Inhabitants of any Parish in the Weft Riding of the County of York, wherein any Chapels of Ease now are, or hereafter fhall be, and wherein there are large Waftes, with Consent of the Lord of the Manor wherein fuch Wafte Ground lies, (and if there be above two Lords of fuch Manor, then with the Confent of the major Part of them) and with the Confent of three Parts of four of all Freeholders, and others, who have any Right of Common therein, according to their Number, and the Value of their refpective Eftates, may inclose any Part of the Wastes, &c. within fuch Parish (or Chapelry therein) not exceeding fixty Acres, or a fixth Part of fuch Common Land, where the said fixth Part fhall not exceed fixty Acres, and to fettle the fame in Trustees, as a Maintenance and Support of fuch Minifters as fhall not have a fettled Provifion of above 40 Pounds per Ann. and fhall refide within the fame Parish or Chapelry, and perform Divine Offices in the Parish Church or Chapel therein, according to the Ufage of the Church of England, and be licensed by the Archbishop of York, or the Guardian of the Spiritualities; (fede vacante.)

16. Saving unto all Lords of Manors, and other Owners and Proprietors of Royalties within the faid Riding, their Heirs and Affigns, all Mines and Quarries, with full Power to dig, &c. for the fame, &c.

17. After any fuch Inclosure and Settlement, it shall not be in the Power of any Trustees or Minifter, or any other Perfon whatsoever, to alienate or employ any of the Profits of fuch inclosed Lands, to any other Ufe, but only for the Support and Maintenance of fuch Vicar or Minister.

موع

may

18. Any of the faid Trustees, and their Heirs, from Time to Time, by any Writing, &c. under their Hands and Seals, with the Confent of the Vicar or Minister, for whofe Ufe fuch Inclosure is made, to be teftified by his being made a Party, demife or lease any Common or Walte Grounds, or any Parcel or Parcels thereof, that shall be inclosed by Virtue of this Act, for Years not exceeding twenty-one, fo as upon every fuch Leafe, there be reserved payable half-yearly, during the faid Term, as much Rent as can, at the making fuch Leafe, be really gotten for the fame, to or for the only Ufe and Benefit of fuch Vicar and Minister of fuch Vicarage or Chapelry, and their Succeffors, and fo as no Fine, Income, or other Confideration be taken for the fame.

19. And all Leafes made of fuch Inclosures in any other Manner, shall be ipfo fa&to void.

20. If any Action, &c. fhall be profecuted against any Perfon, for any Thing done in Purfuance of this Act, fuch Perfon may plead the General Iffue, and give this Act, and the fpecial Matter in Evidence; and if the Plaintiff fhall be

come

come Nonfuit, or forbear Prosecution, or fuffer a Difcontinuance, or if a Verdict pass against him, or Judgment upon a Demurrer, then the Defendant fhall recover full Cofts.

21. This Act fhall be allowed, in all Courts within this Kingdom, as a Publick Act.

'I

CHAP. VII.

Of Lecturers.

N many Parishes, efpecially in and about London, there are Lecturers chofen by the Parish in Veftry assembled ; and this Office may be executed by one who hath no Title to a Benefice, and 'tis fufficient if fuch a Perfon is in Deacon's Orders; and if he be unduly removed, a Mandamus lies to restore him. Cafe of St. John's Chapel in St. Andrew's, Helbourn.

2. By the Canon, every ftipendiary Preacher that readeth What a Lectu any Lectures, or catechifeth, or preacheth in any Church or rer is obliged Chapel, fhall twice at the leaft every Year, read himself the to do. Divine Service upon two feveral Sundays, publickly, and at the ufual Times, both in the Forenoon and Afternoon, in the Church where he readeth, catechileth, or preacheth; and fhall likewife as often in every Year adminifter the Sacraments of Baptifm (if there be any to be baptized) and of the Lord's Supper, in fuch Manner and Form, and with the Obfervation of all fuch Rites and Ceremonies, as are prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer in that Behalf, upon Pain of Removal from his Place, by the Bishop of the Diocese, 'till he fubmit; the fame is required of beneficed Preachers, upon Pain of Sufpenfion.

