lish the faith as defined in the Nicene Creed, the second of the general councils was held in 381, on the imperial summons at Constantinople. It was, however, in reality simply a council of the Eastern Church, though its œcumenical character was subsequently acknowledged. It condemned every phase of Arianism, and in the most distinct and precise terms confirmed the catholic faith. It appears that the most abstruse doctrines of theology were subjects of engrossing interest and daily conversation even among the mechanics and artisans of Constantinople. The people of the city seem to have been as curious and speculative as the men of Athens in St. Paul's time. It shocks us to hear that in the very shops and streets, and even in the baths, the profoundest mysteries of the Christian faith were freely canvassed. This was due not, as we might suppose, to conscious irreverence so much as to a restless and excitable temper. The council itself, as we are told by Gregory of Nazianzus, who presided at it, came to a scandalously turbulent close. The emperor at once proceeded to enforce its decisions by persecution, and penal enactments were passed against all heretics, those especially who at all inclined towards Arianism. But it seems that these rigorous laws were not often carried into effect. Theodosius could be cruel at times, but we may fairly believe that, in his efforts to extirpate paganism and Arianism, he was severe on principle and from deliberate conviction. He probably did not deserve all the praises showered on him by ecclesiastics, still less the preposterous eulogy of one Pacatus, his panegyrist, that "could
