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Article THE HISTORY OF FRANCE. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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The History Of France.
clergy expiated by his holy ardour in the cause of Christianity ; and a barbarous age was eager to admire and applaud the orthodox zeal and liberal piety of the son of Childeric . - . * - In the last year of the reign of Clovis he reformed and published the Salic laws ; a few lines of these , which debar women from inheriting any part of the Salic lands , have been applied as precluding females from the succession to the crown of France ; and the origin
and nature of these lands have perplexed and exercised the ingenuity of our most learned and sagacious critics . [ A . D . 511 . 3 The promulgation of this artless system of jurisprudence was soon after followed by the death of the monarch himself , who expired at Paris in the forty-fifth year of his age and the thirtieth year of his reign . Among his contemporariesthe valour and victories of Clovis
cer-, tainly allowed him to claim the foremost rank ; but his valour was stained with cruelty , and his victories obscured by injustice . In the invasion of the Burgundians and Visigoths , the most partial historians have described him as the aggressor ; and though in the battle of Tolbiac his sword was drawn against the Alemanni in the defence of his ally and kinsman * Sigebertyet he soon after hesitated
, not to secure his throne by the death of that very ally in whose " cause he had triumphed . His ruling passion was to render himself absolute monarch of all Gaul ; and he may be considered as more fortunate in the execution of his designs than justifiable in the means he employed . In private life , after his conversion to Christianity
he was chaste and temperate ; nor does it appear that the husband of Clotilda ever violated the purify , of the marriage-bed . The conduct and character of the Founder of the French monarchy , naturally excite our curiosity and enquiries ; but it is not consistent with the limits of this work to bestow unequal degree of attention on his immediate successors . His dominions were divided between four sons ; ClodomirChildebertand Clotairethe
, , , children of Clotilda , reigned with independent authority over Orleans , Paris , and Soissons ; and Thierri , the illegitimate offspring of Clovis before his marriage , possessed the greatest part of Aquitairi , and erecting a new kingdom under the name of Austrasia , fixed the seat of his government-at Metz . The sons of Clotilda were prompted by ambitionand the
re-, proaches of their implacable mother , desirous of avenging the death of her father on the family of the assassin , to invade the kingdom of Burgundy . Gondebaud was no more ; and his son arid successor , Sigismond , was stained with the blood of an infant child , whom he inhumanly had sacrificed to the pride and resentment of a step-mother . The Burgundian monarchwho had too late
dis-, covered his error , was aroused from the prostrated posture of penitence , to defend his crown and life against the rapacious invaders of his country : [ A . D . 523 . 3 His efforts were in vain ; he was defeated in a decisive battle , deserted by his subjects , - and , with his wife and two of his children , was buried alive in a deep well , by the stern
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The History Of France.
clergy expiated by his holy ardour in the cause of Christianity ; and a barbarous age was eager to admire and applaud the orthodox zeal and liberal piety of the son of Childeric . - . * - In the last year of the reign of Clovis he reformed and published the Salic laws ; a few lines of these , which debar women from inheriting any part of the Salic lands , have been applied as precluding females from the succession to the crown of France ; and the origin
and nature of these lands have perplexed and exercised the ingenuity of our most learned and sagacious critics . [ A . D . 511 . 3 The promulgation of this artless system of jurisprudence was soon after followed by the death of the monarch himself , who expired at Paris in the forty-fifth year of his age and the thirtieth year of his reign . Among his contemporariesthe valour and victories of Clovis
cer-, tainly allowed him to claim the foremost rank ; but his valour was stained with cruelty , and his victories obscured by injustice . In the invasion of the Burgundians and Visigoths , the most partial historians have described him as the aggressor ; and though in the battle of Tolbiac his sword was drawn against the Alemanni in the defence of his ally and kinsman * Sigebertyet he soon after hesitated
, not to secure his throne by the death of that very ally in whose " cause he had triumphed . His ruling passion was to render himself absolute monarch of all Gaul ; and he may be considered as more fortunate in the execution of his designs than justifiable in the means he employed . In private life , after his conversion to Christianity
he was chaste and temperate ; nor does it appear that the husband of Clotilda ever violated the purify , of the marriage-bed . The conduct and character of the Founder of the French monarchy , naturally excite our curiosity and enquiries ; but it is not consistent with the limits of this work to bestow unequal degree of attention on his immediate successors . His dominions were divided between four sons ; ClodomirChildebertand Clotairethe
, , , children of Clotilda , reigned with independent authority over Orleans , Paris , and Soissons ; and Thierri , the illegitimate offspring of Clovis before his marriage , possessed the greatest part of Aquitairi , and erecting a new kingdom under the name of Austrasia , fixed the seat of his government-at Metz . The sons of Clotilda were prompted by ambitionand the
re-, proaches of their implacable mother , desirous of avenging the death of her father on the family of the assassin , to invade the kingdom of Burgundy . Gondebaud was no more ; and his son arid successor , Sigismond , was stained with the blood of an infant child , whom he inhumanly had sacrificed to the pride and resentment of a step-mother . The Burgundian monarchwho had too late
dis-, covered his error , was aroused from the prostrated posture of penitence , to defend his crown and life against the rapacious invaders of his country : [ A . D . 523 . 3 His efforts were in vain ; he was defeated in a decisive battle , deserted by his subjects , - and , with his wife and two of his children , was buried alive in a deep well , by the stern