s ordained to be a king, another a duke, and
so on through the list of high dignities. The maternal solicitude of
Eve made her unwilling that the concealed children should miss all
the honors, and she brought them forth from their hiding places. Their
rough and unkempt appearance, which was due to the nature of their
places of concealment, added to their unprepossessing personalities,
disgusted the Lord with them. "None," He said, "can make a vessel
of silver out of an earthen pitcher, or goodly silk out of a goat's
fleece, or a bright sword out of a cow's tail; neither will I, though
I can, make a noble gentleman out of a vile villain. You shall all be
ploughmen and tillers of the ground, to keep oxen and hogs, to dig and
delve, and hedge and dike, and in this wise shall ye live in endless
servitude. Even the townsmen shall laugh you to scorn; yet some of
you shall be allowed to dwell in cities, and shall be admitted to
such occupations as those of makers of puddings, butchers, cobblers,
tinkers, costard-mongers, hostlers, or daubers." This, so the story
informs us, was the beginning of servile labor; and such a view of
caste was no more displeasing to the peasantry, who knew nothing
better, than it was to the baron, whose pride it pampered.

A poem of the latter part of the fifteenth century gives the wishes
appropriate to the men and women of the different ranks of French
society. Those of the women are most characteristic. Thus, the queen
wishes to love God and the king, and to live in peace; the duchess, to
have all the enjoyments and pleasures of wealth; the countess, to have
a husband who is loyal and brave; the knight's lady, to hunt the stag
in the green woods; the lady of gentle blood also loves hunting, and
wishes for a husband valiant in war; the chamber maiden takes pleasure
in walking in the fair fields by the riversides; while the burgher's
wife loves, above all things, a soft bed at night, with a good pillow
and clean white sheets. This statement of the characteristic desires
of the various classes of French women holds good as well for the
English women of that period.

The court of Burgundy, which, during the fifteenth century, was
notable for its pomp and magnificence and its ostentatious display
of wealth, was regarded as furnishing the models of high courtesy
and gentle breeding; and it was the centre of literature and
art. Circumstances had brought the court of England into intimate
connection wi