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| Constantine employed himself in Composition of Various Kinds to the Close of his Life.
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Chapter LV.—Constantine employed himself in Composition of Various
Kinds to the Close of his Life.
These offenders, however, were soon over-taken by divine chastisement.
To return to our emperor. He had so thoroughly trained his mind in the
art of reasoning that he continued to the last to compose discourses on
various subjects, to deliver frequent orations in public, and to
instruct his hearers in the sacred doctrines of religion. He was also
habitually engaged in legislating both on political and military
questions;3355
| 3355 Compare remarks in Prolegomena, under Writings and
Character. | in short, in devising whatever
might be conducive to the general welfare of the human race. It is well
worthy of remark, that, very shortly before his departure, he
pronounced a funeral oration before his usual auditory, in which he
spoke at length on the immortality of the soul, the state of those who
had persevered in a life of godliness, and the blessings which God has
laid up in store for them that love him. On the other hand he made it
appear by copious and conclusive arguments what the end of those will
be who have pursued a contrary career, describing in vivid language the
final ruin of the ungodly. His powerful testimony on these subjects
seemed so far to touch the consciences of those around him, that one of
the self-imagined philosophers, of whom he asked his opinion of what he
had heard, bore testimony to the truth of his words, and accorded a
real, though reluctant, tribute of praise to the arguments by which he
had exposed the worship of a plurality of gods. By converse such as
this with his friends before his death, the emperor seemed as it were
to smooth and prepare the way for his transition to a happier
life.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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