'Of course,' chimed Dundrennan, stroking his moustache with a very provoking air; but at that moment Frank Ruthven appeared to announce that four strange horsemen, richly dressed, well armed and mounted, were at the gate of the tower, and imperiously demanding admittance.
'Which way came they?' I asked, assuming my sword and mantle.
'By the road from Lorraine.'
'They have come from Paris,' said Dundrennan.
'Probably,' said I, and a gloomy foreboding of their mission sank like a cloud over my heart.
These four horsemen were from Paris direct, and proved to be M. de Brissac, a Commander of Notre Dame de Mont Carmel, and two grey musketeers, gentlemen in the suite of Cardinal Richelieu, who came as commissioners, with a warrant to convey Marie Louise of Lorraine, daughter of Duke Charles IV., and her husband the Duke d'Alsace, direct, under suitable escort, to the capital, where they were to be delivered to the captain of theBastille!
As I read over the warrant, and with a sickening heart handed it to Dundrennan, to whom, as new chatelain of Lutzelstein, it was more immediately addressed, I felt a strong desire to pass my sword in succession through the bodies of M. De Brissac, the unfortunate Knight of Our Lady of Mont Carmel, and their two companions.
'Dundrennan,' I whispered, 'what shall we do?'
'Receive the King's mandate with respect in the first place, and promise implicit obedience in the second; but whether we shall see fit to fulfil that promise, is a matter for future consideration. Gentlemen,' said he, turning to the four visitors, 'I am Viscount Dundrennan, a gentleman of the Garde du Corps Ecossais, now captain of this tower, and shall see that our fair prisoner is duly apprised of your arrival, and of the King's kind views concerning her and the little Duke, who is now happily beyond the reach even of Cardinal Richelieu. When do you propose returning towards Paris?'
'To-night, if possible,' said De Brissac.
'Pardieu! my dear De Brissac,' exclaimed the knight of Mont Carmel, 'don't speak yet of returning, before we have almost seated ourselves.'
'Of course, gentlemen, you will breakfast with us?'
'With pleasure. I have tasted nothing since we supped at a wayside auberge yesterday, where we had to cook the fowls for ourselves.'
'And you pronounced them delicious, M. le Chevalier, and gave all the heads and legs to the aubergiste, with your customary liberality.'
'De Brissac!' I muttered, 'this caterer for the Bastille, is, like De Bitche, my evil genius.'
'Hush!' said Dundrennan; 'any display of hostility will spoil the plan of my intended campaign. I mean you to play a little game with these four commissioners, as the warrant of Louis, "by God's grace, King of France and Navarre," styles them. So, gentlemen, what is the latest news from the vicinity of Notre Dame?'
'The same as ever,' replied the commander of Mont Carmel; 'the star of La Comtesse d'Amboise is still in the ascendant.'
'King Louis still reigns in the bosoms of his subjects—the female portion thereof especially,' said De Brissac.
'For shame, De Brissac; this is "lese Majesty."'
'Nay, 'tis a melancholy truism.'
'And Monseigneur le Cardinal still worships at the shrine of Marion de l'Orme?' said I, with a spiteful glance at De Brissac.
'Oh yes, M. Blane!' said he, with a covert smile; 'and has employed M. Poussin to paint two classic subjects from ancient history for her boudoir.'
'The sorrows of the chaste Lucretia, perhaps?'
'No: Nero, after his first shave, presenting his soapsuds to thundering Jove in the Capitol; and Caligula making love to the moon, and beseeching her to enter his bed.'
There was an undefinable something in the jaunty air and jocular tone of De Brissac that irritated me, I scarcely knew why; so I said—'You and I had a little affair left unsettled in Paris, M. de Brissac, if I remember rightly.'
'I was just about to recall it to your memory, and regret that you have but anticipated me. You consider me still your debtor?' 'I do,' was the haughty reply.
'And wish to fight with me?' 'Yes,' I replied, heedless of a twitch Dundrennan gave my cloak.
'Then I regret, M. Blane, that I must decline the honor of crossing swords with you.' 'Zounds!—decline?'
'For a little time yet.' 'Indeed!—wherefore?'
'Pardieu—for two sufficient reasons.' 'Name them.'
'If I killed you, people in Paris would say I had done so because you demurred to let king Louis have the daughter of Duke Charles. If you killed me they would say it was done because I came to demand her, or that you resented being omitted in this pressing invitation to share the hospitality of the Bastille; moreover, they will put unpleasant constructions on the circumstance of the duke d'Alsace being drowned while in your care. They are very provoking, these Parisians, so let our little quarrel remain open until you return to the Louvre, when I will be delighted to afford you an opportunity of going comfortably home upon a door or shutter from the Boulevards or the Bois de Boulogne.'
