180 



CONSTANTINE. 



Constan- 

 tme I. 



he determined to remove the seat of empire to Byzan- 

 tium, which, under the new name of Constantinople, 

 soon rose in magnificence and splendour to vie with the 

 mistress of the world. The latter years of his life were 

 chiefly employed in this great undertaking, and in set- 

 tling the disputes of the church, which, though it en- 

 joyed outward peace and tranquillity, was now distract- 

 ed by the Arian heresy. His exertions, however, in 

 this last respect, were attended but with very partial 

 success. It is true that Arianism was condemned by 

 the council of Nice, and that the emperor declared his 

 determination to maintain the orthodox faith ; but the 

 disciples of Arius still prevailed at court, and Constan- 

 tine, on his death-bed, received the solemn ordinance 

 of baptism from the hands of Eusebius, bishop of Nico- 

 media, the professed patron of the Arians. He died in 

 337, at the palace of Aquyrion, near Nicomedia, whi- 

 ther he had gone for the benefit of the air and the warm 

 baths, in the 65th year of his age, and the 31st of his 

 reign. " The excessive demonstrations of grief," says 

 Gibbon, " or at least of mourning, surpassed whatever 

 had been practised on any former occasion. Notwith- 

 standing the claims of the senate and people of ancient 

 Rome, the corpse of the deceased emperor, according to 

 his last request, was transported to the city, which was 

 destined to preserve the name and memory of its found- 

 er. The body of Constantine, adorned with the vain 

 symbols of greatness, the purple and diadem, was depo- 

 sited on a golden bed in one of the apartments of the 

 palace, which for that purpose had been splendidly fur- 

 nished and illuminated. The forms of the court were 

 strictly maintained. Every day, at the appointed hours, 

 the principal officers of the state, the army, and the 

 household, approaching the person of their sovereign 

 with bended knees, and a composed countenance, offer- 

 ed their respectful homage as seriously as if he had been 

 still alive. From motives of policy, this theatrical re- 

 presentation was for some time continued ; nor could 

 flattery neglect the opportunity of remarking that Con- 

 stantine alone, by the peculiar indulgence of heaven, 

 had reigned after his death." 



The character of this pi-ince has been drawn in such 

 a variety of colours, by different writers, that it is dif- 

 ficult to delineate his portrait with any degree of un- 

 suspicious accuracy. The invectives of the Pagan his- 

 torians, and the flattery of the Christians, are, in all 

 likelihood, equally removed from the truth ; and, were 

 we, according to Cardinal Fleury, * to take his vices 

 from Eusebius, and his virtues from Zosimus, he would 

 have so little of either, that his character would not be 

 worth preserving. But in appealing to more impartial 

 authorities, a tolerable estimate may be formed of those 

 qualities for which this great prince was more particu- 

 larly distinguished. The general tenour of his adminis- 

 tration was marked by wisdom and justice. He was 

 indefatigable in business; and always ready to hear 

 and to redress the grievances of his subjects. As a sol- 

 dier, he was equalled by none in the disastrous times in 

 which he lived ; and from the beginning of his career 

 until he became undisputed master of the empire, he 

 showed, in every enterprize, the most consummate skill 

 and personal valour. His troops were always animated 

 by his example ; and, " to his abilities rather than to 

 his fortune," says Mr Gibbon, « we may ascribe the 

 signal victories which be obtained over the foreign and 

 domestic foes of the republic," The early part of his 



reign, indeed, has been highly panegyrised by this his- 

 torian, but we have reason to suspect his sincerity, and 

 cannot help believing that Iris design in doing so was, 

 that he might, with the greater appearance of candour, 

 consign to infamy the memory of the first Christian 

 emperor. " In the life of Augustus," says he, " we be- 

 hold the tyrant of the republic, converted, almost by 

 imperceptible degrees, into the father of his country 

 and of human kind. In that of Constantine, we may 

 contemplate a hero, who had so long inspired his sub- 

 jects with love, and his enemies with terror, degene- 

 rating into a cruel and dissolute monarch, corrupted by 

 his fortune, or raised by conquest above the necessity 

 of dissimulation." This may, no doubt, be considered 

 more as a rhetorical flourish, than as the grave dictate 

 of historical truth, and therefore is not to be taken in its 

 literal acceptation ; but such language is very inconsis- 

 tent with that impartiality of which this author so often 

 boasts : and allowing even the credibility of every vice 

 with which he has deformed the latter years of Constan- 

 tine, and by which he has attempted to expose him to 

 ridicule and contempt, it would by no means warrant 

 such a severe and indiscriminate censure. That Con- 

 stantine in the latter part of his reign was too prodigal 

 of the public money ; that the enormous expences which 

 attended his administration, and the stately buildings 

 with which he adorned his new city, could only be sup- 

 ported by an increased taxation, must be acknowledged ; 

 that he assumed too much, both in his dress and man- 

 Hers, the state of eastern magnificence, we will also al- 

 low ; nor will we attempt to palliate even his conduct 

 towards his son Crispus ; yet taking into account eve- 

 ry failing with which he has been charged, and reject- 

 ing all the panegyrics of the Christian fathers in his 

 favour, we would with greater justice give a summary 

 of his character in the words of an ancient Pagan, than 

 in those of the modern which we have quoted above : 

 hi pr'.mo Imperii tempore oplimis principibus, ultimo me- 

 dii comparaudus. 



The religious character of Constantine has been equal- 

 ly the subject of controversy and animadversion. Some 

 have attributed his support to the Christian cause en- 

 tirely to political motives, and maintain, that he was 

 no more convinced of the divinity of Christianity, than 

 he was of the divinity of Paganism ; but that he en- 

 couraged it, as the most effectual means of uniting man- 

 kind under his government. That Constantine shew- 

 ed the greatest respect for Christianity from his first 

 assuming the purple ; that he recommended its doc- 

 trines to lus subjects ; and that he continued his at- 

 tachment and protection to its disciples until his death, 



no one surely will attempt to deny. If an uniform 



course of conduct, then, be any evidence of inward 

 sentiments, we have the most convincing proofs, that 

 Constantine believed in the divinity of the gospel. 

 Whether his heart was suitably influenced by its su- 

 blime truths, is a different question. But there can 

 be no doubt, that he preferred it to every other reli- 

 gious system, when he made it the established religion 

 of the empire. That Constantine might have been in- 

 duced to become the friend of the Christians, in con- 

 formity to the wishes of his dying father, we may be- 

 lieve ,• that he might have been led to support them, 

 from early prejudices in their favour, or from those 

 feelings of sympathy which are always the attendants 

 of true magnanimity, we can also easily conceive ; but 



Consta 

 tine J 



" On ne se trompera point sur Coastantin, en croyant tout le mal qu'en dit Eusebe, et tout le bien qu'en dit Zosime.' 

 Hint. Eccks. torn. iii. p. 233. 



Fleuxy 



