The New York herald., 1870-10-23
Tho strageie for Empire in Exropc-Tho
Rise Of a New Power.

The events which are now taking place in
Europe are peculiarly suggestive. They carry
MS forward, filing the mind with strange
doubts and fears regarding the future. They
carry ns back over the singularly tangled web
Of European history and bring us face to face
with situations not dissmiar to the present
We feel the truth Of the saying, History re-
peats Itself Once again, after a period of
comparative inactivity, the struggle for empire
has been resumed Once again the Popedom
is in serious trouble. Once again new Powers
and new leaders Of men rise to the surface.
And once more empire Sc ems to have changed
its centre.
Since the downfall Of the Roman empire of
the West-a downfall which was complete
before the close of the fifth century, contest
for supremacy has been leading feature Of
European history. In the course of this con-
test many nations have risen and fallen and
many great characters have figured Among
| the many great leaders whose names are asso-
| dated with the ascendancy Of particular
| nations prominence must be given to such
names as Charlemagne, Ohio the Great,
ShohiCS saO cAtu, AIOuib Vic rCuTtccutu auO
Napoleon Bonaparte. Each of those names
marks the climax Of nations greatness and
constitutes an epoch in the history of the West
ern world. From the fifth to near the middle
of the eighth century there was no over
shadowing Power in the West The Northern
barbarians, having done their terrible work.
forgot their warlike habits, and settled down
to enjoy the fruits of their conquests. In the
person of the Exarch Of Ravenna, who ruled
in name of his imperial master of Constantine
pie, the semblance of Roman unity and power
was feebly maintained. Gradually, however,
out of the debris of the fallen empire there arose
new Power. The Frankish kingdom had
steadily consolidated in spite of the feeble
rule of the descendants of Clovis. In the per-
sons of Charles Martel and his valiant son
Pepin, the mayors of the palace had become
more mighty than the monarchs; and for SER
vices rendered the Holy See Pope Stephen
the Second sanctioned the deposition of Chill
deric, the last of the long-haired Morovin-
gians, and in the Church of ST. Denys, with
much solemn ceremony, placed the crown of
Childeric on the head Of Pepin. 1t was not,
however, until the following reign that the
defunct empire of the West was for
mally re-establshed. The Holy See was
again in trouble. Charlemagne crossed
the Alps, delivered the Pope from
his enemies, and, on the festival of |
Christmas, the last year of the eighth century,
in the Church of st. Peter, Leo the Third placed |
upon his head precious crown and hailed |
him Emperor of the Romans. The large
donation of territory which had been made to
the Chair Of st. Peter by Pepin was confirmed;
solemnly restored the Bishop of Rome took his
place for the first time among the temporal
rulers of the world. In those donations of
territory by Pepin and Charlemagne we see
the foundation of that temporal power which
in recent years has been so fruitful source
of disturbance, and which within the last few
weeks it has been our privilege or our misfor-
tune to see disappear. In the course of his
long reign of forty six years Charlemagne de-
stroyed the Lombard kingdom, waged sue
ccssful war against the Saracens in Spain and
the Huns in Pannonia, and, although not with
out much of what seems to us unnecessary
cruelty, effectualy crushed his Saxon neigh
bors in the North. 1t was his privilege to re-
store the unity and to extend the limits Of the
Roman empire of the West His rule extended
from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, aud
from the Atlantic and the Ebro in Spain to the
Raab and the mouth of the Oder. In his own
day and generation Charlemagne stood peer
less and alone His figure towers up like a |
beacon upon waste or a rock in the broad
ocean. His sceptre, as one has well said,
was as the bow of Ulysses, which could not be
! drawn by any weaker hand. When the great
monarch died died too his magnificent empire.
Charlemagne died in 814. His vast
dominions, according to the custom of the
times, were divided among his sons and heirs
But his descendants held the reins with a
feeble grasp. The epithets of the Bard, the
Stammerer the Fat and the Simple, revealed
at once the characters of the men and the esi
nation in which they were held. The mighty
fabric fell, and the fall was great Europe was
chaos once more. Each successive generation
was feebler than its predecessor and from the
abdication of Charles the Fat to the acces-
sion Of Ohio the First, period of seventy
four years, the imperial throne may be
considered vacant, or rather the empire
defunct. In the year 936 Ohio the First, at
the age Of fourteen, ascended the throne of
Germany left vacant by the death of his
father, Henry, the Fowler The reign Of The
first Ohio, which lasted thirty years,
marked new epoch in the history Of Europe.
His reign was turbulent in the extreme.
Disturbed by enemies within his kingdom and
beset by foes without, he fought with and
overcame them all. The internal affairs of