church system of Innocent III. in faith or government
the system of the New Testament?" Is the difference between them
inconsiderable, such as may be accounted for by the natural progress of
society, or does the rent extend to the foundation? "The first century,"
says Dr Arnold, "is to determine our judgment of the second and of all
subsequent centuries. It will not do to assume that the judgment must be
interpreted by the very practices and opinions, the merits of which it
has to try." As a specimen of the chroniclers, he selects Philip de
Comines, almost the last great writer of his class. In him is
exemplified one of the peculiar distinctions of attaching to modern
history the importance of attending to genealogies.

"For instance, Comines records the marriage of Mary, duchess
of Burgundy, daughter and sole heiress of Charles the Bold,
with Maximilian, archduke of Austria. This marriage, conveying
all the dominions of Burgundy to Maximilian and his heirs,
established a great independent sovereign on the frontiers of
France, giving to him on the north, not only the present
kingdoms of Holland and Belgium, but large portions of what is
now French territory, the old provinces of Artois and French
Flanders, French Hainault and French Luxemburg; while on the
east it gave him Franche Comte, thus yielding him a footing
within the Jura, on the very banks of the Saone. Thence ensued
in after ages, when the Spanish branch of the house of Austria
had inherited this part of its dominions--the long contests
which deluged the Netherlands with blood, the campaigns of King
William and Luxembourg, the nine years of efforts, no less
skilful than valiant, in which Marlborough broke his way
through the fortresses of the iron frontier. Again, when Spain
became in a manner French by the accession of the House of
Bourbon, the Netherlands reverted once more to Austria itself;
and from thence the powers of Europe advanced, almost in our
own days, to assail France as a republic; and on this ground,
on the plains of Fleurus, was won the first of those great
victories which, for nearly twenty years, carried the French
standards triumphantly over Europe. Thus the marriage recorded
by Comines has been working busily down to our very own times:
it is only since the settlement of 1814, and that more recent
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