Marie de Medicis. This princess was not

hands; he embraced me, and begged for my friendship with a look of kindness very amiable and excessively jealous. which displeased many of the Ministers present.

After the treaty was concluded Henry wished me to return to France, and I gladly availed myself of the opportunity, especially since the negotiations had terminated. I took leave of His Majesty of Eugland at Westminster; he gave me some complimentary letters for Henry and his Queen, and forced me to accept a chain of most splendid gems.

The greatest dissensions took place between the three, but especially between Henry and Madame de Verneuil, which ended in his boxing her ears. But the Queen did not profit by these quarrels, and instead of showing a little love to her husband, she always treated him coldly, when he attempted to caress her.

I made up my mind to speak to the Queen, and dictated a letter for her to the King; he was delighted, and answered in The presents I left from my master the same strain. Unfortunately, some of were six magnificent horses for the King, the emissaries pretended that the King and for the Queen one of the largest and had returned to Madame de Verneuil, and handsomest Venetian glasses ever seen; I had to begin afresh to try and bring about the frame was gold covered with diamonds; another reconciliation. Had Queen Marto the Prince of Wales and some of the guerite de Valois chosen, she could have noblemen and ladies of the court an infi-inflamed these ill-feelings still further; nite number of excessively pretty presents. but she was most disinterested, and beThe reception I had from my royal master haved throughout admirably. We wrote was most charming, and I began the nar- constantly to one another, and she often rative of all that had passed during my expressed herself thus: sojourn in England. I resumed my old post of Minister of Finances, and afterwards was made Governor of Poitou. In 1603 I had a long talk with Henry about the establishment of silk-weaving in France, but I vainly tried to dissuade the King from allowing it, and eventually he had his own way.

I began the year 1604, as indeed I began all others, by a duty my rank obliged me to perform-it was to present to their Majesties two purses of silver counters. I entered the royal apartments early, and found their Majesties still in bed. Besides the two purses mentioned, I offered them gold ones on my own account, and they accepted them with pleasure. The next day I received His Majesty's portrait on a box set with diamonds, and the Queen sent my wife a perfumed diamond chain with bracelets to match.

King Henry's first great sorrow since his mother's death was that of the Duchesse de Bar, his only sister. She was an example of conjugal love. She often repeated this verse of Procopius, changing the word "Venus" into that of "Deus" "Omnis amor magnus, sed operto in conjuge major, hanc Venus ut vivat ventilat ipsa facem!" All the Court went into mourning for this amiable Princess.

Henry was also much annoyed by the constant bickerings between the Queen and the Marquise de Verneuil, his mistress. The latter knew the ascendancy she had over the King, and only used it to drive him to despair, trying constantly to bring about a divorce between him and

"Vous êtes toujours mon recours, et, après Dieu, l'appui sur lequel je fais le plus de fond.”

I had many enemies at Court, and Henry now and then could scarcely help believing what I was accused of, notwith-standing the proofs of devotion I had constantly given him. An explanation at last took place, all the accusing papers were carefully read by His Majesty, at the end of which he burnt them, and before all the people who were assembled to wait for the upshot of our interview he said: "J'aime Rosny plus que jamais, et entre lui et moi, c'est à la mort." I knew from this that the heart of Henry was always for me. Immediately afterwards he gave my eldest daughter Marguerite Béthune and her husband 10,000 crowns each.

Marguerite, to revenge herself upon her daughter, who had married Henri de Chabad against her will, produced in 1645, a boy of fifteen, alleging him to be her son by the Duc de Rohan. It was ascertaiued that this young man whose name was Tancred, had the tuft of hair of the Rohans on the top of his head.

The arrival of Queen Marguerite de Valois, and the gracious welcome given to her by the King, gave occasion to some wicked speeches amongst the people; however, no notice was taken of them. Her Majesty had been obliged to escape from the Château d'Usson where she had lived twenty years disguised as a peasant. Afterwards she had an hotel in the Faubourg St. Germain. Notwithstanding all her frailties, she was a most

charming, kind, and generous woman, and one of the most accomplished of her time.

The birth of a second son to the throne of France gave much pleasure to Henry, and at that time I received great marks of friendship from His Majesty, which, however, did not prevent some new quarrels; but the services I rendered the King on the assembly of the Calvinists at La Rochelle, and for other good offices, soon re-established our friendship.

spiracy had been formed against the King, in which the Marquise was implicated.

Henry sent for me several days after the coronation. I was in my bath, and La Varenne, who had come to fetch me, prevented my leaving it, saying, "that the King would probably come himself to the Arsenal, as I was ill." I insisted on going to His Majesty, but La Varenne went back to the palace, and in less than half an hour returned from the King to tell me that I was not to leave the house, as he would call at the Arsenal.

stroyed." I rushed out of my apartment, and I heard on all sides, "The King has been dangerously wounded." Ravaillac, who had heard the King asking for his carriage, had said between his teeth, "Je te tiens, tu es perdu." M. de Vitry offered to accompany His Majesty, but he refused him, as well as the attendance of his guard; however, six noblemen entered the carriage, and strange to say, none of them saw the murder perpetrated.

