ftuff, and with a fair linen cloth, in the time of miniftration; a bafin, in which the alms for the poor are to be received, while the minister reads the fentences of the offertory; a chalice, ewer, cup, patines, and other veffels, if neceffary, for the confecrated bread and wine. The number and quality of thefe depend in a great degree on the populoufnefs of the parifh and the liberality of the parishioners; the canon requires only that they be clean and fweet, of pewter, if not purer metal; but there are few parishes where the liberality of individuals, or a general fenfe of propriety, has not occafioned the purchase of filver veffels for the administration of this most folemn office of religion. The books are, a bible of the largest volume; a book of common prayer, and to these are added a book of homilies, but this is rarely bought; there are befides regular books of christenings, marriages, and banns of marriage, and burials, which are directed to be placed in a cheft with three locks, the keys of which refpectively, are kept by the minifter, and by each church-warden.

The parith muft alfo furnish the church with bells and ropes; there must be a bier for the dead; and it is ordained that the ten commandments be fet up at the east end of every church and chapel, chofen fentences written on the walls in places convenient, and the table of degrees of marriages prohibited publicly exhibited. To these things are ufually, though not neceffarily, added, a clock, an organ, chandeliers of metal, prayer books for the church-wardens, a ftove or grate for the winter, and fome other conveniences. And it is to be obferved, that although the adoration of images is forbidden in the church of England, yet if fuperftitious images or pictures remain, no man has a right to break or deface them: fuch an effort of zeal would be punished as a mifdemeanour.

By the riot act 1st Geo. ft. 2. c. 5. "If any perfons unlawfully, riotoufly and tumultuoufly affembled together, to "the disturbance of the public peace, fhall unlawfully and with force demolish or pull down any church or chapel, or any building for religious worship certified and registered "according to the 1 W. c. 18. the fame fhall be adjudged "felony without benefit of clergy. And the hundred fhall anfwer damages, as in cafes of robbery."

CHURCH YARD. At what time burials in or near churches began to take place is a matter of doubt, but it was an ancient ecclefiaftical constitution, that around a large church forty paces of land fhould be referved, and about a fmaller, thirty paces. Church-yard is generally ufed as fynonimous with cemetery, though it frequently happens that a confiderable portion of the church-yard is not used for burials, or that a burial ground is

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purchased by a parish at a confiderable diftance from its church. It is an ancient maxim that cameterium gaudet eodem privilegio quo ecclefia; and a burial ground, whether strictly speaking a churchyard or not, is folemnly confecrated by the bishop, either together with the church, or feparately. Before the protection afforded by fanctuaries was abolished by the ftatute 32 Hen. VIII. c. 12, church-yards, as well as churches, afforded refuge against the purfuits of justice. It is the duty of the church-wardens to prevent any traffic, games, or military mufters in church-yards; their inclofure belongs to the parishioners, and is to be kept up at their expence, but the produce is the property of the minifter, who has the freehold. Striking or drawing a weapon, with intention to smite, even though the motive be felf-defence, in a church or church-yard, is a ground for excommunication, the feverest of ecclefiaflical cenfures; and corporeal punishment may further be inflicted, on conviction in a temporal court.

PARISH CLERKS. These perfons were formerly real clerks, clergymen, and fome are to this day. They are required to be twenty years of age at leaft; known to the parfon, vicar, or minifter to be of honeft converfation, and fufficient for their reading, writing, and alfo, if poffible, for competent skill in finging. By common law, the incumbents of livings had a. right to nominate these clerks, and their right was established by an ecclefiaftical canon, but in fome places, it yields to an ancient custom or prefcription, empowering the parishioners to elect. After being duly chofen and appointed, they are licensed by the ordinary, and fworn to obey the minifter. Their duty is to attend divine fervice on all occafions, read the responses in a clear and audible manner, announce and fing the pfalms, and read from the defk, after the communion and before the fermon in the morning fervice, all parochial notices defired to be read by the church-wardens or other competent authority: they alfo attend all baptifms, marriages, churchings of women, and funerals. Their emoluments depend chiefly on cuftoms, varying in various places, being chiefly derived from fees paid to them on these occafions, for the recovery of which, if customary, recourse may be had to the courts of law. The office of parith clerk is a freehold for life, and it is held that he can only be cenfured, but not deprived by the ecclefiaftical courts.

