in due times manifested his Word, Through Preaching, which is committed unto me (as an Apostle to the Gentiles) according to the Commandment of God Our Saviour."

"To Titus mine own Son, after the common Faith-Grace, Mercy and Peace from God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour-For this Cause (or this great Work) left I Thee in Crete, that Thou shouldest set in Order the things that are wanting, or left undone;" namely, that Thou shouldest" ordain Elders in every City, as I had appointed Thee. If any be blameless, the husband of One Wife*, having faithful Children, not accused of Riot, or unruly-For a Bishop must be blameless, as the Steward of God; not Self-willed, nor soon angry, not given to Wine, no Striker, nor given to

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The Husband of One Wife. St. Paul only prohibits Polygamy here, against the custom of the Jews, who did not restrain themselves, in their Number of Wives. Judaica Consuetudinis fuit, vel biras Uxores babere, vel plures (ut in veteri lege, de Abraham et Jacob, legimus); sed nunc intelligitur Præceptum; ne is, qui Episcopus est eligendus, uno tempore duas pariter habere Uxores." This is the Interpretation of St. Jerome, who wisely enough, and perhaps from his own experince, thought that the care of One Wife, and the care of One Church, especially in a great City, where the Chief Pastors or Bishops, babent per singulas Urbes constituendi Presbyteros Potestatem," the power of Government, as well as Ordination, would be enough for ONE MAN. In this opinion and interpretation, St. JEROME is supported by Chrysostom, Oecumenius, Theophylact, &c. As He is supported also in another interpretation, or rather in rectifying the Error, or obviating the Scruples of some (to whose sense I believe, good Archbishop Secker leaned) who contends that St. Paul, in this place not only prohibits his Bishops from two Wives at the same time; but that, if they have once lost a Wife, they are never to marry again, or to have a second one. Multi superstitiosius magis quam verius; etiam eos, qui eum Gentiles fuerint, Unam Uxorem habuerint, (et ea amissa) Alteram duxerint, in Sacerdotem non eligendos putant,

filthy Lucre, but a Lover of Hospitality, a Lover of Good Men; sober, just, holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful Word, as he hath been taught; that He may be able, by sound Doctrine, both to exhort, and to convince the Gain-sayers; for there are many unruly and vain Talkers and Deceivers-especially they of the Circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped; who subvert Whole Houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy Lucre's sake. Against all these, my Son, speak Thou the things which become the sound Doctrine, which thou hast been taught by me."

Teach, "That the Aged Men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in Faith, in Charity, in Patience; That the Aged Women likewise, be in behaviour as becometh Holiness; not false Accusers, not given to much Wine, Teachers of Good Things;-that they may teach the young women likewise to be sober, to love their Husbands, to love their Children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to their Husbands," &c.

The Young Men, likewise, exhort to be soberminded! Exhort Servants to be Obedient to their own Masters; and to please them well in all things, nor answering again, nor purloining, but shewing all good Fidelity, that they may adorn the Doctrine of God our Saviour in all things-Put them in mind, also, to be subject to Principalities and Powers; to obey Magistrates, and to be ready to do every good work-For, unto the pure all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled

Thus even a Prophet* of their own spoke, concerning the Cretians, that they are always liars-This witness is true, wherefore, Rebuke Them Sharply," &c.

Although my years, but not the station, which I have chosen to hold in the Church, during the short remaining span of my Life, might entitle me to address you in the character of Paul to Timothy, or of a Father to a Son, in the Gospel of Christ; yet, as that is not necessary, after addressing you as above, in the Apostle's own words, respecting all that he thought necessary to give in Charge to one of the first primitive Bishops, consecrated by himself, under the authority committed to him by Jesus Christ; yet I know you will bear to be reminded, or rather forewarned, of many incidental obstructions, which, from the state of things in the present evil days, you will have to contend against in the discharge of your pastoral duty; and to this you will let me join the fruits of my own experience, and study of the Holy Scriptures, to assist you in your pious labours to struggle against infidelity and to propagate the Faith, as it is in

By the Word PROPHET, here, St. Paul does not mean, a Prophet of God! For the Cretians, at the time referred to, were not converted to a belief in the true God, and the word Prophet of their own, is the same as Poet of their own, viz. one claiming skill in divine things; a Sooth-sayer→→→ Fatidicus, futura præsentians, et vaticinans per Furorem, &c.—Theodoret says this Cretian Poet or Prophet was Callimachus; and Dr. Whitby says that Oecumenius, Theophylact and Chrysostom, cite the words from Callimachus; but as he was not a Cretian, but a Cyrenian, and has not the whole Verse, but only the beginning of (" The Cretians were always liars,") Chrysostom says the Prophet or Poet, meant by St. Paul, was Epimenides a Cretian; stiled by Plato, a Divine Man; and so he is styled also by Diodorus Siculus.

Christ Jesus, and was "once delivered unto the Saints."

In the Discharge, therefore, of your great Duty, you are to look beyond all the Authorities and Distinctions of Men, civil or ecclesiastical; nay, and beyond the Authorities of Apostles, or even Angels themselves, any further than as you believe, after careful examination, that they assuredly speak by divine Inspiration! You will at the same time be careful to listen to the illuminations of the Spirit of Grace within you, and to look up stedfastly to the supreme Authority of our common Lord and Master, Jesus Christ himself, in whose name St. Paul gave his Charges to Timothy and Titus; referring forward to that great day, when He, our said Lord Jesus, shall come to judge the world in Righteousness, to make up his Jewels, and establish his Universal and Everlasting Kingdom!

Here, then, I might close my notes, and descend from the Pulpit, being persuaded that nothing more is necessary to be addressed to you, my dear Brother and Bishop elect, now soon to be set apart for the great office destined you. I shall only add, that your piety and learning in the Scriptures, your examplary Life, and diligence in the Pastoral office, have been long known to me, long tried and approved in the Church and by the Public.

And thus, though I might here conclude, as I said before, yet custom forbids such a perfunctory discharge of the task committed to me, on a day, which we expect to be so propitious to all our Church concerns. There are reciprocal duties, between

Pastors and People, which require a further Detail and Enforcement. There are, as enumerated before, difficulties to be encountered by the former, which can only be struggled with and overcome, or in any degree rendered tolerable, by the aid and succour of the latter.

Your greatest aid, however, you must derive from yourself; striving to be strong, nay mighty, in the Scripture. For all Scripture, according to our Apostle, is given by Inspiration of God; and, in your ministry, will be profitable for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, for Instruction in Righteousness;-that the man of God may thereby, through your care, be perfectly furnished unto all good works; and therefore, since the time of my Departure or Death, is so near at hand, and this may be my last Address to you, my beloved Son in the Gospel.-I Charge you, zealously to Preach the WordPreach Jesus Christ, (as the Word is often understood)-Be instant, in Season, out of Season, in Public and in Private, as occasion may require, or necessity may call; by day and by night, in times of the Peace and Prosperity of the Church, as well as in times of her Adversity and Persecution! Be not dismayed, or negligent of the Gift that is in thee. Repel false Preachers and false Doctrines-Root out the Tares from the Wheat, with every Weed, or new-fangled thing, which springs up at enmity to the Cross of Christ, and the Truth and Spirit of his holy Religion-But what need I add more, on a subject so fully treated of in Sermons* which I have deli

*See vol. ii. of printed Sermons, particularly Sermons XX, XXI.