Chapter XXI: Persecution Of Heresy, State Of The Church.—Part IV

Such was the rise and progress, and such were the natural
revolutions of those theological disputes, which disturbed the
peace of Christianity under the reigns of Constantine and of his
sons. But as those princes presumed to extend their despotism
over the faith, as well as over the lives and fortunes, of their
subjects, the weight of their suffrage sometimes inclined the
ecclesiastical balance: and the prerogatives of the King of
Heaven were settled, or changed, or modified, in the cabinet of
an earthly monarch. The unhappy spirit of discord which pervaded
the provinces of the East, interrupted the triumph of
Constantine; but the emperor continued for some time to view,
with cool and careless indifference, the object of the dispute.
As he was yet ignorant of the difficulty of appeasing the
quarrels of theologians, he addressed to the contending parties,
to Alexander and to Arius, a moderating epistle; 77 which may be
ascribed, with far greater reason, to the untutored sense of a
soldier and statesman, than to the dictates of any of his
episcopal counsellors. He attributes the origin of the whole
controversy to a trifling and subtle question, concerning an
incomprehensible point of law, which was foolishly asked by the
bishop, and imprudently resolved by the presbyter. He laments
that the Christian people, who had the same God, the same
religion, and the same worship, should be divided by such
inconsiderable distinctions; and he seriously recommends to the
clergy of Alexandria the example of the Greek philosophers; who
could maintain their arguments without losing their temper, and
assert their freedom without violating their friendship. The
indifference and contempt of the sovereign would have been,
perhaps, the most effectual method of silencing the dispute, if
the popular current had been less rapid and impetuous, and if
Constantine himself, in the midst of faction and fanaticism,
could have preserved the calm possession of his own mind. But his
ecclesiastical ministers soon contrived to seduce the
impartiality of the magistrate, and to awaken the zeal of the
proselyte. He was provoked by the insults which had been offered
to his statues; he was alarmed by the real, as well as the
imaginary magnitude of the spreading mischief; and he
extinguished the hope of peace and toleration, from the moment
that he assembled three hundred bishops within the walls of the
same palace. The presence of the monarch swelled the importance
of the debate; his attention multiplied the arguments; and he
exposed his person with a patient intrepidity, which animated the
valor of the combatants. Notwithstanding the applause which has
been bestowed on the eloquence and sagacity of Constantine, 78 a
Roman general, whose religion might be still a subject of doubt,
and whose mind had not been enlightened either by study or by
inspiration, was indifferently qualified to discuss, in the Greek
language, a metaphysical question, or an article of faith. But
the credit of his favorite Osius, who appears to have presided in
the council of Nice, might dispose the emperor in favor of the
orthodox party; and a well-timed insinuation, that the same
Eusebius of Nicomedia, who now protected the heretic, had lately
assisted the tyrant, 79 might exasperate him against their
adversaries. The Nicene creed was ratified by Constantine; and
his firm declaration, that those who resisted the divine judgment
of the synod, must prepare themselves for an immediate exile,
annihilated the murmurs of a feeble opposition; which, from
seventeen, was almost instantly reduced to two, protesting
bishops. Eusebius of Cæsarea yielded a reluctant and ambiguous
consent to the Homoousion; 80 and the wavering conduct of the
Nicomedian Eusebius served only to delay, about three months, his
disgrace and exile. 81 The impious Arius was banished into one of
the remote provinces of Illyricum; his person and disciples were
branded by law with the odious name of Porphyrians; his writings
were condemned to the flames, and a capital punishment was
denounced against those in whose possession they should be found.
The emperor had now imbibed the spirit of controversy, and the
angry, sarcastic style of his edicts was designed to inspire his
subjects with the hatred which he had conceived against the
enemies of Christ. 82

77 (return) [ Eusebius, in Vit. Constant. l. ii. c. 64-72. The
principles of toleration and religious indifference, contained in
this epistle, have given great offence to Baronius, Tillemont,
&c., who suppose that the emperor had some evil counsellor,
either Satan or Eusebius, at his elbow. See Cortin’s Remarks,
tom. ii. p. 183. * Note: Heinichen (Excursus xi.) quotes with
approbation the term “golden words,” applied by Ziegler to this
moderate and tolerant letter of Constantine. May an English
clergyman venture to express his regret that “the fine gold soon
became dim” in the Christian church?—M.]

