4797+) 
comparifon of the kind of food confumed 
by the poor formerly and at prefent, will 
furnith a complete refutation of Sir Fre- 
_deric’s opinion, that the poor are in a 
ftate of improvement with refpeét to 
their accommodation ; we, neverthelefs, 
admit that the nation is under great obli- 
gation to this public-fpirited citizen, for 
the pains which he has taken to collect a 
valt mafs of faéts refpeéting the domeftic 
economy of the poor, the plans from 
time to time propofed and adopted for 
their relief, the management of work- 
houfes, the ftate of friendly focieties, and 
other fimilar fubjeéts ; and we anticipate 
with pleafure the period, we truft not 
far dittant, when the faéts accumulated 
in this and other philanthropic publica- 
tions, will imprefs upon the public mind 
an irrefiftible conviction of the necetlity 
of abolifhing monopolies, and of fuper- 
feding the ufe.of poor laws, by fecuring 
to the labourer the fair reward of his 
induftry, and an equitable portion of the 
national wealth. Although Mr. Pict’s 
bill for the maintenance of the poor 
is generally difapproved, it has had its 
ufe in keeping the public attention awake 
to this important object, and in giving 
birth to feveral ingenious publications, 
among which are Mr-BeLsHam’s keen, 
but fenfible “* Remarks’? on the bill ; 
Mr. Woovn’s temperate “ Letter to Sir 
V& Pulteney ;” Mr. Hew Lett’s ju- 
dicious ‘** Examination ;’ and ** An Ab- 
ftraét of the Bill, by a Committee of the 
Parifhes of St. Giles’s and St. George’s,”’ 
drawn up by fome well-informed writer, 
to prove that the bill, if carried intoa 
a law, would be attended with ruinous 
confequences. Other projects for the 
relief of the poor may be feenin Mr. 
SaERER’s * Remarks on the Prefent 
State of the Poor;”’ in Mr. JONEs’s 
«« Prevention of Poverty by Beneficial 
Clubs ;” and in Mr. Huwnvt’s “ Pro- 
vifion for the Poor.” 
In the prefent alarming ftate of pub- 
lic affairs, it was not to be expecied that 
our political economifts would be fo per- 
_.feétly -difinterefted as to dire& their 
whole attention to the amelioration of 
the ftate of the poor.- The fecurity of 
national and private wealth againft the 
ruinous attacks of minifterial prodigali- 
ty, has been the laudable object of fome 
publications, which have contributed 
much towards awakening the nation from 
its lethargy. Of thefe the principal are, 
Lord LAupERDALE’s “ Thoughts on 
.Pinance,’ and Mr. MorGan’s * Ap- 
Political Economy. 
35 
peal to the People of Great-Britain, on 
the alarming State of the Public_Fi- 
nances and of Public Credit ;” the objeé& 
of both thefe publications is nearly the 
fame; they both contain clear, and we 
have no doubr; accurate ftatements, tend - 
ing to lay open the indifcreet profufion 
of minifters tm the management of the 
prefent war, and to evince the neceflity 
of a fpeedy change of men and of mea- 
fures. In oppofition to the ftrong facts, 
and the clear reafoning, of thefe pam- 
phlets, nothing has appeared, which 
can deferve the name of a reply. Mr. 
DaNIEL WAKEFIELD’s “ Obfervations 
on the Credit and Finances of Great- 
Britain,” will hardly be thought, by 
well-informed readers, to merit that ap- 
pellation. Mr. Pore, by his declama- 
tory and unfatisfaciory publications, 
“« Scarcity of Specie no Ground of 
Alarm,” and “ Anfwer to Paine’s De- 
cline and Fall,” &c. will nct, we appre- 
hend, be able to footh the ‘public into a 
belief of its rapidly-adyancing profpe- 
rity. We donot expect, that an effec. 
tual:cure for the wound which public 
credit has received, will be foundin Mr. 
BRANbD’s elaborate, but unfubftantial, 
*‘Confiderations on the Depreffion of 
the Funds ;”’ in Sir JoHN SINCLAIR’s 
‘Letters to the Direétors and Gover- 
nors or the Bank of England,” or in’ 
Mr. Woon’s “ Plan for the Payment of 
the National Debt ;”’ much lefs in the 
wild projeéts of Dr. TaTHAM, who, in 
his ‘*Second Letter to Mr. Pitt,” pro- 
pofes a national bank and national infur- 
ance, ‘‘ to increafe the influence of the 
crown.” Thofe probable means of fay- 
ing the nation are pointed out in a man] 
pamphlet, concifely and energetically 
written, by Capt. Burney, entitled, 
‘‘ Meaiures recommended for fupporting 
Public Credit.”—A very judicious dif 
cuffion of the fubject of paper-currency 
will be fousd in a pamphlet, entitled, 
“A New Circulating Medium.’ The 
internal advantage of the country is 
confulted in’ Mr. Fuiton’s judicious 
“< Treatafe on the Improvement of Ca- 
nal Navigation,” containing many de- 
{criptions of machines. and hints of pians,. 
which may be very ufeful in undertak- 
ings of this kind; its external defence 
is the objeét of Mr.WrL1L1aMs’s ingeni- 
ous ‘‘Efiay on Invafions,and the Defence 
of the Coaft ;”’ of Capt. BURNEY’s tem- | 
perate and fenfible pamphlet, entitled, 
(« A Plan of Defence again{t Invafion ;” 
and Capt. Neviiue’s ufeful manual, 
F Z 86 “On 


