right to visit, and inquire into neglects,
abuses, and disorders, committed by any
bishop throughout the whole province.

Fifthly, bishops, when they travelled
2 u



mto foreign countries on extraordinary
occasions, iised to consult the primate,
and take his Formatcr, or letters of com-
mendation. This was particidarlv rcfjuircd
of the African bishops by the tliird Coun-
cil of Carthage.

A sixth branch of the metropolitan
office was, to take care of all vacant sees
within their jn-ovincc, by administering
the affairs of the Church, securing the re-
venues of the bishopric, and ])rocuring a
speedy election of a new bishop.

Seventhly, it belonged to the metropoli-
tans, yearly to review the calculation of
the time of Easter, and give notice tci their
suiiragans of it. The care of composing
the cycle was, indeed, by the Nicene fa-
thers particularly committed to the bishop
of Alexandria. But due care not being
always taken in this matter, the metro-
l)olitan in every province was concerned
to settle the time, and acquaint the whole
province with it.

The primate of Alexandria was the
greatest metro})olitan in the world, both
for the absoluteness of his ])ower, and the
extent of his jurisdiction. For he was not
metro])olitan of a single province, but of
all the jirovinces of Egypt, Eibya, and
Penta])olis, in which there were at least
six large provinces, out of which above an
hundred bishops were called to a provin-
cial synod.

liesides an actual primacy of power,
there was likewise a ])rimacy of honour ;
that is, some bishops had the name and
title of primates, but not the jurisdiction.
Of these there were three sorts. First,
the senior bishops in each province, next
to the metropolitan. These ])rimates had
no power above others, except when the
metropolitans were some w ay disabled, or
disqualified for discharging their office,
by irregularity or susj)ension. In this case,
their power devolved on the senior bishop
of the province.

The second sort of honorary primates
were the titular metropolitans, or bishops
of such cities as had the luime and title of
metropolis bestowed on them by some
emi)eror, without the ])rivileges, which
were still continued to tlie ancient metro-
])olis of the nrovince. Of this sort were
the cities of Chalcedon and Nice.

Thirdlv, some bisho])s were honoured
with the 'title of primates, in regard to the
eniinency of their stc, being some mother-
church, or particularly honoured by ancient
])rescrij)ti()n. This was the case of the
Ijislion of Jerusalem, in consideration of
its beuig the mother-church of the Chris-
tian world.



GIO



PRIME.



nUMlTlVE CHURCH.



The division of England into two pro-
vinces, Canterbury and York, in 1152,
gave occasion to the introducing primacies
among us. Canterbury, which before was
the metropolis, gives to its bishop the title
of Primate of all England; York, only
that of Primate of England. Accordingly,
the former has some jurisdiction over all
England, which the latter has only in his
own province.

Tlie archbishop of Armagh is primate
of all Ireland ; of Dubhn, that of Ireland.
Until the late mutilation of the Irish branch
of the Church, the archbishop of Cashel
was primate of Munster; of Tuam, pri-
mate of Connaught. The archbishop of
St. Andrew's was primate of Scotland.
The archbishop of Kheims is primate of
France; of Kouen, primate of Normandy;
of Lyons, primate of Gaul ; of Toledo,
primate of Spain, 8cc.

PlilME. The service said at sunrising.
(See Canonical Hours.)

PRIMER. {Primarius, Lat. A book
of primary or elementary instruction.) Dr.
Burton, in his preface to King Henly
VIII.'s Three Primers, shows that the
word was in use at least as far back as
1527, when a Primer of the Salisbury use
was printed : and that it was " applied to
a first or elementary book, which was put
into the hands of children. The term was,
perhaps, sometimes applied to a mere
spelling-book, or to any book which was
used for teaching children to read ; but it
seems generally to have conveyed the no-
tion of religious instruction. The lessons
were taken from the Creed, the Lord's
Prayer, the Ten Commandments, the Ave
Maria, or from some other common formu-
lary, with short and easy explanations, for
the use of young beginners, or for private
devotion. In course of time, the word
came to have a still more limited mean-
ing, as ap])lied to offices of religion, and
was analogous to the modern term Prayer
Book, with the exception that a Primer
was not confined to any one definite set
of prayers, but contained different selec-
tions, according to the choice of the com-
piler; though the Creed, Pater Noster,
and Ave ]\Iaria, always held a prominent
place in the Primer."

