we shall but briefly allude. Henry II., the head of it, at the coronation of his queen, one year after he mounted his throne, caused, by way of adding to the holy merit and festivity of the day, many unhappy Protestants to be burned at the stake, while he himself stood by to watch their agonies. His nerves, though stubborn as iron, swerved from the horror of this spectacle; yet, forcing down the qualms of human nature within him, he gazed on it, till the last of his victims was but a shrivelled ember. The avenging hand fell upon himfrom that hour he knew no peace. After a few years of miserable suspicion and capricious tyranny, he was accidentally slain at a tournament. What his wife Catherine of Medicis was, during her regency, history hath strongly told. Her son Francis exceeded his parents in cruelty, which is saying much; but the worst actions of the race were deeds of mercy in comparison of the severities of the next son, Charles IX. In his reign befell the massacre of St Bartholomew, where 40,000 Protestants perished by the sword. The guilty monarch felt the hand of retributive justice even more severely than his father had done. Shortly after, while his mind was racked with anguish, his body began to ooze out blood from every pore; and in this wretched condition he died.

The vaults, it will have been observed by the reader, were not opened regularly, according to the succession of the kings; and, indeed, the vaults do not appear to have been so arranged. This irregularity continued throughout the whole process. For example, near Henry II.'s vault, was found the skeleton of the celebrated warrior Du-Guesclin, and, subsequently, the remains of Carloman, brother of Charlemagne, and both sons of Pepin, the founder of the edifice. Pepin's own grave was discovered many years afterwards, before the principal entrance to the church of St Denis. Pepin's last will being extant, his remains were fully identified, for in that will he directs his body to be laid on its face in a stone coffin, to be placed in front of St Denis's Church

door, in which position it was found. We shall return, however, to the vaults of later kings.

The tomb of Charles VI. and his queen, Isabel, had been, shortly before the general exhumation, broken into and pillaged, so that it contained only a few dried bones. The vault of Charles V. was in a side-chapel, called the Chapel of Charles, and the tomb of this king was the richest that had been met with. His coffin was of brass, and contained a silver crown, gilt, and in good preservation; a silver hand of Justice; and a sceptre of gilt silver, about five feet in length, and surmounted with a cluster of leaves. This last relic was beautifully wrought, and untarnished in lustre, though it had lain there 400 years. In the coffin of Jane of Bourbon, his wife, were the remains of a crown, rings, bracelets, and a pair of sharp-pointed shoes, shining still with embroidery in gold and silver. An interesting mark of this queen's habits had been buried with her-namely, a distaff and spindle. This king, Charles V., was poisoned by his relative, the king of Navarre, who himself perished in a still more miserable manner, being burned to death by the accidental ignition of a cloth belt steeped in brandy and sulphur, which he wore for a leprous affection.

Charles's father, King John, lay in the chancel of St Denis. He is well known in history as having been prisoner to the Black Prince of Wales, who vanquished him at the battle of Poictiers, and in other engagements. In John's coffin, beside a pure white skeleton, lay a broken sceptre, and a silver hand of Justice. The saying of this monarch, who, notwithstanding his misfortunes, merited the title of the Good from his people, is memorable. On resolving, when unable to pay his ransom, to render himself a prisoner to the English prince, John said: Though good faith were banished from the rest of the earth, it should still be found in the breasts of princes!'

Philip of Valois lay in the chancel, near his son King John. His coffin, formed of hard stone, and lined with plates of lead, was closed with a sheet of that metal soldered on some iron bars, and over this lid was placed

a large flat stone. His body was dust, and none even of that was visible, excepting what lay in the crevices of a gilt crown, and an ornamented sceptre. This was all that remained of the great monarch, against whom all the power of the English Edward contended in vain for the throne of France.

Besides the long line of kings and their families, whose tombs we have enumerated, many more of older date were opened, of whose possessors scarcely even the name was known. Upon the whole, it is evident that the expectations of those who hoped to find loads of buried treasure in these tombs must have been signally disappointed, since the few baubles which we have noticed constituted the whole of the prize. We do not mean to attribute sordid motives to those who suggested a scheme like this; but if such motives did exist, it is impossible to regret their failure.

