Chapter III: Part 3

CONCEPTION, THE IMMACULATE, OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY. A doctrine of the Roman Church, invented about the middle of the ninth century. It teaches that the Blessed Virgin herself was conceived and born without sin. Although this dates from so far back, yet it was not imposed by the Church of Rome upon her members as a definite article of faith until the year A.D. 1854.

CONFESSION. The verbal admission of sin. The Prayer Book provides three forms of public confession--one in Morning Prayer, one in the Communion Service, and one in the Commination Service. Besides this the Church of England allows private confession to a priest in exceptional cases, as in the latter part of the first exhortation in the Communion Service, and in the rubric immediately preceding the Absolution in the Office for the Visitation of the Sick. Private, or _Auricular_, Confession forms a prominent feature in the Church of Rome, and it is that which gives to the Roman Priest his great authority over his flock. The practice is, to some extent, founded upon S. James v. 16, which, however, is not necessarily to be understood as speaking of confession to a priest.

CONFIRMATION, RITE OF. The practice of confirming those who have been baptized is spoken of in Acts viii.12-17; xix.4-6. In the early Church it was administered by Bishops alone, and followed as immediately as possible after Baptism. Such is the custom of the Greek Church at the present day, but there the Office is not restricted to Bishops, as in the Western Church, confirmation being administered with chrism, an unguent consecrated by a Bishop. In the Western Church the Rite became gradually dissociated from Baptism, although it has never lost its primary signification as a _confirming_, or strengthening, by the Holy Ghost of those who have been baptized. It is now administered, as the rubric directs, to those who have arrived at "years of discretion," that is to say, to those who are old enough to understand the leading doctrines of the Christian Faith. The age at which Bishops of the Anglican Church will confirm children varies a little in the different dioceses, but 13 or 14 is the general age. The Rite of Confirmation forms one of the seven Sacraments of the Churches of Greece and Rome.

The Preface to the Service, inserted in 1661, is, in substance, the rubric of 1549. The Vow, at all times implied, was not explicitly inserted until 1661. The Versicles and Prayer are from ancient Offices. The form of words accompanying the Imposition of Hands dates from 1552. The Lord's Prayer was inserted in 1661, and the Collect following was composed in 1549. The second Collect is from the Communion Office. The concluding rubric, although making it a point of Church order that people should be confirmed before coming to Holy Communion, allows that in certain cases the privilege conferred by the Rite may be anticipated.

CONFIRMATION of a BISHOP. When a Bishop dies, or is translated, the sovereign grants a license, called a _conge d'elire_, to the Dean and Chapter of the vacant see to elect the person, whom by his letters missive he has appointed. The Dean and Chapter, having made their election, certify it to the sovereign, and to the Archbishop of the province, and to the Bishop elected; then the sovereign gives his royal assent under the great seal, directed to the Archbishop, commanding him to _confirm_ and consecrate the Bishop thus elected. The Archbishop subscribes this "_fiat confirmatio_." After this, a long and formal process is gone through, and at length the Bishop elect takes the oaths of office, and the election is ratified and decreed to be good. The matter is in no way of a spiritual nature.

CONGREGATION. In an ordinary sense, an assemblage of people for public worship. In the Bible our translators consider _Congregation_ and _Church_ convertible terms. Psalm xxii.22; Heb. ii.12.

CONGREGATIONALISTS. The newer name of the _Independents_. (which see.)

CONGRUITY. A term used in the 13th Art. The "School authors" mentioned are the theologians of the middle ages as compared with the "Fathers" of the early times. Bishop Harold Browne says, "The school-authors thought that some degree of goodness was attributable to unassisted efforts on the part of man towards the attainment of holiness: and, though they did not hold, that such efforts did, of their own merit, deserve grace, yet they taught that in some degree they were such as to call down the grace of God upon them, it being not indeed obligatory on the justice of God to reward such efforts by giving His grace, but it being agreeable to His nature and goodness to bestow grace on those who make such efforts." (Art. X.)

These endeavours on the part of man to attain to godliness were by the schoolmen said to deserve grace _de congnio_, _of congruity_.

CONSANGUINITY, _see_ Kindred.

CONSECRATION of BISHOPS, _see_ Ordinal.

CONSECRATION of CHURCHES, CHURCH YARDS, and CEMETERIES. A Christian custom dating, at latest, from the 4th century. Nor does the law of England recognise any place as a church until it has been consecrated by a Bishop. Nothing more, however, is implied, than that the building or place consecrated is set apart for holy uses.

CONSECRATION of ELEMENTS, _see_ Communion, Holy.

CONSUBSTANTIATION. A doctrine of the Lutheran Church with regard to the Real Presence in Holy Communion. "It differs from Transubstantiation, in that it does not imply a change in the substance of the elements. Those who hold this doctrine, teach that the bread remains bread, and the wine remains wine; but that with, and by means of the consecrated elements, the true, natural Body and Blood of Christ are communicated to the recipients." (Bp. Harold Browne.)

CONSULTATION, HERMANN'S. A book frequently referred to in the articles on the different parts of the Prayer Book. Hermann was Archbishop of Cologne at the time of the Reformation, and adopted Protestantism. He employed Melanchthon and Bucer, two celebrated Reformers, to draw up a book of formularies, doctrine, and the like, which was called the _Consultation_. Much of our Prayer Book is derived from it.

CONTRITION, _see_ Repentance.

