I.] POOR MAN'S FRIEND. 13 



then the society itself, in so far as that wretched 

 person was concerned, ceased to have a legal existence. 

 It had, as far as related to him, forfeited its character 

 of legality. It had no longer any claim to his sub- 

 mission to its laws. His rights of nature returned : 

 as far as related to him, the law of nature revived in 

 all its force : that state of things in which all men en- 

 joyed all things in common was revived with regard 

 to him ; and he took, and he had a right to take, food 

 and raiment, or, as Blackstone expresses it, " a supply 

 sufficient for all the necessities of life." For, if it be 

 true, as laid down by this English lawyer, that the 

 principles of society ; if it be true, that the very prin- 

 ciples, or foundations of society dictate, that the des- 

 titute person shall have a legal demand for a supply 

 from the rich, sufficient for all the necessities of life ; if 

 this be true, and true it certainly is, it follows of course 

 that the principles, that is, the base, or foundation^ of 

 society, is subverted, is gone ; and that society is, in 

 fact, no longer what it was intended to be, when the 

 indigent, when the person in a state of extreme neces- 

 sity, cannot, at once, obtain from the rich such suffi 

 cient supply : in short, we need go no further than 

 this passage of BLACKSTONE, to show, that civil society 

 is subverted, and that there is, in fact, nothing legiti- 

 mate in it, when the destitute and wretched have no 

 certain and legal resource. 



13. But this is so important a matter, and there 

 have been such monstrous doctrines and projects put 

 forth by MALTHUS, by the EDINBURGH REVIEWERS, by 

 LAWYER SCARLETT, by LAWYER NOLAN, by STURGES 

 BOURNE, and by an innumerable swarm of persons who 

 have been giving before the House of Commons what 

 they call "evidence:" there have been such monstrous 

 doctrines and projects put forward by these and other 

 persons ; and there seems to be such a lurking desire 

 to carry the hostility to the working classes still further, 

 that I think it necessary in order to show, that these 

 English poor-laws, which have been so much calum- 

 niated by so many greedy proprietors of land ; I think 

 it necessary to show, that these poor-laws are the 



