SIR GEORGE NICHOLLS, K.C.B. POOR LAW COMMISSIONER AND SECRETARY TO THE POOR LAW BOARD NEW EDITION CONTAINING THE REVISIONS MADE BY THE AUTHOR AND A BIOGRAPHY BY H. G. WILLINK CHAIRMAN, BRADFIELD POOR LAW UNION VOLUME II A.D. 1714 TO 1853 NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS LONDON: P. S. KING & SON 1898 LIBRARY OF THE A.38002 "Whenever, for the purposes of government, we arrive, in any state of society, at a class so miserable as to be in want of the common necessaries of life, a new principle comes into action. The usual restraints which are sufficient for the well-fed, are often useless in checking the demands of hungry stomachs. Other and more powerful means must then be employed; a larger array of military or police force must be maintained. Under such circumstances, it may be considerably cheaper to fill empty stomachs to the point of ready obedience, than to compel starving wretches to respect the roast beef of their more industrious neighbours: and it may be expedient, in a mere economical point of view, to supply gratuitously the wants even of ablebodied persons, if it can be done without creating crowds of additional applicants." BABBAGE, On the Principles of Taxation. London, 1851. Accession of George I.-The Riot and Septennial Acts-Punishment of robbery-Idle youths to serve in the colonies-Desertion of families— Punishments for killing deer and destroying plantations-Piracy- Regulation of trade-South Sea scheme-Amendment of the law- Regulation of relief-Parishes may unite for providing poorhouses- Settlement-New workhouses-Illegal confederacies-Prohibition of trade combinations and "truck"-Accession of George II.-Bastardy- The "Charitable Corporation "-Robberies-Corn-riots-Scarcity of corn; its exportation prohibited-The Foundling Hospital-War against Spain and France-Rebellion of 1745-Protection from theft-Duties of overseers-Liability of incomers to pay rates-Rating of reclaimed lands-The Vagrant Act-Dr. Burn on vagrancy-The north-west passage-Profane swearing-Servants and apprentices-Scale of wages -Prices of wheat-Unemployed soldiers and sailors may exercise trades-Change of style-Executions for murder-Street robberies and defective police-Settlement-Deficient harvest of 1756-Prices of Summary at the close of George II.'s reign-Accession of George III.- Schemes for Poor Law reform-Poor children in London parishes- V |