in Bengal, the jurisdiction of a Foggadar. See Foggadar in this Supplement.

CHURCH is a word which has many different significations, all sufficiently explained in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, where there is likewise given a concise history of the Christian church (see History, Sect. ii.), defective, indeed, but perhaps not more so than was to be expected from the limits of the work and the extent of the subject.

Of the constitution of the primitive and apostolical church, no man can have a correct notion who has not taken the trouble to consult the primitive and apostolical writers; for, as we have elsewhere observed, all modern compilers of ecclesiastical history are more or less prejudiced in behalf of the particular church to which they belong, and wrest the language of the original writers so as to make them bear witness to the antiquity of modes of faith and ecclesiastical polity, which are not perhaps a hundred years old.

On this account we shall not here attempt to correct what we really think the mistakes of him who compiled the section of ecclesiastical history in the Encyclopaedia. Muthem and Sir Peter King, whom he seems to have implicitly followed, were indeed great men; and it would be folly to deny that the History of the former, and the Inquiry of the latter, into the Constitution of the Primitive Church, are works of learning and ingenuity; but it is not perhaps too much to say, that both authors wrote under the influence of prejudice. Our readers will discover how closely either the one or the other has adhered to truth, by studying the ecclesiastical writers of the first four centuries. Such a study will make them acquainted with the doctrines, discipline, and worship of the church before it was incorporated with the state; and we know not that kind of knowledge which is of importance to the divine, however much it may be despised in this age of affected science and real ignorance.

Of the principal churches at present existing, a pretty full account is given in the Encyclopaedia, either under their different denominations, or under the titles of those tenets by which they are chiefly distinguished; so that from that Work alone a reader may form a tolerably accurate notion of the faith, worship, constitution, and discipline of the church of Rome, the churches of England and Scotland, the Lutheran and Calvinistical churches on the continent of Europe, as well as of the various sects which have arisen in these kingdoms during the course of the last and present centuries. There is, however, one church which boasts of a very high antiquity, and is certainly spread over a larger extent of country than all the other churches that we have mentioned, of which the account given in the Encyclopaedia is exceedingly defective. Our readers will perceive that the church to which we allude is The Greek Church, which comprehends in its bosom (a) a considerable part of Greece, the Grecian illes, Wallachia, Moldavia, Egypt, Abyssinia, Nubia, Lydia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, Syria, Cilicia, and Palestine, which are all under the jurisdiction of the patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. If to these we add the whole of the Russian empire in Europe, great part of Siberia in Asia, Africa, Caucasia, and Georgia—it will be evident that the Greek church has a wider extent of territory than the Latin, with all the branches which have sprung from it; and that it is with great impropriety that the church of Rome is called by her members the catholic or universal church. That in these widely distant countries the professors of Christianity are agreed in every minute article of belief, it would be rash to affirm; but there is certainly such an agreement among them with respect both to faith and discipline, that they mutually hold communion with each other, and are in fact but one church.

As the Greek church has no public or established articles, like those of the churches of England and Scotland, we can collect what is its doctrine only from its creeds, from the councils whose decrees it receives (b), from the different offices in its liturgies, and from the catechisms which it authorizes to be taught. "The doctrine of the Trinity, and the articles of the Nicene and Athanasian creeds, are received by the Greeks in common with other Christians. In one particular, indeed, they differ from the other churches of Europe, whether Roman or reformed. They believe, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father only, and not from the Father and the Son; and in defense of this opinion they appeal to ecclesiastical history, the acts of councils, the writings of the fathers, ancient manuscripts, and especially to a copy of the creed of Constantinople, engraven on two tables of silver, and hung up in the church of St Peter at Rome by order of Leo III. Of the Nicene or Constantinopolitan creed, therefore, as it is received by them, the eighth article runs in these words: 'I believe in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceedeth from the Father, and with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified.' And the corresponding article of the Athanasian creed is of course, 'The Holy Ghost of the Father, neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.'"

Though the bishops and clergy of the Greek church allow the use of images, which they pretend to be one cause of their separation from the see of Rome, they admit into their churches the pictures of saints to instruct, they say, the ignorant, and to animate the devotion of others. This practice they consider as by no means contrary to the second commandment of the decalogue, which, according to them, prohibits only the worshipping of such idols as the Gentiles believed to be gods; whereas their pictures, being used merely as remembrancers of Christ and the saints, have written on each of them the name of the person whom it is meant to represent. Dr King assures us that the more learned of the Russian clergy would willingly allow no representation whatever of God the Father; and that, during the reign of Peter the Great, the synod not only censured the use of such pictures in churches, but petitioned the emperor that they might be everywhere taken down. Peter, however, though he fully concurred in opinion with the synod, thought this a measure for which the minds of his subjects were not ripe, and dreaded, that if carried into execution it would occasion a general insurrection. Such pictures, therefore, though not more impious than absurd, are still in use; and in many churches, as well ancient as modern, the figure of Daniel's Angel of Days, together with that of Christ and a dove, are painted in one group to signify the Holy Trinity. Nay, when our author was in St Petersburg, not thirty years ago, there was in the church of St Nicholas, the picture of an old man holding a globe, and surrounded with angels, on which God the Father was inscribed; and we have not heard that the picture has been since taken down.

