with "Oh, good Granny!" and, "Oh fie, dear | left the room; she never laughed before him. In Granny!" and she would bridle up a little and time, the laugh came not; but in its place, sighs fan herself; then continue-"Yes, my dears, and tears. Monsieur had a great deal to answer each creature according to its nature-all men for. Amelie was not prevented from seeing the are tyrants; and I confess that I do think a Swiss, gentry when they came to visit in a formal way, whose mountain inheritance is nearly coeval with and she met many hawking and hunting; but she the creation of the mountains, has a right to be never was permitted to invite any one to the cas tyrannical; I did not intend to blame him for that: tle, nor to accept an invitation. Monsieur fancied I did not, because I had grown used to it. Ame- that by shutting her lips, he closed her heart; and lie and I always stood up when he entered the boasted such was the advantage of his good trainroom, and never sat down until we were desired. ing, that Amelie's mind was fortified against all He never bestowed a loving word or a kind look weaknesses, for she had not the least dread of upon either of us. We never spoke except when wandering about the ruined chapel of the castle, we were spoken to." where he himself dared not go after dusk. This "But when you and Amelie were alone, dear place was dedicated to the family ghost-the Granny?"

"Oh, why, then we did chatter, I suppose; though then it was in moderation; for monsieur's influence chilled us even when he was not present; and often she would say, 'It is so hard trying to love him, for he will not let me !' There is no such beauty in the world now as Amelie's. I can see her as she used to stand before the richly carved glass in the grave oak-panelled dressingroom; her luxuriant hair combed up from her full round brow; the discreet maidenly cap, covering the back of her head; her brocaded silk, (which she had inherited from her grandmother,) shaded round the bosom by the modest ruffle; her black velvet gorget and bracelets, showing off to perfection the pearly transparency of her skin. She was the loveliest of all creatures, and as good as she was lovely; it seems but as yesterday that we were together-but as yesterday! And yet I lived to see her an old woman; so they called her, but she never seemed old to me! My own dear Amelie !" Ninety years had not dried up the sources of poor Granny's tears, nor chilled her heart; and she never spoke of Amelie without emotion. "Monsieur was very proud of his niece, because she was part of himself; she added to his consequence, she contributed to his enjoyments; she had grown necessary; she was the one sunbeam of his house."

spirit, which for many years had it entirely at its own disposal. It was much attached to its quarters, seldom leaving them, except for the purpose of interfering when anything decidedly wrong was going forward in the castle. La Femme Noir' had been seen gliding along the unprotected parapet of the bridge, and standing on a pinnacle, before the late master's death; and many tales were told of her, which in this age of unbelief would not be credited."

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'Granny, did you know why your friend ventured so fearlessly into the ghost's territories ?" inquired my cousin.

"I am not come to that," was the reply; "and you are one saucy little maid to ask what I do not choose to tell. Amelie certainly entertained no fear of the spirit; La Femme Noir' could have had no angry feelings towards her, for my friend would wander in the ruins, taking no note | of daylight, or moonlight, or even darkness. The peasants declared their young lady must have walked over crossed bones, or drank water out of a raven's skull, or passed nine times round the spectre's glass on Midsummer eve. She must have done all this, if not more; there could be little doubt that the Femme Noir' had initiated her into certain mysteries; for they heard at times voices in low, whispering converse, and saw the shadows of two persons cross the old roofless chapel, when Mamselle had passed the footbridge alone. Monsieur gloried in this fearless

"Not the one sunbeam, surely, Granny!" one of us would exclaim; "you were a sunbeam then." "I was nothing where Amelie was-nothingness on the part of his gentle niece; and more but her shadow! The bravest and best in the than once, when he had revellers in the castle, he country would have rejoiced to be to her what I sent her forth at midnight to bring him a bough was-her chosen friend; and some would have from a tree that only grew beside the altar of the perilled their lives for one of the sweet smiles old chapel; and she did his bidding always as wilwhich played around her uncle, but never touched lingly, though not as rapidly, as he could desire. his heart. Monsieur never would suffer people to be happy except in his way. He had never married; and he declared Amelie never should. She had, he said, as inuch enjoyment as he had she had a castle with a draw-bridge; she had a forest for hunting; dogs and horses; servants and serfs; jewels, gold, and gorgeous dresses; a guitar and a harpsichord; a parrot-and a friend! And such an uncle! he believed there was not such another uncle in broad Europe! For many a long day Amelie laughed at this catalogue of advantages-that is, she laughed when her uncle

