St. PETER (continued 2)

45

Alexander. URBANUS, Sixteenth Bishop of Rome.

Year of Christ 223. The Acts of Urbanus fabulous.

All I can find in the Antients concerning Urban, the Successor of Callistus, is, that, during the whole Time of his Pontificate, both Church and State enjoyed a profound Peace under the Emperor Alexander; that he held the Chair near Seven Years, and died about the Middle of the Year 230^[321]. Great and wonderful Things are related of him in his Acts, and in those of St. Cecilia, but such Acts^[322] are evidently fabulous, since, in Opposition to all the Antients, they represent the Emperor Alexander as a most cruel Persecutor of the Christian Name. Urban himself is supposed to have suffered under him, and placed accordingly by the Church of Rome among her Martyrs. His Body is now worshiped in an Abbey of his Name in the Diocese of Chalons on the Marne, and in the Church of St. Cæcilia at Rome^[323].

Alexander, PONTIANUS, Seventeenth Bishop of Rome. Maximinus.

Year of Christ 230.

Pontianus succeeded Urban in 230. and governed, according to the Pontifical of Bucherius^[N4], Five Years, Two Months, and Seven Days; that is, from the 22d of July 230. to the 28th of September 235^[324]. |Origen deposed.| In the Second Year of his Pontificate, the 46famous Origen was deposed and excommunicated by Demetrius Bishop of Alexandria, and the Sentence approved of by most other Bishops, especially by the Bishop of Rome, who assembled, it seems, his Clergy 47on that Occasion: For what else could St. Jerom mean, by telling us, that Rome assembled her Senate against Origen^[325]? |The Persecution ofMaximinus.| The calm and quiet Days, which the Church had for some Years enjoyed, especially under Alexander, expired almost with the Pontificate of Pontianus; for that excellent Prince being assassinated in the Month of May 235. Maximinus, who succeeded him, out of Hatred to him, began to persecute with great Cruelty the Christians, whom he had so much favoured, especially the Bishops^[326]. |Pontianus banished to Sardinia.| Pontianus among the rest was banished Rome, and confined to the unwholsome Island of Sardinia^[327], where he died the same Year on the 28th of September, but of what Kind of Death is not well known^[328].

Maximinus. ANTERUS, Eighteenth Bishop of Rome.

Year of Christ 235.

Anterus, the Successor of Pontianus, presided only One Month and Ten Days, and died on the 3d of January 236^[329]. Some modern Writers place one Cyriacus between him and Pontianus; but their Opinion, founded on the Authority of the fabulous Acts of St. Ursula, is sufficiently confuted by Eusebius^[330], Optatus^[331], St. Augustin^[332], and Nicephorus^[333], who all Name Anterus as the immediate Successor of Pontianus. |Anterus probably dies a Martyr.| The Shortness of his Pontificate, and the cruel Persecution carried on by Maximinus, give us room to believe, that he died a Martyr, which Title is given him in the Martyrologies of St. Jerom and Bede^[334].

Maximinus, Gordian, FABIANUS, Nineteenth Bishop of Rome Philip, Decius.

Year of Christ 236.

Fabianus, called by the Greeks, Fabius, by Eutychius^[335], and in the Chronicle of Alexandria, Flavianus^[336], was, according to Eusebius, miraculously chosen for Successor to Anterus; for he tells us, 48|His miraculous Election.| That the People and Clergy being assembled in order to proceed to a new Election, a Dove, unexpectedly appearing, settled, to the great Surprize of all present, on the Head of Fabianus, who was not so much as thought of, being but a Layman, as appears from the Account, and not an Inhabitant of Rome, but just then come out of the Country. At this Prodigy the whole Assembly cried out with one Voice, Fabianus is our Bishop; and, crouding round him, placed him without further Delay on the Episcopal Throne.--Thus Eusebius^[337]: and to his Account is owing the modern Notion, that the Pope is always chosen by the Holy Ghost. |Not all popes thus chosen.| What happened in the Election of St. Fabianus (says Cardinal Cusani) happens in the Election of every Pope. 'Tis true we do not see the Holy Ghost with our corporeal Eyes; but we may and must see him, if we are not quite blind, with those of the Mind. In vain therefore, O eminent Electors, are all your Intrigues; the Person, on whose Head the heavenly Dove is pleased to perch, will, in spite of them, be chosen^[338]. In the Sequel of this History, we shall see such Monsters of Iniquity elected, and by such scandalous Practices, that to imagine the Holy Ghost any-ways concerned in the Election would be absolute Blasphemy.

Fabianus worthy of the Dignity to which he was raised.

As for Fabianus, he seems to have been well worthy of the Post to which he was raised; for the famous Bishop of Carthage, St. Cyprian, in Answer to the Letter, wherein the Clergy of Rome gave him an Account of the glorious Death of their Bishop, calls him an excellent Man; and adds, that the Glory of his Death had answered the Purity, Holiness, and Integrity of his Life^[339]. |Some of his Regulations.| From the Pontifical of Bucherius we learn, that he appointed Seven Deacons over the Fourteen Regions, or Wards, into which Rome was then divided^[340], to take care of the Poor, says Baronius^[341]. We read in other more modern Pontificals, that he named Seven Subdeacons to overlook the Seven Notaries, who are supposed to have been first appointed by Pope Clement, and whose Province it was to commit to Writing the Actions and Speeches of the Martyrs. It is manifest from St. Cyprian^[342], as Dr. Pearson well observes, that in the Time of Cornelius, the Successor of Fabianus, the Church of Rome had Seven Subdeacons, to whom St. Cyprian recommended the strictest Exactness in marking the Day of each Martyr’s Death^[343]. As for taking down their Speeches, which 49some seem to object to, the Art of writing in Short-hand was well known in those Times. Eusebius tells us, that by Tiro, Cicero’s Freed-man, were first invented certain Marks, which stood not only for whole Words, but intire Sentences^[344]. But this Invention is, by Dio, ascribed to Mæcenas, who ordered his Freed-man Aquila to make them known to all who cared to learn them^[345]. Of their wonderful Quickness in writing, with the Help of these Marks, Martial takes notice, in one of his Distichs, saying, How fast soever the Tongue may run, the Hand runs faster^[346].

Said to have converted the Emperor Philip.

Baronius^[347] and Bollandus^[348] ascribe to Fabianus the Conversion of the Emperor Philip, and his Son; adding, from the Acts of Pontius the Martyr, that he pulled down the great Temple of the Romans, that he dashed to Pieces their Idols, and converted the whole City. What a Pity that such wonderful Feats should have been passed over in Silence by Eusebius, and all the Antients! As for the Conversion of Philip, and his Son, it is questioned by many, and very justly, the Silence of Eusebius alone being an unanswerable Evidence against it; but all agree, that if he was instructed and converted by Fabianus, he did no great Honour either to his Instructor, or his Religion. In the Latter-end of the Year 249, the Emperor Philip being killed by the rebellious Soldiery at Verona, Decius, who was raised to the Empire in his room, began his Reign with the most dreadful Persecution that had ever yet afflicted the Church. |Fabianus martyred in the Persecution of Decius.| Fabianus was one of the first that fell a Victim to the implacable Hatred this Emperor bore to the Christian Name. He was put to Death on the 20th of January 250. while Decius was Consul the second time, together with Gratus, after having governed the Church Fourteen Years, one Month, and Ten Days^[349].

The See vacant. Year of Christ 250.

The Death of Fabianus was followed by a Vacancy, which lasted at least Sixteen Months, the Christians being either imprisoned, or so dispersed, that they could not assemble to chuse a new Bishop. During this Interval, the Clergy, that is, the Presbyters and Deacons, took upon themselves the Care and Administration of all Ecclesiastical Matters; and, being informed by Clementius, Subdeacon of the Church of Carthage, who came to Rome about Easter in 250. that St. Cyprian had been obliged, by the Fury of the Persecution, to withdraw for a 50while from his See, they writ to that Clergy, exhorting them to follow their Example^[350]. Several excellent Letters passed on this Occasion between the Clergy of Rome, and St. Cyprian and his Clergy, especially concerning the Method they were to hold with the Lapsed; that is, with those who had either obtained of the Pagan Magistrates Protections, or Libels of Safety, whence they were called Libellatici, or had actually sacrificed to Idols, and were thence named Sacrificati. In one of these Letters, the Roman Clergy, after having maturely examined so material a Point, and advised not only with the neighbouring Bishops, but with others, who, from the distant Provinces, had fled for Concealment to Rome, declare it was their Opinion, |The Opinion of the Roman Clergy concerning the Lapsed.| That such of the Lapsed as were at the Point of Death, should, upon an unfeigned Repentance, be admitted to the Communion of the Church, but that the Cause of others should be put off till the Election of a new Bishop, when, together with him, with other Bishops, with the Priests, Deacons, Confessors, and Laymen, who had stood firm, they should take their Case into Consideration; adding, that a Crime committed by many ought not to be judged by one; and that a Decree could not be binding without the Consent and Approbation of many^[351]. |They disown the Pope’s Infallibility.| Could they in more plain and express Terms disown the Infallibility of the Pope their Bishop? Could they upon mature Deliberation write thus, and at the same time believe his Judgment an infallible Rule? Such a Proposition would, in these Days, be deemed heretical; and no Wonder; the Pope’s Infallibility must be maintained at all Events; and to maintain it is impossible, without condemning, as heretical, the Doctrine taught by the Church in the first and purest Ages.

51

Decius, CORNELIUS, Twentieth Bishop of Rome. Gallus.

Year of Christ 251.

After the See had been vacant for the Space of Sixteen Months, Cornelius, a Presbyter of the Church of Rome, was at last elected^[352], on the 4th of June 251. according to the most probable Opinion^[353]. |The Character of Cornelius by St. Cyprian.| He was, according to St. Cyprian^[354], a Man of an unblemished Character, and, on account of his peaceable Temper, his great Modesty, his Integrity, and many other eminent Virtues, well worthy of the Dignity to which he was raised. He did not attain at once, says the same Writer, to the Height of the Priesthood, but after he had passed through all the inferior Degrees, agreeably to the Discipline of the Church. He was so far from using Intrigues, from intruding himself by Violence, as some have done, that Violence was necessary to make him accept the Dignity offered him. He was ordained Bishop, continues St. Cyprian, by some of our Collegues, who, being then at Rome, conformed to the Judgment of the whole People and Clergy^[355]. As Decius was still alive, who had declared, that he had rather bear with a Competitor to his Crown, than with a Bishop of Rome^[356], the Christians, in all Likelihood, laid hold of the Opportunity, which the Revolt of Valens gave them, to chuse a new Bishop; for this very Year Julius Valens revolting, caused himself to be proclaimed Emperor in Rome^[357]; and though he held the Empire but a very short time, yet his Revolt might divert Decius for a while from persecuting the Christians.

