30 



On the Location 



exclude them from the privilege of 

 their birth-right, to earn their bread 

 by tiie sweat of their brow, is to fetter 

 them with chains more ignominious 

 than those of the most galling slavery. 

 Give tlie poor employment, they will 

 be industrious ; make them industri- 

 ous, and they will progressively be- 

 come wise, virtuous, and happy. 

 1'hese are axioms infallible as the 

 principles of human nature on which 

 tliey are founded ; therefore, in every 

 plan for ameliorating the condition of 

 the poor, the first object is to aflord 

 them employment ; tiie second, to per- 

 mit them to enjoy with immunity the 

 privileges and advantages resulting 

 •from free and independent labour. 



These are the primary principles on 

 which the basis of legislation for the 

 poor should be founded. CoTnpulsory 

 labour can never be attended with the 

 advantages to the individual, and be- 

 neficial results to society, of free and 

 independent labour. To give energy 

 to action, moral incitement must be 

 produced ; and the production of suit- 

 able and eflicient motives to moral 

 action, in the lower orders of societj', 

 must result from the wisdom, know- 

 ledge, and practical observations, of 

 legislators, who, influenced by those 

 patriotic and ennobling feelings that 

 characterize the pliilanthropistand the 

 Christian philosopher, endeavour to 

 eradicate the germ of vice, by pro- 

 ducing those incitements to moral 

 action, in bosoms chilled by the depri- 

 vations of penury, that shall at once 

 inspire a love of active exertion, and 

 a desire of moral indeiiendence. These 

 ennobling feelings might be excited 

 throughout the country, by the adop- 

 tion of a plan similar to the one sug- 

 gested by the author of " Sketch of a 

 Plan for Suppressing Mendicity, and 

 Abolishing the present System of Pa- 

 rochial Taxation;" the perusal of which 

 has excited these reflections in the 

 mind of A. Y. L. 



Fm- the Monthbi Mogazine. 

 THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTEM- 

 PORARY CRITICISM. 



NO. XXVII. 



y/*e Quarterly Review, No. 54. Octo- 

 ber 1822. 

 WITH inconsiderable exceptions, 

 the Number of this publication 

 now under our notice exhibits little of 

 that envenomed party-spirit, which is 

 too often its predominating and worst 

 characteristic. The greater part of 



of the Poor. [Feb. J, 



its contents is devoted to subjects of 

 general literary interest, and may be 

 perused by persons of hostile opinions 

 with equal pleasure and advantage, 

 and with a common sentiment of re- 

 spect for the talents evinced in many 

 of its articles. 



The first of these is a disquisition 

 upon the early period of the Roman 

 history, which is conceived in a spirit 

 of stubborn scepticism, very allowable 

 in matters of heathen record. Yet it 

 is no slight shock to us, — who have 

 placed our faith in Romulus and Re- 

 mus, who have held Numa in venera- 

 tion, who have numbered the Horatii 

 amongst tiie bravest of the brave, and 

 taken for granted tiie chaste self de- 

 votion of Lucretia, — to be told by this 

 wary critic, that these are nothing 

 more than the creations of classical 

 romance-writers, and that the facts, 

 from which our philosophers and poli- 

 tical economists have drawn their 

 practical inferences, have never exist- 

 ed but in our misguided fancies. 

 Mucii sagacity and learning are dis- 

 played by the reviewer in pointing out 

 the contradictory and improbable 

 statements of the Roman histories ; 

 and in the accounts of these early 

 times, which are derived from legends 

 and tradition, a wide field must neces- 

 sarily lie open for objections of this 

 nature. It is well too, we freely ad- 

 niit, to receive with extreme caution 

 the facts thus loosely handed down to us; 

 but when we recollect, that the period 

 from the foundation of the city to the 

 age of Cicsar did not exceed seven 

 centuries, during a great part of 

 which the state had enjoyed a high 

 degree of civilization, we think it not 

 at all unreasonable to assume, that the 

 leading incidents of the remoter Ro- 

 man history are substantially founded 

 upon facts, to which imagination may 

 perhaps have added as much as the 

 hand of time has taken away. To 

 treat the whole as mere fable, unde- 

 serving of serious study or reflection, 

 is, we are sure, carrying the scruple 

 too far; and is rather demonstrative of 

 the partiality of a critic, who would 

 prove a favourite paradox from his 

 books, than of the coolness of a philo- 

 sopher, who would weigh probabilities 

 as well as authorities. Yet there is 

 much ingenious argument in this pa- 

 per, and abundant materials are sup- 

 plied for consideration. 



The opinion pronounced on tho 



work of Mr. Bankes, the Civil and 



Constitutional 



