The Sun.
London, England, 1834-05-10 00:00:00

HOUSE OF LORDS.--(THIS

the views of the Government, contain so much
truth, that we cannot avoid quoting them at
length. Mr. GROTE says—
" Perhaps it may be shown in committee that some of
the portions of authority which the bill confers are not es-
sential to the objects aimed at, and therefore may be
safely withheld. This will be matter for grave delibera-
tion in each particular clause wherein the separate powers
are enumerated. But I would earnestly entreat the house
to keep in mind that general declamations on the despotic
power of the commissioners really avail little towards the
merits of this question—that they serve at best only to
disturb the calmness and sobriety of mind which its vast
and momentous character calls for, and that to expect the
extirpation of an inveterate abuse, while we leave without
correction or redress the defective administration from
whence it has sprung, in no less chimerical than it would
be to expect grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles."

And Mr. HurlE uses still stronger lan-
guage :

" The proposed remedy was now before the house, and
notwithstanding all that had been urged against it, he
was not convinced that the measure would be unpopular
when it should be generally understood. (Hear.) Mea-
sures of the most infamous kind had been taken with a view
to prejudice the public mind against th:s bill. Tyranny
and injustice were talked of, and all sorts of misstatements
were hazarded, supported by garbled extracts. (Hear.)
The passions of the people were appealed to, and inflamed
by telling them that they were to be enslaved and ruined
by this measure. (Hear.) 'Those statements were per-
fectly unfounded. He denied that the bill was calcu-
lated to injure the poor. He was the last man to in-
jure the poor, and if he did not believe the measure to be
for the benefit of the poor as well as the rich, he would
never agree to it. (Hear. )"

Ministers, however, may rest assured that
the clamour will be kept up. The jobbings in
parishes, and the parties interested in the abuse
of the poor rates, are too numerous to allow
the measure to pass without much " noise and
fury."

According to the Report of the Committee
of the Master Tailors of London, " every thing
is progressing in the most satisfactory way."
Subscriptions are pouring in from all quarters,
so great is the public sympathy for those who
have been foremost to make a resolute stand
against the demands of a confederacy, which
are founded neither in justice nor common
sense. The cause of the master tailors is not
the cause of one body of men, but of the whole
community—of all, in short, who wish well to
the interests of trade. It is on this principle
that we tender them our cordial support ; and
in so doing, conceive that so far from proving
ourselves enemies to the journeymen tailors,
we are in reality proving ourselves their best
friends. It were an easier task to flatter them
—to pander to their caprices—to gloss over, or
conceal their errors—to fill them with exagge-
rated ideas of their own importance ; but this
we cannot, and will not do ; we leave all such
work to those designing adventurers, who have
their own selfish interests to serve ; our course
is bold and straight-forward ; we see the Opera-
tives labouring under the most unfortunate
infatuation, and frankly, but in no unfriendly
spirit, strive our utmost to bring them to their
senses. If our plain dealing offend them, we
cannot help it. We are their friends, not
their flatterers.

Suppose they were to succeed in their in-
sane project, what would be the immediate re-
sult ? Why, neither more nor less than an
utter overthrow of the whole existing system of
trade. And what the ultimate result ? Why,
a rude, abrupt breaking up of the whole social
confederacy. For let no one suppose that the
mischief would be confined to the quarters
whence it originated.. No, no. Mischiefs like
these are infectious, and spread in all directions.
The operatives having gained their point, we
should next find the agriculturists entering the
lists; and thus the whole country, more or less,
would be embarked in a struggle of which no
man, were he even gifted with the prescient
sagacity of a BURKE, could foresee the end or
limit. And to this pass the country is to be
reduced, in order to benefit a few needy in-
triguers, or work out the problems of a few
crack-brained theorists !

Well, and truly, says the old adage, " When
bad men conspire, good men must combine."
The master-tailors are just now reduced to this
painful necessity ; but they combine, not for the
purpose of keeping up monopoly, but in order
to uphold the rightful interests of trade, and
save it from the fangs of a faction, which is it-
self the blind tool of a set of adventurers and
mountebanks.

