The National Register. — London, England, 1819-04-12 00:00:00

(.. __ ,J7 „."(407 le ~/ 4/1 A r`eaj e l/r i 7( l. fa tit JP_ atiti nal iirk tsiO Our ding, ittminitution 410 RAW. MONDAY, APRIL 12, 1819 and that a country with millions of acres of im. provettb'e Land totally waste, and millions more but miserably cultivated, and producing not one half of what might by additional labour and additional ea pint' be drawn from them, can never justly cora plaits of Nino too thickly peopled. And we fur. titer observe, that the very same oomiliiielemiseditst• dent population, which t,are now so prevalen were made quite as strongly, and with just as much rea son, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when our population scarcely amounted to hull its present trtrebers. It is not here, then, that the seat of the disease is placed, nor here that the remedy should be applied. The fact Is, that three powerful engines have been long at work undermining the fabric, and unhinging the frame of society amongst us. These arc, first, an oppressive taxation, which renders the earnings of industry of but little comparative value as the representative of provision to the poor, and e4ually cripples the means of employment and bene volence on the part of others. Secondly, an unna 'haul paper currency which, supported by the Bank Restriction, acknowledges no other limit than the extent of credit or demand, violates the first and I only prieciple which can or give or maintain the proper value of a circulat medium, and, by thus becoming the source of that rapid depreciation of money which loaves erety thing behind it in Its progress, throws the whole system of what used to be the relative proportions of prices and commodities, of moans nod of expeadft** law complete disor der. Labour, and partiaaleeffsgrieultural labour, must necessarily fellow at a very slow rate, the mug. 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 argumeet we are now pursuing, that for a con siderable time Stier the discovery of the silver mines in Am. rice, the unusual influx of the precious metals into Europe caused a distress the very same in cha. lacter, though not in degree, to that under which we are now groaning. The excess of 'diver operated then, as the excess of paper, with many super-added aggravations, dots 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 Ihunda. tion for our present ruinous system of parochial relief—The last great engine Is the eternal, and often perfectly tv,ectat., 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 insi.ted 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 eateblished (hz what nature ordained, and the good of society de l mends, should be the fruits of individual tail, Prue deuce, anti economy. But upon this head we.sitaq dwell no longer; the Report of the Hnoae 9 4 Cons, mons is full and satisflonory upon it, and on apprit priate remedy will, we trust, be arlopted. If, the the premises here La down be ke* the inguosil is i No, 11T2.—VOL. XII.] THE POOR LAWS, Iw oar Paper of last week we Inserted a para. 110- 1110111111046, a fp perrks on lifr. Sturges We shall now endeavour to comprize in as few words as possible, our general sentiments on this important subject. Tir.t the present system is radically wrong, and that if suffered to proceed without cots. troul, it must end 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 rstronage on the other, which together eanstitt.te the sinews of noional 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 a documents As far as it goes, of unquestioned value. The evil is fully and fairly stated, and ail its melancholy aggra. rations are very forcibly detailed. We wish we ,ectuld have added that the remedies proposed had been equally clear and devisive. Mr. S. Bourne's lire:scut views seem to be chiefly directed to the I saw of Settlement, and to the Price of Labour. On the first of these heads he proposes, under a few regula. tions, that a Settlement shall hstablished by three years residence hi the same plat and, on the second head, that no able-bodied man shall, when employed, have any irarechial ussisvce whatsoever. The first of these regulations appear* 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 lam . resisted by those who, ruder the existing law, may enjoy the benefit of the strength and labour of those whom they em ploy, until infirmities and old-ago come on, and then send them back to have their sickness nutsed al their decrepitude maintained by the parishes in which they were born. But the second regulation which would withhol I all parochial assistance from those who have employment, would, we arc per t:laded, in the present state of things, result only in ►ccumulated misciti f and discontent. In many in .:wires wages are scarcely adequate to the subsist. once even of a single individual, but, in the case of those wha have large families, it must necessarily follow, that they would be thrown quite idle. Such person. neither could nor would affitrd to soli their Tabour at