Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/74

 60 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9-s.vi. .1^21,1900. history of this mysterious disease is fully illustrated in the quotations. Foote, in his 'Lame Liover,' first acted August, 1770, speaks of it specially as the " new influenza." Some of the words derived from this scourge, as injliifnsacuii.d, &c., are almost as bad as the disease itself. Concerning inning, more familiar in the plural, much is said. From a female pen comes the vile word iimkeepereta. Splendid progress is now being made with the undertaking, and the close of the century will, presumably, see the completion of the fourth volume, if not that of the fifth also. Among the jewels of Henry V., ' Rolls of Parlia- ment,' iv. 222, are mentioned " diverses Yngottes & Kakes d'argfent], pois" xxxiii Ib. vii. unc', and " vi. Yngottead arg(ent], poisauntz vi. Ib. ix. unc.di." This early use has only just been traced. It com- pletes the history of the word. The Early History of English Poor Relief. By E. M. Leonard. (Cambridge, University Press.) UNSATISFACTORY as may be, in some respects, the working of our system of poor relief—and none will regard it as ideal—it is better in almost all respects than that of neighbouring nations. Attempts to furnish relief to the destitute were general in the sixteenth century throughout Western Europe. In England alone have efforts in this direction been organized and persistent. We have our author's warranty for saying that Louise Michelle (?) during her visit to England was more struck by our system of poor relief than by any other English institution, and declared that the existence of a similar system in France would have prevented the French Revolu- tion. Materials for a history of early English poor relief are abundant in the Privy Council registers, municipal records, and other repositories. The latest volume of Mr. Dasent's 'Acts of the Privy Council, A.D. 1590-91,' which reached us at the same period as the present history, offers abundant proof of the measures that were taken for the relief of the destitute, and notably of the maimed soldiers who returned from the wars. These consist to some extent in the licences to beg which were accorded by the Privy Council, and in recommendations to the position of almsmen in cathedrals and colleges. From the sources named the author, a former student of Girton, has compiled a good account of the measures for the relief of the indigent, which, beginning in Anglo-Saxon times, reached their highest development in the period immediately preceding the wars of the Commonwealth. Her work constitutes a striking and picturesque record, the only defect in which, beyond the use of a word such as " bye-laws," consist* in a tiresome habit of using the editorial "we." The English Poor Law was " a growth, not a creation." Almsgiving and charitable maintenance, though not wholly confined to the great ecclesiastical corporations, were in early times practically in the hands of the Church. By the law of Ethelred one-third part of the tithe which belonged to the Church was to be given to " God's poor and needy men in thraldom." After the Black Death of 1.W4-9, in the Ordinance of Labourers of 1349, the first step was taken " towards the national control of poor relief." The result of this statute, intended to compel men to work for their living, was to send men on false pretences on pilgrimages, or on wanderings from county to county, and to compel further legislation, in order to restrain irregularities. From this time forward we hear much of rogues and vagabonds and of " masterless men," who become a danger to the State. Governors of towns and guilds began to control endowments for the relief of the poor. We cannot accompany our author in her progress, nor deal with her subject at the length it merits. During the period between 1597 and 1644 evidence seems to indicate that in many places the whole of the Elizabethan Poor Law was put into execution. and that " work was provided lor the unemployed as well as relief for the impotent." In the reign of Henry VIII. relief of the poor by secular authorities seems to have been first organized in London and other cities, and after the years of scarcity of 1594-7 "the statutory provision was made which, for the most part, remained unchanged until 1834. We have marked many points for comment which we are compelled to withhold, and but commend to our readers a praiseworthy and remarkable product of female labour. DR. SYMES SAUNDKRS has reprinted (Eastbourne Art Publishing Co.) George Herbert's translation of Lewis Cornaro's Treatise of Temperance and Sobritty, together with one or two equally edifying works. The book is prettily got up and repays perusal. It opens with so much difficulty, however, that reading it is something of a task. to Cffn«jr0nfcmi«. We must call special attention to the following notices:— ON all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. WE cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rules. Let each note, query, or reply be written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. When answer- ing queries, or making notes with regard to previous entries in the paper, contributors are requested to put in parentheses, immediately after the exact heading, the series, volume, and page or pages to which they refer. Correspondents who repeat queries are requested to head the second com- munication " Duplicate." M. DORMER HARRIS ("Passage in Erasmus").— See the 'Familiaria Colloquia,'' Abbatis et Eruditte,' in which Antronius and Magdalia converse. C. G. LJSLAND.—We have a letter for you con- cerning Hopes till Leland from F. Warran Smith, Chemist, The Californian Powder Works, Hercules Station, Pinole P.O., Cal. We have no address to which to forward t his, which contains much in- formation connected with your family. M. L. R. BRESLAR ("Skeltonical Verse").— A specimen of Skelton's mixed Latin and English verse is furnished under the heading 'Skelton's Cipher,' 9th S. iii. 386, 498. NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to "The Editor of 'Notes and Queries'"—Advertise- ments and Business Letters to "The Publisher"— at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception.