when there are either princesses or duchesses of France present. These are lady Powis, as an English duchess; madame Montecuculi, whom she has made countess of Almonde, as a lady of honour; and the ladies Sussex and Waldegrave as the daughters of king James;" the first named was, however, the daughter of Charles II. After the dauphiness had returned the visit of the English queen, her majesty came again to Versailles, to call on her. She arrived precisely at four o'clock, the orthodox hour. The king received her this time in the hall of guards, and led her into the state presence-chamber, and gave her the place of honour. They conversed a long time together, and then he led her by the hand, through the gallery, to the door of the apartments of the dauphiness, who received her there, and conducted her into her chamber. They were getting pretty well acquainted now, and their conversation was easy and lively. When her majesty retired, the dauphiness conducted her as far as the guard-room, where they parted, mutually satisfied with each other. Then the queen paid her ceremonial visit to the dauphin, who came to receive her in his guard-room, and conducted her to his presence-chamber, where they were both seated for some time in one fauteuil-probably one of those double chairs of state, such as that which is shown in queen Mary's chamber at Holyrood palace. The queen was charmed with monseigneur's cabinets, and good-naturedly spoke much in praise of the dauphiness, for whom, however, this prince cherished very little tenderness. When the queen left the apartments of the dauphin, he re-conducted her to the spot where he had received her, and she proceeded to visit monsieur and then madame. At these visits, lady Powis and madame Montecuculi were allowed seats; the one as a duchess, the other as lady in waiting to her majesty.

On the 15th, the king of France, with the dauphin, visited the king of England at St. Germains. James received them at the end of the hall of guards; and after they had talked some time, they went together to the queen's apartment, where three fauteuils were placed, but the king of England would not sit to leave the dauphin standing, who could not occupy the third fauteuil in his presence. After standing for some time by the chimney-piece, chatting with that prince, James, turning to the king of France, said, "We

are determined to have no more ceremonies after this visit ; I will begin this evening."

The frank proposition of the sailor king did not suit the formality of the court of France, which two successive Spanish queens had rendered almost as solemnly absurd, on the subject of ceremonials, as that of the Escurial. James and Mary Beatrice found, that if they expected to be treated according to their own rank, they must condescend to the follies of persons of narrow intellect, and strong prejudices, and conform to regulations which they, as aliens and suppliants, could not presume to censure. Policy and the exigency of circumstances taught the fallen queen of England the necessity of propitiating a lady of comparatively humble birth, but whose master-mind rendered her of tenfold more importance than all the French princesses put together, with the haughty dauphiness at their head, It is scarcely necessary to explain, that this was madame de Maintenon, the bosom counsellor of Louis XIV., she who wore the fleur-de-lys and ermined mantle, which none but the wife of a king of France may venture to assume, though public opinion forbade the widow Scarron to bear the title of queen. The first time madame de Maintenon came to St. Germains, Mary Beatrice, having made her wait a few minutes, gracefully apologized for it, by expressing her regret that she had lost so much of her conversation. The compliment was well judged, and her majesty had the good fortune of making a favourable impression on her, whose influence governed the latter years of the grande monarque. "Every one," says madame de Sévigné, "is pleased with this queen, she has so much wit. She said to our king, on seeing him caressing the prince of Wales, who is very beautiful, 'I had envied the happiness of my son in being unconscious of his misfortunes, but now I regret the unconsciousness which prevents him from being sensible of your majesty's goodness to him.' Everything she says is full of good sense, but it is not so with her husband-he is brave, but his capacity is ordinary, and he recounts all that has passed in England without emotion; he is a good man, nevertheless."

The anguish that oppressed the heart of the exiled queen, while successfully labouring to establish a hard-earned popularity in the French court, is unaffectedly avowed in the

following letter, addressed by her, evidently at this period, to her faithful friend the countess of Lichfield:-'

"St. Germain, Jan. 21.

"You cannot imagine, dear lady Lichfield, how pleased I was to receive two letters from you, so full of kindness as they were. I hope you do not think I am so unreasonable as to expect you should leave your husband and children to come to me. I am in too miserable a condition to wish that my friends should follow it, if they can be in their own country. I was overjoyed to hear by every body, as well as by the king, that your lord had behaved himself so well. I don't doubt but he will continue to do so, and I am sure you will encourage him to it. The king is entirely satisfied with him, and does not dislike what he did, for he had the example and advice of honest men, which he may well follow. The letter sent by your sister was of no great consequence, but by the courier you had reason to think it was. I thank God I am very well in my health, and have the satisfaction to see my poor child grow visibly every day, and the king look better than he has done this great while. I want no less to enable me to support my other misfortunes, which are so extraordinary that they move every one's pity in this country, so that they cry and pray for us perpetually. I hope God will hear their prayers, and make us happy again, but no change or condition shall ever lessen the real kindness I have for you. "M. R."

