ON THE MIDDLE OR DARK AGES. 



301 



sion; and that I may not be suspected of exaggeration or undue embellish- 

 ment, I shall give it you in the plain, unvarnished words of the very cautious 

 and authentic writers of the Ancient Universal History. 



In describing the war in which Constantine was involved with Maxentius, 

 his most powerful competitor for the empire, they thus observe, at the same 

 time giving their authorities, as they proceed, with an indefatigable research, 

 and weighing them with a scrupulous circumspection which has rarely been 

 equalled in later times: — "In this war Providence had something in view, 

 infinitely more important than the rescuing of Rome from the tyranny of 

 Maxentius; nothing less than the delivering of the Church from the cruel 

 persecution under which it had groaned for the space of near three hundred 

 years. Constantine had inherited of his father some love and esteem for the 

 Christians ; for the first use he made of his authority was to put a stop to the 

 persecution in the provinces subject to him. However, he had not yet shown 

 any inclination to embrace a religion which he both honoured and esteemed ; 

 but in the war with Maxentius, apprehending that he stood in need of an ex- 

 traordinary assistance from heaven, he began seriously to consider with him- 

 self what deity he should implore as his guardian and protector. He revolved 

 in his mind the fallacious answers given by the oracles to other princes, and 

 the success that had attended his father Constantius in all his wars, who 

 despised the many gods worshipped by the Romans, and acknowledged only 

 one Supreme Being. At the same time he observed, that such of his prede- 

 cessors as had persecuted the Christians, the adorers of this God, had mis- 

 carried in most of their undertakings, and perished by an unfortunate and 

 untimely end ; whereas his father, who countenanced and protected them, 

 had, in all his wars, been attended with uncommon success, and ended his 

 life in the arms of his children. 



"Upon these considerations he resolved to have recourse to the God of his 

 father, and adhere to him alone. To him, therefore, he addressed himself 

 with great humility and fervour, beseeching him to make himself known to 

 him, and to assist him in his present expedition. Heaven heard his prayer in 

 a manner altogether miraculous ; which, how^ever incredible it may appear to 

 some, Eusebius assures us he received from the emperor's own mouth, who 

 solemnly confirmed the truth of it with his oath. As he was marching at the 

 head of his^troops in the open fields, there suddenly appeared to him and the 

 WHOLE ARMY, a little after midday, a pillar of light above the sun, in the form 

 of a cross, with this inscription : — 



" ' CONQUER BY THIS.'* 



" The emperor was in great pain about the meaning of this wonderful vision 

 till the following night ; when our Saviour, appearing to him, with the same 

 sign that he had seen in the heavens, commanded him to cause such another 

 to be framed, and to make use of it in conquering his enemies. The next 

 morning Constantine imparted to his friends what he had seen ; and sending 

 for the ablest artificers and workmen, ordered them to frame a cross of gold 

 and precious stones, according to the directions which he gave them. Con- 

 stantine being, after the miraculous vision, immutably determined to adore 

 that God alone who had appeared to him, sent for several bishops in order to 

 be instructed by them in the mysteries of their religion, and in several par- 

 ticulars of the late apparition. He hearkened to them with the utmost respect, 

 and believed what they told him of the divinity, incarnation, cross, and death 

 of our Saviour, reading with great attention the Holy Scriptures, and con- 

 sulting in his doubts the bishops, whom for that purpose he kept constantly 

 about him."t 



* Tarw viKa. 



t Rom. Hist, b, iii. ch. xxv. vol. xv. p. 554, 8vo. edit. 1747. The account is taken from Eusebiii.'?,- and 

 by some wi itnrs, who find it easier to ridicule than 1o weigh te>limony, it lias been called a pjous fiction ; 

 but with what justice, Uie following remarks will sufficiently show. First, Constantine and Eusebius are 

 allowed by all parties to have been men of general honesty and intelligence, to give them no higher cha- 