"But certainly Amelie's courage brought no calmness. She became pale; her pillow was often moistened by her tears; her music was neglected; she took no pleasure in the chase; and her chamois not receiving its usual attention, went off into the mountains. She avoided me-her friend! who would have died for her; she made no reply to my prayers, and did not heed my entreaties. One morning, when her eyes were fixed upon a book she did not read, and I sat at my embroidery a little apart, watching the tears stray over her cheek until I was blinded by my own, I heard

monsieur's heavy tramp approaching through the long gallery; some boots creak-but the boots of monsieur !-they growled!

came to his usual tryste. Monsieur, I have said, lay in his stately bed, the lightning, at intervals, illumining his dark chamber. I had cast myself "Save me, oh save me!' she exclaimed wildly. on the floor outside her door, but could not hear Before I could reply, her uncle crashed open the her weep, though I knew that she was overcome door, and stood before us like an embodied thun- of sorrow. As I sat, my head resting against the derbolt. He held an open letter in his hand-his lintel of the door, a form passed through the solid eyes glared his nostrils were distended--he trem- oak from her chamber, without the bolts being bled so with rage, that the cabinets and old china withdrawn. I saw it as plainly as I see your shook again. faces now, under the influence of various emo“Do you,' he said, 'know Charles le Maitre?' tions; nothing opened, but it passed through—a "Amelie replied, 'She did.'

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shadowy form, dark and vapory, but perfectly dis

How did you make acquaintance with the son tinct. I knew it was 'La Femme Noir,' and I

of my deadliest foe?'

trembled, for she never came from caprice, but always for a purpose. I did not fear for Amelie, for La Femme Noir' never warred with the highminded or virtuous. She passed slowly, more

"There was no answer. The question was repeated. Amelie said she had met him, and at last confessed it was in the ruined portion of the castle! She threw herself at her uncle's feet-slowly than I am speaking, along the corridor, she clung to his knees; love taught her eloquence. She told him how deeply Charles regretted the long-standing feud; how earnest, and true, and good, he was. Bending low, until her tresses were heaped upon the floor, she confessed, modestly, but firmly, that she loved this young man; that she would rather sacrifice the wealth of the whole world, than forget him.

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tender and affectionate, the old spirit of the old race roused within her; the slight girl arose, and stood erect before the man of storms.

growing taller and taller as she went on, until she entered monsieur's chamber by the door exactly opposite where I stood. She paused at the foot of the plumed bed, and the lightning, no longer fitful, by its broad flashes kept up a continual illumination. She stood for some time perfectly motionless, though in a lond tone the master demanded whence she came, and what she wanted. At last, 'Monsieur seemed suffocating; he tore off his during a pause in the storm, she told him that all lace cravat, and scattered its fragments on the the power he possessed should not prevent the floor-still she clung to him. At last he flung union of Amelie and Charles. I heard her voice her from him; he reproached her with the bread myself; it sounded like the night-wind among firshe had eaten, and heaped odium upon her moth-trees-cold and shrill, chilling both ear and heart. er's memory! But though Amelie's nature was I turned my eyes away while she spoke, and when I looked again, she was gone! The storm continued to increase in violence, and the master's rage kept pace with the war of elements. The servants were trembling with undefined terror; they feared they knew not what; the dogs added to their apprehension by howling fearfully, and then barking in the highest possible key; the master paced about his chamber, calling in vain on his domestics, stamping and swearing like a maniac. At last, amid flashes of lightning, he made his way to the head of the great staircase, and presently the clang of the alarmn-bell mingled with the thunder and the roar of the mountain torrents: this hastened the servants to his presence, though they seemed hardly capable of understanding his words-he insisted on Charles being brought before him. We all trembled, for he was mad and livid with rage. The warden, in whose care the young man was, dared not enter the hall that echoed his loud words and heavy footsteps, for when he went to seek his prisoner, he found every bolt and bar withdrawn, and the iron door wide open he was gone. Monsieur seemed to find "That night the castle was enveloped by storms; relief by his energies being called into action; he they cane from all points of the compass-thun-ordered instant pursuit, and mounted his favorite der, lightning, hail, and rain! The master lay in charger, despite the storm, despite the fury of the his stately bed and was troubled; he could hardly elements. Although the great gates rocked, and belive that Amelie spoke the words he had heard: cold-hearted and selfish as he was, he was also a clear-seeing man, and it was their truth that struck him. But still his heart was hardened; he had commanded Amelie to be locked into her chamber, and her lover seized and imprisoned when he

