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de Lorraine, Duke de Chevreuse, one of the peers of the kingdom, Grand Chamberlain and Grand Falconer of France. He was the fourth son of the famous Balafré, Duke of Guyse, and therefore the representative of a family which was but little removed from the royal blood, and three years before had married a lady who was connected with two of the most powerful, and almost royal houses, of the monarchy. The Duchess de Chevreuse was Marie de Rohan, the eldest daughter of Hercules de Rohan, Duke de Montbazon, and widow of Charles d'Albret, Duke de Luynes: the especial favourite of Anne of Austria, Queen of France, and had been at one time exiled by the Cardinal de Richelieu; but returned on the accession of Louis XIV., and remained a steady friend to the unfortunate Queen of England in her days of trouble. The selection of such a person as the Duke de Chevreuse, who had greatly distinguished him. self by his military achievements, was a compliment due from the King of France to his cousin of England; and the ceremonial of the betrothal and marriage was conducted on a corresponding scale of honour and magnificence. On the day of the betrothal, the king was in his throne-room, accompanied by the Queen, by Gaston, Duke of Orleans, his brother, the Dukes of Nemours and Elbeuf, the Mareschal de Vitry, the Mareschal de Bassonspierre, and other seigneurs of the court. The officers of state were sent to conduct the young princess into the royal presence, and she soon appeared, accompanied by her mother the Queen Dowager, Marie de Medicis, the Princesses of Condé and Conti, the Duchesses of Guyse, Chevreuse, and Elbeuf, and a bevy of fair and noble ladies, "all prepared," as the chronicle states, "for this ceremony." Madame, for such was the title which the princess, as being the king's eldest (and only) sister bore, was dressed in a robe of cloth of gold and silver, worked all over with gold fleurs-de-lis, and encircled with a profusion of diamonds and precious stones: her train was borne by Mademoiselle de Bourbon, daughter of the Prince de Condé. "When she had entered the king's chamber," we quote the chronicle of the time, "with a majesty worthy of

her birth, the Earls of Carlisle and Holland, ambassadors extraordinary from England, came thither shortly after, richly and advantageously dressed. The which noblemen having entered, and having made a profound reverence to the king, presented to him the contract of marriage; and the chancellor having received it from his majesty's hand, read it with a loud voice. The articles of the contract being agreed to by his majesty, the ambassadors withdrew to the chamber of the Duke of Chevreuse, over that of the king; and the duke, on learning that the royal consent had been accorded, came into his majesty's presence, accompanied by the ambassadors and several seigneurs. The Duke was clad in a black dress, in bands all covered with diamonds down to the points of his aiguilettes." The contract was then signed by the king, by madame, the queens, the duke, and the ambassadors: the Cardinal de la Rochefoucault performed the ecclesiastical ceremony of the betrothal, and the marriage was fixed for the Sunday following.

On that day, the 11th of May, great preparations had been made at the Archbishop's palace and at Notre Dame; the whole of the inside of the cathedral, and the great hall of the palace, were hung with the most sumptuous of the royal tapestries, "all in gold, silver, and silk-very rich." The tapestries selected for the choir were appropriate enough, being the representation of the history of the acts of the Apostles; but those for the nave were of a rather mundane character, being the triumphs of Scipio Africanus over the Carthaginians. From the door of the palace, to the western portal of Notre Dame, ran an open gallery in wood, eight feet high, the roof of which, supported by rich columns, was covered with violet coloured satins, all powdered with fleursde-lis in gold; and the floor was carpeted by "a linen cloth well waxed." In front of the western portal, was erected a large theatre or gallery, decorated in a similar manner, and open to the "Parvis" of the cathedral, so that all the people could see what was done in it: while from this theatre to the entrance of the choir, along the nave, extended another covered gallery; and in the choir itself was a royal throne on a platform

