19, the preaching of the Word [Mark xvi. 15], the Power of the Keys [Matt. xviii. 18. John xx. 23]; they were to be as pillars of the Church [Gal. ii. 19], as lights in the world [Matt. v. 14]; to be heard and received in Christ's stead [Matt. x. 40. Luke x. 16]. As the Priests under the Law exercised the ordinary sacerdotal offices although not called, like Aaron and his sons, in an extraordinary way, so these did not inherit the miraculous effusion, or the infallible guidance of the Holy Ghost [1 Tim. i. 18, 19; v. 21, 22], or an unlimited mission, as St. Paul did [1 Cor. xi. 23. Comp. John xiv. 26; xvi. 13]. They are called mediately through the Church by Ordination, they receive grace for grace, and are first tried, proved, and examined; but the heavenly mysteries having been first confided to their order, they, as the agents of the Holy Spirit, acting by commission from Christ, send forth priests and deacons. He that receiveth them receiveth Christ, and he that receiveth Christ receiveth Him that sent Him [Matt. x. 40. John xiii. 20. Mark ix. 37. Luke ix. 48]. Such is the doctrine of the Church of England: "The office and function of Priests and Ministers of the Church is appointed of God" [Royal Injunc. 1559, § xxviii.; 1547, § xxxii.]. "Holy Scripture openly teacheth that the order and ministry of Priests and Bishops was instituted of God, not by man's authority [Cranmer's Paper, 1538, art. xv.]. "All are agreed that the Apostles received power of God to create Bishops" [Resol. of Bishops and Divines, 1540]. The twenty-sixth Article declares that the Clergy act "not in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by His commission and authority;" and the words of the Prayer Book are, "Almighty God, who by Thy Divine Providence" [Collect for Ember week], "by Thy Holy Spirit" [Collect in the Ordinal], "hast appointed divers orders of Ministers in Thy Church." The institution of the Ministry is from heaven, is of God, and the Holy Ghost is the Author of it.

§ Succession of the Ministry from the Apostles.

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The order of Bishops is essential to the outward being of a Church. Scire debes Episcopum in Ecclesiâ esse et Ecclesiam in Episcopo; et si qui cum Episcopo non sint in Ecclesiâ non esse [St. Cypr., Epist. lxvi. § 7]. "Оñoυ àv pavý ¿ ¿níσkoños èkeî tò πλῆθος ἔστω, ὥσπερ ὅπου ἂν ᾖ Χριστὸς Ἰησοῦς ἐκεῖ ἡ Καθολικὴ KKλnola [St. Ignat., Ep. ad Smyrn. § viii.]. But even before the ordination of Bishops, the Apostles then being alive, deacons were chosen as coadjutors, at first in relieving them of secular business, but subsequently with permission to preach and baptize [Acts viii. 5. 38]; and this, which was the constitution of the Church of Jerusalem, was adopted in cities [Tit. i. 5] which were too small to require the ministrations of Priests, as at Philippi [Phil. i. 1. St. Clem. ad Corinth. c. xlii.]. Thus Titus and Timothy by St. Paul, Clement by St. Peter, Polycarp of Smyrna by St. John, and St. Mark of Alexandria, and Evodius of Antioch, were consecrated bishops. However, as the "care of all the Churches" [2 Cor. xi. 28. Acts xv. 36. 1 Cor. v. 4] devolved on the Apostles, and their representatives the bishops in separate and local Churches found the oversight too laborious without assistance in their sacerdotal functions, they appointed Priests, about the year 45, though reserving to the chief pastors the rights of laying on of hands, jurisdiction, government, and episcopal visitation. These bodies of Priests are invariably mentioned in the plural number, as by St. Peter [1 Pet. v. 1] and St. Paul [1 Thess. v. 12. Tit. i. 5. Heb. xiii. 7. 1 Tim. v. 17]; and in consequence of their local supervision of places where there was no resident Bishop they were sometimes called Bishops [Acts xx. 28. 1 Pet. v. 2. Phil. i. 1]; they corresponded to the Seventy, being in that afterwards called technically the second order of Priesthood, Bishops occupying the first order, and then, as Theodoret says, , called Apostles [in 1 Tim. iii.]. But until the second century the names were not invariably distinguished [St. Aug., Ep. lxxxii. Theodoret in 1 Tim. c. iii. St. Chrys., Hom. 1, ad Phil. c. 1]; thus St. John and St. Peter call themselves Priests [1 Pet. v. 1. 2 John 1]. St. Paul mentions Epaphroditus, without himself, as an Apostle [Phil. ii. 25], and Timothy as a Deacon [2 Tim. iv. 5]. By some mediæval and later ritualists the doctrine was held that Bishops and Priests formed one order

