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118 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xxxviii Armoricans were reconciled by the religion of the Franks. The military force which had been stationed for the defence of Gaul consisted of one hundred different bands of cavalry or infantry ; and these troops, while they assumed the title and privileges of Roman soldiers, were renewed by an incessant supply of the Barbarian youth. The extreme fortifications, and scattered fragments, of the empire were still defended by their hopeless courage. But their retreat was intercepted, and their com- munication was impracticable : they were abandoned by the Greek princes of Constantinople, and they piously disclaimed all connexion with the Arian usurpers of Gaul. They accepted, without shame or reluctance, the generous capitulation, which was proposed by a Catholic hero ; and this spurious, or legiti- mate, progeny of the Roman legions was distinguished in the succeeding age by their arms, their ensigns, and their peculiar dress and institutions. But the national strength was increased by these powerful and voluntary accessions ; and the neighbour- ing kingdoms dreaded the numbers, as well as the spirit, of the Franks. The reduction of the Northern provinces of Gaul, instead of being decided by the chance of a single combat, appears to have been slowly effected by the gradual operation of war and treaty; and Clovis acquired each object of his ambition by such efforts, or such concessions, as were adequate to its real value. His savage character and the virtues of Henry IV. suggest the most opposite ideas of human nature ; yet some resemblance may be found in the situation of two princes, who conquered France by their valour, their policy, and the merits of a seasonable conversion. 40 The Bur- The kingdom of the Burgundians, which was defined by the course of two Gallic rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, extended from the forest of Vosges to the Alps and the sea of Mar- [Gundo- seilles. 41 The sceptre was in the hands of Gundobald. That bad] unprejudiced reader would naturally suppose that Prooopius means to describe a tribe of Germans in the alliance of Rome ; and not a confederacy of Gallic cities, which had revolted from the empire. [See above, note 15.] 40 This important digression of Procopius (de Bell. Gothic, 1. i. c. 12, in torn. ii. p. 29-36) illustrates the origin of the French monarchy. Yet I must observe, 1. That the Greek historian betrays an inexcusable ignorance of the geography of the West. 2. That these treaties and privileges, which should leave some lasting traces, are totally invisible in Gregory of Tours, the Salic laws, &c. 41 Regnum circa Rhodanum aut Ararim cum provincia Maseiliensi retinebant. Greg. Turon. 1. ii. c. 32, in torn. ii. p. 178. The province of Marseilles as far as gundian war. a-d 499