prised and defeated them. He then directed his arms against Maxentius, who had joined Maximian against him. In the campaign in Italy, he saw, it is said, a flaming cross in the heavens, beneath the sun, bearing the inscription, "In hoc signo vinces" (Under this sign thou shalt conquer). In the following night, Christ himself appeared to him, and commanded him to take for his standard an imitation of the fiery cross which he had seen. He accordingly caused a standard to be made in this form, which was called the labarum. Some days after this (Oct. 27, 312), he vanquished the army of Maxentius, under the walls of Rome, and drove it into the Tiber. He then entered the city in triumph, set at liberty all whom Maxentius had unjustly imprisoned, and pardoned all who had taken up arms against him. He was declared by the senate chief Augustus and pontifex maximus. In the year 313, together with Licinius, he published the memorable edict of toleration, in favor of the Christians. By this, every one was allowed to embrace the religion most agreeable to his own mode of thinking, and all the property was restored to the Christians, that had been taken from them during the persecutions. They were also made eligible to public offices. This edict marks the period of the triumph of the cross and the downfall of paganism. Constantine had married his daughter to Licinius; but the latter, jealous of his fame, conceived a mortal hatred against him, which he displayed by persecuting the Christians. Both emperors took up arms, and met in Pannonia, A. D. 314. Constantine, surrounded by bishops and priests, besought the assistance of the God of the Christians; while Licinius, calling upon his soothsayers and magicians, relied upon the protection of their gods. Licinius was defeated, but the conqueror granted him peace. He, however, renewed hostilities, was vanquished again, taken prisoner, and put to death at Constantine's command. Thus the latter became, in 325, the sole head of the Eastern and Western empires. His first and chief cares were the establishment of peace and order, and the propagation of his religion. Many beneficial decrees were proclaimed by him. Among these were those which abolished all the establishments of debauchery, ordered the children of the poor to be supported at his expense, gave permission to complain of his officers, and promised that the emperor would not only hear complaints, but compensate the complainants for injuries

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received, when they were proved to exist. He diminished the land-taxes one quarter; and, to secure a fair distribution of them, he caused a new valuation of estates to be taken. The state treasury had always been enriched by the property of criminals; but Constantine spared the property of their wives, and ameliorated the condition of their children. Death in prison, he said, was a cruel punishment for the innocent, and an insufficient penalty for the guilty; he therefore ordered all trials of prisoners to take place at once. He forbade the use of unwholesome dungeons and oppressive chains. The reason which he assigned was, that it was his duty to secure the person of the accused, but not to injure him. He gave leave to sick persons, widows and orphans, to appeal from the local magistrates, and refused this privilege to their adversaries. It had been customary for the heirs of a person deceased to divide his slaves among them; Constantine forbade the separation, in these cases, of husbands from their wives, and of parents from their children. Divorces had been very common among the Romans, but he made them much more difficult. To the Christians he gave permission, not only to erect churches, but to be remunerated, for the cost of them, from his domains. Amidst all the cares of government and the occupations of war, he found leisure to assemble the council of Arles, to put an end to the schism of the Donatists. The œcumenical council, held at Nice, in Bithynia (q. v.), A. D. 325, was attended by him in person. Nov. 26, 329, he laid the foundations of a new capital of the empire, at Byzantium, upon the Bosphorus, in Thrace. The city of Byzantium had been almost entirely destroyed by Severus; it was rebuilt by Constantine, enlarged, and adorned with open squares, fountains, a circus and palaces, and called by his own name. Highly favored by nature, it soon rivalled Rome herself. All the wealth of the empire was collected in the East; thither the nations poured their tribute and their trade; and Rome, the ancient mistress of the world, sunk from her supremacy. Constantine divided the empire into four parts, which were governed by four pretorian prefects. These four parts contained 13 dioceses, each under the direction of a vicar, and the dioceses comprised 117 provinces. Constantine contributed to bring much evil on the empire by employing mercenary troops to guard the frontiers; and the legions which had occupied the frontiers

