e removed by exile or death: the vigilance of
the magistrates prevented the clergy of Rome during sixteen months from
proceeding to a new election; and it was the opinion of the Christians,
that the emperor would more patiently endure a competitor for the
purple, than a bishop in the capital. Were it possible to suppose that
the penetration of Decius had discovered pride under the disguise of
humility, or that he could foresee the temporal dominion which might
insensibly arise from the claims of spiritual authority, we might be
less surprised, that he should consider the successors of St. Peter, as
the most formidable rivals to those of Augustus.

The administration of Valerian was distinguished by a levity and
inconstancy ill suited to the gravity of the Roman Censor. In the first
part of his reign, he surpassed in clemency those princes who had been
suspected of an attachment to the Christian faith. In the last three
years and a half, listening to the insinuations of a minister addicted
to the superstitions of Egypt, he adopted the maxims, and imitated the
severity, of his predecessor Decius. The accession of Gallienus, which
increased the calamities of the empire, restored peace to the church;
and the Christians obtained the free exercise of their religion by an
edict addressed to the bishops, and conceived in such terms as seemed to
acknowledge their office and public character. The ancient laws, without
being formally repealed, were suffered to sink into oblivion; and
(excepting only some hostile intentions which are attributed to the
emperor Aurelian ) the disciples of Christ passed above forty years in
a state of prosperity, far more dangerous to their virtue than the
severest trials of persecution.

The story of Paul of Samosata, who filled the metropolitan see of
Antioch, while the East was in the hands of Odenathus and Zenobia, may
serve to illustrate the condition and character of the times. The wealth
of that prelate was a sufficient evidence of his guilt, since it was
neither derived from the inheritance of his fathers, nor acquired by the
arts of honest industry. But Paul considered the service of the church
as a very lucrative profession. His ecclesiastical jurisdiction was
venal and rapacious; he extorted frequent contributions from the most
opulent of the faithful, and converted to his own use a considerable
part of the public revenue. By his pride and luxury, the Christian
religion was rendered odious