een engaged
as an attraction!

After these horrors we turn with relief to some account of good
and noble women, the ladies of Louis Philippe's family.

After the murderous attempt of Fieschi the king lived under a continual
expectation of assassination. He no longer walked the streets of
Paris with his cane under his arm. When he drove, he sat with his
back to the horses, because that position gave less certainty to
the aim of an assassin. It was said that his carriages were lined
with sheet-iron. He was thirteen times shot at, and the pallid
looks of the poor queen were believed to arise from continual
apprehension. Her nerves had been shaken by the diabolical attempt
of Fieschi, and she never afterwards would leave her husband, even
for a few days. She stayed away from the deathbed of her daughter,
the Queen of the Belgians, lest in her absence he should be
assassinated.

Neuilly was the _home_ of the family, its beloved, particular retreat.
The greatest pang that Louis Philippe suffered in 1848 was its
total destruction by rioters. The little palace was furnished in
perfect taste, with elegance, yet with simplicity. The inlaid floors
were especially beautiful. The rooms were decorated with pictures,
many of them representing passages in the early life of the king.
In one he was teaching mathematics in a Swiss school; in another he
was romping with his children. His own cabinet was decorated with
his children's portraits and with works of art by his accomplished
daughter, the Princess Marie. The family sitting-room was furnished
with the princesses' embroidery, and there was a table painted
on velvet by the Duchesse de Berri. The library was large, and
contained many English books, among them a magnificent edition of
Shakspeare. The park enclosed one hundred acres. The gardens were
laid out in the English style. A branch of the Seine ran through
the grounds, with boat-houses and bath-houses for the pleasure
of the young princes,--and in one night this cherished home was
laid in ruins!

[Illustration: _QUEEN MARIE AMELIE._]

"All is possible," said Louis Philippe to a visitor who talked
with him at Claremont in his exile, "all is possible to France,--an
empire, a republic, the Comte de Chambord, or my grandson; but one
thing is impossible,--that any of these should last. _On a tue
le respect_,--the nation has killed respect."

Queen Marie Amelie was born in Naples in 1782. Her mother was a
daughter of Maria T