he appointed day,
the aged prelate, having heard that Arius had arrived in the town,
prostrated himself on his face before the altar. "Lord," he prayed,
"if Arius must be received to communion in this church tomorrow, take
me, I beseech Thee, from this world. But if Thou hast pity on Thy
Church, suffer not, I pray Thee, that such a thing should be."

Arius at that very moment was being escorted in triumph around the
city by his followers. Suddenly the heresiarch turned pale and
trembled. He did not feel well, he said; he would rejoin them
presently. The time passed, and he did not return. At last they went
to look for him. It was but a dead body which they found, a sight
before which even they turned pale. Arius had been overtaken by a
sudden and horrible death.

The fate of the heresiarch made a great impression on the Emperor, who
had himself but a short time to live. During his last illness he was
haunted by the thought of Athanasius. His eldest son, Constantine II,
who held his court at Treves, was a firm friend of the exiled Bishop;
the dying Emperor sent him a secret message to restore Athanasius to
his see. He then received Baptism at the hands of Eusebius of
Nicomedia, and died a few days later.

Constantine's empire was divided between his three sons, Constantine,
Constans and Constantius. The two former, who were staunch friends of
Athanasius, would die within twelve years of their father. Then
Constantius, who had inherited all the weakness and none of the good
qualities of Constantine the Great, and was, moreover, the tool of the
Arians and the bitter enemy of those who were true to Athanasius,
would be left master of the whole Roman Empire. One of the first acts
of Constantine II was to bring Athanasius back to Alexandria. He had
been absent for over two years, and the rejoicings attending his
return were great. They were not to last long, however, for Egypt and
the East made up that part of the Empire which had been left to
Constantius, who was completely in the toils of Eusebius.

Now, Eusebius had long been coveting the see of Constantinople; he
therefore proceeded, with the Emperor's assistance, to depose the
rightful Bishop and to install himself in his place. He was, as he
thought, in a position to carry all things before him, when
Athanasius, firm and undaunted as ever, appearing suddenly on the
scene, upset all his plans. Both Constantine and Constans were
Athanasius' friends, and Constantius w