Chapter LXXVII: Section 17: , provides that neither this act, nor any clause, article, or (3)

These persons made little progress in England till the opening of the eighteenth century, when many of the old Presbyterian ministers embraced opinions adverse to the Trinitarian doctrine. A noticeable controversy on the subject was begun in 1719, in the West of England, and two Presbyterian ministers, in consequence of their participation in these sentiments, were removed from their pastoral charges. Nevertheless, the Presbyterian clergy gradually became impregnated, although for some time they gave no particular expression from their pulpits to their views in this respect. In course of little time, however, their congregations either came to be entirely assimilated with themselves in doctrine, or in part seceded to the Independent body. Thus, the ancient Presbyterian chapels and endowments have, in great degree, become the property of Unitarians, whose origin, as a distinct community in England, may be dated from the first occurrence of such virtual transfers, viz. from about the period just subsequent to 1730.

Persons denying the doctrine of the Trinity were excepted from the benefits of the Toleration Act, and remained so until 1813, when the section in that statute which affected them was abrogated by the 53 Geo. III. c. 160, which was extended to Ireland by 57 Geo. III. c. 70. Since that period they have been exactly in the same position as all other Protestant Dissenters with respect to their political immunities. These persons do not object to the form of attestation, “on the true faith of a Christian,” though denying the principal doctrines of Christianity as recognised by the Catholic Church.

The form of ecclesiastical government adopted by the Unitarians is substantially “congregational;” each individual congregation ruling itself without regard to any courts or synods.

Returns have been received at the Census Office from 229 congregations connected with this body.

UNITED BRETHREN. (See _Moravians_.)

UNIVERSALISTS. Those who, contrary to the express word of GOD, deny the eternal punishment of the wicked.

UNIVERSITY. _University_, as Johnson observes, originally meant a community or corporation;—it afterwards came to be restricted to those communities for divine and secular learning, which were originally called _studia generalia_, _schools_, _pædagogies_, (as St. Andrew’s,) _academies_, &c. In all of these, the four great branches of knowledge were professed, divinity, law, medicine, and the liberal arts and sciences. In the twelfth century, degrees were conferred, (see _Degrees_,) first in canon and civil law, afterwards in theology and philosophy; though all these branches of learning had long been taught. The universities were gradually endowed with important privileges. For ages they had been regarded in England as great and influential, with corporate titles though not with corporate privileges. These were formally given to them by Queen Elizabeth; under whose auspices the third university of Dublin, endowed with like privileges, was founded.

It is foreign to the object of a Church Dictionary to notice those corporations for mere secular learning, to which in England the title of University, though with a novel meaning, has of late years been legally given. The term, as formerly understood in England, Ireland, and Scotland, as throughout Europe for ages, comprehended Divine learning as an essential and crowning part of the system. The old universities are connected with the Church by the closest ties. Their discipline is recognised by the canons, (the xvi., xvii., and xxiii., for example,) and their degrees are essential qualifications for many Church preferments; these also are conferred under the invocation of the Holy Trinity; all their solemn assemblies are accompanied with the prayers of the Church; and the foundation within the universities, upon which their influence and very existence depend, has been made with the plain and obvious understanding that these great corporations are the nurseries of the Church; that those who partake of their privileges are to be educated as her generic children.

It is beyond the object of this work to give any detailed account of their constitution. It may suffice to observe, that the English system of having many colleges within the precincts of, and subordinate to, the greater corporation, though forming each a minor corporation in itself, is not peculiar to this country. Such was the system of the most ancient universities, Bologna, Paris, and Salamanca; and of many more modern ones, as Louvain, &c. Paris had anciently fifty-three colleges, (including eight for the religious order,) and up to the Revolution had twenty-three, (of which fifteen were not monastic,) several of the secular ones having been amalgamated by Louis XIV. Besides these, each faculty had its corporate assembly; and over all the rector, assisted by three deans and four proctors, presided. The constitution at Louvain was similar, where there were twenty colleges. The college system is the best auxiliary to the university, and grew up from the obvious necessity of securing to the younger students a proper domestic discipline, and to the elder the means of pursuing their maturer studies.

URIM AND THUMMIM. So the Hebrews called a certain oracular manner of consulting GOD; which was done by the high priest, dressed in his robes, and having on his pectoral, or breastplate.

Concerning the Urim and Thummim, various have been the sentiments of learned men. Josephus, and others after him, have maintained, that Urim and Thummim meant the precious stones set in the high priest’s breastplate; which, by some extraordinary lustre, made known the will of GOD to those who consulted him. Spencer, in his dissertation on these words, believes they were two little golden figures, shut up in the pectoral, as in a purse, which gave responses with an articulate voice. In short, there are as many opinions concerning the Urim and Thummim, as there are authors that have written about them. The safest opinion seems to be, that the words Urim and Thummim signify some divine virtue and power annexed to the breastplate of the high priest, by which an oracular answer was obtained from GOD, when he was consulted by the high priest; and that this was called Urim and Thummim, to express the clearness and perfection which these oracular answers always carried with them; for Urim signifies _light_, and Thummim, _perfection_. These answers were not enigmatical and ambiguous, like the heathen oracles, but clear and evident; and never fell short of perfection, either with regard to fulness in the answer, or certainty in the event.

