sixty-three sections or chapters, of which the greater number relate to the relative duties of bishops and deacons; it details how a bishop ought to be learned and accustomed to speak, and how tried; and how he ought to judge impartially, be incapable of corruption; not fearing to punish transgressors; blameless as being a type of rulers; to be careful of the people, not negligent of their sin. A digression upon repentance then occurs; David and the Ninevites being cited as examples. The priesthood is next treated of,-its form, and dignity, and sacredness, which was invaded by Saul and Dathan; the order of deacons, who played so important a part in the functions of the early Church, is introduced, and their particular duties and behaviour defined; their lightening the weight of the bishop's cares. The faithful generally are referred to in order, with a description of a church, of the clergy and laity, and how all ought to assemble both morning and evening to worship, after the manner both of the Jews and the Pagans. Finally, among the faithful, the idle shall not eat; for Peter was a fisherman, and Paul and Aquila tent-makers, and Judas and James husbandmen. The third book only contains twenty chapters, the first eight of which relate to widows and women in general, the remaining number treating of Holy Baptism and of the ordination of bishops. The fourth book is more general, and contains fourteen chapters it treats of orphans, and of the care which the bishop ought to take of them, and of how they ought to be protected; of avarice; of how carefully the bounty of the faithful ought to be received, and of whom the offerings may be received, and of whom rejected; that the offerings of unworthy men are displeasing to GOD while they continue in a state of sin; that small means which are gotten by honest toil are better than rich offerings of ungodly persons; of how the priests ought to exhort the people to almsgiving; that if wicked people force money upon the priests, they must spend it upon wood and coal, and not buy food with it; on the duties of parents and children, and servants and masters; of subjection to the temporal powers; of virgins.

The fifth book contains twenty chapters, teaching, amongst other things, that the faithful are bound to minister to those who have sustained great losses from the Pagans; that the company of false brethren is to be shunned; that it is both horrid and destructive to deny CHRIST, Who ought to be imitated in His patience and toleration; yet the faithful are not to run needless risks, to escape with caution, if taken to contend on account of their promised crown of various types of the resurrection, of the Sibyl, the Stoics, the Phoenician birds; on James the brother of our LORD, and on S. Stephen the Protomartyr; on the false martyrs; moral admonitions that vain and foolish talking ought to be avoided; and jesting, drunkenness, lasciviousness, and idolatry, as being an abominable wickedness; and the singing of heathen and

profane songs; and swearing by idols. The last eight chapters are of much greater interest: they enumerate the great feasts of our LORD, and how they ought to be celebrated; on the LORD'S Passion, each day's event during its continuance,—and how Judas did not receive the mysteries, in the great week, and why in the fourth and sixth day we ought to fast; on the prophetical predictions of CHRIST; in what manner Easter should be observed; on the great Paschal week; on Easter Eve and Easter Day.

The sixth book is divided into twenty-nine chapters: it deals chiefly with heretics and schismatics, and it contains but a few moral precepts. It commands that schismatics ought to be punished, and that it is lawful neither to a king nor a priest to raise a rebellion; of the virtue of Moses, and the infidelity of the Jews; of the miracles which GOD wrought by him; that he makes a schism who does not separate himself from the wicked, but shuns the godly; of the rejection of him who was falsely named Israel; that heresies and doctrine hateful to God existed amongst the Jews; the fount of heresies, and who is their leader and captain; some have received the subversion of Simon's impiety who wishing to fly was cast down by the prayers of S. Peter and broke his feet and the extremities of his hands; how heresies vary in their developements; an explanation of the Apostolic preaching; against those who confessing Christianity wish to Judaize; how heretics ought to be withdrawn from; of those who preach Catholic doctrine and precept; that it is not lawful to re-baptize; neither to receive it from the wicked; which is not baptism but defilement; of the books with a false superscription; of the original precepts of the clergy; an exhortation, advising to flee from the communion of impious heretics; against depreciating the law; what the natural law is, and for what cause it was instituted; that we who believe in CHRIST are not under the servitude of the law, but under grace; imperfection of legal sacrifices; how CHRIST was the fulfiller of the law, and how He fulfilled and abolished and changed it; that it pleased God by the Romans to show the law of righteousness; that GOD subjected the Jews to captivity on account of their impiety against CHRIST; that as betrayers of souls heretics ought to be avoided: on the observance of Jewish and heathen customs; on sins of sensuality; how women ought to be subject to their own husbands, and the husbands to love their wives.

