Eleutherius was Deacon of the Church of Rome in 168. when Hegesippus came to that City^[227]; but Soter, the Successor of Anicetus, being dead, he was chosen to govern the Church in his room^[228]. |The Martyrs of
Lions write to
Eleutherius.| It is certain, that his Election was known in Gaul before the Death of the Martyrs of Lions, so famous in ecclesiastical History; for the Controversy, which had been raised some Years before in the Churches of Asia, by Montanus and his Followers, concerning the prophetic Spirit, to which they pretended, making at that time a great Noise in the Church, the Martyrs of Lions, desirous to contribute, so far as in them lay, to the public Peace, wrote Letters, from their Prisons, to the Churches of Asia, and likewise to Eleutherius, Bishop of Rome, declaring their Judgment and Opinion in the Case^[229]: for great Honour was paid, in those Times, to the Martyrs, and their Opinion was always received with Esteem and Veneration. It were much to be wished, that Eusebius had set down their Opinion at Length; but he contents himself only with saying, that it was intirely agreeable to true Piety, and to the orthodox Faith^[230]; which, in my Opinion, is enough to make us reject the Notion of Dr. Pearson, who takes it for granted, that they wrote in Favour of those Fanatics, and that for no other Reason but because they are said, by Eusebius, to have written for the Peace of the Church^[231]. Was the admitting of false Prophets, and false Prophecies, giving Peace to the Church? The same Writer adds, that Eleutherius was induced, by the Reverence and Regard he had for the holy Martyrs, to receive the Prophecies of Montanus, and his Two Prophetesses^[232]. |Eleutherius did not
approve the Proph-
ecies of Montanus.| But herein I must beg Leave to disagree with that learned Writer, and likewise with Dr. Cave^[233]; for it was not, in my Opinion, Eleutherius, but his Successor Victor, who received the Prophecies of Montanus. Tertullian, the only Author who informs us, that the Dreams of that Enthusiast were approved by the Bishop of Rome, does not distinguish that Bishop by his Name; so that he is to be found out only by Reasoning and Chronology. Now, on one hand, we read in Tertullian, that Montanus had been opposed by the Predecessors of the Bishop, who embraced his Opinions^[234]; and, on the other, in Eusebius^[235], that the Heresy of Montanus was first broached in the Year 171. the Eleventh of the Reign of M. Aurelius, and the Fourth of the Pontificate of Soter, the immediate Predecessor of Eleutherius; these Two therefore, and these alone, were the Bishops, who could oppose Montanus; and, since the first Broaching of that Heresy, the only Predecessors of the Bishop who embraced it. Victor, the Successor of Eleutherius, was greatly provoked against the Asiatic Bishops, on account of their refusing to comply with the Custom of the Church of Rome, in the Celebration of Easter; and therefore might, out of Spite to them, approve of the Opinions which they had condemned: for Montanus, and his Followers, had been already condemned, as Eusebius informs us^[236], by several Synods held in Asia Minor. |Councils held without
consulting the Bishop
of Rome.| No Opinion is now deemed heretical, unless condemned by the Bishop of Rome, who claims that Prerogative as peculiar to himself; but the Synods of Asia, the first mentioned in History, after that of the Apostles at Jerusalem, condemned the Opinions of Montanus, and cut him off from their Communion, without consulting or even acquainting therewith, the Bishop of Rome. But, to return to the Martyrs; some are of Opinion, that they condemned, in their Letters, the Tenets of Montanus, and his Followers; but, at the same time, wrote in their Favour, to far as to intreat the Bishops of Asia, and Eleutherius Bishop of Rome, to treat them with Indulgence, and admit them, upon Repentance, to their Communion^[237]. This is but a bare Conjecture, not authorized by any of the Antients; and we don’t find, that the Montanists ever shewed the least Inclination to return to the Communion of the Church.

