, in
covetousness, adultery, murder, and every horrible iniquity, they
are honest, chaste, truthful; they honour their fathers and mothers;
they are obedient and loyal to their kings and their laws; they shew
hospitality to strangers; they do not commit adultery, steal, bear
false witness, covet their neighbours' goods. And therefore,' this
Roman felt (and really it seems as if a spirit of prophecy from God
had come on him), 'something great and glorious will come out of
these wild Germans, while the Romans will rot away and perish in
their sins.' That was true enough. We see it true at this day.

For what happened? That great Roman empire, Babylon the great, as
St. John calls it in the Revelations, perished miserably and
horribly by its own sins; while our forefathers rose and conquered
it all, and live and thrive till this day. But it is curious that
they never throve really, though they made great conquests, and did
many wonderful deeds, till they became Christians: but as soon as
they became Christians, they began to thrive at once, and settled
down, and became that great family of nations, and kingdom of God,
which we call Christendom; England, France, Spain, Italy, Germany,
Sweden, and the other countries of Christian Europe; which God has
so prospered for his Son Jesus Christ's sake, in spite of many sins
and shortcomings, with wealth and numbers, skill, and learning, and
strength, that now the empire of the whole world depends upon these
few small Christian nations, which in our Lord's time were only
tribes of heathen savages: so that here again our Lord's great
parable was fulfilled.

The gospel seed which the apostle sowed in those rich, luxurious,
clever, learned, Romans, was like the seed which fell on thorny
ground; and the cares and pleasures of this life, and the
deceitfulness or riches, sprang up, and choked the word, and it
remained unfruitful. But the gospel seed which was sown among our
poor, wild, simple, ignorant forefathers, was the seed which fell on
an honest and good heart, and took root, and brought forth fruit,
some thirty, some fifty, and some one hundred fold. Epiphany came
late to us--not for three hundred years after our Lord's birth:
but, when it came, the light which it brought remained with us, and
lights us even now from our cradle to our grave: and so again was
fulfilled the Scripture, which says, that God chooses the weak
things of this world to confound the strong; the