THE CHURCH, 
 THE STATE, AND THE POOR
 
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 The Rev, W. EDWARD CHADWICK, D.D. 
 
 CHRIST AND EVERYDAY LIFE 
 
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 LONDON: ROBERT SCOTT
 
 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, 
 AND THE POOR 
 
 A SERIES OF HISTORICAL SKETCHES 
 
 BY 
 
 W. EDWARD CHADWICK, D.D., B.Sc. 
 
 VICAR OF ST. PETER'S, ST. ALBANS ; FORMERLY HULSEAN LECTURER AT CAMBRIDGE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "CHRIST AND EVERYDAY LIFE," "CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP," 
 
 "THROUGH DISCIPLINE TO VICTORY," ETC. 
 
 LONDON: ROBERT SCOTT 
 
 ROXBURGHE HOUSE 
 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. 
 
 MCMXIV,
 
 PREFACE 
 
 ~"*O study history, it has been well said, is to enlarge ex- 
 JL perience. To know what has been attempted in the past, 
 and with what results, should be a guide to present action. It 
 may be maintained that the conditions of the present are so 
 different from those of any previous age, that to appeal to the 
 past is useless. But if conditions have changed, human nature 
 is very much the same as it was either fifteen hundred, five 
 hundred, or one hundred years ago. And the problems of 
 poverty are, as a rule, much more problems of character than 
 problems of circumstances. 
 
 Again, the evil conditions of large masses of poor people 
 in England to-day are mainly due to a want of foresight and 
 wisdom on the part of those who were in authority, both in 
 Church and State, during the first hundred years of the 
 " Industrial Revolution." Unfortunately, from ignorance of the 
 past, we are actually repeating methods which have been proved 
 to be useless, if not worse. We are not only perpetuating, but 
 even continuing to create, conditions which a knowledge of 
 history shows us must inevitably lead to disaster. 
 
 To help to supply a knowledge of the various ways in which 
 at different times both Church and State have attempted to deal 
 with the problems of poverty, and of the results of their efforts, 
 
 is the object of this book. 
 
 W. E. C. 
 
 ST. ALBANS, 
 
 March, 1914.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION - i 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 THE EARLY CHURCH - 12 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT TO CHARLEMAGNE - 23 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 36 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 THE MIDDLE AGES - 50 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES - 64 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE REFORMATION : LUTHER AND CALVIN - 79 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 THE REIGNS OF THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS : HENRY VIII. TO ELIZABETH 93 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY - 108 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY - 124 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. - 14 
 
 -- " vii
 
 viii CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. - 156 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 - 174 
 
 ^N. CHAPTER XIV 
 THE RISE OF ^COLLECTIVISM >. - - - - - - 190 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS - - 207 
 
 INDEX 221 
 
 INDEX OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES - - 224
 
 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND 
 THE POOR 
 
 A SERIES OF HISTORICAL SKETCHES 
 
 w 
 
 I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i. Moral Problems. 
 
 E are constantly being told, and apparently with much 
 truth, that no subject is of wider interest at the present 
 time than that which is usually described as " the social problem." 
 The term is an unfortunate one because it is so vague ; and 
 vagueness of terminology is generally either an excuse for loose 
 thinking, or leads to looseness of thought. Actually what should 
 be meant by " the social problem " is two very closely related 
 problems : first, that of right relationships how to secure that 
 the relationships between individuals, classes, and even nations, 
 may be what they should be ; secondly, that of the right use of 
 the possessions and opportunities of life. Both these problems 
 are, of course, ultimately problems of character, and if they are 
 to be satisfactorily and permanently solved, they must be 
 approached from the point of view of character. In short, they 
 are moral problems. And this is why it is the Church's duty 
 to do what in her lies to help to solve them. 
 
 A very little reflection will show that these are actually the 
 two problems which enter into all our dealings with the poor, 
 into all our attempts to help them, or to assist them to help 
 themselves. Our relationships to them and their relationships
 
 2 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 to us and to one another must first be rightly conceived, and 
 then rightly discharged. Also our opportunities, including the 
 physical, intellectual, and spiritual possessions of life, must be 
 rightly used toward them ; we must also try to teach them to 
 use their opportunities with true wisdom. 
 
 The chief work of the Church is to be a witness or exponent, 
 in life and teaching, of the Christian faith that is, of the 
 doctrines or principles of Christianity. The object of this and 
 the following articles is to try to show, by a series of brief 
 historical sketches, the importance of a firm conviction of the 
 truth of the Christian Creed the sum total of the doctrines of 
 Christianity as the only adequate inspiration and guide to any 
 effort to solve the two problems I have already described. 
 
 As an example of what I mean, let us consider the problem 
 of right relationships in the light of the doctrine of the Holy 
 Trinity. Because I believe in the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, 
 I believe that within the Godhead there exist certain primary 
 or fundamental and Divine relationships, 1 and that therefore 
 these (as being within the Godhead) are infinitely sacred. Also, 
 because I believe that man was made in the image of God, 2 and 
 that man was made a social being with social capacities, 3 I am 
 justified in seeing a likeness between Divine and human relation- 
 ships. Hence all legitimate human relationships are sacred. 
 Thus one chief object of the work and teaching of the Church 
 must be to try to make all legitimate human relationships actually 
 what they should be. 
 
 As a second example, we will regard the use of the opportuni- 
 ties, including the possessions of life, in the light of the doctrine 
 of the Incarnation. What is the meaning, or, shall I say, the chief 
 issue, of the Incarnation? Is it not the sanctification of every- 
 thing upon which human nature depends and which ministers to 
 its right or true development ? And this will include not only 
 all the opportunities of life, but also all the physical materials, as 
 well as the physical, intellectual, and moral forces of the universe. 
 
 1 John v. 20, xv. 26, xvi. 13. 2 Gen. i. 26 ; Eph. iv. 24. 
 
 3 Gen. ii. 18.
 
 INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 As I wish to pursue the historical method, I may here point 
 out a connection between the influence of two great Christian 
 teachers and the two doctrines I have just cited. That the 
 Church in our own country to-day is taking a far wider and 
 deeper, and, I would add, a far more spiritual interest in the 
 welfare of the people, and especially in the welfare of the poor, 
 is largely due to the teaching of Professor F. D. Maurice and 
 of Bishop Westcott. But to what, more than to anything else, 
 is the great, and, I believe, the still growing, influence of these 
 two leaders due ? To this : that both approached the subject 
 from the point of view of Christian doctrine. The social 
 teaching of Professor Maurice arose from his profound belief in 
 the doctrine of the Holy Trinity and his equally profound insight 
 into the practical issues of this doctrine. Similarly, the social 
 teaching of Bishop Westcott arose chiefly from his insight into 
 the meaning of the Incarnation and its inevitable consequences. 
 
 Both Maurice and Westcott were great theologians, and both 
 were extremely able Christian philosophers before they became 
 Christian social teachers. I mention these facts here simply as 
 examples of the truth of the thesis I have already implied, that 
 what is termed Christian social work (and of this work, that 
 on behalf of the poor is the chief part), if it is to be wisely done 
 and with permanently good results, must be the issue of a real 
 faith in the whole Christian Creed. Of the actual work done 
 by these two great teachers I hope to speak in later chapters. 
 
 2. The Old Testament. 
 
 In a historical survey of the Church's efforts to help the 
 poor, and of her teaching upon the duty of making efforts to do 
 this, where should be our starting-point ? " With the New 
 Testament," would at first sight seem to be the natural reply. 
 But actually we must go farther back than this. I have shown 
 elsewhere 1 that if we would have an adequate conception of 
 Christianity, we must not regard it as beginning with the coming 
 
 1 " Social Relationships in the Light of Christianity " (Hulsean Lectures), 
 p/94 et seq.
 
 4 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ into the world. The In- 
 carnation is not the first event, it is rather the greatest event in 
 the history of Christianity. 1 For the Incarnation there was a 
 long Divinely ordered preparation ; and the issues of it, though 
 immeasurably great, are even yet incomplete. Among the 
 greatest factors in the preparation for the Incarnation stands the 
 teaching of the Hebrew Prophets. In this teaching the need of 
 right relationships between class and class, and the necessity for a 
 wise discharge of the responsibility of opportunities and posses- 
 sions, hold a prominent place. A great part of the contents of 
 such books as Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah deals with the 
 duty of social righteousness, with the claims of social justice. 
 Hence a satisfactory answer to the question, What is the teach- 
 ing of Christianity upon our duty to the poor ? must, at any rate, 
 take account of the teaching of the Prophets of the Old Testa- 
 ment. 2 It cannot, I think, be denied that Christ assumed in 
 His hearers a knowledge of this teaching in fact, that He based 
 His own teaching upon it as a sufficient foundation. He 
 assumed it as certainly as He assumed a knowledge of the Ten 
 Commandments and of the obligation to keep them. Only when 
 all this is remembered will the wonderful completeness of Christ's 
 teaching be recognized. St. John the Baptist was the last 
 representative of the old line of the Prophets of Israel, and 
 everyone will admit that his work was essential for the work of 
 Christ. But the Baptist's message, as given in detail in the third 
 chapter of St. Luke, is just a series of demands for social justice. 
 I am not going to dwell upon the teaching of the Old 
 Testament Prophets. All I would say in reference to it here is, 
 that when we speak of " the social teaching of Christianity," 
 
 1 Westcott. " Study of the Gospels," p. 47. 
 
 2 " Our Lord deliberately took His stand on the Old Testament. . . . Our 
 Lord assumed all that the Old Testament laid down. The Law and the 
 Prophets had been struggling after the establishment of a great social system 
 on a strong moral basis. The Old Testament is full of teaching about wages 
 and human life, full of doctrines of social and individual righteousness. . . . 
 Christ could assume all this, and He did assume it. He takes it for granted. 
 It is the point at which He starts." (From a recent address by the Bishop of 
 Oxford.)
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 their teaching must be included as an essential part of this. 
 And as Christ assumed a knowledge of their teaching in His 
 hearers, so must those who profess to work in His Name be 
 careful to see that not only do they possess this knowledge, but 
 that they are careful in their dealings with others to act according 
 to this teaching. 
 
 3. The New Testament. 
 
 The social teaching of the New Testament has of recent 
 years been so fully treated that there is no need for me to dwell 
 upon it at any length. There are, however, a few points upon 
 which it seems to be important that stress should be laid, and 
 therefore that attention should be called to them. 
 
 First, in our Lord's teaching as given in the Gospels. Here 
 I would notice four : 
 
 1. When He spoke of the blessing of poverty, 1 we must not 
 imagine that He was thinking of the kind of poverty that meets 
 us daily in the slums of our great cities, and against whose 
 causes and results we are continually waging war. Much more 
 probably the words were addressed to those who " belonged to 
 what we should call the well-to-do artisan class, with excellent 
 prospects, open-air life, hard work, . . . with the consciousness 
 that by an honest day's work they could earn a good day's 
 wage . . . who could pray, ' Give me day by day the bread 
 for to-morrow,' with the sure sense that they were praying for 
 something within the reach of those who would work, and could 
 trust in the ordinary order of the Divine Providence." 2 Have 
 we a single trace in the Gospels, in Palestine, 3 of that hopeless 
 and often helpless and rightly-termed "degrading" poverty of 
 which our own country offers so many examples at the present 
 moment ? At the same time we must remember our Lord's 
 definite injunctions to alleviate every kind of misfortune which 
 prevents people living a full and thoroughly useful life. 4 
 
 2. Christ's conception of life is full and complete. He says : 
 " I came that they may have life." 5 He does not speak of 
 
 1 Luke vi. 20. 2 From an address by the Bishop of Oxford. 
 
 3 Luke xv. 14 refers to a " far country." 4 Matt. x. 8. 5 John x. 10.
 
 6 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 physical, and intellectual, and moral, and spiritual life. He 
 knows that for its fulness each of these factors of life is largely 
 dependent upon the fulness of all the others. He views life 
 synthetically i.e., as a whole, and not analytically, as we are 
 apt to do. Christ is essentially the " Life-giver " in the most 
 comprehensive sense of the word. He bestows physical health, 
 intellectual wealth, and the highest moral power. To use a 
 modern philosophical term, Christ is an " Interactionist." 
 Under present conditions He teaches the interdependence of 
 the spiritual and the physical, and of which His own incarnate 
 life is the outstanding example and witness. Consequently, 
 Christ teaches the need of adequate sustenance for the whole of 
 human nature, if the true work and entire purpose of life is to be 
 accomplished. A careful study of the Lord's Prayer, especially 
 of the connection between its successive clauses, will prove 
 this. 1 
 
 3. Christ teaches the immense importance of a suitable 
 environment for the true development of life. This is the 
 lesson of the Parable of the Sower, the first and most fully 
 recorded of His parables. In the statement of the parable the 
 failure or success of the embryonic life, or that which contains 
 the life-principle, to fulfil its purpose is entirely attributed to 
 differences of environment. In the explanation of the parable 
 the same truth is again emphasized, but it is somewhat 
 differently conceived. While in the first the environment may 
 be said to be the individual nature into which the life-principle 
 enters, in the second it is the environment of the hearer with 
 the seed implanted in him. 2 
 
 I am well aware of the tendency at the present time to lay a 
 disproportionate stress upon the influence of environment, with 
 the consequence that the sense of personal responsibility is 
 weakened and self-effort is discouraged. But there is a great 
 difference between doing this and attaching a due importance to 
 
 1 Maurice's " Sermons on the Lord's Prayer " were published during the 
 troublous times of 1848. 
 
 2 Matt. xiii. 20: 6 Se ri rot Trer/owSr; crTra/oets, OUTOS ecrriv K.T.A. ; Lukeviii. 12 : 
 01 Si irapa. TTJV 6S&V K.T.A.
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 environment. To-day there is certainly one school of social 
 workers who fail to attach even a sufficient importance to this 
 factor in the problem. This being so, it is essential that we 
 should remind ourselves that while Christ does not over- 
 estimate, neither does He under-estimate, this factor. He 
 attaches to circumstances their proper weight, and evidently in 
 His opinion this is not a light one. 
 
 When we turn from the Gospels to the Acts and Epistles, 
 and see the organized Christian society at work, we find the 
 two-fold problem of right relationships and the proper use of 
 possessions at once confronting those in authority. But we 
 also find the great leaders of the Church acting in each difficulty 
 as it arose, strictly in accordance with the principles either 
 enunciated or assumed by Christ. In fact, the social teaching 
 of the second part of the New Testament may be regarded as 
 simply the practical application to definite cases of the principles 
 laid down by Christ. 
 
 It is important to remember that both the first recorded 
 dissension and the first recorded sin among the members of the 
 Church arose in connection with the subject with which we are 
 dealing. The way in which the dissension is dealt with is 
 extremely instructive. I refer more particularly to the qualifica- 
 tions which those who were to deal with the matter must 
 possess. These are three: (i) They must have an unsullied 
 reputation, their character and conduct must be beyond accusa- 
 tion j 1 (2) they must be full of the [Holy] Spirit, they must 
 be really religious men, under the highest inspiration and 
 guidance ; 2 (3) they must be " full of wisdom," 8 they must be 
 " skilful " through recognizing the necessity of obeying the 
 Divine laws which govern human and so social welfare. Here we 
 have clearly laid down once for all the essential qualifications 
 of those who are to be responsible agents in what we may term 
 the social work of the Church. 
 
 1 Acts vi. 3 : avSpas e Vjtxwv /za/DTv/sov/zevovs. 
 
 2 7rA.?y/ois IIveu/xaTOS. 
 
 8 KCU aortas. On the Biblical meaning of this word see my " Pastoral 
 Teaching of St. Paul," p. 358 et seq.
 
 8 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 The incident of Ananias and Sapphira is not less important. 
 Their punishment was severe because their sin was not only so 
 great, it was also so comprehensive, and might so easily become 
 epidemic. 1 Their sin consisted in their desire to be regarded as 
 saintly without the cost of self-sacrifice. They desired to be 
 held in high repute, and at the same time to give way to avarice. 
 To take an adequate part in the social work of Christianity 
 demands a much higher degree of self-sacrifice (and that not 
 only, indeed not chiefly, in money) than most people deem 
 necessary. It is easy to simulate, and so to obtain, a reputation 
 for desiring to do good. 
 
 One very important lesson to be learnt from the Acts is, 
 that frequently the bitterest opposition is roused against 
 Christian work because this endangers and diminishes nefarious 
 pecuniary gains or interests. It is when these are lost or 
 jeopardized that the most bitter persecution ensues. St. Paul 
 experienced this both at Philippi 2 and at Ephesus. 3 Now, one 
 chief part of our work among the poor is to remove temptations 
 which are placed before them e.g., to intemperance and im- 
 purity, by means of which other people enrich themselves i.e., 
 through the poor being led to spend on these temptations their 
 hardly-earned money. Frequently to-day the chief opposition 
 to Christian social work emanates from those who have invested 
 their capital 4 in these degrading trades, and who see that as this 
 work prospers their returns diminish. 
 
 Though there are many other passages in the Acts to which 
 I should like to draw attention, I will mention only one, and 
 that very briefly. It is not always remembered that it was upon 
 a distinctly philanthropic mission that St. Paul visited Jerusa- 
 lem for the last time, and in fulfilling which he risked his life. 5 
 I only cite this to show of how important a nature he regarded 
 
 1 " Ananias has a great many descendants. ... If they were all swept 
 out of the Church as he was, there would be a number of pews occupied by 
 ' leading citizens ' empty and hung with black " (Dr. Maclaren, in loc.). 
 
 2 Acts xvi. 19 et seq. 3 Ibid., xix. 26 et seq. 
 
 4 Workers in the temperance cause especially must be prepared for this 
 opposition. 
 
 5 Acts xxiv. 17: "I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings."
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 this part of his work, a fact to which ample witness is borne in 
 his epistles. 
 
 The social teaching in the apostolical epistles is very full, 
 but here again I must dwell briefly upon only a few points. 
 What must be chiefly remembered is that everywhere it will be 
 found that, directly or indirectly, Christian social duties are 
 taught as simply the inevitable issues of a belief in definite 
 Christian doctrines or principles ; they are regarded as the 
 natural results of these. 
 
 The incarnate life of Christ upon earth was one consistent 
 expression of a combination of two great principles the inspira- 
 tion of love and the responsibility of stewardship. The mag- 
 nificent social teaching in Rom. xii. and xiii. is really an 
 application of the principle of complete self-sacrifice (or love) 
 demanded in xii. i. But this verse was evidently written under 
 the inspiration of xi. 36 : " For of Him, and through Him, and 
 unto Him are all things," and also of the appeal in the words, " by 
 the mercies of God "-that is, by the tendernesses, the practical 
 evidences, of the Divine Love. But this is the love which 
 unites the Persons of the Trinity within Itself, and is the essential 
 attitude of the Trinity towards man, as revealed in the infinite 
 sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, a sacrifice in which each 
 Person in the Trinity shares. 
 
 The so-called practical teaching in the three last chapters of 
 the Epistle to the Ephesians is (as in Rom. xii.) introduced 
 by the word "therefore," which must point back to the doctrinal 
 teaching, the principles, enunciated in the first three chapters. 
 And even in these so-called practical chapters we constantly 
 find St. Paul falling back upon some great doctrine as the source 
 of an exhortation. 
 
 No sayings of St. Paul's are more frequently quoted than 
 that which runs, "If any man will not work, neither let him 
 eat," 1 and that about not being " weary in well doing." 2 But 
 how many who quote these remember that both are prefaced not 
 only by the words " we command you in the Name of the Lord 
 1 2 Thess. iii. 10. 2 Ibid., iii. 13.
 
 io THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Jesus ul (which must mean all that the Lord Jesus may and ought 
 to be to us), but that in each case the word "brethren" is also 
 prefixed ? It is in this word " brethren " and in the term " the 
 Name of the Lord Jesus " that the appeal to principle is seen. 
 Work, and especially work for others, is a sacred duty, a respon- 
 sibility, because " My Father worketh until now and I work"; 2 
 and not because of any utilitarian reason, but because we must 
 do the will of our Father Who worketh, and copy the example 
 of our Brother in Whom our right to the term " brethren " lies. 
 
 Similarly, the social teaching of the First Epistle of St. Peter 
 is everywhere referred back to great principles eg., to the 
 principle of love, of humility, or of stewardship, each of which 
 is a principle which governed the actions of Christ Himself. 
 Then the responsibilities, the mutual services of a corporate life, 
 are enjoined because God did not purchase for Himself a 
 number of isolated individuals, but "a people," 3 who as a people 
 are to give the witness which only a corporate life can give, and 
 which is the most powerful and convincing of all forms of 
 witness. Our Lord stated that it was the mutual behaviour to 
 each other of those who professed to follow Him that should 
 prove their right to be termed His disciples. 4 
 
 I pass to the Epistle of St. James. Its special key-note is 
 struck in the fifth verse in the words, "If any of you lacketh 
 wisdom, let him ask of God." Wisdom, which is the skilful 
 conduct of life, comes from the revealed will of God. Wrong 
 conduct, and this will cover both wrong relationships and the 
 wrong use of possessions, is a transgression against the eternal 
 Divine law of righteousness. The man who would " be blessed 
 in his doing" (and of this " doing" social intercourse is a large 
 part) will be a careful student and follower of this law, which, 
 so far as it is concerned with the treatment of our fellow-men, is 
 gathered up in the precept, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself." Where this precept is kept there will be no oppression 
 of the poor. Jealousy and faction offend against the ideal wisdom, 
 that which has a heavenly origin. Pride is yet another offence 
 1 2 Thess. iii. 6, 12. 2 John v. 17. 3 i Pet. ii. 9. * John xiii. 35.
 
 INTRODUCTION n 
 
 against the eternal law of righteousness. I need not go farther, 
 for it is clear that in this epistle, if from a somewhat different 
 point of view, we have the same lesson viz., the inspiration 
 and guidance of social conduct by great and eternal Divine 
 principles. 
 
 Thus the social teaching of the New Testament is that right 
 conduct consists in obedience to the Divine Will ; and the 
 Divine Will is expressed in the life and teaching of Christ, Who is 
 the wisdom of God that is, the revealed Will of God manifested 
 in a human life which, if truly individual, was also concerned 
 from first to last in the fulfilment of social duties a life whose 
 primary aim was to establish a right relationship between man 
 and God, and then to get men through their sanctification by 
 His Spirit to use aright that is, with a full sense of high 
 stewardship all the gifts and opportunities with which God 
 had entrusted them.
 
 II. 
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH. 
 
 IN this chapter I purpose to deal briefly with the philanthropic 
 work of the Early Church that is, during the period 
 extending from the close of the New Testament to, say, the end 
 of the third century. I do not intend to discuss at length disputed 
 points of Church organization e.g., to what extent the various 
 officials of the Church combined economic with spiritual 
 functions ; for instance, how far the Bishops were responsible for 
 the distribution of the alms of the faithful, at what period this 
 responsibility began to be general, and when it ceased to be so. 1 
 Not that such questions are unimportant, but they are beside 
 my present immediate purpose. What I would rather do is to 
 try to show for what particular classes of people the Church 
 considered herself to be responsible, and consequently to what 
 objects her funds were specially devoted. 
 
 It has been maintained, and with a considerable measure of 
 truth, that by an outsider the Church might in those days have 
 been regarded as a benefit society, the members of which were 
 united by certain definite religious convictions. Certainly the 
 philanthropic side of the Church's work during this period was 
 an extremely important factor in the sum total of her energies. 2 
 I need not remind my readers that, owing to the careful investiga- 
 tions of many competent scholars, our knowledge of the nature of 
 the Church's activities during this period has much increased. 
 
 in Acts xx. 28, may have a temporal as well as a spiritual 
 reference. Cf. Jude 12 ; i Tim. iii. 3. See Harnack, " Mission and Expan- 
 sion of Christianity," vol. i., p. 157 ; Uhlhorn, " Christian Charity in the 
 Ancient Church," p. 161 : " The relief of the poor was more and more concen- 
 trated in the person of the bishop " ; yet see p. 123. 
 2 Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., p. 149. 
 
 12
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH 13 
 
 New materials have been brought to light, and old materials 
 have been both studied and interpreted with much greater care. 1 
 
 Upon one point I must again insist, because this is my chief 
 object in all I am writing namely, that we cannot separate the 
 practical life of the Church from her doctrinal convictions. We 
 cannot do this in any period of the Church's history. The study 
 of doctrine and the study of conduct or ethics must be pursued 
 together. While the doctrine believed inspires and rules the 
 conduct, the actual conduct is not only the best of all explana- 
 tions given to the doctrine, it is actually the proof of the 
 sincerity of the doctrine professed. The creed of those days was 
 not formulated as it was by the councils of the fourth and fifth 
 centuries, but the principles or doctrines taught by Christ, in 
 which that creed was implicitly contained, were the foundation 
 and rule of the Church's life. I refer to the principles enunciated 
 in such sayings as these : " One is your teacher, and ye are all 
 brethren ; and call no man your father on the earth ; for One is 
 your Father which is in heaven. ... He that is greatest among 
 you shall be your servant" 2 ; and also : "A new commandment 
 I give unto you, that ye love one another ; even as I have loved 
 you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know 
 that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another." 3 
 
 Two very striking testimonies to the way in which these 
 principles were obeyed may be given. Neither are from 
 Christians indeed, both are from men who regarded Christianity 
 from a very unsympathetic point of view. The first is from Lucian, 
 the well-known author of the " Dialogues/' who writes thus of the 
 mutual relationships existing between members of the Church : 
 " Their original law-giver had taught them that they were all 
 brethren, one of another. . . . They become incredibly alert 
 when anything occurs which affects their common interests. On 
 such occasions" when a possibility arises of their rendering 
 useful service to their own members " no expense is grudged." 
 
 1 The nature and wealth of these may be seen in the notes to Harnack's 
 chapter on " The Gospel of Love and Charity," " Expansion," vol. i., p. 147 
 e t seq. 
 
 2 Matt, xxiii. 8 et seq. 3 John xiii. 34. 
 * Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., p. 149.
 
 14 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 The second testimony is that of the Emperor Julian, who, though 
 belonging to the fifth century, evidently speaks of the Christian 
 system as this had long been in existence. Of Julian, Harnack 
 writes : " The excellence of the Church's charitable system, the 
 deep impression made by it, and the numbers it won over to the 
 faith, find their best voucher in the action of Julian the Apostate, 
 who attempted an exact reproduction of it in that artificial 
 creation of his, the Pagan State-Church, in order to deprive the 
 Christians of this very weapon. The imitation had, of course, 
 no success." 1 Harnack also gives these two quotations from a 
 letter of J ulian's : ( i ) " These godless Galileans feed not only their 
 own poor, but ours ; our poor lack our care." (2) " This godless- 
 ness (i.e., Christianity) is mainly furthered by its philanthropy 
 towards strangers, and its careful attention to the bestowal of 
 the dead." In the failure of Julian's project we have another 
 proof that the Christian system of philanthropy was no mere 
 carefully thought-out utilitarian scheme. It was the expression 
 of a deep-seated belief in certain doctrines and principles, 
 especially of a belief in the binding nature of such commands of 
 Christ as to "love one another, even as I have loved you"; 2 
 and to " be merciful even as your Father in heaven is merciful." 3 
 The principal source of the charity distributed in the Early 
 Church was the offerings made at the weekly Sunday Eucharist. 4 
 Of the collection and distribution of the voluntary contributions 
 to the funds of the Church, Justin Martyr writes: "The well-to-do 
 and willing give as each purposes ; the collection is deposited 
 with the president, who succours orphans, widows, those who are 
 in want owing to sickness or any other cause, those in prison, and 
 those on a journey." 5 The administration of the alms apparently 
 lay finally with the president ; 6 but in the distribution of these he 
 would be assisted by the deacons, who would be expected to be 
 
 1 Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., pp. 161, 162. Cf. " Cambridge Medieval 
 History," vol. i., p. 108 et seq. 
 
 2 John xiii 34. s L u k e v - lm ^6. 
 
 4 Harnack, "Expansion," vol. L, p. 155 et seq.; Uhlhorn, "Christian 
 Charity in the Ancient Church," p. 141 et seq. 
 1 " Apolog.," c. 6. 
 c Harnack, vol. i., p. 157, note i.
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH 15 
 
 familiar with the circumstances that is, with the needs of 
 each member of the community. 
 
 Harnack states 1 that there were ten objects upon which the 
 funds at the disposal of the Church seem generally to have been 
 expended : (i) The maintenance of officials and teachers, 2 
 especially where their work for the Church withdrew these from 
 their ordinary avocation. 3 (2) The support of widows and 
 orphans, who were from the first special objects of philanthropy. 4 
 (3) The sick, the infirm, and the disabled. These, again, have 
 always been objects of solicitude ; moreover, the work which 
 Christ Himself did on their behalf gave them a very special 
 claim to help. (4) Prisoners and those languishing in the mines 
 (to which many of those suffering for their faith were committed). 
 The cruelty with which those in such positions were in those days 
 treated is notorious. Both these classes must be visited and con- 
 soled, and gifts of food were often taken to them ; not infrequently 
 prisoners were ransomed by a payment of money. 5 (5) The 
 burial of the poor; for in those days special importance was 
 attached to an honourable burial, and to see to this became one of 
 the tasks of the deacons. 6 (6) The (occasional) freeing of slaves 
 though this was the exception rather than the rule as part of 
 the more humane treatment enjoined by the Church towards 
 these. 7 (7) Care for those visited by great calamities ; as, for 
 instance, those suffering from persecution or from an epidemic of 
 the plague. 8 (8) The provision of work for the unemployed. 
 This need was intensified by the fact that many converts to 
 Christianity could no longer continue to follow their old avoca- 
 tions. 9 (9) Care of, and provision of hospitality for, brethren on 
 a journey. These would be mainly of two classes: those travelling 
 on behalf of the faith i.e., missionary teachers and evangelists 
 and those travelling in search of work. 10 (10) Churches in poverty 
 
 1 Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., p. 153. 
 
 2 i Tim. v. 1 8, 19; i Cor. ix. 7 et seq. 
 
 3 Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., p. 158, note 2. * i Tim. v. 16. 
 
 5 Harnack, ibid., p. 162. 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 165. See quotations from Julian, Aristides, and Apost. Const. 
 
 7 Harnack, ibid., p. 167. 8 Euseb., H. E., vii. 22 ; ix. 8. 9 Vide infra. 
 10 Rom. xii. 13; i Pet. iv. 9; Heb. xiii. 2, etc. By Clement of Rome 
 
 a is joined to TTIO-TIS, cap. x. and xii., and to e'vo-e/?ia, cap. xi.
 
 16 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 or in peril. This was a practical recognition of the truth that, 
 though congregations or local churches might be many, and placed 
 in very different circumstances, the Church itself was one. 1 
 
 It is obviously impossible for me to dwell upon all these 
 spheres of philanthropic activity or all these objects of love and 
 care, many of which have their counterparts in our Christian 
 social work to-day. Upon a very few points, however, I would 
 touch briefly. First, I would notice how the more we study the 
 charitable work of the Early Church, the more are we struck by 
 the wisdom, the remarkable skill, and common sense displayed 
 both in the teaching about it and in its organization. 2 For 
 instance, in the " Didache " the severest penalties are threatened 
 against those who, not being in actual need, shall accept alms ; 
 we are also taught that most careful investigation must be made 
 before help is given. 
 
 The provision of work for the unemployed, and of hospitality 
 for those seeking work, were matters which very soon claimed 
 the careful attention of the Church. This is evident from the 
 twelfth chapter of the " Didache," which runs thus : 
 
 " (i) But let everyone that cometh in the Name of the Lord be received, 
 and then proving him ye shall have complete understanding. (2) If indeed 
 he that cometh is a wayfarer, help him as much as you can, but he shall not 
 remain with you more than two or three days unless there be necessity. 
 (3) But if he willeth to settle among you, and is a craftsman, let him work 
 and [so] eat. (4) But if he have no craft, according to your understanding 
 provide that a Christian shall live with you without being idle. (5) But if he 
 will not act thus he is one who maketh merchandise of Christ ; beware of 
 such." 
 
 Here we see combined (as they are combined now) two of 
 the most difficult problems which meet the Christian social 
 worker at the present time those of (i) vagrancy and (2) un- 
 employment. These two problems generally resolve themselves 
 into one how to help the honest seeker after work, and how to 
 discriminate between him and the idle vagrant, whose object is 
 
 1 From the time of Acts xi. 27 et seq. 
 
 2 Dobschiitz, " Christian Life in the Primitive Church," pp. 296, 297. 
 " The finest achievement of the Churches is their organization of Christian 
 charity," etc. (cf. Uhlhorn, p. 125).
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH 17 
 
 to live upon the charity of others. We are also well acquainted 
 with those who try to make use of a profession of Christianity J 
 (or Churchmanship) as a means of enlisting the sympathy of 
 those who are at once credulous and tender-hearted. The above 
 is by no means the only reference to the subject in early 
 Christian literature ; for instance, in the Pseudo-Clementine 
 Homilies we read : " For those able to work, provide work ; to 
 those incapable of work, be charitable." Occasionally in those 
 days the problem was complicated, because converts felt com- 
 pelled to give up avocations which they could not conscien- 
 tiously continue. 2 For such people the Church felt bound to 
 provide either different work, or at least to provide the neces- 
 saries of life. The care of " brethren on a journey " was from 
 the first, and long continued to be, a very important part of the 
 Church's philanthropic work. A survival of it was found in the 
 hospitia* which, either as a part of the monasteries or as 
 separate buildings at intervals along the great high roads, 
 formed resting-places for wayfarers. 
 
 Few problems are of greater complexity and need more care- 
 ful handling than that of " the right to work." I cannot enter 
 upon it here further than to say that all Christian workers should 
 realize it to be a part of their duty, whenever possible, to find 
 work for the honest seeker after work. Owing to the much 
 greater complexity of modern industry, and to cycles of good 
 and bad trade (and corresponding cycles of unemployment), the 
 problem is on a far larger scale, and one of much greater diffi- 
 culty to us than it was to the early Christians. Still their 
 example, the earnestness with which they pursued this object, 
 and the care they expended upon it, may be a most useful 
 inspiration to ourselves. 4 Among the various ways of giving 
 help this is generally by far the most permanent and efficacious, 
 and the one most likely to have the best effects upon the moral 
 character of the recipient. 
 
 1 This practice is as old as the " Didache," xii. 5 : xP urr ^! J - 7ro P^ * <rri - 
 
 2 Cyprian, Ep. ii. 3 The gevoSoxeia. 
 
 4 Harnack, " Expansion," vol. i., p. 176 : " The Church formed a guild of 
 workers. . . . The Churches were also Labour Unions. . . . Their attractive 
 power was consequently intensified." 
 
 2
 
 i8 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 It is certainly a very great pity that those who have been 
 responsible for the government of this country during the last 
 six years have made no really serious attempt to deal with 
 the crying evil of vagrancy. In 1906 a full and admirable 
 Report, 1 expressing the unanimous opinion of a body of Commis- 
 sioners thoroughly qualified to deal with the subject, and which 
 embodied excellent recommendations, was presented to Parlia- 
 ment. Then the Poor Law Report of 1 909 2 revealed not only 
 the extreme diversity of treatment adopted by various Poor Law 
 authorities in their dealing with tramps, vagrants, and wayfarers, 
 but it showed how thoroughly incapable, if not how inhuman, 
 some of these authorities were in the way they behaved to those 
 who sought admission to the casual ward. In spite of both these 
 Reports, no new legislation has even been attempted ; 3 and still 
 to-day the idle vagrant and the honest seeker after work are often 
 alike relegated to the tramp ward of the workhouse. Probably 
 there is no matter connected with the help of the poor which 
 more urgently calls for a wiser treatment than this. 
 
 Attention is frequently called in early writings to the effect 
 upon those outside the Church of witnessing the care which the 
 Christians bestowed upon those needing help ; for instance, upon 
 the sick, and upon those visited by some calamity 4 beyond their 
 own control. Eusebius notices this in a description he gives of 
 the conduct of the Christians during a plague which occurred 
 in the reign of Maxentius Daza 5 : "The Christians were the 
 only people who amid such terrible evils showed their fellow- 
 feeling and humanity by their actions. Day by day some would 
 be active in attending to the dead and burying them, for there 
 were numbers of these to whom no one else paid any attention ; 
 others gathered into one place all who were afflicted by hunger 
 throughout the whole city, and gave food to them all. When 
 this became known people glorified the Christians' God, and, 
 
 1 Report of the Departmental Committee on Vagrancy, vol. i. [Cd. 2852]. 
 
 2 See Minority Report, part ii., cap. i., E. ; also cap. v., A., iv. e. 
 
 3 With the single exception of "the Labour Exchange," an indirect 
 method. 
 
 4 Harnack quotes Heb. x. 32 et seq. 6 Harnack, " Expansion," i. 173.
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH 19 
 
 convinced by the very facts, they confessed that the Christians 
 alone were truly pious and religious." 1 Undoubtedly there 
 were times when more converts were won over to Christianity 
 by witnessing conduct of this kind than were won by appeals 
 directly addressed to the intellect through preaching and 
 teaching. 
 
 This experience has counterparts in two directions at the 
 present time : first, every parish priest with experience could 
 point to instances in which the careless, even the godless, have 
 been actually converted through deeds of self-sacrificing kind- 
 ness done to them or to their friends in times of sickness, 
 misfortune, or bereavement ; secondly, by means of the work 
 being done by the Medical Missions, now connected with all our 
 great Foreign Missionary Societies, the way is often paved for 
 an entrance for the heathen into the Church. A man or woman 
 cannot be for weeks in a Christian hospital without in some 
 degree coming under the influence of Christianity. 
 
 A study of the philanthropic work of the Early Church raises 
 another question which is much debated at the present time 
 namely, whether religion and what usually comes under the 
 comprehensive name of " relief" should be connected, and if so, 
 what should be the nature of this connection. To-day the trend 
 of opinion is towards their being separated as far as possible. 
 We are told that clergymen and district visitors are not efficient 
 administrators of charity ; and also, that it is not wise for those 
 whose work should be mainly spiritual, and who seek to obtain 
 a spiritual influence, to run the risk of lessening this by mixing 
 the spiritual with the material in their work. We are further 
 assured that where the clergy or Church-workers give relief, 
 people are bribed to attend a place of worship, or at least are 
 induced to make a profession of religion from impure motives. 
 But to divorce religion from charity is the very opposite of the 
 practice of the Early Church. Indeed, it is not too much to say 
 that by the early Christians the power (even the existence) of the 
 spiritual was expressed by their use of the material. Indeed, as 
 
 1 Euseb., H. E., ix. 8.
 
 20 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 far as we can judge, those who continued to be responsible for 
 the Church's system of charitable relief during the age with 
 which we are dealing must have had in large measure the three- 
 fold qualification of the seven deacons, the men first chosen to 
 discharge this office. They must have been men of unblameable 
 reputation, 1 so little is recorded against them ; they must have 
 been men "full of Spirit," 2 or they would never have persevered 
 among the trials to which they were subjected ; they must also 
 have been men possessed with a large measure of common sense 
 and skill. 3 Some of these men may not have been able to 
 formulate their theology with the accuracy, or in the technical 
 terms, of the Greek Fathers of the fourth and fifth centuries, 
 but they evidently did their utmost to see that the responsibilities 
 of the various relationships of life were rightly discharged, and 
 that the possessions and opportunities of life were wisely used, 
 Christianity has been defined as the highest form of common 
 sense perfectly sanctified. This description is certainly ap- 
 plicable to Christ's treatment of men. It seems to be not 
 inapplicable to the conduct of the early Christians towards the 
 poor and those in need of help of various kinds. 
 
 That certain people with a spiritual avocation give charity 
 unwisely is no valid argument against the connection of 
 charity with religion. Christianity should actually help us to 
 perform every kind of action more wisely. The true remedy is 
 not divorce, but greater efficiency; a larger measure of the " Spirit 
 of wisdom and understanding "; a greater knowledge of human 
 nature, a deeper insight into its processes, also into its tempta- 
 tions and its weaknesses. 4 
 
 Those who distributed charity in the Early Church had, 
 generally speaking, one immense advantage over those engaged 
 in the same work to-day, especially in large poor town parishes. 
 Certainly in the second and third centuries the proportion of 
 merely nominal Christians would be far less than is the case 
 
 1 avS/xxs . . . p.apTvpovfj.evov<s. 
 
 3 TrA^/oets . . . <ro</>tas. 
 
 4 I need not at the present time insist upon the value of some knowledge 
 of at least elementary psychology to the Christian worker.
 
 THE EARLY CHURCH 21 
 
 with us. Also the officials and Church-workers would know the 
 members of the Christian community far more intimately than 
 the average Christian worker at the present time is able to know 
 these. 1 In those days when the numbers of the Christians were 
 comparatively small, the deacons would know, and would be able 
 to explain to the Bishop, both the circumstances and the 
 character of those needing charity far more accurately than the 
 average Christian worker could explain these to-day. The 
 investigation in those days was probably far more thorough than 
 it often is at the present time. It is generally owing either to 
 their inability or their failure to make this that Christian workers 
 are censured for foolish, indeed, sometimes for actually harmful, 
 giving. Investigation is not only a far more difficult task than 
 the average worker imagines, but it demands far more time and 
 labour than the average worker is prepared to bestow upon it. 
 
 One question which we should at least attempt to answer is, 
 What was probably the extent of poverty in the age of which 
 we are speaking ? Outside Rome, Uhlhorn believes that it 
 was not great, and he gives reasons for this opinion. After 
 stating these, he adds : " All this considered, we may well declare 
 that in the earlier ages of the Church there was no pauperism 
 of the masses except in Rome. . . . Independently of great 
 calamities and times of famine, distress was confined to cases of 
 individual poverty. . . . The duty of the Church was thereby 
 essentially facilitated. In the presence of a poverty thus con- 
 fined to individual cases, its almsgiving could also be of a 
 strongly individual character." 2 
 
 But even allowing for the comparative ease of its task, the 
 charitable work of the Early Church demands our admiration ; 
 and undoubtedly, as I have already shown, the excellency with 
 which it was performed was no unimportant factor in the victory 
 
 1 In the next age we shall see how largely institutional methods superseded 
 personal dealing. This was probably inevitable when the number of appli- 
 cants for charity very greatly increased. 
 
 2 Uhlhorn, pp. 104, 105. Eusebius states that 1,500 widows and indigent 
 persons were supported by the Church in Rome (Euseb., H. E., vi. 43). 
 The cost may have been anything between ^5,000 and 10,000.
 
 22 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 of Christianity over heathenism. 1 We must admire the motives 
 from which the work was done, and the methods according to 
 which it was pursued, for both were inspired by the strongest 
 Christian convictions. The care of the poor was no mere 
 appendage to the work of the Church ; it was an essential part of 
 that work, and it was carried out with a skill and a thoroughness 
 which it should be our endeavour to imitate. 
 
 1 " It was as a charitable organization that the Christian Church carried 
 to a victorious issue its mighty contest with the Roman Empire, the heathen 
 religions, and its own sects " (Dobschiitz, " Christian Life in the Primitive 
 Church," p. 378).
 
 III. 
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE THE GREAT TO CHARLEMAGNE. 
 
 IN the last chapter I gave a brief account of the charitable 
 work of the Church during the period which extends from 
 the close of the New Testament to the so-called " Conversion" 
 of the empire under Constantine the Great. That event one 
 of far-reaching consequences for good and evil marked the 
 beginning of a new era in the life of the Church : one during 
 which if her influence, or rather, perhaps, her power, became 
 very much greater, her temptations became greater in like 
 proportion. Up to this time, speaking generally, the line of 
 demarcation between the Church and "the world" could be 
 clearly drawn ; henceforward that was no longer possible. 
 While the Church now entered much more into the world, the 
 world still more surely penetrated the life of the Church. 1 It 
 is, of course, impossible to understand either the work or the 
 difficulties of the Church during this new era without at least 
 some background of historical knowledge, some conception of 
 the political conditions amid which her life was lived. I have 
 not space here to sketch those conditions even in the barest 
 outline ; but those who would understand, or would try to form 
 an estimate of, the way in which the Church endeavoured to 
 discharge her duty to the poor during this period must make 
 some study of its general history. This epoch of the Church's 
 history is specially important, not only because within it were 
 formulated those great doctrines which are embodied in the 
 
 1 Hobhouse's Bampton Lectures, " The Church and the World," 
 p. in ft seq. : " The Church . . . became fashionable and worldly, and her 
 spiritual standard was inevitably lowered. The evidence for this statement 
 is bewildering in its abundance and variety." 
 
 23
 
 24 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Nicene Creed, but because there were also then established 
 certain principles and ideals of conduct which persisted at least 
 until the eve of the Reformation. 1 It is a little difficult to 
 divide this long stretch of history into natural or even convenient 
 sections. For our present purpose the first five hundred years 
 may be divided into the following three parts : First, from the 
 conversion of Constantine to the fall of the Western Empire 
 in A.D. 476 ; secondly, from that time to the death of Gregory 
 the Great in A.D. 604 ; and, thirdly, from then to the coronation 
 of Charlemagne in A.D. 800. We must, of course, continue to 
 confine our attention strictly to the special subject we have in 
 view, and in regard to that only so far as the Western Empire, 
 or Western Europe, is concerned. 
 
 From an economic point of view, the century and a half 
 between the conversion of Constantine and the fall of the 
 Western Empire was one of constantly increasing stress, and 
 this stress became even more acute during the second of the 
 three periods which we have just named. 2 Until the conversion 
 of the Empire, it must have been almost always possible for the 
 Church to deal individually and adequately with the needs of 
 those among her members who required material assistance. 
 Up to this time the number of Christians was comparatively 
 small, 3 and certainly, considering her resources, the liberality of 
 the Church was great. Also during this period, except in 
 Rome itself, poverty was neither extreme nor widespread. 
 Now each one of these conditions was to be entirely reversed. 
 The number at least of nominal Christians grew rapidly ; and, 
 partly owing to the economic stress, and partly because merely 
 nominal Christians are never so liberal as real Christians, the 
 resources of the Church could not keep pace with the growing 
 demands which were made upon them. In the aggregate, no 
 
 1 On this point, see the following chapter. 
 
 2 See Uhlhorn's " Christian Charity in the Ancient Church," book iii., 
 chap, i., "A Perishing World," p. 219 et seq. 
 
 3 Uhlhorn, p. 137 : " The Churches were still small and like a family ; 
 each Christian knew all others . . . even Cyprian, in a town like Carthage, 
 knew all the members of the Church."
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 25 
 
 doubt, the wealth of the Church increased enormously, and 
 great estates were from time to time bequeathed to her ; also, 
 to a great extent, she was freed from the burdens of an excessive 
 taxation ; but even these advantages were more than counter- 
 acted by the terrible conditions amidst which her work had to 
 be done. 1 
 
 Thus the charitable work of the Church during this age was 
 infinitely more difficult than in the preceding age. Uhlhorn 
 has shown how the task which lay before the Church was of a 
 twofold nature. She had "to stand with her aid and her com- 
 forts at the deathbed of the old world"; at the same time "she 
 had to stand with her help and her service at the cradle of the 
 new age." 2 She had to try to assuage "the appalling misery," 
 "the wholesale wretchedness," which marked the passing of the 
 dying Empire ; and, contemporaneously with the performance 
 of this task, we see Christian charity so doing its work as 
 undoubtedly to become one of the main educational agencies 
 for the young German nation one which was helping to win 
 the various barbarian peoples to the Church. 
 
 We must not forget that this was the age in which monas- 
 ticism passed over from the East to the West, and during which 
 it began to flourish in Italy and Western Europe. 3 From this 
 time down to the age of the Reformation the monasteries 
 played a very important, and to a great extent a beneficial, part 
 in the charitable work of the Church. Doubtless the system of 
 charity associated with them, or rather administered by them, 
 especially in the later Middle Ages, was the source of many 
 evils ; but, on the other hand, the monasteries performed a 
 task which needed to be done, and which, especially during the 
 earlier Middle Ages, no other agency could have performed. 
 No doubt, even in those earlier days, it was not always from 
 the highest motives that men fled from the troubles and oppres- 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, p. 249 : " There is not a preacher of the time in whose 
 sermons we do not find an echo of the tremendous distress which surrounds 
 him." 
 
 2 Uhlhorn," p. 233. 
 
 8 " Cambridge Medieval History," vol. i., p. 531 et seq.
 
 26 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 sions of the outside world into the comparative peace and 
 security to be found within the walls of a monastery. But the 
 monastic life, at any rate in its ideal, was far from being a 
 selfish life. Benedict of Nursia, 1 the true founder of Western 
 monasticism, inculcated the value of work, and by work the 
 monasteries obtained the means for a very extensive system of 
 benevolence. Among the tools of the spiritual art, Benedict 
 reckons feeding the poor, clothing the naked, and burying the 
 dead. According to his rule, the cellarius must see to the care 
 of the children, the sick, the strangers, and the poor. 2 "In 
 times of scarcity, and during the irruptions of the barbarians, it 
 was frequently the monasteries that preserved the miserable 
 remnant of the population from starvation." 3 
 
 Only those who have studied carefully the history of those 
 times can realize what the conditions were in Western Europe 
 during the fifth and sixth centuries. Taxation had increased to 
 such an amount that people even committed suicide to escape its 
 burdens. Population was rapidly decreasing, and, owing to the 
 constant incursions of Goths, Lombards, Vandals and Huns, 
 not only life, but even such property as remained was utterly 
 insecure. " A few rich . . . lived in luxury, and ate from gold 
 plate on silver tables . . . but beside them were the countless 
 numbers of a proletariat suffering the want of the commonest 
 necessaries. In every town there were crowds of beggars ; they 
 filled the high roads, and went from place to place ; they lay by 
 hundreds in the public places, and especially before the churches, 
 naked, hungry, freezing with cold, sick and emaciated, calling on 
 the passers-by for assistance, trying in every way to excite 
 compassion." 4 
 
 By far the most striking personality in those days was 
 
 1 Benedict was born about A.D. 480 ; he was educated at Rome ; lived 
 for some time as a hermit at Subiaco, where later he founded monasteries. 
 He removed to Monte Cassino about A.D. 530, where he is believed to have 
 composed the "Benedictine Rule," and where he died, probably about A.D. 543. 
 
 2 Uhlhorn, p. 359. 
 
 3 Uhlhorn, p. 360. On " The Institution of the Endowed Charity " during 
 this period, see Loch, " Charity and Social Life," p. 218 et seq. 
 
 * Uhlhorn, p. 243.
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 27 
 
 Gregory the Great, who seemed to concentrate in himself the 
 best characteristics of both Christianity and the Empire. Few 
 men have lived a fuller or a more many-sided life, and few have 
 realized to such an extent the opportunities which their position 
 offered them for doing the work that needed to be done. 
 Gregory was born in Rome about A.D. 540. He sprang from 
 an ancient senatorial family ; his father is termed " Regionarius," 
 and therefore possibly was an official charged with the secular 
 business of one of the ecclesiastical regions of Rome. 1 He was 
 evidently a rich man, and inhabited a handsome palace on the 
 slope of the Cselian Hill. I cannot stay to describe in detail 
 the world of Gregory's childhood and youth. 2 Certainly the 
 miserable condition of Italy during that period could hardly be 
 exaggerated. It did not matter what power was in the ascen- 
 dant, Goth or Greek or Lombard or Vandal, the people suffered 
 from all. One barbarian army after another ravaged and 
 pillaged the country, but the populace seems to have suffered 
 even more from the rapacity of the imperial commanders and 
 their soldiery, who sought to drive the barbarians out, than it did 
 from the barbarians themselves. In addition to the horrors of 
 war, the people experienced those of pestilence and famine. 
 Mr. Dudden thinks that ''quite early in life Gregory had begun 
 to develop such qualities as prudence, foresight, capacity for 
 administration, tenacity of purpose, and ability to rise above 
 difficulties apparently overwhelming." 3 Soon after he was 
 thirty years of age, we find Gregory in the position of Prefect of 
 the City of Rome. 4 The position was one of great responsi- 
 bility, for practically the management of the city was under the 
 Prefect's control. Among other things, he had to see to the 
 supply of grain and the distribution of free food for the people ; 5 
 also under his direction and supervision there was a large body 
 of deputies, secretaries, notaries, clerks, and ushers. 6 At that 
 
 1 Dudden, " Gregory the Great," vol. i., p. 6. 
 
 ' This is very fully described in Dudden, vol. i., chap. ii. 
 
 3 Dudden, vol. i., p. 101. 
 
 4 Dudden, ibid, (who quotes Joh. Diac., " Vita," vol. i., p. 4). 
 
 5 The annona civica. 
 
 6 " Cambridge Medieval History," vol. i., p. 50.
 
 28 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 time Gregory's position must have been one of almost over- 
 whelming anxiety. Inside the city he had to face a soldiery 
 constantly on the verge of mutiny, and a population utterly 
 disorganized, suffering from extreme poverty, 1 and which, in 
 addition, was liable to constant outbreaks of plague. The city 
 was also crowded with refugees, because outside the barbarians 
 were devastating and pillaging the country. 2 
 
 After filling the post of Prefect with conspicuous success, 
 Gregory's deeply religious nature suggested to him a higher 
 vocation. He became a monk 3 and upon the death of his 
 father he devoted nearly all the patrimony he inherited to 
 charitable purposes, keeping but a small share for himself. 
 With this wealth he founded several monasteries, including that 
 of St. Andrew on the Caelian Hill. In A.D. 578 Gregory was 
 ordained " Seventh Deacon " of Rome, being then charged with 
 the superintendence of one of the seven "regions" of the city. 4 
 From A.D. 579 to A.D. 586 Gregory was apocrisiarius to the 
 Pope that is, his permanent ambassador at the Court of Byzan- 
 tium. Then, to his great delight, he was recalled to Rome, and 
 became abbot of St. Andrew's Monastery. 5 Four years after 
 Gregory's return, in addition to its many other grievous troubles, 
 Rome was visited by a terrible outbreak of the plague. In 
 February of A.D. 590, Pope Pelagius died, whereupon, at once 
 and without hesitation, Gregory was elected in his place ; and 
 if ever there was a time, even in the history of the papacy, when 
 it was essential to have a capable administrator, it was when 
 Gregory was admitted to the office. He was, of course, a 
 remarkably many-sided man a very considerable scholar, a 
 great preacher, and a most capable ecclesiastical ruler. But it 
 is only with Gregory as an administrator in the philanthropic 
 work of the Church that I can deal here. What he accomplished 
 
 1 There seems to have been a famine in A.D. 570, 571. 
 ! The Lombard invasion was in A.D. 571. 
 
 3 Probably about A.D. 574. 
 
 4 Dudden, vol. i., p. 120. 
 
 5 As to how far Gregory's foundation was affected by the Rules of St. 
 Benedict, see Dudden, vol. i., p. 107 et seq.
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 29 
 
 in this particular sphere of activity is astonishing, especially 
 when we remember that to it Gregory could devote but a small 
 portion of either his time or his energies : for, in addition to his 
 ecclesiastical and patriarchal responsibilities, he was practically 
 responsible for the defence of Rome against the Lombards ; 
 indeed, frequently he had to take the leadership in military 
 affairs. 1 
 
 The social conditions which Gregory had immediately to 
 face were terrible. The city was then thronged with indigent 
 refugees. In addition to having to feed these, a large part of 
 the regular population were actually famine - stricken ; there 
 were hardly any wealthy men left in Rome in fact, there was 
 little beyond the product of the estates of the Church to which 
 the people could look for help. Gregory's management of these 
 estates seems to have been excellent ; had it not been so, the 
 funds at his disposal could not have been what they were. 2 
 Gregory's system of administration of charity was as follows : 3 
 Every ecclesiastical district (regio} in Rome had its deaconry, or 
 office of alms, which was under the superintendence of a deacon, 
 and the accounts of which were kept by a general administrator. 
 Here the poor, the aged, and the destitute of the several "regions" 
 received food on application. 4 For the homeless there were the 
 xenodochia? "On the first day of each month he distributed to 
 the poor that part of the Church's revenue which was paid in 
 kind corn, wine, cheese, vegetables, meat, fish, and oil, were 
 most discreetly doled out by this father of the family of the 
 Lord." 6 " Every day he sent out, by appointed couriers, cooked 
 provisions to the sick and the infirm throughout the streets and 
 lanes of all the city districts." Mr. Dudden adds to these 
 
 1 Dudden, vol. i., p. 246 et seq. As Prefect of the city, Gregory would 
 have been previously associated with the magister militum ; also he had the 
 cohovtes uvbance under his command. 
 
