ing the time of the Empire. It is impossible to fix the times when the present names and shapes were definitely given to the various vestments, but from an early date we find notices, lists, and canons which refer to one and another of them, and in ancient mosaics Bishops and Priests are pictured as wearing a regular ecclesiastical dress.

Different colors were probably not assigned to different seasons until rather a late date, the first definite mention of them being about the year 1200 A.D.; in early days White was the general color of all vestments, and was taken to signify the bright light of truth and spotless purity. Red, when adopted, typified ardent love; Green, the color of thriving vegetation, typified life; and Violet, compounded of red and black, the union of love and pain in hopeful repentance.

The different Eucharistic vestments are as follows:

The Amice. This is a broad and oblong piece of linen with two strings to fasten it, and with an ornamented or embroidered strip on the middle of the outer edge. It is the first vestment assumed in preparing for a Celebration, and is placed on the head like a hood, and fastened by passing the strings under the arms and then round the back until they meet on the chest, where they are tied. After the Alb is put on, the Amice is pushed back from the head on to the shoulders, where it has the appearance of a loose ornamental collar.

The meaning of the various vestments is well shown by the prayers appointed by an old Western Liturgy to be said while assuming them; that used at the putting on of the Amice is, "Place upon my head, O LORD, the helmet of salvation, to drive away all the assaults of the devil."

The Alb.-This is a loose and long garment of white linen coming down to the feet, and having close-fitting sleeves reaching to the hands. It is slipped over the head after the putting on of the Amice, and is fastened by the Girdle, so that it hangs an inch or two from the floor. Prayer: "Cleanse (dealba) me, O LORD, and purify my heart, that cleansed (dealbatus) in the blood of the Lamb, I may attain everlasting joys.”

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The Girdle.-This needs no detailed description, and its use is given in the preceding paragraph. Prayer: Gird me, O LORD, with the girdle of purity, and extinguish in my loins the fire of concupiscence, that the grace of temperance and chastity may abide in me."

The Maniple.-This was originally a narrow strip of linen about two and a half feet long, employed to wipe the sacred vessels, or the hands of the Celebrant. Subsequently it became a mere ornament, and as such it is now hung on the left arm of the Priest, and fastened with a loop to the wrist. Prayer: "Grant me, O LORD, to bear the light burden (manipulum) of grief and sorrow, that I may with gladness receive the reward of labor."

The Stole. This is a strip of silk about three inches wide and eight and a half feet long; it may be either plain or richly ornamented. It is hung around the neck of a Priest, and when celebrating should be crossed on the breast and passed under the girdle. The Deacon should wear it suspended over the left shoulder, crossing the back and breast and fastened on the right hip. Prayer: "Give me again, O LORD, the robe (stolam) of immortality which I lost by the sin of my first parent; and although I unworthily approach Thy Holy Mystery, yet may I attain everlasting joy."

The Chasuble.-This vestment is worn over the Alb. Originally it was nearly circular in shape, having an opening in the centre, through which the head of the wearer passed; at a later period the portions on the arms were reduced, and the general shape became more elliptical, and the extremities more pointed. The English Chasuble resembles the pre-Reformation vestment, while in the modern Roman Chasuble the sleeve portion has been entirely cut away, leaving the arms free, but showing to the eye the unpleasing" fiddle-shaped" stiff back and front, instead of the graceful folds of the older pattern. The back of the Chasuble is frequently ornamented with a Latin cross, but more usually with what is called the Y Orphrey. Prayer: "O LORD, who hast said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light, make me to have strength so to bear it that I may attain Thy grace. Amen."

The other vestments may be more briefly described. The common Surplice and the Bishop's sleeveless linen Rochet are modifications of the Alb. The Tunicle and Dalmatic are different names given to the similar robes of the Epistler and Gospeler. They should resemble the Chasuble of the Celebrant in material and color; in form they are a kind of loose frock or coat reaching below the knees, open partially at the lower part of the sides, with full though not large sleeves. The Cope is a long, full cloak of semicircular shape, reaching to the heels, and open in front. From the top downwards it has a richly-ornamented hood, and is fastened at the throat by a large clasp called the Morse. The Cope is used at litanies and choir services, and, according to the Prayer-Book of 1549 A.D. and the Canons of 1603 A.D., may be worn at Celebrations instead of the Chasuble.

