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CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
ST MARGUERITE AND ST HONORÂT.
BY MEAD AND STREAM.
CURIOSITIES OF THE MICROPHONE.
SILAS MONK.
FAMILIAR SKETCHES OF ENGLISH LAW.
IN A FURNITURE SALEROOM.
SURGICAL SCRAPS.
IN THE RHINE WOODS.
No. 24.—Vol. I.
Price 1½d.
SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1884.
ST MARGUERITE AND ST HONORÂT.
THE HOLY ISLES OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
A melancholy interest is lent just now to thename of St Marguerite by the fact that the lastpublic act of the lamented Duke of Albany wasto sign a petition protesting against the sale ofthat island. The thrilling tale of ‘the man withthe iron mask,’ which used to be a favourite inschool-books, has since our childish days envelopedthe little island for us in a halo of mystery andawe. St Marguerite and its companion islandof St Honorât lie, like twin gems of ocean, inthe Golfe de Frejus, and form a romantic pointin the seaward view from Cannes; and among allthe excursions which can be made from thatdelightful centre, none is more charming thana sail to the islands. Tradition tells us that theywere first colonised by a noble young knightfrom the land of the Gauls, who in the earlyages of Christianity embraced its tenets, andwith a chosen band of friends, sought a retreatfrom the sinful world in this distant islet. Hehad one sister, the fair Marguerite, who lovedhim as her very life, and who was so inconsolablefor his loss, that she followed him to his retreatin the southern sea. As Honorât and his brother-asceticshad vowed themselves to solitude, hecould not allow his sister to take up her abodewith him; but in compliance with her urgentdesires, found a home for her in the neighbouringisland, now known by her name of Marguerite.Yet this was only granted on the condition thathe should never see her but when the almondtree should blossom. The time of waiting wasvery dreary to the lonely Marguerite, and withsighings and tears she assailed all the saints, tillthe almond tree miraculously blossomed once amonth, and her poor heart was made glad by thesight of her beloved brother!
A little coasting-steamer plies daily betweenCannes and the islands; and passengers land ata little pier near the fortress, which is built onsteep cliffs at the eastern extremity of the island.Like the old castles of Edinburgh and Stirling,it is i