Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. The new diocese of Ripon did not consequently add to the number of bishoprics. This bishopric is formed out of the dioceses of York and Chester. The same act also provided for the union of the dioceses of Bangor and St. Asaph, and on a vacancy Occurring in either of them a bishop of Manchester will be appointed. The diocese of Manchester will consist of the whole county of Lancaster except the Heanery of Furnes and Cartmel.

No change appears to have taken place n the distribution of Wales into four Dishoprics; those of Bangor and St. Asaph n North Wales, and of St. David's and Llandaff in South Wales. The bishoprics of Bangor and St. Asaph will be united whenever a vacancy occurs in either, pursuant to 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 77. In 1844 he government was defeated by 49 to 37, in the House of Lords, on a motion by Earl Powis, for repealing the clause n the above act which provides for the anion of the two sees. Bnt the previous necessary assent of the crown being reEused, the measure was withdrawn.

From the Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into The Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales, published in 1835, we abstract the following return of the reveques of the English sees. The bishoprics are arranged under the archbishoprics to which they respectively belong. For the number of benefices, population, &c. of Each see, see BENEFICE.

The other bishoprics are augmented by fixed contributions out of the revenues of the richer sees, so as to increase their average annual incomes to not less than 4000l. nor more than 5000l. The bishop of Sodor and Man has 2000l. a-year. The surplus revenues are paid into the hands of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and constitute what is called the Episcopal Fund; and every seven years, from Jan. 1, 1837, a new return is to be made by them of the revenues of all the bishoprics, and thereupon the scale of episcopal payments is to be revised, so as to preserve the scale fixed upon by the act. The first revision upon new returns of income for 1844 is now making or has just been completed. Provision was also made in this act for a more equal distribution of patronage among the several bishops, proportioned to the relative magnitude and importance of their respective dio

ceses.

The bishops of London, Durham, and Winchester, rank next to the archbishops; the others rank according to priority of consecration.

and the Isles, or Sodor, a see which was formerly within the superintendency of the bishop of Man.

At the Revolution the Presbyterian church of Scotland was acknowledged as the national church: but there is still an Episcopal church in Scotland, the members of which are there in the character of dissenters. The present sees are Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Dunkeld, Ross and Argyle, Glasgow and Brechin. In a letter addressed to the Bishop of Glasgow, dated Fulham, November 21, 1844, the Bishop of London strongly disclaimed jurisdiction over English clergymen officiating in Scotland, and recommended them to pay canonical obedience to the Scottish bishops within whose diocese they were officiating.

Before the passing of 3 & 4 Wm. IV. c. 37, and 4 & 5 Wm. IV. c. 90, there were four archbishoprics and eighteen bishoprics in the Protestant Church of Ireland. The four archiepiscopal provinces were subdivided into thirty-two dioceses, which had been consolidated into eighteen bishoprics at different epochs. At the time of passing the act, by which many were to be extinguished on the death of the existing bishop, there were in the province of

Armagh-Meath and Clonmacnoise, Clogher, Down and Connor, Kilmore, Dromore, Raphoe, and Derry.

Dublin-Kildare, Ossory, and Ferns and Leighlin.

Cashel Limerick, Cork and Waterford and Lismore, Cloyne, Killaloe and Kilfenora.

Ross, and

Tuam-Elphin, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh, and Killala and Achonry.

Of these, by the act above-mentioned, the archiepiscopal diocese of Tuam was to be united to that of Armagh, and that of Cashel to Dublin: but the two sup pressed archbishoprics were in future be bishoprics. The diocese of Dromor was to be united to that of Down an Comor; that of Raphoe to Derry Clogher to Armagh; Elphin to Kilmore Killala and Achonry to Tuam and Ar dagh; Clonfert and Kilmacduagh to Kil laloe and Kilfenora; Kildare to Dubli and Glandelagh; Leighlin and Ferns t Ossory; Waterford and Lismore t Cashel and Emly; Cork and Ross ↑ Cloyne. The diocese of Meath and Clot macnoise, and that of Limerick, remai unaltered. The archbishoprics were 1 be reduced to two, and the bishoprics 1 ten. At the present time (Jan. 154! the reductions contemplated by t act 3 & 4 Wm. IV. have been near completed, the number of archbisho being two, and the number of bisho twelve. In 1831 the income of t Irish archbishops and bishops was retur ed at 151,128/., and the income of t episcopal establishment, as it will existi future, will be 82,953l., being a saving, 68,1757. a-year; which fund is manage by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners ( Ireland, and must be dispensed for eccl siastical and educational purposes.

One archbishop and three bishops present the Irish Church in the House Lords. They are changed every sessiat and the system of rotation, by which sit in turn, is regulated by 3 Wm. IV c. 37 (§ 51). The two archbishops sit i each session alternately. The bishops Meath and Kildare take precedence all other bishops, and are privy ecar cillors in right of their sees: the rest tal precedence according to priority of con

secration.

The Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ire land consists of four archbishops a twenty-two bishops.

The bishopric of Man is traced to Ger manne, one of the companions of St. Pa trick, in the fifth century; but there ar many breaches in the series of bishop from that time to the present. bukur

which is supposed to be a Danish term for the Western Isles of Scotland, was under the same bishop till the reign of Richard II., when the Isle of Man having fallen under the English sovereignty, the Islands withdrew themselves, and had a bishop of their own. The nomination of the bishop was in the house of Stanley, earls of Derby, from whom it passed by an heiress to the Murrays, dukes of Athol. This bishopric was declared by an act of 33 Henry VIII. to be in the province of York. The act 6 & 7 Wm. IV. c. 77, actually united (prospectively) the bishopric of Sodor and Man to that of Carlisle; but by 1 Vict. c. 30, it is to continne an independent bishopric. The bishop of Sodor and Man does not sit in the House of Lords.

The Isle of Wight is part of the diocese of Winchester; the isles of Jersey and Guernsey, with the small islands adjacent, are also in the diocese of Winchester; the Scilly Isles are in the diocese of Exeter.

In the colonies, where there are churches dependent on the English episcopal church, bishops have been consecrated and appointed to the several places following: namely, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Toronto, Newfoundland, British Guiana, Jamaica, Barbadoes, Antigua, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Gibraltar, and New Brunswick. Several of these bishoprics have been created by letters patent, and their revenues and jurisdictions are regulated by acts of parliament; but others, as those of New Zealand, Tasmania, Antigua, Gibraltar, &c., are not of royal or parliamentary creation, but have been established by the archbishops and bishops, in concert with or by consent of the ministers of the crown. In 1841 a meeting was held of the archbishops and bishops of England and Ireland at Lambeth Palace, when it was agreed to undertake the charge of funds then raising for the endowment of bishoprics in the colonies, and to become responsible for their application. In no case do they proceed without the concurrence of the government. In 1841, in pursuance of this resolution, the bishopric of New Zealand was created; in 1842, the four bishoprics of Guiana, An

tigua, Gibraltar, and Tasmania; and in 1844, Newfoundland and New Brunswick. As funds for endowments are raised, bishops will be consecrated for the Cape of Good Hope, Ceylon, and next for Sierra Leone, South Australia, Western Australia, Port Phillip, and for Northern and Southern India. British colonies or dependencies which are not within any diocese are considered to be under the pastoral care of the Bishop of London.

There are thirty-two Roman Catholic archbishops, bishops, coadjutor bishops, and vicars-apostolic in the British Colonies. At Sydney, Quebec, and in Bengal, the Roman Catholic prelates are of the rank of archbishops.

The pope is the bishop of the Christian church of Rome, and claims to be the successor of St. Peter, of whom it is alleged that he was the first bishop of that church, and that to him there was a peculiar authority assigned, not only over all the inferior pastors or ministers of the church, but over the rest of the apostles, indicated to him by the delivery of the keys. The whole of this, the foundation of that superiority which the bishop of Rome has claimed over all other bishops, has furnished matter of endless controversy; and it does not appear that there is any sufficient historical authority for the allegation that St. Peter did act for any permanency as the bishop of that church, or for the six or seven persons named as successively bishops of that church after him. It seems more probable that the superiority enjoyed by that bishop at a very early period over other bishops (which was not universally acknowledged, and strenuously opposed by our own Welsh bishops) resulted from his position in the chief city of the world, and the opportunities which he enjoyed of constant access to those in whom the chief temporal authority was vested.

