1689. 1 William cap. 1. CHAPTER VIII A.D. 1688-1702 William and Mary-Convention Parliament-Repeal of the hearth-tax- THE first Act of the Convention Parliament (1 William and Mary, and Mary, cap. 1),'was passed "For preventing all Doubts and Scruples which may arise concerning the Meeting, Sitting, and Proceeding of this present Parliament." It enacts that the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, there sitting on the 13th of February, are the two Houses of Parliament, and so shall be adjudged, notwithstanding any want of writs of summons, or other defect of form: "and that this, and all other Acts, shall be taken and adjudged in law to begin and commence upon the said 13th of February, on which day their Majesties, at the request and by the advice 1 The Convention Parliament assembled on the 22nd January 1689, but in the Statutes of the Realm all the Acts are headed as being passed in 1688, the year then ending in March, as it continued to do until the reformation of the style in 1751. of the lords and commons, did accept the crown and royal dignity of king and queen of England." The collection of the tax imposed by 14 Charles II. cap. 10, of 2s. annually for every fire-hearth and stove, commonly called "hearth-money," was much complained of, and in proof of the new government's readiness to attend to the people's wishes, the tax was abolished by 1 William and Mary, cap. 10, which declares, "that the said tax cannot be so regulated but that it will occasion many difficulties and questions, and that it is in itself not only a great oppression to the poorer sort but a badge of slavery upon the whole people, exposing every man's house to be entered into and searched at, pleasure by persons unknown to him." 1689. 1 William and Mary, cap. 10. 1689. 1 William and Mary, Bounty on The 1 William and Mary, cap. 12, is entitled "An Act for encouraging the Exportation of Corn." It declares that the exportation of corn, when the price is cap. 12. low in this kingdom, "hath been found by experience the exporta great advantage, not only to the owners of land, but ation of to the trade of this kingdom in general"; and it then enacts, that when the prices of grain shall not severally exceed -every merchant or other person exporting the same VOL. I.-21 corn. James, with a French force, lands 1689. . 1 William сар. 13. and might be followed by proportionally higher prices England and Scotland were now in quiet subjection to William's government, but in Ireland the Roman in Ireland. Catholics, headed by Tyrconnel, declared for James, who with a French force joined his Irish adherents. Parliament was not unmindful of what was passing in and Mary, that country, and by 1 William and Mary, cap. 13, granted a poll-tax of 10s. on every £100 of income, A poll-tax. towards reducing Ireland to subjection, declaring at the same time, that they were highly sensible of the deplorable condition of the king's protestant subjects there, occasioned by the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrconnel and his adherents. War was also, on an address from the Commons, declared against France. 1690. A new In March 1690 a new parliament is assembled, to parliament whom William declared his intention of proceeding to assembled. Ireland. He had already sent thither a considerable force, and on the 14th of June he landed at Belfast, Battle of and was speedily joined by volunteers from all parts of the country. James retired southwards behind the Limerick. Boyne, which William crossed on the 1st of July, and 1690. the Boyne, and sur render of defeated his opponents, heading the attack himself. James quitted the field shortly after the action commenced, and fled first to Dublin, and then to France. But it was not until October in the following year that the Irish war was brought to a close, by the surrender of Limerick. 1691. and Mary, For en view_cap. 3. crops, couraging com- of hemp the growth The 3 William and Mary, cap. 3, entitled "An Act for the better ascertaining the Tithes of Hemp and 3 Willam Flax," is deserving of notice, as showing the taken by parliament of the value of these especially in affording employment. The Act mences by reciting, that "the sowing of hemp and and flax. flax is exceeding beneficial to England, by reason of the multitude of people that are and would be employed in the manufacturing of those two materials, and therefore do justly deserve great encouragement. And "whereas the manner of tithing hemp and flax is exceeding difficult, creating thereby grievous chargeable and vexatious suits between parsons, vicars, impropriators, and their parishioners "-It is enacted, that four shillings per acre shall in future be paid for tithe of flax or hemp, the same to be recoverable as other tithes in case of non-payment by the grower. We may remark that this declaration of the importance of growing hemp and flax is in accordance with the views of the best informed agriculturists of the present day. 1691. 3 William On settle It again became necessary to revise the law of settlement, and important additions were made to it and Mary, by 3 William and Mary, cap. 11, which declares cap. 11. that 14 Charles II. cap. 12, and 1 James II. cap. ment. 17,1 "have been found by experience to be good and wholesome laws," and they are accordingly continued. "But forasmuch as the said Acts are somewhat defective and doubtful, for supplying and explaining the same," it is now enacted, "That the forty days' continuance in a parish intended by the 1 Ante, pp. 279 and 312. acquired by holding office, or paying rates, or being ap prenticed. said Acts to make a settlement, shall be accounted from the publication of a notice in writing, which the person shall deliver of his or her abode, etc., to the churchwarden or overseer of the poor, which notice the churchwarden or overseer is required to read or cause to be read publicly on the next Lord's day, immediately after divine service, in the church or chapel of the said parish. And the said notice is to be registered in the book kept for the poor's accounts." The mere delivery of a written notice to a churchwarden or overseer, as before directed, was, it appears, found insufficient, and the notice is now therefore required to be read publicly in church, so that all the parishioners may be made aware of the new-comer, and perhaps have also a voice in ejecting him, if their officers should be remiss or over indulgent. Should the churchwarden or the overseer neglect to read the notice, or to register the same, as directed, he is in every such case made liable to a penalty of 40s., leviable by distress. Settlement This Act further provides, that a person who serves any public annual office in a parish during one whole year, or who pays his share towards the public taxes serving for or levies of the parish, shall be deemed to have a legal a year, or settlement therein. And also, that if any unmarried person be lawfully hired in any parish for one year, such service shall be deemed a good settlement therein. And likewise, that if a person shall be bound an apprentice and inhabit in any town or parish, such binding and inhabitation shall be adjudged a good settlement. These were all important extensions of the settlement law, or rather of the conditions on which settlement is based. But the serving an office, hiring for a year, binding and habitation as an apprentice, are all matters liable to question, and to become subjects of litigation, as in fact we know them largely to have been. Some embarrassment had apparently been caused |