OBSERVATIONS, &c.

THE defects of our ſyſtem of poor laws have lately engaged the attention of the public; and a variety of eminent writers upon the ſubject have diſcuſſed ſeveral parts of it with great ability: my object is, to add ſome ſupplemental remarks to what they have laid down, which I think may tend to ſtrength⯑en and confirm the opinions of thoſe who have recommended houſes of induſtry.

The moſt eligible method of drawing up a gene⯑ral plan for the ſupport of the poor would poſſibly be, to mark off in ſome of the beſt treatiſes which have been publiſhed upon the ſubject, ſuch principles and practical obſervation as ap⯑pear moſt firmly founded upon political reaſon, or drawn from facts properly ſtated; theſe de⯑tached materials may be reduced to their general heads, and the vacancies in the outline eaſily marked in: an architect from a few veſtiges and ruined members of columns, is able with the greateſt degree of certainty to make a draw⯑ing of the building in all its original magnifi⯑cence: the happineſs of a great people, is cer⯑tainly [2] worthy the ſame enlightened and perſe⯑vering attention, which has frequently been miſapplied to reſtore ſome gothic deſign of claſ⯑ſical antiquity.

But it is by no means my intention to purſue the ſubject ſo extenſively: the only points I mean to go into are, the ſtate of the preſent bur⯑then and charge of the poors rate, the different expence of maintaining the poor in the preſent mode, and in incorporated diſtricts; and the probable amount of the advantage of adopting Mr. Gilbert's plan, with ſuch alterations as may be found neceſſary: I ſhall endeavour likewiſe to add ſomething to what has been ſaid upon the advantages of a better and more regular educa⯑tion for the poor, and how far ſuch incorpora⯑tions are favourable or adverſe to the ſpirit of the conſtitution.

I ſhall firſt conſider the charge of the rate, laying down firſt this diſtinction, that by charge we are to underſtand the ſum paid, be the value of money what it will, by burthen, the propor⯑tion of that ſum to our ability to pay it. Mr. Potter, in a very ingenious pamphlet publiſhed laſt year upon this ſubject, ſtates the total a⯑mount of the poor's rate at three millions, the [3] advance in nine years at 800,000: during that period the price of proviſions has increaſed in a geometrical progreſſion, the increment of the poor rates has at laſt followed the ſame law, (^*two poſitions which will be demonſtrated in the Appendix) the rate of the 8th year will be 2,898,370l. and the augmentation of perpetual expence the ninth 101,630; and the value of this perpetuity, at 3½ per cent. 2,903,714; the increaſed charge therefore to the public, is equal to that ſum added to the funded debt at 3½ per cent. This augmentation gives the annual increaſe of the rate 3,506 per cent. and by the table in the Appendix, this rate of increaſe appears very moderate.

Taking the ſurplus of the public revenue, which may in time of peace be applied to the diſcharge of the debt at 900,000l. a ſum it was ſuppoſed to produce before the annual pay⯑ment of 400,000 from the Eaſt India company was withdrawn; the value of the perpetuity 2,903,714 exceeds that ſum in proportion as 3⅕ to 1.

Hence the poor rate appears to increaſe the national expence three times as faſt as that [4] ſurplus can diminiſh it, uniformly applied to the diſcharge of that debt in the time of peace; ſuppoſing it to increaſe every year even with the ſame celerity as the poor rate.

It may be worth while, in order to point out the true extent of a charge thus increaſing, to enquire what ſum of money the public ought to pay down, to be delivered from it for ever.

Divide 100 by the difference of the rate of increaſe, and the rate of intereſt (uniformly taken at 3½) the quotient will be the number of years purchaſe of the original ſum, which will equal the required payment.^*

Caſe the 1ſt. If we ſuppoſe the rate to con⯑tinue perpetually the ſame, or without increaſe, it will be worth 28½ years purchaſe: let the preſent amount be 2,500,000 only, the pur⯑chaſe money will be 71,250,000.

Caſe the 2d. Let the annual increment be 1½, or about ½, the increaſe of the price of proviſions; the number of years purchaſe will then amount to 50, and the ſum 125 millions: very nearly equal the funded debt.

Caſe the 3d. The leaſt rate of advance given in the tables, is 2,39 per cent. and to be reliev⯑ed [5] from a charge perpetually increaſing in that ratio, the public ought to give 90,09 years pur⯑chaſe; or a ſum exceeding 225 millions.

Caſe the 4th. But the increaſe of charge exceeds the rate of intereſt: if it were barely equal, the former ſubſtracted from the latter leaves no remainder, and the number of years purchaſe becomes 100/0, or infinite.

The truth of this laſt concluſion may be eaſily proved in the following manner; the rate at the end of the firſt year becomes by the ſuppo⯑ſition 103,5, the preſent value of which is 100; at the end of the ſecond year it is increaſed to 107,12, the preſent value of which is 100: rate of the third year 110,87, the fourth 114,75, the preſent value of each of which is like⯑wiſe 100; ſo that to be diſcharged from the next year's rate, we muſt pay down a ſum equal to the preſent or 100l.; for the next two 200; the three firſt years 300, or ſo many years pur⯑chaſe of the preſent value of the rate as we mean to be diſcharged from: therefore to be diſ⯑charged from all future expence, we muſt pay down a ſum equal to the preſent rate, multi⯑plied by the number of years to the end of time, or infinity.

[6]How far the poor rate has been an increaſing burthen, is the next particular which offers itſelf to our conſideration.

