felf; and St. Jerome, to whom he dedicates his book, records him as of pious memory. The great Bafilica of St. Syricius where they fought, is now Santa Maria maggiore. But herefy and luxury did then too fure combine to fhake the faith of fuch new profelytes as were moft easily offended, and felt themfelves difpofed (as many fince) to charge upon Religion's felf the exceffes committed by her profeffors. That Damafus fought not the good fight, Jortin confiders as fo good a joke, he has it both in the preface and the work-yet is there little need to fuggeft fubjects of derifion to those who are ever willing to deride us; and if great Theodofius did afterwards approve the purity of this Pope's faith, he certainly no more approved of battles in the church than Dr. Jortin does. Irregularities of conduct, and haughtinefs of demeanour wholly inexcufable, do doubtlefs mark the moments we are writing of, when gilded cars, prancing steeds, and numerous retinue attendant upon Chriftian bifhops, began to fright St. Gregory Nazianzen; and ill-inftructed votaries to the ever-bleffed Virgin propagated collyridianifm in Brabant, where fhe was directly and po fitively adored-not with dulia merely, but pure latria, and incense offered to her as queen of heaven. The fource of that mad mischief rifes in polytheism, whofe Mater Deorum was eafily confounded by young converts with our Mater Dei, and there is now a bronze figure of the Madonna in the Vatican-or was in 1786, with a high tower on her head, and all the infignia of Cybele, to whofe honours the fucceeded; and this explains the reafon why mutilated pricfts officiate before her fhrine at Loretto, as eunuchs or femi-eunuchs were of old appointed to serve the mother of the gods. These people had indeed, during the times under our Retrospection, an almost boundless influence upon the world, which influence increased fince Afia became feat of universal empire: for no longer contented with sway obtained formerly through the vices of monarchs addicted to criminal pleafures, they refolved to fecure it now by means of ill-understood devotion, ruling the hearts and confciences of the religious princes, who

as

put

put themselves and families under their common guidance. But whilst enervate softness mark'd the caft, a rougher fcenery displayed itself in Scotland, whence Eugenius and Euthodius were cruelly thruft out, and exiled to perish with hunger in the Ifle of Man; till Romachus, the petty tyrant of Caledonia, having offended his barons by this act [of treafon against youths of a royal blood, they cut his head off, carrying it in triumph upon a pike's end, according to the true spirit of fuch irregular and turbulent times. The fons meanwhile of Cynetha Weledig, whofe mother Gwawl* was fifter to St. Helena, ruled on the fhaggy top of Mona high, where the Loegrian Britons had retired from fury and encroachment of the Saxon chiefs; having firft cleared the island from piratic rovers from the Irish coaft, they settled, and Cafwallon then obtained (fome fay) the appellation of Draco Infularum. I thought the dragon creft and perhaps rouge dragon had been derived from him; but Pennant, who beft knows fuch matters, brings them from Uther Pendragon: he has himself a right to bear it, as I have read or heard, deriving his long-traced lineage from Vortigern; and it should seem that dragons were not new to the world after crufading times, by this: though Warton thinks they were. Yet 'tis hard to believe, becaufe Brefcia Brixia gave it for an enfign in early days, if we believe the teftimony of Rubæus. Be this as it may, science had certainly begun to dawn among the barbarous nations and a faint diftant light, as Rome began rolling back towards opacity, might be difcerned to promife day among the Goths, when Athanaricus, the Cecrops of modern ages, fixing in Thrace, encouraged Ulphilus, an Arian bishop, to invent runic characters, and had the fatisfaction of feeing those arts of civilization fown, which were deftined to revive after the grand deluge of darkness, urged onwards by the Huns and Vandals, fhould be dried off. But before then the timid Valens was confumed in a small house he had retired to from rage of

* Gwawl means Giulia, Julia, Juliana; the Gillian of our English ballads.

