nks, and feeding the bitter grass among
their shallows, there was indeed a preparation, and _the only
preparation possible_, for the founding of a city which was to be set
like a golden clasp on the girdle of the earth, to write her history on
the white scrolls of the sea-surges, and to word it in their thunder,
and to gather and give forth, in world-wide pulsation, the glory of the
West and of the East, from the burning heart of her Fortitude and
Splendor.

CLOVIS FOUNDS THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS: IT BECOMES CHRISTIAN

A.D. 486-511

FRANCOIS P.G. GUIZOT

Clovis, the sturdy Frank, wrought marvellous changes in Gaul. His
marriage to the Christian princess Clotilde was followed by the
conversion of himself and, gradually, that of his people. With a
well-disciplined army he pulled down and swept away the last
pillars of Roman power out of Gaul. Guizot gives a graphic account
of the transition of the Franks, during two hundred and fifty
years, from being isolated wandering tribes, each constantly
warring against the other, to a well-ordered Christian kingdom,
which led to the establishment of the French monarchy. The climax
of this period of transition came in the reign of Clovis, with whom
commences the real history of France. Under his strong hand the
various tribes were gradually brought under his sole rule.

When Clovis, at the age of fifteen, succeeded his father,
Childeric, as king of the Salian tribe, his people were mainly
pagans; the Salian domain was very limited, the treasury empty, and
there was no store of either grain or wine. But these difficulties
were overcome by him; he subjugated the neighboring tribes, and
made Christianity the state religion. The new faith was accorded
great privileges and means of influence, in many cases favorable to
humanity and showing respect to the rights of individuals. So great
an advance in civilization is an early milestone on the path of
progress.

About A.D. 241 or 242 the Sixth Roman legion, commanded by Aurelian, at
that time military tribune, and thirty years later emperor, had just
finished a campaign on the Rhine, undertaken for the purpose of driving
the Germans from Gaul, and was preparing for eastern service, to make
war on the Persians. The soldiers sang:

"We have slain a thousand Franks and a thousand
Sarmatians; we want a thousa