the tenth century, and the glove was also introduced, but at what

time does not appear.

The presbyter received the sacramental cup and plate in token of his service in administering the sacrament.

Upon the deacon the bishop laid his right hand and delivered to him a copy of the Gospels, to indicate that he was to act as the agent and organ of the bishop.

The subdeacon received an empty paten and cup, with an ewer and napkin; the reader received a copy of the Scriptures; the acolyth, a candlestick with a taper; and the ostiarii the keys of the church.

The person ordained was signed with the sign of the cross, and after his ordination received the kiss of charity from the ordaining minister and his assistants.7

The following is the prayer which is prescribed by the Apostolical Constitutions to be used in the ordination of a bishop:

"O eternal and almighty Lord God, the only unbegotten and supreme, who art from eternity, before all time and all things; thou who hast need of nothing, and art exalted far above all circumstances and events; thou who art the only true, the only wise, the highest over all; whose nature is inscrutable, and whose knowledge is without beginning; thou who alone art good, and with whom no one may compare; thou who knowest all things before they come to pass; thou from whom no secrets are hid, whom no one can approach unto, whom no one can command; O thou God. and Father of thine only-begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour; thou who through time hast created all things, and who upholdest all; thou father of mercy, and God of all consolation; thou who dwellest in the highest, and regardest the things that are below; thou who hast given to the church its bounds by the incarnation of thy Christ, with the testimony of the Comforter, by thine apostles, and by the bishops here present by thy grace; thou who from the beginning, amongst the first men, didst for the good of thy people appoint priests, even Abel, Seth, Enos, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, and Job;-thou who didst choose thy faithful servants Abraham and the other patriarchs, Moses, Aaron, Eleazar, and Phineas, and didst appoint from among them princes and priests for the service of the covenant; who didst make Samuel both priest and prophet, who didst not leave thy sanctuary without ministers and attendance, and didst show favour unto those whom thou didst cause to minister to thy glory; we beseech thee to pour out now through us, by the

mediation of thy Christ, the power of thine almighty Spirit, which is given through thy beloved Son Jesus Christ, and which he imparted to thine holy apostles according to thy will, O eternal God. Grant, O thou searcher of the heart, that this thy servant, whom thou hast chosen to the office of a bishop, may feed thy holy flock in thy name, and may serve thee unblamably as thine high priest, day and night; and that he, propitiating thy countenance, may gather unto thee the number of those who shall be called, and may present the offerings of thy holy church. Grant unto him, O Lord Almighty, by thy Christ and the communication of the Holy Spirit, that he may have power to remit sins according to thy commandment, to confer orders (didóvaι xλrpovs) according to thy appointment, and to loose every bond (návτa ovvdeoμóv) according to the power which thou didst grant unto thine apostles. Grant that he may please thee by meekness, purity of heart, constancy, sincerity, and a blameless conversation; that so he may offer unto thee the pure and unbloody sacrifice which thou hast appointed by Christ in the sacrament of the new covenant, and as the offering of a sweet-smelling savour, through thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, through whom be unto thee glory, honour, and adoration, in the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen."

CHAPTER XII.

OF CLERICAL PREROGATIVES.

§ 1. OF THE RANK OF THE CLERGY.

THE pride of rank was wholly unknown in the age of the apostles and of their immediate successors; and, indeed, until the establishment of Christianity as a state religion under Constantine. The ministerial office neither conferred any personal superiority nor claimed any official distinction. The representations which the Scriptures and the primitive fathers so frequently make of the dignity and worth of religious teachers have no reference to this subject. They only represent these teachers as the servants and stewards of God, and their office as one in the highest degree elevated and heavenly. Such, indeed, was the real estimation in which some of the most eminent Christian bishops were held by the world in the first three centuries, that one might fitly say of them the greatest in the kingdom of heaven was the least of all

men.

The famous Origen was, in regard to rank, one of the lesser lights in the church, invested at first with only the humble office of catechist, and afterward, informally, with that of deacon, or, according to some, with that of presbyter. Yet had he more influence and authority than any dignitary of the church in his time. Clemens Alexandrinus and Tertullian were never bishops; but they were held in the highest estimation both by their contemporaries and by posterity. Jerome was only an itinerating presbyter, but he was honoured as the dictator of the church. And still later, even when the aristocracy of the church was fully established, there occurred, at times, instances of men who, by their talents, rose superior to all the distinctions of rank and of office. On the other hand, even the bishops of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Carthage, and others, notwithstanding their high office, were often treated with the greatest indignity.