 2 " Already in the fifth century the Church was the greatest landowner in 
 the Empire" (Uhlhorn, p. 261). 
 
 8 Dudden, vol. i., p. 247 et seq. 
 
 4 " The Roman plebs had thus become the pauperes Christi, and under that 
 title were being fed by civica annona and sportula as their ancestors had been " 
 (Loch, " Charity and Social Life," p. 213). 5 See the next chapter. 
 
 c " Prudentissimus paterfamilias Christi Gregorius."
 
 30 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 extracts : "So particular was Gregory in seeing that this system 
 of relief was effectively carried out, and so thoroughly did he 
 consider himself responsible for the welfare of his people, that 
 on one occasion, when a poor man was found dead of starvation, 
 Gregory abstained from celebrating Mass for some days, sorrow- 
 ing as though he was the man's actual murderer." 2 Towards 
 the end of the ninth century a " Life of Gregory " was written by 
 John the Deacon. To show how carefully charity was adminis- 
 tered under Gregory's supervision, I may, from this " Life," 
 quote the following : " There exists to this day, in the most 
 holy archives of the Lateran Palace, a very large paper volume, 
 compiled in Gregory's times, wherein the names of all persons 
 of either sex, of all ages and professions, both at Rome and in 
 the suburbs, in the neighbouring towns and even in the distant 
 cities on the coast, are set down, together with details concern- 
 ing their family names, their ages, and the payments which they 
 received." 3 Gregory was evidently a believer in the value of a 
 very complete speculum gregis. It would be well if the clergy 
 to-day generally held the same opinion. In Gregory's case it 
 must have been exceptionally difficult to keep such a list ; 
 indeed, it can only have been done through a very perfectly 
 organized system. One charge cannot be made against Gregory 
 that in his care for the temporal wants of his people, he neglected 
 their spiritual welfare. To deal with this is beside my purpose. 
 It must suffice to say that no man ever laid greater stress upon 
 the teaching office of the pastor, and no man ever carried out 
 this part of his work more assiduously. The preaching alone, 
 which Gregory seems to have done, would have severely taxed 
 the energies of an ordinary man. 1 
 
 I do not lay stress upon Gregory's methods of administrating 
 charity. Certainly I do not wish my readers to infer that those 
 
 1 Dudden, vol. i., p. 249. 
 
 2 Job. Diac., " Vita," Dudden, vol. i., p. 249. Such a list was known as a 
 tnatncula, which is thus defined : " Matricula dicebatur canon seu liber in quo 
 descripti erant qui ecclesiae sumptibus alebantur." 
 
 3 Certainly Gregory could not be accused of separating the " spiritual 
 work " and " social work " of the Church.
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 31 
 
 methods (apart from their qualities of thoroughness and conscien- 
 tiousness) would be the best and most suitable in the conditions 
 of the present. What I would urge is, that Gregory represents 
 to us a very high level of a conscientious discharge of a primary 
 Christian responsibility. He shows what a really earnest 
 Christian (who was also a great Churchman) considered to be 
 his duty towards the poor. Undoubtedly the conduct of men 
 like Gregory made a wonderful appeal both to the old nations 
 and to the new. It showed them that the discharge of human 
 relationships (in the best sense of the word " human ") was an 
 essential part of Christian life and conduct. While Gregory's 
 motives were intensely philanthropic, at the same time they 
 were based on a deep conviction of Christian truth, and that 
 belief in this truth involved a certain definite line of Christian 
 conduct. Gregory's work among the poor was a natural issue 
 of his belief in the binding authority of Christ's command, 
 "Give ye them to eat," and of his acceptance of Christ's own 
 test, " By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if 
 ye have love one to another." 
 
 For another reason Gregory's work is not only of great 
 interest, but of still greater importance. To him, more than to 
 anyone else, was due the commanding position and influence of 
 the papacy during the Middle Ages. Gregory neither coveted 
 nor seized the position of supremacy which he occupied. 1 It 
 fell to him because he was the only man at the time who was 
 qualified to occupy it. Gregory (who had been an imperial 
 official) took over, and with him the Church took over, many of 
 the duties and responsibilities, and also not a few of the ideas, 
 of the Empire ; 2 and those duties and ideas did not cease to be 
 connected with the papacy when Gregory passed away. They 
 were originally attached to the man ; they became attached to 
 the office. When Gregory gave food to the starving citizens of 
 Rome, he was, as I have already showed (if from a very different 
 
 1 Dudden, vol. i., p. 225, where are also given the authorities for this 
 statement. 
 
 2 Fairbairn, " Catholicism, Roman and Anglican," p. 190^ seq.
 
 32 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 motive), only doing what the Emperors had done when they 
 distributed the annona civica to the //<?&$; also the gifts obtain- 
 able at the deaconries were, in fact, a continuation of the sportula, 
 which for centuries had been distributed, first by rich patrons 
 to their clients, and then by the officials of the Emperors. 
 
 With the death of Gregory, in A.D. 604, we enter the Middle 
 Ages. From this point to the crowning of Charlemagne, in 
 A.D. 800, is a period of all but two hundred years. It was a 
 rough and turbulent period, and, more than most ages, it was 
 one of rapid transition. The difficulty in forming a clear con- 
 ception of this period arises from that of keeping in view at 
 once the various movements which were at work in so many 
 lands e.g., in Italy, in Gaul, in Germany, and in Great Britain. 1 
 In Italy it witnessed the struggle between the Lombards and 
 the relics of the Empire, a struggle into which, later, the Franks 
 entered as allies of the Pope, 2 and with far-reaching consequences 
 for the future. In Gaul and Western Germany we see the 
 amalgamation between the old civilization and the new Teutonic 
 nations rapidly taking place. In England there was a constant 
 struggle between Christianity and heathenism ; while, on the 
 borders of the Empire, the work of Christian Missionaries was 
 being actively pursued. This period also covered the rise of 
 Mohammedanism and the Saracenic wars and conquests in 
 Europe. 
 
 In connection with our present subject, the period is one of 
 considerable interest, though, from the different and constantly 
 changing conditions existing in various parts of Western Europe, 
 it is difficult in a brief compass to describe the way in which the 
 Church during this age dealt with the problem of the poor. 
 Very considerable changes were taking place in the structure of 
 
 1 A brief but clear outline of movements and events during this period 
 will be found in the late Dean Church's " The Beginning of the Middle 
 Ages." The subject of the relief of the poor during this age is treated in 
 Ratzinger's " Geschichte der Kirchlichen Armenpflege," part ii. (this book 
 has not been translated into English). Also much may be learnt from 
 Professor Loch's " Charity and Social Life." 
 
 2 See Church, p. 92.
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 33 
 
 society ; for instance, personal slavery was disappearing under 
 a system of organized social dependence. 1 Tribal custom, which 
 was due to the Teutonic races, was in Western Europe taking 
 the place of the social system which had existed under the 
 Empire. Then, issuing from tribal custom, we find the first 
 traces of the "manor" (which was in theory a self-supporting 
 social unit) 2 and the beginnings of feudalism (which arose out 
 of a movement for the protection and maintenance of the settled 
 labourers or coloni}? Both the manorial system and feudalism 
 arose out of the division of the Roman Empire among the great 
 proprietors. The coloni, who were originally the small cultiva- 
 tors, became, largely on account of their poverty, serfs, holding 
 their land subject to the payment of certain dues. On the other 
 hand, the great proprietors, upon whose estates these worked, 
 became, at any rate to a certain extent, responsible for their 
 maintenance. 
 
 During this period, also, we see a development of the parish 
 (as we understand the term) out of the diocese, which was, of 
 course, originally the parish of the bishop. 4 In connection with 
 this particular development arise the much-debated questions of 
 the origin and allocation of tithe questions which are of very 
 practical interest at the present time. 5 Again, during these two 
 centuries we see a further growth of the monastic system, which, 
 as it grew, provided more and more institutional relief. 
 
 Thus in this age we see at least traces of the three systems 
 of relief of the poor, which, if in a very different form, are still in 
 existence. Under the manorial system there is a relief, or at 
 least a responsibility for relief, which is either unconnected or 
 very indirectly connected with the Church ; from the parochial 
 tithe and other Church funds we have what is termed to-day 
 " home aliment " ; while in the monastic system we have at 
 least a measure of " institutional " relief. Doubtless then, as 
 to-day, there was frequently an overlapping in the case of the 
 
 1 See Loch, chap. xxi. 2 Ibid., p. 267. 3 Ibid., p. 239. 
 
 4 Hatch, "The Growth of Church Institutions," pp. 81, 82; Ratzinger, 
 p. 199. 
 
 5 Hatch, p. 101 et seq. 
 
 3
 
 34 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 first two of these three systems, or probably, as at the present 
 time, the relief which was imposed by law had frequently to be 
 supplemented by relief from the funds of the Church. 
 
 As time went on we find the monasteries encroaching more 
 and more upon the parish, and especially upon the funds of the 
 parish. In a variety of ways they became possessors of a large 
 share of the parochial tithes which were originally designed, 
 among other purposes, for the relief of the poor. 1 At the dis- 
 solution of the monasteries this part of their wealth, with the 
 rest of their possessions, fell into the hands of powerful laymen, 
 and thus property originally bequeathed to the poor was finally 
 alienated from them. 
 
 The care of the poor in this, as in other ages, depended to a 
 great extent upon the general level of the spirituality of the 
 Church's life, and most frequently upon the reality of the 
 Christianity of those in high places of authority in the Church. 
 In England these two centuries form, on the whole, a bright 
 epoch in Church history ; in France the opposite seems to have 
 been the case. Certainly under the Merovingian Dynasty the 
 Church appears to have sunk to an extremely low ebb of spiritu- 
 ality. 2 Where this takes place we frequently find that the love of 
 money, or the desire to become rich, also exists ; consequently we 
 are not surprised to find that very often property, which was left 
 for the relief of the poor, was appropriated to the enrichment of 
 the clergy. 
 
 With the accession of Charlemagne a great change took 
 place in the wide kingdom over which he ruled, and to which 
 he added by many conquests. 3 He was at once a great soldier, 
 a great statesman, and a great social and ecclesiastical reformer. 
 Rarely, if ever, have the affairs of Church and State been so 
 interwoven as they were under him. Charlemagne was especi- 
 ally a great administrator ; he looked for diligence and justice in 
 administration from all those occupying posts of responsibility, 
 
 1 " By Acts of Richard II. and Henry IV. it was enacted that if parochial 
 tithes were appropriated to a monastery, a portion of them should be assigned 
 to the poor of the parish " (Loch, p. 272). 
 
 2 Ratzinger, p. 189 et seq. 3 Ibid., p. 197.
 
 FROM CONSTANTINE TO CHARLEMAGNE 35 
 
 whether they were dukes governing provinces, bishops oversee- 
 ing dioceses, or rulers of various cities. In his " capitularies " 
 we have a great body of evidence of the oversight which he 
 exercised upon matters of every description, both civil and eccle- 
 siastical. 1 Many of these injunctions have reference to the use 
 of the Church's property and to the care of the poor. Neither 
 bishops, nor clergy, nor powerful laymen, were to rob the poor of 
 their just share of the possessions of the Church ; and these 
 possessions were to be free from burdens of State taxation. In 
 the case of rich churches, such as cathedral foundations, a 
 fourth part of their entire possessions was to be devoted to the 
 relief of the poor ; in the case of poorer churches a fourth part 
 of the tithe only was to be so expended. 2 Both bishops and 
 clergy were admonished to seek out the poor in their own 
 houses, to discover the causes of poverty, and to relieve the 
 same. 3 A roll of poor people was to be kept. Again, both 
 bishops and clergy were to share their table with the poor. A 
 wide interpretation was given to the New Testament command 
 that the householder must care for his family, which was held to 
 include all who were in any way attached or bound to the 
 estate. 4 For poor people who had no such connection, and who 
 were unable to provide for themselves, the Church must provide ; 
 also the education of orphans without protectors and of found- 
 lings fell to her. For the wandering poor the bishops and 
 clergy, as holders of the Church's " property for the poor," must 
 specially be held responsible ; the work-shy and the vagabond, 
 who could but would not work, must not be maintained, but 
 must be compelled to work. 5 
 
 1 Church, "The Beginning of the Middle Ages," p. 125 et seq. 
 
 1 Ratzinger, p. 201. 8 Ibid., p. 206. 
 
 4 From the " Capitulare de Villis Imperiabilis" : " Ut familia nostra bene 
 conservata sit, et a nemine in paupertatem missa." Ratzinger remarks upon 
 c. 45 : " Zu dieser familia zahlten auch die Handwerker aller Art." 
 
 6 Ratzinger, p. 208.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 i. The Conditions. 
 
 THE great Empire founded by Charlemagne did not long 
 outlive him. After the death of his son, Louis the Pious, 
 in A.D. 840, it rapidly fell to pieces ; and by the Treaty of Verdun, 
 in A.D. 843, was made that division of Western Europe which 
 in essence still exists to-day. 1 With the fall of the Empire of 
 Charlemagne, there also came to an end what we may term the 
 unity of the Church's social work ; in fact, since the days of 
 Charlemagne, the Church as a whole has issued no binding 
 decrees upon the relief of the poor. 2 From that time onwards 
 we cannot speak of this part of the Church's task in general 
 terms. Henceforward, to a certain extent, the way in which 
 she did her charitable work varied in different countries. Yet 
 amid these differences there were in each age certain common 
 features, at any rate down to the time of the Reformation. 
 These common features were due to certain prevailing ideas 
 which permeated the doctrinal and social teaching of the whole 
 Western Church in each particular period. 
 
 These facts must govern the treatment of our subject in the 
 present chapter, in which I propose first, to deal very briefly with 
 the general condition of the ninth and tenth centuries ; and 
 secondly, to try to explain the ideas of charity which then 
 inspired and ruled the method of dispensing it. 
 
 Speaking generally, the ninth and tenth centuries are among 
 the very darkest periods of the Church's history. This is 
 
 1 Church, " Middle Ages," p. 148 et seq. and p. 156 et seq. 
 
 1 Ratzinger, " Geschichte der Kirchlichen Armenpflege," p. 236. 
 
 36
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 37 
 
 especially true of France and Italy, and, if to a somewhat less 
 extent, it is also true of Germany ; it is certainly less true of 
 England. 1 During this period were repeated, in many ways, the 
 experiences which followed the break-up of the Western Empire 
 some 300 years before. In both ages we see authority passing out 
 of the hands of a central government into the hands of a multitude 
 of small chieftains, whose time was chiefly spent in quarrelling 
 with each other, and one of whose objects seems to have been 
 to oppress those over whom they ruled. Feudalism 2 grew 
 rapidly in the State, and something extremely like it flourished 
 in the Church ; for there were feudal bishops as well as feudal 
 barons, and the conduct of the bishops seems frequently to have 
 been even worse than that of the barons. 3 The care of the 
 poor was forgotten ; cleric and noble vied with one another in 
 sucking the life-blood from their wretched dependents. 4 Yet 
 even in this age there were lights in the darkness. " Side by 
 side with the proud and cruel warrior who, without mercy, 
 devastated the fields of the unhappy peasants, and heartlessly 
 squeezed the last penny from his tenants, stood here a monk, 
 there a priest, who burned with indignation and threatened with 
 an everlasting curse when his prayers for pity were of no avail. 
 If there were many bishops who used the great possessions of 
 the Church only to gratify their own lusts, there were still 
 many men who pitied the poor, espoused their cause, and 
 bestowed all they had upon their relief." 5 
 
 In a speech to the bishops assembled at a council near 
 Soissons in A.D. 909, the archbishop of Rheims drew a terribly 
 dark picture of the conditions then existing in France : " All 
 respect for Divine and human law has vanished . . . every man 
 does as he will ; the strong oppress the weak ; men have 
 become like the fishes in the sea which devour each other. . . . 
 Lawlessness chokes every kind of growth. . . . Everywhere 
 we see oppression of the poor and robbery of the Church. Con- 
 
 1 We must remember the work of Alfred, also of Dunstan. 
 3 Upon the effects of feudalism see Ratzinger, p. 236 et seq. 
 1 Milman, " Latin Christianity," vol. iii., p. 176 et seq. 
 * Ratzinger, p. 237. 5 Ibid.
 
 38 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 sequently the tears of the widows and the sobs of the orphans 
 constantly rise up to heaven." 1 For this state of things the 
 archbishop told the assembled bishops that they were them- 
 selves largely to blame. 
 
 In Germany, during this period, the same conditions to some 
 extent prevailed, though, as a whole, the Church there never 
 sank to so low a level as it did in France. While it suffered 
 from the evils of feudalism, it still retained the influences 
 bequeathed to it by men like Boniface and Alcuin. The 
 bishops, many of whom had been trained in the schools founded 
 by these great leaders, strove to maintain the regulations which 
 Charlemagne had established for the protection and relief of 
 the poor. 2 
 
 At a council held at Maintz in A.D. 847 it was decreed that 
 the tithe, which every Christian should pay to his parish church, 
 must be divided into four parts, of which one part must be 
 devoted to the relief of the poor. To the bishop was com- 
 mitted the task of the oversight of the administration of relief 
 throughout his diocese ; upon him was the responsibility of a 
 firm control laid. Laymen who were guilty of usurpation of the 
 Church's property were to be excommunicated. Also the king 
 was petitioned to interpose against the oppression of poor free- 
 men, and to defend the churches and their possessions as his 
 own property. At a parliament held at Maintz in A.D. 851 these 
 decrees of the council were promulgated as laws of the realm. 3 
 
 During this period Germany had to face serious troubles 
 upon her borders ; the Magyars on the one side, and the North- 
 men on another side, not only devastated the country, but also 
 burnt the churches and destroyed the monasteries. 4 
 
 In the tenth century, under the firm rule of the Saxon Kings, 
 the true founders of the German Empire, 5 we find a greatly 
 
 1 Ratzinger, pp. 241, 242. 
 
 2 " Es war ein hohes Gliick fur Deutschland, dass in seinem Episcopate 
 der Geist eines Bonifatius, eines Alcuin noch lange fortwirkte " (Ratzinger, 
 p. 250). 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 251. 4 Church, " Middle Ages," p. 184. 
 
 6 Church, ibid., p. 195 et seq. " Mit den sachsischen Kaisern beginnt 
 die Bliithezeit der deutschen Kirche " (Ratzinger, p. 252).
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 39 
 
 improved condition of the Church. At this time many of the 
 bishops were men not only of great influence in affairs of State, 
 but also men of real piety, who cared to the utmost of their 
 ability for the poor, saw to their needs, and frequently fed them 
 at their table and maintained them in their own houses. What 
 the bishops did in the large towns they directed the clergy to 
 do in their various parishes. From their income, derived from 
 tithes and oblations, they must support the poor and those 
 unable to work ; they must supply the needs of widows and 
 orphans ; they must also provide food and shelter for wayfarers. 
 Though the proportion of the income of the Church to be 
 devoted to the poor is not stated, it was probably that ordered 
 by Charlemagne. 1 A survey of this period gives the impression 
 that the bestowal of charity was becoming more and more a 
 matter of personal feeling indeed, of personal piety and that, 
 consequently, it was in practice less and less governed by any 
 general regulations. 2 This was almost inevitable, as we shall 
 find when we come to consider the ideas upon which the 
 bestowal of charity in this age in fact, throughout the Middle 
 Ages was based. 
 
 In order to understand how the poor were relieved in 
 England during this same period we must take a brief retro- 
 spect. One of the well-known questions which Augustine 
 addressed to Gregory the Great had reference to the distri- 
 bution of the Church's revenues. 3 Gregory's reply was that the 
 best scheme for distribution is that recommended by the Roman 
 See a fourfold partition between the bishop, the clergy, the 
 poor, and the repair of the church. 4 There is not sufficient 
 evidence to show how far this method of distribution was carried 
 out in practice in England ; but there is evidence to show that 
 certain differences did exist between the customs of Rome and 
 
 1 Ratzinger, p. 253. 
 
 2 Uhlhorn, " Die Christliche Liebesthatigkeit, im Mittelalter," p. 65 ; 
 " Es gehort zu den Eigentiimlichkeiten des Mittelalters, dass eine geordnete 
 Armenpflege iiberhaupt nicht kennt." 
 
 3 Bright, " Early English Church History," p. 56. 
 
 4 Greg. M. Epp., xii. 31.
 
 40 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 those of the old British Church in reference to the relief of the 
 poor. This was one among several matters upon which Arch- 
 bishop Theodore had to legislate. He appears to have removed 
 the distribution from the bishops to the parochial clergy 1 in 
 fact, to have arranged relief in England (as it was in France) 
 upon the parochial system. 2 Later we find that in England 
 practically the principles of Charlemagne were more or less 
 closely followed. The so-called excerptiones of Archbishop 
 Egbert are clearly a compilation from French capitularies and 
 from the decrees of French Councils. 3 The English system 
 probably owed much to scholars like Alcuin (the friend and 
 adviser of Charlemagne), who were perfectly familiar with 
 Continental methods. What seems quite clear is that in the 
 ninth and tenth centuries (with one important exception) the 
 system of poor relief associated with the name of Charlemagne 
 was that which was generally in force in our own country. The 
 exception to which I refer is that in England a third, and not, 
 as in France, a fourth, of the tithe was devoted to the relief of 
 the poor. 4 In the Liber legum Ecclesiasticarum there is an 
 instruction to the priest namely, that in his leisure-time he 
 shall do some useful work, in order that from the proceeds of 
 this he may be able to help the needy. 
 
 In England, as in France, the duty of relieving the poor 
 was not confined to the clergy. By the Constitutio of King 
 Athelstan the nobles are enjoined to care for the poor, and 
 especially shall each of these make himself responsible for the 
 maintenance of one poor person, and shall also annually redeem 
 one slave. If they failed to perform these duties they shall pay 
 a fine, which shall be devoted to relief. 5 
 
 In England there existed far into the Middle Ages a very 
 considerable amount of slavery, or, at any rate, conditions which 
 
 1 Ratzinger, p. 174. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid., p. 266. 
 
 4 " Canones jElfrici," 960, c. 24 : " Sancti patres constituerunt ut homines 
 tradaut decimas suas ecclesiae Dei et sacerdos veniat et distribuat in tres 
 partes : unam ad reparationem ecclesiae, secundam egenis, tertiam autera 
 Dei ministris, qui ecclesiae illius curam gerunt." See Additional Note. 
 
 6 Ratzinger, p. 267 (where the passage from the Constitutio regis ALthel- 
 stani is given at length).
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 41 
 
 can hardly be distinguished from slavery. Lingard considers 
 that prior to the Norman Conquest " not less than two-thirds 
 of the population existed in a state of slavery . . . the most 
 numerous of these lived on the land of their lord . . . and their 
 respective services were allotted according to the will of their 
 proprietor. . . . Their persons, families, and goods were at his 
 disposal . . . either by gift or sale." 1 For these the house- 
 holder was held responsible. In the case of men without an 
 owner, and who were unable to provide for themselves, it was 
 enacted by the laws of King Athelstan that " he must reside 
 with some householder, without whose surety he would not be 
 regarded as a member of the community nor be entitled to 
 its protection." 2 
 
 The Church in England, as on the Continent, had during 
 this age its periods of light and darkness, 3 of spiritual influence 
 and of the absence of this. At one time it so did its work as 
 to deserve respect ; at another time it sunk into a condition 
 of worldliness. But, at any rate after the reformation of 
 Dunstan, it probably never sank so low as it did elsewhere. 
 Ratzinger asserts that alone did the English Church maintain 
 throughout the Middle Ages the duty of relieving the poor, and 
 it alone held not only in theory, but in practice, that a portion 
 of its wealth should be devoted to this purpose. The possessions 
 of the Church in England during the Middle Ages, including 
 the tithes, never became the prey of a rapacious nobility. 4 
 
 2. The Doctrine of Charity. 
 
 We must now turn to a subject which demands very careful 
 consideration namely, What were the principles, ideas, or 
 beliefs which underlay and which inspired the charitable work 
 of the period we have been considering, and which, at any rate 
 
 1 Lingard, " History of England," vol. i., pp. 347, 353. 
 8 Nicholls, " History of the Poor Law," vol. i., p. 13. 
 
 3 " Die Englische Kirche erlebte ihre Bliithezeit in der zweiten Halfte der 
 9 Jahrhunderts. . . . Schrecklich ist die Schilderung, welche Konig Edgar 
 von der Verwilderung des Clerus entwirft " (Ratzinger, p. 268). 
 
 4 P. 269.
 
 42 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 to some extent, persisted until the Reformation ? That an 
 immense change had taken place in the principles which 
 governed the charitable work of the Church is clear to every 
 careful student of the subject. This change is to-day attributed 
 to the influence of "syncretism," 1 by which is meant the absorp- 
 tion into Christianity of elements more or less alien to its original 
 principles or conduct. The principal sources of this influence, 
 at any rate so far as the charitable work of the Church is con- 
 cerned, were two : first, that of Judaism, which was the earlier 
 influence ; secondly, that of ideas and practices generally current 
 in the Grseco-Roman world. These ideas and practices the 
 converts from the old religions (who were often very imperfect 
 converts) brought over with them into the Church's system. 
 
 When we speak of the influence of Judaism we must not 
 think only of the teaching of the Old Testament ; we must be 
 careful to include Jewish ideas current at the time of Christ 2 and 
 during the age preceding this ; also, we must remember the 
 ideas at work among the Jews in the period following that of 
 the New Testament. I must not dwell upon the teaching of 
 the Old Testament on the relief of the poor. Even a brief 
 outline of this would require a chapter to itself. But 1 must 
 insist upon the fact that this side of Jewish life was very 
 strongly developed in later Judaism ; actually it has continued 
 to be a marked feature of Judaism down to the present time. 3 
 We can trace this development in the later books of the Old 
 Testament, and especially in the Apocrypha. The word 
 tXeyfjioa-vvr) in the Greek version of the Old Testament, which 
 originally was used of the practice of works of mercy, had by 
 the time that the books of Sirach and Tobit were written come 
 to be a quite specific description of deeds of compassion to the 
 
 1 On this subject see the Epilogue to Book II. of Harnack's " Mission and 
 Expansion of Christianity," Eng. Trans., vol. i., p. 312 et seq. 
 
 2 In a recent lecture Professor Moffatt states that what he terms 
 " attention to the hinterland of rabbinic tradition " probably forms the most 
 fruitful field for further elucidation of the New Testament at the present 
 time. 
 
 * E.g., the Jewish Board of Guardians in London.
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 43 
 
 poor. 1 By the second or third century B.C. almsgiving had come 
 to be an acknowledged observance of the religious life, and 
 stood in the same category with prayer and fasting. 2 It is 
 regarded as a means of making atonement for sin, 3 and the 
 merit of it as an unfailing possession. In the Talmud the same 
 teaching is even more accentuated ; " righteousness " becomes 
 a recognized name for almsgiving, and by almsgiving a man 
 may be accounted righteous in the sight of God. From all this 
 it will be seen that the tendency is to think especially of the 
 effect of almsgiving upon the giver of the alms ; the effect upon 
 the recipient is secondary. This tendency proceeded so far as 
 to lead the Jews to speak of the poor as the means of the rich 
 man's salvation. The words of our Lord in St. Matt. vi. 
 2-4, while they may be said to accept the current value of 
 almsgiving as a religious practice or duty, give no countenance 
 to the Jewish doctrine that it effects any remission of sins, that 
 in the ordinary acceptation of the word it has any " propitiatory " 
 power. What our Lord does insist upon is purity of motive, 
 indifference to human praise, and the need of self-forgetfulness. 
 This last requisite is entirely inimical to the idea of propitiation, 
 which is essentially and to a high degree "self- regarding." 
 How strongly and how early the Jewish idea of the propitiatory 
 value of almsgiving entered the Church may be seen from these 
 
 1 See article on " Almsgiving," in Hastings' " Bib. Diet." (by Professor 
 Stanton), vol. i., pp. 68 et seq. ; also Hatch's " Essays in Biblical Greek," 
 p. 49 et seq. i.e., on SIKCUOO-W?? and eAe^oo-w??). A curiously far-fetched 
 interpretation is that of Ps. xvii. 15, where the Rabbis interpreted 
 8 b y " I sha11 behold Thy face by almsgiving." 
 
 . . . , 
 
 2 Tobit xii. 8 : dya#ov 7r/)o<revx*) ftera i/^crreias /ecu eAe?//)crw>/s KCU SIKCU<XTWT/S. 
 
 3 Sirach iii. 30 : 
 
 " Water will quench a flaming fire, 
 And almsgiving will make atonement for sin " 
 
 (fXermocn'vri tgiXda-erai ap.apria.<s. The Hebrew here has np"l') 
 Also Sirach xxix. 9-11 : 
 " Help a poor man for the commandment's sake ; 
 
 Bestow thy treasure according to the commandments of the Most High ; 
 And it shall profit thee more than gold." 
 
 Also Tobit xii. 9 : " Alms doth deliver from death, and it shall purge away 
 all sin."
 
 44 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 two sayings : " If there were no poor the greater part of your 
 sins would not be removed"; 1 and "By prayer we seek to 
 propitiate God, by fasting we extinguish the lusts of the flesh ; 
 by alms we redeem our sins." 2 In contrast to the Jewish self- 
 regarding doctrine which penetrated (and to a large extent 
 vitiated) the mediaeval theory of charity we may contrast the 
 wisdom of the teaching of the early Church where the words 
 "Give to him that asketh thee" are followed by "Woe to him 
 that taketh ; for if, indeed, anyone having need taketh he shall 
 be guiltless, but he that hath not need shall give account . . . 
 and being in distress shall be examined concerning the things 
 that he did." 8 
 
 When we speak of the influence of the Graeco-Roman world 
 upon Christian charity after the conversion of the Empire and 
 during the early Middle Ages, we must be careful to define our 
 meaning, for in those days as in these the practice of the com- 
 munity usually fell far below, and so was widely different from, 
 the principles of its clearest thinkers. If we go to teachers like 
 Aristotle among the Greeks, or to Cicero, Seneca, or Epictetus 
 among the Romans, we shall find excellent and extremely wise 
 principles enunciated upon a man's treatment of his poorer 
 neighbours. We shall find many a valuable axiom which 
 would come under the head not only of justice, but of charity, 
 or what the Latin would term de beneficiis.^ But this would be 
 in the realms of ideal ethics and philosophy. When, however, 
 we come to the sphere of actual practice we find something very 
 different. We find in Rome and other great cities an immense, 
 and to a great extent an indiscriminate, and therefore unwise, 
 distribution of free food, 5 just as there were free amusements. 
 When, as in the time of Gregory the Great, the Church had 
 become possessed of very considerable means, when, also, the 
 
 1 " St. Chrysostom," Homily xv. 
 
 2 " Leo the Great," Sermon xv. 4. 
 
 3 " The Teaching of the Twelve," cap. i. 5. 
 
 * On this subject much which will be found useful may be learnt from 
 Professor Loch's " Charity and Social Life," especially chaps, iv., ix., xii., 
 and xv. 
 
 5 E.g., The annona civica.
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 45 
 
 number of professing Christians had enormously increased, 
 and the poverty of the vast majority of the population had 
 become far more acute, can it be wondered that the Church took 
 over a great part of this free distribution of food from the State ? 
 Christianity is the religion of love. Could the Church see these 
 people starve ? Doubtless where there were men with the 
 organizing power of Gregory the Great, efforts would be made 
 to distribute charity as judiciously as was possible under the 
 circumstances ; but we can well understand that frequently this 
 distribution would be far from wise. Two effects inevitably 
 supervened : First, the Church felt a responsibility towards the 
 poor ; secondly, the poor learnt to look to the Church for 
 support ; and so, ultimately, the care of the poorer classes 
 became the charge of the Church. By its teaching the Church 
 strengthened the feeling of pity for those in need. But the 
 work at its best was simply one of palliation ; the Church 
 relieved poverty, but made no attempt to abolish it by attacking 
 its causes. Still, on the whole, good was done ; for even 
 indiscriminate almsgiving, if it created pauperism, was probably 
 better than dependence founded on a civic right to relief. For 
 the pauper stood higher than the slave ; the first was at least 
 free to support himself, which the second was not. 1 Rather by 
 its teaching, which made slave-holding by Christians impossible 
 though this reform was only very gradually carried out than 
 by any sound theory of charity and its distribution, the Church 
 prepared the way for better social conditions under which men 
 might learn the duty of doing all in their power to support 
 themselves and their families in independency of external help 
 whether civic or eleemosynary. 
 
 To understand the work of the Church for the poor, not only 
 during the Middle Ages, but indeed from its earliest days, it is 
 essential to gain at least some conception of the principles upon 
 which it was based that is, of the ideas which inspired it. These 
 principles have been grouped under the term " The Theory of 
 
 1 Loch, p. 234 et seq.
 
 46 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Charity," and the title is a useful, if not altogether a satis- 
 factory, one. 
 
 This " theory," or these principles, changed in process of 
 time, chiefly because Christian doctrine itself changed. I do 
 not imply that the practice of charity was always in strict agree- 
 ment with these principles, but undoubtedly the principles did 
 very greatly influence the practice. From time to time a 
 change of circumstances also demanded a change of practice. 
 It would not be quite true to speak of a " development " of this 
 theory, or even of " revisions " of it. By development we 
 generally mean a change from the less to the more perfect, from 
 an inferior to a superior condition. But this is not true either 
 of the change of Christian doctrine generally, or of the theory 
 of charity in particular, during the long period which stretches 
 from the Conversion of the Empire to the Reformation. In 
 many ways and at various times during this period Christian 
 doctrine departed further and further from the truth ; so also 
 did the principles of charity, which were commonly held, from 
 those which we believe to be correct. 
 
 The subject of changes in the principles underlying the 
 distribution of chanty is an extensive one, and I must confine 
 myself to the examination of two points : First, the growth 
 within the Church of the idea that almsgiving procured remis- 
 sion of sins ; secondly, the greatly increased proportion of 
 " institutional " relief through the hospitals and monasteries of 
 various kinds. 
 
 Traces of the idea that sins could be remitted by almsgiving 
 are found very early. By Origen it is held to be a means of 
 covering slighter transgressions ; but by Cyprian the doctrine is 
 clearly taught. 1 As Archbishop Benson says, "There can be 
 no better illustration than this teaching (in which a distinct 
 propitiatory value is assigned to our own action) of the com- 
 bined results in the development of doctrine, of resorting to the 
 Jewish Apocrypha, relying on a version, and constructing a 
 theory from a word. When this thread of erroneous, or at least 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, " Christian Charity in the Ancient Church," p. 211 et seq.
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 47 
 
 ambiguous, theory was presently woven in with Tertullian's new 
 forensic language on satisfaction being made to God by penance, 
 a commencement of much mediaeval trouble was at hand." 1 
 
 This teaching of the propitiatory value of almsgiving spread 
 rapidly. In the East we find it insisted upon by Chrysostom, 2 
 while in the West Ambrose, 3 Augustine, 4 and Gregory the 
 Great dwell strongly upon it. It became, in fact, an established 
 doctrine of the Church, and continued to be so throughout the 
 Middle Ages. Indeed, something not very different from it 
 goes far to vitiate much of our almsgiving at the present day. 
 I do not assert that English Church people give alms with the 
 same intention as that recommended by Chrysostom or Gregory 
 the Great; but far too often, from mental indolence i.e., from 
 a want of clear thinking, the duty or satisfaction of the giver 
 rather than the needs or the condition or the worthiness 
 of the recipient, is the deciding factor in an act of charity. 
 Too often we give simply because we " feel it our duty," or 
 because we do not like to refuse, or because public opinion 
 demands it, or in order to stifle the qualms of conscience. We 
 do not give because we have made a thorough investigation into 
 the circumstances and character and needs of those who appeal 
 for help, and because we feel we can and ought to give really 
 useful and substantial help in a particular way. To this extent 
 much of our giving to-day resembles that of the Middle Ages 
 it is rather " self- regarding "; instead of being like the giving 
 inculcated in the New Testament and practised in the earliest 
 age of the Church " other-regarding." 
 
 1 Archbishop Benson's footnote is as follows : " Such are distinctly the 
 sources of the idea : Sicut aqua (i.e., Baptism) extinguet ignem (i.e., gehenna) 
 sic eleemosyna extinguet peccatum (Sirach iii. 30), and again, Prov. xvi. 6 : 
 ' Misericordia et veritate redimitur iniquitas ' (xv. 27 : ' per misericordiam et 
 fidem purgantur peccata'), which, in the African version, was ' Eleemosynis 
 et fide delicta purgantur ' " (Archbishop Benson's " Cyprian," p. 249). 
 
 2 " With whatsoever sins thou mayest be burdened, thy charity out- 
 weighs them all " (Homily on " Penance," iii. i). " Let us purchase salvation 
 through alms " (Homily on " Penance," vii. 6). 
 
 3 " They who have kindled the flames by sinning, may extinguish them 
 by almsgiving" (" Sermo de Eleemosynis," c. 30, 31). 
 
 4 "Men are cleansed by alms from those sins and transgressions without 
 which life cannot be passed here below." (These are only a few of the 
 quotations given in Uhlhorn, p. 279 et seq.)
 
 48 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Arising in part from this doctrine of the propitiatory value 
 of almsgiving, but also due to one of the many survivals of 
 heathen customs which were taken over or absorbed by the 
 Church, there came into existence another source whence a 
 very considerable amount of money became available to the 
 Church for distribution to the poor. I refer to the idea that 
 almsgiving affects the sufferings of souls in purgatory. By the 
 time of Cyprian it was held that Masses could be offered for the 
 dead to their advantage. 1 Augustine adds the idea that alms 
 could be offered efficaciously for them. 2 Alms were also given 
 at funerals and on the anniversaries of deaths, in order that 
 their merit might avail for the deceased. We must remember 
 the reverence of the ancient world for the dead. Frequently, 
 among the heathen, money was bequeathed in order that the 
 grave might be decorated on the birthday of the one buried in 
 it, and in order that a feast might be held at it. 3 At such times 
 money was often distributed to the members of the collegium to 
 which the deceased had belonged or to his fellow citizens. The 
 Church so far changed this system as to substitute for the 
 banquet a celebration of the Mass, and directed that the money 
 should now be given to the poor. Hence the origin of endow- 
 ments for Masses for the dead, and of the custom of distributing 
 alms on the anniversary of a death. It is true that teachers 
 like Augustine and Gregory 4 are careful to maintain that only 
 those will be benefited who on earth have not been guilty of 
 great, but only of trivial, sins. But it will easily be understood 
 that in practice it was difficult to maintain this distinction. 
 When we say that these propitiatory means were not to be 
 used for those whose lives had plunged them into perdition, 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, p. 288. 
 
 2 " Neque negandum est defunctorum animas pietate suorum viventium 
 relevari, cum .pro illis sacrificium Mediatoris offertur, vel eleemosynae in 
 Ecclesia fiunt." But Augustine is careful to add : " Sed eis base prosunt, 
 qui cum viverent, ut haec sibi postea possint prodesse, meruerunt" 
 (" Enchiridion," c. no). 
 
 3 Uhlhorn, p. 290 et seq. 
 
 4 Who adduces i Cor. iii. n in support of this. Uhlhorn refers to 
 Greg. M. Dialog., iv. 39, 57.
 
 THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES 49 
 
 but had only sent them to purgatory, we can see how easy it 
 was to decide charitably, especially when money was much 
 needed both for the clergy and the poor. Salvian, in fact, 
 admits that almsgiving may help even the quite wicked, and 
 Augustine allows the possibility of a mitigation of perdition. 1 
 
 I have shown enough to prove how strong was the tempta- 
 tion to the Church (especially in such an hour of need as the 
 beginning of the Middle Ages) to succumb to the use of more 
 and more doubtful means for obtaining the resources which she 
 believed she needed. To that temptation she did, unfortunately, 
 succumb. And it was a case that, when once the principle had 
 been admitted, the applications became constantly wider and 
 more numerous. The results, so far as the moral life and moral 
 influence of the Church were concerned, were nothing less 
 than disastrous, and these results persisted to the time of the 
 Reformation. 
 
 The effects of the doctrinal teaching of the early Middle 
 Ages upon institutional relief I must defer to the next chapter. 
 
 1 Augustine's words are curious : " Pro valde malis, etramsi nulla sunt 
 adjumenta mortuorum, qualescunque vivorum consolationes sunt. Quibus 
 autem prosunt, aut ad hoc prosunt, ut sit plena remissio, aut certe ut toler- 
 abilior fiat ipsa damnatio" (" Enchirid.," c. no).
 
 V. 
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 i. Institutional Relief: The Hospitals and Monasteries. 
 
 r I ^HE greatest of all influences upon Christian doctrine 
 JL throughout the Middle Ages was undoubtedly that of 
 St. Augustine. His teaching had also an immense effect upon 
 the ideas of charity. Harnack shows quite clearly that it was as 
 a " reformer of piety " that Augustine's really greatest work was 
 done. 1 To understand the influence of Augustine upon the 
 medieval theory of charity it is necessary to notice the following 
 sequence of ideas 2 : Augustine starts from the thesis that love 
 or desire (amor or cupidd] is the strongest of all powers which 
 man can use in his efforts to assert or express himself an effort 
 which is implied in the very consciousness of life or possession of 
 vital energy. Next Augustine taught that the highest and 
 sweetest enjoyment (the object of love) was to be found in the 
 sense of the love of God (the Well of Life and the Fountain of 
 all Good), and therefore from the certainty of " grace." Now, 
 love, like faith, springs from God, for both are the means where- 
 by we enter into communion with God, and are enabled to 
 appropriate Him. Man's redemption through Christ Jesus 
 " takes place through grace and love, and in turn through faith 
 and love." In this process the part or action of love is humbly 
 to renounce all that is its own, and to long for God and His law. 
 
 1 " Augustine is in the first place to be estimated ... as a reformer of 
 Christian piety" (Harnack, " Hist, of Dogma," Eng. trans., vol. v., p. 67). 
 
 2 For a brief summary of Augustine's line of thought, see Loch, " Charity 
 and Social Life," p. 252 et seq. See also Harnack, " Das Monchthum, seine 
 Ideale und seine Geschichte," p. 36 et seq. 
 
 50
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 51 
 
 Moreover, the peace of God is shed upon the soul which has the 
 living God for its Friend. That which mars this Divine peace is 
 sin. And the misery of sin overcome by faith, humility, and 
 love, is Christian piety. In this temper the Christian must 
 live. 1 
 
 It will at once be seen that this doctrine was capable of wide 
 application. The direction of thought was introspective, and 
 turned the mind " towards hope, asceticism, and the contempla- 
 tion of God in worship." 2 Thus, by Augustine's doctrine a 
 high value was given to a life in which these three elements 
 were paramount. The first hope could not be connected with 
 any one form or expression of Christianity more than another ; 
 but for asceticism and the contemplation of God in worship 
 it was felt that the monastic life offered the fullest oppor- 
 tunity. 3 
 
 Hence in the early Middle Ages we witness an immense 
 growth in monasticism, and an attempt, generally successful, to 
 teach that the religious life and the monastic life were identical, 
 so much so that those living the monastic life were ultimately 
 regarded as " the religious " that is, those who attempted and 
 achieved a higher and more perfect form of Christianity than 
 those living in "the world." 4 Gradually all that was connected 
 with Christianity became more or less connected with monasticism, 
 and, among other Christian works or duties, that of charity or 
 the relief of the poor. Western monasticism did not in any way 
 owe its origin to Augustine, but undoubtedly in its rapid growth 
 it received an immense impetus from his teaching, and especially 
 from his conception of Christian piety. 
 
 I now propose to give a brief account of the work done by 
 
 1 See Harnack, ibid., vol. v., p. 71. 2 Loch, ibid., p. 253. 
 
 3 Upon the influence of Augustine upon Bernard, whom he terms 
 Augustinus redivivus, see Harnack, vol. vi., p. 10. How Bernard, and after 
 him Francis of Assisi, revived belief in the historical Christ must not be 
 forgotten. 
 
 4 On monasticism as a return to the aristocratic tendencies of the old world, 
 see Uhlhorn, " Charity in the Ancient Church," p. 340 et seq. ; also Harnack, 
 " Das Monchthum," p. 49 : " Das abendlandische Monchthum war bis zum 
 Schlusse des zwolften Jahrhunderts auch noch ganz wesentlich eine 
 aristokeratische Institution gewesen."
 
 52 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the Church for the poor through institutions (whether monastic 
 or otherwise) during the early Middle Ages. The subject is an 
 immense one, and all I can hope to do is to indicate the points 
 of chief importance. I may at once state that, certainly from the 
 fourth century, we see the system which to-day is termed 
 "institutional relief" carried on side by side with that which is 
 now known as "home aliment," and, at any rate so far as the 
 Church was concerned, gradually superseding it. 
 
 The earliest institutions for the relief of the poor were the 
 xenodochia literally, houses for strangers, but in which there 
 were frequently lodged all who needed an asylum: viz., travellers, 
 sick, widows, orphans ; indeed, practically all who suffered from 
 poverty or inability to maintain themselves. I cannot here deal 
 with the subject of pre-Christian hospices such, for instance, as 
 those connected with temples of .^Esculapius, 1 or Jewish inns at 
 which no money was taken. 2 I must confine myself strictly to 
 Christian institutions. 
 
 Some have considered that the xenodochia, or hospitals (in 
 the true, but not present, sense of the word), mark a downward 
 step in Christian charity. Much more probably they were an 
 attempt to cope with altered conditions and with new needs. 
 When Christians were few, so would be the number of these 
 requiring shelter and care. It would then be possible to provide 
 for such persons in the houses of bishops or private members 
 of the Church. 3 But when, after the conversion of the Empire 
 the number of Christians enormously increased it became 
 necessary to establish special institutions for them. Originally, 
 as I have already implied, the xenodochion sheltered people 
 needing help from various causes ; but later we find a variety 
 of institutions each devoted to a. special class of sufferers. 4 
 
 It is impossible to say when the first xenodochia were 
 founded. There seems to be no trustworthy evidence of their 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, p. 323. 2 Loch, p. 196. 3 i Tim. iii. 2. 
 
 4 In the Cod. Just., lib. i., tit. ii., 1. 22, we have, e.g., ptochotrophia, 
 orphanotrophia, gerontocomia, noscomia, brephotrophia, etc. Institutions 
 for the blind, the dumb, and for lunatics, also existed (Ratzinger, pp.
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 53 
 
 existence during the reign of Constantine. The first indubitable 
 proof that they did exist comes from the letter of Julian to 
 Arascius, in which Julian orders that a xenodochion shall be 
 established in every city, and for which he makes legal provision. 1 
 From the letter it appears to be clear that Julian was led to do 
 this by the examples of Christian xenodochia and ptochotrophia, 
 which then evidently existed widely. About A.D. 370 Basil 
 founded his famous hospital at Csesarea in Cappadocia, though 
 before that ptochotrophia existed there. Epiphanius tells of 
 them in Pontus, and when Chrysostom preached in Antioch 
 there was one there ; he himself founded two in Constantinople. 2 
 
 From the East the xenodochion passed over into the West, 
 and at first, even in Italy, the hospital was known by this 
 name rather than by the Latin terms kospitale or hospitium. 
 The first hospitals in the West are supposed to have been the 
 house for the sick founded by Fabiola in Rome, and the house 
 for strangers established by Pammachius at Portus (Oporto). 
 But they did not multiply in the West as they did in the East. 
 There were no xenodochia in Milan during the bishopric of 
 Ambrose, and Augustine mentions them as a novelty ; Pope 
 Symmachus founded three, and Belisarius founded and endowed 
 one in Rome. In Gaul they existed by the middle of the sixth 
 century, and a little later "a home for strangers and the poor 
 was reckoned among necessary ecclesiastical arrangements." 8 
 It is interesting to notice that according to the plan of Basil 
 the xenodochion was not to be merely a refuge for the wayfarer 
 and the sick ; it was also to be an asylum for the workless. It 
 was actually to combine the idea of the hospital and the work- 
 house in the fullest sense of the latter word. 4 
 
 At first, whether founded by the bishop himself or by lay- 
 people, the xenodochion was strictly under the personal control 
 of the bishop of the diocese. He chose the superintendent, 
 who was a priest, and laid down stringent rules with regard to 
 both the receipts and the expenditure. Upon the bishop also lay 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, p. 326. 2 Ibid., p. 327. 3 Ibid., p. 329. 
 
 4 Ratzinger, " Armenpflege," p. 142 : " Er wollte ... die Idee eines 
 Hospitals mit der eines Arbeitshauses combiniren."
 
 54 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the responsibility of protecting the property of the institution. 
 The care of the sick was entrusted to deaconesses and widows, 
 who were maintained by the Church. There were also 
 frequently lay-brothers who gave assistance, and physicians 
 were not wanting. 1 In the East one class of helpers in con- 
 nection with the xenodochia were the Parabolani, whose duty 
 was to seek out the sick and suffering and to bring them in ; 
 then there were the Copiates, who buried the dead. 2 There 
 were also some who sought to atone for former sins by 
 gratuitously serving in these hospitals. 
 
 Before proceeding to consider the monastery, as the other 
 great institution for the relief of the poor, I may notice that 
 between the xenodochion, or hospital, and the monastery there 
 were many connections and similarities ; indeed, the two institu- 
 tions were frequently found in combination. Each revealed 
 features of the other. 3 Those who ministered in the xenodochia 
 generally lived a monastic life, and Gregory the Great goes so 
 far as to require that only the religiosi (i.e., monks) should be 
 chosen as presidents of the hospitals. 4 Another point of con- 
 nection lies here : both classes of institutions gradually escaped 
 from episcopal control. They became more and more inde- 
 pendent, and only subject to the Pope or the King or to the 
 heads and members of their Order. Further, both hospitals 
 and monasteries began to place themselves under some common 
 rule and to become members of some common Order. From 
 these various reasons they were able to become more inde- 
 pendent channels of relief, and frequently the means at their 
 command for dispensing this were far greater than either those 
 of the bishop or of the parochial clergy. 5 
 
 I have no intention of dealing with the subject of monasti- 
 cism generally 6 ; I am only concerned with it as an instrument 
 
 1 Ratzinger, p. 145, who quotes Hafer: " Auch in diesem Zeitraume gab 
 es unter den Presbytern viele tiichtige Aerzte." 
 
 2 Uhlhorn, p. 335. 3 Ibid., p. 336. * Ibid., p. 337. 5 Ibid., p. 338. 
 
 e One of the ablest and most judicious examinations of the whole subject 
 will be found in Professor Harnack's lecture, " Das Monchthum, seine 
 Ideale und seine Geschichte."
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 55 
 
 for the relief of the poor. Two points I have already made 
 clear : First, that the changes in doctrine due to Augustine and 
 others ministered to its growth, because they put a high value 
 on those virtues which were specially the product of the 
 monastic life, or could be best cultivated by that life ; secondly, 
 because, in the rough times which followed the break-up of the 
 old Empire, undoubtedly the monasteries did a work which no 
 other institution, so far as we can see, could have done ; they 
 met an urgent need. 
 
 One most valuable service which the monasteries rendered 
 should never be forgotten. They emphasized the obligation of 
 work. 1 In this they were entirely true to the teaching of the 
 New Testament. 2 The old world, with its aristocratic tenden- 
 cies, had despised manual labour of almost every kind. It 
 regarded it as a painful necessity, which whenever possible 
 should be delegated to others who could support themselves in 
 no other way. To work was the avocation of the slave, not of 
 the free man indeed, not of anyone who could in any way escape 
 doing it. 
 
 The monasteries were the birthplaces of free labour. 3 In 
 them was first asserted that the practice of work was ah 
 evidence of Christian life. In Holy Scripture, as is well known, 
 work and benevolence are connected ; the one found the means 
 for the other. 4 So it was in the monasteries. We must not 
 imagine that their endowments, furnished by others, were the sole 
 source of the wealth of the monasteries. These certainly were 
 often great ; but where, as in the monasteries, we find diligent 
 work combined with considerable skill, there wealth generally 
 increases. Then, in the monasteries there was work in com- 
 bination ; we may say that they were the earliest co-operative 
 associations. Basil in his rules for monks clearly states that it 
 
 1 Ratzinger, p. 146 et seq. 2 i Thess. iv. n ; 2 Thess. iii. 8, n. 
 
 3 " Entstanden in der absterbenden romischen Welt die Klostergemeinden, 
 in welchen die beiden grossen Principien der freien Arbeit und der Verwer- 
 thung des Besitzes im Dienste Aller ihre Verwirklichung fanden " (Ratzinger, 
 ibid.). 
 
 4 Eph. iv. 28.
 
 56 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 is among the duties of a monk to work l ; he further states that 
 the chief object of his work must be to support the needy. 2 
 His directions as to the kind of work to be chosen are emi- 
 nently practical. The monks must think what kind of raw 
 material can be most easily procured in the neighbourhood, and 
 they must try to make what will command a ready sale. 3 
 Augustine wrote a book on " The Work of Monks." According 
 to the Rule of St. Benedict, the day began with four hours of 
 work ; after dinner there was a time of rest, then work until 
 supper, and after supper more work. The diet of the monks 
 was to be regulated according to the amount of hard work to be 
 done. The monks, of course, were great cultivators ; they were 
 excellent agriculturists, and in those days, besides there being 
 immense tracts of land which needed to be brought into cultiva- 
 tion, there was also, especially in France, much land which 
 during troublous times had become almost a desert and required 
 to be recultivated. 4 From the monks the new nations learnt 
 both agriculture and handicraft. Lastly, according to the Rule 
 of St. Benedict, among other works to which a monk was par- 
 ticularly to devote himself was that of philanthropy 5 ; having 
 provided the means for this, he must expend those means 
 upon it. Work in the monasteries was also sometimes 
 regarded as a moral restorative, as not merely a sign of peni- 
 tence, but as a means of expiation and forgiveness. 6 It was 
 even regarded as more important than fasting. If fasting 
 hindered work, then fasting must give way. 7 We must also 
 remember that the monastery was the home of " common pos- 
 session." 8 Thus, at least ideally, the monastic life was a safe- 
 guard against covetousness. A well-regulated monastery was 
 
 1 "In der Regel des hi. Basilius bildet die Arbeit den Angelpunkt des 
 ganzen Monchlebens " (Ratzinger, p. 148). 
 
