orical Essays upon Paris, vol. i.
p. 113, speaking of the Rue de Grenelle, in the quarter of Saint
Eustache, gives the following curious account of the birth of this
great King, whose memory is revered in France, beyond that of all the
other monarchs who have swayed the Gallic sceptre.

"Jeanne d'Albret, being desirous of following her husband to the wars
of Picardy, the King her father told her, that in case she proved with
child, he wanted her to come and lie-in at his house; and that he
would bring up the child himself, whether a boy or a girl. This
Princess finding herself pregnant, and in her ninth month, set out
from Compiegne, passed through all France as far as the Pyrenees, and
arrived in fifteen days at Pau in Bearn. She was very desirous to see
her father's will. It was contained in a thick gold box, on which was
a gold chain, that would have gone twenty-five or thirty times round
her neck. She asked it of him:--'It shall be yours,' said he, 'as soon
as you have shown me the child that you now carry; and that you may
not bring into the world a crying or a pouting child, I promise you
the whole, provided that whilst you are in labour, you sing the
Bearnese song _Notre Dame du bout du Pont aidez-moi en cette heure_".
No sooner was the Princess safely delivered, than her father, placing
the gold chain on her neck, and giving her the gold box wherein was
his will, said to her: 'These are for you, daughter, but this is for
me;' and took the child in his gown, without waiting for its being
dressed in form, and carried it into his chamber. The little Prince
was brought up in such a manner as to be able to undergo fatigue and
hardship; frequently eating nothing but common bread. The good King
his grandfather ordered it thus, and would not let him be delicately
pampered, in order that from his infancy he might be inured to
privation. He has often been seen, according to the custom of the
country, amongst the other children of the Castle and village of
Coirazze, bare-footed and bare-headed, as well in winter as in summer.
Who was this Prince?--Henry IV.

"Being descended from the Kings of France, he became the heir to that
Kingdom; but as he was educated a Protestant, his claim was resisted.
He early distinguished himself by feats of arms. After the peace of
Saint Germain, in 1570, he was taken to the French Court, and two
years afterwards married Margaret, sister of Charles IX. (At the
rejoicings on this occasion th