ast breath, the want of skill or caution of their
general. [99] I touch with reverence the laws of Charlemagne, so highly
applauded by a respectable judge. They compose not a system, but a
series, of occasional and minute edicts, for the correction of abuses,
the reformation of manners, the economy of his farms, the care of his
poultry, and even the sale of his eggs. He wished to improve the laws
and the character of the Franks; and his attempts, however feeble and
imperfect, are deserving of praise: the inveterate evils of the
times were suspended or mollified by his government; [100] but in his
institutions I can seldom discover the general views and the immortal
spirit of a legislator, who survives himself for the benefit of
posterity. The union and stability of his empire depended on the life
of a single man: he imitated the dangerous practice of dividing his
kingdoms among his sons; and after his numerous diets, the whole
constitution was left to fluctuate between the disorders of anarchy and
despotism. His esteem for the piety and knowledge of the clergy tempted
him to intrust that aspiring order with temporal dominion and civil
jurisdiction; and his son Lewis, when he was stripped and degraded
by the bishops, might accuse, in some measure, the imprudence of his
father. His laws enforced the imposition of tithes, because the daemons
had proclaimed in the air that the default of payment had been the
cause of the last scarcity. [101] The literary merits of Charlemagne
are attested by the foundation of schools, the introduction of arts, the
works which were published in his name, and his familiar connection with
the subjects and strangers whom he invited to his court to educate
both the prince and people. His own studies were tardy, laborious,
and imperfect; if he spoke Latin, and understood Greek, he derived the
rudiments of knowledge from conversation, rather than from books;
and, in his mature age, the emperor strove to acquire the practice
of writing, which every peasant now learns in his infancy. [102] The
grammar and logic, the music and astronomy, of the times, were only
cultivated as the handmaids of superstition; but the curiosity of
the human mind must ultimately tend to its improvement, and the
encouragement of learning reflects the purest and most pleasing lustre
on the character of Charlemagne. [103] The dignity of his person, [104]
the length of his reign, the prosperity of his arms, the vigor of his
gov