Novatian

Though Cornelius was chosen by the unanimous Voice of the People and Clergy, yet Novatian, a Presbyter of the Church of Rome, who aspired to the same Dignity, not only refused to acknowlege him; but having gained a considerable Party among the People, Five Presbyters, and some Confessors, he wrote in their Name and his own to St. Cyprian, and no doubt to many other Bishops, laying heinous Crimes to the Charge of Cornelius; namely, his having sued for a Protection from the Pagan Magistrates, which was ranking him among the Libellatici, who were excluded from all Dignities and 52Employments in the Church. St. Cyprian having received this Letter, and at the same time one from Cornelius, acquainting him with his Election, as was customary in those Times among Bishops, he caused the one to be read in a full Assembly of the People and Clergy, but suppressed the other, looking upon it as a scandalous Libel^[358]. |St. Cyprian calls a Council,| However, to prevent the Calumnies and false Reports that might be spread abroad by Novatian and his Partisans, he assembled a Council of all the Bishops of his Province, who, hearing of the Schism in the Church of Rome, resolved to send thither two of their Body, who should carefully inform themselves of what had passed in the late Election, and on their Return make a faithful Report of all they had learnt. Pursuant to this Resolution, Caldonius and Fortunatus, Two African Bishops, were dispatched to Rome with Letters from the Council to the Clergy of that City, and to the Bishops who had been present at the Ordination of Cornelius. The Bishops no sooner received these Letters than they answered them, assuring their Brethren in Africa, that Cornelius had been lawfully chosen; and at the same time commending him as a Person, on account of his extraordinary Piety, and exemplary Life, most worthy of the Dignity to which he had been raised. |which acknowleges Cornelius.| Their Testimony was soon after confirmed by Caldonius and Fortunatus returning from Rome, and like wise by Stephanius and Pompeius, Two African Bishops, who had assisted at the Ordination of Cornelius; so that he was universally acknowleged all over Africa^[359].

The African Bishops no sooner acknowleged Cornelius than they acquainted him with the Resolutions, which they had taken in their late Council, with respect to the Lapsed. |Resolutions of the Council of Africa concerning the Lapsed.| The Substance of these was, That such as had yielded to the Fury of the Persecution ought not to be abandoned, lest, giving themselves up to Despair, they should fall into a total Apostasy; but should be re-admitted to the Union of the Church upon a sincere Repentance, and after a long Penance; that the Time of their Penance should be shortened, or prolonged, according to the Nature of their Crimes; that is, the Libellatici should have a shorter Time assigned them; and the Sacrificati, called also Thurificati, who had actually offered Sacrifice, or Frankincense, to Idols, should not be admitted till they had expiated their Offence by a very long Penance; but that both the Libellatici and Sacrificati 53should be taken in, before the Time of their Penance was expired, if at the Point of Death, or even thought to be in Danger^[360]. As to fallen Bishops, they were to be dealt with in the same Manner; and, after due Penance, or, as it is sometimes called, Satisfaction, be admitted only in a Lay Capacity^[361]. Cornelius did not, upon the Receipt of these Determinations or Decrees, step into his oracular Chair, and thence, as an infallible Judge, condemn or approve them. Such arbitrary Proceedings would not have been well relished by the Bishops of Africa, nor even by his own Clergy, who not long before had declared, That a Decree could not be binding without the Consent and Approbation of many. |Which are approved by the Council of Rome.| He therefore acted on this Occasion as St. Cyprian had done, as other Bishops did afterwards; that is, he assembled a Council, which Eusebius calls a great Council^[362]; for it consisted of Sixty Bishops, and a great Number of Priests, Deacons, and Laymen, who, in those Times, were admitted to all Councils^[363]. By this Venerable Assembly were the Decrees of the Council of Africa examined and approved, and then sent to be in like manner examined and approved by other Bishops, till the whole Church had agreed to them^[364].

Novatian excommun- icated.

At the Council of Rome assisted among other Presbyters Novatian: but as he maintained, in Opposition to the whole Assembly, that the Lapsed were to be admitted upon no Terms or Satisfaction whatsoever, but should be left to the Divine Tribunal, he was himself cut off from that Communion, which with an invincible Obstinacy he denied to others^[365]. Provoked at this Sentence, he readily gave Ear to the Insinuations of Novatus, a Presbyter of the Church of Carthage, who had fled from thence to Rome, to avoid the Sentence of Excommunication, with which he was threatened by St. Cyprian, and the other Bishops of Africa, for his scandalous Doctrine, and irregular Practices^[366]. Pacianus paints him in the blacked Colours: |Novatus his Wicked ness.| He stripped the Orphans, says he, plundered the Widows of the Church of Carthage, and appropriated to himself the Money belonging to the Poor and the Church^[367]: He turned his Father out of Doors, and let him die of Hunger in the Streets, and would not even be at the Trouble of burying him after his Death. With a Kick in the Belly he made his Wife miscarry, and bring forth a dead Child: whence Pacianus calls 54him a Traitor, an Assassin, the Murderer of his Father and Child^[368]. As for his Doctrine, he held, while at Carthage, Tenets diametrically opposite to those he taught at Rome: for, at Carthage, he was for admitting to the Communion of the Church not only the Lapsed, but all other Sinners, let their Crimes be ever so heinous, without any Sort of Penance; and, at Rome, for excluding them, let their Penance be ever so long, let their Repentance be ever so sincere^[369]. At Carthage he found Felicissimus, of whom I shall speak hereafter, inclined to Lenity; and Novatian, at Rome, to Severity: and therefore, as he was a Man of great Vanity, and no Principles, he suited himself to the different Tempers of such as he judged the most capable of raising him. |He gains many Followers, and some Confessors, to the Party of Novatian.| At Rome, by a Pretence to an uncommon Sanctity and Severity, he gained a great many Followers, and among them some Confessors lately delivered out of Prison, from whom he extorted Letters directed to Novatian, wherein they consented to the Ordination of the said Novatian. In virtue of these Letters he was accordingly ordained, some say in Rome^[370], others in a neighbouring Village^[371], by Three Bishops sent for by Novatus out of the Country for that Purpose, and quite unacquainted with his Views. |Novatian the first Anti-pope.| Being thus ordained Bishop, he was set up by the Party against Cornelius, whom they charged with relaxing the Discipline of the Church, and communicating with the Lapsed, especially with one Trophimus. This St. Cyprian calls a false and groundless Charge; for, as to Trophimus, though he was in the Number of the Thurificati, that is, though he had offered Frankinsense to Idols, and even persuaded his Flock (for he was a Presbyter, if not a Bishop) to follow his Example, yet he had sufficiently atoned for his Crime, by a sincere Repentance, by a long Penance, and, above all, by bringing back his People with him, who would not have returned without him^[372]. As for the others, 'tis true, he communicated with some who had not fulfilled the Time of Penance assigned them, but such only as, being admitted at the Point of Death, had afterwards recovered; which can no otherwise be avoided, says St. Cyprian^[373], but by killing those to whom we granted the Peace of the Church, when we apprehended them to be in Danger. Novatian having thus, by a pretended Zeal for the Discipline of the Church, and the artful Insinuations of Novatus, seduced a great many at Rome, who styled themselves the Cathari, 55|He acquaints the other Churches with his Ordination.| that is, the pure, undefiled Party; he wrote in their and his own Name to the other Churches, acquainting them with his Ordination, exhorting them not to communicate with the Lapsed upon any Terms, and bitterly complaining of the scandalous Lenity and Remisness of Cornelius^[374]. At the same time Cornelius wrote to the other Bishops, giving them a faithful Account of all that had happened at Rome, especially of the uncanonical Ordination of Novatian. However, the Letters of Novatian, signed by several Confessors, who were greatly respected in those Days, made no small Impression on Antonianus an African Bishop, and Fabius Bishop of Antioch^[375], but quite gained over to the Party Marcianus Bishop of Arles^[376]. |His Deputies rejected and excommunicated in Africa.| The other Bishops declared all to a Man for Cornelius, especially St. Cyprian, and those of his Province, who, being assembled in a Council when the Deputies of Novatian arrived, excommunicated without farther Examination both him and them^[377]; and well they might, since they had taken so much Pains to inform themselves of the Lawfulness of Cornelius’s Election, as we have related above. The Deputies, though thus rejected with Scorn and Disgrace by the Council, did not abandon the Enterprize, but proselyting from Town to Town, nay, from House to House, inveigled a great many, under colour of communicating with the Confessors^[378]. |St. Cyprianendeav- ours to reclaim the Confessors.| St. Cyprian therefore, whose Zeal was not confined within the Bounds, however extensive, of Africa, Numidia, and the Two Mauritania’s, to withdraw this main Support from the Party, writ a short but nervous Letter to the Confessors, deploring the Fault they had committed, by consenting to the unlawful Ordination of Novatian, and exhorting them to return with all Speed to the Catholic Church^[379]. Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria writ them a pathetic Letter to the same Purpose^[380]; and these Letters had at last the desired Effect; but not before Novatus, who had drawn them into the Schism, left Rome; which happened on the following Occasion:

Novatian sends new Deputies into Africa.

Novatian, being informed that the Deputies he had sent into Africa were every-where rejected and despised, resolved to send others, whom he judged, on account of their Rank and Authority, more capable of promoting his Design^[381]. The Persons he pitched upon were Nicostratus, Novatus, Evaristus, Primus, and Dionysius. Of 56the Two last I find no farther Mention made in History; of Novatus I have spoken above; and as for Evaristus and Nicostratus, the former was a Bishop, and is supposed to have been one of the Three that ordained Novatian. Nicostratus was a Deacon of the Church of Rome^[382], and had been imprisoned with the Two Presbyters Moses and Maximus, for the Confession of the Faith^[383], which intitled him to a Place among the Confessors.|Their Characters.| To these Three St. Cyprian ascribes the excellent Letter, as he styles it, which the Confessors of Rome writ to those of Carthage^[384]. He was likewise one of the Confessors, who writ to St. Cyprian himself, as appears from the Title of that admirable Letter, which runs thus: The Presbyters Moses and Maximus, the Deacons Nicostratus and Ruffinus, and the other Confessors, who are with them, to Pope Cyprian^[385]. |The Name of Pope antiently common to all Bishops.| We may here observe, by the way, that the Name of Pope, which signifies no more than Father, was antiently common to all Bishops; but was afterwards, by a special Decree of Gregory VII. appropriated to the Bishop of Rome. To return to Nicostratus, the Character given him by St. Cyprian and Cornelius, bespeaks him quite unworthy of being joined with the others, who are named in that Letter, and were all Men of great Piety: for he had squandered away the Money belonging to the Church, that was lodged in his Hands, embezzled that of the Widows and Orphans, and defrauded a Lady, who had trusted him with the Management of her Affairs^[386].

The Deputies are everywhere rejected in Africa.

