Besides the Letter to the Corinthians, of which I have spoken above, several other Pieces are ascribed to Clement; viz. a second Letter to the Corinthians; which is, without all Doubt, very antient; but Eusebius doubts whether it was written by Clement^[131]; and both St. Jerom^[132], and Photius^[133], absolutely reject it. Five other Letters, placed among the Decretals, whereof the first, more antient than the rest, was translated by Ruffinus, and is quoted by the Council of Vaison, held in 442^[134]. However, it is generally looked upon as a spurious Piece; for the Author of it, whoever he was, acquaints St. James, Bishop of Jerusalem, who died long before St. Peter, with St. Peter’s Death^[135]. |His Itinerary.| Clement’s Itinerary, which, in Photius’s Time, was prefixed, by way of Preface, to the Recognitions^[136]. The Recognitions, relating, under the Name of Clement, the Actions of St. Peter, his Interview with Simon the Magician, how Clement himself knew again his Father and his Brothers, whom he had forgot; |The Recognitions.| whence the whole Work took the Name of Recognitions, that is, of knowing again: it is likewise called the Itinerary of St. Peter, the Acts of St. Peter, the Acts of St. Clement^[137]. The Recognitions are quoted by Origen^[138], Epiphanius^[139], and Ruffinus^[140], as the Work of Clement, but these Writers, at the same time, own them to have been altered in several Places, and falsified by the Heretics; nay, Epiphanius tells us, that the Ebionites scarce left any thing found in them^[141]. The Author was well versed in Philosophy, Mathematics, Astrology, and most other Sciences, but not so well acquainted with the Doctrine of the Church; whence his Work is absolutely rejected by Athanasius^[142]; and now generally looked upon as a Piece falsely ascribed to Clement. |St. Peter’s Dia-
logues with Apion.| St. Peter’s Dialogues with Apion were probably written in the Third Century, and to gain Credit fathered upon Clement; for Eusebius writes, that there had lately appeared a long Work, under the Name of Clement, containing Dialogues between St. Peter and Apion^[143]. |The Apostolic
Constitutions.| As to the Apostolic Constitutions, if that Work is different from the Doctrine of the Apostles mentioned by Athanasius and Eusebius; Epiphanius is the first who speaks of it: it appears at least, from Dionysius of Alexandria, that, in the Year 250. the Constitutions either had not yet appeared, or were of no Repute in the Church^[144]. Epiphanius tells us, that many suspected them; but, as for himself, he received them, since he found nothing in them repugnant to the Faith, or the Discipline of the Church^[145]. But as be quotes several Passages out of them, which are not to be found now, we may well conclude, that, since his Time, they have been either altered or curtailed. The Greeks indeed, in the Second Canon of the Council, that, in 692. was held at Constantinople, in a Tower of the Imperial Palace, called Trullus, that is, the Cupola, declare, that they had been falsified, in several Places, by the Heretics. Photius thinks that, with respect to the Style, they fall short of the Recognitions, but far excel them in the Purity of the Doctrine, adding, at the same time, that it is no easy Task to clear them from the Imputation of Arianism^[146]. Dr. Pearson takes them to be a Collection of several Pieces, published in the earliest Times, under the Name of the Apostles, and containing, as was pretended, the Instructions they had given^[147]. Albaspinæus, Bishop of Orange, thinks the Matter they contain excellent, and the Whole agreeable to the Discipline observed by the Greek Church, during the Four first Centuries; bur nevertheless he looks upon them only as a Collection of the different Customs, that were established, by degrees, in the Church, and some of which were disputed even in the Fourth Century^[148]; so that they can by no means be ascribed either to the Apostles, or to Clement. |The Canons of
the Apostles.| The Constitutions end with 85 Canons, long known by the Title of The Canons of the Apostles; but, as they contain several things that were not received in the Apostles Time, nor in Clement’s, the ablest Critics are of Opinion, that they likewise are but a Collection of several Decrees made in the first Ages of the Church, and that they were not collected into one Body till the Third Century^[149]. I don’t find them quoted before the Council of Constantinople in 394. The Greeks, in the Council of the Year 692. mentioned above, bound themselves to the Observance of them; but they are all rejected by Pope Gelasius: however, Dionysius Exiguus having, not long after, placed the first Fifty at the Head of his Collection, they were received by degrees; but the other Thirty-five have not been admitted to this Day.

