^ ^' m^ L I B R,A R.Y OF THE U N I VERS ITY or ILLINOIS i C A R L I S L ^E. Pop. 37, 83 J. ^ C/f. ^^. > ^ Pop.2^.S30 o^ Ch 35. See pp. ^5',Jl9 1 ^v^^-^ v.^^^' \ V \ (^^'^ a5i^ 'Newcastle t ^ ) '' .<■'- '''' „5 u / m-' ^,..-;^''"<-^i Durha m \ \ DJU R H A M \ DURHAM ^ -^ ""■S:-. CO, / N. ■:* -■~~— ^'"^-^-Li.-.. EDKND % "n V ..^ ■1 , ! >:#t~i{' ,.J ' 1 li'^"' "\ '^' ¥ ' i! \ V ^ r-4 i ^ ^'-' / 't^-^^ "■ '^ Y O ] R K S H r^R 4 A --i;:;^ S/,/03. 20, 3^3. / 'l // 7/, ^^6. ^•'' / ^ Ch. //^. ; S " / \ ^ Rip on 1 f^ .^ 1 1 ^ nJ^li MANCH ESTER Pop. (in a// lancj67E,73/: ^ U Ch. /73. % V <^ WakefieldJ LIVERPOOL ^^ 5 C/f.30. "^ C Manchester.;;-; V ^^ -% ¥o. ^A '*V. NOT PUBLISHED. GROWTH OF THE IN ENGLAND AND WALES, DURING SEVENTEEN CENTURIES. Rev. Canon HUME, D.C.L., LL.D.; Vicar of Vaicxhnll, Liverpool ; atid Honorary Secretary of the Liverpool Bishopric Comviittee. I'RIXTED FOR THE LIVERPOOL CLERICAL SOCIETY, liEFORE WHOM IT WAS READ, JULY 5TII, 1S80. LI VERTOO L : THOMAS IJI^AKELL, PRINTER, 58, DALE STREET 1880. / PREFACE. It would have been unwise to print this paper just as it was written; for though a little time was conceded to me beyond the stipulated half-hour for reading it, the substance of it consisted of a series of alleged facts and dates, interspersed with a few inferences and arguments. I remembered a remark attributed to an eminent geometer, in reference to a Dictionary which he had read carefully through, — "it is very interesting, but it proves nothing." I have therefore added notes of various kinds, — some referring to autho- rities, and suggesting where further information on the subject may be found, and others offering brief explanations respecting persons, places, or things. Few have any idea of the numerous and varied modes of spelling proper names, by which different persons or places are often reckoned as one, or one as several. My own little monosyllabic name is printed in more than a dozen forms" ; and certain local names occur in the authorities to which I refer, in fully twenty! shapes. Often these variations occur during the many years in which a word is undergoing contraction | ; or in its passage from one language to another§ ; or from people of various languages duplicating the name|| or characteristic term unconsciously. The examples given below show that the process goes on, almost unnoticed, at the present day. In general I have given the modern form of a place-name, for the sake of identification ; but when it occurs in a quotation, I write it as I find it. Though I have taken great pains in the matter of dates, it is possible that among so many one or two may be slightly inaccurate ; and changes in dioceses sometimes occur with so little publicity that I may not in every instance have stated their area at the present time. * Horn, in early charters ; Home, the usual form in Scotland ; Hoorn, Hoome, Homn, HouDie, all more or less common in Scotch parish registers ; HiiDie the form used in Eng- land, Ireland, and Australia ; Humes, American, [many short surnames are pluralisedj ; Hivym, very old ; Hewnie, Hnyme, phonetic ; Hoivme, on the tomb of George H. Earl of Dunbar ; Hwime, Sir David Lindsay, Lord Lyon. t York is known as follows : — Eb(?racum, Ebwracum, Eboracrt, Eburaca, Aeferwic, Eaforvvic, Eferwic, Eoferwic, Eoferwic-cester, Eoferwic-ceaster, Eoforwic, Eoforv/ic-ceaster, Heoforwic, Eoverwic, Evervvich, Everwics, Everwic, Everwiz, Evoraca urbs, Ebrauc. Cair Ebroauc, Kair Ebrauc, &c. I Augusta-Taurinorum, Tiiriu; Amphilocian-Argos, Filoqiiia; Aberbrothwick, Arbi-oat/,- ; Borrowstoness, Bouess ; Brighthelmstone, Brighton; Cholmondeley, Chninley; Llanvair- pwllgwyn-gyllgoger-bwyll-dysilio-gogo, Lla7ivair-pwUg7vyn (Anglesea) ; San- Francisco, Frisco. g Ecclesia-Alba, Lat. ; Eglwys-Wen, IVel ; Blondeville, Noryn. ; Whitchurch. Schwartz- wald, Ger. ; Forel-Noir, Fr. ; the Black Forest. _ II Wand, [the water] ; Wands-beck, [the Wand water] ; Wnnds-hcck-ivntcr. Tor, [the hill] ; Tor-pen, [the Tor hill] ; Torpen-how [the Terpen hill] ; Torpeiihoivhill. TO ilje %otb liabop of Itiierpool, WHOSE DIOCESE IS THE MOST RECENTLY CONSTITUTED IN ENGLAND AND WALES ; AND WHO IS HIMSELF THE LAST ADDITION TO THE EPISCOPAL BENCH, THIS BRIEF RECORD IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE WRITER. ^rd September y \i CONTENTS. PAGE. I. Introduction 5 [Defisi/y of Population in-flitenci72g Coiiversions. ] - - 5 II. The British Church - - - 7 [Bishops zvithout Sees, and in sets of seven.'] - - - 11 III. From the rt'-introduction of Christianity to the Norman Conquest 14 [VarioJis uses of the tcnn '■'■ Province ''\'\ • - - - 20 IV. From the Conquest to the Reformation 20 [The Church before the Constitntion : assistance rendered by Clerics in the ivork of Government.] • - - 22 V. Sees founded at the Reformation ------ 24 [Additional Sees contemplated by Henry VIII.]- - - 26 VI. From the Reformation to our own time - - - - 26 VII. The last Half Century 27 [The Diocese of Chester, before and since its dismember- ment.]- ......... 29 VIII. Conclusion -^4 Appendix. Skeleton List, showing the Growth of the Epis- copate 36 'S . utuc : GROWTH OF THE EPISCOPATE DURING SEVENTEEN CENTURIES. I. — Introduction. So.ME months ago, when the question of a Bishop for Liverpool had been practically settled, it seemed to me that it would be of great interest to many, to possess a brief written account of the whole movement. It so happens that I have been connected with it, almost from the first dim suggestion to the present happy realization of the fact ; and therefore it has been suggested that I possess unusual facilities as well as perhaps certain qualifications for preparing such a record. I still promise myself the pleasure of executing this congenial task ; and perhaps I may have the additional one of laying the results before this Society. But, in the meanwhile, my inquiries have led me aside to a much larger subject; so that I here propose to trace from end to end a lengthened chain, of which we have just witnessed the forging of the last link. In reference to our own country, such an inquiry is very important ; for few are aware of the difficulties with which the Church has had to contend, especially in our own days, in securing the appointment of her own chief officers. "[It sometimes happens that the disseminators of new ideas find their labours crowned with success, among thinly scattered populations. Such was the case with Mahomet, who had often to deal with shepherds and camel-drivers ; while modern missions could furnish not a few examples of a similar kind, — as in New Zealand, the Isles of the Pacific, and South Patagonia. [But, whenever it is possible, it is more usual to place the Propagandist in the centre of a great town : to attack large * I have marked in this way a few passages illustrative of general principles, but not immediately or directly connected with the special subject of the Paper. 6 . masses of population : and thus to enable him to appeal to tens of thousands instead of to tens merely. These strongholds are usually won first, in part at least ; and they constitute the mission harvest-field. Some time after, converts are won from without, singly or in pairs ; and these constitute the ears which are gleaned after the principal reapers. [Thus, we read of the seven Churches of Asia, which were virtually seven Episcopal Cities; their " angels " were the seven Bishops ; while the people of the surrounding hamlets and rural habitations were called Pagani, that is to say originally only villagers or rustics. But the word came in time to have a secondary meaning," referring to the religion of these persons; and hence it is now nearly synonymous with heathen, f [There are numerous analogous facts among ourselves, illustrating and verifying these remarks; indeed they are found in every country in Europe. What, for example, is Suj^erstition, — known in our own day by the more pleasant and euphonious name of " Folk Lore," — but, as Whately says, "the worship of false Gods"? The traditions of Thor and Wodin and Friga survive among us, and certain ceremonies of their worship are still performed ; the Baal- fires are lighted at the Beltane or 30th of April ; and some of the practices connected with the moon are probably thousands of years old. All this takes place chiefly in remote and secluded country districts, far away from population and intelligence. With a large number of our common people, the law of cause and effect is quite unknown or systematically ignored ; though what is called a "law of nature" is only the will of God the creator, immediately and invariably exhibited in one way. A large amount of influence of every kind is attributed to immaterial agents or unseen creatures ; and to these, irrevocable fate is attributed on the one side, or luck — quite apart from Providence — on the other. 