BIS 



magazinf for merchandlfe, and two towers, with fomc other 

 out-worki to dcftnd ihe entrance of the havcii. It is well 

 fippli.d with frelh water from the furroimdinj; fprings, and 

 with j^reat vari.ty of filli from the adjacent lake. Moft of 

 the inhabitants are employed in the fidiing trade, which be- 

 gins about the end of October, and ends in the beginning 

 of May. The people are poor, and reckoned proud, ill- 

 oatured, and treacherous ; infomucli that Miilcy Hafun 

 Bey, one of their fovereigns, ufed to fay of iheni, that 

 Tieither fear nor love could keep them faithful. Bizerta has 

 eight villages under its government, a large plain called 

 " Mater," and the tcrritorj- of Choros, the " Clypca" or 

 " Corobis" of the ancients, which is cxtenfive, and inhabited 

 by a number of perfons who are poor, meanly clad, and 

 coarftly fed. Their drcfs confifls merely of a piece of coarfc 

 cloth wi-appcd round their bodies, and another, in the form 

 of a turban, round their heads ; and moll of them are with- 

 out covering cither to their feet or legs. Thofe of the poorer 

 clafi deep on Ikins laid on the floor; and the rich lie in 

 narrow couches fixed againtl the wall, about 5 or 6 feet 

 high, to which they afccnd by a ladder. Their choiceft. 

 d.iinty is their " coufcou," made of flour, eggs, and fait, 

 which they dry and keep through the year. They are ex- 

 pert horfemcn, and ride without either faddie or bridle ; nor 

 do they ever fhoe their horfos. They are much expofed to 

 the depredations and opprcflions of the neighbouring Arabs. 

 The Bifcitines, both of the city and country, are ver)- fu- 

 pcrllitioiis, and hang about their own necks, and thofe of 

 their horfes, a number of amulets, which are fcraps of paper 

 or parchment, on which ftrange charafters are infcribed, and 

 fewn up in a piece of leather, iilk, $ic. and thought, when 

 worn about their pcrfoas, to be a prefervative againft all 

 accidents. 



BISET, Charles Emanuel, in Biography, a painter 

 of hiftoiy and conveifations, was born at Mechlin, in 1633 ; 

 and in his early productions manifelled a lively and ready in- 

 vention. He was dillinguilhed by the multitude of figures 

 which he introduced into his defigiis, and by his variety of 

 drapery, peculiar to every nation. At a diftance, his pic- 

 tures, which confillcd chiefly of balls, concerts, and gay 

 afrcmblies, correftly^cfigned and well-coloured, had a ftrong 

 tSedl ; but more nearly infpefted, they (hewed a neatnefs of 

 pencil, a fpir.f.d touch, and a good expreflion. Pilk- 

 ington. 



BisET, in Orn'ilhdogy, Colimiha livia, or flock dove, in 

 Buffon's Hilt. Birds. 



BISHOP, in Ecclcfiajllcnl H'l/lory, a prelate, or perfon 

 confecratcd for the fpiritual government and direftion of a 

 diocefe. Tlie word comes from the Saxon hsj'chop, and that 

 from the Greek (tio-xo-o.-, an overfeer or infpeSlor ; which 

 was a title tiie Athenians gave to thofe whom they fent into 

 the provinces fubjeft to them, to fee whether every thing 

 was kept in order ; and the Roman:, gave the fame title to 

 ihofe who were infpeCtors and vilitors of the bread and pro- 

 vifion. It appears from a letter of Cicero, that he liimfelf 

 iiad a biOiopric ; being " epifcopus Orx et Campanix." 



Abilhop differs from an archbidiop in this, that an arch- 

 bifljop with bifliops confecrates a bifhop, as a biHiop with 

 priells ordains a priell ; that the archbifhop vifits a province, 

 as the biihop a diocefe ; that the archbifhop convocates a 

 provincial fynod, as the bifliop a dioccfan one ; and tliat the 

 archbifhop has canonical authority over all the bilhops of his 

 province, as the bifliop over the priells in his diocefe. It is 

 a long time fi'ice bilhops have been dillinguinied from mere 

 priells or prefhyters ; but whether tliat dillinction be of di- 

 vine or human right, whether it was fettled in the apoflolical 

 age, or introduced afterwards, is much controverted. 



