Orange, by whom he was made lord chamberlain of the household, and taken into the privy-council. He died in 1706, and left several poetical pieces, which, though not considerable enough to make a volume by themselves, may be found among the works of the minor poets, published in 1749.

SACRAMENT is derived from the Latin word sacramentum, which signifies an oath, particularly the oath taken by soldiers to be true to their country and general. The words of this oath, according to Polybius, were, obtemperaturus sum et facturus quicquid mandabitur ab imperatoribus juxta vires. The word was adopted by the writers of the Latin church, and employed, perhaps with no great propriety, to denote those ordinances of religion by which Christians came under an obligation, equally sacred with that of an oath, to observe their part of the covenant of grace, and in which they have the assurance of Christ that he will fulfil his part of the same covenant.

Of sacraments, in this sense of the word, Protestant churches admit of but two; and it is not easy to conceive how a greater number can be made out from Scripture, if the definition of a sacrament be just which is given by the church of England. By that church, the meaning of the word sacrament is declared to be "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us, ordained by Christ himself as a means whereby we receive the same, and a pledge to assure us thereof." According to this definition, baptism and the Lord's Supper are certainly sacraments; for each consists of an outward and visible sign of what is believed to be an inward and spiritual grace; both were ordained by Christ himself, and by the reception of each does the Christian come under a solemn obligation to be true to his divine master, according to the terms of the covenant of grace. (See Baptism and Supper of the Lord.) The Romanists, however, add to this number confirmation, penance, extreme unction, ordination, and marriage, holding in all seven sacraments; but two of those rites not being peculiar to the Christian church cannot possibly be Christian sacraments, in contradiction to the sacraments or obligations into which men of all religions enter. Marriage was instituted from the beginning, when God made man male and female, and commanded them to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth; and penance, as far as it is of the same import with repentance, has a place in all religions which teach that God is merciful, and men fallible.

The external severities imposed upon penitents by the church of Rome (see Penance) may indeed be in some respects peculiar to the discipline of that church, though the penances of the Hindoos are certainly as rigid; but none of these severities were ordained by Christ himself as the pledge of an inward and spiritual grace; nor do they, like baptism and the Lord's Supper, bring men under obligations which are supposed to be analogous to the meaning of the word sacramentum. Confirmation has a better title to the appellation of a sacrament than any of the other five popish rites of that name, though it certainly was not considered as such by the earliest writers of the Christian church, nor does it appear to have been ordained by Christ himself, (see Confirmation). Ordination is by many churches considered as a very important rite; but as it is not administered to all men, nor has any particular form appropriated to it in the New Testament, it cannot be considered as a Christian sacrament conferring grace generally necessary to salvation. It is rather a form of authorising certain persons to perform certain offices, which respect not themselves but the whole church; and extreme unction is a rite which took its rise from the miraculous powers of the primitive church vainly claimed by the succeeding clergy. (See Ordination and Extreme Unction.) These considerations seem to have some weight with the Roman clergy themselves; for they call the eucharist, by way of eminence, the holy sacrament. Thus to expose the holy sacrament, is to lay the consecrated host on the altar to be adored. The procession of the holy sacrament is that in which this host is carried about the church, or about a town.

Numerous as we think the sacraments of the Roman church, a sect of Christians sprung up in England early in the current century who increased their number. The founder of this sect was a Dr Deacon, we think, of Manchester, where the remains of it subsisted very lately, and probably do so at present. According to these men, every rite and every phrase in the book called the Apolitical Constitutions were certainly in use among the apostles themselves. Still, however, they make a distinction between the greater and the lesser sacraments. The greater sacraments are only two, baptism and the Lord's supper. The lesser are no fewer than ten, viz., five belonging to baptism, exorcism, anointing with oil, the white garment, a taste of milk and honey, and anointing with chrism or ointment. The other five are, the sign of the cross, imposition of hands, unction of the sick, holy orders, and matrimony. Of the nature of these lesser sacraments, or the grace which they are supposed to confer, our limits will permit us to give no account. Nor is it necessary that we should. The sect which taught them, if not extinguished, is certainly in its last wane. It has produced, however, one or two learned men; and its founder's Full, True, and Comprehensive View of Christianity, in two Catechisms, is a work which the Christian antiquary will read with pleasure for information, and the philosopher for the materials which it contains for meditation on the workings of the human mind. It was published in 8vo, in the year 1748.

Congregation of the Holy Sacrament, a religious establishment formed in France, whose founder was Athanasius, bishop of Bethlehem, and which, in 1644, received an order from Urban VIII, to have always a number of ecclesiastics ready to exercise their ministry among pagan nations, wherever the pope, or congregation de propaganda, should appoint.