3. And the Law requires, that fuch Lecturer fhould not only have the Confent of those by whom he is employed, but likewife the Approbation and Admiffion of the Ordinary; and he must likewise, at the Time of his Admiffion, fubfcribe the Declaration and Acknowledgment required by the Statute 14 Car. 2. c. 4. and this he must do in the Prefence of the Bishop, and get him to certify it under his Hand and Seal; which Certificate and Declaration he must read within three Months following, in the Parish Church where he is to of ficiate, on fome Sunday, in the Time of Divine Service, and in the Prefence of the Congregation; and if he neglects it he lofes his Place. He muft likewife have a Licence from the Muft have a Bishop, and read the thirty-nine Articles in his Prefence, and Licence from declare the Bishop.

Cafe of a Lec

declare his unfeigned Affent to the fame; and if he preaches in the Week-days, he must read the Common Prayer for the Day, when he first preacheth, and declare his Affent to that Book, and fhall do the fame the first Lecture-day in every Month, fo long as he continues Lecturer; if he neglect or refuses, he is disabled to preach till he conform. And if he fhall preach before he conforms, he fhall be committed for three Months without Bail, by a Warrant of two Juftices of the Peace, the Offence being certified to them by the Ordi

nary.

4. In Michaelmas Term, 15 Car. 2. a Bill in Equity was turer recover- exhibited to recover the Payment of one hundred Pounds a ing his Salary. Year, which was granted to the Plaintiff by Order of the Veftry, in the Parish of St. Botolph Bishopfgate; there was a Defect in the Bill, because all the Parties to the Order were not named in it, and made Defendants, and for that Reason the Plaintiff had no Decree; but the Court was of Opinion, that the Arrears were justly due, and inclined to make a Decree for the Payment, if it had not been for that Defect in the Bill.

5. The Bishop is a proper Judge of the Fitnefs of the Perfon to be licensed as a Lecturer; (for he must be licensed) but if the Right of the Lectureship comes in Question, a Prohibition will be granted. 3 Salk. 87. If the Bishop refuse his Licence to a fit Perfon, the Remedy is not by Mandamus, but by Appeal. So held in Cafes W. 3. 433. but 2. for fince the Act of Uniformity, if the Bishop denies to grant a Licence to a Parson who is fit to preach, B. R. will grant a Mandamus to him to grant one. By Powell J. 2 Ld. Raym. 1206. in the Cafe of Colefatt v. Newcomb. A Lecturer appointed by a Stranger must have the Parson's Leave to preach, or he is a Trefpaffer. Cafe 1. W. 3. 420.

I

CHAP. VIII.

Of Readers.

N feveral Parishes alfo, when Prayers are read on Weekdays, there are alfo Readers to read Divine Service, for a Stipend paid by the Parish; this may be done by one of twenty-three Years of Age, and only in Deacon's Orders, who may also catechize Children, baptize Infants, bury and marry; and before the Act of Uniformity, a Deacon might have been an Incumbent on a Living, but not fince; and the

very Form of ordering Deacons exprefly mentions, that it is his Office to affift the Prieft in the Distribution of the Holy Communion; and from hence a Question hath arifen, viz. that fince by the Statute of 14 Car. 2. c. 4. thofe who are not Priests by Epifcopal Ordination, are prohibited to adminifter the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, under the Penalty of one hundred Pounds, one Moiety to the King, the other to be divided between the Poor of the Place and the Profecutor, whe ther a Deacon doth not incur that Penalty by diftributing Wine to the Communicants? But it seems clear that he doth not, for we do not hold that this Sacrament is administered by giving the Cup only.

Before we leave this Head of Incumbents, it may not be improper to mention a few Things, the Ignorance or Neglect whereof may fubject them to several fevere Penalties, and in fome Cafes to Deprivation itself.

B

CHAP. IX.

Of Pluralities.