The earliest Primer printed by Dr. Bur-
ton was in Henry VIII.'s reign, in 1535:
" A goodly Primer in English." This was
an improved edition of a former one, and
was one of the first overt advances to-
wards reformation, though containing
much Romish doctrine. It contains, among
a great many other things, an exposition
of the Ten Commandments, and the Creed,



and the Offices for the Seven Hours, main-
ly taken from the old offices. In 1537
appeared the Institution of a Christian
Man, a still further advance ; published by
authority of convocation. In 1539 ap-
peared a Primer by Bp. Hilsey of Roches-
ter, the subject, though not the form,
being much the same as in the first-men-
tioned Primer. In 1545 King Henry
VIII.'s Primer appeared. The services
for the Hours in this, formed the basis for
all future Primers, and were much the same
as in Queen Elizabeth's of 1559. In Ed-
ward VI.'s reign appeared, in 1547, a re-
print of Henry VIII.'s Primer. In 1549,
1551, 1552, improved editions, with omis-
sions of the superstitious invocations of the
Virgin INIary. Queen Elizabeth's first
Primer, 1 559, was a reprint of King Ed-
ward's of 1551 , or rather, 1552. The next,
in 1566, was altered a good deal from the
form. A second edition was published in
1575. All these had the services of the
Hours, besides Litanies, and other prayers.
Some the catechism, some the penitential
psalms, &c. A Latin Form of Prayer,
like the Primer, w^as published by author-
ity in 1560, and Preces Privatse, a dis-
tinct, though similar publication, in 1564.
The last Primer which appeared (though
not under that name) was L)r. (afterwards
Bp.) Cosin's " Collection of Private Devo-
tions : in the practice of the ancient
Church, called the Hours of Prayer; as
they were after this manner published by
authority of Queen Elizabeth, 1560, &c."
This was published in 1627, by command
of King Charles I. See Mr. Clay's valu-
able edition of " Private Prayer" &c.,
durinff the reiyn of Elizabeth, edited for
the Parker Society; and Dr. Burtoii's
Three Primers.

PRIMICERIUS, or Primmicerius, de-
fined by Suicer as '* qui in prima cera
htrres scriptus," one who is designated as
the principal heir. Hence it came to
signify one who presided over any par-
ticular department ; the chief notary, for
instance, was called Trpt^ujUKc/'/pioc voTapiijjv :
and so the chief reader, the chief chanter,
&c., in great churches. It is the title of a
dignitary in several Italian cathedi-als, and
is supposed to answer to our chancellor ;
a name riot used in Italy as that of a
cathedral officer. The precentor of Aber-
deen cathedral was anciently called Primi-
cerius, as Kennedy states in his Anyials of
Aberdeen.

PRIMITIVE CHURCH. (See Tradi-
Hon.) The Church as it existed in the ages
immediately after its first establishment.
From its near connexion with the apostles



PRIOR.

and other inspired men, the primitive
Church enjoyed many advantao;es, of which,
at later periods, it was de})rivod. To the
earhest aj^es we naturally look for illustra-
tions of obscurities in the New Testament,
for evidence and testimony of matter of
fact, for sound interi)retations of doctrine,
for proofs of the efficacy of the f^ospcl, and
for examples of undaunted Christian hero-
ism. Hence the value we arc accustomed to
attach to the writinj^s which have come
down to us from the lirst three centuries
after Christ ; and this value is consider-
ably enhanced by the fervour, tlie beau-
ty, and the surpassing eloquence which
adorned the Church in that early day, and
in the ages following. These were fami-
liarly known to the Reformers of the
Church of England ; and, having taken the
primitive Church as their model, and as
the best witness of Catholic })rinciples and
usages, they transfused its si)irit. not only
into the liturgy, but into the whole frame-
work and superstructure of that venerable
fabric they aimed to restore. IIow well
they succeeded, is evidenced in that fear-
less appeal which Catholics ever make,
first to the Apostolic Church, then to those
who drew tneir i>rincij)les from it along
with their infant breath, and flourished
and died in an age when inspiration itself
was scarcely extinct. That Church has
nothing to dread Avhich can lay its stand-
ards on the altar of antiquity, and return
them to her bosom, signed with the glo-
rious testimony of a Polycarp, an Ignatius,
a Clement, and a " noble army of martyrs ; "
nothing has she to dread but the possibility
of declension, and unfaithfulness to her

PRIOR. (See Monh.) The head or
superior of a convent of monks, or the
second person after the abbot, correspond-
ing nearly to the dean in churches of se-
cular canons.

