such
qualifications are not below the notice of the poet or historians: they
may observe that Robert, at once, and with equal dexterity, could wield
in the right hand his sword, his lance in the left; that in the battle
of Civitella he was thrice unhorsed; and that in the close of that
memorable day he was adjudged to have borne away the prize of valor from
the warriors of the two armies. His boundless ambition was founded on
the consciousness of superior worth: in the pursuit of greatness, he
was never arrested by the scruples of justice, and seldom moved by the
feelings of humanity: though not insensible of fame, the choice of open
or clandestine means was determined only by his present advantage. The
surname of _Guiscard_ was applied to this master of political wisdom,
which is too often confounded with the practice of dissimulation and
deceit; and Robert is praised by the Apulian poet for excelling the
cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero. Yet these arts were
disguised by an appearance of military frankness: in his highest
fortune, he was accessible and courteous to his fellow-soldiers; and
while he indulged the prejudices of his new subjects, he affected in
his dress and manners to maintain the ancient fashion of his country. He
grasped with a rapacious, that he might distribute with a liberal, hand:
his primitive indigence had taught the habits of frugality; the gain of
a merchant was not below his attention; and his prisoners were tortured
with slow and unfeeling cruelty, to force a discovery of their secret
treasure. According to the Greeks, he departed from Normandy with only
five followers on horseback and thirty on foot; yet even this allowance
appears too bountiful: the sixth son of Tancred of Hauteville passed
the Alps as a pilgrim; and his first military band was levied among
the adventurers of Italy. His brothers and countrymen had divided the
fertile lands of Apulia; but they guarded their shares with the jealousy
of avarice; the aspiring youth was driven forwards to the mountains of
Calabria, and in his first exploits against the Greeks and the natives,
it is not easy to discriminate the hero from the robber. To surprise
a castle or a convent, to ensnare a wealthy citizen, to plunder the
adjacent villages for necessary food, were the obscure labors which
formed and exercised the powers of his mind and body. The volunteers of
Normandy adhered to his standard; and, under his command, the peasants