The National Register.
London, England, 1818-01-11 00:00:00

(9e ‘2IZZ4I
atio IA roi

No. 518.—V0i.. XI.

Our sing, Conotttution anb it a 133

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 1818.

lives would have been spared to society, crimes would
have been prevented, ant the duty of the Recorder at
the Old Bailey would have been rendered much lighter
than it has been for many of the preceding Sessions.
We trust that yet much good may be done, and hope
the Magistrates, and Parish Officers, and others in au-
thority, will follow up the efforts of the late Meetings
in promoting an object so congenial to every feeling
mind. To this end the Laws already in force, and
which have been but partially, and in many instances
improperly administered are full/ sufficient anti ought.l
to be carried into effect eft a more efl• and regritrp. 1
hensive scale. The rigorous and more coercive poxitof
the system has been executed to the.very letter, in the
imprisonment for seven days, and then passing to their
parishes hundred of wretched beings, who in many in.
stances have thus been driven from the only spot where
they were likely to obtain employment, and fixed in re-
mote parts of the country where they must iemain in a
state of pauperism, being driven from the place were
work was to be obtained, and where with the ailof
little temporary relief, they would ere long have 'teen
enabled to obtain fin honest livelihood.
We would address ourselves, on another part of this
subject, to the Officers and Vestrymen of the parishes,
particularly in and about the Metropolis, where an ex-
traordinary increase of poor has of late been ex2erienct.stl.
What in the name of common sense, could have induced
these pcaplc, day after day, to behold the most «•retched
miserable and famishing object► of their own parishes
as well as casualties, cro.vding their doors and their
Vestry Meetings, without determining to put the law
in force in its most benevolent provision for their assis-
tance and relief?--Can it be finintled on any rational
principle that the inhabitants of Bilston, Wedneahury,
or Wolverhampton should be paying a rate of fifteen or
twenty shillings in the nstind, heosiiia4he eil mutiote 'sae
numbers of their poor required it, while the rich and
populous districts of Bloomsbury, Mary-le-bone, Isling-
ton, &c., tvhcre the sac te cause existed, have been mode-
rately assessed at Si. 6d. or 4s. 6d. in the pound, mean-
while numbers of poor, honest, yet distressed persons,
not without claim upon them, have been reduced to the
lowest ebb for want of a trifling allowance, and the
streets of these parishes crowded with poor Sailors and
Mendicants of every discription. It is in vain for these
persons to say that their rates are higher than they
ever were before, that the parishioners will murmur at
any further increase, that the Workhouse is already
full, &c. ; the plain and simple matter is this,—the poor
MUST be supported, even though you should be obliged ,
to raise your ratesfrem Ss. 6d. to 108 6d., or even more,
in the pound.—That they should be rescued from their
present wretched condition is absolutely JSDISPENSIBLE
—your duty is imperative—the nation calls ibr it—
the voice of suffering humanity dennou/s it.—Enlarge,
then your houses of reception, your Workhouses, your
Asylums—extend your alms, your pensions, your gra-
tuities—the law of the land will bear you out—it au-
thorises you to raise supplies in proportion to the exi-
gencies of your case.—To delay this is trifling with a
serious and important duty; u duty which lies with
heavy responsibility on every person placed in the situa-
tions of Guardian, Governor, or 0 vzrseer, of the poorand
indigent part of the Community. This extcntion of re-
lief will be required only for a short period. The day
of amelioration we are persuaded cannot be far distant ;
and there is little doubt that there will ere long be a
considerable demand for labourers and mechanics of
every description : there is indeed at the present time,
more general employment, than has been at any period
H.:v. the termination of the war. Already the mann-
• irers of Spitalfields, Manchester, and other weaving
s, (notwithstanding the check which they have
rio, ad- reeci% ad by a late unfortunate event) find abundant
tarliorE,rio,i, nun:bell of employ, for their Wynn ; the Iron Works and ether

PRICE 9il

Mining operatians of the Country have been consider•
ably extended, and the price of their produce is advanc-
ing in the market ; while the docks, the quays, and
water-side parts of the metropolis, exhibit a scene of
bustle and business strongly indicating a growth and
increase in the general trade and prosperity of the coun-
try. These consider:Cams will, we are persuaded, be
an inducement, (if any inducement be wanting) to lead
the persons we have been addressing to a more liberal
and benevolent exercise of their functions as Parish Of-
lice* in tlia protection and relief of thole indigent said
anfortunas *tugs whom mischance m 4. of thai own
misconduct has driven to the sad necessity of' seeking
their assistance. N.