■• Receh e power to offer the sacrifice of < !od, and to cel- ebrate mass for the living ami the dead." Mi reover, he receives formally the power to forgive sins. The distinguishing vestment of the priest is the chasuble (Lat. planeta). In Roman Catholic countries, priests wear even in public a distinctive dress.
Habil of a Roman catholic Priest In some portions of the Episcopal Church the idea is maintained that the modern clergyman is the succes- sor of the ancient priest, because this term is used in the
PRIESTLEY
583
PRIESTLEY"
Prayer-book to designate the clerical office. Says FJiiy- der: "The Greek and Latin words which we translate 'priest1 are derived from words that signify holy; and so the word priest, according to the etymology, signi- fies him whose mere charge and function are about holy things, and therefore seems to be a most proper word to him who is set apart to the holy public service and worship of God, especially when he is in the actual ministration of holy things. If it be objected that, ac- cording to the usual acceptation of the word, it signifies him that offers up a sacrifice, and therefore cannot be allowed to a minister of the Gospel, who hath no sacri- fice to offer, it is answered that the ministers of the Gospel have sacrifices to offer (1 Pet. ii, 5): 'Ye are built. n;> a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices of prayer, praises, thanksgiving,' etc. In respect of these, the ministers of the Gospel may safely, in a metaphorical sense, be called priests; and in a more eminent manner than other Christians, because they are taken from among men to offer up these sacrifices for others. But besides these spiritual sacrifices mentioned, the ministers of the Gospel have another sacrifice to offer, viz. the unbloody sacrifice, as it was anciently called, the commemorative sacrifice of the blood of Christ, which does as really and truly show forth the death of Christ as those sacrifices under the law did; and in respect of this sacrifice of the Eucharist, the ancients have usually called those that offer it up priests." See Killen, Ancient Church, p. (541; Marten- sen, Dogmatics ; Fairbairn, Typology ; Calvin, Insti- tutes; Coleman, Manual on Prelacy and Ritualism, p. 167 sq. ; Stratten, Book of the Priesthood; Howitt, On Priestcraft; Dwight, Theology; Schaff, Hist, of the Aposf. Church; Elliott, Delineation of Romanism (see Index); Sumner, Principles at Stake (Lond. 1868, 8vo), ch. iii; Christian Qua?: April, 1873, art. iv; Meth. Quar. Rev. July, 1873, art. ii; Studien u. Kritiken, 1862, No. 1 ; Bapt. Quar. Oct. 1870; Christian Monthly, Feb. 1865, p. 188. See Bishop; Clergy; Preacher. (J. H.W.) Priestley, Joseph, LL.D., one of the most noted of the English deists of the. 18th century, and a scientist of great celebrity, was born of humble but honorable parentage at Fieldhead, March 13, 1733, old style. His mother dying when he was six years of age, he was adopted by a paternal aunt, Mrs. Keighley, by whom he was sent to a free grammar-school in the neighborhood, where he was taught the Latin language and the ele- ments of the Greek. His vacations were devoted to the study of Hebrew under a dissenting minister ; and when he had acquired some proficiency in this language he commenced and made considerable progress in the Chal- dee, Syriac, and Arabic. Ill-health, however, led him to abandon for a while his classical studies, and he gave himself to mercantile pursuits. Though obliged to leave school, he yet continued his studies. Without the aid of a master, he acquired some knowledge of French, Italian, and German. At the age of nineteen (1752) he resumed work as a theological student in the dissenting academy at Daventry. His parents, who were both of the Calvinistic persuasion, as well as his aunt, had omitted no opportunity of inculcating the importance of the Calvinistic doctrine. At the academy he found both the professors and students greatly agitated upon most theological questions which were deemed of much importance, such as liberty and necessity, the sleep of the soul, etc., and kindred articles of orthodoxy and her- esy. These were the topics of animated and frequent discussion. The spirit of controversy thus excited was in some measure fostered by the plan for regulating their studies, drawn up by Dr. Doddridge. It specified cer- tain works on both sides of every question which the students were required to peruse and form an abridg- ment of for their future use. Before the lapse of many months Priestley conceived himself called upon to re- nounce the greater number of the theological and meta- physical opinions which he had imbibed in early youth, and thus, he himself observes, " I came to embrace what
is generally called the heterodox side of the question; . . . but notwithstanding the great freedom of our de- bates, the extreme of heresy among us was Arianism, and all of us, I believe, left the academy with a belief, more or less qualified, of the doctrine of the Atonement." His waywardness did not interfere with his graduation, and in 1755 he became assistant minister to an Independent congregation at Needham-Market, in Suffolk. Here he made himself unpopular by renouncing the doctrine of the Atonement, and in three years left, in rather bad repute because of his heresy. He found a temporary engagement at Nantwich, in Cheshire, but was again unpopular, and next engaged in teaching with some success, and was finally chosen professor of belles-lettres in Warrington Academy. During the ten years fol- lowing he produced half a dozen thoughtful works on widely varying subjects — works which of themselves would have given him enduring fame. He busied him- self in politics, too, and became known as a vigorous lecturer. He was still poor, but by dint of strict econ- omy he had secured an air-pump and an electrical ma- chine, and had already begun his scientific researches.