to five-fourths of the inhabitants of the principality. The success of the attack upon the church of Ireland will, indeed, very nearly complete the discovery that we are all dissenters in this island; and will, in no small degree, help to make us such in fact.

In truth, the ingenious principle upon which it is attempted to justify the spoliation scheme in Ireland is a proclaimed bounty upon dissent. It is, on one side, a declaration, that the truth of religion, like a vote of the House of Commons, is to be determined by counting noses; on the other, an advertisement, that the public are at liberty, as at a Dutch auction, to bid downwards, to the lowest farthing, for the means of salvation. Let a fluent tinker go into an English parish, occupy a desolated manufactory, underbid the parson, saying, for example, that he will take twentieths instead of tithes, and the precedent afforded in the case of Ireland, if the present project be carried into effect, would much more than justify the dismissal of the latter. We say, much more than justify, because the Irish priest does not underbid, as we have supposed our inspired and self-ordained tinkers to do.

There is, in fact, but one ground upon which an established church anywhere can be justified, and that is the duty owing by the state to provide for the people the means of instruction in true religion. This duty the state is bound to perform, without reference to the use which the people may be disposed to make of the means of instruction provided for them, except that where the prevalence of falsehood, or other cause of perverse indisposition, may offer obstruction to the propagation of truth, the state is more urgently called upon to amplify and sustain these means of instruction.

Any other ground of justification for the establishment of a national church any where there is none; and this ground certainly exists to defend the established church in Ireland as much as in England.

The notion of religious rights accruing in arithmetical progression, upon which rests the ecclesiastical philosophy of the present day, is the strangest in the world. The Reform Bill, when it denied political rights to all who did not live in a certain amount of congregation, went, one would think, far enough; but the denial of religious rights, or, which is the same thing, of the enjoyment of the means of instruction in true religion, goes in extravagance many a bar's length beyond the extravagance of the Reform Bill. The Platonic notion of the Androgynes, two beings animated by one soul, might justify the refusal of special instructor to a unit; and we remember to have read of a sect of heretics-we think amongst the Cnunians of Armenia-who imagined that the spiritual part of each person was an integral of the soul of his tribe or family, for whom a single priest and teacher to each spiritual division would seem to be sufficient. Neither the Platonic notion nor the Gnunian doctrine, however, as far as we can learn, prevails in these kingdoms, and therefore the doctrine of ecclesiastical reformers is simply this-that though the state believes the doctrine of the Church of England to be a true doctrine, and necessary to salvation, the state, including some English, and, it may be, a Welsh bishop, think every man may be properly left to the most imminent danger of eternal perdition if he cannot get a certain number of neighbours to be saved along with him. The exact tenuity of Christian population which consigns to the spiritual schedule A. has not been as yet formally announced; but we have some means of arriving at a calculation upon the point. There are about ten millions of half cultivated acres of land in Ireland; upon these ten millions of acres reside, at least, two millions and a half of Christians, members of the British church—that is, one to every four acres, or one hundred and sixty in a square mile. "Souls of so unsociable a character," say ministers, "do not deserve to be saved. We cannot afford to allow the church to keep her own six shillings a-head for such persons as these scattered souls belong to."

As we have already said, however, the duty of supporting an Established VOL. III.-April, 1833.

3 N

Church does not depend upon its popularity, but upon the truth or falsehood of its doctrines. The Divine Founder of our religion did not, when he came to teach, acknowledge the infallibility of the judgment of the majority, nor did his faithful apostles; and with their example, they bequeathed the missionary obligation not to "follow a multitude," but to take care that the truth be preached "in season and out of season," to willing, and no less to unwilling hearers. Now, taking as our data the amount of (however imperfectly) cultivated land in Ireland, and the Christian population, as we have already stated them-say land ten millions, people two millions and a half-do three quarters of a million of church revenue, admitted to be the whole, afford more than sufficient means of religious instruction for such an amount of people spread over such an amount of land? Allow 250l. a year each for the average of church incomes, which nobody, we presume, will call too much, and 750,000l., the income of the Irish church, will afford three thousand clergymen—that is, one clergyman to every 800 persons, scattered over 3200 acres, five and a half square miles.

