"But in the disastrous period of the FALL of the 66 ROMAN EMPIRE, which may be very justly dated 'from the REIGN of VALENS, the happiness and "security of each individual were personally at"tacked; and the arts and labours of ages were "rudely defaced by the barbarians of Scythia and 66 Germany. The invasion of the Huns precipi"tated on the provinces of the West the Gothic "nation; which advanced, in less than forty years, " from the Danube to the Atlantic; and opened a way, by the success of their arms, to the inroads "of so many hostile tribes, more savage than "themselves. The original principle of motion 66 was concealed in the remote countries of the "North; and the curious observation of the pas"toral life of the Scythians, or Tartars, will illus"trate the latent cause of these destructive emi"grations"." The circumstance, however, that so remarkable a prophecy has been so remarkably fulfilled, affords the most decisive evidence, that the whole, both cause and effect, proceeded from the will, and was directed by the providence, of the Almighty. Ver. 8. And the second Angel sounded; and, as it were, a great mountain, burning with fire, " Decline and Fall, Vol. IV. chap. xxvi. p. 340-443; where there is also an admirable dissertation on the Scythian Tribes, &c. and the physical causes of their emigrations are very clearly explained. was cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea became blood: Ver. 9. And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. As the period, denoted by the sounding of the first Trumpet, had its commencement with the reign of VALENS, in the East; so that, pointed out by the sounding of the second Trumpet, began with the elevation of HONORIUS to the empire in the West; and these events may be, therefore, considered as the Signals respectively given by these figurative Trumpets; and the personages, thus so conspicuously employed in fulfilling the predicted Will of God, may be respectively regarded as those Angels of the political heaven, who are spoken of in these prophecies. Mountains being the most elevated parts of the surface of the earth, will well represent, in prophecy, the established seats of government in an empire; for these also stand pre-eminent over all the other parts included within its limits. It has been already seen, how the mountains of pagan power and idolatry were overthrown, when Christianity first became the religion of the Roman empire'; and here is an instance of the over * Introduction, Sect. V. iv. page 49. y Rev. vi. 14. page 215. whelming of one of the two "great mountains," of that now-divided dominion. The sea being "It was cast into the sea." composed of a great aggregate of waters; and waters being emblematical of "peoples and nations";" the obvious import of these symbols will be, that one of the Imperial cities was compelled to relinquish the station it had hitherto held, as a metropolis of the empire; and was given up as a prey, to that inundation of barbarians, which now overflowed it. It was seen" burning with fire," because the things, which were thus permitted to happen to it, were the terrible effects of the Divine vengeance. Nor should we, perhaps, entirely lose sight of the circumstance,-that one part of this dreadful calamity consisted, in the first instance, in the actual destruction of a considerable portion of the city by fire. And the consequences of this subversion were immediately apparent. For "the third part of the sea became blood:" these tumultuous fluctuations were attended with tremendous havock by the sword; they spared neither age, sex, nor condition in life; and “ the mountain, cast into the sea," formed now, in a manner, a part of the bulk of its own waters. "And the third part of "the creatures which were in the sea, and had "life, died:" those who had been the creatures z Introduction, Sect. V. vi. pages 64, 65. of the imperial power, and had discharged the vital functions of the state, in the infested provinces, and especially in the capital, were deprived of their political existence, and generally cut off. "And the third part of the ships were destroyed:" the means of mutual communication, and of internal commerce,—every thing that might tend to private gratification and advantage, or to the public emolument and security,—were totally superseded. Such were the circumstances, that attended the casting of this "great mountain into the sea." The period, which is rendered remarkable by its correspondence with this description, commenced with the accession of Honorius to the throne of the Western empire, in the year 394; and terminated with the conquest of Italy by Odoacer, in the year 476. In the year 404, Honorius, dreading the ravages of the Visigoths under Alaric in Italy, finally transferred the seat of his empire from Rome to Ravenna; where he hoped he might securely remain, while the open country was overspread with a deluge of barbarians. And, by this means, that ancient, but now degraded capital, became much more exposed to the effects of their incursions, than it had been before. Thus far, indeed, the woful consequences of their fierce and tumultuous inroads had been confined principally to the provinces: but, in 410, the city itself was taken, pillaged, and partly burnt, by Alaric at the head of his Goths. This was a calamity, which was attended with a prodigious and wanton effusion of blood, verifying in a most striking manner, even in this respect, the imagery of the prophet. "The "writers, the best disposed to exaggerate the clemency of the conquerors, have freely confessed, "that a cruel slaughter was made of the Romans; " and that the streets of the city were filled with "dead bodies, which remained without burial "during the general consternation. The despair "of the citizens was sometimes converted into fury; and whenever the barbarians were pro"voked by opposition, they extended the promiscuous massacre to the feeble, the innocent, and "the helpless. The private revenge," moreover, "of forty thousand slaves, was exercised without pity or remorse; and the ignominious lashes, "which they had formerly received, were washed away in the blood of the guilty, or obnoxious, "families ","2 66 66 66 a 92 a Decline and Fall, Vol. V. chap. xxxi. p. 310-322. There is here a very particular account of this dreadful event, and of the circumstances that attended it. Thus," as the historian eloquently observes, "eleven hundred and sixty-three 66 years after the foundation of Rome, the Imperial city, which "had subdued and civilized so considerable a part of mankind, "was delivered to the licentious fury of the tribes of Germany "and Scythia." Consult also upon the same subject, Anc. Univers. Hist. Vol. XVI. Book IV. chap. vii. p. 512. Mr. Gibbon estimates the population of Rome, at the time when Alaric laid siege to it, at twelve hundred thousand. Ibid. page 289. |