 2 Uhlhorn, " Christian Charity in the Ancient Church," p. 353. 
 s Ibid. 
 
 4 " Sie roden Walder aus, sie schaffen Wusteneien zu Ackerland " 
 (Harnack, " Das Monchthum," p. 41). 
 
 5 Uhlhorn, p. 359. 
 
 6 " Als sittlicher Beruf und als Mittel der Busse, Siihne, und Erlosung " 
 (Ratzinger, p. 147). 
 
 7 Basil, Regul. 38. 8 Ratzinger, p. 148.
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 57 
 
 an enormous boon to the district surrounding it sometimes, 
 indeed, to those living far away, for cases are on record where 
 not only money, but even supplies of such necessaries as corn, 
 were sent long distances to those in need. 1 One of the most 
 effectual ways of helping the poor is by providing education for 
 their children. The monasteries did a great work in this way. 2 
 Connected with, or rather as part of, them there was generally 
 a school in which many a poor boy obtained the learning which 
 afterwards enabled him to live a life of usefulness, and not infre- 
 quently to rise to a position of eminence. In the nunneries girls 
 were also taught much that was useful to them in later years. 3 
 Then, there can be no doubt that the best monks and the best- 
 organized monasteries (as communities) exercised an immense 
 influence through the examples of "spiritual heroism" which 
 they exhibited, and the power of a community which has risen 
 to this level is always greater than the power exercised by even 
 a number of independent individuals. 4 
 
 One cause of the enlarged power of the monasteries to help 
 the poor must not be forgotten. During the rough ages of 
 feudalism undoubtedly much robbery of the funds of parish 
 churches took place. 5 Feudal barons, and even feudal bishops, 
 were guilty of this crime. When strong ecclesiastical rulers 
 arose, they compelled these to disgorge at least a portion of 
 their ill-gotten gains. But very frequently what they gave up 
 was bestowed upon the monasteries rather than upon the 
 parishes. 6 For this course the following reason was given : 
 By "the poor" for whose support, according to the ancient 
 custom of the Church, a portion of the Church's wealth should 
 be devoted was meant, not the poor people in the parishes, but 
 the monks and nuns, who for the Gospel's sake had renounced 
 all, and had "for Christ's sake become poor." They are the 
 true pauperes Christi. 1 This was the theory maintained in the 
 
 1 Uhlhorn, p. 359. 
 
 2 Both Basil and Chrysostom lay stress on this. 
 
 3 Ratzinger, p. 150 (who quotes Augustine for this). 
 
 * Ratzinger, p. 151. 5 Ibid., p. 282. 6 Ibid. 
 
 7 Ibid. (Ratzinger gives the authorities for this).
 
 58 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 False Decretals, which, in spite of their origin, exercised an 
 immense influence over the customs of the Church. 1 Peter the 
 Venerable, Abbot of Clugny, appealed to the practical advantages 
 of the change : " Who is best entitled to the gifts of the faithful, 
 the monks who constantly pray to God on behalf of sinners, or 
 the worldly clergy, who, as one sees, expend all their energies 
 on the increase of their possessions and entirely neglect the 
 care of souls?" 2 It must not be inferred that the poor always 
 ultimately suffered. It was not that the final disposition or 
 object of the Church's wealth was altogether changed ; what 
 was altered was the channel through which it was dispensed. 
 For a considerable period (except perhaps in England) 3 relief 
 of the poor through the parochial clergy practically ceased ; 
 it became the work of the monasteries. Ratzinger states that 
 in the Decretal of Gratian, " which from the middle of the 
 twelfth century was regarded as a standard handbook in the 
 Church," there is no mention of any recognized system of relief 
 other than monastic. 4 One result of this neglect was an 
 enormous increase of mendicancy, to check which many 
 attempts were made, but without much result. 5 This is an 
 instance of an experience of which the history of poor relief 
 furnishes only too many examples namely, that every change 
 of system falls heavily for a time upon some particular class. 
 Undoubtedly, the dissolution of the monasteries at the time of 
 the Reformation increased, at least temporarily, the amount of 
 extreme poverty. This was again the case, at least for a few 
 years, after the enactment of the " New" Poor Law in 1834. 
 
 1 Upon " The False Decretals," see Milman, " Latin Christianity," 
 vol. iii., p. 190 et seq. 
 3 Ratzinger, p. 282. 
 
 3 Upon this Ratzinger is very positive : " In England erhielt sich das 
 ganze Mittelalter hindurch die kirchliche Gemeinde-Armenpflege, wie sie 
 im karolingische Zeitalter geordnet worden war " (p. 421 ; see also authorities 
 quoted). 
 
 4 " In dem Decretum Gratiani . . . findet sich keine Spur mehr von einer 
 geordneten kirchlichen Armenpflege " (Ratzinger, p. 305 et seq.). 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 307.
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 59 
 
 2. St. Francis of Assist : The Mendicants. 
 
 There was one movement in the later Middle Ages which 
 had far-reaching consequences, and to which more than a 
 passing reference must be made, though actually this movement 
 had, on the whole, far less direct connection with our present 
 subject than is generally supposed. 1 I refer to the work of the 
 mendicant Orders, and especially to that of St. Francis of 
 Assisi. In his work some of the most dominating ideas of the 
 Middle Ages, both theological and social, find their clearest 
 expression. Francis, like Augustine, was a " reformer of piety." 
 It is his conception of the Christian life, founded upon certain 
 doctrines in which the true and the false were strangely 
 blended that is the key to his work and that of his followers. 2 
 Actually to understand this conception, we ought to go behind 
 Francis to St. Bernard and his teaching of " humility before 
 God and love to the sorely suffering Redeemer." But it was 
 in Francis, as it has been well said, that "the chord humility, 
 love, and obedience was struck with the greatest purity, while 
 the tone which he lent to it was the most melting." We have 
 already seen the high estimate attached (at least in theory) to 
 poverty throughout the Middle Ages. In fact, there is almost 
 an assumption that poverty and righteousness are necessarily 
 allied. A natural consequence of this was the extreme sanctity 
 attributed to voluntary poverty. But the doctrine had another 
 and very evil issue. As poverty was a state to be admired, 
 it was not a condition to be abolished. Endless efforts were 
 made to relieve it, to mitigate its sufferings, but none to remove 
 its causes. It is upon the philanthropy of St. Francis that 
 stress is usually laid ; but it is to his theology that we should 
 
 1 The Friars were primarily preachers ; they produced the great thinkers 
 and theologians of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries ; they gave a new 
 impetus to science and art, also to politics. In this connection, Dr. Work- 
 man points out that " In the coming of the friars, to a lesser extent also in 
 the earlier monastic movement, we note the most successful effort ever made 
 towards constructive socialism " (" Christ and Civilization," p. 296). 
 
 2 Harnack, " History of Dogma," vol. vi., p. 85 et seq. (Harnack points 
 out how Sabatier's charming " Life of St. Francis " needs to be read with 
 discriminating criticism.)
 
 60 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 rather pay attention, for this is the true key to his conduct. 
 The central ideal of St. Francis was " imitation of the poor life 
 of Jesus," but poverty meant more than this ; it meant imitation 
 of the apostolic life, "the life of the pilgrim preacher." It 
 meant the life of service, issuing in warm compassion and in 
 self-abasement, expressed in preaching repentance, but also in 
 deeds of mercy of very various kinds. 1 
 
 Both to the student of history and to the student of social 
 science, the life and method of St. Francis are full of interest. 
 From him we learn both what to cultivate and of what to beware. 
 His teaching is full of paradoxes, which are ever the danger of 
 extremists. While he revived the truth of the value of the 
 individual, he (as Bishop Westcott points out) destroyed indi- 
 viduality. 2 He ignored the truth which every scientifically- 
 minded philanthropist realizes, that it is not in the destruction of 
 individuality, but in its purification and transformation, in awak- 
 ening it to a nobler energy and a keener sense of responsibility, 
 that hope lies. The imperfect, or perhaps rather disproportion- 
 ate, creed of St. Francis had one fatal result : " The tender 
 devotion of Francis to the Lord's manhood became the occasion 
 of grievous error. Everything that is compassionate in the 
 character of the Lord was separated from His sovereign 
 righteousness." 3 If in our dealings with the poor we forget 
 that these two cannot be separated, our work is doomed to 
 failure. I have seen case after case ruined because together 
 with sympathy for suffering and help in distress there did not 
 go a demand for the fulfilment of the law of righteousness. In 
 spite of his wonderful powers of humility, sympathy, self-sacrifice, 
 and faith, the work of Francis, if measured by the test of per- 
 manently benefiting the condition of the poor, cannot be pro- 
 nounced a success. 
 
 1 Harnack, vol. vi., p. 85. 
 
 2 " Social Aspects of Christianity," p. 109 et seq. Bishop Westcott also 
 points out how Francis " disregarded also the Divine office of nations for the 
 race. He strove ... to seize the conception of humanity without recognizing 
 the form of life through which God is pleased to reveal to us the rich fulness 
 of the whole" (p. no). 
 
 3 Westcott, ibid., p. in.
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 61 
 
 If Francis of Assisi represents the highest point reached in 
 the Middle Ages in charity on its active and practical, we might 
 also add on its emotional, side, it is Thomas Aquinas, the great 
 Dominican, who has bequeathed to us the completest exposition 
 of the theory of medieval charity. 1 To him alms are the instru- 
 ment of pity, and their effects are tested by the recipient being 
 moved to pray for the benefactor. The gift should simply meet 
 the actual necessities of the recipient. He seems to hold it is 
 better to give a little to many rather than much to one. Thomas 
 (though an Aristotelian) does not press the importance of pur- 
 pose in the giver, and he forgets " that gifts without purpose and 
 reciprocity foster the dependence they are designed to meet." 2 
 To Thomas there are seven spiritual acts to counsel, sustain, 
 teach, console, save, pardon, and pray ; there are also seven 
 corporal acts to clothe, to give drink to, to feed, to free from 
 prison, to shelter, to assist in sickness, and to bury. These of 
 course became "good works"; they availed, as boons after this 
 life, and later became connected with indulgences. 3 With him, 
 as with other medieval teachers, the benefit of almsgiving is 
 primarily to the donor ; the deed itself, and not its usefulness or 
 results, is the first consideration. " An extreme inducement is 
 placed on giving . . . but none on the personaLor social utility 
 of the gift." In all this we can see that the social aims and 
 social purposes of charity were ignored, and thus its power for 
 good was neutralized. 
 
 Before closing this chapter I will attempt to gather up the 
 lessons to be learnt from a study of the spirit and methods of 
 charity during the Middle Ages. First, the Church's methods 
 were governed by the theology then dominant in other words, 
 by the religious views then current. Here, as always, doctrine 
 is the motive power of conduct. Throughout we find the con- 
 
 1 On the doctrinal position of Thomas, see Harnack, " History of Dogma," 
 vol. vi., p. 149 et seq. Many quotations from Thomas upon Charity will be 
 found in Ratzinger's footnotes, p. 381 et seq. Also see Loch, "Charity and 
 Social Life," p. 257 et seq. 
 
 2 Loch, p. 261. * Ibid., p. 262.
 
 62 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 viction that poverty in itself is a state to be honoured J ; it is not 
 a condition to be abolished, but to be relieved. There is never 
 any effort to remove its causes. If pauperism means dependence, 
 there is no organized attack upon pauperism. Then, we have 
 the gradual transference of poor relief from the parochial clergy 
 to the monastic institutions. From the tenth century onwards 
 except in England and in the case of the poor on the great estates, 
 for whom the owners of these were responsible the relief of dis- 
 tress was almost entirely the work of the monasteries and the 
 hospitals. It has been charged against the Church that she did 
 little to abolish slavery and serfdom. But we must remember 
 the conditions of the age, and that so long as serfdom existed 
 there was secured to the serf at least the means of subsistence. 
 The Church, with her immense estates, was probably the 
 largest serf- holder, and there is evidence to show that her serfs 
 were generally far better treated than those of lay proprietors. 2 
 Great as some of the evils connected with the system undoubtedly 
 were, we may question whether in its practical working 
 medieval serfdom was quite so evil as it seems to us to-day. 
 '' We may well doubt whether the landless peasantry of modern 
 England, though nominally free, is in reality much better off 
 than the medieval villein whose land was secured to him by 
 custom." 3 
 
 The doctrine of almsgiving in the Middle Ages was weakest 
 from its strongly self-regarding aspect. But we must remember 
 that this evil is far from having wholly passed away. To-day there 
 
 1 " The Middle Ages unlike the twentieth century was not afraid of 
 poverty ; poverty was not the one evil of life which more than any other 
 must be shunned. So far from looking upon poverty as a crime or stigma, 
 the medieval Church erred rather in the opposite direction in elevating 
 poverty, provided it was voluntary, into the mark of saintliness. . . . The 
 Church of the Middle Ages was at least true to its Founder in refusing to 
 recognize the ideal of life in the successful millionaire " (Dr. Workman in 
 " Christ and Civilization," p. 301). 
 
 2 " The abolition of serfdom was hindered by the great number of serfs 
 attached to the estates of the Church. Many of these were originally free 
 peasants who had bartered their liberty for the greater security and protec- 
 tion which the spiritual overlord could give them " (Dr. Workman in 
 " Christ and Civilization," p. 298). 
 
 Ibid.
 
 THE MIDDLE AGES 63 
 
 are thousands of people who give rather to salve their own 
 consciences than because (after having taken all possible trouble 
 to find out the real needs of those who ask assistance, and how 
 best to supply this) they are anxious to give the best help 
 they can. 
 
 Undoubtedly, medieval philanthropy came to its fairest 
 flower in the work of St. Francis of Assisi, and I may be charged 
 with having done far less than justice to the work which he and his 
 followers accomplished. But we must remember that the move- 
 ment very rapidly changed its character. At first, both in spirit and 
 method, it was intensely democratic. It took religion and charity 
 outside the monastery into the common life of the people. The 
 needs of the people were studied and supplied where they existed, 
 especially in the poorer quarters of the towns. This was well 
 But, on the other hand, the glorification of dependence preached by 
 Francis and his followers produced a rich crop of permanent evil. 
 It made begging more than ever a profession, and one to which 
 there should be no shame attached. Archbishop Trench, in 
 his " Lectures upon Medieval Church History," goes so far as to 
 assert that the want of self-respect still evinced in this matter 
 in certain parts of Europe is an inheritance from the followers 
 of St. Francis, and that, " little as he foresaw or intended this, 
 he did much to bequeath to those lands the eating sore of an 
 almost universal mendicancy." 1 Thus, the purest intentions 
 coupled with enthusiasm will not avail to promote the welfare of 
 the people where we find either ignorance or neglect of those laws 
 upon obedience to which social welfare permanently depends. 
 
 1 P. 246 et seq.
 
 VI. 
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 
 
 FROM the coming of the Friars to England, about A.D. 1224, 
 to the Reformation is almost exactly three hundred years. 
 This period is one of great interest ; but its adequate study, and 
 still more an adequate presentation of its leading features within 
 the space of a few pages, involves very considerable difficulties. 
 It witnessed certain social movements of great importance, and 
 writers upon the period are not entirely agreed as to the chief 
 causes of some of these. Of course, the sources of our informa- 
 tion for this epoch are far more full than are those for any 
 previous epoch which we have considered. Because my space 
 is limited, and because I wish to deal as clearly as I can with 
 the main features of this period, I shall confine myself almost 
 altogether to what took place in England, and to showing how 
 the Church in our own country attempted and unfortunately to 
 a great extent failed to meet the rapidly changing conditions 
 in the social life of the people. To form a just estimate of the 
 Church's work it is most important to have as clear as possible 
 an idea of those conditions. 
 
 The period is divided into two almost equal parts by the 
 " Black Death," which ravaged this country as it did others 
 about 1348-49, and by which it is estimated that between a 
 third and a half of the people of England perished. 1 The 
 economic results of this terrible scourge were immense. One 
 of these was naturally an immediate scarcity of labour, 2 
 
 1 Green, " Short History of English People," p. 241, says " more than 
 half"; Cunningham, "Western Civilization," p. 144, says, " about a half." 
 
 2 Preamble to "Statute of Labourers," 23 Edward III., A.D. 1349. 
 
 64
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 65 
 
 another was a very rapid rise in the price of food. 1 These 
 changes were not entirely due to the Black Death, because for 
 some time previous to this very considerable alterations had 
 been taking place in the manorial system for instance, many 
 of the serfs had already begun to pay a money commutation in 
 lieu of work ; in other words, they had commenced to pay rent 
 instead of rendering personal service. 2 After the Black Death 
 the peasants still desired to pay the same rent they had pre- 
 viously paid, but the landlords found that as prices had doubled 
 they could only hire labourers by paying them double wages. 
 This was probably the root cause of such movements as the 
 Peasants' Revolt ; the Poll Tax was only the match which 
 set fire to a seething mass of industrial discontent. Parlia- 
 ment, which at this time represented simply the interests of 
 the landlords, tried to interfere. It attempted to regulate wages 
 before it regulated prices. 3 Consequently the peasants found 
 they could not procure even food for the amount of wages 
 which Parliament tried to force them to accept. Another 
 method attempted by the landlords was to refuse commutation 
 payment i.e., rent in lieu of service ; but men who had once 
 tasted freedom would not be driven back into slavery. 
 
 Thus, as labour could not be obtained at the old rates, and 
 as service could not be re-exacted without violence and murder, 
 another plan must be tried : either new arrangements must be 
 made with labour, or less labour must be employed. Some 
 landowners granted land on lease to tenants for a rent, and then 
 the tenant had to find the labour. Here we have the origin of 
 the modern tenant-farmer, as a kind of middleman between the 
 landowner and the labourer. Other landowners found that, as 
 wool was growing in demand, sheep-farming paid better than 
 
 1 By an Act of 1363 an attempt was made to regulate the price of pro- 
 visions. 
 
 2 Meredith, " Economic History of England," pp. 43 et seq. ; Nicholls, 
 " History of the Poor Law," vol. L, pp. 30 et seq. See also Trevelyan, 
 " England in the Age of Wycliffe," p. 185. 
 
 3 The Statute of Labourers was passed in A.D. 1349, and amended in 
 1350-51, while prices seem to have been first regulated in 1363.
 
 66 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 arable farming, because much less labour was needed. 1 But 
 this meant that a large number of people were thrown out of 
 employment. The landowners also, for the purpose of increas- 
 ing pasturage for sheep, began to enclose common or waste 
 land on which the serfs had pastured their cattle ; this, again, 
 pressed heavily upon the poor. 2 
 
 Side by side with these movements among the peasantry, 
 there proceeded throughout this period many changes in town 
 life. The genesis and growth of the English town to which 
 we find no exact parallel in other countries is a most interesting 
 subject. 3 While the struggle of the townsmen for freedom and 
 self-government was on the whole peacefully effected in Eng- 
 land, on the Continent, especially on the Rhineland, it was 
 frequently marked by considerable bloodshed. Among the 
 many causes which contributed to the growth of the towns, two 
 stand pre-eminent : one being the development of trade, the 
 other being the desire for freedom. If a serf or villein could 
 prove a residence in a town of a year and a day, he therewith 
 became free of his owner. 4 Consequently the towns became a 
 refuge for very different kinds of characters, some of these 
 being very undesirable. The struggles between the original 
 inhabitants who owned land in the town and the people who 
 for various reasons flocked into the town, were frequently 
 severe. And it will easily be understood that in those days, 
 when scientific sanitation and the conditions of public health 
 were unknown, the poorer quarters of the towns became hot- 
 beds of sickness and misery. 5 In their earliest days the 
 Franciscan Friars did a noble work among the sick and the 
 
 1 The history of the English wool trade from the thirteenth century is 
 full of interest. SeeThorold Rogers, " Economic Interpretation of History," 
 pp. 9 et seq. 
 
 2 Meredith, "Economic of History of England," pp. 42 et seq., 115 
 et seq. This was the subject of legislation as early as the Statute of Merton 
 in A.D. 1235. 
 
 3 Meredith, op. cit., pp. 47 et seq. 
 * Nicholls, op. cit., vol. i., p. 64. 
 
 5 The death-rate from the Black Death was much greater in the towns 
 than in the country.
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 67 
 
 wretched ; and they generally fixed their houses among the 
 worst of the slums. Those who would understand the social 
 life and especially the social difficulties and evils of the thir- 
 teenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries must pay particular 
 attention to the conditions existing in the towns, and to the 
 changes which took place in these. I use the term "changes" 
 rather than "development" because there appears to have been 
 a diminution in the relative importance and influence of the 
 towns towards the end of the fifteenth century. 1 There seems 
 to have then arisen a tendency for manufacturing industries to 
 desert the towns for the country ; also it appears to have become 
 more difficult to induce substantial men to undertake the burdens 
 of municipal government. 2 
 
 One means whereby we may gain much insight into the 
 conditions of any period is by studying the various laws for 
 the correction of evils, the regulation of life, and the protection 
 of property enacted within it. A study of certain Acts of 
 Parliament passed during the period we are considering is 
 extremely instructive. I would now draw attention to a few of 
 these connected with our present subject, say from the middle 
 of the fourteenth century. By Acts passed in 1335 and 1350 
 for the freedom of buying and selling, 3 we have an assertion of 
 the great principle that privileges were not to be enjoyed by 
 one class to the injury of another. In 1349 we have the 
 celebrated " Statute of Labourers," by which, among other 
 things, it was enacted " that because many valiant beggars, as 
 long as they may live of begging, do refuse to labour, giving 
 themselves to idleness and vice . . . none, upon pain of im- 
 prisonment, shall, under the colour of pity or alms, give any- 
 thing to such which may labour, or presume to favour them in 
 their sloth, so that thereby they may be compelled to labour for 
 
 1 Meredith, op. cit., pp. 122, 123. The national consciousness grew, and 
 the nation rather than the town became the centre of interest. 
 
 2 Meredith, op. cit., pp. 123, 124. 
 
 3 By the Act of 1335 (9 Edward III.) it was enacted " that all merchants, 
 strangers, and denizens . . . may freely, without interruption, sell to what 
 persons it shall please them."
 
 68 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 their necessary living." Two points in reference to this statute 
 should be noticed : first, it is not prohibited to help those who 
 are not able to work ; secondly, no statutory provision is made 
 for these. 1 By the same law it was enacted that " no man pay, 
 or promise to pay, any servant any more wages, liveries, meed, 
 or salary than was wont " i.e., before the Great Plague ; also 
 it was further enacted that " butchers, fishmongers, hostelers, 
 brewers, bakers, pulters, and all other sellers of all manner of 
 victual shall be bound to sell the same for a reasonable price." 2 
 A copy of this statute was sent to each of the Bishops to be 
 published in the churches, with the request that he would " direct 
 the parsons, vicars, ministers of such churches and others under 
 him, to exhort and invite their parishioners, by salutary admoni- 
 tions, to labour and observe the ordinances aforesaid, as the 
 present necessity requireth." 3 
 
 It is one thing to pass a law, it is another thing to get it 
 obeyed ; and apparently very great difficulty was found in 
 getting the people to obey this particular law, for in less than 
 two years 4 another Act was passed amending and continuing 
 it. In the preamble to this Act it is stated that "servants 
 having no regard to the said ordinance, but to their ease and 
 general covetize, do withdraw themselves . . . unless they have 
 livery and wages to the double or treble of what they were wont 
 to take before." The Act then proceeds to define with great 
 particularity the various scales of wages which shall be paid to 
 various classes of workers. 5 In the same Act we have what 
 may perhaps be regarded as the first trace of the "law of settle- 
 ment," which has continued in force down to the present time ; 
 for it directs that " none [of the workers] go out of the town 
 
 1 It is apparently still assumed that the resources of charity will suffice. 
 
 2 But the " reasonable price " is not fixed or defined as by the Act of 
 
 3 Nicholls, " History of the Poor Law," vol. i., p. 39. 
 
 4 In 1350-51 (25 Edward III.). 
 
 6 E.g., " a mower of meadows is to be paid 5d. for an acre, or 5d. a day ; 
 reapers of corn 2d. an acre in the first week in August, 3d. in subsequent 
 weeks; a master-carpenter is to have 3d. a day, a master-mason 4d., and 
 their servants id. The pay of a common soldier at that date was 6d. a day, 
 or about 55. of our money " (Hume's " History," vol. ii., p. 496).
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 69 
 
 where he dwelleth in the winter, to serve the summer, if he may 
 serve in the same town." 
 
 There can be no doubt that vagabondage and disorder were 
 the chief evils of the time. In an Act of i Richard II. we are 
 told that " villeins withdraw their services and customs from 
 their lords by the comfort and procurement of others, their 
 counsellors, maintainers, and abettors which have taken hire and 
 profit of the said villeins and land-tenants." 1 Professor Thorold 
 Rogers feels sure that this "refers to the company of poor 
 priests whom Wicliffe had appointed, and who were the channel 
 by which communications were kept up among the disaffected 
 serfs." 2 There is more than sufficient evidence to show that 
 the lower classes were seething with a spirit of dissatisfaction 
 when the Peasant Revolt under Wat Tyler broke out in A.D. 
 1 38 1. 3 That the real cause of this revolt was the attempt of 
 "he lords, against the growing spirit of freedom (which was 
 active not only in England but in France and Flanders), to 
 enforce the old conditions of serfdom there can be no doubt. 
 The object of the revolt was simply to abolish the conditions 
 and incidents of villeinage. 4 The demands of the peasants, it 
 may be remembered, were four: (i) The total abolition of 
 slavery for themselves and their children for ever ; (2) the 
 reduction of the rent of good land to 4d. an acre ; (3) the full 
 liberty of buying and selling, like other men, in all fairs and 
 markets ; (4) a general pardon for all past offences. I must not 
 dwell upon either the incidents or the results of the revolt, but 
 must pass on to point out how one or two other Acts of Parlia- 
 ment at the end of this fourteenth century throw further light on 
 the condition of the people. In A.D. 1388 an Act was passed 
 which by some is regarded as marking the first step in our 
 present Poor Law ; it is also interesting as containing the first 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. i., pp. 48, 49. 
 
 2 " Economic Interpretation of History," p. 29. 
 
 3 See Trevelyan, " England in the Age of Wycliffe," chap. vi. 
 
 * In the preamble of an Act of 1377 it is stated, " Complaint has been 
 made by the lords of manors, as well men of Holy Church as others, that 
 the villeins on their estates affirm them to be quite and utterly discharged 
 of all manner of serfage, etc." (Trevelyan, p. 193).
 
 70 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 recognition of the " impotent poor " as a class. 1 One reason 
 for this Act was probably that people were being drawn from 
 the rural districts into the towns for the sake of higher wages 
 and greater comfort. The Act prohibits servants and labourers 
 from wandering, whether in search of employment or for some 
 other cause. It also states that "beggars impotent to serve 
 shall abide in the cities and towns where they be dwelling ; and 
 if the people of these cities and towns will not, or may not, 
 suffice to find them, that then the said beggars shall draw them 
 to other towns within the hundred, rape, or wapentake, or to the 
 towns where they were born." It should be noticed that side 
 by side with this enactment again no provision is made for the 
 sustenance or relief of these people : they are simply left to 
 chance or casual charity. The only object of the Act is ap- 
 parently to prevent them from wandering. 2 Three years later 
 we have another Act which may have been partly designed to 
 meet the inconveniences occasioned by the last ; for in A.D. 1392 
 it was enacted that in every appropriation of the revenues of any 
 parish church to some cathedral, or monastic, or other religious 
 institution, " the diocesan shall ordain a convenient sum of 
 money to be distributed yearly of the fruits and profits of the 
 same, to the poor parishioners in aid of their living and susten- 
 ance for ever." 8 
 
 Even before the arrival of the Black Death, as we have seen, 
 emancipation from villeinage had made very considerable pro- 
 gress ; but like every other social change, however excellent in 
 itself, it was at least temporarily attended by various evils. So 
 long as the serf remained a serf he was sure of, at least, bare 
 sustenance from his master; 4 when he became a free labourer 
 he was dependent upon himself, and that in an age in which 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 55 et seq. 
 
 2 Ratzinger apparently holds that during the fourteenth century in 
 England the clergy and monastic institutions looked well after the needs of 
 the poor ; but in the fifteenth century he admits things in this respect 
 changed for the worse. It must, however, be remembered that he holds a 
 strong brief for the Church (" Armenpflege," pp. 426 et seq.\ 
 
 3 15 Richard II., cap. 6 ; see p. 34. Nicholls, op. cit., p. 54. 
 * Nicholls, op. cit., p. 27. See also Meredith, op. cit., p. 40.
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 71 
 
 there was no Poor Law to fall back upon. The man who has 
 been practically a slave is by no means always at once ready to 
 occupy and use wisely a position of freedom. He has to learn 
 to use his freedom, which means to depend upon himself. It is 
 facts like these which explain many of the social difficulties of 
 the end of the Middle Ages. An Act passed early in the fifteenth 
 century 1 reveals another difficulty of this period. Its object was 
 to check the exodus from the country to the town, to stem the 
 growing dearth of agricultural labourers. By this Act it was 
 ordained " that no man or woman, of what estate or condition 
 they be, shall put their son or daughter of whatsoever age to 
 serve as apprentice to no craft nor other labour within any city 
 or borough, unless he have land or rent to the value of twenty 
 shillings by the year at least." 
 
 In the reign of Henry VI. we have another attempt 2 to 
 regulate wages by enacting a new scale, which shows a very 
 considerable rise upon the wages prescribed some sixty years 
 previously. Under Edward IV. we meet with a revision of the 
 sumptuary laws of Edward III., which again indicates an increase 
 in the national wealth. 3 With the Wars of the Roses almost the 
 last traces of feudalism passed away, and upon the close of 
 these wars we see a rapid and practically continuously progres- 
 sive development both of trade and of national wealth, though 
 some of the old difficulties still exist, two of these being first, 
 the further conversion of arable land into pasture ; 4 and secondly, 
 the increase of " vagabonds and beggars." The two evils, we 
 can easily see, were probably not wholly independent of each 
 other. 
 
 It must be conceded that during this period the influence of 
 the Church upon the social welfare of the people was relatively 
 less than during the various epochs we have previously con- 
 
 1 7 Henry IV., cap. 17 (Nicholls, p. 66). 
 
 2 23 Henry IV., cap. 12. From this Act a carpenter's wage had risen 
 from 3d. to 5d. a day, a labourer's from id. to 3d., the wages of a woman 
 from id. to 4d. 
 
 3 Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 84 et seq. 
 
 4 By the time of Edward IV. the woollen trade had risen into great 
 importance (Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 88 et seq.).
 
 72 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 sidered. This was especially the case in the towns. Other 
 influences, besides those we may term ecclesiastical (which are 
 not always synonymous with religious), were growing in import- 
 ance. The towns were more and more asserting their freedom 
 against the overlordship of the great barons or against the 
 rights of the great monasteries, under whose protection they 
 had frequently grown. Towards the end of the Middle Ages 
 we certainly witness what may be termed a growing " seculariza- 
 tion " of both life and authority. 1 We see this in many directions, 
 and it was due to various causes. The Church in every country 
 could not fail to be to some extent represented in the eyes of 
 the people by the Papacy, as well as to be influenced by the 
 vicissitudes and conduct of the Papal Court. While in outward 
 magnificence the Papacy during this period may have actually 
 grown, its moral hold upon the people was rapidly becoming 
 weaker. The spread of such doctrines as those of Wycliffe 
 e.g., that "dominion was founded upon grace," had far more 
 than a theological influence ; their social and economic results 
 were very considerable. 2 Then many of the chief offices of 
 State, which had formerly been held exclusively by ecclesiastics, 
 were now frequently filled by laymen. Such offices had been 
 held by bishops and priests, not merely because of their superior 
 education, but because it was considered that these were par- 
 ticularly bound to discharge their duties with the fear of God 
 before their eyes. 3 To understand the life, and especially the 
 economic life, of the Middle Ages, we must remember that 
 while ideals and principles were very lofty, actual practice, 
 especially as time went on, fell immeasurably below these. Too 
 often a claim to authority and respect founded upon a spiritual 
 position became a mere pretext to clothe an absorbing interest 
 in worldly dignities and earthly gain. Then, to some extent, 
 
 1 See Cunningham, "Western Civilization," pp. 138 et seq. 
 
 2 There is a brief but clear account of Wycliffe's teaching and its social 
 effects in Dr. Workman's essay upon " The Influence of the Christian 
 Church on the Social Development of the Middle Ages," in " Christ and 
 Civilization," p. 326 et seq. 
 
 3 Cunningham, op. cit., pp. 140, 141.
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 73 
 
 the influence of the mendicant orders had a far-reaching effect 
 towards a separation frequently false in theory and detrimental 
 in practice of the sacred from the secular. 1 Also during the 
 fourteenth, and especially during the fifteenth century, the 
 conduct of the religious houses seems to have deteriorated ; 
 there was a falling off, not only in the management of their 
 property, but in the discharge of their responsibilities both 
 towards their serfs and towards the poor generally. 2 At one 
 time the monks had been the best agriculturists ; they had also 
 assisted in the development of commerce. But now " the 
 Church had ceased to be a leader in the arts of practical life, 
 while her inability to utilize privileges and possessions to the best 
 advantage under changed conditions was fatal to her position as 
 the dominating influence over secular life in all its aspects." 3 
 
 As an interesting example, not exactly of the dereliction of a 
 positive duty, but of an increasing carelessness with regard to 
 the social and economic welfare of the people on the part of the 
 monasteries, I may cite the fact that these gradually ceased to 
 pay the same attention to the repair of bridges and roads, of 
 which in earlier times they had been extremely careful. 4 The 
 welfare of the people depends to a great extent upon trading 
 facilities, which in turn depend upon means of communication. 
 At one time the building of bridges and the making of roads, 
 and the keeping of both in repair, were widely regarded as acts 
 of piety. But in the fourteenth century we meet with various 
 complaints, especially in reference to the monasteries, that both 
 bridges and roads had been allowed to fall into disrepair. 5 It 
 was not, however, until A.D. 1555 that an Act was passed 
 appointing road surveyors, and which " embodies the modern 
 view of the nature of the obligations." 6 
 
 Yet another example of the growing secularization of relief 
 is furnished by the way in which hospitals and other institutions 
 in towns for the relief of the sick and poor passed more and 
 
 1 Cunningham, op. cit., p. 141. 3 Ibid., pp. 145 et seq. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 145. 
 
 4 See Jusserand, " English Wayfaring Life in the Fourteenth Century." 
 
 5 Ibid., pp. 64 et seq. 6 Cunningham, op. cit., p. 147.
 
 74 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 more under either lay or civic jurisdiction. 1 The various trade 
 guilds made provision not only for their own indigent members, 
 but in certain instances for other poor and afflicted persons. It 
 may have been through their association for these purposes in 
 the guilds that municipal rulers began as such that is, as 
 representing the citizens and no longer merely the guild to 
 take an active part in the administration of poor relief. 2 There 
 are instances during the fifteenth century of charitable institu- 
 tions being not only controlled by the municipalities, but of 
 such institutions owning (at least in part) their foundation to 
 these bodies. An interesting early example of municipal relief 
 is furnished by Southampton where, in the middle of the 
 fifteenth century, "the townys almys were settled on a plan," 
 and lists were kept of weekly payments, which seem to have 
 furnished sufficient relief for about a hundred and fifty people. 3 
 Upon \.\\efact that, at any rate during the fifteenth century, 
 the relief of the poor was slowly and very gradually falling into 
 lay hands, there can, I think, be no doubt ; though the change 
 was very gradual, because by far the greater part of the relief 
 given was still dispensed either by the clergy or by ecclesiastical 
 institutions. 4 Upon the various causes of this change there is 
 room for at least some difference of opinion. It is easy to 
 throw the chief share of the blame upon the Church, and to 
 speak of the rapacity of prelates and monks, and of the mis- 
 management of ecclesiastical property. To a certain extent 
 these charges are no doubt true. 5 But other causes than these 
 were at work, causes over which the Church had little or no 
 control. Conditions both of life and trade were rapidly 
 changing, and tasks for which the Church was at one time 
 equal had to a great extent become beyond her power. 6 There 
 
 1 Even Ratzinger admits, " Obwohl in England? der Clerus die Bedurf- 
 nisse der Armen zu decken stets redlich bemiiht war . . . bildeten sich 
 doch auch wie in den iibrigen Landern schon einege Laienvereine " 
 (" Armenpflege," p. 430). 
 
 2 Leonard, " English Poor Relief," p. 7. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 9. 4 Leonard, p. 17. 
 
 5 Ratzinger, again, admits this (" Armenpflege," pp. 426, 429). 
 
 6 Cunningham, " Western Civilization," p. 147. We must remember 
 that, among other changes of thought, new ideas were growing in reference 
 to the " theory " of charity.
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 75 
 
 have been parallels to these changes in other ages in other 
 departments of life. One readily suggests itself. At one time 
 the Church possessed almost a monopoly of the education of the 
 people. I am not saying that when this was so the Church 
 discharged her responsibility to the full ; but she certainly did 
 an immense amount of good work, for which she has not always 
 received the credit. But with changed conditions this task 
 became beyond the powers of voluntary enterprise. The State 
 was compelled to step in and to take a very large share of the 
 burden upon her shoulders. So it was with the municipal and 
 national organization of relief, also with regard to the repression 
 of mendicity, and with measures for the regulation of labour 
 and wages. All these matters had to do with the poor and 
 with poverty, and in regard to them the State began to take a 
 larger and larger share. 
 
 Then there can be no doubt that both the medieval theory 
 and medieval practice of relief, when tested by actual results, 
 were extremely imperfect. As we have frequently seen, far too 
 little was thought of the character and actual needs of the 
 recipients, and also of the probable results of the charity 
 bestowed. Almsgiving was regarded as a duty ; but neither 
 the organization of charity, nor the economic or moral results 
 of charity, were carefully studied. There were districts in which 
 there might be two or three rich monastic houses ; in these 
 districts far more than enough charity might be given, while in 
 other districts the means for relief might be very small. In some 
 districts relief might be had for the asking, in others hardly any 
 relief could be obtained. There was no co-ordination of charity ; 
 and apparently neither individuals nor institutions took the 
 trouble to ascertain what their neighbours were giving. They 
 gave, and when they had given they imagined that their duty 
 was done. If anyone wishes to learn how charity should not 
 be given, and of the evils attendant upon unwise giving, they 
 will find in the history of the later Middle Ages more than 
 sufficient lessons upon both.
 
 76 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 The Eve of the Reformation. 
 
 We are accustomed to regard the Reformation as almost 
 wholly a religious, or rather, an ecclesiastical, movement, 
 produced entirely by what may be termed religious causes, and 
 having certain ecclesiastical results e.g.^ the disruption of the 
 Western Church. Such a view is very far from being the 
 whole truth. Actually many of the causes of the Reformation 
 indeed, some of the most powerful among these were not 
 religious at all, and can only very indirectly be termed ecclesias- 
 tical ; they were only ecclesiastical because they were connected 
 with the financial arrangements of the Church. 1 Among the 
 secular causes of the Reformation was the growth of both the 
 idea and the fact of nationality which arose before or about this 
 period in more than one European country. 2 This growth was 
 accompanied by a diminution in relative importance of many of 
 the great cities. 3 Another cause of the Reformation was a very 
 widespread condition of economic, and so of social, distress, 
 though this cause operated far more powerfully on the Continent 
 than it did in England, 4 where, if the condition of the poorer 
 classes during the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the 
 sixteenth century was evil, it seems to have been far less evil 
 than in Germany or Italy, or even in France. 
 
 We shall find that during the reign of Henry VIII. and his 
 successors Act after Act was passed with the view of suppressing 
 the mendicancy and vagabondage with which England (as other 
 countries) at this period was rife. The undoubted enormous 
 increase of this evil which took place at this time is sometimes 
 attributed to the suppression of the religious houses, and to the 
 consequent cutting off of the charities which these had disbursed. 
 This may have increased the distress, but it cannot be regarded 
 as its chief cause ; for the increase of mendicancy took place in 
 
 1 Upon the whole subject of Papal exactions see "Cambridge Modern 
 History," vol. i., pp. 665 et seq. 
 
 2 Cunningham, op. cit.,pp. 157 et seq. 5 Meredith, op. cit., pp. 122 et seq. 
 4 Ratzinger, op. cit. t p. 431: "Das Englishe Wolk lebte vielmehr in 
 
 Wohlstand."
 
 THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES 77 
 
 countries where the religious houses continued, also it began 
 long before their suppression. 
 
 The real cause was the rapid changes which were taking 
 place in both the structure and conditions of society. During 
 the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there had been widespread 
 and almost constant warfare. These wars had found employ- 
 ment (as soldiers) for an immense number of men. Now that 
 the wars were largely over we find not only widespread 
 devastation and injury to agriculture and trade, 1 but also bands 
 of men roaming over England and France and other countries 
 without work, and many of them without either training or 
 desire for work. 2 Then the conditions of trade were rapidly 
 changing. The results of the discovery of the New World were 
 beginning to be felt ; capitalism, one of the chief bases of 
 modern commerce, was growing ; 3 the old trade guild system 
 was breaking up ; trade was leaving many of the towns, which 
 had been its chief centres, for the country ; 4 also in England 
 the custom of pasture, in place of arable, farming was rapidly 
 extending. 5 Then, as I have already noticed, the estates 
 belonging to various ecclesiastical owners and corporations were 
 not so well managed as formerly. This last may to some degree 
 have been due to carelessness ; it was also due to the growing 
 exactions of the Papal Court, which became a more and more 
 severe drain upon their resources, and so upon the life of the 
 people whom they had supported either by work or by alms. 
 There can be no doubt that these exactions which were surely 
 a financial as much as an ecclesiastical factor were among the 
 chief causes of the Reformation. Immense sums of money were 
 constantly going out of the country to provide for the wars, the 
 extravagances, and the luxuries of the Papal Court, 6 also for 
 
 1 "Cambridge Modern^ History," p. 501. 
 
 2 The majority of these men would be paid, professional soldiers, who 
 would be discharged when a war was over; in time of peace they were 
 among the unemployed. 
 
 3 Cunningham, "Western Civilization," pp. 163 et seq. 
 
 4 Innes, "England's Industrial Development," p. 125. 
 
 5 Ibid., pp. 137 et seq. 
 
 Upon the whole subject see the " Cambridge Modern History," vol. i., 
 pp. 665 et seq.
 
 78 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the ever-increasing number of Papal officials and agents, who 
 swallowed up the greater part of it before it reached its 
 destination. 1 
 
 It may, of course, be argued that the discovery of the 
 New World and the consequent growth of trade should have 
 improved the financial condition of the people. Undoubtedly 
 it did so ultimately, as did the introduction of machinery two 
 hundred years later ; but both changes, as every other revolution 
 in trade conditions, involved a period of temporary distress. 
 People have to adjust themselves to new conditions, and the 
 time of transition generally means a considerable amount of 
 suffering. 
 
 I have entered somewhat fully into the conditions of this 
 period because some knowledge of them is essential if we would 
 understand the great changes which took place in the methods 
 of dealing with the poor during the actual course of the 
 Reformation, which must form the subject of the next chapter. 
 It was not that the responsibility of supplying the needs of the 
 poor passed entirely out of the hands of the Church into those 
 of the State, though undoubtedly the maintenance of the poor, 
 or rather of paupers those incapable of supporting themselves 
 became gradually a civic rather than an ecclesiastical charge. 
 The transition was a gradual one : it proceeded step by step. 
 The men who framed the new legislation laboured under serious 
 disadvantages, and they made many mistakes. These mistakes 
 were due to various causes, some of which were beyond their 
 control. They were ignorant of the laws upon which social 
 welfare was based, and they sometimes showed themselves 
 strangely ignorant of human nature, and especially of those 
 rules and principles upon which character must be built up. 
 They made law after law, and they tried method after method 
 of dealing with both the deserving and the undeserving with 
 those who could not, and those who would not, try to maintain 
 themselves in an honest calling. 
 
 1 " The accounts of the Papal agent for first-fruits in Hungary for the 
 year 1320 show that of 1,913 florins collected only 732 reached the Papal 
 treasury " (ibid., p. 667).
 
 VII. 
 
 THE REFORMATION : LUTHER AND CALVIN. 
 
 IN the last chapter I pointed out that even before the Reforma- 
 tion there had arisen a growing secularization of the means 
 taken for relieving the poor. First civic, and then national, 
 authorities had already begun to assume a responsibility towards 
 those in need, a responsibility which during earlier periods had 
 been left entirely to the Church. 1 At this point, therefore, it 
 will be necessary for me to remind my readers that while I 
 shall still have in view the religious aspect of the subject, the 
 part taken by the State i.e., the civil authority in dealing with 
 the poor must now occupy a larger share of our attention than it 
 has hitherto done. 
 
 With the coming of the Reformation the term " the Church " 
 must in these chapters to some extent change its meaning. So 
 far, at any rate since the days of Gregory the Great, it has 
 meant the undivided Church of Western Christendom, of which 
 the Pope was the recognized earthly head. From this point 
 onwards it may mean either organized Western Christianity 
 i.e., the sum total of the various parts or fragments into which 
 the Catholic Church of the West broke up or it may mean 
 what we term the English Church. Under the first interpreta- 
 tion it would, of course, include the work of the great Continental 
 reformers. 
 
 1 Certainly since the Reformation the influence of the Church on the 
 relief of the poor has been more indirect than it was previously ; but if indirect, 
 it has also been very real. Current conceptions of Christian duty have 
 affected not only the clergy, but the laity e.g., statesmen who have framed 
 the laws and Boards of Guardians who have administered them. The 
 revival of interest in the doctrine of the Incarnation during recent years has 
 had an immense influence upon the treatment of the poor. 
 
 79
 
 8o THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Once again, let me insist that the period which we term the 
 Reformation was marked not only by doctrinal and ecclesiastical, 
 but also by immense social, changes. The two sets of changes 
 proceeded side by side ; they were not independent, yet we 
 must be extremely cautious in speaking of any particular change 
 in either category as being either the cause or effect of a change 
 in the other. 1 What I would maintain is, that quite apart from 
 a consideration of the doctrinal and ecclesiastical changes which 
 
 o 
 
 took part, the immense alterations which occurred in social 
 conditions during this period demand the most careful attention 
 of those who are interested in the history of the welfare of the 
 people, and who would learn valuable lessons from a study of 
 that history. 2 
 
 But especially during the second half of the fifteenth and 
 the first half of the sixteenth century a rapid change was taking 
 place in another, and an extremely important, sphere of activity 
 that of thought. This affected the conceptions both of religion 
 and of everyday conduct ; it affected the whole conception of 
 life and duty. This change of thought was chiefly due to 
 enlarged knowledge. It manifested itself in a growth of the 
 critical spirit, also of the scientific spirit, and in a much more free 
 exercise of the reason ; it resulted in a harvest of individualistic 
 tendencies and an ever-growing demand for liberty. We have 
 no right to assume, as is frequently the case, that in these 
 various movements the Reformers invariably stood on the one 
 side, and those who failed to follow them on the other. Very 
 frequently the actual conduct of the Reformers was in direct 
 contradiction to the principles they professed ; and even so far 
 as freedom of thought is concerned, men like Erasmus and 
 More were far in advance of men like Calvin and Knox. 3 
 
 1 Professor Pollard in the " Cambridge Modern History," vol. ii., p. 175 : 
 " The assertion that there was no connection between the Reformation and 
 the Peasants' Revolt is as far from the truth as the statement that the one 
 produced the other." 
 
 2 The " economic " changes which took place in Western Europe from 
 the middle of the fifteenth to the middle of the sixteenth century can hardly 
 be exaggerated. On the whole subject see chap. xv. of the " Cambridge 
 Modern History," vol. i. (by Dr. Cunningham). 
 
 3 Much that is most interesting on this subject will be found in the 
 following chapters of Beard's " Hibbert Lectures " : (iv.) " The Principles
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 81 
 
 Another question arises in connection with the effect of the 
 Reformation, or rather in connection with the effect of its 
 individualistic tendencies, upon the welfare of the poor. To 
 some extent the Reformation synchronizes with the rise of 
 capitalism ; that is, with the growing power of capitalism. 1 
 Side by side with this, and not independent of it, we see the 
 effect of individualistic conceptions in the growth of competition 
 in trade. The facts are these : The countries which largely 
 accepted the principles of the Reformation became, on the 
 whole, the chief commercial countries of Europe, those in which 
 trade rapidly increased ; indeed, one might go a step farther, 
 and say that in these countries the chief commercial centres 
 became the great strongholds of advanced Reformation, or 
 Puritan, principles. In these countries, and especially in these 
 commercial centres, we find competition in trade often with 
 disastrous effects upon the poor becoming more and more 
 accentuated. I simply place these facts before my readers, 
 leaving them to see connections and draw conclusions for them- 
 selves. 8 
 
 The Reformation had many indirect results, among these 
 the most important for our present purpose was that it re- 
 volutionized the conception of charity. The policy of the 
 Reformers set very strongly against indiscriminate charity, 
 which had become nothing less than a curse to society during 
 the later Middle Ages. For instance, Luther laid down the 
 two following principles : First, " Begging is to be rigidly pro- 
 hibited ; all who are not old or weak shall work. No beggars 
 shall be permitted to stay who do not belong to the parish." 
 On the second principle it seems as if he would relieve the 
 
 of the Reformation " ; (v.) " The Reformation in Relation to Reason and 
 Liberty"; (x.) " The Growth of the Critical Spirit"; (xi.) "The Develop- 
 ment of Philosophical Method and Scientific Investigation." See also 
 chap. xix. of vol. ii. of the " Cambridge Modern History." 
 
 1 See chap, ii., book v., " The Intervention of Capital," in Cunningham's 
 " Western Civilization." 
 
 2 The whole subject of the connection between individualism in religion 
 and in commerce is one which deserves more study than it has yet received. 
 Studied historically, the subject might prove enlightening and instructive. 
 
 6
 
 82 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Church entirely of its responsibilities to the poor, for he says : 
 " Each town should provide for its own poor people . . . poor 
 householders who have honourably laboured at their craft or in 
 agriculture ought to be given loans from the public chest ; and 
 this aid shall be given to them without return, if they are unable 
 to restore it." l 
 
 History is full of examples showing how easily the pendulum 
 swings from one extreme to the other. It seems to have been 
 so in regard to almsgiving during the Reformation. Instead of 
 lavishness, we find absolute niggardliness ; instead of too much 
 charity, we find callousness towards the actual needs of the poor. 
 In the celebrated Sermon of the Plough, preached by Bishop 
 Latimer at St. Paul's in 154!, we read: "In times past men 
 were full of pity and compassion, but now there is no pity ; for 
 in London their brother shall die in the streets for cold ; he 
 shall lie sick at the door between stock and stock . . . and 
 perish there for hunger. In times past . . . when any man died 
 they would bequeath great sums of money toward the relief of 
 the poor . . . now charity is waxen cold, none helpeth the 
 poor." 2 Again, in a letter to Cecil, Bishop Ridley writes : " I 
 must be a suitor unto you in our good Master Christ's cause ; 
 I beseech you be good to Him. The matter is, sir, alas! He 
 hath lain too long abroad in the streets of London, both hungry, 
 naked, and cold." 3 
 
 But before I enter upon the effects which the Reformation 
 had upon the treatment of the poor in England, I would point 
 out two most valuable lessons which we may learn from the two 
 greatest Continental Reformers : The first from the work of 
 Luther, which should be of the nature of an extremely strong 
 warning ; the second from the teaching of Calvin, which is 
 at present having, and I trust may continue to have, a far- 
 reaching influence for good. 4 
 
 1 " Christ and Civilization," p. 367. 
 
 2 Quoted in Leonard's " English Poor Relief," p. 29, note. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 32. 
 
 * I refer, of course, to the " social principles " and " social teaching " 
 of the Bible.
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 83 
 
 I showed in the last chapter that when the Reformation 
 dawned there was in various parts of Europe, and arising 
 from many different causes, a very considerable amount of 
 distress ; among the peasants of Germany this distress was partic- 
 ularly acute. 1 For many years there had existed a condition of 
 growing discontent, which finally came to a head and broke out 
 in the Peasants' War of 1524-25. What I would now consider 
 is the part which Luther took in regard to this revolt. I cannot 
 here enter at length into the history or the causes of this 
 rebellion ; briefly, it was due to poverty, which was the result of 
 heavy burdens imposed by feudal services, pernicious game 
 laws, growing taxation, and exactions demanded by the ecclesi- 
 astical courts. Probably the nobles were themselves suffering 
 severely from the changes in economic conditions, and therefore 
 they tried to shift the burden from their own shoulders on to those 
 of the poorest of the people, a device which has been attempted 
 at various times. 2 
 
 Possibly, Luther's own teaching, in which he had denounced 
 not only the exactions of the Papacy, but also merchants and 
 lawyers as robbers, had helped to fan the flames. 3 We must 
 remember that in the earliest demands of the peasants there was 
 nothing revolutionary ; on the contrary, they were reasonable 
 in themselves, and were couched in moderate language. 4 But 
 as the movement grew, its objects undoubtedly widened ; its 
 language became more passionate, and its tone more and more 
 extreme. At first, also, there was among many of the leaders a 
 distinctly religious spirit, one of which the nature was quite 
 excellent. It must, however, be conceded that though, especially 
 at first, the great majority of those taking part were peasants 
 with very genuine wrongs, another element was gradually 
 absorbed into the movement. I refer to that section of the 
 
 1 For a brief account of these see " Christ and Civilization," pp. 340 
 et seq. 
 
 2 It is well known that the burden of increased taxation generally falls 
 ultimately upon the very poor. 
 
 3 See T. M. Lindsay, "Luther and the German Revolution," p. 170. 
 
 4 " They were expressed in religious phraseology, and supported by 
 arguments drawn from the Scriptures " (" Christ and Civilization," p. 341).
 
