1821.] Mr. Owen's Plan recommended for Consideration. 



121 



friend of mine put a paper into my 

 liautls, as a report, or rather an " ^id- 

 <lres.t of the Committee^ appointed for 

 the purpose of inventigatiuif aud report- 

 ing ait Mr. Owen''s plan for providing 

 for the poor.''' A rt-port of a committee 

 Ihought I, on t!ic plan of a rom;xntic 

 visionary! antl.gLiucinginyeyerajiiiiiy 

 over it, till 1 c;une to the list of the 

 names of the comiuittee, thirty-seven 

 in number, tiie whole of whom appeared 

 to be of considerable rank and intrinsic 

 ^vortll, of diU'orcnt denomhiations, liin;h 

 j-imrchinen and dissenters, laity and 

 clerg)', statesmen and nierchaiit.s, me- 

 dical men and othei's. Having' said 

 thus tar, you will not be surprised that 

 1 have again read, not only the address 

 of this committee with the greatest at- 

 tention, but also Mr-Ovven's own papers, 

 and other oi)iuioiis respecting his plans, 

 and I do feel a pleasure in being able to 

 change my opinicnis, and in retracting 

 every word that I have said or wiitten 

 iigaiusr the plan in question. What- 

 ever Mr. 0\ven's religious opinions may 

 be, that is his own atTair, as tiiey are not 

 to be promulgated in the projected es- 

 lablishnient. " He is pliant in the hands 

 of his committee; full liberty is to be 

 enjoyed by every individual, whatever 

 may be their religious oi)inious. That 

 the church is considered to be in no 

 <langer, is evident by the names of the 

 Rector of St. Clement's Danes, and the 

 ilsv. Sir Samuel Clarke Jervoise, being 

 on the committee. That the dissenters 

 arc to have full libertj', by the Rev. 

 John Towusend and the Rev. Dr. 

 Collier being in tlie list. That the 

 State is not menaced, is equally evident 

 by Sirs R. Peel, W. {), De Crespigny ; 

 and W. A.Mackinnan, Matthew VVood, 

 AVilliani Williams, David Ricardo, and 

 John Smith, esqrs. M. P.'s, Iwiing among 

 the number of the supporters of the 

 plan. 



J tlu-refore perfectly agree with the 

 report of tlie coniiiiiftee, when they 

 " submit to tite public, that t!ie present 

 state of the jjoor and labouring classes 

 cannot continue, and (li'it some remedy 

 must be found ; that no plan can bo 

 cfFeciive, which lias not for its main 

 object, the creation of moral habits and 

 social feelings in thdse classes, 'i'liat none 

 have hitherto been jiroposed of which it 

 is so much theobj(H-t as the present one, 

 that tlun-e is at least a ^.ullicient prosjject 

 of the pro[»osed establisluneut succeeding 

 to warrant a tiial ; that no alteration of 

 the laws are asked for; that no evil is to 

 be appreliended, whether the coinniittee 



Monthly Ma-;. No. 351. 



are right or wrong in their anticip.-. 

 tions, but that incalculable good must 

 follow, if they are right.*' 



Under all these circumstances, I en- 

 treat my country folks to re-consider 

 the matter as I have d(me, and against 

 tlieir prejudices, place the respectability 

 of tiie committee, which, though they 

 may liave been equalled, was never in 

 any instance that I know of, surj/assed; 

 though they may have now ceased to 

 act as a committee, yei tlie scheme iR 

 not abandoned, and future ages will 

 associate the names of Howard and 

 Owen, with philanthropy, to the latest 

 ages. 

 " Should this not be carried into etYect 

 for want of funds, it will be among the 

 most genuine philanthropic experiments 

 that ever failed in i$ritaiu for v.ant of 

 money, in a country so famed for every 

 f hinvdiat is great, and good, and nob'e ; 

 fame'd for all that most attracts the ad- 

 niiration of men, a country whose ge- 

 nius and power have foi- ages been such 

 as to attract and make her views and 

 intentions, objects oF solicitude with 

 every nation and thinking individual 

 of the world, famed for her laws, for 

 arts and arms, for her struggles and her 

 triumphs over tyranny in every shape 

 that she has assumed ; and be it re- 

 membered, tliat in every case of peril , 

 and danger, the poor have always beea 

 applied to, and never in vain, to oppose 

 tlieir bodies as a bulwark against the 

 assailing foe. It is in behalf of many 

 of those who have fought and' bled m 

 our defence, that the ap^peal is made for 

 the means of trying an experiment 

 which, whatevei- it might be as a scheme 

 of natural philanthropy, would mostas- 

 suredly have the efiect of forcing infor- 

 mation on tlie minds of benevolent in- 

 dividuals, whose avocations do not ad- 

 mit of (heir studying much of agricul- 

 ture: that it is from the soil that we 

 most look for a permanent remedy for 

 the present distress, by employing the 

 peasantry thereon,and thevvliole scheme 

 would pfobablyend in inducing the land 

 owners to open their eyes to their own 

 best interest,wliic!i unrjuestioiiably is by 

 letting small patches of land, and build- 

 ing cottages on the ont-skirts of their 

 large (iirins ; encouiagiug and assisting 

 tliem to cultivate their mother earth foi 

 their own supj)ort, and thus follow the 

 laudable example of the venerable the 

 Bisho[) of Ch<;ster, (he Earl of Fortescue, 

 and that indefatigable patriot, the late 

 Earl Stanhope, aiid the Right Hon. W, 

 Huskissoh, M. P. as v.cll as those pa- 

 P triotic 



