264
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. m. APRIL s. IJKS.
truck off separately. He also edited ' Brad-
shaw's Illustrated Handbook to Spain and
Portugal.' RALPH THOMAS.
[We knew Charnock during many years, and found him reticent. His contributions were gene- rally short, but their occasional appearances pro- voked serious remonstrances from philologists.]
'DIRECTIONS TO CHURCHWARDENS.'
THIS pamphlet, by Humphrey Prideaux,
Archdeacon of Suffolk, contains many points
of interest, both in regard to law (Church)
and language. There is nothing, probably,
that is not already known, and yet the read-
ing of it induces many reflections which may
prove interesting to readers of *N. & Q.'
It may be noted en passant that the statement
in the ' Dictionary of National Biography '
that Prideaux held this appointment till
1694 does not tally with the evidence of the
pamphlet, which was published by him in
1701 in his capacity of Archdeacon of Suffolk.
The prefatory letter is not only addressed to
the clergy of that archdeaconry, but it is
signed Humphrey Prideaux, Archdeacon of
Suffolk. Further, the second edition, printed
in 1704, has, similarly, his name and office on
the title-page, though it is certainly question-
able if he held the office then, for in the
meantime he had been appointed to the
Deanery of Norwich.
What is rather remarkable in the language of the pamphlet is the running explanation which often accompanies the terms used by the writer. Tims, in employing the term ""outsetter," he adds, " who occupieth lands in the Parish, but doth not inhabit there." This word has fallen into desuetude, and perhaps was never in very general use, and yet we have no successor or equivalent to. describe the class of person referred to. Again, in using the term "chapel-of-ease," he speaks of those who build a chapel "for jtheir own ease," to save their walking a dis- tance to the church, which is a dis-ease to the rest of the parish, who have, in con- sequence, to make larger contributions to keep up that church and its services. Then, "in using the term "patron," he speaks of him in the alternative as " founder," a fact too often lost sight of by those who decry <rhe prevailing system of presentation. Side- men are also spoken of as "quest-men"; but, curiously enough to those of us who are only accustomed to modern terms and usages, the rector, or the possessor of the rectorial tithes, is always the " parson," and there is no mention of the vestry. It is " the parish meeting," as if the writer had been living in
the present day, with this difference in sub-
stance, that the business transacted was of a
strictly ecclesiastical character.
One is further surprised to find legal phraseology abounding, though it cannot have conveyed much meaning to lay church- wardens. Perhaps the term " assertory oath " scarcely comes under this definition, but a few lines before this we read, " they will prescribe thereto," meaning " they can claim a prescription " ; and a few lines after we find the term " peremptory exception," a strictly legal phrase for a claim to li#ve the action dismissed.
In regard to Church laws, it is curious to note the vehemence with which the arch- deacon asserts the right of the Church to enforce the ecclesiastical law. He must have felt her authority slipping away from her, and these 'Directions to Churchwardens' were his own individual effort to stem the tide. No language is too strong for the wickedness of those who evaded their spiritual duties, as he conceived them, and he would certainly have called down fire and brimstone upon them had the law allowed him and had he possessed the power.
At that period no one who lived in the parish could refuse the office of church- warden, who had to make oath faithfully to fulfil the very unpleasant duties thrust upon him. These consisted largely in "pre- senting " persons who did not attend church, and in haling before a justice of the peace those who committed certain offences. It was a part of the duties to chastise boys who misbehaved in church, the beadle's juris- diction in these matters not being at that time generally recognized ; to remove the hats of those who persisted in keeping them on, to see that the congregation knelt during prayers, and to hunt up incontinent persons and common swearers. The very mention of a certain class of misbehaviour during ser- vice reveals a parlous state of things, which not only continued, but grew; and there are persons alive now who remember the difficulty that attended one clergyman, more earnest and reverent than his fellows, in his endeavours to stop the smoking that was a common practice in the church of this parish during divine service. He only succeeded at last by hiring some burly fellows to eject the offenders.
Much of all this is well known, and yet it makes one rub one's eyes to observe the very intolerance of the Act of Toleration. It is far easier to obtain an exemption cer- tificate from vaccination now than it was for a parishioner to obtain permission to attend
