Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/127

§. 4. of Man, which was annexed to the province of York by king Henry VIII. Every diocee is divided into archdeaconries, whereof there are ixty in all; each archdeaconry into rural deanries, which are the circuit of the archdeacon’s and rural dean’s juridiction, of whom hereafter; and every deanry is divided into parihes.

is that circuit of ground in which the ouls under the care of one paron or vicar do inhabit. Thee are computed to be near ten thouand in number. How antient the diviion of parihes is, may at preent be difficult to acertain; for it eems to be agreed on all hands, that in the early ages of chritianity in this iland, parihes were unknown, or at leat ignified the ame that a diocee does now. There was then no appropriation of eccleiatical dues to any particular church; but every man was at liberty to contribute his tithes to whatever priet or church he pleaed, provided only that he did it to ome: or, if he made no pecial appointment or appropriation thereof, they were paid into the hands of the bihop, whoe duty it was to ditribute them among the clergy and for other pious purpoes according to his own dicretion.

Camden ays England was divided into parihes by archbihop Honorius about the year 630. Sir Henry Hobart lays it down that parihes were firt erected by the council of Lateran, which was held A. D. 1179. Each widely differing from the other, and both of them perhaps from the truth; which will probably be found in the medium between the two extremes. For Mr Selden has clearly hewn, that the clergy lived in common without any diviion of parihes, long after the time mentioned by Camden. And it appears from the Saxon laws, that parihes were in being long before the date of that council of Lateran, to which they are acribed by Hobart.