ser, attended by his secretary (a young French captain) and his negro, all three in their oriental costume-a brave Algerine warrior, who entered into the French service under Bourmont, immediately after that general's conquest of Algiers; his figure small and active, his face full of sunshine, sincerity, and finesse.

benefit of the poor inhabitants of Fontain-horses at the post-house before it, and then bleau, but, from a patriotic principle of econo- passed onwards to his loved domain in a dismy, to the benefit of the civil list. An un- tant province. Youssouf, the Arab, lately arwieldy old-fashioned coach drove leisurely rived, rode into the crowd on his Arab courthrough La Rue Royale to the palace; it contained the handsome Bishop of Meaux, the pliant courtier and man of the world, in his full-dress sacerdotal costume. His reverence's very reverend chaplain sat opposite, and descended after Monseigneur L'Eveque, carrying the crosier, the mitre, and other insignia of the dignities of prelacy in the Roman Catholic church. Soon after, another As my eye ranged o'er this scene, I percarriage, of a more modern form, of lighter ceived advancing a man of noble aspect, of construction and more rapid movement, calm, dignified deportment, and a pure undrove into the palace-court, and stopped at wrinkled brow; he was accompanied by his the door of the Conciergerie. The persons son and a female friend. He penetrated quiwithin were of grave aspects, clad in black etly through the rude throng of his fellow-behabits of the simplest cut of the tailor. One ings, without jostling or incommoding any of these persons, while descending the steps one. The serene smile of a benevolent heart of his carriage, held in his arms, with un- played over his countenance; scarcely did common circumspection, a mysterious white he seem to remark the crowd of his combundle, which only partially covered a black patriots, or deign to reflect on the variety of ebony cross, with the sacred figure of our strange circumstances, the complicated agenblessed Redeemer upon it sculptured in ivory. cies, that had conduced to assemble them Attorney's wives, printers' wives, linen-dra- there. He was an honoured nobleman of pers' wives and their daughters, were in all other times and other more Christian princithe bustle of toilet preparations, and nose- ples, walking unspotted through the world. gays, and doggrel verses, with florid prose In his days of prosperity he was accounted a addresses of felicitations,for here all are just man, in adversity he has preserved the admitted at court, in glorious equality sys-respect and esteem of his opponents, and the tem. Stormy and unquiet countenances grateful affection of his exiled royal masters. lurked here and there, moody abstractions, a His was a loyal, calm conscience, in the revival of party animosities, melancholy midst of scowling treason and dishonourmoanings of faithful loyal hearts, in vivid as pure gold passing through the crucible. recollection of noble guests that assisted Strange combination of circumstances and some few fleeting years agone at the cele- personages! bration of a more sacred royal wedding, un- The day announced for the arrival of the der the nation's snow-white banner, in this Mecklenburg princess arrived. The sun same palace, the former residence of antique shone resplendent o'er the sinning world. royalty. The Roman Catholic church was It was on a turbulent market-day; poultry, in sorrow and embarrassment-her clergy in vegetables, eggs, butter, all were sold at douemotion, anxious to protect their sacred fête, ble their usual price, for buyers and sellers la fete Dieu, always celebrated with pious were equally in haste to see and to be seen. A splendour at this season of the year. Ad- rush of the peasantry from the environs monished by prudence, these vicegerents of crowded every thoroughfare-clack, clack! a heavenly superior resolved to confine the chattering, chattering! scolding and gesticusacred procession within the precincts of lating in their native patois" Gare, gare their church domain, in latent fear of the re- donc !"-" Viens par ici, Marie!"—" "See, newal of insults on the part of the military see; great equipages; I bethinks it be that and their republican hymns, which the pre- of our princess-hearest thou?"—" Thee ceding year had smothered their sacred think'st so, neighbour?" screamed out, in a chants in praise of the Deity. A posse of hoarse voice, a gross, coarse country woman, police chiefs and their spies, the latter under with a flaming red complexion; "really I every assumed disguise of beggar's garb, of should be enchanted to see her; she must peasant's dress, of labourer's blue frock, be a curiosity, for all t'other princesses of preceded the arrival of Louis Philippe, his foreign states were afeard and ashamed to queen, and a numerous family of princes come, on dit-and this be a little great duke's and princesses, who were speedily followed sister, and a heretic withal, as they say.' by their court phalanx, and an affluence of "Ma fie!" said another, "I sees nothing to invited tricolour deputies and turncoat peers, brag of in all this; rememberest thou the with their families, in carriages as strange, woman in la grand place, that exhibited heras motley, as the personages within them. self there?-she showed herself for moneyIn the midst of the medley arrived, acci- comment, ne trouve tu pas que c'est beau à dentally, the honest, loyal, eloquent, great voir-bah?"-"Why then come hither?law orator, the glory of old France. He bent why quit our village-if you be not a curiforward his bald head, his manly open front, ous woman?"Si fait, oui! but it is to see from his carriage window, cast an ironic the camp-I likes the military-I"" "As glance on these police figures, on the ancient to the young girl that be coming from foreign palace, on the silent multitude, changed parts, ce n'est inferieur—» "Ah! seest

