best suited to the civil constitutions of the countries in which they are established.

4. In the second century, the books of the New Testament were collected into a volume by the elder fathers of the church, and received as a canon of faith. The Old Testament had been translated from the Hebrew into Greek, by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 284 years before Christ. The early church suffered much from an absurd endeavour of the more learned of its votaries to reconcile its doctrines to the tenets of the Pagan philosophers; hence the sects of the Gnostics and Ammonians, and the Platonizing Christians. The Greek churches began in the second century to form provincial associations, and establish general rules of government and discipline. Assemblies were held, termed Synodoi and Concilia, over which a metroplitan presided. A short time after arose the superior order of Patriarch, presiding over a large district of the Christian world; and a subordination taking place even among these, the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged the chief of the Patriarchs. Persecution still attended the early church, even under those excellent princes, Trajan, Adrian, and the Antonines; and in the reign of Severus, the whole provinces of the empire were stained with the blood of the martyrs.

5. The third century was more favourable to the progress of Christianity and the tranquillity of its disciples. In those times it suffered less from the civil arm than from the pens of the Pagan philosophers, Porphyry, Philostratus, &c.; but these attacks called forth the zeal and talents of many able defenders, as Origen, Dionysius, and Cyprian. A part of the Gauls, Germany, and Britain, received in this century the light of the gospel.

6. In the fourth century, the Christian church was alternately persecuted and cherished by the Roman emperors. Among its oppressors we rank Diocletian, Galerius, and Julian. Among its favourers, Constantine and his sons, Valentinian, Valens, Gratian, and the excellent Theodosius, in whose reign the Pagan superstition came to its final period.

7. From the age of Numa to the reign of Gratian, the Romans preserved the regular succession of the several sacerdotal colleges, the Pontiffs, Augurs, Vestals, Flamines, Salii, &c., whose authority, though weakened in the latter ages, was still protected by the laws. Even the Christian emperors held, like their Pagan predecessors, the office of Pontifex Maximus. Gratian was the first who refused that ancient dignity, as a profanation. In the time of Theodosius, the cause of Christianity and of Paganism was solemnly debated in the Roman senate between Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, the champion of the former, and Symmachus, a senator and celebrated orator, the defender of the latter. The cause of Christianity was triumphant; and the senate issued its decree for the abolition of Paganism, whose downfal in the capital

was soon followed by its extinction in the provinces. Theodosius, with able policy, permitted no persecution of the ancient religion, which perished with the more rapidity that its fall was gentle and unresisted.

8. But the Christian church exhibited a superstition in some respects little less irrational than Polytheism, in the worship of saints and relics; and many novel tenets, unfounded in the precepts of our Saviour and his apostles, were manifestly borrowed from the Pagan schools. The doctrines of the Platonic philosophy seem to have led to the notions of an intermeditate state of purification, celibacy of the priests, ascetic mortifications, penances, and monastic seclusion.

sons.

SECTION LVII.

EXTINCTION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE WEST.

1. ["THE genius of Rome expired with Theodosius; the last of the successors of Augustus and Constantine who appeared in the field of battle at the head of their armies, and whose authority was universally acknowledged throughout the whole extent of the empire. The memory of his virtues still continued, however, to protect the feeble and inexperienced youth of his two After the death of their father, Arcadius and Honorius were saluted emperors of the east and west; and the oath of fidelity was eagerly taken by every order of the state; the senators of old and new Rome, the clergy, the magistrates, the soldiers, and the people," (Gibbon). The Eastern empire, comprising the Præfectura Orientis et Illyrici, was allotted to Arcadius, then in his eighteenth year, under the guardianship of Rufinus the Gaul; and the Præfectura Galliarum et Italia to Honorius, aged eleven, under the guardianship of the Vandal Stilico. The intrigues of the latter to procure himself the government of the whole empire, opened a way for the Goths into the interior, just at the time they were doubly formidable in possessing a leader of uncommon ability]. The Huns, on the other hand, were invited by Rufinus, and overspread Armenia, Cappadocia, and Syria. The Goths, under Alaric, ravaged to the borders of Italy, and laid waste Achaia to the Peloponnesus. Stilicho, an able general, made a noble stand against these invaders; but his plans were frustrated by the machinations of his rivals and the weakness of Arcadius, who purchased an ignominious peace, by ceding to Alaric the whole of Greece.

