NICHOLLS'S HISTORY OP THE IRISH AND SCOTCH POOR-LAWS. * NEITHER the

Scotch nor the Irish Poor-law furnishes the same interest in the subjects or the same variety and fulness of matter as the English Poor-law. To a great extent, indeed, they are imitations of English legislation. The Irish was entirely so, and the Scottish legislation travelled nearly kari passu with the English until after the great principles of the Elizabethan Acts were established. It was an apparently slight difference in the Scottish power of administration, with essential clifferenees in the character of the people and their social circumstances that caused the &sanction which fi tt.11y obtained between the Enliah and Scotch mode of relieving the poor. Of fulness of matter in one form as regards the Irish poor there is indeed no lack. From the beginning of the century, if not earlier, up to the time of the great famine of 1846-'47 the world had no respite from the subject. The hustings, the meeting, Parliament, the press, rang with the miseries of the Irish peasant. Nay, whole classes of novels by successive novelists from Edgeworth to Lover were written upon the fertile theme ; and if any soul could take in all this, with "verge enough for more," there were the "blue books" to which he might have recourse. Such an immense amount of materials, embracing a period much less than a century, and confined to the social condition of a peasantry, is perhaps unexampled. But the present age has had enough of it in the original form, and hardly cares for a repetition on a reduced scale. This hacknied nature of the subject renders Sir George Nicholls's History of the Irish Poor-law unattractive. In point of fact, its history proper all took place under our own eyes, like the passing of any other act of Parliament; and the consecutive narrative based upon reports &c. has a thoroughly blue-book air. The earlier portion, to the time of George the Third, has more of interest; but the particulars in the volume are scant, and the narrative is curt.

The Scotch Poor-law is a narrative of greater interest ; carrying us back to remote periods, and. throwing some light upon the condition of society, the state of opinion, and the efforts of legislation to put an end by mere enactment to evils evidently deeply seated in the very nature of the social system, and rather symptoms of .disease than the disease itself. The rebellions, feudal wars, and general state of violence that characterized Scotland. for several . centuries after the Norman conquest, left little leisure for attending to the poor. The earliest Scotch Poor-law dates from the reign of James the First, and is one of many signs of his English training and education, So far as regards distinctness of purpose and. an application of means to a certain end, it is a well-considered statute; but, like most of the early enactments, it goes upon the principle of putting an end to beggars and vagrants by the strong hand. Poverty is a crime : arrest, imprison, banish, and if need be hang the poor. It required a century and a half of growing civilization and enlightenment after this statute of James before the celebrated act of Elizabeth was passed in England. That could not have been attempted, with its workhouses and other machinery, but in a country with some available surplus wealth, and where the people had some experience of rating. Even as it was, it took years to set the English Poor-law fairly at work throughout the country. In Scotland, act after act was passed, calling upon the districts to erect houses or prisons in which the numerous class of wandering beggars might be shut up and dealt with : but it was in vain ; the people were too poor or too unwilling to .00mply. Some of the acts were of tremendous severity according to the notions of our times. Even so late as 1609, a law was passed which seems to set all usual ideas of justice at defiance.

in 160

"In 1609 an Act was passed, the vagabonds, sornares, and ased, which after referring to a proclamation by the secret council thiefs, commonly ea led Egyptians, to pass forth the kingdom, and remain perpetually forth thereof, and never to return within the same under `pain of death '—ordains that the same shall have force and execution, and at after the 1st August next coming, if any of the said vagabonds called Egyptians shall be found within the kingdom, it shall be lawful for all or any of his Majesty's good subjects 'to cause take, apprehend, imprison, and execute to death the said Egyptians, either men or women, as common notorious and condemned thieves,' who it is further ordained, are to be tried only as to their being called known reputed and holden for Egyptians.' And at such trial whosoever shall °lenge' (exculpate) any of the said Egyptians, pannelled as aforesaid, shall be pursued handled and censured as committers of wilful errour, and whoever shall thereafter receive supply or entertain any of the said Egyptians, either men or women, shall forfeit their escheat, and be awarded at the judge's will."

