1569.
11 Elizabeth, cap. 4.

There are only two of the Acts passed by the Irish parliament in Elizabeth’s reign calling for notice, and this rather as exhibiting the condition of the country at that time, than as directly connected with our subject. The first of these is The 11th Elizabeth, cap. 4, entitled ‘An Act that five persons of the best and eldest of every nation amongst the Irishrie, shall bring in all the idle persons of their surname, to be justified by law.’ It declares that her Majesty’s “most humble and obedient subjects have been these many years past grieved with a generation of vile and base conditioned people (bred and maintained by coynie and liveries), the ancient enemies to the prosperity of this realm, of which sort the lords and captains of this land hath to raise and stirr up some to be maintained as outlaws to annoy each other’s rules, and so serving the iniquitie of the time, hath not only in attending those practices imbased their own particular estates, but also brought the whole public wealth of their supposed rules to ruin and utter decay.” For remedy whereof, it is now ordained, “that five persons of the best and eldest of everie stirpe or nation of the Irishrie, and in the countries that be not as yet shire grounds, and till they be shire ground, shall be bound to bring in to be justified by law, all idle persons of their surname which shall be hereafter charged with any offence, or else satisfie of their own proper goods the hurts by them committed to the parties grieved, and also such fines as shall be assessed upon them for their offences.” The Act we see applies to parts of the country beyond the pale, “which be not yet shire grounds,” where “the lords and captains of the land” were in the habit of maintaining a number of base-conditioned people in a state of outlawry to annoy each other’s rules, which practice it is said hath not only injured their own estates, but also brought the whole country under their supposed rule to ruin and utter decay. The remedy for these evils now sought to be applied, is by making five of the principal people of each sept or nation of the “Irishrie” answerable for the rest of the clan, and it seems likely that nothing better could have been devised under the circumstances; but the resorting to it is nevertheless an indication of the lawlessness and insecurity which prevailed, and how imperfectly the country had yet been brought under subjection.

1570.
12 Elizabeth, cap. 1.

The other Irish Act of Elizabeth’s reign requiring notice, is The 12th Elizabeth, cap. 1, entitled ‘An Act for the erection of Free Schools.’ It commences by reciting—“Forasmuch as the greatest number of the people of this realm hath of long time lived in rude and barbarous states, not understanding that Almighty God hath by his divine laws forbidden the manifold and heinous offences which they spare not daily and hourly to commit and perpetrate, nor that He hath by His Holy Scriptures commanded a due and humble obedience from the people to their princes and rulers, whose ignorance in these so high points touching their damnation proceedeth only of lack of good bringing up of the youth of this realm, either in public or private schools, where through good discipline they might be taught to avoid those loathsome and horrible errours”—Wherefore it is enacted that there shall be a free school established in every diocess of Ireland, and that the schoolmaster shall be an Englishman, “or of the English birth of this realm.” The archbishops of Armagh and Dublin, and the bishops of Meath and Kildare and their successors, are to appoint the schoolmasters within their respective diocesses, and the lord deputy for the time being is to have the appointment in the other diocesses. The schoolhouses are to be built in the principal shire towns, at the cost and charge of the whole diocess, under direction of the ordinary, the vicars general, and the sheriff; and the lord deputy for the time being is “according to the quality and quantities of every diocess,” to appoint a yearly salary for every schoolmaster, whereof the ordinary of every diocess is to bear the third part, and the parsons, vicars, prebendaries, and other ecclesiastical persons of the diocess, by an equal contribution, are to bear the other two parts. The whole charge of these free schools was therefore, we see, to be borne by the clergy, on whom their superintendence also devolved.

The Reformation had at this time been established in Ireland, and the clergy whom the state recognised were necessarily all Protestant. The desire for extending education as a means for improving and enlightening the people, was therefore to be expected from them; and it is not improbable this desire was accompanied, and perhaps strengthened, by a belief that education would bring about the conversion of such of the people as were not yet of their flock, but still adhered to the church of Rome. That such were the motives of the Protestant clergy in the prominent part taken by them with regard to these free schools, and that the government and the proprietary classes generally were influenced by similar motives, can hardly admit of doubt. The result turned out different however from what was anticipated. The great bulk of the people remained in ignorance, and devotedly attached to the old religion, as it was and still is called; and thus a separation sprung up between one class and another, between the more English and Protestant class, and the more Irish and Romanist class, which has been a fruitful source of evil to each, and in spite of the countervailing efforts which have of late years been made, can hardly be said to have altogether disappeared even at the present day. How strange it seems that religion, which ought, and we must believe was designed to be, a bond of concord and union, should be perverted into an occasion for hatred and strife!—Yet so it unhappily too often has been, and in no country perhaps more than in Ireland.

