by the combat, appeals to his soldiers to bring fire and sword to bear on the city itself, when he is checked by a supernatural interference:—
"Just then, from out the bosom of a cloud,
A glorious phantom grew upon the sight;
Its shape majestic, mastering the winds,
Upon their wings came down towards the king.
Of the Divinity the living rays
Full on its brow immortal beauty shed."
This is the spirit of Henry's ancestor St Louis, who rebukes the fury of the assailants, and thus addresses the king:—
"'I am that happy king whom France reveres,
Father of Bourbons, and thy father too.
Louis, who lately combated for you;
Louis, whose faith your alien heart neglects;
Louis, who grieves for you, admires you, loves you.
God will one day conduct you to his throne,
In Paris, you, my son, shall conqueror tread,
Not for your valour, but your clemency;
'Tis Heaven thus speaks by me, its messenger.'"
Then, seeing the king exposed to a terrible hail of missiles from the walls, the saint withdraws him from the combat and conveys him to Vincennes. St Louis continues to be an important actor in the rest of the epic, and with happy effect. The objections made to Discord, Truth, &c., do not apply to him. A sentiment common to all nations warrants the poet in assuming that a man's departed forefathers continue to bestow on him interest and protection; and there is a peculiar propriety in representing the great French hero as specially watched over by his sainted ancestor, to whom the Bourbons have always looked with veneration. "Son of St Louis," said
