A G A 



larly of tlie eticharift, does not fiiy one word of the agnpa, 

 or lovc-feafts, as conncftcd witli it either before or alter. 

 Tlic)' continued in the church dining the four fit II centuries ; 

 but the council of Laodicea, about the middle of the fourth 

 centur)-, bani(hcd them from the churches, and ilill allowed 

 thcin in private houfes. The third council of Carthage, 

 A. D. 397, ordains by a canon, which is repeated by the 

 African covuicil, in the beginning of the tilth century, that 

 they (hould not be held in churches, except in cafes of pe 

 cuhar neeeflilv : with which tlie decree of th 



cidiar neeeflily 



Auxcrre, in the beginning of the feventh century agrees. 

 Piiotius, about the middle of the ninth century, and Ar- 

 feiiius, ill ll>e middle of the thirteenth centuiy, reprefent 

 the matter accordingly ; or that the aga,p3e were prohibited 

 in churches, but allowed and encouraged in private houics. 

 When they were totally abolilhed, we have no account 



A G A 



African blue lily. This is the African tubet-ofe hyacinth, 

 with a blue umbellatcd flower. • 



'Jlie root of this plant is compofed of thick flefliy fibres ; 

 from the fame head arifes a duller of leaves, which are thick 

 and fucculent, and ot a dark green colour. Between thefe 

 idues the flower (lalk, fupjjorting an umbel of blue flowers 

 in a (heath, and each flower fl;aiiding on a pedicle, about an 

 inch long. The umbel being large, the flowers numeroui, 

 and of a light blue colour, make a fine appearance. They 

 he council of come out at the end of Auguftor beginning of September, 



and frequently continue in beauty till fpring. The flowers 

 are thofe of the henierocallis, but this genus is dillinct from 

 it in its fpathe. It is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, 

 from wlienceit was brought to Holland, and in 1692 it was 

 cultivated at Hampton Court. 



This plant is propagated by offsets, taken off at the latter 

 When they were occafionally charged with impunity by the end of June, planted in feparate pots, with light kitchen- 



Heathens, they were reilrained and regulated 



The kifs of charity, with which the ceremony ufed to 

 end, was no longer given between different fexes '; and it 

 was exprcfsly forbidden to have any beds, or couches for the 

 conveniencv of thofe who fliould be difpofed to eat more at 

 their eafe. ' Notwithilanding thefe precautions, it was found 

 iieceflary to difcontinue them ; for as they were introduced 

 when Chriftians had all things common, or with the com- 

 munitv of goods, which under wife retlric\ions their firft 

 circumftances required, they remained long after the difufe 

 of the cuilom, which was the original occafion of them. 

 See Abyssinia. 



Some authors imagine the agapx to have been, not a 

 commemoration of our Saviour, but a cuftom borrowed from 

 the Heathens : Mos -vera tile, iit refirunt, fays Sedulius, on 

 the xith chapter of the Epiftle to the Corinth, de Gent'di 

 adhuc Juperjlitione ■venieiat. And Faullus, the Manichee, is 



garden earth, and placed in a fliady fituation. In five weeks 

 the offsets will put off new roots ; and the pots ihould then 

 be removed to a more funny fituation, and have more water. 

 In September they will put out their flower ilalks, and toward 

 the end of the month the flowers will begin to open, and 

 fhould be removed under fhelter in bad weather, but in good 

 weather expofed to the free air. Toward the end of Oftober 

 they fhould be removed to the green-houfe and have the 

 benefit of free air, and be occafionally watered during winter 

 in mild weather, but in froft they fhould be kept dry. It 

 requires only proteftion from frofl: and moiilure ; and (hould 

 not therefore have any artificial wannth in winter, and in 

 fummer it fhould be placed in the open air. Martyn's Miller's 

 Diet. 



A.G &.ft.,'vfL Antiquity, fignifies an afternoon, or evening's 

 meal. 