As ſpecie repreſents ſome real value in goods and commodities, the burthen of a rate muſt be in proportion to that real value which the ſpecie it raiſes repreſents; if at one time 100l. repreſent, or will purchaſe twice the real value in goods and neceſſaries which it does at ano⯑ther, a man who pays 10l. to a rate at the for⯑mer period, has double the real value taken from him which he would have in the latter; or the burthen is double upon him: in general, the burthen is always to be eſtimated by the value of money and the ſum conjointly, or their product: when the value of money augments, the burthen increaſes with it; when it dimi⯑niſhes, it decreaſes in the ſame proportion.

Having the rate of increaſe of the charge given, to determne that of the burthen, we muſt endeavour to diſcover the annual decre⯑ment of the value of money.

The real value of a ſum of money at diffe⯑rent periods, is proportioned to the number of people it will maintain with the neceſſaries of life.

[7]The price of wheat, and the intereſt of mo⯑ney, have been both conſidered as the ſtandard of this value: the former, being perhaps the greateſt article of neceſſary conſumption, and much affecting the price of the reſt, will have a great effect upon it; but not one can riſe or fall without influencing it in ſome meaſure.

The rate of intereſt is a ſtandard ſtill more inadequate: this rate has continued the ſame for ſome years laſt paſt, if particular circumſtances have not rather contributed to raiſe it: 100l. at the end of the year produces 3l. 10s. ten years after it produces the ſame ſum; but will that ſum at thoſe different periods repreſent or equal the ſame real value of the neceſſaries of life? To prove 100l. of the ſame value at the one period as at the other, we muſt make this aſſumption, that 3l. 10s. at the end, is equal in value, or repreſents the ſame real value with 3l. 10s. at the beginning; the very principle wanted to be proved.

To determine the value of money, we muſt find the quantity of commodities in kind which a certain number of men con⯑ſume in a year, and multiply each ſeparate quantity by its price in the given year, ad⯑ding theſe together for a total: repeat the [8] ſame operation for any other year, and the two ſums will be reciprocally as the value of money at thoſe periods: or the greater ſum will repre⯑ſent the value of money at the cheaper period, the leſs at the dearer.

But if we want to enquire into the law of in⯑creaſe or decreaſe, more of theſe periods muſt be taken, and the hypotheſis tried by the totals they exhibit.

The account of the ſtate of the houſe of in⯑duſtry at Nacton, drawn up by order of the Houſe of Commons, contains all the different prices of wheat, beef, malt, and cheeſe for 17 years; and the variations for every year care⯑fully marked: I reduced the different prices of each article in every year to a mean, and from thence formed the four tables given in the Ap⯑pendix.

This account begins with the year from Eaſter 1757 to 58; the average of the firſt four years will give the mean price of wheat Michaelmas 59; the following four Michaelmas 63, the ſuc⯑ceeding five at Eaſter 68, and the laſt four Michaelmas 72: this operation is to be repeated with the other three tables, and we may thus obtain a correct ſtate of the advance upon each of theſe commodities for thirteen years.

[9]To aſcertain the quantities conſumed in kind of each of theſe particulars, I copied an account of the conſumption of eight weeks, from the books of the houſe of induſtry at Heckingham; this gives us the total conſumption of 2016 perſons for one week, from whence we eaſily deduce that of ten perſons for a year. Multi⯑plying the quantity of every article of this reſult by its price in each of the four years above men⯑tioned, the ſum of the prices of all the articles in each year will be as the value of money that year, if thoſe articles had compriſed all the ne⯑ceſſaries of life.

To inſert the reſt, I computed from the beſt information I could procure, and principally derived from the ſame houſe, the additional ex⯑pence at this preſent, for cloathing, fireing, &c. and found it amount to 30s. a man. I then ſuppoſed the advance upon theſe articles, two thirds that of the others, that I might be ſure the concluſion might be below the truth.

The reſult of theſe operations gives us the fol⯑lowing rate of increaſe for the price of provi⯑ſions:

[10]The lower ſeries are four terms in an inter⯑rupted geometrical progreſſion, where the diſ⯑ſtance of the terms is equal the intervals of the time.

Theſe coincide ſo nearly with the numbers above them, as to point out that ſuch a law nearly took place. Whatever the cauſe of this decrement of the value of money may have been, it ſeems nearly uniform for the given time.

The annual decrement of the value of money during the whole period was 2,89 per cent. but in the firſt four years, it amounted to 3,63 per cent. The rate of advance of the price of pro⯑viſion was conſiderably more from 59 to 63, than from 63 to the preſent time; which is con⯑trary to the general received opinion; it appears in thoſe four years to have been accelerated ,75 annually per cent. nearly ¼ more than its mean increaſe: the four years from whence the ſecond term is obtained, are the years 61, and thoſe immediately following; and this irregularity ſeems to form no objection to the law, but to be the effect of the great ſums of money the ſucceſſes of the laſt war brought into the nation: a cauſe which was barely beginning to operate [11] in the firſt period of four years, the average of which is therefore nearer its true level.

I have choſen to explain the principles upon which theſe tables are grounded at ſome length, as the conſequences deduced from them, upon a very important queſtion treated of in the Appen⯑dix, differ from what is delivered by ſome very reſpectable writers.

From what has been here laid down, we are able to determine the ratio of increaſe of the burthen of the poor rate: an eſtate which laſt year paid to the rate 100, will be by the average advance charged 103,506 for the expence of the preſent; but by the riſe of proviſions 102,89 at the end of a year, is equal in value to 100 at the beginning; therefore the burthen of thoſe two periods will be in proportion of 102,89 to 103,506, or as 100 to 100,6, and the advance of the charge is to the advance of the burthen as 6 to 1 nearly.

The further obſervations I had to make upon this head are referred to the Appendix;^* I have there demonſtrated the operations of this payment upon the price of proviſions.

