Germanic element then had furnished to modern civilization in its nascent state, on the one hand, the remembrance of national assemblies, and of the right of free men to govern themselves in common; on the other hand, certain ideas, certain sentiments of right and liberty implanted in the bosom of an entirely aristocratic organization.

Under the moral point of view, although eminent writers have strongly insisted upon what modern Europe holds from the Germans, their assertions seem to me vague and too general; they make no distinction of epoch or country; and I think that, in western Europe, especially in France, the energetic sentiment of individual independence is the most important, I would willingly say the only great moral legacy which ancient Germany has transmitted to us.

There was, in the tenth century, a national German literature, consisting of songs and popular traditions, which hold a high place in the literary history of Germany, and which have exerted a great influence on its manners. But the part played by these traditions, and by all primitive German literature, in the intellectual development of France, has been very limited and fugitive; this is the reason why I have not entered upon it with you, though this literature is positively full of originality and interest.

Such was the state of the three great elements of modern civilization in the tenth century; such are the changes, social and moral, which Roman antiquity, Christianity, and barbarism have experienced on our soil.

From thence flow, if I mistake not, two general facts, two great results, which it is necessary to exhibit.

The work of M. de Savigny on the History of Roman Law, after the fall of the Empire, has changed the face of the science; he has proved that the Roman law had not perished; that, notwithstanding great modifications, without doubt, it was transmitted from the fifth to the fifteenth century, and had always continued to form a considerable part of the legislation of the west.

If I am not mistaken, the facts which I have laid before your view, in this course, have generalized this result. It follows, I think, evidently, that not only in municipal institutions and civil laws, as M. de Savigny has proved, but in political order and philosophy, in literature and all

departments, in a word, of social and intellectual life, Roman civilization was transmitted far beyond the date of the Empire; that we may everywhere discern a trace of it; that no abyss separates the Roman from the modern world; that the thread is nowhere broken; that we may recognise everywhere the transition of Roman society into our own; in a word, that the part played by ancients in modern civilization is greater and more continuous than is commonly thought. A second result equally arises out of our labours, and characterizes the period which is the object of them. During all this period, from the fifth to the tenth century, we have nowhere been able to pause; we have been unable to find, either in social or intellectual order, any system, any fact, which became fixed, which took a firm, general, and regular hold on society or mind. The general fact with which we have been struck is a continual and universal fluctuation, a constant state of uncertainty and of transformation. It was, then, from the fifth to the tenth century, that the work of fermentation and amalgamation of the three elements of modern civilization, namely, the Roman element, the Christian element, and the German element, was in operation; and it was only at the end of the tenth century that the ferment ceased, and the amalgamation became nearly accomplished, and that the development of the new order and truly modern society commenced.

The history which we have just concluded, then, is the history of its very conception and creation. All things rise out of the chaos, modern society among the rest. That which we have studied now is the chaos, the cradle of France: what we shall have to study hereafter is France itself. Dating only from the end of the tenth century, the social being which bears that name, if I may thus speak, has been formed and exists; we might attend it in its proper and exterior development. This development will merit, for the first time, the name of French civilization. Until now, we have spoken of Gaulish-Roman, Frankish, Gallo-Roman, and Gallo-Frankish civilization; we have been obliged to combine foreign names in order to characterize, with any justice, a society without unity and certainty. When we again enter upon our labours, it will be to speak of French civilization; we shall date therefrom; the question will no longer be concerning Gauls, Franks, and Romans, but of Frenchmen, of ourselves.

ILLUSTRATIONS AND HISTORICAL TABLES.

ON authorising the publication of these lectures, I promised to add to them a number of tables and documents intended to prove or to explain the ideas which I might have occasion to express. I have inserted some of these tables in the lectures themselves. There are some others for which I could not find a place there, and which seem to me no less necessary. I give them here. It would have been both easy and useful to multiply illustrations of this kind; but I have been obliged to limit myself. The object of those which I have selected is both to show in their development facts which I have been merely able to point out, and to place before the reader those events, the knowledge of which I took for granted. They are seven in number:I. Table of the organization of the court, and of the central govern. ment of the Roman empire at the commencement of the fifth cen tury that is to say, at the epoch which I took as the starting point of the course.

II. Table of the hierarchy of ranks and titles in Roman society at the same epoch.

III. Narrative of the embassy sent in 449 by Theodosius the Younger, emperor of the west, to Attila, established on the banks of the Danube.

IV. Chronological table of the principal events of the political history of Gaul, from the fifth to the tenth century.

V. Chronological table of the principal events of the ecclesiastical his tory of Gaul, from the fifth to the tenth century.

VI. Chronological table of the principal events of the literary history of Gaul, from the fifth to the tenth century.

VII. Table of the councils and canonical legislation of Gaul, from the fifth to the tenth century.

Unless I am much deceived, there is no occasion for me to insist upon the utility of these documents-it will speak for itself; and for persons who weigh and study them attentively, the history of our civilization, s0 obscure and so vague in its cradle, will appear, I think, under more clear and precise forms. This is my aim and hope in publishing them.

