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the force of conventional law, entails upon them; and it is almost needless to add, that no duty of the legislature of a free country is more obvious than to examine, with even deferen tial attention, any cause of grievance which large bodies of the people firmly and calmly put forth as worthy of redress.

If we be right in the view which we take of the state of the common people in this kingdom at present, there is no subject which can come before Parliament that is not, in comparison with it, insignificant. Again, we say that the people know very well that the means are within the country to make them all comfortable; and let the Parliament beware how it drives them to take their own method of acting upon that knowledge. In the first place, it is expedient that the Parliament should take the earliest means possible of shewing the country that the distress of the people is felt, and that they will endeavour to remedy it. This is expedient, in order to satisfy the people during the time which they necessarily must wait before any measure could be sufficiently examined and passed into law. Next, it is absolutely necessary that a measure of relief should pass-a measure to enable the resources of the country to be made available for the comfortable support of the population of the country. The disciples of Mr Malthus are provided with an answer to this, by saying that the country has not resources for the comfortable support of the population, and, moreover, that the law of God is, that the condition of man inevitably leads to an abundance of people beyond the means of support. From the dissemination of such opinions, theological and political, good Lord deliver us! We are content to remark, that, as things are, nearly as much food is raised in these kingdoms as the po

pulation has need of, and that, with even our present means and knowledge of agriculture, twice as much in England, and thrice as much in Ireland,* could easily be raised.

Now the business of Parliament is, to consider how the resources of the country may best be made available for the people's support, for that the people have a right to such an application of the country's resources, we hold to be equally agreeable to reason, and to the spirit of the British Constitution. The means of obtaining subsistence in a country, where subsistence can be obtained, if the means were granted, is obviously the very first and most important part of that protection which Blackstone uniformly teaches to be the "right of the people." Allegiance and protection are, he says, reciprocally the rights, as well as duties of the magistrate and the people. "Allegiance is the right of the magistrate, and protection the right of the people."

Having then looked at the actual evil, let us now look at the possible remedy. The evil is, that with respect to large bodies of the people, the means of exerting all beneficial industry are taken away; they want something to work upon, so as to provide for their necessities. Where is this something to be found? Undoubtedly in the land. The curse upon fallen man was, that " in the sweat of his brow, he should eat bread;" but it went no further; it is only by the evil contrivances of men themselves, that even to the sweat of man's brow bread is denied. The changes in the forms of industry having brought it to pass, that the industry of men will not exchange for subsistence in the ordinary traffic of the world, there is no resource, but that men shall be allowed to raise subsistence for themselves, out of the land; and we are firmly of opi

*The population of Ireland is commonly subject, in the harangues of orators, to the grossest exaggeration. Mr Shiel "talks familiarly" of "seven millions Roman Catholics." By the authentic census made under the direction of Mr Shaw Mason, the whole population of the kingdom does not amount to that number. The Edinburgh Review lately sneered at this official return, as unworthy of respect. Within these few days the writer of this article has seen an extract from the letter of a public man, whose researches entitle him, beyond all other men in the kingdom, to speak on the subject, and he describes this census as "one of the greatest possible monuments of human industry and comparative accuracy."

nion, that this might be done with great benefit to the present holders of property in land. It is by no means necessary to deprive them of that property, but it does appear necessary, to oblige them to allow it to be more usefully applied, both for themselves and others, than it is at present. It is not necessary for us to go over again the same ground which has been travelled over so recently, and so ably, by the Quarterly Review, in the discussion of the "AntiPauper System." We refer to that paper for abundant practical instances of what may be done by judicious settlements on lands, which, previously to such settlements, have been wholly unproductive; and really we cannot conceive how any man, with a heart within his bosom, can read over such a paper, and not glow with an ardent desire to see the squalid and unhappy crowds, the victims of our manufacturing system, settled in the peaceful, virtuous, and happy competence, which such settlements in England might be made to afford. Of all the objects which it can enter into the heart of genuine benevolence to conceive, there is none equal to this, of giving its just reward to peaceful and honest industry, and turning man from that ferocious and reckless savage, which extreme want makes him, to a comfortable, though humble citizen, enjoying the present reward of faithfully discharging his duties as a member of the society to which he belongs, and living in the hope of that reward hereafter, with which the Spirit of God cheers the dwellings of those who mingle religious feeling with the simplicity of that active industry, which gives a certain supply of the necessaries of life.

It is hardly credible, except by those who have had actual experience in the matter, the quantity of subsistence which a small portion of ground may be made to yield, by the application of all the labour which it is capable of receiving with profit. It would fill the public with astonishment if they knew the quantity of vegetable matter, fit for the food of men, or cattle, which the market gardeners around London can raise from an acre of ground, through the application of labour and manure. There is nothing to prevent the

ground in every part of the kingdom from being made as productive of food, if similar means were applied, and instruction given as to the best kind of management.

