6757. POOR, Care of.—
The poor who
have neither property, friends, nor strength to
labor, are boarded in the houses of good farmers,
to whom a stipulated sum is annually paid.
To those who are able to help themselves a
little, or have friends from whom they derive
some succor, inadequate however to their full
maintenance, supplementary aids are given
which enable them to live comfortably in their
own houses, or in the houses of their friends.
* * * From Savannah to Portsmouth, you will
seldom meet a beggar. In the larger towns, indeed,
they sometimes present themselves. These
are usually foreigners, who have never obtained
a settlement in any parish. I never yet saw a
native American begging in the streets or highways.—
Notes on Virginia. Washington ed. viii, 375.
Ford ed., iii, 239.
(1782)
