nus of the Lyons
Railway, and stands on the waste land of the Faubourg St. Antoine. From a
distance the building appears as though built of bricks, but on closer
examination it is seen to be constructed of flints set in cement. Six
large detached buildings, three stories high, all radiating from a
rotunda which serves as the common centre, and touching each other at the
starting-point, separated by courtyards which grow broader in proportion
as the buildings spread out, pierced with a thousand little dormer
windows which give light to the cells, surrounded by a high wall, and
presenting from a bird's-eye point of view the drape of a fan--such is
Mazas. From the rotunda which forms the centre, springs a sort of
minaret, which is the alarm-tower. The ground floor is a round room,
which serves as the registrar's office. On the first story is a chapel
where a single priest says mass for all; and the observatory, where a
single attendant keeps watch over all the doors of all the galleries at
the same time. Each building is termed a "division." The courtyards are
intersected by high walls into a multitude of little oblong walks.

As each Representative descended from the vehicle he was conducted into
the rotunda where the registry office was situated. There his name was
taken down, and in exchange for his name he was assigned a number.
Whether the prisoner be a thief or a legislator, such is always the rule
in this prison; the _coup d'etat_ reduced all to a footing of equality.
As soon as a Representative was registered and numbered, he was ordered
to "file off." They said to him, "Go upstairs," or "Go on;" and they
announced him at the end of the corridor to which he was allotted by
calling out, "Receive number So-and-So." The jailer in that particular
corridor answered, "Send him on." The prisoner mounted alone, went
straight on, and on his arrival found the jailer standing near an open
door. The jailer said, "Here it is, sir." The prisoner entered, the
jailer shut the door, and they passed on to another.

The _coup d'etat_ acted in a very different manner towards the various
Representatives. Those whom it desired to conciliate, the men of the
Bight, were placed in Vincennes; those whom it detested, the men of the
Left, were placed in Mazas. Those at Vincennes had the quarters of M.
Montpensier, which were expressly reopened for them; an excellent dinner,
eaten in company; wax candles, fire, and the smiles and bows of the