y. In the midst of
the barbarous ages, during which the conqueror and warrior swayed the
sceptre of empire, and kings and petty tyrants acknowledged no other
right but that of force, it was the Popes that opposed their authority,
like a wall of brass, to the sensuality and the passions of the mighty
ones of the earth, and stood forth as the protectors of innocence and
outraged virtue, as the champions of the rights of women, against the
wanton excesses of tyrannical husbands, by enforcing, in their full
severity, the laws of Christian marriage. If Christian Europe is not
covered with harems, if polygamy has never gained a foothold in Europe,
if, with the indissolubility and sanctity of matrimony, the palladium of
European civilization has been saved from destruction, it is all owing
to the Popes. "If the Popes"--says the Protestant Von Mueller--"if the
Popes could hold up no other merit than that which they gained by
protecting monogamy against the brutal lusts of those in power,
notwithstanding bribes, threats, and persecutions, that alone would
render them immortal for all future ages."

And how had they to battle till they had gained this merit? What
sufferings had they to endure, what trials to undergo? When King
Lothair, in the ninth century, repudiated his lawful wife in order to
live with a concubine, Pope Nicholas I. at once took upon himself the
defence of the rights and of the honor of the unhappy wife. All the arts
of an intriguing policy were plied, but Nicholas remained unshaken;
threats were used, but Nicholas remained firm. At last the king's
brother, Louis II., appears with an army before the walls of Rome, in
order to compel the Pope to yield. It is useless--Nicholas swerves not
from the line of duty. Rome is besieged; the priests and people are
maltreated and plundered; sanctuaries are desecrated; the cross is torn
down and trampled under foot, and, in the midst of these scenes of blood
and sacrilege, Nicholas flies to the Church of St. Peter; there he is
besieged by the army of the Emperor for two days and two nights; left
without food or drink, he is willing to die of starvation on the tomb of
St. Peter, rather than yield to a brutal tyrant, and sacrifice the
sanctity of Christian marriage, the law of life of Christian society.
And the perseverance of Nicholas I. was crowned with victory. He had to
contend against a licentious king, who was tired of restraint; against
an emperor, who, with an army at