CONVERSION. Literally, _turning round_. By this is generally meant a sudden and sensible action of the Blessed Spirit upon a newly-awakened sinner. A certain party in the Church, and nearly all dissenting bodies, declare the absolute necessity of _conversion_ before a person can be saved. This view is based upon a mistaken interpretation of our Lord's intercourse with Nicodemus, S. John iii., and confuses _conversion_ with _regeneration_ (which see). To the heathen, and infidel, _conversion_--a change of heart and life--is absolutely and always necessary to salvation; but the baptized Christian may, by God's grace, so continue in that state of salvation (see _Church Catechism_) in which he was placed in baptism, that _conversion_, in the above sense, is not necessary to him; but inasmuch as all fall into sin day by day, he will need _renewal_, or _renovation_--the quiet and continuous work of the Holy Spirit upon his heart. There is not a single reference to sudden conversion in any of the formularies of the Church of England.

CONVOCATION. An assembly of Bishops and Clergy to consult on matters ecclesiastical. Each Province (Canterbury and York) has its own convocation, consisting of two Houses--an Upper, in which the Bishops of the Province sit, and a Lower, in which the Deans, Archdeacons, and chosen members of the clergy sit. These chosen clergy are called proctors, and are elected by the votes of the beneficed clergy. It was, and is, the custom of convocation to sit at the same time as parliament; but in the sixteenth century a great deal of the power and authority of convocation was lost, and it became no longer able to legislate for the Church without the consent of parliament.

COPE, _see_ Vestment.

CORONATION. The solemn religious rite by which a sovereign prince is consecrated to his high office. The Coronation Service is substantially the same as that used in the times of the Heptarchy, and is very valuable as recording certain high religious and political principles prevailing in those early times, and still to be cherished.

CORPORAL, _see_ Altar Linen.

COUNCILS. GENERAL or OECUMENICAL COUNCILS, or SYNODS. Assemblies of Bishops from all parts of the world, to determine some weighty matter of faith or discipline. Of such Councils there have been six received by the whole Catholic Church, but the Roman Church acknowledges several others. Of these six Councils the first four are the most important:--(1) Council of Nice, A.D. 325, summoned by the Emperor Constantine, against the Arian heresy. (2) Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381, summoned by the Emperor Theodosius, against the heresy of Macedonius. (3) Council of Ephesus, A.D. 431, summoned by the Emperor Theodosius the younger, against the Nestorian heresy. (4) Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, summoned by the Emperor Marcianus, against the heresy of the Eutychians. The other two generally received Councils are the Second and Third Councils of Constantinople. (See _OEcumenical_.)

Besides these _General_ Councils, there are National, Provincial, and Diocesan Councils,

COVENANT. A mutual agreement between two or more parties. In the Bible, God is spoken of as entering into covenant with man, as in Gen. xv.8-18; xxviii.20-22; and elsewhere. In an historical sense it denotes a contract or convention agreed to by the Scots in 1630 for maintaining the Presbyterian religion free from innovation. This was called the National Covenant. The "Solemn League and Covenant," a modification of the above, guaranteed the preservation of the Scottish Reformed Church, and was adopted by Parliament in 1643.

CREDENCE TABLE. A table or shelf near the altar, on which the bread and wine to be used in Holy Communion are placed previously to consecration. The word seems to be derived from the Italian _credenzare_, a buffet, or sideboard, at which meats were tasted in early times before being presented to the guests, as a precaution against poison. It is used for the more convenient observance of the rubric following the offertory sentences, "And when there is a Communion, the priest shall _then_ place upon the Table so much bread and wine as he shall think sufficient."

CREED. There are three Creeds recognised in the Catholic Church--the _Apostles' Creed_, the _Nicene Creed_, and the _Athanasian Creed_. The name _Creed_ is derived from the Latin _Credo_, "I believe."

The _Apostles' Creed_, rehearsed in the Morning and Evening Service of our Church, is the most ancient of all creeds, and can be traced back, with few variations, almost to Apostolic times; some indeed allege that it, in its earliest form, is referred to in Rom. vi.17, and 2 Tim. i.13. It is in no way controversial, but is a simple and plain statement of the fundamental truths of Christianity, and being such, a profession of faith in it is demanded of all candidates for Baptism.

The _Nicene Creed_, which has a place in the Communion Service, is so called from its being drawn up at the Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325). A more distinct enunciation of belief was made necessary by the growth of the Arian and other heresies which denied the Godhead of our Lord Jesus Christ. The latter portion, from "I believe in the Holy Ghost," was added later, viz., at the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381. Other heresies led to the introduction of the "_filioque clause_"--"Who proceedeth from the Father _and the Son_"--at a still later date. This is one cause of the great schism between the Eastern and Western Churches.

The _Athanasian Creed_, recited on certain Festivals instead of the Apostles' Creed, is not so ancient as the other two, nor does it rest on the same authority. It is not known for certain by whom it was composed, but at any rate it was not by Athanasius. It has been regularly used in the Western Church since the year 800, and is regarded as a most valuable exposition of Scriptural Truth. So much objection is taken to the "damnatory clauses," as they are called, that it may be well to quote the declaration of the Convocation of Canterbury (1879):--"For the removal of doubts, and to prevent disquietude in the use of the Creed, commonly called the Creed of St. Athanasius, it is hereby solemnly declared--

"(I.) That the Confession of our Christian Faith, commonly called
the Creed of St. Athanasius, doth not make any addition to the
faith as contained in Holy Scripture, but warneth against errors,
which from time to time have arisen in the Church of Christ.

"(II.) That as Holy Scripture in divers places doth promise life
to them that believe, and declares the condemnation of them that
believe not, so doth the Church in this Confession declare the
necessity for all who would be in a state of Salvation, of holding
fast the Catholic Faith, and the great peril of rejecting the same.
Wherefore the warnings in this Confession of Faith are not to be
understood otherwise than like warnings of Holy Scripture; for we
must receive God's threatenings, even as His promises, in such wise
as they are generally set forth in Holy Writ. Moreover, the Church
doth not herein pronounce judgment on any particular person or
persons, God alone being the Judge of all."

