in his absence to wait upon the priest or bishop. But this order differs essentially from the three former; for it is conferred without imposition of hands, and was never held to be of divine right, though in modern times placed in the rank of holy orders by the Latin church.1

Of a similar nature are minor orders, so called in contradistinction from sacred or holy orders. The churches that follow the Roman rite reckon four minor orders: readers, acolytes, exorcists, and ostiarii or door-keepers. The Greeks account as minor orders, subdeacons, readers, singers, and ostiarii.2 They all strictly belong to the ministry, as contradistinguished from the priesthood, and are conferred without imposition of hands. Minor orders, as well as the subdiaconate, having become merely titular, were discontinued in our church at the Reformation. This was clearly lawful, since the subdiaconate and minor orders are not of apostolical, but merely of ecclesiastical institution, as Bingham shews;3 but their antiquity is, however, very great, dating at least as early as the beginning of the third century, which the same learned writer acknowledges, though their names and numbers varied. The regular and orderly character of these institutions, the great authorities that have sanctioned them, and their venerable antiquity, may perhaps cast a doubt on the propriety of their abolition.4

Van Espen, tom. i. par. i. tit. i. c. iii.

2 Palmer, Tr. of the Church, vol. ii. part vi. c. iii. append. p. 409. Van Espen, tom. i. par. i. tit. i. c. ii.

3 Bingham, vol. ii. book iii. c. i. The reader will there find a copious and very interesting account of the subdiaconate and minor orders.

4 The proper vestment of the sub-deacon is the tunicle, or tunic, which resembles the dalmatic, but is without sleeves, or has very short and small sleeves. Card. Bona, de Rebus Liturg. 1. i. c. xxiv. § 19. The clerks in minor orders are only permitted to wear the surplice, which may be worn by laymen, and is the only vestment in use in our Church. Bona, ibid. § 20.

Such are the orders or degrees of rulers and ministers established in the church by divine or by ecclesiastical authority. Besides these orders, there are in every branch of the church divers offices and dignities for its government and the administration of its functions. Some of these spring immediately out of the holy orders, and consist principally in the power of exercising their functions and powers within a certain territory; and others are collateral to, or independent of, those orders. Of the first class are bishoprics, and all benefices with cure of souls, as such; and of the second, cathedral and capitular dignities, such as those of canons, deans, and prebendaries, considered simply as such. And this leads us naturally to the consideration of that branch of the church which is established here. We will therefore proceed to consider the clergy of the Anglican church in their several ranks and degrees, with reference to, 1. the method of their appointment; 2. their rights and duties; and 3. the manner wherein their character or office may cease.

1. And first of archbishops and bishops. The institution of archbishops, or (as they are also called) metropolitans, is extremely ancient, though it cannot be clearly traced to apostolical times. Thus the canons erroneously attributed to the apostles, but which are believed to date from the third century, enjoin the bishops of each province to recognise the metropolitan for their superior, to obey him, and to undertake nothing of importance without his advice; while, on the other hand, the metropolitan ought to do nothing important regarding the province without previous deliberation with his suffragan bishops. The council of Nicea, held under the emperor Constantine, also speaks of metropolitans' as of an institution anciently

1 Hericourt, L. Ecclés. e. iv. p. 212. Van Espen, tom. i. par. i. tit. xix. c. i.

established, and at that time extending all over the Christian church. The office of metropolitans in their province, and besides the episcopal functions which they perform in their own dioceses, is principally to exercise a general superintendence over the bishops of their province, and through them over their dioceses, to convoke and preside in the provincial synods, before which assemblies accusations against bishops were anciently heard, and to hear and decide appeals from the decisions of the bishops.1