78 (return) [ Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 13.]

79 (return) [ Theodoret has preserved (l. i. c. 20) an epistle
from Constantine to the people of Nicomedia, in which the monarch
declares himself the public accuser of one of his subjects; he
styles Eusebius and complains of his hostile behavior during the
civil war.]

80 (return) [ See in Socrates, (l. i. c. 8,) or rather in
Theodoret, (l. i. c. 12,) an original letter of Eusebius of
Cæsarea, in which he attempts to justify his subscribing the
Homoousion. The character of Eusebius has always been a problem;
but those who have read the second critical epistle of Le Clerc,
(Ars Critica, tom. iii. p. 30-69,) must entertain a very
unfavorable opinion of the orthodoxy and sincerity of the bishop
of Cæsarea.]

81 (return) [ Athanasius, tom. i. p. 727. Philostorgius, l. i. c.
10, and Godefroy’s Commentary, p. 41.]

82 (return) [ Socrates, l. i. c. 9. In his circular letters,
which were addressed to the several cities, Constantine employed
against the heretics the arms of ridicule and _comic_ raillery.]

But, as if the conduct of the emperor had been guided by passion
instead of principle, three years from the council of Nice were
scarcely elapsed before he discovered some symptoms of mercy, and
even of indulgence, towards the proscribed sect, which was
secretly protected by his favorite sister. The exiles were
recalled, and Eusebius, who gradually resumed his influence over
the mind of Constantine, was restored to the episcopal throne,
from which he had been ignominiously degraded. Arius himself was
treated by the whole court with the respect which would have been
due to an innocent and oppressed man. His faith was approved by
the synod of Jerusalem; and the emperor seemed impatient to
repair his injustice, by issuing an absolute command, that he
should be solemnly admitted to the communion in the cathedral of
Constantinople. On the same day, which had been fixed for the
triumph of Arius, he expired; and the strange and horrid
circumstances of his death might excite a suspicion, that the
orthodox saints had contributed more efficaciously than by their
prayers, to deliver the church from the most formidable of her
enemies. 83 The three principal leaders of the Catholics,
Athanasius of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Paul of
Constantinople were deposed on various f accusations, by the
sentence of numerous councils; and were afterwards banished into
distant provinces by the first of the Christian emperors, who, in
the last moments of his life, received the rites of baptism from
the Arian bishop of Nicomedia. The ecclesiastical government of
Constantine cannot be justified from the reproach of levity and
weakness. But the credulous monarch, unskilled in the stratagems
of theological warfare, might be deceived by the modest and
specious professions of the heretics, whose sentiments he never
perfectly understood; and while he protected Arius, and
persecuted Athanasius, he still considered the council of Nice as
the bulwark of the Christian faith, and the peculiar glory of his
own reign. 84

83 (return) [ We derive the original story from Athanasius, (tom.
i. p. 670,) who expresses some reluctance to stigmatize the
memory of the dead. He might exaggerate; but the perpetual
commerce of Alexandria and Constantinople would have rendered it
dangerous to invent. Those who press the literal narrative of the
death of Arius (his bowels suddenly burst out in a privy) must
make their option between _poison_ and _miracle_.]

84 (return) [ The change in the sentiments, or at least in the
conduct, of Constantine, may be traced in Eusebius, (in Vit.
Constant. l. iii. c. 23, l. iv. c. 41,) Socrates, (l. i. c.
23-39,) Sozomen, (l. ii. c. 16-34,) Theodoret, (l. i. c. 14-34,)
and Philostorgius, (l. ii. c. 1-17.) But the first of these
writers was too near the scene of action, and the others were too
remote from it. It is singular enough, that the important task of
continuing the history of the church should have been left for
two laymen and a heretic.]

