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Historic Paris by Jetta Sophia Wolff

CHAPTER XIV

377 words  |  Chapter 24

THE BASTILLE So we come to Place de la Bastille. The famous prison which stood there from the end of the fourteenth century to the memorable summer of 1789, was built by Hugues Aubriot, Prévôt du Roi, as a fortified castle to protect the palais St-Pol close by, and Paris in general, against hostile inroads from the country beyond. Its form is well known. A perfect model of it is to be seen at Carnavalet, in that most interesting _salle_--the Bastille-room. It had eight towers each 23 mètres high, each with its distinct name and use. White lines in the pavement of the _place_ show where some of its walls, some of its towers rose, houses stand upon the site of others. The great military citadel became a regular prison in the time of Charles VI--a military prison, though civilians were from the first shut up there from time to time. Aubriot himself was put there by the mob, to be quickly released by the King. Under Richelieu it became a State prison, the prison of _lettres de cachet_ notoriety. The Revolutionists attacked it in the idea that untold harshness, cruelty, injustice dominated there. As a matter of fact, the Bastille was for years rather a luxurious place of retirement for persons who themselves wished or were desired by others to lie low for a time, than a fort of durance vile. The last governor, M. de Launay, in particular, was generous and kind even to the humblest of those placed beneath his rule. And we know the attacking mob found seven prisoners only--two madmen, the others acknowledged criminals. M. de Launay was massacred nevertheless. The Revolutionists seized all the arms they could find, a goodly store; the walls were razed soon afterwards and a board put up with the words “Ici on dance.” In reality the attack upon the Bastille was a milder under-taking than is generally supposed, and its entire destruction took place later on in quite a business-like way by a contractor. [Illustration: LA BASTILLE] The _place_ was finished in 1803. The Colonne de Juillet we see there dates from 1831. The bones of the victims of the two minor Revolutions (1830-48) are beneath it. Louis Philippe’s throne was burnt before it in 1848.
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1. Chapter 1 2. CHAPTER I 3. 1784. They were burnt down in 1828 and replaced by the Galerie 4. CHAPTER II 5. CHAPTER III 6. 1790. More than a million bodies are said to have been buried in that 7. 1850. The beautiful portal of the ancient bureau des Marchandes-lingères 8. CHAPTER IV 9. CHAPTER V 10. 1899. Rue d’Uzès crosses the site of the ancient hôtel d’Uzès. Rue de 11. 1823. Four short streets of ancient date cross Rue de la Lune: Rue 12. CHAPTER VI 13. CHAPTER VII 14. 1882. At No. 153 was the eighteenth-century _bureau des 15. CHAPTER VIII 16. CHAPTER IX 17. CHAPTER X 18. CHAPTER XI 19. 1855. The short Rue de la Tâcherie (from _tâche_: task, work) crossing 20. 1320. Its name shortened from _mauvaise buée_, i.e. _mauvaise fumée_, is 21. CHAPTER XII 22. CHAPTER XIII 23. 1802. Here Fouquet and his son, Mme de Chantal, and the Marquis de 24. CHAPTER XIV 25. CHAPTER XV 26. CHAPTER XVI 27. CHAPTER XVII 28. CHAPTER XVIII 29. CHAPTER XIX 30. CHAPTER XX 31. CHAPTER XXI 32. CHAPTER XXII 33. CHAPTER XXIII 34. 25. Sardou in his youth at No. 26. Augustin Thierry lived for ten years 35. CHAPTER XXIV 36. CHAPTER XXV 37. CHAPTER XXVI 38. 1851. Nos. 85, 87, 89, eighteenth century, belonged to a branch of the 39. CHAPTER XXVII 40. CHAPTER XXVIII 41. CHAPTER XXIX 42. CHAPTER XXX 43. CHAPTER XXXI 44. 1860. It was a favourite street for residence in the nineteenth century. 45. CHAPTER XXXII 46. 122. Eugène Sue at No. 55. Comtesse de la Valette at No. 44, a _hôtel_ 47. CHAPTER XXXIII 48. CHAPTER XXXIV 49. CHAPTER XXXV 50. 1898. Marshal Ney lived at No. 12. In Rue de la Tour des Dames a 51. CHAPTER XXXVI 52. CHAPTER XXXVII 53. CHAPTER XXXVIII 54. CHAPTER XXXIX 55. 1852. No. 73 is the Hospice des Vieillards, worked by the Petites 56. CHAPTER XL 57. CHAPTER XLI 58. 1710. That first convent and church were razed in 1797. The Carmelites 59. 1713. Rue de Vanves, leading to what was in olden days the village of 60. CHAPTER XLII 61. CHAPTER XLIII 62. 1879. She had planned filling it with her magnificent collection of 63. CHAPTER XLIV 64. 20. Rue de l’Annonciation began in the early years of the eighteenth 65. CHAPTER XLV 66. 1898. Avenue de Wagram in its course from the Arc de Triomphe to Place 67. CHAPTER XLVI 68. CHAPTER XLVII 69. CHAPTER XLVIII 70. CHAPTER XLIX 71. 1783. This name was changed more than once in subsequent years. After 72. 1850. The novelist Paul de Kock lived at No 8. No. 17 was the abode of 73. CHAPTER L 74. CHAPTER LI 75. 1751. Many names of historic note are associated with the handsome house 76. CHAPTER LII 77. 1718. It was then rebuilt minus its wooden houses. The present structure 78. 1786. Pont Notre-Dame was the “bridge of honour.” Sovereigns coming to

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