which no lady failed to find her own place again, that all the spectators were amazed at the accuracy and grace of the evolutions.  This unique ballet lasted for at least an hour, after which the ladies representing, as I have said, the sixteen provinces advanced to the King, the Queen, the King of Poland, Monsieur his brother, the King and Queen of Navarre, and other notables of France and Poland, tendering to each a golden salver as large as the palm of the hand, finely enamelled and engraved, showing the fruits and products peculiar to each province, as for example:  In Provence, citrons and oranges; in Champagne, cereals; in Burgundy, wines; in Guienne, soldiers—­certainly a great honour to Guienne!—­and so on through the various other provinces.

At Bayonne similar gifts were bestowed, and a combat was fought which I would willingly describe, but it would take too much space.  But at Bayonne the men presented gifts to the ladies, while here it was the ladies giving to the men.  And note that all these inventions were derived from no other bounty and brain than that of the Queen.  She was mistress and deviser of everything.  She had such a knack that, no matter what spectacles were offered at Court, hers surpassed all the others.  So they had a saying that only the Queen Mother knew how to do fine things.  And if such shows were expensive, they also gave great pleasure, and people used to say that she wished to imitate the Roman emperors, who studied how to exhibit games to the people and give them pleasure, and so amuse them that they had no time to get into mischief.

In addition to the fact that she delighted to give pleasure to her people, she gave them much money to earn; for she greatly preferred all kinds of skilled workmen and paid them well.  Each was kept busy at his own work, so that they never lacked employment, especially masons and architects, as will be seen in her beautiful mansions—­the Tuileries (still unfinished), Saint Maur, Monceaux, and Chenonceaux.  Also she favoured men of genius and gladly read, or had read to her, the works which they presented to her or which she knew they had written, even the high-flown invectives which they launched against her, at which she scoffed and laughed, but took no other notice of, calling the writers prattlers and penny-liners.

She wished to know everything.  On the journey to Lorraine, during the second uprising, the Huguenots took with them a very fine culverin which they nicknamed the “queen mother.”  They were obliged to bury it at Villenozze as they were unable to drag it further because of its excessive weight and poor harness; and they were never able to find it again.  The Queen Mother was curious to know why they had named the gun for her, when she heard about it.  Finally some one, after being strongly pressed by her for the reason, replied:  “Because, Madame, she has a greater calibre and is larger than any of the others.”  The Queen was the first to laugh at this reply.