'Agreed,' said I, for one part of his remarks made me grow pale with anxiety; 'but will you please to inform me what interest these devilish gossips of Paris can conceive me to have in withstanding the King's orders concerning Marie Louise of Lorraine?'
'My dear young friend,' said De Brissac, laughing, as he seated himself at table, 'your residence here among these wooded mountains is very secluded; but, believe me, that Cardinal Richelieu has more spies in France and Germany than Father du Tremblay, that devil of a Capuchin.'
I retired, and was followed by Dundrennan, who said to me, gravely—
'Be silent and be wary, for that you are suspected at Paris is but too evident.'
I threw myself upon a fauteuil to unravel and consider the difficulties of my new position, while the Viscount visited the poor victim of all these wars and politics to announce her intended removal to Paris and to the Bastille. Her first emotions were anger and alarm, then grief and shame at the idea of being immured in that atrocious prison; and she burst into a flood of tears.
'I have but my old advice to offer,' said Dundrennan, as he rejoined me; 'marry her, and trust the sequel to Providence and the heels of a good horse.'
'So be if, then, Viscount; I love her too dearly to surrender her again. I have twice lost her, I may say—once I deemed for ever. You alone know this secret, Dundrennan, and must befriend us.'
'You heard De Brissac's mysterious hints about Richelieu and the gossips of Paris.'
'True!' said I, stamping my foot; 'bear with me like a friend—advise me like a brother.'
'My advice is already given—marry and levant from Lutzelstein, leaving De Brissac to return to Paris from a bootless errand. Twenty leagues from Seltz, on the Baden side of the Rhine, my cousin, Marmaduke Maxwell, commands an imperial garrison at Lieben-Zell; I will give you letters to him. Once with him you will be safe, for he will put you and your bride on the way to Flanders, from the coast of which you can easily obtain shipping for Scotland.'
'And if once again I place my foot on the Galloway hills, I may defy alike the Emperor and Duke Charles. I have run enough about the world, and seen enough of bloodshed. Yes, yes,' I added, with a glow of joy, 'I will go home once more to the glen where my forefathers sleep under the shadow of the old village spire.'
While Dundrennan went in search of Father Colville to talk with him on the crisis of our affairs—for as a Scottish peer he had great influence with the priest—I repaired, with an anxious heart, to the presence of Marie Louise.
I found her pale and in tears, with a face that too plainly told of present suffering and of past sorrow. She was dressed in a dark robe, having wide loose sleeves trimmed with silver braid and black wolf's fur, which contrasted finely with the whiteness of her delicate skin. She came hurriedly towards me, and putting both her soft hands in mine permitted me to kiss them and place myself beside her. After a sad pause,—'Viscount Dundrennan has just left me,' said she.
'Then you know all?'
'All that Richelieu and King Louis have in store for me—yes. Imprisonment in the Bastille until I shall consent, perhaps, to wed one of their creatures, or until my father, to procure my release, consents to a written surrender of that dukedom which has already been rent from him by force of arms.'
Her tears flowed fast; and I pressed her hand to my heart, saying,—
'Alas! Marie Louise, that you should weep thus—you who have been born to rank and splendour.'
'Nay—I have been born to unhappiness—born of a race that is fated to fall.'
'Louise, listen to me,' said I, trembling for the success of what I was about to propose; but yielding to the dangerous predicament in which we stood; trusting to her love for me, and borne away by my passion for her, heaven lent me eloquence, and the little I said when urging her to marry, and with me to seek safely in flight, was said well and delicately; but all that interview seemed like a dream to me an hour after.
She grew pale as snow, and trembled in her turn; but my words had not been heard unheeded.
'Much as I love you, Arthur, and that I do love you, you believe and know, there is a something in all this proceeding at which my pride revolts.'
She paused, and my heart sunk; but suddenly she kissed me; her eyes beamed with a beautiful expression, and taking my hands in hers, site said,—
'You would have married me when you believed me to be but a poor soubrette, dear Arthnr—you, a gentleman of family; a cuirassier of the proud Garde du Corps Ecossais; I have not forgotten that, or that to be ungenerous would be unlike the daughter of Duke Charles. A pure passion, a true love, should ever be ready to make every temporal sacrifice for the object of its regard; but this is no sacrifice that you ask me—to fly with you to your country—this Scotland of which we hear so much in song and war. I ask you to give me a protector; to save me from the Bastille, from Richelieu, and from Louis—from becoming again the wedded victim of a sinking state.'
