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SHU THOMAS ]BEI&^AE»,BA]RT

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THE

LIFE

OF

SIR THOMAS BERNARD,
BARONET.

BY

THE REV. JAMES BAKER,
HIS nephew and executob.

LONDON :
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET.
1819.

London : Printed by W. Bulmer and Co.
Cleveland-row, St. James's.

HONOURABLE AND RIGHT REVEREND

SHUTE,

LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM,
THE FOLLOWING MEMOIRS
OF ONE
WHOM HE HONOURED WITH
HIS FRIENDSHIP AND CONFIDENCE,
ARE INSCRIBED,
BY HIS LORDSHIP'S
GRATEFUL AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,
JAMES BAKER.

PREFAC E.

Jjeelings of unfeigned gratitude
and admiration have impelled me
to undertake the publication of
the following pages ; in which my
sole object has been to give a plain
account ofthe principal Societies
and Institutions, to the formation
and conduct of which my late
lamented Uncle devoted the last
twenty -three years of his active and
valuable life. I am far from flat-

viii PREFACE.
tering myself that I have succeeded
in my desire of doing justice to
his labours — those who knew him
best, will be most sensible of my
failure ; — but the paternal affection
which he manifested towards me
from my earliest years, and the
possession of his papers, have
afforded me authentic means of
vouching for the truth of what I
lay before the public. I trust,
hawever, that to those who had
not the pleasure of his acquaintance,
this account of his public life will
show the full accomplishment of
a wish entertained and expressed
by himself at an early period,
that he might so live, as that the

PREFACE. ix
blessings of existence should not have
been thrown away on an idle and use
less creature."
I have subjoined in an Appen
dix the greatest part of the Intro
ductory Letter to the Fifth Volume
of the Reports of the " Society for
Bettering the Condition of the
Poor," addressed to Mr. Wilber-
force, on improving the utility and
welfare of the lower orders ; a sub
ject which Sir Thomas Bernard
had fully and maturely considered,
and which becomes every day
more interesting and important.
London, Feb. 17, 1819.

b

CONTENTS.

Page
Birth — Family - _ i
Goes to America - - - 2
Becomes Private Secretary to his Father - 3
Returns to England - - - 
Enters at LincohVs-Inn - 5
Called to the Bar - - . 
Marriage - - - - 
Quits the Law - - - 6
His Objects - - _ 
Duties of the Rich - - _ 7
Employment - - .9
Elected Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital 1 1
Plans of Economy - - - 1 2
Proposal to Marylebone - - 13
Society for the Poor - - - 14
Its Object - - - -16
Reports - - - 20
Their Principles - - - 22
Intercourse of the Rich and Poor - - 23
Proper Application of Charitable Funds - 24

xii CONTENTS.

Iver Workhouse - - - 32
Christ's Hospital - - 33
Account of Br it ton Abbott - - 35
Cottages and Gardens of the Poor - 36
Cows - - - 38
Dublin Foundling Hospital - 40
And Infirmary - - - 41
Effects of the Reports - - 43
Royal Institution - - * 45
Mendicity - - . - . 4JC
School for the Blind - - * 49
Chimney Sweepers - * - 50
Instance of Liberality - - - 52
Free Chapel in West Street . 54
School . _ . - 58
Benevolent Society - * . 
Free Chapels for the Poor - - 59
Proposal - . ¦* 62
Scarcity - . -65
Cancer Institution . - 69
Fever Institution
Cotton Mills -...
Jennerian Society . . .74
Ladies'' Committee
British Institution

70
73

75 7G

CONTENTS.

xiii

Fine Arts ...

Page.
80

Resignation at the Foundling

85

Naval and Military Bible Society -

86

African Institution

—

Education in Marylebone

- 87

Alfred

88

Auckland School

89

General Education

91

Inquiry into Charities -

93

New School -

94

Barrington School

95

Mr. West's Picture

96

Association for the Manufacturing Poor

102

Fish Association

- 103

Free Chapel at Brighton

—

Comforts of Old Age -

- )07

Lady Bernard's Death and Character

—

Life of Lord Barrington

- 112

Second Marriage

- 114

Salt Laws

- 115

Death

- 124

Character -

126

THE

LIFE, be.

oir Thomas Bernard was born at
Lincoln, on the 27th April, 1750. His
father, Sir Francis Bernard, was de
scended from an ancient family of that
name in the county of Northampton :
his mother, Amelia, was the daughter of
Stephen Offley, of Norton Hall, in the
county of Derby, Esq. by Ann, sister
of John Viscount Barrington.
In the year 1757, Sir Francis Bernard
was appointed Governor ofthe Province
of New Jersey, and in April, 1758,
quitted England for his government,

2 THE LIFE OF
taking with him part of his family, of
which Thomas, his third son, was one.
Having received the rudiments of edu
cation under the care of an English cler
gyman, who had established a school
in that Province, he was admitted a
Member of Harvard College, Cam
bridge, in the Province of Massachusetts
Bay; to the government of which his
father had been removed in the year
1760. The pursuit of his studies here, was
however, soon interrupted. During the
first disturbances in America, which led
to the fatal rupture with the mother
country, some private communication to
the Minister in England having got
abroad, Governor Bernard thought it
most expedient to employ his son Tho
mas as his confidential Secretary ; who
was therefore taken from College, where

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. S
however by the progress he had already
made, he had entitled himself to the de
gree which he afterwards obtained of
Master of Arts. He thus became ini
tiated in business of public life, in his
arrangement of which he was afterwards
so distinguished.
In March, 1769, His Majesty con
ferred a token of his approbation of
Governor Bernard's conduct in a most
difficult and dangerous situation, by
creating him a Baronet ; and ordering
the expense to be paid out of his privy
purse, — an unusual favour, peculiarly
marking the royal sense of his faithful
services. The intelligence of this Avas
also accompanied by His Majesty's
commands for him to return home, aud
report in person the state of the Pro
vince. In consequence of which he
arrived in England the beginning of
September, 1769, and was received by
His Majesty and his Ministers with
much kindness and approbation.

4 THE LIFE OF
It soon became necessary to consider
in what line of life he should fix his son
Thomas. The degree of friendship and
regard which the Minister, Lord North,
had expressed towards him, gave him
hopes that he might obtain an appoint
ment in one of the public offices. After
many disappointments, however, Mr.
Bernard determined to pursue a more
independent line of life. Sir Francis,
displeased at this change of plan, applied
to his kind friend and benevolent patron,
Lord Barrington, requesting that he
would use his influence to prevent it.
This his Lordship declined doing; at
the same time congratulating Sir Fran
cis on having a son of so independent a
spirit; and shortly afterwards appointed
Mr. Bernard to a situation then vacant
in his official department, that of Com
missary of Musters. The duties of this
office occupied but little of his time,

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 5
leaving him leisure to prosecute the
study of the Law, to which his inclina
tions at that time led him. After unre
mitted application of five years he was
called to the Bar in 1780, by the Honour
able Society of the Middle Temple;
but an impediment in his speech while
young, which the greatest care could
never entirely rectify, induced him to
decline that line of his profession which
required the constant practice of public
speaking; and devote himself to the more
retired business of Conveyancing, in
which he rapidly rose to a high degree
of reputation and practice.
In May, 1782, he married Margaret,
daughter and co-heiress of Patrick Adair,
Esq. ; by which marriage, and by assi
duous attention to his profession for
fifteen years, he acquired such a com
petence as satisfied his desires, and led

6 THE LIFE OF
him to withdraw himself from the Law,*
and look out for some useful occupation
of his future life.
The endeavour to meliorate the do
mestic habits of the labouring class, was
the first amusing occupation that oc
curred to him. His sense of this duty
is thus expressed by himself :f " The
question whether the rich support the
poor, or the poor the rich, has been fre
quently agitated by those who are not
aware, that while each does his duty in

* On this part of his life he has left the following
memorandum : " I have often reflected on the lead-
" ing incidents of my life, my entering into my pro-
" fession with eagerness, my following it with extreme
" assiduity for twenty years, and my quitting it as
" soon as its profits were no longer necessary to me ;
" and I have never regretted or repented ; particularly
" as to the latter, in which my early determination has
" always been a matter of gratification to me."
+ Prefatory Introduction to the Second Volume of
the-Reports of the Society for the Poor.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 7
his station, each is reciprocally a sup
port and a blessing to the other. All
are parts of one harmonious whole;
every part contributing to the general
mass of happiness, if man would but
endeavour to repay his debt of gratitude
to his Creator : and by a willing habit
of usefulness, to promote the happiness
of himself and of his fellow-creatures.
In this way the higher classes of society
may, by superiority of power and edu
cation, do more service to the other parts
of the community than what they re
ceive; the welfare ofthe poor being then,
in truth, more promoted by the grada
tions of wealth and rank, than it ever
could be by a perfect equality of condi
tion; even if that equality had not been
in its nature chimerical and impractica
ble ; or (if practicable) had not been
hostile and fatal to the industry and

8 THE LIFE OF
energy of mankind. Rank, power,
wealth, influence, constitute no exemp
tion from activity or attention to duty;
but lay a weight of real accumulated*
responsibility on the possessor. If the
poor are idle and vicious, they are reduced
to subsist on the benevolence of the
rich : if the rich (I except those to whom
health and ability, and not will is want
ing) are selfish, indolent, and neglect
ful OF THE CONDITIONS ON WHICH
THEY HOLD SUPERIORITY OF RANK
and fortune, they sink into a situation
worse than that of being gratuitously
maintained by the poor. They become
paupers o/fl?i elevated and distinguished
* Is heaven tremendous in its frowns ? Most sure :
And in its favours, formidable too.
Its favours here are trials, not rewards,
A call to duty, no discharge from care ;
And should alarm us full as much as woes.
Young.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 9
class ; in no way personally contributing
to the general stock, but subsisting. upon
the labour of the industrious cottager;
and whenever Providence thinks fit to
remove such a character, whether in high
or in low life, whether rich or poor, the
community is relieved from an useless
burthen. " If there should be among my readers,
any one whose views are directed to him
self only, I could easily satisfy him, that
his means of self-indulgence would be
increased, his repose Avould be more
tranquil, his waking hours less languid,
his estate improved, and the enjoyment
permanently secured^ by his activity in
the melioration of the condition, the
morals, the religion, and the attachment,
of a numerous and very useful part of
his fellow-subjects. — To the patriot, who
wishes to deserve well of his country, I
could prove that, from the increase of
c

10 THE LIFE OF
the resources and virtues of the poor,
the kingdom would derive prosperity, —
the different classes of society, union —
the constitution, stability. — To the rich,
who have leisure, and have unsuccess
fully attempted to fill up their time with
other objects, I could offer a permanent
source of amusement ; — that of encou
raging the virtues and industry of the
poor, with whom by property, residence,
or occupation, they are connected ; — that
of adorning the skirts of their parks and
paddocks, of their farms and commons,
with picturesque and habitable cottages,
and fruitful gardens ; so as to increase
every Englishman's affection for an
island replete with beauty and happi
ness i — that of assisting the poor in the
means of life, and in placing out their
children in the world, so. as to attach
them by an indissoluble tie, and by a
common interest, to their country, not

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. IL
only as the sanctuary of liberty, but as
an asylum, where happiness and do
mestic comforts are diffused, with a li
beral and equal hand, through every
class of society/'
The vicinity of Mr. Bernard's resi
dence in Bloomsbury Place to the
Foundling Hospital, had induced him
to take an active part in the Committee
of that Institution, even while he con
tinued in the full practice of his profes
sion ; in consequence of which in May,
1795, the Governors elected him to the
Treasurership, then become vacant.
This, which is the situation of the resi
dent and most active Governor, opened
to him a new field for his benevolent
exertions. He began by adopting
Count Rumford's plans as to food
and fuel, and fitted up the kitchen
and fire-places of the Hospital on the

VI THE LIFE OF
Count's principles,* and with his per
sonal assistance: a similarity of pur
suits having produced great intimacy
between them, which continued many
years .
This new project succeeded, reducing
the consumption of coals in the kitchen
from thirty-five chaldrons a year to ten,
saving the labour of one of the two
cooks, rendering that of the remaining
one more easy, and dressing the food
better than before. The success of this
experiment led to the formation of a
scheme for introducing the same plan
of economy into the Mary lebone Work
house, and from thence diffusing these
new improvements through the other
workhouses and parishes of the king
dom. At one of the Meetings of the
Proclamation Society, on the 20th of
* See an account of this, Report, Vol. I. No. 12.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 13
April, 1796, Mr. Bernard produced a
proposal, to be offered to the Select
Committee of Marylebone Parish, for
introducing into their workhouse, under
Count Rumford's inspection, all his im
provements, the Society as the proposers
undertaking to defray all the expenses
incident to the alterations, and to give
the parish the full benefit. For this ob
ject a subscription of one hundred
pounds each from Mr. Bernard, the Bi
shop of Durham, Mr. Eliot, Mr. Wil-
berforce, and some others, was raised in
order to commence operations ; but the
proposal was not acceded to. In the
mean time, however, he had succeeded
in two other attempts to disseminate these
plans of economy,— the one by the esta
blishment of a Rumford Eating House on
the Foundling estate ; an account of
which he afterwards published in the
Reports of the Society for Bettering the

14 THE LIFE OF
Condition ofthe Poor,* in the name or
the person who had undertaken the ma
nagement of it ; — the other by introduc
ing them under his own immediate in
spection, on a considerable scale, near
Rippon in Yorkshire.
The partial success of these his new
occupations encouraged further exertion,
and suggested to him the advantages
to be derived from the formation of a
Society of Benevolent Individuals, who
should unite their labours for promoting
and disseminating all improvements and
proceedings relative to the poor, and
thus by drawing to a centre every infor
mation of this nature which could be
collected from various quarters, might
render their operations more public, and
more extensive, than could be done by
private individuals. * Report, Vol. I. No. 28.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 15
Inthe beginning of November, 1796,
after several previous conferences with
the Bishop of Durham on the subject,
he produced the outline of his plan for
the formation of a " Society for Bet
tering the Condition and In
creasing the Comforts of the
Poor." No objection was made ex
cept impracticability ; at the same time
he was requested to prepare a circular
letter on the subject, which might tend
to show how far the objection was sur
mountable. For this purpose he pre
pared the following, which was address
ed to a few friends, who, it was con
ceived, would interest themselves in the
measure. " Sir, December 17, 1796.
" The purport of this letter is to pro
pose the formation of a " Society for

16 THE LIFE OF
Bettering the Condition, and Increasing
the Comforts ofthe Poor;" an establish
ment which, we trust, may be the means
of adding much to the general mass of
national happiness. In other liberal
pursuits, the joint labours of intelligent
and active men have never failed to
produce considerable effects. Models,
inventions, and experiments have been
improved, and applied to purposes of
great importance. The same degree
of success may reasonably be expected
from a Society, formed for the improve
ment of the most beneficial of all sciences,
the promotion of the welfare of our
fellow-creatures. " Its object would be every thing that
concerns the happiness of the poor,
every thing by which their comforts can
be increased. To remove the difficul
ties attending parochial relief, and the

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 17
discouragement of industry and eco
nomy, by the present mode of distribut
ing it ; to correct the abuses of work
houses ; and to assist the poor in placing
out their children in the world: in this,
and in the improvement of their habita
tions and gardens ; . in assistance and
information as to the use of fuel, so
as to give them more benefit from it;
and in adding to, and meliorating their
means of subsistence, by public kitchens,
and by other means — much may be done
by the union of liberal and benevolent
minds — much by the circulating of in
formation, and by personal assistance
and influence.
" It must afford a strong additional
inducement to efforts of this nature to
consider, that, in proportion as we can
multiply domestic comforts, in the same
degree we may hope to promote the
cause of morality and virtue. For a
D

18 THE LIFE OF
very gratifying illustration of this, as
well as for the most important improve
ments in fuel, food, and in the mode of
assisting the poor, the world is indebted
to the philanthropy and abilities of
Count Rumford.
" It is not, however, merely the in
crease ofthe comforts and morals ofthe
poor, great as that benefit would be,
that may be effected by the proposed
establishment : its improvements and
experiments will be more or less appli
cable to farms, manufactories, private
families, and to every situation of life.
But, supposing it otherwise, were its
object confined to the poor only ; yet,
to add to the plenty of a nation, by eco
nomizing its means, and to strengthen,
by increase of happiness, the attach
ment which every true Englishman
feels to his country and its invaluable
constitution, must be deemed, at any

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 19
time, objects of no trifling considera
tion. " If you should so far concur with us,
as to give a general approbation of the
plan, we shall hope to be honoured by
your attendance at Mr. Wilberforce's,
Old Palace Yard, on Wednesday the
21st instant, at a quarter before two
o'clock ; in order to consider of the
formation of the Society, and of the out
line ofthe necessary regulations."
This letter was approved and signed
by himself, Mr. Wilberforoe and Mr.
Eliot, the Bishop of Durham being ab
sent in the country ; and a meeting Avas
accordingly held on the day proposed.
Mr. Bernard then gave some explanation
as to the proposed objects and plan of
the Society ; a unanimous resolution was
adopted for its establishment; and a
Committee was appointed to prepare a

20 THE LIFE OF
draft of Regulations for the considera
tion ofthe Society.
His Majesty being informed ofthe
plan and object of the Society, was gra
ciously pleased to declare himself the
Patron of it.
At a subsequent Meeting the follow
ing Resolution, declaratory of their
plans, was passed.
'•' Resolved, That the general object
of the Society be to collect information
respecting the circumstances and situa
tion of the poor, and the most effectual
means of meliorating their condition ; in
order that any comforts and advantages
which the poor do now actually enjoy
in any part of England, may eventually
be extended to every part of it, with as
much improvement and additional be
nefit as may be to the poor; and with a
tendency gradually to diminish paro
chial expenses. For the attainment of

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 21
these ends, it appears to the Society,
that the circulation of useful and prac
tical information, derived from expe
rience, and stated briefly and plainly, so
as to be generally read and understood,
may be of very great national and indi
vidual benefit : and may induce and
enable all well-disposed persons to unite
in the promotion of an object so import
ant to the happiness and welfare of the
community at large, and particularly of
that valuable branch of it, the labouring
poor." In order that the papers might be made
more interesting, and all the necessary
information comprised in as small a
compass as was consistent with the ob
jects of the Society, it was resolved
rather to make extracts from the com
munications which should be received,
than publish the whole : the present
plan was therefore adopted, and Mr. Ber-

22 THE LIFE OF
nard was requested to arrange and su
perintend the publication ; and the first
number came out in May, 1797-
The general proceedings of the So
ciety form the subject of the prefatory
introductions to each volume, which
were written entirely by himself. These
display much acute discernment and
close observation of the habits and dis
positions of the poor, and suggest a va
riety of valuable information as to the
means of improving their condition.
The following extract from the Second
Volume, strongly marks the general prin
ciples on which he acted.
" If we would preserve those bless
ings which Providence has bestowed on
this favoured island, it is necessary that
the higher classes of society should be
immediately awakened to the duty of
assisting, by every exertion in their

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 23
power, the prevalence of industry, pru
dence, morality, and religion, among
the great mass of our fellow-subjects.
To this desired effect, disinterested kind
ness, and well-directed encouragement
are indispensable requisites. Without
them, words and actions are but empty
professions ; and the poor and unedu
cated cottager will never profitably re
ceive that instruction, which is not en
forced by the example of the teacher.
" It is the misfortune of this country,
and it has been the calamity, and it may
prove the destruction of Ireland, that
the different classes of society have not
a sufficient bond and connection of in
tercourse ; that they want that frequent
communication of kindness and benefit
and that reciprocal good will and
esteem, which (except only in the case
of the worst of beings) must always re
sult from rational creatures possessing