In the Greek as well as in the Roman church, the invocation of saints is practiced, but they are not invoked in either as deities, but merely as intercessors with the Supreme God, "it being more modest (say the Greeks)," as well as more available, to apply to them to intercede with God, than to address ourselves immediately to the Almighty." Plausible as this reasoning may at first sight appear, it ascribes to the saints the divine attribute of ubiquity, and is likewise in direct contradiction to the doctrine of St Paul, who hath taught us, that as "there is one God, so there is but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus."

The Greek church, at the celebration of the Lord's Supper, commemorates the faithful departed, and even prays for the remission of their sins; but she allows not of purgatory, nor pretends to determine dogmatically concerning the state or condition of departed souls. She must, however, believe that no final judgment is passed upon the great body of mankind (c) till the consummation of all things, otherwise such prayers could not be offered without absurdity; and in this part of her doctrine she is certainly countenanced by all the writers of the primitive church, if not by some passages of the sacred scriptures*. The practice of praying for the dead is loudly condemned in every Protestant country, and yet there is no Christian who does not in effect pray for them.

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(a) King's Rites and Ceremonies of the Greek Church—Bruce's Travels to the Source of the Nile—and Lobo's Voyage to Abyssinia.

(b) In the Greek church seven general councils are received, and nine provincial ones. The seven general councils are, 1. The council of Nice, held in the year 325, under Constantine. 2. The first council of Constantinople, held A.D. 381, under Theodosius the Great. 3. The council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, in the reign of Theodosius Minor. 4. The council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, in the reign of Marcian. 5. The second council of Constantinople, A.D. 553, in the reign of Justinian. 6. The third council of Constantinople in Trullo, A.D. 680, in the reign of Constantine Paganatus. 7. The second council of Nice, A.D. 787.

(c) We say the great body of mankind, because she doubtless believes that Enoch, Elias, and those saints who rose with our Saviour, have been already judged, and now enjoy their reward in heaven. pray for his departed friends. This may appear a paradox, but it is an obvious and a certain truth; for where is the man who believes in a general judgment, and does not wish that his deceased wife, or parent, or child, or friend, "may find mercy of the Lord in that day?" Such a wish is the essence of a prayer; which consists not of the sounds in which our sentiments are clothed, but in the aspirations of a devout heart.

Supererogation with its consequent indulgences and dispensations, which were once so profitable, and afterwards so fatal to the interests of the court of Rome, are utterly disallowed in the Greek church, which likewise lays no claim to the character of infallibility. She is indeed, like some other churches, very inconsistent on this last topic; for whilst she pretends not to an absolute exemption from error, her clergy seem to consider their own particular mode of worship as that which alone is acceptable to God.

Predestination is a dogma of the Greek church, and a very prevailing opinion amongst the people of Russia; "and I must do the justice (says Dr King) to those who have written upon it, especially the latest authors of that country, to say that they have treated it, as depending on the attribute of predestination in the divine nature, with a much better kind of logic than that with which such points are generally discussed." As our author has not given us the reasoning of the Russian doctors on this difficult subject, we cannot hazard any opinion of our own on the soundness of their logic; but from the state of science in that vast empire, as it was represented to us by an able judge than he, we doubt of its being entitled to the praise which he bestows on it. (See Russia, p. 194, Encycl.)

In the Greek church there are seven sacraments; or, as they are there termed, mysteries, viz., baptism; the chrism, or baptismal unction; the eucharist; confession; ordination; marriage; and the mystery of the holy oil, or unction. By the Greeks a mystery is defined to be "a ceremony or act appointed by God, in which God giveth or signifieth his grace; and of the seven which they celebrate, four are to be received by all Christians, viz., baptism, the baptismal unction, the eucharist, and confession. Of these, baptism and the eucharist are deemed the chief; and of the other three, none, not even the unction, is considered as obligatory upon all.