We beg to direct attention to an article in
another part of The Sun, under the head of
46 POOR LAW AMENDMENT," which has the
rare merit of emanating from a gentleman who
possesses a thorough practical knowledge of
the subject—Mr. JOHN LESLIE, a Governor
of the Poor, in the parish of St. George,
Hanover-square.

The proper inmates of a poor-house are
destitute children, who have not strength to
work, and the aged and infirm who are past
their labour. There is, therefore, no occasion
for work for the proper inmates of a poorhouse
—nor can work be found in a poor-house for
agricultural labourers—their employment is in
the fields, or upon the farm. Neither can work
be found in a poor-house for manufacturing
labourers, without displacing such work among
the community at large. The only work that
should, or, without injury to others, can exist in
a poor-house, is work necessary to supply the
wants of the inmates, such as grinding corn,
chopping wood, baking, brewing, &c. We do
not consider that injury will be done to others
by work nec6ssary to supply the wants of the
inmates ; on the contrary, an abuse will be
thereby corrected, for poor-houses are too much
under the management of those who furnish
to the wants of the poor, and the object with
them is, not what is best for the poor, but what
will best fill their own pockets.
A name sometimes leads to error, and so it
has been in the present instance—the term
workhouses has been improperly applied to
poorhouses. The error is continued in the Poor
Law Bill. The commissioners are to have
power to compel the erection of workhouses,
substituting poorhouses for workhouses, with
the power of erecting sheds or outbuildings for
such work as is wanted to supply the wants of
the inmates. We do not desire to withhold the
power from them ; nor do we quarrel with the
proposed regulation that no relief shall be given

out of the poor-house, which we -consider as
the simplest and most effectual means of putting
an end to the system of paying labour out of
the rate. We shall illustrate our mean-
ing by stating what has been done
and accomplished by Mr. WHATELEY.
He has divided the poor-house of his parish
into two parts. In one end of it he has placed
the aged and the helpless. In the other the
able-bodied. To the former he allows an ample
supply of good food. To the latter he assigns
poor fare, and that only if they work for it, not
in the house, but out of doors. He obliges
them to go out at a certain hour in the morning
to their work, and to return at a certain hour
in the evening from it. He tells them, this is
not your house, but mine. Ido not want you
here, but if you choose to come here, you must
conform to my regulations. In this way he
has thinned the inmates of the poor-house, and
if this mode be followed throughout England,
the inmates of all the poor-houses will be
thinned. The able-bodied will cease to come
there. The helpless and the infirm will be
limited to those who have no relations able or
willing to support them. These, too, will be
diminished. The feelings and duties of kindred
will again spring up in England as they exist in
Scotland, and are found even in Ireland, where,
amidst all her destitution, the feelings and the
duties of relationship have not been extinguished.

In order to put an end to the system of pay-
ing labour out of the rate, one uniform system
,must be followed throughout England. We
therefore consider a control Board of Commis-
sioners an appointment of necessity. We do
.not desire to see that board fettered in any *way'
whatever, and we consider that any attempts to
fetter it will destroy its usefulness, and that no-
thing but such a board will stop the improper'
interference of magistrates, put an end to the
mistakes of landlords and farmers; and disap-
point the cunning of paupers. We believe that
annual reports to Parliament will prove a suffi-
cient control, and we do not well see what other
check can be put in operation.. In place of in-
dulging in idle declamation and clamour about
putting our liberties in danger, which are in
jeopardy from a continuance of the pauper sys-
tem, we request of some of our contemporaries
to investigate the subject, which it is plain they
do not understand. When they do, they will
be as zealous in giving their assistance to the
furtherance of the means of putting an end to
the existing evils, as they now are, though per-
haps without intending it, instrumental to the
continuance of them.

The French papers of Thursday and some
of yesterday's date have reached town. They
do not contain a confirmation of the telegraphic
communication respecting Don CARLOs,
which we gave yesterday. Accounts so late as
the Ist inst. mention that Don CA Rt. os had
left Santarem for Evora, after a conference
with Don MIGUEL. The minister of the latter
had left Madrid.

The King of the FRENCH is about to visit
Lyons and St. Etienne. Paris is tranquil.
No business was transacted at the Bourse
on Thursday, it being a close holiday.

