The Underground World: A mirror of life below the surface

by Thomas Wallace Knox

THE BASTILLE.—ERECTED IN 1369.

The Bastille could contain fifty state prisoners in solitary cells, and by putting two persons in one cell the number could be raised to a hundred. Sometimes as many as three hundred persons were in the Bastille at once, and in that case they were densely crowded. According to history the prisoners were wretchedly fed, but it should be said, in justice to the government, that this state of affairs was probably due to the frauds of the subordinates rather than to any intended cruelty on the part of the government, as the latter generally made liberal allowances for the support of the prisoners of state. One writer asserts that in his time the governor of the Bastille had a great number of prisoners, many of whom were paid for at twenty-five francs a day, and that their subsistence did not cost as many sous. There was a regular tariff for expenses for the table, lights, and washing of all prisoners, according to their rank. A prince was allowed fifty francs a day, a marshal of France thirty-six francs, a lieutenant general thirty-four francs, and so on down to the inferior prisoners, who were allowed two francs and a half.

TREATMENT OF PRISONERS.

A prisoner might be examined at the moment of his arrest, or not until weeks, months, or years afterwards. He had no mode of offering any defence, or of telling his friends where he was, or why he was detained; and sometimes he did not himself know these facts. He was allowed no books or papers; he could not communicate with anybody except by special permission. He could not be visited except on an order from the lieutenant of police, and at such visits all the conversation must be in the presence of an officer of the prison, and no allusion could be made to the cause of detention, the term of imprisonment, or any topic of that sort.

The treatment of prisoners varied greatly. Some, whom it was desired to kill by slow torture, without trial, or even without a hearing, were shut up in the horrible dungeons already described, where they were fed on the worst possible food until death relieved them from their suffering. Others, whom it was not designed to punish or destroy, but simply to detain, enjoyed every comfort, and a great deal of luxury. They had large rooms, fine furniture, excellent and abundant food, plenty of wine, books, and papers, could have their own servants, could be visited by their friends or families; in fact, could do pretty nearly as they pleased, except to go out of the Bastille.

Sometimes the Bastille was under governors who had a good deal of the milk of human kindness in their composition, and sometimes it was under the control of men who had as little feeling and sympathy as a stone. Prisoners were well or badly treated according as the governor was good or bad in character, and also according to the instructions which had been received concerning their treatment. The most horrible feature about the Bastille was the mode of sending persons to it. No man could be safe from imprisonment there, and he was subject to the whims and caprices of the minister of state, whom no appeals could reach, and by whom no call for justice would be heard or heeded. If any man incurred the displeasure of the minister, or of any one who had sufficient influence to secure an order for his arrest under the royal seal, he might be taken to the Bastille at any moment. If his accuser desired that he should never more go out into the world, and never hold communication with any one, the accuser’s will became law. Hundreds of men were sent to the Bastille without knowing the cause of their arrest or the names of their accusers, and without being allowed to communicate with family or friend. It was this uncertainty, this ever-present fear of injustice and cruelty, that made the name of the Bastille appalling, and led every Frenchman to regard it as a place full of horrors.

HORRORS OF THE BASTILLE.

It is said that some of the most barbarous cruelties ever inflicted within the walls of the Bastille were during the reign of Louis XI. Louis himself was the author and inventor of some of the worst barbarities. It is recorded in history, that he caused dungeons to be made in the Bastille surrounded with smooth and polished masonry, where the prisoners, who were lowered into them, were obliged to remain in an unnatural position, which they could not change. According to history, the princes of the house of Armagnac were shut up in these horrible pits, and were drawn out twice a week to be scourged in the presence of the governor, and once in every three months to have two of their teeth torn from their jaws. Sometimes split sticks of dry wood were placed on their fingers, and then the sticks would be set on fire and allowed to consume. Richelieu sent many of his enemies to the Bastille, some of whom were treated with extreme consideration, while others endured great severity. One of these men, the notorious Bassompierre, was immured there twelve years by the order of Richelieu.

MAN IN THE IRON MASK.

One of the greatest mysteries attending the Bastille is that of the Man in the Iron Mask. A great deal has been said and written about him, some of it being fact, and some of it fiction. Who he was is not positively known. It is very certain that he was a personage of great importance, whom it was desirable to keep out of the way, and at the same time very desirable not to kill. He was always treated with the utmost consideration. Every one of his attendants uncovered his head when in presence of the mysterious personage. His clothing was of the finest character, his food was of the best quality, and served on the choicest table-ware. He was rarely left alone, and then only in a place whence he could not escape; his face was always covered with a mask of black velvet, fastened behind his head with steel bands. His private governor was De Saint Mars, and it is supposed that he was answerable with his own life for the safety of the Man in the Iron Mask, and for the preservation of his incognito. When first heard of he was confined in the Marguerite Islands, in the Mediterranean. One day a fisherman, passing near the place of his confinement, saw a hand wave towards him from a window, and a moment after, a silver plate was thrown out. The fisherman picked up the plate and looked at it; saw that some words were engraved upon it, and immediately took it to the governor of the prison. The governor looked at it carelessly, and then asked the fisherman if he had shown it to any one, or had read it. The fisherman answered, “No, your excellency, I have shown it to no one, and as for myself I cannot read.”