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199
The foregoing duties were confirmed upon the appointment
of a successor to the officer therein named ; but within
six years the succeeding clerk relinquished the position exhausted
and incapacitated, insomuch that his nurse petitioned
the Vestry for an allowance towards his support.
The Vestry granted twelve shillings a week in response to the
appeal, and awarded the clerk two pounds ten shillings towards
the apprenticeship premium of his son. Another
minute records the dissatisfaction of the Vestry at the perfunctory
fulfilment of the office, and directs that the clerk's
salary shall be withheld until the arrears of accounts for
seven years are entered up and the balances handed over.
This class of entry is, however, quite exceptional. Again
and again the eye falls on the testimony of the Vestry, in
various forms, to the fidelity, the ability, and the devotion
to the interests of the parish displayed by the occupants of
the position—worthy men of unswerving rectitude, untiring
energy, and unvarying assiduity in their responsible
trust—men of whose characters and qualities and work the
books bear silent witness, and in whose footprints may be
traced a path dictated by an ardent attachment to the traditions
of the ancient parish in which they laboured. To
such men Simon Stephenson and James Rogers, wThose
mural monuments are to be found in the parish church of
St. Margaret, were worthy successors.
Testimonials At page 91 an incidental allusion is made to
to overseers. enforcement of numerous substantial fines
upon parishioners who declined to take upon themselves the
duties of Overseer. Until a comparatively recent date these
officers were bound to perform the duties now assigned to
the rate collector and the relieving officer—duties so onerous,
laborious, and thankless, that the readiness to submit to a
£12 penalty is easily understood. Except in so far as advancement
to the dignity of churchwarden might be taken
as a mark of esteem, the Overseers received no specific