of Brescia, in Italy, distinguished himself by being the founder of a sect which opposed the wealth and power of the Roman clergy. He went into France, where he studied under the celebrated Peter Abelard. Upon his return to Italy, he put on the habit of a monk, and opened his invectives in the streets of Brescia. The people crowded round him. He told them he was sent to reform abuses, to pull down the proud and to exalt the humble. He then pointed his declamation against the bishops, against the clergy, against the monks, and finally against the Roman pontiff himself: to the laity only he was indulgent. Churchmen, said he, who hold benefices, bishops who have domains, and monks that have possessions, will all be damned. His hearers shouted approbation. These things, continued he, belong to the prince; he may give them to whom he pleases, but he must give them to the laity. It is on their tithes, and the voluntary contributions Arnold. contributions of the people, that those sons of God must live: they must be frugal, continent, and mortified.

The church of Brescia was soon thrown into the greatest confusion, and the people, already prejudiced against their ministers, threatened to overturn their altars. The sacred writings he urged in support of his affections, and from them he denounced the vengeance of heaven against the violators of the law. Indeed, nothing could be more glaringly offensive than the ostentatious parade of the bishops and great abbots, and the soft and licentious lives of the monks and clergy.

In 1139 was celebrated a grand council at Rome. Arnold was cited to appear before it. His accusers were the bishop of Brescia, and many others, whom he had ridiculed and insulted. Nor from his judges could he look for much indulgence. He was found guilty, and sentenced to perpetual silence. Upon this he left Italy, crossed the Alps, and found a refuge in Zurich.

Though Arnold had quitted Italy, yet had his opinions taken deep root, and Rome itself was infected by them. Irritated by the conduct of their master Innocent II., the Roman people assembled in the capitol. It was proposed that the power of the pontiff, which they called exorbitant, should be restrained: this was carried; then suddenly, inspired as it were by the genius of the place, they moved that the senate, which for years had been abolished, should be restored. The proposition was received with the loudest acclamations. Innocent in vain opposed the bold design; there was a magic in it which spread irresistibly, and for a moment seemed to rouse the fallen spirit of the nation. The pope viewed with horror the reverse of fortune which threatened the tiara; to be shorn of his mighty power, and to become the mere shepherd of the Christian people, was a thought too afflicting: he fell sick and died.

Under his two immediate successors Celestine and Lucius, whose reigns were but of a few months, the Romans pursued their darling object. They waited on the latter, and, in an imperious tone, demanded the restitution of all the honours and civil rights which had been usurped from the people. The prince of the senate, said they, whom we have chosen, will best administer the important trust; the tithes and offerings of the faithful will sufficiently answer all the exigencies of your holiness: it was thus that our ancient bishops lived. Lucius survived this event but a few days. His successor was Eugenius III., the friend and disciple of the renowned Bernard. The night before his consecration the senators assembled, and it was agreed, that either he should solemnly confirm all their proceedings, or they would annul his election. This resolution was notified to him. He called together his friends; and it was their advice, that he should neither accede to the extravagant demands, nor expose himself, by a refusal, to the fury of the populace. He therefore silently withdrew from Rome, and retired to a neighbouring fortress. Here the ceremony of his consecration was performed.

