but if any damage is done thereto, the parſon only or vicar ſhall have the action. Their office alſo is to repair the church, and make rates and levies for that purpoſe: but theſe are recoverable only in the eccleſiaſtical court. They are alſo joined with the overſeers in the care and maintenance of the poor. They are to levy[1] a ſhilling forfeiture on all ſuch as do not repair to church on ſundays and holidays, and are empowered to keep all perſons orderly while there; to which end it has been held that a churchwarden may juſtify the pulling off a man's hat, without being guilty of either an aſſault or treſpaſs[2]. There are alſo a multitude of other petty parochial powers committed to their charge by divers acts of parliament[3].
VIII. Parish clerks and ſextons are alſo regarded by the common law, as perſons who have freeholds in their offices; and therefore though they may be puniſhed, yet they cannot be deprived, by eccleſiaſtical cenſures[4]. The pariſh clerk was formerly very frequently in holy orders; and ſome are ſo to this day. He is generally appointed by the incumbent, but by cuſtom may be choſen by the inhabitants; and if ſuch cuſtom appears, the court of king's bench will grant a mandamus to the arch-deacon to ſwear him in, for the eſtabliſhment of the cuſtom turns it into a temporal or civil right[5].
