consider the historical consequences,) on the customary divisions in
the Frankish or Carlovingian Empire, and the other German states, men
forget that according to the old Germanic idea, a kingdom was nothing
more than any other great family estate, or princely inheritance, and
governed, like these, by the same law of descent. This was so from the
earliest times among both the principal races of the Germans. In this
manner we find the nation of the Goths divided into two kingdoms; and
as the Saxons were with difficulty united under one head in their own
ancestral country on the Northern coast of Germany; so in the England
which they had conquered and newly peopled, we find seven
principalities or petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxons co-existent with one
another; and these were only by accident reduced to a less number, and
but for a time blended into one sovereignty. We often ascribe to the
men, and to the spirit of those times, pretensions quite
inappropriate, inapplicable, and perfectly modern. So possessed are we
with the notion of our times as to the natural and eternal boundaries
of this or that country, of the predestination of a people to
political unity, or of the necessary national unity of every
state--notions or prejudices which are held as so many mathematical
axioms, in which we make the highest idea of policy to consist, to
which we ascribe an inviolable sanctity, and which in our reverence,
and in some cases, we might almost say--idolatry, we exalt above every
thing else, and would make every thing else subservient to. To the
simplicity of those ancient times, the excellence and advantages of a
mild, domestic, paternal, national sovereignty for the more convenient
administration of smaller states, appeared great, and superior to
every other consideration. Thus those who had to decide of themselves,
and without the imperious call of duty--without the feeling of a
strong necessity for undertaking, even at the sacrifice of a part at
least of their own national welfare, the heavy burden of the imperial
office, in that Christian empire evidently established by divine
Providence for the protection of the church, and all the nations
belonging to it;--without this strong feeling of duty, I say, they
never would have deviated from the good old simple usage of dividing
the royal patrimony. The more so indeed as the glory they sought was
rather of a chivalrous kind, consequently purely personal; and that
favourite idol of modern times--national vanity, was perfectly unknown
to them. Their institution, certainly, would not be adapted to our
times; nor was it even suited to those immediately succeeding; but an
age to be judged aright and duly appreciated, must be estimated by its
own standard, and the opinions proper to it. That even a division of
sovereignty and partition of kingdoms is not incompatible with the
external union of the body politic for one general design, so long as
the potentates are animated by a Christian and brotherly feeling, and
a spirit of union as to this one object--the all-uniting bond of
confederacy; is a truth which may be proved by many pleasing and
glorious examples from the history of the earlier middle age, and from
that of Germany especially. If on the one hand we would lay it down as
a general historical law, and axiom of state, that separated or
divided kingdoms and countries can never combine for one common
object, nor remain permanently united in feeling nor Christian
equity--so on the other hand, we must remember that the division of
nations according to certain natural boundaries, which we would fain
regard as the only perfect and absolutely right one, is like the
quadrature of the circle, a problem eluding all calculation, and
remaining for ever insoluble, since each one, according to his
peculiar political position, or national prejudices, views those
eternal boundaries in a different light, and determines them
differently. Thus in order to put an end to all discord and to the
injurious system of partition, nothing would remain but the vulgar
resource of an universal monarchy and military dominion--a resource
which as often as it has been tried, has been as little justified or
recommended by its historical results, as that custom of partition
which prevailed in the German ancestral kingdoms of the earlier middle
age.
The dangers of a bitter family feud, or of the mutual jealousies of
the heirs to the several kingdoms as to their respective portions,
when these grew to any considerable extent, were early enough
perceived. It is to be observed that in the first division of the
great Carlovingian empire into three parts, designed by Charlemagne
himself, but accomplished only under his feebler successor; the
inheritance assigned to the eldest and imperial brother--Lothaire, was
together with Rome and Italy, the Rhenish district situate between
France on the one side, and the interior of Germany on the other, and
extending from Switzerland to the sea--a district where the Romans had
planted many and most flourishing colonies, and which for many ages
back had been far superior in civilization and refinement to the
countries on either side. With the same prospective care, Charlemagne
had already fixed his residence at Aix-la-Chapelle, preferring the
Rhenish province as the then true seat of civilization. But in the
family quarrel and dissensions which ensued, this measure of
Charlemagne as far as it was intended, had no other permanent effect
than to cause amid the partitions of countries and changes of dynasty,
the continuance down to very modern times, of Lorraine as an
independent kingdom or dutchy. The Rhenish district long preserved its
pre-eminence in refinement above the rest of Germany; and with some
external changes, was long the seat of empire.
