The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-02-20 00:00:00

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TRIOS SIN
this country, and I may says io fag, that the law. is
alleviate the situation pf tbe poor arc our reprreset...
It wa. re-sr Jed by a Repon triode to Parliansest is
the la:: S anion, that how weer kingdom (Irelen
where t:i • poor are described by all who vier h . t. 4
by the se who Like-tit it, obein a deplotabe• a •
of wretchedness, that the system of laws w•
.14
prevailed in England sh.suld ead peed for •
purpose of alleviating their mi .ery ; bat
upon investigati" it was ascertained that the Poor
Lawe of this country would on:r tentl to aggro*
vate t' e hardships sustained se the other.--•
Varioui schemes have arisen, ground. ..1 upon AM
original suture, passed in the 431 of Queen Zhao.
•
betas, and maw! reeulatroos and mattresses, bark, 3.
record: d, that the distresses of the Poor have, its
fad, been aggravated rather than dunioishe.
forninkfilfebelii aubslblimme diellairlts least
vet stared, that the of itself was radically witaset
I say, m the earlier part of my parks:menu, Ike. • .
I took the liberty of woo:wing ctrtain regttilstallelie
ern that Statute, which were not formerly idopsed.
Wring now in contemplation a general review of
the whole system, it is not my intention to embody
those regulations and enadments in it. A Right
Honourable Gentleman, now no nsore (Mr. Pm),
also attempted a reformation of the Poor Laws, but
his system proved completely abortive, for the Bill •
be proposed never went thlrugh its different stager,.
and indeed never went at all into discussion. It I
do touch upon any part of the Bill to winch I 1.
lude, it shall only be those particular parts which
approve, or deem worthy at least of being recont-
mended to the consideration of the House. Thse,
moment when that Right Honourable G -miasma
addressed the House of Commons, with ail the Nt cc;'
1
powers of his accustomed elocrier.ce, was not easily 1
to be forgotten by those who heard him. The oldest
Members of Parliament who were then in this
I-louse, will remember the repressions which he
used upon that occasion. He told us that he had
chosen as the basis of the regulations whieh het.
had formed, the ad of the 431 of Qneen Li t.abetb,,.
as Ad which, lie said, ought to ;se revered, from its
being to us, as it were, the Bide upon that sub-..
jet. Therefore it was, that he streouously :geom.
mended as to get into the path Which that statiam,
pointed out. hose that period, hosier-r, a
revolution has talkie place c
~ n the subject or the
Poor Laws in the public Many began to
doubt of the propriety of ui. r eery existence. Me.l
Malthus, who has written upon IS sohjedle Ww
undertaken to prove that they are all wheogi at*
his principles, whichl have relit...llmi opons are noise
I think, in nature, tapahld of refutation; but
tlao-avaseicirt tar his madm-ikeen Maw pesire
and the length he he. gone, are mite a &Trireme .
matter; for although I approve of his dearmstr..e
lion, yet I do not approe the restut be makes .
out of it. Ido wish to go into a consideration of
the original abetted right which one man may
have for a eontriteution towards his rueport from
another, or of the right that every man has to be
supported upon that earth upon winch he was horn.
I may venture to rely upon there being a clear unw.
derstanding, and a unanimous sentiment upon :hie
point, for without that, it to AS...dimly impoasiblo..
to go into a reliant of that sys;cm which has pros .
railed in the country. It is not surely necessary to
argue the question,whether a man born has a right
to derive assist.tnee from his fellow-creatures born
before him. I am sure that in this country mere will
always be found a refuge and relief from misery
our Sterne Hook, even although that misery should
be brought on by vice, but much more so, should
it be brought on by misfortune. Supposing that
Mr. Malthus is corre(l in what he lays down as to
vice having increased by means of the Poor Laws,
and misery been aggravated, would it be prudent
to abrogate the Poor Laws that now exist ? Ido
not think any man can say, that it would be proper
'to do so. In a political point of view, we should
avoid it. In a moral and humane point of view, it .
ought also to he shunned ; because the starthitior,
misery, and desolation which it would produces
would be greater than any that ever took place
amongst a conquered perple. Then, Sir, the
next question which presents itself, iy whether a gra-
dual abolition of those laws be not possible ; and
whether we could not pot ourselves into that very
state we w•re in previous to the AR of the 49d cf
Elisabeth. Mr. Arthur Young has been supported
by the great authority of an Hon. Paronet. lee a
Member of this finnse. I mean Sir W. Pultene:.
in his opinion, that it would be pas...lisle to get rid of
the Poor Laws by gradual extindion, in this man-
ner ; that we should take an annual return of the
Poor's Rates, and tell the poor, t'.at they could r. t
possibly get any more AII,:SIATICe thin a lite
sum for the year ensuing. This they called
• gradual Aholtrirn, but Mr. Malt..us has proved,
that their principles west totally fi'4B, as well at,
cruel in the extreme. In discussing ti i; 'shied, it
will be nece‘Yary tor me to detain the ,House. by
going into it at considerable lesigth ; tat, I am cen-
vinced, that. from the nature of she querion, you
will deem it worthy of ergagielnour attentiern, and
4cmanding your indn'gence. It it impossible that
I can, on such a business, mein 'vitt, opposition, ea.
leis it be as to the mere &fed, of my plan. It is 4
question, mnin which I believe i have the pod
withes of the Fipple of the cou..try; and I hope, op-
em their ac.- Am, that I may succeed. I shall am, •
at least, that I have taken considerable paint to .
derstati.l the see jrEl wh,ch I have thus under ;:teen.
aball take the bherty in the first place of readinga
relit:l6ra of the plan of Mr. Young and Su- sV.Pu!-
'envy, who b.Jh round fault Inth the plan of Mt.
MAttlius." (Here the Hon. Gent)-m sa read from a
paper the retina:ion alluded to) If expenditure
wire to but lonised, according so their play, it is
evident that pestilence and famine would klestrvy
maoy. In many tort:inert, I could rliow, that pe.m.
, lence has been sto; pal by a reasonable relief bring
afforded. It the right n 1 supiom t exists at all, it mum
in a manner erg In an nntunited

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