THE DECLINE AND PALL

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chap, ance which supplied his popular liberality.

^ But when the primate of Egypt , deserted andproscribed by the Latin church, was left desti-tute of any foreign support, Constantius des-patched two of his secretaries with a verbalcommission to announce and execute the orderof his banishment. As the justice of the sentehee was publicly avowed by the whole party,the only motive which could restrain Constan-tius from giving his messengers the sanction ofa written mandate, must be imputed to hisdoubt of the event; and to a sense of the dan-ger to which he might expose the second city,and the most fertile province of the empire, ifthe people should persist in the resolution ofdefending, by force of arms, the innocence oftheir spiritual father. Such extreme cautionaffovded Athanasius a specious pretence re-spectfully to dispute the truth of an order, whichhe could not reconcile, either with the equity,or with the former declarations, of his graciousmaster. The civil powers of Egypt foundthemselves inadequate to the task of persuad-ing or compelling the primate to abdicate hisepiscopal throne; and they were obliged toconclude a treaty with the popular leaders ofAlexandria, by which it was stipulated that allproceedings and hostilities should be suspend-ed till the emperor’s pleasure had been moredistinctly ascertained. By this seeming mode-ration, the catholics were deceived into a falseand fatal security ; while the legions of theUpper Egypt, and of Libya , advanced, by se-