The sun., 1898-02-20

| Downfall OF the Roman Empire in the wosti
! Il IL customary to ascribo that downfall to tho
corruption OF later Roman life. but DIR. wclls
! Is OF the opinion that tho Importance OF this
cause has boon ovcrestimated, and that 1t has
! turned attention away from other more directly
effective causes. He finds tho secret Of Romo's
fall in her failure TO asslmilnte her continued
conquosts which failure was duo to exhaustion.
1t is truc that tho exhaustion was moral. but II
WAS also social, political, ind economic. Tho
social and economic effects OF slavery.
for example, were disastrous as It's
moral effects. Tho samo thing may be
said OF tho breaking up OF family life; of
tho FREQ Gnmos and FREQ food which relieved tho
plobeians Of tho necessity OF labor; OF the luxury
and artificial existence OF the rich. Most CT.
fcctive of all causes, undoubtedly, was tho dis.
appearance OF the middle class. The union of
the patrlciNns with the plebeians had strength.
encd the unity and the power OF Rome. and had
been Immediately followed by tho spread Of her
influence and conquest. 1t was tho rapidly
growing gulf between tho opulont arstocracy
and the dependent proletariat that weakened
her and prepared her downfall. DIR. Wells Is
no Socialist, far from 1t, but he points
out that some bond Of connection. some
ito Of sympathy and OF mutual helpfulness must
be kept UP between the highest and lowest
classes in given community, or tho vital con-
mutilated. and the social fabric, and with 1t the
political constitution. will totter to tho fall.
There will be and must be gradations, social,
economical, intellectual. and political but they
must be so closely interviewer that there shall
be no broad and decisive gap between tho
lower and the next higher. II. by any means.
any considerable section Of this graduation is re-
moved. ruin is inevitable. This was what hap
pened in Romes case, owing to the disap-
~ hn ,I,., ,tnn Nv
slavery, luxury, pauperization. loss OF inde-
pendonce. and the absorption OF small pro-
prietorshps into tho vast estates of rich and
powerful land owners. Many Of these evils had
been felt already in the closing years Of tho re-
public. and had made not only possible, but
nee sssary, tho revolution wrought by Caesar
and realized by Augustus In the establishment
OF the empire. 1t isindisputable that this move
ment, by concentrating tho power and energies
remaining In the State, and by restoring In q
great measure tho direct responsibility Of tho
minor officers, postponed the evil day. though 1t
did not provide any radical remedy. 1t post
poned ruin, but did not avert It; before the
end NJ the fifth century O Roman Emperor had
ceased to have any independent rule in
the West. This cessation, which occurred, It
is well known, in A76 A. D.. 10 usually
described as the fall of the Roman Empire in the
West. but DR.. Wells truly says that tho term
10 scarcely appropriate. What really occurred
was simply the Transmission to others of tho
power which tho hands Of Rome failed to hold
any lonRer the seizure by others of the treasures
she could no longer defend or use. These others
were the Christian Church and the German peo-
ples The life Of Popo Gregory the Great shows
to what extent the Church of Rome at the close
of the sixth century had inherited the power and
influence and real position of tho Roman Empire
in the West Tho Latin tongue had become
the language of its Scriptures. its liturgy.
its theology and its laws. while, with the Ian
guage. 1t had received much of tho spirit and
ideals Of Rome Thus. SO far as western Europe
was concerned, the empire Of Rome had passed
on part of its great heritage to the Church of
Rome. which had become able to receive and to
administer the inheritance. The other inherttors
Of Rome's power and civilization in the West
were tho German peoples who. at first divided.
became gradually united. until the Lombards
held the territory of the empire in Italy and the
Franks tho lands beyond tho Alps At last
Charles tho Great, combining both of these
elements with new conquests in tho north and
east. created tho Carolingian Empire.