The National Register. — London, England, 1819-04-11 00:00:00

,) • .4 '.; /1"4/ ,-40 1 4/1 _ l s ‘ b• • atm oat Aritt •To • I a ~~z~,.; /, 1' . eur Bina, Otonititutfon anti abil• No. II7I.—VoL. XII.] SUNDAY, APfll,l:, 11, 1819 [Paicx 'THE•' POOR LAWS. li` our Paper of last week we inserted a para graph containing a few remarks on Mr. Sturgea Bourne's proposed enaernents on the Poor Laws. We shall now endeavour to comprise in as few words as possible, our general sentiments cni this important subject. Th t Ate present system is radically wrong, and that if suffered to proceed without CCM troul, it must and in the annihilation not only of in dividual wealth and property, but what is of still higher importance, in the destruction of every feel ing valuable to Society—of every thing like subor dination and gratitude, industry, and honourable independence on one side, and of those charities and fostering patronage on the other, which together constitute the sinews of national strength and pros perity, is so generally felt and admitted, that we shall employ no argument to prove it. Upon this part of the subject, the attention of Parliament has been long and earnestly employed, and the Report of the Committee of' the House of Commons upon it, which was published last Session, is adocument, as far as it goes, of unquestioned value. The evil is fully and fairly stated, and all its melancholy aggra vations are very forcibly detailed. We wish we could have added that the remedies proposed had been .equally clear and decisive. Mr. S. Bourne's present views seem to be chiefly directed to the l.aw of Settlement, and to the Price of Labour. On the first of these heads he proposes, under a few regula tions, that * Settlement shall be establishes by three years residence in the same place; and, on the second head, that no able-bodied man shall, when employed, have any parochial assistance whatsoever. The first of these regulations appears to be correct in princi ple, and not likely to lead to any evils in practice, which may not be more than balanced by the good, though it may probably be resisted by those who, under the existing law, may enjoy the benefit of the strength and labour of those whom they em ploy, until infirmities and old-age come on, and then send them back to have their sickness nursed or their decrepitude maintained by the parishes in which they were born. But the second regulation hich would withhold all parochial assistance from those who have employment, would, we are per suaded, in the present state of things, result only in -ecamulated mischief and discontent. In many in ,tances wages are scarcely adequate to the subsist ence even of a single individual, but, in the case of those who have large families, it must necessarily follow, that they would be thrown quite idle. Such persons neither could nor would afford to sell their labour at the same price as the man who had no de mar.ds beyond his own to satisfy ; and their employ ers would naturally have recourse to those who would serve them at the cheapest rate. But it may perhaps be answered that though such hard ships might arise in the first instance, yet that the regulation would contribute to give a wholesome check to population, and thus ultimately encrease the price of Labour. To such arguments our reply is, that Porulation well governed is national strength ; and that a country with:millions of acres of int proveab'e Land totally *cite, and millions more but miserably cultivated, and: producing not one half of what might by additioi* labour and additional ca pital be drawn from them, can never justly com plain of being too thickly peopled. And we fur ther observe, that thevery same complaints ofredun dant population, slut* t,arerwow so prevalen were made quite as strunify, and with just as much rea son, in the reign Of Queen Elisabeth, when our population scarcely amounted to half its present numbers. It is not here, then, that the scat of the disease is placed, nor here that the remedy should be applied. The Act is, that three powerful engines have been long at work undermining the fabric, and unhinging the frame of society amongst us. These are, first, an oppreuivelair.tion, which renders the earnings of industry of but little comparative value as the repress fitative of provision to the poor, and equally cripples the means of employment and bene volence on thi, part olothess. Secondly, an unna tural paper currency which; supported by the Bank Restriction, aeknowledgei nO other limit than the extent of credit or demand, violates the first and only principti which can either give or maintain the proper value of a circulating medium, and, by thus becoming the source of that rapid • depreciation of money which leaves every thing be ad it in its progress, throw the whole system of what used to be the relative proporticins of prices and cdomodities, of means and of expenditure, into complete, disor der. Labour, and particularly agricultural labour, must necessarily follow at a very slow rate, the aug mentation in the price of provisions, and the poor husbandman, whose labour is the only thing he deals in, is at once disabled from struggling against a torrent that sweeps away his means, his indepen dence, and his spirit together, and leaves behind it nothing but a miserable wreck of hopelessness and despair, the parent of apathy, indolence, and vice. It is a fact which will both illustrate and confirm the argument we are now pursuing, that for a con siderable time after the discovery of the silver mines in America, the unusual influx of the precious metals into Europe caused a distress the very same in cha racter, though not in degree, to that under which we are now groaning. The excess of silver operated then, as the excess of paper, with many super-added aggravations, does now; and it is not a little curious to observe, that out of this very circumstance sprung the Act of Elizabeth, which laid the great founda tion for our present ruinous system of parochial relief.