service, as, for example, the army, navy, customs, excise, or courts of law, can any one doubt that they would not have been able to fill one or half a dozen volumes (perhaps as many as have been filled with the abuses of public charities) with instances of neglect of duty, fraud, and mismanagement? but how much easier the task, when the inquiry extended over such a wide-spread field as every workhouse and parish-board of the kingdom! Secondly, the uniform spirit and complexion of the statements are such as clearly indicate that the chief object of the commissioners was to collect evidence of defects, not.of excellences, in the administration of the poor-laws: the consequence is, that their testimony is decidedly ex parte, intended apparently to corroborate a "foregone conclusion," viously formed, perhaps, by the originators of the commission, of the vicious tendency of a compulsory assessment for the relief of indigence. I was in some measure impressed with this conclusion in looking over the table of contents affixed to the volume of Extracts on the Administration of the Poor-laws, "published by authority," and sold at a very low price, for the sake, no doubt, of effective circulation; my object was to ascertain the past and present rate of wages in different parts of the country; but there was no information under the head of "Wages," though it might, perhaps, have thrown considerable light on existing pauperism: there were, however, copious details of evils under the heads of "Allowance," "Bastardy," "Beer-shops," "Charities," "Magistrates," and "Workhouses." If this representation of the partial character of the evidence be correct, it is desirable the example set in the factory question should be followed; we ought to have a counter inquiry, so that the public may know both sides: having learned the mischiefs, we ought to be made acquainted with the benefits of the poor-laws, as exemplified in the mass of misery relieved the disorders, theft, and mendicity prevented. Mr. Henderson's Report, from Lancashire, is an exception to the rest; it is judicious and impartial; and he observes, that "the effects of the poor-laws, regarded as a national charity, may be seen to advantage at Manchester." (Extracts, p. 364.) The same observation will apply generally, I apprehend, to the large towns, where the poor-laws are administered with more intelligence and under greater responsibilities than in agricultural districts. Thirdly, an impression appears to have gone abroad in many parishes, that the object of the visitations of the commissioners was to ascertain whether the discontents recently manifested among the labouring poor had not arisen from ill treatment; and accordingly, in self-vindication, the parish authorities exerted themselves in painting the vices and ingratitude of paupers, and in showing that they were not only well, but, in some instances, sumptuously treated. Without some such misapprehension, I cannot account for what appear rather exaggerated descriptions at pp. 216, 296, and 393. These observations, I trust, will not be misconstrued. What I have said in another place on the poor-laws, will show that I am fully sensible of their maladministration. It is, however, the judicature, rather than the jurisprudence, of the laws which is defective; and the chief source of abuse has been the incompetence or want of information in the magistracy and parish authorities, by whom they have been administered. For this defect the Report of the Central Board of Commissioners will doubtless prescribe an effective remedy. Another evil will, no doubt, be also met, arising out of the con flicting injunction of Scripture, "to increase and multiply," and the conclusions of political economy, which point to a directly opposite course. A satisfactory and popular solution of this difficulty by the right reverend commissioners would probably tend more than any other expedient to the end sought by the landed interest, namely, a diminution in the amount of the poor assessment. Further, if the landowners could be brought to acquiesce in a revision of the CORN-LAWS, by which fluctuations in the price of bread, destructive to agricultural and manufacturing industry, could be averted, another important step would be made towards the extinction of pauperism. To insulated examples of poor-law abuse, collected from 11,000 parishes, and 1,200,000 cases of relief administered, it is consolatory to be able to oppose the general facts, that of late years, under a somewhat better system, pauperism has declined relatively to the increase of population; and that the character and condition of the working people of England are superior to those of any other country in Europe. The whole history and theory of pauperism, as set forth in this publication, may be comprised in the following propositions : The labouring classes were anciently in a state of bondage, and pauperism grew out of the transition from slave to free labour. The legislature long tried to meet this evil by voluntary charity, but the inadequacy of this forced upon them the necessity of a compulsory assessment for the relief of indigence. The 43d of Elizabeth, of 1601, was not, as commonly supposed, the commencement of the poorlaws, but chiefly a consolidation of the enactments resulting from the experience of the two preceding centuries The important distinction between the ages of Elizabeth and William IV. is, that in the former there was abundance of work, but unwillingness to labour; in the latter, there is no want of industry, but a scarcity of employment. The evil of an overstocked market of labour, which now afflicts society, can only be permanently remedied by diffusing among the working classes a familiar knowledge of the circumstances that influence their condition. That this knowledge can only be efficiently diffused by the agency of the governing and wealthier classes of society. And that, lastly, this knowledge will never be diffused by the intervention of these classes, till they find, by the increasing pressure of a poor assessment or other circumstance, lessening their own enjoyments and security, that they have an interest in diffusing it. XXV.-MAXIMS OF CONDUCT. Having in the chapter on Popular Education (p. 434) adverted to the utility of short maxims and traditionary sayings, I shall here present a specimen of the sort I mean. They are taken from a little work of mine, published under the title of Fielding's Select Proverbs of all Nations. The best recommendation I can give them is, that I have tried them, and witnessed others try them, and in both cases can bear testimony to their beneficial results. Errors of conduct as frequently arise from momentary forgetfulness of good precepts as ignorance of moral duty; and hence the advantage of having constantly present to recollection, for the guidance of our actions, these little sententious rules which the experience of ages has consecrated. A man knows no more to any purpose than he practises. A wilful man should be very wise. Be a friend to yourself and others will. Do not say you cannot be worse. He that will not be counselled cannot be helped. He that would know what shall be, must consider what hath been. He that would live in peace and rest, must hear, and see, and say the best. He that will have no trouble in this world, must not be born in it. He that is ill to himself will be good to nobody. It is too much for one good man to want. Lawyers' gowns are lined with the wilfulness of their clients. No condition so low but may have hopes; none so high but may have fears. The unreasonable is never durable. One might as well be out of the world, as be loved by nobody in it. One thief makes a hundred suffer: that is suspicion. Put your finger in the fire and say it was your fortune. A sarcasm on those who ascribe a want of success in life to ill-luck, in place of their own want of forethought, industry, and perseverance; which last are the qualities that mostly make men rich, prosperous, and happy. Remember the reckoning. A motto to be engraven on the bottom of porterpots, punch-bowls, and drinking-glasses. Three removes are as bad as a fire. Two things a man should never be angry at: what he can help, and what he cannot. We are never so happy or unfortunate as we think ourselves. When you are all agreed on the time, quoth the vicar, I'll make it rain. Who looks not before finds himself behind. RELIGION, VIRTUE, AND LEARNING. A wise man may look like a fool in fools' company. |