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By the first Prayer-Book of Edward VI. the Bishop was to wear at Celebrations beside his Rochet, an Alb or Surplice, and a Cope or Chasuble, and to have in his hand or that of his chaplain a Pastoral Staff. brass of the date of 1631 A.D. represents a Bishop in Cope, Rochet, and Mitre, with a Pastoral Staff; and the Mitres of Laud, Trelawny, and others are still preserved in England, while that of our own Bishop Seabury can be seen in the Library of Trinity College, Hartford. In the reigns of Henry VIII. and Edward VI. the Bishops often

wore their Doctor of Divinity scarlet habits with the Rochet, and in the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth black satin was substituted for the brighter color. The present dress, therefore, consists of the sleeveless Rochet and the Doctor's gown, or black satin Chimere, with lawn sleeves, which properly belong to the Rochet attached to it.

It would occupy too much space to discuss the question of the legality of the different vestments in the United States. Briefly, however, they depend, in the absence of any definite legislation by the General Convention, on the connection of the daughter with the Mother-Church, and the statement in the Preface to our PrayerBook, that "this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship." We are therefore thrown back on the Ornaments Rubric of the English Prayer-Book, which directs "that such Ornaments of the Church and of the Ministers thereof shall be retained and be in use as were in this Church of England, by the authority of Parliament, in the second year of the reign of King Edward the Sixth." For the fuller discussion of this whole subject, the reader is referred to the Introduction and Appendices of Blunt's Annotated Book of Common Prayer.

REV. E. M. PARKER.

Vestry. The Vestry (Vestiarium, Wardrobe) was either an apartment, or a distinct building of the Church, in which the vestments, and sometimes also sacred vessels and treasures, of the Church were kept. It was also used as a place of meeting and gave its name to the assembly held therein, hence is derived our use of the words Vestry Room and Vestry.

In the Primitive Church nothing is found corresponding to the modern Vestry; circumstances then existing did not demand nor even permit such a lay adjunct. Later, when fuller organization became practicable, the sacerdotal power absorbed all ecclesiastical control, the lay element was ignored, the entire management of the Church was in the hands of the various ecclesiastical orders. The office of Church-warden may be traced to the later part of the Middle Ages, when the duty of keeping the nave in repair and of providing utensils for the Divine Service was laid upon the laity. To the vestrymen corresponded in some features the ancient Sidesmen (Synodsmen), who at synods reported under oath to the Bishop the moral condition of the Diocese. In the Church of England, parish churches generally have wardens and vestrymen whose functions are regulated by custom and by legislation; on account of the connection of the Church with the State their duties are partly civil and partly ecclesiastical, so that they furnish no precedent nor guide for us, though we inherit from that Church this feature of the parish, and find in their

"Select Vestry" that which corresponds to

our own.

The relations, rights, and duties of Vestrymen are not defined and determined by generally acknowledged authority, they vary with the canons of the different Dioceses, and with the charters and by-laws of different parishes; this diversity has resulted in much confusion and occasionally in conflicting claims between Bishops, Rectors, and Vestries. Recognizing this defect, and in order to remedy it, the General Convention of 1877 A.D. appointed a Joint Committee of both houses" to consider and report to the next General Convention what are the several functions of Rectors, Wardens, and Vestrymen in the control and administration of the Parishes, ascertaining the right and authority of each in the premises, according to the principles and laws of the Church." By this committee a valuable report was presented to the General Convention of 1880 A.D., and printed in the Journal. The committee again reported in 1883 A.D., when at their own request the committee was enlarged and continued; accordingly they still have the subject under consideration. In ' their last report they state that they “have found themselves unable as yet to agree upon any substantive measures which would be practically available in meeting the difficulties and settling the important questions involved in the subject. It is, however, one of growing importance, especially in view of the difficulty of avoiding bringing the law of the Church in conflict with the laws of the several States regulating the organization of Church corporations, and the powers and functions of their office. The proper adjustment of these relations will require patient investigation and conference." In the present state of the inquiry this article must be content to accept and to define existing conditions, to deal with general principles. Handbooks and guides have been published which cite and codify such laws as are in force in certain dioceses and parishes, to these reference may be made for details to which no room here can be given. Diocesan canons are passed and Parochial organizations formed for the express purpose of carrying on the avowed mission and legitimate work of the Church, therefore if they conflict with the general principles and laws of the Church they violate the essential principle for which they were created, they are therefore bound to consult and to conform to the will of the Church in so far as it has been expressed. To ascertain this expressed will we must refer to the utterances of the Church, given in the Book of Common Prayer, and made from time to time by legislative bodies.

