enabled to claim any estate or interest, unless the claim be made within five years after the same shall accrue. The children of aliens, born in England, are, generelly speaking, natural born subjects, and entitled to all the privileges of such. A denizen is an alien born, but who has obtained ex do- Denizens. natione regis letters patent to make him an English subject. 7 Rep. 25. A denizen is in a kind of middle state, between an alien and natural born subject, and partakes of both of them. He may take lands by purchase or devise, which an alien may not; 11 Rep. 67. but cannot take by inheritance; for his parent, through whom he must claim being an alien, had no inheritable blood, and therefore could convey none to the son (e). And upon a like defect of hereditary blood, the issue of a denizen born before denization cannot inherit to him, but his issue born after Naturalization cannot be performed but by act of parlia- Naturalization. ment, for by this an alien is put in exactly the same state as may. Co. Litt. 8. Vaugh. 285. if he had been born in the king's legiance; except, that he is incapable, as well as a denizen, of being a member of the privy 12 Wm. 3, c.2. council or parliament, and of holding offices or grants from the crown; nor can any person be naturalized unless he has received the sacrament within one month before the bringing in of the bill; and unless he takes the oaths of allegiance and supremacy (f) in the presence of parliament. 7 Jac. 1, c. 2. CHAPTER XI. OF THE CLERGY. The people, whether aliens, denizens, or natives, are divis- Of the clergy. able into two kinds, the clergy and laity. The clergy comprehend in law all persons in holy orders and in ecclesiastical offices. They have certain privileges, (e) By 25 Geo. 2, c. 39, no natural born subject can derive a title through an alien parent or ancestor, unless he be born at the death of the ancestor, who died seised of the estate, which he claims by descent; but if a descent be cast upon a daughter of an alien, it shall be devested in favour of a natural born son; and in case of an after born daughter or daughters only, all the sisters shall be co-parceners. (f) See ante, note (c), p. 66. tions. F. N. B. 160. 2 Inst. 4. Their exemp- exemptions, and disabilities. A clergyman cannot be compelled to serve on a jury, nor to appear at a court leet or view of frankpledge; nor can he be chosen to any temporal office. During his attendance on divine service he is privileged from arrests in civil suits. Clergyman are incapable of sitting in the house of commons; and by 21 Hen. 8, c. 13, are not allowed to take any lands or tenements to farm (a), or to engage in any manner of trade, or sell any merchandize (b). Finch, L. 88. 1 Richd. 2, c. 16. And disabilities. Ranks and de siastical polity. The ranks and degrees in the frame and constitution of grees in eccle- ecclesiastical polity, are archbishops and bishops, deans and chapters, archdeacons, rural deans, parsons and vicars, curates, churchwardens, and parish clerks. Archbishops or bishops, how elected. An archbishop or bishop (c) is elected by the chapter of his cathedral church by virtue of a license from the crown. (a) By 1 & 2 Vict. c. 106, s. 28, spiritual persons are not to take to farm for occupation above eighty acres, without the consent of the bishop in writing, and then not beyond seven years, under penalty of 40s. per acre. (b) By 1 & 2 Vict. c. 106, the act 57 Geo. 3, c. 99, was repealed, and it was enacted that no spiritual person beneficed or performing duty, shall engage in trade, or buy to sell again for profit or gain. But this prohibition does not extend to spiritual persons engaged in keeping schools, or as tutors, &c. in respect of any thing done, or any buying or selling in such employment, or to selling any thing bona fide bought for the use of the family, or to being a manager, &c. in any benefit, or life or fire assurance society, or buying and selling cattle, &c. for the use of his own lands, &c. Spiritual persons illegally trading may be suspended, and for the third offence deprived, ss. 29, 30, 31. (c) By 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 77, " for carrying into effect the reports of the commissioners appointed to consider the state of the established church in England and Wales, with reference to ecclesiastical duties and revenues, so far as they relate to episcopal dioceses, revenues, and patronage ;" after reciting the commissions, and stating that the said commissioners had made several reports, in which they advised that commissioners should be appointed by parliament, to prepare and lay before the queen in council such schemes as should appear to them best adapted for carrying into effect the recommendations contained in such reports, and that the reports suggested new arrangements of the