The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-06-05
TOWNS WITH PECULIAR PRIVIL-
FGES

There are said to be only two towns
in England whose people have the
privilege of electlng their own church
wardens, and, oddly enough, both are
in Somersetshire. One is Chard,
quaint little oldfashioned place. The
Town Council elects the church ward
en- for the coming year, and has done
SO ever since the town was first incor-
porated.
The installation Of the church warden
of Chard is made the, occasion of
good deal Of cernonye During morning
service on Easter Day the head of the
borough police marches upN the aisle
and hands the vicar a document noti-
| flying the appointment. The Mayor and
Corporation attend in state to see that
the ceremony is properly performed
The parish of ST. Mary Magdalene,
Taunton, has the same prescription
right, only In this case 1t is exercised
by the parishioners themselves. There
are three church wardens, and the vi
car has bsolutely no power Of appoint
ment. Easter Tuesday is the meeting
day for the election, ans an odd point
about the business is that no public
notice may be given. If it were, it is
| the opinion of lawyers that the privi-
lege, which has been exercised for three
centuries past, would at once be lost.
Speaking of elections, there are still
q few towns which have the privilege
Of electing a high steward under an
ancient charter Of Edward IL. Harwich
| is one of these, and the ceremony is
| duly carried out every year.
| At Beaconsfeld the freeholders have
the right to keep one of the very few
courts-leet still in existence. This court
meets about once in twelve or fifteen
years and elects the parish constable,
| the town crier, the ale faster, pay
warden and one or two other local Of
ficials. The court-leet cannot be couven-
ed directly by the freehotders. The re-
gular procedure is for the council to
request the lord of the manor to call
the court.
Preston's Guild Merchant Is absolute
unique. NON other town In England is
privileged to hold such a curious festi-
val. The Guild Merchant Is only held
once in twenty years, but then the
proud Prestonites make the most Of 1t.
1t means whole week of public holi-
day making and splendid pageantry,
People come from the ends of the earth
to attend 1t. To the last one steamer
alone brought two hundred and fifty
Preston people from New York. The
quaint guild court is opened on the
first day of the Guild Merchant, and
every day during the week there are
professions, firework displays, exhibit
tions, etc. The charter dates from
Henry II.
To move to the other end of England,
Portland possesses a peculiar privilege
which, we believe, is exercised to this,
and is certainly a great saving of
money to those who take advantage of
it. This is what is termed church gift.
A Portland man desires to sell a field
or other landed property. Instead of
! employing a lawyer in the usual way,
at heavy fees, all that is necessary is
ms for vendor and vender to go into
the church and there draw up the
agreement between themselves. SucE
an agreement holds good in law.
The vicar of Norham, in Durham, has
an odd privilege. If the banns of mar
riage be published three times and
then the marriage fails to take place
the refusing party can be mulcted in
the sum of 4Os. for "scorning the
| Church"
When an act of Parliament took
away nearly all the privileges enjoyed
for SO many centuries by the C1inque
Ports, the town of F3rightlingsea,
which is a limb" of the Borts, was
overlooked. consequently it is the only
town in these islands whose inhabit-
ants are exempt from all jury duty.
They cannot be taken by the press
gang" and they are, Permitted to ap-
point their own ale faster. But per-
haps the addest Of the privileges pos