of the soldier was profitably converted to the improvement of
his ample patrimony, which lay between Valladolid and Segovia, in the
midst of a fruitful district, still famous for a most exquisite breed of
sheep. From the innocent, but humble labors of his farm, Theodosius
was transported, in less than four months, to the throne of the Eastern
empire; and the whole period of the history of the world will not
perhaps afford a similar example, of an elevation at the same time so
pure and so honorable. The princes who peaceably inherit the sceptre of
their fathers, claim and enjoy a legal right, the more secure as it is
absolutely distinct from the merits of their personal characters. The
subjects, who, in a monarchy, or a popular state, acquire the possession
of supreme power, may have raised themselves, by the superiority either
of genius or virtue, above the heads of their equals; but their
virtue is seldom exempt from ambition; and the cause of the successful
candidate is frequently stained by the guilt of conspiracy, or civil
war. Even in those governments which allow the reigning monarch to
declare a colleague or a successor, his partial choice, which may be
influenced by the blindest passions, is often directed to an unworthy
object But the most suspicious malignity cannot ascribe to Theodosius,
in his obscure solitude of Caucha, the arts, the desires, or even the
hopes, of an ambitious statesman; and the name of the Exile would long
since have been forgotten, if his genuine and distinguished virtues had
not left a deep impression in the Imperial court. During the season
of prosperity, he had been neglected; but, in the public distress, his
superior merit was universally felt and acknowledged. What confidence
must have been reposed in his integrity, since Gratian could trust, that
a pious son would forgive, for the sake of the republic, the murder of
his father! What expectations must have been formed of his abilities
to encourage the hope, that a single man could save, and restore, the
empire of the East! Theodosius was invested with the purple in the
thirty-third year of his age. The vulgar gazed with admiration on the
manly beauty of his face, and the graceful majesty of his person, which
they were pleased to compare with the pictures and medals of the emperor
Trajan; whilst intelligent observers discovered, in the qualities of his
heart and understanding, a more important resemblance to the best and
greatest of th