upon an original error, of no slight importance. In the times of primitive Christianity, there was no necessary connexion between the gift of preaching, or prophecy, and the offices of bishops, presbyters, and deacons. The fourteenth chapter of the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians affords abundant evidence, as we have already found occasion to notice, that, when the earliest Christians assembled together for the purpose of divine worship, it was not the bishop or overseer, nor the presbyter or elder, nor the deacon or subordinate manager, who preached and prayed, ex officio, in the congregation. Being, for the most part, persons of a spiritual character, they might, indeed, be frequently included in the number of those who preached and prayed in the churches; but the work of the ministry was, at that time, restricted to no appointed individuals: it devolved promiscuously upon all persons-whether men or women-whether governors or governed-to whom the word of God was revealed, and who were visited by the fresh and heavenly influences of the Spirit of prophecy.

The office of the bishops or overseers was, in the earliest Christian churches, the same as that of the presbyters or elders. The overseers were denominated elders, and the elders, overseers.' Their situation in the body corresponded with that of the chief rulers of the ancient Jewish synagogues. "It was their duty," says Schleusner, "to rule the church of Christ, but not to teach more especially, to preside over matters of worship; to administer the sacraments (or at least the Eucharist); to make decrees in ecclesiastical affairs; to provide assistance for the poor and the sick; to maintain, in the church, integrity of doctrine and sanctity of manners, and to settle the differences which arose among Christians.' 772 This able critic appears to have been somewhat hasty in excluding from the offices of the bishops and presbyters the duty of teaching. The gift of teaching-a gift which is sometimes distinguished from that of preaching or prophecy-does not, indeed, appear to have been universal among them; but the apostle, in his general directions re

1 Phil. i. 1. "Paul and Timotheus, &c........... to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons." Theodoret, in his note upon this passage, says, "He calls the presbyters bishops; for, at that period, they were called by both those names;" so also Theophylact.

2 See Schleusner in voc. #peaßúrepos.

specting the character and qualifications of the bishop or overseer, nevertheless recommends that he should be "apt to teach ;" and, again, that he should "be able, by sound doctrine (or teaching) both to exhort and to convince (or rather to refute) the gainsayers." But, although the elders and overseers of early Christianity, as the spiritual governors and appointed guardians of the flock, who were to protect their followers from the encroachment of false doctrine, and of every root of bitterness, were often called upon, in the exercise of their Christian authority, to advise, instruct, exhort, and argue; they were not (like the bishops and presbyters of modern times) necessarily ministers of the Gospel. Between the public preaching and praying, practised in assemblies for worship, and the offices of these persons, there does not appear to have been any indispensable, peculiar, or official connexion.3

3 In the Jewish synagogues, which were, probably, in some respects, the patterns of the early Christian assemblies for worship, the duty of preaching does not appear to have devolved upon any appointed officer. The officers of the synagogue were, first, the rulers, who corresponded with the Christian elders and bishops: they governed the church, and regulated the order of divine service. Secondly, the Sheliach Zibbor, or angel of the congregation, who read the forms of prayer. Thirdly, the Chozenim, or inspectors, who appear to have answered to the Christian deacons: it was their duty to keep every thing belonging to their place of worship in its proper order; to correct those who misread the Holy Scriptures, &c. Fourthly, the Interpreter, who translated into vernacular Syriac the portion of Scripture which had been previously read in Hebrew. The lessons of Scripture were divided into seven parts, and read by seven persons, most of whom were selected, from the congregation at large, by one of the rulers. If the reader desired it, he was at liberty to expound: and persons who were totally destitute of office in the church were accustomed to avail themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them for preaching to the people. Such was very frequently the case with our Saviour himself, who taught in the synagogues throughout Galilee and Judea; and, also, with the apostle Paul, as is plainly recorded in the book of Acts: ch. ix. 20; xiii. 5. 15; xviii. 19. Now, if there were no officers appointed for the purpose of preaching in the Jewish synagogue, it is very improbable that there should be any such officers in the early Christian assemblies for worship, which, probably, differed from the synagogues only in being conducted on a far purer and more spiritual system: see Prideaux, Con. fol. ed. i, 306.

Since the presbyters, bishops, and deacons, in the early Christian church, must have been selected as persons of an eminently spiritual character, we

So, also, the deacon of the early Christian church was not officially a preacher. His office probably embraced a variety of subordinate services; but it is supposed to have been principally directed to the care of the sick, and to the management and distribution of the funds raised in any church, for the maintenance of the poor.' On the whole, then, it may be allowed that the human ordination, or appointment of elders, overseers, and deacons, (provided that it be effected under the influence of devout feelings, and of a sound and enlightened judgment) is by no means inconsistent with the true order of the Christian church. Such officers are nominated and appointed by their brethren in the Society of Friends. But,

