bliettes, dungeons made in the form of reversed cones,
with concealed trap-doors, down which dropped the unhappy victims
of the tyrant, brought there by Tristam L'Hermite, his companion and
executioner in ordinary; sometimes their sides were plain, sometimes
set with knives, or sharp-edged wheels; but in either cases they were
complete _oubliettes;_ the devoted were certain to fall into the land
where all things are forgotten.--(_Pennant's London._)

When the Bastille of France was demolished, three iron cages were
discovered, they were made of strong bars of iron, about eight feet high
and six feet wide, and such have been used in other prisons in that
country. The Bishop of Verdun, according to Mezeray, was the inventer,
and was himself the first man confined in them, and remained a prisoner
thus for eleven years, so that he could speak practically as to his own
invention.

* * * * *

FEMALE LEANDER.

The Duchess of Chevereux, who was for the first time at the court of
England, in 1638, swam across the Thames, in a frolic, near Windsor. On
this occasion some verses were composed by a Sir J. M. containing these
lines:--

But her chaste breast, cold as the cloyster'd nun,
Whose frost to chrystal might congeal the sun,
So glar'd the stream, that pilots, there afloat,
Thought they might safely land without a boat;
July had seen the Thames in ice involv'd,
Had it not been by her own beams dissolv'd.

* * * * *

BIRTHDAY PRAYER.

The observance of a birthday by _prayer_ is not altogether incurious
in these days of license; and the following specimen, quoted from the
_Diary_ of that truly good man, JOHN EVELYN, may be entertained as the
genuine effusion of piety, unmixed with any alloy of fanaticism, or
religious enthusiasm:--

_Oct_. 31, 1689.--My birthday, being now 69 years old. Blessed Father
who hast prolonged my years to this great age, and given me to see so
great and wonderful revolutions, and preserved me amidst them to this
moment, accept, I beseech thee, the continuance of my prayers and
thankful acknowledgements, and grant me grace to be working out my
salvation and redeeming the time, that thou mayest be glorified by me
here, and my soul immortal saved, whenever thou shalt call for it to
perpetuate thy praises to all eternity, in that heavenly kingdom where
there are no more changes or vicissitudes, but rest and peace, a