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574 Credibility of the Gospel History.
larly"^ Socrates and** Sozomen ; Avho censure the style of it,
as soft and eftbrninate. But Sozomen honestly owns, that
he speaks upon hearsay only, and that he had not seen the
book. Ho\vever,they both say it was condemned by the council
of Nice. As Athanasius quotes it several times, he must
be supposed to have read it. He speaks of*^ the softness and
pleasantry, or buffoonery, with which it was written : and
perhaps both the fore-mentioned writers, and others likewise,
took this character of the book from him. And, possibly,
some said as much of Augustine's Psalm or Song- upon the
Donatists. Beside all these, Tillemont imagines, that*^ Arius
also published some work against the heathens in defence of
the christian religion.
III. Arius was" very tall, grave and serious, yet affable
and courteous. With good natural paVts, and no inconsiderable
share of secular learning of all sorts, he was'' particidarly
distinguished by his skill in logic, or the art of
disputing'. He' had at least the outward appearance of piety.
In short, he is represented as a man exceedingly well
qualified to form a party, and carry on any enterprize he
should enoaoe in. So far as I recollect, his conduct was
unblamable; excepting what relates to his zeal for maintaining
his supposed errors; and that he is charged'' with
dissembling" his real sentiments, upon some occasions, in
those difficult circumstances to which he was reduced by
the prevailing- power of his adversaries.
I may add here, that he writes with much spirit, and a
full assurance of the truth of his opinions; particularly in
liis letter to Eusebius of Nicomedia, whom he styles' orthodox;
and he tells that bishop, that"' he and his friends were
unjustly persecuted by Alexander for the truth's sake, Avhich
conquers all things: that all the bishops of the east in general
had been anathematized by Alexander, except Philogonius,
Ilellanicus, and Macarius, whom he calls" ignorant
heretics. As for himself, he was not able to endure their
«= Socr. 1. i. c. ix. p. 30. A. * Soz. 1. i. c. xxi. p. 435. C. D.
^ E-/pa\p( OaXitav iKrtOrjXvfitvoiQ Kai yeXotoig T]9t(n. De Sent. Dionys. n. 6.
p. 247. ' Outre sa Thalie et ses autres ecrits centre I'eglise,
il semble qu'il ait fait quelque ouvrage centre les payens.— Tillem. les Ariens,
Art. XXV. m. ^ Hv St rr]v 7)\iKiav vTTfpfitjKrjg, Karijfrig to
tiSoQ yXvKVQ i]v ry irpo(Triyo()i(f. Epiph. H. 69. n. iii. in.
'' AiaXiKTiKuraTog St ytvojxivog. k. X. Soz. 1. i. c. 15. p. 426. B. Conf. Socr.
1. i.e. V. ' Vir specie et forma magis quam virtute religiosus.
R.ifin. H. E, 1. i. c. 1.
^ Apetog yap, wg irportpov i(prjv, htpa Kara Siavoiav (ppovuiv, Irtpa St 0wvy
ojfioXoyrjatv, Socr. 1. ii. c. 35. in.
' OpOoSoKu). ap. Epiph. 69. n. vi. p. 731 B. "" lb.
" A'ipiTiKuv aKaTr)xqT(i)v. ib. D.