ning the clergy of their respective dioceses, and of admonishing, and suspending ecclesiastical persons from the performance of the services of the church. They institute to benifices upon the presentation of the patrons, but, if the presentation belong to the Bishop, the act of institution is then termed collation. They license persons to serve as curates, either to assist the resident ministers of parishes, or to supply their absence. They have power to call the clergy to reside on their benifices under severe penalties for noncompliance; and to licence them to be absent from their cures, under special circumstances either of privilege or of personal necessity. By the common law, the bishop is to certify the judges, touching legitimate and illegitimate births and marriages; and by that and the ecclesiastical law, he is to take care of the probates of wills and granting administrations. A bishop's power is confined to his own diocese. He is assisted in his duty by his archdeacons, who are termed by the Canon law the Bishops' Eyes.' The bishop, by his archdeacons, visits his diocese every year, and generally in person every three years, at which time confirmations are held; during the Bishop's personal visitations the power of his archdeacon is suspended.

By virtue of their bishoprics the prelates of England are lords of parliament, and form part of one of the three estates of parliament, under the name of the lords spiritual. They sit in the upper house, as holding, or being supposed to hold, baronies of the king; for William the Conqueror changed the spiritual tenure of frank almoin or free alms, under which the bishops held their lands during the Saxon government, into the feudal or Norman tenure by barony, which subjected their estates to all civil charges and assessment from which they were before exempt; and in right of succession to those baronies, which were unalienable from their respective dignities, the bishops and abbots were allowed their seats in the House of Lords. Bishops take rank next to viscounts. A difference however exists in the privileges of the bishops, as respects their being tried by their peers upon indictment for treason, or felony, or misprision of either; and sitting upon such trials in the court of the lord high steward: from this privilege they are excluded on the ground of not being noble in blood. Custom has also practically excluded them from sitting on trials for capital offences, upon impeachments, or indictments in full parliament. They have usually withdrawn voluntarily in such cases, but have entered a protest expressing their right to stay.

The archbishop of Canterbury is styled Metropolitanus et Primus totius Angliæ. The archbishop of York, Primus et Metropolitanus Angliæ. They are called Metropolitan, because they were at first consecrated in the metropolis of their province. The archbishop of Canterbury hath precedence before all the nobility of the realm, immediately after the blood royal, he hath the privilege of crowning the king of England, and hath prelates for his officers. The bishop of London is his provincial dean, the bishop of Winchester his chancellor, the bishop of Lincoln his vice-chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury his

precentor, the bishop of Worcester his chaplain. He hath the power of dispensation in any case not contrary to the law of God, and on this right is founded his power of granting special licenses to marry at any time or place, to hold two livings and the like, and also his power of conferring any degrees in prejudice of the universities. The archbishop of York is next in precedence; he hath precedence before all dukes not of the blood royal, and before all the great officers of state except the lord chancellor. He hath the privilege to crown the queen consort, and to be her perpetual chaplain. The bishop of Durham is next, the bishop of Winchester next, the remainder according to their seniority of consecration. But if any be a privy councillor he ranks after the bishop of Durham.

A suffragan is a titular bishop advanced to assist the bishop of any diocese in his spiritual function, or one who supplies the place of the bishop, so that by his suffrage, matters committed to him are determined. They are regulated by an act of Henry VIII (26 Hen. VIII. c. 14). By this act, every bishop at his pleasure may present two honest and discreet spiritual persons within his diocese to the king, that he may give one of them the title, style, and dignity of any of the following sees: Thetford, Ipswich, Colchester, Dover, Guildford, Southampton, Taunton, Shaftsbury, Molton, Marlborough, Bradford, Leicester, Gloucester, Shrewsbury, Bristol, Penrith, Bridgewater, Nottingham, Grantham, Hull, Huntingdon, Cambridge, Penrith, Berwick, St. Germain, and the Isle of Wight.

In Ireland there are four archbishops: Armagh, primate of all Ireland; Dublin, primate of Ireland; Cashel, primate of Munster; Tuam, primate of Connaught. And eighteen bishops: Meath, Kildare, Derry, Raphoe, Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe, Dromore, Elphin, Down and Connor, Waterford and Lismore, Leighlin and Ferns, Cloyne, Cork and Ross, Killaloe and Kilfenora, Kilmore, Clogher, Ossory, Killala and Acherilly, Clonfert and Kilmacduagh. By an act 18 Car. I. c. 10, a bishopric in Ireland is declared incompatible with any ecclesiastical dignity or benefice in England or Wales. The church of England has also bishops of Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Calcutta; and latterly have been consecrated a bishop of Barbadoes, and of Jamaica.

