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that, even when so perverted, it still was productive of inestimable and often unperceived good; and that to it principally, above all other causes, is owing the superior state of modern morals, liberty, and civilisation. This is an assertion of which the proofs must be sought in the ensuing pages. But we may anticipate so far as to observe, that had Christianity done no more than to war with polygamy and slavery, as it did, to the abolition of both, it would fully deserve the praise here bestowed. Nothing contributed so much to change the face of Europe, and to bestow upon it its present benign and happy aspect, as the raising of one half of mankind to their natural equality and rights, and by the same act rescuing the other from the inhumanity and barbarism ever characterising the despotic masters of their fellow-men. The abolition of slavery, without effecting which it would have been idle preaching against polygamy, instantly raised woman in the scale of being. From this alone sprung all the virtues of chivalry, whilst those of private and domestic life were created anew. It was then that a brighter charm spread around the hearth, – that a genius came to preside over it, as far superior to the dumb, dull lares of antiquity, as the worship of the invisible God was to their pagan sacrifices.

We have seen what great use both Pepin and Clovis made of the church in establishing their power. It was the church alone that could then enable royalty to lift itself on the shoulders of the aristocracy. Charles, surnamed the Great, and better known under the appellation of Charlemagne, succeeded to his father Pepin in the year 768, at first conjointly with his brother Carloman, whose death, which took place soon after, left the elder brother sole monarch of the Franks. The first act of Charles showed the warrior eager for conquest. He raised an army, and advanced with it beyond the Loire. For centuries barbarism had been continually making war upon civilisation, conquering, destroying, or blending with it. The contest was not yet over, the amalgam

ation not perfect. The rude Austrasians of the Rhine had lately subdued the more polite Neustrians of the banks of the Seine. But Aquitaine and the southern provinces were, with respect to Neustria, what Neustria had been to Austrasia, far more civilised and Latinised; and the hate on one side equalled the desire of conquest and domination on the other. Pepin had vanquished the Aquitanians. Upon his death they rebelled, rallying round one of the family of their ancient dukes. But the courage of the southerns failed before the approach of Charles and his northern army; their troops dispersed, and their chief remained a prisoner. Charles, ere he retired, built the strong castle of Fronsac, on the banks of the Dordogne, and garrisoned it, to keep the malcontent province in subjection. The Franks had hitherto a hatred of towns, and a contempt of fortifications. This is the first instance amongst them of dominating a country by means of a fortress, and marks how advanced were the views of Charles beyond those of his time.

Charlemagne's next enemies were the Saxons-the most formidable and obstinate that he encountered during his reign. For the present, however, after a successful campaign in their wild country, his attention was called away towards Italy, where his conquests and alliances produced events as important in their consequences, perhaps, as any to be found in modern history.

If we contemplate the church from the fall of the Roman empire, we shall perceive that in the dark ages its struggle was unceasingly for dominion, authority, and wealth. Unable, perhaps, to make the barbarians feel the superiority of their sacred character, of their creed, and the morals that they taught by eloquence or argument alone, the priesthood felt it requisite to gain temporal power, in order that their spiritual influence might be greater and more salutary. Some wealth was certainly necessary for them, as was some power. But this portion proved but a bait for the avarice and violence of the barbarians, and could only be rendered secure by

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its being rendered equal or superior to that possessed by the lay aristocracy.

As Rome was considered superior to all western cities, so was its bishop placed above other bishops. An imperial edict sanctioned this supremacy, which the Romanists vainly seek to found upon the text of the Gospel. Like other prelates, the pope endeavoured to support his spiritual authority by temporal power; but whilst their position allowed them only to acquire territorial wealth and judicial independence, he aimed at sovereignty. When the head of the empire abandoned or was driven from the dominion which he exercised over Rome, as over other cities, the bishops, from the absence of other magistrates, and the total ruin of respectable families, laid hold of the authority thus abdicated, and ruled as delegates or inheritors of the imperial rights. Such was the claim put forth by the early popes. They aimed at sovereignty not only in Rome, but in the Imperial province or Exarchate, as the territory attached to Ravenna was called. The Lombard kings, however, sternly resisted these claims; and themselves, or their vassals, the dukes of Nepi or Spoleto, were in the habit of plundering, enslaving, of making or unmaking pontiffs, according as their interest prompted, or the fortune of war allowed.

