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    of his bed , encircled by all his . Court , then , with bows to the ladies , passed into his cabinet , where , on arriving , he gave his orders . He passed a little less than an hour there , seated in an arm-chair , with his legitimate children and bastards , his grandchildren , legitimate and otherwise , and their husbands or -wives . Monsieur in another arm-chair ; the princesses upon stools , Monseigneur and all the other princes standing .

    Louis died unregretted , except by a few valets and others of that kindred . His successor was too jouug for sorrow . Madame only feared and professed to respect him . ^ By De Berry he was disliked . The I > uke of Orleans , of course , felt no grief . The King had wearied de Maintenon . M . du Maine rejoiced like a savage at his death . His brother , the Count of Toulouse , said nothing , as usual . The Duchess of Orleans shed a few fashionable tears ; the Court , in general , breathed more freely ; Parisians thanked God for their deliverance ; and the nation at large experienced nothing but a se ' ntimenfc of relief . We believe St . Simon ' s statement to be literally accurate , -and that Louis did pass away amid this callous silence . Immediately afterwards , when the Regency began , every one thought of himself and his order , and St . Simon rushed to the Duke of Orleans to beg him , in that hour of national emergency , to allow the dukes of France to sit at the Convocation of the States General with their hats on ! To this the Kegent assented . In the Parliament , with a ' storm of joy' sweeping over his heart , the old gentleman took his seat , and he describes his own demeanour with exquisite complacency : —

    Seated in my elevated place , and with nothing before me , I was able to glance over the whole assembly . I did so at once , piercing everybody with my eyes . One thing -alone restrained me ; it was that I did not dare to fix my eyes upon certain objects . I feared the fire and brilliant significance of my looks , at that moment so appreciated by everybody : and the more I saw I attracted attention , the more anxious was I to wean curiosity by my discreetness . I cast , nevertheless , a glittering glance upon the ¦ chief president and his friends , for the examination of whom I was admirably . placed . I carried my looks over all the Parliament , and saw there an astonishment , a silence , A consternation , such as I had not expected , and'which was ¦ of good augury to me . The chief president , insolently crest-fallen , the other presidents disconcerted and at-Aentive to all , furnished me the most agreeable spectacle . Thetbird estate was in an attitude of huniility :-

    —-This was the moment when I relished , -with delight-utterly impossible to express , the sight of these haughty lawyers ( whohad dared to refuse us the salutation ) , prostrated upon their knees , and rendering , at our feet , homage to the throne , whilst we sat covered upon elevated seats , at the side of that same throne . These situations -arid these postures , so widely disproportioned , plead of themselves , -with all tlie force of evidence , the cause of those who are really and truly laterales reyis against thisvas electum of the third estate . My eyes fixed , glued , upon these haughty bourgeois , with their uncovered heads humiliated to the level of our feet , traversed the chief members kneeling or standing , and the ample folds of those fur robes of rabbit skin , that would imitate ermine , which waved at each long and redoubled genuflexion ; ^ genuflex ions which only ^ finished by command of the King . We must make room for two or three extracts as specimens of the anecdotic affluence of the Memoirs , and must therefore retrench our own remarks upon them . The Ducfaesse de Berry had some extraordinary ' overs : — - ' : ¦ ¦ . - . ¦•¦ . ¦ " .. , ¦ : ' ' ¦¦¦ ' . ' ¦ ¦ •• ' ¦¦ , ¦ " ' ¦ ¦ . . ' :

    After many " . amours she had become smitten with Eion , a younger son of the house ¦ of Ay die . He-was a fat , chubby , pale little fellowywho bad . so many pimples that he did not ill resemble an abscess . He had . good teeth , but had no idea be should cause-a passion which in less than no time became ungovernable , and which lasted a long while , without , however , interfering with temporary and passing amours . He was not worth a penny , but had many brothers and sisters who had no more than he . He was a lieutenant of dragoons , relative of Madame Pons , dame d ' atours of Madam e la Duchesse de Berry ,-who sent for him to tTy and do something for him . Scarcely had he arrived than tlie passion of the "Duchesse declared itself , and he became the master of the Luxembourg where she dwelt . M . de Lauzira , who was a distant relative , was delighted , and chuckled inwardly . He thought he saw a repetition of the old times , when Mademoiselle was in her glory ; he vouchsafed his advice to Rion .

