721 



PREROGATIVE. 



PRESCRIPTION. 



722 



different languages. The Greek grammarians admit only eighteen, the 

 Latin about fifty. In English, the following words are usually con- 

 sidered as prepositions : Above ; about ; after ; against ; among, 

 amongst; amid, amidst; around, round; at; between, betwixt; 

 beyond; before; behind; beneath; below; beside; by; down; for; 

 from ; in, into; near, nigh; of; off; over; on, upon; since; through, 

 throughout; till, until; to, unto; toward, towards; under, underneath; 

 up ; with ; within ; without. 



Besides these prepositions, there are in English, Latin, Greek, and 

 many other languages, certain particles never found singly, or uncom- 

 pounded, and which are therefore called inseparable prepositions, as, in 

 English, bf, for, fare, mis, Ac., which occur in such words as be-titir, 

 bc-tpni/.' ; /"> >''"! ,fr-Mikc ; fare-see, fore-knme ; mil-late, mw-deed, &c. 



PKKKOGATIVE, ;\ word descended to us from the times of the 

 Romans, or, rather, adopted from their language, to denote a certain 

 power in the constitution of monarchical states. Its etymology is 

 obvious, though the formation is not perhaps quite accordant with the 

 analogies. Prn and rwjo would seem to give the sense of precedence 

 in asking, while prerogative means precedence in being asked, the 

 of having the consent first obtained of the party in whom 

 the prerogative is vented, before any change shall be mode in the 

 matters comprehended within the prerogative. The term is confined 

 to cases of dignity, to things indeed which affect the common 

 t when men are bound together in a political state ; and 

 though we might speak, as indeed men sometimes do, of the preroga- 

 tive of the House of Lords, or the prerogative of the House of Comnionc, 

 or even of the prerogative of the people, it is more usual to regar.l t he 

 ...,, I as belonging to the right which the crown possesses of being 

 I tod, and its consent obtained, in whatever concerns the business 

 i 'lie nation. 



Thus the consent of the sovereign must be first obtained before any 

 new law can bo made, or any change effected in the existing laws ; and 

 !>[>ears to be prerogative in its purest state, and, indeed, in its 

 only state of absolute purity. Other things which arc now understood 

 to be comprehended under the term prerogative, are only accretions 

 to this the true prerogative, or things which have naturally shot forth 

 out of it : unless we choose to take a view of the whole subject which 

 shall take it wholly out of the scope of the etymological sense, and 



P--MI.I. M indeed many do, UN w-opl |.i --IO.M- i\ . || -r n:-lin^ lo in- 1 ie.it... 

 the primordial and original power of any prince, the king of England 

 for instance, which has been from time to time reduced and confined 

 by the resistance, passive or active, of the subject. However the term 

 may be chosen or applied, it now denotes not only the privilege of 

 being consulted in any intended change of the law, and the consent 

 obtained, but the right of making war or |>eace, of laying embargos, 

 of commissi in the army and navy, of sending and receiv- 



ing ambassadors, of making treaties, of bestowing honours, conferring 

 rank, and creating peers. To these are to be added the pardoning of 

 offenders, which is sometimes called the prerogative of mercy ; the 



-, proroguing, and dissolving parliament, in which however tho 

 itivo has been restrained by positive enactments; and, lastly, 

 < rights which tho sovereign enjoys as head of the church. All 

 these things the crown does by its prerogative, without any application 

 to parliament, or to any court or council whatever, though members 

 of the Privy f 'ouncil, those particularly who form what is called the 

 I '.-iliim t ( 'oiincil, or the ministers, are supposed to advise the sovereign 

 in the exercise of tho prerogative, and are sometimes made answ. -ralil- 

 by parliament for the injudicious or dangerous exercise of it. Tie-... 

