"Some events having been obtained since the work went to the press, and others more accurately stated, they are subjoined in a supplement at the end of each volume." ART, XI. The History of France, civil and military, ecclesiastical, political, literary, commercial, c. from the Time of its Conquest by Clovis, A. D. 486. By the Rev. ALEX. RANKEN, one of the Ministers of Glasgow. Vol. 2d. from the Death of Charlemagne, A. D. 814, to the Accession of Hugh Capet, A. D. 987. 8vo. pp. 352. THIS history of France is conducted on the plan of Dr. Henry's History of England: a much larger portion of the work being filled with an account of the state of laws, literature, learning, and individual merit, than in other histories, which are usually drawn up, as if church and king were the only significant parts of political society. This second volume extends from the death of Charle magne, in 814, to the accession of Hugh Capet, in 987: a period less interesting than the preceding, where the characters of Charles Martel and of Charlemagne, deserve to arrest attention. Indeed the internal annals of France are remarkably insipid from this period to the introduction of protestantism, when the nation began to separate into those great parties, whose competition is still felt throughout Europe. In the first chapter is treated the history of France, civil and military, during the period which this volume embraces. In the second chapter, the history of religion and the church. Both these are well known. In the third chapter, the history of civil government is separately narrated. This is an eminently useful subdivision: the governors of the next age are formed by the historians of the last; and it is by drawing attention to the minutest ameliorations of the civil condition of the subject, that a spirit of humane and liberal legislation may most efficiently be introduced. Let us hear Mr. Ranken on this topic. "The lowest ranks of men continued in a state of servitude, as we have formerly described them,* in the period which preceded the death of Charlemagne, subject to the authority, and almost entirely to the caprice and power of their masters. With out their consent they could not change their situation nor condition; they could Book 1. chap. iii. vol. 1. any not move from one place of residence to another; they could not marry; they could not engage in law suit, nor be admitted to holy orders. But during the period which forms the subject of this book, several operate, contributed to their emancipation causes, which had begun indeed before to and improvement. "Causes of emancipation The mild and generous spirit of Christianity, in proportion as it was diffused over society, softened the tempers of men, and, in this respect, disposed them to condescension and kindness. Servitude seemed inconsistent with the faith of men's original equality, with their common privileges as Christians in their present state, and with their common hope of immortality and heavenly bliss, and particularly with the general principles of the moral law, so often inculcated, and so beautifully illustrated and exemplified in the gospel, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self.' "The spirit of this law of laws, entered into the laws of the state, some of which appear as a commentary on its benevolent principle. It behaves every one,' it is said in one of the capitularies of Lewis and Lothaire, to treat his inferiors with gentleness and compassion, in exacting labour, in levying debts, and in imposing fines: all ought to consider one another as brethren: all have one God and Father, to whom they selves, saying, Our Father who art in heaven : can with equal confidence address themall have access to one baptism, &c.'† "Animated by this spirit, it appeared a becoming expression of gratitude to heaven, in consequence of any prosperous event, of recovery from sickness, of marriage, or of child birth; or a suitable act of devotion under affliction, or under the apprehension of death, to emancipate a number of slaves proportioned to the extent of the person's property, or to the fervor of his piety. "The increase of superstition increased the emancipation of slaves. If any of them took a monastic vow, or obtained admission to holy orders, they were, of course, reckoned thenceforth free. This practice, however, became too frequent to be tolerated: the church was in danger of being crowded † Capitul. lib. ii. c. 41. in the collection of Ansegise. Marculfi Form. lib i. 3. and ii. 32-34. Formul Vetem. viii. 13. Though these Formulas weic drawn in the eighth century, yet they were intended, and actually served, as copies for the following ages. Mabillon de Re Diplom. with this baser sort of clergy; and we find many prohibitions of it in the laws both of church and state. "The general persuasion, that the end of the world was approaching, induced many to emancipate their slaves, as well as generally to relinquish their earthly pursuits