his
speech, what policy the King would follow, and with promenades in the
great semicircular corridor running around the balcony, did the vast
crowd while away the seemingly interminable wait before the court
appeared. It was one o'clock when the heralds-at-arms, amid a profound
silence, announced the approach of the King and Queen. As His Majesty
made his appearance at the door, the silence was broken by tumultuous
cries of "Long live the King!" Remembering that day and those prolonged
demonstrations of loyalty and affection to His Majesty, Mr. Calvert
always considered it the wonderfullest change his life ever saw when,
six months later, he was a witness to the sullen animosity and insolence
of the crowd toward its sovereign.

When the King had ascended the throne and seated himself (the princes of
the blood royal who followed His Majesty being ranged upon the steps of
the dais to his right and his ministers below and in front), there was
another call from the heralds-at-arms, and Marie Antoinette, beautiful,
pallid, and haughty-looking, appeared at the entrance, accompanied by
the Princess Royal and the members of her immediate household. Amid a
silence unbroken by a single acclamation the Queen took her seat on the
King's left and two steps below him.

"Is there no Frenchman here who will raise his voice in greeting to his
Queen?" said Mr. Morris, very audibly. But though many hear him, not a
sound is made, and at the cruel silence the Queen, her haughtiness
giving way for a moment, as it had the day before, wept.

"I could never bear to see beauty in distress. If I were a subject of
the Queen she should have one loyal servitor, at least, to wish her
well," said Mr. Morris, warmly, to Calvert.

The scene which, before the entrance of the royal party, had lacked its
crowning touch, was now brilliant beyond description. To the right of
the throne were ranged the princes of the Church, hardly less
resplendent in their robes than the secular nobles facing them, while
between, forming a perfect foil for this glowing mass of color and
jewels, a sombre spot in the brilliant assemblage, the tiers sat facing
their sovereign. It was ominous--or so it seemed to Mr. Calvert--that
the tiers should thus divide the two orders naturally most closely
allied, and should sit as if in opposition or menace over against their
King. And it was to them that the King seemed to speak or rather to read
his address, which had been carefull