the character
of the king at this time. It will be remembered that Louis XIV. was
born in one of the palaces at St. Germain, about fifteen miles from
Paris. The magnificent terrace on the left bank of the winding Seine
commands perhaps as enchanting a view as can be found any where in
this world. The domes and towers of Paris appear far away in the
north. The wide, luxuriant valley of the Seine, studded with villages
and imposing castles, lies spread out in beautiful panorama before the
eye. The king had expended between one and two millions of dollars in
embellishing the royal residences here. But as the conscience of the
king became more sensitive, and repeated deaths forced upon him the
conviction that he too must eventually die, St. Germain not only lost
all its charms, but became a place obnoxious to him. From the terrace
there could be distinctly seen, a few leagues to the east, the tower
and spire of St. Denis, the burial-place of the kings of France. To
Louis it suddenly became as torturing a sight as to have had his
coffin ostentatiously displayed in his banqueting-hall.

When Anne of Austria was lying on her bed of suffering, the king was
one day pacing alone the terrace of St. Germain. Dark clouds were
drifting through the sky. One of these clouds seemed to gather over
the towers of St. Denis. To the excited imagination of the king, the
vapor wreathed itself into the form of a hearse, surmounted by the
arms of Austria. In a few days the king followed the remains of his
mother to the dark vaults of this their last resting-place. Just
before the death of the hapless Henrietta, the same gloomy towers
appeared to the king in a dream enveloped in flames, and in the midst
of the fire there was a skeleton holding in his hand a lady's rich
jewelry. But a few days after this the king was constrained to follow
the remains of the beautiful Henrietta to this sepulchre. God seems to
have sent warning upon warning upon this wicked king. Absorbed in
ambitious plans and guilty passions, Louis had but little time or
thought to give to his neglected wife or her children. In the same
year his two daughters died, and with all the pageantry of royal woe
they were also entombed at St. Denis.

[Illustration: ST. DENIS.]

It is not strange that, under these circumstances, the king, to whom
the Gospel of Christ was often faithfully preached, and who was living
in the most gross violation of the principles of the religion of
Jesus