210 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.
presided over by a rector, who holds the living. Whoever is in full possession of all the rights of such parish church is called ' parson ' — persona ecclesice — and constitutes a jural person. During his life he has the freehold of the parsonage, the glebe-lands, the tithes, and other dues. Occasionally these dues are ' appropriated,' that is, the benefice is perpetually annexed to some spiritual corporation, which, either sole or aggregate, is the patron of the living. Such cor- poration appoints a vicar, to whom the spiritual duty belongs, in the same manner as, in parsonages not appropriated, to the rector. The patronage — advocatio, advoicson — is ranked under the head of real property. Advowsons are either appendant or in gross ; appendant when annexed to the possession of a manor, and passing by a grant of the manor only, without any other authority. But when the advowson has been once separated from the property of the manor, it is called advowson in gross. The owner of the advowson is invested with the same privileges as in landed property. "When an alien purchases a right of presentation, the Crown has to present ; if a Catholic, it is exercised by either university in turn. Since 1885 the right of presentation of corporate towns has been abolished. Besides the right of presentation pertaining to the Queen, the Lord Chancellor, the Prince of Wales, the higher clergy, the chapters, and the universities, there are about 3,850 lords, gentlemen and ladies in the enjoyment of private patronage.
No information regarding the number of persons belonging to the Episcopal Church and those adhering to other religious creeds in England is given in the last official census. It is estimated that in the middle of the year 1870 the population of England and Wales claiming membership with the Established Church was about 12,600,000, leaving about 9,300,000 to other creeds. Among the Protestant dissenters the most prominent bodies and religious organisations are the Wesleyans, or so-called Methodists, the Independents, or Congregationalists, and the Baptists. The Wesleyan Body, subdivided into members of the Old and New Connexion, Primitive and Free Church Methodists, Bible Christians, and various other sects, is stated to possess above 9,000 places of worship ; the Independents 3,500 ; and the Baptists 2,000. Of more or less importance, among the other Protestant dissenters, are the Unitarians, the Moravians, and the members of the Society of Friends. There are altogether 146 religious denomina- tions in Great Britain, the names of which have been given in to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.
The number of Roman Catholics in England has greatly increased within the last forty years. In the year 1830, there were, in England and Wales, 434 priests; the churches Avere 410; and there were 16 convents. The total number of Roman Catholic, priests in England and Wales in 1869 was 1,489 ; the number
