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THE death of Arius did not terminate the doctrinal dispute which he
had originated. Those who adhered to his sentiments did not cease from
plotting against those who maintained opposite opinions. The people of
Alexandria loudly complained of the exile of Athanasius, and offered
up supplications for his return; and Antony, the celebrated monk,
wrote frequently to the emperor to entreat him to attach no credit to
the insinuations of the Melitians, but to reject their accusations as
calumnies; yet the emperor was not convinced by these arguments, and
wrote to the Alexandrians, accusing them of folly and of disorderly
conduct. He commanded the clergy and the holy virgins to remain
quiet, and declared that he would not change his mind nor recall
Athanasius, whom, he said, he regarded as an exciter of sedition,
justly condemned by the judgment of the Church. He replied to
Antony, by stating that he ought not to overlook the decree of the
Synod; for even if some few of the bishops, he said, were actuated
by ill-will or the desire to oblige others, it scarcely seems credible
that so many prudent and excellent bishops could have been impelled by
such motives; and, he added, that Athanasius was contumelious and
arrogant, and the cause of dissension and sedition. The enemies of
Athanasius accused him the more especially of these crimes, because
they knew that the emperor regarded them with peculiar aversion. When
he heard that the Church was split into two factions, of which one
supported Athanasius and the other John, he was transported with
indignation, and exiled John himself. This John had succeeded
Melitius, and had, with those who held the same sentiments as
himself, been restored to communion and re-established in the clerical
functions by the Synod of Tyre. His banishment was contrary to the
wishes of the enemies of Athanasius, yet it was done, and the decrees
of the Synod of Tyre did not benefit John, for the emperor was
beyond supplication or petition of any kind with respect to any one who
was suspected of stirring up Christian people to sedition or
dissension.
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