It was in the Pontificate of Eleutherius, that Florinus and Blastus first broached their new Doctrine; which was readily embraced by many at Rome; for they were both Presbyters of that Church^[238]. Florinus was first one of the Emperor’s Officers in Asia, afterwards the Disciple of St. Polycarp, then famous all over that Province; and, lastly, Presbyter of the Church of Rome; but both he and Blastus were degraded on account of their heretical Opinions, and cut off from the Communion of the Faithful^[239]. Against Florinus, Irenæus, then Bishop of Lions, wrote a Letter, intituled, Of Monarchy, or that God is not the Author of Evil^[240]; and another Piece called, De Ogdoede, that is, of the Eight; meaning, perhaps, the Eight Eons, or Persons that composed the chimerical Divinity of the Valentinians; for Florinus fell at last into that Heresy^[241]. Against Blastus, whom Pacian surnames the Greek^[242], Irenæus wrote a Book, intituled, Of Schism^[243]. Ado^[244] and Bede^[245] tell us, that Eleutherius issued a Decree, ordaining Easter to be kept on the Sunday after the 14th of the first Moon; but as no mention is made of such a Decree, by any Writer of those Times, their Authority is of no Weight.

Lucius, a British King, is said, by Bede, to have written to Pope Eleutherius, intreating him to send a proper Person into Britain, to instruct him in the Mysteries of the Christian Religion; which the Pope readily granted^[246]. But as this is vouched only by Bede, who lived many Ages after him, and by a Pontifical, supposed to have been written about the Middle of the Sixth Century, what Credit the whole History of Lucius may deserve, I leave the Reader to judge. Such a remarkable Event could not have escaped Eusebius, who, speaking of this very Period of Time, tells us, that, at Rome, many Persons, eminent for their Birth and Wealth, embraced the Christian Religion, with their whole Families^[247]. A solemn Embassy from a British King, and his Conversion, surely deserved a Place in the History of the Church. |The whole Account
fabulous.| He informs us, that, in the Reign of Commodus, and the Pontificate of Eleutherius, the Christian Religion enjoyed a profound Tranquillity all over the World; that it flourished, and attracted, to use his Expression, the Minds of many People^[248]. Had he not here a favourable Opportunity of mentioning our Royal Proselyte, who, in the Reign of Commodus, is supposed to have written to Eleutherius, and by his means to have been converted to the Christian Religion? To what can we ascribe the Silence of such an exact and accurate Writer, concerning an Event which would have greatly recommended both his History, and the Christian Religion? To an invincible Antipathy, says the Jesuit Alford^[249], which he bore to the Name of Britain, and which was so prevalent in him, that he chose rather to suppress the Conversion of Lucius than mention it. But what could thus set Eusebius against Britain? Had he been ever injured by the Britons? Does he not elsewhere mention both them and their Country? This jesuitical, absurd, and groundless Speculation, which must expose the Author of it to the Ridicule of every Reader, I should perhaps have let pass unobserved, had he not in this very Place insulted, beyond the Bounds of common Decency, the Reformers of Religion, for rejecting some idle Ceremonies, which he supposes to have been practised at the Conversion of Lucius. But, not to lay the whole Stress on the Silence of Eusebius, and other antient Writers, to whom King Lucius was utterly unknown, why should he have been at the Trouble of sending to Rome for an Instructor? Were there not many in his own Kingdom as capable of instructing him as any Rome could send? The Christian Religion had been planted in this Island long before the Reign of Lucius, in the Time of the Apostles, as Gildas seems to insinuate^[250], at least very early in the Second Century; for Origen, who flourished in the Beginning of the Third, tells us, that the Virtue of the Name of Jesus had passed the Seas, to find out the Britons in another World^[251].