CROSIER. In Skeat's Etymological Dictionary _Crosier_ is derived from _Crook_; thus a pastoral staff terminating in a crook. The use of a pastoral staff is ordered in the Prayer Book of the second year of Edward VI. The pastoral staff of an Archbishop is distinguished from the pastoral staff of a Bishop by terminating in a cross instead of in a crook.

CROSS. The instrument of death to our Blessed Lord, and as such it has been considered in all ages by the Church as the most appropriate emblem, or symbol, of our Christian profession. The sign of the cross was formerly used in nearly every part of the Church Service, but owing to the superstitious use of it by Roman Catholics it is retained in our Church in the baptismal office only.

CRUCIFIX. A cross upon which is a representation of our Lord's body. It is used by the Romanists, and the Lutheran Protestants, as an aid to devotion. In the Church of England we sometimes find it in reredoses and stained glass.

CRYPT. The subterranean vault under any portion of a Church. Possibly used as an additional place of worship; and, also, sometimes of burial, and of concealment.

CUP, _see_ Altar Vessels.

CURATE. Properly the person who has the _cure_, or care, of souls in a parish. In this way the word, is used in the Prayer Book. But the word, in common parlance, is used to denote the _assistant_ clergyman in a parish. He is licensed by the Bishop of the diocese, and can be removed only by consent of the Bishop after six months' notice. He can, however, resign, after giving the Incumbent three months' notice. For particulars with regard to ordination see _Orders_.

CURE. The spiritual charge of a parish, or, in another sense, the parish itself.

DAILY PRAYERS. Every Priest and Deacon is bound to say publicly in Church, if a congregation of two or three can be obtained; or privately, unless hindered by some good cause, the Office for Morning and Evening Prayer. This is directed in the preface of the Book of Common Prayer.

DALMATIC, _see_ Vestments.

DAMNATORY CLAUSES, _see_ Creed.

DEACON, _see_ Orders.

DEAD, _see_ Burial Service.

DEADLY SIN, _see_ Sin.

DEAN. An ecclesiastic next in degree to a Bishop. He is the head of a corporate body called a Chapter, attached to a Cathedral, and has the direction of the Cathedral services. Deans of Peculiars have no Chapters. The _Dean_ of a College at Oxford or Cambridge is the officer appointed to maintain discipline.*

The _Dean_ of _Faculty_ presides over meetings of the particular faculty of which he is Dean. It is an office in most ancient, and some modern universities.

* _The Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, is the Head both of the
Cathedral, and the College_.

DEAN, RURAL, _see_ Rural Dean.

DEAN AND CHAPTER. The governing body of a Cathedral.

DECALOGUE, _see_ Commandments.

DECORATION of CHURCHES. It is right and fitting that churches should be made as beautiful as possible for the worship of Almighty God, for so God Himself directed the Tabernacle to be made. The custom of especially decorating them with evergreens, flowers, &c., at the chief festivals of the Church is a very ancient one.

DEGREES. A rank or grade conferred by a university on her members. After three years' residence at Oxford or Cambridge, and after the passing of certain examinations, a degree is conferred on the student in accordance with the subjects in which he has passed. If, as is the general rule, he has studied and passed in Arts,--Classics, Mathematics, and the like--the student is made a B.A., or Bachelor in Arts, and in about three years--not necessarily of residence--he is able to proceed to the higher degree of M. A., or Master in Arts, without further examination. Other degrees are in the faculties of Divinity, Laws, Medicine, and Music; for the last it is not necessary to reside. The highest degree conferred by a university in any faculty is that of Doctor. A Bachelor of Oxford wears a small black hood _trimmed_ with white fur; a Bachelor of Cambridge has a larger hood _lined_ with white fur. An Oxford Master wears a hood of black silk lined with _red_ silk, but the Cambridge Master's hood is of black silk lined with _white_ silk. The difference in shape can easily be seen by comparison. A Dublin Master's hood is lined with _blue_ silk. Other universities have other colours; and many theological colleges, which have no power to confer degrees, have arrogated to themselves hoods with various linings, which bear a close resemblance to some of the hoods worn by graduates.

DEISTS. A _Deist_ acknowledges the existence of a God, but denies the existence and necessity of any revelation.

DENOMINATIONS. There appear to be about 180 Denominations having Places of Meeting for Religious Worship in England and Wales. Among these there are--

8 "Armies," besides the Salvation Army.
9 Baptist Sects.
20 Methodist Sects.

DESK. The name usually given to the "reading-pew," mentioned in the rubric before the Commination Service, where morning and evening prayers are said or sung. In 1549 it was directed that the Service should be said "in the Quire" and "with a loud voice." This was done by the Priest near to, and facing, the Altar. In 1552 the Service was directed to be said from such a place as the people could best hear. This direction caused a great commotion, one party retaining their old position in the Chancel, the other performing all services in the body of the Church. In 1559 the rubric before the Order for Morning Prayer was brought into its present shape, and the "accustomed Place" would undoubtedly be the Chancel, but still the discretion left with the "Ordinary" sanctioned the use of the unsightly "reading-pew" or _desk_, which is occasionally found outside the Chancel and in the body of the Church.

DEUS MISEREATUR. Psalm lxvii., inserted in the Evening Service for occasional use instead of the Nunc Dimittis in 1552.

DIGNITARY. One who holds cathedral or other preferment to which jurisdiction is annexed. "One who holds an ecclesiastical rank above a priest or canon." (Chambers' Etymological Dictionary.)

DIMISSORY LETTERS. When a Candidate for Holy Orders is ordained by some Bishop other than the one in whose diocese he is going to work, it is because the ordaining Bishop has received leave, or _Letters Dimissory_, from the candidate's rightful Diocesan.

DIOCESE. The extent of a Bishop's rule. England at present is divided into 32 dioceses; 23 being in the Province of Canterbury, and 9 in the Province of York. It is to be very earnestly wished that these dioceses may be sub-divided, and the number of Bishops increased, that the Church may be more able to cope with the enormously increased population.

