The bishops have nearly the same jurisdiction within their dioceses that the archbishops have in their provinces. All bishops have chancellors to assist them in holding their courts, and in other matters of ecclesiastical law. These, as well as all other ecclesiastical officers, must, if lay and unmarried, be doctors of civil law. They have also a certain number of chaplains-the archbishops eight, and the bishops six each.

"An archbishop or bishop is elected by the chapter of his cathedral church, by virtue of a licence from the Crown, termed a congé d'élire. Election used to be, in very early times, the usual mode of elevation to the episcopal chair throughout Christendom, and was made promiscuously by the laity as well as clergy. The confusion which in consequence ensued, and a wish, no doubt, to aggrandise their power, early led the sovereigns to take the appointment in some measure into their own hands, by reserving to themselves a right of confirming the election, and of granting investiture of the temporalties, which now began almost universally to be annexed to the spiritual dignities. Without this confirmation and investiture, the elected bishop could neither be consecrated nor receive any secular profits. This right

was acknowledged in the Emperor Charlemagne, in 773, by Pope Hadrian I. and the Council of Lateran; and is said to have been exercised by the kings of England as early as the Saxon times. In the course of time, however, the custom of making elections by the church having been fully established, the popes began to object to the method of granting these investitures, per annulum et baculum, that is, by the prince's delivering a ring and pastoral staff, or crosier; contending that this was an encroachment on the church's authority, and an attempt, by a delivery of these symbols, to confer a spiritual jurisdiction. Towards the close of the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII. published a bull of excommunication against all princes who should dare to confer investitures and all prelates who should venture to receive them. Long and eager were the contests occasioned by this famous claim. At length, when the Emperor Henry V. agreed to remove all suspicion of encroachment on the spiritual character, by conferring investitures for the future per sceptrum, and not per annulum et baculum, and when the Kings of France and England consented to alter the forms in their kingdoms, and receive only homage from the bishops for their temporalities, instead of investing them by the ring and crosier, the Court of Rome found it prudent to suspend for a while its other pretensions.

"This concession was obtained in England from Henry I. by Archbishop Anselm; but, about a century afterwards, John, in order to obtain the support of the pope against his discontented barons, consented to give up by charter, to all the monasteries and cathedrals in the kingdom, the free right of electing their prelates, whether abbots or bishops: reserving only to the Crown the custody of the temporalties during the vacancy; the form of granting a licence to elect (the origin of the present congé d'élire), on refusal whereof the electors might proceed without it; and the right of approbation afterwards was not to be denied without a reasonable and lawful cause, as is expressly stated in Magna Charta. But at the Reformation, the stat. 25 Henry VIII. c. 20. restored the ancient right of nomination to the

Crown; it being enacted, that at every avoidance of a bishopric, the King may send to the dean and chapter his usual licence to proceed to election, which is always to be accompanied with a letter missive from the King, containing the name of the person he would have them to elect; and if the dean and chapter delay the election above twelve days, the nomination is to devolve on the King, who may by letters patent appoint such person as he pleases. This election or nomination, if it be of a bishop, must be signified by the King's letters patent to the archbishop of the province; if it be of an archbishop, to the other archbishop and to two bishops, or to four bishops; requiring them to confirm, invest, and consecrate the person so elected, which they are bound to do immediately, without any application to the see of Rome." Certain forms are gone through at this election, but these are not of any general interest. After election and confirmation, the new bishop is invested with full power to exercise his spiritual jurisdiction; he is not, however, except in the case of translation from some other see, fully bishop until he has been consecrated—a ceremony, of which the form, with that observed at the ordination of priests and deacons, may be seen in the Book of Common Prayer. The oaths of allegiance and supremacy must, on the completion of the ceremony, be administered, together with an oath, in the case of a bishop, of obedience to the archbishop. Every newly-elected archbishop or bishop must do homage to the King before he is put in possession of the temporalties of his see or can sit in parliament.

Archbishoprics and bishoprics become void by death, by deprivation for any gross and notorious crime, and by resignation.

Magnitude and Emolument of Bishoprics.-The discrepancy that prevailed in ancient times in the size of bishoprics, though somewhat diminished by the erection of new ones at the Reformation, has always continued; and the inconveniences thence resulting have been greatly augmented by the wonderful increase that has taken place since 1760 in the population of certain districts compared with others. The fol lowing table gives a view of the population, parishes, &c., contained in each bishopric, as they existed on the 1st of May, 1831:

Benefices, Parishes, Churches and Chapels, and Population of the several Dioceses

in 1831.†

*Blackstone's Commentaries, book i. cap. 11.

This table is extracted from the Preliminary Remarks (p. 19) prefixed to the Census of 1831. It does not quite agree with the tables in the Report of the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Inquiry, but the discrepancies are immaterial.

The nett revenue of the different sees, as returned to the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Inquiry, at an average of the three years ending with 1831, amounted to 160,2927. a-year, distributed as follows:

Archbishop of Canterbury.
York

Bishopric of St. Asaph

6,301

Bangor

ventry Lincoln

3,923

4,542 13,929

It is seen from the last table that the revenues, as well as the territorial extent and population, of the different sees differed very widely; so much so, that while the Bishop of Durham had a nett revenue of from 18,000l. to 20,000l. a-year, the revenue of the see of Llandaff did not exceed from 900l. to 1,300l. a-year; and there are other instances in which the discrepancy is not much less striking. This difference was partly owing to circumstances connected with the original establishment of the various sees, and partly to the property attached to some having, from various causes, become in the course of time much more valuable than that attached to others.

