BISCAY BISHOP. 



547 



such a child is under six, often under five pounds. 

 The birth is called untimely when the foetus is sepa- 

 rated from the womb before the seventh month. 

 Such children can be rarely kept alive ; there are in- 

 stances, however of five months' children living. A 

 curious remark is found in good writers, that a seven 

 month's child is more likely to live than one born a 

 month later. 



Late birth is a birth' after the usual period of forty 

 weeks. As this reckoning of the time of pregnancy 

 to birth is founded, for the most part solely, on the 

 evidence of the mother, there is much room for mis- 

 take or deception. The question is one of much in- 

 terest in medical jurisprudence, as the inquiry often 

 arises whether a child born more than forty weeks 

 after the death of the reputed father, is to be consi- 

 dered legitimate or not. The importance of the 

 question, and the uncertainty of the proof, have occa- 

 sioned a great variety of opinions among medical 

 writers. Most of them doubt the truth of the mother's 

 assertions about such a delayed birth, and give, as 

 their reason, that nature confines herself to the fixed 

 period of pregnancy ; that grief, sickness, &c., can- 

 not hinder the growth of the foetus, &c. Others 

 maintain, on the contrary, that nature binds herself 

 to no fixed rules ; that various causes may delay the 

 growth of the child, &c. 



Abortion and miscarriage take place when a foetus 

 is brought forth so immature that it cannot live. 

 They happen from the beginning of pregnancy to the 

 seventh month, but most frequently in the third 

 month. The occasions, especially in those of a sus- 

 ceptible or sanguine temperament, are violent shocks 

 of body or mind by blows, falling, dancing, cramp, 

 passion, &c. 



BISCAY ; a province in Spain, bounded N. by the 

 bay of Biscay, E. by France and Navarre, S. by Bur- 

 gos, including the three following subdivisions or 

 provinces ; 



Sq. Mile*. Population. Capitals. 



Biscay Proper, . 1375 . 112,731 Bilboa. 



Guipuscoa, . . 653 . 104,479 St Sebastian. 



Alava 1138 . 71,398 Vittoria. 



3160 283,606 



B. is a mountainous country, containing much wood, 

 and has mines of lead and iron. It abounds in apples, 

 pears, lemons, oranges, figs, nuts, and currants, but 

 produces little wine. The air is mild and more tem- 

 perate than the rest of Spain. The country is well 

 cultivated, and the houses clean and convenient. 

 The inhabitants call themselves Euscaldunac, boast 

 of their descent from the ancient Cantabri, and pre- 

 serve strong traces of the character of that high- 

 spirited and independent people. They are robust, 

 brave, active, industrious ; at the same time, haughty 

 and irritable ; have open, animated countenances, and 

 handsome persons. Their language is supposed to 

 be a dialect of the Celtic, and nearly allied to the Ar- 

 morican. (See Basques.) B. forms a kind of separate 

 state, distinct from the rest of Spain, governed ac- 

 cording to its ancient laws and usages. The king of 

 Spain, who is simply styled lord of Biscay, has no 

 right to impose taxes ; and no custom-houses were 

 allowed, till lately, within the province. 



Biscay Proper is bounded N. by the bay of Biscay, 

 E. by Guipuscoa, S. by Alava, and W. by Santander. 

 The coast is inhabited by seafaring people and fisher- 

 men ; in the interior, great quantities of iron are ex- 

 tracted from the ore, and wrought into different 

 articles. The richest mines are in the vicinity of 

 Bilboa and Somorrosto. 



Biscay, bay of; that part of the Atlantic which 

 lies N. of the province of Biscay, between the pro- 

 jecting coasts of France and Spain, extending from 

 Ushant to cape Finisterre. 



Biscay, bay of; a large bay on the south coast of 

 Newfoundland, between cape Race and cape Piiie ; 

 Ion. 53" 6' W. ; lat. 46 50' N. 



Biscay, New, or Durango ; a province in Mexico, 

 bounded N. by New Mexico, E. by New Leon, S. by 

 Zacatecas, and W. by Culiacan ; 600 miles long, and 

 400 broad ; population 159,000. The country is, in 

 general, mountainous, and watered by a great num- 

 ber of rivers and brooks : it has some mines of silver 

 and lead. Durango is the capital. 



BISCHOFSWERDER, John Rudolph von, a Prussian 

 general and minister, born in Saxony, in 1756, enter- 

 ed the university of Halle, was admitted into the 

 Prussian service in 1760, and appointed major in 

 1779. Under Frederic William II., he exercised an 

 unlimited influence at the court of Berlin. The at- 

 tachment which he had shown Frederic William, 

 while yet crown prince, procured him the lasting 

 affection of this short-sighted and prodigal monarch. 

 As plenipotentiary, he took a great part in the con- 

 gress at Sistova. He afterwards effected the inter- 

 view with lord Elgin at Pilnitz. After the king's 

 death, he was dismissed, and died at his country- 

 seat, in the neighbourhood of Berlin, 1803. His 

 views as a statesman and a man, were very limited. 

 His propensity to mysticism had consequences in the 

 highest degree injurious. He belonged to the society 

 of the Illuminati. 



BISHOP, in the New Testament, is the instructor 

 and spiritual superior of a Christian congregation. 

 The bishops were installed by the apostles themselves, 

 or, according to the apostolic idea of the office, cho- 

 sen by the congregations, were the assistants and suc- 

 cessors of the apostles in their labours for the propa- 

 gation of Christianity. They had the supervision of. 

 the whole congregation, and its officers, the presby- 

 ters, and deacons, but without claiming, in the first 

 century, any pre-eminence or rights of diocesans, 

 which they afterwards acquired, as the church-go- 

 vernment was gradually established. When the sys- 

 tem of ecclesiastical rule was matured, the almost 

 absolute authority which they exercised over the 

 clergy of their dioceses ; their interference in the se- 

 cular concerns of governments, to which they soon 

 rendered themselves necessary, by their superior in- 

 formation and their elevated rank ; the administra- 

 tion of the church revenues ; the maintenance of 

 their ecclesiastical prerogatives, and their extensive 

 ecclesiastical as well as criminal jurisdiction, occu- 

 pied them too much to leave them any tune or incli- 

 nation for the discharge of their duties as teacher.! and 

 spiritual fathers. They therefore reserved to them- 

 selves only the most important functions of their 

 spiritual office, as the ordination of the clergy, the 

 confirmation of youth, and the preparation of the holy 

 oil. In the middle ages, they attached to themselves 

 particular vicars, called suffragans, bishops in parti- 

 bus, or coadjutors, for the performance even ot these 

 functions, which they had reserved to themselves, and 

 for the inspection of all that concerned the church. 

 Bishops who have preached themselves, and attended 

 to the spiritual welfare of their congregations, have 

 been rare since the seventh century. The episcopal 

 office being such as we have described it, the nobility, 

 and even trie sons of princes and kings, strove to ob- 

 tain a dignity which was as honourable as it was pro- 

 fitable ; and which, moreover, permitted festivals and 

 sensual enjoyments of every description. These 

 applications, which were aided by rich donations 

 made to the churches, and, in the case of the German 

 bishops, by the influence of the emperor, gave to the 

 bishops of Germany, particularly, a high degree of 

 dignity. The German bishops became princes of the 

 empire, and their influence upon all public affairs 

 was important. The reformation, however, lessened 



