[71] Cowel, Law Dict. dome.
[72] In some words dom is substituted for the ancient termination rick; and in one sense, it iz equivalent to rick, which implies jurisdiction or power. King rick waz used az late az Queen Elizabeth: Bishop-rick iz stil used, denoting the territory or jurisdiction of a bishop.
[73] Johnson derives lay from the Greek λαος; as he does all other words which hav some resemblance to Greek words in sound or signification. I beleev the Saxon or Gothic original and the Greek may be the same, and of equal antiquity.
[74] Blackstone Com. vol. I. 112.
[75] Camden's Britannia. Baron.
[76] Let no one question the probability of such changes of consonants which are formed by the same organs; for to this day b and v are often used promiscuously. In the Spanish language, we are at liberty to pronounce, b az v, or v az b; and with us, marble is often pronounced marvle. It is also certain that the Roman vir is found in the word mentioned by Cesar. Com. 11. 19. Vergo bretus, an annual magistrate among the Ædui, a nation of Germany. This word is derived from vir, and guberno, altho Cesar and Tacitus never suspected it. The same word iz mentioned by Mc Pherson, az stil existing in the Erst language, Fergubreth; and its meaning iz the same az in Cesar's time: A decisiv argument that vir, fer, and bar, are radically the same; and that the ancient Celtic language had a common origin with the Latin. A similar change of consonants iz observable in the words volo and bull (the Pope's decree) which are radically the same; az also the German woll and the English will. So the ancient Pergamus iz called by the modern Turks, Bergamo. See Masheim's Eccle. Hist. Vol. I. and my Dissertations on the Eng. Language, Appendix.
[77] The feudal system iz commonly supposed to hav originated in the conquest of the Roman empire by the northern nations. The rudiments of it however may be discovered az erly az the Cimbric invasion of Italy, a century before the Christian era. Se Florus. lib. 3. c. 3. The Cimbri and Teutones were tribes of the same northern race, az the Germans and Saxons.
[78] So it iz spelt in the Saxon laws; but its root waz probably circe, from sciran, to divide. C before i and e was in Saxon pronounced ch or neerly; hence circe is chirche.
[79] Blackstone Com. vol. I, 112. That each shire had its bishop, seems to be obvious from a law of Edgar, c. 5, where, respecting the county court, it iz ordered, "celeberrimo huic conventui episcopus et aldermannus intersunto;" not unus episcoporum, but the bishop and erl.
[80] Parson iz said, by Coke and others, to be derived from persona, because this officer represents the corporation or church, vicem seu personam ecclesiæ gerere. This reezon seems to be obscure and unsatisfactory. It iz possible the word may proceed from the same root az parish, viz. par.