mm 'l$i o ( THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES '-0- HISTORICAL ESSAYS UPON PARIS. Tranflated from the FRENCH O F MR. DE S AINTFOIX. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: Printed for G. BURNETT, at -Bifhop Burnett's H^ad, near Sc. Clement's Church, in the Strand. HISTORICAL ESSATS UPON PARIS. TH E trade of the Parifians by water was very flourifhing. Their City feems, from time immemorial, to have had a Ship for its Symbol. Jfu prefided over Navi- gation, and was adored even amongft the Suevi under the figure of a Ship *. Thefe reafons are more than fufficient for Etymologists to perfuade themfelves that Parifii was derived from 7r*p *I 296. * This celebrated Temple of I/it (fays Sauval) which gave name to all the Country, was attended by a College of Priefb, who lived, as is thought, at Ifli in a Caftle, the ruini ,f which were to be feen the beginning of this Century. j Vid. McHtntarte. ft Th e Carmelites of la tut Si. Jacqua. upon Paris. 3 ciently nothing more than fmall woods, or foli- tary retreats, confecrated to thofe Divinities ; for the Gauls did not begin to build Temples, till they were under the dominion of the Romans. Ccsfar is the firft Author who fpeaks of the Parifians. They were one of thofe fixty or fixty- four States, who compofed the Republic of Gaul, and who formed only a fingle Nation, though in- dependent of one another. Each of thefe people had their particular Laws, Chiefs, and Magi- ftrates; and appointed every year Deputies for the general affemblies, which were ufually held in the principal College of the Druids, in the middle of a foreft in the Country of Chartram. The adminiftration of civil and political affairs had for a confiderable time been entrufted to a Senate of Women, elected by the different Cantons. They deliberated upon peace and war, and decided the differences which arofe amongft the Vergobreti *, or took place be- twixt one City and another. Plutarch fays, that by one of the articles of the treaty be- tween Hannibal and the Gauls, it was flipulated, that f " If any Gaul has reafon to complain of a " Carthaginian, he muft appear before the Se- B 2 " natc * Sovereign Magiftratei. + De Claris Mulicrib. 4 Hijlorical E/ays " nate of Carthage eflablifhed in Spain. If any " Carthaginian finds himfdf injured by a Gaul, " the affair muft be judged by the fupreme Coun- " cil of Gallic Women. " Tht Druids, dif- contented with fome decrees of this Tribunal, fo artfully employed the influence which Religion gave them over the minds of men, that they caufed it to be aholifhed, and erected one of their own in its ft.aJ, u-hofe power foon increaf.d fuch a pitch, that they became abfolute mailers in all the public deliberations. They retained the fame pre-eminence as the women, and they avaikd themfelves of it to appear the firft body of the State, and indeed to crufh every other authority by the Defpotifm of Superflition. It is obferved, that the Gaul?, under the government of the women, had taken Rome, and kept Italy in a conftant tremor; that under that of the Pricfts they were themfelves fubdued by the Romans, and that C&far owed his conquefts to the jealou- fies and divifions, which a Druid, the peifidious Divitiacus, inceflantly fowed amongft the prin- cipal Cities. The Parifians fought for their li- berty with a courage that bordered upon defpair. Dreading to be forced into their Ifland, they fal- lied forth, after having fet fire to it j and went in trcnt of the Enemy, who deceived them by a faife upon Paris. 5 falfe march. The battle was fought below Meudon, and was very bloody *. They loft it, and the brave Camulogenus> whom though in a very advanced age ** they had chofen for their Commander, was killed. Corrczd maintains, that it was C&far who caufed the great and little Chatelet to be built. Malingre and the Commiflary de la Marre fay, that " Lutetia which he furrounded with walls, " and which he embellifhed with new edifices, " was called the City of C the Celtic.. language. ft Wkhout the City. 6 Hijlorical E/ays and as it appears that all the Kings of the firft Race fixed their refidcnce here, moft Authors will not allow that they had any in the City. In the Sequel I fhall talk of this Palace des Termts. With refpedt to that which was in the City, I fhall only quote this paflage of Gregory of Tour i *. *' Cbildebert fent a perfon in whom he could " confide, to Clotarius, King of Soiflbns, toen- " gage him to come and meet him, in order to " deliberate whether they fhould put their Ne- " phews to death, or whether they fhould con- " tent themfelves with degrading ** them by " cutting off their hair. . . Clotarlus haftened " to Paris. . . They caufed it to be reported, ** that the refult of their interview was to pro- " claim Greg. Tur. Hift. Lib. III. Cap. XVIII. * Incifa Cafaric vt rtliqua plelt babeantur. The French cut their hair all round their heads, preferving them in their full length only from the top, where they were knotted and tied. None but Princes of the Royal Family were allowed to have their hair flowiag upon their flioulders, and without being cut round the head. The hair of thofe people, who were conquered by the Gauls, was not to reach below the neck : fo that a head of hair being a diftinguifliing mark between the French and the fubjugated people, it was not orly degrading a Prince or a Frenchman, and difmembering him from hit fa- mily, to cut his hair ; but it was disqualifying him from being a Frenchman, upon Paris. 7 < claim the Tons of Clodomir Kings, and fent a *' meffage to demand them of Clotilda (who then ' refided in the City *) to raife them upon the " fliield. The good Queen tranfported with joy, " fent for the young ** Princes into her apart- < ment,, and after having paid attention to their w//c-bridges f were not finifhed till 1635. The Place des Viaeirea. The Idand of Notre Dame is fo called. }- So called from Riant, who undertook them. upon Paris. 23 The ftreets des Petits Champs, and des Bons- Enfans, terminated To late as 1630 at the walls of ihe City, which pafied, as I have faid, upon the fpot where Victory-Square is now creeled. This quarter was fo retired, that robberies were commit- ted in open day, and it was nick-named Empty- fob-quarter, (in French vuide got/JJ'et.} The buildings of the Royal Palace, which Cardinal Richelieu begun in 1629, occafioned a new in- clofure. St. Honore gate, which was then where the fhambles and the market of Quinze- Vingts are at prefent, was continued in 1631, as far as we now fee it; and from that gate to th:;t of St. Denis the new ramparts which were creeled, and which Lewh XIV. caufed to be taken * down, formed the compafs which the bulwarks now trace. This new part of the Town was prefently covered with ftreets, named deri, du Mail, St. dugujlin^ St. dnnt, the new ftreets St. Eujlatius and Petiti- Champsy and others adjacent : there were mills ** however upon St. Rock's hill in 1670. This is a general notion of the different in- creafes of Paris. I (hall now run over this Ca- pital j I fay run over, for my dcfign in writing thefe * He imagined the Capital of a great Kingfliould not have any. ** La rue da R'eulint has retained the name, 24 Hijicrical thefe EfTays, was not to give a general defcrip- tion minutely laid down and expatiated upon. I {hall only mention fuch quarters and ftreets where fome remarkable incident has happened, which is interefting and neceflary to point out what the manners and cuftoms of this Nation have been at different periods. St. Andre des Arcs Jlreet *. During the civil wars under the reign of Charles VI. on the 28th of May 1418, at night, Perrinet le Clerc, fon of an Aide; man of the City, tock from under the bolfter of his father's bed the keys of Bud gate, and opened it to the troops of the Duke of Burgundy. Thefe troops who were joined by the meaneft of the mob, pillaged, killed and imprifoned all thofe who op- pofed the Partifans of this Prince, who were called Armagnacs. On the 12th of June the /laughter was renewed with more fury than ever: the mob repaired to the prifons, and caufed them to be opened ; the moft reputable tradefmen, two Archbifhops, fix Bifhops, fcveral Prefidents, Counfellors and Mafters of Requefts were knocked Rue St. jfndr/det Arcs, fo called becaufe bows and ar- rows were fold there. upon Paris. 25 knocked down, or caft from the top of the Towers of the Conciergerie and great Chattier, and below they fell upon the ends of fpikes or the points of fwords i the environs of the Palace ftreamed with blood; the bodies of theConftable Bernard d? Armognac^ and of the Chancellor Henry dc Marie, after having been dragged through the ftreets, were thrown into the lay- ftalls. The butchers afterwards erected a ftatue of Perrinet le Clerc in St. Michael's Square, the trunk of which is ftill remaining, and ferves as a boundary to the houfe, which forms the corner of St. Andre des Arcs ftreet, and that of the Old Bucklery. Notwithstanding the tradition and opinion of moft Hiftorians *, Moreau de Alautour pretends that this boundary with the head of a man is no- thing but the pure effect of the caprice of fome workman, and that there never was a ftatue of Perrinet le Clerc ; he appears fo well perfuaded of this, that he has neglected to fupport his opi- nion by proofs and good reafons. Gtrmain Brief, who in other refpects is very imperfect in this hiftorical event, fays that fome years fines there were See the Kiftory of the Academy of InfcrJptior.s, Voi, HI. VOL, I. C 25 Hijlorical E/ays were found In the cellar of an adjacent hsufc, frag- ments of this flattie. It is reafonable to believe, it was mutilated when Charles Vll. became Matter of Paris, and out of derifion they placed it as a boundary. It is very vifibly different from the other boundary marks, on account of its length and thicknefs. St. Antdne Jlreet. The Lifts which Henry II. caufed to be made for the Tournaments in which he was wounded, extended from the Palace of Tour- nelles to the Bafttlle. After his death, Catherine de Medlcls looking upon this Palace as fatal, would reftde there no longer, and even perfuaded Charles IX. to pull it down. It was not, how- ever, entirely demolished till the reign of Henry 1Y. who began building the Royal Palace in its flead. It had been nothing but a private Hotel, and belonged to the Chancellor d'Orge- mont in 1390. Leo of Lufignan, King of Ar- menia, refided there; and died in it in 1393. The Duke of Bedford, who was Regent during the Minority of Henry IV. the pretended King of France, lodged there about the year 1422, and enlarged and embellimed it to that degree, that Charles VII. and his Succefibrs gave it the pre- ference upon Paris* 27 Ference for their refidence to the Hotel of St. Paul, which was over againft it. The wall * with the park and gardens extended from the ftreets des Egouts, to the gate of St. Antoine, com- prehending all that ground whereon the ftreet des Tournelles, Jean Beaufire, des Minimcs, du Foin, St. Giles, St.- Pierre, des douze Portes have been fince built, together with part of the ftreet St. Louis, as far as the ftreet of St. Anaf- tafe. It was at the beginning of the ftreet des Tournelles, where one of the fides of the park terminates, facing the Baftille, that t^uelas, Mau- gfron and Livarct fought a duel at five o'Cloclc in the morning, on the 27th of April, 1578, agair.fl: tTEnttagitei, Riberac and Schombcrg. Mauglron and Scbornberg, who were on!y eighteen years of age, were killed upon the fpot ; Riberac died the next morning ; Livarot^ who was wounded in the head, kept his bed fix weeks ; d'Entragun was only flightly wounded ; ghtelus languiflied thirty- three days of nineteen wounds he received, and died in the King's arms, the 2Qth of May, at the Hotel de Boifli, in an apartment, which may be faid to have been fancHfied ever fince, ferving at prefent as the Choir for the Nuns of the Order of the Vifitation of St. Mary. C 2 * The wall of the Palace of TourneJlei. 28 Hijlorical EJJays '* Quelus, fays Brantome, * complained highly, " that Entraguei had a dagger more than he, " who had only a fingle fword ; whence it arofe, *' that in endeavouring to parry and turn off the " flrokes which d'Entragues aimed at him, his " hand was almoft cut to pieces, and when they " began to fight, Qudui told him, Thou haji a * l dagger^ and I have none ; to : which d'Entragucs *' replied, Tbeu lajl been guilty of a great piece of " fol.'y to leave it at home : here we are come to " fighty and not to cavil about anas. Some fay it " was a fort of cheat, to take the advantage of the *' dagger, if it was agreed upon not to bring any ' weapon, except the fword. This is a p >im to be " difputed. D'Entragues faid no mention was nijde 44 of it; others urge, that through a punctilio of *' chivalry he fhould not have ufed the dagger." The queftion then is, whether he fhould or no ? This is no matter of doubt at this time of day, nor fhould it ever have been any. When the news of the death of Guife (killed at Blois, the 2yth of December 1588, by order of litnryllL} reached Paris, the pecple who had been rendered furious by the Monk's fermons, flew to St. Paul's, and deflroyed the tombs that Prince had creeled to the memory of >uelus t Mau- # Memoirs upon Duels, p. 94. upon Paris. 29 Maugiron and St. Megrin^ faying, " that thofe " wicked fellow?, who had expired in denying a " Supreme Being, and were the tyrant's Minions, " were rot deferving of fuch fine monuments in " the church." Upon thofe tombs, which were made of black marble, engraven with Epitaphs on the four fides, were placed the ftatues of thefe three favourites, which greatly refembled them. Here follow fome of the Epitaphs, which I copied from a book printed in 1587. Jacobi de Levi Clarijf. famili* & fumm<* virtutis adol. E P I T A. Quid marmcr, arar, & artes fufpicis ' Dignus fuit hoc honore Q^iaefleus, ingenio praeftans, moribus facilis, af- peclu Gratus: cui artes erant, virtutem colere, Deo, Patrije, Et Principi fervire: non injuriam, fed mortem pat:en:er Tulit : grati animi eft hoc monumentum. Obiit 4 Kal. Juniianno 1578, sta. 24. C 3 * - 30 Hiftorical EJJays Pauli de Cauffade Comi. Samegrini. E P I T A. Nil virtus, nil genus, nil opes, nil vires poflunt, His omnibus, & favore pollens jacet, vi&us fraude, f Et multorum viribus : incautum vis obruit, quem Nee publicua inimicus domuit, nee prlvatus ter- ruit. Abi viator : tace, & pro mortuo ora. Obiit 1 1 Kal. Auguft. anno 1578, aeta. fuse 24: Franc. Maugeronis Clariff. & generoff. adol. E P I T A. Maugeronis in hoc funt ofla repofta Sepulcro, Cui virtus annos contigit ante fuos ; Ouilus and BuJ/i having quarrelled, they appointed a place of rendcz-vous to decide their difference, and their fathers were to be their feconds ; the King re- conciled them, and prevented the conflict. The Street called UArbre Sec *. ** In 1505 there arofe a kind of infurredion in this ftreet, on account of a female fhop keeper, whom the Curate would not bury, till fuch time as the will fhe had made, was fhewn to the Bifhop f- The Bifhops laid claim to a right of ex- amining wills, and they prohibited ft the inter- ment of fuch perfons as died inteftate, or who had not bequeathed a legacy to the Church ; and their relations were obliged to apply to the Official who appointed a Prieft, or fome other ecclefiaftical peifon, to reclify the error the deceafed had committed, and bequeath the le- gacies in his name. In 1533, when the plague * Thii literally traoflated, is Dry-tret, which name is d rived from an old fign. Lauritri* French gloflary at the void Tefatnentarj exe- tstcr. f The Prefident Lixtt Dunoul:*. ft S e fitvrtfi Treatife upon abufe, Vol. I. p. 371. Arrtt\ of March i, 1401, and March 19, 1409. upon Paris. 