'Heaven bless you, beloved Louise! This, then, casts the die and decides me. No man can serve two masters.'
'What mean you, Arthur?'
'I cannot obey love and Louis XIII. at the same time.'
'What will the world say, on hearing that after being but three weeks a widow I wedded again?'
'It will say that your so-called husband was but a child; that you were made the sport of circumstances and the tool of calculating politicians, who snared you into so preposterous an espousal.'
'Perhaps so,' she sobbed upon my breast; 'but my father——' 'Is a fugitive.'
'My poor father! so brave, so true, and tender! I shall never see his kind face again; but surely, to be the wife of a well-tried soldier——'
'Will be no disgrace in the eyes of Charles of Lorraine,' I added.
'Neither Louis nor my father shall have it in their power to make me the wife of a man I cannot love. My family are exiled; Lorraine is now but a name—a French province; its dukedom is a shadow. We are equal; and your country and home, dear Arthur, shall henceforth be mine!'
After this I need scarcely add more; but we had De Brissac and his three companions to baffle, the Rhine to cross, Flanders to traverse, and the sea to pass before we saw my father's tower amid the wilds of Glenkens; and many a bold and daring adventure we had on the journey—adventures sufficient to fill ten such volumes as this.
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Marie Louise was a true woman; thus, when I appealed to her love and her generosity cold reason gave way, and she agreed to unite her fortunes with me.
Love on one hand, with the Bastille on the other, were powerful arguments; and if any more were required Father Colville of the Scottish College of Pontamoussin supplied them; for he had great influence with her, and was warmly disposed towards me. The priest knew that he owed perhaps too much to Duke Charles to free him from some blame in wedding his daughter to me without a special permission; but considering that by doing so he advanced, as he said in his own quaint way, 'the honour, comfort, and commoditie of a Scottish gentleman,' he had no qualms in the matter, spiritual or temporal, and at once agreed to bless the indissoluble knot.
Brevity is necessary now, for my volume is already full.
We were married that evening in the little oratory of Lutzelstein, at the door of which stood Frank Ruthven, with his sword drawn, to prevent espionage or interruption; and the sole witnesses were Richard Maxwell Viscount of Dundrennan, and the attendant of Marie Louise, a young lady of the province, named Anna Mulhausen, daughter of the Grand Bailiff of Alsace, a flaxen-haired little beauty who loved her mistress well, and whom we easily bound to solemn secresy.
Our next achievement was to baffle the acuteness of M. de Brissac, who proposed to leave with his prisoner when the moon rose, that he might travel as far as possible unseen. It was resolved, that as we could not leave this solitary tower unknown to him, we should by a ruse elude his vigilance. Thus: he was to be permitted to hand Marie Louise into the coach on one side of the dark and narrow archway of the outworks, when she would leave it in a moment and unseen, by theother. My heart beat quickly and painfully as the sunset deepened on the mountains; as the moon arose, the night drew on and the moment of escape approached when Marie Louise and I would be together—together and cast upon the world never in life to be separated more! I carefully examined the two horses Dundrennan kept for us at the back postern of the tower; I inspected every buckle of their bridles and girths; I armed myself carefully, like one about to engage in a deadly struggle, and double-charged my girdle and holster pistols.
The rumble of wheels in the court-yard, announced that the old-fashioned coach in which we had captured Marie Louise was being prepared for her again; and the glare of torches on the walls and grated windows of the tower, with the clatter of hoofs, informed me that the horses of De Brissac, of the Chevalier of Notre Dame de Mont Carmel, and of the two grey mousquetaires were ready.
Ah, what a breathless and exciting time it was! Luckily the moon became veiled in clouds, and Dundrennan ordered all the torches to be extinguished, saying, with a wink to me, that 'the vaults were full of live bombs and gunpowder.'
I felt almost suffocated with excitement and apprehension, as Marie Louise, in her travelling dress, came forth; and instinctively I stepped towards her.
'Keep back, Blane,' whispered Dundrennan; 'your excitement will spoil all—leave me to officiate.'
