Lightfoot,  who  sees  in  Saint  James  —  the
brother  of  the  Lord — the  first  Diocesan
Bishop,  or,  to  quote  his  very  words,  "James,
the  Lord's  brother,  alone,  within  the  period
compassed  by  the  apostolic  writings,  can
claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  Bishop  in  the  later
and  more  special  sense  of  the  term,"  and  who
regards  the  position  occupied  by  Timothy
and  Titus,  whom  he  styles  "apostolic  dele-
gates," as  one  which  "fairly  represents  the
functions  of  a  Bishop  early  in  the  second
century,"  is  conclusive  as  to  the  fact  "that
the  institution  of  an  episcopate  must  be
placed  as  far  back  as  the  closing  years  of  the
first  century,  and  that  it  cannot,  without  vio-
lence to  historical  testimony,  be  dissevered
from  the  name  of  Saint  John."


Constitiitio?i  of  the  American  Church.    135

We,  therefore,  reach  these  conclusions:
The  American  branch  of  the  Holy  Catholic
Church  recognizes  the  Order  of  Bishops  as
existing  from  the  Apostles'  time.  She  has
not  defined  the  functions  pertaining  to  this
Order  of  the  sacred  ministry,  or  expressly
marked  out  the  limitations  of  its  powers.