[12]The laſt thing remaining is to determine the probable ſaving to the public, by adopting a general bill for houſes of induſtry.

But we ſhall be able to give a much more cer⯑tain anſwer to the queſtion, by enquiring what would probably have been the ſum ſaved, if ſuch a bill had taken place at the ſame time Colnies and Carlton hundreds were incorpo⯑rated; and having diſcovered that, we ſhall eaſily determine the advantage ſought.

The year ending at Eaſter 1753, was the middle term of the ſeven years, from which their average charge was aſſeſt: I collected the rates of ten pariſhes for that year and the year 74, ſix of them ſituated near the incorpo⯑rated hundred, and added to them four pariſhes in Norfolk: the charge in the firſt of theſe years amounted to 806..6, &c. and in the laſt to 1345..5, &c. the annual rate of advance appear⯑ed to be 2,39 per cent. Upon theſe grounds we find the preſent value of all the payments of a diſtrict equal to the incorporated hundreds for the laſt 17 years; the difference between this ſum and the preſent value of all the payments of the corporation, adding the balance between [13] their debt and ſtock, will give the amount of the ſum ſaved in ſeventeen years paſt.

The annual payment of the hundreds is 1487..13, &c. which increaſing in the propor⯑tion ſuppoſed, would have become at the latter period 2506..7: from this we obtain the pro⯑bable preſent value of the ſums which would have been expended for maintaining the poor in the hundred,^*

Proportion of expence nearly as 4 to 3.

To determine the value of the future advan⯑tage: ſuppoſe even the annual increaſe of the expence of maintaining the poor in the old mode diminiſhed ⅓, this can only be true in caſe the price of proviſions advance with no more than ⅔ the preſent celerity; conſequently the expence of maintaining the paupers in the houſe will follow the ſame law,^† the preſent [14] value of all the future payments, had there been no act of incorporation, would be—£. 105565

This amounts to 19,8 years purchaſe of the rate of theſe hundreds in 1752, ſuppoſing an average of ſeven years equal the rate of the middle year.

Or 11,7 of the probable amount of the rate of 1774. And the preſent values of the ex⯑pence of the two different modes of ſupporting the poor for thoſe hundreds £. 153861 and 124493.

The proportion of theſe ſums is nearly as 35 to 29, or as 5 to 41/7.

Before we proceed any further, let us apply this concluſion to Mr. Gilbert's bill, and ſup⯑poſe that a third of the kingdom from local circumſtances is incapable of being incorporat⯑ed, but that the remaining ⅔ had been divided into incorporated diſtricts 17 years ſince; and [15] aſcertain the preſent value of the ſum which would in all probability have been ſaved by it.

The amount of the rates of ⅔ of the king⯑dom is two millions.

The number of years purchaſe of a rate which theſe ſums are equal to, have been joined to the reſults given above; that if there ſhould have been any error in fixing the amount of the poors rate of the whole kingdom at three millions, the account of the total advantage may be readily corrected.

The rate of intereſt in theſe computations has been taken 4 per cent. the rate of advance of the charge has been taken 2,39; while the price of proviſions by the table has increaſed 2,89 per cent. this muſt be far beneath the average increaſe; as the price of labour though ſome⯑what augmented, has not increaſed faſter, or even equally with the price of neceſſaries; and [16] the number of paupers relieved has been gene⯑rally increaſing: all theſe circumſtances toge⯑ther have co-operated to leſſen the account given of the value of the charge of maintaining the poor under the preſent laws.

On the other hand the ſum ſaved at Nacton has been the leaſt of any houſe I have exami⯑ned; the weekly expence of a pauper excluſive of repairs, furniture, ſurgeons and officers, has been at Nacton 2s. 7d. at Melton 2s. 1½d. and at Heckingham 1s. 10½d. either of the two latter would have given the advantages much more.

A method which would have brought us far nearer the truth, would have been to have tak⯑en the mean advance of the rates exhibited in the table as the advance of the poors rate, and compared the total expence for ſeventeen years upon ſuch a ſuppoſition, with the mean ex⯑pence of a houſe of induſtry; the weekly ex⯑pence at Melton approaches neareſt to ſuch a medium.

^* But let us imagine the expence of the houſe [17] at Nacton would have been thus diminiſhed in proportion of 2s. 3d. to 2s. 7d. or 27 to 31: the preſent value of expence of the houſe for the firſt ſeventeen years would have been reduced to 32272, and that of the future expences to 76157.

The probable expence of the firſt term, if the poor had continued under the management of the overſeers, would have been 56,066; and that of the ſecond 195,390; the compariſon there⯑fore ſtands as follows:

[18]The ſum which ſhould be given by any diſ⯑trict to be free for ever from the charge of the poor rate appears here to be upwards of ſixty years purchaſe of the next year's expence; the intereſt being taken 4 per cent. the general rate in the country: had I taken 3½, the firſt ſum would have been diminiſhed, but the ſecond in⯑creaſed in a far greater proportion.

But ſuppoſing the true future charges of both ſyſtems ought to be taken at a medium from the ſums ſtated above, and the value of the perpe⯑tuity of the annual charges of two ſuch equal diſtricts, the firſt with a houſe of induſtry eſta⯑bliſhed ſeventeen years ſince; the ſecond with the poor continuing under the overſeers, admit⯑ting both to remain fixed at their preſent pay⯑ments for ever.

Continuing the intereſt at 4 per cent. the perpetuity of the future charge upon the houſe would be 37433 l.; of the preſent expence of maintaining the poor under pariſh officers 79378 l. and the future expence will be found by

The advantages by this corrected Hypothe⯑ſis ſtand ultimately as follows,

The difference then appears to be 104,566.