with two degrees, and St. Jerome says that with the ancients the same man was bishop and priest, for one is a name of dignity, the other of age [Ep. lxxxii. ad Ocean. Comp. Theod. iii. p. 1, p. 700; and Theophylact, tom. ii. p. 626, A]. But the Apostles, foreseeing that there would be a strife among the Priests who should be the greatest [St. Clem. Rom. c. xliv.], which would endanger unity, appointed chief overseers of the Churches [St. Hieron., Epist. c. 1, ad Evang., and Comm. in Ep. ad Tit. c. 1. St. Cypr., Ep. lv.] in provinces and principal cities. These were at first called also Angels [Phil. ii. 25. Rev. i. ii.], and had their known authority and superior place established a long time before their settled distinction of name and title took place. It is not improbable that the Apostolical Bishops may have been called Angels as ministering the New Testament with reference to the fact of the Law having been received by the disposition of angels [Acts vii. 53. Gal. iii. 19. Heb. ii. 12], and of our Lord being called the Angel of the presence [Isa. Ixiii. 9] and of the covenant [Mal. iii. 1. Ps. Ixviii. 8. Numb. xx. 16. Exod. xxxii. 34; xxxiii. 2]; and St. Paul says that the Galatians received him as an angel of God [Gal. iv. 14]. At length the interchange of names ceased, and the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons were determined and distinguished nominally, even as from the beginning of Church polity they had been essentially distinct in office and powers.

It would be impossible within the compass of the space at our disposal to give a complete series of patristic authorities to illustrate the great fact of the Apostolical succession. A few must suffice.

St. Ignatius [A.D. 107]: "The Bishop sitting in God's place, Priests in the place of the company of Apostles, and Deacons" [ad Magnes. c. vi.].—St. Irenæus [A.D. 202]: “We can reckon up the list of Bishops ordained in the Churches by the Apostles up to our time" [Hær. 1. iii. c. iii. § 1, 2].-St. Clement of Alexandria [A.D. 218]: "The Ecclesiastical honours of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are, I trow, the resemblance of angelic glory" [Strom. 1. vi. c. xiii.; Pæd. 1. iii. c. xii.].-Tertullian [A.D. 220]: "The High Priest, i. e. the Bishop, has the right of giving baptism, then Priests and Deacons, but not without his authority" [de Bapt. c. xvii.]1.

Our adorable Lord was Himself externally commissioned for His Ministry by the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him, and by an audible voice from heaven proclaiming Him to be the Messiah when He was about thirty years old. "Christ glorified not Himself to be made an high priest, but He that said unto Him, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee" [Heb. v. 3]. None of His Apostles or disciples presumed to undertake any ministry until they received a direct commission from Him [Mark iii. 14. John iv. 2. Luke x. 1]. It was the direct prophecy of God Himself that He would take for Priests and Levites [Isa. Ixvi. 21], and therefore, as St. Paul says of the Evangelical Ministry, "No man taketh this honour to himself but he that is called of God, as was Aaron" [Heb. v. 4]. Aaron, his sons, and all the Levites (corresponding to Bishops, Priests, and Deacons), were commissioned by God [Lev. viii. 1, 2. Numb. iii. 5], and death was the penalty of an invasion of their office [Numb. iii. 10; xviii. 17], as in the instance of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram [Numb. xvi. 39, 40]; and Uzzah, for acting in things pertaining to God without a divine commission [2 Sam. vi. 6, 7]. Saul lost his kingdom for offering sacrifice [1 Sam. xiii. 12. 14], and Uzziah was smitten with leprosy and excommunicated for burning incense [2 Chron. xxvi. 16], whilst Jeroboam's especial sin was that he consecrated all comers to the priesthood [1 Kings xiii. 33, 34; xii. 31]; and the heaviest censures of God are