Upon the Whole, of the many Writings ascribed to Clement, the first Letter to the Corinthians is the only one undoubtedly his: and what a wide Difference appears, as to the Spirit and Style, between that excellent Piece, and the Briefs, Bulls, Mandates, &c. of his Successors: He does not command, but exhorts; he does not threaten, but intreats; he does not thunder Anathema’s and Excommunications, but employs the most mild and gentle Persuasives, even with the Authors of the Schism. |Clement’s Infal-
libility unknown to
him, and to the
Corinthians.| Had he known himself to be the infallible and unerring Judge of Controversies, from whose Tribunal lay no Appeal; had the Corinthians believed themselves bound, on Pain of Damnation, to submit to his Decisions; there had been no Room for Reasons, Arguments, and Persuasives; he ought to have exerted the Power, with which he was vested, and put an End to all Disputes, in the peremptory Style of his Successors, We declare, and command all Men to comply with this our Declaration, on pain of incurring the Indignation of the Almighty; and, as if that were not enough, of his blessed Apostles Peter and Paul. But it was not till some Ages after, that the Popes found out their Infallibility, or rather their flattering Divines found it out for them; so that this invaluable Privilege lying dormant, Men were obliged, for a long time, to make use of their Reason, in deciding religious Controversies.

Clement was succeeded by Evaristus, Evaristes, or Aristus, as he is called in the most antient Catalogue of the Popes^[150], in the Third Year of Trajan’s Reign, that is, in the Close of the First Century of the Christian Æra. |Evaristus governs
Nine Years.| He governed about Nine Years, that is, to the Twelfth Year of Trajan, and the 109th of Christ^[151]. Eusebius, in his Chronicle, supposes him to have died in the Year 107^[152]; and, in his History, says, that his Death happened about the Year 109^[153]: but, in the Series and Succession of the Popes, that Writer is every-where consistent with himself in his History, and quite otherwise in his Chronicle. |Several things as-
cribed to him, without
sufficient Foundation.| Besides, the History ought to correct the Chronicle, as being posterior to it. To Evaristus are ascribed Two Decretals, the Distribution of the Titles or Parishes of Rome, on which Baronius makes a long Descant^[154], and an Order, that Bishops, when they preached, should be always attended by Seven Deacons^[155]. But these, and many other things of the same Nature, we read only in Baronius, Platina, Anastasius, Ciaconius, &c. and my Design is, as I have declared in the Preface, to follow the Antients alone, in the History of the antient Popes; and therefore I shall take no notice of what the Moderns advance, unless I find it supported by the Authority of the original Writers.

Sixtus is placed, by Optatus Milevitanus^[156], immediately after Evaristus; but that is certainly a Mistake, owing, in all likelihood, to those who transcribed him, since Irenæus^[157], Eusebius^[158], Epiphanius^[159], and even St. Augustin^[160], who follows Optatus in every thing else relating to the Popes, place Alexander between Evaristus and Sixtus. Irenæus reckons Alexander the Fifth Bishop of Rome; so that we agree with the most authentic and unexceptionable Writer of Antiquity in excluding St. Peter, and supposing Cletus and Anacletus to be one and the same Person^[161]. Alexander governed Ten Years, and some Months; and died in the Third Year of Adrian, and 119 of Christ^[162]. |Alexander not
a Martyr.| We can learn nothing of the Antients concerning him: he is worshiped indeed by the Church of Rome as a Martyr; but that Title is not given him by Irenæus: and as for the Venerable Bede, who ranks him among the Martyrs, he was led into that Mistake by The Acts of St. Alexander, which, in the Opinion of Dr. Pearson, were composed in the Seventh Century, but are now universally rejected as fabulous. |The Institution of
Holy Water falsly
ascribed to him.| Platina ascribes to Pope Alexander the Institution of Holy Water^[163], which Baronius takes very much amiss of him, since he thereby robs the Apostles of an Honour due to them; for by the Apostles, in his Opinion, was first introduced the Use of Holy Water^[164]. But if we trace up this Holy Water to the Fountain-head, we shall find that it arises from an unhallowed Spring, from the Lustral Water of the Pagans; for peace being restored to the Church by Constantine, the Christians began, as a modern Writer well observes^[165], to adopt the Ceremonies of the Gentiles. Several Cities in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, &c. pretend to have Reliques of this Pope, insomuch that, were they all put together, they would form at least twenty intire Bodies^[166].

