distinction, was
named for the important embassy. [24] In their first interview at
Carthage, the imaginary provocations were mutually explained; the
opposite letters of Aetius were produced and compared; and the fraud was
easily detected. Placidia and Boniface lamented their fatal error; and
the count had sufficient magnanimity to confide in the forgiveness
of his sovereign, or to expose his head to her future resentment. His
repentance was fervent and sincere; but he soon discovered that it was
no longer in his power to restore the edifice which he had shaken to
its foundations. Carthage and the Roman garrisons returned with their
general to the allegiance of Valentinian; but the rest of Africa was
still distracted with war and faction; and the inexorable king of the
Vandals, disdaining all terms of accommodation, sternly refused to
relinquish the possession of his prey. The band of veterans who marched
under the standard of Boniface, and his hasty levies of provincial
troops, were defeated with considerable loss; the victorious Barbarians
insulted the open country; and Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo Regius, were
the only cities that appeared to rise above the general inundation.

[Footnote 24: In a confidential letter to Count Boniface, St. Augustin,
without examining the grounds of the quarrel, piously exhorts him to
discharge the duties of a Christian and a subject: to extricate himself
without delay from his dangerous and guilty situation; and even, if he
could obtain the consent of his wife, to embrace a life of celibacy and
penance, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. xiii. p. 890.) The bishop was
intimately connected with Darius, the minister of peace, (Id. tom. xiii.
p. 928.)]

The long and narrow tract of the African coast was filled with frequent
monuments of Roman art and magnificence; and the respective degrees of
improvement might be accurately measured by the distance from Carthage
and the Mediterranean. A simple reflection will impress every thinking
mind with the clearest idea of fertility and cultivation: the country
was extremely populous; the inhabitants reserved a liberal subsistence
for their own use; and the annual exportation, particularly of wheat,
was so regular and plentiful, that Africa deserved the name of the
common granary of Rome and of mankind. On a sudden the seven fruitful
provinces, from Tangier to Tripoli, were overwhelmed by the invasion
of the Vandals; whose destructive rage has perhaps bee