THE POOH LAW AMENDMENT BILL. 563* 



useless matter." What did they do under this conviction of course 

 turn out the worthless matter ? No; with the diffidence which ever 

 accompanies true merit, and upon a question of such importance as 

 poor law amendment,, they were unwilling to incur the responsibility of 

 selection ; and the whole of the lumbering returns were ordered to be 

 given to the world just as they received them. Then, in the name 

 of wonder, what did these regally "appointed" commissioners, who 

 were unwilling to " incur the responsibility of selection," venture to 

 do ? They gave " directions" to begin with, and then finished by 

 giving '' recommendations." 



About the beginning of the year 1833, the secretary of state for 

 the home department, being somewhat puzzled to know what the 

 newly-appointed commissioners were about, sent a polite note di- 

 recting them to transmit an account of their stewardship. On the 

 receipt of this letter they gave another " direction" to their assistant 

 unpaid deputies " to furnish such extracts from the evidence collected 

 by them as they thought most instructive" Still, unwilling to incur 

 " the responsibility of selection," they very prudently cast that re- 

 sponsibility on the shoulders of their assistant scribes ; and the com- 

 missioners take care very distinctly to inform us that {( neither on 

 this occasion nor on any other did they exercise any discretion with 

 respect to their evidence. They left the task of selection to th e as- 

 sistant commissioners, very few of whose reports they had then seen, 

 and transmitted to the Home-office what they chose to furnish" Now 

 ^ after reading this renewed disavowal of discretionary interference in 

 the matter to which they were solemnly and regally " appointed," 

 we again ask, what in the name of wonder did these nine commis- 

 sioners do, which any brace of ordinary treasury clerks, through the 

 medium of the post-office, could not have effected equally well ? 



Oh ! patience good reader ; here we have something at last I 

 " For one part of the volume," say the commissioners, "we are re~ 

 sponsible, since it was prepared in the office of the commissioners, and 

 that is" what? the preface? No, there is none. The abstract? 

 None ! What then ? " The index /" and the title-page, we sup- 

 pose, though that is modestly passed over in silence ! In the " index" 

 then, we are to find the touches of the master-hand. Let us hear what 

 the commissioners say of the said masterpiece of alphabetical and 

 pagenatory science : 



" As it was considered important that the extracts should appear as soon 

 as they could be got ready, the index, to save time, was prepared from the 

 proof sheets ; and as the paging of those sheets was subsequently altered 

 to meet the corrections made by the assistant commissioners, all the refer- 

 ences became inapplicable" 



A most novel, a most unique, a most valuable index, indeed ! with 

 " all the references inapplicable," and all this " to save time !" In- 

 competent as we feel ourselves to do justice to so peculiar an effort of 

 genius, we read on a few lines further, and are informed that " a 

 graver complaint has been made of the index, as containing expressions 

 of opinion. We admit," say the commissioners, "that the complaint 

 is to a certain degree well founded : our apology is that, as is usually 

 the case, WE LEFT THE INDEX TO BE PREPARED BY OTHERS, AND 



