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when the Cophti, Abyssinians, and Armenians are included under that denomination, and those who are strictly and properly so called; for though they are all followers of that St. James, from whom they derive their title, yet they do not all observe the same ceremonies. James was the disciple of Severus, patriarch of Antioch, in the sixth century. He is revered as a saint by the Jacobites, as well as Dioscorus, who was his contemporary. Abrahamus Ecchellensis insists that the Jacobites, as well as the Latins, acknowledge that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father and the Son; but Father Simon says that "he is very much mistaken in this particular, as well as in several others relating to the customs and tenets of the Eastern Christians."

Before baptism the Jacobites imprint the sign of the cross, not only on the arm, but on the face of the infant to be baptized. It is likewise a received notion amongst them, that the souls of the righteous reside on earth till the day of judgment, waiting for the second coming of JESUS CHRIST; also, that the angels consist of two substances, fire and light.

The Jacobites, who are scattered throughout Syria and the parts adjacent, are computed to amount to more than fifty thousand families. There is a quotation in Brerewood, in which the number was then said to be advanced to a hundred and sixty thousand.

General account.

Sec. 5.-Religious Ceremonies and Customs of the Copts.

The Copts, according to Scaliger and Father Simon, derive their name from Coptos, once a celebrated town of Egypt, and the metropolis of Thebaid; but Volney and others are of opinion, that the name Copts is only an abbreviation of the Greek word Aigouptios, an Egyptian. The Copts have a patriarch, whose jurisdiction extends over both Egypts, Nubia, and Abyssinia, who resides at Cairo, but who takes his title from Alexandria. He has under him eleven or twelve bishops, besides the abuna, or bishop of the Abyssinians, whom he appoints and consecrates. The rest of the clergy, whether secular or regular, are composed of the orders of St. Anthony, St. Paul, and St. Macarins, who have each their monasteries. Their arch-priests are next in degree to bishops, and their deacons are said to be numerous; and they often confer the order of deacon even on children. Next to the patriarch is the bishop or titular patriarch of Jerusalem, who also resides at Cairo, because there are only few Copts at Jerusalem: he is, in reality, little more than bishop of Cairo, except that he goes to Jerusalem every Easter, and visits some other places in Palestine, within his own jurisdiction. To him belongs the government of the Coptic church, during the vacancy of the patriarchal see. The ecclesiastics are said to be in general of the lowest rank of the people; and hence that great degree of ignorance which prevails among them.

They have seven sacraments; baptism, the eucharist, confirmation, ordination, faith, fasting, and prayer. They admit only three œcumenical councils; those of Nice, Constantinople, and Ephesus. They Rites and observe four Lents, as do the Greeks and most Eastern Christians; but it is said by Brerewood and Ross, that they do not keep the Lord's-day. There are three Coptic liturgies attributed to St. Basil, another to St. Gregory, and the third to St.

Ceremonies.

These are translated into Arabic for the use of the clergy and the people. The Copts are fond of rites and ceremonies. During the time of service, they are always in motion. In particular, the officiating priest is in continual motion, incensing the saints, pictures, books, &c. every moment. They have many monasteries, in which the monks bury themselves from society in remote solitudes. Their nunneries are properly hospitals; and few enter them, except widows reduced to beggary. During the first three ages of the church, no country exhibited more sincere or greater Christian piety than Egypt, and the north of Africa in general. At present, however, little more than the mere shadow of Christianity can be seen in Egypt; and in point of numbers, not more than fifty thousand Christians in all can be found in this country. There are not more than three Christian churches at Cairo.

Ceremonies.

In respect to this people, we shall only add a brief account of their nuptial ceremonies, which, however, do not essentially differ from those practised by the Greeks. After midnight service, or, as the Nuptial Romans would express it, after matins, the bridegroom in the first place, and then the bride, were conducted from their own apartments to church, accompanied by a long train of attendants with wax-tapers, and other lights. During the procession several hymns were sung in the Coptic language, and the performers beat time, or accompanied the vocal with instrumental music, by striking little wooden hammers upon small ebony rulers. The bridegroom was conducted into the inner choir of the church, and the bride to the place appointed for the women. Then the priests and the people began several prayers, interspersed with hymns, within the choir. This ceremony was very long. At the conclusion, the priest who solemnized the nuptials went up to the bridegroom, and read three or four prayers, making the sign of the cross both at the beginning and at the conclusion of each prayer. After that,

he made him sit down upon the ground, with his face towards the HEIKEL. The priest who stood behind him held a silver cross over his head, and in that posture continued praying.

