e for the formation of unions as in England. The
great principle of the workhouse system is, that the support which is
afforded at the public charge there should be less desirable than that
to be obtained by independent exertion. It would be impossible to make
the lodging, clothing, and diet of the inmates of an Irish workhouse
inferior to those of the Irish peasantry, and therefore this security
would not be found for the efficiency of the workhouse-test. On the
other hand, it is to be remembered that the Irish are naturally or by
habit a migratory people, fond of change, full of hope, and eager for
experiment. They had never been tied down to one limited settlement, and
consequently confinement of any kind would be irksome, and therefore the
test of the workhouse is likely to prove fully as efficient in Ireland
as in England. With respect to the' supply of local machinery for the
execution of the law, Mr. Nicholls considered that by making the unions
sufficiently large, there would be no difficulty of obtaining boards of
guardians of competent intelligence and activity. These might, he said,
be elected by the contributors to the county cess; but Mr. Nicholls
thought that, in the first instance, large general powers should be
vested in some competent authority to control and direct the proceedings
of the board of guardians, and, where necessary, to supersede their
functions altogether. He further proposed, that the same central
authority should be empowered to dispense with the election of the
first board of guardians, and to appoint such persons as it should think
proper to act in their stead. It was further proposed, that the
number of magistrates acting officially as guardians should not exceed
one-third of the elected members of the board; and that no clergyman
or minister of any denomination should be eligible to act as ex-officio
guardian. The enactment of a provision for the destitute at the
common charge, would give the community a right to interfere with the
proceedings of individuals, so as to prevent the spread of destitution,
and enable it to guard itself from loss and damage by the negligence or
obstinacy of any of its members. With this view, it was recommended that
the central authority should appoint, or empower the board of guardians
to appoint, one or more wardens or head-boroughs for every parish, who
might superintend the affairs of the district. Assuming the general
practicability and expediency of e