By a refinement of torture, she had been released from the Abbaye only to be re-arrested that same hour. At the Pélagie, only a thin partition separated her from low assassins and depraved women, foul language and revolting spectacles being ever present to her senses and imagination. It was here that she wrote her marvellous and unique memoirs, in which she described her infancy, life, and the political career of her husband, and comments on the fate of France, her friends, and the prisoners around her. These wonderful memoirs were written in twenty-two days, and were entirely without revision on her part. Her good friend Bosc took the leaves of the precious manuscript from time to time, and hid them in the hollow of a tree in the forest of Montmorency. It was Bosc who took charge of Madame Roland's only child Eudora, who eventually married the son of her mother's other devoted friend Champagneux. It was Bosc who dissuaded Madame Roland from suicide. It was he who followed the cart which conveyed her to the guillotine. It was he who wrote the preface to her memoirs, the profits of the sale of which he reserved for Eudora Roland. was repeatedly kissed by the poor cre tures who crowded round her, ar cried and sobbed at her departure. SI was the only one who preserved he equanimity. No serious accusation could be mad against the great citoyenne, but h condemnation was a foregone conclu sion. After an eloquent defence fro her, she was sentenced to be guill tined. At a quarter past four on the afte noon of the 9th of November, 1793, sh was taken to the scaffold. In the sam cart with her was Lamarque the forge: who displayed the most abject terror a the thought of death. Ever kind t suffering humanity, whether deservin or not, she pitied and consoled him and even succeeded in making hir smile faintly several times, so that h was enabled to meet his doom with certain amount of fortitude. At the scaffold, she requested San son to allow her companion to be exe cuted first, in order to spare him th sight of her blood, and when he de murred, she said smilingly : "Come you cannot refuse the last request of lady !" and Sanson gave way. On going herself up to the exe cutioner, her eyes fell upon the gi Champagneux wrote the preface to gantic statue of Liberty, when she the second edition. The original man-exclaimed : uscript is now in the Bibliothèque Impériale in Paris. . In prison the mother wrote to her young daughter: "My example will remain to thee, and I feel it is a rich inheritance." "O, Liberty! what crimes are com mitted in thy name !” "All was It was rightly said of her, in tune, nothing was imperfect in this celebrated woman; she was not only the strongest character, but the truest of our Revolution." Roland committed suicide on hearing of his wife's death. Buzot died of want and starvation after several miserable months of hid His miniature, "this dear picture," At the dreadful and squalid prison of the Conciergerie, to which she was taken just before her death, she exercised the same wonderful spell over the prisoners as at the Pélagie and the Abbaye. Her mere presence pacified ing. tumults and disorder. When summoned to the usual mock trial before was found as late as 1863, on the the Revolutionary Tribunal, she dressed herself carefully in white. Her beautiful dark hair hung down her back, and her complexion appeared ravishing, in spite of the months of confinement she had experienced. When she descended into the courtyard, her hand ground, amongst a lot of vegetables at a greengrocer's open stall in the Marché des Batignolles. It was dreadfully dilapidated, but on the removal of the painting, a piece of paper covered with the fine writing of Madame Roland, was found containing a short his tory of Buzot's life, which she had | ture of mica; whilst the latter has a written in prison. similar structure and texture, but with Both "Buzot will live in the remembrance the orthoclase or potash-felspar of a of men of worth," she wrote; but that white instead of a red color. which chiefly commends him to the varieties of granite have a medium notice of posterity is the fact that he grain, take a fine polish, and whilst was beloved by the great and good admirably suited for ornamental purMadame Roland. poses, are eminently serviceable in the arts owing to their durability and strength. M. DALE. From Chambers' Journal. in The principal quarries are situated on the western shore of Lago Maggiore, whose scenery is well known to all lovers of the picturesque. A feaITALIAN marble has long been ture of interest is the mode of working known in this country, and the trade adopted, which consists in detaching arried on in its import has attained to enormous masses of granite by huge considerable dimensions; whilst, curi-blasts. At the Monte Grassi quarry, asly enough, the granite resources of 1885, a charge of six tons of gunpowItaly have for some reason been almost der was fired by electricity; whilst four entirely overlooked, and Italian granite months later, a similar blast, with eight has remained to the present day almost and a half tons of the same explosive, entirely ignored in the United King- was carried out. It was, however, in dom. Under these circumstances, the the autumn of 1886 that a monster attempts now being made to place Ital- blast was executed, when seventeen an granite on the British markets, and tons of blasting-powder and half a ton to render it a commercial and eco- of Nobel dynamite were exploded 20mic success, call forth considerable simultaneously, displacing something interest, and have induced us to lay before our readers some succinct account of what may with justice almost be described as a new product in our industries, together with some brief notes of its mode of occurrence in Italy and the methods in which it is married and worked. like five hundred thousand cubic yards of granite; while some twenty or thirty blocks, ranging from one thousand to six thousand five hundred cubic yards each, were carried fully three hundred yards by the explosion. So much interest attached to these phenomenal blasts, that in the interests of science the Italian ministry of war deputed a major of engineers to be present and to fully report thereon. The position of this quarry on a mountain side attaining an altitude of about two thousand feet is particularly advantageous, as the material descends by the action of gravity to the finishing and polishing works below, whence it passes to the harbor adjoining the works, and is shipped to its destina The most important seat of the granhe industry in Italy is the group of quarries in the province of Novaro, situated around Baveno and Alzo. Here not only is the quarrying of the granite carried on, but the turning, polishing, and general