irritations. The Saxons cheated him; they broke their promises and
their oaths. When beaten, they sued for peace; but the moment his
back was turned, they broke out in new insurrections. The fame of
Caesar chiefly rests on his eight campaigns in Gaul. But Caesar
had the disciplined Legions of Rome to fight with. Charlemagne had
no such disciplined troops. Yet he had as many difficulties to
surmount as Caesar,--rugged forests to penetrate, rapid rivers to
cross, morasses to avoid, and mountains to climb. It is a very
difficult thing to subdue even savages who are desperate,
determined, and united.

Charlemagne fought the Saxons for thirty-three years. Though he
never lost a battle, they still held out. At first he was generous
and forgiving, for he was more magnanimous than Caesar; but they
could not be won by kindness. He was obliged to change his course,
and at last was as summary as Oliver Cromwell in Ireland. He is
even accused of cruelties. But war in the hands of masters has no
quarter to give, and no tears to shed. It was necessary to conquer
the Saxons, and Charlemagne used the requisite means. Sometimes
the harshest measures will most speedily effect the end. Did our
fathers ever dream of compromise with treacherous and hostile
Indians? War has a horrid maxim,--that "nothing is so successful
as success." Charlemagne, at last, was successful. The Saxons
were so completely subdued at the end of thirty-three years, that
they never molested civilized Europe again. They became civilized,
like the once invading Celts and Goths; and they even embraced the
religion of the conquerors. They became ultimately the best people
in Europe,--earnest, honest, and brave. They formed great kingdoms
and states, and became new barriers against fresh inundations from
the North and East. The Saxons formed the nucleus of the great