The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-08-29

T.
ganised and poorly armed. dared to challenge the
tyranny Of king.
This stirring events which eliminated in the
taking Of Frances fortress of feudalsm were in
notioa early IN July 1850. and two great char
acterr in the history Of France and the United
Staten were in the French capital Mt that very
time. The Marquis de Lafayette. after consulting
with Thomas Jefferson, the author Of the Declare
tOn OF independence, presented to the national
assembly bill Of rights. Had the French acted
ten days sooner. as there were many indications
that II might, a common birthday might now be
observed by the sister nations
The traditions Of the American colonies and
those OF France differed widely that to sense
the true meaning of the Bastie 1t is necessary to
trace the origin OF that gloomy pile in the Eau.
bourg st. Antoine. For centuries the edifcc was
the sign Of the divine right Of kings. Before
the storm of the French revolution broke there
were 80 such prisons in France. for bastile sig
nifies merely a fortified building AS the years
went by infamous became that one which stood
on the banks Of the Seine and was usually known
as the Castle of Paris that 1t took unto itself the
all-embracIng title of 1.-THE Bastille"
Like the institution of monarchy, Of which 1t
was the symbol. the structure was the develop
ment OF centuries. The original edifice consisted
of pair OF towers, and was IL part of the stone
barrier against the medieval Huns. Charles
about 1869 commissioned Hughes Aubriot. then
provost of Paris, to enlarge the old fortihcation
Aubriot. having in mind the extension OF the
feu,ial power. made 1t both fortress and jail
various nOuItlCnS were muue Dy tIfe Kings VI
France. AS a fort 1t considered impregnable.
ns the main walls at their base were 40 feet
thick and beneath the batlements, 100 feet above
the pavement. the light struggled into the cells
through narrow windows piercing nine feet of
solid masonry. Cannon set In tho deep en-
brnsures, and there were portfolios from which
archers and crossbowmen sped the shafts Of
DEATH
To the peasantry and the common people the
Bastille was all that was formidable and forbid
ding A grim and mysterious stronghold 1t
earned year by year Its evil name.
Kings with power of life and death over their
subjects used 1t us the instrument with which 10
punish all who opposed them. They spared neither
the high nor the low. In the days of nbsOlutism
the monarch could commit prisoners to the Bas-
tile without any other process of law than war
rant which became known lettre de cachet
This document bearing the royal seal. was
often in blank Many lettres de cnchet were OBJ
totned by unprincipled persons who either used
them to punish their enemies or sold them to
those who had sinister ends in view-- The mon
strous abuses which grew out of this practice
aa.e b.ct on European history.
Courtiers. charln.ans and courtesans found
way to safe their grudges The life or the liberty
Of no man in all the kingdom was secure. Even
In the eighteenth century notable persohnges
mixht be thrown into prison because some rea-
dives coveted their estates. In the reign OF Louis
xr 10000 lettres de chnchet we're Issued HIS