execution of all Fork in connection with the finished product is also performed. The grane of the district is of two distinct - red and white or grey grane. The former, according to a report tion. Professor James Geikie who has, Another famous quarry in this disafter a careful megascopic and micro-trict is the white quarry of Alzo, situscopic examination, pronounced an ated on the western shore of Lago opinion on the rocks which form the d'Orta, a small lake some nine miles in subject of this article is composed in a westerly direction from Lago MagDearly equal proportions of felspar and giore. This granite takes a high polquartz, with a relatively small admix-ish, is that employed in the construction classes of the docks at Spezzia, as well as in with the working of Italian granite is the famous St. Gothard Tunnel. A the cheap cost of production. Wages brief examination of old buildings in are low in northern Italy, and the the district bears abundant testimony to the durability of the granite under consideration. wants of the workers being few and the necessaries of life cheap, botl skilled and unskilled labor is readily obtainable at lesser rates than rule ir other granite-producing countries. No better evidence of the power of Italian granite to resist the ravages of time can be adduced than by mention- Viewing the cheapness of labor, the ing the famous palace on the "Isola uulimited stores of granite, and the Bella," which was erected in the six- easy methods of transport by means of teenth century by Cardinal Borromeo water, there appears little doubt that with granite from Monte Grassi. This Italian granite will ere long force its spot forms a favorite resort of tourists way to the front, and by enabling al in north Italy; and the material of the persons in this country to obtain supold palace, though exposed for over plies of an unequalled building matethree centuries to the great extremes rial at low rates, will coufer lasting of heat and cold here found, exhibits benefits on architectural engineering no signs of weathering or decay. and kindred industries, and through A feature of interest in connection these on the public generally. marching, many already weakened by dys- THE EFFECTS OF INTENSE COLD UPON | Others showed more pronounced symptoms THE MIND. — Extreme cold, as is well of mental disturbance, and not a few beknown, exerts a benumbing influence upon came incurably insane, the type of their the mental faculties. Almost every one insanity resembling very closely senile who has been exposed, for a longer or dementia. The cold was probably not shorter period, to a very low temperature alone responsible for these effects, for a has noted a diminution in will power, and zero temperature is rather stimulating than often a temporary weakening of the mem- paralyzing in its action upon the well fed ory. Perhaps the largest scale upon which | and the healthy. These men were half this action has ever been studied was starved, poorly clad, worn out with long during the retreat of the French from Moscow. The troops suffered extremely from hunger, fatigue, and cold-from the latter perhaps most of all. A German physician who accompanied a detachment of his countrymen has left an interesting account of their trials during this retreat. From an abstract of this paper by Dr. Rose, in the New Yorker Medicinische Monatschrift, we find that of the earliest symptoms referable to the cold was a loss of memory. This was noted in the strong as well as those who were already suffering from the effects of the hardships to which they had been exposed. With the first appearance of a moderately low temperature (about five degrees above zero Fahrenheit), many of the soldiers were found to have forgotten the names of the most ordinary things about them, as well as those of the articles of food, for the want of which they were perishing. Many forgot their own names and those of their comrades. PAPER DUTY ABOLISHED. What demand there may be for production of literature in Jamaica, or what effect may be expected, we know not, but are glad to see that in that island the duty on printing paper, formerly twelve and a half per cent., has been abolished, as well as all duty levied on writing or wrapping paper. We hope the change will mark an epoch in the progress of the old colony which has so interesting a history. CONTENTS. IV. EPHESUS AND THE TEMPLE OF DIANA, TELEGRAPHS, VIII. THE STATE AND THE TELEGRAPHS, X. IS THE RACE IMPROVING? By J. F. Pall Mall Budget, For EIGHT DOLLARS remitted directly to the Publishers, the LIVING AGE will be punctually for- Varded for a year, free of postage. Remittances should be made by bank draft or check, or by post-office money-order, if possible. If ther of these can be procured, the money should be sent in a registered letter. All postmasters are liged to register letters when requested to do so. Drafts, checks, and money-orders should be made A DAY OF DAYS. HE was here but a moment ago; A villian from Belgravia, who a burglary has planned, I yet, in the tree-shaded path, hear the Is suddenly arrested by detectives from the tread of his feet. He left me a rose in whose heart is a deep crimson glow; Ah, the rose is so sweet! His words they were few, Strand. I hear a stalwart warrior from one of Weyman's plots Engaged in Dolly dialogues with Mary Queen of Scots; But he said to me wonderful, wonderful And persons in the Argosy for gold in things with his eyes His eyes, that are like the skies over us, Or interview physicians brought to light cloudless and blue; How I love the blue skies! by Conan Doyle. Not only in the fiction, too, I find my fancy trip, The Idler's Club are gathered at the Sign that bears a Ship, While Blackwood's sober chronicler in quite a flippant way Discusses "Without Prejudice" the topics of the day. And so, although my intellect is reasonably strong, It will not bear the strain of this bewilderment for long; Please carve upon my tombstone when 1 quit terrestrial scenes, As he beams on his mistress, the earth, in "Here lies a man who perished from toc For love is so worshipful! Tell me, sweet the fulness of love; rose, am I one All its blessings to prove ? Argosy. many magazines !" Punch.. A HOPELESS CASE. Or literary pleasures, my first and chief delight, Was to read the thrilling serials our deft romancers write, To follow up each hero to the altar from his teens, By reading each instalment in the monthly magazines. The system answered splendidly while magazines were few, But journal follows journal now, review succeeds review; And when the monthly parcel I have carefully perused, Alas, I find the characters are woefully confused! They follow me about by day, at night they haunt me still, A hero out from Longman's weds a lady from Cornhill; |