Whilst this ceremony was performing in the inner choir, the sacristan had placed a form or bench at the door of the outer choir, for the bride to sit on with one of her rélations. The priest having finished in the inner choir what the Copts call the Prayer of the Conjugal Knot, the other priest, who solemnized the nuptials, dressed the bridegroom in an alb, tied it with a surcingle about his waist, and threw a white napkin over his head. The bridegroom thus equipped was conducted to his spouse. The priest then made him sit down by her side, and laid the napkin, which before covered the bridegroom's head, over them both. After this, he anointed each of them on the forehead, and above the wrist. To conclude the ceremony, he read over to them, after their hands were joined, an exhortation, which principally turned on the duties incumbent on all those who enter into the holy state of matrimony. Then followed sundry prayers; and after them the mass, at which the bridegroom and the bride received the blessed sacrament, and then departed.

Sec. 6.-Doctrines and Customs of the Abyssinians or Ethiopians.

Having treated of the religion of the Copts, and as there is little or no General difference between them and the Abyssinians in point of prinaccount. ciple, we shall say but little on that topic.

The country known to the ancients by the name of Ethiopia, is now called Abyssinia, and the natives thereof are distinguished by the name. of Abyssinians. They are subservient only to the power and authority of one bishop, who is the metropolitan, or archbishop of all Ethiopia, and is dignified and distinguished by the title of Abuna, that is to say, Our Father. This bishop is sent by the Patriarch of Alexandria to preside over them, and his place of residence is at Cairo; so that they resemble the Copts in all their ecclesiastical concerns, except in some few ceremonies which are peculiar to themselves. They have likewise a language of their own, which they call the Chaldaic, because they are of opinion that it was originally spoken in Chaldea, though very different from the vulgar Chaldaic. For this reason, it is likewise called the Ethiopic tongue, and they always make use of it in their liturgies, and other religious offices. Such as are versed in the Hebrew language may easily attain a competent knowledge of the Ethiopic, because there are many words which are the same in both languages: they have characters, however, peculiar to themselves; and in the Hebrew language the points which supply the place of vowels are never joined to the consonants; whilst on the other hand, in the Ethiopic language, there is no consonant, but what at the same time includes its own vowel.

Patriarch of
Abyssinia.

The Abyssinians are dependant on the Patriarch of Alexandria, who makes choice of, constitutes, and appoints that person to be Metropolitan of Abyssinia whom he thinks most able to fill the office; which ability is generally estimated according to the extent of the douceur which he is enabled to give. It is for this reason, that the Abyssinian priests mention in their prayers the Patriarch of Alexandria before their own metropolitan; who, after his election, is always accountable to that patriarch for his conduct, and the due administration of his office. This metropolitan must not be a native of Abyssinia, neither has he power to constitute or establish any other metropolitans; so that, although he has the honour to be called their patriarch, he has neither the authority nor the power belonging to that august character. He alone, however, issues out dispensations, and is possessed of very considerable revenues, which pay very little, if any, duty or contribution to the government.

There are both canons, or prebendaries, and monks, in Abyssinia; and amongst the latter there are two sorts of hermits. The canons are allowed

to marry, and their canonships frequently descend to their Orders of children this custom is the more remarkable, for there is no Clergy. other religion, except that of the Jews, which can produce any instances of hereditary succession to any ecclesiastical dignities. The komos, or hegumene, is reputed the first dignitary, or principal person in the order of priesthood, after the archbishops and bishops, both by the Copts and the Abyssinians. Their monks never marry. Of these there are two kinds; one, that have a General, and form a regular body; th

other, who live under one common rule; but their convents are independent of each other. These monks are men of credit and reputation, and are frequently entrusted with the most important affairs of state. None but the priests and deacons have any right to enter into the sanctuary where the altar stands; the emperor himself is denied that privilege, unless he has been before admitted into holy orders; for this reason their monarchs are frequently ordained, and take either deacon's or priest's orders on the day of their coronation.

The Ethiopian princes insist that they are descendants of Solomon by the Queen of Sheba; and this royal extraction, whether true or false, is supported by several historical testimonies, interspersed with a

Origin. thousand extravagant fictions. But if this really be so, it readily accounts for that Judaism which is so universally blended with the Christianity of this empire, and which seems to be originally derived from this royal race of the Abyssinian monarchs. Indeed the Abyssinians are so confirmed, beyond all contradiction, in this belief, that their monarchs assume the title of Kings of Israel. The people are divided into tribes, as were the ancient Hebrews, and they preserve many Jewish names; indeed, their very singers boast that they are descended from the ancient Scribes.