The time and manner of electing Vestrymen, the number to be elected, and qualifi cations for the office vary in different Dieceses. Efforts have been made repeatedly to bring the General Convention to require in Vestrymen some guarantee of conformity

and loyalty to the Church with the interests of which they are intrusted. In attempt ing to make such a general law difficulties have been encountered of embarrassing feeble parishes, and of coming into conflict with existing terms of incorporation. The House of Deputies in 1883 A.D., by resolution, "earnestly commends to the Diocesan Conventions the importance of requiring that none but communicants shall be Churchwardens, and of requiring some proper regulations as to the conformity of Vestrymen with the worship and discipline of the Church."

I. To the Bishop the Vestry is related as to the head of the Diocese, its chief ecclesiastical authority, in whom is vested primarily the spiritual care and jurisdiction over all its Rectors and parishes. Accordingly, when a parish becomes vacant it is the duty of the Vestry immediately to give notice thereof to the Bishop. It is the common practice for the Vestry through its Wardens to provide ministerial services for a parish during its vacancy, but some Dioceses provide that this be done by the Bishop, recognizing that to him reverts the spiritual management of a parish while it is without a Rector; this accords with the established polity and avowed principles of the Church. "On the election of a minister into any church or parish, the Vestry shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Bishop, or where there is no Bishop to the Standing Committee of the Diocese, notice of the same according to the form prescribed" (Title i., Can. xiv., Sect. 1). Not unless the Bishop, or the Standing Committee, which in certain cases represents and acts for a Bishop, is satisfied that the Rector-elect is a qualified minister of the Church and in good standing, is the Rector recognized as such and placed upon the record and list of the clergy which is kept by the Secretary of the Convention. The relations here indicated are still further expressed by the "Office of Institution," which, whether used or not, utters and helps to interpret the law of the Church. In this office the action of the Vestry receives the Bishop's sanction and seal, by him the newly elected minister is authorized to claim and enjoy all the accustomed temporalities appertaining to the cure; and in any difference between him and his congregation as to a separation, the Bishop is declared to be "the ultimate arbiter and judge."

The canons and the Office of Institution agree in recognizing that the Bishop is the source of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in his Diocese, and that by his permission and under his authority Ministers act as such within his Diocese. Evidently it is the will of the Church and for its peaceful and best administration that the Bishop should have a voice in both the appointment and the removal of Rectors within his Diocese, should counsel and influence, though not control, the Vestries in their choice of those who are to administer the parishes

which are under the Bishop's supervision, and for which he ultimately is responsible. The relations of the Vestry to their Diocesan are still further indicated by the canonical requirement that the Wardens and Vestry shall give to the Bishop, at his annual visitation, such information of the state of the Congregation as he may require of them (Title i., Can. xiv., Sect. 5).

II. To the Rector the relations of a Vestry begin with his call to the parish. The practice of requiring or expecting a clergyman to preach on trial as a candidate for the position to be filled has been, and deserves to be, severely censured by representative men of the Church, both clerical and lay. It reverses the original and true relations of minister and people, degrades his office, disturbs the parish, and embarrasses the Vestry, inviting general discussion and expression of opinion, and furnishes no reliable test of his abilities and adaptation to the parish. Full inquiries should be made covering the question of his ability and faithfulness at his last post, he should be seen and heard in his parish, if practicable, his visit to the parish to be filled should follow, not precede a call; then, if on an interview with the parish electing him he should appear to be not adapted to the position, he could decline it, and on learning that this is the desire of the Vestry, he would do so, if worthy to be thought of at all for the position. The call should be made in writing, and should distinctly state the provisions made for the minister's support. The extending and accepting of the call form a legal contract unlimited in continuance, unless limitations be expressly stated. The salary offered is a legal debt recoverable by law, and cannot be either withheld or reduced, except by consent of him to whom it is due. Should the minister neglect or fail to perform his duties, it would be the duty of the Wardens and Vestry to make complaint to the Ecclesiastical Authority of the Diocese. Should serious disagreement arise between the Rector and his Vestry, and a dissolution of the pastoral connection become desirable, relief may be had according to the laws and by methods duly provided (Title i., Can. xiv., Sect 6, and Title ii., Can. iv.). A Rector cannot resign his parish without consent of his Vestry, nor can the Rector be removed against his will except for the causes named and in the manner prescribed in the canons. The Church has carefully provided that the Rector's tenure of his position should be undisputed, undisturbed, and permanent, that the pastoral relation should not be dissolved except for "urgent reason," that the incumbent should be independent of the unstable opinion and preferences of those whom he is to exhort and rebuke, as occasion may require. For his own offenses he is amenable to his ecclesiastical Superior and to the Chief Shepherd and Bishop of souls. His authority as a Minister of

CHRIST is not derived from nor dependent upon the Vestry who call him to a parish, but is conveyed to him in his ordination, as indicated in the words, "Take thou authority to execute the office of a Priest in the Church of GOD, now committed unto thee by the imposition of our hands." The Vestry, in calling him to a parish, recognize this authority, place the parish under his spiritual care and control, and pledge to him that of which they are legal custodians.

