[Footnote 1: The poor of England till the time of Henry VIII. subsisted as the poor of Ireland until 1838 entirely upon private benevolence. Judge Blackstone observes that till the Statute 26, Henry VIII. cap. 26, he finds no compulsory method for providing for the poor, but upon the total dissolution of the Monasteries, abundance of Statutes were made in the reign of King Henry VIII., Edward VI. and Elizabeth which at last established the Poor's Rate, a legal assessment for the support of the poor. Before the Reformation immense sums of money were appropriated for charitable purposes, and notwithstanding many abuses the religious order of those days never so far lost sight of this original institution as ever to neglect the poor. The famous Statute of the 43rd of Elizabeth, 1601, by which Overseers were appointed for Parishes is the basis of all the poor laws in England. By Statute 23, Edward III., 1342, it was enacted that none should give alms to a beggar able to work. An Act was passed 1531, empowering Justices to grant licenses to poor and impotent persons to beg within certain limits of territory. By the Common Law, the poor were to be sustained by "parsons, rectors of the church and parishioners so that none should die for default of sustenance," and by 15 Richard II. impropriators were obliged to distribute a yearly sum to the poor. An act of 1601 directed that every parish shall provide for its own poor by an assessment to be levied by the Justices in General Sessions and embodied regulations as to how assessment should be made and applied. In 1782 Workhouse Unions were introduced by an Act called Gilbert's Act. The Act of 1834 among other changes established the system of Poor Law Unions. In Scotland the poor were really maintained by the private Alms of individuals and by certain funds under the management of the _Kirk Session_, which when regularly constituted consisted of the Minister, Elders, Session Clerk and Kirk Treasurer. The Presbytery was by law appointed Auditor of the Poor's Accounts of the several parishes. In the event of any difficult case arising in the discharge of this duty the Presbytery could lay it before the Synod for advice. "Scotland and Ireland have been legislated for separately, their poor laws are similar to the English in principle and practice; both are administered by a Central Board, which supervises the local bodies charged with relief, and in both the rate is levied on the annual value of real property. The present system in Scotland was instituted by the 8th and 9th Vic. c. 83 (1845). Scotland is divided into 883 parishes, some of them combined for Workhouse accommodation. The relief is administered by a parochial board, appointed by ratepayers, the Burgh Magistrate and the Kirk Session. They appoint Inspectors of the poor who act as relieving officers. The Scotch law differs from the English and Irish in allowing no relief to able bodied adults."]