 84 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 population which includes a number of the criminal classes, and 
 is always ready to participate in disorder. 1 Though the move- 
 ment was essentially an agrarian one, it did to some extent affect 
 the towns. These were generally divided in their sympathies. 
 Usually the mass of the people held with the peasants, while the 
 richer classes, represented by the Council and the leading citizens, 
 were against these. 2 The movement, as we know, was 
 ultimately crushed by the ruling powers. It was crushed 
 with the most heartless ferocity, 3 and largely by the help of 
 foreign mercenaries. It ended in what can only be termed a 
 massacre, in which not less than 100,000 of the peasants fell by 
 the sword. 4 
 
 Luther's attitude towards the movement, and the permanent 
 effects of this attitude upon religion in Germany, are extremely 
 instructive. In fact, I know of few episodes in the whole 
 course of history from which a clearer and more instructive 
 warning may be learnt. This is my chief reason for bringing 
 the episode before my readers. 
 
 At first Luther's sympathies were undoubtedly with the 
 peasants. 5 Before the revolt broke out he had inveighed in no 
 measured terms against the misgovernment of the Princes and 
 ecclesiastical rulers, also against the growing luxuriousness of 
 the wealthy. 6 Thus, to a certain extent, if unintentionally, 
 he was certainly a contributory cause of the outbreak. When 
 this actually occurred, Luther adopted at first what appeared to be 
 a more or less neutral position. On the one hand, he expressed 
 not only sympathy with, but actually a measure of approval of, the 
 demands made by the peasants ; on the other hand, he warned 
 these that if they resorted to violence the movement must end in 
 disaster. 
 
 Luther, of course, was in an extremely difficult position. He 
 knew at heart that the original demands of the peasants were 
 just, that they were actually asking no more than the right to live. 
 
 1 " Cambridge Modern History," p. 182. 2 Ibid., p. 185. 
 
 8 Ibid., p. 191. * Ibid., p. 194. 
 
 5 " He had sympathy with the demands of the ' Twelve Articles ' ' 
 (T. M. Lindsay, " Luther," p. 183). 
 
 6 E.g., in his " Appeal to the Nobility of the German Nation."
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 85 
 
 But he could not (so he judged) do without the help both of the 
 Princes and also of the well-to-do and official classes, among 
 whom his theological opinions had chiefly spread. 1 But when, 
 at this juncture, Luther was content to impart what has been 
 termed "spiritual" advice to the starving peasants, he was 
 committing an error which many a well-intentioned religious 
 leader has committed since then. When men are hungry, they 
 are not in a mental condition to appreciate, much less to be con- 
 tent with, such advice. Thought is doubtless spiritual, but you 
 cannot think without a brain, which is a physical organ, and 
 consequently demands regular physical nourishment. 
 
 Luther, however, did not long remain in a neutral position. 
 In April or May of 1525 he issued the vehement (and indeed 
 infamous) tract, "Against the Murderous Thieving Hordes of 
 Peasants," in which he called upon the Princes to crush the 
 revolt. I know that when the immediate circumstances e.g., 
 the fiery proclamations of Mtinzer and the campaign of 
 destruction which followed these in Thuringia and the Harz 2 
 are remembered, something may be said for Luther ; but that 
 others, under the severe pressure of actual want, had resorted to 
 violence was no justification for the language which Luther 
 used, not in speech, which may be uttered in the heat of the 
 moment, but in writing, which was printed and published. The 
 following extract from Luther's pamphlet will show its nature 
 and its spirit : "In the case of an insurgent, every man is both 
 judge and executioner. Therefore, whoever can should knock 
 down, strangle, and stab such, publicly and privately, and think 
 nothing so venomous, pernicious, and devilish, as an insurgent. 
 . . . Such wonderful times are these that a Prince can merit 
 heaven better with bloodshed than another with prayer." 3 
 
 The evil results of Luther's action at that time have never 
 passed away ; they actually affect religious life in Germany at 
 the present day. This, as I have already said, is my reason for 
 
 1 " Cambridge Modern History," p. 178. 
 
 2 Lindsay, " Luther and the German Reformation," pp. 184 et seq. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 186.
 
 86 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 dwelling upon the subject. The immediate results of Luther's 
 policy were : First, the peasants were alienated from Protest- 
 antism; some relapsed back into Roman Catholicism, but the 
 majority drifted into unbelief. 1 Secondly, the Lutheran movement 
 ceased to be in any sense national ; it depended henceforth for its 
 very existence upon the support of political powers. Melanchthon 
 was compelled to admit " that the decrees of the Lutheran 
 Church were merely platonic conclusions without the support of 
 the princes." 2 
 
 Luther's conduct indeed, his policy was not inspired by 
 any high principle or lofty ideal. It was governed by considera- 
 tions of interest ; it was based upon what he believed to be the 
 necessities of the moment ; it was purely utilitarian, and that not 
 in the highest, but rather in the lowest, sense of the word. 3 Its 
 permanent results have been : First, that neither Lutheranism as 
 a system of religion, nor the Lutheran Church as its expression, 
 has ever been in a true sense either the religion or the Church 
 of the German people. Lutheranism has been a State religion, 
 protected by the State, and consequently under the control or 
 overlordship of the State. 4 Its clergy, as a body, have never 
 been able to be quite independent witnesses for God, and truth, 
 and righteousness. Secondly, the Lutheran Church has never, 
 as a Church, been able to identify itself with either the principles 
 or the work of Christian social reform. Individual leaders, 
 especially during the last two generations, have doubtless 
 championed the rights of the poor, but as a Church it cannot be 
 said to have stood for those rights. It has been the Church of 
 the rulers rather than the Church of the subjects. Thirdly, the 
 anti-Christian character of almost all forms of German Socialism 
 has been an abiding result of Luther's unhappy policy. 5 Those 
 who have been on the side of social progress have too often felt 
 
 1 " Christ and Civilization," p. 344. 
 
 2 " Cambridge Modern History," vol. ii., p. 194. 3 Ibid., p. 195. 
 
 4 " Luther's deep distrust of ' the common man "... prevented him 
 from believing in a democratic Church, and led him to bind his reforma- 
 tion in the fetters of a secular control to the extent of regarding the secular 
 Government as having a quasi-episcopal function" (Lindsay, op. cit., p. 189.) 
 
 5 " Christ and Civilization," p. 344.
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 87 
 
 that they must look elsewhere for sympathy and practical help. 
 How could they look for assistance to a Church whose interests 
 are so palpably bound up with the interests of those who have, 
 and whose chief aim is too often simply to retain at once their 
 position and possessions ? 
 
 More than once, as we shall see in the course of subsequent 
 chapters, the Church of England has, since the Reformation, 
 succumbed to the same temptation to be guided by a policy of 
 present interest ; and more than once she has suffered severely 
 from this choice. The history of the English Church, especially 
 during the second half of the eighteenth and the first half of the 
 nineteenth century, furnishes only too many examples, both of 
 isolated actions and courses of policy by which she lost, as she 
 deserved to lose, the affection of the poorer classes. The danger 
 of the Church still making mistakes in this direction has not 
 entirely passed ; hence it is well to have our memories refreshed 
 upon the part played by Luther during the Peasants' War and 
 upon the disastrous results of his conduct. 
 
 From Luther I turn to Calvin, whom we do not as a rule 
 regard as primarily a social reformer, though in this, more than 
 in any other sphere of activity, I think Calvin's greatness was 
 revealed. I am not going either to enter into Calvin's interest- 
 ing history, or to deal with his theological opinions. I am only 
 concerned with him here in connection with the great principle 
 he laid down (and which he zealously tried to put into practice) 
 in regard to the true method of dealing with the social problem, 
 and, as part of this, as to the best way of helping the poor. 
 
 To understand Calvin we must remember that he was trained 
 as a lawyer ; he was primarily a great jurist, and also a great 
 moralist. At the same time he was a great " humanist." His 
 earliest work was a commentary on the " De dementia" of Cicero. 
 In this commentary Calvin's character is revealed. He is a man 
 " with a passion for conduct, moral, veracious, strenuous." To 
 
 1 " Cambridge Modern History," vol. ii., p. 352. (The chapter on Calvin 
 is by the late Dr. A. M. Fairbairn.)
 
 88 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 him " to have clemency is true humanity," and Calvin applies this 
 doctrine socially. Man pitiful to men will be sensible of their 
 rights and of his own duties. It has been said of Calvin, 
 probably in view of his cast-iron system of theology, that "he 
 never changed "; but this is not to say that he did not develop. 1 
 His strong conviction that religion must (in the sense of" inevit- 
 ably ") be translated into morality or conduct may have made him 
 harsh, andin one well-known instance it made him positively 
 cruel. 2 Throughout his career he was governed by this conviction. 
 To most people, as I have already said, Calvin is pre-eminently 
 the founder of a theological system (which is not the fact) ; 
 actually he is much rather a great statesman, a great educationist, 
 and the reformer of the morals of Geneva. These are Calvin's 
 true titles to*greatness. The key to his conduct is to remember 
 that he "conceives the Gospel as a new law which ought to be 
 embodied in a new life, individual and social." 3 Of course, to 
 understand*Calvin's work we must have some knowledge of the 
 political, social, and moral condition of Geneva when Calvin 
 arrived there for the first time. 4 I cannot, however, stay to 
 describe these here further than to say that the moral conditions 
 were very much what we knew to have been those of a city under 
 ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the middle of the sixteenth century. 
 There are those who are apt to assume that with the advent or 
 acceptance of Protestantism moral conditions would necessarily 
 improve. But Fairbairn admits that, though at least two months 
 before Calvin's arrival Geneva had sworn to live according to 
 the holy Evangelical Law and Word of God, 5 it had not actually 
 become any more moral in character. It had simply " changed its 
 mind " in religion. 6 What Calvin set himself to organize was not 
 simply a city which should also be a Church which was the old 
 Geneva idea but a Church which should be efficaciously moral. 
 
 1 Dr. Fairbairn says : " Few men may have changed less ; but few also 
 have developed more." 
 
 2 I refer, of course, to the death of Servetus. 
 
 3 " Cambridge Modern History," vol. ii., p. 357. 
 * Ibid., vol. ii., pp. 358 et seq. 
 
 6 Ibid., vol. ii., p. 363. e Ibid., p. 367.
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 89 
 
 Now I come to the special point in which Calvin demands 
 our attention in connection with our present subject. Briefly, 
 Calvin made the Bible at once the foundation, the textbook, and 
 the inspiration of his whole social system. Its teaching was not 
 simply the best, but the only true guide to social reform. The 
 way he approached the subject was thus : The Bible contains 
 the revealed will of God ; therefore a State, or a social polity, 
 should be founded upon the teaching of Scripture. A theocracy 
 meant nothing more or less than a State founded and built up 
 upon this teaching ; it meant " the application of the truths of 
 the Bible to civic and political life." Of course, " in claiming 
 that the Bible was a textbook of sociology 1 as well as of religion 
 Calvin took up a position which was destined to produce revolu- 
 tionary ideas in the future." 2 The establishment of this theocracy 
 was to be the joint work of Church and State. The State so 
 constituted and established possessed supreme power over the 
 individual, and the individual had no rights against the State. 
 This naturally followed, from the obvious fact that there could be 
 no appeal against the law of God. The difficulty lay in the 
 application of these principles. One point upon which Calvin 
 insisted was that the individual is bound to sacrifice his own 
 interests for the interests of the community. On the other hand, 
 Calvin taught that the State made itself responsible for his well- 
 being. As an application of this Calvin held that the State must 
 find useful employment for every man that could work. As a 
 practical application of this particular conviction Calvin intro- 
 duced new industries into Geneva. 8 
 
 The principle enunciated by Calvin, that the Bible must be 
 the supreme rule in every department of Church and State, is in 
 agreement with the whole spirit of the Reformation in fact, it 
 
 1 Unfortunately, the word " sociology " is used to-day with very different 
 meaning. See the essay " On the Origin and Use of the Word Sociology " in 
 "Sociological Papers," 1904 (Macmillan and Co.). Here the word is 
 tantamount to " the science of the constitution of society." 
 
 J The position is really at the basis of all forms of so-called " Christian 
 Socialism." 
 
 3 " Christ and Civilization," pp. 349 et seq.
 
 90 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 is simply an application of its most comprehensive doctrine the 
 supremacy of Holy Scripture. 1 But at once the question arises : 
 How is it to be worked out ? Undoubtedly Geneva offered a 
 particularly favourable field for doing this, because by tradition at 
 Geneva there had always been an exceptional unity of Church 
 and State ; 2 also from the small size of its territory, and the 
 limited number of its inhabitants, Geneva offered a manageable 
 field for a social experiment. That a considerable measure of 
 success did attend Calvin's efforts cannot be denied. 
 
 The principle which Calvin enunciated has had an influence 
 far beyond his own age. It has, if under different forms, been 
 strongly revived during the last few years, and its influence in 
 several directions is yet growing. The difficulty, as in the case 
 of every comprehensive principle, lies in its application to actual 
 needs and circumstances. If we admit that the " social " teach- 
 ing of Christ is the heart and essence of the " social" teaching 
 of Holy Scripture, and if we say that the teaching, both of 
 Christ and of Holy Scripture, must be spiritually interpreted, 
 then we may claim that the supremacy of the social teaching 
 of Holy Scripture is the principle for which all the Christian 
 Societies and Unions for Social Service, which are so active at 
 the present time, are contending. 
 
 But we may go a step farther than this in the direction of 
 Calvin's teaching, and say that actually in Holy Scripture 
 (e.g., in the teaching of Christ, and in the great principles 
 enunciated by the Old Testament Prophets), the laws of social 
 welfare are for all time enunciated ; and further, that these laws 
 are as irrefragable, and their issues as inevitable, as are such 
 scientific laws as those which govern the motions of bodies, as 
 the laws of light, or heat, or electricity. We must, however, be 
 extremely careful in our application of this faith or conviction. 
 We must remember that we are dealing with substances and 
 forces besides which all other substances and forces are extremely 
 
 1 To Calvin the supremacy and authority of Holy Scripture was based 
 upon the concurrent witness of the Holy Spirit in the written word and in 
 the believer's soul. See his " Institutio," book i., chap. vii. 
 
 2 " Cambridge Modern History," vol. ii., pp. 358 et seq.
 
 LUTHER AND CALVIN 91 
 
 simple. Suppose we look upon the social course which under 
 any particular set of circumstances should be pursued as a 
 problem to be solved, we must remember that the number of 
 " variants " in the problem is extremely great ; also that both 
 our knowledge of the nature of these variants (which are com- 
 posed of human nature), and also our knowledge of the forces 
 under the influence of which these variants act, is even yet 
 extremely limited. 1 
 
 The danger to a nature like Calvin's, which had been 
 accentuated by his legal training, was to regard the whole Bible 
 as a legal code, every part of which was of equal authority. 
 The critical-historical spirit by which we seek to distinguish 
 what is essential to the teaching, from what is merely accidental 
 to the age, of a Biblical writer had not been as fully developed 
 in Calvin's time as it has in our own. At the same time we 
 cannot exaggerate the truth or value of the great social principles 
 {the principles of social righteousness) which underlie the teach- 
 ing of the Hebrew Prophets. This is very far from saying that 
 we can regard the legalistic code of Judaism as a standard of 
 conduct for the present time. It is in noticing the chasm which 
 separates essentials from accidentals that we see that, while 
 " the spirit " of the social teaching of the Bible " giveth life," a 
 rigid application of "the letter" of that teaching may actually 
 be productive of destruction. 
 
 Those who accepted the doctrines of the Reformation could 
 no longer accept the medieval " theory of charity," which we 
 have seen had been the growth of several centuries. The chief 
 motive from which the greater part of the charity of the Middle 
 Ages had been bestowed no longer existed for the Reformers. 
 
 1 This may not be the place to enter into a present controversy of very 
 considerable importance, but in the present reaction against a so-called 
 "mechanical theory of the universe" there is at least a danger of the 
 pendulum of thought swinging too far in the opposite direction. A 
 " spiritual " interpretation of the universe, to use a current and popular 
 phrase, is not necessarily a conception of the universe from which very 
 definite fixed laws are necessarily excluded. Probably, however, these laws 
 may not be so simple or so easy to state as was at one time supposed.
 
 92 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 The doctrines of penance and of good works were no longer 
 accepted by them. The consideration of personal reward or 
 advantage to the giver of charity, either here or hereafter, could 
 not now enter. No one who believed in the teaching of the 
 Reformers could regard the bestowal of charity or the establish- 
 ment of a hospital as a means for procuring a mitigation of the 
 sufferings of purgatory. When people now give charity they 
 must do so from purely altruistic motives. They must think of 
 the needs and sufferings of the poor and of their duty to these ; 
 they must not consider any advantage which, by giving, they 
 themselves may reap. 
 
 But while it may be a comparatively easy thing to take 
 away a certain motive, it is often an extremely difficult thing to 
 put another motive of equal strength in its place. This was 
 very practically proved during the period of the Reformation. 
 As I have already shown, a very serious check was given to the 
 flow of charity, and undoubtedly, at least for a time, this was 
 the cause of very real suffering. Also, unfortunately, this 
 happened during a season of exceptional distress among the 
 poor, quite apart from any causes connected with the Reforma- 
 tion. It is during such seasons that charity, if wisely given, is 
 most useful. But at the time of which we are speaking the 
 chief source of charity of every kind was suddenly cut off. In 
 England neither alms nor food could any longer be obtained at 
 the monastery gate ; the wayfarer could no longer find shelter 
 in the hospitium ; the sick were no longer tended and cared for 
 in the monastic infirmary, because the monastery itself had 
 ceased to exist. Not only had the monastery gone, but its 
 possessions, part of which at least were the patrimony of the 
 poor, had also gone. In a few instances, but very few, a 
 portion of these possessions had been saved for purposes 
 directly or indirectly connected with the poor ; but in the vast 
 majority of instances both monastic lands and monastic revenues 
 had been entirely alienated from every charitable purpose.
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE REIGNS OF THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS: HENRY VIII. 
 
 TO ELIZABETH. 
 
 IN this chapter I shall consider the means which were taken in 
 England during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., 
 Philip and Mary, and Elizabeth, to deal with the problem of the 
 poor a problem of exceptional difficulty during this period, 
 partly owing to new economic conditions (to which I have 
 already drawn attention 1 ), and partly through the suppression 
 of the monasteries and other religious institutions. 2 It was a 
 time when there was at least an unusual amount of distress, and 
 during which sources of help to which the poor had long been 
 accustomed to look for relief were suddenly cut off. 
 
 In A.D. 1515 an Act of Parliament 3 was passed, " concerning 
 pulling down of towns," which states " that great inconveniences 
 are occasioned by the pulling down and destruction of houses 
 and towns, and laying to pasture lands which have been usually 
 occupied in tillage." It further states that owing to this many 
 people have been thrown into idleness, and it orders that all 
 " towns, villages, hamlets, and other habitations so decayed, shall 
 be re-edified within one year," and that " tillage lands turned to 
 pasturage shall be restored again to tillage." Nineteen years 
 later (in A.D. 1 534) another Act 4 was passed, the preamble to which 
 is extremely informing. In this we are told that divers of the 
 
 1 See pp. 77 et seq. and 83. 
 
 2 " Cambridge Modern History," pp. 467 et seq. 
 
 3 Actually there were two Acts : 6 Henry VIII., cap. 5, and 7 Henry VIII., 
 cap. i. See Nicholls' " History of the Poor Law," vol. i., p. in. 
 
 4 25 Henry VIII., cap. 13. Nicholls, op. cit., p. 112. 
 
 93
 
 94 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 King's subjects " to whom God of His goodness hath disposed 
 great plenty of moveable substance " a reference to the growth 
 of capitalism have " invented ways and means " to gather into 
 a few hands " great multitude of farms," putting the same to 
 pasturage ; in consequence the prices of provisions have so risen 
 that " a marvellous multitude of the people of this realm be not 
 able to provide meat, drink, and clothes necessary for themselves, 
 their wives, and children, but be so discouraged with misery and 
 poverty that they fall daily to theft, robbery, and other incon- 
 venience, or pitifully die for hunger and cold." 
 
 By an Act passed in 1531 l it is enjoined that a search be 
 made for " all aged poor and impotent persons which live by 
 alms and charity "; these are to have a licence to beg within certain 
 defined limits. By the same Act if any person, " being whole 
 and mighty in body and able to labour," be found begging, he is 
 to be severely punished, and then " to be repaired to where he 
 was born, or last dwelt for three years, and there labour for his 
 living without begging so long as he is able so to do "; also by 
 this Act any person found relieving "beggars being strong and 
 able to work " is to be heavily fined. This Act naturally failed 
 to accomplish its purpose, because it made no provision for 
 sustaining the weak, and it did not help the strong to find em- 
 ployment. Five years later, in the year of the suppression of 
 the smaller monastic houses, 2 an amending Act 3 was passed, by 
 which the chief officers of cities, towns, and parishes are ordered 
 to relieve poor people so that they need not "go openly in 
 begging," and also to "set and keep to continual labour sturdy 
 vagabonds and valiant beggars." For every month in which 
 these regulations are not observed, a fine of twenty shillings is 
 imposed upon the parish. The Act also states how the necessary 
 funds are to be raised i.e., to help the impotent and to provide 
 work for the able. The mayors and other chief officers in 
 towns, and the churchwardens or two others of every parish, are 
 
 1 22 Henry VIII., cap. 10. Nicholls, op. cit., p. 114. 
 
 2 In A.D. 1536. 
 
 8 27 Henry VIII., cap. 25. Nicholls, op. cit., p. 121.
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 95 
 
 to procure "voluntary alms of the good Christian people within 
 the same, with boxes, every Sunday and holiday, or otherwise 
 among themselves." Also, " every parson, vicar, and curate is to 
 exhort people to extend their charitable contributions . . . towards 
 these objects." This same Act also makes another extremely 
 interesting provision viz., " that no person shall make any 
 common or open dole, nor shall give any money in alms, other- 
 wise than to the common boxes and common gatherings." 1 If 
 anyone be found doing this, he is to be heavily fined. The Act 
 even goes farther, and enjoins " bodies politic and corporate that 
 are bound to give or distribute any money, bread, victuals, or 
 other sustentation to poor people," to give the same into the 
 " common boxes." Two reasons for this suggest themselves 
 first, that otherwise the collections would prove to be insuffi- 
 cient for the poor; secondly, that the Government was determined, 
 if possible, to cut off the supplies which encouraged mendicancy. 2 
 Yet another provision of this Act deserves notice ; by its fourth 
 section authority is given to take up all children between the ages 
 of five and thirteen who are begging or in idleness, and appoint 
 them to " masters in husbandry or other crafts to be taught." 
 
 It will be seen that in this Act we have at least the founda- 
 tions laid of many of the provisions of our present Poor Law ; 
 and from it we can conclude that the condition of the poor was a 
 source of care both to the King and Parliament. Before leaving 
 this Act two points should be carefully noticed : First, that as yet 
 there was no compulsory assessment for the poor ; practically all 
 the funds needed for administration of the law were to be con- 
 tributed voluntarily, " but parsons, vicars, and curates, when 
 preaching, hearing confessions, or making wills, were to exhort 
 people to be liberal." Secondly (as I have already noticed), that 
 since the Act must have at least been drawn up, if not actually 
 passed, before even the small monasteries were suppressed, we 
 are driven to the conclusion that these and other religious 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 122. 
 
 2 Those who, in the interests of both the nation and the poor, wished to 
 suppress mendicancy had, as the Italian Government has to-day, to fight 
 against a national habit which had become a tradition.
 
 9 6 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 institutions were already to a great extent failing to provide for 
 the needs of the poor. 
 
 Having now shown what the central Government, with the 
 help of the clergy, attempted to do for the whole kingdom 
 during the reign of Henry VIII., I would indicate very briefly 
 what was being done by the municipal authorities, also by the 
 help of the clergy, during the same period. In the early part 
 of the sixteenth century municipal rulers were much more 
 independent than they are to-day. For instance, " they could 
 impose taxes without the authority of Parliament"; 1 they could 
 also make their own regulations as to the manner of dealing 
 with their own poor. "Each town was a law unto itself." If 
 we study side by side municipal regulations and Acts of Parlia- 
 ment, we can see that frequently the Acts embodied and made 
 general for the whole country regulations which in certain 
 municipal areas were evidently deemed to have been proved 
 useful. In London, between 1514 and 1524, we have a series 
 of regulations forbidding vagrants to beg, and forbidding the 
 citizens to give to unlicensed beggars. 2 This last injunction 
 may well have been the source of the similar injunction in the 
 Act of 1535-36. In 1533 it was found that the alms of the 
 charitable in London were insufficient to provide for those 
 having a licence to beg ; consequently persons were chosen to 
 gather " the devotions of parishioners for the poor folk weekly " 
 (we presume in church), " and to distribute them to the poor 
 folk at the church doors." 3 Naturally the dissolution of the 
 monasteries largely increased the difficulty of poor relief in 
 London ; consequently the citizens petitioned the King that 
 certain of the old hospitals might be retained for the purposes 
 for which they had originally been founded, or that they might 
 be devoted to purposes connected with the amelioration of the 
 lot of the needy. Four of these were saved, and to a certain 
 extent re-endowed namely, St. Thomas's, St. Bartholomew's, 
 Christ's Hospital, and Bethlehem Hospital ; to these must be 
 
 1 Leonard, " English Poor Relief," p. 23. a Ibid., p. 25. 
 
 8 Ibid., p. 26.
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 97 
 
 added Bridewell, 1 though that was devoted to a different purpose 
 a workhouse and a house of correction for the able-bodied. 
 The history of the methods adopted in London during this 
 period to solve the problem of poverty is full of interest. We 
 witness the first beginnings of a serious attempt to discriminate 
 between various classes whose needs were due to different 
 causes i.e., the sick were treated at St. Thomas's and St. 
 Bartholomew's, the children at Christ's Hospital, the lunatics at 
 Bethlehem, and the able-bodied at Bridewell. We see the 
 increasing difficulty of providing sufficient funds now that the 
 self-regarding factor in giving charity was being undermined ; we 
 notice the first traces of a compulsory assessment ; 2 we also see 
 the danger of which there have been several examples in our 
 own time of people being attracted to the Metropolis because 
 of funds being there available for relief. 
 
 Ridley became Bishop of London in 1550, and for three 
 years he worked hard on behalf of the poor of his diocese. It 
 was largely owing to his efforts and to those of the contemporary 
 Lord Mayors that St. Thomas's, St. Bartholomew's, and Christ's 
 Hospitals were re-established and their endowments increased. 
 But Ridley was not content to help the sick and the children : 
 he wished, if possible, to clear the streets of beggars. With 
 this object he desired to obtain a place where they might be 
 taught and compelled to work. In pursuance of this purpose 
 he addressed a letter to Cecil, in which he writes : " I must be 
 a suitor to you in our good Master Christ's cause ; I beseech 
 you be good to Him. The matter is, Sir, alas! He hath lain 
 too long abroad (as you do know) without lodging in the streets 
 of London, both hungry, naked and cold. . . . Sir, there is a 
 wide, large, empty house of the King's Majesty's called Bride- 
 well, that would wonderfully well serve to lodge Christ in, if 
 
 1 Originally a royal palace. 
 
 2 " This is probably the first time a compulsory tax was levied for the 
 relief of the poor. The assessment is ordered by the London Common 
 Council a quarter of a century before Parliament had given authority for the 
 making of assessments for this object" (Leonard, op. Y., p. 29). [This is a 
 clear instance of a municipal regulation being afterwards adopted in an Act 
 of Parliament.] 
 
 7
 
 98 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 He might find such good friends in the Court to procure in His 
 cause." 1 Ridley was one of those who believe that the work 
 of social amelioration should go hand in hand with definitely 
 spiritual work indeed, that the two cannot properly be dis- 
 severed. Ridley's earnestness was rewarded, and so long as he 
 remained Bishop of London the hospitals in which he took so 
 warm an interest seem to have been supplied with sufficient 
 funds ; 2 but when his influence passed away they failed to 
 receive adequate support, and the numbers of those maintained 
 in them had to be reduced. 3 
 
 Possibly the most interesting and instructive lesson to be 
 learnt from the various efforts to help the poor in London 
 during this period is that there was evidently a serious attempt 
 towards a definite and comprehensive organization. The various 
 institutions re-established worked at .least to some extent in 
 connection with each other. 4 Each supplied an essential part of 
 a comprehensive scheme. Without each of these parts the 
 scheme as a whole must have failed. Men like Bishop Ridley 
 had risen above the idea that alms were to be merely palliative : 
 he and his co-workers were making at least some attempt to 
 prevent mendicancy by the removal of its causes. They tried 
 to educate the children, to heal the sick, and to train the idle to 
 work. 
 
 Efforts to help the poor, to train the children, to find work 
 for the idle and so prevent mendicancy, were made in many 
 other towns besides London. In Lincoln no one was to give 
 to beggars who had not a badge, the idle were to be set to work, 
 and those who refused work were expelled ; also " young people 
 who lived idly" were apprenticed. In Ipswich compulsory 
 assessments were made for the poor, and those who refused to pay 
 
 1 Leonard, op. cit., p. 32. 
 
 2 It is interesting to note that in 1553, besides the 280 children maintained 
 within Christ's Hospital, another 100 were boarded out in the country. 
 
 3 Leonard, op. cit., p. 38. 
 
 4 " Vagrants who were taken to Bridewell, and found to be ill, were sent 
 on to St. Bartholomew's or St. Thomas's, while, on the other hand, a 
 whipping was administered to the idlers after cure at St. Thomas's, and the 
 beadle of St. Bartholomew's had special orders to prevent discharged inmates 
 from begging " (Leonard, op. cit., p. 39).
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 99 
 
 were to be punished. At Cambridge the churchwardens made 
 a careful list of all the poor people in their respective parishes ; 
 they were also to inquire into the cases of those who had come 
 into their parishes within three years ; and collectors were chosen 
 to obtain alms in the churches. These are sufficient instances 
 to show that during this period the relief of the poor was 
 regarded more as a municipal and parochial than as a national 
 responsibility. 
 
 During the short reign of Edward VI. several Acts of 
 Parliament were passed which cannot be neglected by those who 
 would study the development of opinion in regard to the treat- 
 ment of the poor. An Act of the first year of this reign 1 states 
 that "idleness and vagabondage is the mother and root of all 
 thefts, robberies, and other evil acts and mischiefs," which the 
 King and Parliament had long tried to repress ; " but owing to the 
 foolish pity of them which should have seen the laws executed, 
 the said goodlie statutes have hitherto had small effect." In the 
 same Act we have an official recognition of what can only be 
 described as one of the worst abuses of actual slavery. By a 
 provision of this Act any young beggar, or child of any beggar, 
 between five and fourteen years of age might be taken from such 
 beggar by any person who would promise to bring the child up 
 in some honest occupation. This child, if a male, was bound to 
 this person to the age of twenty-four ; if a female, to the age of 
 twenty ; and " may be used in all points as a slave for the time 
 above specified." The master or mistress is even empowered "to 
 let, set forth, sell, bequeath, or give the service and labour of 
 such slave-child (sic) to any person or persons whomsoever he 
 will." 2 The Act goes even further than this: it enjoins that 
 " slaves or children so adjudged, wounding their master or 
 mistress in resisting their corrections or otherwise," are " to 
 suffer the pains of death as in case of felony." It is somewhat 
 difficult for us to understand what the conception of " My duty 
 towards my neighbour " must have been among the men who 
 
 1 i Edward VI., cap. 3. Nicholls, op. cit. t vol. i., pp. 129 et seq. 
 8 Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 131 et seq.
 
 ioo THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 framed this Act, or among those who voted for it ; yet both must 
 have been whether at heart they held Reformation principles or 
 not at least conforming members of the Church of England. 
 At the same time we must remember that even in the nineteenth 
 century Guardians of the poor, and manufacturers who obtained 
 children from the Guardians, if they did not actually condemn to 
 death " slave-children conspiring to do their master or mistress 
 mischief of any kind," did so treat such children or permitted 
 them to be so treated that thousands of them came to a prema- 
 ture death, and still more thousands were condemned to a life of 
 constant ill-health. Whether because even in that age the Act 
 (upon reflection) was regarded as too savage in its punishments, 
 or whether it was proved by experience that " force was no 
 remedy " (the examples of which are numerous), I know not, but 
 this repulsive Act was repealed within two years of its promul- 
 gation, and an Act of Henry VIII. was revived in its place. 1 
 
 In 1551-52 another Act 2 was passed which, because we are 
 specially considering the connection between the Church and the 
 poor, demands more than a passing reference. This Act shows 
 that although the State was now busy in laying down laws with 
 regard to the treatment of the poor, it was still to the Church 
 that help was mainly looked for. In this Act it is directed that 
 in every city, town, and parish, a book shall be kept by the 
 clergyman and churchwardens, containing a list, first of the 
 householders, and secondly of the impotent poor ; also that in 
 towns the mayor and head officers, and in every parish the parson 
 and churchwardens, shall yearly in Whitsun-week " openly in 
 the church and quietly after Divine service" call the people 
 together and there elect two or more persons to be collectors of 
 the charitable alms for the relief of the poor. Then, on one of 
 the two next Sundays, when the people are at church, " the said 
 collectors shall gently ask and demand of every man and woman 
 
 1 It is interesting to notice that in this same Act " the curate of every 
 parish, ' according to such talent as God has given him,' is enjoined to exhort 
 his parishioners to remember the poor according to their means, and the 
 need there be for their help " (Nicholls, op. cit., p. 132). 
 
 2 5 and 6 Edward VI., cap. 2.
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 101 
 
 what they of their charity will give weekly towards the relief of 
 the poor, and the same is to be written in the same book. And 
 the collectors shall justly gather and truly distribute the same 
 charitable alms weekly to the said poor and impotent persons, 
 without fraud or covine, favour or affection, and after such sort 
 that the more impotent may have the more help, and such as can 
 get part of their living have the less, and by the discretion of the 
 collector to be put to such labour as they are able to do ; but none 
 are to go or sit openly begging." Then the Act goes on to state 
 that if anyone refuses to give help towards the poor, or dis- 
 courages others from so doing, the " parson and churchwardens 
 are gently to exhort him"; and suppose he still remains obstinate, 
 then the Bishop is to send for him, "to induce and persuade him 
 by charitable ways and means." 1 
 
 This Act proves and there is much other evidence to the 
 same effect that it was becoming more and more difficult to 
 obtain, by voluntary methods, sufficient money to support even 
 the impotent poor. It also shows that it was still to people in 
 their Christian capacity that is, as members of the Church that 
 the appeal to provide for the poor was made. For we must 
 presume that the exhorting by the parson, and the inducing and 
 persuading by the bishop, would be based upon Christian teach- 
 ing, and would appeal to that teaching as the chief reason for 
 making this provision. It should also be noticed that, apparently, 
 begging of any kind by any person is forbidden by this par- 
 ticular Act. Three other Acts were passed in this reign which 
 affected, if indirectly, the welfare of the poor. One 2 was an 
 Act preventing combinations of workpeople, another 3 consisted 
 in a further attempt to prevent arable land being turned into 
 pasture, while the third, 4 forbidding " gigge-mills," was an in- 
 stance of the fear of machinery interfering with manual labour. 
 
 Two years after Mary came to the throne that is, in A.D. 
 1555 an Act 5 was passed for "putting down valiant beggars," 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 134. 2 2 and 3 Edward VI., cap. 15. 
 
 3 5 and 6 Edward VI., cap. 5. 4 Ibid., cap. 22. 
 5 2 and 3 Philip and Mary, cap. 5.
 
 102 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 and for relieving those " who are poor in very deed." This Act 
 confirms certain previous legislation, but makes various amend- 
 ments to this. The first of these is that instead of in " Whitsun- 
 week," it enacts that now " on some one holy-day in Christmas " 
 the people shall "openly in church, after divine service," be ex- 
 horted to give in aid of the poor. The reason for this change of 
 date is not evident. Was there a diversity of opinion between 
 those of the old and those of the new ways of thinking as to the 
 relative importance of Christmas and Whitsuntide ? Another 
 amendment is to the effect that " if any parish has more poor 
 than it is able to relieve, upon certifying the number and names 
 of the persons with which it is overburthened to two justices of 
 the peace, they may grant to as many of such poor folk as they 
 think good "a licence to go abroad to beg and to receive 
 charitable alms out of the said parish, in which licence the places 
 to which such poor folk may resort shall be named." " Such 
 licensed beggars are to wear openly, on the breast and back of 
 their outermost garment, some notable badge to be assigned by 
 the parish authorities." Here we seem to have very clear 
 evidence of the recrudescence of the permission to go begging 
 which was so widely recognized in pre-Reformation times. 
 
 The reign of Elizabeth is from almost every point of view one 
 of exceptional interest and importance. It certainly is so in 
 regard to measures taken for dealing with poverty. On the 
 surface these changes appear to be due to national and civic 
 authorities, and to be only very indirectly due to religious or 
 ecclesiastical influences. Actually, I believe, they were very 
 largely owing to these ; for if we look for the causes of the 
 immense changes which took place in various directions during 
 this reign, we cannot fail to see that these were largely due to an 
 improvement in the national character ; and this was surely, 
 among other causes, due to a more true teaching of Christianity. 
 The effects of the Reformation were now beginning to be felt ; 
 there was an altogether healthier tone both in the rulers of the 
 nation and in public opinion generally. 
 
 There can, I think, be little doubt that during the latter part
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 103 
 
 of the reign of Henry VIII. and during the reigns of Edward VI. 
 and Mary the condition of the mass of the people had been 
 growing steadily worse. This period has been compared to that 
 between 1760 and 1850, one to which later we shall have to pay 
 special attention. " In each case great economic transitions are 
 in progress, and in each case they are complicated by avoidable 
 and irrational evils. In each, also, the misery of the mass of the 
 people advances rapidly." 1 I would venture to add that in each 
 period what little influence religion did exert was not directed 
 towards the real or permanent welfare of the people. 
 
 " The general aims of Elizabeth's government were to main- 
 tain the naval and military power of the population, and to 
 provide a decent and secure subsistence for all Englishmen . . . 
 a well-nourished, regularly employed, and prosperous population 
 seemed one main condition of national power." 2 We are to-day 
 very apt to complain of interference with the liberty of the sub- 
 ject. Probably such complaints have been made in many 
 periods. But the interferences which we suffer are small indeed 
 compared with those, not only attempted, but put into force in the 
 sixteenth century. Government was then very really " paternal," 
 both locally and nationally, and the minute regulations in force 
 in regard to the conduct of the individual (and it was assumed 
 that all these regulations were for his benefit) were extraordinary 
 both in their extent and variety. 3 This " paternal " conception 
 of governmental function is one of the many proofs that at this 
 time there was undoubtedly an increasing sense of social re- 
 sponsibility, which is again proved by the many attempts to pre- 
 vent further sheep-farming in place of tillage, 4 as well as in the 
 efforts to regulate prices in favour of the poor. 5 I would also 
 notice the integrity of the great Elizabethan statesmen. They 
 
 1 Meredith, " Economic History of England," p. 99. 2 Ibid., p. 99. 
 
 3 On the " minute domestic character " of the Elizabethan legislation see 
 Loch, "Charity and Social Life," chap. xxix. 
 
 4 E.g., by 5 Elizabeth, cap. 2. 
 
 5 There was undoubtedly a considerable rise in the price of provisions 
 during the latter half of the sixteenth century ; but, on the whole, the rise in 
 wages seems to have been proportionate with this. That this should be so 
 was the object of 5 Elizabeth, cap. 4, which admits that "wages and 
 allowances limited and rated" in former statutes "are too small."
 
 104 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 took their work seriously ; they were not self-seeking ; on the 
 contrary, they seemed to have had a real and honest desire to 
 promote the public welfare. 
 
 In 1562-63 an Act 1 was passed which, because it marked a 
 new departure, demands special attention. 2 This Act perpetuates 
 most of the provisions of the Act passed in Mary's reign e.g., it 
 provides for the appointment of collectors of alms ; it licenses 
 the poor to beg where a parish is overburdened, and requires 
 such beggars to wear badges. It likewise enacts that those who 
 refuse to give to the poor are to be gently exhorted and persuaded 
 thereto by the clergy and churchwardens. But in the case of 
 those who after this refuse to give, it provides a means whereby 
 they may be compelled to give. It orders that if after exhorta- 
 tion, first by the parson and churchwardens of the parish, and 
 then by the bishop of the diocese, " any person of his froward or 
 wilful mind shall obstinately refuse to give weekly to the relief 
 of the poor according to his ability," the bishop shall have 
 authority to bind him under a penalty of ^10 to appear at the 
 next sessions. Here the justices are again "charitably and 
 gently to persuade the said obstinate person to extend his 
 charity towards the relief of the poor." If this persuasion fails, 
 the justices " may sesse, tax, and limit upon every such obstinate 
 person so refusing, according to their good discretion, what sum 
 the said obstinate person shall pay." If he then refuses to pay, 
 the justices may, " upon the complaint of the collectors and 
 churchwardens of the parish," commit him to prison until he pay 
 the same, "together with the arrearages thereof." Thus this 
 Act marks the first instance of a national compulsory assessment 
 for the relief of the poor one which has continued down to the 
 present time. In the same year another Act 3 was passed first 
 compelling certain classes of people to work, and all classes in 
 time of harvest, and then regulating the rate of wages 4 and the 
 price of certain kinds of provisions. 
 
 1 5 Elizabeth, cap. 3. 2 See Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 151, 152. 
 
 3 5 Elizabeth, cap. 4. Upon this Act see Loch, " Charity and Social 
 Life," pp. 310 et seq. 
 
 * These were fixed by the justices, " after calling to them such discreet 
 and grave persons as they shall think meet, and after conferring together
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 105 
 
 Ten years later that is, in 1572-73 another important and 
 extremely comprehensive Act l was passed, which not only dealt 
 with almost every conceivable kind of poverty, but stated what 
 particular means should be taken for the prevention or suppres- 
 sion of each. This Act provides another proof of the change to 
 which I have already called attention : it does not mention the 
 ecclesiastical authorities ; it also marks another step in the 
 development of the national conscience with regard both to the 
 evils of poverty and of the duty of doing everything possible to- 
 combat these. By its provisions " beggars are to be severely 
 punished ; persons harbouring or relieving them are to be fined f 
 aged and infirm poor are to have appointed for them by the 
 justices meet and convenient places . . . for their habitations 
 and abidings." It also provided that " if any of the said poor 
 people refuse to be bestowed in these abiding-places . . . but 
 covet still to hold on to their trade of begging, or after they be 
 once bestowed in the said abiding-places do depart and beg," 
 they are to be severely punished. 
 
 Of many other Acts passed during Elizabeth's reign, one 
 at least must be mentioned, 3 if for no other reason, because it 
 " is still the foundation and textbook of English Poor Law." 4 
 By this Act " four, three, or two substantial householders " are 
 to be yearly nominated in Easter week, and these, with the 
 churchwardens, are to be the overseers of the poor. These are 
 " to raise weekly or otherwise in every parish by taxation of every 
 inhabitant . . . and every occupier of lands, houses, etc.," such 
 sums of money as "they shall think fit" (i) for setting to- 
 work the children of parents not able to maintain them ; (2) for 
 setting to work poor people " who use no ordinary trade of 
 life to get their living by "; (3) for providing various materials 
 
 respecting the plenty or scarcity of the time, and other circumstances neces- 
 sary to be considered." Justices, in theory, fixed wages until 1814. 
 
 1 14 Elizabeth, cap. 5. 
 
 2 Sir George Nicholls points out that the encouragement given to beggars 
 by the statute of Philip and Mary, and unfortunately continued by i Eliza- 
 beth, cap. 1 8, had evidently produced very evil results. 
 
 3 43 Elizabeth, cap 2. 4 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 189.
 
 io6 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 for these to work upon ; (4) " for the necessary relief of im 
 potent persons not able to work. 1 To carry out these objects 
 the churchwardens and overseers are to meet together at least 
 once in every month in the parish church, after Divine service 
 on the Sunday, to consider of some good course to be taken." 
 By this Act it is also enjoined that if any parish cannot provide 
 for its own poor, then any parishes within the hundred or 
 county " may be taxed, rated, and assessed ... for the said 
 purpose." 
 
 As we look back over the efforts, whether legislative or 
 otherwise, made to deal with the problem of the poor from the 
 time of the dissolution of the monasteries to the death of Queen 
 Elizabeth, we can see, I think, a gradual acceptance in practice of 
 this undoubted truth that, while mendicancy and vagabondage 
 must at all costs be as far as possible abolished, merely coercive 
 or repressive measures will not suffice to effect this. There 
 must be remedies as well as punishments. The sources of the 
 evil must be attacked : children must be trained to work, and 
 work must be found for those who apparently cannot find it. 
 There must also be adequate relief for the impotent poor. But 
 side by side with this development in public opinion, we see 
 another development namely, in the methods adopted for 
 finding the means to deal with and to relieve the poor. We 
 see the method of compulsory assessment being gradually 
 adopted ; and though private charity did not cease, though we 
 constantly come across earnest exhortations towards a greater 
 liberality in bestowing it, we find a growing conviction that by 
 itself it was wholly inadequate to provide the money necessary 
 for the poor, if these were to be raised out of a state of des- 
 titution. 2 Undoubtedly during the reign of Elizabeth, and 
 during the succeeding reigns, a very considerable amount of 
 
 1 Upon the effects of this Act see Loch, "Charity and Social Life," 
 pp. 314 et seq. 
 
 2 "The aim of the two Acts of 1601, taken together, was to utilize 
 charitable gifts and to encourage donors to bequeath them. What was not 
 available from voluntary sources was to be raised by taxation " (Loch, 
 " Charity and Social Life," p. 319).
 
 THE TUDOR SOVEREIGNS 107 
 
 private charity was given for specific purposes, but there was 
 a growing tendency to place this charity more and more in the 
 charge of the municipalities or other lay trustees. The dis- 
 pensing of it was no longer confided chiefly to so-called spiritual 
 persons i.e., to the clergy. 
 
 There is, it appears to me, a very remarkable analogy 
 between the development of compulsory assessment for the 
 poor in the period we have been considering and that of the 
 compulsory payment for elementary, and even secondary, educa- 
 tion during recent years. Both were at first instituted as merely 
 supplementary to voluntary or charitable effort, but both in 
 process of time gradually superseded such effort. As to how 
 far it was inevitable that they should do so, opinions will 
 probably continue to differ.
 
 IX. 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 BETWEEN the death of Queen Elizabeth and the beginning 
 of the " Industrial Revolution," there stretches a period of 
 about 150 years. It cannot be said, I think, that the Church (as 
 a corporate body) took a prominent, or even an adequate, part in 
 the relief of the poor during this period ; though doubtless there 
 were, as I shall show, individual leaders of the Church who, at 
 various times, did take a deep and real interest in the welfare of 
 the poor, and who gave liberally to their support. 1 If our task 
 could be discharged by simply relating what the Church did for 
 the relief of the poor during this age, a very brief treatment 
 of it might be sufficient. Then, again, those who have studied 
 history know that any particular age can only be adequately 
 explained by careful reference to the age which preceded it. 
 Consequently the age of the " Industrial Revolution " (in which 
 we may be said to be still living) cannot be understood without at 
 least some conception of the conditions which existed in the age 
 we are now considering. 2 It is, then, as being necessary to ex- 
 plain present conditions and present difficulties, that we must 
 primarily study the measures which were taken on behalf of the 
 poor during the seventeenth, and the first half of the eighteenth, 
 
 1 The immense number of charities for the benefit of the poor founded 
 by various individuals during the seventeenth century proves that the spirit 
 of charity was then very much alive. A glance 'into the origin of existing 
 parochial charities to say nothing of the great number of those which have 
 been lost will prove how large a proportion of these date from this period. 
 
 2 On this epoch as " a period of preparation " see Meredith, " Economic 
 History of England," pp. 181 et seq. Also during this period, as I shall show, 
 our present Poor Law became consolidated ; the principles upon which, to 
 some extent, it is still administered became fixed. 
 
 1 08
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 109 
 
 century. I say " primarily " because I do not wish my readers 
 to think that a study of this particular age is in itself unfruitful ; 
 on the contrary, if we study it carefully, we may learn some 
 extremely valuable lessons from it. This is especially true of 
 the period covered by the reigns of James I. and Charles I. 
 
 These two reigns were, so far as our subject is concerned, 
 extremely like the previous reign in one respect, and extremely 
 unlike it in another. In them, as during the time of Elizabeth, 
 we find that the care of the poor had largely passed into the 
 hands of authorities which were only ecclesiastical so far as this, 
 that the churchwardens of the parish were ex officio associated 1 
 in the administration of the Poor Law of that date. On the 
 other hand, there was this great dissimilarity : the reign of 
 Elizabeth was one of active legislative development, while during 
 the reigns of James I. and Charles I., we find that it was rather 
 an improved administration of the law than the making of any 
 great changes in the law itself that was the chief object of the 
 Central Authority. 
 
 The most important of all the Acts relating to the poor passed 
 during the reign of Elizabeth, we saw, was that of i6oi, 2 which 
 established the principle, "that property must be chargeable for 
 the relief of poverty " and " that the security of the one is en- 
 dangered by the extremity of the other." 3 It appears that it 
 took some considerable time before the various provisions of 
 this Act came into general operation. It is one thing for a 
 Central Authority to order that machinery requisite for a variety 
 of purposes shall be set up, and also for this Authority to give 
 powers to Justices and other local authorities ; it is another thing 
 to set this machinery working satisfactorily in all the various 
 parts of the kingdom, 4 especially when we remember how slow 
 
 1 With the overseers. 
 
 2 43 Elizabeth, cap. 2. See Nicholls' " History of the Poor Law," 
 vol. i., pp. 189 et seq. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 207. 
 
 4 Nicholls states (p. 245) that " there were places in which no rate was 
 made for twenty, thirty, and even forty years after the passing of this Act." 
 He quotes from a pamphlet of 1622, which complains of there being parishes 
 in which there had been no collection for the poor for seven years.
 
 no THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 were the means of communication in those days compared with 
 those we now possess. 
 
 Some of the most important provisions of this Act deal with 
 the duties of overseers and with the powers entrusted to them. 
 These officials were not appointed for the first time in 1601, but 
 they were then first empowered to make and collect the rates 
 requisite for carrying out their duties. They, together with the 
 churchwardens of the parish, were henceforth 1 those actually 
 responsible for seeing that the various provisions of the Poor 
 Law were properly carried into effect. Here it will probably 
 be well to remind ourselves of the actual ecclesiastical condition 
 of England at this time. As Sir G. Nicholls says, " The great 
 bulk of the people belonged to the Established Church, and they 
 regarded it as an essential part of the government, parochial as 
 well as general." 2 Hence, from a religious, as well as from an 
 ecclesiastical, point of view, not only the churchwardens, but 
 also the overseers would represent both the people and the 
 Church in a way in which they do not any longer represent 
 them. Not only those who administered the law, but also 
 Parliament which made the law, may consequently be considered 
 to have expressed the views generally held in the Church at that 
 time as to the proper treatment of the poor. 
 
 As an example of this, and as an explanation of provisions 
 which still exist in many parishes at the present time, we may 
 notice an Act passed in the seventh year of James I. 3 This 
 Act deals with the application of money given for the apprentic- 
 ing of poor children. It states that much money has been given 
 for this purpose, and that more is likely to be given, and its 
 object is to encourage " other well-disposed people " to bestow 
 " money to the same good and godly purposes" ; 4 therefore it 
 enacts that " all money so given shall for ever continue to be 
 used for such purposes only, and that corporations in cities and 
 
 1 Until 1782, when "Gilbert's Act" restricted their duties to collecting 
 the rate and accounting for it. 
 
 2 Nicholls, op. cit. t p. 221. 3 7 James I., cap. 3. 
 
 4 An instance of the truth that the Poor Law was originally intended 
 to supplement private charity. See Leonard, " English Poor Relief," p. 137.
 
 Ill 
 
 towns corporate, and in parishes and towns not corporate, the 
 parson or vicar, together with the constables, churchwardens 
 and overseers of the poor for the time being, ' shall have the 
 nomination and placing of such apprentices and the finding and 
 employment of all such moneys as are so given for the continual 
 binding forth of such apprentices.' " 1 This Act, as I have 
 already stated, shows, first, the exceedingly close co-operation of 
 the ecclesiastical and civil authorities at that time ; and, secondly, 
 it reveals why to-day the vicar of an ancient parish is frequently 
 a trustee (indeed, often chairman of the trustees) of charities for 
 apprenticeship and other purposes. 
 
 Another Act of the same year is an additional proof of this 
 co-operation. This Act 2 is "for the due execution of divers 
 Laws and Statutes heretofore made against Rogues, Vagabonds, 
 and Sturdy Beggars, etc." It orders Houses of Correction to 
 be provided in every county by a certain date, and if not pro- 
 vided by this date every justice of the county is to be fined ^5 ; 
 also a general search is to be made for undesirable persons, and 
 " the constables and tithing men" are to give an account upon 
 oath in writing and under the hand of the minister of every 
 parish " 3 what disorderly persons they have apprehended. 
 All this goes to prove not only how active, but, indeed, how 
 efficient local organization was becoming. 
 
 We have now entered upon the period when the relations 
 between the Crown and the people were such that Parliaments 
 assembled only to be prorogued, and when it was practically 
 impossible to pass legislative measures of any kind. Indeed, 
 between 1610 and 1624 this seems actually to have been the 
 case. When Parliament met in this latter year, the first Act 4 
 it passed was one for "erecting of Hospitals and Working- 
 houses for the Poor." I mention this Act for this reason, 
 because although the arrears of legislation must have been 
 enormous, so keen apparently was public opinion at the time 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 227. 
 
 2 7 James 1., cap. 4. Its provisions deal mainly with administration. 
 8 Nicholls, op. cit. } p. 229. 
 
 4 21 James I., cap. i. It makes perpetual 39 Elizabeth, cap. 5.
 
 ii2 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 in regard to the poor, that the very first Act passed after 
 fourteen years of silence had reference to a question connected 
 with them. 
 
 Throughout these two reigns, and especially during the 
 long intervals which elapsed between the summoning of 
 successive Parliaments, the Privy Council 1 became in effect 
 the supreme administrative authority in all matters connected 
 with the relief of the poor ; and the various " Orders " which 
 were issued by the Council at this time should be carefully 
 studied, that is, if we are to understand how the poor were dealt 
 with during this period. 2 These " Orders " were both local and 
 general ; they sometimes had reference to particular difficulties 
 in particular districts ; at other times they were general regula- 
 tions applying to the whole kingdom. On the whole, these 
 Orders in Council were wisely drawn up, and they show not 
 only a knowledge of the needs of the poor at the time, but as 
 a rule they meet these needs in a very satisfactory way. Some 
 of the difficulties with which these Orders deal may be noticed : 
 first, they frequently call the attention of the local authorities, 
 the Justices of the Peace, etc., to the remissness with which 
 they were administering the law, and they threaten punishment 
 if it is not put into force. Secondly, they often issue temporary 
 regulations in reference to the sale of corn at a cheap price in 
 times of famine following bad harvests, and they also order 
 that there shall be a supply of grain to the poor. Thirdly, they 
 command that in times of scarcity the local authorities shall 
 provide work for the workers. 3 In those days a bad harvest, 
 
 1 " It seems . . . that the Crown claimed a sort of supplemental right 
 of legislation to perfect and carry into effect what the spirit of existing laws 
 might require ... as well as ... a sovereign power which sanctioned 
 commands beyond the legal prerogative, for the sake of public safety " 
 (Hallam's " Constitutional History," vol. i., p. 237). 
 
