and the holy apostolic see. Then, at the head of his army, Pepin crossed the Alps; but on the promise of Astolphus, the Lombard monarch, to restore to the Pope the territory that he had conquered from him, he returned into France. Far from keeping his word, Astolphus ravaged the Roman territory and laid siege to the city. Being summoned by the Pope, Pepin flew to his relief, and forced the Lombard to deliver up to the Pope, the Exarchate, the Pentapolis, and all the cities, castles, and territories, which he had seized in the dukedom of Rome.

Pepin was succeeded by Charlemagne his son. Desiderius the successor of Astolphus, dispossessed Pope Adrian the successor of Stephen II., of part of the papal possessions; but Charlemagne, interfering, took Desiderius prisoner, and put an end to the kingdom of the Lombards in Italy. Charlemagne confirmed to the Pope and to his successors the grants which his father had made.

Towards the end of the year 800, at the Pope's request, Charlemagne advanced to Rome at the head of an army. On Christmas day, while he was praying at the tomb of St. Peter, the Pope, accompanied by the bishops, the clergy, the nobility, and a numerous body of the Roman people, placed on the head of Charlemagne, a crown of gold; and the people shouted" long live Charles, the most pious, august, great, and pacific emperor, crowned of God. Life and conquest to him!" The Pope anointed him emperor of the west, and did him homage. The emperor, then, took the following

oath; "I, Charles, emperor, promise in the name of Jesus Christ, before God, and the apostle St. Peter, that I will always defend the Roman church against all; as far as God gives me strength and favour." Immediately, in imitation of the eastern emperor, he took the name of consul and dated his acts from his own indiction. Thus, after an extinction of more than three centuries, the Roman empire, in the west, was restored in the person of Charlemagne.

The empire of Charlemagne comprised that part of Spain which lies between the Ebro and the Pyrenees; the three Gauls, or the countries between the ocean, the Pyrenees, the Rhine, and the Rhone; that part of Germany which lies between the Rhine and the Oder; the largest portion of the Austrian dominions on the southern side of the Danube; and the whole of Italy, from the Alps to Beneventum.

On the death of Charlemagne the empire descended to his son, Louis le Debonnaire. He, in his life-time, divided it among his three sons, who quarrelled immediately after his decease. At the battle of Fontenai, in which almost all the ancient nobility of France perished, Louis and Charles the Bald obtained a victory over their elder brother Lothaire; but through the intervention of the few surviving nobles, the three princes agreed to a division of the vast territories of their grandfather. Thus the

Francic empire terminated. Under these circumstances, the house of Charlemagne declined rapidly. In Italy, immediately upon the abdication of Charles le Gros, the kingdom was seized

by Guy, duke of Spolletto, and Berenger, duke of Fruili; who both, were descended from Charlemagne by the female side.

In Germany, upon the abdication of Charles le Gros, the people from respect for the memory of Charlemagne, conferred the crown, first, on Arnold a son of Carloman, king of Bavaria, and after Arnold's decease, on Louis his son. Upon the death of Louis, they elected a duke of Franconia for their king; to whom succeeded a Saxon line of princes. In France, the same respect for the memory of Charlemagne, preserved the throne longer to his descendants. Finally, on the death of Louis V., who left no son, Hugh Capet, duke of France and count of Paris and Orleans, wrested the French sceptre from them. Butler.

CHARACTER OF CHARLEMAGNE.

In the midst of a dark age Charles shone forth with extraordinary lustre, as a hero, amonarch, and a legislator. He was, therefore, deservedly named Charlemagne, Carolus Magnus, Charles the Great.

Pope Leo III. placed the imperial crown of the West on his head, and Nicephorus, emperor of the East, dared not dispute his right. But Charlemagne possessed ornaments of far superior value to the purple and the sceptre. He was eminent for bodily strength and stature; but he was yet more distinguished for mental abilities

and accomplishments. The father of his people the patron of the arts and sciences, he held the balance of justice, and the rod of power with a steady even hand. By setting a good example in his own conduct, by founding useful institutions, by cherishing men of literature; by diffusing, as far as he could, the advantages of education, by establishing wise laws and regulations, he laboured to enlighten the understandings, to amend the hearts, and to polish the manners, of his numerous subjects. He had the magnanimity to lessen the despotic authority which, in that age of darkness, was attached to royalty, by re-establishing the ancient national assemblies under the name of parliaments, and by giving them a share in the legislation and government of the country. Perpetually journeying through the wide extent of the empire, he saw every thing with his own eyes, and very seldom did corruption or abuse of power escape his notice, and his avenging hand. Yet even

this admirable monarch was not without some blemishes of character. He exercised extreme cruelty towards the Saxons, a brave but savage people, whose natural love of liberty, and attachment to a superstition, in the reverence of which they had been brought up from infancy, urged them to oppose his career of conquest, and to resist a conversion to Christianity which the misguided zeal of Charlemagne, or his mistaken policy, led him to attempt to impose upon them sword in hand. He likewise manifested great severity towards the king of Lombardy,

Desiderius, or Didier, whom, in defence of the holy see, he had vanquished and made prisoner. 'The fame of this excellent monarch reached the remote regions of Asia. From Bagdad, the illustrious Saracenic Caliph, Haroun Alraschid, sent ambassadors and magnificent presents, and curious works of art, to Charlemagne, courting his friendship and alliance.

Charlemagne died, A.D. 814, in the fortyseventh year of his reign, and the seventy-second of his life.

Introduction to Modern History.

PHILIP AUGUSTUS.- LOUIS IX.

PHILIP AUGUSTUS was one of the most politic and prosperous princes that ever swayed the sceptre of France. At his accession, that kingdom possessed but little political importance.

The kings of France were not much more than sovereigns of Paris. The king of England was in possession of almost the half of the French kingdom, and the rest of the provinces were divided among a number of powerful vassals, over whom the monarch held only a nominal sovereignty. In consequence of the annexation of Normandy to the crown of England, France was almost as much dismembered and depressed as under the successors of Clovis and Charlemagne.

Philip Augustus began his reign by reducing