The probable amount of the rates of Colnies increaſing every year 3,506 per cent. would be at the end of ſeventeen years equal the average 1487 l. multipied by 1,03506²²; twenty-two years being paſt ſince the year when the amount equaled the average; this difference therefore is 32,933 years purchaſe of the preſent rate: if therefore a bill had been paſſed at that period to have incorporated ⅔ of the kingdom, as ſuppo⯑ſed [20] above, the preſent value of the paſt and fu⯑ture ſaving would at this time have been 65,866,000; or (taking intereſt at 3½ per cent) at its firſt eſtabliſhment ſeventeen years ſince, 36,701,000 l. which was the value then, of the difference of expence to the nation, between the two modes of providing for the poor.

But the annual increaſe of the rates ſince has a little exceeded the diſcount on the former ſum, therefore the preſent value of the difference is at leaſt ſixty-five million.

The future expence 137384 is nearly equal 54 × 2506 and therefore about fifty-four years purchaſe of the preſent rates.

The rate of annual advance in this ſtate per cent. 2,18 about 9/10 of the leaſt increaſe near the preſent period, I have been able to diſcover.

And the charge of the two different modes is to each other, as 88884 to 193450; or as 1 to 2 2/11 very nearly.

If we ſuſpect a concluſion to be exaggerated which brings out the value of a rate fifty-four years purchaſe, the reſult of the following ſup⯑poſition may tend to deſtroy the objections we entertain againſt it: Admit the true value of a rent charge to be ſo high as 3½ per cent. and [21] that for twenty-five years laſt paſt, the rates of a pariſh have increaſed in the ſame proportion we have ſeen them for a conſiderable period laſt paſt, and then ſtop forever: how many years purchaſe of the firſt year's rate is the va⯑lue of ſuch a perpetual payment?

Here the rate of increaſe ſomewhat exceeds the rate of intereſt; but admitting it to be e⯑qual, and the rates of the pariſh 100 l. a year: by reaſoning as before on the ſame caſe the pre⯑ſent value of the firſt twenty-five years pay⯑ments at the beginning of the term will be 2500 l. or twenty-five years purchaſe; the remaining perpetuity at the end of the term, will be worth the rate of the twenty-ſixth year, multiplied by 28½ the number of years purchaſe it is worth, if it continues without augmentation for ever: but the preſent value of that rate at the begin⯑ning of the twenty-five years is equal 100 l. and the value of the perpetuity 2850 l. or 28½ years purchaſe of the original rate: ſuch a rate there⯑fore appears to be worth 25 × 28½ = 53½ years purchaſe; the reduced hypotheſis gives it fifty-four years.

A pariſh which twenty-five years ago had given to redeem its poor rates, the then preſent [22] vale of all the ſums it has paid ſince, added to the perpetuity of the preſent rate, would have ſaved all the probable future advance upon it; therefore 53½ years purchaſe was leſs than the value of ſuch a rate by all the probable future ad⯑vance; an hypotheſis which ſtates it at 54, muſt fall nearly as far below the truth — we ſee that all the reaſons which might have been then urged againſt its being an eligible contract, would at this inſtant been refuted by the experi⯑ence of the paſt period; and what arguments can be now brought againſt it, which could not have been urged with equal or ſuperior pro⯑bability then; they had not then to encounter and bear of the paſt period.

But to remove every degree of doubt about the reſult, I added together the rates of all the pariſhes which I had taken for long periods: all of them but one accidentally happen to give the loweſt annual increaſe; the rate of increaſe of the whole thus added was ſomething under the general advance, being equal to 3,4742 per cent. the rates for the term of twenty-five years were worth at the beginning of that period 24,09, and the remainder of the perpetuity 28,39; the whole 52,48: which deducted form 54, leaves [23] about 1½ years purchaſe of the rates twenty-five years ſince, or about 17/26 of the value of a rate at preſent, as equal to all the future advances which may happen.

That I may finiſh here every thing that relates to calculation, I ſhall add ſome obſervations on the bills of mortality in houſes of induſtry; on the proportion of power to be granted to guar⯑dians and directors; and on the probablility of theſe inſtitutions being neglected in future pe⯑riods.

The regiſters in houſes of induſtry have uſu⯑ally been kept in the general mode: But the names of the paupers who died, with their ages and diſtempers, and day of admiſſion into the houſe, has been generally entered into the report book at Heckingham ſince March 1772: by the aſ⯑ſiſtance of that entry, and ſuch information as the governor ſupplied me with concerning ſo re⯑cent a period, I was able to diſtinguiſh thoſe who died of diſtempers with which they were admitted into the houſe, from thoſe who died by diſorders contracted after their entry: the number of the former in this period were 70, of the latter 123; but during this term a malig⯑nant fever raged very much both in the houſe and country from Chriſtmas 73 to Midſummer 74; [24] in periods of average health theſe numbers were as 21 to 22; and therefore taking a medium between theſe proportions, the corrected reſult comes out as 21 to 29, and the deaths 29/50 of the total exhibited by the regiſters: as theſe diſtinc⯑tions have not been made in thoſe returns to the houſe of commons I have ſeen, I thought it ne⯑ceſſary to inſert them here, to obviate an objec⯑tion which might otherwiſe be very reaſonably made to the mortality of the ſeveral houſes.

In the time of the general illneſs mentioned, forty-nine died admitted ill from the country, and an hundred and one reſident in the houſe; this diſorder, which was of the putrid kind, was brought into the houſe from the country: the ſtate of the air ſeemed at that time particularly fatal to old perſons, of the latter number no leſs than twenty were above ſeventy-five; the ſmall pox carried off ſix or ſeven, and three were loſt by inoculation; incidents which will reduce the number nearly to its juſt proportion.

