The key to this Burgundian character, with its blend of Gallic, Latin, and German elements, the key to Burgundian history, too, is the geographical position of the country. Its great water-ways flow northward, by the Yonne, to the English Channel, and southward, by the Saône, to the Mediterranean and the traffic of the East; along its valleys run the great trading roads and railways connecting northern and southern, eastern and western Europe. With the exception of the Jura, no natural barriers exist between Burgundy and the adjoining lands. It was open at all quarters; from every point of the compass it borrowed, and it lent. Michelet's visionary thought has summed up, in a splendid phrase, the secret of Burgundy. He says, speaking of the country round Dijon: "La France n'a pas d'élément plus liant, plus capable de réconcilier le nord et le midi." There you have it. To reconcile the bitter antagonisms of north and south, and, in a lesser degree, of east and west, was Burgundy's destiny; the geographical position that enabled her to do so was at once the source of her greatness, and the cause of her fall. While she remained independent, unity was impossible for France; and England's peace was imperilled by irresistible temptations to attack a weakened neighbour. In writing this book, I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to preserve historical continuity. That must be my excuse for geographical flights which, else, might bewilder my readers. My hope is that these pages may awaken, here and there, lasting interest in a land that, whether for varied scenery, sunny climate, good living, characteristic architecture, or, above all, historical associations of the first importance, can hold its own with any other ancient province of France. FOOTNOTES: [1] Henry V., Act V., Scene 2; King Lear, Act I., Scene 1. CONTENTS CHAPTER I BENEATH THE MOUNT PAGE The Hiring at St. Léger--Distant Beuvray--Fun of the Fair--A mad wolf--Legends of the Mount--Gaulish Bibracte--St. Martin at Beuvray--La Pierre de la Wivre--Legend of the Wivern--The Curé of Monthelon 1 CHAPTER II THE ROMAN CITY A Suffering Cow--Temple of Janus--The Aedui--Druids--Divitiacus and Dumnorix--Vercingetorix--The Founding of Augustodunum--Pierre de Couhard--Francis I. at Couhard--The Plan of Augustodunum--Temple of Janus--Restoration--Origin of the Name--Roman Gates--Porte d'Arroux--Porte St. André--Date of Construction--Porte des Marbres--Vagaries of Peasant guides 11 CHAPTER III THE ROMAN CITY (CONTINUED)