66

His

her?-let's pass, if you please; I be come hope of never being separated, not even from afar-ha' given up my day's pay of should exile be their lot, having placed her forty sols-left my dame at home sore vexed entire confidence in Providence. and grumbling-she be like to grumble more Louis Philippe then, turning to his minisif I do not see the princess." "Allons, vaur-ters and courtiers, presented the fair Hélène, ien!-do not push so hard."- Softly, ma "in the character of an angel come to dif belle-no hostilities upon a holiday-polite- fuse a blessing on the French nation." ness and good-humour, if you can." Ici un majesty then led this Lutheran princess into flot-par ici-par ici."—"There is the head an interior apartment of this ancient asof- "" semblage of royal palaces that teem with The multitude was right, for the squadron noble remembrances of royal masters, the of hussars arrived. All eyes were fixed, supporters and crusade champions of the every mouth gaped open; a man of a spy's Roman Catholic church. Thus passed the mien, redingote blue, hat off, cried out to his first moments of welcomes and gratulations! neighbours, "Mes amis, la voilà au fond de The doors closed with a jarring echo on la voiture dorée! (that voiture had served this fair female of the north, who has thus, Charles X. at his coronation;) elle est en in thoughtless, unmeasured ambition, quitted chapeau rose à plume rose, et robe rose; elle a bonne mine! And her fat mother-in-law, the old dowager-duchess of Mecklenburg, elle est bien grasse!-elle a bien mangée en bas-là-on dit que le bœuf est bon dans ce pays-là-allons-crions-viva!"

But only the voices of the spy and his well-paid comrades were exerted; the crowd would see curiosity was at its complete extension, and the heart felt nothing. The suite of carriages passed through the well.guarded gates of the Cour du Cheval Blanc. Same silence within, for the troops had waited there more than three hours, and the most lovely figure of woman cannot efface, in this ungallant age, the fatigue and ennui of so long an expectation.

the protection of the duke her brother, and his peaceable subjects, to risk the sunshine of her life upon the throw of a die in this France, where rarely can she move, or glance her eyes to any spot, without inevitably gazing upon the former theatre of some atrocious crime.

Thus the curtain dropped on the first scene of the first act of the marriage drama !

The

For ages it had been an inviolate custom, nay, a law, with the French court, that the affianced spouse of a French prince should pass the night previous to the union under a separate roof from her future lord. Duke of Berri conformed to this ancient etiquette on a similar occasion, and reposed at the Hôtel de la Chancelerie in the town. Such Under the cloudless firmament, in the were the severe formalities of "the old bright purity of a summer afternoon, this courts." Now, reputations are less tenaciGerman princess ascended the left side of the ously protected; they are more easily lost far-famed antique "Escalier en fer à Che- and less prized than some years agone, for, val," the same side by which descended Na- contrary to this established custom, the Duc poleon, when he bade an eternal farewell to d'Orleans occupied his usual apartment in his brave veteran guards, to his generals, the palace. The portly Duchess of Meckamong whom then stood conspicuous Gene- lenburg reposed on the couch formerly occural Athalin, now factotum in these royal pa-pied by the august daughter of Louis XVI., laces, and the devoted servitor of Madame and the Princess Hélène in the adjoining Adelaide. chamber.

