Page:1909historyofdec04gibbuoft.djvu/152

 122 THE DECLINE AND FALL [Chap, xxxviii Vallais ; which he himself had founded in honour of the imaginary martyrs of the Thebaean legion. 49 A full chorus of perpetual psalmody was instituted by the pious king; he assiduously practised the austere devotion of the monks ; and it was his humble prayer that heaven would inflict in this world the punishment of his sins. His prayer was heard ; the avengers were at hand ; and the provinces of Burgundy were overwhelmed by an army of victorious Franks. After the event of an unsuccessful battle, Sigismond, who wished to protract his life that he might prolong his penance, concealed himself in the desert in a religious habit, till he was discovered and betrayed by his subjects, who solicited the favour of their new masters. The captive monarch, with his wife and two children, were transported to Orleans, and buried alive in a deep well, by the stern command of the sons of Clovis ; whose cruelty might derive some excuse from the maxims and ex- amples of their barbarous age. Their ambition, which urged them to achieve the conquest of Burgundy, was inflamed, or disguised, by filial piety ; and Clotilda, whose sanctity did not consist in the forgiveness of injuries, pressed them to revenge her father's death on the family of his assassin. The rebellious Burgundians, for they attempted to break their chains, were still permitted to enjoy their national laws under the obligation of tribute and military service ; and the Merovingian princes peaceably reigned over a kingdom whose glory and greatness had been first overthrown by the arms of Clovis. 50 The Gothic The first victory of Clovis had insulted the honour of the war. a.d. J 5<> 7 Goths. They viewed his rapid progress with jealousy and terror; and the youthful fame of Alaric was oppressed by the more potent genius of his rival. Some disputes inevitably arose 49 Before the end of the fifth century, the church of St. Maurice, and his The- bsaan legion, had rendered Agaunum a place of devout pilgrimage. A promiscuous community of both sexes had introduced some deeds of darkness, which were abolished (a.d. 515) by the regular monastery of Sigismond. Within fifty years, his angels of light made a nocturnal sally to murder their bishop and his clergy. See in the Bibliotheque Baisonn^e (torn, xxxvi. p. 435-438) the curious remark of a learned librarian of Geneva. 50 Marius, bishop of Avenche (Chron. in torn. ii. p. 15 [Mommsen, Chron. Min., ii. p. 235]), has marked the authentic dates, and Gregory of Tours (1. iii. c. 5, 6, in torn. ii. p. 188, 189) has expressed the prinoipal facts, of the life of Sigismond and the conquest of Burgundy. Procopius (in torn. ii. p. 34 [B. G. i. 12]) and Agathias (in torn. ii. p. 49) shew their remote and imperfeot knowledge. [On the legendary elements in the story of Gregory, see Kurtb, op. cit. 325 sqq."]