e: but his
attachment to the Nicene creed was at length discovered and declared,
by the reverence which he expressed for the celestial [4] virtues of
the great Athanasius. The intrepid veteran of the faith, at the age of
seventy, had issued from his retreat on the first intelligence of the
tyrant's death. The acclamations of the people seated him once more on
the archiepiscopal throne; and he wisely accepted, or anticipated,
the invitation of Jovian. The venerable figure of Athanasius, his calm
courage, and insinuating eloquence, sustained the reputation which he
had already acquired in the courts of four successive princes. [5] As
soon as he had gained the confidence, and secured the faith, of the
Christian emperor, he returned in triumph to his diocese, and continued,
with mature counsels and undiminished vigor, to direct, ten years
longer, [6] the ecclesiastical government of Alexandria, Egypt, and the
Catholic church. Before his departure from Antioch, he assured Jovian
that his orthodox devotion would be rewarded with a long and peaceful
reign. Athanasius, had reason to hope, that he should be allowed either
the merit of a successful prediction, or the excuse of a grateful though
ineffectual prayer. [7]

[Footnote 1: The medals of Jovian adorn him with victories, laurel
crowns, and prostrate captives. Ducange, Famil. Byzantin. p. 52.
Flattery is a foolish suicide; she destroys herself with her own hands.]

[Footnote 2: Jovian restored to the church a forcible and comprehensive
expression, (Philostorgius, l. viii. c. 5, with Godefroy's
Dissertations, p. 329. Sozomen, l. vi. c. 3.) The new law which
condemned the rape or marriage of nuns (Cod. Theod. l. ix. tit. xxv.
leg. 2) is exaggerated by Sozomen; who supposes, that an amorous glance,
the adultery of the heart, was punished with death by the evangelic
legislator.]

[Footnote 3: Compare Socrates, l. iii. c. 25, and Philostorgius, l.
viii. c. 6, with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 330.]

[Footnote 4: The word celestial faintly expresses the impious and
extravagant flattery of the emperor to the archbishop. (See the original
epistle in Athanasius, tom. ii. p. 33.) Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxi. p.
392) celebrates the friendship of Jovian and Athanasius. The primate's
journey was advised by the Egyptian monks, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom.
viii. p. 221.)]

[Footnote 5: Athanasius, at the court of Antioch, is agreeably
represented by La Bleterie, (Hist. de Jovien,