admirable Christian life which she afterwards embraced ;
and in the meantime, this careful and almost severe
training of her intellectual faculties contributed more
than anything else to develop the qualities which she
had received from nature a sound judgment, a strong
purpose, and powers of reasoning which enabled her to
hold an even balance between her inclinations and her
duty.
Such was our heroine s education. She was ten years old when an event happened in the Church which must greatly have struck the imagination of the child, especially as her own mother took part in it. It was e,t the moment when the Arian heresy began to trouble people s minds, but it was almost unknown among the faithful in Rome, guarded as they were by apostolic traditions and the watchfulness of the sovereign pontiffs. St. Athanasius when exiled, in consequence, from Nice, had twice found shelter in this quiet and secure harbour. But then the new Emperor came to trouble the peace of the Church. The declared enemy of Athanasius, he strove to induce the Pope himself to condemn him and embrace the Arian heresy. Pope Julius and, after him, Pope Liberius protested against this imperial interference in matters of theology. But in so doing they roused the anger of the Emperor to such an extent that Piome saw, with horror and grief, her chief bishop torn from his throne and sent into exile. But she was faithful to her persecuted Pope. One only God, one only Christ, one only Pope ! became the cry of the people, over whom the Emperor wished to place in the pontifical chair an Arian usurper. The noble ladies of Rome were not the last to show their devotion to the illustrious exile. Constantius having come to Rome, they courageously went to him in a body and presented a petition, signed by all the Catholics