With respect to baptism, we know not that they hold any peculiar opinions. They consider it indeed as so absolutely necessary to salvation, that in cases of extremity, when a priest or deacon cannot be had, it may be administered by a midwife or any other person, and is not to be repeated on any occasion whatever. In this opinion, as well as in the practice founded on it, they are in perfect harmony with the church of Rome, which, as every person knows, has for many ages allowed the validity of lay baptism in cases of necessity. The Portuguese Jesuits, who in the last century visited Abyssinia in the capacity of missionaries, have maintained that, once every year, all grown people are in that country baptized; but Mr Bruce has shown, by the most incontrovertible evidence, that this was a mere fiction, invented to throw obloquy upon what the church of Rome calls the eastern schism, and abhors perhaps more than paganism itself.

The daily service of the Greek church is so long and so complicated, that it is impossible for us to give an adequate account of it without swelling this article far beyond its due proportion. Of this the reader will be convinced, when he is informed that the several books containing the church service for all the days in the year, amount to more than twenty volumes in folio, besides one large volume called the regulation, which contains the directions how the rest are to be used.

The four gospels make one volume by themselves; and whenever the gospel is read in any service, the deacon exclaims; "Wisdom, stand up. Let us hear the holy gospel." The priest then says, "The lesson from the gospel according to St Matthew, St Mark, &c." The deacon says again, "Let us stand." The choir, at the beginning and end of the gospel, always says, "Glory be to thee, O Lord, glory be to thee." From the old testament and the epistles extracts only are used in the service; and when they are to be read, the deacon calls out, "Attend."

The service of this church as it now stands, and was at first drawn up in writing, is calculated for the use of monasteries; and when it was afterwards applied to parish churches, many of the offices or forms, which were composed for different hours of the day and night, were united as one service, without the slightest alternation being made to avoid repetitions. Something of this kind has taken place in the church of England, where the matins, the litanies, and the communion, which were formerly three distinct services, read at different times of the day, are now run into one service; which by those not accustomed to it is therefore deemed long, as well as deformed by needless repetitions.

The service of every day, whether it has a vigil or begins not, begins in the evening of what we would call the preceding day, as among the Jews; and for the same reason, because it is said in the Mosaic account of the creation, that "the evening and the morning were the first day." The several services, according to the original or monkish institution, are: 1. The vesper, which used to be celebrated a little before sun-set; 2. The after-vespers, answering to the complection of the Latin church, which used to be celebrated after the monks had supped, and before they went to bed; 3. The matins, or midnight service; 4. The matins at break of day, answering to the laudes of the Roman church; 5. The first hour of prayer, or prima, at sunrise; 6. The third hour, or tercia, at the third hour of the day; 7. The sixth hour, or sexta, at noon; 8. The ninth hour, or nona, in the afternoon at the ninth hour of the day. These are called the canonical hours; but it is to be observed, that the after-vespers were not added till a late period, before which the reason assigned for the number of services being seven, was, that David said, "Seven times a day will I praise thee." When all the psalms and hymns were sung, these daily services could not possibly have been performed in less than twelve or fourteen hours. In the church of Russia, and probably in other branches of the Greek church, there are at present but three services in the day: the ninth hour, the vesper, and the after-vespers making one; the matins, the matins, and prima, another; and the third and sixth hours, with the communion, the last. In all the services, except the communion, prayers and praises are offered to some saint, and to the Virgin Mary, almost as often as to God; and in some of the services, after every short prayer uttered by the deacon or the priest, the choir Church choir chants, "Lord have mercy upon us," thirty, forty, or fifty times, successively.

Though the number of services is the same every day, the services themselves are constantly varying in some particular or other, as there is not a day which, in the Greek church, is not either a fast or a festival. Besides the saints, whose festivals are marked in the calendar, and who are so very numerous that there are more than one for every day in the year, there are other saints and festivals, to which some portion of the service for every day of the week is appropriated. Thus, Sunday is dedicated to the resurrection; Monday, to the angels; Tuesday, to St John Baptist; Wednesday, to the virgin and the cross; Thursday, to the apostles; Friday, to the passion of Christ; and Saturday, to the saints and martyrs. For these days there are particular hymns and services, in two volumes folio, to which there is a supplement containing services for the saints and festivals, as they occur in the calendar throughout the year. These different services are mixed together, and adjusted by the directions contained in the book of regulations; and it is the difficulty of this adjustment which makes the public worship of the Greek church so very intricate, that, as was said of the service of the English church before the Reformation, "there is more business to find out what should be read than to read it when found out."

