the Queen's letter naming the person to be elected; and afterwards the royal assent and confirmation of the appointment is signified under the Great Seal. But this form applies only to the sees of old foundation; the bishoprics of Manchester, St. Albans, Liverpool, Truro, Newcastle, and Southwell are conferred direct by letters patent from the Crown. The Queen, and the First Lord of the Treasury in her name, also appoints to such deaneries, prebendaries, and canonries as are in the gift of the Crown.

There are 2 archbishops and 33 bishops in England and Wales. The former are the chiefs of the clergy in their provinces, and have also each his own particular diocese, wherein they exercise episcopal, as in their provinces they exercise archiepiscopal, jurisdiction. Under the bishops are 29 deans, 90 archdeacons, and 810 rural deans. For the management of ecclesiastical affairs, the provinces have each a council, or Convocation, consisting of the bishops, archdeacons, and deans, in person, and of a certain number of proctors, as the representatives of the inferior clergy. These councils are summoned by the respective archbishops, in pursuance of the Queen's mandate. When assembled, they must also have the Queen's licence before they can deliberate; as well as the sanction of the Crown to their resolutions, before they are binding on the clergy; so that their real power is extremely limited.

The number of civil parishes (districts for which a separate poor rate is or can be made) at the census of 1891 was 14,684. These, however, in most cases, do not coincide with ecclesiastical parishes, which, during the present century, have lost their old importance, the ancient parishes having been cut up in many cases into districts, each of which is virtually an independent parish ecclesiastically. Of such parishes there were (1891) 13,780, exclusive of those of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. According to a return of 1882 the Church of England possessed 14,573 registered churches and chapels, in which marriages could be solemnised. Since 1818 the Church Building and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners have formed upwards of 3,000 new ecclesiastical districts. Each parish has its church, presided over by an incumbent or minister, who must be in priest's orders, and who is known as rector, vicar, or perpetual curate, according to his relation to the temporalities of his parish. Private persons possess the right of presentation to about 8,500 benefices; the patronage of the others belongs mainly to the Queen, the bishops and cathedrals, the Lord Chancellor, and the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The total number of Church of England clergymen on the active list in 1897 was put at 28,117. Of these, 296 were bishops, deans, and other cathedral officers;

13,867 were beneficed in the United Kingdom; 7,459 were curates, bishops' chaplains, &c.; 1,010 were engaged in educa tional work; 459 were chaplains, &c., of hospitals, workhouses, cemetaries, &c.; 173 were chaplains in the army and navy ;. 194 were secretaries, &c., of missionary and other societies; and 4,659 were in the colonies, India, and foreign countries. The non-active list comprised 3,716 clergymen. The gross income from ancient endowments is returned at 5,469,1717., and from benefactions since 1703, at 284,3867. Of the income from ancient endowments, 1,247,8277. is from property vested in the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The total annual income of the Church is estimated at about 7,250,000l. The number of clergy of all grades (including assistant curates) belonging to the Church of England actually doing duty in churches is returned in the census of 1891 at 24,232, and if those who fill other functions be added, the total number is probably about 27,000. Of the marriages celebrated in 1896, 68.7 per cent. were according to the rites of the Established Church, 41 per cent. according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church, 12.0 per cent. in registered places of other bodies, 52 per cent. were Jewish marriages, and 14.6 per cent. were civil marriages in Registrar's Office.

There are many Protestant Dissenting religious bodies, the most prominent being Methodists of various sects, the Independents or Congregationalists, the Baptists, the English Presbyterians, and the Salvation Army. The Methodist body, subdivided into members of the Old and New Connexion, Primitive and Free Church Methodists, Bible Christians, and various other sects, possess over 15,200 chapels and 801,000 members; the Independents or Congregationalists 4,618 churches and stations, 2,881 ministers, and over 360,000 members; the Baptists 3,842 chapels, 2,006 ministers, and 365,000 members, besides in each case the families of members and other adherents. The total number of registered chapels in 1897 was 23,388. According to the census of 1891 there were 10,057 Protestant Dissenting ministers in England and Wales.

The number of Roman Catholics in England and Wales (1891) is estimated at 1,500,000. There are fifteen dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church in England—namely, one archbishop and fourteen bishops (besides a coadjutor bishop), as many dioceses, united in the Province of Westminster.' In Wales there is a bishop, vicar-apostolic. In December 1898 there were 1,509 Roman Catholic chapels and stations. The number of officiating Roman Catholic clergy at the same date was 2,769 (1,620 in 1871). The number of Jews in Great Britain and Ireland (exclusive of

London) was estimated in 1890 at 25,700, of those in London in 1891 at 67,500.

II. SCOTLAND.

The Church of Scotland (established in 1560 and confirmed in 1688) is organised on the presbyterian system of government, in which the clergy are all equal, none of them having pre-eminence of any kind over another. There is in each parish a parochial tribunal, called a kirk session, consisting of the minister or clergyman, who acts as president or moderator, and of a number of laymen called ruling elders. There are in all 84 presbyteries, meeting frequently throughout the year, and these again are grouped in 16 synods, which meet half-yearly and can be appealed to against the decisions of the presbyteries. The supreme court of the Scottish Church is the General Assembly, which consists of over 700 members, partly clerical and partly lay, chosen by the different presbyteries, boroughs, and universities. It meets annually in May (under the presidency of a moderator appointed by the Assembly, the Sovereign being represented by a nobleman known as Lord High Commissioner), sitting for ten days, the matters not decided during this period being left to a Commission.

