ns, and remained an
ardent Radical to the last. This action showed some courage, as almost
all the parish belonged to the squire, who was a strong Tory of the old
school. Canon Hemmans was curate of Wragby with the Rev. G.B. Yard from
1851 to 1860, succeeding the present Dean of St. Paul's. Mr. Yard was a
High Churchman, a personal friend of Manning, the Wilberforces, R.
Sibthorpe, and Keble, and when expounding then unaccustomed and
forgotten truths, he found the clerk a most intelligent and attentive
hearer. Evison used to attend the daily services, except the Wednesday
and Friday Litany, which service was too short for him. During the
vicar's absence Canon Hemmans, who was then a deacon, found the clerk a
most reliable adviser and instructor in Lincolnshire customs and words
and ways of thought. When he was baptizing a child privately, the name
Thirza was given to the child, which he did not recognise as a Bible
name. He consulted Evison, who said, "Oh, yes, it is so; it's the name
of Abel's wife." On the next day Evison bought a book, Gesner's _Death
of Abel_, a translation of some Swedish or German work, in which the
tragedy of the early chapters of Genesis is woven into a story with
pious reflections. This is not an uncommon book, and the clerk said
these people believed it was as true as the Bible, because it claimed to
be about Bible characters.

Evison was a diligent reader of newspapers, which were much fewer in his
day, and studied diligently the sermons reported in the local Press. He
was much puzzled by the reference to "the leg end" of the story of the
raising of Lazarus in a sermon preached by the Bishop of London,
afterwards Archbishop Tait. A reference to Bailey's Dictionary and the
finding of the word _legend_ made matters clear. Of course he miscalled
words. During the Russian War he told Mr. Hemmans that we were not
fighting for "territororial possessions," and he always read "Moabites
and Hungarians" in his rendering of the sixth verse of the 83rd Psalm.

After the resignation of Mr. Yard in 1859 a Low Churchman was
appointed, who restored the use of the black gown. Mr. Hemmans had to
preach in the evening of the first Sunday, and was undecided as to
whether he ought to continue to use the surplice. He consulted Evison,
whose brave advice was, "Stick to your colours."

The clerk stuck stoutly to his Radical principles, and one day went to
Lincoln to take part in a contested election. On the follow