of three steps, with a "dais" spangled with fleurs-de-lis of gold. As early as nine in the morning, the princess proceeded from the Louvre to the archbishop's palace, where she was clad by her ladies in the robes of the Queen of England. At eleven, the Chevalier de Vendosme went in the queen's carriage to call for the Earls of Carlisle and Holland, who were lodged in the Faubourg St Germain, at the Hotel des Ambassadeurs Extraordinaires: from thence, he went and fetched the ambassador of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, and then calling for the Duke de Chevreuse at his residence, conducted these noblemen to the archbishop's palace. Here they alighted in the grand court, and the Queen of England having placed herself at one of the windows, the Duke and his noble attendants made profound reverences, in the court below, to her majesty: this done, they went into the great hall of the palace, and then taking their seats, had the patience to wait three mortal hours till the king and court arrived from the Louvre. How the young queen and her ladies bore this tedious interval, we are not informed: but, from the length of time required for state movements in those days, it is probable that they had been "prepared," as the chronicle says, from at least five or six in the morning. Meanwhile an immense crowd was assembled all along the quays from the Louvre to the Pont Neuf, and along the southern side of the island of the Cité to the front of Notre Dame: their attention was occupied from time to time by the passing by of the public bodies and corporations going to the ceremony, such as the provost of the trades, the eschevins or sheriffs of the city, the councillors of the parliament in their red robes of state, and a host of other public officers. At four o'clock, the king set out from the Louvre for the archbishop's palace; and at five, what may be called the ceremony itself began. First, there issued from the gates of the palace the grand master of the ceremonies, and the grand master of France conducting the Duke de Chevreuse and the English ambassadors, amid a crowd of nobles and gentlemen. The duke is stated to have been dressed in a suit of black cloth, all slashed and lined with cloth of gold: on his

head he wore a tocque, or cap of black velvet, with an aigrette of diamonds; over his right shoulder was hung a scarf," all studded with roses of diamonds:" and his short mantle was not only bordered with gold, but was richly decorated with precious stones. The duke, in fact, was the Prince Esterhazy of those days. The Earls of Carlisle and Holland, about whose habiliments the chronicler is by no means so minute in his description, wore vestments of cloth of beaten or dead silver, with tocques to match; and they walked by the side of the duke. In this gallant trim, the noble company moved along the covered gallery, and took the places assigned them in the open theatre, fronting the people. Soon after this, the royal cortège began to move along the gallery in the following order :-The march was opened by the captain of the gate with his company of guards: next came the "cent Suisses" of the body guard, with drums beating and their standard unfurled. These were followed by the twelve royal hautboys, by the eight royal drums, and by the king's six trumpeters, all in royal livery. Then there appeared the grand master of the ceremonies, who, as the chronicler quaintly says, was I very well dressed and accom. panied:" and he was followed by seven heralds at arms, carrying their "bastons," and having their coats of ceremony in “Tanné-cramoisy" velvet, charged with fleur-de-lis in gold. Next walked the Mareschaux of Vitry, Aubeterre, and Bassonspierre: then the Dukes of Bellegarde, Brissac, Halluin, Luxemburg, and Chaulnes: and then the Prince de Joinville, the Duke d'Elbeuf, and the Comte d'Harcourt. The king, dressed in a vest of gold and silver, now appeared, leading in his right hand his sister, the Queen of England, whom he held by her left; while his brother, the Duke of Orleans, was on the right of the queen, holding her right hand with his left. Henrietta Maria wore her crown, and the manner in which she was attended, is worthy of attention. The train of her robe was borne by the Princesses of Condé, Conti, and Soissons, all of the blood royal. But the train of her mantle was borne by M. de Villeserian, her esquire. The three princesses were each led by the left hand by a nobleman of the court, and

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the trains of their own robes were each borne by their own esquires : so that this part of the procession consisted of eleven royal and noble persons all linked by the hands, or holding a part of another's dress. The queen-dowager came next, conducted by two noblemen, one holding each hand, and her train borne by a marquise, her lady of honour. The Queen of France, Anne of Austria, followed, conducted in the same manner: but Mademoiselle de Montpensier, who followed her majesty, was led by only one nobleman: and four duchesses who came after her, were each conducted in the same way, while all the ladies had their esquires bearing their trains.

The king and the court ascended the theatre, in front of the cathedral: and there his majesty delivered the Queen of England into the hands of the Duke de Chevreuse: the Cardinal de la Rochefoucault performed the nuptial ceremony, and the whole procession moved into the body of the church. Here, on arriving at the door of the choir, the Duke de Chevreuse and the two English earls withdrew, after making profound reverences, and retired to the archbishop's palace; the sovereign they represented being a Protestant, and etiquette requir. ing that they should not attend at the mass which was then about to be celebrated. The king and the queen took their seats on the royal platform under the dais, and mass was then celebrated by the cardinal, the Queen of England going up to the steps of the altar at the time of the offering, the Princess de Conti bearing the train of her robe, M. de Villeserain of her mantle, and Mademoiselle de Montpensier carrying the sacred taper. The duke and the earls were in waiting at the entrance of the choir, as the royal party came out into the nave, and the whole cortège returned by the open gallery to the hall of the archbishop's palace, where a sumptuous banquet ensued. The services, as they were brought in, were preceded by the king's guards, his maitres d' hotel, and the grand masters of France, whose baston, or truncheon, used on this occasion, was half an ell in length, covered with small fleurs-de-lis in diamonds: and the dishes were all borne by gentlemen of the court to the royal tables. Here