1 See also de Præsc. Hær. c. xxxii. xli.; Scorpiace, c. ix. Similar testimonies may be found in Origen, A.D. 254 [Hom. in Matt, c. xxii. Tr. xxiii.; in Hierem. Hom. xi.]; St. Cyprian, A.D. 258 [Ep. lxix. §4; lxvi. § 3; xxxi. § 4]; Eusebius [Eccles. Hist. 1. iii. c. iv.; iv. c. xxii.]; Optatus, A.D. 386 [de Schism. Donat. lib. i. c. xiii. xiv.]; St. Ambrose, A.D. 397 [de Dign. Sacerd. c. iii. in Ps. cxviii.]; Epiphanius, A.D. 403 [Hær. 1. iii. c. lxxix.]; St. Chrysostom, A.D. 407 [in 1 ad Tim. c. iii. Hom. xl.]; St. Jerome, A.D. 420 [ad Heliod., Ep. v. adv. Lucif., ad Marcell. xxvii., in Ps. xliv.]; St. Augustine [de Bapt. 1. vii. c. xliii., de Verb. Evang. Serm. cii., de Mor. Eccles. lib. i. c. xxxii.].

denounced on all usurpers of the prophetical office [Jer. xxiii. 19. 21. 31]. Such intruders, who come in their own name, are characterized by our Lord Himself as thieves and robbers [John v. 43; x. 1. 8]. St. Paul expressly speaks of the distinct ministerial offices as of God's ordinance [1 Cor. xii. 28, 29. Rom. xii. 7. Eph. iv. 11, 12]. How shall they preach," he asks, "except they be sent ?" [Rom. x. 15.] So also our Blessed Lord said, "As Thou hast sent Me into the world, even so have I sent them" (the Apostles) [John xvii. 18]; and, "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you" [ib. xv. 16].

§ Derivation of the English Ordinal.

As there was only one Pontifical for the use of each diocese, copies of such collections of Services are among the rarest of ecclesiastical books. The Pontifical of Salisbury-collated with that of Winchester, which is in the University Library at Cambridge, and of Bangor, preserved among the cathedral muniments-has been printed by Mr. Maskell in his Monumenta Ritualia; and that of Exeter by Mr. Barnes. The Pontifical of Egbert has been published by the Surtees Society, and there are other uses in the Bodleian Library, Oxford; and, mostly imperfect, among the MSS. of the British Museum. These sources of information, collated with ancient Sacramentaries, Italian and French Pontificals, the Euchologium of the Greek Church, and the Ordinals of other Churches of that Communion, published by Martene, Morin, and Assemanni, form the groundwork of the present illustrations of the English Ordinal: whilst the works of Catalani, Hallier, Morin, and Muratori, and the notes of Menard, and writers contained in the volume printed by Hittorp, have been freely used. It is a remarkable fact that English writers, such as Wheatley, Sparrow, and L'Estrange, have wholly omitted the subject; Mr. Palmer and Mr. Procter have only cursorily illustrated the Services; Bp. Cosin made his notes, now in his Library at Durham and in the British Museum, in copies of the Book of Common Prayer which do not contain the Forms of Ordination; and Dean Comber, like Dr. Maut and Dr. Doyly and Mr. Pinder, has done little more than offer some practical observations. With the exception therefore of a volume on the English Ordinal by the present writer, this series of notes may be regarded as the first ritualistic illustration of this all-important portion of the Book of Common Prayer, whilst they embody the earliest complete account of its development from ancient sources. For our Ordinal was not taken word for word from the Roman Pontifical, as Archbishop Whitgift asserted, but framed on the comprehensive and broad ground of all known forms and manners of Ordination used in all branches of the Catholic Church.

There was a British Church existing in the second century, and founded in the Apostolic age [Eusebius, Demonst. Evang. 1. iii. c. vii. Theodoret adv. Gent. Disp. ix. in Ps. cxvi., Interpr. Tertullian adv. Jud. c. vii. St. Clement, Ep. ad Corinth. c. v. St. Jerome, Catal. Script. Eccles. § v.]. In 314, at the Council of Arles, probably at Nicæa, 325, certainly at Sardica, 347, and Rimini, 360, British Bishops were present. In 428, St. Germain, Bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, consecrated several Bishops [Bede, Hist. Eccl. 1. i. c. xvii.], doubtless with the Gallican form, which had been derived from the Eastern Church. In 597, St. Augustine was consecrated by Etherius, Bishop of Lyons, and Virgilius, Bishop of Arles; Wilfrid of York by Agilbert, Bishop of Paris, 665. There were also bishops consecrated in Rome, and Italy, by Saxon, Irish, and Scotch Bishops, several of the latter having derived their orders from Rome. For the purpose of simplifying the history of the gradual development of successive Ordinals, the contents of those used in England from the fifth century to the present time have been given, as well as the earliest known forms preserved in Sacramentaries, which prove that the latter were accepted as the formularies of the Western Church. It is certain that the further we can trace back rituals, the simpler they are; for they only gradually received additions and enlargement, with fresh rubrics designed to enhance the solemnity of the ceremonial. Possibly these were the innovations of an individual bishop, adopted by neighbouring diocesans, until authoritatively recognized. But they were changed according to

