prayer; after which the deacon rises up, and makes another genuflexion ; and this is in order to uncover the expositor, and place it on the corporal, or piece of fine linen used at mass. Here follows a third genuflexion; and then he comes back, and stands near the officiating priest, who rises up and withdraws a little towards the gospel-side; and after having thrice put incense into each thurible, he falls down upon his knees, with the deacon, who is at his right hand, and the sub-deacon at the left. The former gives the thurible to the officiating priest, who incenses the blessed sacrament thrice, making a low bow both before and after. This triple incensing being over, the sub-deacon spreads the veil over the shoulders of the officiating priest, while the deacon goes up to the altar, takes the expositor from thence, which he gives to the officiating priest, and afterwards covers his hands with the extremities of the veil that lies over his shoulders; after which, the officiating priest having the pix, or expositor, in his hands, turns about to the right, and his ministers after him, when they all three continue on one of the steps of the altar, till such time as the whole procession has wheeled off, and they begin the Pange Lingua.

As the cross is carried before the pope whenever he appears in public at Rome, so the host goes before him when he is upon a journey; for the Manner of car sovereign pontiffs have appropriated to themselves, alone, rying the Host the privilege of having the host carried before them whenbefore the Pope ever they travel. Several instances of the host going before on a journey. the pope are recorded, but nothing can enter into comparison with the pomp with which it was carried into Ferrara, in 1598, when Clement VIII. went to take possession of that city after the death of Alphonso of Este. The host was borne in procession out of Rome, in a magnificent tabernacle, which was carried by eight canons of the Vatican, upon a kind of litter, and under a magnificent canopy, embroidered with gold, silk, &c. The Brotherhood of the Blessed Sacrament, with each a torch in his hand, walked before the host. The religious orders, the musicians of St. Peter's chapel, and the clergy, with our Saviour's cross carried before them, followed the brotherhood. Afterwards, the host appeared under the canopy, carried by eight of the private chamberlains of his holiness, and guarded by a body of Swiss, and other soldiers. After the host, his holiness appeared, with a torch in hand; and next to him the sacred college, the prelates, and the Roman nobility, all of them holding tapers in their hands, and followed by a body of troops. In this manner the host was transported out of Rome.

It was carried to Ferrara, on the back of a beautiful horse, which was adorned with the most gaudy trappings. His holiness, before he began the march, bent his knee before the host, and did not rise up till it was out of sight. The mules employed to carry the baggage, and the lacqueys of his holiness, carrying his arms, marched at the head; these were reinforced by several companies of soldiers, with their trumpets sounding as they marched. After this, eight led-horses came forward; and they were followed by the domestics of the cardinals and prelates, all of them on horseback.

Next came two couriers belonging to the Apostolic See, the band of music of the pope's chapel, two esquires, two macebearers, followed by the master of the ceremonies and the two clerks of the pontifical chay

Each of the latter carried a lantern, fixed at the end of a lance, in order to light the host, which followed immediately after. Two of the grooms of his holiness held the reins of the horse on which he rode, and the host was guarded by a body of armed Swiss. Afterwards came the sacristan, with his white staff in his hand, the badge of his office, and followed by a great number of Roman prelates.

After these, another band of musicians, and a company of lacqueys belonging to the baggage, appeared, and five hundred horsemen, in very magnificent habits, divided likewise into companies. The barber, tailor, and shoemaker of his holiness joined in the procession, according to their rank. Four chamberlains followed them, carrying four pontifical caps, made of purple, at the end of four pikes. All the nobility of Rome and of Ferrara assisted also in this procession, dressed in a very sumptuous manner; and after these came the acolytes, the chiefs of the apostolical chamber, the auditors of the rota, the sub-deacons, the orators, the bishop of Ferrara with his clergy, his holiness's key-bearers, his chief master of the ceremonies, his cross-bearer, twenty clerks of the cathedral of Ferrara, each having a lighted torch in his hand.

The host, when the procession departed from Rome, and during the whole journey, was carried along with the baggage; but at the entrance into Ferrara, it was placed in the centre of the procession. The pope's chief-treasurer had bags fixed on each side of his saddle, out of which he threw money to the people. After the treasurer came thirty youths of the highest quality in Ferrara, walking on foot, bare-headed, dressed in cloth of silver, with little black cloaks, embroidered with silk, and caps in their hands, enriched with golden roses, pearls, and precious stones. After this shining troop came Pope Clement himself, clothed in a robe of very rich silk, and having on his head a crown enriched with jewels of immense value. He was carried on the shoulders of eight tall lacqueys, clothed in long scarlet robes, under a canopy of the finest crimson velvet, embroidered with gold, surrounded with a double range of guards, very richly dressed, and followed by his Swiss, and an auditor of the rota, who carried his triple crown after him, having on each side of him the great chamberlain and the chief butler. A great number of coaches and horsemen followed.

