OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

French, the Spanish, and the English ; f the in-terference of strangers was softened by theirgenerous preference of an Italian and a Roman;and the hereditary, as well as personal meritof Otho Colonna recommended him to the con-clave. Rome accepted with joy and obediencethe noblest of her sons, the ecclesiastical statewas defended by his powerful family, and theelevation of Martin the fifth is the era of the re-storation and establishment of the popes in theVatican. *

' I cannot overlook this great national cause, which was vigor-ously maintained by the English ambassadors against those of France .The latter contended, that Christendom was essentially distributedinto the four great nations and votes, of Italy, Germany, France ,and Spain; and that the lesser kingdoms (such as England, Den-mark, Portugal , &c.) were comprehended tinder one or other of thesegreat divisions. The English asserted, that the British islands, ofwhich they were the head, should be considered as a fifth and co-ordi-nate nation, with an equal vote; and every argument of truth orfable was introduced to exalt the dignity of their country. IncludingEngland, Scotland, Walc-s, the four kingdoms of Ireland , and theOrknies, the British islands are decorated with eight royal crowns,and discriminated by four or five languages, English, Welsh, Cornish ,Scotch, Irish , &c. The greater island from north to south measures800 miles, or 40 days journey; and England alone contains 32 coun-ties, and 62,000 parish churches (a bold account!), besides cathedrals,colleges, priories, and hospitals. They celebrate the mission of St.Joseph of Arimathea, the birth of Constantine, and the legantinepowers of the two primates without forgetting the testimony of Bar-tholeray de Glanville (a. d. 1360), who reckons only four Christiankingdoms, 1. of Rome, 2. of Constantinople, 3. of Ireland , whichhad been transferred to the English monarchs, and, 4 of Spain . Ourcountrymen prevailed in the council, but the victories of Henry V. added much weight to their arguments. The adverse pleadings werefound at Constance by Sir Robert Wingfield, ambassador from HenryVIII. to the emperor Maximilian I , and by him printed in 1517 atLouvain . From a Leipsic MS. they are more correctly published inthe collection of Von der Hardt, tom. v.; but 1 have only seen Len-fant’s abstract of these acts (Conciie de Constance, tom. ii, p. 447,4S3, &c.)

« The histories of the three successive councils, Pisa, Constance,

371

CHAP.

LXX.

Election ofMartin V.