We have observed, that the Greeks have no peculiar opinions respecting the nature of baptism; but the rites and ceremonies with which that ordinance is administered will appear to our unlearned readers very extraordinary. On the day that a woman is delivered, the priest goes to the house, and uses a form of prayer for her and for the child. On the eighth day the child should be regularly carried to the church, where the priest having signed it with the sign of the cross on the forehead, on the mouth, and on the breast, offers up for it a prayer, in which he first gives it a name, commonly the name of the saint for that day in the calendar; he then takes it from the midwife, and standing before the picture of the blessed virgin, he makes the sign of the cross with the infant, uttering a kind of hymn in honour of the Virgin and of Simeon, who held in his bosom the Saviour of our souls. He then dismisses the company with an exhortation not to delay the baptising of the infant, should it appear in danger of death before the regular time for its baptism.

On the fortieth day after her delivery, the mother should attend the church to be purified, and carry the child again to be presented, the person who is to be sponsor being present. Upon their arrival at the church door, the priest utters some pious exclamations; and then, the mother holding the child in her arms and bowing down her head, he makes the sign of the cross upon her and the child, and laying his hand upon its head he prays, that the woman may be cleansed from every sin and from every defilement, and that the child may be sanctified and endowed with understanding, with wisdom, and with gentleness of manners. He then signs it again, and again prays for it, for its parents, and for its sponsor; after which, if it has been privately baptized, he takes it in his arms, and makes with it the sign of the cross before the door of the church, saying, "N. N. the servant of God, enters into the church, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages, Amen." He then carries the child into the church, saying, "He shall go into thine house, and shall worship toward thy holy temple;" and advancing into the middle of the church, he says, "In the midst of thy church shall I praise thee." Then, if the child be a boy, he carries him within the rails of the altar; but if a girl, only to the door, and says "Nunc dimittis (p.)" after which he delivers it to the sponsor, who makes three reverences, and retires.

This is called the presentation of the child in the temple, and can only be performed after it has been baptized. In the detail we have given, we have supposed that it was baptized privately before the purification of the mother, which is now indeed commonly the case. Such baptism, however, is not regular, being allowed only in cases of necessity; and when it has not taken place, the mother and child are dismissed as soon as she is purified, and return at some other time, not fixed, in order that the child may be publicly baptized.

Previous to baptism, the child, though not two months old, must be solemnly initiated into the church as a catechumen (See Catechumen Encycl.). By those whose religion is a reasonable service, such initiation of an infant will be considered as a very idle ceremony; and the rites with which it is performed are not well calculated to give it even a fictitious importance. At the door of the church the priest unties the girdle of the infant; takes off all his clothes but one loose garment; turns him towards the east, with his head uncovered, his feet naked, and his hands held down; blows thrice in his face; signs him thrice with the sign of the cross on the forehead and on the breast, and lays his hand upon his head, praying that his "ancient error may be put away from him; that his heart may be filled with faith, hope, and charity; and that he may walk in the ways of God's commandments." The priest then four times exorcises the infant, commanding Satan, in the first exorcism, to "tremble, depart, and flee from Christ's creature, nor dare to return again, nor dare to lurk concealed within him, or to meet him, or to meditate against him, either in the evening or the mornings, at midnight, or at noon-day." In the last exorcism he blows thrice upon the child's mouth, upon his forehead, and upon his breast; saying, each time, "Drive away from him every evil and unclean spirit that lurks in him, and hath made itself a nest in his heart." The child is now become a catechumen, and, being turned to the west, uncovered, without shoes, and his hands lifted up, the priest repeatedly asks him if he renounces and has renounced the Devil and all his works? and receiving from the sponsor the proper answer, he says, "Blow and spit upon him;" and having blown and spat upon the catechumen, he turns him to the east, and holding down his hands, asks him repeatedly if he be joined to Christ, and if he believes in him? The catechumen or his sponsor replies to each question, that he is, and has been, joined to Christ; and as a proof of

(b) We quote the words of Dr King. Is it possible that in the Greek church Latin hymns are used, or that Greek hymns have Latin designations? his faith he repeats, from beginning to end, the Nicene creed. After a repetition of the formerly repeated questions and answers, the priest prays that the catechumen may be called to God's holy sanctification, and receive the grace of God's holy baptism.

Baptism may be celebrated immediately after the candidate has been made a catechumen, or on any subsequent day at no great distance. In the first part of the form there is not much that is singular, or with which every scholar is not acquainted. After praying that the water may be sanctified, in terms differing little from those which are used in the most respectable Protestant churches, the priest dips his fingers in it, signs it thrice with the sign of the cross; and then blowing upon it, says three times, "Let every adverse power be confounded under the sign of the cross." He then solemnly exorcises it of the demon of darkness and all evil spirits; and prays, that "the person to be baptized therein may put off the old man, which is corrupt after the lust of fraud, and may put on the new man after the image of Him that made him." After this, he blows thrice into a vessel of oil of olives held by the deacon, signs it thrice with the sign of the cross; and prays fervently, that it may "become to those who are anointed with faith, and are partakers thereof, the uncration of incorruption, the armour of righteousness, the renewing of soul and body, for turning aside all machinations of the devil, and for deliverance from all evil."

