s a confessor; and the torture which he then endured
seems to have hastened his demise. But with all his learning he was
obviously deficient in practical sagacity; and though both his genius
and his eloquence were of a high order, he possessed scarcely even an
average share of prudence and common sense. His writings diffused, not
the genial light of the Sun of Righteousness, but the mist and darkness
of a Platonized Christianity. Though he induced many philosophers to
become members of the Church, the value of these accessions was greatly
deteriorated by the daring spirit of speculation which they were still
encouraged to cultivate. Of his Christian courage, his industry, and his
invincible perseverance, there can be no doubt. He closed a most
laborious career at Tyre, A.D. 254, in the seventieth year of his age.

About the time of the death of Origen, a Latin author, whose writings
are still perused with interest, was beginning to attract much notice.
CYPRIAN of Carthage, before his conversion to Christianity, was a
professor of rhetoric and a gentleman of property. When he renounced
heathenism, he is supposed to have reached the mature age of forty-five
or forty-six; and as he possessed rank, talent, and popular eloquence,
he was deemed no ordinary acquisition to the Church. About two years
after his baptism, the chief pastor of the metropolis of the Proconsular
Africa was removed by death; and Cyprian, by the acclamations of the
Christian people, was called to the vacant office. At that time there
seem to have been only eight presbyters, [381:1] or elders, connected
with the bishopric of Carthage; but the city contained probably some
hundreds of thousands of a population; and, though the episcopal dignity
was not without its perils, it did not want the attractions of wealth
and influence. The advancement of Cyprian gave great offence to the
other elders, who appear to have conceived that one of themselves, on
the ground of greater experience and more lengthened services, had a
better title to promotion. Though the new bishop was sustained by the
enthusiastic support of the multitude, the presbytery contrived,
notwithstanding, to give him considerable annoyance. Five of them,
constituting a majority, formed themselves into a regular opposition;
and for several years the Carthaginian Church was distracted by the
struggles between the bishop and his eldership.

The pastorate of Cyprian extended over a period of about te