gn, for the amusement of Charles V during the intervals
of his mental disorder, seem speedily to have become common among the
courtiers.... The alleged origin of the invention of cards produced one
of the shrewdest replies I have ever heard given in evidence. It was
made by the late Dr. Gregory of Edinburgh to a counsel of great eminence
at the Scottish bar. The Doctor's testimony went to prove the insanity
of the party whose mental capacity was the point at issue. On a cross
interrogation, he admitted that the person in question played admirably
at whist. "And do you seriously say, doctor," said the learned counsel,
"that a person having a superior capacity for a game so difficult,
and which requires in a preeminent degree, memory, judgment, and
combination, can be at the same time deranged in his understanding?"--"I
am no card player," said the doctor, with great address, "but I have
read in history that cards were invented for the amusement of an insane
king." The consequences of this reply were decisive. S.]

The flourish of trumpets in the courtyard now announced the arrival
of the Burgundian nobleman. All in the presence chamber made haste to
arrange themselves according to their proper places of precedence, the
King and his daughters remaining in the centre of the assembly.

The Count of Crevecoeur, a renowned and undaunted warrior, entered
the apartment; and, contrary to the usage among the envoys of friendly
powers, he appeared all armed, excepting his head, in a gorgeous suit
of the most superb Milan armour, made of steel, inlaid and embossed with
gold, which was wrought into the fantastic taste called the Arabesque.
Around his neck and over his polished cuirass, hung his master's order
of the Golden Fleece, one of the most honoured associations of chivalry
then known in Christendom. A handsome page bore his helmet behind him, a
herald preceded him, bearing his letters of credence which he offered on
his knee to the King; while the ambassador himself paused in the midst
of the hall, as if to give all present time to admire his lofty look,
commanding stature, and undaunted composure of countenance and manner.
The rest of his attendants waited in the antechamber, or courtyard.

[The military order of the Golden Fleece was instituted by Philip the
Good, Duke of Burgundy, in the year 1429, the King of Spain being grand
master of the order, as Duke of Burgundy.]

"Approach, Seignior Count de Crevecoeur," said Lou