into the infant's mouth. At the conclusion of these ceremonies, the wax tapers are lighted, and a solemu procession is made round the church, all the assistants singing as they move along. The deacon carries the child in his arms, and the priest walks before, the procession being closed by the men and women who are either relations or friends, and who continue to make a most hideous noise, which they call singing. They have images in their churches, for which they shew the most profound reverence by bowing before them, and praying to them. They keep lighted lamps continually burning before them; a ceremony which they have learned from the heathens, and part of the oil used in these lamps they carry home to anoint themselves with when they are sick, which seems to be all they think necessary as extreme unction. It is certain that they never consider extreme unction as a sacrament; for this reason, that they never send for the priest to anoint them, which may serve to shew, that in this article alone, they are not so corrupt as either the Roman Catholics or the Greeks in the Levant. These Copti have a patriarch, who generally resides at Alexandria, or at Cairo, and under him are eleven bishops, who all exercise the episcopal authority in their own dioceses. Under these bishops are a great number of archpriests, being next in dignity to the bishops, and again, under them are common priests, deacons, lecturers, and chanters. As to their office, the priest, on Saturday after sun-set, goes to the church, accompanied by his assistants to sing the vespers, which takes up about an hour; and the deacons sleep in the church, having beds prepared for that purpose. Such as are not disposed to sleep, either smoak tobacco, drink coffee, or discourse on such subjects as are most agreeable to them. Two hours after midnight they begin to sing mattins, and afterwards mass, at which, in general, there are abundance of people When the people enter the church, they pull off their shoes, and kiss the ground near the door of the sanctuary. They then draw near to present. case the the arch-priest and kiss his hand, making him a profound bow in order to receive his blessing. In patriarch should be present, and not officiare, he seats himself upon a throne above the archpriest, and holds a brazen cross in his hand. After has performed his customary reverence each person to the sanctuary, he pays the same to the patriarch, and having kissed the grouud at the foot of his throne, rises up and kisses the cross and the patri by the Greeks in the Levant, for their priests never preach a sermon to the people, but content themselves with reading one of the homilies of Chrysostom, Basil, for some others of the Greek fathers. The Copti have several churches in Egypt, and they are built in the following manner: Each of them has two domes or cupolas, one for the holy of holies which they call Heikel, and is the same as the Hechal in the synagogue of the Jews; before the door of which a large veil is always spread. The other dome is over the sanctuary, or inward choir, which is always situated towards the east, in conformity with the primitive custom. Here it is they celebrate mass, and no person is permitted to enter into it, unless he first washes his feet, and at the same time, he must at least be in deacons orders. All their churches have three doors, one for the men, another for the women, and a third through which the faithful bring their oblations. Having already taken notice of the manner in which the priests receive the eucharist, we shall now proceed to point out how mass is celebrated; for on all such occasions there are generally a great number of lay communicants, who consider it as their duty to attend on these things which they conceive as essentially necessary to salvation. The bread and wine being properly placed upon the table within the rails of the altar, the priest and his assistants make their appearance in their robes, and the wax tapers are lighted up. The priest then begins with repeating a short preparatory prayer, which is followed by a thanksgiving, after which, the bread, wine and water are mixed together in the chalice, and offered up to God as a sacrifice. As soon as this prayer and ceremony are ended, the priest covers the bread with a veil, and the chalice with another, after which he spreads a large broad veil over both. He kisses the altar, and descends from the sanctuary, in order to pronounce the prayer of absolution in behalf of those who assist him; but if the patriarch is present, it is his business to pronounce the absolution. After this the priest goes up to the altar, and incenses it, repeats another prayer, and intercedes with the Divine Being to assist him in offering up the sacrifice. After this, he walks round the altar, and perfumes it with incense, and kisses it. He likewise incenses every person in the congregation one by one, on which occasions, all those who are called the faithful stand up; and this is done, in order to distinguish them from Infidels or Heretics, who are not supposed to be ac arch's hands. Upon the whole, there is but little quainted with such ceremonies. If any person re difference between these ceremonies and those used fuses to stand up when the priest comes with the censer, 1 censer, he is instantly excluded from the congregation, as one who had no right to be among them. The priest then returns to the sanctuary, where he repeats several prayers for the people, and then the epistle is read both in the Coptic and Arabic lan guages, that all the people present may understand it. The lessons are next read in the same manner, and then several psalms or hymns are sung alternately, by the priest and the people. The singing being over, the priest and deacon walk round the altar to represent the promulgation of the gospel, which at this time is carried before them. Before the gospel is read, the priest, standing