OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

243

more odious by the example of Galerius, his chap .implacable enemy, the latter was recommend-ed to his imitation by the authority and adviceof a dying father. The son of Constantius im-mediately suspended or repealed the edicts ofpersecution, and granted the free exercise oftheir religious ceremonies to all those who hadalready professed themselves members of thechurch. They were soon encouraged to de-pend on the favour, as well as on the justice, oftheir sovereign, who had imbibed a seoret andsincere reverence for the name of Christ, andfor the God of the Christians ."

About five months after the conquest of Ita-*-D. 3is,ly, the emperor made a solemn and authentic Edict ofdeclaration of his sentiments, by the celebrated MUanedict of Milan, which restored peace to the ca-tholic church. In the personal interview of thetwo western princes, Constantine , by the ascen-dant of genius and power, obtained the readyconcurrence of his colleague Licinius ; the unionof their names and authority disarmed the furyof Maximin; and after the death of the tyrantof the East, the edict of Milan was received asa general and fundamental law of the Romanworld . 0 The wisdom of the emperors providedfor the restitution of all the civil and religiousrights, of which the Christians had been so

B See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. I. viii, 13; 1. ix, 9; and in Vit. Const. 1. i,c. 16, 17. Lactant. Divin. Inslitut. i, 1. Caecilius de Mort. Persecut.c. 25.

0 Caecilius (de Mort. Persecut. c. 48) has preserved the Latin origt*nal; and Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. 1. x, c. 6) has given a Greek tranatotion of this perpetual edict, which refers to some provisional regurfations.