No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 December 2009
It gives me pleasure to acquaint you, that, on inspecting the Calendar of the Prisoners who are to take their trials at the present Sessions, I see nothing in the nature of their crimes, that requires any particular observation. The same remark may be applied to their numbers, which, [2] considering the extent and population of the county, are comparatively small. From the wise regulations and admirable system of police adopted in your places of confinement, there is reason to hope, that these unhappy persons will return home, improved in their morals; that they will, by their future behaviour, make amends for their past misconduct; that they will gradually recover the stand of virtue, and become useful members of society. These pleasing hopes are in some measure justified by experience. Few examples are to be met with in your Gaol Register of second commitments: and it is with the utmost satisfaction I announce to you, that one instance has occured of a Prisoner who, though completely abandoned on his first admission, was yet so thoroughlky reformed by your Prison discipline, as to be hired on the expiration of his confinement into a respectable family, where his behaviour during the ensuing twelvemonth was so truly meritorious, as to entitle him to that reward, which the Penitenciary Act, with no less wisdom than [B2-3] humanity, holds forth as an encouragement to returning virtue.
page 553 note 1 This is an allusion to the untiring efforts of Sir George Onesiphorus Paul to improve the jail of Gloucester, and life within it; see also Howard, J., The State of the Prisons…1776Google Scholar; the efforts, and the act sponsored by Alexander Popham to improve health conditions, etc. See Beattie, J. M., Crime and the Courts in England 1600–1800 (Princeton U.P., 1986)Google Scholar; Lamoine, G., Littérature et justice pénale en Angleterre au 18° siècle, (Paris: Didier-Erudition, 1987).Google Scholar
page 554 note 1 It is to be observed, that many persons have deserved the reward, though only one has stepped forwards to claim it. It would be improper to mention his name: be it sufficient to observe, that his history is an ample justification of the wisdom of the Glocester Gaol Regulation. Months and months elapsed before any impression was made upon him. At length, humanity and tenderness overcame every obstacle, and this hardened piece of marble, as he was for a considerable period, became as ductile and as pliant as the softest wax.
page 554 note 2 See Frost, Bowyer, and Davis, passim. It should be observed, that many articles enter into the Poor Rates, which, strictly speaking, do not belong to them, such as Constables' Bills, Law Expences, Bridge Money, or what is paid to the County Stock, Premiums for destroying Vermin, &c. &c. not to mention that in some Parishes the extraordinary expenditure, for the Repair of the Highways, is included.
page 554 note 3 Whether we take the population of this kingdom according to Mr. Price's estimate or that of his opponent still the same conclusion will follow. It is also to be observed, that I have totally omitted the thousands which are dispensed by the private hand of charity.
page 555 note 1 As the Act enjoining the badge may admit of two interpretations, I have taken it in its best sense, that which is not repugnant to humanity.
page 555 note 2 To so great a pitch has this been carried, that I have known an instance of an Overseer positively denying the authority of the Churchwarden to interfere, either in granting relief or making the rate.
page 555 note 3 Exclusive of this objection, it is too well known, that when Money is given, it is often spent at the Public-house, instead of being appropriated to the relief of the family.
page 555 note 4 Perhaps this is one of the greatest deficiencies in the Act of Elizabeth. The law has flung the onus upon the substantial householders only, and with a view to render this onus more even and less perceptible, has limited the duration to one year. It has die appearance of great wisdom and impartiality, but the consequence is, mat by the time an Overseer understands his business, and the real situation of his paupers, his office expires, and his successor has all to begin anew. In case the much-talked of Bill, now pending, should not take place, might it not be adviseable to empower Parishes to hire Overseers, payable not out of the Poor Rates at large, but by those persons only who are eligible? There would be a difficulty in drawing the line, and in defining the word substantial householder, which certainly, in this respect, is a comparative term. Still I think it to be practicable. As the Law stands at present, such a practice could not be supported, as is evident from the Cheltenham case - R. v. Welch and al.
page 556 note 1 Whilst the Overseer's Office is attended with so much trouble, it is not to be wondered at, if the Parishioners prefer the apparently equitable mode of taking it by turns. There are, however, many insuperable objections against it, as must be evident to any one, who will think for a moment upon the subject. The same wretched system prevails whith respect to the appointment of Constables and Surveyors of the Highways; and the consequences I need not point out.
