"If you had, I have orders to resist them to the utmost."

The Rev. T. Morice upon this, in the presence of Wood and another
labourer, exclaimed in a violent passion, "it would serve you right if
your town was burnt down; you richly deserve it!" and then ordered the
man Wood to come to him at some other time.

A few days afterwards the Overseers received a summons to appear at the
Rev. Thomas Sissons', at Wallington, to show cause, &c.

The Overseers naturally resented being dragged to Wallington, and wrote
a letter asking for the case to come before the ordinary Sessions at
Royston, as one of the Overseers was ill.

The suggested alteration was not acceded to, however, and one of the
Overseers and the Assistant had to go to Wallington before the Rev.
Thos. Sissons and Rev. John Lafont. The magistrates first tried to
persuade the Overseer by appealing to his feelings, and then to
intimidate by pointing out the consequences of his refusal to comply
with their order, but he was proof against both, and said if they
thought proper to make an order he was under the necessity to say that
he must refuse complying with it. Upon which they gave him till
Wednesday to consider, and if he did not comply by that time they would
certainly give an order and enforce it.

{162}

They had orders to appear again on the Wednesday, "but for some
unaccountable cause the men did not appear, to the joy, apparently, of
the Magistrates and Overseers, since which time they have not tried to
enforce it, but we have since had good reason to suppose that they have
not either forgotten or forgiven us."

So ended the attempt to enforce a legal right to supplement wages,
which was acted upon in all the surrounding parishes.

Everything seemed to conspire to make the labourer a pauper even if he
would aspire to independence, until, through early and improvident
marriages, the lax treatment of bastardy, &c., paupers became a glut in
the market so to speak, and, finding the doles less satisfactory in
consequence, discontent, riot, and incendiarism, manifested themselves
in many places; hence the inuendo of the Rev. Mr. Morice, the
magistrate, about the town being burnt.

At Gamlingay the Overseer was summoned before a Magistrate six miles
off because he had a difference with the paupers about their parish
pay. On the day of their attendance something prevented the case being
heard, and on their return to Gamlingay, all together, they passed t