When we want information we are generally ſo happy as to diſcover, what would have been the proper form to digeſt records, which at pre⯑ſent are ſo kept as to be of very little uſe; I am ſenſible that the ſcale upon which theſe obſerva⯑tions [25] are formed, is not ſo extenſive as it ought to be; but they are the beſt grounds I could procure: I had drawn up ſome obſervations upon regiſters before I knew what had been done upon that ſubject by Dr. Price, I incorporated his obſervations afterward with my own, and have given them in the Appendix.

It was an obſervation of one of the directors of this houſe, and confirmed by the governor, that the children when admitted had too gene⯑rally a very meagre emaciated appearance; and that the difference between thoſe newly entered, and thoſe who had been in the houſe ſome time, was very ſtriking: in that caſe it muſt pre⯑ſerve a number of uſeful lives to ſociety.

The only ſufficient reaſon for entruſting a ſet of men with the exerciſe of any power, or the expenditure of a certain revenue, is their intereſt in the application of it, or their ability or both conjointly: in conſidering theſe particulars we ſhall eaſily determine how far the old law, which in its operation has flung the diſpoſition of the ſums collected for the poor into the hands of the overſeers in the firſt inſtance, was political or right; we ſhall be thence likewiſe able to form an idea, what weight their diſſent to the [26] incorporation of a particular diſtrict ought to carry; and with what reaſon they may com⯑plain of an abridgement of their powers by the late acts.

The average length of leaſes throughout the kingdom is difficult to aſcertain; but though we cannot aſſign a term of years which ſhall pre⯑ciſely equal it, we may aſſume one, which we are ſenſible from the nature of things muſt great⯑ly exceed it: to compute the proportional inte⯑reſt of the landlord and tenant in the poor rates, I have therefore ſuppoſed all the lands in the kingdom under leaſes of fourteen years, and upon that ſuppoſition the intereſt of the owners to that of the occupiers will be as 14⅔ to 1: but this gives the tenant's intereſt greatly above the true value; had we ſtated the average length of leaſes at nine years, it would have fallen con⯑ſiderably ſhort of half as much.

Had theſe two claſſes of men been equally raiſed above temptation, equally enlightned with reſpect to the true political principles upon which the extenſive detail of police depends, in that caſe ſuch would have been the proportion in which authority juſtly would have been diſtri⯑buted to them: it is true, that among the occu⯑piers [27] there are perſons to be found reſpectable for their character and information; I am not certain whether Emerſon farms his own eſtate: but a conſtant attendance upon their own affairs, and an education not training them much to re⯑flection, will ſtamp a general character upon the whole claſs, which will render them improper for public duties: yet ſuch is the order of the the people to whom the ſpirit of the laws now in being commits the expenditure of a revenue, whoſe preſent purchaſe appears to be equal to the national debt: expoſed to the peculation or miſmanagement of every diſhoneſt or ignorant man to whoſe charge it is intruſted: experience points out what numbers may be fairly ranged under both theſe heads—an error in legiſlati⯑on perhaps ſingle in its kind.

The magiſtrate has by law ſome check upon the officer; but the inſtances of poſſible miſ⯑conduct are ſo numerous, that the remedy in its operation is far from being in any degree equally extenſive with the evil —Every ſubſequent check poſſible may be provided, but where the expenditure of a fund in the firſt inſtance, with⯑out ſuperior direction, is lodged in the hands of the moſt improper claſs of people, the manner [28] in which it will be applied will be ſtrongly marked with the characters of the men: a ſtream which takes its riſe and flows over a ſoil full of mineral particles will imbibe all its nox⯑ious qualities; nor will it be greatly altered by the addition of a trifling rivulet, which may fall into it in ſome part or other of its courſe.

But to this it may be replied, "that there will be little advantage reſulting to the public, from removing theſe powers out of the hands of perſons who may abuſe, to place them in the hands of thoſe who will abſolutely neglect the uſe of them; while the ſpirit which planned and formed a new inſtitution ſubſiſts, the attendance given by the managers is conſtant; but like every other kind of enthuſiaſm it is ſtrongeſt at its firſt apparance; difficulties in the executi⯑on damp it, but the tedium of attendance wear it out entirely: the original inſtitutors had a kind of perſonal attachment to their own plan, which engaged many others to a duty which bore the ap⯑pearance of perſonal attention to them; but to their ſucceſſors it is only a common care in which they are equally engaged with many; this is a ſecond and certain ſource of diminution of at⯑tendance, and what is the ſum total which we [29] obtain by the alteration of eſtabliſhed ſyſtems? to exchange old abuſes with old names, for old abuſes with new ones.

This is an objection which has been much dwelt upon; we muſt meaſure the effect of theſe cauſes to diminiſh the attendance of directors by what experience has already pointed them out to be: the moſt proper inſtance will be that of the oldeſt eſtabliſhment of this kind, where they will diſcover themſelves moſt fully and clearly: and here it has happened that every one of the cauſes mentioned in the objection have operated with greater force than in any other inſtance which (to the beſt of my know⯑ledge) can be produced: the average numbers attending the annual meetings at Nacton from 60 to 75 incluſive, were for the firſt five years ten, the ſecond 12⅖, the third 134/5, and in the laſt year 20: the book from whence I extracted this account goes back no further than 1760.

Another branch of ſubject which I propoſed to conſider was the advantages of a better and more regular education, which this ſyſtem in a con⯑ſiderable degree provides for the poor.

