and hallelujah are omitted, and, it being || lical; and that the latter is driven out a day of mourning, the altar is of a violet colour. As to ordinary inasses, some are said for the dead, and, as is supposed, contribute to fetch the soul out of purgatory. At these masses the altar is put in mourning, and the only decorations are a cross in the middle of six yellow wax lights: the dress of the celebrant, and the very mass-book, are black; many parts of the office are omitted, and the people are dismissed without the benediction. If the mass be said for a person distinguished by his rank or virtues, it is followed with a funeral oration: they crect a chapelle ardente, that is, a representation of the deceased, with branches and tapers of yellow wax, either in the middle of the church, or near the deceased's tomb, where the priest pronounces a solemn absolution of the deceased. There are likewise private masses said for stolen er strayed goods or cattle, for health, for travellers, &c. which go under the name of votive masses. There is still a further distinction of masses, denominated from the countries in which they were used: thus the Gothic mass, or missa mosarabum, is that used among the Goths when they were masters of Spain, and which is still kept up at Toledo and Salamanca; the Ambrosian mass is that composed by St. Ambrose, and used only at Milan, of which city he was bishop; the Gallic mass used by the ancient Gauls; and the Roman mass, used by almost all the churches in the Romish communion. Mass of the presanctified (missa presanctificatorum) is a mass peculiar to the Greek church, in which there is no consecration of the elements; but, after singing some hymns, they receive the bread and wine which were before consecrated. This mass is performed all Lent, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and the Annunciation. The priest counts upon his fingers, the days of the ensuing week on which it is to be celebrated, and cuts off as many pieces of bread at the altar as he is to say masses; and after having consecrated them, steeps them in wine, and puts them in a box; out of which, upon every occasion, he takes some of it with a spoon, and, putting it on a dish, sets it on the altar. MASSACRE, a term used to signify the sudden and promiscuous butchery of a multitude. See PERSECUTION. by prayer. From those words of our Lord, "Labour not for the meat that perisheth," it is said, that they concluded they ought not to do any work to get their bread. We may suppose, says Dr. Jortin, that this sect did not last long; that these sluggards were soon starved out of the world; or, rather, that cold and hunger sharpened their wits, and taught them to be better interpreters of Scripture. MASTER, a person who has servants under him; a ruler, or instructor. The duties of masters relate to the civil concerns of the family. To arrange the several businesses required of servants; to give particular instructions for what is to be done, and how it is to be done; to take care that no more is required of servants than they are equal to; to be gentle in our deportment towards them; to reprove them when they do wrong, to commend them when they do right; to make them an adequate recompense for their services, as to protection, maintenance, wages and character.-2. As to the morals of servants. Masters must look well to their servants' characters before they hire them; instruct them in the principles and confirm them in the habits of virtue; watch over their morals, and set them good examples. 3. As to their religious interests. They should instruct them in the knowledge of divine things, Gen. xiv 14. Gen. xvii. 19. Pray with them and for them, Joshua xxiv. 15. Allow them time and leisure for religious services, &c. Eph. vi. 9. See Stennett on Domestic Duties, ser. 8; Paley's Moral Phil. vol. i. 233, 235; Beattie's Elements of Moral Science, vol. i. 150, 153; Doddridge's Lec. vol. ii. 266. MATERIALISTS, a sect in the ancient church, composed of persons, who, being prepossessed with that maxim in philosophy, "ex nihilo nihil fit," out of nothing nothing can arise, had recourse to an eternal matter, on which they supposed God wrought in the creation, instead of admitting Him alone as the sole cause of the existence of all things. Tertullian vigorously opposed them in his treatise against Hermogenes, who was one of their number. Materialists are also those who maintain that the soul of man is material, or that the principle of perception and thought is not a substance distinct from the body, but the result of corporeal orthis name, who have maintained that there is nothing but matter in the universe, MASSALIANS, or MESSALIANS, a sect which sprung up about the year |ganization. There are others called by 361, in the reign of the emperor Constantinus, who maintained that men have two souls, a celestial and a diabo The followers of the late Dr. Priestley || are