The province of Canterbury comprehends, 1st, The bishopric of London, containing Essex, Middlesex, and part of Hertfordshire: 2d, The bishopric of Winches ter, containing Surrey, Hampshire, Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney: 3d, The bishopric of Litchfield and Coventry, containing Stafford, Derby, and part of War wick and Shropshire: 4th, The bishopric of Lincoln, containing Lincoln, Leicester, Huntingdon, Bedford, Buckingham, and part of Hertford 5th, Ely, contain ing Cambridgeshire: 6th, Salisbury, containing Wilts and Berkshire: 7th, Exeter, containing Cornwall and Devon: 8th, Bath and Wells, containing Somersetsbire: 9th, Chichester, containing Sussex : 10th, Norwich, containing Norfolk, Suffolk, and a small part of Cam bridgeshire : 1 1th, Worcester, containing Worcester and a part of Warwick : 12th, Hereford, containing Hereford and a part of Shropshire : 13th, Rochester, containing Kent: 14th, Oxford, containing Oxfordshire : 15th, Peterborough, containing Northampton and Rut land : 16th, Gloucester, containing Gloucestershire : 17th, Bristol, containing the city of Bristol, part of Gloucestershire, and Dorsctshire: 18th, Landaff, con taining Glamorgan, Monmouth, Brecon, and Radnor : 19th, St David's, containing Pembroke, Cardigan, and Cacrmarthen : 20th, St Asaph, containing the greatest part of Flint, Denbigh, Montgomery, and part of Shrop shire: and, 21st, Bangor, containing Anglesey, Caer narvon, Merioneth, and part of Denbigh and Montgo mery.
In the province of the Archbishop of York, (who is termed the Primate of England,) there is, 1st, The bishopric of Durham, which contains Durham and Northumberland: 2d, Carlisle, which contains great part of Cumberland and Westmoreland : 3d, Chester, containing Cheshire, Lancashire, Richmondshire in Yorkshire, with part of Cumberland and Westmore land: and, 4th, The Isle of Man.
Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the king, by what is called a cong &Hire, or leave to elect, which is sent to the dean and chapter, naming the per son to be chosen. The prelate pays homage to the king for his temporalities, or the baronies connected with the see ; and compounds for the first fruits, that is, the revenue of the first year, which goes towards increasing the revenues of the poor clergy. All the bishops are sole judges in their own courts, and issue writs in their own names, not in the royal style used by other courts. The Bishop of London, as presiding over the capital, has the precedence of all the others. The Bishop of Durham, as presiding over the see that constitutes a county palatine, has great powers and pre rogatives; even the king's judges only sit in his diocese by his permission. The Bishop of Winchester is the third in dignity ; all the rest of the bishops take their places according to the seniority of their consecration.
The revenues of the bishops vary very much, and are much greater now than they were formerly, being de rived from lands and mines, the annual income from which is of course greatly enhanced. The revenue of the Bishop of Durham is supposed to be the largest; and in sonic years, it is said to have reached nearly 20 0001 ; the amount of the revenues of the two Arch bishops, and of the Bishops of London and Winches ter, is probably next to that of the Bishop of Durham.
To every cathedral belong several prebendaries and a dean, who form the dean and chapter, a council appoint ed to assist the bishop with their advice in ecclesiastical and other matters relative to the sec. At the Reforma tion, their salaries were mostly converted into money, but those of Durham preferred the ancient portions of land, which have increased so much in value, that they are now styled golden prebends.
The next order is that of archdeacons; their num ber is about 60; their office is to inspect the moveables of the churches, to reform slight abuses, and to induct into benefices.
The most numerous, as well as most laborious order of the clergy, are the deacons, curates, vicars, and rec tors : formerly, the office of the deacons was to super intend the poor, the ancient donations to the church being assigned in three divisions, one to the poor, ano the!' for repairs, and the third for the clergy ; at pre sent, the office of the deacon is restricted to baptism, to reading in the church, and assisting the priest at the communion, by handing the cup, only a person cannot be ordained a deacon under the age of 23 years; a priest must be 24, and a bishop 30. A parson is one who has full possession of all the rights of a parish church : du ring his life, he has the freehold of the parsonage house, glebe, tithes, Er.c.; and for the most part, he has the right to all the ecclesiastical dues in the parish. If the pridcal, or great tithes, (such as those of corn, hay, &c.), be impropriated, or converted into secular hands, the priest is termed a vicar, a name implying that they are the vicarii, or deputies of the rector: but if the tithes be entire, the priest is styled rector. A curate signifies one who is not instituted to the cure of souls, but exer cises the spiritual office in a parish under the rector or vicar. The churchwardens superintend the repairs and decorations of the church, and the requisites for divine service, as well as collect the alms of the parishioners: they arc annually elected at Easter. The sacristan, or sexton, originally had the care of the furniture and plate of the church; but the appellation is now applied to the gravc-digger.