the king was seated in the midst, under a dais, with the Queen of England, the dukes and the earls, on his left hand, the two other queens, and the princes and princesses of the blood on his right; each of the royal personages was served by three noblemen of the highest rank, and all the other personages seated at table, by one nobleman. The Queen of England was waited on by the three marshals of France, the Earl of Carlisle by the Comte de Pontgibault, one of the oldest noblemen in Auvergne, and the Earl of Holland, by the Marquis de Mortemart, one of the principal seigneurs of Lower Normandy.

That

During the evening "feux-de-joie" were lighted all over the capital, “and the cannon and mortar let off made so much noise," our chronicle observes, "that it seemed as if heaven and earth were coming together." day great numbers of debtors, and persons confined for offences in Paris and various parts of the kingdom, were liberated, and other beneficent actions testified to the nation the joy of the court, at a marriage concluded under such happy auspices. On the 24th May, the Duke of Buckingham arrived at Paris to conduct the young queen home; and all the inhabitants are said to have flocked to the hotel of the Duke de Chevreuse, to see the preparations made for her majesty's journey. This commenced on the afternoon of the 24th of June, when Henrietta Maria issued from the Louvre in a litter of red velvet, embroidered in gold, borne by two mules, whose housings were of the same material, and whose heads were decorated with plumes of white ostrich feathers. Before the litter rode the king's muleteer, on a mule "well barbed and caparisoned," and by its side rode the civil lieutenant and the provost of the traders of Paris, who were ordered to accompany her majesty half way to St Denis. A whole host of royal and illustrious personages accompanied the queen, including her mother and sister-inlaw, the Duke of Orleans, the Cardinal de la Valette, the Dukes of Chevreuse and Buckingham, the Earls of Carlisle, Holland, and Montgomery, with other English noblemen; three French dukes and marshals, with a great number of seigneurs; the Princesses of Condé, Conti, Soissons, and

Montpensier, the Duchess of Guyse and Chevreuse, "together with an infinity of dames and demoiselles, several companies of guards, part of the body guards, and part of the cent Suisses." So moved on this royal pageant, and so passed the life of the unfortunate Henrietta Maria - she moved on from splendour and happiness to destitution and misery. She was not appreciated by her consort; was misrepresented and calumniated in England; was driven from her palace and her throne; and, within a few years after the king's death, was again residing in the Louvre, but in such a state of want, that neither herself nor her attendants had money sufficient to procure suitable clothing or food. This extremity lasted, it is true, only for a short time; but her life was never a happy one from the time even of her first leaving France. If she had any thing to console her, it was the affection of her children, who were tenderly attached to their mother, and by whom, the moment it became in their power, she was placed in a condition of suitable wealth and dignity. Queen Henrietta, after residing some time during her latter years at the convent of Ste Marie de la Visitation in Chaillot, retired to a country house at the small village of Colombes, near Argenteuil, and there died, on the 10th of September 1669.

If the archbishop's palace often witnessed courtly ceremonies, it also was the scene, more than once, of melan choly tragedies. The following is authenticated by contemporary records, and we are indebted for the knowledge of it to a French antiquarian writer of the present day. About the commencement of the same century in which the marriage of Henrietta Maria took place, the curate of St Mederic, (in St Mery-the church of modern revolutionary memory,) the worthy Pierre Décorieux, was universally esteemed in his parish for his piety and abilities. He was of a retired studious disposition, but was a man of unbounded benevolence, and none of his parishioners ever applied to him in vain for his advice or assistance. He was thirty-six years of age, and was of a tall, noble appearance. One evening, as he was about to retire from his confessional stall in the church, a young lady of his parish,

VOL. LI. NO. CCCXV.

