n it upon oath,
but by an express order under her own hand.' The queen dying without
ever calling for the box, it continued many years unopened in the
family of De Mesme, after both their deaths, till, at last, curiosity,
or the suspicion of some treasure, from the heaviness of it, tempted
Monsieur de Mesme's successor to break it open, which he did. Instead
of any rich present from so great a queen, what horror must the
lookers on have when they found a copper plate of the form and bigness
of one of the ancient Roman Votive Shields, on which was engraved
Queen Katherine de Medicis on her knees, in a praying posture,
offering up to the devil sitting upon a throne, in one of the ugliest
shapes they used to paint him, Charles the IXth, then reigning, the
Duke of Anjou, afterwards Henry III., and the Duke of Alanson, her
three sons, with this motto in French, "So be it, I but reign."

And in the Court Rolls of the Manor of Hatfield, near the Isle of
Axholme, Yorkshire, the following ridiculous story is given: "Robert
de Roderham appeared against John de Ithon, for that he had not kept
the agreement made between them, and therefore complains that on a
certain day and year, at Thorne, there was an agreement between the
aforesaid Robert and John, whereby the said John sold to the said
Robert the Devil, bound in a certain bond, for threepence farthing,
and thereupon, the said Robert delivered to the said John one farthing
as earnest money, by which the property of the said devil, was vested
in the person of the said Robert, to have livery of the said devil on
the fourth day next following, at which day the said Robert came to
the forenamed John and asked delivery of the said devil, according to
the agreement between them made. But the said John refused to deliver
the said devil, nor has he yet done it, &c., to the great damage of
the said Robert, to the amount of 60gs, and he has, therefore, brought
his suit.

"The said John came, and did not deny the said agreement; and because
it appeared to the Court that such a suit ought not to subsist among
Christians, the aforesaid parties are, therefore, adjourned to the
infernal regions, there to hear their judgment, and both parties were
amerced by William de Scargell, Seneschall."

FOOTNOTES:

[34] Harland and Wilkinson's "Lancashire Legends," 15-16.

[35] "Romances of the West of England."

[36] "A Strange and True Relation of one Mr. John Leech," 1662.

[37] "Saunders'