New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-02-07
THE BASTILE.
A DisILLUslO IZiS9 WORK.

,.t tho ilca Of tracing the history OF the Bastle
AIS sucu sted by the fact of the Republican Gov
einmcn' having selected the anniversary oil It's
fall as the great National holiday III his OBJECT
WAS Ia show that the French Government in max
Ing tbs choice Of National holiday had shown
q singular ignorance Of French history ana had
wholly risconceivcd the Significance OF the cap
ture and destruction Of The Bastile, II must be
admitted that he has proved his case passing well
This is an era Of establishment, and the inde-
fo.igable researches Of sceptical antiquarian and
historical students have dissolved the fabric OF
SO many venerable traditions and legends that per-
haps the habit of doubt in regard to most past
events ought to be established. But the din Of
rhetorical defamation the perennial eGcrvcscence
Of revolutionary rant. concerning the Bastile,
have dcne much to fire the general faith in the
popular ideas OF that fortress prison; and cOnse-
qucntly the revelations now made by Captain
Bin-ham a'e apt to operate as surprises
The accuracy Of his data hoewver, does not
appear TO be open 10 impeachment. lie had tho
incstim .'e advantag Of the woik done by III
late III. RaVaisson, who devoted thirty years to
arranging the state papers found in the Bastllc
when IL was surrendered TO the Paris mob. NJ
Rayaisscn had Gin shed sixteen volumes of these
papers when he died. great many Bastile docu-
mcnts had previously been collated and printed
by dc bonneville, Cara, Touzeret and Charpentler.
A great many more remain unedited. But IL may
be said that only quite recently has IT been posi-
bic 90 obtain access TO the whole OF the surviving
material and that consequently Captain Bingham
has succeeded in preparing the fullest and most
correct history Of the building that has been
written The Bastile has been for so long time
the synonym for despotc violence and iniquity
that the necessity Of revising that view radically
f,1 m
There is, however, clearly no help for it. Captain
Bingham produces the soundest authority for each
and all Of his statements, and no matter how sub
VeIsive Of popular traditions they may be they
viii have, sooner or later, to be accepted rs the
sober truth of history.
What he moHsitates may be summarized
briefly. The Blstile never was the scene OF spe-
cial crucItios. tyTannies or wrongs. II was
prison in which PERSONS charged with state Of
fences were confined. Bcs dcs these noted criui-
mails. people seeking sanctuary, young mobiles
WI, Sc oAt avagaucc pro0igacy caused their fam
ics to soli.it thcr temporary cOninrm ut, were
incarccr,tcd there The prison had narrow ac-
comm dations and At no tine were more than
ono hundred persons confined there. while in gen
efal the number Of prisoners was less than fourth
Of shat sum. When the Bastilc was captured 1t
bad only seven prisoners, Of whom four were
other, was an English officer who had lost his
rcason and concerning whom nothing was known
or has yet been dis. overcd. Captain Bingham
inds no support for the legend that it
torary to subject the Ra>tilc prisoners to torture
On the contrary the ducum ntary evidence lusti-
fos the conclusion tibet even when the use OF tor
turc was general Throughout Europe, and when
10 doubt it was sometimes employed IN the Bas
tile rs well in all other prisons, IL WAS had re-
course to there far less frequently than elsewhere.
st its capture search made for instruments
OF torture, and the mob were puzzled at finding
nothing Of the kind. 1t is true that one man with
! vivid Imagination pointed ont small machine
as some sort Of deNilsh invention for tn torment
IF the poor prisoners but il was soon shown that
tic mysterious engine was simply printing press
which had been admitted for the convenience Of
q literary prisoner.
As regards the general treatment OF prisoners
in the Bastile CAPTAIN Bingham is able to prove
that it was rs a rule distinguished not only bJ
humanity. but by hberalty. There were three
Or four Objectionable cells into which people were
thrust occasionally when the Government desired
e. emphasize its opinion Of their dcm"ritN
Usually. however. these unwho'es me and comfort
loss cells were reserved for precisely the same
uses as the dark cells in modern prisons applied
"a. that is they were punishment cells Tor unruly
and refractory prisoners. The prison diet appears
TO have been almost uniformly abundant and
rood The best possible proof Of this consists In
the fact that ut one time the prisoners complained
Of being to highly fed, and asked the Governor
10 lower their diet, and to divide the conse-
ouent saving with them in money. This was
done and apparently to the general satisfaction
There are however, a number Of instances here
oitad which 20 to show that the majority of the
prisoners Jared probably better than they would
have done in any hotel Of the period. Again and
egain prisoners speak Of the capital meals they
enjoyed in the old prison, and II q fvecourSe
dinner with wine and dessert be not a liberal
menu for Jail, il certainly would be impossible
10 find parallel to the Bastile dietary in any
other prison records
The absurdity Of founding National holiday
mon the anniversary Of the capture Of this
fortress is clearly exhibited in the course of Cap
tain Eincham's history. The Bastile had really
no bearing upon the revolution. II had long
ceased to he a strategic point, 1t had never been
uspd to restrain the p0pulace or to incarccrtte
them. II was employed chiefly rs a place OF dc
tcntion for those aristocIats who were regarded
bv lis dcstrovcfs as their natural enemies. IL was
in fact as isolated from the issues Of the time
as is the Tower Of London from any issues OF
to-day. Moreover its captarc can never rehec'
anything but discrcdit and shame upon these who
were respons bic for the deed 1t was accom-
paoed by treachery and massacre, the most
exccrabc peridy and the most horrible ferocity
The revolting details of the assass nation OF The
governor De Launay, would alone stamp eternal
infamy on the event; and it was absolutely vold
Of s.gnif caltcc. No root Of French liberty sprung
there No chartered abuse was overihrown with
the historic walls. The whole action was Illus
hut he bHl
faith folly and propensity to claptrap and rant OF
the parisian mob and the national judgment and
taste which single out 50 dscreditable and shame
fl "A manifestation for perpetual glor.fcatlon al
ford little room for the INDULGENCE of any patriotic
f.nlinc hn.inr a snnc foundation. In sober truth