Merovingian Era;

THE • HISTORICAL ESSAYS, FUBLISItED UNDER THE TITLE OF "DIX ANS D']_TUDES HISTORIQUES," AND NARRATIVES OF ThE MEROVINGIAN ERA; OR, SCENES OF THE SIXTH CENT_I_@. "-_- WITH AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE. • BY ]_i. AUGUSTIN THIERRY, ,# AL'THOR OF TIlE _t HISTORY ('F THE CO._qUEST OF ENGLAND BY THE NORMAN$. _ THIERRY_S MEROVINGIAN ERA, &e.--" In whmh we have a narrative umtm_" %Vc-!ter Scott's hvelhte_of detail arid dramatic effect with the observance of l,istorical truth." --Quarterly Rewete PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY CAREY AND HART. 1845. Phtladelphia: T. K. & P. G. COLLX_S,Printers, No. 1 Lodge Alley. CONTEITS. HISTORICAL ESSAYS. p.Afv_ EssAY I'A6Z Translator'sPreface - 5 theLower Empire,by M. de S_- AutobiographicalPreface 7 gur - - - 74 Easier XIV._On the primitive meaning and ex- I.mRevolutions of England - - 25 tent of the utle of king, _.propos Conquest of England by the of the work entitled "OnRoy- Normans--0rder of things they alty, according to the revealed established m This order of DlvineLaws, NaturalLaws, and things degraded and modified-- the Constitutional Charter," by Struggle between classes of men M. de la Serve - - - 78 and opposite interests -- Great XV._On the real constitution of the Otto- national reactmn - - 28 man Empire, _ propos of the ILDOn the character of the Great Men work entitled "The Revolution of the Revolution of 1640, a pro- of Constanunople in 1807 and pos of the History of Crom- 1808/' by M. de Juchereau de well, by M. Vtllemain - - 37 Saint Denis - - - 80 III.DContinuation of the same subject XVI.--On local and municipal freedom, e DCharacter of political parties _ propos of a collection of Mira- _The Deists--The Presbyte- beau's speeches and opinionst riansDThe Independents--The r published by M. Barthe - 2 Royalists--The soldlersDThe X_ II.DOn the ancient and modern spirit people .... 40 of French lawyers, apropos of IV.DOn the life of Colonel Hutchinson, the Universal Journal of Legm- member of the Long Parliament, lation and Jurisprudence, edited written by his widow, Lucy Ap- by Messrs. Barthe, B6renger, sley - - - 42 BerviUe, Dupin lunior, Girod (de V.DOn the Restoration of 1660, _ pro- FAin), Cousin, M_rilhou, OdiloD. pos of a work entitled " Au Barrot, Joseph Rey, De Schoon- Historical Essay on the Reign en, etc.etc. - - - 84 of Charles the Second, by Jules - XVIlI.--On the Philosophy of the Eigh- Berthevm" - 44 teenth and that of the Nineteenth VI.DOn the Revolution of 1688 - 46 Century, _. propos of M. Garat's "VII._On the national spirit of the Irish, work, entitled "Historical Me- propos of the Irish Melodies moirs on the Life of M. Suard" 87 __ by Thomas Moore - - 51 XlX._On the antipathy of Race which VHL--On the conquest of England by the divides the French nation#, pro- Normans, apropos of the novel pos of M. Warden's work, en- _ of Ivanhoe - - - 53 titled "A Statistical, Historical, _ IX.DOn the Life of Anne Boleyn, wife and Pohtical Description of the of Henry the Eighth, apropos of United States of North Ame- _ Miss Benger's work, enutled rtca" - - - - 89 "Memoirs of the Life of Anne XX.--The true History of Jacques Bon- Boleyn, Queen of Henry the homme, from Authentic Docu- X._On the history of Scotland, and X.XI.DOn some Errors of our Modern t Eighth" - - - 56 ments .... 91 the national character of the Historians, Apropos of a Hmtory Scotch .... 58 ofFrance inuse m our Colleges 93 XI.DOn the history of the English Con- XXII.DFirst Letter on the History of stttutlon, _.propos of Mr. Henry France, addressed to the Editor Hallam's work, entitled "The of the "Courtier Fran_ais" - 96 Constitutional Htstory of Eng- XXIILDOn the Classtficatlon of the His- land" - , - - - 59 tory of France by Royal Races 97 XIL_On M. Daunous historical course " XXIV.--On the Character and Policy of at the Coll_ge de France - 71 the Franks - - 99 XIlI._On the Roman Empire, the causes XXV.DOn the Enfranchisement of the of xts ruin, and the double cha- Communes - - - 101 racter of the msututions of the XXVI.DA glance at the History of Spain 103 Middle Ages in the East and XXVII._An Episode of the History of West, apropos of the History of Brittany 105 iv CONTENTS. NARRATIVES. Preface to the Narratives - 109 NARR_.TIV]_ PAVE N_a_,TIV_ IV.w,. _. 577--586raThe history of Prm- I.w,_.v. 561--568.--The four sons of textatus, Bishop of Rouen - 154 Qlother the F_rst--The_r charac- V.--A. n. 579--581.--The History of Leu- ters--Their marriagesmH_story of daste, Count of Tours---The poet Galeswintha - - - 113 Venantius Fortunatus--The con- IL--A. v'. 568----575.--Consequences of the vent of Radegonda at Poluers - 168 murderofGaleswintha--Clvll war V'L_..D. 580--5_3.wHilpertk a theoloo _Death of Sighebert - 123 gian--The Jew Pnscus--Contmu. lII.