[370] Circular of 27th July 1866, in Nineteenth Annual Report, 1866-7, p. 39.
[371] Official Circular, No. 20, N.S. Nov. and Dec. 1848, p. 297.
[372] Fourth Annual Report, 1851, p. 15; 14 & 15 Vic. c. 105, sec. 4.
[373] Twentieth Annual Report, 1867-8, pp. 27-8.
[374] Twenty-second Annual Report, 1869-70, pp. xxiv-xxvii, 38-108; Twenty-third Annual Report, 1870-1, pp. xliv-lii, 173-188.
[375] See, for instance, The Administration of Medical Relief to the Poor—Reports by the Poor Law Committee of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, 1842; Life and Times of Thomas Wakley, by S. Squire Sprigge, 1897.
[376] Mr. Baines (President of the Poor Law Board), 12th July 1853; Hansard, vol. 129, p. 138.
[377] Sixteenth Annual Report, 1863-4, p. 108.
[378] Circular of 12th April 1865, in Eighteenth Annual Report, 1865-6, pp. 23-24.
[379] Some boards of guardians rebelled in this connection against a departure from the principle of "less eligibility" that they did not understand. When the circular of the Central Authority inviting compliance with the recommendation of the House of Commons Committee reached the Manchester Board of Guardians, it was referred to a committee. When the committee, after eighteen months' delay, recommended compliance, its report was rejected (MS. Minutes, Manchester Board of Guardians, 20th April 1865, and 25th October 1866).