The German papers state that the Neap-
olitan Sovereign is very properly applying his
energies to the improvement of the finances of
the country. The prohibition of the French
journals (wish the exception of the Moniteur,)
is to be taken off. The King has given per-
mission to the subjects of Great Britain to
build a church at their own expense. 50,000
francs have already been subscribed for this
purpose.

VIENNA, APRIL 9.—Fiveper Cent.Metalliques, 89%;
4 per Cent. ditto, 881/x. Bank Shares, 1,251.

It redounds much to the honour of our present
Government that they have come to the reso-
lution of bestowing a pension on Mr. GALT,
the novelist. To pensions like this no one can
possibly object ; it is only when they are be-
stowed on the undeserving, who have nothing
but their rank and influence to back their pre-
tensions, that the country cries out, and with
justice.

Miss Bruce, we perceive, announces a con-
cert on Monday next, at the house of the Right Hon.
Lady Ongley, in Langham-place. We confidently
anticipate that this concert will be fully and fashionably
attended, for Miss Bruce is a vocalist of established
reputation, is patronized by several of the nobility,
and announces a most attractive bill of fare.

We understand that on Wednesday next the
Second Part of Shakspeare's King Henry the Fourth
will be brought out at Drury lane, in a style of un-
equalled splendour. Among the scenery, pai▪
nted
expressly for the occasion by Stanfield, Andrews, and
other eminent artists, will be introduced two new
scenes, displaying the grand pageant of the kin▪
g's,
Coronation, and the Interior of Westminster Abbey,
as it will appear next month, when fitted up for the
Musical Festival. On this occasion the orchestra
will consist of upwards of 300 performers The
vocal department will be undertaken by the most
eminent singers of the day, consisting, among others,
of Grisi, Ivanhoff, Rubini, Tamburini, H. Phillips,
Braham, and Miss Inverarity. These are great at-
tractions, but to us the most attractive consideration
is the admirable caste of the characters in the play.
To see Macready as King Henry, Dowton as Falstag;
Warde as Lord Chief Justice, Farren as Shallow,
Blanchard as Silence, and Harley as Pistol, is a treat
of no ordinary nature.

A Philadelphia paper says---.“ the man who,
in these hard times, can cheat an editor, would rifle a
hen-roost, rob an orphan, and steal an Irishman's
only pig." •

GREAT SLAUGHTER OF RATS.—A cor-
respondent informs us that some suspicion having
lately been entertained by Mr. Richard Fowler, of
Ashton, that an unwelcome colony of rats had made a
settlement amongst some wheat in his barn, a number
of men and dogs were collected to hunt them out.
Some nests with young ones were first discovered, and
were speedily destroyed ; and finally, on removing the
last of the wheat, 97 large rats presented themselves,
and being unable to escape, gave battle to the dogs.
The contest lasted for an hour and a half, and was of a
most sanguinary character, 88 of the enemy being left
dead on the spot, seven taken prisoners (alive), and
only two escaping. The suspicions of the farmer that
his "golden cror was infested with rats, was thus
fully "ratified."—Blackburn Gazette.

TOKEN FLOWERS.—Among tlic. various
embellishments which the elegantes of-tfie nineteenth
century have resource to, we know-of none niore beau-
tiful and appropriate than that,of spring flowers. It
was observed at the last Alniack's, that scarcely any
ladies were without nosegays. In the days of the
Spectator, it was the fah that usually conveyed an as-
sent or dissent ; bukriow the more delicate and refined
mode of token /lowers is adopted. To understand
these mysts.4atfS emblems, we cannot do better than
refer to an elegant little volume, which has just ap-
peared, entitled the " Language of Flowers."

The LORD CHANCELLOR, the Marquis of DOWNSHIRE,
and Lord CoLcnEsztu, sat in the House of Lords to-day,
to heat t nglish Appeals. •

V. BRIDGMAN

The arguments in this part-heard case, which was an
appeal from the judgment of the Vice-Chancellor, were
resumed, and had not concluded when our reporter left.
The question on the case was, whether grass cut and used
green was to be considered a great or a small tithe?

KING'S -BENCH.-(THIS DAY.)

