taries, whom they were destroying, by that

name.

In the first year of the thirteenth century, the Albigenses formed the larger part of the district of Provence in Southern France, whose inhabitants retained traces of the ancient Roman civilisation, and were on a higher level of civilisation than those who lived farther to the north. Opposition to the doctrines and hierarchy of the Church was very rife among the people, and was fostered and encouraged by the nobles. Innocent III., soon after his accession, commissioned Simon de Montfort to carry out a crusade for the extermination of the whole heretic population, and this, as is well known, was ruthlessly executed. There are three points of great intricacy connected with this subject :

(1.) Whence did the inhabitants of Provence derive their "protestant" opinions?

(2.) What relation do the Albigenses bear to the Paulicians of the East and the Waldensians of the Alpine valleys?

the knowledge which we possess respecting their doctrines comes from hostile sources, either from the polemical writings of their bitterest opponents, or from confessions alleged to have been made by individuals in the prospect of a terrible death. It has been well remarked that if we had only the pagan authorities in our hands, we should find it difficult to clear the early Christians from the very similar moral accusations brought against them. There is also the fact, that the parallel movement in the Waldensian valleys can be clearly proved guiltless of any heresy against the common truths of Christianity. The Reformers very soon accepted both the Hussites and the Waldenses as brethren, and the Church of Rome branded them equally without drawing any distinction. It would be strange if one particular stream of opposition to the Papacy should exhibit totally different principles. G. S. Faber in his Inquiry into the Ancient Vallenses and Albigenses strongly maintains their orthodoxy. [C. J. C.]

(i.) We may suppose that inasmuch as the twelfth century exhibited in many parts of Europe a spirit of revolt from Rome, missionaries from various quarters found their way to Provence, as it was from many causes a soil eminently favourable for the circulation of opinions hostile to the dominant ecclesiasticism.

(ii.) The Paulicians had been driven out of Asia Minor into South-Eastern Europe, owing to the repressive policy of the Byzantine Emperors. In Thrace or Bulgaria they would be on the confines of Greek and Latin Christendom, and many would emigrate to the ports of Europe or follow the course of the rivers. The Waldensians had in very early times a law that all who took orders in their churches should work for three years as missionaries. They would travel far and wide, disguised as merchants or as troubadours, with MSS. of the Scriptures copied out by themselves. In 1200, there were scattered communities of Waldensians as far as the provinces of Russian Poland. Peter Waldo of Lyons had, about this time, been labouring energetically at a similar work.

(iii.) With regard to the doctrines of the Albigenses, after making allowance for dif ferences of opinion amongst them, the existence of several distinct currents of thought, due to the widely sundered districts from whence their teachers had been derived and the tendency of extreme persecution to engender fanaticism and undue enthusiasm, we have yet certain facts which cannot easily be explained away. And the chief of these is the fact that

Church which falls on November 1. It was originated in 607 in place of the heathen festival "To all the Gods" celebrated in the Pantheon at Rome. This temple was then dedicated as a Christian Church "To all the Martyrs," and the last word was subsequently changed to "Saints," for in the early Church "Saint was equivalent to "Christian." The collect appointed in the Prayer Book for All Saints' Day is beautiful, and essentially different from that in the Roman Missal. The Epistle and Gospel in the Missal are the same as in the Common Prayer Book, which tends to show that the festival was not exclusively a commemoration of martyrs. ALL SOULS' DAY.-A day (November 2) in the Calendar of the Church of Rome for the commemoration of all the faithful departed. The Mass used is that for the dead, and the Office for the dead is added to that of the day. It has no place in the Prayer Book Calendar. Early traces are no doubt to be found of the observance of some such day for commemoration of all those who died in communion with the Church. But the earliest mention of the special day (November 2) cannot be traced higher than the tenth century, when Odilo, Abbot of Clagny, having heard of an awful dream seen by a pilgrim from Jerusalem, in which he beheld the suffering of souls in Purgatory, set apart this day of intercession for them. If All Saints' Day be observed All Souls is superfluous, unless superstitious doctrine be held respecting the state of the dead. ALTAR.-A high place [Lat. altus] on which sacrifices were anciently offered.