before the sanctuary, opens the book which was before laid upon the altar, to denote that the words therein contained, and going to be read, proceeded from the mouth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He makes all the church officers approach him to behold the gospel, who kiss the book as it lies open; but the laity are only permitted to kiss it when shut, and on such occasions it is carried to them covered with a veil. The next part of the ceremony consists in singing the Nicene Creed, perfuming the altar three times by the priest, while he looks towards the east, the washing of hands, the blessing of the people with the sign of the cross, and the prayer for the kiss of peace, after which all the congregation bow to each other, as a sign that they are living in a state of brotherly love and Christian friendship together. With respect to the oblation itself, which corresponds with the canon of the mass among the Roman Catholics; the priest in the first place breaks the host into three pieces, and joins them again so artfully, that they do not seem to have been divided. This ceremony is accompanied with several prayers and other acts of devotion, suitable to the occasion. They invoke the blessing of The Holy Ghost upon the sacred elements, and they commemorate all the saints, and the faithful departed this life. 66 When the priest elevates the bread, he says, Holy things are for those who are holy." The deacon holds up the wax taper and the cross, and the people lay prostrate on the ground, crying out with an audible voice, "Lord have mercy upon us." If the elevation be on a Sunday, the people stand bure headed in an humble posture, but on all working days, they worship with their faces fixed down close to the ground, with their caps off. Previous to this part of the ceremony, the deacon says, "Bow down your heads before the Lord,” and the priest standing with his face towards the congregation, with the host upon the patin, elevates it, and says, "Behold the bread of the saints." Then the people bow their heads low, and say, "Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord:" Profound reverence, and that of bowing the knee, is in all eastern countries considered as a just mark of respect due to an earthly sovereign, and therefore we need not be surprised, that the ceremony is carried further, even to prostration, when the Divine Majesty is the object they consider themselves as approaching. The Copti monks are, in all respects, as ignorant, and equally as much despised as those in Russia, or among the Greeks in the Levant. They are obliged to live in a continual state of celibacy, to forsake their friends and relations, and look down with contempt upon all the good things of this world. They work hard in cultivating the ground for a subsistence, which shews that at least, they are not such idle drones as some of the same order in other countries. They dress in coarse woollen cloth with a leathern girdle round their loins, and at nights lie upon a mat on the ground. Before they lie down in the evening, they prostrate themselves one hundred and fifty times, with their hands folded in the form of a cross. As soon as they have finished these prostrations, which no doubt are extremely painful, they rise up, and make the sign of the cross seven times, and then retire to rest. In every convent there is a particula saint, and many ridiculous stories are told by the monks, concerning miracles wrought by him. They keep lamps constantly burning in their churches before the images of their saints. These lamps hang directly before the image, so as to be seen by the priest, and on each side of them are ostrich eggs, to remind him that he ought to be vigorous and circumspect in the exertion of his sacred function. This custom took its rise from the vulgar notion, that the ostrich has her eyes continually fixed upon her eggs, and by that means hatches them. They begin their year on the eighth of September, and they observe the Epiphany in a manner different from the Russians, or any other whom we have hitherto mentioned. The midnight service being over, the patriarch, or whoever officiates, retires to the vestry, but returns in a short time dressed in all his pontifical vestments, attended by a priest and a dea cent nature. The Mahometan ceremonies, on this occasion, will be taken notice of in their proper place, but at present we must attend to those of the Copti. These people, on the twelfth day of June, assemble together in their church at Cairo, and having consecrated a cross, they carry it in solemn procession to the banks of the river, where the patriarch, bishop, or priest incenses it three times, and then throws it into the Nile, as an acknowledgment that all the benefits of creation and providence flow from the bountiful hand of the Divine Being. This is such a Heathenish custom, that we are surprised how it could ever enter into the minds of people, professing themselves to be Christians to embrace it; but then we must remember what was seen in a vision by St John (Rev. xii) that when the woman sought refuge in the wilderness, the dragon spewed out a great flood, and the earth drank up the flood. Now the meaning of this is, that when the inhabitants of the world had forsaken the pure truths of the gospel, the grand adversary of mankind taking advantage of their ignorance and superstition, and improving upon their natural depravity, sent fa'se teachers among them, and the multitude greedily swallowed the infectious doctrines. The priests who are present, repeat the same ceremony after him. and during this benediction there is a large iron sconce, with three branches about six feet high, and in each of them a wax candle burning. When the benediction is over, the people plunge themselves into the water, without any regard to common decency or modesty in their behaviour. After the men have washed themselves, they