 retieally however and nominally, these ar prerogatives of the sovereign 

 himself rights inherent in him in virtue of his office, as much his as 

 the subject has certain rights belonging to him, either as a member of 



.at community of Englishmen, or as belonging to some par- 



> section to which ho belongs, or to some particular office in 

 which he is placed. In tho mutual respect of each, and tho forbear- 

 ance of each to encroach on the righto or prerogatives belonging to 

 each other, lies tho balance of the Ei. : h - ic.titutioii ; and out of it 

 rises security to all, and tho enjoyment of the blessings which belong 

 to a well-ordered political community. When evils are perceived, 

 when the subject chums rights which are incompatible with who! 

 government, or when tho crown claims rights as falling within the 

 cope of any part .^jtive which are opposed to tho common 



-. -lial powers in tho constitution whieh bring things 

 right ; and it is one of the most important functions of the two houses 

 at |i ' 'is in thic. 



PKKIUXJATIVK f'Di:i!T, a court formerly held by each of the 



.iliops (or their oflieials) of Kngland and Ireland. Thi-. 

 was held l>y virtue of i purpose of trying tho 



validity of wills, registering them, and granting probate or adminintra- 



,ud hence its title), which ..tt ,. l,ed where one 'li.'l | < -..-<! 

 of Urtia notnbilia, that is, of g-xxls to tho value of in the 



diocese of London, where it is !<>/.) in one diocese er peculiar, and also 

 goods, altogether of the same amount, in some other dioceoe . ,||.,.- ,. , 

 peculiar or peculiars, within the same provinces or where one, not 

 being on a journey, died in one diocese or peculiar, possessed of goods 

 ' amount in another diocese within the same province. Hit" 

 administration thus became sufficient ; and the inconvenience and 

 uncertainty of taking out administration in various dioceses, Ac., were 

 voided. This court ceased to exist on the transference of the juris- 

 ABTS AND SCI. 1IIV. VOL. VI. 



diction of the spiritual courts, in matters testamentary, to the crown 

 l.y statute -2d A -Jl Viet 0. 77. 



PRESBYTERIANS (-irpor&Ttpa;, an elder) are professors of the 

 Christian religion who believe that there is no order in the Church, ns 

 established by Christ and his Apostles, superior to that of Presbyters ; 

 that all ministers, being ambassadors of Christ, are equal by com- 

 mission ; that Presbyter or Elder, and Bishop, arc only different names 

 for tho same person ; and that Deacons are laymen whoso office is 

 chiefly to take care of the poor. A Presbytery (TrpttrflvTtpiov) they 

 regard as a society of clerical and lay Presbyters, or, as they usually 

 call them, Ministers and lay Elders. In support ,,f the . e opini m.: 

 they allege several passages of the New Testament. They ullirin thai. 

 the primitive form of church government was universally Presbyterian, 

 and that this form, having, after the time of the Apostles, been sup- 

 planted by Episcopacy, was restored in some parts of Europe after the 

 Information had begun. 



The most noted Presbyterian Church of the present day is that of 

 Scotland, called tho Kirk. Presbyterianism was introduced into Scot- 

 land about 1560. Under Calvin's direction this discipline h.a.l already 

 been put into operation at Geneva, whence it W;IH brought by .lohu 

 Knox into his native land. King James I., who had ITCH a I'reshy- 

 terian in Scotland, and who embraced Episcopacy upon coming to the 

 English throne, made Episcopacy, nominally at least, the religion of 

 *.d. In the reign of Charles I., Presbytcrianimu re -ain.-d tin- 

 ascendancy, but Episcopacy was once more declared the established 

 religion at the restoration of Charles II. At tho Revolution in 1688, 

 I'resbyterianism was re-established in Scotland by authority of Parlia- 

 ment, and thus it has continued to the present time. 



