amented the injury, and did all in his power to repair it; but,
considering that one great source of the misfortunes of the holy place
had sprung from the impiety of the Anglo-Norman monarchs, in placing
their trust in ramparts made by human hands, rather than in the
protection of the archangel, he levelled with the ground the few works
of defence that remained.[216] His pious successor, the sainted Louis,
was far from entertaining a similar feeling. On the other hand, when his
devotion led him to the shrine of St. Michael, after returning from his
unfortunate expedition to Damietta, the chronicles expressly state, that
he placed, with his own hand, a considerable sum of money upon the
altar, for the purpose of repairing the fortifications. And it appears
probable that, at a period not very distant, the money thus expended
stood the crown of France in good stead; for, during the war at the
beginning of the fifteenth century, St. Michael's Mount was the only
place that successfully resisted the English arms. The siege it
supported upon that occasion, is one of the few brilliant events that
give lustre to a period of French history, generally dark and gloomy.
Two cannon, of prodigious size, constructed for the discharge of stone
balls, above a foot in diameter, testify to the present moment the
heroic defence of the garrison, and the defeat of the assailants.

At a subsequent period of French history, during the times when party,
under the mask of pious zeal, deluged the kingdom with blood, and
virtuous men of every creed joined in the lamentation, that "tantum
Religio potuit suadere malorum," the Huguenots made many and most brave
and memorable, though vain, attempts to render themselves masters of St.
Michael's Mount. From that time forward, the rock has been suffered to
continue in tranquillity, though still retaining its character as a
fortification. Its designation of late has been a departmental prison:
during the reign of terror, it was applied to the disgraceful purpose of
serving as a receptacle for three hundred ecclesiastics, whose age or
infirmities would not allow of their being transported; and who, with
cruel mockery, were incarcerated within the walls, long gladdened with
the comforts, dignified with the pomp, and sanctified with the holiness
of religion. Prisoners of importance, especially those charged with
crimes against the state, were chiefly confined here before the
revolution, when the iron cage, and