4 
INTRODUCTION. 
under the poor law, until they become 
actually chargeable to the parish («). 
4. By an Act of the 26th June, 1795 (35 Geo. 3, 
c. Ill), the provisions for securing the funds of 
a society were extended to “benevolent and 
charitable institutions, for relieving by voluntary 
subscriptions and benefactions, widows, orphans, 
and families of the clergy, and others in distressed 
circumstances.'’'’ 
5. By an Act of the 20th June, 1809 (49 Geo. 3, 
c. 125), power was given to justices to enforce the 
observance of the rules, and to compel payment 
by a member of arrears due to a society by means 
of distress and sale. 
6. On the 12tli July, 1819, an Act was passed 
(59 Geo. 3, c. 128) “for the further Protection 
and Encouragement of Friendly Societies, and for 
preventing Frauds and abuses therein/-’ It recited 
that the “ habitual reliance of poor persons upon 
parochial relief, rather than upon their own 
industry, tends to the moral deterioration of the 
people and to the accumulation of heavy burthens 
upon parishes; and it is desirable, with a view as 
well to the reduction of the assessment made for 
the relief of the poor as to the improvement of 
the habits of the people, that encouragement 
should be afforded to persons desirous of making 
(a) The great number of Friendly Societies that must 
have been in existence in 1793, when this first Act to 
encourage them was passed, is shown by the fact that in 
1879 there were still in operation as many as fifty-nine 
societies more than 100 years old, having been founded 
between 1687 and 1778.