1 Now, at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, there were no large accumulations of Native population. The Roman soldiers settled at important points for military reasons, and gave * A change precisely similar, and in the same direction, has come over the word villain, which originally meant a farmer, but now a person deliberately and designedly wicked. t It is said that in the original copy of Heber's Missionary Hymn, he -wrote "the Pngau in his blindness," &c., and that the only alteration is the change of this word to " Heathen." The Germans use the word " Heathen" instead of our New-Testament term "Gentiles." names to such towns as have existed from that date ; but there must have been accumulations of booths and wicker huts" near those large encampments, and there was intercourse with the people in the duties of daily life, — such as bringing in provisions and performing acts of physical labour. Christianity was therefore introduced directly among the Roman soldiers,! and indirectly or secondarily among the Britons ; so that its progress was naturally small at first. One prominent reason of this was that the means of communication between various districts were then of a very limited character. II. — The British Church. A.D. i8o — 596; 416 Years. It is commonly said that Christianity was introduced into this country about 600, or more accurately in the year 596 of our era, by St. Augustine; and in a sense the statement is true. But, inasmuch as an ancient British Church had been known in the country for centuries, and as the idolatrous Saxons only partially destroyed it, it is clear that Augustine merely ;r-introduced Christianity, under circumstances favourable at the time. [In like manner, it is said, and with truth, that Columbus discovered America ; but we are now well aware that America had been known to Europeans for centuries before Columbus was born. They traded with it, lived in it, and travelled through the northern part of it. Some of the ancestors of persons now living — as well as of the late Thorwalsden, the sculptor — were born there ; and the history of the ante-Columbian events is carefully preserved in the Royal Museum, Copenhagen, and is now pretty well known. The more correct expression, therefore, is that Columbus r^-discovered America.] It is said that Lucius, one of the petty kings of South Britain, * Such were the pre-historic lake dwellings of Switzerland and other countries ; and such were the huts on the Irish "crannogues." But even so recently as 1655, Sir William Petty found no houses in the rural part of the large parish of Dromore, a bishop's see, " except removable creachts ; " [i.e., the walls constructed of posts and wattles.] + Gildas says (VI.) that after the death of Tiberius Caesar, the precepts of Christ were taught to the soldiers remaining in Britain. This fact may explain, in part at least, the desire of King Lucius to know more of the subject. 8 embraced Christianity about the year 179.''' This was more than four centuries before the arrival of Augustine ; and in the long interval, there were numerous Bishops, churches, and religious houses. Within thirty years of this date, the fact is noticed by an early Christian writer ; f and by several others afterwards. In 305, St. Alban was martyred at Verulam. :[ In 314, certain British Bishops were present at a Council held at Aries in France ;§ in 347, there were British Bishops at the Council of Sardica;|l in 359, some were present at a Council held at Ariminum (now Rimini) in Italy ; || and in 446, an important conference of British Bishops was held at Verulam, on the subject of Pelagianism. *Anno Incarnationis Dominicae, c.lxvii, Eleuther Romae Praesul factus, quindecem annos ecclesiam gloriosissime rexit ; cui litteras rex Britanniae Lucius mittens, ut Christianus efficeretur petiit, et impetravit. — Beda Hist. Eccles. Recapit. In his Clironicon, Bede gives the event under i8o ; and in his History I. 4, under 156: — " ab incarnatione Dom. centesimo quinquagesimo sexto." To this Nennius adds — "Lucius agnomina Lever-Ma7ir, id est ' magni splendoris,' propter fidem quae in ejus tempore vcnit." — In the Momanciita Historica Britannica, from which my quotations are made, the Snxoii Clironicle is translated. This part is as follows. "This year [a. d. 167] Eleutherius obtained the bishoprick of Rome, and held it in great glory for twelve years. To him Lucius, King of Britain, sent letters praying that he might be made a Christian ; and he fulfilled that he requested And they afterwards continued in the right faith till the time of Diocletian." N.B. — There is a difference of date (167 and 179), apparently caiised by confounding the year of the Pope's accession with the year of the application by Lucius ; and even the Saxon Chronicle, which is a compilation from previous Chronicles, differs from Bede as to the duration of the Pope's incumbency. t Tertullian says [a.d. 202]— In quem enim aliuni universae gentes crediderunt, nisi in Christum, qui jam venit? Cui enim etaliae gentes crediderunt ; et Galliaruni diver.sae nationes et Brittannorum, inaccessa Romanis loca Christo vero subdita. — Chrysostom, writing about 370, says: "And even the Bretannic isles, lying without this sea, and situated in the ocean itself, have felt the power of the word. For even there, churches and altars have been erected. Go where you will, to the Indians, to the Moors, to the Britons, to the whole habitable globe, you will find ' in the beginning was the Word' and a virtuous life." \ This was the persecution of Diocletian mentioned in a previous note, extending from 303 to the conversion of Constantine in 313, when in one month 17,000 Christians perished! " Haec persecutio tam crudelis et crebra flagrabat, ut intra unum mensem xvii millia martyrum pro Christo passa inveniantur. Nam et oceani limbum transgressa, Albanum, Aaron, et Julium Britanniae, cum aliis pluribus viris ac foeminis felici cruore damnabit." — Bede. In Chapter VII., he gives painful details of the martyrdom of Alban ; and he adds to the notice of Aaron and Julius, who were natives of Caerleon in the modern Monmouth- shire : "aliique utriusque sexus diversis in locis perplures, qui diversis cruciatibus torti et inaudita membrorum discerptione lacerati, animas ad supernae civitatis gaudia perfecto agone miserunt." "Per decern annos, incendiis ecclesiarum, proscriptionibus innocentum, caedibus martyrum, incessabiliter acta est." § Nomina episcoporum cum clericis suis qui ex Britannia ad Arelatensem synodum con- venerunt. Eborius episcopus, de civitate Eboracensi, provincia Britannia. Restitutus episcopus, de civitate Londinensi, provincia suprascripta. Adelfius episcopus, de civitate Colonia Londinensium : exinde Sacerdos presbyter, Arminius diaconus. Qu. in RIon, His. Brit., p. xcix. 11 Athanasius, who flourished about 350, says — " And thirdly, in the great synod at Sardice assembled by command of those most pious princes Constantius and Constans. In which our adversaries were overthrown as caluminators : whereas to the judgment on one side assented more than 300 Bishops, from the provinces of Egypt, Libya . . . Gaul, and BrUain.'' " And then contemplating the harmony and agreement between the bishops and Athanasius, — for there were more than 400 of them, from imperial Rome, and the whole of Italy . . . and from Gaul and Britain. This [faith] the fathers possessed who assembled at Nicea ; and to this assent all the surrounding churches which are in Spain, and Britain, and Gaul." 9 We have distinct historic testimony that a Bishop was placed at York in i8o, or exactly seventeen centuries ago ; and much about the same time, another existed at London. The latter and his successors have been styled Archbishops, in comparatively modern times; but London did not retain this rank. It was quite natural that two such prominent points as York and London should be laid hold of by the early Christians ; but the distinction between Bishop and Archbishop''' was not then very marked in this country. The first place that may be designated as a See was York ; but as it lay peculiarly exposed to the Saxons (just as it afterwards did to the Danes), Christianity was nearly blotted out for about 150 years.! It was subsequently restored, however, in 622; the jurisdiction of the See was extended ; and even in comparatively modern times, the authority of the Archbishop of York extended over a large portion of Scotland. I This was probably because the Kingdom of Northumbria had reached as far north as the Forth, including Edinburgh and the Lothians. The date of the first Bishop seated at London is not known with certainty ; but he and his successors held the foremost position in the south, as the Bishops of York did in the north. Of the former there were sixteen § ; but though their names have been preserved by Jocelyne of Furness, their respective dates of occupation are wanting. It is said that the first church erected in London was at the site of St. Peter's, Cornhill : by the assistance of a prominent officer of King Lucius ; though the cathedral or principal Church was on the site of the present St. Paul's. The story of this King, though * In the Saxon Chronicle, under the date 844, the Archbishop of Cantcrburj- is called a Bishop. " Tliis year Ceohioth was chosen bishop and ordained : and abbot Feologid [his pre- decessor at Canterbury] died." + Ruebant aedificia publica siinul et privata, passim saccrdotes inter altaria trucidabantur, praesules cnm populis, sine ullo respectu honoris ferro pariter et flammis absnmebantnr, nee erat qui crudeliter irteremptos sepulturae traderet. Itaqne nonulli de niiserandis reliquiis, in nKjntibus coiuprehensi acervatim juKulabantiir: nlii fame confecti proceduntes manus hostibus dabant, . . . aUi perstantes in patria trcpidi pani)erem vitam in montibus, sylvis, vel nipibus arduis, suspecta semper mente, agebant. — Bedr, Lib. I. 15. t York was the metropoUtan see of the Scottish bishops till the time of Archbishop Neville (1373 — 1387). After this date, the .Scotch had archbishops of their own — viz., at St. Andrews from 1466 to the Revolution, and at Glasgow from 1484. § In the Lists of Bishops given at the end of the Chronicle of Florence of Worcester [Florentius Wigomensis] the Diocese of which Loudon was the episcopal seat was called " East-Saxonia ; " — and no Bishop is recognised till we come to Miletus or Mellitus, appointed in 604 by Augustine. He became Archbishop of Canterbury (the next but one after Augustine) in 617. 10 recorded in detail by the early historians and chroniclers, has been questioned by modern writers ] * but there is no reason to doubt that Christianity was introduced in some such way. Also, Matthew of Westminster relates that during the lifetime of King Lucius, or before the year 200, there were twenty-eight Bishops at prominent points in England and Wales.! Further west, another chief seat of a Bishop was Caerleon on the Usk in Monmouthshire ; and here also the term Archbishop has been used by modern writers, though the Bishop was possibly only a Primus as in Scotland. The see was afterwards removed to Menavia, the most remote point of Pembrokeshire, where David was the first of a Hne of actual Archbishops in 577. This remained the Archiepiscopal See of Wales till 1147, when by the influence of Henry I. of England, it and its subordinate sees became united to the Province of Canterbury. But, though St. David's was the most prominent of the Welsh dioceses, it was not the earHest founded; for that of Bangor dates from 516. Its first Bishop was St. Daniel, to whom the Cathedral was dedicated ; but the record of its line of Bishops has been lost for a period of nearly 600 years. Again, the See of Llandaff was founded in 522, and that of St. Asaph in 583.1 Thus, every one of these sees was established long before the time of Augustine ; and Christianity had been widely spread throughout the country before even the first of them was founded. § * " We are not bound to credit the fable of the British liing Lucins, in the year 180, nor the still more apocryphal story of Donald, King of the Albanian Scots in 202, who are both said, of their own accord, to have solicited the Eoman Pontiff to send them Christian instruction and Baptism."— Torfrf's Life of St. Patrick, 266. In a note, Dr. Todd tries to show (1) that the name LuciLis is only a version of the name Llcufer Mawr, referred to by Nemiius ; (2) that the tale of Donald King of Scots is only a version of that of Lucius ; and (3) that there was no such king as Donald. He refers to "Kees's Welsh Saints," and to "Iimes's Civil and Eccles. Hist, of Scotland." + See an interesting Lecture delivered at King's College, London, by the Rev. Alfred Jones, B.D., then Sec. of the Soc. for the Increase of the Home Episcopate; now Vicar of Carrington, Cheshire — p. 3, n. X The Annales Cambriae, commencing a.d. 444, help ug very little as to great historical events. Their records are often of a very trifling kind, each contained in a single line. Thus, " 453 ; Pasca commutatur super diem Dominicum, cum Papa Leone cpiscopo Rome. 454 ; Brigida Sancta nascitur. 457; Sanctus Patricius ad Dominum migratur. 458; S.De-\vi [David] nascitur. 521 ; Sanctus Columcille nascitur. 562 ; Columcille in Brittaunia exiit. 607 ; Aidan map Gabran [i.e., filius Gawran] moritur." § Soon after the appointment of Augustine, two comacils were held, cliiefly to settle the minor points on which the British and Roman branches of the Church differed. The first assembled in 603, at a place called Augustine's Oak [Augustinaes ac, id est Robur Augustmi] , not identified, but probably near Canterbury. Nothing definite took place then, so a second council was held, to which Bedc says "venerunt septem Brittonum episcopi, et i)luros viri doctissimi, maxime de nobilissimo eorum monasterio quod vocatur lingua Anglorum Ban- cornaburg;" [f.e., Bangor Monachorum, or B. iscoed,— viz., B. in the wood.] Again they 11 The See of St. Asaph takes its name from its second Bishop ; for it was founded by Kentigern or Mungo of Glasgow, at l.lan- Elwy, a place which took its name from the river adjoining. [It is difficult to impress people of modern times with the idea that Episcopacy is not necessarily diocesan ; for one of our first ideas connected with a Bishop is that he has a definite Diocese. And yet it is undoubted that it existed in a non-diocesan condition for centuries in the British isles ; and that it does so exist among us at this moment ! Ireland, for example, was early converted to Christianity, and reckoned its numerous Bishops and presbyters before the arrival of Patrick about 432 ; yet it was not till seven hundred years after, or a century subsequent to our Norman conquest, that Archiepiscopal and Diocesan jurisdiction became established there. [Dr. Todd, in his valuable " Life and Times of St. Patrick," says : — " From the foregoing facts and anecdotes, no doubt can remain in the mind of any unprejudiced reader, that the normal state of Episcopacy in Ireland was as we have described, non-diocesan ; each bishop acting independently without any archiepiscopal jurisdiction, and either entirely independent, or subject only to the abbot of his monastery, or in the spirit of clanship to his chieftain. " One of the consequences of this system was necessarily a great multiplication of bishops. There was no restraint upon failed to agree ; and Augustine, irritated, is said to have used an expression half menace and half prophecy. But the extent of the British Chiu-ch may be guessed at from the fact that a single monastery had hundreds of its men massacred on a sohtary occasion in 607. Bede says " de his qui ad orandum vcncrmat, wos circiter mille ducentos, et solum quinquagiuta fuga esse lapsos." The numbers are given very diversely, but the monastery is said to have supported 2400 monks before Augustine's time, divided into seven sets. The Saxon Clironiclc coincides with Bede in the record, but says " sloh eac .cc. preosta " [perhaps the scribe omitted the letter M ; indeed there is e^•idence of an omission, in the point which occurs before the letters.] The translation is " This year Ceolwulf fought against the South-Saxons. And tliis year Aethel- frith led his army to fchester and there slew nmnberless Welshmen. And so was fulfilled the prophecy of Augustine wherein he saith : ' If the Welsh wiU not be at peace with us they shall perish at the hands of the Saxons.' There were slaia ? two hmidred priests who came to pray for the army of the Welsh ; their ealdor was ScromaU [Brocmail] , who with some fifty escaped thence." Bands that masses only sung, Weltering amid warriors slain, Bands that censers only swung, Spum'd by steeds with bloody mane, Met the northern bow and bUl, Slaughter'd do^vn by heathen blade, Heard the war-cry wild and shrill : Bangor's peaceful monks are laid : Woe to Brocmail's feeble hand, Words of partuig rest unspoke, Woe to Olfrid's bloody brand. Mass unsung and bread unbrokc; Woe to Saxon cruelty. For their souls for charity vilserere Doviine ! Sing miserere Doviine ! —Scott. WUliam of Malmesburj-, who wrote about 500 years after tliis event, describes the former greatness of the monastery and its desolation thcn^ — " tot semiruti parictcs ecclesiarum, tot anfractus porticum, tanta turba rudenim quantum ■six aUbi cemas." They must have been buildiugs of stone, probably erected after the date of this battle. 