the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners. It will be seen how much they varied. While the Church of England retained the essential form and matter, she ordained, changed, or abolished some of those ceremonies and rites of the Church which were ordained only by man's authority, so that all things might be done to edifying, and rendered more conformable with primitive usage.

The form and offices for making Deacons agree in containing a Prayer Ad ordinandum Diaconum, oremus dilectissimi, a Prayer for the Holy Spirit, Exaudi Domine, an address for united Prayer for the deacon, Ad consummandum Diaconum, Commune votum, and a Benediction, Domine Sancte Spei. The delivery of the stole and Gospel, and other ceremonials, were of later introduction.

Diaconus cum ordinatur, solus Episcopus qui eum benedicit manum super caput illius quia non ad sacerdotium sed ad ministerium consecratur [IV. Council of Carthage, ap. Morin. p. 260]. Sacramentary of St. Leo [Migne, p. 260].

Domine Deus, preces nostras clementer exaudi (5).
Oremus dilectissimi (a).
Deus Consolator.
Adesto quæsumus (8).

Collect-Most Merciful Father [Consummatio] (8). Prevent us, O Lord [1662].

The Benediction [1662].

CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS.

The offices for consecration of a Bishop agree in having a Prayer for the Elect, Oremus, dilectissimi, the Benediction, Adesto supplicationibus, and the Consecration, Deus honorum. The Unction appears first in the Sacramentary of Gelasius, and the delivery of the staff in Egbert's Pontifical. A form of enthronization also occurs at an early date.

Episcopus cum ordinatur, duo Episcopi ponant et teneant Evangeliorum codicem supra caput et cervicem ejus, et uno super eum fundente benedictionem reliqui omnes Episcopi qui adsunt manibus suis caput ejus tangant. [IV. Council of Carthage.]

Sacramentary of Pope Leo [Migne, lv. 114]. Exaudi, Domine, supplicum preces (€).

Suscipe, Domine.

Adesto, Misericors Deus (7).

Propitiare Deus (a).

Deus honorum omnium (8).

Sacramentary of Gelasius [Morin, 267].

Consecration with laying on of the Gospels.

Oremus, dilectissimi (8).

Adesto supplicationibus (7).

Propitiare Domine (a).

Deus honorum omnium (8).

Unction with chrism.

In a very ancient French Pontifical of Poictiers, c. 511-60, printed by Morin.

Exhortation to the people.

Oremus, dilectissimi (8).

Exaudi, Domine (€).

Propitiare, Domine (a).

Collect-Deum totius sanctificationis.

Consecratio-Deus honorum omnium (8), containing a prayer for spiritual unction.

Sacram. Gregorii [Migne, lxxviii. p. 223].

Ordination with imposition of hands.

Prayer for the Bishop-Oremus, dilectissimi (8).

Benediction of the Bishop-Adesto supplicationibus nostris (7). Another prayer for the same-Propitiare, etc. (a). Consecration-Deus honorum omnium (8).

[after the Veni, Creator,

1552.]

Unction of the head of the Elect with oil and chrism.

Preface and Prayers for the Elect, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Pater Sancte, omnipotens Deus ($).

Benediction of the Septiform Spirit [occurring also in Pont. Egberti].

Unction of the hands of the Elect.

The delivery of the pastoral staff [also in Pont. Egbert and Dunstan].

The delivery of the ring [also in Pont. Egbert].

The delivery of the mitre.

The delivery of the Gospels.

The Post-Communion.

Greek Euchologium [of the 11th century].
Ordination of a Bishop.

After the Trisagion the Archbishop goes up upon the steps of the Sanctuary before the Holy Table, and receives a letter, stating that by the approbation of the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, the heavenly grace which healeth the weak and supplieth that which is lacking, promotes this godly Priest N. to be Bishop of the city, and we therefore pray that the Grace of the Holy Spirit may descend upon him.

