Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/307

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 285 age, in military adventures ; and the journeys of Charlemagne were distinguished only by a more numerous train and a more important purpose. His military renown must be tried by the scrutiny of his troops, his enemies^ and his actions. Alexander conquered with the arms of Philip, but the two heroes who pre- ceded Charlemagne bequeathed him their name, their ex- amples, and the companions of their victories. At the head of his veteran and superior armies, he oppressed the savage or de- generate nations who were incapable of confederating for their common safety ; nor did he ever encounter an equal antagonist in numbers, in discipline, or in arms. The science of war has been lost and revived with the arts of peace ; but his campaigns are not illustrated by any siege or battle of singular difficulty and success ; and he might behold, with envy, the Saracen trophies of his grandfather. After his Spanish expedition, his rear-guard was defeated in the Pyrenaean mountains ; and the soldiers, whose situation was irretrievable and whose valour was useless, might accuse, with their last breath, the want of skill or caution of their general. ^"^^ I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so highly applauded by a respectable judge. They compose not a system, but a series, of occasional and minute edicts, for the correction of abuses, the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of his poultry, and even the sale of his eggs. He wished to improve the laws and the character of the Franks ; and his attempts, however feeble and imperfect, are deserving of praise. The inveterate evils of the times were suspended or mollified by his government ; 1^5 but in his institutions I can seldom discover the general views and the immortal spirit of a legislator, who survives himself for the benefit of posterity. The union and stability of his empire depended on the life of a single man ; he imitated the dan- gerous practice of dividing his kingdoms among his sons ; and, after his num.erous diets, the whole constitution was left to fluctuate between the disorders of anarchy and despotism. His esteem for the piety and knowledge of the clergy tempted him to entrust that aspiring order with temporal dominion and civil jurisdiction ; and his son Lewis, when he was stripped and 1"^ In this action, the famous Rutland, Rolando, Orlando, was slain — cum pluri- bus aliis. See the truth in Eginhard (c. 9, p. 51-56), and the fable in an ingenious Supplement of M. Gaillard (tom. iii. p. 474). The Spaniards are too proud of a victory which history ascribes to the Gascons, and romance to the Saracens. 1"^ Yet Schmidt, from the best authorities, represents the interior disorders and oppression of his reign (Hist, des Allemands, tom. ii. p. 45-49).