. The proper meaning of it is _father_; in short, it is nothing
else than the word _papa_, which children among ourselves use in
speaking to their fathers. This title of pope (or father), then, was at
first given to all bishops; but, by degrees, it came to be confined in
its use; so that, in the east, only the bishops of Rome and Alexandria
were called by it, while in the west it was given to the bishop or
patriarch of Rome alone.

CHAPTER XXIII.

FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE.

A.D. 451-476.

The empire of the west was now fast sinking. One weak prince was at the
head of it after another, and the spirit of the old Romans, who had
conquered the world, had quite died out. Immense hosts of barbarous
nations poured in from the north. The Goths, under Alaric, who took Rome
by siege, in the reign of Honorius, have been already mentioned.[41]
Forty years later, Attila, King of the Huns, who was called "The scourge
of God," kept both the east and the west in terror. In the year 451, he
advanced as far as Orleans, and, after having for some time besieged it,
he made a breach in the wall of the city. The soldiers of the garrison,
and such of the citizens as could fight, had done their best in the
defence of the walls; those who could not bear arms betook themselves to
the churches, and were occupied in anxious prayer. The bishop, Anianus,
had before earnestly begged that troops might be sent to the relief of
the place; and he had posted a man on a tower, with orders to look out
in the direction from which succour might be hoped for. The watchman
twice returned to the bishop without any tidings of comfort; but the
third time he said that he had noticed a little cloud of dust as far off
as he could see. "It is the aid of God!" said the bishop; and the
people who heard him took up the words, and shouted, "It is the aid of
God!" The little cloud, from being "like a man's hand" (1 _Kings_ xviii.
44), grew larger and drew nearer; the dust was cleared away by the wind,
and the glitter of spears and armour was seen; and just as the Huns had
broken through the wall, and were rushing into the city, greedy of
plunder and bloodshed, an army of Romans and allies arrived and forced
them to retreat. After having been thus driven from Orleans, Attila was
defeated in a great battle near Chalons, on the river Marne, and
withdrew into Germany.

[41] Page 93.

In the following year (452), Attila invaded Italy, where he caused great
con