The sons of Constantine must have been admitted from their
childhood into the rank of catechumens; but they imitated, in the
delay of their baptism, the example of their father. Like him
they presumed to pronounce their judgment on mysteries into which
they had never been regularly initiated; 85 and the fate of the
Trinitarian controversy depended, in a great measure, on the
sentiments of Constantius; who inherited the provinces of the
East, and acquired the possession of the whole empire. The Arian
presbyter or bishop, who had secreted for his use the testament
of the deceased emperor, improved the fortunate occasion which
had introduced him to the familiarity of a prince, whose public
counsels were always swayed by his domestic favorites. The
eunuchs and slaves diffused the spiritual poison through the
palace, and the dangerous infection was communicated by the
female attendants to the guards, and by the empress to her
unsuspicious husband. 86 The partiality which Constantius always
expressed towards the Eusebian faction, was insensibly fortified
by the dexterous management of their leaders; and his victory
over the tyrant Magnentius increased his inclination, as well as
ability, to employ the arms of power in the cause of Arianism.
While the two armies were engaged in the plains of Mursa, and the
fate of the two rivals depended on the chance of war, the son of
Constantine passed the anxious moments in a church of the martyrs
under the walls of the city. His spiritual comforter, Valens, the
Arian bishop of the diocese, employed the most artful precautions
to obtain such early intelligence as might secure either his
favor or his escape. A secret chain of swift and trusty
messengers informed him of the vicissitudes of the battle; and
while the courtiers stood trembling round their affrighted
master, Valens assured him that the Gallic legions gave way; and
insinuated with some presence of mind, that the glorious event
had been revealed to him by an angel. The grateful emperor
ascribed his success to the merits and intercession of the bishop
of Mursa, whose faith had deserved the public and miraculous
approbation of Heaven. 87 The Arians, who considered as their own
the victory of Constantius, preferred his glory to that of his
father. 88 Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, immediately composed the
description of a celestial cross, encircled with a splendid
rainbow; which during the festival of Pentecost, about the third
hour of the day, had appeared over the Mount of Olives, to the
edification of the devout pilgrims, and the people of the holy
city. 89 The size of the meteor was gradually magnified; and the
Arian historian has ventured to affirm, that it was conspicuous
to the two armies in the plains of Pannonia; and that the tyrant,
who is purposely represented as an idolater, fled before the
auspicious sign of orthodox Christianity. 90

85 (return) [ Quia etiam tum catechumenus sacramentum fidei
merito videretiu potuisse nescire. Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, l.
ii. p. 410.]

86 (return) [ Socrates, l. ii. c. 2. Sozomen, l. iii. c. 18.
Athanas. tom. i. p. 813, 834. He observes that the eunuchs are
the natural enemies of the _Son_. Compare Dr. Jortin’s Remarks on
Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 3 with a certain genealogy in
_Candide_, (ch. iv.,) which ends with one of the first companions
of Christopher Columbus.]

87 (return) [ Sulpicius Severus in Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 405,
406.]

88 (return) [ Cyril (apud Baron. A. D. 353, No. 26) expressly
observes that in the reign of Constantine, the cross had been
found in the bowels of the earth; but that it had appeared, in
the reign of Constantius, in the midst of the heavens. This
opposition evidently proves, that Cyril was ignorant of the
stupendous miracle to which the conversion of Constantine is
attributed; and this ignorance is the more surprising, since it
was no more than twelve years after his death that Cyril was
consecrated bishop of Jerusalem, by the immediate successor of
Eusebius of Cæsarea. See Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. viii. p.
715.]

89 (return) [ It is not easy to determine how far the ingenuity
of Cyril might be assisted by some natural appearances of a solar
halo.]

90 (return) [ Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 26. He is followed by the
author of the Alexandrian Chronicle, by Cedrenus, and by
Nicephorus. (See Gothofred. Dissert. p. 188.) They could not
refuse a miracle, even from the hand of an enemy.]

