the husbandman and the yeoman taking their parts in parish matters, with the conciousness of a share, and place, and interest, in the welfare of the parish. We see, in short, the life of the parish, when all men habitually thought of and felt this Institution as the bond of a common fellowship among Christian men and good citizens. In future numbers we propose to give some account of various parts of this record, and extracts which will be interesting and useful to our readers, illustrative of the particulars we have glanced at. "The Church of the People 6ctr. 1887) THE LIFE OF PARISHES. THE following general account of the origin and mode of conducting the Inquisitiones Nonarum, will show how much more active a part was taken by Parishes formerly in matters of taxation than is now done. ABOUT the year 1290, an Assessment was made, of the average value of the tenth part of the produce of corn, wool, and lambs, in every Parish in England. The object of this assessment was, to ascertain how much should be paid to the King, under certain grants made to him, by the Popes, of the first fruits of Benefices, in order the better to enable him to carry on the Holy Wars, which at that time stirred the heart of Christendom. The assessment thus made, is known in history by the name of "Pope Nicholas' Taxation." It is self-evident that, when once a sound estimate of the tenth was got, it became merely a process of arithmetic to estimate the produce of a ninth or a fifteenth. Now, our forefathers had odd notions. They had a strange liking to know what they were about, and how much money the King and his ministers spent, and how much each man contributed to the State. A whim like this would be scouted now-adays no doubt it would be old-fashioned; and its favorer would be called "unpractical" by modern dealers in political dogmas. All we can say in its favour is, that it was this that kept England a free country for many centuries. In the time of the Henries and Edwards, then, Parliament granted to the crown, according to the circumstances, as approved by them, "aids" of the ninth, or the fifteenth, or otherwise, as the case might be, of their goods and chattels, It thus happened that, in the fourteenth year of Edward III. " the Prelates, Earls, Barons, and all the Commons of the realm" granted to the King. THE CHURCH OF THE PEOPLE. "The ninth lamb, the ninth fleece, and the ninth sheaf, to be taken by two years then next to come; and, of Cities and Boroughs, the very ninth part of all their goods and chattels, to be taken and levied by lawful and reasonble tax by the same two years :-in aid of the good keeping of this realm, as well by land as by sea, and of his wars, as well against the parts of Scotland, the parts of France, Gascoigne, and elsewhere. And in right of merchants foreign, which dwell not in the Cities nor Boroughs, and also of other people that dwell in forests and wastes, and all other that live not of their tillage nor store of sheep, by the advice of them which shall be deputed taxers, they shall be set lawfully at the value to the fifteenth, without being unreasonably charged. And it is not the intent of the King nor of other great men, nor the Commons, that by this grant made to the King of fifteenth, the poor cottagers, nor other that live of their bodily labour, shall be encluded within the tax of the said fifteenth." This we take from the original statute. If any one wishes to understand the nature of the transaction further, we commend him to a comparison of the above with the Roll of Parliament for the same year; by which he will find that it was in express view of certain dangers and perils which had been set forth by the King, and in order to avoid these, that "the Prelates, Earls, and Barons, for themselves and their tenants, and the Knights of shires, for themselves and for the communes [Parishes] of the land," granted this aid. The aid once granted had to be reduced to a certainty, that so it might be levied. In order to reduce it to a certainty, a number of persons were appointed, in each county, to ascertain the amounts due from each Parish, and to sell these, and so bring the "aid" into money. Instead, however, of those thus appointed having,—as is the case with the "Commissioners" that it has become the fashion, within the last few years, to appoint to do everything,-any pretence of authority assumed to be given to them of an original nature, and independent of the Parishes themselves, all the power they had was, to go from Parish to Parish; to summon the inhabitants; to ask if the latter had any reasons to give why the estimate of their proportion under the "taxation of Pope Nicholas" should not be taken as a fair one, still applicable; and if they had, to call upon them to state these reasons, and make a formal return of them. It is this last matter that constitutes the "Inquisitiones Nonarum." They consist of the returns made by the different Parishes, why and wherein the assessment which ought to be set down for each Parish, varies from that which is found in the "Taxation of Pope Nicholas." The statement thus made will, alone, show how vital and responsible was, at this time, the action of the Parishes, and how thoroughly the latter were practically felt by the crown to be, and must have felt themselves to be, integral parts of the state. But what was the course taken under the circumstances stated? Complicated as the matter may seem to those who, in our day, characterise as "unpractical" anything that implies reliance upon the responsible action of the people themselves, nothing can be more simple and practical than the system which was formerly universal. In Mr. Toulmin