page 556 note 2 73 [sic] Eliz. c. 2. Overseers, neglecting to meet on a Sunday once a month in the parish church, forfeit 20 shillings.
page 557 note 1 A Pauper Quaker is I believe unknown. — See Dr. Letsom's late Tract.
page 557 note 2 An act for the further regulation of parish apprentices… Pickering, vol.37.
page 557 note 3 See on this subject Mr. Davis's publication, wherein is most clearly evinced the insufficiency of the agricultural poor man's wages for the maintenance of his family.
page 557 note 4 A question of an important nature here presents itself, with respect to those Parishes which are purely agricultural, or wherein no manufactures are established - What employment can be found for the Poor? I think the answer is not difficult. Let the Pauper Children of both sexes, till they are apprenticed, be instructed in spinning and knitting coarse wool and worsted; and although the produce of their labour, if sold, will not amount to the prime cost, yet still I contend, it is an ultimate gain; habits of industry are acquired; temptations to thieving are avoided; emulation is excited; the mind is gratified with the attainment of knowledge and dexterity in trivial matters, which may be the foundation of further acquisitions in more important concerns. The Lincolnshire practice, see Mr. Boyer already quoted, points out the purposes to which the produce of this labour may be applied. Granted, that the stockings are coarse, that the cloth is bad, that the texture is uneven and unequal.- Still the Poor are to be cloathed, and in most parishes there are benefactions of warm garments, &c. to be disposed of. Instead then of going to the shops for these articles, apply to your home manufactory. But what, you will say, shall we do with grown up persons, who have no employment? It is too late for them to learn. Granting you the full force of the objection, which is perhaps stated in rather too strong terms, I would recommend the mode adopted in the North of Oxfordshire. The occupiers of land, by agreement among themselves, employ by turns, in proportion to their estates, all persons who complain of their inability to obtain work. The persons thus employed go by the name of Roundsmen. They are paid by the Task or Great. The advantages resulting from it are many and obvious, not to mention, that by this mode the land obtains frequently an extraordinary degree of culture, which amply repays itself.
page 558 note 1 A Workhouse, without constant inspection, is too apt to be perverted to bad purposes. — I wish not to cast a general censure, but when left to the sole management of the master, with little or no controul from others, especially where the Poor are farmed, it is a nuisance to the inhabitants. With a view of deterring others from seeking relief, a system of harshness and tyranny is adopted — all relief is refused, unless the whole family consents to come within the house with their little property.- No distinction is made between age, infirmity, and causal distress, and persons of a different denomination. The consequence is, that the Paupers, rather than submit to such treatment, prefer want; but nature must be satisfied, and thieving is the result. - A late Act has most wisely vested in the Magistrate a power of granting relief out of a Workhouse, fetttering it at the same time with such prudent regulations, as to prevent this power from being exerted to improper purposes.
page 558 note 2 Pure unmixed good is seldom to be obtained. The late humane Act to prevent the vexatious Removal of Paupers will, it is to be feared, operate to the injury of these Societies. As long as the privilege of being unremoveable was confined in a great measure to the Members, it of course was a high encouragement to them.
page 558 note 3 See the annual account published in the Glocester Paper.
page 558 note 4 Where the legal Owner has objections to give up his right, without any consideration whatever, perhaps a mode somewhat similar to the following might be adpted. Let the value of the land, in its uncultivated state, be fairly taken, a lease be granted at a nominal rent for 99 years, and a power given to the occupier to purchase at any period, but the price to increase in proportion as the expiration of the lease approaches. For the first ten years, the purchase-money should be little more than the value of the land as a Waste. Could it be possible to prevent alienation, it would be an improvement.- Give a man property of his own, and you of course connect him with the Soil. He soon becomes industrious and generally honest. The fear of retaliation will prevent him from injuring his neighbour. The present mode of granting leases of wastes for three lives, often impoverishes the Labourer, and enriches the Lord of the Manor alone.
page 559 note 1 When the poor man deals upon credit, his articles are often bad in quality, the price is high, and he gets so involved as to be unable to extricate himself- At length a day of reckoning arrives, and the County Court finishes his ruin.