and property. By sacrificing all to the church and to humanity, they hoped, and in this hope they were encouraged by the clergy, that they should be more acceptable to God, and more ripe for beaven. "Multitudes of men in this manner acquired personal liberty; yet so little did they value real freedom, that they generally remained, at least during life, attached from habit to their masters and usual situations; or they submitted anew, in order to secure subsistence and protection, to some church, monastery, or wealthy baron. "No just idea was then entertained of civil liberty, of the security arising from the wise and constant administration of just and good laws, nor of the power of the common people acting with union as one body to counteract the power of the aristocracy, oppressive equally of them and of royalty. "Freedmen and freeborn. Slaves and freedmen were generally the labourers and artists of the country. The freeborn, and such as were ambitious of losing the memory of their former rank, after they were emancipated became soldiers. For this end they attached themselves to some baron of experience and fame in military affairs, capable both of protecting them, and of leading them to war. From him they received their cottage, their little farm, or requisite provision; and him they served in matters of husbandry, or attended him as soldiers to the field of battle. Their immediate superior might be a sub-vassal; that is, one holding a comparatively small farm, or fief, of a more extensive barony; or he might be an independ, ent or allodial proprietor. "Allodial proprietors. An allodial proprietor, as was formerly stated, whether his territory was great or small, held his lands, not of an individual, either lord or king, but of the nation, and to the nation only owed allegiance and military service. He was liable to be called out, not when the king's humour, or private affairs, or resentments, but when the great interests of the kingdom required. If his property, however, was small and exposed, it became necessary, for the sake of protection, either to form an alliance with other allodial proprietors, or to submit to the vassalage of some feudal lord. As an ally, he continued independent, excepting in the articles expressly agreed on; but as a vassal, he be "Circumstances unfavourable to them. The very independence of allodiasts contributed to depress them, Proud of their peculiar rank and antiquity (for they generally traced the tenure of their lands to the gift of some ancient general assembly of the nation, and there were not now very many tenures of this kind to boast of), they were disposed rather to hold in contempt bene ficiary and feudal tenures, as an inferior kind. The least insinuation or appearance of this spirit, naturally excited jealousy, and provoked resentment. As others could exact from them no service, so neither had they reason so expect from others favour and protection. They were even jealous of any claims being made on them, or of any thing granted as a favour being construed into a right. Distant and reserved, they mingled not easily with the partisans, either of one side or another, around them. Scattered as they were over the country, it was almost impossible for them to form, or, for any length of time, to maintain among themselves an extensive confederacy. Necessity thus obliged them to sacrifice pride to prudence, to become the men or vassals of those who, though their tenure was of a more recent date, or of an inferior sort, were, from the circumstances of the times, and their more extensive territory, able to afford them protection and security. "Church lands. The tenures of church lands were, like others, of different kinds. If allodial, either by original gift of the nation, or by subsequent deed of conveyance, then they were in circumstances similar to those which we have just now described; and, for the sake of security, generally preferred some feudal connection. When under feudal subordination, then they were liable, as in other cases of the same kind, to homage and service. This homage and serviee, however, was not always required of the bishop, nor abbot, personally; nay, they were often prohibited from personal military service, which was more generally rendered by their avoués, vidames, or commissaries. Hincmar complains of the military services to which he and the other clergy were liable.* 66 Peerage, or Peers of France. Very dif ferent opinions having been entertained, and many dissertations written, concerning the time when, and the manner in which the order and institution of the peers of France arose, this may be the most proper place to observe, that they seem to have their origin in the remotest antiquity, or in the most "Cum Domino nostro rege, in hoste, ex omni regno suo collectâ, contra Bretones, & Nortmannos illis conjunctos, sicut & ceteri, confratres, ac sacerdotes nostri, secundum nostrarum regionum gravem consuetudinem. Cum hominibus commisse mihi ecclesia perrecturus sum." Hincmari Epistol ad Nicol. 