308 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



when we had, a long time afterwards, the privilege of knowing 

 and conversing with him, and having confirmed it with an 

 oath, who can hesitate to believe the account?" Then Euse- 

 bius goes on to enter into it very minutely, as he had the 

 story privately from the Emperor's own lips, who affirmed 

 " that about the middle hours of the day, as the sun began 

 to verge towards its setting, he saw in the heavens with his 

 own eyes the sign, with its legend, and amazement seized him 

 and the whole army at the sight, and the beholders wondered 

 as they accompanied him in the march." And he said " he 

 was at a loss what to make of this spectre (to ^ao-/xa), and, 

 as he pondered and reflected on it long, night came upon him 

 by surprise," &c. 



Now, if this relation is all true, how happens it that no 

 writer of that age says one word about the luminous cross in 

 the heavens ? Lactantius mentions only the " dream," in 

 which Constantine was directed to use the sign of the cross ; 

 and the same is true of Sozomen {lih. i., c. 3), another eccle- 

 siastical historian ; and Eufinus, and others. Hence, too, it 

 seems that the whole story was counted fabulous by the 

 Pagans, which confirms the ancient statement and supposi- 

 tion that it was a dream. How came it that Eusebius him- 

 self said nothing about it in his " Ecclesiastical History," 

 which was written about twelve years after the said event, 

 and about the same length of time before his " Life of Con- 

 stantine " ? "Why does he rely solely on the testimony of the 

 Emperor, and not even intimate that he ever heard of it from 

 others, whereas, if true, ma.ny thousands must have been 

 eye-witnesses of the fact ? What means his suggestions that 

 some may question the truth of the story ; and to confine 

 himself simply to the Emperor's private representation to 

 himself? And how came the whole story of the luminous 

 cross to be unknown to the Christian world for more than 

 twenty-five years, and then to be made known only through a 

 private conversation between Eusebius and Constantine ? 



Here I may observe that the hour of the day, and almost 

 the season of the year (as stated by Eusebius), and conse- 

 quently the position of the sun in the heavens, pretty nearly 

 correspond with the time and season in which I first noticed 

 the phenomenon. Moreover, the onward movement of the 

 train did not interrupt its appearing ; and this also agrees 

 with the march of the army. Further, the occasional reful- 

 gent image of the sun itself surrounding the other and darker 

 imagery (as witnessed by me) serves to remind one of one of 

 the ancient suppositions respecting that spectre seen by Con- 

 stantine as being a solar halo. Of course, I do not mean to 

 say that this which I have here adduced is. the true solution 

 of that old mysterious story, but merely that it has much 



