nto your _elders_, and be instructed unto repentance,
bending the knees of your hearts." [502:4]

In the preservation of this precious letter we are bound to recognize
the hand of Providence. [502:5] Its instructions were so highly
appreciated by the ancient Christians that it continued to be publicly
read in many of their churches for centuries afterwards. [502:6] It is
universally acknowledged to be genuine; it breathes the benevolent
spirit of a primitive presbyter; and it is distinguished by its sobriety
and earnestness. It was written upon the verge of the apostolic age, and
it is the production of a pious, sensible, and aged minister who
preached for years in the capital of the Empire. The Church of Rome has
since advanced the most extravagant pretensions, and has appealed in
support of them to ecclesiastical tradition; but here, an elder of her
own--one who had conversed with, the apostles--and one whom she delights
to honour [503:1]--deliberately comes forward and ignores her
assumptions! She fondly believes that Clement was an early Pope, but the
good man himself admits that he was only one of the presbyters. Had
there then been a bishop of Corinth, this letter would unquestionably
have exhorted the malcontents to submit to his jurisdiction; or had
there been a bishop of Rome, it would not have failed to dilate upon the
benefits of episcopal government. But, as to the existence of any such
functionary in either Church, it preserves throughout a most
intelligible silence. It says that the apostles ordained the
first-fruits of their conversions, not as bishops _and presbyters_ and
deacons, but as "_bishops and deacons_ over such as should afterwards
believe;" [503:2] and it is apparent that, when it was written, the
terms bishop and presbyter were still used interchangeably. [503:3]

The Epistle of Polycarp bears equally decisive testimony. It was drawn
up perhaps about the middle of the second century, [503:4] and though
the last survivor of the apostles was now dead for many years, no
general change had meanwhile taken place in the form of church
government. This document purports to be the letter of "Polycarp and the
elders who are with him [504:1] to the Church of God which is at
Philippi;" but it does not recognize a bishop as presiding over the
Christian community to which it is addressed. The Church was still
apparently in much the same state as when Paul wrote to "the saints in
Christ Jesus which are at