the midst of these peaceful occupations, Syagrius received, and boldly accepted, the hostile defiance of Clovis; who challenged his rival in the spirit, and almost in the language, of chivalry, to appoint the day, and the field, of battle. In the time of Cæsar, Soissons would have poured forth a body of fifty thousand horse; and such an army might have been plentifully supplied with shields, cuirasses, and military engines, from the three arsenals, or manufactures, of the city.' But the courage and numbers of the Gallic youth were long since exhausted; and the loose bands of volunteers, or mercenaries, who marched under the standard of Syagrius, were incapable of contending with the national valour of the Franks. It would be ungenerous, without some more accurate knowledge of his strength and resources, to condemn the rapid flight of Syagrius, who escaped, after the loss of a battle, to the distant court of Thoulouse. The feeble minority of Alaric could not assist, or protect, an unfortunate fugitive; the pusillanimous Goths were intimidated by the menaces of Clovis; and the Roman king, after a short confinement, was delivered into the hands of the executioner. The Belgic cities surrendered to the king of the Franks; and his dominions were enlarged towards the east by the ample diocess of Tongres," which Clovis subdued in the tenth year of his reign.

Amphion of the barbarians, addresses the imaginary king in the tone of friendship and equality. From such offices of arbitration, the crafty Dejoces had raised himself to the throne of the Medes. (Herodot. lib. 1. c. 96-100.)

r Campum sibi præparari jussit. M. Biet (p. 226-251.) has diligently ascertained this field of battle, at Nogent, a Benedictine abbey, about ten miles to the north of Soissons. The ground was marked by a circle of Pagan sepulchres; and Clovis bestowed the adjacent lands of Leuilly and Coucy on the church of Rheims.

See Cæsar, Comment. de Bell. Gallic. 2. 4. in tom. 1. p. 220. and the Notitiæ, tom. 1. p. 126. The three Fabrice of Soissons were Scutaria, Balistaria, and Clinabaria. The last supplied the complete armour of the heavy cuirassiers.

The epithet must be confined to the circumstances; and history cannot justify the French prejudice of Gregory, (lib. 2. c. 27. in tom. 2. p. 175.) ut Gothorum pa

vere mos est.

a Dubos has satisfied me, (tom. 1. p. 277-286.) that Gregory of Tours, his transcribers or his readers, have repeatedly confounded the German kingdom of Thuringia, beyond the Rhine, and the Gallic city of Tongria, on the Meuse, which was more anciently the country of the Eburones, and more recently the diocess of Liege.

Defeat

The name of the Alemanni has been absurdly and sub- derived from their imaginary settlement on the banks of the Leman lake. That fortunate dis

mission of

the Alemanni,

A.D. 469.

trict, from the lake to Avenche, and Mount Jura, was occupied by the Burgundians." The northern parts of Helvetia had indeed been subdued by the ferocious Alemanni, who destroyed with their own hands the fruits of their conquest. A province, improved and adorned by the arts of Rome, was again reduced to a savage wilderness; and some vestige of the stately Vindonissa may still be discovered in the fertile and populous valley of the Aar. From the source of the Rhine, to its conflux with the Mein and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of Alemanni commanded either side of the river, by the right of ancient possession, or recent victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modern provinces of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdom of Cologne, summoned the Salic prince to the defence of his Ripuarian allies. Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac, about twenty-four miles from Cologne; and the two fiercest nations of Germany were mutually animated by the memory of past exploits, and the prospect of future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle, gave way; and the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, tempestuously pressed their retreat. But the battle was restored by the valour, the conduct, and per

* Populi habitantes juxta Lemannum lacum, Alemanni dicuntur. (Servius, ad Virgil. Georgic. 4. 278.) Dom. Bouquet (tom. 1. p. 817.) has only alleged the more recent and correct text of Isidore of Seville.