24 THE LIFE OF
the means of knowing and appreciating
each others good qualities and utility.
When that does not take place, the un
fortunate consequence is, that neither
of the parties does justice to the other.
The rich do not sufficiently estimate the
virtues of the poor; nor are the latter
aware of the real and affectionate inte
rest which many of the higher classes in
England feel for their concerns. But this
is not all ; the rich become less useful,
because they under-value their own in
fluence and power of doinggood: and the
poor are often degraded in their own opi
nion, and debased in character, by the
persuasion that they neither possess, nor
are entitled to, the esteem and commen
dation ofthe other ranks in life."
" In the conduct of every charitable
fund, it is very essential, that we should
have in view the rule adopted at Ham-

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 25
burgh, ' that if the manner, in which
' relief is given, is not a spur to industry,
* it becomes in effect a premium to sloth
* and profligacy.' All the evils that did
attend the indiscriminate charity of our
religious foundations before the Reform
ation, when the idle and profligate had
always a monastic gate to which they
might apply for that food, that they
ought to have procured by their own
industry ; a period when the nerves and
sinews of the country were relaxed and
debilitated by the warmth of misapplied
charity, — all those evils must at this, and
at every hour, attend the unwise and
capricious administration of relief to
the necessitous : and it is not merely
that those who are relieved are thereby
rendered indolent and helpless, but the
spirit of the other poor is blighted by
the sight of successful imposture, and
their energy and vigour enervated by
E

26 THE LIFE OF
the tender of gratuitous and unmerited
relief. " Some pious persons, in the distri
bution of charity, regard the motive ra
ther than the end ; not being sufficiently
aware that in removing the incitement
to industry, they are frequently doing
much more injury than benefit to the
objects of their bounty. But I forbear
to enter into a detail of the evils that at
tend the encouragement of mendicity.
There is no beggar who is not really
entitled to compassion ; — from the well-
dressed asker who appeals to your be
nevolence with confidence and famili
arity, to the wretched object which
trusts for its support to the display of
filth and misery, too disgusting and too
offensive for the human eye to endure.
And if this source of public benevo
lence, however misdirected, were at any

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 27
period to be hastily checked, before
there should be opened in the metropo
lis, for their support and amendment,
that public asylum, which both policy
and charity require, and which I at pre
sent can only anticipate in expectation,
numbers of these unhappy creatures
must perish in the streets, or by the
hands of the executioner.
" Without enquiring what appro
priations of benevolence are in their
effects destructive of prudence and in
dustry among the poor, I shall proceed
to enumerate those charities, the good
effects whereof are unqualified and un
questionable. — These are, such as pre
pare and fit children for a useful situa
tion in life ; such as assist and promote
industry, prudence, and domestic eco
nomy in the cottages of the poor ; — or
which, in cases of public or private mis-

28 THE LIFE OF
fortune, prevent their domestic plan of
economy from being destroyed ; — and
lastly, such as openly and publicly offer
reward and encouragement to the virtues
and good conduct of the poor.
" In the first rank may be placed
those institutions, which contribute to
educate and improve the rising gene
ration, and to fit them for their station
in life, and for useful employment ; that
instruct them in the great and important
duties of Christianity, and form their
minds at an early period to strict and
principled habits of integrity and pru
dence. While these charities have their
full effect, we never need despair of our
country ; but may look with confidence
to a renewal of strength and virtue, in
the succession of honest and industrious
youth. "In the second place are to be rank
ed those charities, which promote the

SLR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 29
industry, health, and well-being, of the
poor in their own cottages ; — such as
teach and afford them the means and
regular supply of useful and salutary oc
cupation; — such as improve and increase
their means of life, and their inducements
to exertion, and assist them in habits of
prudence and good management, so as
to give them the full enjoyment of the
fruits of their industry, and encourage
and protect them in the care of their
families, and in the education of their
children. " There is a third species of charity,
which requires some attention and dis
cretion in the exercise, but which in its
effects is extremely beneficial to thepoor ;
the affording of occasional assistance for
•those contingencies, against which very
few poor persons have it in their power
to provide. A severe winter, an occa
sional scarcity of corn, or a diminution

30 THE LIFE OF
of the demand for labour, or for a par
ticular article of manufacture, may
sometimes operate as a general calamity,
and sweep away all the savings that have
been hoarded up by economy and self-
denial, during a period of several years.
A broken limb, the visitation of sickness,
or some unforseen domestic misfortune,
may produce the same effect on a single
family, and reduce it from a state of
respectable independence to want and
despair. In these cases a small supply
of relief, speedily, and kindly, and judi
ciously applied, may be the means of
saving the father and his family, and of
restoring to them the power of subsisting
on their own industry.
" The fourth and last species of useful
charity, is that of encouraging by re
wards, publicly offered and impartially
bestowed, the virtue, industry t cleanli
ness, and good habits of the poor. — So-

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 31
cieties formed for such an object might
be the means of creating more recipro
city of good- will and friendship between
the different classes of society; of making
the virtues and the distresses ofthe poor
more known and respected; of impress
ing on their own minds a greater desire
for character and reputation in life.
and of teaching them the true value of
those gradations of rank and condition
which our Creator has thought fit to
establish." While Mr. Bernard was thus employed
in disseminating throughout the king
dom useful information on the works of
charily, he spared not his own personal
exertions in similar occupations. As
Chairman of the Petty Sessions for the
Hundred of Stoke in Buckinghamshire,
he was watching over the execution of
the Poor Laws with vigilance and dis-

32 THE LIFE OF
cretion. With this object he printed
and distributed a Charge to the Over
seers of the Poor of that district,* in
which he laid down the principles of
their duty, and gave much useful ad
vice in the execution of their office. In
his own immediate neighbourhood he
was engaged, in conjunction with Mr.
Sullivan, in improving the internal dis
cipline, decency, and cleanliness ofthe
Iver Workhouse, as well as its external
appearance. He found in it fifty-three
persons ; of whom thirteen were above
the age of fifty, three helpless men and
women under that age, and eleven chil
dren, too young to be placed out in the
world ; fifteen of the remaining twenty-
six were placed out in service, or other
wise, in the course of a month ; and the
other eleven were only kept till places
could be found for them. " In this
* Report, Vol. I. No. 4, ofthe Appendix.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 33
instance (he remarks*) it is to be ob
served that twenty-six of these fifty-three
persons would have been better out of
the workhouse; but the house had been
farmed; and on that account it had not
been the man's interest lo put them out ;
as that would have occasioned some im
mediate expense, and it might probably
have been the cause of his allowance
from the parish being reduced at the end
of the year, or of his losing his contract
by the competition of a lower offer."
Count Rumford's improvements,
through his own and Mr. Bernard's at
tention seconded by that of the Matron,
having completely succeeded at the
Foundling Hospital, the Governors of
Christ's Hospital were disposed to fol
low the example : they applied to Mr.
Bernard, who willingly rendered all the
* Report, Vol. I. p. 54.
F

34 THE LIFE OF
assistance in his poAver, at the same time
asking that they Avould either appoint a
Select Committee to direct the manage
ment ofthe neAv kitchen, or put it entire
ly under his directions. He was told
that their officers were persons of such
respectable character, as not to require
any interference of that kind; and upon
inquiry, it was found that the cook had
the perquisite of the dripping, and her
husband (who had some appointment
about the house) the perquisite of the
cinders; and that these two persons
were to have the direction of the new
experiment. As a considerable saving
Avas to be made in these two articles, it
might be supposed that there Avas little
prospect of success beyond the period
ofthe personal attendance of the cook
from the Foundling Hospital—and so
it happened: the new kitchen spoilt

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 35
and wasted the meat, and increased
the consumption of coals.
In July, 1797, Mr. Bernard published
a short account of the energy and suc
cess of Britton Abbot, a Yorkshire cot
tager, as an example to others of the
labouring class. This man had been per
mitted to inclose a rood of waste ground
by the road side for a cottage and gar
den ; by Avhich means he raised a family
of six children to a state of maturity
Avithout an3r parochial relief, and placed
them out respectably and comfortably
in the world. To this account Mr. Ber
nard added some observations tending
to show the improvement that Avould be
made in the condition of the poor, by
giving them ground sufficient for a cot
tage and garden, and enabling them to
rent a small portion of land for keeping
a cow.

36" THE LIFE OF
" If the custom (he observes) of set
ting apart ground for them to build upon,
Avere to obtain generally, and in a man
ner to induce and enable them to take
the benefit of it, it Avould assist in gra
dually correcting this national and in
creasing evil, (the want of comfortable
cottages) and in supplying that useful
class of men Avith proper habitations.
It Avould have other important effects.
It would diminish the calls for parochial
relief; it would encourage and improve
the good habits of the poor ; it would
attach them to their parishes, and give
them an increased interest and share in
the property and prosperity of their
country. — The quarter of an acre that
Britton Abbot inclosed was not worth
a shilling a year. It now contains a
good house, and a garden abounding in
fruit, vegetables, and almost every thing
thai constitutes the Avealth of a cottager.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 37
In such inclosures, the benefit to the
country, and to the individuals of the
parish, would far surpass any petty sa
crifice of land lo be required. Five
UNSIOHTI.Y, UN PROFITABLE ACRES OF
AVASTE GROUND AVOULD AFFORD HA
BITATION AND COMFORT TO TWENTY
SUCH FAMILIES AsBtUTTON Abbot's."
" Freehold cottages and gardens do
not only attach the owners to their
country, but are also the surest pledges
and securities for their conduct. The
cottager Avho has property, is habituated
to set a higher value on himself and on
his character, and seems to be of a su
perior order of men. — Besides this, the
addition Avhich these little freeholds
might make to the industry, morals, and
produce of a country, Avould be an ob
ject of consideration in this respect : that
the cottager Avho has a garden and a
little property of his oavd, has always

38 the life of
before him a pleasurable object of in
dustry for his leisure time : whereas, he
who has none, is driven to the ale-house
by the same unhappy necessity that impels
idle young men to the gaming table,
the Avant of occupation.
" In the mode which I suggested to
Britton Abbot,* of his renting the cow,
he would acquire a gradually increasing
interest in her ; so as to make him anxi
ous for her preservation, but not such
as to involve him deeply, in case of her
death, or to give him a right to dispose
of her. In this way the sum of fifteen
pounds Avould be sufficient to constitute
* " Supposing a cow could be bought for twelve
(l pounds, and you could rent it on the terms of pay-
ff ing down three pounds ten shillings immediately ;
" and then three pounds ten shillings at the end of
« each year during three years ; and that the cow
" was to be yours at the end of the three years, if
" she lived, and you paid your rent regularly : Do
" you think such a bargain would answer for you ?"

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 39
a perpetual fund, in any parish, for sup
plying the annual premium of a cow for
some industrious and well-disposed la
bourer, as long as the landlord will con
sult his own interest, and afford the
means of feeding her. Whether this
object is to be attained by annexing
ground to the cottages, or by letting to
the cottager an adjistment for his coav,
or by supplying him with pasture, and
a certain quantity of hay, at an annual
rent : or by making it one of the condi
tions on which the farmer takes his
farm, that he shall keep his cottager's
cow at a limited price, — whatever mode
is to be adopted, will depend much on
the circumstances of the country. — I
should prefer another mode, when prac
ticable, as the right which it would giAre
the poor man would be inalienable ; and
that is, inclosing and improving from
the waste, cow pastures of ten or twelve

40 THE LIFE OF
acres each; the exclusive benefit whereof
the cottagers ofthe parish should enjoy
at a small rent ; which (after providing
for fences, &c.) might, go as a fund for
supplying the poor of the parish Avith
fuel. Such inclosures Avould be extremely
gratifying and beneficial to that useful
class of men, the labouring poor. The
stock on them should be limited ; and
the preference given to labourers work
ing within the parish in proportion to
their families, their industry, and cha
racter." Many thousand copies of this account
were printed and circulated through the
kingdom. It was also inserted in the
Reports of the Board of Agriculture,
and of the Society for Bettering the
Condition of the Poor.*
In the beginning of 1798, Mr. Ber-
* Vol. II. No. 8. of the Appendix.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 41
nard was applied to by Mr. Pelham (now
Earl of Chichester) respecting the Found
ling Hospital in Dublin ; where great
inattention, and a great mortality had
taken place. Of twelve thousand six
hundred and forty-one children received
in six years, ending -the 24th of June,
1796, so many as nine thousand eight
hundred and four had died ; two thou
sand six hundred and ninety-two were
unaccounted for, and only one hundred
and forty-five were to be traced. In the
Infirmary, the mortality had been still
more shocking. Of five thousand two
hundred and sixteen children sent into
the Infirmary in those six years, three
individuals only came out of the walls
alive. These facts were ascertained on
the oath ofthe culprits themselves ; and
were occasioned partly by gross negli
gence, and partly by the radical defect
ofthe system of a general admission of
g

42 THE LIFE OF
this nature ; which has a direct and un-
controulable tendency to encourage the
vice, and increase the mortality of our
species. In the endeavours of the Go
vernors to reform these evils, Mr. Ber
nard supplied them Avith all the infor
mation which his experience could
afford ; especially by drawing up a
statement* as to the reception and ma
nagement ofthe children in the establish
ment Avhich he superintended.-f-
* Report, Vol. IV. No. 6. of the Appendix.
y The following note by Sir Thomas Bernard, on
the benefits of the Foundling Hospital in London,
is extracted from the Reports of the Society for the
Poor, Vol. IV. No. 4. of the Appendix. " The pre
serving and educating of so many children, which
without the Foundling Hospital would have been
lost to that society of which they are calculated to
become useful members, is certainly a great and
public benefit. The adoption of a helpless unpro
tected infant, the watching over its progress to ma
turity, and the fitting it to be useful to itself and
others here, and to attain eternal happiness hereafter,
these are no common or ordinary acts of beneficence ;

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 43
In June, 1798, the First Volume of
the Reports of the Society for Bettering
the Condition of the Poor Avas completed,
and a cheap edition was published for
more general circulation. The soup-
houses, begun at Iver,* and on the
but their value and their importance are lost, when
compared with the benefits which (without any pre
judice to the original objects of the charity) the mo
thers derive from this Institution, as it is at present
conducted. The preserving the mere vital functions
of an infant cannot be put in competition with saving
from vice, misery and infamy, a young woman, in
the bloom of life, whose crime may have been a single
and solitary act of indiscretion. Many extraordi
nary cases of repentance, followed by restoration to
peace, comfort, and reputation, have come within the
knowledge of the writer of this note. Some cases
have occurred, within his own observation, of wives
happily placed, the mothers of thriving famihes,
who, but for the saving aid of this Institution, might
have become the most noxious and abandoned prosti
tutes. Very rare are the instances, none has come
within notice, of a woman relieved by the Foundling
Hospital, and not thereby preserved from a course
of prostitution. B. 3 1 st. Dec. 1 803."
* Report, Vol. I. No. 18.

44 THE LIFE OF
Foundling estate,* had been established
in several parts of the metropolis,-f and
in Birmingham^ and other places, as a
temporary remedy (of course such estab
lishments should never be permanent)
for the scarcity which then existed.
The publications of the Society for
Bettering the Condition of the Poor
soon began to operate. A Society on
the same principles was established at
Cork§ in March 1799; and one in the
city of Dublin,[| in the following month.
They Avere both conducted with consi
derable energy and effect, and were
followed, in January, 1801, by an estab
lishment of the same kind in Edin
burgh.** In the mean time the Society
* Vol. I. No. 28.
f Vol. I. No. 39. Vol. III. No. 81.
t Vol. I. No. 30. § Vol. II. No. 54.
H Vol. II. No. 62. ** Vol. IIL No. 88.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 45
at Winston,* in the county of Durham,
for the aged, had been formed in May,
1798, and a similar Society at Wen-
dover,f in July, 1799 ; and in the same
year the Clapham^ Society for Better
ing the Condition of the Poor, and se
veral others.
The formation of a scientific Institu
tion for improving the habits and re
sources of the poor had been one of the
first objects of the original promoters of
the Society for Bettering the Condition
ofthe Poor. In January, 1799, a Se
lect Committee was appointed, consist
ing of the Earl of Winchilsea, the Bi
shop of Durham, Mr. Bernard, and
some other Members of the Society to
confer Avith Count Rumford on the sub
ject. In a few Aveeks the Select Com-
* Vol. II. No. 47. f Vol. II. No. 59.
t Vol. II. No. 68.

46 THE LIFE OF
mittee formed the arrangements and col
lected the subscriptions, which gave
birth to the Royal Institution ;* the
charter of Avhich Mr. Bernard prepared
in the month of April. Its proposed
object was, that besides having a general
view to the benefit of arts and manufac
tures, and to the advancement of taste
and science in this country, it should
specifically direct itself to the improve
ment of the means of industry and do
mestic comfort among the poor. On
the original establishment a valuable
and extensive library has been engrafted :
and the laboratory, which is furnished
Avith a most complete apparatus, has
been the scene of many of the most
brilliant and useful discoveries in mo
dern chemistry.
Though in this establishment the ori
ginal objects of domestic comfort and
* Report, Vol. II. No. 55.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 47
profitable occupation of the poor, have
not been kept singly and distinctly in
vieAv, yet benefits of perhaps equal im
portance to the labouring class will be
derhred from the more useful and rational
studies which have occupied some of
the higher ranks of the metropolis, in
consequence of the popularity of that
scientific establishment. The welfare
and morals of the poor depend as much
on the nature of the pursuits and occu
pations of the rich, as on any other
cause Avhatever.
In January, 1799, some attempts
were made in promoting measures for
the correction of mendicity in the metro
polis. A Select Committee of the So
ciety for Bettering the Condition of the
Poor waited on the Duke of Portland,
then Secretary of State, on the subject.
His Grace assured them of assistance

48 THE LIFE OF
from o-overnment towards the attainment
of an object Avhich had been so long and
universally desired. Mr. Bernard pro
posed,* that a Police Office should be
established solely for the care of the
casual mendicant poor in the metropolis,
Avhich should inforce the existing laAvs,
and compel parishes to Avatch over and
to provide for their own poor; and that
inspectors should attend the streets, and
bring all common beggars before the
Board, Avhoseduty should be to compel
labour, or require subsistence, according
to the circumstances of the parochial
case. When, hoAvever, it was agreed to
take only voluntary examinations of
mendicants, without any compulsory
process, and without inforcing a penalty
on false oaths and declarations, Mr.
Bernard despaired of the object being
* Report, Vol. I. No. 22.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 49
attained, and Avithdrew from any con
cern in the measure.