12 their being consecrated. Every man of eminence for piety or learning was advanced to the order of a bishop, as a sort of deg7'ee or mark of distinction. Many of these Uved as soUtaries or in monasteries. Many of them estabHshed schools for the practice of the religious life, and the cultivation of sacred learning, having no diocese, or fixed episcopal duties ; and many of them, influenced by missionary zeal, went forth to the Con- tinent, to Great Britain, or to other then heathen lands, to preach the gospel of Christ to the Gentiles." — p. 27. [Mochta, the abbot of Louth, is said to have supported at his rich monastery 300 Priests, 100 Bishops, and about 70 Singers ; all of them engaged in the cultivation of learning and piety, and few if any occupied in productive labour of any kind.''' It was not unusual for several Bishops to reside together, frequently seven ; and in a list of six such groups, there were three in which the whole seven were sons of one father. These facts, however, sink into insignificance beside that mentioned in the Litany of Angus the Culdee. So many as 141 places are enumerated where seven bishops had resided together ; and the local nomen- clature of the country is evidence that the occurrence was comparatively common, j [Also, religious houses were very numerous ; and in almost every one of them a Bishop was retained as a responsible and necessary officer, but subject to the abbot or head.|. A good deal of this is explained by the fact that the religious houses were virtually strongholds or castles, § capable of making a vigorous defence. They were surrounded by a barbarous people, sunk in a gross form of heathen idolatry; || and the more important of them became, almost as a matter of course, missionary colleges, and houses for useful learning. About the year 795, many of these were destroyed by the Northmen, commonly called Danes ; and hundreds of Bishops and Priests were thus scattered through the • TocliVs Lije of St. Patrick, p. 29. + Ibid, p. 35. t St. Columba was a presbyter only, though he trained and sent ont many bishops. The story is that he went to be consecrated, thinking that he might proceed from deacon to bishop per saltuni; but he was ordained priest as the intermediate step. At this he expressed great disappointment and some annoyance, and declared that in the circumstances he would never be a hishoTp.—Marti/roL of Christ. Ch., Dubn. (Irish Archl. Soc, 1844), p. liv. ; "Todd's St. Patrick," p. 71. " Columba, a mass-priest, came to the Picts and converted them to the faith of Christ ; they are dwellers by the northern mountams. And their King gave him the island which is called li. . . . Now in li there must ever be an abbot and not a bishop ; and all the Scottish bishops ought to be subject to him, because Columba was an abbot, not a bishop."' — Sax. Chron. [This occi\rs under a.d. 565; but appears to have been written long subsequently, as the word Scottish seems to mean Albanian or Caledonian.] § A very large number of the residences of the new proprietors in Ireland, especially in the 17th century, were called " castles " for a similar reason ; and they still retain the name. II Todd's Life of St. Patrick, p. 36. 13 countries of western Europe, knowing nothing whatever of terri- torial limits,]: but only preaching the riches of Christ. [Wandering far from their native country, without proper cre- dentials, and visiting as they did, on the one hand Iceland lying on the Polar circle, on the other various countries south of the Alps, it is not wonderful that sometimes their qualifications were called in question. In fact a class of persons arose called Episcopi vagantes or wandering Bishops, having no recognised sees or homes. At the Council of Magon in 585,! there were three such Bishops who subscribed the Acts ; and they had appeared previously at the Council of Antioch in 341. 1 Owing to circumstances of a somewhat similar kind, they were common on the Continent till 753, when the Council of Verneueil in France resolved that the ordination of Presbyters should not take place by wandering Bishops. The explanation is : — " On ne croyoit pas, sans doute, que ces eveques ambulans eussent re^u I'ordination episcopale, et qu' ils fuissent veritablement eveques." — Todd, p. 40, ;/.] Strange to say, our own country presents a series of facts somewhat similar. We have at this moment, in connexion with our own Church, about eleven ]: missionary bishops, scarcely one of whom can be said to have a Diocese, though he acts witliin a limited area. Sometimes a tribe, a language, or a dialect forms a more definite boundary for him than a river or a chain of moun- tains. In the abstract, it is no more necessary for a Bishoj) to have a diocese than for a Presbyter to have a parish. Regular diocesan jurisdiction came earlier in England than in either Scotland or Ireland ; partly no doubt because England was con- nected with Rome, during centuries that the two latter countries were spiritually independent, and maintained apostolic Christianity. A further illustration of Bishops without dioceses may be found in the case of our retired Colonial l^ishops, some of whom are not even beneficed incumbents in our parishes. I have purposely dwelt a little on the subject of the ancient British Church, because it is one imperfectly understood, and * ToAiVs Ufe of St. Patrick, p. 39. t Ibid, p. 4.5. : .Terusalem, Melauesia, Central Africa, Honolulu, Niger Region, Zululand, &c. 14 almost unnoticed in our popular histories. There was a difference of opinion between the ancient British Church and the one introduced by Augustine, on such petty subjects as the tonsure, and the mode of computing Easter. The British Church was therefore studiously ignored by the Latin branch ; and its Bishops rarely find a place in the records which have been handed down to us. Also with numerous Christian Bishops in the country, Augustine put them all aside, consecrating new Bishops, with the consent of the Pope,"' by the laying on of his own hands merely. We should not be surprised therefore that so little is known of Christianity in England previous to 600 ; the wonder rather is that so much is known. III. — From the re-introduction of Christianity to the Norman Conquest. A.D. 596—1066 ; 470 Years. Down to this date, we have noticed only six sees ; — viz., four in Wales, — and York and London in England. But from this date, they increase rapidly in number. The order thus far stands as follows: — (i) YoRK,t 180; (2) London,]: 180? (3) Bangor, 516; (4) Llandaff, 522; (5) St. David's, 577; (6) St. Asaph, 583. 7. Canterbury. § — One of the first converts of Augustine, after his arrival in 596, was Ethelbert, King of Kent, who showed him * Of nine questions which he wrote to the Pope soon after his arrival, No. 6 was whether a single bishop might consecrate, when through length of distance another could not easily reach him. Gregory's reply was— "Et quidem in Anglorum ecjlesia, in qua adlmc, soluft tu episcopus inveniris, ordinare episcopum non aliter nisi sine episcopis potes," &c.