Section 509
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COUNCIL OF NICE. 27 that the festival on that occasion, which was celebrated in every part of the empire with great solemnity, was deferred in compli ment to the termination of the synod. During the public rejoic ings, Eusebius of Cesarea, in the presence of Constantine, and surrounded by the bishops, pronounced a panegyric on the emperoj>, A magnificent entertainment was provided by that prince, "for the ministers of God," to borrow the graphic language of Eusebius, " now reconciled with one another, as an acceptable sacrifice offered to the Divine Being, through them. No one of the bishops was absent from the imperial banquet, which was more admirably conducted than can possibly be described. The guards and soldiers, disposed in a circle, were stationed at the en trance of the palace with drawn swords. The men of God passed through the midst of them without fear, and went into the most private apartments of the royal edifice. Some of them were then admitted to the table of the emperor, and others took the places assigned them on either side. It was a lively image of the king dom of Christ, and appeared more like a dream than a reality." At the conclusion of this splendid festival, the emperor courteously saluted every individual of the company, and presented his guests with rich and valuable gifts, according to their respective rank and merits. When they were about to separate, he took a friendly leave of them, exhorting them to union, harmony and mutual condescension ; and concluded by recommending himself to their prayers. Thus ended the great council of Nice, which, it is said, is still celebrated by the Greeks and Orientals among the festivals of the saints. Nothing, in the preceding narrative, appears to give any coun tenance to that supremacy of the bishop of Rome, which was claimed and conceded in later ages. He was merely represented in his absence by two presbyters. He seems to have possessed no pre-eminence, nor any exclusive privileges. Bossuet indeed asserts, on the authority of Gelasius Cyzicenus, a writer in the latter part of the fifth century, that Hosius was one of the legates of the Ro man prelate, and presided in the council ; but it is generally admit ted that the testimony of Gelasius is of little value when unsup ported by other writers ; and no earlier historian makes any mention of a fact, which, if true, would scarcely have been left unrecorded.