The short Account, which Bede gives us of the Embassy and Conversion of King Lucius, has not only been greedily swallowed by the Monkish Writers, who came after him, but has served as a Ground-plot to the innumerable Fables with which they have filled this Part of their Histories. They even tell us the Names of the Embassadors sent by Lucius to the Pope, and of the Legates a Latere sent by the Pope to Lucius. The former were Elvanus and Medwinus, who, being ordained Bishops by Eleutherius, returned to Britain, and greatly contributed to the Conversion of this Island. These Fables gained Credit, by Degrees, in those Ages of Ignorance and Superstition, insomuch that the Two Embassadors were at last ranked among the Saints; and their Bodies, where or when found, nobody knows, exposed to public Veneration, in the Monastery of Glassenbury, on the First of January^[252]. The Pope’s Legates were Fugacius and DamianusDamianus, who, as we are told, went back to Rome, to obtain of Eleutherius a Confirmation of what they had done; and, from Rome, returned into Britain, with a Letter from the Pope to King Lucius^[253]. As for the King himself, he is said to have quitted his Kingdom, and, turning Missionary, to have preached the Gospel in Germany, especially at Ausburgh; to have travelled from thence into the Country of the Grisons; and, lastly, to have been ordained Bishop of Coire, their Metropolis; and to have died there a Martyr^[254]. To these Monkish Fables King Lucius owes a Place among the Saints; for on the Third of December is kept, in the Church of Rome, the Festival of Lucius, King of the Britons, who died at Coire in Germany^[255]: these are the Words of the Roman Martyrology; but Bede does not so much as mention him in his; a plain Proof, that what is said of his Preaching, of his Martyrdom, &c. was invented after that Writer’s Time. And yet Alford has not only filled his Annals with these, and suchlike fabulous Accounts, giving an intire Credit to them, but inveighs, with great Acrimony, against those who have not the Gift of Belief in the same Degree with himself, especially against Dempster, telling, him, that till his Time the Conversion of Lucius had never been questioned by any Man of Sense or Learning^[256]. And truly, the Story of King Lucius has been credited even by the greater Part of Protestant Writers, out of Respect to our venerable Historian; but as he wrote many Ages after the pretended Conversion of that Prince, and none of the Writers of those Days, whom such a remarkable Event could hardly have escaped, give us the least Hint of it, we may be well allowed to question the Whole, notwithstanding the Authority of Bede, which can be of no Weight with respect to Transactions that are said to have happened in Times so remote.

Eleutherius governed, according to the best Chronologers, Fifteen Years; and died in 192. the last of the Emperor Commodus^[257]. To him are ascribed a Decretal, addressed to the Bishops of Gaul, and a Decree, declaring against Montanus, and his Followers, that no Food was forbidden to the Christians; but both are deemed spurious. He was buried, according to some, in the Salarian Way, according to others, in the Vatican; but, in what Place soever he was buried, his Body is now worshiped in the Vatican at Rome, in the Cathedral of Troia in Apulia, and in several other Places^[258]. The Title of Martyr is given him by the Church of Rome, but not by any of the antient Writers. Under him flourished Hegesippus, who wrote, in Five Books, an Account of what had happened in the Church since our Saviour’s Death, to his Time^[259]. He came to Rome in the Pontificate of Anicetus, who was chosen in 157. and, remaining there to the Time of Eleutherius, who succeeded Anicetus and Soter in 177. he wrote a Book on the Doctrine received by Tradition in that Church^[260]; but neither of these Works has reached our Times.

