Yet strange it is, that he, of all the good emperors, was
the most thoroughly human and practical. In evidence of which, one body of
records is amply sufficient, which is, the very extensive and wise reforms
which he, beyond all the Caesars, executed in the existing laws. To all the
exigencies of the times, and to all the new necessities developed by the
progress of society, he adjusted the old laws, or supplied new ones. The
same praise, therefore, belongs to him, which the German philosopher
conceded to Christianity, of reconciling the austerest ideal with the
practical; and hence another argument for presuming him half baptized into
the new faith.] whose attention Christianity was by that time powerful to
attract, some reflex images of Christian doctrines--some half-conscious
perception of its perfect beauty--had flashed upon his mind. And when we
view him from this distant age, as heading that shining array, the Howards
and the Wilberforces, who have since then in a practical sense hearkened
to the sighs of "all prisoners and captives"--we are ready to suppose him
addressed by the great Founder of Christianity, in the words of Scripture,
"_Verily, I say unto thee, Thou art not far from the kingdom of
heaven.
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