Charles X. was not present. He remained at the Tuileries with the
Duchess of Berry, with whom he heard a requiem Mass in the chapel
of the Chateau at eleven o'clock. The Duchess was thus spared a
painful spectacle. With what emotion would she not have seen
opened the crypt in which she believed she would herself be laid,
and which was the burial place of her assassinated husband and of
her two children, dead so soon after their birth.

The ceremony commences in the antique necropolis. The interior of
the church is hung all with black to the spring of the arches,
where fleurs-de-lis in gold are relieved against the funeral
hangings. The light of day, wholly shut out, is replaced by an
immense quantity of lamps, tapers, and candles, suspended from a
multitude of candelabra and chandeliers. At the back of the choir
shines a great luminous cross. The Dauphiness, the Duchess of
Orleans, the princes and princesses, her children, her sister-in-
law, are led to the gallery of the Dauphiness. The church is
filled with the crowd of constituted authorities. At the entrance
to the nave is seen a deputation of men and women from the
markets, and others who, according to the Moniteur, have won the
favor of admission to this sad ceremony by the grief they
manifested at the time of the King's death. The Dauphin advances,
his mantle borne from the threshold of the church to the choir by
the Duke of Blacas, the Duke of Damas, and the Count Melchior de
Polignac. The Duke of Orleans comes next. Three of his officers
bear his mantle.

A salvo of artillery, responded to by a discharge of musketry,
announces the commencement of the ceremony. The Grand Almoner of
France says Mass. After the Gospel Mgr. de Frayssinous, Bishop of
Hermopolis, ascends the pulpit and pronounces the funeral oration
of the King. At the close of the discourse another salvo of
artillery and another discharge of musketry are heard. The
musicians of the Chapel of the King, under the direction of M.
Plantade, render the Mass of Cherubim. At the Sanctus, twelve
pages of the King, guided by their governor, come from the
sacristy, whence they have taken their torches, salute the altar,
then the catafalque, place themselves kneeling on the first steps
of the sanctuary, and remain there until after the Communion. The
De Profundis and the Libera are sung. After the absolutions,
twelve bodyguards advance to the catafalque, which recalls by its
form the mausoleums raised to Francis I. and to Henry II. by the
architects of the sixteenth century. It occupies the centre of the
nave. The cords of the pall are borne by the Chancellor Dambray in
the name of the Chamber of Peers, by M. Ravez in the name of the
Chamber of Deputies, by the Count de Seze in the name of the
magistracy, by Marshal Moncey, Duke of Conegliano, in the name of
the army. The twelve bodyguards raise the coffin from the
catafalque, and bear it into the royal tomb. Then the King-at-Arms
goes alone into the vault, lays aside his rod, his cap, and his
coat-of-arms, which he also casts in, retires a step, and cries:
"Heralds-at-Arms, perform your duties."

The Heralds-at-Arms, marching in succession, cast their rods,
caps, coats-of-arms, into the tomb, then withdraw, except two, of
whom one descends into the vault to place the regalia on the
coffin, and the other is stationed on the first steps to receive
the regalia and pass them to the one who stands on the steps.

The King-at-Arms begins announcing the regalia. He says: "Marshal,
Duke of Ragusa, major-general of the Royal Guard, bring the flag
of the Royal Guard." The marshal rises from his place, takes the
flag from the hands of the officer bearing it, advances, salutes
first the Dauphin, then the Duke of Orleans, approaches the vault,
makes a profound bow, and places the flag in the hands of the
Herald-at-Arms, standing on the steps. He passes it to the
second, who places it on the coffin. The marshal salutes the altar
and the princes and resumes his place.

The King-at-Arms continues the calls. "Monsieur the Duke of
Mortemart, captain-colonel of the regular foot-guards of the King,
bring the ensign of the company which you have in keeping." He
summons in the same manner the Duke of Luxembourg, the Duke of
Mouchy, the Duke of Gramont, the Duke d'Havre, who bring each the
standard of the company of the body-guards of which they are the
four captains. The call of the other regalia goes on in the
following order:--

"Monsieur the Count of Peyrelongue, Equerry in Ordinary of His
Majesty, bring the spurs of the King.

"Monsieur the Marquis of Fresne, Equerry in Ordinary of His
Majesty, bring the gauntlets of the King.

"Monsieur the Chevalier de Riviere, Master of the Horse of His
Majesty, bring the coat-of-arms of the King.

"Monsieur the Marquis of Vernon, charged with the functions of
First Equerry, bring the helmet of the King.

