ng to
the heir of sixty-three kings. Don't quarrel with me if I am mistaken by
one or two! Now here's a third; it was named Crevecoeur, a name famous
throughout Bresse, Burgundy and Flanders. It is now the Rue de la
Federation. Federation is a fine thing, but Crevecoeur was a fine name.
And then you see to-day it leads straight to the Place de la Guillotine,
which is, in my opinion, all wrong. I don't want any streets that lead
to such places. This one has its advantages; it is only about a hundred
feet from the prison, which economized and still economizes the tumbrel
and the horse of M. de Bourg. By the way, have you noticed that the
executioner remains noble and keeps his title? For the rest, the square
is excellently arranged for spectators, and my ancestor, Montrevel,
whose name it bears, doubtless, foreseeing its ultimate destiny, solved
the great problem, still unsolved by the theatres, of being able to see
well from every nook and corner. If ever they cut off my head, which,
considering the times in which we are living, would in no wise be
surprising, I shall have but one regret: that of being less well-placed
and seeing less than the others. Now let us go up these steps. Here we
are in the Place des Lices. Our Revolutionists left it its name, because
in all probability they don't know what it means. I don't know
much better than they, but I think I remember that a certain Sieur
d'Estavayer challenged some Flemish count--I don't know who--and that
the combat took place in this square. Now, my dear fellow, here is the
prison, which ought to give you some idea of human vicissitudes. Gil
Blas didn't change his condition more often than this monument its
purposes. Before Caesar it was a Gaelic temple; Caesar converted it into a
Roman fortress; an unknown architect transformed it into a military work
during the Middle Ages; the Knights of Baye, following Caesar's
example, re-made it into a fortress; the princes of Savoy used it for a
residence; the aunt of Charles V. lived here when she came to visit her
church at Brou, which she never had the satisfaction of seeing finished.
Finally, after the treaty of Lyons, when Bresse was returned to France,
it was utilized both as a prison and a court-house. Wait for me a
moment, my lord, if you dislike the squeaking of hinges and the grating
of bolts. I have a visit to pay to a certain cell."

"The grating of bolts and the squeaking of hinges is not a very
enlivening sound, bu