--._, v. 575--578._The history of Me- atlon and end of the history" of rowig, the second son of King Hll- Leudasm 193 perik 137 TRANSLATOK'S 1)REFACE. IT may be necessary to say a word respecting the contents of the following pages, and their arrangement. In the original, the Narratives of the Mero- vingian Era are preceded by a very long and leanmd dissertation, entitled Considerations sur l'Itistoire de France. This it has been thought advisable to omit. It is quite a distinct work from the "Narratives," although published with them. Very useful to professed students of French history, it could have little interest for any other class of readers. The Essays originally entitled "Dix ¢tns d'Etudes Historiques," are of very great and very general interest; and devoted, as the greater portion is, to the history of our own country, will doubtless meet with proper attention. They are the best introduction to the study of their Author's great work, ,, The Con- quest of England by the Normans." The Autobiographical Preface has been transposed from the Historical Essays, where it first appeared in 1834. The last essay of the Dix .Ins d'Etudes Hisloriques, being the first of the Merovingian Narratives, appears in its proper place. These are the only changes made in the arrangement; and the reasons for them are sufficiantly obvious. M. Thierry's general characteristics, together with some account of his works, have been sketched by the writer of an article on the state of historical science in France in the ,' British and Foreign Review,"* from which we borrow the following details : "M. Thierry is chief of the descriptive school. He is an artist in a very high sense of the word: the art of M. Barante sinks into the feeblest trick, compared with that wider, deeper, well-proportioned work which Thierr3r raises from materials of the past. Inferior to Barante in style, he is immensely superior iti point of construction. He is always animated; often eloquent and pic- turesque ; but his language is not always commendable ; it is frequently am-" biguous and inelegant. :His great power lies in artistic construction. He groups the masses of details with unrivaled ease and effect; he seizes all the .points of interest or importance, and makes the others subservient to them m a manner almost unique. In this respect he is a great writer, and a model "_vorthy to be studied. "Thierry is a model also 6f unwearied energy and erudition. His life is a lesson to all men of letters: at once grand, thoughtful and affecting. In it may be read the triumph of a great intellect, when fortified by a noble purpose, over the painful 'ills that flesh is heir to.' He has prostituted his pen to no court or ministry :tm has sacrificed his soul to no luxurious and ignoble idle- ness. History has been his passion and reward. Blindness, paralysis and helplessness have been the fatal consequences of his too great application: the eyes that read so-eagerly, gradually dimmed until they lost all power; the very hand that traced tile narrative of his country's struggles refitses now to • No. XXXI. :_ _ TRA-N'SLATOR'SPREFACE. _° hold a pen. Nothing remains of him but the great heart and intellect, _de faire amiti_ avec les t_n_bres; as he pathetically says. It is a sad spectacle. The visitor goes expecting to see the animated enthL_siastic author of the ,Nor- man Conquest ;' and he sees the servant bearing in his arms a helpless creature, who, however, when gently placed in his chair, begins to talk with all the faith and enthusiasm of youth. The spirit-sighted countenance of tile ,old man eloquent,' warms into a glow as he speaks of his favourite study. You forget, as you hear him talk, that he is so afflicted. He does not forget it, but he does not repine .... ', The _Narratives of the Merovingian Era,' is the production of the matured and practised hand of its author : it is essentially a work of art, though important ideas relative to the science of history are implied in it. As a portraiture of the sixth century it is unequaled ; it joins the picturesqueness, animation and exciting interest of a novel by Scott, to the minute fidelity of exhaustive erudition. The way in whmh the various elements of society, the highest and the meanest, are selected and grouped round certain individuals and certain events, so as both to illustrate the characters and the times, reveals the hand of a pro- found artist. The details of social life, minute yet unostentatious, are brought forward to elucidate the various points in the narrative, not to ghtter as a vain display of learning._ The couleur locale is so well preserved, that you never for an instant doubt that you are reading of barbarians, and of barbarians corrupted by contact with Roman civilization, and modified by the Christian .religion.

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