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the Churchwardens to be one, nominate one able Minister in Priest's Orders to
reside in the said Parish, to be Preacher and Assistant to the Rector and his
successors, in the celebration of the Divine offices of praying and preaching
and other duties incident to be performed in the said Church and Parish as
the Rector shall require of him, which said Preacher shall continue in his
place during his natural life if he shall so long inhabit there, except for
some offence or misgovernment by him committed (unless for cause
reasonable proved) he shall be displaced by the said Rector for the
time being by and with the consent of the said Vestrymen or any six or
more of them.
The stipend of the Preacher is fixed by the Act (sec. 20) at £100 a year,
which was to be raised by a special rate to be collected by the Churchwardens
and paid to the Preacher by four quarterly payments. If default
was made in any quarterly payment, two Justices were empowered to give
relief according to the true intent of the Act, and cause the Churchwarden
or Churchwardens offending therein to be imprisoned until payment was
made.
By a subsequent Act, however (20 Geo. II., cap. 29, see. 7), the stipend was
made a charge upon the Poor Eate, instead of being required to be raised by a
separate rate, the provision made by the Act of James II., in case of default
of payment, being continued.
Under the Act of James II., the Preacher was, in the absence of the
Rector, a member of the Vestry, and the Act 56 Geo. III., cap. 54, sec. 54,
provided that during a vacancy in the Eectory it shall be lawful for the
Preacher to preside over any meeting held pursuant to any Act of Parliament
requiring the Vestry to be held on a particular day. This enactment does
not appear to apply to ordinary meetings of the Vestry as constituted by the
Metropolis Local Management Act; section 2 of that Act providing only
that the Incumbent and Churchwardens shall constitute a part of the Vestry,
although as section 30 contemplates the person authorised by law or custom
presiding over Vestry meetings, it may be doubtful to what extent the
Preacher could insist upon attending special statutory meetings such
as for the ascertaining and making of the rates during a vacancy in
the rectory.
With regard to the question of the payment of the Preacher's stipend, as
affected by the Compulsory Church Eate Abolition Act, 1868 (31 and 32 ic.
c. 109), the term " Church Eate " is limited by that Act to any rate raised
for ecclesiastical purposes, which purposes are defined as the building,
rebuilding, enlargement, and repair of any Church or Chapel, and any
purpose to which by common or ecclesiastical law a Church Rate is
applicable. As the stipend of a clergyman is not a legal charge on a Church
Eate, and the payment to the Preacher is statutory, such payment is clearlv
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