1752. Abstract of the Poor CHILDRENS BILL.

and divide their county or riding into fo
many districts as they fhall think proper,
fuch divifion to be tranfmitted by the
clerk of the peace to the privy council,
to be approved or altered at their difcre-
tion and every parish to be deemed
within that diftrict, where the parish
church, or greatest part of the lands of A
any extra-parochial place lies.

2. That within each district there shall be a corporation, confifting of the juftices of the peace refiding therein; and of

perfons inhabiting within the fame, and having at leaft a freehold or copyhold eftate for life, or an estate for years determinable on one or more life or lives, of the clear value of

over

B

and above all incumberances, to be chofen
thus: That the juftices for each county
or riding fhall direct the constables, or
other proper officers, to return upon oath
lifts of all fuch perfons: That the clerk
of the peace hall write the name, additi-
on, and place of abode of every person
fo returned, on diftinct pieces of parch- C
ment or paper, of equal fize and colour,
to be rolled up feparately, in the fame
manner, and put into a box or glafs :
That from this box or glass, fome indif-
ferent perfon fhall in open court draw
of the faid paper or
parchment rolls, one after the other, and
the name upon each to be read aloud,
That the justices of the peace fhall take
thereof; and that
perfons, whose

out

out any

the remaining
names shall be fo drawn, fhall, together
with the justices refiding within fuch dif-
trict, be the first guardians of the poor
for that district, and shall so continue un-
til
and until others be chofen in

D

their room; which faid
perfons, E
together with the faid juftices, fhall be,
and be called, guardians of the poor for
that diftrict, which fhall take its name
from the parish or place where the house
of industry herein aftermentioned shall
be fituated.

3. That to the end these guardians may
have perpetual fucceffion, all conftables
and other proper officers, in their refpec- F
tive counties and ridings, fhall at the
quarter feffion, which shall be
in the year,
and at every.
quarter feffion after, return upon oath as
before, the clerk of the peace to do as be-
fore, and
of the faid rolls to be
drawn as before; and the juftices then
prefent to chufe out of the names fo drawn
perfons to fucceed

of the former guardians for the fame, who fhall go out of their offices in manner hereafter limited; that is to fay, thofe of the first drawn guardians at May, 1752,

the

in the year.
offices on the

221

quarter feffion which fhall be

afterwards thofe

fhall go out of their

day of

and

which have been

longest guardians shall go out of their of
fices on the
in every fucceeding
year; and fuch perfons fhall not be ca-
pable of being elected again till after the
expiration of
And if any of

the faid guardians fhall refufe to act, fhall
die, or fhall remove out of the district,
the justices at their next general quarter
feffion, fhall chufe out of the lifts last re-
turned, another or others in his or their
room. And if any guardian chofen fhall
neglect to give notice to the clerk of the
peace of his acceptance within

after his having had due notice thereof
(which under a penalty the conftable is
within
required to give) it shall

any perfon fhall give the
or fecure, to be paid year-,

for

be deemed a refufal,
4. That if
fum of
ly, the fum of
years,
for the ufe of the poor of any district, he
shall be one of the guardians for that dif-
trict, and continue for the space of
and fo in proportion for any

greater fum.

5. That the perfons thus appointed guardians for every district shall be a corporation, with all the powers ufually given to corporations; but their by-laws to be approved of by the juftices of affize, or one of them, coming into that county.

6. That no fuch corporation fhall take or hold lands, tenements, or hereditaments, except as after mentioned.

7. That every fuch corporation may chufe a perfon for their treasurer, having a year in lands, tenements, or hereditaments, in fee fimple, who fall give fecurity, and be removable at difcretion, and take by way of salary or retain what they think reafonable, not exceeding in the pound; and that they fhall from time to time appoint fuch other officers and fervants, with fuch falaries or wages as they fhall think fit, all removable at pleafure.

8. That every fuch corporation shall within or as foon after as may be, enter into contracts for the purchase, in fee fimple, of lands, for the use of the corporation, not exceeding acres, with or without buildings thereon, lying within, and as near as may be to the cen-Gter of their district, and upon or near fome wafte, which they fhall judge mcft convenient for placing the house of induf. try aftermentioned, fo as that the price do not exceed years purchase of

the true annual value..

Abstract of the Poor CHILDRENS BILL.

