esbyters sit on each side of him, and let the deacons stand by
them,... and let it be their care that the people sit a with all
quietness and order in the other part of the church." [576:3] Thus,
except in the case of a few large towns, the primitive bishop was simply
the parochial minister. Towards the close of the second century, the
bishop and the teacher were designations of the same import. Speaking of
those at the head of the Churches, Irenaeus describes them as
distinguished by their superior or inferior ability in sermonizing;
[576:4] and a well-informed writer, who flourished as late as the fourth
century, mentions preaching as the bishop's peculiar function. [576:5]
In the apostolic age every one who had popular gifts was permitted to
edify the congregation by their exercise; [576:6] and, long afterwards,
any elder, who was qualified to speak in the Church, was at liberty to
address his fellow-worshippers. When Origen, prior to his ordination as
a presbyter, ventured to expound the Scriptures publicly at the request
of the bishops of Palestine, Demetrius, his own ecclesiastical superior,
denounced his conduct as irregular; but the parties, by whom the learned
Alexandrian had been invited to lecture, boldly vindicated the
proceeding. He (Demetrius) has asserted, said they, "that this was never
before either heard or done, that laymen should deliver discourses in
the presence of bishops. We know not how it happens that he is here
evidently so far from the truth. For, indeed, wherever there are found
those qualified to benefit the brethren, they are exhorted by the holy
bishops to address the people." [577:1] But still the bishop himself was
the stated and ordinary preacher; and when he was sick or absent, the
flock could seldom expect a sermon. When present, he always administered
the Lord's Supper with his own hands, and dispensed in person the rite
of baptism. He also occupied the chair at the meetings of the
presbytery, and presided at the ordination of the elders and deacons of
his congregation.

Though Christians formed but a fraction, and often but a small fraction
of the population, their bishops were thickly planted. Thus, Cenchrea,
the port of Corinth, had an episcopal overseer, [577:2] as well as
Corinth itself; the bishop of Portus and the bishop of Ostia were only
two miles asunder; [577:3] and, of the eighty-seven bishops who met at
Carthage, about A.D. 256, to discuss the question of the rebaptism o