The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-11-24

upon rows Of benches that ran around the
room, were seen the representative Christians
of an age of comparative purity, and the tlrss
meeting of these holy men must have formed
o scene Of touching interest The martyrs
who had scarcely escaped with life from the
tortures of the pagans stood IN the nrsI RANK
in the veneration of the assembly; and when
Paphnutius, bishop of the Thebaid, entered
the hall, dragging o disabled limb which had
| been severed while he worked in the mines,
and turned upon the bystanders MS slght-
less eye-or when Paul, bishop of Neo-
Cpsarea, raised in blessing his hand manned
| by the fire, q thrill of sympathy and love
stirred the throng as they galed on tne con
! secrated wounds. The solltarles, whose
STRANGE austerities had filled the Christian
world with wonder attracted an equal atte n
| tion From the desert borders of Persia
and Mesopotamia, where he had lived Tor
wears on vegetables and wild fruits, came
! James of Nisibis, the modern Baptlst, VINO
! was known by his raiment of goats or camels
! hair; and near him was the Bishop OF Hera-
clea, faithful follower of the ascetlc An
thonv. the author of the monastic rule.
There, too, was the gentle Spiridion, the
shepherd bishop of Cyprus, who still kept his
flock after he had won a diocese, and who,
when robbers came to steal his sheep, said,
''Why did you not take the trouble to ask
for them, and / would have given
Them 10 you Anu buere was JuG tenueI-
hearted ST. Nicholas, the friend Of little
children, whose name is still symbol
of Joy to those he loved. There, too
were men of rare genius and learning who
had studied in the famous schools of Athens
or Alexandria, whose writings and whose elo-
quence had aroused the bitterest hatred of the
pagans, and who were believed by their con-
temporaries to have rivaled and outdone the
highest efforts of the heather mind. Chief
&C., Ill
presbyter Athansius, and it was to him that
the Council of Nice was to owe its most i'm
| portant influence on mankind. The enthu-
| siasm of Athanasius was tempered by the pru-
| dence of Hosius, the Trinitarian bishop OF
| Cordova, and by the somewhat latitudinarian
| iberality of Eusebius of C@sarea; and these
| two able men, both close friends of the En-
peror Constantine, probably guided the coun-
| Gil to moderation and peace Sylvester,
| bishop of Rome, too feeble to bear
the fatigues of the journey, sent two
priests to represent him in the synod
Eight bishops of renown from the West
| sat with their Eastern brethren, and
in the crowded assembly were noticed Per-
sian and a Goth, the representatives of the
| barbarians. A strange diversity of language
and of accent prevailed in the various depu-
tations, and day of Pentecost seemed once
more to have dawned upon the Church. In
the upper end of the hall, after all had taken
their places, golden chair was seen below
the seats of the bishops, which was still
vacant At length man of tall and noble
| figure entered. His head was modestly bent
to the ground; his countenance must have
borne traces of contrition and woe. He ad-
| vanced slowly up the hall, between the as
| sembled bishops, and having obtained their
permission, seated himself in the golden
chair. 1t was Constantine, the head of the
| Church.
A tragic interest must ever hang over the
career of the first Christian emperor, whose
private griefs seem to have more than
counterbalanced the uninterrupted sue
cesses of his public life. In his youth
| Constantine had married Minervina, a
maiden of obscure origin and low rank,
but who to her devoted and constant lover
seemed no doubt the first and fairest of women
Their only son, Crispus, educated by the
learned and pious Lactantius, grew up an
amiable, exemplary young man, and fought
bravely by his fathers side in the battle that
made Constantine the master of the world. But
Constantine had now married second time,
for ambition rather than love, Fausta the
daughter of the cruel Emperor Maximian;
and his high-born wife, who had three sons,
looked with jealousy upon the rising virtues
and renown of the amiable Crispus. She
taught her husband to believe that his eldest
son had conspired against his life and
his crown. Already, when Con
stantine summoned the council at Nice, his
mind was tortured by suspicion of one whom
he probably loved with strong affection. He
had perhaps resolved upon the death of Girls
pus; and he felt with shame, if not contri-
| ton, his own unworthiness as he entered the
Christian assembly. Soon after the dissolu-
ton of the Council the tragedy of the palace
began (32G) by the execution Of Crspus, by
the orders of his father, together with his
young cousin, Licinius, the son of Constan-
tines sister, and large number of their
friends. The guilty arts of Fausta, however,
according to the Greek historians, were soon
discovered and revealed to the Emperor by
his Christian mother, Helena. He was filed
with boundless remorse. The wretched
Empress was put to death; and the close of
Constantine's life was passed in a vain effort
to obtain the forgiveness of his own con-
science and of Heaven.
But when Constantine entered the Council
Of Nice his life was still comparatively spot
less. He was believed TO have inherited all
the virtues Of his excellent father and pious
mother. To the simple and holy men who
now for the first time looked upon their
preserver as he modestly besought in
stead of commanded their atten-
ton, he must have seemed, in his hu-
mility and his grandeur, half divine. But
lately his single arm had rescued them from
the jaws of a horrible DEATH He had saved
the Church from its sorrows, and published
the Gospel to mankind. He was the most
powerful monarch the world had ever known,
and his empire spread from the Grampian
Hills to the ridge of the Atlas, from the At
lantic to the Caspian Sea- He was the irwin
uiINl Oocl