EDITH C.
Preston, Aug. 1851.
It is, I think, indisputable that the St. Gregory commemorated on the tomb of Brunéhaut is Pope Gregory the Great. Among his Letters are several addressed to the Frankish queen, betokening the unqualified esteem in which she was held by the Roman pontiff. See Gregor. Opp. (tom. ii., edit. Paris, 1586), Lib. v. Indict. xiv. ep. 5; Lib. vii. Indict. i. ep. 5.; Lib. ix. Indict. vi. ep. 8.; Lib. xi. Indict. vi. ep. 8. I will give a short specimen from the first and last Letters:
"Excellentiæ vestræ prædicandam ac Deo placitam bonitatem et gubernacula regni testantur et educatio fidel manifestat."—Col. 766.
"Inter alia bona hoc apud vos præ ceteris tenet principatum, quod in mediis hujus mundi fluctibus, qui regentis animos turbulenta solent vexatione confundere, ita cor ad Divini cultus amorem et venerabilium locorum disponendam quietam reducitis ac si vos nulla alia cura sollicitet."—Col. 1061.
Much to her merit, in the eyes of Gregory, arose from her abjuration of Arianism, and the patronage she extended to religious houses. At the same time, it is impossible to acquit her of the serious charges under which she labours.
"Elle est diffamée," says Moreri, "dans les écrits des autres auteurs, par sa cruauté, sa vengeance, son avarice, et son impudicité."
C. H.
St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge.