junction of the two emperors should ensure the success of the Gothic war. But the feeble sovereign of the East was actuated only by the fatal illusions of pride and jealousy; and Valens rushed into the field to erect his imaginary trophy, before the diligence of his colleague could usurp any share of the triumphs of the day.

"On the 9th of August, 378, a day which has deserved to be marked among the most inauspicious of the Roman calendar, Valens marched from Hadrianople to attack the Goths, who were encamped about twelve miles from the city. By some mistake of the orders, or some ignorance of the ground, the right wing or column of cavalry arrived in sight of the enemy, whilst the left was still at a considerable distance; the soldiers were compelled, in the sultry heat of summer, to precipitate their pace, and the line of battle was formed with tedious confusion and irregular delay. The Gothic cavalry had been detached to forage in the adjacent country; and Fritigern still continued to practise his customary arts. A hasty and imprudent attack was made by the commander of a body of archers and targeteers; and as they advanced with rashness, they retreated with loss and disgrace. In the same moment the flying squadrons of Alatheus and Saphrax, whose return was anxiously expected by the general of the Goths, descended like a whirlwind from the hills, swept across the plain, and added new terrors to the tumultuous but irresistible charge of the barbarian host. The event of the battle of Hadrianople, so fatal to Valens and to the empire, may be described in a few words: the Roman cavalry fled; the infantry was abandoned, surrounded, and cut in pieces. The most skilful evolutions, the firmest courage, are scarcely sufficient to extricate a body of foot, encompassed on an open plain by superior numbers of horse; but the troops of Valens, oppressed by the weight of the enemy and their own fears, were crowded into a narrow space, where it was impossible for them to extend their ranks, or even to use with effect their swords and javelins. In the midst of tumult, of slaughter, and of dismay, the emperor, deserted by his guards, and wounded, as it was supposed, with an arrow, sought protection among the troops

who still maintained their ground with some appearance of order and firmness. His faithful generals, Trajan and Victor, who perceived his danger, loudly exclaimed that all was lost unless the person of the emperor could be saved. Some troops, animated by the exhortation, advanced to his relief; they found only a bloody spot, covered with a heap of broken arms and mangled bodies, without being able to discover the unfortunate prince either among the living or the dead. Their search could not indeed be successful, if there is any truth in the circumstances with which some historians have related the death of the emperor. By the care of his attendants, Valens was removed from the field of battle to a neighbouring cottage, where they attempted to dress his wound, and provide for his future safety. But this humble retreat was instantly surrounded by the enemy; they tried to force the door; they were provoked by a discharge of arrows from the roof, till at length, impatient of delay, they set fire to a pile of dry faggots, and consumed the cottage with the Roman emperor and his train. Valens perished in the flames, and a youth who dropped from the window alone escaped to attest the melancholy tale, and to inform the Goths of the inestimable prize which they had lost by their own rashness. Above two-thirds of the Roman army were destroyed. The pride of the Goths was elated by this memorable victory; but their avarice was disappointed that the richest part of the imperial spoil had been deposited within the walls of Hadrianople. After a vain endeavour to recover it by a vigorous assault, which was repulsed by the remains of the vanquished army and the military engines on the ramparts; and after an obstinate conflict of many hours, they retired to their tents, convinced by experience that it would be far more advisable to preserve the treaty which their sagacious leader had tacitly stipulated with the fortifications of great and populous cities; and indignantly raised the siege of Hadrianople. The tide of the Gothic inundation rolled from the walls of Hadrianople to the suburbs of Constantinople. The army of the Goths, laden with the spoils of the wealthy suburbs and the adjacent territory, slowly moved from the Bosphorus to the mountains

which formed the western boundary of Thrace. The important pass of Succi was betrayed; and the barbarians, who no longer had any resistance to apprehend from the scattered and vanquished troops of the East, spread themselves over the face of a fertile and cultivated country, which they thoroughly desolated, as far as the confines of Italy and the Hadriatic sea.

