The statute of 1547 also made some additions to the provision for the impotent poor. Cottages were to be erected for their habitation, and they were to be relieved or cured. This clause was again reenacted by the second statute concerning the poor of Edward's reign[117]. At the same time the apprenticeship regulations were made less severe, and justices were empowered to liberate children on any proof of the misconduct of master or mistress.
The next poor law of the reign[118] chiefly concerns the collection of funds, and was passed in 1551-2.
7. Legislation between 1551 and 1569.
The officers responsible for the execution of the statute were sometimes municipal and sometimes parochial. The mayor or head officer was to act in the towns; the parson and churchwardens in the country. These officers were ordered to call the householders together and to nominate two collectors who were to gather the alms of the parish, and it is provided that the collectors "shall gentellie aske" of every man what he will consent to give weekly for the relief of the poor. The various sums were to be entered in a book and collected every Sunday. If any man refused to give, he was to be exhorted by the parson, and, if the parson failed to persuade him, he was to be sent to the Bishop. The Bishop was to induce him to contribute and "according to his discretyon take order for the reformacon therof[119]." The Bishop was also to see to the proper employment of sums granted to the poor by Henry VIII., unless they had been taken away by an Act of Parliament. This same statute also enacted that none were "to goo or sitt openlie a begging," but in this respect was in advance of the time, for during Mary's reign licensed beggars were again allowed[120], though the remaining provisions of this statute were continued or reenacted several times before 1563[121]. Early in the reign of Elizabeth, however, a fresh step is taken towards the enforcement of compulsory poor rates. The 5 Eliz. c. 3 originated in the House of Lords, and may have been due to the fact that the Bishops found unavailing their exhortations to stingy parishioners[122]. When a person obstinately refused to give to the poor after the Bishop had duly exhorted him, he might be bound by a recognisance of £10 to appear before the justices of the peace in the country or the mayor, bailiff, &c. in the towns. The justices or mayors were to "charitably and gentelly perswade and move the said obstinate persons" to extend his or their charity towards the relief of the poor of the parish where they dwelt. If any of them again refused, the justices of the peace or mayor and churchwardens might assess what sum he should pay weekly; if he still remained obdurate he might be imprisoned.
It was in this hesitating way that the law first resorted to compulsory payments for the poor. The utmost care is taken to make the contribution as voluntary as possible and only to resort to force when much persuasion had proved ineffectual. Even then compulsion might only be resorted to in the case of obstinate individuals; it was not legally permissible to assess the amount that everyone should give until 1572.
8. Summary.
This statute of 1563 was the last enactment dealing with poor relief passed before 1569. In principle, legislation has altered little since the second statute of Henry VIII. In 1569, as in 1535-6, a sharp distinction is drawn between the able-bodied beggars and the impotent. The former are to be whipped and sent to their parish to work; the latter are to be provided for by their fellow parishioners. In both periods also the state appointed municipal or parochial officials to collect funds and to relieve the poor. But there is a great difference in the details of the statutes. The laws of Edward VI. and the first statute of Elizabeth concerning the poor carefully state who are responsible for the execution of each part of the Act and provide penalties for neglect. The two statutes of Henry VIII. are more detailed than the statutes of Richard II. but they were not detailed enough; the enactments of Edward, Mary and Elizabeth add still more precise provisions to secure the better execution of the law[123]. But there is an even greater difference with regard to funds. The laws of Henry presuppose that the poor will obtain sufficient relief from voluntary alms; the statutes of Edward VI. and Mary prescribe the persuasion, and those of Elizabeth the compulsion of the contributors. Society had become too complicated for individual action to be effectual either in restraining idle beggars or in relieving the helpless poor: the duty was therefore undertaken by the state. It seemed at first as if the old voluntary character of the gift could be maintained, but this was soon found to be impossible. Throughout this period, so far as legislation is concerned, an approximation to compulsory poor rates accompanies the increase of the public administration of relief.