"Add to this the statement of Clement of Alexan-
dria, that John, after his return from Patmos, ap-
pointed Bishops; the epistles of Ignatius at the begin-
ning of the second century, which already distinguished
the Bishop from the presbytery at the head of the con-
gregation, and in which the three orders pyramidically
culminated in a regular hierarchy;. •. and
we assuredly have much in favor of the hypothesis, so
ingeniously and learnedly set forth of late by Dr. Bothe,
that the germs of Episcopacy are to be found as early as
the close of the first century, and particularly in the
sphere of the later labors of St. John. •. In
addition to this, however, the Episcopal system was
simultaneously making its way also in other parts of
the Church

"If now we consider the fact, that in the second
century the Episcopal system existed as an historical
fact in the whole Church, East and West, and was un-
resistingly acknowledged, nay, universally regarded, as
at least indirectly of divine appointment, we can hardly
escape the conclusion that this form of government grew
out of the circumstances and wants of the Church at the
end of the Apostolic period, and could not have been so



202 REASONS FOR BEING A CHURCHMAN

quickly and so generally introduced without the sanc-
tion, or at least the acquiescence of the surviving Apos-
tles, especially of John who labored on the very thresh-
old of the second century, and left behind him a num-
ber of venerable disciples. At all events it needs a
strong infusion of skepticism, or of traditional preju-
dice, to enable one in the face of these facts and wit-
nesses to pronounce the Episcopal government of the
ancient Church a sheer apostasy from the Apostolic
form, and a radical revolution."*

Again Dr. SchafF says : "It is a matter of fact that
the Episcopal form of government was universally es^
tablished in the Eastern and Western Churches as early
as the middle of the second century."

Dr. 