impartial Judge ought to be, he hoped they would excuse him, lest he should be guilty of some Injustice, and settle Matters of such Importance among themselves. _Athanasius_ entered _Alexandria_ in a kind of Triumph, which is described in a lively manner by _Gregory Nazianzen_, who seems to have pleased himself with displaying, in that Description, all the Eloquence he was Master of[944]. [Sidenote: _The Council of_ Alexandria.] The Bishop of _Alexandria_ being thus reinstated, and again at full Liberty to exert his Zeal for the Catholic Cause, his first Care was to retrieve his fallen Brethren, and reunite them to the Church. With this View he assembled, in 362. a Council at _Alexandria_, composed only of Confessors, that is, of such Bishops as had chosen rather to forfeit their Dignities and Sees, than receive or sign the _Arian_ Confession of _Rimini_ or _Sirmium_. This was one of the most respectable Councils that was ever held in the Church, not so much in regard of the Numbers (for I find not above Twenty named) as of the Merit, Virtue, and Sanctity of the Members that composed it. The chief Subject of their Debates, or rather Inquiries, was to find out the most proper Means of restoring Tranquillity to the Church, after so dreadful a Storm. Some, and among the rest _Lucifer_ Bishop of _Cagliari_, who did not assist in Person, but by his Deputies, the Two Deacons _Herennius_ and _Agapetus_, were for deposing all those who had signed the Confession of _Rimini_, and cutting them off from the Communion of the Church. But this unseasonable Severity was condemned by the far greater Part, as tending to raise a new Storm, and involve the Church in greater Troubles than ever, which the Emperor _Julian_ would take care to improve, to the total Ruin of the Christian Religion. _Athanasius_ therefore was for using Severity only with the Authors, and chief Promoters, of the late general Defection: and his Opinion prevailed; for a Decree was enacted, importing, that the Authors of the late general Prevarication should, even upon their Repentance, be received to the Communion of the Church only in the Capacity of Laymen, but that the rest should be all kept in, or restored to, their Sees, upon their publicly renouncing the _Arian_ Communion, and embracing the Faith of _Nice_[945]. [Sidenote: _A Schism formed by_ Lucifer, _Bishop of_ Cagliari.] This Decree was every-where received with the greatest Joy, the Bishop of _Cagliari_ being the only Man, either in the East or West, who opposed it, and that with so much Obstinacy, that, rather than yield, he chose to separate himself from the Communion of the rest, and to form a new Schism, which bore his Name, and soon gained a considerable Footing, especially in the West; several Persons no less distinguished for Piety than Learning, and among the rest _Gregory_, the famous Bishop of _Elvira_, having adopted the Sentiments of a Man, who had suffered so much for the Purity of the Faith.