years later comes the significant entry, "Phebe Hains and child"; after that the name appears continuously upon the books till 1832, when we take leave of poor Phebe Hains, still in the receipt of a monthly payment of 10s. "Melliar Helliar" is on the books in 1786, and still in 1815, and there are many cases of the sort. The same names go on from month to month, and from year to year, till we come to the last phase: "A. B. paid for coffin and shroud, digging grave and bell." Of the "unemployed" we read again and again: "A. B. work upon the roads"; "C. D., no work, 2s.; ditto a sheet." Of tramps, memoranda such as "poor woman in distress with four children," "seamen in distress," "poor man with a pass"; and 6d. is the usual maximum of relief given.
There were two poorhouses in the parish, and numerous entries in respect to them for "thatching," mending windows (possibly broken by discontented inmates). £19, 10s. 6d. is paid to the principal landlord half-yearly "as usual" for cottages occupied by paupers, and a considerable amount to other owners for the same purpose.
To sum up, then, the expenditure upon poor relief had risen in forty-five years from £200 a year to ^995, and was still rising. The monthly list of allowances and extraordinaries had grown from 60 to 127. Such were the conditions up to the passing of the new Poor Law. Relief was given for babies and children and for the sick; work and relief were given to the able-bodied; a system of practically universal pensions was in force for the aged.
And now we may compare these conditions with those of the present day. There has been little alteration in the external conditions of the village, except that the population has, like that of most rural villages, declined by about 25 per cent. The
