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and added, that Jesus Christ personally appeared to him afterwards in a dream, in which he confirmed the vision, and commanded him to erect a standard in the form of a cross, which, after his victory, he did in the midst of the city of Rome, and, putting a spear of that form into the hand of the statue which was erected for him, caused the following words to be inscribed upon it: "By this salutary sign, which is the emblem of real power, I have delivered your city from the dominion of tyrants, and have restored the senate and people of Rome to their ancient dignity and splendour."

Having vanquished his adversary, and settled the affairs of the city in which for a time he took up his abode, he began to show a manifest partiality towards the Christians, encouraging the erection of places of worship, and showing great beneficence to the poor. He sanctioned the meeting of bishops in synods, honoured them with his presence, and set himself assiduously to aggrandize the church. He then went to Milan, where he celebrated the marriage of his sister with Licinius, the emperor of the east and no sooner had this joyous event taken place, than the two emperors issued the first edict in favour of the Christian religion by which liberty of conscience was granted to all their subjects. A second edict was not long afterwards issued, by which the Christians were authorized to hold their meetings for worship publicly, and all houses and places where they had been accustomed to assemble, and of which under the preceding reigns they had been deprived, were commanded to be given up to them.

In the year 314 a misunderstanding arose between Constantine and Licinius, and a war ensued, which subjected the Christians to a slight persecution from the latter; but after a battle or two, in which neither party had much reason for triumph, a peace ensued, and things returned to their usual course. Constantine now employed himself entirely to regulate and adjust the affairs of the church: he summoned councils, heard disputes and settled them, and made laws in favour of the Christians. In 324 another war broke out between these two emperors; the result of which was, that Constantine vanquished Licinius, and caused him to be put to death. He was now sole master of the empire, and had no one to control him, so that the Christians had every thing to hope, and, apparently, nothing

to fear; but how far the advancement of the interest of the Redeemer's Kingdom was promoted by this new order of things will appear from the sequel.

Soon after the defeat of Licinius, his victorious rival proceeded to lay the foundations of a city which should bear his own name, and which was destined to reign, in future times, the mistress of the east. This was the present Constantinople, which had previously gone by the name of Byzantium. The prospect of beauty, of safety, and of wealth, which were all combined in this single spot, was sufficient to justify the selection which Constantine now made of it as the seat of government. He consequently enlarged, and at an immense expense embellished the city, being determined, as the master of the Roman world, to erect a perpetual monument of the glories of his reign. To give any adequate description of the grandeur and magnificence of this imperial city, this splendid monument of human folly, is beside my present purpose; but I may at least say that those whose curiosity may prompt them to look into the matter will be amply gratified by consulting the seventeenth chapter of Mr. Gibbon's Decline and Fall, &c.-my present purpose is with Constantine and the

Christians,

In the year 325 took place the memorable controversy relating to the doctrine of the Sonship of Christ, commonly designated "the Arian Controversy;" and so fiercely was it agitated, on both sides, that it involved all Christendom in a flame. It originated in the church of Alexandria in Egypt, and was occasioned by a dispute between two of the presbyters of that church, viz. Alexander and Arius; but it soon spread into other churches, inflaming bishops against bishops, who, under the pretext of supporting divine truth, excited tumults, and fomented the most deadly strifes and contentions. These divisions of the prelates set the people together by the ears, and the dispute was managed with such violence that it involved all classes of the community, and gave occasion to the heathen to ridicule the Christian religion in their public theatres.

To put a stop to such disgraceful proceedings, Constantine interposed, and convened the council of Nice, in the year 325, after trying numerous expedients to quell their differences. He had written letters to them at Alexandria, exhorting them to be reconciled, if possible, to each other. In his letters he tells them

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that he had diligently examined the rise and progress of their dispute, and that he found the difference between them to be very trifling and not worthy of such furious contentions-and consequently promised himself that his mediation would have due weight with both parties and restore peace between them. He reminded Alexander, who was bishop of the church, that he was wrong in requiring from his presbyters a declaration of their sentiments concerning an empty, unmeaning question; and Arius, that he had imprudently uttered what he should not even have thought, or what at any rate he should have confined to his own bosom; that questions about such things ought not to have been asked-if asked, should not have been answered ; that they proceeded from an idle itch of disputation, and were in themselves of so high and difficult a nature as that they could not be exactly comprehended or suitably explained; and that to insist on such points before the people could produce no other effect than to make some of them talk blasphemy and others turn schismatics. This, doubtless, was excellent advice, but the disputants had no ear to give to it; and, finding all expostulation ineffectual, Constantine was at last under the necessity of issuing letters to the bishops of the several provinces of the empire, enjoining them to assemble at Nice, in Bithynia, where the emperor had a palace-and this constituted what is usually termed the first general council. The number of bishops that attended is said to have amounted to 318, independent of presbyters, deacons, acolythists, and others, comprising a total of 2048 persons. The ecclesiastical writers inform us that, in this vast multitude, some of the bishops were remarkable for their gravity, patience, modesty, integrity, and other Christian virtues; but they all agree that there were others of opposite characters.