The first altar spoken of was that erected by

The

Noah after the Flood (Gen. viii. 20). altars of early times were generally built for sacrificial purposes, though in a few cases they appear to have been intended mainly as memorials. They were probably originally made of earth, in some cases the earth being enclosed in a chest of wood. It was permissible, under the Mosaic Law, to make altars of unhewn stones (Exod. xx. 26), but no iron tool might be used in their construction. This was ordered to avoid the figures with which they were generally adorned. Under the Mosaic dispensation there were two altars belonging to the Tabernacle and the Temple-the Altar of Burnt Offering, and the Altar of Incense on which nothing else than incense was offered.

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In Christian worship there can be, properly speaking, no place for any altar, the one full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world" having been once for all offered in and by our Lord Jesus Christ as the Founder of Christianity. On this point Protestants and Romanists differ widely. "Altar" is thus defined and described by the latter: "Place of sacrifice; an altar for Mass must be of stone, duly consecrated, and contain relics of martyrs ; portable altar-stones are also used." In the Greek and Russian Churches the name altar is given to the entire chancel or "sanctuary,” and is not applied to the "Holy Table."

The word "altar" is a favourite one with Ritualists. Yet it is plain the Church of England knows nothing of any altar, since the word never occurs in the Prayer Book, while the word "Table" is found fourteen times. The English canons require that the Communion Table shall be of "joiner's work," evidently as contradistinguished from an altar, which is of mason's work. It is true that in Ezekiel xli. 22 and Mal. i. 7, 12 an altar may possibly be called the table of the Lord, though that is open to serious doubt; see Abbott's Reply to Supple, Preface to Second Edition, pp. vi, xv, ff. It would, however, not therefore follow that a table can be rightly called an altar. The name altar, as applied to the Lord's Table, springs from a total misconception of the meaning of one text, Heb. xiii. 10, in which reference is made to Jewish, and not to Christian usage. That fact is clear from the context, in which the services of the Day of Atonement are spoken of. The Jews of our Lord's time assigned much value to the participation of "meats" offered in sacrifice to God. To disprove that superstition, the Apostle points to the fact that in the case of the sacrifices on the Day of Atonement not even the priests (those who served the Tabernacle) were permitted to eat, although it might have been regarded as of peculiarly sanctifying power.

There is no emphasis on the pronoun "we" in the Greek. The expression "we have" is in the Greek ExoμEV. That identical expression is used of the Jews, i.c. of Christian Jews, in reference to Jerusalem (which was probably then compassed with armies) in v. 14. "We have here no continuing city," where similarly no emphasis is placed on the pronoun.

Further no one really can eat of an altar, or off an altar. Hence altar must be (as in 1 Cor. x. 18) a metonym for the sacrifice offered thereon. What that special sacrifice was is plainly stated in the context in Heb. xii. 12, 13. The sacrifice on the Day of Atonement, offered for the whole nation, was considered so contaminating (even that for the High Priest himself) and so sin-defiled, that no part of the one or the other was permitted to be eaten, but both bullock and goat (Lev. xvi.) were "burned without the camp." There can be no doubt that the Lord's Supper was instituted when the Apostles were reclining at a table, not at an altar.

The early Christians had no desire for material altars. Clement does not allude to an "altar." Ignatius indeed uses language liable to be mistaken. He speaks sometimes of "the altar" figuratively in the sense of the whole "altar enclosure"; compare Rev. xi. 1. Polycarp (Ep. c. lv.) speaks of Christian widows as "God's altar." The Didache does not mention the word. Nor does Justin Martyr. Aristides (Apol.) says, "God asks no sacrifice and no oblation"; and Minucius Felix (Octavius, x.) states that the Christians had "no altars, no temples, and no acknowledged images." Origen, replying to a charge that they were without one, says: "Every one of them has his own soul and thought for an altar" (Contra Cels., Lib. viii. p. 389); and Ambrose writes: "As our sacrifice, which is no other thing but our prayers and thanksgiving, is not visible but invisible, so our altar also is not visible but invisible" (Epist. ad Heb. c. viii. ad. x.). In the fifth century, when the Eucharist began to be considered an actual sacrifice, altars of stone were considered necessary. A decree of the Council of Paris in 509 ordered stone altars to be made, and they were ordered in England by Egbert, Archbishop of York, in 705. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester (1062-1095), is said to have destroyed the wooden tables still remaining in his diocese, and in 1076 Lanfranc, Bishop of Winchester, condemned them. By an Order in Council, November 12, 1550, letters were sent to every Bishop to "pluck down the altars"; and Archbishop Grindal in 1567 asked, in his Visitation Articles, "whether all altars be utterly taken down and clean removed even unto the foundation, and the place where they stood paved,