He then sings alleluia thrice with the people, and pours the oil on the top of the water; and making three crosses with it, says aloud, "Blessed be God, who enlighteneth and sanctifieth every man that cometh into the world, now and forever, even unto ages of ages." The person to be baptized is then presented; and the priest, taking some of the oil with two fingers, and making the sign of the cross on his forehead, on his breast, and between his shoulders, says, "The servant of God is anointed with the oil of gladness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and forever, even unto ages of ages. Amen." He then signs him on the breast and the middle of the back, saying, "For the healing of his soul and body;" then on the ears, saying, "For hearing the faith;" then on the palms of the hands, saying, "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me;" then on the feet, "That he may walk in the way of thy commandments." After the whole body is thus anointed, the priest baptizes him, using the trine immersion; which is unquestionably the most primitive manner. He takes the child in his arms, and holding him upright with his face towards the east, he says, "The servant of God is baptized (dipping him the first time), in the name of the Father, Amen; in the name of the Son (dipping him again), Amen; and of the Holy Ghost (dipping him the third time), Amen, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen." After the baptism, the priest wipes his hands, and with the people sings thrice, from beginning to end, the 32nd Psalm; he then puts upon the baptized person a white garment; saying, "The servant of God is clothed with the garment of righteousness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages."

This chrism is a very different thing from the oil with which he was anointed previous to baptism, and which was used in the consecration of the baptismal water. It can be prepared only by a bishop, and only on one day in the year, viz. Thursday in Passion week; and as the anointing with it is substituted in place of the apostolical rite of laying on hands, called confirmation in the western churches, great quantities of it are of course prepared at once, and distributed through the different churches of each diocese. The chrism consists of the following ingredients, which in different proportions are all boiled together, and afterwards solemnly consecrated by the bishop: Fine oil (we suppose of olives), white wine, hyrax calamita (v), palm-dew, rose-flowers, black palm-gum, Basil-gum, marjoram, thick and thin oil of nutmegs in very different quantities, oil of cinnamon, oil of cloves, lignum Rhodii, oil of oranges, oil of marjoram, oil of lavender, oil of rosemary, essence of rosemary, cedar, black balsam of Peru, sandarac, whitell mastic, and Venice turpentine. With this holy mixture the baptized person is anointed, the priest making with it the sign of the cross on his forehead, on his eyes, his nostrils, his mouth, both ears, his breast, his hands, and his feet; saying at each part, "The seal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Amen." Then with the sponsor and the child he goes thrice round the font, turning from the right to the left; the choir, in the mean time, singing, "As many of you as are baptized unto Christ have put on Christ, alleluia."

Seven days after this ceremony is performed, the child is again brought to the church; when the priest, after praying for him, unties his girdle and linen clothes, washes him with clean water, and sprinkling him, says, "Thou hast been justified, enlightened, sanctified, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the Spirit of our God." Then taking a new sponge moistened with water, he washes his face, breast, &c.; saying, "Thou hast been baptized, enlightened, anointed, sanctified, washed, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen."

The last ceremony appended to baptism is that of the tonsure, or shaving the head of the child in the form of the cross. At what time this rite crept into the church it would not be easy to discover. Some think it received its origin from the religious ceremonies of the Heathen, who certainly rounded the corners of

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(r) The reader will perceive, that many of these rites and ceremonies are common to the Greek church and the church of Rome in the celebration of the sacrament of baptism.

(r) We quote the words of Dr King, taking it for granted that our readers will pardon our not giving ourselves much trouble to discover, on the present occasion, what particular species or variety of the florax he means by this designation. See SYRAX, Encycl. Church of their heads, and marked their beards, at a very early period, in honour of their idols (See Theology, n° 155, Encycl.) ; and some pious, but foolish Christians, deemed it highly commendable to transfer to the true God that worship, in a different form, which had been rendered by their ancestors to false deities. Others will have the tonsure to typify the dedication of the person to the service of God; the cutting off of the hair being always considered as a mark of servitude.

Be these conjectures as they may, the priest, after the child is baptized, offers up for him several prayers, all alluding to the rite to be performed; and then cuts his hair crosswise, saying, "N the servant of God is thorn, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, now and for ever, even unto ages of ages. Amen."

