Chapter 21

CHAPTER XXI.
HUON OF BORDEAUX. WHEN Charlemagne grew old he felt the burden of government become
heavier year by year, till at last he called together his high
barons and peers to propose to abdicate the empire and the throne of
France in favor of his sons, Charlot and Lewis.
The Emperor was unreasonably partial to his eldest son; he would
have been glad to have had the barons and peers demand Charlot for
their only sovereign; but that prince was so infamous, for his
falsehood and cruelty, that the council strenuously opposed the
Emperor's proposal of abdicating, and implored him to continue to hold
a sceptre which he wielded with so much glory.
Amaury of Hauteville, cousin of Ganelon, and now head of the
wicked branch of the house of Maganza, was the secret partisan of
Charlot, whom he resembled in his loose morals and bad dispositions.
Amaury nourished the most bitter resentment against the house of
Guienne, of which the former Duke, Sevinus, had often rebuked his
misdeeds. He took advantage of this occasion to do an injury to the
two young children whom the Duke Sevinus had left under the charge
of the Duchess Alice, their mother; and, at the same time, to
advance his interest with Charlot by increasing his wealth and
power. With this view, he suggested to the prince a new idea.
He pretended to agree with the opinion of the barons; he said that
it would be best to try Charlot's capacity for government, by giving
him some rich provinces, before placing him upon the throne; and
that the Emperor, without depriving himself of any part of his
realm, might give Charlot the investiture of Guienne. For although
seven years had passed since the death of Sevinus, the young Duke, his
son, had not yet repaired to the court of Charlemagne to render the
homage due to his lawful sovereign.
We have often had occasion to admire the justice and wisdom of the
advice which on all occasions the Duke Namo of Bavaria gave to
Charlemagne, and he now discountenanced, with indignation, the selfish
advice of Amaury. He represented to the Emperor the early age of the
children of Sevinus, and the useful and glorious services of their
late father, and proposed to Charlemagne to send two knights to the
Duchess, at Bordeaux, to summon her two sons to the court of the
Emperor, to pay their respects and render homage.
Charlemagne approved this advice, and sent two chevaliers to
demand the two young princes of their mother. No sooner had the
Duchess learned the approach of the two knights, than she sent
distinguished persons to receive them; and as soon as they entered the
palace she presented herself before them, with her elder and younger
sons, Huon and Girard.
The deputies, delighted with the honors and caresses they