Tllli DECLINE AND FALL

tl2

chap, tage, of the whole community. The use of duels,

^ or single combats on foot, prevails among themin peace and war; their industry excels in allthe mechanic arts, aud the Germans may boastof the invention of gunpowder and cannon, whichis now di/fused over the greatest part of theofFrance; w'orld. II. The kingdom of France is spreadabove fifteen or twenty days journey from Ger-many to Spain, and from the Alps to the British ocean; containing many flourishing cities, andamong these Paris , the seat of the king, whichsurpasses the rest in riches and luxury. Manyprinces and lords alternately wait in his palace,and acknowledge him as their sovereign ; themost powerful are the dukes of Bretagne andBurgundy, of whom the latter possesses thewealthy province of Flanders, whose harboursare frequented by the ships and merchants of ourown and the more remote seas. The French arean ancient and opulent people; and their lan-guage and manners, though somewhat different,are not dissimilar from those of the Italians .Vain of the imperial dignity of Charlemagne , oftheir victories over the Saracens , and of the ex-ploits of their heroes, Oliver and Rowland, b theyesteem themselves the first of the western na-tions ; but this foolish arrogance has been re-cently humbled by the unfortunate events of theirwars against the English , the inhabitants of the

b Most of the old romances were translated in the fourteenth cen-tury into French prose, and soon became the favourite amusement ofthe knights and ladies in the court of Charles VI . If a Greek believedin the exploits of Kowlami ami Oliver, he may surely be excused, sincethe monks of St. Denys, the national historian*, have inserted the fa-bles of archbishop Turpin in their Chronicles of France .