d the edict in question? The whole of the edict
bears the character of precipitation, of excitement, (entrainement,)
rather than of deliberate reflection--the extent of the promises, the
indefiniteness of the means, of the conditions, and of the time during
which the parents might have a right to the succor of the state. Is
there not reason to believe that the humanity of Constantine was excited
by the influence of Lactantius, by that of the principles of
Christianity, and of the Christians themselves, already in high esteem
with the emperor, rather than by some "extraordinary instances of
despair"? * * * See Hegewisch, Essai Hist. sur les Finances Romaines.
The edict for Africa was not published till 322: of that we may say in
truth that its origin was in the misery of the times. Africa had
suffered much from the cruelty of Maxentius. Constantine says expressly,
that he had learned that parents, under the pressure of distress, were
there selling their children. This decree is more distinct, more
maturely deliberated than the former; the succor which was to be given
to the parents, and the source from which it was to be derived, are
determined. (Code Theod. l. xi. tit. 27, c 2.) If the direct utility of
these laws may not have been very extensive, they had at least the great
and happy effect of establishing a decisive opposition between the
principles of the government and those which, at this time, had
prevailed among the subjects of the empire.--G.]

The commencement of the action was not limited to any term of years, and
the consequences of the sentence were extended to the innocent offspring
of such an irregular union. [95] But whenever the offence inspires less
horror than the punishment, the rigor of penal law is obliged to give
way to the common feelings of mankind. The most odious parts of this
edict were softened or repealed in the subsequent reigns; [96] and even
Constantine himself very frequently alleviated, by partial acts of
mercy, the stern temper of his general institutions. Such, indeed, was
the singular humor of that emperor, who showed himself as indulgent, and
even remiss, in the execution of his laws, as he was severe, and even
cruel, in the enacting of them. It is scarcely possible to observe
a more decisive symptom of weakness, either in the character of the
prince, or in the constitution of the government. [97]

[Footnote 93: Codex Theodosian. l. xi. tit. 27, tom. iv. p. 188, with
Godefroy's obs