DISSENTERS. A _civil_, not a _religious_ term, and denotes those who have diverged from the civilly established religion of a country. Episcopalians are Dissenters in Scotland, Christians are Dissenters in Turkey. In England all are Dissenters who do not belong to the Church of England, whether they are Protestants or Papists. For further particulars see under their various names.

DONATIVE. A form of conferring an ecclesiastical benefice on any clerk, by which he is exempt from presentation, induction, or institution; the patron acting virtually as a Bishop. This is said to be the usual manner in which benefices were anciently conferred.

DOXOLOGY. An ascription of praise to God. The most familiar doxologies in use in our Church are the "Gloria Patri," the "Gloria in Excelsis," and the well-known verse, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," &c. Many of our prayers, especially those of thanksgiving, conclude with a doxology.

EAST, TURNING TO THE. This is now generally done at the Creeds. It is a survival of a general custom of worship towards the East--as the region of light, symbolical of the rising of the "Sun of Righteousness"--which is at least as old as the time of Tertullian, who lived in the second century.

EASTWARD POSITION. A term descriptive of the position used by a Priest who adopts the custom of celebrating Holy Communion facing the East, with his back to the people. There is a very great difficulty in ascertaining what the rubrics with relation to the Priest's position really mean, because the Altar itself occupied various positions at the time the rules were framed.

(1.) _Position of Altar_. "The Table. . . .shall stand in the Body of the Church, or in the Chancel," is the rubric of 1552. "The Holy Table shall be set in the place where the Altar stood. . . .saving when the Communion of the Sacrament is to be distributed, at which time the same shall be so placed in good sort (conveniently) within the Chancel," is the direction in the Injunctions of 1559.

By degrees, however, the custom of moving the Holy Table at the time of Communion, and placing it length-ways in the Church ceased, and it was allowed to remain at all times placed "Altar-wise" at the East End of the Church.

(2.) _Position of the Priest_. In the rubric of 1549 the direction was for him "to stand humbly afore the midst of the Altar," of course with his back to the people. In 1552 the present rubric, directing the "North-side," was introduced, but owing to the Altar's standing East and West then, the position of the Priest remained virtually the same as before. But when, through Laud's influence, the Holy Table was removed back to its original position, the question was whether the Priest was still to obey the letter of the rubric and stand at the "North-side," or rather what was now the "North end," or whether he too was to retain his old relative and original position. The matter has been further complicated by the insertion of the rubric before the Consecration Prayer in 1662, which seems to favour the Eastward position in directing the Priest to "stand before the Table," while, on the other hand, that very position renders it difficult to "break the Bread before the people," unless, as some maintain, the "before" does not mean "in the sight of," but "in front of."

EASTER. The great festival of the Church's Year, and kept in commemoration of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection. It has always been observed by the Church, but in early ages there were bitter disputes as to the season when it was to be kept. Some wished it to be observed on the actual anniversary, whether the day happened to be a Sunday or not. The matter was settled at the Council of Nice, when it was decided that Easter should be kept on the first Sunday following the full moon which falls on, or next after, March 21st.

The word _Easter_ is probably derived from the name of a Saxon goddess, whose festival was kept in the Spring of the year. The other name, Paschal, applied to this festival, is a Hebrew word meaning "passage," and is applied to the Jewish feast of the Passover, to which the Christian festival of Easter corresponds.

Easter used to be the great day for Baptism, for the restoring of Penitents, and, in the early ages, even for the freeing of prisoners. Every confirmed member of the Church of England is expected to Communicate on Easter Day, in accordance with the direction at the end of the Communion Service.

EASTER ANTHEMS. Certain passages, chosen from 1 Cor. v., Rom. vi., 1 Cor. xv., directed to be sung instead of the _Venite_ on Easter Day.

ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS. "In the year 1837 the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were embodied. They are not, as many suppose, the dispensers of State funds to the Church. They are a corporation for the purpose of holding as trustees a large amount of Church revenues. The sources from which the income in their hands arises are certain annual payments from several bishoprics, emoluments of suspended canonries, the property of suspended deaneries and sinecure rectories, capitular estates, and other Ecclesiastical sources." (Webb's "England's Inheritance in her Church.")

"The Ecclesiastical Commission does with the lands of Bishops and Chapters what these could never do for themselves. It can afford to wait for the falling in of leases, whereas those old corporations were obliged to renew them, that they might live on the money paid for renewals; and when it has got the lands it lets them for their full value. By this means it is able to pay the old corporations out of half their lands as much as they used to get from the whole under their own system, and the other moiety is taken out of the hands of laymen (regard being had to equity) and devoted to other beneficial purposes for the Church. In this way the surplus revenues of capitular estates have been applied to the benefit of an immense number of parishes which had claims upon them." (Dixon's "Peek Essay.")

ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. The following are the principal: the Consistory Courts of the Bishops; the Arches Court of Canterbury; and the Supreme Court of Appeal, composed of members of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Under the Public Worship Act the Dean of the Arches Court has been made Official Principal of both Provinces. A Royal Commission has recently issued a Report upon the Ecclesiastical Courts, and the question of their constitution generally is under consideration.

ELECTION. A choosing, hence the "chosen people" of God. There are three views taken of election,--the Calvinistic, the Arminian, and the Catholic. The Calvinistic view is that certain persons are from all eternity chosen or elected by God to salvation, the rest of mankind being condemned to eternal death (See _Predestination_, _Calvinism_, _Antinomianism_.)

The Arminian view is that God, knowing what the life of every man born into the world shall be, and foreseeing that some "will refuse the evil and choose the good," hath elected them to eternal life. (See _Arminianism_.)

The Catholic view is that God of his mercy elects certain of His creatures for a place in the visible Church, and thus causes them to be placed in "a state of salvation," of which, however, they may fall short by their own perverseness.

