a Pity that _Athanasius_ was not better acquainted with the Conduct of _Felix_! for if he had, he would never have styled him _a Monster placed on the See of_ Rome _by the Malice of Antichrist_. Such an Attempt, unheard of till that Time, must have made a great Noise; and yet I find it was heard by none but _Baronius_, who lived at so great a Distance. I may add, that there was no room for an Excommunication against _Constantius_, who was still a Catechumen, and consequently did not partake of the sacred Mysteries. [Sidenote: _Whether a lawful Pope or an Antipope._] The _Roman_ Catholic Writers, to save the Credit of _Felix_, maintain him to have been, at least for some time, lawful Pope. But, to confute whatever has been or can be said by them in his Favour, without entering into a Detail of the many sophistical and unconclusive Arguments, false Assertions, and groundless Suppositions, with which they endeavour to disguise the Truth, and confound their Readers, I argue thus: That _Liberius_ was lawfully chosen, and _Felix_ unlawfully, is past all Dispute. Now, upon the Fall of _Liberius_, either there was, or there was not, a new Election: if there was not, _Liberius_ continued to be lawful Bishop; or if by his Fall he forfeited his Dignity, as some think he did, the See became vacant; for nothing subsequent to the unlawful Election of _Felix_ could render it lawful. If there was a new Election, and _Felix_ was lawfully chosen, _Liberius_ from that Minute either ceased to be Pope, or there were two lawful Popes at a time. The latter they will not admit, lest they should turn the Church into a Monster with Two Heads. They must therefore allow _Felix_ to have been lawful Pope, and _Liberius_ an Antipope, till the See became vacant by the Death of the former. [Sidenote: Felix _an Antipope._] But on the other hand, this new Election is quite groundless, highly improbable, and absolutely repugnant to what we read in the antient and contemporary Writers. It is quite groundless; for though _Bellarmine_ speaks of a new Election with as much Confidence as if he had been one of the Electors[803], yet we find not the least Hint of it in any of the Writers of those Times, who would not have passed over in Silence so remarkable an Event, had it come to their Knowlege. It is highly improbable; for _Liberius_ was greatly beloved by the whole People, and the far greater Part of the Clergy, and _Felix_ hated to such a Degree, that of all the Inhabitants of _Rome_, not one ever appeared in the Church while he was in it[804]; nay, he was by all avoided, even in the Streets and other public Places, as if he had carried about with him a Contagion[805]. Is it not therefore altogether improbable, that the People and Clergy should depose the Man, whom in a manner they adored, for communicating with the _Arians_, and appoint one in his room, who likewise communicated with them, and was universally detested, avoided,