I hope that I may be able hereafter to render you services greater and more pleasing." He embraced the little Prince of Wales, and made the Queen seat herself in the royal state coach on the right hand.

The cavalcade then turned towards Saint Germains.
At Saint Germains, on the verge of a forest swarming with beasts of chase, and on the brow of a hill which looks down on the windings of the Seine, Francis the First had built a castle, and Henry the Fourth had constructed a noble terrace.

Of the residences of the French kings none stood in a more salubrious air or commanded a fairer prospect.

The huge size and venerable age of the trees, the beauty of the gardens, the abundance of the springs, were widely famed.

Lewis the Fourteenth had been born there, had, when a young man, held his court there, had added several stately pavilions to the mansion of Francis, and had completed the terrace of Henry.