The number of parishes, old and new (1898), is 1,371, and the number of churches, chapels, and stations 1,767. The parishioners are allowed, under certain regulations enacted by the General Assembly, to choose their own ministers. The entire endowments of the Church from all sources, including the annual value of the manses and glebes, amount to probably not more than 350,0007. per annum. Since 1845 members of the Church have erected and endowed churches for 397 new parishes, the value, with endowments, being considerably over 2,500,000l. In 1897 voluntary gifts (independently of over 200,000l. derived from the interest of invested contributions, grants from two trusts, and pew rents levied in about 450 churches) amounted to 417,1517. Exclusive of 'adherents,' the Established Church in 1878 had 515,786 members or communicants, according to a Return made to Parliament in 1879. In 1897 the number was 641,803.

The Presbyterians not members of the Established Church of Scotland have the same ecclesiastical organisation as that Church. Of these, the largest body is the Free Church of Scotland, formed from the Disruption' in 1843, with 1,280 ministers and missionaries, 1,060 churches, 290,789 members, and 111,346 adherents, and claiming as population connected with the Free Church, 1,430,000 in 1898. Its income in 1897-98 from all sources at home was 666,4007. The aggregate funds raised for all purposes during the fifty-five years from the Disruption amount to 25,325,0947.

Next is the United Presbyterian Church, formed from the amalgamation of several bodies of seceders, one dating as far back as 1733, with 620 ministers, 583 churches, 39 home mission stations, 195,631 members (besides adherents), and an income in 1897 of 398,3147. There are also Baptists, Independents, Methodists, and Unitarians. The Episcopal Church in Scotland, which includes a large portion of the nobility and gentry, has 7 bishops, 331 churches and missions, and 337 clergy, and claims the adherence of 111,958 of the population.

The Roman Catholics have increased largely of late years, chiefly from the influx of Irish population. The Roman Catholic Church had two archbishops, three bishops (one see being vacant), and a bishop-auxiliary in Scotland in 1898, 443 priests, and 345 churches, chapels, and stations. The number of Roman Catholics is estimated at 365,000.

III. IRELAND.

The Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is under four archbishops, of Armagh, Cashel, Dublin, and Tuam, and twenty-three bishops, besides a bishop-auxiliary. On the death of a bishop, the clergy of the diocese nominate a successor to the vacancy, in whose favour they postulate or petition the Pope. The bishops of the province also present the names of two or three eligible persons to the Pope. The new bishop is generally chosen from among this latter number; but the appointment virtually rests with the cardinals. The emoluments of a bishop arise from his parish, which is generally the best in the diocese, from licences of marriage, &c., and from the cathedraticum, a small contribution paid by incumbents of parishes. The incomes of all classes of the Roman Catholic clergy of Ireland arise partly from fees, but principally from Christmas and Easter dues, and other voluntary offerings. In 1891 the Roman Catholic population was returned at 3,547,307, being 104 per cent. under the number returned in 1881.

The Church of Ireland (Protestant Episcopal), formerly (1801-1870) in union with the Church of England, ceased to be 'established by law' by Act of Parliament (1869) 32 & 33 Vict. cap. 42. It has now (1898) two archbishops, eleven bishops, and 1,600 clergy. It possesses 1,450 churches, with a membership representing 600,000 of population, and it received in 1896 voluntary contributions amounting to 174,3127. Previous to disestablishment its income was 600,000l., and its entire capital was estimated at 14,000,000. By the Disestablishment Act 7,500,000l. were allotted to it by way of commutation (charged

with the payment of annuities amounting to 596,0007.), and 500,000%. in lieu of private endowments. The Church is governed by a General Synod-bishops, clergy, and laity having the right to vote separately. There are also 23 diocesan synods.

There were in Ireland, at the census of 1891, 444,974 Presbyterians, 55,500 Methodists, 17,017 Independents, 5,111 Baptists, 3,032 Quakers, 1,798 Jews.

Instruction.

The following table proves progress in the diffusion of elementary education, by indicating the percentage of persons in England and Wales who signed by mark in the marriage register during each year specified :

In London the proportion of men who signed with marks in 1896 was 2.5 per cent., and of women 3.2. Over most of the South-eastern, South Midland, Eastern, South-western, West Midland and North Midland counties the proportion of males who signed with marks was greater than females. In the Northern counties and in Wales the preponderance is much in favour of the males. The most illiterate counties for men in 1896 were Monmouthshire 71, North Wales 6'4, Cambridge 6-3, Suffolk 6.3, Cornwall 61, Herefordshire 5-9; and for women, Monmouth 7'8, South Wales 7.5, North Wales 7.0, Staffordshire 6.1, Durham 6'0, Lancashire 5.9 per cent. In Scotland the proportion in 1896 was 2.26 per cent. of men and 3.78 of women. In 1857 the proportion was 12:11 per cent. males to 24 66 females. In 1896 in Kinross and Berwick all the males and all the females signed their names. In Kincardine all the males and 99.56 per cent. of the females, in Orkney all the males and 99-27 per cent. of the females, in Peebles all the males and 96.88 per cent. of the females signed their names. The counties where the proportion signing by mark was greatest were Inverness 11.42 per cent. of males and 17 58 of females, and Sutherland 10 96 per cent. of males and 12:33 of females. In Ireland the proportion unable to sign the marriage register in 1897 was 15.1 men and 13.2 women. In 1874 the proportion was 301 men and 36 4 women. The proportions in 1897 varied in the various provinces from 130 per cent. of the men and 10.7 per cent. of the women in Leinster to 21 5 per cent. of the men and 16.5 per cent. of the women in Connaught.

The highest education is provided for in Great Britain and Ireland by a number of universities and detached colleges. With the exception of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Owens College, the Scotch Universities, and Trinity and Queen's Colleges, Ireland, most of the other institutions have been founded within the last ten years. The following table gives the statistics in most cases for the last term of 1898 :

D