The elegant and fanciful Rouſſeau has at⯑tacked all education in general; and made [30] happineſs to conſiſt in every human ſavage, liv⯑ing alone in his cave, being very dirty, wearing no cloaths, and keeping his nails long enough to dig his own pignuts; this puts him above the artificial wants contracted in ſociety: but a much ſuperior philoſopher of our own country has particularly written againſt the education of the poor; and very clearly demonſtrated that ſharpers, highwaymen, and pickpockets, were the moſt patriot characters: his concluſion from this principle was very properly drawn: you muſt ſuffer your poor to remain uneducated, otherwiſe they will not be quite ſo beneficial to the public.

Bad principles in philoſophy joined with great and uſeful diſcoveries, ſeem to have the ſame fortune with the little qualities of great men: they have ſo much falſe luſture flung upon them by the neighbourhood they ſtand in, that they almoſt ſeem to ſhine by their own light: it is particularly unlucky for my preſent argu⯑ment, that theſe objections againſt the utility of education ſtand in ſuch reſpectable company; that will be enough to deter me from attacking them in detail, but not from laying down what I think may be urged on the contrary ſide.

[31]The man who writes, and the man who reads, have frequently very different opinions of the importance of the branch of the ſubject under preſent conſideration; but the conſequences which I think may be drawn from this head, will induce me to go into it with particular at⯑tention.

Thoſe paſſions whoſe irregular indulgencies produce the worſt effects in ſociety, do not attain any degree of ſtrength before the period of a common education is paſſed; and the princi⯑ples of ſympathy and compaſſion implanted in mind by nature, diſcover themſelves there a long while previous to them: for this reaſon, in the earlier ſtages of life, we receive and retain impreſſions of virtue much eaſier than thoſe of vice; on account of their nearer analogy to that ſet of emotions which then reign in their full ſtrength, while thoſe which afterwards attain more than power enough to counterbalance them, have not yet arrived at force or maturity.— Impreſſions of this kind early made on the mind, are long retained; and being frequently repeat⯑ed, by virtue of that repetition become ſo deep⯑ly and habitually infixed, as to obtain the ſame force and permanent efficacy with thoſe impreſ⯑ſions [32] originally ſtamped there by nature: in this manner a few firſt principles early inculcat⯑ed, and frequently repeated, win their way into the heart, and maturer years fortify by reflecti⯑on, what habit before had rendered almoſt a ſecond nature.

We cannot long perſonate any character but that ſome part of it will attach itſelf to us and become our own; that warmth with which we endeavour to render the deception compleat, carries us beyond the mark deſigned, and con⯑verts appearance into reality: the conſtant ac⯑tion of an internal principle produces the exter⯑nal appearance of it; and by a kind of reflex operation, the aſſuming the external appearance, conſtantly fortifies or even gives birth to the internal principle: we have frequently ſeen a bare external ſhew of religion improve into ge⯑nuine piety; while a mock defence of the de⯑ſolate maxims of the morales lubriques, or an air of libertiniſm worn in the gaiety of ſome un⯑happy hour, has fixed a bias on the mind which has not with eaſe been ſhaken off: thoſe who have attacked the utility of all inſtitutions for the education of the children of the poor, have owned that they produce an external appear⯑ance [33] of decorum, induſtry, and aſſiduity, the tendency of theſe external appearances to ſtrike deeper root, and improve into reality, converts this conceſſion into a ſtrong argument in favour of ſuch inſtitutions.

To live agreeably in any ſociety, our gene⯑ral conduct muſt be ſuch as not to draw upon ourſelves any particular degree of diſeſteem from it: few people I believe were ever ſo abſurd as to go for pleaſure, or even to propoſe tolerable conveniency to themſelves, in a road where there is an inceſſant multitude continually thronging the oppoſite way: elbowed on one ſide, puſhed on another, 'tis hard to ſtruggle againſt popular opinion: there are not many practical principles whoſe operations by an inſpection into the actions of mankind at large we can diſcover to be ſo extenſive, and in their effects ſo infal⯑lible: a kind of external force operating upon us either prevents us from deviating from that train of action public opinion has marked out for us, or the pain we receive from every excen⯑tricity quickly recals us to it: if we ſhould admit that the efficacy of that education I am recommending extends no further than correct⯑ing our opinions, without correcting our prin⯑ciples, [34] the oblique effect of ſuch reformation of our ſentiment muſt be well worth ſecuring, and be productive of the moſt advantageous conſe⯑quences to the manners and morals of ſociety.

Let us endeavour to trace its effects from the obſervation I had before laid down: a man who by a better education is improved only in his judgment of virtue and vice, when the merits of an individual with whom he is uncon⯑nected by relation, prejudice or favour, comes to be diſcourſed of, will candidly pronounce of them according to thoſe improved ſentiments he has imbibed; far the greater part of ſociety ſtand in this very identical relation to every in⯑dividual of which it is compoſed; hence the public at large will appreciate the merits of any action the better, the more generally thoſe prin⯑cipales by which it ought to be judged are dif⯑fuſed; that general cenſure on every deviation becomes more preciſe, more enlightened, and more certainly paſſed: the train of action mark⯑ed out by public opinion being rendered more agreeable to the laws of reaſon and virtue, be⯑comes more agreeable to the public intereſt, and in the path thus marked out for them, the generality of mankind will always walk. But [35] whatever lights the ſuperior part of mankind may thus enjoy, if they do not reach the claſs below, they will certainly fail of producing this effect among them. If a man do not run counter to the ſentiments of that claſs of life in which his principal connections lay, to violate the ideas of right or wrong entertained by thoſe much above, or much below, can little affect him; in this reſpect he may be ſaid to live in a different ſociety; and from hence ariſes the ne⯑ceſſity, that theſe grounds of judgment ſhould be equally diffuſed in every rank of life.