In that dark old world of the North, on which Christianity was just
beginning to dawn, no monarch after Charlemagne, shone so
conspicuously as the virtuous Alfred, King of the West Saxons in
England. And the same remark is applicable not only to him, but to
England in general, which during this first Christian period of modern
history, far outshone all other countries in literature and science,
as well as in religion, piety, and virtue. The great Pope, St.
Gregory, as I have already mentioned, laid the foundations of
Christianity and intellectual refinement in England, whither he sent
forty Missionaries; and so active was their zeal and efficacious
their influence, that in the succeeding age, this first school of
Christianity in England sent forth to other countries the most eminent
men of their time. Such were the German apostle and bishop, St.
Boniface, and Alcuin, the learned friend and confidant of Charlemagne.
Besides many Latin writers produced by this yet flourishing English
school, the great Christian Philosopher Scotus Erigena, lived in
England in the time of Alfred; and though this philosopher was perhaps
not quite free from speculative error, he was far superior to his own
age, and in the depth and originality of his conceptions, was not
equalled, and certainly not surpassed for many succeeding centuries.
King Alfred, who though a bard and a writer in his own native speech,
prized equally the Latin literature, and who defended his country
against the Danes with the most perseverant valour, was the first
founder of the English constitution; for with the wisdom and pacific
spirit of a lawgiver, he restored the old Saxon rights and privileges,
and the regulations relating to the cities and the different orders of
the state. It was his virtuous courage, which in the most trying
adversity, ever remained cool and collected, that alone rescued the
isle of freedom from the fierce, impetuous power of the Danes.
The successful naval expeditions of the Normans to all the coasts of
Europe, as far as Sicily and even beyond it, and the incursion of the
Magiars into Europe, where they received the name of Hungarians, form
in the ninth century the close, and are, as it were, the last
reverberation, of the great immigration of the Northern nations, and
must on that account not be entirely passed over in silence. This last
maritime migration from the North began with a powerful and
enterprizing ruler of Norway, the fair-haired Harold; and these naval
expeditions which were undertaken, not merely from motives of vulgar
piracy, or of martial adventure, but for the foundation and permanent
settlement of new states, soon scoured all the coasts and regions of
the Northern ocean, as well as of the Mediterranean sea. The province
in France which these freebooters conquered, the French acknowledged
by the title of duchy of Normandy; and they were glad enough thus to
bind it to their king by the homage of fealty, and to attach it to, if
not to incorporate it with, their kingdom. Called to Naples and Sicily
by the Greeks, who demanded their aid against the Saracens, the
Normans there founded for themselves a kingdom of long duration. After
Christianity had introduced into Denmark a better system of government
and legislation, the powerful Danish monarch, Canute the Great, ruled
over England during this period of the Norman sway; till at last,
after a short interval of contest, another Norman, William the
Conqueror, issuing from France, founded a new dynasty in England, and
established on the basis of the old free Saxon constitution, a high
chivalrous aristocracy.
From the remotest part of Eastern Asia, situate between the Uzi and
the Patzinacites, an emigration of nations took a Westward course
towards the country of the Chazars, and at last led the nation of the
Magiars from their original seat to Pannonia, where, according to the
testimony of contemporary writers, the Avars, the descendants of the
ancient Huns, still lived under their Chagan. Once excited into
tumultuous activity, these Hungarians (who were still Pagans) roved as
far as the North of Italy, and down to Thessalonica in Greece, and to
the very neighbourhood of Constantinople; they then advanced westward
in large squadrons far into the interior of Germany, even to Saxony.
It was here that the noble King Henry the First, opposed a vigorous
resistance to their incursions, and Otho the Great put a final term to
the progress of their arms by the victory on the banks of the Lech.
Christianity, which was introduced into Hungary under Geisa, the
father of King Stephen, established a milder system of manners and of
legislation; a system which St. Stephen by a close union with Germany,
brought to full maturity. At the same period, Poland under the happy
influence of the Christian religion, which introduced here a better
system of manners and legislation, was incorporated into the civilized
community of the European nations, and with Germany in particular,
formed a very close political connexion. It is particularly pleasing
to observe the very beneficial influence of Christianity in the
promotion of agriculture, and in the advancement of intellectual
refinement in the Northern vallies of Sweden, during the reigns of
Olaus and St. Eric; when the old Hall of Odin at Upsal was finally
destroyed, and the new religion obtained the victory.
