. BA STILE. This name was given to the chief state prison of France, prior to the revolution in 1792. It is derived from bastir, to build, originally spelt Latin and is of the same root with the term bastion. There were many places of strength in dif ferent parts of France which were used as state pri sons, besides the edifice called, by way of distinction, The Bastile. Thus, according to Linguet, (Olen. sur la Bastille) there were " Pierre en Cise," at Lyons, the Isles of St Margaret in Provence, Le Mont St Michael in Normandy, the Chateau du Taureau in Brittany, the Castle of Ham in Picardy, that of Saumur in Anjou, and others, amounting, in all, to nearly a twentieth part of the fortified places in France. Each of these had its governor, its etat major, its inferior officers, and its prisoners.
The Bastile, properly so called, was situated at the gates of Paris, near the road to St Anthony. It was built in the reign of Charles V., A. D. 1370, by Hugh mayor of the city. Accord ing to the original plan, it consisted of nothing more than two round towers on opposite sides of the street, joined together by a cross wall of great strength, having in the middle an opening for the gate. This opening was afterwards shut up, when the course of the road leading into the city was changed. Charles VI. built several other towers, forming, by means of intervening walls, two com plete courts, which may be regarded as the body of the edifice.: the whole was then inclosed within a ditch, and secured by a counterscarp, or facing in 'masonry, nearly 36 feet •from the bottom. In the .courts alluded to, the walls were of an extraordinary •thickness, and on the inside they extended to the !height of 80 feet above the level of the pavement. The other. arts of the building were added occasion.
ally under different monarchs. It was in the towers that the prisoners were usually confined. The struc ture of all these was nearly uniform ; so that, from a description of one, the reader may be able to form an idea of the rest. Each tower consisted of four stories, besides the dungeon. This last was arched, paved, .and lined with stone ; the top, or ceiling, being al most on a level with the court, and the floor raised considerably above the bottom of the ditch. In some of the, dungeons there was a slit in the wall for the admission of light, but in others there was none. There was no stove or fire-place in any of them. It -is said, that these abodes of darkness and, misery were intended for the punishinent of such as endea voured to escape from their confinement. It may have been so; but, after making every allowance for exaggeration, it is not to be denied, that the unhap prvictims of tyranny, who, for whatever reason, were doomed to occupy them, were not unfrequently the subjects of the most studied and persevering cruelty.
-In these dungeons the princes of Armagnac were immured by the orders of Louis XI. One of them, sinking under the weight of wretchedness and despair, became disordered in his mind during his confine ment ; and the other, upon a change in the govern-• inent, recovered his liberty, and afterwards published an account of his sufferings. Above the dungeons rose successively four apartments, each occupying a single story. The uppermost, named la ealotte, was somewhat smaller than the others. The intermediate ones were irregular polygons, nearly 18 feet across the floor, and of the same height. From the dun geon ran a winding staircase towards the apartments above. The walls were 12 feet thick at the highest part of the tower, and increased in diameter as you approached the bottom. On the parapet some pieces ordnance were usually mounted.
With regard to the individual apartments, the same massy strength and gloomy grandeur which charac terised the rest of the building appeared in them also. The doors were of oak, and double, each three inches in thickness. None of the rooms had more than one window, which, in every instance, was secured by an iron grate of prodigious strength on the outside, and by another of sirrfilar dimensions fastened in the centre of the wall. The frame, containing the glass, moved upon hinges, and opened inwards, after the manner of a door. In some instances, the embrazure, or under part, of the window•case, reached the level of the floor, but in others it was necessary to ascend to it by a flight of steps. In the lower stories the windows were built up nearly the half of their length with stone, lest the prisoner should be discovered by any one from without. The chimney was likewise secured by iron grates, crossing the vent at prOper .distances. The floors were laid with stone, or tiles. Most of the apartments had the same kind of furni ture, both as to the number of articles and their qua lity. It usually consisted of a bed, a table, and a chair, a bason and ewer, a large earthen pitcher for holding water, a candlestick, generally of brass, a night-stool, a pot'de chambre, a broom, and a tinder box, with a supply of matches. Persons of dictinc tip'', however, were often better accommodated, ha ving rooms according to their dignity, and being al low'ed, in particular circumstances, the convenience of their own furniture. Each apartment was num- ' bered ; and as every tower had its name, it was not at any time necessary to say who the prisoners were when orders were given with to them, er when they happened to be the subjects of conversa tion ; but only to mention them in the language of the place, as No. 1. Du Tresor ; No. 2. De la Cont?; No. 3. Du Coin, &c.