The use made of the Urim and Thummim was, to consult GOD, in difficult and momentous cases, relating to the whole state of Israel. For this purpose the high priest put on his robes, and over them the breastplate, in which the Urim and Thummim were; and then presented himself before GOD, to ask counsel of him. But he was not to do this for any private person; but only for the king, for the president of the Sanhedrim, for the general of the army, or for some other great personage; nor for any private affairs, but such only as related to the public interest of the nation, either in Church or State. The place where he presented himself before GOD, was before the ark of the covenant; where standing with his robes and breastplate on, and his face turned directly towards the ark, and the mercy-seat over it, upon which the Divine presence rested, he proposed what he wanted to be resolved about; and directly behind him, at some distance without the holy place, stood the person, upon whose account GOD was consulted, and there, with all humility and devotion, expected the answer that should be given.

It seems plain from Scripture, that the answer was given by an audible voice from the mercy-seat, which was within, behind the veil. There it was that Moses went to ask counsel of GOD in all cases; and from thence he was answered by an audible voice. In the same way did GOD afterwards communicate his will to the governors of Israel, as often as he was consulted by them; only with this difference, that whereas Moses, through extraordinary indulgence, had immediate access to the Divine presence, and GOD communed with him, as it were, face to face, no other person was admitted thither to ask counsel of GOD but through the mediation of the high priest, who, in his stead, asked counsel for him by Urim and Thummim. There are many instances in Scripture of GOD’S being consulted this way; and the answer, in most of them, is introduced with, “the LORD said.” And when the Israelites made a peace with the Gibeonites, they are blamed because they did not ask counsel at the mouth of GOD: both which phrases seem plainly to imply a vocal answer. And for this reason it is that the holy of holies, the place where the ark and the mercy-seat stood, from whence this answer was given, is so often in Scripture called the oracle; because from thence the divine oracles of GOD were delivered to such as asked counsel of him.

It is variously conjectured by learned men, when this Urim and Thummim entirely ceased: it is certain there is no instance of it in Scripture during the first temple; and it was wholly wanting in the second. And hence came that saying among the Jews, that the HOLY SPIRIT spake to the Israelites during the tabernacle, by Urim and Thummim; under the first temple, by the prophets; and, under the second, by Bath-Col.

URSULINES. An order of nuns, founded originally by St. Angeli, of Brescia, in the year 1537, and so called from St. Ursula, to whom they are dedicated.

USE. In former times each bishop had the power of making some improvements in the liturgy of his church: in process of time, different customs arose, and several became so established, as to receive the names of their respective churches. Thus gradually the “Uses” or customs of York, Sarum, Hereford, Bangor, Lincoln, Aberdeen, &c., came to be distinguished from each other.

The missals and other ritual books of York and Hereford have been printed; but we have inquired in vain for the names of the bishops who originated the unessential peculiarities which they contain. Their rubrics are sometimes less definite than those of the Sarum “USE,” and they contain some few offices in commemoration of departed prelates and saints, which are not found in other missals, &c. The “Use” or custom of Sarum derives its origin from Osmund, bishop of that see in A. D. 1078, and chancellor of England. We are informed by Simeon of Durham, that about the year 1083, King William the Conqueror appointed Thurstan, a Norman, abbot of Glastonbury. Thurstan, despising the ancient Gregorian chanting, which had been used in England from the sixth century, attempted to introduce in its place a modern style of chanting invented by William of Fescamp, a Norman. The monks resisted the innovations of their abbot, and a scene of violence and bloodshed ensued, which was terminated by the king’s sending back Thurstan to Normandy. This circumstance may very probably have turned the attention of Osmund to the regulation of the ritual of his church. We are informed that he built a new cathedral; collected together clergy, distinguished as well for learning as for a knowledge of chanting; and composed a book for the regulation of ecclesiastical offices, which was entitled the “Custom” book. The substance of this was probably incorporated into the missal and other ritual books of Sarum, and ere long, almost the whole of England, Wales, and Ireland, adopted it. When the archbishop of Canterbury celebrated the liturgy in the presence of the bishops of his province, the bishop of Salisbury (probably in consequence of the general adoption of the “Use” of Sarum) acted as _precentor_ of the college of bishops, a title which he still retains. The churches of Lincoln and Bangor also had peculiar “Uses;” but we are not aware that any of their books have been printed. A MS. pontifical, containing the rites and ceremonies performed by the bishop, still (we believe) remains in the church of Bangor; it is said to have belonged to Anianus, who occupied that see in the thirteenth century. The church of Aberdeen in Scotland had its own rites; but whether there was any peculiarity in the missal we know not, as it has never been published. The breviary of Aberdeen, according to Zaccaria, was printed in A. D. 1609 (qu. 1509?). Independently of these rites of particular churches, the monastic societies of England had many different rituals, which, however, all agreed substantially, having all been derived from the sacramentary of Gregory. The Benedictine, Carthusian, Cistertian, and other orders, had peculiar missals. Schultingius nearly transcribes a very ancient sacramentary belonging to the Benedictines of England; Bishop Barlow, in his MS. notes on the Roman missal, speaks of a missal belonging to the monastery of Evesham; and Zaccaria mentions a MS. missal of Oxford, written in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, which is in the library of the canons of S. Salvator at Bologna. This last must probably be referred to some of the monastic societies, who had formerly houses in Oxford; as the bishopric or church of Oxford was not founded till the sixteenth century.

