Hiftory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: by Edward Gibbon, Efq; Vols. II. III. IV. V.

and VI.

IN

N the year 1777, the firft volume of this interefting history first attracted our notice, and excited our admiration; and it is with the moft fincere pleasure that we fee it in our power now to congratulate the public, on the completion of this extenfive work, which has filled, up, in fo masterly a manner, the long and dark interval between ancient and modern history, and which is fo justly and fo univerfally allowed to be at least among the number of the most valuable literary productions of the prefent times. When the first volume was originally given to the public, all that its ingenious author then ventured to promife, was one volume more; fortunately, however, he has been favoured with as many years of health, of leifure, and of perfeverance, as were neceffary to the execution of the whole of his extenfive plan; and, from the age of the Antonines, to the final fettlement of the ecclefiaftical ftate, he has condefcended to be our guide through thofe obfcure and intricate periods of hiftory, in which ordinary writers have either hefitated to proceed, or by proceeding have only fhewn the world how little their powers were fuited to the toils

of fuch an undertaking.-As we have, upon a former occafion, flated very fully the plan which Mr. Gibbon had laid down for himself in the arrangement of this work, we have only to refume it now at the period at which we then left off, that is at the close of the fixteenth chapter; and though we by no means prefume to give our readers, in the little space that is neceffarily allowed us upon thefe occafions, any thing like a competent idea of the various merits of this performance, yet we think we shall not render an unacceptable service to thofe, who have not yet had leifure to perufe the work itself, if we fucceed in making them acquainted briefly with the manner in which it has been conducted, and in pointing out to their obfervation a few of thofe fplendid paffages which are fcattered fo profufely through every part of this valuable hiftory. One preliminary remark only we feel ourfelves now compelled to make, however reluctantly, and that is, that wherever either the progress or the doctrines of the Christian religion are in queftion, Mr. Gibbon is to be read with the utmoft caution; and it is to be remembered, that even his fidelity and exactness as an historian, on this subject, do not by any means ftand unimpeached. To attempt to enter into any detail of the controverfies which this part of the work has excited,

would

would be as impertinent on an oc-, cafion like the prefent, as it must be limited and unfatisfactory; but we should feel ourselves wanting to what we have the happiness to confider as the truth, if, with our general hearty approbation of this work, at large, we did not as plainly and as heartily condemn thofe particular parts of it, which wantonly attempt to throw doubts and clouds over the brighteft profpect to which our mind can look forward, and which thus cruelly would deprive us of "what not enriches him, but "makes us poor indeed."-But to quit this ungrateful part of our talk, the only part indeed from which we have not received the highest fatisfaction, we fhall proceed now immediately to the fecond volume, which includes the fpace of time that elapsed between the foundation of Conftantinople, and the unexpected exaltation of Theodofius to the purple of the Eaftern empire. In the three first chapters of this volume, we find an account of the fituation and of the progrefs of this new capital; a detail of the political fyftem established in it by Conftantine and his fucceffors; and are then carried on to the divifion of the empire among the three fons of Conftantine, which was foon terminated by the tragical deaths of Conftantine and Conftans, when the divided provinces were again united under the government of Conftantius. The elevation and fubfequent difgrace and death of Gallus, with the elevation of Julian to the rank of Cæfar, and his campaigns in Gaul and Germany, fill up the remainder of this chapter. Having already given our opinion of the

fpirit by which that part of this history is animated, which relates to the establishment and progrefs of Chriftianity, we shall make no apology for not entering into any par-. ticular account of the two next chapters, as they are taken up entirely by the motives, &c. of the converfion of Conftantine, a detail of the firft legal establishment of the Chriftian church, and of the principal here lies which first ap peared in it, particularly that of Arius. The reign of Julian, with his artful perfecution of the Chrif tians, and his expedition against Perfia, which terminated in his death, and was followed by the retreat of the Roman army under the conduct of Jovian, fill up the twenty-fecond, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth chapters: and in the two remaining ones, our attention is principally attracted, after the death of Jovian, by the reign of Valentinian, and his brother Valens; a differtation on the manners of paftoral nations, with fome account of the progrefs and decline of the Huns; their union with the Goths; the fatal battle of Hadrianople, and the final establishment and fettlement of the Goths in Thrace and in Afia, under the reign of Theodofius, and in confequence of a treaty made with that emperor.With refpect to the circumstances attending the divifion of the empire, our author thus expreffes himfelf*" Before Valentinian di"vided the provinces, he reformed "the adminiftration of the Em

"accufations.

Since

***Notwithstanding the prudence and fuccefs of Odoacer, his kingdom exhibited the fad profpect "of mifery and defolation. "the age of Tiberius, the decay of "agriculture had been felt in Italy; "and it was a just subject of com. "plaint, that the life of the Roman "people depended on the acci"dents of the winds and the waves. In the divifion and the decline of the empire, the tributary har. vefts of Egypt and Africa were "withdrawn; the numbers of the inhabitants continually diminish"ed with the means of fubfiftence, and the country was exhausted by the irretrievable loffes of war, famine, and peftilence. St. Ambrofe has deplored the ruin of a "populous diftrict, which had been

once adorned with the flourishing "cities of Bologna, Modena, Regium, and Placentia. Pope Gelafius was a fubject of Odoacer, and he affirms, with strong exaggeration, that in Emelia, Tufcany, and the adjacent provinces, the human fpecies was almost extirpated. The Plebeians of

Rome, who were fed by the hands "of their mafter, perifhed or dif"appeared as foon as his liberality "was fuppreffed; the decline of "the arts reduced the industrious

mechanic to idlenefs and want; and the fenators, who might fup"port with patience the ruin of their country, bewailed their private lofs of wealth and luxury. "One third of those ample estates "to which the ruin of Italy is ori"ginally imputed, was extorted for

In

the ufe of the conquerors. juries were aggravated by infults; the fenfe of actual fuffer

66

66

and, fince he was the abfolute ❝ master of their fortunes, the por"tion which he left must be acIcepted as his pure and voluntary gift. The diftrefs of Italy was mitigated by the prudence and humanity of Odoacer, who had "bound himself, at the price of his elevation, to fatisfy the demands "of a licentious and turbulent multitude. The kings of the Barbarians were frequently refifted, depofed, or murdered by their "native subjects; and the various "bands of Italian mercenaries, who "affociated under the standard of "an elective general, claimed a "larger privilege of freedom and "rapine. A monarchy, deftitute "of national union, and hereditary

66

conqueft