The right of electing bishops is vested, if not by law, at least by the practice of the church, in the king. Immediately after the demise of any prelate, notice of that circumstance is given to the crown by the dean and chapter of his cathedral; who, at the same time, request permission to supply, by their choice, the vacancy which has taken place. His majesty then issues what is called a congè d'elire, accompanied by a missive, or recommendation of some individual to the benefice. This recommendation has the full effect of a command; for the dean and chapter have not the privilege of rejection. Should they decline electing, and persist in declining for the space of twelve days, they incur the severe penalties of a præmunire, under which term are implied, outlawry, or exclusion from the king's protection; a forfeiture to the crown

of lands and tenements, goods and chattels; and imprisonment during his majesty's pleasure. After the interval of twelve days just alluded to, the king presents, by his letters patent, to the vacant see. The election, or presentation, is next intimated to the archbishop of the province, who is required to proceed without delay in confirming the bishop elect. Should he decline, he likewise incurs a præmunire. The mandate, requiring confirmation, bears the authority of the great seal. As soon as it is received by the archbishop, it is transmitted to an officer called his vicar-general. The ceremony of confirmation then takes place. Those who have any objections to the new bishop, are solemnly invited to appear and substantiate them, and are denounced as contumacious, if they refuse to do so. The oaths of allegiance and supremacy, together with that of canonical obedience, and that against simony are next administered. A minute of the proceedings is then read by the vicar-general, after which the bishop is installed or constituted the ecclesiastical superior of his diocese, being fully invested with episcopal authority; though, according to some lawyers, he cannot lay claim to the temporalities of his benefice, unless he shall have been consecrated by the archbishop. The ceremony of consecration differs in some respects from that of confirmation. It must be performed, as we have just intimated, by the archbishop; or in particular cases by three bishops, lawfully commissioned for that purpose. The essential parts of this ceremony, according to Burnet, (art. xxxix. p. 564), are prayer and the imposition of hands; but to these are added investiture with the episcopal robes, together with the use of a certain form of words adapted to the occasion. The age at which persons are qualified to be made bishops in the English church is thirty.

BISHOPS, TITULAR, or BISHOPS IN PARTIBUS INFIDELIUM, in ecclesiastical nistory, those with the title of a bishopric, whose diocese was in the possession of infidels or heretics. The denomination took its rise from the expulsion of the bishops and clergy out of the Holy Land by the Saracens; when flying into Italy for shelter, coadjutories were given for their sub

sistence.

BISHOPS, VAGUE, those without any diocese, sometimes attendant on camps, or in foreign countries, for the conversion of infidels. They were sometimes also granted by popes to monasteries, exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocesan, where they perform all the episcopal functions.

BISHOP-ABBOT, episcopus abbas, was an abbot invested with the episcopal order; of which we meet with several in the richer and more considerable monasteries.

BISHOP AND HIS CLERKS, in geography, some little islands and rocks on the coast of Pembrokeshire, near St. David's in Wales, which are very dangerous to mariners. Sheep are pastured on three; the others afford a retreat to sea fowl, which are caught for the sake of their down. A light-house was erected in 1777. Distant four miles west of St. David's. Long. 5° 20′ W., lat. 51° 54' N.

BISHOP'S COURT, an ecclesiastical court, neld in the cathedral of each diocese, the judge whereof is the bishop's chancellor, who judges by the civil and canon law; and if the diocese be large, he has his commissaries in remote parts, who hold what they call consistory courts, for matters limited to them by their commission.

BISHOP'S CASTLE, a market town and parish of England, in the county of Salop, on the river Clun. The town-house is a neat edifice, and it is an ancient corporation, which has sent members to parliament ever since the reign of queen Elizabeth Population 1367. Distant eight miles from Montgomery, sixteen S. S. W. of Shrewsbury, and 152 north-west of London.

BISHOPS STORTFORD, a market-town of Hertfordshire, on the borders of Essex, thirteen miles south-east from Ware, and thirty north from London; containing 3358 inhabitants. It has a canal made navigable to the river Lea, with an extensive range of warehouses for storing corn and malt, which articles constitute its principal business. Between Hockeril and Stortford, on an artificial hill, a castle was built in the time of William the Conqueror, called Castle Hill, the remains of which were entirely pulled down in 1649, and an inn built with the materials. King John granted the town a charter of incorporation, and in the reign of Edward I. it was summoned to send members to parliament, a privilege it does not now enjoy. The four principal streets face the cardinal points, and it is kept very clean by the river Stort, which runs through it. The church is a venerable gothic structure, containing many ancient monuments. The free-school is a handsome edifice, of a square form, in the centre of the High-street. Here are several well-endowed alms-houses for aged persons, and a good market on Thursday.

BISHOPS WEARMOUTH, a parish of the county of Durham, standing on the river Wear. It was once a place of considerable note, and its church, the mother church to Sunderland. On the north side of the river lies Monks Wearmouth, so called from an extensive monastery,which was twice destroyed by the Danes and Scots. In the neighbourhood are several manufactories, and the trade and intercourse have been lately much benefited by the erection of a cast-iron bridge over the river, planned under the direction of Rowland Burdon, Esq. M. P. for Durham. It is 100 feet high, and 236 long, having only one arch. Population 7000. Distant 124 miles from Durham, and 272 from London.

BISI (Bonaventura), a celebrated miniature painter, was born at Bologna, and a disciple of Lucio Massari. Instead of working from his own invention, he imitated in small size, the pictures of Guido, Corregio, Titian, and other great masters, and these he finished with astonishing grace, neatness, and beauty. He died in 1661.