Drawn by four horses, the large old-fashioned coach stood in the dark and narrow archway of the tower; and De Brissac, an old hand in all manner of business connected with arrestments and the Bastille, said, with the greatest suavity of tone and manner,
'Pardon me, madame!' and lifted her veil to assure himself that this lady was indeed his prisoner. The blue eyes, the pale face, and golden hair were seen for a moment, and a cry almost escaped me as with one hand he assisted her into the coach, and while carefully closing the door, with the other gave to Dundrennan, as captain of Lutzelstein, a full receipt for 'the person of Marie Louise of Lorraine;' and I heard the Viscount laugh as he placed it in his girdle, and walked round to the other door of the carriage, which he had purposely left open; and then my heart stood still, for one false or unanticipated movement would spoil all! M. De Brissac said—
'Adieu, for to-night, madame! after this we shall disturb you no more until morning.'
Placing a foot in his stirrup he mounted, and ordered the coach to be driven off. At the same moment I lifted Marie Louise out by the opposite door, which Dundrennan closed as I led her away in the darkness, which enabled this manoeuvre to be as skilfully executed as it was wisely prepared; and then the enormous vehicle went lumbering empty along the bridge of the cascade and down the valley, carefully guarded by De Brissac, the Chevalier of Mont Carmel, and the two mousquetaires.
'I have the quittance of M. de Brissac; I am safe—the fool! the egregious fool!' said Dundrennan, while, laughing, he ordered the gates to be shut and the bridge wound up. 'Now, Blane, my dear friend, to horse, and away for the Rhine.'
We reached the sallyport and mounted. Dundrennan lifted Marie Louise to her saddle, and kissed her white and trembling hands, which could scarcely grasp the reins.
'Adieu, madame!' said he; 'in Scotland we may meet again.'
'Farewell, Viscount!' said I; and tears started to my eyes when I saw his tall and noble figure for the last time: 'give my kindest wishes to all our comrades of the Garde du Corps Ecossais. God's blessing! a long, good night to them and you! As the song says—
'What I hae tint through lack o' wit,I never, never, can recall;I trust you'll be my friends as yet;Gude night, and joy be wi' you all!'
He waved his plumed hat to us as we spurred round the margin of the lake, and in a direction opposite to that pursued by the deluded messengers of Cardinal Richelieu, galloped in safety down the moonlighted path that led towards the far-famed Rhine.
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If any of my readers are curious to see in stone and lime a corroboration of the foregoing narrative, let them come with me to the Grampians of Galloway—to that sequestered district so celebrated for the savage grandeur of its scenery, and the feudal exploits of the loyal house of Kenmure. If my inquiring friend is a sportsman, let him not forget his rod and gun (with sandwiches and a well-filled pocket-pistol), for there the spotted trout, the scaly salmon, the wild duck, the dusky coot and heron, enjoy a lonely world of their own; and if our wanderer be (as I would prefer) one of the fairer portion of our creation, let her not forget her sketch-book and the language of the flowers.
There, amid the wilds of Glenkens, we will find the ruined tower of Blanerne, above the arched door of which is a carved scutcheon of red stone, bearing the arms of the Scottish Blanes; to wit, in the half-obsolete slang of heraldry,argent, a fessegules, with a mullet between two crescents of the first; in base, a rose of the second, quartered with thethree winglets of Lorraine, the whole being collared by the order of St. Lazare, crested by a sword, and encircled by a motto, which the venerable 'muffs' of the Lyon Court have declared to be
'HE YAT GIVES QUICKLIE, GIVES TWYSE.'
From the quartering of this escutcheon, as well as from various entries in the parochial register of births, we may be assured that Arthur Blane and his bride lived here long in honour and happiness; but the reader may wish to know something more of those who have borne a prominent place in these pages.
A few lines will tell their story.
The Marquis of Gordon succeeded to the title of Huntly, and after a long career of brilliant service, returned to Scotland; where in 1649 he was cruelly executed for his loyalty to the house of Stuart—the common fate of loyalty and love of country in those days.
Patrick Gordon and Viscount Dundrennan both died for the King at Marston Moor; while Clara D'Ische ended her days in a convent, and was, we believe, the last favourite of Louis XIII.
Duke Charles closed his days in 1665, after maintaining a futile struggle for possession of his dukedom, every acre of which was finally ceded to France by treaty in 1662. Vaudemont also died in exile, and after this the ancient house of Lorraine was heard of no more.
Unlike the villains of narratives in general, the fate of De Bitche is involved in obscurity: but it is more than probable that he perished in the desperate war which preceded the treaty of peace that was happily signed at Munster—thus closing a protracted struggle, the dark shadow of which lingers yet in Germany.
