ur sympathy not sunk into this blank despair,
but wandering about as strangers in streets and ways, with the hope of
succour from casual charity; what have we gained by such a change of
scene? Woful is the condition of the famished Northern Indian,
dependent, among winter snows, upon the chance passage of a herd of
deer, from which one, if brought down by his rifle-gun, may be made the
means of keeping him and his companions alive. As miserable is that of
some savage Islander, who, when the land has ceased to afford him
sustenance, watches for food which the waves may cast up, or in vain
endeavours to extract it from the inexplorable deep. But neither of
these is in a state of wretchedness comparable to that which is so often
endured in civilised society: multitudes, in all ages, have known it, of
whom may be said:--

Homeless, near a thousand homes they stood,
And near a thousand tables pined, and wanted food.

Justly might I be accused of wasting time in an uncalled-for attempt to
excite the feelings of the reader, if systems of political economy,
widely spread, did not impugn the principle, and if the safeguards
against such extremities were left unimpaired. It is broadly asserted by
many, that every man who endeavours to find work, _may_ find it. Were
this assertion capable of being verified, there still would remain a
question, what kind of work, and how far may the labourer be fit for it?
For if sedentary work is to be exchanged for standing; and some light
and nice exercise of the fingers, to which an artisan has been
accustomed all his life, for severe labour of the arms; the best efforts
would turn to little account, and occasion would be given for the
unthinking and the unfeeling unwarrantably to reproach those who are put
upon such employment, as idle, froward, and unworthy of relief, either
by law or in any other way! Were this statement correct, there would
indeed be an end of the argument, the principle here maintained would be
superseded. But, alas! it is far otherwise. That principle, applicable
to the benefit of all countries, is indispensable for England, upon
whose coast families are perpetually deprived of their support by
shipwreck, and where large masses of men are so liable to be thrown out
of their ordinary means of gaining bread, by changes in commercial
intercourse, subject mainly or solely to the will of foreign powers; by
new discoveries in arts and manufactures; and by reckless laws