war,

war, which foon pursued him there and burned with fire. His rugged colleague Valentinian died in an agony of paffion, bursting a blood-vessel with his own violence at feeing himself forced to receive ambaffadors from favage leaders of armies he at once despised and feared; but having affociated Gratian his fon and fucceffor, the lofs was felt the les; while furious Maximin, a name that ever calls to mind ideas of tyranny, ruled but a little while. One of these femi-barbarous emperors, I forget which, had for his favourites two fhapelefs bears, probably lefs ferocious than himself; and excellent at ridding their mafter of friends or of petitioners he liked not. That nothing may appear impoffible, I can myself recollect hearing of a country gentleman refiding in Lancashire or Cheshire fome threefcore years ago, who had the fame tafte of domeftic amufement; and when more wine was called for than he wished to give, Call Dolly in, faid he, to fweep the room. Immediately a high huge female bear, walking on two hindfeet, with a long broomstick between her fore-paws, entered the door, and quickly fent away the terrified fpectators. But we return to feeble Gratian, who, as might be expected, foon fell before fuch force as Maximin's, but like Nerva, he had been careful to provide the world a master-rich in every endowment, ftrong in every ingredient that constitutes true courage; wife to conduct thefe gifts to the best purpose, and learned to obtain new lights from reading, should his own prove infufficient. In Theodofius, a Spaniard like himfelf, even the remembrance of Trajan might be funk; he was the last emperor that went out with the Roman armies, and he lived till four hundred years past fince our redemption. Various in talents, though single in excellence; he encouraged piety, he practised morality, he rewarded valour, and supported for a while expiring knowledge. He called the Church of Chrift the catholic, or general, or comprehenfive Church Universal. Happy and pleafing and fortunate appellative! which she will wear yet to the end of time, and against which the force of men or of dæmons never fhall prevail.

were

VOL. I.

P

CHAP.

CHAP. VII.

FROM THEODOSIUS THE ELDER TO THE DEATH OF ATTILA,

ABOUT FIFTY YEARS.

HE new Emperor's earliest cares were exerted to maintain unity

THE

in the church, folidity, if poffible, in the ftate. He appointed the Nicene Creed to be read after the Gofpel, as we have it now; he procured condemnation of the Macedonian herefy, and reconciled the bishops Paulinus and Meletius, at Antioch. The Goths till his time inflexible, humanized apace: Athanaricus felt the impulse of taste ; refiding by the Emperor's particular invitation at Constantinople, his manners foftened, and having once been made fenfible of the charms. of civilization, he defired never to return, but died there, a convert to Christian customs; and after the Arian mode of receiving it, to our faith likewife. But no efforts of imperial power, no writing of St. Gregory Nazianzen, no eloquence of good St. Ambrofe, could root. out that firmly-fixed heretical opinion, which at first seemed to have originated from defire of oppofing errors promulgated by Sabellius, rather than with any intent of forming a separation in the church, whence nothing has ever been able to diflodge it—like the Jerufalem artichoke, which once planted, keeps perpetual poffeffion of the ground. The north now filled apace with bishops and pastors, expelled from the capital by orthodoxy, which we shall foon fee fhrinking and ridiculed by triumphant Arianifmm, that viewed with fcorn those who ftrove to enter at the strait gate, while St. Augustine lent his inimitable talents for a fhort time to the Manichæans, and Syricius, the Pope, paved the way for future pontiffs to require celibacy from their

clergy,

clergy, whom he first restrained from marrying widows, or taking a fecond wife. Claudian, meantime, adorned thefe days with poetry, which fcarce by us feems to have been praised enough-he makes the fhade between clafficks and moderns fomehow, and naturalifts fcorn the animal qui forme la nuance, as Buffon calls it, between one genus and another. A Tuscan friend told me, that though his works were first printed at Florence, he was by birth a Spaniard. Vicenza difputes the first of these claims however, and boasts the earliest edition 1482, in folio: The younger Heinfius published an Elzevir, in 12mo. 1650; and having, in some favourite verfes, called the Nile fuum, critics believe that he was born in Egypt.

Theon, the fophift, flourished about this time; he was a famous mathematician, and Marcellinus, Ammianus Marcellinus wrote his interesting story; but controverfy began to fwallow up literature, and a new fort of barbarism deluged all works of fancy. The Emperor tranflated from the Hebrew into Latin, a tract, called Pfeudo Evangelium, or the Fabulous Gofpel; supposed to have been a compofition of Nicodemus, the Jewish Doctor, who came to Jefus by night : Bishop Turpin, in Charlemagne's time, tranflated this imperial work into French, and from that version fprung the myfteries, acted in every Christian country, till about three hundred years back, from the moment in which I recommend Retrospection. Meanwhile, fuch was Theodofius's attention to learning in all its branches, and fuch his care for the dignity of its profeffors, that having obferved Arfenius, tutor to his fon, who was affociated at eight years old, teaching his royal pupil bareheaded and standing, while the young Cæfar fate covered at his cafe upon a chair; the Emperor made them change places inftantly, obliging the instructor to fit, the learner to stand in future.

Coeval with these occurrences, King Snio ruled in Denmark, where dreadful famines had prevailed fo long, a law was made to leffen the number of inhabitants, by putting children and old women to death;