PARSON and Vicar, in the Church of England. A parson, persona ecclesioe, is one who has full ∙ possession of all the rights of a parochial church. He is called parson, persona, because by his person, the church, which is an invisible body, is represented; and he is in himself a body corporate, in order to protect and defend the rights of the church, which he personates, by a perpetual succession. He is sometimes called the rector or governor of the church; but the appellation of parson, however it may be depreciated by familiar and indiscriminate use, is the most legal and most honourable title that a parish priest can enjoy; because such a one, as Sir Edward Coke observes, and he alone, is said vicem seu personam ecclxsiae gerere. A parson has, during his life, the freehold in himself of the parsonage-house, the glebe, the tithes, and other dues. But these are sometimes appropriated; that is to say, the benefice is perpetually annexed to some spiritual corporation, either sole or aggregate.

The appropriating corporations, or religious houses, were wont to depute one of their own body to perform divine service, and administer the sacraments, in those parishes of which the society was thus the parson. This officiating minister was in reality no more than a curate, deputy, or vicegerent of the appropriator, and was therefore called vicarius, or vicar. His stipend was at the discretion of the appropriator, who was, however, bound of common right to find somebody, qui illi de temporalibus, episcopo de spiritualibus, debeat respondere. But this was done in so scandalous a manner, and the parishes suffered so much [7:17:99]by the neglect of the appropriators, that the legislature was forced to interpose; and accordingly it was enacted, by statute 15 Richard II. c. 6, that in all appropriations of churches the diocesan bishop should ordain, in proportion to the value of the church, a competent sum to be distributed amongst the poor parishioners annually, and to provide that the vicarage should be sufficiently endowed. It seems that the parish were frequent sufferers, not only by the want of divine service, but also by the withholding of those alms for which, amongst other purposes, the payment of tithes was originally imposed; and therefore in this act a pension was directed to be distributed amongst the poor parochians, as well as a sufficient stipend to the vicar. But he, being liable to be removed at the pleasure of the appropriator, was not likely to insist too rigidly upon the legal sufficiency of the stipend; and, therefore, by statute 4 Henry IV. c. 12, it was ordained that the vicar should be a secular person, not a member of any religious house; that he should be vicar perpetual, not removeable at the caprice of the monastery; and that he should be canonically instituted and inducted, and be sufficiently endowed, at the discretion of the ordinary, to do divine service, to inform the people, and to show hospitality. In consequence of these statutes, the endowments have usually been by a portion of the glebe, or land belonging to the parsonage, and a particular share of the tithes, which the appropriators found it most troublesome to collect, and which are therefore generally called petty or small tithes ; the greater, or predial tithes, being still reserved for their own use. But the same rule was not observed in the endowment of all vicarages. Hence some are more liberally, and others more scantily, endowed; and hence the tithes of many things, as wood in particular, are in some parishes rectorial, and in others vicarial, tithes.

The distinction therefore between a parson and vicar is this. The parson has for the most part the whole right to all the ecclesiastical dues in his parish; but a vicar has generally an appropriator over him, who is entitled to the best part of the profits, and to whom he is in effect perpetual curate, with a standing salary. The method of becoming a parson or vicar is much the same. To both there are four necessary requisites; holy orders, presentation, institution, and induction.