his
secretary, to have been dictated by Arvandus himself. The author of this
letter seemed to dissuade the king of the Goths from a peace with the
Greek emperor: he suggested the attack of the Britons on the Loire;
and he recommended a division of Gaul, according to the law of nations,
between the Visigoths and the Burgundians. [99] These pernicious
schemes, which a friend could only palliate by the reproaches of vanity
and indiscretion, were susceptible of a treasonable interpretation; and
the deputies had artfully resolved not to produce their most formidable
weapons till the decisive moment of the contest. But their intentions
were discovered by the zeal of Sidonius. He immediately apprised the
unsuspecting criminal of his danger; and sincerely lamented, without any
mixture of anger, the haughty presumption of Arvandus, who rejected, and
even resented, the salutary advice of his friends. Ignorant of his real
situation, Arvandus showed himself in the Capitol in the white robe of
a candidate, accepted indiscriminate salutations and offers of service,
examined the shops of the merchants, the silks and gems, sometimes with
the indifference of a spectator, and sometimes with the attention of a
purchaser; and complained of the times, of the senate, of the prince,
and of the delays of justice. His complaints were soon removed. An early
day was fixed for his trial; and Arvandus appeared, with his accusers,
before a numerous assembly of the Roman senate. The mournful garb
which they affected, excited the compassion of the judges, who were
scandalized by the gay and splendid dress of their adversary: and when
the praefect Arvandus, with the first of the Gallic deputies, were
directed to take their places on the senatorial benches, the same
contrast of pride and modesty was observed in their behavior. In this
memorable judgment, which presented a lively image of the old republic,
the Gauls exposed, with force and freedom, the grievances of the
province; and as soon as the minds of the audience were sufficiently
inflamed, they recited the fatal epistle. The obstinacy of Arvandus
was founded on the strange supposition, that a subject could not be
convicted of treason, unless he had actually conspired to assume the
purple. As the paper was read, he repeatedly, and with a loud voice,
acknowledged it for his genuine composition; and his astonishment was
equal to his dismay, when the unanimous voice of the senate declared him
guilty