Note 16 — SAINT-DENIS.

The oriflamme, or enseigne derived its name from being made of scarlet silk, and covered with flames of gold. When it was to be taken from its depository, the king and princes first went to Notre-Dame and offered up some prayers to the Blessed Virgin; then they proceeded to the abbey, where, after being solemnly received by the religious, they descended ("sans chaperon et sans ceinture") into the crypt, where the bodies of the holy martyrs lay, and where the oriflamme was kept. The abbot then delivered the flag into the king's own hands, and the king presented it to the Count de Vesin, who carried it to the altar. The standard-bearer was always a Chevalier of undoubted loyalty, courage, and piety. Previously to receiving the charge, he confessed his sins, obtained absolution, received the Holy Eucharist, and took a solemn oath to be faithful to his trust, and never to suffer the flag to be torn from his hands, except at the cost of his life. But at the battle of Rosbec it mysteriously disappeared. And to think that the red flag is now the emblem of all that is Revolutionary, Communistic, and Anarchist! Perhaps if the Government gave it the old name, we might see it burnt in the Place de la République.