were dispersed in the provinces. Towards the close of his life, he favored the Arians, to which he was induced by Eusebius of Nicomedia; and he even banished many Catholic bishops. In the year 337, he fell sick in the neighborhood of Nicomedia, was baptized, and died after a reign of 31 years. Constantine committed a great political error in dividing his empire among his three sons, Constantine, Constantius and Constans. The condemnation of his son Crispus, who had been falsely accused by his stepmother of an attempt to seduce her, has always been considered a stain on his memory. His zeal for Christianity appears to have been excited not less by the knowledge, that the religion which was embraced by a majority of the inhabitants of the Roman empire must prevail, and that, of course, the strength of the government must be increased by protecting it, than by a wish to apply its consoling powers to the relief of a heavy conscience. He has been accused of inordinate ambition, excessive liberality, and an Oriental fondness for parade. But he was brave at the head of his army, mild and indulgent in his intercourse with his subjects, the favorite of his people, the terror of his foes. In the year 332, he fought successfully against the Goths, who had already experienced his power. His eldest son gained many victories over them, and about 100,000 of the enemy perished by the sword or by hunger. Constantine made use of his advantages only to grant them a favorable peace, upon terms equally beneficial to himself. He took this opportunity to rid his empire of a disgraceful tribute, which his predecessors had paid to these barbarians, and to secure his frontier upon the Danube. The Sarmatians, who had been expelled their country by the slaves whom they had injudiciously armed against the Goths, and who took refuge in his dominions, he provided with lands in Thrace, Lesser Scythia, Macedonia, and in Italy itself. He even resolved, in his 56th year, and but a short time before his death, to take the field against the Persians. He was fond of the sciences, as well as of arms, and gave them his protection. He read much, and wrote nearly all his own letters. In Eusebius we find many proofs of his theological learning. Some of the artyrologists have counted him among the saints, and fix the 20th of May as his festival. The Greeks and Russians observe it upon the 21st of the same month. Among all the writers who have attempt

ed to describe the character, influence and policy of Constantine, Gibbon, from the extent of his researches and the profoundness of his views, appears to deserve the first place.

CONSTANTINE, grand-prince of_Russia. Constantine Cæsarovitch Paulovitch, grand-prince of Russia, and second son of Paul I, was born May 9, 1779. The characteristics of this prince are, activity, energy, a rudeness often bordering upon barbarity, and a degree of personal courage approaching to rashness. In 1799, he distinguished himself, under Suwarroff, both as a soldier and a commander. Paul I bestowed upon him the title Casarovitch as a reward for his services. At Austerlitz, in 1805, he distinguished himself by his bravery, at the head of the guards, after he had been betrayed, by his courage, into a too hasty advance. In 1812, 13 and 14, he attended his brother, the emperor Alexander, in all his campaigns. He appeared at the congress of Vienna, and received from the emperor Francis the command of a regiment of cuirassiers. He was afterwards employed in superintending the affairs of the new kingdom of Poland. He was then successively made military governor and generalissimo of the Polish troops, and was present, as a deputy, at the last diet. He resided at Warsaw in great splendor. By an imperial ukase of April 2, 1820, he was divorced from his wife, a princess of Coburg, who resides in Switzerland, and was married, May 24, 1820, by permission of the emperor, to a Polish countess, Johanna Grudzinska, who was afterwards honored with the title of princess of Lowicz, from the name of some estates in Mosovia, which were bestowed upon the grand-prince. The title was to descend to the children of the marriage. Before this marriage took place, it was decreed, by an imperial ukase, that the children of princes, who were not related, by the mother's side, to any reigning house, should have no claims to the throne of Russia, in any case whatever. The prince had, during the life-time of his brother Alexander, renounced, in a secret instrument, dated Jan. 14, 1822, all pretensions to the throne; notwithstanding which he was proclaimed emperor, at Petersburg, in his absence, upon the decease of his brother, in Dec., 1825; but, as he preferred to adhere to his renunciation, his younger brother, Nicholas, became successor to Alexander. The grand-prince was present at the coronation of his brother, at Moscow, Sept. 3, 1826. In 1829, the

grand-prince retired from Warsaw, where he resided during the time of his administration, which had little to distinguish it but the rude and savage character of the ruler. Whether this retirement is in consequence of a disagreement between him and his brother, the emperor, is not precisely known. It is said, that Constantine will live, in future, in some place on the Rhine.