BISIGNANO, a town of Naples, in the Hither Calabria. It has a strong fort, a bishop's see, and the title of a principality. It is seated on a mountain near the river Boccona.

BISILIQUOUS, in botany, having the seed contained in two pods, proceeding from one flower.

It is usual, in the processes at large, to throw the bismuth ore into a fire of wood, beneath which a hole is made in the ground to receive the metal, and defend it from oxidation. The same process may be imitated in the small way, in the examination of the ores of this metal; nothing more being necessary than to expose it to a moderate heat in a crucible, with a quantity of reducing flux; taking care, at the same time, to perform the operation as speedily as possible, that the bismuth may be neither oxidised nor volatilised. See SALT.

Its affinities for the metals and acids are nearly in the following order :

BISNEE, a district of Hindostan, between Bengal and Assam, the rajah of which is tributary to both of these states. It is situated on the north side of the Brahmapootra river, between 26 and 27° of northern latitude. Bisnee, the capital, is the residence of the rajah, who is very poor.

BISOMUM, or DISOмUM, in Roman antiquity, a tomb for two dead bodies, or the ashes of two. The ancients frequently buried two, three, or four bodies in the same sepulchre, disposed beside each other; for it was held an impiety to lay one on the top of another. Hence the sepulchres of the primitive Christians had the words bisomi, trisomi, quadrisomi, &c. inscribed on them, to indicate the number of bodies deposited in them.

BISON, in zoology, the trivial name of a species of bos. See Bos.

BISON, in entomology, a species of scarabæus; thorax, the anterior part, pointed; and two lunated horns on the head. Found in Spain, and the southern parts of France. Color black.

BISPINOSA, in entomology, a species of mantis, thorax roundish, bidentated in front; wing-cases very short, and bordered with yellow. Also a large species of cicada, inhabiting the island of Sumatra. Color brown, with a single spine on each side of the thorax; wings dusky, with a streak of black spots.

BISPINOSUS, a species of cerambyx stenocorus, inhabiting South America. Thorax unarmed, and slightly tuberculated; wing-cases bidentated; joints of the antennæ armed with spines; body testaceous.—Also a species of carabus, found in Europe. Color black; posterior part of the thorax truncated; anterior shanks two spined. Also a species of tabanus, a native of

Sweden. Color brown; abdomen ferruginous, and black at the base, with two spines on the scutel. a denomination given by Romish writers to protestants, on account of their only holding two sacraments.

BISSACRAMENTALES,

BISSAGOS, a group of islets which lie off the western coast of Africa, between the Gambia and Sierra Leone, near the mouth of the Rio Grande. The principal isles amount to the number of sixteen. Bissao, Bulama, Jate, Bussi, and Manterre, are alluvial islands, separated from the continent only by inconsiderable streams. Galpinas, Arcas, Formosa, Canabac, Carache, Corbelle, Genthera, Cavallo, Mel, CaBesides segu, and Cove, are in the open sea. these there are a great number of smaller islands, of which the most remarkable are Bourbon, Sarciere, Poelon, Papaygo, and Los Parcos. Towards the ocean these islands are covered by a succession of banks of sand and mud, which render the approach to them very dangerous. The banks extend more or less from the 9th to the 12th parallel, and as far east as the meridian of Ferro. The inhabitants are called Bissagos, or Bijugas. They are a tall, robust, and intrepid race, fond of war. Such is their pride, that they will even commit suicide, on receiving an affront which they cannot avenge. They are said at the same time to be very ingenious, and ready of comprehension. The Biafaras, a much milder race, who inhabited the islands nearest to the continent, have been driven out by them, and now inhabit the banks of the Rio Grande. An attempt was made in 1792 to plant a colony upon Bulama, one of these islands, which however failed. See BULAMA.

BISSAO, one of the largest of the archipelago of the Bissagos, is forty miles long by thirty wide. It rises towards the middle in a hollowed plain, and is extremely fertile, producing abundantly millet, rice, lemons, limes, bananas, with oxen and cows of a remarkable size. The inhabitants are called Papels, and are enterprising and warlike; many Portuguese have also long been settled here. This island has a fine road, with a muddy bottom, and excellent anchorage at a place called the Great Port. Long. 14° 10 W., lat. 11° 24′ N.

BISSART (Peter), professor of canon law in the university of Bologna, was descended from the earls of Fife in Scotland, and born in that country in the reign of James V. He was educated at St. Andrew's: from thence he removed to Paris; and, having spent some time in that university, proceeded to Bologna, where he commenced LL. D. and was afterwards appointed professor of canon law. He continued in that employment several years with great reputation, and died in 1568. He is said to have been not only a learned civilian, but an excellent poet, orator, and philosopher. Patricii Bissarti opera omnia, viz. poemata, orationes, lectiones feriales, &c. Lib. de irregularitate, &c. were published at Venice in 1565, 4to.

BISSELEON, in the materia medica, a name used in many works of the most ancient Greek and Roman writers, to express the oil of pitch, or the fluid substance which swims at the surface