Smith's "Parish," the system, still earlier than the time of the "Inquisitiones Nonarum," is thus described (p. 17) :— "A jury of twelve men from each Hundred delivered to the assessors of each Shire their assessment. In order to do this, such jury took to itself four men and, as a part extends itself than ever did of Walpole. ls, and inspecs of the great rifice their inoing its work. acome and an ny, and make who display ey go down often men who hey compose ans of which ent, manufacery well that ped up in the eat scheme of form a banded t all comers, if general are any particular t is exposed. ice of Governto order, any ce," by which comings, or to against the ⚫ understand; ist. It seems ad really such thing in any t and keep the 124 "The Church of the People (betr. 1157) THE CHURCH OF THE PEOPLE. from each Parish in the Hundred, with the provost (or constable) of each Parish, to enable it to make true returns as to the Parish: which four and the provost, in each case, gave aid to the Hundred jury, upon oath. To do what was needed for this, the Hundred jury went from Parish to Parish, and, with the four and the provost of each, there made true assessment of each parish. The assessors of the Shire, went afterwards, from Hundred to Hundred, and from Parish to Parish, in order to see that no wrong had been done." The system was, fifty years later, substantially the same, the numbers from each Hundred and Parish alone differing. The more complete the returns preserved are, the more thoroughly does it bring up before us the reality of the scene,-a scene which, rightly and thoughtfully viewed, is highly instructive. Let us take, for example, the county of Suffolk. In that county there are several Hundreds, besides some important towns. The record of the Inquisitiones Nonarum shows us that each Hundred appointed a jury, varying in number, as a coroner's jury does to this day, from above twelve up to twenty-four; joined to which, in the case of each separate Parish, was a Committee, consisting usually of six men of the Parish, sworn to make a true return on behalf of the Parish. In the case both of the Hundred jury and the Parish jury, the names are almost always given where the record is complete. The phraseology used in these records is not in a stereotyped form; but the stating the same class of facts is varied sufficiently to give the transactions recorded a more full and real life. Thus, in the Hundred of Colneyse, the jury of which consisted of eighteen men, the return of each Parish is closed with the following words :-" And this upon the oath of A. B. &c. the sworn men of the same Parish." In the Hundred of Thynghowe, which also had a jury of eighteen, the words of the return are:-" They [the Hundred jury] present as it is presented [to them] by the six sworn men of the same Parish, namely, A. B. &c." In the united Hundreds of Hertesmere and Stowe, which had, together, a jury of twenty-six, the words of the return are:-"And this is testified by the oath of A. B. &c. the sworn men of the said Parish." In the Hundred of Samford, which had a jury of twenty-four, the words of the return are, in some:-"As it is found by A. B. &c. the sworn men of the same Parish;" in others :-"As it is inquired by A. B. &c." In the Hundred of Lakford, which has a jury of twenty-four, the words of the return are:-" And this they say upon the examination [sometimes upon the testimony] of A. B. &c." In the Hundred of Corff, which has twenty-four jurymen, the words of the return are :-" And A. B. &c. parishioners of the said Parish, having been sworn, have given their assent to all and singular the foregoing." The twenty-four jurymen of Rysebreg are particular to state, that their return is made "upon the information of six good men of each Parish of the whole Hundred, whose names appear at the end of this roll, sworn as they appear by indentures made among themselves." And at the end of the return there are, accordingly, found the lists of these names, with the following general heading :- Names of the six men of each Parish of the Hundred of Rysebreg, sworn to inform and put right the twenty-four men [of the Hundred] inquiring as to the true value of the ninth of wool, &c." THE CHURCH OF THE PEOPLE. Other instances might be given of variations in the phraseology; the whole yielding proof of the same thing, namely, that, while the Shire was responsible for every Hundred, each Hundred was responsible for every Parish within it; and that the practical means were then in habitual use, by which every Parish had the full opportunity of making itself heard, so that arbitrary taxation was impossible. In the cases of Boroughs, such as Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich, &c. separate juries were sworn and returns made for each Borough. It must be remembered that the taxation of every Parish depended entirely upon the assessments made upon the individual dwellers within it. These inhabitants appointed their own Committee, to be the "sworn men" who should "inform" the Hundred jury of the right assessment of the Parish. One, two, or more surveyors, and overseers, now make Parish assessments as they please, unsworn. The above system, of the fuller and sworn Committee, was clearly a much safer plan. In the appointment of the modern assessors of assessed and other imperial taxes, those most deeply concerned have no voice at all. In our next number, we shall give some of the statements of fact that are found scattered through these returns, to explain why the return made differed from the standard. THE LIFE OF PARISHES.