But wheresoever Irenæus first entered into the priesthood, he had abode so long at Lyons in the year 177(22), that he had gained the character of a person _zealous for the gospel of Christ_(23), and recommended more by his intrinsic excellence than by his sacred office; and was so relied upon as to be chosen by the martyrs of Lyons, then in prison, as a fit person to send to Eleutherus, bishop of Rome, with their testimony against the Montanists. It is, indeed, barely said by Eusebius(24), that their epistles were written for the purpose of promoting the peace of the churches ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}); but connecting them, as he does in his narrative, with the mention of the Montanist heresy, and of the dissensions occasioned by it ({ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}), it is unavoidable to conclude that they had reference to it. Some light may be thrown upon the subject by the assertion of Tertullian(25), that _a bishop of Rome_ had admitted the Montanists to communion by giving them letters of amity. Who the bishop was he gives no hint; and as he connects the matter with the account of the dissemination of the heresy of Praxeas, some, as Dupin(26) and Tillemont(27), have concluded that it could not have been an earlier bishop than Victor, because Praxeas did not appear as a heretic at an earlier period. This, however, as Massuet justly argues(28), is not conclusive; for the throwing together two things in a narrative by no means proves that they closely followed each other; and this visit of Praxeas to Rome may, with greater probability, be assumed to have been when he was a catholic. A sufficient space of time had evidently elapsed between the visit of Praxeas to Rome, under the bishop who had granted communicatory letters to the Montanists, and the time when Tertullian was writing(29), to allow of his becoming tinged with the Patripassian heresy, of his disseminating it secretly, of his avowing it openly, of his being convinced of his error, and being reconciled to the church; finally, of his relapsing, and ultimately quitting the church. All this would take up many years, and allow ample time for the supposition that Eleutherus was the bishop alluded to; not to say that a bishop of Rome was little likely to have listened to him when an avowed heretic.