signal aid from Vallia, king of the Visigoths, in subduing the Vandals of Spain, by the consent of the emperor Honorius, conferred on him the territory of the Second Aquitani,_ with some cities of the neighbouring provinces. Euric, the fourth king of the Visigoths, after Vallia, conquered Spain, and added it, with Arles and Marseilles, to his dominions. And as the lust of conquest, like that of gold, is never satisfied, observing the unsettled and weak state of the Roman empire, and that the people of Gaul were not able to make a formidable resistance, he resolved to subdue the whole country to his power. The emperor Anthemius opposed him with 12,000 Bretons, but he defeated them with great slaughter, and the remnant escaped into the neighbouring kingdom of Burgundy. But Euric was opposed by the Burgundians, who espoused the quarrel of the Romans, and was then in alliance with them, and he simply added Auvergne to his former territories.

The number of Goths who thus settled in Gaul was probably not more than 30,000 fighting men; and, including those who followed their army, with a view of settling in the conquered country, the total number may be estimated at about 100,000 souls. These and their descendants seem to have retained their original position in Gaul, without a diminution of their territories, or adding thereto, till they were conquered by Clovis. About that period one tribe of them, denominated the Getæ, driven to extremities by war, left their ill-gotten homes, and settled in South Britain.

THE BURGUNDIANS.

These people, originally a tribe of Vandals, appear to have settled some time between the Vistula and the Oder, where the duchy of Silesia now joins Upper Saxony. Under the emperor Probus they advanced towards the Rhine, and settled some time again betwixt the Elbe and the Weser. Thence, pressed by the Huns during the reigns of Theodosius 11. and Valentinian III., they crossed the Rhine, and about A.D. 424 occupied that region of Gaul still known by the names of Upper and Lower Burgundy.

An anonymous writer of that age* states, that the number of Burgundians amounted to 80,000 before they crossed the Rhine, and he adds that they were invited by the Romans, or Gauls, into that country. Socrates, in the Ecclesiastical History, however, informs us, that though originally powerful and numerous, they were reduced to about 3000 fighting men before they were able to settle in Gaul. They had again become powerful before the invasion and conquest of Gaul by Clovis, for they were able to contend with him for dominion, and in their own territories successfully to withstand his power.

On their entrance into Gaul, about A.D. 407, it is said that the Burgundians received instructions during seven days concerning the doctrines of the Christian faith, and that on the eighth they made an open confession of it by being baptized. Both the Burgundians and Visigoths took the name of Romans, and nominally professed subjection to the emperor of the West.

*In Collect. Hist. Canisii ex Idacio.

THE FRANKS.

The Franks, that is, brave or free men, were a people of Germany. They were not a distinct race, but a military federation, composed of several different tribes, which federation was formed for the defence of their liberty against invaders, in the remote hamlets of Westphalia and Lower Hessia, between the Dymel and the fields of Bavaria. The confederation was finally employed in subjecting to their dominion all that remained in Gaul of the Roman empire.

Warmund, or Pharamond, appears to have been the first of their chieftains who received the permanent title of king in Germany. The commencement of his reign is placed about A.D. 420. Clodio, Merovee, and Childeric succeeded Pharamond. Neither of these appear to have had any stable possessions in Gaul. They fought battles, and made some conquests, it is true; but their incursions were frequently checked, and their depredations often severely chastised. Towards the end of this century, however, the Italian Franks occupied the north-east part of Gaul, and extended their incursions as far as Paris. Their capital was Tournay. Other Frankish chiefs soon after held various parts of North Gaul; as Sigbert, king of Cologne; Cararic, king of the Morini; Rancarius, king of Cambrai, etc. But these latter obtained no permanent possessions in Gaul. It was reserved for Clovis, chief, or king of the Salian Franks, and who was the son and successor of Childeric, by a Thuringian queen, to subject Gaul to his dominion, and to become the founder of

the French empire. And who was it that ordered the event? In the annals of history, it is related as though brought about by the chances of war and the edge of the sword; but the psalmist

says

"Promotion cometh neither from the east,

Nor from the west, nor from the south.
But God is the Judge:

He putteth down one, and setteth up another."

Psa. lxxv. 6, 7.

CHAPTER II.

THE MEROVINGIAN DYNASTY.

A.D. 481-752.

Section I.

CLOVIS.

WHEN Rome was stripped of her dominion, the lieutenants in Gaul acknowledged the sway of the Constantinopolitan emperor. But the nations of the West received no assistance from thence in their difficulties; and there was soon raised up a contention for empire. Among those involved in this contention, was Chlodwig, or Clovis, who commenced his career, as chief, or king of the Salian Franks, about A.D. 481.

Clovis was at this time about twenty years of age; but he was possessed of genius and habits which qualified him for enterprise. He had acquired all that ferocity which characterized the age and country in which he lived. His mind was capable of forming extensive plans, and he possessed skill and perseverance to carry those plans into execution. `Firm in purpose, and fertile in expedient, he was equally patient in waiting, and prompt in seizing the proper season of action to accomplish his designs.

It was about the year 485 that Clovis com