ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 



sacred congregation de propaganda fide, erected in 1622, divided the Roman 

 Catholic mission world into thirteen provinces. The fifth of these, that of 

 Belgium, included England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as Denmark and 

 Norway. Accordingly the rule of the archpriest in England was succeeded 

 by that of the vicar-apostolic, the first of whom was William Bishop, bishop 

 of Chalcedon. Bishop looked upon himself as an ordinary of the whole 

 kingdom, and proceeded not only to divide England into portions, assigning 

 an archdeacon to each, but also to the erection of a dean and chapter on his 

 own authority (1623). The movement was bitterly opposed by the Jesuits in 

 England and received no encouragement from Rome. While the Seculars (of 

 whom in 1631 there were 500 as against 150 Jesuits and 100 Benedictines) 

 desired the recognition of the dean and chapter and the appointment of a 

 bishop, the Regulars fought against it simply in the selfish interests of their 

 Orders. In the end the Jesuit contention prevailed and the pope decreed in 

 1627 that the vicar-apostolic of England was neither bishop of, nor even 

 ordinary in, England. The limited rule of the vicars-apostoHc, therefore, 

 continued until the definitive establishment of the hierarchy. The decline of 

 the Romanist cause, partly no doubt in consequence of this internecine strife, is 

 witnessed by the fact that in 1669 there were in England only 230 secular 

 priests, 120 Jesuits, and eighty Benedictines, as compared with almost double 

 that number in 1631. Whether this decline was equally marked in Lanca- 

 shire or not we cannot say, but it would appear unlikely from the records of 

 the vicar-apostolic John Leyburne. In 1687 he visited the northern counties 

 to administer confirmation, and the recorded confirmations in Lancashire 

 (3-21 September, 1687) number 8,958.*'' 



In 1688, in the hey-day of the Roman Catholic cause in England under 

 James II, the Propaganda congregation, at the instance of the king, appointed 

 three other vicars-apostolic to assist Leyburne with faculties like those of 

 the old archpriest and similar to those enjoyed by ordinaries in their 

 dioceses.*'^ The new northern vicariate comprised Lancashire, and the 

 succession of vicars-apostolic for this district is complete from 1688.*'* 



In 1773 Bishop Petre sent to the Propaganda statistics*'^ of his vicariate, 

 which serve to show how relatively preponderating was the Roman Catholic 

 interest in Lancashire as compared with the surrounding counties, thus : 



Residences Catholics 



Lancashire . . 69 14,000 



Yorkshire . . 36 1,500 



"' The details are as follows :— Leighton, 84 ; Lytham, 377 ; Myerscough Lodge, 439 ; Stonyhurst, 

 269 ; Preston and Tulketh, 1,153 ; Ladywell (Fernyhalgh), 1,099 ; Townley, 203 ; Euxton Chapel, 1,138 ; 

 Wrightington, 464 ; Wigan, 1,332 ; Lostock, 86 ; Eccleston, 755 ; Garswood, 529 ; Croxteth, 1,030. It will 

 be observed that the places named are nearly all in Amounderness, Leyland, and West Derby Hundreds. 



^ The four vicariates, thus established were the London, Midland, Northern, and Western districts. 



*'* 1688-1711. James Smith, bishop of Callipolis in fartibus. In 1709 he visited Lancashire and 

 informed Meynell at Paris that there was no Jansenism in the county. 1713-5- Silvester Jenks. 1716-25. 

 George Witham, who worked himself to death by the labour of visiting the Roman Catholic houses in 

 Lancashire. 1726-40. Thomas Dominic Williams, O.P. 1740-52. Edward Dicconson, of the Wright- 

 ington family. He was buried at Standish. 1750-75. Francis Petre. He lived at Showley, near Ribchester, 

 and was buried at Stidd chapel. 1775-80. William Walton, by birth a Manchester man. 1780-90. Matthew 

 Gibson. 1 790-1 8 2 1. William Gibson, brother to the preceding. 1 821-31. Thomas Smith. His report to 

 the Propaganda in Oct. 1830, gives a total of 82 stations in Lancashire. 1831-6. Thomas Penswick, a 

 Lancashire man, born at the manor house, Ashton in Makerfield. 1833-40. John Briggs. His report to 

 Propaganda in Jan. 1839, gives Lancashire 95 stations and 160,000 Catholics. Brady, Eph. Succession, vol. 111. 



"' Statistics compiled by the bishops of Chester show a great increase between 1717 and 1767, but this 

 may have been due in great measure to concealment at the former period : Trans. Hist. Soc. (New Ser.), xvui. 



93 



