Evening star., 1898-06-11
1t Was Not Such a Very Bad Place
After ALI.
PRISONERS ENJOYED MANY LUXURIES
Legends That Vanish Before the
Light of History.
MAN IN THE IRON MASK

should not be surprised if they We're to
survive the plain truth-telling of NJ. Funck-
Brentanos 'Legendes ct Archives de la
Bastille-' and the trenchant preface which
NJ. Sardou has contributed to it. For when
Aristotle said long ago that poetry
meaning. of course. what we moderns
should call ''fictiou'-was more .'philosophi-
car than history, he was only pointing out
that there are certain concepts of the ex-
ternal world which the mind inevitably
forms. and will not be deferred from form
ing, merely because they are shown not to
square with the facts. This mythopoeic
tendency of the human race has involved,
among innumerabie other things pro-
diSiously unauthentic Bastille-the Bastille
of such melodramas "Latude'' and THE
Dead Heart" the p4int-and-canvas Bastfile
OF the last Paris exhibition. the Bastille of
perIerEld rnetorlc1anS ike Louis Blanc
Iron cages. recalling Plessis-les-Tours and
the tortures of Cardinal da Ballue
underground cells. the haunts of toads,
lizards. monStrouS rats whose sole
furniture consists of huge stone. covered
by little straw. where the prisoner
breathes pest-laden air.
Fancffui Picture.
Wrapped in the shadow of mystery. con-
demned to absolute ignorance of the
crime laid To his charge as well as of the
kind of punishment which awaits him. he
ceases 10 belong to the world" That is
Louis Bianc's fancy picture. Besides the
mythepoeic tendency more specific causes
helped 10 build UP the legend-the menda-
ctous stories of rogues hike Latude and
Linguet. written to meet popular demand
the desire TO exaggerate the evils of the
ancient regime, and, above all, the absence
OF authentic documents. When the Bastille
was taken many of its records were wan
tonly destroyed. but special commission
rescued vast number OF them-upward of
har.
lI9i 10 the Library OF the Arsenal. There
they remained slowed away in a cellar and
their very existence was forgotten till 1910
when NJ Francois Ravaisson, the librarian
OF the place, accidentally came upon them
under the floor of his kitchen.
As 1t Really Was.
Only quite recently the work of classify
ing and cataloguing them has been COM
pieted. and they are now open to public in
spection al the arsenal library in rooms
specially set apart. NJ. Funck-Brentano
mas gone through them. and has pieced to-
gether an account Of the real Bastille
which is calculated to give sentimentaiists
VINO declalm against that supposed strong
Ho!u anu SEmDOI Oh tyranny d rude shock.
1t Is very little of an exaggeration to say
that the Bastllle of historic times, the Bas-
tile which the revolution destroyed was
an exceedingly comfortable and weli-ap-
pointed residence. kind of liberty hall
abbey OF Thelema, rivaling that torture
Chamber in Mr.. GilbertS opera which was
supplied with the Illustrated papers"
The underground cells, which were, as
q matter or fact, ground floor cells-nad
long been disused- Each prisoner had d
good-slzed room, sufficiently furnished: he
could add his own furniture if he chose. Ii
he could not afford To stock his own ward
robe, the authorities stocked it for him.
and handsomely, too. Latude, complaining
of rheumatism, was supplied with furs.
He demapued a dressing gown of smart
4ftsrs +fx-y
net. Srun!bied at the shirts bought for him,
because they had not lace cuffs. Madame
SuaVG asked for white silk dress with
green spots; they ransacked all Paris for
one, and then apologiZed that the spots
Were stripes.
Comfortable Quarters.
Writing materials were furnished, and
books All HbItum-La Baumelie had GU
volumes in his room-anI any prisoner
might keep birds, cats and dogs. Musical
instruments were allowed. Renneville had
his violin. Latude his flute; even concerts
were got Up, under the patronage of the
governor. Prisoners might amuse them
selves with needlewOrk. amateur carpentry,
cards ami chess, one OF them, Id Rouarie,
even irslsted upon being supplied with
billiard table. Tney could take the air on
the platform of the fortress, and some were
even allowed TO go out la tie town. They
could have their own dOm.StIcS. Food was
plentiful, ana the cooking eXcellent-there
Is significance in the complaint made by
Latude that the fowls served 10 him were
not larded- Mime. de Staal, frightened by
= sound which seemed to suggest some IN
strumont of torture, found 1t was only the
kitchen spit. She confessed that her
journ in the Bastille was the haDpiest
time in her life NJ de Bonrepos found
it so comfortable that ne declined to leave,
and had 10 be elected by force.
Well Cared For.
Tuer, IA-ere eSpeCiaIiy we'll cared
for. During Voltaire's imprisonment Of
twelve days orders were given for him to
receive the attention due to his genius.
Discharged prisoners were supplied with
an OUTFIT a purse and sometimes a pen
sion, The contrast between this Bastille
and the Bastilie Of the legend gives furi
ousiy 10 think" one SENS to find an epit-
ONE of the contrast in one little detail
about Latude. The legend says he was
made to wear an iron ring round bis body.
" hat he wore was a truss.
AS for the traditional account of the
fall of the Bastile. it has long been con-
Gemned as false. Chancellor Pasquier. an
eyewitness. declares that there no
serious resistance. and that the greater
Part Of the 'besiegers" were there merely
idle sightseers. They included many
fashionably dressed ladies, who left their
carriages at the corner Of the street while
they enjoyed the fun. As everybody now
knows. only seven prisoners were found in
the place. OF these. three were dangerous
lunatics, confined at the request of their
families, the four others were convicted
forgerS-
Vanishing Legends.
Louis Blanc talks of the heavy chains
which were found, the dread machines an
instrument of torture fashioned like an
iron cOrselet- The chains had been huns.
round two statues which fianked the great
clock, the dread machines were fragments
of a brOken-up printing press. the iron
corselet was q fragment of fifteenth CEN
tury arrnor. With the main legend vanish, as
was 10 be expected, the subsidiary fables
Nj. Funck- -Brentano makes short work Of
our old friend, the Man in the Iron Mask
which. by the way. a velvet mask
The book gives in Photographic facsimile
the records both of his Incarceration and
his death Needless to say, ne was not as
Noltaire amused himself by pretending and
innocent readers OF .'Vingt Ans Apres''
might suppose, a twin brother of Louis
XIV, but one Mattioli, secretary to the
Duke Of Mantua, who had betrayed Louis
as well as his own master. But what are
proofs in such cases2 The popular imagi-
nation Will persist I'm gioatng over its
iron Mask and its Horrors OF the Bas-
tile"