The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-04-15

Nll ~ NhN ~ k"f' WV NFh ~
or Greek type, but a COURAGEOUS attempt 10
solve q problem peculiar to the modern world
I, wa, a Christian Empire from one poin, OF
view. a state. from another. n Church the SUI
preme power Of both kind. beinc LODGED In the
hand. ~ one man II should not he regarded.
either a. a mere copy Of the system established
by Constantine the Great and his SUCCESSORS
In their case, q State already highly organized
and well compacted added 20 IT, strength by
DOMINIC q religious gsrb. Charles on the other
hand, found the Church towering In her prde
above stun,.d tribal soverelSnues. the recu-
lisri,y of HI. achievement i that be created
a state by expanding the Church, that he fused
together peoples hitherto loosely federated
or independent Of each other, bv makinS hs
power the representative Of the religion which
they held in Common The kingdom Of the
Church militant indeed. was a conception
older than Charles Even 30 was the Pan-iiel-
leuic idea older than Alexander the coSmo-
politAn. older than Julius Like his prede-
c~-sors. Charles took up and carried into exc
cutlon the thoughts OF other men. For him
II Is su~lcient credit that he grasped the best
IDEAS O! his time. In this respect he stands on
The same plane with the great heroes Of anca-
u'y, and hgh above those conouerors whose
gllIlnk SIAT WAS An lntSTlstil IfItptlh aAAbaA-'h
i, is neither .urprAins nor Inappropriate
tina, Charles the Great, administrator should
he hes, enemhered in after centuries not for
his practical craftsmanship which lad a sur
prisingly Sigh, influence upon his successors
but for his ecclesiastical innovations, The inter-
polaton OF the Nicene and the vulCarizaton
Of the Athana.isn creed for his vigorous
though Illogical and incomplete protest gains
the more degrading superstuons oi Eastern
Christianity. II i admitted by the author o.
this book tina, he was not a Frenchn.an, but II
i, also con,ended tina, he vas not a German.
II his training drew him 10 the la'ins his origin
bound him 10 the Teut0ns. HIS ASPIRATIONS
NAV. perhaps. ne termed LAIN he traditions
OF social and pol.uca. life 10 which he rendered
an unwaverlng homage are most certainly
Teu,onic. Both strains ne; ard mingled IN
h.s many-s.dsd nature. He belonged ~ TACT
n no na-ion Of modern growth hnl 10 the only
nation which. In hi dsy. deserved the name 10
that nation in which local ard RACIAL differences
we're suppressed " transcribed, the nation 81
the Catholic Church As 'he servant OF The
church. he humbled the Saxon. treated with
tie Dane and cowed The Slsy as the servant Of
.he CtNrch. he ed hs arInie-. first across the
Alps. and then across the Pyrenees Tie
civilization which he fostered was Catholic.
Ike ms religion. and the pstr.mony OF Chrlsten-
dom al larse.
II is a curious and interesting fact that TIE
only censures which. upon the death OF Charles
the Great Jared " I'll the chorl. q panecyrcs.
Proceeded from the Church IN the service o.
, Which the be-, yesrs Of the Emperor had been
spent. Two legends concerning him on which
she set the sea- Of her approval are both de-
predatory one told how The monk Victim
being carried over Purcatorv n a vision saO
Charles tortured there by the WORN wh.ct
d.eih not and iamen,nE 70, the sins which he
Lad committed N the n-sh The second q
spanish origin related that when hs virtues
were weighed acans, his wees the after would
have sunk the beam had not St james OF Com
| pos,ela thrown into the opposite scale The
| churches which his champion had huat. II =
certain that the Papacy lonC refused 10 canon
| ne the man who had exalted the secular above
| the spiritual power she cherished q deep
though unspoken resentment aGalnstthe mighty
fnperor whose examples O! contumao~ lad
nerved the HohenstalGen Il wa FREDERICK
Barbarossa who. al length. Obtained q place n
the calendar for Charlemacne and II was an
antelope who scceded to Us PRAYER Only a
Ghibeline poet. even in The fourteenth century
colld have set CharlemaEne in paradise by
the side Of Joshua and GODFREY Of Boulosne
That he ranked LutI the present century as q
father Of the Church, and that his name re-
NAMED Upon the roll OF SAM. mus, De attributed
entirely 70 the strength Of popular feeling In
hi favor and 20 the profound policy o. Loui,
NJ. who though, that the .des Of the French
monarchy could not lie better served than by
Ank!ng II with the name and ol.t Of Charlie
maSne In Mr Davis, opinion, the lalty
judged better than the priesthood The Ca'ho-
lie Church never had q more faithful servant
and the national Church Of Germany Was the
finest monument Of hi regime
Between the fall Of the CaroinSisn S. snc
the rs. Of the Holy Roman Empire %. there
interviewed & period O. seven'y-fve wear E'eI
apart from tins fact. there are two lnporIar
reasons for refusing 70 regard the latter as
continuation Of the former. The author q I'M
book points on, that the s. opposition q Charles III
Fat. the last 81 the Carolingian Emperor va
preceded by the treaty Of MeT-eu which >under
ed once for all tie political union %! Caul vii
Germany tina, had been the ruling idea ot ~
C~arolinS.an system. When OTTO the Urea
caused himself 10 be crow ned Emperor IL III
wear e6?. he ruled under that title only nv
Of the three great fragments into which III
realm Of Charemasne had fallen Through
out the duration ~ the Holy Roman Empire III
kingdom Of the Capets renamed 10 all intent
and purposes outside lie influence. From ~
second. as from the first imperial system Eng
land held aloof, but tbs was a much more SER
Gus fact in the tenth than Il had been IN N
eighth century. The ENGLAND q Ola had beef
weak aud divided The England "f Edsar Va
one ~ the most considerable States in Chris
tendon. Thus the claim q otto 70 universe
sovereignty, even IN the West was more pa
pshly q fiction than had been the claim O
Charles the Great
Again, there was a difference o, orSsh!zsuo'
between the two empires Charles was an auto
crat; N. only aristocracy which he recognize
wa one Of service. His vassa!s held tler land
during his good pleasure merely, ard over n
Inhabitants 0, those lands, they had no sover
Aisn rights excepthy special Gran'for their ow
lives. Only in matters Of private law id b
respect the sentiment ~ national independence
A, the end 81 his reign, two provinces aon'
Brittany ard Benevenuum. were ruled by he
rea'ary prince and these were al the yer
outskirts ~ bis realm The Slavonic tribe
~ the Eastern border nay he aGdIced a. az
p~arertlv an additional exception 70 tn, state
rcnt. For most practical purposes however
they were no part 81 the imperial sy.tem bu
merely a sphere % influence. What Rad bee
a rare exception In the Carolinsian realm NJ
came the rule under the second Or Holy Roma
! Empire. The latter asserted a nominal authoT'
Nshlv slperimposed upon pre-exisunr author
ties national feudal and municipal ltsr.ghts ove
them were slender IN theory and unprof'ab
In practice Its continued existence had hfI
) import Toy the material vel being n socief'
1 paneath fhasa ilNsranN~s. however, NAV :