CONSTANTINE COLUMN. (See Column.) CONSTANTINOPLE (the city of Constantine), called, by the Oriental nations, Constantinia, by the Turks, Istambol (that is, "into the city"), by the Walachians and Bulgarians, Zaregrad (royal city), was built, by Constantine the Great, on the site of the city of Byzantium, consecrated in the year 330, and named from him. It was, till the year 1453, the capital and residence of the emperors of the East, and has been, since that time, the capital of the Turkish sultans. This city has been besieged 24 times, but taken only 6, viz., by Alcibiades, Severus, Constantine, Dandolo, Michael Palæologus, and Mohammed. It lies in the government of Rumelia (Rom-Ili), on the sea of Marmora, and at the south-western opening of the Thracian Bosphorus, which separates Europe from Asia. It has a large and safe harbor. The interior of the city but ill corresponds to its noble amphitheatrical site and the splendor of its mosques and palaces. The streets are generally narrow, dirty and steep; the houses, for the most part, low, and built of mud and wood. There is also a great want of open squares. The largest open space is the Atmeidan, which is 250 paces long, 150 broad, and ornamented with an obelisk of granite 60 feet in height. The air is healthy; but from the neglect of all precautionary measures, the plague is brought hither from Egypt almost every year. The heat of summer is moderated by the winds from the Black sea; but these winds often produce a change from heat to cold, which is very unpleasant. The city, without including the suburbs, is about 11 or 12 miles in circumference. Including the suburbs, it is about 55 miles in circuit. The number of inhabitants in the city and suburbs is estimated, by Von Hammer, at 630,000; by others, at 1,000,000, of whom over 200,000 are Greeks, more than 40,000 Armenian Christians, more than 60,000 Jews, and the remainder Turks. Before the last great fire, the city contained 80,000 houses. It has the form of a triangle, with bent sides and an obtuse angle at the vertex. This vertex borders

upon the straits; the north side upon the harbor, and the south upon the sea of Marmora. The west side, or base of the triangle, toward the main land, is the longest of the three sides, and extends, in a somewhat curved direction, from the harbor to the sea of Marmora upon the south. Upon the south-west side, not far from the sea, and within the wall, is the fortress of the Seven Towers. It included, at first 7, afterwards 8 towers, of which 4 were destroyed by an earthquake in 1754, and 1 in 1766. In the quarter belonging to the arsenal, which extends around upon the outside of the fresh water canal, are reckoned some portions of the city, which extend towards Galata. They are comprehended under the name of Kassum Paschi. Here are the residence of the capudan pacha, the arsenal, the navy-yard, and the prison of the galleys. Not far from this is the bagnio, or prison of the royal slaves, who are cruelly kept at hard labor in this swampy place. The suburb of Galata, surrounded by a wall of its own, lies opposite the seraglio, upon the harbor or strait which comes from the Black sea, is of considerable size, contains many large houses, and is the residence of the European merchants. Still farther, upon the straits, lies Tophana, which derives its name from the cannon-foundery. Upon the heights opposite Galata and Tophana lies the suburb of Pera, in which the European ambassadors reside. Not far from this is the open burying-place, for Europeans; and upon the heights just by is the suburb of St. Demetrius, inhabited, for the most part, by Greeks. If you sail towards the Asiatic side, you find, in the middle of the strait, upon a rock, the town of Leander, which is a sort of fortress and prison, and has some cannon. Beyond it lies the suburb of Scutari, also of considerable magnitude. The fortifications of Constantinople are unimportant. A wall, provided with 548 towers, partly of stone and partly of brick, which, towards the land, is double, and bordered by a broad ditch, surrounds the whole city. Upon the side towards the land, there are 6 gates; upon the sea of Marmora, 7; and as many as 13 upon the harbor, besides numerous smaller ones. The suburbs are, for the most part, open; but some are surrounded by old walls, built by the Greeks and Genoese. The seraglio (q. v.) is a collection of dwellings, baths, mosques, kiosks, gardens and groves of cypress. To distinguish it from other palaces, the Turks call it the Padisha Serai, or imperial palace. To the south-east

