620 



FRANCE. 



of vvliich the arcades successively diminish in space, and increase in number. The first range 

 of arches has 6 openings, S3 toises in length, and 10 toises and 2 feet high ; the second range 

 has 11 arches of the same height, but 133 toises, 2 feet in length ; and the third range has 35 

 arches, on a much smaller scale, and this was the canal or aqueduct. There are many other 

 Roman remains in different parts of France, but these near Nimes are by far the most inter- 

 esting. Rousseau thus describes his own sensations on beholding the Pont du Gard. " I 

 came," says he, " prepared to behold a monument worthy of the hands which had reared it. 

 For the first time in my life, the reality surpassed my expectations, and it belonged only to 

 the Romans to produce this effect. The aspect of this simple and noble work struck me the 

 more, as it is in the midst of the desert, in which silence and solitude render the object more 

 striking, and admiration more lively. One asks himself, what force can have transported these 

 enormous stones so far from any quarry, and brought together the strength of arm of thousands 

 of men, where there is not one man now I went over tile three stories of this superb 

 edifice with a sentiment of respect which made me almost fear to tread it ; the echoes of my 

 footsteps beneath, its immense vaults seemed as if I heard the strong voice of those masters of 

 the world, who had built it." 



28. History. France was originally inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic tribe. Julius Cesar 



subdued them, and the country 

 became a Roman province The 

 Franks, a people of Germany, 

 invaded Gaul in the 5th centu- 

 ry and Clovis, their king, may be 

 considered as properly the first 

 sovereign of France.* His de- 

 scendants are called Merovingi- 

 ans, from Merovius, one of the an- 

 cient sovereigns. This race of 

 kings became extinct in 754 ; 

 when Pepin the Short, maire of 

 the Palace, became king. This 

 second race of sovereigns are call- 

 ed Carlovingians, from Charles the 

 Great, or Charlemagne, son and 

 successor of Pepin, who became 

 not only sole monarch of France, 

 but Emperor of the West, and was 

 crowned by the Pope at Rome. 

 The Carlovingian dynasty ended, 

 in 987, by the accession of Hugh 

 Capet, Duke of France, to the 

 throne. The houses of Valois, 

 Bourbon, and Orleans, which 

 have subsequently reigned in 

 France, are different branches 

 of the Capetian stock. 



The Franks were a free peo- 

 ple ; and the feudal system was 

 established under Hugh Capet. 

 The early wars with the English 

 generally resulted to the disad- 

 vantage of the French ; and Hen- 

 ry the Fifth of England, so far 

 subjugated the country as to win 

 ■- for his successors the title of 

 king of France. In the beginning 

 of the !6lh century, however, 



Pepin. 



Bertha, wife of Pepin. 



Charlemagne. 



Louis, the name borne by so many of the French sovereigns, is a corruption of Clovis. 