and the wall whereunto they joined whitened over." Even before Bishop Grindal's Articles, Archbishop Parker's of 1563 were to the same effect. In Bishop Goodriche's Register is a memorandum of the Injunction issued by the Commissary of the Bishop, "sitting judici. | ally," to various rural deaneries to "thoroughly and utterly (penitus et funditus) destroy and overthrow all altars and super-altars erected in former times and made or constructed of stones or in any other manner (er lapidibus seu alioquocunque modo constructa), whether in their churches, or in chapels, oratories, or other places within their parishes; and to devoutly and solemnly set up and put in the room thereof one honest and decent Table or Board (Tabulam vel Mensam congruam et decentem) for administering the sacrament of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ there in each parish church."

As Bishop Goodriche had been Lord Chancellor, his Commissary may be supposed to know what the law required. Dr. Matthew Parker, who preached the sermon at the Visitation (December 7, 1550) was afterwards the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, and publicly destroyed all " 'altars," as did the other Elizabethan Ordinaries. In our own days, by the decision of the Judicial Committee (1857), a stone structure in place of an ordinary table of wood was declared illegal, and the same judgment records that "the Reformers considered the Holy Communion not as a Sacrifice but as a Feast to be celebrated at the Lord's Table." ALTAR CLOTHS.-The altars were always covered with some decent cloth, used for ornament not for mystery as in after ages. Optatus, pleading against the Donatists that the altars could not be polluted by the Catholics touching them, as the Donatists vainly pretended, uses this argument to confute them: "That if anything was polluted, it must be the coverings not the tables, for every one knew that the tables were covered with linen cloth in time of Divine service, so that while the Sacrament was administering, the covering might be touched but not the table. And for this reason they pretended to wash the palls, as be calls them in another place, in order to give them an expiation. . . ." Isidore of Pelusium takes notice also of the "sindon" or fine linen upon which the body of Christ was consecrated. But sometimes they were of richer materials and more sumptuous. Palladius speaks of some of the Roman ladies, who, renouncing the world, bequeathed their silks to make coverings for the altar. And Theodoret says of Constantine, "that among other gifts which he bestowed upon his new-built church of Jerusalem, he gave βασιλικά παραπετάσματα,

a royal pall, or piece of rich tapestry, for the altar." Bingham, however, notes that this may refer to the adjacent curtains and hangings (Bingham, Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book viii., c. 7, sect. 21). [C. J. C.] AMBO.—The ambo (Greek äußwv), centre or rim, is applied (a) in the Russian Church to the middle point of the raised platform (solea) before the Holy Door in what we might call the chancel in Russian churches. At that step the people receive the Eucharist. It is also (b) more generally used for the reading-desk or pulpit, which does not stand in that place. AMERICAN CHURCH is the name commonly given to the Church whose correct designation is "The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America."

It owes its origin to the Church of England, a fact acknowledged in the Preface to its Prayer Book as follows: "The Church of England to which the Protestant Episcopal Church in these States is indebted, under God, for her first foundation and a long continuance of nursing care and protection." It still remains in almost entire accord with the Mother Church, being "far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship, or further than local circumstances require."

Its origin is usually dated from the year 1606, when the Virginia Company obtained its charter, and the Rev. Robert Hunt ministered to the earliest settlers. Protestant Episcopalianism also had followers in the Carolinas and Georgia, and for a time was the Established Church of some of the southern States founded by England; a favoured position which did the Church no good and led to trouble. But it never gained the hold upon the people which Protestant so-called "Dissent" achieved, and it always was (except in certain localities), as it is now, the Church of a small minority. In the north the colonies were chiefly founded by the English Puritans, who first arrived in the Mayflower in 1620, and formed a New England; and by the Dutch, who planted the settlement of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. In these States the Church of England was barely tolerated. However, in 1695, Christ's Church, Philadelphia, was founded, and in 1696 Trinity Church, New York.

Congregationalism was the Established Religion of the State of Connecticut, but a body of Protestant Episcopalians gradually grew up who were tolerated as "dissenters."

At the date of the Declaration of Independence the adherents of the Church of England found themselves much in the position of the Roman Catholics in England during the reign of Elizabeth. A considerable number of the clergy considered themselves bound by their

B

bishops, including missionary jurisdictions. The presiding bishop at present is the Bishop of Rhode Island. It numbers nearly 5000 clergy, about 700,000 communicants and 1,600,000 adherents. To appreciate the numerical position of the Church it must be, however, stated that the population of the United States in 1900 was returned at 76,295,220.