In August, 1798, he had visited the
" Asylum for the Blind" at Liverpool,
and published an account of it in the
Reports* of the Society for the Poor ;
in Avhich he recommended the establish
ment of similar Institutions in different
parts of the kingdom. This attracted
the attention of Mr. Houlston, who in
December,. 1799, addressed a letter to
him, proposing the formation of such a
charity in London. A Meeting was
therefore held on the 8th of January,
1800, for this purpose; and " the
School for the indigent Blind"-j- was
formed, of Avhich the Bishop of Durham
Avas chosen President. In the earlier
arrangements and conduct of this estab-
* Vol. II. No. 44. and Vol. V. No. 135.
f Vol. III. 93. H

50 THE LIFE OF
lishment, Mr. Bernard took an active
part; and after he had withdrawn his
personal attention to it, continued to ex
press much pleasure in observing the
degree of zeal and exertion with Avhich
it was conducted.
In March, 1800, he attempted the
formation of an Institution for the pro
tection and education of those infants
(for they are little more) who are em
ployed as chimney-sweepers. The case
of a little boy Avho was convicted of a
felony at the Old Bailey first drew his
attention to this subject, and he pub
lished the case with observations in an
early number* of the Reports in 1797.
This led him to consider by what means
the state of these children might be im
proved during their apprenticeships, and
how they might be enabled to provide
*Vol. I. No. 19.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 51
for themselves an honest livelihood at
the age of sixteen, when their appren
ticeships expired ; it being Avell ascer
tained, that there is not a maintenance
for one in seven of the boys who are
bred to that business, the great majority
of Avhom are therefore thrown upon the
world Avithout education or protection
at an age most susceptible of every bad
impression. On the outline ofthe plan
being pubhshed, some of the most re
spectable master chimney-SAveepers, in
a manner very honourable and disinte
rested, formed themselves into a Society :
the objects of which were — " the pro
tection and instruction of climbing boys
during their apprenticeships, and to
give premiums with them to other trades
when their terms as chimney-sweepers
should expire — to examine at all rea
sonable times of the day the beds, cloth
ing, &c. of all apprentices belonging

52 THE LIFE OF
to Members of the Society,— and upon
the complaint of any apprentice in the
trade, to summon before a Magistrate
any master or mistress who might vio
late the Act of Parliament made for the
Relief of Climbing Boys." The public
mind, however, was not then ready for
the consideration of the state of these
destitute children : but it is to be hoped
that the attention ofthe legislature, Avhich
has again lately been directed to this
object, Avill at length be effectual, if not
in totally prohibiting the use of them at
so tender an age, at least in providing
for their moral and religious improve
ment and their future Avelfare.
The exclusive and disinterested atten
tion Avhich Mr. Bernard paid to all ob
jects of public charity was by this time
very generally known, and had induced
the co-operation of many distinguished

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 53
individuals in his works of benevolence.
One instance Avhich occurred about this
time made a considerable impression on
his mind. Sir Robert Peel, who had
very large concerns in cotton mills,
called on him one morning, and after a
general conversation on the different
philanthropic objects they had in view,
said, on leaving the room, that he had
to request that he would dispose of some
thing for him in any way he approved ;
and laid on the table an inclosure. After
he was gone, Mr. Bernard opened it,
and found, to his surprise, a Bank note
for a thousand pounds. He Avrote to
Sir Robert, informing him that he could
hot undertake the disposal of so large
a sum; and on his objecting to take it
again, proposed that it should be a do
nation from him to the Society for the
Poor. This Sir Robert approved, and
it Avas appropriated as a fund for the

54 THE LTKE OF
melioration of the condition ofthe chil
dren in cotton mills ; and that object not
holding out sufficient demand for it, it
has since been applied tOAvards the pro
motion of education in different parts of
the kingdom.
The pleasure which Mr. Bernard had
deri\-ed from witnessing, in November,
1799, the eagerness with Avhich the poor
attended the celebration of Divine Ser
vice in the Free Church at Bath, and the
devout manner in which they appeared
to receive its benefits, induced him to
attempt forming a similar establishment
in the indigent and neglected neighbour
hood of Seven Dials, in the Parish of
St. Giles's in London. An opportu
nity soon occurred of taking on a lease
for twenty-one years a large Chapel* in
West-street, which had been appro-
* Reports, Vol. III. No. 78.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 55
priated as a Methodist Meeting-house.
It Avas fitted-up by him with considera
ble expedition at the expense of nearly
one thousand pounds, the Avhole ofthe
body being free for the poor ; and was
opened on the 25th of May, by an ex
cellent and impressive discourse by the
late Bishop Porteus, Avho then presided
over the diocese of London. The
chapel had been originally intended to
be consecrated, but the objection of its
being only leasehold for years, together
Avith the Bishop's opinion that consecra
tion Avas not essential in this, more than
in many other cases of chapels in the
metropolis, prevented its taking place. A
formal license Avas also deemed by the
Bishop of London to be unnecessary, he
and the Rector of the parish having ex
pressed their approbation by preaching
in the chapel : at the same time the ap
pointment of the minister, and the at-

56 THE LIFE OF
tendants was left Avith Mr. Bernard. In
other undertakings of this nature he had
received liberal pecuniary assistance from
others; to this the contributions Avere
inconsiderable. In addition to the ori
ginal expenses of fitting-up, he engaged
to pay, during the continuance of the
twenty-one years lease, the further an
nual sum of fifty guineas, which with
the rents of the peAvs in the galleries de
frayed all the expenses.
The habitual neglect of Divine Service
and of all observance of the Sabbath,
was so inveterated in the minds of the
poor of that neighbourhood, that after
the first effects of curiosity were over,
the chapel was for some months very
thinly attended. Perseverance, however,
and the assiduity and talent of Mr.
Gurney, who devoted himself to the
duty with extraordinary zeal, produced
a numerous and regular congregation of

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 57
the poor. The Holy Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper is fully attended,* and a
weekly evening Lecture established, and
constantly frequented by the neighbour
hood. The effects of this establishment have
shoAvn themselves in many beneficial
ways in that district. The Lord's Day
is no longer so grossly profaned. The
dress of the poor persons attending the
chapel, has become gradually more clean
and decent : and in some particular in
stances so much impro\red, that it had
been supposed, until inquiry Avas made,
that the. peculiar accommodation of tlie
poor had been intruded on by persons
* Tho number of attendants has been from one
hundred and eighty to two hundred persons; and
tlte collections among persons so necessitous, have
amounted to three or four pounds on a Sunday. At
the first Continuation the Bishop of London held
after the opening of the chapel, one hundred and
fifty young persons went in a body from the Free
Chapel to be confirmed. 1

58 THE LIFE OF
of a superior class. The success of the
chapel was followed by the formation of
a school,* originally containing only
two hundred children. It was, however,
progressively increased to four hundred,
consisting of two hundred and fifty
boys in the chapel, and about one hun
dred and fifty girls in the house adjoin
ing. The parents pay ninepence a
month for each child ; and the payments
are very punctually made, and are ade
quate to a considerable part of the ex
pense of the schools, which have con
tinued to benefit and improA^e that
part of the metropolis for above fourteen
years. This chapel produced in 1808 another
beneficial establishment, — " a Society-f-
of the Poor for the Relief of their Poor
* Reports, VoL IV. No. 100.
t Reports, VoL TV. No. 104.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 59
Neighbours in Distress;" its object being
to visit, ascertain the circumstances and
character, and as far as may be relieve
the distresses of any poor persons in that
neighbourhood, who are suffering in si
lence and obscurity. In the course of
a Aveek from its first proposal by Mr.
Gurney from the pulpit, one hundred
and eighty-seven of his congregation
subscribed to the annual amount of one
hundred and tAventy-eight pounds ; and
what makes it singular is, that these
poor persons subscribe Avithout any pre
ferable claim on the funds, except
Avhat may arise from superior character
or more urgent distress.
In an account of the Free Chapel in
West-street, St. Giles's, Avhich Mr. Ber
nard published in the year 1801, he for
cibly called the public attention, at that
early period, to the great importance of

60 THE LIFE OF
providing adequate accommodation for
the poor in churches and chapels ofthe
establishment. The folloAving extract
from his observations will suggest to the
reader the probable* effect Avhich this
powerful appeal may have had in pro
moting the late important measures on
this subject.
" It may appear to future ages an in
explicable enigma, that the social bene
volence and religious energy of this
country should have been entirely ex
hausted in missions to distant and un
known countries, Avhile the centre of
* The following is an extract from a letter which
Sir Thomas had the pleasure of receiving in 1814,
from the Isle of Man. " In the principal town of
Douglas, which contains about seven thousand inha
bitants, there is no accommodation for the poor in
the churches belonging to the establishment. It is
now in contemplation to erect a Free Chapel on the
plan of that in London, West-street, Seven Dials,
and his Grace the Duke of Athol, Governor-in-Chief,
highly approves of the plan."

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 6l
our metropolis remained uncultivated
and forgotten ; and the spring from
which religion and virtue, or vice and
iniquity, must Aoav through a peo
pled land, was neglected and deserted.
Regarding the established Church of
this country, as the most pure and un
mixed of all the existing sects of Chris
tianity, and being really and conscien
tiously attached to it, it is my most
anxious wish that every scandal and evil
should be removed ; and that, in this
respect, the Church of England should
not only have as much, but should
possess more merit, in earnestly inviting
the poor to hear the gospel preached to
them, than the Methodists, the Dissen
ters, or any other of our Christian and
Protestant brethren.
" To those who view Avith a fixed and
attentive eye, the awful series of events,
which is now (1801) desolating, and we

6'2 THE LIFE OF
may hope at the same time reforming
the Christian Avorld, much important
observation will occur on the present
subject. It is Avritten in the recent His
tory of Europe, it is inscribed in the
summary of the preceding ten years,
that there is no protection against the
calamities which are now laying waste
our quarter of the globe, except that
purity of faith and integrity of life,
Avhich are to be derived from the vivi
fying influence of religion ; extending,
like the solar ray, to every class of our
fellow-subjects, and operating in the
moral amendment of the great mass of
the people. —
— " I venture to submit to those, from
whom only such a measure can properly
originate, the expediency of providing
some remedy for this national evil. —
What I have to suggest may be con
sidered as a mission for the instruction

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 63
and conversion of our neglected fellow-
creatures, THE PAGAN INHABITANTS
IN THK CENTRE OF LONDON. I should
be very far from soliciting subscriptions
for the support of the petty Chapel of
St. Giles's, Avhatever its funds might be.
I consider that as of little use or service,
unless as the first in number and order
of many such houses of prayer and in
struction, which our duty to our fellow-
subjects, and the circumstances of the
metropolis require. It may stand prior
in time, but I flatter myself it will be
the last in magnitude and consequence,
of many Free Chapels, Avhich Avill even
tually be opened for the benefit of the
poor of the metropolis.
" My proposal is, that a Society be
formed for promoting the foundation and
establishment of Free Chapels for the
poor, aud the increase and improvement
of their religious habits, Avithin the realm

64 THE LIFE OF
of England : — that every subscriber of
fifty guineas in one sum, or of five
guineas a year, shall be a Governor of
the Society ; and that in case of a dona
tion of one hundred guineas or more, the
donor shall for every fifty guineas be
yond Avhat would constitute his own
subscription, have the power of naming
one Life Governor : the specific appro
priation of the funds being for the estab
lishment and support of free chapels for
the poor in the metropolis, and in any
of the populous towns of England ; sub
ject, as all other chapels and churches of
the established Church must be, to epis
copal controul and government.
" Whenever such a Society shall be
formed, and the power placed in unex
ceptionable hands, I will venture to hope
that some addition to its funds may be
afforded by government. It may also
be expected, that Avith a proper and

sr It THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 65
economical application of those funds,
every thousand pounds intrusted to the
direction of it, may afford the means of
forming and eslablishing a new Free
Chapel for the Poor, either in London,
or in Manchester, Bristol, Norwich, or
in some other of our most populous
towns. — What the effects may eventually
and ultimately be, and Avhat strength
anti stability it may give to the civil
and ecclesiastical establishment of the
country, and what renovation and vigour
lo the moral and religious habits ofthe
poor, I leave to the reflection and appre
ciation of the reader."
The scarcity Avhich took place in the
winter of 1800, gave the Society for the
Poor great opportunity of being useful,
by general information, by experiments,
and instruction as to the use of rice,
and bv an extensive supply of salted
Iv

66 THE LIFE OF
fish to the metropolis and the country
at large. The situation of the country
engaged the attention of Parliament
for some time, and in NoA^ember, Mr.
Bernard was examined by Committees
of the Houses of Lords and Commons,
on the use that he had made of rice
at the Foundling Hospital, and in other
instances. The following extract from
the Report ofthe Commons Committee
will show the attention which he had paid
to the internal management of the Hos
pital, and the system of economical
arrangement which he introduced.
" It appears from the evidence of Mr.
Bernard, Treasurer of the Foundling
Hospital, that the use of rice has been
adopted in that charity, in a very con
siderable extent, ever since July, 1795 ;*
and that it has been found a wholesome
and nutritious food. It has been given
* He was elected Treasurer in May, 1795.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 67
to the children for their dinner, two days
in the week, in the room of pudding
made of flour and suet; twenty-one
pounds of rice soaked in Avater over
night, and baked with eighteen gallons
of milk and six pounds of treacle, have
been found to be a sufficient meal for
one hundred and seA'enty children, and
fully equivalent to their former food,
consisting of one hundred and sixty-
eight pounds of flour, with twenty
gallons of milk, tAventy pounds of suet,
and some other ingredients. The saAdngto
the Hospital (when flour was three-pence
farthing per pound, or seventy-five
shillings per sack, and rice two-pence
half-penny per pound, or about twenty-
three shillings per cwt.) was five pounds
sixteen shillings and one penny out of
seven pounds twelve shillings and ten-
pence (the cost of two weekly meals), or
above three hundred pounds per annum,

68 THE LIFE OF
being more than thirty-five shillings per
head ; and the diminution of the annual
consumption of flour was above seven
teen thousand pounds. Since the time
at Avhich this calculation was made, the
price of rice has risen in a greater pro
portion than the price of flour, yet the
amount of the greater increase upon a
small quantity of rice is so much less
than that of the smaller increase upon
a large quantity of flour, that the pecu
niary saAdng to the Hospital would,
upon the same number of children, be
much greater at the present moment
than what has been above stated. The
advance upon flour, from seventy-five
shillings per sack to one hundred and
twenty shillings, adds about twenty-seA'en
shillings to the cost of each Aveekly meal
for one hundred and seventy children ;
the advance of rice from about twenty-
three shillings per cwt. to forty-six shil-

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 69
lings, adds only four shillings and four-
pence halfpenny to the same. Since
that time the number of children has
increased to two hundred and twenty ;
and they have now also rice porridge for
their breakfast three days a week ; the
saving in money and in flour is therefore
proportionably increased."
In June, 17999 the Committee of the
Society for Bettering the Condition of
the Poor had established an Infant
Asylum, which had two objects; the
preservation of a peculiar class of in
fants, and the supply of wet nurses for
the children of some of the other classes.
The irreconcilable enmity and jealousy
however of the nurses and female atten
dants, soon broke up the new establish
ment ; and on its ruins Avas erected, in
June, 1801, the Cancer Institution.*
* Report, Vol. III. No. 99.

70 THE LIFE OF
Dr. Denman, whose medical practice
had given him many opportunities of
knowing and observing the dreadful con
sequences of this disease, had the merit
of proposing a meeting on this subject,
and became a most active member of the
charity. The first object was to collect
every information as to the symptoms or
remedy, Avhich could be obtained from
corresponding members in different
parts of the world ; and after Avards hire
a house for the reception of patients
labouring under this disease.
In the mean time, on the 1st of May,
1801, the Society for the Poor had suc
ceeded in forming the Fever Institution ;*
which, though not on a scale apparently
adequate to the extent of the metropolis,
yet by promptly removing the patients
and cleansing the apartments which
* Reports, Vol. III. No. 92.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 71
had contained the infection, has been
Avonderfully effectual in checking the
typhus contagion, and reducing the ge
neral mortality by fever to about a fourth
of its former average. Formed on the
plan of the Fever Institution at Man
chester, of which Mr. Bernard had pub
lished accounts,* it has contributed to
the existence of similar Institutions for
checking the progress of a most destruc
tive and calamitous infection in Dublin,
Cork, Waterford, Leeds, Hull, and many
other places.
Upon the first establishment of the
London Fever Institution, the amount
ofthe subscriptions would only support
one small house of recovery, and even
that with difficulty. It contained six
teen beds, and Avas generally full during
the first two years, having received with
in that^ period no less three hundred
* Reports, Vol. I. No. 13. Vol. II. No. 58.

72 THE LIFE OF
and thirty patients ; but in the subse
quent years down to 1817, the number
of admissions amounted to little more
than an average of sixtv-three each vear.
The parliamentary grant of three thou
sand pounds voted to this Institution in
1804, aided by a gift of five hundred
pounds from tlie Society for the Poor,
and additional subscriptions of one
hundred and two hundred pounds each,
from some of its original supporters, Avas
applied in 1813 to the purchase and
fitting-up of the Avesternmost of the tAvo
buildings erected for the Small Pox-
Hospitals, situate in an airy part of
Pancras-road, and admirablv calculated
in all respects; Avith arcades and space
for the convalescents to take air and
exercise ; and so separated and secluded
from other habitations, as not to leave
ground for the least alarm of infection to
the most timid mind. This building

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 73
contains sixty-four beds, and received
within its Avails between the 1 st of March
and 21st of November, 1817, no less
than four hundred and seventy patients
afflicted Avith contagious fever.
In all these arrangements, from the
first formation ofthe Institution to its
present establishment, Mr. Bernard prin
cipally contributed to its success, both
by the unAvearied attention which he
paid as a Member of the Committee,'
and the many efforts he made by nume
rous publications on its behalf to draw
the public mind to the due consideration
of a measure so important to the health
of this vast metropolis.
In 1802, he was employed in the
Committee of the Society for Bettering
the Condition of the Poor, in obtaining
Parliamentary regulations for the pro
tection and instruction of Apprentices
L

74 THE LIFE OF
in Cotton and Woollen Mills; where
children had been exposed from a tender
age to an uneducated and destructive
servitude, hardly to be exceeded in the
world. The opposition to the bill Avas
composed of a coalition of two classes ;
those who thought that too little Avas pro
posed, and those who thought, or rather
felt, that any interference Avith the ex
cessive profits of the manufacturer was
improper. The bill, however, was passed;
not with the expectation of its affording
a complete remedy, Avhere interest Avas
so actively engaged ; but with this degree
of satisfaction, that it must, in any
event, produce some improvement in
the happiness and moral character of
these children.
In January, 1803, Mr. Bernard joined
in forming the Jennerian Society. He
Avas also afterwards greatly instrumental

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 75
in obtaining the additional Parliamentary
grant to Dr. Jenner, by personally
urging the propriety of it in a confe
rence with the Chancellor of the Ex
chequer. The benefit of Dr. Jenner's
invaluable discovery of Vaccination as
a preventive of the Small Pox, though
it had been made in England, had been
received and extended in Germany,
France, and other foreign countries,
with more attention and advantage than
in this. To supply this remedy to the
poor, and to Avatch over its progress and
promote its effects, are the objects of
the Jennerian Society ; which enrolls
among its members a higher class of
individuals than is to be found in any
similar Society in this kingdom.
In the beginning of, March, 1804,
Mr. Bernard brought forward a plan
for a Ladies' Committee for the employ
ment and education of the Female Poor.

76 THE LIFE OF
In the course of two months great and
splendid patronage Avas given to this
neAv project.
Philanthropy had been the object of
the Society for Bettering the Condition
ofthe Poor, and the various Societies
connected Avith it ; Science and Litera
ture, of the Royal Institution. There was
still wanting an Institution for promot
ing the higher and intellectual class of
the Fine Arts, so as to complete the
circle of those mental occupations which
promote social union, check frivolous
pursuits, and civilize the mind. Mr.
Bernard had become acquainted with
some extraordinary instances of young
artists* of great natural talents, irretriev-
* One of these instances, in the Life of Mr.
Thomas Proctor, he afterwards published in a pe
riodical Weekly Paper called the Director; a publi
cation with originated with him, and appeared in
the spring of 1807. The papers written by himself,

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 77
ably lost to the country by the want of
that patronage Avhich is essential to the
existence of the arts. Great efforts
AArere at this time making at Paris,
Milan, and in other parts of Europe,
to cultivate the fine arts, by splendid
national establishments, having in view
the excellence and superiority of manu
factures ; a pre-eminence which is of
great importance to this country.
Actuated by these considerations,
Mr. Bernard requested Mr. West in
April, 1805, to call a meeting of some
of the most liberal patrons of art to con
sider this subject, Avhich Avas attended
by Sir George Beaumont, Mr. Anger-
stein, Mr. Payne Knight, Mr. William
Smith, and the tAvo Mr. Hopes. Mr.
besides the one already mentioned (No. 7«) are the
first and Introductory number, the Letter in No. 4,
(p. 110.) to the Fly-flap; No. 9, on Good Living.
The three papers (No. 12. 15. 20.) on the Drama;
and No. 24, the Conclusion.

