‘You have,’ Voltaire wrote later of Paris, ‘slaughter-houses in back streets with no issue, which give out in summer a cadaverous odour capable of poisoning an entire quarter.’ On this point at any rate Chartres was superior to Paris. For in the sixteenth century public slaughter-houses (massacre--the name still marks a section of the river) were erected in an appropriate place. But the butchers did not take kindly to them. In spite of frequent pains and penalties, it was long before the inveterate habit of slaughtering animals and throwing their blood into the streets was abandoned. As to the streets, the authorities contented themselves for the most part with quite platonic aspirations that they should be watered and cleaned. But on great occasions, as I have said, cleaned they were, along with the roads, passages and bridges. Such an occasion was the visit of the King and Queen in 1550, with the Dauphin and his young _fiancée_, Mary Stuart. The masters and companions of each trade and mystery, and the pages of honour to accompany the King on horse and foot were carefully selected; and costumes were as nicely chosen. The Lieutenant-General de Hérouad indeed issued an order calling upon the citizens, on pain of forfeit and arrest, to array themselves for the ceremony in velvet, satin, taffetas, and other rich garments. Triumphal arches were raised before the gates. At the cross roads scaffoldings were erected and decorated with tapestries and gilt, whereon plays and mysteries were to be performed. These elaborate arrangements, however, ended in a lamentable fiasco. As the _cortège_ wound its way out of the Porte Drouaise to meet the King and Queen a violent storm burst over them, and compelled them all, Lieutenant-General included, to seek refuge in the Church of S. Maurice and the neighbouring houses, in order to save their gala clothes from ruin. At the same moment, unfortunately, the King and Queen left the road of Josaphat, which they were following, and made a short cut for the town, where they arrived without meeting a soul to welcome them. As the key and granary of Paris, Chartres began to be the favourite garrison town of the French army, and was obliged to contribute accordingly to the expenses of huge masses of men quartered on her. [Illustration: Queen Berthy Tower.]