New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-07-14
THE BASTILE CENTENNIAL.

| France-the one hundredth anniversary of the
StOrming of the Bastie The destruction OF
that massive fOrtreSs-pnson was supreme act
of revolutionary frenzy that cowed falnt-
hearted King broke the spirit OF his reacuoh-
AIRY advisers, and opened the way for the reign
of the people and the political reformation OF
| the nation. With characteristic lucidlty OF
judgment the French people have set apart this
day as the GROWING holiday of the Republic.
| The storming of the Bastile was not the first
signal for revolution. That signal had been
given when the representatives of the people
assembling at Versailles on May 5, 1889, de-
manded that the three Estates should vote to-
gether as one body; it had been repeated when
| the Third Estate on June II had proclaimed
itself to be the National Assembly, and again
on June 20, when the Deputies, finding the hall
closed by military guard, met in the tennis
| court and took their famous oath. What was
| Nirabeau but a revolutionist when, on June
23 he defed the royal order dissOlving the
Assembly and shouted to the Kings messenger:
"Tel your master that we sit here by tho
power Of the people, and that we are only to
be driven out by the bayonet'? The reyOlu-
ton had begun weeks before Camille DeS
moulinS mounted table in the garden of the
Palas Royal and called the people to arms.
The sacking Of the citadel-prisOn at the gates
Of ST. Antoine was the first decisive proof that
the signals for revolution raised by the Deputies
at Versailles in their brave and determined
struggle against the Court and the privileged
classes were answered by the people 1t
marked the Intervention Of the nation in the
conflict against despotism and was accom-
s,1 -, &c hot no
frightened King, dismSsing his guards, hast
ened to the Assembly with his two brothers to
surrender at discretion, and thence to the
Hotel de Vile to display the tricolor on his
breast under the eyes Of thousands of excited
ievOlutonistS.
The BaStie was originally built by Charles Y
in $40 as a castle for the defence Of Paris.
1t had eight circular towers with connecting
curtains Of masonry, surmOunted with
parapet armed with cannon, and was encom-
passed by deep ditch and high wall. Until
the reign Of Charles VII it was only used as
fortress; but when it was no longer needed
for the protection of the capital it was readily
converted into a prison for suspected princes,
pretenderS to the throne and the enemies OF
Court favOrites and royal mistreSSeS. During
the long Ieigns Of Louis XIV and Louis XIV the
cells in the towers and the dungeons under
meath the courtyard were tenanted mainly by
victims Of court intrigue. The common people
destroyed the Bastile, but they had not suffered
from the caprices Of despotsm and the inhu-
mainly Of mercenary jaiers. With few ex
ceptiOns the prisoners had been men Of rank,
wealth and education, such as Marshal Rich
eieu, Latude, Blaizot and the Iron Mask. The
number Of inmates seldom exceeded eighty,
and was only seven when Delaunay's Swiss
guard was oveIpowered by the mob of patriots
and the lettres de cachet by which the victims
Of despohsm were deprived of liberty and
starved to death in solitary confinement in the
foulest of dungeons were not ordinarily issued
against people Of lower rank. If Voltaire had
once been imprisoned there, he was almost the
only hero of the coming democracy whose name
was associated with the Bastile.
If the French people had not suffered as the
Russian people are suffering to-day from fort
ress-prisonS and a similar system of arbitrary
arrests they had been oyerawed by the Bastile
1t was the most conspicuous symbol Of that pO-
litical absolutism to which their liberties and
interests were Systematically sacrificed. Camille
Desmoulins, when he cried out to the eager
throng in the Paais Royal garden, "Arm your
selves" mad not pointed out the way TO the
Bastile. The mob, when it had sacked the gun
shops and captured the cannon of the Invalides,
went with precipitate rush to the drawbridge
of that frowning and mysterious prison. 1t
was the chief bastion Of despotism, and they
carried it by storm. After a futile parley with
Delaunay and an Intellectual assault, in WHICH
$50 of the besiegers were killed, they brought
up their cannon and made preparations to bat
ter down the masonry at short range. De
Iaunay, after threatening to fire the magazine
and blow the ancient fortress into the air, low
cred the inner draWbridge The besiegerS
rushed in massacred the guard, and sacked
the Bastile. Seven wretched prisoners, one Of
them demented in consequence of thirty years
Of confinement, were released with shouts Of
triumph. On the morrow a great army of
patriots pulled down the walls, toppled over the
towers, and left the fortress of Charles V a
heap Of ruins while the re Deum was sung in
the churches and artillery was roaring in the
streets. The vaciating King had defed the
people The people had captured and destroyed
the ancient stronghold of royal despotism.
1t was this claShing Of forces-the Court and
the pe0ple-that gave form and direction to
the revolutionary movement and determined
it's ultimate triumph The Third Estate had
made a resolute stand at Versailles, but they
were powerless before bayonetS. If the King
had taken Milabeau at his word he could have
enforced the dissolution of the Assembly. He
had made pretence of yielding momentarily
to the Deputies, but that was because he feared
the National Guard formed under Lafayettes
orders. Court advisers convinced him that he
could oveIawe Paris by surrounding 1T with an
army from the interior He concentrated the
TROOPS and dismissed Necker financial re-
former and constitution maker, from his Coun-
ell, banishing him from France. Another week,
perhaps another day, the National Assembly