THE STORY OF GAUL.
When the noisy and martial ardor, evoked by the boastful words of the
brenn of the tribe of Karnak had subsided, the traveler was seen sitting
in somber silence. He looked up and said:
"Very well, one more and last story, but let this one fall upon the
hearts of you all like burning brass, seeing that the wise words of this
household's matron have proved futile."
All looked with surprise at the stranger, who with somber and severe
mien began his story with these words:
"Once upon a time, as far back as two or three thousand years, there
lived a family here in Gaul. Whence did it come, to fill the vast
solitudes that to-day are so populous? It doubtlessly came from the
heart of Asia, that ancient cradle of the human races, now, however,
hidden in the night of antiquity. That family ever preserved a type
peculiar to itself, and found with no other people of the world. Loyal,
hospitable, generous, vivacious, gay, inclined to humor, loving to tell,
above all, to hear stories, intrepid in battle, daring death more
heroically than any other nation, because its religion taught it what
death was--such were that family's virtues. Giddy-headed, vagabond,
presumptuous, inconsistent, curious after novelty, and greedier yet of
seeing than of conquering unknown countries, as easily uniting as
falling apart, too proud and too fickle to adjust its opinions to those
of its neighbors, or if consenting thereto, incapable of long marching
in concert with them, although common and vital interests be at
stake--such are that family's vices. In point of its virtues and in
point of its vices, thus has it always been since the remotest
centuries; thus is it to-day; thus will it be to-morrow."
"Oh, oh! If I am not much mistaken," broke in the brenn smiling, "all of
us, Gauls though we may be, must have some cousin red with that family."
"Yes," said the stranger, "to its own misfortune--and to the joy of its
enemies--such has been and such is to-day the character of our own
people!"
"But at least admit, despite such a character, the dear Gallic people
has made its way well through the world. Few are the countries where the
inquisitive vagabond, as you call it, did not promenade his shoes, with
his nose in the air, his sword at his side--"
"You are right. Such is its spirit of adventure: always marching ahead
towards the unknown, rather than to stop and build. Thus, to-day,
one-third of Gaul is in the hands of the Romans, while some centuries
ago the Gallic race occupied through its headlong conquests, besides
Gaul, England, Ireland, upper Italy, the banks of the Danube, and the
countries along the sea border as far east and north as Denmark. Nor yet
was that enough. It looked as if our race was to spread itself over the
whole world. The Gauls of the Danube went into Macedonia, into Thrace,
into Thessaly. Others of them crossed the Bosphorus and the Hellespont,
reached Asia Minor, founded New Gaul, and thus became the arbiters of
all the kingdoms of the East."
"So far, meseems," rejoined the brenn, "we have nothing to regret over
our character that you so severely judge."
"And what is left of those senseless battles, undertaken by the pride of
the kings who then reigned over the Gauls?" the stranger proceeded
looking around. "Have not the distant conquests slipped from us? Have
not our implacable and ever more powerful enemies, the Romans, raised
all the peoples against us? Have we not been compelled to abandon those
useless possessions--Asia, Greece, Germany, Italy? That is the net
result of so much heroism and so much blood! That is the pass to which
we have been brought by the ambition of the kings, who usurped the power
of the druids!"
"To that I have nothing to say. You are right. There was no need of
promenading so far away only to soil the soles of our shoes with the
blood and the dust of foreign lands. But if I am not mistaken, it was at
about that time that the sons of the brave Ritha Gaur, who had a blouse
made for himself of the beards of the kings whom he shaved, seeing in
these the butchers of the people and not its shepherds, overthrew the
royalty."
"Yes, thanks to the gods, an epoch of real grandeur, of peace and of
prosperity succeeded the barren and bloody conquests of the kings.
Disembarassed of its useless possessions, reduced to rational
limits--its natural frontiers--the Rhine, the Alps, the Pyrenees and the
Ocean--the republic of the Gauls became the queen and envy of the world.
Its fertile soil, cultivated as we so well know how, produced everything
in abundance; the rivers were covered with merchant vessels; gold,
silver and copper mines increased its wealth every day; large cities
rose everywhere. The druids, spreading light in all directions, preached
union to the provinces, and set the example by convoking once a year in
the center of Gaul solemn assemblies, at which the general interests of
the country were considered. Each tribe, each canton, each town, elected
its own magistrates; each province was a republic which, according to
the druid plan, merged into the great Republic of the Gauls, and thus
constituted one powerful body through the union of all."
"The fathers of our grandfathers saw those happy days, friend guest."