—Bede, I. 27. It is said that St. Patrick consecrated 365 bishops, pro^jrn's maiiibus. That the number was great there can be no doubt ; but he was probably assisted in many of the cases. Also, the figures quoted have too close a coincidence with the number of days in a year. t York was in the province called Deira, one of the two great divisions of Northumbria, whose southern boundaries were the Mersey and the Humber ; so that it included our six northern shires. " Vir Deo dilectus Paulinus, a Justo archiepiscopo missus, regem Northymbrorum Eadwinum, cum tota sua gente ad fidem Christi convertit, in Eboraco episcopali sede accepto " —Floren. Wigornen. Airp. There is reason to believe that it Avas made an archiepiscopal see long before Canterbury, and at the same time as London ; and the wooden church of St. Peter first erected, was soon afterwards replaced by one of stone. J: London was the centre of the East Saxon bishopric, a.d. 604, ordinavit Mellitum ad praedicandum provinciae Orientalium Saxonum, qui Tamensi fluvio dirimuntur a Cantia, et ipsi Orientali mari contigui, qi\orum metropolis Lviudonia civitas est. — Bcde, 11. 3. g Under the head of Cantia two bishoprics are given, viz., Durobernensis [Canterbury] and Pioifcnsis [Rochester] . We learn from Bede, 1. a5, that the King of Kent was very powerful, that his influence extended nt)rtliwards to the Humber, and that he had married a native of Gaiii who was already a Christian. This accounts largely for his land reception and generous treatment of Augustine and his followers. " Justnm vero in ipsa Cantia Aiigustinus episcopum ordinavit in civilate Dm-obrevi quam gens Anglormu a primario quondam illius qui dicebatur Hrof , Hrofaescaestrae cofjnominant." He gives its distance and direction frona Canterbury as nearly 24 miles to the west. 15 much kindness and exhibited great zeal for the new religion. Instead of remaining at London, therefore, Augustine set up his staff at Canterbury, which afterwards became the primatial See. London, however, though it sanlc from an Archdiocese, retained its Bishops ; and to this hour they take precedence of all others of their class, without regard to seniority of consecration. 8. Rochester." — Eight years after, or in 604,''' the Diocese of Rochester was cut off from Canterbury. It was for a long time very small, and perhaps still is so (though it has been re-arranged since 1874), and its Bishop appeared to be little more than a suffragan, or diocesan assistant, of Canterbury. He was called Chaplain to the Archbishop ; acted as his cross-bearer ; and for several centtiries, the Archbishop appointed to the See. The income was so small f that the Deanery of Westminster was held along with it for several years. 9. LiN^coLN.:[ — As Canterbury London and Rochester suppUed the spiritual organization in the south-eastern shires, so Lincoln was founded, in 625, for the benefit of some of the eastern and midland ones. It comprised at first an enormous area ; so that when the three dioceses of Ely, Oxford and Peterborough had been cut off from it, it was still the largest in England. It was constituted originally by the union of smaller ones ; viz., Dor- chester in Oxfordshire, whose list contains the names of the two alleged bishops of Leicester, founded 625, and Sidnaceaster, supposed to be Stov/ near Gainsborough, founded in 678. These two sees were united in 949 ; and the joint see was transferred to Lincoln in 1070. * See note to Canterbury on opposite page. + "In 1835, the see of Durham possessed £30,000 a-year, and that of Rochester only about £700; and witli s/ich differences in remuneration, translations were frequent to an extent wliolly unl:nown in oiur days." ; Lincoln represents in the roll of Fior. Wigorn. the two extensive districts of Midanc.i.ia and Lixnissis, tlie inhabitants of whicli are called Lindisfari, — not to be confounded v.ith the people of Lindisfarnc. Midanglia contained bishops of Leopraccastre (Leicester), of whom there appear to have been only two [see Wincliesterl ; of Dorchester in Oxfordshire, a»id after .vards of Sidnacestcr and Dorchester when united. Lindissis or Lindsey in Lincohi is spoken of in connexion v/ith Sidnacester, but no such name as the latter now exists. It may however be identified v.-ith Htow ; and the bishop (if NottJu<,'ham, archdeacon Trollope, agrees with this. The editor of the Mon. Hin. Brit, gives its site in oJie of his notes as " propc (Tainsborough." The Saxon Chronicle, naming Eadlicd, a bishop of Sidna- cestcr in 678, says : " He was consecrated bishop over the men of Lindsey ; he was the lirst of the bishops of Lindsey." The first tv.o bishops of Dorchester appear to have been included in Wessex ; for they are given under Winchester. 16 10. Norwich." — Norwich, which came next, was in like manner composed of an aggregation of small dioceses. Thus, from 630 there were four successive Bishops of the East Angles, who formed one of the kingdoms of the Heptarchy or Octarchy.! It was co-extensive with Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge. In 673 two sees were substituted for this, viz., Elmham North in Norfolk, and Dunwich on the coast of Suffolk. The latter was then a large town, but it has since been nearly all washed away by the sea. In 955 the two were united ; and in 1091 the joint see was transferred to Norwich. 11. Durham.! — In 635, the North of England was better pro- vided for episcopally by the foundation of a see at Lindisfarne, or Holy Isle, on the coast of Northumberland ; and this was removed to Durham in 990. In the same neighbourhood, there was a county palatine called Hexham, which had a Bishop of its own from 678 to 810. At the latter date, the see was transferred to York, but in 1836 it was given to Durham. The county palatine became part of Northumberland. The Bishop of Durham takes precedence, next after the Bishop of London. * Florence of Worcester says that the first bishop of East Aiiglia had his seat at Dunwich, " in civitate Dommocensi ; " and adds " postea East Angha in duas parochias dividitur." " Domnoc hodie ' Dunwich ' jam mari obruta." — Note by Ed. For a brief account of Dunwich past and present, see Hume's Ancient Meols, pp. 381 — 386. + Heptarchy is the more common term, but Octarchy the more correct one. The little kingdoms varied in number at different times ; but Northumbria originally consisted of two — Deira and Bernicia. :; Several of the early bishops were "Scots," i.e., Irish; for until the twelfth century the name Scotia refen-ed to Hibernia, not to Caledonia. " Venerunt Scotti a partibus Hispaniae ad Hijbcriiiam." — Nennius, VI. In later times, Ireland was styled for distinction, Scotia major, or vetiin, or ulterior, or insula. — Todd, p. 41, n. Insula Lindisf . accedente ac recedente The tide did now its flood mark gain, reumate bis quotidie, instar insulae maris And girdled in the saint's domain; circumluitur undis, bis renudato littore con- For with the flow and ebb, the stile tiguus terrae redditur.— Bi-^/f, III. 3. Varies from continent to isle : Dry-shod o'er sands, twice every day The pilgrims to the shrine find way ; Twice every day the waves efface Of staves and sandalled feet the trace. — Scott. " Marmion," ii. 9. It was considered that the bishops were not sufficiently distributed, owing to the difficulty and danger of communication ; so an " episcopus Eipensium " [Ripon] was appointed, but only one. Hexham was selected as a more suitable point, and we read of it from 081. " This year Trumljright was conse'jrated bishop of Hexliam and Trsimwine of the Picts."'Sax. Chron. The southern Picts resided in the kingdoms of Strathclyde and tialloway, and the seat of the bishopric was at Wliithern, on the south coast of Wigtonshire. It was so called from a white stone church which bishop Ninian had erected there about 420. [See note under CarUsle.] Seven bishops of Whitheru, " iu Terra Pictorum Gentis," are given along with the EngUsh lists. The bishops were consecrated at York. [The northern Picts occupying the Highlands were abmidantly supplied with clergy from Columba's college of Hi (lona) ; and the Scandinavian settlers in the Orkney and Shetland Islands and those along the north coast, were Christians also. Macbeth, an able and a pious king, — cruelly misrepresented by Shakspeare, — though of the Celtic royal line, co-operated with them against the Saxons.] 