&fore pronouncing a judgment on those times for the severity

of their laws, some consideration should be had as to the state of the country, more especially in remoter parts. • Bands of men and women, some ostensibly armed, all probably with concealed weapons, perambulated the wilder districts, and, besides pitking ..ap any waifs and strays, quartered themselves upon farmers and others, and most probably were often guilty of insolence and outrage. We see at this present day what a panic terror is seizing upon London with its guards,it policemen its house-by-house proximity, because certain erim i lly-dispoLd persons have been let loose upon the public and some garotte robberies committed.

• A History of tke Irish Poor-Law, in oostnexion with the Condition of the

Ample. By Sir George Nicholls, late Poor-law Commissioner, sad Secretary to the Poor-law Board. Published by Murray. A History of the Scotch Poor-law, in connexion with the Condition of the People. By Sir George Nicholls, R.C.B., &c, &e. Published by Murray.

The farmer, the country gentleman, or the cottier of the middle ages, might not be so timorous as we are, and might he better able to take care of himself; still, to be continually exposed to the attacks of gangs of vagrants, whose mildest object was extortion, was an unpleasant condition of life, and would be to us utterly unbearable. In the counties of Scotland adjacent to the Highlands or the English Border, things were still worse. This is a terrible picture of social disorganization, not very many years before James ascended the throne of England.

".A act was passed in 1594, the preamble of which declares, that, notwithstanding the sundry acts made for punishment of the authors of thefts, reif, oppression, and sorning, and the masters and sustainers of thieves, yet such has been and presently is the barbarous cruelties and daily heirschippis devastations of the wicked thieves and lymmers of the clans inhabiting the Highlands and Isles' (that is to say, Clangregor, Clanfarlane, and seventeen others specially named; also many broken men of the surnames of Stewart in Athol, home, and Balquhidder; Campbells and Grahams in Monteith ; Buohanans, M'Cawles, and eleven others named, inhabiting the sherilidoms of Argyle, Bute, Dumbarton, Stirling, Perth, &c., and the stewartmies of Stuthern and Monteith; and likewise a great number of wicked thieves, oppressors, peaebbreakers, and receivers (‘ resettaris') of theft, of the surnames of Armstrong, Elliot, Graham, and thirteen others specially mentioned, inhabiting the Borders foreanent England,') that all these clans are therefore declared guilty of the murder, heirschip, and daily oppression of the peaceable and good subjects in the whole country adjacent to the Highlands and Borders, to the displeasure of God, contempt and dishonour of the King, and to the wasting and desolation Of a good part of the plentiful ground of the country. The King and Parliament understanding, moreover, that this mischief and shameful disorder increases, and is nourished by the encouraging, receiving, maintenance, and non-punishment of the thieves, thinners, and vagabonds, partly by the landlords, masters, and baffles of the lands where they dwell and resort, and partly through the counsel, direction, receiving and partaking, of the chieftains, principals of the branches and householders of the said surnames and clans, who bear quarrel and seek revenge for the least hurting or slaughter of any one of their unhappy race, although it were by order of justice, or in rescue and following of true men's gear stolen or raft; so that the said chieftains, principals of the branches and householders, worthily may be esteemed the very authors, fosterers, and maintainers of the wicked deeds of the vagabonds of their clans and surnames ;—for remedy whereof, and that there may be a perfect distinction by names and surnames betwixt them that are desirous to be esteemed honest and true men, and them that are not ashamed to be esteemed thieves, reifers, sornares, and receivers and sustainers of theft and thieves in their wicked and odious crimes and deeds, it is ordained that a roll or catalogue shall be made of all persons of the surnames aforesaid, suspected of slaughter, theft, reif, ressett of theft or thieves, or sornings, within the said sheriffdoins and stewartries, in what towns and parishes, and under what landlords' masters, or baffles, they dwell, &e. The landlords, masters, and bellies are then respectively made answerable for the acts of all such persons and others living under them; audit isfurtherdeclared2 that the act shall extend not only against the inhabitants of the said sheriffdoms and stewartries, but against the landlords, masters, and bailies of all persons that are or shall be suspected of theft, reif, oppression, and soming, over all parts of the realm.' And finally, that as thieves and surnames concur, assist, and maintain others in wicked deeds against true men, without fear of God, the King, or the laws, so it shall be lawful for true and honest men to concur and join in counsel and action for defence of the lives and goods of themselves and their tenants against thieves and sornares, and to follow and pursue them, and all their races, clans, and names, and to take and apprehend their persons and goods, and keep them in prison or execute them to death.' And in case any of the said thieves and sornares or their assistants happen to be hurt, sla3rrie, or mutilated, their goods to be taken, their houses burnt or destroyed, it is further declared that the same shall not be imputed as any crime or offence in the true men the authors or executors thereof.'