1612.
11 and 12 James I. cap. 5.

Little was done in the way of legislation during the reign of James the First, and only one of the Acts of the Irish parliament in his reign requires to be noticed, namely The 11th and 12th James 1st, cap. 5.—It is entitled ‘An Act of Repeal of divers Statutes concerning the natives of this kingdom of Ireland.’ The preamble declares, that “in former times the natives of this realm of Irish blood, were for the most part in continual hostility with the English and with those that did descend of the English, and therefore the said Irish were held and accounted, and in divers statutes and records were termed and called Irish enemies.” But—“Forasmuch as the cause of the said difference and of making the said laws doth now cease, in that all the natives and inhabitants of this kingdom, without difference and distinction, are taken under his Majesty’s gracious protection, and do now live under one law as dutiful subjects, by means whereof a perfect agreement is and ought to be settled betwixt them”—Wherefore it is enacted, “that all the said Acts and statutes, and every clause and sentence in them conteyned, shall for ever be utterly and thoroughly repealed, frustrated, annihilated, and made void to all intents and purposes.” The passing of this Act manifests a change in public feeling, and was certainly a step in the right direction. To treat a people as enemies, is the sure way to make them such; and that the native Irish had long been so treated, the records of the antecedent period abundantly prove. The present was therefore a healing measure. By abolishing the distinction of race, and bringing all alike under protection of the law, the Act was no doubt intended to pave the way for an entire amalgamation of the two people. National distinctions and national grievances are however not easily obliterated or forgotten; time, intercourse, and the mutual interchange of good offices being necessary for effecting the one, or blotting out the remembrance of the other. And even after this has been accomplished, and a kind of oblivion of the past established, ancient feuds are too apt to be revived by the occurrence of some circumstance, trivial perhaps in itself, and race to be again put at enmity with race, class to be arrayed against class, and sect against sect. The history of Ireland abounds in examples of such revival of enmities, promoting discord and disorder, retarding improvement, and exercising a baneful influence on the character as well as on the condition of the people.

1634-5.
10 and 11 Charles I. cap 4.

The Irish parliament was somewhat more active in the reign of Charles the First, than it had been in that of his predecessor, and four of its Acts, all passed in the same year, we will now proceed to notice, the first of these being—The 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 4—entitled ‘An Act for the erecting of Houses of Correction, and for the punishment of Rogues Vagabonds sturdy Beggars and other lewd and idle persons’—For which purpose it is enacted, that before Michaelmas in the following year “there shall be built or otherwise provided within every county of Ireland, one or more fit and convenient house or houses of correction, with convenient backside thereunto adjoining, together with mills, working-cards, and other necessary implements, to set the said rogues and other idle and disordered persons on work; the same houses to be built or provided in some convenient place or town in every county, which houses shall be purchased conveyed or assured unto such person or persons as by the justices of peace, or the most part of them shall be thought fit, upon trust, to the intent the same shall be used and employed for the keeping correcting and setting to work of the said rogues, vagabonds, sturdy beggars, and other idle and disorderly persons.” The justices are empowered to make orders from time to time, for raising money upon the inhabitants of the county for providing the said houses, and for the government and ordering thereof, and for setting to work such persons as shall be committed to the same; and also for the yearly payment of the governor and such others as they shall think necessary to be employed therein. The justices are moreover to appoint honest and fit persons to be governors of such houses,—which governors “shall have power and authority to set such rogues vagabonds idle and disorderly persons as shall be sent to the said houses, to work and labour (being able) for such time as they shall there continue, and to punish the said rogues &c. by putting fetters or gyves upon them, and by moderate whipping.” And it is further ordered, that the said rogues and vagabonds during the time they remain in such house of correction, “shall in no sort be chargeable to the country for any allowance, either at their bringing in or going forth, or during the time of their abode there, but shall have such and so much allowance as they shall deserve by their own labour and work.”