The Church of England, as a branch of the great Church Catholic, is believed to teach this latter view, as will be seen by a study of her Liturgy.

ELEMENTS. The Bread and Wine used in Holy Communion (See _Communion, Holy_). In Holy Baptism, Water, wherein the person is baptized, is the _Element_.

ELEVATION. In Articles xxv. and xxviii. reference is made to a ceremony of the Church of Rome, called the Elevation of the Host, which consists in the consecrated wafer being held up, or elevated, for the adoration of the people. Bp. Harold Browne says, "Elevating the Host resulted from a belief in transubstantiation. . . .There is evidently no Scriptural Authority for the Elevation of the Host, the command being, 'Take, eat.' The Roman ritualists themselves admit that there is no trace of its existence before the 11th or 12th centuries." (See _Note on Art_. xxviii.)

EMBER DAYS. In early times special fasts were appointed at the four seasons of the year, and of later years they have been made to have a special reference to the ordination of clergy which immediately follows them. The derivation of the name is uncertain. The days thus set apart, and now used for supplicating God's blessing on those about to be ordained, are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the 1st Sunday in Lent, after Whit Sunday, after the 14th of September, and after the 13th of December. Special Collects are appointed for use on these days.

EMMANUEL, or IMMANUEL. A Hebrew word, used as a name of our Lord, and meaning, "God with us," Isaiah vii.14; Matt. i.23.

ENDOWMENT. The permanent provision for the support of the ministry. The annual sum derived from the endowments of the Established Church amounts to rather more than _four millions sterling_. Of this sum--Tithes and Rents voluntarily given to the Church of England by charitable persons before the Reformation bring in about L1,950,000; Tithes, Rents, and Interest on Money voluntarily given to the Church of England since the Reformation bring in about L2,250,000. Thus the total of the yearly value of endowments is about L4,200,000. Of this the State receives as taxes about L200,000, which leaves a net yearly value of endowments of about; L3,500,000, which is paid to the clergy, of whom there are about 20,000. It is thus divided: 2 Archbishops, 28 Bishops, 73 Archdeacons, receive about L173,000; 30 Deans, 132 Canons, 128 Minor Canons, 600 Singers, Lay Officers and Servants, receive about L203,000; 19,600 other Clergy, Rectors, Vicars, and Curates receive about L3,124,000. The average, therefore, is just L3, 10s. a week for each clergyman.

To supplement its endowments, which were voluntarily given by private persons, the Church receives, by free gifts from her own members, about five millions and a half sterling every year. This money is _all_ spent on Schools, Church Institutions, Charities, Relief of the Poor, Foreign Missions, Expenses attendant upon the regular performance of Divine Worship, and Building and Restoring Churches (See _Establishment_.)

EPIPHANY. A Greek word, meaning "manifestation." The term applied to that festival of the Church observed on Jan. 6th, in commemoration of our Lord's _manifestation_ to the Wise Men from the East, the representatives of the Gentile world.

EPISCOPACY. The term applied to the Apostolical form of government, which consisted in the appointment of a Bishop as an _Overseer_ (for that is the meaning of the Greek word) of a particular Church. (See _Orders_.)

EPISTLE. The name given to the _Letters_ of the Apostles, which the Church has admitted as forming part of the Canon of the New Testament (see _Bible_). St. Paul wrote fourteen, if we allow the Epistle to the Hebrews to have been written by him. St. James wrote one, which, like others addressed to no particular Church, is called a _general_ Epistle. St. Peter wrote two Epistles; St. John, three; and St. Jude, one. Those portions of Scripture read in the Communion Service, and called Epistles, have been used, with few alterations, for 1200 years by the Church of England.

EPISTOLER. The 24th Canon directs that "In all cathedral and collegiate churches the Holy Communion shall be administered, . . . the principal minister using a decent cope, and being assisted with the gospeller and epistoler." So, in the advertisements published in the seventh year of Elizabeth, we read, "The principal minister shall use a cope with gospeller and epistoler agreeably."

ERASTIANISM. The heresy of Erastus, a German, born 1524. His main principle was that the source of all pastoral authority is the civil magistrate, who, whether Christian or not, possesses an inherent right to nominate and commission teachers of religion, and is under no necessity of admitting the least difference between priests and laymen.

ESCHATOLOGY. A term applied to doctrines relative to the state after death.

ESTABLISHMENT and ENDOWMENT. These two terms are constantly linked together in the publications of the Liberation Society, and by other enemies of the Church of England, as though they formed one and the same thing. In truth, they are wholly distinct, and are descriptive of two quite different features of the Church of England. It is _Established_, and it is also _Endowed_. It is called the former because it is established in this country by the Law of the land, and professes the acknowledged religion of the State. If the Church were disestablished to-morrow she would still continue to be the true Church of God in this country, because her origin, doctrine, and constitution are Apostolic. Besides being called a "State Church," the Church of England has also been called a "State _paid_ Church." It is well to remember that the Parochial Clergy, and all others except Army and Navy Chaplains and the like, do not receive one farthing from the State. The property, or _Endowment_, of the Church was the voluntary gift of private individuals in all ages, who, out of regard to the spiritual interests of those who lived upon their estates, built churches, and endowed them for the maintenance of religious worship. The State has no right to alienate any portion whatever of that property from the purpose for which it was given. (See _Church of England_ and _Endowment_.)

EUCHARIST. A term applied to the Holy Communion (which see), derived from the Greek, and meaning, "a giving of thanks." It is used in the Latin version of our Articles.

EVANGELICALS, _see_ Church Parties.

EVANGELISTS. Properly, preachers of the "Evangel," or Gospel, of Christ; Eph. iv. 11. The term now is limited to the four writers of the Gospel.

