cleanly. The costume of the female peasantry may be also styled simple, but it is striking and pleasing: their dresses and aprons are usually of scarlet or blue; when the dress is of the first, the apron is always of the last mentioned color. Their head-dresses are very peculiar in the Pays de Caux they are of great height; and those worn on Sundays and fete days, being composed of expensive lace and decorated in front with silver, are preserved with great care, and frequently transmitted down through two or three generations. Their ears are adorned with very long gold ear-rings. The nicety of their linen is remarkable; clean linen, indeed, is a luxury pretty freely indulged in by all classes throughout France, and in large towns frequent use is made of the bath. The females of the middle and lower classes at Dieppe wear very high caps, the lappets of which conceal their hair; black, blue, or scarlet corsets, and very full petticoats of the latter color; black stockings and white aprons. On fête-days their necks are usually adorned with gold or silver crosses. But the most remarkable costume is that of the inhabitants of the suburb Polet, in Dieppe, who have preserved the costume of the sixteenth century. Over their trowsers they wear short wide petticoats; their waistcoats are of woollen, confined in front with ribands; a surtout, longer than the petticoat, completes their dress, the color of which is always red or blue, the seams being faced with white silk about an inch in width; they always wear caps of colored cloth or velvet. The Normans are industrious, economical, and temperate; lively, ingenious, courteous, and brave: they are also keen, far from credulous, and of sound judgment. The nobility and gentry live well, and usually much within their income; not being infected with the contemptible ambition of vying with each other in splendor and expense, after the manner of the corresponding classes in England: fortunately for France, this happy disposition is not confined to Normandy. But, notwithstanding their economical habits, the French have always been remarkable for their hospitality. The merchants of Havre and Rouen live somewhat more expensively; one of the usual, and perhaps unavoidable, consequences of successful commerce. The lower classes are content with very plain fare, voluntarily submitting to what would be deemed in this country, by people of their rank of life, severe privations: they seldom drink any thing but cider, and that of very indifferent quality. The peasantry live for the most part in villages; detached cottages are indeed rarely seen. The Normans in all ages have been devoted to literature, in which they have greatly excelled. As defenders of their country, they have also been preeminent; and to Normandy, especially the town of Dieppe, the French marine is indebted for its most valuable recruits. The famous admiral Abraham du Quesne, the successful rival of de Ruyter, was a native of that town; and the first expeditions to Florida were undertaken by its sailors, by whom also (as it has been contended, and with great appearance of truth) Canada was first discovered: it is at least certain that they established a colony in that country for commercial purposes; they were also the first Europeans who made a settlement on the coast of Senegal, as early as the fourteenth century. The lower classes, as in all other parts of France, are very free in their manners towards their superiors, and impatient of contradiction and control; but they are honest, faithful, and sober. In the towns the inhabitants have not much peculiarity in their accent; but the peasantry have a singular drawl, and a singing tone of speech. The Normans have always been accused, and probably not without reason, of being extremely litigious: it is very certain that, before the laws were revised and simplified, law-suits were more frequent; but, since they have been digested into the present admirable code, the necessity for them has been almost removed, and a French citizen cannot now be ruined either by costs or vexatious delays. In the worst of times, however, a lawyer, comparatively speaking, was a rare sight in France: this happy island appears to be the elysium of the legal tribe, and probably contains more of them than the whole continent of Europe. The Scandinavian tribes, on their first settlement here, were idolaters. Shortly after this event duke Rollo was persuaded to embrace Christianity, and entered the bosom of the Romish church: since that period the Catholic religion has principally prevailed in Normandy; but the Protestants of the Calvinistic church are very numerous, and highly and deservedly respected. Many of them derive their descent from noble and ancient houses, which were ruined during the persecutions of Louis XIV.; for, in some few instances, their members were not driven into exile. But France, which then, and by subsequent emigrations, lost, in consequence of the folly and bigotry of her sovereign, 500,000 virtuous and valuable citizens, who were forced to take refuge in Holland, Germany, and England, now sets the world a brilliant example of liberality. Great exertions have, it is true, been made since the re-establishment of the house of Bourbon, to restore the ancient order of things, or, in other words, to cause the nation