Egyptian Gnat mngnitied.
LICENSE
423
LIE
Harenbcrg, Ohserr. Crit. de Insectis JErjypt. infest ariHbus, ill MisccU. Lips. Nov. ii, 4, 617-20 ; Geddes, Crit. Rem. on Exod. viii, 17 ; Montanus, Critic. Sac. on Exod. viii, 12 ; Kitto, Daily Bible Illust. ad loc. ; Bochart, Ilieroz. ii, 572. — Kitto. See Gnat.
" The advocates of the other theory, that lice are the animals meant by Idnnim, and not (/nuts, base their ar- guments upon these facts : (1) because the liiinim sprang from the dust, whereas gnats come from the waters ; (2) because gnats, though they may greatly irritate men and- beasts, cannot properly be said to be 'in' them; (3) because their name is derived from a root ('|*13) which signifies to ' establish,' or to ' fix,' which cannot be said of c/nats ; (4) because, if c/nats are intended, tlien the fourth plague of flies would be unduly anticipated ; (5) because the Talmudists use the word kinnah in the sin- gular number to mean a louse ; as it is said (S/iab. xiv, 107, b), 'As is the man who slays a camel on the Sab- bath, so is he who slays a louse on the Sabbath' " (Smith). " The entomologists, Kirby and Spence, place these minute but disgusting insects in the very front rank of those which inflict direct injury upon man. A terrible list of examples they have collected of the rav- ages of this and closely allied parasitic pests. They remark that, 'for the quelling of human pride, and to pull down the high conceits of mortal man, this most loathsome of all maladies, or one equally disgusting, has been the inheritance of the rich, the wise, the noble, and the mighty ; and in the list of those that have fallen victims to it, you wiU find poets, philosophers, prelates, princes, kings, and emperors. It seems more particu- larly to have been a judgment of God upon oppression and tyranny, whether civil or religious. Thus the in- human I'heretima mentioned by Herodotus, Antiochus Epiphanes, the dictator Sylla, the two Herods, the em- peror Maximin, and, not to mention more, the persecu- tor of the Protestants, Philip the Second, were carried ofT by it' {Iiitrod. to Entomol. vol. iv). The Egyptian plague may have been somewliat like that dreadful dis- ease common in Poland, and known as jjUcbi Poloiiica, in which the hair becomes matted together in the most disgusting manner, and is infested with sv/arms of ver- min. Each hair is highly sensitive, bleeds at the root on the least violence, and if but sliglitly pulled feels ex- quisite pain. Lafontaine, whom Hermann calls a very exact describer, affirms that millions of lice appear on the wretched patient on the third day of this disease {Mem. Apterol. p. 78). These insects form the order Anoplura of Leach, and Parasita of LatreiUe. jMost mammalia, if not all, and probably all birds, are infested by them ; each beast and bird, as is stated, having its own proper species of louse, and sometimes two or more. Three distinct species make the human body their abode" (Fairbairn). See Inskct.
License, the name given to the liberty and icar- raiit to preach.
(I.) In the Presbyterian Church it is regularly con- ferred by the Presbj'tery on tliose who have passed sat- isfactorily through the prescribed curriculum of study. When a student has fully comfileted his course of study at the theological hall, he is taken on trials for license by the Presbytery to which he belongs. These trials consist of an examination on the different subjects taught in the theological hall, his personal religion, and his motives for seeking to enter the ministerial office. He also de- livers a lecture on a passage of Scriptiu-e, a homily, an exercise and additions, a popular sermon, and an exe- gesis ; and, lastly, he is examined on Church History, Hebrew and Greek, and on divinity generally. It is the duty of the presbytery to criticise each of these by itself, and sustain or reject it separately, as a part of the series of trials, and then, when the trials are com- pleted, to pass a judgment on the whole by a regular vote. If the trials are sustained, the candidate is re- quired to answer the questions in the formula, and, after prayer, is hcensed and authorized to preach the Gospel of Clirist, and exercise bis gifts as a probationer
for the holy ministry, of which license a regular certifi- cate is given if required. He is simply a layman or lay candidate for the clerical office, preaching, but not dis- pensing the sacraments. See Ordination.
(2.) In the Methodist churches it is conferred on lay- men who are believed to be competent for this office, and it is from persons thus brought into the ministry [see Lay Preaching] that the Church is supplied with ministers. See Local Preachers ; Licentiate.
(3.) In the Church of England and the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States the word license is used to designate the grant given by the bishop to a candidate for orders, authorizing him to read services and sermons in a church in the absence of a minister ; also the liberty to preach, which the bishop may give to those who have been ordained deacons if he judge them to be qualified. See the Ordering of Deacons in the Prayer-book, where the bishop says to those he is ordaining, " Take thou the authority to read the Gospel in the Church of God, and to preach the same, if thou be thereto licensed by the bishop himself."