78 THE LIFE OF
Bernard laid before them the outline of
a plan Avhich he had prepared, and the
grounds on which he expected success.
Great desire of executing the plan, and
at the same time greater doubt of suc
cess was expressed. It was suggested
that instead of a mere outline, an address
to the public should be prepared for the
purpose of proposing and recommend
ing the measure. Mr. Bernard accord
ingly prepared for the next meeting a
draft of an address, which was circu
lated in the following form :
" British Institution for Pro
moting the Fine Arts in the
United Kingdom.
" The inclosed is submitted to your
consideration by the undersigned, Avho
have been appointed a Select Commit
tee to manage the concerns of the In
stitution until a Committee of Directors

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, 'BART. 79
is elected. Convinced that the pre
eminence, which the imitative arts at
tained in certain distinguished periods
of Ancient Greece and Modern Italy,
was produced, not by fortuitous cir
cumstances, but by great and splendid
patronage, and persuaded that our own
countrymen are capable -of the same ex
cellence in the arts, as they have attain
ed in every branch of science and lite
rature, we solicit that they may be en
couraged to consider those excellent
immortal examples of the Grecian and
and Italian schools as the objects, not
merely of imitation, but of competition.
In a country where native energy is most
abundant, we ask that professional taste
and talent, and national patronage, be
no longer confined to inferior objects ;
but that our artists may be encouraged
to direct their attention to higher and
nobler attainments ; — to paint the mind

80 THE LIFE OF
and passions of man, to depicture his
sympathies and affections, and to illus
trate the great events which have been
recorded inthe History ofthe World.
" The Fine Arts are entitled to respect
and reward, not simply on account of
the innocent and intellectual gratifica
tion Avhich they afford ; not merely be
cause they cultivate and civilize the
human mind. In a country like our
own, they essentially and abundantly con
tribute to the national prosperity and re
sources. It must be obA'ious that the
present flourishing state of our manufac
tures and export trade, is greatly owing
to the progress of the Fine Arts under
His Majesty's judicious Patron
age; and that in hardware, cotton, and
porcelain, and in every other article to
which the industry and attention of the
British artisan has been applied, supe
rior beauty of form, and refined elegance

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 81
of ornament, ha\re contributed to make
our manufactures coveted throughout
the Avorld, and to introduce them into
every country, in despite of political
Avarfare and penal prohibition.
" This pre-eminence, however, cannot
be retained, but by the assiduous culti
vation of the Fine Arts. From those ori
ginal sources the taste of the country
must be cherished and renewed ; so as,
at the same time, to produce inexhausted
variety, and to preserve classical beauty
and chastity of design. And it is, in
this respect, Avorthy of observation, that
if we do not advance, we must recede ;
and that when Ave cease to improve, Ave
shall begin to degenerate. These con
siderations are of increased importance
at the present moment, when it appears
to be the object of other poAvers, to form
great establishments for painting and
sculpture, and to extend by the arts of
M

82 THE LIFE OF
peace, the influence which they have
acquired in war. We feel, hoAvever, no
apprehension, but that the spirit of the
British artist will be awakened and in
vigorated, whenever a free and fair scope
shall be given to his talents ; — Avhenever
he shall be stimulated by the same pa
tronage, as that which raised and re
warded the Italian and Grecian masters ;
a patronage, without which, if we refer
to historical evidence, we shall find that
no high excellence in art has ever been
obtained, in any age, or in any country.
" Under these impressions we beg
leave to address you, and the other pro
tectors of the Fine Arts, on the establish
ment of the British Institution ;
the principal object whereof is to en
courage and reward the talents of the
artists of the United Kingdom, and to
open an exhibition for the sale of their
productions. For the attainment of

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 83
this object we earnestly solicit your as
sistance and patronage : requesting to
be favoured with your directions, in
Avhich of the classes of subscription you
will permit your name to be enrolled."
This letter, signed by thirteen indivi
duals of distinguished rank, talents, and
opulence, produced such an accession
of numbers and strength as, on the 30th
of May, to obtain His Majesty's patron
age of the new Society. A meeting
was called for the 4th of June, to fix
from that day the date of the Institution,
and a subscription commenced amount
ing to between six and seven thousand
pounds. On the 11th of June the By-laws were
passed, and a temporary Committee ap
pointed to conduct the business and
purchase a local situation. On the 29th
of June, Mr. Bernard agreed on their

84 THE LIFE OF
behalf for the purchase of the Shak
speare Gallery in Pall Mall, and a meet
ing was ordered to be called for the 15th
of July, to elect a President and the
Committee. In the following spring the
Gallery was opened for the exhibition
and sale of the productions of Bri
tish artists ; and in the first five years
four hundred and twenty-four pictures
Avere sold for the amount of twenty
thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine
pounds fourteen shillings; a consider
able sum having been also expended in
that period in premiums to younger
artists. Upon the closing of the exhi
bition for sale, a few of the finest speci
mens ofthe old masters have been offered
to the study and imitation of the artists
attending in the Gallery: and of late
years an assemblage ofthe best produc
tions both of native and foreign artists
from the different private collections,

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 85
far exceeding any thing before seen in
this country, has been annually sub
mitted to the public A'iew.
During the year 1804, Mr. Bernard
had been attacked by a severe liver
complaint, which he long thought would
prove fatal ; and which considerably
impaired his powers of bodily exer
tion. The sense of this, and the dis
tance of his residence at the Foundling
Hospital from the new plans AvhicKhe
had lately entered into, made him desi
rous of resigning his office as Treasurer,
and remoAing to the more western part
of the metropolis. With this view he
purchased a house in Wim pole-street,
and on the 16th of April, 1S06, gave in
his resignation. He had the satisfaction
of witnessing the success of the plans
which he had proposed and supported
for the management and improvement

86 THE LIFE OF
of the Hospital ; especially in its finan
ces, to which a permanent and increas
ing addition of nearly five thousand
pounds a year was made, during the
eleven years he continued Treasurer,
by the erection of several handsome
streets on the estate, one of which Avas
named after him. On his resignation,
he was elected a Vice-President, and
continued so till December, 1810.
In the preceding year (1805) he had
united with Mr. Wilberforce in re-esta
blishing the Naval and Military Bible
Society; and with him, Mr. Bonar and
others in forming the Patriotic Fund.
In the year 1807, he gave his assistance
to the African Institution for the civi
lization of Africa, and for watching over
the execution ofthe Laws for abolishing
the Slave Trade.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 87
In the beginning of 1808, he brought
forward a project inthe parish of Mary-
lebone, for the general Education of the
Poor, and obtained the signatures of
thirty-nine leading persons in the parish
to an address in its favour, which was
signed, and circulated on the 3rd of
March, 1808. After considerable difn-_
culty and opposition in obtaining a si
tuation for the school, he succeeded in
purchasing a house and garden in
High-street ; on which a handsome
and commodious school -room was
erected under his own immediate in
spection. This new Institution was
afterwards incorporated with the School
of Industry, which had subsisted for
many years, and the Avhole was put
under the direction of the Governors of
the united schools.
In this year he Avas also occupied with

88 THE LIFE OF
another plan of a different nature to
any thing in Avhich he had hitherto been
engaged — the formation of a neAv Club.
He was a Member of a Club comprising
many of the first literary characters in
this country, which met once every
month at the Thatched House. At one
of their dinners in 1807, he had pro
posed the formation of a Club on an
extended scale appropriated entirely to
Literature, and totally prohibiting gam
ing, drinking, and party politics. The
only objection made was the impossibi
lity of a Club existing in London without
these cardinal virtues. He gave notice
that he should renew his proposal as an
annual motion. When he brought it
forward the following year, it was re
ceived with general approbation; a
circular letter was prepared, and sent
round with the signatures of some of the
most eminent and respectable charac-

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 89
ters in this country. TheClub, which was
named the Alfred, was opened on the
1st of January, 1809, in their newly pur
chased house in Albemarle-street, adjoin
ing the Royal Institution : and it acquired
such popularity, that it very soon became
one of the greatest and most difficult ob
jects of attainment to secure admission
into it, and still continues so.
In the year 1801, the Bishop of Dur
ham had appointed Mr. Bernard his
Spiritual Chancellor, Avhich occasioned
him to make an annual visit at Auckland
Castle. During that of 1808, all the
arrangements were made for establish
ing a kind of Collegiate School at Bishop
Auckland, not merely for the instruc
tion of young children, but also for pre
paring the most promising scholars for
the office of school-masters on Dr. Bell's
New System of Education. This part
. N

90 THE LIFE OF
of the plan became indispensably ne
cessary, not only for the introduction of
the system into the diocese of Dur
ham, but also its extension into every
other ; as the central school in the me
tropolis was not at that time established.
Applications therefore Avere made at
the Barrington School, and complied
Avith, for supplying the dioceses of Car
lisle, Exeter, York, and Winchester with
instructors, which could not then be ob-
tained elsewhere. For the perpetual
support of this noble establishment, the
Bishop of Durham settled by deed upon
four Trustees a sum of money in the
funds, producing four hundred and
thirty-six pounds a year. He also erect
ed, at his own expense, a spacious., and
elegant stone building, on a plan by
Mr. Bernard, which Avas opened for
the school on the 26th of May, 1810,
being his Lordship's birth day.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 91
The general extension of education
among the lower orders was a subject
which had engaged Mr. Bernard's par
ticular and unremitted attention. At
an early period it became a leading and
favourite topic of the Reports ; and the
accounts of different Institutions for that
purpose, the comparison of their respec
tive merits, and the detail of their effects
had occupied his attention for twenty
years.* In an early number of, the
Reports he thus expresses himself.
" Of education it may be truly said,
that it is the only earthly blessing capa
ble of being universally diffused and en-
* See the Society's Reports, Nos. 4.— 29.— 35. —
37.— 64.— 90 — 97.— 100.— 107.— HI — 1 12.—
113. — 117. — 118.— 121.— 125.— 128.— 142.— 144.
—145.— 146.— 147.— 148.— 150.— 153.— 156.—
]57._162.— 163  164.— 166.— 167 .— 169.— 170.
— 173. — 184. A variety of articles in the Appendix,
and the Introductory Letters to the 3rd, 4th and 5th
Vols.

92 THE LIFE OF
joyed with an exemption from all incon
venient consequences. I speak of that
genuine and well-directed education,
which is calculated to fit persons to act
a strenuous and useful part in their al
lotted station in life; — of that educa
tion, which teaches and demonstrates
the advantages of early and steady ha
bits of attention and industry, and forms
in the heart stable and permanent prin
ciples of conduct. It is this, and this
only, Avhich supplying the mind Avith
competent funds of human knoAvledge,
and with just conceptions of man's pro
bationary state in this world, drawn from
the sources of Revelation, doth thereby
preserve it from the danger and taint of
infidelity; that never confidently at
tempts, and very rarely succeeds, in de
basing and corrupting the heart of man,
unless where it has been left vacant and

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 93
unoccupied, for the evil spirit to fix his
abode in."*
"\\ ith a vieAv of promoting this object,
he published, in 1809, a selection from
the Reports of the Society for the Poor,
of those articles Avhich have a reference
to education, Avith a preface, in Avhich
he pointed out the necessity and advan
tages of this measure. "As to the
funds (he says, p. 43) requisite for an
universal system of Education, I feel no
anxiety. OurendoAved Charity Schools,
Avithout at all interfering Avith the origi-
nal objects, Avould supply a great part
of what is Avanted : especially upon Dr.
Bell's plan, Avhich reduces the expense
of a day school to a mere trifle. At the
same time, one cannot too much deplore
the timidity or supineness of those, who
with a conviction of existing abuses,
omit to direct a general and national in-
* Reports, Vol. II. No. 61

94 THE LIFE OF
quiry into the present state of School
ENDOWMENTS, AND OTHER CHARI
TIES : an inquiry, which would imme
diately induce the parties to bring their
funds into action ; convinced that if
they omit to correct Avhat is amiss, they
might soon be reminded of their duty
by the Lord Chancellor."
The arrangement of the school at
Auckland, in August, 1808, under the
immediate superintendance of Dr. Bell,
gave Mr. Bernard an opportunity of
studying and becoming acquainted Avith
the neAv system of education. In his
journey to London, he employed him
self in describing and arranging in a
clear and concise manner the principles
and practices of it, which he published
in December, under the title of " The
New School, being an attempt to illustrate
its principles, detail, and advantages." In
the concluding article of this publica-

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 95
tion he endeavoured to reconcile the
partisans of Dr. Bell and Mr. Lancaster
by stating the merits of both. " Some
of my readers (he says) may prefer one,
and some the other of the two schools.
I shall be most happy if half of the ig
norant poor of this kingdom should have
the benefit of one mode, and the other
half, of the other. — Let us dismiss all
ideas of vain competition. Enough of
time and talent has been wasted in idle
controversy. Let us apply ourselves
with increased diligence to the duties
Avhich the Lord of the Vineyard has
prescribed to us. The harvest is great.
Let us pray, that the Lord will send
labourers to the harvest."
This treatise was considerably en
larged and published in June, 1812,
under the title of " The Barrington
School." A new edition also, with fur
ther additions, Avas published in De-

96 THE LIFE OF
cember, 1815. — He always beheld with
pleasure that the progress and success
of this school were commensurate to
the zeal and liberality of the venerable
prelate Avho had so munificently found
ed and endowed it.
In January, 1810, intelligence arrived
in England of the death of Sir John
Bernard, in the West Indies; on which
the subject of these Memoirs succeeded
to the Baronetage.
In the beginning of the year 1811,
Mr. West finished his picture of the
" Miracles, of our Saviour," which he
intended as a present to his native City,
Philadelphia. Sir Thomas Bernard
being in habits of intimacy with him,
had watched the progress of this great
work, and Avas so much struck with
the merit of it, that he resolved to do his

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 97
utmost to keep it in this country. With
this view he offered at once three thou
sand guineas for the purchase of it; and
that price being accepted, he set about
to devise means of raising the money
by subscription. For this purpose he
addressed the following Letter to the
Marquis of Stafford, the Deputy-Presi
dent ofthe British Institution :
Wimpole-street, February 13, 1811.
" My Lord,
" As your Lordship concurs in the
expediency of securing Mr. West's
picture of the Miracles of our
Saviour as a national possession, and
your own view of the subject will pro
bably have supplied most of what I am
able to suggest, I will therefore refer
very briefly to some of the advantages,
which I conceive may be derived from
the purchase of the picture in the man-
* o

98 THE LIFE OF
ner proposed, and then submit to your
Lordship my idea of the manner of
raising three thousand guineas, which
is to be the price of it. — Among the
advantages may be reckoned the fol
lowing :
" 1. The retaining in this country the
noblest specimen of painting which has
ever been produced in it.
" 2. The placing it hereafter in our
expected National Gallery, as the stan
dard for any works of art to be admitted
there. " 3. The supplying, in the manner
I shall hereinafter state, a very consi
derable increase to our present fund for
annual premiums in historic painting.
" 4. The inciting of our young artists
to excellence, by giving such a public
and honourable example of the reward
of talent rightly directed.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 99
fi 5. The checking of tlie disposition
to be satisfied Avith mediocrity, by shew
ing the striking difference between the
value and credit of some indifferent
pictures, and of this very fine one.
'•' 6. The effect produced on the public
mind by the exhibition of diis picture,
in attracting interest, and inducing co-
operation, in many individuals who have
not yet duly appreciated the utihty of
the British Institution.
•• Looking to these and to other ad-
A-antages, I have no hesitation in saying,
that (howeArer sanguine I am, and alwavs
haAe been, in the effect of our annual
premiums) more will be done for the
improvement of the arts in this country,
by this purchase so made, than by the
like sum expended in premiums.
<•' With regard to the mode of raising
the money, my first idea was to have
limited the subscription to ten of the

100 THE LIFE OF
Directors and Visitors at three hundred
guineas each. But upon looking over
the list of the Subscribers to the British
Institution, I see names so respectable
for the patronage of British Art, that
Avhat I now submit to your Lordship is,
that the subscription be confined to the
subscribers to the British Institution, at
fifty guineas each, to be paid on or before
the 1st of May next ; that a statement
and invitation be sent to the Subscribers,
and their names entered according to
the date of their subscriptions.
" That the picture be publicly exhi
bited, and a stroke engraving to be made
of it by subscription ; every original sub
scriber to the purchase having free ad
mission to the exhibition, and accord
ing to the priority of his subscription,
the choice of one proof engraving for
every fifty guineas subscribed.
" As to the disposal of the picture, I

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 101
propose that it shall be the property of
the British Institution, in trust to be
presented to the National Gallery, when
established ; and in the mean time, to
be hung in the British Gallery, Avithout
being removed during the time of the
school, or of the exhibition ; the subscri
bers, hoAvever, retaining the power of
concurring in any other disposal of the
picture, or in any variation of this ar
rangement, Avhich may become neces
sary, or may appear to be more advan
tageous to the arts and to the public.
" As to the profits of the exhibition
and engraving, I propose that they shall
be applied to the increase of the fund
lately established by the Institution, for
annual premiums in Historic Painting.
" I have the honour, &c."
In the course of one month, the sub
scriptions for the purchase of the pic-

102 THE LIFE OF
tureamounted to twelve hundred guineas.
This sum, together Avith the surplus of
the produce ofthe print after all the ex
penses of the engraA'ing were provided
for, was sufficient to complete the pur
chase money. Besides this, the funds
ofthe Institution Avere greatly benefited
by the number of visitors Avho thronged
the rooms to see the extraordinary pro
duction which had been purchased for a
sum very far exceeding any recorded in
the Annals ofthe British Fine Arts.
Early in the folloAving year, 1812, Sir
Thomas was engaged in rendering his
assistance towards the formation of the
Association for the " Relief of the Manu
facturing Poor," then suffering by their
exclusion from the markets of Europe
and America. It Avas royally and liberally
supported, and supplied considerable
relief in many parts of the kingdom.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 103
From it originated, in March, 1813, the
i; Fish Association for the benefit of the
community,'' in Avhich also Sir Thomas
took an active and efficient part. Their
inquiries avcic directed tOAvards the
means of facilitating and increasing the
supply of fish both in the London
market, and in other parts of England.
In June, 1812, Lady Bernard's state
of health induced SirThomas to accom
pany her to Brighton. His accustomed
zeal, and the success which had attended
his Free Chapel in St. Giles's, induced
him to make a similar attempt to benefit
the inhabitants of that populous parish.
The Avant of accommodation in tlie
Church had caused a large and progres
sive increase of chapels of different sects
for the reception of part of the inhabi
tants, and the entire neglect of all pub
lic worship by others. With a view of