It may be remarked in general of all these missals and rituals, that they differed very little; the sacramentary of Gregory was used every where, with various small additions. However, the rites of the churches throughout the British empire were not by any means uniform at the middle of the sixteenth century, and needed various corrections; and therefore the metropolitan of Canterbury, and other bishops and doctors of the holy Catholic Church, at the request and desire of King Edward VI., revised the ritual books; and having examined the Oriental liturgies, and the notices which the orthodox fathers supply, they edited the English ritual, containing the common prayer and administration of all the sacraments and rites of the Church. And although our liturgy and other offices were corrected and improved, chiefly after the example of the ancient Gallican, Spanish, Alexandrian, and Oriental, yet the greater portion of our prayers have been continually retained and used by the Church of England for more than 1200 years.—_Palmer._

VALENTINIANS. Heretics, who sprang up in the second century, and were so called from their leader, Valentinus.

This sect was one of the most famous and most numerous amongst the ancients. Valentinus, who was the author of it, was an Egyptian, and began there to teach the doctrine of the Gnostics. His merit made him aspire to the episcopacy; but another having been preferred before him, Valentinus, enraged at this denial and resolved to revenge himself of the affront given him, departed from the doctrine of the Church, and revived old errors. He began to preach his doctrine in Egypt, and from thence coming to Rome, under the pontificate of Pope Hyginus, he there spread his errors, and continued to dogmatize till the pontificate of _Anicetus_, i. e. from the year 140 to 160.

Of all the Gnostics, none formed a more regular system than Valentinus. His notions were drawn from the principles of the Platonists. The Æons were _attributes_ of the Deity, or Platonic _ideas_, which he realized, or made persons of them, to compose thereof a complete deity, which he called _Pleroma_, or Plenitude; under which was the Creator of the world, and the angels, to whom he committed the government of it. The most ancient heretics had already established those principles, and invented genealogies of the Æons: but Valentinus, refining upon what they had said, placed them in a new order, and thereto added many fictions. His system was this:

The first principle is _Bythos_, i. e. depth: it remained for many ages unknown, having with it _Ennoia_, i. e. Thought, and _Sigê_, i. e. Silence. From these sprung the _Nous_, or Intelligence, which is the only son, equal to it alone, and capable of comprehending it; whose sister is _Aletheia_, i. e. Truth. This is the first quaternity of Æons, which is the source and original of all the rest. For Nous and Aletheia produced the _Word_ and the _Life_; and from these two proceeded _Man_ and the _Church_. This is the second quaternity of the eight principal Æons. The Word and the Life, to glorify the Father, produced five couple of Æons: man and the Church formed six. These thirty Æons bear the name of attributes and compose the Pleroma, or Plenitude of the Deity. _Sophia_, or Wisdom, the last of these Æons, being desirous to arrive at the knowledge of Bythos, gave herself a great deal of uneasiness, which created in her anger and fear, of which was born matter. But the _Horos_, or Bounder, stopped her, preserved her in the Pleroma, and restored her to perfection. Then she produced the CHRIST and the HOLY SPIRIT; which brought the Æons to their last perfection, and made every one of them contribute their utmost to form the SAVIOUR. Her _Enthymese_, or Thought, dwelling near the Pleroma, perfected by the CHRIST, produced everything that is in the world, by its divers passions. The CHRIST sent into it the SAVIOUR, accompanied with angels, who delivered it from its passions, without annihilating it; and from thence was formed corporeal matter, which was of two sorts; the one bad, arising from the passions; the other good, proceeding from conversion, but subject to the passions.

There are also three substances, the material, the animal, and the spiritual. The Demiurgus, or maker of the world, by whom the Enthymese formed this world, is the animal substance: he formed the terrestrial man, to whom the Enthymese gave a spirit: the material part perished necessarily; but that which is spiritual can suffer no corruption; and that which is animal stood in need of the spiritual Saviour, to hinder its corruption. This SAVIOUR or CHRIST passed through the womb of the Virgin, as through a canal, and at his baptism the Saviour of the Pleroma descended upon him in the form of a dove. He suffered as to his animal part, which he received from Demiurgus, but not as to his spiritual part. There are likewise three sorts of men, the spiritual, material, and animal. These three substances were united together in Adam; but they were divided in his children. That which was spiritual went into Seth, the material into Cain, and the animal into Abel. The spiritual men shall be immortal, whatever crimes they commit; the material, on the contrary, shall be annihilated, whatever good they do: the animal shall be in a place of refreshment, if they do good; and shall be annihilated, if they do evil. The end of the world shall come, when the spiritual men shall have been formed and perfected by the Nous. Then the Enthymese shall ascend up to the Pleroma again, and be re-united with the SAVIOUR. The spiritual men shall not rise again: but shall enter with the Enthymese into the Pleroma, and shall be married to the angels, who are with the SAVIOUR. The Demiurgus shall pass into the region where his mother was, and shall be followed by the animal men, who have lived well; where they shall have rest. In fine, the material and animal men, who have lived ill, shall be consumed by the fire, which will annihilate all matter.

