ops and Deacons. Philippi is a city of Macedonia,

. “ and certainly, in one city there could not be

more than one Bishop, as they are now styled. " But at that time they called the same men Bishops “ whom they called Presbyters; therefore, he

speaks indifferently of Bishops as of Presbyters. “ This may seem even yet, doubtful to some, till “ it be proved by another testimony. It is written " in the Acts of the Apostles, that when the Apos“ tle came to Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called " the Presbyters of that church, to whom, among “ other things, he said, Take heed to yourselves, " and to all the flock over whom the Holy Ghost hath " made you Bishops, to feed the church of God which " he hath purchased with his own blood. Here ob

serve diligently, that calling together the Presby“ ters of one city, Ephesus, he afterwards styles " the same persons Bishops. If any will receive " that Epistle which is written in the name of Paul

to the Hebrews, there also the care of the church " is equally divided among many, since he writes

to the people, Obey them that have the rule over

you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your " souls as those that must give an account, that they

may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is “ unprofitable for you. And Peter (so called from " the firmness of his faith) in his Epistle, saith, “ The Presbyters which are among you I exhort, who " am also a Presbyter, and a witness of the suffer

ings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that “ shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is

(4

among you, not by constraint but willingly. These " things I have written to show, that among the "ancients, Presbyters and Bishops were the same. “ But, by little and little, that all the seeds of dis

sension might be plucked up, the whole care was “ devolved on one.

As, therefore, the Presbyters "know, that by the custom of the church they are

subject to him who is their President, so let Bish

ops know, that they are above Presbyters more << by the custom of the church than by the true dis“pensation of Christ; and that they ought to rule * the church in common, imitating Moses, who, when "he might alone rule the people of Israel, chose * seventy with whom he might judge the people.”

In Jerome's Epistle to Evagrius, he speaks on the same subject in the following pointed language*,

* Among the numerous expedients to get rid of this deci. sive testimony of Jerome, one is, to represent that the Epistle to Evagrius was written in a fit of passion, in which the worthy Father had particular inducements to magnify the office of Presbyter as much as possible. To suppose that a man of Jerome's learning and piety, even in a fit of anger, would deliberately commit to writing a doctrine directly opposite to “ the faith of the universal church from the beginning," and that too on a point of fundamental importance to the very existence of the Redeemer's kingdom on earth ; that he should so earnestly insist upon it, and make such formal and solemn appeals to Scripture in support of it, is a supposition which can only be made by those who are driven to the utmost extremity for a subterfuge. But how shall we account for Jerome's having maintained the same doctrine, il. lustrated by the same reasonings, and fortified by the same

"I hear that a certain person has broken out into "such folly that he prefers Deacons before Presby"ters, that is, before Bishops; for when the Apos “tle clearly teaches that Presbyters and Bishops were the same, who can endure it that a minister "of tables and of widows should proudly exalt him"self above those at whose prayers the body and "blood of Christ is made? Do you seek for au"thority? Hear that testimony-Paul and Timothy, "servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus that 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 own blood. And "lest any should contend about there being a plu"rality of Bishops in one church, hear also another 46 testimony, by which it may most manifestly be "proved, that a Bishop and 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 ap¬ pointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of "one wife, &c. For a Bishop must be blameless, as

Scriptural quotations, in his Commentary on Titus, before quoted, which must be supposed to have been written with much reflection and seriousness, and which was solemnly delivered as a legacy to the Church, by one of her most illustrious ministers }

steward of God. And to Timothy-Neglect not “the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by cs prophecy, by the laying on of the hands of the Pres

bytery. And Peter also, in his first Epistle, saitha “ The Presbyters which are among you I exhort, “who am also a Presbyter, and a witness of the suf“ferings 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 ETIOLOTOVYTES, that is, super“ intending it, whence the name of Bishop is drawn. " Do the testimonies of such men seem small to

thee? Let the evangelical trumpet sound, the “ son of thunder, whom Jesus 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 an* other Epistle, The Presbyter to the beloved Gaius, " whom I love in the truth.

But that one was af“terwards chosen, who should be set above the

rest, was done as a remedy against schism ; lest

every one drawing the church of Christ to him“ " self, should break it in pieces. For at Alexandria, " from Mark, the Evangelist, to Heraclas and Di

onysius, the Bishops thereof, the Presbyters al

ways named one, chosen from among them, and “ placed in an higher degree, Bishop. As if an army “ should make an emperor;, or the deacons should - choose one of themselves whom they knew to be

most diligent, and call him arch-deacon.” And

a little afterwards, in the same Epistle, he says, "Presbyter and Bishop, the 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 Bishop and Deacon, but not of Pres"byters, because the Presbyter is included in the "Bishop."

After perusing this most explicit and unequivo'cal testimony; a testimony which one would imagine could scarcely have been more formal or more decisive; you will be surprised to learn that some Episcopal writers have ventured to say, that Yerome merely offers a conjecture, that in the Apostles' days, Bishop and Presbyter were the same. If the extracts above stated be the language of conjecture, I should be utterly at a loss to know what is the language of assertion and proof. In what manner could he have spoken more clearly or more positively? But I will not insult your understandings by pursuing the refutation of this pretence. From the foregoing extracts, it is abundantly apparent,

1. That the interpretation given, in my second letter, of those passages of Scripture which represent Bishops and Presbyters as the same, in office and power, as well as in title, is by no means a -novel interpretation, invented to serve the purposes of a a party, as Episcopalians have frequently asserted; but an interpretation more than 1400 years old; land represented as the general sense of the apostolic age, by one who had as good an opportunity