Clergy of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States are allowed to officiate and hold benefices in the Church of England under the provisions and restrictions of an Act of Parliament "respecting colonial and certain other clergy" passed in 1874 (see Colonial Clergy Act). Its bishops also attend the Pan-Anglican Conference which is now held every ten years at Lambeth. [B. W.] AMICE.-An oblong piece of linen worn by Roman priests and some Ritualists. It is first placed over the head, then round the neck, next on the shoulders beneath the alb, and finally turned back to form a kind of collar. It is generally explained to mean the cloth with which the Jews blindfolded our Lord in the house of Caiaphas. According to the Roman Missal it typifies the "helmet of salvation"! See Catholic Dictionary. The amice is an illegal ornament in the Church of England, but has not yet been brought before the law

courts.

AMULETS.-These are superstitious emblems

or charms used by Roman Catholics. They are of many kinds, and are supposed to protect from temporal dangers, and to promote the spiritual welfare of the wearer. Such is the "Scapular," a word derived from "scapula," the shoulder-blade. It is mentioned in the rule of St. Benedict as worn by monks over their other dress when at work, and it now forms a regular part of the religious dress in the old Orders. But the Scapular is best known amongst Roman Catholics as the name of two little pieces of cloth, worn out of devotion over the shoulders under the ordinary garb and connected by strings. It has a legendary origin, and was first common amongst the Carmelites. The Blessed Virgin, it is said, appeared to Simon Stock, General of the Carmelite Order, and gave him a Scapular that by it the Order might be known and protected from the evils which assailed it; and it is asserted that "no one dying in the Scapular will suffer eternal burning." These and other like fables about it are, however, questioned by many Roman Catholic writers of great weight. See Catholic Dictionary, sub voce. See SCAPULAR. ANABAPTISTS.-See INDEPENDENTS. ANACLETUS.-Irenæus (Hær. iii. 3) makes Anacletus the successor of Linus as Bishop of Rome, but the name is very dubious. It is Anencletus according to the Greeks. But

there is considerable confusion respecting this matter. For there is another list followed in many popular Roman Catholic books, e.g. Di Bruno's Catholic Belief, according to which Anacletus was the fifth (instead of the third) Pope. It has been conjectured, too, that Cletus, an otherwise unknown name, arose out of a corruption of Anencletus. ANATHEMA.-The original meaning of this word in both its Greek and Hebrew form signified "devoted." "Scripture spoke of two ways in which objects might be holy, set apart for God, devoted to Him. The children of Israel were devoted to Him, God was glorified in them: the wicked Canaanites were devoted to Him; God was glorified on them " (Trench, Synonyms, p. 17, sect. v.). In the Old and New Testaments, an anathematised person denoted one in a state of spiritual separation as distinct from the later patristic and ecclesiastical use of the word "excommunicated ”—the state of one alienated from God by sin, and not of one lying under a state or sentence of alienation from the Church (see Bishop Lightfoot on Galatians i. 8, 9). In the Roman Pontifical in the service for the Benediction and Consecration of Virgins, the Pontiff publicly pronounces Anathema on any who may draw them away from the service to which they have devoted themselves, purloin their goods, or disturb them in the possession of them. Not only are the curses of the Law of Moses invoked upon the offender, but unless he make restitution, his soul is consigned to everlasting fire.

There are 125 canons that stand connected with the Council of Trent, and every one of these closes with the words "Anathema sit."

In the archives of the diocese of Rochester may be seen a form of anathematisation used in England in the thirteenth century. This probably represents the most extreme instance that could be placed on record. Nearly every power in heaven and earth, including the Virgin Mary herself and the Cross upon which Christ was crucified, is bidden to take part in the malediction. Nearly every part of the man's body is separately marked out for malediction, and the curse is specifically instanced as that of eternal damnation and not merely of loss or suffering in this life.

