PAGE FRIEDLAND _Frontispiece_. CITY OF ORLEANS 8 THE VOW OF CLOVIS 25 THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE 63 A MARRIAGE FEAST IN BRITTANY 82 COLUMN OF JULY, PLACE DE LA BASTILLE 100 JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEANS 125 A DUEL OF KNIGHTS 133 LOUIS XI 147 THE DUKE OF GUISE AT THE FRENCH COURT 189 EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF HENRY IV 196 CHAMBER OF MARY D' MEDICI 212 CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS 242 VOLTAIRE'S LAST VISIT TO PARIS 265 MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER CHILDREN 274 THE LAST VICTIMS OF THE REIGN OF TERROR 307 THE CITY OF MOSCOW 317 ARC DE TRIOMPHE AND CHAMPS ELYSEES, PARIS 327 NAPOLEON'S RETURN FROM ELBA 332 SCENE FROM THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 340 _THE HUNS AT ORLEANS._ On the edge of a grand plain, almost in the centre of France, rises a rich and beautiful city, time-honored and famous, for it stood there before France had begun and while Rome still spread its wide wings over this whole region, and it has been the scene of some of the most notable events in French history. The Gauls, one of whose cities it was, named it Genabum. The Romans renamed it Aurelian, probably from their Emperor Aurelian. Time and the evolution of the French language wore this name down to Orleans, by which the city has for many centuries been known. The broad Loire, the longest river of France, sweeps the foot of the sloping plain on which the city stands, and bears its commerce to the sea. Near by grows a magnificent forest, one of the largest in France, covering no less than ninety-four thousand acres. Within the city appears the lofty spires of a magnificent cathedral, while numerous towers rise from a maze of buildings, giving the place, from a distance, a highly attractive aspect. It is still surrounded by its mediaeval walls, outside of which extend prosperous suburbs, while far and wide beyond stretches the fertile plain.