The Book Of Wealth Vol.4 [4]

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Xthiev ementó of (Civilisation

Cïcbievcinente of Civilization

THE

BOOK OF WEALTH Wealth

in

Relation to Material AND

Intellectual Progress and Achievement BEING

An Inquiry* into the Nature and Distribution of the World’s Resources and Riches, and a History of

the Origin and Influence of Property, its Possession. Accumulation. and Disposition in all Agesand among all Nations.as a Factor in Human Accomplishment.an Agency

of Human Refinement, and in tlie Evolution of Civilization

from tlie Earliest to the Present Era

BY

HUBERT HOWE BANCROFT »

Section Four

NEW YORK

THE BANCROFT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

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Bm v-t

Copyright, 1K«X>. by HUBERT H. BANCROFT Type» ¿nd htuof Th« Buui> hnriM. Co»hm, C>k-mx>

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CHAPTER THE TENTH FRANCE, SWITZERLAND A rich man’s purse, a poor man’s soul is thine: Starving thy body that thy heirs may dine. Lvcilliu*. Lost riches are bewailed with deeper sighs Than friends or kindred, and with louder cries. —Juvenal. Nothing stings more deeply than the loss of money.—Ltry. Prosperity asks for fidelity: but adversity demands it. Seneca. It requires greater firmness to sustain good fortune than bad. bt Ilochcfoucauld. Fortuno is never stable: is always «■hanging: strikes down the prosperous and exalts the lowly. Aveontue. Men usually judge as to the prudence of a plan Uy the result, and are apt to say that the successful man has shown much forethought, and the unsuccessful much want of it. Cicero, I know of nothing in the world more sensible than to turn the folly of others to our own advantage.—Goethe. Can anything be more absurd than, the nearer we are to our journey’s end. to lay in the more provision for it.—Cicero.

Happy the man. whose wish and rare A few internal acres bound, Content to breathe his native air In his own ground. Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread. Whose thicks supply him with attire: Whose trees in summer yield him sha«le. In winter, fire. Blest, who can unconcernedly find Hours, «lays, and years, slide soft away In health «if body, jwac«* of mind, Quiet by day. Sound sleep by night: study and ease Together mix’d: sweet recreation. And innocence, which most does pleas«? With meditation. Thus let me live, unseen, unknown: Thus unlamented let me die: Steal from the world, and not a stone Tell where 1 lie.

EOPLED as it was by barbarous and thinly scattered tribes, which except for a few implements and weapons have left no trace of their existence, the France of aboriginal days has no place in history, no mark even of the usages or speech of those who first inhabited its soil. Far different was it with the tribes that Caesar found there the brave, mercurial, nimble-witted Gaul, and his kinsman, the phlegmatic and thoughtful Belgian, resembling rather the German in physical and intellectual qualities. From the union of these tribes comes, the modern After conquering the Gauls. Frenchman, though not without other race intermixtures. Cæsar became their sovereign, and for more than four cen­ turies the country was subject to Roman domination, at the end of which period hill fortresses and villages of wattled huts, ; hidden in the heart of swamp or forest, had given place to prosperous cities with Roman customs, cults, and laws, where was spoken in corrupted form ,the Latin tongue. In the second century came Chris- j tianity, spreading quickly throughout the land, though at a much later era St Martin of Tours found many pagan temples to destroy and multitudes of heathen to convert. Early in the fifth century we find the Germans settled in Gaul, and somewhat later the Franks, a confederation of Germanic tribes, first among whom were the Salians, headed by a clan called Merwings. or Merovingians, their chieftain Clovis plundering the country and putting to death without scruple all his more powerful neighbors. Yet to this wholesale robber and murderer L France owes her origin as a nation, her Salic laws, and her feudal system. The Merovingian monarchy reached its cul­ Pi .it minating point under Dagobert, who ANCIENT GAUlS toward the middle of the seventh century CLOVIS 301