SEXTON. This officer is the kecper of the holy things belonging to divine worship; he is appointed by the minifter or others, and receives his falary according to the cuftom of each parish. He may, by cuftom, have a freehold in his place, but is generally removeable by thofe who appoint him. The office may be filled by a woman, and when it is in the gift of a parish, women may vote,

PARISHES,

The

PARISHES. The divifion of the kingdom into parishes is purely ecclefiaftical, but its origin is uncertain. In the most ancient times, the bishops and their clergy lived in common; and before the number of Chriftians was much increased, the bifhops fent out their clergy to preach to the people as they faw occafion. But after the inhabitants had generally embraced Christianity, this itinerant fyftem being found inconvenient, limited bounds to parochial cures were found neceffary, and were probably in fome degree fettled by the bishops who were most instrumental in converting the nation from the Saxon idolatry. At first they made ufe of any old British churches that were left standing; and, in fucceffive ages, churches were built and endowed by lords of manors and others, for the use of the inhabitants of their several districts, where, in confequence, parochial bounds were affixed. Such building and endowment gave a primary title to the patronage of laymen, and made the bounds of a parish commenfurate to the extent of a manor. tythes were originally not purely appropriated, but delivered to the bishop, to be diftributed according to the instruction of the perfon paying, or at his own difcretion; but when Christianity extended itself, and the lords began to build churches on their own demefnes or waftes, to accommodate their tenants in one or two adjoining lordships; then in order to have divine fervice regularly performed, they obliged all their tenants to appropriate their tithes to the maintenance of one officiating minifter; and this tract of land, the tythes whereof were fo appropriated, formed a diftinct parish. This accounts for the frequent intermixture of parishes one with another; for, if a lord had a parcel of land detached from his principal eftate, but not fufficient to form a parish of itfelf, it was natural for him to endow his newly-erected church with the tithes of thofe disjointed lands, especially if no church was then built in any lordihip adjoining to thofe outlying parcels.

The boundaries of parishes depend on immemorial ufage, and the memory is kept alive by perambulations, which are generally made in the rogation weeks. This ceremony ought to be performed by the curate and fome chief perfons of the parish, accompanied by fome of the young people. The forms and ceremonies which, in times of popery, made it a religious proceffion, are forbidden, but the civil ufe of the perambulation is rigidly retained, infomuch that it has been decided to be lawful for the parishioners to pafs, according to ancient cuftom, over a clofe for this purpose, and to pull down, as nuifances, gates and hedges erected in order to obftruct their progrefs.

EXTRAPAROCHIAL PLACES. When the kingdom was divided into parishes, and parish churches endowed, fome lands, either VOL. I.

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because they were in the hands of irreligious and careless owners, or were fituate in forefts and defart places, or for other now unsearchable reasons, were never united to any parish, and therefore continue to this day extraparochial, and their tythes are now, by immemorial cuítom, payable to the king inftead of the. bishop, in truft and confidence that he will distribute them for the general good of the church; yet extraparochial waftes and marth lands, when improved and drained, are, by the ftatute 17 Geo. II. c. 37. to be affeffed to all parochial rates in the parish next adjoining,

VILLS. The term vill is not definite in its fignification. A parish is understood to be but one vill, but every vill is not a parish; it must confift of ten families, and have a conftable, or at leaft the reputation of a vill; for if all the houfes in a borough be decayed, it is yet a vill; but if an extraparochial place, having anciently been, for example, a nobleman's park, is occupied by any number of farmers, not amounting to ten, it is not a vill, however great and valuable the farms may be.