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.

AN acquaintance with primitive customs, and a knowledge of ecclesiastical antiquity, at all times interesting, must, in this age of innovation, be preeminently useful. I propose, therefore, occasionally to lay before your readers a brief analysis of the most important parts of Bingham's Origines Ecclesiastice. I shall, for the most part, merely give the author's statements; but as I shall take each chapter and section separately, it will be easy for the reader to refer to the original work, where the authorities are to be found. I will only add, that it is necessary always to authenticate the authorities of Bingham, since, as might be expected in so large a work, the learned author is occasionally mistaken. Some of these errors may be noted at the foot of the page. It is not intended to take the books in the same order as they are found in the original, but to bring forward first those which are more immediately interesting. I shall therefore commence with Book XIII., containing General Observations on the Divine Worship of the Primitive Church.

The first chapter of this book consists of Remarks on the Ancient Names of Divine Service, which modern corruptions have rendered ambiguous.

The subject may be divided (§. 1) into two heads; and we may speak 1st, of the Missa Catechumenorum,* and 2nd, of the Missa Fidelium. The Missa Catechumenorum (§. 2) comprehended all that part of the service which preceded the common prayers of the communicants at the altar, i. e. the psalmody, reading of the lessons, the sermon, and some of the prayers. That catechumens, heretics, and even heathens, were permitted to be present at the sermon (although there were some local exceptions), is evident from the appeal made to these classes in the Homilies of St. Chrysostom. Sozomen observes, that St. Chrysostom thus brought over to the Catholic faith many of those who heard him. After the sermon, it was customary for the Deacon to cry out " μή τις τῶν ἀκροωμένων· μή τις των ἀπίστων”“ Let none who are only hearers, let none of the unbelievers be present." Then followed the prayers for the catechumens of the order called Prostrators;† after their dismission, prayers for the Energumens; then for the candidates for Baptism; and last of all, for the penitents,-all which was included under the general name of Missa Catechumenorum, or ante-communion service.

* Catechumens were professed Christians, who had not, as yet, received the Sacrament of Baptism.

Prostrators, i. e. kneelers, because they were allowed to stay and join in certain prayers particularly made for them.

Energumens, persons possessed of the devil.

After this, (§. 3) it was usual for the Deacon to make another solemn proclamation to all orders of non-communicants to withdraw: "oi ȧkovávηTOL TEρITATηOATE"—"Ye non-communicants, walk off." And here began the Missa Fidelium or Communion Service. This contains all those prayers which were said at the altar, and were properly called ɛvɣai πioτwv, prayers of the faithful, in opposition to the prayers of the catechumens. These consisted of the prayers for the whole state of the church and peace of the world, which preceded the oblation and consecration of the eucharist; then followed the consecration prayers; prayers for all orders in the church, with proper forms of communicating, and doxologies, hymns, and thanksgivings after reception, of which a more particular account will hereafter be given under the general title of the Missa Fidelium or Communion Service.

This was the order of the first and second service of the ancient church, which, in the two next books, will be more fully treated of; at present we may observe (§. 4) how shamefully the Romanists have abused the ancient name Missa, under the appellation of Mass, by applying it only to denote the office of consecrating bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, and offering that as an expiatory sacrifice for the quick and dead. For, anciently, the name Missa signified no such thing, but was a general name for every part of the divine service. It signified the service of the catechumens as well as the service of the altar, and was often used for the psalmody, for the lessons, and for the prayers at evening, when there was no communion, and sometimes for the dismission of the people. Indeed, this last is the original notation of the word; for Missa is the same as Missio. And it was the form used in the Latin church, Ite, missa est, which answers to the Greek ἀπολύεσθε and προέλθετε, the solemn words used at the dismission of the catechumens first, and then of the whole assembly at the end of their respective services. Whence the services themselves, at length, took their names; the one being called Missa Catechumenorum, and the other Missa Fidelium, neither of which ever signify more than the divine service at which the one or the other attended. Another general name (§. 5) of the ancient service, which, in later ages, has met with some abuse, is sacrificium, sacrifice; a name borrowed from the Jewish carnal sacrifices, and applied to the spiritual sacrifices of the Christians; viz., their prayers, and praises, and preaching, and devoting themselves entirely, body and soul, to the service of Christ, by the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. Hence every part of divine worship had the name of sacrifice, and not only the service of the altar; for they commonly call their evening hymns and prayers by the name of Evening Sacrifice.

