ut in large and stately edifices, rich armour, gallant
horses, choice falcons, well ordered tournaments, banquets delicate
rather than abundant, and wines remarkable rather for their exquisite
flavour than for their intoxicating power. That chivalrous spirit, which
has exercised so powerful an influence on the politics, morals, and
manners of all the European nations, was found in the highest exaltation
among the Norman nobles. Those nobles were distinguished by their
graceful bearing and insinuating address. They were distinguished also
by their skill in negotiation, and by a natural eloquence which they
assiduously cultivated. It was the boast of one of their historians that
the Norman gentlemen were orators from the cradle. But their chief
fame was derived from their military exploits. Every country, from
the Atlantic Ocean to the Dead Sea, witnessed the prodigies of their
discipline and valour. One Norman knight, at the head of a handful of
warriors, scattered the Celts of Connaught. Another founded the monarchy
of the Two Sicilies, and saw the emperors both of the East and of the
West fly before his arms. A third, the Ulysses of the first crusade, was
invested by his fellow soldiers with the sovereignty of Antioch; and
a fourth, the Tancred whose name lives in the great poem of Tasso, was
celebrated through Christendom as the bravest and most generous of the
deliverers of the Holy Sepulchre.

The vicinity of so remarkable a people early began to produce an effect
on the public mind of England. Before the Conquest, English princes
received their education in Normandy. English sees and English estates
were bestowed on Normans. The French of Normandy was familiarly spoken
in the palace of Westminster. The court of Rouen seems to have been
to the court of Edward the Confessor what the court of Versailles long
afterwards was to the court of Charles the Second.

The battle of Hastings, and the events which followed it, not only
placed a Duke of Normandy on the English throne, but gave up the whole
population of England to the tyranny of the Norman race. The subjugation
of a nation by a nation has seldom, even in Asia, been more complete.
The country was portioned out among the captains of the invaders.
Strong military institutions, closely connected with the institution of
property, enabled the foreign conquerors to oppress the children of the
soil. A cruel penal code, cruelly enforced, guarded the privileges,
and even