various dioceses therein mentioned (and which are stated in the preamble to the act), and the erection in the province of York of two new sees, one at Manchester and the other at Ripon; that the jurisdiction of the bishop's court in each diocese be co-extensive with the limits of the diocese as newly arranged; that such alterations be made in the apportionment or exchange of ecclesiastical patronage among the several bishops as should be consistent with the relative magnitude and importance of their dioceses when newly arranged, and as should afford an adequate quantity of patronage to the bishops of the new sees, and that to provide for the augmentation of the incomes of the smaller bishopricks, such fixed annual sums be paid to the commissioners out of the revenues of the larger sees as should, upon due inquiry and consideration, be determined on so as to secure to the several bishopricks certain average annual incomes, it was enacted, that certain persons be incorporated by the name of "the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England," who are to prepare and lay c. 20. At every avoidance of a bishoprick, the king sends the dean 25 Hen. 8, and chapter his license to proceed to election, accompanied with his letter missive, containing the name of the person whom he would have them elect. If the dean and chapter delay their election above twelve days, the nomination devolves to the king, who may, by letters patent, appoint such person as he pleases. This election, if it be of a bishop, must be signified by the king's letters patent to the archbishop of the province; if it be of an archbishop, to the other archbishop and two bishops, or to four bishops, requiring them to confirm, invest, and consecrate the person so elected, which they are bound to perform immediately. After which, the bishop elect shall sue to the king for and take restitution of his temporalities, and make oath to the king. Archbishop chief of the clergy in a whole pro vince An archbishop is the chief of the clergy in a whole province, and has the inspection of the bishops of that province as well as of the inferior clergy, and may deprive them on notorious cause. He has also his own diocese wherein he exercises episcopal jurisdiction, as in his province he exercises archi- 541. episcopal. As archbishop, he, upon receipt of the king's writ, calls the bishops and clergy of his province to meet in convo Ld. Raym. cation, but without the king's writ he cannot assemble them. 4Inst. 322,323. To him all appeals are made from inferior jurisdictions within his province, and as an appeal lies from the bishops in person, to him in person, so it also lies from the consistory courts of each diocese to his archiepiscopal court. The archbishop is entitled to present, by lapse, to all the ecclesiastical livings in the disposal of his diocesan bishops, if not filled within six months. When a bishop is consecrated, the archbishop may name a clerk or chaplain, to be provided for by such bishop; but it is now usual for the bishop to make over, by deed, to the archbishop, his executors and assigns, the presentation of such benefice, in the bishop's disposal within that see, as the archbishop shall choose, which is, therefore, called his option, which the archbishop. The option of schemes before the queen in council for carrying into effect the before-mentioned recommendations. The queen in council may make orders for carrying the said schemes into effect, which must be registered in each diocese and gazetted, and are then to be of full effect for all purposes and as to all persons. The above alterations are not to take place until the avoidance of the several sees, unless with the consent of the respective bishops, if in possession on the 14th March, 1836. No ecclesiastical dignity, office, or benefice, is to be held in commendam by any bishop, unless he so held the same at the time of passing this act. By 1 & 2 Vict. c. 30, the above act, so far as it relates to, or may affect the see of Sodor and Man, is repealed. 25 Hen. 8, c. 21. The power and authority of a bishop. options are only binding on the bishop himself who grants them, not on his successors. It is the privilege, by custom of the archbishop of Canterbury, to crown the kings and queens of England. He has also the power of granting dispensations in certain cases, and of granting special licenses to marry at any place or time. To hold two livings and the like. He also exercises the right of conferring degrees in prejudice of the two universities (d). The power and authority of a bishop consist principally in inspecting the manners of the people and clergy, and punishing them in order to reformation by ecclesiastical censures. To this purpose he has several courts under him, which are held by his chancellor, who must be a doctor of civil law, so 37 Hen. 8, c.17. created in some university. It is also the business of a bishop to institute and to direct induction to all ecclesiastical livings in his diocese. Archbishopricks and bishopricks may become void. Gibbs. Cod. 822. Dean and chapter. 