t was a judicial tribunal, which did not enact laws, but
which registered the edicts of the king.

Commerce and manufactures were extremely limited, and far from
flourishing; and the arts were in an infant state. Architecture, the
only art in which half-civilized nations have excelled, was the most
advanced, and was displayed in the churches and royal palaces. Paris
was crowded with uncomfortable houses, and the narrow streets were
favorable to tumult as well as pestilence. Tapestry was the most
common and the most expensive of the arts, and the hangings, in a
single room, often reached a sum which would be equal, in these times,
to one hundred thousand dollars. The floors of the palaces were spread
with Turkey carpets. Chairs were used only in kings' palaces, and
carriages were but just introduced, and were clumsy and awkward. Mules
were chiefly used in travelling, the horses being reserved for war.
Dress, especially of females, was gorgeous and extravagant; false
hair, masks, trailed petticoats, and cork heels ten inches high, were
some of the peculiarities. The French then, as now, were fond of the
pleasures of the table, and the hour for dinner was eleven o'clock.
Morals were extremely low, and gaming was a universal passion, in
which Henry IV. himself extravagantly indulged. The advice of
Catharine de Medicis to her son Charles IX. showed her knowledge of
the French character, even as it exists now: "Twice a week give public
assemblies, for the specific secret of the French government is, to
keep the people always cheerful; for they are so restless you must
occupy them, during peace, either with business or amusement, or else
they will involve you in trouble."

[Sidenote: France at the Death of Henry IV.]

Such was France, at the death of Henry IV., 1610, one of the largest
and most powerful of the European kingdoms, though far from the
greatness it was destined afterwards to attain.

A more powerful monarchy, at this period, was Spain. As this kingdom
was then in the zenith of its power and glory, we will take a brief
survey of it during the reign of Philip II., the successor of
Charles V., a person to whom we have often referred. With his reign
are closely connected the struggles of the Hollanders to secure their
civil and religious independence. The Low Countries were provinces of
Spain, and therefore to be considered in connection with Spanish
history.

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REF