—The last great engine is the eternal, and often perfectly ILLEGAL, interference of magistrates with the management of the poor. In a very large portion of the country parish relief, under the name of meal money, is uniformly insisted upon by the overseers, without any reference whatever either to character, to circumstances, or to those means of subsistence which ingenuity or industry would have provided, and a substitute is thus established thr what nature ordained, and the good of society de mands, should be the fruits of individual toil, pru dence, and economy. But upon this head we shall I dwell no longer ; the Report of the liouse of Com mons is full and satisfactory upon it, and an appro priate remedy we trust, be adopted. If, then, the premises I.cre laid down be just, the influence a plain and obvious; the evil must be met, and mu alone be cured by the removal of the causes 1.71 which it has been brought on. By a vigilant and rigid economr . of public expenditure, and if this wid not do, by some still stronger measure of relief froLi the burthen of taxation, by instantly restoring cash payments, and the 'reducing within more natural limits the circulating medinM of the country ; and lastly, by the parish officers: themselves keeping a vigilant : look-out upon the 'abuse of power, and obeying otay such orders as They feel to be just an.l know to be legal and authowed. By these measures may yet be restored the proper balance of society, but without them all the quackery of legislatLa will be worse than useless. . Tue PeRSIAN AmpASSAnna.—The Frersian Anibas sador, Mirza Abdoul-Ilassan-Khan, now at Atria, on his way to London, is descended from a distinguished ta stily, who occupied the highest post of honour a al power under the Kings of Persia, he himself when young; was appointed to the government of a district of r! e kingdom of Persia, bordering on the Persian Golf. While thus enjoying his Sovereign's favour, a reverse of fortune, not uncommon in the desisotic countries of the east, plunged him Irons the pinnacle of honour into the depths of adversity. His uncle, who filled the situation of prime minister at the Court of Persia, was accust.l, by the calumnies of jealous courtiers, of .aspiring to the throne; and the Royal displeasure, of which he in con seqaence because the victim, extended its withering ef fects to all his family. The unfortunate Minister was put to death, and his property confiscated to the Crosses, while several of his relations lust their lives or had their t eyes put out, for no other reason than because they hap. petted to be connected with his family. Alstloui Hits- Sall, the Ambastadar, who was deprived of his grist-fo ment and threatened wit a similar fate, liaKtiy escaped death by being forgotten till vengeance was aati.fied; and .after laoguishing in prison for three months wee allowed to retiie from office and danger into foreign law's. I* fi;•st olject was to visit the tomliof thtProphet at Mecca, and this iiifgriiii3gc inspired him with the wish m nscre distant travel. Accordingly, after seeing the chief c..y of the Wecisabites, and other parts of Arabia, be can .barked at Bassorah on board an English vegan& for Cal cutta, during the titoe that Alan:vita Welled's), was Ga. venom...getter:it of India. In the British India, and par ticularly the Deccan, he spent three year,: whet., pm credit% to Bombay, he learned that his Sovereign had made a tartly discovery of his innocenee t •and restoring him to favour, had summoued him home. In I tno. by the influence of a buns iving uncle, who was 1111111alti of finance, he was sent to England in quality of anibassa- • dor, accompanied by M. Ivlorier, who was at that time S.creiary of Embassy at the Court of Persia. It. L.m don be retrained only seven months, when he returned to Persia along with hir G. Ottaelty, who was appointed • our Nlinister to Persia. In his passage home the vessel touched at Rio-Janeiro, and Abdoul Hassan was pry haps the first Persian ambassador that saw the vice world. ‘Vhen he returned to his master, his son tees were requited with the title of Khan, and new marks of confidence. Ile was employed to conclude a peace ss 'its Russia in 1813, and its the following year proceeded as ambassador to St. Peteribtugh, whence he returned home after a stay of three years. The ambassador is not only known fur his diplomatic services, but iris Larary attainments and elegant accomplishments. Ile to kllOWit to have cultivated learning with distinguished success. He speaks several languages, English, Arabic, Russian. and Hiudostanee. lie has written an account of his travels in England, India, and Russia, which, what- . ever be its merits, has .beets honoured by his sovereign with the title of " The ‘Vonderfill Book ;" he i s sai d to he adding fresh claifiss to the favour of the Great King, by sunexing his nhservati-ms on France and Germany. Mirza Abdonl Hassan is about 44 years of age, of an ordinary height, butt of a noble and agreeable eateries- . His mind is as enbiztit..ned by wetly experivner his manners are graceful and pui.sucd by his exertum travels and his intercourse with the higtiest society. lie is an accurate °hitcher of works of art, and takes an re count of the most remarkable chefs if mores which It. ;sits in the Freheh capital. On Saturday last a little girl appeared in Ipswiels mother with a quartity of hofftteday It uehes of nrlef•. IL:filleted by herself, atid soli for etc express purpose of turehasing a Basic. . • 'l3- li t 4 ' , - - Atpu , A l+ - *:x