Page:Life of Thomas Hardy - Brennecke.pdf/47

 Shakespeare, he became the first self-appointed educator of the Gallic taste. He presented evidence of an ambitious literary outlook in his Les Chastes et Loyales Amours de Theagene et Cariclee, a tragi-comedy in no less than eight "days" or dramatic poems—an entertaining precursor of The Dynasts, in its magnitude, at least.

To return to Jersey. Of the two immigrant Le Hardys, only one managed to make his mark in the world—if having one's name preserved in historical records can properly be called making one's mark. This was Clement Le Hardy. He had married a sister of one Sir William Lalague, or Lulazin, who brought him a dowry of "a corn rent of one quarter." He retained his ancestral Norman coat of arms, and founded the central line of Jersey Hardys, which still flourishes today. He was made a magistrate, a Jurat, of the island, in 1381.

There ensues a gap of over a century, during which little is known of the Hardys, except that the office of island Jurat was passed down from father to son without interruption. But it was a stirring century for Jersey. The island had long ago sworn allegiance to King John of England. The French, however, naturally considered it their own: was it not a good hundred miles removed from Portland Bill? In 1404 they descended in force upon the disputed territory, but were promptly repulsed. Then came the Wars of the Roses. Queen Margaret, consort of Henry VI, in order to win for the King the support of the Seneschal of Normandy, the Comte de Maulevrier, promised him the islands as his reward. Maulevrier accordingly attacked Jersey and captured Mont Orgueil, the ancient fortress, built on the site of a