gil may deserve to be ranked among the most suc- CHAP. cessful missionaries of the gospel."

XX

and privi

tine.

The awful mysteries of the christian faith and Devotion worship were concealed from the eyes of strangers, leges of and even of catechumens, with an affected se-Constan crecy, which served to excite their wonder and curiosity. But the severe rules of discipline which the prudence of the bishops had instituted, were relaxed by the same prudence in favour of an imperial proselyte, whom it was so important to allure, by every gentle condescension, into the pale of the church; and Constantine was permitted, at least by a tacit dispensation, to enjoy most of the privileges, before he had contracted any of the obligations, of a christian. Instead of retiring from the congregation, when the vioce of the deacon dismissed the profane multitude, he prayed with the faithful, disputed with the bishops, preached on the most sublime and intricate subjects of theology, celebrated with sacred rites the vigil of easter, and publicly declared himself, not only a partaker, but, in some measure, a priest

'See Lowth de Sacra Poesi Hebræorum Prælect. xxi, p. 289, 293. In the examination of the fourth eclogue, the respectable bishop of London has displayed learning, taste, ingenuity, and a temperate enthusiasm, which exalts his fancy without degrading his judgment.

The distinction between the public and the secret parts of di vine service, the missă catechumenorum and the missa fidelium, and the mysterious veil which piety or policy had cast over the latter, are very judiciously explained by Thiers, Exposition du Saint Sacre ment, 1. i, c. 8–12. p. 59-91: but as, on this subject, the papists may reasonably be suspected, a protestant reader will depend with more confidence on the learned Bingham. Antiquities, 4. x, c, 5.

CHAP. and hierophant of the christian mysteries."

XX.

Delay of his baptism till

the approach of death.

The pride of Constantine might assume, and his services had deserved, some extraordinary distinction; an ill-timed rigour might have blasted the unripened fruits of his conversion; and if the doors of the church had been strictly closed against a prince who had deserted the altars of the gods, the master of the empire would have been left destitute of any form of religious worship. In his last visit to Rome, he piously disclaimed and insulted the superstition of his ancestors, by refusing to lead the military procession of the equestrian order, and to offer the public vows to the Jupiter of the Capitoline hill. Many years before his baptism and death, Constantine had proclaimed to the world, that neither his person nor his image should ever more be seen within the walls of an idolatrous temple; while he distributed through the provinces a variety of medals and pictures, which represented the emperor in an humble and suppliant posture of christian devotion.*

The pride of Constantine, who refused the privileges of a catechumen, cannot easily be explained or excused; but the delay of his baptism may be justified by the maxims and the practice of ecclesiastical antiquity. The sacrament of bap

* See Eusebius in Vit. Const. 1. iv, c, 15-32, and the whole tenor of Constantine's sermon. The faith and devotion of the emperor has furnished Baronius with a specious argument in favour or his early baptism.

⚫ Zosimus, l. ii, p. 105.

Eusebius in Vit. Constant. 1. iv, c. 15, 16.

XX.

tism was regularly administered by the bishop CHAP. himself, with his assistant clergy, in the cathedral church of the diocese, during the fifty days between the solemn festivals of easter and pentecost; and this holy term admitted a numerous band of infants and adult persons into the bosom of the church. The discretion of parents often suspended the baptism of their children till they could understand the obligations which they contracted; the severity of ancient bishops exacted from the new converts a noviciate of two or three years; and the catechumens themselves, from different motives of a temporal or a spiritual nature, were seldom impatient to assume the character of perfect and initiated christians. The sacrament of baptism was supposed to contain a full and absolute expiation of sin; and the soul was instantly restored to its original purity, and entitled to the promise of eternal salvation. Among the proselytes of christianity, there were many who judged it imprudent to precipitate a salutary rite, which could not be repeated; to throw away an inestimable privilege, which could never be recovered. By the delay of their baptism, they

The theory and practice of antiquity with regard to the sacrament of baptism, have been copiously explained by Dom. Chardon, Hist. des Sacremens, tom. i, p. 3-405; Dom. Martenne, de Ritibus Ecclesiæ Antiquis, tom. i; and by Bingham, in the tenth and ele venth books of his Christian Antiquities. One circumstance may be observed, in which the modern churches have materially departed from the ancient custom. The sacrament of baptism (even when it was administered to infants) was immediately followed by confirma tion and the holy communion.

XX.

CHAP could venture freely to indulge their passions in the enjoyments of this world, while they still retained in their own hands the means of a sure and easy absolution. The sublime theory of the gospel had made a much fainter impression on the heart, than on the understanding of Constantine himself. He pursued the great object of his ambition through the dark and bloody paths of war and policy; and, after the victory, he abandoned himself, without moderation, to the abuse of his fortune. Instead of asserting his just superiority above the imperfect heroism and profane philosophy of Trajan and the Antonines, the mature age of Constantine forfeited the reputation which he had acquired in his youth. As he gradually advanced in the knowledge of truth, he proportionably declined in the practice of virtue; and the same year of his reign in which he convened the council of Nice, was polluted by the execution, or rather murder, of his eldest son. This date is alone sufficient to refute the ignorant and mali

The fathers, who censured this criminal delay, could not deny the certain and victorious efficacy even of a death-bed baptism. The ingenious rhetoric of Chrysostom could find only three arguments against these prudent christians. 1, That we should love and pursue virtue for her own sake, and not merely for the reward. 2, That we may be surprised by death without an opportunity of baptism. 3, That although we shall be placed in heaven, we shall only twinkle like little stars, when compared to the suns of righteousness who have run their appointed course with labour, with success, and with glory. Chrysostom in Epist. ad Hebræos, Homil. xiii, apud Chardon. Hist. des Sacremens, tom. i, p. 49. I believe that this delay of baptism, though attended with the most pernicious consequences, was never condemned by any general or provincial council, or by any public act or declaration of the church. The zeal of the bishops was easily kindled on much slighter occasions.

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cious suggestions of Zosimus, who affirms, that CHAP. after the death of Crispus, the remorse of his father accepted from the ministers of christianity the expiation which he had vainly solicited from the pagan pontiffs. At the time of the death of Crispus, the emperor could no longer hesitate in the choice of a religion; he could no longer be ignorant that the church was possessed of an infallible remedy, though he chose to defer the application of it, till the approach of death had removed the temptation and danger of a relapse. The bishops, whom he summoned in his last illness to the palace of Nicomedia, 'were edified by the fervour with which he requested and received the sacrament of baptism, by the solemn protestation that the remainder of his life should be worthy of a disciple of Christ, and by his humble refusal to wear the imperial purple after he had been clothed in the white garment of a neophyte. The example and reputation of Constantine seemed to countenance the delay of baptism.a Future tyrants were encouraged to believe, that the innocent blood which they might shed in a long reign would instantly be washed away in the waters of regeneration; and the abuse of religion dangerously undermined the foundations of moral virtue.

2 Zosimus, l. ii, p. 104. For this disingenuous falsehood he has deserved and experienced the harshest treatment from all the ecclesiastical writers, except Cardinal Baronius (4. D. 324, No. 15-28), who had occasion to employ the infidel on a particular service against the Arian Eusebius.

a Eusebius, 1. iv, c. 61, 62, 63. The bishop of Cæsarea supposes the salvation of Constantine with the most perfect confidence.