DIMISSORY LETTERS. When a Candidate for Holy Orders is ordained by some Bishop other than the one in whose diocese he is going to work, it is because the ordaining Bishop has received leave, or _Letters Dimissory_, from the candidate's rightful Diocesan. DIOCESE. The extent of a Bishop's rule. England at present is divided into 32 dioceses; 23 being in the Province of Canterbury, and 9 in the Province of York. It is to be very earnestly wished that these dioceses may be sub-divided, and the number of Bishops increased, that the Church may be more able to cope with the enormously increased population. DISSENTERS. A _civil_, not a _religious_ term, and denotes those who have diverged from the civilly established religion of a country. Episcopalians are Dissenters in Scotland, Christians are Dissenters in Turkey. In England all are Dissenters who do not belong to the Church of England, whether they are Protestants or Papists. For further particulars see under their various names. DONATIVE. A form of conferring an ecclesiastical benefice on any clerk, by which he is exempt from presentation, induction, or institution; the patron acting virtually as a Bishop. This is said to be the usual manner in which benefices were anciently conferred. DOXOLOGY. An ascription of praise to God. The most familiar doxologies in use in our Church are the "Gloria Patri," the "Gloria in Excelsis," and the well-known verse, "Praise God from whom all blessings flow," &c. Many of our prayers, especially those of thanksgiving, conclude with a doxology. EAST, TURNING TO THE. This is now generally done at the Creeds. It is a survival of a general custom of worship towards the East--as the region of light, symbolical of the rising of the "Sun of Righteousness"--which is at least as old as the time of Tertullian, who lived in the second century. EASTWARD POSITION. A term descriptive of the position used by a Priest who adopts the custom of celebrating Holy Communion facing the East, with his back to the people. There is a very great difficulty in ascertaining what the rubrics with relation to the Priest's position really mean, because the Altar itself occupied various positions at the time the rules were framed. (1.) _Position of Altar_. "The Table. . . .shall stand in the Body of the Church, or in the Chancel," is the rubric of 1552. "The Holy Table shall be set in the place where the Altar stood. . . .saving when the Communion of the Sacrament is to be distributed, at which time the same shall be so placed in good sort (conveniently) within the Chancel," is the direction in the Injunctions of 1559. By degrees, however, the custom of moving the Holy Table at the time of Communion, and placing it length-ways in the Church ceased, and it was allowed to remain at all times placed "Altar-wise" at the East End of the Church.