COP
C 3 2 3 )
for the Exhibition of Echpfcs, there is a peculiar Ap- LrttUS confiding of a terrcftrial Globe, fo difpofed, as that CL> tu'ro'd round its Axis, the Light of the Sun, or a Can- 5? is projected thro' a glafs Plane, marl ' '
C - Circles, exprefling Digits of the Eclipfe; and thus is Path of the Eclipfe, with its Degree or Quantity
COP
,rick Circles, exprefling^ Digits of th
ver v Part of its Path, agreeably and accurately represented. ' The Inllrument not being very common
, articular De- motion were fuperfluous. The Author has wrote a Volume
to exp' a ^ n '*•
COPHTI, or COPTI, a Name given to the Chriftians of ff»f«; who are of the Sect of Jacobines. Sec Jacobines.
"T he Criticks are extremely divided about the Origin and Orthography of the Word : fome write it Gophti, and others Qnphte, Cophtites, Copbtite.
Scdiger derives the Name Cophti from Copbt<e, an anrient- ly celebrated Town .of Egypt, the Metropolis of the T'bebaide. prchcr refutes this Opinion, and maintains, that the Word original 1 )' (ignifies cut, and circumcifed; and was given thefe People by the Mahometans, by way of Reproach, in regard of their Practice of Circumcifing : But P. Sollier, another Tefuit, tefutes this Opinion. Scaliger afterwards changed his Opinion, and deriv'd the Word from AmrnTOS, the an- ient Name of Egypt, by retrenching the firft Syllable : But this Opinion, too, <P. Sollier difputes. John de Leo and others fay, that the Egyptians antiently called their Country ficlnUh or Chibth, from Chibth their firft King, whence fyfhtite, &c. others fay from Cobtim fecond King of Egypt, ftmpb derives the Word Cophti from Copt Son of Mifraim, Grandfon of Noah.
All thefe Etymologies P. Sollier rejects, on this Principle, that were they true, all the Egyptians ought equally to be called Cophti; whereas, in effect, none but the Chriflians, and among thofe none but the Jacobines bear the Name; the Jtfelcbites not being comprehended under it.
Hence he chufes to derive the Word from the Name fa- aiite, by retrenching the firft Syllable 5 whence Cobite, Cob- la, Copia, and Cophta.
As to the Hierarchy of the Cophti, they have a Patriarch, who refides at Cairo, but takes his Title from Alexandria : He has no Archbifhop under him, but n or 12 Biftiops. The reft of the Clergy, whether Secular or Regular, is com- pos'd of the Orders of S. Anthony, S. 'Paul, and S. Maca- rius, who have each their Monafleries.
Eelidc the Order of Priefts, Deacons, and Subdeacons, the Cophti have likewife Lgonmenes, or Archimandrites, the Dignity whereof they confer with all the Prayers and Cere- monies of a ftrict Ordination.
This makes a confiderable Difference anion? the Priefts • and befules the Rank and Authority ir gives them with re- gard to the Religious, comprehends the Degree and Func- tions of Arch-Priefts. By a Cuftom of tfoo Years ftanding, if a Prieft clefled Bi/liop be not already Archimandrite, the Dignity muft be confer'd on him before Epifcopal Ordination.
The fecond Perfon among the Clergy, after the Pa- triarch, is the Titulat Patriarch of Jerufalem, who alfo re- ma it Cairo, by reafon of the few Cophti at Jerufalem ■ He is, in effect, little more than Bifliop of Cairo : only he goes to Jerufalem every Eafler, and vifits fome other Places m Takflitie near Egypt, which own his Jurifdiflion. To him belongs the Government of the Cophlic Church, during the Vacancy of the Patriarchal See.
To be elected Patriarch, 'tis neceffary the Perfon have l»ed all his Life in Continence; and even that he be a Jji'gm : 'Tis he confers the Biftiopricks. To be elected Bi- nop, the Perfon muft be in the Celibate; or, if he have been married, it muft not be above once.
The Priefts and inferior Miniiters are allow'd to be married etore Ordination; but arc not oblig'd to it, as Ludolphus ""takenly obferves. They have an Infinity of Deacons, and even confer the "=--=- '
Wives, and efpoufe others while the firft are living. -A, 1 hat they have fever , Sacraments, viz. Baptifm, the Eu- cnarift, Confirmation, Ordination, Faith, Faitino a „d Prav er 3d, That they deny the Holy Spirit to proceed from the Son. 4th, That rhey only allow of three Oecumenical Councils 5 that ot Nice, Confiantinople, and Ephefus ,rh That they only allow of one Nature, Will, and Action i ' -
— — ..^, „ IO Dignity frequently on Children. None "» the lowed Rank among the People commence Ecclefiaf- Ctej whence arifes that exceffive Ignorance found among J" : ct tlle Refpect of the Laity towards the Clerav is ,l 0; extraordinary. S '
Office is longer than the Roman Office, and never
which
changes i n any thing" They have three Liture ^J vary occasionally. &
t0 j , c Monaftick Life is of grear Efteem among the Cophti : Bilh ted!nt °!t » tller = is tequir'd the Content of the C| ,?!'• The Religious Cophti make a Vow of perpetual ritvi *5 'enounce the World, and live with great Aufte- and ,1 A"" ' The y are obli S' d ro " eo P in their Cloths Proline \r' ° n a Ma " ftretch ' d on thc Ground; and to Face- = 1 I, hemlcJv es every Evening 150 times, with their and W afl on the Ground. They are all, both Men
The v me "' oftne Scum of the People; and live on Alms. Widn,„ Unn , en " are properly Hofpitals; and few enter but
F R j toBeggarv.