Victor, the Successor of Eleutherius, is counted by a Writer, who at this very time lived in Rome, the Thirteenth Bishop of that City^[261]: so that neither is St. Peter reckoned among them, nor is Cletus distinguished from Anacletus. |The Heresy of
Theodotus.| In Victor’s Time a new Heresy was broached at Rome by one Theodotus of Byzantium, denying the Divinity of Christ^[262]. The Theodotians gave out, that Victor favoured their Doctrine^[263]; which he did, perhaps, at that Time^[264]; though he cut them off afterwards from his Communion. |Victor approves
the prophetic Spirit
of Montanus.| Be that as it will, he can by no means be cleared from another Imputation, namely, that of owning and approving the prophetic Spirit of Montanus, and his Two Prophetesses, Prisca and Maximilla: for Tertullian, his Contemporary, tells us, in express Terms, that he received their Prophecies; that, upon receiving them, he gave Letters of Peace to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia; but that one Praxeas, just come from those Parts, giving him a false Account of those Prophets, and their Churches, and remonstrating, that by approving them, he condemned his Predecessors, prevailed upon him to revoke the Letters, which he had already written in their Behalf. |His Infallibility,
how defended by
Baronius and
Bellarmine.| Thus Tertullian, who was then himself become a Follower of Montanus^[265]. Here Baronius and Bellarmine, the Two great Advocates for the Pope’s Infallibility, are put to a Stand: they own, and cannot help owning, that the Pope was deceived, and imposed upon; but, for all that, will not give up his Infallibility. How great is the Power of Prejudice and Prepossession! They find the Pope actually erring, and yet maintain, that he cannot err. But this Apostacy from common Sense, if I may be allowed the Expression, is not, perhaps, so much owing to Prejudice, as to something worse; for no Prejudice, however prevalent, can withstand the indisputable Evidence of plain Matters of Fact. It is no new thing, says Baronius, nor what ought to cause in us the least Surprize, that a Pope should be over-reached by Impostors^[266]. A Pope over-reached in Matters of Faith! What then becomes of Infallibility? or what is the Use of it? But the Montanists, says Bellarmine^[267], craftily concealed from the Pope what was erroneous and heretical in their Prophecies; so that he, discovering nothing in their Doctrine repugnant to that of the Church, believed they had been unjustly accused to, and condemned by, his Predecessors. But, in the first Place, Tertullian tells us, in express Terms, that the Prophecies of Montanus, and his Followers, were approved by the Pope; whereas the Prophecies, which he is supposed by Bellarmine to have approved, were not the Prophecies of Montanus, but others, quite different, and in every respect orthodox. In the second Place, if Victor believed, that the Montanists had been unjustly condemned by his Predecessors, he did not believe them infallible; so that, in every Light, this Fact oversets the pretended Infallibility. We may add, that, if the Pope’s Infallibility depends upon a right Information, and neither he nor we can know whether he has been rightly informed, his Infallibility is thereby rendered quite useless; since, in every particular Case, we may doubt, and that Doubt cannot be removed, whether the Information, upon which he acts, was right, or no.

But what most of all distinguished the Pontificate of Victor was, the famous Controversy about the Celebration of Easter, between the Eastern and Western Bishops; the former keeping that Solemnity on the 14th Day of the first Moon, on what Day soever of the Week it happened to fall; and the latter putting it off till the Sunday following. This, surely, could not be a Point of any Consequence, since the Apostles had not thought fit to settle any thing concerning it; nay, by observing the Paschal Solemnity themselves, some on the one Day, and some on the other, as it is manifest they did^[268]; they plainly declared, that it was quite indifferent on what Day it was observed. Accordingly, from the Apostles Time to Victor’s, each Church had followed the Custom and Practice established by their respective Founders, without giving the least Disturbance to others, or being, on that Account, disturbed by them^[269]. Pope Anicetus even suffered such of the Asiatics as happened to be at Rome, to celebrate Easter after the manner of Asia^[270]: Soter, indeed; and his Successor Eleutherius, obliged those who lived at Rome to conform to the Custom of that Church; but that did not prevent their sending the Eucharist, or Sacrament, to the Bishops who followed the opposite Practice^[271]; for a Custom then obtained among Bishops to send the Eucharist to each other, especially at Easter, in Token of Communion and Peace; but this Custom was suppressed by the 14th Canon of the Council held in the Fourth Century at Laodicea^[272]. |Victor’s haughty