Another name (§. 6) though neither so ancient nor so common as the former, is that of sacramenta, which, in some authors, signifies not what we now call sacraments, but the order or manner of performing divine offices, and that, as well the prayers and service in general, as the particular offices of administering Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These offices are (§. 7) by other authors styled cursus ecclesiasticus, the order or course of divine offices. But these names are seldom met with in the Greek writers. They (§. 8) usually style all holy offices and all parts of the divine service by the general name of λurepyía and iɛpepyía, liturgy and sacred service. This word is never used as the Romanists would apply it for the business of sacrificing only. It was also used (§. 9) in the sense we use it now, to denote the books which prescribed the services, or set forms of prayer. The word litanies, Atravɛiai and λɩrai, were originally used to denote all sorts of public prayers, (§. 10) but in the middle ages was appropriated to a particular form of worship. By the Lesser Litany (§. 11) Bingham understands the Kyrie, Elieson. The Greeks usually said, Lord, have mercy upon us, without adding the other part, Christ, have mercy upon us. But the Latins used both clauses, and repeated them alternately as we do now, first the minister, and then the people; whereas, by the Greeks, the supplication was made by the common voice of

all together. It was used one way or other in all churches, and that, as part of all their daily offices; whence it borrowed the name of the Lesser Litany, in opposition to the greater litanies, which were distinct, complete, and solemn services adapted to particular times. Sometimes (§. 12) to these solemn supplications they added processions, which, at first, had nothing of harm or superstition in them; for they were only of the same nature with their processions at a funeral, where they carried a corpse with the solemnity of harmony to its interment. They sometimes made three processions, and sometimes three litanies, as occasion required, in the open field. But there was no pomp of relics, nor exposing of the eucharist to adoration, in such solemnities; they only carried the cross, as they did also in some of their night processions for psalmody, as the badge of their profession, before them. In chapter 2, our author shews that the devotions of the ancient church were paid to every person of the blessed Trinity; in chapter 3, that religious worship was given to no creature, saint, or angel, but to God alone; in chapter 4, that divine service was always performed in the vulgar tongue, understanded by the people. It is obvious that these chapters will not admit of abbreviation; we will therefore proceed to chapter 5, On the origin and use of Liturgies, in slated and set forms of prayer, in the primitive church.*

The forms of divine institution (§. 1), as the form of Baptism, the Lord's Prayer, the singing of David's psalms, the forms of Benediction, the Lord be with you, the Grace of our Lord, &c., were always used in the church without variation. The constant use of the form of Baptism and the Lord's Prayer will be shewn hereafter. As to forms of human institution, they were added by the bishops according to their discretion. While the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit lasted, there is little doubt but that prayers and hymns, immediately dictated by the Spirit, made up a part of the ordinary service, still retaining such forms as were antecedently of divine appointment. When the extraordinary spirit of prophecy ceased, then the rulers of the church supplied this want, by proper forms of their own composition. And this seems to be the true original of liturgies. At first, every bishop had the power and privilege to compose and order the form of divine worship in his own diocese; but in after ages (§. 2), bishops agreed to conform their liturgy to the model of the metropolitical church of the province to which they belonged. And then it was enacted into a law, by several councils, that the same order and uniformity should be observed in all churches of a province. And when the Roman empire began to be cantonized and divided into different kingdoms, then came in the use of national liturgies, whose use was commensurate to the bounds of their respective nations and kingdoms. Of the most ancient liturgies, we have none extant entire; for in times of persecution, when the possession of one of them would have caused the death of the owner, the Christians were probably afraid to commit them to writing, and retained them merely in memory. Besides which, continual additions and interpolations were made in every age; but, by the providence of God, there is so much of them remaining in the genuine writings of the ancient fathers, as to enable us to give, first, some account of the use of liturgies and sacred rites in general; and, secondly, of the several parts of the ancient service.