may presume that many of them, like Timothy and Titus, were distinguished by the gift of prophecy or preaching. And, since they were, at the same time, possessed of office and authority in the church, the erroneous doctrine might very easily arise (as the spirituality of the church declined,) that they alone might preach. At how early a period the change took place, from the congregational administrations described by the apostle Paul, in 1 Cor. xiv, to the modern system of pulpit lectures, it is impossible now to ascertain. The extract given from Hermas, in a note upon the preceding chapter, may suffice to show that the original practice of the church, in this respect, continued to be maintained in the latter part of the first century; and I observe that Polycarp (A. D. 107,) in his description of the duties of presbyters and deacons, makes no allusion whatever to their preaching; but speaks of them only as the superintendents and managers of ecclesiastical discipline: Ep, ad Philipp. cap. 5 & 6. In the following curious passage of his epistle to the Philadelphians, Ignatius (A. D. 107) describes the divine origin of his own ministry. "I exhorted you, when I was with you, in a loud voice, to obey the bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons and some persons suspected that, when I thus addressed you, I was previously aware of the divisions which existed among you. But he is my witness, for whom I am in bonds, that I knew it not from any man, but the Spirit preached by me, saying in this wise," &c.: cap. 7. Justin Martyr (A. D. 133,) in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew, declares the continued existence of the gifts of prophecy, and that these gifts were exercised by both men and women: p. 308, Ed. Paris, 1636: Benson, vol. i, p. 624. Lastly, Irenæus, Bishop of Lyons, (A. D, 178,) describes the spiritual gifts exercised, at his time, in the church, in terms which mainly accord with the accounts given to us, of the same faculties, in the epistles of Paul. "We hear many brethren in the church," says this father, "who are endued with prophetic gifts; who speak by the Spirit in all kinds of languages; who bring to light the secrets of men, for good purposes; and who declare divine mysteries:" Adv. Hæres. lib. v, cap. 6.

1 See Schleusner in voc, diákovos,

it by no means follows, from such an allowance, that man is at liberty to ordain or appoint the preachers of the Gospel of Christ.

Having premised these observations respecting bishops, presbyters, and deacons, we may proceed to apply the general rule, stated in the commencement of the present dissertation, to the known views and practices of the Society of Friends. In the former chapter, their sentiments respecting the true nature and character of the Christian ministry have been fully detailed; and it has been stated that it is their principle to admit no preaching or audible praying in their assemblies for worship, but such as they deem to be prompted by the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit. Since, therefore, the ministry, according to the apprehension of Friends, ought never to be brought into exercise, unless it is suggested, ordered, and directed, of the Lord; since, as far as is consistent with the infirmity of the instrument, it thus assumes, in their view, the character of a divine work; and since the influence, which alone leads into such a work, is in no degree placed under their authority; it necessarily follows that they cannot interfere in any of the preceding steps in the selection, preparation, and appointment of the ministers of the Gospel. They conceive that it is the sole prerogative of the Great Head of the church himself, to choose, to prepare, and to ordain, his own ministers. A few observations may now be offered upon each of these points.

I. SELECTION. "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Such was the declaration of the Lord to Jeremiah, although the prophet deemed himself to be a mere child, completely incapable of the office to which he had been called. A very similar declaration was made respecting an eminent apostle of Jesus Christ. We find that Ananias, the messenger of the Lord to Paul, considered this persecutor of the Christians to be utterly unfit for the exercise of the ministry of the Gospel; "but the Lord said unto him, Go thy way; for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." Accordingly, Paul himself declares he was "separated unto the Gospel of God;""-that God separated him, from his mother's womb, and called him, by his

1 Jer. i. 5.

2 Acts ix. 15.

3 Rom. i. 1.

grace, to reveal the Son in him, that he might preach him among the heathen. As it was with Jeremiah and Paul, so, undoubtedly, it was with all the other prophets and apostles, of whom we read in the Holy Scriptures. They were "witnesses chosen before of God." In the secret counsels of their heavenly Father, they were selected from among the children of men, and were preordained, according to his foreknowledge, for that peculiar service in the church and in the world, unto which it was his good pleasure to appoint them. They were not, in general, such persons as men would have chosen for the work: they were but very humble instruments in their own sight, and in the sight of others. Nevertheless, the Lord, who is alone the searcher of hearts, had selected them in his own wisdom, and for his own work. "Ye have not chosen me," said our Saviour to his disciples, whom he was soon to anoint with his Holy Spirit, and to send forth in the work of the Gospel-" but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain." Now, there is, evidently, no reason why the same principle should not apply to every true minister of the Gospel of Christ. Man is no adequate judge beforehand of the capacity of his brother for such a work; and often are the individuals, whom, in our own wisdom, we should be prone to prefer for the purpose, passed over by the Lord. But, as he is pleased, by the powerful influence of his own Spirit, to anoint some of his servants for the work of the ministry, so, it must be allowed that, in his perfect knowledge, and boundless wisdom, he chooses these individuals for their office in the church before he thus anoints them in order to its execution.

Now, the selection of which we are speaking is to be regarded, not in the light of an unconditional and irresistible decree, but in that of a gracious purpose, which requires to be met with corresponding duties. This purpose may, in its operation, be disappointed by the negligence, or perverted by the activity of man. Many an individual, doubtless, whom the Lord would have numbered among his preachers, has, through unwatchfulness and neglect of the Shepherd's voice, fallen short of the station designed for him. And many a body of Christians, also, by taking the choice of their ministers into their own hands, have imposed the sacred office upon those