Tales from French history

Front matter

TALES

FROM

FRENCH HISTORY.

Dedication

the generation to which your grandlbther belongs has mouldered into earth.

Tlie volumes which I formerly inscribed related to a part of Great Britain only : but it was to that portion which should be dear to us both, as the land of our fathers ; and I was therefore induced to descend mo^e into particulars than I should have ventured upon in any othe" narrative. 1 have been assured from many quarters that the Tales from Scottish History have been found useful and interesting to the young persons to whom they were addressed, ai.d that some even of those whose wild spirits and youthful years had hitherto left them Httle time or mclination to study, have been nevertheless captivated by stories, which, while they are addressed to the imaginaiion, are, at tiie same time, nistructive to the understanding.

It would have been natural that I should next have adopted English history as my theme ; but there are so many excellent abridgments, that 1 willingly leave you to acquu'e a knowledge of that important subject from other sources. The History of England, in Letters, said to be from a nobleman to his son, and sometimes called Lord Lyttleton's Letters, but in reality written or compiled by Dr. Oliver Goldsmith, gives the hveliest and best views of it ; to this you must, in due time, add the perusal of the many and interesting volumes which give a fuller account of the history of the more important part of our island of Britain.

Chapter I

The most Patriotic States have been generally the mcst Ambitious — Aggressions of Rome upon the Independ' ence of Foreign JVations — Gaul — its Description and Inhabitants — Their Religion — The Order of Druids — The Military Character of the Gauls — They invade Italy — and Greece — Their vicinity dangerous to Rome — Caesar appointed General in Gaul — Resolution of the Helvetians to emigrate — The difficulties of their Route — Ccesar blocks up the Passage between Geneva, and JSIount Jura — Pursues the Hdvetians as far as the Arar, and destroys their Rear-guard — At last, totally defeats them — The Ger^ mans cross the Rhine to invade Gaul — Their Char-- acter, Genius, and Manners — The Roman Soldiers mutiny, but are pacified by Ccesar'' s Address — Ccesar defeats Ariovistus and the Germans — Conquest of Gaul by Ccesar,

The jove of power is deeply impressed on mankind, whether they have a poHtical existence in the relation of states and empires, or remain in their individual capacity. Even in those strict republics, where individuals find it most difficult to raise themsrives to superior stations, whether by address, eloquence, or any other influential superiority, the desire to add to the power which may he enjoyed and wielded by the public at large, is more strongly y LOVE OF CONQ,UEST UNJUSTIFIABLE.

felt b}' each person, exactly in proportion to his owri exclusion from individual authority ; and the reason is piain^ because the poorest and most humble citizen beholds himself, in idea, enriched with a portion of the fame and power acquired by the state, and considers himself as a gainer in the good fortune of the commonwealth. It thus follows, that, for a time at least, the love of the republic supersedes the plans wliich men entertain under other forms of government for their private advantage.

It cannot be denied, that a state which can thus engross, for the public service, all the estimable and useful qualities of its citizens, presents an imposing spectacle, grand and unconquerable in the talents and capacities which it unites, and commanding at pleasure all that can be sacrificed in its cause, from the knowledge of the most profound philosopher, to the courage and life of its hardiest peasant. Yet, pushed to excess, this disinterested patriotism must, far from a virtue, be numbered in the rolls of vice. To ])illage and oppress, to conquer and subdue the freedom and independence of other states, is not laudable, any more than to rob and slay for the maintenance of pur own household ; though, to provide for our family by lawful means, is an imperious duty. Rome, the mistress, or rather the tyrant, of the world, as it was then known to exist, grew to her excess of power by the injustice of her children, who held it as the pnnci})le of their being, that the empire should be extended as far as the habitable world permitted.

That extensive yet compact country, now called France, and at an earlier period known by the name of Gallia, or Gaul, was one of the most important wdiich was liable to the general encroachments made by Rome on her neighbours. But the inhabitants being a very numerous, courageous people, and much disposea to martial achievements, were addicted, like most other nations, to leave their own country when they found their population increase, and hive off in military colonies, to establish new settlements elsewhere. They were, in this respect, neigh' boars w^hci struck terror even into the Romans themselv^^s,

EXTENT AND INHABITANTS OF o'AUL. i)

and who, although often at war with that great republic, were not finally or eifectually subdued until the last days of Roman freedom.