104 THE LIFE OF
obviating these grievances, some of the
well-disposed inhabitants opened a sub
scription in June, 1810, for the purpose
of erecting another chapel on the na
tional establishment; for Avhich one thou
sand five hundred and sixty pounds nine
shillings and tAVopence Avas collected.
A site was presented by one of the Sub
scribers, and a building for a chapel
covered in at the expense of two thou
sand one hundred and sixty-six pounds ;
but for want of additional funds, the
buildingremained unfinished and neglect
ed, Avith a debt aboA'e six hundred pounds
beyond the subscription. Things were in
this state Avhen Sir Thomas arrived at
Brighton : on condition of nine hundred
sittings being appropriated to the accom
modation of the poor, he undertook to
raise two thousand five hundred pounds,
the sum required to complete the
chapel. This was approved of by a

sir tiiomas ni.is n\vui>, hart. 105
General Meeting of the original Sub
scribers, and the money was advanced
in sums of live hundred pounds each,
by Sir Thomas and four other persons,
who wore by deed appointed Trust Go
vernors ; and ihe chapel was finished.
Tho difficulty respect ing the nomination
of tho minister was supposed to bo got
over, by tho Trust Governors unani
mously accepting the Bishop's nomina
tion of ti very unexceptionable Clergy
man, who opened Ihe Chapel on Sun
day tho VM\\ of July, 1813, the Keast
Day oi' St.. lames, Irom whom the Chapel
had originally boon named ; the five
Trust Governors having eontributed the
further sum of seven hundred and (illy
pounds whieh was necessary for dis
charging tho bills and closing tho. ac
counts. Tho talents and piety of Mr.
Marsh filled tho Chapel with a multi
tude of poor persons, who, from tlio in-

v

106 THE LIFE OF
adequate provision of that town had not
been in the habit of attending any place
of public worship. In consequence,
however, of some misunderstanding of
the previous arrangements, the Vicar
exercised his right of prohibiting the
further celebration of Divine Service,
and a suit being instituted in the Eccle
siastical Court, the Chapel was closed.
After passing through different hands, it
is noAV again opened for the service of
the Church of England by a zealous and
able Minister, and is producing the most
beneficial effects on the inhabitants of
Brighton. The decline of Lady Bernard's health
became more and more apparent, in
consequence of the assiduous attention
Avhich she had paid to her sister during
the long illness which preceded her
death in January, 1812. Sir Thomas's
health was also very indifferent, so as to

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 107
make it seem doubtful which would pre
cede the other. To occupy their minds
on a suitable subject, he began in the
course of this year his work on the
"Comforts of Old Age;" and he
had much pleasure in reading to her the
passages as he produced them. The
work was about half finished on the day
of her death (June 6, 1813); an event
which happened after a happy union of
above thirty-one years. The attention
which he paid to finishing and printing
it rery shortly after greatly relieved his
mind ; and he expressed his sense of her
virtues and value, by the folloAving me
morial inserted in this work : — " Endow
ed with a pleasing and engaging aspect,
* she bore a mind which envy could
' not but call fair.' Diffident and re
served in mixt society, her intellectual
powers were best appreciated in the re
cesses of private life. Warm and affec-

108 THE LIFE OF
tionate in her attachments, placable and
forgiving when injured, and extending
her charity Avith unsparing hand to the
deserving and distressed, her life was
such a continued preparation for eter
nity, that the unexpected event, which
we all so painfully felt, might to her be
deemed a blessing. I say unexpected,
for she Avas apparently well; and on
Whit-Sunday morning Avas preparing
for that attendance on Church, Avhich
Avas never omitted, Avhen she suddenly
expired. Her health and spirits, though
naturally good, had been gradually un
dermined by a long, an anxious, and
assiduous attendance on a near and
dear relative; and her illness had
been accompanied by severe sufferings,
as appeared by several of her manuscript
prayers, which came into my hands after
her decease. I know it may appear
selfish to praise where the object might

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 109
be deemed a part of oneself. But why
should I not declare her virtues ? The
light which they will shed may guide
many of my fellow Christians to eternal
happiness." This work was printed at Brighton in
August, 1813, but not published further
than by giving some copies of it to the
Dispensary of that town, Avhich got into
the bookseller's hands. The approba
tion and wishes of his friends induced
him to enlarge it very considerably, and
to publish it in April, 1816. This edition
Avas soon sold, and tAvo more were printed
and disposed of in the course of the
year 1817- A fourth has since been
printed. " The object (says the author in the
Preface) to which I point, is the securing
of a middle period, during Avhich our
exertions may be so directed, as by
duties performed and benefits conferred,

110 THE LIFE OF
to produce consolatory reflections,
against the approach of age and infir
mity : so that we may vieAv the grave,
not as a scene of terror, but as the
source of hope and expectation. — In
collecting and arranging the produce of
my reading and meditation on this sub
ject, with the hope, which all writers
cherish, but many endeavour to conceal,
that the work may prove worthy of fa
vourable acceptance, I consider myself
as a labourer employed for my own
benefit and that of others, on the road
which leads down the decline of life, in
rendering it more safe and easy ; not
indeed working entirely with my own
materials, but in part with what have
been left as common property, and for
the general use of mankind ; happy,
most happy, if my efforts may be of
service to others ; and may contribute
to their security and comfort in their

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. Ill
pilgrimage to that country which has
been the object of desire to the wise and
virtuous of all ages."
The general view which the author
takes of his subject is shown by the
following extract from page 31 of the
last edition : " Viewing this world in its
true light, as a passage to a better, we
shall find all the periods of life under the
same directing providence; and we may
be assured that our Creator has not
left the last stage of our corporeal exist
ence imperfect ; but has apportioned to
each its duties and enjoyments. — When
every other part ofthe drama of life has
been so well provided for, it can hardly
be supposed that the last act should have
been entirely neglected. Every period
of our existence has its gratifications,
as every season of the year produces its
peculiar enjoyments. The bloom of
spring, the gleam of summer, and the

112 THE LIFE OF
rich produce of autumn may be passed
and gone : but to those who have made
due preparation, the cheerful fire-side,
and the social comforts of winter will
not be less acceptable. When, hoAvever,
I say this, I except those cases, Avhere
individuals have so applied the former
part of life, as to leave the latter blank
and comfortless : I only mean to assert,
that if our youth be so employed as not
to embitter the decline of life, we shall
find enjoyments alloted to every period
of our existence."
In the spring of 1813, the Bishop of
Durham had consulted Sir Thomas Ber
nard about some papers of his late brother
Lord Barrington, the printing of which
he thought calculated to ansAver objec
tions which had been made to parts of
his valuable brother's political conduct.
Upon examining them Sir Thomas told

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 113
the Bishop that the correspondence con
tained evidence, which would not merely
ansAver objections, but Avould, in his opi
nion, establish Lord Barrington's cha
racter as a consistent and disinterested
Statesman ; for which purpose it would
be necessary that his papers should be
referred to, and the contents given in a
biographical form. On the Bishop re
gretting that at his very adAranced period
of life, and with his diocesan labours,
he did not feel equal to such an under
taking, in the autumn, while he Avas at
Auckland Castle, SirThomas arranged,
under the Bishop's inspection, " the Po
litical Life of Lord Barrington." He
thought it Avould come with more pro
priety and effect from the Bishop ; and
it was so published in February, 1814;
but his Lordship, in a Preface, very
handsomely gave the credit of the work
Q

114 THE LIFE OF
to the person who had so kindly under
taken the labour.
On the 15th of June, 1815, Sir
Thomas celebrated his second marriage
Avith Miss Hulse, the youngest sister of
the late Sir Edward Hulse, of Breamore
House, Hants. Bart; and continued to his
death in the uninterrupted enjoyment of
all the advantages to be derived from
congenial habits, and from a pure and
benevolent heart.

*

In the course of his public labours,

* See particularly Vol. III. No. 95 ofthe Reports,
in a note to which, at page 314, he says, " I know
no measure of internal policy more interesting, than.
that which has lately engaged the attention of Par
liament, respecting the duty on Salt. As to the
commutation of the duty, there may be difficulties in
point of finance. Upon this I do not presume to
give an opinion : but I will venture to assert, that
the greatest national advantages would result from
it." — See also the note at page 325.— This paper is
dated 30th of March, 1802.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 115
he had an opportunity of forming a judg
ment of some ofthe inconveniences re
sulting from the Salt duties, chiefly as
they affected the poor on the Sea Coast.
He took pains to inform himself further
on this subject, and was in consequence
fully persuaded that their noxious effects
are not confined to our Fisheries, but
extend to Manufactures, Agriculture,
and the general condition of the poor.
In the hope of attracting the attention
of His Majesty's Ministers to the subject,
in December, 1816, he addressed a
Letter and two Postscripts to Mr.Van-
sittart, the Chancellor ofthe Exchequer,
who had been one of the earliest and
most zealous Members of the Society tor
Bettering the Condition of the Poor;
and had taken a leading part in a Com
mittee of the House of Commons in
1801, appointed to enquire into this sub
ject, of which he made the Reports to

116 THE LIFE OF
the House, stating the conviction of the
Committee of the impolicy of the tax,
and strongly recommending a com
mutation. In the beginning ofthe same
year also Mr. Pitt had declared, that
" whenever the return of Peace enabled
His Majesty's Ministers to venture on a
diminution of the Revenue, the Repeal
of the Duty on Salt should have their
first consideration." Upon the return
of Peace in 1802, Mr. Addington ex
pressed his intention, " to bring the
duties on Salt under consideration of
Parliament ; in the hope that they might
be greatly reduced, if not totally re
pealed." The war, however, soon recom
menced, and in 1805, the duties on Salt
were increased to three times their
former amount.
From this time the subject seems to
have been forgotten, until the publica
tion of Sir Thomas Bernard's Letter to

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 117
Mr. Vansittart. This produced a mo
tion in the House of Commons (April,
1817) for an inquiry into the operation
of the Salt duties, upon Avhich the pre
vious question was carried by a majo
rity of only seventy-nine to seventy.
An examination of the subject was,
however, held at the Board of Trade,
which lasted several days, and in which
Sir Thomas Bernard was incessantly
engaged. ToAvards the end of the
session an Act* Avas passed, which, it
was represented on behalf of the Excise,
would remove all existing objections and
grounds of complaint as to the Fisheries;
and would lighten the duties on Salt to
be used for manure and feeding cattle :
but the conditions and penalties imposed
by this act were soon found to render it
perfectly nugatory.
During the summers of 1816 and 1817
* 57 Geo. III. c. 49.

118 THE LIFE OF
Sir Thomas Bernard spent some time at
Oulton Park, Cheshire, the hospitable
mansion of his friend Sir John Grey
Egerton, where he was emplojed in
collecting further information; and in
December, 1817, he pubhshed the
" Case of the Salt Duties, avith
Proofs and Illustrations." This,
though comprehending some of the
matter of the Letter to Mr. Vansittart,
was entirely new-written, and contained
much additional information ; and was
intended to bring into one vieAv all that
appeared to him material on the ques
tion, the importance of which seemed to
increase in proportion as it was more
hrvestigated and considered. At length,
in the next session of Parliament, a Com
mittee was appointed to inquire into the
Salt Laws. The encouragement Avhich
this held out animated him to increas
ed exertion, and rendered his labour,

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 119
in procuring evidence and suggesting
matter for the Report, incessant and un
wearied ; so as to make him indifferent
to frequent short illnesses Avhich attack
ed him, and to render his friends anxi
ous concerning the effects which it might
produce on his constitution.
A troublesome cough, which had in
creased during this period, and the con
viction of standing greatly in need of
leisure to recruit his overworked poAvers
of mind and body, induced him to leave
London at the earliest possible time ;
and from medical advice he proceeded
to Leamington Spa in the middle of June.
On his journey he wrote the following
letter to the Bishop of Durham, who had
been kindly solicitous about his health.
June 16, 1818.
" Your Lordship's kind advice Avill
I trust be not thrown away on me. If

120 THE LIFE OF
you had thought as I did on the subject
of the Salt duties, I am persuaded you
would have done the same, and sacrificed
petty personal motives of corporeal
health and enjoyment to an inquiry that
promised such extensive benefit. — My
opinion Avas not hastily adopted, but
the result of mature investigation. The
advantages which the country would
derive from the auWed use of salt for
cattle and hay were established beyond
controversy ; and it only required the
statement of a few uncontrovertible facts
to show that the Parliamentary allow
ance of salt for cattle of last year, was
idle and nugatory; incumbered with
penalties and forfeitures, sufficient to
deter any one from venturing to act
under it. There was reason to believe
that the use of salt as a manure, when
ascertained and understood, might make
a considerable addition to the farmer's

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 121
produce and profits throughout the king
dom ; and that the relief which might
be safely given to our fishermen would
considerably increase their trade and
their means of employment. These
were great public advantages, and of
the first class. When therefore I had
obtained a Committee of the House of
Commons, favourable in other respects,
except that there Avas no individual to
take the burthen of conducting the in
quiry, I could not reconcile to my mind
the sparing myself any trouble for such
an object. I therefore took the whole
trouble of correspondence and arrange
ment in the early part, and a consider
able portion of it throughout, besides
supplying a good deal of material evi
dence myself.
" The evidence was long, complicated,
and in some instances contradictory;
but it produced its desired effect of con-
R

122 THE LIFE OF
vincing those Members of GoA-ernment
who attended the Committee, that an
allowance of Salt ought to be made for
Agriculture, at a duty of half a crown a
bushel, the amount I proposed ; and that
some relief must be granted to the
Fisheries. We were therefore assured
that, short as the time was, such an Act
shoidd be passed for Agriculture, — and
as it was then impracticable to pass an
Act as to the Fisheries, they should be
relieved by an order of the Treasury,
until the subject of the Salt duties could
be again taken up and settled at the be
ginning ofthe next Session. — This, your
Lordship Avill suppose, was very satisfac
tory to me. I am now daily expecting a
copy of the Act, and an outline of Avhat
is intended by the Treasury ; in order
that I may submit any suggestions that
occur on the latter, — and on the former
be able to circulate the Act Avith anv

SIR THOMAS BENARD, BART. 123
information which may induce and en
able farmers to take advantage of it.
" Such is the nature of my apology,
and of the motives that have induced
me to try the strength of my constitu
tion, more than I would have done for a
lesser object."
On the 19th of June, Sir Thomas ar
rived at Leamington, and though not
feeling quite well, was able to take his
accustomed walking exercise that even
ing, and the next morning ; but a severe
and painful complaint, attended with
much fever, rapidly reduced his strength,
and he continued extremely ill for above
thirty hours ; after Avhich he amended
in some degree, and thought himself
better, and wrote thus to his friend, Sir
Robert Harvey, on the 25th: " If it had
been in my power, I should have written
to you sooner. — I have had so violent

124 THE LIFE OF
an attack of bilious fever since I have
been here, as to almost disqualify me
from doing any thing. What I should
have done Avithout the tender and unre
mitted attentions of my Charlotte, God
only knows." — He Avent out in his car
riage on the 27th, and again on the 30th.
His complaint seemed to be subdued,
and though his weakness was great, his
uniform habits of exertion continued
unaltered until the morning of the 1st
of July ; Avhen, after an attempt to take
his breakfast at ten o'clock, increasing
bodily weakness, attended Avith apparent
dropsical affection, terminated his va
luable life without a struggle before
mid-day. That this fatal event was hastened,
if not caused, by the extreme exertion
which he had taken upon himself, in pro
moting an object which he Avas fully

srn tiiomas hern ard, dart, 125
persuaded to bo of the greatest public
importance ; and that he was aware of
tho effects which that exertion might
produce on the state of his health, cannot
be doubted. But in this he only followed
the same rule which lie had laid down
for himself in all his former undertakings,
viz. lo put all personal considerations
out of his mind. From the time that he
became independent of his professional
occupations, his only thought was, how
his neal and activity could be so applied
as lo bo most conducive to the public
good ;* more particularly as regarded
the lower classes of society.
* Tho following skotoh is taken from tho Second
Volinno of Sermons by tho pious ami venerable
Ciilpin, of Uoldro, and forms ihe dedication of that
volinno to Sir Thomas Hornaro1. " Wo seldom see a
" person, in tlio course of a prosperous business,
" stop short, mid say, / Amv enough. We see him
" still more seldom consider his prosperity as a trust
" conferred by Providence for tlte good of others.

126 THE LIFE OF
The success of the various plans which
he proposed, presents sufficient evidence
" Still more seldom do we see him engaging in that
" line of benevolent action, which is among the most
" laborious, and the least grateful. Charity is often
" disposed to open its purse : but seldom to take
" pains ; though a man's time is frequently more
" useful than his money. We revere the memory
" of the late Me. Howard, who sought out misery
" in Jails. But misery is not confined to Jails. We
" bless the benevolent heart which seeks it in the
" dwellings of the poor — even in the loathsome cot-
" tages of filth and beggary. It was was one of the
" marks of the Christian Religion to preach the
" Gospel to ihe poor: and it is surely another, to be
" attentive to their temporal wants. Indigence is
" generally thriftless. Half the miseries of the lower
" classes of mankind arise from profligacy, idleness,
" or mismanagement. What a blessing therefore is
" he to the lower orders of society, who by active
" researches collects the several benevolent schemes
" of a charitable nation into one point ; and by per-
" tinent observations shows in what various ways tlie
" distresses of the poor may be relieved — how early
" instructions may induce religious habits — how sloth
" may be converted into industry — penury into
" plenty — and misery into comfort — how the blind,
" also, the lame and the aged, may receive every as-
" sistance, of which their condition is susceptible.

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 127
of the qualifications he possessed for
carrying into effect such measures as he
conceived to be important. To un
wearied perseverance he added peculiar
talents for business: his judgment,
which was clear and ready, quickly dis
cerned the various bearings of any plan
which Avas before him ; and the steadi
ness and assiduity with which he applied
the whole energy of his mind to the ac
complishment of a favourite object,
gave the best hopes of success. What
ever his preceding occupations might
have been, he had the peculiar talent of
concentrating all his thoughts on the
subject which at the time engaged his
attention; and when that Avas accom
plished, or other more important mea-
" Thus, my dear Sir, I have drawn a picture,
" which I present to you. All who are acquainted
" with the original, will acknowledge the likeness."

128 THE LIFE OF
sures demanded his care, he could dis
miss every former consideration, and
readily transfer the powers of his mind
to a new object.
In all the Public Institutions with
which he was concerned, he never suffer
ed private favour to influence his con
duct : no desire of patronage, no impor
tunities of friendship, could gain his
consent to a job, or for a moment with
draw his attention from the prime inte
rests ofthe object Avhich he was engaged
to promote.
In composition he was rapid and
correct, concise and comprehensive,
clear and energetic.
In the various objects which engaged
his attention, he kept his mind under
such controul, as not to suffer any anxiety
to ruffle his temper or disturb his rest.
The peculiarity which he has remarked

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 129
in Sir Robert Walpole,* was also his
own, viz. that he could " cast off his
cares Avith his clothes."
In private life he Avas serene, cheerful,
and hospitable. His memory retained
much useful information and lively anec
dote collected in his various and exten
sive reading, which rendered his society
at once instructive and entertaining. His
table was the resort of many of the most
distinguished characters of the day in
Literature, Science, and the Fine Arts.
His religious principles were strong,
lively, and consistent ; free from public
display, but influencing all his conduct.
In him a sincere attachment to the estab-
* Comforts of Old Age, p. 1 1 1 . 4th. edition. The
part of the conversation which is put into the mouth
of Bishop Hough, throughout this dialogue, displays
in many instances the peculiar sentiments of the
author ; especially that which refers to the political
and rehgious state of this country, the sin of anxiety,
and the duty and importance of cultivating cheerful
habits.

