PARISH (Gr. parolkia, habitation, from para, near, and oikearnal, I dwell; Lat. paro elle), the district assigned to a particular church, where the inhabitants of the district may attend at public worship, and receive the sacramental or other ministrations of the clergy; The name originally seems to have been interchangeable with diceeesis, "dio cese," and to have been applied to the district subject to the spiritual jurisdiction of a bishop; and, on the other hand, at a later diecesis was sometimes used to signify a parochial church or district. The distribution into parishes appears to be compara tively modern. Originally, all the clergy were (in the opinion of the Episcopalian churches) but coadjutors of the bishop, and served in his church, at which till the faith ful assembled. At Alexandria, and afterwards at Rome, a number of minor churches were opened (called at Rome tituit), which were served by clergy originally not perma nently attached to them, but sent from the principal' or bishop's church, but in progress of lime fixed permanently in the charge. This, however, was not common; and we find churches, with clergy permanently attached, much earlier in rural districts than in cities. The institution does not appear to have become general till tile 9th or 10th century. In England, the first legislation on subject occurs in the laws of Edgar, about 970. The parochial division of districts seems in great measure to have followed the civil dis tribution into manors, or other feudal divisions of territory; and it is probable that it is to the same state of things we owe the practice of lay patronage, the priest officiating in a manorial church being chosen, with the bishop's consent, by" the lord of the manor. The parochial revenue, however, by no means followed tLe same rules which now prevail. At first, all ecclesiastical income, from whatever district, waS carried into a common fund, which was placed at the disposal of the bishop, and was generally divided into four parts—for the bishop, for the clergy, for the poor, and for the church. • By degrees, however, beginning first with the rural parishes, and ultimately extending to those of the cities, the parochial revenues were placed at the disposal of the parish clergy (subj.:et to the same general threefold division, for the clergy, for the poor, and for the church), and in some places an abusive claim, which was early reprobated, arose upon the part of the lord of the manor to a portion of the revenue. Properly, a parish has but one church; but when the district is extensive, one or more minor (succursal) churches, sometimes called "chapels of ease," are permitted.
In the law of England, a parish is an important subdivision of the country, for pur-' poses of local self-government, most of the local rates and taxes being confined within that area, and to a certain extent self-imposed by the parties who pay them. The origin of the division of England into parishes is not very clearly ascertained by the authori ties. Some have asserted that the division had an ecclesiastical origin, and that a parish was merely a district sufficient for one priest to attend to. But others have asserted that parishes. had a civil origin long anterior to ecclesiastical distinctions, advantage being merely taken to ingraft these on so convenient an existing subdivision of the country: and that a parish was a subdivision of the ancient hundred. known as a vill or town, and through its machinery the public taxes were anciently collected: Hobart fixes the date of the institution of civil parishes in 1170, and his account has been generally followed. Much difficulty has occasionally arisen in fixing the boundaries of parishes. Blackstone says the boundaries of parishes were originally ascertained by those of manors, and that it very seldom happened that a manor extended itself over more parishes than one, though there were often many manors in one parish. Nevertheless, the boundaries of parishes are often intermixed, which Blackstone accounts for by the practice of the lords of adjoin ing manors obliging their tenants to appropriate their tithes towards the otlicinting minister of the church, which was built for the whole. Even in the present day, dies,: boundaries often give rise to litigation, and the courts have always decided the question according to the proof of custom. This custom is chiefly established by the ancient practice of perambulating the parish in Rogation-week in each year. See PERA3turn.A TioN. There are some plaJes as to which it is uncertain whether they are parishes or not, and hence it has been usual to call them reputed parishes. There are also places tailed extra-parochial places, which do not belong to any parish, such as forest anti abbey lands. In these cases the persons inhabiting were not subject to the usual paro chial rates and taxes, and other incidents of parochial life. But in 1837 a statute was
passed which put extra-parochial places upon a similar footing to parishes, by giving power to justices, and in some cases to the poor-law board, to annex them to adjoining parishes, after which they are dealt with in much the same way as other places. One of the chief characteristics of a parish is that there is F. parish church, and an incumbent and churchwardens attached to it, and by this machinery the spiritual wants of the par ishioners are attended to. These several parish churches, and the endowments connected therewith. belong in a certain sense to the nation, and the incumbents are members of the established rthurch of England, and amenable to the discipline of the bishops and the spiritual courts. The private patronage, or right of presenting a clergyman to au incumbency, is technically called an advowson, and is generally held byan individual as a salable property, having a market value. The patron has an absolute right (quite irre spective of the wishes of the parishioners) to present a cleric or ordained priest of the church of England to a vacant benefice, and it is for the bishop to sec to his qualifications. The hi hop is the sole judge of these qualifications, and if he approves of them, the clerk or priest is instituted and inducted into the benefice, which ceremony completes his legal title to the fruits of the benefice. The incumbents of parish churches are called rectors, or vicars, or perpetual curates, the distinction being chiefly founded on the state of the tithes. When the benefice is full, then the freehold of the church vests in the rector or parson, and so does the church-yard; but he holds these only as a trustee for the use of the par ishioners. There are certain duties which the incumbent of the parish church is bound by law to perform for the benefit of the parishioners. Ile is bound, as a general rule. to reside in the parish, so as to be ready to administer the rites of the church to them. Sec .Noer-nEstnENcE. The first duty of the incumbent is to perform public worship in the parish church every Sunday, according to the form prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer, which is part of the statute-law of England. Ile must adhere sirictly to the forms and ceremonies, and even to the dress prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer and Canons. The incumbent is also bound to baptize the children of all the parishioners, and to administer the rite of the Lord's-supper to the parishioners not less than three times each year. The incumbent is also bound to allow the parishioners to be buried in time church-yard of the parish, if there is accommodation, and to read the burial eervice at etch interment. lie is also bound to marry the parishioners on their tendering them selves, and complying with the marriage acts, within the parish church and canonical hours, and it is said he is liable to an action of damages if he refuse. In respect of burials and marriages, certain fees are frequently payable by custom; but unless such a custom exisfs, no fee is exigible for performance of thee duties. In many cases, where one church had become insufficient for the increased population, the old parish has been subdivided under the church building acts, the first of which was passed in 1818, into two or more ecclesiastical districts or parishes, for each of which a new church was built, and an incumbent appointed. The incumbents in these ecclesiastical parishes have generally been provided for by the incumbent of the mother-parish or by voluntary benefactors, and by the aid of pew-rents. Tint these ecclesiastical parishes, so far as the 'nor and other secular purposes are concerned, make no change on the out law. Another incident of the parish church is that there must be churchwardens appo:ntel annually, who are accordingly leading parochial officers, and whose duty is partly ecclesiastical and partly civil. Their civil duties consist chiefly in this, that they must join the overseers in many of the duties arising out of the management of the poor, and incidental duties imposed by statute. But their primary duty is to attend to the repair and good order of the fabric of the church. The common law requires that there should be two churchwardens, one of whom is appointed by the incumbent, and the other is chosen by the parishioners in vestry assembled, but sometimes this rule is varied by a lo•el custom. This appointment and election takes place in Easter-week of each year. In electing the people's churchwarden, there is often much local excitement, and it is common to poll the parish, all those who pay poor-rates being entitled to vote, the number of votes varying according to the rent, but no person having more than six votes.