These new Deputies met with no better a Reception than the former had done: for St. Cyprian, being informed of their Departure from Rome, by the Confessor Augendus^[387], and soon after of their Characters by the Acolyte Nicephorus, both sent, for that Purpose, by Cornelius^[388], he acquainted therewith the other Catholic Bishops, who, upon that Intelligence, rejected them with the greatest Indignation, as Apostates, and Firebrands of Sedition. Hereupon the Deputies having, by the Means and Contrivance of Novatus, procured some of their Party to be ordained Bishops, and Nicostratus among the rest, they named them to the Sees of the Catholic Bishops; which bred great Confusion and Disorder in the Church, it being a difficult Matter for the Bishops in the distant Provinces to distinguish between their lawful Brethren and the Intruders, and consequently to know whom they should admit to, and whom they should exclude 57from their Communion. But against this Evil a Remedy was found by St. Cyprian, and the other African Bishops, who, to arm him against the Craft and Arts of those subtle Impostors, transmitted to him a List of all the Catholic Bishops of that Province^[389].

The Confessors return to the Communion of the Church.

The Storm, which Novatus had raised in Rome, was laid by his Departure; for he was no sooner gone, than the Confessors, whom he had seduced, viz. Maximus, Urbanus, Sidonius, and Macarius, signified to Cornelius their eager Desire of quitting his Party, and returning to the Communion of the Church. Cornelius questioned, at first, their Sincerity; but, being convinced of it at last, he assembled his Clergy, not caring to trust to his own Judgment, in order to advise with them, in what manner he should proceed, in the present Case. At this Council assisted, besides the Roman Clergy, Five Bishops, who either happened to be then at Rome; or, on this Occasion, had been invited thither by Cornelius. They were scarce met, when the Confessors, attended by a great Croud, appeared before them, testifying, with a Flood of Tears, the Sincerity of their Repentance, and begging they would forget their part criminal Conduct. |How received.| The Council did not think it adviseable to come to any Resolution, till they had acquainted the People with the Request of the Confessors; which they no sooner did, than the People flocked to the Place, and, not upbraiding, but embracing, with Tears of Joy, their retrieved Brethren, and with the same Tenderness as if they had been just then delivered out of Prison, pointed out to the Council the Method they were to pursue. Accordingly Cornelius, having, with the Approbation of the Council, made them renounce the Errors of Novatian, and acknowlege him for the only lawful Bishop of Rome, readmitted them, without farther Satisfaction, to the Communion of the Church^[390]. From this Account I should imagine, that those who accompanied the Confessors, at their first appearing before the Council, were Novatians, whom they had brought back with them; but I dare not affirm it, since St. Cyprian, in his Answer to Cornelius, speaks only of the Four above-mentioned Confessors. |Cornelius acquaints St. Cyprian with their Return.| The Confessors being thus returned, to the inexpressible Joy of the whole People, Cornelius, impatient to impart the good News to St. Cyprian, writ to him, as soon as the Council broke up, to acquaint him with what had happened, and invite him to partake of the common Joy, to which he had so much contributed^[391]. With this Letter Nicephorus 58the Acolyte embarked, without Delay, for Africa; and thence returned soon after with an Answer, wherein St. Cyprian assured Cornelius, that, the Return of the Confessors had caused an universal Joy in Africa, both for their Sake, and because it might open the Eyes of many, and prove in the End the Ruin of the schismatic Party^[392]. The Confessors themselves writ to St. Cyprian, upon their Return^[393], who immediately answered them^[394]; and, in all Likelihood, to the other chief Bishops of the Church; since Eusebius informs us, that Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, writ twice to them after their Return^[395]. |In what manner Novatian endeavoured to keep the rest steady.|In the mean time Novatian, seeing great Numbers, moved by the Example of the Confessors, daily fall off from his Party, to keep the rest steady by the most sacred Ties, used, in administring the Eucharist, to hold the Hands of those who received it, with the holy Bread in them, between his, and oblige them to swear, by the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that they would never abandon him, nor return to Cornelius^[396].

A Schism in the Church of Carthage.

As the Church of Rome was rent by the Schism of Novatian, so was the Church of Carthage by that of Felicissimus; and as the former, upon his being excommunicated by Cornelius, and the Council of Rome, had recourse to St. Cyprian, in like manner the latter, being cut off from the Communion of the Church by St. Cyprian, and the Council of Carthage, had recourse to Cornelius. But as the Doctrine of Felicissimus, though diametrically opposite to that of Novatian, was equally repugnant to the Catholic Truth, and to the Discipline established in the Church, as I have observed above, he was at first rejected by Cornelius, with great Steadiness and Resolution. But the Bishop of Rome had, at last, been frightened into a Compliance, had he not been animated and encouraged by St. Cyprian: for the Followers of Felicissimus having, in Imitation of the Novatians, appointed one of their own Faction, named Fortunatus, Bishop of Carthage, Felicissimus took upon himself to carry to Cornelius the Letters of the new and Third Bishop of that City. Accordingly he set out for Rome, attended by a Troop of seditious, desperate, and abandoned Men, says St. Cyprian^[397]. Cornelius rejected them at first with great Firmness, and immediately acquainted St. Cyprian with what had passed; but Felicissimus threatening to read publicly the Letters he had brought, if Cornelius did not receive them, and to 59discover many scandalous Things, he was not a little intimidated. He therefore writ a second Letter to St. Cyprian, but betrayed in it a great deal of Fear and Weakness: however, the excellent Letter, which St. Cyprian writ in Answer to his, inspired him with new Vigour, and kept him steady^[398].

The Persecution renewed by Gallus.

In the mean time, Decius being killed, the Persecution was carried on, or rather renewed, with more Fury than ever, by Gallus his Successor. As the Roman Empire was, at this Time, afflicted with a dreadful Plague, Gallus, who, it seems, had not molested the Christians during the first Months of his Reign^[399], issued an Order, injoining Men of all Ranks and Professions to offer Sacrifice to the Gods, hoping, by that means, to appease their Wrath, and put a Stop to the raging Evil. It was on Occasion of this Plague that St. Cyprian writ his excellent Discourse on Mortality, wherein he so eloquently teaches a Christian to triumph over the Fears of Death, and shews with how little Reason we mourn for those Friends and Relations who are snatched from us. |Cornelius apprehended.| Such of the Christians as refused to comply with the Emperor’s Edict, were either banished or executed. Cornelius, among the rest, was apprehended at the first breaking out of the Persecution, and made a glorious Confession of his Faith, as appears from St. Cyprian, who, on that Occasion, writ him a Letter of Congratulation^[400]. What happened to him afterwards is uncertain; for his Acts are evidently fabulous, though they have been received by Bede, by Ado, by Anastasius, and many others, far more considerable for their Number than their Authority. We read in the Pontifical of Bucherius, that he was banished to Centumcellæ, now Civita-vecchia, and died of a natural Death, according to the Expression used there^[401] (Dormitionem accepit). As to the Title of Martyr, with which he is distinguished by St. Jerom^[402], it was antiently given to all those who, for the Confession of Faith, died in Prison, which in all Likelihood happened to Cornelius^[N5].

60Cornelius died on the same Day of the Month and the Week, on which St. Cyprian was martyred Six Years after^[403]; that is, on the 14th of September 252. according to the most probable Opinion, having held the Pontificate one Year, Three Months, and Ten Days. |His Reliques.| His Body is supposed to have been translated from Civita-vecchia to the Cemetery of Callistus; for near that Place Pope Leo I. is said to have built, in Honour of Cornelius, a Basilic, or magnificent Church^[404]. His Body was believed to be still at Rome in the End of the Eighth Century; for Anastasius tells us, that Pope Adrian placed it in a Church, which he had built in Capracoro^[405]; but it was soon after removed from thence, and brought into France, by Charlemagne, as Pamelius assures us, upon the Authority of a small Life of St. Cyprian, written, as he supposes, by Paulus Diaconus^[406][N6].

Eusebius observes, that, in the Time of Cornelius, the Church of Rome was in a most flourishing Condition; for, not to mention the People, who were almost without Number, it consisted of 46 Presbyters, 7 Subdeacons, 42 Acolytes, 52 Exorcists, Lectors, and Janitors, or Door-keepers, and 1500 Widows, and other Poor, who were all maintained by the Alms and Offerings of the Faithful^[407].

61

Gallus, LUCIUS, Twenty-first Bishop of Rome. Volusianus.

Year of Christ 252. He is banished.

Lucius was no sooner named to succeed Cornelius, than he was apprehended, and sent, with many others, into Banishment; for St. Cyprian wrote him a Letter, in the Name of his Collegues, and his own, congratulating him, at the same time, on his Promotion, and his Exile, as appears from St. Cyprian’s Second Letter to him^[408]; for his First has not reached our Times. Lucius had been but a very short time in Banishment, when he was recalled, to the inexpressible Joy of his Flock, who, it seems, crouded out to meet him^[409]. On this Occasion St. Cyprian wrote him a Second Letter, still extant^[410], wherein he testifies the Joy with which the News of his Return had been received by him, and his Brethren in Africa. |Returns to Rome.| He returned to Rome during the Heat of the Persecution; but what occasioned his Return, we are no-where told. St. Cyprian says, in his Second Letter to him, that he was perhaps recalled to be immolated in the Sight of his Flock, that they might be animated and encouraged by the Example of his Christian Constancy and Resolution^[411]; which happened accordingly; for he had not governed Eight whole Months, says Eusebius^[412], no, nor Six, according to the most probable Opinion, but only Five, and a few Days, when he died a Martyr; for that Title is given him by St. Cyprian^[413]. |and dies a Martyr.| He was beheaded, say the Martyrologies; but on this Point the Antients are silent; and his dying in Prison had given him a just Claim to that Title. His Body is supposed to have been discovered intire, in the Church of St. Cæcilia at Rome, in 1599. though the Church of Roskild, in the Isle of Zeland, had long before pretended to his Head^[414].

62

STEPHEN,

Twenty-second Bishop of Rome.

Year of Christ 253. The Bishops of Gaul write to Stephen.

Stephen, who succeeded Lucius, in 253. soon after his Election, received a Letter from Faustinus, Bishop of Lions, written in the Name of all his Collegues in Gaul, informing him, that Marcian, Bishop of Arles, having embraced the Doctrine of Novatian, had denied the Communion of the Church to the Lapsed, even at the Point of Death. At the same time they writ to St. Cyprian, and on the same Subject^[415], not caring to come to any vigorous Resolution against their Collegue, without the Advice and Approbation of other Bishops, especially of Rome and Carthage; the former being eminent for the Dignity of his See, and the latter for his known Zeal, Piety, and Learning. But Faustinus did not find in the Bishop of Rome the Zeal he expected; and therefore he writ a second Letter to St. Cyprian, exhorting him to animate the others by his Example^[416]; which that zealous Prelate did accordingly: for he writ immediately to Stephen, pressing him to dispatch, without Delay, full and ample Letters to the Bishops of Gaul; that, finding themselves thus backed and supported, they might thereby be encouraged to depose Marcian, and name another in his room. It is not to be doubted but the Bishop of Carthage, who had the Welfare of the Church, at least, as much at Heart as the Bishop of Rome, did himself what he encouraged the others to do; but I cannot positively affirm it, since his Answer to Faustinus is lost. As to the Issue of this Affair, the Antients have left us quite in the Dark^[N7].

