The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-14 00:00:00

lIONDON,
TCESDAY EVE KING, OCTOBER 14, 1834.

In the effecting or. .:Iny change, much danger is to
be apprehended from two parties, even of those who

are the first to carry it -into operation. There are, first,

the inconsiderate sulvorters of the new system, who
are in such raptures with their darling project, that
they look upon every obstacle which opposes its in-
stant application as a. nuisance which ought to be re-
moved forthwith ; ant 1 second, the secret opponents of
the proposed change, who hurry it on with the inten-
tion of exposing whz:t they call the evil consequences
of its adoption, which consequences, they themselves
are well aware, must be the result of premature appli-
cation ; and which, -under proper regulations, could
never happen. The New Poor Law Amendment Bill
has already suffered :much from these parties. A few
individuals of fickle, vestless, and impatient dispositions,
ambitious oLbeing thve most conspicuous characters in
their own digtiicts, me ver taking -the--trouble to think
themselves, and hearlqg from some mercurial orator or
consequential neighbour, that the proposed change in the
administration of parochial relief would work wonders
however applied, set .about instantly to establish a new
order of things, before a moment.lwas given to the-
consideration of the rz•eans of effecting such a change
at the least possible hazard of individual suffering. It
mattered not how excellent the new system was—and
we are prepared to prose it one of the most excellent
that ever was devised far such a purpose in a country
so situated as England- —the consequences of a preci-
pitation so at variance with old customs, confirmed
habits, rooted prejudices, early recollections, and a
mode of life in some sort regulated by the feelings
originating in all these, could not be otherwise than
alarming to a very large portion of the working
people. They ought to have been made acquainted
with, and as far as was possible, prepared for the
operation, of the new law. The most wholesome
change that ever was effected in the condition of man
must, of necessity, have inflicted at first, individual
suffering ; and on such occasions the greatest wisdom
is manifested in adopting the most efficacious means of
diminishing the amount of evil inseparable from the
still greater amount of good. It is to be regretted
that those persons who were among the first to
assist the Poor Law Commissioners, in reforming
the monstrous abuses of the old pauper system, have
not shown greater prudence, and a more tender solici-
tude for the interests of certain deserving objects of
parochial bounty than has been hitherto evinced by
them. Instead of doing good, they have unintentionally
done much mischief, by forcing the new law into ope-
ration in parishes where sufficient pains were not taken
to prepare the inhabitants to receive it ; and what was
still worse, where those abuses least existed which it
was intended to eradicate.

The second party who have contrived to raise a cla-
mour against the new Poor Law, are personS who are
secretly opposed to it, but who think—and think cor-
rectly—that the best way of rendering it odious to the
bulk of the people, is by forcing it on them while their
minds are in a state of agitation—while the clamours
of a defeated faction are ringing in their ears—and
while their affairs are in such a confusion as not to
admit of its advantageous working. At the head of
these we may place a certain portion of the Magistracy,
who have already shown that they are capable of
rendering any law so unpopular, that the people
cannot fail to cry out against it. We feel
no inclination to dwell on this point. In no
country in the world is the bench less unworthily
filled than in England—in no country in the world has
the magistracy shown more impartiality—more personal
respect for the rigid and spirit of the laws, or greater
zeal for its better administration, than it has hitherto
done in England : but we regret that since the passing
of the Poor Law Amendment Bill, we have more than
once perceived symptoms of a falling-off among that
body. Whoever will take the trouble to refer to the
file of any respectable daily journal, since that bill re-
ceived the Royal sanction, will not fail to learn that
certain magistrates in the metropolis have not scrupled
to sympathize with many poor persons, on sufferings
occasioned by legislative uncharitableness, and the all
but wanton cruelty of an ignorant Government. This
looks suspiciously enough, and appears to us hardly
warranted by the soreness arising from a sense of