944-945 wine poured out at the Monarch's festive table. 942-954 The rich spiced claret was excellent, and delighted the King. He quaffed enough, and more than enough; and his brightening countenance shewed it. Merry were the King's words, and merry was his heart; every vein in his head throbbed with good liquor. The effect of the potations had been attentively watched by the Norman guests:-though they kept their wits, they partook of the mazercup quite as freely, and when the King was thoroughly mellow, Bernard, motioning away the others, slid up, and sat next to him on the high dais at the head of the table. quet. The lead the distrust his ment. The persuasions with which Bernard plied The Banthe King, for the purpose of exciting him against Normans Hugh-le-Grand, were offered and repeated at King to various opportune seasons. His argumentations own judgwere supported by the Norman nobles, with many variations in the passages of their discourses, but always consistently adhering to the theme. These clever machinators all agreed in seeking to anger the King against his own conduct, holding up a mirror before him which reflected his countenance in the character which they sought he should ascribe to himself,—a witless prodigal. Most inexpedient-as Bernard urged-was the treaty which Louis had concluded with Hugh, admitting that insatiate rival as a partner in the Terra Normannorum, increasing the strong man's strength, and imparting additional powers of 944-945 942-954 mischief to his most potent enemy.-Hugh, so full of hatred and envy, cruel and proud.-Hugh seeking the King's destruction, aye, and for ever. -Hugh Duke of all the Gauls.-Hugh peerlessly potent, whose shadow overspread the realm. How full of warning, continued Bernard, was the testimony borne by common speech to Hugh's transcendancy!-The epithet which the universal consent of Christendom had hitherto exclusively appropriated to the great Emperor, was now no longer the prerogative distinction of his memory. Charles-le-Magne was matched by Hugh-leMagne-he shared the distinction with a competitor-would not the son of King Robert be placed by posterity in the same rank of worthies as the son of Pepin-the Founder of the Dynasty? "Carolus Magnus" and "Hugo Magnus" included in the same category; and truly did the Lord of Paris, ruling half the realm, deserve this honour. The taunts were grievous to Louis. But there was another important element in the transaction, which, when descanted upon by Bernard, darted through him with a consciousness not less painful, of the mischief he had occasioned to himself by his rashness and his ignorance. Louis had entirely neglected to calculate the value of the subsidy promised to his inveterate enemy. Austrasia contained the chief demesnial towns and cities, and almost all the palaces of the Carlovingian Sovereigns. The 944-945 west and far west of the Seine had rarely been 942-954 visited by them: even at Rouen they were almost strangers. It is more than doubtful whether Louis had ever extended his progresses beyond the Evrecin and the Roumois,-the Pagus including the Capital, or crossed the bounding Risle. No accurate knowledge of the country could be acquired otherwise than by sojourn and experience; and though Louis was familiar with the Haute Normandie, he was totally unacquainted with the wide-spread territories he had granted away to his consuming competitor. value of Normandie dently Louis to Hugh-le Bernard, a consummate adept in the art of Extent and ingeniously tormenting, rang the changes upon the Basse the details evidencing the importance of the ceded impruprovinces, proving the delusion under which Louis ceded by had laboured when he struck his blind bargain. G Louis had shut his eyes when he opened his hand. Bernard overwhelmed the King with disagreeable information concerning the countries he was annexing to Hugh-le-Grand's duchy.-A ready tongue, a keen sight, and a pregnant wit, were amongst the many gifts of Bernard; and the clever old crafty blade spoke out with all the fluency arising from a thorough knowledge of his subject, warmed by the energy of a deeplyinterested partisan, enjoying at the same time the dear delight-so exquisite even when profitless of teasing. He reckoned the countries and named the towns; pointed at the hills, and called attention to the waters; travelling with Louis, in 942-954 imagination, over the splendid dominions he was sacrificing, the whole breadth of the Evrecin, and 944-945 thence unto Sees-Lisieux, and the Lieuvin; the Hiesmois and the Cinglais, Bayeux and the Bessin; Coutances, and the Cotentin; the secluded Valley of Mortaigne, graced by the only natural cascade which antient France-France by herself France -contains; and then down to Domfront; and then up to Avranches, from whence you look forward and onwards to the Archangel's Mount, and the sands, and the bay, and the rolling waves; -Normandie-oultre-Seine, fertilized by the intersecting streams, where the ports are most apt for commerce, and fit for defence;-Normandy beyond the Seine, peopled by the most prudent and powerful chieftains, and the most valiant race, so preeminent for their endowments of body and mind. Had such a thing been ever heard of, that Normans any Prince, not being demented, should do as he, King Louis, had done-sport away ten thousand fighting men, and place them at the disposal of his direst enemy; and when the Normans chimed into the concerto they mocked Louis with the same taunting melodies, summing up the results by the employment of colloquial expressions, belonging to that emphatic class of terms, not rendered substantially less truthy by exaggeration,— Louis had not retained one-seventh part of the Terra Normannorum; he had not left for himself threepenny-worth a year. Bernard and the taunt Louis with his imprudence. The Norman nobles having thus engaged in the discussion, the arguments expanded, for they 942-954 presented themselves as complainants, who, by the sacrifice of their interests, had been deeply aggrieved. If Louis thought fit to despoil himself of the dominion, that was his own concern; but Normandy belonged to the Normans, and it behoved them that they should take due care of themselves. man nobles It was the fundamental principle, that the The NorNorman State was one and indivisible. Whoever oppose the partition of might be Normandy's Ruler, the integrity of the Duchy. Normandy must be preserved. A partition of the Terra Normannorum would ruin the whole. The strength of the Haute Normandie was found in the Basse Normandie, which Louis had so wastefully abandoned. Rouen was provisioned from and through three of the ceded districts— one inland, two maritime-the Hiesmois, the Cotentin, and the Bessin; and, if the supplies which they afforded were cut off, the deprivation would be a death-blow to Rouen's prosperity. The remonstrance was wound up by an unexpected menace. Should Louis persevere in his intention of making the cession, the Normans would act for themselves. They would put out to sea, reach Denmark, rally the Danskermen,-return,-establish a Frankish Danelagh; and, fairly rid of Louis and of Hugh, be their own masters in their own land. In the main, all these political and statistical views and statements were accurate; yet no |