527 
S A C R I 
SACRAME'NTAL, s. That which relates to a sacrament. 
_These words, cup and testament, •— be sacramentals. 
Morton's Discharge.— The fees of sacraments, sacramen¬ 
tals, diriges. Wharton. 
SACRAME'NTALLY, ado. After the manner of a sacra- 
meat.—The law of circumcision was meant by God sacra¬ 
mentally to impress the duty of strict purity. Hammond. 
SACRAMENTA'RIAN, s. One who differs in opinion, 
as to the sacraments, • from the Romish church 5 a name 
reproachfully applied by papists to protestants, and to the 
former by the Lutherans.—They resolved to accuse him 
[Cranmer] of being the head and protector of the sacramen- 
tarians. TindaPs Rapin. 
SACRAME'NTARY, s. {sacramentarium, low La!.] 
An ancient book of prayers and directions respecting sacra¬ 
ments. 
SACRAME'NTARY, adj. Of or belonging to sacramen- 
tarians. 
SACRAMENTO, a military post of the Spaniards in 
Mexico, in the province of Cohahuila, on the shore of the 
river Sabinas. It contains 60 families, including 50’soldiers 
with their families. 
SACRARIUM, among the Romans, a chapel in a pri¬ 
vate family. It differed from lararium , as being dedicated 
to some particular deify, and the lararium to the household 
gods in general. 
SACRATIF, a cape in the south-east of Spain, on the 
coast of Granada. Lat. 36. 41. N. longrS. 27. W. 
SACRE, or Saker, in Ornithology, the name of a species 
of falcon, called by authors Falco Sager ; which see. 
SA'CRED, adj. [sacre , Fr. sacer, Lat.] Immediately 
relating to God; holy. 
Wolves shall succeed for teachers, grievous wolves, 
Who all the sacred mysteries of Heaven 
To their own vile advantages shall turn. Milton. 
O’er its eastern gate was rais'd above 
A temple, sacred to the queen of love. Dry den. 
Relating to religion; scriptural.—Smit with the love of 
■sacred song. Milton.— Entitled to reverence. 
Poet and saint to thee alone were giy’n, 
The two most sacred names of earth and heav’n. Cowley. 
Inviolable. 
The honour’s sacred, which he talks on now, 
Supposing that I lackt it. Skakspeare. 
Secrets of marriage still are sacred held; 
Their sweet and bitter by the wise conceal’d. Dry den. 
SA'CREDLY, adv. Inviolably; religiously.—-WhenGod 
had manifested himself in the flesh, how sacredly did he pre¬ 
serve this privilege! South. 
SA'CREDNESS, s. The state of being sacred; sanctity. 
—-In the sanctuary the cloud, and the oracular answers, were 
prerogatives peculiar to the sacredness of the place. South. 
.—.This insinuates the sacredness of power, let the adminis¬ 
tration of it be what it will. L'Estrange. 
SACRI'FIC, adj. {sacrijicus, Lat.] Employed in sacri¬ 
fice. 
SACRI'FICABLE, adj. [from sacrijicor, Lat.] Capable 
of being offered in sacrifice. 
SACRFFICANT, s. One who offers a sacrifice. 
SACRI'FICATOR, s. {sacrificateur, Fr. from sacrijicor, 
Lat.] Sacrificer; offerer of sacrifice.-—Not only the subject 
of sacrifice is questionable, but also the sacrificator, which the 
picture makes to be Jepththa. Brown. 
SACRI'FICATORY, adj. {sacrijicatoire, Fr.] Offering 
sacrifice. Sherwood. 
To SA'CRIFICE, v. a. [sacrifier , Fr. sacrifice, Lat.] To 
offer to Heaven; to immolate as an atonement or propitia¬ 
tion: with to. 
This blood, like sacrificing Abel’s, cries 
To me for justice. " Shahspearc. 
F I C E. 
To destroy or give up for the sake of something else; with 
to .—The breach of this rule, To do as one would be done 
to, would be contrary to that interest men sacrifice to when 
they break it. Locke .—To destroy; to kill; to employ use¬ 
lessly. 
Condemn’d to sacrifice, his childish years 
To babbling ignorance, and to empty fears. Prior. 
The Phoenicians are usually held to have been the first 
authors of sacrifices; Porphyry, indeed, attributes the in¬ 
vention to the Egyptians; who, he says, first offered the 
first-fruits of their grounds to the gods; burning them upon 
an altar of turf. At length they came to bum perfumes; 
and, at last, he says, they sacrificed animals; observing, 
that they first ate some herbs or fruits regularly offered on 
the altars. He adds, that libations were very frequent, 
before the sacrifice of beasts was introduced. 
Ovid observes, that the very names victim and hostia im¬ 
port, that they were not slain till such time as victories were 
obtained over enemies; indeed, while men lived on herbs 
and pulse, it is no wonder they abstained from sacrifices of 
beasts; since the law of sacrifices required, that they should 
eat some part of them. In effect, it is supposed to be this 
that first introduced flesh as a food, and made man a car¬ 
nivorous animal. 
The truth is, in all antiquity, both sacred and profane, 
sacrifices were ordinarily nothing else but holy banquets. 
Macrobius tells us, that the Egyptians, long accustomed 
to bloodless sacrifices, being at length obliged to admit the 
worship of Serapis and Saturn, to whom victims were to be 
sacrificed, would not allow their temples to be built in the 
cities. These victims, however, or bloody sacrifices, at 
length obtained, in exclusion of almost all the rest: thq 
most usual of these among the ancients, were bulls, oxen, 
cows, sheep, and lambs, because these were the most ordi, 
nary food of man. 
The manner of sacrificing among the ancient Hebrews 
is amply described in the books of Moses. That in use 
among the Romans is as follows. In the choice of the 
victim, care was taken it were without blemish or imperfec¬ 
tion ; its tail not too small at the end; the tongue not black, 
nor the ears deft; and the bull, such as had never been 
yoked. The victim being pitched upon, they gilded his 
forehead and horns, especially if a bull, heifer, or cow. 
The head they also adorned with a woollen infula, whence 
hung two rows of chaplets with twisted ribbands; and on 
the middle of the body a kind of stole, pretty large, hung 
down on both sides: the lesser victims were only adorned 
with bundles of flowers and garlands, together with white 
tufts or wreaths. 
The victims, thus made ready, were brought before the 
altar: the lesser were not led in a string, but driven to the 
place: the greater were conducted in a halter: if they made 
any struggle, or refused to go, the resistance was taken for 
an ill augury, and the sacrifice was often set aside. The 
victim, thus brought before the altar, was examined very 
circumspectly, to see if there were no defect in it ; then the 
priest, being clad in his sacerdotal habit, and accompanied 
with the sacrifices and other attendants, and being washed 
and purified according to the ceremonies prescribed, began 
the sacrifice, with making a loud confession of his unwor¬ 
thiness, acknowledging himself guilty of divers sins; for 
which he begged pardon of the gods, hoping they would 
be pleased to grant his requests. The confessions were like 
those of the Hebrews; with this difference, that the Pagans 
confessed the. frailty of mankind, and owned their faults; 
the Jews confessed chiefly the greatness of God, accom¬ 
panying it with hymns and musical instruments. 
The confession being finished, the priest cried aloud. 
Hoc age! i. e. compose yourselves, and mind your busi¬ 
ness; and presently an usher, holding a rod in his hand, 
called commentaculum, went through the temple, and made 
all those withdraw who were not initiated into the mysteries 
of religion, or such as were excommunicated. 
Sacrifices among the Greeks were of four kinds; yiz. 
I. Free-will 