(Sittings at Guildhall, before the Loan CHIEF JUSTICE

and a Common Jury. )
When the first cause on the list was called, it was found
that the counsel engaged in it were not in attendance, and
upon calling upon several others, either counsel, attorneys,
or, witnesses, were absent, so that it was impossible to pro-
ceed with them. Owing to this neglect, which his lord-
ship reprobated, he ordered the first six causes to be struck
out, and proceeded with the seventh, which was the first
on the list in which the parties were in attendance.

NIEL V. GOWRAN

This was an action to recover a sum of money, varying in
amount from 71. to 101., for some household furnituar, al-
leged to have been lent by the plaintiff to the defendant.
The defence was, that the plaintiff had given the de-
fendant the articles.

The particulars of this case were wholly destitute of
public interest, and it had not concluded when our re-
porter left.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE-THIS DAY.

(FROM I.I.OYD'S)
DEAL, MAY 9. —Wind E. N.E., light, to- S.W.—Ar-
rived the Demerara, Leggett, from Tortola,sailed Ist ult. ;
arrived and sailed for the river, the Philadelphia, from
New York ; Stately, —, Water Lilly, Hart, and Bright-
man, Jameson, from Jamaica.
FALMOUTH, MAY 8. —Wind S. S. E. to E. S. E. , light
breezes.—Arrived the Elizabeth, Tonkin, from Lisbon.
LIVERPOOL, MAY B.—Arrived the Princess Charlotte,
Roach, from Maranham ; and Superb, Williams, from
Cadiz. The Princess Charlotte, from Bombay, is not ar-
rived off Liverpool, as stated yesterday. A ship about 250
tons, cotton laden, with a white head, was seen on fire, and
burnt to the water's edge, 14th ult., in lat. 40, long 48, by
the Ceylon, from New Orleans.
BELFAST, MAY 7.—Arrived the Guadiana, Tull, from
Memel.

CORK, MAY 7.—Arrived the Woodland Castle, Bar-
clay, from Barbadoes.
1-lIELDs, MAY B.—Arrived the Ann Eliza Jane, Brown,
from Sierra Leone ; and Alexander, Ehlers, from Rostock.
HULL, MAY B.—Arrived the Josephine, Volkert, from
Gottenburgh.
ALDBOROUGHV MAY 8. Arrived off port the Four
Brothers, Schwartz, from Dantzic.

The Eagle, Fraser, from Honduras to Cork, was on shore
in Youghal Bay, on the 7th instant—cargo discharging.

THE FUNDS.-(THIS DAY.)

CITY, TWELVE O'CLOCK.

We have no arrivals of any consequence this morning,
and the express from Paris is of a very meagre description ;
it brings news one day later from Madrid, which does not
confirm the reported embarkation of Don Carlos from Por-
tugal ; therefore we must now view the despatch by the
Bayonne telegraph as void of truth. It also still leaves us
in the dark respecting the Spanish loan. The Spanish
funds at Madrid have declined. It being a holiday at
Paris, no business was done in the funds. A report pre-
vailed yesterday on 'Change, that Don Carlos had made
his escape on y board an English merchantman, and it
was suspected he was going to land in the north of Spain,
to join the Carlists. This at present is only supposition.

THE FUNDS.

Ministers not wanting this year a loan for the West Indies
has had the effect of keeping the market firm this morn-
ing, and Consols opened at the price they left• off yester-
day, 92% % for the Account.
There being no arrivals we are dull of political in-
formation. The Pembroke steamer is hourly expected
from Lisbon.

In the Foreign market Spanish may be quoted 36% ;
Portuguese 78% %.
HALF-PAST ONE.

We have a report of an express from Paris. It is
stated that two additional articles have been attached to
the treaty sent to Madrid, and that the Portuguese ambas-
sador there refuses to sign them, which has caused a delay
in the ratification ; but this is report, and not to be de-
pended upon.
Consols have improved since the early part of the morn-
ing from 92% % to 923/4 buyers, at present may be quoted
92
In the %
3/4 Foreign Market Spanish reached 37, at present
may be quoted 36% 3% ; Portuguese 77% 78.

