in matters of literature, the same with a marginal note.

APostLE properly signifies a messenger or person sent by another upon some business; and hence, by way of eminence, denotes one of the disciples commissioned by Jesus Christ to preach the gospel.

Our blessed Lord selected twelve out of the number of his disciples to be invested with the apostleship. Their names were Simon Peter, Andrew, James the greater, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the less, Jude, surnamed Lebbeus or Thaddæus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot. Of these, Simon, Andrew, James the greater, and John, were fishermen; and Matthew a publican, or receiver of the public revenue: of what profession the rest were, we are not told in Scripture: though it is probable they were fishermen.

There are various conjectures as to the reason of our Saviour's making choice of twelve apostles. The most probable is, that it might be in allusion to the twelve patriarchs, as the founders of their several tribes; or to the twelve chief heads or rulers of those tribes, of which the body of the Jewish nation consisted. This opinion seems to be countenanced by what our Saviour tells his apostles, that "when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, they also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Our Lord's first commission to his apostles was in the third year of his public ministry, about eight months after their solemn election; at which time he sent them out by two and two. They were to make no provision of money for their subsistence in their journey, but to expect it from those to whom they preached. They were to declare, that the kingdom of heaven, or the Messiah, was at hand; and to confirm their doctrine by miracles. They were to avoid going either to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans, and to confine their preaching to the people of Israel. In obedience to their Master, the apostles went into all the parts of Palestine inhabited by the Jews, preaching the gospel, and working miracles. The evangelical history is silent as to the particular circumstances attending this first preaching of the apostles; and only informs us, that they returned, and told their Master of all that they had done.

Their second commission, just before our Lord's ascension into heaven, was of a more extensive and particular nature. They were now not to confine their preaching to the Jews, but to "go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." Accordingly they began publicly, after our Lord's ascension, to exercise the office of their ministry, working miracles daily in proof of their mission, and making great numbers of converts to the Christian faith. This alarmed the Jewish Sanhedrim; whereupon the apostles were apprehended, and being examined before the high priest and elders, were commanded not to preach any more in the name of Christ. But this injunction did not terrify them from persisting in the duty of their calling; for they continued daily, in the temple, and in private houses, teaching, and preaching the gospel.

After the apostles had exercised their ministry for twelve years in Palestine, they resolved to disperse themselves in different parts of the world, and agreed to determine by lot what parts each should take. According to this division, St Peter went into Pontus, Galatia, and those other provinces of the Lesser Asia. St Andrew had the vast northern countries of Scythia and Sogdiana allotted to his portion. St John's was partly the same with Peter's, namely the Lesser Asia. Apostle. St Philip had the Upper Asia assigned to him, with some parts of Scythia and Colchis. Arabia Felix fell to St Bartholomew's share. St Matthew preached in Chaldea, Persia, and Parthia. St Thomas preached likewise in Parthia; as also to the Hyrcanians, Bactrians, and Indians. St James the less continued in Jerusalem, of which church he was bishop. St Simon had for his portion Egypt, Cyrene, Libya, and Mauritania; St Jude, Syria and Mesopotamia; and St Matthias, who was chosen in the room of the traitor Judas, Cappadocia and Colchis. Thus, by the dispersion of the apostles, Christianity was very early planted in a great many parts of the world. We have but very short and imperfect accounts of their travels and actions.

In order to qualify the apostles for the arduous task of converting the world to the Christian religion, they were, in the first place, miraculously enabled to speak the languages of the several nations to whom they were to preach; and, in the second place, were endowed with the power of working miracles, in confirmation of the doctrines they taught; gifts which were unnecessary, and therefore ceased, in the after ages of the church, when Christianity came to be established by the civil power.

St Paul is frequently called the apostle, by way of eminence; and the apostle of the Gentiles, because his ministry was chiefly made use of for the conversion of the Gentile world, as that of St Peter was for the Jews, who is therefore styled the apostle of the circumcision. The several apostles are usually represented with their respective badges or attributes; St Peter with the keys; St Paul with a sword; St Andrew with a cross or saltier; St James minor with a fuller's pole; St John with a cup, and a winged serpent flying from it; St Bartholomew with a knife; St Philip with a long staff, whose upper end is formed into a cross; St Thomas with a lance; St Matthew with a hatchet; St Matthias with a battle axe; St James major with a pilgrim's staff and a gourd bottle; St Simon with a saw; and St Jude with a club.

This appellation was also given to the ordinary travelling ministers of the church.—Thus St Paul, in the Epistle to the Romans, xvii. 7, says, "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen and fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles." It was likewise a title given to those sent by the churches to carry their alms to the poor of other churches. This usage they borrowed from the synagogues, who called those whom they sent on this message by the same name; and the function or office itself ἀποστόλος, apostle, q. d. mission. Thus St Paul, writing to the Philippians, tells them that Epaphroditus their apostle had ministered to his wants, ch. ii. 25.

The appellation is given in like manner to those persons who first planted the Christian faith in any place. Thus Dionysius of Corinth is called the apostle of France; Xavier, the apostle of the Indies, &c. In the East Indies the Jesuit missionaries are also called apostles.

Apostle is also used among the Jews for a kind of officer anciently sent into the several parts and provinces in their jurisdiction, by way of visitor or commissary, to see that the laws were duly observed, and to receive the moneys collected for the reparation of the temple, and the tribute payable to the Romans. The Theodosian code, lib. 14. De Judaeis, calls those apostoli, qui ad exigendum aurum atque argentum, à patriarcha certo tempore diriguntur. Julian the apostate remitted the Jews the apostle, ἀποστόλος; that is, as he himself explains it, the tribute they had been accustomed to send him. These apostles were a degree below the officers of the synagogue called patriarchs, and received their commissions from them. Some authors observe, that St Paul had borne this office; and that it is this he alludes to in the beginning of the epistle to the Galatians; as if he had said, Paul, no longer an apostle of the synagogue, nor sent thereby to maintain the law of Moses, but now an apostle and envoy of Jesus Christ, &c. St Jerome, though he does not believe that St Paul had been an apostle of this kind, yet imagines that he alludes to it in the passage just cited.