THE CHURCHWARDEN DETHRONED.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—" Churchwarden's" outcry—all about 8s. 9d. per annum !—is so full of errors that it calls aloud for correction,.
(1) It is not an" Act," but a measure. (2) It is not" new," but nearly two years old. (3) Churchwardens are not " in- ducted " but admitted. (4) The office does not "cease to have any power -or responsibility" and become "nominal" and "functionless." Churchwardens remain responsible for keep- ing order in church and for assigning seats in church, and for their duties in connexion with Visitations—nowadays by no means idle ceremonies—both in answering Articles and making Presentments : with the Incumbent, they remain responsible for the distribution of the offertory, and the legal property in the fabric, goods and ornaments of the church remains vested in them. If communicants, they are ex officio members of the Parochial Church Council, and, with the Incumbent, are its Standing Committee : in very many cases they continue to be appointed Joint Treasurers.
In fact they remain, potentially at any rate, the lay leaders of the parish in the newly awakened life of the Powers measure—wise and informed leaders, let us hope ; not ignorant and secretive autocrats, as some have been in the past.—I am,
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