and worthy of all or nearly all the admiration of which it has been the object. Its interior is almost wholly devoid of ornament, or anything that can be called architecture—a vast inverted pyramid. The exterior does not possess one detail which is not open to criticism, and indeed to positive blame. Notwithstanding all this, its mass, its form, and its associations, all combine to produce an effect against which the critic struggles in vain.
The length of the building, measured along its greatest diameter, is 620 ft., its breadth 513, or nearly in the ratio of 6 to 5, which may be taken as the general proportion of these buildings, the variations from it being slight, and apparently either mistakes in setting out the work in ancient times, or in measuring it in modern days, rather than an intentional deviation. The height of the 3 lower stories is 120 ft.; the total height as it now stands, 157 ft. The arena itself measures 287 ft. in length by 180 in breadth, and it is calculated that the building would contain 80,000 spectators; 50,000 or 60,000 would be much nearer the truth, at least according to the data by which space is calculated in our theatres and public places.
HUNDRED FAMILIES' LOCK.
A common Chinese talisman is the "hundred families' lock," to procure which a father goes round among his friends, and, having obtained from a hundred different parties a few of the copper coins of the country, he himself adds the balance, to purchase an ornament or appendage fashioned like a lock, which he hangs on his child's neck, for the purpose of locking him figuratively to life, and making the hundred persons concerned in his attaining old age.
THE DUKE DE REICHSTADT.
At the Imperial Palace of Schönbrun, about five English miles from Vienna, is shown the window fractured by the bullet of the enthusiastic student who shot at Napoleon while he was reviewing the Imperial Guard, and also the apartment he occupied when he made this his head-quarters, instead of entering the city. An additional interest is imparted to the place, by the circumstance of the Duke de Reichstadt having, when taken ill, chosen the identical chamber and spot in which his father Napoleon had slept, to close his mortal career: and by a singular coincidence, the remains of the young prince were subjected to a post-mortem examination upon the same table at which the Emperor had held his councils. In imitation of the military hardihood of his sire, the young duke was in the habit of exposing himself to all weathers, and keeping guard during successive nights, a practice which often called forth from his surgeon, Dr. Malfati, the expressive words, 'Rappelez vous, mon Prince, que vouz avez un Cœur de Fer dans un Corp de Verre.'
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS' CANDLESTICK.
Almost every article, however trifling its intrinsic value, and however homely its appearance, which once belonged to a celebrated individual, is always regarded as an object of interest, and we have, therefore, no hesitation in presenting our readers with the annexed engraving of one of a pair of candlesticks which were once the property of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots.
