Page:History of the First Council of Nice.djvu/56

46 bishop of Antioch; to Eustathius, who then ruled the Church of the Bereans, and to others.

But Arius could not quietly acquiesce in this. He, therefore, wrote to all those who he thought were of his sentiments. The following is his letter to Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia.

"Arius, unjustly persecuted by the Pope Alexander, on account of that all-conquering truth, which you also uphold, sendeth greeting in the Lord to his very dear lord, the man of God, the faithful and orthodox Eusebius.

"Ammonius, my father, being about to depart for Nicomedia, I consider myself bound to salute you by him, and withal to address myself to that natural affection which you bear towards the brethren, for the sake of God and of Christ; apprising you that the bishop oppresses and persecutes us most severely, and that he causes us much suffering. He has driven us out of the city as atheists, because we do not concur in what he publicly preaches;