During the period of the Norman glory, the Russians (a populous and
widely spread Sclavonian nation, inhabiting the vast and ancient
Sarmatia, formerly governed by the Goths) called to their assistance
the Varangians, who established a new dynasty at Novogorod. Either
from this circumstance, or from the former dominion of the Goths, the
country was by the neighbouring Finnish tribes afterwards called
Gothland. Russia received Christianity at the hands of the
Byzantines--and thus in its remote North, remained a stranger to the
Catholic West--the more so, indeed, as the country, invaded and
desolated by the Moguls, long groaned under the oppressive yoke of
these barbarians--till at length, in very recent times, and in the
very struggle of regeneration, it has grown up into a mighty power.
Thus the whole circuit of the Christian West, and all the kingdoms it
included, was now tolerably well filled up; and it then consisted of
ten principal countries or nations; but in forming this estimate we
must not attend to minuter subdivisions or mere national varieties,
or to the frequent partitions of kingdoms, and alterations of
territory, amid various conflicting or successive dynasties; but we
should keep in view only the general and permanent outline of the
European states. Germany and Italy, which were respectively the seats
of the Christian empire and the Papal dignity, formed the centre of
Europe. Along with these two states, France and England were the most
active, the most powerful, and the most influential members of the
European commonwealth; while Spain was principally occupied with her
own domestic contests against the Saracens. The Scandinavian countries
were somewhat connected with the Germanic Empire, and Poland and
Hungary, after they had embraced Christianity, were united with that
empire in the closest bonds. Lastly, in the far Northern and Eastern
extremities of Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the kingdom of the
Muscovites, (closely connected by the ties of religion,) formed the
extreme and remotest members of the Christian Republic. Such was the
geographical extent, and such the historical situation of Christendom
at that period.
After the downfal of the Carlovingian family, the empire was restored
to its pristine vigour by the election of the noble Conrad, Duke of
the Franconians. This pious, chivalrous, wise and valiant monarch had
to contend with many difficulties, and fortune did not always smile
upon his efforts. But he terminated his royal career with a deed,
which alone exalts him far above other celebrated conquerors and
rulers, and was attended with more important consequences to
after-times, than have resulted from many brilliant reigns; and this
single deed, which forms the brightest jewel in the crown of glory
that adorns those ages, so clearly reveals the true nature of
Christian principles of government, and the Christian idea of
political power, that I may be permitted to notice it briefly. When he
felt his end approaching, and perceived that of the four principal
German nations, the Saxons alone by their superior power, were capable
of bringing to a successful issue the mighty struggle in which all
Europe was at that critical period involved, he bade his brother carry
to Henry Duke of Saxony, hitherto the rival of his house, and who was
as magnanimous as fortunate, the holy lance and consecrated sword of
the ancient kings, with all the other imperial insignia. He thus
pointed him out as the successor of his own choice, and in his regard
for the general weal, and in his anxiety to maintain a great pacific
power capable of defending the common interests of Christendom, he
disregarded the suggestions of national vanity, and sacrificed even
the glory of his own house. So wise and judicious, as well as heroic a
sacrifice of all selfish glory, for what the interests of society, and
the necessities of the times evidently demand, is that principle which
forms the very foundation, and constitutes the true spirit of all
Christian government. And by this very deed Conrad became after
Charlemagne, the second restorer of the Western Empire, and the real
founder of the German nation; for it was this noble resolve of his
great soul which alone saved the Germanic body from a complete
dismemberment. The event fully justified his choice. The new King
Henry, victorious on every side, laboured to build a great number of
cities, to restore the reign of peace and justice, and to maintain the
purity of Christian manners and Christian institutions; and
prepared for his mightier son, the great Otho, the Restoration of the
Christian Empire in Italy, whither the latter was loudly and
unanimously called. This first age of the Saxon Emperors was the happy
period wherein Germany possessed the greatest power and resources, and
enjoyed great internal peace and prosperity. It is in this period,
too, that we trace the first beginnings of mental refinement, in many
excellent and remarkable productions of the Latin school, which were
soon succeeded by the successful cultivation of the vernacular tongue.
