FIFTH MONARCHY MEN. Among the strange and whimsical forms of opinion which the religious and political fermentation of the 17th c. brought to the surface of society, and embodied in the shape of religious sects, were those of the Fifth Monarchy Men. The date which has been assigned to their first appearance is 1654.

Notwithstanding the ridicule with which they have often been overwhelmed, there seems nothing in their tenets more objectionable than we find in those of many of the other sects of the period, and there is no reason to believe that the practices of their leaders exceeded in absurdity, or equalled in impiety, those of Robbins, Reeve, Muggleton, and other apostles of the Ranters. In common with most persons who hold the literal interpretation of prophecy, they believed in the four great monarchies of Antichrist marked out by the prophet Daniel; and quite consistently with Christian orthodoxy, they added to them & fifth—viz., the kingdom of Christ on earth. So far, there was nothing peculiar in their views. But their error was twofold. 1st. They believed in the immediate, or at least in the proximate, advent of Christ (a tenet which was common to them with the early church); and 2d. They held that the fulfilment of God's promise to this effect must be realized by the forcible destruction of the kingdom of Antichrist. Every obstacle which opposed itself to the setting up the Messiah's throne was to be thrown down, and what these obstacles were was a question for the solution of which the only criterion which presented itself was their own fanatical prejudices and hatreds. It is obvious that such doctrines in such times must have given rise to practical as well as speculative disorder. The Fifth Monarchy Men became extinct as a sect shortly after the Restoration; a fact which, by depriving them of exponents of their own body, may have exposed them to misrepresentation (Marsden's History of the Later Puritans, p. 387). In politics, the Fifth Monarchy Men were republicans of the extremest section; and when their conspiracy to murder the Protector, and revolutionize the government, was discovered in 1657, their leaders, Vennar, Grey, Hopkins, &c., were imprisoned in the Gate House till after the Protector's death. Amongst their arms and ammunition which was seized, was found a standard exhibiting a lion couchant, supposed to represent the lion of the tribe of Judah, with the motto, 'Who will rouse him up?'—Neal's Puritans, vol. iv. p. 186. See also Carlyle's Cromwell's Letters and Speeches, vol. iii. p. 31.

PRI'VILEGE (Lat. privilegium, from privata lex, a private law), a special ordinance or regulation, in virtue of which an individual or a class enjoys certain immunities or rights from or beyond the common provisions of the general law of the community. It differs from a dispensation inasmuch as the latter merely relaxes the existing law for a particular case or cases, while the privilege is a permanent and general right. Of ancient and medieval legislation, the law of privilege formed an important branch; and, in truth, the condition of the so-called ' privileged classes ' was in all respects different, socially, civilly, and even religiously, from that of the non-privileged. In canon law, there were two privileges enjoyed by the clergy, which deserve especial notice from the frequency of the historical allusions to them—the ' privilege of the canon' (privilegium canonis) and the 'privilege of the forum,' privilegium fori). By the former, the person of the clergyman, of whatever degree, was protected from violence by the penalty of excommunication against the offender; by the latter—known in England as 'benefit of clergy'(q. v.)—the clergyman was exempted from the ordinary civil tribunals, and could only be tried in the ecclesiastical court. Most of the purely civil privileges are abolished throughout Europe by modern legislation.

A'ME'N, a Hebrew word of asservation, is equivalent to 'Yea,' ' Truly,' and has been commonly adopted in the forms of Chris­tian worship. In Jewish synagogues, the A. is pronounced by tilt congregation at the conclusion of the benediction given at part­ing. Among the early Christians, the prayer offered by the presbyter was concluded by the word A., uttered by the congregation, Mention is made of the practice in the 1st Epistle to the Corinthi­ans (xiv. 16). Justin Martyr is the earliest of the fathers who alludes to the use of the response. 'In speaking of the sacrament he says that, at the close of the benediction and prayer, all the assembly respond "A." According to Tertullian, none but to faithful were permitted to join in the response.' A somewhat noisy and irreverent practice prevailed in the celebration of the Lord's Supper until the 6th c., after which it was discontinued. 'Upon the reception both of the bread and of the wine, each per­son uttered a loud " A.; " and at the close of the consecration by the priest, all joined in shouting a loud " A." ' The same custom was observed at baptism, where the sponsors and witnesses responded vehemently. In the Greek Church, the A. was pronounced after the name of each person of the Trinity; and at the close of the baptismal formula, the people responded. At the conclusion Of prayer, it signifies (according to the English Church Catechism) So be it; after the repetition of the Creed, So is it.

PRI'VILEGE (Lat. privilegium, from privata lex, a private law), a special ordinance or regulation, in virtue of which an individual or a class enjoys certain immunities or rights from or beyond the common provisions of the general law of the community. It differs from a dispensation inasmuch as the latter merely relaxes the existing law for a particular case or cases, while the privilege is a permanent and general right. Of ancient and medieval legislation, the law of privilege formed an important branch; and, in truth, the condition of the so-called ' privileged classes ' was in all respects different, socially, civilly, and even religiously, from that of the non-privileged. In canon law, there were two privileges enjoyed by the clergy, which deserve especial notice from the frequency of the historical allusions to them—the ' privilege of the canon' (privilegium canonis) and the ' privilege of the forum,' privilegium fori). By the former, the person of the clergyman, of whatever degree, was protected from violence by the penalty of excommunication against the offender; by the latter—known in England as 'benefit of clergy'(q. v.)—the clergyman was exempted from the ordinary civil tribunals, and could only be tried in the ecclesiastical court. Most of the purely civil privileges are abolished throughout Europe by modern legislation.