1. Ordinary ideas, and familiar customs, of human nature and society. We naturally assimilate together things of the same kind, and place in the same rank men of like talents, property, and power. This assimilation and equality the Latins expressed by the word pares, which, in the progress of the Roman and French language, was readily formed into pairs (peers). In this sense we meet with the word so commonly, both in the Latin classics, and in the French authors of the ninth, tenth, and preceding centuries, that quotations seem unnecessary. Till a much later period, when a selection was made of twelve, to whom peculiar privileges were assigned, the word pares uniformly denoted men of the same rank in church and state, in a civil and military capacity. All the king's vatsals, for example, whether small or great, who held their lands immediately of the crown, were peers: so were allodial proprietors, till the progress of the feudal system depressed them beneath their proper rank; and so were churchmen of the same order. The same duties were incumbent on each of the same rank; and to each of the same rank peculiar privileges belonged. Thus we find Suger, the abbot of St. Dennis, in the following century, addressed in a letter by his brethren of that community, as his peers." The capitularies describe the king's vassals, whom he might summon to arms against the common enemy, by the same name. And Count Ode, or Eudes, speaking of counts in their civil capacity as judges, says, addressing Robert the king as his lord, that he had been assured, that it was not competent for him (Eudes) to be tried, but in the presence of an assembly of his peers." It will be perceived, that a sound and wholesome spirit of criticism pervades this important department; and that the travels of this author's research are as extensive as the estimate of his commentary is judicious. The fourth chapter is consecrated to the history of literature, which is thus introduced. The exertions of Charlemagne in behalf of learning, the schools which he instituted over the empire, and the encouragement which he vouchsafed to learned men, not only checked its decline, but sowed the seeds which, by a slow and almost imperceptible growth, through a long and unfavourable season, came at last to maturity. His son shewed the best disposition to maintain and promote the institutions of his father. The capitularies of the assemblies which he held, frequently recommended and enjoined due attention to cathedral, and something like parochial schools. The things taught in most of them, indeed, were frivolous; but in a few of them, according to the qualifica tions and views of the bishop and teacher, they were more solid and useful. Church music and recitation were the favourite and most general subjects of attention in them Schools were attached also to the monasteries, for the purpose both of teaching the youth belonging to them, and other scholars unconnected with them. Inconveniences having arisen from the promiscuous meeting of these two different classes in the same school, the counsel of Aix-la-Chapelle, A.D. 817, prohibited extra scholars. This occasioned them to be separated, and to be taught in different rooms, so that they might have no intercourse. The same masters, however, presided in both, and generally taught them the same things. Some of the masters were the most able and learned men of the times, as Alcuin, Raban, Maur, Lupus, Candidus, Milon, &c.; and their dili gence and success appeared in the compara. tive eminence of their scholars in the suc+ ceeding ages. "Some of these institutions were destined for children so young as seven years. They were taught by curates. They began them with learning the psalter, probably to repeat rather than to read it: though many learned undoubtedly to read also; otherwise they could not have been prepared for the higher branches of education, and for bes coming, as they did, teachers and authors themselves. Some of the dignitaries of the Everache, bishop of Liege, disdained not to church, as Dado, bishop of Verdun, and spend a considerable part of their time in overseeing these schools, and in teaching the children to understand the subjects which they repeated and read.¶ "Academies. Superior to these elementary schools, were the academies annexed to monasteries and cathedral churches, for the young clergy; and three academies were instituted in the kingdom, besides the academy of the palace, which was ambulatory, for the nobility. The nobility were generally neg gent of education; yet there were in every age some exceptions, as many of them both exemplified the dignity and excelence of learning, and dared to reprove the neglect of it. King Lewis the Transmarine having Domino suo Sugorio beati Dionysii reverendo abbati, pares, & tota Belvacensis communia, salutem," &c. Apud Duchesne, vol iv. p. 519. + Quicunque ex his qui beneficium principis habent parem suum contra hostes communes in exercitio," &c. Capitul. Lib. iii. 71, 72 "Nec sibi competere dicebat, ut me ad tale judicium exhiberet, sine conventione parium Suorum." Fulberti Episcopi Carnot.. Epist. 