Gaul was understood to contain the whole countr}? bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Ocean, but considerable portions have been since detached from modern France. Such were the Cantons of Switzerland, with the German territories on the Rhine.

This portion of Europe, considerable not only from its extent, but from its climate and fertility, was chiefly, but not entirely, inhabited by the descendants of the Celtic race. These Celts, by whom Gaul was first peopled, appear to have been the great family by which the habitable parts of Europe were first settled, though their descendants were afterwards conquered and overcome by the Gothic tribes — the second great colonists of the most civihzed quarter of the globe.

But two great portions of the Gallic Celts had admitted such modifications of language and manners, the one from the neighbouring Germans, the other from its connexion with the Si)aniards, that the one people were called Belgae, the other Celtiberians, distinguishing them from the more genuine and unmixed Celts. That they were originally all descended from the same race, is proved by the remains of their language, names, and customs.

The manners of the Celts, and especially their religious institutions, were peculiar. They had one supreme Deity whom they called Esus, and they performed their rites of adoration in tlie depths of forests, or surrounded by huge circles of stones, rough, unhewn, and placed upright. Their chief priests were the Druids, a race set apart among them for conducting the public worship, as well as for preserving the knowledge of their laws and histories. These were usually couched in poetry, which the Druids conmiilted to memory, and recited at their periodical meetings and festivals.

These Druids seem to have erected one of the most artful and complete systems of priesthood which the world 1*

10 TKE BARDS.

ever saw. The authority permitted to magistrates,, kings, or princes, according to the constitution of the community, was always held to be sanctioned and delegated by the priests, and the government was always directed by their opinion. They had absolute influence over the gentry of the tribe, to whom they gave the epithet of riders, oi horse-men, the value of a warrior being always raised by the possession of-'a horse. Human sacrifices were frequently offered up, under a mistaken impression, that we ought to present to the Deity what our race holds most dear, which undoubtedly is the principle of human life.

The Bards were a class of men only inferior to the Druids in importance. Music and poetry were eagerly cultivated by the Gauls. These national poets sung hymns to their deity, and the praises of deceased warriors ; and such was the affection of the people for these arts, that when, at a later period, it was the object to fix their attention upon the Scriptures, it was found the best method to translate the Sacred Writings into poetry, and set them to music.

The government in Gaul was various among the different independent states, which, according as custom prevailed among them, were governed by kings, or by elective magistrates. They were prompt and ready in battle ; a bold, fiery, warlike race, whose very women used to sustain the fight when the men were defeated, and who often slew themselves rather than surrender to an enemy.

In appearance they were a handsome people ; bold iiv their manners, yet not untinctured with civility. They combed their hair forward, so as to give a wildness and ferocity to their aspect, wore tight trowseis and a loose mantle. Their chiefs wore a chain of gold, twisted out of flexible rods of that metal, such as children make out of bulrushes. Manlius, an ancient Roman, who killed a champion thus decorated, assumed from thence the additional name of Torquatus, or him with the Chain. Besides this Torques, or Twist, as it was called, the Gauls tvon^ bracelets, and ornaments round the ankle, and the iveaUliy had them made of the same precious metal.

EMIGRATION OF THE GAULS I \

The Gauls carried hospitality to strangers to the utmost extent. They were profuse in eating, and still more in the use of strong liquors. The Romans accused them of being fickle, uncertain, and treacherous to their engagements. But they were probably not more so than the Romans themselves.

We have mentioned that the nation of Gaul, or rather the infinity of small states into which it was divided, were so very populous, that, when their numbers seemed about to exceed the means of subsistence produced by their imperfect agriculture, great colonies of them departed from their native country, with a view to provide themselves new settlements at the expense of some richer or more thinly peopled region.