Rites and Ceremonies.

We shall next notice some of their rites and ceremonies; and first, in respect to baptism: the mother, being dressed with great neatness and decency, attends with her infant in her arms at the churchdoor. There the priest who officiates, pronounces several long prayers for a blessing on them both, beginning with those peculiarly appropriated to the mother. Afterwards, he conducts them into the church, and anoints the infant six several times with the oil consecrated for their exorcisms. These first unctions are accompanied with thirty-six others, administered with galilæum, each on a distinct part of the infant's body. After this, he blesses the font, pouring consecrated oil into it twice, and making, each time, three different signs of the cross with meiron; all which ceremonies are accompanied with several long prayers. As soon as the benediction of the font is over, he plunges the infant into it three times successively. At the first, he dips one third part of the infant's body into the water, saying, I baptize thee in the name of the Father; he then dips him lower, about two-thirds, adding, I baptize thee in the name of the Son; at the third operation, he plunges him all over, saying, I baptize thee in the name of the Holy Ghost. The sacraments of Confirmation and of the blessed Eucharist are administered after this baptism, which is solemnized before mass; and the Communion is administered to the infant towards the end.

The confirmation of the Copts consists in several long prayers, and repeating the unctions on the infant, the same as after baptism. The priests among the Abyssinians perform their unction with Confirmation. chrism, in the form of a cross, upon the forehead of the baptized infant, saying, May this be the unction of the grace of the Holy Ghost; Amen. When he anoints the infant's nose and lips, he says, This is the pledge of the kingdom of heaven. At the application of the ointment to his ears, he uses this form, The sacred unction of our Lord Jesus Christ : in anointing the arms, knees, and legs, I anoint thee, says he, with this

sacred unction, in the name of the Father, &c. To conclude, the priest repeats a prayer over the infants that have been baptized, and afterwards confirmed, in the form of a benediction, puts crowns upon their heads, and then gives them the communion.

When the Abyssinians celebrate the eucharist, the sacramental bread is prepared in a convenient place, contiguous to the church, but no woman is permitted to touch the flour from which it is made. The Eucharist. bread is brought from the vestry to the altar by proper officers, who go in solemn procession before it, with crosses, censers, and little bells. During the celebration of mass, a curtain is drawn, to conceal what is done at the altar from the eyes of the congregation.

Churches.

They administer the communion in both kinds; but with these restrictions, according to Father le Brun :-that in the Ethiopian, as well as in all other Eastern churches, the celebrant gives the blood, or wine, in the chalice to none but the priests; he administers it to the deacons, in a small spoon; and the laity receive only some particles of the body dipped in the blood; the king excepted, who receives the communion in both kinds. The Abyssinian churches are all situated directly from west to east, that the people, when they pray, may turn their faces eastward. The altar stands by itself, within the sanctuary, under a kind of dome, supported by four pilasters; and is called, by the Ethiopians, their ark, the form or figure of it being, according to their tradition, the same as that of the Jews, which they pretend is actually in existence, and is to be seen at this very time in the church of Axuma. There are two curtains before the sanctuary, with little bells at the bottom of them, on which account nobody can go in, nor come out, without making them ring. As the congregation always stand during the performance of divine service, they have no seats in their churches; they are allowed, however, to rest themselves upon supporters or crutches, a great number of which are provided for that purpose, and deposited on the outside of the churches. The people always go into the church barefooted; and for this reason the pavement is covered with tapestry. No person presumes to talk, blow his nose, nor so much as to turn his head aside, whilst at church. men are separated from the women, and the latter are placed as far distant as possible from the sanctuary. They have lamps burning in their churches even in the day-time, and they frequently illumine a great number of waxtapers.

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They are very strict and severe in the observance of their fasts. During their Lent, they eat but once a day, and that after sunset. On WedFasts, nesdays and Fridays they sit down to table at three o'clock; and,

in order not to be in the least mistaken in point of time, they measure their shadows, which when they are just seven feet in length is the critical minute. The Abyssinian priests are so precise, that they defer the celebration of the mass until the evening, upon a fast-day, for fear of transgressing the injunction of fasting, by receiving even the elements. They do not think themselves obliged, however, to fast, till they have children of a marriageable age; but as the heat of the climate soon brings the natives to maturity, there are but very few at twenty-five who are exempt from this penance.

Among the Abyssinians, the particular person for whose spiritual co

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