"Monsieur the Duke of Polignac, charged with the functions of
Grand Equerry of France, bring the royal sword. (The royal sword
is presented before the vault only by the point, and is not
carried down.)

"Monsieur the Prince de Talleyrand, Grand Chamberlain of France,
bring the banner."

There is seen approaching, the banner in his hand, an old man,
slight, lame, clad in satin and covered with embroidery, in gold
and jewelled decorations. It is the unfrocked priest who said the
Mass of the Champ-de-Mars, for the Fete de la Federation; it is
the diplomat who directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the
time of the murder of the Duke d'Enghien; it is the courtier, who,
before he was Grand Chamberlain of Louis XVIII. and Charles X.,
was that of Napoleon. The banner is presented before the vault
only by one end. It is inclined over the opening of the crypt, but
is not cast in, salutes, for the last time, the dead King, then
rises as if to proclaim that the noble banner of France dies not,
and that the royalty sheltered beneath its folds descends not into
the tomb.

The King-at-Arms again cries:--

"Monsieur the Duke d'Uzes, charged with the functions of Grand
Master of France, come and perform your duty." Then the maitres de
l'hotel, the chambellans de l'hotel, and the first maitre de
l'hotel approach the vault, break their batons, cast them in, and
return to their places.

The King-at-Arms summons the persons bearing the insignia of
royalty.

"Monsieur the Duke of Bressac, bring la main de justice.

"Monsieur the Duke of Chevreuse, bring the sceptre.

"Monsieur the Duke of la Tremoille, bring the crown."

These three insignia are taken down into the vault, as were the
flag and the four standards.

Then the Duke d'Uzes, putting the end of the baton of Grand Master
of France within the vault, cries out: "The King is dead!"

The King-at-Arms withdraws three paces, and repeats in a low
voice: "The King is dead! the King is dead! the King is dead!"
Then turning to the assembly he says: "Pray for the repose of his
soul!"

At this moment the clergy and all the assistants throw themselves
upon their knees, pray, and rise again. The Duke d'Uzes withdraws
his baton from the vault, and brandishing it, calls out: "Long
live the King!"

The King-at-Arms repeats: "Long live the King! long live the King!
long live the King! Charles, tenth of the name, by the grace of
God, King of France and Navarre, very Christian, very august, very
puissant, our very honored lord and good master, to whom God grant
long and happy life! Cry ye all: Long live the King!" Then the
trumpets, drums, fifes, and instruments of the military bands
break into a loud fanfare, and their sound is mingled with the
prolonged acclamations of the assembly, whose cries "Long live the
King! long live Charles X.!" contrast with the silence of the
tombs.

"To this outburst of the public hopes," says the Moniteur,
"succeeded the return of pious and mournful duties; the tomb is
closed over the mortal remains of the monarch whose subjects,
restored to happiness, greeted him on his return from the land of
exile with the name of Louis le Desire, and who twice reconciled
his people with Europe. This imposing ceremony being ended, the
princes were again escorted into the Abbey to their apartments, by
the Grand Master, the Master of Ceremonies and his aides, preceded
by the Master-at-Arms, and the Heralds-at-Arms, who had resumed
their caps, coats-of-arms, and rods. Then the crowd slowly
dispersed. We shall not try to express the sentiments to which
this imposing and mournful ceremony must give rise. With the
regrets and sorrow caused by the death of a prince so justly wept,
mingle the hopes inspired by a King already the master of all
hearts. This funeral ceremony when, immediately after the burial
of a monarch whom God had called to Himself, were heard cries of
'Long live Charles X.,'--the new King greeted at the tomb of his
august predecessor,--this inauguration, amid the pomps of death,
must have left impressions not to be rendered, and beyond the
power of imagination to represent."

Reader, if this recital has interested you, go visit the Church of
Saint-Denis. There is not, perhaps, in all the world, a spectacle
more impressive than the sight of the ancient necropolis of kings.
Enter the basilica, admirably restored under the Second Empire. By
the mystic light of the windows, faithful reproductions of those
of former centuries,--the funerals of so many kings, the
profanations of 1793, the restoration of the tombs,--all this
invades your thought and inspires you with a dim religious
impression of devotion. These stones have their language. Lapides
clamabunt. They speak amid the sepulchral silence. Listen to the
echo of a far-away voice. There, under these arches, centuries
old, the 21st of August, 1670, Bossuet pronounced the funeral
oration of Madame Henriette of England. He said:--

"With whatever haughty distinction men may flatter themselves,
they all have the same origin, and this origin insignificant.
Their years follow each other like waves; they flow unceasingly,
and though the sound of some is slightly greater and their course

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