In this manner the Gauls, in olden times, were frequently troublesome neighbours to the Romans, sur' mounting the Alps, and extending themselves to Lombardy, where they established strong colonies. They frequently invaded the southern parts of Italy, acquired lands there, and under their general, Brennus, burnt and pillaged the city of Rome itself, three hundred and eightyfive years before the Christian era ; they were, however, obliged to retreat from the citadel, or Capitol, and were finally defeated by the Dctator Camillus. The Gauls also rendered themselves formidable at a later period, by an invasion of Greece under a second general of the name of Brennus, who seized upon the treasures which had been stored up by the devotion of ages, in the celebrated Temple of Apollo at Delphos. In these excursions, you must not conceive that the Gallic invaders acted as the forces of one united kingdom, but rather as an assembly of independent bands belonging to the various states, cities, and communities, into which the countiy was subdivided, convoked for a time under a single chief, to whom the rest yielded the supreme authority, as to the most powerful or the most skilful in war.

The rapine of these desultory hosts was the more dreaded and execrated, that from their religious principles turning on the worship of one only Deity, whonn Ihey

12 THE GAULS FORMIDABLE TO ROME.

ad3red in the depths of forests, and not \a houses made with human hands, they were in the habit of dishonouring and destroying the temples and altars of other nations.

Nor was their conduct in battle less formidable than llieir principles were obnoxious. The Gauls were famous for their bravery and love of war, which they carried so far, that they accounted it cowardice to make use of defensive armour, and rushed upon the spears of their enemies with undefended bosoms. This contempt of precaution was joined with other faults, which exposed them to great loss in regular actions with the experienced Remans; yet, so dangerous w^ere they, from their great numbers, and the fury of their assault, undisciplined as it was, that Cicero declares, that had not the passage of the Alps, by which alone they could reach Italy, been too difficult, and had not the mountains possessed too few means of sustenance for the passage of a Gallic army in its full numbers, that nation must have destroyed the city of Rome itself, even before its greatness was established. On this account, according to the opinion of Cicero, the Gauls, until the conquests of Julius Cassar, continued to be the most obstinate and formidable enemies of the Romans. So generally were they considered as such, that in the celebrated conspiracy of Catiline, it was partly the intention of the plotters to have drawn from Gaul a considerable force for the execution of their purpose, which comprehended nothing less than the total destruction of the Roman form of government. The Gauls, indeed, did not snatch at this bait ; certain ambassadors of the Allobroges, a people of Savoy in alliance with Rome, having informed the Consul Sanga of the proposals which had been made to them, materially assisted the discovery of the plot. Nevertheless, the risk of their future interference with other internal feuds of the same nature, was a secret reason for urging the subjugation of this powerful people.

The Romans also possessed one small province in Gaul, in which they claimed a special and peculiar interest. It was more than a century before Christ's birlh

DISSENSIONS OF THE GAULS. 13

that the Consul Marcius Rex took one step towards tha subjection of Gaul, by establishing a Roman colony between the Pyrenean chain of mountains and the chy of Toulouse, where he founded the state called Narbonne. This colony was connected with Italy by a military road between the Alps and Pyrenees, and afforded, as you will presently see, most of the pretexts which the Republic brought forward for interfering with the affairs of Gaul. The protection of the Allobroges, and other states in the neighbourhood of the province who had embraced the friendship of Rome, formed a perpetual apology for such intermeddhng.

Thus the conquest of Gaul, though undoubtedly Caesar was encouraged in the atten]pt by the hope of adding to the power and renown of the Republic, and raising himself in the opinion of his fellow-citizens, was, in a certain degree, founded on state necessity. But, besides the ordinary reasons for which Rome took up arms, grounds of serious political envy and hatred impelled the conquerors of the world to make a war of subjection on a people who were always restless neighbours, and occasionally dangerous enemies.

In Caesar, the Romans enjoyed the advantage of a general equally wise and skilful, and who, considering his own ambitious views as inseparably connected with the conquest and final subjection of Gaul, neglected no means of accomplishing an object so much desired by his countrymen, and so essential to his own fortunes.