The sentiments of a judicious stranger, who has impartially
considered the progress of civil or ecclesiastical discord, are
always entitled to our notice; and a short passage of Ammianus,
who served in the armies, and studied the character of
Constantius, is perhaps of more value than many pages of
theological invectives. “The Christian religion, which, in
itself,” says that moderate historian, “is plain and simple, _he_
confounded by the dotage of superstition. Instead of reconciling
the parties by the weight of his authority, he cherished and
promulgated, by verbal disputes, the differences which his vain
curiosity had excited. The highways were covered with troops of
bishops galloping from every side to the assemblies, which they
call synods; and while they labored to reduce the whole sect to
their own particular opinions, the public establishment of the
posts was almost ruined by their hasty and repeated journeys.” 91
Our more intimate knowledge of the ecclesiastical transactions of
the reign of Constantius would furnish an ample commentary on
this remarkable passage, which justifies the rational
apprehensions of Athanasius, that the restless activity of the
clergy, who wandered round the empire in search of the true
faith, would excite the contempt and laughter of the unbelieving
world. 92 As soon as the emperor was relieved from the terrors of
the civil war, he devoted the leisure of his winter quarters at
Arles, Milan, Sirmium, and Constantinople, to the amusement or
toils of controversy: the sword of the magistrate, and even of
the tyrant, was unsheathed, to enforce the reasons of the
theologian; and as he opposed the orthodox faith of Nice, it is
readily confessed that his incapacity and ignorance were equal to
his presumption. 93 The eunuchs, the women, and the bishops, who
governed the vain and feeble mind of the emperor, had inspired
him with an insuperable dislike to the Homoousion; but his timid
conscience was alarmed by the impiety of Ætius. The guilt of that
atheist was aggravated by the suspicious favor of the unfortunate
Gallus; and even the death of the Imperial ministers, who had
been massacred at Antioch, were imputed to the suggestions of
that dangerous sophist. The mind of Constantius, which could
neither be moderated by reason, nor fixed by faith, was blindly
impelled to either side of the dark and empty abyss, by his
horror of the opposite extreme; he alternately embraced and
condemned the sentiments, he successively banished and recalled
the leaders, of the Arian and Semi-Arian factions. 94 During the
season of public business or festivity, he employed whole days,
and even nights, in selecting the words, and weighing the
syllables, which composed his fluctuating creeds. The subject of
his meditations still pursued and occupied his slumbers: the
incoherent dreams of the emperor were received as celestial
visions, and he accepted with complacency the lofty title of
bishop of bishops, from those ecclesiastics who forgot the
interest of their order for the gratification of their passions.
The design of establishing a uniformity of doctrine, which had
engaged him to convene so many synods in Gaul, Italy, Illyricum,
and Asia, was repeatedly baffled by his own levity, by the
divisions of the Arians, and by the resistance of the Catholics;
and he resolved, as the last and decisive effort, imperiously to
dictate the decrees of a general council. The destructive
earthquake of Nicomedia, the difficulty of finding a convenient
place, and perhaps some secret motives of policy, produced an
alteration in the summons. The bishops of the East were directed
to meet at Seleucia, in Isauria; while those of the West held
their deliberations at Rimini, on the coast of the Hadriatic; and
instead of two or three deputies from each province, the whole
episcopal body was ordered to march. The Eastern council, after
consuming four days in fierce and unavailing debate, separated
without any definitive conclusion. The council of the West was
protracted till the seventh month. Taurus, the Prætorian præfect
was instructed not to dismiss the prelates till they should all
be united in the same opinion; and his efforts were supported by
the power of banishing fifteen of the most refractory, and a
promise of the consulship if he achieved so difficult an
adventure. His prayers and threats, the authority of the
sovereign, the sophistry of Valens and Ursacius, the distress of
cold and hunger, and the tedious melancholy of a hopeless exile,
at length extorted the reluctant consent of the bishops of
Rimini. The deputies of the East and of the West attended the
emperor in the palace of Constantinople, and he enjoyed the
satisfaction of imposing on the world a profession of faith which
established the _likeness_, without expressing the
_consubstantiality_, of the Son of God. 95 But the triumph of
Arianism had been preceded by the removal of the orthodox clergy,
whom it was impossible either to intimidate or to corrupt; and
the reign of Constantius was disgraced by the unjust and
ineffectual persecution of the great Athanasius.