130 THE LIFE OF
lished Church of this kingdom Avas
tempered with a true Christian spirit of
toleration. The promotion of genuine
practical religion was one of the chief
objects of his labours. The sense which
he entertained of his own duty* and of
* "Among the higher classes of life, there are many,
" who make hereditary benefits the sanction of suc-
" cessive duties ; and, for the advantage of the
" human race, transmit the debt of kindness, and
" the obligation of benevolence, from one generation
" to another. — Where, indeed, the object of associa-
" tion between man and man is not merely mutual
" defense, — not a barter of convenience, nor a com-
" pact of amusement, — but — to instruct the ignorant,
" to relieve the wretched, and to protect the weak
" and defenceless who can never make a return, —
" and (to adopt the words of an eloquent writer,-f-)
" ' to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain, to take
" the gage and dimensions of misery, depression,
" and contempt ; to remember the forgotten, to
" attend to the neglected, and to visit the forsaken,'
" the sentiment becomes virtue, and the reward is
" of the highest and most elevated kind. To those,
" however, who have not experienced the satisfaction
" of these occupations, it will not be easy to conceive
" the energy and superiority of mind, which is ac-
-f- Mr. Burke

SIR THOMAS BERNARD, BART. 131
the responsibility which his station in
life imposed upon him, was evinced by.
the liberal pecuniary contributions and
disinterested personal exertions which he
was ever making to relieve the temporal
necessities ofthe indigent and distressed,
and to promote the moral and religious
improvement of the ignorant and neg
lected. In these and such like labours
no one ever applied himself with more
disinterested zeal, no one could congra
tulate himself on more signal success.
These are the subjects ofthe most effec-
" quired by the contemplation of a great and ardu-
" ous attempt ; or to imagine the eagerness with
" which a person engaged in these pursuits will con-
" template, and tlie perseverance with which he will
" follow, such an object ; — an object, in which tlie
" prize of attainment is not the petty and pitiful
" acquisition of a trifling possession, but the perma-
" nent interest of millions ; — advantages extending,
" with tlie Divine blessing, to uncounted numbers,
"and to future ages." — Introductory Letter to
Reports, Vol. III.

232 THE LIFE, &C.
tual consolation to his surviving friends ;
for on these they rest their hopes, as the
evidence of that sincerity of Christian
faith, which through the merits of our
blessed Redeemer has marked him
as ins true disciple here on earth, and
an inheritor of his glorious and eternal
kingdom in heaven.
Having left no issue, he has been suc
ceeded in the Baronetage by his only
surviving brother, the present Sir Scrope
Bernard Morland, of Nether Winchen-
don, Bucks, and of Pall Mall, London,
Avho in the three Parliaments preceding
the Union was Member for Aylesbury,
and has been in subsequent Parliaments,
and is at present, Member for St. MaAves.

APPENDIX.

[ 135 ]

APPENDIX, No. I.

Observations on the different Proposals which
have been made respecting the Poor during
the two preceding centuries.
Ihe introduction of commerce and manufac
tures into England, in the fourteenth 0rig;n of the
century, while it laid the foundations Poor Laws-
of civil liberty, gave birth to pauperism and
mendicity. The labourer, who had been till
that period confined to the estate, of which he
constituted part of the rental and value, was
employed and fed by the feudal lord, whose
vassal and slave he submitted to be. The se
verity, however, of this servitude had been
considerably mitigated by the monastic insti
tutions. Their manerial jurisdictions had
afforded examples of a milder power in the
early ages, and in the subsequent period their
gates had offered a daily supply to the indi
gent and necessitous. The abolition, there
fore., of these establishments in the sixteenth
century, and the subjection of their estates to

136

APPEXOIX. NO. I.

legal plunder, destroyed this source of monas
tic charity. In the consequence, a great
number of helpless paupers were thrown upon
the community, and specific provisions became
necessary, to relieve want, to supply occupa
tion, and promote industry.
The first remedy that seems to have occurred
Severestatule t0 0lir forefathers, was THE PUNISH-
?u ^h!?rd ment of idleness. And indeed,
the Sixth. if sloth were to be corrected, and
industry produced, by penal severity, the de
sired object must have been effectually obtain
ed by an act passed in the first year of King
Edward the Sixth. — Discovered idleness sub
jected the criminal to two years slavery,
either to his parish, or to the individual who
first seized upon him. The law not only per
mitted, but directed the master, to treat his
newly-acquired slave with increase of labour
and diminution of food; and, if be could
thereby impel him to attempt an escape, he
acquired a property in him for life ; and was
entitled to mark the letter S on his breast, with
a red hot iron, instead of tbe milder sentence
of his being only branded with the letter V.*
* V meant only vagabond ; while S fixed his slavery
irremediably for life.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 137
If the slave attempted to quit his service a
second time, the law directed that he should
be hanged. This was apparently an increase,
but in reality a mitigation, of severity : as
the inducement to cruelty ceased, when the
master had once acquired a life interest in the
liberty and happiness of his fellow-subject. —
A legal provision was thereby also made for
idle children. They were to be the slaves of
those who could catch them ; the boys till 24,
the girls to the age of 21 : and to prevent
any escape, they were to be secured with rings
of iron round their necks, legs, and arms, at
their master's discretion.
An act so abhorrent to the character of the
English nation, could not long re- Consequence
main a disgrace to our Statute Book. of ltsrePeal-
It was repealed before the end of that short
reign. In lieu of it, two or more collectors
were to be appointed in every parish, to re
ceive money for the relief of the poor ; the
payment of which it was the object of several
subsequent Acts to induce or compel. By the
5th of Elizabeth, the price of labour was fixed,
and those who had no visible livelihood, were
compelled to go into service in husbandry, or
in certain other occupations. The same
T

138 appendix, no. i.
statute determined the notice on quitting
service, appointed the hours of work, and
regulated the apprenticeship of children. —
The 18th of Elizabeth gave the magistrates
authority to establish houses of correction :
and, by the 39th of that reign, overseers were
to be cho.sen for employing poor children and
others, — for building cottages on the waste,
— and for punishing vagabonds.
At length in the year 1601, these and other
regulations were reduced and com-
Act for the .
relief ofthe piled into one Act; at first only
Poor. , . ,ii.
temporary and experimental, but
afterwards made perpetual by the 16th of
Charles I. — The Act for the Relief of the
Poor, was passed in the 43rd year of the reign
of Queen Elizabeth. With some variation, it
has continued in force more than two centuries ;
though frequently objected to, on account of
difficulties which have attended its execution ;
particularly in that part, which relates to the
employment of the poor. It may be some con
solation, therefore, that these complaints are
not peculiar to the present day ; but have
been repeated from time to time during the
whole of the two preceding centuries. Per
haps we may be persuaded that these difficul-

appendix, NO. I.

139

ties have been of eventual benefit to mankind ;
as the interest of the rich in the moral and re
ligious character of the labouring class would
cease to exist, whenever by the power of the
law, or by the device of man, the object should
be attained of making the poor innocuous and
useful, without improvement of character,
AND INDIVIDUAL AMENDMENT.
In the account which I have endeavoured
to eiye of the different proposals re-
. . . Projects
specting the poor,* I have divided concerningthe poor.
them into four classes. The first
includes such plans as are calculated to en
gage or compel the poor to make & prospective
provision for themselves, either by parochial
annuities, or by Friendly Societies. In the
second, I have noticed those for increasing
the employment of the poor, and for teaching
and inducing them to take advantage of it.
The third, by far the more numerous class,
proposes under various names and modifica
tions, the general establishment of workhouses,
as the remedy for idleness, indiscretion, and
immorality, in the lower orders of the com
munity : and the fourth (which I have only
referred to generally) recommends an increase
* No- XV. of Appendix to Vol. IV.

140

APPENDIX, NO. I.

of xvages, regulated by the price of bread, or
bread corn, as supplying a certain and compe
tent maintenance for the poor.
Upon each of these classes I shall have to
Observations offer a few observations. — And first
on the first
clas*. as to proposals ot parochial an
nuities, or Friendly Societies,* for inviting
or obliging the poor to provide for themselves.
— Could this be done by the supply of better
habits and means of life,- — by the encourage
ment of industry and prudence, — and by the
improvement of religious and moral character,
— no measure will be more politic in ob
ject, more practicable in execution, or more
permanent in effect. It would supply to the
poor man the means of making a prospec
tive provision for himself and his family. It
would resemble the wise and unprecedented
* Those that I have noticed, are very few in number.
Baron Maseres proposed selling parish annuities to
the poor, on a calculation of three per cent. — Mr. Acland,
a general friendly society, to which every one might,
and some persons should be compelled to subscribe;
Mr. Haweis, a general compulsory system of friendly
societies, the subscriptions payable by the employer:
and Mr. Townsend (avoiding the term compulsion) made
the continuance of such a subscription, while the la
bourer's earnings could supply it, a previous condition to
parish relief. See No. XV. of Appendix to Vol. IV.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 141
policy by which the minister has enabled
the nation to continue its present arduous con
test, with increasing prospeuitv ; producing
constant incitement to national enterprize
and industry, and furnishing perpetual sup
plies proportionate to the urgency of the ne
cessity which requires them.
But with an increasing family, the cottager,
who has no other resource for daily Djfficuilie!,
food except daily labour, can have ""ending it.
little prospect of a certain surplus, from
whence to continue his regular and periodical
payments : much less can he entertain the
hope of hoarding up so large a sum as would
purchase a parochial annuity. And, indeed,
if there should occur an extraordinary case of
this kind, a calculation at the rate of three per
cent, would not hold out a sufficient induce
ment. Certainly, it would not bear any com
parison with the profit and domestic advantages,
which may be obtained by the cottager, who ap
plies his savings lo the acquisition of a cow,*
* The reader will find calculations of the advantage
of pigs and bees, in the preceding Reports. For the
account of tho net profit of a cow, where the truant
can /><• supplied with land at a farmer's rait, the reader is
referred to our First Volume, p. 131 ; where it will
appear that it amounts to about twenty-five percent, on

142 appendix, no. i.
or pigs, or bees ; or in the purchase or
erection of a cottage.*
It is essential that in Friendly Societies, every
Friendly So- thing should be spontaneous and vo-
be merely luntary : and even in the aid and
vo un ry. ericouragenient which may be given
them, the nicest and most critical attention is
required, not to hurt the feelings, or awaken
the jealousy of the cottager. His Mite may
BE GIVEN, BUT IT CANNOT BE LEVIED.  When
the pittance to be contributed by indigence,
must be obtained by hard labour and hard
fare, the very idea of force and compulsion
will paralyse the strength of the cottager, and
unfit him for exertion. And as to the idea of
the original cost. In the same Volume, p. 334, the ad
vantage, besides the cottager's domestic comfort in the
supply of milk, is calculated by an able and experienced
judge, Mr. Kent, of Fulham, at thirty per cent. By
the account in Vol. II. p. 248, it should appear that
the average benefit from a cow rather exceeds Mr,
Kent's calculation. — No parish annuity calculated at
three per cent, can offer the cottager any competition of
advantage, proportionate to what he may derive from
such an improvement of his means and domestic
resources. * The reader is referred to the Accounts of Brit ton
Abbot, and Joseph Austin, in the preceding Reports.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 143
making these contributions a condition of pa
rochial relief, let us consider how impossible
it will be to refuse relief to misery, merely
because it is doubtful whether it might have,
and it is certain it has not, continued a regu
lar contribution to these funds.
The object of the second class of proposals,
is employment.* — Whenever new 2d. observa-
sources of occupation can be opened lament of
to the poor, or an increase of cur- lheP00r-
rent given to such as already exist, the la
bourer will always be thereby benefited. But
without one of these advantages, an attempt
to give profitable employment to the idle
and the thriftless will often tend to injure and
dishearten the active aud industrious, without
* This was one of the earliest measures proposed ; —
first in 1615 and 1641 by the herring fishery, in 1650
by that and the woollen manufactory, and in 1 673 by
the manufactures of linen and iron. The experiment
of employing the poor, was made on a considerable scale,
and with much practical knowledge, by Mr. Firmin' in
the parish of Aldersgate ; and in 1697, the abilities of
Mr. Locke were directed to this subject, by a reference
from the Board of Trade. Dean Tucker and the Rev.
Mr. Townsend have since recommended Mr. Locke's
plan for the parochial establishment of workshops, for
the constant employment of all the unoccupied poor. See
No. XV. of Appendix to Vol. IV.

144 APPENDIX, NO. I.
meliorating the character and condition of the
other. It has been frequently and very cor
rectly stated that nothing can afford so accept
able a relief to the honest poor, as the supply
of useful occupation, — that their labour is
the only commodity which they have to offer
at the market ; — and that the increase of de
mand is always an augmentation of its value,
and to the labourer an improvement of condi
tion. These observations will be found to
apply with additional force to our fisheries ;
which, at the same time that they increase the
demand for labour, augment the supply of
food; and though apparently confined in their
benefit to maritime counties, yet eventually
improve the condition of the labouring class
in every part of the kingdom.
The same remarks may be applied to the
cultivation of waste lands. In
culture, ma. the infancy of manufactures also,
nil ac ures, ^iey wjjj ^& jq ^ar^ applicable to
them ; or at least to such of them
as are of cheap materials, simple process, easy
market, and capable of being worked by the
cottager, or his family, at home : — such, 1
mean, as spinning by hand, basket making,
the split straw platt, and the like But in

APPENDIX, NO. I. 145
our complicated and intricate machinery, im
proved and extended as it has been by inge
nious and scientific men, every manufacturer
has his own secret and peculiar processes and
inventions ; the rich and merited reward of
mind and talent, devoted an d concentered to
a single object. In this instance, therefore,
it would be perfectly ridiculous to expect the
cottager, or the parish overseer, to attempt a
competition. The philosophy of one of our
simplest manufactures, perpetually improving
by the increasing discoveries in chemistry and
mechanics, would have astonished the wisest
and most learned men of antiquity. At the
same time our unbounded commerce has
made the whole world a source to supply
our materials, and a market to receive our
goods. Add to this, that the stimulating
example of men, who have honourably made
immense fortunes, by the extent and unfailing
skill of their operations, and by the advantage
of attention and intelligence directed to one
point, and operating for its own benefit, is
such as can leave no possible advantage to
any parish ofiicer, who may be appointed, or
hired, for the purpose of employing the poor
in ingenious or complicated manufactures.
v

146

APPENDIX, NO. I.

I will venture to go further, and to say,
that if it were practicable, with the
Observations .
astomanu- aid of the parish purse, for the
factures. . , T .
parish overseer to succeed in a
competition with the manufacturer, it would
neither be just or politic, so to employ the
public stock, to the injury of the industrious
individual. But then I trust the manufacturer
will, on his part, concede that it is the duty
of the state to watch over his extended spe
culations; — and to ascertain that his mills
and factories are not converted into semina
ries of disease, and misery, and profligacy.
In a peculiar degree, will it be tbe public
duty to attend to their effects on the rising ge
neration; and to see that at the age when
young persons should be happy and useful,
they do not become worthless and wretched. —
I have recently had convincing proof, that
the necessary instruction of youth, and the
strict care of their health and morals, in these
great mills and factories, are not only compa
tible with, but eventually conduce to, the
profit ofthe manufacturer. The evidence has
been the more gratifying, because exemplified
in a great and extended concern ; where not
less than one thousand appentices are engaged :

APPENDIX, NO. I. 147
and where above three thousand looms are
constantly employed ; the greater part iu the
cottages ofthe poor, and without prejudice to
their domestic habits and enjoyments. 
The providing for the poor, by a general
system of workhouses, extended to 3rd. Obser-
e very part ofthe kingdom, has been vations on
, "~ workhouses.
recommended by a variety of able
and respectable men. Of these, the plans of
Sir Josiah Child and Mr. Fielding, applied
only to the metropolis, and its vicinage ; —
those of Sir Matthew Hale, Mr. Hay, Mr.
Allcock, Sir Richard Lloyd, Mr. Cooper, and
Mr. Gilbert, were directed to district work
houses for hundreds, or divisions of hundreds.
Mr. Haines and Lord Hillsborough proposed
workhouses for counties : and Dr Dave-
nant and Mr. Bellers carried their projects to
an extent still more complicated and unma
nageable. These plans differ in the scale of
operation, in the intricacy of machinery, and
in the degree of severity* by which they are
* It should be a fundamental maxim in every measure
to be adopted respecting the indigent and necessitous,
that it should be such as will not only be easily executed,
but as will in some degree execute itself, by the motive and
inducement which it my afford for its enforcement and

148 APPENDIX, NO. 1.
to be enforced ; but they are all subject to
nearly the same observations and objections.
The first objection to any general system
Objection of of workhouses, applies not merely
expense. j0 tlie diminution of useful labour,
but to the increase of expense incurred in the
maintenance of the poor. If we refer to any
of the tables, or statements, of the expenditure
ofthe labouring class, we shall find that the
observance. In novel establishments, great exertions
are sometimes" made, and extraordinary attentions be
stowed, in order to secure their success; particularly
where there has existed a difference of opinion as to their
expediency and practicability. But these efforts will be
only temporary and transient, and will end in delusion
and disappointment. The objects of the poor laws are
the helpless, the thoughtless, and the depraved part of
the community ; and if no amendment is produced the
perverseness of our corrupt and fallen nature will
sooner or later break forth ; and, after disappointing
our hope, and exhausting our patience, will establish
itself on the ruins of our system. — On the contrary,
while our attention is directed to the improvement of
the character, as well as of the resources and
habits, of the poor, every measure that has been
adopted, every step that has been taken, smooths and
facilitates our future progress ; and invites and en
courages us to proceed, in a path, in which the labour
is gradually diminished, while the gratification is con
stantly increased.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 149
cost of a pauper in the workhouse, is half as
much again as in his own cottage ; and that
no earnings, that can be obtained by the la
bourer, would ever support his increasing
family, if his expense of food, clothing, and
other necessaries, were estimated, upon any
mode or principle, adopted in the workhouse.
Besides this, the buildings and the establish
ment must necessarily be of a size, and of an
extent of preparation, calculated for emer
gencies, and greater than what is required
for the domesticated poor.
These are objections, on the score of mere
economy.— But, if we direct our Further ob.
attention to more important objects, Jectlons-
we shall find that nothing is so hostile to the
morals and the habits of the poor, as congre
gating under one roof, the idle, the infirm,
and the dissolute ; — intermixing doating age
with helpless infancy,— and associating the
artful prostitute and the convicted thief, with
innocent and unsuspecting youth. Such,
however, have been the effects of workhouses,
in every part of the kingdom ; and until the
different classes can be completely separated,
the prevention of those effects will require a
greater degree of zeal, talent, and attention,

150 APPENDIX, NO. I.
than can ever be supplied by man. — These
are inconveniences, common to these Institu
tions : but they have been greatly enhanced
in incorporated districts, by a principle gene
rally adopted in them ; — that the contribution
from each parish in the district, shall be inva
riably fixed according to its rate or proportion,
at the first establishment : — a circumstance,
which, while it removes all interest of the
parish officers and others, in the improvement
of their own parochial poor, or in their in
struction or occupation, frequently commits
to this parish jail those, whose families, with
the supply of a little work, or with some brief
and limited assistance, might have continued
to thrive and be happy in their own habita
tions. The cottager, if once settled in the work
house, feels a privation of all mo-
Their effects . r
on the cotta- tive to industry and activity. — In-
dependence, domestic habits, the
love of home, the power of being useful, and
the hope of bettering his condition, are by
him for ever lost and relinquished, from the
hour that he has habituated his mind, to con
tinue a resident among parish paupers. In
pauperism as in slavery, the degradation of

APPENDIX, NO I. 151
character deprives the individual of half his
value ; and it rarely occurs, that the inmate of
the workhouse is ever restored to his native
energy, and power of exertion. — The evil,
however, does not stop with him and his family.
Pauperism and mendicity are ofthe most infec
tious nature. The example of those who have
gradually reconciled themselves to the work
house, too frequently affects the other indus
trious poor. They listen to the detail of the
waste, the licence, and the idleness, of the
public establishment. They are led to com
pare it with their own hard fare and hard
labour ; and the value of domestic comfort,
and of personal independence, insensibly di
minishes, in their estimation. Labour is no
longer sweetened by the society of a wife and
children, — which now seem a burthen : and,
when the mind is thus prepared to desire admis
sion among the parochial poor, the useful, and
industrious cottager becomes a dead weight,
and a noxious burthen, to the community.
Workhouses may be sometimes necessary
in the management of the poor.
r General Ob-
There are certain helpless and in- servationson
them.
sulated beings, to whom they prove
an asylum : there are ethers, to whom they

