CHARGE, &c.

My reverend brethren, and you, the Churchwardens of this Peculiar of Northallerton, and its neighbourhood.

We have met this morning, my brethren and friends, according to our yearly custom, to transact the common business of our several churches, with respect to the appointment of new churchwardens, and the resignation of their offices, by the churchwardens, who have already served. We have met also to inquire, whether there may be any notice. of circumstances, which may demand attention, and lead to improvement. Because we are so few in number, it has been our custom in former years to meet only in the vestry, and there, (if it be necessary,) that I should speak to you on any point which might be worthy of consideration. I have, however, determined on the present occasion to speak to you in this more formal manner, because the other mode of addressing you, personally and individually, as the churchwardens delivered their papers, and as the names of the clergy were called over, not being sufficiently public; it has pleased those who are on the watch to observe, and who have misunderstood our more quiet proceedings, to affirm, in the newspapers of the neighbouring districts, that the duty of the visitation was neglected and disregarded. We live in days, my Christian friends, when it is especially

necessary that "our good shall not be evil spoken of;" and therefore, though I am still of opinion, that I might have fitly spoken the few observations, which it may be necessary to make, in the humble and retired vestry, on account of the fewness of our numbers: I have resolved to conduct the visitation in this more open and public manner, that all may see our proceedings, and hear the reflections which I may deem it right to submit to you.

Permit me to explain in the first place, before I call upon you to remember the nature of the duties which are severally imposed upon you, the reasons, on account of which a visitation is held in this place, by the official representative of the Dean and Chapter of Durham.

It was the custom in former ages that the Bishops of their respective dioceses visited the churches, and the clergy, at certain seasons, to know whether the statutes, and laws of the church, were properly observed. When, however, it so happened, that a parish or a manor belonged to another Bishop, he, and not the diocesan, was accustomed to visit his own parish, or manor. We are in the diocese of York. The Archbishop of York therefore would have been the proper person to hold a visitation in this place, as well as in the other parts of his diocese. The parish or manor of Northallerton, however, was granted from the very earliest times of our history to the Bishops of Durham, who were accustomed therefore to superintend this district, and certain other places in this neighbourhood. One of the Bishops of Durham, many centuries ago, gave to the convent of Durham a part of his jurisdiction. The Dean and Chapter of Durham, as their successors, possess the same power; and it is by virtue of that power, as their representative, that I am enabled to require the churchwardens to bring in their papers, and the clergy of the Peculiar also, to be present in the church this day. I mention these things because some have inquired, by what authority, the visitation was held here. I believe that the laws respecting these kinds of peculiar ecclesiastical jurisdiction, are about to be either

materially altered, or entirely abolished. When that is done, the authority of the Master Keeper of Northallerton, as the representative of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, will cease. Until, however, the law is altered, the duty I am fulfilling will remain: and it rests, you will now perceive, on the same foundation as any other authority of a similar kind, whether of a Dean and Chapter, of a Bishop, or of an Archbishop, which may be exercised elsewhere. It rests upon the foundation of prescription and custom, and therefore of law; which may be traced with more or less exactness, for nearly a thousand years, to the period before the Norman conquest.

I shall first, then, address myself to the churchwardens. Your duty, my friends, in the present day is restricted, with one exception, to very humble though very important, because very useful, inquiries; respecting the repairs and state of the fabric of the church, the condition of the churchyards, of the books, the ornaments, and other property of the church. Because the fabric of the church, and the things which thus belong to the due administration of its services, concern the whole parish, and not a portion only; it is your privilege to require the payment of a rate, for the due preservation of those things which appertain to the people at large. In former days you were required to attend to three other very important duties. The churchwardens were required to present to the Bishop the names of all persons who were guilty of heresy in opinion, and of wickedness, or immorality in conduct. They were the persons, also, who were entitled to apportion to the parishioners the space which was enclosed within the church walls, which were formerly occupied by moveable seats, then by benches, and in latter days by pews. The first of these duties, that of presenting persons who held heretical opinions, is removed by the Toleration act: the second, that of presenting charges against a parishioner for immorality of life, is attended with so many difficulties, in consequence of the law of libel, that it is almost entirely superseded: and the third, respecting the disposal of pews, is so much hindered by the obscurity of the

laws respecting pews, that much of this part of the duty of the churchwardens, may be said to be superseded also. There is, however, another part of your duty which I hope will never be superseded; though it is one, which I trust you will never find occasion to exercise. You are the persons who are required by the public law, to present and report to the Bishops, or to their various representatives, the names of those clergymen, who may either dishonour themselves, by unworthy conduct, or who shall depart in their administering divine service, from the order and rubric, of the church. Your superintendence over the laity of our parishes has been taken away, while it is continued over us, the clergy. You are the representatives of our parishioners; and while the churchwardens therefore do their duty, every clergyman in the country may be said to be under the vigilant control and inspection of his people. If the clergy, either by conduct, or by departing from the right order of the church, give offence to the congregation; the remedy is in the hands of the people, by means of the churchwardens of the place. This was the exception to which I alluded, when I said that the churchwardens were now restricted to the performance, of more humble duties. Not only is it their duty to pay attention to the fabric, the burial ground, the books, and goods, and cleanliness of the churches; it is. their duty to take care that the higher services of the church are regarded, in the due administration of the sacraments, the offering up of the prayers, the right observance of the duties of the pulpit as directed by the church, and the inspection to a certain extent also, of the manners and conduct of the minister. I mention these things, not merely to remind you of your duties, but that you and your people, and I wish I could say all the people of England, might perceive; that when a rate is demanded of our parishes for the support of the fabric, and other expenses of the public worship: they have in you, as the guardians of the parishes, full and sufficient security, that their money is expended, not to please, nor to support the clergyman, not to maintain any extravagant charges, but that it is demanded, to uphold the public worship of God; while the most ample pledge is