TOWN, TOWNSHIP, TITHING, OR VILLAGE. The ftatute 13 and 14 Car. II. c. 12. provides, that when a parish is so large that it cannot have the benefit of the overfeers and provision for the poor, two overfeers may be appointed for every township or village in fuch parifh. In this ftatute the words townfhip and village have always been thought fynonymous; but it has been held that wherever there is a conftable, there is a township; and parishes in fome counties, as in part of Bedfordshire, are divided into tythings. These terms, therefore, are confidered fynonymous, as applied to divifions of parochial demefnes, though, in common speech, they are fubject to many distinctions; nor is the word Hamlet eafily to be diftinguifhed from the others, but it is generally, though not neceflarily, understood to be the moft diminutive.

CHURCHWARDENS AND SIDESMEN. In the ancient epifcopal fynods, the bithops were ufed to fummon divers creditable perfons out of every parith, to give information of, and to attest the diforders of the clergy and people. Thefe were called teftes Jynodales; and becoming ftanding officers, gained the name of fynod's men, whence, by corruption, fidesmen: they are alfo fometimes called queflmen, from the nature of their office, in making inquiry concerning offences; they were chofen annually in Easter week, and continue to be fo in moft parishes, but the efficient part of their office is now devolved on the churchwardens, so that the nomination of any individual to be a fidefman, is confidered only as preliminary to the attainment of the more diftinguished office. Churchwardens are chofen in veftry on the Tuesday in Eafter weck, throughout the kingdom, except where fpecial custom or

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peculiar accident determines it otherwife. In fome parishes the minifter appoints one, and the parishioners the other, but in fome the veftry appoint both. The ufual mode is for persons to be put in nomination; if more than two are propofed, a fhew of hands may determine the election, but if a poll is demanded, it is generally taken by putting down the names of the candidates on paper, and each parishioner making a feratch in a line parallel to the name of him for whom he intends to give his fuffrage. The fcratches being caft up by the veftry clerk, the chairman declares those perfons who appear to have a majority duly elected. Each churchwarden is obliged, at the next vifitation, to fwear before the ordinary, that he will truly and faithfully execute his office, and prefent fuch things and perfons as to his knowledge are prefentable by the laws ecclefiaftical of the realm. The fidefmen fwear to affift the churchwardens in the exercife of their office, as bound by law.

If the ordinary for any cause refuses to adminifter the oath, the court of King's Bench will grant a mandamus; and when two fets of churchwardens are chosen by a parish, and contest their rights, the court grants the fame procefs to both, and an action may be brought by thofe who are fworn, but not admitted to act. It is held by fome, that a churchwarden is not duly poffeffed of his office till fworn, but others have held, that, when elected, he becomes eo inflante, a temporal as well as fpiritual officer. In favour of this latter opinion, befides the authority, (that of lord Kenyon) reafon feems to be very strong, fince the oath is merely promiffory, and implies no qualifications, and it is fupported by the canon, which declares, that the churchwardens or queftmen fhall not continue any longer than one year in that office, except perhaps they be chofen again in like manner. Yet, by a later canon, it is declared, that the office of all churchwardens and fidefmen fhall be reputed to continue, until the new churchwardens that fhall fucceed them be fworn.

If a churchwarden duly elected or appointed refuses to be fworn, he may be excommunicated, and no prohibition can be granted to stay his fentence: this may perhaps account for the apparent repugnance between the two canons, as it would be very unfit that churchwardens elect, by refufing the oath, should deprive the parish of the protection and benefits to be derived from thefe officers; though it is perfectly right that he who has been elected, and is willing to take on himself the duty, fhould enter eo inftante on his office, and not fuffer the term to be indefinitely poftponed by the ordinary.

Many perfons are exempt from the neceffity of affuming, though not forbidden to fill this office; peers, by reafon of their dignity; clergymen, because of their order; attornies of the fu

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