page 559 note 2 If the non residence of the Clergy be blameable, that of the Gentry is still more so, because the consequences are far worse. The Lady Bountiful of former days no longer exists. Can it be a matter of wonder, that the lower classes are ignorant and brutal, when we see that their superiors have entirely deserted them; that little attention is paid to their sufferings, that there is no example to humanize them, no hospitality to encourage them. Subscriptions for their occasional relief are numerous and great, but these are far from being an adequate remedy to the evil complained of.
page 559 note 3 I maintain it, that no other method, but that of being an actual eye-witness of their sufferings, can make a true and lasting impression. The mind naturally turns from woe, and is compelled, as it were, in self-defence to eradicate theremebrance. The following anecdote will supply the place of a thousand arguments: — A Lady, at —, returning from church on a remarkably cold day, almost perishing from the severity of the weather, and struck with the idea of the sufferings of her fellow-creatures, who were probably destitute of fire as well as clothing, instantly pulled out of her purse five Guineas, which she directed the Butler immediately to expend in the purchase of coals for the Poor. A warm room, large fire, and a good dinner, in a few hours restored the Lady to her pristine heat; when ringing the bell, she enquired whether the Butler has bought the coals? — Being answered in the negative, she replied, Very well — Give me the money back — The weather is by no means so cold, as in the morning — I think I know a better mode of laying it out for the benefit of the Poor. My readers win easily guess at the occasion of the change of atmosphere, and how far it extended.
page 559 note 4 Even for a man as well-disposed to the Poor as this clergyman, the idea prevails that they have vices, as if they were vicious by definition and virtue of their poverty.
page 561 note 1 [I hardly know how, from the omission of a charge which ought not to have escaped my researches, to plead an excuse for those that may be misplaced, or have a wrong date. When, however, you are informed, that few of the Charges were dated by Mr. Foley, and that I found them not left in any kind of order, or even together; and when you consider the difficulties of ascertaining the true dates, you will not wonder if some of them should have escaped even the indefatigability and accuracy of our friend Mr. Sandiford, to whose kind assistance, not only this publication, but many others relating to the County are so greatly indebted.— W. L. B.] W L B=W. L. Baker who, as one of the executors of the Rev. Foley, edited in 1804 the Charges hereafter given. See introduction.
page 564 note 1 See Burn. — Tide Poor, Section 3, Removals.
page 567 note 1 The date is probably wrong, since the previous one already bears ‘Easter Sessions, 1797’, being hand-numbered 2, whereas the present text is numbered 3.
page 567 note 2 Again, pages are misnumbered in the original text: p. 33 which begins the 3rd text is not numbered, and the next one is p. 22, and thus down to the end of the book. Page numbers here are corrected accordingly.
page 583 note 1 A characteristic confusion in words, about assize=a special commission to High Judges, and the session of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol Delivery, generally held at once with the Assizes. Hence, the collective name of Assize for the three commissions. See Crime in England 1550–1800, ed. Cockburn, J. S. (London: Methuen, 1977)Google Scholar, Baker, J. H., “Criminal Courts & Procedure at Common Law,” pp. 15–48Google Scholar, and Lamoine, G., Littérature et justice pénale en Angleterre au XVIIIe siècle (Paris: Didier-Erudition, 1987) I, 21Google Scholar, on the subject.
page 583 note 2 This an example of the distinction between the jurisdiction of the Quarter-Sessions, and that of the sessions of Oyer & Terminer, which had a power of passing judgment of death over, in this case, rioters, under the famous Riot Act.
page 587 note 1 Again a problem of date appears here: the peace of Amiens was signed March 21; we could think this to be at least the Easter sessions, if Easter Day 1802 had not been April 18; as sessions were usually held in the week after Easter, it would mean that this sessions is in fact the summer sessions for 1802.
page 590 note 1 Once more, the usual complaint against the poor, that they were ‘improvident’; in a similar spirit, see the numerous pamphlets of the Cheap Repository Tracts series, written by Mrs. Hannah More and her sisters between 1794–95 to counteract the pro-French propaganda against which the J.P.s precisely had been ordered to fight.
page 593 note 1 [Some local and temporary circumstances seem to have called our friend's attention to this subject more fully, at a time when he had greater leisure to consider it, as I find by a MSS. wherein many passages are interwoven with the subject matter of this Charge. Their weight will, I feel confident, plead my excuse with you for inserting some of them as notes, although I thereby tender the form of this Charge different from that of the others. -W.L.B.]
