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Deaf to each promise, of no threat afraid,
They spurn'd her counsel, and despis'd her aid,
Built on the shifting sand each subtle plan,
And leant upon the broken reed of man;

They sow'd the wind-the crowd's unmeaning cries,
Shall they not reap the whirlwind for a prize?*
And e'en in present ruin find too late
(The veil remov'd) their folly and their fate?
O then be wise, your deadly slumbers break,
Ye kings, ye judges of the world, awake!
Are there whose country's virgin honours bend
Smiling adulterous on the idol's friend?

To him commits her once heaven-honouring cause,
From his unhallow'd hand requires her laws,
And seeks from carnal policy to steal
What God reserves his own a lasting weal?+
And shall she flourish, shall her bulwarks stand
Based on corruption, and in treason plann'd?
History for her forget its gall, and write
The harlot's fate "in characters of light,"
Blotting the warning leaves which sadly tell
How Judah, Egypt, and Assyria fell?
Off with thy chains, reviving England, shake
Thy coward bondage off, awake! awake!
Rise in thy scorn triumphant, and abroad
Fling wide the spider's web of flattering fraud,
The deep device, the crafty worldling's dream,
Where fleshly cunning weaves the crooked scheme; §
Cast down these tatter'd rags, with upward eyes
Assume thy glorious garments, and arise,
Great in thine ancient faith, thine ancient pride,
With heaven's own armour girded on thy side!
But O! if struggling on, and feebler yet,
Thy sun in earthborn mists should quivering set,
Should veil indignant his polluted light

Where wilful blindness reigns, and moral night;
If all-neglected, all-insulted, lie

The Church, the charter of thy destiny,||
And pitying still, yet powerless to save,
In weeping flight her guardian pinions wave,
Where shalt thou sink, while all thy glories fail,
The dreary pageants of an ended tale!

How withering view some favour'd spot of rest,
Chaunt its glad welcome to the holy guest,
Trace all her radiant passage, and survey
Thy ruin'd homes, and altars of decay!¶

• Hosea viii. 7.

Horne's Sermons. Dis. XLI.
Isaiah Ix. 12.

Jer. i. 10, and xviii. 7-12.
§ 1 Cor. iii. 19, 20; Isa. xxx. 1, 4.

E. B.

¶ Matt. xvi. 18; Rev. ii. 5, 16, 26, 27; iii. 3, 15, 16, &c., compared with their subsequent history.

LAW REPORT.

No. XXXVI.—ON PROPERTY DEVISED FOR REPAIRING

CHURCHES.

THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL v. VIVIAN.*

JOHN Burton, by an instrument tripartite, bearing date on the 8th of January, 1503, and purporting to be his last will as to the disposition of certain lands and tenements in Watlingstreet, of which he was seised in fee, but towards the purchase of which Maude, the widow of Robert Frosdeyn, had contributed 201. out of her own goods and her husband's, devised in the following words: "I, the said John Burton, being so sole seised in my demesne as in fee, as is aforesaid, for the health of the souls of the said Robert, and Maude his wife, their children's souls, and my soul, and all Christian souls, give and bequeath, by this my last will to Mr. John Lychefelde, Doctor of Law, parson of the parish church of St. Austen, William Batyford, and Nicholas Skynner, churchwardens, of the goods, ornaments, and rents of the same parish church of St. Austen, and to the parson and churchwardens of the said parish church of St. Austen for the time being, all the aforesaid

lands and tenements, and other the premises, with the appurtenances, to have and to hold the said lands and tenements, with the appurtenances, to the aforesaid parson and churchwardens of the aforesaid parish church of St. Austen, and to their successors, parson and churchwardens of the said parish church for the time being for evermore, of the chief lords of the fee by service thereof due and of right accustomed, therewith to perform this my last will under written; that is to say: I will that the aforesaid parson and churchwardens, and their successor, parson and churchwardens of the said parish of St. Austen for the time being, for evermore, of the rents, profits, and revenues coming of the said lands and tenements, shall do, find, support, and maintain for evermore, a taper of was of a pound weight, to stand and burn before the image of our Lady, in the chancel of the said parish church at all divine service to be done and said within the same parish church in the

Lands are devised to the parson and churchwardens of the parish church of A. and their successors, to the intent that the rents, after certain charges are defrayed, may go to the use of that parish church, at the discretion of the parson and churchwardens, and their successors. After the fire of London, the parish of A. is united with the adjacent parish of F., and the parish church of A. becomes the parish church of the united parishes of A. and F.-The parishioners of F. have no right to have any part of the rents applied in ease of that proportion of the expenses of maintaining and repairing the church of the united parishes, which it falls upon them to defray.

Where lands are given to the use of a parish church, it is not primà facie a due application of the charity to mix up the rents with the produce of parochial rates, so as to form a general fund, out of which the repairs of the church and other parochial expenses are defrayed.

The crown is entitled to any payment directed, before the 23d Henry VIII., to be made for a superstitious use, out of the rents of lands.