In sect. 4, our author shews, from Lightfoot's Temple Service, that the public prayers of the Jews, both in the Temple and the Synagogue, were directed by a public form; and as this method was sanctioned by the presence of our Lord himself, and his participation in it, he contends, that there could be nothing to prevent the apostles from adopting a similar system, but that, on the contrary, this would be their wisest course, in order to conciliate their countrymen, by departing as little as possible from their established customs.

* Much additional light has been thrown on this subject by the learned labours of Mr. Palmer, in his Origines Liturgica.

Our author then proceeds to shew, that there is every reason to conclude that, notwithstanding the gift of inspired prayer, they actually did make use of forms. He instances the Lord's Prayer; the form of Baptism; the forms of professing faith in Baptism, or the form of sound words settled in every church; the forms of renouncing Satan, and covenanting with Christ in baptism; the forms of Scripture hymns and psalms, and glorification of God; to which the ancients add the forms of benediction, such as the Grace of our Lord, &c.; and lastly, the repetition of the history of Christ's institution of the Lord's Supper as a necessary part of consecration, which, together with the use of the Lord's Prayer in the celebration of the eucharist, is generally thought to descend from apostolical practice.

The remainder of this chapter is taken up by proving, through a vast variety of quotations, that liturgies were used throughout the four first ages of the church. Chapter 6 contains extracts from the ancient liturgy, out of the genuine writings of St. Chrysostom, where the English and American reader will be glad to find almost all the parts of our own. In chapter 7, he shews that the Lord's Prayer was always used as a form given by Christ; that it was adopted in all the offices of the church,-in baptism, in the eucharist, at morning and evening prayer, in private devotions; that it was not neglected even by the heretics and schismatics, and that it obtained the name of Oratio Quotidiana. In chapter 8, he treats of the use of habits, and gesture, and other rites and ceremonies in the service of the ancient church. There is no certain evidence of distinct habits during the three first centuries (§. 1); but in the beginning of the fourth age (§. 2), when the church was quietly settled by Constantine, we are certain that a distinction was made in the habits and vestments of divine service. St. Chrysostom frequently alludes to the white garments of the deacons. The tunica, or surplice, was common to all the clergy; the orarium on the left shoulder was proper to the deacons, and on both shoulders, the proper badge of priests.

There were four postures of devotion allowed by the ancients (§. 3),-1st, standing, which was particularly enjoined on the Lord's-day, and all the time between Easter and Pentecost; 2ndly, kneeling, which was the usual posture (§. 4) on the fast or stationary days; (the stationary days were so called, not from their standing at prayer, but from their continuing and prolonging the exercise in imitation of the military stations ;) 3rdly, bowing down of the head (§. 5)—this was usually done on receiving the benediction of the bishop or priest; 4thly, prostration, which seems (§. 6) to have been the proper posture for extraordinary bumiliations, when men had some particular request to recommend more earnestly to God. We never find that sitting (§. 7) was admitted as a posture of devotion, nor did they thus receive the eucharist. Tertullian (§. 8) condemns some as superstitious who could always take off their cloaks, or wash themselves all over, before their devotions. But while those practices were disclaimed which were attended with superstition, all such ceremonies were retained as were either proper expressions of decency in their own nature, or which, by their significancy and symbolical use, might be improved to a spiritual advantage. Thus the men prayed (§. 9) with their heads uncovered, according to the direction of the apostle, while the women always wore a covering. Tertullian remarks (§. 10), that they usually prayed with their arms expanded, and sometimes with their hands lifted up towards heaven in the form of a cross.* Yet they were great enemies (§. 11) to anything like theatrical gestures. There are several passages in St. Chrysostom, condemnatory of the use of theatrical action in the pulpit. They were particular in expressing their reverence to God, at their first entrance into church (§. 12). Kings and emperors would lay aside their crowns, and arms, and

Many of the Scottish Episcopalians are accustomed always to keep their hands crossed when they receive the bread in the eucharist.