present day,
a great number of our nobility and landed gentry are drawing large
incomes from land, which is, in all right, the property of the
Church, while the clergy who do the work of the Church receive a
miserable pittance out of what was once their own. Laymen drawing
these incomes, "great-tithes," as they are called, are named
Lay-Rectors. A benefice in the hands of a layman is termed, not
an Appropriation, but an _Impropriation_.

APSE or APSIS. A semi-circular, or polyhedral termination of the
chancel. This style of Church building, although common in the
East, has not been in use since the 13th century in England until
quite the last few years. Mr. Street, the Architect of the Law
Courts, built many churches in this style. In churches of this
kind the altar should not be placed against the East wall, but
upon the chord of the arc, as in the ancient Basilicas.

ARCHBISHOP. An Archbishop does not differ from a Bishop in _order_,
but only in _degree_. Like a Bishop he has his own diocese, but
besides that he is the chief of the clergy of a whole province.
This, however, is not always the case in the Roman and Eastern
churches. To him all appeals are made from inferior jurisdictions
within his province. He also, upon the King's writ, calls the
Bishops and clergy within his province to meet in Convocation.

ARCHDEACON. As each province is divided into dioceses, severally
presided over by a Bishop, so each diocese is divided into
archdeaconries, consisting of a certain number of parishes. Over
each archdeaconry one of the clergy, a priest, sometimes a bishop,
is appointed to preside in subordination to the Bishop of the
diocese. The office dates back to very early times. In England
the dioceses were divided into archdeaconries about the time of
the Norman Conquest.

ARCHES, COURT OF. An ancient court of appeal, belonging to the
Archbishop of Canterbury. The judge of it is called the Dean of
_Arches_, because he anciently held his court in the Church of St.
Mary-le-Bow (Sancta Maria de Arcubus). (See _Ecclesiastical
Courts_.)

ARCHITECTURE. The principal styles of English Architecture are:

Norman, 1066 to 1154. Round-headed doorways, windows and arches,
heavy pillars and zig-zag ornaments. The Nave of Rochester Cathedral
is a good example. From 1154 to 1189 this style underwent a
_Transition_, the rounded arches becoming pointed, as in the choir
of Canterbury Cathedral.

Early English, 1189 to 1272. Narro