BAS 
the name of the deceafed inferted there was frequently a 
fictitious one. 
If a prifoner was to be tried by a court of juftice, the 
governor was apprifed by a letter from the miniftdr, and 
directed to fend him to the place where lie was to be tried, 
as often as the court required it. An officer properly au- 
thorifed came to demand him : he was then lent under a 
guard, that waited to bring him back. The major and 
another officer went in a coach with him, nor was he per¬ 
mitted to fpeak to any one but when before the court. 
There are inftances, however, that prifoners of this de¬ 
scription have been allowed to fee their counfel; but al¬ 
ways in the prefence of the king’s commiffitry and other 
officers. Perhaps it was the abufe of the lettrcs de cachet , 
rather than their inftitution, that merited the execration 
in which they were held; for, however extraordinary it 
may ftem, they were not unfrequently ufed to ferve the 
purpofes of humanity. There are many inftances of per- 
fons, who, on account of private difputes, or affairs of 
(late, would have been expofed to public punifhment, that' 
were ffiut up by a lettre de cachet until the danger was 
pad, or the matter accommodated or forgotten. It may 
undoubtedly be objected, that keeeping a perfon from 
juftice is itfelf a crime againft the public; but, in forming 
a judgment upon this fubjeCt, we ought to take into con- 
fideration the prejudices entertained in the country where 
this authority was employed. It ffiould be remembered, 
that, by an old and barbarous pradtice, the difgrace at¬ 
tending. a capital puniffiment, inflicted by the laws, was 
reflected upon all the family of the criminal; and that in 
many inftances it required a public a£t of the fupreme 
power to wipe off the ftain, and again enable them to ferve 
their country. Inafmuch, therefore, as the lettres de ca¬ 
chet counteracted the eft'eCts of thefe prejudices, they were 
ufeful; but though they were (igned by the king, from 
the idea that it was proper to have them ready for cafes of 
emergency, minifters,-and governors of provinces, &c. 
were generally furniffied with them in blank, to be filled 
up at their discretion; and the friends and favourites of 
thofe minifters fometimes obtained them for revengeful 
purpofes. If we compare the number of perfons that 
were confined, with the population of the kingdom, it 
certainly bears no proportion. After examining the regif- 
ters of entries for forty-fix years, the prifoners received 
during that period at the Baftile appear to be about 2000. 
When the Baftile was taken, only feven prifoners were 
found in it. The people, who anxioully look after the 
wonderful, though in fcenes of mifery, feemed furprifed, 
and even difappointed, to find fo few. The horror of fucli 
a prifon, however, was not diminifhed by this circum- 
ftance ; every one felt that it might be extended to him¬ 
felf ; the mind was nurfed in a ftate of abjeCt fear ; men 
were denied that ineftimable privilege, the free communi¬ 
cation of their thoughts and fentiments ; and diflimulation 
became neceffary to their fafety. The towers of the Baf¬ 
tile and other prifons of ftate feemed to Hand aloft over 
the kingdom for the purpofe of fearing its inhabitants. 
We ffiall now mention the names of a few of the perfons 
who were from time to time confined here, with the of¬ 
fence they had committed; as extracted from the regifter 
before-mentioned. 
In x663, the fieur de la Bafiniere, treafurer of the e- 
pargne. It is imagined this prifoner gave the name to the 
tower called la Bafiniere, in which it appears he was long 
confined.—Pardier, for writing newfpapers.—Madame la 
Roche Tudefquin, named Margaret Carita, fufpected of 
being concerned in a treafonable defign againft the king 
of Denmark.—Edmund Coquier, for having a printing- 
prefs found in his houfe-, where a book in defence of M. 
Fouquet was clandeftinely printed.—In 1664, the count de 
Cruffol. The letter directs that he ffiould neither be per¬ 
mitted to fee, nor fpeak to, any one.—Pierre le Mounier, 
a bookbinder; condemned to be whipped, and fent to the 
galleys for nine years.—In 1665, M. de Bully Rabutin, for 
writing L'Hijloire Amourcufe dcs Gaules.—l n 1674, the che- 
r i l e. 73 j 
valier de Rohan, who was beheaded the 29th of November 
that year.—In 1680, the marechal de Luxembourg, be¬ 
ing involved in an information given againft a woman na¬ 
med La Voijin, who pretended to foretel events, fold poi- 
fons, and was burnt on the 22b of February, 1680.—Ste¬ 
phen de Bray, for blafphemy, facrilege, and poifoning. It 
is to be obferved, that poifoning, about this period, and 
feme years Ijefore, had become very frequent in France, 
He was condemned, and burnt at the Greve.— Paul Tro. 
