STORMING OF THE BASTILLE AT PARIS.
The great Revolution in France, at the close of the last century, was full of wonderful events, many of which might be appropriately recorded in our pages. One of the most striking among them was the storming and capture of the Bastille, a vast state-prison which was begun to be built in 1369 by Charles V., and finished by his successor in 1383. The demolition of this fortress was the first triumph of the armed populace of Paris, and it rendered the progress of the revolution irresistible. As the day closed in on the evening of Monday, the 14th of July, 1789, a reckless multitude of rioters, after seizing 30,000 muskets and several pieces of artillery at the Hotel des Invalides, rushed in wild excitement to the Bastille, rendered hateful to the people by the political imprisonment of many hapless men in past times, although less frequently applied to similar purposes under the milder rule of Louis XVI. An armed mob of at least 100,000 men, aided by troops who joined them in whole regiments at a time, had not long to contend against the old fortress. The governor, De Launay, made such a defence as a brave officer might at such a juncture; but his few troops were bewildered and wavering; he received orders from the Hotel de Ville which he knew not whether to obey or resist, but no instructions from the court or the ministers; and the military aid to the mob became stronger than any force he could bring to bear against them. The chains of three drawbridges were broken by hatchets; straw, wood, oil, and turpentine were brought and kindled, to burn down the gates; and after many volleys from the mob had been answered by a few from the fortress, De Launay, seeing no hope of succour, resolved to blow up the place rather than yield. In this he was prevented by the Swiss guards, who formed a part of the small garrison, and who, after a parley with the insurgents, opened the gates, and surrendered. The Bastille was taken. The ruffians, heeding nothing but their own furious passions, disregarded the honourable rules of capitulation; they beheaded De Launay in a clumsy and barbarous manner, and putting his head on a spike, carried it through the streets shouting, laughing, and singing; they were prevented only by an accidental interruption from burning alive a young lady whom they found in one of the court-yards; they hung or maltreated many of the Swiss and invalid soldiers; and they fearfully hacked the bodies of three or four officers in the endeavour to decapitate them. The prisoners within, only seven in number, were liberated, and treated with a drunken revel; while the Châtelet and other prisons became scenes of renewed disorders. The sketch which we give above, of the attack on the Bastille, is taken from a medallion by Andrieu.
DURATION OF LIFE AMONG ARTISTS.
In Gould's Dictionary of Artists, published in 1839, the names, with the ages, of 1,122 persons are given; which furnish the following remarkable facts as to the longevity of this class of men. Died under 60 years old, 474; 60 years and under 70, 250; 70 years and under 80, 243; 80 years and under 90, 134; 90 years and under 100, 19; above 100, 1. The mean age at death of the whole number being 55 years; from which it would appear that the pursuit of the fine arts has a tranquilizing effect upon the spirits, and a tendency to moral refinement in the habits and manners of its professors extremely favourable to the prolongation of life.
CHANGE IN THE VALUE OF LAND.
At Brighton, within the present century, a spot of ground was offered to a hair-dresser in fee, upon condition of shaving the possessor for life. The terms were declined, and the land soon became of immense value.
UNACCOUNTABLE ANTIPATHIES.