be enjoined; and in the end, by the influence of prefents and prayers, obtained abfolution. But though this quieted, in fome measure, his domeftic affairs, yet, in respect to his authority, it was fo far from being re-established, that the nobility affected more and more a degree of independency utterly incompatible with the refpect due to him by the conftitution, as it then stood. Some of them, indeed, as William duke of Aquitaine, and even the count of Anjou, behaved in a very different manner; but this arofe from their own notions of things, and particular connections, and not from a principle of obedience, or any awe they stood in of his power: for the leffer nobility, and even his immediate vaffals, infulted him every hour, plundered his fubjects, and cut off the communication between Paris and Orleans. All this did not roufe Philip from that idle and indolent course of life which he had led for many years, and, rather than it fhould, he affociated his eldeft fon Lewis, or at leaft declared him, with the confent of his nobility, his fucceffor. This young prince was the very reverfe of his father, active, vigilant, affable, free from the vices incident to youth, and in all refpe&ts one of the braveft and worthiest men this country ever produced. It may be the vices of the father, and the confequences of thefe vices, might be the beft leffons to his fon. He faw that, in a corrupted ftate, there was nothing to be done but by force; he kept, therefore, continually in the field, with a small body of troops about him, and thefe he employed against fuch as would not liften to the dictates of juftice and equity, and even treated the laws of their country with derifion. He de molished their caftles, he compelled them to reftitution, he forced them to abandon the cftates of which they had deprived the bishops and the clergy; and he did this in fo difinterefted a manner, and with fo indifputable a zeal for the public welfare, that, after a few victories gained, and fome unavoidable inftances of feverity, he brought things into tolerable order, and the reverence of the people in general fo abfolutely, that all hiftorians agree he faved the ftate from deftruction, and the monarchy from being abfolutely fubverted. A fervice fo great, that it merited a return very different from that which it met with. Bertrade, who now ftiled herself queen of France, faw, with infinite chagrin, the good fortune of Lewis, and the univerfal refpect that was paid him, notwithstanding that she could not but be fenfible that Philip could fcarce have preserved himfelf upon the throne, if Providence had not raifed him up fuch a fupport. She had two fons by the king, and had the fucceffion in view; to which the thought Lewis the only obftacle, his brother Henry being dead. This induced her to practife all her arts, and none of her fex had more, to ftrengthen her own party, and to diftrefs and difturb the young king. He was not at all of a temper to return such usage; and therefore, when he found the realm in fome degree of quiet, he thought it better to retire out of the reach of the ftorm, than to run the risque of fupporting it. It was chiefly with this view that he made a voyage to England; though probably with fome plaufible pretence, fince it was with the confent of king Philip, and was received by Henry with the greateft teftimonies of kindness and esteem. He had not been long at court, before the English monarch received, by an exprefs, a letter from king Philip, fignifying, that, for certain important reafons, he fhould be exceedingly obliged to him if he closely confined his fon, or removed him altogether out of the way. Henry, inftead of executing fo infamous a requeft, fhewed the letter to Lewis, gave him his best advice, and, having loaded him with prefents, fent him home with all the marks of honour and regard poffible. At his return, Lewis demanded justice for this attempt; at which the king appeared much amazed, as having in reality no concern in it. But Bertrade, whofe fear was now as ftrong as her ambition, thinking there was no time to be loft, no means to be left untried, procured poison to be given him; which wrought fo violently, that the ableft physicians thought it impoffible to fave him. A stranger, however, undertook the cure, and fucceeded in it, only a palenefs remained in his countenance during life, notwithftanding that he grew afterwards fo corpulent as to be furnamed the Grofs. tence by which fhe totally difarmed Lewis of his refentment. We may the lefs wonder at this, fince we are informed, that she had fuch an abfolute command over the morofe Foulques of Rechin, that he paffed whole days at her feet like her flave; and it is certain, that he entertained the king and her at Angiers with all the pomp and magnificence poffible, and waited on them in person at table. After this reconciliation, she fhewed, upon all occafions, the most profound refpect for Lewis, acknowleged that he merited the crown he had faved, and placed all hopes in providing for the fafety and fubfiftence of her children in recommending them to his favour. We meet with nothing after this that can be filed memorable in the reign of king Philip, neither does it clearly appear whether, with all his fubmiffions to the fee of Rome, by which he difgraced himself fo much in the eyes of ftrangers and of his own fubjects, he obtained a full confirmation of his marriage; that is, fuch a confirmation as