the sins of the departed, seek
to be delivered, whilst the Redeemer invites you, from those which
are a burden to your consciences."

Truly a charitable and Christian-like obituary!

XIX.--How a Flock Chose its own Shepherd.

The living of St. Giles's, Willenhall, popularly supposed to be worth
some fourteen hundred pounds a year, the reversion of it was looked upon
with eager eyes by not a few of the surrounding clergy. Between
Darlaston and Willenhall, particularly, there seems to have existed some
sort of pretensions to a clerical inter-relationship.

The Rev. Titus Neve, who held the living of Willenhall from about 1748 to
1788, acted as Curate of Darlaston in 1760, and became Rector of that
parish in 1764; while his son, the Rev. Charles Neve, was also Curate
there from 1790 to 1793. The Willenhall record of his ministry and
interment runs:--

The Revd. Titus Neve, Minister, Curate, or Stipendiary Priest of
Willenhall Chapelry, Prebendary of Hilton and Sacrist of the
Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton, and Rector of Darlaston, in the
County of Stafford, departed this life December 23rd, 1788, and was
interred in the Chancel.

His successor, the Rev. William Moreton, went as Curate to Darlaston in
1786, and was sequestered to the vacant chapelry of Willenhall, December
24th, 1788, the day following Mr. Neve's decease.

At the termination of Mr. Moreton's tenure, the Rev. George William
White, who had been a curate at Darlaston from 1823, made a very
determined bid for the Incumbency of Willenhall; and although, as we
shall see, he was not successful, he was able to console himself, some
nine years later, with the rectory of Darlaston (1843).

It appeared that when the Rev. W. Moreton became very old he neglected
his duties sadly, often keeping funerals and congregations waiting an
unconscionable time, greatly to the scandal of the whole parish. In
consequence of this the Churchwardens induced the Incumbent, two or three
years before his death, to appoint and pay an energetic young Curate to
assist him in his parochial ministrations.

The Curate appointed under these circumstances, as already mentioned, was
the Rev. G. H. Fisher, who speedily became a favourite, and by most
Willenhall people came to be looked upon as the only possible successor
to Mr. Moreton.

Long before the advent of Mr. Fisher, however, the Darlaston folk had
settled in their own minds that their