The Roman pontiff could no longer view, with pa tience, the excesses of this ungovernable mob. At the head of his troops, chiefly composed of Tiburtines, he marched against the city, and, after some trifling con cessions on his part, was reinstated on the papal throne. Notwithstanding this triumph over the malcontents, the friends of Arnold were still numerous, and continued to disturb the peace of the city, till our countryman Adrian IV. was raised to the chair of St Peter. On the first appearance of a riot, during which a cardinal was either killed or wounded in the street, Adrian held an inter dict over the guilty city, and from Christmas to Easter deprived it of the privilege of religious worship. This bold and sagacious contrivance gave a sudden turn to the minds of the people. Arnold and his followers were banished from the city, and fled for protection to the viscounts of Campania. His holiness, however, was not satisfied with restoring peace to his capital. A spi rit of revenge burned within him, till he instigated Fre deric Barbarossa to force Arnold from his asylum in Campania. This intrepid reformer was immediately seized by cardinal Gerard in 1155, and was burned alive in the midst of a fickle people, who gazed with stupid indifference on the expiring hero, who had fallen in defence of their clearest rights, and whom they had formerly regarded with more than mortal veneration : His ashes were flung into the Tiber; but though no corporeal relic could be preserved to animate his fol lowers, the efforts which he made in the cause of civil and religious freedom were cherished in the breasts of future patriots, and inspired tliose mighty attempts which have chained down, and finally destroyed, the monster of superstition.
It is impossible not to admire the genius and perse vering intrepidity of Arnold. To distinguish truth from error in an age of darkness, and to detect the causes of spiritual corruption in the thickest atmosphere of ignorance and superstition, evinced a mind of more than ordinary stretch : To adopt a plan for recovering the lost glory of his country, and fixing the limits of spiritual usurpation, demanded a degree of resolution which no opposition could controul: But to struggle against superstition, entrenched in power, to plant the standard of rebellion in the very heart of her empire, and to keep possession of her capital for a number of years, could scarcely have been expected from an indi vidual who had no power but that of his eloquence, and no assistance but what he derived from the justice of his cause. Yet such were the individual exertions of Arnold, which posterity will appreciate as one of the noblest legacies which former ages have bequeathed. Every triumph that is gained over ecclesiastical power stretched beyond its just limits, in whatever country it is sanctioned, and under whatever system of faith it is exercised, is the triumph of right reason over the worst passions of the heart. It is the greatest step which the human mind can take in its progress to that knowledge and happiness to which the Almighty has destined it to arrive.
For further information respecting Arnold, the read er may consult Muratori Script Rerun Ital. torn. iii. P. I. p. 441. Mosheim Institut. Hist. Eccles. p. 412. Gib bon's Hist. chap. lxix. vol. xii. p. 227; and Berington's History of the Lives of Abelard and Heloise. (f3)