392 Different Plans of improving the Bk. iv. 



. of nations are, after all, onl^' desirable as they 

 contribute to happiness. In this point of view, I 

 should be very far from undervaluing them, consi- 

 dering them, in general, as absolutely necessary 

 means to attain the end ; but if any particular 

 case should occur, where they appear to be in 

 direct opposition to each other, we cannot ra- 

 tionally doubt which ought to be preferred. 



opinion of the happiness of the common people in Ireland than 1 

 have. In his Irish Tour he seemed much struck with the plenty of 

 potatoes which they possessed, and the absence of all apprehension 

 of want. Had he travelled in 1 800 and 1 80 1 , his impressions would 

 by all accounts have been very different. From the facility which has 

 hitherto prevailed in Ireland of procuring potatoe-grounds, scaix-i- 

 ties have certainly been rare, and all the effects of the system have 

 not yet been felt, though certainly enough to make it appear very 

 far from desirable. 



Mr. Young has since pursued his idea more in detail, in a 

 pamphlet entitled. An Inquiry into the Propriety of applying Wastes 

 to the better Maintenance and Support of the Poor. But the im- 

 pression on my mind is still the same ; and it appears to be calcu- 

 lated to assimilate the condition of the labourers of this countiy to 

 that of the lower classes of the Irish. Mr. Young seems, in a most 

 unaccountable manner, to have forgotten all his general principles 

 on this subject. He has treated the question of a provision for the 

 poor, as if it was merely, How to provide in the cheapest and best 

 manner for a given number of people. If this had been the sole 

 question, it would never have taken so many hundred yeai's to re- 

 solve. But the real question is. How to provide for those who are 

 in want, in such a manner as to prevent a continual accumulation 

 of their numbers ? and it will readily occur to the reader, that a 

 plan of giving them land and cows cannot promise much success 

 in this respect. If, after all the commons had been divided, the 

 poor-laws were still to continue in force, no good reason can be 

 assigned why the rates should not in a few years be as high as they 

 are at present, independently of all that had been expended in the 

 purchase of laud and stock. 



