Catholic faith, but saying that it is the custom of the Egyptian Diocese to do nothing of the sort without the sanction and order of the Archbishop, and therefore requesting that they may be allowed to defer their subscription till the ordination of the future Archbishop of the great city of Alexandria, it has appeared to us reasonable and humane that this concession should be made to them, upon their remaining in their proper habit in the imperial city, until the Archbishop of the great city of Alexandria shall be ordained. Wherefore they thus remaining in their proper habit, shall either give sureties, if this be possible to them, or shall be trusted upon their oaths.

NOTES UPON THE CANONS OF CHALCEDON.

I. 1. In each Synod.] Before the time of this Council, the Canons which had been enacted by the General Council of Nice, and the five local Councils of Ancyra, Neocæsarea, Gangra, Antioch and Laodicea, had been collected into one Code, which is several times quoted in the Acts of this Council, from which it would appear that the Canons contained in it were recognized and received as the common laws of the Church. As however the greater part of these Canons were enacted only by Provincial Councils, some of which were attended by very few Bishops, the Chalcedonian Fathers seem to have thought it right to confirm them by this decree, thus giving them the same authority as they would have had if they had been enacted in the first instance by an Ecumenical Council.

II. 1. Steward, &c.] For an account of these officers, see the note upon the 14th Canon of this Council.

III. 1. The holy Synod.] This and the following Canon, as also the 20th, were enacted at the suggestion of the Emperor Marcian, who was desirous that the abuses mentioned in them should be corrected, but considered that as the persons to be

affected by them were of the Clergy, it was more proper that the laws should be passed by the Synod in the form of Canons, rather than by the civil powers. See the speech of the Emperor to the Council, Act. vi. and the three chapters which the Secretary Beronicianus, at his command, afterwards read to the assembled Bishops, and which form the subjects of these Canons, although the Council in framing them made some additions and exceptions to the suggestions of the Emperor.

IV. 1. The Monastic life.] For a full account of the Ancient Monks, see Bingham, book vii. He shows, that although there were, even from the beginning, persons called ascetics in the Church, who exercised themselves in acts of peculiar strictness and mortification, yet that the monastic life and system was not known till towards the 4th century, and that it probably had its origin in Egypt, after the Grecian persecution, and about the time of Constantine. The first Monks were solitaries, but Pachomius in the time of Constantine procured the building of some Monasteries in Egypt, from whence the custom of living as regulars, in societies, was gradually followed in different parts of the world in succeeding ages. The practice spread rapidly throughout the East, but there were no Monasteries in Rome or Italy, till Athanasius came there, A. D. 340, who first introduced them in those parts, after which they gradually spread throughout the West. The Monks at first were all Laymen, and are so classed in the Canons of the early Councils. No solemn vow or profession either of celibacy or poverty was required of them. The Fathers or Abbots of the Monasteries were however generally Presbyters, and often called to Councils, and allowed to sit and vote there in quality of Presbyters. Thus in the Council of Constantinople, A. D. 448, which condemned Eutyches, 23 Archimandrites subscribed with 30 Bishops. They were however always subject to the authority of the Bishop of the city where the Monastery was established. In process of time some members of these bodies were ordained Presbyters or Deacons, to serve in their own Monasteries, but they were not allowed to encroach upon the duties or rights of the secular Clergy.

2. Oratory.] All Churches were frequently called Oratories or houses of prayer, but in this and other Canons, the name

Oratory seems to be restrained to private Chapels or places of worship set up for convenience in private families, still depending upon the parochial Churches, and differing from them in this, that they were only places of prayer, but not for celebrating the Communion or if that was at any time allowed there to private families, yet at least upon the great and solemn festivals they were to resort for Communion to the Parish Churches. Bingham, b. viii. c. 1. s. 4.

VI. 1. a Martyry.] This was the name given to a Church built over the grave of a Martyr, or which was called by his name to preserve his memory. Thus the Church in which this Council was held is called the Martyry of the holy and victorious Martyr Euphemia. Eusebius observes of Constantine, that he adorned his new city of Constantinople with many Oratories, and ample Martyries, by which he at once did honor to the memory of the Martyrs, and as it were consecrated his city to the God of the Martyrs. The Latins, instead of the word Martyrium, commonly called those Churches Memoriæ Martyrum. Bingham, b. viii. c. 1. s. 8.

