Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1860-02-29
Cb0iff 9iteratare.
THE DAuaHrER Of cHARIEMAaNE

=
were formed and destroyed, and which has
exercised an influence such as has been
felt for centuries, and has compelled sue
ceeding generations to admire its greatness,
though not to Justify all the acticns result
ing from it. Charlemagne, king Of the
Franks, and subsequently, Emperor Of the
West, was born in 742, in the castle ofl
Carisberg, on the ike of Wnrmsee, IN Up
ps5 5k 8azaElai blzs d A5ss STATE as RIEth h
Mentz, and othels at Aix.faaC aChaTpelIe.-
His father was Pepin the Short, king of
the Franks, and son of Charles Martei.
In the year 800, when Charlemagne
(until then called simply Charles or Karl,
who had been crowned king of the Franks
in 1881 had attained his ffty-eighth year,
he was crowned by Pope Leo H., and
made Emperor of the West He had ap-
peared in the church where his corona
ton took place, dressed simply as Roman
patrician. While he was engaged in the
act of prayer on the steps of the highest
altar of the chief church in Rome, Leo sud-
denly placed on his head crown of gold,
pronouncing the ancient formula used at
the coronation of Christian Emperor
"Glory and long life to Charles Augustus,
crowned by God as the great pacific En-
peror of the Romans" The clergy and as
sembled people repeated the words with
one voice, and the dome instantly resound-
ed with loud acclamations The Emperor
was then conseerated by his holiness, and
the Pope and mobiles present did him hom-
age. Charlemagne, on his part, swore to
maintain the faith and privileges of the
church, and made rich offerings at the
shrine of the apostles.
The sway of Charlemagne extended ovel
the entire realm Of France, with the excep
ton of Brittany and the Basque Provinces
which still maintained species Of wilo
freedom-oyer Germany and the far north
to the Baltic, including the dominion o
! Prussia, Poland, Bohemia, Bavaria anc
Switzerland, and at least nominal suver
anity over the country of the Huns to tn,
Danube; over the greater portion of Italy
tract extending thousand miles from
the Alps to the borders of Calabria, AM
over that part of Spain which runs from
the Pyrenees to the Ebro. Thus from ives
to east the empire stretched from the AT
! lantic to the Vistula, and from north t
south from the Baltic to tbh Mediterranean
The gpyernment Of thesal snmense regiGn
], required 10 ordinary p5ktical skill all
knowledge of human nature and it is th
talent and judgment which he displaye
in his civil administration which entitle
J Charlemagne to the rank which he hold
as a great historical character, more tha
do all his victories, or the magnitude
bis domains. Not that in the present da
all he did could be approved or tolcrate'
but, what was equally good or better-h
measures were adapted to the age wherei
he lived, and had the effect, rude and sa'
age we may now deem them, of at ONT
e planting the seeds of general civilizatio
and imparting an impulse to their growt
!. The barbarity of the age and the rud
ness of the manner of his day heightel
t his real merit. If we may not regard hi
D as philosopher, intellectually in advan'
V of his generation, he was at least sour
!, thinking and practical statesman; capab
# of tracing passing events to their cause
= and of drawing thence useful hints for Il
r conduct of the future, not in solitary insta
S ces, but throughout his long and arduo
If career. His means of achievement we
d incessant activity both of mind and bod
i and his great aim seems to have been Il
establishment of power which might t
e come the rich and peaceful heritage of |
: posteri:y, He sought. in fact, to find
IT dynasty, and to clear from the path of
a children the numerous obstacles which b
< impeded his grandfather, his father, a
e? himself
y, The Indignation of Charlemagne was {
is cited at beholding all things in his empi
g in most discovered, anarchial and brut
S? condition, and he devoted all his energ
SC to lessen their hideousness. A short ii
it after the death of his father, Charlemae
is welded daughter of Didier, notwithsta1
to ing the protestations of the Pope, who '
er scandalized at such an alliance with 'he
n tic For several years nothing occurred
ly interrupt the harmony existing betwe
rs? the king and his spouse; but eventna
n Charlemagne was smtten with the char
re of the beautiful Hildegarde, and in or
o to cspouse her he repudiated the daugh
lis of Didier; who, to avenge the wrong,
licited Adrian l., who had now succeed
le- Paul in the pontifcate, to consecrate
ne two sons of Carloman, (the younger bro
We er of Charlemagne,) and make them XII
ed of France. Adrian, however, was a W
be and sagacious man, and how small soc
set might have been the love he bore to
art ambitious Frank monarch, he inherited
lg, the hate of his predecessors against
,ur Lombards. He refused to do the bidd
nd of Didier, and the latter Immediately c,
me nenced hostilities against the Roman st
ley and marched at the head of large al
EN- to the gates of the holy city. adrian
by alarm, dispatched messengers to solicit
= aid of Charlemagne, and in the meant
Hb- barricaded the walls of st. Peters ,
- large bars of iron; manned the holy
est, and prepared to hold out to the last
,ns, tremity.
pes The result of the interference of Ch;
just magne was the fight of Didier. The Fl
uch monarch following the example of T.
, of doric, when he destroyed the domin
ion of the Heruli) left his generals to fo
his the operations of siege at Pavia, q
whence Didier had fec, J and occupied
self in reducing the surrounding coul
}. which fell without difficulty into his hs