ORATORIES

appropriated to smaller or domestic chapels; but at first they were given to places of Christian worship in general. Oratory is used among the Romanists for a closet or little apartment near a bed-chamber, furnished with a little altar, crucifix, &c., for private devotion.”

ORCHARD, D paridis. (Eccl. 2. 5; Cantic. 4.13.) This is a word introduced into the later Hebrew from the Persian, in which it denotes a royal park, whence the Greek Tapadeiros, paradise; it is rendered in our version in the above passages “ orchard." In the Scriptures gardens are denominated from the prevalence of certain trees or fruits, as is 0773 paridis rimmonim, the "garden of pomegranates," (Cantic. 113) 2N A gannath agos, " the garden of nuts." "the garden of nuts." (Cantic. 6. 11.) See GARDEN.

ORDINATION, is the act of conferring holy orders; of initiating a person into the Christian ministry. The twenty-third Article of our Church declares that, "It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching, or ministering the sacraments in the congregation, before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen and called to this work by men who have public authority given unto them in the congregation, to call and send ministers into the Lord's vineyard."

The Apostolic Fathers speak constantly as if those who ministered had received a regular commission to minister. Clement of Rome, in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, is copious on the subject of ministers; not proving anything formally about their commission, but taking it for granted. From this epistle it may be perceived that the Corinthian church had ejected some ministers; for which he blames them. Polycarp speaks of the qualifications of good ministers: he mentions also Valens' having been dismissed from the Presbytery. Ignatius, writing to the Church at Ephesus, speaks of that church as very well governed; and says much on the subject of episcopal authority. To which we may add, that the distinction between Clergy and Laity, (Kλnpos and Aaikoi,) was known in the time of Clemens Romanus, and expressed in the same words in which it has been expressed ever since.

The continuance of a regularly appointed clergy among the early Christians appears undeniably from the Roman laws concerning them, which afford notices of their revenues, arising from various successions, contributions, &c., their peculiar punishments, and the modes of life and employments which were permitted them. Of all these, Bingham gives an account in the fifth, sixth, and seventh books of his Antiquities.

Riddle, in his Manual of Christian Antiquities, observes, "As the office of Christian pastors and teachers was derived, not from any of the Levitical institutions, but rather from the constitution of the Jewish synagogue, as it existed after the return from the Babylonish captivity; so was also the method of their ordination or appointment to their office. It has been shown by Selden and Vitringa, that the presidents and readers of the synagogue were appointed to their office with the solemn imposition of hands; and that this custom is to be traced to Exodus ch. 29; Leviticus ch. 8, and similar passages. In a later period of the Church, we find the introduction of the customs of anointing, investing with the sacred garments, and delivering the sacred vessels into the hands of the person ordained, (Exod. 29. 24; Levit. 21. 10; Numb. 3. 3,) in accordance with the

Levitical ceremonies which took place at the consecration of the priests and high-priests. The terms Xeupa Tovua and ordinatio, are derived from the civil customs of the Greeks and Romans. The words ordinatio and ordinare, are used in the common ecclesiastical sense of 'ordination' and 'to ordain,' by Tertullian, Cyprian, Optatus, and Leo the Great. Jerome, in like manner, explains ordinare' by 'ordines sacros et ecclesiasticos conferre, quod faciunt episcopi.' Ordo, corresponding to the Greek rařus, is the word commonly used by the Latin writers of the Middle Ages. Greek writers use the terms apopuouos, a setting apart, and radeepwals, consecration.'