The use of the "Office of Institution," if not made obligatory by Diocesan Canons, is left to the option of the Vestry. It confers no new rights or powers upon either Rector or Vestry, but by its strong expressions and significant acts it declares and helps to define the mutual relations into which they have entered, and of which the call made and accepted is sufficient evidence. In conveying to the Rector the "Temporalities" and the "Keys of the Church," the Vestry do not surrender their trust as custodians of the property of the parish and as managers of its revenue. The Rector cannot of his own motion alienate, or make any alteration in any of the property which belongs to the parish, nor can he incur any expense for the Vestry nor involve them in any obligation without their consent. The temporalities to which he is entitled are that portion of the revenue which the vestry has pledged for his support. The "keys" placed in his hands indicate that to him is given the use and control of the church edifice for all purposes of worship and ordinary parochial work; he has the right to enter the church at all times, to open it when and as he may deem proper for worship, or instruction, for all rites and offices of the Church. To him belongs the control and direction of all Sunday-schools, parish schools, associations, or meetings held within the parish for its work or welfare; ex officio he holds the first place in all spiritual interests and activities of the parish, in spiritual matters he has no co-ordinate authority in the parish; in temporal affairs he is associated with his Vestry, with it he forms a part of the corporation. In theory the corporation represents three interests or estates, as indicated by the title "Rector, Wardens, and Vestry." In some Dioceses the State law requires that, in order to legally transact business, each of these three must be represented. To mention and to regard the Vestry apart from the Rector is an usage which has grown out of the power and privilege exercised by the Vestry during a vacancy of the Parish Rectorate, but the Rector is or ought to be an integral part of every parish, related to it as a Bishop is to his Diocese, sharing in the care of its temporality, present at the meetings of the Vestry, presiding in them, and taking such part in the proceedings as the laws of the Diocese and the Parish prescribe or permit, acting by virtue of his office as head of the Vestry as well

as of the parish. (Hoffman, Law of the Church, pp. 255-56 and 262-66.) The understanding of this subject, and the practical observance of the principles and distinctions here indicated, would promote the order and peace of parishes; would, on the one hand, deter vestrymen from transgressing the limits of their official duties in making themselves judges of spiritual matters and in attempting to control that which the Church has intentionally placed beyond their reach ; and, on the other hand, would withhold Rectors from extending their exclusive direction of spiritual things over those matters which are intrusted to the Vestry, and which should be left to its management, or at least not be taken in hand except by its approval and consent.

III. To the congregation the relations sustained by the Vestry have been implied in the statements already made. The Vestrymen are elected by the congregation to represent it in law; to have charge and care of its property; to look after its temporal interests; to collect and disburse its revenue; to elect Delegates who may represent the congregation at Diocesan Conventions; acting for the parishioners, and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop, they choose and call a minister and make provision for his support; in the absence of a Rector they are bound to see that no person ministers to the congregation without sufficient evidence that he is duly qualified to do so. If the Rector prove unworthy, unfaithful, or incompetent, they in the interests of the parishioners make complaint to the Bishop. They provide that all things needful for worship and for the work of the Parish be furnished. though they act officially as vestrymen only when in Vestry meetings, yet the relations which they hold and the interests with which they are intrusted, should prompt them to be foremost among parishioners in promoting the welfare and growth of the parish, stimulating others, sustaining and aiding the Rector, cheerfully undertaking and faithfully performing such duties as may be assigned to them, and such as the welfare of the Parish may require.

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Authorities: Dr. Wm. Smith's Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, Bishop Wilberforce, History of the American Church, Hoffman, Law of the Church, Reports of the Joint Committee of the General Convention, Journals of 1880 and 1883 A.D. Papers prepared by Rev. Dr. Dix and Mr. James Parker, read before and printed by request of the Joint Com. (Pamphlet, 1880 A.D.); Paper by Bishop B. H. Paddock, presented to the House of Bishops, Gen. Convention Journal, 1888 A.D., Appendix x.; Parish Duties, in a Pastoral Letter to the Laity, Bishop Wm. H. De Lancey; Rev. Dr. Thomas Richey, The Churchman's HandBook; Rev. H. M. Baum, The Rights and Duties of Rectors, Church-Wardens, and Vestrymen in the American Church.

REV. J. DE WOLFE PERRY.