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THE TOOK OF HEALTH

held splendid court in Paris, the dynasty, except for ' a nominal existence, coming to an end soon after his v—' death. Then appeared the Carolingian family, first — —•— under Martin and Pepin, and then under Charles —- ~ ~ Martel, natural son of the latter, his victory at Tours checking the northward incursions of the Saracens, with results that were far-reaching in the later history of Europe. In 771 began the reign of Charlemagne, the great German lord whose deeds and legends were the wonder of the world. After long and successful warfare, on MEO'ÆVAL PAR'S Christmas eve of the year Boo he was crowned emperor of the Romans with the title of Augustus, his authority, accepted alike by Germans and Gallo-Romans, being acknowledged even by the sov ercign of the East, the caliph Haroun-al-Raschid, who despatched to his court an embassy CLOTAIRE I laden with costly and curious presents. 1 he brief remainder of his days Charlemagne devoted to the consolidation and improvement of his empire, with a singleness of aim and nobility of purpose that needed but a few years more of life to stamp him as the founder of an historic epoch; for his activity was many-sided, and by later gen­ erations was felt the magic influence of his name. Of his three great palaces he preferred the one at Aix-la-Chapelle, the town-house erected on its site in 1353 still containing the splen­ did coronation hall of the emperors. Adjoining it, where now stands a portion of the cathedral, was a chapel later destroyed by the Normans, and in this sanctuary, which he had founded in CHARLES MARTEL freoegunoa that he bved so wejl hjs remains were jaid at rest Within thirty years after the death of Charlemagne, his magnificent empire came to an end, and on its ruins arose several European nations, this being a time of confusion and rapine attended with unutterable woes to the body of the people, nine-tenths of whom were little better than slaves. Meanwhile the great lords >\cie

THE HOOK OF WEALTH

303

growing in power: the bishops lived in luxury in the cities and the abbots in country man­ sions. Says the deacon Floras speaking of this period: “A beautiful empire flourished under a brilliant diadem. The Frankish nation shone with a brilliant light before the eyes of the whole world. Foreign kingdoms, the Greeks, the barbarians, and the senate of Latium all sent their embassies thither. Rome herself, the mother of kingdoms, bowed down to this nation. Fallen now, this great power has lost at once its glory.and the name of empire; the kingdom, once firmly united, is divided into three portions; instead of a king we have a kinglet, and instead of a kingdom a mere fragment of a kingdom.” During the reign of Charles the Bold the Norse,nen ar*d Vikings made their api pearance on the coasts | of France, in their -A' TOMB LOUS X ANO ANNE OF BRiTTANY. ABBEY ST DEN S swift, light craft, pillaging towns and farms, and putting to sea with their booty before any opposing force could be brought against them. Rouen, Nantes, and Bor­ deaux were plundered. Tours was captured and its abbey of St Martin burned; the abbey of St Germain was sacked in sight of the gates of Paris, and in 857 the churches of Paris were destroyed and the abbot of St Denis led into captivity. Sanctuaries were made the objective point of attack because stored there for safe-keeping were the treasures of the inhabitants, their money, jewelry, plate, and precious stones. Withdrawing themselves on payment of a large sum in gold, these bands of freebooters were succeeded by others, their raids ending only when there was nothing left worth carrying away. Then they settled on the land itself, engaging in husbandry under their chieftain Rolf, or Rollo, to whom early in the tenth century Charles the Simple granted a portion of his territory, with the hand of his daughter in marriage, the Norseman HUGH CAPET turning Christian and suffering himself to be baptized. Crowds of adven­ turers followed, and all were provided with the means of earning a livehhoyd so that Normandy became one of the most powerful and prosperous of European countries, Duke \\ illiam in the following century adding VASE GRAND TRANON . the British islands to his continental domain. With Hugh Capet begins the real history of France as a kingdom, though his rule, disputed by Charles of Lorraine, was confirmed only by the hearty support of the Normans. In Brittany and in the * ■ — south of France Charles the bold he was never acknowledged. the Aquitanians | dating their documents “In the reign of God until there shall be a king." Only through a close alliance with the clergy, whom he loaded with gifts, could he uphold his unstable throne, his entire reign being a struggle to retain his possessions, or what was left of them after rewarding his followers. More fortunate was his son and successor Robert the Debonair, as he was called; it mild, THE SE NE docile, kindly man. the delight of