"Although this act applies specially to the Highland and Border districts, its provisions are not limited to them, but extend to the whole kingdom."

The practical difference between the English and the Scotch Poor-law was essentially this. In England, every poor person has a claim for relief; in Scotland, only the infirni and impotent. Sir George Nicholls thinks that this difference was not originally designed, but sprang up in the working. The assessing bodies, the parish-vestry and, the kirk-session, were in the outset nearly identical ; but in England an authority external to the parish could order relief, in Scotland the magistrates could. not. Hence the practice of granting relief only to the aged and impotent, and. that in a scanty way, which by determination of the courts finally became established as law. Much of the difference is really to be ascribed to social circumstances. In a small remote parish, where the clergyman, heritors, and tenants, knew everybody and. made a point of meddling with everybody, it was an easy matter to make church-collections and private charity eke out subsistence for a few poor old people after the thrifty manner of Scotchpeasants. As the country became better cultivated and more full peopled, more especially as towns sprang up, this patriarc system would become less and less available, unless where there happened to be a Dr. Chalmers to administer it. See, in fact, how prosperity and assessment went together.

"In the Report of 1818 above quoted, it is stated that prior to the yeat 1700, the number of parishes in which assessments had taken place was only three • between that and 1800 there were 93 more, and thence to 1817 not less than 49. The number at the date of the Report is stated to have been 152, containing a population of 339,879. In the Report of 1839, also quoted above, the number of parishes at that time assessed is stated to be 236, with a population of 1,137,646 ; thus showiro, a steadily progressive increase both

in the number of parishes assessed and the amount of their population, in the latter especially, assessments becoming indispensable in the large towns and manufacturing districts."

The history of a poor-law, as of any other law, can be written in one of two ways. The writer may take the laws themselves as his basis, giving an account of their enactments and the picture of society they may incidentally contain, together with such economical or general remarks as may suggest themselves. The other mode would still take the laws as the basis of the history, but collateral literature or records would be brought to bear upon the illustration of the lex scripts. Trials at law arising under the statutes, their working as shown in parochial and municipal re

cords, the description of the poor in letters, travels, pamphlets, and (with some caution) in the, essayists, poets, &c., of the tune, would all throw light upon the living condition of the poor, and their relation to the other portions of society, which mere statute law will never supply. It is clear from the continual reenactment of the same " loveable " acts, that they were inoperative ; but the question sometimes arises, were they really ever acted 'upon? Here is one with summary process enough.

"By a Parliament held at Edinburgh in 1449, it was ordained, 'for the away putting of sornares,f overlyars, and masterful beggars,' that all sherift's, barons, aldermen, and baffles, as well within burgh as without, shall take inquisitions of such persons at each court that they hold ; and if any such be found, that they shall be imprisoned at the King's -will, and their horses, hounds, and other goods, be escheated. And also, that the sheriffs and other officers inquire at each court if there be any that follow the profession of fools, that are not bardis, or sick like sinners about.' And if any such he found, they are to lie imprisoned or put iii irons for their trespass, 'as long as they have any goods of their own to live upon.' And if they have nothing to live upon, their ears are to be nailed to the trone, or to any other tree, and then cut off, and themselves banished the country.' And if they return again, they are to be hanged."

The method adopted by Sir George Nicholls is that of adhering to his authorities, whether laws or official reports, with slender assistance from extraneous publications. Hence the volumes have something of a dry air, especially as the author dwells fully upon the more prosaic doings of our own day, of which indeed he may say, "quorum pars magna fui."

+ Sornarcs are described as stout armed vagrants, who insist on taking up their abode for an indefinite period at the houses they visit.—See Tytler's 'History of Scotland,' vol. iv. p. 136."