'0 iLrif' 1 rc 'iuecs the Errors and Opinions of the Cophti tallowing Heads : ift, That they put away their
To the Practice of circumcifing th tifm, which has obtain'd among 'el
ii Jcfus 1 mi- xLuiiiauiLy wun the Ulvinity. Dilciptne, they may be reduced, firft
Chriil after the Union of the Humanity with the Divinity For their Errors : " ri:c:~u — -l 1 -
heir Children before Bap- g em from the Xllth Cen- j ry Vn I ordaining Deacons at five Years of A»e.
3d To their allowing of Marriage in the fecond Deoree. 4th, lo their forbearing to eat Blood : To which fome add their Belief of a Baptifin by Fire, which they confer by applying a hot Iron to their Forehead or Cheeks.
Others palliate thefe Errors, and Jhew that many of 'em are rather Abufes of particular Perfons, than Doflrines of the Sect. This feems to be the Cafe with regard to their Polygamy earing of Blood, marrying in the fecond Degree, and the Baptlfm of Fire : For Circumcifion, it is not prac- tis d as a Ceremony of Religion; nor as of any divine Ap- pointment, but merely as a Cultom which they derive from the IJhmachtes; and which, perhaps, may have had its Ori- gin from a View to Health and Decency in thofe hot Coun- tries. See Circumcision.
The Cophti in differenr Times, have made feveral Re- unions with the Latins; but always in Appearance only, and under fome Necefl.ty of their Affairs. In the Time of Pope Paul IV. a Syrian was difpatch'd to Rome from the Patri- arch of Alexandria, with Letters to that Pope; wherein he acknowledg d his Authority, and promis'd Obedience : deuring a Perlon might be difpatch'd to Alexandria, to treat about a Re-union of his Church to that at Rome : purfuant to which, Pius IV. Succefforto Paul, chofe V.Roderic. Jcluit, whom he difpatch'd in i 5 cri, in Qualit lical Nuntio.
Quality of Apofto-
But the Jefuit, upon a Conference with two Cophti depu- ted for that Purpofe by the Patriarch, was made to know, that, the Titles of Father of Fathers, Piflor of Paftors, and Mafter of all Churches, which the Patriarch had be- itow d on the Pope in his Letters, were mere Matters of Civility and Compliment; and that it was in this manner the Patriarch us'd to write to his Friends : They added, that fince the Council of Cbalcedon, and the Eilablifhment of different Patriarchs independent of one another; each was Chief and Mafter of his own Church. This was the Anfwer the Patriarch gave the Pope, after he had receiv'd a Sum of Money remitted to him from Rome, by the Hands of the Venetian Conful.
COPHTIC, or COPTIC Language, the Lrnguageof the Cophti. This is the antient Language of the Egyptians, mix'd with a great deal of Greek; the Charaflers it is written in being all Greek. See Cophti, and Language.
F. Kircber is the firft who publifh'd a Grammar and Vo- cabulary thereof. There is not known any Book extant in the Cophtw, except Tranflations of the Holy Scripture, or of Ecclefiaftic Offices; or others that have relation thereto, as Dictionaries, i$c. See Bible.
The antient Cophtic is now no longer found, but in their Books : The Language they now ufe throughout the Country is Arabic.
The old Cophtic, which Kircber maintains to be a Mo- ther Tongue, and independent of all others, has been much alter'd by the Greek : For befides that it retains all its Cha- racters, with a very little Variation, a great number of the Words arc pure Greek.
Voffius, indeed, afferts that there was no Cophtic Language till Egypt became fubjeft to the Arabs. The Language, ac- cording to him, is a Mixture of Greek and Arabic : the ve- ry Name thereof not being in the World till after the Arabs were Matters of the Country. But this, M. Simon obferves, proves nothing; except that what was antiently call'd Egyp- tian, has fince by the Arabs been call'd Cophtic, by a Cor- ruption of Speech. There are, 'tis true, Arabic Words in the Cophtic; yet this by no means proves but that there was a Language before that time, either Cophtic or Egyp- tian. Pietro de la Valle obferves, that the Cophti have'en- tircly loft their antient Tongue; that 'tis now no longer un- derftood among 'cm; that they have nothing extant there- in but fome iacred Books; and that ihey ftii'l fay Mafs in it, and fob hanno in effa alcuni libri facri, dicendo amor a la maffa in i/uella lingua.
All their other Books have been tranflated into the Arabic, which is their vulgar Tongue; which has occafion'd the Originals to be loll : 'Tis added, that they rehearfe the Epiitles and Gofpels in the Mafs twice; once in Arabic, and once in Cophlic.
Indeed, if we believe F. Vanfleb, the Cophti fay Mafs in Arabic, all but the Epirtles and Gofpels, which they re- hearfe both in that and Cophtic ■> La Maffa eclcbram in lin- gua