The disciples of Valentinus did not strictly confine themselves to his system. They took a great deal of liberty, in ranging the Æons according to their different ideas, without condemning one another upon that account. But what is most abominable is, that from these chimerical principles they drew detestable conclusions as to morality: for, because spiritual beings could not perish, being good by nature, hence they concluded that they might freely and without scruple commit all manner of actions, and that it was not at all necessary for them to do good; but above all, they believed continence to be useless. We have, in Clemens Alexandrinus, an extract of a letter of Valentinus, in which he maintains, that GOD does not require the martyrdom of his children, and that, whether they deny or confess CHRIST before tyrants, they shall be saved. If they believed that good works were necessary, it was only for animal men. Some believed that baptism by water was superfluous; others baptized in the name of the unknown Father, of the truth the mother of all, of him who descended in JESUS, of the light, redemption, and community of powers. Many rejected all outward ceremonies.

In fine, the errors of the Valentinians were wholly incompatible with the Christian doctrine. If they did not destroy the unity of GOD, they made of him a monstrous composition of different beings. They attributed the creation to another principle: they set up good and bad substances by nature. JESUS CHRIST, according to them, was but a man, on whom the celestial CHRIST descended. The HOLY GHOST was but a simple Divine virtue. There is no resurrection of the body. Spiritual men do not merit eternal life; it is due to them by their nature; and do what they will they can never miss of it; as material men cannot escape annihilation, although they live an unblameable life.

VALESIANS. Christian heretics, disciples of Valesius, an Arabian philosopher, who appeared about the year 250, and maintained that concupiscence acted so strongly upon man, that it was not in his power to resist it, and that even the grace of GOD was not sufficient to enable him to get the better of it. Upon this principle he taught that the only way for a man to be saved was to make himself an eunuch. The Origenists afterwards fell into the same error; but it was Valesius who gave birth to it. The bishop of Philadelphia condemned this philosopher, and the other Churches of the East followed his example.

The maxims of the Valesians were very cruel. They were not satisfied to mutilate those of their sect, but they had the barbarity to make eunuchs of strangers who chanced to pass by where they lived. This heresy spread greatly in Arabia, and especially in the territory of Philadelphia.

VAUDOIS. (See _Waldenses_.)

VAULT. An arched roof, so constructed as to be supported by mutual compression. Vaulting and Gothic architecture are so intimately connected, that the latter has been defined as “the truthful elaboration of vaulted structure;” and vaulting has been called “the final cause of Gothic architecture, that to which all its members subserve, for which everything else is contrived, and without which the whole apparatus would be aimless and unmeaning.”[20] To enter into the science of vaulting would be quite beyond our present purpose; we can only very loosely assign the various forms of vaults to the respective styles to which they belong.

The earliest and simplest vault is that called the _waggon vault_, i. e. a simple semi-cylindrical vault, one side of which rests throughout on each wall of the span to be vaulted. This vault was used by the Romans, and for a while in our Romanesque: but it was very soon discontinued for one in which the whole space to be vaulted was divided into equal squares, and a semi-cylinder being supposed to be thrown over each square in each direction, the one crossing and cutting the other, the points at which they would cut were taken as the groins, and all below these parts being removed, an arched way was left in either direction. This formed a simple quadripartite vault, but as yet of very rude construction. Some of the defects of this were remedied by supplying ribs at the groins, which not only strengthened the vault, but also served in a great degree to conceal its defects of form. By and by the compartments were also separated by a rib, springing transversely over the space to be vaulted. The introduction of bosses at the intersection of the diagonal ribs, and the various moulding of the ribs themselves, was as far as the Normans proceeded with this kind of vault, except that they had various methods of bringing the apex of the intersecting cylinders into the same plane, by stilting or depressing them, where they were obliged to apply low vaults to rectangles with unequal sides.

In the Early English, the pointed arch was applied to the vault, as well as to all other arched constructions, and groining ribs were never omitted; still the transverse rib, or that separating two bays, is by no means invariably found. The ribs were multiplied as architecture advanced; and, during the Geometrical period, we have often, in addition to the diagonal and transverse ribs, a rib along the apex of the vault, both longitudinal and transverse, and sometimes two or more additional ribs rising from the vaulting shaft to the ridge rib. In the later Decorated, these ribs are often tied together by little cross ribs, at various angles, and the vault thus formed is called a _lierne vault_: this was continued into the Perpendicular period; its complexity rather than richness gradually increasing with the multiplication of ribs and bosses. It is a long process to arrive at the exact office of each rib; but there is in each case a constructive reason for its adoption.

The later architects of England adopted a more gorgeous, and, in some respects, a more scientific vault than any of those mentioned, which, from the equal radiation of its numerous ribs over the whole surface of the inverted conoids, of which the whole surface consists, is called fan vaulting; a system really more simple and perfect than any of the others, though to the eye so exceedingly elaborate.