This letter is written on plain note paper, and is enclosed in a torn and hastily folded envelope, superscribed: "For the countess of Lichfield." It is sealed with the famous diamond seal always used by the consort of James II. in her correspondence with the adherents of the Jacobite cause. The impression is her royal cipher, M.R. interlaced, surmounted with the crown matrimonial of England.

MR

FAC-SIMILE.

The manner in which Mary Beatrice speaks of her infant boy in this most interesting letter, contains, in its unaffected simplicity, a refutation of the complicated falsehoods with which the injustice of a party had laboured to impugn his birth. When the fallen queen thanks God, in the midst of her misfortunes, "that she has the satisfaction of seeing her

Through the kindness of the hon. lady Bedingfield, the immediate descendant of the earl and countess of Lichfield, I enjoy the privilege of presenting this most interesting royal letter, for the first time, to the public, having been permitted by that accomplished and amiable lady to copy the original, which is in her possession.

poor child grow visibly every day," every one recognises the voice of nature, and the genuine feelings of a mother's heart.

The purple velvet and ermine in which Mary Beatrice dressed her boy, not being the orthodox costume for babies of his rank in France, excited the astonishment of the ladies of that court, as we find from a remark made by madame de Sévigné, in a letter dated January 31st, 1689. "Madame de Chaulnes has seen the queen of England, with whom she is much pleased. The little prince was dressed like a MerryAndrew, but beautiful and joyous, leaping and dancing, when they held him up." He was then between seven and eight months old, a most attractive age; and the bracing, salubrious air of St. Germains, had evidently been of much service to the royal infant, whose health was so delicate in England.

The exiled king and queen endeavoured to beguile their cares, by going with Louis XIV. to St. Cyr, to witness the representation of Racine's new and popular tragedy of Esther. Mary Beatrice was seated between the two kings, having Louis on her left hand and her husband on her right. Louis invited them to visit him at the Trianon the following day. He received his royal guests under the portico, and went all over the palace with them, chatting very pleasantly with them both. While the two kings were engaged in a long private conference, Mary Beatrice played at cards with Monsieur for her partner, against the duchesses of Epernon and Ventadour. In the evening, they all went to see the ballet, where her majesty was seated, as before, between her husband and Louis XIV. She was attended by the countess of Sussex, lady Sophia Bulkeley, and madame de Montecuculi, her ladies in waiting. Madame de Maintenon was also in the tribune, with several French ladies of high rank.

The formal pleasures of the French court, had no power to cheer hearts that were full of anxious thoughts of England. James had addressed a manifesto on the 4th of January, to his lords spiritual and temporal, and his subjects in general, claiming their allegiance, stating at full the

1 "Godinot" is the word used by madame de Sévigné.
2 Sévigné. Dangeau.

3 This lady was the sister of La Belle Stuart; she was married to Mr. Bulkeley, the brother of lord Bulkeley-a title now extinct.

causes that compelled him to withdraw from the personal restraint under which he had been placed by the Dutch guards; he expressed his desire to return for the purpose of assembling a free parliament for the redress of all grievances. Instead of a free parliament, ninety-five peers taking the legislative power into their hands, empowered the prince of Orange to assemble a convention, composed of persons who had been members of parliament in Charles II.'s reign, the lord mayor, aldermen, and fifty common-councilmen of the city of London, to settle the government. The archbishop of Canterbury refused to assist in the deliberations of an illegally constituted assembly, supported by a foreign army; the greater number of the bishops adhered to their oaths of allegiance to James. A majority of two voices, only in the house of peers, confirmed the vote of the convention, that the throne was vacant in consequence of James's flight to France. On the 6th of February, it was decided, by a majority of twenty, that the prince and princess of Orange, should be proclaimed king and queen.'

The smallness of the majority by which this measure was carried, proves how closely the parties were balanced. Eight prelates, with the archbishop of Canterbury at their head, including five of the seven, who had, in commemoration of their resistance to James and imprisonment in the Tower, been called the seven pillars of the church, preferred the loss of their bishoprics to transferring their allegiance to the new sovereigns. Their example was followed by a third of the clergy; a movement and a change took place on that occasion in the church throughout England, in which the non-juring ministers occupied a position not dissimilar to those of the free church in Scotland in the present day. They forsook all, rather than violate their principles, and were reduced, with their families, to the greatest state of destitution." In some instances, whole congregations adhered to the deprived minister. Party ran high in parishes, and even in families, on the subject of these divisions, and good Christians beheld with pain a breach in the unity of the church of England.

King James was, meantime, reminded by his viceroy Tyrconnel, that he was still the undisputed sovereign of

1 Journals of the lords. Burnet, Mackintosh.

2 Life and Works of Bishop Kenn,