33 ravaged in Paris, and there was no time to think of making wills, an infinite number of dead bo- dies remained feveral days unburied, which greatly contaminated the air. N. des Urjins, Vicar- general in the abfenceof the Bifliop, was much inclined to foften the rigour of thcfe fe verities, and permit the burial of the dead without /- fifling upon the consequences. Some Curates went fo far, as to oppofe the admiffion of fuch as were deiirous of taking orders, till fuch time as they had paid their funeral tax, alledging that as they became dead to the world by entering upon a religious profeflion, it was but equitable they fhould diicharge what they would have been in- debted, in cafe they had been interred. The Journal under the reign of Charles VI. and CharlesVll. in theyear 1440, mentions " that " there were no burials, either of young or old, *' for four months in the Innocents Church- " yard, and that no one's name was ftuck up here " to be pray'd for, becaufe Mafter Denis des ' Moulin^ Bifhop of Paris, wanted too large a " fum of money for it." * An excommunication was delivered from the pulpit, and fixed at the deor of the Parifli Church, againft the de- ceafed who had been buried by his relations in C 5 th * Ibid, in the year 1448. 34 Hijloricd EJJays the fields, through inability or unwillingnefs to pay the exorbitant fum the Church required to let him rot in consecrated ground. At length thefe fcandalous proceedings were fupprefled by an arret of the Parliament, dated the 1310 of June 1552. Some Biftiops pretended this was in- croaching upon the ecclefiaftical authority ; but their ordonnances were defpifed, and thofe who oppofed the arret, were profecuted with fo much rigour, that thefe oppreffions were by degrees re- moved, or at Jeaft were exercifed with greater moderation. The ArftnaL There was behind the Convent of Celefiins an Arfenal belonging to the Hotel de Ville (or Town-houfe) which was called tbt City-artil- lery's barns. Francis I. being inclined to caft fome cannon, afked the Provoft of the Merchants and Sheriffs for the ufe of this magazine, which, they lent him with a very bad grace, forefeeing very likely what would happen. Thefe barns were converted into a royal houfe. It took fire in 1562. The new buildings which Charles IX. creeled, were confiderably increafed by Henry III. and HfnrylV. The upon Paris. 35 The Author ofihcMelangts d'HiJloirt et de Lit- terature * fays he has feen two contracts which Lewi: XIII. entered into with Vitido t the firft bearing date the 2gth of January 1636, and the other the 3d of October 1637, for cutting a Canal round Paris, from the baftion of the arfenal to the gate of la Conference. He adds, that after much expence this work was interrupted by Mr. Bulliden y fuperintendant of the Finances, " who " oppofed this undertaking, becaufe it wascoun- *' tenanced by Father Jofeph It QVrr, a Capuchin " Friar, who made himfelf fo remarkable du- ** ring the adminiftration of Cardinal Richlieu"* It is fomewhat extraordinary, that a Superintend- ant of the Finances fhould through pique againft a Capuchin interrupt a work that had coft a con- fidcrable fum, and which was looked upon as the only method that could be devifed to carry off the inundations of the Seine. Aubri le Bouder-ftreet. In 1309 a malefactor who was going to be executed, received his pardon from the Cardinal de St Eufebe. The Cardinals have for a con- fiderable time laid claim to the privilege (which the Roman Veftals enjoyed) of extending their C 6 clc- Vol. II. p. 9, 3 ^ Hifiorical E/ays clemency in this manner to criminals, by al- ledging they met them by chance in their way. Key of the Augujlim. This ground was planted with willows, and was commonly overflowed in winter j in the fum- mer-time it was frequented as a public walk. By Philip the Fair's letters of the gth of June 1312, the Provoft of the Merchants was ordered to pave it with {tones called pierrcs de taille ; and by other letters of the 23d of May the following year, he reprimands him for neglecling to exe- cute his orders. At the end of Gillecoeur-flreet, in the angle which it now forms with Hurepoix-ftreet, Francis I. built a fmall Palace which had communication 'with a Hotel belonging to the Duchefs d'Etam- pes in Hirondelle-ftrett. The painting al frefco, the pictures, the tapeftry, the Salamanders * de- corated wkh emblematical figures, amorous and ingenious devices, all befpoke the God and pafs- timcs to which thefe edifices were confecrated. " Of all thefe devices (kysSauval) which were * not long fince to be feen, I can only recolleft 41 this one, which was a heart in a flame, placed 41 between * The Salamanderi wtre the intention of Francii I. upon Paris, 37 " between an Alpha and an Omega, apparently " to indicate, /'/ would burn for tver." The bathing cloftts of the Duchefs d'E tempts are now converted into the ftable of an Inn, which re- tains the name of Salamander j a hatter ufes Francis I.'s levee-chamber for a kitchen, and a bookfeller's wife lay in his little fa/eon of cc- JlacieSy when 1 went to vifit the remains of this Palace. I have read in an anonymous Author, that this King, whilft he was amufing himfelf with throw- ing fnow- balls with his Courtiers upon twelfth- day in 1521, as he endeavoured to drive the Count de St. Pol from a place which he defended, was dangeroufly wounded in the head by a fire- brand, which Mongommery carelefly threw out of a window. It is not aftonilhing to meet with two villains in a family ; but it is very extraordi- nary that a father and fon, faithful fubjetSrs, and actuated by principles of honour and juftice, fhould be deftmed by the moft (hocking fatality, the one to wound, and the other to kill his King. Stephen Pafquier^ who recites this accident in his letters, (Vol.11, p. 77.) fays that it happened at Blois. The Hotel of Hercules, fo called from the labours of Hercules, which were painted upon if, was 38 Hijlorical EJfays was fituated at the end of this Key, near the great Auguflin^s. Lewis XII. gave it to the ChanceUor/)*/>r- year they walked in folemn proceflion, upon Mary Magdalen's day. The ftreets Froimentel, Pa\ee, Glatigny, Tiron, Chapon, Tireboudin, Brifemiche, du Renard, du Heurleur, de la Vi- eilleBouclerie, 1'Abreuvoir, Ma^on, and Champ- fleuri, were allotted them to carry on their trade in. In each of thefe ftreets was a burrow^ where they endeavoured to furpafs one another, in ren- dering it clean, agreeable, and commodious. They were obliged to be there by 10 o'clock in the morning, and to retire as foon as the cttrfew- bell was rung, which was at 6 o'clock at night in winter, and between 8 and 9 in fummer. They were absolutely prohibited exerciflng their functions any where elfe, even at their own homes. Thofe who followed the Court (fays du " Tillet and Pafquier) were engaged, during the " whole month of May, to make the King of " the whoremafters bed." Father Daniel pre- tends that the Poft of King of the whoremaflers was very confiderable, and that his jurifdiclion extended in certain articles of police, to the King's houfhold, and to all the Kingdom. The Convent of Les Filhs-Dieu was founded in the year 1226, as an a fylum for female Jin- tiers, who during their whole life had abufed their bodies^ 66 Hijiorical EJfays bodies, and were reduced to beggary. A Cordelier inftituted the Convent of les Fi/les Penitentet, which was founded ia 1497. Their Laws, which John Simon de Champigny, Bifhop of Paris, would himfdf draw up, muft doubtlefe appear very fin- gular. " No religious [woman] will be received " againft her own will: no one who has for any " time led a diflblute life ; and that thofe who " offer themfelves, may not be deceived in this " refpeft, they are to be vifited in the prefence ' of the Mothers, Deputy-Mothers, and difcreet * women, by Matrons particularly appointed, " who ftiall make oath upon the holy Evange- " lifts to make a juit and faithful report. " In order to prevent Girls proftituting them- " felves with the view of being received, thofe 4< who have been once vifited and refufed, ftiall " be excluded for ever. " Moreover, the Candidates fliall be obliged <{ to fwear by their eternal damnation, before the ** ConfefTor and fix religious women, that they < did not proftitute themfelves in hopes of gain- *' ing admiffion one time or other into that Con- " gregation, and they are cautioned, that if it is " difcovered that they let themfelves be de- ** bauched with that view, they will be no Ion- " ger upon Pan's. 67 * gcr looked upon as Religious of that Monaf- " tery, notwithftanding they have made profef- " fions, and taken the vows. " To prevent women who follow a bad " courfe of life, deferring too long a converfion, " in hopes that the door will be always open for * c them, no one aged above thirty years will be ' received. " This Community was for fome time pretty numerous, and Hiftory makes mention of a holy perfonage who preached on horfeback in the Carrefours, and who had the fatisfa&ion to fee eighty women who led vicious lives, and three publicans, converted by one of his fermons. With refpeft to the public ftews *, after they had been tolerated near four hundred years, they were abo- liftied by the loift article of the Ordonnance of the States convened at Orleans in 1560. The number of women of pleafure did not diminifh, though their profeffion was not confidered as a body ; and in prohibiting their exiftence any where, they were difperfed every where. Du A memorial which was prefented to the Parliament ti prove the neciffity of re-eft ablijbing them, wa attributed to Dr. Cayet, Under- Preceptor of Henry If. Vide Remarks upua the Confefiion of Sanci^ p. 45, 68 Hijlorical E/ajs Du Cbaume Jlreet. Charles de Bleis and the Count de Montfort waged war to obtain the fucceflion to the Dutchy of Britanny. Philip de Palais, Charles's uncle, caufed Sire dt Clijon (byname Oliver III.) to Jofe his head *, and fomc other Lords of Britanny met with the fame fate, upon a flight fufpicion of carrying on a correfpondence with England and the Count de Montfort. The firft ftep Clif- fon's widow ** took, was to fend off her fon fe- cretly to London ; and when her apprehenfions were removed with refpe& to him, fhe fold her jewels, fitted out three fhips, and put to fea, to revenge the death of her hufband upon all the French (he fhould meet. The new Corfaire made feveral defcents upon Normandy, where fhe ftormed Caftles ; and the inhabitants of that Pro- vince were fpedtators more than once, whilft their Villages were all in a blaze, of one of the fineft women in Europe, with a fword in one hand, and a torch in the other, urging the car- nage, and eying with pleafure all the horrors of war. The firft exploits of young CHJfin t as foon as he was able to carry arms, foretold what * At Paris in t!:e Hal'ti, Aug. 2, 1343. * * Jane of BdUvillt. upon Paris. 69 what he would one day appear. The lofs of an eye, occafioned by the thruft of a lance, at the battle of Auray, was not fufficient to make him quit the field, and it was ajioni/hing to fet him fly like lightening with bit hammer in hand, knocking down, and routing every thing that came in his way. This famous vidory, which deter- mined the fate of the Dutchy ofBritanny, in fa- vour of the young Count dc Montfort, was partly owing to his bravery. A mifunderftanding fome time after arofe between him and this Prince, who had given the Caftle of Gavre to the cele- brated John Chandos. " The devil take me, " Mylord (faid CHJfin to him) if an Englifh- " man fhall ever be my neighbour, " and im- mediately went and fet fire to this Caftle, which was entirely confumed. Abftra&ed from his pretenfion to le Gavre, he acknowledged him- felf, that though he had been brought up amongft the Englifh *, he never could get the better of that national antipathy againft them, which is pretty common, not to fay natural, amongft the people of Britanny. King Charles V. did not fail to avail himfelf of his difguft, in order to draw him to his Court. He gave him, Aug. 15. *37 l > tne Sum of 4000 Livres, to purchafe a houfe * He was afterwards (by reafon of his never giving Quaiter) furnamsd the Butcber, ;o Hijlorical Effays houfe at Paris, which was called, according to Sauval, le grand Chantier du Temple *. I ap- prehend it was only ground, whereupon CliJ/bn built his Hotel, which {till fubfifts, and makes part of the Hotel de Soubife, by this ftreet of du Chaume. FroiJ/ard, a cotemporary Hiftorian, relates that Charlts V. fome days before his dtath, fent for the Dukes of Berri, Burgundy and Bourbon, and told them, "Brothers-in-law, by the order ** " of nature, I feel and am fenfible that I cannot " live long. I recommend to you my fort " Charles *** ; behave to him as good Uncles '* fhould do towards their Nephew: crown him <( as foon as you can after my death, and give him faithful counfel in his affairs ; all my con- " fidence is in you. The child is young, and " bis abilities are but flender, and he will ftand ** much in need of being governed. An Aftro- * c nomer told me a good while ago, that in his * c youth he would have many troubles, and '* would efcape great perils and dangers ; where- " upon I had very ferious reflexions, and confi- ** dered with myfelf how this could happen, unlefs * Hence arofe the name of the flreet du grand Cbantitr, Vol. II. p. 89. Clarkt VI. upon Paris. 