Page:A General Survey of the History of the Canon of the New Testament (7th edition, 1896).djvu/91

 I.]  time the disciple of St Paul, and again of St Peter : the order of his episcopate at Rome is disputed ; and yet, notwithstanding these ambiguities, it is evident that he exercised a powerful and lasting influence. In fact, he lost his individuality through the general acknowledgment of his representative character in the history of the Church.

Writings which were assigned to the authorship of Clement gained a wide circulation in the East and West, two Epistles to Virgins were published in a Syriac translation under his name by Wetstein. The Clementines, in spite of their tendency, remain entire, to represent the unorthodox literature of the first ages. The Canons and Constitutions which claim his authority became part of the law-book of Christians. Two Greek epistles, professing to be his, are appended to one of the earliest manuscripts of the Bible in existence.

The historical position of Clement is illustrated by the