But, however the inequalities referred to may have originated, it has long been felt that a new arrangement of the bishoprics, both as respects their territorial magnitude and their revenues, would be highly desirable; and such an arrangement is now in course of being effected. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners, appointed in 1834, recommended that two new bishoprics-those of Manchester and Ripon-should be formed in the principal manufacturing districts, chiefly out of territories included in the dioceses of York and Chester. They further recommended that, saving the rights of the (then) existing incumbents, the bishoprics of Gloucester and Bristol should be united, and the bishopric of Sodor and Man suppressed. The previous table shows, that at an average of the three years ending with 1831, the total nett revenue of the different sees amounted to 160,2921., giving, had it been equally divided, an annual income of 5,9251. to each see. But though the differences in the incomes of the various sees were then much too great, it is right that the revenues of archbishops should exceed those of bishops, and it may also be proper to make reasonable distinctions in the revenues of the latter. Such appears to have been the view of this matter taken by the commissioners; and they consequently recommended, that according as opportunity offered sundry deductions should be made from the revenues of the sees of Canterbury, York, London, Durham, Winchester, &c.; and that the surplus revenue so arising should be formed into a fund for the endowment of the two new bishoprics, and for raising the income of the poorer class of sees to

from 4,000l. to 5,000l. a-year. These recommendations have since been confirmed and carried out in all their essential particulars by the Act 6 and 7 Will. IV. c. 77, and by the Orders in Council issued under its authority. The income of the Bishop of Durham was reduced in 1836, on the death of Dr. Van Mildert, to 8,000l. a-year. In the course of the same year Ripon was formed into a bishopric. The sees of Gloucester and Bristol have also been united; and it is proposed to unite the sees of Bangor and St. Asaph on the occurrence of the first vacancy in either. The formation of the bishopric of Manchester is to be delayed till this last-mentioned event takes place, that the total number of bishoprics may not be increased. The result of these arrangements is exhibited in the following table:---

Account showing the Gross and Nett Revenue produced by the different Archbishoprics and Bishoprics of England and Wales in 1843; the Revenue that will be enjoyed by each Archbishop and Bishop under the Act 6 & 7 Will. IV., c. 77, when it takes effect; and the instances in which it has already (July, 1846), taken effect.

By far the largest part of the revenue of the bishops, as well as that of the deans and chapters (see post), is derived from land. The estates belonging to the church are mostly let on lives, on the system of fines. This makes the revenue of the different sees fluctuate from

year to year, according as a less or greater amount of fines is received, and has been a considerable difficulty in the way of the new arrangements. We have elsewhere pointed out the mischievous influence of the practice of letting land by fine. Indeed, the interests of the church, as well as those of the public, would be equally promoted by giving every facility to the conversion of leases for lives into leases for moderate terms of years at an equal rent.

Deans and Chapters.-The dean and chapter are usually said to be the council of the bishop. They form a body corporate, consisting of the dean, who is chief, and a certain number of canons or prebendaries, as the case may be. The possessions of the dean and chapter being, however, for the most part divided, the dean having a certain part in right of his deanery, and each of the prebendaries a certain part in right of their prebends, they form, in respect of their particular shares, corporations sole. The residue is held by the dean and chapter in their capacity of a corporation aggregate. In this capacity they also vote in the chapter. When the bishops dispersed the body of their clergy by appointing them to parochial cures, they appear to have reserved a college of priests or secular canons for their counsel and assistance, and for the constant celebration of divine offices in the mother or cathedral church; the principal of these obtained the name of decanus, or dean, probably, as Blackstone supposes, from his being at first appointed to superintend ten canons or prebendaries. By de grees, however, their dependence on the bishop became less and less, until the latter had little more power over them than the right of visitation, as at present, and even this in a very limited degree. The corporate character of the dean and chapter is of course derived from the Crown. Of the deans and chapters, some are said to be of old, some of new foundation. Deans of the old foundation come in by election of the chapter upon the King's congé d'élire, with the royal assent, and confirmation by the bishop, much in the same way as the bishops themselves; but, generally, deans of the new foundation come in by the King's letters patent, upon which they are instituted, and then installed upon a mandate, pursuant to such institution, and directed to the chapters. The chapter consists of canons, or prebendaries, sometimes appointed by the King, sometimes by the bishop, and sometimes elected by each other. The chapter, in a collegiate church, is more properly called a college, as at Westminster and Windsor, where there is no episcopal see. There may be a chapter without any dean, as the chapter of the collegiate church of Southwell; and grants by or to them are as effectual as other grants by dean and chapter. In the cathedral church of St. David's and Llandaff there are no deans, the bishop in each being the head of the chapter.

Every dean must be resident in his cathedral church four score and ten days, conjunctim or divisim, in every year, at the least; and must continue therein preaching the word of God, and keeping good hospitality, unless prevented by weighty and urgent causes, to be approved by the bishop, or in any other lawful sort dispensed with.

The estates and revenues belonging to some of the deans and chapters are very large. Thus the dean of Durham has a nett income, exclusive of the expense of servants, and of the establishment, of 4,8001.