allaient à, 'suited
Page 101. 1. 7. des seize quartiers, * of the sixteen quarterings,' i.e. sixteen marriages into noble families by lineal descent. Remiremont was at this time the most exclusive conventual establishment in Europe.
1. 12. la clôture de la première assemblée des Notables. The Assembly of the Notables was a deliberative assembly summoned by the King in moments of national péril. It consisted of the princes of the blood and important personages belonging to the nobility, magistracy, and clergy, who were specially nominated by the sovereign. Louis XVI, aimlessly battling with forces which he did not understand, summoned this assembly in 1787 and again in 1788, after a lapse of over 160 years. Its inability to cope with the financial and social evils of générations led to the convocation of the États Généraux in 1789. This was the full Parliament of France, consisting of the three orders of the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Tiers État. The first two having refused to co-operate with the représentatives of the people, the latter reconstituted itself as the National Assembly, which became the chief organizing force of the Révolution.
1. 23. pays d'états were provinces in France which had parliaments of their own, as distinct from pays d'élection which sent représentatives to Paris.
1. 32. Le parlement Maupeou was the name given to the socalled Conseil du Roi which Maupeou, minister of Louis XVI, substituted for the Parliament of Paris in 1771. It was dissolved owing to its gênerai unpopularity.
1. 34. La Cour plénière was, originally, a mediaeval court held by a sovereign in connexion with some public festival or tourna ment. It was reinstituted by Loménie de Brienne, finance minister of Louis XVI, for the registry of edicts. This, like the restoration of the courts of the Grands Bailliages, was among the childish expédients of this futile minister of a futile king.
Page 102. 1. 24. lits de justice. ' Lit de justice ' was originally the throne on which the king sat when he presided over the Parliament in Paris. It afterwards came to mean the sitting of Parliament with the king presiding. Such sittings were only held under exceptional circumstances, such as the judging of a peer of France.
Page 103. 1. 19. dans leur forme de 1614. This was the last occasion on which the États Généraux had met previous to 1787. They assembled in 1614 on the coming of âge of Louis XIII, and were dissolved owing to the disputes between the three orders.
Page 104. 1. 10. ne députait pas, ' sent no delegate.'
Page 105. 1. f>. M. de Colonne, Controller -General of Finance in 1783, convoked the Assemblée des Notables in 1787, but was afterwards disgraced.
L 10. M. Necher (1732-1804) was a Genevan banker and Director-General of Finance to Louis XVI from 1776 to 1781, and again from 1788 to 1789. He is perhaps more worthy of remembrance as having been the father of Mme de Staël.
1. 11. r archevêque de Sens, Loménie de Brienne. See note to p. 101, 1. 34.
1. 19. Vaftaire du collier. This was the famous plot of the Diamond Necklace. An adventuress by the name of La Motte persuaded Cardinal de Rohan, Bishop of Strasburg, that he would advance himself in the good grâces of Marie Antoinette if he purchased a certain priceless diamond necklace and used her as an intermediary to convey it to the Queen. Having obtained possession of the jewels, La Motte disposed of them for her own use. Although entirely innocent, Marie Antoinette was long credited with a part in what is one of the most incredible and tortuous intrigues in history.
la Cour plénière. See note to p. 101, 1. 34. Le Mariage de Figaro is the comedy by Beaumarchais which appeared in 1784.
1. 20. Cagliostro was a celebrated quack and alchemist. After travelling through Europe he appeared in Paris in 1780 and was received with unlimited credulity by ail classes. Being implicated in the affair of the Diamond Necklace, he was imprisoned for a time in the Bastille. He subsequently fell into the hands of the Papal authorities and was confined for the remainder of his life as an impostor and a free-mason.
Mesmer (1733-1815) was a German physician and the originator of the theory of animal magnetism which bears his name.
Page 106. 1. 1. houhous,' old décrépit women' or 'old monkeys.' The word is probably connected with hibou. 1. 2. Armorique. See note to p. 28, 1. 26.
Page 107. 1.18. lettres en bonnes formes,1 p&^emdulyexecuted.' 1. 35. Nune vada latrantis Scyllae, 'now thedepths of barking Scylla,' is a quotation from Virgil's Aeneid.
Page 108. 1. 13. La Briantais. This and the following are names of country-houses.
1. 27. c'est V itinéraire et la carte du maître du lieu, ' they form the chart of the proprietor and the history of his travels.'
1. 30. callemandre, or better callamande, and also calmande ;
the English calamanco, a fine woollen stuff, glossy on one side, and often made of camel's hair.
Page 109. 1. 5. les Valkyries de VEdda. The Valkyries were the Scandinavian goddesses who frequented the fields of battle and led the soula of the departed warriors to the joys of Valhalla. Edda is the name given to the two ancient poems of Scandinavian lore.
1. 6. Canêphores were the virgin attendants of Minerva who carried in procession baskets garlanded with flowers and containing sacred objecta of worship.
1. 14. sa bataille. Tremoille, gênerai of Charles VIII, won a victory hère over the rebel Bretons in 1488.
Page 110. 1. 32. le chef-d'œuvre de Cervantes, i.e. Don Quixote de la Mancha. In this famous work the Spanish poet Cervantes (1547-1616) ridicules in the person of the hero the romantic views of life which were prévalent in Europe during the décadence of the âge of chivalry.
Page 111. 1. 9. fouages. The fouage was a feudal tax payable on each household.