2. Alaric, now styled king of the Visigoths, prepared to add Italy to his new dominions. He passed the Alps, and was carrying all before him, when, amused by the politic Stilicho with the prospect of a new cession of territory, he was taken at unawares,

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and defeated by that general, then commanding the armies of Honorius. The emperor triumphantly celebrated, on that occasion, the eternal defeat of the Gothic nation; an eternity bounded by the lapse of a few months. In this interval, a torrent of the Goths breaking down upon Germany, forced the nations whom they dispossessed, the Suevi, Alani, and Vandals, to precipitate themselves upon Italy. They joined their arms to those of Alaric, who, thus reinforced, determined to overwhelm Rome. The policy of Stilicho made him change his purpose, on the promise of 4000 pounds weight of gold; a promise repeatedly broken by Honorius, and its violation finally revenged by Alaric by the sack and plunder of the city, 410. With generous magnanimity, he was sparing of the lives of the vanquished, and, with singular liberality of spirit, anxious to preserve every ancient edifice from destruction.

3. Alaric, preparing now for the conquest of Sicily and Africa, died at this era of his highest glory; and Honorius, instead of profiting by this event to recover his lost provinces, made a treaty with his successor and brother-in-law Ataulfus, gave him in marriage his sister Placidia, and secured his friendship by ceding to him a portion of Spain, while a great part of what remained had before been occupied by the Vandals. [Ataulfus, or Adolphus, became the founder of the empire of the Visigoths in 415]; and Honorius, about the same time, allowed to Gondicor and his Burgundians a just title to their conquests in Gaul. Thus the Western empire was by degrees mouldering from under the dominion of its ancient masters.

4. In the East, the mean and dissolute Arcadius died in the year 408, leaving that empire to his infant son, Theodosius II., whose sister Pulcheria swayed the sceptre with much prudence and ability; and the weakness of her brother allowed her government to be of forty years' continuance. Honorius died in the year 423 [when his nephew, Valentinian III., aged six years, was raised to the throne under the guardianship of his mother Placidia]. The laws of Arcadius and Honorius are, with a few exceptions, remarkable for their wisdom and equity; a singular phenomenon, considering the personal character of those princes, and evincing at least that they employed some able ministers.

5. [In Africa, the governor Boniface having been driven into rebellion by the intrigues of the Roman general Ætius, invited the Vandals from Spain, under the command of Genseric, to his assistance, 429. The latter then obtained possession of the country, and a formal cession of it from Valentinian III. in 435]. The Huns, in the East, extended their conquests from the borders of China to the Baltic Sea. Under Attila they laid waste Mosia and Thrace; and Theodosius II., after a mean attempt to murder the barbarian general, ingloriously submitted to pay him an annual tribute. It was in this crisis of universal decay, that the Britons implored the Romans to defend them

against the Picts and Scots, but received for answer, that they had nothing to bestow on them but compassion. The Britons, in despair, sought aid from the Saxons and Angles, who seized, as their property, the country they were invited to protect, and founded, in the fifth and sixth centuries, the kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy. (See Part II. Sect. XIII. § 5.)

6. Attila, with an army of 500,000 men, threatened the total destruction of the empire. He was ably opposed by Etius, general of Valentinian III., now emperor of the West, who was himself shut up in Rome by the arms of the barbarian, and at length compelled to purchase a peace. On the death of Attila, his dominions were dismembered by his sons, whose dissensions gave temporary relief to the falling empire.