considered as Materialists, or philosophical Necessarians. According to the doctor's writings, he believed, 1. That man is no more than what we now see of him: his being commences at the time of his conception, or perhaps at an earlier period. The corporeal and mental faculties, inhering in the every thing else in the constitution of nature; and consequently that it is never determined without some real or apparent cause foreign to itself; i. e. without some motive of choice; or that motives influence us in some definite and invariable manner, so that every volition, or choice, is constantly regulated and determined by what precedes determination. This being admitted to be fact, there will be a necessary connexion between all things past, present, and to come, in the way of proper cause and effect, as much in the intellectual as in the natural world; so that according to the established laws of nature, no event could have been otherwise than it has been, or is to be, and therefore all things past, present, and to come, are precisely what the Author of Nature really intended them to be, and has made provision for. same substance, grow, ripen, and decay it and this constant determination of together; and whenever the system is mind, according to the motives presentdissolved, it continues in a state of disso-ed to it, is what is meant by its necessary lution, till it shall please that Almighty Being who called it into existence, to restore it to life again. For if the mental principle were, in its own nature, inmaterial and immortal, all its peculiar faculties would be so too, whereas we see that every faculty of the mind, with out exception, is liable to be impaired, and even to become wholly extinct, before death. Since, therefore, all the faculties of the mind, separately taken, appear to be mortal, the substance, or principle, in which they exist, must be pronounced mortal too. Thus we might conclude that the body was mortal, from observing that all the separate senses and limbs were liable to decay and perish. This system gives a real value to the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, which is peculiar to revelation; on which alone the sacred writers build all our hope of future life: and it explains the uniform language of the Scriptures, which speak of one day of judgment for all mankind; and represent all the rewards of virtue, and all the punishments of vice, as taking place at that awful day, and not before. In the Scriptures, the heathens are represented as without hope, and all mankind as perishing at death, if there be no resurrection of the dead. To establish this conclusion, nothing is necessary but that throughout all nature the same consequences should invariably result from the same circumstances. For if this be admitted, it will necessarily follow, that at the commencement of any system, since the several parts of it and their respective situations were appointed by the Deity, the first change would take place according to a certain rule established by himself, the result of which would be a new situation; after which the same laws containing another change would succeed, according to the same rules, and so on for ever; every new situation invariably leading to another, and every event, from the commencement to the termination of the system, being strictly connected, so that, unless the fundamental laws of the system were changed, it would be impossible that any event should have been otherwise than it was. In all these cases, the cir cumstances preceding any change are called the causes of that change: and since a determinate event, or effect, con The apostle Paul asserts, in 1 Cor. xv. 16. that if the dead rise not, then is not Christ risen; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins: then they also who are fullen asleep in Christ are perished. And again, ver. 32, If the dead rise not let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.stantly follows certain circumstances, or In the whole discourse, he does not even mention the doctrine of happiness or misery without the body. 4 If we search the Scriptures for passages expressive of the state of man at death, we shall find such declarations as expressly exclude any trace of sense, thought, or enjoyment. See Ps. vi. 5. Job xlv. 7, &c. causes, the connexion between cause and effect is concluded to be invariable and therefore necessary. It is universally acknowledged, that there can be no effect without an adequate cause. This is even the foundation on which the only proper argument for the being of a God rests. And the Necessarian asserts, that if, in any given state of mind, with respect both to dis positions and motives, two different de 2. That there is some fixed law of nature respecting the will as well as the other powers of the mind, and termination or volitions, be possible, it can be on no other principle, than that || atonement for them by