_Interment of James II._--I remember reading in the French papers, in
the year 1823 or 1824, a long account of the then recent exhumation and
re-interment in another spot of the remains of James II. I was but a boy
at the time, and neglected to make a "Note", which might now be valuable
to you. I have not the least doubt, however, that the fact will be
discovered on reference to a file of the _Etoile_, or any other of the
Paris papers of one or other of the years above named.
There is a marble monument erected in memory of James, in the chapel of
the old Scotch College, in the Rue des Fossés Saint Victor. An urn of
bronze, gilt, containing the king's brains, formerly {282} stood on the
crown of this monument. The urn was smashed and the contents scattered
over the ground, during the French Revolution. A much more important
loss to posterity was incurred by the destruction of the manuscripts
entrusted by James to the keeping of the brotherhood he loved. The trust
is alluded to with mingled pride and affection in the noble and touching
inscription on the royal monument.