e, with a large part of his other
money, to the poor. He became one of the clergy of Carthage, and when
the bishop died, about three years after, Cyprian was so much loved and
respected that he was chosen in his place (A.D. 248).

Cyprian tried with all his power to do the duties of a good bishop, and
to get rid of many wrong things which had grown upon his Church during
the long peace which it had enjoyed. But about two years after he was
made bishop, the persecution under Decius broke out, when, as was said
in the last chapter, the persecutors tried especially to strike at the
bishops and clergy, and to force them to deny their faith. Now Cyprian
would have been ready and glad to die, if it would have served the good
of his people; but he remembered how our Lord had said, "When they
persecute you in this city, flee ye into another" (_St. Matt._ x. 23),
and how He Himself withdrew from the rage of His enemies, because His
"hour was not yet come" (_St. John_ viii. 20, 59; xi. 54). And it seemed
to the good bishop, that for the present it would be best to go out of
the way of his persecutors. But he kept a constant watch over all that
was done in his church, and he often wrote to his clergy and people from
the place where he was hidden.

But in the meanwhile, things went on badly at Carthage. Many had called
themselves Christians in the late quiet times who would not have done so
if there had been any danger about it. And now, when the danger came,
numbers of them ran into the market-place at Carthage, and seemed quite
eager to offer sacrifice to the gods of the heathen. Others, who did not
sacrifice, bribed some officers of the Government to give them tickets,
certifying that they _had_ sacrificed; and yet they contrived to
persuade themselves that they had done nothing wrong by their cowardice
and deceit! There were, too, some mischievous men among the clergy, who
had not wished Cyprian to be bishop, and had borne him a grudge ever
since he was chosen. And now these clergymen set on the people who had
_lapsed_ (or _fallen_) in the persecution, to demand that they should be
taken back into the Church, and to say that some martyrs had given them
letters which entitled them to be admitted at once.

In those days it was usual, when any Christian was known to have been
guilty of a heavy sin, that (as is said in our Commination service), he
should be "put to open _penance_" by the Church; that is, that he should
be require