REMARKS ON SLAVERY. 217 if men had not spared their enemies for the sake of their services. It is to be remembered that when the Epistles were written, all servants were slaves-their master's property, and not free to serve them or not as long as they pleased. But this state of bondage, which to the natural mind appears so great an evil, and which was considered among the Romans such a disgrace that the first object of the slave was to get free-this state really became a matter of indifference to one who was called in the Lord. The Christian slave was exhorted not to care for his earthly calling; but rather use it to the glory of God, considering his heavenly calling as the Lord's free-man. He was to be subject to his master (Grk. despot) with all fear, whether he were good and gentle, or the reverse. The Spirit of God never leads those in whom he dwells to assert that right to freedom or any other blessing which the natural spirit so strongly maintains he rather leads them to abide in their place, even though it be a place of suffering; and makes them prefer the lowest position, the state of subjection, as that in which there are the fewest spiritual dangers and temptations. : It is very needful to remember this in the present day, when so much is said "about the rights of man," "the blessings of independence," "equality," &c. This is the working of Satan, who would lift men up with pride that they may fall into his condemnation; and not the working of the Holy Spirit, who humbles and breaks down now those who shall be hereafter exalted with Jesus at the right hand of God. It must here be added that the bondmen and the free are all one in Christ Jesus: therefore Paul could say to Philemon, when he asked him to receive back his former slave, Onesimus, "not now as a servant; but above a servant, a brother beloved." And yet, in the wisdom of the Spirit, lest there should be any mistake with regard to this new relationship between the believing servant and the believing master, the apostle again writes, "they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are believing and beloved, partakers of the benefit" (1 Tim. vi. 2). Having, as usual, referred to the Scriptures on a subject which seemed to call for such illumination, we will finish our slight survey of the state of the Roman empire. 218 :: THE ROMAN EMPIRE. As outward magnificence, with the ease and adorning of the body, became more the matters of thought and interest to the civilized Romans, there was much less of intellectual beauty displayed among them, and their moral character sank lower and lower. Vice walked hand in hand with luxury; and under their joint influence the minds and bodies of the Romans evidently declined in strength. The Roman soldiers were originally free-men, who chose a military life and fought for their own pleasure and honour: but the numerous armies were now composed of hired provincials and barbarians, the latter being more capable of the fatigues of war, and more fitted to meet their fellow-barbarians than the enfeebled Romans. Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred and ninety-seven towns and cities in the days of the Antonines; and the immense population was chiefly supported by the harvests of Sicily and the provinces the wealthy and luxurious Italians furnishing but a small proportion of soldiers, and their fields, vineyards, and pleasure gardens being cultivated by slaves. Spain seems to have been greater as a Roman province than it is now as a kingdom. Pliny numbered three hundred and sixty cities there during his government; and the elegance of Italy was soon imitated in this wealthy country. There were twelve hundred towns in Gaul; but most of them, not excepting Paris, were in a state of semi-barbarism. Switzerland (Helvetia) had many cities and fortresses; and in Germany civilization and the building of cities had chiefly extended along the banks of the great rivers, while the immense forests were scarcely penetrated. The woods of Britain had been gradually cleared to make room for towns and cultivated fields: the southern part of the island was traversed by the straight military roads which communicated with all the chief towns and connected them together. York (Eboracum) was the seat of government, probably for the defence of that part of the country which was most exposed to danger from the incursion of the unsubdued people of the north; but London (Londinum) was a place of commerce, and Bath (Aquæ Callida) was in repute on account of its salutary waters. As early as the reign of Decius, the Gospel was extensively preached in Gaul as far as Lyons and Vienne, which were in those days considered out-of-the-way places. At Toulouse, Tours, Arles, Narbonne, and Paris, churches were gathered; MORAL STATE OF THE ROMANS. 219 and those of Lyons and Vienne were distinguished for their faithfulness. The Gospel soon spread into those parts of Germany nearest to France. Cologne, Metz, and Treves were first favoured by the light. Some have supposed that the British isles were evangelized at the same time: but this opinion is only grounded on the circumstance of their nearness to France. Some Asiatic teachers, during the confusions of this century, went to preach the Gospel among the Goths who had settled in the province of Thrace, and many received the glad tidings with great joy. Except where the light of the Gospel had dawned, the inhabitants of the Roman empire were living in the indulgence of excesses and unnatural vices, which were unknown to the ferocious barbarians beyond their limits. So true is it that high civilization, science, and education, do not in themselves produce the moral results which are