Louis Philippe received her Serene High- The king and his royal consort occupied ness with open arms, and in pathetic terms" Le Lit de Parade," under the rich embroicomplimented her on her heroic courage in dered draperies that had sheltered the fair traversing France at the peril of her life, and lovely form of Marie-Antoinette-a having, in fact, adventured a violent death. couch that even Napoleon had respectedHe expatiated on the tragical fate of kings, no one had ever reclined thereon since her their royal widows, and princesses of France, hour of martyrdom. I do not assert that her predecessors, expressing his fervent hope Louis Philippe found tranquil repose there, that her destiny might be more happy, assur- for who shall presume to narrate the history ing her serene highness of his resolve to of his heart? His cabinet and antechamber watch over her well-being, even at the ha- he resigned on this occasion to Talleyrand, zard of his personal safety; on the part of his present counsellor in all secret exigencies. his son, he entertained no apprehensions for Like a cherished infant, Treize Serments passher domestic happiness: she might be as ed the nights under his majesty's immediate sured of her princely consort's anticipation paternal guardianship. Before the aged of her slightest wishes, his ever-enduring veteran left the palace he was heard to saylove and friendship; that were it to be other-"Pour la France il faut une reine." The wise, he would be the first to resent such con- Duke de Broglie and his duchess (the grandduct. daughter of Neckar, the minister of Louis Her serene highness, in replying to these XVI.) occupied the gracefully-decorated fine phrases, was affected to tears. She, in apartment of the celebrated austere Madame her turn, assured his majesty that she came de Maintenon. Some matrimonial embar. with the determination to partake in the fami- rassment occurred, in other apartments not ly dangers, in the fortunes of his dynasty, so amply provided with couches, betwixt whatever they might be, in the cherished husbands and their consorts that were too in

different, or too much imbued with the fash- heaps of stones, more or less ornamented, not ionable immoral principles of the times, to greet each other in private intimacy.

"Madam," replied the stranger, "I cannot inform you; but you may find sufficient to occupy your mind, and charm away ennui, for this rendezvous of palaces renews recol- "Mon Dieu, ma chère !" exclaimed a lections so noble and so glorious, such honour- beautiful French lady, with her pretty daughable patriotic actions, sung aloud by the trum-ter leaning on her arm, who had been listenpet of Fame, and fitted to mighty thoughts, ing in silence to this animated dialogue; that must have an immense interest, above" Mon Dieu, ma chère, faites je vous en prie all, in the heart of a Frenchwoman ;" and l'abnegation de tous vos beaux sentiments.the stranger bent courteously to the lady. Come with me to the court reception to-mor"Indeed, mademoiselle," she replied, smil-row-come and amuse yourself with me and ing facetiously, "I see nothing so very rege- my daughter-a quoi bon d'aimer le bien en nerating in this pile of old edifices; they ce siècle? My husband, you well know, is offer nothing to my imagination, excepting a general of the empire, and formerly gover

nor of Cadiz, when King Ferdinand was a prisoner there among his own subjects. The general was subsequently aide-de-camp to King Murat at the gay court of Naples, and later promoted by Louis XVIII. You will see him presently enter with this court, look- The Princess Hélène is of middle stature ing so gigantic, so superb, in his handsome and slender waist; to use a French phrase, uniform, decorated with several foreign or-" Elle a la figure chiffonée." Her eyes neverders. He assured me this morning that he is more decided than ever to serve every chief and government that France may adopt ; tomorrow my daughter will accompany the pretty daughter of Mr. T., my linen-draper, to present a nosegay to the princess. Venez donc, ma chère amie-c'est vraiment charmant."

"What! he whom the newspapers represent as having occupied the honourable situation of aide-de-camp successively to the asNeither etiquette nor decorum was main-sassinated Duc de Berri, and to his son the tained, for there were neither chamberlains, Duc de Bordeaux ?" nor a maître de cérémonie, nor chevalier d'honneur; no sentiments of honour nor che. valresque feelings beamed refulgent o'er the scene, nor other display of hereditary royalty and bon-ton.

Such a perpetual chattering above and below, that the guests themselves cried out "Hush!" and in the apartments such removals of furniture and noisy domestic arrangements, that the vociferations for silence in the chapel and tribunes became general. Thus the pretensions to a court existed with- "I have no occasion to name the very old out a vestige of that éclat and native noble-man in a peruke of flowing silver white hairs,

bent double with age, with diplomatic fa- | be the impression, ever melancholy, that tigues, and intrigues. He advances slowly, supported by his secretary."