Conduct.| Victor, not satisfied with what his Two immediate Predecessors had done, took upon him to impose the Roman Custom on all the Churches that followed the contrary Practice. |Is opposed by the
Bishop of Ephesus,| But, in this bold Attempt, which we may call the first Essay of Papal Usurpation, he met with a vigorous and truly Christian Opposition from Polycrates, at that Time Bishop of Ephesus, and one of the most eminent Men in the Church, both for Piety and Learning. He had studied, says Eusebius^[273], the Scriptures with great Attention, had conferred with Christians from all Parts of the World, and had ever conformed his Life to the Rules of the Gospel. Jerom speaks of him as a Man of excellent Parts, and one universally respected^[274]. In the present Controversy, he peremptorily refused to relinquish the Practice of his own Church, which had been first introduced by the Apostles St. John and St. Philip, and had been handed down to him by Seven Bishops of his own Family^[275]. Hereupon Victor, impatient of Contradiction, wrote a Letter, threatening to cut him off from his Communion, unless he forthwith complied with the Practice of the Church of Rome^[276]. |and by a Council of
all the Bishops of Asia minor.| Polycrates, greatly surprised at the hasty Proceedings of his Fellow Bishop, assembled in Ephesus a Council of all the Bishops of Asia minor, when it was unanimously resolved, that the Practice, which they had received from their Predecessors, ought not to be changed^[277]. AgreeablyAgreeably to this Resolution, Polycrates writ to Victor, acquainting him therewith; and, at the same time, modestly insinuating, that, as to his Menaces, he had better forbear them, since they had no manner of Effect upon him, or his Brethren^[278]. |He cuts them off
from his Communion.| Upon the Receipt of this Letter Victor, giving the Reins to an impotent and ungovernable Passion, published bitter invectives against all the Churches of Asia, declared them cut off from his Communion, sent Letters of Excommunication to their respective Bishops; and, at the same time, in order to have them cut off from the Communion of the whole Church, writ to the other Bishops, exhorting them to follow his Example, and forbear communicating with their refractory Brethren of Asia^[279]. They all complied, to be sure, with the Desire of the Head of the Church, who had Power to command; but, out of his great Moderation, chose to exhort and advise! |No Regard had to
his Excommunication.| No; not one followed his Example, or Advice; not one paid any sort of Regard to his Letters, or shewed the least Inclination to second him in such a rash and uncharitable Attempt; but, on the contrary, they all joined, as Eusebius assures us^[280], in sharply censuring and rebuking him, as a Disturber of the Peace of the Church. |He is censured by Irenæus.| Among the rest Irenæus, then Bishop of Lions, writ him an excellent Letter, putting him in mind of the Moderation of his Predecessors, and telling him, that though he agreed with him in the Main of the Controversy, yet he could not approve of his cutting off whole Churches, for the Observance of Customs, which they had received from their Ancestors. He writ, at the same time, to many other Bishops^[281], no doubt, to dissuade them from joining the Bishop of Rome. However that be, it is certain, that, by this means, the Storm was laid, a Calm was restored to the Church, and the Asiatics allowed to follow undisturbed their antient Practice^[282]. But Pope Victor, says Baronius^[283], excommunicated the Asiatics, which he would never have ventured to do, had he not known, that he had Power and Jurisdiction over them. |Had no Power over
the Asiatics.| The Argument may be thus retorted against him: The Asiatics made no Account of his Excommunication; which they would not have ventured to do, had they not known, that he had no Power nor Jurisdiction over them. Besides, Victor did not excommunicate them, as that Word is now understood; that is, he did not cut them off from the Communion of the Catholic Church; for all the other Bishops continued to communicate with them, as they had done before; he only separated himself from their Communion; which was no more than every Bishop had Power to do. Victor being thus baffled in his Attempt, his Successors took care not to revive the Controversy; so that the Asiatics peaceably followed their antient Practice till the Council of Nice, which, out of Complaisance to Constantine the Great, ordered the Solemnity of Easter to be kept every-where on the same Day, after the Custom of Rome^[284].