91 (return) [ So curious a passage well deserves to be
transcribed. Christianam religionem absolutam et simplicem, anili
superstitione confundens; in qua scrutanda perplexius, quam
componenda gravius excitaret discidia plurima; quæ progressa
fusius aluit concertatione verborum, ut catervis antistium
jumentis publicis ultro citroque discarrentibus, per synodos
(quas appellant) dum ritum omnem ad suum sahere conantur
(Valesius reads _conatur_) rei vehiculariæ concideret servos.
Ammianus, xxi. 16.]

92 (return) [ Athanas. tom. i. p. 870.]

93 (return) [ Socrates, l. ii. c. 35-47. Sozomen, l. iv. c.
12-30. Theodore li. c. 18-32. Philostorg. l. iv. c. 4—12, l. v.
c. 1-4, l. vi. c. 1-5]

94 (return) [ Sozomen, l. iv. c. 23. Athanas. tom. i. p. 831.
Tillemont (Mem Eccles. tom. vii. p. 947) has collected several
instances of the haughty fanaticism of Constantius from the
detached treatises of Lucifer of Cagliari. The very titles of
these treaties inspire zeal and terror; “Moriendum pro Dei
Filio.” “De Regibus Apostaticis.” “De non conveniendo cum
Hæretico.” “De non parcendo in Deum delinquentibus.”]

95 (return) [ Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 418-430. The
Greek historians were very ignorant of the affairs of the West.]

We have seldom an opportunity of observing, either in active or
speculative life, what effect may be produced, or what obstacles
may be surmounted, by the force of a single mind, when it is
inflexibly applied to the pursuit of a single object. The
immortal name of Athanasius 96 will never be separated from the
Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, to whose defence he consecrated
every moment and every faculty of his being. Educated in the
family of Alexander, he had vigorously opposed the early progress
of the Arian heresy: he exercised the important functions of
secretary under the aged prelate; and the fathers of the Nicene
council beheld with surprise and respect the rising virtues of
the young deacon. In a time of public danger, the dull claims of
age and of rank are sometimes superseded; and within five months
after his return from Nice, the deacon Athanasius was seated on
the archiepiscopal throne of Egypt. He filled that eminent
station above forty-six years, and his long administration was
spent in a perpetual combat against the powers of Arianism. Five
times was Athanasius expelled from his throne; twenty years he
passed as an exile or a fugitive: and almost every province of
the Roman empire was successively witness to his merit, and his
sufferings in the cause of the Homoousion, which he considered as
the sole pleasure and business, as the duty, and as the glory of
his life. Amidst the storms of persecution, the archbishop of
Alexandria was patient of labor, jealous of fame, careless of
safety; and although his mind was tainted by the contagion of
fanaticism, Athanasius displayed a superiority of character and
abilities, which would have qualified him, far better than the
degenerate sons of Constantine, for the government of a great
monarchy. His learning was much less profound and extensive than
that of Eusebius of Cæsarea, and his rude eloquence could not be
compared with the polished oratory of Gregory of Basil; but
whenever the primate of Egypt was called upon to justify his
sentiments, or his conduct, his unpremeditated style, either of
speaking or writing, was clear, forcible, and persuasive. He has
always been revered, in the orthodox school, as one of the most
accurate masters of the Christian theology; and he was supposed
to possess two profane sciences, less adapted to the episcopal
character, the knowledge of jurisprudence, 97 and that of
divination. 98 Some fortunate conjectures of future events, which
impartial reasoners might ascribe to the experience and judgment
of Athanasius, were attributed by his friends to heavenly
inspiration, and imputed by his enemies to infernal magic.

