542 
JEZIDXS, 
rets 111 nunnerieSj and of women in the abbeys of monks. The bishops, 
in the eighth and ninth centuries, generally presided at the ceremony 
of seclusion, which was as follows : “ The Anchorite was to be advised 
by the bishop, or some other priest, to examine his conscience, whe- 
ther he acted from piety, sincere or feigned ; and if the answer was 
favourable, the priest was, by order of the bishop, to shut him up. 
Provision was first to be made for his confession, and that, on the 
day preceding the ceremony, he received the refection of bread and 
water. On the night following, he passed devout vigils in the church 
nearest the hermitage. On the morrow, after an exhortation to the 
people and the Anchoret, the priest began a responsory ; and, upon 
the conclusion of it, prostrated himself, with his ministers, before the 
step of the altar, and said certain psalms. After these, the mass was 
celebrated in the neighbouring church, and au especial prayer said 
for the Anchoret. Afte the Gospel, he offered a taper, which was to 
burn upon the altar at the mass. The Anchoret then read the schedule 
of his profession, which consisted only of the vows of obedience, 
chastity, and steadfastness, at the step of the altar ; and, if he was a 
layman, the priest read it for him. He then made a sign of his inten- 
tion, and offered it upon the altar, kneeling. The priest consecrated 
the habit, and sprinkled that and the Anchoret with holy water. Then 
followed mass and litany ; after which they went in procession to the 
hermitage. The priest took him by the right hand, and led him to 
the house, which was then blessed, and shut from without. The 
priest, with the assistants, retired, leaving the Anchoret within, and 
advised the stauders-by to pray for him .” — Fosbrookes Monachism^ 
4to. 1817. . 
These cells, according to some rules, were to be only tw'elve feet 
square, of stone, and with three windows. The door was locked upon 
the Anchoret, and often walled up. One of the windows, when they 
were attached, as they now frequently were, to the building of an 
abbey or monastery, generally formed the choir, and through it the 
sacrament was received ; another was devoted to the reception of 
food ; and the third for lights, being made of horn or glass. Thus 
affixed, they were called anchor-hotels, anchor-houses, and destina, 
as that which is said to have been occupied by St. Dunstan at Glas- 
tonbury, and which, according to Osborn in his life of that monk, 
was not more than five feet long, two feet and a half broad, and barely 
the height of a man. Here it became a merit to invent ingenious self- 
torture. The recluse would in some cases vow eternal silence, and 
never see any individual of his own species, except the monk w'ho 
brought him his food ; he would wear old corslets of mail, chains, 
and heavy bracelets, and collars of iron round his neck, and immerge 
himself (as in the instance of the **holy and solitary” Wulfrie of Has- 
selborough, mentioned by Matthew Paris,) in a tub of cold water, at 
night, to say the psalter. 
Jezides, 
This term, among the Mahometans, is of similar import with heretics 
among Christians. The Jeasides are a numerous sect inhabiting Tur- 