St. Cyprian did not doubt in the least but that Marcian would be deposed; for, in his Letter to Stephen, he desires him to let him know the Name of the Person who should be chosen in his room, that he may not be at a Loss, to whom he should direct his Letters, and his Brethren^[417].

63Faustinus, and the other Bishops of Gaul, did not apply, on this Occasion, to Stephen alone, but to him, and to St. Cyprian. Why then should their applying to the Bishop of Rome be construed, as it is, by all the Roman Catholic Writers, into a tacit Acknowlegement of his universal Jurisdiction, and not the like Construction be put on their applying to the Bishop of Carthage? But, in Truth, neither can bear such a Construction, since the Bishops of Gaul did not refer the Cause of Marcian either to Stephen, or to St. Cyprian: they writ to both only for their Advice and Approbation. Stephen was backward, for Reasons unknown to us, in giving his; and therefore St. Cyprian, in a Letter, which he writ on this Occasion, pressed him to encourage with his Letters the People of Arles, and the Bishops of Gaul, to depose Marcian, and appoint another in his room^[418]. Was not this plainly acknowleging, not in the Bishop of Rome, but in the People and Clergy, the Power of deposing one Bishop, and appointing another in his room?

Stephen’s rash Con- duct.

But to return to Stephen: His rash Conduct had involved the Churches of Spain in endless Calamities, had not St. Cyprian, and the other Bishops of Africa, zealously interposed. The Bishops of Spain, having judged Two of their Collegues unworthy of the Episcopacy, viz. Basilides of Leon and Astorga, and Martial of Merida, had disposed of their Sees to others, appointing Sabinus in the room of the former, and Felix in that of the latter. They were both Libellatici, and guilty of many other Crimes, for which Martial had been deposed; but Basilides, returning to himself, and conscious of his own Guilt, had voluntarily resigned, declaring he should think it a great Happiness to be readmitted, after due Satisfaction, to the Communion of the Church, even in the Capacity of a Layman. But, Ambition getting the better of all his good Resolutions, he soon began to pant after his former Condition; and, thinking the Favour and Interest of the Bishop of Rome might greatly contribute to his Re-establishment, he undertook a Journey to that City; |He suffers himself to be imposed upon.| and there, as St. Cyprian expresses himself, imposed upon our Collegue Stephen, who lived at a great Distance, and was ignorant of the Truth, seeking unjustly to be restored to his Bishoprick, from which he had been justly deposed^[419]. Being thus admitted to the Communion of the Bishop of Rome, he returned well satisfied to Spain, and there exercised all Episcopal Functions, as he had formerly done. St. Cyprian does not 64tell us, in express Terms, that Martial too had recourse to Rome; but that he had, may, perhaps, be gathered from his Words; for he writes, that, notwithstanding the Craft and Deceit Martial had used, probably in imposing upon Stephen, he had not been able to preserve his Episcopacy^[420]. Besides, he acted as a Bishop after he had been deposed by a Synod; which he would have hardly attempted, had he not been countenanced by some Bishop of Rank and Dignity. Be that as it will, the Churches of Leon, Astorga, and Merida, applied, in this their Distress, to the Bishops of Africa, imploring, both by Letters and Deputies, their Advice and Assistance. The Deputies were the Two new Bishops Felix and Sabinus; and their Deputation was backed by a pressing Letter from Felix, Bishop of Saragosa, whom St. Cyprian styles a Propagator of the Faith, and Defender of the Truth^[421]. |Martial of Merida excommunicated by the Bishops of Africa, tho’ admitted by Stephen to his Communion.| These Letters being read at Carthage, in a Council of 28 Bishops, with St. Cyprian at their Head, it was concluded, that Basilides and Martial ought not to be acknowleged as Bishops; that it was not lawful to communicate with them; that such Bishops as did, ought to be excommunicated themselves; and, finally, that their imposing upon Stephen, instead of giving them any kind of Right to the Sees they had forfeited by their Wickedness, added to their Guilt. By the same Council, the Election of Sabinus and Felix was confirmed, and they acknowleged by all the African Bishops as their Collegues^[422].

Appeals to Rome, no Proof of the Pope’s Supremacy.

It is surprising, that Bellarmine, Baronius, Davidius, and other Advocates for the Pope’s Supremacy, should lay so much Stress as they do, on the Recourse to Rome of the Two deposed Bishops. If their recurring, or appealing, as they are pleased to style it, to the Bishop of Rome, is any Proof of his being acknowleged by them for the Head of the Church, the Appeal of the other Bishops of Spain from him to St. Cyprian, and their acquiescing to his, and not to the Judgment of Stephen, will be a stronger Proof of St. Cyprian’s being acknowleged by them for the Head of the Church. Had Basilides and Martial recurred not to Rome, but to Carthage, had the Bishops of Spain appealed from St. Cyprian to Stephen, as they did from Stephen to St. Cyprian, and acquiesced to his Judgment, no Notice had been taken of the Appeal of the Two Apostates; that only of the Catholic Bishops had been set forth with great Pomp and Flourish of 65Words. But, as the Case stands, they must be satisfied with the Evidence of the Apostates, and leave the Catholic Bishops to bear Testimony for us, which we shall not misuse; we shall not build upon it the Supremacy of the Church of Carthage; we shall not set up St. Cyprian for a Judge, to whose Tribunal all Appeals must be brought; in short, we shall not make him an universal Judge, an universal Pastor, a Pope; though, to the Testimony of the Spanish Bishops, that of Gregory Nazianzene should be added, and I defy the Champions for the See of Rome to allege one in their Favour more plain and expressive: St. Cyprian, says he, presided not only over the Church of Carthage, or that of Africa, on which he reflected an extraordinary Lustre, but over all the West, nay, and over all the Nations of the East, of the North, and the South^[423]. Had Gregory said as much of the Bishop of Rome, the Passage had been employed as a Corner-stone to support the Pope’s universal Jurisdiction.

The famous Dispute about the Baptism of Heretics.

Not long after the Affair of the Spanish Bishops, that is, about the Year 256. according to the most probable Opinion, happened the famous Contest about the Baptism of Heretics, which rent the whole Church into Two Parties, the one headed by St. Cyprian, and the other by Stephen. St. Cyprian maintained, that Baptism administred by Heretics, was null and invalid; and, consequently, that such as came over from them, from what Sect soever they came, ought to be baptized by a Catholic Minister: he owned there was but one Baptism, and therefore avoided the Word Rebaptization; but thought that Heretics had not the Power of conferring it. |Both Opinions erroneous.| On the other hand, Stephen, and those who adhered to him, pretended, that Baptism conferred by Heretics, of whatever Sect or Persuasion, was valid; so that by avoiding one Error, they fell into another; for some Heretics of those Times, namely, the Montanists and Marcionites, did not baptize, as is commanded by the Gospel, in the Name of the Three Persons; whence their Baptism was declared null by Two Oecumenical Councils, as I shall relate hereafter. I know great Pains have been taken to excuse Stephen; but his own Words, quoted by St. Cyprian, from his own Letter to him, can, in my Opinion, admit of no Dispute; for he there forbids, in express Terms, the Baptizing of Heretics, from what Heresy soever they should come^[424]. And here we may observe, by the way, that the whole Church erred, 66either at this Time, or afterwards; for afterwards both Opinions were condemned, and both were held at this Time, by the one or the other of the Two Parties, into which the whole Church was divided. The Point in Dispute had been canvassed long before, and differently settled in different Provinces. The Churches of Africa and Numidia had formerly admitted Heretics, without baptizing or rebaptizing them; but the contrary Practice was established in a Council of the Bishops of these Two Provinces, summoned about the Close of the Second Century, by Agrippinus Bishop of Carthage^[425]. |The Custom of baptizing Heretics practised by several Churches, and established by Councils.| The same Practice of baptizing Heretics was followed by the Churches of Cappadocia, and the other Provinces of Asia, as a Tradition handed down to them from the Apostles Times; whence it was confirmed in a Council, which was held at Iconium in Phrygia, about the Year 230. and consisted of all the Bishops of Cappadocia, Galatia, Cilicia, and the neighbouring Provinces^[426]. The same Practice was approved of by another Council, assembled, much about the same time, at Synnades in Phrygia^[427]. The Bishops of Pontus and Egypt agreed, it seems, with those of Cappadocia and Galatia^[428]; but all the other Bishops, especially those of Italy, Gaul, and Spain, held the contrary Opinion, and followed the opposite Practice. This Disagreement, both in Opinion and Practice, had hitherto created no Disturbance in the Church, each Bishop conforming to the Custom of his particular Church, as received by Tradition, or settled by Synods, without censuring those who disagreed with him, or being censured by them. |It is confirm’d by two Councils held by St. Cyprian;| But the Question was now revived by Eighteen Bishops of Numidia, who writ to a Council, held at this time by St. Cyprian, to know whether they had done well in rebaptizing Heretics, agreeably to the antient Practice of their respective Churches. What raised this Doubt now, we know not; but it is certain, the Council answered, that they ought to follow the Practice which they had hitherto observed^[429]. The same Answer was returned by St. Cyprian, to Quintus Bishop of Mauritania, who had asked the same Question^[430]. Soon after, another Council was held at Carthage, composed of 71 Bishops, wherein the Decrees of the former Council, concerning the Baptism of Heretics, were confirmed; and besides, it was ordained, that such Presbyters and Deacons as had received Ordination at the Hands of Heretics, or who, after receiving Orders in the Church, had fallen into 67Heresy, should be admitted to Communion only as Laymen^[431]. |who acquaints Stephen with their Decrees.| The Council, by a synodal Letter, acquainted Stephen with these Resolutions, hoping he would approve and embrace them; but at the same time declaring, that if any Bishop should think fit to reject them, and follow different Opinions, agreeably to the Liberty they all claimed, no Breach of Peace and Unity should thence follow on their Side^[432]. With this Letter St. Cyprian sent those he had written to Quintus, and to the Bishops of Numidia^[433].

St. Cyprian’s famous letter to Jubaianus.

