Historical Tales, Vol. 6

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Tales, Vol. 6 (of 15), by Charles Morris

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Title: Historical Tales, Vol. 6 (of 15) The Romance of Reality. French.
Author: Charles Morris
Release Date: December 8, 2006 [EBook #20055]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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Edition d'élite
Historical Tales
The Romance of Reality
By
CHARLES MORRIS
Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the Dramatists," etc.
IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES
Volume VI
French
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY
PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON

CONTENTS
PAGE
THE HUNS AT ORLEANS 7
THE WOOING OF CLOTILDE 18
THE RIVAL QUEENS 29
ROLAND AT RONCESVALLES 40
CHARLEMAGNE AND THE AVARS 47
THE CROWNING OF CHARLEMAGNE 58
PETER THE HERMIT 69
THE COMMUNE OF LAON 81
HOW BIG FERRé FOUGHT FOR FRANCE 94
BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN 103
JOAN OF ARC, THE MAID OF ORLEANS 116
THE CAREER OF A KNIGHT-ERRANT 133
LOUIS THE POLITIC AND CHARLES THE BOLD 147
CHARLES THE BOLD AND THE SWISS 158
BAYARD, THE GOOD KNIGHT 166
EPISODES IN THE LIFE OF A TRAITOR 176
ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S DAY 188
KING HENRY OF NAVARRE 197
THE MURDER OF A KING 210
RICHELIEU AND THE CONSPIRATORS 218
THE PARLIAMENT OF PARIS 233
A MARTYR TO HIS PROFESSION 251
THE MAN WITH THE IRON MASK 257
VOLTAIRE'S LAST VISIT TO PARIS 264
THE DIAMOND NECKLACE 271
THE FALL OF THE BASTILLE 281
THE STORY OF THE SAINTE AMPOULE 287
THE FLIGHT OF THE KING 298
THE END OF THE TERROR 306
THE BURNING OF MOSCOW 316
NAPOLEON'S RETURN FROM ELBA 327
THE PRUSSIAN WAR AND THE PARIS COMMUNE 337

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
FRENCH.
PAGE
FRIEDLAND Frontispiece.
CITY OF ORLEANS 8
THE VOW OF CLOVIS 25
THE CORONATION OF CHARLEMAGNE 63
A MARRIAGE FEAST IN BRITTANY 82
COLUMN OF JULY, PLACE DE LA BASTILLE 100
JOAN OF ARC AT ORLEANS 125
A DUEL OF KNIGHTS 133
LOUIS XI 147
THE DUKE OF GUISE AT THE FRENCH COURT 189
EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF HENRY IV 196
CHAMBER OF MARY D' MEDICI 212
CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS 242
VOLTAIRE'S LAST VISIT TO PARIS 265
MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER CHILDREN 274
THE LAST VICTIMS OF THE REIGN OF TERROR 307
THE CITY OF MOSCOW 317
ARC DE TRIOMPHE AND CHAMPS ELYSéES, PARIS 327
NAPOLEON'S RETURN FROM ELBA 332
SCENE FROM THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 340

THE HUNS AT ORLEANS.
On the edge of a grand plain, almost in the centre of France, rises a rich and beautiful city, time-honored and famous, for it stood there before France had begun and while Rome still spread its wide wings over this whole region, and it has been the scene of some of the most notable events in French history. The Gauls, one of whose cities it was, named it Genabum. The Romans renamed it Aurelian, probably from their Emperor Aurelian. Time and the evolution of the French language wore this name down to Orleans, by which the city has for many centuries been known.
The broad Loire, the longest river of France, sweeps the foot of the sloping plain on which the city stands, and bears its commerce to the sea. Near by grows a magnificent forest, one of the largest in France, covering no less than ninety-four thousand acres. Within the city appears the lofty spires of a magnificent cathedral, while numerous towers rise from a maze of buildings, giving the place, from a distance, a highly attractive aspect. It is still surrounded by its medi?val walls, outside of which extend prosperous suburbs, while far and wide beyond stretches the fertile plain.
Such is the Orleans of to-day. In the past it was the scene of two striking and romantic events, one of them associated with the name of Joan of Arc, the most interesting figure in French history; the other, which we have now to tell, concerned with the terrible Attila and his horde of devastating Huns, who had swept over Europe and threatened to annihilate civilization. Orleans was the turning-point in the career of victory of this all-conquering barbarian. From its walls he was driven backward to defeat.
Out from the endless wilds of Scythia had poured a vast swarm of nomad horsemen, ill-favored, fierce, ruthless, the scions of the desert and seemingly sworn to make a desert of Europe. They were led by Attila, the "Scourge of God," as he called himself, in the tracks of whose horse's hoofs the grass could never grow again, as he proudly boasted.
Writers of the time picture to us this savage chieftain as a deformed monster, short, ill-formed, with a large head, swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes, flat nose, a few hairs in place of a beard, and with a habit of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if to inspire terror. He had broad shoulders, a square, strong form, and was as powerful in body as he was ready and