ion. What followed? In apostolic days,
Timothy was ordained, with episcopal jurisdiction over Ephesus; Titus,
over Crete; Polycarp (the friend of St. John), over Smyrna; and then,
later on, Linus, over Rome. And so the great College of Bishops
expands until, in the second century, we read in a well-known writer,
St. Irenaeus: "We can reckon up lists of Bishops ordained in the
Churches from the Apostles to our time". Link after link, the chain of
succession lengthens "throughout all the world," until it reaches the
Early British Church, and then, in 597, the English Church, through the
consecration of Augustine,[2] first Archbishop of Canterbury, and in
1903 of Randall Davidson his ninety-fourth successor.

And this is the history of every ordination in the Church to-day. "It
is through the Apostolic Succession," said the late Bishop Stubbs to
his ordination Candidates, "that I am empowered, through the long line
of mission and Commission {126} from the Upper Chamber at Jerusalem, to
lay my hands upon you and send you."[3]

How does a Priest become a Bishop? In the Church of England he goes
through four stages:--

(1) He is _nominated_ by the Crown.
(2) He is _elected_ by the Church.
(3) His election is _confirmed_ by the Archbishop.
(4) He is _consecrated_ by the Episcopate.

(1) He is _nominated_ by the Crown. This is in accordance with the
immemorial custom of this realm. In these days, the Prime Minister
(representing the people) proposes the name of a Priest to the King,
who accepts or rejects the recommendation. If he accepts it, the King
nominates the selected Priest to the Church for election, and
authorizes the issue of legal documents for such election. This is
called _Conge d'elire_, "leave to elect".

(2) He is _elected_ by the Church. The King's {127} nominee now comes
before the Dean and Chapter (representing the Church), and the Church
either elects or rejects him. It has power to do either. If the
nominee is elected, what is called his "Confirmation" follows--that
is:--

(3) His election is _confirmed_ by the Archbishop of Canterbury,
according to a right reserved to him by _Magna Charta_. Before
confirming the election, the Archbishop, or his representative, sits in
public, generally at Bow Church, Cheapside, to hear legal objections
from qualified laity against the election. Objections were of late, it
will be remembered, made, and overruled, in the cases of Dr. Temple and