to the palace.  The palace itself, whose apartments had been adorned and furnished with royal magnificence, was entered by a very elegant porch.  The grand feasting-hall, with its Gothic architecture, its colored glass, its high chimney-piece covered with escutcheons and surmounted by a statue of Saint-Remi, its portraits of all the kings of France, was resplendent.  Three tables were to be set in the royal feasting-hall,—­that of the King, that of the Dauphiness, and that of the Duchess of Berry.  A gallery enclosed in glass, where there was a table of one hundred and thirty covers, had been built as by enchantment.  On leaving the feasting-hall, one entered the covered gallery, which, by a gentle incline, led to the Cathedral.  This gallery was formed of twenty-four arcades of fifteen feet each, and joined at right angles the porch erected before the portal.  By this arrangement the King could proceed on a level from his apartment to the Cathedral.

In the middle of the nave was erected a magnificent jube, where the throne of Charles X. was placed.  The cornice of the Corinthian order was supported by twenty columns.  At the four corners there were gilded angels.  The summit was surmounted by a statue of Religion and an angel bearing the royal crown.  This jube, glittering with gold, was placed about one hundred and fifty feet from the portal.  There was a passage under it to reach the choir, and the ascent to it was by a staircase of thirty steps.  As it was open, the King upon his throne could be seen from all parts of the basilica.  At the end of the choir, to the right on entering, was the gallery of the Dauphiness and the Duchess of Berry; to the left, opposite, was that of the princes and princesses of the blood; lower, toward the jube, and also on the left, that of the ambassadors and strangers of distinction; by the side of the jube, the gallery of the first gentlemen of the chamber of the King.  There were, moreover, two rows of galleries on each side of the nave.  The sanctuary was beaming with gold.  The pillars, surrounded with wainscoting, were covered with rich Gothic ornaments.  Above each of the galleries was a portrait of a king of France seated on his throne; still higher, portraits of bishops and statues of the cities of France in niches.  At the back, a platform had been constructed for the musicians of the Chapel of the King.  The choir and the sanctuary were to be lighted by thirty-four grand chandeliers, besides the candelabra attached to each pillar.

Some days before the coronation, which excited the curiosity of all Europe, the city of Rheims was filled with a crowd of tourists.  The streets and promenades of the city, usually so quiet, presented an extraordinary animation.  There had been constructed a bazaar, tents, cafes, places for public games, and at the gates of the city there was a camp of ten thousand men.  To visit this camp was a favorite excursion for the people and for strangers.  The soldiers