440 - Inquiry into the Effects 
support them, almost immediately fell into 
great distress. When they found it impos- 
sible to obtain employment, it surely could not 
have been expected that, without some such 
provision as the Poor Laws, they would have 
quietly borne the severest privations, and have 
calmly observed the class above them suffer- 
ing comparatively little from the pressure of 
the times.. From this example, we may fairly 
conclude, that when any change takes place 
in one class, it must, to preserve the peace of 
society, be accompanied by a relative move- 
ment in the class above it, consisting in the 
sacrifice of property to the exigencies of the 
needy. The compulsory support given by 
our Poor Laws, at the period we have allu- 
ded to, prevented distress from extending 
to any great length, and from producing re- 
bellion. Nor, except in comparatively few 
instances, was reluctance shewn to relinquish 
relief from this source, when employment 
once more became obtainable. In Scotland 
and Ireland, the poor, under similar circum- 
stances, obtained relief by soliciting charity 
from door to door; and the sum, levied in 
this manner, probably amounted to at least as 
much in proportion, as was produced in 
England by the compulsory rate. 
It is generally admitted, that all conditions 
of society have been gradually improving for 
