4.  I am aware then that anarchy Anarchy, &c.  Comp. Plato Legg. XII. 2. and disorder cannot be more advantageous than order and rule, either to other creatures or to men; nay, this is true of men in the highest possible degree, because the interests at stake in their case are greater; since it is a great thing A great thing.  The Ben. editors note the obscurity of the original here. for them, even if they fail of their highest purpose—to be free from sin—to attain at least to that which is second best, restoration from sin.  Since this seems right and just, it is, I take it, equally wrong and disorderly that all should wish to rule, and that no one should accept Accept, δέχεσθαι.  Many mss have ἅρχεσθαι, preserving the play upon the word ἄρχειν.  The latter reading, the Ben. editors suggest, may have an active sense, as Hom. Il. II. 345. it.  For if all men were to shirk this office, whether it must be called a ministry or a leadership, the fair fulness Eph. i. 23. of the Church would be halting in the highest degree, and in fact cease to be fair.  And further, where, and by whom would God be worshipped among us in those mystic and elevating rites which are our greatest and most precious privilege, if there were neither king, nor governor, nor priesthood, nor sacrifice, Hos. iii. 4. nor all those highest offices to the loss of which, for their great sins, men were of old condemned in consequence of their disobedience?