In vain did the popes, with all their sacred character, struggle against the power of the sword. When Pepin, however, thought fit to apply to Rome for a title to his crown, the prospect of gaining so powerful an ally was eagerly laid hold on. Every wish of Pepin was granted, and in return his aid was sought against the Lombards. The grateful monarch led an army into Italy, and obliged Astolphus, their king, to yield up not only the territory round Rome, but the Exarchate, to the pope. We may suppose how reluctantly and imperfectly these stipulations were performed, especially after the departure of Pepin, who never afterwards found leisure to turn again his attention or arms towards Italy.

After the death of Pepin, the solicitations of the pope were renewed to his son, whose youthful ambition and piety were soon inflamed. Charles summoned his

captains to meet him in the spring at Geneva. Under the Merovingians, these assemblies were the Champs de Mars,-March being the month of meeting. But as the Franks, from serving on foot, became cavaliers under the second race, the time was changed to May, for the sake of forage, and the assemblies were called Champs de Mai. From Geneva, Charlemagne passed the Alps, routing the Lombards, who opposed his passage. Their king, Desiderius, did not dare to meet the German monarch in the open field, but shut himself up in his capital, Pavia. The Franks invested it; but, unskilled in the art of attacking fortified places, they contented themselves with a strict blockade. Whilst it lasted, Charles advanced to visit the ancient seat of empire. He was received by pope Adrian with such honours as were paid to the Patrician or viceroy of the emperors. Every homage and attention were lavished, and Charles gratefully confirmed the gifts of Pepin to the church, gifts, however, which he considered more in the light of a fief or benefice than as an absolute cession. He then returned to Pavia, which surrendered, together with its king. Thus ended the kingdom of the Lombards, and Italy became a province of the empire of the Franks.

No sooner was Italy conquered, than we find Charlemagne engaged with the Saxons, routing and slaughtering their armies, over-running their country, and summoning his warriors to the Champ de Mai at Paderborn, and other remote places far within the German borders. Some historians consider this inveterate thirty years' war, which Charlemagne carried on against the Saxons, as proceeding from his hatred of barbarism, and his ardent desire to extend the pale of civilisation. But this is too advanced and statesman-like an idea for the age. It seems to have been more from a wish to propagate Christianity that Charles wielded his sword so ruthlessly

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against the Saxons. The exploits and example of the Saracens had a great influence over him; and his wish to rival them is far more manifest in his acts and character than has been noticed.

It was long since the Saracens had completed the conquest of Spain, extended their dominions beyond the Pyrenees, and menaced even the empire of the Franks. Charles Martel, the grandfather of Charlemagne, in a bloody victory gained over them near Poitiers, put a final check to the advance of the Saracens in that direction, and introduced the rival nations to the dread and esteem of each other. In that campaign, the Franks suffered greatly from the light horsemen of the Arabs; and it is very probable that the circumstance led them to adopt the mode of fighting on horseback, which soon after became general, and laid an essential foundation of the chevaleresque spirit.

The love of letters, and of those who cultivated them, with the ambition of founding learned institutions, was another trait of Charlemagne's character, caught in part, though not exclusively, from the Saracens. And his system of propagating Christianity by the sword, such as he practised against the Saxons, may be regarded as another principle of conduct and of glory imitated from the warlike votaries of the caliphs.

The same motive would induce him still more, no doubt, to direct his arms against the Saracens themselves. Such an expedition he did undertake. In 778, he passed the Pyrenees, took and dismantled the towns of Pampluna and Saragossa, and compelled all the Arab princes of the region to swear fealty to him. On his return across the Pyrenees, nevertheless, they prepared an ambuscade. The Basques and Gascons, more hostile to the Franks than to the Saracens, joined their aid to the latter; and the united forces awaited Charlemagne and his victorious army as they traversed the valley of Roncesvaux. There never was a combat of which history has given so few details, and fable and poesy so many, as that of Roncesvaux. It appears that the