territory which all the world knows to have been possessed by my
ancestors? To whom could I better address myself than to you, when all
the supports of my race have disappeared? To whom, bereft as I am of
honorable protection, should I have recourse but to you? By whom, if not
by you, should I be restored to the honors of my fathers? Please God
things turn out favorably for me and for my fortunes! Rejected, what,
can become of me save to be exhibited as a spectacle to all who look on
me? Suffer yourself to be moved by some feeling of humanity: be
compassionate towards a man who has been tried by so many reverses!'"

Such language was more calculated to inspire contempt than compassion.
"The metropolitan, firm in his resolution, gave for answer these few
words: 'Thou hast ever been associated with the perjured, the
sacrilegious, and the wicked of every sort, and now thou art still
unwilling to separate from them: how canst thou, in company with such
men, and by means of such men, seek to attain to the sovereign power?'
And when Charles replied that he must not abandon his friends, but rather
gain over others, the bishop said to himself, 'Now that he possesses no
position of dignity, he hath allied himself with the wicked, whose
companionship he will not, in any way, give up: what misfortune would it
be for the good if he were elected to the throne!' To Charles, however,
he made answer that he would do nought without the consent of the
princes; and so left him."

At the time fixed, probably the 29th or 30th of June, 987, the grandees
of Frankish Gaul who had bound themselves by oath re-assembled at Senlis.
Hugh Capet was present with his brother Henry of Burgundy, and his
brother-in-law Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy. The majority of
the direct vassals of the crown were also there--Foulques Nerra (the
Black), count of Anjou; Eudes, count of Blois, Chartres, and Tours;
Bouchard, count of Vent-Mine and Corbeil; Gautier, count of Vexin; and
Hugh, count of Maine. Few counts came from beyond the Loire; and some of
the lords in the North, amongst others Arnulf II., count of Flanders, and
the lords of Vermandois were likewise missing. "When those present were
in regular assembly, Archbishop Adalheron, with the assent of Duke Hugh,
thus spake unto them: 'Louis, of blessed memory, having been taken from
us without leaving issue, it hath become necessary to engage seriously in
seeking who may take his place upon