£64 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1817. 



(lid not wholly give way to a mihlcr 

 system till tlie begiuniiig oF the 

 last century. 



The impotent ]!Oor, on the other 

 hand, were permitted tobeg within 

 certain districts, and no means of 

 exhortation were spared to excite 

 the people "to be liberal, and 

 bountifully to extend their good 

 and charitable alms towards the 

 comfort and relief of the i)oor, 

 impotent, decrepit, indigent, and 

 needy people." Sub.sequent sta- 

 tutes in the reign of Edw. V'l. 

 were directed to the .same object, 

 (ill at length by the .5th Eliz. c. .'5, 

 upon the exhortation of tlie priest, 

 bishop, and justices in sessions, 

 having been directed in vain to 

 those who were unwilling to con- 

 tribute, tlie justices, after repeated 

 admonition, were empowered wiih 

 tlic churchwardens to assess such 

 persons according to their discie- 

 tion for a weekly contribution. 

 'I'hus gradually was estabHshed a 

 genei'al and conipidsory ])rovision 

 for the maintenance of the im- 

 potent poor ; it was modified and 

 extended by various successive 

 enactments, and at length ma- 

 tureil and consolidated by the sta- 

 tute of the 43d of the same reign, 

 which continues to this rlay tlie 

 fundamental and o])erative law 

 on this important .subject. 



This statute enacts, that " t!ie 

 churchwardens an;! overseers" 

 shall take order from lime to 

 time (with the consent of two or 

 moi'e justices) for setting to woik 

 the childrL-n of ail such whose j)a- 

 rents shall iKjt be thought able to 

 keep and maintain ;hcir chdilrcn ; 

 and also for setting to work all 

 such persons, mai'ricd oi' unmar- 

 I'ed, liavingno nie.uisto maintain 

 them, and use no oriiintuyor tiaily 



trade of life to get their living by; 

 and also to raise by taxation, &c. 

 " a convenient stock of flax, &c. 

 to set the poor on work ;" and also 

 com])etent sums of money for and 

 towards the necessary relief of 

 the lame, impotent, old, blind, 

 and such otiier among them, being 

 po(n- anil not able to work." 



This new and important ])rin- 

 ciple of compulsory provision for 

 tlie iui])otent, and for setting to 

 work the able, originated, without 

 doul)t, in motives of the purest 

 humanity, and was directed to the 

 ecpiitahle purpose of preventing 

 this burthen falling exclusively 

 upon the charitable. But such a 

 conipidsory contribution for the 

 indigent, from the funds originally 

 accumulated from the Libour and 

 industry of others, could not fail 

 in process of time, with the in- 

 crease of population which it was 

 calculated to foster, to protluce 

 tiie tnrfortunate effect of abating 

 those exertions on the part of the 

 labouring classes, on which, ac- 

 cording to the nature of things, 

 the happiness and welfare of man- 

 kind has been made to rest. Hy 

 diminishing this natural impulse 

 by which men are instigated to 

 industry and good conduct, by 

 superseding the necessity of pro- 

 viding in the season of health and 

 vigoui' for the wants of sickness 

 and old age, and by making po- 

 verty and misery the conditions 

 an which relief is to be obtained, 

 your Committee cannot but fear, 

 from a reference to the increaserl 

 nundoei'sof the poor, and inci eased 

 and increasing amount of the 

 sums raised for their relief, that 

 this sy.steni is perpetually encou- 

 raging and increasing the amoimt 

 of misery it was designed to alle- 

 viate. 