 2 "On the Work of the Privy Council in regard to the Relief of the 
 Poor." See Leonard, " English Poor Relief," chap, viii., " Parliament and 
 the Privy Council." 
 
 3 Leonard, op. cit. (p. 148), quotes as follows from an Order in Council : 
 " This being the rule by w ch both the woolgrower, the clothier and merchant 
 must be governed. That whosoever had a part of the gaine in profitable 
 times since his Ma'v happy raigne must now in the decay of Trade . . . beare 
 a part of the publicke losses as may best conduce to the good of the publicke 
 and the maintenance of the generall trade."
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 113 
 
 and especially two or three poor harvests in succession, meant a 
 famine, because there was not then, as now, the means of pro- 
 curing an immediate supply of corn from other countries. In 
 1621 and 1622 there were two exceptionally bad harvests, which 
 led to very serious disturbances in different parts of the country. 
 Another matter upon which the Council uttered proclamations 
 was upon the necessity of the country gentlemen dwelling at 
 home upon their estates instead of living luxuriously in London 
 about the Court. Two reasons were stated for this proclama- 
 tion : (i) Because of "inconveniences which of necessity must 
 ensue by the absence of those out of their countries upon whose 
 care a great and principall part of the subordinate government 
 of this realme doth depend"; (2) because the King "was per- 
 swaded that by this way of reviving the laudable and ancient 
 housekeeping of this realme the poore and such as are most 
 pinched in times of scarcity and want will be much releeved 
 and comforted." 1 
 
 We must now pass to the reign of Charles I. In this reign, 
 as in the previous one, so far as the care of the poor is concerned, 
 we find much more attention paid to the administration of the 
 existing law than any effort to enact new laws. This is only 
 what we might expect when we remember that during the 
 greater part of this reign the action of Parliament as a legislative 
 body was practically dormant. Three years after Charles came 
 to the throne (in 1628) an Act 2 was passed dealing with parish 
 apprentices and parish labour. The object of this Act was to 
 prevent parish officers churchwardens and overseers binding 
 children as apprentices except as a means and for the purpose 
 of better relieving the poor. From this it seems as if some of 
 these parish officers had been tempted " to use the poor-rates 
 to establish manufactures with a view to profit by pauper 
 labour." 3 Though it was only three years since he had 
 ascended the throne, this was the third Parliament which 
 Charles had summoned, and this was the last Act which this 
 
 1 Leonard, op. cit., p. 146. 8 3 Charles I., cap. 5. 
 
 3 Nicholls' " History of the Poor Law," vol. i., p. 251. 
 
 8
 
 ii4 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 particular Parliament passed. Upon its dissolution Charles 
 tried the experiment of governing without any Parliament at 
 all. But whatever other evils ensued, it cannot be said that 
 the poor suffered in consequence of this decision. On the 
 contrary, during the next few years their welfare seems to have 
 been studied with more than ordinary solicitude. In 1630 the 
 King issued a very important Commission " for putting in 
 execution the laws relating to the poor." l Among the com- 
 missioners were Abbot, then Archbishop of Canterbury, and 
 Laud, who, within three years, was to succeed him. The 
 Commission went very thoroughly to work, different commis- 
 sioners undertaking different districts. Immediately after the 
 appointment of the Commission there was issued a very general 
 "Book of Orders," 2 or rather of "Orders" and "Directions." 
 The " Orders " come first, and indicate what must be the 
 method of administration ; the " Directions " command that 
 existing Statutes, such as those for the repression of begging, 
 for binding of apprentices, and for the provision of work and of 
 relief, shall be enforced. There can, I think, be no doubt that 
 during the ten years which followed the issue of this Book of 
 Orders 3 we find (for that period) an exceptionally thorough and, 
 on the whole, wise administration of the laws relating to the 
 poor. The experience is a proof of what a small but able and 
 earnest body of men at the head of a widespread organization 
 may do to make that organization thoroughly efficient. The 
 real difficulty in connection with all schemes for the welfare of 
 the poor, whether these refer to large or small areas, is generally 
 
 1 Nicholls' " History of the Poor Law," vol. i., p. 252. 
 
 2 See Leonard, op. cit., pp. 158 et seq. ; Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 254 et seq. 
 Sir George Nicholls draws attention to the similarity between the objects 
 of the Commissions of 1630 and those of 1833 "to prevent a lax or faulty 
 action on the part of the local authorities, and to secure an effective adminis- 
 tration of the law throughout the country." 
 
 3 As an indication of the conception of the scope of the Poor Law at 
 that time the title of this Book of Orders is interesting : " Orders and 
 Directions, together with a Commission, for the better administration of 
 Justice, and more perfect Information of his Majesty how and by whom 
 the Law and Statutes tending to the Relief of the Poor, the well ordering 
 and training up of Youth in Trades, and the Reformation of Disorders and 
 disordered Persons are executed throughout the kingdom."
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 115 
 
 found to consist in maintaining the efficiency of those upon 
 whom ultimately the actual work devolves. Scheme after 
 scheme, each excellent in itself, has failed in various periods 
 because there was wanting at the centre that administrative 
 zeal which demanded efficient work at the extremities. 
 
 In dealing with this period Miss Leonard makes two state- 
 ments which are extremely interesting : 1 first, she holds-^that 
 " there are grounds for believing that never since the days of 
 Charles I. have we had either so much provision of work for the 
 able-bodied, or so complete a system of looking after the more 
 needy classes when they were suffering from the effects of fire, 
 pestilence, and famine." She also holds that " at this time the 
 history of the poor is more distinctly connected than usual with 
 the history of the nation as a whole." The second statement to 
 which I refer is as follows : " The personal government of 
 Charles I. has been more associated with the exaction of Ship 
 Money than with attempts to enforce a system which has much 
 in common with the socialistic schemes with which we are 
 familiar on paper, yet these eleven years are remarkable for 
 more continuous efforts to enforce socialistic measures than has 
 been made by the central Government of any other great 
 European country." 2 
 
 I have found it somewhat difficult to estimate the amount of 
 private charity given during the period with which we are 
 dealing ; but that in certain directions it was very considerable 
 I think there can be no doubt. It seems to have been especially 
 rich in the way of endowed charities of various kinds. For 
 instance, about this time a large number of almshouses (com- 
 monly known as " hospitals ") seem to have been founded in 
 various parts of England. 3 These were maintained by private 
 liberality, though some of them were controlled by municipal 
 
 1 Leonard, op. cit., p. 132. 
 
 2 Leonard, op. cit. t p. 164. Miss Leonard believes that " Abbot and Laud, 
 Wentworth and Falkland, Dorchester and Wimbledon were the members 
 of the Council most closely connected with this policy " [towards the poor]. 
 
 3 " Probably there were nearly as many of these m existence then as 
 there are to-day, in spite of the fact that our population has increased 
 sixfold" (Leonard, op. cit., p. 207).
 
 u6 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 and other public authorities. Also quite a number of pre- 
 Reformation foundations had passed into the hands of the Cor- 
 porations of various towns, and here and there we come across 
 a pre- Reformation hospital which, having passed by purchase 
 into private hands, had by its purchaser been returned to its 
 original use or purpose. 1 Among donors of endowed charities 
 for the poor we find four Archbishops of Canterbury Grindal, 
 Abbot, Laud, and Whitgift. One favourite method of giving 
 charity was to provide sums of money for binding poor children 
 as apprentices e.g., Archbishop Laud gave money to apprentice 
 ten poor boys at Reading. Another method of charity was 
 to provide means whereby work might be given to the 
 unemployed. 2 Of course a "workhouse" in those days was 
 literally what its name signifies. Archbishop Abbot founded a 
 workhouse at Guildford, and in many other places money was 
 freely given for this purpose. Yet another method of charity 
 was to lend money to young men to enable them to set up in 
 business for themselves. 3 If we were to search into the origin 
 and history of many existing charities and into the history of 
 yet more which have either been diverted from their original 
 purpose or unfortunately have been altogether lost, we should 
 find that a very considerable portion of these dated from the 
 first half of the seventeenth century. This is especially true of 
 such charities as consisted in giving away small sums of money on 
 particular Sundays or Feasts (generally after hearing a sermon), 
 or in the distribution of loaves of bread. One point in estimat- 
 ing the condition of the poor at this time must not be forgotten, 
 namely, that considering the size or number of the population of 
 England in those days, the proportion of such charities as I 
 have named was very much greater than it is at the present 
 time. We have only to think of the population of London and 
 
 1 Miss Leonard gives several instances (op. cit., p. 209). 
 
 ? This seems to have been a method of helping the poor specially favoured 
 in the first half of the sixteenth century. 
 
 3 These sums were lent either interest free or at a low rate. From 
 6 to 12 per cent, was the ordinary rate for money lent in business at that 
 time.
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 117 
 
 other towns in those days, and then to remember that very 
 many of our existing charities were then available in order to 
 see that this was so. Regarded from the legal point of view, a 
 wide chasm to-day separates the merely poor from the pauper 
 or person in aid of statutory relief. In the seventeenth century 
 this chasm was far narrower. 1 We have only to investigate the 
 distribution of corn in times of scarcity and of work when trade 
 was bad to find out how difficult it is to determine how much of 
 either was voluntary and how much was effected under legal 
 compulsion. 
 
 The period of the Civil War was naturally one of very con- 
 siderable social disorganization, though actually this was not 
 nearly so great as might have been expected ; that it was so 
 comparatively small is a proof of the excellence of the local ad- 
 ministration existing when the war broke out. 2 Had this been 
 less perfect, the disorganization must have been far more serious. 
 Undoubtedly the poor did suffer to a very considerable extent 
 during the progress of the war. 3 People who had been 
 accustomed to give considerable sums in charity were no longer 
 able to do so. Funds which had been devoted to the poor now 
 went to pay the expenses of the war in fact, many of the gentry 
 of the kingdom were practically ruined. The Justices of the 
 Peace who had been responsible for the administration of the 
 Poor Law were now engaged in raising troops for King or 
 Parliament ; and the overseers, instead of collecting rates for the 
 support of the poor, were busy collecting money to pay the 
 soldiers. As examples of the disorganization which ensued, the 
 following instances may be cited : At Christ's Hospital in 
 London there were in 1641 no less than 900 children ; in 1647 
 
 1 In those days " all classes were relieved because poor relief was originally 
 part of a paternal system of government under which the rulers regarded 
 the maintenance of the usual prosperity of every class as part of their duties " 
 (Leonard, op. cit., p. 203). 
 
 2 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 265, who quotes the " Memoirs of Colonel Ludlow." 
 
 3 E.g., from fluctuations in the price of wheat, which was 525. a quarter 
 in 1625, but rose to y6s. and 8os. in 1649 ; in 1653 it was 353. 6d. ; in 1659 
 it was 66s. 6d.
 
 ii8 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 there were only 597 ; at St. Thomas's Hospital in 1641 more 
 than 1,000 patients were relieved ; in 1647 the number had 
 fallen to 682. From the former hospital there were serious 
 complaints of the diminution of contributions for the support of 
 the charity. 1 The laws relating to the poor were also badly 
 administered because, as we have already noticed, those who 
 were responsible for seeing to their administration were other- 
 wise engaged. If this was the case, we need not be surprised 
 that, even when charitable funds were available, these were 
 sometimes corruptly applied. 
 
 One curious example of the straits to which local adminis- 
 trators were put from want of funds, and of a strange device to 
 remedy this want, is afforded by a suggestion from the burgesses 
 of Great Yarmouth. These suggested that the spoils of Norwich 
 Cathedral might be used for the relief of the poor ; they 
 petitioned Parliament to "be pleased to grant vs such a part of 
 the lead and other vseful materialls of that vast and altogether 
 vseles Cathedrall in Norwich towards building of a works house 
 to employ our almost sterued poore," etc. 2 It was the able- 
 bodied poor, those out of work, who apparently suffered most 
 severely from the effects of the war. Some effort does seem to 
 have been made to supply the needs of the impotent and of the 
 children, but there was no replenishing of the public " stocks " 
 i.e., of raw material, which, before the war, were maintained by 
 various local authorities, and by means of which those poor who 
 were able to work could do something towards earning a 
 a living. In fact, never again has this particular means of 
 assisting the poor been used to the same extent as it was during 
 the period preceding the Civil War. 
 
 I now turn to the reign of Charles II. In the year 1662 an 
 Act was passed 3 which, from its far-reaching consequences upon 
 the poor (some of which consequences exist at the present time), 
 
 1 Leonard, op. cit., p. 269. 
 
 3 Leonard, op. cit., pp. 273, 274. " Part of the proceeds of Lichfield 
 Cathedral seem actually to have been granted to the poor of Stafford" 
 (ibid., p. 274). 
 
 8 14 Charles II., cap. 12.
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 119 
 
 demands more than a passing notice. I refer to that known as 
 the " Settlement Act," the cause of which was stated thus, 
 that " by reason of some defects in the law, poor people are not 
 restrained from going from one parish to another, and therefore 
 do endeavour to settle themselves in those parishes where there 
 is the best stock, the largest commons or waste to build cottages, 
 and the most woods for them to burn and destroy ; and when 
 they have consumed it, then to another parish, and at last 
 become rogues and vagabonds, to the great discouragement of 
 of parishes to provide stocks, where it is liable to be devoured 
 by strangers." 1 The Act provided that any person or persons 
 coming to settle in a parish in any tenement under the value of 
 ten pounds might be removed into the parish where they were 
 " last legally settled." Such a law had long been in force 
 against vagabonds and beggars, but this Act enormously 
 widened its scope. The Act, so it is said, was carried through 
 Parliament mainly by the aid of the members for London and 
 Westminster, and its chief object was to prevent a continually 
 increasing number of poor people settling in those cities. The 
 actual consequences of the Act were probably not foreseen by 
 the country members ; had they been so it would not have been 
 passed. As Sir George Nicholls truly says : " A fuller con- 
 sideration of its provisions at the time might have shown . . . 
 that to remove persons from a parish in order to prevent their 
 becoming chargeable might end in practically restricting them 
 through life to their place of birth, destroying the incentives to 
 independent effort, and perpetuating a low state of civilization. 
 We now know that such have, to a great extent, been the conse- 
 quences of this measure, notwithstanding the frequent emen- 
 dations which it has received." 2 
 
 1 Nicholls, op, cit., p. 280. On the Act of Settlement see " The English 
 Poor Law System," by Aschrott and Preston-Thomas, pp. 9 et seq., who write : 
 " It is an uncontested and incontestable fact that this important Act, of 
 which the consequences were so serious, was pushed through all the stages 
 of legislation without affording either Parliament or public opinion time for 
 discussion, merely because the representatives of London and a few wealthy 
 landlords were desirous of lessening the burden of their own poor rates." 
 
 2 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 283.
 
 120 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Both the causes and the results of this Act still remain with 
 
 us to a great extent at the present time. The greater part of 
 
 the money raised for the maintenance of the poor is still raised 
 
 parochially ; hence it is still to the advantage of every " parish " 
 
 to have as few poor to support as possible. If the charge for 
 
 the poor had been a national instead of a parochial charge, no 
 
 doubt every trace of the " Law of Settlement" would long ago 
 
 have disappeared. 1 As it is, though very greatly modified, the 
 
 law still remains ; and the consequences are still perceptible in 
 
 the tenacity with which many, especially of the agricultural, 
 
 poor still cling to the parish in which they were born. Yet 
 
 experience has taught us that, especially in times of bad trade, 
 
 the mobility of labour is a condition at which we ought to aim. 
 
 Labour should be able to follow trade, as trade will follow 
 
 conditions most advantageous to its development and success. 
 
 Cheapness of materials, facilities for transit, local demands, as 
 
 well as a supply of suitable labour, all help to govern the choice 
 
 of the situation of any particular trade. To do anything towards 
 
 tying a man down to the place in which he was born is to 
 
 hinder his efforts towards self-improvement. It discourages 
 
 self-effort, the one thing above all others which those who seek 
 
 the welfare of the poor would foster and increase. 
 
 At the time of which we are speaking there was evidently in 
 the minds of those charitably disposed a strong feeling in favour 
 of providing work for the poor at the cost of the community. 2 
 Sir Matthew Hale, the eminent judge, published a work in 
 which, besides advising that children shall be instructed in trade 
 or work, he very strongly recommends that a sufficient number 
 of workhouses shall be built in which a sufficient stock of 
 
 1 It should be clearly understood that by the Settlement Act " the whole 
 of the labouring classes throughout the country were subjected to a restric- 
 tion which had previously been applied only to the idle and impotent " 
 (Nicholls, op. cit., p. 285). 
 
 2 I know no more striking example of the difficulty with which the 
 lessons of history are learnt and of the ease with which they are forgotten 
 than the many demands to provide work for the poor at the public expense. 
 Many of these demands have been made in quite recent times. Cf. Reports 
 of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws (1909), Part I., p. 87.
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 121 
 
 materials shall be provided, and where the poor shall be set to 
 work. He gives two reasons for this : Firstly, that no man 
 will have a need to beg or steal when he may get his living 
 better by working ; secondly, that " no man will be so hurtful 
 to the public as to give to those who beg, and thereby to 
 encourage them, when he is sure they may gain their living by 
 working." He also states that " by this means the wealth of 
 the nation will be increased, manufactures advanced, and every- 
 body put into a capacity of eating his own bread." So firmly 
 was the worthy judge convinced of the value of his ideas that 
 he commends his plan as "a debt which we owe to our nature 
 as men, a work highly necessary to us as Englishmen, and our 
 first duty as Christians." 1 
 
 I have given these long extracts because they reveal to us 
 the ideas upon both political economy and Christian philanthropy 
 of one of the best representatives of that age. But increased 
 experience has taught us that, not only from the point of view 
 of the political economist, but from that of the practical worker 
 for the permanent welfare of the poor, Sir Matthew H ale's ideas 
 are hopelessly wrong. The public provision of work leads to 
 the theory of " the right to work," which from its consequences, 
 wherever it has been tried, is now condemned by practically 
 every real friend of the poor. 
 
 The reign of Charles II. is remarkable for the attempts 
 which were made during its course to " protect " certain trades 
 in the interest of home industries with (it was stated) the object 
 of benefiting the workers, though there is also evidence to 
 prove that the interests of the landed gentry were not forgotten. 
 I have no intention of entering upon a question much debated 
 at the present time further than to point out that, among other 
 projects tried in those days, efforts were made to prevent the 
 importation of goods free of duty, " to the great detriment of 
 the kingdom and the non-employment of the poor." 2 
 
 There is little that calls for our notice during the short reign 
 
 1 Quoted by Nicholls, op.cit., pp. 288, 289. 
 
 2 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 296.
 
 122 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 of James II., except that it was already found necessary to 
 amend the ill-considered " Law of Settlement," which, owing 
 to its pressure upon the poor, was constantly being evaded. 
 During this reign and that of William and Mary various 
 attempts were made to prevent new-comers from being in a 
 parish for forty days unknown to the authorities, and so obtaining 
 a legal settlement. In one Act 1 it was ordered that every person 
 upon coming into a parish must give a notice of this fact in 
 writing to the overseers or churchwardens ; and when this was 
 found insufficient, it was ordered that the churchwarden or over- 
 seer was to read the notice of the person's or persons' arrival 
 publicly on the next Lord's Day immediately after Divine 
 Service. This was probably to afford all the parishioners an 
 opportunity of demanding the ejectment of a newcomer " should 
 their officers be remiss or over-indulgent." 2 
 
 During the reign of William and Mary we meet with a 
 difficulty which was, sooner or later, bound to arise in con- 
 nection with the relief of the poor, considering who those were 
 who bestowed it. This difficulty arose largely from the prac- 
 tically unlimited powers of churchwardens and overseers. An 
 Act passed in 1691 draws attention to the fact that "these 
 frequently upon frivolous pretences (but chiefly for their own 
 private ends) give relief"; 3 also that those who have obtained 
 relief, " being entered into the collection bill, do become after 
 that a great charge upon the parish, notwithstanding the occasion 
 or pretence of their receiving collection (or relief) oftentimes 
 ceases, by which means the rates of the poor are daily increased." 
 It is then ordered that a book is to be kept in every parish in 
 which the names of all persons " receiving collection " are to be 
 registered. Then "yearly, in Easter week, or oftener if necessary, 
 this book is to be produced to the parishioners in vestry, and the 
 names of all persons receiving relief are to be called over, and 
 the reasons for their receiving relief examined, and a new list is 
 
 1 3 William and Mary, cap. n. 
 
 3 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 324. 
 
 3 Section n of 3 William and Mary, cap. n.
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 123 
 
 to be made and entered of such persons as shall be thought fit 
 to receive collection." 
 
 Here it is evidently quite clearly laid down that relief is a 
 parochial charge, whose object is the welfare of the parishioners, 
 towards which each, voluntarily or compulsorily, contributes. 
 Its right application is the interest of all the parishioners ; there- 
 fore it is their responsibility to see that this is effected. The 
 relics of this old custom are found in hundreds of ancient 
 parishes to-day, where at the Easter Vestry meeting the accounts 
 of those charities which belong to the parish, and over which 
 the Vicar and churchwardens have supervision, are produced 
 for the inspection and ratification of the parishioners.
 
 X. 
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 
 
 ^HERE are two facts, both unhappy ones, which at the 
 JL present time call for serious examination and equally 
 serious thought. These are, first, the actual condition, economic 
 and religious, of a great number of poor people in this country ; 
 and, secondly, the actual relationship of these people to what 
 may be termed " organized Christianity " the Church or " the 
 Churches." Both the condition of these people and their 
 relationship to the Church must be considered extremely un- 
 satisfactory. Both are, of course, very largely the product of 
 the past, and they have not come to be what they are in the 
 course of the last hundred or even the last fifty years. Actually, 
 they are by-products of that great movement which is usually 
 and rightly known as the " Industrial Revolution, "during which 
 side by side with an immense growth of national wealth, there 
 was an immense increase of poverty, and also of degradation 
 and oppression of the poor. But these evils, which accompanied 
 the Industrial Revolution, were not inevitable ; there was no 
 inherent necessity why they should have come to pass. Actually, 
 they were to a great extent due partly to certain conditions 
 existing when that Revolution first began ; but much more to a 
 want of wisdom in both Church and State during the first 
 century of its progress. 
 
 In my last chapter I carried down our history to the death 
 of William III., in 1702. The Industrial Revolution began some 
 fifty years later. It is to this half-century, which covers the 
 reign of Anne and the first two Georges, that the present 
 chapter must be devoted. It was during this half-century that 
 
 124
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 125 
 
 conditions were permitted to develop which caused a large pro- 
 portion of the evils of the period which succeeded it. 
 
 Nothing is more difficult than to sketch the characteristic 
 features of any age in the compass of a few sentences. The 
 attempt, from the inevitable complexity both of the circumstances 
 and of the various forces at work, is almost bound to be mis- 
 leading ; yet it is essential, if our present subject is to be ade- 
 quately studied, that there should be at least some clear idea of 
 the general conditions in Church and State in the background. 
 
 At the opening of the eighteenth century the position of the 
 English Church was undoubtedly strong ; her life was vigorous 
 and her zeal was at least considerable. 1 She was certainly 
 popular in the nation, and both Romanism 2 and Nonconformity 3 
 were relatively far weaker than they had been for some time 
 past. During the reign of Anne the Church's energy, spirituality, 
 and earnestness were at least maintained. But as the century 
 proceeded there came a rapid decline in every one of these 
 qualities. The Church became more or less a tool of the State, 
 and enthusiasm, indeed earnestness of any kind, rapidly died 
 away. A period of lethargy succeeded a period of vigorous life ; 
 and by the middle of the eighteenth century the condition of the 
 Church was in some respects as evil, if not indeed worse, than 
 at any period in her history. The condition of the State offers 
 an instructive parallel. At the death of Anne the country had 
 been almost continuously at war, either within her own borders 
 or with foreign Powers, for nearly a century. Hence, when 
 Walpole came into office, his principle of quieta non movere, 
 which he imposed upon the Church, was not unwelcome in the 
 State. 
 
 It will be best for me first to notice what steps were taken 
 
 1 " Never since her Reformation had the Church of England given so 
 fair a promise of a useful and prosperous career as she did at the beginning 
 of the eighteenth century. . . . Look at the Church's history in retrospect, 
 as it is pictured by many writers of every school of thought, and a dark 
 scene of melancholy failure presents itself " (Abbey and Overton, " The 
 English Church in the Eighteenth Century," p. 279). 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 152, 153. "Rome shared in the strange religious apathy 
 which was dominant, not only in England, but on the Continent." 
 
 3 See Dale's "History of English Congregationalism," chapters v. and viii.
 
 126 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 by the State which was then still practically the Church acting 
 in a civic capacity for the relief of the poor during the reign of 
 Anne. In the first year of the reign we have an Act 1 against 
 " truck," a form of oppression which still demands the watchful 
 eye of the Legislature. The object of this Act was " to prevent 
 the oppression of the labourers and workmen employed in the 
 manufactures " ; it orders that u all payments for work done by 
 them shall be in lawful coin of the realm, and not by any com- 
 modities in lieu thereof." As Sir G. Nicholls says and this is 
 my reason for mentioning this Act "this enactment proves 
 that the welfare of the working classes was an object of solicitude 
 to the legislature at that time." 2 In the following year an Act 3 
 was passed for apprenticing boys who, or whose parents, were 
 chargeable to the parish, to the master or owner of any English 
 ship until they were twenty-one years of age. In the same year 
 we have an Act 4 for " erecting a Workhouse and for setting the 
 Poor on work in the City of Worcester." This, from its pro- 
 visions, was a very important Act, for it ordered that " the 
 mayor and certain of the city authorities, with four persons to 
 be annually chosen in each of the several parishes out of the 
 ablest and discreetest inhabitants, shall be a corporation to con- 
 tinue for ever, under the designation of ' The Guardians of the 
 Poor of the City of Worcester.' " 5 These Guardians are to 
 relieve the poor of all the various parishes as if they were one 
 parish ; they may also contract with other parishes in the same 
 county for receiving and setting their poor to work ; they may 
 provide all things necessary for this ; they may compel beggars 
 and idle people to come into the workhouse and set them to 
 work there ; also they may compel children found begging, or 
 whose parents are chargeable, to do the same ; and, then, when 
 these children are fifteen years of age, they may bind them as 
 apprentices. 
 
 Here we have something approaching the present-day work- 
 
 1 i Anne, statute 2, cap. 22. 
 
 8 Nicholls' " History of the Poor Law," i., p. 362. 
 
 3 2 and 3 Anne, cap. 6. 4 Ibid., cap. 8. 
 
 6 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 365.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 127 
 
 house, but with two great differences : First, the workhouse 
 here described seems to have been arranged more for the pur- 
 poses of police than as a means of relief ; and, secondly, in this, 
 as in all the original workhouses, work is provided with a view 
 to profit that is, in order to turn pauper labour to account. It 
 is interesting to notice that already some misgivings of the 
 effects of pauper labour upon free labour must have been felt, for 
 in the thirtieth section of the Act it is provided that " no cloth 
 or stuff, either woollen or linen, manufactured in the workhouse 
 or houses ot correction, shall be sold by retail within the City of 
 Worcester or the liberties thereof." 1 Consequently, goods made 
 in the workhouse must either be used there or sold at a distance. 
 But it does not seem to have struck those who framed the Act 
 that these pauper-made goods would displace those made by 
 free labour just as surely in one place as in any other. 
 
 In the sixth year of Queen Anne a similar Act 2 was passed 
 for Plymouth, but with one very striking addition, which is 
 again indicative of the spirit of the age. This Act orders the 
 appointment of " some pious, sober, and discreet person, well 
 qualified for a schoolmaster, who shall in some convenient room 
 within the workhouse read daily morning and evening prayers 
 at certain hours, to be for that purpose fixed and stated to the 
 poor people and others belonging to the said workhouse ; and 
 also shall, by catechizing and otherwise, every Saturday in the 
 afternoon, and upon holy days, instruct the poor children and 
 other poor persons belonging to the said house in the funda- 
 mental parts of the Protestant religion, according to the doctrine 
 of the. Church of England ; and shall teach every the said poor 
 children to read and write and cast accompts." 3 
 
 In the tenth year of Queen Anne an Act 4 was passed for 
 Norwich, constituting "a corporation under the name of 
 Guardians of the Poor for the City of Norwich." In this, as in 
 previous Acts, the chief object seems to have been to provide 
 employment which would be remunerative ; from which it must 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 366. a 6 Anne, cap. 46. 
 
 8 Nicholls, op. cit., p. 367. 4 10 Anne, cap. 15.
 
 128 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 have been assumed that employment could not be obtained by 
 the poor themselves. Evidently the truth that this kind of 
 employment penalized the best class of workmen for the sake 
 of the worst class was not yet recognized, no more, indeed, than 
 has the same truth been recognized by those who to-day pro- 
 claim the'doctrine of " the right to work." There is no other Act 
 of this reign which seems to call for mention here. 
 
 I would now turn to what charity, apart from the State, was 
 doing during this period. It was the time when the so-called 
 " Religious Societies " flourished. 1 The history of these and 
 their influence, especially as they inspired John Wesley 2 with 
 the idea of the society which ultimately became so famous, 
 should be studied ; but it is only the philanthropic side of their 
 activity that concerns us here. This was evidently extensive, for 
 we are told that their members visited the poor in their homes and 
 relieved them ; they fixed some of these in various trades ; they 
 were instrumental in setting prisoners free ; and they assisted 
 in establishing nearly one hundred Charity Schools in London, 
 besides others in various parts of the country. 8 The Charity 
 Schools, 4 in which poor children, besides being taught, were 
 lodged, fed, and clothed, were, like the religious societies, a crea- 
 tion and peculiar feature of this age. It is not certain to which 
 of them belongs the honour of being first established, but, largely 
 owing to the help afforded them by the S.P.C.K., 5 they multiplied 
 rapidly. In 1 704 there were fifty-four such schools in and around 
 London, and 2,131 children were present at the first anniversary 
 service. By 1712 the number of these schools had risen to 117 
 in London and Westminster, but, like everything else connected 
 with religion, they suffered during the Georgian period. 
 
 Another movement at this time for the benefit of the poor 
 was the erection of hospitals 6 in the present sense of the term, 
 and many of the hospitals situated in our great towns date from 
 this period. Yet another method of assisting the poor then in 
 
 1 See Overtoil, " Life in the English Church " (1660-1714), pp. 207 etseq. 
 
 2 Ibid., p. 212. 3 Ibid., p. 211. * Ibid., pp. 224 et seq. 
 6 This was founded in 169^. 
 
 6 Overton, op. cit., p. 230.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 129 
 
 vogue was by issuing " briefs " for collections on their behalf. 1 
 Taking all these various movements and methods into con- 
 sideration, it must be admitted that during the opening years of 
 the eighteenth century the spirit of Christian philanthropy was 
 more than usually active. The work which was then done for 
 the poor was actually the expression in practice of the very 
 real and very considerable religious earnestness existing at that 
 time. 
 
 With the death of Queen Anne we enter upon a very 
 different phase of the Church's life. I will not here attempt to 
 enter at length into the causes of the unhappy change which 
 came over the religious spirit of the nation, and which, apart 
 from a few brilliant exceptions of individual men and women 
 and in individual parishes persisted for more than a hundred 
 years. So far as it bears upon our present subject, I will deal 
 with it in the next chapter. Perhaps the most peculiarly charac- 
 teristic feature of the age was the remarkable absence of almost 
 any form of self-sacrifice.* It may have been held that there 
 was nothing specially to call for it ; certainly among those in 
 high places, both in Church and State, there were very few 
 examples of it, and there were equally few exhortations towards 
 it. In a very true sense the age was a " sordid " one. 3 During 
 its course there was a large amount of material prosperity, 4 even 
 if this was not generally diffused. Certainly the aggregate 
 wealth of the nation largely increased, but at the same time, in 
 another sphere, there was an even greater increase one of 
 moral and spiritual poverty. 
 
 There are few Acts of Parliament passed during the reign of 
 George I. which claim attention here, though a study of those 
 dealing with social matters throws much light on the condition of 
 
 1 Overton, op. cit., pp. ig^etseq. " Briefs " are really Royal Letters Patent 
 for collections for special purposes. 
 
 2 Which cannot exist apart from "enthusiasm." On the decline of 
 missionary zeal, both home and foreign, see Abbey and Overton, op. cit., p. 299. 
 
 3 One of the worst features of the age was the widespread and often 
 shameless seeking for preferment. 
 
 4 Proofs of this will be given later. 
 
 9
 
 130 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the people at the time. More than one Act l was passed in the 
 early years of the reign which was designed to prevent disorder. 
 This evidently shows that a somewhat lawless spirit among the 
 people was then prevalent. In 1718 an Act 2 was passed by 
 which the property of persons deserting wives or children, 
 whereby these became chargeable, was to be sold and the profit 
 applied to their maintenance. Then, in 1720, a curious Act 3 was 
 passed forbidding " the wearing and using of printed, painted, 
 stained, and dyed calicoes in apparel, household stuff, furniture, 
 and otherwise," because this "does manifestly tend to the great 
 detriment of the woollen and silk manufactures, and to the ex- 
 cessive increase of the poor, and if not prevented may be the 
 utter ruin and destruction of the said manufactures and of many 
 thousands whose livelihoods do entirely depend thereupon." 
 This is only one instance of much restrictive legislation, whose 
 shortsightedness and folly have been amply proved by ex- 
 perience. Ostensibly, some of this legislation was in the 
 interests of the poor, but actually the protection of the existing 
 interests of the manufacturers were not forgotten. In 1720 we 
 have an Act 4 which, because of its effect upon the spirit or 
 temper, as well as upon the material welfare of the working 
 classes (as detrimental to this), demands a more extended notice. 
 The Act is entitled " For regulating Journeymen Tailors." I am 
 going to quote from this Act because it so clearly reveals the 
 point of view from which Parliament at that date which we 
 must remember was then entirely unrepresentative of the 
 working classes was inclined to approach any attempt on the 
 part of these classes to improve their position. The Act states 
 that "great numbers of journeymen tailors . . . and others who 
 have served apprenticeships . . . have lately departed from 
 their services without just cause and have entered into combina- 
 tions to advance their wages to unreasonable prices and lessen 
 their hours of work, which is of evil example." The Act then 
 
 1 i George I., statute 2, cap. 5 (the " Riot Act," which is still in force) ; 
 also i George I., cap. n, and 6 George I., cap. 16. 
 
 2 5 George I., cap. 8. 3 7 George T., cap. 7. 
 * 7 George I., cap. 13.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 131 
 
 declares that " all covenants or agreements between such per- 
 sons for advancing their wages or for lessening their usual hours 
 of work are illegal and void, and that every person offending 
 therein is, on conviction, subjected to two months' imprisonment 
 with hard labour." But the Act goes even farther than this : it 
 prescribes the hours of work from six in the morning until 
 eight at night and also the rate of wages, which from March 25 
 to June 24 are not to exceed two shillings a day, and for the rest 
 of the year one shilling and eightpence. 1 It is the existence of 
 such laws as this which explains the appalling conditions under 
 which we find a large proportion of the working classes living 
 for at least a century after this time. Such laws also go far to 
 explain the attitude of these classes to the Church, which in 
 those days was largely associated in their minds with the class 
 represented in Parliament. This Act continued in force until 
 1768. 
 
 Two years later we have an Act 2 making general for the 
 whole kingdom what had already been permitted in certain large 
 towns i.e., that parishes might combine to erect workhouses and 
 might " have the benefit of the labour of the poor." Also by this 
 Act all persons declining to go into workhouses were no longer 
 to be entitled to ask or receive relief from the churchwardens or 
 overseers. 3 From this and other Acts passed during this period 
 it is quite clear that the problem of the relief of the poor was 
 constantly becoming a more and more difficult one. We can also 
 see how, from a want of foresight in those responsible for making 
 the laws, evils, which came to a head a century later, were gradually 
 accumulating. The permission to erect workhouses especially 
 with a view to deriving profit from the labour of their inmates 
 was widely adopted. Within a very few years more than a 
 hundred were erected. Here, certainly, the seeds of future evils 
 were being sown. The workhouse was more and more used as 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 10, n. 
 
 2 9 George I., cap. 7. By this same Act (one of considerable importance) 
 Justices were not to give relief without first communicating with the overseers. 
 See Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 12 et seq. 
 
 3 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 14.
 
 132 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 a manufactory in which, at the cost of the Poor Rate, the worst 
 class of people the dearest of all forms of labour was being 
 employed, and every increase of this kind of labour was an 
 additional burden upon the best class of workers, who ultimately 
 paid the cost. Here is another example of the future being 
 mortgaged for the present. 
 
 Two years before the death of George I. the principle of the 
 Act relating to " Journeymen Tailors " was enlarged so as to 
 prevent " unlawful combinations of workmen employed in the 
 woollen manufactures," then apparently the chief existing 
 industry, except, of course, agriculture. In this Act * we are told 
 that " great numbers of weavers and others have lately entered 
 into unlawful combinations to regulate the price of goods, to 
 advance wages . . . and by force protected themselves and 
 their wicked accomplices against law and justice." " All 
 covenants and by-laws for regulating the prices of goods, or 
 advancing wages, or lessening the hours of work, are and shall 
 be illegal and void." Those who were guilty of contravening 
 the provisions of this Act were very severely punished. We 
 can easily see at what a disadvantage workmen were placed 
 when it was absolutely illegal for them even to agree together 
 and peaceably combine to obtain an increase of wages. Actually 
 they were simply at the mercy of those who made the laws, and 
 who did these represent ? Certainly they did not in any sense 
 of the word represent the working classes. 
 
 Because I want to make as clear as possible the causes of our 
 own present so-called social difficulties, I am anxious, as far as I 
 am able, to trace the origins and the developments of these. In 
 the eighteenth century Parliament was in no sense of the word 
 representative of the people. Towns like Manchester and 
 Birmingham had no representatives ; in Bath there were thirty- 
 five voters. At the close of the eighteenth century, out of a 
 population of 7,000,000 only 300,000 had votes. In the middle 
 of the century Lord Lonsdale had nine " pocket " boroughs, the 
 Duke of Norfolk had eleven, and the Duke of Newcastle could 
 
 1 13 George I., cap. 34. See Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 19 et seq.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 133 
 
 practically nominate fifty members to the House of Commons. 1 
 Consequently there was legislation simply for 2 the people, but 
 in no sense by the people. The working classes had no means 
 of making their opinions heard, much less felt. The Church in 
 its corporate capacity was in the same position. The Bishops 
 in the House of Lords were the nominees of the Prime Minister, 
 and, since Convocation was silenced in 1717, the voice of the 
 Church, as a Church, was absolutely dumb. Then the stability of 
 opinion in those days was far greater than at present, and con- 
 sequently changes whether in the nature of reforms or other- 
 wise were far less easily effected. In the earlier part of the 
 eighteenth century the Whigs were almost continuously in office 
 for forty-five years; and from 1769 to 1830 the Tories were 
 almost as continuously in power. With both parties the landed 
 interests, and especially those of the larger proprietors, were 
 supreme. 
 
 The Acts of Parliament passed in the reign of George II., 
 like those of the previous reign, are interesting chiefly for two 
 reasons : First, as throwing light upon the actual social conditions 
 prevailing at the time ; and secondly, as indicating how those in 
 authority thought that these conditions should be dealt with. 
 
 About the beginning of this reign there seems to have been 
 formed a certain " charitable corporation for the relief of the 
 industrious poor by assisting them with small sums upon pledges 
 at legal interest." Sir George Nicholls thinks it probable that 
 many worthy, if unwise, persons may have assisted in its forma- 
 tion. But eventually " it became worked for the benefit of a 
 few designing men at the cost of their dupes and followers.." 3 
 The number of sufferers must have been considerable if two 
 Acts 4 of Parliament were necessary for appointing and amend- 
 ing a Commission for taking and determining all claims made 
 by the creditors of this (so-called) " charitable corporation," and 
 for requiring its promoters to appear before the Commissioners 
 
 1 Warner and Marten, " The Groundwork of British History," p. 480. 
 
 2 Though not in the sense of for their benefit. 
 
 3 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 23. 
 
 4 5 George II., cap. 31, and 6 George II., cap. 2.
 
 134 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 of Bankruptcy. The very possibility of the formation of a 
 society or company for this purpose, or rather of getting a 
 number of people to form such a company, shows a strange 
 ignorance of the true methods of assisting "the industrious 
 poor." The last thing we should wish these to possess is any 
 further inducement to borrow " small sums upon pledges," for 
 this is to destroy provident habits among them. 
 
 The evil conditions under which many of the people must 
 have been living are revealed by more than one further Act 1 
 against robbery and violence. That this prevalence of disorder 
 was in part due to these evil conditions (themselves due in some 
 measure to iniquitous class legislation), is proved by the fact that 
 at least a measure of this disorder arose through bounties being 
 paid upon the export of corn. This exportation of corn at a 
 premium was clearly to the advantage solely of the landed pro- 
 prietors, and tended to make the food of the people both scarce 
 in quantity and high in price. 2 
 
 In 1740 was passed the Act 3 by which the Foundling Hospital 
 was incorporated. By this Act the governors are authorized 
 4f to receive, maintain, and educate all or as many children as 
 they shall think fit ;" further, no churchwarden or overseer is to 
 stop or molest any person bringing such children ; also the 
 governors are " authorized to employ the children in any sort of 
 labour or manufacture, or to hire or let out the labour of such 
 children, or to bind them as apprentices to any person willing to 
 take them." 4 Here, again, we have an institution established 
 (and a practice assisted) which is now recognized as actually 
 increasing the evil which it was intended to diminish. Where 
 no Poor Law exists there may be some excuse for the existence 
 of foundling hospitals, but a Poor Law properly administered 
 should provide for the really destitute, whether these be infants 
 
 1 E.g., 7 George II., cap. 21, and u George II., cap. 22. 
 
 2 The winter of 1739-40 was exceptionally severe, and was followed by 
 a very deficient harvest. Corn was sold in 1738 at 203. 2d. ; in 1740 it rose 
 to 595. The instability of prices, depending on the nature of the harvest 
 at home, was in those days one of the great trials of the poor. 
 
 3 13 George II., cap. 29. 4 Nicholls, op. cit., ii., p. 27.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 135 
 
 or adults. To have the two working side by side is not only 
 an extravagance, it is an incitement towards an evil which it is 
 in the true interests of society to check as far as it possibly can. 
 
 Other Acts which are indicative of the evil social conditions 
 existing, and of the inability of those in authority to check them 
 by the right measures, are certain cruel Acts l against various 
 forms of stealing ; and where stealing is rife it will generally be 
 found that such poverty as implies actual hunger is at least 
 common. In 1741 it was enacted that persons found guilty of 
 stealing sheep " shall suffer death, as in cases of felony, without 
 benefit of clergy." In the following year this penalty was 
 extended to those stealing "any bull, cow, ox, steer, bullock, 
 heifer, calf, and lamb, as well as sheep." The well-known 
 Vagrancy Act of 1 744 2 which is still the basis of the law on 
 that evil also indicates a state of things for which it was 
 deemed necessary to take strong measures. Lastly, in 1 747 s the 
 power of Justices of the Peace "to fix and determine the rate 
 of wages " in all kinds of occupations was so far enlarged as to 
 authorize them "to judge and determine whatever differences 
 may arise between the employers and the employed, either with 
 respect to wages or any other cause of complaint." 
 
 I have drawn attention to these various Acts and their 
 number might easily be enlarged in order to show how 
 generally the legislation of this period was in favour of a 
 particular class the class which was alone then represented 
 in Parliament. Also I have shown that a very large proportion 
 of this legislation was purely and simply repressive. There seem 
 to have been very few attempts to remove the causes of the 
 evils, which the very fact of the legislation itself shows were at 
 least recognized. And, unfortunately, where we do find remedies 
 proposed they are such as would tend to aggravate rather than 
 cure the disease. 
 
 1 14 George II., cap. 6; 15 George II., cap. 27. Balleine, in the 
 " History of the Evangelical Party," p. 10, states that at this time " there 
 were 253 capital offences on the Statute Book." 
 
 2 17 George II., cap. 5. See Nicholls, op. cit., ii., pp. 34 et seq. 
 
 3 By 20 George II., cap. 19.
 
 136 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 It may be contended that we have no right to blame people 
 for the results of a want of knowledge which they did not 
 possess, that we ought not to condemn those who lived a 
 hundred and fifty to two hundred years ago for being ignorant 
 of sociological laws and of the action of sociological forces 
 which were not then discovered. This may be true ; at the 
 same time the causes of poverty, and consequently of disorder 
 and crime, might have been far better known at that time than 
 they apparently were, and they might have evoked a much 
 more general sympathy than they seem to have done. When 
 we compare the solicitude for the poor shown by the Church in 
 the early ages of Christianity, and (if not always wisely) during 
 the greater part of the Middle Ages, with the apparent callous- 
 ness towards their condition and their needs during the eighteenth 
 century, we cannot hold the Church of that age guiltless. It 
 must, of course, be remembered that since 1717, when Convo- 
 cation was silenced, the Church had no official means of voicing 
 its collective opinion. Also, the general character of the Bishops 
 during the century, the qualifications for which they were 
 appointed, and the line of policy or conduct they were expected 
 to pursue, were all such as precluded them from being in any 
 way active in social reform. To maintain quietness, in fact to 
 do as little as possible, was the chief demand made upon them 
 by Walpole and the Ministers associated with his particular line 
 of policy. It was, too, the age of pluralities, and pluralities 
 inevitably meant a large amount of non-residence, 1 which in 
 turn meant ignorance of the real condition of the poor, and so 
 inability to improve that condition. For the sake of the poor, 
 we saw that the earlier Stuart Kings demanded the residence 
 of noblemen and squires upon their estates ; the earlier Han- 
 noverians did not demand even the residence of the clergy. 
 Whatever may have been the causes of it, this is certain, that 
 when the Industrial Revolution began, about the middle of the 
 
 1 A Bishop of Llandaff was at the same time Rector of nine parishes in 
 England and seven in Wales, while he himself resided in Westmorland 
 ( Balleine, op. cit., p. u).
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 137 
 
 century, the Church of England proved herself to be hopelessly 
 unequal to meeting the demands which that great change in the 
 economic and social conditions of life produced. From the results 
 of a dereliction of her duty, which can only be called appalling, 
 during the first eighty or even hundred years of the course of 
 the Revolution, the Church is still suffering to-day. Individuals, 
 both clergy and lay people, here and there did excellent work 
 in their immediate neighbourhoods, but, as a whole, the Church 
 ignored the true needs and the just claims of the poor. Conse- 
 quently the Church alienated the poor, and from the effects of 
 that alienation the Church has never entirely recovered. Un- 
 doubtedly the most difficult task before the Church at the 
 present time a task which has been bravely and widely under- 
 taken is to prove to the poor that she does care for them ; that 
 not only is she in sympathy with their legitimate aims, but that 
 she is ready to do all in her power to further these. 
 
 In the next chapter I shall deal with the opening years of the 
 Industrial Revolution, but before doing so it may be well to 
 state a few facts concerning the conditions which then existed, 
 for, apart from some knowledge of these as a background to our 
 picture, it will be impossible to understand what actually did 
 take place. 
 
 Roughly speaking, the population of England and Wales 
 in 1700 was 6,000,000, and in 1750 was 6, 500,000 j 1 but in 
 1801 it was nearly 9,000,000, in 1811 it was over 10,000,000, 
 while in 1851 it was no less than 17,900,000. In other 
 words, the rate of increase during the second half of the 
 eighteenth century was five times as rapid as during the first 
 half, while during the first half of the nineteenth century it was 
 eighteen times as rapid as during the first half of the eighteenth 
 
 1 There is some difference of opinion on this figure. Sir G. Nicholls 
 places it at 7,000,000. See also Thorold Rogers, " The Economic Inter- 
 pretation of History," pp. 55 et seq. Of the general increase of national 
 prosperity during the first half of the eighteenth century there are abundant 
 proofs. See Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 53 et seq. ; also Meredith, " Economic 
 History," pp. 231 et seq.
 
 138 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 century. But this increase of population was not spread evenly 
 over the entire country ; it was largely confined to certain some- 
 what limited areas, especially to the coal and manufacturing 
 districts of the North and the Midlands, and more especially to 
 the large towns within these. 1 But trade increased even more 
 rapidly than population. In 1700 it is calculated that the trade 
 of the United Kingdom (imports and exports) worked out at 
 ;i 2S. 6d. per head ; in 1750 it was 2 143. per head ; in 1800 
 it was .4 43. ; and in 1850 it was 6 IDS. But this must not 
 be held to imply that everybody became better off; on the 
 contrary, with the increase of aggregate wealth we find a 
 startling increase in the aggregate amount of poverty. The 
 amount raised for the Poor Rate at the death of Queen Anne 
 has been estimated at .950,000 a year; in 1776 it had risen 
 to ,1,500,000; in 1785 it was more than ,2,000,000; in 
 1802 it was .4,000,000. Thus, while in a century, in round 
 figures, the population had increased by half as much again, 
 the amount raised for the Poor Rate had become quadrupled ; 
 or, to put it in another way, while at the beginning of the 
 eighteenth century the cost of poor relief was about 45. per 
 head per annum of the population, at the end of the century 
 it was nearly 93. These figures show what an enormous 
 increase in poverty had taken place ; and when we pursue our 
 investigation into the early years of the nineteenth century, we 
 shall find an even greater increase. 2 
 
 But probably by far the most fertile source of the various 
 social evils which flourished during the last quarter of the 
 eighteenth century and the first two quarters of the nineteenth 
 was an immense change which gradually took place in public 
 opinion a change which intimately affected every sphere of 
 national life. Briefly, this change was the acceptance of the 
 
 1 In 1760 probably not one of our largest manufacturing towns Man- 
 chester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield contained more than 
 35,000 people ; to-day the population of the smallest of these is ten times 
 that amount. In 1750 Lancashire had 156 people to the square mile; in 
 1881 it contained 1,813 people to the square mile. 
 
 2 In 1813 the cost of relief rose to ^6,656,106, and in 1818 to ^"7,870,000.
 
 THE FIRST HALF OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 139 
 
 doctrine of an almost unlimited individualism as the rule of 
 conduct. This came to imply nothing less than the right of each 
 individual to make the utmost of his opportunities, irrespective 
 of the cost of his doing so to other people, especially of those 
 poorer and weaker than himself. The growth, and the con- 
 sequences of the translation into practice, of this doctrine that 
 generally known as laissez-faire must be the subject of the 
 next two chapters.
 
 XI. 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 
 
 IN studying the Industrial Revolution and its effects, two 
 classes of facts must be studied side by side. Both may be 
 regarded as parallel and contemporaneous causes : the first of the 
 actual revolution, the second rather of the evils which ac- 
 companied it. In the first class I would place the great physical 
 and material changes which commenced about the middle of the 
 eighteenth century, and among these we must put the discovery 
 of certain mechanical inventions whose effect in the way of 
 increased production it is difficult to overestimate. 1 In 1760 
 the Bridgewater Canal was constructed ; this introduced a 
 means whereby the cheap transit of heavy materials such as 
 coal became possible. In ] 764 Hargreaves produced his 
 "spinning jenny "; in 1765 Watt invented the steam engine; 
 in 1767-70 Arkwright produced his "water-frame," which 
 practically necessitated the factory or mill. In 1775 he took 
 out a second patent "which enabled him to co-ordinate the 
 processes of carding, drawing, roving, and spinning. He was 
 now able to send raw cotton into his factory and bring out 
 thread, almost the whole work being done by machinery." 2 In 
 1779 Crompton invented the "mule," which produced a thread 
 at once fine and strong. In 1785 Cartwright produced the 
 power loom, and as early as 1789 steam was applied. I give 
 these examples from a single branch of industry the cotton 
 trade. In other textile industries for instance, in connection 
 
 1 There were, of course, earlier inventions e.g., Kay's " flying shuttle," 
 about 1730 ; and ten years after this there was a spinning mill at North- 
 ampton. There was also Savery's " fire engine," used early in the century 
 to clear mines of water. 
 
 * Meredith's " Economic History of England," p. 246. 
 
 140
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 141 
 
 with the use of coal, with the production of iron and steel, and 
 in various branches of mechanical engineering during the 
 same period similar inventions were being made and employed. 1 
 We are, of course, now dealing only with the early days of the 
 Industrial Revolution, for actually the movement so described 
 has never ended. It still continues, and from the time of 
 which we are speaking down to the present day discovery has 
 followed discovery, and one invention has succeeded another 
 with ever increasing rapidity ; while the almost innumerable 
 applications, first of steam, then of electricity, and lastly of 
 petrol, have enabled these inventions to be applied in a con- 
 stantly widening sphere. It must be remembered that these 
 various inventions at least synchronized with other changes 
 rapid increases in population, in trade, also in the aggregate 
 wealth of the nation. The inventions may have, at least to 
 some extent, been due to the pressure exerted by the growth of 
 population and trade ; and certainly it was the increase of wealth, 
 that is of available capital, which made their application so widely 
 possible. 
 
 All these various changes in methods of production, and in 
 large increases of population, trade, and the aggregate national 
 wealth are facts belonging to the category of the physical and 
 the material. 
 
 The second class of facts to which I just now referred are 
 those connected with the equipment of both the Church and the 
 State at this time to deal with the new social problems which 
 arose in consequence of these immense changes. This equip- 
 ment should have been twofold : first, in the sphere of ideas, 
 that is of thought, or doctrine, or principles (for ideas are the 
 motive and ruling powers of conduct) ; secondly, in the sphere 
 
 1 There was, of course, in the last half of the eighteenth century an 
 immense improvement in the methods of agriculture. Partly by means of 
 these, Coke raised the rent of his Holkham estate from 2,200 in 1776 to 
 ^"20,000 in 1818. (Meredith, op. cit., p. 244.) 
 
 Also immense tracts of land were enclosed, as much as 7,000,000 acres 
 between 1760 and 1843; small farms gave place to large ones ; cultivation 
 became more and more scientific ; the rural population became not only 
 relatively, but actually smaller. See Toynbee's " Industrial Revolution," 
 pp. 67 et seq., 206 et seq.
 
 i 4 2 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 of organization, which is the chief means or instrument whereby 
 any political or religious body is able to carry out and propagate 
 its ideas. Actually we find in the middle of the eighteenth 
 century, on the part of both Church and State, very inadequate 
 views of their responsibilities, and consequently a very in- 
 adequate discharge of their duties. These inadequate views 
 were due to equally inadequate conceptions of the true nature of 
 both man and society, and also of the responsibilities to both on 
 the part of those who are in authority. 
 