"Did you think,' she said, 'because I bent to you that I am feeble? because I bore with you, have I no thoughts? You gave food to this frame, but you fed not my heart; you gave me not love, nor tenderness, nor sympathy; you showed me to your friends, as you would your horse. If you had by kindness sown the seeds of love within my bosom; if you had been a father to me in tenderness, I would have been to you-a child. I never knew the time when I did not tremble at your footstep; but I will do so no more. I would gladly have loved you, trusted you, cherished you; but I feared to let you know I had a heart, lest you should tear and insult it. Oh, sir, those who expect love where they give none, and confidence where there is no trust, blast the fair time of youth, and lay up for themselves an unhonored old age.' The scene terminated by monsieur's falling down in a fit, and Amelie's being conveyed fainting to her chamber.

the castle shook like an aspen-leaf, he set forth, his path illumined by the lightning; bold and brave as was his horse, he found it almost impossible to get it forward; he dug his spurs deep into the flanks of the noble animal, until the red blood mingled with the rain. At last, it rushed madly

down the path to the bridge the young man must himself up in his chamber, and no one was suf

cross; and when they reached it, the master discerned the floating cloak of the pursued, a few yards in advance. Again the horse rebelled against his will, the lightning flashed in his eyes, and the torrent seemed a mass of red fire; no sound could be heard but of its roaring waters; the attendants clung as they advanced to the hand rail of the bridge. The youth, unconscious of the pursuit, proceeded rapidly; and again roused, the horse plunged forward. On the instant, the form of La Femme Noir' passed with the blast that rushed down the ravine; the torrent followed in her track, and more than half the bridge was swept away forever. As the master reined back the horse he had so urged forward, he saw the youth kneeling with outstretched arms on the opposite bank-kneeling in gratitude for his deliverance from his double peril. All were struck with the piety of the youth, and earnestly rejoiced at his deliverance; though they did not presume to say so, or look as if they thought it. I never saw so changed a person as the master when he reentered the castle gate: his cheek was blanchedhis eye quelled-his fierce plume hung broken over his shoulder-his step was unequal, and in the voice of a feeble girl he said- Bring me a cup of wine.' I was his cupbearer, and for the first time in his life he thanked me graciously, and in the warmth of his gratitude tapped my shoulder; the caress nearly hurled me across the hall.

What passed in his retiring-room, I know not. Some said the Femme Noir' visited him again; I cannot tell; I did not see her; I speak of what I saw, not of what I heard. The storm passed away with a clap of thunder, to which the former sounds were but as the rattling of pebbles beneath the swell of a summer wave. The next morning monsieur sent for the pasteur. The good man seemed terror-stricken as he entered the hall; but monsieur filled him a quart of gold coins out of a leather bag, to repair his church, and that quickly; and grasping his hand as he departed, looked him steadily in the face. As he did so, large drops stood like beads upon his brow; his stern, coarse features were strangely moved while he gazed upon the calm, pale minister of peace and love. You,' he said, 'bid God bless the poorest peasant that passes you on the mountain; have you no blessing to give the master of Rohean?"

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My son,' answered the good man, I give you the blessing I may give :-May God bless you, and may your heart be opened to give and to receive.'

fered to enter his presence; he took his food with his own hand from the only attendant who ventured to approach his door. He was heard walking up and down the room, day and night. When we were going to sleep, we heard his heavy tramp; at daybreak, there it was again; and those of the household, who awoke at intervals during the night, said it was unceasing.