The justices at their quarter session of the peace are required to assign to the governors of the said houses a fitting salary, to be paid quarterly in advance by the treasurer of the county, which if the treasurer neglect to pay, the governor is empowered to levy upon him by distress of his goods. And in order that more care may be taken by the governors of such houses of correction, “when the country hath been at trouble and charge to bring all such disorderly persons to their safe keeping,” it is directed that they shall at every quarter session yield a true account to the justices of all persons committed to their custody; and if any of such persons “shall be troublesome to the country by going abroad, or otherwise shall escape away from the said house of correction before they shall be from thence lawfully delivered, the justices may impose such fines and penalties upon the said governor as they shall think fit.” The justices are to meet at least twice a year for the better execution of this statute, and are by warrant to command the constables of every barony, town, parish, village and hamlet within the county (“who shall be assisted with sufficient men of the same places”) to make a general privy search in one night for finding out and apprehending all rogues, vagabonds, wandering and idle persons, who are to be brought before the justices to be examined of their wandering idle life, and punished accordingly, or otherwise sent to the house of correction and there set to labour and work.

Who are to be deemed rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars.

And that there may be no doubt as to who are liable to punishment under these provisions, it is enacted—“that all persons calling themselves scholars going about begging; all idle persons going about in any country either begging or using any subtle craft, or unlawful games or plays, or feigning themselves to have knowledge in physiognomy palmistry or other like crafty science, or pretending that they can tell destinies, fortunes, or such other like phantastical imaginations; all persons that be or utter themselves to be proctors, procurers, patent gatherers, or collectors for gaols prisons or hospitals; all fencers, bear-wards, common players of interludes and minstrels wandering abroad; all jugglers, wandering persons, and common labourers being able in body, using loytering, and refusing to work for such reasonable wages as is taxed and commonly given, and not having living otherwise to maintain themselves; all persons delivered out of gaols that beg for their fees, or otherwise travaile begging; all such as wander abroad, pretending loss by fire or otherwise; all such as wandering pretend themselves to be Egyptians, or wander in the habit form or attire of counterfeit Egyptians—shall be taken adjudged and deemed rogues vagabonds and sturdy beggars, and shall sustain such punishments as are appointed by the 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 15,[12] or be otherwise dealt withall by sending them to the house of correction in the county where they shall be found, as to the justices shall be thought fit.”

It appears moreover that many wilful people having children, and being able to labour for the maintenance of themselves and their families, “do nevertheless run away out of their parishes, and leave their families upon the parish”—Wherefore it is enacted that all such persons so running away, shall be taken and deemed to be incorrigible rogues, and suffer accordingly—“and if either such man or woman, being able to work, shall threaten to run away and leave their families as aforesaid, the same being proved by two sufficient witnesses upon oath before two justices of peace, the person so threatening shall by the said justices be sent to the house of correction, there to be dealt with as a sturdy and wandering rogue, unless he or she can put in sufficient sureties for the discharge of the parish.” This enactment, and the recital by which it is introduced and justified, might be taken for a part of our late English poor-law system, so exactly does it accord with what was frequently practised in English parishes. Yet nothing like settlement, or a right to relief, or any organization for providing or affording relief, existed in Ireland. The great principle of parochial chargeability for relief of the destitute embodied in the 43rd of Elizabeth, seems nevertheless to have been in some degree recognised, and was probably to some extent operative in Ireland, although without legal sanction; for unless such were the case, persons running away could not be said to leave their families a charge upon the parish, neither perhaps would their threatening to run away be so stringently dealt with as we here find it to be.

The provisions of this Act are no doubt important, and the Act itself taken as a whole, throws considerable light upon the condition of Ireland at that time, and shows that the state of society there was gradually approximating to that which prevailed in England. The persons subjected to punishment as rogues and vagabonds, are identical with those described in the English Act 22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12.[13] The provisions with respect to houses of correction, are similar to those directed by the English Acts 18th Elizabeth, cap. 3,[13] and the 7th James 1st, cap. 4;[13] and the privy search ordered to be made for apprehending vagrants &c. is the same as in the Act of James.[13] With such a similarity of enactments therefore, we can hardly doubt that there was a general similarity in the circumstances of the two countries, although those parts of Ireland which were latest brought under subjection, may still have been in a rude and backward state, as indeed it is known that they then were, and for a long time afterwards continued to be.

