CIIATKAU DK COUHCY. 547 



Premontre ; an appellation he gave to it in memory of the words, 

 " Tu me Vas de pres monlre." 



At a later period, a figure of a lion was placed upon a stone pe- 

 destal, supported by three other lions, before the entrance of the 

 strong tower. A singular ceremony was established, and kept up 

 till the revolution of 1 789 ; and which some old people, still living, 

 recollect to have witnessed. Three times a year at Christmas, 

 Easter, and the Pentecost, the prior of Nogent, a rich convent of the 

 Benedictine order, founded by the Sires de Courcy, would arrive at 

 the castle, in the garb of a labourer, with a whip in his hand, and a 

 sack of corn behind him, mounted upon a cart-horse, to the ears 

 and tail of which were attaching numerous small cakes. In this sin- 

 gular guise, the abbe rode three times round the lion, clacking his 

 whip ; he then dismounted, did homage to the lion, and distributed 

 the cakes to the spectators. All this was performed in the presence 

 of the Sire de Courcy and the officers of his household. If there 

 was only wanting a nail in the equipment of the horse ; or if he was 

 guilty of the slightest incongruity during the ceremony, he was im- 

 mediately confiscated for the benefit of the officers. The spectators 

 used to relate, that nothing could be more ridiculous, than the anxious 

 care with which the servant of the abbe watched all the movements 

 of his charger, and the eagerness with which he sought to make it 

 keep down its tail, in order to avoid the rigorous clause, whenever it 

 manifested an unbecoming disposition ; a singular ceremony, that has 

 broadly the stamp of the national gaiety of France. 



After having changed masters, at least, twenty times, since the ex- 

 tinction of the house that founded it, the chateau de Courcy became, 

 at the first revolution, national property " une propriete communale." 

 Some years ago, the Duke of Orleans, whose immense forests are si- 

 tuated in this neighbourhood, expressed a desire to possess the old 

 chateau. Long negotiations were entered into between the prince 

 and the commune, but the parties could not agree upon the price. 

 The revolution of July decided the bargain. The commune, which 

 had refused the offer of the Duke of Orleans, yielded to that of the 

 King of the French, who promised to convert the old chateau into a 

 hunting lodge for the princes, his sons. Thus, the new Civil List 

 became, for the trifling sum of 6000 francs, possessed of an immense 

 chateau, the " materiel" of which, is, at least, worth 200,000, inde- 

 pendent of its historical value, which is above all price. 



There is in the history of these old walls, recollections, upon which 

 their actual possessor, Louis-Philippe, may deeply meditate. During 

 the minority of Saint Louis, when Queen Blanche, of Castille, 

 the mother of the young king, governed the kingdom as regent, a 

 conspiracy, in which some of the most powerful nobles were en- 

 gaged, was laid for the purpose of dethroning the king. The league 

 gained strength j and at an assembly of the conspirators, it was pro- 

 posed to offer the crown to a man, who, by his consanguinity to the 

 king, his great riches, and his private worth, appeared worthy of 

 wearing it. This man, dazzled for a moment by the splendour of so 

 brilliant an offer, allowed himself to be seduced by the proud desire 

 of becoming the head of the most powerful monarchy in the world. 