suffering in their one of them should come under the description of an effect without a cause; just as if the beam of a balance might incline cither way, though loaded with equal weights. And if any thing whatever, even a thought in the mind of man, could arise without an adequate cause, any thing else, the mind itself, or the whole universe, might likewise exist without an adequate cause. This scheme of philosophical neces sity implies a chain of causes and effects established by infinite wisdom, and terminating in the greatest good of the whole universe; evils of all kinds, natural and moral, being admitted, as far as they contribute to that end, or are in the nature of things inseparable from it. Vice is productive not of good, but of evil to us, both here and hereafter, though good may result from it to the whole system; and, according to the fixed laws of nature, our present and future happiness necessarily depend on our cultivating good dispositions. This scheme of philosophical necessity is distinguished from the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination in the following particulars: 1. No Necessarian supposes that any of the human race will suffer eternally: but that future punishments will answer the same purposes as temporal ones are found to do; all of which tend to good, and are evidently admitted for stead, and thus making the Deity pro pitious to them. He believes nothing of all the actions of any man being necessarily sinful; but, on the contrary, thinks that the very worst of men are capable of benevolent intentions in many things that they do; and likewise that very good men are capable of falling from virtue, and consequently of sinking into final perdition. Upon the principles of the Necessarian, also, all late repentance, and especially after long and confirmed habits of vice, is altogether and necessarily ineffectual; there not being sufficient time left to produce a change of disposition and character, which can only be done by a change of conduct of proportionably long continuance. In short, the three doctrines of Materialism, Philosophical Necessity, and Socinianism, are considered as equally parts of one system. The scheme of Necessity is the immediate result of the materiality of man; for mechanism is the undoubted consequence of materialism, and that man is wholly material, is eminently subservient to the proper or mere humanity of Christ. For if no man have a soul distinct from his body, Christ, who in all other respects appeared as a man, could not have a soul which had existed before his body: and the whole doctrine of the pre-existence of souls, of which the opinion of the preexistence of Christ is a branch, will be TY, PRE-EXISTENCE, SPINOSISM, SOUL, UNITARIAN, and books under those articles. that purpose. Upon the doctrine of ne-effectually overturned. See NECESSI cessity, also, the most indifferent actions of inen are equally necessary with the most important; since every volition, like any other effect, must have an adequate cause depending upon the previous state of the mind, and the influence to which it is exposed. 2. The Necessarian believes that his own dispositions and actions are the necessary and sole means of his present and future happiness; so that, in the most proper sense of the words, it depends entirely on himself whether he be virtuous or vicious, happy or miserable. MEANS OF GRACE denote those duties we perform for the purpose of improving our minds, affecting our hearts, and of obtaining spiritual blessings; such as hearing the Gospel, reading the Scriptures, self-examination, meditation, prayer, praise, Christian conversation, &c. The means are to be used without any reference to merit, but solely with a dependence on the Divine Being; nor can we ever expect happiness in ourselves, nor be good ex 3. The Calvinistic system entirely exemplars to others, while we live in the cludes the popular notion of free-will, viz. the liberty or power of doing what we please, virtuous or vicious, as belonging to every person, in every situation; which is perfectly consistent with the doctrine of philosophical necessity, and indeed results from it. 4. The Necessarian believes nothing of the posterity of Adam's sinning in lum, and of their being liable to the wrath of God on that account; or the necessity of an infinite Being making neglect of them. It is in vain to argue that the divine decree supercedes the necessity of them, since God has as certainly appointed the means as the end. Besides, he himself generally works by them, and the more means he thinks proper to use, the more he displays his glorious perfections. Jesus Christ, when on earth, used means: he prayed, he exhorted, and did good, by going from place to place. Indeed, the systems of nature, providence, and grace, are carried on by means. The Scriptures abound with exhortations to them, Matt. v. Rom. xii. and none but enthusiasts or immoral characters ever refuse to use them. people under all their trials, temptations, &c. Heb. ii. 17, 18. Heb. iv. 15.6. It was fit that he should be a holy and righteous man, free from all sin, original and actual, that he might offer himself without spot to God, take away the sins of men, and be an advocate for them, Heb. vii. 26. ix. 14. 