544 Account of Thomas Major’s Confinement in the Bastille. [July 1, 
the like, thou art not less bitter on that 
account: it is but cold Comfort to find 
ethers as wretched as ourselves. € 
In a despotic state, the mind insensibly 
becomes languid, and loses its faculty of 
éxertion. Tyranny sutfocates the effects 
of genius and emulation: renders mane 
kind inactive, and debases its existence. 
The finest country in the world, when 
subjected to tyranny and oppression, by 
degrees becoines deserted. Liberty is 
the darling object of all beings, and mach 
more so to a rational mind. 
This is verified in Bishop Burnet’s Tra- 
vels ; speaking of the Grisons, in Switter- 
land, he says ; ‘* the liberty of the coun- 
try is such, that the natives, when they 
jiave made estates elsewhere, are vlad to 
leave even Italy, and the best parts of 
Germany, and to come and Jive amongst 
those mountains, of which the very sight 
is enough to fill a man with horror. An 
easy government, though joined to an ill 
soil, and accompanied with great incon- 
veniencies, draws, or at least keeps, peo- 
ple in it; whereas a severe government, 
though in general ideas it may appear 
reasonable, drives its subjects even out 
of the best and most desirable seats.” 
Some time after, I took notice of the 
dates of years, upon the hexagon tiles, 
with which the floor was paved, and tra. 
ced them to the top; Monsieur Dubuis- 
son had there cut his name at length, 
and underneath were the years, succes- 
sively, that he had been shut up in this 
place. Hehad been confined eighteen, 
or twenty years, I cannot now remember 
which.* This excruciating thought 
made me excessively uneasy at times; 
when I beheld them with a stéadfast eye, 
it shrunk my very Soul within me; fora 
heart, filled with anguish, undergoes the 
severest agonies. of mind: my blood was 
chilled, a colddampinsensibly overspread 
my vital frame: all nature revolted’at-the 
idea of perpetual imprisonmént, con- 
Signed over to the hopeless prospect of 
ending my daysin confinement. And this 
aggravated the thought; reflecting, that 
it possibly might he my own hard fate; 
and if the prime of my life.should be sa- 
crificed in this manner, the rest of my 
days would scarcely fe worth the having; 
believing that I had taken an eternal 
adieu of the arts [ loved. 
Spes et Fortuna, vaiete. 
How, or whichway, Monsieur Dubuis- 
son had contrived to cut these indelible 
—-- Cr? arr > a _ ~ a 
* A mourntui sight Jor adieart possessed of 
any fecling. 
rt 
characters, I cannot comprehend, unless 
he made use of the flint, or perhaps, of the 
iron fork ; certainly it was awork or great 
patience; however, it cannot be said, he 
Was straiteved fur time to finish his tedi- 
ous undertaking. . 
On the demise of Louis XV. the pris 
soners were released from the Bastille, 
(as is customary on the death of a king) 
Monsieur de la Salle, of the family dela — 
Salle, in Canada, in 1687, a gentleman 
of fortune, who had been confined forty- 
Lwo years, at his release, was reduced to 
the greatest degree of misery, by his bros 
ther (who thought him dead) having 
squandered away all his patrimony. 
Upon his application to the minister, they 
procured for him, of the present king, a 
pension of 3000 livres. The death of 
Louis XV. gave liberty te an infinite 
number of unhappy people, and to many, 
who would have been relfeased- sooner, 
but had been forgotten. When-some of 
these were told they might go out, they 
replied, ‘Then we are sure Louis XV. is 
dead.’ He died the 10th of May, 1774. 
After I had been here some days, the 
governor very genteely sent to let me 
know, that I might come down into the 
court-yard, for the benefit of the air; I 
cheerfully accepted this offer, and gladly: 
followed my keeper. It was about noon, 
the sun at that time shining, whose en- 
livening rays were welcome to. me, as the 
smallness of the window, and the thick- 
ness of the walls of my apartinent, which 
were at least 10 feet, had entirely ex-— 
cluded his visiting me; I could see his 
beams enlighten the tops of the houses, a 
dreary view, and which was almost my . 
only prospect. After I had stretched my 
Ps by walking to and fro, I sat down in 
a. 
isconsolate mood, ona bench adjoining | 
the zovernor’s apartments, meditating on 
my hardfate. I had notlong beenseated 
there, before a venerable officer, adorned 
with the order of St. Louis, came and 
placed himself by me; he very kindly ene 
quired how I did, who I was, and what 
brought me to France. I satisfied hiscu- 
riosity, by acquainting him with every 
particular circumstance. fle seemed to 
sympathize with me, encouraging me 
notto be disheartened, to keep up my spi-. 
tits, and hoped L should soon- obtain 
my liberty; and wishing me well, took his 
Jeave. Inall probability, this was one of 
the commanding officers in this fortress. — 
Ze was the only person I saw in the 
court, except the centinel, walking in the. 
palisades. The height ef the walls, of 
one hundred feet, aud the iron grates — 
/ a c 
