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Article ANECDOTE RELATIVE TO THE BASTILLE. ← Page 2 of 2
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Anecdote Relative To The Bastille.
servation : —At the accession of the Iale Louis' }* VI . his net / Ministers , actuated by humanity , signalized me beginning of their promising administratk . n by an act of justice and mercy , ordering the reg isters of tlie Bastille to be laid before them ; when a great number of prisoners were set at large . Among them was a venerable old man , who for forty-seven years had remained shut between four walls . Hardened by adversity ,
up which steels the heart when it does not break it , he had supported his long and tedious captivity with unexampled constancy and fortitude , and he thought no more of liberty . The day is come—The door of his tomb turns upon its rusty hinges , it opens not a-jar , _ as usual , but as wide as for liberty ; when an unknown voice acquaints him that he may now go out . He thinks himself in a dream ; he
hesitates , and at last ventures out with trembling steps . ; wonders at every thing ; thinks to have travelled a great way before he reaches the outer gate . Here he stops awhite ; his feeble eyes , long deprived of the sun ' s cheating beams , can hardly support its first light . A coach waits for him in the streets ; he gets into it ; desires to be carried to such a street ; but unable to support the motion of the coach , he is set down , and by the assistance of two men . reaches the part of the town where he dwelt formerly ; but the spot is altered ,
his house is no more ; his wandering eye seems to interrogate every passenger , and ask him with the heart-rending accents of despondency—where shall I find my wife ? where are my children ? All in vain—the oldest man hardly remembers to have heard his name ; at last a poor old decrepit ! porter is brought to him ; this man had served in the family , but knew him not . To the gentleman ' s queries , howeverhe answered with all the indifference that accompanies the
re-, collection of events long passed ; that his lady was dead above thirty years ago in the utmost misery , and that his children were gone into foreign countries , and had not been heard of for many years . Struck with grief and astonishment , the old gentleman , with eyes riveted to the ground , remains for some time motionless ; a few tears would have eased his deep-wounded heart ; but he could not weep .
At last , recovering from his trance , he hastens to the minister , to whose humanity he was indebted for a liberty now grown a burthen . ' Sir , ' says he to him , ' send me back to my dungeon : who is it that can survive his friends , his relations , nay , a whole generation ? Who can hear of the death of all he held dear and precious , and not wish to die ? All these losses , which happen to other men by gradation , and , as it were , by detail , have fallen at once upon me , Ah , Sir , it is not death that is dreadful , but to be the last survivor . '
The minister sympathised with this truly unfortunate man ; care was taken of him , and the old porter given him for his servant , as he could speak with him of his wife and children , the only comfort now left for this aged son of sorrow , who lived some time retired , though in the midst of the noise and confusion of tlie capital . Nothing , however , could reconcile him to a world quite new to him , and to which he remained a perfect stranger , til ! friendly death came at last to his relief , and closed his eyes in peace ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Anecdote Relative To The Bastille.
servation : —At the accession of the Iale Louis' }* VI . his net / Ministers , actuated by humanity , signalized me beginning of their promising administratk . n by an act of justice and mercy , ordering the reg isters of tlie Bastille to be laid before them ; when a great number of prisoners were set at large . Among them was a venerable old man , who for forty-seven years had remained shut between four walls . Hardened by adversity ,
up which steels the heart when it does not break it , he had supported his long and tedious captivity with unexampled constancy and fortitude , and he thought no more of liberty . The day is come—The door of his tomb turns upon its rusty hinges , it opens not a-jar , _ as usual , but as wide as for liberty ; when an unknown voice acquaints him that he may now go out . He thinks himself in a dream ; he
hesitates , and at last ventures out with trembling steps . ; wonders at every thing ; thinks to have travelled a great way before he reaches the outer gate . Here he stops awhite ; his feeble eyes , long deprived of the sun ' s cheating beams , can hardly support its first light . A coach waits for him in the streets ; he gets into it ; desires to be carried to such a street ; but unable to support the motion of the coach , he is set down , and by the assistance of two men . reaches the part of the town where he dwelt formerly ; but the spot is altered ,
his house is no more ; his wandering eye seems to interrogate every passenger , and ask him with the heart-rending accents of despondency—where shall I find my wife ? where are my children ? All in vain—the oldest man hardly remembers to have heard his name ; at last a poor old decrepit ! porter is brought to him ; this man had served in the family , but knew him not . To the gentleman ' s queries , howeverhe answered with all the indifference that accompanies the
re-, collection of events long passed ; that his lady was dead above thirty years ago in the utmost misery , and that his children were gone into foreign countries , and had not been heard of for many years . Struck with grief and astonishment , the old gentleman , with eyes riveted to the ground , remains for some time motionless ; a few tears would have eased his deep-wounded heart ; but he could not weep .
At last , recovering from his trance , he hastens to the minister , to whose humanity he was indebted for a liberty now grown a burthen . ' Sir , ' says he to him , ' send me back to my dungeon : who is it that can survive his friends , his relations , nay , a whole generation ? Who can hear of the death of all he held dear and precious , and not wish to die ? All these losses , which happen to other men by gradation , and , as it were , by detail , have fallen at once upon me , Ah , Sir , it is not death that is dreadful , but to be the last survivor . '
The minister sympathised with this truly unfortunate man ; care was taken of him , and the old porter given him for his servant , as he could speak with him of his wife and children , the only comfort now left for this aged son of sorrow , who lived some time retired , though in the midst of the noise and confusion of tlie capital . Nothing , however , could reconcile him to a world quite new to him , and to which he remained a perfect stranger , til ! friendly death came at last to his relief , and closed his eyes in peace ,