The first passage of the New Testament in which we read of the ordination (properly so called) of ministers to any office in the church, is Acts 6. 1-7, which contains an account of the appointment of seven deacons in the church of Jerusalem; (with which compare Mark 16. 18; Acts 8. 14,18,19,20; 9. 10-19.) And we have further accounts of the appointment and ordination of ecclesiastical officers in Acts 13. 1-4; 14. 23; 1Timothy 4. 14; 5. 22; 2Timothy 1. 6. In the First Epistle to Timothy, St. Paul reminds him of the laying on of the hands of the presbytery; but in the Second Epistle, he speaks of the laying on of his own (the Apostle's) hands. The Roman canonists maintain that two separate ordinations are here spoken of; the former, in which Timothy was ordained priest by the presbytery, and the latter, in which he was made bishop by the Apostle; but many Protestant interpreters suppose that St. Paul refers to only one ordination; and that the imposition of his own hands, and of those of the presbytery, formed a concurrent act, performed at one and the same time.

"The church always regarded a formal and solemn dedication of ministers to their office, as a useful and even necessary custom. It was a rule in the earliest days of the Church, that all things should be done decently, and in order. (1Cor. 14. 40.) The ministry of the word was deemed a sacred office, and the election and appointment of ministers (xepaтovia), was viewed as a solemn transaction. Forms of ordination are found in the earliest liturgies of both Eastern and Western churches.

"The Church used every precaution in order that none but fit persons should be ordained to the sacred ministry: hence there were a variety of disqualifications. Besides the observance of negative rules, or the absence of disqualification, it was necessary in order to ordination that certain positive regulations should be complied with, or that persons to be ordained should possess some real and definite qualifications.

"I. They were required to be of a certain age. The rules of the early Church concerning the canonical or legitimate age for ordination were undoubtedly borrowed from the Jewish institution; the age of twentyfive years required for the Levites being adopted for deacons, and that of thirty years required for the priests, being applied to presbyters and bishops. In the Apostolical Constitutions, lib. II., c. 1, the age of at least fifty years is required for a bishop; and we find reference made to this rule by Boniface in the eighth century. It is certain, however, that at no very late period this law had grown out of date, and the term of thirty years was fixed as the lowest canonical age for a bishop, as well as for a presbyter. It appears, indeed, that exceptions even to this rule were sometimes made in favour of persons of a lower age. Thus we are told that Gregory Thaumaturgus and his brother Athenodorus, were raised to the episcopal dignity while they were young men, and the general rule was perhaps dispensed with in the case of Acholius, bishop of Antioch, Athanasius, bishop of

Alexandria, Paul, bishop of Alexandria, and Remigius, bishop of Rheims; but as the youth of these persons is alluded to only in general terms, it is possible that they may have attained the age of thirty years before they were made bishops. Athanasius, indeed, who was elected to succeed Alexander, in the year 326, could hardly have been thirty years old at that time; but as he was considered very young to be chosen to the episcopal office, it is probable that the canonical age for a bishop was then higher than thirty years, at least in the Church at Alexandria. In Justin, the lowest canonical age for a bishop is fixed at thirty-five years. The Roman bishops, Siricius and Zosimus, required as the lowest age, for a deacon thirty years, for a presbyter thirty-five, and for a bishop forty-five.

"The age at which Our blessed Lord entered upon his ministry was frequently alleged as the reason for fixing thirty years as the canonical age for presbyters and bishops. The Council of Trent fixed the age for the deaconate at twenty-three; for the priesthood at twentyfive. Children were sometimes appointed to the office of reader; but by the laws of Justinian none were to be appointed under twelve years of age. The age for subdeacons, acolyths, and other inferior officers, was fixed, sometimes at fourteen years, sometimes at fifteen, eighteen, twenty, or twenty-five.

"II. They were obliged to undergo an examination, which related to their faith, morals, and condition. This examination was conducted chiefly by the bishops; but the concurrence of the people was requisite, in order to the admission of a candidate. A remarkable testimony to the fact of its having been usual to publish the names of candidates for holy orders, is given by the Roman historian, Lampridius, in his life of Alexander Severus. Afterwards, the examination extended to the qualifications of the party to be ordained, in respect of orthodoxy and learning. By a law of Justinian, every candidate for holy orders was required to give in a testimonial or account of his faith, in his own hand-writing, as well as to take the oath against simony. And a council held in the beginning of the ninth century -enacted, that every presbyter should go through a course of preparation or probation, previously to ordination.

