The Sun.
London, England, 1869-09-14 00:00:00

MB. GLAD4TONE AND THE EPISC'OPATE.

Five bishoprics, including that of Salisbury, to which
Dr. Moberly haikbeen nominated, fell to the gift of the
Prime Minister in'-the course of as many weeks. The
Bishop of Bath and Wells has actually resigned ; the
resignation of the Bishops of Winchester and Exeter will
be completed in October. There seems to be little doubt
about the translation of Dr. Wilberforce to Winchester,
which will make the see of Oxford vacant.
One of the results of these numerous vacancies
will be that Dr. Wordsworth, lately conse-
crated Bishop of Lincoln, will take his seat in
the House of Lords. The Bishop of Winchester is not
within the rule applying to the junior bishop for the time
being, and the successor of Dr. Wilberforce in the diocese
of Oxford, as well as Dr. Moberly, Bishop of Salisbury,
and the successor of Lord Auckland in the diocese of Bath
and Wells, whoever he may be, will take their seats in
the House of Lords at the commencement of the next
session. The new Bishop of Exeter will be without a seat
until another vacancy arises other than in Canterbury,
York, London, Durham, and Winchester, and it will be
for the new Bishop of Oxford or of Bath and Wells.
The resignation of two bishops within a week has (the
Daily News remarks) drawn attention to the amount of
ecclesiastical patronage which circumstances may throw
into the hands of the First Minister of the Crown. Mr.
Gladstone came into power nine months ago, rud the sees
of Bath and Wells, Exeter, Salisbury, and Winchester
have been rendered vuid. Mr. Disraeli was in office ten
months, and nominated to the sees of Canterbury, Lon-
don, Hereford, Lincoln, and Peterborough. During the
nine years of Lord Palmerston's premiership twenty-
four episcopal appointments were made, a number
reaching to within two of the entire strength
of the hierarchy in the House of Lords as settled by the
Irish Church Act. The following is the list of Lord Pal-
merston's nominations :—Canterbury, York (twice),
Armagh, Dublin, London, Durham (three times), Carlisle,
Cork (twice), Chester, Ely, Gloucester and Bristol (three
times), Killaloe,llCilmore, Norwich, Peterborough, Ripen,
Rochester, and Worcester. The oldest prelate now upon
the Bench is the Bishop of Chester, who is 83, the Bishop
of St. Asaph is 79, St. David's 72, and Llandaff 71

ESCAPE OF TWO PRISONERS FROM

9URHAM GAOL.

Late on Sunday night two prisoners effected their
escape from Durham Gaol. One of them was named
Thomas Sheeley, who was committed to take his trial at
the next assizes for the wilful murder of Thomas Reed, at
Shield How, a mining village, a few miles from Durham ;
and the other prisoner was named Screener, who was
committed for trial for felony at Sunderland. The
men were placed in a cell at the south wing, which
has only been built a short time. The cells in which the
prisoners were placed adjoined each other, and, notwith•
standing there were two warders on duty on Saturday
and Sunday, the two prisoners sppear to have held
secret communication with each other. Two hours after
the cells had been examined by the warders, who found
everything secure, it was discovered that the prisoners
had effected their escape. It would appear they had
succeeded, by means of tools they had managed to get
into their cells, in removing a large stone, and made a
communication between the two cells. They then pro-
ceeded to break the glass of the window, and wrenched
the bars so far asunder as to make a passage through for
their bodies. They tore up their trousers and made a
rope of them, and by means of this they reached the
ground. Fortunately for the bold undertaking, there
was a large scaffolding pole lying against the outer wall,
which is twenty-one feet high, and by means of this
pole they scaled the outer wall, and dropped down into
a field, and thus got away. While the men were on the
wall they were seen by another prisoner, who rang his
bell and gave the alarm. Information of the escape was
given to the county police, a number of whom were sent
to scour the country in all directions. About six o'clock
the next morning Police-constable Chriaton succeeded in
apprehending Sheeley, at his brother's house, in Crag-
head, a village about eight miles from the city of
Durham. Screener has, up to the present time, made
good his escape, but it is supposed that he is somewhere
about Sunderland.