7. From the assassination of Valentinian III., in 455, to the extinction of the imperial dignity in the West, ten emperors, or rather names, rapidly succeeded; for the events of their reigns merit no detail. In the reign of Romulus Momyllus, who, as the last in the succession of the Augusti, acquired the surname of Augustulus, the empire of the West came to a final period. Odoacer, prince of the Heruli, subdued Italy, and spared the life of Augustulus, on the condition of his resigning the throne, 476 A. C. From the building of Rome to this era, the extinction of the Western empire, is a period of 1224 years.

8. We may reduce to one ultimate cause the various circumstances that produced the decline and fall of this once magnificent fabric. The ruin of the Roman empire was the inevitable consequence of its greatness. The extension of its dominion relaxed the vigour of its frame: the vices of the conquered nations infected the victorious legions, and foreign luxuries corrupted their commanders; selfish interest supplanted the patriotic affection; the martial spirit was purposely debased by the emperors, who dreaded its effects on their own power; and the whole mass, thus weakened and enervated, fell an easy prey to the torrent of barbarians which overwhelmed it.

9. The Herulian dominion in Italy was of short duration. Theodoric, prince of the Ostrogoths (afterwards deservedly surnamed the Great,) obtained permission of Zeno, emperor of the East, to attempt the recovery of Italy, and a promise of its sovereignty as the reward of his success. The whole nation of the Ostrogoths attended the standard of their prince; and Theodoric, victorious in repeated engagements, at length compelled Odoacer to surrender all Italy to the conqueror, 493. The Romans had tasted of happiness under the government of Odoacer, and it was increased under the dominion of Theodoric, who possessed every talent and virtue of a sovereign. His equity and clemency rendered him a blessing to his subjects: he allied himself with all the surrounding nations, the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals; and he left a peaceable sceptre (in 526) to his grandson Athalaric, during whose infancy his mother Amalasun

tha governed with such admirable wisdom and moderation, as left her subjects no real cause of regret for the loss of her father. 10. While such was the state of Gothic Italy, the empire of the East was under the government of Justinian, a prince of mean ability, vain, capricious, and tyrannical. Yet the Roman name rose for a while from its abasement by the merit of his generals. Belisarius was the support of his throne, yet to him he behaved with the most shocking ingratitude. The Persians were at this time the most formidable enemies of the empire, under their sovereigns Cabades and Cosrhoes; and from the latter, a most able prince, Justinian meanly purchased a peace, by a cession of territory and an enormous tribute in gold. The civil factions of Constantinople, arising from the most contemtible of causes, the disputes of the performers in the circus and amphitheatre, threatened to hurl Justinian from the throne, had they not been fortunately composed by the arms and the policy of Belisarius. This great general overwhelmed the Vandal sovereignty of Africa, and recovered that province to the empire. He wrested Italy from its Gothic sovereign, and once more restored it for a short space to the dominion of its ancient masters.

11. Italy was once more subdued by the Goths, under the heroic Totila, who besieged and took the city of Rome, but forbore to destroy it at the request of Belisarius. The fortunes of this great man were now in the wane. He was compelled to evacuate Italy; and, on his return to Constantinople, his long services were repaid with disgrace. He was superseded in the command of the armies by the eunuch Narses, who defeated Totila in a decisive engagement, in which the Gothic prince was slain. Narses governed Italy with great ability for thirteen years, when he was ungratefully recalled by Justin II., the successor of Justinian. He invited the Lombards to avenge his injuries; and this new tribe of invaders overran and conquered the country in 568 A. c.

SECTION LVIII.

OF THE ORIGIN, MANNERS, AND CHARACTER OF THE GOTHIC NATIONS, BEFORE THEIR ESTABLISHMENT IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

1. THE history and manners of the Gothic nations are curious objects of inquiry, from their influence on the constitutions and national character of most of the modern kingdoms of Europe. As the present inhabitants of these kingdoms are a mixed race, compounded of the Goths and of the nations whom they subdued, the laws, manners, and institutions of the modern kingdoms are the result of this conjunction; and in so far as these