VENIAL SIN. The Church of Rome, following the schoolmen, represents some sins as pardonable, and others not. The first they call _venial_, the second, _mortal_, sins. Thomas Aquinas makes seven distinctions in sin. (See _Sin_.)

VENI, CREATOR SPIRITUS. A hymn to the HOLY GHOST. The HOLY GHOST is that person of the Blessed TRINITY, to which the distributing of the several offices in the Church, and qualifying the persons for them, is generally ascribed in Scripture. (Acts xiii. 2, 4; xx. 28; 1 Cor. xii. 11.) And upon that ground it is fit that a particular address be made to the Spirit before the ordination, which we do by this hymn. It is said to have been composed by St. Ambrose, and is placed among his works as an hymn for Pentecost; and on that day it is annually used in the Roman Church, and was so of old. It was inserted into the office for consecrating a bishop as early as the year 1100; and with a later hand put into the ordination of a priest about 500 (620) years ago in the Roman Church, and so it stands there to this day. And the Protestants have so well approved of it, that the Lutheran Churches begin their office with the same hymn. And our reformers translated it into metre in the larger way in King Edward the Sixth’s first ordinal. Since which time (namely, in the review of the Common Prayer under King Charles the Second, _Dr. Nicholls_) it hath been abbreviated, and put into fewer words, but to the same case, as it stands foremost here.—_Dean Comber._

Though the words of these hymns have lost something from time, the prayer is too serious, too important, ever to be forgotten. We are not so enthusiastic as to expect an extraordinary communication of the SPIRIT to any minister of the gospel. Neither are we so void of spiritual feeling as to imagine that the Divine influence, which GOD himself has promised, and an innumerable host of Christians have displayed by their conduct, cannot touch our hearts. We do truly believe that it is the grace of GOD, operating with our spirit, which enables us to fulfil our duty in so arduous a situation. We may “resist and quench the SPIRIT” (Acts vii. 51; 1 Thess. v. 19); and we may “grow in grace.” (2 Pet. iii. 18.) From these expressions we are taught, to leave our hearts open in the one case, and in the other to aim at greater perfection. In both our connexion with the SPIRIT is made manifest; for, “if we have not the Spirit of CHRIST, we are none of his.” (Rom. viii. 9.) May the SPIRIT of Divine grace “visit our minds,” and “inspire our souls” with holy affections, that we may improve those “manifold gifts,” which alone give stability to the Church of CHRIST, and are derived from him, “the fountain and the spring of all celestial joy.”—_Brewster._

VENITE. The 95th Psalm. The Psalmist here calls upon us with this arousing exhortation, “O come, let us sing unto the LORD!” and the apostle to the same purpose wills us to “admonish one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts unto GOD.” (Col. iii. 16) Where he seems to quicken our backwardness, and to stir us up to a due sense of the Divine favour and goodness. And this is to be done, both outwardly with the voice, by singing unto the LORD; and inwardly with the heart, by heartily rejoicing in GOD, who is “the strength of our salvation.” It is by his power that our salvation is effected, and upon his mercy alone all our hopes of it are founded, and therefore both our heart and tongue are to become the instruments of his praise.—_Hole._

Whenever we repeat this psalm, we should, if we wish to improve and be edified by it, always make some such reflections as these that follow. The wandering of the Israelites through the wilderness represents our travelling through this world; their earthly Canaan, or promised land, being a type or figure of heaven, of that blessed country, to which we are all invited, and where, if it be not our own fault, we may all one day arrive. The same Divine providence which once guided and protected them, now watches over and defends us;—“they did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink.” (1 Cor. x. 3, 4.) The manna, with which they were miraculously sustained, was an emblem of the true “bread of life, which came down from heaven,” for the support of our souls; and the water, which they drank out of the rock, prefigured the graces of the HOLY SPIRIT, which we receive from the true fountain of life; for “that rock was CHRIST,”—that is, it represented CHRIST. Now if they, through their infidelity and disobedience, notwithstanding all the signal favours they enjoyed, fell short of the promised rest, and perished in the wilderness, so shall we, who are blessed with still higher privileges, if we tread in their steps, most assuredly fail of our eternal inheritance in the heavenly Canaan, and be doomed to everlasting destruction. “Take heed,” therefore, “brethren,” as the apostle justly infers, “lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living GOD. But exhort one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb. iii. 12, 13.) Let us not rest in a bare speculative belief, but endeavour to obtain and preserve a lively faith and hearty trust in the promises of GOD made to us in the gospel. This, and this only, will support us in our pilgrimage here on earth, and carry us safe to our eternal rest in heaven.—_Waldo._

According to ancient use in the Western Church, the Venite always precedes the Morning Psalm, except on Easter Day, when another anthem is appointed.

VERGER. (From _virgu_, a rod.) He who carries the mace before the dean or canons in a cathedral or collegiate church. In some cathedrals the dean has his own verger, the canons theirs: in others the verger goes before any member of the church, whether capitular or not, when he leaves his place to perform any part of the service. An officer of a similar title precedes the vice-chancellor in the English universities.