A relator need not have any interest in the due administration of a charity. Where a record is both an information and a bill, and the whole of the relief specifically prayed is in respect of an alleged interest of the relator in the trust property, the Court, if it sees that there is any occasion for regulation in the management of the charity, will not dismiss the information, even though the claim of interest on the part of the relators is so groundless, that their bi'l is dismissed with costs.

honour of God, our Lady, and all saints; and that the same taper to be supported and maintained, and also to burn at all divine service within the said parish church, in like manner and form as the aforesaid Maude Frosdeyn hath caused the same light there to be found since the time of the decease of the said Robert Frosdeyn, late her said husband. And I will that the residue of the issues, profits, and revenues, coming of all the said lands and tenements, go to the supportation and maintaining of the reparations of the said lands and tenements, and to the use of the said parish church, at the discretion of the said parson and churchwardens, and of their successors, parson and churchwardens of the same parish church of St. Austen for the time being, for evermore. Also, I will and order by this my last will, that, as often and when as the said parson and churchwardens, and their successors, parson and churchwardens for the time being, shall default in finding, supporting, and maintaining of the said taper by the space of a month, contrary to the tenure, form, and effect above declared and expressed, then and so often the said parson and churchwardens of the said parish church, and their successors, parson and churchwardens of the same parish church for the time being, shall content and pay, or do to be paid, of the issues, profits and revenues coming and growing of the same lands and tenements, with the appurtenances, to Mr. Nicholas Halswell, parson of the parish church of St. John the Evangelist, in WatlingAskew street, of London, and to and to Richard Whitehed, churchwardens, of the goods, ornaments, and rents of the said parish church of St. John, for every month that the said parson and churchwardens of the said parish church of St. Austen, and their successors, parson and churchwardens of the same parish church of St. Austen for the time being, shall default in finding, supporting, and maintaining of the said taper, in the name of a pain, 68. 8d. sterling." To enforce the payment of this penalty, the parson and churchwardens of St. John's were to enter and distrain upon the lands.

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The church of the parish of St.

Austen, and the church of the adjacent parish of St. Faith's, were among the buildings destroyed or damaged by the fire of London. Shortly after that accident, these two parishes were united. By the 22 Car. II. c. 11. s.63, it was enacted, that "The parishes of St. Austen's and St. Faith's shall be united into one parish, and the church heretofore belonging to the said parish of St. Austen's shall be the parish church of the said parishes so united;" and by the 64th section, that "The said respective parishes herein before mentioned and appointed to be united as aforesaid, shall for ever hereafter remain and continue so united and consolidated and annexed unto the several and respective parish churches, by this act appointed to be rebuilded as aforesaid; and the respective parishioners, and the inhabitants of the said several parishes so to be united as aforesaid, by force of this present act, shall hereafter resort to the said churches respectively as to their proper parish church. And all tithes and other duties heretofore due and payable to the respective incumbents of the said parish churches respectively, shall hereafter be paid and payable to the incumbent of that church only, which by this act is appointed to be rebuilded and established for the parish church of the parishes so united."

The 65th section provided, "That all plate and goods heretofore belonging to any of the churchwardens of any of the parishes of those parishes burnt down, which are not now to be rebuilded, for the use of the said churches, shall be enjoyed by the respective churchwardens, and their successors, of the respective parishes of such churches to be rebuilded respectively, whereunto the said other churches burnt down are united by this act, to the use of the said churches and parishes respectively."

The 68th section declared, "That notwithstanding such union as aforesaid, each and every of the parishes so united, as to all rates, taxes, parochial rights, charges and duties, and all other privileges, liberties and respects whatsoever, other than what are hereinbefore mentioned and specified, shall continue and remain distinct, and as

heretofore they were, before the making of this present act."

Shortly after this appropriation of one church for the use of the parishioners of St. Austin's and St. Faith's, an arrangement was entered into between the two parishes for settling the proportion in which they were to contribute respectively to the repairs of the common church. As the parish of St. Faith's was of much greater extent than that of St. Austin's, it was agreed that two-thirds of those expenses should be borne by the former, and one-third by the latter; and in that way were the repairs of the church provided for, from the fire of London, down to the filing of the information and bill. During this period, the share of the expenses, which fell upon St. Austin's, had been defrayed out of a fund composed of the proceeds of rates, made by the vestry for the relief of the poor and for general parochial purposes, aided by the rents and profits of the messuages devised by Burton, and of other tenements held in trust for the parish. The pews allotted for the accommodation of the parishioners of St. Faith's greatly exceeded, in number and size, the pews which were appropriated to the parishioners of St. Austin's.

Under these circumstances, proceedings, in the shape of a record, which was both an information at the relation of the churchwardens of St. Faith's, and a bill by the same churchwardens, as plaintiffs, were instituted against the rector of the united parishes and the churchwardens of St. Austin's. The bill and information prayed a declaration that the rents of the messuages devised by Burton, or so much thereof as should be necessary, might be applied to the repairs of the church of the united parishes; the repayment of such sum as the parish of St. Faith's had contributed to those repairs, beyond what it would have been bound to have raised for that purpose, if the rents of the devised premises had been duly applied; and directions for the future letting of the tenements and the due application of the rents and profits.

