ls, a cap of black
velvet ornamented with a small white plume and a band of large pearls,
and a tunic of black taffeta. In this costume the Prince was conducted
to the high altar by the Duc and Duchesse de Vendome, followed by a
commander to assist him during the ceremony, and they had no sooner
taken their places than Arnaud de Sorbin,[228] Bishop of Nevers,
delivered a short oration eulogistic of the greatness and excellence of
the brotherhood of which he was about to become a member. The same
prelate then performed a solemn high mass, and when he had terminated
the reading of the gospel, Alexandre-Monsieur knelt before him with a
taper of white wax in his hand, to solicit admission into the Order. He
had no sooner bent his knee than the King rose, descended the steps of
the throne, and placed himself by his side, saying aloud that he put off
for awhile his sovereign dignity that he might perform his duty as a
parent, by pledging himself that when the Prince should have attained
his sixteenth year, he should take the vows, and in all things conform
himself to the rules of the institution. The procession then passed out
of the church in the same order as it had entered, and the young Prince
was immediately put into possession of the income arising from his
commandery, which was estimated at forty thousand annual livres.[229]

This ceremony was followed by a series of Court festivals, which were
abruptly terminated by the arrival of a courier from Lorraine with the
intelligence of the death of the Duchesse de Bar, an event which it was
so well known would deeply affect the King, that the principal
personages of the Court, and the members of his council, determined to
go in a body to communicate it, in order that they might offer him the
best consolation in their power. This, however, was a grief beyond their
sympathy, the affection which Henry bore towards his sister having been
unshaken throughout their lives; and the distressing intelligence was no
sooner imparted to him than he burst into a passionate flood of tears,
and desired that every one should withdraw, and leave him alone with
God. He was no sooner obeyed than he caused the windows of his closet to
be closed, and admittance refused to all comers; after which he threw
himself upon his bed, and abandoned himself to all the bitterness of a
sorrow alike unexpected and irremediable. Several days passed away in
this ungovernable grief, and when its violence at lengt