We have given a full account of the manner in which the sacrament of baptism is celebrated among the Greeks, that the reader may have some notion of the childish superstition of that church, with which certain zealous Protestants in England were very desirous, at the beginning of this century, to form a union. There is no occasion for dwelling too long upon their other offices. For the celebration of the Lord's Supper they have three liturgies that are occasionally used, viz., that of St Chrysostom, which is in ordinary daily use; that of St Basil, used on particular days; and that of the profanated, as it is called, which is used on the Wednesdays and Fridays during the great fast before Easter. Between the liturgies of St Chrysostom and St Basil there is no essential difference; and the office of the profanated is merely a form of dispensing the communion with elements which had been consecrated on the preceding Sunday. We would gladly insert the liturgy of St Chrysostom, or at least such an abstract of it as we have given of the form of administering baptism; but as our limits will not permit us to do so, we must refer such of our readers as have any curiosity respecting subjects of this nature to Dr King's Rites and Ceremonies of the Greek Church.

It is proper, however, to observe here, that many superstitious ceremonies have been added to the service since the age of St Chrysostom, and that no man can compare his genuine works with the liturgy which now goes under his name, and entertain the smallest doubt but that the latter has been greatly, though gradually, corrupted. In the offertory there is a strange ceremony, called the flaying of the Holy Lamb, when the priest, taking into his left hand one of the five loaves which are to be consecrated, thrusts a spear into the right side of it; saying, "He was led as a lamb to the slaughter;" then into the left side, adding, "And as a blameless lamb before his shearsers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth;" then into the upper part of the loaf; saying, "In his humiliation his judgment was taken away;" and into the lower part; adding, "And who shall declare his generation?" He then thrusts the spear obliquely into the loaf, lifting it up, and saying, "For his life was taken away from the earth." After this he lays down the loaf, and cutting it crosswise, says, "The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world, is slain for the life and salvation of the world."

All this, and more to the same purpose, is unquestionably modern; but we have no doubt but that the priest uses the words of Chrysostom himself, when, in the consecration of the elements, he says, "We offer unto thee this reasonable, this unbloody sacrifice; and we implore, we pray thee, we humbly beseech thee, to send down thy Holy Spirit upon us, and those oblations presented unto thee; and make this bread the precious body of thy Christ; and that which is in this cup the precious blood of thy Christ, changing them by thy Holy Spirit."

Dr King observes, that this invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the elements, which in the eastern church is always used after the words of Christ, "This is my body, this is my blood, &c." is inconsistent with the Popish doctrine of transubstantiation; and he is undoubtedly right; for the church of Rome teaches, that the change is made about the middle of the mass, when the priest, taking into his hand first the bread and then the wine, pronounces over each separately the sacred words of consecration; i.e. the words of Christ. "It is the office of the priest, in this and in all other sacraments (says a dignitary of that church), only to perform the outward sensible part; but the inward invisible effect is the work of the great God, who accordingly changes the substance of the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ the very instant that the sacred words of consecration are pronounced by the priest over them." But if this be so, it would be impious, and we believe that by the church of Rome it is deemed impious, to pray afterwards, that God would send down his Holy Spirit to change into the body and blood of Christ elements which he had already changed into that body and blood, in consequence of the priest's pronouncing over them the all-powerful words of Christ. Yet it is certain, that in the present Greek church transubstantiation is as much an article of faith as in the church of Rome; for now every bishop at his consecration declares, in the most solemn manner, that he believes and understands that the transubstantiation of the body and blood of Christ, in the holy supper, is effected by the influence and operation of the Holy Ghost, when the bishop or priest invokes God the Father in these words, and make this bread the precious body of thy Christ, &c." This is indeed a different account from that of the Latin church of the time at which this pontifical change is wrought; but such difference is a matter of very little importance (c). If the change itself be admitted, the consequences must be the same, whether it be supposed to take place when

(g) Mr Bruce seems to doubt whether transubstantiation be the doctrine of the Abyssinian church, and relates a conversation which he had on the subject with a priest; who solemnly affirmed, that he never believed in the conversion of the substance of the bread and wine into the substance of our Saviour's body and blood. It must be remembered, however, that the priest had at the time a powerful reason for wishing that doctrine not to be true. The Jesuits uniformly attest, that the Abyssinians believe in the real presence; though it must not be forgotten, that Ludolf was of a different opinion, and that no man had studied the language of Abyssinia more successfully than he. The priest pronounces the words of institution, or after he has invoked the descent of the Holy Ghost; in either case it leads to idolatry. It may be proper to mention, that in the Greek church it is deemed essential to the validity of this holy sacrament, that a little warm water be mixed with the wine; that the napkin, which is spread over the holy table, and answers to the corporale of the church of Rome, be consecrated by a bishop, and that it have some small particles of the relics of a martyr mixed in the web, otherwise the eucharist cannot be administered. In this church children may receive the communion immediately after baptism; and the lay communicants, of whatever age, receive both the elements together, the bread being sopped in the cup. The clergy receive them separately.