of it lie the gulf of Nice, the coast of Asia, and especially Scutari; towards the northeast, it borders upon the beautiful environs of the straits of Constantinople, and the suburbs of Tophana, Pera, Galata, which rise like terraces on the side of the hills opposite to it. With its garden, it forms a little city by itself, and is surrounded by a high wall, which is guarded by cannon upon the side towards the strait. These are discharged during the walks of the sultan, and also to celebrate occasions of public rejoicing. Single discharges indicate the execution of state-criminals within the walls of the seraglio. The chief entrance, before which, upon the one side, is the ancient church of St. Sophia, and upon the other a beautiful fountain, opens into the first court, which is irregular and badly paved, having on its left the mint, and on its right the stables, together with a large hospital, and other buildings. Here is also the royal mosque. At the distance of about 1000 paces from the outer gate is the second. It is, like the first, guarded by capidschis, and leads to a second court, smaller, but more elegant than the first. The edifices by which it is surrounded are not of uniform height, and are, in part, ornamented with colonnades. In the centre of the court is a beautiful fountain, surrounded by cypresses and wild mulberry-trees. The most important of the edifices comprised in this court is the divan. To this succeeds the third court, into which Turks only are admitted, and none, even of these, who do not belong to the court, or are not especially commanded to enter. The ambassadors pass, by a covered way, from the divan to the audience-chamber of the sultan, which is in the real seraglio, and is a splendid apartment, although small and dark. Beyond this lie the apartments of the sultan and his wives, into which it is not allowable to enter. Externally are discoverable a number of large, irregular edifices, which are surmounted by cupolas covered with lead. Besides this chief seraglio, there is also, in the centre of the city, the Eski Serai, built by Mohammed II, in which are shut up the wives and slaves of the deceased sultans, who have, however, the privilege of marrying and leaving it, if they choose. The number of dschamis and mosques in Constantinople amounts to near 500. Among these, the oldest and most remarkable is the former church of St. Sophia, founded by Justinian, which is 270 feet in length by 940 in breadth. No one, who is not a Mussulman, can enter this without express

permission from the sultan. The cupola is supported by pillars covered with marble. In this large cupola are comprehended 8 half cupolas. The floor is covered with porphyry, verd antique, and rich carpets. From without, nothing is discernible but unsightly masses of building; the various irregular parts, of which it is composed, have no symmetry; the dome alone rises majestically above_it. The 4 minarets, which were added by Selim II, stand insulated, have each a different form, and resemble Gothic towers. Next to this in celebrity, are the mosques of Selim, Mahmoud, Achmet, Soliman, the sultana Valide, the mother of Mohammed VI, and of Bajazet. There are 5000 oratories (metscheds), besides 23 Greek, 3 Armenian, 1 Russian, and 9 Catholic churches; 130 public baths; 11 academies, in which 1600 young Turks are educated at the sultan's expense, for the future service of the church and state; 518 high establishments for education (medrese), in which the pupils are supported and instructed gratis; 1300 children's schools; 13 public libraries, none of which, however, contains over 2000 manuscripts, and none any printed books. There are, also, many caravansaries; a mathematical and nautical school; Turkish, Jewish and Armenian printing-offices; and a great number of coffee-houses, ornamented in the Chinese style, and singularly painted, in which people of all classes mix together, many of whom smoke, in the course of the day, 30 or 40 pipes of tobacco, and drink as many cups of coffee. To the class of public houses belong, also, the teriak-hane, or opium-booths, where the guests generally assemble in the evening, chew their pills of opium, drink a glass of cold water, and await the intoxicating results. The manufactories supply morocco, cotton, silk and linen cloths, carpets, harness, pocketbooks, arms of various sorts (including bows and arrows), gold, silver, and embroidery. There is no want of dyers, stone-cutters, jewellers, &c. Trade is chiefly conducted in the khans and bazars. In the latter are to be found merchants from all parts of the Turkish dominions. These bazars are large buildings of stone. One of them, the Misr chartsche, or Egyptian market, contains goods from Cairo, especially minerals and medicines. Other parts of the bazar are occupied by jewellers and booksellers, who keep for sale Turkish, Persian and Arabian manuscripts. For the most part, particular articles are to be found in particular streets: thus the dealers in furs, the shoe-makers,