"III. It was a rule, that no person should be appointed to the higher offices of the Church, without having passed through the inferior degrees. This rule, which at one time furnished matter for a dispute between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople, was generally observed; exceptions to it being admitted, for the most part, only in extraordinary cases.

"IV. Every one was to be ordained to some special charge, for the exercise of spiritual functions, in some specified church or place. Exceptions to this rule, as in the cases of Paulinus and Jerome, were rare.

"V. Every spiritual person was required to remain in the diocese in which he was ordained. This rule related especially to bishops. It was not strictly observed.

"VI. The clerical tonsure was not made requisite until the end of the fifth century or the beginning of the sixth.

In the fourth and fifth centuries we find it censured as unbecoming spiritual persons, on the ground of its being among the tokens of penance.

"The testimony of the ancient Church is in few points so clear and decided as in recording the rule that the bishop was regarded, ex officio, the regular minister of ordination. At an early period, the power of ordaining was vested in the bishop or governing presbyter, or at least it was arranged that no ordination by a presbyter could be valid without episcopal concurrence and assent. The canons of councils, for the most part, attribute the power of ordaining to the bishop without fur

ther remark, and early ecclesiastical writers often expressly assert that ordination is valid only when performed by a bishop. Thus in the Homilies of Chrysostom it is distinctly said that a presbyter possessed no power of ordaining. Epiphanius represents it as an error of Aerius that he desired to place bishops and presbyters on an equal footing. Ordinations by presbyters were frequently declared invalid. The ordinations of Novatians, Donatists; and other reputed heretics or schismatics, were admitted as valid, on condition that they were administered regularly, that is, by a bishop. And the only right in the matter of ordination which belonged to presbyters, was that of assisting the bishop in ordaining their fellow-presbyters. Ordination was administered in the church in the presence of the congregation; any more private administration was regarded as an abuse.

"No fixed seasons for ordination were appointed during the first four centuries; the rite was performed at any part of the year, according to the necessities of the Church. During the same period we find no certain rules restricting the performance of this rite to the Lord's Day; a law which afterwards prevailed. It was then usually administered at the time of the celebration of the Lord's Supper; the candidate kneeling before the table.

"Candidates for the ministry having prepared themselves by prayer and fasting, were ordained by the bishop with prayer and imposition of hands. No mention of the additional ceremony of anointing is found in any laws or regulations of the Church anterior to the ninth century; Innocent III. and Durandus, Rationale Div. Off., are the first who treat of the usefulness, necessity, and mystical signification of unction at ordination. It has been said that some traces of this custom are found in the age of Gregory the Great; it is certain, however, that its general adoption must be assigned to a later period. The ceremony of delivering the sacred vessels, ornaments, and vestments, to the parties or dained, (investiture,) was not established as a whole until the seventh century; although several particulars of it may be traced to an earlier date, being mentioned in the records of the third and fourth centuries. The idea is evidently borrowed from the Levitical institutions; and it is well known that the Gregorian æra was distinguished by the assimilation of the Christian to the Jewish hierarchy. The party ordained was signed with the sign of the cross; and was embraced, after his ordination, by the ordaining minister and his assistants, with the kiss of charity."

In the Church of England, without ordination, no person can receive any benefice, parsonage, vicarage, &c. A person must be twenty-three years of age before he can be ordained deacon, or have any share in the ministry; and twenty-four before he can be ordained priest, and by that means be permitted to administer the Holy Communion. The person to be ordained is to bring a testimonial of his life and doctrine to the bishop, and to give an account of his faith in Latin; and both priests and deacons are required to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles. The times of ordination are the four Sundays immediately following the Ember weeks; being the second Sunday in Lent, Trinity Sunday, and the Sundays following the first Wednesday after September 14 and December 13. These are the stated times; but ordination may take place at any other time, according to the discretion of the bishop, or the circumstances of the case.