EVES, or VIGILS. The nights or evenings before certain Holy Days of the Church. A list of days which have vigils may be found in the beginning of the Prayer Book, in the table of the Vigils, Fasts, and Days of Abstinence, to be observed in the year. (See _Vigil_.)

EVEN-SONG. Evening Prayer. The word occurs in the table of Proper Lessons at the commencement of the Prayer Book. (See _Morning Prayer_.)

EVOLUTION. A name given to the theory of the origin of animal life, set forth by certain scientists. Thus they tell us that the account given us in Genesis of the Creation is certainly wrong. That man was not created as man, but that he has grown to be what he is through a series of stages. According to Professor Haeckel, the pedigree of man is as follows:--1. _Monera_--formless little lumps of mucus matter supposed to be originated by spontaneous generation. 2. _Amoebae_--a little piece of protoplasm enclosing a kernel. 3. _Synamoebae_--a collection of Amoebae. 4. _Planaeada_. 5. _Gastraeada_, or primaeval "stomach animals." 6. _Turbellaria_, or worms of a very simple kind. 7. _Scolecida_, worms of a higher class. 8. _Himatega_, or worms of a higher class still. 9. _Acrania_, or skull-less animals. 10. _Monorrhina_, or animals with one nostril. 11. _Selachii_, or primaeval fish. 12. _Dipneusta_, or mud-fish. 13. _Sozobranchia_, or gilled amphibians. 14. _Sozura_, or tailed amphibians. 15. _Protamnia_. 16. _Primary Mammals_. 17. _Pouched animals_. 18. _Prosimiae_, or semi-apes. 19. _Tailed Apes_. 20. _Man-like Apes_. 21. _Ape-like Men_. 22. _Men_.

This may be all true, and yet Genesis need not be false. Genesis begins with man as man, and not with man as a Monera--supposing he ever was such. But when scientists speak of the principle of life as being the outcome of an act of spontaneous generation without any external creative power, then we must disagree with them. The principle of life is hidden with God alone, and must come from God. Nor does it in any way affect our belief in Almighty God, whether He was pleased to create man from the first in "His own image," or whether He was pleased to make him first pass through the preliminary stages Professor Haeckel enumerates!

EXCOMMUNICATION. An ecclesiastical censure, whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is for the time cast out of the communion of the church. The first rubric in the Office for the Burial of the Dead prohibits the use of the Service for any that die excommunicate.

EXHORTATION. The name given to the various addresses in the Liturgy. They are nearly all the production of the Reformers. The Burial Office is the only Service of the Prayer Book which has not one or more of these exhortations.

EXTREME UNCTION. One of the seven so-called Sacraments of the Church of Rome. It consists in the application of consecrated olive oil, by a priest, to the five organs of sense of a dying person. It is considered as conveying God's pardon and support in the last hour. It is administered when all hope of recovery is gone, and generally no food is permitted to be taken after it. This custom is founded on Mark vi. 13, and James v. 14, 15, but in both these places it is evident that the anointing should be for the _recovery_ of the sick. When miraculous powers ceased in the Church, it was reasonable that the unction should cease also.

FACULTY. An order by the Bishop of a diocese to award some privilege not permitted by common law. A faculty is necessary in order to effect any important alterations in a church, such as the erection of a gallery or an organ. Without a faculty a person is not entitled to erect a monument within the walls of a church.

FAITH. Man is justified by God in respect of, and by means of, Faith in Christ. It is not the principal cause for our Justification, that being God's mercy; it is not the meritorious cause of our Justification, for that is Christ's death; audit is not the efficient cause of our Justification, for that is the operation of the Holy Spirit; but it is the _instrument_ on our _side_, by which we rely on God's word, and appeal to Him for mercy, and receive a grant of pardon, and a title to the evangelical promises of God.

FALD STOOL. The desk at which the Litany is usually said. In the rubric before the penitential psalm in the Commination Service a special place is mentioned for the saying of the Litany, and this we know from the Injunctions of 1549 was to be "in the midst of the Church," thus marking the congregational character of the service.

FALL OF MAN, _see_ Sin, Original.

FASTING. The Romanist regards the use of fasting, or abstinence, as a means of grace; the Protestant regards it only as a useful exercise, recommended in Scripture, for the subduing of the flesh to the Spirit.

FASTS. Days appointed by the Church for the particular discipline of the flesh, and for a peculiar sorrow for sin. A list of these days is given at the commencement of the Prayer Book.

FATHER, GOD THE, _see_ Trinity, The Holy.

FATHERS, THE. A term applied generally to all the ancient orthodox Christian writers. St. Bernard, who flourished in the twelfth century, is reputed to be the last of the Fathers. The _Schoolmen_ (which see) succeeded the Fathers. Those writers who knew the Apostles personally are called _Apostolical_ Fathers; such were Hermas, Barnabas, Clement of Rome, Ignatius and Polycarp. Other Fathers of the early Church were Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Tertullian. In the third century we have Origen and Cyprian, and succeeding them Eusebius, Athanasius, Ambrose, Basil, Jerome or Hieronymus, John Chrysostom, and Augustine.

The writings of the Fathers are most valuable to us as showing us what were the doctrines and ceremonies of the first Christians. The Tractarian movement was of great service in calling attention to the well-nigh forgotten mine of theological wealth stored up in these writers. Pusey has published a library of the works of the Fathers in English.

FEASTS, or FESTIVALS. These are days of rejoicing in the Church, in commemoration of some great truth of Christianity, or of some great example of Holy Life. The commencement of the Prayer Book furnishes us with a list of these Holy Days. The rubric, after the Nicene Creed, directs that "The Curate shall then declare to the people what holy days, or fasting days are in the week following to be observed."

FELLOWSHIP. A settled income bestowed by a college on a student as a reward for distinguished scholarship. Various conditions are associated with these prizes in the different colleges.

