“Very dear and well-beloved--Having learnt with very sensible sorrow, that our very dear and well-beloved son, the _Duke_ de Vermandois,[A] Admiral of France, has lately died in the town of Courtray in Flanders, and desiring him to be placed in the cathedral church of our town of Arras, we send word to the Sieur Bishop of Arras to receive the body of our said son, when it is brought to the said church, and to have it buried in the choir of the said church with the ceremonies observed at the burial of persons of his birth. [A] This title may appear singular, but an old and curious book “_Les Estats de France_,” which contains the genealogies of all the nobles of this period, describes him as “the Count de Vermandois, _duke_ and peer of France.”--_Trans._ “All of which we have desired to make known to you by this letter, and to state that our intention is that you should conform to our will in this and assist in a body at this ceremony as is customary, on such occasions; and assuring ourselves that you will satisfy us in this, we do not make this present letter longer or more express; do not fail; for such is our pleasure. “Given at Versailles, the xix[B] November, 1683. Signed, “LOUIS,” and lower down, “LE TELLIER.” [B] We think, with M. de Hautecloque, that this date should be the 21st. In the registers of the chapter it is in Roman figures, and there is reason to suppose that a clumsy copyist has inverted the order of them and put xix for xxi. The comparison of dates and the very expressions of the King’s letter indicate it sufficiently. [143] Register of the Hôtel de Ville of Arras and of the Chapter. [144] _Ibid._ [145] [Chapel in which a dead person lies in state.--_Trans._] The cathedral in which Vermandois was interred no longer exists. Devastated and greatly mutilated during the revolutionary period, it was almost in ruins, and was later completely demolished. The Church of Saint-Nicolas was built upon the site which it occupied in that part of Arras styled the Cité, formerly completely distinct from the town properly so called. The Chapel of Saint-Vaast, in which the body of Vermandois was first deposited, formed part of the Abbey of Saint-Vaast. This chapel is the present cathedral of Arras. [146] Nuns of the order of Sainte-Claire.--_Trans._ [147] In 1786, Louis XVI., moved with the rumour referring to this supposition, ordered the coffin to be opened. A _procès-verbal_ drawn up December 16, 1786, in the presence of the Bishop of Arras, the provost of the cathedral, the head of the vestry, and the procureur-général, verified the existence “of an entire and well-shaped body.” See the very interesting _Vie de Madame Elizabeth_, of M. de Beauchesne, vol. i. p. 543. To this decisive proof we have felt bound to add others for those who might be tempted to believe that another body than that of Vermandois had been enclosed in the coffin. CHAPTER VII.