Bastille Day had often held people jailed on the basis of "lettres de cachet" (literally "signet letters"), arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment. The Bastille held a large cache of ammunition and gunpowder, and was also known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789 there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance. The crowd was eventually reinforced by mutinous "Gardes Françaises" ("French
1789 English cricket season 1789 English cricket season 1789 was the third season of cricket in England since the foundation of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). While Hampshire were playing Kent on Windmill Down, the Storming of the Bastille was taking place in Paris and the French Revolution ended the first cricket overseas tour before it even began. The following matches are classified as important: 9–10 July (Th–F) : Six of Hampshire v Six of Kent @ Itchin Stoke Down. Match drawn (bad weather). John Frederick Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset, famous for both his cricket connections and his ambassadorship to France, tried to organise