The ruins are interesting and the débris is easily recognised. One with a slight knowledge of the arrangement can trace the walls of the structure, as well as the triple cincture of fortifications surrounding it. These are now covered with sod and green grass and used for pasturage, while the level places, like the courts within the castle and the parade-ground within the lines of fortification, are subjected to cultivation. The château of Tiffauges was partially built in the time of Saint Louis; the grand tower now remaining is said to belong to that epoch; the large tower, the small tower, the chapel, the great hall wherein the Baron presided over his retainers or, if need be, received such lords and seigniors as came to visit him; the dining-room, kitchen, scullery, with all their necessary appurtenances of cellar, storehouse, warehouses, well-room, were all in evidence; bedrooms, halls, parlours, etc., were prepared in abundance for the reception of lords, ladies, and all who might attend upon the occasion of a ball or fête. On another side of the courtyard, but adjoining the main building, was a shorter wing, large enough to lodge his knights, men-at-arms, soldiers, servants, varlets, etc. It was, in these regards, similar to most other extensive castles or châteaux, and can be compared to the château of Nantes where Gilles was tried and convicted. (See frontispiece.) The Château Tiffauges was a favourite residence of Gilles de Retz; it was a stronghold, in which, if need be, he could have great security and, in case of war or attack, could make a good defence. It was large and commodious. Here it was that Gilles de Retz and François Prelati, the Italian, had their laboratory in which they endeavoured, first by alchemy, then by magic, and lastly by murder, to discover the Elixir of Eternal Youth and the transmutation of metals into gold. Here took place the attempt to obtain a conference with the Evil One, with the idea of obtaining his supposed influence in their sublunary affairs. A description of this laboratory has been left us. The chamber was high up in the tower, with communicating passages in various directions,--to the large tower and also to the basement and, as is said, to the _oubliettes_ and the secret passageway to the Crume and so outside the château. The laboratory occupied the full diameter of the tower; an immense chimney was on one side of the room, in which was placed the furnace where the mutilated bodies of many of the dead infants were consumed. The chamber had but two windows, one to the north the other to the south, both high up in the wall, both capable of being closed and darkened by solid shutters. Lemire says (p. 27): “In the highest chamber of the small tower, he [Gilles] had installed a chemical [alchemy] laboratory and there employed his three sorcerers, one French, one English or Picardian, and one Italian”; And he describes with minutest detail the apparatus employed (p. 28):