withdraw to the choir, and then the women move forwards with the same irregularity, to bear a part in this iminodest religious ceremony, which is not unlike some of the festivals of the ancient Pagans. They have a festival, which is perhaps the most ridiculous of any of those observed throughout the world, by persons calling themselves Christians. It is called the festival of the Apparition of Saints, and seems to be the effect of the grossest ignorance. They are of opinion that this apparition happens in the church of Gemiana, near to which is a chapel, where the construction is such, that the reflection of light upon different objects lays a foundation for their superstition. Here is great reason to believe, that the priests do all in their power to cultivate this notion; which is not at all to be wondered at, when we consider that men, who spend most of their time in idleness under the sanction of a sacred character, are generally engaged in hatching new schemes, and such as will support their own grandeur. Sometimes they imagine they see the appearance horseback, and this phantom is worshipped as St George, because that nominal, or rather imaginary saint, is always represented under such a figure. This apparition makes its appearance three days together, and the devotions of the people consist in loud acclamations of joy, and hymns sung in commemoration of the saints, which are followed by all sorts of diversion and festivity. The only inference we can draw from such a religious ceremony is, that it must have taken its rise in the dark ages of Christianity, when designing priests ple were ready to swallow the grossest absurdities. invented whatever they pleased, and when the peothe Exaltation of the Cross, which is likewise observed by the Roman Catholics, but with very dif- gospel of Christ. ceremonies, of which the following is a genuine account. of a man on ferent It is well known, that the fertility of Egypt de pends which upon the annual inundation of the river Nile, The Jesuits in their account of this ceremony are much to be blamed, for altho' enemies to the Copti, yet they throw the whole odium of the idolatrous part of the practice upon the Mahometans. Here is an errror indeed, but such as might Le expected to come from the pens of men, prejudiced in favour of a particular system. It is well known, that the Mahometans abhor all sorts of image worship, and altho' they may have some ridiculous ceremonies amongst them, yet they have never been proved to be idolators. Every Mahometan is obliged to acknowledge that both the Jewish and Christian dispensations were of divine original, and that neither the one or the other could have been rendered ineffectual, unless the professors of them had dishonoured God by their disobedience, trampled upon sacred institutions, and set at nought the m wal precepts in the law of Moses, and even rejected the With respect to the nuptial ceremonies of the Copti, they are in many respects similar to those of the Greeks in the Levant, nor indeed much different from those of the ancient Jews, of which we have commences about the beginning of June, and already given a copious account. All the erstan ends in the beginning of September. In times of Christians have omething so similar among them in Paganism, a virgin was thrown into the river; but religious rites and ceremonies, that we are under the that barbarous custom is now abolished, to make necessity of believing, that whatever sentiments of way for superstitious ceremonies of a more inno- I purity they once embraced, yet, consistent with No. 16 4 Z the the corruptions of human nature, and the degene-, Greeks in the Levant, hire female mourners to racy of the times, they returned back to heathenish customs and are at present little better than Pagans. When the midnight service of mass is over, the bridegroom and bride are conducted from their own apartment to the church, accompanied by a long train of attendants with wax tapers and other lights. During the procession, several hymns are sung in the Coptic language, and the attendants join in concert with the music. The bridegroom is choir of the church, and the bride into the place appointed for the reception of the women. Then the priest and the people begin several hymns which they sing within the choir, and this part of the ceremony takes up a considerable time. The priest then goes up to the bridegroom and reads several prayers, making the sign of the cross at the beginning and ending of each, after which the bridegroom is ordered to sit down with his face towards the altar, and the priest, holding a silver cross over his head, repeats two or three more prayers. Whilst this ceremony is performing in the choir, the sacristan, who in general is a deacon, places a form or bench at the outer door for the bride to sit on with one of her relations. In that attitude she remains till the priest with his attendants conducts the bridegroom from the choir, and makes him sit beside his spouse. After this he spreads a napkin over both of them, and then anoints their foreheads and wrists with oil, joining their hands together, as a signal of their never being separated till the hour of death, Several prayers follow, and the whole ceremony is concluded by the new married couple receiving the sacrament of the eucharist, which is administered to them at the altar. In their funeral solemnities they are not much different from some of the other Greek christians, whom we have already mentioned, only that, as the make a hideous noise at the grave of the deceased, here they hire Loth male and female. The interment is generally on the third day after the decease of the person to be buried, and it seldom happens, let their circumstances be ever so poor, that they have less than three or four hundred mourners, for it is nothing at all to them whom they hire, so as they can only make a noise, which has the same