This Dispute happened, not in the Reign of Commodus, as we read in the Synodicon^[285], but in the Fourth Year of the Reign of Severus, as St. Jerom informs us^[286], of Christ 196. |Victor dies.| Victor, of whom we find nothing else in the Antients worthy of Notice, died Five Years after^[287], that is, in the Ninth of the Emperor Severus, and in the End of 201. or the Beginning of 202. of Christ, having governed the Church Ten Years. He is named, by St. Jerom, the first among the Ecclesiastical Authors that wrote in Latin^[288]. |His Works.| He published a Piece, on the Controversy about the Celebration of Easter, and some other Books on religious Subjects, which were still extant in St. Jerom’s Time^[289]. |Pieces falsly
ascribed to him.| As for the Two Decretals that are ascribed to him, and the Two Letters to Desiderius and Paracoda, both Bishops of Vienne, they are universally rejected^[290]. |He is sainted.| The Church of Rome has placed Victor among her Saints; and truly, his Attempt, however unsuccessful, to promote the Power and extend the Jurisdiction of that See, deserved no less a Reward.

In the first Year of the Pontificate of Zephyrinus, who succeeded Victor, a dreadful Persecution was raised against the Christians by the Emperor Severus, and carried on with great Cruelty in all Parts of the Empire. Zephyrinus, however, had the good Luck to escape it, and to see the Church, by the Death of that Prince, happily delivered from the Evils, which the Rage of her foreign Enemies had brought upon her. |Zephyrinus opposes
the Theodotian
Heretics.| But her domestic Enemies gave her no Respite; the Theodotian Heretics continued sowing, and not without Success, their pestilential Errors at Rome. Zephyrinus, it seems, opposed them with great Vigour and Zeal; for they reproached him, as we read in Eusebius^[291], as the first who had betrayed the Truth, by maintaining against them the Divinity of Christ: hence he is ranked, by Optatus, with Tertullian, Victorinus, &c. among those who have successfully defended the Catholic Church^[292]. Baronius, to extol Zephyrinus, ascribes to him the first Condemnation of Praxeas^[293], which was followed by a solemn Retractation under his own Hand. But it was in Africa, and not at Rome, that Praxeas was condemned, as appeared plain to me, from the Words of Tertullian^[294], before I had seen either Pamelius or Moreau, who understood them in that Sense. Praxeas, as we have observed above, had done an eminent Piece of Service to the Church of Rome, by reclaiming Pope Victor from the Heresy of Montanus: but the Good he had done on that Occasion was over-balanced by the Mischief his new Heresy occasioned both at Rome and in Africa; for in both Places he gained many Proselytes. |The Heresy of
Praxeas.| He denied all Distinction of Persons in the Godhead, so that the Father being, according to his Doctrine, the same Person with the Son, it was he who took upon him human Nature, and suffered on the Cross; whence his Followers were called Patropassians^[295].

In the Pontificate of Zephyrinus, and, as Eusebius seems to insinuate, in the Beginning of the Reign of Caracalla, that is, towards the Year 211 or 212. came to Rome the celebrated Origen, being desirous, as he himself declared, to see that Church, so venerable for its Antiquity and Renown; but, after a very short Stay there, he returned to Alexandria^[296]. |Famous Dispute, at
Rome, between Caius
and Proclus.| About the same time happened, at Rome, the famous Dispute between Caius, a Presbyter of that Church and Proclus, a leading Man among the Montanists^[297]. Caius committed to Writing the Reasons and Arguments on both Sides^[298]: but that Piece has not reached our Times, though it was well known to Eusebius, who styles it a Dialogue^[299] and likewise to Theodoret^[300].

