subject to the Church Building Acts, he is appointed annually by the minister (f); and in the case of a parish constituted under the New Parishes Acts, he is appointed by the incumbent and also removeable by him, but in each case with the consent of the bishop (g).

The sexton (h) is, in the ordinary course, chosen by the incumbent, though sometimes by the parishioners, where a usage to that effect prevails (i); and his salary depends on custom, and is paid by the churchwardens out of any funds in their hands for that purpose. The duty of the sexton is to cleanse the church, to open the pews, to dig the graves for the dead, to provide candles and other necessaries, and to prevent, or assist in preventing, disturbance in the church (k). In the case of parishes constituted under the Church Building Acts, the sexton's appointment, and his duties and emoluments, are prescribed by these Acts (1); and in new parishes, his appointment is like that of the parish clerk (m).

In conclusion, we will observe, that, besides the parish clerk and sexton, there is sometimes attached to the church a beadle, whose business is to attend the vestry, to give notice of its meetings to the parishioners, and to execute its orders (n); and in most churches, there are pew-openers, collectors, and the like. But none of these are (as such) ecclesiastical persons.

(f) 58 Geo. 3 (1817), c. 45; 59 Geo. 3 (1819), c. 134; Pinder v. Barr (1854), 4 El. & Bl. 105; Jackson V. Courtenay (1857), 8 El. & Bl. 8.

(g) 19 & 20 Vict. (1856), c. 104,

s. 9.

(h) Apparently, from sacristan, the keeper of things belonging to divine worship.

(i) Rogers, Eccl. Law, p. 884;

R. v. Inhabitants of Bobbing, ubi sup.; Cansfield v. Blenkinsop (1849), 4 Exch. 234.

(k) R. v. Inhabitants of Liverpool (1789), 3 T. R. 118; Shaw, Parish, ed. 1892, 123.

(1) 59 Geo. 3 (1819), c. 134, ss. 6, 10.

(m) 19 & 20 Vict. (1856), c. 104, s. 9.

(n) Shaw, 121.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE DOCTRINES AND WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH, AND HEREIN OF THE LAWS AS TO HERESY AND NONCONFORMITY.

THOUGH this nation has from the earliest times adhered to the principle of an established church, yet no claim was at first made by the law to interfere with the faith, ceremonies, or discipline of the church. But at the era of the Reformation, it was found necessary to resort to the legislature for an authoritative exposition of the true Protestant faith, and for the establishment of appropriate forms of worship; and from that era, the power of the ecclesiastical authorities, even in matters of religion and of worship, has been exercised in subordination to the positive enactments of the legislature (a).

Accordingly, the Articles of Faith, originally forty-two in number, but afterwards reduced to thirty-nine, (and commonly called the Thirty-nine Articles,) were framed by Archbishop Cranmer, with the assistance of other persons of distinguished learning and piety, in the reign of Edward the Sixth; and were reduced to their present form in the convocation of the archbishops and bishops of both provinces, held at London in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, A.D. 1562. By these Articles (among other matters) the canonical authority of the different books of the Bible was settled, a new version of the Holy Scriptures being afterwards made in the reign of James the First, which

(a) Noble v. Voysey (1871), L. R. 3 P. C. 357; Sheppard v. Bennett (1871), ibid. 4 P. C. 371.

is still in use under the denomination of King James's Bible, of which there are certain revisions of a comparatively recent date, and having no statutory authority.

The Form of Prayer and Church Service, commonly called the Liturgy, was also first framed in the reign of Edward the Sixth, and by the same prelates. Prior to the Reformation, various liturgies had been in use in different parts of the realm (b). But a new ritual (chiefly founded, however, on the antient services), with rubrics prescribing the order and form to be pursued, was then compiled, under the direction of that prince, for the uniform observance of the whole reformed Church of England (c). This ritual (which is, for the most part, the same with our present Book of Common Prayer) was established by the statute 2 & 3 Edw. VI. (1548), c.1; and, being afterwards revised, was confirmed by 5 & 6 Edw. VI. (1551), c. 1, and 1 Eliz. (1558), c. 2. After two other successive revisions, in the reigns of King James the First and Charles the Second, it was confirmed in its present form, by 14 Car II. (1662), c. 4, usually described as the Act of Uniformity (d).

As to the Crown's Supremacy in matters ecclesiastical, it was definitely established by the 1 Eliz. (1558) c. 1,

(b) See the preamble to the statute 2 & 3 Edw. 6 (1548), c. 1. Our Liturgy is taken principally from the form called in such preamble "the use of Sarum"; but most of it can be traced to periods before the Conquest. (See Palmer, Origines Liturgica.)