vato, Don Andre Trovato, and Victorina Trovato, fuf- 
peCted of compofing and felling improper drugs and poi - 
fons,—In 1684, Don Thomas Crifafi, knight of Malta, 
formerly colonel of the regiment of Crifafi at Medina; and 
Don Antonio Crifafi, his brother; fufpected of intrigues 
with the Spaniffi ambaffiidor againft the interefts of the 
king.—Pierre His, an inhabitant of Pally, for having af- 
lifted feveral perfons to go clandeftinely to America.—Jo- 
feph Jarin, or Jarina, a footman of the Venetian ambaffa- 
dor, for having faid, in an antichamber at Verfailles, a- 
mongft a number of other fervants, “ Who can hinder me 
from killing the king ?”—Befnoit, called Arnonville, an 
evil-minded woman, who held improper difcourle.— Cha, 
Combon, called count de Longueval, a maker of horo- 
fcopes, a fortune-teller, and feller of drugs to procure 
abortions.—The fieur Berangerde la Berliere, major in the 
regiment of Burgundy, for a plot againft the king’s per¬ 
fon.—The count de Morlot, native of the Hague, fufpeCt- 
ed of intrigues with the prince of Orange.—In 16S6, 
Defvallons, for fpeaking infolently of the king.—The fieur 
Duprez, his wife, daughter, and fervant: of the pretend¬ 
ed reformed religion, for endeavouring to leave the king¬ 
dom.—In 1687, L. Lemiere, Ihoemaker, and his wife, for 
dangerous difcourle about the king.—In 1689, Paupillard, 
for being a bad catholic.—In 1690, the lieur Cardel, 
for reafons regarding the fafety of the king’s perfon.— 
Saint Vigor, affeCting to be a hermit, but a man of licen¬ 
tious manners.—The fieur Braconneau, on account of re¬ 
ligion. He died on the 2d of March, 1691, of a wound 
he gave himfelf with a knife on the iSth of February.—■ 
In 1691, P. J. Mere, pro felling himfelf a phyfician, for fell¬ 
ing improper drugs. After thirty years confinement at 
the Baftile, he was fent to Charenton, having loft his fen- 
fes.—In 1092, Jonas de Lamas, a baker, for execrations 
againft the king. After being detained for twenty years 
at the Baftile, he was fent infane to Bicetre_In 1696,, 
Ifaac Amet de la Motte, a gentleman of Burgundy, was 
detained fifty-four years five months, and then tranfported 
to Charenton, infane.—John Haftings, an Engliftiman, cap¬ 
tain in the navy of the king of Denmark, fufpeCtcd of de- 
figns againft the ftate, particularly of a plot for burning 
his majefty’s fhips in the port of Breft.—In 1697, John 
de Pardieu, a prieft, for marrying Proteftants.—John Fre¬ 
deric Ex, or Hick, a Saxon, formerly a lieutenant in the 
troops of Brandenburg, detained on fufpicion. He pre¬ 
tended that he was fent to France by a colonel Puirkholtz, 
in the fervice of the eleCtor of Saxony, to communicate a 
project for difpatching the elector, and getting the crown ,, 
of Poland for the prince of Conti. He fays that Puirk¬ 
holtz was likewife able to take oft' the prince of Orange 
by means of a trumpeter in his guards.—The part of the 
regifter in which the celebrated prifoner With the iron-maik 
is fuppofed to have been mentioned, is wanting. He arri¬ 
ved at the Baftile, from the illand of St. Marguerite, on 
the 1Sth of September, 1698. It would be in vain to hope 
for any information about him from the papers that were 
found at the Baftile, as it appears, by unqueftionable au¬ 
thority, that as much pains were taken' there, after his 
death, to deftroy every thing that could poftibly lead to 
difeover who he was, as had been obferved, during his 
life, to conceal him from the eye of the public. For par¬ 
ticulars on this fabjeCt, fee Masqjje.—O n the 30th of 
January, 1699, the count de Bozzelli, of Bergarn, and his 
fon, were arrefted and fent to the Baftile by the order of 
Colbert. The caufe does not appear.—Badly, a hatter, 
for a defign to eftabliffi a hat manufactory in a foreign 
country. 
