The Christian elections were made on these principles from the first ages of the Church, and with such care, order, and decency, that

"sentatis, quem sors, præeunte jejunio, Christo Domino ter"minante monstraverit, Benedictio consecrationis accumulet." Concil. Barcinon. anni 599, c. 3. Concil. Tom. 5, p. 1606.

* I refer to Origen's 6th Homily on Leviticus, where he states most unequivocally that this was the discipline of the Catholic Church. "Videamus ergo quali ordine Pontifex "constituitur. Convocavit Moyses Synagogam et dicit ad

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eos, hoc est verbum quod præcepit Dominus. Licet ergo "Dominus de constituendo Pontifice præcepisset, et Dominus elegisset, tamen convocatur et Synagoga. Hoc est autem, "quod et Apostolus præcepit in ordinatione Sacerdotis, dicens: Oportet autem illum et testimonium habere bonum ab iis qui foris sunt." Cabasut.-Notitia Concilior. c. 17, p.83. Valesius Not. in Euseb. 1. 6, c. 43. Petav. Theol. Dogm. t. 3, Paris 1644, p. 720, et not. in Synes. p. 56.-" Factus est Cornelius "Episcopus de Clericorum pæne omnium testimonio, de Plebis

quæ tum adfuit Suffragio." S. Cypriani, Ep. 52, al. 55.— "Presbyterio vel Episcopatui, si eum Cleri ac Plebis evocaverit "electio, non immerito societur." Siricii Pontificis Romani Ep. 1. ad Himmerium Taracon. c. 10.-Celestine I, who sent S. Patrick into Ireland, ordained that this ancient Discipline should be punctually adhered to.- "Nullus invitis detur "Episcopus. Cleri, Plebis, et Ordinis consensus et desi"derium requiratur." Cælestini Ep. 2, c. 5, scripta anno 428. ad Episcopos Provinciarum Viennensis et Narbonensis apud Natal. Alex. Hist. Eccl. t. 3, p. 127.

one of the Roman Emperors, though a Pagan, proposed the Christian mode of electing Bishops and Ministers as an example, worthy of imita tion, in the appointment of Civil Officers for the service of the State. Lampridius says, that whenever Alexander Severus appointed Governors of Provinces, or Receivers of the public Revenues, he first proposed their names, desiring the people to bring forward evidence against them, if they were unfit, or guilty of any crime; but not to accuse them falsely at the peril of their lives; for, said he, "it is un"reasonable, whilst Christians and Jews follow "this rule, in proposing those whom they appoint Ministers, that we should not adopt it in the "appointment of Governors, to whose hands the "lives and fortunes of Men are committed."*

In fact, the Apostles committed the election of the Deacons to the Disciples. "Wherefore, "brethren, look ye out among ye Seven Men of "honest report," Acts vi; and the Disciples accordingly elected them, "and they chose Ste

Lampridius in Vita Severi, c. 45.

“phen and Philip, &c, whom they set before "the Apostles, and when they had prayed, they "laid their hands on them." S. Jerom says, that this discipline was invariably adhered to, in the Church of Alexandria, from the days of S. Marc the Evangelist, to his own times, " Alex"andriæ a Marco usque ad Heraclam et Dio"nysium Episcopos, Presbyteri semper unum "er se electum, in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopi, nominabant." Hieron. Ep. 85.

S. Athanasius argues in his epistle to the Orthodox, that Gregory, who was appointed to his of See Alexandria by the Arians, was an Intruder, because he was not elected by the Postulation of the Clergy and people. "Juxta Canones Ec"clesiasticos et Pauli dictum, Congregatis

populis cum Spiritu constituentium, populis et "Clericis qui poscerent præsentibus." Pope Julius I. argues against the same Gregory, from the same Apostolical discipline. 'Quia nec multis

notus, nec a Presbyteris, nec ab Episcopis, "nec a populo postulatus fuerat.

Julii I. Epist. ad Orientales apud S. Athanasium in Apologiæ 2. The fourth Council of Toledo held in 633, decreed

II. This Primitive Discipline was founded on the Apostolical Canon, that a Bishop must be blameless, and of good report. It was so rigorously adhered to in the election of Popes, that he, who was not so elected, was always considered an Intruder. The Roman Clergy governed, Sede Vacante, without excluding from his share in that Government, any person who had taken the holy orders, not only of Priesthood, but even of Deaconship.* Pope Innocent I. states the validity of his own election, because he was appointed-" Consentientibus Sanctis Sacerdotibus, omnique Clero ac populo." The Fourth Council of Orleans decreed, and for the Catholicity of this decree, appealed

that he should not be considered a Bishop, who was not thus elected. See the 19th Canon of that Council, in Natalis Alexander, ib. p. 127.

Cleri Romani Epist. 31, inter Epist. Cypr. pag. 99. "In Romano Clero, qui vacante sede regebat Ecclesiam, fuisse etiam Diaconos, patet ex Epistolis Cleri Romani ad Cyprianum, et Cypriani ad eundem Clerum, post mortem Fabiani et ante electionem Cornelii, ut in Cypriani Epist. 4, 14, 22, 29, 31.” Sandini Vitæ Pontificum Ferrariæ 1763, t. 1, p. 52.

+ Innocentii I. Epist. ad Anysium. Labbe Concil. t. 4, p. 1701, et apud P. Coustant, p. 739. This was in 401, thirty years before the mission of S. Patrick.

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to ancient Canons, that Bishops should be elected by the Clergy and people, with the consent of the Civil power. The fifth Council of Orleans, held in 549, appeals in like manner to the venerable authority of ancient Canons, in confirmation of this decree of the 4th,† and Natalis Alexander, a very learned and celebrated Dominican Friar, observes on both, that "the "authority of the Civil Power in the Election of "Bishops was very great, and the Consent of "the Roman Emperors was required even in the "Election of Popes." +

"Episcopus eligatur cum voluntate Regis, juxta electio"" onem Cleri et Plebis, sicut in antiquis Canonibus tenetur "scriptum, et a Metropolitano, vel quem in vice sua præmi"serit, cum comprovincialibus Pontifex consecretur. Et ut "nullus invitis detur Episcopus Quod si factum fuerit, "Episcopus magis per violentiam, quam per Decretum legiti"mum ordinatus, ab indepto Pontificatus honore in perpetuum deponitur." Amongst the 50 Bishops, 10 Priests, 6 Archdeacons, 3 Deacons, and 2 Abbots, who subscribed this Decree, Nineteen are numbered as Saints in the Calendar! See Natal. Alex. Hist. Eccl. t. 5, p. 434. Concil. Aurel. V. Canon 9 et 10.

I "Maxima erat Principum in hujusmodi electionibus "Auctoritas. Imperatorum consensus ad firmandam ipsius "Romani Pontificis electionem postulabatur." Natal. Alex. Hist. Eccl. t. 5, p. 448.