But instead of returning evil for evil, the Christians showed what a
spirit of love they had learnt from their Lord and Master; and there was
no place where this was more remarkably shown than at Carthage. The
heathen there were so terrified by the plague that they seemed to have
lost all natural feeling, and almost to be out of their senses. When
their friends fell sick, they left them to die without any care; when
they were dead, they cast out their bodies into the street; and the
corpses which lay about unburied were not only shocking to look at, but
made the air unwholesome, so that there was much more danger of the
plague than before. But while the heathen were behaving in this way, and
each of them thought only of himself, Cyprian called the Christians of
Carthage together, and told them that _they_ were bound to do very
differently. "It would be no wonder," he said, "if we were to attend to
our own friends; but Christ our Lord charges us to do good to heathens
and publicans also, and to love our enemies. HE prayed for them that
persecuted Him, and if we are His disciples, we ought to do so too." And
then the good bishop went on to tell his people what part each of them
should take in the charitable work. Those who had money were to give it,
and were to do such acts of kindness as they could besides. The poor,
who had no silver or gold to spare, were to give their labour in a
spirit of love. So all classes set to their tasks gladly, and they
nursed the sick and buried the dead, without asking whether they were
Christian or heathens.

When the heathens saw these acts of love, many of them were brought to
wonder what it could be that made the Christians do them; and how they
came to be so kind to poor and old people, to widows, and orphans, and
slaves; and how it was that they were always ready to raise money for
buying the freedom of captives, or for helping their brethren who were
in any kind of trouble. And from wondering and asking what it was that
led Christians to do such things, which they themselves would never have
thought of doing, many of the heathen were brought to see that the
Gospel was the true religion, and they forsook their idols to follow
Christ.

After this, Cyprian had a disagreement with Stephen, bishop of Rome.
Rome was the greatest city in the whole world, and the capital of the
empire. There were many Christians there even in the time of the
Apostles, and, as years went on, the church of