1. Of the Scottish Guard of the French kings a short account has already been given in the body of this work. Those who wish to see a more particular narrative of their exploits will find it in the 'History of the First Foot,' andL'Escosse Françaiseof A. Houston. In 1717 the Guard had dwindled down to four-and-twenty Scottish gentlemen, who were commanded by the Comte de Maillé. The following letter or bond of service, given in 1625 by the heir of Ardlogie to 'my Lord Gordon,' styled Marquis of Gordon in France, will best explain the constitution of theGarde du Corps Ecossaisat the time of our story.
'Be it kenned to all men by these present letters, I Adam Gordon, apparent of Ardlogie, forsomuch as it has pleased the right noble lord, George Lord Gordon, son to the right noble marquis, George Marquis of Huntlie and Captain-in chief of the companie of Scottish Gensdarmes, under the most Christian king Lotus XIII. of France and Navarre, to admit me one of the said companie, therefore I, the said Adam Gordon, heir of Ardlogie, and also John Gordon of Ardlogie and Patrick Gordon of Boigheidis, cautioners and suretis for me, &c., &c., bind and oblige us, and ilk one of us, conjunctlie and severallie, &c., that I, the said Adam Gordon, shallduly observe and keep the whole musters, duly prepared with one man and two horses, armed at all points, with one case of pistols, at such places and time as the said captain or commissary shall give warrant and direction to that effect, and also, that I shall be ready and prepared to go to France or elsewhere, to attend my service, at all occasions whensoever I shall be required by my captain, &c., upon forty days' advertisement so to do, and in case I fail in performance of this present bond, or any part thereof, in that case, I and my cautioners oblige ourselves conjunctlie and severallie to content and pay to the said captain or his assignees the sum ofone thousand and fiftie French crowns, &c., &c.—This promise written by Alex. Litster in Auld Aberdeen, and subscribed by us at Aberdeen, the 8th day of June, 1625, before these witnesses Sir Alexr. Gordon of Cluny, knight, Patrick Hamiltoun, servitor to my Lord Gordon, and John Gordon, filler up of the premises.'—See'Spalding Club Miscellany,' vol. iv. 'The Gordon Papers,' etc.
The following commanders of the Scottish Guard appear in the old lists of the French army, during the monarchy:—
'24 March 1422.—JEAN STUART, Seigneur d'Arrelay et d'Aubigné.
" JEAN STUART, Seigneur d'Aubigné, fils du précédent,Chevalier de l'Ordre.
" ROBERT STUART, cousin du précédent, Seigneurd'Aubigné, fait Maréchal de France en 1515.
" JACQUES HAMILTON, Comte d'Arran.
" JEAN STUART, Seigneur d'Aubigné (brother ofMathew, Earl of Lennox).
" HENRI, Prince d'Ecosse.
" CHARLES, Prince d'Ecosse.
" GEORGE GOURDON, Marquis d'Hunteley, l'an1625.
" JACQUES, Duc d'York, frère de Charles II.
After this, the Guard was commanded by captain-lieutenants, whose names were as follows:—
ANDREW LORD GRAY, High Sheriff of Forfar.The MARÉCHAL SCHOMBERG (by request of Charles II.)
1667.—LE CHEVALIER DE HAUTEFEUILLE.
" LE MARQUIS DE PIANEZZI, appellé ordinairement leMarquis de Livourne.
1682.—LE MARQUIS DE MOUCY.
" LE MARQUIS DE ROUCY.
1707.—LE MARQUIS DE NESLE.
" LE COMTE DE MAILLÉ.'—(Vide Père Daniel's Histoire.)
2. The privileges of the Scots in France were most ample, and were every way similar to those enjoyed by French subjects. These privileges were fully defined and confirmed by Henry, King of France in 1558, by a letter of naturalisation registered in the Parliament of Paris, in the Great Council and Chamber of Accompts; and in the same year the same privileges were conferred on the French by the Parliament of Scotland. The French document is as follows, briefly translated:—
'HENRI PAR LA GRACE DE DIEU ROY DE FRANCE, to all present and to come, health. As, since the marriage before spoken of, between our very dear and beloved son, the royal dauphin, and our very dear and beloved daughter, the dauphiness and queen of Scotland, his spouse, the deputies of the estates of her kingdom have made the oath of fidelity to my son as their true and natural lord; by means of this, the subjects of the two realms (which have now long been allied in mutual friendship, favouring and succouring each other) will have permission to approach the royal families of Scotland and France, as if they were one, and desiring, for the better establishment of this league, and to fortify this friendship between our dear subjects, and those of the kingdom of Scotland, and to afford the inhabitants of that loyal country greater facility for visiting the king and queen, when they wish to do so, or of residing near them, or of seeing them, as good and loyal subjects, we give them the same favours, graces, and privileges which are enjoyed by our own people.