 It is impossible for me even to sketch in outline either the 
 theological and philosophical, or the political and social, ideas 
 which were chiefly prevalent at that time. The Church was 
 certainly not wanting in men of very considerable intellectual 
 power. 1 She had thinkers who might have set forth the New 
 Testament conception of the supreme value of the individual 
 life, also of the responsibilities both of the individual to society 
 and of society to the individual. But the religious teachers of 
 that time were otherwise engaged. In the earlier part of the 
 century they were occupied in vanquishing the Deists, 2 and at 
 intervals throughout it they were busy with the Trinitarian 
 controversy. 8 The work they did was useful in its way ; 4 those 
 who attack the Faith must be answered. But controversy is not 
 the only, it is not even the chief, duty, of the leaders of the 
 Church. One of the principal causes of the failure of the 
 teachers of that time was their constant insistence upon the 
 " prudential " aspect of religion. 5 They were always dwelling 
 upon the " reasonableness " of Christianity ; they were content 
 to point out how " expedient " a belief in it was. There was 
 no teaching of the responsibility for man as man that is, for 
 man redeemed by Christ. The truth, that by the Incarnation 
 
 1 This was especially so in the early part of the eighteenth century. 
 
 2 On the "Deists," see Abbey and Overton, "The English Church in 
 the Eighteenth Century," chap. iii. 
 
 3 " On the Trinitarian Controversy," ibid., chap. vi. 
 
 4 Then, as so often, the " apologists " made the road for the so-called 
 " more spiritual " teachers who followed them. 
 
 6 This may be said to be equally prominent in such otherwise different 
 teachers as Butler and Paley.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 143 
 
 man's physical and material welfare, as affecting his spiritual 
 welfare, must be a matter of concern to the Christian, seems to 
 have been entirely forgotten. Then there was no sense of the 
 corporate life of the Church, of her corporate responsibility 
 towards the ignorant, the poor, and the oppressed. 
 
 The current philosophy and ethics of the time were as 
 inadequate as its theology. Hobbes, whose influence upon 
 thought was still strong, held something very like " the natural 
 unsociality of man," 1 and that, "since all the voluntary actions 
 of men tend to their own preservation or pleasure, it cannot be 
 reasonable to aim at anything else." 2 There is nothing very 
 lofty in Locke's reason why one man should not hurt another 
 viz., "because the person is another man that is, an animal 
 related to us by nature whom it would be criminal to harm." 3 
 Bishop Butler was certainly a great ethical teacher, yet it can 
 hardly be denied that he assumes that the ultimate appeal must 
 be to the individual's interest. Also he seems to admit that, 
 should the dilemma arise in which " reasonable self-love " and 
 conscience should come into conflict, conscience would have to 
 give way, because " our ideas of happiness and misery are of 
 all our ideas the nearest and most important to us." 4 Hume 
 regarded justice, veracity, and fidelity to compacts as " artificial " 
 virtues, due to civilization, and that our approbation of them 
 is founded upon our perception of their useful consequences. 5 
 
 Burke was in some respects a really great statesman, but we 
 cannot acquit him of teaching political expediency ; and when 
 he regarded revealed religion as something not entirely different 
 from an " adventitious " addition to natural religion, he was 
 only echoing the prevailing conception of his age. As Professor 
 Maurice says : " Burke was the masterly investigator of a 
 nations constitution, of a nations obligation." He was at the 
 same time "the masterly protester against every attempt to 
 merge this constitution and these obligations in some general 
 
 i Sidgwick, " History of Ethics," p. 164. 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 177. 4 Sermon xi. 
 
 5 Sidgwick, op. cit., p. 203.
 
 i 4 4 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 theory which concerned all men equally." 1 But Burke 
 apparently gives no answer to the question whether " there 
 was not a conscience which demanded that if the multitude 
 were swine, they should not be left as swine ; whether there 
 was not food, and that the highest food of all, for which they 
 had powers of digestion, for which they might also have an 
 appetite ?" To quote Professor Maurice again : " Burke could 
 give his aid in extinguishing what was false. . . . He could 
 bid them cast away nothing that had been given them, and 
 expect nothing from what they created out of their own fancies. 
 He could not show that there is not a city for men which hath 
 [the] foundations, nor that all the cities of the old world and the 
 new are not to walk in the light of it." 2 The doctrine of 
 "expediency" is even more clearly taught by Paley, who held 
 that it " is the one foundation of moral and political philosophy." 
 To him " moral obligation means a motive which is ' violent ' 
 enough to produce obedience to it. There is no motive suffi- 
 ciently violent but a self-interest which stretches through an 
 interminable future." 3 Paley thought Hume right " in sup- 
 posing that justice and benevolence have no foundation except 
 in utility." But he thought Hume wrong " in fancying that a 
 sufficient sense of what is useful, and therefore a sufficient 
 motive to be just and benevolent, could be created in men's 
 minds unless they were promised enormous future rewards, if 
 they were just and benevolent, and were threatened with punish- 
 ment of unmeasured magnitude and duration if they were not." 4 
 After considering the teaching of Paley, I ought to have 
 proceeded to deal with that of Bentham and the Utilitarians, 
 but these, so far as their practical influence is concerned, belong 
 to a later period of the Industrial Revolution than that which 
 I am now examining. 
 
 i " Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy," vol. ii., p. 595. 
 
 a Ibid., p. 596. 
 
 3 " While Burke was working out his ideas of a nation's expediency by 
 hard practical conflicts with its pride and avarice, William Paley was teach- 
 ing, in the halls of Cambridge, that expediency is the one foundation of 
 moral and political philosophy (Maurice, op. cit., p. 596). * Ibid., p. 597.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 145 
 
 I have entered somewhat fully into the theological and 
 philosophical teaching of the eighteenth century, because, apart 
 from the ideas which were generally accepted at the time, it is 
 impossible to understand adequately the conduct of either rulers 
 or churchmen in reference to the changes that were taking 
 place, or rather to the social evils which were rapidly growing in 
 magnitude. 
 
 But, as I have said, besides considering the ideas or principles 
 accepted in any period, we have to consider the organization 
 then available in Church and State for applying these. In the 
 Church at this time there was practically nothing to which the 
 term "organization" could be applied. Since the silencing of Con- 
 vocation in 1 7 17* there had been absolutely no assembly through 
 which the Church, as a corporate body, could utter her collective 
 opinion, had she wished to do so. Such gatherings as diocesan 
 conferences were unknown. The very size of some of the 
 northern dioceses, especially when we remember the means of 
 locomotion in those days, precluded any collective gathering of 
 clergy except upon the rarest occasions. In the Northern 
 Province, apart from Sodor and Man, there were but four 
 dioceses York, Durham, Carlisle, and Chester ; even part of 
 the Archdeaconry of Richmond in North-West Yorkshire was 
 then in the Diocese of Chester. Probably the last qualification 
 for an aspirant to a bishopric in the days of Walpole would have 
 been organizing ability. Again, "what would now be considered 
 the most ordinary parts of parochial machinery were then 
 wanting. . . . The population of the country had far outgrown 
 the resources of the National Church, even if her ministers had 
 been as energetic as they were generally the reverse, and there 
 were no voluntary societies for home missions to supply the 
 defects of the parochial machinery. . . . Beyond the personal 
 influence which a clergyman might exercise over his friends and 
 
 1 In the years preceding this Convocation had been doing much good 
 work (see Abbey and Overton, " The English Church in the Eighteenth 
 Century," pp. 283 et seq.}. On the causes which led to the silencing of Con- 
 vocation, see" A History of the English Church" (Macmillans), vol. vii., 
 pp. 1 6 et seq. 
 
 10
 
 146 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 dependants in his parish . . . his clerical work consisted solely 
 in reading the services and preaching on Sundays." 1 
 
 The political organization of the time, so far as this was 
 available for translating any ideas into practical measures for the 
 welfare of the people, was, compared with what we possess 
 to-day, extremely inefficient. Parliament did not in any sense 
 represent the people. Even such changes towards this as were 
 affected by the First Reform Act 2 were as yet three-quarters of 
 a century in the future. Large and growing centres of trade and 
 population, as Manchester and Birmingham, were, as we have 
 seen, without a single representative. Then we must remember 
 that it was illegal for workpeople to combine with a view to 
 improving their financial condition. 3 
 
 Thus, in the middle of the eighteenth century that is, when 
 the Industrial Revolution began there was, both in Church 
 and State, at once a singular absence of lofty ideas for the better- 
 ment of the people, whether spiritually or materially, and also of 
 any organization for propagating these. 
 
 This was specially unfortunate, because at that time the 
 material condition of the poorer classes, if far from satisfactory, 
 was actually better than it had been previously. This is proved 
 by the fact that a larger amount of the necessaries of life were 
 obtainable for the same amount of labour. 4 " It was during the 
 rule of Walpole that the seeds of our commercial greatness were 
 gradually ripened. It was evidently the most prosperous 
 season that England had ever experienced." 5 How very 
 different the condition of great masses of the poorest people 
 became as the Industrial Revolution proceeded will be seen only 
 too clearly. The terrible thought to us must be that the 
 frightful social and also moral evils which accumulated towards 
 the end of the eighteenth century, and grew greater and greater 
 
 1 Abbey and Overton, " The English Church in the Eighteenth Century," 
 p. 299. 2 That of 1832. 
 
 3 This had been prohibited so long ago as 1548 by 2 and 3 Edward VI., 
 cap. 15; also in 1720 by 7 George I., cap. 13; in 1725 by 13 George I., 
 cap. 34 ; and in 1749 by 22 George II., cap. 27. On the " Combination Act " 
 of 1800, see Dicey, " Law and Opinion," pp. 95 et seq. 
 
 4 Nicholls, " History of the Poor Law," vol. ii., pp. 55 et seq. 
 
 6 Hallam, " Constitutional History of England," vol. iii., pp. 301, 302.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 147 
 
 until far into the nineteenth, ought never to have been allowed 
 to do so. 1 The causes of these evils should have been checked 
 nearly a century before they actually were so. As Dr. Arnold 
 once wrote of the period of which we are speaking : " All the 
 evils of society were yet manageable ; while complete political 
 freedom and a vigorous state of mental activity seemed to 
 promise that the growth of good would more than keep pace 
 with them, and that thus they might be kept down for ever. 
 But tranquillity, as usual, bred carelessness ; events were left to 
 take their own way uncontrolled ; the weeds grew fast, while 
 none thought of saving the good seed." 2 
 
 The chief thing to remember indeed, the real key to the 
 situation which arose at the end of the eighteenth century is that 
 the policy of non-intervention, i.e. the belief in this as a working 
 principle, became more and more firmly fixed. 3 During the 
 sixteenth and seventeenth centuries the opposite policy had 
 prevailed. The State had interfered everywhere. It had 
 attempted to regulate conduct in almost every department of 
 life. For instance, it had fixed both the amount of wages and 
 the prices at which goods were to be bought and sold ; it had 
 imposed duties on imports and bounties on exports. But with 
 the new conditions, that is with the new power which invention 
 had put into the hands of capable and energetic men, with the 
 great increase of capital, with the opening up of new markets 
 for goods which could be rapidly produced and sold at a large 
 profit with the coming of all these, all kinds of restrictions and 
 regulations were felt to be unbearable. Men demanded freedom 
 
 o 
 
 for each man to develop his own business in the way most 
 profitable to himself, to make the utmost of his resources, 4 and 
 
 1 " The more we examine the actual course of affairs, the more we are 
 amazed at the unnecessary suffering which has been inflicted upon the 
 people " (Toynbee, " The Industrial Revolution," p. 35). 
 
 2 Quoted by Dicey, " Law and Opinion in England," pp. 76, 77. 
 
 3 The gradual acceptance of the doctrine of laissez faire, until for a time 
 it became almost unchallenged, is the chief of all the keys to the economic 
 history and to the social evils of the period which stretches from about 1790 
 until almost 1870. On the doctrine of laissez faire and its results, see 
 Toynbee, " Industrial Revolution," pp. 158 et seq. 
 
 4 Upon how political theory in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 
 was governed by considerations of trade, see Hertz, " The Manchester 
 Politician," chaps, i.-iv.
 
 148 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 also to use to the full the new opportunities which were 
 constantly opening out. 
 
 Adam Smith, in his celebrated book, " The Wealth of 
 Nations, "which first appeared in 1776, gathered up and expressed 
 with considerable clearness the thoughts and convictions of the 
 time. Largely because he wrote, not for the philosopher, but for 
 the practical statesman and the man of affairs, and just because his 
 teaching so exactly agreed with what these latter saw would be to 
 their advantage, his book from the first attained very considerable 
 authority, and for certainly not less than three-quarters of a cen- 
 tury its principles were generally accepted. The two fundamental 
 ideas of " The Wealth of Nations " are " the belief in the supreme 
 value of individual liberty, and the conviction that Man's self- 
 love is God's providence, that the individual in pursuing his own 
 interest is promoting the welfare of all." 1 Put together, these 
 principles imply that all that is needed for prosperity is to give 
 scope to every man to work out his own welfare, according to 
 the dictates of self-interest. The almost universal acceptance of 
 the truth of this thesis is the essential key to understanding the 
 economic conditions and the social evils which rapidly developed, 
 and which persisted for at least three-quarters of a century. How 
 very untrue the thesis actually is, the appalling misery suffered 
 by multitudes of the poorer and weaker members of the 
 community during the first half of the nineteenth century, and 
 the harvest of social evils (largely arising from this misery) from 
 which we are still suffering to-day, are more than sufficient proof. 
 Conduct is ultimately governed by ideas, and if we want a striking 
 instance of the necessity of right thinking, and also of the dangers 
 of accepting a false doctrine of man, and a false doctrine of 
 society, we certainly have it in the results of accepting the 
 teaching of Adam Smith and David Ricardo. 2 
 
 1 Toynbee, "Industrial Revolution," p. 148. With Adam Smith's 
 influence must, of course, be associated that of David Ricardo, who was 
 born four years before " The Wealth of Nations " was published, and whose 
 influence was at its height from about 1817 onwards. 
 
 2 " Ricardo's economic assumptions were of his own making . . . his 
 philosophical assumptions were derived from Adam Smith, whose intellectual
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 149 
 
 One factor which most injuriously affected the poor during 
 the first seventy-five years of the Industrial Revolution was due to 
 the nation being throughout this period almost continuously at 
 war. Then, as always, war meant three things : First, it meant 
 that thought, energy, and money, which might have been devoted 
 to the improvement of the social condition of the people, were 
 expended upon the war ; secondly, it meant an enormous in- 
 crease in taxation, the heaviest burden of which then, as is 
 usually the case, fell upon the poorer classes ; thirdly, it meant 
 an immense rise in price of all the necessaries of life. From 
 1755 to 1764 the average price of corn was 373. 6d. ; from 1765 
 to 1774 it was 515. a rise of 35 per cent.; 1 in 1782 it was 
 535. 9^d. ; in 1795 it was 8 is. 6d. a There was also a very con- 
 siderable rise in other classes of provisions and also in rent. 3 
 
 The first hundred years of the Industrial Revolution was a 
 period during which there seems to have been an unusual 
 amount of oppression of the poor and the weak by the rich and 
 the strong. There were at least two reasons for this : First, 
 the opportunities for amassing wealth were unusually great, and 
 consequently the temptation to use these to the full, even at the 
 cost of a practically unlimited exploitation of the workers, was 
 proportionately great ; 4 secondly, owing to the prevalence of 
 inadequate and un-Christian views of both man and society 
 though their un-Christianity was not clearly recognized men 
 who had no actual wish to do wrong were prevented from seeing 
 the real iniquity of their conduct. 5 Among the most fertile of all 
 the causes of the ineffectiveness of religion and of the failure of 
 Christianity to make the progress which it should, has always 
 been a contradiction between the opinions professed and the 
 
 position he accepted in the main without question " (Toynbee, op, cii., vol. ii., 
 p. 148). 
 
 These figures are from Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 74. 
 
 2 Toynbee, op. cit., p. 82. For the further great rise during the war with 
 France see the next chapter. 
 
 3 Toynbee, op. cit., pp. 72 and 108. 
 
 4 This was especially the case in regard to pauper child-labour. 
 
 5 See quotations from Lord Shaftesbury's private diary on the conduct of 
 such men as Gladstone and John Bright (over the " Ten Hours " Bill), quoted 
 by Dicey, " Law and Opinion," pp. 231 et seq. See Professor Bennett's
 
 150 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 conduct pursued by men calling themselves Christians. This 
 contradiction was then more glaring than usual ; but at the same 
 time we must remember that this was at least partly due to a 
 very imperfect conception of what Christianity involved. This 
 defective conception not only prevented the ordinary layman 
 from acting as a Christian ; it prevented even clergymen, other- 
 wise earnest, from speaking, as the old Hebrew Prophets would 
 have spoken, of the iniquity of oppressing the poor. 
 
 The moral standard at the close of the reign of George II. 
 was, among all classes of society, but especially among the richest 
 and poorest, extremely low. I need not stay to prove this 
 statement, for the evidence is only too abundant. Among the 
 richest class there was great extravagance, especially in the way 
 of gambling ; drunkenness pervaded all classes ; the so-called 
 amusements of the people generally consisted in wild scenes of 
 vulgar debauchery, frequently descending into nothing less than 
 brutal violence. 1 With the accession of George III. the moral 
 tone of the Court certainly improved, and to some slight extent 
 this affected the tone of society generally ; but the improvement 
 was far from what it should have been, and for nearly a century 
 after this time the moral standard, especially among the poor, was 
 deplorably low. It has been asserted that during this time the 
 clergy set a distinctly bad example ; the charge has even been 
 made that there was widespread immorality among them. For 
 this charge there appears to be very little justification. Their 
 greatest failing seems to have been a really culpable inactivity 
 in discharging the responsibilities of their office. Their faults 
 
 essay on Social Ideals in the Old Testament in " Christ and Civilization," 
 pp. 49 et seq. 
 
 1 "The mania for gambling in all forms pervaded society; ladies did their 
 shopping where with every purchase they were given a ticket for a raffle. . . . 
 The picture of the under-side of life in England during the second quarter of 
 the eighteenth century is appalling. ... In 1750 London physicians reported 
 14,000 cases of illness, most of them hopeless, due to the use of gin. . . . 
 Every sixth house in London was a gin-shop. . . . Throughout the country 
 things were little better. . . . Wherever any form of industry called together 
 large numbers of ignorant, unskilled workmen, the restraints of orderly 
 society were almost entirely removed. . . . Philanthropy was hopeless of 
 them. The Church seemed powerless to take religion to them " (Winchester, 
 " Life of John Wesley " pp. 73 et seq.}.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 151 
 
 were chiefly those of omission. They failed to do their duty, and 
 therefore to be an influence for good among their people, who 
 in consequence sank lower and lower into moral deterioration, 
 and not infrequently into profligacy and crime. 
 
 I have thought it well to describe at some length the actual 
 conditions which existed at the beginning of the Industrial 
 Revolution, because, apart from a knowledge of these, it is 
 impossible to understand either the actual course which the 
 Revolution pursued or its many evil social results. The 
 causes of the unhappy condition of the poorest classes of 
 the population in our great towns to-day, and the reasons for 
 the present attitude of these classes towards organized 
 Christianity, can be clearly traced back to the evil course which 
 the Industrial Revolution so far as the poorest and most 
 helpless part of the people was concerned was allowed to take. 
 And it was allowed to take this course very largely because 
 there was in those who at that time should have done something 
 to form public opinion a totally inadequate conception of 
 Christian doctrine, and consequently an equally inadequate 
 discharge of Christian duty. 
 
 There is one movement belonging to the eighteenth century 
 which no one who wishes to describe the relations between the 
 Church and the Poor during that period can possibly ignore. 
 The " Evangelical Movement " was primarily neither social nor 
 economic, yet indirectly it had certain undoubtedly important 
 social and economic consequences. It profoundly affected the 
 moral characters of those who were strongly influenced by it. 
 Because it taught them to live as Christians, it taught them not 
 only to do their duty to God, but also to themselves and to 
 their neighbours. 1 Because it was a warfare against all forms 
 of sin, it could not fail to be a warfare against vices which had a 
 most deleterious influence upon the social and economic welfare 
 of the people. In those days, as in these, a great proportion of 
 the misery from which the poor suffered was self-inflicted. 
 
 1 In this connection we must remember William Wilberforce's " Practical 
 View," published in 1797, and which had an enormous circulatioa
 
 152 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Then, as now, intemperance and other vices were among the 
 
 chief causes of poverty and social misery. We who look back 
 
 upon the Evangelical Movement, and to whom its results (or 
 
 want of these) are known, can see where it failed to be the 
 
 power which it might have been. We can see great gaps in its 
 
 theology. We can see the narrowness of some of its conceptions 
 
 of Christian truth, and consequently its failure to affect certain 
 
 spheres of Christian life and duty. We can see its failure to 
 
 grasp the idea of the Christian Society, and therefore its failure 
 
 to teach the individual Christian his social responsibilities. We 
 
 can see its failure to understand and therefore to teach the 
 
 "sacramental" character (in the true sense of the term) of both 
 
 Christian life and Christian conduct. It did not understand that 
 
 the physical or the " material " was at least one channel of the 
 
 spiritual ; it did not realize the effects of the physical in the 
 
 most comprehensive meaning of the word upon the spiritual 
 
 life ; it did not realize the deleterious influence upon character 
 
 of the want of sufficient food and a healthy dwelling, and of at 
 
 least a "living wage"; 1 in short, it did not teach clearly the 
 
 need of the sanctification of the physical 2 to the highest ends 
 
 and purposes. It did not put the doctrine of the Incarnation in 
 
 its true relation to the doctrine of the Atonement. It failed to 
 
 comprehend, and therefore to teach, the essential unity of all 
 
 life. It did not insist with sufficient clearness upon the essential 
 
 connection of the life of this world with that of "the world to 
 
 come." Some, but by no means all, of its leaders were open to 
 
 the charge of teaching a conception of the Atonement and of 
 
 the " Plan of Salvation " which at least savoured of the 
 
 mechanical, and so was in danger of becoming unmoral. But 
 
 when we have admitted all this, we cannot fail to see that the 
 
 movement had far-reaching consequences for good. The effects 
 
 of Wesley's preaching upon the moral lives of the people were 
 
 1 When life is a perpetual struggle to maintain a bare physical existence, 
 there is little or no energy left for thought upon higher things. 
 
 2 In the light of present controversy I prefer to usejhe term " physical " 
 rather than " material."
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 153 
 
 enormous, especially among the lower middle classes, 1 though 
 probably not to the same degree among the poorest of the poor. 
 It has been held and not without a measure of truth that it 
 was largely owing to the influence of Wesley and his co-workers 
 that there was no movement in England at the end of the 
 eighteenth century corresponding to the Revolution in France. 
 
 I cannot here attempt to sketch the history of the Evangelical 
 Movement even in barest outline, 2 but a few dates may help to 
 put it into the right connection with other movements and events. 
 John Wesley began his great preaching campaign in Bristol in 
 1739, and about the same time Whitfield and Charles Wesley 
 began the work in London ; in 1 742 Grimshaw went to Haworth ; 
 in 1746 Samuel Walker became curate of Truro ; in 1749 
 Romaine was preaching in London; in 1759 Henry Venn left 
 Clapham for Huddersfield ; in 1760 Fletcher went to Madeley ; 
 and in 1764 John Newton was curate of Olney. 
 
 When we examine the records of the work which these men 
 accomplished, we find abundant evidence of a generally philan- 
 thropic spirit at work, side by side with their passion for saving 
 souls. 3 In their several parishes they attacked drunkenness and 
 immorality, and they did all they could to assuage suffering due 
 to poverty and sickness. Grimshaw would personally clear the 
 public-houses of tipplers on a Sunday morning ; 4 Venn was even 
 greater in his dealing with individuals in the strong sanctified 
 common sense which he brought to bear upon the difficulties of 
 " weavers and shepherds " than he was in his pulpit ministra- 
 tions ; 5 the effect upon the moral life of the seaport of Hull from 
 
 1 At times Wesley was intensely practical. He refused to preach at 
 St. Ives so long as his hearers took part in smuggling ; he absolutely forbade 
 bribery at the Bristol election, and this at a time when "everybody" 
 smuggled and "everybody" bribed. See Winchester's " Life of Wesley," 
 pp. 213, 214. 
 
 1 The histories of the movement are numerous e.g., Balleine's " History 
 of the Evangelical Party," and Canon Overton's " The Evangelical Revival 
 in the Eighteenth Century." 
 
 * Reliance upon works was indeed one of the errors against which they 
 chiefly preached ; the doctrine of the hymn " Rock of Ages " was their 
 doctrine, and the vanity of secular learning and charitable works their 
 theme . . . yet they owed their prominence " [at any rate, in the early years 
 of the nineteenth century] to their activity in philanthropic movements " 
 (" The English Church in the Nineteenth Century," F. W. Cornish, p. 9). 
 
 4 Balleine, p. 48. 5 Ibid., p. 52.
 
 154 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the preaching of Joseph Milnerwas enormous j 1 atTruro, owing 
 to the influence of Walker, the cockpit and the theatre had to 
 close their doors ; 2 Fletcher had six Sunday-schools in different 
 parts of his great parish, 3 while at Creaton Thomas Jones com- 
 menced both a sick club and a clothing club. 4 Then the 
 philanthropy of the so-called Clapham sect that is, of John 
 Thornton, Henry Thornton, 5 William Wilberforce, and others 
 must not be forgotten. It was William Wilberforce and Henry 
 Thornton who found the means for the wonderful work which 
 Hannah More did among the children in the villages of the 
 Mendips. 6 
 
 All this being so, the question may naturally be asked, 
 Why was not the philanthropic work of these men more 
 effective ? Why had it not a wider and more lasting in- 
 fluence ? 7 Why did it apparently so little to stem the flood of 
 misery and not only of misery, but of vice and degradation 
 which poured over England, and especially over the large 
 towns and manufacturing districts in the last years of the 
 eighteenth century and far into the "nineteenth ? The chief 
 reason was that their philanthropy, like their theology and their 
 religion, was largely individualistic. They were most assiduous 
 in trying to relieve the individual cases of poverty which came 
 to their notice. But except in what they did for education 
 (in their purely spiritual capacity), the leaders of the Evangelical 
 School do not seem to have grasped the necessity for attacking 
 causes. They do not appear to have realized that the relation- 
 ships of society those between rich and poor were then funda- 
 mentally wrong. Doubtless their political economy was that 
 of their age, and apparently they did not see that, as this was 
 utterly un-Christian in theory, consequently it must be so in 
 practice. 8 They cannot have realized that charity, however 
 
 1 Balleine, pp. 53, 54. 2 Ibid., pp. 65, 66. * Ibid., pp. 58-62. 4 Ibid., p. 83. 
 5 In four years, 1790-1793, Henry Thornton gave in charity ^"20,408, 
 while in the same years all his other expenses were less than ^7,000. 
 e Upon this work see Balleine, op. cit., pp. 103, 104. 
 
 7 I except, of course, the fight against the Slave Trade, and the (much 
 later) work of Lord Shaftesbury, vide the following paragraph. 
 
 8 The way in which Christian leaders e.g., Whitfield and Newton took 
 part in the Slave Trade is a striking example. See Balleine, op. cit., pp. 100, 101.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION I. 155 
 
 lavishly bestowed upon individuals, was no substitute for the 
 oppression of one class by another. They did not see the 
 futility of palliating the sufferings of individuals while, by an 
 iniquitous social and economic system, poverty and every kind 
 of attendant degradation were being multiplied. 1 Historical 
 parallels are proverbially dangerous. But the methods of 
 philanthropy pursued by the Evangelicals towards the end of 
 the eighteenth century were far nearer to the methods pursued in 
 the Middle Ages than they were to those of either Calvin or of 
 the men who did so much to make the Poor Law effective in 
 the reign of Charles I. But both Calvin (though not in the 
 ordinary acceptation of the term) and the advisers of Charles I. 
 were "High" Churchmen that is, they had a lofty sense of 
 the reality of the Christian community, and therefore of the 
 necessity of bringing statesmanship to bear upon the welfare of 
 the community as a whole. 
 
 I am here, of course, speaking of the earlier Evangelicals. 
 I am not referring to the men who were instrumental in the 
 abolition of the Slave Trade, nor to those who, like T. F. Buxton 
 and Lord Ashley (afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury), belonged to 
 what has been termed the " third generation." These men had 
 a far wider conception of philanthropy ; they saw that oppression 
 and poverty could not be attacked satisfactorily by individuals 
 as individuals seeking to deal with individual cases. They saw 
 that the conscience of the nation must be roused, and that the 
 nation's rulers must be compelled to corporate action on behalf of 
 the national welfare. But the work of these men does not belong to 
 the period with which I have dealt in this chapter the first five- 
 and-twenty years of the reign of George III. ; it belongs rather 
 to the early years of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In the next chapter I hope to deal more particularly with 
 the period which stretches from the close of the American War 
 to the years immediately following the Battle of Waterloo. 
 
 1 Many of the Evangelical laymen were keen business men. The con- 
 nection between keen competition in business and individualism in religion 
 is worthy of study.
 
 XII. 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION H. 
 
 DURING the first twenty-five years of the reign of 
 George III. many Acts of Parliament having reference 
 to the poor were passed, though none of them except that 
 known as " Gilbert's Act " is of outstanding importance. In 
 1761 it was enacted 1 that a register be kept of all infants under 
 four years of age who shall be in, or shall be brought to, any 
 workhouse, hospital, or other place provided for the maintenance 
 of the poor, or shall be under the care of the churchwardens and 
 overseers. Six years later it was ordered 2 that all children 
 under the age of six who shall be in any workhouses, etc., shall, 
 within fourteen days, be sent into the country to a distance of 
 not less than three miles from any parts of the cities of London 
 and Westminster. By the same Act it is enjoined that in order 
 to guard against all dangerous consequences which may arise to 
 the said children from false parsimony, negligence, inadvertency, 
 or the annual change of parish officers, five noblemen and 
 gentlemen, inhabitants of each parish, shall be appointed and 
 chosen, under the title of "Guardians 3 of the Parish Poor 
 Children." They are to be in office for three years, and are 
 to visit and inform themselves fully of the condition of these 
 children, and, in case of neglect, are to inform a Justice of the 
 Peace, who is empowered to give such orders as he shall think 
 proper. These Acts show a much more tender solicitude for 
 
 1 By 2 George III., cap. 22. (This Act, like the following, was limited 
 to the Metropolis.) 
 
 2 By 7 George III., cap. 39. 
 
 3 Is this the first instance of the term in this connection ? 
 
 156
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 157 
 
 the welfare of young children than was evinced some fifty years 
 later, when, by the multiplication of factories, there was an 
 enormously increased demand for child labour, a demand which 
 the Guardians of those days did not hesitate to supply under 
 conditions which it is impossible to condemn too strongly. In 
 1773 an Act 1 was passed " for the better regulation of lying-in 
 hospitals," by which it was ordered that a licence must be 
 obtained from the Justices in Quarter Sessions before such a 
 hospital could be established. Also about this time 2 the 
 Journeymen Tailors Act was so amended that the scale of 
 wages was raised by about a third. The immediate cause of 
 this was a rapid rise of food prices, occasioned to some extent 
 by several deficient harvests, and producing not only discontent, 
 but even disturbances among the poor. 
 
 It was in 1782 that " Gilbert's Act" 3 was passed. This Act 
 removed the duty of relieving the poor from the churchwardens 
 and overseers, whose duties were now restricted to collecting 
 and accounting for the Poor Rate. For the future in all parishes 
 which adopted the Act the entire management and control of 
 the poor is delegated to " Visitors" and " Guardians," together 
 with the Justices of the district. The Guardian for each parish 
 is nominated by the parishioners and elected by the Justices ; 4 
 he is to receive a salary, 5 and do all the duties of the overseer 
 except collect the rate. The Visitor is also to be appointed by 
 the Justices out of the number of the Guardians, and his 
 authority in all matters connected with the workhouse is to be 
 practically absolute. The two most important sections of the 
 Act are the 29th and the 32nd. The 29th section enjoins 
 "that no person shall be sent to the poorhouse except such as 
 
 1 13 George III., cap. 82. 
 
 2 8 George III., cap. 17. See Nicholls' "History of the Poor Law," 
 vol. ii., pp. 71 et seq. 
 
 3 22 George III., cap. 83. On this important measure, see Nicholls, 
 op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 83 et seq. 
 
 4 The tendency to give more powers to the Justices is very apparent 
 about this period. 
 
 5 He was thus very much in the position of the present relieving officer.
 
 158 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 are become indigent by old age, sickness, or infirmities, and are 
 unable to acquire a maintenance by their labour ; except such 
 orphan children as are sent thither by order of the Guardians of 
 the Poor." These classes could hardly be otherwise treated. 
 But it was the 32nd section which ultimately proved so disastrous 
 both to the welfare and the character of the poor. This section 
 enjoined "that where there shall be in any parish, township, 
 or place, any poor person or persons who shall be able and 
 willing to work, but who cannot get employment, the Guardian 
 of the Poor of such parish, etc., on application made to him by 
 or on behalf of such poor person, is required to agree for the 
 labour of such poor person or persons at any work or employ- 
 ment suited to his or her strength and capacity, in any parish or 
 place near the place of his or her residence, and to maintain or 
 cause such person or persons to be properly maintained, lodged, 
 and provided for, until such employment shall be procured, and 
 during the time of such work, and to receive the money to be 
 earned by such work or labour, and apply it in such maintenance 
 as far as the same will go, and make up the deficiency if any." 
 
 I have quoted at length the exact words of the Act because, 
 in view of subsequent developments, it is impossible to exag- 
 gerate the importance of this section. 1 In fact, together with 
 the so-called " Speenhamland Act," it was the chief cause of the 
 terrible rise in pauperism and of a large amount of the undoubted 
 deterioration in character which certainly took place in the 
 very poor during more than half a century after it became law. 
 Its principle was bad, and its results nothing less than appalling. 
 It has been unreservedly condemned by practically every expert 
 either in the Poor Law or in dealing with poverty. The 
 labourer was made certain of employment. He was made 
 " certain of receiving either from the parish or the employer 
 sufficient for the maintenance of himself and his family ... he 
 
 1 " It was the first great inroad on the old system of Poor Law, and had 
 in the end the worst possible effects " (McCulloch, quoted by Aschrott 
 and Preston-Thomas, " The English Poor Law," p. 20).
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 159 
 
 is made secure without the exercise of care or forethought. 
 Could a more certain way be devised for lowering character and 
 destroying self-reliance ?" 1 
 
 It is true that the adoption of " Gilbert's Act " was voluntary, 
 but no less than 924 " parishes" actually adopted it. 
 
 We must pass to the period which stretches from about 1785 
 to the end of the reign of George III. This is undoubtedly a 
 period during which events happened and developments occurred 
 which had far more than an ordinary or average effect upon 
 the religious and economic future condition of the poorer classes 
 of the community. First, let us remind ourselves very briefly 
 of certain outstanding events which took place. The Seven 
 Years' War, which ended in 1 763, left this country with a National 
 Debt of .138,565,430. Ten years later the American War 
 broke out, and lasted for eight years. This war added no less than 
 .121 ,000,000 to the Debt. There were considerable repayments 
 during the short intervals of peace ; but the wars which began 
 with the French Revolution in 1793 and closed with the Battle 
 of Waterloo added again no less than .601,500,343 to the 
 Debt ; so that in 1816 this stood at .900,436,000, the annual 
 charge for which was .33,ooo,ooo. 2 I recall these figures 
 because I want to make quite clear what taxation meant in those 
 days. Then, it must be remembered that the national wealth 
 was at that time very small in comparison with what it is to-day. 
 Even so lately as 1842 a penny on the income tax produced only 
 ,700,000, whereas in 1909-10 it produced ,2,691,422, or more 
 than four times the amount. It is, I think, generally admitted 
 that any large increase of taxation weighs heavily upon the poor 
 so to speak, it filters down to them. We must therefore try 
 to realize what this increase of taxation, necessitated by the 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 90 ; see also Aschrott and Preston-Thomas, 
 op. cit., p. 21 : " The self-reliance of a large part of the working classes was 
 thus undermined." 
 
 2 These figures are taken from the tables in Whitaker's Almanack. Sir 
 G. Nicholls states (op. cit., vol. ii., p. 161) that " in the last three years of the 
 war 1813, 1814, 1815 the amounts raised altogether exceeded a hundred 
 millions annually."
 
 160 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 increase in the National Debt incurred by war, meant to the 
 poor. 1 
 
 I must also again refer briefly to the instability in the price 
 of corn (and so of bread) during this period, and to the very con- 
 siderable rise in its price which took place. The average price 
 of the quarter of wheat between 1785 and 1794 (an interval of 
 peace) seems to have been about 495. gd.; but between 1794 and 
 1 80 1 it was 87s. 2 In the spring of 1796 it was above iocs., and 
 in June of 1800 it was 1343., while in the spring of 1801 it rose 
 to 1565. 2d. 3 A rapid fluctuation in prices always hits the poor 
 more hardly than the rich, because they are compelled to buy in 
 small quantities, and cannot take advantage of a cheap market. 
 Then, during this period there began those great fluctuations of 
 trade which, with alternations of much and little employment, 
 have ever since that time weighed heavily upon the workers. 
 So long as our foreign trade was comparatively small, so long as 
 both the population of the country and its wealth either remained 
 stationary or grew but slowly, and so long as the needs of the 
 population within the country were the chief market for either 
 agricultural produce or manufactured goods, the fluctuations of 
 industry were comparatively small. But with the Industrial 
 Revolution, with the growth of a great overseas trade, with the 
 dependence of industry upon foreign markets, which were liable 
 to be closed, as well as upon foreign supplies of raw material, 
 which were liable to be stopped in time of war, the conditions of 
 industry entirely changed. 
 
 In an excellent chapter on " Government and the Wage- 
 Earning Classes," 4 during this period, Meredith states that "a 
 period of anarchy " for as such he regarded the one before us, 
 so far as the welfare of the poor was concerned " can be created 
 
 1 "As late as 1834 ^ a ^ the labourer's wages went in taxes" (Toynbee, 
 op. cit., p. 107). 
 
 2 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 130. 
 
 3 These figures are quoted in Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 129, from 
 Tooke's " History of Prices." 
 
 4 " Economic History of England," pp. 261 et seq. This chapter should 
 be carefully studied.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 161 
 
 ... by suddenly creating new conditions to which law and custom 
 cannot adapt themselves with sufficient rapidity." These " new 
 conditions," he believes, " were unduly prolonged in England 
 from two causes first, by the coincidence of a philosophic move- 
 ment opposed to intervention, and, secondly, by a strange dearth 
 of socio-political talent." l 
 
 When the Industrial Revolution arrived, England was, at 
 least theoretically, under a system of industrial law which dated 
 from the times of Elizabeth a system entirely unsuited to 
 the new conditions of trade. In practice the system had 
 absolutely broken down, though it was not until 1813 that the 
 wages clauses of the "Statute of Artificers" were repealed, and 
 it was only in 1814 that its apprenticeship clauses were so; 
 while as late as 1 799 and 1800 severe laws were passed penalizing 
 combinations of workmen. 2 It must be open to serious doubt 
 whether those who urged the principle of free competition realized 
 how little fitted this principle was to adjust economic, and con- 
 sequently social, difficulties satisfactorily. 
 
 The effects of the new conditions of industry upon the 
 physical health of the people must not be forgotten ; and 
 physical health, especially to the poor, is an asset of enormous 
 value. Agriculture had, until this time, been the chief industry 
 of the workers ; but with the advent of the factory system, for 
 many of these indoor employments now took the place of outdoor 
 labour. Machinery introduced nervous strains and monotonies, 
 the effects of which were not then clearly appreciated. 3 The 
 results of child labour in factories was often terrible. Children 
 had before then been exploited, but child labour had not been 
 sold wholesale to third persons for wages and keep. Under the 
 old apprenticeship system at least something of home and family 
 life was preserved, and in those days children would not be set 
 to plough, or dig, or work a heavy hand-loom. But now Poor 
 Law officials sent pauper children into the factories to watch 
 
 1 Meredith, op. cit., p. 264. 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 It is only those who have an intimate knowledge of the working classes 
 who can realize this to-day. I had more than abundant evidence of this 
 when working among the shoe operatives. W. E. C. 
 
 ii
 
 162 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 machinery from twelve to sixteen hours a day. 1 Was this 
 because people were really less humanitarian ? Not entirely, 
 because at this time, especially when we remember the even 
 reckless distribution of outdoor relief, we have evidence of a 
 certain amount of at least sentimental humanitarianism. But 
 there seems to have been little conception of a real justice due 
 to the workers, and even less of any true science of social life ; 
 and certainly there could have been no idea of the inevitable 
 results of unwise legislation upon the characters of the poor. A 
 very brief consideration of the laws on behalf of the poor passed 
 during this period will show that there was no clear conception 
 of what were their real needs, and what would have been best 
 for their permanent welfare, and for that of the community. 
 
 Unfortunately, during this period, again, the Church gave 
 absolutely no lead as a corporate body. Individuals, especially 
 among the Evangelicals, and small societies, like the so-called 
 " Clapham Sect," were, as I showed in the last chapter, doing 
 excellent work in dealing with individual cases of distress, and 
 even with certain classes of sufferers, and in certain confined 
 areas of activity. But if there was a want of " socio-political " 
 talent, there was an even greater absence of any socio-ecclesi- 
 astical effort. There was no attempt to apply the broad 
 fundamental principles of Christianity either towards guiding 
 the development of society upon right lines, or towards 
 extirpating the social evils which year by year were growing 
 greater, and therefore more unmanageable. To take a single 
 example : what evidence is there of any really serious and self- 
 sacrificing effort to supply the spiritual needs of the rapidly 
 increasing numbers of the poor who were congregating more 
 and more closely in the great manufacturing towns ? I can find 
 very few cases of new churches being built between 1750 
 and 1820 in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds, or 
 Sheffield. When churches were erected they were usually 
 pew-rented, and in which the poor were generally relegated to 
 obscure corners and to uncomfortable benches. Had it not been 
 
 1 Engels, " Condition of the Working Class," pp. 141 et seq., 167, 171 et seq. t 
 193-
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 163 
 
 for the labours of John Wesley and his many co-workers, there 
 would have been but little preaching of the Gospel to the 
 poor. Fortunately, this preaching was often of a very practical 
 nature. 1 
 
 I have already drawn attention to "Gilbert's Act," by which 
 both the self-reliance and self-effort of the working classes were 
 so greatly weakened. By an arrangement proposed by the 
 Berkshire Justices in I795, 2 the evils arising from supplementing 
 low wages by a grant from the Poor Rate were still further 
 accentuated. The Justices had met for the purpose of " rating 
 wages." They declared that, owing to the increased cost of 
 living, the poor required still more help than they were already 
 receiving ; but they further declared that, instead of regulating 
 wages according to statute, they would recommend farmers and 
 others to raise wages in proportion to the cost of the loaf of 
 bread and according to the size of the workman's family ; and 
 also that, when the workman failed to earn the prescribed 
 amount by his own labour and that of his family, he should be 
 paid the balance out of the Poor Rate. 3 This arrangement, 
 which was widely adopted throughout the South and West of 
 England, was nicknamed the " Speenhamland Act." It brought 
 into full force the fatal " Allowance System," which in succeeding 
 years proved so disastrous both to the moral and the economic 
 welfare of the workers, which, by Gilbert's Act, had already been 
 seriously impaired. It inevitably kept down wages. It meant 
 not only a contribution to the labourer, but also to the employer, 
 who supplemented the starvation wages he gave his men by a 
 contribution paid by other ratepayers. Upon the labourer the 
 effect was very evil. " It removed every incentive to saving 
 ... it made him careless and indifferent, encouraged improvi- 
 dent marriages, and produced an artificial increase of population 
 which was bound to engender fresh masses of poverty." 4 
 
 1 For examples of this see the previous chapter. 
 
 2 On May the 6th. See Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 131 et seq. ; also 
 Aschrott and Preston-Thomas, op. cit., pp. 21, 22. 
 
 3 The exact scale is given by Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 131, 132. 
 
 4 Aschrott and Preston-Thomas, op. cit., p. 21. Probably as the result of 
 Gilbert's Act and the "Speenhamland Act," the expenditure for the relief
 
 1 64 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 Still further measures towards increasing the amount of out- 
 relief, and also towards the ease with which it could be obtained, 
 were taken by two Acts of Parliament, one of which was passed in 
 1796 1 and the other in 1815. By the first of these any Justice 
 is empowered at his discretion to give out-relief to any indus- 
 trious poor person for a month, and any two Justices may 
 continue the order for another month, and " so on from time to 
 time, as the occasion may require." By the second Act 2 a 
 single Justice may give this relief for three months, and two 
 Justices for six months. Sir George Nicholls rightly regards 
 these Acts as evidently contributory causes to the large increase 
 of poor relief given at this period. He also believes that owing 
 to the wide separation in " social position and habits of life " 
 between the ordinary Justice and the ordinary applicant for 
 relief, the Justices as a body were far less qualified to deal 
 with the real wants of the poor than were the class of men from 
 whom the overseers had generally been chosen. 3 
 
 Thus, from a variety of causes from unwise legislation ; 
 from a great increase of taxation ; from a very considerable fluc- 
 tuation of, and, to some extent, a very serious rise in, prices ; 
 from the wider acceptance of the principle of laissez-faire, which 
 sanctioned the unlimited exploitation of the poor, and especially 
 of the children of the poor, an exploitation to which the manu- 
 facturers were more and more tempted as trade further and 
 further expanded from all these various causes the condition of 
 a large proportion of the workers became steadily worse and 
 worse. 4 
 
 In 1817 Mr. Curwen moved for a Committee of the House 
 of Commons to examine into the present state of the Poor Law 
 and into the way in which it was administered. The motion was 
 
 of the poor rose from an average of ^"2,004,238 in 1783-85 to ^"4,267,965 in 
 1801. (There are no intermediate returns.) 
 
 1 There were really two Acts passed in the same session viz., 36 
 George III., caps. 10 and 23. 2 55 George III., cap. 137. 
 
 3 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 154. 
 
 4 " If one thing is certain about the first half of the nineteenth century 
 . . . it is the misery and want of the mass of Englishmen " (Meredith, op. cit., 
 p. 261).
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 165 
 
 warmly supported by Lord Castlereagh, who stated that the 
 subject was of the utmost importance for both the safety and 
 prosperity of the country. " The present system," he said, " not 
 only went to accumulate burdens on the country which it could 
 not continue to bear, but to destroy the true wealth of the poor 
 man, the capability of making exertions for his own livelihood ; 
 for if pecuniary relief went on with the laxity which now pre- 
 vailed, and all the cunning of uncultivated minds was to be 
 directed to the means of escaping from labour and enjoying the 
 fruits of the labours of others, a national calamity might be said 
 to be overtaking us by a double operation in the increased 
 burdens imposed upon the country and the diminution of the 
 industry from which its resources were derived." 1 The Com- 
 mittee was appointed, a lengthy and, to some extent, a valuable 
 Report was issued, but the actual legislation which resulted 
 consisted of two " Vestry Acts " and a small amendment in the 
 " Law of Settlement." 
 
 But though little was accomplished, it is clear that the subject 
 was engaging the attention of a very considerable number of 
 thoughtful people. One proof of this is in the agitation which was 
 beginning in regard to the conditions under which young people 
 and children were employed. The first of the long series of 
 " Factory Acts," that known as the " Health and Morals Act," 
 was passed in 1802, though Professor Dicey is probably correct 
 in saying that this Act " was not suggested by any general 
 principle, but by the needs of the moment." 2 An epidemic had 
 broken out in Manchester, and had caused many deaths among 
 the apprentices mostly pauper children sent by the Guardians 
 from the South of England in the cotton mills. The Act did 
 not go far : it enjoined that the rooms of factories should be 
 washed with quicklime and water twice a year ; that each 
 apprentice should receive two suits of clothes ; that apprentices 
 should not work more than twelve hours a day ; and that not more 
 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 168, 169. A synopsis of the Report of the 
 Committee, issued in July, 1817, is given by Nicholls, op. cit., pp. 171 et seq. 
 3 " Law and Opinion in England," pp. 108 et seq.
 
 1 66 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 than two should sleep in one bed. Unfortunately, no measures 
 seem to have been taken to see that the Act was enforced, and 
 it became little more than a dead letter. 1 
 
 The progress of what may be termed " humanitarian legisla- 
 tion " was extraordinarily slow. 2 The next Act of the kind was 
 not passed until 1819. By this Act children were not to work in 
 factories under the age of nine, and those between nine and six- 
 teen were not to work more than twelve hours a day, exclusive 
 of an hour and a half for meals. In 1825 a partial half-holiday 
 was ordered on Saturdays. In 1831 night work was prohibited 
 for persons under twenty-one ; also, for those under eighteen, 
 the working day was not to exceed twelve hours, nor on Satur- 
 days to exceed nine hours. Woollen factories were apparently 
 not touched by legislation until 1833, when work in these was 
 prohibited for persons under eighteen between 8.30 p.m. and 
 5.30 a.m. This Act restricted the working time of children be- 
 tween nine and thirteen to forty hours a week, and those of 
 young persons between thirteen and eighteen to sixty-eight 
 hours. In silk factories children might still be admitted under 
 nine, and those under thirteen might work ten hours a day. 
 
 Another most serious disability under which the workers 
 then suffered was due to the Combination Act, 3 which forbade 
 all combinations of workmen, whether temporary or permanent, 
 whose object was to obtain an advance of wages or fix the terms 
 of employment. The Act made it a crime to assist in maintain- 
 ing men on strike ; it also imposed a penalty upon combinations 
 among masters either for the reduction of wages or for an 
 increase in the hours or quantity of work. Behind the Combina- 
 tion Act stood the whole law of conspiracy ; "from these two," 
 Dicey says, " any artisan who organized a strike or joined a trade 
 union was a criminal, and liable on conviction to imprisonment ; 
 the strike was a crime, the trade union was an unlawful associa- 
 tion." 4 Of course, as an individual, a workman could go where 
 
 1 Factory inspectors were not appointed until 1833. 
 
 2 See Dicey, op. cit., p. 106 (where the official numbers of the various 
 Acts are given), and also pp. 187 et seq. 
 
 3 40 George III., cap. 106; see Dicey, op. cit., pp. 95, 96. * Ibid., p. 99.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 167 
 
 he liked and try to make the best bargain he could ; but neither 
 directly nor indirectly could the pressure of numbers be brought 
 to bear upon either employers or other workers. 
 
 Let me say once more that, as my chief object is to enable 
 my readers to see how the evils and difficulties of the present 
 have grown out of the mistakes of the past, I am much more 
 anxious to explain the spirit and tone which existed towards the 
 working classes at the beginning of the nineteenth century than 
 to dwell upon particular evils, at any rate no further than this is 
 necessary to elucidate my argument. The first thirty years of 
 the nineteenth century were a period of " legislative quies- 
 cence." It was a time when the "Old Toryism" was domi- 
 nant alike in Church and State. There was not merely strong 
 objection to any kind of legislative interference ; there was a 
 positive dread of this. The excesses of the French Revolution 
 had not been forgotten. Even statesmen of very considerable 
 ability were averse to reform, lest reform should lead to the 
 undermining of old institutions whose stability was regarded as 
 essential for the national welfare. As Professor Dicey says : 
 "In England the French Revolution worked nothing but evil ; 
 it delayed salutary changes for forty years, and rendered reforms, 
 when at last they came, less beneficial than they might have 
 been, if they had been gradually carried out as the natural result 
 of the undisturbed development of ideas suggested by English 
 good sense and English love of justice." 2 
 
 After the close of the war with France, trade, population, and 
 the national wealth increased even more rapidly than hitherto. 
 The changes which had been taking place for more than half 
 a century now proceeded at an accelerated pace. The large 
 towns grew larger, and the manufacturing districts became more 
 and more populous. At the same time the national and civic 
 institutions became less and less able to meet the needs of the 
 age. Parliament became even less representative of the people. 
 It was still actually representative of England as it was before 
 
 1 On this subject see Dicey, op. at., Lecture V., pp. 70 et seq. 
 
 2 Dicey, op. cit., p. 123.
 
 168 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the Industrial Revolution began, for the great majority of the 
 members were still either landed proprietors or the nominees of 
 these. The Church became more and more incapable of doing 
 the work which urgently needed to be done. Many of the 
 northern parishes were of immense area, over which formerly a 
 sparse population had been scattered in tiny hamlets. What 
 could the clergy do when there poured into these huge parishes 
 great hordes of workers, so that the population within them 
 multiplied many times over ? When we compare the immense 
 efforts made by the Church to-day to meet the needs of new 
 populations, 1 with the almost absolute want of effort evinced 
 under similar circumstances a hundred years ago, we cannot 
 wonder that the people lapsed into indifference indeed, almost 
 into heathenism. 
 
 There are still here and there in England undivided parishes 
 of from twenty to forty thousand people, but in these we 
 generally find a large staff of clergy at work. A hundred, even 
 sixty, years ago there were parishes where two clergymen were 
 working amid similar populations. Then, if neither Parliament 
 nor the Church proved themselves equal to meeting the new 
 conditions, the municipalities showed themselves even less able 
 to do so. Their general inefficiency and the corruption which 
 was rife in their management had become bywords. The 
 Commission which was appointed in 1833 to inquire into the 
 circumstances of the 246 towns which claimed to exercise 
 municipal privileges reported that they found overwhelming 
 evidence of widespread inefficiency and corruption. They state 
 that "it has become customary not to rely on the Municipal 
 Corporations for exercising the powers incident to good munici- 
 pal government " ; and " in a large number of cases vacancies in 
 the privileged bodies were filled, not by open election, but by 
 co-optation by the surviving members ; and among 246 towns, 
 only 28 were in the habit of publishing accounts." 2 
 
 I must now turn to consider briefly the work of two social 
 
 1 E.g., in East London-over-the- Border. 
 
 2 Jenks, " English Local Government," pp. 182, 183.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION-II. 169 
 
 reformers which began during this period. Robert Owen and 
 Thomas Chalmers were probably as widely different both in 
 their characters and their convictions as it is possible for two 
 men to be, but both stand head and shoulders above their con- 
 temporaries for two reasons : First, both saw clearly that far- 
 reaching measures of reform on behalf of the workers were 
 absolutely necessary ; secondly, both were guided in their 
 labours to effect these reforms by clear, definite, and compre- 
 hensive principles. Apart from these two points of likeness, 
 the two men represent two entirely different schools of thought. 
 Indeed, so far as modern "social work" is concerned, they 
 may be regarded as the pioneers of methods which are generally, 
 though sometimes wrongly, set against each other in dealing with 
 the problems of poverty. Robert Owen 1 laid the chief stress upon 
 " circumstances." He believed that social reform, in the fullest 
 sense of the term, must come primarily, if not almost exclusively, 
 through improving the circumstances of the workers. On the 
 other hand, Chalmers believed in first attacking the problem of 
 character ; instead of beginning by doing much for the people, 
 he would commence by appealing to them to make every effort 
 to help themselves. Owen was not only a Radical of the 
 Radicals : he is at least one of the fathers of modern Socialism ; 2 
 while Chalmers was in many respects intensely Conservative. 
 The representatives of both these leaders are with us to-day, 
 and unfortunately are, at least to some extent, divided into 
 separate, if not positively antagonistic, camps in the warfare 
 against poverty and its attendant evils. 
 