the pontifs affumed to theinfelves a power of giving. It is, however, generally fpeaking, held probable that he did; Upon this new and flagrant act of fince, towards the clofe of his reign, violence, Lewis was on the point of the hiftorians give her the title of coming to extremities, and of having queen, and fpeak of her children as recourfe to the fame methods for ob- rendered capable of the fucceflion. taining juftice in his own caufe, Yet Mezeray fufpects this, and fays which he had fo often employed to with great freedom, that the bishops procure it for others. But the king, of France flattered the king's infaunable to part with Bertrade, and as mous adultery, by beftowing on it unable to protect her, had recourfe the honourable title of marriage. to the pity of his fon, to whom he But, however this might be, he reobliged her to make the most hum- mained as much attached to her as ble fubmiffions; and it was upon ever to the last hour of his life. He this occafion that the fhewed the ut- died at Melun, on the 29th of July, most extent of her addrefs, infomuch in the 50th year of his reign, reckthat it fill remains undecided, whe-oning from his coronation in his father the feigned or felt that peni- ther's life time, and in the March 1764. R 47th from the the deceafe of that prince. There were many great actions performed by the French nation while he fat upon the throne, though there was little done by him; but as these actions must be treated of in other places, it would have been to no purpose to diftra& the thread of our narration by fhort and imperfect accounts of them, merely because they fell within this period of time. Lewis the fixth, called by the old hiftorians Lewis Thibaut, and, from his fize in the latter part of his reign, furnamed Lewis the Grofs, affumed the fole adminiftration of affairs on the demife of his father, when he was entering the 30th year of his age. The first thing he thought neceffary was his coronation, notwithstanding, as most writers fay, he had been actually crowned in the lifetime of his father, and in this he met with fome difficulty. There was at this time a fchifm in the church of Rheims; and, therefore, by the advice of the bishop of Chartres, who was one of the most refpectable pre lates in France, the king caufed himfelf to be crowned at Orleans by the bishop of that city. This being done with great folemnity, might probably add fome weight to his authority; but it was very far from procuring him that tranquility which he expected. This difturbance did not arife from the great lords, who had an affection for his perfon, and had not the leaft caufe to be jealous of his power, but from the infolence of his immediate vaffals, who, juftly apprehending that he would put an end to thofe exorbitancies which they had hitherto committed with impunity, confederated together to give him all the trouble in their power. In order to conceive this, and without a clear conception of it what we have to fay will be unintelligible, it is requifite to obferve, that the domain, that is, the territory actually in poffeffion of the king,confifted only of Paris, Orleans, Etamps, Compiegne, Melun, Bourges, and a few other places of lefs confideration. Amongst the lords then in arms the principal were the lords of Corbeil and Mante du Puifet in Beauce, de Couci, de Montfort, de Montlherre, de Rochefort, &c. Their fiefs lay fo intermixed with the king's domain as put it out of his power to affemble, on any occafion, the whole of the little force he had, gave them the most favourable opportunities of making diverfions, when any of them were attacked, and, in fhort, embroiled him in fuch a manner, that, though he had the lofty title of king of France, he had scarce the ftrength of a duke of Burgundy. Of this a more flagrant inftance cannot be given, than his being obliged thrice to befiege the little caftle of Puifet. The first time he was disappointed for want of provifions; at the second he was beaten by the confederates, and forced to raise the fiege; but at last he became master of, and demolished, it. He treated in the fame manner other fortreffes, as foon as he reduced them; but what he chiefly relied on was the laws, with the execution of which he charged himself by force of arms; and, acting in this matter with an impartial spirit of juice, he gained the refpect of the clergy, and the love of the common people, whom he protected upon all occafions, not only against the oppreffions of their lords, but alfo the offcers of his crown and army, according to his own excellent maxim, that a king ought to have no favou rites but his people. The HISTORY of EUDOCIUS and SELINDA. To the Authors of the BRITISH MAGAZINE. GENTLEMEN, Ome time ago, being at a friend's house in the country, I took one day a ride out, in order to divert myfelf while my friend made a vifit, in which I did not incline to accompany him. As I was returning in the afternoon towards home, I caft my eyes on a small house, at a little diftance from the road: the elegance of its structure, the beauty of its fituation, and the neatnefs of the gardens that furrounded it, all conspired to make me turn a little out of my way, in order to take a nearer view of it. As I drew towards the entrance of a fhady avenue of trees, which led directly up to the houfe, a gentleman who was walking there with a book in his hand, approached me very civilly, and enquired my bufinefs: I told him, that