wrote his letters to the prefbyters of that place. But what shall we fay of our Lecturer's afferting it, as "evident from the above quotation, that Polycarp "knew of no Chriftian minifter fuperior to the "prefbyters," when, together with his own, he earneftly recommended, and actually fent to the Philippians, at their defire, thofe very epiftles of Ignatius, in which the office and the duties of a bifhop, as diftinguished from thofe of the presbyters, are fo fully and frequently infifted on, that Polycarp might well think it unneceffary for him to fay any thing farther on that fubject? Being himself a bishop, and writing in that character to the Philippians, he might justly confider the epistles of Ignatius, which they were fo defirous to fee, as perfectly fufficient to establish the regard which was due to the Epifcopal office, efpecially as one of these epiftles was addreffed to himself as bishop of Smyrna, and another of them to the church of that place, exhorting them to be obedient to their bifhop, and to do nothing of what belongs to the church without his confent.

Indeed the epiftles of Ignatius bear fuch ftrong undeniable evidence to the existence of three diftinct orders in the Chriftian miniftry, known by the names of bishops, prefbyters and deacons, that there is no poffibility of evading the force of this pofitive teftimony, but by boldly affirming, that the epiftles themselves are fpurious, or have been fo interpolated by various transcribers, as to leave but a very fmall, if any degree of credit due to them. This has been

the

the pretence, in one shape or other, of all the advocates for prefbyterian parity, from the days of Calvin down to Dr. Campbell; and we have only to take notice of the fame arguments, dreffed out perhaps in different forms, according to the tafte and ability of the feveral writers, who have prefumed to attack thofe venerable remains of ecclefiaftical antiquity contained in the epiftles of St. Ignatius.It is very fuitable however to our present defign, to fhew all proper attention to what has been faid on this fubject; and we shall begin with obferving, that Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, having prefided over that church with admirable prudence and conftancy, for almost forty years, was at laft condemned to suffer death, about the tenth year of the reign of the Emperor Trajan, and on the way to his martyrdom at Rome, wrote his epiftles to the feveral churches, to which they are addreffed. That fome such epiftles were written by Ignatius, is evident from the account, to which we have juft now referred, as given by Polycarp in his Epistle to the Philippians, in which he tells them" The

epiftles of Ignatius, which he wrote unto us," (that is to himself, and to the church at Smyrna) "together with what others of his have come to

our hands, we have fent to you, according to

your order, which are subjoined to this epistle; by "which ye may be greatly profited; for they treat "of faith, and patience and of all things that per

"tain

66

"tain to edification in the Lord Jefus."* To this account from Polycarp, we may add that which is given by his difciple Irenæus, bishop of Lyons, who as Eufebius affures us, "was not ignorant of the "martyrdom of St. Ignatius, and mentions his epif"tles in thefe words-Thus one of our brethren "being condemned for maintaining the faith, to be exposed to the wild beafts, faid-I am the wheat "of God, and shall be ground by the teeth of wild "beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of "Chrift." Which words thus quoted by Irenæus, are found in the epistle of St. Ignatius to the Romans. To this undoubted teftimony, may be added that of Origen, who was born before Irenæus died, and has left us two quotations from the epiftles of Ignatius, which are both to be found in our prefent copies. And Eufebius, in his ecclefiaftical hiftory, gives us a full account of thefe epiftles, and tells us where the holy martyr wrote them.

Such are the teftimonies, which, together with thofe of Athanafius, Jerom, and many others, ferve to prove, that the epiftles of Ignatius, as published by archbishop Ufher in an ancient Latin verfion, and foon after by Ifaac Voffius in the original Greek, from a manufcript in the Florentine library, are undoubtedly the genuine epiftles of that primitive martyr:

See Archbishop Wake's Translation of the Genuine Epiftles of the Apeftelical Fathers, p. 59.

Irenæus Contra Her. lib. v. cap. 28.

Lib. iii. c. 36.

tyr: A point, which has been fo clearly established by the learned Dr. Pearson, late bishop of Chester, in his admirable work on this fubject, as to leave room for no objection or argument of any weight to appear, against the genuineness of these epiftles, which has not been already refuted in his unanswerable vindication of them.* If therefore it shall still be urged by fuch writers as Dr. Campbell, against the authority of Ignatius, that "we cannot with

fafety found a decifion on an author, with whose "works transcribers have made so free," we think it fufficient to reply in the words of archbishop Wake, "that if it be meant, that the fame has happened

to the epiftles of Ignatius, as has done to all other "ancient writings, that letters or words have been "mistaken, either by the careleffness or ignorance "of the tranfcribers, we fee no reafon, why we "fhould deny that to have befallen thefe epiftles, "which has been the misfortune of all other pieces of "the like antiquity. This therefore it has been often "declared, that neither do we contend about; "nor can any one, who reads the best copies we "have of them with any care or judgment, make 66 any doubt about it. But as for any large interpolations, fuch as were thofe of the copies before extant; for any changes or mistakes that may call "in question either the credit or authority of these epiftles,

66

F f

+ Voffii annot. paffim. Pearfon That is, before thofe of Uber and Voffius.

* See Vindicia Ignatiana by Dr. Pearson. Vind. Ignat. Proleg. p. 20.

દ

epiftles, as we now have them, we utterly deny "that there are any fuch in thefe laft editions of "them:"nor, we may add, has even the learned Dr. Campbell offered any thing to induce us to be lieve that there are. He has indeed acknowledged, that "the epiftles in queftion ought not to be rejec"ted in the lump," but ftill infifts "that undue "freedoms have been used even with the pureft of "them, by fome over zealous partizans of the

priesthood." And if we fhould maintain, that this is an undue freedom ufed by "an over zealous "partizan" of prefbytery, we could bring forward as much proof in fupport of our affertion, as he has produced for the purpose of stamping the mark of forgery, or interpolation, on the epiftles of Ignatius. All that he has offered like argument on the fubject, S amounts at moft, even by his own account, to "raifing fufpicions of their authenticity, or at "leaft of their integrity;" but he furely knew, that it requires more than fufpicion, however ftrong, to fix forgery, or prove interpolation in any writing.

What seems to be the greatest ground of offence, as well as of fufpicion, is the "naufeous repetition," as he calls it, "of obedience and fubjection to the bishop, prefbyters and deacons, to be found in "the Letters of Ignatius." But has he fhewn, or even attempted to fhew, that there are any manufcripts,

See Archbishop Wake's Tranflation &c. p. 39.

From p. 184, to p. 198, of his first volume of Lectures.