The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-01 00:00:00

FRANCIS I.

At the upper end of the grand gallery a brilliant party
was now assembled. Chief among thorn, not merely in
point of rank, but for his lofty stature, majestic and grace-
ful deportment, and splendid habiliments, was Francois I.
At this period, the king, who was still under thirty, was in
the full éclat of his manly beauty. So lofty was his stature
that he towered above the tallest of his courtiers, and his
person was strongly but admirably proportioned. With
his remarkable physiognomy, rendered familiar by the
breathing portrait of Titian, all are acquainted. All can
conjure up that countenance, so handsome, intellectual,
refined, haughty, sarcastic, of which perhaps the sole fault
was that the principal feature was too prominent—a pecu-
liarity which caused the monarch to be popularly surnamed
Francois le grand nez. The king's eyes were dark and full
of fire, and his clear skin was set off by a pointed beard.
His brown locks were cut short, in consequence of a severe
wound he had received on the head, and as a matter of
course the fashion had been followed by his courtiers. His
teeth were magnificent, and were constantly displayed, his
countenance being rarely without a smile. His expression
was jovialand good-humoured, though somewhat proud and
sarcastic ; his deportment full of majesty, but he was so
affable that ho set all who approached him at ease. Fami-
liarity, however, was never attempted with Francois, even
by his greatest favourites. In a word, he fully merited the
appellation to which he aspired, and which was univer-
sallybostowed upon him, of the First Gentleman in Europe.
Francois I. was not remarkable merely for his personal
accomplishments and graces. His mental qualifications were
of a very high order. If not erudite or profound, he was
well read. He was fond of poetry; and was himself a poet.
He delighted in romances of chivalry, " Lancelot du Lac,"
" Garin le Lorrain," and took for his model the peerless
" Amadis do Gaule." In consequence of his predilection
for them, the favourite books with the gallants and dames
of his court were " Gerard de Nevers," " Pierre de Pro-
vence et la Belle Maguelouno," and "Petit Jehan de Sain-
tre." Not merely was Francois 1. a lover of literature, and
a patron of poets and men cf learning, but he warmly en-
couraged the arts, and his court was frequented by the best
painters, sculptors, and architects, whom he brought from

Endowed with some of the highest and noblest qualities,
by nature frank, loyal, and chivalrous, though fiery and
impetuous, passionately fond of war, and always thirsting
for military renown, Francois was a perfect typo of the na-
tion over which he ruled, and next to Henri IV., who to a
certain extant based himself upon him, is the best loved of
the French monarchs. His splendid person and noble fea-
tures, his kingly deportment, his accomplishments, Lis
martial tastes, his courage, his address in the tilt-yard and
ix the management of arms of all kinds, pike, rapier, two-
handed sword, his unequalled skill and grace in horseman-
ship, Lis joyial luunoux Idobonhonale, his devotion to the

fair sex, are dwelt upon with satisfaction, and his faults
overlooked or forgotten.

On this occasion the splendid person of the king was
displayed to the utmost advantage by his magnificent
attire. His habiliments were of white and blue—the colours
of the Comtesse do Chateaubriand. His doublet,
of azuro velvet slashed and:puffed with white silk, glittered
with diamonds, and his girdle was ornamented with
rubiis and emeralds. Over his doublet he wore a white
hrs de mantle, trimmed with minever, and so fashioned
as tt, display the puffed sleeves of his jerkin. The handle
and sheath of his poniard were studded with gems, as was
also the guard of his long rapier. his sky-blue velvet
toque was encircled by a white plume, and ornamented
by diamonds. The perfect symmetry of his lower limbs
was displayed by his white silk hose, and below the
knee he wore the Garter, with which he had been in-
vested by Henry VIII. prior to their meeting at tho
Field of the Cloth of Gold. His buskins, of blue velvet
slashed with white satin, like his doublet, were orna-
mented with pearls. He was vain of his small feet and
finely-formed bands, and his fingers wero loaded with
magnificent rings. Around his neck he wore the collar
of the order of Saint Michael.

Even Mr. Ainsworth's mere profile-sketches, as one
may call them, are too good to be passed by without
quotation. Instance, his rapid outline of—

THE RING'S JESTER, TRIBOULET.
The Court Buffoon wore the parti-colour proper to
his office, and carried a bauble in his hand. Misshapen in
person, ho had high shoulders, long arms, large feet and
hands, and an immense head. His brow was low, his eyes
lighted up by a malicious flame, and his countenance alto-
gether had a cunning and mischievous expression, which
inspired fear while it excited mirth.

Or his almost equally rapid delineation of—

THE FAMOUS ASTROLOGER, CORNELIUS AGRIPPA.

Immediately behind Triboulet stood a tall, thin man,
whose appearance offered a striking contrast to that of the
jester. This personage wore a black taffeta robe with
loose sleeves, and a silken skull-cap of the same hue,
which set off his ',allow features. His eyes were thought-
ful in expression, and a long grey beard, descending
to his girdle, added materially to the gravity of
his aspect. This individual was the renowned Cor-
nelius 'Agrippa, who, rifler many years of travel and
strange adventure in Germany, Switzerland, the
Low Countries, and England, now formed part of
the royal household of France, and occupied the post of
physician and astrologer to the Duchess d'Angouleme, who
had great faith in his medical and mystical lore. Though
the courtiers affected to deride Agrippa's predictions, and
sometimes charged him with dealing in the black art, they
nevertheless stood in great awe of him.
-Here, however, is the heart of the interest of the
number—in this culmination to a quarrel of the in-
terview between the King and the Constable Be

" Is it nothing

blood."