THREE O'CLOCK
Consols for the Account, 92% Wt.
- CLOSING PRICES.—POUR O'CLOCK.
Bank Stock 215 India Stock O2Bl ,
3 per Cent. Red 9ll Ditto Bonds
3 pet Cent.. Cons 9 f South Sea Stock
I per • cnt. 99 Ditto Old And B9
31 pi r C nt. Red 99! Ditto New Ann. . ..... 9nl
New ,f p2r Cent lo' 1 Ex. Bills, 10.•11 5O pm
i per Cc nt loot .:),.. fr'o/ 0 pin
Long. Ann. to expire Ditto Small sopin
Jan 18g0 pi 3-16 Bank S. for Ace..... 2141
Oct •1859.. i 71 Consols fur Opg O2l
Jar.. 186 J l7/ , India St. for Opg 270

FOREIGN FUNI►S,

Austrian, 5 (pereent.
Belgian, 5 per cent 9of
Brazilian Bonds

Buenos Ayres, 6 per cent. 29'

Chilian 6 per cent........,, 27}
Columbian, 6 per cent
Ditto, 1824 22317
Danish 75

Greek, 5 ..er cent 3ll
Mexican 5 per Cents, 1823
!iitto 6 per Cent., 1825 45
Peruvian 6 per Cent.

Portuguese, 5 per cent 78;
Ditto, 'leg. Bonds
Prussian, per cent.

Russian i3unds 5 per cent. IN:

Ditto, Metallic'
1061
Spanish, 5 per cent 37
Ditto, 132:1 331
French ' per Cent.... —t —c.

Exchange
—f
—v.
French 3 per Cent
Dutch, 21 per cent 521
Ditto, 5 per cent

The Earl of Burlington (lied yesterday morning.
His death will occasion a vacancy for Derbyshire, a
county which is not likely to admit a Tory.

DISCOVERY OF AN OLD BEQUEST TO
THE POOR.—In 1612, Sir T. Cambel, Knight, one of
the Aldermen of London, bequeathed a sum for ex-
pending 300/. annually in the purchase of coals, to be
sold at the rate of fivepence per bushel, and not
higher, to the poor parishioners of several districts in
the city, amongst them St. Sepulchre's. When the
price of coals fell to 12s. 6d. per chaldron (about
1676), the bequest, which the corporation had cove-
nanted to observe, fell into oblivion, and remained so
up to the present time. Mr. Jones, the vestry clerk of
St. Sepulchre's, lately discovered some books of ac-
count relating to the bequest, and he then applied to
the corporation in order that the covenant might be
duly performed in future, or that compensation should
be made in money out of the Chamber of London, for
the purpose of being distributed to the poor parishioners
of St. Sepulchre's, in respect to the 15S years, during
which period no coals whatever had been delivered.
Immediate attention was paid to the application of
Mr. Jones.

ROOK WOOD. This new novel, by the
" English Victor Hugo," is founded on one of those
old family legends, which exercise so wonderful a spell
-cm our earliest and latest feelings, and with 3:l4ictrtkis
clever author has contrived to interweave. very skilfully
some of the strange adventures of that-prince of high-
waymen—Turpin. The book is full of a delightful
variety, scenes of great passion and interest, and
pieces of quiet paintingyperfectly delightful. The
poetry is of the first .water—various, light, graceful,
comic, profonnd,,,arid- impassioned. The songs of the
,gypsies are alMxcellent. " The Coffin" comes nearer
to the best style of the author of " The Dream of
Eugene Aram,", than anything we have ever seen.
ELLEM FISHING CLUB. —The annual
meeting of this club was held on Friday, the 25th of
April, at the Ellem Fishing Tavern on the banks of
the Whitadder. The day was exceedingly unfavour-
able for angling; the weather being extremely bright,
and the river small and clear. Notwithstanding this,
however, there was a keen competition for the silver
medal of the club. Competitors commenced fishing
in different parts of the Whitadder, at eight in the
morning, and before four a number of well-filled
baskets were handed in to the President. When
these had been all duly weighed, it was de-
clared that the prize lay between Mr. Mitchel-
son of Middleton, and Mr. J. P. Trotter. It was
admitted that Mr. Mitchelson produced some of the
largest trout, as a few of his weighed about a pound
and a half, whilst the largest of Mr. Trotter's did not
much exceed three quarters of a pound ; but as Mr.
Trotter had on the whole the superiority both in
weight and in number, the medal, after some discus-
sion among the judges, was finally awarded to him.
Mr. Trotter's fish weighed eighteen pounds and a
half, and Mr. Mitchelson's fish weighed seventeen
pounds and a quarter—very great sport certainly, con-
sidering the state of the weather and water. The
members dined together afterwards in the Ellem Fish-
ing . Tavern, and spent a most agreeable evening.
owing to the increasing celebrity of the club, the list
of members is now pretty nearly filled up, and at this
meeting there was only one new admission, Mr. A.
C. Dewar, Vogrie.—Kelso Mail.

