But no sooner was Astolphus delivered from the presence of the
French arms, than he forgot his promise and resented his
disgrace. Rome was again encompassed by his arms; and Stephen,
apprehensive of fatiguing the zeal of his Transalpine allies
enforced his complaint and request by an eloquent letter in the
name and person of St. Peter himself. ^52 The apostle assures his
adopted sons, the king, the clergy, and the nobles of France,
that, dead in the flesh, he is still alive in the spirit; that
they now hear, and must obey, the voice of the founder and
guardian of the Roman church; that the Virgin, the angels, the
saints, and the martyrs, and all the host of heaven, unanimously
urge the request, and will confess the obligation; that riches,
victory, and paradise, will crown their pious enterprise, and
that eternal damnation will be the penalty of their neglect, if
they suffer his tomb, his temple, and his people, to fall into
the hands of the perfidious Lombards. The second expedition of
Pepin was not less rapid and fortunate than the first: St. Peter
was satisfied, Rome was again saved, and Astolphus was taught the
lessons of justice and sincerity by the scourge of a foreign
master. After this double chastisement, the Lombards languished
about twenty years in a state of languor and decay. But their
minds were not yet humbled to their condition; and instead of
affecting the pacific virtues of the feeble, they peevishly
harassed the Romans with a repetition of claims, evasions, and
inroads, which they undertook without reflection, and terminated
without glory. On either side, their expiring monarchy was
pressed by the zeal and prudence of Pope Adrian the First, the
genius, the fortune, and greatness of Charlemagne, the son of
Pepin; these heroes of the church and state were united in public
and domestic friendship, and while they trampled on the