Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/325

Rh ecclesiastical affairs. Among the more noteworthy cases which fell under his direction were the proceedings against Martin Mar-Prelate, Cartwright and his friends, and the pious Penry, whose &quot; seditious writings &quot; he caused to be intercepted and given up to the Lord Keeper. In 1600 he was sent on an embassy, with others, to Embden, for the purpose of settling certain matters in dispute between the English and the Danes. This mission, however, failed. Bishop Bancroft was present at the death of Queen Elizabeth. He took a prominent part in the famous con ference of the prelates and the Presbyterian divines held at Hampton Court in 1 604. By the king s desire he undertook the vindication of the practices of confirmation, absolution, private baptism, and lay excommunication ; he urged, but in vain, the re-inforcement of an ancient canon, &quot; that schismatics are not to be heard against bishops ; &quot; and in opposition to the Puritans demand of certain alterations in doctrine and discipline, he besought the king that care might be taken for a praying clergy ; and that, till men of learning and sufficiency could be found, godly homilies might be read and their number increased. In the capacity of a commissioner for ecclesiastical causes (1603), he advocated severe measures for the suppression of &quot; heresy and schism,&quot; treating books against Episcopacy as acts of sedition, and persecuting their authors as enemies of the state. In March 1604, Bancroft, in consequence of the death of the primate, was appointed by royal writ president of Convocation then assembled ; and he there presented for adoption a book of canons collected by himself. In the following Xovember he was elected successor to Whitgift in the see of Canterbury. He had now but six years of life before him. He continued to show the same zeal and severity as before, and with so much success that Lord Clarendon, writing in his praise, expressed the opinion that if Bancroft had lived, he would quickly have extinguished all that fire in England which had been kindled at Geneva.&quot; In 1605 he was sworn a member of the Privy Council. The same year he engaged in a contest with the judges, and exhibited articles of complaint against them before the lords of the council ; but these complaints were overruled. He enforced discipline and exact conformity within the church with an iron hand ; and forty-nine ministers of the church were deprived of their livings for disobedience to his injunctions. In 1608 he was chosen chancellor of the University of Oxford. One of his latest public acts was a proposal laid before the parliament for improving the revenues of the church. In the last few months of his life he took part in the discussion about the consecration of certain Scottish bishops, and it was in pursuance of his advice that they were consecrated by several bishops of the English Church. By this act were laid the foundations of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Archbishop Bancroft was &quot;the chief overseer&quot; of the authorised version of the Bible, published within a year of his death. He died at Lambeth Palace, Xovember 2, 1610. His literary remains are very few and unimportant.  BÁNDÁ, a district of British India, in the Allahabad division, under the Lieutenant-Governor of the Xorth- &quot;Vestern Provinces, lies between 24 59 15&quot; and 25 55 30&quot; X. lat, and 80 2 45&quot; and 81 33 E. long. It is bounded on the N. by the district of Fathipur, from which it is separated by the River JamnA ; on the X.E. by the districts of Fathipur and Allahabad ; on the S.E. by the native state of Riwd ; on the S. and S.W. by some of the petty states of Bundelkhand ; and on the AY. and X.W. by the district of Hamirpur. Area, 3030 square miles, of which 1390 are under cultivation, 848 cultivable but not cultivated, 108 revenue free, and 684 uncultivable waste. The census of 1872 took the area at 2908 68 square miles, and returned the district population at 697,610 souls, viz., Hindus, 657,107; Mahometans, 40,497; Christians, 6. Average density, 230 persons to the square mile. Of the population in 1872, 2897 were landed proprietors, 42,230 agriculturists, and 63,644 non-agriculturists. In some parts the district rises into irregular uplands and elevated plains, interspersed with detached rocks of granite ; in others it sinks into marshy lowlands, which frequently remain under water during the rainy season. The sloping country on the bank of the Jamna, is full of ravines. To the S.E. the Vindhya chain of hills takes its origin in a low range not exceeding 500 feet in height, and forming a natural boundary of the district in that direction. The principal river of the district is the Jamna, which flows from north west to south-east, along the X.E. boundary of the district for 125 miles. Its most important tributaries within the district are the Ken, Bagain, Paisunf, and Ohan, all of which take their rise in the Vindhya hills. The principal towns and market villages in the district are Man, Majhgaon or Rajapur, Markd, Samgara, Augasf, Chilla, and Baragaon, all situated on the bank of the Jamna.

1em 1em  BANDA ISLANDS, a group in the East Indian Archipelago, lying to the S. of Ceram, in lat. 4 30 S. and long. 129 50 E. They are ten or twelve in number, and have an area of about 7150 square miles. Their volcanic origin is distinctly marked. Banda Lantoir, which derives its name from the lontar or Palmyra palm, is the largest of the group. From the sea this island appears lofty, its sides being steep, and crowned by a sort of table-land which extends nearly from one end to the other. ^ The whole is one continuous forest of nutmeg and Canari trees, the latter being planted to screen the former from the wind. The unhealthiness of Lantoir has prevented it from becoming the seat of government, for which in other respects it would naturally be chosen. The village of Selam contains the ruins of the chief Portuguese settlement. A considerable 