to retrograde to the state of slavery under which it groaned during the reign of Louis XIV.; to extinguish the light and intelligence so universally diffused, and to replace them by darkness and ignorance. But the ages of priestcraft and tyranny are rapidly rolling by; and the endeavours that are making, and doubtless will yet be made, to arrest their passage, are likely to prove as futile as the efforts of the magician of former ages to arrest the passing storm. It is however but justice to the Catholic clergy to state that some among them are far from viewing in a favorable light the injudicious measures adopted in their behalf; they are fully impressed with a sense of the danger to which they are thus exposed, and as fully convinced of the propriety of their exclusion from all secular power and influence. Many of them are men of unquestionable learning, virtue, and integrity; and when it is considered with what indefatigable zeal most of them perform duties, infinitely more laborious than those required from the clergy of the established church of England, and that too for one tenth, and sometimes one-twentieth, part of the great, which was, perhaps, the principal cause stipend of the latter, it is impossible not to feel why he never derived any considerable advanconvinced that they must have entered on their tage from his productions. But he gained an office from conscientious motives. Indeed, what- immortal name. He was the author of nine ever the Catholic church may once have been, it comedies and twenty-two tragedies; but his is certainly no longer available in France as a comic humor was inferior to his tragic powers. means of pensioning off on the public the idle He died in 1684, in his seventy-ninth year. His and dissolute youth of the higher and middle portrait is painted on the curtain of the theatre classes. Religion no longer forms part and par- of his native town, on which is also inscribed cel of the political machine in France; the law P. Corneille, natif de Rouen, and on the ceiling does not recognise any of the acts of the clergy, is painted his apotheosis. His bust adorns the nor will the judicial authorities receive in evi- entrance of the house in which he was born in dence any document signed by them: and if the Rue da la Pie; an inscription to his honor their acts happen to be of an illegal nature they has also been placed there, and a tablet erected are now tried with as little ceremony as their lay to his memory. The same tribute of respect has brethren. At the revolution the registers been paid to the memory of his nephew, author throughout France were taken out of the hands of the Plurality of Worlds, who was born in the of the clergy, and transferred to the civil magis- Rue des bons Enfans. See CORNEILLE (Thomas) trate; they are now deposited at the municipali- The illustrious Fontenelle was also born at ties; and the form in which they are drawn out Rouen, and the learned Samuel Bochart, author is admirable, and well worthy of imitation, of Sacred Geography, and of the Hierozoicon; especially in England, where they are said to be Basnage, who wrote the History of the Bible; kept much worse than in any other country. Sanadon, the translator of Horace; Pradon, Every French citizen is required, within three satirised by Boileau; du Moustier, author of the days of the event, to give notice of the birth of a Neustria Pia; and father Daniel, the famous hischild to the mayor of the district in which it has torian; Jouvenet, one of the most celebrated taken place; marriage must be contracted before painters of the French school, and others of great the same magistrate, the parties repairing to the reputation; Deshays, Houël, Leger, Le Monnier, municipality, where the marriage is enregistered: Le Tellier, Restout, Saquespée, &c. It was beif a priest should presume to perform that cere- sides the birth place of Peter Bardin, Noël Alexmony before the civil contract has been made, andre, Nicholas Le Tourneux, Nicholas Lemery, which is all that the law requires, he would be &c. &c. Caën has been hardly less fertile: punished by a long imprisonment and a heavy among its illustrious sons may be enumerated fine. Of the ceremonies of baptism, the sacra- Francis Malherbe, Tanneguile Le Fevre, James ment of marriage, or the interment, the law takes Dalechamps, a celebrated physician, author of no notice, wisely permitting the citizens who live the Historia Plantarum; the laborious lexicograunder its influence to have them performed in pher Constantin; Stephen Le Moine; John and the manner most agreeable to their consciences. Clement Marot, the poets; John Renaud de How far an equal degree of regard should be shown Segrais; the celebrated Peter Varignon; the to the feelings of dissenters in protestant England, famous Daniel Huet, bishop of Avranches; one of our poets would seem to decide:father Fournier, &c. I. F. Sarrasin and G. A. de la Roque came from its immediate neighbourhood. Havre-de-Grace, although its first foundations were laid little more than three centuries ago, has produced a host of learned men: J.A. P. Amelot, author of Louis IX., &c.; P. N. Beauvalit, a famous sculptor; James Henry Bernardin de St. Pierre, his principal works are Etudes de la Nature, Paul et Virginie, La Chaumiere Indienne, a fine and masterly satire on the