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TOILET OF APOLLO. VERSAILLES PARK

monkish chroniclers for his piety, charity, and feebleness of character. Each day he fed a thousand of the poor, and most of his time was passed in prayer and the writing and singing of hymns. He was entirely under the control of the priests, putting away his first wife at the bidding of the pope and taking in her place Constance of Aquitaine, who brought to his court a crowd of followers *■? detested by the clergy and despised by the people for their effeminate tastes and habits. , Speaking of the new courtiers, the chronicler Rudulfus Glaber remarks: “We find France and Burgundy overrun by a new kind of people, who were at once the vainest and most 2 frivolous of men. Their mode of life, their clothes, their armor, and the trappings of their horses were all equally fantastic; true buffoons whose shaven chins, small-clothes, ridiculous boots, and indeed their whole appearance announced the disorder of their mind. In the reign of Philip I began the crusades, a host of French pilgrims under Peter the Hermit starting eastward in the summer of 1096. hoping to exchange for their promised home in Palestine the present miseries of France. But with this great movement the monarch was not in sympathy, cither as a source of glory or of wealth, preferring rather the sale of benefices and the debasement of the coinage, whereby a most dangerous precedent was established for those who came after him. Notwithstanding the attend­ ant loss of life, the crusades were a benefit to Europe and especially to France, ridding her of a most unde­ sirable clement in her population, and arousing a spirit of enterprise among her dormant and down-trodden peo­ ple. Towns woke into life; many new buildings and especially church­ buildings were erected, and literature CARRIAGE OF CHARLES X, PET.T TRANON began to find a home outside the walls URN ABSEY ST OEN $

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305

of monasteries, the investigations of Abelard arousing an intellectual activ­ ity which at the close of the twelfth century led to the founding of the university of Paris, the mother of all the learned institutions of modern E u rope. During the earlier feudal period the lot of the people had in truth been a hard one. Wars were inter­ minable; for the sword was the only appeal for him who had suffered wrong. The plains were converted into battle-fields and the hills into fortresses, where feudal lords, sur­ rounded with armor-clad warriors, grew rich by pillage or rapine. Wealth was more often a le PETT TRANON curse than a bless­ ing; for those who possessed it were liable to be imprisoned and tortured until they surrendered their treasures. There was no commerce, for the roads were infested with brigands and the streets with assassins lying in wait for men with well filled purses; there were no industries, for if any were attempted they were speedily taxed out of existence; there was no legitimate coinage, for most of the lords coined their own money and would take none but their own in payment. Finally pestilence and famine stalked through the land, one or both these visitations prevailing in a majority of years. Better was the condition of affairs during the reign of Louis the Fat, whose unwieldy LOUIS IX bulk was no impediment to his activity. To the towns he granted such privileges as made them the refuge of the community against feudal oppression. Bearing the orifiamme of St Denis, he marched to battle or siege at the head of loyal and enthusiastic followers, declaring himself the champion of the burgher life which he had created. Thus in the struggle against feudalism the people were on his side, and had his successor been like him. France would have been welded into one great monarchy centuries before it was done. In a word Louis was the first real king of France, a man of noble parts, liberal, unselfish, and a father to his subjects, who felt not his light and easy yoke. Among his public works was the partial restoration of the abbey of St Denis, the burial place of Frankish and other kings from the days when Dagobert erected there a basilica for Benedictine monks. It was many times altered and restored before the architect of Napoleon III converted it into one of the finest specimens of Gothic archi­ tecture. Philip Augustus,grand­ son of Louis, shared with Richard the lion-hearted the barren honors of the third crusade, returning homeward after the capture of Ptolemais aweary of such uncon­ genial sport. Though nine fierce battles were fought before its walls, the fanatical hatred of Christians and infidels had given place to a chivalrous interchange of courtesies, Saladin sending presents of Damascus fruits to the opposing camp and PALAIS OU TROCAOERO receiving in return Parisian