Nor does it form a reaſonable objection to ſuch an education, ‘that its effects are by no means infallible: that nature and paſſion will frequently triumph over ſuch ſlight obſtacles as habit and education oppoſe to them; that their efficacy is always found leaſt when the moſt urgent neceſſity calls for their ſupport: there are ſome men whoſe violent appetites tranſport them with ſuch exceſs, that no edu⯑cation can infuſe a proper counterpoiſe to them; other whoſe paſſions balanced in the exacteſt moral equilibrium, are ſo harmo⯑nized as to preclude the neceſſity of every de⯑gree of inſtruction; with the former it muſt [36] be inefficatious, with the latter ſuperfluous.’ But in the ſcale of human diſpoſitions there are many intermediate degrees between theſe two extreme limits, near which we find them very thinly ſcattered; and almoſt every character occupies a ſpace much nearer the middle point than is commonly aſſigned; conſequently the conſtant operation of habit and education (though their power were much leſs than ex⯑perience ſhows it to be) may determine on which ſide they ſhall be found; and it would be abſurd to reject any deſign generally uſeful, becauſe its benefit could not be extended to every uncommon caſe an inventive imagination can propoſe.—Education operates on the mind with a gentle and ſecret influence: yet this unſeen bias, though not diſcoverable per⯑haps in one or two particular inſtances, will be clearly diſcerned in a ſeries of many actions, and form the predominant character of them. It is like a ſlight bias given to a die; which in a large number of caſts will not fail to demon⯑ſtrate itſelf in a degree proportioned to its ſtrength, with ſuch a regulated certainty that we are able almoſt infallibly before hand to de⯑termine its preciſe effect, though from ſome [37] aſſignable cauſes, it may not be indicated in a ſingle experiment.

Though the general inſtitution of houſes of induſtry will not provide for the education of all the children of the poor, yet the good effect which would reſult from a general proviſion will be anſwered in proportion to the extent of the partial proviſion propoſed.

The reaſoning above laid down ſeems in ſome degree confirmed by an effect already experien⯑ced: it was an obſervation of the governor of one of thoſe houſes I have viſited, that the children born in the houſe or admitted very young, were the moſt orderly and induſtrious: thoſe whoſe relations or parents came into the houſe with them, being abetted and encouraged by their friends, were extremely irregular and idle; and that this difference in their behavi⯑our was very perceptible. A remark which clearly points out two facts very important to the preſent ſubject, that the training the children of the poor receive in their cottages is of the worſt kind, and that the education and controul of a houſe of induſtry provides an adequate re⯑medy to it.

[38]But theſe inſtitutions have been attacked upon another ground: it has been alledged that ‘a pauper is deprived of his civil liberty by being ſhut up in one of theſe magnificent pri⯑ſons, and put under the controul of a go⯑vernor: nor does the inconſiſtency end here, every law ſhould have a certain analogy to the principle upon which the government of a ſtate is founded: where it is inconſiſtent with it, it claſhes with and tends to weaken that principle if it be only local; if general, it ſaps its very foundation: this maxim is the fundamental ground of the true ſpirit of law in every country: the principle of this go⯑vernment is civil liberty, and can that prin⯑ciple remain unimpaired, when a law is made, which actually reduces a great number, and ſubjects half a people to a probability of perſonal confinement?’

Before we admit this reaſoning (which I think I have propoſed in its full force) it will be ne⯑ceſſary to ſee how low down the idea of civil liberty can extend in the freeſt government; and in what manner a diſciple of Locke, the moſt enlightened and zealous advocate of free⯑dom, would take it up.

[39]Every man, he would reply, when he enters into ſociety, gives up a certain proportion of his natural liberty to the magiſtrate, in return for the protection he receives from him; and the remainder, after ſuch a ſurrender, is called his civil liberty. If beſide protection he want maintenance, and have no property to procure it, he then becomes a ſervant to ſome individual; which^* ‘commonly puts him into the family of his maſter, and under the ordinary diſci⯑pline thereof; and gives his maſter a tempo⯑rary power over him, which extends to what⯑ever is contained in the contract and no fur⯑ther—that maſter and ſervant are names as old as hiſtory,’ that is, as the hiſtory of civilized ſociety and human happineſs. If the ſtate or a diſtrict which provides maintenance for thoſe who have no property to procure it, do not acquire the ſame rights over the perſons maintained, it muſt be from ſome difference in the circumſtances of the caſe. A ſervant goes into the family of his maſter and the ordinary diſci⯑pline thereof—by an expreſs contract into which he is obliged to enter by the impoſſibility of ſub⯑ſiſting [40] without it; from which he cannot be diſ⯑engaged until the end of his contract, if he be able to ſupport himſelf in a manner he likes better: the ſervice he undertakes to do in return for maintenance and wages generally overpaying conſiderably the expence to his maſter.—A pau⯑per enters into a houſe of induſtry provided by the diſtrict, and the diſcipline thereof defined by written laws—by a tacit contract into which he is obliged to enter by the impoſſibility of ſubſiſting without it—from which he is of courſe diſcharged if he be able to ſupport himſelf in a manner he likes better—and his ſervice in return for maintenance and gratuities is generally much beneath the expence to the diſtrict. The diffe⯑rences then appear to be theſe, the ſervant is ſub⯑ject to the ordinary diſcipline of his maſter's houſe, which in its nature muſt be ſomewhat diſ⯑cretionary—the pauper in a houſe of induſtry to a diſcipline defined by written laws—the ſervant is not diſengaged from his maſter until the end of his contract, although he be able to ſupport himſelf in a manner he likes better—in that caſe the pauper is of courſe diſcharged—the laſt cir⯑cumſtance in which theſe ſtates are contradiſ⯑tinguiſhed, appears to be that the ſervices of the [41] former are beneficial to the individual, thoſe of the latter do not nearly repay the expences of the diſtrict which maintains him—What rights can the pauper retain in the latter caſe, where upon the whole he is a burthen upon the public, which the ſervant has not a tittle to in the former, where upon the whole his labours are beneficial to the individual would be difficult to diſcover: the only reaſon which can make againſt a diſ⯑trict having this power is, that it reduces the poor to a worſe ſituation than the preſent, with⯑out being attended with any conſiderable benefit to ſociety: the error of the former part of this reaſoning has been very ably refuted by an^* im⯑partial ſtate of their ſituations under both theſe ſyſtems, which the enquiries I have made upon this ſubject enable me to pronounce not exag⯑gerated: that of the latter I flatter myſelf to have demonſtrated in the former part of this eſſay.

