SOCIETY. 



of tlieir labour, during tlie time of their health and ftrength, 

 for the eftablifhing of a fund for their relief when overtaken 

 by misfortunes. The forming of provident focietics or clubs, 

 by which, during the time the members are in health and 

 the vigour of life, they may, by fmall conftant weekly pay- 

 ments, make a fuitable provifion, from the produce of their 

 own induftry, againll the period when ficknefs, misfortune, 

 old age, or infirmity may reach them, is, he thinks, a mea- 

 fiire which, the more it is known, the more it will meet 

 with the approbation of the public. And though, by fome, 

 fiich focieties may be thought very remotely, if at all, con- 

 nected witli the fubjeft of agriculture ; to the more intel- 

 ligent, the bell means of providing for the induftrious pea- 

 fantry, whofe ' rough laborious hand' allows the wealthy 

 to live in indolence and eafe, will always be an interelting 

 fubjeft. The more fo it mull prove, as the fuggefling of 

 proper meafures for that effetl, if attended to, will infallibly 

 remove, in a great degree, the load of poor rates, which 

 hangs like a mill-done about the neck of the Englifh farmer; 

 a load which, if effectual meafures be not in a (hort time 

 adopted to remove, mult neceffarily be attended with con- 

 fequences of the moll alarming nature, as its weight is in- 

 creafing with fuch rapidity, that in a few years it mull be- 

 come altogether infupportable. 



And it has been well remarked by Dr. Anderfon, that 

 friendly focieties, voluntarily entered into by the induftrious 

 [loor, have relieved many a worthy charadter in the time of 

 t!i,-ir ficknefs, infirmities, misfortunes, and old age, in a 

 more umple and comfortable manner than they would have 

 been provided for by the parilh levies. Why, he alks, may 

 not all the poorer fort in tiieir youth be compelled to pro- 

 ■- :.Ie, out of their induftry, for their old age and infirmities? 

 A\'hy may not the poor of every parifh be by law created 

 into friendly focieties ? Suppofe the mafler of every fervant 

 and labourer was obliged to retain, out of the wages of 

 each, three-pence a- week, and pay the fame in the refpec- 

 tive names of fuch fervants and labourers into the parifh 

 flock. When a fervant or labourer removes from one parilh 

 to another, he might be entitled to a certificate from the 

 parifli he leaves, where he has drawn no pay ot the amount 

 of the fum total he has contributed ; and when he has gained 

 a fettlement in another parifh, that parifh might be entitled 

 to draw on the firll for tlie money the pauper has paid ; fo 

 that every man may draw his fortune after him, which may 

 prevent many a litigation refpeciing the fettlement of the 

 poor, and be a great fpur to induflry. 



In the rural economy of the well of England, it has been 

 ftated by Mr. Mariltall, that feveral of thefe valuable infli- 

 tutions have exifled in Devondiire for about thirty years ; 

 and that their good effects are fo evident, that the encou- 

 ragement of them ought to become a national objeCl of the 

 firll magnitude ; not more with a view to leflen the prefent 

 heavy burdens of tlie poor rates, than to inllil into the 

 lower clafles of fociety a principle of frugality, and a fenfe 

 of focial duties, which thefe meetings, under fuitable regu- 

 lations, cannot fail of producing. 



The following is the plan laid down by Mr. Pew, who 

 has paid much attention to the fubject, and who ob- 

 ferves, that if the colleftion of a fmall but voluntary tax 

 upon the fober and indultrious citizen, for his own ufe wlicn 

 in dillrefs, be in fome degree benulicial, he conceives that 

 the colleftion of a ftill fmaller, though compulfory, tax 

 upon all ranks of men, the idle, the improvident, and the 

 irrcfolute, as well as the indullrious citizen, for the fame 

 purpofe, would be a meafurc as much more beneficial as it 

 is more extcnlive. This he conceives to be capable of 

 being effeCled iii this way. i. That a proper ofBccr be 



appointed for fuch an extent of didrifl as he may be fup- 

 pofed conveniently to fuperintend, to take a lift of the 

 names and places of abode of all males and females above 

 the age of feventeen years, in the fame manner as the lift is 

 made out for the militia. 2. That every fuch male pay 

 two-pence per week, and every fuch female three farthings 

 or one penny per week, into the hands of the above officer, 

 for the purpofes hereafter to be fpecified. a. That the 

 above officer fhall be empowered to furnifh employment for 

 all fuch as are wilhng to work, and who cannot rind it for 

 themfelves. Whether this officer fhnuld be chofen annually 

 in rotation, after the maimer of an overfeer, or whether he 

 fhould be a permanent officer upon an adequate falary, will 

 be a matter of future confidcration ; but if the latter, he 

 fhould be paid by the community and not out of the fund. 

 4. That all the poor being thus fore of em.ployment, the 

 mailer or miflrefs for whom they work fhould be juflilied in 

 retaining thefe fums refpeftively out of their wages ; and 

 whether they do fo or not, they fhould (in default of the 

 individual) be anfwerable to the officer for its payment. 

 All mailers and miflrefl'cs of families fhould in like manner 

 be anfwerable for their fervants ; and all keepers of lodg- 

 ings,' &c. for their inmates. 5. That thefe fums fhould be 

 carried weekly to the general treafurer of the diviflon, who 

 fhould give fufficient fecurity for the fame. 6. That out 

 of this fund every male who is really incapable of labour, 

 Ihould {by virtue of a certificate from the above officer) have 

 a right to demand from the treafurer five fhillings per week 

 for the firfl fix months, fhould his illnefs lall fo long, and 

 four fhillings ^;r week after that period, until he again be- 

 come capable of labour. And that every female fhould 

 have a right to demand two fhillings and fix-pence /xr week 

 for the firll fix months, and afterwards two fhillings per 

 week, until (he be again able to work : Ihe fhould alfo be 

 entitled to four weeks full pay at every lying-in. Every 

 male above the age of fixty-rive years, whether capable of 

 labour or not, fhould be entitled to four fhillings ^rr week 

 during life. Every female, after the fame age, two fhil- 

 lings. 7. Any perfon having three children under nine 

 years of age, fhould be entitled to one fhilling and fix-pence 

 per week, until the cldefl fhould have attained the age of 

 nine years ; and if he has more than three under that age, 

 he fhould be entitled to one fhilling and fix-pence ^vr week 

 for each above tiiat number ; and if any one or more of his 

 children fhould happen to be idiotic, inlane, or othcrwife fo 

 far difabled, either in body or mind, as to be utterly in- 

 capable of labour, each of them fhould flill be confidercd 

 as under the age of nine years, and paid for accordingly. 



If a mother fhould be left a widon-, with three children 

 under nine years of age, fhe fhould be entitled to receive 

 five fliilliiigs ; if with two children, three fhillings ; and if 

 with one child, one fhilling and fix-pence /i.-r week ; if with 

 more than three under that age, one lliilling per week for 

 each above that number ; it being admitted that all her time 

 is taken up bv three, and allowance made for it, but that 

 Ihe is capable of looking after, and taking care of, a greater 

 number. The wives of men ierving in the militia, and in 

 tlie army or navy, fhould, during tlie abfence of llieir huf- 

 bands, be confidered and provided for in all lefpeds as 

 widows. 



If a child fllould be left an orphan, under nine years of 

 age, two fhillings per week fltould be allowed from the fund 

 for its maintenance ; if more than one of the fame family, 

 one fhilling and fix-pence per week for each above that 

 number. As there is probably no lefs frieiidlliip amongfl 

 tlie lower than amongfl the higher orders of lociety, it 

 would generally happen that fome friend or relation of the 



dcceafed 