    Rion was gentle and naturally polished and respectful , a good and honest fellow . He soon felt the power of his charms , which could only have captivated the incomprehensible and depraved fantasy of a princess . He did not abuse this power ; made . himself liked by everybody ; but he treated Madame la Duchesse de Berry as M . de Lauzun had treated Mademoiselle . He was soon decorated with the most beautiful lace and the richest clothes covered ¦ with silver , loaded with snuff-boxes , jewels , and precious stones . He took pleasure in making the princess long after him and be jealous ; affecting to be still more jealous of her . He often made her cry . Little by little he obtained such , authority over her that she did not dare to do anything without his - permission , not even the most indifferent things . If she were ready to go to the Opera , he'made her stay away ; at other times he made her go thither in spite of herself . He made her treat i well many Indies she did not like , or of whom she was Jealous , and treat ill persons who pleased her , but of-whom he pretended to be jealous . Even in herdinery she had not the slightest liberty . Ho amused bimsclf by making her disarrange her head-dress , or change her clothes , 'when she was quite dressed ; and that so often and so publicly , that he accustomed her at last to take oveT-night Iris ordera for her .. morning ' s dress and occupation , and on the morrow he would change everything , and the Princess wept as much as she could , and more . . St ~ Simon frequently saw Peter I . of llussia during his Paris visit : — The Czar waa a very tall man , exceedingly well made ; rather thin , his faco sornewhat round , aOiigb . forehead , . good eyebrows , a rather short nose , but not too abort , and largo atthe end , rather thick lips , complexion reddish brown , good black eyes , large , bright , piercing , and woll open ; his look majestic and gracious when ho liked , but whan-otherwise , severe anil stern , . with a twitohingof . the face , not ofton occurring , but which , appeared to contort Mb eyes < ind all his physiognomy , and was frightful to -see : dt . lasted a moment , gave him-a wikLnnd terriblo air , and " passed away . All his bearing showed his intellect , bis reflectiveness , and his greatness , and was not-devoid of . a eewtain grace . Ho wore a linen coUar , a round brown wig , as though without jpowder < md which did not reach to his- shoulders ; 'a brown coat tight to the body , -even , and'With gold buttons ; vest , breechoa , etockings , no glorea or ruffles , the star of hiaorder-over Ilia coat , and the cordon . under it , . the coat itself boing frequently quite unbuttoned , Jlis ~ hat ; . upon the table , but ^ nover upon his head , even out of doors . The Czar « ut at the Opera like a Siamese ambassador , and called for beer ?—M . le Duc'd'Orloans camo afterwards and took ' him -to tho Opera , into his grand Sbox , fwhere * they » flt'upon the front Bent upxm a splendid carpet . Sometime after , tho Czar asked if thoro was no beor to be had ? Immediately a largo goblet of it was ' brought io&ifuioxuagolvttr . Xlm liegont xoso , took itj'and , presented it to tho Czar ,

    who , with-a smile and nn- inclination of politeness , received the Toblet withm * ^ ceremony , drank , and put ifc back on the salver which the ltegent still held . *** The famous scene in the council chamber of the lteo-ent is on f . ' <¦ large a scale for quotation , but it is the best thin ^ of the \ ind in the i > i Language . ^ The accounts of Law and . the- Mississippi scheme , the embS to Spain , at Simon ' s reception by the Princess of the Astui-ias , the de ' itK the Duke of Orleans , and other remarkable transactions , abound in S gossip , of historical value , and bear out Lord Macaulay ' s estimate of tho £ ¦ Simon Memoirs as ' incomparable . ' •¦ " ^• jc .

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    ANTIQUARIAN ARCHERY . Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of London . Vol . IV . No . 47 Being destitute of the means of comparison , we cannot assert that this }< rt , very best number ofthe Proceedings which 1 ms yet appeared ; but certain ?? it has an absorbing interest for us . The Rev . 1 . Knowles accompanie , S presentation of stone celts with a memorandum of a journey to P-iir T ? Shetland , in the hope of securing some existing relics of the Ann uU t , ; Duke Medina , necked there But Sir Walte ^ Scott had ant ^ pa ^ htf whilst collecting- materials for Ins Pirate . Mr . Knowles , eonsenuen lv was disappointed ; but , in . refilling the Spaniards' graves , - found-a stone celt now exhibited . He makes a just distinction between the genuine weapon of this class , and spunous specimens sold in . London as such , but ' which , are brought from tlie Feejee Islands : tho ancient British celt is - bevilled on both sides , the Feejee stone axe on one side only . Our own explorations of the Polynesian isles enable us to testify to the accuracy of this distinction Ihe next is curious

