de of the cage to the other; and he observed to
his keeper, that the greatest misery he endured was inflicted by the
rats, which came in droves, and gnawed away at his gouty legs, without
his being able to move out of their reach or frighten them away.

Having examined the principal objects of curiosity at the mount, and
learning that the tide was rising rapidly on the Greve, I descended from
the fortress, and mounting my horse, set out on my return to Avranches.

My guide informed me that I had staid somewhat too long, and in fact,
the sea, flowing and foaming furiously over the vast plain of sand,
quickly surrounded the mount, and was at our heels in a twinkling.
However, the guide sprang off with that long trot peculiar to fishermen,
and was followed with great good will by the beast which had been so
obstinate in the morning. We were joined in our retreat by a party of
sportsmen, who appeared to have been shooting gulls upon the sands; but
they could not keep up with the young fisherman, who stepped out like a
Newmarket racer, and in a short time landed me safe at the Point of
Pontorson, near the village of Courtils, where he resided.

By the way, we have just received Mr. St. John's _Anatomy of
Society_, which we hope to notice in our next or subsequent number.

[3] Why is the _a_ omitted?

* * * * *

THE MONUMENT.

Once the object of general praise, from its loftiness and beauty, and
till now the subject of censure, even among Protestants, from that
inscription of which the Papists always complained, was the offspring of
this period, and realized one of those decorations which Wren had
lavished upon his air-drawn Babylon. This lofty column was ordered by
the Commons, in commemoration of the extinction of the great fire and
the rebuilding of the city: it stands on the site of the old church of
St. Margaret, and within a hundred feet of the spot where the
conflagration began. It is of the Doric order, and rises from the
pavement to the height of two hundred and two feet, containing within
its shaft a spiral stair of black marble of three hundred and forty-five
steps. The plinth is twenty-one feet square, and ornamented with
sculpture by Cibber, representing the flames subsiding on the appearance
of King Charles;--beneath his horse's feet a figure, meant to personify
religious malice, crawls out vomiting fire, and above is that
unjustifiable legend which called forth the