coming down to spend the fummer at Mr. Such-a-one's, I had made a little excurfion, in order to fee the country, and could not pafs by fo charming a feat, without indulging my curiofity fo far as to take a nearer look at it." The gentleman you mention, faid Eudocius, (for fo I fhall call him) is a perfon for whom I have a very great efteem; be fo good, Sir, as to alight, and if there is any thing about my houfe you think worthy of your obfervance, I affure you, you are very welcome to the fight of it." I complied with his request; and he himself fhewed me all the principal rooms of the houfe, which were hung with good paintings, and fo exactly furnished, that they had in them every thing that was plain and ufeful, without containing any thing either fuperfluous or gaudy. He conducted me next into his gardens, which were every way extremely elegant; and particularly were adorned with several excellent antique ftatues. At the bottom of his parterre ran a beautiful canal, on the other fide of which lay a park, where the eye, after being entertained with a multitude of agreeable objects, had its views terminated at a confiderable distance by a lovely grove of trees. Hither infenfibly we wandered in the middle of the grove ftood a little marble edifice, whofe fituation might be properly ftiled fweetly melancholy. In this was contained a collection of the best authors, and it was efpecially well furnished with the poets. Here Eudocius drew out of his bofom the book which he had in his hand when I first faw him: it was a Virgil, which opened of itself at the ftory of Orpheus and Eurydice. But night coming on, we returned to the houfe, where, after taking a glafs or two of wine, I took my leave; though not without my being obliged to promife to make him a fecond vifit, as foon as I had an opportunity. As I was returning home, I could not forbear reflecting on what had pafs'd; efpecially, becaufe I had not obferved any woman, fo much as a fervant, about the house, nor the leaft thing in any of the rooms which could poffibly be fuppofed to belong to any of that fex. Eudocius himfelf, though a perfon of the most R 2 polite polite behaviour, had yet such a settled melancholy in his temper, that although, in complaifance to a ftranger, he endeavoured to affume an air of chearfulness in his converfation, yet I could easily perceive that he thereby laid a restraint on his inclination, and that it was impoffible for him to put on even the appearance of gaiety, without a visible reluctance. As foon as I came home I related this adventure to my friend, and entreated him, if it was in his power, he would acquaint me with the hiftory of Eudocius. Accordingly, in order to fatisfy my defire, he proceeded in the following man ner: Eudocius (fays he) is now about five and twenty he is poffeffed of about a thousand pounds a-year, and defcended of a very honourable family. Both his parents dying when he was very young, left him to the care of Mentor, who had been alfo his father's tutor: Mentor managed both his pupil's education and eftate with the utmoft prudence, 'till Eudocius, reached his eighteenth year, when Mentor dying, left every thing entirely to his own management; in which, notwithstanding his youth, he demeaned himself fo prudently, that he justly gained the reputation of being one of the finest gentlemen of the county. In fhort, every body loved him as a good neighbour, and every body efteemed him as a judicious friend. About three miles from Eudocius lived Severus, a morofe old man, of about two thousand pounds a year real, befides an immenfe perfonal eftate; all which, at his deceafe, would defcend to his only daughter, Selinda, a young lady, who, both by her beauty and merit,, more than deferved it. Eudocius, by education, family, and intereft, was attached to one party; and Severus, by a natural obftinacy in his temper, violently bias'd to the other. This occafioned the families having little intercourfe one with the other, except their fometimes vifiting at the fame places. "It was at one of these accidental meetings, that Eudocius first saw Selinda. This first interview created in him a firong concern, which ripened, by degrees, into a violent and lafting paffion. It would be needlefs for me to give you an unneceffary detail of the series of this amour; it is fufficient for me, that I inform you, that the love of Eudocius was received with reciprocal tenderness by Selinda, and that Severus's confent was only wanting to make them happy. "A friend, whom Eudocius had made his confident in this affair, was employed to found the old gentleman's inclinations upon this head. But no fooner was it mentioned to Severus, than with his usual vehemence of temper, he pofitively declared, that if his daughter wedded Eudocius, he would not only immediately turn her out of doors, but at his death, would deprive her both of his bleffing and estate. "Too well the lovers knew the obftinate temper of old Severus, to hope, either by gentle methods, or length of time, to foften him into a compliance. Selinda, befides the rifk the run in difobeying her father, had too great a regard for her duty, to think of marrying either without or against his confent. The following expedient, therefore, was refolved on, as beft fuited to the present juncture of their affairs: Eudocius. was to go abroad, under the pretence of travel; but indeed, that Severus might not fufpe& he entertained any farther |