THE WEALTH OE NATIONS.

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other parishes, and sometimes connived at such intrusions,receiving the notice, and taking no proper steps in conse-quence of it. As every person in a parish, therefore, wassupposed to have an interest to prevent as much as possibletheir bteingburdened by such intruders, it was further enactedby the 3d of William III . that the forty days’residence shouldbe accounted only from the publication of such notice inwriting on Sunday in the church, immediately after divineservice.

“After all,” says Doctor Burn, “this kind of settlement,by continuing forty days after publication of notice in writing,is very seldom obtained ; and the design of the acts is not somuch for gaining of settlements, as for the avoiding of themby persons coming into a parish clandestinely; for the givingof notice is only putting a force upon the parish to remove.But if a person’s situation is such that it is doubtful whetherhe is actually removeable or not, he shall by giving of noticecompel the parish either to allow him a settlement uncon-tested, by suffering him to continue forty days, or, by re-moving him, to try the right.”

This statute, therefore, rendered it almost impracticable fora poor man to gain a new settlement in the old way, by fortydays’ inhabitancy. But that it might not appear to precludealtogether the common people of one parish from everestablishing themselves with security in another, it ap-pointed four other ways by which a settlement might begained without any notice delivered or published. The firstwas by being taxed to parish rates and paying them; thesecond by being elected into an annual parish office, andserving in it a year; the third, by serving an apprenticeshipin the parish; the fourth by being hired into service therefor a year, and continuing in the same service during thewhole of it.

Nobody can gain a settlement by either of the two firstways, but by the public deed of the whole parish, who aretoo well aware of the consequences to adopt any new-comerwho has nothing but his labour to support him, either bytaxing him to parish rates, or by electing him into a parishoffice.

No married man can well gain any settlement in either ofthe two last ways. An apprentice is scarce ever married;and it is expressly enacted, that no married servant shall gainany settlement by being hired for a year. The principal ef-

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