71 " unlefs it were from the fide of Flanders : for, " thank God, our domeftic concerns are in a " very thriving ftate. The Duke of Britanny " is artful and various, and has always been " more an Englifhman than a Frenchman at ' heart. You mufl therefore keep the Nobles " of Britanny and the great Cities in good tem- *' per ; by this means you may deftroy their ma- * chinations. I cannot help praifing the Bre- " tons, for they have always ferved me with " loyalty, and contributed to defend my King- " dom againft my Enemies. Now appoint the 1 Sire CUJJon Conftable, for every thing confi- " dered, I k.iow of none fo proper as he. " The juftlce th : s great Prince did the Bretons, was really due to them. The Englifh were in pofleffion of Guyenne, Perigord, Xaintonge, Rouargue, Limoufin, Angoumois, Poitou, An- jou, and Maine, when Duguefdln^ Cli/on and de Rieux drove them out of thefe Provinces; and there was not a City or Caftle taken, without a Breton having diftinguifhed himfelf. With re- fpea to their Duke, whom France always op- pofed, and who owed the advantages he gained over Charles of Blois, entirely to the fuccours he received from the King of England, his Father- in-law, it was natural enough for him to be mare an 72 Hifiorical Effays an Englijbman than a Frenchman at heart ; but bis fchemes were dejiroyed, and when, in 1372, he introduced Englifh troops into the Dutchy, all the Nobility immediately rofe, and declared to him that they had fwore obedience and fidelity to him, but that they thought themfelves no lon- ger bound by their oaths, when he united with the Enemies of Fiance, their common Country: they waged war againft him, and he was obliged to take refuge in London. It is true that Char la V. being defirous to avail him felt* of the event, to unite the Dutchy to the Crown, the fame Nobility oppofed him, and remonflrated that Britanny was not originally a Member lopt off of the Monarchy} that therefore ic could not be liable to confiscation j that the Bretons had entered into war againft their Duke only to oblige him to drive out the Englifh; that they never pretended a right to difpoflefs him of his Inheritance,- and that on the contrary they had engaged their faith to preferve it to him, and to fpill the laft drop of their blood to defend the rights of their Country. Aflbciations were en- tered into; fuch proper meafures were taken ; and the infmuations of thofe wretches, who under the mafk of Patriotifm betray their Country, were fw ignominioufly rejected ; and the Invafion was oppofed with fuch courage and refolution, that upon Paris. 73 that Dugutfclin and CHJ/on,. whom the King had ordered to march into Britanny with the French troops under their command, were not able to do any thing of confequence, and returned with only the (hame of having made themfelves the horrour of a Country, which had fo long gloried in having given them birth. By FroiJ/ard's ac- count it appears, that the fteadinefs of the Bre- tons did not lofe them- the favour of Charles V. His laft commands upon his death*b.ed were that peace fliould be made with them, upon condition that their Duke, whom they had recalled, fliould renew his homage to France, and break off his alliance with England j which was accordingly done. I (hall difmifs this article with fome parti- culars relating to the Hotel de Clijfon. This was a houfe, fays Pafquler^ which the Parifians made a prefent of to the Conftable of that name, when he was appointed to punifli them for their fedi- tion in 1383. The two golden M M 's with a crown over them, fignified Mercy, and it bore equally the names of the Hotel de CHJfon, and the Hotel de la Mifericorde. Pafquicr is mifta- ken *j for Charles V. in the year 1371, had given * Hiftoire Gencalogique de France^ Tome VI, VOL. I. E 74 Hijlorical Effays given CliJJon the Sum of 4000 Livres to purchafe that houfe; and if it was afterwards called the Hotel de la Mifericorde^ it was becaufe the Pari- fians repaired thither to folicit mercy, and that CliJJon really interceded for them, and threw him- felf upon his knees before the King in the Pa- lace-court to obtain their pardon, in which all Hiftorians agree. As for the golden MM's fur- mounted with a crown, thefe were military or- naments upon houfes, and fignifiecl a particular fort of cutlafs, which was called Mifericorde t which ancient Knights made ufe of } and prefented to the throats of their enemies, after they had thrown them upon the ground. Francis dc Guife purchafed the Hotel de CHJJon> which then became the Hotel de Guife ; and his fon Henry, furnamed le Balafrty who wanted to fhave Henry III. and was killed atBlois, with his brother the Cardinal, refided here. As he was walking one day in a gallery where Clijfin had caufed the principal A&ions of his life and that of Bertrand Duguefdin to be painted, I always look with pleafure (faid he) upon this Duguefclin ; he had the honour of dejlroy- ing a Tyrant *. This Tyrant was not bis King t haughtily replied the Senefchal^ fon olJoknCarcado the Senifchal, Gentleman of the Chamber, who at the * Don Ptdro, king of upon Paris. 75 the battle of Pavia, perceiving an arquebufier going to fire upon Francis I. threw himfelf before the piece, and was killed. Francis de Rohan- Soubife purchafed the Hotel de Guife in 1697, which he greatly augmented and embellifhed, particularly the periftyle of double columns round the Court. Tbejlreet de la Culture *, or Culture Ste. Catherine. The Duke of Orleans, brother to Cbarhs I' I. was very fond of a Jewefs, whom he privately vifited. Having fome reafon to fufpec"l that Peter de Craon, Lord of Sable and de la Ferte-Bernard, his Chamberlain and Favourite, had joked upon this Intrigue with the Dutchefs of Orleans his wife, he turned him out of his houfe with infamy. Craon imputed his difgrace partly to the Conftable de CUJfon. On the night of the ijth of June, 1391, having waited for him at the corner of t this flreet Coulture Ste. Catherine, and findin* he had but little company with him, he fell upon him at the head of a fcore of ruffians. Clijfin, having defended himfelf for fome time, E 2 with- It derives it name from cultivated ground, belonging to the Nuns of Ste, Catherine, 7 6 Hijlorical EJJays without any other weapon than a fmall cutlafs, after receiving three wounds, fell from his horfe, and pitched againft a door, which flew open. The report of this aflaffination reached the King's ears immediately, juft as he was ftepping into bed. He put on a great-coat^ and his /hoes, and repaired to the place, ^where he was informed his Conflable had been killed. He found him in a Baker's (hop, wallowing in his blood. After his wounds, which were not dangerous, were examined, Con/table, (faid he to him,) nothing ever was, or ever will be fo highly mulfled. It was given out, that CHJfin made his will the next day, and there was a mighty outcry about the Sum of i, 700, oco Livres, which it amounted to. . It fhould be obferved, that during twenty- live years that he was in the fervice of France, he had fought and beat the Englifh every where } that he gained the famous battle of Rofebeque, and chaftifed the Fkmifli ; that he enjoyed for twelve rears the Salary and Appointments of Conftable, and that moreover his landed Eftate, which included many Caftles that he inherited from his Anceftors in Britanny and Poitou, was very confiderable. But in all times it has been considered as a crime Ton a General or a Minifter, whatever fervices he may have done the State, to leave a certain fortune behind him, which is, never- upon Paris. *j*j neverthelefs, almoft always inferior to that of a private perfon, who takes upon himfelf for a fcore of years the collecting of part of the King's Re- venues. The Burying-grwnd of Sf. Jean. Peter de Croon's * Eftate was confifcated, his Hotel dernolifhed, and the place where it flood, was appropriated as a Burying-ground for the Parifli of St. Jean. This Burying-ground has been fince converted into a Market-place. He ob- tained his pardon in 1395, at the interceffion of the King of England, and turned Devotee. It feems that in his flight", aftef the aflaffination he had attempted, he was highly teiri.fied, left- he fhould be taken and die without confeifion, and that he often thought of this circumftance in a very chriftian-like manner, when he returned to Court; for he folicited the King ** very firongly, and at length obtained a Declaration, bearing date the 12th of February 13961 where- by the cuftom of refufmg Confeflbrs to condemji- ed criminals was abolifhed. In the preceding E 3 reign, He was defended' from RaiauJ, Count de Never? anJ'" Auxerre, and from /Idella of France, daughter to King Robert, His family has been extinft for a considerable time, * Ctarln VI. 7 8 Hijiorical Effays reign, Philip de Maizieres, who had as much companion for rogues, as Craon^ had fruitlefsly iblicited a like declaration. " The chief of the Council, fays he in one of his works *, was fo obftinate and headftrong in oppofing it, as well as all the reft of the Council, that it would have been eafier to have turned a mill-wheel backwards, than to have made this perverfe man alter his opi- nion." Doubtlefs the Chancellor, as -well as the reft of the Council, imagined, and not without rea- fon, that this refufal of confeffion was an additional difluafive againft the commiflion of crimes. I obferve that, in thofe ages when Letters had not yet foftened the manners, the execution of criminals was a fpedtacle, exhibited with fome fort of pomp, and frequently upon holy- days. In conducting them where they were to fuffer, (which was ufually at Montfancon) they ufed to ilop at particular places, and amongft others in the court of the Filles-Ditu, where they were re- frefhed with a glafs of wine and three bits of con- fecratcd bread. This collation was called the pa- tient's laji morftl ; if he eat with a keen appetite, it was looked upon as a good omen for his foul. The Duke of Nemours (Jarrus d'drmagnac) \vhom I have already mentioned, and who loft his Le Conge du ticil Pelerin. L. III. C. LXVIII. upon Paris. 79 his head in the place called the Holies, the 4th of Auguft 14/7, was conducted thither from the Baftille, mounted upon a horfe, caparifonned with black cloth. The chambers of the fifh- market, where he was to repofe, were lined with ferge, of a colour betwixt green and blue ; they were fprinkled with vinegar, and juniper was burnt in them to take oft the rimy fmell. Whilft he was at confefllon, his CommifTaries were regaled with 12 pints of wine, white bread y and penn *. He was afterwards J conducted to the fcaffuld, by a gallery creeled on purpofe ; care was taken to fluff" the cufhion upon which he kneeled : the Executioner, after having fever- ed his head from his body, and plunged it into a tub of water, held it up to be viewed by the people. A hundred and fifty Cordeliers, with lighted torches, clofed this Shocking fpe&acle. Before them was carried an open coffin, where- in the head and body of the unfortunate Duke de Nemours were put : they received money to bury him, and returned finging Pfalms. See The Parliamentary Regiflers. See Comptc du Dctmine de Paris, 147 8o Hiflerical Effays Coquetlere^ or Ccquilliere Jlreet. In 1684, Mr. Berrier, in repairing his houfe, which wasfituated hear the end of this ftreet,on the fide of St. Euftatius's church, had occafion to dig in the garden, where he found about two fathom deep, the foundation of an ancient edifice, and in the ruins of an old tower, the head of a bronze antique, fomewhat larger than nature. Was this the head of Ifis or Cybele, or of the Goddefs Lutetia * ? The Learned are not agreed upon this point. The embattled tower of fix fides, with which it was crowned, being the ufual Sym- bol of Cybele, appeared to Moreait de Mautour a convincing proof that it was a head of that God- defs. It is certain that Cyl'ele was held in high veneration amongft the Gauls. When they had any apprehenfions of a bad harveft, they placed her ftatue upon a car drawn by oxen, which made the circuit of the fields and vineyards j it was preceded by the people who fung and dan- ced, and the principal Magiftrates followed bare- footed. A learned Monk obferves, that the worfliip of Cybe/f precluded any from being con- fecrated $ Derived from the name of the f pg-merchants, who kept their Market there; or more likely from Peter Cojuilier, Bar- gefs of Paris, who lived in 1269. * Cities were deified like men, upon Paris. 81 fecrated to her fcrvice, who were not entirely devoted to the prieftly vocation. One's fcx muft even be facrificed to her. " The genius, nature, '* and temperament of the Gauls infpired them " (fays he %) with an invincible diflike to fuch a difhonourable mutilation." Thefe Priefb were brought from Phrygia, in the fame manner as we bring certain fingers with fine: voice? at this day from Italy. 'the Jlreet des Cordeliers. In 1502, Gilles Dauphin^ their General, ja confideration of the favours his Order had receii- ved from the Parliament of Paris, fent to -ths Prefidents, Counfellors and Clerks a permifllon. by which they were entitled to be buried in the habit of a Cordelier. In 1503, he conferred the like indulgence on the Provoft of the Merchants, on the Sheriffs, and the principal Officers of the City. This privilege is not to be confidered as a mere compliment, if it is true that. St. Francis makes annually a regular defce'nt into Purgatory, to relieve fuch fouls as died djeiTed in the habit of his Order *. " E 5 J Relig. des Gaules, Tom. I. p. 236. * See Hiftoire Ecdefiaft, de Choifi, anno 1333, and Relat, dc Frailicr. 82 Hijlorical E/ays 'L'Etoile relates in his Memoirs towards a Hiftory of France, (anno 1577.) " That a ver y ** fine girl drefled in man's cloaths, and who " called herfelf Anthony, was difcovered and 4< taken in the Convent of the Cordelieis. She *' ferved, amongft others, Brother James Berfon, " who was called the Infant of Paris, and the " Cordelier with the pretty hands. Thefe reve- '* rend Fathers all faid, that they took her for a '* real boy : and the thing was left to their con- " fciences. With refpect to the female boy, " fhe was difcharged after being whipt, which t was doing great injury to the chaftity of a vir- *' tuous perfon, who faid fhe was married, and " had ferved thefe worthy Divines for ten or ** twelve years out of pure devotion, and with- ** out having ever fullied her honour." Wo- men fometimes have very fingular devotions ! Perhaps fhe imagined too, by this means, to fhorten her flay in Purgatory. Ste. Croix de la Bretonnerie Jlreet* In the reign of St. Lewis, there were only a few ftraggling houfes in this quarter. Renaud de Brcban, Vifcount de Podoure and de 1'Ifle, occupied one of thefe houfes. In 1225 he mar- ried the daughter of Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, and upon Paris. 