the handsome archiepiscopal palace, where this powerful prelate resided in unwonted state. As the rhyme goes-- 'Bishop and abbot and prior were there, Many a monk and many a friar, Many a knight and many a squire, With a great many more of lesser degree Who served the Lord Primate on bended knee. Never, I ween, Was a prouder seen, Read of in books, or dreamt of in dreams, Than the Cardinal Lord Archbishop of Reims.' Brusquet, the court fool of Henry II., Francis II., and Charles IX., was a great favourite with this princely prelate, and accompanied him several times on his embassies to foreign states. Brusquet's wit was much appreciated by the cardinal, and has been highly extolled by Brantome; but most of the specimens handed down to us will not bear repetition, much less translation, from their coarseness. When the cardinal was at Brussels in 1559, negotiating the peace of Cateau Cambresis with Philip II., Brusquet one day at dessert jumped on to the table, and rolled along the whole length, wrapping himself up like a mummy in the cloth, with all the knives, forks, and spoons, as he went, and rolling over at the further end. The emperor, Charles V., who was the host, was so delighted that he told him to keep the plate himself. Brusquet had great dread of being drowned, and objected one day to go in a boat with the cardinal. 'Do you think any harm can happen to you with me, the pope's best friend?' said the latter. 'I know that the pope has power over earth, heaven, and purgatory,' said Brusquet; 'but I never heard that his dominion extended over water.' It is not unlikely that the effigy forming one of the corbels beneath the chapter court gateway, and representing a fool in the puffed and slashed shoes and bombasted hose of the Renaissance, with his bauble in his hand, may be intended for Brusquet; for in the Middle Ages the ecclesiastical councils had forbidden dignitaries of the Church to have fools of their own.[54] [Illustration: CHIMNEYPIECE IN THE BANQUETING HALL OF THE ARCHIEPISCOPAL PALACE AT REIMS.] It was in the grand hall of the archiepiscopal palace of Reims--an apartment which is very little changed from the days when Charles Cardinal de Lorraine entertained Henry II., Francis II., and Charles IX. in succession--that the coronation banquets at this epoch used to take place. Of the richness and beauty of the internal decorations of this interesting edifice some idea may be gained from the accompanying illustrations. [Illustration: CORBELS, FROM THE CHAPTER COURT GATEWAY, REIMS.]