9. That every fuch corporation fhall within next after build C caufe to be altered, fitted mp, and repaired, in a plain and durable manner, on the land fo purchased, fuch houfe, and other convenient buildings, as they fhall judge neceffary, for lodging and employAng, at leaft of the poor of fach district, which fhall be called the house of industry of that parish where the house and lands, or the greatest part, thereof fhall be.

14. The churchwardens and overfeers of the poor fhall have the fame powers for levying the moneys fo proportioned, as they now have for the poors rates; and fhall within pay the fame to the

Acorporation's treasurer.

G

1752. Curious Extracts from VOLTAIRE.

r8. That it fhall be lawful for the guardians to detain in the service of their corporation fuch poor children, until their refpective ages of years; or with the affent of juftices in or near the diftrict, to bind them out apprentices until their ages, the man child of years, and the woman child of years, or the time of her marriage.

19. That the act fhall not extend to cities or corporations, unless they defire it fhould; nor to work-houfes erected in any cities or towns by particular acts of parliament; nor to parishes, where houses of industry are now, or fhall within months be erected, whilft

used as fuch.

20. That the guardians may, upon any reafonable caufe, difcharge any poor perfon; and that they fhall, upon application from any perfon wanting a fervant, discharge any poor child, on fuch person's contracting to hire fuch child at reafonable wages, for

And that

A

B

pon any perfon's wanting a number of C uch children for a fhort time, as in harveft, or fuch like, they fhall let out the number required, on a contract for their labour and maintenance, at fuch rates as fhall be reasonable.

21. Fines and forfeitures for offences .committed within any district, where the whole or any part is for the poor, shall be paid to the treasurer of the district.

22. Any constable or parochial officer within London or Westminster, or miles of the fame, may take up and fecure any child or children begging, or going about with any perfon begging, and appearing to be under the age of

2

223

gle man; and he begins with obferving, that all ages have produced heroes and politicians, every people have undergone revolutions, all histories are nearly the fame for thofe who think of nothing but treasuring up facts in their memory; but as to thofe that have reflection, and which is ftill lefs common, those who have a tafte, they reckon but four ages in the hiftory of the world. The firft of thefe was that of Philip and Alexander, or that of Pericles, Demofthenes, Ariftotle, Plato, Apelles, Phidias, Praxiteles; and this honour was confined within the narrow limits of Greece; the rest of the world were Barbarians.

The fecond was that of Julius and Auguftus Cæfar, made ftill more famous by the names of Lucretius, Cicero, Titus Livius, Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Varro, and Vitruvius.

The third was that which followed the taking of Conftantinople by Mahomet 11. when the world faw that done by a family of private citizens, which ought to have been undertaken by the monarchs of Europe. The family of Medicis invited to Florence the arts, which the Turks had hunted out of Greece: This was the time of Italy's glory. All the fciences affumed a new life: The Italians honoured them with the name of Virtue, as the old Grecians had characterifed them Ꭰ by the name of Wilder: Every thing tended towards perfection: The Michael Angelo's, the Raphaels, the Titians, the Taffo's, the Arioflo's flourished: Engraving was invented: The beautiful architecture made again its appearance, even more admirable than in Rome triumphant; and the Gothick barbarity, which every way disfigured Europe, was banined Italy, to make room for a good taste of all kinds.

and place fuch children in any work-house,
to be there detained until they attain, or E
by inspection may be fuppofed to have
attained, the age of
, during
which time they may be fet to work, and
may be corrected for misbehaviour.

Thefe are the most material clauses;
and then in order to raife money for the
purchafe of lands, and providing houfes
of industry, there follow a great many
claufes, in the ufual form, for ettablishing
a lottery, out of the prizes of which
per cent. is to be deducted
for this purpose; and the moucy fo to be
deducted is to be diftributed by directions
from the treasury, not exceeding the fum
of
for any one diftrist, or the
for any one county.

fum of

F

G

The arts, always transplanted from Greece to Italy, found themselves in a favourable foil, where they immediately took root, and fructified apace. France, England, Germany, Spain, endeavoured in their turn to have fome of the fruit;

but they either did not take root in those

climates, or they degenerated too foon.

