y to a hundred, and by giving them as
presidents, two consuls after the ancient plan, instead of the
patrician till then in use.

It was for Eugenius III. that his old preceptor, St. Bernard, composed
at his disciple's request, his famous book "de Consideratione;" in
which the subject handled is, on the duties of a pope; and in which is
given such a graphic description of the degenerate character of the
Romans, as also of the Roman clergy in that age. The following extract
will not be out of place here:

"What is so well known to the world as the license and pride of the
Romans? They are a people opposed to peace, and ever given to
sedition; wild and hard to deal with from all time; who only know how
to obey when they can no longer resist; who possess understanding,
only that they may do evil by it, not to do good. Detested by heaven
and earth, they have impiously outraged both. They are criminals
before God, profaners of his sanctuary, rebels against themselves,
enviers of their neighbours, monsters towards those who do not belong
to them. They love no one, and are beloved by no one. They strive
after the show of being feared by all, while in fact they themselves
fear every body. They cannot endure any submission; but yet know not
how to rule. They are false to their superiors, and oppress their
subjects. They are shameless in their demands, and reject petitions
with a haughty front. With blustering and impatience they press for
presents, and are thankless when they have received them. They are
great talkers with the tongue, but helpless creatures when it comes to
act. They are spendthrifts in promises, niggards in the performance;
the most crawling sycophants, and the most venomous slanderers; who
feign the most honest simplicity, and are the most malicious of
deceivers." [2]

[1] Niccolini, Vita di Arnaldo da Brescia. (Prefixed to his tragedy.)
Francke, Arnold von Brescia und Seine Zeit.

[2] De Consideratione, lib. iv. cap. 2. (Cited by Francke, page 190.)

III.

Such were the depraved spirits, and such the ignoble tyranny, which
oppressed the Holy See on the demise of Eugenius III.; an oppression
which, if its violence seemed to slumber during the short career of
Anastasius IV., whose patriarchal age and paternal goodness to the
poor in a famine which desolated the country under his pontificate,
commanded respect and won all hearts, yet woke up again with fresh
vigour on the accession of his successor,