dominions of his predecessors; to restore what he had A. D. 754. Conquered; and thus prevent the effusion of Christian blood. But finding the king of the Lombards deaf to his entreaties, he crossed the Alps, and advanced to Pavia. Astulphus now, convinced of his danger, sued for peace, and obtained it, on condition that he should deliver up to the pope, not to the emperor, all the places he had taken. He consented;

but, instead of fulfilling his engagements, no sooner did he think the storm blown over by the departure of Pepin, than he broke again into the Roman dukedom, took several cities, and laid siege to Rome.

A. D. 755.

In this extremity, Stephen had again recourse to his protector the king of France, writing to him those famous letters which are still extant, and in which he artfully introduces St. Peter, to whom the donation of the exarchate had been made, conjuring Pepin, his two sons, and the states of France to come to his relief; promising them all good things, both in this world and the next, in case of compliance, and denouncing damnation as the reward of refusal. Pepin, much affected by this eloquence, wild as it may seem, crossed the Alps a second time, and Astulphus again took refuge in Pavia.

Meanwhile the Emperor Constantine Copronymus, informed of the treaty between the king of France and the pope, by which the latter was to be put in possession of the exarchate and Pentapolis, remonstrated by his ambassadors against that agreement, offering to pay the expenses of the war. But Pepin replied, that the exarchate belonged to the Lombards, who had acquired it by the right of arms, as the Romans had originally done: that the right of the Lombards was now in him, so that he could dispose of that territory as he thought proper. He had bestowed it, he said, on St. Peter, that the Catholic faith might be preserved in its purity, free

8. Anastas. in Vit. Steph. III.

from

from the damnable heresies of the Greeks; and all the money in the world, he added, should never make him revoke that gift, which he was determined to maintain to the church with the last drop of his blood. In consequence of this resolution, the ambassadors were dismissed, without being suffered to reply. Pepin pressed the siege of Pavia; and Astulphus, finding himself unable to hold out, agreed to fulfil the former treaty, giving hostages as a pledge of his fidelity, and putting the pope immediately in possession of Commachio, a place of great importance at that time9.

A. D. 756.

Before Pepin returned to France he renewed his donation to St. Peter, yielding to Stephen and his successor the exarchate; Emilia, now Romagna; and Pentapolis, now Marca d'Ancona; with all the cities therein, to be held by them forever; the kings of France, as patricians, retaining only an ideal superiority, which was soon forgot. Thus was the sceptre added to the keys, the sovereignty to the priesthood, and the popes enriched with the spoils of the Lombard kings and the Roman emperors.

Astulphus, soon after ratifying his treaty with France, was killed by accident, when he was preparing to recover his conquests. Pepin continued to extend his sway and his renown till the year 768; when, after having imposed tribute on the Saxons and Sclavonians, having made the duke of Bavaria take an oath of fidelity, and A. D. 768. reunited Aquitaine to his crown,-equally respected at home and abroad, he died in the fifty-fourth year of his age, and the seventeenth of his reign. He never affected

9. Leo Ostiensis. ubi sup.

10. Many disputes have arisen concerning the nature of Pepin's donation, and some writers have even denied that such a donation was ever made; but on comparing authorities, and observing the scope of history, the matter seems to have been nearly as represented in the text. The im pertinences of Voltaire on this subject, under the form of reasoning, are too contemptible to deserve notice.

absolute

absolute power, but referred all matters of importance to the national assemblies, of which he was the oracle. By the consent of the nobles, he divided his kingdom between his two sons, Charles and Carloman.

The reign of Charles, known by the name of Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, introduces a new æra, and will furnish the subject of a future Letter. In the meantime, we must trace the settlement of other barbarians, and the rise of another great kingdom.

LETTER VII.

BRITAIN, FROM THE TIME IT WAS RELINQUISHED BY THE ROMANS, TO THE END OF THE SAXON HEPTARCHY.

THE affairs of our own island, my dear Philip, now claim your attention. It was ultimately evacuated by the Romans about the year 448, after they had been masters of the southern, and most fertile part of it, for almost four centuries.