The Successor of Alexander is named Sixtus by Optatus^[167], and St. Augustin^[168]; but by Irenæus^[169], Eusebius^[170], Epiphanius^[171], and Jerom^[172], Xystus: which Word has some Signification annexed to it in Greek; whereas Sixtus has none either in Greek or Latin. He presided Ten Years according to Eusebius^[173], but not complete; for he was raised to the See in the Third Year of Adrian, of Christ 119. and died in the Twelfth Year of the same Prince, about the latter End of the Year of Christ 128^[174]. He is ranked among the Martyrs in the Canon of the Mass, and in all the Martyrologies: but his immediate Successor is the first to whom that Title is given by Irenæus. |Decretals falsly
ascribed to Sixtus.| To Sixtus are ascribed two Decretals, but both forged in latter Ages, as plainly appears from De Marca, from Baluzius, and, above all, from the haughty Title of Universal Bishop, which Sixtus is made to assume in one of them: a Title, as F. Pagi is forced to confess, unknown to the Bishops of the primitive and best Times^[175]. His Reliques. The Title of Universal would be better adapted to the Reliques of this Pope, than to his Episcopacy; for they are dispersed all over the Roman Catholic World: but Baillet himself looks upon them as false, and unworthy of the Worship that is paid to them, not excepting even those that were given by Clement X. to Cardinal De Retz, who caused them to be placed with great Solemnity in the Abbey of St. Michael in Lorrain^[176].

Sixtus was succeeded by Telesphorus (or, as some style him, Thelesphorus), the Seventh Bishop of the See of Rome^[177]. To him is ascribed, in some Editions of the Chronicle of Eusebius, the Institution of Lent^[178]; but in none of the best Editions Mention is made of such an Institution, and scarce in any Manuscripts^[179]. Baronius endeavours to prove, that this Fast was instituted by the Apostles, and that Telesphorus established it for ever by a Decree; but his Arguments are so weak, that he deserves rather to be pitied than answered. He introduces too early the Bishops of Rome issuing Decrees, and prescribing Laws to the whole Church. |Telesphorus the first
Bishop of Rome
Martyr.| Telesphorus was the first Bishop of Rome who suffered Death for the Christian Religion, seeing Irenæus distinguishes him with the Title of Martyr^[180], which this Author gives to none of his Predecessors; but, as to the Particulars of his Death, the Antients have left us quite in the Dark. He suffered in the Eleventh Year of his Pontificate, the First of Antoninus Pius, and 139 of Christ^[181].

Hyginus, the Successor of Telesphorus, governed the Church but Four Years, and those not complete; for, in 142. we find Pius already in that See^[182]. |The Two Heretics,
Valentine and
Cerdo, come to
Rome.| In his Time the two famous Heretics, Valentine and Cerdo, came to Rome; the former from Egypt, and the latter from Syria, to display their new Doctrine in that great Metropolis. Hyginus no doubt opposed them with all the Zeal of a primitive Bishop; but, in spite of his Zeal, they gained a great many Proselytes to their heterodox Opinions^[183]. His Infallibility, had it been then known and believed, would have soon put a Stop to the growing Evil. The Church of Rome honours Hyginus among her Martyrs; but none of the Antients give him that Title. To him is ascribed the Use of Godfathers and Godmothers in Baptism, and the Ceremony of Consecrating Churches; but upon no better Grounds than the Two Decretals are fathered upon him, which are, by all the Learned, rejected as spurious. Hyginus died in the Year 142. the Fourth or Fifth of Antoninus Pius; and is supposed to have been buried near St. Peter^[184].