We have observed, that one of the seven mysteries or sacraments of the Greek church is confession; but among the Greeks it is a much more rational and edifying service than in the church of Rome. In the Greek church the end of confession is the amendment of the penitent; in the church of Rome it is to magnify the glory of the priest. In the former church, the confessors pretend only to abate or remit the penance, declaring the pardon from God alone; in the latter, they take upon them to forgive the sin itself. The Greek church prescribes confession four times in the year to all her members; but the laity, for the most part, confess only once a year previous to receiving the holy communion; and to this they are in Russia obliged by the laws of the empire.

The ceremonies with which matrimony is performed in the Greek church consist of three distinct offices, formerly celebrated at different times, after certain intervals, which now make but one service. First, there was a solemn service, when the parties betrothed themselves to each other, by giving and receiving rings or other presents as pledges of their mutual fidelity and attachment. The ancient usage was for the man to receive a gold ring, and the woman a silver one, which is still alluded to in the rubric, though, in the present practice, the rings are generally both of gold. At this time the dowry was paid, and certain obligations were entered into to forfeit sums in proportion to it, if either of the parties should refuse to ratify the engagement. At this ceremony, called the nuptial or recording of the pledges before witnesses, the priest gives lighted tapers to the parties to be contracted, making the sign of the cross on the forehead of each with the end of the taper before he deliver it.

The second ceremony, which is properly the marriage, is called the office of matrimonial coronation, from a singular circumstance in it, that of crowning the parties. This is done in token of the triumph of continence; and therefore it has, in some places, been omitted at second marriages. Formerly these crowns were garlands made of flowers or shrubs; but now there are kept, in most churches, crowns of silver or some other metal for the celebration of matrimony. At the putting of them on, the priest says, "N., the servant of God, is crowned for the handmaid of God;" and "N., handmaid of God, is crowned for the servant of God, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost;" adding thrice, "O Lord our God, crown them with glory and honour."

The third ceremony is that of dissolving the crowns on the eighth day; after which the bride is conducted to the bridegroom's house, immediately to enter on the cares of his family.

With respect to discipline and government, the Greek church bears a striking resemblance to that of Rome, and secular clergy. In both there is the same division of the clergy into regular and secular; the same spiritual jurisdiction of bishops and their officials, and the same distinction of ranks and offices. In some points the discipline of the Greeks differs from that of the Romans. All orders of secular clergy in the Greek church inferior to bishops are permitted to marry; but celibacy, and the assumption of the monastic habits, are indissolubly requisite in those who are candidates for the mitre. The regular clergy, says Mr Dallaway, are generally men of a certain education; whereas the seculars are of the meaner sort, and illiterate in the extreme.

In the Greek church there are five orders of clergy promoted by the imposition of hands; but it does not appear that the ordination of the reader, or of the sub-deacon, is considered as a sacrament. The forms used in the ordination of deacons, presbyters, and bishops, are serious and significant (n), bearing in themselves evidence of great antiquity. The candidate for the deaconate or priesthood kneels before the holy table, and the bishop laying his right hand on his head, faith, "The divine grace, which healeth our infirmities, and performeth our defects, promoteth N., the most pious sub-ordination, deacon, to the order of deacon;" or, in the case of the priesthood, "The most pious deacon to the order of a presbyter; let us pray for him, that the grace of the Holy Spirit may come upon him." It does not appear, from Dr King's account of these offices, that in the Greek church the attending presbyters lay on their hands together with the bishop at the ordination of a presbyter.

