Lives of the last four princesses of the royal house of Stuart

318 THE PRINCESS HENRIETTA ANNE. [1670.
It is recorded by the same member of the English
corps diplomatique, that the death of Madame, which he
witnessed, was most edifying ; that she retained her senses
to the last, and he never saw so much piety and courage,
as she displayed on that awful occasion.
"The Queen," says Mademoiselle de Montpensier,
" when I bade her good night (which was on the morning
of the fatal 30th of June), bade me prepare for a journey
to Paris, next morning, and to visit Madame on the way.
But, alas! she died at three that morning, of which the
news came in to the King, at six o'clock."
The melancholy tidings reached Versailles about six on
the morning of the 30th of June. The King was ill, and in
his robe de chambre. He shed tears on receiving the sad,
but not unexpected announcement. The Queen and
Mademoiselle de Montpensier went to mass that morning.
" On our return," says Mademoiselle, " he spoke of the
death of Madame. Bossuet now came in with informa-
tion concerning the particulars of her demise, telling us,
that by divine grace, she had departed in a truly Christian
manner. Bossuet declared, that for some time past she
had often spoken to him with religious feeling, requesting
him to come and discuss with her the right way to salva-
tion, which she said she had neglected too long. ' Yet,'
added Bossuet, ' I have every reason to be satisfied with
the state of mind in which she died.' "
" After the King had dined, he withdrew to the Queen's
apartments, where he again wept. When he recovered,
he said to me, ' Come with me, ma cousine, that we may
settle what ought to be done for poor Madame, so that I
may give 'orders to Saintot, who is awaiting them.' This
was respecting funeral honours and observances. I next
attended the Queen in her usual exercise of walking.
Nothing there was spoken of but Madame's death. The