page 594 note 1 Though previous to this aera a legal provision was made for the necessities of the poor, yet it is difficult to ascertain to what extent, and by what mode, it was raised. This is made evident by the quotations from the Mirror, as they are to be seen in Blackstone, Burn, and others.
page 595 note 1 We next meet with 20 Geo. III. c. 36, entitled, “An Act for obviating doubts touching the binding and receiving Poor Children Apprentices, in pursuance of several Acts of Parliament made for the relief of the Poor, within particular incorporated hundreds or districts, &c.” Clause 1 ordains, “that after June 4, 1780, persons to whom any Children shall be bound Apprentices, in pursuance of the above-mentioned Acts, shall be obliged to provide for them in like manner as for others, under a similar penalty, i.e. 10 £. Then follows cl. 2, limiting the words of 43 Eliz. and enacting, “that none but inhabitants and occupiers of land, tenements, or hereditaments in the parish where such child belongs, shall be compellable to take an Apprentice.”
page 596 note 1 From a careful perusal and comparison of these Acts with each other, it appears that the Parish Officers, with the consent of two Justices, have the power of binding out Poor Children – That they are to do it where they see it convenient – That their own discretion, regulated by the laws of common sense, reason, and equity, is to guide them – That, if they bind them to inhabitants or occupiers of either lands, tenements, or hereditaments in their own parish, they may select, a masters or mistresses, whom they please, provided they are capable of maintaining them – That neither the Gentleman, Clergyman, Tradesman, nor Husbandman, has any exemption from the onus – That they are all equally bound to participate of the burden without any priority or predecency – That ability is the first recommendation – That where the parties are dissatisfied with the determination of the Officers and the two Justices, there is given a power of appeal to the General Quarter Sessions – and as the certiorari is not in express terms taken away, that the Court of King's Bench has the ultimate jurisdiction.
page 597 note 1 To the doctrine as above laid down, I am aware that many objections have been urged. These I will now mention, and endeavour to obviate them as I go along.
And first it is objected, that 43 Eliz. c. 2., refers to 5 Eliz. c. 4, that they are both made in pari materia, sand must be construed together. That as in 5 Eliz. only some particular trades are mentioned, and those merely of an inferior kind, Tradesmen of a superior class, Merchants, Gentlemen, Attornies, Clergymen, and others of a similar denomination, are excluded. That Magistrates have no jurisdiction except over the trades there specified; and that of course no redress can be obtained where the Apprentice is guilty of misdemeanors.
To this I answer, that 5 Eliz. c. 4, has nothing to do with 43 Eliz. c. 2; that they were made upon different subjects, without reference to each other; and that this will be evinced by making the most cursory comparison of them. 5 Eliz. c. 4, does not authorize a Husbandman to take an Apprentice, unless he occupies half a plough land; and though it may be difficult to say precisely what was the quantity of a plough land or a hide, yet it probable was that quantity which was sufficient to keep in employ a team of cattle. A modern Act has estimated it at £ 50 a year. – See 13 G. III.c. 78 and 84. It marks out the persons who may be compellable to serve in husbandry or particular trades as servants by the year only. It specifies the hours of work in which labourers shall be obliged to attend in the day. It ascertains the wages. It marks the ages wherein women shall be compellable to serve, namely, between 12 and 40 years old; and will not permit a child to be bound in husbandry under io years old. It precludes particular prsons from taking Apprentices, unless the Parents of such Apprentices have substance of their own, and are enabled to spend to such an amount. It was in short made, as the title observes, for the ordering of Artificers, Labourers, Servants of Husbandry, and Apprentices, and, agreeably to the preamble, in hopes that by it, they should banish idleness, advance husbandry, and yield to the hired peson, both in the time of scarcity and in the time of plenty, a convenient proportion of wages.