In proof of the backwardness of at least some parts of Ireland at that time, two Acts passed in the same year as the foregoing may be cited. |1634-5.
10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 15.| The first is, The 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 15, entitled ‘An Act against ploughing by the Tail and pulling the Wool off living Sheep.’ It declares that “in many places of this kingdom there hath been a long time used a barbarous custom of ploughing, harrowing, drawing and working with horses, mares, geldings, garrans, and colts, by the tail, whereby (besides the cruelty used to the beasts) the breed of horses is much impaired in this kingdom, to the great prejudice thereof; and also, that divers have and yet do use the like barbarous custom, of pulling off the wool yearly from living sheep[14] instead of clipping or shearing of them”—Wherefore all such barbarities are prohibited, and it is enacted that whomsoever shall so act in either case in future, or procure the same to be done, shall be subject to fine and imprisonment. |1634-5.
10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 17.| The other Act is the 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 17, entitled ‘An Act to prevent the unprofitable custom of burning Corn in the Straw.’ It recites—“Whereas there is in the remote parts of this kingdom of Ireland commonly a great dearth of cattle yearly, which for the most part happeneth by reason of the ill husbandrie and improvident care of the owners, that neither provide fodder nor stover for them in winter, nor houses to put them in extremitie of stormy cold weather, but a natural lazie disposition possessing them, will not build barnes to house and thresh their corn in, nor houses to keep their cattle from the violence of such weather; but the better to enable them to be flitting from their lands, and to deceive his Majesty of such debts as they may be owing, and their landlords of their rents, do for a great part instead of threshing, burn their corn in the straw, thereby consuming the straw which might relieve their cattle in winter, and afford materials towards covering or thatching their houses, and spoiling the corn, making it black, loathsome and filthy”—for prevention of which unprofitable and uncivil customs it is ordained, that no person shall “by himself, wife, children, servants, or tenants,” burn or cause to be burned any corn or grain in the straw, on pain of being imprisoned ten days for the first offence, for the second offence one month, and for the third offence to pay a fine of forty shillings and be bound to good behaviour.

These Acts certainly indicate the existence of very rude and barbarous practices in some parts of Ireland—so rude indeed, that one finds some difficulty in giving credence to them; but that they did prevail, there can be no reasonable doubt. To plough by the tail, to strip the wool off sheep, and to burn corn in the straw, are doubtless all indications of a lamentable state of backwardness and barbarism; but how far this backwardness was owing to “a natural lazie disposition” in the Irish tenantry, or whether it was the “better to enable them to be flitting from their lands to deceive their landlords of their rents,” as asserted above, or occasioned by the oppressive conduct of the landlords, as described by Spenser,[15] it is impossible to say with certainty. Most likely all these causes were in operation, together with a general feeling of insecurity, a backward state of civilization, and a feeble and uncertain administration of the law.

Another cause of backwardness and disorder is indicated |1634-5.
10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 16.|by the ‘Act for the suppressing of Cosherers and idle Wanderers.’ This Act (the 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 16) commences with the following recital—“Whereas there are many young gentlemen of this kingdom that have little or nothing to live on of their own, and will not apply themselves to labour or other honest industrious courses to support themselves, but do live idly and inordinately, coshering upon the country, and sessing themselves their followers their horses and their greyhounds upon the poor inhabitants, sometimes exacting money from them to spare them and their tenants, and to go elsewhere to their eaught and edraugh, viz. supper and breakfast, and sometimes craving helps from them; all which the poor people dare not deny them, sometimes for shame, but most commonly for fear of mischief to be done them so refusing, and therefore do bear it although unwillingly, and many times when they are scarce able so to do, and yet dare not complain for fear of the inconveniences aforesaid, and to that end do make cuts levies and plotments upon themselves to pay them, and give such entertainment and helps to the utter impoverishing and disabling of the poor inhabitants to pay their duties to the king, and their rents unto their landlords; and by that lawless kind of life of these idle gentlemen and others, being commonly active young men, and such as seek to have many followers and dependants upon them, many other inconveniences are likely to arise, for they are apt upon the least occasion of disturbance or insurrection, to rifle and make booty of his Majesty’s loyal subjects, and to be heads and leaders of outlaws and rebels, and in the mean time do and must sometimes support their excessive and expenceful drinking and gaming by secret stealths, or growing into debts often-times filch and stand upon their keeping, and are not amenable to law”—wherefore for prevention of such inconveniences it is enacted, that if any person or persons shall directly or indirectly follow any of the above practices in future, the justices of assize are to cause them to be apprehended and bound to good behaviour, and imprisoned until good sureties for the same be given. These “cosherers” are apparently the same class of persons described by Spenser as infesting the country half a century before,[16] too proud to beg, too idle to labour, and for the most part living by the plunder and intimidation of the poor tenantry. There could hardly have been a greater obstruction to improvement, or a more certain incentive to violence and disorder, than the conduct of these “cosherers and idle wanderers” as above described. They must have been in every way a curse to the country, stirring up and perpetuating whatever was pernicious oppressive and demoralizing, and subverting whatever had a contrary tendency.