It was after this Council, and before Stephen’s Answer, that St. Cyprian wrote the famous Letter to Jubaianus, who was a Bishop; but in what Province, or of what City, we know not. Jubaianus had, by a Letter, asked St. Cyprian’s Opinion about the Baptizing of Heretics; and, at the same time, sent him the Copy of a Letter, which he had received; wherein many Reasons were alleged to prove, that Baptism, by whomsoever administred, not even the Marcionites excepted, ought to be deemed valid. The Author of this Letter inveighs bitterly against St. Cyprian, and those of his Party, styling them Betrayers of the Truth, and Enemies to the Peace and Unity of the Church^[434]. Baronius, and likewise Pamelius, ascribe that Piece to Stephen, not apprised that they must consequently own the Doctrine held by Stephen to have been no less erroneous than that which was held by St. Cyprian, if the Doctrine of the Church be true, as I have observed above. But we have not sufficient Grounds to suppose Stephen the Author of it, since many besides him writ in favour of that Opinion. St. Cyprian, in Answer to JubaianusJubaianus, sent him his Letter to Quintus, that of the first Council to the Bishops of Numidia; and, moreover, wrote him a long Letter, with a great many Arguments in favour of his Opinion, and the Answers to what was objected against it; especially in the Letter, whereof Jubaianus had transmitted him a Copy^[435]. |His Desire to live in Peace and Unity with those who held the opposite Opinion.| He ends his Letter by a most solemn Protestation of Unity and Charity with those who should differ from him; which is related at Length by St. Jerom^[436], and likewise by St. Austin, who tells us, that he was never tired with reading over and over again those Words of Peace and Charity, breathing nothing but the sweetest Odour of that Union, in which the holy Prelate anxiously sought to live with his Brethren^[437]. To this Letter Jubaianus returned Answer, that he had fully convinced him, and that 68he willingly embraced his Opinion^[438]. In that Letter St. Cyprian seems to have mustered all the Arguments that could be alleged in favour of his Opinion; and therefore St. Austin has employed his Third, Fourth, and Fifth Books on Baptism, in confuting them.

We have hitherto seen with how much Temper, Moderation, and Candor, the Dispute was managed on St. Cyprian’s Side: he determined nothing without the Advice and Approbation of his Collegues assembled in Council; the Determinations of the Council he imparted to other Bishops, leaving them at full Liberty to embrace or reject them, and declaring, that no Disagreement in Opinion should occasion in him the least Breach of Charity. How different was the Conduct of the Bishop of Rome! |Stephen’s Pride and Arrogance.| He condescended, indeed, to answer the synodal Letter of the African Bishops; but did it with that Pride and Arrogance, that in After-ages became the Characteristic of his Successors. He begins with the Dignity of his See, and his pretended Succession to St. Peter, which he takes care to put them in mind of: in the next Place, he rejects their Decrees with the utmost Indignation, and attempts to confute the Arguments alleged to support them: he then proceeds to Commands and Menaces, ordering St. Cyprian to quit his Opinion, and threatening to cut off, from the Communion of the Church, all those who should presume to differ from him, and rebaptize Heretics: he concludes his Letter with a bitter Invective against St. Cyprian, branding that great Luminary of the Church with the reproachful Names of false Christ, false Apostle, deceitful Workman^[439]. Such was Pope Stephen’s Answer to a most respectful Letter from a Council of 71 Bishops. Pompeius, Bishop of Sabrata in the Tripolitana, hearing of this Letter, and being desirous to peruse it, as he had done all the rest on the same Subject, |He is severely censured by St. Cyprian.| St. Cyprian, in Compliance with his Desire, sent him a Copy of it; and at the same time writ him a Letter, wherein he treats Stephen, upon the just Provocation he had given him, with more than ordinary Sharpness and Acrimony, charging him with Pride and Impertinence, with Self-contradiction and Ignorance, with Indiscretion, Obstinacy, Childishness; nay, he styles him a Favourer and Abetter of Heretics against the Church of God^[440]. St. Cyprian was more provoked at Stephen’s abusive Language, than moved either by his Authority or Menaces. St. Austin supposes the Opinion he held 69to have been false and erroneous; and yet owns, that he was not obliged to yield to the Authority of Stephen, nor give up the Point, till he was convinced by dint of Reason, or by the Decision of an Oecumenical Council^[441]. |St. Cyprian assembles a great Council at Carthage;| However, as St. Cyprian sought nothing but Truth, upon the Receipt of Stephen’s Letter, he summoned a great Council, in order to have the Question canvassed anew, and examined with more Care and Attention. The Council met accordingly, on the First of September 256. consisting of 85 Bishops, a great Number of Presbyters and Deacons, and a considerable Part of the People^[442]. To this Assembly were read the Letter of Jubaianus to St. Cyprian, his Answer to it, and Jubaianus’s Reply; with the Letter of the former Council to Stephen, and Stephen’s Answer to the Council. These Pieces being read, St. Cyprian made a short Discourse, exhorting his Collegues to speak their Mind freely: the Words he used on this Occasion alluded, without Doubt, to the Pride and Arrogance of the Bishop of Rome; Let none of us, says he, set up for the Bishop of Bishops; let none of us presume to reduce our Collegues by a tyrannical Fear to the Necessity of obeying: he concluded with protesting anew, in the most solemn manner, that he left every one the full Liberty of following what Opinion he liked best; and that no Man should, on that score, be judged by him, or separated from his Communion^[443]. |which confirms the antient Practice.| The Discourse being finished, each Bishop delivered his Opinion, and St. Cyprian the last, all approving, with one Consent, the Baptizing of Heretics. Pamelius and others count 87 Bishops present at the Council, because Natalis of Oea spoke for the Two other Bishops of Libya Tripolitana, viz. Pompeius of Sabrata, and Dioga of Leptis the Great^[444], who were absent.

The Third Council of Carthage having thus confirmed the Decrees of the Two former, notwithstanding the Threats and Menaces of the Bishop of Rome, it was thought adviseable for the Peace of the Church to acquaint him therewith; and at the same time to inform him more particularly of the Reasons, on which their Opinion was grounded. |Deputies sent to Stephen, how treated.| Deputies were accordingly dispatched to Rome for that Purpose; but Stephen not only refused to see or hear them, but would not allow any of his Flock to correspond with them, to supply them with the Necessaries of Life, or even to admit them under the same Roof; excluding them not only from his Communion, 70but from common Hospitality, says, Firmilian, who wrote this very Year^[445]. |He excommunicates all who held the opposite Opinion.| He did not stop here; but, transported with Rage, or Zeal, as Baronius is pleased to style it, he cut off from his Communion all the Bishops who had assisted at the Council, and all those who held the same Opinion, that is, the Bishops of Africa, Numidia, Mauritania, Cilicia, Cappadocia, Galatia, and Egypt^[446]. But Stephen’s Anathemas proved, as those of Victor’s had done before, bruta fulmina; no Regard was had to them, no, not even by those of his own Party; who, by continuing in Communion with those whom he had cut off from his, sufficiently declared their Thoughts touching his rash and unchristian Conduct. This Dispute, says St. Austin, occasioned no Schism in the Church, the Bishops continuing united in Charity, notwithstanding their Disagreement in Opinion^[447]. No Thanks to Stephen, who did all that lay in his Power to set the Bishops at Variance, and involve the whole Church in Confusion and Disorder: The Peace of Christ, continues St. Austin, triumphed in their Hearts, and put a Stop to the growing Schism; not in the Heart of Stephen, where Rage, Ambition, and Envy lodged; Guests incompatible with Peace and Charity; but in the Hearts of the other Bishops, who were thereby restrained from following his Example. How many Schisms had been prevented, had Bishops in After-ages trod in the Footsteps of those great Prelates!

Stephen’s Conduct disapproved by Dionysius of Alexandria;

Dionysius, afterwards Pope, and Philemon, both then Presbyters of the Church of Rome, acquainted, no doubt, by Stephen’s Direction, the great Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, with what had passed, hoping to gain him over to their Party, and extort from him an Approbation of Stephen’s Conduct: but that illustrious Prelate, foreseeing, and well weighing, the evil Consequences that might attend it, declared his Sentiments with all the Freedom and Zeal that became a Man of his Rank in the Church. He told them plainly, that the condemning a Practice, which had been established by so many Councils, was what he could by no means approve of; that an Affair of such Consequence required long and mature Deliberation; and that the deciding it over-hastily might raise eternal Disputes, and end at last in a Schism: he therefore begged Stephen, in a Letter, which he writ to him on this Occasion, that he would, upon Reflection, alter his Conduct; and in an Affair upon which so much depended, take different Measures from those which he had hitherto pursued^[448]. As 71Stephen wrote to Dionysius, so did St. Cyprian to Firmilian, giving him a particular and candid Account both of Stephen’s Conduct and his own. Firmilian was Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, and one of the most eminent Prelates at that Time in the Church both for Piety and Learning: he had a singular Veneration for St. Cyprian, maintained with great Zeal the same Cause, and consequently had been equally ill used and excommunicated by Stephen. He therefore received with extraordinary Joy the Letter, which St. Cyprian sent him by Rogatian one of his Deacons, often read it with great Satisfaction^[449], and answered it with a long Letter^[450], which is still extant, though St. Cyprian’s to him has been lost long since. |and severely censured by Firmilian.| In this Letter Firmilian, amazed and provoked at Stephen’s unaccountable Conduct, expresses his Detestation of it in sharper Terms than the Laws of Charity can well allow; for, not content to charge him with sacrificing the Peace of the Church to a petulant Humour, he compares him to Judas, and stigmatizes him with the Epithets of inhuman, audacious, insolent, wicked, impious Schismatic; for he is a true Schismatic, says Firmilian, who departs from the Unity of the Church, which thou hast done, O Stephen; for, by attempting to separate others from thee, thou hast separated thyself from all other Churches. How much Sin hast thou heaped upon thyself by cutting thyself off from so many Flocks^[451]! Firmilian’s Letter was translated into Latin by St. Cyprian himself, as is manifest from the Style. It was unknown, it seems, to St. Austin; for he never quotes it, nor, in confuting the Opinion of Sr. Cyprian, takes any notice of some Reasons alleged in that Letter to support it.

Stephen dies, but not a Martyr.

