Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c1: Front matter
Theory of Government in Ancient India (Post-Vedic) c1
- Language
- English
Front matter
c1.1
The first of these causes is the natural mixture of nations and characters, especially after the settlement of the barbarians in the Roman provinces. The second is the influence of the Christian religion, which, in its primitive purity, was perhaps less favourable to the spirit of conquest than the polytheism of antiquity. If the public faith of the Romans was corrupted by the introduction of foreign superstitions, it may at least be observed that the virtues of the primitive Christians were of a passive and unresisting nature. The third cause is the decay of the arts and sciences, and the general decline of literature, which accompanied the progress of the empire towards its dissolution. The fourth cause is the enormous weight of the public taxes, which exhausted the industry and patience of the people, and rendered them indifferent to the fate of a government which they could no longer support. The fifth cause is the corruption of the military discipline, and the frequent rebellions of the legions, who were more formidable to their own sovereigns than to the enemies of the state. The sixth cause is the weakness and incapacity of the later emperors, who were often the creatures of the court or the army, and who sacrificed the public interest to their own private ambition or security.
c1.2
It is not my intention to enter into a detailed examination of these various causes, which have been so often and so ably discussed by the historians of the decline and fall of the Roman empire. I shall content myself with observing that the ruin of the Roman power was not the effect of any single event, or the result of any particular policy, but the gradual consequence of a long series of errors and misfortunes, which undermined the foundations of the state, and prepared the way for its final overthrow. The barbarians, who had long been the terror of the frontiers, at length became the masters of the provinces; and the empire, which had once extended its dominion over the greater part of the known world, was reduced to a narrow territory, and finally extinguished by the sword of the conqueror.
c1.3
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire is a subject of the highest importance, and one which deserves the most serious attention of the statesman and the philosopher. It teaches us that the prosperity of nations is not eternal, and that the most powerful empires may be subverted by the same causes which have destroyed the most insignificant states. It warns us against the dangers of luxury, corruption, and ambition; and it reminds us that the stability of government depends, in a great measure, on the virtue and intelligence of the people.
c1.4
The first of these causes is the natural mixture of nations and characters, especially after the settlement of the barbarians in the Roman provinces. The second is the influence of the Christian religion, which, in its primitive purity, was perhaps less favourable to the spirit of conquest than the polytheism of antiquity. If the public faith of the Romans was corrupted by the introduction of foreign superstitions, it may at least be observed that the virtues of the primitive Christians were of a passive and unresisting nature. The third cause is the decay of the arts and sciences, and the general decline of literature, which accompanied the progress of the empire towards its dissolution. The fourth cause is the enormous weight of the public taxes, which exhausted the industry and patience of the people, and rendered them indifferent to the fate of a government which they could no longer support. The fifth cause is the corruption of the military discipline, and the frequent rebellions of the legions, who were more formidable to their own sovereigns than to the enemies of the state. The sixth cause is the weakness and incapacity of the later emperors, who were often the creatures of the court or the army, and who sacrificed the public interest to their own private ambition or security.
c1.5
It is not my intention to enter into a detailed examination of these various causes, which have been so often and so ably discussed by the historians of the decline and fall of the Roman empire. I shall content myself with observing that the ruin of the Roman power was not the effect of any single event, or the result of any particular policy, but the gradual consequence of a long series of errors and misfortunes, which undermined the foundations of the state, and prepared the way for its final overthrow. The barbarians, who had long been the terror of the frontiers, at length became the masters of the provinces; and the empire, which had once extended its dominion over the greater part of the known world, was reduced to a narrow territory, and finally extinguished by the sword of the conqueror.
c1.6
The history of the decline and fall of the Roman empire is a subject of the highest importance, and one which deserves the most serious attention of the statesman and the philosopher. It teaches us that the prosperity of nations is not eternal, and that the most powerful empires may be subverted by the same causes which have destroyed the most insignificant states. It warns us against the dangers of luxury, corruption, and ambition; and it reminds us that the stability of government depends, in a great measure, on the virtue and intelligence of the people.