Francis I. gave encouragement to learned men; but they were fuch as were only learned: He had architects; but he had neither a Michael Angelo, nor a Palladio: He in vain endeavoured to fet up fchools for painting: The Italians he brought to France made to French Eleves. Some epigrams and fome licentious ballads made up the whole of our poetry: Rablais was our only fashionable book in profe at the court of Henry II.

In

224

Curious Extracts from VOLTAIRE.

In a word, the Italians alone had the whole, if you except musick, which was then but in its infancy, and experimental philofophy, which was every where equally known,

Laftly, The fourth age is that we call the age of Lewis XIV, and is, perhaps, that which approaches nearest to perfec- A tion: Enriched by the difcoveries of the three former, it has done more in fome kinds than all the three put together. All the arts, it is true, have not been pushed farther than under the Medicis, under Auguftus and Alexander; but the human mind in general is become more perfect. True philofophy was unknown before this age; and one may truly fay, that to be- B -gin from the last years of cardinal Richlieu, to thofe which enfued after the death of Lewis XIV. there has happened with refpect to our arts, our minds, and our manners, as well as to our government, a general revolution, which will ferve as an eternal mark of true glory to our native country. This happy influence did not C confine itself to France alone: It extended itself to England; and excited an emulation which that ingenious and fagacious nation ftood then in need of. It carried tafte into Germany; the fciences into Mufcovy. It even re-animated Italy, which began to languish; and Europe owes its politeness to the court of Lewis XIV." The author then gives a fort of critical D

account of the ftate of France, and the other countries of Europe, for fome ages paft: In that of Holland, he has this remark upon what contributed to their eftablishment and power. Vol. I. p. 24.

"The calvinift religion, being the established religion in Holland, contributed Likewife to their power. That country, then fo poor, could neither have been fufficient for fupporting the magnificence of bishops, nor for maintaining religious orders; and in a country where they must have numbers of people, they could not admit of thofe who have engaged themselves by oath to leave, fo far as depends upon them, the human fpecies to perish. They had the example of England, which was become by one third more full of people, fince the ministers of the altar had enjoyed the comforts of marriage, and the hopes of families were no more buried in the celibacy of a cloister,"

May

And his account of England is as fol; lows, p. 27.

"England, much more powerful (than Holland) affected the fovereignty of the feas, and pretended to keep the balance between the feveral powers of Europe; but Charles I. who had reigned ever fince 1625, far from being able to fupport the weight of that balance, already felt the fceptre flipping out of his hand. He had undertaken to render his power in England independent of the laws, and to change the religion in Scotland*: Too obftinate to defift from his designs, too weak for carrying them into execution : honeft man, but an ill advifed monarch: Good husband, good mafter, good father, He engaged himself in a civil war, which made him at laft lofe his throne, and his life upon a fcaffold, by a revolution almoft without example.

This civil war, begun in the minority of Lewis XIV. for a time prevented England from entering into the concerns of her neighbours. With her tranquillity fhe loft their regard: Her commerce was interrupted: Her neighbours fancied her buried in her own ruins, even to the moment the became all at once more formidable than ever, under the government of Cromwell, who fubdued her with the bible in one hand, the fword in the other, and the mask of religion on his face; and who cloaked all the crimes of an ufurper under the qualities of a great king."

In talking of the French ambassador's being infulted at Rome, our author has this remark, p. 131.

"Italy looked upon all the nations by which it had been over-run, as BarbaErians, and upon the French as being of all others the most gay, but the most dangerous Barbarians, who brought into every house they came to, contempt with their gallantries, and with their debaucheries their infults."

F

After mentioning the death of king James II. he remarks as follows, p. 274. "Few kings have been more unhappy, and there is not in history an example of a family that has been fo long unfortu nate. The first of his ancestors, kings of Scotland, who bore the name of James, after having being 18 years prifoner in England, was with his queen affaffinated by his fubjects. James II. his fon, was

in

At the fame time this ill advised prince made all the common people in Scotland bis enemies, by attempting to force a form of publick worship upon them, which they were ftrangers to, be fent doron a revocation of all bis father's grants, by which he made all the great proteflant fami lies in that kingdom bis enemies; because they from thence fuppofed, that he intended to firip them of all the courcb-lands and tithes granted them by his father. To attempt both thefe together, roben be bad fuch a firong party in England against kim, could proceed from the advice of none mul a Laud er o Petos, Thit Vikoire was perhaps ignorant of, as it is not mentioned by Rapin.