ORGAN. See MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

ORION

ORION, kisel, (Job 9. 9; 38. 31; Amos 5. 8.) The ancient translators, like our own, render this word by Orion, which is a constellation in the heavens just before the sign Taurus; in Arabic styled "the giant." According to the tradition of the Orientals, this constellation was Nimrod, the founder of Babylon, who was afterwards deified. Michaëlis and others suppose that the ancient Hebrews were acquainted with this traditional circumstance, and that DD kisel signified "the wicked one," a name applied to the deified Nimrod. See CONSTELLATION; NIMROD.

ORPHAN. The ordinary acceptation of the word orphans is well known to be that of "children deprived of their parents;" but the Greek word oppavous, rendered "comfortless" in our translation of John 14. 18, implies the case of those who have lost some dear protecting friend, some patron, though not strictly a father, and in this sense it is employed figuratively of disciples

without a master.

OSPREY, Ty azniyah. (Levit. 11. 13; Deut. 14. 12.) This, which is one of the unclean birds, the Septuagint and Jerome render the osprey, or sea-eagle. Some think the black eagle to be here intended, but the probabilities are equally in favour of our authorized

version.

The osprey, or fish-hawk, Pandion haliæëtus, is a native of both continents; it measures in length three feet and a half, but its expanded wings do not reach above seven feet. Its bill is large, much hooked, and of a bluish colour; a row of strong bristly feathers hangs down from its under bill next to its throat, whence it has been termed the bearded eagle. The top of the head and back part of the neck are dark-brown inclining to black; the feathers on the back are variegated by a lighter brown, with dark edges; the breast is white with irregular spots of brown; the tail-feathers are darkbrown, the outer edges of the exterior feathers whitish; the quill-feathers and thighs are dusky; the legs and feet yellow, the claws, which are large, and form a complete semi-circle, are of a shining black, and have one singularity in their conformation, the outer toe being capable of turning easily backward, which enables the animal to hold its prey more firmly. The osprey subsists entirely upon fish, which it seizes by darting down with incredible velocity upon them; its usual haunts are by the sea-shore; and it also frequents the borders of large lakes or rivers. Its nest is built on the ground among reeds, and the female lays three or four white eggs, which are rather smaller than a hen's.

OSSIFRAGE, O peres. (Levit. 11. 13; Deut. 14. 12.) This is a bird of the eagle species, which was forbidden to the Israelites to be used as food. The Targum of Onkelos, and the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, render it "vulture," and many modern versions concur in this reading. Others think the word denotes the black eagle; and some the falcon. It is most probable, however, that it is the great sea-eagle, which as it differs in its colours during the several stages of its growth, has obtained three distinct systematic names, Falco ossifragus, Falco albicilla, Falco albicandus. When it has attained its fifth year, it puts on its last suit, which is a dusky-brown, intermixed with gray, with a white tail. It is about the size of the golden eagle, and inhabits the cliffs along the sea-shore. It is found in the northern parts of Europe and in Asia.

OSTRICH, у yaanah; frequently also by the poetical designation of a bath ha-yaanah, "the daughter of screeching;" Sept. σrpovovs; called also by the Greek writers σTpoveco kaunλos, the "camelbird," a name borrowed also by the Romans, Struthio camelus, and adopted by Linnæus. By a false derivation from y anah, this word has been taken to signify an owl; and it has been so rendered in our version in numerous places, but in reality it refers to the ostrich. It must be remembered that the owl is not a bird of the desert, but rather resides where habitations are not far

off, and that it is not the companion of serpents; whereas in several of these passages the yaanah is associated with deserts, a dry, extensive, thirsty desert, and with serpents. The yaanah is mentioned as an unclean bird, (Levit. 11. 16; Deut. 14. 15;) as an inhabitant of the wilderness, (Isai. 13. 21; 34. 13; 43. 20; Lam. 4. 3,) according to the last passage, cruel to its young; and in Job 30. 29; Micah 1. 8, allusion is made to its lamentable howling. All these particulars correspond with the habits of the ostrich. Shaw says, "During the lonesome part of the night they often make a doleful and hideous noise. I have often heard them groan as if they were in the greatest agonies."

