Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/652

Rh 628 R O L R O M on the Seine and laid the foundation of the duchy of NORMANDY (see vol. xvii. p. 539). ROLLOCK, ROBERT (1555-1599), the first principal of the university of Edinburgh, was the son of David Rollock of Powis near Stirling, and was born in 1555. He received his early education at the school of Stirling from Thomas Buchanan, a nephew of George Buchanan, and after graduating at St Andrews became regent of philosophy there in 1580. In 1583 he was appointed by the Edin- burgh town council sole " regent " of the " town's college " ("Academia Jacobi Sexti"), and three years later he received from the same source the title of "principal or first master," and also, with consent of the presbytery, professor of theology. From 1587 he also preached regularly to large audiences every Sunday morning at 7 A.M., and ultimately, yielding to urgent entreaties, he accepted " the full burden of one of the eight ministers of the city." He took a prominent part in the somewhat troubled church politics of the day, and distinguished himself among his compeers by gentleness and tact, as well as ability. In 1593 he was appointed, along with some others, by parliament to confer with the popish lords, and in 1597 it was through his mediation with the king that the ministers of Edinburgh, banished in consequence of a "tumult" in December 1596, were permitted to return. For his eminent services he was chosen moderator of the General Assembly held at Dundee in May 1597. His death took place at Edinburgh on 8th February 1599. Rollock published in Latin a commentary On the Epistle to the Ephesians (1590), a similar work On Daniel (1591), a Logical Analysis of the Epistle to the Romans (1594), Questions and Answers on the Covenant of God (1596), a treatise On Effectual Calling (1597), and commentaries on Thessalonians (1598), fifteen selected Psalms (1599), and the Gospel of St John (1599). Soon after his death eleven Sermons were published from notes taken by his students, and his Select Works by the Wodrow Society in 1849. ROLLS, MASTER OF THE, is the third member of the Supreme Court of Judicature in England, the lord chancel- lor, president of the Chancery Division, being the first and the lord chief justice, president of the Queen's Bench Division, being the second. At first he was the principal clerk of the Chancery and as such had charge of the records of the court, especially of the register of original writs and of all patents and grants under the great seal. Until the end of the 15th century he was called either the clerk or the keeper of the rolls, and he is still formally designated as the master or keeper of the rolls. The earliest mention of him as master of the rolls is in 1 1 Hen. VII. c. 18 ; and in 11 Hen. VII. c. 24 he is again described as clerk of the rolls, showing that his official designation still remained unsettled. About the same period, however, the chief clerks of the Chancery came to be called masters in Chancery and the clerk, master, or keeper of the rolls was always the first among them whichever name they bore. In course of time, from causes which are not very easy to trace, his original functions as keeper of the records passed away from him and he gradually assumed a juris- diction in the Court of Chancery second only to that of the lord chancellor himself. In the beginning he only heard causes in conjunction with the other masters in Chancery and his decrees were invalid until they had been approved and signed by the lord chancellor. But later on he heard causes without assistance and his decrees held good until they were reversed on petition either to the lord chancellor or afterwards to the lords justices of appeal (15 and 16 Viet. c. 83). Before any judge with the formal title of vice-chancellor was appointed the master of the rolls was often spoken of as vice-chancellor. By 1 and 2 Viet. c. 94 the custody of the records was restored to him, and he is chairman of the State Papers and Historical Manuscripts Commissions. Under 38 and 39 Viet. c. 77 and 39 and 40 Viet. c. 59 he now always sits with the lords justices in the Court of Appeal, whose decisions can be questioned only in the House of Lords. The master of the rolls was formerly eligible to a seat in the House of Commons, a privilege enjoyed by no other member of the judicial bench ; but he was deprived of it by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1873 (36 and 37 Viet. c. 66), which provides that all judges of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal shall be incap- able of being elected to or sitting in the House of Com- mons. The master of the rolls is always sworn of the privy council. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH, the name generally given to that very numerous body of Christians who ac- knowledge the pope, or bishop of Rome, as head of their church. This name also signifies that the Roman Catholic Church is " Roman in its centre and catholic in its circum- ference." The number of Catholics throughout the world is variously estimated, some statisticians placing it as low as 152,000,000, others at 213,518,000, and others at 218,000,000. The author of the Katholischer Missions- Atlas (Rev. O. Werner, S.J.), largely furnished with Pro- paganda returns, distributes them as follows : in Europe, 150,684,050; in Asia, 8,311,800; in Africa, 2,656,205; in both Americas, 51,422,566; in Australia and adjacent islands, 443,442; total, 213,518,063. But he considers that this calculation gives less than the whole number of Catholics throughout the world, and adds nearly a million more, making the total 214,370,000. Dr Hugo Franz Brachelli, superior of the Austrian Statistical Department, in Die Staaten Europa's for 1884, gives the number of Catholics in Europe as 155,900,000, distributed mainly as follows : Austria-Hungary 20,229,825 Prussia and German States 16,229,493 Great Britain and Ireland 6,000,000 France 35,387,703 Italy 26,658,679 Russia 8,500,000 Scandinavia : Sweden (1870), Norway (1875), Denmark (1880) 4,075 Netherlands 1,439,137 Luxemburg 207,782 Belgium (pop. 5,519,844) 5,501,844 Liechtenstein, Monaco, &c., almost entirely. Spain and Portugal (pop. 21,164,380) 21,148,880 Greece and Montenegro, over 124,000 Turkey 218,254 Bosnia and Herzegovina 209,391 The supreme pontiff, who traces his succession from St Peter (see POPEDOM), is regarded by Catholics as "vicar of Christ, head of the bishops, and supreme governor of the whole Catholic Church, of whom the whole world is the territory or diocese." He is also patriarch of the West, bishop of Rome and its district, and temporal prince over the states of the church known as the Pontifical States though the exercise of the last prerogative has been in abeyance since the events of 1859 and 1870. The pope has a primacy or supremacy, not only of honour but of power, authority, and immediate jurisdiction, over the universal church. When he is canonically elected, and has given his consent to the election, he possesses, without any other confirmation, authority over the whole church, even though at his election he may not have been either bishop, priest, deacon, or subdeacon, but a simple layman. In the early ages of the church subdeacons were occasionally elected, deacons more frequently, and bishops rarely. In the llth century Gregory VII., previously known as the deacon Hildebrand, was ordained priest after his election and consecrated bishop later. The first pope invested with the episcopal dignity prior to his election to the pontificate was Formosus, bishop of Porto, elected