It was during the Pontificate of Zephyrinus that Tertullian, the great Defender of the Christian Religion, fell off from the Catholic Church. His Fall, which was lamented by all the Faithful as a common Loss, is ascribed, by St. Jerom, to the Envy and ill Usage he met with from the Roman Clergy^[301]. |The Titles of High
Pontiff, &c. whether,
and in what Sense,
given by Tertullian
to the Bishop of
Rome.| But how ill soever he was used by them in those Days, he has perhaps met with worse Treatment at their Hands in latter Times; for they call upon him as an Evidence, to witness the Pope’s universal Jurisdiction, and to confirm to him the haughty Titles, which he assumes; but with how little Reason, will appear from the following Relation: A Catholic Bishop had, by a public Declaration, admitted Persons guilty of Adultery and Fornication to a Place among the Penitents. As Tertullian was a strict Observer of Rites and Discipline, and a most zealous Asserter of the greatest Rigours of Religion, he could not brook so much Moderation and Indulgence: and therefore, in his Book De Pudicitia, which he wrote on that Occasion, he extols the Severity of the antient Discipline, aggravates the Greatness of those Offences, undertakes to confute the Arguments for Remission and Indulgence; and, speaking of the above-mentioned Declaration, he calls it a peremptory Decree, and styles the Bishop, who made it, high Pontiff, and Bishop of Bishops^[302]. Hence the Advocates for the See of Rome infer, that, even in those early Times, such Titles were given to the Bishop of Rome, and that his Decrees were even then deemed peremptory^[303]. But in the first Place, it is uncertain whether that Declaration was published by the Bishop of Rome, or by some other great Bishop, perhaps of Carthage, of Alexandria, or Antioch; for no Bishop is named by Tertullian. In the second Place, it is evident from the Context, that, in the above-mentioned Passage, Tertullian speaks ironically; and consequently all that can be inferred from thence is, that he gave those Titles to the Catholic Bishop, whoever he was, by way of Derision; or if the Bishop had assumed them in his Declaration, he took from thence Occasion to expose his Vanity and Ambition. Baronius, and the Flatterers of the Bishops of Rome, triumph in this Passage of Tertullian; from which however nothing can be inferred in Favour of that See, unless they prove, which they can never do, that the above-mentioned Declaration or Decree was published by the Bishop of Rome; that those Titles, which raise him above other Bishops, were Part of the Decree; and lastly, that Tertullian mentioned them as due to him, and not by way of Sarcasm, ironically reflecting on his Pride and Ambition.

As to the Actions of Zephyrinus, the Antients have left us quite in the Dark; and we cannot depend on what we read in the modern Writers. |Zephyrinus not a Martyr.| He governed about Seventeen Years, and died in the first Year of Heliogabalus, and 218. of the Christian Æra^[304]. In the Roman Martyrology he has a Place among the Martyrs, which puts Baronius himself to a Stand^[305], since the Church enjoyed a profound Tranquillity from the Death of Severus to the End of his Pontificate.

Zephyrinus was succeeded by Callistus, or Callixtus, as he is styled by Optatus^[306], and St. Austin^[307]. In his Time the Church enjoyed a long, happy, and uninterrupted Peace, as Tertullian calls it^[308], which lasted from the Death of Severus in 211. to the Reign of Maximinus in 235. as did also the State from the Death of Macrinus in 218. to the Year 233. |The Emperor Alex-
ander favourable to
the Christians.| Alexander, who succeeded Heliogabalus in 222. proved extremely favourable to the Christians, and even allowed them, if I mistake not the Meaning of a profane Writer, the free Exercise of their Religion^[309]: it is at least certain, that he adjudged to them, against the Tavern-keepers, a Piece of Ground, which it is pretended they had usurped upon the Public, laying, when he gave Sentence in their Favour, that it was better God should be served on it in any Manner, than that it should be occupied by Tavern-keepers^[310]; which was giving them Leave to serve God on it after their own Manner. On this Spot of Ground Baronius supposes Callistus to have built a Church in Honour of the Virgin Mary, known at present by the Name of Santa Maria in Trastevere, that is, Saint Mary beyond the Tyber^[311]. But the Pontifical of Damasus, upon which alone he sounds his Opinion, deserves no Credit, as I shall shew in the Life of that Pope. Callistus is said by Anastasius^[312] to have inclosed a large Piece of Ground on the Appian Way, to serve as a Burying-place for the Christians. |Callistus’s Burying-place.