necessity for the discouragement, and even persecution, of
profane learning. The persecution of the Platonists under
Valentinian was due to that necessity. They were accused of
magic, and many of them were put to death. The profession of
philosophy had become dangerous--it was a state crime. In its
stead there arose a passion for the marvelous, a spirit of
superstition. Egypt exchanged the great men, who had made her
Museum immortal, for bands of solitary monks and sequestered
virgins, with which she was overrun.



CHAPTER III.

CONFLICT RESPECTING THE DOCTRINE OF THE UNITY OF GOD.--THE FIRST
OR SOUTHERN REFORMATION.

The Egyptians insist on the introduction of the worship of the
Virgin Mary--They are resisted by Nestor, the Patriarch of
Constantinople, but eventually, through their influence with the
emperor, cause Nestor's exile and the dispersion of his
followers.

Prelude to the Southern Reformation--The Persian attack; its
moral effects.

The Arabian Reformation.--Mohammed is brought in contact with the
Nestorians--He adopts and extends their principles, rejecting the
worship of the Virgin, the doctrine of the Trinity, and every
thing in opposition to the unity of God.--He extinguishes