APPENDIX. 457 



but were occasioned solely by the avarice and injustice of 

 the higher classes of society. 



On the contrary, if 1 firmly believed that by the laws of 

 nature, which are the laws of God, I had no claim of right 

 to support, I sliould, in the first place, feel myself more 

 strongly bound to a life of industry and frugality; but if 

 want, notwithstanding, came upon me, 1 should consider it 

 in the light of sickness, as an evil incidental to my present 

 state of being, and which, if I could not avoid, it was my 

 duty to bear with fortitude and resignation. 1 should know 

 from past experience, that the best title I could have to the 

 assistance of the benevolent would be, the not having 

 brought myself into distress by my own idleness or extrava- 

 gance. What 1 received would have the best effect on my 

 feelings towards the higher classes. Even if it were much 

 inferior to what 1 had been accustomed to, it would still, 

 instead of an injury, be on obligation; and conscious that I 

 had no claim of r/gfif, nothing but the dread of absolute 

 famine, which might overcome all other considerations, could 

 palliate the guilt of resistance. 



I cannot help believing that, if the poor in this country 

 were convinced that they had no claim of right to support, 

 and yet in scarcities and all cases of urgent distress were 

 liberally relieved, which I think they would be; the bond, 

 Mhich unites the rich with the poor, would be drawn much 

 closer than at present; and the lower cfasses of society, as 

 they would have less real reason for irritation and discon- 

 tent, would be much less subject to these uneasy sensations. 

 Among those who have objected to my declaration, that 

 the poor have no claim oi right to support, is Mr. Young, 

 who, with a harshness not quite becoming a candid inquirer 

 after truth, has called my proposal for the gradual alJolition 

 of the poor-laws a horrible plan, and asserted that the exe- 

 cution of it would be a most iniquitous proceeding. Let 

 this plan however be compared for a moment with that 

 which he himself and others have proposed, of fixing the 

 sum of the poor's rates, which on no account is to be hi- 

 creased. Under such a law, if the distresses of the poor 

 were to be a2:sravated tenfold, either bv the increase of 

 numbers or the recurrence of a scarcity, tlie same sum 

 would invariably be appropriated to their relief. If the 

 statute which gives the poor a right to support were to 

 remain unexpunged, we should add to the cruelty of starving 