We have now approached the period of what is emphatically called “the great Rebellion,” which was followed by the Commonwealth, the Protectorate, and the Restoration; and then, after an interval, by the Revolution of 1688, which led to the establishment of constitutional monarchy. But in none of these periods, although all highly interesting and important in an historical point of view, do we find anything in Irish legislation so immediately bearing upon our present subject, as to call for citation or remark.

The first enactment in the order of time which it is necessary to notice,|1703.
2 Anne, cap. 19.
The Dublin workhouse.| is The 2nd Anne, cap. 19, entitled—‘An Act for erecting a Workhouse in the city of Dublin, for employing and maintaining the poor thereof.’ The preamble declares, that “the necessities number and continual increase of the poor within the city of Dublin and liberties thereto adjoining, are very great and exceeding burdensome for want of workhouses to set them at work, and a sufficient authority to compel them thereto: and whereas the lord mayor, sheriffs, commons and citizens of Dublin for the encouragement of so charitable and necessary a work, are willing not only to appropriate a piece of ground for a workhouse within the said city, but also to endow the same with lands of inheritance of the value of one hundred pounds per annum”—It is enacted, that from and immediately after the 1st of May 1704, there shall be a corporation to continue for ever within the county of the city of Dublin, to be entitled the governors and guardians of the poor, and to consist of the chief governor (or lord lieutenant) the lord mayor, the lord chancellor, the archbishop of Dublin, the sheriffs, the justices of peace, the members of the corporation, and a great many others specially named, who are to have perpetual succession, with all the usual powers and privileges of a corporation. They are to assemble on the first Thursday in every month, “for relieving, regulating, and setting at work, all vagabonds and beggars which shall come within the city or liberties,” and are to provide such necessaries and material as are needful for the same. They are likewise empowered to apprehend all idle or poor people begging or seeking relief, or who receive parish alms within the city or liberties; and also to detain and keep in the service of the said corporation until the age of sixteen, any poor child or children found or taken up within the said city or liberties above five years of age, and to apprentice out such children to any honest persons, being protestants, a male child until the age of twenty-four, and a female child until the age of twenty-one. The governors and directors are moreover empowered to inflict reasonable punishment or correction, from time to time, on all persons within the workhouse who shall not conform to the established regulations; and are to have the care of the poor of the said city and liberties of what age or kind soever they be, infants under the age of five years only excepted; and in order thereto, are empowered “to examine, search, and see what poor persons are come into, inhabiting, or residing within the said city and liberties, or any part thereof, and to apprehend any idle vagrants and beggars, and to cause them to be set and kept at work in the said workhouse, for any time not exceeding seven years.”

For the encouragement of such as shall become benefactors to the foregoing “good design,” it is enacted that a donor of fifty pounds and upwards shall be eligible for the office of governor and guardian; and power is also given for granting licences for the keeping of hackney coaches not exceeding 150 in number, and for sedan-chairs not exceeding 80 in number, to ply for hire within the city and liberties, every licence so granted being charged with the sum of 5l., to be paid to the governors and guardians of the poor by way of fine, and forty shillings annually afterwards, so long as the said licence shall be continued. It is further enacted for the support of the poor in the said workhouse, that a rate of 3d. in the pound be charged on every house within the city and liberties, to be levied in the same way as ministers’ money; but in case any surplus should remain after defraying the necessary charges of the workhouse, and the poor maintained and employed therein, a proportional abatement is to be made in this tax upon houses.