83 and came to Paris to carry on a fecret Negocia- tion againft England. Upon Good-Friday at night, in 1228, five Englifhmen entered his or- chard, infulted him, and put him to defiance. He had only a Chaplain and a fervant with him/ They feconded him fo well, that three of thefe Engliftimen were killed, and the other two run away. The Chaplain died the next day of his wounds. Breban, before his departure from Paris, purchafed this houfe and the orchard, which he gave to his gallant and faithful fer- vant, named Galkran. The name of Champ aux Bretons, which was given to the orchard or garden, on account of this fcuffle, became the name of the whole ftreet ; and it was called at the end of the 1310 century La rue du Champ aux Bretons. iS/ 4 Denis Jlreet and gate. The Kings and Queens made their entry at this gate. All the flreets in their way to Notrt Dame were hung with tapeftry, and covered over- head with filk ftuffs and camblet cloths. Odo- riferous water-works perfumed the air ; wine, hippocrafs, and milk flowed from various foun- tains. The Deputies of the fix bodies of Mer- chants fupportcd the Canopy. The trading corpo- E 6 rations 84 Hiftorical Ejjays rations followed, reprefenting in chara&eriftic drefTes, the Jeven deadly fins ; the fiven virtues, Faith, Hope> Charity, Jujlice, Prudence, Strength and Temperance ; Death, Purgatory, Hell and Pa- radife*, all fuperbly mounted. Stages wereereft- ed at proper diftances, where pantomime A<5lors, intermingled with bands of mufic, reprefentcd the Hiftories of the old and new Teftament : the facrifice of Abraham ; the conflict David had with Goliah J ; the afs of Balaam, [peaking to teacb this Prophet reafon-y flocks in a thicket with their jhep- herds, to whom the Angel for chid the birth of our Lord, and, who Jung the Gloria in Excelfis Deo, &c. FroiJJard fays, that at the entry of Ij'abeau de Baviere, there was exhibited at the gate auxPein~ /m, rue St. Denis, a clouded Jky,- very richly befpangled witbjlars, and a figure of God feated in all his majejly, the Father, the Son and, the Holy- Ghojl j and in this fty were little children of tht thoir, in the form of dngels, finging with infinite fweetnefs ; and when the S>ueen pajfed in her open Litter under the gate of this Paradije, two Angels dffcended from above, holding in their hands a very rich crown ornamented with precious Jlones, which they * See. Monflreltt. J See Jean Cbenu. Situated almoft oppofitc to the flreet du Petit Lion. upon Paris. 85 they placed gently upon the g^ieen's bead, finging tbefe verjes j Dame enclofe entre fleurs de lys, Reine etes-vous de Paradis, De France, & de tout le Pays ? Nous remontons en Paradis. Which may be thus rendered in Englim; Illuflrious Dame, with Lillies crown'd ! Of France art thou the fovereign Queen ? Whofe gay Domains flretch'd all around, Lovely as Paradife are feen. Back to our native heaven we fly, And bear thy praifes to the iky. Jean Juvenal des Urjins relates upon the fub- jel of this entry, that Charles VI, was deiirous of being a fpe&ator, and that he faid to.SavoiJi, his favourite ; " Savoift, I defire thou wouldft c mount my good horfe, and I will get behind ** thee, and we will drefs ourfelves in fuch a " manner as not to be known, and will go and fee my wife's entry. They went accordingly " through different parts of the City, and pufh- " ed on to get to the'Chatelet, by the hour the " Queen was to pafs, where there was a great " concourfe of people, and a number of Ser- " jeants 86 Hiftorical Effays " jeants with large maces, who, to prevent the * people's crowding, dealt their blows on every ' fide with a good deal of feverity. The King " and Savoifi endeavoured all this while to get " near, whilft the Serjeants who neither knew " the King nor &7W//?,ftruck at them with their " maces, and the King received feveral fmart " blows upon his fhoulders. In the evening, " the thing was i elated at Court, in prefence of " the Ladies, which occafioned not a little " raillery, the King himfelf joining heartily in the c laugh at the bangs he had received. Next day the Burgefles of Paris, according to cuftom, waited upon Charles yj. with magnifi- cent prefents, and being upon their knees, thus addrefTed him ; * " Moft dear and noble Sire, u your Burgefles of the City of Paris prefent you " with thefe jewels." (They were golden vafes.) " Great thanks to you, good people, (he re- " plied,) they are fine and valuable." They afterwards waited upon the Queen, who received flill richer prefents from them by a Bear and an Unicorn. In thofe times, nothing appeared fq ingenious as thefe kinds of Masquerades ; and this is not the firfl nor laft ceremonial occaiion, upon Vide FrotfarJ. Ceremonial F Parts. 87 upon which Cities have chofen beafts for their Reprefentatives. Upon Lewis JCI.'s entry, in 1461, a very agreeable reprefentation was devifed. * Several fine girls, quite naked, representing Syrens, and dif- playing their beautiful breajls, were placed before the fountain of Ponceau^ where they fung motets and pajloral airs. It feems that at the entry of Queen Ann of Britanny, fo much attention was paid to the accommodation of the Ladies of the train, that ten or a dozen people were ftationed at proper diftances with chamber-pots, for thofc who might have any occafion for them. I forgot to obferve, that at that time, upon all thefe ce- remonies, the cry of acclamation was not Vive It Rot, God fave the King j but Nt'el, Mil, Chri/imaS) Cbrijlmas, he Jlrect des Pretres de la, Doftrine Chretienne, (or Priejls of the Chrif- tian Doftrine] Fauxbourg Sf. Vittor. Their houfe and this ftreet are fltuated upon a fpot of ground, which was called le Clos des Art" ntSy becaufe f Chilperic I. ereded a Circus here, in * Vide Malingre, p. 2 8. f- Cbilperic, who is feldom mentioned, but on account of hit wife Frcdegondc, was a very particular Monarch, if the portrait which 88 Hijiorical Eflays in 577; Every one knows, that the Circus amongft the Romans was a place allotted for public games, and particularly for chamot and horfe-races. The Anna was that part of the Circus where Gladiators and wild beafts fought. Pepin the Short took great delight in feeing bulls combat with lions. Philip de Vahis bought a barn in the ftreet Froidmanteau> near the Lou- vre, to keep his lions, bears and bulls in. At the Hotel St. Paul was the lions tower, upon the fpot where the ftreet of that name * is now built. L'Etaile relates, " that at Eafter, 1583, *' Henry UL after receiving the Sacrament "in " the which Gregory de Tourt has drawn of him, is juft. He fancied himfelf a great Theologift, and was defirous of publishing an Edict, whereby the ufe of the words Trinity and Ptrfant in talking of God were to be abolished, faying, that the word ptrfmi, which is ufed in fpealciag of men, degraded the divine Majefty. He prided himfelf too upon being a Poet, and a very able Grammarian. To the tetters which were ufed in his times, he added four characters to exprefs certain founds, each of which required more than one letter. Thefe additions confifted of the Greek i t Y, Z, II. He difpatched orders into all the Provinces to correct the old books, agreeable to this orthography, and to teach it to children. The an- cient orthography had its martyrs ; . and two fchool- mailers chofe rather to lofe their ears, than, adopt the new one, which was never praclifed but during the life of this Prince* Vide Greg Turon. Hift. Lib. V. See the Article dtt Lioni-Jtrtet. upon Paris. 89 " the Convent des Bons-Hommes, returned to the ' Louvre, where he had his bulls, lions, bears, " and fuch other beafts as he had ufually trained '* up to fight with maftifs, fhot to death with " blunderbufles. This he did on account of a 14 dream wherein he thought he was devoured " by lions, bears, and dogs j a dream, which 8 Hiforical Ejjfays this ftreet, by reafon of its being lower, via in- ferior or infera j hence by corruption and con- traction it afterwards received the name of Er.fer. Others aflert that beggars, fharpers, and vaga- bonds frequently retiring into bye-flreet?, the name of Hell was given to thefe ftreets on ac- count of the outcries, oaths and quarrels, which were inceflantly heard there. St. Etienne-du-Mont. The Curate of this Parifh having complained that a man named Micbau, one of his Parifhio- ners, had made him wait till midnight to pro- nounce ihcbcnediftion of the marriage-bed^ Peler dc Gondiy Bifhop of Paris, ordered that for the future this ceremony (hould always be performed in the day-time, or at lateft before fupper. For- merly a new- married couple could not go to bed till it had been blefled. This was an additional fmall perquifite for the Curates, who al/o claimed les Plats de Noces, (or wedding-diflies,) which was their dinner either in kind, or in money. The Curates of Picardy were very trouble- fome, afTerting that a new-married couple could not, without their permifiion, fleep together the time firfl nights. An Arret was iflued, bearing date upon Paris. 99 date the igth of March 1409 *, whereby the Bijhop of dmiens and the Curates of the /aid City Were forbid the taking or exacting of any money from a new-married couple, for giving them leave to lie together the firft, fecond or third night after their Nuptials; empowering every inhabitant of the faid City to lie with hi 3 wife, without the per- nnffian of the Bifiop and his Officers* We cannot difpofe of any thing that is not ours : did thofe Curates, like certain Priefts of India, imagine that thefe three firft nights belonged to them ? People of diftin&ion, as well as the com- monalty, were married at the church-door. In 1559, when Elizabeth of France, daughter of Henry II, was married to Philip 77. King of Spain, Euftatius du Bellay, Bifliop of Paris, went to the porch of the church of Notre Dame^ and (fays the French Ceremonial) performed the celt- bration of the E/poufals at the faid door, according to the cuftom of our hely Mother the Church. It ihould feem, that it was thought indecent, to give leave, in the church itfelf, for a man and a woman to go to bed together. Froijfard fays, on the fubjec~l of the marriage of Charles VL with Jfabeau de Bazierc, that the intended bride of a King of France, how high F 2 [never * Reglein, <3u Parlement, i oo Hijiorieal Effays foei'er her birth may be, muft be examined and in- fpefted quite naked by the Ladies, in order to know whether Jhe is Jit and properly formed to bear children. La Ferronnerie -Jlreet *. On Friday the i4th of May 1610, about four o'clock in the afternoon, two carts that' were locked in each other, having obliged the coach of Henry IV. ** to flop about the middle of this ftreet, which was then very narrow, Ra- vaillac who had followed him from the Louvre, got upon a fpoke of one of the hinder wheels, and with two ftabs of a knife aflaflinated this Prince, who expired on the fpot. /* is amazing (fays Etoile] that none of the Lords who were in the coach, faw the blows given to the King, and if this mon/ler f had thrown away his knife, it could not have been known who had done it. Htnry If. was reading a letter of the Count de SoiJ/ons : * So tilled from the Ironmongers, Ttrrtnarii. ** Fe was going to the Arfcnal, and had let down the windows, at it was fine wiather, and as he- wanted to fee the preparations that were making for the Queen's entry. f- When he was arrefted, (fays Ptter Matbieu,] (even or ci:' t men came up fword in hand, who faid aloud that he ought to be put to death, but inftantly withdrew again aniongft tie crowd. upon Paris, 101 Soijfom: the Duke d 1 Epernw was upon his right hand on the back-feat ; the Marshals of Lav ar din and Roquelaure fat by the door, on the fide of the Duke d'Epernon; and by the door on the fide of the King were the Duke de Monbazon and the Marquis de la Force', and on the fore- part were the Marquis of Mirebeau and du Plcffis Liancourt. Nicholas -Pafquier relates that a devil appeared to Ravaillac^ and faid to him *; Go, Jirike bard ; you will find them all blind. This devil might very likely be one of thofe feven or eight men, who came fword in hand after he was arrefled, and who wanted to put him to death. I fhall not enter into any long detail, nor into a variety of circumftances that are endlefs, and which few people are unacquainted with. I fhall only deliver my fentiments upon the character of two abandoned villains, whofe parricidious hands were armed againft one of the beft and greateft of our Kings. John Cbatel, aged about 18 or 19 years, after having ftudied under the Jefuits, went through a courfe of Philofophy at the Uni- verfity. His father was a rich fhopkeeper, who did not let him want for any thing. His inter- rogatories point out an unhappy man, ftedfaft in F 3 his * See hii firft Letter. 102 Hi ft or leal Ejfays his abominable principles, artlefs, fincere, and always equal in his replies; a real fanatic not terrified at the fight of his Judges, but looking upon htmfelf as a Martyr, and upon his punifti- ment and crime as an expiation of his fins. After he was released frorh the torture, / accufe myfelf t (faid this monfter in an humble tone of voice to his Confeflbr,) of famt impatience during my ferments ; I pray Gad ta forgive me, and to forgii't my Perfecutors. Ravaillacy who was about 32 years old, was poor, bragged of revelations, and flew into a rage at the very name of Huguenot. He appeared to be a fit initrument for the horrible attempt, which had been for a long time meditated. It is eafy to difcover by his interrogatories, that his fanaticifm was more affected than real. He fometimes put on an ignorant ftupidity, and would lay, the Pope is GW, and Ged is the Pope. His anfwers were in other refpecls like thofe of a rea- ibnable man, not altogether uninftrucled. He lies *, prevaricates, cries, and laments that he has He faid he bad never been out of the Kingdom: it was proved that he had been Teen at Naples. He faid he had never divulged to any o r '.e (not even at confefTion) his defign of killing the King: more than a year before the Prior of the Auguftins of Montargis found a letter upon the Altar, in which he was charged to inform that Prince, that upon Paris. \ 03 has not been able to reiift the temptations of the devil; he entreats his Judges not to throw bis foul into defpair by the force of torments; he acknowledges himfelf guilty of a great crime, but periiits in denying that any one excited him to perpetrate it, and that he would not have taken the refolution of killing the King, if he had not been aflured that this Prince was going to wage war againft the Pope. Is it poflible to be- Jieve, fay fome, that in the horror of his tortures, he would not have accufed thofe who had feduced him either directly, or by their Emifliries, in giving him from time to time fmall donations? Perhaps he expected ft ill that they would lave his Jife. Bcfides, it is certain that upon the firft pull of the horfts, he afked a refpite, and dilated a will, v^hich the Greffitr penned in fuch an un- intelligible manner, that the moft expert decy- pherers have not been able to explain it. F 4 .. Cr- tan t * r,a'.lve r.f dngmlerr.e, intended to aflalfinate him f . This Prior having confulttd with the Lieutenant General and ihc principal Inhabitants of the City, it was refolved to fend the letter, with the verbal procedure thereupon, to the Chan- cellor, who unluckily neglefted this advice. Here is judicial proof, well authenticated, that Ravaiilac had communicated his abominable purpofe. f Vide t l ie Journal of Henry IF. anno 1616. and Nicbilat Pajfuitr, Letter I. IO4 Hiftorical Effays Germain Brice * fays, that when Ravaillac was arreJJed, he was carried to the Hotel de Retz, at prefent the Hotel de Conde. This would have been carrying him a great way. I know that the Hotel de Conde was then the Hotel de Gondi ; but Jean Bapti/ie de Gondi, Duke of Retz, had ftill another Hotel near the Louvre **, and it was hither this villain was dragged. Here he remained two days, chained and guarded by the Archers. The quejlion was put to him in all its rigour, adds Germain Brice, and he acknowledged fuch Jlrange things, that the Judges fur pri fed and frightened, fwore amongjl themf elves upon the holy EvangeliJIs, never to reveal a tittle, for fear of ihe terrible confequences that might have enfued* They even burnt the depofitions, and the whole ver- bal procefs, in the middle of the Chamber ; fo that nothing has remained concerning them, but fame flight fufpiciont, upon which no right judgment has hitherto been founded. This account is abfolutely falfe. Ravaillac always maintained under the queftion that he had no accomplices ; and if he acknowledged any out-of-the-way things, it was only during the fhort refpite which he afked, after the horfes firft began to draw him afunder. Some * Defcription de Paris. Vol. Jn the ftreet da Puli. upon Paris. 