TROCADERO MUSEUM

THE BOOK OE WEALTH

jewelry. Other in ore t h a n one of the founding the

307

wars Philip had, first with the dukes of Burgundy and Normandy, and then with England, doubling the royal domain. Then devoting himself to the arts of peace he made of Paris finest cities of the middle ages, erecting the cathedral of Notre Dame, university of Paris, providing the city with markets, improving its streets, and strengthening its defences. By some he has been termed a great king but not a great man, and this he showed in one of the first acts of his reign, banishing the Jews but allowing them to return on payment of a fine; for like other Chris­ tian monarchs, he regarded men of the Hebrew race merely as instruments for the gathering of gold wherewith to replenish the royal treasury. Under the care of Louis IX, with whose disastrous Charles v expeditions the crusading era comes to an end. the university of Paris rose into high repute, such men as Roger Bacon, Thomas Aquinas, and Albertus Magnus being numbered among its students. Art and literature were freely patronized, and while Robert of Sorbon was founding his ecclesiastical college, the king erected his Saintc Chapelle, then the finest architectural monument of the capital. Louis was the first monarch who THE PANTHEON PARIS summoned burgfters to his council, asking their advice on questions of commerce and finance. His laws, based largely on Roman models, were aimed against feudal privileges and oppressions. “Know ye," reads a statute of 1257, “that on the deliberations of our council we have prohibited all wars within our kingdom, all destruction by fire, and all prevention of agriculture." Philip the Rash and Philip the Fair were the successors of Louis IX, the latter ruling over a larger kingdom than had fallen to any of his predecessors; for Navarre was his by inheritance, and from Edward 1 of England he received an exten­ sive province in return for a yearly rental of 3.000 livres, which rental he never paid. Philip was always in want of money, and so long as it might be had was entirely indifferent as to the means. He taxed whom and whatsoever he could, from the nobles and clergy down to the peasantry, and now began the flood of taxation which culminated in the days of Louis XV; from the Jews he extorted the little that was left after the fines and confiscations of former years; he tampered with the coinage, sold privileges to towns, and in a word converted into cash about everything that was convertible. Of all his measures none have been so universally condemned as the destruction of the order of Templars and the seizure of their property. As the representatives of the crusaders and of the nobility of France, this military fraternity possessed many thousands of manors and castles, extending almost throughout Christen­ dom, its members united under the control of a grand master in firmly cemented organization. It was more over a wealthy order, with 150.000 gold florins in its treasury, in addition to countless vessels in gold and silver. On an appointed day all the Templars in France were arrested, on charges of impiety and immorality; many were tortured, and more than sixty were burned at the stake, among them the grand master and other dignitaries, who suffered fearful things in their dungeon cells. During the reign of Philip the nobles met with a crushing defeat at the JOHN hands of burghers on what was known as The Day of the Spurs, when 4.000 gilt spurs were hung as trophies in the cathedral of Courtrai. Passing over the Hundred Years’ war and the two centuries of war which followed, let us turn to the annals of the modern kingdom, when early in the Bourbon dynasty Richelieu appears on the scene, and NOTRE DAME

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for nearly a score of years guides the destinies of Louis and of France. The following words attributed to the great cardinal represent, whether uttered by him or not, the guiding principles of his cold and resolute policy. “I venture on nothing without first thinking it out; but once decided, I go straight to the point, overthrow or cut down whatever stands in my way, and finally cover it over with my cardinal's robe.” As to this policy it may further be said that, while in his earlier days it was his aim to build up a powerful monarchy based on the good will of the people, once that monarchy was established the people were ignored, and the nobles and clergy alike made subject to his iron rule. At Rochelle he destroyed the power of the Huguenots, long a standing menace to the Bourbons; elsewhere he crushed out all serious resistance, and in Italy his successful. if somewhat theatrical campaigns, reduced Savoy to submission. Against Spain and the lands his wars were less successful, though the last battles of the Thirty Years' war were won by France, and as Michelet remarks, “the cession of Sedan was the last present made by Richelieu to France.” elieu exalted the country which he While Rich and ruled so harshly almost loved so well into the position which she held until the close

THE LOUVRE

of the second empire, it was only accomplished after many sacrifices inflicted with merciless severity. He greatly increased the burdens of France; for the purses and persons of nobles and burghers were alike at his command. The church and the parliaments were subservient; the states-general was silent, and no longer was disputed the sovereign's right to levy taxes and issue arbitrary decrees. Thus was destroyed all healthy civic life, all the better elements of a society which, unfettered and working in harmony, might have given prosperity to the nation through the unfolding of her splendid resources, might have secured for her the undisputed sovereignty among the nations of the world. If Richelieu recreated France, it was not a healthful recreation, and in the despotism of the eighteenth century we read a sad comment on the effects of his policy, as in the revolution we read the story of its punishment. In common with his successor Mazarin, Richelieu was a friend to literature and art, some of the greatest men this the great age of letters ccepting his patronage, though others of more independent char­ acter refused his honors and rewards. By him were estab­ lished the French academy and the royal printing press. / while at his palace were to be found the best artists of the Charles vi day. though there was seen only the splendor and not the genius of art. It was not until the death of Mazarin in 1661 that Louis XIV began to reign; for though twenty-two years of age and for eighteen years a king, he had been but the nominal ruler of subjects governed by the cardinal. From him he received the lessons in kingcraft and place du CAROUSEL dissimulation on which he framed his career, taking

THE TOOK OF WEALTH

POS’ CES *R’S

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up without flinching the heav\ bui