The above is the substance of this important Act, important, that is, as being the first in which a direct provision is made for the relief of poverty in Ireland. The Act is local, it is true, its operation being limited to the city and liberties of Dublin; but it recognises the principle of taxing the public for the prevention of vagrancy and begging, conjointly with the alternative of relieving the destitute—a principle universal in itself, and susceptible of universal application. The endeavour to effect these objects through the agency of workhouses, was very generally resorted to in England about this time. They had been recommended by Sir Matthew Hale, and also by Mr. Locke in his Report on the state of the poor, and the Bristol, Worcester, and other workhouses were established with a like intent,[17] although the employment of the inmates with a view to profit, was no doubt at the same time regarded as a collateral advantage. The direction that the poor children “found or taken up” should be apprenticed to “honest persons being protestants,” seems, as in the case of the free schools already noticed,[18] to indicate a desire in the framers of the measure to make it subservient to the spread of the reformed religion; but at that time the property, and nearly all the industrious occupations of the country were in the hands of protestants, so that with them alone was there likely to be an eligible opportunity for apprenticing out the children. The direction to do so was therefore superfluous, but it indicates the dominant feeling of the time. The corporation was reconstituted and its powers extended by the 1st George 2nd, cap. 27, in 1728, and ultimately the workhouse became merged in the Dublin Foundling Hospital; but as it will hereafter be necessary to revert to this point we need not dwell on it at present.

The Act passed in 1635, ‘for the suppression of cosherers and idle wanderers,’ has already been noticed.[19] |1707.
6 Anne, cap. 11.|In 1707 another was passed (the 6th Anne, cap. 11,) explaining and amending the former, and entitled ‘An Act for the more effectual suppressing tories robbers and rapparees, and for preventing persons becoming tories or resorting to them.’ It directs—“that all loose idle vagrants, and such as pretend to be Irish gentlemen, and will not work nor betake themselves to any honest trade or livelihood, but wander about demanding victuals and coshering from house to house among their fosterers followers and others, and also loose persons of infamous lives and characters, upon presentments of the grand juries at assizes and general quarter sessions, and upon warrant of the justices, shall be imprisoned until sent on board the fleet, or transported to some of her Majesties plantations in America, whither the justices are empowered to send them, unless sufficient security for their good behaviour be given. Many persons are moreover said to make a trade of obtaining robbery money from the country, pretending to have been robbed, “whereas they never were robbed, or were not robbed of near the value they allege, and so get money on that account which they never lost”—Wherefore it is directed that all persons pretending to be robbed, shall not only give notice thereof to some neighbouring justice, but likewise to the high constable, who is forthwith to publish the same in all the market towns of the barony.

There appears to have been another species of fraud in connexion with this |“Robbery money.”| “robbery money,” for the principal inhabitants, when applotments were made for reimbursing the persons that had been robbed, do it is said, “usually lay the whole burthen on the poorer sort, that are least able to bear it, or least able to resist or pursue the tories, and thereby they pay little or nothing themselves, who ought to be charged according to their abilities”—Wherefore the parties aggrieved are authorised to appeal to the judges of assize, who are empowered to examine into the case upon oath, and to determine the same. We thus see how apt a law, however good in itself, is to be perverted to a bad purpose. The making the county answerable for reimbursing a person who had been plundered, would seem calculated to array all the inhabitants on the side of honesty and good order; but without preventing robbery, the law in this case appears to have given rise to a fraudulent trafficking in “robbery money,” and to gross injustice in other respects. There is no other Act of the Irish parliament in Anne’s reign requiring to be noticed, but there is one in that of her successor which must not be passed over.

1715.
2 George I. cap. 17.

