f his conversion. The king declared himself satisfied of the
truth of the Catholic faith; and the political reasons which might have
suspended his public profession, were removed by the devout or loyal
acclamations of the Franks, who showed themselves alike prepared to
follow their heroic leader to the field of battle, or to the baptismal
font. The important ceremony was performed in the cathedral of Rheims,
with every circumstance of magnificence and solemnity that could impress
an awful sense of religion on the minds of its rude proselytes. The new
Constantine was immediately baptized, with three thousand of his warlike
subjects; and their example was imitated by the remainder of the _gentle
Barbarians_, who, in obedience to the victorious prelate, adored the
cross which they had burnt, and burnt the idols which they had formerly
adored. The mind of Clovis was susceptible of transient fervor: he was
exasperated by the pathetic tale of the passion and death of Christ;
and, instead of weighing the salutary consequences of that mysterious
sacrifice, he exclaimed, with indiscreet fury, "Had I been present at
the head of my valiant Franks, I would have revenged his injuries." But
the savage conqueror of Gaul was incapable of examining the proofs of
a religion, which depends on the laborious investigation of historic
evidence and speculative theology. He was still more incapable of
feeling the mild influence of the gospel, which persuades and purifies
the heart of a genuine convert. His ambitious reign was a perpetual
violation of moral and Christian duties: his hands were stained with
blood in peace as well as in war; and, as soon as Clovis had dismissed
a synod of the Gallican church, he calmly assassinated _all_ the princes
of the Merovingian race. Yet the king of the Franks might sincerely
worship the Christian God, as a Being more excellent and powerful than
his national deities; and the signal deliverance and victory of Tolbiac
encouraged Clovis to confide in the future protection of the Lord of
Hosts. Martin, the most popular of the saints, had filled the Western
world with the fame of those miracles which were incessantly performed
at his holy sepulchre of Tours. His visible or invisible aid promoted
the cause of a liberal and orthodox prince; and the profane remark of
Clovis himself, that St. Martin was an expensive friend, need not be
interpreted as the symptom of any permanent or rational scepticism. But
earth, as