Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1856-08-13
CHOICE LITERATURE.
Charlemagne and Hildegarde.


of infdels at the point of the sword, and
other striking exploits Of royalty, to make
very considerable noise. in the world so
the historians have thought proper to call
him great" 1t was fashion with these
gentry, many years ago. to Latinize the
names of remarkable persons; SO they cali
ed Charles, g Carolus," and to the Carolus
tlsav.' ddcsragnus," !" Neutrality-suspicious.
for great In process Of time, however, &
the Carolus magnus was Frenchiied into
Charlemagne English, whom we dutifully
follow in nomenclature, as in almost every
thing else, civilly adopted the French
method Of naming the great warrior and
so he goes down TO all forthcoming gener-
ations as Charemagne.
Now, it is recorded of him, among other
things equally remarkable, that he had
decided penchant for pretty women; and
scandal even goes so far as to say that his
conduct in regard to the sex was by no
means such as to furnish a wholesome
example for the gay young bachelors of
his court and kingdom. They do insin
uate, indeed, that there were times and
seasons, when the glance of bright eye,
and the pout Of a pretty red lip, had more
influence with him than the counsel of his
sagest advisers and that often, when he
was very particularly wanted for some pres
sing emergency Of State, he was more like
ly to be found sparkling about the cottage
Of some forester with blooming daughter,
than holding counsel with his gray bearded
ministers, or lending pious heed to the
ghostly admonitions Of abbot, prior, or bish-
op. In short, the Sieur Charlemagne was
undeEiably sad rake; and there is too
much reason to fear that if he had not been
king, and had not gained divers great
battles, and killed immense numbers of inf
del NJ Moors, the ecclesiastical chroniclers of
his life and times would have sent him
down to us, with q reputation as little en-
yiablo as that Of any royal prohigate on re-
cord.
1t happened once upon time-so tradi-
tion says-that q certain Princess Hide
garde was on q visit to his court-with her
father and mother, it is to be hoped, for
propriety's sake, considering that Charlie
magne was bachelor. Now this Princess
Hildegarde was uncommonly beautiful, and
the King, Of course, fell desperately in love
with her. We blush 20 say, moreover,
that his amatory projects and wishes had
nothing honest about them in short, that
he thought only Of wooing and winning
Miss Hildegarde for his leman, not for his
lawful, welded and crowned Queen. But
it is gratifying to say on the other hand
that the yonng lady was too virtuous to be
ensnared by his assiduities and that, al
though she liked his person. and admired
the noble traits of his character, she had
no idea..of countenancing his passion on any
other terms than those of the priest, the
ring, and the nuptial benediction. Char
lemague found il more difficult to make
conquest Of her virtue, than of halfa-dozel
walled and fortified cities.
Such was the condition of things whei
the King thought proper to give orders fo
grand hunt diversion of which he wa
very fond, as were most of the semi-barba
ri ans who passed for wise and illustriou
men during the feudal ages. Charlemagn
of course bad extensive forests, plentiful
stocked with deer, wild boars, bears, wolves
and other animals of the chase and it wa
the fashion of those times, for lovely ladic
and pious churchmen, to engage in tn
rude sport, with as much eagerness and dc
light, as the sparkling Senoras of Madri
or Lisbon, now evince, at the exciting thong
brutal scenes of the bull-ring, or as thou
sands of women in England, and some i
our own country, manifest at the publ
strangling of q wrctched fellow-creature
OF course, therefore, the Princess Hide
garde was of the party,
Charlemagne was close at her side wher
ever the excitement Of the chase permitted
losing no opportunity of seeking her fave
by soft speeches and delicate attention
In fact there is too much reason to bciey
that be had devised the hunt expressly wit
the hope and intent Of separating her fro
the rest Of the party and pressing his su
TO successful issue; purpose for whiC
his intimate knowledge of the forest patl
and solitudes, afforded more facilities tn;
could be enjoyed at court, where many pal
of eager and envious eyes were alwa
watching the movements of the monarc
BE that as it may, however-whether su
was, or was not his purposc-it so happe
ed that toward the close of day, the Ki
and the Princess were together, unattend
by his huntsmau or courtier, in a part
the forests whose shade and secluson ga
the finest opportunity in the world, for d
course Of love, or of anything else tt
might be on hand for discussion The d
was hot, but he dense, outrageous wo
through which they were riding was
lightfully cool and pleasants; the chase b
been long and animated; of course tn
were somewhat fatigued, and perhaps tn
would have allowed their horses to wa
leisurely along, even if the tortuous n;
rowness Of the path, and the close apprc
imation Of the mighty trees had not made
necessary.
1t is easy to conceive that gay gala
like Carous Magnus, very much in lo
eager in the pursuit of pleasure, and,
virtue of his kingly state, as we'll as of
personal qualities, accustomed to succ
with women, was not the man to hang
head and hold his tongue in such cont
gency. If the trees could have heard,
repeated what they heard, they would b
been able to report as warm and press
siege to fair lady's heart, as was e
made in hall or bower, in castle or in