The seventh book contains forty-nine chapters,-the first twenty of which are moral prohibitions, and on the ways of life and death; the prohibition from sins of sensuality again; against magical arts and incantations; on hypocrisy and legal observances; on reverence towards parents and subjection to rulers; the law-giver is exhorted not to decline to the right hand or to the left; on plainness of food, and the avoidance of idol's food. A long series of liturgical chapters follow: upon baptism, sacramental thanks

giving; on the oblations; various prayers and thanksgivings upon mystical oil, water, and ointment; upon the institution of the catechumens; concluding with morning and evening and meal-time prayers. The last twenty-seven chapters of this book of the constitutions are of very great value and importance; many of the prayers being intrinsically very beautiful.

In the eighth book there are forty-seven chapters. As this is the great liturgical portion of the constitutions, we will state in order the titles of the sections. Why some are endowed with power of miracles; on unworthy bishops and presbyters; who has power to establish the customs in the churches; on ordinations; on invocation in the ordination of bishops; on the Divine Liturgy, in which is the prayer for the catechumens; the prayer for the possessed; for the lately baptized; for the penitents with imposition of hands; for the faithful; invocation for the faithful; the constitutions of James; the prayer for the faithful after the divine oblation; the post-communion prayer and invocation; S. John's constitution upon the ordering of presbyters; the constitution of Philip on the ordering of deacons; the invocation of the ordering of deacons; Bartholomew's institution upon deaconesses; the invocation of the ordering of deaconesses; the constitution of Thomas on sub-deacons; of Matthew on readers; constitution of James the son of Alpheus; on confessors and on virgins; of Lebbeus, surnamed Thaddeus; upon widows, and upon exorcists; Simon the Canaanite upon the ordination of a bishop, and his canons upon bishops, priests, deacons, and the other clergy; the constitution of Matthew upon the benediction of the water and oil, and of the first fruits and tenths, and of the things which remain over and above; various canons of the apostle Paul upon those things which relate to baptism, and of who ought to be received and who rejected; on what days the household servants may be idle, upon what hour in those days, and how they ought to pray; the constitution of James the LORD's brother on the vesper office; a midnight prayer and thanksgiving; a morning thanksgiving and imposition of hands; an invocation upon the first fruits; a prayer for the dead; how and when remembrance ought to be made of the faithful departed, and what of their goods ought to be given to the poor; that of the wicked dead neither memories nor commands profit; on drunkards; on the receiving those who are persecuted for CHRIST's sake; how each one is to abide in his own position; on ecclesiastical canons.

Such is a very brief summary of the multifarious contents of these eight books of the Apostolical Constitutions. That it is a compilation of various writings, clumsily and without thought put together, is evident from the many repetitions that occur of the same prohibition or command. There is a very unnecessary prolixity in the enforcing certain Christian duties over and over

again. As a mark of interpolation we would instance the constant introduction of matter foreign to the subject under treatment: a liturgical section occurs in the midst of a long series of chapters upon moral subjects and vice versa as in this last book. Four moral directions are appended to a category of prayers, benedictions, thanksgivings, and the like.

Some general questions upon the whole work demand a few words.