On the day appointed for holding the council, the bishops and presbyters were assembled in the largest room in the palace, rows of seats being placed on each side of it; and, all having taken their stations, they waited the emperor's arrival, standing in respectful silence. At length he made his appearance, as Eusebius expresses it, "like an angel of God," surpassing all his attendants in stature, strength, and gracefulness, and dazzling all eyes with the splendour of his dress; but manifesting the greatest modesty and humility in his manner of walking, ges

ture, and behaviour. Having taken his station in the middle of the upper part of the room, near a low chair covered with gold, he did not sit down till the clergy desired it.

All being now seated, says Eusebius, the bishop whose place was the first on his right hand, viz. Eustathius, patriarch of Antioch, rose, and, addressing the emperor, gave thanks to God on his account, congratulating the church on its prosperous state, which they owed to his exertions, and particularly the destruction of the idolatrous worship of Paganism. When the speaker had ended his oration and taken his seat, the emperor rose and addressed the audience in Latin, declaring the gratification it afforded him to meet them all on so glorious an occasion as the amicable adjustment of their differences, which he said had occasioned him more concern than all his wars; but that these being at an end he had now nothing so much at heart as to be the happy instrument of settling the peace of the church, and concluded with expressing his earnest wish that they would, as speedily as possible, remove every cause of dissention, and lay the basis of a permanent peace.

This conciliating speech was no sooner delivered than a scene ensued which must have afforded the emperor a very unfavourable anticipation of the success of his efforts for peace. Before the bishops could enter upon the discussion of any of the points connected with the object of their meeting, they began to lay before the emperor their mutual grievances and to vindicate themselves. To every thing that was said, Constantine gave a patient hearing, and, by his mild and conciliating address, he ultimately prevailed upon them to come to an agreement on the great object of their meeting, namely, the rule of faith as it respected the Arian controversy and the time of observing Easter.

Socrates, the historian, assures us that, the bishops having put into the emperor's hands written libels against each other, he threw the whole into the fire, recommending it to them, according to the doctrine of their divine master, to forgive one another as they themselves hoped to be forgiven! Another writer says, that the bishops having made their complaints in person, the emperor told them to put them down in writing, and that, on the day which he had appointed to consider them, he threw the

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whole into the fire unopened, declaring that it did not belong to him to decide the differences of Christian bishops, and that the hearing of them must be deferred to the day of judgment.

Eventually, however, the emperor succeeded in restoring the bishops to some degree of temper, and they consequently proceeded in good earnest to draw up a creed which they were all required to subscribe as the only true and orthodox faith-and which, from the place where they were assembled, has always borne the name of the Nicene creed.* The principal persons who appeared on the side of Arius, and assisted him in the public disputation, were Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis of Nice, and Maris of Chalcedon; and the person who took the lead in supporting Alexander was Athanasius, then only a deacon of the church of Alexandria, but much confided in by the bishop, and of whom we shall have more to say hereafter.

As soon as the decrees and canons of the council were drawn up, they were transmitted to Silvester, bishop of Rome, who in the thirteenth council of that city, at which were present two hundred and seventy-five bishops, ratified them in the following terms:-"We confirm with our mouth that which has been decreed at Nice, a city of Bithynia, by the 318 holy bishops, for the good of the Catholic and apostolic church, mother of the faithful. We anathematize all those who shall dare to contradict the decrees of the great and holy council which was assembled at Nice, in the presence of that most pious and venerable prince, the emperor Constantine." And to this all the bishops answered, "We consent to it."

* As a matter of curiosity, I subjoin the summary of the orthodox faith at this time; the original may be seen in the epistle of Eusebius to the Cæsareans.

"We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things, visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only begotten; begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance of the Father. God of God-light of light-very God of very God; begotten, not made; consubstantial with the Father, by whom all things were made, things in heaven, and things on earth; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate, and became man, suffered and rose again, and ascended into the heavens, and comes to judge the quick and the dead and [we believe in] the Holy Ghost.-And the Catholic and apostolic church doth anathematize those persons who say that there was a time when the Son of God was not; that he was not before he was born; that he was made of nothing, or of another substance, or being; or that he is created, or changeable, or convertible."