degree in the hierarchy. Y'et in some churches the or- dination of readers was a very solemn affair, especially among the Greeks, where it was accompanied by impo- sition of hands. In course of time the office of reader in the Komish Church came to be absorbed in the dea- con's, and identified with it. See C. Schone, Geschickts- forschungen ii. d. Kirchl. Gebr. iii, 108 (Berlin, 1822) ; Jo. Andr. Schmidt, De primitiuoR eccles. lectoribus illustribus (Helmstadt, 1696) ; Bingham, iJe origin, eccles. ii, 29; Suicer and Du Fresne, Lexica ; Augusti, Denkwiird. vol. vi; Handb. d. chr. Arch. \, 262; Herzog, Peal-Encyklop. viii, 268.
Lectorium. See Lectern.
Lecturers, an order of preachers in the Church of England, distinct from the incumbent or curate, usually chosen by the vestry or chief inhabitants of the parish, and supported either bj' voluntary contributions or leg- acies. They preach on the Sunday afternoon or even- ing, and in some instances on a stated day in the week. The lecturers are generally appointed without any in- terposition of the incumbent, though his consent, as possessor of the freehold of the Church, is necessary be- fore any lecturer can officiate : when such consent has been obtained (but not before), the bishop, if lie ap- prove of the nominee, licenses him to the lecture. Where there are lectures founded by the donations of pious persons, the lecturers are appointed by the found- ers, -without any interposition or consent of the rectors of the churches, though with the leave and approbation of the bishop, and after the candidate's subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles and the Act of Uniformity, such .as that of lady Moyer at St. Paul's, etc. ^\'llel^ the office of lecturer first originated in the English Church it is difficult to determine. It is manifest from the statute (13 and 14 Car. II, c. 4, § 19), commonly known as the Act of Uniformity (1662), that the office was generally recognised in the second half of the 17th centur\'. Even as early as 1589, however, an evening lecture on Fridays was endowed in the London jjarish of St. Michael Koj-al, and at about the same time three lecture-sermons were established in St.JMichael's, Corn- hill— t\vo on Sundays after evening prayers, and a third at the same time on Christmas day. During the Great Kebellion lecturers used their influence and opportuni- ties for the overthrow of the State Church and the mon- archy.—Eden, Theol. Diet. s. v. ; Buck, Theol. Diet. s. v. ; Eadie, Eccles. Diet. p. 371.
Lectures, Bampton. See Bajipton Lectures.
Lectures, Boyle. See Boyle Lectures.
Lectures, Congregational. See Congrega- tional Lectures.
Lectures, Hulsean. See Hulsean Lectures- Lectures, Merchants', a lecture set up in Pin- ner's Hall in the year 1672, by the Presbyterians and In- dependents, to show their agreement among themselves, as well as to support the doctrines of the Keformation against the prevailing errors of Popery, Socinianism, and infidelity'. The principal ministers for learning and popularity v.-ere chosen as lecturers, such as Dr. Bates, Dr. IManton, Dr. Owen, Mr. Baxter, IMessrs. Collins, Jen- kins, JNIead, and afterwards ]\Iessrs. Alsop, Howe, Cole, and others. It was encouraged and supported by some of the principal merchants and tradesmen of the city. Some misunderstanding taking place, the Presbyterians removed to Salter's Hall and the Independents remain- ed at Pinner's Hall, and each party filled up their num- bers out of their respective denominations. This lecture is kept np to the present day, and is now held at Broad Street meeting every Tuesday morning. — Buck, Theol, Dictionary, s. v.
Lectures, Monthly. A lecture preached month- ly by the Congregational ministers of London in their different chapels, taken in rotation. These lectures have of late been systematically arranged, so as to form a connected course of one or more vcars. A valuable vol-
LECTURES
319
LEE
ume on the evidences of Eevelation, published in 1827, is one of the fruits of these monthly exercises. — Buck, Theoloffical Dictionanj, s. v.
Lectures, Morning, certain casuistical lectures, •which were preached by some of the most able di\"ines in London. The occasion of these lectures seems to be this : During the troublesome times of Charles I., most of the citizens having some near relation or friend in the army of the earl of Essex, so many bills were sent up to the pulpit everj- Lord's day for their preservation that the minister had neither time to read them nor to rec- ommend their cases to God in prayer ; several London divines therefore agreed to set apart a morning hour for this purpose, one half to be spent in prayer, and the oth- er in a suitable exhortation to the people. When the heat of the war was over, it became a casuistical lecture, and was carried on till the restoration of Charles IL These sermons were afterwards published in several vol- umes quarto, under the title of the Morning Ej-ercises. The authors were the most eminent preachers of the day ; among them was, e. g. archbishop Tillotson. It ap- pears that these lectures were held every morning i'or one month only, and, from the preface to the volume, dated 1689, the time was afterwards contracted to a fort- night. Slost of these were delivered at Cripplegate Church, some at St. Giles's, and a volume against popery in Southwark. jMr. Ncale observes that this lecture was afterwards revived in a different form, and continued in his day. It was kept up long afterwards at several places in the summer, a week at each place, but latterly the time was exchanged for the evening. — Buck, Thcvl. Dictionari/, s. v.