FERIA. A day which is neither a feast nor a fast.

FLAGON, _see_ Altar Vessels.

FONT. From a Latin word, meaning a _fountain_. The vessel holding the water for Baptism. The 81st Canon says it is to be made of stone. By ancient custom it is usually placed at the West end of the Church, near the door, as signifying that Holy Baptism is the entrance into Christ's Mystical Body, the Church.

FORMULARY, see _Liturgy_. A formulary is a book containing the rites, ceremonies, and prescribed forms of the Church. The formulary of the Church of England is the Book of Common Prayer.

FREE WILL. see Article x. The doctrine of our Church is that although man has a perfectly free will to choose good or evil, yet we prefer the animal life to the spiritual life, and, through the badness of our perverse will, shall continue to prefer it until prevented by the grace of God.

FUNERAL SERVICE, _see_ Burial of the Dead.

GHOST, THE HOLY, _see_ Trinity, The Holy.

GLEBE. Land belonging to an ecclesiastical benefice, and which forms part of its endowment, the freehold being vested in the Incumbent.

GLORIA IN EXCELSIS. "Glory be (to God) on high." A hymn in the Communion Office, sometimes called the Angelic Hymn, because the first part was sung by angels at Bethlehem. It has been used by the Church for more than 1,500 years, and, in substance, was sung by Polycarp at his martyrdom.

GLORIA PATRI. "Glory be to the Father." This is one of the oldest doxologies of the Church; in substance, at least, it is as old as the 4th century. It is directed to be said at the end of every Psalm, thus turning Jewish praises into Christian hymns.

GNOSTICS. Early heretics who boasted of their superior _knowledge_, for that is the meaning of the word, just as _agnostic_ means _without knowledge_. This heresy dates back to Apostolic days, Simon Magus being considered its founder.

They mixed up the Christian faith with systems based on Platonism, Oriental Philosophy, or corrupt Judaism. St. John is believed to have written against the gnostics in certain parts of his Gospel.

GOD, _see_ Trinity, The Holy. The word _God_ can be traced back no further as yet than the Gothic _Gutha_, but no one knows its root.

GOD-FATHER, _see_ Sponsors.

GOD-MOTHER, _see_ Sponsors.

GOLDEN NUMBER. A term used in the elaborate tables placed at the beginning of the Prayer Book for the finding of Easter. The Golden Number of a year marks its place in a cycle, called the Metonic Cycle (from Meton, an Athenian astronomer B.C. 432), of nineteen years. The year A.D. 1 was fixed as the second year of such a cycle. Hence the rule given to find the Golden Number, viz., "Add one to the year of our Lord, and then divide by 19; the remainder, if any, is the Golden Number; but if there be no remainder, then 19 is the Golden Number."

GOOD FRIDAY. The day regarded as the anniversary of our Saviour's death. It has been observed from the first age of the Church as a day of peculiar solemnity, to be spent in fasting and humiliation.

GOSPEL, _see_ Bible.

GOSPELLER. The priest or deacon who, in the Communion Service, reads the Gospel, standing at the north side of the Altar. (See _Epistoler_.)

GRACE. Favour. A word used with various meanings in Holy Scripture. The influence of the Holy Spirit upon the heart of man.

GRADUATE, _see_ Degree. One who has passed through the curriculum of a University, and has had a degree conferred on him.

GREEK CHURCH, _see_ Church, The Catholic.

GREGORIAN MUSIC, _see_ Church Music.

GUILD. In the Church, a Society formed for a certain purpose, and governed by certain rules; to promote personal piety; or active usefulness.

HADES. Unfortunately two distinct words in the original of the New Testament have both been translated _Hell_. _Hades_ is one of these words; _Gehenna_ is the other. The latter is applied only to the place of the damned, _Hades_ is the abode of departed spirits, good and bad, waiting for the final Judgment. When, in the Creed, we say of our Lord that He "descended into Hell," it should be "into _Hades_," showing that alive and dead He was perfect man.

It is generally believed that a foretaste of final joy or woe is experienced in Hades by the spirits waiting for their doom.

HEAVEN. The final abode of the blessed.

HELL. The final abode of the damned. (See _Hades_.)

HERESY. From a Greek word meaning "a choice," and thus an adoption and obstinate holding of a doctrine not taught by the Catholic Church. Heresies began very early in the Church, even in Apostolic times. (See _Gnostic_.) The heresies of the present day are for the most part revivals of the heresies of the first six centuries.

HERETIC. One who holds doctrines opposed to those of the Catholic Church. (See above.)

HETERODOX. Contrary to the faith of the true Church.

HIERARCHY. Properly, _rule_ in _sacred_ matters. The apostolic order of ministry.

HIGH CHURCH, _see_ Church Parties.

HOLY DAY. A festival of the Church. (See _Feast_.)

HOLY GHOST. _see_ Trinity, The Holy.

HOLY THURSDAY. _see_ Ascension Day.

HOLY WEEK. Some consider the terms _Holy Week_ and _Passion Week_ equally to apply to the week preceding Easter--the last week in Lent. This is Dr. Hook's opinion. Others restrict the term _Holy Week_ to the week commencing with Palm-Sunday, and call the week preceding that _Passion Week_. Undoubtedly the fifth Sunday in Lent was commonly called in old times Passion Sunday, because of the anticipation of the Passion in the Epistle.

HOMILIES. The Homilies of the Church of England are two books of discourses, composed at the time of the Reformation, and appointed to be read in churches, on "any Sunday or Holy Day, when there is no sermon." Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer are thought to have composed the first volume; the second is supposed to be by Bishop Jewel, 1563.

