ing torrent of rain, and see the
prophet running swiftly before him. The Vicar, however, was not an
actor like a clergyman I was told of, who got so excited over Agag and
his delicate approach to Samuel that he could not resist an
illustration to intensify the action by taking a mincing step or two
aside from the lectern.

No village is complete without its curmudgeon or self-appointed
grumbler, just as every village has its special imbecile. The
curmudgeon originates in a class above the idiot; very often he is an
ex-churchwarden, guardian, way-warden, or other official, who has
resigned in dudgeon or been ousted from his post for some neglect or
failure. He is a man with whom the world has gone wrong, a sufferer,
perhaps, from some disaster which has become an obsession. He views
everything with distorted eyesight; nothing pleases him, and he wants
to put everybody right. He cherishes a perpetual grievance against
some individual or clique for a fancied slight, and goes about trying
to stir up ill-feeling among the ignorant by malicious insinuations.
In former times he was an adept at "parson-baiting" at the annual
Easter vestry meeting, when he would air his grievance against the
Vicar of the parish or any person in authority.

At these vestries the Vicar is wise if he declares the curmudgeon to
be "out of order," and declines to hear him, for, legally, the
business does not include any matter which does not appear upon the
notice convening the meeting, signed by the Vicar and churchwardens.
This usually announces that churchwardens will be elected and the
accounts produced; the latter, since church rates were abolished, is
not obligatory, and only subscribers have a right to question them.
The proceedings are not legal unless three _full_ days have elapsed
since the publication of the notice on a Sunday before morning
service, the following Thursday being thus the earliest day on which
the meeting can take place. It is important to remember that no
churchwarden has a legal status before he has been formally admitted
by the Archdeacon.

In former times, before the creation of Parish, District and County
Councils, the curmudgeon, after the reaction of the winter months,
became very prominent towards the time of the Easter vestry, when he
would appear, having enlisted a small band of supporters, with a
number of grievances relating to rates, parish officials, rights of
way, footpaths, and such-like debatable subjec