105 Som months after, the Demoifelle d'Ecoman^ a Gentleman's wife, who had been attached to Queen Margaret , accufed the Marchionefs de Vtr- neuil and the Duke d 'Epernon * of being the In- frruments of Henry iV.'s aflaflination f. She fpoke welly fays Etoile, and was Jieady and confijlent in her anfwers and accufations> which were con- firmed by cogent reafons and very Jlrong proofs^ that quite ajlanifoed the Judges. Legal proofs were requifite ; but thefe (he could not furnifli. She was condemned to be immured within four walls the reft of her days ; and in the Arret it was faid that all the proceedings fhould be fupprefled. It is not at all unlikely that Germain Brice, who is but too apt to confound ali fadis, has, amongft others, confounded this procedure with the criminal process againft Ravai'Jac. I fliall conclude this article with a pafld^e from the Memoirs of Sully , which fhews the little pre- caution that Henry IV. took againfl the attempts which were continually made upon his life. F 5 "I * There is no one of his race row remaining, his line being extinft at the fecond generation, as well as that of the Duke de Lcrmt in Spain. 1 fhall in another article point out the reafons thefe two men had for forming this ecnfpiracy, and in what manner they conduced it. f Anno 1611. An Arret of the 3ift of July 1611. io6 Hiftorical EJJays cc I received advice from Rome (fays Sully *) " that there was a confpiracy formed againft *' his Majefty's perfon, which I imagined lought " not to conceal from him, though the intel- " ligence did not appear to myfelf to be worthy " of any thing but contempt, which, indeed, " it met with from that Prince, who replied " to me upon the occafion, That he was con- " vinced, that the way not to render his life " worfe thah death itfelf, was to pay no regard " to any fuch informations j that the calculators " of horofcopes had threatened him, fome with " dying by the fword, and others in a coach ; " but that no one had ever mentioned poifon *' to him, which in his opinion was the eafieft " manner of difpatching him, as he eat a good ** deal of fruit, of every kind that was brought " to him, without a tafter; and that in fine he " repofed his confidence in the fovereign Matter of his days. " 'The For-l'Evefque. Forum Epifcopi, that is to fay, the Seat of the temporal JurifdicYion of the Bifhop. There were in Paris and its Fauxbourgs nineteen Lords Jurifdiflions ; the uncertainty of whofe limits occa- * Memoir* of Sully t anno 2605. upon Paris. 107 occanoned frequent altercations. By an Edi& of the month of February 1674, all thefe fubordi- nate Jurifdi&ions were united and incorporated into that of the Chatelet. The Jurifdiclion of the Archbifhop of Paris, and the Chapter of Notre Dame, of the Abbe de Sr. Germain des Prez, of the Grand Prior of France, of the Com- mander of St. John de Latran, and of the Prior of St. Martin des Champs, only remained, and thefe were confined to their own diftri&s. Adrian ae Falois pretends that it is pronounced For-rEveque, inftead of Four-F Eveque ; and that the common oven, where the Bifhop's vanals ufed to fend their bread to be baked, makes part of that building, which is now converted into a prifon. The Jlreet of les Fc/ds Saint Germain de The Hotel de Sourdis * had communication with the Cloifter of this Church. Gabrielle d'Ef- trees, Duchefs of Beaufort, refided in the Dean's houfe, probably to be near the Louvre, and the Marchionefs of Sourdis her aunt. She died here upon Eafter-eve in 1599. Sauval avers that he knew fome old men, who informed him, that F 6 after The CuI-dc-Sac dtSsurdis in this ftreet. io8 Hiftorical EJJ'ays after her death, (he was expofed to view in the great hall of this houfe ; that (he was drefled in a white fattin gown, and lay upon a bed of ftate, of crimfon velvet, ornamented with gold and filver lace. It does not feem probable, that a perfon fliould be expofed to public view, whofe features were all disfigured, and whofe mouth was turned round her neck, by the frightful fymp- toms of death. She f had pafled part of Lent at Fontainebleau: policy and decorum not allowing Henry 17. to keep her with him during Eafter, he had begged of her to return to Paris, and conducted her as far as Melun. Thefe two Lo- vers (fays Sulli) feem to have had a fecrct mif- giving, that they fhould never fee each other more. With tears in their eyes, they loaded one another with carefles, and talked in fuch a ftrain, as if it was for the laft time of their con- verfing. The Duchefs recommended to the King her children, her houfe at Monceaux, and her domeftics. The Prince heard her, and melted into tears, inftead of alluring her, her requefts fliould be granted ; they took leave, and inflantly recalling each other, embraced again, and could not The Deanery^over-againft the great door of the church, towards the Louvre. t Journal de Henri IV. 1599. upon Paris. 109 not part. She went to lodge at the houfe of one Zumet *, an Italian who had accumulated a very large fortune by being concerned in every new exaction upon the people. This was the man, who in the marriage contract of one of his daughters, filled himfelf, Lord Paramount of feventeen bun" tired thoufand Crowns. His witty and lively cha- racter had endeared him to Henry IV. and this Prince ufually fixed upon his houfe for his pri- vate fuppers and parties of pleafure. The Du- chefs was received by her hoft with the higheft refpec"h Whilft fhe was hearing Jenebres, in the church of Petit St. Antoine, upon Holy Thurf- day, after eating a hearty dinner, fhe was taken with a fwimming in the head. Being returned to Zamtt's, whilft fhe was walking in the gar- den, after having eat part of a citron, (others fay a fallad f) (he had all on a fudden fuch a burning in her throat, and luch violent pains in her ftomach, that fhe cried out, J lake me out of this hovfe I am poifened . She was carried home, where her dilbrder increafed with fits, and * Confeflion de Sanci, L. II. Remarques fur le Chap. I. t Vide ^A^gne. ~\ Sully '- Memoirs. ^ A marriage betwen Henry IV. and Mary de Midicis was already talked of; and as Zamtt was born a lubjtft of the Duke of Florence, his enemies fufpefted him of a crime of which there was no proof. HO Hijlorical E/ays and fuch violent convulfions, that one cou'd not look without horror upon a face that Come hours before was fo har.dfome. She expired on Satur- day morning about 7 o'clock : (he was opened, and the child was found dead in her womb. Henry W. made all his Court go into mourning, and wore it himfelf the firft week in a violet colour, and the fecond in black. This Fa~ vturite was poifoned^ fays a writer of that time, becaufe the King had refolved upon marrying her ; and confidtring the troubles that fuch a Jlcp would have cccafioned, adds this galant man, /'/ was do- ing & fervice both to the Printe and the State. This may be, but it muft be allowed at the fame time, that fuch fervices are more infamous than thofe of the executioner ; befldes, the majority of hiftorians impute this fo extraordinary death to fome very unfavourable circumftances that at~ tended her pregnancy. Du Fouarre-ftreet. The Univerfity-fchools were formerly on both fides of this ftreet. It took its'-name of Fouarre t (an obfolete word that fignifies ftraw,) from the great quantities of it confumed by the fcholars, who were feated in their clafles upon nothing but ftraw. There were formerly neither benches nor upon Paris. in nor chairs in churches. They were ftrewed with frefh ftraw and odoriferous herbs, parti- cularly at midnight mafs, aud other high feilivals. he Jlreet del Francs-Bourgeois, au Marais. In 1350, John Rou/fcl and Mice his wife, caufed twenty-four alms-hou!ts to be built in this ftreet, which was then called the ftreet det vieillet Poulies. Their heirs, in 1415, gave thefe alms- houfes to the Grand-Prior of France, together with 70 livres of Paris by way of annuity, upon condition of furnifhing two poor perfons with lodging in each of thefe alms-houfes, who were to be allowed 13 deniers (or farthings) upon their coming in, and a denier a weet. Thefe chambers were called la mafjan des Francs-Bcur- geois, becaufe thofe who were admitted into them, were free from all taxes and imports, on account of their poverty. This is the origin of the namft of this ftreet. Here lived two beggars in 1596, who in their leifure hours had fo much praclifed the imitation of French horns and the voice of dogs, that at the diftance of thirty paces, one would imagine he heard a pack of hounds and huntfmen. The deception muft have been ftill ftronger in a place where 112 Hijlorlcal E/ays where the eccho is multiplied by a rocky fitua- tion. It is highly probable, that thefe men were employed in an adventure, wherein a real apparition was thought to appear. If Henry IP. had been curious enough to have advanced, he would doubtlefs have received a dart ; and it would have been afterwards faid, that not being a good Catholic at heart, it was the devil that had killed him. Moft hiftorians relate this affair in the following manner. f " The King being a hunting in the foreft of " Fontainebleau, heard at about half a league's " diftance from where he was, the barking of ns in going on, heard the noife^ '* but could not d'fcover from whence it came* *' A great black man prefented himfelf in the " thickeft part of the bufh'-*, and cried in a ter- * c rible voice, Do you want tne ? and fud- *' denly difappeared. At thefe words, the moft ' re- f P. Mathleu, L. I. Nar. V. * Journal du rcgne de Hinri IV, anno 1598. Supl. upon Paris. 113 " rsfolute thought it was prudent to difcontinue " the chace, which now excited nothing but " fear ; and though this paffion frequently ties " the tongue and freezes up the fpeech, they " nevertheless related the adventure, which " many would have looked upon as one of Mer- " lin's fables, if the truth of it, corroborated by *' fo many tongues, and witnefled by fo many " eyes, had not put it out of all manner of doubt. " The (hepherds in the neighbourhood fay, it " is a fpirit which they call the great huntfman ; " others pretend that it is St. Hubert's hunt, " which is heard in other places." 'The Church of Ste. Gfnevieve. The tail of Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld 3 cloak, which is upon his tomb in this church, is fupported by an Angel. I am furprifed that the extravagant imagination which created this Page, inftead of leaving him. half-naked, did not give him a livery. Grenelle-jlreet^ in the Quarter of . St. Eujlache. This Hotel where the amorous Count de Soif- fons diverted himfelf with difperfing on ail fides, upon JJ4 Hijlorical Effays upon the windows, ceilings, and wainfcot, inge- nious emblems, galant devices, and his cypher blended with that of Catherine de Navarre y fitter to Henry 17. This fame Hotel, which was after- wards inhabited by the Duke de Etllegarde y that amiable and polite Courtier, who was the flame of Gabrielle d'Ejtreei, of Madame, of Ma- demoifelle de Guife, and many others : This Hotel, injine^ which became, after the death of the Cardinal de Richelieu y the afylum of the Mufes, where the French Academy fo long afTembled, and where the Racans, the Sarazins, and the Voitures held their meetings, is at this hour the Hotel des Fermes, On the 9 r .h cf June 1572, Jwnne fAlvrtti mother to Henry IV. died in the third houfe from this Hotel, towards the ftreet of St. Honore. She was only 44 years old, and had been ill but five days. It was reported that (he had been poifon- ed, by the fcent of a pair of perfumed gloves, which fhs had bought of Rene, an Italian, and a great rogue, who was perfumer to the Court of Catherine de Medicis. The body of this Prin- cefs was opened, and the furgeons, according to Cayet, reported, that they could not difcover any fymptoms of poifon. She could not avoid coming to Paris upon the marriage of her ftfh ; bcfidts, flie had been aflured, that war was going to upon Paris. 