d to show his repentance publicly. Persons who were in this
state were not allowed to receive the holy sacrament of the Lord's
Supper, as all other Christians then did very often. The worst sinners
were obliged to stand outside the church-door, where they begged those
who were going in to pray that their sins might be forgiven; and those
of the penitents who were let into the church had places in it separate
from other Christians. Sometimes penance lasted for years; and always
until the penitents had done enough to prove that they were truly
grieved for their sins, so that the clergy might hope that they were
received to God's mercy for their Redeemer's sake. But as it was counted
a great and glorious thing to die for the truth of Christ, and martyrs
were highly honoured in the Church, penitents had been in the habit of
going to them while they were in prison awaiting death, and of
entreating the martyrs to plead with the Church for the shortening of
the appointed penance. And it had been usual, out of regard for the
holy martyrs, to forgive those to whom they had given letters desiring
that the penitents might be gently treated. But now these people at
Carthage, instead of showing themselves humble, as true penitents would
have been, came forward in an insolent manner, as if they had a right to
claim that they might be restored to the Church; and the martyrs'
letters (or rather what they _called_ martyrs' letters) were used in a
way very different from anything that had ever been allowed. Cyprian had
a great deal of trouble with them; but he dealt wisely in the matter,
and at length had the comfort of settling it. But, as people are always
ready to find fault in one way or another, some blamed him for being too
strict with the _lapsed_, and others for being too easy; and each of
these parties went so far as to set up a bishop of its own against him.
After a time, however, he got the better of these enemies, although the
straiter sect (who were called _Novatianists_, after Novatian, a
presbyter of Rome) lasted for three hundred years or more.

PART II. A.D. 253-257.

Shortly after the end of the persecution, a terrible plague passed
through the empire, and carried off vast numbers of people. Many of the
heathen thought that the plague was sent by their gods to punish them
for allowing the Christians to live; and the mobs of towns broke out
against the Christians, killing some of them, and hurting them in other
ways.