If this
cost should be disputed, it shall be determined by the magistrate.
Happily few cases arise, but perhaps it is well to know the procedure
which the law lays down for the carrying out of such troublesome
matters.
The law also takes cognizance of the humbler office of sexton, the
duties of which are usually combined in country places with those of the
parish clerk. The sexton is, of course, the sacristan, the keeper of the
holy things relating to divine worship, and seems to correspond with the
_ostarius_ in the Roman Church. His duties consist in the care of the
church, the vestments and vessels, in keeping the church clean, in
ringing the bells, in opening and closing the doors for divine service,
and to these the task of digging graves and the care of the churchyard
are also added. He is appointed by the churchwardens if his duties be
confined to the church, but if he is employed in the churchyard the
appointment is vested in the rector. If his duties embrace the care of
both church and churchyard, he should be appointed by the churchwardens
and incumbent jointly[91].
[Footnote 91: _Ecclesiastical Law_, p. 1914.]
Many cases have come before the law courts relating to sextons and their
election and appointment. He does not usually hold the same fixity of
tenure as the parish clerk, he being a servant of the parish rather than
an officer or one that has a freehold in his place; but in some cases a
sexton has determined his right to hold the office for life, and gained
a mandamus from the court to be restored to his position after having
been removed by the churchwardens.
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