PRIORY. (See Mmmsterif.) A house
occupied by a society of monks or nuns,
the chief of whom was termed a prior or
prioress ; and of these there were two sorts :
first, where the prior was chosen by the
convent, and governed as independently
as any abbot in his abbey ; such were the
cathedral priors, and most of those of the
Augustine order. Secondly, 'where the
priory was a cell subordinate to some great
abbey, and the prior was placed or dis-
placed at the will of the abbot. But
there was a considerable difference in the
regulation of these cells ; for some were
altogether sul)ject to their respective ab-
bots, who sent what officers and monks
they pleased, and took their revenues into
2 R 2



PRISCILUANISTS.



Cll



the common stock of the abbcvs ; whilst
others consisted of a stated miinber of
monks, under a jjrior sent to them from
the superior abbey, and liiose i.riories
paid a i)ensi()n yearly, as an acknowledg-
ment of their subjection, but acted in
other matters as independent bodies, and
had the rest of the revenues for their own
use. The jjiiories or cells were always of
the same order as the abbeys on Which
they dej)ended, though sometimes tlieir
inmates were of a different sex ; it being
usual, after the Norman Conquest, for the
great abbeys to build nunneries on some
of their manors, which should be subject
to their visitation.

Alien priories were cells or small re-
ligious houses in our country, dei)endent
on large foreign monasteries.' AViien ma-
nors or tithes were given to distant reli-
gious houses, the monks, either to increase
the authority of their own order, or per-
haps rather 'to have faithful stewards of
their revenues, built convenient houses for
the reception of small fraternities of their
body, who were deputed to reside at and
govern those cells.

PRISCILUANISTS. Certain heretics
whose founder was Priscillian, a Si)aniard
of noble extraction, very wealthy, and
endued Avith much wit, learning, and elo-
quence. Mark, an Egyptian heretic, hav-
ing sown the errors of Gnosticism in Gaul,
went into Spain, where carnal ])leasure,
which was the princi]Kd article of his doc-
trine, procured him qviickly a great many
disciples, the chief whereof was Priscillian',
who covered his vanity under the appear-
ance of a profound humility. He taught,
besides the abominations of the Gnostics,
that the soul was of the same substance
with God, and that, descending to the
earth, through seven heavens, and certain
other degrees of princijjality, it fell into
the hands of the evil one, who put it into
the body, Avhich he made to consist of
twelve parts, over each of which ])resided
a celestial sign. He condemned the eat-
ing of the flesh of animals, and mart-iage
as an unlawful co))ulation, and se|)arated
women from their hus])ands without their
consent; and, according to his doctrine,
man's will was subject to the nower of the
stars. He confounded the holy persons in
the TuiMTV, like Sabellius, ordered his
followers to fast on Sinulavs and Christmas
day, because he believed C'lIlUST had not
taken true flesh upon him. Lying, a most
abominable vice, and so contrary to the
(joi) of truth, was a thing tolerated
amongst his followers. There wa-s a vo-
lume composed by them called Librae be-



012 PROCESSION OF THE HOLY GHOST.



PROCESSION.



cause that in the twelve questions in it, as
in twelve ounces, their whole doctrine was
explained. Priscillian broached his heresy
in the fourth century. He was put to
death, with some of his followers, at Treves,
in 385, by order of the usurper Maximus,
contrary to the earnest instance of St.
Martin, bishop of Tours. This was the
first instance of the infliction of death for
heresy, and at the time excited universal
horror among Christians. St. Ambrose
refused to communicate with the bishops
who had taken part in it, and a synod at
Turhi excommunicated them.

PKOCESSION OF THE HOLY
GHOST. As the Father is eternal,
without beo^innin<i:, so is the Son without
beginning, the only begotten God of God,
Light of light, being very God of very God :
in like manner the Holy Ghost, without
beginning, has proceeded from the Father
and the Son. This is one of the mys-
teries which must be always incompre-
hensible, from our inability to comprehend
an eternity a parte ante. In all discussions
relating to these subjects, we may quote
to the objector the wise words of Gregory
Nazianzen : " Do you tell me how the
Father is unbegotten, and I will then
attempt to tell you hoAv the Son is be-
gotten and the Spirit proceeds."

We will first give the doctrine as stated
in the Articles and Creed, and then give
from Dr. Hey the history of the contro-
versy which has long subsisted between
the Eastern and the Western Church.

Of the Holy Ghost the fifth article
says, "The Holy Ghost, proceeding from
the Father and the Son, is of one sub-
stance, majesty, and glory, with the Father
and the Son, very and eternal God."

The same doctrine is declared in the
Nicene and Athanasian Creeds.

In the Nicene Creed :

"I believe in the Holy Ghost, who
proceedeth from the Father and the
Son."

In the Athanasian Creed :

"The Holy Ghost is of the Father
and of the Son, neither made nor created
nor begotten, but proceeding."

