nfess, that the
character of Theodosius might furnish the subject of a sincere and ample
panegyric. The wisdom of his laws, and the success of his arms, rendered
his administration respectable in the eyes both of his subjects and of
his enemies. He loved and practised the virtues of domestic life, which
seldom hold their residence in the palaces of kings. Theodosius was
chaste and temperate; he enjoyed, without excess, the sensual and social
pleasures of the table; and the warmth of his amorous passions was
never diverted from their lawful objects. The proud titles of Imperial
greatness were adorned by the tender names of a faithful husband, an
indulgent father; his 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 favors 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 subjects, whom he admitted
into his society; and the affability of his manners displayed the
image of his mind. Theodosius respected the simplicity of the good and
virtuous: every art, every talent, of a 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 assuredly suffice
to occupy the time, 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. History, which enlarged his
experience, was his favorite study. The annals of Rome, in the long
period of eleven hundred years, presented him with a various and
splendid picture of human life: an