As for the institution of diocesan bishops, it is clearly of apostolical origin, for we find instances in the Scriptures of the appointment of bishops to preside over particular churches. The mode of appointing archbishops and bishops has varied greatly since the earliest times of the church. They were first elected by the bishops, with the concurrence of the clergy, as bishops were appointed by the apostles; then by the bishops and clergy; and afterwards the people obtained a share in the election, and the consent of secular princes was also required. These elections becoming tumultuous, Justinian, by his 123d Novel Constitution, chap. i., deprived the commonalty of any share therein, confining the election to the clergy and persons of rank and station in each church. Subsequently the election of the bishops in a great part of the Christian church fell naturally into the hands of the chapters of the cathedral-churches, who represented the ancient assemblies of the clergy forming the senate or council of the bishop. The power of temporal princes to approve of elections, in process of time increased into a prerogative of nominating solely, and all others had little else to do but to accept their nomina

1 Hericourt, ibid. Van Espen, ibid. Fleury, Inst. au Dr. Eccl. tom. i. c. xiv.

2 Fleury, Inst. au Dr. Ecclés. tom. i. c. x. p. 101, &c.

tion. However, there were diversities in this respect in different parts of Christendom. The emperors and other sovereigns of the respective kingdoms of Europe also reserved to themselves the right of granting investiture of the temporalities of bishoprics to the newly elected prelates, and thence arose those celebrated disputes between the temporal power and the church of Rome, which were terminated in France and England by an alteration in the form of investiture, so as to remove all suspicion of encroachment on the spiritual character. King John, about a century after this concession had been obtained from king Henry I. by archbishop Anselm, gave up, by a charter, to all monasteries and cathedrals in the kingdom the free right of electing their prelates, whether abbots or bishops; reserving only to the crown the custody of the temporalities during the vacancy; the form of granting a license to elect (which is the original of our congé d'élire), on refusal whereof the electors might proceed without it; and the right of approbation afterwards, which was not to be denied without a reasonable and lawful cause. This grant was expressly recognised and confirmed in king John's Magna Charta, and was again established by stat. 25 Ed. III. st. 6, § 3.

"But," as Blackstone informs us, "by stat. 25 Henry VIII. c. xx., the ancient right of nomination was in effect restored to the crown, it being enacted, that at every future avoidance of a bishopric, the king may send the

1 Bingham, Antiq. vol. ii. b. iv. c. xi. § 18. It may, perhaps, be as well to warn those readers who are unused to ecclesiastical matters, not to confound election to a particular church with ordination or consecration, whereby alone orders can be conferred. Thus, election of a bishop, if he be not already in bishop's orders, is no more than the designation of a person to receive consecration, and then to be bishop of the diocese to which he is chosen.

2 Matthew Paris, A.D. 1214. 1 Rymer, Foed. 198.

dean and chapter his usual license to proceed to election, which is always to be accompanied with a letter missive from the king, containing the name of the person whom he would have them elect; and if the dean and chapter delay their election above twelve days, the nomination shall devolve to the king, who may, by letters patent, appoint such person as he pleases. This election or nomination, if it be of a bishop, must be signified by the king's letters patent to the archbishop of the province; if it be of an archbishop, to the other archbishop and two bishops, or to four bishops, requiring them to confirm, invest, and consecrate the person so elected; which they are bound to perform immediately, without any application to the see of Rome. After which the bishop elect shall sue to the king for his temporalities, shall make oath to the king and none other, and shall take restitution of his secular possessions out of the king's hands only. And if such dean and chapter do not elect in the manner by this act appointed; or if such archbishop or bishop do refuse to confirm, invest, and consecrate such bishop elect, they shall incur all the penalties of a præmunire." The bishoprics of Bristol, Gloucester, Chester, Peterborough, and Oxford, which were erected by Henry VIII. after the passing of that act, are not within its provisions, and have always been pure donatives of the crown."

The chief branches of the archbishop's functions having been described above, it will be sufficient to add here, that in our church the archbishops, upon receipt of the queen's writ, call the bishops and clergy of their respective provinces to meet in convocation. To the archbishop all appeals are made from inferior jurisdictions

1 Blackst. Com. b. i. c. xi. p. 379.

Ibid, note by Mr. Justice Coleridge. 3 4 Inst. 322, 323.