152 APPENDIX, NO. I.
are adapted, as houses of correction. But
when they become the receptacle oi youth, they
destroy the hope of the succeeding genera
tion; — when, backed by necessity, they force
the aged and reluctant cottager into their walls,
they do flagrant injustice to the claims of past
labour ; — and when they intermix all the cha
racters, which are objects of parochial relief
or correction, they disseminate contagion, and
irremediably spread through the country the
INFECTION OF IDLENESS AND IMMORALITY. 
I proceed in the fourth place to consider
another mode, which has been proposed for
relieving the distresses ofthe poor :
ing the price — ^at of fixing the price of labour*
thatofbread^ by parliamentary regulations, having
a reference to the current price of
bread. — This has been a favourite idea of
* These proposals have been always introduced by
tables of the labourers earnings and expenses. Such
tables may be of use in general calculations : but they
must not be implicitly depended on. With regard to
earnings, the slothful will never reach the calculated
sum ; and to the industrious, there will always occur
some favourable circumstance, which will enable him
to exceed it. — In respect of expenses, the difference
between a family that lives, as it is called from hand to
mouth, and one that has prudential habits and domestic

APPENDIX, NO. I. 153
some very intelligent and benevolent men. —
In order to ascertain its consequences, if prac
ticable, let us refer to a very recent period of
our domestic history.
In the year 1780, the price of a quartern loaf
was sixpence ; and the labourer's wages were
then nine shillings a week. During the scarcity
in 1800, the quartern loaf cost one shilling and
ninepence. The proportionate wages, there
fore, fixed by the price of bread, must then
have been one pound eleven shillings and six
pence per week, or five shillings and three
pence a day.*— At the same time, the labourer
would have had no motive to diminish his
resources, will be beyond all calculation. One of Lord
Winchilsea's cottagers, who has a cow pasture, a pig
gery, and a garden, will thrive and live better with the
wages of eight shillings a week, than a hand to mouth
man will with three times the sum, — I mention this to
shew that improvement of the habits and resources of
the poor, will do them much more good, than increase
of wages.
* What 1 have here staled is an extraordinary, but I
fear not an extreme case. Any measures, however,
which may be adopted for regulating the price of labour
by the price of bread, will be more or less liable to the
objections here stated, in proportion as those measures
may be more or less operative and efficient,
X

154 APPENDIX, NO. I.
consumption of wheat corn, but would have
been invited by a parliamentary bounty and
national authority, to consume as much as
he would have done in times of plenty.
The consequence of the unrestrained con
sumption of bread, must have been an aug
mentation of the price of corn; and, while
the system was followed, a progressive increase
ofthe price of labour. And" this must have
proceeded with an augmenting rapidity; —
except so far as it might have been checked by
the export of treasure, in quest of such wheat
as could be spared from foreign countries.
How imperfect and inadequate this remedy
would have been (even though we carried
double money in our sacks) we have learnt by
sad and recent experience. During the late
scarcity, millions were expended in the pur
chase of foreign wheat ; — and yet, without
very strict and general economy of food, and
without an abundant and unexpected supply
offish and other articles successfully brought
into the market, the country would not have
been preserved from a temporary famine.
There would be another consequence ; —
Consequences that if the price of labour had
as to raanu- • .
factures. been then regulated by the price of

appendix, no. i. 155
bread, and fixed at five shillings and threepence
a day, the manufacturer could not have
afforded to continue to employ his workmen.
No amount of property, no degree of patrio
tism, could have induced him to proceed on
an adequate scale of operation, while the ori
ginal cost of labour was such as to check the
domestic market, and to prohibit exportation
to any other countiy. The manufacturer
must, therefore, have been compelled, how
ever unwilling, to dismiss his workmen. In
vain they would desire to be employed, at
such a price as he could afford to pay. The
punishment of the law would await both the
employed and the employer ; and, forbidden
to work, thev must have resorted as paupers
to their parish.
This, however, would be only the begin
ning of sorrows. — The agriculturist, unless
in confidence of a continued high Consequen
ces as to Ag-
price of corn, could not have riculture.
afforded to cultivate wheat, when the labourer's
wages were five shillings and threepence a
day : and if the natural consequenee had fol
lowed, and the cultivation of wheat corn had
been discontinued or diminished, arable land
must have been converted into pasture, or left

156

APPENDIX, NO. I.

waste ; and the labourer and his family, with
out employment and without food, must have
solicited parochial relief, or personal charity.
— The evil, however, must soon become ge
neral : it would not be restricted to the labour
ing class : for, if we can suppose that the cul
tivation of wheat-corn should ever be greatly
and materially diminished in this country, the
effects must be soon felt in every part, and by
every individual of the kingdom. Scarcity
would not have then been a casual and tempo
rary guest ; but, under the meagre and horrid
form of Famine, would have continued the
perpetual tyrant of the land.
It is fortunate, therefore, that the price of
labour does not depend upon laws, and Jaw-
Price of La- giveis-* — IT is governed by the
bour depends grjppLY AND THE DEMAND. It may
on supply and J
demand. be in the power of the legislature
• Another inconvenience in fixing the price of labour
by Parliamentary regulations — I am referring to sug
gestions which have been made with regard to the la
bour of the poor — but if it were possible to equalize the
price of labour another inconvenience would follow, —
that when the pay of the aged, the infirm, and the
slothful, is fixed at the same rate, as that of the young,
the active, and the healty, no industry or exertion could
ever continue to exist under such a regulation.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 157
to prohibit industry : — to forbid the agricul
turist and the manufacturer to employ the
labourer, and to restrain the labourer from
working under a certain rate. But the only
mode of increasing the price of labour, is to
encrease the demand for it. It is not within
the supremacy of human power, to provide a
regular supply of occupation for the poor, to
be paid for in proportion* to the price of food ;
especially under the circumstances of defi
ciency of crop, and increase of population. —
In all the plans that have been produced for
the management of the poor, we Generai ob_
may discover talent and ingenuity ; Jectionstothe
and, in most of them, charity and Poor
philanthropy. But the defect seems to be,
that they do not propose to operate, as on free
and rational agents, and on religious and ac-
* I am not aware of any effectual remedy to prevent
the labourer from suffering in periods of scarcity, ex
cept that of supplying him with better domestic habits
and resources. If he has a cow, a pig, and a garden, he
may still suffer by the scarcity, as others do; but his own
domestic supply from them, — and the increase of price
on what he may sell, — on his veal, butter, pork, and
vegetables, — will contribute to prevent his suffering
more than the other members of the community, and
will mitigate his sufferings from the scarcity.

158 appendix, no. i.
countable creatures; — each filling his place
best when most earnestly seeking his own hap
piness : — but as upon works of art and mere
mechanism ; where the greatest momentum is
to be acquired, when the machinery is most
complicated, and the principles of action most
involved. The virtue and energy of the se
parate parts of the political body constitute the
aggregate of the virtue and energy of the
whole ; and it is vain to expect, that, while in
dividuals are depraved and ignorant, the state
should be prosperous and enlightened. — We
have made repeated experiments on parochial
manufactures, on farming the poor, on increas
ing the Poor's Rate, on the patronage of sen
timental beggars, and the establishment of
incorporated workhouses. Let us now try
the influence of religious motive, the con
sequence of melioration of character, and
the effects of improvement of condition.
Let us endeavour to operate by individual
kindness and encouragement, by the prospect
of acquiring property, and by every other in
citement to industry and prudence : — and we
shall find that when the component parts of
the body politic become sound and perfect,
the state itself will be healthy and thriving.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 159
To pure and vital Christianity, we must
look for the basis of every essential
, . J . Effects of
and permanent improvement, in the Christianity
condition of the poor. To that alone
we are indebted, not only for our exemption
from some of the most desolating evils under
which humanity formerly suffered, but even
for the very existence of charity itself. 
By its influence the mitigation of the sorrows
and calamities of life, has been reduced and
arranged into a system, which excludes interest,
power, and sensuality ; and directs the earnest
exertions of the individual to the benefit of
those, with whom he has no other connexion
than that of man with man. The co-operation
of individuals for the relief of the misery, and
for the increase of the happiness of their fel
low creatures, has not only been extended to
every class of society, and even to the animal
creation ; — but it has been applied by a variety
of charitable institutions, to every thing ih
which the interest of man can be concerned.
By these fruits of genuine Christianity, the
character of the Reformed Church is best
known, and the evidence of its intrinsic purity
most completely established.
Under these impressions, I shall venture to

160 APPENDIX, NO. I
The princi- to SUDmit to you as my first princi-
Snsuted?" Ple' that no Plan for the improve
ment of the Condition of the Poor,
ist. Meliora- will be of any avail, — or in any
ration of . .
character, respect competent to its object — un
less THE FOUNDATION BE LAID IN THE MELIO
RATION OF THEIR MORAL AND RELIGIOUS CHA
RACTER. The seeds of evil must be eradicated,
before the soil can be enriched to advantage,
and prepared to produce the abundant and ac
ceptable harvest. This is essential to the im
provement of the condition of the poor. With
out it, the increase of means of subsistence to
the labouring class, and even industry itself,
will often administer a supply to vice, rather
than a relief to necessity Artisans may be
industrious and ingenious, and at the same
time profligate, immoral, and worthless, in all
the relations of life. — Their profits may be
doubled, or even trebled, and we have num
berless instances in our manufacturing coun
tries, and yet there may be no increase of the
comforts which the artisan and his family en
joy : the frequent consequences of excessive
profits, being the periodical return of idle
ness and inebriation, suspended only by the
necessity, which goads him back to his labour.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 161
My second fundamental axiom is, that no
project respecting the poor can be
admissible, if it tends to ALIENATE ajjena^him
HIM FROM HIS COTTAGE, AND HIS fromhiscot-
' tage.
DOMESTIC attachments. — There is
no principle of action more deeply engrafted
in the human heart, not even the preserving
instinct of self-love, than that affection,
which unites the poor man to his cottage and
family. They are endeared to him amid the
snows of Nova Zembla, and the burning sands
of the equator ; — in the noxious marsh, and
upon the sterile mountain. Incessant labour
and scanty food are submitted to, so long as
the mere wants of nature can be supplied, and
life preserved. The cottager, unused to change
of place or condition, centers all. his desires in
the spot where he was born, and in the family
to which he has given birth. Necessity may
drive him, and extraneous circumstances may-
seduce him, to wander to other soils, and to
other climates ; but the heart will be always
tremblingly alive to the call, which summons
him back to his home, and his family ; and
renews the sweetest sensations, which we ever
enjoy in this sublunary world.
With this natural and instinctive sentiment

162

APPENDIX, NO. I.

But to in- impressed on his heart, Itrusfit will
crease his ,
domestic appear, not only to be true policy to
com or s. ]eave j,jm jn fjje undisturbed posses
sion of his cottage and his family, and of that
impulse which nature has given him for their
support and protection ; but that it is our first
duty, and our nearest interest, to sweeten and
encourage his toil, and to attach him to his
condition and situation. This may be done,
by affording him the prospect of acquiring
property ; — by supplying the means of educa
tion for his children, and of religious duty
and consolation for himself and his family ;
and by giving him occasional aid and kind
assistance,* when age, infirmity, or any do
mestic calamity requires it.
* It is indeed a pleasing circumstance, that those
measures, which are conducive to these important ob
jects, will tend to promote every thing which can be
desired by social and civilized man. That melioration
of character, which promotes the cottager's present
comfort, will tend to his future happiness, and will con
tribute to the welfare of his wife and children, — and by
example and influence, to the improvement of his neigh
bours. The advantages which he receives from the
fostering care of government, and from the kind atten
tion of the other classes, will help to strengthen the so
cial tie ; and to unite all the different members of the
community in bonds of brotherhood and affection A

APPENDIX, NO. I.

163

In this, however, and in every thing which
may be done for the poor, we should be care
ful never to remove the spur, the 3$ Not t0
motive, and the necessity of exertion. *j,™n"„ *!
No charity which we can adminis- ertl0D-
ter, can ever compensate for our rendering
them helpless and useless to themselves. Their
own industry, prudence, and domestic habits,
far exceed in intrinsic value, millions which
may be raised for their relief : and while they
contribute to our national wealth and secu
rity, they all dispense comfort and happiness
to those individuals, and to those families,
which are blessed in their possession.
But whatever may be done for the perma
nent well-being of the labouring Thecallfor
class, the fabric of human prosperity J^JwMstiii
.will never be so firmly established, remain-
as for man not to want the aid and kindness of
state thus composed of a virtuous and thriving pea
santry, — of cottagers, possessing property and the
means and habits of improving it, will acquire a degree
of consolidated and defensive strength, which depravity
or indigence can never hope to attain. Every individual
will then have a stake in the country. The magnitude
of the stake may be different ; but the general interest
will be the same.

161

APPENDIX, NO. I.

man. While castles and palaces remain sub
ject to the instability of fortune, it is vain for
the cottager to claim the exemption. His pos
sessions may exceed the extent of his desires :
— his cow may be in full produce, his garden
cropped, his piggery flourishing, and his hives
increasing; — and yet, in the change of a few
passing hours, all this domestic affluence may
vanish like a dream. — He may be in full health
and vigour ; — and yet a casual exposure to
cold and wet, the too eager exertion of labour,
or the blight of febrile infection from a source
unknown, may chain him to the bed of sick
ness, — may exhaust all the savings of industry,
—and require the constant aid and attendance
of those, whose only stay and support he had
been a few hours before. It is here, that be
nevolence should come forward, like the invi
sible hand of Providence, to sooth and sustain
his sinking spirit. This is the moment that
calls for personal charity, — not.only kindly
administered, but liberally and sedulously be
stowed ; — so as speedily to restore his labour
and utility to his family and his country.
To these three principles I have to add a
fourth ; — that in every measure respecting the

APPENDIX, NO. I. 165
.poor, we should avoid, not only sudden and
rapid changes, but unnecessary va- 4th Tomai5e
riation in form and manner. There the , cI|anSe
u gradually,
are few Acts of Parliament, which &c-
do not require time and attention, to ascertain
and establish their meaning and construction ;
and there has been scarcely any law respecting
the poor, that has not been the subject of
doubt and embarrassment, even to parish
vestries and parish officers, who are by law ap
pointed to understand them. — But to the poor,
who are to be chiefly affected by them, novelty
in legislation must ever be a subject of doubt
and anxiety. Their inheritance under the
Poor Laws, is no very valuable possession.
But with many, it is all that they can call
their own ; and it must be very natural for
them, to view with jealousy and distrust, any
great and complicated variation, the motives
and objects of which they cannot understand.
I therefore submit that every alteration in the
Poor Laws, should be gradual, simple, and
intelligible ; — always adhering to established
modes and forms, — and leaving, if possible,
an option for the cottager, to accept or decline
its benefit. That which may be well and
safely done by gradual progress, and under

166 APPENDIX, NO. I.
present names, "may become absolutely imprac
ticable, when attempted at once, or under a
new description of character and agency.
With these impressions, I have prepared an
Reference outline* of measures, which I con-
to plan, ccive may tend to improve the cha
racter and condition of the English poor. In
every part of it, I have endeavoured, while
the poor man possesses the option of benefiting
by it, to supply the motive and inducement ;
and I have attempted to operate, not only by
apparent, but by real kindness ; — looking to
his essential welfare, and to that of his nearest
and dearest connexions. In dealing with ra
tional and accountable creatures, inducement
may do much to improve them, but compulsion^
can only produce apparent conformity, and
systematic hypocrisy. The Divine Author
of the Universe has given us abundant mo-
* See the Appendix, No. II.
t I have already taken the liberty of observing, that
machinery is not at all calculated, for the governance
of rational beings. I will venture to go further, and to
assert, that it is not proper even for living creatures, en
dued with will and inclination. — We do not attempt to
correct the irregularities and aberrations of the horse by
pullies and levers, but by instruction, habits of attention,
discipline, and encouragement.

APPENDIX, NO. I. 167
tive and inducement to seek our own happiness:
hut force and necessity would have been in
consistent with the privileges of a free and
intellectual being.
It is indeed conformable, not only to the
principles of Christianity, but also our earliest
to those of created nature, that the jj^g
most potent means of exciting moral kmdness-
habits, should be by judicious and discrimi
nating kindness and benevolence. A similar
progress of improvement is natural and con
genial to every individual, in his passage
through this world of trial. — From the effects
of that infant feeling, which at first can be
deemed little more than the instinct of self
preservation, we may trace the origin of the
noblest and sublimest virtues. By the mere
sensual impulse of the child, which looks to
nothing with desire, except what supports life
or gratifies the appetite, the opening mind is
taught to associate with its first and most plea
surable sensations, the bosom on which it has
reposed, and from which it has been nourish
ed. By this association are generated the first
and most delightful of our early affections, —
FILIAL ATTACHMENT AND GRATITUDE ; directed
first to the mother, — and from her, extending

168

APPENDIX, NO. I.

to the family, — and from thence to all the
connexions which are endeared to it.
The infantine impressions of self-interest,
Theirfurther given us for self-preservation, are
progress. ^^ capaD]e 0f being refined ; and
of becoming rational and spiritual, as the
progress of moral intellect is continued ; and
in like manner, through the subsequent stages
of life, our selfish feelings, matured by benefits,
give birth to all the most excellent virtues.
The kindness of a friend, gratifying at first
only our self-interest, leaves in the mind a
pleasing recollection, which endears to us for
ever the name and exercise of friendship.
We are benefited by the liberality of others,
and the seeds of generosity are planted in
the breast. To our dear country we are in
debted for protection and preservation ; and
from the delightful memory of that obliga
tion, we derive public spirit. As the heart
expands, and the circle of our pleasures and
duties is enlarged, that kindness which mere
friendship had restricted to a few individuals,
is extended to all our fellow-creatures ; and
the whole world is admitted to the claim of
brotherhood, by the acquired virtue of be
nevolence.

appendix, no. i. 169
By checking the base and unfriendly pas
sions of envy, jealousy, resentment, increase of
. J ° •" ' our social
and avarice, and by cultivating virtues.
friendship, generosity, candour, and disinte
restedness, the variety of gratifications, asso
ciated with these excellent virtues, will in
crease their number and power ; and thus
affections and habits will follow conduct
and practice. The pleasure of a benevolent
action will augment the desire of repeating it,
— will attach the mind to benevolence, — and
will gradually extinguish the malignant and
selfish feelings. — Every interest we take in
our friends, our benefactors, and others ,~
every effort we make to serve and assist them,
— every affectionate wish and intention we form
for their benefit, — will promote in us all the
kindly affections, and will afford the best evi
dence of our love and gratitude to our hea
venly Creator.
That the social and intellectual virtues
flourish and increase,* whenever Conclusion.
they acquire a place and interest in the human
breast, has been frequently observed. Nor
* This is beautifully exemplified by Bishop Hall, in
a passage quoted in a note to the Report, No. 78.
Z

170

APPENDIX, NO. I.

has it escaped notice, that the prevalence of
these virtues doth naturally elevate the mind,
to the contemplation of that source, from
whence emanates all that is good or valuable.
— If filial attachment, gratitude, friendship,
generosity, and benevolence, are generated by
the benefits we have received from man, how
much more powerful will be the attraction and
influence of all our more sublime affections to
that being, to whom we owe our existence,
and every advantage and enjoyment we pos
sess ; — to that being, from whom we are
constantly receiving unmerited benefits ; and
on whose favour depends all that can possibly
concern us ; —all our present pleasures and
enjoyments, — all our future hopes and expec
tations. These reflections will confirm the
soul in habits of devotional piety, and thereby
increase the prevalence of the moral
sense. They will unite the selfish, the social,
and the religious reflections ; — so that
while we are seeking our own happiness, and
consulting our true interest, — we shall raise the
mind to the most sublime and delightful con
templations, — we shall purify the heart from
the dross and corruption of our fallen nature,

APPENDIX, NO. I. 171
— we shall increase and extend the scope
of benevolence, — and produce the rich
harvest of every moral virtue, which can
be acceptable or beneficial to our fellow
creatures. March 28, 1805.