The 43d Eliz. c. 2, is shortly entitled an Act for the Relief of the Poor. It enjoins the Officers of the Parish to apprentice the Children of the Poor where they shall see convenient, without saying a single word of husbandry or trade. It permits Children to be put out at seven years of age, for the age of nurture then ceases. It never notices Servants by the year, their hours of working, their ages, their pay, or their misdemeanors. Instead of permitting a man to take an Apprentice according as his own circumstances or those of the Parents of the Apprentices may be, it compels all men of ability to take Apprentices out of those who are Children of the poor and impotent; and even an occupancy of £ 10. by the year has been adjudged to be sufficient ability. In short, 5 Eliz. c.4, is a repetition of the statutes of Henry VIII. and is, as Dr. Burn observes, in great part obsolete; whereas, 43 Elis, c.2, is now in full force, and continues to be the corner stone of the whole fabric of the Poor Law which have since passed the Legislature to the present moment.
It ought not be omitted, that all these subsequent laws refer by name particularly to 43 Eliz. c. 2; whereas not one of them mentions 5 Eliz. c. 4. But the truth is, all argument upon this point is superseded by the decision ofthat Court where all proceedings of Parish Officers and Magistrates are cognizable. This is clearly decided in R. v. Saltern, Bott, vol. 1, p. 555, pl. 791. Judge Willes then said, 5 Eliz. c. 4, cannot be connected with 43 Eliz. c. 2. Judge Ashhurst and Judge Buller assented; and to the objection that the Parish Apprentice was only eight years old, they paid no regard whatever. The objection then drawn from the mention of one trade and omission of another, in 5 Eliz. totally ceases, is done away; and with respect to the Magistrates having no jurisdiction over Apprentices, excepting those which are therein mentioned, it has long been since adjudged that the reverse is the truth. But even granting this Act to have been deficient in this particular, 20 G. II. c. 19, and 32 G. III. c. 17, amply supply this deficiency: all Parish Apprentices, their conduct, and that of their Masters, are hereby made subject to the authority of the Magistrate.
page 600 note 1 The law which first enjoined it, has been the theme of constant admiration and eulogy among the well-informed writers on the subject. The Judges have ever spoken of it with the highest respect, and have been uniformly strict in enforcing a due observance of it, particularly that clause which substitutes the Overseers and Justices in place of the natural Parents; and have even carried the point so far, as not to permit the Magistrates to form separate judgments, but compelled them to meet together to deliberate on so important a point. In all their decisions upon the the subject, as far as can be collected from the reports of various authors, it appears, from their general reasoning, that they looked upon it as a kind of poor rate, to which all were liable in proportion to their ability. Reason seems to say the same, and to dictate, that as equality is the principle of taxation, so all ought to bear an equal share of the burden, in proportion to their ability. Need I add, that at this particular period, above all others, the argument claims especial attention. In a neighbouring country, once the envy of all other nations, the seat of arts and sciences, and of every thing which was thought to give a peculiar relish to life, one great argument was used with wonderful succcess to overturn their constitution, was the practice among the Aristocracy, or the Optimates, to fling every burden upon the lower classes. The repair of bridges, the payment of taxes, with a variety of other articles, were the exclusive privileges, if I may call them so, of the inferiors. Warned by their example, we should learn wisdom from their folly. The same objection which militates against a Gendeman taking a Parish Apprentice, operates equally against his paying his quotum of the Poor's Levies. In short, the law prescribes to all who are able to afford it, this mode of providing for the exigencies of the Poor. Reason and equity give their sanction to it. Experience has confirmed its wisdom and beneficial effects. Religion and morality are benefited by it. The interests of the community at large, as well as of individuals in particular, require it: and at this moment political motives demand it with so high and imperious a tone, that it is litde short of phrenzy to turn a deaf ear to their united voice.
page 601 note 1 Various articles appeared in The Gloucester Journal, for 11 October 1802, promising a reward for anyone discovering a dishonest weaver; 25 October 1802, explaining their intentions; 13 Dec., signed W. H. Jessop, Solicitor, “the same is established to preserve peace and good understanding between the weavers and their employers…” I owe this information to the kindness of the Divisional Librarian of Gloucester.
page 601 note 2 Not identified.
page 602 note 1 Rules and Articles to be observed and kept by the Members of a Friendly Society or Club, called the Woollen-Cloth Weavers' Society, instituted for the Purposes hereinafter mentioned, and begun the 24th day of September, 1802. Glocester: Walker, D., 1802. 15 pp.Google Scholar – Gloucester Library, ref. J 11.53.