and were chosen in part from the clergy, in part from such of the laity as were ^ The Deaconess House (Muttcrhaus) at Kaiserswerth on the Ehine, founded in 1836 ; Bethany in Berlin, 1847 ; and similar evangelical hospitals in Dresden, 1842, Htrasburg, 1842, Paris (institution des diaconesses des cglises evangoliques de France), 1841, London (Institution of Nursing Sisters), 1840, New York (St. Luke's Hospital), Pittsburg, 1849, Smyrna, Jerusalem, etc. ^ OIkuvoixoi. Besides these there were also Keiij.r]\idpxai, sacellarii, thesaunarii. § 53. THE BISHOPS. 263 versed in law. In Constcantinople the '* great steward " was a person of considerable rank, though not a clergyman. The council of Chalcedon enjoined upon every episcopal diocese the appointment of such officers, and the selection of them from the clergy, " that the economy of the church might not be irresponsible, and thereby the church property be exposed to waste and the clerical dignity be brought into ill repute." ' For conducting the litigation of the church, sometimes a special advocate, called tlie ckSiko^, or defensor, was appointed. 2. Secretaeies,' for drawing the protocols in jDublic eccle- siastical transactions (gesta ecclesiastica). They were usually clergymen, or such as had prepared themselves for the service of the church. 3. NuESEs or Paeabolani,^ especially in connection with the larger church hosj)itals. Their office was akin to that of the deacons, but had more reference to the bodily assistance than to the spiiitual care of the sick. In Alexandria, by the fifth century, these officers formed a great guild of six hundred members, and were not rarely misemployed as a standing army of episcopal domination.^ Hence, upon a complaint of the citizens of Alexandria against them, to the emperor Theodo- sius II., their number were reduced to five hundred. In the "West they were never introduced. 4. BtJEiEES OF THE DEAD ° likewise belonged among these ordines minores of the church. Under Theodosius 11. there were more than a thousand of them in Constantinople. § 53. The Bishoj)s. The bishops now stood with sovereign power at the head of the clergy and of their dioceses. They had come to be * Cone. Chalced. can. 26. This canon also occurs twice in the Corp. jur. can. c. 21, C. xvi. q. 7, and c. 4, Dist. Ixxix. " Taxvypo-ipoi, notarii, excerptorcs. ' Farabolani, probably from irapa^iWeiv ttjv Cotji', to risk life ; because in con- tagious diseases they often exposed themselves to the danger of death. * A perversion of a benevolent association to turbulent purposes similar to that of the firemen's companies in the large cities of the United States. * KoTriarai, copiatiB, fossores, fossarii. 264: THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590. universally regarded as the vehicles and j)ropagators of the gifts of the Hoi J Ghost, and the teachers and lawgivers of the church in all matters of faith and disciphne. The specific distinction between, them and the presbyters was carried into everything ; while yet it is worthy of remark, that Jerome, Chrysostom, and Theodoret,