olitary chapel of St. Stephen
marked the place where it formerly stood. From the Rhine and the
Moselle, Attila advanced into the heart of Gaul; crossed the Seine at
Auxerre; and, after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under
the walls of Orleans. He was desirous of securing his conquests by the
possession of an advantageous post, which commanded the passage of the
Loire; and he depended on the secret invitation of Sangiban, king of
the Alani, who had promised to betray the city, and to revolt from the
service of the empire. But this treacherous conspiracy was detected and
disappointed: Orleans had been strengthened with recent fortifications;
and the assaults of the Huns were vigorously repelled by the faithful
valor of the soldiers, or citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral
diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity and consummate
prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to support their
courage, till the arrival of the expected succors. After an obstinate
siege, the walls were shaken by the battering rams; the Huns had already
occupied the suburbs; and the people, who were incapable of bearing
arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously counted the days
and hours, despatched a trusty messenger to observe, from the rampart,
the face of the distant country. He returned twice, without any
intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort; but, in his third
report, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the
extremity of the horizon. "It is the aid of God!" exclaimed the bishop,
in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole multitude repeated after
him, "It is the aid of God." The remote object, on which every eye
was fixed, became each moment larger, and more distinct; the Roman and
Gothic banners were gradually perceived; and a favorable wind blowing
aside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons of
AEtius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans.

The facility with which Attila had penetrated into the heart of Gaul,
may be ascribed to his insidious policy, as well as to the terror of his
arms. His public declarations were skilfully mitigated by his private
assurances; he alternately soothed and threatened the Romans and the
Goths; and the courts of Ravenna and Thoulouse, mutually suspicious of
each other's intentions, beheld, with supine indifference, the approach
of their common enemy. AEtius was the sole guardian of