Page:William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (3rd ed, 1768, vol I).djvu/128

112 find the ditinction of parihes, nay even of mother-churches, o early as in the laws of king Edgar, about the year 970. Before that time the conecration of tithes was in general arbitrary; that is, every man paid his own (as was before oberved) to what church or parih he pleaed. But this being liable to be attended with either fraud, or at leat caprice, in the perons paying; and with either jealouies or mean compliances in uch as were competitors for receiving them; it was now ordered by the law of king Edgar, that “'” However, if any thane, or great lord, had a church within his own demenes, ditinct from the mother-church, in the nature of a private chapel; then, provided uch church had a coemitery or conecrated place of burial belonging to it, he might allot one third of his tithes for the maintenance of the officiating miniter: but, if it had no coemitery, the thane mut himelf have maintained his chaplain by ome other means; for in uch cae all his tithes were ordained to be paid to the ' or mother-church.

proves that the kingdom was then univerally divided into parihes; which diviion happened probably not all at once, but by degrees. For it eems pretty clear and certain that the boundaries of parihes were originally acertained by thoe of a manor or manors: ince it very eldom happens that a manor extends itelf over more parihes than one, though there are often many manors in one parih. The lords, as chritianity pread itelf, began to build churches upon their own demenes or wates, to accommodate their tenants in one or two adjoining lordhips; and, in order to have divine ervice regularly performed therein, obliged all their tenants to appropriate their tithes to the maintenance of the one officiating miniter, intead of leaving them at liberty to ditribute them among the clergy of the diocee in general: and this tract of land, the tithes whereof were o appro- priated,