It was a scene of splendour, characteristic of the times, which he witnessed there. At two seasons of the year, Easter and Christmas, the French king holds his court, when he appears robed in his regal mantle, glittering with gold, and adorned with his richly-jewelled crown. These occasions are made choice of for a display of royal magnificence before the vast crowd of barons, prelates, and state officers. The monarch entertains them with feasts, and bestows on them rich suits of raiment, (_livrées_--liveries,) suited to their rank and the season of the year. The king sits at table with his court, and is waited on by the great officers of the household: other acts of condescension and liberality are performed. Gifts are bestowed upon the royal favourites; heralds are sent among the concourse gathered together by the pageantries of the occasion, to shout the well-known "largesse;" and hanaps (cups) full of silver are scattered among the people.[3] From such a scene has yonder baron just returned, and there, by a significant ceremony, he has sealed the feudal compact with his sovereign as liege lord. He has been doing homage and swearing fealty. His head was uncovered, his belt was ungirt, his sword and his spurs laid aside, while, kneeling, he placed his clasped hands within those of his lord, and swore to serve him with life and limb, and worldly honour, faithfully and loyally for ever. This done, the monarch, on his part, accepted the baron as his vassal, promised to protect his property and his person, and then sealed the compact with a royal kiss. Connected with all this was the act of investiture, by which the baron became possessed of his lands; it consisted in the monarch's delivering to him some type of the property, such as a stone, or the branch of a tree. A relief, as it is called--a sum equal to one year's produce of the estate--was paid at the time of the investiture. He now enters on his lordship over the surrounding domain. As we have already intimated, it is very extensive. It contains several other castles, inhabited by the holders of arriere fiefs. Over all the inhabitants of that territory, he is the ruler. His authority is real, while that of the king over him is merely nominal. He is bound by no laws which his sovereign may make, unless he give his consent; and it is very probable that he will never attend any of the royal councils, and, therefore, will not be brought under any legal obligation to regard the statutes enacted. He is subject to no taxes whatever--feudal aids, like those which we shall presently notice, as payable to himself from his vassals, are all the pecuniary tributes which he owes to his prince. Military service is the chief thing which he is required to render. The sovereign has no power over the baron's territory, either legislative or judicial; and the provinces of France are in truth separate states, among which a loose sort of federative connexion exists, at the head of which the