Denouncing from the altar, or cursing with bell, book, and candle, is still practised in Ireland, and the forms which are used are generally of the same sort as those in the Roman Pontifical and in the archives of Rochester. The bell is tolled and the tapers are extinguished to signify the spiritual darkness and ruin to which the accursed person is consigned. The curse denounced upon John Hus involved the suspension of all divine service in any town or village which he might pollute by his

presence. Persons were directed to cast stones at any house in which he might lodge. (See Blakeney, Popery in its Social Aspect, pp. 124128; Wratislaw, Life of John Hus, in the Home Library Series, S.P.C.K.) [C. J. C.] ANCHORITES.-See MONKS. ANGELS, THE.-An order of beings called into existence by the will and power of God before the creation of man. They were created pure; but, when put upon their trial, a number of them fell into a state of apostasy from God in which they have ever continued, and they are "kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6). At their head is Satan, and they are called "his angels" (Matt. xxv. 41); he is "the prince of the power of the air," and they are "the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. ii. 2 and vi. 12). On the other hand, the "elect" angels remained steadfast under probation, and came forth from it perfect in holiness with heaven's glory for their portion and God's service for their everlasting joy. Mention is made in Daniel (x. 13, 21 and xii. 1) of Michael, who is there called "one of the chief princes" and "the great prince"; and his name appears again in the New Testament (Jude 9 and Rev. xii. 7), where he is spoken of as "the archangel and as the leader of the hosts of light in their conflict with the powers of darkness; so that he may be regarded as occupying among the holy ones much the same position of authority as the devil does among the fallen and the evil.

With respect to the nature of the angels and their place in the economy of God's providence and grace, we can only make a few passing remarks in an article of such limited scope. They are immeasurably inferior to the Lord Jesus both in essential being and in regal power (see Eph. i. 21, Phil. ii. 9-11, Heb. i. and ii., and 1 Peter iii. 22); but they are superior to man on earth in wisdom, strength, ability to do God's service, and, of course, in spiritual purity. The risen saints, however, will be equal to them in holiness and glory (Luke xx. 36), and will even surpass them in authority (1 Cor. vi. 3). Besides this, hints are given to us in the Word of the control over the forces of Nature which these mysterious servants of the Almighty are allowed to exercise. And, also, the veil is at times drawn aside a little, and we obtain glimpses of the glory beyond; and there we behold them offering due homage and adoration to their eternal King.

But as our main purpose is to consider them in their relationship to man, we shall now proceed to discuss (1) the titles accorded to them in the Bible, (2) their ministry unto the heirs of

salvation, and (3) their invocation as taught in the Romish system.

1. In the Old Testament the usual designation for angel is 2, which simply means a messenger. Out of some 215 passages in which it occurs in the Hebrew Bible about one half refer to human agents, and have the rendering "messenger" in our version; while the other half refer to angels properly so called, and have the translation accordingly. Other words are occasionally found, as D', gods (compare Ps. viii. 5 and xcvii. 7 with Heb. ii. 7, 9 and i. 6);1 wip, WP, D' holy one, holy ones (see Deut. xxxiii. 2, Dan. iv. 13, 23 [chald

2], and viii. 13, possibly Job v. 1, xv. 15, and Ps. lxxxix. 5, 7); NY, ho st, army (see 1 Kings xxii. 19, Ps. ciii. 21, and cxlviii. 2, with which may be compared 2 Kings vi. 17, Ps. lxviii. 17, Matt. xxvi. 53, and Rev. xii. 7); one who serves, a minister (see Ps. ciii. 21 and civ. 4, and such passages as Matt. iv. 11, and Heb. i. 14, which speak of angelic ministrations).

In the New Testament their regular title is ayyelos, which is expressed in our English version by angel. We must bear in mind, however, that, like its Hebrew equivalent, it simply means messenger, and is so translated when it describes human agents (e.g. Matt. xi. 10, Luke vii. 24, 52, and James ii. 25). Qualifying epithets are often found in connection with this word, as "of God," "of the Lord," "of heaven," "from heaven," "of the Son of Man," "of light," "holy," "elect"; and they all serve to set forth more clearly the kind of messenger (ayyeλos) to which the text refers.2

2. Having briefly reviewed their Scriptural titles, we are in a better position to examine their office and ministry towards the people of the Lord. Probably the most important revelation which the Holy Spirit has been pleased to make upon this subject is Heb. i. 14. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them

1 The use of this word (D) does not imply that the angels are endowed with Divine capacity and should receive Divine honour, for it is similarly employed to denote men of distinction (see Exod. xxi. 6, xxii. 8, 9, 28, and Ps. lxxxii. 1, 6, as explained by John x. 34-36).

2 It may be well to state, without entering into any detailed discussion of the subject, that the angels of the Churches (Rev. ii. and iii.) are generally interpreted to be the presiding ministers of those Churches, though some commentators understand by them heavenly beings severally charged with the guardianship of each Church.