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THIS victorious champion of the truth was sent into Thrace,
according to the imperial order. Two years after this event
Constantius went to Rome. The ladies of rank urged their husbands to
petition the emperor for the restoration of the shepherd to his flock:
they added, that if this were not granted, they would desert them,
and go themselves after their great pastor. Their husbands replied,
that they were afraid of incurring the resentment of the emperor. "If
we were to ask him," they continued, "being men, he would deem it
an unpardonable offence; but if you were yourselves to present the
petition, he would at any rate spare you, and would either accede to
your request, or else dismiss you without injury." These noble
ladies adopted this suggestion, and presented themselves before the
emperor in all their customary splendour of array, that so the
sovereign, judging their rank from their dress, might count them
worthy of being treated with courtesy and kindness. Thus entering the
presence, they besought him to take pity on the condition of so large a
city, deprived of its shepherd, and made an easy prey to the attacks
of wolves. The emperor replied, that the flock possessed a shepherd
capable of tending it, and that no other was needed in the city. For
after the banishment of the great Liberius, one of his deacons, named
Felix, had been appointed bishop. He preserved inviolate the
doctrines set forth in the Nicene confession of faith, yet he held
communion with those who had corrupted that faith. For this reason
none of the citizens of Rome would enter the House of Prayer while he
was in it. The ladies mentioned these facts to the emperor. Their
persuasions were successful; and he commanded that the great Liberius
should be recalled from exile, and that the two bishops should
conjointly rule the Church. The edict of the emperor was read in the
circus, and the multitude shouted that the imperial ordinance was
just; that the spectators were divided into two factions, each
deriving its name from its own colours , and that each faction would
now have its own bishop. After having thus ridiculed the edict of the
emperor, they all exclaimed with one voice, "One God, one
Christ, one bishop." I have deemed it right to set down their
precise words. Some time after this Christian people had uttered
these pious and righteous acclamations, the holy Liberius returned,
and Felix retired to another city.
I have, for the sake of preserving order, appended this narrative to
what relates to the proceedings of the bishops at Milan. I shall now
return to the relation of events in their due course.
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