The principal circumstance which afforded exercise for Julius Ca3sar's political sagacity, and a pretext at the same time for his military exploits, was the subdivision of this great country into a numberless variety of cities, governments, and states, trespassing almost always on each other, and engaged in endless and complicated feuds, which perpetually called for, or at least served to excuse, the interference of the Roman general, who, while he pretended to advocate the rights, and protect the cause, of such Gallic nations as were the aUies of Rome, failed

14 INVASION OF GAUL.

not to seize the opportunity of destroying Mie slate by the arms of another, of which his Commentaries, as you are already aware, afford a most curious, as well as elegant narrative.

A singular resolution on the part of the Helvetians, a Gallic tribe of great numbers and bravery, afforded the Romans the first opportunity and apology for armed interference in the affairs of Gaul. This nation were the more hostile to the Romans, that they had, at no distant period, defeated a considerable army of the Republic, forced them to lay down their arms, and only spared their lives on condition of their passing beneath the yoke, accounted at the time an acknowledgment of the most abject surrender. One of Caesar's own relatives had shared in this degradation.

The habit of emigration was then so general, that the spirit of local attachment, which is at this day one of the strongest principles of the modern Swiss, had no weight with the ancient Helvetians. With the same impatience which had formerly induced their Celtic forefathers to change their position from one place to another, the Helvetians determined to quit the barren mountains where they were born, and march forth in a body to establish, by fair means or by force,^ new settlements in other regions. After some feuds among themselves, which terminated in the death of a great chief, named Orgetorix, with whom the design of emigration originated, the Helvetii set forth as a nation upon their adventurous expedition. Turning their backs, as they designed, for ever, on their native valleys and mountains, they burnt their towns, twelve in number, with forty villages, and, with their wives and children, cattle and slaves, set out upon their extraordinary adventure. In our day, hardly any thing could be accounted so strange as the resolution of a nation to leave its own familiar abode, and set forth on a vague expedition to settle in foreign parts But, at the period 1 mention, fifty-eight years before the birth of our Saviour, this wandering people had little of what we now call love of their native land, and willingly undercook tlio

WARS AMONG TUi: GALLIC TRIBE3. 15

labour and lisk of such a journey, in the hardy confidence, that they would easily find a country more pleasant and fertile than their own barren regions, and that they couU scarcely be obliged to encounter, in defence of it, a nation of more bravery and warlike temper than they were conscious of bringing along with them.

An incursion so bold as that which the Helvetians proposed, the Romans had a fair pretence for resisting ; the more, as the Helvetians proposed to march into Gaul itself through the territory of the Allobr(Dges, whom we have already mentioned as allies of the Romans, and near neighbours to the Roman province, and of course under the protection of the Republic.

At this extraordinary inteUigence, Caesar, who had been lately appointed Praetor, set oflf with the utmost speed from Rome, to look after the pressing aflrairs of the Gallic province which had been committed to his charge. Here he defended the frontiers of the Allobroges by raising a long wall, flanked with towers, hastily erected, indeed, but with such judgment, that the Helvetians did not venture to attack it.

The expatriated nation being obliged to change their line of march, had only one road remaining, which led into Gaul through the territory of the Sequani, now called Burgundy. This road, running among clifl^s and torrents, was judged totally inaccessible without the consent of the Sequani themselves ; but by the intercession of Dumnorix, a chief of the jEduans, a people whose territory lay near Autun, the Helvetians obtained permission to pass through the defiles of the Burgundians unopposed, so that they might afterwards march in a direction which should enable them to approach the ancient Tolosatium, now Toulouse. By this movement the Roman province was highly endangered. The ^duans, friends, if not allies of the Romans, were mortal enemies of the Sequani, and besought assistance from Caesar against the Stream of Helvetians, who were thus poured into their territory. Csesar hastened the motions of his army, for the purpose ol intercepting the proposed mtirch of tlw

