7. The appointment and duties of the parish clerk vary in old and new parishes, and depend in some cases on custom. In old parishes the office is a freehold, and the right of appointment usually rests with the incumbent, who can exercise it even when the living is sequestrated owing to his bankruptcy; but in case of his being under suspension, it devolves on the curate in charge. The right, however, may by custom belong to the parishioners in vestry. An old writer compared the parish clerk to a bat, as being half-bird, half-beast, or half-clerical and half-lay, though he considered that his clerical wings outbalanced his lay body. But it is now held that the office is temporal, and not spiritual.[152] A person in holy orders may, however, with the consent of the bishop, be appointed parish clerk under the Lecturers and Parish Clerks Act, 1844, and, if so appointed, he is removable in the same way as a stipendiary curate. The same Act provides for the suspension or removal by the archdeacon, of a parish clerk not in holy orders, who has been guilty of neglect or misbehaviour in his office, or of misconduct which renders him unfit to hold it.[153] In all new ecclesiastical parishes, on the other hand, the appointment of the clerk rests with the incumbent, and, in the case of churches and chapels provided under the Church Building Acts of 1818 and 1819, is made annually; while in the case of those provided under the New Parishes Acts of 1843, 1844, and 1856, the clerk does not vacate his office at the end of each year, but may at any time be removed by the incumbent, with the consent of the bishop, for misconduct.[154] 8. There is no universal rule as to the appointment, duties, and tenures of office of the sexton or sacristan. Where, in accordance with the etymology of his name, his duties are confined to the custody of the sacred vessels and vestments, the care and cleaning of the church, the opening and closing of the doors, and the ringing of the bells, his appointment, in the absence of a contrary practice, will naturally rest with the churchwardens. Where, on the contrary, he has only to do with the churchyard and grave-digging, his appointment will be presumed to be in the hands of the incumbent. If, however, he is charged with both sets of functions, the incumbent and the churchwardens jointly will be presumed to have the right of appointing him. On the other hand, in some few ancient parishes he is elected by the vestry. The office may be held by a woman, and in some places is a freehold for life; but usually it is held during pleasure, and the power of removal rests in the same hands as that of the appointment.[155] In new ecclesiastical parishes the sexton is to be appointed by the incumbent, and, with the consent of the bishop, is removable by him for misconduct.[156]