clergy; he also wrote many other works of great merit; J. P. A. Blanche, author of Latin poems; Bonvoisin, a famous portrait-painter; G. T. Clémence, author of several theological works; Nicholas Cordier, who died in 1728, he wrote some works on nautical affairs; J. B. R. R. d'Apres, a celebrated geographer and hydrographer; his talents and acquisitions were extraordinary: J. F. C. Delavigne, a celebrated dramatic writer, still living; Du Boccage de Bleville, a merchant and very learned man; the abbé Diequemare, an excellent naturalist and good painter; G. Le Hautoir, a painter and engraver, famous for his perspectives; L'Aignot, Larry, Le Sueur, J. B. Levée, author of the biography of the celebrated men of Havre, of a translation of the works of Cicero, &c. &c.; G. I. L. de Masseille, the baron Rouilh, maréchal de Camp, Michel D. B. Ivon, a distinguished True freedom is where no restraint is known, That Scripture, justice, and good sense disown, Where only vice and injury are tied, And all from shore to shore is free beside. Cowper. Normandy has given birth to so many illustrious men that the natives of that country might be pardoned if they carried their national pride to a great length: the Normans, however, with more just ground for pride than most other nations, are usually unpresuming, liberal in their opinions of others, and ready to do ample justice to the merits of foreigners. Rouen had the honor of giving birth to Peter Corneille, the father of the French drama, called by his countrymen the Shakspeare of France. He was born June 6th, 1606; his father had been ennobled for his services by Louis XIII. In 1637 came forth the Cid, a tragedy, which gained him a vast reputation. This he supported by many other admirable performances, which, as Bayle observes, carried the French theatre to the highest pitch of glory, and assuredly much higher than the ancient one at Athens.' He was of a melancholy cast, and spoke little in company, even upon subjects which he perfectly understood; was of exemplary conduct, and by no means dexterous in making his court to the soldier, who fought in all the campaigns from 1793 to 1806; he was promoted to the rank of adjutant-major, and was always addressed by the flattering title of the brave Ivon. He was killed at the bridge of Kolozombin, being the first who attempted to force a passage. Dieppe gave birth to Richard Simon, Bruzen de la Martiniere, Pecquet, Dom. Le Nourry, the fathers Crasset and Gouye, &c. Poussin, the great master of the French school, was born at Les Andelys in 1594, of poor, but noble parents. Notwithstanding his state of destitution his talents and perseverance at length bore down all obstacles. The learned Adrien Turnèbe was born at the same place. Simon Vigor was born at Evreux; the abbé de Valmont and William Dagoumer at Pont-Audemer; the celebrated sculptors the Anguier, at Eu. The origin of the ancient Scandinavians, or Normans, has never been very satisfactorily ascertained. Their early history, indeed, is involved in so much obscurity, and is so mixed with fable and fiction, that it is impossible to rely with any degree of confidence on the narratives extant. Disposed, however, to consider these relations as the offspring of ignorance and superstition, rather than of wilful misrepresentation, we must endeavour to separate that which may be true from that which is evidently false; we must examine and attentively consider probabilities, while we reject without hesitation miracles and impossibilities. The Scandinavians appear to have been one of the most important of the Gothic tribe (the Getæ of the ancients) who, at a period antecedent to all authentic history, emigrated from Asia, and settled in the north of Europe. It is probable that they were originally of the same race as the Celts; but that people differed so materially from the Goths that great doubts have been entertained on this head, and the assertion has been hazarded that they never could have been derived from one common source. It has been asserted by some authors, who have maintained their opinion with great force of reasoning, that this quarter of the globe was originally peopled by two distinct races of men, the Celts and the Sarmatians; the latter being the ancestors of all the Sclavonian tribes, viz. the Russians, Poles, Bulgarians, Wallachians, Bohemians, Carinthians, &c., who to this day continue distinct and separate from the nations of Celtic race; different in their characters, language, manners, institutions, and frequently in religion: while from the former are descended all the other European nations. It has been contended by others that the Celtic and Gothic, or Teutonic nations, have been thus most improperly confounded; as the latter people could neither have been derived from, nor did they constitute part of the former, but were, ab initio, a perfectly distinct nation. Many circumstances, it must be confessed, conspire to lead us to this conclusion; nothing could be more opposite than their manners and customs; their laws also were different, and a freedom pervaded the institutions of the Goths that was unknown to the Celts; neither did their religions bear any resemblance. The Druids, so reverenced among the nations of Celtic race, were VOL. XV. unknown to the Goths, who respected only their scalds; the