115 to be declared againft her irreconcileable enemy, Philip II. King of Spain, Charles IX. being per- fuaded that he had caufed his wife, Elizabeth of France, to be poifoned, accufing her with carry- ing on a criminal correfpondence with his Con Don Carlos. Now a- days, as foon as a Princefs enters in- to the fifth month of her pregnancy, Phyficians, Surgeons and Men-midwives make a property of her health, and it is with difficulty fhe can ob- tain leave from them to go out of her apartment. The eafien\ carriage, and the fined roads, are no fecurity to them. However defirous fhe may be of going only from Verfailles to Fontainebleau, they will not allow it. Cayet, Deputy- Precep- tor to Henry IV. relates, " That Jeannt Al~ *' bret, being defirous of following her hufband cc to the wars of Picardy, the King her father u told her, that in cafe fhe proved with child, '* he wanted her to come and lie in at his houfe ; " and that he would bring up the child, whe- ' ther boy or girl, himfelf that this Princefs " finding herfelf pregnant, and in her ninth * c month, fet out from Compiegne, pafled " through all France, as far as the Pyrenees, " and arrived in fifteen days at Pau in Beam. " She was mighty defirous, (adds this hifrorian,) 48 to fee her father's will. It was contained in n 6 Hijlorical E/ays ** a thick golden box, on which was a golden " chain, which would have gone 25 or 30 times vt round one's neck. She afked it of him. It " {hall be thine, faid he, as foon as thou haft *' fhewn me the child thou now carrieft about '* with thee ; and that thou may'ft not bring in- 11 to the world a crying or a pouting child, I pro- " mife you the whole, provided that whilftyou " are in labour, you fing a Beam fong, and I " will be prefent at the birth. About rulf " paft twelve at night, on the ijth of December, " 1553, the Princefs's pains began to come " upon her. Her father being informed, came " downj {he hearing him fell a tinging the Beam " fong, which begins, Notre Dame du bout '* du ponty aidez-moi en cette heure ; (i. e. Our 4< Lady of the end of the bridge, affilt me in this " hour.) Being delivered, her father put " the golden chain about her neck, and gave " her the golden box wherein was his will, fay- " ing to her : That is for you, daughter, but this ** is for me, taking the child in his great gown, " without waiting for its being dreft in form, and carried it into his chamber. The little " Prince was brought up in fuch a manner, as to ' be able to undergo fatigue and hard/hip, fre- ** quently eating nothing but common bread. " The good King his grandfather ordered it thus, upon Paris. 117 ' thus, and would not let him be delicately pam- " pered, that from his early youth he might " be enured to neceflity. He has often been ' feen, according to the cuftom of the country, amongft the other children of the Caftle and Village of Coirazze, bare footed, and * bare-headed, as well in winter, as in fummer." \Vho was this Prince? HENRY IV. G renter St. Lazare- ftreet. Pafquier relates, that in the year 1424 a girl, named Mar got > came to Pa: is, who played at tennis (at the court in this ftreet) both fore- handed and back-handed better than any man. This is the more aftonifhing, as at that time the game was played with the bare hand, or with a double glove. Afterwards fome contrived to lace cords and packthread acrofs their hands to fend the ball with greater velocity, and thence arofe the idea of Raqucts. The name ofpaume, (tennis) he adds, was given to this game, becaufe at that .time this amufement confifted in receiving and returning the ball with the palm of the hand. Guenegaud - ftreet. I have obferved that from Buci-gate, fituated near the top of the ftreet of St. Andre des Arcs *, the * Oppofite the ftreet Contref arpe. liS Hijlorkal Ejfays the City-walls pafling over the ground, where Dauphine-gate * was afterwards ereded, ter- minated therr inclofure at the gate de Nefle, Which then flood on the fpot which the court of the College de* quatre Nations now occupies. The Hotel de Nefle, with its gardens, was fituated on the ground, where we now fee fome appurtenances of this College, the houfes of the petite-place de Conti, this petite-place itfelf, the Hotel de Conti, the ftreet Guenegaud from the common fewer to the river, and the little ftreet de Nevers. Philip the Fair purchafed it from Amaurl de Nejle> in 1308. The Kings his Succeflbrs gave it away and alienated it feve- ral times : it always reverted to the Crown. Cbarle$ IX. fold it, in 1571, to Lewis de Gon- zagufj Duke of Nevers, who rebuilt it in part. It was afterwards called the Hotel Guenegaud, and at length the Hotel de Conti. Henri de Guenegaud, Secretary of State, who purchafec it in 1650, made great alterations to it, and built this ftreet upon part of the ground which compofed the garden. Brantome mentions a Queen f who rcfided at tbe Hotel de Ncjlc^ who ttfed to watch for pajjen- gen ; and fuch as were mojl agreeable to her, let them At the other end of Contrefcarpe-ftreet. f Dunes Galaotes. Tome I. p. 27 1. upon Paris. 119 them l>e cf what condition they would, Jhe had them called and introduced to her ; and after having obtained what Jhe wanted of them, Jhe had them thrown from the Tower * into the water below. I cannot fay, continues he, that this is a faff ; tut the greatefl part of the people of Paris affirm it, and thoje who Jhew the Tower, never fail to relate it. The Poet Villon in his ballad to the Ladies, which he compofed in 1461, fays; Ou ejl la Reine )ui commando que Buridan Put jctte en un foe en Seine ? " Where is the Queen,who ordered that Buridan Should be thrown in a fack into the Seine ? " Jane, Countefs of Burgundy & Artois, Queen of France and Navarre, a Princefs much cen- fured for her manners, refided at the Hotel de Ncfle, after the death of Philip the Long, her hufband. She died in 1329, and wanted to be buried in the Cordeliers Church. John Buridan was a native of Bethune in Artois, and famous in * It flood where the Place des quatre Nations i now ercfted. 120 Hijiorical Eflays in the Univejfity of Paris after the year 1327. If he was thrown into the Seine, he was not drowned ; for he was ftill living in 1348. f It was to this fame Hotel de Nefle, that Henrietta of Clevcs, wife to Ltwis de Gonzoguf, Duke of Nevers, brought the head of her Lover CoconaS) || which was expofed upon a poft in the Place de Greve : (he carried it off herfelf by night, had it embalmed, and kept it for a long time in the drawer of a cabinet behind her bed. This cabinet was afterwards watered with the tears of her grand-daughter Maria Louifa de Genzague of Cleves, whofe Lover | fuffered the fame fate as Coconas. D. Felibien and D. Lobineau^ in their Hiflory of Pari?, have manifeftly copied the Plans in the firft Volume of the Treatife upon the Po- lice by the Commiffary la Marre. Thefe Plans are very erroneous. They place the Hotel Nefle without the walls ; whereas it was moft certainly within them ; and it is equally certain that the walls of this Hotel made part of thofe ef the City. The Duke dc Berri, uncle to Cbarltt j- Memoires de Nevers. Tome I. p. 57. || Beheaded in 1574. She was married to Ladijlat, and afterwards to Cafmir, brothers and Kings of Poland. | Cinyrr.an, beheaded in 1642, upon Paris. 121 Charlts VI. it is true, ereded a little Hotel (the ftjeur de Nefle) beyond the City-ditches. It communicated with the great Hotel by a draw- bridge, and the gardens extended on one fide to- wards Buci-gate, and on the other to the bank of the river, that is to fay,to where the Key Malaquet now ftands. This little Hotel ought not to have been confounded with the great one. The College des quatre Nations was ere&ed upon fome of the appendages of each, and alfo upon the City-ditches. Before writing this, I made an accurate infpe&ion of the ancient Plans of Paris in the King's Library, and in that of St. Viclor. Some people who were digging near the Tower de Nefle, in 1538, difcovered u vaults, and in one of thefe vaults the body of a man, armed cap a pie. Were thefe fepulchres made in the time of the Pagans ? It is very certain, there never was a Church or a Church- yard upon this fpot *. Gibct. A corrupt word from Gebel, which fignifies in Arabic a mountain. In former times, cri- minals Guiil. Marcell, Tome I. p. 71 & 78. VOL, I. G 122 Hijlorical E/ays minals were executed in France upon high grounds, that the punifliment inflicted might be feen at a great diftance. Tacitus * fays that the Germans ufed to hang traitors and deferters upon trees, and that they ftifled cowards, lazy people, and nice fellows, under a hurdle in a bog. The fpirit of the law, in the dif- ference of thefe punifhments, was to publifh the defert of the crime, and to bury its infamy in eternal oblivion. Stephen Pafquier f obferves that the gibbets of Montfaucon have been fatal to all that were any wife concerned in them ; that they were hand- felled by Enguerrand de Marigni, who erected them ; that Peter Remi, Superintendent of the Finances, under Charles the Fair, having re- paired them, was alfo hanged upon one of them ; and in our time, adds he, John Mourner, Lieu- tenant Civil of Paris, having lent a band to renew thtm, if he did not end his days then like the two others, made tbt Amende honorable however in the fame place. Pa/pier's remark is good, as it fhews there was a time, when jjftice was inflided in France, upon great rogues, as well as little ones. < * De Moribus Germ. C, XII. t L. VII. C. XL, upon Paris. 123 The Guet. It appears that under the fiifr. Race of our Kings, the Guet was not in great repu- tation. By an Ordonnance of Clotarius //. anno 595, it is ena&ed " That when a robbery " is committed by night, thofe who are upon " guard in that quarter, are refponfible if they " do not flop the thief; that in cafe the " rogue, efcaping from thefe firft, is feen in *' another quarter, and the guards of this fe- " cond quarter, being immediately acquainted " with it, neglecl: to flop him, then the lofs " occafioned by the robbery, {hall fall upon " them, and they fhall moreover be con- " demned to pay a fine of five fols j and fo, " on from quarter to quarter *." La Harpe-Jlreet. Under a very forry houfe that has the fign of la Croix de Fer, (or iron Crofs) there is a very large hall vaulted, near 40 feet high. This is a remain of the ancient Palace des TermeS) and a precious monument of the Ro- man manner of building. The cement which they made ufe of, we have never yet been ac- G 2 quainted Traitc de la Police, Tome I. p, 256. 124 Hljlorical Effays quainted with. This, methinks, does no honour to our Architect. The Edifices and Courts of this Palace occupied all the extent between this ftreet de la Harpe, and that of St. Jaques, from the ftreet du Foin to the Place de Sor- bonne. The park and gardens of this Palace reached on one fide as far as Mount Leuco- titius *, and on the other to the Temple of Jfis **. Some learned men believe that the Emperor Julian created it about the year 358. Others pretend it is more ancient. This was the ufual place of refidence of our Kings of the firft Race. Childebert, fays Fortunat^ went from his Palace , through his garden^ as far as the environs of the Church of St. Vincent. The Princefles Gijlj and Rotrude, daughters of Charlemain^ were exiled to this place after his death. This great Prince had winked a little too much at their conduct, very likely through that fame tendernefs, which (according to P. Daniel f ) prevented his giving them away in marriage, not being able to refolve upon a feparation from them. Lcivif le De- bonnaire, as foon as he mounted the throne, undertook to reform their manner of living, and * The Mountain of Ste. Genvieve. St. Vincent's, fince St. Germain des Prez. f Hifto y of France. Vol. I, p. 55*. upon Paris. 125 and began by putting two Lords to death, who parted for their Lovers. He doubtlefs believed, that this example would intimidate other Gal- lants from offering themfelves. It appears he was miftaken, and that they were never in any want of fuch. Thefe PrincefTes, befides a great fhare of wit, had no fmall tafte for Letters ; they were alfo affable, generou', beneficent, and in a word good, as wo- men of gallantry ufuaily are, without guib, and without any motives of intrigue, intereft, or ambition. They died generally lament- ed; and whilft le Dibonnaire, who was fond of no other company but that of Prieft?, who had banifhed all recreations from his Courr, and even regulated it monaftically ; who had no tafte for any thing but Pfalm-finging and Church-ceremonies, after having rendered him- felf contemptible, fays the lame P. Danid *, to the Bijhops and Abbes, by having been tso familiar with them, and paid them too much deference, died disgraced and degraded in the opinion of his lubjedts, with the reputation of a very virtuous, but at the fame timt a vtry indifferent Monarch f. G 3 St. Hiftory of Frairc. Vol. I, p. 645. f Ibidem. 126 Hiftorical Eflays St. Honor e-Jireet. In the reign of Philip the Fair, the Churches of St. Honore, St. Thomas du Louvre, and des Quinze-Vingts, were ftill furrounded with fields and vineyards; and in an old Regifter of that time it may be feen, that in the year 1310 there was a good harveft of corn, wine, and oats. Thefe Churches were not inclofed in Paris till the building of the wall began under Charles V. in 1367, finished in the reign of Charles VI* in 1383, and which exifted fo late as 1633. In reading the Hiftory of civil wars in the reigns of Henry 111. and Henry IV. il fhould be obferved that the Palace of the Thuilleries was on the outfide of the walls. " Henry 111. * " fays I'Etoilt, feeing the rage of the people " continue, and being informed befides, that " the Preachers who diftracled them, and who " maintained no other doctrine than that thty <( Jhould go and take IT -other Henry of Palais " in his Louvre, had got 7 or 800 Scholars, * f and 3 or 400 Monks to take up arms ; " and thofe about the Prince having at five ' in the afternoon received advice by one of his In 1588. upon Paris. 127 " his trufty fervants, who had fllpt into the ** Louvre in difguife, that he muft get out as *' faft as he could, or he was undone, he went " out of the Louvre on foot, with a ftick in his " hand, according to cuftom, and as if going to " walk in the Thuilleries. He was not yet out " of the door before a Citizen told him, to " rmike the beft of his way, for that the Duke * " de Guife, with 1200 men, was coming to " take him. Being arrived at the Thaillcries *' where was his liable, he got on horleback * c with fuch of his Attendants as could be mount- * c ed there. Duhalde booted him, and putting " on his fpur the wrong way, It is all one, faid * the Prince, / am not going to fee fry nriflrefs. '* Being on horfeback, he turned towards the City, and f'wore he would not re-enter it but " by a breach." '* Between five and fix in the evening, fays ' Ceyety Henry III. went out of Paris by the Porte G4 " Neuve. The Duke dt Guift went at night to the firft Prefident, Acbiile cn Paris. 