mes), Syrianus suddenly
beset the church with a great number of soldiers, and a multitude made
up of Arians, Jews, and the heathen rabble of the city. When Athanasius
heard the noise outside the church, he sat down calmly on his throne,
and desired the congregation to chant the hundred and thirty-sixth
psalm, in which God's deliverances of His people in old times are
celebrated; and the whole congregation joined in the last part of every
verse--"For His mercy endureth for ever." The doors were shut, but the
soldiers forced them open and rushed in; and it was a fearful sight to
see their drawn swords and their armour flashing by the lamplight in the
house of God. As they advanced up the church, many of the congregation
were trodden down or crushed to death, or pierced through with their
darts. Athanasius stood calm in the midst of all the terrible din. His
clergy, when they saw the soldiers pushing on towards the sanctuary (as
the part of the church was called which was railed off for the clergy),
entreated him to save himself by flight; but he declared that he would
not go until his people were safe, and waited until most of them had
made their escape through doors in the upper part of the church. At
last, when the soldiers were pressing very close to the sanctuary, the
clergy closed round their bishop, and hurried him away by a secret
passage. And when they had got him out of the church, they found that he
had fainted; for although his courage was high, his body was weak and
delicate, and the dreadful scene had overcome him. But he escaped to the
deserts of Egypt, where he lived in peace among the monks for six years,
until the death of Constantius. His enemies thought that he might,
perhaps, seek a refuge in Ethiopia; and Constantius wrote to beg that
the princes of that country would not shelter him, and that the bishop,
Frumentius,[7] might be sent to receive instruction in the faith from
the Arian bishop who was put into the see of Alexandria. But Athanasius
was safe elsewhere, and Frumentius wisely stayed at home.

[7] See page 41.

The new Arian bishop of Alexandria was a Cappadocian named George. He
was a coarse, ignorant, and violent man, and behaved with great cruelty
to Athanasius's friends--even putting many of them to death. But
Athanasius, from his quiet retreat, kept a watch over all that was done
as to the affairs of the Church, both at Alexandria and elsewhere; and
from time to time he wrote books, whi