The 2nd George 1st, cap. 17, may be called a multitudinous Act, as it comprises a great variety of enactments, but such parts only will be noticed as bear upon our subject. It is entitled ‘An Act to empower justices to determine disputes about servants’ wages &c.’ and it recites—“Whereas several persons do refuse or neglect to pay the wages due to servants, artificers, and day labourers, and there being no remedy whereby they can in a summary way, without much charge or delay recover what is due for their service”—it is therefore enacted for the more easy recovery of the same, that any neighbouring justice of the peace or chief magistrate may receive the complaint of any such servant upon oath, and may summon the master or mistress and determine the demand, which if not paid within ten days as so determined, may be levied by distress. “And forasmuch as several servants are drunkards, idle or otherwise disorderly in their services, or waste and purloin their master’s goods, or lend the same without their master’s or mistress’s consent or knowledge, or depart their service within the time for which they had obliged themselves to serve,” it is further enacted, that on complaint upon oath of any master or mistress to such effect before any justice of peace or chief magistrate, they are to hear and determine the same, and if the offence be duly proved, may commit the offender for six hours to the stocks, or to the house of correction with hard labour for any time not exceeding ten days. It is also enacted, that on the discharge or quitting service of any servant, the master or mistress shall give a certificate in writing to that effect, “and shall in the said discharge certify, if desired, or if the master or mistress shall think fit, the behaviour of such servant;” and no servant is in future to be hired without producing such discharge or certificate of character. These enactments appear alike calculated to benefit the master and the servant class, and if fairly administered could hardly fail of so doing. They show moreover that social organization in Ireland had attained a more stable and orderly form, that its gradations were more distinctly marked and better understood, and that the duties of each were more clearly defined. We no longer see any allusion to the “Irishry” as a separate race. All are brought within the pale of the law, or it may rather be said that the law and the pale have become conterminous.

11th section. Apprenticing of helpless children.

By the 11th section of the Act provision is made for apprenticing helpless children. It commences with this preamble—“and whereas there are in almost every part of this kingdom great numbers of helpless children who are forced to beg their bread, and who will in all likelihood, if some proper care be not taken of their education, become hereafter not only unprofitable but dangerous to their country; and whereas it is hoped that many of them may be entertained in comfortable services, and others may be bound out to and bred up in useful callings, if well-disposed persons could have any fair prospect of receiving hereafter by the labour of such poor children, any return suitable to the trouble and charges they must necessarily undergo in bringing them through that state of childhood”—Wherefore it is enacted, that the minister and churchwardens shall have power, with consent of a justice of peace, to bind out any child they find begging within their parish, or any other poor child with consent of the parents, to any honest and substantial protestant housekeeper or tradesman that will entertain such child, until the age of 21, if as a menial servant, or till the age of 24, if as an apprentice to a trade. And to prevent abuse of power in masters and mistresses towards such servants and apprentices, it is further enacted that justices of peace may, on complaint of ill usage or cruel treatment examine into the case, and if the complaint appear groundless, may order reasonable correction for the servant or apprentice complaining without cause; but if immoderate severity or cruel usage be fully proved against the master or mistress, the justice is empowered to discharge the servant or apprentice from their service, and to bind him or her to some other master or mistress for the remainder of the time. We here see that the power of apprenticing out poor children conferred upon the Dublin corporation of governors and guardians of the poor,[20] is now extended to the minister and churchwardens of every parish in Ireland, accompanied by a like condition as to the master’s being a protestant. In this respect only is there any material difference between the present enactment, and The 39th Elizabeth, cap. 3,[21] with regard to apprenticing poor children, although better provision is now made for protecting them against improper treatment subsequently.

1735.
9 George II. cap. 25.

In 1735 an Act was passed for establishing a workhouse at Cork, similar in its main provisions to that which was passed for Dublin in 1703.[20] The present Act (The 9th George 2nd, cap. 25) however makes provision for rebuilding the cathedral church of St. Finbarry, as well as “for erecting a workhouse in the city of Cork for employing and maintaining the poor, punishing vagabonds, and providing for and educating foundling children.” With respect to the former of these provisions, it is only necessary to remark, that the money authorised to be raised by a coal-tax, was directed to be applied during the first four years to the purposes of the cathedral; and we may therefore abstain from further noticing that point, and proceed at once to a consideration of the other provisions of the Act.

Strolling beggars and vagabonds to be seized.

The 9th George 2nd, cap. 25, has the same preamble as the Dublin Act. It constitutes the bishop of Cork, and the mayor, recorder, aldermen, sheriffs, common councilmen, the common speaker, together with twenty-six other persons who are to be elected annually, a corporation and body politic, entitled the “Governors of the Workhouse of the City of Cork.” They are to have a common seal, with all the usual powers, and may purchase and take for the uses of the corporation any lands or other hereditaments not exceeding the annual value of 2000l. The ground for the workhouse is given by the city corporation, and in order to defray the expenses to be incurred in carrying the several provisions of the Act into effect, a duty of one shilling per ton is imposed on all coal and culm imported into Cork during the term of thirty-one years, to be paid to the governors of the workhouse. Four general assemblies of the governors are to be held in every year, and they may from among themselves annually appoint fifteen to be assistants, any five of whom are to have full power to carry the regulations established by the governors into effect, and likewise to regulate the management of the gaol or house of correction. The beadles and constables are authorised to seize all beggars and other idle vagabonds, found strolling in or frequenting any of the streets or houses within the city and suburbs, and to carry them before one of the said assistants, who is empowered to commit them to the workhouse and hard labour until the next meeting of the governors, who may if they see cause confine such beggars or vagabonds in the workhouse for any term not longer than four years, and keep them to hard labour or otherwise as shall be thought fit. If disorderly, they may be committed to the house of correction.

