Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/231

 The Development of France 195 children ; we must therefore take counsel as to the choice of a successor, in order that the country shall not come to ruin through neglect and the lack of a pilot. Our deliberations on this subject were recently postponed, by common con- sent, in order that each one might here voice the senti- ments with which God might inspire him, and that from all these individual opinions a general and collective decision might be reached. " Now that we are once more assembled together, let us endeavor, in all prudence and rectitude, not to sacrifice reason and truth to our personal likes or dislikes. We know that Charles has his partisans, who claim that the throne belongs to him by right of birth. Regarding the question from this point of view, we reply that the throne cannot be acquired by hereditary right. Nor should one be placed upon it who is not distinguished alike by nobility of body and wisdom of mind, and by his good faith and magnanimity. We see in the annals of history rulers of illustrious origin deposed on account of their unworthiness, and replaced by incumbents of equal, or even of inferior, birth. "And what is there to recommend Charles of Lorraine ? He is feeble and without honor, faith, or character; he has not blushed to become the servitor of a foreign king [the emperor], nor to take to wife a girl of only knightly rank. How could the great duke bear that a woman belonging to the lowest rank of his vassals should be queen and rule over him ? How could he give precedence to a woman, when his equals and even his superiors in birth bend the knee before him and place their hands beneath his feet? If you con- sider this matter carefully, you will see that Charles' fall has been brought about through his own fault rather than that of others. " Make a choice, therefore, that shall insure the welfare of the state instead of being its ruin. If you wish ill to your 91. The archbishop of Rheims urges the choice of Hugh in- stead of Charles of Lorraine. (From Richer. 1 ) 1 Richer, a monk of Rheims, who was living at the time, gives the only good accounts we possess of the revolution which put the Capetians on the throne of France. See below, p. 220.