There was no Hope of seeing an End put to this Dispute, so long as Stephen lived; but he dying, his Successor, who was a Man of a quite different Temper, laid the Storm, which his furious and ungovernable Passion had raised. He died on the 2d of August 257. according to the most probable Opinion^[452]. The Church of Rome, upon the Authority of his Acts, ranks him among the Martyrs; but that Honour is not paid him either by St. Austin, or by Vincentius Lirinensis, who, naming him together with St. Cyprian, as they often do, give constantly the Title of Martyr to the latter, and never to the former. |His Acts fabulous.| As for his Acts, they flatly contradict, in several Points, the most unexceptionable Writers among the Antients^[453], and therefore by no means 72deserve the Credit which Baronius would have us give them^[454]. Even Anastasius seems to have made no Account of them, if in his Time they were yet composed, which may be questioned; for the Account he gives us of Stephen’s Death differs widely from that which we read in those Acts^[455]. But he had made a bold Attempt towards extending the Power and Authority of the See of Rome, and therefore was to be placed among the Saints for the Encouragement of others. To say he had merited that Honour by his Virtues, either as a Christian or a Bishop, had been carrying the Imposture too far: the only Means therefore left of making him a Saint, was to make him a Martyr, that, by his glorious Death, he might be thought to have deserved what it was manifest from the Records of those Times he had not deserved by his Christian Life. Hence Acts were forged, setting forth his heroic Confession of the Faith before the Emperor, his Sufferings on that Account, the stupendous Miracles he wrought, &c. which, however incredible, might, in Process of Time, by their Antiquity alone, gain Credit with the greater Part of Mankind. |His Reliques.| Stephen was buried in the Cœmetery of Callistus^[456]; whence his Body was translated about the Year 762. by Paul I. to a Monastery of Greek Monks, which that Pope had built in Rome, as we read in Anastasius^[457]. How it got from thence to Trani in Apulia nobody knows; but from that City it was conveyed with great Pomp in 1682. to Pisa in Tuscany, where it is still worshiped in a Church bearing the pretended Saint’s Name^[458]. According to the most probable Opinion, Stephen governed Four Years, and about Six Months.

Valerian, SIXTUS II. Twenty-third Bishop of Rome. Gallienus.

Year of Christ 257. Dionysius of Alex- andria interposes in the famous Dispute.

Stephen being dead, Sixtus or Xystus II. a Deacon of the Church of Rome, was chosen to succeed him. As the late Dispute was not yet ended, Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria no sooner heard of his Promotion, than he began to press him with great Earnestness to relinquish the wild Pretensions of his Predecessor, and concur with 73the other Bishops in restoring Peace and Tranquillity to the Church^[459]. He writ Three Letters to him on the same Subject, whereof the last was from Dionysius and the whole Church of Alexandria, to Sixtus and the whole Church of Rome^[460]. He writ likewise to Dionysius and Philemon, two Presbyters of the Church of Rome, whom we have mentioned above, and who upon Stephen’s Death seem to have abandoned his Party; for Dionysius of Alexandria, in his first Letter to Sixtus, writes, That these two Presbyters had been formerly of Stephen’s Opinion^[461], a plain Indication that they were not then. The Bishop of Alexandria had at last the Satisfaction to see his pious Endeavours crowned with Success; for we find no farther Mention of this Dispute till it was revived by the Donatists. |Peace restored to the Church by his means.| In what manner it ended, we are no-where told; but it is manifest from the Writers of those Times, that the African and Asiatic Bishops continued the same Practice of baptizing Heretics, till it was condemned by the two great Councils, of Arles in 314. and of Nice in 325^[462]. Whence we may well conclude, that the Terms proposed at the Beginning of the Dispute by Dionysius and St. Cyprian were agreed to by Sixtus, viz. That no Restraint should be laid on the Bishops of either Side, but that every one should be allowed to follow undisturbed which of the two Opinions he thought most agreeable to the Scripture and to Reason. This was allowing the Bishops to consult the Scriptures, and make use of their own Reason, in a Point already judged and decided by the Bishop of Rome. But the Successors of Sixtus have not been so complaisant; for they pretend, that a blind Faith ought to be yielded to all their Decisions as infallibly true, a blind Obedience to all their Decrees as unquestionably holy.

But now the Persecution, which had begun some Months before the Decease of Stephen, raged with more Violence than ever: |Valerian persecutes the Church.| For Valerian having, at the Instigation of an Egyptian Magician, changed the Kindness he once had for the Christians into an implacable Hatred, he ordered, by a Rescript to the Senate, all Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, to be carefully sought for, and executed without Mercy^[463]. |Sixtus martyred.| Pursuant to this Order, Sixtus, who among the first fell into the Hands of the Persecutors, was immediately either beheaded, as we read in the Pontifical of Bucherius^[464], or crucified, as we are told by Prudentius^[465]; 74having held the Chair only Eleven Months, and some Days. Pontius, a Deacon of the Church of Carthage, styles him a good and pacific Prelate^[466], no doubt on account of his Conduct quite opposite to that of his ambitious and quarrelsome Predecessor^[N8].

Gallienus, DIONYSIUS, Twenty-fourth Bishop of Rome. Claudius II.

Year of Christ 258. The See vacant almost a whole Year.

Sixtus being dead, and the Christians prevented by the Persecution from assembling to chuse another in his room, the See remained vacant almost a whole Year, that is, from the 6th of August 258. to the 22d of July 259. when Dionysius, a Presbyter of the Church of Rome, whom we have mentioned above, was elected, to the great Satisfaction of the Faithful; for he was one of the most eminent Men of his Time both for Piety and Learning^[467]. During his Pontificate, the Goths broke into the Empire, over-ran all Asia Minor, and, having almost utterly destroyed the City of Cæsarea, they carried with them into Captivity most of its Christian Inhabitants. Firmilian was then Bishop of the Place, who had censured the Conduct of Stephen with so much Sharpness and Acrimony; |Dionysius’s Charity to the distressed Chris- tians of Cæsarea.| but the Remembrance of what had passed on that unhappy Occasion had not that Effect on Dionysius, which far less Provocations have had on many of his Successors; for he no sooner heard of the Distress that Church was in, than, laying hold of so favourable an Opportunity to exert his Charity, he writ a 75Letter to comfort them in their Calamity, and at the same time dispatched proper Persons with large Collections to ransom the Christians who had fallen into the Hands of the Barbarians^[468]. The Letter, which Dionysius wrote on this Occasion, was carefully kept in the Archives of the Church of Cæsarea, as an authentic Monument of his Goodness and Charity^[469]. The great Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria having, at this Time, composed a learned Treatise to prove against Sabellius the Distinction of the Divine Persons, some over-zealous Catholics, misconstruing several Passages in that Work, and concluding that he had run into the opposite Error, accused him to the Bishop of Rome, as if he denied the Son to be consubstantial with the Father^[470]. |Dionysius of Alex- andria, accused at Rome over him.| Hereupon the Bishop of Rome, having assembled a Council, acquainted Dionysius with the Sentiments of the other Bishops, and his own, expressing his Concern, that the Divinity of the Word should have been questioned by him, and at the same time desiring him to answer the Accusation^[471]. This Dionysius readily did in Four Books, which he styled Confutation and Apology; shewing therein that his Opinion was very different from what it had been represented at Rome, and explaining those Passages which had given Ground for the Accusation. This Work he addressed to the Bishop of Rome^[472]. Here Baronius exults. Behold, says he, one of the most eminent Prelates of the Church, upon Suspicion of Heresy, arraigned at Rome, judged at Rome. |That argues no Jurisdiction in the Bishop of Rome.| Who does not see a supreme Tribunal erected there, to which all Causes must be brought; a sovereign Judge residing there, by whom all Persons must be absolved or condemned; is either blind and cannot see, or shuts his Eyes and will not see^[473]. And does not the sharp-sighted Annalist himself see what every one the least conversant in Ecclesiastical History must see, if he is not either blind and cannot, or shuts his Eyes and will not see, viz. Bishops, when guilty, or only suspected of Heresy, accused to some of their Collegues, who neither had nor claimed any Jurisdiction over them? Thus was the famous Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch, at this very Time, accused by his whole Church, first to Dionysius Bishop of Alexandria, and soon after to Firmilian Bishop of Cæsarea^[474]. That such an Accusation argued any Jurisdiction in those Bishops over the Bishop of Antioch, is what Baronius himself dares not affirm; and yet a like 76Accusation brought to Rome is enough for him to transform that See into a supreme Tribunal; that Bishop, though far from such ambitious Thoughts, into a sovereign Judge. But the Bishop of Rome, says Baronius, required of Dionysius a Confession or Declaration of his Faith: And does not that argue Superiority and Jurisdiction? Baronius himself knew it does not: for it is impossible he should not know, that when a Bishop was suspected of Heresy, all his Collegues had a Right to require of him Confession of his Faith, and not to communicate with him till they had received it.

Paul Bishop of Antioch condemned and deposed,

In the Time of Dionysius was held the famous Council of Antioch, which condemned and deposed Paul Bishop of that City, who denied the Distinction of the Divine Persons, and the Divinity of Christ. Of the Deposition of Paul, and the Election of Damnus, who was placed in his room, Notice was immediately given to the whole Church, by a Synodal Letter addressed to Dionysius Bishop of Rome, and to Maximus, who had succeeded the great Dionysius in the See of Alexandria^[475]. And here it will not be foreign to my Purpose to observe, that the Bishop of Antioch was summoned to appear before the Council, and not at the supreme Tribunal erected by Baronius at Rome; |without the Consent or Knowlege of the Bishop of Rome.| that he was condemned and deposed without the consent or Concurrence, nay, and without the Knowlege of the sovereign Judge residing at Rome; that he did not appeal to him, which he certainly would have done, as he was a Man of unparalleled Impudence and Ambition, had such a Custom obtained in those Days; and lastly, that the Fathers of the Council writ to the Bishop of Rome in the same Manner as they did to other Bishops, letting him know, that for the future he was to communicate with Damnus, and not with Paul. All this is manifest from the Account which St. Basil gives us of that Council^[476]. And yet Baronius brings in that Father, even on this Occasion, as an Evidence for the Papal Supremacy^[N9].