BLACK-MAIL is the name given to certain contributions formerly paid by landed proprietors and farmers in the neighbourhood of the Highlands of Scotland, of the English and Scottish border, and of other places subjected to the inroads of "Rievers," or persons who stole cattle on a large scale. It was paid sometimes to a neighbouring chief engaging

space of seven years complete, from and after the term of Whit-Sunday next to come; and for that effect, either to return the cattle so stolen from time to time, or otherwayes within six months after the theft committed, to make payment to the persons from whom they were stolen, of their true value, to be ascertained by the oaths of the owners, before any judge ordinary [sheriff]; providing always that intimation be made to the said James Graham, at his house in Correilet, or where he shall happen to reside for the time, of the number and marks of the cattle, sheep, or horses stolen, and that within forty-eight hours from the time that the proprietors thereof shall be able to prove by habile witnesses, or their own or their herd's oaths, that the cattle amissing were seen upon their usual pasture within the space of forty-eight hours previous o the intimation."

Within a very few years after the practice had been thus systematized, it was swept away by the proceedings following on the rebellion of 1745. Captain Burt, whose amusing Letters from a gentleman in the north of Scotland to his friend in London,' though bearing date in 1754, refer to a period immediately before the rebellion. Troops were stationed in the district to which he refers, the marauders were kept in check, and he describes the isolated acts of depredation then committed as requiring great caution and cunning, the cattle taken in the west being exchanged within the Highlands for those which might be captured towards the east, so that officers of the law, or others in search of them, might have to traverse a vast district of mountain-land before the stolen cattle they might be in search of could be identified (ii. p. 208, et seq.). In the Statistical Account already referred to there are many allusions to black-mail and the state of society co-existent with it, which seem to be founded on personal recollection. In the account of the parish of Fortingal in Perthshire there occurs the following sketch:-" Before the year 1745 Ranoch was in an uncivilized, barbarous state, under no check or restraint of laws. As an evidence of this, one of the principal proprietors never could be compelled to pay his debts. Two mes

sengers were sent from Perth to give him a charge of horning. He ordered a dozen of his retainers to bind them across two hand-barrows, and carry them in this state to the bridge of Cainachan, at nine miles distance. His property in particular was a nest of thieves. They laid the whole country, from Stirling to Coupar of Angus, under contribution, obliging the inhabitants to pay them black-meal, as it is called, to save their property from being plundered. This was the centre of this kind of traffic. In the months of September and October they gathered to the number of about 300, built temporary huts, drank whiskey all the time, settled accounts for stolen cattle, and received balances. Every man then bore arms. It would have required a regiment to have brought a thief from that country."

BLACK ROD, USHER OF THE, is an officer of the House of Lords. He is styled the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, and is appointed by letterspatent from the crown. His deputy is styled the yeoman usher. They are the official messengers of the Lords, and either the gentleman or yeoman usher summons the Commons to the House of Lords when the royal assent is given to bills. "He executes orders for the commitment of parties guilty of breaches of privilege and contempt, and assists at the introduction of peers and other ceremonies." (May's Parliament, p. 156.)

BLA'SPHEMY (in Greek Bλaopnula, blasphemia), a crime which is punished by the laws of most civilized nations, and which has been regarded of such enormity in many nations as to be punished with death. The word is Greek, but it has found its way into the English and several other modern languages, owing, it is supposed, to the want of native terms to express with precision and brevity the idea of which it is the representative. It is, properly speaking, an ecclesiastical term, most of which are Greek, as the term ecclesiastical itself, and the terms baptism, bible, and bishop. This has arisen out of the scriptures of the New Testament having been written in Greek, and those of the Old having in remote times been far better known in the Greek translation than in the original Hebrew.