Anicetus is placed next to Hyginus by Optatus^[185], St. Augustin^[186], and Epiphanius^[187]: But who would not, with Eusebius^[188], rather follow Irenæus^[189], and Hegesippus^[190], naming Pius immediately after Hyginus, since the former wrote in the Time of Eleutherius the Second Bishop after Anicetus; and the latter lived at Rome in the Time of Anicetus, and continued there till the Pontificate of Eleutherius.

In the Time of Pius, Marcion, a Native of Pontus, and the Son of a Bishop of the holy Catholic Church, says Epiphanius^[191], being excommunicated by his Father for debauching a Virgin, and finding he could by no means prevail upon the venerable Prelate to receive him again into the Church, abandoned his native City, supposed to be Sinope, and fled to Rome. Upon his Arrival there, he applied to the Elders of that Church, intreating them to admit him to their Communion. But those holy Men, who had been taught by the Disciples of the Apostles, instead of complying with his Request, returned him this Answer; |The Power of
receiving Appeals
disowned by the
Church of Rome.| We cannot admit you without Leave from your holy Father; nor can we, as we are all united in the same Faith, and the same Sentiments, undo what our holy Collegue your Father has done.--Thus Epiphanius^[192]. Had Bellarmine lived in those Days, he had taught them another Doctrine, a Doctrine which, however necessary, the Apostles had forgot to deliver to their Disciples; viz. That the See of Rome was raised above all other Sees; that the Appeals of the whole Catholic Church were to be brought to it; that no Appeals were to be made from it; that it was to judge of the whole Church, but be judged by none. Marcion did not apply to Pius, as the Reader must have observed, or at least did not apply to him alone, but to the Elders, who disclaimed all Power of reversing the Sentence of a particular Bishop or Judge. And is not this an evident and incontestable Proof that the Power of receiving Appeals was not known, or thought of, in those Days? And yet, who would believe it? Bellarmine has the Assurance to allege this very Case as an Argument to prove in the Pope a Power of receiving Appeals^[193]. But what would become of this Prerogative, should the Pope return the same Answer to every Appellant?

Pius governed the Church for the Space of Fifteen Years, and died in 157. the Twentieth of Antoninus^[194]. The Roman Martyrology tells us, that he was martyred in the Persecution of Antoninus Pius; but in that Prince’s Reign there was no Persecution; nor is the Title of Martyr given him by Irenæus. |Writings ascribed
to him.| Baronius ascribes to this Pope a Decree, commanding the Festival of Easter to be kept on Sunday, and quotes the Chronicle of Eusebius^[195]. This Decree is indeed mentioned in some Editions of that Writer; but Scaliger assures us, that no Mention is made of it in any Manuscript Copy; and therefore he has left it out in his Edition^[196]. As to the Celebration of Easter, it is manifest from Irenæus, that though Pius, as well as his Predecessors Sixtus, Telesphorus and Hyginus, differed from the Bishops of Asia, yet they did not on that Account separate themselves from their Communion^[197]. On this Pope are fathered several spurious Pieces, viz. some Decrees, Two Letters ranked among the Decretals, and Two more written to Justus Bishop of Vienne in Dauphiné. The Decrees, as well as the Decretals, are universally rejected; and yet F. Pagi quotes one of them to prove the real Presence in the Sacrament^[198]. The two Letters to Justus are deemed genuine by Baronius^[199], by Cardinal Bona^[200], and by Blondel in his Treatise of the Sibyls^[201], who nevertheless suspects them elsewhere^[202]. On the other hand, they are absolutely rejected as false by Dr. Pearson^[203], by Cotelerius^[204], and Natalis Alexander^[205], who discover several Expressions in them that were not in Use till some Ages after, and a great many Incoherences. To say with Le Sueur, That they were written originally in Greek, and in latter Times translated into Latin^[206], is but a poor Evasion. As for the Fable of Hermes, the Brother of Pius, who, by the Command of an Angel appearing to him in the Disguise of a Shepherd, is said to have written a Book shewing, that Easter ought to be kept on Sunday, I refer the Reader to Platina, and such-like Writers.

