n office by the bishop. He is
president of the chapter, and in church has charge of the due
performance of the services, taking specified portions of them by
statute on the principal festivals. He sits in the chief stall in the
choir, which is usually the first on the right hand on entering the
choir at the west. Next to the dean (as a rule) is the precentor
(_primicerius, cantor_, &c.), whose special duty is that of regulating
the musical portion of the services. He presides in the dean's absence,
and occupies the corresponding stall on the left side, although there
are exceptions to this rule, where, as at St Paul's, the archdeacon of
the cathedral city ranks second and occupies what is usually the
precentor's stall. The third dignitary is the chancellor (_scholasticus,
ecolatre, capiscol, magistral_, &c.), who must not be confounded with
the chancellor of the diocese. The chancellor of the cathedral church is
charged with the oversight of its schools, ought to read divinity
lectures, and superintend the lections in the choir and correct slovenly
readers. He is often the secretary and librarian of the chapter. In the
absence of the dean and precentor he is president of the chapter. The
easternmost stall, on the dean's side of the choir, is usually assigned
to him. The fourth dignitary is the treasurer (_custos, sacrista,
cheficier_). He is guardian of the fabric, and of all the furniture and
ornaments of the church, and his duty was to provide bread and wine for
the eucharist, and candles and incense, and he regulated such matters as
the ringing of the bells. The treasurer's stall is opposite to that of
the chancellor. These four dignitaries, occupying the four corner stalls
in the choir, are called in many of the statutes the "_quatuor majores
personae_" of the church. In many cathedral churches there were
additional dignitaries, as the praelector, subdean, vice-chancellor,
succentor-canonicorum, and others, who came into existence to supply the
places of the other absent dignitaries, for non-residence was the fatal
blot of the secular churches, and in this they contrasted very badly
with the monastic churches, where all the members were in continuous
residence. Besides the dignitaries there were the ordinary canons, each
of whom, as a rule, held a separate prebend or endowment, besides
receiving his share of the common funds of the church. For the most part
the canons also speedily became non-resident, and this led to