70 APPENDIX.
No. 10.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells' Letter to the Church-
wardens and Overseers of all Parishes.
Sirs,
By the desire of the Vice-Presidents of the La-
bourers' Friend Society, I am commissioned to inform
you, that by an Act of the 59th of Geo. 3d, you have
power to provide Land for the employment of the Poor,
to an extent not exceeding Twenty Acres ; and that
in this Session of Parliament, an Act has passed ex-
tending the amount to Fifty Acres. This land may be
rented, or enclosed from any waste or common, for the
purpose of being cultivated and improved, for the use
and benefit of the poor, within the said parish. The
adoption of this plan is strongly recommended to you,
by the Members of the Labourers' Friend Society ;
the advantages arising from it will be found to be very
great, not only to the poor labourers, but also to the
rate-payers of the parishes which avail themselves of
the measure.
In the first place, by letting out to each poor cottager
that portion of land which the number of his family
appears to require, he may secure himself and them
from the extreme of distress and want. It is not, how-
ever, intended that the cultivation of this small allot-
ment of land, should at all interfere with his daily
labour; but that it should afford to the poor man an
occupation during the occasional intermission of his
engagements, or during his leisure hours. Such em-
ployment would tend to remove from the labourer that