2. St. Jerome applauds Epiphanius for his answer to the Presbyterian, Aerius; a work quite as remarkable for acrimony and haughtiness as for ability. Could the eulogist of such a work be himself inclined to Aerian principles ?

3. On the other hand, if Epiphanius looked upon St. Jerome as an Aerian, why not reply to him, as well as to Aerius ?

4. So far from countenancing Aerius, St. Jerome ranks him among the worst of heretics, Num papa Epiphanius accusavit te quod Arianus esses? Num Eunomii ȧléov, aut Aerii tibi impegit hæresim?

5. When he affirms a Presbyter to be the same with a Bishop, (idem presbyter qui et episcopus,) he cannot mean an actual sameness or identity. For, in confirmation of his argument, he adduces two Apostles, St. Peter and St. John, calling themselves Presbyters. In whatever sense, therefore, he maintains a Presbyter to be the same with a Bishop, he might also, according to his own argument, have alleged a Presbyter to be the same with an Apostle. Idem presbyter qui et Apostolus, is with him as true a statement as idem presbyter qui et episcopus.

6. He speaks of Bishops, in contradistinction to their Presbyters, as successors of the Apostles. Quod si hoc loco quæris, quare in ecclesiá baptizatus, nisi per manus episcopi non accipiat Spiritum sanctum, quem nos asserimus in vero baptismate tribui, disce hanc observationem ex eâ auctoritate descendere, quod post ascensum Domini Spiritus sanctus ad apostolos descendit.-Adversus Luciferianos, tom. iv. p. 295.

7. He condemns the Montanists for having established in their sect two orders of Church officers higher than the Episcopal. Apud nos apostolorum locum episcopi tenent, apud eos episcopus tertius est. But had the episcopal order itself been placed by mere human authority above the presbyteral, how could a Catholic consistently condemn a Montanist for a further exercise of the same human authority?-Epist. xxvii. ad Marcellam, p. 65.

8. Warning Heliodorus of the responsibility attached to the Episcopate, he describes the office as the same with the Apostolical. "It is no easy matter to occupy the place of Paul, to hold the rank of Peter, now reigning with Christ." Non facile est stare loco Pauli, tenere gradum Petri, jam cum Christo regnantium.-Epist. v. ad Heliod.