CHAP. I.]

ST. JOHN OF JERUSALEM.

57

constitutional liberties which they had broughtwith them from Scandinavia, common heirloomfrom the illustrious Goth, whose legal freedom wasthe product of his own virtuous, unbiassed will.

It might be chiefly from having had no wars butwith Greeks and Italians; and still worse duringpeace, the effeminate habits of pampered Italy hadfull opportunity to eat into and corrode their souls.Thus, the coming of Charlemagne, at another plain-tive invitation, from mildness that too easily deignedacceding to his people’s wishes (they, not the Pontiff,being the real abject petitioners), put an end to thefirst (and perhaps only purely) Lombard king-dom. Scarcely more survived of it than its ironcrown, and the name of Lombardy—name that initself is a perpetual triumphal gate, proclaiming toall ages that there the Northman has a patrimonialright for ever. How, but through him, and himalone, can be proved a judicial title to any particleof that land?

Italians may consider the advent of Charlemagneto be a new barbaric irruption, if they will, butthey had asked for it! and moreover they hadalready rejected freedom, which had been broughtinto their country twice (both by Ostrogoths andLombards); so proved themselves unworthy ofbetter than despotism. For the most part cut to