Via Media. The position of the Church between the extremes of Papal usurpation and of Dissenting rejections has procured for her the name of the "Via Media" (Middle Way). It describes her position with tolerable accuracy, but it implies that it is a deliberate compromise. But this is not £0. The Truth which lies between extremes of false statement is in itself no compromise. It is simply" the Truth." So the Church in all countries is not the result of compromises, but she is the visible Body to whom the proclamation of the facts of the Gospel and their consequent power over our lives is committed. That in some countries too great assumptions are made and the truth overlaid with false tradition, while by reaction others have torn off too much of the truth in ridding themselves of false tradition, does not make the Church, which is affected by neither, a middle way. It is no half-way house between extremes. But there is yet another consideration. In holding all truths the Church must hold them in their proper relative positions, and not exaggerate any one at the expense of others. It is the "proportion of the faith" which the Apostle shows we must set forth: "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy (i.e., preaching), let us prophesy according to the proportion of the faith" (Rom. xii. 6). Since the majority of men can only grasp a portion of the truth and hold that with enthusiasm, it requires some balance of mind to see that these may drag all other truths, whether as pendent or independent, out of their true relations, and so may disturb the due proportion of the Faith, i.e., the Articles of the Creed. Here again the "Via Media" is only so because the Church can admit no disproportions in the use of Scripture, and allow no depression of one Article at the expense of the other. No Scripture can be alleged against another, no text interpreted at the expense of another, no meaning of Scripture either minimized or pushed to extreme consequences. For this reason the concurrent tradition (not oral, but recorded) of the Church upon Scripture and upon practice and discipline determine her wise Politeia, her statesmanship now under her divine Constitution. The Via Media is popularly and from one view correctly expressed in that name under which her chartered and corporate rights are secured to her by the Civil Law,-Protestant Episcopal. It may cover a higher, nobler right, but it cannot obscure it, and only forces us to bring out more strongly, her right as a part of the Church Catholic and Holy. But Protestant she is against the blunders and excesses or defects of those who heedlessly delight in or abuse the name and misuse its Christian meaning. Episcopal she must be by force of her divine Constitution. In these senses her name in Law is proper. It expresses that balance which is hers to uphold, and which

in the end will draw all men to her who are not utterly blinded. The Via Media of her position is not the result of a pitiful shrinking, but the balanced and clear enunciation of the principles of the Faith once committed to the Saints, and which she has to uphold.

Viaticum. (Literally, the provisions for a journey.) It is usually used to mean the Holy Communion administered to a dying person. The spiritual food for the soul upon its last journey. It was a very ancient name for it. Clement of Alexandria (172– 206 A.D.) so employs it," the provision for the journey to the unseen life;" possibly, in this sense, also, Clement of Rome, a hundred years earlier. From the time of the Council of Nice (325 A.D.) the term was most usually employed to mean this administration of the Eucharist to the dying.

Vicar. A term not occurring often in this country, since in our parish system a Vicar, a locum tenens, has no proper existence. It is usually supposed to refer to the same person, who may be called a Rector or a Parson as well indifferently. It was the result of the complications of the English system of Patronage, by the gift of, and the holding of, a Benefice. The Vicar was, in the complex mode of arranging the incomes of the parishes, the stipendiary Curate of the Parson in such cases where the Parson, from some cause, gives the Parish into the Curate's hands and has no cure of the

souls in the Parish. "A Vicar (vicarius) is one that hath a spiritual promotion or living under the parson, and is so denominated as officiating (vice ejus) in his place or stead, and such a promotion or living is called a vicarage, which is part or portion of the parsonage allotted to the Vicar for his maintenance and support." The causes which led to the formation of these Vicarages are rather intricate, and are not of value to us here, but can be found in Burn's Eccl. Law and in Blackstone's Commentaries.

Vicarious Sacrifice. Vide SACRIFICE. Vice. Vice is the habitual characteristic breaking of the moral Law. It is characteristic, and therefore it is one of the most fearful forms of sinfulness. It may be displayed in only a single evil habit, or it may be shown in a thoroughly debased character. It is the fault or defect of the spiritual nature of the man, so that, prone by inherited aptitudes for some form of sinfulness, he does not care to free himself from its power, and so loses that power for a spiritual life which is the true health of the soul. For viciousness is very largely the result of evil education, of sinful thoughts falling on congenial soil, of a blunted or a defective consciousness of sin and the loathsomeness of it, of habits it may be carelessly taken up, but certainly not striven against and not controlled. It was against the vicious of the age that our LORD uttered His severest denunciations, and there is no subtler viciousness than that which cloaks itself under