court; at which no ladies appeared before her with any covering on their heads. This ceremony lasted till the celebration of the marriage, when, setting this royalty aside, she did homage to the Viscomtis and their wives. The marriage was celebrated with the greatest magnificence: the Viscomtis invited all the lords of Italy, who came to it with all readiness, and brought their wives along with them. The rejoicings lasted three days, and were concluded by a sumptuous feast given by Barnabas. Six hundred ladies, and more than a thousand lords, were served at tables of three courses with the greatest elegance and profusion. There were every day tournaments, where they prepared booths for the ladies, whose fine dresses, with the pompous ornaments of the knights, and the vast concourse of princes, nobles, and people of all nations, formed all together a most superb spectacle.

Petrarch set out for Paris when these rejoicings were over, as ambassador from Galeas Viscomti, to compliment king John on his return to, and on the recovery of, his kingdom. Petrarch gives this account of the dreadful condition of France:

< When I viewed this kingdom, which had been desolated by fire and sword, I could not persuade myself it was the same I had formerly beheld fertile, rich, and flourishing. On every side it now appeared a dreadful desert; extreme pov

erty, lands untilled, fields laid waste, houses gone to ruin; except here and there one that was defended by some fortification, or which was inclosed within the walls: every where were seen the traces of the English, and the dreadful havoc they had made. Touched by such mournful effects of the rage of man, I could not withhold my tears.

'I am not among those whose love of their own country causes them to hate or despise all the rest of the world. As I approached Paris, it appeared with that melancholy, disfigured air, as if it still dreaded the horrors it had been a prey to: and the Seine, which bathes its walls, wept over its late miseries, and shrunk at the idea of new disasters. Where, said I, is Paris now? Where are its riches, its public joy, its crowds of scholars, disputing even in the streets? To the buz of their syllogisms have succeeded the din of arms, troops of guards, and machines of war: in the stead of libraries, we behold nothing but arsenals: and tranquillity, who formerly reigned here as in her own temple, is now banished and fled from this unhappy land. The streets are deserted; the highways covered with weeds and brambles: the whole is one vast desert.'

Preparations were making at this time for the reentrance of king John into his kingdom. He came first to Calais, and from thence set out

for Paris. Petrarch relates a circumstance of this journey not in other historians. The king and his son,' says he, in traversing Picardy, were stopped by those troops of banditti who were soldiers of all nations united under several chiefs, and called companies, who ravaged the whole kingdom; and they were obliged to make a treaty with them to continue their journey in safety.' The king made his entrance into Paris in December, 1360. Villani says he was received with great honours, and that the city presented him with a thousand marks in silver plate.

The streets were carpeted, and the king walked under a canopy of cloth of gold. He went immediately to the church of Notre Dame, to return thanks to God, where, ever since the battle of Poitiers, a wax light was kept burning night and day before the altar of the virgin. They said it was rolled round a wheel, and in length would have comprehended the city of Paris.

Petrarch having witnessed the joy of the Parisians, went to compliment the king on his deliverance, in the name of the lords of Milan. John, who knew his reputation, and had heard him much spoken of by the cardinal of Bologna, was happy to see him, and gave him a very distinguished reception. This prince, though brought up by his father in ignorance, loved letters and wise men; but his son, Charles, to whom

he had given for his preceptor the most learned man in his kingdom, was a prince of great genius and fine taste. Petrarch was astonished to find in him a mind so highly cultivated: he admired his perfect politeness of manners, and the wisdom and moderation with which he conversed on the most important subjects. He only says of king John, that he was brave and humane.

Most of Petrarch's friends, whom he had gained at Paris in 1333, were dead; but he had the happiness to find Peter le Berchier still alive, the wise benedictine he had known at Avignon, and who visited him at Vaucluse. This monk was prior of St. Elay, and, as he held a distinguished rank among men of letters, he rendered Petrarch's residence at Paris very agreeable to him. In a discourse which the latter held with the king and the dauphin, he said it was not to be wondered at that fortune, who diverts herself with all things human, should reduce a flourishing kingdom, formerly the object of envy, to so miserable a condition. The king and the dauphin fixed their eyes upon him with surprise, when they heard him speak of fortune as a real being. The dauphin, who had a lively imagination, was curious to know what Petrarch thought of fortune; and he said to Peter le Berchier, and some other persons there, Petrarch and his colleagues are to dine here to-day; we must attack him af

ter dinner, and get him to explain himself on the subject of fortune.' One of his friends warned him of the dauphin's intention. Petrarch had no books with him; but he collected his thoughts, and proposed to represent fortune as a being of reason, and not a divinity who governed the world at pleasure, which was the common opinion of this age.

After dinner, the king was so occupied with doing the honours of his court to the ambassadors from Milan, that, to the great regret of the dauphin, he was prevented from discoursing with Petrarch. When the court broke up, Peter le Berchier, and three other learned men not named by Petrarch, went home with him, and entered upon a conversation which lasted till vespers.

In the beginning of February, 1561, Petrarch, in haste to return to Italy, went to take leave of the king and the dauphin. They expressed extreme regret at his departure, and made some attempts to retain him at their court. The dauphin pressed it in particular, and wished ardently to have a man of Petrarch's merit near him. But neither their arguments nor offers had any effect: he loved his country too well; and the court of France was too illiterate for him. King John, though he loved letters, had hardly twenty books in his library; his reign, and that of his son, was the period of their revival in France. Peter