It appears from one of the Reports of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, that, having sowed nine and a half acres of ground in the Regent's Park with Mangel Wurzle, they, in one season, dug up from this small portion of ground 418 tons of vegetable food for cattle-there were 326 tons of root, and 92 tons of leaves; their expenses were L.146, and the crop sold for L.748. This may give some idea of what might be done, if the people called great men in this country, could be persuaded to turn their attention to subjects of practical, though homely usefulness, instead of dissipating it in extravagant schemes for the extension of foreign trade, and the pushing forward of a feverish energy, for the sake of the vain glory of upholding a system, or of furthering the ends of political jobbing. An excellent suggestion appeared lately in the Gardener's Magazine; that of having extensive gardens annexed (it is not meant locally) to parish poor houses. It is very justly stated, that there is no description of labour, in which all descriptions of persons, young and old, male and female, could so universally be of use, and that with the least irksome of all kinds of toil-the cultivation of a garden is the delight of labour. "God Almighty," says one of the wisest men that ever adorned humanity," first planted a garden, and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures." It is, moreover, peculiarly favoured in this, that while it is the pleasantest of all descriptions of labour, it is, for the gratification of simple wants, the most profitable also; and therefore this suggestion of the Gardener's Magazine, is a hint which we think may be improved upon with much advantage, in the highest quarters to which the consideration of a provision for our poor extends.

There is, undoubtedly, much to blame in our present system of provision for the poor. The good done is not at all what it ought to be, considering the expense entailed upon the country; but let it not be thought that any patching of this bad system

will answer the end which the present condition of the common people should make the legislature have in view. There is nothing more disgusting than to behold a legislator of the small wisdom school, whose mind could never emancipate itself from the small details of parish laws, and whose soul must be conversant with beadles and with overseers, or with nothing, getting up to stuff some new quirks into the mass of jobbing intricacy which forms the parish poorlaws, and conducting himself with all the gravity of a Solon, while, mole-like, he grubs about in the holes and corners to which his intellectual vision confines him. We hope we shall have no more of this, but that means will be taken for a settlement of the great question which that of the British pauper-system has become, worthy of the British legislature. We cannot see why establishments of agricultural, or horticultural villages, may not be adopted, connected with the parishes, to which the poor may be drafted, and where, under due regulation, they may be made to dwell very much happier than they have hitherto been; and these we would have established on lands already reclaimed and fertile, while

the extensive wastes should also be put in a train to become valuable property, and afford employment and subsistence to multitudes unconnected with parish management.

We know it is asserted by many proprietors of wastes, that if they choose to keep their property in that particular condition, for their amusement, they have no right to be interfered with in the government of their own estate. We should recommend such proprietors to consider for a little what it is which makes the estates" their own," and the consideration may perhaps afford them some new light upon this matter. The lord of the manor has no more right than the pauper of the poorhouse, to the land which hể undoubtedly does own, except that which the law has given him for the common benefit of the country; and there will be nothing unconstitutional in the law taking it away, if he be determined to use it adversely to that common benefit. It is monstrous to

suppose that any small number of men should be allowed to keep land waste for the amusement of a few weeks shooting, in the year, while that land is wanted for the support of the people. Such a proposition needs only to be laid bare, in order to be crushed down by unanimous indignation; and, however it may be privately entertained, we hope no one will be so rash as to dare openly to put it forth.

But it is not the landholders alone who should be constrained by law to a better provision for the poor, who can no longer live by the exertions of labour in its ordinary channels ;the fundholders, who can live so much more cheaply, in consequence of the abundance of goods produced by machinery, should be taxed for this especial purpose, until the poor, under good management, begin to maintain themselves, which, we assert, it requires nothing but good management to enable them to do.

The manufacturers also, or the consumers of manufactures, should contribute, by a direct tax on the manufacture, and for this plain reason-the goods are now sold at a profit regulated by wages which the workmen receive during only a part of the year. When periods of stagnation come, the workmen are turned off, and the parish must give them such wretched support as they receive. But it would be just that the consumers of manufactures should entirely support the men who are devoted to a particular condition of life for their convenience; and, therefore, manufactured goods should pay a tax to support the artisans while out of employment.

There is much more to be said on this subject, but we do not like to run our speculations out to too great a length. Our belief is, that some such things as we have mentioned, must be done for the prosperity, if not for the existence, of the state. Who can expect the governed to submit, if the protection which is the bond of their submission be not given them as far as it can be given? Let us then obtain that hold over them which a salutary guardianship will give us.

συν δ'ορκια πιςα

Υευσαμενοι μαχομεσθα τω & νυ τι κέρδιον ημιν
Ελπομαι εκλελεεσθαι, ινα μη ρέξομεν ώδε.

This is true, and let the bishops, who at all events will understand the

lines, look to it.

J.

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ACT I-SCENE I.—An Apartment at FLINT's house. FLINT. WILLIAM,

Flint. Carry those umbrellas, cottons, and wearing-apparel, up stairs. You may send that chest of tools to Robins's.

Wil. That which you lent six pounds upon to the journeyman carpenter that had the sick wife?

Flint. The same.

