picions and resentment of the Pagan
magistrates. His character as well as his station seemed to mark out
that holy prelate as the most distinguished object of envy and danger.
[76] The experience, however, of the life of Cyprian, is sufficient
to prove that our fancy has exaggerated the perilous situation of a
Christian bishop; and the dangers to which he was exposed were less
imminent than those which temporal ambition is always prepared to
encounter in the pursuit of honors. Four Roman emperors, with their
families, their favorites, and their adherents, perished by the sword
in the space of ten years, during which the bishop of Carthage guided by
his authority and eloquence the councils of the African church. It was
only in the third year of his administration, that he had reason, during
a few months, to apprehend the severe edicts of Decius, the vigilance
of the magistrate and the clamors of the multitude, who loudly demanded,
that Cyprian, the leader of the Christians, should be thrown to the
lions. Prudence suggested the necessity of a temporary retreat, and
the voice of prudence was obeyed. He withdrew himself into an obscure
solitude, from whence he could maintain a constant correspondence with
the clergy and people of Carthage; and, concealing himself till the
tempest was past, he preserved his life, without relinquishing either
his power or his reputation. His extreme caution did not, however,
escape the censure of the more rigid Christians, who lamented, or the
reproaches of his personal enemies, who insulted, a conduct which they
considered as a pusillanimous and criminal desertion of the most sacred
duty. [77] The propriety of reserving himself for the future exigencies
of the church, the example of several holy bishops, [78] and the divine
admonitions, which, as he declares himself, he frequently received in
visions and ecstacies, were the reasons alleged in his justification.
[79] But his best apology may be found in the cheerful resolution, with
which, about eight years afterwards, he suffered death in the cause of
religion. The authentic history of his martyrdom has been recorded with
unusual candor and impartiality. A short abstract, therefore, of its
most important circumstances, will convey the clearest information of
the spirit, and of the forms, of the Roman persecutions. [80]

[Footnote 76: The letters of Cyprian exhibit a very curious and original
picture both of the man and of the times. See likew