MONTHLY IlLVIEW OF LITERATURE. 193 



approaching slowly and majestically, seated on a white horse, the emblem of 

 royalty. At this sight the breath of the vast multitude, hitherto pent up, as 

 it were, by curiosity and expectation, found simultaneous utterance, and the 

 cry of 'Noel! Noel !' burst from every lip. The expression is a contraction 

 of Emanuel, ' Lord be with us !' and was used at that time as a cry of joy by 

 the French people, instead of 'Vive le Roy !' It was echoed from mouth to 

 mouth, from street to street. The women and children in the most distant 

 quarters of the metropolis gave back the sound. The sick and the dying put 

 aside their curtains to gaze towards the window, and swell the shout with 

 their feeble voices. The clock towers of every church in the city gave forth 

 at the signal a joyful peal ; and even the great bell of the palace, whose ham- 

 mer stirred only on extraordinary occasions, rang, ' Noel ! Noel !' 



" On the approach of the king, the prevdt of the merchants, for the prevot 

 of Paris was a royal and not a municipal officer, presented the keys of the 

 city ; while a canopy of violet-coloured velvet was held by the echevins (an- 

 swering in some respect to our aldermen) over the royal head. The city dig- 

 nitaries then marshalled the way of their master into his metropolis. 



"The prevot of Paris was attended by his Serjeants on foot, in great num- 

 bers, each wearing a green and red hood ; and after these came a long line of 

 notaries, procureurs, commissioners, advocates, and counsellors, followed by 

 the lieutenant and guard of the governor, or, as he was termed in the grandi- 

 loquence of the age, the King of the Chatelet. 



" After this civic cortege there followed one of a more extraordinary nature, 

 or, at least, one that few would have looked for in the triumphant march of a 

 king. It consisted of Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Prudence, Courage, and 

 Temperance, all on horseback, and all sumptuously dressed in character. To- 

 gether with these, however, perhaps to redeem in some measure the inconsis- 

 tency, the Seven Deadly Sins came plunging on in terrible array. Treading on 

 the heels of the latter, the gentlemen of the Parliament and Requests then 

 made their appearance, attired in red robes ; and, after them, a body of eight- 

 hundred archers, led on by the Count d'Angouleme, a prince of the blood, of 

 the house of Orleans. 



" Mountjoye, king of arms, came next, a grave and august personage, 

 shrouded in an immense robe of violet-coloured velvet, studded all over with 

 golden fleurs-de-lis and large pearls. After him rode the grand esquire, car- 

 rying the royal helmet, which was closed with a double fleur-de-lis of gold. 

 So sumptuously were this personage and his horse arrayed that he might 

 have been mistaken for the hero of the scene himself ; but, following next in 

 order, appeared the white steed which, in the processions of that age, denoted 

 the royal rank of the rider. This superb animal was covered with velvet 

 housings of celestial blue, planted with golden fleur-de-lis, and trailing to the. 

 ground. His forehead was covered with a plate of polished steel, and sur- 

 mounted by a magnificent plume of ostrich feathers. Nor was the rider un- 

 worthy of the steed. Whatever may have been the defects of Charles's person, 

 none were visible on the present occasion. The disproportionate shortness of 

 his legs, which caused him, it is said, to introduce the fashion of long gar- 

 ments, was now hidden by his dress ; and his lofty and soldier-like bearing, at 

 a moment like this, so full of pride and triumph, partook, no doubt, still more 

 than usual of a graceful haughtiness. Clothed in gilded armour, with a rich 

 coat of arms over the cuirass, and shaking to the motion of his steed a cord 

 of glittering gems, which hung upon his hat, onward pranced the hero of the 

 day, bowing and smiling to the enthusiastic greetings of his people, and look- 

 ing ' every inch a king.' 



"After the principal personage had passed by, the interest of the Scottish 

 stranger seemed to increase rather than diminish, and he gazed at the next in 

 order with an earnest and critical eye. This was a young lad of fourteen, 

 armed, dressed, and mounted in all respects like Charles himself. It was the 

 dauphin, the husband of the princess of Scotland, of that beautiful, amiable, 