former worshipped, or at least greatly reverenced, the oak; the latter the ash; the former highly prized the mistletoe; the latter regarded it as a noxious weed. To the Celtic nations letters were unknown; the Gothic tribes were in possession of them, and not only reverenced the inventors, but the letters themselves, although it is probable that this acquisition was confined to their scalds or bards; but, be this as it may, Runic inscriptions in the north of Europe are not by any means uncommon. A consideration of still greater importance is the language of these two nations, than which nothing could well be more unlike. That they differed very essentially in this point, as well as in those already mentioned, we have the express testimony of Cæsar and Tacitus. The accuracy of the former few will doubt; he had resided a long time in Gaul, had traversed it from one extremity to the other, and had observed its inhabitants with the closest attention. He informs us that the Celts or Gauls differed in language, customs, and laws, both from the Belgæ, who were of Gothic origin, and from the Aquitani, who it is possible were originally an Iberian people :-Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres: quarum unam incolunt Belgæ, aliam Aquitani, tertiam qui ipsorum linguâ Celta, nostrâ Galli appellantur. Hi omnes linguâ, institutis, legibus, inter se differunt.' From Tacitus we learn that the Celts or Gauls differed in their persons from most of their neighbours; that they strongly resembled the Britons, as the Germans resembled the Caledonians, and the Silures the Spaniards :- Habitus corporum varii :—— rutilaCaledoniam habitantium coma,magni artus, Germanicam orginem adseverant. Silurum colorati vultus, et torti plerumque crines, et posita contra Hispania, Iberos veteres trajecisse, easque sedes occupâsse fidem faciunt: proximi Gallis, et similes sunt.' Whether Spain was originally peopled by the Celts is much to be doubted, and cannot now be ascertained; but it is at least certain that it was partially colonised by them. That they differed from the Germans in most important points we may easily satisfy ourselves by a further reference to Cæsar. It was not only in remote ages that the Celtic and Gothic tongues differed, the same difference continues to exist in the languages spoken by the descendants of those two nations at this very day; for while the languages of the Welsh and the Britons, notwithstanding that they have been disunited above twelve centuries, has been so little altered that the natives of those countries can, without much difficulty, understand each other, the Welsh and the English, although living in the same island, under the same laws, and become as it were the same people, still continue to speak languages perfectly dissimilar. On the other hand, although the English have been separated above thirteen centuries from the Saxons (their ancestors), their language is radically the same, and bears a close affinity to that of the Belgians, the Swiss, the Danes, and the Swedes. Proof of this sort is irrefragable, and cannot fail, we submit, to convince us that from the Celts were derived the original inhabitants of 3 A Gaul and Britain, and the present inhabitants of Britanny, Wales, Cornwall, parts of Ireland, the Highlands of Scotland, and perhaps of Biscay in Spain; while from the Goths were derived the ancient Germans and Scandinavians, and the present inhabitants of Germany, England, Belgium, Helvetia, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. It is true, however, that on submitting the Celtic and Gothic languages to a comparison with the Hebrew, so many words will be discovered in both, which must have been derived from that language (unless they were received into those three tongues from some other ancient language), that one is almost led to infer that the Celts and the Goths must have proceeded originally, though at a period antecedent to the existence of any historical records, from one common stock. Some powerful causes must, however, have existed for the extraordinary change which, during a long course of ages, took place, not only in the language, but in the persons of those Celtic tribes, known to the ancients under the general name of Goths, if these latter really were of Celtic race. The different regions which they peopled and inhabited might have been a leading, though by no means a sufficient cause, for the strong contrast which they presented, and which the descendants from those two stocks still continue to present; but as no satisfactory evidence on this subject is now likely to be obtained, and their history being of more importance than their origin, a brief sketch of the Scandinavians, the most northern of the Gothic nations, is here submitted. The Ases, a Scythian people, who appear to have inhabited the country situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian, had for their chief Sigge, who assumed the name of Odin or Woden, the supreme deity of the Scythians; possibly, in order to seduce his followers into the belief that he was himself a divinity, or because he filled the office of chief priest. Having assembled around his standard the flower of his own and of the adjoining nations, he marched to the west, and entered Europe, subduing, as we are informed, the countries through