1752.

Curious Extracts from VOLTAIRE.

in the 29th year of his age killed in fight-
ing against the English. James III. was
imprisoned by his own people, and after-
wards killed in battle by the rebels.
James IV. perished in a battle which he
foft. Mary Stuart, his grand-daughter,
drove from her throne, a fugitive in Eng-
land, having languished 18 years in pri- A
fon, was condemned to die by English
judges, and beheaded. Charles I. grand-
fon of Mary, king of Scotland and Eng-
land, fold by the Scots, and fentenced to
die by the English, loft his life upon a
publick scaffold. James, his fon, the fe-
venth of the name, and second in England,
whom I here speak of, was drove from
his three kingdoms, and to compleat his B
misfortunes, even the very birth of his
fon contefted. This fon attempted to re-
mount the throne of his ancestors, only
to cause his friends to perish by the hands
of the executioner; and we have seen the
prince Charles Edward, uniting in vain
the virtues of his parents, and the cou-
rage of king John Sobieski his maternal
ancestor, perform exploits and endure
misfortunes the most incredible. If any
thing can juftify thofe who believe in a
fatality, which it is impoffible to fur-
mount, it is this continual courfe of mif-
fortunes which has perfecuted the family
of Stuart for more than 300 years."

His account of the war begun in 1688, he concludes thus, p. 301.

D

"Of all the enterprizes of this war, the most criminal was the only one that was truly fortunate. In every thing William fucceeded entirely both in England and Scotland: In all the others the fucceffes were counter-balanced. When I call this enterprize criminal, I do not inquire whether the nation, after having E fpilt the blood of the father, was in the right or wrong to profcribe the fon, and to abolish his rights with his religion. I only fay, that if there be any juftice upon earth, it was not the part of the daughter and fon-in-law of James to drive him from his houfe."

Upon this we muft obferve, that the author being a papift, does not confider, that as the proteftant religion was in danger, the behaviour of king William and queen Mary was the more meritorious as they facrificed the ties of nature to the prefervation of their religion, especially in an age when most other princes are apt to facrifice their religion to their views of ambition.

Upon the partition treaty our author obferves thus, p. 325.

"The actions of kings, however much flattered, are always expofed to fo many @riticifms, that the king of England him

F

G

225

felf met with reproaches in his parliament, and his minifters werè profecuted, for having made the partition treaty. The English, who are more masters of reafon than any people whatever, but whofe reafon is fometimes ftified by the rage of party fpirit, at the fame time exclaimed againft king William, who made this treaty, and against Lewis XIV, who broke it."

In the account our author gives of Janfenifm, he tells us, that the bishops of France had drawn up a formulary, or article of faith, which every body was obliged to fign, and by which they declared, that they condemned the five propofitions contained in Janfenius's book, a large book wrote in Latin, and which, as many who had read the book infifted, contained no fuch propofitions. This formulary the nuns of Port-Royal refused to fign, because, said they, they could not in conscience declare, that any propofitions were contained in a book they had never read, nor could understand; for which refusal they underwent a fevere perfecution; and upon this our author has this remark, Vol. II. p. 281.

"It is difficult to fay, which is most extraordinary, the acknowledgment demanded of girls that five propofitions were contained in a Latin book, or the obftinate refufal of these nuns."

The INSPECTOR. No. 374.

The foul's dark cottage, batter'd and decay'd,
Lets in new light through cracks that time bas
made.
COWLEY.

HE conditionof human nature is, in

We complain that our pleafures affect us more in the purfuit and expectation, than under the enjoyment: The cafe is the fame in our sufferings; and what we are lofers on the one hand we gain on the other. The difpenfation is equal: It is from our partial or our interested views that it fometimes appears fevere.

The charms of love and of ambition fwell in the profpect to the overwhelming every confideration: But we complain under the most perfect enjoyment of them; on the one part, that we have loft the tranquil pleasures which attend retirement; and on the other that nature has not made the means, of that adoration eternal which finds the object continued.

What the conftitution of our minds denies in these scenes of tranfport, it repays in thofe of forrow. Many a misfortune terrifies in the approach, which, when fallen upon us, we find it no difficulty to bear. The alarm of death, fearful as it

15