(n) We must except those used in the church of Abyssinia, which, according to Mr Bruce, are shamefully indecent. "A number of men and children present themselves at a distance, and there stand, from humility, not daring to approach the abuna or bishop. He then asks who these are? and they tell him that they want to be deacons. On this, with a small iron cross in his hand, after making two or three signs, he blows with his mouth twice or thrice upon them; saying, 'Let them be deacons.' I saw once (says our author) all the army of Begennder made deacons, just returned from shedding the blood of 10,000 men. With those were mingled about 1000 women, who consequently having part of the same blant and brandishment of the cross, were as good deacons as the rest. In the ordination of priests a little more ceremony is used; for they must be able to read a chapter of St Mark, which they do in a language of which the abuna understands not one word. They then give him a brick of salt, to the value perhaps of sixpence, for their ordination; which, on account of this present, the Jesuits maintained to be Simoniacal." There is but one bishop or abuna in Abyssinian, and he is always a foreigner, subordinate in his jurisdiction to the patriarch of Alexandria. The last sacrament of the Greek church is that of the holy oil or euchelation, which is not confined to persons periculose agrestantibus, et mortis periculo imminentibus, like the extreme unction of the Roman church; but is administered, if required, to devout persons upon the slightest malady. Though this ordinance is derived from St James, chap. v. ver. 14, 15, it is by no means deemed necessary to salvation, or obligatory upon all Christians; and it is well that it is not, for seven priests are required to administer it regularly, and it cannot be administered at all by less than three. The oil is consecrated with much solemnity; after which each priest, in his turn, takes a twig, and dipping it in the oil now made holy, anoints the sick person croft-wise, on the forehead, on the nostrils, on the paps, the mouth, the breast, and both sides of the hands, praying that he may be delivered from the bodily infirmity under which he labours, and raised up by the grace of Jesus Christ.

In the Greek, as well as in the Latin church, there is a service, called the divine laveredium; observed on the day of Thursday of passion-week, in imitation of our Saviour's humility. At Constantinople Jesus Christ is, on this occasion, personified by the Patriarch, and everywhere else by the bishop of the diocese, and the twelve apostles by twelve regular priests, when a ludicrous contest arises who shall represent Judas; for the name attaches for life. This office is performed at the west end of the church, where an arm chair is set at the bottom, facing the east, for the bishop; and on each side are placed twelve chairs for the twelve priests, who are to represent the twelve apostles. The prayers and hymns used on this occasion are exceedingly beautiful and appropriate; and when the first gospel, relating our Saviour's washing of his disciples feet, begins to be read, the bishop or patriarch rises up, and takes off his pontifical vestments by himself without assistance. He then girds himself with a towel, and taking a basin of water in his hand, kneels down and washes one foot of each priest, beginning with the youngest; and after having washed it he kisses it. All this is done as the several circumstances are read; and when he comes to the last priest, who is supposed to represent Peter, that priest rises up and says, "Lord, do thou wash my feet?" &c. The bishop answers in the words of our Saviour; and having finished the whole, puts on his garments again, and sits down; and as the second gospel is read (x), repeats the words of our Saviour, "Know ye what I have done unto you?" &c. The office is certainly ancient, and if decently performed must be affecting.

Under the word Patriarchs (Emyel.) we have given a sufficient account of the rise of the patriarchates, as well as of the various degrees of rank and authority claimed by the bishops of several other sees in the Greek church. It may be proper to add here, that after the taking of Constantinople by Mohammed II., he continued to the patriarch of that city the same present which the Greek emperors had been accustomed to make—a pastoral staff, a white horse, and four hundred ducats in gold. To the Greek church and the maintenance of its clergy he left indeed ample revenues, which they have gradually sacrificed to their inconstancy.

(1) In the Greek church all parish priests are called popes or popes; and the proto-pope is an archpresbyter. (2) The first gospel is John xiii. 3—12. The second gospel is John xiii. 12—18. CHU [429] CIN

their ambition, and their private jealousy. Still, however, the patriarch of Constantinople fills a very lucrative and high office. "Besides the power of nominating the other three patriarchs, and all episcopal dignitaries (says Mr. Dallaway), he enjoys a most extensive jurisdiction, comprising the churches of Anatolia, Greece, Wallachia, Moldavia, and the islands of the Archipelago.

Since the close of the sixteenth century, the Ruffian church has claimed a jurisdiction independent of the see of Constantinople; though appeals have been made to that see in cases of extraordinary importance. The influence of the patriarch with the Porte is very extensive, as far as his own nation is concerned. His memorials are never denied; and he can, in fact, command the death, the exile, imprisonment for life, deposition from offices, or pecuniary fine, of any Greek whom he may be inclined to punish with rigour, or who has treated his authority with contempt. On the death of the patriarch the most eager competition is exerted to fill the vacant throne; which, as it is obtained by bribery and intrigue, is of course a very unflinching seat to the successful candidate, should another offer to accept the appointment at a lower salary." For a fuller account of the doctrines, discipline, and worship of the Greek church at present, we refer the reader to King's Rites and Ceremonies of the Greek Church in Ruffia, and to Dallaway's Constantinople ancient and modern (published in 1797); from which two works this abstract has been mostly taken.