nqueror. Without discipline it was impossible
for them to rally: they had contemptuously demolished the walls and
fortifications which might have protected their distress; and they were
followed into the heart of their forests by an enemy not less active, or
intrepid, than themselves. The great Theodoric congratulated the victory
of Clovis, whose sister Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married;
but he mildly interceded with his brother in favor of the suppliants
and fugitives, who had implored his protection. The Gallic territories,
which were possessed by the Alemanni, became the prize of their
conqueror; and the haughty nation, invincible, or rebellious, to the
arms of Rome, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Merovingian kings,
who graciously permitted them to enjoy their peculiar manners and
institutions, under the government of official, and, at length, of
hereditary, dukes. After the conquest of the Western provinces, the
Franks alone maintained their ancient habitations beyond the Rhine. They
gradually subdued, and civilized, the exhausted countries, as far as the
Elbe, and the mountains of Bohemia; and the peace of Europe was secured
by the obedience of Germany.

Till the thirtieth year of his age, Clovis continued to worship the gods
of his ancestors. His disbelief, or rather disregard, of Christianity,
might encourage him to pillage with less remorse the churches of a
hostile territory: but his subjects of Gaul enjoyed the free exercise of
religious worship; and the bishops entertained a more favorable hope
of the idolater, than of the heretics. The Merovingian prince had
contracted a fortunate alliance with the fair Clotilda, the niece of the
king of Burgundy, who, in the midst of an Arian court, was educated in
the profession of the Catholic faith. It was her interest, as well
as her duty, to achieve the conversion of a Pagan husband; and Clovis
insensibly listened to the voice of love and religion. He consented
(perhaps such terms had been previously stipulated) to the baptism of
his eldest son; and though the sudden death of the infant excited some
superstitious fears, he was persuaded, a second time, to repeat the
dangerous experiment. In the distress of the battle of Tolbiac, Clovis
loudly invoked the God of Clotilda and the Christians; and victory
disposed him to hear, with respectful gratitude, the eloquent Remigius,
bishop of Rheims, who forcibly displayed the temporal and spiritual
advantages o