In Job 39. 13, the word ' rinonim occurs, which is probably a poetical expression for ostriches. The name, Gesenius says, comes either from the buzzing noise of the wings, or from the cry of the female ostrich.

The ostrich is by far the largest among the winged tribes, and seems to be the connecting link between the quadruped and the fowl. She is not to be classed with

the former, because she is furnished with a kind of wings, which if they cannot raise her from the ground, greatly accelerate her flight; not with the latter, for the feathers which grow out of her small wings are all unwoven and decomposed, and their beards consist of long hairs detached from one another, and do not form a compact body to strike the air with advantage; which is the principal office for which the feathers of the wing are intended. Those of the tail have also the same structure, and consequently cannot oppose to the air a suitable resistance. They can neither expand nor close as circumstances require, nor take different inclinations; and what is not a little remarkable, all the feathers which cover the body exhibit the same conformation. The ostrich has not, like most other birds, feathers of various kinds, some soft and downy, which are next the skin; and others of a more firm and compact nature, which cover the former; and others still longer and of greater strength, and on which the movements of the bird depend. All her feathers are of one kind, all of them bearded with detached hairs, or filaments, without consistence and reciprocal adherence; they

are therefore of no utility in flying, or in directing the flight. Besides the peculiar structure of her wings, she is pressed down to the earth by her enormous size. Buffon calculates the weight of a living ostrich in middling condition at about eighty pounds; and it would require an immense power in the wings to raise and support in the air so ponderous a mass. Thus, by her excessive weight, and the loose texture of her feathers, she is condemned, like a quadruped, to run upon the surface of the earth. But although incapable of raising herself from the ground, she is admirably fitted for running. The greater part of her body is covered with hair, rather than feathers; her head and her sides have little or no hair; and her legs, which are very thick and muscular, and in which her principal force resides, are in like manner almost naked; her large sinewy and plump feet, which have only two toes, resemble considerably the feet of a camel; her wings, armed with spikes like those of a porcupine, are rather a kind of arms than wings, which are given her for defence. These characteristic features serve to illustrate the description which Jehovah himself has condescended to give of this animal in the Book of Job. (ch. 39. 13-18.) It begins with this interrogation: "Gavest thou wings and feathers unto the ostrich?" Dr. Shaw translates it, "The wing of the ostrich is expanded; the very feather and plumage of the stork." The same writer says, "When the ostrich is full grown, the neck, particularly of the male, which before was almost naked, is now very beautifully covered with red feathers. The plumage, likewise, upon the shoulders, the back, and some parts of the wings, from being hitherto of a dark-grayish colour, becomes now as black as jet, while some of the feathers retain an exquisite whiteness. They are, as described in the 13th verse, the very feathers and plumage of the stork; that is, they consist of such black and white feathers as the stork is known to have. But the belly, the thighs, and the breast do not partake of this covering, being usually naked; and when touched, are of the same warmth as the flesh of quadrupeds."

The ostrich, though she inhabits the sandy deserts, where she is exposed to few interruptions, is extremely vigilant and shy. She betakes herself to flight on the first alarm, and traverses the waste with so great agility and swiftness, that the Arab is never able to overtake her, even when he is mounted on his fleetest horse. The fact is thus stated in the Book of Job: 66 What time she lifteth up herself on high she scorneth the horse and his rider." She affords him only an opportunity of admiring at a distance the extraordinary agility and stateliness of her movements, the richness of her plumage, and the great propriety of ascribing to her “ an expanded quivering wing;" the wings, by their continual though unwearied vibrations, serving her at once for sails and oars, while her feet, no less assisting in conveying her out of sight, are equally insensible of fatigue. A traveller states that "She sets off at a hard gallop; but after being excited a little, she expands her wings, as if to catch the wind, and abandons herself to a speed so great that she seems not to touch the ground."