17 12. Winchester/'^ — The see of Winchester virtually represents the kingdom of Wessex ; and dates from 636. It is so large that it is currently said to reach " from London Bridge to the coast of France," as it includes the Channel Islands. Its Bishop, who is Prelate of the order of the Garter, takes precedence next after the Bishop of Durham ; also London, Durham and Winchester are per- manently represented in the House of Lords, not in rotation merely. 13. Lichfield. t — Twenty years after, or in 656, Lichfield was founded. Though it had till lately a double name, Lichfield and Coventry, yet (like Bath and Wells) it was always a single diocese. It represented, in a general way, the large central kingdom of Mercia ; and during the reign of King Offa, but only till his death, it was recognised as an Archiepiscopal see. In the year 1075, the 34th Bishop removed the see to Chester, and his immediate successor removed it to Coventry in 1102. In those days, many of the towns were small and little known ; and it was important to place the see at an influential centre. It was restored to Lichfield in 1130, but called Lichfield and Coventry. In 1837, when the Archdeaconry of Coventry was given to Worcester, the latter term was dropped from the title. 14. Worcester. t — The diocese of Worcester comes next in order. It was founded in 679 by another King of the Mercians ; and was taken from that of Lichfield. It comprises nearly the whole of the counties of Warwick and Worcester, and a small portion of Shropshire. * Florence of W'orcester's Chronicle, which closes before the Normau Conquest, Rives us a picture of what this diocese once was. The kingdom of Wkssex, originally confined to Hants, he says, then contained Smrey, Berks, Hants, WUts, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, — seven counties! And -within it there were six bishops' sees, or five with Wmchester itself. Thus (1) Dorchester in Oxfordshire is emunerated with it (see Lincoln), but only during the occupancy of two bishops ; (2) Wilton and (3) Sherborne, united afterwards to form the diocese of Salisbury (which see) ; (4) Fontanensis [Wells] , now in the diocese of Bath ; and (5) Creditonensis [Crediton] , for which see Exeter. + " Diuma factus est primus episcopus Merciorum, Mediterraneonun Anglonim, LindLs- farorum, contiguarumque pro\inciamm.'" — Flor. Wiij. Tlie first four bishops appear to have been ephcopi vafjanten, but the fifth was Ccadda or St. Chad, who fixed the see at Lichfield. The seal of the see of Lichfield consists of a St. Cliad's cross. (For a description, see " Glossary of Heraldry ; " Parker, Oxford. 1847.) After five years he was translated to York ; and several churches in the ancient Mercia and Northumbria bear his name. The chapel at Kirkby in thi.s neighbourhood is dedicated to St. Chad ; also St. Chad's [Tushingham] and Chad-Kirk, both in Cheshire ; while Chat Moss near Manchester is said to bear his name. + In part of the district called Hwiccia. Florence is very eloquent m dcscribLng the city with which his name is associated ; but his remarks are not of great weight. He concludes by saying, " Ordmatus est episcopus habens episcopalem sedem in prcdicta ci%-itatc Wigorna, quam tunc temporis altis muris ac moenibus pulchris decorata multis urbibus clarior exitit atque Bublimior." B 18 15- Hereford.'-'' — The diocese of Hereford is said to have been founded in 680 ; but it really existed in the time of the Britons, and was subject to the metropolitan see of St. David. When the country was conquered by the English it became subject to the Archiepiscopal see of Canterbury. It lies partly in England properf and partly in Wales; and the population, which is small, is mostly rural. 16. Chichester. I — About the same date Chichester was founded, chiefly owing to the preaching of \Vilfrid, Archbishop of York, who had been driven out by the King of Northumbria. His first seat was in Selsey Island at the extreme south, but the see was removed to Chichester in 1082. The city and hence the diocese, took its name from Cissa, the second King of the South Saxons. 17. Salisbury. § — Salisbury is another union of minor dioceses. The first was Sherborne in Dorsetshire, founded in 705, with a jurisdiction as large as that of four modern dioceses. The second see w^as founded at Wilton in Wiltshire in 906 ; and the two were united and removed to Salisbury in 1046. For a short time the see was situated at the adjoining hill of Old Sarum : probably selected on account of its strength. It comprises Dorset and a great part of Wiltshire. 18. Exeter. § — The history of the Diocese of Exeter is some- what peculiar, as it illustrates both union and separation. In 860 the Diocese of Cornwall || was founded, with Bodmin for its centre ; and in 905 that of Devon, of which Crediton was the principal * No explanation is given by Florence respecting Hereford. It is simply said to be in the district Hecana, and the people are called Magcsetentians or Herefordensians. Now the former word appears to be, in part at least, equivalent to Hwiccii, so that the people seem to have commingled with those of the diocese of Worcester. f In the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries for the present year, there are two brief communications from W. De Gray Bircli, Esq., on Jan. 15th ; and from H. C. Coote, Esq., on Feb. 19th. The former, from an unpublished Saxon charter m the possession of the Dean and Chapter of Wells, identifies the Hwiccas, who had a Eegulus or minor liing of their own, Avith the people of Worcestershire ; and the latter shows that the Magesetas Uved in Herefordslm-c. The charter is interesting in connexion with this subject, as it is signed by the bishops of Lichfield, Dorchester, Lindsey [Sidnaceaster] , Worcester, Hereford, and another who cannot be identified. I Wilfrid, like many early bishops, had no fixed habitation, but the abbot of Selsey succeeded him, and thus the see was fixed there. Stigand, however, in 1082, " de Saeleseia ad Cicestriam mutavit episcopalem sedem." Wilfrid is said to have converted also the people of the Isle of Wight, now in the diocese of Winchester. § See Winchester. li The people of Cornwall were called the West-Welsh, their language till lately being a dialect of the Cambrian or Armorican. 19 town. After the death of the thirteenth Bishop of Cornwall, the two sees were united; and in 1050 the joint see was removed to Exeter. They have again been separated, though neither of the old names has been retained. Since 1877, the county of Devon has constituted the Diocese of Exeter, and Cornwall the Diocese of Truro. 19. Bath and Wells. — A Church existed at Wells so early as 704, but the Bishopric of Wells was not founded till 905.''' I1ie see was transferred from Wells to Bath in 1088; and a dispute respecting the name of the diocese arose between the two cities. This was arranged about 1 150, by the Bishop decreeing that hence- forth the names of both places should be used in the title, that of Bath having the precedence. But, by an Act 35 Henry VIII., the dean and chapter of Wells make one sole chapter for the Bishop. It will thus be seen that down to the time of the Conquest, — a period of 886 years in all, — 19 Bishoprics had been founded in South Britain, or in England and Wales. This was not done all at once, but by a series of gradual steps; and the interval between any two averaged nearly 48 years, — say half a century. Of these, six were founded by the Britons alone ; and thirteen after the ^^-introduction of Christianity in 596. Also, four of them are in Wales and fifteen in England proper ; but while Wales did not add a single see to the present hour,— indeed, about 1836, had nearly seen two of her four united, — all the recent increase for 814 years, and even till now, has been in England. Further, seventeen of these dioceses are in the Southern province, Canterbury, and only two in the Northern, York. Hence, from the foundation of Durham to that of Chester (635 to 1541) — a period of more than nine centuries, — there were only two actual dioceses in the north of England. The existence of Hexham was temporary merely; and Carlisle, as we shall see, was exceptional. Also, Chester was originally in the Province of Canterbury ! * See Winchester. B2 [It may not be out of place to add a few sentences in explanation of the term " Province." [In England, it is used only in an ecclesiastical sense ; whereas in France it is used only in a civil sense, — or as denoting the great sections of country, each equivalent to one or several of the modern "Departments" (acquired by conquest, purchase, inter- marriage, inheritance, or otherwise), which when united constituted the kingdom. In Ireland, the word is used in both senses ; for each of the present four provinces was a kingdom, and still retained its own Archbishop till after 1833. Meath is in some respects peculiar. In the eleventh century it also had a king ; and he was the chief or lord paramount, taking precedence of the other four, and receiving tribute from them. His kingdom appears to have been a quasi province also ; for though the prelates are called Bishops only, the Bishop of Meath is styled " Most Revd.," and takes rank next after the two Archbishops.'''] IV. — From the Conquest to the Reformation. 