HOODS. The ornamental fold which hangs down the back of a graduate to mark his degree. (See _Degree_.) The 58th Canon provides that "every minister saying the public prayers, or ministering the Sacraments, or other rites of the Church, if they are graduates, shall wear upon their surplice, at such times, such _hoods_ as by the orders of the Universities are agreeable to their degrees." The same Canon goes on to say "It shall be lawful for such ministers as are not graduates to wear upon their surplices, instead of _hoods_, some decent tippet of black, so it be not silk."

HYMN, _see_ Church Music.

IDOLATRY. The worship of any person or thing but the one true God, whether it be in the form of an image or not.

IMMERSION, _see_ Baptism, Infant.

IMPOSITION, or LAYING ON OF HANDS, _see_ Ordinal.

IMPROPRIATION. Ecclesiastical property, the profits of which are in the hands of a layman. Impropriations have arisen from the confiscation of monasteries in the time of Henry VIII., when, instead of restoring the tithes to Church purposes, they were given to Court favourites.

INCARNATION. The act whereby Christ, the "Word, was made flesh." The "taking of the Manhood into God."

INCUMBENT. A person in possession of a benefice. (See _Benefice_.)

INDEPENDENTS. The first body of Dissenters which actually broke away from the Church of England was that of the _Independents_, or--as they are nowadays perhaps more intelligibly called--the _Congregationalists_. An Independent sect seems to have existed about the year 1568, the whole question in dispute between them and the Church being then, as it is still, essentially one of "discipline," or Church Polity. They made each congregation a body corporate, governed exclusively by itself, and disclaim, more or less, every form of union between churches. In doctrine they are strictly Calvinistic, and, reviving the ancient heresy of Donatus, they profess to receive only accredited or really serious Christians into their fellowship, and to exclude any who may prove themselves unworthy members.

The Independents are sometimes called _Brownists_, from Robert Brown, a clergyman of the Church of England, who was the first to secede from her ranks, and who, retreating to Holland, set up a separatist communion.

There are 76 County and other Associations at home and in the Colonies, with 3,895 meetinghouses, and 1,039 preaching stations, 300 being foreign mission stations; of ministers and missionaries they have about 3,500. They reckon to have about 360,000 members in the British dominions.

INDUCTION. The ceremony whereby a minister is put in actual possession of the living to which he has been presented.

INFALLIBILITY. The claim set up by the Church of Rome, either for the Pope, or the Church, or for the Pope and the Church consenting together; of absolute freedom from error in deciding questions of faith and doctrine. Roman divines are not agreed among themselves as to precisely _where_ the infallibility of their Church is found. Certain it is that Councils and Popes have contradicted and anathematized each other.

INNOCENTS' DAY, THE HOLY. This festival has been observed ever since the 3rd century, in memory of the slaughtered children of Bethlehem (Matt. ii. 16.) Its old English name is Childermas, and it is kept on December 28th; the attendants on the nativity being St. Stephen, a martyr in will and deed, December 26th; St. John the Divine, a martyr in will though not in deed, December 27th; and The Holy Innocents, martyrs in deed but not in will, December 28th.

INSPIRATION. The extraordinary and supernatural influence of the Holy Spirit on the human mind, by which the sacred writers were qualified to set forth the things of God. In this sense the word occurs in 2 Tim. iii. 16. (See _Bible_.)

The word is also used of the ordinary influence of the Holy Spirit on the heart of man, as "Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the _inspiration_ of Thy Holy Spirit."

INSTITUTION. The legal act by which the Bishop commits to a clergyman the cure of a church.

INSTITUTIONS, CHURCH, _see_ Societies.

INTROIT, _see_ Church Music

IRVINGITES. The followers of Edward Irving, a minister of the Scottish establishment, who was born in 1792, and died in 1834. He was deposed from the Presbyterian ministry for teaching that our Lord's nature was peccable, or capable of sin. He gathered a congregation round him in London, and now has many followers both in Scotland and England, and also in Germany. His followers entertain peculiar notions about the millennium, and they claim to exercise the power of prophecy, to have the miraculous gift of tongues, and to be able to raise the dead.

The Irvingites call themselves "The Catholic and Apostolic Church," and among their ministers number apostles, prophets, angels, evangelists, &c. They use as much as possible the liturgies of the Church in their worship, and observe a very ornate ritual. In their principal places of worship the Holy Communion is administered daily, and throughout the day many other Services are held.

They recognise the three Creeds of the Catholic Church as their rule of faith.

They have 19 places for public worship, besides many preaching stations, in England; the principal erection is in Gordon Square, London, and is a large building of considerable architectural pretensions.

JAMES'S (St.) DAY. July 25th. The day on which the Church celebrates the memory of the Apostle St. James the Great, or the Elder. He was one of the sons of Zebedee, and a brother of St. John the Divine. He was the first of the Apostles to suffer martyrdom. (Acts xii. 2.)

JESUITS, or SOCIETY OF JESUS. A Roman Catholic Society founded by Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard, born in 1491. Members of the Order bind themselves to yield the most blind, implicit, and unlimited obedience to the General of the Order. Before the conclusion of the 16th century the Jesuits had obtained the chief direction of the youthful mind in every Roman Catholic country in Europe. They had become the confessors of almost all its monarchs, and the spiritual guides of nearly every person distinguished for rank or influence. At different periods they obtained the direction of the most considerable courts, and took part in every intrigue and revolution. Their great principle of action is not so much the advance of Christianity, as the extension of the Papal power; and in effecting this, their great maxim is "the end will justify the means." The Society is still flourishing, and has a power which is probably as little imagined as it is unknown to all but themselves.

JESUS, _see_ Trinity, The Holy.

JOHN (St.) BAPTIST'S DAY. June 24th. This feast commemorates, not the martyrdom, but the miraculous birth of St. John Baptist. It is the only nativity, besides that of our Lord, that is kept by the Church; although September 8th is marked in our Calendar for the commemoration of the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The festival has been observed since the 4th or 5th century.