The Archdeacon then says, "Attend," and the Patriarch reads the letter; then Kyrie Eleison is said, and the Elect is led up by three Bishops, assistants in the consecration. Then the Patriarch lays the book of the Gospels on his neck, the Bishops touching it; three signs of the cross are made on his head, and the Bishop holding his hand on it says two prayers: he then invests him with the pall; and after enthronization the newly consecrated Bishop communicates the Patriarch. Assemanni [xl. 125].

Address to the Elect. Interrogation of the Elect. The Elect robes.

Veni, Creator.

Prayer-Almighty God [Benediction] (7).
Consecration by three Bishops.

Delivery of the Bible [and of the staff, 1549].
Prayer-Most Merciful Father.
Prevent us [1662].
Benediction [1662].

§ The Revision of the English Ordinal.

The first change in the old English Pontificals was made by the omission of the oath of Obedience to the Bishop of Rome by Act 28 Hen. VIII. c. x. In the winter of 1548, a Committee, consisting of the Primate, the Bishops of Rochester, Ely, Lincoln, and Westminster, according to Heylin [Hist. of Reform., pp. 57, 58], the Deans of St. Paul's, Lincoln, Exeter, Ch. Ch., Archdeacon Robertson, and Redmayne, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and, as Burnet adds, (Collier inclining to the same belief,) the Archbishop of York, and Bishops of London, Durham, Worcester, Norwich, St. Asaph, Salisbury, Coventry, Carlisle, Bristol, and St. David's [Burnet, Hist. of the Reform. pt. ii. b. i., and Collier, Eccles. Hist. pt. ii. b. iv.], was appointed to reconstruct an Ordinal. The old books of Ecclesiastical offices had been destroyed ruthlessly and needlessly by the King's orders [Cardwell, Doc. Ann., No. xx.]; and therefore, in November, 1549, the Parliament made an Act, declaring that "forasmuch as concord and unity to be had within the King's Majesty's dominions, it is requisite to have one uniform fashion and manner for making and consecrating of bishops, priests, and deacons, or ministers of the Church: Be it therefore enacted by the King's Highness, with the assent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and the Commons in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, that such form and manner of making and consecrating of archbishops, bishops, priests, deacons, and other ministers of the Church, as by six prelates and six other men of this realm, learned in God's law, by the King's Majesty to be appointed and assigned, or by the most number of them, shall be devised for that purpose, and set forth under the Great Seal of England before the 1st day of April next coming, shall by virtue of the present Act be lawfully exercised and used, and none other, any statute or law or usage to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding" [3 and 4 Edw. VI. c. xii.]. In the House of Lords, the Bishops of Durham, Chichester, Carlisle, Worcester, and Westminster, protested against the Act [Burnet, pt. ii. b. i.]. Cranmer had the chief hand of the work [Strype's Mem. of Cranmer, ch. xi.], and, it is said, drew up the preface. Three offices only were prepared, although the Statute had mentioned the ordering of other Ministers of the Church, that is, clergy in minor orders, Subdeacons and Readers, &c. It was providential that the counsels of the more moderate party in the Church prevailed over the rash advice of the intemperate and Germanizing section, who would have abolished much that was of ancient use. Poynet wished to abandon the very name of Bishop. Grindal called it the mummery of consecration. Jewel would have had no clerical dress, and Hooper would not wear it. In the new form the unction of the Priest's hands, a French rite in the sixth century, unknown in the Greek Church, and not practised at Rome until after the time of Nicholas I., was laid aside; as was also the blessing of the Priest's habit with a special blessing for his offering acceptable sacrifices, a ceremonial not of earlier date than the eighth century. But the delivery of the chalice, or cup with the bread, which had been practised in the tenth century, was retained. It may be observed, that under the Law certain portions of the offertory were placed in the hands of Aaron and of his sons, symbolically of their office of presenting the sacrifices before the Lord [Exod. xxix. 24]. The Service began with an Exhortation; and one of the following Psalms, xl., cxxxii., and cxxxv., at the discretion of the celebrant, was to be sung as the introit to the Holy Communion. For the Epistle was appointed Acts xx. 17-35, or else 1 Tim. iii. 1. 8; for the Gospel, Matt. xxviii. 18 to the end, or John x. 1-16, or John