the Catholics, with whom he secretly
corresponded; and their devout wishes were gradually ripened into
a formidable conspiracy. The people of Aquitain were alarmed by the
indiscreet reproaches of their Gothic tyrants, who justly accused them
of preferring the dominion of the Franks: and their zealous adherent
Quintianus, bishop of Rodez, preached more forcibly in his exile than
in his diocese. To resist these foreign and domestic enemies, who were
fortified by the alliance of the Burgundians, Alaric collected his
troops, far more numerous than the military powers of Clovis. The
Visigoths resumed the exercise of arms, which they had neglected in a
long and luxurious peace; a select band of valiant and robust slaves
attended their masters to the field; and the cities of Gaul were
compelled to furnish their doubtful and reluctant aid. Theodoric, king
of the Ostrogoths, who reigned in Italy, had labored to maintain the
tranquillity of Gaul; and he assumed, or affected, for that purpose, the
impartial character of a mediator. But the sagacious monarch dreaded
the rising empire of Clovis, and he was firmly engaged to support the
national and religious cause of the Goths.

The accidental, or artificial, prodigies which adorned the expedition
of Clovis, were accepted by a superstitious age, as the manifest
declaration of the divine favor. He marched from Paris; and as he
proceeded with decent reverence through the holy diocese of Tours, his
anxiety tempted him to consult the shrine of St. Martin, the sanctuary
and the oracle of Gaul. His messengers were instructed to remark the
words of the Psalm which should happen to be chanted at the precise
moment when they entered the church. Those words most fortunately
expressed the valor and victory of the champions of Heaven, and the
application was easily transferred to the new Joshua, the new Gideon,
who went forth to battle against the enemies of the Lord. Orleans
secured to the Franks a bridge on the Loire; but, at the distance
of forty miles from Poitiers, their progress was intercepted by an
extraordinary swell of the River Vigenna or Vienne; and the opposite
banks were covered by the encampment of the Visigoths. Delay must be
always dangerous to Barbarians, who consume the country through which
they march; and had Clovis possessed leisure and materials, it might
have been impracticable to construct a bridge, or to force a passage,
in the face of a superior enemy. But the affect