VERSE. A line or short sentence, generally applied to poetry, but also applicable to prose, as Cicero employs it. See _Facciolati in voc_. Hence it came to mean a short sentence. It has, in an ecclesiastical sense, these several meanings:

1. The short paragraphs, numbered for the sake of reference, into which the Bible is at present divided, are called verses. These divisions were introduced into the Old Testament by Rabbi Nathan, in the fifteenth century. Those in the New were introduced by Robert Stephens in 1551.

2. The short sentence of the minister, which is followed by the response of the choir or people, in the Latin ritual. These are marked V. & R. It is something like the versicles in our service, but is frequently longer.

3. A sentence or short anthem, as in the Introits of the Latin service.

4. Verse in the English choral service means those passages in the hymns or anthems which are sung by a portion only of the choir, sometimes by a single voice, as contradistinguished from the _full parts_, or chorus. Thus we have full and verse anthems.

VERSICLES. Short or diminutive verses, said alternately by the minister and people; such, for example, as the following:—

_Min._ O LORD, show thy mercy upon us;

_Ans._ And grant us thy salvation.

_Min._ O GOD, make clean our hearts within us;

_Ans._ And take not thy HOLY SPIRIT from us.

The versicles, properly so called, (with their responses,) are in most instances passages from the Psalms, and are thus distinguished from other suffrages, which are neither verses from the Psalms, nor form in each petition and response a continuous sentence. In the Litany the two versicles with their responses, “O Lord, deal not with us after our sins,” and “O Lord, let thy mercy be showed upon us,” are distinguished from the other suffrages (in the Litany) by having the words _Priest_ and _Answer_ prefixed; and by being each a verse from the Psalms. To which may be added, that till the last Review, these had been always prefaced in the English Litany, since the Reformation, by the words “the versicles.”

VESICA PISCIS. (See _Piscis_.)

VESPERS, or EVEN-SONG, is mentioned by the most ancient Fathers, and it is probable that the custom of holding an assembly for public worship at this time is of the most primitive antiquity. Certainly in the fourth century, and perhaps in the third, there was public evening service in the Eastern Churches, as we learn from the Apostolical Constitutions; and Cassian, in the beginning of the fifth century, appears to refer the evening and nocturnal assemblies of the Egyptians to the time of St. Mark the Evangelist.

VESTMENTS. (See _Ornaments_.) The _vestment_ mentioned in the rubric of King Edward VI.’s first Prayer Book, is the same as the Chasuble. (See _Chasuble_.)

VESTRY. (Anciently _Revestry_ or _Sacristy_.) A room attached to a church for the keeping of the vestments and the sacred vessels. The most usual place for the vestry was at the north side of the chancel, at the east end. There was not infrequently an altar in the vestry; and sometimes it was arranged with an additional chamber, so as to form a _domus inclusa_ for the residence of an officiating priest.

And from their meeting in this room, certain assemblies of the parishioners, for the despatch of the official business of the parish, are called _vestries_ or _vestry meetings_. It is not, however, essential to the validity of the meeting, that it should be held in the vestry of the church. It may be convened in any place in the parish, provided the parishioners have free access to it, even though the place fixed on be private property. Notice of meeting must be given three days previously, by affixing on or near the doors of all churches or chapels within the parish, a printed or written notice. The incumbent is _ex officio_ chairman of the meeting. All persons rated to the relief of the poor, whether inhabitants of the parish or not, are entitled to attend the vestry and vote thereat: and this right is also extended to all inhabitants coming into the parish since the last rate for the relief of the poor, if they consent to be rated. But no person is entitled to vote, who shall have neglected or refused to pay any rate which may be due, and shall have been demanded of him, nor is he entitled to be present at any vestry meeting. A motion to adjourn the vestry for six or twelve months, or for any time, with a view to defeat the object of the meeting, is illegal, and therefore no such motion should be received by the chairman.

The functions of vestries are, to take due care for the maintenance of the edifice of the church, and the due administration of Divine service; to elect churchwardens, to present for appointment fit persons as overseers of the poor, to administer the property of the parish, and (if so appointed under local acts) to superintend the paving and lighting of the parish, and to levy rates for those purposes.

The remedy for neglect of duty by a vestry is a mandamus from the court of Queen’s Bench, directed to the officer whose duty it would be to perform the particular act, or in some cases by an ordinary process against him, or by a process against the churchwardens out of the ecclesiastical courts.

In the year 1818 was passed the 58 Geo. III. c. 69, making general regulations for the holding of vestries, and this act was amended next year by the 59 Geo. III. c. 85. In the same year was passed the 59 Geo. III. c. 12, commonly called Sturges Bourne’s Act, authorizing the formation of select vestries for the management of the relief of paupers; but that is superseded by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.

The 1 & 2 Wm. IV. c. 20 is an important act relating to vestries, commonly called Hobhouse’s Act. It authorizes, upon the petition of a certain number of parishioners paying rates, the formation of a representative select vestry. To 1000 ratepayers 12 representatives are allowed; above 1000, 24; above 2000, 36; and so on, allowing 12 additional representatives for every additional 1000 ratepayers, until the number of the select vestry reaches 120, which is the limit of elected members. There are others _ex officio_, including the clergy of the district. Section 40 of this act saves all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and provides that the act shall not invalidate or avoid any ecclesiastical law or constitution of the Church of England, save as concerns the appointment of vestries.