Quite as unhistorical, and even still more absurd than the reproaches
urged against the Carlovingians for their impolitic partition of the
Empire, are those repeated lamentations and eternal regrets in which
modern historians indulge, whenever they have occasion to notice the
frequent expeditions of the German Kings and Emperors to Rome and
Italy, and the connection which subsisted between the German nation
and the Christian Imperial Dignity--a connection which these writers
consider a great misfortune. They do not enter into the true idea of
this dignity--they do not comprehend the urgent need of those times
for an universal Protectorate, which might, like a bulwark, defend
Europe against internal anarchy, and the invasions of barbarous
nations; and which might prevent the light of Christianity from being
perhaps extinguished in a second night of universal barbarism. The
modern critics of those ancient times cannot understand that high
Christian feeling--that exalted principle of self-devotion, whereby a
nation from its internal strength and natural situation, was called by
the general voice to take on itself this burden for the common weal,
and to be the firm sustaining centre of the European system--a calling
which must necessarily occasion a mighty loss and heavy sacrifice of
repose and prosperity to the nation so undertaking the momentous
charge. Without this firm central power, which held together the
European nations, they would, yielding at the first shock, have
succumbed under the attacks of the Mahometans or Moguls.
Without this central power, Europe would have been broken up into a
multitude of petty states, and have sunk into eternal and irremediable
anarchy; whereas now, great as might be at times the confusion, and
fearfully wild the spirit of warfare, there was always a resource and
a remedy against such calamities. As the religious vow of the knight
dignified his duties into a sort of ecclesiastical warfare; so the
high functions of the Emperor were considered as partly
ecclesiastical, and he was looked on as the sworn liegeman of Almighty
God, intrusted with the high sword of universal justice. It was the
exalted idea of this arduous and momentous charge, far more than
schemes of selfish ambition and idle glory, that filled up the lives
of the most active and powerful of those ancient emperors. Hence this
common regard for the general welfare of Christendom, which the
obligations of their respective stations imposed upon them, produced a
very intimate union between the heads of the spiritual and temporal
authority in Europe, and placed them in a state of mutual dependance.
When the mighty emperor, Otho the Great, had been called into Italy,
and had witnessed with his own eyes the state of general corruption
and degeneracy at Rome, where among the baronial factions which
surrounded the Papal chair, one of the more powerful families sought
by the most culpable intrigues to obtain a lasting, and as it were,
hereditary possession of the holy see; he exerted his imperial
authority, and deposed the Pope, who by means so unlawful had obtained
his dignity, and on whom the general voice of the age had long
pronounced a sentence of condemnation, causing a worthier Pontiff to
be elected in his room. There still existed among those of the same
mind in Christendom, an unerring feeling, whereby the righteousness or
unrighteousness of any action, its real spirit and purpose, were
easily and promptly determined without any anxious regard to mere
outward forms. But when that uniformity of feeling had disappeared,
and with it feeling itself had ceased to be a ruling principle of
public and political life, the standard of political estimation rested
almost exclusively on outward forms, and the contentious point of law
involved in those forms; and as in every historical fact men saw but a
precedent fertile of application, or even dangerous in its
consequences, they no longer formed a pure historical judgment on the
general spirit of any great action, and they almost lost the very
notion of such a thing. The whole world at that time was unanimous in
justifying the conduct of the great Otho in that affair. When however
the clergy of Rome, in their first feelings of gratitude and
admiration at their deliverance from intolerable anarchy, and the
toils of an unworthy family, conferred on the emperor the future and
permanent power of choosing the Pope, it might have been easily
foreseen that so extended a prerogative, little compatible as it was
with the independence of the church, would in the sequel provoke a
strong reaction. This accordingly took place about a hundred years
later, when a man of great energy of character, Pope Gregory VII.
arose to reform the church, and achieve its independence against the
many unlawful encroachments of the secular power. And when a prince,
distinguished indeed for his warlike qualities, but utterly
characterless and animated with an unquiet spirit, who, according to
the unanimous testimony of his contemporaries, had incurred many and
most serious charges; when this prince first attacked and deposed the
Pope, and the latter laid him under an excommunication, the conduct of
the Pontiff was not only in strict accordance with the general opinion
of the age as to the mischievous rule of this secular potentate; but
was quite conformable to the then prevailing doctrine of public law,
which sanctioned the responsibility and accountability of the temporal
power. Hence, Henry IV. found it more expedient to loose himself from
this excommunication by a feint submission, than to impugn it by open
force; although he never afterwards ceased persecuting the Pope, whose
constancy was proved in adversity and persecution. In our own times,
justice has been at last rendered to the great qualities of this
Pontiff, and it has been allowed he was perfectly free from all
selfish views, and that the austere and decisive energy of his
character sprang from no other motive than a burning zeal for the
reform of the church and of mankind. The German historians in
particular, and in truth those on the Protestant side, have been the
first to perform this act of justice; and the name of Gregory VII. who
lived in times so different from our own, has long ceased to be with
the Germans a watch-word for party strife.