POOR LAWS AMENDMENT.

REMARKS ON THE

PRESENT STATE OF THE POOR LAW
Q UES TION,

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ADVANTAGES ARISING TO

THE POOR BY MEANS OF THE
WORKHOUSE SYSTEM OF RELIEF.
By JOHN LESLIE,
A Vestryman, Governor and Director of the Poor of the
Parish of St. George, Hanover-square, London.

The condition of the poorer classes is a subject
which must ever engage a large portion of the atten-
tion of every rightly constituted mind, and at a period
when it forms a topic of most general consideration,
the evidence which the results of a practical experi-
ence on so important a subject may afford can neither
be considered presumptuous nor unimportant.
That the condition of the poor depends greatly on
the laws relating to them, and upon the manner in
which those laws are administered, will readily be ad-
mitted by every intelligent individual ; it follows,
therefore, as a necessary consequence of this truth that
those persons to whom are intrusted so important an
administration should have the clearest perceptions of
the principles upon which those laws are founded,
otherwise the welfare of a very large portion of our
fellow creatures will be committed to the care of those
who can only be considered as navigating on a dan-
gerousthem ocean without a compass or a chart to guide

Without entering upon the question whether any
compulsory assessment, for the relief of the poor is
right or erroneous in principle and policy, because by
having had a legal sanction for upwards of two centu-
ries, it has become so intermingled with our national
habits, that even could it be clearly demonstrated to
be erroneous, we should by any sudden legislative
enactment to that effect, completely disorganize the
social fabric. Therefore, under existing circumstances,
a much more interesting inquiry is how can we best
alleviate the condition of those who are the immediate
objects of legislative care in the acts " for the relief
of the poor ?"
The 43d of Elizabeth is generally considered the
fundamental charter of the poor. In point of fact, it
is but the consolidation of the various enactments of
the legislature anterior to that event, all of which had
as their leading principle a promotion of the industri-
ous habits of the labouring classes. . . .

The earliest recorded procedure of the legislature
on the important subject of the poor is to be found in
the Statute Book 252 years prior to the 43d of Eliza-
beth in the year 1349 the 23d of Edward the Third,
where it is stated, that

" Many sturdy mendicants who being relieved by
charitable donations lead an idle, dissolute life and
cease to work ; no one shall under the pain of impri-
sonment presume either under the colour of piety or
charity to give alms to, or to cherish persons who arc
able to work, so that they shall be compelled to labour
for the necessaries of life." Such is the intelligible
principle of the first enactment.
To every administrator of " relief to the poor," the
43d of Elizabeth should be an interesting study ; he
will there find the same principle of promoting the
industrious habits of the labouring classes the leading
object of that celebrated enactment ; and to accom-
plish which power is also given to levy by taxation on
every inhabitant, &c., sums sufficient for the following
imp
cortt3annsitdeorbajteicotn.
objects, and which deserve the most atten-
tive"
To provide a convenient stock of flax, hemp,
wool, thread, iron, and other necessary ware and stuff,
to set the poor on work.
" For setting to work the children of all such whose
parents are not able to keep and maintain them.
" For setting to work all such persons, married or
unmarried, having no means to maintain them, aryl
use no ordinary and daily trade of life to get their
living by.
" For, and towards the necessary relief of the lame,
impotent, old, blind, and such other among them be-
ing poor, and not able to work.
" Also, to erect, build, and set up‘convenient
houses of dwelling for the said impotent poor, and
which shall not at any time after be used or employed
to or for any other habitation, but only for impotent
and poor of the same parish.
" Also to the putting out of such children to be
" apprentices."
And the invaluable Report of the Committee of the
House of Commons, 1817, states, " That the above
" description and classification of persons entitled to
" relief have not been intentionally altered by any sub-
" secinent statute : That the general term THE POOR,
" contained in all subseqUent acts on this subject, has
" reference only to the poor, as above classed and de-
" fined in the 43d of Elizabeth." _ _ _