A series of church-building acts, eighteen in number, were passed between 1818 and 1848, beginning with the 58 Geo. III., and ending with the 11 & 12 Vict. They contained clauses which provided for the formation of select vestries in the new ecclesiastical districts constituted by those acts. In 1851 came the 14 & 15 Vict. c. 97, which enumerates all these acts, and by section 20 not only forbids the formation of select vestries in new districts to be formed, but abolishes all those which had been formed under the acts enumerated.

By the Metropolitan Burials Acts of 1852, (15 & 16 Vict. c. 85, amended and extended by 16 & 17 Vict. c. 134,) new and important duties were thrown upon vestries. It is therein provided, that, upon the requisition in writing of ten or more ratepayers of any parish in the metropolis in which the place or places of burial shall appear to such ratepayers insufficient or dangerous to health, (and whether any order in council in relation to any burial ground in such parish has or has not been made,) the churchwardens or other persons to whom it belongs to convene meetings of the vestry of such parish, shall convene a meeting of the vestry, for the special purpose of determining whether a burial ground shall be provided under this act for the parish; and public notice of such vestry meeting, and the place and hour of holding the same, and the special purpose thereof, shall be given in the usual manner in which notices of the meetings of the vestry are given, at least seven days before holding such vestry meeting; and if it be resolved by the vestry that a burial ground shall be provided under this act for the parish, a copy of such resolution, extracted from the minutes of the vestry, and signed by the chairman, shall be sent to one of her Majesty’s principal secretaries of state.

In case of such resolution as aforesaid, the vestry shall appoint not less than three, nor more than nine persons, being ratepayers of the parish, to be the burial board of such parish, of whom one third, or as nearly as may be one third, (to be determined among themselves,) shall go out of office yearly, at such time as shall be from time to time fixed by the vestry, but shall be eligible for immediate re-appointment: provided always, that the incumbent of the parish shall be eligible to be appointed and re-appointed from time to time as one of the members of the said board, although not a ratepayer of the parish; provided also, that any member of the board may at any time resign his office, on giving notice in writing to the churchwardens or persons to whom it belongs to convene meetings of the vestry.

Any vacancies in the board may be filled up by the vestry when and as the vestry shall think fit.

The board shall meet at least once in every month at their office, or some other convenient place, previously publicly notified, and the said board may meet at such other time as at any previous meeting shall be determined upon; and it shall be at all times competent for any two members of the board, by writing under their hands, to summon, with at least forty-eight hours’ notice, the board for any special purpose mentioned in such writing, and to meet at such times as shall be appointed therein.

At all meetings of the board, any number not less than three members of such board shall be a sufficient number for transacting business, and for exercising all the powers of the board.

The board shall appoint, and may remove at pleasure, a clerk, and such other officers and servants as shall be necessary for the business of the board, and for the purposes of their burial ground; and, with the approval of the vestry, may appoint reasonable salaries, wages, and allowances for such clerk, officers, and servants, and, when necessary, may hire and rent a sufficient office for holding their meetings and transacting their business.

Entries of all proceedings of the board, with the names of the members who attend each meeting, shall be made in books to be provided and kept for that purpose, under the direction of the board, and shall be signed by the members present, or any two of them; and all entries purporting to be so signed shall be received as evidence, without proof of any meeting of the board having been duly convened or held, or of the presence at any such meeting of the persons named in any such entry as being present thereat, or of such persons being members of the board, or of the signature of any person by whom any such entry purports to be signed, all which matters shall be presumed until the contrary be proved; and the board shall provide and keep books in which shall be entered true and regular accounts of all sums of money received and paid, for or on account of the purposes of this act in the parish, and of all liabilities incurred by them for such purposes, and of the several purposes for which such sums of money are paid and such liabilities incurred.

All such books shall, at all reasonable times, be open to the examination of every member of such board, churchwarden, overseer, and ratepayer, without fee or reward, and they respectively may take copies of, or extracts from, such books, or any part thereof, without paying for the same; and in case the members of such board, or any of them, or any of the officers or servants of such board having the custody of the said books, being thereunto reasonably requested, refuse to permit or do not permit any churchwarden, overseer, or ratepayer to examine the same, or take any such copies or extracts, every such member, officer, or servant so offending shall for every such offence, upon a summary conviction thereof before any justice of the peace, forfeit any sum not exceeding five pounds.

The vestry shall yearly appoint two persons, not being members of the board, to be auditors of the accounts of the board, and at such time in the month of March in every year as the vestry shall appoint, the board shall produce to the auditors their accounts, with sufficient vouchers for all monies received and paid, and the auditors shall examine such accounts and vouchers, and report thereon to the vestry.