which he passed, and erecting them into kingdoms for his sons. He then turned his thoughts to the north, and, directing his thoughts towards Scandinavia, entered the Cimbric-Chersonesus, which now comprises Holstein, Sleswig, and Jutland. That region being but thinly peopled, its inhabitants were incapable of making any effectual resistance, and passing thence into Funen, of which he as easily took possession, he founded, it is said, the city of Odensee. Having overrun the remainder of the Danish provinces, and penetrated into Sweden, which as speedily submitted, he ruled with unlimited authority, introducing the laws and customs of Scythia. But, notwithstanding their extent, his conquests do not appear to have been commensurate with his desires; and, having turned his arms against Norway, his usual success attended him. Odin, full of glory and renown, withdrew to Sweden, and, perceiving symptoms of his approaching dissolution, scorned to wait until that life, which had been so constantly exposed to danger, should be terminated by slow and tedious disease. He assembled his warlike adherents around him, and inflicted on his person several wounds with his sword and lance, and, just before he expired, informed them that he was about to retire to Scythia, to enter into the society of the gods. His body was carried to Sigtuna, and, in conformity with a custom of which he was the author, it was burnt with much ceremony. It has been imagined by some that the rancorous hatred which this extraordinary man bore to the Romans was the principal incentive to all his actions. Forced by those lordly republicans to abandon his country, his hatred knew no bounds; for the Scythians conceived! themselves imperatively called on to avenge ali affronts offered to their name and nation. This hatred he communicated to all the people of the north, by whom it was cherished from generation to generation, till, falling in concert on that once powerful empire, after repeated attacks they finally accomplished its overthrow. To the Roman historians we are indebted for our information respecting the first attack made upon the republic by the northern nations in the year of Rome 645, and 108th before the Christian era. Her liberties were already endangered by internal disputes and factious intrigues, when information was suddenly received of the approach of a vast body of barbarians (as the Romans were accustomed to term all without the pale of their empire) amounting to above 300,000 men. This mighty army consisted principally of the Cimbri, or inhabitants of the Cimbric-Chersonesus, the most southerly of the Scandinavian tribes, who had allied themselves with the Teutones, the Tigurians, and the Ambrones. The Gauls had been unable to arrest their progress, and, as it was supposed that this host was preparing to pass into Italy, dismay was imprinted on every countenance. This was during the consulship of Cæcilius Metellus and Papirius Carbo, the latter of whom was instantly despatched with a powerful army to occupy the passes of the Alps; but the Cimbri took a different direction, and halted on the banks of the Danube. The Romans, somewhat recovered from their just alarm, seemed now resolved to carry matters, as usual, with a high hand, and sent to desire them not in any way to molest the Norics, their allies. To this message the Cimbri sent a respectful answer, professing their readiness to turn their course elsewhere, and their desire to avoid incurring the displeasure of the republic. The consul, satisfied with this appearance of moderation, offered no opposition to their departure, and they retired into Dalmatia, whither the Romans followed them. Watching a favorable opportunity, Carbo attacked them by night; but the Cimbri, indignant at this treacherous act, seized their arms, beat back the Romans, and put them to flight. This repulse was attended with disastrous consequences; for all the nations that were desirous of throwing off the Roman yoke immediately ranged themselves under the banners of the Cimbri. Thus reinforced, they again burst into Gaul, and endeavoured to pass into Spain, but were repulsed by the Celtiberians, a people of Celtic race who had settled near the Iberus, and added the name of the river to that of their nation. Frustrated in this attempt, they despatcher. an ambassador to the Romans to propose terms of peace, which having been rejected, they attacked the army under the command of M. Junius Silanus with the greatest fury, and entirely destroyed it. Cassius Longinus was shortly afterwards defeated by the Ambrones; another Roman army, more numerous than the former, soon after shared the same fate, above 80,000 of the Romans and their allies perishing on the field, and, to complete their misfortunes, a fourth ariny, under the command of the consul Manlius and the pro-consul Servilius Cæpio, was completely defeated. Every eye was now turned towards Marius, who alone seemed able to avert the impending ruin. Catulus Luctatius, whose military abilities were scarcely inferior, was associated with him in the command. Marius, well aware of the errors of his predecessors, determined to pursue a very different course. He resolved not to give the enemy battle until their ardor had become somewhat cooled, and, with this view, encamped in an advantageous position on the