119 
each. They are all out-penfioners, as 
the parifh is not provided with a poor- 
houfe. It certainly would be prudent, as 
well as humane, to afford timely affiftance 
to thofe who are likely to become neceffi- 
teus, and thus,’ perhaps, prevent their 
being very burthenfome to the parifh; 
for it is too often experienced, that many 
of thofe who are accuftomed to a regular 
fupply, become idle and improvident : by 
Jofing their fenfe of independence, they 
alfo lofe their regard to charagter. The 
manner of fupporting the poor in England 
does not appear to check, much lefs to 
prevent and eradicate, the evils complain- 
_ed of in every parifh, When the cele- 
brated Count Rumford undertook to fweep 
away the wh: le mendicant tribe from the 
ftreets of Munich, which, to the great 
difgrace of the police, and the difcredit of 
the government, abounded with thefe poor 
and miferable wretches, he ‘* had houles 
of indultry opened, work and employ- 
ment found, and wholefome and plentiful 
viands prepared for them. In fhort, by 
the eftablifhment of moft excellent prac- 
tical regulations, the author of this ad- 
mirabie fcheme fo far overcame prejudice, 
habit, and attachment, that thefe hereto- 
fore miferable objects began to cherifh the 
idea of independence, to imbibe the no- 
tion of obtaining an honeft livelihood by 
the exertion of a competent portion of la- 
bour, to prefer induftry to idlenefs, and 
decency to filth, rags, and the {qualidnefs 
dependent on beggary.”"* Some regula- 
tions of the fame nature are certainly 
highly requifite in many parts of Eng- 
land. And when a {mall affitance, fea- 
fonably adminiftered, will enable a poor 
man to continue his occupation, to earn 
his bread, and to maintain his family for 
many yeats; how imprudent and inhuman 
“to withhold the kind relief,”> and to 
fuffer him to tink into extreme poverty 
and wretchednefs ! 
According to the late Dr. Burn, this 
parifh, in 1777, conlifted of 360 families, 
all of which, excepting a family of Qua- 
kers, were of ‘the Church of England. 
he number of inhabitants at picfent 
amounts to 1230, infomuch that it would 
appear they are d.miniihed fince the writ- 
ing of Dr. Burn’s Hiftory. © They are all, 
excepting a very few, of the eftablifhed 
church, and come five, fix, or feven miles, 
' every Sunday, to attend divine worthip. Ir 
mutt, however, be remarked, tha: many 
of them go to the church merely for the 
* Vide Public Charaéters of 1801-1302, page 
321. 
Statiftical Account of the Parifh of Orton. 
{ March 1, 
purpofe of having an opportunity of pur~ 
chafing goods at the fhops, and of drink- 
ing in the alehoufes; and when the late 
Dr. Burn was requefted by his diocefan 
to prevent thefe indecent and immoral 
practices, he replied, that «if he hin- 
dered his parifhioners from reforting to 
the inns, and buying and feilimg on Sun- 
days, he fhould foon have no hearers at the 
place of worfhip!’”. There are a few Me- 
thodifis, who have their itinerant preach- 
ers, and who, according to Mr. Wilfon, 
though they confader the reft. of mankind 
as impious and profane, agree with them 
“Cin Jaying up treafures upon earth,” 
and, like the Pharifees of old, ‘* Arain at 
a gnat and {wallow a camel.” 
This parith is divided into five town- 
fhips or manors—Orton, Raifbeck, Lang- 
dale, Tebay, and Bretherdale. Orton is the 
principal place, and is fituated ten miles 
trom Appleby, thirteen from Kendal, and 
two north of theriver Lune. It contains 
fixty houfes, which are built in an irre- 
gular manner, and covered with blue flate. 
Adjoining to Orton is the feat of the late 
John Burn, efq. which is a regular ftoue 
building, confilting of a neat front, and 
two circular wings. ‘The windows of 
this edifice are very large, and adorned 
with columns of the Ionic order. The 
portico is partly after the Venetian man- 
ner, and the entablature has a good effect. 
The building faces the weft, in the front 
of which is a garden, that is laid out ina 
good form, and, during the life of its late 
owner, was kept in excellent order. In 
the middle of the garden is a circular 
piece of ground, about thirty yards in 
diameter, which ferves occafionally for a 
bowling-green, Orton has a weekly mar- 
ket on Fridays, and three annnal fairs for 
cattle. The number of its inhabitants 
amounts to about 300. 
Ratfbeck is fituated about two miles. 
eaft from Orton, and contains eleven 
houles, and between fifty and fixty inha- 
bitants. Langdale ftands on the fourth 
fide of the river Lune, has eight houfes, 
and thirty-four inhabitants. Tebay, which 
is the largeft village in the parifh, exe 
cepting Orton, is feated on a bay of the 
Lune, whofe waters form a halt-circle 
round it; and contains fixteen houfes, and 
about fixty-four inhabitants. Befides 
thefe, which are the principal villages in. 
the parith, there are a number of {maHer 
places fiiwated in different parts of the 
diftridt. ; 
There are five inns, four of which are 
im the village of Orton. ‘The public 
roads, “though - extending nearly © thirty 
mies 