-No. III. CHAPELS AND CHAPELRIES. AMONG the groups of facts which we have already alluded to, as found on an examination of the "Inquisitiones Nonarum," it will be useful to take, first, those which bear upon the division of Parishes. There are several reasons which make the historical facts which will thus be brought forward, of particular practical importance at the present time. In the first place, many persons, whose zeal outruns their knowledge, strangely enough imagine that there is something unorthodox in the name of "chapel;" that the very use of the term savours of sectarianism; and that a good churchman must disavow the word, and reject its application to any place used for the service of the Church. We will effectually dispose of this notion; a notion not only unsupported by any facts or reason, but absolutely inconsistent with the first desire that the true well-wisher of society ought to have, namely, that the opportunity for the taking part in religious sympathies should be found and felt by every man to be a part of the institutions and associations by which he is surrounded. In the second place, modern church-building Acts have been all framed with such an entire want, either of knowledge of historical analogies, or of care for human sympathies, or both, that, instead of forming fresh points of union in neighbourhoods, they are actually based upon the disseverance of all the ties of good neighbourship; which ties it is that have always formed the basis of the idea and fact of "the Parish." They have, moreover, introduced the system of pew rents, which is totally inconsistent, equally with the fundamental idea of Christian worship, and with the character of every parochial institution. Anomalies and inconsistencies surround this modern church-building system on every side. Its necessary result is, to sink the old idea of the Parish Church into mere sectarianism, instead of to cherish and forward the hope, which all good men must have, of the maintenance of one common Catholic Faith, as the sure and lasting bond of accord between within wheels, y complicated, /25 may be kept endence of all Lore completely g the principle h alone makes try, either in >? Forthwith men, appalled, yped platitudes "Conimis ip a se, and then to ers, issue Bluend to that parth, by an abuse bers' franks, so of the favoured cover of " On ntry glad, and n alike? Then o trot out some nitarian to call tion for coddling discomfort, and much his cony qualify for the there is a fresh seals, and much great end and ng and deepening "The Church Jards, and Blue- Ingland, as a part men who have, as neighbours, so many ties of common interest. The facts which we shall bring forward, will show how different was the system, and how much sounder the practical views, which were formerly habitual. If an original Parish became so populous in any part, that its common interests seemed to require the adoption of separate means to meet the fresh-grown needs of that part, the former practice, under the common law, always was, to draw a line of division, by the common consent of those concerned, and to build a "chapel," as it was most commonly called, in the newly separated part; which part then became, for all purposes, secular as well as ecclesiastical, independent in its ordinary action. A few special bonds of union with the original Parish were commonly retained, as matter, chiefly, of traditionary sympathy rather than practical use. These differ widely in different cases. It is sufficient now to say, that no instance of an ancient division of this sort can be found, in which a chapel was built, where the inhabitants of the separated part had not also a separate recognised existence and action in secular affairs. The following illustrations, from the "Inquisitiones Nonarum," will be enough to show the bearing of facts upon what is thus stated. Under the county of Northampton, it is explicitly stated that, although "the church of Daventry, with the chapel of Walton, are taxed [in Pope Nicholas' taxation], at twenty-nine marcs, and the Prior of Ware has an annual pension of one marc from the said chapel, yet Walton does not answer for the ninths of lambs, fleeces, and sheep, together with Daventry; but it answers for itself, by itself, in eight marcs, and Daventry is taxed to twenty-one marcs." In the county of Bedford, we have a Committee which is stated to be sworn" of the chapel of the Parish of Byrchmoor;" and the inference from the mode of statement - which records that the church itself is not taxed in Pope Nicholas' taxation is clear, that this chapel had been built since the time when Pope Nicholas' taxation was made, and that the district had since become, both for secular and ecclesiastical affairs, a separate parish. The sworn Committee proceeds to declare the ninth which rightly accrues due from the new chapelry or Parish, as its share of the national secular taxation. There is a similar instance in the county of Dorset, where the chapel of Waldych is not included in Pope Nicholas' taxation; but the "rector" of that chapel is named in the return before us, and the right secular assessment of the chapelry is given. In the Hundred of Sherbourn, in the same county, there happen to be several "chapels" named. In the Isle of Wight, within the county of Southampton, Carisbrook Castle is returned as a chapelry, distinct from the Parish of Carisbrook; and it is followed by a curious and instructive instance of the men of another chapelry, who, knowing, as all men in those times did, their prerogatives as freemen, and how to assert the reality of them, refused to make another inquisition or return, as one had already been made and assessed. The record contains innumerable other illustrations of chapels, |