power of the Church to remit certain sins, enjoined upon their followers the sinfulness of saving themselves by flight. Into this and the other errors of the party the great Tertullian unhappily fell; but while the Almighty, in the inscrutable decrees of his divine providence, permitted this illustrious man to be lost to the faith, he failed not to compensate for the loss, in raising up another equally illustrious champion of divine truth in the person of Origen, a presbyter of Alexandria. But he, too, unhappily advanced assertions that were far from being in accordance with truth. Yet we may charitably hope that when made aquainted with his errors he repented thereof.

In accordance with the uniform course of divine providence in chastising the persecutors of the faithful, the last years of Severus' life were a visible proof of the displeasure of heaven against that cruel oppressor on account of his manifold crimes against the religion of Christ. The Britains having revolted at this time against the Roman authority, the emperor undertook to subdue them. in person and to that end passed into their country, A. D. 208. But though he spent in this arduous work two entire years and lost both in battle and by disease no less than 50,000 of his troops, he had yet the chagrin to learn that the country was far from being wholly subdued. A still greater affliction was reserved for him in the unnatural conduct of his son and colleague Caracalla. This profligate youth, impatient to arrive at the sovereign authority, entered into a conspiracy with some of his favorites to deprive his father of life. But this coming to the knowledge of the emperor, the project miscarried. The conspirators were condemned to death, but immediately pardoned with the hope that the exercise of such unusual clemency would make an impression on Caracalla. But so far from this being the case, the unnatural son

attempted shortly after to compass the same by raising a sedition in the army; and when this proved abortive, he attempted by his own hand to deprive his parent of existence! Sorely grieved and humiliated at this repeated attempt upon his life, by one who should be the first to guard and defend it, but yet preserving his parental affection for his child, the aged emperor had recourse to one of those extraordinary measures which love alone could suggest as the most effectual means of winning back the offender. Entering into his tent Severus called his ungrateful child to himself and in the presence of the prefect of the pretorian guard and of Castor a freedman, presenting him a sword addressed him thus: "If you wish to slay me, take this sword which I present to you and execute your designs. You are young and vigorous but I am an old and infirm man. The matter is easy. If shame withold your arm, command Papinien here present to rid you of me. We will obey you, for are you not emperor." What heart would not be touched at this address? What son guilty of attempted patricide would not have been reclaimed by so feeling and noble a sentiment? But Caracalla was irreclaimable. It is true he did not accept the offer and plunge the dagger into his parent's bosom. Shame or perhaps surprise at the novelty of the situation, controlled his desire; but he retained the murderous design as was shown later on when, an occasion having offered, he endeavored to induce the royal physican to administer poison to his unhappy parent. Seeing the irreclaimable character of his profligate son, the emperor now became a prey to despair and demanded the favor of being deprived of existence. But no one being willing to render him this kindness, he gorged himself to excess with the view of compassing his own death-a result which he effected acccordingly, A. D. 211.

CHAPTER XIV.

ACCESSION OF CARACALLA AND GETA-THE CONDITION OF THE CHRISTIANS NOTHING BETTER UNDER THESE-MAXIMIN BECOMES EMPEROR-HE PERSECUTES THE FAITHFUL-HIS DEATH-HE IS SLAIN BY HIS OWN TROOPS TRANQUILLITY ENJOYED BY THE CHURCH-FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF THIS-THE ENEMY OF MANKIND AVAILS HIMSELF OF THIS RELAXATION OF FERVOR ON THE PART OF THE CHRISTIANS-PERSECUTION ENSUES-NUMBERS APOSTATIZE-SOME TRY TO EFFECT A COMPROMISE THE LIBELLATICI-DECIUS' DEATH-GALLUS SUCCEEDS AND PERSECUTES-POPE CORNELIUS' MARTYRDOM-CYPRIAN'S LETTER ΤΟ POPE LUCIUS-THE NUMBERS THAT DIED FOR THE FAITH AT THIS PERIOD.