Y Statute 21 Hen. 8. c. 13. it is enacted, that every Stat. 21 H. 8. beneficed Clergyman fhall be perfonally refident, at or c. 13. fet forth. upon his Benefice; and if any fuch Perfon fhall wilfully ab- Refidence. fent himself from his faid Benefice, &c. by the Space of one Month at one Time, or two Months at feveral Times in any one Year, to be accounted at feveral Times; fuch Perfon fo absenting himself shall forfeit ten Pounds for every fuch Default, one Half to the King, the other Half to the Informer, to be recovered as is expreffed in the faid Act.

2. Every Pluralift, by special Provifoes in the Body of his Dispensation, is obliged to refide two Months in every Year on that Benefice from which he is abfent for the most part, and in both his Churches, to preach every Year thirteen Sermons; and a Rector and Vicar are both upon the fame Foot by Statute Law; only the Vicar is fworn to Refidence, the Rector is not: But this Oath is with a Condition, nifi aliter difpenfatum fuerit; fo that if the Vicar be difpenfed with, there is, in this Refpect, no Difference between them.

3. By the fame Statute 'tis enacted, that if any Perfon having one Benefice with Cure, &c. being of the yearly Value of eight Pounds or more, fhall accept another with Cure, and be inftituted and inducted into the Poffeffion thereof, that immediately after fuch Poffeffion, the firft Benefice fhall be void,

and

voidance.

ties.

and the Patron might present another; and that his Prefentee was to have the Benefit of the fame, as if the Incumbent had died or refigned, and that any Licence, Union, or DifpenfaA bare Inftitu- tion to the contrary fhould be void. 'Tis true, the Statute is, tion enough to that the Perfon must be inftituted and inducted into the fecond make an A. Living; but yet a bare Inftitution, without Induction, will make an Avoidance: For otherwife, a Man may get Inftitution to several Benefices, and hinder other Perfons to be prefented, and by getting Sequeftrations of the Profits, may not only defeat this Act, but all Canons made against Pluralities. Many Qualifi 4. This had been an excellent Law against Pluralities, and cations to elude all Difpenfations to obtain them, if it had gone no further the Statute a but there being about three thousand four hundred Benefices gainst Plurali in England, of ten Pounds per Annum in the King's Books, by the latter Part of this Statute, there are fo many Qualifications to be a Pluralift, that the Nobility may qualify above one thousand Chaplains, befides those of the King, and probably as many may be qualified by Birth and Dignities, which in a great Measure eludes the Force and good Intentions of this Act. Vide the A&t. For it feems clear, that the Parliament chiefly had Regard to the Poverty of fmall Benefices, because the Act doth not make the second Living void, where the first is under eight Pounds per Annum, that is according to a Valuation made Anno 26 H. 8. and then returned into the Exchequer, and now in the Firft- Fruits Office; and not according to the real Value; for the Livings which are worth fifty Pounds per Annum, are valued in the King's Books at eight Pounds and no more; though fome Books are to the contrary; as Noy's Reports 38. Cro. Eliz. 853. The Damages recovered in a Quare Impedit fhall be tried according to the real Value, becaufe 'tis against a Wrong-doer, to the Prejudice of another Perfon. But Archdeaconries, Chancellorfhips, Chantorfhips, Deaneries, Prebends in Cathedral or Collegiate Churches, Parfonages, where there is a Vicar endowed, are not comprehended in this Act under the Name of Benefices with Cure.

Difpenfation.

Perfons qualified to have Difpenfation.

5. N. B. If a Clergyman hath Difpenfation to hold two Benefices with Cure, &c. and afterwards he accepts a third, if the Difpenfation is particular, that is, if it exprefs the very Benefices which are dispensed to be retained, then if he hath no other Difpenfation, the two firft are void; but if he hath only a general Difpenfation to hold two Benefices without naming them, then, if he accepts a third, the firft is only void. Noy 149.

6. I fhall mention in what Manner Perfons may be qualified to have Difpenfations to hold two Livings; and that is, ift, by Retainer or Service; 2dly, by Birth; 3dly, by Dignity. Vide the Statute.