expected from them. The Roman nobles either lived as atheists, or had their minds filled with gross superstitions. The common people were sunk in the deepest ignorance, and the learned men were occupied in fruitless studies. The philosophers, who were always teaching their scholars the nature of virtue, neither understood nor practised it. They only addressed themselves to the higher classes, and seemed to forget that the poor and the slaves, who were trampled under foot, belonged to the same species. They did not teach the duty of kindness to inferiors; and an almshouse or a hospital was a provision unknown throughout the Pagan world. The common places of amusement were the theatres, where the vices and passions were fed and inflamed; and the amphitheatres, where nothing could be gained but increased hardness of heart. The Christians, with their new and heavenly principles, and modes of acting, must have been the wonders of the Roman world! The Pagans were, as we have seen, sometimes constrained to admire their integrity, and to exclaim, “See how these Christians love one another!" But they knew not God, and therefore could not know the children of God (1 John iii. 1). TACITUS, EMPEROR.-PROBUS, EMPEROR.-HIS LABOURS IN WAR AND PEACE.-CARUS, EMPEROR.-WAR WITH PERSIA.-HISTORY OF NUMERIAN.-DIOCLETIAN, EMPEROR.-NEW SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT. - TWO EMPERORS AND TWO CESARS. In September, A. D. 275, the danger of the empire from the Germans on one side, and the Persians on the other, obliged the Senate to proclaim Tacitus, one of their own body, emperor. He attempted to decline the honour, saying that, at the age of seventy-five, it was time to rest; but he was assured a mind not a body was needed, and that his wise counsels would be sufficient to direct the legions how to act. The character of Tacitus made him acceptable to the people; and the Senate, in his appointment, thought that they had recovered their ancient authority: but, at the end of six months, the death of their emperor put an end to their hopes. A tent, amidst the tumultuous camp at the foot of Mount Caucasus, was ill-suited to the descendant of the historian, who had been accustomed to pursue his quiet studies in a luxurious villa in Italy; and his bodily decay was hastened by the trial of mind caused by the unruly passions of the soldiers. Tacitus was scarcely dead when his brother, Florian, put on the purple; but Probus, the first general of the East, opposed him as an usurper, who had no authority from the Senate; and that body, pleased with such an able defender of their rights, proclaimed him the lawful emperor. In A.D. 276, at the end of three months, Florian's party sacrificed him in order to put an end to the civil war, and Probus was universally acknowledged. He was originally an Illyrian peasant; but having entered the army, he rose by degrees till he became commander-in-chief, and, finally, emperor. By his extraordinary military talents, every foreign enemy was again subdued, and the empire preserved entire. Among the lieutenants who learned experience in war under his command, Carus, Diocletian, Maximinian, Constantius, and Galerius, were all afterwards emperors. Probus introduced sixteen thousand of the strongest German warriors into the legions, scattering them through the empire in small bands, as he said it was wise such help should be felt without being seen. It was in this way the barbarians increasingly learned their own strength and Roman weakness; and they were not slow in communicating the secret to their independent tribes. Probus attempted to colonize the wasted or uncultivated lands throughout the empire with families of captive barbarians; and to this end supplied them with cattle and instruments of husbandry. But in many cases the unconquered love of freedom induced the colonists to forego every advantage, and to take the first opportunity of returning to their wild and savage independence. The triumph of Probus, at the close of his victories, was little less splendid than that of Aurelian; but it was marked by an unexpected occurrence. Several gla diators in the train determined not to shed their blood for the public amusement; and, escaping from their keepers, filled the streets with tumult and death till they were overpowered by the Prætorians. At the restoration of peace, Probus employed his troops in labour, in order to prevent the disorders usually attendant on a state of idleness; but they bore this new kind of toil very impatiently, probably thinking that the dangers of a military life were only to be compensated by ease and indulgence in time of peace. For some time, however, they submitted to their tasks; and, by their labour, the navigation of the Nile was improved, temples, bridges, porticoes, and palaces constructed, and many hills in Greece and Pannonia covered with vineyards. But as the emperor was one day urging a body of legionaries in the unwholesome work of draining a marsh in the heat of summer, they suddenly threw down their tools, and taking up their swords buried them in his bosom. When, however, they saw the victim of their rage lying dead at their feet, their fury was exchanged for useless lamentation; and they hastened to raise a monument in memory of their murdered emperor. Thus died Probus after a reign of six years, A. D. 281. Carus, the Prætorian prefect, was at once chosen emperor; but the Senate, who lost the power allowed them by Probus, were displeased by the election, and readily numbered him among the tyrants. Carus gave to his sons Carinus and Numerian the rank of Cæsars, and left the elder to settle the affairs of the West, while he took the younger with him in |