the great advantage of the latter in some respects, and to its equal detriment in others; in the sphere of doctrine, a succession of heated controversies and the fixing of creeds; in the sphere of ecclesiastical constitution, an increased centralization of power in the chief episcopal centres, an advance in the direction of papal pretensions and prerogatives, and, in general, a continued development of the hierarchical system; in the sphere of morals and life, the growth of worldliness, the increasing subordination of the spiritual to the dogmatic and the ceremonial, the incorporation of heathen elements, such, in particular, as the polytheistic tinge given to the worship,—and, finally, the spread and powerful influence of monasticism.

THE EARLY CHURCH.

SECOND PERIOD, FROM CONSTANTINE TO GREGORY

THE GREAT.

313-590.

CHAPTER I.

THE VICTORY OF CHRISTIANITY OVER HEATHENISM, AND THE ALLIANCE WITH THE STATE.

I. THE ADMINISTRATION OF CONSTANTINE AND HIS SONS.

CONSTANTINE, a son of Constantius Chlorus, who was a Cæsar, and finally an Augustus, of the West, under the Diocletian régime, was about thirty years old at his father's death in 306. He had already distinguished himself by military service under Diocletian, and was well qualified to accept the honor which the dying words of his father, in the pretorium of York, and the voice of the troops, imposed upon him, in calling him to assume the imperial purple. Having ruled over Britain, Gaul, and Spain for several years, Constantine finally, in 312, brought the whole of the West under his sceptre by the overthrow of his colleague and rival Maxentius, whose intended attack upon himself he

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anticipated with great energy and daring. As already stated, in January, 313, he published from Milan, in conjunction with his Eastern colleague Licinius, the famous edict of toleration.

The motives by which Constantine was actuated in siding with Christianity have been variously defined. Gibbon intimates his belief that he was moved at first almost entirely by considerations of policy, though at a later date his convictions were truly enlisted for the religion which claimed his outward support. "Personal interest," he says, "is often the standard of our belief as well as of our practice; and the same motives of temporal advantage which might influence the public conduct and professions of Constantine would insensibly dispose his mind to embrace a religion so propitious to his fame and fortunes." A more probable conclusion is, that a good measure of conviction was from the first united with policy in determining his course. Even before his campaign against Maxentius, causes were at work that were well calculated to recommend the claims of the Christian faith. His father was no zealot for the common heathenism, and treated the Christians with clemency and consideration. Eusebius speaks of him as "acknowledging the Supreme God alone, and condemning the polytheism of the impious; "2 and the historian Socrates likewise states that Constantius "had renounced the idolatrous worship of the Greeks." Very likely these statements are overdrawn. The supposition which seems most credible is, that his faith was an eclectic system, which, while accepting the heathen deities (and possibly ranking Christ alongside of them), still

1 Chap. xx. 2 Vita Constantini, i. 17. 3 Hist. Eccl., i. 2.

acknowledged, much in the sense of Neo-Platonism, a supreme Deity above all these. In any case, Constantius was liberal toward Christianity, and his attitude would not be without its influence upon the mind of his son. A still further incentive in the same direction was supplied by the experience and observation of Constantine himself. As a resident at the court of Diocletian and of Galerius, he saw the outbreak of the great persecution. Its atrocities may have revolted his mind; in any case, its issue taught him that it was no easy task to conquer Christianity. The good fortune of his father, and the miserable end of the champions of heathenism, could hardly fail to incite him to the belief that a powerful Providence was on the side of the Christians. His mind was thus rendered receptive for any new and striking evidence that might appear. In the image of the cross which flamed out of the sky, and the ensuing victory over Maxentius, this evidence was supplied.

Eusebius is our chief voucher for the assumed miracle which published to Constantine and his army the divine truth of Christianity. Lactantius is the only Christian writer beside, among the contemporaries of Constantine, from whom we have a statement bearing upon the event; and he remarks simply, that " Constantine was directed in a dream to cause the heavenly sign1 to be delineated on the shields of his soldiers, and so to proceed to battle."2 According to the account of Eusebius, the portent came in answer to the prayer of Constantine. Realizing the extreme hazard of his expe

1 That is, the initial letters of the Greek name of Christ, X and P, arranged thus, 2 De Mortibus Persecutorum, xliv.