96 (return) [ We may regret that Gregory Nazianzen composed a
panegyric instead of a life of Athanasius; but we should enjoy
and improve the advantage of drawing our most authentic materials
from the rich fund of his own epistles and apologies, (tom. i. p.
670-951.) I shall not imitate the example of Socrates, (l. ii. c.
l.) who published the first edition of the history, without
giving himself the trouble to consult the writings of Athanasius.
Yet even Socrates, the more curious Sozomen, and the learned
Theodoret, connect the life of Athanasius with the series of
ecclesiastical history. The diligence of Tillemont, (tom. viii,)
and of the Benedictine editors, has collected every fact, and
examined every difficulty]

97 (return) [ Sulpicius Severus (Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 396)
calls him a lawyer, a jurisconsult. This character cannot now be
discovered either in the life or writings of Athanasius.]

98 (return) [ Dicebatur enim fatidicarum sortium fidem, quæve
augurales portenderent alites scientissime callens aliquoties
prædixisse futura. Ammianus, xv. 7. A prophecy, or rather a joke,
is related by Sozomen, (l. iv c. 10,) which evidently proves (if
the crows speak Latin) that Athanasius understood the language of
the crows.]

But as Athanasius was continually engaged with the prejudices and
passions of every order of men, from the monk to the emperor, the
knowledge of human nature was his first and most important
science. He preserved a distinct and unbroken view of a scene
which was incessantly shifting; and never failed to improve those
decisive moments which are irrecoverably past before they are
perceived by a common eye. The archbishop of Alexandria was
capable of distinguishing how far he might boldly command, and
where he must dexterously insinuate; how long he might contend
with power, and when he must withdraw from persecution; and while
he directed the thunders of the church against heresy and
rebellion, he could assume, in the bosom of his own party, the
flexible and indulgent temper of a prudent leader. The election
of Athanasius has not escaped the reproach of irregularity and
precipitation; 99 but the propriety of his behavior conciliated
the affections both of the clergy and of the people. The
Alexandrians were impatient to rise in arms for the defence of an
eloquent and liberal pastor. In his distress he always derived
support, or at least consolation, from the faithful attachment of
his parochial clergy; and the hundred bishops of Egypt adhered,
with unshaken zeal, to the cause of Athanasius. In the modest
equipage which pride and policy would affect, he frequently
performed the episcopal visitation of his provinces, from the
mouth of the Nile to the confines of Æthiopia; familiarly
conversing with the meanest of the populace, and humbly saluting
the saints and hermits of the desert. 100 Nor was it only in
ecclesiastical assemblies, among men whose education and manners
were similar to his own, that Athanasius displayed the ascendancy
of his genius. He appeared with easy and respectful firmness in
the courts of princes; and in the various turns of his prosperous
and adverse fortune he never lost the confidence of his friends,
or the esteem of his enemies.

99 (return) [ The irregular ordination of Athanasius was slightly
mentioned in the councils which were held against him. See
Philostorg. l. ii. c. 11, and Godefroy, p. 71; but it can
scarcely be supposed that the assembly of the bishops of Egypt
would solemnly attest a _public_ falsehood. Athanas. tom. i. p.
726.]

100 (return) [ See the history of the Fathers of the Desert,
published by Rosweide; and Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. vii., in
the lives of Antony, Pachomius, &c. Athanasius himself, who did
not disdain to compose the life of his friend Antony, has
carefully observed how often the holy monk deplored and
prophesied the mischiefs of the Arian heresy Athanas. tom. ii. p.
492, 498, &c.]