"When the Arab rouses an ostrich," says Buffon, "he follows her at a distance, without pressing her too hard, but sufficiently to prevent her from taking food, yet not to determine her to escape by a prompt flight. It is the more easy to follow her in this manner, because she does not proceed in a straight line, and because she describes almost always in her course a circle more or less extended." The Arabs then have it in their power to direct their pursuit in a concentric interior circle, and consequently straighter. When they have thus fatigued and starved her for a day or two, they take their oppor

tunity, rush in upon her at full speed, leading her always as much as possible against the wind, and kill her with their clubs, to prevent her blood from spoiling the beautiful whiteness of her feathers.

The ostrich still inhabits the great Syrian desert, especially the plains extending from the Haouran towards the Jebel Shammar and Nejid. Some are found in the Haouran; and a few are taken within two days' journey of Damascus. The bird breeds in the middle of the winter, and lays from twelve to twenty-one eggs. The nest is generally made at the foot of some isolated hill. The eggs are placed close together in a circle, half buried in sand, to protect them from rain, and a narrow trench is dug round, whereby the water runs off. At ten or twelve feet from this circle, the female places two or three eggs, which she does not hatch, but leaves for the young ones to feed upon immediately after they are hatched. The parent birds sit on the eggs in turn; and while one is so employed, the other stands keeping watch on the summit of the adjacent hill, which circumstance enables the Arabs to kill them, and to take their eggs. This is effected by stratagem; for the hunting of the ostrich is not practised in the Syrian or Northern Arabian deserts. The Arabs reckon the eggs delicious food, and sell them for about a shilling each. Ostrichfeathers are sold at Aleppo and Damascus, principally at the latter city. The Shererat Arabs often sell the whole skin with the feathers on it, producing at Damascus about ten Spanish dollars. The skin itself is thrown away as useless. The people of Aleppo sometimes bring home ostriches which they had killed at the distance of two or three days' journey eastward.

In Job 39. 16 it is said, "She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers; her labour is in vain without fear." The following extract, from Vaillant's Travels in Africa, may serve to illustrate this passage:

"In the course of the day, I amused myself by firing my piece to start game. A female ostrich rose from her nest, which was the largest I had seen, containing thirtytwo eggs; twelve more being distributed at some distance in a little cavity by itself. I could not conceive that one female could cover so many; they were of an unequal size, and on examination I found that nine of them were much less than the rest. This peculiarity interested me, and I ordered the oxen to be unyoked at about a quarter of a league distance from the nest. I then concealed myself in a thicket, from whence I could overlook the place, and yet remain within gun-shot. I had not watched long before the female returned and sat on the eggs. During the rest of the day, which I passed in the thicket, three more came to the same nest, covering it alternately; each continued sitting for the space of a quarter of an hour, and then gave place to another, who, while waiting, sat close by the side of her it was to succeed, a circumstance that made me conjecture that in cold or rainy nights they sit by pairs, or perhaps more. The sun was almost down; the male bird approached; these equally with the female assist in hatching the eggs. I instantly shot him; but the report of my gun scared the others, who, in their flight, broke several of them. I now drew nearer, and saw with regret that the young ostriches were just ready to quit the shells, being perfectly covered with down. This peculiarity of female ostriches assisting each other for the incubation of the same nest, is, I think, calculated to awaken the attention of the naturalists; and not being a general rule, proves that circumstances sometimes determine the actions of these creatures, regulate their customs, and strengthen their natural instinct, by giving them a knowledge not generally bestowed.