I. What is the true name or title of the work?

The oldest of the four codices which Lagarde has collated, the S. Petersburgh codex of the twelfth century, has this title: διαταγαὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων, κ.τ.λ., which a more recent hand has affixed to one of the earliest of Lagarde's Vienna Codices, dating from the fourteenth century. Now diaray is only another form of diatas, both the words being derived from the verb Siaráσow, both signify an ordinance, command, constitution, and an institution and arrangement. Ascending upwards to Eusebius, we find that in his history he mentions among the spurious books a certain αἱ λεγόμεμαι διδαχαὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων, (l. iii. c. 25,) the doctrine of the Apostles; and that Nicephorus follows him in this title. Neither historian makes mention of any one work having the scope of the production in question. S. Athanasius in one of his Festal Epistles, couples with the Shepherd and the Wisdom of Solomon the διδαχὴ καλουμένη τῶν ἀποστόλων, making another mention of this didan in his Synopsis of the Holy Scripture. In S. Epiphanius, who actually cites this work, we have a change of name: it is what the Apostles say, ἐν τῇ διατάξει τῇ καλουμένῃ: again, the Audians twist the διάταξιν τῶν ἀποστόλων. « Let us hear," he says, elsewhere, "the Apostles v T diaτáže." And when speaking of the Paschal festival, "it is the seventh day which is described by the Apostles themselves in the diataxis (tỹ diatάkei).” When detailing certain directions in regulation of fasting: "it behoves us to speak," he continues, "from the constitution of the Apostles (Ts datάkews tāv åπoσtóλwv)." Maximus, a later father, uses the other word; he quotes S. Paul's authority as it is written, ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς διαταγαῖς τῶν ἀποστόλων. Photius follows this reading, for amongst the other works of S. Clement which were read, he records diarayal of the Apostles. The second canon of the famous Quinisext Council, which was holden in Constantinople, A.D. 692, cites the canons of the Apostles as commanding the constitutions to be read τὰς διατάξεις τῶν αὐτῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων. Οι the later writers, George Cedren mentions these constitutions as diataxai and John Zonaras as diatagai. Theodore Balsam refers to them as the διαταγὰς τοῦ Κλήμεντος. Matthew Blastare sometimes as the diataxai of the Apostles: at other times as the diataxai of Clement. Other names and expressions have been applied to them ; such as, διάταγμα ἀποστόλων, the καθολικὴ διδασ

xaxía, and others. These simple facts remain, that Eusebius alone as an authority and Matthew Blastare when quoting him only applies the term 88ax to the constitutions; that S. Epiphanius who quotes largely from them and who is the first father who does so, changes the word, it is no longer a didache or a didaskalia, but a diataxis. It is worthy of remark, that diataxis is the word which in the books themselves is used to express a constitution. The didache spoken of by Eusebius drops out, and a diataxis indentical with our present constitutions takes its place. This was too singular a fact to escape the notice of so accurate a scholar as Bishop Pearson. He noticed how the words didache and didaskalia very often occurred in the New Testament and in the earliest ecclesiastical writers, and so he came to the conclusion " ex his diversis Didascaliis atque Constitutionibus, libros octo Constitutionum Apostolicarum quos nunc habemus confectos atque consarcinatos fuisse assere non dubito." (Vind. Ign. p. 2, c. iv.) Grabe in the

first volume of his Spicilegium Patrum (p. 43), calls this conjecture "valde probabilis," and it is certainly a more likely supposition than that of Coteler, that there were two equally authentic bodies of Apostolic doctrine, the one entire, the smaller one being selections taken from this: further on in the same book (p. 283), he gives several weighty reasons founded upon the Codex Baroccianus in the Bodleian Library in which the true end of the didascalia ends with the second chapter of the eighth book of our present constitutions. Whatever therefore this teaching or doctrine of the Apostles may have been, it was evidently the basis upon which was formed by subsequent additions the constitutions as we possess them at the present day. Archbishop Ussher in the most learned Prolegomena which he prefixed to the Ignatian Epistles tried to prove that the didascalia was entirely a distinct work from the constitutions. His arguments are: that S. Athanasius in one of his letters states that the doctrine of the Apostles was taught the catechumens, while the constitutions reveal mysteries, which up to that date only the initiated were allowed to learn; that the number of lines in the "doctrine" are so many less than in the constitutions; in fact from Nicephorus it can be gleaned that this didaxń was a smaller book than the Song of Solomon; lastly, that the catalogue of the canonical and apocryphal books differs in the two works. Neither Bishop Beveridge nor Coteler attaches much weight to these arguments, and some other attempts to prove this distinction, which were founded upon the fragments of the dax collected by Grabe in the Spicilegium, are all equally unworthy of much refutation.

II. The question of authorship next claims our notice. Did S. Clement of Rome write these constitutions? Firstly, Eusebius, (iii. 16,) says that there was one Epistle of S. Clement extant acknowledged to be genuine, both long and very clever, and he