137 that time, where the Convent of the Carmelites now ftands, that is to fay, upon that fide of Mount LeucotitiuSy which is now called the Fauxbourg St. Jaques. On the other hand, I am not ignorant, that in moft burying grounds there was a Chapel de- dicated to St. Michael, who was invoked as the patron of the dead, and defender of their tombs ; that at the gate of Notre Dame, he is reprefent- ed weighing of fouls, whilft the Devil in order to pilfer fome of them fquats down and hides him- felf under his fcales \ and that it fhould therefore be prefumed, fome may fay, that it is one of his ftatues which is feen upon the top of the Carme- lites Church. To this objection I anfwer, that after Chriftianity had diffipated the darknefs of idolatry, the fame functions were attributed to feveral Saints, as the Pagans had attributed be- fore to their falfe Divinities ; that fomebody having by accident, as I faid above, dug up in a field a Mercurius-Theutatdy imagined it to be a reprefentation of St. Michael, and that Sculptors proceeding upon this ftatue, and on this opinion, ufed to reprefent that Archangel in this manner. I will add, that the Pagans never buried their dead in Cities ; that the places where they made their interments, were ufually confecrated to Mercury , that they gave this God the epithet of 138 Hijiorical Eflays of Redux, as having the pcwer of re-condu&ing fouls to the earth ; and in fine, that by all the monuments which have been difcovered in the inclofure of the Carmelites and the environs, it is not to be queftioned but that this was the burial- ground of the Parifians in the times of Paga- nifm. *The Church des SS. Innocens. Under the article of this Church- yard, Corro- zct quotes an Epitaph which was to be feen in his time, but is not now to be found, probably becaufe being engraved upon a plate of copper, fome wretch or other has ftole it to fell. Here lies Jottande Bailly, who tiled in ike year 1514, in the SSth of her age, and the 42^ of her widowhood; who faw, or might have feen before btr death, twt hundred and ninety -five children, all defended from herfelf *. JJle of Notre Dame, or St. Louis. It was under the reign of Charles V. according to fome Authors, that there lived a dog, whofe memory deferved being handed down to poflerity by a monument that is ftill extant over the chim- ney of the great hall of the Caftle de Mont ar- gil. Antiquitcs de Paris, printed in 1561. upon Pans. 139 gis. D'Audiguler fays it was a grey-hound ; a circumftance, which I cannot help calling in queftion, if it be true that the faculty of fmelling in dogs is the primum mobile of their perception. Grey-hounds, it is well known, have no fcentj and therefore if they fawn upon their mafter, or if they wait upon him when he goes to bed, and when he gets out of if, it is nothing more than the power of habit, (which is the cafe of Courtiers) and not the effect of any attachment or affe&ion. In fhort, I hold dogs abfolutely incapable of thofe marks of fondnefs and love, of which I am now going to give the relation. jiubri de Montdidier, travelling alone in the foreft of Bondi, was murdered, and buried at the foot of a tree. Hts dog remained upon the grave feveral days, and would not leave the place, till he was compelled to do fo by hunger. He came at laft to Paris, to the houfe of an intimate friend of the unhappy Au.bri, and by his doleful howlings, feemed to acquaint him of the lofs they had fuftained. After receiving fome victuals, he renewed his noife, went to the door, and turned about to fee if he was followed by any one, came back to his mafler's friend, and pulled him by the coat, as it were to perfuade him to go along with him. This extra- 140 Hifiorical EJJays extraordinary behaviour of the dog, his return- ing without his mafter whom he never quitted, and who all at once difappeared, and perhaps too that diftribution of juftice and of events, which feldom permits any long concealment of atrocious crimes; all thefe put together, oc- cafioned the dog's being followed. As foon as he came to the foot of the tree, he began to howl more violently than ever; and to fcratch up the ground, as if marking out the fpot where they fliould dig : they dug, and found the body of the unhappy Aubri. Some time after, he accidentally fpied the murderer, whom all Hiftorians agree in calling the Chevalier Macaire. He flew at his throat immediately, and it was with much difficulty he was forced to quit his hold. Every time the dog met him, he purfued and attacked him with the fame fury. The dog's inveteracy againft this man alone brgan to be taken no- tice of; and people not only called to mind the aftVclion which he had always fliewn for his mafter, but fcveral inftances of the Che- valier Macairis hatred and envy againft Aubri de Montdldier came alfo to be recollected. Some other circumftances increafed the fufpicion. The King being informed of what had pafled, had the dog fent for, who remained perfectly quiet, upon Paris. 141 quiet, till fuch time as the Chevalier Macairs appeared, when immediately, in the midft of a fcore of other Courtiers, he turned about, barked, and attempted to rufh upcn him. In thofe times, when there were no convincing proofs of guilt, it was ufual to appoint a com- bat between the Accufer and Arcufed. Thefe kinds of combats were called God' 's Judgment^ becaufe people were perfuaded, that heaven would fooner work a miracle than let innocence be overcome. The King being ftruck with fo many corroborating circumftances againft Ma- caire> judged it to be a gage of battle-cafe ; that is to fay, he appointed a duel between the Chevalier and the dog. The Circus was marked out in the Ifle of Notre Dame, which was then a large plain, uncultivated, and un- inhabited. Macaire was armed with a large club; the dog had a c*flc, whither he might retreat upon occafion, and from whence he might renew his attacks. On being loofened, he inftantly runs up to his adverfary, turns round him, evades his blows, threatens him firft on one fide, then on the other, tires him out, and at length darts at him, feizes him by the throat, brings him to the ground, and forces him to acknowledge his crime in the prefence of the King and the whole Court. It 142 Hlftorical EJJays It is not aftonifliing that this dog fhould remain feveral days upon his matter's grave, nor that he fhould manifeft fo much rage at the fight of his aflaflin ; but the greater part of readers will not believe, that a duel was appointed between a man and a dog. For my part, it appears to me, that whoever has lived any time in the world, and is a little acquainted with Hiftory, fhould be as fully convinced of the oddities of the human mind, as of the fidelity of dogs. About the year 968, it was debated, whether inheritance fhould take place in direct line. The Civilians being divided in opinion, the Emperour Otho I. appointed liuo Braves to fight together in his pre fence, to determine this point of right *. The Champion for inheritance getting the better, it was ordered to take place, and that for the future, grand-children fhould be joint heirs to the Eftates of their progenitors with their uncles and aunts, in the fame man- ner as their fathers and mothers would have inherited. The Bifhop of'Paris and the Abbe de St. Dtnis difputed about the Patronage of a Monaftery ** Ptpin the Short, not being able to decide the claims, * Tiray. de jure pritnig. Qu, XL, * Hift. de Paris. upon Paris. 143 claims, which appeared to him very much perplex- ed, referred them lo the Judgment of God by the Crofs. Hereupon the Bilhop and Abbe appoint- ed each of them a man, who being conducted in- to the Palace-Chapel, ftretched ouc his arms in the form of a Crofs ; whilft the people with de- vout atteniion betted by turns for the one and the other. The Bifhop's man grew firfr tired, dropped his arms, and loft him the cauie*. The Ordeal, or Judgment ef Godly cold water > corfifted in caftmg the accufed perfon into a large deep tub of water, with his right hand tied to his left foot, and his left hand to his right foot. If he funk, he was judged innocent j if he fwam, it was a proof that the water, which was previ- oufly confecrated, would not receive him, as being too pure to admit a criminal. The perfon condemned to the Ordeal, or Judg" nitnt of God by fire, was compelled to carry a red-hot iron bar of about 3 pound weight nine and fometimes a dozen paces. This trial was alfo rrade by thrufting the hand into an iron gauntlet red-hot from the furnace, or Ky plunging it Amongft other means employed by the Siamtfe> to difro- ver on whi.h fide juftice is in civil and criminal matters, they particularly ufe certain purgative pills, which they caufe the two parties to fwallow ; and he who keeps them longeft upon hij flomach without voiding, wins his fuit, Biji, dei Pyogti. 144 Hiftorical Effays it into a vefTel full of boiling water, to take out a confecrated ring, which was fufpended in it at a greater or lefs depth. The Patient's hand was afterwards wrapped up with a linnen cloth, upon which the Judge and the Accufer affixed their feals. At the end of three days, the cloth was taken off, and if no mark of the burning appear- ed, he was abfolved and acquitted. The irons and other inftruments which were ufed upon thefe trials, were confecrated and kept in Churches privileged for that purpofe.The profits which therefrom arofe were additional reafons for fupporting this credulity of the lieges. It (hould feem that the precept,7/Wyft0// not tempt the Lord thy God, was entirely forgotten in thofe times. I am forry that the Author of the Spirit of Laws * fhould be perfuaded that our Anceftors had hands like a crocodile's paws. Who dots not perceive, (fays he, fpeaking of thefe triah) that among ft a people trained to arms, a hard and cal- lous fkin could not receive fuch an itnprcjjion front hot iron or boiling water, as to be vifible tbret days after ? And if it did appear, it proved that Jje who underwent the trial was an effeminate fel- low. Effeminate perfons, one might tell him, may be very worthy people. Ourpeafants, adds he, Vol. II. pig, 311. i ^ upon Paris. 145 he, with their callous hands, handle hot iron jujl as they pleafe. Where has he feen this, one may afk him again, and in what Provinces do our Peafants plunge their hands in boiling water, without any mark remaining ? The trial by fire was in ufe amongfl the Pa- gans *. In the Antigone of Sophocles^ the guards offer to prove their innocence by handling hot iron, and walking through flames. Strabo f men- tions fome Prieftefies of Diana, who walked upon burning coals, without receiving any hurt. St. Epiphanius relates, that the Egyptian Priefls tubbed their faces with certain drugs, and after- wards plunged them in boiling caldrons, with- out feeming to feel the leaft pain. Madame de Sevigne, in one of her letters , fays, that (he has juft feen a man in her own chamber, who let fall ten or a dozen drops of burning fealing-wax upon his tongue, which after the operation ap- peared as well as ever. We have feerj in the Provinces a Quack, named Gafpard Toulon^ who rubbed his hands with melted lead. To return to the hiftory of Aubri de Montdi- ditr's dog. It appears to me, that the decifion of a point of law, by the fighting of two Cham- pions ; the lofs of a fuit by one man's growing tired * P. Brumoy. Vol. Ill, p. 403. f Slrat. L, XII. J Vol. V. VOL. I. H 146 Hijlorical E/ays tired and letting his arms drop fooner than an- other ; the acquittal of perfons accufed, be- caufe being tight bound, they fink in water, and ethers being adjudged guilty for not being able to grafp a bar of red-hot iron, without being burnt ; it appears to me, I fay, that fuch fads might abate the reader's incredulity with regard to the duel in queftion, and the more fo, as the fact is confirmed by a monument. I have already obferved that this combat is painted upon one of the chimneys of the great hall of the Caftle de Montargis. Befides, very judicious* Critics, and particularly Julius Scaliger and Father Montfaucon t relate this hiflory, and thefe writers are not apt to recount fabjes. With refpecl to the Authors who fix it in 1371, in the reign of Charles V. I believe they are miftaken. Oliver JelaMarcbe, who wrote about the year 1460, - relates it in his Treatife upon Duels, and fays, that he extracted it from the ancient Chronicles j an expreflion which is never ufed when an event is mentioned to have happened not above a hun- dred years before. I prefume, that this dog was co-temporarv with Philip Augujlus^ or Lewit La Juiverie Jlreet. This flreet is fo called in abhorrence of a people continually expofed to oppreflions, and the Exerc. CC1I. No. VI.' upon Paris. 147 the fport of the avarice of Princes, who banifh- cd them to feize upon their effects, and after- wards permitted them to return upon paying ex- orbitant Sums ; for fuch was the fate of the Jews in France, under the firft, fecond and third Race, til] the year 1394, when they were abfo- lutely and compleatly baniflied by Charles Pf. Whatever propofals they have fince made, even during the moft preffing exigencies of the State, they have never been able to obtain a new tole- ration. The moft opulent of them refided in the ftreets de la Pelleterie, de la Juiverie, de Judas, and de la Teixeranderie j the artifans, litile bro- kers, and falefmen occupied the Halles, and all thofe ftreets which terminate there. Their fchools were in the ftreets St. Bon and de la Tacherie. Their fynagogue was at different times in the ftreet du Pet-au-Diable, or in that de la Juiverie. Philip Augvjlus, after expelling them in 1 183*, permitted theBiftiop of Paris to convert their Sy- nagogue in the ftreet de la Juiveris, into a Church, when it became, and has fince remain- ed, the parochial Church de laMagdcleine. Two fpots of ground which were then ufelcfs, but where the ftreets Galande and Pierre- Sarrazin have been fince built, ferved (hem for burying- grounds. They were not allowed to appear in H 2 public, * Chart, Ep, Parif. Biblioth, Reg. F. 22. 148 Hijhrical EJJays public, xvithout a yellow badge upon their breafls. Philip the Bold obliged them to wear even a horn upon their heads. They were prohibited bathing in the Seine; and when they were hang- ed, it was always between two dogs. In the reign of Philip the Fair, their Community was called Societas Caponum *, and the houfe where they met Domui Societatis Caponum, from whence doubtlefs arofe the word Capon, [a Sharper.] La Juffienne-Jlreet. This flreet was formerly called the ftreet de 1'Egiptienne, on account of a Chapel dedicated to St. Mary the Egyptian, which is at the en- trance of it, towards the ftreet of Montmarte. People by a corruption and abbreviation of the word, have become accuftomed to call it la rue de la JtJJfienne. We laugh at certain ceremonies in the reli- gious devotion of Savages, It is difficult for us to conceive, that the fimplicity or extravagance of the human mind could carry men to fuch lengths. But are thefe rites of Savages more ridiculous than thtife which the fuperftition of our Anceftors gave birth to ? In 1660, the Curate of St. Germain :\ tic 1'Auxerrois cauied fome glazing that had been in Regifl. du Pailcment, 1311. upon Paris. 