77From St. Basil, Baronius runs to the Emperor Aurelian, begging of a Pagan Prince what he could not extort from a Catholic Bishop, a Declaration and Acknowlegement of the Pope’s Supremacy. |Paul keeps Possession of the Bishop’s Habitation.| The Reader must know, that Paul having kept, by Force, Possession of the Bishop’s Habitation in Defiance of the Council, the Catholic Bishops had recourse to the Emperor, who, after hearing both Parties with great Attention, adjudged the House to him, who should be acknowleged by the Bishop of Rome, and the other Bishops of Italy^[477]. This Baronius interprets as an open Acknowlegement of the Pope’s Supremacy; and that his Readers may not overlook it, as most of them would be apt to do, he takes care to bespeak their Attention, by marking it in the Margin with the following Words in Capitals, The Emperor Aurelian acknowleges the Supremacy of the Church of Rome^[478]. From this one would expect to find Aurelian not only turned Christian, but prostrate at his Holiness’s Feet, and bowing down to kiss them: but our Annalist, to the great Disappointment of his Readers, after having thus raised their Attention, only repeats out of Eusebius the Sentence pronounced by the Emperor, which he would have us suppose with him to have been owing to the Knowlege that Prince had of the Pope’s Supremacy. |The Emperor’s Sen- tence whether favour- able to the Pretensions of the See of Rome.| And why must the Pope’s Supremacy be brought in here rather than the Supremacy of the Bishops of Ravenna, of Milan, of Aquileia, &c. and, above all, the Supremacy of the collective Body of the Italian Bishops? for to them, and not to any particular Bishop, the Cause was referred by the Emperor. As for the Emperor’s Conduct on this Occasion, it may be thus accounted for: That just and wise Prince observed the Bishops in the East greatly animated against Paul; and therefore apprehending them more sway’d 78by Passion and Prejudice than by Justice and Equity, he referred the Cause to the Bishops of Italy, who, he thought, would judge more impartially, as being placed at a Distance, and not engaged, at least not so warmly, in the Dispute^[479]. |Dionysius dies,| But this happened Two Years after the Death of Dionysius; for he died on the 26th of December 269. Claudius and Paternus being Consuls, after having governed the Church of Rome for the Space of Ten Years, Five Months, and Four Days, according to the most probable Opinion^[480]. As he died in the Reign of Claudius II. surnamed the Gothic, who is represented in the Acts of some pretended Martyrs as an implacable Enemy to the Christian Name, he is in some Martyrologies honoured with the Title of Martyr; |not a Martyr.| but as neither Eusebius, nor any other antient Writer, takes notice of that Prince’s having ever persecuted or molested the Christians, those Acts ought to be looked upon as fabulous, and Dionysius with 375 more expunged out of the Catalogue of Martyrs; though some of them, namely, Marcus, Priscus, Valentine, and Quirinus, are honoured by the Church of Rome, as Saints of the first Class, and have filled with their Reliques most of the Provinces of Europe.

Claudius II. FELIX, Twenty-fifth Bishop of Rome. Aurelian.

Year of Christ 269. Felix dies a Martyr in the Persecution of Aurelian.

Dionysius was succeeded by Felix, in whose Time a furious Persecution being raised by Aurelian, he may be supposed to have suffered among the rest, since he is distinguished by the Council of Ephesus^[481], by St. Cyril^[482], and by Vincentius Lirinensis^[483], with the Title of Martyr. He presided, according to Eusebius^[484], Syncellus^[485], and Eutychius^[486], Five Years, to which Baronius adds Eleven Months, and Twenty-five Days^[487]. He writ a Letter addressed to Maximus Bishop of Alexandria, which is quoted by Cyril, and the Council of Ephesus^[488]. The Acts of the Martyrs, who are supposed to have suffered under Aurelian, are without all doubt supposititious; for in 79them frequent Mention is made of the Emperor’s Son, whereas the Writers of those Times tell us in express Terms, that he had a Daughter, but no Male Issue^[489].

Aurelian, Tacitus, EUTYCHIANUS, Twenty-sixth Bishop of Rome. Probus, Carus.

Year of Christ 275. Eutychianus not martyred.

Felix being dead, Eutychianus was chosen in his room in the very Beginning of the Year 275^[490]. Several Things are said of him, by Anastasius, and other Writers of no Authority; but all I can learn of the Antients concerning him is, that he governed Eight Years, and Eleven Months^[491]; and consequently died in the Close of the Year 283. He is honoured by the Church of Rome as a Martyr, and said in the Roman Martyrology to have suffered under Numerian; but it is certain that in 283. when Eutychianus died, Numerian was not Emperor, but only Cæsar, and at that very time engaged with his Father Carus in a War with the Persians in the East, where he was assassinated by Aper his Father-in-Law. As for his Brother Carinus, who remained in the West, neither he, nor the two preceding Emperors, Tacitus and Probus, ever gave the least Disturbance to the Christians; so that the Church of Rome must be at the Trouble of finding out a distinct Place in Heaven from that of the Martyrs for Eutychianus, Trophimus, Sabbacius, and the illustrious Senator Dorymedon, who are supposed to have suffered under those Princes.

Carus, Carinus, Numerian, CAIUS, Twenty-seventh Bishop of Rome. Diocletian, Maximian.

Year of Christ 283.V

As little is said by the Antients of Caius as is said of his Predecessor. A few Days after the Death of Eutychianus, Caius was chosen to succeed him, Carus and Carinus being Consuls^[492]. |Caius not a Martyr, tho’ honoured as a Martyr.| He presided Twelve Years, Four Months, and Seven Days; that is, from the 8017th of December 283. to the 22d of April 296. Caius too is counted by the Church of Rome among her Martyrs, upon the Authority of Bede, and of the Acts of St. Susanna, by which that Writer seems to have been misled. In those Acts Caius is said to have suffered with Susanna his Niece, and many others, under Numerian: but that Prince in his Father’s Life-time had no great Power, being only Cæsar, and very young, and was killed on his March out of Persia soon after his Father’s Death; so that he never reigned in the West, and but a very short time in the East. Caius therefore could not suffer under him at Rome, where his elder Brother Carinus governed. But the Vulgar have a particular Veneration for Martyrs, and, what turns to a very good Account, are glad to purchase their Reliques at any rate. |The Church of Rome why so fond of Martyrs.| The Church of Rome therefore, to provide herself with great Store of them, has multiplied beyond Belief the Number of her Martyrs; which she could not well do without multiplying at the same time the Number of the Persecutors of the Christian Religion. And hence it is that several Princes, who never molested, nay, who greatly favoured the Christians, have been by the Church of Rome transformed in her Martyrologies and Legends into Persecutors. As for the Acts of the supposed St. Susanna, they are full of Mistakes and Absurdities, and contradict the best Historians of those Times.

Dioclesian, Maximian, MARCELLINUS, Twenty-eighth Bishop of Rome. Constantius, Galerius.

Year of Christ 296. Marcellinus unjustly aspersed by the Church of Rome.

Marcellinus succeeded Caius on the 30th of June 296. and governed Eight Years, Three Months, and Twenty-five Days, according to the most antient Records^[493]: so that he must have died on the 24th of October 304. The Love of Truth, which an Historian ought never to swerve from, obliges me to undertake the Defence of this Pope against the Church of Rome herself, and most of her Divines, who, joining the Donatists of Africa, have endeavoured to blacken his Memory with Aspersions equally wicked and groundless. For the Church of Rome tells us, both in her Breviary and Martyrology, and her Divines must chime in with her, that Marcellinus being apprehended 81during the Persecution of Dioclesian, he was persuaded by that Prince to deliver up the Holy Scripture to be burnt by the Pagans, agreeably to a late Edict, and at the same time to offer Incense to the Gods. This they found on the Acts of the Council of Sinuessa, which is supposed to have been summoned on that Occasion, and before which Marcellinus is said to have been convicted by Seventy-two Witnesses of the above-mentioned Crimes. That such a scandalous Story, invented by the Donatists of Africa, as St. Austin affirms^[494], should not only have been credited, but industriously propagated, by the Successors of Marcellinus, must seem very strange and surprising to those, who recollect with how much Zeal they have strove on other Occasions to conceal or excuse the least Imperfections in their Predecessors. If therefore they not only readily own the Apostasy of Marcellinus, but are the first to divulge it, and take care to make it known in the Breviary to those who scarce know any thing else, we may be well assured there is a Snake hid in the Grass; the more as it is certain almost beyond doubt, that no such Council was ever held; and consequently that the Acts upon which alone that Apostasy is founded, are supposititious. To unravel the Whole, the Reader must know, that the Fall of Marcellinus made such a Noise in the Church, as we read in those Acts, that immediately a grand Council met, composed of no fewer than 300 Bishops. Before this Council Marcellinus appeared; but, at his first Appearance, the Bishops, struck with Horror at the very Thought of judging the Head of the Church, the Judge of all, cried out with one Voice, The first See is to be judged by nobody: accuse yourself, judge yourself, condemn yourself. |Their View, therein.| To this Testimony, so favourable to the ambitious Views of the Bishops of Rome, is intirely owing the Sanction which they have given to such Fables, highly injurious to the Memory of one of their best Predecessors. Without this Lenitive the Acts of the pretended Council of Sinuessa, supposing the Apostasy of a Pope, had been condemned; the Absurdities and Contradictions, which it is wholly made up of, had been set forth in a proper Light; and the Testimonies of Theodoret and St. Austin had been alleged to vindicate the Character of Marcellinus: |Marcellinus com- mended and vindicated by the Antients.| for of these two Writers the former tells us, that he acquired great Glory by his Conduct during the Persecution^[495]; and the latter, in writing against Petilian the Donatist, has the following Words: Why should I answer the Calumnies with which he loads the Bishops of Rome? Why 82should I clear them from the Crimes which he lays to their Charge? Marcellinus, and his Presbyters Melchiades, Marcellus, and Sylvester, are accused by him as if they had delivered up the sacred Books, and offered Incense to the Gods: Are they therefore to be thought guilty? Does he prove what he advances against them? He brands them with the Epithets of wicked, and sacrilegious; but I say they are innocent: And why should I produce Reasons to support my Defence, since he brings none to make good his Charge^[496]? But a solemn Declaration, that the See of Rome is to be judged by nobody, made in those early Times, by 300 Bishops, carries with it such Marks of Truth, as quite invalidate the Testimonies of Theodoret and St. Austin, and render the Apostasy of Marcellinus, which gave room to that Declaration, undeniable! St. Austin looks upon the Apostasy of Marcellinus, and his Presbyters Melchiades, Marcellus, and Sylvester, who were all afterwards Bishops of Rome, as a mere Calumny, as an Invention of the Donatists; but their Successors, trampling upon all Authority that stands in the Way of their Ambition, chuse rather to have Four of their Predecessors thought Apostates and Idolaters, than part with the Decree of that pretended Council, exalting them so high above all other Bishops.

The Acts of the Council of Sinuessa fabulous.

If Marcellinus acquired great Glory during the Persecution, as Theodoret assures us; if his Apostasy was a mere Calumny, broached by the Donatists, as we read in St. Austin; the pretended Council of Sinuessa must be given up, since it is supposed to have been assembled on occasion of Marcellinus’s Fall: but, abstracting from the Fall of Marcellinus, the Circumstances attending that Council are in themselves so absurd and incredible, that there needs no other Argument to convince a Man, who has any Understanding, and dares to use it, that no such Council ever was, or could be held. |No such Council ever held.| For who can conceive it possible, that, during the most cruel Persecution the Church ever suffered, 300 Bishops should assemble, not in Rome, where they might more easily have met unobserved, but in a small Country Town, where a much less numerous Assembly must immediately have been observed and suspected? But, after the Death of Fabianus, says Baronius^[497], the Clergy of Rome, and the Bishops, met to chuse him a Successor, notwithstanding the Persecution that raged then. He ought to have said some Bishops, as St. Cyprian does^[498], whom he 83quotes; but I shall say so for him, that his Argument may appear in its full Strength, and save me the Trouble of answering it; for it will then run thus: Some Bishops, perhaps 15 or 20, met unobserved in the great and populous City of Rome: Ergo, 300 might meet unobserved in a small Country Town; for such was Sinuessa.

