The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-02-01
BY KINGS ORDER TO BASTILLE
~. FUNCK.B RENTANO EXPLAINS
LETTRES ne CiCHEF.
Arbitrary Imprisonment No indication
Of Royal Tyranny Family
Discipline tie Chief Iactor--kinS
Helped Fathers Make sons Mind

Helped Fathers Make sons Mind
Before a large audience, made UP chiefly
OF women, In the chapel OF the Packer In
etitute in Brooklyn. NJ. Frantl Funck Bren
tano yesterday evening spoke on a subject
on which he * an authority the Letter
de Cachet,' or Kings orders. by which
men were committed TO Jail before theFrenct
Revolution with 40 reason given. His
address was moro ike university lecture
than any that he has delivered 50 far, and
required close attention 70 be understood
and. having a good deal to say, NJ funck-
Brentano showed al times with what speed
French may be uttered He kept his audi
ence interested 10 the end, however when
a number Of lantern views were cast upon
a screen.
NJ Funck -Brcntano's presentation OF the
facts about the -Lettres de CGchet' shows
that the institution has been much ma
ligned and a great deal Of blame has been
put on the Bourbon Kings for using them
which does not belong TO them at all The
document was letter or order signed
by the King. and countersigned by one Of
his Ministers. bearing the pnvy seal or
"cachet,' that gave 1t the name. il was
the common form Of expressing the King
will within bis kingdom.
More specifically the term denotes orders
for imprisonment, and as tines orders gave
no reasons for the imprisonment save the
King pleasure, they were great conven-
fence in putting stop TO family scandals
and hushlng them up.
They ran something like this: 10 VI,
Deaunay, captain ~ my castle OF the
Bastille 1t being my intention to send
= -
to receive him and retain him till | give
orders 10 let him 90, and now | pray GOD
10 keep you in his care, LOUIS, Ana
tho signature of a minister besides. NO
reason given. NoItaire says that he was
never able to make an Englishman under
stand the meaning Of a "lettre de cachet
There we're three kinds Of them, first,
those issued for affairs Of state, which are
extremely rare; then thOsefo police affairs,
which are Of ike Importance. and finally,
those issued for family matters, which are
extremely numerous and which are the
cause Of the evil Tepute Of these orders OF
the King No prisoner vas ever detained
in the Bastille without such an order save
enc, the man with the Iron Mask and he
was brought into the prison by the Governor
himself in his litter.
Now these orders do not testify to the
tyranny of the King but TO the peculiar
construction of French society. and rather
to the harshness of parents The family
WIS a serious matter IN tnc france Oh lNe
cid regime and parental authority was
strict and to b. obayed in all classes Of
society Mnlesherbes in his unpublished
report on the Letters de Cachct. made
just before the Revolution, showed that
this means OF correction was employed
fully as much by the lower classes a. by
the aristocrats. and the collection Of letters
10 the Arsenal Library proves that he was
right
The French were extremely sensitive to
everything affecting their honor and held
that the disgrace OF relative attached
10 all his connections. They recognized the
/ light of the head Of the family to take meas
ures to protect their common honor ana as
pre- vention seemed the best remedy the
effort was made to shut up the prospective
offender before he had committed his fault
1t is on the petition Of his family that an
order TO imprson a men is generally issued;
il is through the family's opposition that
pardon is usually refused The King and
his Ministers try 10 enforce paternal au
thority by granting these orders, but other
authorities are inst n ready; the rural
police will arrest child without warrant at
his fathers request and the city authorities
are equally ready
Usually it was the fnthcr who asked for
the imprisonment II his child The mobiles
vent TO the Bastllle, the common herd to
the Ch6telet. NJ. Funck Breuiano selected
cases Of pl heians to prove the fact that
the -lettres de cachet' were recognized
general form Of procedure He mentioned +
the case Of Flazier, and cf a play actor
who obtained orders, as well as the most /
famous Of ALL Mirabeaus father. There (
Is no doubt that according to the ideas Of
the time Mirabeau was not treated I'M
justly.
In the absence Of the father the mother
stepped in and an applcwoman Of Paris, /
fearing that her daughter was going 10 the !
had, had her shut up in tho Salpttriere on 4
the Kings order. ana twice refused 10 have /
her released, as she had no faith in her rcfor- .
nation Sometimes the family council. an 1
still powerful in France, stepped (
in
Then there were husbands who wanted /
their wives shut up and wives who desired I
the imprisonment of their husbands Here /
some sort Of evidence was called for that Of !
the police or other members Of tha family. |
The proportion Of husbands petitions |
granted II larger for he is the head of the /
family, but the number of wives petitions /
is greater, because they are much more in |
sstent NJ Funck- Brentano read the pc
iition Of one unhappy husband imprisoned I
AT hiS wifc'- request, obJccting TO being re-
leased on the ground that he preferred hie .
prison 10 his wiTo's company.
II was not the King alone who had his /
Easti les many OF the towns had them like |
Ca n and Amiens, and bitterly resented the
Efforts TO suppress their dungeons up to
the Revolution Compared with these the
Bastlle was a paradise These bourgeois
communities had their own form
Of o. tires de cachet One factor in the
Revolution that has D. cen overlooked il
the Importance Of the breaking down Of
he old ideal Of the family. whose fall
brought down with it the whole social
structure. The "lcttres de cachet" were
an important means in maintaining family
authority
Besides many views If the Bastnle, the
hate let and other prisons. NJ Funok-
Bretano after the lecture displayed on the
screen the -lottrc de cachet that consigned
he Cardinal de Rohan 10 tho Basulle. on
account Of the Queens necklace affair.
and several scenes connected with the
story Of the Iron Mask
\ ORTIZ tHERICiN TAXES An