Spooner’s learning passages from old legislation (4,4)
I believe the answer is:
poor laws
'spooner's learning passages' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.
'old legislation' is the wordplay.
'old' becomes 'poor' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'legislation' becomes 'laws' (I've seen this before).
'poor'+'laws'='POOR LAWS'
'from' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Another definition for poor laws that I've seen is " Legislation giving relief to the needy".)