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"IN protecting the holy faith I enjoy the light of truth, and by
following the light of truth I attain to fuller knowlege of the faith.
Therefore, as facts prove, I recognize that most holy worship as
teaching the knowledge of the most holy God. This service I
profess. With the Power of this God for my ally, beginning at the
furthest boundaries of the ocean, I have, one after another,
quickened every part of the world with hope. Now all the peoples once
enslaved by many tyrants, worn by their daily miseries, and almost
extinct, have been kindled to fresh life by receiving the protection of
the State.
"The God I reverence is He whose emblem my dedicated troops bear on
their shoulders, marching whithersoever the cause of justice leads
them, and rewarding me by their splendid victories. I confess that I
reverence this God with eternal remembrance. Him, who dwelleth in
the highest heavens, I contemplate with pure and unpolluted mind. On
Him I call on bended knees, shunning all abominable blood, all
unseemly and illomened odours, all fire of incantation , and all
pollution by which unlawful and shameful error has destroyed whole
nations and hurled them down to hell.
"God does not permit those gifts which, in His beneficent
Providence, He has bestowed upon men for the supply of their wants to
be perverted according to every man's desire. He only requires of men
a pure mind and a spotless soul, and by these He weighs their deeds of
virtue and piety. He is pleased with gentleness and modesty; He
loves the meek , and hates those who excite contentions; He loves
faith, chastises unbelief; He breaks all power of boasting , and
punishes the insolence of the proud . Men exalted with pride He
utterly overthrows, and rewards the humble and the patient according to
their deserts. Of a just sovereignty He maketh much, strengthens it
by His aid, and guards the counsels of Princes with the blessing of
peace.
"I know that I am not in error, my brother, when I confess that
this God is the Ruler and the Father of all men, a truth which many
who preceded me upon the imperial throne were so deluded by error as to
attempt to deny. But their end was so dreadful that they have become a
fearful warning to all mankind, to deter others from similar iniquity
. Of these I count that man one whom the wrath of God, like a
thunderbolt, drove hence into your country, and who made notorious the
memorial of his shame which exists in your own land. Indeed it appears
to have been well ordered that the age in which we live should be
distinguished by the open and manifest punishments inflicted on such
persons. I myself have witnessed the end of those who have persecuted
the people of God by unlawful edicts. Hence it is that I more
especially thank God for having now, by His special Providence,
restored peace to those who observe His law, in which they exalt and
rejoice.
"I am led to expect future happiness and security whenever God in
His goodness unites all men in the exercise of the one pure and true
religion. You may therefore well understand how exceedingly I rejoice
to hear that the finest provinces of Persia are adorned abundantly with
men of this class; I mean Christians; for it is of them I am
speaking. All then is well with you and with them, for you will have
the Lord of all merciful and beneficent to you. Since then you are so
mighty and so pious, I commend the Christians to your care, and
leave them in your protection. Treat them, I beseech you, with the
affection that befits your goodness. Your fidelity in this respect
will confer on yourself and on us inexpressible benefits."
This excellent emperor felt so much solicitude for all who had embraced
the true religion, that he not only watched over those who were his own
subjects, but also over the subjects of other sovereigns. For this
reason he was blessed with the special protection of God, so that
although he held the reins of the whole of Europe and of Africa, and
the greater part of Asia, his subjects were all well disposed to his
rule, and obedient to his government. Foreign nations submitted to
his sway, some by voluntary submission, others overcome in war.
Trophies were everywhere erected, and the emperor was styled
Victorious.
The praises of Constantine have, however, been proclaimed by many
other writers. We must resume the thread of our history. This
emperor, who deserves the highest fame, devoted his whole mind to
matters worthy of the apostles, while men who had been admitted to the
sacerdotal dignity not only neglected to edify the church, but
endeavoured to uproot it from the very foundations. They invented all
manner of false accusations against those who governed the church in
accordance with the doctrines taught by the apostles, and did their
best to depose and banish them. Their envy was not satisfied by the
infamous falsehood which they had invented against Eustathius, but
they had recourse to every artifice to effect the overthrow of another
great bulwark of religion. These tragic occurrences I shall now
relate as concisely as possible.
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