During the whole march, the faithful sung anthems and molets, repeated prayers, made signs of the cross, and gave and received blessings. In a word, they practised all the exterior tokens of devotion. They marched very slowly, and the clergy both secular and regular, in all the places through which the procession passed in the night-time, advanced to meet them, with a body of the militia at their head. After the clergy came the magistrates and other persons of distinction; and at the entrance into the city, the trumpets sounded, and the air echoed with spiritual songs, whilst the people crowded from all parts, to come and adore the host. People of the highest rank, at the same time, strove who should first present his holiness with the canopy.

On Christmas-eve, before the office of the ensuing festival begins, the sovereign pontiff annually blesses a gold-hilted sword, inlaid with precious stones, wrought in the form of a dove; with the scabbard and belt enriched in like manner, and a Ducal hat fixed on the point of it. This

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hat is made of purple-coloured silk, furred with ermine, and surrounded with a hatband, made in the form of a crown adorned with Blessing of the Sword and of the jewels: the hat and sword are both sent by his holiness to Ducal hat fixed some potentate for whom he has a peculiar affection, or to on its point. a great general, who may have merited such a distinction for his bravery, exerted against the enemies of Christianity. His holiness performs the ceremony of blessing them, clothed with the albe, the amict, and the stole, before he puts on the red cope, which he wears at the office of Christmas-night. A clerk of the chamber presents to him the sword, and the hat fixed on the point of it; and after having pronounced the blessing, he sprinkles and inçenses them both with holy-water. This being done, the pope goes to his chapel, preceded by the same clerk of the chamber, who walks with the sword and the hat before the pontifical cross. If the person for whom these presents are designed happens to be at Rome, he must receive them from the pope's own hand, observing to kiss both that and his foot. His holiness declares to him that the sword denotes the power of our Saviour, and the victory which he has gained over the devil. Whilst the sword is girding on, his holiness addresses the person so honoured as follows:- "By this sword we declare you the defender of the Holy Apostolical See, and of the pontifical sovereignty; the protector of the Holy See against the enemies of the faith, and the bulwark of the Church. May your arm, by the virtue of this sword, triumph over the enemies of the Holy See, and of the name of CHRIST JESUS: may the Holy Ghost, represented by the dove, descend on your head, and protect you against those for whom God prepares his judgments, before the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and the Holy See Apostolic," &c. Such is the formula appointed by Sixtus IV. for this ceremony.

Sometimes the person to whom the pope presents the consecrated sword is invited to read one of the lessons of the office; in which case a clerk of the chamber girds him with the sword over the surplice, clothes him with a white chasuble, and puts the hat upon his head. After this the master of the ceremonies conducts him to the steps of the throne of his holiness, where he bows to the altar, and then to the pope; and after having ́ returned the consecrated hat to the master of the ceremonies, he draws the consecrated sword out of the scabbard, touches the ground with the point of it, waves it thrice aloft, and after having brought it back gently over the left arm, puts it again into the scabbard. This ceremony being concluded, he goes to the desk, and sings the fifth lesson of the office, having first received the pope's blessing. When the singing is finished, he goes and kisses the feet of his holiness; which done, his sacerdotal vestments are taken off, and the hat is again fixed on the point of the sword, which a gentleman holds with the point upwards till the office is ended. If the person for whom the sword is consecrated should not be present at Rome, or is not able to read, the Romish ceremonial ordains that a clerk of the chamber must put on the surplice, and sing at the desk in his stead; and that afterwards (if present) both of them shall go and kiss the feet of his holiness.

The person to whom the sword has been presented is then conducted back to his house in pomp, by the nobility of the court of Rome. The sword is carried before him, held aloft, with the hat fixed on the point of it.

SEC. II.-SACRAMENTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH.

THE Roman Catholic Church acknowledges seven sacraments, which number, according to the catechism of the Council of Trent, is established by the Scriptures, by the tradition of the fathers, and the authority of councils.

The Seven Sacraments.

These sacraments are accompanied with several solemn and publie ceremonies, with which the Church has thought fit to heighten them, notwithstanding they are not essential, since they can subsist without them however, they say that it would be a sin to omit them, unless in cases of necessity. Hence it is that the Council of Trent has pronounced anathema. against those who say that the ministers of the sacraments may, without sin, despise, or omit, at pleasure, the several ceremonies received in the Church. "We are assured," says the Catechism of the Council of Trent, "that these ceremonies give us a more strict idea of, and, as it were, set before our eyes the effects which result from these sacraments, and imprint the sanctity which attends them more strongly on the minds of the faithful. They raise the minds of such as observe them religiously, to the contemplation of the most exalted things." In a word, we are assured that they excite and increase in us a true faith and spirit of charity.

