he twenty-five seats are filled up, as a
vacancy occurs, according to seniority of consecration.

Bishops of the Church of England rank in order of precedency immediately
above barons. They may marry, but their wives as such enjoy no title or
precedence. Bishops are addressed as "Right Reverend" and have legally
the style of "Lord," which, as in the case of Roman Catholic bishops in
England, is extended to all, whether suffragans or holders of colonial
bishoprics, by courtesy.

The insignia of the Anglican bishop are the rochet and the chimere, and
the episcopal throne on the gospel side of the chancel of the cathedral
church. The use of the mitre, pastoral staff and pectoral cross, which
had fallen into complete disuse by the end of the 18th century, has been
now very commonly, though not universally, revived; and, in some cases,
the interpretation put upon the "Ornaments rubric" by the modern High
Church school has led to a more complete revival of the pre-Reformation
vestments.

Orthodox Eastern.

In the Orthodox Church of the East and the various communions springing
from it, the _potestas ordinis_ of the bishop is the same as in the
Western Church. Among his qualifications the most peculiar is that he
must be unmarried, which, since the secular priests are compelled to
marry, entails his belonging to the "black clergy" or monks. The
insignia of an oriental bishop, with considerable variation in form, are
essentially the same as those of the Catholic West.

Subordinate bishops.

Besides bishops presiding over definite sees, there have been from time
immemorial in the Christian Church bishops holding their jurisdiction in
subordination to the bishop of the diocese. (1) The oldest of these were
the _chorepiscopi_ ([Greek: taes choras episkopoi]), i.e. country
bishops, who were delegated by the bishops of the cities in the early
church to exercise jurisdiction in the remote towns and villages as
these were converted from paganism. Their functions varied in different
times and places, and by some it has been held that they were originally
only presbyters. In any case, this class of bishops, which had been
greatly curtailed in the East in A.D. 343 by the council of Laodicea,
was practically extinct everywhere by the 10th century. It survived
longest in Ireland, where in 1152 a synod, presided over by the papal
legate, decreed that, after the death of the existing holders of the
office, no more should be co