The many Absurdities contained in the Acts of that Council.

This Council is supposed to have been held in a Grotto, or Cave, where there was no room but for 50 at a time; and yet they are all said to have been present when Marcellinus owned his Crime, and divested himself of his Dignity. And what a despicable Figure does he make on that Occasion! At first he denies the Charge; but, being convicted by 72 Eye-witnesses, he owns it at last, but in Terms more becoming a School-boy, trembling at the Sight of a Rod, than a penitent Bishop, before so grave an Assembly. But the most remarkable Passage in that Piece is the Dispute between Urbanus High Pontiff of Jupiter, and Marcellinus High Pontiff of the Christians. Urbanus, to convince his Fellow-Pontiff that he ought not to scruple offering Incense to Jupiter, alleges the Example of the Mages offering Incense to Christ. Marcellinus answers, That the offering of Incense on that Occasion was mysterious; and unravels the Mystery. Hereupon Urbanus, unacquainted with Mysteries, appeals to the Judgment of the Emperors Dioclesian and Maximian; to this Appeal Marcellinus agrees; and the Controversy is referred by both Pontiffs to be decided by the Two Emperors. They, no doubt, gave Sentence in favour of Jupiter and Urbanus; and then Dioclesian, taking Marcellinus with him into the Temple of Vesta, persuaded him there to offer Incense to Jupiter, Hercules, and Saturn. How these Three Deities came to have a Place in the Temple of Vesta, the Compiler of these Acts alone knows. Such are the Absurdities and Contradictions, of which that Piece is wholly made up. But it flatters the Ambition of the Successors of Marcellinus; on occasion of his Fall it exalts the See of Rome above all other Sees: its Authority therefore must not be called in question: all the Absurdities and Contradictions it contains, must be blindly believed; the Memory of Marcellinus most unjustly slandered; the Testimonies of Theodoret, and St. Austin, clearing him from all Guilt, disregarded and rejected. And may not this be interpreted as a tacit Declaration, that they had rather he had been guilty than innocent, provided his Guilt could any-ways contribute to the Aggrandizing of their See? What can we think their Ambition will spare, since they have thus sacrificed to it 84the Character of one of their Predecessors, whose Memory is revered by all Antiquity? The Church of Rome honours Marcellinus as a Saint; and, not withstanding his pretended Apostasy, allows him a Place amongst her Martyrs; probably by way of Reparation for the Injustice done him. |Marcellinus falsly supposed to have died a Martyr.| But his Martyrdom may be justly questioned; at least it seems to have been utterly unknown to St. Austin, who flourished not long after his Time, since he never mentions it, tho’ it would have afforded him the strongest Argument he could possibly use to silence the Donatists. His Martyrdom, 'tis true, is vouched by Bede, who tells us, that he was beheaded at Rome, by Dioclesian’s Order; but that Historian is often led into gross Mistakes by a Pontifical, supposed to have been written in the Sixth Century, which he frequently copies, with all its Anachronisms, and other Faults.

Vacancy of Three Years.

That, upon the Death of Marcellinus, there happened a Vacancy of some Years, seems undeniable, since it is marked in the Pontificals, even in that of Bucherius^[499], and mentioned by all those who, till Baronius’s Time, have written the History of the Popes: but what at this time should occasion a Vacancy at least of Three Years, is what I will not take upon me to account for: the Persecution lasted but Two Years in Italy, according to Eusebius^[500], which expired soon after the Death of Marcellinus: some pretend that it raged there so long as Galerius was Master of that Country. Be that as it will, it is certain, that Maxentius usurped the Empire in 306. and that he not only favoured the Christians, but pretended to be of the same Religion himself; and yet the See remained vacant, according to the Pontifical of Bucherius^[501], till the Tenth Consulate of Maximian Hercules, and the Seventh of Maximian Galerius, that is, till the Year 308. Baronius indeed admits of no Vacancy; but, in Opposition to all those who have written before him, places the Election of Marcellus immediately after the Decease of his Predecessor Marcellinus^[502]. This I should readily agree to, but for the Authority of the above-mentioned Pontifical, which had not yet appeared in Baronius’s Time, and is thought to have been written about the Year 354. As for the Chronicle of Eusebius, it can be here of no Weight on the one Side or the other, since Marcellus is there quite left out; and his Successor Melchiades is said to have died before Constantine made 85himself Master of Rome; whereas it is certain, that, under Melchiades, a Council was held at Rome, by that Prince’s Order, as we shall see hereafter.

Maximian, Constantius, MARCELLUS, Twenty-ninth Bishop of Rome. Galerius, Constantine.

Year of Christ 308.

Upon the Death of Marcellinus, the See remained vacant somewhat above Three Years and an half; that is, from the 24th of October 304. to the 19th of May 308. when Marcellus was chosen in his room. Thus says the Pontifical of Bucherius, where, instead of Seven Years, which is a Mistake of the Transcribers, as is manifest from the Consulships mark’d there, we must read Three^[503]. |Marcellinus and Marcellus confounded by some Writers;| The Similitude of the Two Names has misled some Writers to confound Marcellinus with Marcellus; for Eusebius, as well as St. Jerom, only mention the former; and Theodoret, omitting both Marcellus and Eusebius, who succeeded him, names Melchiades as the immediate Successor of Marcellinus^[504]; which has made Dr. Pearson doubt, whether Marcellus was ever Bishop of Rome^[505]. |but distinguished by others.| But Marcellinus and Marcellus are evidently distinguished in the Pontifical of Bucherius, by the different Times, in which they governed, and the different Consuls, under whom their Government began and ended^[506]. They are, besides, distinguished both by Optatus Milevitanus^[507], and St. Austin^[508], who speaks of Marcellus, not only as a Presbyter of the Church of Rome, but as Bishop of that See. To these Testimonies I may add the Epitaph of Marcellus by Pope Damasus, supposing him to have been Bishop of Rome^[509]. Damasus flourished about the Year 366. Many things are said of Marcellus; but they are all founded either on his Acts, or the modern Pontificals, and consequently have no Foundation at all. Pope Damasus, in his Epitaph, tells us, that his Steadiness in keeping up the Discipline of the Church, and obliging such as had fallen, during the Persecution, to give due Satisfaction, stirred up against him a general Hatred, which, not confined to private Disputes and Invectives, ended in Tumults, Bloodshed, 86and Murders^[510]. |Marcellus is banished.| Damasus adds, that the Crime of one, who had renounced the Faith, while the Church enjoyed a profound Peace, induced the Tyrant Maxentius to send Marcellus into Banishment. But of these Transactions the Antients either have not thought fit to give us a more particular Account, or, if they did, their Writings have not reached our Times. Marcellus died on the 16th of January 310. having held the Pontificate One Year, Seven Months, and Twenty Days^[511]; but whether he died in Banishment, or was recalled to Rome, is uncertain. |His Acts are fabulous.| The Church of Rome, upon the Authority of his fabulous Acts, has added him, with many others, to the Number of her Martyrs: but Maxentius, who reigned at Rome during his Pontificate, and under whom he is said to have suffered, had no sooner made himself Master of that City, than he put an End to the Persecution, as we are told, in express Terms, by Eusebius^[512]. |His Reliques.| He is said to have been buried in the Cœmetery of Priscilla, on the Salarian Way^[513]: but his Body, like the Bodies of most other Saints, is now worshiped in several Places; viz. in a Church, bearing his Name, at Rome; in the Abbey of Omont in Hainault, not far from Maubeuge; at Cluni, in a Parish-Church of the Diocese of Elne in Roussillon^[514], &c.

Constantine, EUSEBIUS, Thirtieth Bishop of Rome. Licinius.

Year of Christ 310.

Marcellus was succeeded by Eusebius, who governed Seven Months, according to Eusebius^[515], but only Four Months and Sixteen Days according to the Pontifical of Bucherius^[516]. |Stands up in De- fence of the Discip- line of the Church, and is banished.| From an antient Epitaph on this Pope we learn, that he opposed, with great Vigour and Zeal, one Heraclius, pretending that those who had fallen during the Persecution, ought to be readmitted to the Communion of the Church, without giving such Satisfaction as was then required; and that hereupon great Divisions happening among the People, Maxentius, to put an End to those Disturbances, banished Eusebius into Sicily^[517]. Many other things are said of him by Anastasius, 87Platina, Ciacconius, and such-like Writers; but what we read in them has no better Foundation than what is advanced by Baronius; viz. that he instructed Eusebius the celebrated Bishop of Vercelli, and gave him his own Name^[518]; which is founded on the Acts of that Bishop, now universally rejected as supposititious.

Constantine, MELCHIADES, Thirty-first Bishop of Rome. Licinius.

Year of Christ 311.

Melchiades, or Miltiades, as he is called in the antient Manuscripts, was chosen to succeed Eusebius, on the 2d of July 311. after a Vacancy of Nine Months, and upwards ^[519]; which Historians do not account for. |Constantine con- verted to the Christ- ian Religion. His Edicts in favour of the Christians.| In his Time happened the ever memorable Conversion of Constantine to the Christian Religion. That Prince, having overcome and utterly defeated the Usurper Maxentius, on the 28th of October 312. soon after issued an Edict, jointly with Licinius, who was upon the point of marrying his Sister, allowing the Christians the free Exercise of their Religion, and likewise the Liberty of building Churches^[520]. By the same Edict he ordered the Places, where they had held their Assemblies before the Persecution, and which had been taken from them, to be restored^[521]. He left Rome in the Beginning of the Year 313. and, arriving at Milan, he there issued a Second Edict, to correct some Mistakes that had given Offence in the former^[522]. What these Mistakes were, we know not; for the Decree itself has not reached our Times; but Valesius conjectures, that the high Commendations bestowed on the Christian Religion alarmed the Pagans, imagining, that the Intention of the Two Princes was to suppress theirs; and likewise, that some Christians had taken Offence at the odious Name of Heretics; given in that Decree to the various Sects sprung from them^[523]. Be that as it will, it is certain, that, by the Second Decree, an intire Liberty of Conscience was granted to all sorts of Persons, every one being allowed to honour and worship what Deity he pleased; and in what manner soever he thought best. The Second Edict strictly injoins all those, who had purchased of the Exchequer, or held by Grant, any Place formerly 88destined for the Assemblies of the Christians, to restore them forthwith, and apply to the Exchequer; where they should be indemnified^[524]. The same Year 313. Licinius, having gained a complete Victory over Maximinus, a sworn Enemy to the Christians, made himself Master of Nicomedia, and there caused the Edict of Milan to be proclaimed, and set up in the Market-place, on the 13th of June^[525]. Thus Peace was restored to the Church, in the East as well as in the West, after a most cruel and bloody Persecution of Ten Years, and almost Four Months; for the First Edict against the Christians had been published in that very City on the 24th of February 303^[526]