Roman spirit was long since utterly extinguished; and, as we have had occasion to observe, Italy itself was filled with a mighty heterogeneous mass of population, of no fixed character. His strong genius, for a moment, sustained, but could not ultimately save, the falling fabric.

The

The ambition of Constantine gave a more fatal blow to the Roman empire, than even the vices of Commodus. To secure to himself a glory equal with that of Romulus, he formed the resolution of changing the seat of empire. place, upon which he pitched as a new capital, to immortalize his name, was indeed well chosen. The ancient city of Byzantium enjoyed the finest port in the world, on the strait of the Thracian Bosphorus, which communicates with those inland seas, whose shores are formed by the most opulent and delightful countries of Europe and Asia. Thither Constantine caused the wealth of the empire to be conveyed; and directly a new and splendid city arose, which was able to rival ancient Rome. That proud capital, so long the mistress of empire, suddenly became but a satellite, and was forsaken of honor, wealth and glory; since the emperor, and all who were devoted to his interest, used every possible means to exalt the new seat of empire.

This wound was deadly and incurable. It proved fatal not only to one city, but to the Western Empire. Rome was utterly abandoned by Constantine. Nor was it much alleviated under his successors, among whom, a permanent division of the empire taking place, Rome and Italy fell under the government of a series of weak, miserable, short-lived tyrants, who rose by conspiracy, and fell by murder, in rapid succession; till, in the 476th year of the Christian era, Augustulus, the last of the Roman emperors, was conquered and dethroned by Odoacer, king of the Heruli, who, at the head of an immense army of barbarians, overrun all Italy, and put a period to the Western Empire.

Thus ended Rome, after having stood 1229 years. When we consider the length of her duration, her character, and the nature and extent of her resources, we shall not hesitate to pronounce her the most powerful and important city, which ever existed, and as standing at the head of the first rank of cities. But if this remark is true of Rome in the times of which we are now speaking, it will serve to awaken our admiration, when we consider, that Rome survived even this shock; and, as though she was destined to bear rule, from being the head of a most powerful empire, she soon became

the head of an ecclesiastical institution not less powerful She spread her wing over all the powers of Europe. They trembled at her mandates. She deposed monarchs at her pleasure, trampled on crowns and sceptres, and, for ten centuries, exerted the most despotic sovereignty. She is even to this day, one of the finest cities in the world.

[Athens and Corinth under the Romans.-After the Roman power was permanently established in Greece, no cities but Athens and Corinth were sufficiently distinguished to merit particular attention. Athens revolted from the Romans, in the time of the Mithridatic war; but was reduced by Sylla, who burned the Piræus and defaced the city and suburbs. The civil war between Cesar and Pompey soon followed; in which they sided with Pompey. Here they were unfortunate; for Cesar conquered. But Cesar did not treat them as Sylla had done. With that clemency, which made so amiable a part of his character, he dismissed them with a fine allusion to their illustrious ancestors; saying, that he spared the living, for the sake of the dead. Cesar likewise rebuilt the city of Corinth, which had lain desolate ever since its destruction by the savage Mummius.

The Athenians afterwards sided with Brutus and Cassius against Augustus; and erected the statues of these republicans near those of their own ancient deliverers, Harmodius and Aristogiton. But they were still unfortunate; for their enemies triumphed.

At this time the city was manifestly declining, on account of the Romans having fixed the seat of their government at Corinth. The literary fame of Athens, however, did not then decline. When the apostle Paul visited that city, it was full of philosophers, rhetoricians, orators, painters, statuaries, and young persons who came to learn philosophy and the arts. But this sort of people being generally very idle, were great talkers, and had an insatiable curiosity. This account is corroborated by Luke: "All the Athenians and strangers who were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing." It is said, there were more images in Athens, than in all Greece besides, and that they worshipped the gods more than all the rest of Greece. Well, therefore, might Paul tell the Areopagites, that he perceived they were in all things too superstitious, or extremely religious. His eloquent address before that venerable council will be found in Acts xvii, Though the apostle's success was small at that time, the

seeds were probably scattered, which afterwards produced an > abundant harvest; for in the next century, there was a church there, remarkable for its order.

Paul next visited Corinth, where he resided about eighteen months. This city was admirably situated for commerce, on the Corinthian gulf. On the east side, was the port of Cenchrea, which received the merchandise of Asia, by the Saronic gulf; and on the west side, the port of Lecheum received the merchandise of Italy, Gaul and Spain, by the Crissean gulf. The inhabitants were very dissolute as well as very learned. Public prostitution formed a part of their religion; and it is said, that the temple of Venus maintained no less than a thousand women of abandoned character. Riches produced luxury; and luxury a total corruption of manners. And yet even in Corinth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, prevailed over the universal corruption; and a Christian church was founded. The arts, sciences and literature long continued to flourish here.

