they would have continued," says the
Mercure, "had not the King been graciously
pleased to permit them to look on him,
saying that they had come too far to be
deprived of so slight a gratification." This
arrangement left a vacant space between
his Majesty and the ambassadors, who
halted at the foot of the estrade, and again
made their three obeisances, so low that
one might almost fancy that their
foreheads touched the ground. The King
returned their salute by raising his hat. Having
delivered himself of the usual harangue,
which was afterwards read out in French by
the Abbé de Lionne, the chief-ambassador,
taking from his colleague his master's letter,
advanced with it up the steps of the estrade,
the other two following at a distance of one
step behind. The King, as he took the
letter, rose from his seat and uncovered. He
then inquired, through the Abbé de Lionne,
after the health of the King and Queen of Siam,
and informed the ambassadors that if they
had anything further to request he was
ready to listen. This last proof of his
Majesty's condescension so overpowered the
Siamese, that they could only reply by low
bows.

This concluded the ceremony, and the
ambassadors retired from the presence,
"toujours à reculons," and with the same
obeisances as before. If the sneer of Voltaire
and his followers have any foundation in
fact, Louvois and his colleagues must have
chuckled mightily at the success of their
scheme. It was one of the weaknesses of
Louis to like to perceive in the countenances
of all who approached him the effects of that
divinity which in his own opinion, at least,
hedged him about. The awe and veneration
which were manifested in the demeanour of
the envoys flattered his vanity to the top of
its bent; and the courtiers were unsparing
in their praises of the ingenuous barbarians
who had succumbed at first sight to the
"grand air," which had reduced princes,
dukes, and marshals, to the level of so many
flunkeys.

We spare our readers the description of
the banquet, which was served in the Salle
de Descalte; after which the distinguished
strangers had audiences of the Dauphin, the
Duke of Burgundy, the Duke of Anjou, and
the Duke of Berry—the last an infant aged
two days exactly, but who, nevertheless, gave
audience in the arms of Madame de la Mothe,
the gouvernante of the children of France.
They had also the honour of being
presented to Monsieur and Madame. They
were frequently at Versailles after this,
though it is to be hoped they never again
had such a hard day's work. Under the date
of October the first, the Marquis de Dongeau
writes: "The King has had the Siamese
ambassadors with him every day for some
time past, either in his own apartments or in
his private gardens, where he says to them
and does them all sorts of kindnesses. They
are greatly charmed with his Majesty's
behaviour to them."

During the remainder of their stay in
France, which lasted till the following March,
they inspected all that was to be seen in
Paris, and took a tour through the north of
France and Flanders, to see the King's
conquests. They would have extended it
to Alsace and the Rhine, but for the
inclemency of the winter. They sailed home
from Brest, having been prevented from
making Havre their port of departure,
by the impassable state of the roads in
Normandy.

The end of all this was nil. When the
ambassadors got back, the native party in
Siam (among whom, we regret to say, the
first ambassador is found bearing a
prominent part), proved too strong for Monsieur
Constance. Taking advantage of a sudden
illness of the King, they seized upon the hated
foreigner and put him to death—some say by
horrible tortures. The French troops, which
had been put in possession of Bangkok and
Meyra, were expelled from the country; and
thus France lost another chance of founding
an empire in the East.

BANKRUPTCY IN SIX EASY LESSONS.

INTRODUCTION.

As the whole human race must range
themselves under two classes, viz., debtors
and creditors, it is of vital importance that
a man should make himself acquainted, as
fully as possible, with at least the chief
tribunal whose special function it is to deal
with those who cannot or will not pay:—
the Bankruptcy Court.

Four men out of five go into business, and
two of that number fail as a matter of
course; the wonder is, that this prolific and
useful subject has not been taken up scientifically
before.

LESSON THE FIRST. THE BUSINESS.

THE first thing to do, my young friend,
when you start in life, is to settle everything
you possess, upon your wife. Having
done this legally and securely, take a
warehouse in a good situation, and begin to buy.
That you may be under no alarm about your
power to do this, I will explain, in a few
words, the theory of trade. The greater
part of goods manufactured are made by
persons with little capital, and they are
compelled to force sales, to get bills of exchange
for discount to pay for the raw material.
The warehousemen who buy them are men
of little or no capital, and they are
compelled to hurry sales, to get bills for discount
to pay the bills drawn by the manufacturers.
And so trade moves, one class continually