II.] POOR MAN'S FRIEND. 39 



the reign of James the First ; and, let it be observed,, 

 that he wrote those " law tracts" from which I am 

 about to quote, long after the present poor-laws had 

 been established. He says (Law Tracts, page 55,) 

 " The law chargeth no man with default where the 

 act is compulsory and not voluntary, and where there 

 is not consent and election ; and, therefore, if either 

 there be an impossibility for a man to do otherwise, 

 or so great a perturbation of the judgment and reason, 

 as in presumption of law a man's nature cannot over- 

 come, such necessity carrieth a privilege in itself. 

 Necessity is of three sorts : necessity of conservation 

 of life ; necessity of obedience ; and necessity of the 

 act of God or of a stranger. First, of conservation of 

 life ; if a man steal viands (victuals) to satisfy his 

 present hunger, this is no felony nor larceny" 



47. If any man want more authority, his heart 

 must be hard indeed ; he must have an uncommonly 

 anxious desire to take away by the halter the life 

 that sought to preserve itself against hunger. But, 

 after all, what need had we of any authorities? 

 What need had we even of reason upon the subject? 

 Who is there upon the face of the earth, except the 

 monsters that come from across the channel of St. 

 George ; who is there upon the face of the earth, ex- 

 cept those monsters, that have the brass, the hard 

 hearts and the brazen faces, which enable them coolly 

 to talk of the "MERIT" of the degraded creatures, 

 who, amidst an abundance of food, amidst a " super- 

 abundance of food," lie quietly down and receive the 

 extreme unction, and expire with hunger? Who, 

 upon the face of the whole earth, except these mon- 

 sters, these ruffians by way of excellence ; who, ex- 

 cept these, the most insolent and hard-hearted ruffians 

 that ever lived, will contend, or will dare to think, 

 that there ought to be any force under heaven to 

 compel a man to lie down at the door of a baker's 

 and butcher's shop, and expire with hunger! The 

 very nature of man makes him shudder at the thought. 

 There want no authorities ; no appeal to law books ; 

 no arguments ; no questions of right or wrong : that 

 17* 



