Miscellaneous Back Matter [pp. 472A-RD06]

TIE BASTILE.
not at any time. Hle collected, dutring(r his reign, a library of
nine hun(lIred volumes; which, as printing had not yet been
invented, was considlered immennelse. President Te6naut says
that he ought to be celebrated as the fo)under of the royal
library. Besides this, he had a virtue that can be appreciated
by all. HIe was a very mioney-nm:aking, king, and at the end of'
his very turbulent reig,n he left a treasure of seventeen millions
of livres. But if' hle purposed to transmit his autocratic dominion to a late posterity, the butilding, of the Bastile was the
wisest act of his life. That dominion remained until his own
and nearly fobur more d.ynalsties were ended.
Tlhe hiistory of the B3astile, in detail, is not interesting unless
to thlose who have a morbid fatine- for liorrors. It reads mnuch
like a supplemient to Fox's Bookl of Mlartvrs. It brings tup
thotugohts which we would willingly banish. \We do not like to
dwell on the triumphs of tyrannv. Nor to thinrk of innocence
wasting to a sihadow ini prisoln, and p)ouring out its nighlltly
complaints to the illsy.,-lpatlizinjg stones. VWe turn instiinctively firom the contelnpl.tion of the (ru(ll, who have prosp)elrcd
in tlheir cries. Our th)uglts swiftly flee friomi the damp and
iloisonle cell to some mrore lelasant obl)ject. WVe weary of the
tales of the imartyrs. If for a iiiomient we lin-ger onI the priospeet of virtue in chains, we are glad to dispel it -.s soIme
nightmare or phantom of the brain. It seems to depress us
with a sense of evil which is not. We feel that it co()mes, an
unwelcoie visitor, to chase firon us thie lore congenial senrtiments which serve to briglI-ten- our brief space of existence.
S,uch thloughts, too, fall rudly on tli( or(iinary train of' our
meditations. They formi a discord withi the belief' that we
would cherish. Thley jar with the principles we would teaclh.
We are fond of the coIi(cep)tion that even in this world the
wicked are punis-hed, and that their l)rosl)erity is temlporary,
ending in calamity anid disgrace. \We iiiduljge the idea tiiat
though the prosperous state of thle virtuous iuan may sutfer a
transient eclipse, yet that in a short time it shall sline forth ini
renewed lustre. WVe confid(ently look forward to the time
when success shall crown hiis eforts. We faithfully believe
thait lie shall be the livin,g witness of the overthrow of his
enemies.
Although often in t,he world's history we may behold a scene
of this agreeable nature, yet thle greater parit of the anrials of
our race l)ut tells of tlhe injustice which man ailras committed
toward his brotliher witlh impunity; of' wais and disasteris, in
whiiel the good and the evil have i)een icndiscriminately Conlsuined; or of naets of' oppression p)erpetrated by tlhe rulers of the
world itgainst those who were in tlheir power. Allmongst the
victimis of such are often found tl.,e good, the great, the learned,
the el(oquent.
Sine such are the teachings of' history, it were not in vain
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