The constitution of Presbyterianism in the established Church of 

 Scotland is as follows : The Kirk Session, consisting of the minister 

 and lay or ruling ciders of a parish or congregation, is the lowest court 

 of judicature, the minister being, ex officio, the moderator or eha i > 

 The Presbytery is next in authority, and consists of all tho ministers 

 of a certain district, and one ruling elder from each parish, who is 

 chosen half-yearly. At tho meeting of a Presbytery, a moderator is 

 chosen out of tho ministers. There are 84 Presbyteries, each eon 

 sisting of parishes varying in number from 3 to 32. The Provincial 

 Synods, of which there are 10, meet twice in the year, and are com- 

 posed of tho Presbyteries within tho provinces which give name to 

 the Synods. The highest authority is the General Assembly, which 

 meets annually. [GENERAL ASSEMHI.V OF mi durum nr SCOTLAND.] 

 Persons are appointed ministers by tho laying on of tho hands of the 

 Presbytery. The maintenance of the clergy is regulated by the state, 

 and they are nominated to livings by patrons. The Kirk has no 

 Liturgy, no altar, and no instrumental music. Its doctrine is Cal- 

 viuistic. At the Revolution the Westminster Confession was appointed 

 tho standard of tho national faith, and it was enacted that no p< < on 

 .-houl-l be admitted or continued a minister or preacher in this 

 church, without subscribing to this Confession of Faith as his faith. 

 By the Act of Union in I7"7, tho same subscription was require.! 

 of all professors, princijials, regents, maiters, and others bearing 

 office in any of the four universities of Scotland; but this has been 

 repealed. 



There arc however many Presbyterians in .Scotland who do not 

 belong to tho national establishment, although th. y 

 articles of faith as the members of tho Kirk. [DnUBKM.] The 

 most important is the Free Church, which ncpai-at. .1 iiom tin- esta- 

 blishment in 1843, on a question of ehureh patronage. | Km > I'm HI i 

 OF SCOTLAND.] The other sects (United Presbyterians, l!.i. in. I 

 Presbyterians, Original Seceders, Ac.) also preserve similar forms, and 

 i.-rences between them chiefly relate to tin .pie. I i..n of national 

 religious covenanting. [CAMERON, KicilAliu, in P.HKI. Div. ; IJ.MTi.n 

 PRFJIBYTI:HIAN CHIUK-II. | 



The first Presbyterian congregation in England was formed at 

 Wandsworth, near London, in 1572. In the reign of ('hail, i I . p; I.., 

 it was proposed, in the treaty of Uxbridge, to make the K.NUi h.-.l 

 Church of England Presbyterian, and the pro)>osition was carried 

 into effect by way of trial in 1640. In 1<!41I the Presbyterian dis- 

 cipline was sanctioned by ]rlmtnent, and the Established church was 

 Presbyterian till Episcopacy was restored with the restoration >.! 

 Charles II. in 1660. [Nos-rosi OKMITV. | The successors of the ol.l 

 Presbyterian congregations in England have in general become either 

 UNITARIANS or INDP.PKNMKNTR : the congregations whieh are at the 

 present day adherents of the Presbyterian form of ehureh government. 

 belong to, or maintain friendly relations with, the Presbyt- 

 ehurehe i of Scotland. The Synod of English Presbyterians, a Hep 

 organisation holding the principles of the I i - i lunch of Scotland, is 

 composed of about 100 congregation*, forming 7 presbyteries ; there 

 are about 7<l United Presbyterian congregations in England; and there 

 are It presbyteries, comprising 17 ' ai,<, whieh profeas Ill-- 



principle. 1 ..f tli.- K^talilished (Jiiireh of Scotland. In the north -i 

 Ireland, Prosbyteriaiiixm in the prevailing faith, and there it is regularly 

 constituted, though Episcopacy is the form of the Established ('linn-h. 

 In the British Ccolonies there are numerous congregations of Presby- 

 terians. Tho Presbyterians of the United States of America number 

 about 6000 congregations. 



PRESCRIPTION. " No custom is to be allowed, but such en 



as hath been used by title of prescription, that is to say, d I im 



8 A 