The expenses incurred, or to be incurred, by the burial board of any parish in carrying this act into execution, shall be chargeable upon and paid out of the rates for the relief of the poor of such parish; the expenses to be so incurred for or on account of any parish in providing and laying out a burial ground under this act, and building the necessary chapel or chapels thereon, not to exceed such sum as the vestry shall authorize to be expended for such purpose; and the overseers or other officers authorized to make and levy rates for the relief of the poor in any parish shall, upon receipt of a certificate under the hands of such number of members of the burial board as are authorized to exercise the powers of the board, of the sums required from time to time for defraying any such expenses as aforesaid, pay such sums out of the rates for the relief of the poor, as the board shall direct.

Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the board, with the sanction of the vestry and the approval of the commissioners of her Majesty’s treasury, to borrow any money required for providing and laying out any burial ground under this act, and building a chapel or chapels thereon, or any of such purposes, and to charge the future poor rates of the parish with the payment of such money and interest thereon; provided that there shall be paid in every year, in addition to the interest of the money borrowed and unpaid, not less than one-twentieth of the principal sum borrowed, until the whole is discharged.

The commissioners for carrying into execution an act of the session holden in the 14th and 15th years of her Majesty, c. 23, “to authorize for a further period the advance of money out of the consolidated fund to a limited amount for carrying on public works and fisheries and employment of the poor,” and any act or acts, amending or continuing the same, may from time to time make to the burial board of any parish for the purposes of this act any loan under the provisions of the recited act, or the several acts therein recited or referred to, upon security of the rates for the relief of the poor of the parish.

The money raised for defraying such expenses, and the income arising from the burial ground provided for the parish, except fees payable to the incumbent, clerk, and sexton of the parish, and the other fees herein directed to be otherwise paid, shall be applied by the board in or towards defraying the expenses of such board under this act; and whenever, after repayment of all monies borrowed for the purposes of this act in or for any parish, and the interest thereof, and after satisfying all the liabilities of the board with reference to the execution of this act in or for the parish, and providing such a balance as shall be deemed by the board sufficient to meet their probable liabilities during the then next year, there shall be at the time of holding the meeting of the vestry at which the yearly report of the auditors shall be produced, any surplus money at the disposal of the board, they shall pay the same to the overseers, in aid of the rate for the relief of the poor of the parish.

The vestries of any parishes which shall have respectively resolved to provide burial grounds under this act, may concur in providing one burial ground for the common use of such parishes, in such manner, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, as they shall mutually agree; and may agree as to the proportions in which the expenses of such burial ground shall be borne by such parishes, and the proportion for each of such parishes of such expenses shall be chargeable upon and paid out of the monies to be raised for the relief of the poor of the same respective parish accordingly; and, according and subject to the terms which shall have been so agreed on, the burial boards appointed for such parishes respectively shall, for the purpose of providing and managing such one burial ground, and taking and holding land for the same, act as one joint burial board for all such parishes, and may have a joint office, clerk, and officers, and all the provisions of this act shall apply to such joint burial board accordingly; and the accounts and vouchers of such board shall be examined and reported on by the auditors of each of such parishes; and the surplus money at the disposal as aforesaid of such board, shall be paid to the overseers of such parishes respectively in the same proportions as those in which such parishes shall be liable to such expenses.

For the more easy execution of the purposes of this act, the burial board of every parish appointed under this act shall be a body corporate, by the name of “The Burial Board for the Parish of ——, in the County of ——,” and by that name shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and shall sue and be sued, and have power and authority (without any licence in mortmain) to take, purchase, and hold land for the purposes of this act; and where the burial boards of two or more parishes act as, and form, one joint burial board for all such parishes for the purposes aforesaid, such joint board shall for such purposes only be a body corporate, by the name of “The Burial Board for the Parishes of —— and ——, in the County of ——,” and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and a common seal, and shall sue and be sued, and have power and authority as aforesaid to take, purchase, and hold land for the purposes of this act.

Every burial board shall, with all convenient speed, proceed to provide a burial ground for the parish or parishes for which they are appointed to act, and to make arrangements for facilitating interments therein; and in providing such burial ground, the board shall have reference to the convenience of access thereto from the parish or parishes for which the same is provided; and any such burial ground may be provided either within or without the limits of the parish, or all or any of the parishes, for which the same is provided; but no ground not already used as or appropriated for a cemetery, shall be appropriated as a burial ground, or as an addition to a burial ground, under this act, nearer than 200 yards to any dwelling house, without the consent in writing of the owner, lessee, and occupier of such dwelling house.

For the providing such burial ground, it shall be lawful for the burial board, with the approval of the vestry or vestries of the parish or respective parishes, to contract for and purchase any lands for the purpose of forming a burial ground, or for making additions to any burial ground to be formed or purchased under this act, as such board may think fit, or to purchase from any company or persons entitled thereto any cemetery or cemeteries, or part or parts thereof, subject to the rights in vaults and graves, and other subsisting rights, which may have been previously granted therein: provided always that it shall be lawful for such board, in lieu of providing any such burial ground, to contract with any such company or persons entitled as aforesaid for the interment in such cemetery or cemeteries, and either in any allotted part of such cemetery or cemeteries or otherwise, and upon such terms as the burial board may think fit, of the bodies of persons who would have had rights of interment in the burial grounds of such parish or respective parishes.