1066 — 1 5 17 ; 451 Years. It has been estimated that at the Conquest the entire population of England and Wales did not exceed a million and a quarter, — or about as many souls as are comprised in the little Diocese of Liverpool. If we suppose the dioceses to have been, as a whole, twice as populous in England as in Wales, w^e have an average of about 70,600 for each of the former and 35,300 for each of the latter. And this, it will be observed, was the provision made by our ancestors, in what we may truly call the "dark ages." At the period of the Reformation, the population had risen to 4,000,000, or had more than trebled; and it is interesting to see what provision was made for this large increase. Apparently tw^o new dioceses were added, but in reality only one. * Previous to the formation of regular dioceses, there were bishops at Clouard, Duleek, Kells, Trim, Ardbraccan, Duushaughhu, Slaiie, &c., all in Meath. — Ahhe Mac-Oeohegan, Christn. Ireld., e. x. — Meath contained several small bishops' sees, namely Clonard, Duleek, Ardbraccan, Trim, Kells, Slaue, Dunshaughlin, and Killskyre in East Meath ; with Fore and Uisneagh or Killere in Westmeath. All these sees were consolidated ui the twelfth century, and formed into the diocese of Meath. In the year 1568, the ancient see of Clonmacnois, in Westmeath and King's County, was annexed to the diocese of Meath. The ancient sec of Liisk, which lay in the Kingdom of Meath, was united to the diocese of Dubhu. — Note by Dr. MacDermott, in the Annals of the Four Masters. 21 20. Ely. — In tlie year 1109, King Henry I. founded the Diocese of Ely, which was taken ahiiost entirely from that of Lincoln. There had been a large religious house here for women from an early period ; but it was destroyed by the Danes. It was rebuilt, and took the form of a monastery, on which many privileges were conferred by successive princes. There were therefore certain facilities for the establishment of a see. 21. Carlisle. — In 1133, the See of Carlisle was founded by Henry I., and consisted of territory which became for the first time part of England in 1092. William Rufus drove out Dolphin, grandson of the great Earl Cospatrick." This little diocese had formed part of the Scottish kingdom of Strathclyde; and was under the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Whithern or Whithorn in Galloway, t He also attended to it, when David of Scotland wrested it for a time from King Stephen. It was therefore not so much an addition to the others, as a special provision for new population. In 1703, when Bishop Nicholson made his primary visitation, it had only 106 churches. Most of the "benefices" were wretchedly poor. It now contains 155 benefices in the old (Scottish) portion, and 138 in that which was added in 1856 from the Diocese of Chester. ]: We thus arrive at the number of 21 Bishops, including Carlisle ; but it is obvious that their work at the e7id of the period which we have been considering was very different from what it had been at the beginning. Every 100 people had become 320, and new homes had been found in distant and sometimes almost inaccessible portions of the country. K practice then existed, however, very little known in our days, though recently revived : that of having suffragan or assistant Bishops in large or populous dioceses. Of these, there was a regular succession during several generations ; and greater facilities were afforded for appointing * From him are descended the Earls of Northumberland, Dunbar, March, Moray, Home, Marchmont, Dunbar, and Zetland; Viscount Melville; Barous Hume of Berwick, Polwarth, and Dundas. + Qui locus ad provinciara Bernieiorum pertinens, vnilgo vocatur ' Ad Candidam casam ' eo quod ibi ecclesiam de lapide insolito Brittonibus more fecerit. — Bede. [See Note, p. 16.] X I am indebted to Mr. Moiuisey the Diocesan Registrar, and also to Mr. B. S. Ferguson, F.S.A., editor of Bishoi) Nicholson's Primary Msitation, for some interesting information on the general subject. 22 them, by the Act 26 Henry VIII, c. 14. This is the Act which has been in abeyance ahiiost since the time of the Reformation ; but which was revived in 1869, with the hearty concurrence of Mr. Gladstone, then as now Prime Minister. [Perhaps I may be allowed to state a few words here, not directly bearing upon the subject, and yet of great importance. There is a large class of people who cannot or will not look beyond the facts of their own times, and who know the power and influence of our modern Parliament. It is a favourite statement with these that the Church was created by the State ; and that therefore the latter can unmake that which it has previously made. The answer is that the premises are false and the conclusion cannot be true ; indeed the assertion is as nearly as possible the antipodes of truth. The Church existed before England was a nation, and many centuries before we heard of the "United Kingdom." Most of the early Dioceses were founded by independent sovereigns; and in more recent times, when nominally founded by Kings of England, other ecclesiastical funds were alienated for their endowment. The Church existed when there were eight kingdoms in England and three principalities in Wales ; when Ireland boasted of five sovereigns and Scotland of nearly or actually* as many. It existed before Parliament ever deliberated or even existed ; and the framework of what we call " our glorious constitution," — the envy of other lands and the pride of our own, — owes much of its formation and consolidation to the Church, f When the commonest elements of human learning were confined almost exclusively to churchmen, they held many if not most of the great offices of State ; and without them, as the late Duke of * There was formerly a Kegnlus or Kingling of Athol : " Eex Atfotliae et Pene«challus insularum." Indeed it seems to have been the cradle of then- sovereiens. — Skene's Hiqhlanders, ii. 137, 138. + There is another series of facts very Utile kno-«Ti ; or perhaps we may say there is a new way of putting certain old ones. [See Book of Dates; Griffin, Bohn & Co.] On the conversion of the King of Surrey in G80, the whole country had practically embraced Chi-istianity. Tliis was 148 years before Egbert, the last ' Breatwalda, had united the whole Octarchy, and before the term England was used ; v,'hile it v^'as 2U7 vears before Athelstan called himself "Iving of all England." It was 210 years before Alfred issued his code,— the basis of onr common lav/;— 290 years before trial by jury had been initiated, and 311 before it was adopted in its present form. Cities were not incorporated nor Sheriffs chosen till Chi-istianity had prevailed for 400 years ; nor had Domesday Book been compiled ; nor did parting shiners possess the power of making wills ; nor was the rent of laud paid m money, but " in kind," as tithes were tUl lately. It was nearly four centuries after the foundation of bishops and dioceses, before the first Justice of the Peace was appointed ; and nearly five before a regular militia was introduced, or before interest could be claimed for the loan of money. Parishes existed 813 years before the division into counties or shires ; tithes Avere paid in 23 U^ellington would have said, " the King's government could not have been carried on." [In the period of 443 years, from the accession of William the Conqueror to that of Henry VIII, the " bench of Bishops," as we now call them, furnished 177 great officers of State. These were 92 Lord High Chancellors, 50 Lord Treasurers, 5 Lord Chief Justices, 4 Lord Privy Seals, 7 Lord Presidents of Wales, 4 Chancellors of the Exchequer, 7 Masters of the Rolls, 3 Prin- cipal Secretaries of State, i Lord