of the cottage-holders attended. And well and truly do they deserve the richest thanks of all their posterity, for this noble act of just and laudable independence: for thereby the whole of the said cottage property soon became their freehold, (excepting one cottage, of which it is said, that it did afterwards comply). And if any thing tends hereafter to raise this place into any measure of respectability and importance, surely this act must have no small share therein: so complete was the failure, that it never afterwards was attempted. It would not do, you know, to proceed to forcible measures with such "Barbarians." Solemn truths should sometimes be spoken, and I must not refrain on this occasion. If I thought that a voice from Warminster Common could be heard at a distance, I would humbly say to the great and noble, if all of them knew what I know, nobility and their stewards would not probably be so anxious to "take tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin," of their inferiors, as some of them are said to be. I have known four generations of the illustrious family referred to! Shortly after" Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust," had been read over the vault of his late lordship (whose sun went down ere noon), I had occasion to walk through a part of his splendid domain, and I shall never forget the deep solemnity which I felt, when I recollected what awful events I had there witnessed ! What important changes about fifty years had produced! Stewards, bailiffs, officers, servants, all gone. Inexorable death, with a grim frown, sternly said, or seemed to say to me," What doest thou here, vain mortal? This is my undisputed empire: here I reign absolute : What is nobility or even royalty to me?" Every tree, every animal, every object, wore a gloomy aspect, hanging down its weeping head, mournfully and distressingly saying " These have no master." Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! And such a spiritual death, such a perfect crucifixion to the world, did these reflections produce in me, that it seemed I would not accept all I saw around me as a gift. Deeply feeling also my own unquestioned frailty, my humbled soul, responsive, endeavoured, however feebly, I trust, to look upward, and to lay more firmly hold than ever on the blessed hope set before me in the everlasting Gospel: That sure foundationThat life eternal. Adoring the only Lord of the Manor now found here. Creator of heaven and earth! Great arbiter of life and death! "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour; The paths of glory lead but to the grave" 66 A little pomp, a little sway, A sunbeam in a winter's day, Is all the great and mighty have, Who was the originator of the scheme alluded to, I cannot tell; I was only a boy when I followed the then Marquess to his grave. Certainly it was not Mr. -, for a more kind, virtuous, and humane man, never breathed the vital air. Truly was he found a faithful and wise steward: high and low, rich and poor, loved him: full well do I know him to have been a father to the fatherless, a husband to the widow; "and when the eye saw him it blessed him.” (My personal acquaintance with, and great obligations to him, must be allowed to excuse this grateful tribute, if it should appear profuse.) He was universally known as one of the most conclusive arbitrators in the kingdom: and what a peace-maker!-strife and contention ceased the moment that he interfered. I presume that titles, wealth, and power, securely rest, under such wise and mild superintendence and nobility, when associated with such stewardships, must always be respected and honored. It is meet therefore that his memorial should not perish with him: "The sweet remembrance of the just, : Oh what language can describe the terrible shock felt throughout this county, on that melancholy day when the death of MR. T. D., of Horningsham, was so unexpectedly announced! The following document, which is still preserved, will give some information as to the state of parochial affairs in Warminster, in and about the year 1785: "WE whose Names are hereunto subscribed, being a "Committee appointed by the Vestry at the last general "Easter Meeting, to examine the Accounts of Mr. John "Daniel, the acting Overseer of the Poor of this Parish, "and to consider whether any and what addition should "be made to his Salary; Do certify that we have duly "examined the Parish Accounts since the appointment of "the said John Daniel to the said office, that is to say, "for the years 1783-1784-and 1785, and have compared the same with the Accounts of the Nine Years immediately preceding, during which nine years the "business was managed by the four Overseers, and find "the comparison to stand as follows, viz. 66 66 } "Average of the Expenditure for 1138 17 Oper ann. "9 years, from 1774 to 1782. "Average of 3 years, 1783-1784 "and 1785,including all Debts "due from the Parish at Easter "last ... "Decrease the last 3 years 1098 5 6 40 11 6 per ann. "N.B.-The Expense of the last Three Years has been considerably increased by the late severe winters, as "also by the Increase in the County Rates, and other "unavoidable expenses during those three years. "We are of opinion that the appointment of the said "John Daniel to be acting Overseer, has certainly been very advantageous to the Parish, and that it will be "highly necessary that all the Certificates, Bonds, In"dentures, Orders and other Papers, belonging to the "Parish should be properly arranged and methodized, and "fair entries thereof made, by the said John Daniel, in a “Book for the use of the Parish; and that a great saving "might be made to the Parish, if the Poor, not in the "Workhouse, were paid more frequently, in many cases, "at their own houses: that in consideration of the said "John Daniel's undertaking to do the same, an addition "of Ten Pounds should be made to his Salary for the present year, commencing at Easter last. 66 66 66 66 Upon an examination of the Parish Accounts, it appearing clearly to us that the Maintenance of the "several Poor Persons in the Workhouse, costs the Parish (over and above their labours) upwards of 2s. a week per head; whereas those who receive constant pay out "of the Workhouse are relieved for less than 1s. a week "each,- We recommend to the Parish that, it would be "much for their interest to keep as few Persons in the "Workhouse as possible; and to put none there that can "properly be relieved at their own houses, or boarded 66 at the houses of others. "P. WARREN "THOS. DAVIS." For the Year 1789 the Parish Expenditures were £793 : 13 : 2. For the Year 1791, £ 1018: 45. In 1779 An Act of Parliament was obtained for enclosing all the waste lands of this parish: it was about four years that the work was in progress. The Award was signed by the Commissioners, 22nd Nov. 1783. Houses. Inhabitants. Population of the Common in 1781 200 Common 1015 4209 By the enclosure of the waste lands, the poor, of course, lost all their privileges of digging and cutting fuel, selling furze, and also of feeding cattle thereon, excepting the small portions left by the Enclosure Commissioners for their use, at the sides of the different highways and by-ways of the parish. At this time the subject of cottage tenure was again agitated, but no hostile measures adopted. May we not here ask the question, in reference to this transaction, whether those numerous poor persons, who, with their ancestors, had always enjoyed a free and unquestioned right to the use of the said Common, and who had domiciled themselves thereon with that understanding had not morally, if not legally, an equal right to have their respective allotments set-out in perpetuity, as much as all other landed proprietors had? I ask, have the poor no rights to be held sacred? And was this mode of disinheriting them, without the power of appealing, at all likely to make them peaceable and virtuous? I contend also, that had there been an allotment of, say, thirty poles of land to each cottage, reckoning two hundred cottages, it would have amounted to thirty-seven-and-a-half acres; (an insignificant consideration when divided amongst all the proprietors, but of immense benefit to the the numerous poor cottagers). In all probability very few, if any of them, would have hereafter ever become parish paupers a laudable spirit of independence would have been sustained, and the rate-payers eased of their now enormous expenses. It would have been easy enough to have secured the said allotments in perpetuity, as appendages to the cottages, by a clause inserted in the said Act to that effect. Is it any wonder, that under such circumstances, the poor Commoners should feel themselves a despised and degraded people without power or patronage, and act accordingly. The Scriptures say it is dangerous to invade the rights of the poor; you who doubt this truth, should read JER. xxii. 13-19, and elsewhere, -And be wise. |