The treasures of the church and shrine of St Denis were of great amount and value, as might have been expected in one of the most splendid ecclesiastical possessions in France; and the whole went, by a decree of the Convention, to similar purposes with the trinkets and leaden coffins of the sepulchres. These treasures were kept in five cabinets; and from the following enumeration of some of the principal articles, the reader may judge of the long duration of the grandeur of St Denis, and may join with us in regretting the destruction of relics so venerable. In the first cabinet were two mitres of ancient abbots of St Denis; one of them formed entirely of pearls and jewels set in gold, and the other of seed pearls strewed with fleur-de-lis. These mitres were made about the twelfth century. In another cabinet was a vase of Oriental agate, supposed to be the finest in the world. It was covered with hieroglyphical figures of beautiful execution. John Tristen, in his Commentaries, expresses his belief that this vase was made by Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt. An inscription on the foot says that it was given to St Denis by Charles III. The crown of Charlemagne, of gold, and enriched with jewels, used at the

coronation of the French kings. A cup made of the wood of Samaris, used by St Louis. The sword which he carried to the Holy Land, and a silver shrine containing a bone of St Denis. A splendid missal, written eight centuries ago. Four crowns, two of gold and two of silver, used at the coronations. A manuscript on vellum, ascribed to St Denis. And the crown used at the coronation of the queens, which was made of gold, and studded with precious stones. There were other valuable curiosities and antique objects in this splendid collection, but of lesser importance, and a notice of which does not appear requisite.

MAD BUFFALO.

THE tribe of American Osage Indians occupy an extensive tract of country to the north and west of the Arkansas territory. The game continued to be abundant throughout this region, until the whites began to intrude upon their hunting-ground. Killing the buffalo for the tongue and skin alone, the whites committed great havoc among them; and the animals, continually attacked, receded from the seat of slaughter. The government of the United States, to protect these and other Indians from such unjust invasions of their territory, passed a law, prohibiting citizens from hunting on the Indian lands. This wholesome law was often evaded, and its violation was very distressing to the Osages, as the game had already become scarce, and, being hemmed in to the westward by the Pawnees, a powerful and warlike tribe, with whom they were always at war, they were unable to extend their hunting-grounds in that direction.

In the spring of 1824, a party, consisting of three or four whites, as many half-breed Indians, and a negro, disregarding the law, went from the borders of the

Arkansas territory to hunt in the Indian lands. They were discovered by a party of Osages, led by Chetoca Washenpasha, or the Mad Buffalo, the most famous warchief of that nation. Mistaking the hunters, as they afterwards stated, for Indians of an unfriendly nation, they attacked and killed several of the party; but upon ascertaining the character of those who had fallen, they expressed much regret. 'We fear,' they said, 'that it will make trouble.' Some of the men were even melted to tears.

As always happens in such cases, the affair produced great excitement among the inhabitants on the frontiers, whose fears and passions are always excited by the slightest insult from their warlike neighbours. The aggressors were demanded from their tribe by the commandant of the American troops, posted on the Neothio River. After much consultation among themselves, and upon frequent reiteration of the demand, they met in council at the garrison, to the number of 300 or 400. They formed themselves into a circle, to hold their talk after their own fashion. The demand was again repeated, and an appeal made to them, enforcing the necessity of their compliance, and the evil consequences which would result from a refusal. At length, the Mad Buffalo arose with great dignity, and coming forward, declared himself to have been the leader of the party accused. He said that he had mistaken the hunters for a party of unfriendly Indians, and did not know there were any whites among them until after the deed was done. He expressed his willingness to make any atonement for the wrong which he had ignorantly committed against the children of their Great Father, the President; and stepping into the middle of the ring, 'I deliver myself up,' said he, to the American commandant, to be dealt with as may be thought proper.' Five other

warriors immediately followed his example. They were taken in charge, and held in close custody at the fort for a few days, and then sent, under a strong guard, down the Arkansas, to Little Rock, distant about 300 miles.