"Monsieur could read. Ah, you may smile; but in those days, and in those mountains, such men as the master did not trouble themselves or others with knowledge; but the master of Rohean read both Latin and Greek, and commanded THE EOOK he had never opened since his childhood to be brought him. It was taken out of its velvet case, and carried in forthwith; and we saw his shadow from without, like the shadow of a giant, bending over THE BOOK; and he read in it for some days; and we greatly hoped it would soften and change his nature-and though I cannot say much for the softening, it certainly affected a great change; he no longer stalked moodily along the corridors, and banged the doors, and swore at the servants; he the rather seemed possessed of a merry devil, roaring out an old song

Aux bastions de Genève, nos cannons

Sont branquez;

S'il y a quelque attaque nous les feront ronfler,
Viva! les cannoniers!

and then he would pause, and clang his hands to-
gether like a pair of cymbals, and laugh. And once,
as I was passing along, he pounced out upon me,
and whirled me round in a waltz, roaring at me
when he let me down, to practise that and break my
embroidery frame. He formed a band of horns and
trumpets, and insisted on the goatherds and shep-
herds sounding reveillés in the mountains, and the
village children beating drums; his only idea of joy
and happiness was noise. He set all the canton
to work to mend the bridge, paying the workmen
double wages; and he, who never entered a
church before, would go to see how the laborers
were getting on nearly every day. He talked
and laughed a great deal to himself; and in his
gayety of heart would set the mastiffs fighting, and
make excursions from home-we knowing not
where he went. At last, Amelie was summoned to
his presence, and he shook her and shouted, then
kissed her; and hoping she would be a good girl,
told her he had provided a husband for her.
Amelie wept and prayed; and the master capered
and sung. At last she fainted; and taking ad
vantage of her unconsciousness, he conveyed her

"I know I can give,' replied the proud man; to the chapel; and there beside the altar stood the but what can I receive?'

"Love,' he replied. All your wealth has not brought you happiness, because you are unloving and unloved!'

bridegroom-no other than Charles Le Maitre.

"They lived many happy years together; and when monsieur was in every respect a better. though still a strange man, the Femme Noir

"The demon returned to his brow, but it did appeared again to him-once. She did so with not remain there.

a placid air, on a summer night, with her arm ex

"You shall give me lessons in this thing,' he tended towards the heavens. said; and so the good man went his way.

"Amelie continued a close prisoner; but a change came over monsieur. At first he shut

"The next day the muffled bell told the valley that the stormy, proud old master of Rohean had ceased to live."

From Bentley's Miscellany. on his shield; indicating that he aspired to higher and nobler deeds.

By a majority of the Germanic States, Charles was chosen emperor, to the great chagrin of Francis, who from that hour regarded his rival with feelings of bitter enmity. The coronation of Charles was celebrated with great pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle, on the 22d of October, 1520.

Francis and Charles, whilst they entertained feelings of hostility against each other, were very desirous of courting the friendship and support of Henry VIII., the youthful King of England. Francis spared neither flattery, presents, nor promises to secure the good offices of Wolsey, then in the height of his power; and authorized him to arrange the formalities of a solemn meeting between the courts of England and France. Charles regarded these proceedings with a jealous eye, and determined to have an interview with

THERE is perhaps no period within historical record more interesting than the first half of the sixteenth century; whether we regard the events that occurred or the characters which performed their parts in them, there is ample food afforded for reflection. It was then that the voice of Luther rang like a trumpet-blast throughout Europe, breaking up the fountains of the political Henry previous to his visit to France. It was and religious deeps, and summoning to his stand-intended to have been a surprise, but Henry was ard the advocates for reformation in the Catholic informed of it by Wolsey, who was secretly Church. The learned Erasmus and profound

On

lord cardinal conducted him to the Castell of | dinal, taking his journey thither on the 10th of Dover, which was prepared for him in the most May, (1552,) rode through London, accompanied roiall manner. In the morning the king rode with two earls, six-and-thirty knights, and an with all hast to the Castell of Dover to welcome hundred gentlemen, eight bishops, ten abbots, the emperour, and entering into the castell, thirty chaplains all in velvet and satin, and yeomen alighted; of whose coming the emperour having seven hundred. The five-and-twentieth of May knowledge, came out of his chamber and met him being Sunday, the Marquis Dorset, with the on the staires, where either of them embraced other in most loving manner, and then the king brought the emperour to his chamber. On Whitsuntide, earlie in the morning, they tooke their horses and rode to the citie of Canterburie, the more to keepe solemne the feast of Pentecost, but speciallie to see the Queene of England, his aunt, was the emperour his intent, of whom, ye may be sure, he was most joiefullie received and welcomed. Thus the emperour and his retinue, both of lords and ladies, kept their Whitsuntide with the King and Queene of England in the citie of Canterburie with all joie and solace. The emperour yet himself seemed not so much to delight in pastime and pleasure, but that, in respect of his youthful yeares, there appeared in him a great shew of gravitie; for they could by no means bring him to dance amongst the residue of the princes, but onelie was contented to be a looker on; peradventure the sight of the Lady Mary troubled him, whom he had sometime loved, and yet, through fortune's evill hap, might not have her to wife."t