In the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries,
various disputes took place with the fol-
lowers of Macetlonius M'ith respect to the
nature and procession of the Holy Ghost.
It may be particularly mentioned, with a
view to what followed, that so soon as the
years 430 and 431, in the Councils of
Alexanch'ia and Ephesus, it was declared
that the Holy Ghost proceedeth from
the Son as well as from the P'ather. In
order to terminate these disputes, the



Church in general made a sort of settle-
ment or determination what should be
accounted Catholic doctrine ; and, to avoid
further adjustings of formularies, agreed
that nothing should from that time be
added to those then under consideration.
It is probable that, at that time, the ques-
tion whether the Holy Ghost should be
spoken of as proceeding from the Father
and the Son, {Filioque is the famous word,)
did not occur to men's minds. Filioque
was not in the creeds, though it was not
new. The students in the A\'estern Church
seem ere long to have contracted an
opinion, that it was proper for them to
profess in a creed, that the Holy Ghost
proceedeth from the Son ; they, therefore,
inserted (or, one might say, restored)
Filioque, meaning, probably, no harm ; and
then the Eastern Church thought as little
of complaining as the AVestern of offend-
ing. Afterwards, hoAvever, contentions
for worldly grandeur produced contentions
about theological truth. Home and Con-
stantinople were rivals, not only for im-
perial but for spiritual pre-eminence. The
patriarch of Constantinople styled himself
Fpiscopus CEcumenicus. Gregory the
Great, bishop of Rome, was more lowly in
the title he assumed; he Avas ^^ sere us
servorum " scilicet Dei ; but in his pre-
tensions to authority he Avas equally am-
bitious. The patriarch was at the head
of the Eastern Church, the pope of the
Western. This rivalship made the Churches
seek occasions for blaming each other,
and thus the insertion of Filioque came to
be complained of as a breach of faith. It
Avas defended by the AVestern Church,
because the Avord contained right doctrifie :
this Avas enough to make the Eastern
Church dispute the doctrine : they did so,
and the dispute still subsists, and still
causes a separation betAveen the Eastern
and AVestern Churches. One pope (Leo
HI.) did once, for the sake of peace, order
Filioque to be put out of the creed, at the
same time ratifying the doctrine Avhich it
comprehends; but he could only prevail
in those churches Avhich Avere under his
immediate sanction, and that only for a
time. The obstinate resistance of the
Greek or Eastern Church to the insertion
of Filioque, is the more likely to be OAving
to some Avorldly consideration, as several
of the Greek fathers have the doctrine in
their Avorks clearly expressed. — Ilei/. (See
Holt/ Ghost.)

PKOCESSION. The formal march of
the clergy and the people putting up
prayer.

The first processions mentioned in ec-



PROCTOR.



IMioriTIATION.



()13



clesiastical history are those begun at
Constantinople by St. C'hrysostoni. The
Arians of that city being forced to hoUl
their meetings witliout the town, went
thither night and morning, singing an-
thems. Chrysostom, to prevent tlieir per-
verting the Catholics, set u]) counter-pro-
cessions, in which the clergy and peo})le
marched by night, singing prayers and
hymns, and carrying crosses and fiani-
beaux. From this ])eriod, the custom of
processions was introduced among the
Greeks, and afterwards among the I-atins;
but they have subsisted longer, and been
more fr.^quently used, in the \N'estern than
in the Eastern Church. The name of Pro-
cession was formerly sometinies used for
the Lit nil/. (See Lifaiii/, Rix/afion Dcn/s.)

PROCtOIl. {ProcumfnrX-At.) Proctors
are officers established to represent, in
judgmeit, the parties who emjjower them
(by warrant under their hands, called a
proxy) to appear for them to explain their
rights, to manage and instruct their cause,
and to demand judgment.

The representatives of the clergy in con-
vocation are also called proctors.

The same name is given to university
officers, whose business is to guard the
morals and preserve the quiet of the uni-
versity at Oxford and Cambridge ; to ])re-
sent candidates in arts and music for their
degrees; and (formerly in a more special
manner than at present) to sui)erintend
their public exercises. The latter is now
the prominent practice of the proctors in
the univ.'rsity of Dublin : the senior proc-
tor presiding at the Masters' exercises, the
junior at the Bachelors'. They are two
in number, and chosen annually by the
several colleges in cycle.

Procurators were officers in some of the
ancient universities of Europe, as in Paris ;
they were then four in number, elected an-
nually, each by one of the four Nations into
which t'le students were divided : and the
rector, the deans of divinity, law, medicine,
and the four j)roctors, formed the standing
council of the university : somewhat analo-
gous to the ca/jiit at Caml)ridge. The
(leans were the proctors of their n^spective
faculties. Anciently the university of Ox-
ford was divided into two '• nations," as
they might be called, each of which was
represented bv a ])roctor.

