Papers called _Petite_, or "Little,"
have an immense circulation. Over a half million copies of _Le Petite
Journal_ are sold daily. Frenchmen at home or abroad are not happy
without their _Figaro_, which is read for its news of amusements, spicy
gossip, and the odor of the boulevards. The sensitive and powerful press
of Paris has often provoked political changes and revolutions.
To study better the important revolution for liberty which occurred on
the ever memorable 14th of July, 1789, the Harrises drove along the
boulevard till they approached the Bastille, formerly the site of a
castle, or stronghold, used for a long time as a state prison for the
confinement of persons who fell victims to the caprice of the government.
The graceful bronze July Column is 154 feet in height, and it
commemorates the destruction of the Bastille, symbol of despotism. A
strong desire for independence raised the cry "Down with the Bastille,"
and the advancing tide of revolution overcame the moats, the walls, the
guns, and the garrison, and freedom was victorious. On the column the
names of the fallen "July Heroes" are emblazoned in gilded letters. In
large vaults beneath are buried the heroes of 1789, with the victims of
the later revolution of 1848.
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