[ 172 ]

No. II.
Outline of Measures proposed for the im
provement ofthe Character and Condition
ofthe English Poor.
1st. THE SUB-DIVISION OF COUNTIES INTO DIS
TRICT PETTY SESSIONS, HOLDING STATED MEET
INGS, AND RECEIVING THE RETURNS OF THE
OVERSEERS.
This made one of several excellent parts of
Mr. Pitt's Bill ; and whenever any regular
system is to be adopted with respect to the
poor, periodical petty sessions exclusively for
that object, must form an essential part of it.
The districts should be settled by the quarter
sessions ; and may follow, in great measure,
the arrangement of those already held, for ap
pointment of overseers and surveyors, and for
licensing alehouses. The time of the meetings
should be monthly, on some fixed day of the
week ; and it would be convenient, that they
should be near to the full moon. When more
frequent meetings were wanted, as in cities
and populous districts, they might be held by

APPENDIX, NO. II. 173
adjournment or by special summons from the
chairman. Some incidental expenses would
attend the meeting ; for which, it would be
reasonable, the county, or the district, should
pay. The sum, however, required for each
meeting, would be so trifling as not to deserve
consideration. The returns of the overseers
should be monthly, and might be made to
printed queries. These would supply a regu
lar state of the poor throughout the kingdom ;
duplicates, or abstracts, of which might at any
time be returned by the justice's clerk to some
general office of reference, whenever it should
be deemed useful to collect and digest this
information.
2nd. TO AUTHORIZE THE PETTY SESSIONS, UPON
THE NOMINATION OF THE PARISH-VESTRY, TO
APPOINT AN ASSISTANT OVERSEER, WITH A
SALARY.
It is proposed that it shall be optional in the
vestry, at their Easter meeting, to return, or
not to return, one of their parishioners to the
petty sessions, for appointment as assistant
overseer with a salary to be specified in the
return. If such return is made, it will then
rest with the petty sessions, in case they think

174 APPENDIX, NO. II.
the person fit and the appointment expedient, to
make the appointment. Such assistant would
of course enter into a recognizance, with two
sureties, for his conduct, and would act in
conformity to the joint direction of the other
overseers. His duty would be to keep the ac
counts, attend the magistrates, and execute the
detail of the oflice. The parochial return of
an assistant overseer is proposed to be optional;
as out of all the parishes in England, there
may not be a third part, that will require such
an appointment : but in the larger and more
populous parishes, which do actually require
such an assistant, it is very essential, that the
peculiar care of the poor, and the detail of all
the concerns ofthe parish, should not be forced
upon annual overseers, already pretty fully oc
cupied with their own private concerns.
3d. TO ESTABLISH BENEFIT FUNDS, IN EACH
PARISH, FOR THE SICK AND AGED.
This, which was also an object of Mr. Pitt's
Bill, is proposed to be open to all residents,
whether male or female, and settled or not
settled in the parish. The calculations should
be in favour of the subscribers, and the pur
chase monies invested in the funds ; the'defi-

APPENDIX, NO. II. 175
ciency, if any, being supplied from the parish
rates. This would offer to the poor man a more
certain and a more unexceptionable friendly
society, than any now existing ; and would also
enable the industrious female, to secure an un
alienable provision for herself, against age,
sickness, or widowhood. Some deficiency in
the funds might eventually occur ; but it will
hardly be necessary to prove, that the expense
of providing for that deficiency, could never
amount to a tenth part of what is now incurred,
in supporting aged, infirm, and widowed pen
sioners, — who have had no inducement to
adopt a system of saving, and providing for
themselves. Some regulation must be made as
to residents not settled in the parish. With
regard to these, I would submit that, in case
of their necessarily quitting the parish, their
subscription money should be returned to
them with interest.
4th. THAT SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THIS PARISH FUND,
IN CERTAIN CASES AND AFTER A CERTAIN PE
RIOD, SHALL GIVE THE SUBSCRIBER A SETTLE
MENT IN THE PARISH.
This should be confined to resident labour
ers, generally working within the parish; and

176 APPENDIX, NO. II.
not having large families, or having become
chargeable. — That no continued period of re
sidence, and no extent of active industry sup
porting itself by its own exertions, should ever
entitle the individual to the claim of a pa
rishioner, is more than I apprehend any person
will maintain : — and that a short term of mere
residence should fix a man and his numerous
family, as settled inhabitants, of a parish, is
more than will, in any probability, be pro
posed. I should prefer the line adopted in
Mr. Pitt's Bill ; and make five year's subscrip
tion to the parish fund without parish relief,
in the case of the labourer residing and gene
rally working within the parish, and not having
more than three children, intitle him and his
family* to a settlement.
5th. THAT LABOURERS, SUBSCRIBING TO THE
PARISH FUND, BE EXEMPTED FROM POOR'S
RATES FOR THEIR COTTAGES AND GARDENS.
The practice of parishes, in this respect, is
• The charge of moving paupers from parish to parish
is considerable ; but it bears no comparison with the
national loss of productive labour, by the artisan or la.
bourer being moved from a place where he can get work,
to one where he cannot obtain it.

APPENDIX, NO. II. 177
as various as their soil and climate. In some,
the exemption is carried to an extreme. In
others, the most painful part ofthe magistrates'
dutjy is to hear and adjudge questions, of
Poor's Rates being levied on individuals just
removed from the rank of paupers, and per
haps, by the levy of the rate to be reduced to
that situation. That an Act should have been
made for the relief of the poor, and that, in
its construction, it should call on and compel
the industrious poor, out of their earnings, to
contribute to the maintenance of the idle poor,
appears to be monstrous and absurd. The
execution of the Act should, in any event, be
brought to one rule throughout the kingdom ;
and the least that can be done, in my humble
opinion, will be to give exemption to those
labourers, who are making an annual prospec
tive provision for their own subsistence, in
case of age, sickness, or calamity..

Aa

178 APPENDIX, NO II.
6th. THAT NO CONTRACT FOR FARMING THE POOR
OF A PARISH, OR THE WORKHOUSE, BE VALID,
UNTIL APPROVED BY THE PETTY SESSIONS OF
THE DISTRICT ; THE CONTRACTOR ENTERING
INTO A RECOGNIZANCE, FOR THE DUE PER
FORMANCE OF HIS DUTY.
Experience has produced some cases, in
which the farming of workhouses has contri
buted, not merely to the increase of industry,
but even to the better management and the
more orderly conduct ofthe poor. There are,
however, numerous instances, in which the
parish house is put up to auction, and with
out any previous inquiry as to character, con
ductor competency, knocked down,* to use an
* There is hardly any one but knows that, where a
farm is let by the year, without any restriction as to
management, — and the land is ill-used, becomes foul,
impoverished, and out of heart, the timber destroyed,
and the buildings and fences suffered to go to decay ; —
there is no practicable amount of rent, that will com
pensate for the injury done to the estate. Scarcely any
one who is so ignorant as not to be aware that it is not
merely the annual payment, that is the object, but the
personal character and solvency of the tenant, and the
assurance that he will do justice to the land, and to the
landlord. The same considerations are equally applica-

APPENDIX, NO, II. 179
auctioneer's phrase, to the best bidder ; — that
is, to the person, who will undertake the care
of the poor at the lowest rate. The best bid
der is, in general, a vagabond indigent specu
lator ; who, if times prove favourable, calcu
lates on a profitable bargain : and, if they
prove otherwise, knows that the poor being
starved, or his being obliged to run away, are
the worst consequences that can follow his
undertaking. The farming of the poor may
be convenient in particular instances ; surely
however, it will be admitted, on the other
hand, that the character of the man, and his
ble, tho never applied, to the farming of the poor. Good
management may do much in lessening the parish bur
thens, by placing out children in service, by supplying
the other poor with occupation, and by encouraging
their industry and good habits ; and the contrary con
duct will produce a contrary effect ;— and yet no parish
ioner enquires further than who will take the poor at
the lowest price. The farmer and the shopkeeper will
both vote for what they call the best offer, tho the first
would not trust this farmer of the poor with a rood of
his land, nor the other with an article from his shop ;
and tho they are both aware that so far from his having
any inducement to attend to the welfare of the parish,
it is his interest to have the workhouse and its tenants
in such a state and condition at the end ofthe year, as
to preclude any risk of competition.

180 APPENDIX, NO. II.
solvency and capacity, should be ascertained,
before a trust is confided to him, in which not
merely the parish purse, but the conduct and
welfare ofthe poor are deeply concerned. —
This regulation made a part of Mr. Pitt*s
Bill.
7th. TO AUTHORISE AND (WHERE THE PETTY
SESSIONS SHALL DEEM IT PRACTICABLE
AND EXPEDIENT) TO DIRECT THE OVER
SEERS TO HIRE LAND, TO BE LET OUT IN
SMALL PARCELS TO THE INDUSTRIOUS
POOR.
This must be upon a very limited scale; ex
tending only to cultivable gardens for the poor,
or where it is practicable, to pasturage for a
cow. It is proposed that they shall have the
ground at a farmer's rent, to be paid in ad
vance during harvest ; the means and motive
being thus afforded for applying, at that pe
riod, their extraordinary earnings, as to con
duce to their domestic comfort and resources
at the other periods of the year.

The preceding measures, or such of them as
may be deemed expedient, would probably be
sufficient for the regulations of one session.
Other matters would be in prospect. Of these,

APPENDIX, NO. II. 181
none would be more useful than a return as to
charity schools, an increased provision for the
i-eligious duties ofthe labouring class, and an
inquiry into parochial charities, with a view
to make them subservient to the good habits
of the poor. These are mentioned rather as
matters for consideration, or preparatory in
quiry, than for immediate adoption. With
this previous explanation , they are here stated,
as subsequent in order to the seven preceding
positions.
8th. A return from Charity Schools, of In
come, and number of Scholars, for five pre
ceding years.
The intent of this inquiry would be, to extend
the utility of these schools, and, where want
ing, to supply the deficiency. Past abuses,
except as to prospective correction, would not
be subjects of investigation : the first consi
deration being how the original objects of
these charities, may be the most benefited ;
the second, how other children may from the
same funds, derive instruction and moral dis
cipline, without prejudice to the original ob
jects. In this, the offer of schooling to the
vicinage generally, upon a weekly or monthly
allowance for each pupil, to be regularly

182 APPENDIX, NO. II.
paid by the parent or friend, of the child, or
to be contributed by the parish,* might sup
ply an increase to the funds of the school be
yond any addition of labour or attendance,
which would be thrown on the master or his
assistants.
9th. The removal of young Persons from the
Workhouse, to Parish Schools.
The injury done to the rising generation by
continuing the children of paupers in the
workhouse, until the age of service arrive,
cannot be correctly appreciated by any one,
who has not personally attended to its effects.
The evil is national and extensive ; and the
remedy is not only exempt from increase of
trouble, but is attended even with a dimi
nution of expense. Six or eight children
may be instructed and fed, in some widowed
* I repeat here what I have before stated, — that in cases
where indigence hath made the parent an object of
parish relief, I can see no more-objection to the magis
trate being authorized to direct the weekly payment
of threepence each for children, between the ages of
nine and twelve years, toward their education, so as to
make them useful to themselves and the community, than
to his having the power of granting a much larger sum
towards the mere animal subsistence of beings, continu
ing in a state of ignorance and idleness.

APPENDIX, NO. H. 183
cottage, at even less expense, than in the
workhouse ; and some poor widow might
he therefore supplied with a far more ac
ceptable maintenance, than her pauper's pen
sion. I do not mean, that these parish schools
would require no care and attention. But
each of these little seminaries would find pa
tronesses, who would make their superintend-
ance a subject of amusement : and, in a world
like this, if care and attention of this kind are
to be entirely dispensed with, where are the
active and social faculties of man to find ex
ercise and employment ?
10th. To inquire into the state of parochial
Charities, with a view to apply them so as to
encourage the good habits ofthe Poor.
To make the poor better and happier, we may
safely conclude was the intention ofthe found
ers of parochial charities for the poor. No
measures can therefore be adopted, more con
formable to the real objects of the donors,
than those which may tend to increase the
virtue and happiness of the objects of their
benevolence. How little this principle has
been attended to, and how many of these
" charitable donations have been lost ; and

184 APPENDIX, NO. II.
" how many others, from neglect of payment
" and the inattention of those persons who
" ought to superintend them, are in danger of
'¦'' being lost, and are now rendered very diffi-
" cult to be recovered," is stated in the Report
ofthe Committee ofthe House of Commons,
ofthe 10th of June, 1788. The annual rental
of them is not trifling or inconsiderable; being
upon those charities, which were returned in
1787, .£258,710. 19s, 3d. per annum. This
was only a part : had all the returns been
duly made, they would have amounted to a
much larger annual rental. — If these charita
ble funds were invested in national securi
ties, their trusts registered, and their income
duly applied, near a million of money would
be annually applicable to a most beneficial
object, — the promotion of industry, prudence;
and good habits, among the poor.
llth. To appropriate a tenth part of the
Parish Hates in addition to the parochial
Charities, for the encouragement of the
good habits ofthe Poor.
If this small proportion ofthe parochial rates
thus applied, would not do more service than
it would in the ordinary course of application,

APPENDIX, NO. II.

185

this measure ought not to be adopted ; but if
it should, on the other hand, appear that such
an application might produce many times the
effect, which it would do in the common mode,
by giving assistance and advantage to poor
persons with families, who do not apply for
parish relief, there will remain, it is hoped,
no objection to it. That its effect, in exciting
exertion on the part of the poor, would be ten
times more than what it could produce in any
other mode, hardly any one practically expe
rienced in the subject would doubt. Several
of the different modes, in which this fund
might be advantageously applied, to promote
the exertions and good habits of the poor, are
stated in the preceding numbers of the Reports.
There is only one additional object which I
will notice at present ; — and that is the encou
raging of young persons to make a prospec
tive provision against marriage. This might
be attained by liberal premiums, periodically
given to each young couple, who could prove
that they had saved and laid up of their earn
ings, to a certain amount, during the six years
preceding their marriage. The poor laws have,
at present, a tendency to promote wasteful
youth and thoughtless marriages, among the
poor.
Bb

186 APPENDIX, NO. II.
12th. To make a more complete Provision for
the Religious Duties of the Poor.
This may be effected by giving them proper
accommodation in our churches : by having
evening services in London and the other great
towns ; and by building new churches, where
they are wanted. — All these objects, if we de
sire religious habits in the poor, should be
attended to. — If we wish the poor ofthe esta
blished church to be as regular in their reli
gious duties, as those of the Sectaries usually
are, we should make as acceptable and favour
able a provision for the poor in our churches,
as is made in the Sectarian chapels. If we offer
the poor no accommodation in our churches,
we must not be surprised, that in some in
stances they attend other chapels, and in others
neglect their religious duties entirely. The
poor in great towns are more able to attend
an evening than a morning service, and such
attendance is more likely to keep them from
improper habits and connections. The ale
house and the spirit shop may be, in some
degree, depopulated thereby; as it would af
ford satisfactory occupation to the poor for
time which they might otherwise have been
induced to devote to tippling and idleness.

APPENDIX. NO. II. 187
The example of hundreds who, instead of
spending a drunken evening at the public
house, do now regularly attend the evening
service at the Free Chapel iu St. Giles's, might
contribute to decide the general opinion on
the subject
13th. To allow certain Examinations of the
Poor to be taken without Oath.
In the course of the execution of the poor
laws, the repetition of oaths is an evil of no
small magnitude ; not only when considered
with a view to the general sanction of an oath,
and the moral sentiment existing on the sub
ject ; but also as to the object for which the
oath is administered. The pauper who is ex
amined, has no apprehension of a conviction
for perjury ; as there is little probability even
where perjury is apparent, that the magistrate
should be at the expense and trouble of acri-
minal prosecution, merely to bring down the
vengeance of the law on iudigence and miserv.
If. on the contrary, the pauper's examination
were by a solemn averment, the wilful false
hood of which should subject the culprit.
upon a summary conviction, to a fine or to
corporal punishment, he might be deterred bv
a penal law, which he knew would be en-

188 APPENDIX, NO. II.
forced. In any event the principles and moral
character of the poor man will not be dete
riorated, and the sanctity of religion profaned,
by frequent and familiar appeals to the Al
mighty, upon the truth of facts which the
party solemnly declares upon his oath, in the
confidence of their never being enquired
into.* 14th. To enact that, incase of incorporated
Workhouses, each Parish shall contribute
weekly and rateably, for every Pauper sent
into the Workhouse by such Parish.
Incorporated districts have this disadvan
tage, that their quota of allowance toward the
* The depravity of the poor, and indeed of the
other ranks, has been greatly increased by the frequent
and unnecessary repetition of formal oaths, directed by
every modern Act of Parliament. In every matter re-
relating to the poor-laws, — in every concern of property,
— and in the innumerable variety of financial regula
tions, — this solemn appeal to the deity is not only re
peated beyond all pretence of object, but with a species
of levity and inattention, and frequently with a degree
of ignorance and indifference, as to the truth of what is
so solemnly avered, which must be shocking to every
thinking and considerate mind. — While we carefully
guard against perjury in our courts of law, and exclude
in all instances the evidence of a pakty interested,

APPENDIX, NO. II. 189
general fund, has been fixed originally, by
their proportion at the time of incorporation ;
and that thereby the inducement has been
greatly diminished, for any parish to endeavour
to improve the situation ofits own poor, or to
check the progress of pauperism and profligacy
within their parochial limit. The difference
of expence to any parish, from the particular
charge of their own poor, is so trifling and
disproportionate, when paid out of the general
fund, that it hardly supplies a motive or in
ducement to conduct. This is a national and
important evil : its effects are extremely per
nicious. It tends generally, and throughout
the kingdom, to deteriorate the condition, and
to increase the burthen ofthe poor. The pro-
however slight that interest may be, is it not extraordi
nary, that, in the poor-laws and in financial regula
tions, the only evidence required should be that of the
party most interested r In the first instance, the poor
man is taught to consider an oath, as the form and mode
appointed by law, in which he is to claim relief. His wife
and family are in distress, and, whatever compunction
he may have, he goes as an act of duty, to swear what
is necessary to obtain them relief.- — In financial regula
tions, an attempt to specify the unnecessary oaths pre
scribed by law, would be as difficult as to number the
sands of the sea.

190 APPENDIX, NO. II
posed regulation will leave the general ar
rangements of the house in their original
state ; and will only vary a part of he detail
of expense, so as to prevent injury to the com
munity at large. The difference will probably
be trifling and immaterial at present ; but the
consequences in preventing the future in
crease of parochial burthens will be great and
important. 28 March, 1805.

FINIS.

List of the Principal Works of the late
Sir Thomas Bernard, Bart.

The Cottager's Religious Meditations.
The Barrington School, being an Illustration of the
Principles, Practices, and Effects of the New System of
Education. 3d Edit. 1815.
Spurinna; or the Comforts of Old Age. 4th Edit.
1818. Case of the Salt Duties, with Proofs and Illustrations.
The entire Prefaces, and most of the Reports of the
Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor.

London : Printed by W. Bulmer and Co.
Cleveland-row, St. James's.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 04067 3783

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