and pipe-makers, have each their own streets. The bazars will well repay the trouble of visiting them. Two kiayas, or deputies, appointed by the government, superintend the management of these repositories, and answer for any theft or disorder committed within the walls. The buildings are all fire-proof, and are the places where wealthy Turks deposit their most valuable property, and where sales by auction are held. The charshis are used for the retail trade. These are an immense assemblage of shops, where all the different trades are carried on, and almost every thing requisite for food, clothing or furniture may be purchased. These endless rows of stalls along each side of a covered street, wherein the article is often manufactured as well as sold, present a constant succession of novel objects, and the motley throng of purchasers is amusing and instructive. Sedate Turks, saturnine Armenians, swaggering Ghaliyonjis, saucy Franks, thin-bearded Arabs, Bostanjis, with their long-tailed scarlet caps, dervishes, crowned with dirty caps, that look like extinguishers, are all crowded together, each driving his own bargain, and betraying, by his physiognomy and gestures, the characteristics of his calling, nation and habits. Constantinople, besides the many splendid and spacious mosques with which it is adorned, can boast of hospitals, alms-houses, schools, colleges and public libraries, such as rival the rich institutions founded by the caliphs of Bagdad and Cairo, and surpass any now existing in other parts of the Mohammedan world. The Turkish baths contain three spacious apartments, one within the other, paved with marble, and lighted by holes in the dome above, filled with colored glass. In the first chamber, the attendants prepare the linen and other articles used by the bathers. In the second, the visitors undress, and fasten round their waists a thin covering, which hangs down to the ankles. They then enter the third room with high wooden clogs on their feet, to protect them from the floor, which is heated by vapors from a caldron immediately beneath. The bather is stretched out upon a raised platform, and the attendant scours him well with cold and warm water, rubbing him with keffeh-kil, a perfumed saponaceous earth. Numbers of persons of the same sex bathe together, but every thing is conducted with the strictest regard to decency. The baths are open to women in the day-time, and to men at night. A clean shirt is thrown over the bather, and a handker

chief tied round his head, as soon as his ablution is completed, and he returns into the antechamber, called jamekan (dressingroom), where a clean bed is ready for him, and he falls into a refreshing slumber, accompanied by a luxurious sensation of repose, hardly conceivable by those who have not enjoyed it. Shampooing is seldom used by the Turks, except in the case of women a short time after confinement. Among the European nations, the Italians, Russians, English and French (all called Franks) are those which trade here the most. In the neighborhood of Constantinople lie Eyoub, a town, or, rather, a suburb of the city, with a mosque, in which the new sultan is publicly girded with his sword, which is equivalent to the ceremony of coronation; Buyukdere (q. v.), Belgrade, formerly the residence of the ambassadors in summer, but at present deserted, on account of the unwholesomeness of the air; Fondukli, with a fortress; Dulmach Backtsche (the garden of melons); an imperial palace, in the Chinese style; Beschicktasch, a town containing an imperial summer palace, a great part of which was burnt in 1816. A panorama of the city, taken upon the spot by Prévot, was exhibited in Paris, in 1825, by Romay. (See Dardanelles.)

CONSTANTINOPLE, GENERAL COUNCILS OF. These include the second, fifth, sixth, the Trullan and the seventh. The second was convoked by Theodosius the Great, in 381, to put down the enemies of the Nicene creed (see Creeds), who had already been restrained by his decrees. 150 Oriental bishops, assembled for that purpose, condemned the Arians of all parties, together with other heretics, and, in a supplement to the creed above-mentioned, they decided that equal honor was due to the Holy Ghost as to the Father and the Son, with a view of recalling to the orthodox faith the Macedonians or Pneumatomachists, who had adopted the Arian doctrine of the inferiority of the Holy Spirit. These, however, separated from the council, and suffered themselves to be declared heretics. The ordinances of this council made the bishop of Constantinople next in rank to the bishop of Rome, and committed the disputes of their bishops to the decision of the emperor. Theodosius confirmed the decrees of the council, and even procured them authority in the West. The Greek church took advantage of the circumstance that the Holy Ghost was declared to proceed only from the Father, to set up their claims to orthodoxy against the Catholics. The fifth general coun