months, Theodosius was restored to the communion of the faithful; and
the edict which interposes a salutary interval of thirty days between
the sentence and the execution, may be accepted as the worthy fruits
of his repentance. Posterity has applauded the virtuous firmness of
the archbishop; and the example of Theodosius may prove the beneficial
influence of those principles, which could force a monarch, exalted
above the apprehension of human punishment, to respect the laws, and
ministers, of an invisible Judge. "The prince," says Montesquieu, "who
is actuated by the hopes and fears of religion, may be compared to a
lion, docile only to the voice, and tractable to the hand, of his
keeper." The motions of the royal animal will therefore depend on the
inclination, and interest, of the man who has acquired such dangerous
authority over him; and the priest, who holds in his hands the
conscience of a king, may inflame, or moderate, his sanguinary
passions. The cause of humanity, and that of persecution, have been
asserted, by the same Ambrose, with equal energy, and with equal
success.

Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius. -- Part V.

After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was
in the possession of Theodosius. He derived from the choice of Gratian
his honorable title to the provinces of the East: he had acquired the
West by the right of conquest; and the three years which he spent in
Italy were usefully employed to restore the authority of the laws, and
to correct the abuses which had prevailed with impunity under the
usurpation of Maximus, and the minority of Valentinian. The name of
Valentinian was regularly inserted in the public acts: but the tender
age, and doubtful faith, of the son of Justina, appeared to require
the prudent care of an orthodox guardian; and his specious ambition