B I S 



Thofe who are advocates for the divine right of epifcopacy, 

 and who trace its inftitution to the times of the apolllcs, 

 maintain that, in the eariiell age of the Chrillian church, 

 there were tliree different orders of miuiflers ai)pointed by 

 the apofllcs for the difcharge of the public offices of religion ;_ 

 viz. bifhops, priells, or prefbyteis, and deacons. In proof 

 of this point tliey refer us to the tellimoiiy of ancient eccle- 

 fiallical writers, whence they deduce, as they ccmceive, the 

 mofl fatisfaaory evidence, that billiops were inftituted by the 

 apoflles, and that they continued afterwards as a diftiuft or- 

 der from that of priells. To this purpofe they allege, that 

 Irenseus, a father of the fecond century, fays (1. iii. c. 3.), 

 " We are able to enumerate thofe wlio by the apoftles were 

 made bilhops in the feveral churches, and their fucee:(rors, to 

 this time." He adds, " Polycarp was not only inllrudled 

 by the apoi'tles, and acquainted with many of thofe who faw 

 our Lord, but was alfo by the apoflles made billiop of the 

 church of Smyrna in Afia." TtrtuUian alio, a writer of the 

 fame centurj- (De Praefcr. adv. Hieret. p. 78.), challenges 

 certain ht^rctics to " exhibit the order of their bilhops, fo 

 fucceeiling each other from the beginning, that the firfl bi- 

 fhop had for his author and predecefTor fome one of the 

 apoftles, or of thofe apoflolical men who perfevered with the 

 apoftles ; for in this manner apoilolical churches aflert their 

 rights : thus, the church of Smyrna has Polycarp, who 

 was placed there by John ; the church of Rome has Cle- 

 ment, who was ordained by Peter ; and other churches fliew 

 other perfons, who, by being placed in the bifhoprics by the 

 apoftles, tranfmitted the apoftoiical feed." Cyprian alfo 

 fays (Ep. 69. ad Flor.), " that the bifhop, who is one and 

 prefides over the church, through the proud prcfumption of 

 certain perfons, is defpifcd ; and thus the man, who is ho- 

 noured by the fanClion of God, is judged unworthy by 

 men." In an epilUe afcribcd to Ignatius (Ad Antioch. 

 c. 7), but probably fpurious, though very ancient, it is af- 

 ferted, that Evodius was confeorated a bifh p by the apof- 

 tles. And Chnfoftom fays (Horn. 42. in Ignat.), " that 

 Ignatius converfed familias'ly with the apoftles, and was per- 

 fectly acquainted with their doctrine, and had the hands of 

 apoftles laid upon him." In a fragment of an epiftle of Dio- 

 nyfius, bifhop of Corinth in the fccond century, preferved 

 by Eufebius (H. E. 1. 4. c.23.), it is faid, that Dionyfius 

 the Areopagite, who was converted bv St. Paul, was ap- 

 pointed the firft bifliop of Ather.s. Eufebius and Socrates 

 have given us the catalogues of the bifhops of many cities, 

 from the times of the apoftles ; and Epiphanius (lib. 2, 

 Hxr. 66.) has left us a catalogue of the biihcps of Jerufa- 

 lem, from St. James the apofLle to Hilarlon, who was bifhop 

 in his time. It is further alleged, thr,t bifhop?, priefls, and 

 deacons, are mentioned togeth. r as three feparate orders. 

 Ignatius, in his Epillle tn ihe Magnefians {§ 2.), mentions 

 Damas as bifliop of Magnefia, BulTus and Apollonius as 

 prcfbyters, and Sotian as deacon, in the fame church ; and 

 in his epiftle to the Philadelphians (§ 7.), he fays, "Attend 

 to the bifliop, to the prefbytcry, and to the deacons ;" and 

 in his epiftle to the Tralhans (§ 2.), he fays, " Be ye fub- 

 ](.&. to the bifliop, as to Jefus Chrift ; to th-; prefhyters, as the 

 apoftles of Jefus Chrift ; and to the deacons, as to minifters 

 of the myfteries of Jefus Chrift;" he then adds, (§ 3.), 

 " without thcfe tlierc is no eleft church, no congrcgatioa 

 of holy men." The authority of Ignatius, who lived in the 

 beginning of the fecond century, is confidered as dccifive. 

 Clement of Alexandria, in the fubfequcnt part of the fame 

 century, fpeaks of the three progrefEve orders of deacons, 

 priefts, and bifliops (Strom. 1. 6.) ; and there are feveral 

 early inftances of biihopf, who had been prefhyters and dea- 

 cons in the fame church. Irenasus was firlt.prefbyter, then 



bifliop 