The beginning of 1608 was remarkable for its amusements. The King had some In the afternoon I heard my wife (RaItalian actors, and it was always at the chel de Cothefilet) crying and exclaiming, Arsenal that most of the fêtes took place."Oh my God! all is lost; France is deThe marriage of my eldest son was celebrated in the course of the year; he married Mdlle. Blanchefort de Créqui, daughter of the Prince de Poix. I had thought of making myself sincere friends by that alliance; however they only remained true to me during the time of my pro perity; they all disappeared when we were disgraced. My enemies, under pretence of zeal, thought of making me change my religion, but I solemnly refused to please the King in this. Notwithstanding this new disagreement, His Majesty offered me his legitimated daughter, Mdlle. Henriette de Vendome, by G brielle d'Estrées; but I refused to break with the De Créquis.

Henry, who had some intention of going to Germany, was constantly annoyed by the Queen, as she did not wish he should go before her coronation had taken place. The King consented at last to stay for it. It was the most magnificent scene ever witnessed. During that night the King and Queen had very troublesome dreams about a house falling on the King in the Rue de la Féronnerie. A few evenings afterwards, Henry sent for an astrologer named Thomassin: the latter said His Majesty must beware of the month of May, 1610, designating the day and hour when he was to be killed. The King laughed at him and sent him away, after having set him spinning round the room several times, holding him sometimes by the hand, sometimes by the hair.

One day, dining with Schomberg, who lived with me in the greatest intimacy, a page brought him a note, which he slipped very mysteriously under the arm of Schomberg; I joked him about it, but very soon he left the room, promising to return very quickly, He did so, and told me he had just come back from Mdlle. de Gournay's house, who had heard from Jacqueline le Vayer-who had been in the service of Mdlle. de Verneuil-that a con

I ran like a madman to the Louvre, where M. de Belancourt said to me, "He is dead." Many people were persuaded that the Cominis had had a share in the death of the King.

Ravaillac was born at Angoulême, where he was schoolmaster; he was only thirty-two. His punishment was terrible. He was tenaillé to the arms and legs, &c., and his wounds were sprinkled with melted lead, oil, and boiling rosin, and at last torn asunder by four horses; his limbs were consumed by fire, and the ashes scattered to the winds.

Henry was much beloved by his people, he was full of liveliness, and very fond of joking. One day he met a womam leading a cow, and asked her how much she wanted for it. Having answered His Majesty on the point, he said, Ventre St. Gris! it is not worth it; I will give you so much for it."

66

"I can see," replied the woman, "that you are not a cow merchant."

"And why not, gossip?" said the King, who was accompanied by a large number of noblemen; "see you not all the calves that are following me?"

Another time a great eater was presented to him. "Ventre St. Gris," said he, "if I had six men like you in my kingdom, I would cause them to be hanged; such rogues would soon famish it."

It is reported that one day he boasted to the Spanish Ambassador that he would

breakfast at Milan, hear Mass at Rome, and dine at Naples. The Ambassador replied, "Sire, if yonr Majesty goes so quickly, he will probably be in time to hear Vespers in Sicily."

I ask," said this prince, "three things of God every day: that He may be pleased to forgive my enemies; to give me the victory over my passions; and lastly, that I may make good use of the authority that has been given me over my subjects."

No words could depict my sorrow at the death of so dear a master, and I may say of so good a friend; I was heartbroken with misery, and I never can forget the horror that his murder caused me.

The Queen sent a message to me, calling on me immediately to repair to the Louvre, begging me at the same time to bring only a few others with me. This appeared ominous to me, and I sent word to Her Majesty that I could not entirely comply with her request; but immediately afterwards, MM. de Montbazon, de Praslin, and de Schomberg, as well as my brother, were deputed to visit me. I waited, however, till the next day, and at last appeared before Her Majesty, who seemed so much moved that for some time neither of us could speak. The young King was brought to me, and kissed me over and over again.

"My son, "said the Queen, "you must love M. de Sully very much, for he was the best servant of your father, and I trust he will serve us as well."

A reception marked with so much distinction and confidence baffled for the time being the plots against me.

In 1611, my enemies were so numerous that I was forced to take steps in order to save myself from disgrace. I wrote to the Regent to justify my conduct: Her Majesty answered graciously, and the King granted me a munificent pension. The Queen-Mother addressed me always in her letters as "My cousin," and signed herself" Your good cousin, Marie."

The Duc de Sully died December 22, 1641. The Duchesse de Sully had a magnificent white marble statue erected in remembrance of her husband.

