"The Arians are rejoiced by any occurrence that gives them a pretext for railing at me; the orthodox Christians have the unblushing impudence to attempt to sit in judgment upon the actions of the emperor that rescued them from persecutions, and affect to be shocked thereby, just as if they were fit to judge his deeds or comprehend his policy; the implacable flamens hope to make such use of these accidents as to lead the world back to paganism without my aid. The Arians hate me because I would not permit them to establish a kingdom in the empire of which I was not to be the king. Thou must find some way to conciliate the fools, for the hearts of all men are estranged from me; and, as thou hast always known, I would rather rule by love than by terror. But rule I will, while I shall live. Now, how can I regain my former hold upon either the pagan or the Christian world?" "Thou must first of all definitely abandon the idea that the empire can ever return to paganism," said Eusebius. "The amazing progress of Christianity among the people and the rapid decline of heathenism demonstrate that the old religion hath almost ceased to be a political force, and any emperor who would seek to re-establish it is foredoomed to certain failure." "Let that pass. Ye bishops always regard the Church as the first thing to be considered. I concede that thou art right. What then?" "Thou must also understand," said Eusebius, with malicious pleasure, "that, while the will of the emperor is the law of the land, it is no longer the standard of right and wrong for Christians. Thy statutes may control political life, and prescribe the external forms of worship for the Church: its conscience hath passed even beyond thy control." Constantine turned white with wrath. "The impudent beggars!" he cried, "whom I redeemed from tortures and from death! Where, then, was their ’conscience’ when the council subverted the kingdom of heaven upon earth, and they all signed the decree which abolished the earthly sovereignty of Christ? But," checking his furious anger with a mighty effort, "what next?" "If a man hath done a crime," said Eusebius, "no matter how cruel and unnatural, the Christians understand that he may obtain forgiveness for his sin by repentance and faith, even as King David did in the matter of Bath-sheba." "Well!" said Constantine, impatiently. "The Christian world will never pardon thee without this repentance and faith, or the appearance of it," said Eusebius, and he uttered the last few words in a low, peculiar tone. "And what shape might ’the appearance of it’ assume?" asked the emperor, with a laugh. "Thou mightst go in sackcloth and ashes unto the church and publicly pray to God and man for pardon!" "And I might far sooner hang up a bishop and exterminate a sect that would seriously insist upon any such degrading terms!"