyerrun his kingdom,
and allowed Henry of England to be
crowned in the church Of Notre Dame.
Ii was reserved for this siren, in whose
chains he was spellbound, to rouse him
from his fatal passion, and to urge him
to those feats Of force and valor which
recovered him his kingdom. The peace
of Arras followed English power in
France was diminished, ifnot overcome,
and the King recompensed his beloved
mistress by giving her the territory of
the Island of Beauty, on which he built
for her the castle that just now men
toned.
Down in that hollow at st. Msnde
was, or is, the park in which Louis XIV.
long before the days Of Versailles and Of
Nine. de Maintenon, felt his heart beat
ing with the emotions Of first love
with a lady who afterward got herself
to a nunnery. just yonder was where
Louis XIV. first drank delicious poison
from the eyes of Nine. de Chateaproux,
that most beautiful and most amiable
Of all his mistresses. Under those great
trees still fit the shades of Gabrielle
distress, Marguerite de Valois,
Nine. de Longueyille, the Pompadour,
and other beautiful women whom
kings and great men loved, not wisely,
but too well. You see lakes, islands,
cascades, grottoes, and Fairgrounds.
Yonder is race-course, there a grim
old fort, further on the Temple OF
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