Villebon, of all the princely dwellings of the Sullys, was the favourite residence of Rosny. The life he led there was one of decency, grandeur, and even state, such as one would expect from a character so grave and serious as his. Besides a great number of equerries, noblemen, and pages who served him, and of ladies and "demoiselles d'honneur" attached to the per

son of the Duchesse, he had a company of guards with their officers, another of Swiss, and a very large number of servants. It was said by the surgeon attached to the house that he had often counted eighty people in bed, and that the service of the house was in no way hindered by it.

The Duc de Sully was a very early riser, and after having said his prayers and read some religious book, he worked with his four secretaries. When he went out for half an hour or so before dinner, a great bell was rung, which was on the bridge, to give warning of his going out. Most of his people then went to his apartment and lined the foot of the stairs. His equerries, “gentilshommes " and officers led the way, preceded by two Swiss halberdiers. Generally he spoke to some of his relations or friends, then followed his guards.

On entering the dining-room- which was a vast apartment, where the most memorable actions of his life and that of Henry were represented — he sat down to dinner.

The table was very long, and at the top there were two arm-chairs for him and the Duchesse. All his children, married or unmarried and of whatever rank or birth, even the Duchesse de Rohan, had only stools or folding chairs; for in those days the subordination of children to parents was so great that they neither sat nor had their heads covered in their presence, except after having received orders to do so.

His table was served with great magnificence. The lords and ladies of the neighbourhood were alone adnitted, with a few of his "gentilshommes" and the ladies and "filles d'honneur " of the Duchesse de Sully.

Except in the case of company, all rose and left the table at dessert. The meal ended, all went to a small salon called the "Salon des Illustres," because it was ornamented with the portraits of the popes, kings, princes, and other distinguished or celebrated people, which had been offered by them to Sully.

In another dining-room, beautifully and richly furnished, there was a second table, very nearly as well served as the first. When young people were invited with their parents, they dined at the second table, the Duc saying always: "Vous êtes trop jeunes pour que nous mangions ensemble, et nous nous ennuierions les uns les autres.”

When he had spent some time with his guests, he went back to his room to work.

have been noted in the appearance of one difficulties, the "negative shadow" theory, as it has been called, has been again and again urged, though only to be again and again refuted.

and the same comet, we begin to recognize the enormous difficulty of the problem which astronomers have to solve. It will be instructive to discuss some of these peculiarities at length, because they seem to oppose themselves in a very striking manner to theories which have been somewhat confidently urged of late.

In the earliest ages of the history of our subject, the fact was noted that the tails of comets commonly lie in the direction opposite to the place of the sun. Appian, indeed, was the first European astronomer who observed this peculiarity, but M. Biot has succeeded in proving that the discovery had been made long before by Chinese astronomers.

Let it be noted, however, before other peculiarities are considered, that the curvature of comets' tails is no argument against the ingenious theory by which Professor Tyndall has endeavoured to explain their direction from the sun. According to this theory, the passage of light through and beyond the head of the comet is the real cause to which the ap pearance of the tail is to be ascribed. But a physical process is supposed to occur as the light traverses the region behind the comet; and the rate at which this process takes place need not necesIf the tail of a comet strictly obeyed sarily correspond to the enormous velocity this rule, if it were always directed in a with which light travels. So that, instead perfectly straight line from the sun's place, of the whole tail being exactly in a the peculiarity might admit perhaps of a straight line with the head and the sun, as tolerably simple explanation. This, how it must be (appreciably) if the phenomeever, is not in general the case; in fact, I non were a mere luminous track, the end do not know of a single instance in which of the tail (the part formed earliest) would a comet's tail has extended exactly in lie in the direction of a solar ray through the direction of a line from the sun the place occupied some time earlier by the throughout the tail's whole length. The head. This, in fact, corresponds sometail of an approaching comet generally what closely with observed appearances; seems to bend towards the track along and so far Professor Tyndall's theory rewhich the comet has recently passed, and ceives undoubted support from recognized the effect, when the tail is long, is to give facts. the appendage a slight curvature. To cite only one instance out of many, it will be sufficient to refer to the splendid comet which appeared in 1858, and was known as Donati's. Soon after the first appearance of the tail a slight curvature could be recognized in the appendage; and this curvature became gradually more and more conspicuous, until, to use Sir John Herschel's words, the tail "assumed at length that superb aigrette-like form, like a tall plume wafted by the breeze, which has never probably formed so conspicuous a feature in any previous comet."

Here is a peculiarity which at once serves to dispose of the theory according to which the tail of a comet is to be compared to a beam of light such as a lantern throws amid darkness. The theory seems so naturally suggested by the general fact that a comet's tail tends from the sun, as to lead many to forget that the so-called beam of light thrown by a lantern is in reality due to the illumination of material particles; and that in the case of a comet we can neither explain why particles behind the comet (with regard to the sun) should be more brilliantly illuminated than others, nor how the particles come to be there at all. Despite these and other

Indeed, we seem almost driven to the conclusion that some such action as Tyndall has conceived takes place in the formation of a comet's tail-that either light, or electricity, or some swiftly travelling cause, is at work by the marvellous rapidity with which in some instances the tail of a comet has seemingly changed its position. The comet of 1680, commonly known as Newton's comet, affords a remarkable instance of this. I take the following narrative from Sir John Herschel's "Familiar Lectures," article "Comets," noting that the student of the subject, and especially the student of those theories which have of late been advanced respecting comets, would do well to study that paper carefully, as well as the chapter on Halley's Comet " in Herschel's volume on his Cape observations: "The comet passed its perihelion (that is, the point of its course nearest to the sun) on December 8, and when nearest to the sun was only one-sixth of the sun's diameter from his surface"-travelling at the rate of 1,200,000 miles an hour. "Now observe one thing," says Herschel; "the distance from the sun's centre was about one-160th part of our distance from it. All the heat we enjoy on this earth comes from the sun.

66

ported, so may we ask how the worlds have long perplexed astronomers. Setting which, by bursting, supplied space with aside the fact that the head of a comet seed-bearing meteors, were themselves strictly obeys the law of gravitation, there peopled with living things. This circum- is scarcely one known fact respecting stance of itself throws an air of doubt comets which astronomers have succeeded over the new hypothesis, as a seriously- in interpreting to their satisfaction. The intended account of the origin of life on facts recently ascertained, striking and our earth. It may seem superfluous to important though they undoubtedly are, add that in a collision by which a world yet not only fail to explain the phenomena was shivered into fragments the seeds of of comets, but are absolutely more perlife would have what may be described as plexing than any which had before come a warm time, since the collision could to light. The present position of cometic hardly fail to vaporize the destroyed astronomy is, in fact, this:- Many facts world. The fiery heat generated by the are known, and many others may be incollision, followed by a voyage during ferred; but these facts have yet to be myriads of millions of ages through the combined in such a way as to afford a coninconceivable cold of space, and, lastly, by sistent theory respecting comets. the fierce heat which accompanies the fall of meteoric masses upon our earth, would seera so unfavourable to the germs of life, that Pouchet himself might accept with confidence the belief that all such germs had been completely destroyed before | reaching this planet.

It is now known that the comets which are so brilliant as to attract general notice are but a few among those which actually approach the earth. The telescope detects each year (with scarcely an exception) more than one comet. It is probable, indeed, that if systematic search were diligently made, many comets would be detected yearly.* Already, however, nearly seven hundred comets have been the reward of modern telescopic research.

But while the theory of seed-hearing meteors can hardly be regarded as a complete solution of the perplexing problem of the origin of life, the facts to which the eminent Scottish professor referred while Of observed comets, only the more brildiscussing it are of singular interest liant are adorned with tails of consideraand importance. The whole history of ble length. But nearly all comets show, recent scientific research into the subject during their approach towards the sun, a of the relation between meteors and com- certain lengthening of their figure, correets is full of instruction. To the readers sponding to the change which, in the case of this magazine that history will be in of larger comets, precedes the formation great part familiar, because, in the number of a tail. So that a tail may be regarded for November, 1869, a paper by the pres- as a normal, or at least a natural, appendent writer appeared, in which a popular age of comets - though special conditions account was given of the researches of may be requisite for the evolution of the Schiaparelli, Adams, Leverrier, and those appendage. This will appear the more other men of science who have placed me- probable when the fact is noted that, in all teoric astronomy in its present position. cases where a tail is formed, this tail apI propose here, therefore, to take for pears as an extension of the part of the granted many of the conclusions dealt head known as the coma or hair-the with in my former paper. This will en- fainter light surrounding the nucleus of able me to discuss with greater freedom, the comet - and no comet has ever apas regards space, the views respecting comets, and more especially cometic appendages, which seem to be suggested by observed phenomena, taken in connection with the association recently recognized between comets and meteors. The subject is as yet too new for the enunciation of definite theories, and far less can we safely dogmatize respecting it. But much has been established which will well bear careful investigation, and I believe that the conclusions which may be fairly deduced from observations already made are much more important than is commonly supposed.

The phenomena presented by comets

peared without showing a coma during one period or another of its existence. Commonly, the coma continues visible as long as the comet itself can be discerned, though there have been instances in which the comet seems to have been shorn of its hair; and, in one noteworthy instance, a comet of considerable splendour lost in a few days both its tail and hair.

Now when we consider the remarkable appearance which the tails of comets have presented, the great variety of their aspect, and the wonderful changes which

* A prize has been offered to the astronomer or telescopist who shall first succeed in discovering eight comets within the year.