not thought necessary to send an intimation to
his friends. The following complaint was
recently laid before the board of directors:

"My father requiring medical advice, was
admitted into the infirmary of the house on the
21st of July, and on the days appointed to visit
him, being Wednesday, my mother went to see
him, and on Wednesday 26th, and found him, to
all appearance, better; at all events, expecting
when she next went to see him to find him alive,
but, to her grief and surprise, he was not only
dead, but buried, when she next went to see him,
on Wednesday the 9th."

A conference of delegates from various boards
of guardians recently proposed an uniform dietary
and task-work for houseless poor. The
recommendation has been adopted in this parish with
certain modifications. "Casuals" receive, twice
a day, six ounces of bread and a pint of gruel,
and are required to break two bushels of stone,
or pick two pounds of oakum. During the
summer months, their allowance will be six
ounces of bread only—without the gruel. At
a recent meeting of the board, one of the kind-
hearted minority expressed his regret that the
gruel was to be taken away for six months of
the year; "it was driving too hard a bargain
with the poor, and screwing them down to
death's door." It is certainly driving a very
hard bargain with them, for on the confession
of a member of the board the price of their
food is twopence, and the value of their labour
is twopence-halfpenny. So that the tender
guardians make a halfpenny profit out of each
transaction.

From what I read in the columns of the organ,
I judge the master of the workhouse to be an
irresponsible person, who can do just as he likes.
He is constantly being censured for neglect of
duty, but he is never dismissed. When a victim
is offered up to appease the anger of the board,
it is generally an under clerk, a nurse, or a store-
keeper. The directors and the master seem to
be permanently antagonistic. There was a great
jealousy lately between them with respect to a
pauper who gave out that he was the heir to
large estates. The pauper confided this hopeful
matter to the master, and the master privately
helped him to prosecute his claim without letting
the directors know anything about it. While
there seemed any prospect of the estates being
recovered, they were all exceedingly indulgent
and kind to the expectant inmate; but when the
affair turned out to be a mare's nest, the master
was censured for allowing the expectant to have
luxuries!

In reference to this "notorious case," the
organ has the following sarcastic paragraph:

"THE WORKHOUSE MILLIONAIRE.—To the
curious, who are fond of tracing the footsteps
of a millionnaire, we may mention that JOSEPH
SMART, ESQUIRE, has taken his departure for
his ancestral seat in Leicestershire. It is said
that a certain noble lord will grace the
distinguished circle who will be entertained by this
venerable gentleman during the autumn in his
far-famed MARBLE HALLS. We understand
that it is not the venerable gentleman's intention
to visit the family estates in Ayrshire this
season."

I observe that "dinners and refreshments
for the directors" form an oft-recurring charge
in the parish accounts; but I do not find such
items mentioned in the bill which the parish
presents to the ratepayers. Perhaps it is
these little matters that are included in the
"et cætera."

Writing a passage of history by the light
which the local newspapers cast upon parochial
affairs, what shall we say? Ought it not to be
something like this:— "The affairs of the populous
and important parish of St. Sniffens are
administered by men who are manifestly wanting
in natural ability and education, and in the
common feelings of humanity. Their deliberations
in the vestry hall are disgraced by noisy
altercations and coarse language. Their
ignorance is so profound, and their efforts to direct
parochial affairs are so absurdly futile, that the
wholesome principle of local self-government
has been covered with ridicule and contempt,
and so most undeservedly brought into
disrepute."

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