    V paper a ' and elaborate analysis , of a MS . enumeratioa of the archers marks anciently standing in the locality still called FinsW Fields , and compiled m 1601 . But the insatiate march of brick and mortar has , for some - . years past , converted tliat once rural locality into a labyrinth of squalid streets und lanes . Yet our elder co temporaries ciui remember when even that broad granite area , called emphatically Finsbury-pavement , was a cheerful green spot , open to the sports and games of London citizens Thither , at an earlier period—the date of Mr . Williams ' s MS . —the bold London' ' prentices , * proper and tall , ' went to practise the noble o-anieof archery . ' - We may welt imagine what splendid exhibitions of stronw and accurate shooting were continually exhibited there . Even Justice Sliaflow ' s | riend , Old Double of Stamford , who ' elapt into the clout a twelve score and carried you a forehand ( big breasted ) shaft , a fourteen and a 'fourteen and a half / would have been outmatched " at least in flight shooting , since the MS . gives nineteen score as tlie distance between All hollows and Daie ' s l > eed marks . Indeed , Miss Banks , Sir Joseph's daughter , an enthusitistie loTerof the bow , has left a MS . note that a friend , Mr . Bates , often shot . eighteen score

    in these same Finsbury Fields . The small printed vohnne called Ah Ayma jfor the Finsbury Archsrs , alluded to by Hansard in his Book of Archery is far less comprehensive than Mr . Williarns ' s treatise , the number of marks being not given there , and the longest range is only thirteen score yards . The MS . also accurately defines the length and breadth of this once beautiful , Verdant plain—lieu 7 quantum mutates ah illo—the former being aLout onemile , the latter three-quarters . Sir William . JXavenant , in liis ' Long Vacation , ' thus describes sundry idle sittorncys and proctors making avcliery matclies in Finsbury : — - ^ Yithloync 3 in canvas bDw-case tied , , "Where urrow 3 stick Avith mickle pride ; Like ghosts of Adam iicll or Clynnnc , Sol sets—for fear they'll shoot at him .

    In the reign of Henry VIII ., a shout through the City of u Shovels ami spades ! shovels _ and spades ! " assembled a band of these same ' prentice luds , who speedily levelled the hedges , dykes , and garden houses , hy which trespassers had encroached on the shooting-fields . Even as late as 1786 , the Artillery Company , preceded by a detachment of theiv pioneers , in arched over Finsbury , pulling down the fences again illegally erected . . Th

    Ihe archery world is indebted to Mr . Williams for bringing this curious document under its notice , and for his historical sketch of' the old English spovt . Several excellent antiquarian papers follow , of which spaee 'forbids further notice . ! Earl Stanhope clelivurod an eloquent address and tribute to deceased members . Mr . O . Morgan , V . P ., has several remarkable papers ; so have Sir II . Ellis , Messrs . Tryse , Akermnn , Fairholt , Wylie , &e . The liev . F . Montgomery Trcherne , whose , ihmily have , long been settled in South Wales , exhibited four accurate sketches of Hoehe . Castle , once a frontier tower belonging to a family of that name . ori"inally Irish ,

    and sometimes styled de Kupo , or of the lloclc . A tradition prevails among the villagers , that its last heir perished by a snake ' s bite . His family , having been warned by a dream that this event would occur during the year of his majority , shut him within the castle , closing up the gate , ami supplying food by means of a basket and string . But , ia tho last week of his twelvemonth ' s imprisonment , an adder is said to have crept out of some firewood hiid np i " the chamber , and bit the sleeping youth , thus fulfilling the prophesy . ^ should , however , be stated , that nn exactly similar legend is belioveil by tho peasantry living in the neighbourhood of an old turret called Cook ' s Foll }' i near Bristol .

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    NEW EDITIONS . Mil . Bknti . ky has this week published the sixth volume of MV . Tuter Cunningham ' s edition of The Letters of Horace Waipolc , now first chronolog ically arranged . Tho portraits arc those of Lady do Bcauclcrk , Anno Chambers , Countess Temple , Samuel ^ Foote , and Mary Fitzpatriek Lady Holland . Three volumes remain to complete this remarkable edition . Mr . Longman lias issued a second volume of his cheap edition of Lord Macaulay ' u History of England . Wo hem- that the success , of the experi ment has been extraordinary . Local institutes should at onco purchase tlie history in this new , attractive , and accessible farm .

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    a 2 ^ . . TH'lLEAJEl [ No . 405 , December 26 "isw

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 26, 1857, page 1242, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2223/page/18/