_Campagna_ of _Rome_[791]; though he has told us, in the foregoing Page, that he _died in Peace_, a Phrase never used in speaking of Martyrs, on the 29th of _July_, at his Estate on the Road to _Porto_[792]. The City of _Cere_, now _Cerventera_, in _Tuscany_, honours _Felix_ to this Day, as their chief Patron or Protector. In those dark Times Legends alone were in request, and all other Books, even the Scripture itself, quite out of Date, and neglected. [Sidenote: _How he came to be honoured as a Saint._] No Wonder therefore that such Absurdities, however inconsistent with History, were swallowed without straining; and _Felix_, for his pretended Zeal and Constancy, ranked among the holy Martyrs. For I may venture to affirm, that the most learned Men, at that time, in the Church, knew nothing of _Felix_ but what they had learned from his fabulous Acts, and from the above-mentioned Pontifical. That I may not be thought to exaggerate, I shall allege one Instance of the Ignorance of past Times: _Gulielmus a Sancto Amore_, one of the most learned Men of the 13th Century, knew that, in the Time of _Hilarius_ Bishop of _Poitiers_, a Pope, with most of the Bishops, had fallen into Heresy. He did not even pretend to be so well versed in History as to know for certain who the Pope was; but, indulging a Conjecture, which he thought probable enough, he named _Anastasius_ II. who died in 498. about 150 Years after the Time of _Hilarius_: so that he was an utter Stranger to the History of Pope _Liberius_, and consequently to that of the Antipope _Felix_. Had it not been for the like Ignorance in more early Times, the Apotheosis of our pretended Martyr had never taken place. [Sidenote: _His Sanctity called in question;_] Be that as it will, during the Ages of Darkness he held undisturbed the Rank, to which he had been thus raised: but when the Dawn of Knowlege began to appear, and it was discovered at last from contemporary and unexceptionable Writers, who _Felix_ was, the Church of _Rome_ was ashamed to own him among her Saints. On the other hand, to degrade him had been giving a fatal Blow to the Pope’s Authority, and rendering it for ever precarious, in so material a Point as that of Canonization. _Felix_ therefore was, at all Events, to keep his Place in Heaven; his Sanctity was to be confirmed, and the World imposed upon by some Contrivance or other, capable of utterly defeating the Testimony of the Antients.