Under the mild empire of Trajan, the Athenians retained their fondness for the monuments of sculpture; as Pliny mentions, that in his time the city was adorned with no less than three thousand statues. In Adrian, they found a generous benefactor. He bestowed upon them new privileges; and the city under his influence, reflected a faint ray of its former glory. His successors, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius, were likewise benefactors.

It is related, that Constantine, when emperor, gloried in the title of general of Athens; and rejoiced exceedingly on obtaining from that people, the honor of a statue with an inscription, which he acknowledged by a yearly gratuity of many bushels of grain.

In the time of Theodosius I. 380 years after Christ, the Goths laid waste Thessaly and Epirus; but Theodore, general of the Acheans, by his prudent conduct, preserved the cities of Greece from pillage, and the inhabitants from captivity.

In the year 410, Alaric, the savage plunderer of Italy, extended his conquests to Greece, and marked his steps by ruin and devastation. He passed the strait of Thermopyla, from which the Greeks, unmindful, or perhaps ignorant of the disaster of Xerxes, and the glory of Leonidas, retired as he advanced. As soon as the voice of his herald was heard at Athens, the descendants of those heroes, who had conquered at Marathon and Salamis, opened their gates.

The invaluable productions of antiquity were removed; the stately and magnificent structures converted into piles of ruin; and Athens was plundered of her choicest treasures. The Peloponnesian towns were overturned; and Arcadia and Lacedemon laid waste.

After this event, Athens became an unimportant place, and continued sunk in obscurity for a series of ages. We read after this, that the cities of Greece were put into a state of defence by Justinian, who, in the sixth century, repaired the walls which at Corinth had been subverted by an earthquake; and at Athens and in Beotia, were impaired by age. Here we take a long farewell of this celebrated city.]

BRIEF HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE COURSE OF EMPIRE, FROM THE FALL OF ROME TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EMPIRE OF CHARLEMAGNE, CONTAINING A PERIOD OF THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR YEARS.

FROM the fall of the Roman empire, a period of darkness ensued, equally dreadful for its length, and for the number and greatness of its calamities upon mankind. To trace the history of those times, is like making a progress through chaos, amidst upper, nether and surrounding darkness. We will first notice the fortunes of Constantinople, commonly called the Eastern, and in late periods of history, the Greek empire.

The successors of Constantine, whom, in this Compend, it will be impossible for us even to name, were more fortunate in the East, than in the West. The numberless swarms of barbarians, which, in these times, poured down from the north of Europe, generally directed their course more westwardly and inundated France, Spain, Italy and even Africa. The empire of Constantinople was various in its extent: sometimes its territories were very extensive, and at others, were limited almost to the city walls. But this city was destined to enjoy a great and almost peculiar felicity. It stood unrifled and unimpaired through all the storms and revolutions of the dark ages. It was never taken by the barbarians of the North nor of the East. It was even fortunate enough to escape the rage of civil war, and to

survive for many ages, to triumph over the vices of its degenerate inhabitants; till, at length, it was taken by Mahomet II. emperor of the Turks, in the year 1453-977 years after the conquest of Rome by the Goths.

During this long period, the reader will find few thingsin the history of Constantinople worthy of very particular notice. That empire neither abounded in heroes, philosophers, poets, orators, nor historians. Yet the preservation of that one city to so late a period, was certainly an important link in the chain of events, which restored the arts and sciences. The writers of the middle ages, and especially the crusaders, speak in the highest terms of the greatness and splendor of Constantinople. Her final subjugation to the Turks appears to have been a just judgment of Providence upon her, since, though bearing the Christian name, she almost uniformly carried a hostile front to all Christian powers, made more wars upon them, and exercised more animosity towards them, than she did towards Pagans or Mahometans.

If we except Constantinople, the whole of Europe, from the fall of Rome to the establishment of Charlemagne, resembled a troubled ocean. The most splendid cities, the most populous countries, and the most delightful regions of the earth, were harassed and overwhelmed with ruin and desolation. We naturally first turn our eyes toward Italy, whose wretched inhabitants were the severest sufferers of all. The historians of those times say, that their sufferings exceeded all conception; that neither pens nor pencils can describe the barbarity, the rage and the violence of their sav age conquerors. All their effects were converted into plunder; their men of every age and character were put to the sword, or dragged into slavery; their women subjected to the most brutal violence, and their cities and villages wrapped in flames.

We can give the reader no juster idea of the miseries of Rome, than by noticing to him, that during this period, that devoted city was besieged and taken by storm five times, in the space of twenty years. Those northern invaders, after having conquered, and in a measure destroyed, the anwarlike inhabitants of the Roman provinces, fell with fury upon one another; and several gloomy centuries were wasted away in the horrors of the most bloody and desolating wars. The Mediterranean sea did not secure the northern shores of Africa from those terrible invasions. An