1 John iii. 5. But it was not enough to be truly man, and an innocent person; he must be more than a man: it was requisite that he should be God also, for, 1. No mere man could have entered into a covenant with God to mediate between him and sinful men.-2. He must be God, to give virtue and value to his obedience and sufferings; for the sufferings of mer. or angels would not have been sufficient. MEDIATOR, a person that intervenes between two parties at variance, in order to reconcile them. Thus Jesus Christ is the Mediator between an offended God and sinful man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. Both Jews and Gentiles have a notion of a Mediator: the Jews call the Messiah אמצע the Mediator or Middle One. The Persians call their god Mithras, μεσίτης, & Mediator; and the dæmons, with the heathens, seem to be, according to them, mediators between the superior gods and men. Indeed the whole religion of Paganism was a-3. Being thus God-man, we are en system of mediation and intercession. The idea, therefore, of salvation by a Mediator, is not so novel or restricted as some imagine; and the Scriptures of truth inform us, that it is only by this way human beings can arrive to eternal felicity, Acts iv. 12. John xiv. 6. Man, in his state of innocence, was in friendship with God; but, by sinning against him, he exposed himself to his just displeasure; his powers became enfeebled, and his heart filled with enmity against him, Rom. viii. 6: he was driven out of his paradisaical Eden, and totally incapable of returning to God, and making satisfaction to his justice. Jesus Christ, therefore, was the appointed Mediator to bring about reconciliation, Gen. iii. 12. Col. i. 21; and in the fulness of time he came into this world, obeyed the law, satisfied justice, and brought his people into a state of grace and favour; yea, into a more exalted state of friendship with God than was lost by the fall, Eph. ii. 18. Now, in order to the accomplishing of this work, it was necessary that the Mediator should be God and man in one person. It was necessary that he should be man, 1. That he might be re-diator both for Old and New Testament couraged to hope in him. In the person of Jesus Christ the object of trust is brought nearer to ourselves; and those well-known tender affections which are only figuratively ascribed to the Deity, are in our great Mediator thoroughly realized. Farther, were he God, and not man, we should approach him with fear and dread; were he man and not God, we should be guilty of idolatry to worship and trust him at all, Jer. xvii. 5. The plan of salvation, therefore, by such a Mediator, is the most suitable to human beings that possibly could be; for here "Mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other." Psal. lxxxv. 10. The properties of Christ as Mediator are these: 1. He is the only Mediator, 1 Tim. ii 4. Praying, therefore, to saints and angels is an error of the church of Rome, and has no countenance from the Scripture.-2. Christ is a Mediator of men only, not of angels: good angels need not any; and as for evil angels, none is provided nor admitted.-3. He is the Mediator both for Jews and Gentiles, Eph. ii. 18. 1 John ii. 2.-4. He is Mesaints. 5. He is a suitable, constant, willing, and prevalent Mediator; his mediation always succeeds, and is infallible. Gill's Body Body of Div. vol. i. oct. p. 336; Witsii Econ. Fad. lib. ii. c. 4 Fuller's Gospel its own Witness, ch. 4 p.2; Hurrion's Christ Crucified, p 103. &c. Dr. Owen on the Person of Christ; Dr. Goodwin's Works, b. iii. MEDITATION is an act by which we consider any thing closely, or where in the soul is employed in the search or lated to those he was a Mediator and Redeemer of.-2. That sin might be satisfied for, and reconciliation be made for it, in the same nature which sinned. -3. It was proper that the Mediator should be capable of obeying the law broken by the sin of man, as a divine person could not be subject to the law, and yield obedience to it, Gal. iv. 4. Rom. v. 19.-4. It was meet that the Mediator should be man, that he might be capable of suffering death; for, as God, he could not die, and without shed-consideration of any truth. In religion ding of blood there was no remission, Heb. ii. 10, 15. vii. 3.-5. It was fit he hould be man, that he might be a faithhigh priest, to sympathise with his it is used to signify the serious exercise of the understanding, whereby our thoughts are fixed on the observation of spiritual things, in order to practice. 26. 2 Cor. v. 1, &c. Mystic divines make a great difference || taste of eternal glory, Psalm Ixxiii. 