In his youth, the primate of Egypt resisted the great
Constantine, who had repeatedly signified his will, that Arius
should be restored to the Catholic communion. 101 The emperor
respected, and might forgive, this inflexible resolution; and the
faction who considered Athanasius as their most formidable enemy,
was constrained to dissemble their hatred, and silently to
prepare an indirect and distant assault. They scattered rumors
and suspicions, represented the archbishop as a proud and
oppressive tyrant, and boldly accused him of violating the treaty
which had been ratified in the Nicene council, with the
schismatic followers of Meletius. 102 Athanasius had openly
disapproved that ignominious peace, and the emperor was disposed
to believe that he had abused his ecclesiastical and civil power,
to prosecute those odious sectaries: that he had sacrilegiously
broken a chalice in one of their churches of Mareotis; that he
had whipped or imprisoned six of their bishops; and that
Arsenius, a seventh bishop of the same party, had been murdered,
or at least mutilated, by the cruel hand of the primate. 103
These charges, which affected his honor and his life, were
referred by Constantine to his brother Dalmatius the censor, who
resided at Antioch; the synods of Cæsarea and Tyre were
successively convened; and the bishops of the East were
instructed to judge the cause of Athanasius, before they
proceeded to consecrate the new church of the Resurrection at
Jerusalem. The primate might be conscious of his innocence; but
he was sensible that the same implacable spirit which had
dictated the accusation, would direct the proceeding, and
pronounce the sentence. He prudently declined the tribunal of his
enemies; despised the summons of the synod of Cæsarea; and, after
a long and artful delay, submitted to the peremptory commands of
the emperor, who threatened to punish his criminal disobedience
if he refused to appear in the council of Tyre. 104 Before
Athanasius, at the head of fifty Egyptian prelates, sailed from
Alexandria, he had wisely secured the alliance of the Meletians;
and Arsenius himself, his imaginary victim, and his secret
friend, was privately concealed in his train. The synod of Tyre
was conducted by Eusebius of Cæsarea, with more passion, and with
less art, than his learning and experience might promise; his
numerous faction repeated the names of homicide and tyrant; and
their clamors were encouraged by the seeming patience of
Athanasius, who expected the decisive moment to produce Arsenius
alive and unhurt in the midst of the assembly. The nature of the
other charges did not admit of such clear and satisfactory
replies; yet the archbishop was able to prove, that in the
village, where he was accused of breaking a consecrated chalice,
neither church nor altar nor chalice could really exist.

The Arians, who had secretly determined the guilt and
condemnation of their enemy, attempted, however, to disguise
their injustice by the imitation of judicial forms: the synod
appointed an episcopal commission of six delegates to collect
evidence on the spot; and this measure which was vigorously
opposed by the Egyptian bishops, opened new scenes of violence
and perjury. 105 After the return of the deputies from
Alexandria, the majority of the council pronounced the final
sentence of degradation and exile against the primate of Egypt.
The decree, expressed in the fiercest language of malice and
revenge, was communicated to the emperor and the Catholic church;
and the bishops immediately resumed a mild and devout aspect,
such as became their holy pilgrimage to the Sepulchre of Christ.
106

101 (return) [ At first Constantine threatened in _speaking_, but
requested in _writing_. His letters gradually assumed a menacing
tone; by while he required that the entrance of the church should
be open to _all_, he avoided the odious name of Arius.
Athanasius, like a skilful politician, has accurately marked
these distinctions, (tom. i. p. 788.) which allowed him some
scope for excuse and delay]

102 (return) [ The Meletians in Egypt, like the Donatists in
Africa, were produced by an episcopal quarrel which arose from
the persecution. I have not leisure to pursue the obscure
controversy, which seems to have been misrepresented by the
partiality of Athanasius and the ignorance of Epiphanius. See
Mosheim’s General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 201.]

103 (return) [ The treatment of the six bishops is specified by
Sozomen, (l. ii. c. 25;) but Athanasius himself, so copious on
the subject of Arsenius and the chalice, leaves this grave
accusation without a reply. Note: This grave charge, if made,
(and it rests entirely on the authority of Soz omen,) seems to
have been silently dropped by the parties themselves: it is never
alluded to in the subsequent investigations. From Sozomen
himself, who gives the unfavorable report of the commission of
inquiry sent to Egypt concerning the cup. it does not appear that
they noticed this accusation of personal violence.—M]

104 (return) [ Athanas, tom. i. p. 788. Socrates, l. i.c. 28.
Sozomen, l. ii. c 25. The emperor, in his Epistle of Convocation,
(Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l. iv. c. 42,) seems to prejudge some
members of the clergy and it was more than probable that the
synod would apply those reproaches to Athanasius.]

105 (return) [ See, in particular, the second Apology of
Athanasius, (tom. i. p. 763-808,) and his Epistles to the Monks,
(p. 808-866.) They are justified by original and authentic
documents; but they would inspire more confidence if he appeared
less innocent, and his enemies less absurd.]

106 (return) [ Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 41-47.]