(c) Elphinstone V. Purchas (1870), L. R. 3 A. & E. 66; Martin V. Mackonochie, ibid. (1874), 4 A. & E. 279; 3 P. C. 52, 409; Hebbert V. Purchas (1871), ibid. 605.

(d) Watson C. L. p. 321. Since the Act of Uniformity, the follow

ing changes have been made,
viz., the church services for
30th January, 29th May, 5th
November, and 23rd October,
were abolished by 22 Vict. (1859),
c. 2; the table of lessons contained
in ihe calendar was revised and
re-arranged by the 34 & 35 Vict.
(1871), c. 37; and certain modifi-
cations were made in the order of
prayer, for use on any day except.
Sunday, Christmas-day, Ash Wed-
nesday, Good Friday, and Ascen-
sion day by the 35 & 36 Vict.
c. 35 (Act of Uniformity Amend-
ment Act, 1872).

usually called the Act of Supremacy, a statute which, in fhe first place, provides that no foreign prince or potentate, spiritual or temporal, shall exercise any manner of jurisdiction or privilege, spiritual or ecclesiastical, within this realm or the dominions thereof; and next, that such jurisdictions and privileges as had before been exercised by any spiritual or ecclesiastical power, for visitation and correction of the Church, shall for ever be united and annexed to the imperial crown of this realm. But the Act of Elizabeth was merely declaratory; for the ecclesiastical supremacy of the Crown had been before claimed by the 26 Hen. 8 (1534), c. 1, and indeed, prior to the Reformation, by the Statute of Præmunire, 16 Ric. 2 (1392), c. 5 (e).

The new regulations thus introduced by parliament, taken in connection with other legislative enactments of the same era, but of subordinate importanee, and in connection also with the canon law, (which still gives the rule where the statutes are silent,) have constituted, from the period of which we speak, and still constitute, the standard of faith, worship, and discipline in the Church of England; and for a beneficed clergyman advisedly to maintain any doctrine in derogation of the king's supremacy, or of the Thirty-nine Articles, or of the Liturgy as by law established, or to neglect to declare his assent publicly to such Articles and Liturgy at the time and in the place appointed for that purpose, or to use any other form of prayer than that contained in such Liturgy, is ground for deprivation.

And if we now consider, whether this standard is binding merely on those who claim the benefits of the church establishment, or generally on all the subjects of the realm, we shall find that the law has passed through some very remarkable changes on this head. For, though the Act of Supremacy effected an emancipation from the papal

(c) Inst. 42, 331, 341. Henry VIII. claimed the title of Supreme Head of the English Church: Elizabeth modified this to supreme governour.

yoke, and may therefore be justly considered as having laid the foundation of our spiritual freedom, it was not till long afterwards that the nation learned the lesson of religious toleration; and in the mean time, our temporal laws proceeded not only to imitate the persecutions of the Popish time, but in some respects to surpass them. For while our law continued to punish (in aid of the ecclesiastical authorities) the offence of heresy as before, employing for that purpose the writ de hæretico comburendo, which was not abolished until the 29 Car. II. (1677), c. 9, it began also to exercise new rigours of its own in dealing with the offence of nonconformity,-i.e., dissent from the worship and ceremonies of the reformed Established Church. So early as the 5 & 6 Edw. VI. (1551), c. 1, non-conformity was made a highly penal offence ; and even to be present at any other form of worship than that which was by law established, rendered the offender liable to imprisonment. By the same statute, and by the Act of Uniformity of 1558, a fine of twelve pence, to be levied by the churchwardens for the use of the poor, was imposed on such as failed to resort to their proper parish church on Sundays and holidays. And the penal portions of these statutes, though for a long course of time fallen into neglect, yet remained in our statute book, till (in common with many other penal and disabling laws in regard to religious opinions) they were swept away by the Religious Disabilities Act, 1846, to which we shall make further allusion before we close this chapter. In the reign, moreover, of Queen Elizabeth, a schism began to develop itself in the newly-established Protestant Church, certain persons, who received the appellation of Puritans, deserting the use of the Liturgy, and (in defiance of the above enactments) betaking themselves to forms of worship of their own institution (ƒ); until ultimately, as they increased in number, they branched out into various divisions of

(f) Hallam, Const. Hist. vol. i. pp. 246, 251, 280.