of Christ is made! Do you seek for authority? Hear that testimony: 'Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.' Would you have another example? In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul speaks thus to the priests of one church: Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops; that you govern the church which he hath purchased with his blood.' And, lest any should contend about there being a plurality of bishops in one church, hear also another testimony, by which it may most manifestly be proved that a bishop and a presbyter are the same: 'For this cause left I thee in Crete; that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain presbyters in every city, as I' have appointed thee, if any be blameless. For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God;' and to Timothy, ‘Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given there by prophecy, by the laying on of hands of the presbytery.' And Peter also, in his first epistle, saith, 'The presbyters which are among you I exhort, who am also a presbyter, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed, to rule the flock of Christ, and to inspect it, not of constraint, but willingly, according to God;' which is more significantly expressed in the Greek ɛñɩσzoñovvtes, i. e., superintending it; whence the name of bishop is drawn. Does the testimony of such men appear small to thee? Let the evangelical trumpet sound; the son of thunder, whom Jesus Christ loved much, who drank the streams of doctrine from our Saviour's breast: The Presbyter to the elect Lady and her children, whom I love in the truth.' And in another epistle, 'The Presbyter to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in the truth.' But the one was afterwards chosen who should be set above the rest, was done as a remedy against schism; lest every one, drawing the church of Christ to himself, should break it in pieces.

For at Alexandria, from Mark the Evangelist to Heracles and Dionysius the bishops thereof, the presbyters always named one, chosen from among them and placed in a higher degree-Bishop: as if an army should choose an emperor, or the deacons should choose one of themselves, whom they knew to be most diligent, and call him Arch-Deacon." Once more, in this epistle he says, "Presbyter and Bishopthe one is the name of age, the other of dignity. Whence, in the epistles to Timothy and Titus, there is mention made of the ordination of bishops and deacons, but not of presbyters, because the presbyter is included in the bishop." This testimony of Jerome is so plain as to need no comment. He expressly affirms and proves, by a labored argument, that in the days of the Apostles presbyter and bishop were the same-that the appointment of one presbyter to preside over the rest, grew out of the circumstances of the church; and that the authority of bishops, as distinguished. from that of presbyters, came in "LITTLE BY LITTLE," or by degrees. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, in an epistle to Jerome, holds the following language upon this subject: "I entreat you to correct me faithfully when you see I need it; for although, according to the names of honor which the custom of the church has now brought into use, the office of bishop is greater than that of presbyter, nevertheless, in many respects Augustine is inferior to Jerome." Bishop Jewell, in his " Defence of his Apology for the Church of England," quotes this passage from Augustine to prove the original identity of presbyter and bishop, and translates it as follows: "The office of bishop is above the office of priest, not by authority of the Scriptures, but after the names of honor which the custom of the church hath now attained." Hilary, or Ambrose, as he is sometimes called, who wrote in 376, in his commentary upon Ephesians, iv. 2, says: "After that churches were planted in all places and officers ordained, matters were settled otherwise than they were in the begin

ning. And hence it is that the Apostles' writings do not in all things agree to the present constitution of the church: because they were written under the first rise of the church, he calls Timothy, who was created a presbyter by him, a bishop; for so at first the presbyters were called. Among whom this was the course of governing churches; that, as one withdrew, another took his place; and in Egypt, even at this day, presbyters ordain in the bishop's absence; but because the following presbyters began to be found unworthy to hold the first place, the method was changed-the council providing that not order, but merit, should create a bishop." From this remarkable passage we learn,

1. That in the Apostles' days there was no difference between bishop and presbyter.

2. That, in the days of Ambrose, this difference did not consist in any distinction of order, but the presbyter who was considered the most meritorious was appointed to preside over the rest.

3. That this was done, not by divine authority, but by an ordinance or appointment of the council. This father says expressly, "Because the following presbyters began to be found unworthy to hold the first place, the method was changed the council providing that not order, but merit, should create a bishop." Chrysostom, who wrote about the year 398, says: "The Apostles having discoursed concerning bishops and described them, declaring what they ought to be, and from what they ought to abstain, omitting the order of presbyters, descends to the deacons. And why so, but because between bishop and presbyter there is scarcely any difference; and to them is committed both the instructions and presidency of the church; and whatever he said of bishops, agrees also to presbyters. In ordination alone, they have gone beyond presbyters; and of this they seem to have DEFRAUDED THEM."

B

Were it necessary, we might add testimony of the same kind to any extent; but enough has been already produced to show conclusively that the testimony of the Fathers is very far from aiding the cause of prelacy. The great wonder is, that churchmen should appeal with so much confidence and triumph to the fathers, when they can find so little in their writings in their favor, and so much positively against them. No individual can give the writings of the Fathers an impartial perusal without being convinced that clerical parity was the doctrine taught by Christ and his Apostles, and that this parity existed for many years in the New Testament church. When we come to lecture upon the rise of Episcopacy in the church, we shall have occasion to mention certain facts which will go very much to strengthen this position. We here close the testimony of the Fathers, and therewith our present discourse.

LECTURE VII.

TESTIMONY OF EPISCOPALIANS IN OUR FAVOR.

LUKE XIX. 22.-" Out of thine own mouth will I condemn thee."

We propose this evening to deliver a brief lecture upon the testimony of Episcopalians in our favor. It will be easy to show that many of the most learned and eminent Episcopal divines have been entirely opposed to those exclusive doctrines, against which we are at present contending. We will commence with what Dr. Willet, an eminent divine of the church of England, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, says of the three opinions which existed in his day, upon the subject of the present controversy. He says, "Of the dif ference between bishops and priests, there are three opinions: the first, of Aerius, who did hold that all ministers should be equal, and that a bishop was not, neither ought to be, superior to a priest. The second opinion is the other extreme of the Papists, who would have not only a difference, but a princely pre-eminence of their bishops over the clergy, and that by the word of God. And they urge it to be so necessary, that they are no true churches which receive not their pontifical hierarchy. The third opinion is between both; that, although the distinction of bishops and priests, as it is now received, cannot be proved out of Scripture, yet it is very necessary for the policy of the church, to avoid schisms and to preserve it in unity. Of this judgment Bishop Jewell against Harding showeth both Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Jerome, to have been. Jerome thus writeth: The Apostle teacheth evidently that bishop and