, in
conformity with theories of political economy, which, whether right or
wrong in the abstract, have proved a scourge to tens of thousands, by
the abruptness with which they have been carried into practice.

But it is urged,--refuse altogether compulsory relief to the
able-bodied, and the number of those who stand in need of relief will
steadily diminish through a conviction of an absolute necessity for
greater forethought, and more prudent care of a man's earnings.
Undoubtedly it would, but so also would it, and in a much greater
degree, if the legislative provisions were retained, and parochial
relief administered under the care of the upper classes, as it ought to
be. For it has been invariably found, that wherever the funds have been
raised and applied under the superintendence of gentlemen and
substantial proprietors, acting in vestries and as overseers, pauperism
has diminished accordingly. Proper care in that quarter would
effectually check what is felt in some districts to be one of the worst
evils in the Poor Law system, viz. the readiness of small and needy
proprietors to join in imposing rates that seemingly subject them to
great hardships, while, in fact, this is done with a mutual
understanding, that the relief each is ready to bestow upon his still
poorer neighbours will be granted to himself or his relatives, should it
hereafter be applied for.

But let us look to inner sentiments of a nobler quality, in order to
know what we have to build upon. Affecting proofs occur in every one's
experience, who is acquainted with the unfortunate and the indigent, of
their unwillingness to derive their subsistence from aught but their own
funds or labour, or to be indebted to parochial assistance for the
attainment of any object, however dear to them. A case was reported, the
other day, from a coroner's inquest, of a pair who, through the space of
four years, had carried about their dead infant from house to house, and
from lodging to lodging, as their necessities drove them, rather than
ask the parish to bear the expense of its interment:--the poor creatures
lived in the hope of one day being able to bury their child at their own
cost. It must have been heart-rending to see and hear the mother, who
had been called upon to account for the state in which the body was
found, make this deposition. By some, judging coldly, if not harshly,
this conduct might be imputed to an unwarrantable pride, as she and her
husband