1796.] 
make a wide diftinétion between the ho- 
neft laborious poor, and the diffoluce 
idle vagrant. Of the former, every man 
has enough in his own neighbourhood, 
and may, by a little enquiry and obferva- 
tion, eafily appreciate their feveral me- 
Tits, or afcertain their refpective wants. 
To fuch of thefe as may be found truly 
deferving, I would have the heart as open 
as charity herfelf can expand it. But the 
latter defcription of poor, are to be met 
with at horfe races, at the entrances to all 
places of public amufement, at the cor- 
mers of all our ftreets, dinning our ears 
with their doleful cries; fometimes ex- 
hibiting fores, diftorted limbs, &c. with 
a quantity of filth and rags, applied, 
jfecundum artem, to draw money from the 
occafional paflenger ; which, at night, is 
generally {quandered in cellars, or in 
houfes of ill fame. The one are objeéts 
of charity, the other are objeéts for the 
whipping-poft. I have made ufe of the 
term /ecundum artem, becaufe it is palpa- 
ble that the fqualid appearance of moft 
of our vagrants is voluntary. Out of 
their gains, they might drefs more clean- 
lily, if they were fo difpofed ; but this 
they apprehend would injure their trade; 
for it is indeed too general a notion, that 
poverty muft be accompanied with an 
external appearance of extreme wretch- 
ednefs. I Jay ic down, therefore, as a 
general rule. (to which, however, I ac- 
knowledge there may be a few excep- 
tions) that a perfon may appear too mi- 
ferable to be areal objeét of charity. 
That they might much meliorate their 
_ OWN appearance is certain, from a calcu- 
lation of their general receipts, two 
inftances of which have been well au- 
thenticated to me: one of a converfa- 
tion between a begg&r and a working 
- mechanic in Birmingham. The latter 
ftated, that he could ea/ily earn a guinea 
per week by his labour. The former 
_ ‘boatted that he could beg through thirty 
ftreets a-day ; that he thought ‘daz a very 
bad ftreet which would not produce him 
two-pence ; and that Sunday was always 
confidered asa double day. Here now the 
begvar, by his whining importunity, raifes 
twice the fum that the induftrious artift can 
| procure, by his labour. The other was the 
aflertion of a beggar in my own neigh- 
bourhood, “‘that if he could not make 
fourfcore pounds per annum by begging, 
he would jeave off his trade.”? What, 
fir, fhall idlenefs and yagrancy produce 
the double or treble of induftry and la- 
bour ? What an affront upon, what a 
grofs mifapplication of charity ! My mode 
Monrury Mag, No. XI, 
On the Impropriety of relieving Beggars. 
859 
therefore, is, though not my.own fug 
geftion, for it is the apoftle Paul’s, “ to 
lay by in ftore, as God hath profpered me, 
on the firft day of the week,” fuch a fum 
as I may expend in affrfting the indut- 
trious poor; and when a cafe occurs 
that requires affiftance, I always advance 
itin filver. A fhilling, beftowed on a 
fick\labourer, is certainly a much better 
direéted aét of charity, than twenty- 
four halfpence to twenty-four vagrants. 
A fatisfaction alfo arifes from reflecting, 
that, in the one inftance, a real benefit 
has been beftowed, and will probably be 
ufeful in reftoring an a€tive member to 
fociety ; which, in the other cafe, is not 
only highly problematical, but almoft ims 
polble. It may alfo be added, as a fe= 
condary confideration, that fuch a gene= 
ral procedure would confiderably tend to 
throw out of circulation a very large jum 
of bafe and counterfeit copper coin 5 
which is the chief fupport of vagrancy-. 
The value of an halfpeany, particularly 
a bad one, is fo very fmall, that it is rea= 
dily beftowed, to filence the importunity 
of a cry, if from no worthier motive. 
And thus, thoufands of ufelefs mouths 
are daily fed among us; ufelefs hands are 
confirmed in idlenefs; and fome hundred 
pounds-worth of bafe coin is kept in ctr= 
culation, to the injury of the fair trader. 
Thefe refleftions have arifen from 
hearing of a plan adopted by the young 
ladies of the firft boarding-{chool in this 
town, whofe benevolence was peepetual- 
ly folicited by improper objects; nor 
were their folicitations ufed in vain, tilf 
they became too troublefome to be longer 
borne. They, therefore, have difcarded 
their old penfioners, and have made a 
ftock purfe, to which each fubfcribes, ac- 
cording to the proportion of her weekly 
allowance, for the relief of fuch poor 
as may be well recommended to thems 
and they have lately experienced the 
heartfelt fatisfaction of liberally contrie 
buting to the relief of a poor widow in 
the neighbourhood, with five children, 
who has loft her all by fire. Whata 
charming example for imitation ! ; 
Iams fir, 
With much refpect, and beft withes, 
A ConsTAanT READERs, 
—— 
For the Movniity: 12 Arne. 
ON THE PorTRy oF SPAIN AND. 
PORTUGAL. | 
i® LavVATER hadcontemplated the pors 
trait of Lope de Vega, without now 
ing whom st reprefented, he would cere 
tainly have pronounced himan extraordie 
R 
Bhi wit 