25, between meditation and contemplation; the former consists in discursive acts of the soul, considering methodically and with attention the mysteries of faith and the precepts of morality; and is performed by reflections and reasonings which leave behind them manifest impressions on the brain. The pure contemplative, they say, have no need of meditation, as seeing all things in God at a glance, and without any reflection. See BEGUINS and QUIETISTS. MEEKNESS, a temper of mind not easily provoked to resentment. In the Greek language it is wgaos quasi, pãos facilis, easiness of spirit, and thus it may be justly called; for it accommodates the soul to every occurrence, and so makes a man easy to himself, and to all about him. The Latins call a meek man mansuetus, qu. manu assuetus, used to the hand; which alludes to the taming and reclaiming of creatures wild by nature, and bringing them to be tractable and familiar, James iii. 7, 8: so where the grace of meekness reigns, it subdues the impetuous disposition, and learns it submission and forgiveness. It teaches us to govern our own anger whenever we are at any time provoked, and patiently to bear the anger of others, that it may not be a provocation to us. The former is its office, especially in superiors; the latter in inferiors, and both in equals, James iii. 13. The excellency of such a spirit appears, if we consider that it enables us to gain a victory over corrupt nature, Prov. xvi. 32; that it is a beauty and an ornament to human beings, 1 Pet. iii. 4; that it is obedience to God's word, and conformity to the best patterns, Eph. v. 1, 2. Phil. iv. 8. It is productive of the highest peace to the possessor, Luke xxi. 19, Matt. xi. 28, 29. It fits us for any duty, instruction, relation, condition, or persecution, Phil. iv. 11, 12. To obtain this spirit, consider that it is a divine injunction, Zeph. ii. 3. Col. iii. 12. 1 Tim. vi. 11. Observe the many examples of it; Jesus Christ, Matt. xi. 28; Abraham, Gen. xiii. Gen. xvi. 5. 6; Moses, Numb. xii. 3; David, Zech. xii. 8.2 Sam. xvi. 10, 12. Ps. cxxxi. 2; Paul, 1 Cor. ix. 19. How lovely a spirit it is in itself, and how it secures us from a variety of evils. That peculiar promises are made to such, Matt. v. 5. Is. lxvi. 2. That such give evidence of their being under the influence of divine grace, and shall enjoy the divine blessing, Is. lvii. 15. See Henry on Meekness; Dunlop's Ser. vol. ii. p. 434; Evans's Ser. on the Christian Temper, ser. 29; Tillotson on 1 Pet. ii. 21; and on Matt. v. 44; Logan's Sermons, vol. i. ser. 10; and Jortin's Sermons, ser. 11, vol. iii. 1. Meditation is a duty which ought to be attended to by all who wish well to their spiritual interests. It ought to be deliberate, close, and perpetual, Psal. cxix. 97. Psal. i. 2.-2. The subjects which ought more especially to engage the Christian mind are the works of creation, Psal. xix. the perfections of God. Deut. xxxii. 4; the excellencies, offices, characters, and works of Christ, Heb. xii. 2, 3; the offices and operations of the Holy Spirit, John xv. and xvi. the various dispensations of Providence, Psal. xcvii. 1, 2; the precepts, declarations, promises, &c. of God's word, Psal. cxix; the value, powers, and immortality of the soul, Mark viii. 36; the noble, beautiful, and benevolent plan of the Gospel, 1 Tim. i. 11; the necessity of our personal interest in and experience of its power, John iii. 3; the depravity of our nature, and the freedom of divine grace in choosing, adopting, justifying, and sanctifying us, 1 Cor. vi. 11; the shortness, worth, and swiftness of time, James iv. 14; the certainty of death, Heb. ix. 27; the resurrection and judgment to come, 1 Cor. xv. 50, &c. and the future state of eternal rewards and punishments, Matt. xxv. These are some of the most important subjects on which we should meditate. -3. To perform this duty aright, we should be much in prayer, Luke xviii. 1; avoid a worldly spirit, 1 John ii. 15; beware of sloth, Heb. vi. 11; take heed of sensual pleasures, James iv. 4; watch against the devices of Satan, 1 Pet. v. 8; be often in retirement, Psal. iv. 4; embrace the most favourable opportunities, the calmness of the morning, Psal. v. 1, 3; the solemnity of the evening, Gen. xxiv. 63; Sabbath days, Psal. cxviii. 24; sacramental occasions, &c. 1 Cor. xi. 28.-4. The advantages resulting from this are, improvement of the faculties of the soul, Prov. xvi. 22; the affections are raised to God, Psalm xxxix. 1, 4; an enjoyment of divine peace and felicity, Phil. iv. 6, 7; holiness of life is promoted, Psal. cxix. 59, 60; and we thereby experience a fore- || come very numerous. For a con MEETING-HOUSE, a place appropriated by Dissenters for the purpose of public worship. Since the act of uniformity passed, 1662, by which so many hundreds of ministers were ejected from their livings, meeting-houses have be |