'We, having considered these things, and for several other great and reasonable causes, give all the inhabitants of the kingdom of Scotland, subjects of our son, the royal dauphin, and our dear daughter, his wife, permission, by this our authority, to reside and remain in this our kingdom, to have, hold, and possess, any benefice, dignity, or ecclesiastical office, which they can justly and canonically attain,les bons titres, which are not contrary to the privileges of the church in France, and to keep and enjoy, and to receive and uplift, the fruits and revenues thereof.
'They may also acquire in this kingdom lands or seigneuries under us, all and each of these goods, moveable and immoveable, together with all they may gain by gift or succession,we give them permission to dispose of by last will or otherwise, as they wish, and that their heirs, or others, to whom they may dispose of them, can succeed, take, and keep possession of their gifts, like other natives of our kingdom, without our Procureur General, or any other officer hereafter acquiring any right of interference; and that the subjects of the kingdom of Scotland may enjoy their benefits without molestation. And to all those who wish it, we ordain that they may possess in our kingdom lands and seigneuries, as in the kingdom of Scotland; but subject to our obedience, without being questioned or paying to our successors any indemnity, the sum or value of which we have, in consideration, discharged in favour of our dear son and daughter, by this present act, signed under our hand. We announce to all judges, and others whom it may concern, &c., to the courts of Parliament, Grand Council, and Accompts of Paris, to all our bailiffs, seneschals, prevosts, and others, our justiciars and officers, or their lieutenants, present and to come, that of our kindness, we give licence and permission to all the inhabitants of the kingdom of Scotland to enjoy these benefits peaceably and without molestation, for such is our will and pleasure, &c., &c.
'Donné à Villiers-cousterez, au mois de Juin, l'an de grace mil cinq cents cinquante et huict. Et de nostre regne le douziésme.'
Until the Revolution, the effects of all strangers,Scots excepted, dying in France were liable to seizure by the law of the land, though the heir was upon the spot; and the reader may remember Sterne's indignant outburst on this subject in the introduction to his 'Sentimental Journey.' Many traces of the ancient Scoto-French alliance may be found in Scotland, and the memory of it lingers yet in the hearts and traditions of the peasantry in the south of France, who still remember the achievements of the Garde du Corps Ecossais.
3. The following is the letter referred to in the note to chapter LX.:—
Toul, le 6 Xbre, 1852.
'MONSIEUR,
'J'ai répondu à votre honoré du 28 Avril, 1851, qu'il n'y a plus de traces, dans la Cathédrale du Toul, du monument qui a été élevé à la mémoire de Sir John Hepburn, ou que du moins je n'en ai aucune connaissance.
Depuis ce temps, le Gouvernement a fait faire une grande restoration, qui a fait connaître exactement le lieu où votre compatriote a été inhumé.
Mais le cercucil a été scrupuleusement respecté, et le caveau exactement refermé, et le lieu reste dans l'état ancien, jusqu'à ce que le ministère aura pris une détermination sur la restoration de la partie de l'édifice où se trouve le tombeau; le monument a probablement été détruit par la tourmente révolutionnaire de '93: l'année prochaine, je pourrai vous communiquer la description exacte du cercueil et de la pierre qui a été cachée, en grande partie, par d'énormes bois d'échafaudage.
'Aujourd'hui, je puis vous faire connaîre l'inscription, qui est sur une plaque de plomb, placée sur le cercueil, vous la trouverez ci-dessous.
Daignez agréer, Monsieur, l'homnage de votre serviteur,
'GEORGES.'Curé de la Cathédrale.'
'DOM . OSSA . JOHANNIS . HEBVRNISCOTI . EQVITISAVRATI . EXERCITVS . GALLICI . CAMPI . MARESCALLI . QVAID-TABERNAS . SCLOPETO . TRAIECTVS . OCCVBVIT . VIII. IDVS . IVLII . MDCXXXVI. REQVIESCAT IN . PACE.
'J'ai l'honneur de vous faire observer que l'inscription ci-dessus est tout-à-fait conforme à l'original, et qu'en 1836 ce n'est point Louis XIV., mais bien Louis XIII., qui occupait le trône de France.'
'G.
'M. James Grant, &c., Edinburgh.'
THE END.
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