PAGE 96.--1. REIMS, a celebrated city in the Department of Marne, 107 miles northeast of Paris. Clovis was baptized here in 496. In the eighth century it was made an archbishopric, and from 1179 till the time of Charles X. it was the coronation place of the kings of France.
2. "On the fifteenth day of the month of September (1559), King Francis II. made his entry into the city of Reims, where he was received with all devotion and honor by the inhabitants of this city. And on the following Monday, his Majesty was anointed and consecrated in the great church by the Cardinal of Lorraine, in the presence of the princes of the blood and many other great lords, and all the ceremonies required and preserved by immemorial custom were there observed. Immediately afterwards he departed from that place and abode for some time in the city of Blois" (Nicole Gilles and Belle-Forest in their _Annales de France_, quoted by Godefroy: _Le Cérémonial François_, i., p. 311).
The consecration of the King of France was attended with many elaborate ceremonies. The new monarch made a journey to Reims, and was escorted into the city by the high secular authorities; masses were then offered, in which the King took part. On the coronation day he was conducted to the Church of Notre Dame; the sacred vessel containing the anointing oil was brought in and delivered into the hands of the archbishop. This was followed by the administration of the oath, by which the King promised to preserve the faith of the Church, to suppress evil-doers, to rule with justice and mercy, and to endeavor to exterminate all heresy within the realm. He was then anointed on the head, on the breast, between the two shoulders, on the right and on the left shoulder, and on the right and left arms; at each application the Monsieur de Reims exclaimed: "Ungo te in Regem de oleo sanctificato, in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti." The King was then clothed in his royal garments, the sceptre placed in his hand and the crown upon his head. After the celebration of a mass, he was led back to the palace amid the shouts of the people: "Vivat Rex in æternum!"
PAGE 98.--1. QU'ELLE LUI EN FÎT UNE FINESSE, "that she was deceiving him." ("La finesse dans ce sens est la finesse d'esprit conduite jusqu'à un mauvais usage."--Littré.)
PAGE 101.--1. ANET, a chateau built in 1552 by Philibert Delorme, by order of Henry II., for Diana of Poitiers. It was embellished by the best artists of France,--Goujon, Pilon, Cousin, etc. The building was partly destroyed during the Revolution.
2. CHAMBORT, a magnificent palace about ten miles west of Paris, constructed by Pierre Napren for Francis I., and decorated by Cousin, Pilon, and others. It was afterwards owned by King Stanislaus, then by the family of Polignac, afterwards by Marshal Berthier. In 1821 it was granted to the Duke of Bordeaux, and is now in the possession of his descendants.
PAGE 110.--1. BLOIS, chief city of the Department of Loir-et-Cher, on the right bank of the Loire, about 110 miles south-southwest of Paris. Its Counts were of the family of Hugh Capet. During the reign of Charles the Simple, it was in the possession of Thibaut, Count of Chartres. It remained to his descendants till 1491, when it came into the hands of the Duke of Orleans, afterwards Louis XII., who united it to the possessions of the Crown. Blois then became a favorite resort of the House of Valois; Francis I. and Charles IX. resided there. A fine description of the palace is given in Balzac's _Catherine de Medici_.
PAGE 111.--1. QUE in the sense of _pourquoi_. (See also page 126, line 23.)
PAGE 112.--1. EST-CE DE VOUS DONT JE PARLE? such is the reading of the edition edited by E. Flammarion, which text has been mostly followed in this edition. A preferable reading is that of the edition of P.A. Moutardier, edited by Étienne and Jay: _est-ce vous dont je parle?_ Compare _ce n'est pas moi dont vous parlez_ (line 24), and _ce n'est pas vous dont vous parlez_ (page 83, line 28). The reading of the edition of Garnier Frères is: _est-ce de vous que je parle?_
PAGE 113.--1. S'IL N'Y ALLOIT QUE DE MON INTÉRÊT, "if my interests alone were at stake."
PAGE 115.--1. This tender and praiseworthy resolution of Madame de Clèves furnishes the true explanation of her actions toward the Duke of Nemours after the death of her husband,--a course of conduct which some of Madame de La Fayette's critics find so inexplicable. (See d'Haussonville's _Vie de Mme. de La Fayette_, p. 190.)
PAGE 116.--1. PLUS DE DEVOIR, PLUS DE VERTU, "no more requirements of duty or virtue."
PAGE 122.--1. Notice the use of the future and the conditional in interjectional expression in the sense of the present and past tenses. Translate: "Can it be that a mere fancy prevents you from giving happiness to a man," etc.
PAGE 126.--1. MONSIEUR DE CLÈVES NE FAIT ENCORE QUE D'EXPIRER, "M. de Clèves has just died."
PAGE 127.--1. ELLE NE FÎT DE DÉCLARATIONS ET NE PRÎT ENGAGEMENT, "lest she should make certain promises and bind herself," referring possibly to her withdrawal from the world into a religious house, or perhaps to a simple vow never to marry again.
PAGE 131.--1. DONT, an incorrect use of the relative, noticed by Valincour. _Dont_ is not used as a compound relative; the correct expression would be _de celui dont_.