His
first attempt in cycle-making resulted in the construction of a bicycle
the wheels of which resembled the top of a round deal table; this soon
came to grief. His second endeavour was more successful and became a
tricycle, the wheels of which were made of wrought iron and the base of
a triangular shape. Upon the large end he placed an arm-chair, averring
that it would be useful to rest in whenever he should grow weary! Then,
making another attempt, he succeeded in turning out (being aided by
another person) a very respectable and useful tricycle upon which he
made many journeys to Barnstaple and elsewhere.
However, just as an end comes to everything that is mortal, so did an
end come to our friend the clerk; for, as so many stories finish, he
died in a good old age, and his substitute reigned in his stead.
The following reminiscences of a parish clerk were sent by the Rev.
Augustus G. Legge, who has since died.
It is reported of an enthusiastic archaeologian that he blessed the day
of the Commonwealth because, he said, if Cromwell and all his
destructive followers had never lived, there would have been no ruins in
the country to repay the antiquary's researches. And the converse of
this is true of a race of men who before long will be "improved" off the
face of the earth, if the restoration of our parish churches is to go on
at the present rate.
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