banks of the Rhone; but this prudence being mistaken for pusillanimity, the enemy, having first endeavoured to force his entrenchments, in which attempt they were unsuccessful, resolved to pass into Italy. Marius allowed them to file off unmolested during six days, when, quitting his position, he followed them as far as Aix, in Provence, where he attacked and partially defeated them, slaying great numbers; he then retired to his camp, ordering strict watch to be kept. Shortly afterwards his army, being advantageously posted on an eminence, was attacked by the Teutones; the fortune of Rome this day prevailed; her armies were once again triumphant. If we may rely with confidence on the relations of her historians, above 20,000 of the enemy were slain, and 90,000 made prisoners. This was in the year of Rome 653. But the Cimbri still menaced the safety of the republic; arrived on the banks of the Adige, Catulus Luctatius was unable to arrest their passage, and they crossed that river. They halted near the Po, in the hope of being joined by the Teutones, of whose late defeat they were ignorant. Marius, at the head of a new army raised in haste, advanced to meet them, and they came to an engagement on the plain of Verceil. The infantry of the Cimbri was formed into a large dense square; their cavalry, superbly mounted, was above 15,000 strong. The Romans were drawn up in two wings, with the sun at their backs, a circumstance very advantageous to them. The Cimbri, exhausted by the intense heat of the weather, against which they were less able to contend than the Romans, became dispirited, and were soou defeated; the dust had prevented them from perceiving the inferior forces of the Romans, as these latter, from the same cause, were ignorant of the vast number of their adversaries. An expedient which they had adopted, in order to prevent their ranks from being broken, now served to render their overthrow the more complete; the soldiers of the foremost lines had been linked together with chains, and thus, becoming entangled, were the more easily cut down by the Romans. Upwards of 140,000 Little mention of the Cimbri are said to have fallen on that fatal day; but few escaped to tell the dreadful tale; and, if we except them and the small number who had remained at home, their whole nation may be said to have perished at a blow. This was in the year of Rome 654, and the 99th before the Christian era. was afterwards made of them by the Roman authors, whose accounts of the Cimbrian war must be received with due caution; for, as the Cimbri had no historians of their own to record their actions, the Romans, fearless of contradiction, had it in their power to give whatever coloring they pleased to events in which they were engaged, although they appear to have recounted their own defeats with great impartiality. Strabo records that they endeavoured to cultivate the friendship of Augustus; and Tacitus briefly informs us that they had preserved nothing but their distinguished name, and a renown no less ancient than extensive-Parva nunc civitas, sed gloria ingens, veterisque famæ latè vestigia manent.' Formidable as were the ancient Scandinavians by land to most of the nations of Europe, their naval expeditions excited still greater terror, and were far more destructive. In the infancy of society, when manual arts are unknown, and agriculture but little attended to, the inhabitants of a maritime country generally embrace a piratical life; this was the case with the Greeks in very remote ages, as we are informed by Thucydides. The northern nations, however, did not adopt this course of life till very late; Sidonius Apollinaris, a learned Gaul, who was born at Lyons of an illustrious family, in the early part of the fifth century, is the first author who touches on the piracy of the Saxons. In the sixth epistle of his eighth book he thus notices them : Est Saxonibus piratis cum discriminibus pelagi non notitia solùm sed familiaritas-Hostis omni hoste truculentior; improvisus aggreditur, prævisus elabitur, spernit objectos, sternit incautos.' Agriculture indeed, in consequence of the barrenness of the northern regions, could not afford employment to many; but fishing gave occupation to vast numbers, although in the end it conducted them to piracy. For, as the people of one district traversed the ocean, they often met with those of another, whom they regarded as rivals and the desire of obtaining undivided possession of some particular bay or creek would often give rise to disputes. At length open attacks were made, which generally ended in the capture of some of the vessels. The success which attended the first attempts of the Normans gradually incited them to greater enterprises; they ventured farther from their coasts, and explored unknown seas, so that during the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, the ocean literally swarmed with their vessels, and from one extremity of Europe to the other the maritime provinces were continually exposed to their attacks. It is hardly to be doubted, however, that their naval forces, in consequence of the peculiar manner in which they carried on their operations, appeared much more considerable than they really were; and this was also the case with respect to the amount of their population. For, as their vessels were |