A. D. 409.

Never, perhaps, was the debasing influence of despotism so fully displayed as in its effect on our ancient countrymen. No people were ever more brave, none more jealous of liberty, than the Britons. With ordinary weapons, and little knowledge of military discipline, they struggled long with the Roman power, and were only subdued at last by reason of their want of union. But after three centuries of tranquil submission, when the exigencies of the empire obliged the Romans to recal their legions from this island, and resign to the inhabitants their native rights, the degenerate Britons were incapable of prizing the gift. Conscious of their inability to protect themselves against their northern neighbours, and wanting resolution to attempt it, they would gladly

gladly have lived in security and slavery'. They had therefore recourse, again and again, to their conquerors; and the Romans, beside occasionally sending over a legion to the aid of the Britons, assisted them in rebuilding the wall of Antoninus, which extended between the friths of Forth and Clyde. This wall was esteemed by the Romans a necessary barrier, first against the Caladonians, and afterwards against the Scots and Picts.

Much time has been spent in inquiring after the origin of the Scots and Picts, and many disputes have arisen on the subject. The most probable opinion, however, seems to be, that they were two tribes of native Britons, who at different times had fled from the dominion of the Romans, chusing liberty and barren mountains rather than fertile plains and slavery. But whoever they were, they are allowed to have been brave and warlike adventurers, who often invaded the Roman territories, and were greatly an over-match for the now dastardly and dispirited Britons.

These two nations or tribes, no sooner heard of the final departure of the Romans, than they considered the whole British island as their own. One party crossed the frith of Forth, in boats made of leather, while another attacked with fury the Roman wall, which the Britons had repaired for their defence, but which they abandoned on the first assault, flying like timorous deer, and leaving their country a prey to the enemy. The Scots and Picts made dreadful havoc of the fugitives; and, meeting with no opposition, they laid all the south

A. D. 448.

1. Gildas, Bede, lib. i. Mr. Gibbon, whose historical scepticism is as well known as his theological incredulity, has attempted to controver the degeneracy of the Britons under the Roman government. But facts will speak for themselves: these he has not been able to destroy. The Britons, who fled before their naked and barbarous neighbours, were surely inferior to those that intrepidly contended with the Roman legions, under Julius Cæsar and other great commanders.

2. See Macpherson's Introd. Hist. Brit. Origin. &c. of the Caledoniaus, Whitaker's Hist. of Manchester, Genuine Hist. Brit. and Hume's Hist England, vol. 1. note A.

of

ern

A. D. 449.

The

ern part of the island waste with fire and sword. Famine followed with all its horrid train. A. D. 449. miserable Britons, in this frightful extremity, had once more recourse to Rome. They writ to Ætius, then consul the third time, that memorable letter entitled The Groans of the Britons, and which paints their unhappy condition strongly as it is possible for words, "We know not," say they, "even "which way to flee. Chased by the Barbarians to the sea, and forced back by the sea upon the Barbarians, they have only left us the choice of two deaths; either to "perish by the sword, or be swallowed up by the waves3." What answer they received is uncertain; but it is well known they received no assistance, Rome being then threatened by Attila, the most terrible enemy that ever invaded the empire.

The Britons, however, amid all their calamities, had one consolation; they had embraced Christianity; a reli gion which above all others teaches the endurance of misfortunes, which encourages its votaries to triumph in adversity, and inspires the soul with joy in the hour of affliction. Many of them fled over to Gaul, and settled in the province of Armorica, to which they gave the name of Britany; part of them submitted to the Scots and Picts; and part, collecting courage from despair, sallied from their woods and caves upon the secure and roving invaders, cut many of them to pieces, and obliged the rest to retire into their own country. But the enemy threatening to return next season with superior forces, the distressed Britons, by the advice of Vortigern, prince of Dunmonium, who then possessed the principal authority among them, called over to their assistance, by a solemn deputation, the Saxons and Angles, or AngloSaxons1.

3. Bede, Gildas, ubi sup. Gul. Malms. lib. i.

4. Bede, lib. i. Gul. Malms. ubi sup.

The