the royal guard. The
artillery responds from the city ramparts. The bells ring. The
heralds-at-arms distribute the medals struck for the coronation. The
people rush to get them. The keepers release the birds, which fly here
and there beneath the vaulted roof, dazzled, terrified by the shining
chandeliers. The Te Deum is sung. High Mass begins. At the offertory
the King leaves the throne to go to the altar with the offerings.
Reaching the front of the altar, he hands his sceptre to Marshal Soult,
Duke of Dalmatia, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier, Duke of
Treviso. Then, after having presented in succession the
offerings,--viz. the wine in a vase of gold, the Pain d'Argent, the
Pain d'Or,--he resumes his sceptre and his Main de Justice and returns
to the throne.

After the benediction, the Grand Almoner goes and takes the kiss of
peace from the Archbishop, and then goes and gives it to the King. The
Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and the Duke of Bourbon, laying aside
their ducal crowns, come and receive the kiss from the King.

After the domine salvum fac regem Charles X. again descends from the
throne, and returns to the altar. There he removes his crown and
retires behind the altar to his confessional, where he remains three
minutes. During this time the holy table is prepared. The cloth is held
on one side by the Bishop of Hermopolis, First Almoner of the King, and
on the other by the Grand Almoner. Charles X. kneels on a cushion
before the holy table, which is supported by the Dauphin and the Duke
of Orleans. The King receives the communion in both kinds. The whole
assembly kneels. The great crown of Charlemagne is handed to Marshal
Jourdan, who bears it in front of the King. The Archbishop then places
the diamond crown on the King's head, who resumes his sceptre and his
Main de Justice, while the choir chants the exaudiat, and returns with
his cortege to the Archbishop's palace, passing through the church and
the covered gallery. It is half-past eleven in the morning. The
ceremony of consecration is finished. It has lasted four hours.

Reaching his apartments, Charles X. passes the sceptre to Marshal
Soult, the Main de Justice to Marshal Mortier. The shirt and the gloves
touched by the holy unction must be burned. The great officers of the
crown then escort the monarch to the royal banquet in the great hall.
There he eats under a dais with the Dauphin, the Duke of Orleans, and
the Duke of Bourbon, with their