effect upon the populace as if they were parties concerned. When the body is laid in the grave, the face is turned eastward, and then all the hired mourners kneel down and make the most hedeous lamentations. Several priests dressed in black attend on these solemnities, and as they are generally dressed like poor ragamuffins, so they make a most despicable appearance. They do not use any coffins, which undoubtedly was the original way of interment, but the deceased is laid in the ground, dressed in the cloaths he wore before he was taken ill. The priest throws the mould over the corpse in the form of a cross, and every one present follows his example. Upon the whole we may learn from what has been here related, that the Christian religion was early established among these people, but that while the western or Latin church was endeavouring to establish the papal supremacy, those in the cast were equally assiduous to obscure the glory of the gospel. The Roman pontiffs conducted their schemes upon principles of the most refined policy, and made use of pagan ceremonics as far as they suited their purposes. The eastern Greeks, on the other hand, being depressed by tyrannical powers, sunk into the most abject state of slavery, and introduced into their worship such pagan rites and ceremonies as were most agreeable to their perverse notions. THE The RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES of the MARONITES, THE Maronites, although extremely numerous in the east, yet are but uttle known to the Europeans, for most of our modern travellers have confounded them with the Greeks, who reside in the Lesser Asia. But this is a very gross mistake, for they not only hold opinions contrary to those people, but there is likewise a great difference in their ceremonies. Some time ago, as will appear from the following narrative, they embraced some of the customs of the church of Rome, but although the latter pretends that both have been reconciled together, yet the Maronites still retain most of their an cient customs. It is a very difficult matter justly to determine the origin of the Maronites. Such as go under that denomination, however, insist, that one Maro an abbot, who lived in the fifth century, and whose life was written by Theodoret, was their first founder. This notion, approved of by Brerewood, is strenuously supported by Sacchini the jesuit, who, with the modern Maronites, insists that these people never separated themselves from the church, and are looked upon as Schismatics, only because the revival of their union with the Catholic church, has been mistaken for an actual return to the Catholic faith, and that the erroneous tenets which have been discovered amongst them, have been laid to their charge, as if they had actually been the authors; whereas that misfortune arose from the heretics residing among them. But how probable soever this opinion may seem at first view, there is no manner of foundation to support it; and the testimonies of Eutychius, patriarch of Alexandria, William of Tyre, James of Vitry, and several others, are so many incontestible demonstrations, that this nation has actually espoused the tenets of the Monothelites. Such as look on Monothelism as a heresy, and one operation in Jesus Christ, notwithstanding. they acknowledged both his natures. The Maronites have a patriarch, who resides in the convent of Canubin upon mount Libanus, and assumes the title of patriarch of Antioch. He never concerns himself with the administration of any civil affairs; but there are two lords, who are distinguished by the name of deacons, or administrators, and govern all the country which is under the jurisdiction of the Turks, to whom they pay very considerable tributes. This patriarch is elected by the clergy and people according to the ancient constitutions of the church. Twelve of their chief priests, who represent, without doubt, the twelve apostles, meet together in the convent of Canubin for this election. This method of proceeding is by scrutiny, and when they are all agreed, the clergy and the people jointly confirm their choice. If this scrutiny should happen to fail of success, they proceed to election by way of arbitration, that is to say, three out of the twelve are chosen to make the election, which is afterwards confirmed by the people. Ever since they have been partially reconciled to the Romish church, the patriarch elect has been obliged to procure the pope's bulls of confirmation. He and his suffragan bishops are obliged to live in an uninterrupted state of celibacy; and it. is remarkable, there are two sorts of prelates amongst them: One sort are actually bishops, having an actual title, and people under their jurisdiction; the others are, properly speaking, no more than abbots of convents, and have no cure of souls. These latter wear no episcopal habit, nor have any particular mark or badge of their preferment, but a dress like the other monks, except when they sing mass, and then indeed they wear a mitre and cosier by way of distinction. The patriarch, not be ing able to visit all mount Libanus himself, has always two or three bishops ready to assist him. Ecsides the bishops who reside at mount Libanus, there are others at Damas, at Aleppo, and in the island of Cyprus. must like wise pronounce Maro to be a heretic, although the Maronites mention him as a saint in their liturgy. This, therefore, must be allowed beyond all contradiction, that these people after they had dissented from the church for five hundred years, made a public recantation of their real or imaginary heresy before Aymeric, patriarch of An- berty to marry before their ordination; nay, the tioch, who was contemporary with William of patriarch not long since obliged them either to cater Tyre. Before that time they owned but one will As to the other ecclesiastics, they have free li into the married state, or to turn monks, before he would |