The death of Severus left the empire in the hands of his two sons, Caracalla and Geta. The situation of the Christians was in no way bettered during the first year of their reign. In Africa especially the faithful were persecuted with the greatest animosity under the governor Scapula, who proceeded to the frightful extreme of burning the Christians alive. This horrible barbarity aroused the virtuous indignation of Tertullian and caused him to address a letter of remonstrance to that official protesting against the shameful proceedings. In it he assured him that the Christians were not ashamed of their holy profession, that from the day they enrolled themselves under the banner of the cross, they were aware that their lives were at stake, and that the only advantage they could hope to obtain from the contest would be the good promised by God to his faithful disciples in the world to come. Whether it was owing to this or to some other cause, it might be difficult to say, but the persecution ceased and the Christians were at liberty to follow their holy profession during the re

mainder of Caracalla's reign. The same freedom from suffering was enjoyed by them during the rule of his successors, Maximin, Heliogabalus, and Alexander. Some few indeed suffered for the faith during the last named emperor's reign, but this was owing to popular, commotions and not to any decree of the emperor.

Alexander was slain in Germany at the instigation of Maximin, who immediately mounted the imperial throne. From the moment this prince was invested with the purple he manifested the strongest dislike for the friends and adherents of the late monarch. To have been in the confidence of Alexander was to be hated by Maximin. The Christians who, in consequence of the freedom they enjoyed, were strongly attached to the late ruler, became accordingly special objects of Maximin's aversion. At first he ordered only the chief dignitaries to be slain, but as time went on the sword was drawn indiscriminately against all. To another cause may be also partly attributed the fury with which Maximin persecuted the faithful. It was customary with the emperors on the occasion of their elevation to the imperial dignity to bestow presents and crowns of honor on the troops. A certain Christian soldier, through religious scruples, refused to receive the proffered honor at the emperor's hand, and when asked for a reason assigned as a cause the fact of his being a Christian. This gratuitous and unexpected insult greatly irritated the mind of Maximin and caused him to treat the Christians in consequence with the utmost severity. The pagans on the other hand were not slow in increasing his fury by attributing all manner of calamities to the believers. Storms, earthquakes, floods and plagues, were all alike their doing The dreadful visitations of this nature with which it pleased divine providence to visit the empire at this period were universally referred, as to their cause, to the

Christians. These guiltless persons had in consequence to bear the virulence and outrages of an indignant, affrighted and infuriated people. Every-where they were driven from their homes and necessitated to seek an asylum amongst strangers. St. Cyprian's description will give the reader the best idea of what the faithful had to suffer at this time: "About twenty-two years after the death of Alexander, calamities of all kinds afflicted the world in general, and the Christians in particular; frequent earthquakes shook Cappadocia and Pontus. Numbers of edifices were destroyed, whole villages disappeared in the bowels of the earth. These catastrophes brought on the Christian name a violent persecution which, bursting forth after the pleasure of so prolonged a peace, was as terrible and crushing as the calamity was unforeseen. We had then as governor of province Serenianus, a cruel and implacable persecutor. A great fright seized upon the brethren: they fled hither and thither before the storm. They abandoned their houses and their country in order to seek an asylum elsewhere, for this persecution being only local left them the hope of finding elsewhere a refuge."

The same, if not greater, afflictions, the Christians of Alexandria were made to endure. But these dreadful calamities that were thus falling upon the Church, were not without their advantage. Origen, the illustrious champion of the faith in the east, having withdrawn from the heat of the persecution, retired to Cæsarea. There, by his great learning and logical reasoning, he succeeded in winning back from Valentianism, the future illustrious bishop of Milan. Ambrose, having been apprehended a little while after, was conveyed into Germany, and was dragged in the emperor's suite from town to town. But this refinement of cruelty by which the tyrant sought to discredit Christianity at large, became the occasion, under divine provi