CHAPTER I

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Original meaning of the word Bastile—Various Bastiles—Description of “The Bastile”—Officers of the fortress—Interior of it—The Garden—The Court where the prisoners took exercise—The Towers, Dungeons, Apartments, Furniture, Food, of the prisoners—The Library—The Chapel—Lettres de Cachet described—Advocate of them—Change in the treatment of prisoners—Narrative of a prisoner—Strict search of prisoners—Harshness to them—Artifices employed against them—Silence enjoined to the Guards, &c., of the prison—Mode of receiving visitors—Suppression of letters—Secrecy and mystery—Medical attendance—Wills—Insanity—Clandestine burial of the dead. 1

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