Deputy of Ireland, 2 Lord Keepers, and 2 Lord Presidents of the North. ■-•■ [But if we look beyond the Bishops, to the clergy generally, the assistance which they gave may be seen from a single instance. Within the period referred to, there were 162 Lord High Chan- cellors, and of these, in 102 cases, or 63 percent., the office was filled by clerics. Some were only Archdeacons, Deans, or Bishops elect, during their respective terms of office. Frequently the office was held two, three, or four times by the same ecclesiastics ; — ^just as Lord Cairns and Lord Selborne have held it twice in our own times, Lord Eldon three times, and Lords Lyndhurst and Cottenham four times each.] The popular literature of the present day, though not without its uses, is converting us into a nation of superficial thinkers. The magazine article of the month which is read and thrown aside, or the newspaper article of the morning which is still more ephemeral, moulds the opinions of hundreds of thousands, who have not the time, or the taste or opportunity to read formal books, or to seek for knowledge at the fountain head. One 793, axid formally granted to the clergy in an assembly by Ethelwald in 844. How many of the institutions of the countrj- can put forward such a title — more than 1000 years old ? The country was all Christian, and dotted over with bishops and clergy and churches and colleges and religious houses, 585 years befoi'e King John signed the r.lagna Charta ; 585 years before the fii'st Parhamcnt (comprising both county and borough members) assembled; and G03 years before Wales had been annexed to England. How Parliament therefore could found an institution which was known and valued iu every corner of the land nearly GOO years before itself properly existed, it is hard to conceive. It would be at least quite as easy to bcUeve that a man reared and educated and sent out into the world lus own great-grandfather ! We are also told that the State tHfioirt'iZ the Church. When? Where'/ ^Vndllow? The Church was endords without a division, supported by the whole Bench of Bishops and by Her Majesty's Government ; that it was read a second time without a division * Separately re-printed, by the Society for the Increase of the Home Episcopate : 7, White- haU, London, 1875. 38 in the Commons ; and yet that it did not become law ! Owing to the pressure of an unusual amount of business, it had to be withdrawn at the end of the session. 28. St. Albans. I After these successive failures, the attempt 29. Truro, [was made in a new form ; viz., to secure the points in detail. Accordingly, the Act for founding the see of St. Albans was passed in 1875, and that for Truro i^i 1876. There remained then of the original group only Southwell ; but there were other places which had not yet come to the front, whose necessities were still greater than any it could show. Accordingly, in 1878, the present Right Hon. Sir Richard A. Cross, then Home Secretary, brought in an enabling Bill for the founding of four sees, in the hope that this would meet the necessity of the case for several years. Besides South- well in the southern province, which had been twice before Parliament and approved, the schedule contained the names of three places in the northern province, viz., Liverpool, Newcastle, and Wakefield. The Bill became law at the very close of the session ; and Liverpool had already begun to make preparations, calculating on the success of the movement. 30. Liverpool. — The first six months of the present year have witnessed the follo^^^ng facts : — ( I .) The salary of a Bishop has been secured. (2.) It has been raised nearly to the maximum limit; and a Palace has been obtained. (3.) The diocese has been formally separated from that of Chester. (4.) Our " good old town" has become a city. (5.) A new Bishop has been appointed, with an unusually large amount of popular approval. (6.) He has been consecrated and enthroned, and has come into residence. (7.) He is at this moment in York, to attend the Convocation of the northern province to-morrow. 34 VIII. — Conclusion. As the pageantry of Thursday last has scarcely passed from before us, and as the applause of the populace and the excellent sermon of the Dean are still ringing in our ears, I must close my remarks, already considerably beyond our usual limits. But allow me to recapitulate briefly — DiOCKSES A.D. OK BlSHOP- 596. On the arrival of Auguslme there were m England and AVales 6 1066. At the Norman Conquest 19 -1517. At the commencement of the Reformation 21 1547. At the death of Henry VIII 26 1880. At the present day 30 In process of arrangement at present 3 In suggesting the division of Dioceses, it is not meant that any blame is attachable to past or present bishops. They are in much the same position as the Rectors of overgrown parishes ; the population has grown beyond their control and beyond their strength. And in the reduction of their labour to moderate limits, we do not include a condition that their income be at all diminished. In the case of Bishops our sympathies are unusually warm ; for they are generally men in advanced years, who have given their best days to some other department of church work, in which they obtained deserved distinction. And one of the painful incidents inseparable from the joy at sound progress, is the severance of official and personal ties and the cancelling of associations which are highly prized. In the. case of Liverpool, for example, while we rejoice that there are two leaders to the host formerly led by one, and that the Bishop of Chester will find his energies less taxed than before, it is impossible not to regret the separation from one whose amiability and courtesy have endeared him to a large circle both of laity and clergy. One result of all this, though of a secondary kind, deserves special notice. It is that within the last few years, enormous 35 sums of money have been raised for the maintenance of the Right Rev. Feathers in God, the Princes or chief Pastors of our Church ; and for the erection or the restoration of the Cathedrals which are the glory of our land. So that when the infidel or the Liberationist asks us whence came the possessions which the Church holds and uses, — for the good of the peo[)le, yet under the direction of the law, — we can almost say as is said of Sir Christopher Wren in St. Paul's Cathedral—" cirawispice" This generation, like ail its predecessors, has poured in its offerings to the treasury of the Lord ; and though the civil service has very uncivilly helped itself, especially on one great occasion, to a large portion of the accumulated treasures, it has contributed none in return. We tell the professed " voluntaries " that we are strictly a Voluntary church ; that here are the evidences of the fact ; and that in some quarters and with some persons these are not the last, but only, we trust, the first-fruits, the seed of a thousand blessings. A P P EN D I X . GROWTH OF THE EPISCOPATE (Outline.) SOUTHERN PROVINCE. NORTHERN PROVINCE. II. London III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. 1. I'.RiTisH Church. a. English Sees. York 180 [Primacy restored 622.] 180? b. Welsh Sees. Bangor 516 Llandaif 522 St. David's 577 St. Asaph 583 2. Saxon Church. Canterbury 596 Kochester 604 Lincoln [625] Dorchester 625 Sidnacenster or Lindsey 678 Dorchester and Sidn 949 Lincoln 1070 Norwich [630] East Angles 630 Elmham 673 Dimwich 673 Elmham and Dimwich 955 Norwich 1091 Winchester 637 Lichfield 656 Worcester 679 Hereford 680 Chichester Selsey Chichester 1070 Salishury [705] Sherborne 705 Wilton 906 Salisbiu-y 1046 Exeter [860] Durham [635] Lindisfarne 635 [RiX>on, clr 670] [Hexham 678—810] Durham 990 Cormvall or West Wales . , Devonshire .... ... Exeter Do. {without Cormrull) Bath and Wells Wells or Fountains 905 1046 1877 [905 905" XX. XXI. XXII. xxm. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. a. Bath and Wells 1088 3. In Norman Times. Ely 1109 Carlisle [Scottish portion] .. 1133 4. At the Eeformation. United f Gloucester 1541 1836. t'-iristol 1541 Oxford 1541 Peterborough 1541 Chester 1541 [Westminster, 1541.] 5. In JModern Times. XXVI. 6. [See Gloucester and Bristol.] XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. St. Albans 1875 Truro 1876 Ripon Manchester 1836 1847 SouthweU. Liverpool 1880 Prospective Bishoprics. Newcastle. Wakefield. •-x >*:*-'v./':?v^ -; ,