Medals were struck at the time of the siege, in 1628, which represent this tower, having the following motto round:--_Lucerna impiorum extinguetur_ (the light of the impious shall be extinguished).

It was at this time that Cardinal Richelieu caused the great _digue_, as it is called, to be made to the south-west of the town, with enormous labour and expense, in order to prevent supplies reaching the Rochellois who held out against him.

At low water this _digue_ is visible, and remains a memorial of the cruelty and harshness of the tyrant priest who ruled France.
One of the numerous towers which formerly protected the town is called the Demi-bastion _des Dames_, so named from its having been defended by the ladies of La Rochelle, whose heroic devotion at the time of the siege by the duke of Anjou, in 1573, has rendered them famous in history.

They were not less active half a century later, when, for thirteen months, La Rochelle withstood the united forces of Catholic France bent on its destruction.

The scenes which took place at these periods have made this interesting town classic ground: there is not a wall, a tower, or a street, which has not some tale of heroism attached to it, and some noble trait may be recounted as having occurred in every quarter.[8] [Footnote 8: In the Romance of the Queen Mother, I have given a detailed account, from the most correct chroniclers, of the siege of La Rochelle, and its defence, in 1573.] There are no interesting churches in La Rochelle, the wars of religion having destroyed all the antique buildings of worship, both Catholic and Protestant.