After all, is it certain that the liberty remain⯑ing to the poor, conſidered as an aggregate body, is at all abridged by theſe inſtitutions? or that it does not gain in one reſpect more than it loſes [42] in another? A pauper at preſent cannot remove from the place of his ſettlement without a certi⯑ficate, which the officers may refuſe to grant; the general adminiſtration of this law is nearly as rigorous as the ſpirit of it: in diſtricts un⯑der the latter acts of incorporation, a certifi⯑cate muſt be granted for the pauper to remove to any place within them: the liberty of reſi⯑dence, by the old law circumſcribed to a ſingle pariſh, is by the new one extended to large diſ⯑trict; all the poor are benefited by this enlarge⯑ment, while but a ſmall part of them are put under the reſtraint complained of: balance theſe circumſtances, and we ſhall be induced to think, that the poor enjoy upon the whole a greater proportion of civil liberty under the new than old law.

We may further obſerve, that this new ſyſtem in its conſequences is highly favourable to every improvement in legiſlation, and the ſpirit of that civil liberty to which it is held out as be⯑ing ſo ſubverſive: the happineſs and freedom of every ſtate depend ultimately upon the laws by which it is governed—If we enquire what is the leaſt poſſible reſtraint of law in a ſtate? the anſwer will be, it ought to be ſuch as added to [43] the reſtrant which the manners of a people op⯑poſe to thoſe irregularities which deſtroy the peace of ſociety, forms a ſufficient counterpoize to thoſe paſſions which would betray us into them, for if it be leſs it is inadequate, if more unneceſſary: and every unneceſſary reſtraint is a degree of deſpotiſm. An inſtitution which im⯑proves the manners of ſociety, makes way there⯑fore for a more moderate and improved ſyſtem of legiſlation: agreeably to theſe obſervations it has been found, that thoſe refinements in civil policy which take place in polite ages and na⯑tions, would be of no uſe when endeavoured to be put in practice in a hoard of barbarians, on account of their ſavage ferocity of manners: as theſe manners have gradually improved, laws (^*which to be efficacious muſt neceſſarily bear a relation to them) have refined likewiſe, and ſocieties grown powerful and happy: 'tis thus that improvements in manners generally diffuſed throughout a ſtate, have always preceded and [44] ſerved for the baſis of improvements in civil po⯑licy. But theſe advanced virtues muſt be diſ⯑ſeminated through the greater part of ſociety before thoſe ſucceſſive amendments in legiſlation can be introduced; and here we diſcover in a ſtriking light the further utility of thoſe inſtitu⯑tions which tend ſo eminently to reform the mo⯑rals and manners of the inferior members of the ſtate, of which that majority is compoſed: every advancement toward a more perfect ſyſtem of laws, in its turn promotes the virtue of ſociety: theſe reciprocal improvements are in this man⯑ner multiplied to a degree of infinity, like the images of an object placed between two oppoſite reflectors.

When we ſurvey the manners of mankind in this ſtate of continual and gradual improve⯑ment, the proſpect ſo much brightens upon us, that we are led to imagine, that thoſe excellent forms of government and regulations of ſociety, which have ſubſiſted only in the minds of a few abſtracted philoſophers, will ſome ages hence be actually realized. If one view the gradual advances which have taken place in the ſcience of legiſlation, we ſhall diſcover, that they have always had a tendency to this, as that [45] ultimate point to which nature originally deſtin⯑ed human ſociety to attain and reſt in, and which alone is worthy that noble appellation, the State of Nature. I am not now to be told that this is looked upon rather as a matter of curious ſpecu⯑lation, the ingenious amuſement of a few men of refined imagination, than as a thing which ever can exiſt: the negative of ſuch a queſtion ought always to be maintained, with the ſame diffidence and reſerve with which the affirmative is advanced: there are certainly ſome inſtituti⯑ons which now exiſt, and are celebrated as maſ⯑ter-pieces of policy, which the moſt penetrating politicians once cenſured, as plauſible in idea, but what would be found in the execution, chi⯑merical and impracticable: I venture to aſſign as an inſtance of this, the noble edifice of the conſtitution of England; planned by the wiſ⯑dom, founded by the labours, cemented by the blood of a long illuſtrious line of legiſlators, pa⯑triots, and heroes. That philoſophical hiſtorian Tacitus has told us, ‘^* That in every nation [46] the government is in the hands of the people, the nobility, or a monarch: a conſtitution ſelected and compounded of theſe three rather recommends itſelf as ſpecious in idea than practicable, and if put in execution, could never exiſt for any time.’ Yet that conſtitu⯑tion was then forming in the woods of Germa⯑ny: and^* Tacitus himſelf has tranſmitted to us the original outline of its foundation.