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our Inns of "The Three Kings" took their origin.

These, therefore, appear to have been originally Religious establishments, connected with benevolent purposes,—and by the grace of Royal favour, their foundations were renewed for similar benefits, notwithstanding the Statutes of Dissolu

tion.

And, although no trust deeds are found relating to various Town lands, the rents and profits of which had been time out of mind employed to the benefit and relief of the Poor,-yet, it may be collected from the decree of the The Commissioners of Charitable uses, that part of them at least had been applied for the benefit and relief of the Poor, before the general provision for the Poor was made by the Statute of the 43d of ELIZABETH, 1601..

Thus it will be seen that, on the Dissolution of Monasteries, eleemosynary establishments were either newly constituted or old ones were permitted to remain,

which received substitutionary grants from the Crown,—and at the present time, the two Royal Hospitals in Glastonbury are entitled to certain allowances, which they now receive from the Treasury. Many Grammar schools are likewise entitled to small annual payments from the Crown revenues.21

21 Rep. XI. p. 405.

INVESTIGATIONS INSTITUTED BY

PARLIAMENT, RELATIVE TO

CHARITABLE DONATIONS.

THE first ACT of CHARITABLE USES, which was a temporary one, passed in the 39th year of Queen ELIZABETH, at the time when the state of the Poor was attracting the notice of Parliament. The well known Act of the 43d of Her Majesty's reign, which followed, was passed in the same year with the celebrated Poor LAW, and stands next but one to it in the Statute Book.

The first Act of the Legislature which occurs in later times, relative to CHARITABLE DONATIONS for the benefit of Poor PERSONS, is one which was passed in the Twenty-sixth year of His late Majesty GEORGE the Third, 1786, requiring Answers to be made to certain Questions by the Ministers and Churchwardens of the

several Parishes and Townships in England and Wales, and the Preamble recites the expedience of inquiring into Charitable Donations, at the time when "the Legislature are directing inquiries ❝ into the state and condition of the Poor."

In pursuance of this Act, The Committee who were appointed to inspect and consider the Returns so made,—and to report, from time to time, their Observations thereon to The House of Commons, and how far the Directions of the Act had, or had not, been complied with,on the 10th of June, 1788, informed The House,

That it appeared by a former Report, made under this Act, on the 23d of May, 1787, pursuant to an Order of The House, that out of nearly 13,000 Parishes and Townships in England and Wales (from which, Returns of Charitable Donations had been required) there were only Fourteen Parishes, which had made no such Returns ;

That The Committee who made that Report, after arranging the Returns which had been so made under the heads of the several Counties and Parishes to which they belonged, directed an Abstract to be made thereof with the utmost care and expedition, but finding,

upon inspection of the Abstract, that a great number of the Parishes and Townships had made defective Returns,-some, by not naming the Persons who gave the Charities, others, by not naming the Trustees,others, by not describing whether the Donations were in Land or Money,—and others, by not describing the produce of the Money, Lands, or Rent-charges so given,- The Committee directed their Chairman to write Circular Letters to the Ministers and Churchwardens of all the Parishes and Townships wherein such omissions appeared, requiring them to send more perfect Returns ;

That there were about 4,065 of those Circular Letters sent into different parts of the Kingdom

That Answers had since been received from about 3,376 of them, many of which had given the explanation required, and many others had stated, that they could give no further information ;

That The Committee, in order to lay before The House all the information which they had so procured, had caused the matter contained in those SUPPLEMENTARY RETURNS to be inserted in the ABSTRACT, with Red Ink, that the House might distinguish what was acquired under the original Returns, and what since, in consequence of those Letters,-And that The House might be enabled to form an idea of the magnitude of this object, The Committee caused the produce of the Charities, in Land and Money respectively, as far as the same could be collected from the Returns, to be cast up in each County, the particulars whereof were

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