 For our present purpose we need not go back farther into 
 Owen's history than the time when he took over the manage- 
 ment of the New Lanark Mills on the Clyde. There he found 
 some thirteen hundred workpeople and their families, and some 
 
 1 There is a good account of Robert Owen's career in the " Dictionary of 
 National Biography"; also a more brief but illuminating sketch of his work 
 and opinions in Mrs. Webb's " Co-operative Movement in Great Britain," 
 pp. 12 et seq. 
 
 2 Bishop Westcott speaks of "the paternal socialism of Owen." Of 
 course, the term " socialism " had not been coined at the time of which I 
 write.
 
 i?o THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 four to five hundred pauper apprentices. Both the economic 
 and the moral condition of these people was extremely bad. 
 Drunkenness was terribly common, and what is usually more 
 specifically termed "immorality" was rife. Owen began by raising 
 the wages of the workers, reducing the hours of labour from 
 seventeen to ten per day, and prohibiting the employment 
 of children under ten years old. He provided free education, 
 free amusements, cheap provisions, and good cottages for the 
 workers. Even his own partners prophesied financial ruin from 
 these experiments, but the actual result was a profit on the 
 mills of ^160,000 in four years. In 1816 he urged the House 
 of Commons to limit all work in factories to ten and a half hours 
 a day, to forbid the employment of children under ten, and to 
 institute half-time for those under twelve years old. 1 He proposed 
 a national system of free and compulsory education, the establish- 
 ment of free libraries, and that public bodies should undertake 
 the housing of the poor. In all this Owen was the true pro- 
 genitor of the so-called " Socialistic legislation " which has been 
 passed during the last forty years. Very largely because he 
 failed to get the Government to sympathize with his schemes, he 
 founded his Communities of Voluntary Associates, and through 
 them became the real father of the Co-operative Movement. 
 Owen's Socialism and his Co-operation can hardly be separated, 
 for he states that while he believed " in unrestrained co-opera- 
 tion on the part of all for every purpose of human life," he 
 wished " it to be understood that the ultimate object of all co- 
 operative associations, whether engaged in trading, manufactur- 
 ing, or agricultural pursuits, is community in land." 2 
 
 I need not enter into Owen's later life and work, which 
 certainly did not fulfil the promise of his earlier years. He 
 became more and more antagonistic to religion, and certainly 
 his strongly anti-religious bias lost him many friends. But in 
 judging Owen we must remember the presentation of Christianity 
 
 1 Owen was largely instrumental in the passing of the Factory Act of 
 1818. 
 
 2 Upon Owen's social views, see Mrs. Webb, op. cit., pp. 17 et seq.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 171 
 
 current at the time how extremely narrow and individualistic 
 and altogether " other-worldly " it generally was. Had 
 Christianity been expressed to him early in life as it was 
 afterwards taught by Maurice and Westcott, would he have 
 been so entirely out of sympathy with it as he ultimately 
 became ? 
 
 Thomas Chalmers's l first parish was Kilmany, near Dundee, 
 where there was no Poor Rate. He had previously acted for a 
 short time as assistant minister in a border parish near Hawick, 
 where the Poor Law was established. Through a near relation, 
 with whom he frequently stayed, he also had opportunities of 
 watching the Poor Law at work at Kingbrompton, in Somerset- 
 shire. Kilmany and Kingbrompton were in many respects 
 similar parishes : in each the population was between 700 and 
 800 ; but in Kilmany the relief of the poor cost under 20 a 
 year, while in Kingbrompton it cost ,1,260. A careful com- 
 parison of the results upon the poor upon their characters as 
 well as upon their economic condition made a deep impression 
 upon Chalmers. In i8i5 2 he became the minister of the Tron 
 Church in Glasgow, a parish with 11,000 people. His first task 
 there was to visit and note the circumstances of every family. 
 He found that at least two-thirds of the people had cast off even 
 the very form and practice of religion. The poverty was 
 terrible ; but his first suggestion, after gaining an intimate 
 knowledge of its conditions, was that the parish should cut itself 
 off from sharing in the compulsory assessment for the poor, and 
 that all the relief given should be obtained from voluntary 
 sources. But it was not at the Tron Church, but in the new 
 parish of St. John's, containing 10,000 people, in the poorest 
 part of Glasgow, and of which he became, in 1819, the first 
 
 1 An excellent little book giving a brief life of Chalmers and many 
 valuable excerpts from his writings " Problems of Poverty, Selections from 
 the Economic and Social Writings of Thomas Chalmers, D.D.," by Henry 
 Hunter has recently been published. Mr. Neville Masterman's " Chalmers 
 on Charity " should also be read. 
 
 2 When he was thirty- five years of age (he was born in 1780). In 1807 he 
 published his first book, " An Inquiry into the Extent and Stability of 
 National Resources."
 
 172 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 minister, that Chalmers worked out his system for raising the 
 poor from poverty and degradation. From a collection at an 
 evening service attended by only the poor, and amounting to 
 about ;8o a year, Chalmers provided all the money really 
 needed for every case of distress. His method was to divide 
 the parish into 25 districts, each containing 50 families, or 
 about 400 people. Over each district was placed a deacon, 
 who, pending investigation and obtaining the relief necessary, 
 was empowered to give temporary assistance. Of course, the 
 most careful investigation was made into the circumstances of 
 every applicant for relief. Chalmers's four rules of procedure 
 should be remembered: (i) Having ascertained destitution, if 
 possible, stimulate the industry of the applicant, and see what 
 more he might earn ; (2) improve his economy, and see what the 
 things are upon which he might save ; (3) seek after his rela- 
 tives, and see what they will give ; (4) make the case known 
 among the neighbours, and see whether the necessity may not 
 be got over by a joint effort of liberality. 
 
 Every penny that Chalmers could save from funds devoted to 
 relief he expended upon education. Thus the money which was 
 saved by teaching people thrift was actually devoted to their 
 permanent improvement. At St. John's he had about forty 
 small Sunday-schools in various parts of the parish, which were 
 rilled by workers going round and soliciting the attendance of 
 the children. 1 
 
 Though a man of the strongest religious convictions, and 
 with the firmest belief in the power of Christianity to raise human 
 nature, Chalmers should yet, I think, be placed among those 
 who approached the social problem primarily from the humani- 
 tarian point of view, rather than among those who, like Maurice 
 and Westcott, found their chief inspiration in a deeply reasoned 
 Christian philosophy of man and of society. I do not think that 
 with Chalmers the theological interest was paramount in the 
 
 1 Chalmers's ministry at St. John's lasted only four years. In 1823 he 
 became Professor of Moral Philosophy at St. Andrews. He died in 1847, 
 quite suddenly, during an Assembly of the Church.
 
 THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION II. 173 
 
 same way that it was with the two leaders I have mentioned. 
 To Maurice and Westcott poverty was rampant, and men, 
 women, and children were oppressed and degraded because the 
 divine relationships which should exist in society had been 
 disregarded, and because the true nature of man had been for- 
 gotten. To Chalmers Christianity was rather the greatest of 
 all instruments for building up character, for enabling each 
 individual to become what he should be. In Chalmers's 
 theology, at any rate as applied to the problem of poverty, 
 there seems to linger at least a trace of eighteenth-century 
 utilitarianism. Where Chalmers was truly great and here 
 among social reformers he has had few equals was in his 
 knowledge of how to deal with human nature. He knew the 
 tendency of men to lean upon external help, and he knew that 
 this meant deterioration of character. Consequently his great 
 aim was to teach them self-respect issuing in self-effort. He 
 believed, and innumerable instances have proved him to be 
 right, that when we can encourage people to do the best that is 
 in them, not only their economic, but their moral, health has 
 generally been regained.
 
 XIII. 
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834. 
 
 IN the two previous chapters we have brought the history 
 of our subject down to the close of the reign of George III. 
 In this chapter I propose to deal, first, with the conditions which 
 existed during the years immediately preceding the passing of 
 the extremely important Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834; 
 secondly, with the chief provisions of that law ; and, thirdly, 
 though very briefly, with the history of the years immediately 
 following its enactment. 
 
 The years which followed the close of the great war with 
 France that is, from 1815 onwards certainly witnessed an 
 immense increase in the aggregate wealth of the nation l ; but 
 they did not witness a corresponding general improvement in 
 the economic and social condition of the poorest classes. I use 
 the term "general improvement" advisedly, because there is 
 evidence to show that among certain sections of the workers 
 there was a very decided increase of welfare during this period. 2 
 But, speaking generally, the condition, at any rate of the very 
 poor, grew steadily worse and worse as time went on. Even- 
 tually it became so evil that, in spite of a growing acceptance 
 of the principle of laissez-faire (at any rate, so far as the con- 
 ditions of trade were concerned), the minds, and to some extent 
 the consciences, of thoughtful people became greatly exercised. 
 
 1 The general trade of the United Kingdom (merchandise only) in 1820 
 was ^"81,421,646, or \ is. lod. per head ; in 1840 it was ^183, 973,725, or 
 6 6s. 8d. per head. 
 
 2 Savings banks were constituted and regulated by 57 George III., 
 cap. 150, and 58 George III., cap. 48. In 1833 there were in England and 
 Wales 408 savings banks, with 425,283 depositors, and balances of 
 
 34>393- 
 
 '74
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 175 
 
 It became more and more clear that either national bankruptcy 
 or revolution must ensue, unless some drastic change was made 
 both in the nature and the administration of the Poor Law. 
 The evidence of the Commissioners of 1833 upon the first of 
 these dangers is very striking. They state that there are many 
 parishes "in which the pressure of the Poor Rate has reduced 
 the rent to half, or to less than half, of what it would have been 
 if the land had been situated in an unpauperized district, and 
 some in which it has been impossible for the owner to find a 
 tenant." * The worst case was that of Cholesbury, in Bucking- 
 hamshire, where the collection of the Poor Rate had " suddenly 
 ceased . . . the landlords having given up their rents, the 
 farmers their tenancies, and the clergyman his glebe and his 
 tithes." 2 The evidence of widespread lawlessness the usual 
 precursor of revolution is equally strong. The burning of 
 stackyards became appallingly common. Even patrols of 
 soldiers were useless to prevent it, as were also rewards of as 
 much as ^500 for the convictions of offenders. These evil 
 conditions were naturally the cause, as incendiarism was the 
 expression, of the existence of the bitterest feelings between 
 the labourers and their employers. 3 
 
 If this was the state of things in the agricultural districts, 
 that in the manufacturing towns was certainly no better. 
 Engels' book upon " The Condition of the Working Class in 
 England in i844" 4 may paint the picture in the darkest 
 possible colours ; it may be condemned as an ex parte state- 
 ment indeed, that to a great extent it is so I am perfectly 
 prepared to admit but when every allowance or deduction 
 has been made for the writer's predilections and prejudices, the 
 conditions of the slums of Manchester and other large towns 
 which he describes can only be regarded as appalling. In 
 reading his book two things must be remembered : First, that 
 
 1 Nicholls, " History of the Poor Law," vol. ii., p. 238. 
 
 2 Ibid. 
 
 3 Ibid., op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 283, 284. 
 
 4 Published in German in 1845; in English in New York in 1885; re- 
 published in England in 1892.
 
 176 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 what he saw in 1844 was the result of the influence, during a 
 very considerable period, of something even worse than laissez- 
 faire on the part of the particular authorities who were then in 
 a position of responsibility ; actually the evils he describes had 
 been gradually accumulating ever since the beginning of the 
 " Industrial Revolution." Secondly, Engels is not content with 
 general descriptions or general charges ; he gives chapter and 
 verse for his statements, even to the names of the streets and 
 the numbers of the houses. Moreover, his book is full of 
 extracts from official reports, to which he gives exact references, 
 and in case after case he gives both dates and figures. Because 
 my space is limited, and because his book is so easily accessible, 
 I shall forbear from giving any quotations ; all I would say is, 
 that if anyone wishes to realize how terrible were the conditions 
 of life and health and morality among immense numbers of the 
 poorest strata of the people during, say, the first thirty years 
 after the Battle of Waterloo, let him read carefully what Engels 
 has to tell of the results of personal observation made during 
 several months spent in careful investigation. 1 
 
 The question may well be asked, Why had these evil con- 
 ditions been permitted to grow until they became so utterly 
 bad ? or, Why were they still permitted to exist ? A complete 
 answer to these questions would involve a lengthy description 
 of the condition both of political thought and of the actual con- 
 stitution of the Houses of Parliament during this time. Briefly, 
 the chief factors in the neglect were, first, the extraordinary 
 dread of reform by means of legislation which existed during 
 the early part of the nineteenth century ; and, secondly, a 
 dominant belief in the principle of laissez-faire, which in this 
 particular connection might almost have been interpreted to 
 mean, " Leave things to themselves, and in due time they will 
 work out their own solution." One of the strangest indeed 
 most paradoxical features of the period was that side by side 
 
 1 The evidence which Engels produces of the state of the towns may be 
 supplemented by that of " The Hungry Forties " (Fisher Unwin) for the 
 agricultural districts.
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 177 
 
 with this conviction, in the actual administration of the Poor Law 
 this principle was the one last to be applied. Here, so far as 
 administration was concerned, a measure of laissez-faire would 
 have been of immense benefit to the poor. In this connection 
 the following sentences from the Report of the Commission of 
 1833 are of exceptional interest : " Things were not left to take 
 their own course. Unhappily, no knowledge is so rare as the 
 knowledge when to do nothing." 1 
 
 But with the passing of the first Reform Bill in 1832 the 
 period of " legislative quiescence," which synchronized with the 
 domination of the old Toryism, came suddenly to an end. 2 It 
 must not from this be inferred that the change in public opinion 
 was equally sudden ; on the contrary, the forces which produced 
 the Benthamite Liberalism, which so strongly marked the next 
 forty years, had been gradually, though surely, gathering in 
 strength. 3 Previous to the appointment of the Commission " to 
 inquire into the operation of Poor Laws and report thereon " in 
 February, 1832, at least two serious attempts to amend the law 
 and its administration had recently been made ; and though 
 both the Bills to which I refer failed to obtain the sanction of 
 Parliament, both undoubtedly exercised considerable influence 
 upon the Act of 1834. The first of these two Bills was that 
 of Mr. Scarlett, which was introduced in 1821,* but was 
 withdrawn after its second reading in the Commons. There 
 was much in this Bill which was admirable, but the changes 
 which it advocated were too drastic to obtain acceptance at that 
 time. The second Bill 5 was introduced by a Mr. Nolan, who 
 was certainly an authority upon the subject. This Bill was of 
 a far less sweeping nature than Mr. Scarlett's, but, although it 
 was before the House for more than one session, it also failed 
 
 1 Report of the Commissioners made in 1834 ; reprinted in 1905 
 [Cd. 2728], p. 121. 
 
 2 Lord Grey became Prime Minister in 1830, and formed the first Whig 
 or Liberal Ministry since 1782. 
 
 3 On the " Close of the Period of Quiescence," and on " The Period 
 of Benthamism or Individualism," see Dicey, " Law and Opinion," pp. 
 uoff. 
 
 4 Nicholls, op. cit.y vol. ii., p. 208. 5 Ibid., p. 212. 
 
 12
 
 178 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 to become law. I mention these two Bills in order to show 
 that the subject was not only receiving attention, but that those 
 who had studied it were becoming more and more convinced 
 of the necessity of change, both in the law itself and in its 
 administration. 
 
 One factor which undoubtedly most strongly influenced not 
 only the appointment of the Commission of 1832, but also the 
 nature of some of the recommendations of that Commission, was 
 the evidence from Southwell and one or two other places of 
 what a strict and judicious administration of even the existing 
 law could effect. The reforms at Southwell commenced in 
 1821 ; in four years the amount expended on relief of the poor 
 fell from ,2,006 75. to ^"5 17 1 35. ; that expended on providing 
 employment for able-bodied labourers, from ^292 los. to nil ; 
 that in payment of rent, from 184 i8s. also to nil ; that 
 expended upon bastardy was reduced to a third ; besides these 
 particular reforms, the workhouse itself was thoroughly reformed, 
 the sexes were separated, the inmates classified, and the 
 " House " was made what it should be a test of destitution. 
 The results of these reforms in the administration of the 
 law were made widely known, especially those of the appli- 
 cation of workhouse relief, and, as I have just stated, they 
 undoubtedly had an immense influence upon the recommenda- 
 tions of the Commission and, later, upon the framing of the 
 Act of I834. 1 
 
 The history of the Commission upon whose Report that Act 
 was framed, the chief provisions of the Act, and the beneficial 
 results which followed (wherever the Act was efficiently 
 administered), are so well known or at least may be so easily 
 learnt elsewhere that I need not enter into them at any con- 
 siderable length. The following brief summary will, I hope, be 
 sufficient to indicate the successive steps which led to the passing 
 of the Act : 
 
 On February i, 1832, Lord Althorp stated in the House of 
 Commons " that the general question of the Poor Laws was 
 1 Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., pp. 227 et seq.
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 179 
 
 a subject of such magnitude, and involved such a variety of 
 important considerations," that the Government had determined 
 to appoint Commissioners to ascertain by means of local investi- 
 gation how the different systems worked throughout the country. 
 Upon the results of this investigation the future action of the 
 Government would depend." The Commissioners appointed 
 Assistant Commissioners, who visited the various districts. In 
 March, 1833, the Commissioners presented a volume of extracts 
 from the evidence which by that time had been obtained. 1 In 
 this preliminary Report it is stated that maladministration 
 appeared to have spread over almost every part of the country, 
 and that of this maladministration actual intimidation of those 
 supposed to be unfavourable to profuse relief was one of the 
 most extensive sources. On February 20, 1834, the complete 
 Report of the Commissioners was issued, accompanied by an 
 Appendix, in which the evidence collected was given, though 
 much of this evidence was also embodied in the Report itself. 
 The Commissioners state that the evidence comes " from every 
 county and almost every town, and from a very large proportion 
 of even the villages in England. It is derived from many 
 thousand witnesses of every rank and every profession and 
 employment . . . differing in every conceivable degree in 
 education, habits, and interests, and agreeing only in their 
 practical experience as to the matter in question." They further 
 state that in their opinion the amendment of the Poor Laws 
 " is, perhaps, the most urgent and most important measure now 
 remaining for the consideration of Parliament." 2 
 
 A Bill embodying the recommendations of the Commissioners 
 was introduced into and read a first time in the House of 
 Commons on April 17, 1834; it was read a second time on 
 May 9, when 299 members voted for it, and only 20 against it ; 
 it was read a third time on July i ; on the following day it was 
 read for the first time in the House of Lords, and, finally, it 
 
 1 This was signed by the Bishop of London (Blomfield), the Bishop of 
 Chester (Sumner), Sturges Bourne, Nassau W. Senior, H. Bishop, H. 
 Gawler, W. Coulson, James Trail, and Edwin Chadwick. 
 
 2 Reprint of Report (1905), p. 5.
 
 i8o THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 received the Royal Assent on August 14. During the passage 
 of the Bill through the two Houses it received various amend- 
 ments, the chief of which were, first, the limitation of the 
 duration of the Act to five years, and, secondly, the limitation 
 of the powers of the three Commissioners under whom the 
 various local authorities were to act, and who were to be at 
 once the final authority and the ultimate court of appeal in all 
 matters relating to its administration. 1 
 
 It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of this measure, 
 not only because it practically revolutionized the administration 
 of the Poor Law, but because, in spite of the Reports of the 
 Commission (appointed in December, 1905) presented to Parlia- 
 ment in 1909, it still remains to all intents and purposes the law 
 under which the relief of the poor is administered to-day. 
 
 The two following verdicts, the first relating to the Report 
 of the Commissioners, and the second to the passage of the Bill 
 through Parliament, are worthy of being remembered : 
 
 i. " In February, 1834, was published perhaps the most 
 remarkable and startling document to be found in the whole 
 range of English perhaps, indeed, of all social history. . . . 
 In the list of nine gentlemen who composed the Commission 
 there is not to be found a single ornamental name. ... It was 
 their rare good fortune not only to lay bare the existence of 
 abuses and trace them to their roots, but also to propound and 
 enforce the remedies by which they might be cured. It is 
 seldom, indeed, that the conditions of so vast and sweeping 
 a reform are found coexisting. The evils were gross and 
 alarming ; there was a Ministry that had been carried into 
 power by an outburst of reforming zeal ; 'above all, there was 
 a readiness to be guided by principles of purely scientific 
 legislation. . . . Success was therefore at once inevitable and 
 assured." 2 
 
 1 Upon omissions in the Act see Nicholls, op. cit., vol. ii., p. 271. It may 
 be questioned whether the framers of the Act intended that quite so large a 
 discretion should be left the Guardians, as these were afterwards proved to 
 have. 
 
 2 T. W. Fowle, " The Poor Law," pp. 75, 76.
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 181 
 
 2. "The successful passage of this necessary but, unfortu- 
 nately, all too limited measure of reform is one of the most 
 remarkable incidents in our constitutional history. There is no 
 other instance in the history of democracy in which a Govern- 
 ment has dared to benefit the people by depriving them of a 
 right to participate in a public fund, where also the Opposition, 
 as a party, has refrained from making capital out of the obvious 
 difficulties of the situation. It may be added, that the experi- 
 ment then succeeded because legislation in detail was taken 
 out of the hands of Parliament, and put into the hands of a non- 
 elective body." 1 
 
 The recommendations of the Commission and the actual 
 contents of the Act were, in the main, so similar, that, at any 
 rate for our present purpose, they may be considered together. 
 So far as the principles are concerned upon which the Act was 
 framed, these may be pronounced excellent. Where the Act 
 has failed, as undoubtedly in many instances, especially in recent 
 years, it has failed, the failure has not been due to wrong 
 principles, but because, as was the case with the previous great 
 Act of Elizabeth's reign, those who have administered it have 
 either forgotten its principles, or have administered it in a spirit 
 which was not in accordance with that of those who framed it. 
 The chief weakness of the Act, as experience has proved, lay 
 in the fact that too much freedom of action was left to the 
 amateurs who constituted the Local Authority ; that the latitude 
 permitted to these in the practical (and, I would add, personal) 
 application of the law was too wide. The professional i.e., 
 the Relieving Officer has been too often and too much over- 
 ruled by the amateur, the ignorant Guardian, who apparently 
 had learnt little from the experience of the past, and who 
 declined to administer the law in strict accordance with the 
 wisdom of its authors. 
 
 Briefly, the following may be regarded as the root-principles 
 of the measure : A clear distinction must be made between " the 
 poor " and " the indigent," and it must be understood that the 
 
 1 " History of the English Poor Law," T; Mackay, vol. iii., p. 151.
 
 i8a THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 latter " alone come within the province of the Poor Law." 
 Relief must be so administered to the indigent " that their con- 
 dition shall in no case be so eligible as the condition of persons 
 of the lowest class subsisting on the fruits of their own industry." 
 This principle, which, unfortunately, has often been disregarded 
 in practice, is essential, if people are not to be tempted to 
 become paupers, and if they are to be encouraged to use any 
 measure of self-effort. In practice, it was found that when out- 
 relief was withdrawn or diminished in any district, the wages 
 paid immediately increased. 1 There was also a diminution in 
 the number of improvident marriages, and also in the amount of 
 crime. 2 Another principle asserted by the Report and em- 
 bodied in the Act, was " that the practice of giving relief in 
 well-regulated workhouses, and the abolition of partial relief to 
 the able-bodied, having been tried and found beneficial, be 
 extended to all places." 3 As showing the continuity of our 
 English Poor Law, it is interesting to notice that there was 
 appended to this assertion the following words : " This being 
 the only means by which the intention of the Statute of Eliza- 
 beth 4 can be beneficially carried into effect." At least the 
 implied ground for an application for public assistance should be 
 the inability to maintain life or existence, at any rate by lawful 
 means. Hence, such an applicant must accept relief on the 
 terms which it has been shown from experience that the common 
 welfare requires. It is, of course, "the exceptional case" which 
 is a difficulty, and which evokes a sympathy which is tempted 
 to legislate for such a case as if it were typical rather than 
 exceptional. The wisdom of the Commissioners is seen in the 
 following words : " The bane of all pauper legislation has been 
 the legislation for extreme cases. Every exception, every 
 violation of the general rule to meet a real case of unusual hard- 
 ship, lets in a whole class of fraudulent cases, by which that 
 rule must in time be destroyed. Where cases of real hardship 
 
 1 Reprint of Report, pp. 237 et seq. 
 
 2 Ibid., pp. 241 et seq. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 262. An exception is made in regard to medical attendance. 
 
 4 43 Elizabeth, cap. 2.
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 183 
 
 occur, the remedy must be applied by individual charity a 
 virtue for which no system of compulsory relief can be, or ought 
 to be, a substitute." 1 
 
 The value of the " Workhouse Test " is, as the Report 
 explains, " a self-acting test of the claim of the applicant," for 
 by this the " line between those who do, and those who do not, 
 need relief is ... drawn perfectly." Pauperism among the 
 greater number of the able bodied " has originated in indolence, 
 improvidence, or vice, and might have been averted by ordinary 
 care and industry." 2 To give out-relief, even in small amounts, 
 to such people is only to pander to idleness or thriftlessness. 
 The offer of the " House " will, it is proved by experience, induce 
 many whose wants arise from idleness to earn the means of 
 subsistence ; it represses fraudulent claims for support, and 
 frequently calls forth the aid of assistance from friends. 
 Another great principle for which the Commissioners most 
 wisely contended was " the removal from the distributors of all 
 discretionary powers, and thereby diminishing abusive adminis- 
 tration." 3 Unfortunately, experience has proved that, with all 
 their care to effect this, the actual working of the Act has not 
 achieved the object which the Commissioners had here in view. 
 The "discretionary powers " left to the Guardians are still very 
 considerable, and are frequently most unwisely used. The 
 Report speaks of "the increased liability to every sort of per- 
 nicious influence " to which local distributors of relief, popularly- 
 elected, are subject. One of the most pernicious forms of 
 influence is that of intimidation e.g., of small tradesmen from 
 their customers ; the Guardian who is a publican is particularly 
 open to this. 
 
 The real crux of the problem in 1834, as in almost every 
 reform suggested or legislative change enacted for the better 
 relief of the poor, lies in the administration of the law. The 
 Commissioners were fully alive to this danger. As they say : 
 " The instances presented to us throughout the present inquiry 
 of the defeat of former legislation . . . often by an adminis- 
 
 1 Reprint of Report, p. 263. 2 Ibid., p. 264. 3 Ibid., p. 294.
 
 184 THE CHURCH THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 tration directly at variance with the expressed will of the Legis- 
 lature, have forced us to distrust the operation of the clearest 
 enactments, and even to apprehend unforeseen mischiefs from 
 them, unless an especial agency be appointed and empowered to 
 superintend and control their execution." 1 Much is also said 
 upon " the want of appropriate knowledge," " the short duration 
 of the authority," " the inadequacy of motives to support a 
 correct administration," "the strength of interests in abusive 
 administration " on the part of popularly elected distributors 
 of Poor Relief. 
 
 The administration of the Act was placed in the hands of 
 three Commissioners, who were empowered to appoint nine 
 Assistant Commissioners (whose places in 1847 were taken by 
 the Poor Law Inspectors). The powers placed in the hands 
 of the Commissioners were very extensive, the chief of these 
 being that of making and issuing " rules, orders, and regulations 
 for the management of the poor, for the government of work- 
 houses, and the education of children therein . . . for the 
 guidance and control of all guardians, vestries, and parish 
 officers, so far as relates to the management of the poor, and 
 the keeping, examining, auditing, and allowing or disallowing 
 of accounts ... or any expenditure for the relief of the poor, 
 and for carrying this Act into execution in all other respects, 
 etc." 2 It will at once be realized how extensive these powers 
 were ; but upon the admirable manner in which they were used 
 by the first Commissioners there cannot be two opinions. In 
 1839 the term for which they were appointed came to an end, 
 but this was renewed annually until 1842, when it was further 
 renewed for a period of five years. In that year a change was 
 made by a ministerial department responsible to Parliament 
 being constituted, the Minister responsible being named the 
 President of the Poor Law Board. Finally, in 1871, the name 
 of the department was changed into the " Local Government 
 Board," which was placed under one responsible head. 3 
 
 1 Reprint of Report, pp. 280, 281. 
 
 2 Section 15. Nicholls, op. cit., p. 273. 
 
 3 Fowle, " The Poor Law," p. 104.
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 185 
 
 From the date of the passing of the Act of 1834 to the 
 present time the organization and administration of Poor Relief 
 has been in the hands of the Central Board, which has freely 
 exercised the large latitude given to it by the Act. The chief 
 instrument used by the Board has been the Poor Law Orders, 
 which it has so frequently issued, and which, under the Act, may 
 be said to constitute the law under which the relief of the poor is 
 now administered. Many of these Orders are of very considerable 
 importance. For instance, the so-called " General Prohibitory 
 Order," issued in 1844, prohibiting out-relief to the able- 
 bodied, and the "Consolidated Order" of 1847, which laid 
 down strict regulations in regard to the meetings of Guardians, 
 the management of workhouses, and the duties of officers. 
 Besides these Orders, the Local Government Board from time 
 to time issues " Circulars," which are practically declarations 
 of policy in other words, "exhortations" -to the local 
 authorities. These cannot be enforced by law ; they are 
 obeyed by some and disobeyed by other authorities. Hence 
 there has arisen a state of things which is contrary to both the 
 letter and the spirit of the Act of 1834 namely, a wide diver- 
 gence in certain matters of administration. 1 
 
 In considering the immediate effects of the Poor Law 
 Amendment Act, we must remember that the Commissioners had 
 two kinds of obstacles to overcome. 2 The first kind arose both 
 from the Local Authorities and from the recipients of relief. The 
 Guardians were in some cases, from motives of economy, slow 
 in providing effective workhouse buildings, and in a few places 
 there were riotous proceedings, mainly on account of the rule 
 requiring that half the relief given to able-bodied paupers should 
 be given in kind. But on the whole the obstacles purposely 
 raised against the measure were far less than might have been 
 expected. The second class of obstacles, which were due to 
 circumstances entirely beyond the control of the Commissioners, 
 
 1 See Majority Report of 1909, 8vo. edition, pp. 120 et seq. 
 
 2 On this subject see " History of the English Poor Law," vol. iii. 
 (Mackay), chap, xii., pp. 257 et seq.
 
 1 86 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 were far greater and more serious. The autumn of 1836 was 
 very wet, and the following winter one of such great severity that 
 outdoor employment was for a time entirely suspended. In the 
 following year there was a bad harvest, a great rise in price of 
 the necessaries of life, and, in addition, a very serious mortality 
 from an exceptionally severe and widespread epidemic of in- 
 fluenza. In 1838 and 1839 the high prices of food and a general 
 stagnation of trade continued, as was the case more or less for 
 at least five years after this time. During all this time much 
 hardship and privation were undoubtedly suffered by the poor. 
 A period of still greater distress began in 1845, when a cold 
 spring and a wet summer was succeeded by a severe outbreak 
 of potato disease, both in that year and the following one. 
 Wheat advanced from 545. to 755. the quarter, and the price 
 of other provisions rose in proportion. To add to the trouble, 
 the winter of 1846-47 was also one of unusual severity. On the 
 top of these difficulties there was a very considerable immigra- 
 tion of Irish poor, owing to the famine in that country, into all 
 the western ports of England, the number arriving in Liver- 
 pool alone during three months in the spring of 1847 being 
 upwards of 130,000. When we remember all this, we cannot 
 wonder that the administration of the new law was attended 
 with peculiar difficulties, and it says much for the administrative 
 ability of both the Commissioners and their assistants that they 
 weathered the storm as successfully as they did. 
 
 It is important to bear the fact of these "lean years" in 
 mind the " hungry forties," as they have been termed not 
 only because they greatly accentuated the difficulties which 
 naturally met the Poor Law reformers of those days, but because 
 they were the years which immediately preceded the work of 
 Maurice and the earlier "Christian Socialists." They were also 
 the years of the Chartist agitation. The England which nearly 
 broke the tender and sympathetic heart of Maurice, and which 
 called forth the bitter invectives of " Parson Lot," was the 
 England of these terrible years. Undoubtedly the new Poor 
 Law came only just in time. What would have happened had
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 187 
 
 not public relief in those days been under the wise administra- 
 tion of the men who were then responsible for the manner in 
 which it was distributed we know not ; but we can well imagine 
 that the condition of the poor, dreadful as it was, might have 
 been infinitely worse. It said much for the new law that its 
 promoters were able, in the midst of such overwhelming diffi- 
 culties, to pursue the path which they felt sure was for the 
 ultimate benefit of the people. Had the administration of 
 the Poor Law since that time been consistently carried out in 
 the spirit in which its promoters intended that it should be, the 
 condition of the poorest classes in England would to-day be 
 far more really prosperous than what it actually is. 1 
 
 The history of the Poor Law since 1847 tne date f the 
 dissolution of the Commission is one rather of difficulties of 
 administration than of new legislation ; indeed, it would be true 
 to say that since the Act of 1834 there has been no measure of 
 outstanding importance dealing with the Poor Law placed upon 
 the Statute- Book. One reason for dissolving the Commission 
 was that it had no representative in Parliament ; hence there 
 was no one who was primarily responsible for administering the 
 law and at the same time able in Parliament either to answer 
 questions or refute criticisms. By the Act 2 of 1847, which 
 dissolved the old Commission, all the powers of this were trans- 
 ferred to the new Commission. By the same Act it was ordered 
 that aged couples were not to be separated in the workhouses, 
 and that Visiting Committees for these institutions must be 
 appointed by the Guardians. In 1 847-48 3 the amount ex- 
 pended on Poor Relief, especially so far as related to the able- 
 bodied, reached a relatively high figure. This was doubtless in 
 part due to the evil conditions of the poor at this time, with 
 which I have already dealt ; but it also shows that already the 
 original purpose of the Act was to some extent being lost sight 
 
 1 This period is dealt with at length by Mackay, op. cit., chap. xiv. 
 
 2 10 and ii Victoria, cap. 109. 
 
 3 In 1848 the amount expended for relief and maintenance of the poor 
 was ^"6,180,675, against ^4,954,204 in 1846. The rate per head of popula- 
 tion in 1848 was 75. ifd., against 53. io|d. in 1846.
 
 1 88 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 of, and that the intentions of those who framed it were not 
 being carried out by the local authorities responsible for its 
 administration. There can, I think, be little doubt that 
 Mr. Mackay is correct when he states that " it should be 
 remembered, in justice to those who conceived the Act of 1834, 
 that central control meant to them the gradual supersession of 
 local empiricism by introducing the rule of salaried experts 
 responsible to a central authority, and merely inspectable, to 
 use Bentham's word, by the local authority." 1 Apart from such 
 questions as those connected with " settlement," " vagrancy," 
 and "rating" (which may be regarded as belonging to definite 
 sections or departments of the law), the chief difficulties which 
 have arisen in connection with the Poor Law during the last 
 eighty years have been due to the fact that by the Poor Law 
 Amendment Act too great a power was still left in the hands of 
 the amateur administrator ; and that term is certainly not too 
 strong a term for the average member of the ordinary Board of 
 Guardians. 
 
 When we consider the conditions existing at the time, 
 especially in regard to administration, the Act of 1834 probably 
 went as far as it was then possible to go. The Commissioners 
 felt obliged to recommend that at least some measure of 
 responsibility should be left to the Local Authorities, though they 
 realized that these were hardly fit to exercise this. The failure 
 of the law during the last half-century to accomplish what it 
 might have done has been due chiefly to three causes : First, to 
 the ignorance of many Guardians ; secondly, to the inability of 
 these to resist pressure from outside influences ; thirdly, to 
 greatly altered circumstances. However far-sighted a body of 
 legislators may be, they can hardly be expected to foresee the 
 immensely altered conditions which may arise nearly a century 
 hence. That the principles upon which the reformers of 1834 
 acted were right we cannot doubt ; indeed, it will be an evil 
 day for the permanent welfare of the poor of this country should 
 different principles be substituted for them, and a Poor Law, or 
 
 1 Mackay, op. cit., p. 267
 
 THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 1834 189 
 
 a substitute for this, be enacted which disregards these principles, 
 whose truth and usefulness have been proved by experience. 
 
 In saying this I am not condemning an opinion, which has 
 already been largely expressed in practice, that much which 
 eighty years ago was regarded as coming within the province 
 or jurisdiction of the Poor Law Authority should be so regarded 
 no longer. During recent years, from a variety of causes, the 
 province within which governmental agencies enter into the 
 daily life of the people has been much extended, and the nature 
 of this interference has become much more complex. Other 
 authorities such as those of the municipality, including, for 
 instance, the authorities dealing with the public health and with 
 education now to a certain extent overlap by doing work which 
 is also done by the Guardians. Whatever be our opinion as to 
 which is the best authority to do a certain work, we must be 
 agreed that overlapping which means waste, if not friction- 
 should be avoided. 1 In any prophecy as to the probable future 
 functions of the Poor Law, or as to the direction in which this 
 may develop or be curtailed, this fact must be remembered, as 
 also must the growing conviction that the day of the amateur 
 administrator is over. Inefficient administration is too expensive 
 for those who have to find the funds ; also, in spite of the most 
 excellent intentions, because it so often does harm rather than 
 good, it is ultimately terribly expensive to those who are the 
 objects of its activities. 
 
 1 The Minority Report of 1909. The chief proposal of the Minority 
 was that all the various functions of the Poor Law should be handed over to 
 the existing authorities which were now overlapping its various depart- 
 ments.
 
 XIV. 
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM. 
 
 IN this chapter I propose to deal with the work of the 
 so-called Christian Socialists, who, under the leadership 
 of Professor Maurice, inaugurated a movement whose effects are 
 not only still with us, but are growing in both strength and in 
 comprehensiveness of influence year by year. The history of 
 the movement has been told so often and so fully, 1 that I shall 
 not attempt to retell it. I prefer to deal rather with the causes 
 which led to it, the principles which inspired it, and the chief 
 results which issued from it. 
 
 In the two previous chapters I have shown that in the 
 thirties and forties the condition of the poor had become worse 
 and worse. During these years they " were passing through 
 one of the most terrible experiences of all their long unhappy 
 history " ; they had been reduced to " a condition of penury and 
 despair." In 1840 Lord John Russell stated in the House of 
 Commons that the people of the British Isles were " in a worse 
 condition than the negroes in the West Indies " ; and Dr. 
 Arnold wrote to Carlyle that he believed that "the state of 
 society in England was never yet paralleled in history." 2 Doubt- 
 
 1 E.g., in " The Life of Frederick Denison Maurice," two volumes, by 
 his son; also in Charles Kingsley's "Life"; in Kaufmann's "Christian 
 Socialism," and in his " Socialism and Modern Thought" ; also in a lecture 
 (appended to his "Social Development under Christian Influence") upon 
 " The Christian Socialist Movement and Co-operation." The best short 
 account of F. D. Maurice is in the "Leaders of the Church" series, by 
 Mr. C. F. G. Masterman. 
 
 3 A graphic picture of the period will be found in Mr. Masterman's 
 chapter on " The Shaking of the Earth," in his life of Maurice ; also in " The 
 Hungry Forties." 
 
 190
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 191 
 
 less, as I have already shown, there was more than one cause for 
 this terrible condition of things ; but however many the causes 
 may have been, no one can, I think, deny that among them 
 that of an absolutely unrestricted competition, coupled with, or 
 perhaps rather as part of the issues of, the doctrine of laissez 
 faire, pushed to its extremest limits, was the chiefest. Though, 
 no doubt, to some extent unconsciously, yet none the less truly, 
 men had actually become cannibals ; they were living off each 
 other or, rather, the strong were engaged in devouring the weak. 
 If ever the necessity of right social principles, or the inevitable 
 evil result of wrong social principles, was clearly shown, it was so 
 at this time. The necessity of being governed by self-interest, the 
 right of absolutely unrestricted competition, and the non-interfer- 
 ence of the State on behalf of individuals or certain classes, had 
 become accepted as practically axiomatic rules of conduct. For 
 at least three-quarters of a century men had been governed by, 
 or had worked according to, these principles ; the condition 
 of the workers in 1 848 was the inevitable issue. 
 
 It was against these principles, at that time so generally 
 accepted, that Maurice and his co-workers vehemently protested. 
 They proclaimed them to be absolutely false. In season and 
 out they preached and taught and wrote and worked against 
 them. But before stating Maurice's convictions, which I shall 
 try to do, as far as possible, in his own words, one or two points 
 must be noticed. Maurice came to his task with a rich equip- 
 ment. He was no longer young, for in 1848 he was forty-three 
 years of age 1 ; he was well read in theology, in philosophy, and in 
 history ; he was not only a student, but also a hard, if not always 
 a clear, thinker. Then the subjects upon which he now wrote 
 had long been seething in his mind. Twenty years before he 
 had been a member of a debating society founded by the Owen- 
 ites 2 ; there he must have been early " brought into acquaintance 
 with the nature of the discussion between the Co-operators and 
 
 1 Bishop Westcott was sixty when he wrote his " Social Aspects of 
 Christianity," and Ruskin was forty-four when he published " Munera 
 Pulveris." 
 
 ' 2 " Life of Maurice," vol. i., pp. 75 et seq.
 
 i 9 2 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 those who specially called themselves political economists." 1 
 The advocates of competition and laissez faire were not only 
 strong individualists ; they were also strong utilitarians. Maurice, 
 on the contrary, went for his inspiration to the first principles of 
 theology. 2 This is the real key to all his teaching and all his 
 work. It was in his Bible classes and through his sermons that 
 he inspired his followers. He brings every conviction, indeed 
 every opinion, to this test : Is it true to the primal verities of 
 the Christian revelation ? Of the Holy Trinity he writes : " If I 
 have any work in the world, it is to bear witness of this Name 
 . . . as the underground of all fellowship among men." 3 And 
 again : " The preaching of the Trinity in its fulness will, I con- 
 ceive, be the everlasting Gospel to the nations, which will involve 
 the overthrow of the Babel polity and the brutal tyrannies as 
 well as the foul superstitions of the earth." 4 Maurice believed 
 and taught others to believe in a Heavenly Father " a Father 
 actually," whose Fatherhood expressed "an actual relation to us," 
 not merely in " a Father about Whom we read in a book," but 
 " One who is always near our spirits." He believed that " the 
 Son is of one substance with the Father," and that " His mind 
 is the perfect expression of the Father's mind " ; also that 
 " Christ the Divine Man is the Truster Himself and the Source 
 of trust in all the race " ; that " Christ's trust in the Father is 
 the sign and witness of His Divine nature." He asserts that 
 " the belief that the Son of God has interfered for His creatures 
 and has grappled with their sin and death, is the one protection 
 of nations and men against sloth, effeminacy, baseness, tyranny"; 5 
 also that " a finished reconciliation and atonement is the one 
 answer to the scheme of men for making atonement ; if you part 
 with it, all superstitions, all Moloch cruelties will reproduce 
 themselves." 6 He bids us remember that " the Son went with 
 
 1 " Life of Maurice," vol. i., p. 76. 
 
 2 There is an excellent explanation of Maurice's teaching in Storr's 
 " Development of English Theology in the Nineteenth Century," pp. 340 
 et seq, 
 
 3 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 388. 4 Ibid., p. 354. 
 6 Ibid., p. 262. 6 Ibid., p. 262.
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 193 
 
 the Father fulfilling His will . . . we can but come . . . asking 
 to have the Spirit of Sacrifice, and that that Spirit, Who is 
 within us, convincing us of righteousness, of judgment, may 
 dwell in us and quicken us to all the good works which God has 
 prepared for us to walk in." 1 Maurice further believed in a Holy 
 Spirit " a universal Spirit working in others as well as our- 
 selves, One who must have proceeded from the Father, but Who 
 leads us not directly to the Father, but to One Who has come to 
 redeem us ... and perceiving in Christ that He is the infinite 
 and eternal Love, we are certain that the Spirit which worketh 
 in us, the Spirit of Love, is the eternal bond of unity between 
 the Father and the Son, as He is between us on earth." 2 
 
 Maurice was an intense " Realist" in the sense in which the 
 term is applied to one section of the Schoolmen or Medieval 
 philosophers ; 3 he confidently believed in the principle of 
 universalia ante rent. To him the lesson which the true 
 scientific worker has been learning from physical nature was 
 true of the whole universe, and especially true in those spheres 
 which are defined as spiritual, moral, social. He believed that 
 all the troubles which he saw around him were due to men 
 following their own man-made ideas, to men having set up 
 their own principles and theories and laws and rules and customs 
 without first asking : What are GocTs laws ? What does God's 
 revelation of Himself (and so of His Will) in Christ, and through 
 the Holy Spirit, say to us ? This teaching is especially clear in 
 his " Sermons on the Lord's Prayer," preached during the 
 troublous spring of 1848. The sermon upon "Thy Kingdom 
 Come," in particular, is full of it. There he speaks of the per- 
 sistency, in all ages and under all conditions, of the belief " that 
 there will be, some time or other, a better order in all our 
 relations to each other and in all the circumstances which affect 
 us here on this planet." 4 Also he speaks of those who " notic- 
 ing the present distractions of the world are suggesting how 
 
 1 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 394. 2 Ibid., p. 350. 
 
 3 Trench, " Medieval Church History s " pp. 271 et seq. Maurice was, of 
 course, a Platonist. 
 
 4 P. 304- 
 
 13
 
 194 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 these may be removed. All seem to assume that the constitu- 
 tion of things is evil ; not that we are evil in departing from it." 1 
 What the religious teachers of the day ought to have said to the 
 people was : " There has been a holy blessed order among you, 
 which you have been darkening, confounding, hiding from men, 
 by your sins and selfishness ; but which must and will re-assert 
 itself, in spite of you and all that resist it." 2 
 
 To put it in another way, what Maurice saw was that people 
 were seeking to justify their own methods and plans without 
 first asking God what His method was, without studying the 
 method revealed in Jesus Christ, and then obeying that. 
 This conviction caused Maurice to say of himself : " I desire to 
 labour in all ways, being most careful to choose none by self- 
 will or from mere calculations of expediency, and to avoid none 
 which God points out. ... I believe whoever enters on this 
 path . . . must have no confidence in himself, but must cultivate 
 entire confidence in God and in the certainty of His purposes." a 
 He attacked the generally received principle of unlimited com- 
 petition, not from a simply humanitarian point of view, not 
 merely because of the cruelties it perpetrated upon tens of 
 thousands of more or less defenceless men and women, but 
 because he saw it was contrary to God's nature and God's will, 
 as revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and because it severed 
 men and set them against each other, and therefore was also 
 contrary to the teaching and power of a holy uniting Spirit. 
 " Competition," he writes to Charles Kingsley, " is put forth as 
 the law of the universe. That is a lie. The time has come 
 for us to declare that it is a lie by word and deed. I see 
 no way but associating for work and not for strikes. I do 
 not say or think we feel that the relation of employer and 
 employed is not a true relation. I do not determine that wages 
 may not be a righteous mode of expressing that relation. But 
 at present it is clear that this relation is destroyed, that the pay- 
 ment of wages is nothing but a deception. . . . God's voice has 
 gone forth clearly bidding us come forward to fight against 
 
 1 " Sermons on the Lord's Prayer," p. 311. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 312. 3 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 10.
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 195 
 
 the present state of things ; to call men to repentance first of all, 
 but then also, as it seems to me, to give them an opportunity of 
 showing their repentance and bringing forth fruits worthy 
 of it." 1 
 
 Maurice and his followers called themselves Christian 
 Socialists, they named the second 2 paper which they published 
 the Christian Socialist, and they issued a series of " Tracts on 
 Christian Socialism." It was not that the name was applied to 
 them by others. But as few terms have been used with a wider, 
 indeed a looser, significance than " Socialist " and " Socialism," 
 it will be well to examine what Maurice himself understood by 
 them. In a letter to Ludlow he writes : " ' Tracts on Christian 
 Socialism ' is, it seems to me, the only title which will define our 
 object, and will commit us at once to the conflict we must 
 engage in sooner or later with the unsocial Christians and the 
 unchristian Socialists. It is a great thing not to leave people to 
 poke out our object and proclaim it with infinite triumph : 'Why, 
 you are Socialists in disguise !' 'In disguise not a bit of it. 
 There it is staring you in the face upon the title-page.'" 3 It is to 
 his imaginary interlocutor that he adds : " Did we not profess that 
 our intended something was quite different to what your Owen- 
 ish lecturers meant?" 4 This last sentence is of very great im- 
 portance, for it clearly implies that Maurice saw that by the 
 term " Christian Socialism " the principles and objects of him- 
 self and his followers would be misunderstood. Unfortunately, 
 this misunderstanding has continued to the present day. It was 
 because Maurice felt that the term " Christian Socialist " so 
 exactly described the convictions and the aims of himself and his 
 colleagues that he was not prepared to give it up. What he 
 wished it to imply he has made quite clear. In a letter to 
 Daniel Macmillan he writes : " Our great desire is to Christian- 
 ize Socialism." 5 Then in a pamphlet he states : " The watch- 
 word of the Socialist is co-operation ; the watchword of the 
 Anti-socialist is competition. Anyone who recognizes the 
 
 1 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 32. a The first was "Politics for the People." 
 3 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 36. 4 Ibid. 6 Ibid.
 
 ig6 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 principle of co-operation as a stronger and truer principle than 
 that of competition has a right to the honour or the disgrace 
 of being called a Christian Socialist." That by Socialism 
 Maurice did not mean compulsory Socialism i.e.. that the 
 State should take over the material and instruments of produc- 
 tion is abundantly clear. " Schemes for reducing all things to 
 a common stock " were to him only attempts " for establishing 
 a fellowship upon a law of mutual selfishness." 1 In a letter to 
 Ludlow he writes : " The State, I think, cannot be communist ; 
 never will be ; never ought to be. It is by nature and law 
 conservative of individual rights, individual possessions." 2 In 
 his fifth sermon upon the Lord's Prayer, Maurice, in reference to 
 the so-called communism of the early Church, says : " The 
 selling of houses and lands was only one exhibition of a state of 
 mind an exhibition never enforced, as St. Peter told Ananias. 
 But the principle implied in the words, ' No man said that which 
 he had was his own ' is the principle of the Church in all ages ; 
 its members stand while they confess this principle, they fall 
 from her communion when they deny it. Property is holy : so 
 speaks the Law, and the Church does not deny the assertion, 
 but ratifies it. Only she must proclaim this other truth or 
 perish. Beneath all distinctions of property and of rank lie the 
 obligations of a common Creation, Redemption, Humanity ; and 
 these are not mere ultimate obligations to be confessed when 
 others are fulfilled. They are not vague abstractions, which 
 cannot quite be denied, but which have no direct bearing upon 
 our daily existence ; they are primary, eternal bonds, upon 
 which all others depend." 3 
 
 I have dwelt at considerable length upon the " Christian- 
 social " teaching of Maurice, because it is essential that we 
 should understand it, if we are to have a clear grasp of the 
 "Christian-social Movement," of which he was the actual 
 inspirer, which is still with us, and indeed, as I have already 
 said, is growing in influence every year. I have said nothing of 
 
 1 "The Prayer-Book and the Lord's Prayer," p. 341. 
 
 2 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 8. 3 " The Prayer Book," p. 340.
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 197 
 
 his coadjutors Kingsley, Ludlow, Vansittart Neale, Thomas 
 Hughes, and others not because their work was unimportant, 
 but because when we have once grasped Maurice's principles 
 we can understand that which each and all were striving to 
 achieve. Charles Kingsley's celebrated placard addressed "To 
 the Workmen of England," l was doubtless written in his own 
 particular style ; the words were his, but the principles asserted 
 were those of Maurice. Kingsley's plain declaration of distrust 
 in any permanent benefit from mere measures of Parliamentary 
 reform is a clear echo of Maurice's own teaching. His final 
 assertion that freedom will be brought about by Almighty God 
 and Jesus Christ, and that there can be no true industry with- 
 out the fear of God, is exactly what Maurice was always 
 proclaiming. 
 
 Judged by what the world terms "practical results," so far as 
 getting the workmen (at any rate as producers) to combine 
 together successfully, the " Society for Promoting Working 
 Men's Associations " was a complete failure. 2 First one and 
 then another of the little societies of co-operative producers, 
 promoted, and to a great extent financed, by Maurice and his 
 friends, came to grief. 3 The reasons for these failures were 
 doubtless many, but certainly the chief one was that stated by 
 the promoters in their final report namely, the selfishness of 
 the members. These quarrelled among themselves ; they failed 
 to look sufficiently forward, and to take a broad and Christian 
 view of their work. But though the movement failed in its 
 immediate results, it had far-reaching consequences. Among 
 these was the passing of the " Industrial and Provident Partner- 
 ships Bill," which became law in the summer of i852. 4 But 
 though the co-operative movement especially as regards pro- 
 duction was a failure in London and in the South of England, 
 
 1 Charles Kingsley's " Life," p. 63. 
 
 3 Kingsley's " Life," p. 209 ; Kaufmann, "Christian Socialism," p. 75. 
 
 3 Mrs. Webb's " The Co-operative Movement," pp. 122 et seq. That the 
 "Christian Socialists" were not true Socialists see Mrs. Webb, op. cit., pp. 
 154 et seq. 
 
 4 " Life of Maurice," vol. ii., p. 121. j
 
 1 98 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 in the North, especially in Lancashire and Yorkshire, it took 
 strong root and has grown and flourished ever since. In com- 
 mending the movement to the shrewd industrial workers of the 
 North, the followers of Maurice, particularly Ludlow, Hughes, 
 and Neale, did yeoman service. Mrs. Webb believes that the 
 Lancashire co-operators actually borrowed " the individualist 
 ideal of self-employment " from these "Christian Socialists." 1 
 If a proof were needed of how little Maurice and his followers 
 were either " Socialists" or " Socialistic " in the more strict, and 
 now generally accepted, interpretation of these terms, it could 
 be found in her indictment that "an industrial organization which 
 substitutes for one profit-maker many profit-makers is not a step 
 forward in the moralization of trade." 2 She admits, indeed 
 praises highly, "the ethical sentiment of the highest order," 
 which inspired the promoters ; but at the same time she bids us 
 remember that the working men who accepted their services 
 and their capital were probably guided by a desire a perfectly 
 legitimate one to better themselves, which, of course, is not 
 in accordance with the true socialistic ideal, which would abolish 
 all profit for individual gain. 
 
