LABOURING POOR. 31 



as an Englifhman does ftrong beer j but he cannot go on Sa- 

 turday night to the whiflcey houfe, and drink out the week's 

 fupport of himfelf, his wife and his children, not uncommon 

 in the ale-houfe of the Englifhman. It may indeed be faid 

 that we fhould not argue againlt a mode of payment becaufe 

 it may be abufed, which is very true, but we certainly maj 

 reafon againft that which carries in its very principles the feed 

 of abufe. That the Irifhman's cow may be ill fed is admit- 

 ted, but ill fed as it is, it is better than the no cow of the Eng- 

 lijhman ; the children of the Irifh cabbin are nourifhed with 

 milk, which, fmall as the quantity may be, is far preferable 

 to the beer or vile tea which is the beverage of the EnglifK 

 infant, for no where but in a town is milk to be bought. Far- 

 ther, in a country where bread, cheefe or meat are the com- 

 mon food, it is confumed with great ceconomy, and kept 

 under lock and key where the children can have no refort ; 

 but the cafe with potatoes is different, they are in greater 

 plenty, the children help thcmfelves ; they are fcarce ever feen 

 about a cabbin without being in the at of eating them, it is 

 their employment all day long. Another circumuance not to 

 be forgotten, is the regularity of the fupply. The crop of 

 potatoes, and the milk of the cow is more regular in Ireland 

 than the price at which the Englishman buys his food. In 

 England complaints rite even to riots when the rates of provi- 

 flons are high ; but in Ireland the poor have nothing to do 

 with prices, they depend not on prices, but crops of a vege- 

 table very regular in its produce. Attend the Englifh labour- 

 er when he is in ficknefs, he muft then have refort to his fav- 

 ings, but thofe will be nought among nine-tenths of the poor 

 of a country that have a legal dependance on the parifli, which 

 therefore is the beft off, the Englifhman fupported by the pa- 

 rifh, or the Irifhman by his potatoe-bed and cow ? 



Money I am ready enough to grant has many advantages, 

 but they depend almoft entirely on the prudence with which 

 it is expended. They know little of the human mind v/ho 

 fuppofe that the poor man with his feven or eight fhillings on 

 a Saturday night has not his temptations to be imprudent as 

 well as his fuperior with as many hundreds or thoufands a year. 

 He has his alehoufe, his brandy (Hop, and (kittle ground, as 

 much as the other his ball, opera or mafquerade. Examine 

 the (late of the Englifli poor, and fee if fafts do not co-incide 

 here with theory ; do we not fee numbers of half ftarved, and 

 half cloathed families owing to the fuperfluities of ale and 

 brandy, tea and fugar. An IriiTiman cannot do this in any de- 

 gree, he can neither drink whiflcey from his potatoes, nor milk 

 it from his cow. 



But after all that can be faid on this fubjeft, the cuftom 

 of both countries is confident with their refpeftire ctrcumftan- 

 ces and fituations. When great wealth from immenfe bran- 

 ches of induftry has brought on a rapid circulation, and much of 



what 



