In the Church of England the archbishop of Canter- bury is styled primate of all England ; the archbishop of York, primate of England. In Ireland, the archbish- op of Armagh is primate of all Ireland, and the arch- bishop of Dublin, primate of Ireland. The title of pri- mate in England and Ireland confers no jurisdiction be- yond that of archbishop. The name primus is applied in the Scottish Episcopal Church to the presiding bishop. He is chosen by the bishops out of their own number, without their being bound to give effect to seniority of consecration or precedency of diocese.
Prime (Lat. prima, the first— i. e. hour), the first of the so-called "lesser hours" of the Roman Breviary (q. v.). It may be called the public morning prayer of that Church, and corresponds in substance with the morning service of the other ancient liturgies, allow- ance being made for Latin peculiarities. Prime com- mences with the beautiful hymn of Prudentius, Jam lucis orto sidere, which is followed by three and occa- sionally four psalms (xxii, xxvi, liv, cxviii); but the last portion consists of the opening verses of the 118th (in the A. V. the cxix, 1-32) psalm, which is continued throughout the rest of the " lesser hours." Prime con- cludes with prayers appropriate to the beginning of a Christian's day. See Procter, Commentary on the Book of Common Prayer, p. 187. See Canonical Hours.
Prime, Ebenezer, a Presbyterian minister, was born at Milford, Conn., July 2lj 1700, graduated at Yale College in 1718, and at the age of nineteen was assistant of the Eev. Eliphalet Jones, pastor at Hunting- ton, L. I., whose colleague he became four years after. He remained in charge of this congregation until his death, Sept. 25, 1779 (according to another account, Oct. 3). For a period of nearly seven years, from 1 766 to 1773, he had an assistant, but during the troubled times of the Revolution the whole charge rested with him, and he was even obliged at one time to flee from his dwelling, and live in retirement for a season in a solitary neighborhood of his congregation. He is the progenitor of a family of eminent Presbyterian divines. Mr. Prime published a Discouise on the Nature of Or- dination. See Sprague, Annals of the Amer. Pulpit, iii, 30 sq.
Prime, John, an English divine of some note, flourished in the second half of the 16th century. He was educated at Oxford University, and held at one time a fellowship. He published, The Sacraments (Lond. 1582, 8vo) : — Nature and Grace (ibid. 1583, 8vo) : — Sermons (Oxon. 1585, 8vo) : — Exposition and Observations upon St. Paul to the Galatians (Lond. 1587, 8vo) : — The Consolations of David, a sermon on Psa. xxiii. 4 (ibid. 1588, 8vo) :— Sermons (ibid. 1588, 8vo).
Prime, Nathaniel Scudder, D.D.. an American divine, was born at Huntington, L. I., April 21, 1785, and educated at Princeton, where he graduated in 1804. He was licensed to preach in the following year in the Presbyterian Church, and was subsequently stationed at Sag Harbor, Freshpond,Smithtown, Cambridge, New York, and other places. He also acted as principal of literary institutions at Cambridge, Sing Sing, and New- burgh, and gained distinction as a teacher. He died sud- denly at Mamaroneck, N. J., March 27, 1856. Dr. Prime published three single Sermons (1811, 1817, 1825), an A ddress (1815), and a Charge to the Rev. Samuel Irenaus Prime (1837), many statistical and other articles in pe- riodicals, and the two following works, Familiar Illus-
tration of Christian Baptism (1818, 12mo), in which he defends infant baptism : — A History of Long Island from its first Settlement by the Europeans to the Year 1845 (N. Y. and Pittsburgh, 1845, 12mo). "He had a mind of uncommon force and discrimination, a noble and generous spirit, simple and engaging manners, an invincible firmness in adhering to his own convictions, an earnest devotion to the best interests of his fellow- men, an excellent talent for the pulpit, great tact at public business, and a remarkably graceful facility at mingling in a deliberative body."— Sprague. A mud's of the Amer. Pulpit, iii, 32: Allibone, Diet, of Brit, and A rner. A uthors, s. v.
Primer, King's, is an English ecclesiastical docu- ment published in 1545, containing the Calendar, the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Salutation of the Virgin, the seven penitential psalms, a litany, and prayers for various occasions. It was edited by the authority of King Henry VIII, and hence de- rives its title. A prefatory admonition to the reader complains of several books calculated to mislead the people in their application to the saints, and to set God and his creatures on the same level. Though many divines had made a special distinction between Xarptla and SovXeia, and appropriated the first only to God, yet in practice this distinction was too often forgotten. — Farrar, s. v.
Besides the King's Primer, there is also the Goodly Prymer of 1535, drawn up by Marshal, archdeacon of Nottingham, and the Manual of Prayers, or the Primer in English, of 1539. Primer means first book, and was used often as analogous to the term prayer-book, though it contained selections of services made according to the discretion of the compiler. The Prymer of Salisbury Use bears the date of various years, the first edition be- ing published in 1527. — Eadie, s. v. See Collier. Eccles. Hist. pt. ii, bk. ii; Procter, Commentary on the Boole of Common Prayer, p. 12, 75; Wheatly, On the Book of Common Prayer, p. 23.