IX. The Exarch of the Diocese.] That is, the Patriarch. See note 4, to the Synodal Epistle of the Council of Nice.

This Canon, which limits the appeal of a Bishop or Clergyman against the Metropolitan of a Province to the Patriarch of the Diocese, or to the Bishop of Constantinople, has much troubled the advocates of the Papal supremacy, and the various interpretations which they have had recourse to in order to evade the plain meaning of it, show how subversive it is of the pretensions of the Bishop of Rome. See Beveridge on the Canon.

XI. 1. Pacifical letters.] According to the rules and practice of the Ancient Church, no Christian could travel without taking letters of credence with him from his own Bishop, if he meant to communicate with the Church in a foreign country. These letters were of several kinds, according to the different occasions or quality of the persons who carried them. They are generally reduced to three kinds-Commendatory, Communicatory, "and Dimissory. The first were such as were granted only to persons of quality, or to persons whose reputation had been called in question, or to the Clergy who had occasion to travel into foreign

countries. The second sort were granted to all who were in the peace and communion of the Church, whence they were also called Pacifical, and Ecclesiastical, and sometimes Canonical. The third sort were given only to the Clergy, when they were removing from one Church to settle in another, and they were to testify that the bearers had their Bishop's leave to depart, whence they were called Dimissory, and sometimes also Pacifical. All these went under the general name of Formed letters, because they were written in a particular form, with some peculiar marks and characters which served as special signatures to distinguish them from counterfeits. Respecting all of them it is to be observed, that it was the Bishop's prerogative to grant them, and no other person might presume to do so, at least without his authority and permission. Bingham, book ii. c. 4. s. 5.

XII. 1. Pragmatic orders.] This was the name given by the Greeks to the imperial rescripts, or orders relating to public

matters.

The occasion for enacting this Canon arose out of certain transactions which are mentioned in the Acts of the Council. In the fourth Action is the account of the controversy between Photius Bishop of Tyre, and Eustathius Bishop of Berytus. Tyre was the Metropolis of Phoenicia, and as such had Berytus with the other cities of the Province subject to it. Eustathius, the Bishop of Berytus, had however prevailed upon the Emperor Theodosius to divide the Province of Phoenicia into two parts, and to leave the one subject to Tyre, but to constitute Berytus the Metropolis of the other, with all the rights and privileges of a Metropolitan See. This division of the Province was sanctioned by a Council at Constantinople, and Photius himself was com pelled to subscribe the decree. When, however, the Council of Chalcedon was assembled, he prayed the Emperor Marcian to send a Pragmatic order to the Council for the purpose of restoring to him his rights as Metropolitan. Marcian however notified to the Bishops, that he did not approve such matters being settled by Pragmatic orders, but according to the laws of the Church. In consequence of this, the imperial judges who were present, and took part in the deliberations of the Council, desired that the Canons which related to this matter might be read; and the fourtn

Nicene Canon was read accordingly. They then decided that Photius had properly the Metropolitical authority over the whole Province, and that Eustathius had no greater privileges than any other Bishop; and the Council ratified this decision by the present Canon. A similar controversy was discussed in this same Council between Eunomius Bishop of Nicomedia, anciently the Metropolis of the whole of Bithynia, and Anastasius Bishop of Nice, who claimed the dignity of a Metropolis for his own see by virtue of a rescript of the Emperors Valentinian and Valens. The Council decided that Nicomedia should retain all the rights and privileges due to it as the Metropolis, and that the Bishop of Nice should have only the honorary title of Metropolitan, without any authority.

XIV. 1. Readers and Singers.] These were two of the inferior orders of the Church, respecting the rise, and number, and the precise offices of which there are some differences of opinion amongst the learned. The following account of them is taken from Bingham, book iii. The Council of Trent, and the generality of Roman writers, assert, that they are precisely five in number, and all of Apostolical institution; Subdeacons, Acolythists, Exorcists, Readers, and Doorkeepers; but Bingham shows, that they are only of ecclesiastical, and not of apostolical institution, and that the number is not certainly determined in the records of the primitive Church, some accounts mentioning more than five, and others not so many. It appears therefore, that there was no settled rule in the Church, but that different Churches instituted them for themselves at such times, and in such numbers as they found necessary or desirable. Respecting all of them it may be - observed, that although they were in a certain sense reckoned amongst the Clergy, being enrolled in the Canon or list of the Church, so that they might not forsake the service of the Church, and return to a secular life, yet they were not ordained by imposition of hands, like the three superior orders, nor admitted to any share or degree in the Christian Priesthood, but only to attend the Minister in divine service, and perform other lower and ordinary offices in the Church. The names and offices of them were as follows:

Subdeacons. The earliest notices of this Minister occur in the