THE proud Norman was not successful in imposing his own tongue upon the subjugated nation, when the fatal day of Hastings placed the British realm in the hands of his race. In vain was Norman-French spoken from throne, pulpit, and judgment-seat; in vain did the Norman nobles long disdain to learn the language of the enslaved English. For a time the two tongues lived side by side, though in very different conditions: the one, the language of the master, at court and in the castles of the soldiers who had become noble lords and powerful barons; the other, the language of the conquered, spoken only in the lowly huts of the subjugated people.
The Norman altered and increased the latter, but he could not extirpate it. To defend his conquest,① he took possession of the country; and, master of the soil, he erected fortresses and castles , and attempted to introduce new terms . The universe and the firmament , the planets , comets , and meteors , the atmosphere and the seasons , all were impressed with the seal of the conqueror . Hills became mountains , and dales valleys ; streams were called rivers , and brooks rivulets ; waterfalls changed into cascades, and woods into forests.
The deer, the ox, the calf, the swine, and the sheep appeared on his sumptuous table as venison, beef veal, pork, and mutton. Salmon , sturgeon , lamprey , and trout became known as delicacies ; serpents and lizards , squirrels , falcons and herons , cocks and pigeons , stallions and mules , were added to the animal kingdom.
Earls and lords were placed in rank below his dukes andmarquises . New titles and dignities , of viscount , baron , andpresided over the English aldermen and sheriff; the chancellor and the peer, the ambassador and the chamberlain, the general and the admiral headed the list of officers of the government.
The king alone retained his name, but the state and the court became French: the administration was carried on according to the constitution; treaties were concluded by the ministers in their cabinet, and submitted for approval to the sovereign; the privy council was consulted on the affairs of the empire, and loyal subjects sent representatives to parliament. Here the members debated on matters of grave importance , on peace and war , ordered the army and the navy, disposed of the national treasury, contracted debts, and had their sessions and their parties.
At brilliant feasts and splendid tournaments collected the flower of chivalry; magnificent balls, where beauty and delicious music enchanted the assembled nobles, gave new splendour to society, polished the manners and excited the admiration of the ancient inhabitants; who, charmed by such elegance, recognised in their conquerors persons of superior intelligence , admired them, and endeavoured to imitate their fashions.
But the dominion of the Norman did not extend to the home of the Englishman ;② it stopped at the threshold of his house: there, around the fireside in his kitchen and the hearth in his room , he met his beloved kindred ; the bride , the wife , and the husband , sons and daughters , brother s and sisters , tied to each other by love, friendship, and kind feelings, knew nothing dearer than their own sweet home.
The Englishman"s flocks , still grazing in his fields andmeadows , gave him milk and butter , meat and wool ; the herdsman watched them in spring and summer; the ploughman drew his furrows , and used his harrows , and, in harvest , the cart and the flail; the reaper plied his scythe, piled up sheaves and hauled his wheat, oats, and rye to the barn. The waggoner drove his wain, with its wheels, felloes, spokes, and nave; andIn his trade by land and sea, he still sold and bought; in the store or the shop, the market or the street, he cheapened his goods and had all his dealings , as pedler or weaver , baker or cooper, saddler, miller, or tanner. He lent or borrowed, trusted his neighbour, and with skill and care throve and grew wealthy. Later, when he longed once more for freedom , his warriors took their weapons , their axes , swords , and spears , or their dreaded bow and arrow. They leaped without stirrup into the saddle, and killed with dart and gavelock.③ At other times they launched their boats and ships, which were still pure English from keel to deck and from the helm or the rudder to the top of the mast, afloat and ashore, with sail or with oar.
As his fathers had done before him in the land of his birth,the Englishman would not merely eat , drink , and sleep , or spend his time in playing the harp and the fiddle , but by walking, riding, fishing, and hunting, he kept young and healthy; while his lady with her children were busy teaching or learning how to read and to write , to sing and to draw . Even needle- work was not forgotten, as their writers say that "by this they shone most in the world ." The wisdom of later ages was not known then, but they had their home-spun sayings , which by all mankind are yet looked upon as true wisdom, as: God helps them that help themselves; Lost time is never found again : When sorrow is asleep, wake it not!
