15. There are some who do not excuse even my
namesake
Namesake. Gregory, a Cappadocian, nominated to the
see of Alexandria, by the Arian Bishops at Antioch, after the
banishment of Athanasius, a.d. 340. from blame; who,
living at Alexandria at the time for the sake of culture, although he
had been most kindly treated by him, as if the dearest of his children,
and received his special confidence, yet joined in the revolutionary
plot against his father and patron: for, though others took the
active part in it, the hand of Absalom ἡ χὲιρ
᾽Αβεσσαλὤμ.
“The hand of Absalom,” prob. a misquotation of 2 Sam. xiv. 19. “The hand of
Joab.” 2 Sam. xv.
5.
was with them, as the saying goes. If any of you had heard of the
hand which was produced by fraud against the Saint, and the
corpse Corpse,
etc. Athanasius was charged with having murdered Arsenius, and
his enemies produced a hand which, they said, had belonged to the dead
man. of the living man,
and the unjust banishment, he knows what I mean. But this I will
gladly forget. For on doubtful points, I am disposed to think we
ought to incline to the charitable side, and acquit rather than condemn
the accused. For a bad man would speedily condemn even a good
man, while a good man would not be ready to condemn even a bad
one. For one who is not ready to do ill, is not inclined even to
suspect it. I come now to what is matter of fact, not of report,
what is vouched for as truth instead of unverified
suspicion.