178 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



Charles IX. came to iSTerae, in 1566, to A^sit the court of 

 Navarre. 



The fifteen days that he spent there were marked by 

 sports and fetes, of which the young Henry was already 

 the chief ornament. Charles IX. loved to practice arch- 

 ery ; in providing for him that amusement, they thought 

 that none of his courtiers, not even the Duke of Guise, 

 who excelled at this sport, Avould venture to prove himself 

 more adroit than the monarch. The young Henry, how- 

 ever, advanced, and at the first shot, carried off the orange, 

 which served for a mark. Accordino; to the rules of the 

 sport, he wished, as victor, to shoot first in the next trial ; 

 the King opposed it, and repulsed him with warmth; 

 Henry stepped back a little, drew his bow, and directed 

 the arrow against the breast of his adversary ; the monarch 

 quickly took shelter behind the largest of his courtiers, 

 and requested them to take away that dangerous little 

 cousin." Peace being made, the same sport was continued 

 on the following day ; Charles found an excuse for not 

 coming. This time the Duke of Guise carried away the 

 orange, which he split in two, and no other could be found 

 for a mark. 



The young prince perceived a Rose in the bosom of a 

 young girl among the spectators, and seizing it, quickly 

 placed it on the mark. The Duke shot first, and missed ; 

 Henry succeeding him, placed his arrow in the middle of 

 the flower, and returned it to the pretty villager with the 

 victorious arrow which had pierced it. 



At Salency, a village of France, the Rose is the reward 

 of excellent traits of character; they attribute the origin 

 of the fete of La Rosiere, in that country, to Medard, 

 bishop of Noyou, who lived at the end of the fifteenth, 

 and beginning of the sixteenth century, during the reign 

 of Clovis. That bishop, who was also Lord of Salency, 

 had established a fund, giving a sum of twenty-five livres 

 (five dollars), and a crown or hat of roses, to the young 



