APPENDIX.

No. I.

MADAME DE SÉVIGNÉ À M. DE COULANGES.

À PARIS, 15 décembre 1670.

Je m'en vais vous mander la chose la plus étonnante, la plus surprenante, la plus merveilleuse, la plus miraculeuse, la plus triomphante, la plus étourdissante, la plus inouïe, la plus singulière, la plus extraordinaire, la plus incroyable, la plus imprévue, la plus grande, la plus petite, la plus rare, la plus commune, la plus éclatante, la plus secrète jusqu'à aujourd'hui, la plus brillante, la plus digne d'envie ; une chose que nous ne saurions croire à Paris; comment la pourroit-on croire à Lyon? une chose qui fait crier miséricorde à tout le monde ; une chose qui comble de joie Madame de Rohan et Madame de Hauterive; une chose enfin qui se fera dimanche, où ceux qui la verront croiront avoir la berlue; une chose qui se fera dimanche, et qui ne sera peut-être pas faite lundi. Je ne puis me résoudre à vous la dire ; devinez-la, je vous le donne en trois; jetez-vous votre langue aux chiens? Hé bien! il faut donc vous la dire. M. de Lauzun épouse dimanche au Louvre,

devinez qui? Je vous le donne en quatre, je vous le donne en dix, je vous le donne en cent. Madame de Coulanges dit,—voila qui n'est pas bien difficile à deviner; c'est Madame de la Valière. Point du tout, Madame. C'est donc Mademoiselle de Retz? Point du tout, vous êtes bien provinciale. Ah! vraiment, nous sommes bien bêtes, dites-vous, c'est Mademoiselle Colbert. Encore moins. C'est assurément Mademoiselle de Créqui. Vous n'y êtes pas. Il faut donc à la fin vous le dire: il épouse dimanche au Louvre, avec la permission du Roi, MademoiselleMademoiselle de-Mademoiselle, devinez le nom. Il épouse Mademoiselle, MADEMOISELLE, la grande Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle fille de feu MONSIEUR, Mademoiselle, petite-fille de Henri IV., Mademoiselle d'Eu, Mademoiselle Dombes, Mademoiselle de Montpensier, Mademoiselle d'Orléans, Mademoiselle, cousine-germaine du Roi, Mademoiselle, destinée au trône, Mademoiselle, le seul parti de France qui fût digne de MONSIEUR, Voilà un beau sujet de discourir. Si vous criez, si vous êtes hors de vousmême, si vous dites que nous avons menti, que cela est faux, qu'on se moque de vous, que voilà une belle raillerie, que cela est bien fade à imaginer; si enfin vous nous dites des injures, nous trouvons que vous avez raison; nous en avons fait autant que vous. Adieu; les lettres qui seront portées par cet ordinaire vous feront voir si nous disons vrai ou non.

Appendix.

No. II.

SPANISH LETTER.

225

THE following description of James Iv. of Scotland, and of the condition of his kingdom, is contained in a letter from the Prothonotary Don Pedro de Ayala to Ferdinand and Isabella, dated 25th July 1498. The letter is embraced in the first volume of Bergenroth's Calendar of Letters, Despatches, and State Papers, in the Archives at Simancas and elsewhere' (1862):

'The King is 25 years and some months old. He is of noble stature, neither tall nor short, and as handsome in complexion and shape as a man can be. His address is very agreeable. He speaks the following foreign languages: Latin, very well; French, German, Flemish, Italian, and Spanish; Spanish as well as the Marquis, but he pronounces it more distinctly. He likes very much to receive Spanish letters. His own Scotch language is as different from English as Aragonese from Castilian. The King speaks, besides, the language of the savages who live in some parts of Scotland and on the islands. It is as different from Scotch as Biscayan is from Castilian. His knowledge of languages is wonderful. He is well read in the Bible and in some other devout books. He is a good historian. He has read many

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Latin and French histories, and profited by them, as he has a very good memory. He never cuts his hair or his beard. It becomes him very well.

'He fears God, and observes all the precepts of the Church. He does not eat meat on Wednesdays and Fridays. He would not ride on Sundays for any consideration, not even to mass. He says all his prayers.

Before transacting any business he hears two masses. After mass he has a cantata sung, during which he sometimes despatches very urgent business. He gives alms liberally, but is a severe judge, especially in the case of murderers. He has a great predilection for priests, and receives advice from them, especially from the Friars Observant, with whom he confesses. Rarely, even in joking, a word escapes him that is not the truth. He prides himself much upon it, and says it does not seem to him well for kings to swear their treaties as they do now. The oath of a King should be his royal word, as was the case in bygone ages. He is neither prodigal nor avaricious, but liberal when occasion requires. He is courageous, even more so than a King should be. I am a good witness of it. I have seen him often undertake most dangerous things in the last wars. I sometimes clung to his skirts, and succeeded in keeping him back. On such occasions he does not take the least care of himself. He is not a good captain, because he