has not restored them, you must accuse him at once of
having stolen them; and thus you will be sure to ruin your enemy and
recover your seals." The keeper of the seals followed his friend's
advice exactly, and the seals were found again in the casket.

As soon as a royal child, which they call here un Enfant de France, is
born, and has been swaddled, they put on him a grand cordon; but they do
not create him a knight of the order until he has communicated; the
ceremony is then performed in the ordinary manner.

The ladies of chancellors here have the privilege of the tabouret when
they come to the toilette; but in the afternoon they are obliged to
stand. This practice began in the days of Marie de Medicis, when a
chancellor's wife happened to be in great favour. As she had a lame foot
and could not stand up, the Queen, who would have her come to visit her
every morning, allowed her to sit down. From this time the custom of
these ladies sitting in the morning has been continued.

In the reign of Henri IV. the King's illegitimate children took
precedence of the Princes of the House of Lorraine. On the day after the
King's death, the Duc de Verneuil was about to go before the Duc de
Guise, when the latter, taking him by the arm, said, "That might have
been yesterday, but to-day matters are altered."

Two young Duchesses, not being able to see their lovers, invented the
following stratagem to accomplish their wishes. These two sisters had
been educated in a convent some leagues distant from Paris. A nun of
their acquaintance happening to die there, they pretended to be much
afflicted at it, and requested permission to perform the last duties to
her, and to be present at her funeral. They were believed to be sincere,
and the permission they asked was readily granted them. In the funeral
procession it was perceived that, besides the two ladies, there were two
other persons whom no one knew. Upon being asked who they were, they
replied they were poor priests in need of protection; and that, having
learnt two Duchesses were to be present at the funeral, they had come to
the convent for the purpose of imploring their good offices. When they
were presented to them, the young ladies said they would interrogate them
after the service in their chambers. The young priests waited upon them
at the time appointed, and stayed there until the evening. The Abbess,
who began to think their audience was too long, sent to beg