PllOCUKATION. A pecuniary sum
or composition by an incumbent to an
ordinary or other ecclesiastical judge, to
commute f)r the ])ro\ision, or entertain-
ment, whic'i he was formerly ex])cctcd to
provide for such ordinary at the time of
visitation. (See Si/noda/.)



PPOFESSOK. A public teacher in a
university.

PKOl'IUX'Y. (From 7r(.o^.,,rfu,.) The
prediction of future things. (See Scrij>-
titrc, Ins/iiration of, and Mirar/,s.)

PR()PllESVL\(iS. Pc.li|ri„„s exer-
cises of the clergy in the reign of (iuecn
Elizabeth, instituted for the purpose of
promoting knowledge and piety. The
ministers of a particular division at a set
time met together in some church of a
market or other large town, and tliere
each in order explained, according to tlieir
abilities, some portion ofScrijjture allotted
to them before. This done, a moderator
made his observations on what had been
said, and determined the true sense of the
place, a certain sjnice of time being lixed
for despatching the whole. These exer-
cises being however abused, by irregu-
larity, disputations, and divisions, were
rcstraineil. — Canon 72.

I'KOl'HET. One who foretells future
events. We have in the Old Testament
the writings of sixteen j)roj)hets ; that is,
of four greater i)rophets, and twelve les.ser
])rophets. The four greater projjhets are,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, I''.zekiel, and Daniel.
The Jews do not place Daniel among the
proj)hets, because (they say) he lived in
the sj)lendour of temporal dignities, and a
kind of life diH'erent from other pronhet.s.
The twelve lesser ])ro])hets are, llosca,
Joel, Amos. OlKuliah, Micah. Jonah. Na-
hum, llabakkuk, Zephaniah, llaggai, Ze-
chariah. and Malachi.

IMiOITlTATlOX. (Sec Covenant of
licdcmption, Sacrifice, Atonement, Satis-
faction, Jesus.) Propitiation is originally
a Latin word, and signifies the apjjcasing
of the wrath of Ooi), or doing something
whereby he may be rendered propitious,
kind, or merciful, to us, notwithstanding
that we have provoked him to anger
by any sin or oH'ence committed against
him. And the original word, i\«<r/iof,
is used by the (i reeks exactly in the
same sense, as might easily be shown.
But that we may fully understand the
true notion of the word, as it is here
used, our best way will be to consider
how it is used in the CJreek translntion of
the Old Testament, made long before St.
John's time: for he, writing to those who
were generally accustomed to the wordn
and phra-ses in that translntion. it cannot
be supi)Ose(l but he useth this, as well as
other words, in the same sense as it is used
there: for otherwise they would not so
well have understood him. Now there we
find that WanKtnQai and HiXanaaOat 9.\\
along answer to the -»D3, which signifies



614



PROPITIATION.



to appease, to pacify, to recmicile, a person
offended, to atone or make him at one
again with the offender. So both the He-
brew and the Greek words are used, where
it is said, " The wrath of a king is as mes-
sengers of death, but a wise man will
pacifi/ it." And also where Jacob, having-
sent a present before him to his brother
Esau, that was offended with him, saith,
" I will apjjease him with the presoit that
goeth before me." He calls his present
nnjc, a word commonly used for offerings
to God. That was his propitiation, where-
by his brother was reconciled to him. So
were the sacrifices of the Levitical law :
they were the Wafffioi, the expiations, or
propitiations, whereby God was atoned or
appeased towards him Avhich brought them ;
or, as it is there expressed, they were ac-
cepted for him, to make atonement for
him. And when a man had thus brought
his offering, and the priest had therewith
made atonement for him, for the sin he
had committed, then it was forgiven him,
as we often read. In all which places,
both the Hebrew and Greek words before
mentioned are used ; the first by Moses
himself, the other by the Seventy Avhich
translated him. And therefore we cannot
doubt but that the Greek word, coming
from the same root, is here also used in
the same sense for such a jjropitiation, or
propitiatory sacrifice, whereby GoD is re-
conciled, or rendered propitious, to us, and
our sins are forgiven us ; GoD accepting,
as it were, of that sacrifice, instead of the
punishment which was due unto us for
them.

The same appears also from several
words derived from the same Hebrew
root, as ns3, which the Seventy sometimes
translate Xvrpa, or Xinpov, Avhich signifies
a ransom, a price paid for the redemption
of man's life, that was forfeited by any