Pius was succeeded by Anicetus, in whose Time Valentine the Heretic, who came to Rome in the Pontificate of Hyginus, and had gained many Proselytes under Pius, continued sowing his pestilential Errors among the Members of that Church: but many whom he had seduced, were reclaimed by St. Polycarp, formerly the Disciple of St. John the Evangelist, and then Bishop of Smyrna. His declaring to them, that the Doctrine taught by the Church was the Doctrine he had learnt of the Apostles, made such an Impression on their Minds, that they abjured the Errors of Valentine, and returned to the Communion of the Faithful^[207]. They preferred the bare Word of Polycarp, who claimed no Infallibility, to the infallible Authority of Hyginus, Pius, and Anicetus. This is a plain Proof, that the Popes had not yet begun to exert their Infallibility; or, if they had, that it was not acknowleged. What brought St. Polycarp to Rome was the Controversy about the Celebration of Easter, which at this Time began to grow very warm between the Eastern and Western Churches^[208]. All the Churches of the East, and amongst the rest that of Smyrna, kept Easter on the 14th Day of the Moon of the first Month, in Conformity to the Custom of the Jews: on the other hand, Anicetus would neither conform to that Custom himself, nor suffer any under his Jurisdiction to conform to it, obliging them to celebrate that Solemnity on the Sunday next following the 14th of the Moon. That this Dispute might not occasion a Schism in the Church, Polycarp undertook a Journey to Rome, in order to confer with the Bishop of that City, who was the chief Opposer of the Quartodecimans^[209]. |Anicetus and he
disagree about the
Celebration of
Easter, but part
without Breach of
Charity.| But it happened in this, as it does in most religious Disputes, they parted, each retaining his own Way of thinking; but at the same time, what happens but seldom, without the least Breach of that Charity which is the great and fundamental Law of our holy Religion. In Token whereof they communicated together at the holy Sacrament; nay, Anicetus, out of Respect to St. Polycarp, yielded to him the Eucharist^[210]; that is, gave him Leave to consecrate the Eucharist in his own Church: after which they parted in Peace, though both determined to follow the antient Practice of their respective Churches^[211]. St. Polycarp, though well acquainted with the Doctrine of the Apostles, was a Stranger, it seems, to that of Bellarmine, Baronius, &c. viz. that the whole Catholic Church is bound to conform to the Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs of the Church of Rome.

In the Time of Anicetus, Hegesippus, and the celebrated Martyr St. Justin, came to Rome, upon what Occasion is uncertain. The former continuing there to the Pontificate of Eleutherius, wrote a Book on the Doctrine which in that Church had been conveyed down from the Apostles to Anicetus, and was still observed, says he, in all its original Purity^[212]. The latter opposed with great Zeal Marcion, and his Followers, publishing a Book against his pernicious Tenets, and against Heresies in general^[213]. It was at Rome that he had frequent Conferences with Crescens the Cynic, a Man of some Note at that Time; but, according to the Genius of his Sect, proud, surly, conceited, and a declared Enemy to all who professed the Christian Religion, which he painted in the blackest Colours^[214]. The Malice of this Cynic procured in the End for our zealous and learned Apologist what he had long and most ardently wished, the Glory of sealing with his Blood the Truth, which he had so strenuously defended and promoted with his Pen^[215]. He suffered under Marcus Aurelius and L. Verus about the Year 167. towards the End of the Pontificate of Anicetus.

