Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 3 (1897).djvu/187

 OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 167 uncle was raised, by his affectionate esteem, to the rank of a second parent ; Theodosius embraced, as his own, the children of his brother and sister ; and the expressions of his regard were extended to the most distant and obscure branches of his numerous kindred. His familiar friends were judiciously selected from among those persons who, in the equal intercourse of private life, had appeared before his eyes without a mask ; the consciousness of personal and superior merit enabled him to despise the accidental distinction of the purple ; and he proved by his conduct that he had forgotten all the injuries, while he most gratefully remembered all the favours and services, which he had received before he ascended the throne of the Roman empire. The serious, or lively, tone of his conversation was adapted to the age, the rank, or the character, of his sub- jects whom he admitted into his society ; and the affability of his manners displayed the image of his mind. Theodosius re- spected the simplicity of the good and virtuous ; every art, every talent, of an useful, or even of an innocent, nature was rewarded by his judicious liberality ; and, except the heretics whom he persecuted with implacable hatred, the diffusive circle of his benevolence was circumscribed only by the limits of the human race. The government of a mighty empire may assur- edly suffice to occupy the tinie and the abilities of a mortal ; yet the diligent prince, without aspiring to the unsuitable reputation of profound learning, always reserved some moments of his leisure for the instructive amusement of reading. His- tory, which enlarged his experience, was his favourite study. The annals of Rome, in the long period of eleven hundred years, p'-esented him with a various and splendid picture of human life ; and it has been particularly observed that, when- ever he perused the cruel acts of Cinna, of Marius, or of Sylla, he warmly expressed his generous detestation of those enemies of humanity and freedom. His disinterested opinion of past events was usefully applied as the rule of his own actions ; and Theodosius has deserved the singular commendation that his virtues always seemed to expand with his fortune ; the season of his prosperity was that of his moderation ; and his clemency appeared the most conspicuous after the danger and success of the civil war. The Moorish guai'ds of the tyrant had been massacred in the first heat of the victory ; and a small number of the most obnoxious criminals suffered the punishment of the law. But the emperor shewed himself much more attentive to relieve the innocent than to chastise the guilty. The op-