Arnold, who in banishment had contemplated the effects of his admonition on the minds of the Romans, and the success which seemed to follow their exertions, was now informed that the pope had retired, and the gates of the capital were open to receive him: it was likewise furtively offered to him, that his presence was more than ever necessary, to give energy to their resolves, form to their plans, and stability to their undertakings. Arnold took fire at the news; an unusual twell of enthusiasm filled his breast; and he fancied that, like Junius Brutus, he was called at once to give liberty to Rome. At his appearance a new stream of vigour animated the citizens; they called him their friend and deliverer. The Brescian walked amongst them; his deportment was humble, his countenance emaciated, his address affable, and he spoke to them of moderation, submission, of obedience. With the nobles and new senators he held another language; though to them also he was mild and diffident, speaking much of virtue and of respect for religion and the laws. But no sooner was he sensible of his own real influence, and saw the lengths to which the revolters had already carried their designs, than he threw aside the mask, and appeared in his own character, daring, impetuous, self-sufficient, vain. He harangued the people: he talked of their forefathers the ancient Romans, who, by the wisdom of their senate and the valour of their armies, had conquered nations and subdued the earth. He dwelt on the names and the achievements of the Brutii, the Gracchi, and the Scipios; and of these men, said he, are you not the children? He advised, that the capitol be instantly repaired; that the equestrian order be restored; that the people have their tribunes; that dignity attend the senate; that the laws, which had been silent and neglected, be revived in all their vigour. He spoke of the pope as of a depoised and banished tyrant: "But should you again be deprived (continued he) to admit him within these walls; first fix your own rights and determine his. He is but your bishop: let him therefore have his spiritual jurisdiction. The government of Rome, its civil establishments, and its territories, belong to you. These you will keep if you have the spirit of men and the hearts of Romans." Fired by this harangue, the people, headed by the most disaffected of the nobles, publicly attacked the few cardinals and churchmen who remained in the city; they set fire to the palaces; and they compelled the citizens to swear obedience to the new government. Moderate men, who saw the folly of the attempt, were shocked at these excesses of popular frenzy; but it was in vain to oppose the torrent: they submitted, looking forward with some curiosity to the termination of an event which had begun in extravagance, and must end in disappointment.

Eugenius till now had viewed, with some concern, the wild derangement of his people; but when it seemed that their eyes opened to their own excesses, he could be inactive no longer. He excommunicated the ringleaders of the faction; and at the head of his troops, who were chiefly composed of Tiburtini, a people always hostile to the Romans, he marched against the enemy. His friends within the walls, who were numerous, co-operated with his designs, and in a few days overtures for peace were made to the pontiff. He acceded to them, but on condition that they should annul the arrangements they had made, and if they would have senators, that they should acknowledge all. ARNOLD all their power was from him. The people were satisfied, and they threw open the gates, through which Eugenius entered, amid the acclamations of a fawning and inconstant multitude. Before this event Arnold had retired; but he left behind him many friends strongly attached to his person and principles. Of himself we hear little more till the reign of Adrian our countryman; when, on account of fresh tumults, he and his adherents were excommunicated, and Rome was threatened with an interdict unless they expelled the whole party from their walls. This they did. The Arnoldists retired with their champion into Tuscany, where he was received as a prophet and honoured as a saint. His enemies, however, prevailed; he was made prisoner, and conducted under a strong escort to Rome. In vain was great interest made to save his life; he was condemned and executed, and his ashes thrown into the Tiber, lest the people should collect his remains and venerate them as the relics of a sainted martyr.

"Such was Arnold of Brescia; a man (says Mr. Abelard and Heloisa), whose character, whose principles, and whose views, we perhaps should be disposed to admire, had his life been recorded by unprejudiced historians, and not brought down to us drawn in the blackest colours which party, bigotted zeal, and enthusiasm, could lay on. He was rash, misjudging, and intemperate, or never would he have engaged in so unequal a contest. The view of such a phenomenon in the 12th century excites a pleasing admiration. To attack the Roman pontiff and his clergy in the very centre of their power, required a more than common share of fortitude: to adopt a settled scheme of restoring to its pristine glory the republic of Rome, demanded a stretch of thought comprehensive and enterprising; and to forego the ease and indulgence of a dissipated age, for the reformation of manners and the suppression of what he thought usurped dominion, argued a character of mind disinterested, generous, and benevolent. But Arnold, like other reformers, went too far; and passion soon vitiated undertakings which were begun perhaps with motives the most laudable.—The readiness with which the Roman people embraced this plan of lowering the jurisdiction of the pontiff, and restraining it within those bounds which the true spirit of Christianity had fixed, at once shows that they could reason justly, and that they considered the unbounded sway of the triple crown, to which reluctantly they submitted, as an assumed prerogative, to which violence or misconstruction, and not Christian right, had given efficacy."