16 WARS AMONG THE GALLIC TRIBES

Helvetians, and preventing the threatened devastation o( (iaul. So rapid were his movements, that finding the rear of their army, consisting of one-fourth of the whole, still encamped on the eastern banks of the Arar, or Saone, though the other three-fourths had passed the river, he fell upon the rearmost division, thus separated from their main body, surprised and cut them to pieces, astpnishing the invaders not less with this unexpected blow, than with the activity with which he constructed, in a single day, a bridge to pass his army across the Arar, although the task had occupied the barbarians twenty days. After he had crossed the river, Cgesar detected the treachery of Dumnorix, but forgave it, in consideration of the fidelity to the Romans exhibited by his brother Divitiacus. He then engaged in a decisive battle with the main body of the Helvetians, whom, after a severe contei^tj he defeated with much slaughter. The Helvetians, submitted to the conqueror, and by Caesar's order returned to their ancient possessions, excepting only one tribe, called the Boii, who, at the intercession of the IZdui, were permitted by that tribe to settle in the territory of Autun, their junction being considered as a decided advantage.

Juliis Caesar having thus established the terror of his name by the conquest, and almost the annihilation of the warlike Helvetians, was soon called to undertake a war, which, according to the belief of the Gauls, brought him in contact with adversaries still more formidable. Of this he was informed in a private council held by the Mdui. They acquainted him, that, according to the custom of the Gauls, who were constantly divided among themselves, a long feud had existed between them (the ^duans) on one hand, and on the other the Sequani, already frequently mentioned, as well as another powerful tribe, called the Arverni, a people situated on the Loire, and who were united with the Sequani against the ^dui. Finding that their combined strength was unable to conquer the ^Edui, these tribes agreed to cull to tiieii «issirtance the warlike German nations which inhabite'l

CHARACTER OF TilE GOTHIC TRIBES. 17

the opposite side of the Rhine, where that river bounded the country of the Gauls.

I must here briefly remind you, that though a part of Germany had been originally settled V>y the Celtic tribes, yet the successors of these first colonists had been at a subsequent period subdued, or banished, oy a people so different in manners, language, religion, and even in form and countenance, as to present in their general appearance all the qualities of a different race. This great and most important division of mankind, finally constituted the grand source from which the modern nations of Europe have derived their principal materials of population, and the peculiarities of their several governments. They were generally termed Got! is, having among themselves a great variety of distinctive names. They spoke another language, differing from and opposed to that of the Celts, insomuch that some wTlters have held them altogether different. They are found, however, by more accurate inquirers, so far connected as to warrant their being referred to a common source, at a period probably previous to the remarkable event described in Scripture as the Confusion of tongues. The Goths did not follow the religion of the Celtic tribes, nor were they acquainted with the order of the Druids, neither did they acknowledge the existence or worship of Esus, the one and only deity of the Gauls. They worshipped the sun and the moon, to which they added several imaginary deities. They were much attached to the arts of divination, and as these were chiefly used by the matrons of the tribe, the females received, from this cause, as well as others presently to be mentioned, a degree of honour seldom paid to them by the males of barbarous tribes ; who generally devolve on their women all labour save those of hunting and war.

This race of Goths possessed some qualities, which, in the eyes of barbarians, are of high value. They were large-limbed, tall, and of great personal strength, having generally red hair and blue eyes. Their chiefs only

J8 GOTHIC TRIBES OF GERMANY.

enjoyed command during the time of war, and a species of princes, called kings by the Romans, were elected as their judges during peace ; each of these magistrates had a council of one hundred persons, supported by the public. Their women, who held a high rank amongst them, were remarkable for their chaste and honourable character ; and as no one was allowed to marry until he wa3 one-and-twenty at least, their young men looked forward with anxiety and hope to a period when they should undertake the duties and dignities of men, and in the meanwhile practised tliosejiabits of patient restraint and subdued passions, which made them fit for the duties of manhood, when the period should arrive that they were permitted to assume the situation of a husband and a father. The women, on their part, finding themselves the universal objects of respect and attention, were anxious to assume a higher and more lofty character in society, than is usually assigned to females in the savage state. They partook in the toils and dangers of war, accompanied their husbands in their expeditions, and when the battle was irretrievably lost, they often, by slaying themselves and their children, gave dreadful examples that they preferred death to slavery.

