saw him scatter some perfumed water on her head in order
to induce her to look up; after which he hurriedly descended the great
staircase to receive and welcome her, and with every possible exhibition
of affection and respect conducted her to the hall in which the banquet
had been prepared.

Throughout this sumptuous repast the gaiety of the monarch excited the
comments of all by whom he was surrounded; and it was generally remarked
that he had not for many months yielded to such an effervescence of
spirits. At length, however, the festival drew to its close; lords and
ladies were alike overwhelmed by the fatigues of the past day; and their
Majesties, having taken a gracious leave of their illustrious guests,
entered one of the royal carriages and proceeded to the Louvre.[10]

The numerous foreigners who had assembled from every part of Europe in
order to witness the ceremony were lost in astonishment at the profusion
of jewels displayed upon the occasion, declaring that they had never
before witnessed such a spectacle; and that even at the world-famed
entry of the Spanish Queen into Madrid, where Italy and Spain had alike
exhibited all their riches, they could not be compared with those
possessed by the French Court alone; nor was their surprise diminished
when they learnt that on the following Sunday, when Marie de Medicis was
to enter Paris in state, they would be convinced that they had not as
yet seen a tithe of the splendour which the great nobles and ladies of
the kingdom were enabled to display upon such occasions.[11]

From the moment in which the King decided upon personally superseding
the Marechal de Lesdiguieres[12] in his command of the army in
Champagne, he had been unwearied in his advice to the Queen for the
efficient government of the country. He exhorted her to great caution in
changing her ministers, earnestly impressing upon her the danger of
entrusting state affairs to individuals whose probity and experience
were not well assured, or of displacing others without great and serious
cause. He, moreover, especially besought her never to permit the
interference of foreigners in the internal economy of the kingdom, as by
such ill-placed confidence she could not fail to alienate from herself
the affections of all true Frenchmen; to uphold the authority of the
Parliament, but on no account to countenance its dictation, confining
its operations to their legitimate sphere, and enforcing its submission
to