Section 17. Foundling children.

The workhouse at Cork, like that established in Dublin, is thus we see primarily intended for the repression of mendicancy and vagabondism, and like that too it is further designed for the reception and maintenance of foundlings. The 17th section of the Act declares that “the exposed or foundling children left yearly on the several parishes in the city and suburbs of Cork are very numerous, and do frequently perish for want of due care and provision for them”—Wherefore it is enacted, that as soon as the workhouse shall be built, the governors shall receive from the churchwardens of the respective parishes all the exposed or foundling children that are then within the same, and likewise all such as may thereafter be found exposed or left to be maintained by any of the said parishes, “and shall take due care to have such children nursed, clad, and taught to read and write, and thoroughly instructed in the principles of the protestant religion.” The male children are to be taught some trade or calling, and employed thereon within the workhouse until the age of 21, when they are to be discharged, and furnished with a certificate under the seal of the corporation, stating their having been so brought up and taught such trade in the workhouse, which certificate will entitle them to the freedom of the city of Cork, with all the privileges other freemen enjoy.

If the number of male foundlings should become so great, that the fund appropriated to the maintenance of the workhouse proves insufficient for continuing them therein until they severally attain the age of 21 years, the governors or assistants are empowered to place out so many of the male children to such art trade or calling, or to the sea service, or to be household servants, for any term not exceeding seven years, as they shall judge necessary and expedient. The female children are to be instructed in such proper trades and employments, and disposed of at such ages and in such manner, as the governors may deem advisable; and in order to prevent the improper interference of the parents of such deserted children, many of whom being Roman catholics are said to strive to hinder their children from being brought up protestants, the governors of the workhouses of Dublin and Cork are empowered to exchange the children maintained therein, whenever such interchange shall be agreed upon by the respective governors. This appears the only material addition suggested by the experience obtained in the thirty years between the passing of the two Acts, and it strikingly illustrates the difficulty of dealing with matters connected in any way with differences in religion. Here are parents so wanting in natural affection as to desert their own progeny, and leave them to be cared for by their protestant fellow-subjects, and who yet make it a point of conscience to hinder their children’s being brought up in the religion of their protectors. It would seem impossible to carry unreasoning inconsistency further.

Foundling hospitals have, from a remote period, existed on the continent of Europe, especially in Italy and France. It appears to have been thought that by providing a place where mothers might deposit their illegitimate offspring in safety, the frequent recurrence of child-murder would be prevented. But it may be doubted whether the exemption from the consequences of illicit intercourse, does not tend to relax moral restraints, and to increase the number of illegitimate children.

1771-2.
11 and 12 George III. cap 11. Dublin Foundling Hospital.

The double functions assigned to the Dublin workhouse, of dealing both with vagrants and foundling children, were deemed to be inconsistent, and The 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 11, was passed to remedy this defect, and in fact to reconstitute the entire establishment. All former Acts affecting it were accordingly repealed, and a new corporation appointed, comprising a long list of persons official and non-official, from the lord-lieutenant downwards, who are to be called “the Governors of the Foundling Hospital and Workhouse of the city of Dublin.” The corporation is invested with large powers, and may for its own use and benefit purchase and hold any lands, tenements or hereditaments, not exceeding the annual value of 2,000l., or any personal estate whatsoever; and may make such rules by-laws and other regulations, as the governors shall judge necessary and expedient for the good government of the institution. There are to be four quarterly meetings of the governors in the year, and as in the case of Cork the governors may appoint annually from among themselves fifteen or more “to be called the Court of Assistants,” who are to assemble as often as they think proper for putting in execution the orders and regulations ordained by the governors, and are invested with authority to inspect and regulate the management of the institution, “and the children received therein or sent out to nurse therefrom.”