the daughter of the Comte d'Estral, entered, and throwing herself on her knees at the opening of the confessional, assured the reverend father that she was lost for ever, both in this life and the next, if he would not have pity on her and give her his assistance. She informed him that her father had betrothed her, against her will, to the Chevalier de Verhais, whom she was to marry in three days, but that, sooner than do this, she had determined to kill herself; and she now besought the curate, who had attended her mother in her last moments, to give her his benediction before she carried her resolution into effect. The worthy father remonstrated with her, but in vain; she declared that she would destroy herself immediately on leaving the church; he therefore bethought himself of an expedient, and telling her to follow him, they left the edifice together. It was night: they traversed the lonely cloister, went through the narrow streets of the Quartier St Martin, and after a long walk, came in sight of the Bastile. Here the Abbé Décorieux went, with Mademoiselle d'Estral, down a narrow, dirty by-lane, and tapping at the door of a small house at the end, was admitted by a respectable-looking old woman. Here he informed his fair companion that she was in the residence of the woman who had nursed him when an infant, and on whom he could rely: that she might remain concealed there as long as she pleased, and that he would come and pray with her from time to time. The disappearance of the young lady soon became known to her father, and made an immense noise in the capital; active search was set on foot; all the circumstances of the day on which she had quitted her home were compared and reflected on; and at length it was recollected that she had been seen to enter the church of St Mederic at a late hour of the evening. This fact led to the discovery of others, and two scholars of the university declared that they had seen her with the Abbé in the Rue St Antoine, about ten at night. The Abbé was arrested, and examined before the official of the archbishop: he denied nothing, he explained his conduct, but he solemnly refused to reveal the place of her retreat. All means to extort this

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secret from him were found to be useless, and he was condemned to perpetual imprisonment. The place of his incarceration was the tower of the officiality attached to the archbishop's palace and here he remained four years, quietly occupying himself with his books, which he was allowed to have, and amusing himself by writing a history of the diocese of Paris, which still exists in manuscript. During this period, the Comte d'Estral died; and the Abbé Décorieux became forgotten; he was visited by no one except an old woman and a young clerk, who used to come to him frequently.

One evening, and for the first time, the young clerk visited him alone in his cell, and after prevailing on the Abbé to let him stay behind when the jailors came to lock up the cells a duty in which they were by no means strict-he persuaded the Abbé to attempt to escape with him that night by means of a rope-ladder which he had brought concealed under his dress. He said they would both go to Rome, and get pardon from the Pope; he had means of support for both of them, and he could guarantee the success of his enterprise. The Abbé consented.

bell of Notre Dame, a heavy sound, as of something falling, was heard in the court of the palaces, and then a piercing cry. The guardians of the prison rushed to the spot, and found the mutilated bodies of the Abbé and the young clerk: the rope-ladder had broken; they had fallen from a considerable height; the Abbé was quite dead, but the clerk was still alive. The latter turned his head slowly round, and said, "God be blessed for having allowed me, before calling me to his presence, to give testimony before men: the Abbé Décorieux has never ceased to be perfectly virtuous and pure. May God forgive me! and grant that I may not survive him!" Here his lips grew white, his eyes closed, and he expired!

One of the guardians, thinking that he had only fainted, unbuttoned his habit to give him air-when he found that it was a female!-it was Mademoiselle d'Estral!-The archbishop, on being informed of the circumstance, ordered the Abbé's body to be buried in the cloisters of Notre Dame, and the remains of the unfortunate young lady were interred in the church of St Mederic, where, up to the time of the Revolution, a marble slab on her monument commemorated the tragical

Just as eleven o'clock struck by the tale.

THE PRISONER OF GHENT.

BY B. SIMMONS.

[Ghent, May 5, 1841. "On Monday last, the Nestor of captives died here in prison--Pierre Joseph Soete was condemned in 1773 to be broke on the wheel for having murdered a young girl. He was then seventeen years of age. The Empress Maria Theresa commuted his punishment to imprisonment for life. In 1814 he was set at liberty by Count Bichaliff, the bettman of the Cossacks, whose headquarters were in this city; but being destitute of the means of subsistence, of relations, and friends, he requested to be allowed to return to the same prison which had been so long his abode. The request was granted, and he remained in the Rasphuis twenty-seven years more, (in all sixty-three years,) and died on Monday, at the age of eighty. TIMES Newspaper, 10th May, 1841.]

STAND from my path, you solemn pair,
Nor block the gateway to the dead-
Dull Priest, and sleek Mediciner,
With bowl and bible at my bed!
I taste not that-I touch not this;
The one my loathed life would stay,
The second, o'er yon black abyss
Guide to a realm, no doubt, of bliss
Like that I quit to-day.

Where I may once again be born,

May know what means the breeze of morn,
Then share-as it before befell-

Some blinding dungeon's endless hell.

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