941-942 the subject had been anxiously weighed and con- 936–942 sidered by him, and that he had formed a distinct conception of the ultimate results.-Not to Bishop or Priest, to Monk or to Abbot, would Guillaume entrust the fearless Richard. For all we can tell, never did his father wish that a shaveling should draw nigh him. - Botho had been Guillaume's teacher, and to Botho, the wise and courteous, the book-instructed warrior, the skilful huntsman, did he commit his son. How must the young Duke of Normandy be trained?-Dignified as the Noble,-lettered as the Clerk,-firm in the saddle,-fleet in the field,— perch the falcon on his fist,-know the waters and the wealds-cast the net-dart the javelin,slip the hound-break the deer. Every branch of learning, every elegance of demeanour, might be acquired at Rouen. But in Romane Rouen, only half the work of tuition could be performed: to perfect Richard for the Dukedom, he must be reared elsewhere. Rouen's indwellers shunned the barbaric dialect of the Sea-Kings. The French, and the best French of France, therefore became current in the antient City; but the schooling of Rouen, however good of its kind, would not suffice for the Monarch of the Terra Normannorum; he must be a Frenchman amongst the French, a Danskerman amongst Richard is the Danes. No other language could reach the fected in Danish heart except the Danish mother-tongue; tongue. to be per the Danish 941-942 936-942 and Guillaume, who could only discourse in French, must often have felt the grievous disadvantage to which his ignorance exposed him. Not merely must the young Rudo Jarl comprehend the Norsk, but he must speak it as if inborn; and nothing of the sort could be gained at Rouen. The Norsk might be read from the Rune-stave, but you could not learn the lore from the book; the hearing ear must listen to the opening lips; and therefore did Guillaume Longue-épée insist that the young Richard should fix his residence at Bayeux, where the very children lisped in Danish syllables. All these behests did Botho promise to perform. As the apple of his eye, would he care for the precious child. 942 May 29. tion of Ri It was the usual custom during the middle Inaugura- ages-not yet entirely obsolete amongst the chard at Churches of the Roman obedience-that the Bayeux. opening of National Councils or Assemblies, should be hallowed by celebrating the Mass of the Holy Ghost, or held on the Pentecostal Day: and on that high festival, at Danish Bayeux, a City selected with a very marked intent, was the young Richard inaugurated, the ceremony being performed with unprecedented solemnity. Conjoined to Botho and Oslac and Bernard the Dane, seven other Nobles appointed by Guillaume Longueépée constituted the Regency. Their names are not recorded, but, judging from the important parts which Osmond de Centvilles, Yvo, the father of 942 Guillaume de Belesme, and the grasping crabbed 936-942 Raoul-Torta, afterwards played in the historic drama, it is probable that they were amongst the number. Moreover, besides this selected Council, all the Chieftains of Normandy and Britannythe latter country still bearing rather the appearance of a co-ordinate dominion than a vassal state-were then and there also assembled. To Guillaume's impassioned address, a universal assent was given. On behalf of the Community, and swearing the oath on the Holy relics, did the seven Nobles become the young Richard's liegemen and perform homage to the Child, placing their hands between his hands, following the example which Botho, Bernard, and Oslac, had afforded at Chevilly. Thus was the young Richard put in actual seizin of the Ducal authority; and Guillaume's mind being tranquillized, he speedily recovered his health. Yet he was often languid, as if he were wearied, and desiring to lie down and rest. Longue ⚫tress of § 29. Guillaume Longue-épée had relieved Guillaume himself from the immediate pressure of care con- épée's discerning his son, but he had subjected himself mind. to a burden of anxiety which he could not shake off. He could not be satisfied with himself. The measures which he had commenced, necessitated a complete reconstruction of the Norman Commonwealth. When he began his reign, he did not entertain any particular ill-will against the Danish 936-942 party, though he delighted to be a Frenchman: but favoritism is more galling than injustice, and thereby he excited the virulent discontent which provoked Riulph's insurrection. 942 Offence given to the French by his union with the Danes. Guillaume suppressed this great rebellionbut his victory was really a moral defeat. He stained his character indelibly. His most zealous and attached friends had felt themselves disgraced by his unworthy cowardice. By his treatment of Riulph and Riulph's family, he had roused the pertinacious vengeance of their kindred; and, if the intensity of the outraged feeling which was dogging him to the death, can be accepted as the standard whereby we are to measure his departure from mercy and from truth, atrocious must have been his cruelty and perfidy. The dispersion of the Danish revolt egged Guillaume on to firmness; he pledged himself to rule as a French Prince, and strove to knit Normandy into the French monarchy. Had he adhered faithfully to King Louis, it is possible that the rare virtue of a Liegeman's integrity might, from the very strangeness of the occurrence, in some degree have redeemed the Pirate from obloquy. But, abusing all opportunities, he had exasperated the leading men amongst the French, and, by his alliance with the terrible son of Gorm, Guillaume now presented himself to the whole French nation under the worst as well the most despicable aspect; according to their judgment, a rene 942 gade, in the most odious sense. Secular policy 936-942 and religious faith were amalgamated, and therefore a political union with the Danskermen in the State was the inevitable precursor of religious apostasy from Christianity. Guillaume's dealings with Harold Blaatand were fraught with imminent danger to men, women, and children, to gentle and simple, to priest and peasant, to goods and chattels, to life and land, to the Frankish Commonwealth and to universal Christianity. Neither was Guillaume's inimical policy to last only for a limited time. The foundations for the rebuilding of the Danishry were laid fast and wide. Guillaume Longue-épée had planned that the system should endure from generation to generation. As the young Richard was taught, so would he transmit his lessons to his children and to his children's children. Guillaume's Preponderance given scheme of tuition professed to imbue the Pupil to the Dawith the Danish ethos concurrently with his qua- mcheme of lifications as a Frenchman, yet the whole acade- Richard's mical course could scarcely fail to impart unto the young Richard a decided predilection for the Danish policy, and render the Danishry preponderating in his spirit and mind. It is impossible to teach without a tendency. Be you "Popish," be you "Protestant," be you "Pantheist," be you the very perfected type of philosophical indifference, you will contrive, somehow or another, to give an inkling of your sentiments nish ele ment in the education. |