I.

Table of the Organization of the Court and of the Central Government of the Roman Empire, at the commencement of the Fifth Century.

It was under the reigns of Diocletian and of Constantine that the court and the central government of the Roman emperors gained that systematic and definitive organization, whose image the notitia imperii Romani has preserved to us. It was the same both in the empire of the east and in that of the west, with the exception of some unimportant differences occasioned by that of localities. For the basis of this table I have adopted the empire of the east, the most complete and the best known of the two, taking care to point out here and there facts which distinguish the empire of the west.

IMPERIAL COURT.

I. Præpositus sacri cubiculi, (grand chamberlain.)

He had under his orders a large number of officers, divided into six classes, scholæ, and all named palatini; their duty in the palace was called in palatio militare. The principal were:

1.-Primicerius sacri cubiculi (first chamberlain.)-He was at the head of all those who served the emperor in his apartments, and accompanied him everywhere for this purpose; they were named cubicularii (chamberlains or valets de chambre); they were divided into parties of ten men, at the head of each of which was a decanus.

2.-Comes castrensis (count of the palace.)-The chief of those who served the emperor at table, and took care of the interior of the palace this was a kind of steward, or maître-d'hotel. He had under his orders :

(1.) Primicerius mensorum, the chief of those who, when the emperor travelled, went before to get everything prepared upon his road, and in the places where he was to stop.

(2.) Primicerius cellariorum, chief of all those employed in the kitchens and offices.

(3.) Primicerius pædagogiorum, the chief of the young pages, brought up for service in the interior of the palace.

(4.) Primicerius lampadariorum, the chief of those who overlooked the lighting of the palace. There was in this class a number of subdivisions and subaltern officers.

3.-Comes sacræ vestis (count of the sacred wardrobe.)-He was charged with the imperial wardrobe, and commanded many officers.

4.-Chartularii cubiculi (secretaries of the chamber.)-They were generally three in number, and were the private secretaries of the emperor; and although occupied with public affairs, they were under the direction of the præpositus sacri cubiculi, because their service was personal.

5-Decurionus III. silentiariorum.-The silentiarii were charged with preventing all noise in the palace: the thirty principal were subdivided intɔ three parties of ten, each commanded by a decurion.

6.-Comes domorum per Cappadociam.-This was the steward of the property which the emperor of the east possessed in Cappadocia: these patrimonial estates were very considerable; the comes domorum directed their administration and collected the revenues: he held office as a magistrate.

II. Comites domesticorum equitum peditumque (counts of the

cavalry and infantry of the palace.)

These were the two commanders of the select bands of cavalry and infantry who guarded the person of the emperor. These bands, who were called protectores domestici, were drawn from the seven schools of Armenian soldiers, called palatini, and destined for the military service of the palace. The seven schools formed a body of 3500 men, from among whom were taken the protectores domestici, who enjoyed great privileges. The counts of the domestic infantry and cavalry also had under their orders deputati, charged with executing their commands in the provinces.

The empress also had her court, organised in nearly the same manner as that of the emperor.

CENTRAL GOVERNMENT.

I.—Magister officiorum (master of the offices.)

This was a sort of universal minister, whose functions were very exten sive; he administered justice to almost all the officers of the palace (palatini), received the appeals of private citizens, presented senators to the princes, &c. His jurisdiction also extended over the officers belonging to other departments, such as the mensores, the lampadarii, and those who were in the department of the præpositus sacri cubiculi. He had under his juris

diction:

1. The seven schools of the milites palatini. (1.) Schola scutariorum prima; (2.) Schola scutariorum secunda; (3) Gentilium seniorum; (4.) Scutariorum sagittairorum; (5.) Armaturarum juniorum; (7.) Gentilium juniorum.

2. The school of the agentes in rebus: these were the messengers and spies of the princes in the provinces: before Constantine they were called frumentarii.

3.-The mensores and the lampadarii, of whom we have already spoken; also, the admissionales, or the gentlemen ushers of the palace, and the invi tatores, who were charged with transmitting invitations.

4.-Four scrinia or officers, where the affairs of the prince with his sub jects were immediately managed.

(1.) Scrinium memoriæ. Here were kept registers of employments and grades; hence, for the most part, issued the nominations.

(2.) Scrinium epistolarum: here were received the deputations and requests from cities, and hence were dispatched the answers of the prince.

(3.) Scrinium libellorum: hither were addressed the requests and appeals of subjects.

(4.) Scrinium dispositionum: the functions of this last office resembled those of the two preceding ones; it is omitted in the notitia, but the laws make mention of it.

Each of these offices had its own chief, magister scrini memoriæ,