The character of these Gothic tribes had something superior even to that of the Gauls ; braver they could hardly be, but in war they were more steady, more persevering, could better endure the fatigues of a long and doubtful fight ; and if inferior to the Gauls and other Celtic nations in the fury of a headlong onset, they possessed powers of keeping their ground, and rallying which rendered the event of the day doubtful, even aftei* a long struggle. We can dimly perceive, by the history of ancient times, that the approach of these Goths from the east gradually overpowered and subdued the Celtic colonies who occupied Germany ; some penetrating northwards into Scandinavia, while others rolled their emigration rather to the south and east, till their course was checked by the mountainous regions of Switzerland and the Tyrol, and by the broad course of the Rhine

CJESAK DEFEATS AR10VI5TUS. 19

It followed, as a matter of course, that the fair ret;ion? of Gaul beyond this great river should become objects of covetousness to the Germans, whose crops were raised with difficuhy, and who were as much strangers to wine as they were enamoured with the occasional use of it. It is not therefore wonderful, that the Germans, under the command of a powerful and haughty chief, named Ariovislus, should have willingly accepted the invitation of the Arverni and Sequani, to cross the Rhine, as I have told you, to support them against the ^dui ; nor was it surprising that Caesar, foreseeing the danger of permitting these martial people to establish settlements beyond the great river which had hitherto been their barrier, willingly inquired into the nature of their proceeding, with the purpose of putting a stop to it. He soon learned that Ariovistus and the Germ s had already taken from the Sequani one third of their territory, and occupied the lands wMth his people, while he demanded a third more for the accommodation of reinforcements, which were about to join him from Germany.

When Caesar ap})lied to Ariovistus to know why he assaulted and injured the allies of the Roman people, the German prince returned him the contemptuous answer, that he was yet to learn what pretence Caesar or the Romans could have for interfering with his operations in Gaul. The Romans marched against this new enemy ; but tlie Gauls raised such exaggerated reports concerning the strength and ferocity of the Germans, that they spread a sort of panic even among the legionary troops themselves. Caesar, by his address and eloquence, put a stop to this mutiny of the trooj)s. He declared that he himself would proceed on the expedition, though only the Tenth Leirion should attend him. This select body of men were flattered by the praise and confidence of their general, while the rest called ont to be led against the Germans.

Caesar then marched against Ariovistus, and after som« manoeuvres, forced the German prinre to come to an action, in which he routed his whole army with mu<!h

20 END OF CiESAR's WARS IN GAUL,.

slaughter, eighty thousand Germans fallmg, anc Ariovii tus himself escaping with great difficulty across the Rhine.

By this decisive victory over the Germans, to whom the Gauls yielded the superiority in valour, the reputation of the Roman general was so highly raised, that it enabled him to assume the situation most convenient for reducing the whole country to obedience, which was the ultimate purpose to which he directed his schemes and interest. He became, or constituted himself, judge in the numerous quarrels which took place amid so many independent states. His decisions encouraged wars amongst them, which he so managed that the victory always fell to the side on which the Roman eagles were ranked. The Belgae, a people of Gaul, who occupied modern Flanders, were the first to see in this supremacy of the Roman general, the future seeds of absolute subjugation. This people, residing nearest to the Germans, and probably being rather of German than GaUic descent, were remarkable above the proper Gauls for their courage and skill In war. Yet their alliance against the Romans was only the means of weakening their country by repeated invasions, and very bloody defeats, which increased the fame of Caesar's arms, and rendered the other nations careful how they provoked a contest with a people whose attacks the most powerful nations of Gaul had proved unequal to sustain.

But although it was easy for Caesar to maintain the office of a Governor of Gaul for a short time, yet the temper of that people, equally fierce and fickle, was scarcely subdued, or the country, as a Roman would have said, half pacified, before they were again forming plans and alliances together for the purpose of throwing off the yoke of Rome. Ten years of the active life of Caesar were spent in constant labour to reduce Gaul to the condition of a Roman province, but tor a long time with very little success ; for no sooner did there appear a show o( tranquillity, than it became the signal of wider combinations agamst the foreigners tban had taken place before.