2. II.
With the decay of Rome arose the stupendous genius
of the Gothic empire, happily imaged by Hercules, its
tutelar divinity. Auxiliaries first, then allies, the Visigoths
became at last, under Euric, protectors of the
Romans. The power of this monarch was prodigious.
In the language of history, as well as of the poet, the
North was excited or appeased by his nod; and Rome,
the proud and terrible, was content to receive the aid
and recognise the law, of a race it still continued to
consider as barbarian. At this period the Visigoths
were dreaded among the mightiest nations, even so remote
as Persia; and the oracle of history here pauses
to demand, to what magnitude would their power
have risen had Euric, under whom it grew, survived
till the maturity of his son Alaric, and had not the national
adversary been Clovis, the valiant and ambitious
genius, raised up, we may suppose as an especial agent,
for its control. France took rank with the death of
Euric. Alaric ascended the throne of the Visigoths
when a mere boy, and the circumstance stimulated the
bigoted Franks into hostile activity. They were orthodox
Catholics, the Visigoths were Arians. “It grieves
me,” cried Clovis to his warriors, “it grieves me to see
the Arians in possession of the fairest part of Gaul.
Let us march against them, and, with the aid of God,
vanquish these heretics, and divide their provinces.”
Bigotry and spoil, the common stimulants of war, had
their due influence. The proposition was received
with a unanimous shout of assent, and Clovis marched
upon his enemy. The two monarchs met near Poictiers;
a decisive battle took place,—the Visigoths were
defeated, and Alaric slain. The provinces were divided,
and the honours of the Catholic faith restored by the
strong arm in all those portions of Gaul from which the
Arian Goths had hitherto expelled it.