 In the warfare which was waged against the political 
 economy then generally accepted that is, against the principle 
 of practically unlimited competition, one name must not be for- 
 gotten. John Ruskin had corresponded with Maurice, in con- 
 nection with his " Notes on the Construction of Sheepfolds," as 
 early as i85i. 3 In 1854, when Maurice founded the Working 
 Men's College, Ruskin, who had already been writing articles 
 on education, taxation, and other social subjects, offered to 
 undertake the teaching of the drawing classes, and to these 
 classes for some time he devoted himself most assiduously. 4 I 
 do not wish to lay stress upon Maurice's influence on Ruskin, 
 though to deny that this existed would be not only unwise, but 
 extremely difficult to prove. In 1857 Ruskin gave some 
 
 1 Mrs. Webb, "The Co-operative Movement," pp. 171 et seq. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 155. 
 
 3 Collingwood, " Life of John Ruskin," p. 124. 4 Ibid^ p. 150.
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 199 
 
 lectures in Manchester on " The Political Economy of Art." 
 In these lectures he dealt with the government of a State, which, 
 he asserted, should not be content with laissez faire, but should 
 promote everything which was for the true interests of the 
 State. 1 This proclamation of the paternal function of Govern- 
 ment, of the right of the State to a wide range of interference, 
 was, of course, entirely contrary to the prevailing tendency of 
 thought at that time. From about 1860 Ruskin's faith in such 
 experiments as the Working Men's College seemed to fail ; 2 he 
 began to feel that much more radical methods of reform were 
 necessary if social welfare was to be realized. 
 
 After a period of solitude in Switzerland, passed in thinking 
 out what these methods should be, he published " Unto this 
 Last," 3 and, two years later, " Munera Pulveris." The preface 
 to the first of these, in which he plainly states his purpose, 
 contains suggestions which can only be described as socialistic 
 e.g., " manufactories and workshops, entirely under Government 
 regulation, for the production and sale of every necessary of 
 life"; 4 he also advocates labour colonies, penal and otherwise, 
 and old age pensions. 5 Ruskin's Socialism, though in many 
 respects extremely advanced, was, no more than that of Maurice, 
 what usually goes under that name. 6 His panacea for the evils 
 he witnessed was far rather an ethical one than the promotion 
 of any particular kind of social organization. He would inter- 
 fere " no whit with private enterprise," and he believes that " if 
 once we get a sufficient quantity of honesty in our captains, the 
 organization of labour is easy, and will develop itself without 
 quarrel or difficulty ; but if we cannot get honesty in our 
 captains, the organization of labour is for ever impossible." 7 
 That Ruskin had already looked carefully into the existing 
 condition of the workers is evident from his scathing criticism 
 of Ricardo's definition of "the natural rate of wages," as that 
 which will maintain the labourer. " Maintain him ! yes, but 
 
 1 Collingwood, "Life of John Ruskin," p. 170. 2 Ibid., p. 191. 
 
 3 In 1860. 4 P. xvii. 5 Pp. xviii, xx. 
 
 6 " Munera Pulveris," p. xxix. 7 " Unto this Last," pp. xv, xvi.
 
 200 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 how ?" asks Ruskin ; "will you arrange their maintenance so as 
 to kill them early say at thirty or thirty-five on the average, 
 including deaths of weakly or ill-fed children ? or so as to 
 enable them to live out a natural life ? M1 In " Munera Pulveris," 
 published in 1863, he exposes even more savagely what he 
 considers to be the root-errors of the political economy then 
 commonly accepted. He states, in the opening words of the 
 book, that "the following pages contain, I believe, the first 
 accurate analysis of the laws of Political Economy which has 
 been published in England." 2 These words no doubt provoked 
 many a smile in the followers of Adam Smith and Ricardo, but 
 much that Ruskin had to say was not only entirely true, but 
 was in desperate need of being said : such, for instance, as " It 
 is not the object of political economy to increase the numbers 
 of a nation at the cost of common health or comfort ; nor to 
 increase indefinitely the comfort of individuals by sacrifice of 
 surrounding lives, or possibilities of life." 3 But it was in " Time 
 and Tide" (published in 1867) that Ruskin gave the completest 
 exposition of his views as to the nature of the ideal common- 
 wealth. Into this teaching I must not enter, except to say that 
 many of Ruskin's views, however much they were ridiculed 
 when first he expressed them, are now widely accepted by those 
 who have at heart the welfare of the poor. Where Ruskin is 
 strongest, and where he is entirely right, is in his insistence 
 upon ethical conditions. In the rules which should be laid 
 down for the welfare of any society, Ruskin, like John Calvin, 
 would go back to what he believed to be the revealed will of 
 God, and consequently an irrefragable law. Where things were 
 wrong it was because this law, or some part of it, had been 
 either ignored or wilfully disobeyed. Speaking of " the true 
 connection between wages and work," he states that it is 
 essential " to determine, even approximately, the real quantity 
 of the one, that can, according to the laws of God and Nature, 
 be given for the other ; for, rely on it, make what laws you like, 
 
 1 " Unto this Last," p. 163. 2 P. vii. 
 
 * P. 3. [As Engels saw it being done in Manchester in 1844.]
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 201 
 
 that quantity only can you at last get." 1 In the face of this teach- 
 ing to deny that Ruskin was most strongly influenced by Maurice 
 seems impossible ; that he, in turn, had an immense influence 
 upon Bishop Westcott appears equally certain. There is many 
 a passage in Ruskin which expresses Maurice's teaching ; there 
 are still more in Bishop Westcott's later addresses which recall 
 and accentuate lessons which Ruskin had been teaching twenty 
 or thirty years before. 
 
 The period which stretches from 1848 to 1870 must be a 
 deeply interesting one to those who are concerned in the welfare 
 of the poor, because it was during these years that the principles 
 of individualism, unlimited competition, and non-interference, or 
 laissez faire, were attacked and finally undermined. The attack 
 came from many sides. With the attack made by the " Christian 
 Socialists," who were undoubtedly aided by their literary ability, 
 I have already dealt. The exceptional literary power of John 
 Ruskin, also, found him an immense circle of readers, as it also 
 did Charles Dickens, who, in novel after novel, with an extra- 
 ordinary insight into human nature, exposed one existing abuse 
 after another, and revealed to thousands what the actual con- 
 ditions were in contiguity to which they were living. Another 
 extremely strong attack came from the "humanitarians," chief 
 among whom were Southey, Oastler, 2 Michael Sadler, and, 
 above all, Lord Shaftesbury. 3 These men concentrated their 
 efforts upon revealing the horrors and iniquities of the factory 
 system as it then existed, and upon passing the various Factory 
 Acts which should at least mitigate its evils. And they did not 
 belong to the party of the Whigs or Liberals, which had been 
 mainly instrumental in passing the Reform Bill of 1832, and the 
 Poor Law Act of 1834. Actually they were high Tories opposed 
 to such legislation, and who had fought against such measures 
 
 1 "Time and Tide" (ed. 1906), pp. 15, 16. 
 
 2 Author of " Slavery in Yorkshire." 
 
 3 In " The Manchester Politician " Mr. Hertz notices four lines of revolt 
 against the school of laissez faire: (i) "The Humanitarian"; (2) "The 
 Labourer"; (3) "The Imperialist"; (4) "The Economic." On the whole 
 movement see Dicey, " Law and Opinion in England," pp. 219 et seq.
 
 202 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 as those removing disabilities from Roman Catholics. Lord 
 Shaftesbury, in his private diaries, records how his bitterest 
 opponents at that time were not the Tories, but Liberals like 
 O'Connell, Gladstone, Bright, and Lord Brougham. 1 The 
 student of recent social legislation and the prophet in regard to 
 such legislation in the future may find useful food for thought 
 in the fact that it was by men of undoubtedly Tory traditions 
 that the first great steps in the promotion of Collectivist or 
 Socialistic legislation, of which during the last forty years so 
 much has been passed, were taken. That there was urgent 
 need for such legislation no one who knows the facts can for a 
 moment doubt. In a letter to Lord Shaftesbury, Southey writes : 
 " Thousands of thousands will bless you for taking up the cause 
 of these poor children [in the factories]. I do not believe that 
 anything more inhuman than the system has ever disgraced 
 human nature in any age or country. Was I not right in saying 
 that Moloch was a more merciful fiend than Mammon ? Death 
 in the brazen arms of the Carthaginian idol was mercy to the 
 slow waste of life in the factories." 2 
 
 Another attack upon individualism came from what Professor 
 Dicey terms the " Changed Attitude of the Working Classes." 
 He shows that after the defeat of Chartism in 1848 the work- 
 men "devoted their efforts to movements of which the object 
 was social and not political " ; 3 they directed their energies 
 towards trade unionism, which " was a step in the direction of 
 Collectivism " ; for trade unionism implies collective bargaining, 
 and puts restrictions upon individual freedom of contract. 
 Strenuous efforts were made, and with gradual, if slow, success 
 to alter the laws in favour of the right of workmen to combine. 
 The workers pleaded for, and eventually won the right to bring, 
 " the severest moral pressure to bear upon the action, and thus 
 restrain the freedom of any workman who might be inclined to 
 follow his own interest in defiance of union rules intended to 
 
 1 Dicey, op. cit., pp. 233 et seq. 2 Ibid., p. 223. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 239. Actually they so far followed the advice of Kingsley and 
 the " Christian Socialists."
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 203 
 
 promote the interest of all the workmen engaged in a particular 
 trade." * 
 
 Two other influences at work during this period joined in 
 the attack upon individualism. First, there was a growing sense 
 of the value of combination in trade and commerce. The 
 practice of combination in this sphere has, of course, in various 
 directions grown enormously since the days we are considering, 
 but the beginnings of it were then already at work. 2 Side by 
 side with this we see various public bodies, fragments of the 
 State and popularly elected e.g., the municipalities becoming 
 in different ways traders for the benefit of the community which 
 they represent. Also during this period we see another and 
 striking interference by the State, both on behalf of, and in the 
 management of, great trading concerns viz., the railways of the 
 United Kingdom. When a railway company obtains from 
 Parliament the right of compulsory purchase of land for the 
 public convenience, the principle that ultimately the land belongs 
 to the nation has met with at least a measure of recognition ; 
 and when a railway has to obtain from the same authority the 
 right to make certain charges, we have another very strong 
 instance of State interference. 3 
 
 The second influence to which I refer was that to which the 
 Reform Bills of 1868 and 1884 were undoubtedly due, and to 
 which the Acts in which they issued gave an enormously in- 
 creased power. The causes which brought about household 
 suffrage were doubtless many among them being the victory 
 of the North in the War of Secession ; but the chief reason for 
 the Reform Acts of i868 4 and i884 5 was undoubtedly a defer- 
 ence to the wish of the working classes " who desired, though in 
 a vague and indefinite manner, the attainment of the ideals of 
 Socialism or Collectivism." 6 
 
 Of the history of the Poor Law between 1848 and 1870 
 there is nothing of outstanding importance to record. The old 
 
 1 Dicey, op. cit., p. 240. a Ibid., pp. 244 et seq. 
 
 3 Dicey, op. cit., p. 246. 4 Passed by the Conservatives. 
 
 5 Which equalized the County franchise with that of the Boroughs. 
 
 6 Dicey, op. cit., p. 253.
 
 204 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 difficulties connected with Settlement and Removal were 
 attacked, though never quite successfully, by more than one Act 
 of Parliament. In 1861 an important Act 1 was passed in 
 reference to " Union Rating," whereby certain burdens which 
 fell heavily upon poor parishes were lightened by making these 
 a common charge upon the Union. Another question which at 
 this time began to claim serious attention was the appointment 
 and payment of Poor Law medical officers a subject which had 
 certainly not met with the treatment due to it in the Act of 1834. 
 Instead of a payment for case treated, it was decided in 1857 2 
 that medical officers " should be appointed for life, and should 
 only cease to hold office upon their resignation, insanity, or 
 other disqualification, or upon their removal by the Poor Law 
 Board." 3 Half their salaries were now paid by the State, and 
 extra remuneration was given for extra services. The same 
 subject was again raised in 1864, but a Committee appointed 
 to consider it decided that there was no need for further 
 regulations. 4 
 
 Possibly the severest test to which the Poor Law was ever 
 put was that occasioned by the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 
 1 86 1 to i863, 5 which caused exceptional "abnormal" distress. 
 At that time there were at least 440,000 persons employed in 
 the trade, who were receiving some ^"11,500,000 a year in 
 wages. The tremendous pressure put upon the Poor Law by 
 the stoppage of the mills is shown by the fact that in February, 
 1862, the amount of pauperism in Ashton-under-Lyne, Glossop, 
 and Preston, showed increases of 213 percent., 300 per cent., 
 and 320 per cent, respectively above the normal increases for 
 that winter month. Under exceptional circumstances it is 
 necessary to resort to exceptional measures, and during the 
 famine two Acts were passed. By the first it was provided 
 
 1 24 and 25 Viet., c. 55 ; see Aschrott and Preston Thomas, " The 
 English Poor Law," p. 59. 
 
 2 By the " Medical Appointments Order" of May 25, 1857. 
 
 3 Aschrott and Preston Thomas, op. cit., pp. 61, 62. * Ibid. 
 
 5 Upon the Cotton Famine see " History of the English Poor Law," 
 vol. iii. (Mackay), chap, xviii.
 
 THE RISE OF COLLECTIVISM 205 
 
 that when the poor rate in any parish in the three counties of 
 Lancashire, Cheshire, and Derby exceeded three shillings in the 
 pound, the excess should be a Union charge ; when it exceeded 
 five shillings in the pound, the Poor Law Board might call upon 
 other Unions in the county to make up the excess. 1 The second 
 Act 2 was one to facilitate the execution of public works in certain 
 manufacturing districts, etc. By this Act the Treasury was 
 empowered to advance, out of the Consolidated Fund, sums in 
 the aggregate not to exceed ,1,200,000 to local bodies for the 
 execution of permanent works. At that time in many of the 
 manufacturing towns both the drainage and sewerage were 
 imperfect, the water-supply was bad, and the roads were in an 
 unsatisfactory state. It was thought that on these necessary 
 works many of the unemployed, who were able-bodied, might 
 be usefully employed. As a matter of experience only a very 
 few operatives actually did find work under the provisions of 
 the Act. The work was needed, and seems to have been well 
 done, but as a means of relief the Act was not a success. It 
 was hoped that the Act would provide employment for some 
 30,000 men, whereas, as a matter of fact, at the end of 1864, 
 only some 3,978 factory operatives were working under its 
 provisions. 
 
 It was during the period covered by this chapter that the 
 Oxford Movement, the High Church revival, became widely 
 influential. Of the leaders of this movement Bishop Westcott 
 writes, " I cannot recall that they ever showed active sympathy 
 with efforts for social reform." 3 Broadly speaking, this assertion 
 is probably correct ; but at the same time it may create a false 
 impression, because it ignores certain kinds of work which may 
 come under the head of "social reform." If the Bishop meant 
 that we do not find any of the earlier leaders of the High Church 
 
 1 The Union Relief Aid Act, 1862 : 25 and 26 Viet., cap. 160. This Act 
 also gave power to the Guardians, under certain circumstances, to borrow. 
 
 2 The Public Works (Manufacturing Districts) Act, 1863 : 26 and 27 
 Viet., cap. 70 ; on this Act see Mackay, op. cit., pp. 398 et seq. 
 
 3 " Lessons from Work," p. 24. [The whole context should be read.] 
 Dicey, " Law and Opinion." p. 405, takes the same view as Bishop Westcott,
 
 206 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 party taking a statesmanlike grasp of the evil social conditions 
 then existing, endeavouring to penetrate into the causes of these, 
 and then throwing themselves into a movement to remedy them, 
 as Maurice, Kingsley, and their fellow- workers had done, his 
 verdict is probably true. But if it implies, as it might be held 
 to imply, that they were unconscious of, or made no effort to 
 ameliorate, the sufferings of the poor, it is not true. What is 
 true is, that we have to wait until the nineteenth century was 
 drawing towards a close before we find the leaders in the High 
 Church Movement taking that active and prominent part in 
 social work which of recent years many of them so honourably 
 and effectually have done. 1 
 
 1 In a note appended to the statement quoted, Bishop Westcott writes : 
 " The Essays in ' Lux Mundi ' mark a new departure."
 
 XV. 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 
 
 IN the previous chapter we saw that for many years very 
 serious attacks, proceeding from different sources, had been 
 made upon the principle of individualism, or non-interference 
 (laissez-faire]. From about 1 8 70 a general belief in this principle 
 was so far shattered that from this time onwards practically all 
 legislation for the benefit of the poorer classes is inspired by the 
 absolutely contrary principle that of faith in State interference, 
 otherwise Collectivism. Professor Dicey shows 1 that the 
 acceptance of this root principle has led to a belief in four other 
 subsidiary principles, which have been embodied in legislation 
 with four definite objects : First, the extension of protection ; 
 secondly, the restriction of freedom of contract ; thirdly, a 
 preference for collective, as opposed to individual, action ; 
 fourthly, the equalization of advantages among individuals 
 possessed of unequal means for their attainment. The great 
 majority of the Acts of Parliament passed during the last forty- 
 five years will be found to have as their purpose the promotion 
 of one or more of these objects. Under the head of " Pro- 
 tection " will come the Workmen's Compensation Acts, various 
 Factory Acts, the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 2 etc. Under 
 "Restrictions of Freedom of Contract" we must place certain 
 clauses in the Agricultural Holdings Acts, which prevent the 
 bargaining away of rights by the tenant ; also clauses in the 
 Workmen's Compensation Acts, 3 which prevent a workman con- 
 
 1 In " Law and Opinion in England," Lecture VIII. 
 
 2 Dicey shows that " Protection " is tacitly transformed into guidance. 
 Op. cit., p. 261. 3 The number of these Acts are given by Dicey, op. cit. 
 
 207
 
 2o8 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 trading himself out of his benefits. 1 As a proof of the preference 
 for " collective action " we may adduce the Combination Act of 
 1871 and various Trade Union Acts. The spirit of these Acts, 
 which favour combinations and give Trade Unions a recognized 
 position, is entirely opposed to that of the Conspiracy Act of 
 1800. As examples of Acts promoting the "Equalization of 
 Advantages," we may certainly quote the various Education Acts, 
 Employers' Liability Acts, and different Acts intended to pro- 
 mote the general health of the community. Further, it should 
 be noticed that this Collectivist legislation is not the production 
 of one, but of both the great political parties in the State. 2 
 
 The history of the Poor Law during the last half-century is 
 chiefly a history of various efforts to improve its administration, 
 though from time to time attacks have been made upon the 
 principles upon which the Act of 1834 was based, as also to 
 reverse the policy according to which those who framed that 
 Act desired it to be administered. In 1871 all the collective 
 functions of the Poor Law Board, also sanitary and highway 
 administration, and the general supervision of local authorities, 
 were transferred to the Local Government Board. 3 Both the 
 powers and the activities of this branch of the public service 
 have, of course, been very largely extended during recent years. 
 One subject which has been much before the public during the 
 period of which we are speaking, and which has provoked a 
 large amount of both wise and unwise discussion, has been the 
 proper spheres, or the different functions, of charity and of the 
 Poor Law. In 1869 Mr. Goschen issued a valuable circular in 
 which it was stated that " it is of essential importance that an 
 attempt should be made to bring the authorities administering 
 the Poor Laws and those who administer charitable funds to as 
 clear an understanding as possible, so as to avoid the double 
 distribution of relief to the same person, and at the same time 
 
 1 " The transition from permissive to compulsory legislation bears witness 
 to the rising influence of Collectivism " (Dicey, op. cit., p. 265). 
 
 2 Since 1870 Collectivist legislation has proceeded independent of the 
 political party in power. 
 
 3 By 34 and 35 Viet., cap. 70.
 
 to secure that the most effective use should be made of the large 
 sums habitually contributed by the public towards relieving such 
 cases as the Poor Law can scarcely reach." 1 The circular goes 
 on to point out how necessary it is " to mark out the separate 
 limits of the Poor Law and of charity." 2 The same necessity 
 is still with us, as is also that of a clear understanding that, 
 according to the principles of 1834, the Poor Law is not framed 
 to deal with poverty, but with destitution. The danger of giving 
 " relief in aid of wages," both by those who administer the Poor 
 Law and those who give charity, is too often forgotten. If only 
 those who are tempted to do this would study the conditions of 
 the English poor prior to 1834, the danger would be far less 
 than it actually is. This circular of Mr. Goschen's was probably 
 the chief cause of the establishment of the Charity Organization 
 Society, which was founded in 1869, and which is still active in 
 London and in various provincial towns. 
 
 Among other means which have tended to better adminis- 
 tration have been the Poor Law Conferences at which Guardians 
 from various Unions meet annually to discuss subjects connected 
 with their various duties. 3 These began in 1871, and are now 
 held every year in London and in various parts of the country. 
 So impressed was the Government with their usefulness that in 
 1883 an Act 4 was passed allowing Unions to pay out of the 
 Common Fund the reasonable expenses incurred by any 
 Guardian, or Clerk to the Guardians, attending these Con- 
 ferences. 
 
 From about this time we see the beginning of a movement 
 which of recent years has rapidly developed in two directions. 
 On the one hand, we notice an effort to remove from the work- 
 houses three classes of paupers, and to deal with these in special 
 institutions. For the sick we find that Poor Law hospitals or 
 infirmaries are provided ; for the vagrants we find casual wards 
 
 1 In 1863 the Rev. W. G. Blackie had read a paper at the Social Science 
 Congress on " The Collisions of Benevolence and Social Law." 
 
 ' 2 Aschrott and Preston Thomas, " The English Poor Law," p. 90. 
 
 3 Their originator was a Mr. Barwick Baker. 
 
 4 46 and 47 Viet., cap. n. 
 
 14
 
 2io THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 are established ; while for the children various means are 
 devised, either Poor Law Schools, " Scattered Homes," or a 
 " Boarding Out System," being now generally arranged. On the 
 other hand, as local government has become more efficient, or 
 more paternal, we find that other branches of this service have, 
 to some extent, taken upon themselves functions which formerly, 
 at least to some degree, were discharged by the Poor Law ; in 
 consequence of this there has arisen a certain amount of " over- 
 lapping," which is inimical to economy of administration 
 Possibly the most striking instance of this is found in connection 
 with the treatment of the sick. In the Minority Report of the 
 Royal Commission on the Poor Laws of 1905 we read : "The 
 continued existence of two separate rate-supported Medical 
 Services in all parts of the kingdom, costing, in the aggregate, 
 six or seven millions sterling annually overlapping, unco- 
 ordinated with each other, and sometimes actually conflicting 
 with each other's work, cannot be justified." 1 Another sphere 
 of State activity in which serious overlapping is in existence is 
 that connected with the care, health, and education of children. 
 In regard to this, the Minority Report asserts "that it is 
 urgently necessary to put an end to this wasteful and demoral- 
 izing overlapping by making one Local Authority in each 
 district, and one only, responsible for the whole of whatever 
 provision the State may choose to make for children of school 
 age." 2 
 
 The winters of 1885-86 and 1886-87 were of unusual severity, 
 and at that time many branches of trade were depressed ; con- 
 sequently, there was much unemployment and also a certain 
 amount of reduction of wages. Unfortunately, many Unions, 
 especially in London, proved unequal to meeting the strain 
 which was put upon them ; workhouses became overcrowded, 
 and the tests offered for out-relief were often unsuitable. A 
 great meeting of unemployed attended, unhappily, also by a 
 large number of bad characters was held in Trafalgar Square. 
 The Lord Mayor of London opened a " Mansion House Fund," 
 1 Minority Report, 1909, p. 230 (8vo. edition). 2 P. 169.
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 211 
 
 to which an enormous sum ot money was subscribed. Those 
 engaged m its distribution proved to be unequal to the responsi- 
 bility involved. After the crisis was over it was found that the 
 fund had had a distinctly demoralizing effect upon the poorer 
 classes. 1 This led to the appointment of a Committee of the 
 House of Lords in March, 1888, which was "to inquire as to 
 the various powers now in possession of the Poor Law Guardians, 
 and their adequacy to cope with distress that may from time to 
 time exist in the Metropolis and other populous places ; and also 
 as to the expediency of concerted action between the Poor Law 
 Authorities and Voluntary Agencies for the Relief of Distress." 2 
 In their Report the Committee recognized the importance of 
 adhering strictly to the principles of 1834 ; at the same time they 
 made certain recommendations which would throw a very con- 
 siderable increase of expense upon the local Poor Law 
 Authorities. Just at that time a new County Government Bill 
 for England and Wales was being framed. In this Bill 3 it was 
 arranged that through the County Authorities certain grants 
 should be made to the Guardians for certain kinds of expendi- 
 ture. As the result of further Acts, passed in 1890, additional 
 help was given to local Poor Law Authorities ; consequently, 
 there is available to-day for the purposes of the Poor Law, 
 besides the yield of the local Poor Rate, a very considerable 
 sum drawn from wider sources. 4 
 
 The Local Government Act of 1 894 5 brought about a very 
 considerable change in the personnel of many Boards of 
 Guardians. It largely increased the electorate by which 
 Guardians were selected, and it removed all property qualifica- 
 tion for holding the office, which thus could now for the first 
 time be held by a working man. Also by this Act women for 
 
 1 Aschrott and Preston Thomas, op. cit., pp. 100, 101. 
 
 2 Ibid., op. cit., p. 102. 
 
 3 Which became the Act 51 and 52 Viet., cap. 41. 
 
 4 By the Annual Report of the Local Government Board for 1911-12 
 [Cd. 3627] the amount of expenditure on relief for the last current year was 
 ^15,023,130, of which ^2,451,894 came from "Grants and Government 
 subventions," against ^"11,757,298 from local rates. 
 
 6 56 and 57 Viet., cap. 73.
 
 2i2 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 the first time "obtained a firm position on the Boards." 1 It 
 was feared at the time that these changes might bring about a 
 great relaxation of strictness of administration. At the first 
 elections (in 1895), under the cry of the necessity of "human- 
 izing the Poor Law," the Socialists tried in many localities to 
 bring in extreme elements. But actually in only a few instances, 
 and these mainly in large centres of population, did these 
 extremists obtain a majority. In some cases a policy of 
 " liberal," indeed of reckless, giving of out-relief was tried. 
 Even where this took place the Local Government Board did 
 not intervene, though many at the time were surprised at its 
 inaction. 2 But in the event this policy, on the part of the 
 supreme authority, justified itself. When the rates rose, and 
 that without any corresponding improvement in the welfare of 
 the poor, the ratepayers became indignant and demanded a 
 return to the method of applying the workhouse test, whose 
 usefulness had been tried by a long experience. 
 
 Of recent years there has undoubtedly been a very consider- 
 able increase of expense in connection with the Poor Law ; but, 
 except in comparatively few instances, this has not been due to 
 a more lavish distribution of out-relief, and certainly not of this 
 to the able-bodied. It has been much more largely due to the 
 increased cost and the increased efficiency of administration. 
 In London it has been especially due to the erection and 
 maintenance of costly and exceedingly well-equipped Poor Law 
 hospitals and dispensaries, as well as other institutions for 
 special classes of paupers. In the country generally it has to a 
 certain extent arisen from the appointment of a larger number 
 of officials Relieving Officers and others and through appoint- 
 ing those who were better equipped for their work, and 
 therefore were rightly paid higher salaries. 
 
 I cannot here deal with the large amount of recent legislation 
 
 1 Aschrott and Preston Thomas, op. cit., p. no. 
 
 2 The Board actually issued certain circulars giving very plain advice to 
 the Guardians e.g., that of January 29, 1895, which spoke of the importance 
 of "those who take upon themselves the office of a Guardian, discharging 
 their duties with a due sense of the responsibility which the position involves."
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 213 
 
 which, though not directly connected with the Poor Law, must 
 inevitably have far-reaching effects upon many who, under other 
 circumstances, would probably have become a charge upon its 
 funds. The laws dealing with Old Age Pensions, with Un- 
 employment Insurance, and with Insurance against Sickness 
 have not yet been long enough in operation for a satisfactory 
 estimate to be formed as to their probable results. They arc, 
 of course, further instalments of that Collectivist legislation 
 of which we have had so much in the recent past, and of which, 
 if one can read aright the signs of the times, we are likely to see 
 still further instalments in the future. What the ultimate effects 
 of this legislation will be, he would be a bold man who would 
 venture to prophesy. Probably it will lie midway between the 
 hopes of those who expect it to produce a kind of social mil- 
 lennium, and the warnings of those who tell us that it will 
 inevitably sap the energy and the power of self-effort for which, 
 they say, Englishmen have been so conspicuous in the past. 
 
 I must now turn to consider what the Church has done for 
 the poor during this period. Certainly she has given ample 
 evidence of a far more intelligent and practical interest in their 
 needs ; also of a far greater sense of responsibility towards im- 
 proving their condition. She has awakened to the fact that no 
 mere attempts to palliate the sufferings of individuals, or of 
 certain classes of individuals, can be regarded as an adequate 
 discharge of her duty towards the poor generally. We find, 
 at any rate among the more intelligent members of the 
 Church, a growing effort to view what is termed the "Social 
 Problem " as a 'whole. There is an increasing conviction of its 
 unity, without any attempt to deny either its complexity 
 or the interdependence of its many parts. Above all, we 
 see a growing belief that it is unwise to attempt to divide life 
 into separate spheres, to which we may apply such terms as 
 "sacred," "secular," "religious," "material," "economic," or 
 " moral." An analysis which has sometimes been pushed to a 
 very extreme limit has proved the necessity, and not only the 
 necessity, but the possibility, of finding also a synthesis, and that
 
 214 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 one not of an artificial, but of a very real, nature. 1 The great 
 majority of thinkers, however differently they may approach the 
 problem, are agreed that the promotion of the welfare of the 
 people, in the widest sense of the term, is the true object of the 
 Church, and that this is an object or a work which demands 
 their best and highest energies. The more carefully they have 
 studied the New Testament, the more surely have they become 
 convinced that nothing which ministers to a true social welfare 
 can be outside the sphere of the activities of the true followers 
 of Christ. 
 
 Among the many influences which have tended to produce 
 this change of both view and conduct, none has been greater 
 than that of Bishop Westcott. In 1883 he became a Canon of 
 Westminster; in 1886 he published the addresses entitled 
 "Disciplined Life," and in 1887 the volume entitled "Social 
 Aspects of Christianity." In 1889 he became, upon its forma- 
 tion in that year, the first president of the Christian Social 
 Union. I lay stress on these dates because a glance at a 
 bibliography of Bishop Westcott's published works will show 
 that before the year 1887 very little that he wrote bore directly 
 upon the social problem, while of what he published after that 
 date the titles fill nearly three pages everything (with the 
 exception of the great commentaries upon " The Epistle to the 
 Hebrews " and " The Epistle to the Ephesians,") has the closest 
 possible reference to it. But though Bishop Westcott did not 
 become a social teacher until he was nearly sixty years of age, 
 he had been a close student of the subject almost all his life. 
 In a letter written in 1848, when the French King lost his 
 throne, are these sentences : " I cannot say that I feel any great 
 indignation at the Parisian mob. They had doubtless great 
 grievances to complain of, and perhaps no obvious remedy but 
 to be gained by force. . . . They are indeed fearful times. 
 There is need of a real Church amid all this confusion." 2 In the 
 
 1 In this we may see a return to the method of the New Testament, 
 where " life " is far more frequently used without a qualifying adjective 
 than with us e.g., St. John x. 10. 
 
 2 " Life of Bishop Westcott," vol. i., p. 101.
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 215 
 
 " Elements of the Gospel Harmony," written three years later, 
 we may trace the beginnings of the teaching afterwards so fully 
 developed in various directions on many occasions. Here we 
 see his ability to take a wide survey of history, and to show the 
 connection of the parts with the whole. For instance, he 
 asserts that " the best conception of life which we can form is 
 that of activity combined with organization, the permanence of 
 the whole reconciled with the change of parts, a power of 
 assimilation and a power of progress." Also he states that 
 " Christianity cannot be separated from the past any more than 
 from the future. . . . The Incarnation as it is seen now is the 
 central point of all history. . . . If we regard all the great issues 
 of life, all past history, so far as it has any permanent significance, 
 appears to be the preparation for that great mystery, and all 
 subsequent history the gradual appropriation of its results." 
 From that time onwards the meaning of the Incarnation seems 
 to have been the central subject of Westcott's study, as, later, 
 the applications or issues of the great doctrine became the basis 
 of all his social teaching. 
 
 Seventeen years later was preached the first of the three 
 "Addresses on the Disciplined Life." 1 Here he showed how 
 we may learn from the spirit of the leaders of the past, but that 
 we must not copy either their methods or the details of their 
 practice. Speaking of the Rule of Benedict of Nursia, he says : 
 " Henceforth the law of social life was to be sought in self- 
 devotion and not in self-indulgence," 2 and finally he asserted 
 that " history teaches us that social evils must be met by social 
 organization. A life of absolute and calculated sacrifice is a 
 spring of immeasurable power." 3 I give these extracts from his 
 earlier works to show how long the Christian solution of the 
 social problem was seething in his mind. 
 
 But it was in the " Social Aspects of Christianity " that he 
 first definitely dealt with the subject. The preface to this book 
 
 1 In Harrow School Chapel, in 1868; reprinted in " Words of Faith and 
 Hope." 
 
 2 P. 9. 3 P. 14.
 
 216 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 should be carefully read, for it is at once autobiographical and 
 prophetic. He confesses what he owes to Comte's " Politique 
 Positive," which he had carefully analyzed twenty years before, 
 and also to Maurice's "Social Morality," of which he writes : 
 " Few books can teach nobler lessons, and I should find it hard 
 to say how much I owe to it, either directly or by suggestion." 
 In 1890 he became Bishop of Durham, and in 1891 he delivered 
 the well-known speech on Socialism at the Church Congress at 
 Hull. 1 In this he states : "The term ' Socialism ' has been dis- 
 credited by its connection with many extravagant and revolution- 
 ary schemes, but it is a term which needs to be claimed for 
 nobler uses. It has no necessary affinity with any forms of 
 violence or class selfishness or financial arrangement. I shall 
 therefore venture to employ it ... as describing a theory of 
 life and not only a theory of economics. In this sense Socialism 
 is the opposite of Individualism. . . . Individualism and Social- 
 ism correspond with opposite views of humanity. Individualism 
 regards humanity as made up of disconnected or warring atoms; 
 Socialism regards it as an organic whole, a vital unity formed by 
 the combination of contributory members mutually indepen- 
 dent." 2 
 
 In the following year the subject of Bishop Westcott's first 
 charge was " The Incarnation a Revelation of Human Duties." 3 
 In this we come to the very heart of his social teaching, and 
 that the doctrine of the Incarnation was its chief inspiration is 
 here made perfectly clear. The following extracts are typical : 
 " The Incarnation of the Word of God becomes to us, as we 
 meditate on the fact, a growing revelation of duties personal, 
 social, national." 4 "We are required to prove our faith in the 
 wider fields of social life." 5 "As this age has been an age of 
 physical science, so the next is likely to be an age of social 
 science." 6 "The Incarnation . . . hallows labour and our 
 scene of labour. It claims the fullest offering of personal ser- 
 vice." 7 " For us each amelioration of man's circumstances is 
 
 1 Reprinted in "The Incarnation and Common Life." 2 P. 225. 
 
 3 Also reprinted in " The Incarnation and Common Life." 
 
 4 P. 43. 5 P. 45. 6 Ibid. 7 P. 47.
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS, 217 
 
 the translation of a fragment of our creed into action, and not 
 the self-shaped effort of a kindly nature." 1 I could quote many 
 more such sayings, but these will be sufficient to show how much 
 we owe to Bishop Westcott in bringing the deepest truths of the 
 Christian creed to bear upon what must be everyday efforts of 
 social duty. 2 
 
 The first official recognition on the part of the Church of 
 England of the importance and urgency of the social problem 
 occurred, I believe, at the Lambeth Conference of 1888, when 
 the Conference asked that "some knowledge of Economic 
 Science should be required of Candidates for Holy Orders," 
 and when Archbishop Benson, in the Encyclical Letter, stated 
 that " no more important problems can well occupy the atten- 
 tion whether of clergy or laity than such as are connected 
 with what is popularly called Socialism." The subject occupied 
 a much more prominent position at the following Lambeth 
 Conference in 1897, when it was dealt with by a special com- 
 mittee, which published upon it a lengthy report. In 1903 a 
 Committee of Convocation was appointed to consider the same 
 subject. The result of its deliberations was an excellent report 
 entitled, " The Moral Witness of the Church in regard to 
 Economic Questions." At the Pan- Anglican Congress of 1908, 
 the section which dealt with " The Church and Human Society" 
 evoked the widest possible interest. At the third Lambeth 
 Conference, which immediately followed the Congress, the 
 social question was again regarded as probably the most 
 important of all the questions debated. Two of the six resolu- 
 tions passed upon the subject must be remembered : No. 45 
 runs, " The social mission and social principles of Christianity 
 should be given a more prominent place in the study and 
 teaching of the Church, both for the clergy and the laity." 
 No. 47 states that, "A committee or organization for social 
 
 1 "The Incarnation a Revelation of Human Duties," p. 49. 
 
 2 There is an admirable appreciation of Bishop Westcott's social teaching 
 and work in Bishop Talbot's " Some Aspects of Christian Truth," pp. 303 
 ft seq.
 
 3i8 THE CHURCH, THE STATE, AND THE POOR 
 
 service should be part of the equipment of every diocese, and, 
 as far as practicable, of every parish." 1 
 
 Of recent years much excellent work has been done by 
 various voluntary societies which have not only attacked the 
 social problem as a whole, but also certain definite problems, 
 more or less closely connected with poverty, from a definitely 
 Christian point of view. The earliest of these societies, the 
 Guild of St. Matthew, was founded by Mr. Stewart Headlam 
 in 1877 ; but possibly from its extreme socialistic, and still more 
 extreme High Church, views, it has never had a very numerous 
 membership. By far the most important of these societies, and 
 the one which has exerted the strongest influence upon social 
 reform, by exposing social abuses and urging the amelioration 
 of social conditions, is the Christian Social Union. It has been 
 fortunate in enlisting among its officers men of exceptional 
 influence, and who consequently have been able to claim not 
 only a wide hearing among the more thoughtful members of the 
 community generally, but a careful attention from those in a 
 position of high authority in the State. Its three presidents 
 have been Bishop Westcott, Dr. Gore (the present Bishop of 
 Oxford), and Dr. Kempthorne (now Bishop of Lichfield), while 
 Canon Scott Holland has from the first been the chief influence 
 on its executive committee, and indeed the main driving force 
 of the society. It has published an extensive literature dealing 
 with almost every detail of the social problem in all its many 
 branches. Perhaps the strongest proof of its influence lies in 
 the fact that it has formed the model for all the various societies 
 established by other Christian " Churches " to work upon similar 
 lines towards the attainment of the same objects. 
 
 As the Christian social worker looks back over the last 
 hundred and fifty indeed, over the last fifty years, and then 
 considers the immense improvement in public opinion which 
 has taken place in reference to the problems of poverty during 
 
 1 The Reports of the Lambeth Conferences and the pamphlet on " The 
 Moral Witness of the Church " are published by the S.P.C.K.
 
 THE LAST FIFTY YEARS 219 
 
 this time, he may indeed thank God and take courage. But if 
 he is truly thankful that this public opinion is very different now 
 from what it was even half a century ago, he is not therefore 
 blind to still existing evils. He knows how much there is to 
 be accomplished before all have even that "equality of oppor- 
 tunity " which, surely, should be their right. But the Christian 
 social reformer can certainly now feel that at the present time 
 " organized Christianity " is making its voice heard and its 
 influence felt as never before. That this is chiefly due to a 
 more intelligent perception of the meaning of the Christian 
 Creed, and to a more practical application of its principles, there 
 can be no doubt. The hope of a further improvement in the 
 welfare of the poor lies in the true meaning of Christianity being 
 still more fully understood and the responsibilities which a pro- 
 fession of Christianity should involve being more efficiently 
 discharged.
 
 ADDITIONAL NOTE (p. 40). 
 TITHES AND THE POOR. 
 
 UPON the question of the partition of the tithe in England there is consider- 
 able diversity of opinion, even among those who have studied the subject 
 carefully. It must be admitted that the authority for the so-called " Canones 
 JElfrici" is somewhat uncertain. Actually two questions are involved: 
 First, this particular authority ; secondly, even apart from it, how far some 
 portion of the tithe was regarded in England in the early Middle Ages as 
 the heritage of the poor. Both questions are too large for full discussion 
 here. I am quite prepared to admit that Lord Selborne has adduced 
 sufficient evidence to show that these " Canones JElfrici " must be received 
 at least with caution. At the same time I do not think that the second 
 question would then necessarily be answered in the negative. Hatch (in 
 "The Growth of Church Institutions," pp. 114, 115) writes: "It would be 
 improbable, even if no positive evidence on the point existed, that our own 
 country, which followed closely in most other respects the movements and 
 practices of the Churches of the Continent, should have differed from them 
 in respect of the apportionment of tithes. But the positive evidence is clear. 
 The authority of the enactments may be disputable, but they are at least 
 witnesses to a current belief or tendency ; and it can hardly be denied that 
 whatever evidence exists in our own country for the payment of tithes at all 
 in pre-Norman times exists also for their appropriation, not to the clergy 
 only, but also to the poor." To this I would add the following from 
 Ratzinger, " Armenpflege," p. 266 : " Ich bin der Ansicht, dass die karo- 
 lingische Gesetzgebung allerdings schon unter Egbert oder bald nach ihm 
 durch Alcuin oder andere in Frankenreiche ansassige Briten in England 
 Eingang gefunden habe und beobachtet wurde. Wenigstens findet sich im 
 neunten und zehnten Jahrhundert das karolingische System der Armenpflege 
 auch in England durchgefiihrt." 
 
 Some of my readers will remember Dante, Par. xii. 93, where there 
 occur the words " decimas quae sunt pauperum Dei " ; also St. Thomas, ii. 2, 
 Q. 87, A. 3 : " In nova lege decimae dantur clericis, non solum propter sui 
 sustentationem, sed etiam ut ex eis subvenient pauperibus." 
 
 220
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABBEY and Overton, 125, 142, 145 /. 
 
 Abbot, Archbishop, 114 
 
 Aelfrici, Canones, 40 
 
 Althorp, Lord, 178 
 
 Ambrose, 47 
 
 Ananias and Sapphira, 8 
 
 Annona Civica, 32, 44 
 
 Apprentices, parish, 113, 126 
 
 Aquinas, Thomas, 61 
 
 Arkwright, 140 
 
 Arnold, Dr., 147, 190 
 
 Aschrott and Preston Thomas, saepe 
 
 Assessment, compulsory, 95, 104 
 
 Assessment, voluntary, 95^1 
 
 Athelstan, King, 40 
 
 Atonement, the, 152 
 
 Augustine of Hippo, 46^, 59 
 
 Augustine, the monk, 39 
 
 Balleine, 
 
 Basil, Saint, 53, 557. 
 
 Beard, Charles, 80 / 
 
 Begging, 94^, ioi/., 104 
 
 Belisarius, 53 
 
 Benedict of Nursia, 26, 56, 215 
 
 Benson, Archbishop, 46/., 217 
 
 Bentham and Benthamism, 144, 177 
 
 Bernard, St., 59 
 
 Bethlehem (hospital), 97 
 
 Black Death, 647., 68, 70 
 
 Blackie, W. G., 209 
 
 Bridewell, 97 
 
 Bridgevvater Canal, 140 
 
 Bright, John, 202 
 
 Bright, Professor, 39 
 
 Brougham, Lord, 202 
 
 Burke, i43/. 
 
 Butler, Bishop, 143 
 
 Buxton, T. F., 155 
 
 Calvin, 79^. *7 ff-* 155, 200 
 
 "Cambridge Modern History," 76 ff. 
 
 Capitalism, J7 ff. 
 
 Cartwright, 140 
 
 Castlereagh, Lord, 165 
 
 Cellarius, the, 26 
 
 Chalmers, 169, 171^ 
 
 Charity Organization Society, 209 
 
 Charity schools, 128 
 
 Charity, theory of, 46 /., 91 / 
 
 Charlemagne, 34/., 39 
 
 Chartism, 202 
 
 Cholesbury, 175 
 
 Christ, the teaching of, 5/. 
 
 Christian Social Movement, 196 
 
 Christian Social Union, the, 218 
 
 " Christian Socialist, The," 195 
 
 Christian Socialists, the, 186, 190^, 2oi/ 
 
 Chrysostom, Saint, 44, 47, 53 
 
 Church, Dean, 32 /. 
 
 Church, the Early, 12. 
 
 Coke (of Holkam), 141 
 
 Collections in church, 
 
 Coloni, 33 
 
 Combination, against, 130, 132, 157, 161, 
 
 1 66 
 
 Constantine the Great, 23 
 Convocation, 133, 136, 145 
 C opiates, 54 
 Cornish, F. W., 153 
 Crompton, 140 
 
 Cunningham, Archdeacon, 64, 72, 74 
 Cyprian, 17, 46 
 
 Dale, R. W., 125 
 
 Deacons, the Seven, 7 
 
 Debt, the National. 159 
 
 Decretal of Gratian, 58 
 
 Deists, the, 142 
 
 Dicey, A. V., 147, 149, 165^, 177, 2O2/, 
 
 207 
 
 Dickens, 201 
 Didache, the, i6/! 44 
 Dobschiitz, 16, 22 
 Dudden, 27^ 
 
 Early Church, poverty in the, 21 
 Egbert, King, 40 
 Enclosures, 66 
 Engels, i75/ 200 
 Epiphanius, 53 
 Eucharist, the Sunday, 14 
 Eusebius, 15, 18, 19 
 Evangelical Movement, the, 
 Exodus to the towns, 71 
 
 Fabiola, 53 
 
 Factory Acts, 165 /., 170 
 Fairbairn, A. M., 87 ff. 
 False Decretals, 58 
 Feudalism. 33, 37, 57 
 Fletcher (of Madeley), 153 
 
 221
 
 222 
 
 INDEX 
 
 " Forties, the Hungry," 190 
 Foundling Hospital, 134 
 Fowle, T. W., 180, 184 
 Francis of Assisi, $9 ft 
 Friars, 64, 66 f. 
 
 Geneva, 88^ 
 
 "Gilbert's" Act, no, I56/., 159, 163 
 
 Gladstone, 202 
 
 Gore, Bishop, 4/., 218 
 
 Goschen, 208^. 
 
 Green, J. R., 64 
 
 Gregory the Great, 27^, 39, 44/, 48 
 
 Grey, Lord, 177 
 
 Grimshaw, 153 
 
 Grindal, Archbishop, 116 
 
 Guilds, trade, 74 
 
 Hale, Sir Matthew, I2O/ 
 
 Hallam, 112, 146 
 
 Hargreaves, 140 
 
 Harnack, 12 ff., $off. 
 
 Hatch, 33 
 
 Headlam, Stewart, 218 
 
 Hertz, 147, 201 
 
 Hobbes, 143 
 
 Hobhouse, Canon, 23 
 
 Holland, Canon Scott, 218 
 
 Hospitals, $3ft, 73 f; 96ft, II7/. 
 
 Hughes, Thomas, 197 
 
 Hume, 143 f. 
 
 Incarnation, the, 2, 152, 215 
 Innes, 77 
 
 James, Epistle of, 10 
 
 Jenks, 168 
 
 John the Deacon, 30 
 
 Jones (of Creaton), 154 
 
 Judaism, 42 
 
 Julian, the Emperor, 14, 53 
 
 Jusserand, 73 
 
 Kaufmann, 190, 197 
 
 Kay, 140 
 
 Kempthorne, Bishop, 218 
 
 Kingsley, Charles, 190, 194, 197, 206 
 
 Laissez-faire, 139, 147, 164, 174^ 
 
 207 
 
 Lambeth Conferences, 217 
 Lancashire Cotton Famine, 204 f. 
 Latimer, Bishop, 82 
 Laud, Archbishop, 114 
 Leo the Great, 44 
 Leonard, 74^, 82, 96 ft, no, 113 
 Lindsay, T. M., 84^ 
 Lingard, 41 
 
 Loch, 26, 32^, 44, 50^, 6l 
 Locke, 143 
 Lucian, 13, 
 Ludlow, 195, 197 
 Luther, 79^ 
 Lutheranism, 86 f. 
 
 Mackay, 181, 187^!, 204 
 
 McCullock, 158 
 
 Maintz, Council of, 38 
 
 "Majority" Report, 185 
 
 Mansion House Fund, 210 
 
 Masterman, C. F. G., 190 
 
 Maurice, 3, i43/> 17*. I9ft, 206, 216 
 
 Melancthon, 86 
 
 Mendicancy, 76ft, 106 
 
 Meredith, 6$ ft, 161 
 
 Milman, 37, 58 
 
 Milner, Joseph, 154 
 
 " Minority" Report, 18, 189, 210 
 
 Moffatt, Professor, 42 
 
 Monasteries, 25, 55J, 73, 92, 96 
 
 Monasticism, $if. 
 
 Miinzer, 85 
 
 Neale, Vansittart, 197 
 
 Newton, John, i$3f. 
 
 New Testament, the, 5 ff. 
 
 New World, discovery of the, 77 f. 
 
 Nicholls, Sir George, saepe 
 
 Nolan, 177 
 
 Oastler, 201 
 O'Connell, 202 
 Orders in Council, 112 
 Origen, 46 
 Overton, 128 
 Owen, Robert, 169 ft 
 Owenites, 191 
 
 Paley, 144 
 
 Pammachius, 53 
 
 Pan- Anglican Congress, 217 
 
 Papacy, the, 72, 77 
 
 Parabolani, 54 
 
 "Parson Lot," 186 
 
 Paul, St., 8 
 
 Pauperes Chris ti, 57 
 
 Peasants' Revolt (in England), 65, 69 
 
 Peasants' War (in Germany), 84^ 
 
 Peter of Clugny, 58 
 
 Peter, St., 1st Epistle of, 10 
 
 " Politics for the People," 195 
 
 Pollard, Professor, 80 
 
 Poor, " impotent," 70 
 
 Poor Law Conferences, 209 
 
 Poor Rate, amount of, 138, 187, 21 1 
 
 Population, I37/ 
 
 Portus (Oporto), 53 
 
 Price of Corn, 103, 117, 134, 149, 160, 186 
 
 Privy Council, 112 
 
 Prophets, the Hebrew, 4 
 
 Propitiation, 43 
 
 Purgatory, 48 
 
 Ratzinger, saepe 
 Reform Act, 146, 177, 203 
 Reformation, the, 76 ff. 
 Relief, municipal, 74 
 Religion and Relief, igf. 
 Ricardo, 148
 
 INDEX 
 
 223 
 
 Ridley, Bishop, 82, 97 / 
 Riot Act, 130 
 Rogers, Thorold, 66, 137 
 Romaine, 153 
 Ruskin, 191, 198 ^f 
 Russell, Lord John, 190 
 
 Sabatier, Paul, 59 
 
 Sadler, Michael, 201 
 
 Salvian, 49 
 
 Savery, 140 
 
 Savings Banks, 174 
 
 Scarlett, 177 
 
 Serfdom, 62, 66 
 
 Servetus, 88 
 
 Settlement, Law of, 68/, H9/., 122, 204 
 
 Shaftesbury, Earl of, 155, 201 f. 
 
 Smith, Adam, 148 
 
 Socialism, i6g/, 195, 198, 203, 212, 216 
 
 Socialism (German), 86 
 
 Socialistic legislation, 170, 202 
 
 Sociology, 89 
 
 Southey, 201 f. 
 
 Southwell, 178 
 
 Speenhamland Act, 158, 163 
 
 Sportula, 32 
 
 Statute of Labourers, 63 /, 67 /, 161 
 
 Statute of Merton, 66 
 
 Storr, Canon, 192 
 
 Symmachus, 53 
 
 Syncretism, 42 
 
 Talbot, Bishop, 217 
 Talmud, 43 
 
 Theodore, Archbishop, 40 
 Thomas Aquinas, 61 
 Thornton, Henry and John, 154 
 Tithe, 33 /, 38, 4 
 
 Towns, growth and decay of, 66 f. 
 Toynbee, 141, 147 j 
 Trade (per head), 138, 174 
 Trench, 63, 193 
 Trevelyan, 65, 69 
 Trinitarian Controversy, 142 
 Trinity, the Holy, 2, 9, 192 
 Truck, 126 
 
 Uhlhorn, 21, 
 Unemployment, i6/. 
 Utilitarians, 144 
 
 Vagabondage, 6g/, 99, 1 1 1 
 Vagrancy, 16^, 967., ioi/, 135 
 Venn, 153 
 
 Verdun, Treaty of, 36 
 Villeinage, 69 ff. 
 
 Wages, 68, 71, 104 / 
 
 Walker, Samuel, 153 
 
 Walpole, 125, 136, 145 
 
 Warner and Marten, 133 
 
 Watt, James, 140 
 
 Wat Tyler, 69 
 
 Webb, Mrs., 169^, 197 /. 
 
 Wesley, 128, 150^, 163 
 
 Westcott, Bishop, 3, 60, 169, 191, 201, 
 
 205, 2I4/ 
 
 Whitfield, I53/ 
 Whitgift, Archbishop, 116 
 Wilberforce, William, 151, 154 
 Work, Right to, 17 
 Workman, Dr., 59, 62, 72 
 Wycliffe, 69 
 
 Xenodochia, 29,
 
 INDEX OF BIBLICAL REFERENCES 
 
 Ps xvii. 1 5 
 
 4^ 
 
 Acts xvi. 19 f. 
 xix. 26 ff. 
 
 ,, xx. 28 ... 
 
 Prov. xv. 2.7 ... ... 
 
 47 
 
 xvi. 6 .. 
 
 47 
 
 Sirach iii. 30 
 xxix. 9-11 
 Tobit xii. 9 ... 
 
 ... 43. 47 
 43 
 43 
 
 ,, xxiv. 17 
 
 xii. 13 
 ,, xii., xiii. 
 i Cor. iii. 11 
 
 ix. Iff- 
 Eph. iv. 28 
 
 Matt. vi. 2-4 
 x 8 
 
 43 
 e 
 
 xiii. 20 
 xxiii. %/: 
 Luke vi. 20 
 
 6 
 13 
 
 5 
 
 i Thess. iv. n 
 2 Thess. iii. 8, n 
 2 Thess. i. 6, 12 
 2 Thess. iii. 10, 13 
 
 viii. 12 
 xv. 14 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 q 
 
 v. i8/ 
 Heb. x. 32^ 
 
 
 .. 5. 214 
 
 xiii. 34 
 xiii. 35 
 
 ... 13, 14 
 IO 
 
 7 
 
 I Pet ii. 9 ... ... 
 
 
 vi. 9.7 f. 
 
 1C 
 
 Tude 12 
 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 IS 
 
 9 
 
 48 
 
 15 
 55 
 55 
 55 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 12 
 
 15 
 
 18 
 
 15 
 10 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 Robert Scott, Roxburgh* Hottse. Paternoster Row, London, E.G.
 
 HV 
 
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