perruques bien gentiment faconnees."

[Ladies in the days of Ovid wore periwigs. That poet says to Corinna:

"Nunc tibi captivos mittet Germania crines;
Culta triumphatae munere gentis eris."

(Wigs shall from captive Germany be sent;
'Tis with such spoils your head you ornament.)

These, we may conclude, were flaxen, that being the prevailing coloured hair of the Germans at this day. The Translator has met with a further account of Marguerite's head-dress, which describes her as wearing a velvet bonnet ornamented with pearls and diamonds, and surmounted with a plume of feathers.]

I shall conclude this Preface with a letter from Marguerite to Brantome; the first, he says, he received from her during her adversity ('son adversite' are his words),—being, as he expresses it, so ambitious ('presomptueux') as to have sent to inquire concerning her health, as she was the daughter and sister of the Kings, his masters. ("D'avoir envoye scavoir de ses nouvelles, mais quoy elle estoit fille et soeur de mes roys.")

The letter here follows: "From the attention and regard you have shown me (which to me appears less strange than it is agreeable), I find you still preserve that attachment you have ever had to my family, in a recollection of these poor remains which have escaped its wreck. Such as I am, you will find me always ready to do you service, since I am so happy as to discover that my fortune has not been able to blot out my name from the memory of my oldest friends, of which number you are one. I have heard that, like me, you have chosen a life of retirement, which I esteem those happy who can enjoy, as God, out of His great mercy, has enabled me to do for these last five years; having placed me, during these times of trouble, in an ark of safety, out of the reach, God be thanked, of storms. If, in my present situation, I am able to serve my friends, and you more especially, I shall be found entirely disposed to it, and with the greatest good-will."

There is such an air of dignified majesty in the foregoing letter, and, at the same time, such a spirit of genuine piety and resignation, that it cannot but give an exalted idea of Marguerite's character, who appears superior to ill-fortune and great even in her distress. If, as I doubt not, the reader thinks the same, I shall not need to make an apology for concluding this Preface with it.

The following Latin verses, or call them, if you please, epigram, are of the composition of Barclay, or Barclaius, author of "Argenis," etc.

ON MARGUERITE DE VALOIS, QUEEN OF NAVARRE.

     Dear native land! and you, proud castles! say
     (Where grandsire,[1] father,[2] and three brothers[3] lay,
     Who each, in turn, the crown imperial wore),
     Me will you own, your daughter whom you bore?
     Me, once your greatest boast and chiefest pride,
     By Bourbon and Lorraine,[4] when sought a bride;
     Now widowed wife,[5] a queen without a throne,
     Midst rocks and mountains [6] wander I alone.
     Nor yet hath Fortune vented all her spite,
     But sets one up,[7] who now enjoys my right,
     Points to the boy,[8] who henceforth claims the throne
     And crown, a son of mine should call his own.
     But ah, alas! for me 'tis now too late [9]
     To strive 'gainst Fortune and contend with Fate;
     Of those I slighted, can I beg relief [10]
     No; let me die the victim of my grief.
     And can I then be justly said to live?
     Dead in estate, do I then yet survive?
     Last of the name, I carry to the grave
     All the remains the House of Valois have.

1. Francois I. 2. Henri II. 3. Francois II., Charles IX., and Henri III. 4. Henri, King of Navarre, and Henri, Duc de Guise. 5. Alluding to her divorce from Henri IV.. 6. The castle of Usson 7. Marie de' Medici, whom Henri married after his divorce from Marguerite. 8. Louis XIII., the son of Henri and his queen, Marie de' Medici. 9. Alluding to the differences betwixt Marguerite and Henri, her husband. 10. This is said with allusion to the supposition that she was rather inclined to favour the suit of the Due de Guise and reject Henri for a husband.

CONTENTS

LETTER I.

Introduction.—Anecdotes of Marguerite's Infancy.—Endeavours Used to
Convert Her to the New Religion.—She Is Confirmed in Catholicism.—The
Court on a Progress.—A Grand Festivity Suddenly Interrupted.—The
Confusion in Consequence.

LETTER II.

Message from the Duc d'Anjou, Afterwards Henri III., to King Charles His
Brother and the Queen-mother.—Her Fondness for Her Children.—Their
Interview.—Anjou's Eloquent Harangue.—The Queen-mother's Character.
Discourse of the Duc d'Anjou with Marguerite.—She Discovers Her Own
Importance.—Engages to Serve Her Brother Anjou.—Is in High Favour with
the Queenmother.

LETTER III.

Le Guast.—His Character.—Anjou Affects to Be Jealous of the
Guises.—Dissuades the Queen-mother from Reposing Confidence in
Marguerite.—She Loses the Favour of the Queen-mother and Falls
Sick.—Anjou's Hypocrisy.—He Introduces De Guise into Marguerite's Sick
Chamber.—Marguerite Demanded in Marriage by the King of Portugal.—Made
Uneasy on That Account.—Contrives to Relieve Herself.—The Match with
Portugal Broken off.

LETTER IV.

Death of the Queen of Navarre—Marguerite's Marriage with Her Son, the
King of Navarre, Afterwards Henri IV. of France.—The Preparations for
That Solemnisation Described.—The Circumstances Which Led to the
Massacre of the Huguenots on St. Bartholomew's Day.

LETTER V.

The Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day.

LETTER VI.

Henri, Duc d'Anjou, Elected King of Poland, Leaves France.—Huguenot Plots to Withdraw the Duc d'Alencon and the King of Navarre from Court.—Discovered and Defeated by Marguerite's Vigilance.—She Draws Up an Eloquent Defence, Which Her Husband Delivers before a Committee from the Court of Parliament.—Alencon and Her Husband, under a Close Arrest, Regain Their Liberty by the Death of Charles IX.

LETTER VII.

Accession of Henri III.—A Journey to Lyons.—Marguerite's Faith in
Supernatural Intelligence.

LETTER VIII.

What Happened at Lyons.

LETTER IX.

Fresh Intrigues.—Marriage of Henri III.—Bussi Arrives at Court and
Narrowly Escapes Assassination.

LETTER X.

Bussi Is Sent from Court.—Marguerite's Husband Attacked with a Fit of
Epilepsy.—Her Great Care of Him.—Torigni Dismissed from Marguerite's
Service.—The King of Navarre and the Duc d'Alencon Secretly Leave the
Court.

LETTER XI.

Queen Marguerite under Arrest.—Attempt on Torigni's Life.—Her Fortunate
Deliverance.

LETTER XII.

The Peace of Sens betwixt Henri III. and the