Ineluding the two metropolitans, there arc thirty-five diocesan bishops in England, most of them bearing the titles of pre-Reformation sees. They are Canterbury, York, London, Durham, Winchester, Bangor. Rochester. Exeter. Peterbor ough. Saint David's. Worcester, Chichester, Lichfield. Ely, Oxford. Saint Asaph, Manchester, Hereford. Chester. Llanda ff. Lincoln, Salisbury, Bath and Wells. Carlisle. Gloucester, Bristol Ripon, Norwich, Sodor and Man. Truro, Saint Albans. Liverpool, Newcastle. Southwell, and Wakefield. There is also a constantly increasing number of sutTragAn or assistant bishops—at present twenty-four—who bear territorial titles, but have no independent jurisdiction and no seats in Parliament. The Episcopal Church of Scot land has seven bishops, and that of Ireland two and eleven bishops. The first colo nial bishopric of the Anglican communion was that of Nova Scotia, founded in 1787; but the Nineteenth Century saw a prodigious increase in their numbers. There are now 23 in British North America, S in the West Indies, 10 in India and Ceylon. 16 in Australia. 7 in New Zealand, and 24 under the direct jurisdiction of the Arch bishop of Canterbury. mostly in non-Christian lands. There are now 229 bishops in the Angli can communion.
In the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United State-, the functions of the bishops, in religions matters, are similar to those of English prelates. In political affairs they have. of course, no official power. They are chosen to office by the convention of clerical and lay deputies of the diocese over which They are to preside. except in the case of missionary bishops, who are nomi nated by the House of Bishops and elected by the House of Clerical and Lay Deputies. There qre at present eighty-nine in the House of Bishops.
In England, under the Archbishop of Westmin ster as primate, there are fifteen Roman Catholic bishops. The hierarchy here was restored in 18.50, and in 187S in Scotland. where there are
two archbishops and four bishops. The assump tion of territorial titles by Roman Catholic bishops in England and Scotland was made illegal by the Ecclesiastical Titles Act of 1851; but the law, passed in a moment of great popular excitement, has always been a dead letter. In Ireland there are four Catholic archbishops and twenty-six bishops. In the United States the Church has fourteen archbishops. with the Arch bishop of Baltimore as primate. and seventy other diocesan bishops. besides three vicars apostolic.
In the Methodist Episcopal Church, the bish ops are elected by the General Conference. Their duties are those included in a general superin tendence of the whole Church. Authority is vested in them all, and its administration dis tributed among them by mutual agreement. They preside over meetings of the annual conferences, ordain ministers. and appoint them to their fields of labor. There are 18 in the Northern hraneh and 10 in the Southern Church. They have no dioceses and are all itinerant. The Reformed Episcopal Church has 8 bishops, and the African Methodist Episcopal Church 7. Other Protes tant bodies in the United States have adopted the episcopal form of government, among them the United Brethren in ('hrist and the Evangel ical Association. See ARCHBISHOP ; APOSTOLIC SUCCESsms, For the discussion of the theory, consult: Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians (London, 1868) ; Bator, Des Christenthum and die eh•istliehe Kirelw der erste)! drei Jahrhun clerk- (Tiibingen. 1853) : Hatch, Orgattit-ation of the Early Christian Churches (London, 1881) ; Wordsworth, Theophilus Anglicanus (London, 1843) ; Danger. The First Age of the Church (Eng. tr. Oxenham, London. 1866) ; Moberly, Ministerial Priesthood (London. 1898) ; Reveille, Les origines de Ft'piseopat ( Paris, 1894).