"And their sons saw only ruins and misfortune! What has happened? The
accursed stock of dethroned kings joins the stock of their former and no
less accursed clients or seigneurs, and all of them, irritated at having
been deposed of their authority, hope for restoration from the public
misfortunes, and exploit with infamous perfidy our innate pride and lack
of discipline, which, under the powerful influence of the druids, were
being steadily corrected. The rivalries between province and province,
long allayed, re-awakened; jealousies and hatreds sprang up anew;
everywhere the structure of union began to crumble. For all this the
kings do not re-ascend the throne. Many of their descendants are even
judicially executed. But they have unchained internal feud. Civil war
flares up. The more powerful provinces seek to subjugate the weaker.
Thus, towards the end of the last century, the Marseillians, the
descendants of the exiled Greeks to whom Gaul generously assigned the
territory on which they built their town, sought to assume the role of
sovereignty. The province rose against the town; finding herself in
danger, Marseilles called the Romans to her aid. They came, not to
sustain Marseilles in her contemplated iniquity, but to themselves take
possession of the region, a purpose that they succeeded in, despite the
prodigies of valor with which they were opposed. Established in
Provence, the Romans built the town of Aix, and thus founded their first
colony on our soil--"
"Oh, a curse upon the Marseillians!" cried Joel. "It was thanks to those
sons of Greeks that the Romans gained a foothold in Gaul!"
"By what right can we curse the people of Marseilles? Must not also
those provinces be cursed which, since the decline of the republic, thus
allowed one of their sisters to be overpowered and subjugated? But
retribution was swift. Encouraged by the indifference of the Gauls, the
Romans took possession of Auvergne, and later of the Dauphine, and a
little later also of Languedoc and Vivarais despite the heroic defence
of their peoples, who, besides being divided among themselves, were left
to their own resources. Thus the Romans became masters of almost all
southern Gaul; they govern it by their proconsuls and reduce its people
to slavery. Do the other provinces at last take alarm at these ominous
invasions of Rome that push ever forward and threaten the very heart of
Gaul? No! No! Relying upon their own courage, they say as you, Joel, did
shortly ago: 'The South lies far away from the North, the East lies far
away from the West.' This notwithstanding, our race, which is heedless
and presumptuous enough to fail to prepare in advance, and when it is
still time, against foreign domination, always has the belated courage
of rebelling when the yoke is actually placed upon its neck. The
provinces that have been subjugated by the Romans, break out in resolute
rebellion; these are smothered in their own blood. Our disasters follow
swiftly upon one another. The Burgundians, incited thereto by the
descendants of the old kings, take up arms against the Frank-Compte and
invoke the aid of the Romans. The Frank-Compte, unable to make head
against such an alliance, requests reinforcements from the Germans of
the other side of the Rhine. Thus these barbarians of the North are
taught the road to Gaul, and after bloody battles with the very people
who invited them, remain masters of both Burgundy and Frank-Compte. Last
year, the Swiss, encouraged by the example of the Germans, make an
irruption into the Gallic provinces that had been conquered by the
Romans. Thereupon, Julius Caesar is appointed proconsul; he hastens from
Italy; owerthrows the Swiss in their mountains; drives the Germans out
of Burgundy and Frank-Compte; takes possession of these provinces, now
exhausted by their long struggles with the barbarians; and to the yoke
of these now succeeds that of the Romans. It was a change of masters.
And finally, at the beginning of this year a portion of Gaul shakes off
its lethargy and scents the dangers that threatens the still independent
provinces. Brave patriots, wanting neither Romans nor Germans for their
masters--Galba among the Gauls of Belgium, Boddig-nat among the Gauls of
Flanders--induce the people to rise in mass against Caesar. The Gauls of
Vermandois and those of Artois also rise in rebellion. Together they all
march against the Romans! Oh, it was a great and terrible battle, that
battle of the Sambre!" cried the unknown traveler with exaltation. "The
Gallic army awaited Caesar on the left bank of the river. Three times did
the Roman army cross, and three times was it compelled to recross it,
fighting up to their waists in the blood-reddened waters. The Roman is
overthrown, the oldest legions are shattered. Caesar alights from his
horse, swings his sword, rallies his last cohorts of veterans, that
already were yielding ground, and at their head charges upon our army.
Despite Caesar's courage the battle was lost to him, when we saw a fresh
body arrive to his aid."
"You say 'We saw'?" asked Joel. "Were you at that terrible battle?"
But the unknown visitor proceeded without answering: "Exhausted,
decimated by a seven hours' fight, we still held out against the fresh
troops ... we fought to the bitter end ... we fought unto death.... And
do you know," added the stranger with an expression of profound grief,
"do you know, you who remained peacefully at home, while your brothers
were dying for the liberty of Gaul, which is also yours,--do you know
how many survived of the sixty thousand men in the Gallic army--in that
battle of the Sambre?... _Not five hundred!_"
"Not five hundred!" cried Joel as if questioning the figures.
"I say so because I am one of the survivors," answered the stranger
proudly.
"Then the two fresh scars on your face--"
"I received them at the battle of the Sambre--"