Star.
London, England, 1831-01-05 00:00:00

ACCOUNT OF THE VILLAGE OP 1
HAMPSHIRE.

From Mr. CVMdit's ra► Male. Friend.

This village was in former times a very considerable place, as is
manifest frem the size of the church as well as from various other cir-
cumstances. It is now, as a church-living, united with an
parish, called Vernon lean, which also has its church, at a dad=
about three miles horn the church el this perish. Both pedals put
together now contain only eleven hundred, and a few odd, Mishima,
men, women, children, and all; and Pell the Pm =
WIN ags"111 to
be wear two two or three drosses& pounds a rat, and the dthes
about six hundred pore a year. Formerly, base the moot which
is called ' The Befwo bs,' there were two Roman Oahe& plats
living at the personage houses in these two pailles. They meld not
marry, and could therefore have no wives and hies to key out of
the tithes • and, with part of those tytbes, they, as the law resided,
maintained the poor of dame two parishes; and the anew Of the
church commanded them to dbmftto the porde' to the pop and
the stranger, " with their own hands, in humility and mercy.'
This, as to Church and Poor, was the state of these Vil.
in the " dark ape' of " Bean Buperaddss."
hat No poor laws ? No poor-rates ? What hemibly uneelight.
coed times ! No select vestries ? Dark ages indeed But how stand
these matters now ? Why, the two parishes ars madded into one
church living. Then the Great Tithes (sonotaming to two or three
thousand a year belay to some part of the Chapter (as they all it)
Of Baliebury. The Chapter lenses them es they would a house or
a Wm. and they are now teased by John sKing, who is one of this
happy nation's greatest and oldest pendoems. So hat away go the great
tithes, not leavbaisingle wheat-ter to be spot In the pariah. The
Small Tithes to a Vicar, who is one Fisher, a nephew
of the late bishop fiallsbney, who hes mot mild here far • long
while; and who hes a amass, named Jelm who being the son of
a little farmer and shopkeeper at Baer he Wlnbley was, by a
son of of the name of Batley (way wi inns Millillnlimbered is dine
parts) put to school, and in dm Mean of INN been= a dew. So
that away go also the small tithes (cueingabout Ilkeleinimi or
six hundred a year) sod, out of the Imp thumb revalues ; or Maar,
large chareh-aod-poor ues, of tine two parishes; eat of the
whole of them, there remains only the mama( of the Curate, Mr. John
Gale's, salary, which does not, perhaps, exceed gamy or a hundred
pounds, and a part of whisk at any rase, I dare say, be doss net expend
in these parishes; away Ism, I say, all the rest of the small tithes,
leaving not so mush es a men at mat sr a doses of eggs, much less •
tithe-pig, to be COINUIDSIII In the pathh.
As to the poor, the perishes isendsue to he is two, es dist I ant to be
considered as speaking of the parish of Upbeshiad only. Ton me aware
that, amongst the last of the acts of the hums Jubilee-Reign, was
an Act to enable parishes to establish Select Vestries ;—and
one of these vestries now exists in this Parish. And now
let me explAin to you the nature and tendency of this Jubilee-Act. Be.
foie this act wu passed, overseers of the pone had full authority levant
relief at their discretion. Pray mark that. Then again, before this
act wu passed, any one justice of the peace might, on complaint riasy
poor pence, order relief. Mark that. A select vestry is to consist of
the most considerable rate-payen. Mark that. Then mark these
things : this Jubilee-Act forbids the overseer to grant any relief other
than such as shall be ordered by the select vestry : it forbids one justice
to order relief, in any case, except a case of emergency t it forbids
more than one to order relief, except as oath that the complainant has
applied to the select vestry (where there is one) and has been refused re-
lief by it; sad that, in no case, the justices' order shell be for more than
a month; and moreover,that when a poor person shall appeal to justices
from a select vestry, the justice's, in ordering relief, or refusing, shall
have" regard to the conduct and character of the applicant !"
From this Act, one would imagine, that oasseen and justices were
looked upon as being too soft and yielding a nature; too geed, toe cha-
ritable, too liberal to the poor ! In order that the select vestry may have
an agent suited to the purposes that the Act manifestly has in view,
the Act authorises the select vestry to appoint what is ailed as " assist-
ant overseer," and to give him a salary out of the poor-rates.
Such is this Jubilee Act, one of the last Acts of the Jubilee reign,
that reign which gave birth to the American war, to Pitt, to Per.
weal, Blienborough, Sidmonth, and Cadereagh, to a thousand
millions of Male and another thousand millions of debt : such
is the Select Vestry Act ; and this now little trilling village of
Uphusbend bes a Select-Vestry ! Aye, and an " Anita= Overseer"
too, with a salary of Fifty Pounds a year, being, as you will presently
see, about a seventh pert of the what of the expenditure en the Peer l
The overseers make out and muse to be printed and published,
at the end of every kw weeks, an account of the disbursements. I have
use of these accounts now before me ; and I insert it ben, word for
word, as follows
" The disbursements of Mr. T. Child and. Mr. C. Church, bread
at Is. 9d. per gallon. Sept. 25, lass.
WIDOWS.

C a. d. # La.
Blake. Ann .. ... ... ... 0 8 0
Hew', Mary .. ... ... .. 0 8 0
Cook. Ann ... ... .. .. 0 7 6
Clark, Mary ... ... ... ... 010 0
Gilbert, Hannah ... .. ... 0 8 0
Marshall, Sarah .. ... ... 0 0 0 10 0
Smith, Mary ... ... ... ... 0 8 0
Westrip, Jana ... .. ... .. 0 8 0
Withers, Ann ... ... • • .. 0 8 0
Dance, Susan ... ... ... ... 0 8 0
—....-- 4 3 8

BASTARDS.

.. 0 7 0

o 6 o

2 children