Clear proof of this is furnished by the first appointment of the twelve Apostles and of the seventy Disciples. For, in order that the commencement of the Church under the New Dispensation might correspond to its commencement under the Old, the twelve Apostles were first elected to be the Patriarchs and Progenitors of the new people, which God had determined to choose for himself from among the Gentiles. Afterwards, when the harvest was become great but the labourers were few, as the Lord had, in the Old Testament, added seventy Elders to assist Moses in ruling the people, so in like manner our Saviour added other seventy to the twelve Apostles. Thus, in the infancy of the Church, the Lord instituted two Orders of Ministers of the Gospel, and, by making their numbers different, and dividing them into two classes, shewed that they were unequal in honour and in power, which he never would have done had he considered it wrong that inequality should exist among Ministers of the Gospel. These were its

first preachers under our Lord's direction whilst he lived on earth. After he had ascended into Heaven, he raised up Prophets in his Church, when he sent the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost to endow the Apostles not only with the gift of tongues, but also with divine wisdom, and a wonderful knowledge of things to come. In course of time, however, when the number of Churches was increased, and the Apostles were not of themselves sufficient for founding and ruling them, they chose to themselves assistants from among the disciples whom they had instructed. These, although conspicuous for faith and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, being followers and disciples of the Apostles and Evangelists, were far inferior to these their masters. When, again, not only the number of the Churches, but the multitude also of believers in each, began greatly to increase, Pastors were ordained in each Church, and were, in those first times, called indiscriminately Bishops or Presbyters. We shall treat of all these particularly, after first

expounding the two-fold vocation to the Ministry of the Church set forth in holy Scripture.

It is not lawful for any man to take upon himself the holy Ministry of Christ's Church, unless he be duly called thereunto; for it belongs to God alone to choose his servants, and to give laws to man concerning whom he willeth to be chosen. Hence it results that there are two kinds of lawful vocation; the one, when a man is called by God himself; the other, when men appoint a Minister in the Church agreeably to the laws prescribed by God. The latter we call an ordinary, the former an extraordinary vo