Gregory of Tours sends St. Lupicinus inter illa Jurensis deserti secreta, quæ, inter Burgundiam Alamanniamque sita, Aventicæ adjacent civitati, in tom. 1. p. 648. M. de Watteville (Hist. de la Confederation Helvetique, tom. 1. p. 9, 10.) has accurately defined the Helvetian limits of the duchy of Alemannia, and the Tranjurane Burgundy. They were commensurate with the diocess of Constance and Avenche, or Lausanne, and are still discriminated in modern Switzerland, by the use of the German, or French, language.

2 See Guilliman de Rebus Helveticis, lib. 1. c. 3. p. 11, 12. Within the ancient walls of Vindonissa, the castle of Habsburg, the abbey of Konigsfield, and the town of Bruck, have successively arisen. The philosophic traveller may compare the monuments of the Roman conquest, of feudal or Austrian tyranny, of monkish superstition, and of industrious freedom. If he be truly a philosopher, he will applaud the merit and happiness of his own times.

haps by the piety of Clovis: and the event of the bloody day decided for ever the alternative of empire or servitude. The last king of the Alemanni was slain in the field, and his people were slaughtered and pursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded to the mercy of the conqueror. Without discipline it was impossible for them to rally; they had contemptuously demolished the walls and fortifications which might have protected their distress; and they were followed into the heart of their forests, by an enemy not less active, or intrepid, than themselves. The great Theodoric congratulated the victory of Clovis, whose sister Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married; but he mildly interceded with his brother in favour of the suppliants and fugitives, who had implored his protection. The Gallic territories, which were possessed by the Alemanni, became the prize of their conqueror; and the haughty nation, invincible, or rebellious, to the arms of Rome, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Merovingian kings, who graciously permitted them to enjoy their peculiar manners and institutions, under the government of official, and, at length, of hereditary dukes. After the conquest of the western provinces, the Franks alone maintained their ancient habitations beyond the Rhine. They gradually subdued, and civilized the exhausted countries, as far as the Elbe, and the mountains of Bohemia; and the peace of Europe was secured by the obedience of Germany.*

Conver

Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis consion of tinued to worship the gods of his ancestors. His A.D. 496. disbelief, or rather disregard, of Christianity

Clovis,

a Gregory of Tours, (lib. 2. 30. 37. in tom. 2. p. 176, 177. 182.) the Gesta Francorum, (in. tom. 2. p. 551.) and the epistle of Theodoric, (Cassiodor. Variar. lib. 2. c. 41. in tom. 4. p. 4.) represent the defeat of the Alemanni. Some of their tribes settled in Rhætia, under the protection of Theodoric; whose successors ceded the colony and their country to the grandson of Clovis. The state of the Alemanni under the Merovingian kings, may be seen in Mascou, (Hist. of the Ancient Germans, 11. 8, &c. Annotation 36.) and Guilliman. (de Reb. Helvet. lib. 2. c. 10-12. p. 72-80.

b Clotilda, or rather Gregory, supposes that Clovis worshipped the gods of Greece and Rome. The fact is incredible, and the mistake only shews how completely, in

might encourage him to pillage with less remorse the churches of a hostile territory; but his subjects of Gaul enjoyed the free exercise of religious worship; and the bishops entertained a more favourable hope of the idolater, than of the heretics. The Merovingian prince had contracted a fortunate alliance with the fair Clotilda, the niece of the king of Burgundy, who in the midst of an Arian court, was educated in the profession of the Catholic faith. It was her interest, as well as her duty, to achieve the conversion of a Pagan husband; and Clovis insensibly listened to the voice of love and religion. He consented (perhaps such terms had been previously stipulated) to the baptism of his eldest son; and though the sudden death of the infant excited some superstitious fears, he was persuaded, a second time, to repeat the dangerous experiment. In the distress of the battle of Tolbiac, Clovis loudly invoked the God of Clotilda, and the Christians: and victory disposed him to hear, with respectful gratitude, the eloquent Remigius, bishop of Rheims, who forcibly displayed the temporal and spiritual advantages of his conversion. The king declared himself satisfied of the truth of the Catholic faith; and the political reasons which might have suspended his public profession, were removed by the devout or loyal acclamations of the Franks, who shewed themselves alike prepared to follow their heroic

less than a century, the national religion of the Franks had been abolished, and even forgotten.