Mr. Sugden and Mr. Koe, for the information and bill.

The will of the testator has clearly

impressed on this property a trust for the primary purpose of repairing the church of the parish of St. Austin's; and the benefit, intended for the inhabitants of the parish, was to be enjoyed by them only through the medium of the conservation and reparation of that building which they frequented as their proper place of public worship. The act of Car. II. has given the inhabitants of an adjacent parish a right to attend divine service in the same church; but the building does not thereby become less useful to the parish of St. Austin's. Being the church of the united parishes, so far as they are united, it is also the church of each of them, so far as they continue distinct and separate. There is no part of it which is not portion of the church used by those on whom Burton meant to confer an advantage; there is therefore no part of it which ought not to be repaired out of the rents of the property devised by him.

Even if it should be admitted, that the repairs of the church of the united parishes are not the precise purpose which the testator had in view; yet, as now there neither is, nor can be, any church answering exactly to the description of the parish church of St. Austin's alone, the rents of the property must, on the doctrine of cy pres, be applied to the repairs of the church of the united parishes, as the object which comes the nearest to the purpose expressly pointed out by the will.

If the claim made on behalf of the parish of St. Faith's should fail, there must at least be a reference for the future regulation of the charity. To mix up the rents of this property with the aggregate produce of parochial rates, so as to form a fund for general parochial purposes, is not prima facie a due execution of the charitable trust created by Burton.

The provision for the support of a burning taper is void, as being a superstitious use; and that portion of the revenue will be applicable to the other charitable purposes expressed in the will.

Mr. Horne, Mr. Barber, and Mr. B. Anderdon, for the churchwardens of St. Austin's.

The purpose of Burton was, to

relieve the parishioners of St. Austin's from the whole or part of the rates, to which they would otherwise be liable for the repairs of the church. He did not mean to confer any boon on the parish of St. Faith's; and there is nothing in the act to exempt the latter from former liabilities, or to give them a right to participate in revenues, which, before the fire of London, belonged exclusively to others. the act, one building became the church of both parishes; but in every other respect, each parish continued distinct as to its rights and liabilities.

By

The 65th section provides, "That the plate and goods belonging to the churchwardens of that one of the two parishes whose church is not rebuilt, shall be enjoyed by the churchwardens of the parish whose church was rebuilt." Thus, an express enactment was deemed necessary, where one of the united parishes was intended to ac quire any interest in that which had theretofore been the separate property of the other; and the inference is, that, where there is no such enactment, each parish continues entitled to the exclusive enjoyment of the property which belonged to it before the union.

The parish of St. Faith's, therefore, has no interest in the property devised by Burton; and the case made by the bill falls to the ground.

Neither can the record be sustained as an information. For first, the relator has no interest in the fund; secondly, the information is framed, not with a view to regulate the charity, but in order to have a right declared; not to apply the income according to the testator's intention, but to carry it away to those who have no concern with it.

Mr. Cooper for the Rector.

THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS

The first question is, whether the parishioners of St. Faith's have a right to demand, that the whole revenues, arising from the property devised by Burton, shall be applied in aid of the repairs of the church of the united parishes; although the revenues exceed that proportion of the repairs, which would otherwise be borne by the parish of St. Austin. To make out their claim, the parishioners of

St. Faith's must establish a right, either under Burton's will, or under the act of Parliament.

So far as the rights of the parties depend upon the will, it is impossible to raise a question; for, in 1503, the parishioners of St. Faith's had no interest in the church of St. Austin, and it is to the use of that church, that the testator directs the residue of the rents of the tenements to be applied. He does not seem to have intended any benefit to the parish of St. Faith's; as a proof of which, it may be observed, that, when he imposes a penalty on the parish of St. Austin's, in the event of their omitting to supply a taper, according to his direction, he orders that penalty to be paid, not to the parish of St. Faith's, but to the parish of St. John.

Neither, as it appears to me, have the parishioners of St. Faith's acquired, under the act of parliament, any interest in the tenements devised by Burton. It is true, that, under the act, a church was to be built, sufficient to accommodate the inhabitants of both parishes; but the 68th section provides, that parishes, so united with respect to their church, were to continue distinct as to all rights, taxes, parochial rates, charges and duties. The burthens to be borne, and the rights to be enjoyed by these two parishes, were not to be interfered with by the mere circumstance of their having thenceforth one common church; and, as before that act, the revenues arising from this property were applicable in ease of the burthens to which the parishioners of St. Austin's would have been subject for the repairs of their church, it is impossible to contend, that the parish of St. Faith's acquired by such means any interest in the rents. It was never meant, that the parish of St. Faith's should be relieved from expenses out of emoluments derived by the parishioners of St. Austin's from property bequeathed for their use. Suppose, that the church of St. Faith's had been rebuilt, instead of the church of St. Austin's, and had become thenceforth the church of the united parishes, could that church have claimed any benefit from this fund, except so far as it was an accommo

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