42. Duchesne, vol. iv. p. 187. Capitul. lib. ii. 5. Hist. Liter, de la France, tom. vi. 10, 29. Ibid. pointed his finger in derision against Foulque, the good count of Anjou, who was one of the most learned men of the age, the latter perceived it; and, knowing the cause of it to be a contempt of learning, wrote the king a rude but severe reproof. Know, Sire, that an unlettered king is a crowned ass.'* These various schools and academies were generally well endowed; and though some of the teachers of those whose funds were declining, or originally poor, accepted fees, yet it was thought illiberal and unfavourable to learning. They were called mercenary, and said to set a price on their lessons. The more they became a subject of attention, the richer were their endowments; but being generally annexed to a church or monastery, and the funds of most of them being undistinguished and confounded together, suffered or prospered with these greater institutions, on which they seemed entirely to depend. "Besides the elementary parts of education, as reading, &c. writing, arithmetic ; the fine arts, as music and poetry; and the liberal arts or sciences, as grammar, rhetoric, &c. were taught in them. "Writing. The art of writing was carried to great perfection. It was the only means, before the invention of printing, for either making or multiplying books. It was one of the great occupations of the monks, to which we are indebted for the preservation of many of the works of the ancients, to write copies of them for their own use, for the use of the monastery, or for sale. They studied writing, not only as an useful, but as an ornamental art: they adorned their sacred books especially, with peculiar beauty: they wrote them, as we see in the examples which yet remain, with ink of different colours, gold, azure, purple, &c. they were interspersed with miniatures: they were covered with silver, ivory, and precious stones.† "Arithmetic. Arithmetic was very imperfectly taught. Some knowledge was necessary to calculate the festivals of the church; but it was easily acquired by the clergy. It was more necessary, and to a greater extent, for the purposes of astronomy, which, however, very few attempted. "Gerbert, monk of Aurillac, archbishop of Rheims, and afterwards Pope Sylvester II. a man of great research, was by far the most profound geometrician of these times. He anght land-measure, the measure of heights and distances, and guaging. Fle had not only read the writings of the ancients on geometry and astronomy, but he had obtained considerable informaHe describes the tion from the Arabs. sphere as round, and its circumference as divided into sixty equal parts; which again he subdivided into twelve. He divides it again, in the contrary direction, into five zanes. To find the polar star, he proposes to fix seven tubes in a hemisphere, so that it shall be seen through each by simply turning it round. If you still doubt, point one of them to it immoveably; and if the star shall be seen through the tube so fixed the whole night, it is certainly the polar star. The position of each of the tubes will mark the circles of the several zones.§ "He not only calculated, but mechanically represented, the motions of the heavenly bodies. Such a philosopher, in those times, was reckoned a magician, and was sometimes consulted by the ignorant and superstitious, about future events and other mysteries; but he was also exposed sometimes to danger, when the people happened to be animated by a spirit of intolerance and zeal against those whom they suspected to be familiar with the devil.” In the history of the arts, which fills the fifth subdivision, a more unfavourable idea is given of the state of civiliza tion, than we can wholly reconcile with probability, as far as the useful and necessary arts are concerned; and a more favourable idea than we had precon ceived, of the state of the luxurious and recondite arts. The account of commerce might have been enriched with many anecdotes from Fischer's admirable history, especially from the eigh teenth chapter. The Jews were ordered to pay a tenth, the Christians an eleventh of their earnings, to the church. It should seem from Procopius (De bello Gothico 1. 3, c. 13,) that the first gold money struck out of Rome, was by the A monkish poet kings of France. praises Charlemagne for intending a canal. Si fieret tantus fossa tellure paratus Some lists of prices under Lewis the Strange exist: a lined great coat cost twenty shillings, a coat ten shillings, a pelisse thirty shillings. The concluding subdivision treats of the language and customs, which might conveniently have been included under the same head as the literature. We Ibid. tom. iv. p. 282. Ibid. p. 582. 