1829.] AJJ'airs in General. 559 



have been glad to get rid of the whole set together ? Here, then is the 

 contrast. The papist lord punishes his tenantry for doing their duty 

 in upholding their constitution and religion : the Protestant lord 

 punishes them for doing the very contraxy to their duty. The one 

 is a case of conscience, the other of Cocker ; and so the Duke of New- 

 castle may leave it to the understandings of his countrj'nien. 



One clause of the letter says that the Duke of Norfolk retracted the 

 order. His Grace had unhappily gained his point in .spite of pro- 

 testant feeling, and he might afterwards expect to rest in perfect con- 

 tempt of anything of the kind. The Morning Journal answers the 

 clause by saj'ing that the Duke of N^ewcastle has hitherto only sent 

 mo//ce5 of ejectment. But this answer is not the one that we desire to 

 see given — ours would be practical. In every instance where the duke 

 shall be satisfied that corrupt influences have operated, he owes it not 

 merely to himself, but to his country, to put the criminal to shame. 



Some of the Irish papers, ike Warder, the Waterford Mail, Sfc, which 

 we are glad to see taking up the question, have adverted to the article 

 on the *' Protestant colonies" in our last number, and have expressed 

 same doubts as to the advantageous introduction of poor laws into Ireland. 

 Their observations deserve our respect for their manly, candid, and ju- 

 dicious tone, not less than for the general acuteness and ability of the 

 wi-iters. But we can here make only the brief answer — that poor laws, or 

 an equivalent for them, must be enacted in every state that desires to 

 avoid being overrun with riot and famine. The principle of poor 

 laws is two-fold — charity and policy. A provision must be made for 

 the aged and infirm — so far is the common dictate of benevolence. A 

 provision must be made for, the able-bodied who are willing to work 

 but can get no work to live by — so far is suggested by a feeling for the 

 public safety ; for the able-bodied, if unable to live by labour, will live 

 by rapine. In these countries men cannot be expected to lie down and 

 starve, while they can resist and rob ; and the result would be, as it 

 was before the establishment of the poor laws, that the discharged 

 labourers would march through the country in gangs, and live by riot and 

 robbery. 



So long as the convents lasted, the poor lived on the bounty of the 

 convents ; when tliey were broken up, the poor became public plun- 

 derers, and dreadful executions were necessary. It is recorded, that in 

 one year of Elizabeth's reign, no less than the appalling number of 

 twelve lumdred human beings were hanged. 



The lapse of years, and an unjudicious multiplication of statutes, has 

 clogged the natural action of the poor laws in England, but there is no 

 reason why an unclogged system might not be commenced in Ireland. 

 But with all the disadvantages of the poor laws here, they supply the 

 cheapest sustenance for pauperism known in any country of the world. 



It has been calculated, that no common beggar in England lives on 

 less than from twenty to five and twenty pounds a year, clothing and 

 lodging included. The English poor rates provide him at the rate of 

 seven pounds a year. And the rapine, the riot, and the misery which 

 would have constantly disturbed and'pained the public feeling, are thus 

 extensively avoided. 



In Ireland, the sum wrung from private charity is at least as large as 

 the poor rates would be : with this disadvantage, that it is wrung froai 

 the best part of the community, while the miser, the unfeeling, and th^ 



