was stopped in the boat, the lodging in Paris which I had quitted was ransacked; and if I had been found there great would have been my danger. We continued our voyage. All the afternoon those monks and those merchants did nothing but talk joyfully of what they had seen in Paris; and whenever I ventured to say a word they told me that I spoke like a Huguenot. I could do nothing better than pretend to fall asleep, thus escaping the necessity of talking with them. When it was night, we landed at a place called Petit la Borde. There I perceived the afore-named Jacques Minier, who had been sent by Madame Tambonneau to know what would become of me, that lady being much troubled on my account, because she had heard that I had been arrested at the Tournelles. He made me a sign not to recognise him; but as it was he who had taken my place in the boat, he was recognised as my acquaintance by the two women in the boat. I found means to let him know this without their observing it. He soon came into the inn where we all were, and told me that my mistress had sent him into the country to attend the vintage. At supper he sat at table with us, put on an air of ease, calling me familiarly by my Christian name Charlotte, and bidding me fill his glass for him. This removed all the suspicions that had been entertained of me. They had but one room in this inn, with three beds in it. The two monks and the priest lay down on one bed, the two merchants on another, and the two women and myself on the third. I was not without my fears and troubles. I had on a chemise of fine Holland cloth, garnished with lace, which Madame Tambonneau had lent me, and I feared very much that, sleeping with these two women, they might guess from my attire that I was not what I pretended to be. On Thursday morning, as we were going into the boat, the said Minier said that he would walk, as the motion of a boat always made him ill; but he told me, in a whisper, to beware of going to Corbeil or to Melun, of which places our family were the feudal lords, for it was to be feared that I should be known there in spite of my disguise, and so run into danger, and that I should remember to disembark at the village of Yuri, at the distance of a short league from Corbeil. When I saw the village, I asked the boatman to land me, which he refused to do; but, as God willed it, the boat grounded just opposite to the village, and this obliged him to land us all. Having paid the fare, the said Jacques Minier and I went into the said village of Yuri. Being there, he took the resolution to conduct me to the Bouchet, a house belonging to M. the President Tambonneau, and place me under the care of the President's vine-dresser. In all we walked about fifteen miles on foot; and, having left me with this poor vine-dresser, Minier went to Wallegrand, to the house of the Chancellor de l'Hôpital, to learn if there were any possibility of my being harboured with Madame his wife. But he found them all in great dismay, the king having sent down a strong garrison to the chancellor's house, under the shadow of protecting it. The chancellor's wife, who professed the reformed religion, had already been compelled to go to mass. The chancellor sent, through the said Minier, to offer me his house, telling me, however, that I could not stay there without going to mass; a thing which he never could think I would consent to do, seeing the desperate courage with which I had fled out of Paris in the midst of these dangers. I abode with the vine-dresser fifteen days, and Minier betook himself back to Paris. I had trouble almost as soon as I arrived at this place. called the Bouchet. The queen's Swiss troops came ransacking all the villages to find some poor Huguenot, but it pleased God that they entered not the house wherein I lay concealed. The presence of these Swiss served me as an excuse for not going out of the house, and prevented the vine-dresser from pressing me to go to mass. This poor man deplored the hard fate of several Huguenot gentlemen who had lived in his neighbourhood, and who had been killed and massacred on St Bartholomew, declaring that in all the country there were no better men or men more charitable than they had been. He always permitted me to say my prayers in French, and really took me to be the servant of Madame Tambonneau, even as Minier had told him. At the end of the fifteen days I was anxious to get to the village of La Brye, where I might better concert what to do for the future. I borrowed an ass from the vine-dresser, and begged him to be my guide on the road. He agreeing, we set out, and soon crossed the river Seine between Corbeil and Melun, at a place called St Port, and then we made for Esprunes, a mansion belonging to my grandmother. As soon as we arrived there, the serving women of the house knew me, and they all came forth to salute me, skipping with joy, and crying out, "Madame, ah, Madame, we thought that you had been killed!" My poor vinedresser was greatly astonished and perplexed. He asked me if I was indeed a great lady? He offered me his house again, he offered to conceal me as long as I chose, and to prevent my being forced by his family to go to mass; and many excuses did he make for not having given me his best bed while I was lodg ing with him. And so the poor man returned to his home, and I stayed at Esprunes two whole weeks. I must not forget to remark that a certain priest, a chaplain of Esprunes, who lived at Melun, came to see me, and, to console me, told me, among other things, that "since the judgments of the Almighty have begun to declare themselves, the wicked and ungodly ought to be in great fear." At the end of fifteen days I mounted another ass, and so travelled four leagues to Messire de la Borde, my eldest brother, who was in great trouble and perplexity of mind, having been constrained, in order to preserve his life, to go to mass, and being constantly beset by men who called upon him to abjure the reformed faith. Our friends of Paris, learning that I was in his house, and fearing that I might prevail upon him not to make the abjuration, sent to warn him that his ruin was certain if he kept me in his house and I still refused to go to mass. Being thus moved, my brother on the following Sunday led me into his chapel, where a Catholic priest was ready to officiate. As soon as I saw the priest, I turned my back upon him, and went away in great affliction. My brother then regretted what he had done. I took the resolution to stay there no longer. I employed a whole week in seeking out some waggoner that would convey me to Sedan.* Out of fifteen hundred francs that were owing to me at * The lordship of Sedan was, at this time, an independent principality pos La Borde, I received forty crowns; and during my sojourn there one of my chamber-women and one of my men-servants came and joined me. My brother found my resolution very hazardous. Nevertheless, he assisted me in procuring a waggoner, begging me, however, not to let my mother and our other friends know that he had willingly consented to my dangerous journey. In bidding me farewell, he said that he felt assured that, on account of my zeal and fidelity in serving God, God would bless my journey and protect my person; and this, by the heavenly grace, happened to me. I arrived at Sedan on the day of All Saints, being the first day of November, without having met with any hindrance, disturbance, or trouble on the way. So soon as I arrived I found many friends, who offered me all that they had. I was not one hour at Sedan ere I was properly attired as a lady of rank, everybody hastening to give me whatsoever I wanted. I received also much honour and friendship from the Duke and Duchess Bouillon. And I resided quietly at Sedan until the time of my marriage with Duplessis-Mornay. [THE poets luxuriate in their descriptions of Morning and Evening. These descriptions belong more especially to the mornings and evenings of summer, when "the breath of morn" is sweet, and "the coming on of gentle evening" is "mild." First let us hear a quaint and simple old master sing the charms of Morning :1 The Sun, when he had spread his The heaven shows lively art and hue, ways, Ten thousand things do then begin The earth, as cold as any stone, sessed by the Duke of Bouillon, who, together with all his family, inclined to the reformed faith. The city of Sedan was a stronghold of the French Pro testants. For well she feels that out and out The valleys, and the great mainland! The castles, and the river long. IIer clergions; her own dear worth, Cowley's "Hymn to Light" is a noble performance, from which we extract a few stanzas : First-born of Chaos, who so fair didst come From the old Negro's darksome womb; Which when it saw the lovely child, The melancholy mass put on kind looks, and smiled. Thou tide of glory which no rest doth know, But ever ebb and ever flow! Thou golden show'r of a true Jove! Who does in thee descend, and heaven to earth make love! Hail! active Nature's watchful life and health! Her joy, her ornament, and wealth! Hail to thy husband, Heat, and thee! Thou the world's beauteous bride! the lusty bridegroom hel Say, from what golden quivers of the sky Swiftness and Power by birth are thine; From thy great Sire they come-thy Sire, the Word Divine |