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].

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 famous 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 on 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].

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].

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, |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.

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 some 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].

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 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 while 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.

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.

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 Employments 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 should 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].

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 him 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, |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, 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 the 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].

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 from 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].