Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/399

 Ch. 11. letters patent. The chapter, coniting of canons or prebendaries, are ometimes appointed by the king, ometimes by the bihop, and ometimes elected by each other.

dean and chapter are, as was before oberved, the nominal electors of a bihop. The bihop is their ordinary and immediate uperior; and has, generally peaking, the power of viiting them, and correcting their excelles and enormities. They had alo a check on the bihop at common law: for till the tatute 32 Hen. VIII. c. 28. his grant or leae would not have bound his ucceors, unles confirmed by the dean and chapter.

and prebends may become void, like a bihoprick, by death, by deprivation, or by reignation to either the king or the bihop. Alo I may here mention, once for all, that if a dean, prebendary, or other piritual peron be made a bihop, all the preferments of which he was before poeed are void; and the king may preent to them in right of his prerogative royal. But they are not void by the election, but only by the conecration.

III. arch-deacon hath an eccleiatical juridiction, immediately ubordinate to the bihop, throughout the whole of his diocee, or in ome particular part of it. He is uually appointed by the bihop himelf; and hath a kind of epicopal authority, originally derived from the bihop, but now independent and ditinct from his. He therefore viits the clergy; and has his eparate court for punihment of offenders by piritual cenures, and for hearing all other caues of eccleiatical cognizance.

IV. rural deans are very antient officers of the church, but almot grown out of ue; though their deaneries till ubit as an eccleiatical diviion of the diocee, or archdeaconry. They eem to have been deputies of the bihop, planted all round his Rh