As it is a matter of great interest to rightly under-
stand the intention of the legislature in the mode and
manner of administering the relief, as well and as
clearly as the persons to whom the relief is to be given
are in that statute classed and defined, contempora-
neous history must afford us this important informa-
tion. One of the greatest authorities of that era has
left on record his opinions on this subject. My Lord
Bacon, who was Counsel to Queen Elizabeth when
this act passed the legislature, and afterwards became
the Chancellor to King James, in an official letter of
Advice to his Majesty, thus writes on " the relief of
the poor:"--
He states, "that hospitals are the remedies for pau-
" perism which should be established wherever the
" disease is dispersed. He says that greatnesF of re-
" lief accumulated in one place, doth rather invite a
" swarm and surcharge of poor, like to ill-tempered
" medicines, that draw more humour to the part than
" they evacuate from it.
" The best effect of hospitals is to make the king-
" dom, if it were possible. capable of that law, that
" there be no beggar in Israel. But chiefly it were to
" be wished, that such a beneficence towards the relief
" of the poor, were so bestowed as not only the poor
" and naked person should be sustained, but also that
" the honest person which bath hard means to live, upon
" whom the poor are now charged; should be in some
" sort eased, for that were a work generally acceptable
" to the kingdom, if the public hand of alms might
" spare the private hand of tax, and, therefore, of all
" other employments of that kind,lcommend most houses
of relief and correction, which are mixed hospitals,
where the impotent person is relieved, and the sturdy
" beggar buckled to work, and the unable person also
" not maintained to be idle, which is ever joined with
" drunkenness and impurity, but is sorted with such
" work as he can manage and perform ; and where the
" uses are not distinguished as in other hospitals
" whereof some are for aged and impotent, some for
" children, and some for correction of vagabonds, but
" are general and promiscuous, so that they may take
" off the poor of every sort from the country as the'
" country breeds them. And thus the poor themselves
" shall find the provision, and other people the sweet-
" ness of the abatement of the tax." __ _

The laws of nature would be violated if any mem-
ber of a civilised nation were to suffer death by star-
vation, and were there no compulsory fund from
whence support to such au individual could be derived
there would ever be found in those laws which are an-
terior, and superior to all human authority whatever,
a spontaneous effort for the relief of destitution in a
case like that supposed.
But the laws of this country giving to every destitute
individual a legal claim on the public property for his
support, involves the necessary and extremely impor-
tant inquiry in what way is this legislative object best
to be effected, and with the least amount of injury to
the community at large ? For Aothing short of the
absolute necessity of the case can justify the legisla-
tive appropriation of one man's property to the support
of another.

In answering the question, we shall have before us
the whole case so ably brought before the country by
the reports of the Poor Law Commissioners.
We have seen the simple rule by which the 43d of
Elizabeth contemplated the relief of destitution, and
of destitution alone, which was (even by the most ex-
tended interpretation of the clause) by setting to work
all who were able to work, and by affording an asylum,
at the public expense, to those who, being poor, were
also unable to work.

And the opinions of Lord Bacon, just quoted, are mi-
nute in detail of the plan. " I commend most HOUSES
" OF RELIEF AND CORRECTION where THE IMPOTENT
" PERSON IS RELIEVED, AND TIIE STURDY BEGGAR
" BUCKLED TO WORK, and the unable person also not
" maintained to be idle, but is sorted with such work
" as he can manage and perform."
Here then we have the workhouse system as one
answer to the general question ; and during the whole
time that this was the law and the practice, no great
outcry was made as to the amount expended for the
relief of the poor, and we may add, in the language
of Blackstone, " The further any subsequent plans for
" maintaining the poor have departed from this insti-
" tution, the more impracticable, and even pernicious,
" their visionary attempts have proved."
The great departure from the original institution
was in the year 1795, by giving a legal sanction to
money allowances by the 36 Geo. 111., cap• 23, by