The sacrament of baptism is defined by the Church as one instituted by Jesus Christ, in order to wash away original sin, and all those actual ones which we may have committed; to communicate to manBaptism. kind the spiritual regeneration and grace of Jesus Christ; and to unite them as living members to their head.

The most essential part of the ceremony of baptism in the Catholic Church is as follows:-At the church-door the priest first asks the godfather and godmother what child they present to the Church? whether or no they are its true godfather and godmother? if they be resolved to live and die in the true Catholic and Apostolic faith? and what name they intend to give it? All profane names, as those of the heathens and their gods, must be rejected; nevertheless, those of Hercules, Hannibal, Achilles, Urania, Diana, &c., are common enough. A Catholic priest is authorised to change the name of a child who had been baptized Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, by a Protestant minister. After the usual questions have been asked, the priest makes an exhortation to the godfather and godmother, with regard to the devotion which ought to accompany the whole performance. The exhortation being ended, the priest continues the ceremony; and calling the child by the name that is to be given it, asks it as follows:-What dost thou demand of the Church? To which the godfather answers, Faith. The priest adds, What is the fruit of faith? The godfather answers, Eternal life. The priest continues, If you are desirous of obtaining eternal life, keep God's commandments: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c. After which he breathes three times upon the child's face, but must observe not to let the child breathe upon him; and at the same time says, Come out of this child, thou evil spirit, and make room for the Holy Ghost.

This being done, with the thumb of his right hand he makes a cross on

the child's forehead, and afterwards another on its breast, pronouncing these words: Receive the sign of the cross on thy forehead, and in thine heart, &c. Whereupon he takes off his cap, repeats a short prayer, and laying his hand gently on the child's head, prays for him a second time. This second prayer being ended, the priest blesses the salt in case it was not blessed before; which being done, he takes a little of it, puts it into the child's mouth, pronouncing these words: Receive the salt of wisdom. He then repeats a third prayer; after which he puts on his cap, and exorcises the Prince of Darkness, commanding him to come forth out of him who is going to be baptized, &c. At the end of the exorcism, he again makes the sign of the cross on the child's forehead, lays his hand on its head, and repeats another prayer.

After this fourth prayer, the priest lays the end of the stole upon the child, and taking hold of his swaddling-clothes by one corner, he brings it into the church; the godfather and godmother enter at the same time, and repeat with the priest the Apostles' Creed and the Lord's Prayer, as they advance towards the font, which having reached, the priest exorcises the devil once again, and after the exorcism, takes the saliva from his mouth with the thumb of his right hand; with this he rubs the child's ears and nostrils, and, as he touches his right ear, repeats a Hebrew word which signifies Do thou open; the same which JESUS CHRIST said to the man who was born deaf and dumb. Lastly, the assistants pull off its swaddling-clothes, or at least strip it below the shoulders; during which, the priest prepares the holy oils, &c.

The godfather now takes the child, ready stripped, and holds it directly over the font; the godmother then takes it by the feet, or the middle; both observing to turn it towards the east: the priest now asks the child, "Whether he renounces the devil and all his works, the pomps," &c. The godfather answers in the affirmative. This renunciation used formerly to be made on the outside of the church. The priest then anoints the child between the shoulders, in the form of a cross, and after that lays aside his purple stole, and puts on a white one; when the child is again questioned with respect to his belief, to which the godfather makes suitable answers in his name. These preliminaries being ended, the priest takes some of the baptismal water, which he pours thrice on the child's head in the form of a cross, and, as he pours it, says, "I baptize," &c. taking care to mention one of the persons in the Trinity every time he pours it on. This being done, he anoints the top of the child's head with the chrisma, in form of a cross-lays a piece of white linen upon its head, to represent the white garment mentioned in Scripture, and puts a lighted taper into the child's hand, or rather into that of the godfather. Such are the cercmonies of baptism, which the priest concludes with an exhortation; but if the child's life be in danger, these ceremonies are omitted, upon condition that they shall be observed in case he recovers his health; but if he has all the symptoms of death upon him, the midwife baptizes the child without delay.

Adult persons must, if possible, be baptized by the bishop himself; and the most proper time for this ceremony is Easter, or Whitsun-eve, which are the days appointed for baptism by the ancient church. The minister who baptizes, and the candidate for baptism, must both be fasting; but