Franks, not long after, retaking and burning Triers, Castinus was sent with an army against them a. D. 415, who routed them, and slew Theudomir their king. This was the second capture of Triers by the Franks. Theudomir was succeeded by Pharamond, the prince of the Salian Franks in Germany. From thence he brought new forces, and had seats granted to his people in the empire, near the Rhine.

And now the barbarians were all quieted, and settled in several kingdoms within the empire, not only by conquest, but also by the grants of the emperor Honorius. For Rutilius in his Itinerary, written in autumn, A. U. C. 1169, or a. D. 416, thus laments the wasted fields :

Illa quidem longis nimium deformia bellis.

And he then adds,

Jam tempus laceris post longa incendia fundis,
Vel pastorales ædificare casas.

And a little after,

Aeternum tibi Rhenus aret.

And Orosius, in the end of his history, finished a. d. 417, represents the general pacification of the barbarous nations by the words, comprimere, coangustare, addicere gentes immanissimas; terming them imperio addictas, because they had obtained seats in the empire by league and compact; and coangustatas, because they did no longer invade all regions at pleasure, but by the same compact remained quiet in the seats then granted them. And these are the kingdoms of which the feet of the image were henceforward composed, and which are represented by iron and clay intermixed, which did not cleave one to another, and were of different strength.'

This summary of Sir Isaac Newton appears to be exact and full, though perhaps the character of Stilicho may have been impeached by the authors from whom he quotes without solid evidence. A marked and evi

dent change had now taken place in the fabric of the mighty empire, and the feet of iron were become mingled with clay.

It is instructive to remark the contrast between these barbarian inroads, and the previous conquests of Persia and Greece, when one empire succeeded to another. The barbarians disclaimed, we are told, the title of conquerors; they assumed that of the guests of the Romans. They petitioned for places and titles from the Emperor as a peculiar honour, when the strength of the empire had almost entirely crumbled away. The triumphs of a thousand years, the magnificence of the imperial city, had left a deep and indelible impression behind them; and the rude tribes of the north were engrafted on the existing polity of Rome, and borrowed from its laws, institutions, and titles, the chief elements of their political power. Hence the prophecy views it as the continuance of the same empire, but in a form entirely different, with fresh powers springing up in the body of the kingdom. And the more closely we trace the later history of Europe, the more exact the symbol will appear. Union and contrast are alike conspicuous in every part of the Christian commonwealth, when compared with the laws and institutes of ancient Rome.

But the change was as yet incomplete. The union still subsisted, and the empire had not completely fallen. Another stage presently ensued, when the separate toes of the image came into the full possession of independent power. This latter stage of Roman division will form the next subject of comparison between the events of history and the inspired prophecy; and at every step the truth of the prediction and its accurate fulfilment will shine forth with growing clearness and beauty.

CHAPTER VII.

THE FOURTH PROPHETIC EMPIRE.

LATER STAGES OF DIVISION.

A. D. 476-1800.

DAN. 11. 42.-" AND AS THE TOES OF THE FEET WERE PART OF IRON, AND PART OF CLAY, SO THE KINGDOM SHALL BE PARTLY STRONG, AND PARTLY BROKEN."

43.-" AND WHEREAS THOU SAWEST IRON MIXED WITH MIRY CLAY, THEY SHALL MINGLE THEMSELVES WITH THE SEED OF MEN: BUT THEY SHALL NOT CLEAVE ONE TO ANOTHER, EVEN AS IRON IS NOT MIXED WITH CLAY."

THESE two verses contain a more distinct mention of the division of the Fourth Empire. They form a brief sketch of European history, in its main outlines, from the fall of the Roman empire in the west down to the present day. There are two or three remarks which the prophecy suggests, before entering on a rapid outline of those events by which it has been fulfilled.

And first, these verses, unlike the former, describe a complete separation of the empire into various kingdoms. The feet of iron mixed with clay would naturally imply weakness and confusion, but gave no clear token that the unity of the empire had ceased. But now the toes only are mentioned, which fitly represents a division into many powers. The Fourth Empire, after crumbling into weakness, was thus to resolve itself at length into separate governments. The event exactly corresponds. After more than two centuries of decay and confusion, distinct monarchies arose throughout Western Europe on the fall of the imperial power.

There is here, however, no mention of the number of these kingdoms. The toes are named, but the number ten is not specified. So far as this vision is concerned, there is no need for an exact determination. The

Spirit of God would thus teach us, first, to ascertain the broader features of the fulfilment; and only when these have been secured, to pass on by their help to the minuter details.

The two verses before us contain two distinct predictions. The first of them announces the separation and diversity of the kingdoms; the second, repeated attempts to effect a reunion. The words readily suggest, from their order, the notion of two successive stages, one marked by confusion and division, the other by mutual leagues and alliances. The history reveals a distinction of the same kind. From the sixth to the twelfth century the annals of Europe relate chiefly to separate states. After that time, their main feature is the balance of power, and the shifting alliances and intermarriages among the European sovereigns.

The toes, part of iron and part of clay, imply a various measure of strength in the divided kingdoms. But their heterogeneous character is still more plainly intended. They will not cleave one to another. Both these features have also been manifest in the history of the European states. Some have been strong, and others feeble; but all alike have resisted the efforts of ambition to unite them into one.

Let us now trace rapidly the events by which these verses have been accomplished. The historian of the Decline and Fall describes the first steps of that fulfilment in these words :

'At that unhappy period (of the fall of the empire), the Saxons fiercely struggled with the natives for the possession of Britain. Gaul and Spain were divided between the powerful monarchies of the Franks and Visigoths, and the dependent kingdoms of the Suevi and Burgundians. Africa was exposed to the cruel persecution of the Vandals, and the savage insults of the

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Moors. Rome and Italy, as far as the banks of the Danube, were afflicted by an army of barbarian mercenaries, whose lawless tyranny was succeeded by the reign of Theodoric the Ostrogoth. All the subjects of the empire, who, by the use of the Latin language, more particularly deserved the name and privileges of Romans, were oppressed by the disgrace and calamities of foreign conquest; and the victorious nations of Germany established a new system of manners and government in the western countries of Europe. The majesty of Rome was faintly represented by the princes of Constantinople, the feeble and imaginary successors of Augustus.'

Thus, at the time when the western empire fell, nine or ten distinct powers evidently arose, and occupied with contending strength and weakness its broken territory. The history, at the first glance, reflects all the leading features of the prophetic description.

The changes which followed, in Italy and the other states, are so various and complex as scarcely to admit of a brief narration. Within twenty years from the fall of the empire, Odoacer was overthrown by Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths (A.D. 493). From the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, he reigned by right of conquest the Vandal ambassadors surrendered the island of Sicily, as a lawful appendage of his kingdom: and he was accepted as the deliverer of Rome by the senate and people.'

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The Gothic kingdom lasted forty years, and then was overthrown by Belisarius, whose triumphs Narses completed. Soon after, the Lombards, under Alboin their king (A.D. 568) conquered the whole of Northern Italy, as far as Ravenna and Rome. During two hundred years, Italy was unequally divided between the Lombard kingdom and the exarchate of Ravenna. The jurisdiction of the exarchs extended over the modern Romagna, the valleys of Ferrara, and Pentapolis. Three subordinate provinces of Rome, Venice, and Naples, acknowledged their supremacy. The three islands of Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily, still adhered to the empire;