n Conquest.

The Norman wherever he went brought little that was new; he was but a
Norseman--a Viking--with a French polish. He had no law of his own; he
had forgotten his own language, he had no literature. But he had the
old Norse energy; which not only drove him or his ancestors to settle
and conquer in lands so distant and diverse as Russia and Sicily,
Syria and North America, but enabled him to infuse new life into the
countries he conquered. Further, he still retained that adaptability
and power of assimilation which is characteristic of peoples in a
primitive stage of civilisation. With a wonderful instinct he fastened
on to the most characteristic and strongest features of the different
nations he was brought in contact with, developed them, gave them
permanent form, and often a world-wide importance.

The Norman conquerors were not always fortunate in their selection.
Ireland has little to thank them for. The most striking characteristic
which they found in Ireland was anarchy, and they brought it to a high
pitch of perfection. To quote Sir J. Davies's luminous discourse on
Ireland, in 1612: "Finding the Irish exactions to be more profitable
than the English rents and services, and loving the Irish tyranny
which was tied to no rules of law and honour better than a just and
lawful seigniory, they did reject the English law and government,
received the Irish laws and customs, took Irish surnames, as
MacWilliam, MacFeris, refused to come to Parliaments, and scorned to
obey those English knights who were sent to command and govern this
kingdom."

One extortionate Irish custom, called "coigny," they specially
affected, of which it was said "that though it were first invented in
hell, yet if it had been used and practised there as it hath been in
Ireland, it had long since destroyed the very kingdom of Beelzebub."

England and Wales were more fortunate. In England--while the old
English literature was crushed out by the heel of the oppressor, the
Norman instinct seized on the latent possibilities of the old English
political institutions, welded them into a great system, developed out
of them representative government, and created a united nation.

In Wales, the Normans paid little or no heed to Welsh laws and
political institutions; the law of the Marches was the feudal law of
France, the charters of liberties of the towns were imported from
Normandy; the Welsh Marches and border shires were the most thoroughly