, and delayed the ruin of the Western Empire.

[Footnote 89: Ammian. xvi. 5, xviii. 1. Mamertinus in Panegyr. Vet. xi.
4]

[Footnote 90: Ammian. xvii. 3. Julian. Epistol. xv. edit. Spanheim. Such
a conduct almost justifies the encomium of Mamertinus. Ita illi anni
spatia divisa sunt, ut aut Barbaros domitet, aut civibus jura restituat,
perpetuum professus, aut contra hostem, aut contra vitia, certamen.]

His salutary influence restored the cities of Gaul, which had been so
long exposed to the evils of civil discord, Barbarian war, and domestic
tyranny; and the spirit of industry was revived with the hopes of
enjoyment. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, again flourished
under the protection of the laws; and the curioe, or civil corporations,
were again filled with useful and respectable members: the youth were
no longer apprehensive of marriage; and married persons were no longer
apprehensive of posterity: the public and private festivals were
celebrated with customary pomp; and the frequent and secure intercourse
of the provinces displayed the image of national prosperity. [91] A mind
like that of Julian must have felt the general happiness of which he was
the author; but he viewed, with particular satisfaction and complacency,
the city of Paris; the seat of his winter residence, and the object even
of his partial affection. [92] That splendid capital, which now embraces
an ample territory on either side of the Seine, was originally
confined to the small island in the midst of the river, from whence the
inhabitants derived a supply of pure and salubrious water. The river
bathed the foot of the walls; and the town was accessible only by two
wooden bridges. A forest overspread the northern side of the Seine, but
on the south, the ground, which now bears the name of the University,
was insensibly covered with houses, and adorned with a palace and
amphitheatre, baths, an aqueduct, and a field of Mars for the exercise
of the Roman troops. The severity of the climate was tempered by the
neighborhood of the ocean; and with some precautions, which experience
had taught, the vine and fig-tree were successfully cultivated. But in
remarkable winters, the Seine was deeply frozen; and the huge pieces of
ice that floated down the stream, might be compared, by an Asiatic, to
the blocks of white marble which were extracted from the quarries of
Phrygia. The licentiousness and corruption of Antioch recalled to the
memory of Juli