is elevation,
must applaud his unrivalled generosity in the use of victory.

The empress Justina did not long survive her return to Italy; and,
though she beheld the triumph of Theodosius, she was not allowed to
influence the government of her son. The pernicious attachment to
the Arian sect, which Valentinian had imbibed from her example and
instructions, was soon erased by the lessons of a more orthodox
education. His growing zeal for the faith of Nice, and his filial
reverence for the character and authority of Ambrose, disposed the
Catholics to entertain the most favorable opinion of the virtues of the
young emperor of the West. They applauded his chastity and temperance,
his contempt of pleasure, his application to business, and his tender
affection for his two sisters; which could not, however, seduce his
impartial equity to pronounce an unjust sentence against the meanest
of his subjects. But this amiable youth, before he had accomplished the
twentieth year of his age, was oppressed by domestic treason; and the
empire was again involved in the horrors of a civil war. Arbogastes, a
gallant soldier of the nation of the Franks, held the second rank in the
service of Gratian. On the death of his master he joined the standard
of Theodosius; contributed, by his valor and military conduct, to
the destruction of the tyrant; and was appointed, after the victory,
master-general of the armies of Gaul. His real merit, and apparent
fidelity, had gained the confidence both of the prince and people; his
boundless liberality corrupted the allegiance of the troops; and, whilst
he was universally esteemed as the pillar of the state, the bold and
crafty Barbarian was secretly determined either to rule, or to ruin, the
empire of the West. The important commands of the army were distributed
among the Franks; the creatures of Arbogastes were promoted to all
the honors and offices of the civil government; the progress of
the conspiracy removed every faithful servant from the presence of
Valentinian; and the emperor, without power and without intelligence,
insensibly sunk into the precarious and dependent condition of a
captive. The indignation which he expressed, though it might arise only
from the rash and impatient temper of youth, may be candidly ascribed
to the generous spirit of a prince, who felt that he was not unworthy
to reign. He secretly invited the archbishop of Milan to undertake the
office of a mediator; as the pledge of