149 in the Chapel of St. Mary the Egyptian for above 3 Centuries, to be taken down. On this glafs the Saint was painted ftanding on the deck of a boat, with her cloaths tucked up to the knees before the waterman, with thefe words under- neath, How the Saint offered her body to the ivater- manfor her faffage. { fbe Port of St. Landri. The body of Ifaleau de Baviere, wife to Charh$ VI. who died on the 3Oth of September, 1435, was carried to the Church of St. Denis, in a very particular manner. It was embarked at this Key in a fmall boat, and the waterman was oi'dsud to remit it to the Piior of the Abbey. Les Lions-Jlrect, near St. Paul. This ftreet took its name from the buiUing and courts wherein were kept the King's great and fmall lions. * One day, whilft Francis I. amufed himfelf with looking at a combat between his lions, a Lady having let her glove drop, faid to de Lorgeiy If you would have me believe, " that you love me as much as you ("wear you '* do, go and recover my glove." De Lories H 3 went * Brar.tomc Dames Galantes. I jo Hiflorical Effays went down, took up the glove in the midft of thefe furious animals, returned, and threw it in the Lady's face, and notwithftanding all the ad- vances fhe made, and all the arts fhe ufed, would never fee her afterwards. Le s Marmouzets ftreet. " Such of us, fays the Commiflary de la " Marre *, as have feen the beginning of his Majefty's reign, ftill remember that the ftreets " of Paris were fo full of dirt and mire, that " neceflity had introduced the cuftom of always " going ut booted; and as to the infection this " communicated to the air, the Sieur Courtois, " a Phyfician, who lived in the ftreet des Mar- " mouzets, made a fmall experiment, whereby ' a judgment might be formed of the reft. Ho ** had in his hall, towards the ftreet, fome large " andirons with brafs knobs, and he feveral * c times informed the Magiftrates and his friends, " that every morning they were covered with a " pretty thick tincture of verdigrife, which he *' caufed to be cleaned, by way of experiment " the next day; and that from the year 1663, " when the Police for cleanfing the ftreets was c re-eftabliflied, thefe fpots totally difappeared. " He * Traite de la Police, Vol. I. p, 560. upon Paris. 151 '* He drew this confequence from thence, that " the corrupted air which we breathe,occafioned t; impreflions upon the lungs and other entrails, " fo much the more malignant, as thofe parts " are incomparably more delicate than brafs, *< and that this was the immediate caufe of feve- <{ ral diforders." Le Maltboh ftreet, near the Arcade de la Greve. As the young King Philip, whom his father Lewis the Fat had united with him in the Mo- narchy, and caufed to be crowned at Rheims, was patting near St. Gervais, a hog got between his horfe's legs, and threw him down, by which the young Prince had fo unlucky a fall, that he died of his wounds the next day, October 3, 1131. It was prohibited at that time to let fwine go about in the ftreets. Afterwards thofe of the Abbey St. Antoine were allowed that privilege, the Nuns having reprefented that it would be fail- ins; in point of duty to their Patron, not to except his pigs from the general rule. H 4 St. 152 Hiftorical Effays St. Martin-Jlreet. A fpot of ground, that was covered with fand, and that was furrounded with a double rail, with fcaffolds for the King and the Judges of the field, for the Ladies, the Courtiers and the People, was called Champdos. This kind of theatre, which was deflined to be fprinkled with the blood of theNobility,was ufually creeled at the expence of the Accufer ; and fometime^ the Accufed had pride enough to infift upon fharing the cofts. * // it very likily, fays Sauval, that the Lifts or Champdos of St. Martin des Champs, and of the Abbty of St. Germain des Prez^were always ready ; and that thefe remained without Icing renewed, till fvch time as they were no longer fit for being xftd. The Religious of this Priory and Abbey had, doubtlefs, the goodnefs to hire them out ; and there was an obligation due to thefe holy men for providing a place where people might cut one another's throats, at an eafier expence than if a new Champdos had been prepared on purpofe. I fhall quote a paflage from Brant ome, which will lead me to fome reflexions upon judicial combats and duels. I believe they will appear fo natural, that it will feem furprifing they fliould have Vol. II. pag. 581 & 66?. upon Paris. 153 have cfcaped fo many Authors who have treated upon this fubjeft. " At the comhat between my late un- " cle Chataigneraye and Jarnac, fays Bran- " tome*, amongft the grand and fuperb aflembly " which was there met, a great number of Em- " bafiadors was prefent, and amongft others " that of the great Sultan Soliman, who was " much aftonifhed at feeing a French Gentleman <' fight againft a French Gentleman, and more *' fo, at a combat between one favourite of the '* King and another ; the King himfelf fetting " them by the ears, and expofmg them in fuch *' a manner to carnage and bloodfhed. The * { Mahometans do not pradlife this j amongft " them the fole point of honour confifts in icr- and obliged him to own him/elf conquered. The Plebeians and Bondfmen fought with cudgels, and had a fhield to parry the blows. In the Auditories of all tRe Lords Spiritual and Temporal, inftead of the Crucifix which is now feen, there were the figures of two Champions armed cap a pie, in the heat of battlj. Ragutau relates that there were two fuch figures in the Audience- Chamber of the Chapter of St. Merri. " 1 am " much miftaken, fays Sauval, f if I have not a feen fome jnyfclf in the two Chambers of " Ra- Hiftoire & Preuves, anno 1154. f Vol. II. p. 480. upon Paris. 161 " Requefls in the Palace, before .they were " painted, gilt, and ornamented, as they are *' at prefent ; and I think, continues he, that " behind the Crucifix of one of thefe Cham- " bers, there remains great part, if not the " entire figure, of .one of thefe Champions." By the regulations of Philip the Fair * it is ordered, That the Lifls fliould be forty paces wide, and eighty in length. That duelling ihould not be allowed, ex- cept there were grounds of fufpicion againft the accufed perfon, and when the proofs were not fufficient. That on the day fixed, the two Combat- ants fhould fet out from their houfes on horfe- back, their vifor raifed, and carrying before them a glave, hatchet, fword, and other proper arms of attack and defence ; that they (hould move flowly on, making at every other ftep the fign of the crofs, or at leaft having in their hand the image of the Saint, to whom they pay the moft devotion, and in whom they have the greateft confidence. That Anno 1306. 1 62 Hijlorical EJJays That being anived in the Lifts *, the Appellant having his hand upon the Crucifix, is to^fwear upon the faith of baptifm, upon his life, foul, and honour, that he believes he has a good and juft quarrel, and that more- over he has neither about him, nor his horfe, oor his arms, any herbs, charms, words, ftones, cxorcifms, compa&s, or incantations, which he inten3s to make ufe of. The Refpondent is to take the fame oaths. That the body of the Vanquifhed, in cafe he is killed, {hall be delivered to the Marfhal of the Field, till fuch time as his Majefty has declared whether he will pardon him, or have juftice executed upon him, by tying him by the httli to a gilbtt. That in cafe the Vanquifhed is alive, he is to have hfs points cut, be di farmed and undrefled ; that all his harn,efs (hall be fcattercd about the field, and he fhall remain lying upon the ground, till fuch time as his Majefty has declared in like manner, whether he will have juftice executed upon him, or whether he will pardon * In Germany a Coffin was placed in the middle of the Lifts. The Accufed and Accufer placed themfelves, one at the head, and the ofer at the foot of this Coffin, where they remained filent for fome moments, and then began the duel. upon Paris. 163 pardon him. As to the reft, his Eftate (hall be confifcated for the King's yfe, after the Conqueror has been previoufly paid his damages and expences. The combat between Cbataignerayt * and de Jarnac * The Challenge of Francis de Vivonne de la Chataigneraye. ' Sire, Having learnt that Guy Chalet was lately at Com- p'ngne, where he faid, " That the perfon who had given out, " that he had bragged of lying with his mother-in-law, was " wicked and malicious : whereupon, Sire, with your good " pleafure and permiflion, I reply, that he has told a wicked " falfehood, and that he will always do fo, as often as he fays " that therein I have advanced a thing which he did not him- " felf fay 5 for he told me federal times, and bragged of it, " that he had lain with his mother-in-law. Francis de Vivonne. See the Additions of the Memoirs of Caflelnau, Vol. II. p. 554. The Challenge of Guy Chabot de Jarnac. " Sire, With your good leave and pleafure, I fay, that Fran, t( cit de fivonne lies, in the imputation which he has caft " upon me, concerning what I fpoke to you of at Compiegne, " and therefore, Sire, I moft humbly intreat that you will " pleafe to order us a field far the utmofl rigour. Guy Cbabct. The 164 Hijlorical Effays Jarnac in the Court of the Caftle of St. Germain- en-Laye, on the loth of July, 1547, was the laft duel that was authorifed. Henry II. was fo affe&ed at the death of Chataigneraye, his favou- rite, that he made a folemn oath to abolifh this kind of duelling. It was proved to Henry IV. by above 7000 Letters of grace expedited at the Chancery, that there had been at leaft 7 or 8000 Gentlemen killed in duels within the fpace of 17 or 18 years. There were but few duels, whilft they were per- mitted, becaufe a man fightirrg by ftealth, would have been difhonoured and .pafled for an aflaffin ; becaufe The Oath of Francis de Vlvonne. " I Francit de Vivontse, fvvear upon God's Holy Evangeliflg, " upon the true Crofs and the Faith of Baptifm, which I hold ? from it, that in a good and juft caufe I am come into this * field to fight Guy Cbabot, who has a bad and unjuft caufe to " defend himfelf againft me; and moreover 1 have not about ' me, nor in my arms, 'any words, charms, or incantations, " whereby I am in hopes of aggrieving my adverfary, or by n which I wifli to be aflifted againft him." Cbabot took the fame 'Oath. The day of th;$ combat, la Cbataigiierayt, who was a true braggadochio,had invited above i joperfons belongingto thecourt to fupper; all the preparations he had made for this fupper in his tent at the end of the Lifts where they fought, were eat and devoured by the fenrants. Mtmoirtt dt Melville, Vol. I. p. 319. upon Paris, 165 becaufe by making a complaint and requiring a du?l, he obtained fatisfa&ion to his honour ; becaufe the Judges acquainted with the quarrel by the complaint made, endeavoured to accom- modate it ; becaufe it was fcarce poflible for him who was in the wrong, not to be intimidated by the oaths he was to take ; and in fine, becaufe it was neceflary either to kill or die, and die dif- honoured. Moreover, the Nobility not being yet fo venal as they are at prefent, a Gentleman had fufficient regard for his own blood, and even for that of his antagonift, to imagine they were each of them anfwerable to their Country, and fhould therefore not fpill it upon a trivial occa- iion. The Edicls of Lewis XIV. againft duelling are very fevere j but the fatal prejudices which have hitherto fubfifted with regard to the Point of Honour, will never be removed, except by fhame and ridicule. I would feleft four different places, in four different quarters of Paris, where a duel fhould be prefented every Sunday, for the diverfion of the public. The fortunate Champion, who killed his antagonift, fhould be recompenfed with a prize in money, and a me- dal. Thofc who were emulous of acquiring glory in thefe combats, fhould the day before repair to a Commiflary appointed to receive an account 1 66 Hiftorical Effays account of their names and qualities ; they {hould then draw lots, and each of thefe Gentlemen having gained an antagonift, they {hould go and fup together, like honeft folks, who were to cut one another's throats the next day, but without any enmity, and only becaufe they were men of fpirit. I would alib abolifh the prefent cuftom of punifliing with death, fuch Gentlemen as quar- relled and fought ; but I would compel them to wear the medal. The idea of being confounded with wretches who expofe their life for money, without being looked upon as more courageous than they, would infenfibly difpofe a perfon the leaft pacifically inclined, not only to view with reluctance, but even with fhame and infamy, the giving or receiving provocation to fight i the more fo, as killing in fome private combats is no certain proof of a man's valour. If it had been the faftiion amongft the Romans, as it is with us, to attempt plunging a fword into each other's body, upon the flighted offence, I main- tain that the combats of Gladiators would have put an end to it. Mr. Duclos aflerts *, That this Point of Honour^ which is fometimes chimerical t may have the advantage of keeping up a certain fen- Jibility of foul y more generous and powerful than fimple duty. I do not underftand very well what is * Memoires dc TAcad, des Infcript. Tom. XV. p. 630. upon Pan's. 167 is that generous fenfebility of foul, over which duty has not an entire dominion; or if I compre- hend its meaning, it muft be, that the foul of a Frenchman is not formed like that of an antient Greek or Roman, nor like that of a Turk or a Perfian ; and that if it was not conftantly em- ployed on the jdea of tilting at the moft trifling perfonal infult, it might become very ignomi- nioufly modified in time of action, when nothing more is required of a Citizen, than to do his duty. If this Comment explains Mr. Duclos's fen- timent, his (entiment is falfe and inconsiderate. The Author of the Elements of Education, printed in 1640, fancies that whifkers may con- tribute to make a man brave. I have a good opinion^ fays he, of a young Gentleman, who is curious about his mujiaches. The time which he takes in combing and adjujling them, is not at all loji time ; the more attention he beftows thii tuay t the more is his heart nourijhed and fupported with manly and heroic ideas. It appears in fadl, that the love and pride of handfome whifkers is the thing that died laft in the brave men of thofe times. The French Mercury relates *, " That " vvhilft the Executioner was cutting off the " Count de Boutevil/e's hair, the Count ftroked " his * Anno 1627, p. 452. Beheaded for duelling. 168 Hijlorhd Efays * c his whifkers, which were large and hand- and worthy of being prefented as an offering to the greatejl of Monarch* y nor did our good King Fran- cis refufe it. It is certain that Francis I. grant- ed to Diana of Poitiers the Count de Si. l r al!ier> her father's pardon, after he was condemned to die, in 1523, for having been concerned in the fchemes of the Conftable of Bourbon. With refpeft to the maidenhead^ the Author is mifhken, as fhe had been married 8 years before (March 29th 1514.) to Lewis de Bnze. * Brantomc fixes the time of her birth to the year 1496, Father Anfelme dates it 1499, and I 2 Du- Hift, Cenlo S i