"Whatever may have been the just measure of the calamities of Europe, there was reason to fear that the same calamities would soon extend to the peaceful countries of Asia. The sons of the Goths had been judiciously distributed through the cities of the east. In the space of twelve years their numbers had considerably increased, and the children, who in the first emigration were sent over the Hellespont, had attained with rapid growth the strength and spirit of manhood. It was impossible to conceal from their knowledge the events of the Gothic war; and those daring youths expressed their desire to emulate the glorious example of their fathers. The death of Valens had left the East without a sovereign; and Julius, the master-general of the troops, thought it his duty to consult the Senate of Constantinople. As soon as he obtained the discretionary power of acting as he judged most expedient, he assembled the principal officers, and privately concerted effectual measures for the execution of his bloody designs. An order was immediately promulgated, that on a stated day the Gothic youth should assemble in the capital cities of their respective provinces; and as a report was industriously circulated that they were summoned to receive a liberal gift of lands and money, the pleasing hope allayed the fury of their resentment. On the appointed day, the unarmed crowd of the Gothic youth was carefully collected in the square or forum; the streets and avenues were occupied by the Roman troops; and the roofs of the houses were covered with archers and slingers; at the same hour, in all the cities of the East, the signal was given of indiscriminate slaughter, and the provinces of Asia were delivered, by the cruel prudence of Julius, from a domestic enemy, who in a few months might have carried fire and sword from the Hellespont to the Euphrates.

"The Emperor Gratian was far advanced on his march towards the plains of Hadrianople, when he was informed that his impatient colleague had been slain in battle, and that two-thirds of the Roman army were exterminated by the sword of the victorious Goths. Whatever resentment the rash and jealous vanity of his uncle might deserve, the resentment of a generous mind is easily subdued by the softer emotions of grief and compassion, and even the sense of pity was soon lost in the serious and alarming consideration of the state of the republic. Gratian was too late to assist. He was too weak to revenge his unfortunate colleague, and the valiant and modest youth felt himself unequal to the support of a sinking world.

"A formidable tempest of the barbarians of Germany seemed to burst over the provinces of Gaul; and the mind of Gratian was oppressed and distracted by the administration of the western empire."

We have now before us a long, though condensed, history of the movements of the barbarians during the reigns of Constantine and his successors to that of Theodosius; which, whilst forming such an important feature of the age, abundantly and accurately illustrates the symbolic picture of the four winds restrained by the four angels; and as the present situation of Gratian-with the victorious Goths planted on the Roman territory in the east, and the tempest of German barbarians in the west-fitly represents the indication in the vision, that the restraining power of the four angels was apparently on the point of being withdrawn or overcome, we shall have in our next lecture to see if the succeeding history as completely furnishes us with illustrations of the Apocalyptic angel ascending from the East; of his appeal to the four angels still to hold the winds from hurting the earth whilst the servants of God were sealed; and of the interesting notifications, direct and implied, connected therewith,

137

LECTURE V.

THE SIXTH SEAL.

Second Part, continued.

Rev. vii. 2 to 8. A.D. 379-395.

HAVING, in our last lecture, historically illustrated the symbolic picture of the four winds restrained by the four angels, and found the situation of Gratian to have fitly represented the indication in the vision, that the power restraining the four winds would appear on the point of being withdrawn or overcome, we have now to see, as then announced, if the succeeding history as completely furnishes us with illustrations of the Apocalyptic angel arising from the East; of his appeal to the four angels still to hold the winds from hurting the earth, whilst the servants of God were sealed; and of the interesting notifications, direct and implied, connected therewith.

It will be remembered that the portion of the vision now to be illustrated is thus described :-" And I saw another angel ascending from the East, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed, and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." The names of the twelve tribes then follow, out of each of which twelve thousand was the number sealed. It will also be remembered that the tribes of Israel were shown to have been enumerated in an order differing from those of the literal Israel, and to have been distinguished by that and other characteristics applicable to the Christian dispensation only. It was also shown by Scripture testimony, that the Apocalyptic Israel symbolized the visible professing Christian church.

The portion of the vision, now to be considered, was shown to indicate-that when the power restraining the