the Duc de Montmorency, the Duc d'Epernon, the Duc de Sully, all peers
of France, and the Maréchaux de Brissac,[34] de Lavardin, and de
Bois-Dauphin;[35] while the other dignitaries of the State and Church
were arranged upon either hand of the young monarch, and the body of the
hall was occupied by the members of the several Courts.

When all had taken their places, and silence was restored, the Queen,
rising from her seat, and throwing back her veil, proceeded to address
the assembly, but for a time her voice was inaudible, and choked with
sobs. At length, however, she mastered her emotion, and with a gesture
full of mournful dignity, she besought all present to continue to her
son and to herself the same loyalty and devotion which they had
exhibited towards the monarch of whom the state had been so cruelly
bereft; assuring them that it should be her study to induce the King to
be guided by their counsels in all things, and imploring of them to
afford him such advice as should on all occasions be compatible with his
own dignity and the welfare of the country over which he was called
upon to rule.

Short as was this harangue, it was not without considerable difficulty
that she accomplished its utterance. More than once, suffocated by her
grief, she was compelled to pause until she could regain her voice; and
when at its close she drew her veil once more over her head, and
prepared to leave the hall, the assembly rose simultaneously, and
implored of her to honour the meeting by her presence until it should be
dissolved. Exhausted and wretched, Marie strove to utter her thanks, and
to retire; but the opposition offered to this resolution was so great
and so unanimous that she was at length prevailed upon to resume her
seat; and she had no sooner done so than Louis, raising for a moment the
cap from his head, in his turn addressed the Court.