On the 31st of May the emperor took his departure from England, and on the same day Henry VIII. crossed from Dover to Calais on his way to that memorable interview with Francis I., immortalized as the "Field of the Cloth of Gold."

Bishop of Chichester, the Lord de la Ware, and divers others, at the water of Graveling received the emperor, and with all honor brought him to Callice, where he was received with procession by the Lord Berners, lieutenant of the town. Monday he took shipping at Callice, and landed at Dover; where the cardinal, with three hundred lords, knights, and gentlemen, received him, and in great state brought him to the castle, where he was lodged. On Wednesday, being Ascension Even, the king came to Dover, and there, with great joy and gladness, the emperor and he met. On Friday in the afternoon they departed from Dover, and came that night to Canterbury, and from thence next day to Greenwich. Here, to honor the emperor's presence, royal justs and tournays were appointed, where the king, the Earl of Devonshire, and ten aids, kept the place against the Duke of Suffolk, the Marquis Dorset, and other ten aids on their part."* The city of London seems to have displayed its wonted hospitality on this occasion, and the chroniclers give the particulars with equal care and satisfaction-" In this maiours yere, (Sir John Milborne,) and the fowertene of the kyng, the Fridaie before Penthecoste, that is to saie the sixe daie of June, Charles the fifte, emperour, was honourably received into the citee of London of the maiour, aldermenne, and comunalte, our Souernaige Lorde accompanyng hym. And from London he went to Windsore, and sat in the stal of the garter, and from thens went to Hampton, and sailed ower the sea into Spaine."t Another account contains other particulars, which are interesting as illustrating the pride of Wolsey: "The emperour was lodged at the black fryers, and all his lords in the new palace of Bridewell. On Whitsunday the king and the emperour rode to the cathedral church of St. Paul, where the cardinal sung mass, and had his traverse and his cupboard. Before mass, two barons gave him water, and after the gospel two earls, and at the last lavatory two dukes, which pride the Spaniards much disdained." The worthy lord mayor and aldermen seem to have been so enchanted with the affability of their imperial and royal guests, that they *The hall of the archiepiscopal palace at Canterbury determined to commemorate the visit by an inscrip"was of such a vast amplitude, that once, in the year 1519, it was graced with the presence of the Emperor Charles the V. and King Henry VIII. at the same time; together with his royal consort Queen Katherine, whom (being the said emperor's aunt) he came to England to visit. This hall then contained these most royal persons, and all their numerous attendants, wherein they adjusted matters of state between them, exercised their triumphs, and feasted together in a most splendid manner, at the incredible cost and expenses of Warham, then archbishop."-Strype, Life of Parker, vol. i., p. 347.

Two years after this, another visit was paid by Charles to the British monarch, the particulars of which are even more interesting than the preceding. Henry, at all times fond of display, found in Wolsey a most able coadjutor; and in the present instance their efforts were combined to receive the emperor on a scale of surpassing magnificence. The old chroniclers love to dwell on these scenes, and the particulars they have handed down to us are full of interest as portraying the manners and customs of the age.

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King Henry, hearing that the emperor would come to Callice, so to pass into England as he went into Spain, appointed the Lord Marquis Dorset to go to Callice, there to receive him, and the cardinal to receive him at Dover. The car

The Lady Mary here spoken of was the queendowager of France, who was very celebrated for her beauty.

tion, worded in most courtier-like terms of flattery. We learn that "In such golden bonds of love Charles and Henry seemed linked, as in London this sentence was set up in the Guildhall, over the

* A Chronicle of the Kings of England, by Sir Richard Baker, Knt., fol. Lond. 1674.

+ The Chronicle of Fabian, black letter, imprinted at London, 1559. See also The Chronicle of John Hardynge, black letter.

A Chronicle of the Kings of England, by Sir R. Baker, fol. Lond. 1674.