The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-30 00:00:00

PROPOSED EXTENSION OF THE EPISCOPATE.

A scheme has been matured for materially increasing
the hierarchy of the church, and will be submitted for the
consideration of the legislature in the course of the pre-
sent session. The plan provides for the establishment of
new bishoprics, and the manner in which endowments
may be obtained. It is proposed to leave the dioceses of
Bangor, St. Asaph, and Llandaff as they are at present;
but to divide the diocese of St. David's, forming a new
see at Brecon, to include the archdeaconries of Brecon
and Cardigan. From the diocese of Bath and Wells
would be detached the archdeaconry of Bath, and uniting
it to the archdeaconry of Bristol, the see of Bristol and
Bath would be restored. The archiepiscopal diocese of
Canterbury would be reduced to half its present size,
placing the remainder of Kent under the see of Rochester,
as in former times. The diocese of Chichester, which now
includes the whole of Sussex, and no more, would be left
untouched. The diocese of Ely would give toe archdea-.
conries of Bedford and Huntingdon to one new see at
Bedford, and that at Sudkry to another at Bury St.
Edmund's. The diocese of Exeter would have one new
bishop for Cornwall at Bodmin, and one for the archdea-
conries of Barnstaple and Totness seated at Plymouth.
From the dioceses of Hereford and of Lichfield would be
detached the whole of the county of Salop, which would
be placed under a new bishop at Shrewsbury. In the dio-
cese of Lichfield a new see would be erected for the county
of Derby, at Derby. In the diocese of Lincoln the pre-
sent episcopal see would retain nearly one-half of the
Archdeaconry of Lincoln. The sourthern part would
have a new see at Stamford or Boston, and the Archdea-
conry of Stow and the northern part of the Archdeaconry
of Lincoln would have a new see at Gainsborough. The
Archdeaconry of Nottingham would have a new see at
Southwell. In the diocese of London a new see would be
founded at Westminster, to take charge of part of West-
minster, Southwark, and Surrey. In the diocese of Nor-
wich two additional sees would be founded in Norfolk, at
Yarmouth, and Walsingham, and one in Suffolk, at
Ipswich. From the diocese of Oxford, Berkshire
would be detached, and form the new diocese of Windsor;
Buckinghamshire also would be a new diocese. In the
diocese of Peterborough, the Archdeaconry of Leices-
ter would be a distinct diocese and see. In the present
diocese of Rochester, there would be Bishops of Colches-
ter, Chelmsford, and St. Alban's, the see of Rochester-
being restored to its ancient jurisdiction in Kent. The
diocese of Salisbury would be divided, and the county of-
Dorset constitute a distinct bishopric, the see to be placed
at Sherborne. In the diocese of Winchester, the Channel
Islands would be provided with a Bishop of Jersey, be-
sides the separation of Surrey, as already mentioned. In
the diocese of Worcester a new bishopric would be formed
at Birmingham and Coventry for Warwickshire. The see
of Carlisle would remain unaltered. The see of Chester
would be divided into those of Chester, Manchester (now
formed), Liverpool, and Lancaster. The county of North-
umberland would be detached from Durham, and become
a distinct diocese under the see of Newcastle and Hex-
ham. The Archdeaconry of Craven in the diocese of
Ripon would become a new diocese, with a see at Halifax
and Leeds. The Archdeaconry of? the East Riding and
that of Cleveland would be new dioceses under the
Bishops of Beverley and Whitby. Thus it will be seen
that the proposed addition amounts to 31 new sees, whick
would raise the whole number of episcopal sees in England
and Wales to 56, besides the bishoprics of Jersey and;
Sodor and Man. Then, as to the means by which funds
can be provided for the support of these bishops. The
bishopric of the Channel Islands would be competently
endowed by annexing it to the deanery of Jersey, so that
56 sees remain to be provided for. Setting aside the sees
of Canterbury, York, London, Durham, and Winchester,
for which a higher scale than the rest would be fixed, there
would be 51 sees to be considered. Of these, 21 (those
having parliamentary seats) would have incomes of £3,500,
and the remaining 30 would have incomes of £3,000.
This would require the sum of £163,600. To the Pri-
macy £lO,OOO per annum would be given, to the Arch.
bishop of York and the Bishop of London £B,OOO respec-
tively, and to the Bishops of Durham and Winchester
£5,000, making a total of £36,000 per annum, or, on the
whole, an income amounting to £199,500 for the support
of the hierarchy of England. The episcopal income at
?resent is £170,000, and it is proposed that the remaining
£29,500 shall be raised by making parochial benefices
(which would be attached to the new dioceses) assist in
the endowment of episcopal sees, which arrangement would
have the advantage of providing residences M well as
incomes.