swayed and directed the haughty Julius;
the Roman pontiff was persuaded to consider his appeal as the peculiar
interest of the Apostolic see: and his innocence was unanimously
declared in a council of fifty bishops of Italy. At the end of three
years, the primate was summoned to the court of Milan by the emperor
Constans, who, in the indulgence of unlawful pleasures, still professed
a lively regard for the orthodox faith. The cause of truth and justice
was promoted by the influence of gold, and the ministers of Constans
advised their sovereign to require the convocation of an ecclesiastical
assembly, which might act as the representatives of the Catholic church.
Ninety-four bishops of the West, seventy-six bishops of the East,
encountered each other at Sardica, on the verge of the two empires,
but in the dominions of the protector of Athanasius. Their debates soon
degenerated into hostile altercations; the Asiatics, apprehensive for
their personal safety, retired to Philippopolis in Thrace; and the
rival synods reciprocally hurled their spiritual thunders against their
enemies, whom they piously condemned as the enemies of the true God.
Their decrees were published and ratified in their respective provinces:
and Athanasius, who in the West was revered as a saint, was exposed as
a criminal to the abhorrence of the East. The council of Sardica reveals
the first symptoms of discord and schism between the Greek and Latin
churches which were separated by the accidental difference of faith, and
the permanent distinction of language.

During his second exile in the West, Athanasius was frequently admitted
to the Imperial presence; at Capua, Lodi, Milan, Verona, Padua,
Aquileia, and Treves. The bishop of the diocese usually assisted at
these interviews; the master of the offices stood before the veil or
curtain of the sacred apartment; and the uniform moderation of the
primate might be attested by these respectable witnesses, to whose
evidence he solemnly appeals. Prudence would undoubtedly suggest the
mild and respectful tone that became a subject and a bishop. In these
familiar conferences with the sovereign of the West, Athanasius might
lament the error of Constantius, but he boldly arraigned the guilt of
his eunuchs and his Arian prelates; deplored the distress and danger of
the Catholic church; and excited Constans to emulate the zeal and glory
of his father. The emperor declared his resolution of employing the
troops and