Year: 1874

house and my rank as free burgess, you
know" said he, with hot tears of Indignation
bursting from his eyes, "that you cannot have
the best part of me. Here" striking his fore
head "here is that which l have won by pain
full labor and long study ; and here lives that
of which no one, excepting God, can be lord
and master save myself. And the whole
wealth of your Abbey cannot repay to the
world what it will lose when you have silenced
this You will have my body, my wife, my
children, but you cannot have my art, for not
even tortures shall induce me to give it you.
Know you that I am stronger than the hardest
iron, and more patient than suffering itself"


So saying, the goldsmith, maddened by the
calm, selfsatis6ed look of the Abbot, who
seemed resolved to have his crowns for the
Abbey, struck, with his clenched fist, on an
oaken chair and shattered it into hundred
pieces, as if it had been broken by an iron
mace.


"See there great Lord, what sort of servant
you will have, that from a maker Of divine
things you will degrade into beast of bur-


"My son." replied the Abbot, "you are
doubly wrong, in that you have broken my
chair and Judged my soul in error. This girl
belongs to the Abbey, not to me. | am but
the faithful guardian of the rights and usages
of this glorious Monastery, and though |
should give to your wife the power to bear
free-born children, yet must l account to God
and to the Abbey. Since there has been here
an altar, monks, and serts, i'd est, from time
whereof the memory of man knoweth not
to the contrary, such case has never hap
pened where free burgess has become the
property of the Abbey by marrying serf-
girl. Hence it is my duty to exercise this
right, and to make use of it, otherwise it
would become lost and would fall into desue
tude, which would be the cause of a thousand
troubles And that this should not be is of a
greater advantage to the State and to the Alb
bey than your caskets, beautiful as they are,
seeing that from our treasury we can purchase
these things, whereas no money can buy es-
tablished laws and customs And for the
truth of this, 1 call as witness Monseigneur
Chamberlain of the King who knows what
infinite pains our Sire takes every day to bat
tie for the establishment of his ordinances"


"That bit is to stop my mouth" grumbled
the Chamberlain.


The goldsmith, who was not much of a law
yer, remained thoughtful. Then came in
Tiennette, clean and bright, her hair neatly
dressed, having on robe of white merino,
with lavender-colored girdle, and her pretty
feet clad in white stockings with delightful
little Shoes And she looked so royalty beau
tiful, and had so noble carriage, that the
goldsmith was petri6ed with ecstacy. Judge
that the pair exchanged more than one loving
glance The Chamberlain, who had never
seen so noble creature, thought the sight
was too dangerous for the poor goldsmith, so
he galloped him back to Paris as fast as the
hackney could carry him. And before part
ing he advised him to think long before he
went on with this affair, seeing that the monks
were resolute to use Tiennette as bait to
catch some good fish. And, in truth, the
Chapter sent him word that he could marry
Tiennette if he could resolve to give up to
them his house and goods, and confess HIM
self and his children to become slaves; also
that the Abbot, by special act of kindness,
would ..llv" liz. ~ l;,o s.. L. -----
dition of bonding over to the Abbey an inven-
tory of his goods and furniture, and paying
rent, and coming every year to live for one
entire week in hut belonging to the domain
as an act of serfdom. The poor goldsmith
saw clearly that this was the final decision of
the Abbot and Chapter, and began to despair.
Sometimes he thought of raising mob in
the streets and setting fire to the Monastery,
sometimes of inveigling the Abbot into some
secret place where he could torture him into
signing an act of enfranchisement for Tien-
nette; sometimes of one thing, sometimes of
another; but the idea on which he finally set
tied was to carry off the girl and 60 with her
to some foreign country where they might
marry in peace and be as happy as the day
was long. For he thought that once we'll out
of the land the King and his friends among
the Grand Seigneurs might succeed in soften
ing the monks and making them hear reason.
So he made his preparations accordingly, but
found on going next Sunday to the meadow
that he had reckoned without this Abbot, for
he not only did not see Tiennette, but he
learned that she was kept in the strictest Sc
cusion within the walls Of the Convent Then
Anselm's heart was so cast down that he be-
gan to complain openly and loudly of the cru.
city of the monks. And the thing reached
the ears Of the King himself, who in open
court demonstrated with the old Abbot, ask
ing him to yield to the great love of his gold
smith, and give an example OF Christian
charity.


II will tell you why not, Sire" replied the
priest. Call laws, rights, and privileges are
connected together like the rings Of the chain
mail which your majesty wears. If one link
breaks the whole gives way Now, if this
girl should be taken from us against our will,
and if the custom Of the land should not be
observed, soon the subjects of your Majesty
would take your royal crown, and in every
place great seditions would break forth
against paying rates and taxes which make
the people groan."


This silenced the King. And now nothing
was talked of in Paris save this adventure Of
the Tourangean. Every one felt interested in
the affair and bets were made in every quar-
ter about the result. The lords wagered that
Ansem would give up, but the ladies of the
Court wagered the contrary, and came in
crowds to purchase trinkets, and to see the
man. Anselm having complained to some Of
them that the monks prevented him from
seeing his dearly. beloved girl, the thing was
told to the Queen, who considered it an act
of detesable cruelty. And she sent her royal
order to the Lord Abbot that Anselm, her
jeweler, should be permitted to see Tiennette,
whereupon the monks arranged that he might
come every day to the pariOir of the Monas
terry, where Tiennette would meet him under
the supervision of an old monk And every
day she came dressed in greater magni6cence,
so that her beauty was set forth most admira-
bly,. The two lovers were not permitted to
even touch each others hands and had for
H. oP onl