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disposed of in such manner as the Vestries of the said Parishes
shall think proper, and they further acquainted this Vestry that
they had reserved two-thirds of the said monies for the use of
this Parish and had paid one third part thereof to the Churchwardens
of St. John's for the use of that Parish being the
usual and accustomed proportion.
Resolved that the money allotted for this Parish be applied towards
the Painting the Figures of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Niches
on each side the Altar of this Church; in Imitation of Statuary,
and that the same be Executed by Mr. Cassali.*
Resolved that the respectfull and sincere Thanks of this Vestry be,
and they are hereby given to Lord Northumberland for his said
Generous Gift to this Parish, and that his Lordship be acquainted
herewith, and also of the manner in which this Vestry have
Ordered the said Monies to be applied.
The example set by his Grace was followed by Lord
Warkworth, who presented the Vestry with "a generous
benefaction of Fifty Pounds to be distributed amongst poor
housekeepers of this parish not receiving alms who shall
appear to be proper objects,"which the Vestry acknowledged
with unanimous thanks.
During the next thirty years, on every occurrence of a
vacancy in the representation in Westminster, the Vestry
were appealed to in the manner indicated by the foregoing,
though the sequacious "generosity and benevolence" are
not so regularly exhibited.
An agitation for a change in the constitution due, as Mr.
Pitt asserted, to "the effervescence which the principles of
anarchy in France had produced here," made considerable
way in the House of Commons in 1792. Allegations were
made that widespread corruption existed among the Boroughs
in almost all parts of England and Scotland, and that certain
Bills had been introduced by Ministers to the advancement
of their personal interests. These statements help to
elucidate the proceedings of the Vestry of Westminster, for
among the many charges laid at the door of the Ministry
was one of their having bribed one Thomas Smith, a publican
of Westminster, to procure votes for Lord Hood, the
* See Walcott's Memorials, p 105.