21. Hist. Liter. de la France, tom, vi. p. § Mabillon, Vetera Analesta, p. 102. edit. Paris. 1723. trust, or rather we hope, this instructive mensurate with his exertions for its gra ART. XII. Annals of the French Revolution, or a chronological Account of its principal Events; with a variety of Anecdotes and Characters hitherto unpublished. By BERTRAND DE MOLEVILLE, Minister of State. Translated by R. C. DALLAS, Esq. Part second and last. vols. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 8vo. MR. BERTRAND DE MOLEVILLE, the author of these memoirs, was applied to on the the 25th of September, 1791, in the king of France's name, by M. de Montmorin, to accept the office of minister of the marine: he thus states the consequent negotiation. person. I "I entreated M. de Montmorin, as the greatest proof of friendship he could give me, to do all in his power to prevail upon his majesty to think of some other shall give your answer to the king,' said he, but I have no idea that I shall succeed in diverting him from his intention of appointing you; he has set his mind upon it more than you imagine, and I even foretell that you will receive a letter from himself on the subject. Consider upon it." When I returned home, I reflected very seriously on the different reasons that ought to guide me in a determination the most important of my life, for it might endanger, not only my fortune and quiet, but my reputation, my personal safety, and the safety of my family. ་་ These ideas might have had a full effect upon me, had I not considered, that as I was not personally known to the king, and could not hope for some time to obtain his entire confidence, I should imprudently expose myself, by accepting the place of a minister, to the shame of neither doing any good, nor preventing any ill in the administration, to a responsibility in the eyes of the public for the errors I had to combat, and to a retreat attended only with regret, for having sacrificed my peace and my reputation uselessly to the king and the state; the final result, therefore, of my reflections was, a firm resolution to decline an appointment in the ministry. "Two days after, the king wrote me a letter with his own hand, in which his majesty enforced what he had said by M. de Montmorin, and concluded with the following expression: In a word, I am confident that your services will be very useful to me and to the state: I know your attachment to me, and I expect that you will, on the present occasion, give me this proof of your zeal and obedience.' "In my reply to this letter, I persevered in declining a part in the administration, pleading an additional motive, on which I principally dwelt; and that was the preju dice, unjust, doubtless, but still great, which existed against all the old intendants of the provinces, and from which, whatever were my conduct, I should be suspected of being an enemy to the new system. "The king, after reading my letter, said to M. de Montmorin, who had delivered it to him, But ask M. Bertrand, then, where Fam to look for ministers, if persons who profess, as he does, to be attached to me, deny me their services, and desert me?' I was extremely affected with this piercing reproach; the very idea that the king could think me capable of deserting him, instantly completely converted by M. de Montmorin's made all my objections vanish, and I was assurances, that I might rely on his majesty's confidence, that in a few days there were to be great changes in the council, and that I should be very well satisfied with the lent crisis, when the lives of the royal family new ministers. I thought that at this viodanger, a faithful and courageous servant themselves might be exposed to the greatest able minister of the marine, and, being conmight be more useful to the king, than an scious of a fidelity that would not suffer me to fail in courage, I devoted myself to his service. I requested M. de Montmorin to inform his majesty that I was at his command, and only begged that he would grant me a short audience before he made my appointment public. "Let those who have censured me for accepting an office in the administration under the new constitution, those who can the slightest connexion with the party of the have suspected me of ambitious views, or of Constitutionalists, consider what my situa tion was; let them examine, without preweigh my motives, and then let him who judice, what my conduct has been, let them really thinks himself more purely a royalist than I, throw the first stone at me." From this extract the attentive reader will be able to estimate the point of view which pervades the observations of M. Bertrand: it is that of a prejudiced royalist, but a respectable man; somewhat vain, and somewhat disappointed; whose character with mildness, or rather temper, had weight, or rather consequence; whose means of information were peculiar and great, whose subsequent investigation has been laborious, |