It has been doubted whether the accounts given by authors of the iron-cages and instruments of tor ture used in the Bastile were founded in fact. After some enquiry, it appears to us, that though these accounts have been exaggerated, tne modes of pu nishment referred to, were unquestionably practised, not perhaps in the reign of Louis XVI., but certain ly in those of former monarchs. The Count de Bou lainviliers relates, that he saw at the Chateau Duples sis, an. iron cage in which the Cardinal de la Baluc, first minister to Louis XI. had been confined. Louis XII. while Duke of Orleans, experienced a similar fortune with the Cardinal. A wooden cage 9 feet long, 6 broad, and A high, was to be seen previous to the revolution at St Michael in Normandy. In this cage, the editor of a newspaper published at Leyden, who had written a satire on Louis XIV. was shut up, and died after a confinement of many years. It was. placed in the centre of a room every way resembling the apartments of the Bastile ; and from the great strength of the walls rendering an escape nearly im possible, it must have been designed not for security. but for punishment. Some of the bars were marked with landscapes and figures of different kinds, which the miserable captive had imprinted on it with his nails. La Porte, premier Valet de Chambre to Louis XIV. when enumerating the various means employed- by the officers of the Bastile to force from him the secrets of the queen, with which they supposed he was entrusted, distinctly states, that an order was produced by the commissary acting under the lieu tenant of the police, for putting him to torture in case of obstinacy, and that he was conducted to a room where the different instruments were shown him, and their application pointed out. Finally, there is good reason to believe, that in the reign of Louis XI. not a few perished in the dungeons of the Bastile, by 'means of poison secretly introduced into their food.
In later times, however, the torture of the mind -appears to have been studied by the agents of despo tism rather than that of the body. No sooner had a ,prisoner, for some reason or for none, ..entered the Bastile, than he passed at once into a state of utter exclusion from the rest of mankind. If his friends • enquired after him, it was denied, even with oaths and imprecations, that he was in confinement. And the governor has been known to express his astonishment, that they should suppose him to be in the •Bastile. The only persons who visited the prisoners were the turnkeys and officers of the house. On these occa. sions.the most insidious questions were putto then), and their answers, carefully remembered, were after wards written down. No one was allowed toapproach them in whom they could confide, or from whom they .could ask advice. And if, in particular circumstan: •ccs, a companion was allowed to certain prisoners more guarded and cautious in their answers than others, this companion having drawn from.them the requisite intelligence, soon appeared to be a spy pla ced there by the orders of the governor. The friend of the captive was kept in a state of fixed uncertain ty. He was uncertain even for what cause he was detained. He was uncertain whether his wife and family yet existed, whether theybreathed the vital air in the enjoyment of their liberty, • or whether they were shut up in the next apartment of the castle doomed to the same misery which he endured. Of
his own destiny he was equally uncertain. He might be confined to his dungeon for many years, still che rishing the hope, and meditating on the blessings of freedom, or a painful death might speedily terminate his existence. The morning returned and the evening came, the year revolved and passed dyer him in the same state of suspcnce and silence. Or roused at some time by the hope of liberty, offered to him on the conditions of acknowledging his guilt, and decla ring his accomplices, he indulgedperhaps in a momen tary transport : but finding, that though the terms of the agreement had been adhered to on his part, his keepers had spoken only to deceive him ; he often sunk into an unchangeable melancholy, which at length overpowered his reason. It is not possible for the language of men to describe this torture of the soul, which those victims of tyranny were in some instances compelled to undergo. Many of the prisoners, how ever, bore their sufferings with greatef fortitude, or rather from a peculiarity of constitution, or from the power of habit, they suffered less than others who were unhappily placed in similar circumstances, They even contrived to amuse themselves during their confine ment ; though the methods which they adopted for this purpose appear to indicate little else than the sad necessity of their condition. The histories of the Bas tile are full of attempts made to train spiders by sup plying them with food, and to avert the horrors of re- ` flection by ascertaining the dimensions of the room, •or counting in different directions the studs upon the door. Some have spent whole days in pouring water •from one dish into another, or in disposing in fanciful arrangements the pieces of which their faggots were • composed. After a .certain time also the rigour of -confinement was in some degree abated. The prison. crs were allowed to walk daily for an hour in one of the courts, though still within the view of a soldier •on guard. If any stranger appeared, they were •obliged instantly to retire. By applying to the lieu tenant of the police, they might obtain permission • to attend mass, which was performed at least every Sunday in the chapel belonging to the castle. They were conducted separately from their apartments, and sat in covered niches, where they could bear without being seen. Some were allowed the conveniency of ;pens, ink, and paper, and were permitted to write to their friends ; but all their letters passed through the hands of the lieutenant of the police, by whom they were frequently opened and read, so that few of them ,reached the persons for whom they were intended, They likewise had the use of books from a library founded by a prisoner in the beginning of the last cen tury, and augmented by the contributions of his suc cessors. It consisted of about .500 volumes. Some of the captives were permitted to read in the library, while others had the books brought to them by their keepers. After much and frequent solicitation, Lin. guet, whose name has already been mentioned so fre. quently, obtained the use of mathematical instru ments ; but on inspecting the case, he found that the compasses were exceedingly small, and made of bone.