CYPRIANUS, Tiiascius Caecilius, a principal father of the Christian church, was born at Carthage, in Africa, about the latter end of the second or beginning of the ∣ third century. We know nothing of his parents except that they were heathens; and indeed he himself continued such till the last twelve years of his life. He applied himself early to the study of oratory; and some of the ancients, particularly Lactantius, inform us, that he taught rhetoric in Carthage with the highest applause. Cyprian’s conversion is supposed by Pearson to have taken place in the year 246, and at Carthage, where, as St Jerome observes, he had often employed his rhetoric in the defence of paganism. It was brought about by one Caecilius, a priest of the church of Carthage, whose name Cyprian afterwards adopted, and with whom he ever after maintained so close a friendship, that Caecilius at his death committed to Cyprian the care of his family. Cyprian was also himself a married man; but as soon as he was converted to the faith he resolved upon observing continence, which was thought a high degree of piety, as this virtue had not yet become general. Being now a Christian, he was required to give proof of the sincerity of his conversion by writing against paganism and in defence of Christianity. With this view he composed his treatise De Gratia Dei, concerning the grace of God, which he addressed to Donatus. He next composed a piece De Idolorum Vanitate, on the vanity of idols. Cyprian’s behaviour, both before and after his baptism, was so highly pleasing to the Bishop of Carthage, that he ordained him a priest a few months subsequent to that event. It was rather irregular to ordain a man thus in his very noviciate; but Cyprian was so extraordinary a person, and thought capable of doing such singular service to the church, that it seemed allowable in this case to dispense a little with the form and discipline usually observed. For besides his known talents as a secular man, he had acquired a high reputation for sanctity since his conversion; having not only separated himself from his wife, as we have already stated, which in those days was thought an extraordinary act of piety, but also assigned all his goods to the poor, and devoted himself entirely to the things of God. It was on this account, no doubt, that when the Bishop of Carthage died the year after, that is, in the year 248, none was judged so worthy to succeed him as Cyprian. The quiet and repose which the Christians had enjoyed during the last forty years had, it seems, greatly corrupted their manners; and therefore Cyprian’s first care, after his advancement to the bishopric, was to correct disorders and to reform abuses. Luxury was prevalent among them, and many of their women were not so strict as they should have been, especially in the article of dress. This occasioned him to draw up his piece De Habitu Virginum, concerning the dress of young women, in which, besides what he says on the particular head of dress, he inculcates many lessons of modesty and sobriety. In the year 249, the Emperor Decius began to issue very severe edicts against the Christians, which particularly affected those upon the coast of Africa; and in the beginning of 250, the heathens in the circus and amphitheatre of Carthage insisted loudly upon Cyprian’s being thrown to the lions, a common method of destroying the primitive Christians. Upon this Cyprian withdrew from the church at Carthage, and went into retirement, in order to avoid the fury of the persecutions, and in the place of his retreat wrote pious and instructive letters to those who had been his hearers; and also to the libellatici, a name by which were designated those pusillanimous Christians who had procured certificates from the heathen magistrates bearing that they had complied with the emperor’s orders in sacrificing to idols. On his return to Carthage he held several councils concerning the repentance of those who had fallen during this persecution, and other points of discipline; be also opposed[7:7:576] the schemes of Novatus and Novatianus, and contended for the rebaptizing of those who had been baptized by heretics. At last he died a martyr, having been beheaded during the persecution of Valerian and Gallienus, in 258. Cyprian wrote eighty-one letters and several treatises, and was one of the first Christian authors who displayed eloquence. “He had a mind,” says Lactantius, “at once subtile and agreeable, and he was remarkable for great neatness, which is one of the finest qualities of a discourse. His style was ornate, his expression easy, his reasoning forcible and vigorous. He pleased, instructed, persuaded, and did all so well that it would be difficult to say in which he most excelled.” The best editions of his works are those of Pamelius, Antwerp, 1568, of Rigaltius, Paris, 1648, and of Oxford in 1682. His works have all been translated into English by Dr Marshall.