Wil. The man says, if you can give him till Thursday

Flint. Not a minute longer. His time was out yesterday. These improvident fools!

Wil. The finical gentleman has been here about the seal that was his grandfather's.

Flint. He cannot have it. Truly, our trade would be brought to a fine pass, if we were bound to humour the fancies of our customers. This man would be taking a liking to a snuff-box that he had inherited; and that gentlewoman might conceit a favourite chemise that had descended to her.

Wil. The lady in the carriage has been here crying about those jewels. She says, if you cannot let her have them at the advance she offers, her husband will come to know that she has pledged them.

Flint. I have uses for those jewels. Send Marian to me. (Exit WILLIAM.) I know no other trade that is expected to depart from its fair advantages but ours. I do not see the baker, the butcher, the shoemaker, or, to go higher, the lawyer, the physician, the divine, give up any of their legitimate gains, even when the pretences of their art had failed; yet we are to be branded with an odious name, stigmatized, discountenanced even by the administrators of those laws which acknowledge us; scowled at by the lower sort of people, whose needs we serve!

Enter MARIAN.

Come hither, Marian. Come, kiss your father. The report runs that he is full of spotted crime. What is your belief, child?

Mar. That never good report went with our calling, father. I have heard you say, the poor look only to the advantages which we derive from them, and overlook the accommodations which they receive from us. But the poor are the poor, father, and have little leisure to make distinctions. I wish we could give up this business.

Flint. You have not seen that idle fellow, Davenport?

Mar. No, indeed, father, since your injunction.

Flint. I take but my lawful profit. The law is not over favourable to us, Mar. Marian is no judge of these things.

Flint. They call me oppressive, grinding.—I know not what

Mar. Alas!

Flint. Usurer, extortioner. Am I these things?

Mar. You are Marian's kind and careful father. That is enough for a child to know.

Flint. Here, girl, is a little box of jewels, which the necessities of a foolish woman of quality have transferred into our true and lawful possession. Go, place them with the trinkets that were your mother's. They are all yours, Marian, if you do not cross me in your marriage. No gentry shall match into this house, to flout their wife hereafter with her parentage. I will hold

VOL. XXVII. NO. CLXI.

G

this business with convulsive grasp to my dying day. I will plague these poor, whom you speak so tenderly of.

Mar. You frighten me, father. Do not frighten Marian.

Flint. I have heard them say, There goes Flint-Flint, the cruel pawnbroker!

Mar. Stay at home with Marian. You shall hear no ugly words to vex you. Flint. You shall ride in a gilded chariot upon the rian. Their tears shall drop pearls for my girl. wind for us. They shall blow good for my girl. rian.

Enter LUCY.

necks of these poor, MaTheir sighs shall be good Put up the jewels, Ma[Exit.

Lucy. Miss, miss, your father has taken his hat, and is stept out, and Mr Davenport is on the stairs; and I came to tell you

Mar. Alas! who let him in ?

Dav. My dearest girl

Enter DAVENPORT.

Mar. My father will kill me, if he finds you have been here!

Dav. There is no time for explanations. I have positive information that your father means, in less than a week, to dispose of you to that ugly Saunders. The wretch has bragged of it to his acquaintance, and already calls you his.

Mar. O heavens !

Dav. Your resolution must be summary, as the time which calls for it. Mine or his you must be, without delay. There is no safety for you under this roof.

Mar. My father

Dav. Is no father, if he would sacrifice you.

Mar. But he is unhappy. Do not speak hard words of my father.

Dav. Marian must exert her good sense.

Lucy. (as if watching at the window.) O, miss, your father has suddenly returned. I see him with Mr Saunders, coming down the street. Mr Saunders, ma'am !

Mar. Begone, begone, if you love me, Davenport.

Dav. You must go with me then, else here I am fixed.

Lucy. Aye, miss, you must go, as Mr Davenport says. Here is your cloak,

miss, and your hat, and your gloves. Your father, ma'am

Mar. O, where, where? Whither do you hurry me, Davenport?
Dav. Quickly, quickly, Marian. At the back door.-

[Exit MARIAN, with DAVENPORT, reluctantly; in her flight still
holding the jewels.

Lucy. Away-away. What a lucky thought of mine to say her father was coming! he would never have got her off, else. Lord, Lord, I do love to help lovers. [Exit, following them,

SCENE II.-A Butcher's Shop-CUTLET. BEN. Cut. Reach me down that book off the shelf, where the shoulder of veal hangs.

Ben. Is this it?

Cut. No-this is "Flowers of sentiment"-the other-aye, this is a good book. "An Argument against the Use of Animal Food. By J. R." That means Joseph Ritson. I will open it anywhere, and read just as it happens. One cannot dip amiss in such books as these. The motto, I see, is from Pope. I daresay, very much to the purpose. (Reads.)

"The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day,

Had he thy reason, would he sport and play?
Pleas'd to the last, he crops his flowery food,
And licks the hand"-

Bless us, is that saddle of mutton gone home to Mrs Simpson's? It should have gone an hour ago.

Ben. I was just going with it.

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