"Oh, no, madame; he is known to all Europe-homme d'esprit astute diplomate; his epitaph will not be difficult to write-TREIZE SERMENTS. These two words will suffice to make him known, and to pass judgment on the numerous events and deeds of his long life."

"You are severe, mademoiselle." "No, madame, I am only just."

At this moment the French lady's attention was attracted towards the altar.

two persons are about to unite their fate, that only death can separate-the tomb ! solemn idea, that neither royal posterity nor its surrounding pageants can efface from the heart of man. In France, of late years, these royal marriages have a funereal aspect, portentous auguries of dread catastrophes, breathing the contagion of death, a sacrificial procession to the tomb; for in France we pass from illusions into illusions, from vehement expressions of love and joy, to those of hatred and bloody transport. The ceremony of the ring and the allocution of the bishop being terminated, the portly curate, his mind fraught with thoughts of remoter times, reverting to an exiled royal master, advanced to the table, took the pen, and opened his vast parish register with all the clerical importance and grave demeanour of his sacred

"Yes," replied the stranger; "he refused to appear as a courtier, but when his duty calls, he well knows how to conform to it. In spite of all opinions, such is a noble cha-function. The signatures of the bridal pair racter."

"Original, you should say."

by the suite of three benedictions-that of the civil, the Lutheran, and the Roman Catholic-become one and indivisible, were followed by those of the other members of their dynasty, each according to their rank. King Leopold only came out of his turn; the Cobourg family, ready to every matrimonial summons, advancing before they are called. The curate mistook him for one of the suite, and coolly bade him wait his turn. Madame Adelaide advanced the last. The curate recollected her in olden times; on receiving back her pen, he inquired, drily, " Madame, have all the princes and princesses signed?"

66 "Yes," replied Adelaide, with unsuspicious naïveté.

"You are so far right, madame, if by that word you intend to imply unimitated, and his conduct on this occasion arises from his knowledge of men, and the high sense of the importance of his ecclesiastical duties. His signature as curate of the parish was almost necessary to the act of marriage; he could have refused his presence, which might have occasioned a momentary scandal and embarrassment in the royal councils. The curate, as a minister of God's word, preferred a more peaceful proceeding. Louis Philippe, cager to avoid all unpleasant contest with the church, delegated the bishop to open a kind of amicable negotiation. The supple bishop of this diocese waited upon the reverend cu- "No more princes nor princesses!" rerate with the intention of hinting the proprie-iterated the imperturbable priest, with a ty of a temporary absence from his parish; sang froid and tone of irony that were most but the curate opened the audience by sus- eloquent. Then, madame, we may turn taining the dignity of his sacred calling, and the page." his reputation for firmness of character and L'homme treize serments signed with a strength of mind, by bluntly announcing to hand as strong, as firm, as at the comMonseigneur his fixed determination to ap-mencement of his half century of signapear in his official situation as curé de la tures. paroisse de Fontainbleau, and superintend the requisite signatures to be affixed to the marriage contract, as he would that of any other of his parishioners. The firm, positive tone of the ecclesiastic intimidated the primate into silence, who resumed his way back to the palace without alluding to that part of his mission. Louis Philippe acquiesced in a decision he could not evade. Such is the natural influence of great minds over the littleness of great personages in their present false position."

The courtier bishop united the royal young couple, and delivered the accustomed allocution. He eulogised the bridegroom, his father, mother, his brothers, sisters, and his Aunt Adelaide, not forgetting those flowers of rhetoric that give an elegant turn to a phrase, rendering a long discourse on this hackneyed subject supportable, without, however, leaving any positive sentiment on the heart, unlessit

،

What elements for thought and memory in this his last marriage signature !

Louis Philippe thanked the curate, and Monsieur le Curé bowed in return to Louis Philippe, Duc d' Orleans!

The Orleans dynasty retired from the chapel, when loud talking commenced amongst the invited guests, as they followed, nudging and elbowing each other; the men unceremoniously jostling and pushing back the ladies, prevailing by force of their arms in placing themselves in advance of the more gentle sex; but who occupies his proper place in this court drama, and in this venerable palace, where all are displaced, divested of that politeness that characterised the ancient society of the land?

Within the palace's extensive circuit, every saloon and avenue recalls incidents that lead the mind to rumination. How was it possible to walk that day beneath