Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/481

 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 459 volved, in a promiscuous massacre, the priests who served at the altar, and the infants, who, in the hour of danger, had been providently baptized by the bishop ; the flourishing city was delivered to the flames, and a solitary chapel of St. Stephen marked the place where it formerly stood. From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the heart of Gaul ; crossed the Seine at Auxerre ; and, after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans. He was desirous of[AureUam] securing his conquests by the possession of an advantageous post, which commanded the passage of the Loire ; and he de- pended on the secret invitation of Sangiban, king of the Alani, who had promised to betray the city, and to revolt from the service of the empire. But this treacherous conspiracy was de- tected and disappointed ; Orleans had been strengthened with recent fortifications; and the assaults of the Huns were vigor- ously repelled by the faithful valour of the soldiers, or citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity and consummate prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to support their courage, till the arrival of the expected succours. ^^ After an obstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the battering rams ; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs ; and the people, who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously counted the days and hours, dispatched a trusty messenger to observe, from the rampart, the face of the distant countiy. He returned twice without any intelligence that could inspire hope or coiTifort ; but, in his third report, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the extremity of the horizon. " It is the aid of God ! " exclaimed the bishop, in a tone of pious confidence ; and the whole multitude repeated after him, " It is the aid of God ". The remote object, on which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger and more distinct ; the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived ; and a favourable wind, blowing aside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons of Aetius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans. The facility with which Attila had penetrated into the heart Aiuance of of Gaul maybe ascribed to his insidious policy as well as to and viBigotha the terror of his arms. His public declarations were skilfully plurimae civitates effractcc, among which he enumerates Metz. [See Mommsen's edition, Chron. Min. ii. p. 26. Rheims (Remi) also endured a Hunnic occupation.] 36 [See Life of St. Anianus in Duchesne, Hist. Fr. Scr., vol. i.]