Ossory, and Ferns and Leighlin. 4 Cashel — Limerick, Cork and Ross, Waterford and Lismore, Cloyne, and Eillaloe and Kilfenora.
Tuam—Elphin, Clonfert and Kilmac duagh, and Killala and Achoury.
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 to be bishoprics. The diocese of Dromore was to be united to that of Down and Connor; that of Raphoe to Deny; Clogher to Armagh ; Elphin to Kilmore; Killala and Achonry to Tuam and Ar dagh ; Clonfert and Kilmacduagh to Kib laloe and Kilfenom ; Kildare to Dublin and Glandelagh ; Leighlin and Ferns to Ossory ; Waterford and Lismore to Cashel and Emly ; Cork and Ross to Cloyne. The diocese of Meath and Clon macnoise, and that of Limerick, remain unaltered. The archbishoprics were to be reduced to two, and the bishoprics to ten. At the present time (Jan. 1845) the reductions contemplated by the act 3 & 4 Wm. IV. have been nearly completed, the number of archbishops being two, and the number of bishops twelve. In 1831 the income of the Irish archbishops and bishops was return ed at and the income of the episcopal establishment, as it will exist in future, will be 82,953/., being a saving of 68,175/. a-year ; which fund is managed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of Ireland, and must be dispensed for eccle siastical and educational purposes.
One archbishop and three bishops re present the Irish Church in the House of Lords. They are changed every session, and the system of rotation, by which all sit in turn, is regulated by 3 Wm. IV. c. 37 (§ 51). The two archbishops sit in each session alternately. The bishops of Meath and Kildare take precedence of all other bishops, and are privy coun cillors iu right of their sees : the rest take precedence according to priority of con secration.
The Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ire land consists of four archbishops and 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 are many breaches in the series of bishops from that time to the present. Sodor, which is supposed to be a Danish term for the WesternIsles of Scotland, was under the same bishop till the reign of Richard II., when the Isle of Man fallen under the English sovereignty, the Is lands 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 Morays, 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. o. 77, actually united (prospectively) the bi shopric of Sodor and Man to that of Car lisle ; but by I Viet. a 30, it is to con tinue 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 adja cent, are also in the diocese of Winches ter ; 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 fol lowing: namely, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Toronto, Newfoundland, British Guiana, Jamaica, Barbadoes, Antigua, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Gibraltar, and New Bruns wick. 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, Gib raltar, &c., are not of royal or parliament ary creation, but have been established by the archbishops and bishops, in con cert 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 en dowment 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 bi shopric of New Zealand was created ; in 1842, the four bishoprics of Guiana, An tigua, Gibraltar, and Tasmania; and in 1844, Newfoundland and New Bruns wick. 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 Colo nies. At Sydney, Quebec, and in Ben gal, 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 al leged that he was the first bishop of that church, and that to him there was a pecu liar 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 bishop, has furnished matter of endless contro versy ; 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 proba ble that the superiority enjoyed by that bishop at a very early period over other bishops (which was not universally ac knowledged, 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.