ecclesiastical historian describes the Apostles as going forth to teach all nations, when the troubles which came on the Holy Land rendered it no longer safe or useful to remain there; he subsequently tells us, on the other hand, that after the fall of Jerusalem, when provision was to be made for a successor to St. James in the bishopric, the Apostles who survived (and they were many) came together from all parts to assist at that important election, and concurred in fixing on Symeon;2 as though, however scattered they might be, they still at least had not wandered to the ends of the earth, but were within call when an occasion arose which required that they should assemble themselves together. Neither did this necessity, it may be observed, circumscribe their range within inordinately narrow bounds, bounds inconsistent with the latitude we have already assigned them; for there is no feature more remarkable, or more indicative of the zeal of the early Christian Church, than the great intercourse that appears to have subsisted amongst the founders and teachers of the primitive Churches, separated, though they might be, by what we should even now call, with our wonderfully-improved means of locomotion, very serious distances. Thus St. Paul (as we have seen) when at Rome, thinks little of desiring Timothy, who was probably at Ephesus, to come to him, and bring Mark with him, who was in the same region. Clemens Romanus sends Claudius Ephebus, Valerius Bito, and Fortunatus from Rome to Corinth, to convey his own letter of advice to the Church of Corinth, and bring him word again how it fared. Ignatius does not hesitate to request Polycarp to draw together deputies from the Churches within a reasonable distance of Smyrna, and dispatch one of their company to Antioch, on an errand of good-will to the

1 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. iii. c. 5. 2 Ibid. iii. c. 11.

3

32 Timothy iv. 11.

4 Clemens Rom. § 59.

Church of that place. Sotas, a Bishop of Anchialus, in Thrace, travels to Phrygia, to learn on the spot the proceedings of the Montanists, who prevailed in those parts.2 Irenæus proceeded from Asia Minor and the neighbourhood of Smyrna to Lyons, where he settled himself as a Christian teacher, and at a later period of his life he travelled from Lyons to Rome, on an embassy from the Church of Lyons to Eleutherus, then Bishop of Rome.3 Cyprian sends Caldonius and Fortunatus from Carthage to Rome to witness the consecration of Cornelius to that see, and in return receives messengers from Rome with tidings from that Church; and indeed the writings of Cyprian are full of examples of this kind of intercourse carried on between remote portions of Christendom.

4

On the whole, then, it may be considered that the Apostles having received instructions with respect to the manner of founding and establishing the Churches from their Lord Himself, to a much greater extent than the mere words of Scripture literally interpreted may seem to imply, having had their memory of those instructions refreshed, and the method of realising them demonstrated by the Comforter, continued in the capital of the Holy Land, all of them for many years, several of them for the whole or the greater part of their lives, carrying into vigorous effect those principles within a certain range of Jerusalem; and that when at length they extended their radius, and pushed their operations further into the world, they still cut out for themselves only such a circuit as they could occupy effectually; and that thus, before they were all removed, they had constructed their work so substantially, set up so many Christian communities, with

1

Ignat. Ep. ad Polycarp, § 7. | 2 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. v. c. 19; see Reliq. Sacr. i. p. 496, and note, p. 476.

3 Irenæus, Fragm. Ep. ad Florinum; Euseb. Eccl. Hist. v.

c. 4.

4Cyprian, Ep. 41.

all the necessary appointments and appliances so completely, interlaced them so compactly, repeated one and the same plan in each of them with such uniformity, that nothing was wanting but willing hands, who would carry on, under God, the vast design, be true to the lines these master-builders had laid down, and rear the superstructure which they had provided for, and indeed anticipated.

CHAPTER IV.

The Apostles' selection of Persons to superintend the Churches, Timothy, Titus, Polycarp, St. Mark, Linus, Epaphroditus, Dionysius. The manner of Appointment.-The Succession in the Churches at Jerusalem.-Antioch.-Rome.-Alexandria.-The early Organization of the Church.

WHEN the place of Judas had to be supplied, the Apostles were governed in their choice of a successor by the consideration that he must be "one of those men which had companied with them all the time that the Lord Jesus had gone in and out among them." A similar rule now guided them in their selection of those who were to superintend the Churches when they should themselves be no more. The persons to whom they bequeathed their charge, were in general those who had been associated with them, and trained for the work by themselves. Timothy had heard the things which he had to teach others of St. Paul,' and he was appointed Bishop of Ephesus. Titus was instructed to exhort, to silence, to rebuke, according as he had been taught of the same Apostle,2 and he was intrusted with the Church of Crete. Polycarp had consorted with St. John and other of the Apostles, and delighted in recounting to the people their sayings, as well as in making report of the deeds and doctrines of the Lord, and he was appointed by one or other of them (probably by St. John himself) Bishop of 3 Irenæus, Fragm.

1 2 Timothy ii. 2.

2 Titus i. 9.

Smyrna, and might be the Angel of that Church addressed in the Revelation.' St. Mark, as we have seen, was in constant communication with St. Peter and St. Paul, and was, consequently, most entirely conversant with their ways, and he received the rule of the Church of Alexandria, and stood at the head of its bishops. Linus was one of the companions of St. Paul, in his latter days at least, and he was constituted Bishop of Rome after the death of the Apostolical Founders. And here we may remark, that so eminent a Church as that of Rome almost immediately proved itself, would not be committed to feeble hands; so that, however we may have accustomed ourselves to regard Timothy and Titus as occupying the foremost places amongst the successors of the Apostles, naturally led to this conclusion by possessing Epistles which St. Paul addressed to them, whereas to Linus and others about him he addressed none, yet these latter may have been no less conspicuous followers of him than they; no less trustworthy overseers of the flock; the importance of the Churches some of them were placed in charge of, as I have said, strongly confirming this estimate of them. Clemens was another of the fellow-labourers of the same Apostle; another, therefore, of those who would be able "to bring the people into remembrance of his ways, as he taught everywhere in every Church ;" and he followed Linus after an interval, as Bishop of the same Church of Rome. Epaphroditus was another "companion in labours and fellow-soldier " of St. Paul, and he was sent by him to preside over the Church of Philippi, for when writing to the Philippians he designates him not as "your messenger,' as our transla

1 Euseb. Eccl. Hist. iii. c. 36.

2 Ibid. ii. c. 16.

32 Timothy iv. 21.

4 Philipp. iv. 3.

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