第23章

fortheystillhadthedutyofcollectingandaccountingfortherates，but

thedistributionwasinthehandsofpaidguardians，oneforeachparish，

appointedbythejusticesoutofalistofnamessubmittedbytheparishioners。

Ineachsetofincorporatedparishestherewasa’Visitor’appointedbythe

justices，whohadpracticallyabsolutepowerovertheguardians。Iftheguardians

refusedrelief，theclaimantcouldstillappeal，asinthecaseoftheoverseers，

tothejustices。

Suchwastheparishmachinery。Themethodofgivingreliefvariedgreatly，

butthemaindistinctiontobedrawnisbetween(1)outrelief，oraweekly

pensionofashillingortwoathome；and(2)indoorrelief，orreliefin

aworkhouse，orpoorhouse，orhouseofindustry。Outreliefwastheearlier

institution，andithelditsownthroughoutthecentury，beingtheonlyform

ofreliefinmanyparishes。Downto1722parishesthatwishedtobuilda

workhousehadtogetaspecialActofParliament。Inthatyearagreatimpetus

wasgiventotheworkhousemovementbyanAct(71*)whichauthorisedoverseers，

withtheconsentofthevestry，tostartworkhouses，ortofarmoutthepoor，

andalsoauthorisedparishestojointogetherforthispurpose。Ifapplicants

forreliefrefusedtogointotheworkhouse，theyforfeitedtheirtitleto

anyreliefatall。Agreatmanyworkhouseswerebuiltinconsequenceofthis

Act：in1732therewerestatedtobesixtyinthecountry，andaboutfifty

inthemetropolis。(72*)

Eveniftheapplicantforrelieflivedinaparishwhichhadbuiltor

sharedinaworkhouse，itdidnotfollowthathewasforcedintoit。Helost

histitletoreceivereliefoutside，buthisfatewoulddependontheparish

officers。IntheparisheswhichhadadoptedGilbert’sActtheworkhousewas

reservedfortheaged，fortheinfirm，andforyoungchildren。Inmostparishes

therewasoutreliefaswellasindoorrelief：insomeparishesoutdoorrelief

beingallowedtoapplicantsofacertainageorinspecialcircumstances。

Insomeparishesalloutdoorreliefhadstoppedby1795。(73*)Thereisno

doubtthatinmostparishestheworkhouseaccommodationwouldhavebeenquite

inadequatefortheneedsoftheparishintimesofdistress。Itwasquite

commontoputfourpersonsintoasinglebed。

Theworkhousesweredreadedbythepoor，(74*)notonlyforthedirtand

diseaseandthedevastatingfeversthatsweptthroughthem，(75*)butfor

reasonsthatareintelligibleenoughtoanyonewhohasreadEden’sdescriptions。

ThosedescriptionsshowthatCrabbe’spictureisnoexaggeration：——

’TheirsisyonHousethatholdstheParish-Poor，Whosewallsofmudscarcebearthebrokendoor。

There，wheretheputridvapours，flagging，play，Andthedullwheelhumsdolefulthroughtheday；

ThereChildrendwellwhoknownoParents’care；

Parents，whoknownoChildren’slove，dwellthere！

Heart-brokenMatronsontheirjoylessbed，ForsakenWivesandMothersneverwed；

DejectedWidowswithunheededtears，AndcrippledAgewithmorethanchildhoodfears；

TheLame，theBlind，and，£；arthehappiestthey！

ThemopingidiotandtheMadmangay。

HeretootheSicktheirfinaldoomreceive，Herebrought，amidthescenesofgrief，togrieve，Wheretheloudgroansfromsomesadchamberflow，Mixtwiththeclamoursofthecrowdbelow；

Heresorrowing，theyeachkindredsorrowscan，Andthecoldcharitiesofmantoman：

Whoselawsindeedforruin’dAgeprovide，Andstrongcompulsionplucksthescrapfrompride；

Butstillthatscrapisboughtwithmanyasigh，Andprideembitterswhatitcan’tdeny。’(76*)

Agoodexampleofthismixtureofyoungandold，virtuousandvicious，

wholeandsick，saneandmad，isgiveninEden’scatalogueoftheinmates

ofEpsomWorkhouseinJanuary1796。(77*)Therewereelevenmen，sixteenwomen，

andtwenty-threechildren。WereadofJ。H。，agedforty-three，’always……

somewhatofanidiot，heisnowbecomequiteadriveller；’ofE。E。，aged

sixty-two，’ofasluggish，stupidcharacter；’ofA。M。，agedtwenty-six，

’afflictedwithaleprosy；’ofR。M。，agedseventy-seven，’wornoutandparalytic；’

ofJ。R。，agedseventeen，whohascontractedsomanydisorderlyhabitsthat

decentpeoplewillnotemployhim。Itisinterestingtonotic

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