AGAPET.^, in Ecclefiajlical Wijlory, a name given to 



reprefented, by St. Auguftine, as reproaching the Chriftians certain virgins and widows, who, in the ancient church, aflb- 



with converting the Heathen facrifices into agapEe : to which ciated themftlves with, and attended on ecclefiaftics, out of 



he replies, we do not borrow our love-feafts from the facri- a motive of piety and charity. 



fices of the Gentiles ; our love-feafts feed the poor. Cont. In the primitive days there were women inftituted dea- 



Fauft. Manich. 1. xx. c. 20. Some have thought that St. conesses; who, devoting themfelves to the fervice of the 



Paul fpeaks of the agapse, when he reproves the Corinthians church, took up their abode with the minifters, and afTifted 



for their diforderly praftice. I Cor. xi. 17, &c. Thefe agapas, them in their fundtions. 



as Chryfoftom, Theophylaft, Pelagius, Oecumenius, Sec. 

 imagined, immediately fucceeded the eucharift ; and at thefe 

 fcaits the diforders happened. Mr. Hallett {itb'i fupra) 

 contends, that they occurred in celebrating the eucharift; 

 itfelf. It may be obfer\'ed, that the Chriftians did not con- 

 fider the agaps as religious or divine inftitutions, like the 

 Lord's fupper. If they had, their councils would no more 

 have baniftied them out of the churches than the eucharifl 

 itfelf. 



AGAPANTHUS, (^w/t/T ayaxnV a^^c, pkafanlfoiver) 

 in Botany, a genus of the hexaridr'nt mono^^ynia clafs and order, 

 of the natural order of LUiiiceit, the Spathacea of I^innxus, and 



In the fervour of the primitive piety, there was nothing 

 fcandalous in thefe focieties ; but they afterwards degene- 

 rated into libertinifm : infomuch, that St. Jerom aflts, with 

 indignation, unde agapetarum pejlis in ecclejtas introiit ? This 

 gave occafion to councils to fupprefs them. — St. Athanafius 

 mentions a prieft, named Leontius, w-ho, to remove all oc- 

 cafion of fufpicion, offered to mutilate himfelf to preferve 

 his beloved companion. 



AGAPETUS, in Biogrjpb\', a deacon of the church of 

 Conftantinoplein the 6th centuiy, who addrefTedaletter,called 

 a-x'-'>'n /3x<riXix>i, Scheda Rfgia, to the emperor Juftinian, on the 

 duties of a prince, and thus obtained rank among the moit 



the Narcijft of Juffieu. Its characters are, that the calyx is judicious writers of the century. This letter was printed 

 a Spathe common gaping at the fide ; the corolla is one- at Baiil by Frobenius in 152 1, 8vo., and atCologn in 1604. 

 petalled, funnel-fhaped and regular; tube cornered, as if It is included in the Bibliotheca patrum. Mo(heim, Eccl. 



compofed of fix claws, the border fix-parted, with the parts 

 oblong and fpreading ; the ftamina are fix filaments inferted 

 into the throat, fhorter than the corolla, declinate ; the 

 anthers kidney-fhaped and incumbent ; the piltillum is a 

 fuperior germ, oblong, three-cornered : the flyle filiform, 

 of the length of the llamens and declinate ; the fligma fimple 

 or trifid ; the pericarpium is an oblong capfule, three-iided, 

 three-celled, three-valved : valves navicular, with contrary 

 diffepiment ; the feeds numerous, oblong, comprefTed and en- 

 larged with a membrane. There is one fpecies, viz. aga- 

 patuhus umbeUatus, the crinum ylfiicanum of Linnaeus, or 



3 



Hiil. V. ii. p. 120. Fabric. Bibl. Grcec. t. vi. p. 570. 



AcAPETt's, Pope, was a native Roman, and raifed to 

 the papal fee by the interefl of Theodotus, king of Italy, 

 in ^■i,^. This pope refilled the interference of the emperor 

 Juftinian, in ecclefiaftical concerns, alTerted the fupremacy 

 of the papal autlwrity in the church, and maintained its in- 

 dependence on the civil power. He was firm and refolute, 

 notwithftanding the threats of the emperor in oppofihg a 

 meafure which he difapproved, and boldly faid, " when I 

 came to Juftinian, I hoped to meet a Chriflian prince, but I 

 have found a Dioclefian." He died at Conllantinople in ^■^,6, 



aad 