the same price ar the man who had no do.. stands beyond his own to sati-fy j and their employ. srs 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 inftunee, yet that the regulation would contribute to give t wholesome :heck to population, and thus ultimately encreaao the price of Labour, To such grguntcots our reply that Popuiaticil c itrue/ is m 01 4 1014 *ol'4o [Paicz Pid. plain and obvious; the evil must be met. aad csu alone be cured by the removal of the causes by which it has been brought on. By a vigilant and rigid economy of public expenditure, and if this will not do, by some still stronger measure of relief front the burthen of taxation, by instantly restoring cash payments, and the reducing within more natural limits the circulating medium of the country; and lrly, by the parish officers themselves keeping a look-cut upon the abuse of power, end obeying only such orders as they feel to be just and know to be legal and authorised. By these measures may yet be restored the proper balance of society, but without them all the quackery of legislation will be worse than useless. THE PLR/lAN AMBASSADOR--The Persian Ambas. sador, Man now at Paris, on has way to London, is descended from a distinguished la. only, who occupied the highest post or honour awl power nuder the Kings of Per;ia, he hinrelf when young, was appointed to the government of a district of Ow kingdom of Perste, bordering on the Persian Gulf. While thus enjoying his tiMereigo's favour, a revenm of fortune, not uncommon in the despotic commies of the east, plunged him from the pinnacle of honour into the depths of adversity. His wick, who filled the situation of prime minister at the Conn of Persia, was accused, by the calumnies of jealous courtiers, of aspiring to the throne; and the Royal displeasure, of which he in cots. sequence became the victim, extended its withering ef. fects to all his family, The unfortunate Minister was put to death, and his property confiscated to the Crown. while several of his relations lost their lives or had their ,I eyes put out, for no other reason than because they hap petted to be connected with his faultily. Aleloul Has. salt, the Ambassador, who was deprived of his govern. ment and threatened wit h a similar fate, happily escaped death by being forgotten till vengeance was satisfied, and after languishiog In prison fur three months was allowtd to retire front Ace and danger into loreigu lands. lbrs first nlgeot was to viii the tomlsoftheProphet at Mecca, and this pilgrimage inspired hit" with the wish of more distant travel, Achordingly, after *ling the chief city of the Wechabites, arid other pens of Arabia, he em• barked at Bassorah on board an English vessel for Cal. mon, during the nine that Marquie %Velleshy was Go vernor.general of India, In the British India, and par. Ocularly time Deccan, ho Spent three years; when, pro. catkin( to Brinthay, he learned that his Sovereign had made a tardy discovery of his innocence, and restoring hint to favour, had suntruotted him home. In 1809, b) the influence of a surviving uncle, who was minister ct finance, he was sent to England in quality of ambassa doe, accompanied by M. Mona, who was at that time d °relay of Embassy m at the ,Court of Persia. In Com don Ire remained our)? seven onth., when he returned to Persia along with Sir G. gawky, who was appointed our Minister to Persia, In his passage home the easel touched at Bin-Janeiro, and Abdoul Hassan was per haps the first Persian ambassador that saw the neer world, When he returned to his master, Ids seniors were requited with the title of Khan, and new marks of confidence. He was employed to conclude a peace with Russia in 1813, and it the following year proceeded as ambassador in St. Petenlnirgh, whalers he retosned home after a Slay of three years. The ambassador janot only known for his diplomatic services, bot hie literary attainments and elegant accomplishments, He is known to have cultivated learning with distinguished sucreag. He speaks several languages, foglish, Arabic, Box:tau s and Hindostana, He has written an account of bit travels in England, 141 1 / 4 and Russia, which.. what' ever be its merits, h i s Iwo honoured ttyitia sovereign with the title of " The Wonderful Ilya;' he is Uhl to headdingkng fresh claim s to the favour of the Gnat &ag o by annexing eduervatiosis on Prance and Germany. Mirza Abili a nk 11,0 an is shoot 44 years of age, of an ordinary ,t ur n but of a not* and agreeable exterior. His ritlOd is as etilightoned by tautly end experienee as ntaßrlers are graceful anti polistied by his extensive iravelg god his intercootas with the highest society. Ec is a.p accurate observ . a of works of art, and takes an ao. WA% of the most workable fbei (0141411 which he vksit; in the Prenoll capital. On &aimlay last a little girl appoared in ipawtot market with a quantity of laKrenzy I•unciet of Fathered by band!, and sold for Ow exprceS porpo't purchasing a Hible. 1. f • • ' ° . i N ) IF P '. 4 4‘•s 4 . * r - N . -• .fl .` vb