What a spectacle! The remains of kings and queens,
princes and princesses, of the most ancient of monarchies, sought
with pious care, with sacred respect, in the ditches dug by
impious arms in the evil days. The bones of the Valois and the
Bourbons found pele-mele outside the walls of the church, and
brought again, after a long exile, to their ancient burial place."
In a little vault on the left were deposited the coffins
containing the bones of earlier date than the Bourbons, and a
marble tablet was placed upon it, with the inscription: "Here rest
the mortal remains of eighteen kings, from Dagobert to Henry III.;
ten queens, from Nantilde, wife of Dagobert, to Marguerite de
Valois, first wife of Henry IV.; twenty-four dauphins, princes,
and princesses, children and grandchildren of France; eleven
divers personages (Hugues-le-grand, four abbes of Saint-Denis,
three chamberlains, two constables, and Sedille de Sainte-Croix,
wife of the Counsellor Jean Pastourelle). Torn from their violated
sepulchres the 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 October, 1793, and
18 January, 1794; restored to their tombs the 19 January, 1817."
On the right were placed the coffins enclosing the remains of the
princes and princesses of the house of Bourbon, the list of which
is given by a second marble plaque: "Here rest the mortal remains
of seven kings, from Charles V. to Louis XV.
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