| This Ground is frequently mentioned in the Martyrologies, and described at Length by Arringhus, who tells us, that 174,000 Martyrs, and 46 Popes, were buried in it^[313]. Though Alexander was of all the Pagan Emperors the most favourable and indulgent to the Christians, as is evident from all the antient Writers, both Christians and Pagans, yet he is represented in the Martyrologies, and in the Acts of some Martyrs, especially of Callistus, to which Bede gave an intire Credit^[314], as the most barbarous and inhuman Tyrant that ever shed Christian Blood. |The Acts of Callistus
deserve no Credit.| If we reject these Acts, and we must either reject them, or the Authority of the most unexceptionable Writers among the Antients, we expunge at once above 300 Martyrs out of the Catalogue of Saints worshiped to this Day by the Church of Rome, upon the bare Authority of such Acts. |Many Saints out to
be expunged out of
the Catalogue.| Among these are the Consul Palmatius, with his Wife, his Children, and Forty-two of his Domestics; the Senator Simplicius, with his Wife, and Sixty-eight of his Domestics: and, what will be an irreparable Loss, the so much celebrated St. Cæcilia, in whose Honour Churches have been erected in every Christian Kingdom. Baronius, not presuming on one Side to question the Emperor Alexander’s Kindness to the Christians, which would be giving the Lye to all the Antients, but, on the other, looking upon it as a Sacrilege to rob the Church of so many valuable Reliques, ascribes the cruel Usage they are supposed to have met with in that Prince’s Reign, not to him, but to Ulpian the celebrated Civilian, who flourished under him^[315]. But in those Acts the Martyrs are said to have suffered unheard of Torments, there minutely described, by the express Command of the Emperor Alexander. Besides, could Alexander be said to have favoured the Christians, could the Christians be said to have enjoyed a happy Tranquillity under him, had one of his Officers persecuted them with the utmost Cruelty in his Name, and by his Authority? Baronius, not remembring, it seems, that in this Place he had charged Ulpian with all the Cruelties against the Christians, supposes elsewhere^[316] several Martyrs to have suffered in the Reign of Alexander, after the Death of Ulpian. Bede, 'tis true, has followed these Acts; but they are not on that Account at all the more credible, since he often follows Pieces which are now universally given up as supposititious. The very first Words of these Acts are sufficient to make us suspect the Truth of them; for they begin thus; in the Time of Macrinus and Alexander--How come these two Princes to be joined together? Macrinus reigned with his Son Diadumenus, and Heliogabalus between them and Alexander. Soon after the Consul Palmatius is said to have been condemned without any Form of Judgment, without so much as being heard; whereas Herodian assures us, that Alexander was a strict Observer of the Laws; and that no Criminal was condemned in his Reign, but according to the usual Course of Law, and by Judges of the greatest Integrity^[317]. Callistus, if we give Credit to his Acts, was kept a long time Prisoner in a private House, where he was every Day cruelly beaten by the Emperor Alexander’s Orders, and at last thrown headlong out of the Window into a Well. |Callistus not a Martyr.| The Acts are evidently fabulous, but Callistus nevertheless is worshiped among the Martyrs; and the Waters of the Well, which is to be seen at Rome in the Church that bears his Name, are said to cure all sorts of Diseases to this Day. He governed the Church Five Years, and died in the Latter-end of the Year 223^[318]. the Third of the Emperor Alexander. His Body is exposed to public Adoration on the Tenth of May, in the Church of St. Mary, beyond the Tyber, at Rome^[319] and in that of our Lady at Rheims^[320]. Two Decretals are ascribed to Callistus, and likewise the Institution of the Ember-Weeks, but without the lean Foundation.