To this Pope are ascribed by Anastasius, Platina, Ciaconius, and other modern Writers, several Ordinances and Decrees; but as they are not mentioned by any of the Antients, we do not think them worthy of our Notice. Anicetus governed the Church, according to Eusebius^[216], Eleven Years, from the Year 157. to the 8th Year of M. Aurelius, that is, to 168. of the Christian Æra. Raban, Florus, and Anastasius, suppose him to have died for the Profession of the Faith; which was, it seems, unknown to Irenæus. |Anicetus not a
Martyr.| He was buried, according to some, near St. Peter, in the Vatican, according to others, in the Burying-place of Calixtus^[217]; out of which, though it is uncertain whether he was buried there or no, |His Reliques.| his Head was taken in 1590. and given by Urban VII. to the Jesuits of Munich in Bavaria, where it is yearly, with great Solemnity, exposed to public Adoration on the 17th of April, the Anniversary, as is supposed, of his Death: his Body was taken out of the same Place in 1604. and given by Clement VIII. to the Duke of Altaemps, who caused it to be conveyed to the Chapel of his Palace in Rome, and to be deposited there in a Marble Tomb, formerly the Tomb of the Emperor Alexander; where it is worshiped to this Day.

Soter, the Successor of Anicetus, is highly commended on account of his extensive Charity towards the Poor of other Churches, but more especially towards those who were condemned for the Confession of their Faith to work in the Mines^[218]. |His Charities to the
distressed Christians.| These he is said not only to have relieved in their Distress with generous Gatherings made for that Purpose at Rome, wherein he followed the Example of his Predecessors, but moreover to have sent Letters to them in their afflicted Condition. This we learn from a Letter of Dionysius, then Bishop of Corinth, which was an Answer to a Letter from Soter, and the Church of Rome. Dionysius returns Thanks to the Romans, and their Bishop, for their Generosity to the Poor of Corinth; acquaints Soter that his Letter had been publicly read; adds, that he shall cause it to be read for the future; and closes his Epistle with great Encomiums on the Romans, who had so generously contributed to the Support of the indigent Corinthians^[219]. This laudable Custom did not end with the Second Century of the Church; for Dionysius of Alexandria, writing about the Year 254. to Stephen Bishop of Rome, says, that all Syria and Arabia felt the good Effects of the Generosity of the Romans^[220]. And some Years after, that is, about the Year 260. Pope Dionysius being informed, that the City of Cæsarea in Cappadocia had been ruined by the Wars, and many Christians carried into Captivity, he sent large Sums to ransom them, with a Letter to the Church of Cæsarea, which was still read in St. Basil’s Time^[221]. Eusebius tells us, that this Custom continued till the last Persecution^[222]. How differently the immense Revenues of the See of Rome are employed now, those know who have seen the extravagant Pomp, Luxury, and Parade of that Court. |The Heresy of
Montanus broached
in his Time.| In the Year 171. the Fourth of Soter, was broached the Heresy of the Montanists, so called from their Ringleader Montanus^[223]. Against these Soter is said, by an anonymous Writer of some Antiquity, to have composed a Book, which was answered, according to the same Writer, by Tertullian, become the Defender of that Sect^[224]: but, according to the best Chronologists, Tertullian did not turn Montanist till many Years after the Death of Soter; and, besides, both Soter’s Book, and Tertullian’s Answer to it, were quite unknown to Eusebius, and even to St. Jerom, who took great Delight in reading Tertullian. Soter presided Eight Years, according to Eusebius^[225]; that is, from the Year 168. to 176. or to the Beginning of 177. the 17th Year of the Reign of M. Aurelius. |He did not die a
Martyr.| The Title of Martyr is given him by the modern Writers, but not by Irenæus, or any of the Antients. To him are falsly ascribed Two Epistles, which have been placed among the Decretals. Where he was buried is uncertain; but his Body is worshiped, at present, in the Church of St. Sylvester at Rome, and in the Cathedral of Toledo in Spain^[226].