s from town to town, and subsists
on the pittance which the trades allow, so long as he journeys to the
south. His original feeling of independence has become weakened: its
main prop has been removed. The apprehension of what the denizens of our
little world may say, is frequently a powerful auxiliary to a steady and
moral course of action. This houseless man, by leaving his native
village, or his usual haunts in the crowded city, has deprived himself
of this sustaining power; and he falls, morally and socially. Another,
with less strength of body, is subdued by his privations, and receives
that relief as a sufferer from low fever or incipient consumption, which
was withheld from him while in health. All this is natural, and it is
true in point of fact. The inference is, that no able-bodied applicant
should be set to work, until it formally and clearly appears from a
statement of facts, in the relieving officer's report book, that he is
idle or drunken. In the regular order of business, the man would be
charged with the fault by the chairman, and should be allowed the
benefit of any doubt. The applicant may say, "I worked last for A. B. at
----, and I left with others when the job was finished." Let him have
relief without labour, until the fact is ascertained. And as a page is
opened to each case in the report book, the statement resulting from the
inquiry is recorded, and is either for, or against him. If he pleads for
another chance, give it him. Let the labour be regarded in all cases as
a _dernier resort_.

What work should be given? This is mainly a local question: a few
general remarks may, however, be made. Under the old system, the
out-door work done by paupers, gradually assimilated with that performed
by independent labourers, and at last became undistinguishable. It
appears to have been a practice, if a man alleged that he was unable to
support his family, to set him to work; and the parishioners were
required to employ the labour. Now, the parishioners already employed as
much labour as they required, and the individuals they preferred, and
the necessity of employing the pauper labour, had the effect of reducing
the wages of the independent labourer: he was either employed less, or
paid less. Thus the labourer, who by his industry, and the exercise of
temperance and frugality, had saved, and was therefore in a position to
weather a long and dreary winter, by the influence of this baneful
system, was reduced