The relations of rank must have existed among the priesthood themselves previous to the time of Constantine, even from the time when they began to be regarded as a distinct order, and to be divided into different classes, superior and inferior. But it was a long time before even these relations became so distinct as they have been since the establishment of the Eastern and Western hierarchy in the eighth century. After the organization of the episcopal government, however, as a religious establishment, a long and bitter strife began between the different orders for preferment and distinction one above another. The primitive presbyters sustained an arduous conflict, first against the pretensions of bishops to superiority; and then again against the order of deacons, and especially of the archdeacons, who arrayed themselves on the side of the bishops. The result of this increasing conflict was the final subjugation of the presbyters to the authority of the bishops, so that only a few ventured occasionally to remonstrate against the usurpation of the episcopate. And the bishops again sustained a struggle, arduous and disastrous to themselves, with the archbishops, primates, and patriarchs. With the latter, particularly, a long and obstinate strife for the mastery was maintained, which finally resulted in the popish supremacy; but the conflict ceased not so long as one remained to sustain it.

Previous to the reign of Constantine no outward relations of rank were established among the clergy. But as in both the Jewish and Roman states the priesthood were invested with peculiar honours, so this monarch sought to transfer the same to the Christian ministry. Thus these forms of the Jewish priesthood perpetuated themselves in the Christian church after the overthrow of the religion to which they at first belonged.'

The bishops, especially, profited by this reference to the priesthood of Jewish and pagan systems of religion, claiming that the Christian bishops ought at least to be equal in rank to the Jewish patriarchs. It was an expedient to elevate a depressed priesthood by investing them with new honours, just as Julian the Apostate sought afterward to overthrow them by reinstating the pagan priesthood in their ancient rank. And again, Constantine himself sustained a certain relation to the priesthood. Eusebius declares him to have been a bishop duly constituted by God. And he styles himself bishop, τῶν ἐκτὸς ὑπὸ θεοῦ καθεστάμενον ἐπίσκοπον— a phrase of similar import with pontifex maximus, which, after the example of the Roman emperors, he solemnly assumed in the year

325.5 The Emperor Gratian, † 383, was the last who bore this title. But so long as it was retained it had the effect to elevate the office both of bishops and emperors in the estimation of the people, and to justify the intervention of secular power in ecclesiastical councils and in the elections of bishops.

The priesthood of the Christian church, after its union with the state, in the fourth century, were the constituted guardians of the morals of the community, as civil as well as ecclesiastical magistrates, and in this relation had a decided superiority to the pagan and Jewish priesthood. Even the highest magistrates and princes were not exempt from their sentences of suspension and excommunication. Theodosius the Great submitted himself to this discipline, A. D. 390, and his example was imitated by many of his successors, down to the time of Henry IV. Gregory Nazianzen, in speaking on this subject, says, "The law of Christ subjects you to my control. For we also are in authority, and I will add, an authority greater and more perfect than yours, inasmuch as the carnal is inferior to the spiritual-the earthly to the heavenly."" Multitudes of passages of similar import are found in the writings of Chrysostom,8 Ambrose," and other of the fathers.10

Notwithstanding the high consideration in which the clergy were held, we are still left in ignorance of their relative rank in civil life. But on the re-establishment of the Western empire, their civil and political relations were clearly defined; and under the dynasty of Charlemagne, in the eighth century, the bishops obtained the rank of barons or lords, and as such became civil magistrates and counsellors in the state, and, as civil dignitaries, took part in all political and ecclesiastical concerns of importance. They were regular members of all imperial diets, which were in reality ecclesiastical synods. At a later period, bishops, archbishops, and abbots were, by statute laws, made princes of the empire and electors. And the last mentioned were often involved in conflicts with the Roman cardinals for superiority. This organization was continued until the dissolution of the German confederacy subsequent to the French Revolution, and became a pattern for other lands.

§ 2. OF THE IMMUNITIES, PREROGATIVES, AND PRIVILEGES OF THE

PRIESTHOOD.

PREVIOUS to his conversion, Constantine merely gave to the clergy of the Christian church equal privileges with the pagan and