1000000030

Jo:

ill general councils,

Th~iT

olliee out of lhc church

w~s

tüe care of

th~

nbcenitous, fllch ns orrhans,

lVidows, priloners, anJ all th< puor and r,ek ",ho had

any tide to be maint.ineo OUt of the pulolic rel'cnues

of th< church

inquire into the Olordls and conrer,

falion of the people, and tOmakc the¡¡ report thmof

10 tbe bi!hop,

Wh~IIC',

on account of the varicty of

bur,nefs, il lVas ufual to have fevcral dcaeons in the

fame church,

In the Romi!h church, il is lhe deacons offiee lO

incenfe the officiating pridl or prelate

to lay lhe eor·

por~1

on the altar

lO rcceive the paten or cup from

lhe fubJeacon, alld prefent them to lhe perfon olli·

eialing

lOincenfe lhe ehoir

10 receive lhe pax from

Ihe otliciating prelate, and carry it to lhe fubdeacon

and al lhe ponlifical mars, IVhen lhe bifllOp gives the

blelling, lOput the mitre Dn his head, and lO lake off

lhe arcbbiOlOp's pall, and lay il on the altar, In Eng.

Iand, tlle form of

ord~ining

deacons, declares lhal il is

lheir office

allill the prien in lhe dillribution of the

holy communion

in IVhich, agreeably 10 the pra{¡ice

of the

aoci~nt

church, lhey are confined to the admi·

oifiering the lVine

the communicants,

deJcon,

Wilh us, is nOl capable of any eccler,anical promotion,

yel he may be a chaplainlO a family, eurate tO a bene·

Jieed clergyman, or le{¡urer

a pan!h church, Ile

may be ordained at tlVenty·three years of age,

0/1/10

,.runfe;

but it is exprefsly provided, that the binlOp

!hall not ordain the fame perfon a prien and deacon in

the fame

~ay,

Deacons, according to St Paul, !hould

bechane, r,ncere, and blamdefs

neilher grm drink·

ers, nor giren

fillhy lucre

lhey !hould hold lhe

m)'nery of the faith ,in apure confcience, and !hould

bl ",cll approl'ed before lhey are admitted

lhe mi·

nillry,

DEACONESS,

a /fll/all d"CM,

an order of 1V0men,

\\ ho had their dillin{¡ ollíces and fervices in the pri.

mitive ehnrch, This oOice appears as ancieOl as the

apoflolical age

for St Paul calls Phebe a fervant of

lhe church of Cenchm, The original word is

[di. ·

~QII~.

anfwer~ble

to the Latin 1V0rd

IlIIniflra,

Ter·

tullian calls them

viJu~,

wiJo"'s, becaufe they lVere

commonly

ch~ren

out of the widows of the church

and, (or the fame reafon, Epiphanius, when lhe coun·

cil of Laodicea, calis them

[preflulidaJ],

elderly

IVomen,

~c.ui

none but

fu~h

were ordinorily token

into this office, For, indecd, by fome ancient laws,

th¡fe four qualificatioos were required iD every one

Ihat \\'as tO be ,dmined into this order,

That !he

fl,onlJ be a " idolV,

That!he n,ould be a widow

that had born children,

3, A

widolV that \\'as bnt once

married,

One of a conr,derable age, forty, fifty,

or fixly ycars old. Thotlgh

al!

lhefe rules admitted

of cxceptions, Concerning their oldination, IVhethcr

it was always pcrformed by impofition of hands, the

I:¡rned are nllch

oivi~ed

in thcir fcnlimeOls, Baro·

nius

~nd

V,II,r,us think they were not, and make no

otl,er accoullt of them than as mere lay.ptlI'lons,

Bttt

the author of the conllitutions, fpeaking of their ordi·

nation, req uires the biOtop

ufe impofition of hands,

Wilh

fonu of prayee which is thece reeiled, We

D E A

are not,

howcl'~r,

to im Igille, that this ordinationgave

them any

pCI,~r

to cx<CUte any part of the face rdo,,1

oJfice, TheyWere only to perfonn fome inferior fer·

vices of the chUlch, anrl thofe chicny rcldting to the

wom~n

¡or whofe fake) they wcre ordained, One par!

of their oflice

Wa! 10

aflill theminiller at thebaptizing

of ",omen, to undrcf, thcm for immerlion, and t" drcfs

thcm again, tha¡ the whole ccremony might be pero

forOlcJ Wllh all thedecency becomlOg fo facrcd aD ac·

tion, Another pan of thcir oJfice \Vas lO

private

catechills

the womcn·catechomens who were pre·

paring for baptifnl. They IVere likeIVifc to vifit and

alleno wOlnen that IVel e r,ck and in diflrLfs

tOminina

to the manyrs and confdrors in prifon

to amnd the

IVomens gate in the church; and, lanly, to a/lignall

women thcir places in the church, regulate their beha·

viour, and prefid< over the ren of tbe wido"s, whenee

in fome canons they are lIyled

[prolalh(//unar]

go·

I'ernefl'es,

This order, which fince the temh or

lwelfth cemury has been IVholly laid afide, was nOL

aboliO,ed e'ery wh<re at once, but eontinued in the

reek church longer than in theLatin,

a~d

in fome of

the Latin ehurches longer than in others,

DEtlD·MAN 's HEAD, in geography, a cape or pro·

montory

ne~r

Tregony in Comwall,

belw~en

St Ml\ves

and Fo\Vey,

DEAD''1ENS' EYES, in lhe

f~a.language,

a kind of

blotks with many holes in them, bu! no Oreever5,

whereby the !hrowds are fallcncd to lhe chains: lhe

cro\V feel reel'e alfo through thefe holes

anJ, in fome

nlips, the main.nays are fet ligbt in lhem

but lhen

they have only one hole, through IVhich lbe laoyards

are pafl'ed fev<ral limes,

DEAD 'NETl LE , See LAM IUM,

DEAD'RECKONING , in navigation, the calculation made

nlip's place by means of Ihe compafs

an~

log

the fi rfl fcrving tO poinl OUl lhe courre !he fads 011,

and lhe olher the diflance run, See NAVIG ATION ,

DEAD'SPA

in SCOlS law, lhal proportion of the

fun~s

of a marriage, which, upon toe difl'olution. of

it, goes

theexecutOr of thedeeeafedhulband orIVlfe,

as .the defun{¡ or dead's part , See SCOTS LA"',

tide

28,

DEAD'SO, in geography, a lake of Judea, into whieh

lhe river Jordan difcharges itfelf

being about fevenly

miles long, and lwenty broad,

DUD'TO PS, a difcafe inciden! 10 young mes, and eu·

red by culting off the dead partS clofe

the

nex~

good

1" ig or !hOOt, and claying lhemover as in grafung,

DEAD '\VATER al fea the eddy-water

j~n

allero of a

filip, fo

call~d, beca~fe

it docs nOl pafs a\Vay

f~~ft

as the water running

hcr

fid~1

does,

bey fay

that a !hip makes much dead water, when ale has

great eddy follo",ing her Ilern,

DEADLY CARROT, SeeTHAPsIA.

DEADLV NIGHTSHADE. See ArRoPA,

DEADS, among miners, denotes the earth or

o~t

foilile fubllanc,s which inclofe the ore on emy I

Hellce,

brln~ilJg

up IR' dladJ ,

is the Icmoving Ihe.e

fubllances for th: convt'l1icney of carrying on lhclr

work,

DEAfNESS,