PRESBYTER. A Greek word signifying an _Elder_. In the Christian Church a _presbyter_ or _elder_ is one who is ordained to a certain office, and authorized by his _quality_, not his _age_, to discharge the several duties of that office and station in which he is placed. In this large and extended sense, Bishops were sometimes called _presbyters_ in the New Testament, for the apostles themselves did not refuse the title. Priests are in an ordinary sense the presbyters of the Church, and in the Scotch Liturgy, compiled in the reign of Charles I, the word _presbyter_ is substituted for that of _priest_. (See _Orders_.) PRESBYTERIANS. A Protestant sect which maintains that there is no order in the Church superior to presbyters, and on that account has separated from the Catholic Church. This sect is established by law in Scotland, where there nevertheless exists a national branch of the Catholic Church, under canonical Bishops. Of course the establishment or disestablishment of a sect in no way alters its position as being, or not being, a branch of the Catholic Church. From time to time considerable secessions have occurred in Scotland from the Established Church, the principal being the "_United Presbyterian Church_," and the "_Free Church of Scotland_." English Presbyterians are not to be confounded with Scotch Presbyterians, the former being the main supporters of Socinianism and Rationalism in this country. The "_Presbyterian Church of England_" has 10 presbyteries, 275 congregations, 56,099 communicants. PRESENCE, REAL, _see_ Communion, Holy, part iv. The Homily on the Sacrament asserts, "Thus much we must be sure to hold, that in the Supper of the Lord there is no vain ceremony or bare sign, _no untrue figure of a thing absent_; but the communion of the body and blood of our Lord in a marvellous incorporation, which, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, is, through faith, wrought in the souls of the faithful." PRESENTATION. The offering of a clerk to the Bishop by the patron of a benefice, for institution. PRIEST, _see_ Presbyter, & Orders, Holy. PRIMATE. A "Primate" is the highest in rank in a National Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury is Primate of all England, but is without power in the province of York. The Archbishop of York is Primate of England. PROCESSION OF THE HOLY GHOST. The doctrine that the Holy Ghost _proceeds_ from the Father and the Son. It is an incomprehensible mystery, and in thinking of it we shall do well to remember the words of Gregory Nazianzen to an objector; "Do you tell me how the Father is unbegotten, and I will then attempt to tell you how the Son is begotten, and the Spirit proceeds." The Eastern or Greek Church (which see) split from the Western on this question of the procession of the Holy Ghost, believing that the eternal procession is from the Father alone, and not from the Son.