3 Rep. 75. Archbishopricks and bishopricks may become void by death, deprivation for any gross and notorious crime, or by resignation. A bishop must resign to his metropolitan; but an archbishop can resign to none but the king. A dean and chapter are the council of the bishop to assist him with their advice. All ancient deans are elected by the chapter, by conge d'eslire from the king, and letters missive of recommendation in the same manner as bishops (e); but in those chapters that were founded by Henry 8, out of the spoils of the dissolved monasteries (ƒ), the deanery is donative, and the installation merely by And chapters. the king's letters patent. The chapter, consisting of canons or prebendaries, are sometimes appointed by the king, sometimes by the bishop, and sometimes elected by each other. (d) Called Lambeth degrees. The recent act, 2 Vict. c. 18, enables archbishops and bishops to raise money on mortgage of their sees, for the purpose of building and otherwise providing fit houses for their residence. (e) See a full historical account of the nomination, election, and collation to deaneries in note 105, of Mr. Hargrave's Co. Litt. 95 a. (f) The new deaneries and chapters to old bishopricks are eight; namely, Canterbury, Norwich, Winchester, Durham, Ely, Rochester, Worcester, and Carlisle. The new deaneries and chapters to new bishopricks are five, namely, Peterborough, Chester, Gloucester, Bristol, and Oxford. Hargrave Co. Litt. 95 a, note 104; and see now the act 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 77 (ante, note (c), p. 68) providing for the erection of two new sees at Manchester and Ripon, and for the more equal distribution of the revenues of dioceses and of episcopal duties, so as to prevent the necessity of attaching benefices to bishopricks by commendam. prebends, how Deaneries and prebends may become void like a bishoprick, Deaneries and by death or deprivation, or by resignation to either the king voided. or the bishop. Plowd. 498. of the archdeacon, his ap pointment and authority. An archdeacon has an ecclesiastical jurisdiction, immediately subordinate to the bishop, throughout the whole of his diocese, or in some particular part of it. He is usually appointed by the bishop and has a kind of episcopal authority originally derived from the bishop, but now independent and distinct from his. He, therefore, visits the clergy, and has his separate 1 Burn. Eccles. court for punishment of offenders by spiritual censures, and for Law, 68, 69. hearing all other causes of ecclesiastical cognizance (g). Kennet. Par. The rural deans are very ancient officers of the church, but Rural deans. almost grown out of use, though their deaneries still subsist Antiq. 633. as an ecclesiastical division of the diocese or archdeaconry. vicars. A parson is one that has full possession of all the rights of Parsons and a parochial church. He is called parson, persona ecclesiæ, because by his person the church, which is an invisible body, is represented; and he is in himself a body corporate, in order to protect and defend the rights of the church which he personates by a perpetual succession. He is sometimes called Co. Litt. 300. rector: but the appellation of parson is more legal. A parson has, during his life, the freehold in himself of the parsonage house, the glebe, the tithes, and other dues. But these are sometimes appropriated; that is, the benefice is perpetually Appropriations annexed to some spiritual corporation, either sole or aggregate, being the patron of the living. At the first establishment of the parochial clergy the tithes of the parish were distributed in a fourfold division, one for the bishop, another for maintaining the fabric of the church, a third for the poor, and the fourth for the incumbent. When the sees of the bishop became otherwise endowed they were prohibited from demanding their share. And hence it being inferred by the monasteries that a small part was sufficient for the officiating priest, and that the remainder might be applied to the use of their own fraternities, subject to the burthen of repairing the church and providing for its constant supply, they purchased the advowsons within their reach, and then appropriated the benefices to the use of their own corporations, having first obtained the king's license and consent of the bishop; the whole being indeed (g) By 6 & 7 Wm. 4, c. 77, s. 19, all archdeacons in England and Wales are to have and exercise full and equal jurisdiction within their respective archdeaconries, any usage to the contrary notwithstanding. |