c Gregory of Tours relates the marriage and conversion of Clovis. (lib. 2. c. 28 -31. in tom. 2. p. 175-178.) Even Fredegarius, or the nameless Epitomizer, (in tom. 2. p. 398-400.) the author of the Gesta Francorum (in tom. 2. p. 548–552.) and Aimoin himself, (lib. 1. c. 13. in tom. 3. p. 37-40.) may be heard without disdain. Tradition might long preserve some curious circumstances of these important transactions.

d A traveller, who returned from Rheims to Auvergne, had stolen a copy of his Declamations from the secretary or bookseller of the modest archbishop. (Sidonius Apollinar. lib. 9. epist. 7.) Four epistles of Remigius, which are still extant, (in tom. 4. p. 51-53) do not correspond with the splendid praise of Sidonius.

e Hincmar, one of the successors of Remigius, (A. D. 845-882.) has composed his life. (in tom. 3. p. 373-380.) The authority of ancient MSS. of the church of Rheims might inspire some confidence, which is destroyed, however, by the selfish and audacious fictions of Hincmar. It is remarkable enough, that Remigius, who was consecrated at the age of twenty-two (A. D. 457.) filled the episcopal chair seventy-four years. (Pagi Critica, in Baron. tom. 2. p. 384. 572.)

leader to the field of battle, or to the baptismal font. The important ceremony was performed in the cathedral of Rheims, with every circumstance of magnificence and solemnity, that could impress an awful sense of religion on the minds of its rude proselytes. The new Constantine was immediately baptized, with three thousand of his warlike subjects; and their example was imitated by the remainder of the gentle barbarians, who, in obedience to the victorious prelate, adored the cross which they had burnt, and burnt the idols which they had formerly adored. The mind of Clovis was susceptible of transient fervour: he was exasperated by the pathetic tale of the passion and death of Christ; and, instead of weighing the salutary consequences of that mysterious sacrifice, he exclaimed, with indiscreet fury

Had I been present at the head of my valiant Franks, I would have revenged his injuries." But the savage conqueror of Gaul was incapable of examining the proofs of a religion, which depends on the laborious investigation of historic evidence, and speculative theology. He was still more incapable of feeling the mild influence of the gospel, which persuades and purifies the heart of a genuine convert. His ambitious reign was a perpetual violation of moral and Christian duties; his hands were stained with blood, in peace as well as in war; and, as soon as Clovis had dismissed a synod of the Gallican church, he calmly assassinated all the princes of the Merovingian race. Yet the king of the Franks

A phial (the Sainte Ampoulle) of holy, or rather celestial oil, was brought down by a white dove, for the baptism of Clovis, and it is still used, and renewed, in the coronation of the kings of France. Hincmar (he aspired to the primacy of Gaul) is the first author of this fable, (in tom. 3. p. 377.) whose slight foundations the abbé de Vertot (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. 2. p. 619–633.) has undermined, with profound respect, and consummate dexterity.

Mitis depone colla, Sicamber; adora quod incendisti, incende quod adorasti. Greg. Turon. lib. 2. c. 31. in tom. 2. p. 177.

Si ego ibidem cum Francis meis fuissem, injurias ejus vindicassem. This rash expression, which Gregory has prudently concealed, is celebrated by Fredegarius, (Epitom. c. 21. in tom. 2. p. 400.) Aimoin, lib. 1. c. 16. in tom. 3. p. 40.) and the Chroniques de St. Denys, (lib. 1. c. 20. in tom. 3. p. 171.) as an admirable effusion of Christian zeal.

i Gregory, (lib. 2. c. 40-43. in tom. 2. p. 183-185.) after coolly relating the VOL. IV. 2 G.