"(Rom. xii. 8.) He that ruleth let him do it with "diligence. Every Church, therefore, from the "beginning, had its own Senate, collected from แ among the godly, grave and holy, who had that jurisdiction over the correction of vices of which we shall speak hereafter.-And, moreover, that "this was the order of more than one age, expe"rience itself teaches. This office of government, "therefore, is necessary for all ages."

"The care of the poor was committed to the "Deacons Although the word Deacon has 66 a more extensive meaning; yet the Scripture "especially calls them Deacons, to whom the "Church hath given in charge the distribution of "alms, and the care of the poor; and hath ap"pointed them, as it were, stewards of the comแ mon treasury of the poor-whose origin, institu❝tion, and office are described by Luke in Acts vi. "For when a murmuring arose among the Gre"cians, because in the ministrations to the poor, their "widows were neglected, the Apostles, excusing "themselves, as not being adequate to the execu"tion of both offices, both the preaching of the "word, and the ministering at tables, requested "the multitude to choose seven honest men, to "whom they might commit that business. Behold "what manner of Deacons the Apostolic Church "had; and what kind of Deacons it becomes us "to have in conformity with their example!"

Book iv. Chap. 4th. der of the Church as"

Having treated of the ordelivered in the pure Word

of God, and of the ministries as instituted by Christ," he undertakes, in this chapter, to exhibit the order which obtained in the "ancient Church," that is, as he explains it, the Church as it existed soon after the Apostolic age, and before the rise of the Papacy. Now this " ancient Church," he expressly declares, deviated from the pure Apostolic model; but, at the same time, he supposes that the deviation was not great or essential. He proceeds, "As we have declared that there are three sorts "of ministers commended to us in the Scriptures; 46 so all the ministers that the ancient Church had, "it divided into three orders. For out of the or"der of Presbyters, part were chosen Pastors and "Teachers, and the rest bore rule in the adminis"tration of discipline. To the Deacons was com"mitted the care of the poor, and the distribution "of alms. All those to whom the office of teach"ing was committed, were called Presbyters. "They, in every city, chose one, out of their own "number, to whom they, specially, gave the title "of Bishop; that dissentions might not grow out "of equality, as is wont to be the case. Yet the "Bishop was not so in honour and dignity above "the rest, as to have any dominion over his col"leagues; but the office which the Consul had in "the Senate, to propose business; to collect opin❝ions; to preside in consulting, admonishing, and "exhorting; to direct, by his authority, the whole

process of business; and to put in execution that "which was decreed by the common counsel of all,

"the same office had the Bishop in the assem"bly of Presbyters. And even this the ancient "writers themselves confess, was brought in by “human consent, on account of the necessity of the "times. Therefore Jerome, in his commentary "on the Epistle to Titus, saith-A Presbyter was "the same with a Bishop. And before there were, 66 by the Devil's instigation, dissentions in religion, "and it was said among the people, I am of Paul, " and I of Cephas, the Churches were governed "by the common council of Presbyters. After"wards, that the seeds of dissention might be plucked up, all the care was devolved on one per"son. As therefore the Presbyters know that 66 by the custom of the Church, they are subject to "him who presides among them; so let the Bi

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shops know, that they are above the Presbyters "rather by custom, than by any real appointment "of Christ; and that they ought to govern the "Churches in common. And in another place, "(Epist. ad Evagr.) he teaches how ancient an "institution this was; for he says that at Alexan"dria, from Mark, the Evangelist, down to Hera"clas and Dionysius, the Presbyters always placed 66 one, chosen out of their own number, in a high66 er station, and called him Bishop. Every city, "then, had a college of Presbyters, who were "Pastors and Teachers, and who all executed 66 among the people the offices of instructing, ex"horting, and exercising discipline, which Paul "enjoins on Bishops, Titus i. 9. And every one

"of these colleges, (as I said before,) was under "the presidency of one Bishop, who was only so

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far above the rest in dignity, as to be himself 66 subject to the assembly of his brethren.”

In chapter 11th, Sect. 6, of the same Book, speaking of the exercise of discipline in particular Churches, he says-" But such authority was not "in the power of one man, to do every thing ac"cording to his own will; but in the assembly of "the Elders, which was the same thing in the "Church that a senate is in a city. The com་ mon and usual manner was for the authority of "the Church to be exercised by a senate of Elders, "of whom (as I have before said) there were two 66 sorts, for some were ordained to teach, and "others only to rule in matters of discipline. But "by little and little this institution degenerated "from its original character; so that even in the "time of Ambrose, the clergy alone had cognizance, "of ecclesiastical causes, of which he complains "in these words-The ancient synagogue," says he," and afterwards the Church, had Elders, "without whose counsel nothing was done."-We 66 see how much the holy man was displeased, that "there should be a falling off in any respect, when

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as yet things continued, to say the least, in a "tolerable condition.-What would he have said "if he had seen the mis-shapen ruins which now "appear, and which exhibit scarcely any vestige of "the ancient edifice? What lamentation would "he have expressed? For, first, against law and

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right, the Bishop hath usurped to himself that authority which was vested in the Church. For it is all one as if the Consul had expelled the Se

nate, and assumed the empire to himself alone. "For surely, though he is in honour superior to "the rest, yet there is more authority in the col"lege than in one man. It was, therefore, a very "wicked deed, that one man, having gotten into his own hands the power which was before common to the whole college, paved the way to tyranni"cal domination, snatched from the Church her 66 own right, and abolished the Presbytery, which, by the Spirit of Christ had been ordained." Book 1v. Chapter. v. Sect. 15. "Now let the "Deacons come forth, and that holy distribution "which they have of the Church's goods; although "they by no means, at present, create their Dea

cons for that purpose. For they (the Papists) 66 enjoin upon them nothing else but to minister at "the altar, to read or sing the Gospels, and to "perform I know not what trifles. Nothing of "the alms, nothing of the care of the poor, nothing "of the whole function which, in former times, they "executed. I speak of the very institution; for "if we have a respect to what they do, it is not in "itself an office, but only a step toward the priest"hood. Therefore they mock the Church with "this lying Deaconry. Truly therein they have "nothing like, either the institution of the Apos ❝tles, or ancient usage."