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us of the Homeric battles. The qualities demanded of a military chieftain were just such as the Iliad celebrates in its heroes-personal strength, activity, and courage, skill in all athletic exercises, and ability to endure the hardships and brave the perils of a soldier's life, were deemed even more essential than that strategic skill which now constitutes the great and almost sole excellence of a commander. When we come to speak of the personal history of Charlemagne, we shall find abundant proofs of his possession of these qualities in an extraordinary degree.

The following statistical table, extracted from Guizot's History of Civilization in France, will give an idea of the number and frequency of his campaigns:

TABLE OF THE PRINCIPAL EXPEDITIONS OF CHARLEMAGNE.

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Observations.

He goes to the Dordogne.
He goes beyond the Weser,
He goes to Pavia and
Verona.

He takes Pavia and visits
Rome.

He goes to Treviso.

He goes to the sources of the Lippe.

the Arabs in He goes to Saragossa.

He goes to Osnabruck.

He goes to the Elbe.
He goes to the confluence
of the Weser and Aller,

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An analysis of this list gives the following results:

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Against the barbarous tribes settled in central Europe,
including Saxons, Huns, Avars, Sclaves, and Danes
Against the Mohammedans of Spain, Italy, and the
Mediterranean

Against the Lombards

Against the Bretons and Aquitani
Against the Greeks

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From this list are omitted various unimportant expeditions incidentally alluded to, but of which no distinct record remains; and those numerous intestine strifes among the Franks themselves, when the monarch had to repress anarchy, to punish disobedience, or to crush insurrection;

*Guizot's Lectures on the History of Civilization in France. Twentieth Lecture.

yet we must bear these in mind if we would adequately estimate the ceaseless activity and indomitable energy of Charlemagne.

The characteristic peculiarities of the wars of Charlemagne become evident as we thus present the record in a tabulated form. They were not mere feuds, carried on by tribe against tribe, as the contests of his predecessors had been; nor were they waged by nation against nation from motives of personal ambition and aggrandizement. They were, for the most part, directed against those hordes who had effected a settlement in the heart of Europe, who still continued as barbarous as their ancestors, and who, like them, were ready at any moment to pour down upon the more settled and peaceful districts, and in a moment undo all that had been done toward the establishment of civilization and order. They were virtually defensive wars, waged for the protection of the inseparably associated interests of civilization and Christianity, against the inroads of Mohammedan fanaticism on the one hand, and pagan barbarism on the other. This fact,

together with the small advances in civilization which even the conquerors had made, form the best apology which can be offered for the long and bloody campaigns in which Charlemagne was incessantly engaged.

Whilst the Christian historian cannot but abhor the spirit and condeinn the practice of war, yet candour compels us to confess that in manifold instances this terrible evil has been

made to work out good results. God has made even the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder of that wrath he has restrained. Thus the wars of Charlemagne, though bloody in their course, and disastrous in their immediate influence, did yet, under God's overruling providence, work out the following beneficial results for Europe.

1. They at once and permanently prevented any further barbarian inroad. Up to the time of Charlemagne, on the outskirts of the old Roman empire, and even within its boundaries, were vast wandering hordes of barbarians, only waiting some opportunity to follow in the path marked out by their ancestors, and precipitate themselves like an avalanche on the peaceful and settled provinces. Charlemagne, by his victories, erected a barrier against any future inroads. He compelled the Arabs, the Saxons, the Huns, and the Lombards, to remain within their own limits, and attempt no more expeditions into the territories of their peaceful neighbours. He thus gave to the nations of Europe those two grand requisites to all progress→→→ peace and security.

2. The victories of Charlemagne compelled the conquered barbarians themselves to cultivate the arts of peace. They had previously held all industrial pursuits in contempt. They lived solely for war and the chase. But when forced to abandon their predatory habits, and remain quietly within their own boundaries, they began to devote themselves to the pursuits

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